#literally becoming the one of the only characters without a finalized arc

[fahclove]

Lost is one of those shows that ask the important questions, like “Would you kill baby Hitler?” and answers that with a resounding “Yes.”

[muzetrigger]

In celebration of Nevermore S2, I feel the need to explain why I’m hoping for more Ada page time/development and why she’s my absolute favorite character, despite the series being absolutely stuffed with quality.

Oh and also why MorellAda is peak. I WILL TAKE NO ARGUMENTS ON THIS POINT.

So yeah, MAJOR SPOILERS Y’ALL

Okay, so when we’re first introduced Ada, she’s a minor antagonist, not just in the sense that she’s not the main villain, but that literally, she’s just kind of an annoyance to both Lenore and Prospero. That being said, shortly after the Labyrinth arc, we see her genuinely impressed with Lenore and trying to make amends.

Now at that point, there’s no real reason for us to believe that Ada is telling the truth. Yeah, she seems like she’s being genuine, but so far, we also know that she’s been playing some social games to get ahead.

That’s where we get this first piece of insight into her character (not actually the first piece but whatever):

Ada chooses caviar as her last meal, despite not liking it, or ever having had it before. She is the only student who doesn’t enjoy her final meal, and that tells us that one, Ada doesn’t know what’s good for her; two, that she probably comes from a lower class background that never would have had access to caviar; and three, that she aspires to that upper class position. She is exactly what Morella would call a “phony” but while her phoniness impacts her social behavior in the ways that Morella criticizes, she’s also lying to herself without even realizing it.

Okay, but that’s a bit of subtle character development, so Red and Flynn hit us with this:

(In case you didn’t hate Montressor already)

This moment is so critical to understanding Ada because it shows that she has absolutely no limits when it comes to proving her worth to other people. Why? Because Ada has no sense of self-worth. She is completely dependent on other people’s thoughts to feel adequate. That’s why she clings so hard to Prospero and Annabel Lee, which makes this preceding exchange even more brutal.

Ada reaches out to Annabel for support, and Annabel ignores her.

Annabel BETRAYS her, and this is going to become something of a running theme for Ada.

Now, of course, Annabel has problems, but this is COLD.

So cold even Prospero is surprised, and this sets up why Ada crumbles so easily, because the one person she thought was her friend at this school, literally her roommate (and we know what happens when you’re not on good terms with your roommate), the person who gave her (fake) love advice, just left her out in the rain.

No one is on her side, not Annabel who’s ignoring her, not Prospero (who is rightly) annoyed with her clinginess, not Will who is supporting Montresor, and certainly not Montresor who is verbally abusing her.

The only person by Ada’s side is Morella, partly because she’s being targeted too, but also because Morella is trying to protect Ada.

(Look at that hug. That is a small puppy trying to cheer up her depressed friend.)

Chapter 39-40 firmly cemented Ada as my favorite character because we get a deconstruction of this preppy, pompous, phony personality into someone with crippling self-worth issues, and I don’t know about anyone else, but I relate HARD to those feelings of inadequacy and needing external validation. Will might be the doppelgänger, but Ada is the one with Imposter Syndrome.

Anyway, now we’re going to have to skip a few chapters, because while the haunted house arc is great, it doesn’t really do much with Ada’s character. We do learn that Ada was almost definitely a servant in her past life because she’s able to navigate the house’s secret passages, and we learn that yes, she’s a romantic who clearly doesn’t understand TPO (time, place, and occasion).

Those details are important to understanding Ada, because they help contextualize why her confidence is so abysmal (servants aren’t to be seen or heard) and why she clings so strongly to ideas of ladyhood and romance (the women she served would certainly have appeared to be more comfortable than her, though I’m sure Lenore and Annabel would disagree).

We also get this feast for the MorellAda shippers:

At this point, it’s implied that Morella has stonewalled dozens of students into Prospero’s death trap, but she makes one exception that she will not stand for, and it’s Ada.

At first, I thought this was a little weird, because why wouldn’t Morella protect Lenore? I mean, she’s the protagonist and clearly treats Morella better, but looking back, it’s telling that Ada is the one who Morella chooses.

Morella’s whole deal is that she wants to protect people, and Lenore isn’t vulnerable, Ada is.

Red and Flynn do a lot of excellent foil work in Nevermore, most prominently with Lenore and Annabel, but the contrast between Ada’s dependence on what other people think of her and Morella’s dependence on what she can do for other people is just another reason why I think MorellAda is so good.

But the real interesting events happen post-house.

Prospero has had it.

Now, was Ada being clingy? Yes.

Was she being totally oblivious to all of Prospero’s signals? Yes.

Did she deserve to be told directly that Prospero was just not that into her? Hell. Yes.

But did she deserve THAT much of a verbal beat down? Probably not, especially keeping in mind that Annabel told her this:

So now that I’ve thrown Annabel under the bus for her hand in this disaster, I want to look at one line from Prospero in particular:

“Nothing you say will make you good enough.”

It’s not the final line of Prospero’s diatribe, but it’s definitely the one that hits the hardest for Ada. She is trying SO hard to play the part of a lady in order to be loved, and she is being told that at a fundamental level, she is inadequate.

And she takes that about as well as someone who’s had this happen to them could:

A hatchet to the stomach’s going to ruin anyone’s day, but we can reasonably infer that the person who axe’d Ada was probably the young master she was serving and was having an affair with, and that he aimed for her stomach to abort any kind of child she might have carried.

Again, we see this theme of betrayal and rejection. Ada might not have been able to be a lady, but in an affair, she might been able to pretend that she genuinely had her master’s affection, even though she was just there at his convenience.

This was foreshadowed all the way back with Ada’s first confrontation with Montressor and it’s a great example of how thoroughly planned Red and Flynn’s writing is (Annabel Lee’s panic attack at Lenore’s death in the Labyrinth and the House Fire is another amazing example).

But, it’s also super traumatic which means we finally get Ada’s Spectre!

First, let me gush about how AMAZING this design is. Just aesthetically, it’s great. But it’s also amazing because of how it showcases so much of Ada’s identity. If you look at the spectre’s skirt, you’ll notice it has two distinct parts, a larger back that mimics a lady’s hoop skirt, and a pleated miniskirt, which wouldn’t be out of place in a skimpy maid costume. In her spectre form, we can clearly see Ada attempting to match a lady’s silhouette but upon closer inspection, we can also see the part of Ada that might have sparked her fatal affair, this symbol of risqué servantile behavior.

It’s also worth mentioning what ISN’T in the Banshee’s design, her abdomen. Obviously, this might be a reference to the fact that she was killed by a hatchet to the gut, but if we get dark with it (and it’s Nevermore, we can’t not get dark with it), what men traditionally (and unfortunately still do if the 2024 US elections are anything to go by…) value in a woman, her reproductive ability, is absent.

Ada, who places so much importance on what others think of her, is literally is worthless to them. (I want to clarify, I DON’T personally believe that, but from a 19th-20th century male perspective, that tracks.)

We could also read her abdomen’s absence as another attempt for Ada to play into feminine expectations. Because she’s missing her stomach, she has a tight hourglass figure. I don’t personally believe Ada has an eating disorder, but as the last dinner scene clearly indicates, she has a complicated relationship with food and what stigmas are attached to specific cuisines, and unfortunately many people do metaphorically throw away their stomachs to pursue beauty goals like Ada’s spectre does literally.

Stepping away from design, I also love how Ada acts immediately after getting the slightest bit of power.

She is PETTY.

She taunts Prospero (and let’s face it, you cheered. Don’t lie to me!), which I find so interesting because suddenly, Ada is the one giving opinions.

Ada is finally allowed to express herself.

Here, she takes it out on Annabel, which makes total sense. Annabel abandoned her and is the embodiment of what Ada craves outwardly. But Ada also recognizes that she herself is a servant who was forced to serve people like Annabel and denied their comforts because of her status. If Ada hadn’t been a maid, if maybe she had been a noble or a “true lady”, maybe should would have been allowed a romance or allowed to keep her child or at least allowed to live.

The Banshee is such a perfect moment, because until this scene, Ada has bottled up her insecurities and played the part of a loyal lackey and been this “phony”. As a servant, her entire livelihood would have revolved around keeping up appearances (or disappearances) around her masters, but as a ghost, Ada is more genuine than she has ever been.

And that’s so wonderfully displayed by how Annabel defuses the situation:

To the very end, we see Ada being vulnerable. Annabel takes advantage of her insecurities, and as the Banshee, Ada doesn’t try to hide the fact that it devastates her.

If the Montressor moment didn’t guarantee a place in my heart for Ada, Episode 71 definitely did. I’m not going to argue that characters in Nevermore haven’t experienced worse, but I will argue that no character in season one ever gets close to how pathetic and distraught Ada is here.

And what’s so heart-wrenching about this for me is that Ada is aware of how pathetic she is. She knows she’s been acting like an idiot and throwing a tantrum like a child, which is a surprising amount of insight and maturity for someone we have been led to believe is quite frankly an idiot. And yeah, I relate to those feelings of self-loathing and not knowing what to do or even where to start triaging a disaster I made myself.

Now, Montressor takes advantage of this like the abuser he is by swooping in and wooing Ada, but before that, I’m going to rewind like the shipper I am to replay this:

Again, we see Morella trying to help Ada! And obviously, that’s not what Ada needs at that moment, but it’s worth keeping in mind that out of everyone in the lecture hall then, Morella is the first and really only one to reach out to Ada. (Montressor is a manipulator. He doesn’t count.)

Last time skip, I promise!

The end of the Wall arc doesn’t quite reach the highs (or is it lows?) of Ada’s character development, but I’m so excited for what it sets up in season two.

So, Lenore and the gang find where Montressor has Cask of Amantillado’d Duke and they dig their favorite French man out while beating the shit out of our cowboy(?). There’s a ton of great moments (hell yeah, Pluto! Get him!) but the battle really swings in the misfits’ favor when Duke hypnotizes Ada to traumatize Montresor.

One, this is just an amazing display of Duke’s spectre, two, it shows that Montressor has reasons (maybe not great reasons but at least they’re reasons) for being such an asshole, and three, it shows us that mental spectre powers are straight up busted.

We already knew from Prospero that Ada’s fear factor could trap a person inside a vision of their own trauma so realistic they can feel the physical effects of it, but she can also send a man with a broken Fibula into a full blown frenzy, AND Duke’s hypnosis is something even he can’t dispel.

(Does this look like the face of a man who has things under control?)

It also sets up this exchange:

Morella is able to break through Duke’s hypnosis, and she does it without attacking Ada’s insecurities like Annabel did. Now, I’m a hopeless MorellAda shipper, so of course I reading into this, but even then, it showcases how important Morella is to Ada. After all, Morella is basically the only person who has stuck by Ada’s side this whole time.

…At least until this happens:

Morella has had enough of Ada’s excuses, and just like Prospero basically tells her to shove off.

But the painfully ironic part about this is, Ada is telling the truth. This ONE time, it really isn’t her fault. It’s Duke’s.

But Morella won’t let her get a word in and I love how Flynn drew Ada’s face. It’s a different kind of fear than when Ada was groveling in front of Montresor or reeling from Prospero’s rejection. Here, she isn’t afraid of being abandoned by Morella; she’s afraid of losing Morella.

I know that difference might sound REALLY contrived to some people, but in this case, Ada has a way to keep Morella in her life that doesn’t involve debasing herself and believes that Morella will listen to her. For the first time ever, Ada thinks she has a little control over the situation together with a friend, not an enemy. They can talk things out, and that really shows how close her connection with Morella is and how that connection can be the catalyst for Ada to start developing some self-respect.

Except Morella totally shuts her down.

Of course, I’m disappointed that there’s this “divorce arc” but it makes sense in context and it’s healthier for Morella to make a clean break from the posh crew (even though Ada clearly needs her wife more than ever, like come on, don’t leave her in Monstresor’s clutches!)

Speaking of which, I’m much more disappointed with how Ada immediately crawls back to Montresor and Annabel after being chastised. If there’s one thing I have on my season two checklist, it’s Ada learning to have some confidence in herself (and maybe tossing Montresor to the Hunt).

And I really want an apology from Morella and Duke to Ada. Now THAT’S delusional, and I might be the only one who thinks Ada deserves those apologies, because let’s face it, Ada is a wreck, but it would be nice, especially if she gives out the several dozen apologies she owes the misfit crew too, so that she can hang with them and spend more time with her wife Morella.

Anyway, yeah.

I really like Nevermore.

And I really like Ada. I think she’s severely underrated.

Of course I love Lenore and Annabel, and Morella is a precious and badass cinnamon roll, and Duke is so SO cool, and Pluto is cute as hell, and Eulalie is basically manga-Orihime (which is amazing), but there’s something so HUMAN about Ada.

I empathize with her in ways that I just can’t with the rest of the cast because… they’re just too awesome. I have difficulty believing Lenore or Annabel will ever feel something as fundamentally devastating as Ada has. At their core, they’re just stronger people. Ada is someone who needs more support and it’s nice to see those weaker characters treated with the same amount of care as a protagonist who we typically see stumble a lot but ultimately succeed. With side characters, there’s a genuine chance that they fail permanently and that adds so much to Ada’s stakes.

And honestly? I’ll say it. I think a lot of the students had alright lives or even good lives, they just happened to be cut short traumatically. Exceptions for Lenore (obviously) and Pluto (baby, you deserved so much better than your deadbeat dad), possibly Eulalie for having to live through WWII, but you’re not going to tell me that Montresor didn’t have a good run being awful, Duke didn’t have a successful performance career, and Prospero wasn’t a wealthy bastard. But who knows? We haven’t delved too much into the others’ backstories, so I could be very wrong.

Anyway, I guess this was just a very long-winded way of me saying I love Ada because I’m a total girl-failure and also I’m super excited for season two.

[stardustamaryllis78]

Hey, do you guys remember when these two were actually compelling characters?

Yeah, neither do I.

Bait is by far the most interesting character of these three and I'm not even joking.

But lets start at the beginning shall we?

Let's start off with Callum, the protagonist.

He is the son of Queen Sarai and step son of King Harrow 🐦 and the big brother of Prince or King Ezran, depends on which part of the show you're on. I guess spoiler if you haven't got past episode 3 where Pip dies and Harrow is forced to eat bird food for the rest of his life. (I have MASSIVE feelings about that "plot twist" but that's a potential post for another day.)

He struggles with the idea of being a prince because he believes he's not good at horse riding and sword fighting, things a prince should be good at.

Ignore the horse, Bait is the one clearly in charge, Callum doesn't know what he's doing.

All (kind of) jokes aside, he was dorky without being too annoying and him getting the Sky Primal Stone which in turn allowed him to use Sky magic which made him feel like he was for once good at something was interesting to watch, especially after he had to smash it to hatch a dying Zym and learn the Sky Arcanum through other means. A good well rounded character.

Then we have Rayla, who used to be one of my favourite characters.

Not anymore.

She was originally so snarky, sassy and feisty but in such a fascinating kind of way. She also had a kind and gentle heart and would do anything to help those in need. Plus, she had the inner struggle of being an assassin who cannot kill but that didn't really matter because she used her skills for the greater good anyway.

Its a shame her first and only kill in the show came in the form of herself.

Character assassination at its finest.

How did Rayla go from this:

To this:

Best Dragonguard of the century guys 👏

From a girl who would do anything to help others in need, even a dragon that would torch tons of innocent people to legit turning her back on a dragon in distress. This is not Rayla.

But how did it come to this you may ask? Well curious Tumblr reader, I have one simple answer. One simple answer that will burn so much of The Dragon Prince's fandom down and will cause an all out riot but let me just tell you, I'm speaking nothing but the truth.

The answer is:

Rayllum

Yep! Them becoming a duo literally murdered their characters and I still o7 them to this day 🫡

What was once two interesting characters who found solace in each other and set off together (and Ezran was there as the third wheel) to stop a war spanning centuries became a poorly written soap opera.

So where did it go wrong?

I'm gonna sound like a broken record in saying SEASON 4 📢 HAHA!

But no, not season 4, it was actually before that.

It starts with Rayla leaving Callum the nicest birthday present anyone could give someone - ghosting them.

Now you'd think that Rayla would at least wait a day or two after Callum's birthday so he can have an enjoyable day first but nope! She decides to dip on whats supposed to be a happy day for him and make it miserable. What a woman! 👏

Now you could be saying to me, "But she needed to go with full urgency!" To which, no she did not. She went because it was a mission of revenge, something she LITERALLY said herself so she could have waited a few days but she chose instead to make someone she's supposed to love miserable on a day of happiness.

But okay, she dips and leaves Callum sad and miserable on his birthday. Surely when she returns, she apologizes right?

...Right?

I don't think arc 2 Rayla would understand the word sorry if it bit her right up where the Moon don't shine.

Anyways, its two years later (Yes, you heard me, two years) and Rayla decides to finally unghost Callum.

Now, Callum is understandably upset with Rayla after taking off on his birthday and leaving without saying goodbye. So whats Rayla's stance on this? Is she understanding?

Of course not, this is arc 2 Rayla we're talking about.

Imagine letting the guy she let down have some room to sort things out in his head. Crazy right?

But anyway, he eventually relents to Rayla because she won't shut up in typical Rayla fashion and they both snooze on the couch.

This kind of soap opera drama goes on for THE ENTIRE SEASON while they just gradually "make up" and its just such contrived conflict. Especially as nothing came of Rayla leaving for those two years and it happened off screen.

Plus, her not taking accountability for her actions is a big deal.

Sadly the writers did it with this ship. ^

I love Red Herring story lines that are spent so much time on and are SUPER built up only to have literally no impact on the plot whatsoever. 🤗

Loved wasting my time on the Dark Magic Callum story line.

BUT HEY, he did get some great looking tooth-paste in his hair! 🪥 Looks great on you Callum. 🤥

Now however, I must talk about the most beloved of all seasons and no, I don't mean season 6 or 3.

Clearly I'm referring to season 7, aka, facing sucking the season.

Like seriously, if I ate a Moonberry Surprise every time Callum and Rayla snogged, I'd end up needing medical attention.

That's not the offender I'm talking about though. It's Rayla's super selfishness and Callum choosing her over his grieving brother.

Somehow, the writer's thought that was okay.

Remember, this is the same girl who left him for 2 whole years to put her need of revenge before his feelings.

Callum betrayed his brother for her.

But it's not even just that, it's just the selfish nature of Rayla in season 7. Ezran has just had Katolis burnt to a crisp, and all she can think about is herself and her own needs. Ezran's feelings? They don't matter. As long as she's happy, that's fine.

I don't even want to talk about them all buddying up in the Silvergrove happily while Ezran is still dealing with Katolis' fallout.

Plus remember, at this point, Callum still believes that Runaan killed Harrow. I get forgiving someone but bro is literally choosing the guy who assassinated the guy who raised him over his grieving brother. It's actual insanity to me.

There is much more I have missed but I have reached my Rayllum limit for the day. This ship is as fun as watching paint dry so I want to do something that is going to actually bring me joy.

Have a good day everyone! Peace! 🫡

[bigclownshoes]

okay so hear me out. I know most people think that isagi will be the one to tear chigiris acl in the future and while that totally matches up with his character arc of slowly losing his humanity and doing everything (or rather using everyone) to become the greatest, I think it might be reo. Especially with the growing focus on nagi as the second mc and reo learning the true extent of his ego/power.

Like, think about it. Reo is the forbidden apple. He is the harbinger of death by complacency. His power is the ability to copy someone and literally mold himself to whoever he's teaming up with. That is lethal in an environment like blue lock where individuality is king. He lures in players who think they can score easy goals using him and kills them when they finally take a bite. I think chigiri will lose himself by teaming up with reo, unknowingly fattened up until it's too late to get out of the oven - hansel and gretel style - because by then, he'll have taken it for granted. He is the seduction that hiiragi prophesied. I don't think it's a coincidence that kaneshiro used the word seduction specifically. Isagi doesn't seduce, but reo? with his easy smiles and quick accomodation? that's seduction.

And I think it's not only chigiri that has to worry about reo, it's everyone else that is even remotely keen on working with him and using his power, (without realising that if they're not strong enough to resist the temptation, they'll be used instead) because now that nagi is gone, there's no one left to take on the brunt of reo's absolute ego void of an ability. I predict it'll be even more dangerous and evident once reo finally realises it himself, as everything he's been doing up till this point has been instinctual or for nagi.

[love-byers]

i had the misfortune of ending up on mileven tiktok by accident and found some gold

dude. how many times do we have to say its not the fact that they're standing next to each other. its the fact that they're standing next to each other when all the other characters are paired off with their significant other with significant space between them. they are SANDWICHED between two couples that they have numerous other parallels with. like you have to be playing dumb if you think we're just saying byler is endgame because they're in the same proximity. and WDYMMMM MIKE ISN'T EVEN LOOKING AT HIM why does that matter?? the whole point is that they're all looking forward at the fucking apocalypse beginning. nancy and jonathan weren't looking at each other, joyce and hopper weren't looking at each other. why does that matter?? and holy shit watching them try to analyze media is hilarious. the byler commenter was very concise an respectful and ofc the mlvn has to be backhanded. no, the 2 minute scene of mike saying i love you is not random, it's actually meticulously crafted so that we're able to tell mike is lying...

uhh because WILL IS THE MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER OF SEASON 5 AND THE WUOLE POINT OF AN ENDING SHOT OF A SEASON IS TO FORESHADOW THE NEXT SEASON???

do they think we're making this up???

he is the center and lead of season 5 and his arc is going to tie the whole series together. but nah they just paired him with mike and left him in the background on the hill just because el needed to be in front. they could've done a million other set ups where it actually comes off that mike and el are a team and in love and want to work together. they could've had those couples together and then had will alone or behind them and done a close up like they did with el in the actual scene, but no, he had to be with mike. and not only is he with mike, he and mike are paired off together and CENTERED. the CENTER of season 5 is CENTERED in the final shot of the season and he is standing with his long time best friend who he is desperately in love with. and all of this is foreshadowing for season 5, which if you've forgotten, is all about connection and finding belonging with others.

"People talk about mythology and The Upside Down, and all that is huge, but the magic of S5 are the characters who find a sense of belonging with other and through that connection, become heroes."

"[Season 5] It's about a group of people who question their value, who find each other, and who find superpowers in connection."

remember when mike beat himself up and questioned his value as a person because he feels weak and powerless and stupid next to el and then will gave him a painting where mike is a literal knight in shining armor and and confessed his own feelings about how mike holds everything together and makes him feel like he's better for being different and gives him the courage to keep fighting and how he'll always need mike and that finally made mike feel reassured

yeah...

alright you guys have to be lying. you can't think of a single reason why people would ship byler?? not a one??? you know what actually, you're right. why on earth would people ship two characters where one is canonically in love with the other, they've been best friends since the first day of kindergarten, they are always a duo, they have a special friendship compared to the others, one said asking the other to be his friend is the best thing he's ever done, one thinks home isn't the same without the other, they hold hands, put their arms around each other, always look out for each other, etc etc ETC. no yeah i don't see it

was the person who confirmed this named mike wheeler...

no yeah we just say random things. those of us using the knowledge we gained in film school/creative writing school to analyze a form of media are just saying random things. i just love making shit up!

mlvns are so silly lol like they really think they know more about film/writing than people who STUDY IT AND DO IT FOR A LIVING

[erinwantstowrite]

A while ago you liked a comment of mine on TikTok where I said that there should be no second Batman bc having Bruce retire/die means his fight should be over and he should be able to rest properly, (idk if that’s exactly what I said but I think it’s in the ball park) so can I ask what you think about a legacy Batman? And who would you have be the second Batman? Also your art is amazing and I love leap of faith, hope you have a great day

i remember that comment!!!!

i honestly believe that having a "legacy" for every single hero is just,,, boring. the reason this happens is because they are never going to NOT have Batman. how else would they make money??? so they just keep giving us reasons why his mantle has to be there. just like the Joker HAS to always come back, why new characters are always tied in to existing characters somehow, etc.

in a perfect world, we'd get new characters sometimes and overarching storylines that aren't regressed the second we make any headway on character development. we'd have new villains by now that make a name for themselves outside of the original villains, we'd see an impact on our settings and characters, all that jazz. and in this perfect world, we wouldn't have so many legacy mantles

and i mean, like, one of the supers taking up the Superman name? that's cool. they're a family, thematically it works. even with the Flash family, I accept how they do it (though I hardly keep up with their comics)

but Batman?????

STOPPPPP

Every other Batfam member has an arc where they branch away from Bruce and the name, save for Tim and Cass, I think. Tim is... a gray area. I only put him here because he's back to being Robin (because DC can't let go of that money maker!). It's an insult to their characters to put them into the Batman mantle, but in universe, this keeps happening because "Gotham needs Batman."

No! No they do not! They do not need Batman specifically. They need his ideals! His kids do not need to be Batman to have Batman still be around after he's put up the cape or died, because they are that future without the cape! There is no magic tied in to that stupid cowl, they just see it that way because Batman is this larger than life figure. Of course they think their dad is impervious to the world, that the cape that protected them is special, that they need Batman. But that is NOT the case.

Just like with any family, life will move on. The legacy continues through the lessons that the kids learned. In many ways, they are better than Batman because they learned from his mistakes, too. Just like every kid does with their parent.

But they don't want to be Batman. And it's kind of insane to keep putting them in someone else's suit, basically someone else's identity. Dick is a great Batman, but his biggest fear is losing himself in Bruce's shadow. What happened to Jason was because of Batman's failure, and it isn't healthy to put him in the Batman suit. Tim should be allowed to move on from Robin and finally get his own mantle because he has always used someone else's. (Yes I am purposefully forgetting that Drake existed do not remind me.) That and the existence of Gun Batman. Do NOT put him in that suit!!!!!!! Damian is branching out of vigilante life altogether, which is so so so good for him. Him becoming Batman after struggling so much with his identity, purpose, and blood ties, is a spit in the face to character development. I think Duke should get to choose his own name for a hero mantle (because Bruce thought of Signal), and thematically I don't think he fits into the Batman role. He is a shining light the way Robin was, but this time more literal because of his powers. Batman is very human, that's what makes his character. Duke deserves more than being Batman.

The best person for that job is Cass.

Not only does she understand the No Kill Rule in the way that Bruce understands it, she is also his equal or superior in every way. Whether it's her physical abilities, or her intelligence, or her morals, Cass fits the bill. She's one of the strongest members of the Batfam and I think she would be able to take on the burden without crumbling under the pressure or feeling scared of that responsibility. She's fit in to the Batman role before, has mirrored him in many ways, and is also her own character (and man I just really love Cass). She strikes the same amount of fear into people that Batman does, a master of the shadows, the dark, and she has a hope that I think Gotham could need.

But she doesn't need to be Batman to do it. She just has to fill in that role. Sure, she could pick up the name Batman, it won't kill me. But so long as she fills in the space that Bruce left behind, becoming the next leader and mentor, she could be anyone.

I think it's more powerful that way to show that the time has passed. That Bruce's time as a vigilante made an impact. Gotham has changed. His kids have grown up. And the Dark Knight is still there, at home.

[citizendetectivequigley]

I'm just going to dump my thoughts about Jeff Sadecki and the fandom's treatment of him as a male victim of abuse. Jeff's story is one of empowerment, the story of a man finally seeing his abuser's true colors and doing what's right for himself and his daughter. I've been waiting for this moment since season one. I'll write something more coherent later but I have Jeff on the mind and I can't think of anything else until I put this somewhere. Nobody loves Jeff like I do and I feel like I'm going crazy with the amount of misrepresentation he got before episode 9.

I'm going to start this off with an example of a real argument I received from someone: "Jeff isn't a deep character, and liking him in the evil women show is misogynistic" (They then implied I had some kind of moral failing as a lesbian for liking Jeff)

Jeff is a deep character and the foundations have been set since the very beginning. Even before the crash, it was demonstrated that Jeff is passive and eager to please. As an adult, Jeff admitted that he knew what Shauna did in the wilderness and made the conscious choice to stay. During the arc with Adam, he becomes Shauna's enabler, based purely on his loyalty and motivation to do what's expected of him, a trait that he's had since he was a teenager and was only fostered by his relationship with Shauna. She wants him helpless and complicit and rewards him for it. She only connects with him when she's rewarding him for being subservient and doing something horrible for her sake. Jeff is not blameless but it's really important to take his enabling behavior with the nuance it deserves.

Shauna's home is abusive, it might not be the traditional kind of abuse people expect from tv shows which is why I think people didn't focus on it in the earlier seasons, but we need to look at the abusive family dynamic for what it is. Beyond his flinches and body language, Jeff literally has nightmares about Shauna on screen, I don't think it could be any more clear that he is a victim in this situation. People look over this because he doesn't act like some stereotypical perfect victim, he's an enabler, he adores her, he wants her attention and would do anything for her, and he became something unrecognizable to appease her. This is the reality for a lot of victims and what makes it so hard to separate yourself from abusers.

His complete loyalty and helplessness says a lot about him and I could literally write for hours about this poor man slowly cracking under pressure and dismembering his denial. Seeing him feel so powerless in the arc with Adam is heartbreaking and watching those moments where he sticks up for himself and his daughter are so moving. I could write essays about the selflessness and strength he showed in that scene where he consoled Callie and realized that his enabling was hurting her. Ultimately, it was his love for his daughter outweighed whatever dependency he had on Shauna.

Even if you do not give a fuck about him whatsoever, he's Shauna's character foil and he represents everything Shauna isn't as a parent. You can't seriously say you're a fan of Shauna while ignoring her family dynamics and struggle with domesticity.

Yes, Jeff is funny, but he's not comic relief. When I talked about his dynamic with Shauna before, I got vitriol because people assumed I thought Shauna loved Jeff or I was shipping them. I think the knee-jerk reaction was because some people just cannot analyze a show without the lens of fandom and shipping. I'm really disappointed by the way people are so willing to dismiss a character based on their sex in the same way people do so often to female characters. It really hinders your ability to understand a story and appreciate the characters you do love (Shauna lovers, hi, I'm right here with you) when you refuse to engage with or even consider that a character with funny scenes is nothing more than a waste of space.

Shauna's family reminds me a lot of my own and I think Yellowjackets made a bold and effective choice to represent a complicated male victim. AND they made him funny and charming and a good father. Jeff, they may not see you, but I do.

[ven0moir]

tw; rant. Once again here to remind everyone that byler not being endgame is, at best, negligent queerbaiting

this is the show where one of the producers said "the UD mythos is important but the heart of the show are its characters and their interconnectedness/family dynamics" or something along those lines AND also said that "very few things are coincidences in this show."

i'd have been ( and i bet a lot of other bylers too ) COMPLETELY FINE without byler even being a possible card on the table. i'd HAVE STILL BEEN A FAN OF THE SHOW without byler! in fact, i WAS--i cared more about el and hopper's rs than i did mike and will's. it wasn't until S4 that i REALLY got invested in the show bc of the promise of will's arc, WHICH INCLUDES MIKE. the way they handled the painting arc, if byler isn't endgame, is literally the most underwhelming thing i've seen.

the only difference that byler makes in my case is that if it hadn't come across as a real possibility, then i would've remained a casual viewer and not think about the show again until it came out, like yknow, most people. so this whole "will they won't they" thing going on makes it feel like a marketing technique to keep people who enjoy byler hooked at the promise of something significant developing there.

this isn't about "oh your ship didn't become canon? tough luck" it's legit that they would ruin their show for me FOR. NO. REASONNNNNN. I WAS ALREADY A FAN!!! I HAD NO BYLER EXPECTATIONS!!! not to mention how shitty it is on the lgbt community. and also, the mass hate bylers would get.

and before you say "its ur own fault for being delusional, they didn't queerbait--" I'm sorry but what Noah is doing IS QUEERBAIT even if he doesn't mean to and the duffers should tell him to stop hinting at byler until post s5 or whatever

im not even going to talk about the show IMPLYING BYLER for ages. for example; dustin telling lucas that he saw him and max holding hands and that meant there were feelings between them even if lucas denied it/said she was just scared vs mike holding will's hand AN EPISODE PRIOR

or the song "on the bus" playing during a lumax scene where they connected vs it playing on a byler scene in s4 using very similar phrasing it's like they're subtly winking at the audience.

the shitty way that mileven finally got their 'i love you' like im sorry it feels so rushed and awkward if this was supposed to be the culmination of mike's arc

i could literally go on and on and on and other bylers could as well so yeah. ugh im sorry for the negativity in the tag but i just REALLY need that to be very clear that byler vs mileven isn't an argument that is ocurring on equal ground and that byler isn't 'just a ship that people analyze too much'

if it was never going to be canon, THERE WAS NO NEED TO HINT AT IT **AT ALL** and THAT is what really grinds my gears. most bylers would still love ST bc our favorite character is WILL. we would've been fine if will's whole thing was telling his best friend he was gay and that's it. like, the bar is on the FLOOR ... me personally? i'll be satisfied with will getting a completed arc in the supernatural and having his moment to shine and bringing the story full circle like WE WERE PROMISED ( unless yknow, people want to call us stupid and delusional for expecting will to be important at all )

what i will NOT tolerate is people being mean to bylers for being upset about byler not being endgame in the end bc WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE. and if you're one of those people sincerely: FUCK YOU. i wish you get exactly what you deserve. thank you for reading and that's it from me

[soo-won]

Suwon's character analysis: From being shown to showing

Suwon is really a character all about being watched and scrutinized, isn't he?

Of course he's not self aware he's a fictional character but his position as a King and in relation to Yona ironically put him in a position that gives him a similar awareness that if he did. Suwon is judged and analyzed by everyone, in and outside the story. He knows that when he shows himself (and appears in the story) he has to perform a certain way. He has a role to follow and perform until the end. The way he speaks, the way he stands, the way he moves...being King means controlling and being aware of all of it. The moments we see through this costume are moments where he's taken by surprise and becomes "out of character" for this role. Moments where he's literally called out by characters around him for it, making him fall in his expected role more and more. He has to behave a specific way, he has to wear specific attires, he is very aware he is the object of many gazes around him. When he performs his role perfectly he is judged but in ways he expects because it's others' roles as well. When he breaks out of this role, he is judged anyways for losing himself. No matter what Suwon does or says, others will judge him or love him and expect things from him. It is true in the narrative and outside of it.

The South Kai arc with chapter 221 and 224 has him desperatly try to stick to his role that is slipping through his fingers, he has to position himself in contrast and opposition to Yona, he has to be the King his father wanted until the very end, etc. Yet, Yona and Hak kept breaking these roles as well. Hak, in full armor from Kai, the enemy, arrives and gives the senjusou to Suwon, in full King attire at this moment. Hak enters the stage like a blast when the curtains were about to fall and turns all formalities and rules of distance and what is allowed or not to dust. He breaks the role he carried until now as the character that should hate Suwon forever and try to kill him, and saves him instead. The fact that Suwon is King then doesn't really matter, Hak did this as his former friend.

In chapter 243, Suwon wants to speak to Hak privately but is well aware that if he comes out and does that, he will be seen and judged, confirmed by the shadows in chapter 251. He is not allowed to be himself without any costume freely, hence the cloak and hood on. He is not allowed this one private moment, eyes are on him and not only Hak's that he very much expects as well. That's why Suwon's tone the whole chapter is so...ambiguous. At the beginning, he speaks matter of factly, maybe not as "Hak's King" but at least in a unpersonal way, like an anonymous messager. He tells him information. That's why he calls Yona "Princess Yona" too I think. It is Suwon trusting Hak and relying on him personally, yet he is not totally open yet, Suwon still has a role to play. The more it goes, the more the tone shifts subtlely, now calling Yona by her name, his hood falling when Hak hits the wall, and talking more personally. What he shares then is what he is resigned to do and accept given his position and role that he can't just give up on now, what is the most reasonable within the range of his actions from then on. What he conveys to Hak is that he will not break character and stop performing his role as King, the one thing changing being only how he passes it down to Yona.

However, there is one final thing that the manga makes perceptible for absolutely no one but Hak, that even the shadows can't hear and understand. Suwon's last word(s) to Hak is not digitally typeset like every other text inside speech bubbles, but handwritten so small it looks like muttering that we can't for sure confirm the full forms of. Since chapter 243 came out, I did try for a long time to decipher it, and many concluded it could be a "sayonara" or "arigatou", and it was also translated and typesetted in the official English translation as "Farewell".

But honestly, now I think it is something we should not and are not supposed to decipher. In my eyes, it was Suwon's attempt to have just one thing, one word that would not be scrutinized and broken down to pieces by the people that watch him with no regard to his agency. The only thing we break down is the unintelligible form of it. I'm sure that we are not wrong to think it was something along the lines of a "Farewell", but I can't help but feel like it's not right to take even that from them now. This page is also the trigger that makes Hak understands that their entire convo was in itself a performance that Suwon directed from the start and aimed at people looking at them (the shadows and the audience), and the real message that he conveys only to Hak and not the shadows is that he is giving him and Yona a chance to escape and never return, despite the fact it goes directly against what he told him clearly in their conversation. I think this is what breaks Hak's heart too then, and why Hak realizes that he indeed can't dream of walking on the same path as Suwon anymore. Because Suwon will keep performing a role that will constrain him this way and make him hurt Yona and Hak. That this is maybe the path awaiting them too. The best way is to escape from it when it's not too late. It is too late at this point for Suwon though, or so he thinks. Suwon is self-aware that he can't discard them by this point, so to me this is him trying to negociate these feelings of his (by leaving them one chance to leave) with his role and constraints as a King in this complicated, indirect way.

It's very telling afterwards how the moment from chapter 243 Hak remembers is Suwon's final word that we can't read, whereas for the shadows it is the moment he tells Hak he will make Yona the next ruler. The unreadableness of the former and the enhanced size of the text in the latter...yeah. Suwon's words removed from their full context often are enhanced like that, aren't they?

Suwon is at the same time forced and not allowed to change. He is at the intersection of clashing expectations. It is bad whether Suwon follows his role perfectly or whether he breaks out of it a little and tries something different. Suwon is cruel to Yona and Hak and should die for his actions, or Suwon is too nice and submitting to Yona and Hak (and the larger narrative). No matter what Suwon says and does, it will cause discourses after discourses from both those supporting him and those against him. It is cruel, because people around him are changing and looking him differently than before, whether it's good or bad. In chapter 242, he acts out perfectly as the determined and pragmatic King he is as always, yet now even Geuntae doesn't seem satisfied. Suwon, because of Yona's influence on the people and world around them, has also no other choice but to adapt to these changes in some ways, yet characters like the shadows that refuse any change from 10 years ago stand against it. Again, then chapter 243 to me is Suwon's way to still perform his role as expected from others by negociating with all these sides in some ways. But it's really so complicated, isn't it? And in the end, a chapter like 243 was painful and upsetting for everyone.

I read many people say that Suwon was not here enough in the castle arc and it was annoying that Keishuk was so much present instead, and I remember very well how desperate I was to see him more by then, but it makes sense too, no? After all, Suwon didn't want to be seen. By showing himself as little as possible only in the moments he knows he can perform well, he was still somewhat in control of what people saw of him. The illness made it that Suwon could just not perform more than he did. He didn't want anyone and especially not Yona and Hak to try to see him beyond the performance, yet they kept getting closer and closer, pushing Suwon to hide himself away more and more too.

Suwon knew very well that the second he came out in the open he was closely looked at, by Shin-ah of course, but Shin-ah is only the best example of this general feeling of being watched and judged I think. This is Suwon's interpretation of Shinah's gaze, and I'm sure there is part of truth in it but I think it is also heavily influenced by Suwon's own feelings. Suwon was judged and followed for isolating Yona when she learned of the illness and for imprisoning Hak, but those were things he was only /indirectly/ the cause of. Of course, Suwon didn't do anything to go against them and it was his responsibility this way, he knew and had the authority to decide different, but what I mean is it portrays very well how Suwon is aware, /feels/ the way others scrutinize him ever since he killed Il for every single negative (direct and indirect) consequences of all he does and is. He will never be free from it. People will never let go, even when Yona and Hak do. I think the wound on his shoulder or the pain of his illness he doesn't act on enough are also symbols of that. His present shoulder wound is the literal trace and scar of Shinah's gaze on him in chapter 249, and Suwon is okay with carrying it.

It's not like the story has never let us enter Suwon's mind before recently, after all the narrative doesn't strictly follow only Yona's POV, but Suwon from the beginning was still generally a character seen from the outside by others rather than followed from inside. All these iconic scenes of characters looking at him, whether it's only his back or in the eyes are very much about that. These scenes serve to show how Yona (and Hak) is the subject of the story and will always watch him and what he does, the way Suwon watched Il for 10 years. It also serves to confirm to him that they hate him and wants him to die, etc...

It is very interesting too that the majority of flashbacks we have of him (outside of the one in chapter 11 and some bits of ch1/185) are never from Suwon's POV, but from others and how they perceived Suwon and felt about him then. Hak in particular. Even the diary arc is not from his POV. It is always about the conflict between the characters' first impressions of him and other sides of him revealed to them later on. Suwon to characters and to readers alike is like a puzzle we try to resolve, picking him up piece by piece. Each POV about Suwon is important because he is seen differently by each character, they all see different parts of him and reveal new things about him in reaction.

But this is precisely where we differ from the characters individually and what makes the larger narrative not solely about Yona's subjectivity. As readers we can assemble each piece in a way characters, even Yona, cannot. Moreover, we are also shown some bits from his own POV that no one else inside the story get to see. That's why honestly...I don't see Suwon as a puzzle to piece together since a long time. Of course we don't know and maybe don't understand everything about him, but the characters' struggle to understand him is quite different from readers' position when they judge him one way or the other, in my eyes. The only way I can make sense of why the story would go out of its way to narrate things about Suwon only to us when he is a character all about being shown and seen, is that at the end of the day the larger narrative is and was never against Suwon, its scope includes him too, we are made to feel for him as well. It is only so hard with Suwon because he himself doesn't let us and has circumstances that doesn't allow him that. Akatsuki no Yona is very much about Yona's subjectivity above all, but not fully and totally either and it cares about other characters as well (whether it does it well or not is another topic), and the existence of a character like Suwon we are shown glimpses of the interiority of from the very first volumes highlights this well, I think.

Despite this, the characters' struggle didn't end. And that's where the nuance between what the larger narrative of Akatsuki no Yona tells us about him and what Suwon as a character-narrator shows and tells us is meaningful. Suwon is a fictional character that depends on a bigger narrator and author of course, but there are several layers of narration in comics art, some which embrace the mind and subjectivity of one chosen character and making them "independant", agent of what they show and tell.

When we are shown what Suwon thinks in chapter 217 or in chapter 221 for example, I don't think it was that Suwon as a character wanted to be seen, but only that he was breaking and vulnerable in a way that made these bits showable to us. The fact we see Suwon's thoughts is a representation of Suwon's emotional state. It's not something Suwon has agency over at his own level. He is not a narrator in those moments, but a character being shown.

More precisely, Suwon did try to resist the narrative in chapter 217. Inner monologues in comics and especially in shoujo manga can be represented in different ways and have different functions. In chapter 217, there is a visual contrast between the thoughts that "float" on the pages, his personal lingering feelings for hurting Yona, and the thoughts in the black boxes, that have him rationalize the situation. Generally, monologues in text boxes are said to be a more objective level of narration (I get this from the "How to draw shoujo manga" book by Shigeki Suzuki, a former editor for Dessert's magazine).

Obviously, Suwon is not objective here, but it represents his attempt to affirm his authority on what is told and narrated, his control on feelings he doesn't want to acknowledge and to get out in the open. He tries to be a narrator. The metaphor of a box that opens against his will is then perfectly fitting. There are the words typed in text boxes, and the words out of these boxes. In the very next page, the boundary between panels and text boxes is blurred thanks the magic of shoujo manga composition. The first two vertical panels could very much be text boxes on their own, and what he says in them is still him being pragmatic and rationalizing what he has to do. Yet, as we see, Hak is now in these boxes as well. It breaks the illusion of Suwon as a character-narrator here (which was already hinted at by the choice to make the bg of the text boxes so dark). He can't control his thoughts from going towards Yona and Hak, he is not showing that willingly.

What we see inside Suwon is him still performing the best he can. It's him trying to convince himself and push himself to fulfill his duties with no hesitation. It's still not all of him, there are still things that he tries desperately to hide and keep deep deep inside of discarded boxes. Inside and outside, he has to be the perfect pragmatic King his role ask, so all that is shown has to be that. He can't allow himself to be anything else, he has to shut off and erase any trace of different voices in his heart. Yona, by being a person that expresses and voices out her feelings more, brings these feelings Suwon doesn't want to show on the page, she shows them to us. Seen like that, Yona can maybe thematically be a representation of Suwon's repressed feelings.

(A bit differently but similarly, it is a similar process in chapter 221 where this time Suwon can't barely try in any effective way to narrate what he's thinking, what we see as panels and text boxes make no difference anymore, until it blows up for good when he has this flashback of Hak and Yona from chapter 11 and realizes he can't discard them. )

So, Suwon is a character that is shown to us in several ways. One, there is how he is seen from the outside, the way characters perceive what he shows to them or what is shown about him to them. This is the layer Suwon has the most control on in a way (even if not totally), as his position in the story makes him very conscious of his obligation to perform because people are watching him. He shows his full control and flexibility of his image in the ways he willingly pretends to be more naive and weaker than he really is to Geuntae, Soojin and Li Hazara for example. He plays with others' expectations and perception of him. Outside, Suwon is already full aware of how he is supposed to present himself, he already knows what is going to be shown or not for the most part. He allows himself to break out of character when he knows no one else watches him, which are the rare moments the narrative can show him when he's not performing. As the story advances however, these moments become much rarer as he is watched closely by more and more characters in his privacy.

On the other hand, there is how the higher narrative tries to show us his emotional state, his point of view and feelings. It is inherently something he as a character is very against of ever since he became King. Even then, what is shown to us at several occasions is Suwon's failure in showing us what he wants to show, instead having taken from/out of him what he doesn't want to reveal. The Crimson Illness is an interesting metaphor for it I think. It can easily be interpreted as a visible manifestation of Suwon's already existing struggles, after all. The Crimson illness makes all that is hidden visible to others. It gives it physical symptoms. Again and again, his illness and bloodline are revealed to others against his will. The illness is the crack to the performance Suwon tries to maintain as a strong King. It makes him vulnerable, forcing him to depend more on others. It breaks his role and how he wants others to see him. He wants to be seen as strong and independant and in control, but he can't control his episodes and when he is shown in a frail condition. It brings out what is inside, it makes his repressed thoughts visible to us readers as well, it's the reason why the narrative shows us his inner struggles more closely.

Suwon can only somewhat control and influence what is shown outside, which why I think he showed himself so little in the castle arc as an attempt to show himself only when he's in an "acceptable" state for it. In the end, he still pushes himself more than necessary when he has no other choice (and because he doesn't want to rely more on the people around him). However, after the South Kai arc Suwon knows important development. From then, Suwon has no choice but to face things for real : His is sick, heavily weakened and disabled by it, and is going to die soon. In parallel, he also acknowledges he can't discard Yona-Hak, and that he can and has to rely on them for Kouka's sake.

Chapter 243 is the very first time (Minsu aside I imagine, but we are not shown that) that Suwon himself tells someone directly about his bloodline and his illness. As said before, chapter 243 is an entire performance, but it's one where he got to choose the person he wanted to say these things to. However there is still a gap between what Suwon wants to show to Hak and what he doesn't want to show to others. The chapter is still framed not from Suwon's POV at all. Suwon has no privacy, even in a scene initially presented to be only between the two of them. The idea that at this point Suwon is allowed any privacy is unreliable framing influenced by Hak's flawed POV. Hak by then is not yet really aware of the existence and purpose of Suwon's personal bodyguards in detail. Suwon can convey messages undirectly, but because he still has to show himself a certain way to characters like the shadows he's not allowed to show things explicitely. He can only be seen through others' eyes, forced to rely neither on the images nor the text typed and shared by the narrator(s), but instead on the subtext and unintelligible scribblings. Suwon is still bound by the vow the Shadows made to themselves 10 years ago, but freed at the end by the vow bounding Hak to him. To Hak alone he can share his truth : that he can't and won't respond to his expectations, nor that he is only what he shows as King to others. No one else might understand, but he trusts Hak can get the message.

Then Suwon is attacked by Shinah, and at first we were not shown at all what Suwon was thinking and feeling. The second he wakes up in chapter 256, he leaves that behind him and thinks as a King again. However something important changed, obviously he still has people around him he has to act a certain way for, but the shadows are no more. The people left around him are more flexible and actually rejoice that Suwon decides to retreat. They don't know it was partly motivated by lingering feelings for Yona and Hak, but they're still more flexible and allows Suwon more privacy and agency.

So it brings us again to chapter chapter 261/262, which are to me the very first occurence of Suwon being allowed to be a character-narrator where he gets to truly show and tells his own story. Showing instead of being shown. Showing the experience and feelings of being seen. Chapter 262 doesn't only highlight the importance of gaze in Suwon's character, but is meaningful by making Suwon himself show it to Hak, and to us readers by proxy. This is what makes Suwon and Hak's interactions in this chapter so so important. Suwon, as already established, is still resolved to perform his duties as King until the very end. That's why he still doesn't show himself bare in front of the people of Kuuto, Mundok or Lili. He still has to be a strong King that inspires confidence and reassurance to them. He can't show that he is actually chronically ill and severely wounded. What citizens expect from the King is to be strong enough to withstand, resist, and win against all the disasters they face.

But when it's only Hak and Suwon alone next, Hak is of course annoyed. There is no one on the rooftop of the collapsing palace to watch and judge them. Suwon doesn't have to keep his armor, his King costume, and keep performing in front of him, acting like his wound doesn't hurt him this much and that he's perfectly collected. The shadows are no more, they're isolated from the city. Hak as we can see with chapter 200 or 224 is annoyed by all these roles and formalities and always go against them. This is what makes Hak free. Hak goes wherever he wants to be, will play any role needed to get there and let go of them when they get on his way. Hak says he sucks at letting go, but in a way he is much better at letting go of these things than Suwon is, even when he doesn't have to keep them.

Something interesting in this scene, as already pointed out by others, is the intent behind making Hak order Suwon to undress. Despite his tone, he still doesn't undress Suwon forcibly to then show him to all of us against his will, but encourages Suwon to act upon it himself. He is frustrated by Suwon's own passivity in regard to himself. Suwon has to ask for Hak's help, but it is still triggered by Suwon's own will. Hak forces Suwon to ask for the support he needs in order to have agency. Showing himself is difficult for Suwon, both literally because of his wound and emotionally because he is not used to it, so Hak helps him for it. Of course, the act of removing his armor and letting go of his father's sword is also when Suwon at long last can stop just performing as the King character he is supposed to be. Finally, through his trust in Hak, he can truly and openly show something different to us readers too.

Then Suwon talks about himself. Not just facts and objective information like he did in chapter 243, but how he feels and what /he/ sees. Finally, Suwon tells and shows.

This spread is one of my favorite of all times I think, because it just encapsulates everything I'm trying to explain with this post. Suwon is undeniably a character-narrator in this scene because of how he shows willingly and literally to someone else what he saw and felt, making this moment surreal. After all, it should be impossible for Hak to see that. The text in this spread is typeset like is any inner monologue and is not in speech bubbles. Hak, by the rules of narratology in comics is not supposed to hear any of it. They are thoughts inside of Suwon. However the last panel showing the bottom part of Hak's face seems to imply that Hak very much sees and hears it all. Hak here is in our exact position as reader, able to see, read, feel what Suwon is sharing inside of him. It's not something brought to the outside taken from him for it to be broken down, scrutinized and judged by others. Instead, Suwon makes us come to him inside. It is something incredibly private and intimate Suwon shows in full spread to Hak and us alone. It is precious. Suwon's narration transcends narrative layers to reach Hak's senses and ours at the same time. It represents how Shinah in dragon form is watching him, but by doing so he is very much the one to show himself and Shin-ah. It is not a first person narration where we would see things through his eyes, but a third person one, above. As a character-narrator, Suwon is obviously not at the top of the narrative hierarchy and Kusanagi is the one making all these narrative and laying out choices, but here, she lets Suwon carry the role of teller and shower. In chapter 249, she decided against showing that to us directly like she showed how he felt in chapter 221. She willingly gave Suwon the time and space to do it himself when he was ready to, to the person of his choice alone.

As Hak says at the end of chapter 262, Suwon can choose another path instead of repeating the same complicated one. As we've seen, his role as King indeed puts him in an overcomplicated and messy position where he has to jungle between clashing expectations and duties and his own feelings, making everyone and him first hurt in the end. From then on, Suwon can try another path for real.

In that same chapter before he removes his armor, Suwon also tells Mundok that he can't possibly influence the Heavens. So here, I have a final interpretation about this:

Aren't the Heavens the representation for a higher narrative layer? They're the ones making the "final" judgment and punishing characters or not, they're the ones making (one layer of) the narrative of the story through the prophecy. They can't be touched and reached for, they're in another world above the characters. Suwon is well aware that he is only a character with a defined role in the narrative, so to him, there is only so much he can do and it's pointless to fight against it. In chapter 268, Suwon says again that there's nothing he can do since they're not people. The Gods are the ones seeing and showing everything.

It is perfectly illustrated in chapter 268 with Yona. Yona didn't want to make it about Hak at all, she doesn't want to involve him in any of this, and doesn't openly mention and express her feelings for him inside the chalice because it is not her focus and priority then. Yet the Gods show everything against Yona's will and to her despair. They bring out and show her and us a majority of moments Yona shared with Hak, many that were supposed to be only with the two of them. But like the Shadows with Suwon, the Gods were always watching. Yona was able to make her own decision and was resolved to leave the chalice with the dragons before they brought this up in chapter 267. It is something shown about her and against her, they take from her any agency she had, she is trapped. Similarly to Suwon in chapter 221, she is forced to face feelings she underestimated the paralyzing power of.

However, I'd argue that Yona still managed to bring the Gods closer to us, at least from the invisible higher layer they were on the narrator hierarchy of the story to a layer inside the narrative. Again, she brought them on the page, she made them real, she made them characters and more "human". They're still entities with the power to show, but also visible characters that can be changed and talked with: they literally can be moved and influenced. Yona and Zeno showed them to us, in the sense of making them visible and revealing them to us readers. Maybe the way they treat Yona is their reaction against it, unconsciously. After all, bringing them on the pages of the story forced them to face their contradictions, it is threatening them. Unfortunately, by chapter 268 it still didn't strip them of their powers and ability to control the other characters' narrative.

But I think Suwon perfectly understood all of this. Suwon now has the power to show his perspective. Even if the Gods aren't people, he is free to choose the way he frames how he is seen and watched with his own subjectivity. He is now a subjective character, not only an objective (in the sense of being object) one. That's why his plan depends on getting the Gods' full attention on him. This page is so similar from Shinah looking at him in chapter 262 for a reason. Suwon now gets more control and freedom in what he can show and tell. Suwon literally brought the Gods down to us and showed them. It's not like Yona climbing up to them. Suwon has the power to influence the Heavens and the narrative, because Suwon is not only his static character role, but a character that can change and who we can openly feel for. He won't submit to the Dragon Gods' narrative like he was resigned to before. He is the narrative too. Like Yona or Hak or any other character we ever followed is. Akatsuki no Yona is a story about characters and their feelings, and Suwon can now fully embrace his power in it.

So I find the resonance between Suwon's developing agency in the narrative and the way readers engage with him really interesting. I guess Kusanagi didn't expect Suwon to be controversial the way he is to this day when she started the story and created him, but I like how she discusses it in the story and tied it so beautifully with his character arc. I said about chapter 243 that we shouldn't try to decipher Suwon's message, but actually I don't think that's true. I don't think Kusanagi is that pessimist about her readers. Sure, we see as much as the Shadows or as the Dragon Gods do but we're not them either. The characters share so much with us too, like seen in chapter 262. I think the story simply wants to encourage us to question how we engage with the characters and what we expect from them by representing caricatures of extreme fandom opinions (that can be pretty prevalent and very vocal unfortunately). Suwon himself was always a character we were encouraged to decipher, I think. Otherwise it would mean not trying to understand him at all because he played the role of an antagonist (or whatever he can be called) anyways, which is incredibly sad. I think we were always encouraged to resist against that and try to understand him despite his own resistance. Suwon needed to learn that it's okay to be vulnerable and show us, and that it won't make him less loved and cared for.

Suwon will probably always be a character that is scrutinized and judged in and outside the story, it keeps being so despite all recent developments. But today I am convinced that nor Suwon on his level as a character, nor the narrative will keep making him a character that is forever only seen by others anymore. Now we will see what Suwon sees and feels what he feels, he will show us. He will influence the Heavens and shake the narrative itself I'm sure, he will bring them all down to us.

I love you Suwon <3

[windmill-for-the-land]

Finished the Netflix Devil May Cry show a couple hours ago and i think i've finally collected my thoughts about it (Spoiler Warning and a kinda long post)

TL;DR Pretty good but the second season is going to either make or break this show, it depends on it to flesh out its characters, and fix the concerns raised up by its cliffhanger ending.

To start, i think the show is a fair 7/10, I really enjoyed it, the action scenes and animations were great(even if the cgi got pretty bad on a few of them, specially on Agni and Rudra at certain moments),the songs always fit in very well with the scene, and the licensed music choices were really good, the story and voice acting were pretty nice too, they got Dante's character pretty well in the show which is great and the 6th episode was simply beautiful!(even if what it depicted didn't feel very devil may cry but we'll get to it)

But the show has a fair bit problems(most of which i think can and will be solved in season 2 but we'll see) that hold it back from being REALLY good instead of pretty good or okay.

One of the biggest problems being Lady's adaptation in the anime.

When i saw that she was going to take a very important role in the anime i was HYPED, she is easily one of my favourites, constantly fighting with Nero over who is my number three favourite. Unfortunately, her character in the netflix show ended up being pretty shallow for the most part while also barely feeling like the character she is supposed to be. They did a good job on her backstory in the shows universe(plus arkham is totally alive since he didn't die on screen in her flashback, which is great because it means there could be a possible take on the dmc 3 plotline in one of the seasons that would develop her as character), my problem with her is the way she acts throught the main story, her swearing like a sailor is already pretty disappointing, something i like about dmc is that the characters rarely ever use profanitys, making it so that a line like nero's fuck you in dmc 5 actually feels impactful and cool, meanwhile in the show, she says either fuck or shit in every sentence and it felt ridiculous, not like her at all, i was already so sick of it by episode 4 or 5, it felt like a forced attempt to try make her sound cooler and justify this show being for adults(much like castlevania).

But more importantly, her arc in the show feels unsatisfying, i understand that her arc is clearly not complete, it is certantly going to continue in season 2 with her leaving darkcom, throwing that ugly-ass armor away and rescuing dante, and that's fine, i dont think every character should have their entire arc in only 8 episodes, but the main focus of the first season was on Lady (I'd say 60% Lady 40% Dante, which sucks because this is a pretty good version of Dante that NEEDED more screentime), and she barely changes by the end of it. She starts out blindly following darkcoms orders and being a dick to dante, and ends still following their orders and hurting Dante, but being slightly remorceful and unsure about it now, the only major change is that she doesnt hate every single demon anymore after her encounter with the hellIrefugees, and that she actually likes Dante and feels bad for doing that to him, although with season 2 hopefully finishing her arc, i think season 1 will become a little better retroactively.

Speaking of the hell refugees(i forgot their name sorry)

they were fine? I guess??

I get what they wanted to do, they wanted to add some moral greyness to Sparda's actions and flash out the demon world so that not everyone except Sparda is evil, therefore building on the theme of there being humans as wicked as any devil, and devils as kind as a human.

But since literally every demon in the show was working on the goal of freeing the weak devils from the demon world so they can have a better life, YOU END UP WITHOUT ANY ACTUALLY EVIL DEVILS IN DEVIL MAY CRY, which of course, isn't very good for an adaptation of a series based on slaying hundreds of demons every game. I think this is another complaint that can be remedied by season 2, if they show that the refugees are the exception, not the rule, and that the underworld is still packed full of stronger demons working for Mundus that willfully perpetuate the misery of the weaker ones, it would solve one of the most consistent complaints i hear about the show, that it humanizes the demons way too much, by answering these complaints with "Actually, these are just a portion of the demons, there a LOT classic 100% evil devil may cry demons, you just didnt get to see them in season 1!!"(also i think the demon world looks too much like an alien planet instead of the underworld, which i get that's what they're going for, but it really doesnt feel right in an adaptation of one of the best visual depictions of the underworld in videogames, specially in Dmc3, some of those sections look gorgeous, and the show is severely lacking in that gothic architecture.)

Also the U.S.A invading the demon world and DROPPING NUKES on the weak demon refugees in a analogy to real world US actions while American Idiot by Green Day plays in the background felt so on the nose and unfitting for dmc I couldn't take it very seriously, they went too hard on the "humans are the real monsters" side with little to no nuance, since they are depicted as more evil and malicious than any of the actual demons, plus it makes the regular humans have too much control, the demons in dmc should absolutely destroy the army, like in 5's opening scenes, with their only hopes being our protagonists, i REALLY hope that when season 2 drops they start with Vergil and Mundus' forces absolutely destroying the humans forces, to show that, sure they can arrest and bomb a bunch of weak demons who can barely survive on their own land, but when the powerful ones show up, they're out of their depth and are forced to rely on Dante and Lady.

Now,moving on to the storm shaped elephant in the room, Vergil.

He's got a total of like, a minute of screen time, but it was enough for a huge size of the fanbase to go up in flames about it, and honestly? i understand why, i don't agree with the assumptions that Vergils is absolutely be like that in this adaptation, but i get it, having Vergil on screen basically saying that he is voluntarely serving Mundus sounds sound insane and like a huge character assasination.

Buuuuuut, i think that's the point, its to make us question what is going on with Vergil, since at no point in time would he ever willingly work for Mundus. My theory is that instead of unlocking his devil trigger and escaping the attack on their home, in the show's universe, Vergil is captured and brought to hell as a child, likely being tortured or brainwashed by Mundus to align with him and make him blame Sparda and the human world, so it would basically make it so that Dmc1's corrupted Vergil shows up before anything else.

I really hope im right and this is the direction they're taking Vergil, because if he really is willingly serving Mundus and his Devil trigger is Nelo Angelo, it would be soooooo fucking bad that i could not defend the show anymore, it would be such a huuge character assasination and would turn Vergil from a hurt and tragic character, that copes with his feeling of powerlessness and guilt from not being able to protect his mother, brother and himself by becoming as powerful as possible to make sure he is NEVER in a situation like that again, no matter what and who it takes, into the stereotypical EVIL TWIN that simply does bad things, alongside the person who killed his mother and probably his father, and it would absolutely not fit with Dante and Vergil's dynamic AT ALL.

also before i get to my closing thoughs i just wanna say dante felt a little weak in it and that i feel like he didn't get enough spotlight in HIS OWN SHOW, like i know that he's waaay less experienced than any version of Dante from the games but omg he spent the entire show post episode 2 getting his ass kicked by lady and almost every single demon, even with devil trigger(speaking of which, having devil trigger from dmc5 playing during his devil trigger transformation while cool on concept, really doesnt fit since that song is VERY personal to Nero and doesnt fit Dante as well, plus i honestly didnt like the cover of the song used tbh but its not that big of a complaint.

In the end i really did enjoy the first season of Devil May Cry, and i am very hopeful and excited for the second season, the highs were really high, the animation was pretty amazing, loved the opening and every single one of the endings, and dante felt great, but I cant help but be worried for the future of this show, if the second season doesnt address some of these issues, SPECIALLY LADY AND VERGIL, it will really be like the castlevania netflix show, fun in isolation and with no knowledge of the source material, with a decent plot and some nice visuals and songs, but lacking severely in the core elements of the series they are adapting, making it that i cant help but dislike it a little, i really hope it turns out well since i want to really, REALLY LOVE this show, not to JUST like it or even dislike it.

[ilikekidsshows]

Something that really annoys me about the discourse around Chloe's character is that a lot of the points used to argue against her redemption are basically fanon.

"Chloe wasn't worthy of a miraculous" and "Marinette has no obligation to redeem her bully" are decent points in a vacuum, but they're utterly irrelevant when discussing canon because the show never puts them forward as Marinette's reasoning or even acknowledges the ideas in any way. On the contrary, it tries to claim Marinette did try to redeem Chloe!

No. The canonical reasons for why Chloe couldn't be Queen Bee anymore is because her identity was exposed and because Marinette was jealous of Kagami. Those are literally the only reasons the show presents.

Those arguments are the same as people claiming Marinette's actions in s4 was Chat Blanc trauma. They're headcanons papering over the holes in the writing to create a more logical and reasonable motivations so they can defend Marinette amd the show in general.

---

My hot take is that, even by the end of season 3, Chloé’s character arc could have gone either way. She could have eventually become a genuinely good person, because she showed potential for that as Queen Bee, but she could have also gone full villain because, while she wasn’t a villain yet, Ladybug had seriously wronged her in season 3. I didn’t see the season 3 finale as a definite ending for her arc.

The problem is that, as far as the writers were concerned, the season 3 finale might as well not have happened except for the part of Chloé finally losing the Bee Miraculous for keeps. Because, while she became more spiteful like one would expect after what happened, it wasn’t framed as a consequence of how Ladybug and Hawkmoth played with her emotions. The writers tried to insist that Chloé is just inherently evil and not someone who was raised wrong and then emotionally manipulated by two superpowered individuals in their fight against each other.

It’s the constant lack of consistency or commitment the writers have in anything they write that forces the fandom to constantly tape over characterization and plot holes with headcanons. It’s something that’s easy to start doing, you just think “well, this motivation makes sense with that established character trait,” but none of it is actually in the text. Some of it downright goes against what's established in the text, considering how season 4 repeatedly tore down any headcanons about Marinette actually giving a damn about Cat Noir.

Like, sometimes, it’s okay to leave character motivations up for interpretation, sometimes they’re obvious enough without spelling them out, but sometimes what characters do just makes no sense with what’s been established, and people jump from headcanons to downright fanon, stuff that has never even been as much as hinted at in canon but would explain something that happens. And when people see this fanon, they take it as canon and treat it as such.

[ryan-the-dark]

Keep in mind this is a fan of ToBecky speaking here about Tobey's... more negative traits and how toxic things can get:

Honestly rewatching WordGirl for about 4 years now I discovered why I don't like some of the ToBecky content in which is supposed to be depicted as a healthy relationship. The relationship is cute on concept but can go too far at times. I used to ship them like a crazy before I knew about Go Gadget Go. Even without it, episodes like Cherish is the Word shows very negative sides to Tobey.

Keep in mind, Scoops is one of Becky's friends. He cares about her a lot as shown multiple times in the show despite it not being romantic, and Tobey gets a pass in most of these stories for threatening him? No. He shouldn't. That means even with Tobey being nicer to Becky, he could still cross a line when it comes to her friends. When it comes to someone in a relationship, you have to respect your significant other and his/her friends. To put it bluntly, Tobey challenged Scoops and intended to go for the kill. He didn't show any reservations. Scoops logically should be scarred and hold Tobey in a darker light for that. Who wouldn't be? I know I would. If anything else, Scoops finding out about the gadget incident should be the final straw for his belief in Tobey's Redemption shattering, and it all bottles up. Furthermore, just think about what he would do if Becky continues communicating with Scoops and he doesn't change as a person?

Honestly, I like the few fics that deconstruct ToBecky and shows his negative sides before rebuilding it and allowing him to grow. He is usually on the offensive or defensive, barely ever in a reliant state when socializing with unknown variants. Tobey isn't really that big with relationships in general.

Many writers do have Becky become the element of force for Tobey's path to redemption because that is apparently what love is. While its nice for her to consider it and help guide him, this is dangerous for Becky, and Tobey will still likely treat everyone else around them badly. In short, Becky is not and should never be obligated to redeem Tobey or help him. As WordGirl, she is obligated to prevent crime as it happens, not infiltrate and improve their lives.

Honestly, if anyone is more needed for help, it's Steven Boxleitner who literally is being controlled more than Tobey who makes more or less his own decisions but I digress.

In school, Becky merely tolerates him, but will joke around and have fun if he's acting normal. Tobey's own road to self improvement and redemption needs to be his own. He has to make these decisions. He needs to make the choice to apologize to WordGirl for that "Go Gadget Go" stunt and other incidents, Scoops for that challenge, and anyone else he threatened throughout the years. He needs to do it, not Becky. It's unfair to Becky that she's not able to be her own person because she has to enable him and help him when she already has so many things to worry about. That's where many fanfictions fail to mention, I should add. Characters have to make their own decisions.

I'm not saying ToBecky can't and shouldn't happen. I still ship them but I don't defer to that type of mindset where people pretend Becky has to pull a Luke Skywalker on him. In my opinion, Tobey's Redemption Arc should be like Prince Zuko's. I'm not saying his mother is evil and he needs to stand up to her but his arc should be about standing up to his inner demons. First, he should accept friendships. Second, he should still have temptations and struggle sometimes. It's a natural part of being a human who went down a dark path and is trying to make right. Third, he should right his past wrongs in one way or another. This is true for everyone, even Two Brains. Fourth, his whole world shouldn't be about WordGirl only. He should have friends, people who he is willing to let in. Fifth, he needs to love both sides of Becky, not just WordGirl. He needs to embrace her as a individual and understand that she also has positive and negative traits. Even if you going for a ToWordGirl angle which is perfectly okay then you have to make sure he still loves and accept Becky. He needs to see her as a person, not a thing. And then, finally, in my opinion, Tobey should get with her when she sees how he changed and the improvement he made and that he isn't the same boy who trapped her in a robot.

Redemption is mishandled so much imo. A redeeming character should not feel obliged for forgiveness. It should be an obligation given to them by those who they wronged. People all over the world have tragic pasts yet use it to better themselves. Justifying and rationalizing your actions as an excuse for why you did what you did isn't a good motivator. You have to take accountability for what you have done, seek to correct said errors, and forgiveness comes in time.

As said here:

[incognitotoro]

On Andor S2

I wanted so badly to love it (and to be fair I still haven't seen the final three episodes), and a lot of it i did love, the creep of facisim, Syril's arc, the wider rebellion stuff, Mon Mothma in particular waas just *chef's kiss*.

What I really did not like is Bix and Cassian's arc (and tbh the way their characters were written in general).

So, since i literally cannot get this out of my head right now, here's how i would have done it. Spoilers ahead.

Ok, so we start after ep 6, but with a time skip of a few weeks instead of a whole year.

Gorst is dead, and that helps, it helps a lot, enough to get Bix off the drops, but it doesn't fix her. She still gets nightmares, even settled and relatively stable on Yavin.

She works as a mechanic at the rebel base, and this is explicitly shown. Bix is brave and committed, but she recognises that she's a much better mechanic than she is a soldier, and at the end of the day what she wants is to help the rebellion any way she can. It's also not irrelevant that she knows her presence can be a big distraction to Cassian, and his overprotectiveness is a side of him neither of them likes.

As for Cassian, she knows what he does, she's seen it and she knows the necessity of it, but as time goes on it gets harder and harder to see him come home with that haunted look in his eyes and realise he's had to do something horrific that he can't ever talk about. Also she obviously worries about him doing such dangerous work, and it's particularly hard because no one can tell her any specifics, but since she's done so many missions with him she knows how bad it can get.

A brief conversation ensues between Bix and Vel (possibly over late night drinks, possibly including some very subtle sexual tension) about how shitty it is, even as an equally committed member of the rebellion, knowing your partner is off killing or getting killed.

"You'd think it'd be easier if you're with them, if you know what's going on-"

"But it's harder."

"Yeah. It's harder."

*both drink*

Cut to Cassian rescuing Wilmon from Saw Gerrera and only just getting out without shots being fired. Wilmon is grateful, but has bonded with a lot of Saw's people, and is unsettled that Cass might have hurt or killed other rebels just to get him out.

"I didn't need rescuing. They weren't hurting me, Cass,"

"They weren't letting you go either," he scoffs, piloting the ship and not meeting Wil's eyes, "Anyway the rebellion needs you."

"I can take care of myself, and we're all on the same side. Saw's people are fighting the same empire we are."

"I wish it was that simple."

"You sound like Luthen."

Cass stares, but now Wilmon won't look at him. Neither one says anything more.

Time passes, and Cassian and Bix start to drift apart. He goes on missions, becoming more withdrawn in the short time between them, and she keeps building and fixing comms equipment, making friends and becoming a fixture on Yavin. She's respected, she's useful in her own right, but it all seems to fade into the background when Cass returns and it's so tragically obvious how not-ok he is, but there's nothing she can do and they both know it.

They have an argument about something small and stupid, and they make up, but it's obvious nothing is really resolved.

Later Bix runs into Vel, who is just about to go on a smuggling run, her first real mission since Cinta died, she says she could really use a decent mechanic, someone she trusts. So Bix goes back, tells Cass she has a mission and she needs a bit of space anyway, so she'll see him in a week. You can see him almost protest that it's too dangerous, the impulse to protect her almost taking over, but he bites his tongue and nods. At least he trusts Vel more than most.

When Bix gets back to Yavin she finds out Cass has already been sent on another mission, not knowing when he'll be back, she heads back out with Vel. They miss each other a few more times, passing like ships in the night. They catch each other for a few hours at one point, and it's nice, it's comforting, but we get the strong sense from both of them that it's not the same.

At this point we take a break from the Bix/Cass thing and the political commentary and take a whole episode to do the K2 horror movie plot that they said they decided to cut. Cass is sent to retrieve a crippled Imperial freighter before they do and bring it back to Yavin. There are a few survivors but nowhere near enough to repair and fly this huge ship or put up any sort of resistance to Cass and his rebel team. They repair the ship and set off into deep space to stay off the radar. Little do they know there is a Kx droid left in the hold. Hunting and terror and death ensue (and at some point there's a trapped lothcat which miraculously survives as a reference to Aliens) until Cass and like one or two others survive and manage to kill it. They throw the pieces in the brig and haul the freighter back to Yavin.

When Cass gets back, he and Bix have a talk. It's sad and emotional and exhausting, but we get the impression that it's not exactly a shock to either one. They will always love each other, they will always be there for each other, but the relationship as it is just doesn't fit anymore.

Bix moves out to be a ships mechanic with Vel. She enjoys it more than she expected and they work well together. She and Cass share a look of melancholy mutual respect before she disappears into the ship.

AND NOW. We have Ghorman.

Wilmon turns up and tells him about Dedra being there, and Cassian bottles up his big sad brown breakup eyes and goes off to be an assassin.

And that's how I would do it.

[kradogsrats]

One Truth: The Nature of the True Heart

The Dragon Prince has long dealt with contrasts and tensions between idealism and pragmatism, particularly as a source for character conflict. From Harrow, Sarai, and Viren clashing over the Magma Titan to Callum, Ezran, and Rayla deciding whether to pursue killing Aaravos or securing his prison, principles weighed against practicality is a never-ending battle for the characters of this world and story.

Since the story never purports to give us the answers to the moral questions it poses, we as the audience are left to form our own opinions and judgements. One of those that is fairly consistent across a lot of the fandom is that Ezran is naive in his pacifism and reliance on negotiation. My opinion on this has largely always been "yeah, he's naive... but he's literally twelve years old and that's developmentally appropriate, even without the trauma."

We knew Ezran and his growth would be challenged in s7, but what we also got was a codification of that process as a tangible in-setting phenomenon: the true heart.

The true heart is described to Terry, Claudia, and us (the audience) as a way of seeing the world that is innocent and good-natured, without the complexities introduced by adult concerns. All children begin life with this worldview, but it is inevitably challenged over the course of their growth by situations that it cannot necessarily react to without being inherently altered.

It is possible, though rare, to hold on to the true heart past childhood into at least the beginning of adulthood—it is revealed to us that Terry is one who has, against all odds, retained his true heart. This allows him to read the map to the Garden of Innocents, the final resting place of unicorns. However, it's Ezran whose arc through s7 is most related to the true heart, as he confronts new challenges in the world around him as well as changes to himself and those he loves.

But what is a true heart? What does it actually mean to have one?

Simple and Clean: Language Surrounding the True Heart

First of all, I think the way the true heart is intended winds up being difficult to articulate properly because even the most neutral language used to describe it is loaded with baggage. Innocence, purity (though "pure" is a word used only by Kruha, who demonstrably struggles with human language), light and darkness, simplicity, and even childhood are all concepts that carry cultural connotations that skew our perception of what's being discussed.

In the heavily Christian-influenced culture of the West and USAmerica, the concepts of childhood, innocence, and simplicity in combination carry associations that become protectiveness, condescension, or dismissal. While childhood and innocence are valued as things that should be protected in those who have them, that leads adults to dismiss children as essentially lesser beings. Innocence and simplicity together are indistinguishable from naivete, another feature associated with a need for protection, but with a nice slice of contempt on the side. If you weren't so naive, you would have known better than to get hurt.

Finally, from a perspective saturated with Christianity, innocence is also conceptually inextricable from the concept of sin. Like, one of the central myths of Christianity is that the first humans were enticed to defy God and eat the forbidden fruit that granted knowledge of good and evil, which made them aware that their naughty sex parts and female-presenting nipples must be covered, which meant they had to be expelled from paradise into a world of struggle, pain, and death. This transgression was so severe that it tainted every human ever born, until a few thousand years later when God personally came to earth as a self-cannibalizing sacrifice to essentially pay bail on letting their souls into heaven. (This is a very serious and 100% theologically accurate summary, don't @ me.) As a result, we get fucking weird about innocence and its "loss."

The point is that in the setting, it's strongly suggested that there is no inherent "better" or "worse" to whether you have a true heart or not. You aren't morally superior for having one (though the nature of the true heart aligns more with compassion and openness, it doesn't have a monopoly on them), nor are you necessarily wiser or more mature for not. There are roles and circumstances where one might serve better than another—the likelihood of Ezran being able to continue indefinitely as king with a true heart has always been low, but an argument could definitely be made that his true heart was necessary to change the world, and the setting would not be what it now is without it. The true heart—as well as people who retain it into adulthood, like Terry—is a vital part of society, in that it inspires people toward an ideal. Terry calling out Claudia on her cruelty toward Rayla shames her enough to go back and correct it. Ezran giving up the crown in exchange for the safety of any moral dissenters within the Katolis army gives those dissenters space to take a stand—something crucial to their eventual victory.

So here's how I propose thinking about it in a way that's slightly less loaded with unnecessary associations: instead of innocence, the true heart is about faith. Specifically, an unwavering faith that people are inherently good. From that faith, several important conclusions are derived:

People are inherently good, therefore all people want the same or similar things both for themselves and for the world: peace, plenty, and community

People are inherently good, therefore if someone is intentionally doing things that hurt others, they either don't understand the impact of their actions or are lashing out as a result of fear or pain

People are inherently good, therefore treating everyone with dignity, respect, and compassion is the natural state of any society

These form the basis of the worldview and resulting behavior of those with true hearts.

The Tides are True: Depth and Complexity

Despite all of that, Aaravos describes the true heart in a fairly neutral manner to Claudia:

All children have a true heart. But as we grow up, we are forced to make choices, sacrifices, compromises. And they change us forever. Childhood innocence gives way to something... complicated.

and later to Terry:

The true heart is a gift of childhood. For a few wonder-filled years, we each have innocent eyes to experience the world's beauty in a simple way. I have seen generations of humans and elves accept the darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light. There is no black or white, only shades of gray. We must all carry complexity. But please believe me that there is beauty in this burden. Your heart will be a little heavier. But now, there will be no more half-truths.

In both explanations, he refers to what replaces the true heart—what we grow into—as "complicated." We learn to accept that nothing, including ourselves, is purely one way or another, but at some gradient point in-between that will be different from everyone else's. The words he uses—"light" and "darkness," "black or white," "shades of gray"—all carry strong connotations of a scale of morality, and the understanding that nothing can be fully good or fully evil, but is instead inevitably... complicated.

However, I think this is meant to be a little deeper than just that surface-level association to tie in with the overall light/dark and complex morality themes of the show overall. These are things we've heard in another context: of all the primal sources Callum could have focused on or arcana he could have unlocked in arc 2, there's a reason what we got was Ocean.

A better way to refer to the "darkness that lurks in all of us beside the light" is as those depths you can't see—it's not about good and evil, it's about clarity and obscurity. Simplicity and complexity. People, even people you love, aren't all the same. They don't all want the same things for themselves and the world.

There are depths within you that you may not see or understand, but even more so, there are depths in others that you will never see or understand. Even if someone is only lashing out because they're hurting, there are hurts you cannot heal. There are people who will refuse to allow their hurts to heal. There are people (and by people I mean Aaravos) who would rather make the entire world hurt along with them than ever allow themselves to heal. You can't heal these people for them. It's beyond your control, and all you can do is respond appropriately to their actions and mitigate the harm they do.

When you accept that, you will treat those people differently. You may decide to keep trying, but with the knowledge that it will be an uphill battle of strategy, compromise, and progress so slow that few will recognize your work as worthwhile. You may decide not to waste your time and effort on them anymore, and focus your attention on doing a broader range of good more efficiently than struggling to change a single heart or mind. You might decide to make them the enemy, and purposefully antagonize them because you are hurting, too—maybe even because of them.

The point is that there is now "us/me" and "them," and that's what's antithetical to the true heart. You can't fix everything simply by reaching the part of them that's the same as you. You will have to compromise.

A Just King: Ezran's True Heart

Before examining Ezran's true heart arc in s4-s7, I want to point out a much earlier, and perhaps unexpected, appearance of a textbook child's true heart:

Yes, back in s1e2, Callum had a true heart. (By the standards with which I'm describing it, at least.) Where did it go? When did it go? Someone more interested in Callum could probably write a very long essay about that. You could probably make a case that being possessed by Aaravos the first time is the final vestiges sliding away.

This also highlights my personal theory that the true heart of childhood is not usually lost in a single, all-or-nothing event. It's like losing your baby teeth—under normal circumstances, it happens one or two at a time over the course of a few years, until you've Ship of Theseus-ed your whole mouth. (Also, in contrast to things like "losing" your virginity, there's no weird purity or moral connotations to it. It is a completely normal thing that happens to everyone as part of growing up.) However, it's also possible to have some, a majority, or even all of your baby teeth traumatically knocked out of your head at once.

Oh, wait.

Let's roll back a bit, first. Ezran's arc, like... well, everyone's, gets its initial setup in s4. In fact, it kicks off s4: the major event starting the season is Zubeia's visit to Katolis, which is clearly one of Ezran's first big initiatives toward not just peace, but potential unification.

In the lead-up to Zubeia's visit, Ezran's true heart is on full display in his behavior and the assumptions he's making:

Zubeia is a good person, and good people will understand and accept that both she and other dragons should be treated as friends.

Everyone will approach this meeting with open hearts, because everyone wants to grow toward peace and understanding.

Even when the meeting, where he is honoring the Dragon Queen in the final resting place of human kings and queens, no small number of whom (including his own mother) were killed by dragons, is sabotaged by a relatively mild act of vandalism, look at his response:

The person who did this is obviously lashing out because they are hurting—they are angry, and that anger needs to be soothed. He affirms that he and the people are the same, inside. They are all angry and in pain... but, like him, they all want to not be angry and in pain anymore, and understand that the way to do that is to move forward.

This is not to say that he's wrong, or even ineffective—he speaks from his true heart, in a poignant call to both himself and his people to acknowledge the past while looking to the future, and to reach for that future in every way they can instead of clinging to the hate of the past. It's a key scene for all of arc 2, and one that is returned to over and over again, thematically.

However, it's also a point where he demonstrates how his true heart leaves him ill-equipped to approach Rex Igneous's selfishness, or Sol Regem's hatred, or even Karim's petty arrogance... much less the shit Aaravos has going on.

(Speaking of Sol Regem... he not only refuses to be healed, but instead demands to be remade into an engine of indiscriminate death and destruction. He really does out-bitter Aaravos, on occasion.)

Then s7 hits, and two things happen: Katolis is destroyed, and Runaan is returned to the living world. Well, both of those technically happen in s6, but Ezran actually has to deal with them in s7.

For all that Katolis being destroyed sets Ezran on a path toward the complex politics and morality of nuclear deterrence, it's really the situation with Runaan that both tests and exemplifies Ezran's true heart. Aaravos's initial explanation of the true heart ("Childhood innocence gives way to something… complicated.") is directly overlaid on Ezran's dealing with the aftermath of Callum helping Rayla and Runaan escape the Banther Lodge. I don't think Ezran ever really expected to have to deal with Harrow's killer, since Runaan is presumed dead, so he's unprepared to be confronted with it—particularly given that he has convinced himself he's over it, when he really isn't. He's tested both in suddenly facing a person he can't see as good, deep down. Runaan wasn't lashing out because he was hurting or scared, nor can Ezran conceive of them wanting the same things. There's also the sense of betrayal at Callum and Rayla differing so deeply from his own reaction, when they were previously so in tune—literally banding together despite being born on opposite sides of a millennia-old war, because they recognized the goodness in each other and that they all wanted peace.

Ezran's reaction to Runaan is definitely affected by what happens to Katolis—he's denied not only any kind of justice for Sol Regem's attack, but any explanation. Runaan's fate is something he can ostensibly control, in a situation where he feels both responsible and powerless. Now, an entire separate post could be done about s7's recurring exploration of punitive versus restorative justice through Rayla's trial, Ezran and Runaan, Janai and Karim, Terry, and (as always) Aaravos, but to briefly recap part of my meta on Terry's true heart and growth: Terry, in being challenged during s7, comes to realize that even if he chooses to continue holding to his true heart's faith in the world and others, he is complicit in the harm Claudia and Aaravos have done, and he feels compelled to start doing the work to repair that harm as much as he can. While he hasn't necessarily done anything that would warrant punitive justice, he recognizes that truly doing good requires work and effort, and sometimes doing difficult things. There's not really anything Runaan can (knowingly) offer to make right what he did, beyond his confession that he has come to realize everything he believed at the time was wrong, and he did grievous harm to Ezran that night. However, in that confession, he says something crucial:

Ezran's true heart led him to rule in a way that changed the world for the better, moving toward an unprecedented era of peace—something that, to Runaan's eyes, required a great deal of strength to put aside completely legitimate pain and grievances that could have easily rekindled millennia of war. (See also: "It's a strong name" in that Terry meta.)

I think it's in part because of that reminder—the description of the kind of person and king he wants to be—that Ezran chooses compassion and working toward forgiveness with Runaan. He's not choosing the true heart as a core part of his identity the way Terry does, but his own past true heart inspires his current self to make a decision that's right, but also hard. As with Terry, he is discovering that goodness can take work—true, concerted effort to both determine and follow the right path.

Does Ezran retain his true heart throughout s7? I don't know. I don't think it's entirely as simple as a yes/no state, and he has definitely lost some of his earlier confidence and beliefs. Ultimately I'm not sure it matters. He took a solid punch to the mouth, but either way... it seems like he's going to come out of it okay.

Not Worthy: Claudia's Skewed Perception

And now, a final tangent.

All that stuff I said earlier about a true heart not making you better or worse, and its "loss" being morally neutral? Well, there's at least one person who doesn't see it that way.

In s7, Claudia's inability to read the map and Terry leaving her (as she knew he would, when he learned the truth about her and her behavior) both contribute to the insecurities she has carried for most of her life. Claudia derives most of her self-worth from being very good at dark magic, and therefore loses emotional stability when either she "fails" at something magic-related or dark magic itself is questioned.

This is an interesting connection, because the true heart and/or its loss isn't inherently linked to dark magic. A true heart doesn't shrivel and die at your first dark magic spell, but it's inevitable that the practice of dark magic will at some point become impossible to reconcile with the core beliefs of the true heart simply because they're inherently incompatible... you can't see sapient magical creatures as "people" the same as you and as resources for spell ingredients. So while it's not surprising that Claudia no longer has her childhood true heart, it's not necessarily because of her dark magic... and yet, some part of her perceives it as an indictment against her.

We also know exactly where she probably internalized that view:

Puzzle House is actually where we first encounter the concept of the true heart, as a yes/no state that allows you to access the map to the Garden of Innocents. Kruha, the map's guardian, doesn't ascribe any moral value to being able to see the map or not—noting that he, himself, is "too old" to see it, anymore. However, a single note from Kpp'Ar, combined with her own insecurities at a point of emotional turmoil in her life—her mother has left her, Kpp'Ar has (apparently) left her, she's acting out by attempting increasingly complex self-taught magic and keeps getting in trouble because of it—lead even a 7-year-old Claudia to question whether she might also be unable to see it due to being "not good."

We still don't know why Kpp'Ar was seeking the Garden of Innocents and what caused his "change of heart," but if it's at all comparable to Viren's experience, he was going through The Horrors(tm)—it's not surprising that he'd indulge in a little self-loathing in what's meant to be a private note. Claudia, meanwhile, has her faith in him as a mentor figure she wishes to emulate shaken—he imprisoned Kruha, keeping him collared like an animal, away from his home and family. She knows that's wrong, and struggles to reconcile the Kpp'Ar she knew with someone who would do that. If Kpp'Ar is somehow bad, and she didn't know, could she also be bad and not realize it?

This is particularly interesting to me because she doesn't have this crisis when Viren quits dark magic, even when he explicitly tells her he led her down the wrong path. She does question whether she should also quit dark magic, but it's from the perspective of "it seems like it might have done him a lot of good, emotionally... maybe I should also try it?" rather than "my dad thinks I'm evil, actually," or even "my dad explicitly said he hopes I'll take a different path, one day... am I betraying him if I don't?" She's remarkably chill about it, though to be fair, she's probably still in a state of emotional shock and dissociation. She gets progressively more sensitive about it again during s7, particularly as she receives validation from Aaravos.

Anyway, just a little window into which little wheels are spinning in Claudia's head when she insists she hasn't changed:

I'm sure that won't be significant as she starts her Dragon Girl Summer (and Autumn, and Winter, and Spring).

[saberamane]

So you're DEEP in the Jaydick right now huh. Got any headcanons/a ramble you've been waiting on an excuse to share?

So, I'm gonna start with a bit of a ramble concerning the story arcs/characterizations I've seen in actual clips from shows.

Full disclosure, I know nearly nothing about batman or DC comics in general. When I was a kid I watched the 'Teen Titans' show, but didn't know much of anything about the backgrounds or lore of the characters.

So first off:

My god, I did not know just how much I'd hate batman as a person once I actually saw clips from the animated shows and excerpts from comics.

So Dick Grayson (Nightwing/ First Robin) saw his parents die, Bruce takes him in, allows him to be a crime fighter, fighting people willing to kill him. As a child. But then as he gets older, more mature both mentally and physically, and fully capable of fighting crime alone, Bruce still tries to control him as if he were still a child. That just blows my mind. You'll let a child fight crime, but you wont let an adult think for himself and do things how he thinks they should be done? That's so controlling.

Now the next bit:

Dick takes up the mantle of Nightwing to get away from Bruce and gain some freedom. So Bruce finds another kid to be Robin. Like, why? Why do you need a child to be your sidekick? Why are you endangering children with being a vigilante?

Also, from what I am to understand, the name Robin was deeply personal to Dick, as well as the costume/colors of the Robin suit. And you put another boy in that name and costume without even talking to Dick about it?

So here comes Jason Todd, Robin the second. A troubled kid, orphan, and Bruce takes him in to be robin because he sees how angry Jason is with the world due to his life circumstances, and he figured he'd have Jason fight crime because otherwise he'd just be a problem? Like, you could have adopted the kid and not made him a vigilante? You could have found him a normal home and family, sponsored him for schooling? There was no way he had to become Robin...

And in doing this, Jason dies by the hand of Joker before Bruce can save him.

And then there's a movie called 'Under The Red Hood' where Jason has somehow come back to life, returned to Gotham, and after outsmarting Bruce and Dick in several encounters (for real, this guy can plan shit to a T, its amazing) it ends with a final confrontation where Jason wants Bruce to make a decision.

Let Jason kill the Joker, or Bruce kills him to stop him.

And Bruce stops Jason from killing the Joker by slicing open his neck and ultimately SAVES the Joker.

WTF?? Bruce thought of Jason as a son, no matter how brutal he was as Robin, or how troubled. And not only does Bruce NOT kill the Joker in the decade after Jason's death, but he then tries to essentially kill Jason to save the Joker? A criminal who kills people on a regular basis, including one of Bruce's 'Robins', and crippled Batgirl? He literally could have just let Jason kill the joker. He could have stood there and done NOTHING, but instead he tried to kill someone he saw, at least at one time, as his son.

There is something deeply wrong with Batman.

And not to forget the fact that after Jason's death he found ANOTHER kid to become Robin. He's literally just making child soldiers. He's not taking in kids and bettering their lives, he's making them feel indebt to him, making them see the Robin mantle as something they need to do. And being happy or proud to call themselves Robin. It's so fucked.

So now my feelings on Dick/Jason both as characters and as a ship.

So Dick is a fun character. He was a child acrobat, which gave him a head start on being a crime fighting sidekick and also makes his fight scenes very fun. Everything I've seen of him in media makes him to be a genuinely good man, protective and flirty and sometimes a little stupid despite being really smart.

Jason, on the other hand, is a much more brutal, sarcastic, angry person. But also has funny moments. And his encounter with Batman at the end of the movie is so touching, the speech he gives batman. He is willing to do what the rest of the batman and associates wont: He's willing to kill the criminals who aren't afraid of batman, to stop them from killing and raping.

Because obviously batman isn't stopping crime by just putting them in prison every couple weeks.

Ship wise, my god there is so much material here for daddy issues, it's unreal. Also the reveal of Jason no longer being dead for Dick would always be emotional. And their differing personalities is also a great draw. There's canonically about an 8 year age difference, with Dick being older. I just love that dynamic, the older one being funny and open and charismatic, and the younger being a closed off introvert.

And the clash on how they try to help their home is also a great story point. They both want to stop crime, but Dick follows Bruce's moral code in not killing, and Jason is absolutely willing to do so if he feels he must. And Jason is not afraid to make jokes about it either.

He literally killed all the Lieutenant's of Gotham's biggest mobs, severed their heads and put them in a duffle bad, and then threw that on the table where the mob leaders were having a meeting and quipped 'That took me two hours. Wanna see what I can do in a whole evening?'

And also 'I'm not asking you to kick in with me. I'm telling you.'

So in a way they're both quippy, but Jason's is so much more morbid. And he also throws around this 'alpha dog' energy. I mean, the guy can literally do circles around batman. Was able to unmask him. Jason is so unbelievably strategic that literally any story with him as the main target to being found or stopped HAS to be good, because there's literally nothing you can do that would make him out to be OOC.

I'm a huge fan of this guy. Dick/Nightwing is great, his characterization in the scenes Ive seen of young justice are great, but my god Jason Todd is my new Ezio.

And if you follow me, you know how big that is.

As of today, I've read over 2.5 million words of JayDick, and Im not even a little tired of them yet.

*****

And now the plot idea I literally was thinking of yesterday before this ask came in.

So Jason dies, no one knows how he came back to life and crawled out of his grave, he was put in the Lazarus Pit to heal him which also gave him enhanced abilities like strength, healing, etc. That's all canon, and my plot idea is something that could explain how Jason lives and create more plot points,

What if Jason was able to resurrect, even if still injured, because he was harboring a demon inside him? It could even be how some people write A/B/O or werewolf, where the A/B/O/werewolf is like a second entity in the person.

No one knows Jason has this demon side, which could also be used to explain why he's so brutal as Robin. His human side is usually in control, but when fighting the demon side tries to emerge and leads to Jason hurting people.

Some time after Jason 'dies', maybe Alfred is cleaning Jason's room at the manor, either to clear the room or just keep it clean as a memorial type thing. He moves Jason's bed to roll up the large area rug under it to clean it, but when he moves it he finds a pentagram drawn in blood underneath it.

Of course he gets Bruce, and Dick who was visiting, and they investigate Jason's room, finding more strange things carved around the doorframe and windows. They don't know enough about this type thing, so they have to call in help.

The help they get looks it over and informs them that the pentagram under the bed was a type of suppression seal, with other little seals in it for protection and weakening, the seals around the door and windows similarly meant to contain.

Basically, Jason knew he lost more control when he slept, so he'd drawn a pentagram over time under his bed, in his own blood, that would weaken his demon side when he was in it, and straight up keep him from leaving it if too much of his demon side was 'active', as well as protect anyone else who might be in the seal (like if someone was sitting on his bed with him, he couldn't hurt them) and the ones around the door and windows would keep him from leaving if he wasn't in bed.

Of course, this brings up a lot more questions, but no way to get answers.

Fast-forward, Jason pulls himself from his grave, but his human side is not much in control due to the damage from the joker, and the demon side a little too weak to fully take control or heal.

Talia finds him and puts him in the Lazarus Pit, which heals Jason but also, from the 'pit madness' that can happen, actually gives his demon side majority control. So all through the 'Under the Red Hood' plot it's Jason's demon side in control, wanting to kill the joker for damaging him so much, and get pay back on Bruce for trying to control Jason, and giving his human side motivation to suppress the demonic side.

And when demon controlled Jason sees Nightwing, human side Jason fights for control. He doesn't want Dick to get hurt, and knows the demon side absolutely plans to kill both Bruce and Dick at the end of the plot.

In the end, Bruce slices Jason's neck open with a batarang and saves the joker. Jason survives, his human side finally clawing back control, but at a loss for what to actually do. He doesn't know how to explain what's happened, how to explain his actions, his 'other half'.

He leaves Gotham, intent to take away triggers that his demonic side could use to try and wrestle back control. He ends up in Bludhaven, where he finds Nightwing.

Of course...

After months, its a freak occurrence where Jason stumbles onto a fight Nightwing is having, where he's very clearly losing, and Jason jumps in to save him. He takes a life threatening wound to his chest, and blacks out.

From Dick's perspective, Jason jumps in front of a bullet for him, and instead of collapsing he lurches forward, hunching in on himself.

Growling.

Wings burst from his back.

Horns break through the infamous red helmet.

Fingers curl into claws, his hands turning black and actual talons sprouting.

A long, prehensile tail ending in a blade like protrusion lashes behind him.

And Jason shreds the villains to pieces.

When Jason comes back to himself, it's to find that he's in one of Dick's safehouses, collapsed on a couch, with Dick watching him from the other side of the room with wide eyes.

"I...think we should talk. About all that." Dick motions towards Jason.

And Jason is surprised by his new limbs.

Over time, Jason is able to suppress the demonic side of himself successfully, but still have access to those abilities.

He still slips up at times of great emotional distress.

(This would end with Jaydick, of course.)

[kyualunafortuna]

Setsuna Higashi: How to Make a Good PreCure Redemption Character.

As a fan of PreCure for 5 years, it goes without saying that I have consumed more of this franchise than I have any other piece of media. However, I had to break from it for a few years, for reasons - one of them being, I have a life! What, do you think I spend all my time locked up in my room staring at a screen of cute girls? (Don't answer that.)

Anyways, I've been plowing through the numerous seasons, and I decided to start with a very particular one, one that I had abandoned after 2 episodes in 2020 and just never returned to it. Fresh! And now, after thoroughly watching it within 2 weeks I am very much beating myself up for putting it off for as long as I did, because my goodness this season is fantastic! One day I'll make a thorough review on the season, but for now, I'd like to focus on one character in particular - Cure Passion.

I'm going to be totally honest: we will never get a character like her ever again. Yes, I'm deadly serious. No matter how many times PreCure pulls the redemption character trope, nobody will have the same sheer emotional impact Eas/Setsuna's story had. There are so many levels and layers to her character that makes her equal parts complex and tragic. The way her arc was handled was done with such care, it was not at all rushed and done very gradually that when you do watch her take the turn to the good side, the payoff is very satisfying. If you do not cry at least once during her arc, you have no soul. With that, let us enter a ridiculously long analysis on Eas/Setsuna's growth throughout the season, and everything the writers did right.

When Eas is first introduced, she's played DEADLY straight. She's seemingly emotionless, a servant to the big bad, and only exists to please him. As she will repeat many times, she's willing to do anything for Moebius, the main antagonist of Fresh. If you were to judge her solely based on this introduction, Eas looks like literally any other PreCure villain. What makes her much more compelling is when she starts developing a bond with Love and the others.

Before I continue, I must briefly explain the definition of a redemption character, especially in the context of PreCure. The general idea of a redemption character is a character that starts out against the protagonists, due to committing heinous actions, but over the course of the piece of fiction learns to better themselves as people.

When it comes to PreCure, redemption characters (at least ones that become Cures) begin as villains, before reforming and becoming a PreCure themselves. PreCure occasionally pulls this trope, as follows:

2009 - Fresh PreCure, Cure Passion

2011 - Suite PreCure, Cure Beat

2015 - Go! Princess PreCure, Cure Scarlet

2018 - Hugtto PreCure, Cure Amour

2022 - Delicious Party PreCure, Cure Finale

They can be split into two categories: ones that grew up villains and the ones that were originally good, but were brainwashed into being evil. Eas/Setsuna falls into the former category, and the rest are a topic reserved for a future post.

The fact that Eas grew up in such an oppressive environment is so important to her character, as Eas' nature mainly stems from how she was raised. Labyrinth is a totally dystopian society, and the idea is having total control over people eliminates the existence of sadness and despair. However, this also means nobody can experience happiness. But it's all for the better, since happiness overcomplicates things, right? Fine, then let's give everyone the same happiness. Serve Moebius. Simple. How could you complain? You have one life goal, all you have to do is follow it. Why trouble yourself with such trivial things like friends, happiness, joy, fun?

This extreme world view and how (mostly) Love and the others shatter it is what makes Eas' arc so compelling. When you use this as your foundation and none of that brainwashing crap, the villain is able to observe the actions of the protagonists, and choose for themselves to join them. Rather than having the "villain" be snapped out of it by the main characters and be like "oh. Okay. That happened, I guess we're friends now!"

After Eas spends a lot of time with Love, Miki and Buki, she gradually begins warming up to them. Granted, these signs are quite subtle, and you’d have to do some digging for them, but they are there. For example, the clover pendant. If you really think about it, Eas held onto the pendant longer than she should, let’s be completely honest with ourselves. insinuating that something has started to blossom, and that she’s secretly holding onto that.

Also the episode where Setsuna visits the girls in the hospital after learning they’ve collapsed. Maybe I’m just stretching, so call it what you will, but just hear me out for a moment. Episode 15 is where Eas tries to take Love’s Linkrun, but fails. Stealing it was her entire motivation behind hanging out with them, so this bit would logically, make her simply piss off and stop trying to be their friend. But obviously she doesn’t, and that’s what’s important, it’s that she finds herself gravitating back to Love, Miki and Buki on her own accord, not because of any inner motives of hers.

So let's go back to Moebius, and exactly how far she's willing to go to serve him. We all know how he gives her a new object that will allow her to defeat the PreCure, but that doesn't come without a price. Her own life. It sounds insane, right? But knowing Eas, she goes through with it, explicitly stating that she's willing to serve him, even if it costs her life. THAT is not a normal thing to say, if you couldn't tell! Because remember, she only has one purpose, to serve Moebius. If she can't serve him well, what's the point of living? Might as well not continue living at all.

Except Eas WANTS to continue living. This is the pivotal point of Setsuna's arc, that I feel a lot of people miss. Let's imagine a hypothetical scenario where Eas never met Love and the others, and was delivered the letter from Klein. In this case, she would likely have been indifferent, or would just accept her fate. But in the show, her face clearly suggests otherwise. She WANTS to live, she WANTS to see Love and the others again, which is why she even tried to settle things with one last fight. Just one last fight, to let out all their animosity.

Then comes the part in episode 23, when Eas finally makes her debut as Cure Passion. This is a fork in the road, the writers could've very easily butchered her character and just make her totally static after this episode. But they didn't, and that's so important.

Setsuna never stops growing or questioning her purpose, right until the finale. Starting with episode 24, she's met with a huge moral conflict. On one hand, she betrayed her home and can't return to Labyrinth anymore. On the other, she's so stained by her previous actions as Eas, that there's no way she's worthy of becoming a PreCure. Setsuna has no where to go. In spite of that, Love was still able to see the good in her heart. She knows deep down that Setsuna has a kind heart. And that gives her the courage to officially join them as Cure Passion.

This is also a fantastic life lesson for people to learn. Sometimes, people aren't inherently bad because they do bad things. Deep down, they're good people led along the wrong path.

Even though she's officially part of the team, she will never stop doubting herself. Her past lingers around her like a bad stench. We watch her time and time again, wonder if she made the right choice, or whether she's even deserving of the other girls' respect.

In episode 25, we see Setsuna encounter a young boy and his dog that was once turned into a monster by her. After she realizes the value of happiness, it truly sets in the volume of her actions, and the happiness she had been stealing away.

She will continue to flip flop through the rest of the season, coming as a consequence of her upbringing. Think about it, this is YEARS of trauma and conditioning that she has to try and undo, where would you even start?

We will see Westar and Soular continue to refer to her as "Eas", always reminding her of her past life. We will see her loyalty to the team be challenged. We will see her be gaslit into thinking that one day, she will betray her friends. We will see her scared to return to her former home, fearing she will turn into her former self again. It's heartbreaking to watch, but also necessary as a consequence of her redemption arc.

What I really love about Setsuna is how she makes a parallel to Eas in episode 42. In this episode, she decides to return to the Labyrinth Manor on her own, with the intention of destroying the Fuko Gauge, FULLY aware that doing so might kill her in the process.

Sound familiar? It's exactly what she said when Moebius granted her new powers. But this time, it's for her friends. I love this, because it shows her how much she's grown, and how attached she's grown to the group. This parallel is such a nice detail, and honestly broke my heart when I saw her trying to be so kind to everyone the day before, because she's fully aware that she may not return in one piece.

Everything is brought to a full close in the end. Setsuna's finally able to find peace with her past, and even decides to make the decision to return to Labyrinth with the now reformed Westar and Soular. It's a bittersweet moment, but it's a really good conclusion to all of the hardships she's been through. And now, she's able to share that happiness that Love was able to teach her to the people of Labyrinth that desperately need it.

In conclusion, Cure Passion is such an incredibly tragic, yet fantastic character. The way her arc is handled is just totally unmatched, one that is done with such a careful hand. Whether it be due to the "brainwashing" type trope being used, or really rushed pacing, future (and current) redemption character simply will not live up to the amount of impact Setsuna's character has. If you haven't watched Fresh, and there's one character you would watch it for, let it be her.

Wow that was longer than I expected! Stay tuned for a Suite review soon, though I may sprinkle some shitposts here and there :).