#motivations and intentions are skewed

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

“Good”, “general” comic recommendations for Jason and the only ones listed are utrh, lost days, and ul. URBAN LEGENDS.

[curseofdelos]

I finished re-reading TLH recently, and I want to talk about the common fan interpretation of Piper as a pick me girl for a sec (let me preface this whole post by clarifying that while this is ultimately a defense of Piper as a character, it is also a critique of how Rick wrote her, Drew, and the rest of cabin 10)

The way cabin 10 is written in the books has never been great. Very early on in TLT, Rick makes a point to establish that Aphrodite had both sons and daughters:

Take note of how Rick explicitly genders Aphrodite kids in this paragraph, but uses the gender neutral "kids" to refer to the children of every other god. This is a very deliberate writing choice, and I can't think of any reason why he would have done this other than to (initially anyway) avoid associating womanhood with vanity/interest in personal appearances.

...And then in every book after this, cabin 10 heavily skews female, and traditional femininity becomes the butt of almost every joke about them.

Cabin 10 doesn't get any real focus until TLH with the introduction of Piper, Drew, and the rest of Cabin 10, in which Rick spends a lot of time establishing how different Piper is from the rest of her cabin because she rejects traditional femininity. Piper cuts her own hair, she doesn't wear makeup or care about fashion, she hates dresses etc. This is in direct contrast with Drew who's often described as wearing heavy makeup, having perfectly done hair, manicured nails etc.

Note that Piper's description of Drew's appearance is fairly neutral. Her problem with Drew is not in how she chooses to dress, but in her behaviour.

This would be fine if it weren't for the fact that every time Drew's appearance is described, it is directly preceded and/or followed by her doing something heinous. She insults and degrades Piper's appearance within seconds of meeting her, and we see this again in the Cabin 10 scene where she bullies and manipulates their siblings - kicking them out of the bathroom mid-shower, dumping a bin filled with used tampons on the floor and making them clean it up, etc.

Piper and Drew are in direct competition throughout the entirety of TLH. Piper strongly disapproves of the way Drew runs the cabin, they have differing opinions on Silena Beauregard (despite the fact Piper doesn't actually know her but I digress), and they're both interested in pursuing Jason romantically - Piper out of genuine attraction, and Drew out of the desire to break his heart for the Aphrodite Rite of Passage.

The narrative at every turn pits them against each other. Piper's intentions are always painted as pure and kindhearted while Drew is consistently characterised as a stereotypical mean girl who hurts others simply because she can. Drew is never given any motivation for acting the way she does, and her sole role in the story is to act as an obstacle for Piper to overcome so she could become counsellor (which is kind of pointless considering Piper never interacts with her cabin again after this). She's flat and two-dimensional, and never gets any real character development. Her sole personality trait is mean.

The result of all of this is that traditional femininity gets associated with shitty behaviour, while the rejection of traditional femininity gets associated with kindness and generosity. It should be stressed that Piper herself doesn't actually think that she's better than Drew because she doesn't wear makeup etc; Piper's issues entirely lie with Drew's behaviour. The worst Piper ever says is calling all of cabin 10 "shallow" which is no different to how the other characters talk about them (which is still a problem to be clear; it's just not a problem with Piper specifically, but how the narrative characterises cabin 10 as a whole). It's the narrative that paints femininity as lesser because of the way it positions tomboy Piper (the protagonist) as a better person than highly feminine Drew (the antagonist).

In fact, the most explicitly we ever see the book paint Piper's appearance as preferable to Drew's is in Jason's POV - not Piper's. After Piper gets claimed and Aphrodite changes her appearance, Jason spends several chapters going on and on about how much more beautiful and desirable Piper is when she's not dressed up or wearing makeup.

Because of all of this, it's not difficult to see why so many people in this fandom have interpreted Piper as a pick me 'not like other girls' type girl. The narrative constantly presents her as a better person than the more feminine Drew, and Jason (the boy they're competing over) chooses her at least partly because of how naturally beautiful she is without trying.

However, even though I do understand where this interpretation of her character came from, I do want to push back on it for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it is explicitly stated several times in TLH that the reasons Piper doesn't wear makeup and cuts her own hair is because (1) she doesn't like being the centre of attention (see the first screenshot of this post), and (2) she's rebelling against her father.

Piper's entire character arc in TLH centres around her initially being insecure at the start of the book to becoming more confident over the course of their quest. It is stated on several occasions early on that Piper doesn't like being the centre of attention, but by the end, she feels more comfortable in her own skin. She goes from being embarrassed/hurt by Drew's comments about her to laughing them off and standing up to her by the end.

The term "pick me girl" refers to girls who do things for external, mostly male validation. This is the exact opposite of why Piper doesn't wear makeup or conform to traditional femininity. She does this precisely because she does NOT want to draw attention to herself. The only male who's attention she is trying to get is her father's, and she's doing this by acting out in ways he doesn't approve of. Piper does want validation from her father, but she's not cutting her own hair to get his validation; she's so starved for affection that she wants any attention from him, even if that attention is negative.

Similarly, a major point of conflict for Piper is whether or not Jason is attracted to her, but she is not rejecting feminine things because she wants to impress him Jason does find those qualities in her attractive, but Piper held these opinions long before they even met. It was Jason/the narrative that paints those qualities in Piper attractive, not Piper herself. (Side note: there's a lot more to be said about how their relationship was written in TLH, but that isn't relevant to get into that here.)

The other reason why I want to push back on the interpretation of Piper as a pick me girl is that she's a queer woman. In a straight patriarchal society, women (women of colour especially) are often expected and pressured to perform gender in particular ways - wearing makeup, dressing femininely, being attracted to boys and exclusively boys. In much the same way that Piper's coming out now makes it possible to read her relationship with Jason as compulsory heterosexuality, it's also possible to read her discomfort with traditional femininity as discomfort with being a straight girl. It's possible to retroactively read Piper's dislike for feminine things as her feeling uncomfortable with heterosexuality but is too closeted at this point to realise it. She does, after all, cut her hair very short at the end of TBM while she is the process of exploring her sexuality.

(To be clear: I'm not arguing that this is what Rick had always intended for her - I assume he expected Jason/Piper would be endgame at the time he was writing TLH - but I do think there's a 'death of the author' interpretation available here that her hatred of dresses etc is an early sign of her being a closeted queer woman who is beginning to explore her gender presentation and sexuality.)

I feel that sometimes, in their efforts to (rightly) criticise the way femininity gets treated in this series, some people act as if makeup is in intrinsic part of womanhood and that Piper is a misogynist for not wanting to wear it. This is not true. It is not inherently misogynistic for a woman to dislike it - especially when that woman is queer, and especially in today's society where many women are pressured into wearing makeup to be taken seriously. Piper disliking makeup is not the problem.

The problem with Piper's story in TLH is that the narrative consistently presents her as a better person than the more feminine Drew, and a more desirable option for Jason because of how beautiful she is without trying really hard like Drew and the other Aphrodite girls do. Because every highly feminine character is either a villain (Drew) or a joke (Valentina in TOA), the result of Piper and Drew's rivalry is that femininity gets demonised by the narrative. Again, it's not that Piper herself thinks she's better than Drew for hating fashion; it's the way the story puts these characters in opposition to each other that results in femininity being framed as lesser.

I think a writer with a better grasp of women's issues (and queer women's issues especially) could have written a great story here on gender as a performance, and an exploration on conforming (Drew) VS rebelling (Piper) against gender norms! How there really is no winning and women get harassed for being too feminine AND for not being feminine enough (See: the jokes about Clarisse in PJO not being a girl/being manly because she's violent and rough around the edges)! What we got instead was a story that carries the deeply unfortunate implication that girls who don't care about their appearance are kinder and more desirable than girls who do.

It's not Piper that's the problem; it's the narrative. I think a lot of people have been conflating the two, and have been unfairly pinning the blame onto Piper's characterisation when the fault lies with the plot, and with Drew's characterisation as a flat two-dimensional mean girl stereotype. I think if Drew had been given a redemption arc like Clarisse, or some amount of depth that explains why she hates Silena and acts the way she does, or even if she and Piper had learned to respect each other despite their differences, then we would be having a very different conversation.

[androgynoussublimeangel]

One of the biggest bummers for me with Monkie Kid fandom is the unequal idealization of Wukong and villianization of Macaque. I think it downplays the incredibly deep and interesting dynamic that comes from people who have hurt each other but are learning and growing as individuals coming back into orbit of each other and relearning who they are to each other.

It also goes to say that while Lego Monkie Kid is derived from JTTW it can definitely stand on its own considering what they've modified or adapted to work better with what they were aiming for.

Objectively when the series begins Wukong is a better person but he wasn't when his life was more intertwined with Macaque.

In fact they're both pretty bad at the begining. And often even enabled each other to be worse.

Wukong made lots of rash decisions that even if he claims was for "us" was often motivated by selfish ideals for glory pushed by the brotherhood as he disregarded Macaques opinions and worries.

Whereas Macaque has always been focused on perceived slights, essentially victimizing himself more than he actually is and using this to justify his harmful behaviors. He often prods when he should be understanding or aloof when he should be sympathetic. He's quick to lash out because he's always on the defensive.

They both have done things wrong but I'm tired of the fandom always siding with Wukong when the idea is that they're BOTH in the wrong in different ways and most of the turmoil in their relationships stems from simple miscommunications that are escalated by the fact that neither had really faced their past (until season 4 obviously)

And most of the animosity they feel towards each other is leftover from a close relationship now in shambles and being forced back together in order to survive.

(Some people irl can't even handle being in the same room in a cordial setting with someone they aren't friends with anymore. Like come on not crazy that they both instinctivly become defensive. Not to mention we see that they often teased and bickered playfully so not odd to fall back into the pattern just with more animosity. )

We've been following Macaques slow redemption, his willingness to fight LBD despite not knowing if they'd succeed and could result in them all being destroyed. As well as his misguided attempts to mentor MK in his own emotional stunted way.

And Wukong himself has made his own major mistakes as a mentor as well that's like the entirety of the 3rd season but again he's had more character growth thus admitting his wrongs and reflecting on them comes much easier to him, out of the two Wukong is currently the more emotionally intelligent as odd as that sounds. He's more willing to face the reality of his actions than Macaque is but this aligns with their character types. Wukong often being blunt, straightforward and headstrong compared to Macaque who is hesitant and holds his cards close to his chest quick to hide his true intentions behind attitude and misdirection. Along with this Wukong is predictably bitter when trapped under the mountain especially when Macaque escaped the consequences which once again plays into his self-serving attitude but at the same time Macaque had always been hesitant about crossing the Jade Emperor and warned Wukong that in classic Wukong fashion, he wasn't thinking it through and considering the consequences.

(Side note I find it incredibly odd for people to not consider all of elements on both Wukongs and Macaques separate experiences. As well as the odd skew on Macaques motives during the Samadi fire arc, since his resurrection his one goal has been to escape and protect his second chance at life, stealing Wukongs power from MK is a measure to protect himself and its easier to trick MK than Wukong (this isnt to say its justified, hurting MK was wrong plain and simple because again Macaque is heavily flawed as well and hasn't had the time or guidance Wukong did to reflect and change cuz he was ya know, dead (but his death is another interesting conversation when considering the context of the original vs LMK which might play it off in a different way or have to avoid it altogether due to rating issues)and when he is forced to work with LBD once again his life is on the line, that's called coercion. AND he still fights a possessed Wukong at MK behest, despite the likely traumatic fear that would be triggered by fighting Wukong again and that LBD might not stop a possessed Wukong from killing him again. Doesn't mean what he did was right but if you consider from his perspective along with the fact that he died before he got to have his own "journey to the west" or journey of growth and self-reflection. We're seeing the Macaque that Wukong killed all those years ago. It makes understanding his motives a little easier.)

[taptrial2]

Go. Speak about your dp au. You have piqued my interest and I must know more

OTAY!!!!!!!! uhh im self conscious so some disclaimers. 1. sonic blog followers do NOT tease me about this being super similar to egghogs i know i just enjoy this kind of thing 2. people who have followed me only on my main for a long time. sorry. im having a Creative Writing Moment and im not dedicated enough to make a dp sideblog sowwy.

danny is 14, so he can get away with being super unfamiliar with the outside world - adults give him some grace because he's a child, he's still learning. vlad is in his early 40s, he doesnt have a high school education, he has no job experience, no familiarity with the law, and a very skewed view of what is a Normal Social Cue. he doesn't get much slack. he ends up a recluse pretty quickly.

because of the way they grew up, they're very obedient and don't cause much ruckus to the point of confusion for others. if you ask them to do something ("hey can you put that down", "toss that over here", "go to [x place or room]", etc) they'll do it fast, mechanically, and without comment.

danny ends up in an untouchable social class in school below "bullying target". in canon, danny is not at the bottom rung of the social ladder - there are some people too uncool/gross/etc for he and his friends to talk to or associate with. this danny is so accepting and conflict avoidant that it isn't fun to tease or torment him. he ends up slotted into the "do not talk to" group - the ones who eat alone and are given a wide berth and aren't talked about because their existence feels taboo, like the one kid at the peanut allergy table. he is also traumatized, visibly disfigured, and is in special education, which is another level of social pariah in high school social dynamics.

the one time dash picked on him was a mistake - dash found danny's lasered off bald spot and pressed his thumb into the conspicuous circles there because he reacted strangely. everyone was laughing until danny siezed, the circles turning out to be an implanted valve that makes direct contact with the brain when pressed hard. danny almost gets sent to the hospital, but vlad demands that the paramedics not be brought in (he knows that he and danny's lack of records would be suspicious and they would get investigated. the teachers all think vlad is, like, an antivaxxer or something.). danny comes out of that with a concussion and dash is half-shunned for the week. also vlad doesn't know what insurance is and when lancer asks if he's insured he's like (vacant blink) and lancer's like Oh God No

danny makes friends with sam and tucker, but not right away. he has a strange, dark sense of humor that he doesn't know is dark (in an unfunny edgy teenager sort of way without the intent to shock), and sam thinks he's funny and starts hanging around him in their shared classes. danny is curious about tucker's gadgets and tucker is eager to tell him all about them, and because tuck and sam are already friends, they end up being a friendgroup. danny tries to undo sam's hair (no sense of boundaries) and she backhands him right in the nose and they both feel bad after. he leans on them, fidgets with tucker's hat, and is just wayyy too close most of the time, but they get used to it. sam even starts giving hugs because of him and tucker teases her about it

danny AND vlad ruin valerie's life as a family. it's a similar setup with her dad being on thin ice with his security job, and with danny and vlad (as ghosts) serially burglarizing their labs for advanced tech and money, her dad is fired, yadda yadda. she despises ghosts, hates them for what they did to her life, and is VERY motivated to do some ghost hunting work, so she ends up at fentonworks and begs them to let her have gear so she can kill ghosts!!! PLZ!!!!! and she grows pretty close to jazz as a result of their proximity. she has her job as a mascot, her ghost hunting job, AND school, so she's just as busy and exhausted and sad as she ever was, adjusting to being a latchkey kid dealing with food insecurity.

while danny is at school, vlad is working on the ghost portal, researching ghosts, and learning how to feed himself and a kid without help. he wears clip-on ties and velvet suits taken at a five finger discount from some small-time politician a handful of towns over and his attempts to come across as proper fail every time he needs some shared common knowledge about the real world. he's desperate to learn more about other ghosts, having never interacted with others aside from danny, and he wants some sense of real belonging with other humans. he's struggling in both departments and he is not emotionally stable.

vlad is assumed 9 times out of 10 to be the person who hurt or traumatized danny until he showcases the scars that perfectly match those his ward has. the assumptions are painful every time and he hates it. he's been called in for parent-teacher conferences multiple times because of danny's sensitive and otherwise odd behavior in line with severe parental neglect, and every time he is hurt and exhausted and he wishes someone would understand he would never hurt danny and he is dealing with much of the same troubles danny is. i think he'd grow resentful over time.

uhhh i have more but i'll just call it here arbitrarily 👍

[purpleheartskies]

Robby is the protagonist

... in terms of the role a protagonist plays in a story

Also titled: Robby is the underdog - Part 3

Other posts in this series:

Robby is the underdog - Part 1

Robby is the underdog - Part 1.5

Robby has a Hero's Journey (Robby is the underdog - Part 2)

Robby is the underdog- Part 4

The Road Back in Robby's Hero's Journey (Robby is the underdog - part 5)

Putting Johnny and Daniel aside for now, I'm going to first focus on Robby as the protagonist amongst the younger generation. Then, I'll go into Robby's importance in Johnny's and Daniel's stories, followed by Robby's importance and role in the dojo war. I'll be making comparisons between Robby and Miguel, specifically.

Protagonist vs main pov character

The protagonist of a story isn't always the main pov character, or may not be a pov character at all. By definition, a protagonist has a specific role in the story compared to a pov character. It's not often that the protagonist and main pov character are separate characters in a story, but there are stories like this. Popular examples include Sherlock Holmes, The Great Gatsby, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and To Kill a Mockingbird.

There are different reasons writers may do this:

One reason may be because the perspective of the protagonist isn't as easy to understand and relate to. The Cobra Kai writers have said that Johnny and Miguel are archetypal characters that fans can relate to.

Another reason is to allow for observation, and moreover, to disguise the motivations and intentions of the protagonist. The role of any pov character is to provide the view into the story. They are the audience surrogate. By keeping the protagonist's pov hidden, writers can provide an air of mystery to them, until the writers want the protagonist's view to be known. They can do this either by shifting to the protagonist's pov or by having the pov character(s) learn the protagonist's pov. Interestingly, the CK writers have said that the story is from the bully's perspective. Johnny and Miguel are two of the main pov characters. Miguel has provided the perspective of his and Robby's rivarly so far.

The third reason may be to create irony and juxtaposition. This is in the case that the pov character and the protagonist have opposing characteristics, some that aren't always explicitly portrayed. Although Miguel seemed to be the "good kid" and Robby the "bad kid" at the start of the series, their true characters are weaved into the story. For example, throughout the series, Miguel is entitled, lacks empathy, and doesn't take accountability, whereas Robby exhibits humility, is empathetic, and takes accountability.

The irony can be stretched to outright unreliability. The pov characters' views of the protagonist may be entirely wrong. This is definitely the case for Robby. The story is being told mainly through Miguel's and Johnny's povs, and they are "unreliable narrators". Their povs and the povs that other characters have of Robby are skewed because of how they perceive themselves and how they perceive Robby.

Ali: "You both think there's only one side to the story." Johnny: "I know. There's two." Ali: "No, there's three. There's your side and your side, and then there is the truth."

The purpose of dramatic irony is to present a juxtaposition between what is presented on the surface of a story and what is really occurring under the surface. Doing this adds layers of meaning to the story, offers deeper insights into the thematic principles, and shows the audience something that the characters themselves are missing. In Cobra Kai, these additional layers in the story are present throughout. For example, the contrast in Johnny's behavior with each boy is presented with this juxtaposition in all 5 seasons. Some examples of juxtaposition in s5 include the scene where Johnny calls out Daniel for reeking of booze and then hands him a beer, which Daniel thanks him for later. In this same scene, Johnny claims to have gotten Robby out of Cobra Kai, which is far from the truth. Daniel also said that Johnny cares for both boys, which doesn't match what's portrayed in all 5 seasons. After the apartment fight, Miguel told Robby that he learned karate to find balance and not hurt people, which isn't true. He learned Cobra Kai first, which doesn't involve finding balance. He's also used his karate to hurt Robby multiple times, including choosing the apartment fight so that he could hurt Robby again as he's always felt justified to. Afterwards, Johnny said that the boys beat each other into submission. Also not true. Submission means that one party becomes compliant to the other, and the audience was shown that Robby submit to Miguel. The list goes on. All of this is intentional as it's meant to show the audience that, for example, Johnny hasn't changed---he just believes that he has and tries to present to others that he has---, and that Miguel is the bully and not the underdog character between him and Robby.

If the role of the pov character is to provide the view into the story, what is the role of the protagonist?

The protagonist in a story is the character who offers the most conflict in situations, has the longest emotional journey, and has a primal goal to root for. Their transformation shapes the story's theme. Their choices and motivations affect the direction of the story. They're at the center of the conflict and their decisions push the plot forward. In a story with multiple characters with journeys, there is ultimately one character who is the primary driver of the overall story and their story tells the theme of the overall story. The other characters' can be protagonists in their own journeys but these become subplots of varying levels of importance. The protagonist is the character whose fate matters most. They have the highest stakes and the greatest obstacles.

Compared to Miguel, Robby has all the characteristics of a protagonist.

What makes Robby the protagonist of the overall story?

Robby has a Hero's Journey that is related to the story's theme of "finding balance".

Robby has a "want", "need", and "internal struggle" that drive his Hero's Journey. The "internal struggle" is usually tied to the "need". Miguel has "wants" and he probably has a "need", but he doesn't have an "internal struggle" related to that "need". In fact, he doesn't have much of an overarching emotional journey throughout the series. His injury arc and the Mexico arc for example could have been used to give his story more emotional depth, but they weren't used for this. In fact, those two arcs were used to emphasize that Johnny is willing to sacrifice his relationship with Robby and sacrifice Robby himself to maintain his relationship with Miguel, which in turn resulted in more trauma for Robby and made both his "want" and his "need" harder to achieve. That is, those two arcs served Robby's overarching journey more than they served Miguel's. Along with Miguel's lack of relevance to the overall plot (the dojo war), Miguel's lack of an overarching emotional journey is becoming more and more apparent each season. Miguel overall is a static character. For example, in the school fight, he did "strike first, strike hard, show mercy sometimes". In the apartment fight, he did the same thing, despite his injury and learning some Miyagi-Do. In contrast, Robby is a dynamic character who is constantly growing, positively and negatively, throughout his journey.

Robby's character introduction / Ordinary World for his Hero's Journey was his scenes in s1e4 to s1e5, up to the Inciting Incident. In turn, Miguel has no character introduction that fits the "Ordinary World" stage of a Hero's Journey. His first scenes are introducing himself to Johnny, being saved by Johnny while being bullied, asking Johnny to open a dojo for him, and Johnny eventually telling him that he'll be his sensei. All of those scenes are about the role he'll play in Johnny's character story. His scenes in the next few episodes continue to build on the plot and his role in Sam's story, while not building on his character or his Ordinary World.

Each season, many of Robby's decisions play a crucial role in the story. Moreover, he has a very character-driven story, where his decisions and actions as he reacts (mostly trauma responses) drives his own story, but greatly affects the plot and other characters' journeys as well. In general, Robby's character provides the most uncertainty in the story. For example, Robby showed up unexpectedly at the s1 avt, and Johnny's students using "no mercy" on Robby, specifically, changed Johnny's view on "no mercy" and prompted Daniel to reopen Miyagi-Do. Also, Robby's actions at the end of the school fight impacted all of the characters' stories moving forward. At the end of s3, the most resounding shifts in alliances occured because Robby chose to stay with Kreese at Cobra Kai and Johnny allied himself with Daniel. Even Hawk changing sides was most greatly influenced by Robby's change in alliance. In fact, Robby has played an important role in Hawk's journey despite them barely interacting throughout the series. In s4 and s5, Robby continued to make decisions that impacted the other characters, such as officially joining Cobra Kai and teaching them Miyagi-Do in s4 and deciding to stay and help Johnny find Miguel after Johnny ditched Robby at the bus stop in s5.

Robby's had independent arcs and is the only teen with side characters meant for him only and whose involvements served purposes in his arcs. In s1, he was dealing with his partners-in-crime and bullies, Trey and Cruz. In s2, he was dealing with Shannon abandoning him. In s3, he had his juvie arc with Shawn. In s4, he mentored Kenny. In fact, Kenny's introduction and character journey were created as an extension from Robby's character journey, which hasn't been done for any other kid. Robby continues to play an important role in Kenny's journey.

Robby is distinctly given the same importance as the senseis. He mentored a student, taught an entire dojo a style of karate, and was the "next one to land on their arms" when Silver and Kim were talking about Daniel, Johnny, and Chozen being pests. Robby is the only kid to fight alongside a sensei (Johnny). Robby is also the "mentor" trying to resolve the rivalry between Kenny and Anthony.

Robby is being built up as a leader / central figure for the kids. In s5, Robby was shown in a front & center position for both dojos in s5.

Robby is the only character to be in one of the conflicts in every mid-season episode and finale since s1e10:

s1e10 - avt final match

s2e5 - mall fight

s2e10 - school fight

s3e5 - juvie fight

s3e10 - dojo fight with Kreese and Johnny

s4e5 - Cobras shaving Hawk's mohawk

s4e10 - avt final match

s5e5 - apartment fight

s5e10 - dojo brawl

Robby is the most connected overall to all the other characters. For example, in s5, Robby directly influenced or interacted with the following characters: Johnny, Daniel, Miguel, Tory, Kenny, Carmen, Sam, Hawk, Demetri, Anthony, Chozen, and Silver. Robby was mentioned in important scenes by Shannon and even Kim when he wasn't present.

Robby's portrayed to have deeper connections with Sam and Tory than Miguel has with them. While Robby was in Miyagi-Do, he had the "love story" with Sam, the main girl in Miyagi-Do. While Robby was in Cobra Kai, he had the "love story" with Tory, the main girl in Cobra Kai. Robby's relationships with each of them were developed slowly as friendships first. In turn, Miguel started dating each girl soon after the first time he talked to them. Robby had the "meet cute" with Sam, while Miguel just stared at her from afar because she was with another guy. Robby got the prom entrance and main dance, despite not being a student in school, while Miguel watched Robby steal the show. Robby has fought successfully alongside each girl: Sam in the s2 mall fight and Tory in the s4 prom fight. Despite being broken up and in other relationships, Robby and Sam still have a deep connection, like Robby appearing in Sam's dream and them still being able to do the wheel technique in s5. In turn, Miguel and Tory have shared just one "moment" (during the prom fight) together since their break up.

Between Robby and Miguel, Robby has the traits of a traditional hero, rejects the toxic empowerment of Cobra Kai philosophies, and is the best example of positive/healthy masculinity in the story. Rocky is referenced a lot throughout the story as someone Johnny looks up to. Rocky is a popular protagonist, underdog character, and example of positive/healthy masculinity in film.

Throughout s5, the narrative did an interesting recap of Robby's journey. References to or redos of moments from Robby's character journey from s1 to s4 were sprinkled throughout the entire season. (This is yet another post or series of posts I can make.) This makes sense because Robby is the protagonist, and s5 was priming the audience for Act 3.

Although the story started with Miguel as seemingly the protagonist, Robby's role as the actual protagonist becomes more apparent at the end of s1e5 and more so as the series has gone on, making Miguel a "false/decoy protagonist". In s1e5, Robby's story picked up with the Inciting Incident in his Hero's Journey.

Miguel hasn't been an underdog since he beat his bullies in s1e5. Even after his injury, Miguel has resumed his position as one of the top fighters, if not the top fighter. Robby wins important fights, but by the end of s5, he has lost two avts and lost to his bully/rival. Robby started out the series with the most odds against him. Going into the final season, he still has the most odds against him and is even worse off than at the start of his journey. He faces the greatest obstacles and has the most uncertainty and stakes for his future. The Karate Kid story is about the underdog winning in the end against all the odds that are against him/her. Robby has the greatest odd against him, making Robby the underdog in the story.

Robby's importance in Johnny's and Daniel's stories

Robby has always played an important role in Johnny and Daniel's rivalry. In s1 and s2, Robby was the link between Johnny and Daniel. He was a reason for contention between them in a lot of their scenes in s1e9/10, s2e1, s2e5 (Johnny found out that Robby was living with Daniel), and s2e10. In s2e10, Robby suggested that Johnny and Daniel can learn from each other. In s3e2, Daniel and Johnny teamed up to look for Robby. In s3e8, they both came to juvie to pick up Robby and argued. In s4e1, Sam approached Robby believing that he was needed to unite Johnny and Daniel. This was despite Robby choosing to stand against them and with Kreese the last time they saw each other. Sam even went behind Miguel's back to do this. In s4e5, Robby and the Cobras shaving Hawk's head led to Johnny and Daniel's already weakened alliance falling apart because they disagreed on how to handle the situation. In s4e10, Robby teaching the Cobras Miyagi-Do led to Daniel teaming up with Johnny to coach Sam in her match. Even though Robby wasn't physically present with Johnny and Daniel, he played a critical role in affecting their alliance in s4. In turn, Miguel was clearly used as a plot device in Johnny's rivalry with Daniel in s4. Miguel has no significance in Daniel's story otherwise. Meanwhile, Robby has deep connections with both Johnny and Daniel since s1.

Amongst the kids, Robby narratively plays the most important role in Johnny and Daniel's stories.

In the opening shots of Johnny's story and the series, Robby's picture is shown on Johnny's fridge setting up Robby's significance to Johnny almost immediately. Johnny's relationship with Robby is the first relationship introduced for Johnny's character in this series. They have very few scenes together other than the Mexico arc in s5, but their relationship overshadows Johnny's character journey. The goal of Johnny's redemption as a character is his "need" to fight his inner demons and make amends with Robby.

"I love you too Robby"

Subtle similarities are shown between Johnny and Robby throughout the series using various shots or actions. For example, Robby and young Johnny put their headphones on to block out their parents, the way Robby is dejectedly sitting and eating a sandwich in s3e2 is exactly the way Johnny is dejectedly sitting and eating a sandwich in s2e5, the shot of Robby going to Kreese at the end of s3e8 is framed similarly to the shot of Johnny stopping Kreese at the end of s2e1, Robby's fight with Kenny in s5e10 is similar to Johnny's fight with Robby in s3e10, and Robby's most used move is sweeping the leg (Johnny's iconic move from kk1) though Robby is never shown learning that move.

Johnny and Miguel's popular and seemingly generic sensei-student story has always been overshadowed by Robby's existence in the story. It makes Robby an unpopular character, however his existence is the basis of Johnny and Miguel's relationship. Robby was right when he said that Johnny is just using Miguel to feel better about screwing up with Robby. Robby's existence is one of the greatest subversions in this "deadbeat loser meets a kid who changes his life" and "underdog kid meets a mentor who helps build him into a champion" generic story. In fact, the generic layers of Johnny and Miguel's story have lost emphasis as the series has gone on, and they're both somewhat sidelined in the dojo war, Miguel much moreso than Johnny has been.

Meanwhile, Johnny and Robby's relationship continues to be a highlight. Kreese and Silver make a point to remind Johnny that Robby is his "real" son and remind him of his failures with Robby. Kreese wanted to pass down his legacy to Robby because he's Johnny's son. Narratively, Robby is Johnny's weakness, and Kreese and Silver use Robby against him. In s3, Bobby met Robby in person and experienced Johnny choosing Miguel over Robby. Ali asked about Robby specifically, despite seeing Johnny's Facebook page filled with pics and videos of Miguel.

Throughout the series, there is an overarching plotline since s1e4 that Johnny chooses Miguel over Robby. In s5, the Mexico trip and apartment fight were used to portray the continued dysfunctional dynamic in Johnny's relationship with Robby: Johnny will choose the Diazs over Robby, even if Robby is compliant to Johnny. After Johnny found out about the baby, Johnny kept bringing up his failures with Robby, even late into s5. In fact, the last statement made by a character about Johnny becoming a father again is Silver's jab that Johnny will "screw up another kid", a reference to Johnny's abysmal behavior with Robby. The statement was bookended by scene transitions between Johnny and Robby. (End of this post.)

In s5, Johnny kept mentioning his failures with Robby when it came to the baby plot device. Johnny obviously hasn't been redeemed, as he himself keeps bringing up his failures. (Another example of irony and juxtaposition in s5.) The plot device baby had the greatest impact on Robby's character journey though, not even on Johnny's. Johnny once again went through his round-about arc of trying to change but ending the same, as in previous seasons when he's tried to make positive changes. The impacts of the plot device on Carmen and Miguel were barely explored. Johnny used the baby to force a violent "resolution" to the rivalry, which Robby lost. (Again, more juxtaposition. Johnny is failing Robby more as Johnny selfishly prepares for the baby coming and tries to use the baby to make up for screwing up with Robby.) After Johnny accidentally dropped the baby new, Robby completely adopted a fawn response and spent the rest of the season people-pleasing.

In Daniel's case, Robby is the student that Daniel has the greatest attachment to, aside from his own kids of course. Robby, not Miguel, is the most connected and cared about by the LaRussos, especially the OG Karate Kid. Daniel wanted to be a Mr. Miyagi to Robby (though Daniel has failed in doing so since s2e10).

Compared to the other mentor-mentee pairs (Miyagi-Daniel, Johnny-Miguel, Robby-Kenny), Daniel offered to train Robby (Robby's Call to Adventure). In s1, Robby is shown receiving the Miyagi-style training from Daniel that Daniel had received from Miyagi in kk1. In s2, Robby helped Daniel rebuild and bring back Miyagi-Do. Daniel brought Robby into his home and called him family at one point, fulfilling parental responsibilities for Robby in addition to being his sensei. After the school fight, Daniel searched continuously for Robby for 2 weeks. After Robby got out of juvie, Daniel went to pick him up and told him that Miyagi-Do will always be a home for him. Later, Daniel was so worried about Robby that he was taking it out on his students. In s4, Daniel went to warn Robby about Silver. In s5, after Daniel gave up his fight against Silver, only Robby was able to convince him to come back to the fight, showing just how important Robby is to Daniel.

Robby played a role each time Daniel closed Miyagi-Do. At the end of s2, Daniel closed Miyagi-Do because of Robby's actions at the end of school fight. At the beginning of s5, Daniel closed Miyagi-Do because they lost the tournament. Although they lost because of Silver paying off the ref, Robby teaching the Cobras Miyagi-Do had put Miyagi-Do at a noticable disadvantange, to the extent that Daniel gave Robby a talking to about giving Miyagi-Do "secrets" away.

Although Miguel is Sam's boyfriend, he barely has importance in Daniel's story or to the LaRussos. Daniel had no conversations with Miguel in s5 despite the time they spent together in s4. Amanda and Anthony haven't even spoken to Miguel alone, while Robby has had one on one conversations with each of them. Anthony praises Robby's karate and looks up to him, while not interacting much with Miguel. Anthony was excited about karate for the first time while watching Robby fight Hawk in the s1 avt. Anthony is connected to Robby through the rivalry with Kenny, which is Anthony's most important storyline.

Robby's importance and central role in the dojo war

Throughout the series, Robby has been at the center of the dojo war between Miyagi-Do and Cobra Kai. In s1 and s2, Robby linked Daniel and Johnny. In s3, Robby was the only kid approached by all 3 senseis. Each offered him a place with them. In s4, Robby was the only kid to have one-on-one scenes with each sensei. In s5, he was the only one in Miyagi Fang who had people in Cobra Kai that he cared about. (I'm not counting Johnny and Devon cause Johnny forgot about her pretty quickly, while Robby kept making efforts with Tory and Kenny and had rejoined Miyagi-Do to take down Silver to help them.)

Robby is the only one of the kids to have had full season arcs in each dojo. Robby is also the only kid to have fought in a final match in both avts and for each dojo in a final match: Miyagi-Do in s1 and Cobra Kai in s4. Interestingly, both times he wasn't wearing the dojo's emblem when he finished each match. He was wearing the plain white gi in s1 and took off his gi top in s4. At the s4 avt, the two main dojos in the dojo war were introduced with reference to Robby. Robby has had avt matches with all the main boy characters: Miguel, Hawk, Demetri, and Kenny.

In contrast, Miguel's role in the dojo war has noticably diminished since the school fight. This is another reason Miguel fails to fulfill the role of a true protagonist in the story, as many are starting to notice. Overall, he's mostly been a supporting character to other characters and is a foil to Robby's character. The injury and Johnny creating Eagle Fang effectively sidelined Miguel in the dojo war, while still giving him some scenes here and there to make it seem like he has some relevance to the overall plot in s3 to s5. Johnny is still pulled into the dojo war from time to time because of Daniel, Kreese, or Silver. Johnny also helped coach Sam in the s4 avt final, making Johnny as a sensei significant during the avt finals, while Miguel ran off to a plotline that essentially went nowhere for him.

Of all the kids, the cycle of generational trauma is being passed down to Robby specifically from all the senseis: Kreese to Johnny to Robby (as emphasized in the s3 finale flashbacks and confrontations at the dojo) and Silver to Daniel to Robby. (Daniel's history with Cobra Kai affects his view of Robby, "too much Johnny in him".)

Robby in turn has tried to mentor Kenny better and actively try to break the cycles of generational trauma from both Johnny and Daniel. In s5e4, Robby told Kenny a combination of what Johnny told Robby about Kreese in s4e4 and what Daniel told Robby about Silver on s4e6 wrt Cobra Kai. In addition to dealing with external rivals, he has the greatest internal battles out of all the kids. As Daniel said, "The biggest battle is always the one within."

Robby has been using both styles of karate to try to cope with his "hate"/traumas and "find balance", the goal of his character journey. From late s1 to the end of s2, he tried to follow the Miyagi-Do way of finding balance but failed. In late s3 and to the end of s4, he tried to use Cobra Kai to channel his anger into fighting to help him find balance but he quit Cobra Kai after his match with Kenny because of "what it turns you into".

In s5, Robby wasn't focused on finding balance but was instead focused on dealing with his situation with Johnny and Miguel and with trying to take down Silver and Cobra Kai. Interestingly, Robby rejoined Miyagi-Do, instead of Eagle Fang, in his fight to take down Cobra Kai.

Robby carries the essence of Miyagi-Do with him, wherever he goes, including juvie (The Heart of Miyagi-Do - Part 1 and Part 2). Although, this show is called Cobra Kai. Cobra Kai represents the generational trauma that is being passed down from Kreese to Johnny to Robby and from Silver to Daniel to Robby. Miyagi-Do is presented as the opposition to Cobra Kai: The goal of Miyagi-Do is to teach a better way. In fact, all the important avt final matches and the ST trial matches were Miyagi-Do vs Cobra Kai. The whole goal is to take down Cobra Kai. In s4, Robby beat the whole Cobra Kai dojo using Miyagi's teachings. Of course, the kid who carries the essence of Miyagi-Do will be the one to take down Cobra Kai for good in the end.

In a story about every character having their own pov, Robby's pov not being shown is significant. At this point, Robby has been wronged by the most characters, especially the "good guys". In s5, he had one-sided "resolutions" with these characters. So far, the "bad guys", Kreese and Silver, haven't hurt Robby to the extent that the "good guys" have. The writers have said that every character is gray. Robby's pov of the characters would support this notion. The fact that, in s5, Robby can stand up to Silver fearlessly but can't stand up to Johnny without fear of abandonment speaks to this.

s6 is Act 3 of the story. Act 3 is when there is usually a significant paradigm shift for the characters. In s5, Robby's one-sided resolutions and the "recap" of his story from s1 to s4 indicate that his side of the story is yet to be told but is now set up to be told. In s6, the writers could shift to telling the story through Robby's pov, or they could continue to tell the story through the other characters' povs and have them learn and understand Robby's pov.

Johnny's redemption as a character lies in his relationship with Robby. If Johnny were already redeemed, he wouldn't be repeatedly bringing up his failures with Robby himself throughout s5, while he is shown continuing to fail Robby. Since s1e4, Johnny has been using Miguel as a do over. Since s5e3, Johnny has been using the baby as a do over. The Diazs and the baby are plot devices to make Johnny's relationship with Robby worse. By the end of s5, Johnny has everything to lose, which he even foreshadowed in his self-centered speech to Carmen, while Robby has nothing to lose including himself, which he gave up to stay in Johnny's good graces. Miguel is Robby's bully in the story. If Johnny starts to learn Robby's pov, not only would Johnny truly realize how and how much he has hurt Robby, Johnny would also realize that he trained, supported, and enabled Robby's bully to hurt him and get away with it as long as his bully "shows mercy" in the end.

In s5, Daniel relied on Robby to get back into being a sensei. He'd told Johnny to ask Robby how much he'd helped Robby. Robby is the student that Daniel has failed the most. In s5, Daniel repeated exactly what he'd said to Robby in s3, and Robby side-stepped Daniel's apology. To repair their relationship properly, Daniel has to actually listen to Robby's pov. Daniel also has to come to realize and accept that the teaching "no bad student, only bad teacher" applies in his relationship with Robby. He has to let go of the belief: "I'm willing to admit when I fail, or maybe Robby has too much of you [Johnny] in him."

This is Johnny's redemption story, and Johnny has failed his Robby his whole life including all 5 seasons. Robby is also Daniel's most important (non-related) student, and Daniel has failed as Robby's mentor. Johnny's and Daniel's character journeys won't be complete until they start repairing their relationships with Robby, start helping him overcome the odds that are against him, and support him to win the world tournament and succeed in his future.

Robby is the protagonist in the story. He has been since the start.

Cobra Kai has always been Robby's story.

Some references:

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/

https://thewritepractice.com/

(Note: Please don't reblog/reply with any dismissive comments/tags about the show writers, the writing, or the serious aspects of the show. Such comments/tags minimize the contents of the post. This blog (link) explains my general thoughts about posting after s5.)

[thebibutterflyao3]

Regulus Arcturus Black - Character Study

Keep in mind that what we know about Regulus is largely second-hand. Other people’s perceptions of him and his motivations, as well as Harry’s assumptions based on evidence he finds are pretty much it. Regulus’s only attempt to speak for himself is the letter. A letter that exposes arrogance, intention, and a search for vindication.

Consider the parallels between Draco and Regulus: Both are from pureblood homes that raised their children on pureblood supremacy ideals and kept them sheltered from outside influences. Both are placed in Slytherin, where those ideals are reinforced and encouraged. Both take the mark while still at Hogwarts. Both confidently extol those beliefs until their worldview is challenged and their loved ones are endangered.

In contrast, Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor. He befriends people who not only challenge his ideals at a much younger age, but also model a positive alternative. He is embraced by a new family who showed him the love and acceptance that his own didn’t. Sirius had so many opportunities that Regulus (and Draco) did not.

I think Regulus’s death is the real proof of his character and what he believed. He tried to take down Voldy in the most Slytherin-way possible, quietly and efficiently. He didn’t make a grand gesture to announce his redemption to the world or renounce his family while alive. His letter to Voldemort is only bold because he knew that he would die. He was motivated by fear and a (probably skewed) sense of justice.

A Voldy sycophant wouldn’t have bothered to pursue the horcruxes, and neither would a simple defector. Regulus must have realised that everything he’d been taught was a lie. The flaws in his plan were thinking there was only one horcrux and trying to do it alone, but think about it. Who could he have gone to for help? His friends (if he had any) were likely death eaters too and there’s very little chance that the ministry or Order members would have believed him, not even Sirius.

He was 18 years old when he died. 18!

In his two years as a teenage death eater, Regulus discovered that Voldy was making a horcrux, figured out how to find it, made a duplicate to swap out, and tracked it down in a hard to find cave…while at Hogwarts most of that time. Given that Dumbledore didn’t know about the cave or Regulus’s plan and it took him much longer to figure it out, I’d say that’s proof that he was brilliant and highly motivated to escape the world he’d been raised in and the path he was placed on.

[pluvialpoet]

a pact of ice & fire

Summary: when war divides the seven kingdoms and an alliance is pledged upon your family’s behalf, you seek to make a traitorous pact of your own- with your family’s sworn enemy

Pairing: aemond targaryen x stark!fem!reader

Requested: no

Warning: mentions of scars (both aemond & reader), physical pain & suffering, familial betrayal, slight angst, possible spoilers for fire & blood/hotd- do not read if you are not comfortable with the warnings listed above!!!

Word Count: 2,076

masterlist

“Lady Stark,” The shadows speak your name, coaxing you from the silence- and the stillness- of your thoughts with the interruption of a low, deep timbre. Perhaps if a flame were present- by candle, torch, or fire burning in the hearth- it might’ve illuminated trembling hands or fidgeting fingertips, but such actions remain eclipsed by a soft, barely there flicker of moonlight. Shielded by enough darkness to present a poised front, you gather fistfuls of your skirts and drop down to a curtsy, bowing before the man who has not yet stepped into the light, and a chill- much cooler than you’re familiar with- fills the air.

He regards you silently, and his judgment is deafening- intimidating, even. Surrounded by stillness- a void of darkness and quiet- you’re not sure what to make of the fact that he’s accepted your invitation. He’s abided by the ink from your quill with only the shadows to bare witness to such a clandestine affair, and you wonder if the umbra hides an enemy or an ally. 

“Rise,” The walls command with an authority that seeps into the waddle and daub that shields the two of you from the rest of the town- voluntarily trapping you within a pile of mud, manure, and straw. Upon your request, he has agreed to meet- but that is the extent of any jurisdiction you might’ve once held. Now, you are to abide by his demands, surrendering what little power you’ve grown accustomed to under your old title in favor of submission to his instruction and cause. It is a vow silently made- an unspoken promise you will uphold regardless of what happens when twilight unveils the illusion of benevolence come morning. When the sun rises, nothing will be the same. “If it is counsel you seek, I urge you- once more- to seek an audience with my brother, the king.” 

“It is not just counsel I’ve traveled far for,” Your words don’t fill the space as his do, your tone not as sure nor assertive as he is, but they reach his ears, nevertheless- along with a glimpse of your motive as you step towards the light. “It is your counsel that has guided my trek.” 

The confession isn’t earned, and the sincerity of such a remark is skewed by your urgency to meet. Desperation doesn’t warrant reliance, and despite a rather convincing plea for his company, Aemond knows better than to offer his trust blindly. Perhaps you will become an ally, but, as it stands, you are his foe. Pretty words of promise won’t change the simple fact that you’ve sided with his enemy, and until your pledges of loyalty and devotion come to fruition, that is what you’ll remain- an enemy.

“I stand before you now, and I’m growing quite tiresome of speaking in riddles,” He forewarns as his patience dwindles, urging you to reveal your true intentions before what little tolerance he holds towards the exchange fades away completely. “Speak your purpose,”

“I am not a traitor to your cause, my prince.” With a breath, you explain, “Whilst it is true that my family has held little interest in the political squabbles of the court, until late, it was not I who swore allegiance to your nephew- nor is it I who supports your sister’s claim to the throne.” 

Prince Jacaerys Velaryon had traveled a great distance to meet with your brother, Cregan. He braved wind and snow and lost a few noble men along the way, but when he finally arrived, he sought to secure an alliance with your family that would grant him the banners his family needed to turn the tides of war in their favor. As far removed as you had managed to stay from the destruction and chaos of their battle, even you and your family weren’t immune to the tragedies of such conflict. As those across the seven kingdoms bled, you too felt he effects of carnage and wrath- a poison that filled you with rage and sorrow, doubt and terror- and when words of siding with the young prince, whose family was responsible for so much havoc and suffering, were spoken allowed, you felt the sharp sting of betrayal claim you as another victim to their cause.

“It is my brother whom expects me to uphold the same honor and loyalty he swore our name to under the guise of seeing a ghost.” Cregan was blinded by the resemblance Princess Rhaenyra’s firstborn son held to your late brother, and when a glimpse of traits thought to be long lost and forgotten provided him with a glimmer of the past, he aligned himself with the boy- hoping to mimic the union of brotherhood he had lost. You do not share the same sentiment. “I come bearing information about the tactics your nephew, sister, and uncle plan to use to infiltrate the city- along with the number of banners and weapons that will soon paint the streets with blood.”

It’s hard to distinguish warning from threat- sincerity from deceit- and he regards you carefully. He grapples with morality whilst digesting your words, unsure what to make of them. Your name has been a whisper in the wind throughout his life- an echo carrying tales of not only your family’s strength, but your character, as well- and though you’ve never met, he hardly recognizes the imposter that stands before him in the space where he expected a loyal woman to occupy. You may not have betrayed him- yet- but by requesting to meet with him, you’ve already betrayed your family’s trust. 

If you’re willing to sever a bond as ardent as the one shared between blood, what’s to stop you from betraying him- when the opportunity presents itself?

“What is it that you seek in return?” He seeks the answers he can not infer. Though Aemond doubts he’ll reep the reward of words of honesty and truth, he challenges you to speak freely- curious to discover what you think will negate the cost of your betrayal. 

He prepares for gold. He waits for you to ask for gems, jewels, or other abundant luxuries the North is deprived of. He expects greed and corruption- gluttony and sin- but with a shaky breath, audible in the silence that’s settled in the space of a reply, you step forward. Uneasy, his grip on the hilt of his sword tightens. Ready to brandish the blade if need be, he stands ready to attack- his heart racing at the thought of claiming the Stark girl as another forgotten casualty- but when your fingertips hesitantly reach for the veil that conceals your face from his view, his grip on his weapon goes as slack as his jaw.

“When I was a girl, I was mauled by a direwolf.” Having never bared yourself in such a way to anyone other than your family, you lack the courage to meet his gaze. Instead, you avert your stare to the cracks below your feet. “Though they’ve been on the brink of extinction, I spotted a pup in the woods and thought him to be injured.” The memory causes your scars to burn white hot with a pain so blistering that your eyes start to water. Perhaps, your tears are due in equal parts shame, humiliation, and sorrow. “His whimpers drew me closer, and when I reached him, I discovered that he was not injured- perhaps just scared, or lonely.” The irony that reflects your sentiment fills your mouth with a phantom metallic tang. “Tempted by the small creature, I thought it best to take him back to the maester, and it wasn’t until after I had tucked the pup under my arm and began my journey home that I realized that his mother was close by. She pinned me down, and-“ The three jagged claw marks on your cheek scarred over angry red and deep, dark purple speak for themselves. “It  was my eldest brother whom suggested a falsity of immense beauty be projected across the realm, born from his shame of having a mauled sister.”

Aemond steps forward to get a closer look, and your breath catches when he finally steps into the light.

“For many years I lived in that same shame.” You wince, feeling far too vulnerable in front of a stranger than you’ve ever been before. “I’ve donned my veil and hid behind silk and lace because I believed  myself unworthy of anything less than ridicule- until tales reached Winterfell about a young prince who had been marred, similarly.” Most of your youth was lost to suffering and shame, and it wasn’t until word of the maimed prince had reached your ears that your dread began to dissipate.“Perhaps the whispers in the wind are misinformed, but I heard that it was your own nephew who stole your eye from you and disfigured you- your own flesh and your own blood so envious of all the greatness you possess that he maimed you out of spite.” His nostrils flare, and when he offers no reply, you step forward. “I’ve never seen another before, and though tales of your mark have oft been traded as lore and warning, they were wrong when referring to your wound as a flaw.”

His cheeks flush at the implication beyond words unspoken. Though, he doesn’t consider the sentiment to be genuine. 

“You are wed to a Baratheon daughter, so I offer a pact of ice and fire of our own- beyond marital union,” The muscle in his jaw clenches as he grits his teeth at the reminder of his wife- a woman who does not understand him, a woman who holds a strong aversion towards him despite their union, a woman who he’s forced himself to try to love, but to no avail. “I seek familiarity from someone who knows what it is like to suffer under the weight of such an unbearable pain.” Though it’s your voice that confesses, it’s as though the words have been stolen from his tongue- unlocked from somewhere deep inside the center of his chest. “I seek the knowledge of someone who understands what it is like to live in the shadows because the light has been stolen from you.” Your lip begins to quiver and the tips of his fingers twitch involuntarily. “Perhaps it is juvenile, but what I truly seek is a companion who identifies with the same struggles and sorrow, as I do.” 

You do not seek revenge. You do not seek someone to ease your pain, but rather someone who understands it- a partner to bask in the darkness with- and Aemond struggles to put his thoughts into words.

“It is beautiful,” You whisper softly, in genuine awe, whilst the tips of your fingers brush against the lowest part of his scar. The touch- not hesitant, but gentle- is barely there and comforting. Only someone who knows such pain would know how to handle a mark riddled with damage. No one, save for his mother and the maesters, has ever regarded him with such care. Having grown so used to feelings of abhorrence and shrewdness, Aemond doesn’t know what to make of the ice from your touch soothing the flame against his skin. It’s a balance he never imagined possible, an ease he never dreamed himself worthy of. The look upon his face is unreadable, and when your kind, gentle, understanding touch threatens to leave him, he grips your wrist with a swiftness that startles you both. “Forgive me, Prince Aemond, I-“

You’ve overstepped. You’ve forgotten yourself and your place. Whatever fleeting courage compelled you to reach out and touch him might have cost you the alliance you’ve dreamt of for ages. Foolishly, you’ve treated the man before you as an ally- without vows of devotion or alliance- and perhaps that is your biggest fault. With traces of regret and fear in your eyes, you begin to apologize, but Aemond’s voice fills the silence before you have a chance to.

“I understand.” He assures you, taking a step closer and loosening his grip around your wrist. Though, he doesn’t let go completely. Perhaps, it’s because he’s not ready to part from where your flesh is adjoined, or perhaps he wants the chance to grow familiar with frost in his veins. Either way, when your eyes narrow, searching for an explanation and trying to make sense of the vagueness of his reply, he solemnly whispers, “I understand.”

tagging a few writers I admire: @mypoisonedvine @em-writes-stuff-sometimes @becauseicantdecide @aemonds-war-crime @aemonds-sapphire @ewanmitchellcrumbs @aemonds-targaryen @womprat00 @theold-ultraviolence

Send me some feedback! Requests: OPEN!

buy me a ko-fi!

(can't tell if I love this or hate it lol)

[kassandras-one-braincell]

Hi ok so if ur still accepting the brainworms, here is a little Eivor idea i have been toying with? Its a really loose sort of idea, and i havent written reader inserts before, but i wanted to share it!! Sorry if this is a lot

So okay so

Being a nobleman/King/earl's youngest daughter, sent to live in Ravensthorpe as like, collateral, as part of a treaty between ur father and the Raven Clan (like a "we'll just hold onto one of your kids so you don't fuck us over" situation, idk this part is LESS important than the gay stuff)

And as you live there and become part of the community Eivor takes you under her wing, trains you to fight, and you give her information about neighboring kingdoms/Shires for raiding, etc etc and of COURSE you fall in love (because that's what we are all here for, falling in love with Eivor), and over time the two of you are just a power couple running Ravensthorpe?? You are thriving And Eivor adores you, u are her Princess (and I definitely don't like awake at night thinking about Eivor calling me Princess. I don't do that at all,,,,,)

And bc I love drama, I think some ratty little dude from another shire reaches out to your father for your hand in marriage, shows up in Ravensthorpe to whisk you away only to be confronted with the Beefiest Norsewoman Ever on your arm, and he starts running his mouth

And then Eivor. Beats the shit out of him? Because I'm gay, and I love watching that woman pummel dudes into the ground

Thats all I have so far, but I can and will go deeper and more detailed on this little idea if wanted

Always welcoming brainworms. Perpetual state of brainworm acceptance. Please give me the worms 🧠🪱🧎

I'm vibing with the collateral lore, specifically because it makes the ensuing build-up to the inevitable falling-in-love even gayer. The whole "we'll hold onto your princess so you honour your bargain" political manoeuvre has an unspoken contract. It's technically a hostage situation, pulled with the intent of holding leverage over someone, and...oh, no, the most respected warrior in our settlement is teaching the hostage to defend themself. And now the hostage is...offering tactical guidance that will boost our economy, possibly to the detriment of theirs. They also have an axe now. Motive unclear, but homoerotic.

Rat bastard's deployment is a plot to skew this arrangement in favour of your kingdom; your kingdom laid siege to a fortress, only to find it barren of loot with evidence of the Raven Clan's visitation. Clearly, your father thinks, the clan had blackmailed or tortured some information out of you, and a marriage would see your undisputed safe passage out of Ravensthorpe (fine print?). Rat bastard offered the highest dowry.

Your peaceful afternoon in the sun, draped across Eivor's lap while she feeds you slices of apple, is rudely interrupted by Rat bastard (RB hereon out) making his gaudy introduction. You can see Alvis a short distance behind, clearly biting back laughter. Eivor's grip on the knife shifts as RB states his purpose in a monologue littered with objectifying remarks aimed at you, o the children you'll bear him (grim), the money and land he offered for your hand - flattering stuff.

That's what pushes her over the edge. A princess as lovely as yourself is bound to attract suitors. Ordinarily, she'd grit her teeth through it. But RB thought you a trinket to be possessed and used, and your father was willing to throw you to highest bidder. Eivor is having none of it.

Relief flickers over his face as Eivor sets down the knife, but panic returns tenfold as she rises to her full height and rolls her shoulders. "Where is it you hail from again?" she asks with a voice of steel.

RB, bricking it, meagrely clears his throat and answers. Nowhere important, certainly not amongst the allies of the Raven Clan. Eivor therefore has no reservations about sending him packing with a few less teeth, a couple of broken bones, shakily clutching a piece of parchment detailing a change in contract regarding a certain princess. By the time your father reads the draft, you and Eivor are already wed.

I'm dying to read any other ideas you have on this or how it continued in your head! I love how your brain works. :)

princess in her voice hhhhhhhhhh PLEASE

[elitadream]

I love how you’ve stressed the understanding of Junior not TRULY being able to pick sides when it comes to his father and Mario. With him being a young child, making that distinction between what is good and bad pretty much comes down the that nature vs nurture aspect.

I can see almost see both ways happen, as a child who’s strived to impress a parent that isn’t the best role model, there have been moments where I’ve had to ignore or hide what I know as right and wrong and follow what they think as to get that sweet sweet parental praise and love. Maybe as Junior gets older the expectations of taking the throne outweigh his true feelings, and his love and loyalty to his father becomes his downfall. It’s not healthy for this unconditional familial love, especially on both ends. Even if the end goal is to help or provide, if the parents morals are warped or skewed then the child they put out will have those learned behaviors (our nurture aspect) if any of this makes sense.

I can also see an event in which an older Junior comes across a situation in which he does not agree with a decision. Perhaps Bowser has tried to rope an now older Junior into capturing Peach and attempting to rid of Mario and Luigi in a more aggressive fashion. In a fit of desperation and fear, Junior pretends to “defeat” the bro’s. Maybe it was something Mario said, or how sad he looked to be fighting the koopaling he’s come to know and cherish (a pseudo-son of sorts), but in the end Junior just can’t see the reasoning to hurt someone, especially when he knows deep down that him and his father are the ones at fault. Perhaps the bros make it to the Dark Lands and make it to Bowsers and him, leading to a final standoff. Junior doesn’t want to hurt anyone, it’s not fun to see others in pain or suffering, and the conflict of interest between him and his father may drive that decision to turn away from Bowser. Presumably leading to a Father vs Son, a Generation vs Generation, a true Right vs Wrong. (Maybe our nature aspect)

The speculation space you provide is fantastic, from the short blurbs and scenes we have gotten and the bread crumbs of text show that Junior appreciates and loves his father while respecting and looking up to Mario as well. The conflict of role models and with just how young Junior still is shows that he could still be swayed in either direction. The fantastic part to me is there is still no way to tell yet.

Your AU and everything you’ve put forth so far is gorgeous and I am so happy to have been able to come across you blog on more than one occasion. Please continue your world building, what you have is something you should be proud of. (*´꒳`*)

Ooh yes, Junior is a very conflicted character on that front! 🥺🙇‍♀️ He loves his father greatly and wants to make him proud, but he's also deeply and genuinely fond of Mario- and finding himself torn between radically opposing forces creates a very intense struggle for him, emotionally and morally speaking.

The tragic beauty in this conflict is that Junior finds candid motivation on both ends due to the very strong affection and admiration that he feels for the two. His intentions originate from the right place regardless of who they're directed at, and he will inevitably sway back and forth because of this.

While I've shown him as being a "good" kid (in the sense that he isn't inherently evil, but rather a blank canvas like most children are), his father's influence in his life is still huge and incredibly potent, the same way Mario's impact on him is felt very strongly despite him really wanting to be worthy of his father's esteem.

I love Junior's character for that reason- the ambiguity, the incertainty and the constant dilemma that comes with trying to meet contrasting expectations. He's a paradoxical figure, his heart leaning in two different directions at the same time, and one that is bound to evolve in a very non-linear way because of it. 🎇

I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on this!! That was a beautiful analysis, and I'm delighted that you like my portrayal of the small koopa. 🙏 Thank you for your wonderful compliment on my work, that's immensely appreciated. ☺️💟

[19burstraat]

why do you think inej continue to doubt kaz’s intentions even after he tells her he wants her? it’s fairly clear that kaz is not just saying he wants her on a business partner level, esp since inej starts talking about kissing so clearly she’s aware it’s romantic to some extent. so why does she think kaz wouldn’t come for her later in crooked kingdom?

it feels to me that it's a doubt of priorities rather than intention, maybe? I mean I'd not blame her for being wary of what he really means/wants given her history at the menagerie and kaz's complete inability to ever externalise anything, but idk. She knows he loves her yeah, but she doesn't really know how far that goes, I guess? and she also knows his priorities are a bit. er. skewed, especially after that stunt with letting pekka out at the ice court. would he prioritise her, or 'the job'? she can't really be sure, because he zig-zags between the two a lot and tends to conflate them when he gets defensive (like the investment thing), so like. I feel like we get a look into kaz's head which gives us an entirely different perspective on him that everyone else gets, and he's not shown half as much to Inej or the others as we've seen by this point, so it makes sense she'd not be able to make sense of his motivations like readers can

[cboffshore]

No idea if this has been mentioned before , but i reread the OSSAS series and why do i kinda feel like some of the non-prisoner-related stuff nadakhan does to Nya ( not defending his creepy behavior or anything) are things Delara possibly used to enjoy ?

Nadakhan slightly playing with Nya's hair ? Delara liked it when he played with hers. The two playing chess over some mulled wine ? Well there aren't many restaurants aboard the Keep so that could very much have been their favorite way to have a date . Just him reeeeeeeally pushing Delara into Nya before she even knows what's actually going to happen ...

If you were at some point hinting of that in the series , i really apologise for not getting the cue ! #autism

Btw so excited for next chapter of " Witness For The Solitary Host" :D your works are amazing

Good catch - that was definitely intentional. I actually have never rambled about that pattern before, so I've been wondering if I pulled it off well enough for people to catch on. Looks like I did! That's great! (I'm putting the rest under the cut to save dash space!)

It kind of plays into a longer pattern I have in OSSAS about Nadakhan trying to pre-mold Nya into Delara - not even by trying to get her used to those things, but sort of by trying to convince himself that he's got some part of Delara back before he actually does. He knows Nya's not her, but, like.... if the lights are dim enough, or she's asleep or not glaring at him head-on, or she's doing something close enough to what Delara used to do, it's easy enough to pretend he's already won for a few seconds. Just enough to keep him going, really. (Sidenote: there's a song on the playlist with the line "There's nothing wrong with just a taste of what you paid for" - that's on the playlist specifically for this stuff.)

I should admit I wasn't working from the "things Delara used to like" angle - I was more on the "how Delara used to behave" track - but the idea of him intentionally resurrecting these sentimental activities definitely works with the themes of the series, too! On some level, he's absolutely working out of habit (re: the hair touching), so viewing the chess night as something she used to enjoy is a totally valid interpretation.

One thing that's always annoyed me a little about Skybound is this really weird idea that Nadakhan targets Nya because he thinks she's just Delara reincarnate. This is true at the start of the season, but by episode 60 (where he actually refers to Nya by name when speaking to Jay) it's VERY obvious that he's figured out his initial reincarnation idea was off the mark. A lot of fanfiction I've read over the years misses that development, which kind of skews the whole thing and turns it into more of the "I know you're in there and I'm going to break you out and help you get your memories back" stereotype. I didn't want to work with that angle, both because it's just flat out wrong and also because I have seen it SO MUCH and I'm tired. (Which explains most of the motive for writing this series, really - trying to skirt all the trends and seeing what I can wring out.)

Nadakhan's whole thing is taking existing materials and sculpting them into his ideals - which, in my opinion, plays VERY nicely with the "I know Nya's not 100% what I'm looking for but she'll make a good enough starting point" that we get canonically. I really tried to play that up throughout OSSAS, and I'm glad it came through!

Also - glad to hear you enjoyed Witness! The next chapters aren't due til later this year for reasons I can't spoil yet, but I'm very excited to get working on it, because this time I get to examine how Nadakhan behaves when he has what he thinks is 100% Delara. I won't give too much away, but.... it's going to be so fun. He's going to have an awful time. I'm so ready to run this guy over with a Barbie jeep.

Thanks for the ask!!

[psychoticallytrans]

i think it is great that you encourage reading comprehension on your own posts without being condescending

you might have already posted about this (I didnt look yet sorry) do you have any strong feelings about the "lack of reading comprehension" on tumblr

I don't believe it's a tumblr issue. I believe it's an issue of education that is manifesting on Tumblr as well as many other places.

Tumblr skews heavily USAmerican, and our educational system - along with many others, but ours is the one that I know best - has been devaluing the humanities for decades, and I don't believe it has ever done a good job of teaching how to read for understanding of the text. Many "how to read" programs begin and end with students knowing what words they are reading, if not even earlier at just providing people with books.

These programs fill crucial gaps in education, but we also need programs teaching more complex comprehension skills, such as interpretation of authorial intent and how well they succeeded at fulfilling it, the meaning of common metaphors and symbolism, and looking at the source of a text for context. Without these skills being explicitly taught, adults are left stumbling along when it comes to reading and understanding complex texts, or even just ones written by people they don't understand. The phrase "The beautiful whiteness of the countryside" means something very different from a white racist than from an Inuk person, but without looking for and understanding that context, many people will assign the meaning that makes the most sense to them.

However, the bigger problem in my opinion is the aggression and lack of willingness to be wrong that many people with poor reading comprehension have, which makes it impossible for them to learn better comprehension. This, I believe, is due to a much more insidious gap in USAmerican education: the inability to let a student be wrong without it being something wrong with them. A wrong answer on a test is not seen as it should be as an opportunity to learn and do better next time, but as a personal failure on the part of the student and an indication of their worth. Think of how many times you've seen "poor reading comprehension" and "lack of reading comprehension" hurled as insults on this site. Poor reading comprehension is not an indication of morals or character, and should not be treated as such. It is a gap in their education.

This is in good part because of the pressures of standardized testing bleeding down into all parts of our educational system. Standardized testing determines a good part of school funding, so many schools place an incredible amount of strain on the students to try to motivate good scores. This, in many cases, leads to teachers tying praise to good scores and nothing else, and scolding students who score poorly. Since young minds tend to tie praise and scoldings to their self esteem, and school makes up a huge part of children's lives, their self esteem is heavily influenced by the amount of things that they get right in school. Some parents reinforce this at home by only praising children for good scores in school, and frequently scolding and punishing children for poor scores.

Being right means feeling good and being praised, and makes you feel better about yourself. Being wrong means feeling bad and being scolded or even punished, and lowers your self esteem. So of course this leads to people who are very resistant to admitting they are wrong. Of course people don't want to feel bad and like they are going to be scolded or punished. Of course they want to be right all the time and feel good about themselves all the time. Of course this makes it difficult to learn better, because what is there to learn if you have to be right?

That is what I think of the state of reading comprehension on Tumblr. That due to the high proportion of USAmericans, it is heavily influenced by the USAmerican educational system, and specifically by some of its major flaws.

[burinazar]

(This post is mostly a direct copy-paste with edits of my twitter thread about the same thing, so you don't need to bother reading it if you've seen that already. Contains spoilers for MiA season 2!)

ahhh. the abyss wiki has one of Irumyuui's occupations listed as this. (Ebil takes 1000hp mental damage and expires)

Now i personally have been known to talk a lot more often about how "made a symbolic religious sacrifice" is what the Ganja and most directly Waz and Vue did to Belaf, but that's because i'm trying to point out something that isn't obvious. Meanwhile i don't usually point out that deification is also what they all did to Irumyuui because, well...duh! This one seems blindingly obvious in being the conclusion the narrative wants us to reach. Elevation, idolatry, cast in the role of savior and praised as a "queen"...for all intents and purposes just another form of dehumanization, if less physical and literal than the other that she suffered.

The sages, and Irumyuui. A prophet and a savior and a sacrifice -- "we sought to become something more than human" -- and, of course, one who was human until the end...

But, to be more precise i think the Three Idiots themselves weren't actually able to find self-deceiving refuge in a view of Iru as a holy savior instead of an exploited child. When Vueko says 'people can get used to anything, even hell', I take it as referring to (among other things) how the rest of the Squad were able to rationalize and live with this. The non-sage Ganja seem a lot more likely to fall into that kind of thinking, from the bits we see -- the taking of the children seems to become a sort of ritual for them.

Vueko and Belaf were never able to think of her as a holy savior for a second, both of them literally tried to kill themselves because they were TOO aware their 'salvation' was not divine providence but the product of making a child (THEIR CHILD!) suffer. And I think Waz is uhh. very realistic about what they were doing. Also, I get the sense that HE didn't view himself as having a 'righteous' heavenly mandate -- while he feels moved by a higher power that 'gathered' them all, i don't at allthink that he would claim moral absolution on those grounds the way religiously or spiritually motivated characters doing bad things in fiction are sometimes seen to do. (Relatedly, I speculate he wouldn't really see it in terms of absolution or culpability at all -- I believe his sense of personal responsibility and free will may be very skewed by his prophet situation, but that's getting into the weeds of Waz speculation that i could write several posts on alone...)

No, I think all three of them understood more clearly than all their followers that Irumyuui was just a child thrust into the role of savior.

Meanwhile the rest of them, the ones we see kneel and pray at various junctures...them... there is a strong sense that the rest -- just as, i suspect, they believed in 'the nameless god' more than the sages actually did -- accepted everything that happened as divine providence. If they thought about Iru's personal suffering at all (and that's quite a big if) they may have regarded it as her preordained role, the reason she was sent to them...

...I really want to know what Pakkoyan thought about this. She's the most demonstrably 'faithful' out of the named characters -- in the anime she's notably the one who assigns a spiritual meaning (absolution and the forgiveness of sin) to the village. That seems pretty clear confirmation to me that she's inclined to buy into the mindset described above. BUT. She is also close to Vueko and must know how Vue was taking it. Does this strike her as contradictory? Does it disturb her that the person she loved was disgusted by what she and the rest of the Ganja saw as holy salvation?

...now that i wrote "she must know how Vue was taking it", i'm wondering if she actually did or not lmao. given that i often picture Pakko having an idealized view of Vueko (the continuity with Vueko's idealized view of Belaf and Belaf's of Wazukyan pleases me) she may not have realized how horribly Vue was doing lol.

Anyway I got a little lost at the end there in Pakkospeculation (listen it's the narrative's fault for barely characterizing her ok) but. Yeah. This is my general view on the in-story deification of Iru and how the sages versus everyone else may have felt on it

[loveotomization]

For the past 10 years of my life as a Mikan enjoyer, I've been daydreaming about writing a series of essays examining Mikan's fall scenes through a lens of both satire and in-universe character motivation. Finally got off my butt and did it.

Presenting:

Mikan vs. Fanservice

Part 1: A Doyalist look at satire of fanservice in SDR2

(warning: contains images of anime girls in skimpy clothes)

This is a part of my larger Mikan fansite, Sad Nurse.

Essay can also be read under the cut!

(Please don't go picking a fight with me over cartoon people. I'm old and tired. I probably won't respond.)

I’d like to start off by saying that analysis will deal almost exclusively with Mikan’s portrayal in the SDR2 game, rather than the DR3 anime or any manga adaptation. Being a different medium, and produced a few years after the game, I believe that the writing and art could at times have different intentions than the games.

I personally find the writing choices for Mikan’s character absolutely fascinating, to the point that it invites both Doyalist and Watsonian exploration of what makes her function.  (simply put, Kodaka’s writing and Mikan’s in-universe motivations work in concert, rather than at odds)

I’m writing this series of essays in response to the constant, not to mention surprising, confusion I’ve seen surrounding Mikan’s character over the past ten years. Mikan is a very unique character, and her motivations are difficult to find perfectly mirrored in another existing character (not to say that I have consumed every piece of media ever, but I have yet to run across another character like her). Either way, I’m hoping to challenge some incorrect views or at the very least have the chance to say my piece after so many years.

Now, of course, I am not Kodaka nor have I met him personally. I have, however, been in the fandom for longer than the average DR fan, not to mention being somewhat older, so I may have different experiences with media than some other fans.  

Now that I have all of that out of way, I’d like to begin with what I personally believe was Kodaka’s primary intention in creating the scenes where Mikan falls over-

Satire.

Dictionary.com defines satire as:

‘The use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.’

So just what is the ‘stupidity or vice’ that Kodaka is satirizing?

Fanservice.

(and perhaps the dojikko archetype, but we’ll visit that in another article)

I feel as if the term fanservice has become skewed as of late, as terms often do with passing decades. Back in the early days of English-speaking online anime fandom, fanservice was most often used to mean a scene or piece of artwork that was literally intended to be sexually appealing to the (usually straight male) viewer. At the same time, these scenes would do nothing to further the plot or add to the characterization of the woman in the scene.

These are images of Faye from Cowboy Bebop. I choose her because she exists in a sci-fi action canon that contains a well-written story and characters, as opposed to a pure fanservice series that is only created to showcase women’s bodies for an assumed male gaze.

While it can be argued that the way Faye dresses can make a statement about her personality, it is also clear to the viewer that her outfit is intended to be sexy not just in-universe, but for the viewer as well.

Let’s consider these pictures.

Faye’s top leaves little to the imagination, showing much of her cleavage, which is of course something that many female-attracted people find to be a turn on. You’ll also notice that her booty shorts are unzipped in front, inches from her privates. While I am neutral on the topic of fanservice, characterization and story-wise, there is no reason for the creators to dress her this revealing other than for viewers' pleasure. The adjustments to her costume in the live action prove that she can still be a strong and attractive woman without letting it all hang out.

The same goes for her cocktail dress. There is no vital in-universe need for jiggle physics.

(Disclaimer: This is not a critique of Cowboy Bebop. I think it’s a brilliant show. These images are here solely to juxtapose true fanservice with Mikan’s suggestive pose scenes)

Now, let’s take a look at some characters you’re more familiar with. These are from a collab with a mobile game called Sengoku… something. I’ve never heard of it, and I’m not sure what the actual characters from it look like. That said, let’s look at Mikan and Chiaki in these images.

These images are stand-alone, rather than being scenes from DR canon. In that case, they say nothing about the personality of characters in question, or the story they are from. These images serve no other purpose than to titillate the viewer. The outfits are clearly drawn in ways specifically to highlight their chests and other areas.

So what does this have to do with Mikan’s scenes in SDR2?

I firmly believe that Kodaka is doing three things with the following scenes: satirizing fanservice, satirizing the dojikko character type, and showing quite a bit of Mikan’s character at the same time. I find this pretty clever writing, and the reason I felt compelled to write this series of essays. We know that Kodaka likes satire and parody. Please just take a look at the entire DR series. Even the major themes underlying the games as a whole, such as reality TV culture and the pressures placed on Japanese youth, are largely satire. So why wouldn't smaller moments of satire be present in these same games as well?

These are the scenes in which Mikan falls over on purpose in order to diffuse tense moments, and shift the focus back onto herself by using her sexuality (I’ll go into this topic in depth at another time). As I said, these scenes show us a great deal about the personality of the character, making them immediately more valuable than simple fanservice scenes.

Take a look at her pose, and how she is dressed. Compare it to the ninja costumes above. They show quite a bit of skin, and the poses highlight their breasts and thighs.

In SDR2, Mikan is fully clothed in a reasonably well covering outfit (I once saw someone on Tumblr say that her skirt was drawn too short, and sometimes I feel like we’re one step away from visible ankles becoming scandalous again lol). Her chest is covered. There is the tiniest little peep of plain white panties in one of these images, but that’s about it. I can assure you that these scenes are not very sexy to the average female-attracted person. They are over the top, and clearly present a parody of the sort of scene truly meant to be sexy. Now, of course, literally anything can be a turn on to someone out there, but I’m talking about on average, of course.

Does this mean that Kodaka is against fanservice? I’m sure that’s not the case. However, it is possible to satirize things that you enjoy as well. In fact, I encourage creatives to critique tropes that they personally enjoy. I personally think that it’s a good way to challenge your own point of view and to not take yourself too seriously.

Satire can be shocking, or bring on feelings of discomfort. It is not always intended to be funny. Spending ten years of my life in the DR fandom, it’s always been strange to me that depictions of sexuality--even when they show very little or are used to further characterization--are more shocking to the general viewer base than the actual murders themselves, but that is likely a larger discussion for another day. Back to my point however, is that even if you do feel disgust or discomfort at Mikan’s scenes, they do elicit an emotion in the viewer, which is a large part of the point of art in the first place. In short, you have every right to feel discomfort at these scenes, but I do think that understanding the meaning and value behind them can help deepen enjoyment of the game, or at the very least of Mikan’s character.

Upcoming- A look at the dojikko archetype, followed by a Watsonian look into Mikan’s own motivations in the conscious use of her sexuality.

[numinous-scribe]

hi so this isn't meant to be mean at all! but um, pit madness isn't...a thing. like, at all. the only cases that can be made for it is characters like ra's, who had prolonged exposure to it, but characters that have been dipped just once (jason, cass, damian, etc) aren't mentally affected by the pit in canon at all. at least during post-crisis, jason didn't Have a rule about not hurting kids—that was not his version of bruce's no-kill rule, it wasn't a hard rule of any sorts. he was an asshole. that was his whole character after he came back during post-crisis, until the n52 reinvented him (and the n52 decanonized all he did after he came back. so it didn't change what he did and why he did it, and since we're now in a hellscape where everything is canon, his motivations (is an asshole that chose to take out his daddy issues on a kid) are still the same they were back then, nothing changed.) he also mocked, kidnapped and blew up the school of a teenage csa survivor BECAUSE he was an asshole, so if he had any sort of "rule", it was one he made many exceptions for.

also, ra's had no interest in tim until red robin, he didn't gaf about tim back then past him being another one of bruce's robins. talia didn't influence jason's decisions; she was struggling to keep that guy in line during lost days.

this isn't saying you can't like jason—hell, i love him. but he did all that shit because he wanted to. he chose to do it, and sure he wouldn't have made them if he hadn't died and come back angry and hurt and struggling, but he did. and pit madness or saying talia made him/manipulated him to do it (which i think plays into the racist stereotype surrounding talia, but i digress) feels like absolving him of all wrongdoing for his own actions.

once again, saying all this in good faith, but it gets sort of annoying watching people make it seem lile jason didn't CHOOSE to be an asshole. for a while, he was just an asshole.

Fam. I get you're saying that you came here with good intentions, but all I'm seeing is you jumping in my inbox to "um, actually" me, which is, quite frankly, rude and unappreciated. No one likes to get "um, actually"ed. Especially over personal interpretations of things.

What all this really tells me is that you put on some selective reading glasses and chose to take offense to my tags in particular on a post that *checks notes* was initially about Tim having no obligation to forgive and forget Jason being an asshole to him. Which, fair. Point to that. But then the addition to the post was about *checks notes again* how the writing for Jason's comeback was all over the place, skewed, and completely dissonant with how his character was before. But the add on also offered some nice perspective on why people liked to use pit madness as a plot device (which, frankly, there has been other instances outside of Ra's displaying it. i.e. the first person dunked in the pits literally came out made and killed Ra's wife. It's just DC can never expand on the little bits of lore they drop surrounding this without either completely forgetting it or retconning it.)

But back to the point. Which was that people like the concept that pit madness brings to the table. They like using it as a means of explaining the shitty writing of "canon". Do some people over do it and use it to absolve him of all his sins without consequences? Yeah, and it's not great, but it's whatever. And I never said that I want it to absolve him of being an asshole. I said I liked it being A factor to skew his thoughts. The can also apply to other concepts that I toyed with in my tags.

Can Jason still be an ass just to be an ass? Yeah. He can. But I'm not here to explore canon's desperate fixation on toxic grimdark bullshit. And you can't say in one breath that something is canon, but then in the next say that canon is a hellscape where nothing makes sense. That's contradictory. You get how that's contradictory, right? Canon doesn't even know what's canon, plan and simple, that's why so many people disregard it in the first place!

I could go out and pull up receipts to counter a bunch of other things, but frankly, I don't need to keep justifying how and why I play around with ideas and concepts. So please, next time you feel the need to come into someone's inbox to "correct" them. Don't. You just make an ass of yourself.

[ohwell-itsme-but-danganronpa]

A realization I shared with The Pit back in March, last year. Heavy on the salt/kinda in character-hate territory

last night I realized Kokichi's and Kaito's deaths also parallel each other's like many other things about them. and I am so mad.

there was never a moment when I was close to forgiving him for brushing off Kokichi's last words as another lie to recover his own face because someone pointed out he sounded almost fond or something like that, they were this close to changing their minds about Kokichi and he had to ruin it, but it's even worse.

Because at the end, Kokichi allowed himself to be vulnerable and honest, alone with a guy who never liked him, dying Kokichi said his truth. Kaito is surrounded by friends, he gets a love confession and he doesn't respond to it, he doesn't have anything other than his usual hero speech to say, because he's never vulnerable with them, he'd never admit he changed his mind about Kokichi, just like he never admitted to anything that wasn't very heroic (in his skewed idea of what a hero is like) of him regardless of whether others could tell,

he's so full of shit, I am not buying into the myth of an idiot with good intentions, that guy is smart and very much capable of emotional manipulation, he's put all his points in charisma and he's using them, easily laying down his biases to his peers, getting away with heaps of hypocrisy, getting people to do things his way even when they know it's stupid/dangerous/both (usually it's both with his ideas),

his bias against Kokichi had to be a combo of unwillingness to admit he was wrong on first impression/ closed-minded refusal to look past first impression/ possibly self-recognition through another (derogatory)/ hypocrisy coming to him that easily, because he clearly convinced himself that he's always right and he's doing the right thing when he hides everything he isn't proud of from people, probably protecting them, unlike other people who only lie because they're evil

[this is the end of the "realization" message, but I will include my side of the group ranting that followed, not including others, they were sharing their opinions in a safe space, actively spreading anti-Kaito agenda is just a me-thing]

he's super toxic and. The fact that so many people took him at face value was my true downfall face-first into joker arc

they're like "Kokichi did x too" disregarding the fact that Kokichi got shit for it from the entire cast and was doing it in his efforts against the killing game while Kaito did it to make himself look good, got praised and didn't take his own advice (x usually stands for forcing people into a situation, referring to Meet and Greet)

He said he's helping Shuichi and Maki so he helped them. No, I need them to get a restraining order on him and go to therapy to recover from the shit he put in their heads.

Maki reasonably tried avoiding attachment, knowing it could be used against her, but Kaito knows what's better for her than she ever could, obviously. And so he made her unstable and a threat

Guy who doesn't take no for an answer, he gave her no choice or didn't even explain before they got there, I was uncomfy with him from that one convo with Kaede early on when he tries to take credit for her idea and asks something of her that throws her off (I think he was asking for a hug?), but he kept outdoing himself in crossing people's boundaries for a while

The whole. Punishing Shuichi and making him apologize for not following Kaito blindly into getting everyone killed in ch4, that's also up there

He wants to be good, but his idea of good is messed up.

also while I'm at it, some screenshots from the times I talked about him in The Saiou Lounge (finally gathering all I wanted to screenshot from that dead server is what motivated this wave of posting again)

Adding another rant to the post, just compiling atp because I don't want to make multiple negative posts: I just think that. people forget Kaito was about to lead everyone into a battle against monokuma with a choice of weapons that he thought looked cool (with Maki just going along with that, not commenting on how most of them wouldn't know how to use those weapons or how unlikely they're to be able to use close-range stuff on monokuma) and Kokichi stepped in with the electrohammers and the idea of re-trying the death road of despair just before they could get themselves killed, while I'm uncertain about ch4, at this point he definitely wasn't on board with everyone dying, and Kaito's illness was The Motive of ch5, while he wouldn't kill anyone directly he was obviously desperate and making everyone else restless because of his Extreme Unexplained Charisma, plan A was isolating Kaito from the group asap, announce the game is over, plan B mastermind made their move, confirming their existence, it's time to act, try to convince Kaito to do the unsolvable murder with him, appealing to his hero complex, as much as I'd like him to have expected Maki, he was surprised, and thought her reason for showing up was "You really love murder that much?"(paraphrasing), and tbh, if I was anyone other than Shuichi or Tsumugi in-game, I don't think I'd expect Maki to feel anything other than annoyance about Kaito, we see cliches & Shuichi third-wheeling, they saw a guy harassing her as she insults him and pouts about it

Me:the transphobic bit comes from the slur he uses when Kiyo reveals to be wearing lipstick in the 3rd trial, it's a word that has been partially reclaimed by drag queens in more urban parts of Japan, but Kaito is a rural boy (or at least that's how I saw it explained) that's still present in eng, sexism is like, THE core trait of Kaito, it's defining to all his relationships/opinions on people Ves: the line about how women shouldn't handle weapons Haunts me his concern about maki frequently seems to be that she's Not A Housewife and not. THE TORTURE it's sad that she's an assassin because women shouldn't be violent :( not that she's much Better lmao. responding to everything by being uwu tsundere by hitting him and deliberately digging at all his worst insecurities Me: YEAH! HE'S LIKE: YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE A SWEET DELICATE GIRL, I KNOW YOU'RE A SWEET DELICATE GIRL UNDER YOUR COLD EXTERIOR, I WILL TRAIN YOU TO BECOME THAT GIRL, SIDEKICK Ves: the funniest part is that the narrative treats him as Right she is a sweet delicate girl turns out Me: I got bad vibes from him the moment he was talking with Kaede before they were about to try death road of despair for the first time and he just kept getting worse, like from the moment he punched Shuichi it was just discovering new levels of hatred and violent urges in me everytime he says or does something Ves: the "give me a hug!!' "no." scene makes me laugh so hard im sorry Chee: tbh I felt like he had a bit of a crush on her? or it would be funny if he did Me: pretty sure he did, tbh, Kaede is a lot more his type than Maki, his sidekicks are just charity projects to boost his ego and have allies that make him feel safer in the kg, but in his LHS he wants someone he sees as equal, which he called Kaede (in a way that was disrespectful to her, cause he was trying to leech of credit for her ideas but, he did say that) Chee: I just remember how,, Positive his interactions w Kaede were (on his side at least) Me: it was almost like watching Kaz interact with Sonia again except somehow worse, he's got so much of Kaz, but the narrative assigning him being Right & having unreal charisma ruins all that, he could have been a wet dog of a comic relief character, but he's the representation of every man who ever made me feel uncomfortable or unsafe or enraged, and all of those feelings become deeply ingrained into my image of him the "actually everything he says he is" Kaito that's genuinely a supportive friend that has his sidekicks best interest in mind Spin on his character some fans have pisses me off, double points if they make him queer he can try to be good but he has to be getting things wrong, he has to be a little stuck on some points when he's in the wrong, his traditional upbringing has to get a bit in the way I can tolerate him having a bit of deeply repressed bicuriosity, maybe turing out to be bi, but it has to be a long ass arc and he cannot have anything genderwise, I am drawing the line, no way in hell