#now I NEED to see him having a savior complex arc

[vibatu]

“Hope. A strange concept, after so long seeing myself as the agent of ruin.

Oh. Oh.

So that's some piece of a crumb over why Kuras is so "curious" about the MC.

"-Few would cling to life so resolutely"

Hope has become such a foreign concept to him after so long, especially looking at the current state of Eridia, oh I'm gonna be sick.

[kacchanisms]

(spoilers for mha 395)

the final arc of mha is intentionally written to be the most pacifistic. the heroes want to save the core villains, to prove that their hearts have changed, to show that their society is redeemable, that they have a future. toga dying would collapse the whole arc.

it would be an egregious misstep on the author's side to shatter the narrative they spent nearly 400 chapters on. pairings and other nonsense aside, this ending would run directly counter to the ideas of the story.

there's foreshadowing as well. in toga's "final" moments, she refuses to be arrested. for her, it's freedom or death, living freely as a villain or dying before she's captured.

hawks said to twice to turn himself in or die. freedom or death, twice fought and died.

there has to be a third option, where toga can live freely as she is. ochako offered her another path through the promise of giving her blood, by telling her that her authentic self was beautiful, that her love was genuine and worthy of being reciprocated. acceptance.

hawks failed to see another path when he confronted twice. he didn't come to the battlefield with the desire to communicate, he came with his weapons out to arrest twice, no discussion. he had another choice there, you know? to reach out with real friendship. but he didn't.

ochako has done what hawks could not. she's forged a deep emotional connection with toga. now, hawks has to provide the third option, where toga doesn't die, where she can live freely as herself without imprisonment.

i don't know how toga will be saved from death. but hawks... has the potential to give toga a new future. he was once the child of a villain, someone who had no other avenues in life, who was eventually taken captive by the hero institution and trained into a child soldier. ultimately, hawks is a kind soul. all hawks ever held in his heart was the desire to help others, a savior complex, but this was exploited to make him a false hero, a bird in a cage. after his mother left, he saw a way out, but the mentality still remains to go for the kill.

... because he's a "hawk". a name that taught him how to be a predator.

himiko is also a bird. she's associated with sparrow imagery. she has a free love for others; in another world, she would've liked to help them. as she is, she is happy that she lived as she wanted.

since she was young, society has treated her love as predatory, which left a lasting impression on her self-worth. it forced her into a cage, one that was impossible for her to live in, until she finally became a villain so that she could live freely.

hawks and toga are akin to each other. they've both dropped a person from great heights. but they're also not irredeemable.

and hawks killed twice, toga's friend. those two are bound to interact one more time, just for that. this time hawks has the option to spare toga.

hawks and toga are bound by twice's death, a murderer and the best friend of the person he murdered. so hawks has obligations he needs to fulfill towards toga, to even begin to make it up to her. saving her would be the first step. since toga now parallels twice in this situation, hawks is also arriving at his own reckoning, just like how endeavor had to finally engage with touya, reckon with his own actions as a father. like endeavor, he may be tempted to self-destruct alongside his victim, or... he's crucial to saving her.

it's also maybe the only way out of the cage for hawks, too. the way to rid himself of the influence his hero-soldier upbringing had on him. to possibly acknowledge, apologize or atone for his actions.

with his past, hawks might have the chance to give toga another option -- to live freely, either as a rehabilitating civilian or a hero. she would be able to stay by ochako's side, where, like the LoV, ochako would reciprocate her love and provide her acceptance and community.

either way, there's so much set up for a strong ending with toga, building off mha's themes of redemption, acceptance, reaching out not with violence but with care and understanding. killing toga permanently would wreck all the careful work that went into this narrative.

[lovecaitlined]

My Honest Thoughts on KaySun after Episode 62 🖤

I Can Excuse Bad Characters, But Not Bad Writing

Another ride. I’ve gathered myself and my thoughts up to once again marvel at the bad writing this show has. It’s only saved by KaySun’s chemistry thanks to Taro and Beril’s talents.

Before I begin, I want to say that all these are my own opinions, and I don’t think I’m a 100% right so I welcome other people’s opinions as well. Next, I don’t watch this show religiously—I only look at Kaya and Suna’s scenes, and even then I don’t watch it on the official channel live.

I also want to say I can excuse bad characters, but I cannot excuse bad writing.

I also wish the characters acted logically instead of for the sake of the plot and whatever politics goes behind the scenes (who is your backer, Buce? Onur?) but yeah.

Anyway, let’s start.

Bad Writing

Suna has been OOC for the most part; unfortunately, now, Kaya is as well. The cheating thing was too abrupt. The reason why I take issue with this is because characters are supposed to be driven by the motivations set up by them by the writer. The sudden, illogical changes in Kaya’s and Suna’s characters show that the writer is making them act out of character only 1) for the sake of the plot, 2) to be used as collateral for SeyFer parallels, and 3) to bring in the shock value and retain reytings—a cheap OGM move, because now the story is bad and has lost its value.

I will not excuse Kaya’s and Suna’s behavior. However, I wish they showed us that they were capable of doing such things early on instead of making them OOC. It’s giving me whiplash.

Kaya’s Cheating

I want to say, I hope this is an AsLaz (Yabani) and EsZan (Aşk Mantık İntikam) situation wherein the guy was flat out drunk / drugged and nothing actually happened. But even before that, he was being friendly and basking in Pelin’s attention. Granted, she’s a childhood friend, and he needed someone to talk to—but not someone to flirt with.

I hate how OOC Kaya is. You do not write someone to be a loser in love, who is a stickler for loyalty and protecting his wife, only to throw it all out the window for the sake of a cheap parallel plot. I wish they hinted at Kaya having a roving eye during his marriage with Suna. I would be able to swallow the plot more. However, they doubled down, making him very ideal and loyal, only for him to suddenly “cheat” on her after she acts a bit strange after…4 days? After he was waiting for her to call him?

The fact that he did it with Pelin (and not Pırıl—wtf happened to that plot, anyway?) irks me as well because he knows how Suna feels about Pelin. Maybe Kaya was really drunk (we know he gave up drinking after his ONS with Pırıl), but again, it doesn’t excuse his behavior. And it’s a slap to our faces to see him cuddling in bed with Pelin when we didn’t even get that post-halver scene with Suna.

I want to retain the hope that nothing is as it seems and it’s all an elaborate ploy by Pelin—she will blackmail him for sure, I just know it. I feel he will bring her to the mansion under the guise of protecting her from Serter, and maybe Seyran will beat her up. But I’m not taking my chances.

What do I think will happen next? I do hope Kaya shows remorse and guilt, I do hope he grovels for Suna. I think KaySun will be happy together for a bit before she finds out. However, there are alternative theories in the fandom that 1) He will fall for Pelin for real with his savior complex and make her an official mistress, and/or 2) Pelin gets pregnant. Personally, I don’t see any of those things happening, but who knows with such illogical, poorly planned writing? (Also, no one has sex like 4 days after a miscarriage and a C-section. The same way a loyal man won’t do a 180 after fighting for his wife for 4 days).

Suna’s Destiny

I think I’ve made my thoughts on Suna’s fortune telling arc quite clear in this other post, so I’ll try to keep this short.

We can see her waking up in this episode (we also see that İfakat was behind this sht). But unfortunately, her change of heart came too late—because Kaya has now potentially done something irredeemable?

I am also mad at how OOC Suna is because she’s clearly sane but SO illogically affected by a fortune teller. Make it make sense! She is so dumb (she used to be smart, anxiety-riddled but smart) and she is blaming the fortune teller for ruining her life, when it’s all her fault for misinterpreting everything. No one forced her to interpret things a certain way lmfao. She acted (OOC) of her own volition.

It’s such a huge step back from her character development. I hate seeing regression without reason or payoff. Once again, bad writing—she is acting weird because the plot demands her to, when the original character profile for Suna would never.

I know people are saying she cheated on Kaya emotionally for a teensy tiny moment when she rubbed foreheads with that fck@$$ driver. And yes, she was wrong! I’m not justifying her! But Kaya fcking someone else while still married to her was even worse imo.

I think she’s definitely going to try to make it up to Kaya in the next episodes, even though they haven’t closed the fortune teller arc yet. She’ll probably even want a kid. Will Kaya avoid her this time, out of guilt? Or will he hide what he did and carry on like nothing happen? (I really refuse to believe Kaya will make Pelin a full-time mistress, and I hope I am not wrong). Again, we might get happy KaySun and even halvet 2.0 (we cheered) and then when Suna gets pregnant with a son, she’ll find out about Kaya’s infidelity. Idk, we still have 11 episodes left until the finale on June 7, 2024.

KaySun Endgame

I hate to say this, but they will dig us out of the grave with minimal payoff and then make us endgame. As long as they want us to parallel SeyFer. And as long as Taro and Beril don’t leave the cast (and honestly, why would they, when KaySun trends always and has launched them a lot career-wise?), I am sure they will be 100% endgame. (But at what cost?) It’s unfortunate it had to happen this way, but yeah.

Another thing is Taro and Beril are finally doing promotion together. Maybe because Beril got rid of Ersh!t (rumor has it he’s dating the actress who plays the maid the show), and now they’re free to post like the besties they are. I truly do love and admire Taro and Beril’s professionalism, talent, and friendship. And someone pointed out how he posted about the important girls in his life—he included his mom, his pet dog Lila, and Beril, his co-star. They’re honestly so sweet and I love how wholesome their friendship is. Their chemistry and talent shouldn’t go to waste; I sincerely hope that they reunite it a hot digital project in the future, just like Boran and Miray did for HiLeon and HelSav. I want KaySun 2.0 to be better, too!

Also, Taro and Beril posting more photos just feels very genuine—and not just because my girl Beril is finally free. I also feel they’re trying to get us to continue to have hope for KaySun. Though I think they should demand a better plot too, but they’re too professional for that maybe.

I’ll definitely continue watching on the timeline, and I’ll root for Taro and Beril and KaySun happy ending always. But still! This is such clownery, and such new lows even from the most misogynistic production in diziland. I just pray they give us KaySun’s happy endgame.

Final Thoughts

Once again, I hate how OOC KaySun became, and I hope they fix this plot and make it so that what seemed to happen was not what really occurred. Wish they could be redeemable.

I pity Asuman…that guy is gonna blackmail her for money. (Also, Asuman would never sleep with a guy she just met. Wtf?)

I hate how the whole Yalı fcked eo during Ramadan except for KaySun. I don’t know why YÇ hates one of their most popular ships so much, but then again, it’s OGM. They hate women, logic, and happiness.

Binnur Kaya is a talented veteran actress, and I’m not surprised she is leaving, given how underutilized she was on the show. I hope we get a good final arc with Nunu and Kaya, but they barely fleshed out imo. (Why would she give her share to Orhan when he will steal it? 💀) I can’t blame the actress for departing, though Birsen did hint she is open to come back for S3.

I can’t believe I had to witness this during Lent. I have always been a good Catholic, but this show has made me turn to God and prayer more than ever. 🙏🏻

KaySun endgame, but at what cost?

Thanks for reading my thoughts. They may be muddled, but at least they were logical and slightly organized. 🧿🙏🏻

[trlvsn]

Random question since I know you like to have opinions, do you think phoenix should’ve gone back to lawyering after aa4? I feel like he would’ve been like nah I’m too old for this shit

OH MY GOD ANON. OH I HAVE A BIIIG OPINION ON THIS ONE.

listen. i have seen some people say he shouldn't have become a lawyer again and that it was more of a marketing strategy than a rational decision for his character, but phoenix didn't just become a lawyer, he became a mentor by becoming a lawyer.

phoenix's character arc is many things, but mostly, it's about finding yourself. at the end of aa1, we see quite an unexpected phrase about phoenix promising to figure out who he really is in the next cases, which doesn't really confirm to the other messages and ideas in the game. it makes sense later on though: he loses his memory in aa2, recalls his memories in aa3 and aa4... well, aa4 gives us a lot about his identity. either way, phoenix starts off as a guy with a savior complex, a guy who doesn't quite know who he is and a guy who doesn't know how to live up to his dead mentor and be something good. he learns, he gains a better sense of his identity and gets rid of the said savior complex, and then goes through a very huge development on his lonesome own, gaining awareness of the system and the world around him, how he can change that world and what really matters in general.

the only thing that remains, the thing that he carries with him is the desire to help those who are abandoned. in aa4, the entire legal system is: dark, cold, and full of despair, so he pulls it out of it's misery. he adopted trucy, for god's sake, that trait of his is something he will never get rid of because it's at his very core, it's just that now it's more healthy and reasonable.

so what does a man like him do, when the scene is set and there are brilliant young minds to be helped? what does a man like him do, when he remembers mia fey, a woman who worked alone for years to expose a man for his crimes, but took him in and became and excellent mentor? what does he do, when the only way to help people that he knows is from the defense's bench? he gets his badge back. he pretends to be clueless like in the old days, "whoopsie daisy, athena, i don't have a clue what evidence we should present... maybe you try?", because he's kind of an asshole and because it works, he is there as backup, as someone to rely on, but not too much, only if things get especially tough. if he wasn't a lawyer and simply acted as a consultant, could he really provide that much of an assistance in times of need? would he have the power? the authority?

to me, the badge was a formality, a tool, but a strategically necessary one. phoenix goes from mentee to loner to mentor, not from lawyer to poker player to lawyer. it's a progression that makes sense and that could have admittedly been executed better, but it still makes sense in my mind.

also, mia and phoenix parallels are very important to me, okay.

[digestionsack]

Thought Bubble

And now I’m thinking about Mike’s POV throughout the entire show. And I’m wondering if our access to his POV and thoughts is entirely dependent on how he sees himself.

In S1-2, when Mike’s looking for Will, we see him take the reigns. He is the leader, his deductive reasoning skills are on full display, and he is he’s given a ton of screen time—he’s the most directly involved he’s ever been. And then you have S3-4, where he kind of takes a backseat. What was the reason for this shift? What major changes would prompt this?

The biggest change I think for Mike in S3 is having El as his girlfriend and having both Will and El in his life simultaneously. And if we’re going back to what I said about how his perception of himself affects how much of him we see, that would imply that he no longer sees himself as a leader figure in S3-4 as much as he did in the first two seasons.

…which makes me think of Mike’s speech to Will in the van, right before the painting is revealed.

“And one day she’s gonna realize that I’m just some random nerd that got lucky that Superman landed on his doorstep.”

When he’s with El, he sees himself as just the side character boyfriend, just that “random nerd.” How long has Mike felt like this? Is it recent? Since S2? If this is to line up with my theory, he started feeling this way when he and El started dating.

When he is working to help Will in s1-2, we see him stepping up, having confidence in his leadership skills and deductive reasoning. But when he becomes El’s boyfriend, we see that he has a lot of insecurities—not playing D&D to seem cooler to her and cooler in general. We see that as well as having a savior complex, he also has low self-esteem and an inferiority complex—and that’s a really dangerous combination. An example of when we really see this (before he starts dating El) is when he jumps off a literal cliff to save Dustin. We’ve talked about this a lot in the tag. He was way too willing to die.

Yes, him putting El up on a “superhero” pedestal is really bad for her view of herself and her self-esteem. That much we all know. But it’s also really bad for Mike’s view of himself and his self-esteem. Because the more he projects this “superhero” image on her, the worse his own inferiority complex gets. He covered it up decently well in S3, but in S4 when some of the big issues in their relationship are the “love” and “superhero” thing, these insecurities are brought to the forefront.

Will and Mike view each other as equals. When Will is the main focus of the season, so is Mike, and vise versa. But even though El was a huge focus this season (everything with her powers and Project Nina), Mike is still sidelined. Because that’s how he feels in this relationship and at this stage in his life. Not a leader or a hero. Someone lesser than. And that’s honestly so heartbreaking to me when you break it down like this. Really, it breaks my heart every time we find a new piece of evidence supporting this. When I was going through Mike’s playlist and saw that “Mad World” by Tears for Fears was on there…I swear to you, I almost started crying.

I really need Mike’s mental health to be addressed. Truly. And it can’t happen unless Mike and El break up. Because as long as Mike is still with El, he will still be acting like someone he isn’t. Those emotional walls will still be up.

And although there has been a lot of death symbolism associating with Mike (the constant parallels to Romeo, a lot of the songs on his playlist), I really don’t Mike dying permanently would be a satisfying end to his arc. Because that would mean that the inferiority complex never really got resolved, and it would be another way of reinforcing that he only feels loved when he’s needed/can be of service to someone (because Mike’s death if it were to happen would most likely be a sacrifice). And that’s also why it means so much that what Will basically told Mike when he said this:

“See how you’re leading us here? You’re guiding the whole party, inspiring us. That’s what you do. And see your coat of arms here? It’s a heart. And I know it’s sort of on the nose, but that’s what holds this party together—heart.”

Was this:

“You don’t need to be anyone but you. You are enough. You might see yourself as a “random nerd,” but you are perfect just the way you are. You don’t need to be this larger-than-life hero. You just need to be you.”

And that, my friends, is the most fucking beautiful thing I have ever heard in my goddamned life.

[helenas-crashed-car]

i lied im oc posting now (on my puter): akira karasuno

i have ocs o_o!!! i have an entire oc world except it's not an oc world it's set on earth but I basically home-brewed the rest. I'm gonna talk about akira now!

akira benjamin karasuno is the main protag of my first comic idea part and of my podcast idea. he's 19, japanese-american, and has autism. he's transmasc and panromantic asexual! he's one of my faves. he's kind of silly. more under the cut.

i originally based him off of the punk subculture for his fashion morals and music taste, but I think his fashion strays closer to the emo subculture. his music taste is definitely very emo. I'm not talking about it rn. his ideals, though, are very punk still.

akira is sweet. he's one of the only characters I can think of in my comic who is capable of biting off a man's fingers yet also picking up two stray cats off the street because 'they needed a home.' he has suuuch a big heart. intrinsically in his little soul, his goal isn't money or fame, it's that no one goes through the pain of loneliness and paranoia that he went through as a child. i don't know if he has a savior complex but since he had almost no control of his home life during his childhood, he tries to use what control he has of his current life to help others.

despite his intrinsically sweet nature, akira is also very, very paranoid. strangers are probably one of his least favorite things he has to deal with, but alas, he has a job. while naturally, he is extroverted and kind, he used isolation as a coping mechanism for his depression and he already has bad anxiety, which has left him wary of people. It's almost paradoxical, his distaste for interaction and his need to help people. perhaps it is. most of the time, his urge to stay in his comfort zone and stay isolated from others wins out against his urge to help others, and that just fuels his cycle of self-loathing.

another thing about him is that with the few friends and people he cares about that he has, he tries his hardest to keep them around. he isn't as clingy as his sister is, but he easily ends up used as a doormat by people who don't really care about him. because of his childhood isolation and neurodivergency inter-personal relationships are very hard for him to navigate so he tends to cling to those who accept him... even if those people aren't the best.

one of the reasons he's so keen on isolating himself and why he values the few friendships he has so much is because of the town he grew up in. he grew up in a small north Californian beach town where he was regularly demonized and teased by peers for his asian heritage, transgender identity and neurodivergency. he found it much easier to go about his days if he simply didn't interact with people in public and stayed inside all day, caring for his sister and playing video games. this naturally pushed away both people who would want to tease him, and people who actually wanted to be his friend. some weeks in the summer, if his family didn't force him to go outside, the only people he'd be interacting with in person would be his sister and father. his mother died when he was ten.

alas! he isn't a static character and doesn't remain and asocial weirdo forever. over the plot of the comic, his arc is centered around responsibility. he isn't an irresponsible person, but because of his desire for control, he tends to take too many things and give himself too much work, as a way to prove himself. he makes himself useful so the people he hangs around keep him around; he doesn't see his personality as something people would enjoy him for. another thing he learns is how he doesn't have to just accept the blame for things he didn't do, which he did a lot as a kid to avoid conflict. god, I love writing character arcs.

another part of him is that he looooooves his family. dom toretto who. well, besides his dad. his only immediate family who he likes is his sister (technically his half-sister), but because of his childhood he is very attached to his sister, who's only a year younger than him. they used to be inseparable before akira left pelican bay (his hometown) at 18 and moved to san maria. (those two towns are fictional!)

away from the deeper and darker stuff. akira loves sweets and cats! one of his favorite foods is chocolate chip cookies, and his mother's apple pie. he loves video games as well, and while he plays a lot of cozy games like acnh or sdv, he also enjoys roguelikes like hades. he hates getting aphrodite boons. he loves listening to his music at loud volumes! way too loud. for someone who blasts mcr, he has pretty good hearing. he is fluent in English and knows a couple of phrases in Japanese. his father is an immigrant from japan and his mother was a texan native. he hates bell peppers. his sister is goth. his great grand uncle is kind of hot ngl sad that ken died at 21

i think this is gonna be part 1 of me discussing akira. I haven't fully discussed his backstory plus some story elements. also I like to akira post teehee

[legendarycollectorprincess]

Hot take, but I think that Christopher's death was made on behalf of Grace's character arc.

"WHAT??? THE F*CK IS THIS PERSON TALKING ABOUT??!!

I know. Let me explain. But first, let me say that I'm not a Gracetopher shipper.

I neither hate this fictional couple nor do I think that the people who do ship them are in the wrong or anything like that (I'm part of the “Christopher being aro” squad, though). Also, I am not writing this to change anyone's mind. This is simply an observation of mine, and I would like to know if anyone else shares it (it's okay if no one does! Just don't send hate😔). So, if you like this couple, then please be aware that this post may not be for you.

All right! Now that we got this out of the way, let me begin:

I love Christopher. He, as a member of the Merry Thieves and as his own person, was one of my favorite characters of this trilogy. So, of course, I was sad with his death. But I didn't think it was meaningless, or a last minute kind of thing. I believe it had a purpose: not to reduce Grace's character, and her incredibly complex journey, to a romantic relationship.

“Oh look, Grace is good now! I mean, she did end up with Christopher, right?” PLEASE NO.

I seriously wish I was joking, but I promise you, I've come across enough posts and comments to think that some fans of the books decided that they liked Grace only because Christopher was her potential love interest. An idea that was only prompted by the family tree, before Cassie Clare decided to change it.

Because, let's be real, how many times did these characters interact so that they could develop a romantic attraction for each other? There was a mutual understanding between the two of them over science? Of course! Christopher's sympathy for Grace's situation? Absolutely! This boy was a kind soul. Grace's gratitude towards the one person who didn't see her as Tatiana's blade? It existed and it always will.

But Christopher didn't know Grace completely (didn't know of the unwanted kisses that she forced upon James and Matthew, or the horrible truth she revealed to Malcolm Fade). And Grace knew nothing about love (the romantic type, at least). She only knew the twisted and manipulative version that Tatiana showed her. She said it herself in Chain of Thorns: Tatiana made her hard and cold.

“But Christopher could have been the person to teach her about true love” AGAIN, PLEASE NO.

This is just like the “she could fix him” trope. And only because this time the female character was the “broken one”, and the male character was her “savior”, it still isn't right or makes it any better. I mean, this is practically the same issue some people had about Matthew and Cordelia, and the reason they didn't want them to end up together.

Besides, Christopher already WAS Grace's savior. He showed her kindness and patience when she was at the most hopeless point in her life, when she was locked up in the Silent City. He gave her the opportunity to help him with the creation of the fire messages, and helped her to rectify some of the damage she had done to people (like Cordelia).

But most importantly, he showed her that she was worthy of a second chance. In fact, before he died, he made sure to make his friends understand that they should no longer treat Grace with resentment, or else they would be just like Tatiana. In doing so, Christopher also gave Grace the opportunity to continue to improve as a person, and learn to love herself, without fear of further judgment.

Grace is now free to walk her own path. The actions she takes from now on will allow her to find the peace she so desperately needs. And she couldn't have had that by fulfilling her role as Christopher's wife in the misleading family tree. And I think that's for the best. I think the author saw that several people weren't getting this message, so she made a reminder that being in a romantic relationship shouldn't be grounds for your past mistakes to be forgiven. Or the only reason for you to feel worthy of a second chance. Sometimes, all you need is someone who believes in you, like Christopher believed in Grace. Like he believed in all his friends.

[skaterboyfriend]

Kent and Willy! Opinion go!

for kent:

AND WE GOT A BINGO! okay so basically some thoughts on my rationale:

*you know. you know i love him my little war criminal my blorbo my babygirl etcetera. i think also he's so much deeper than he appears- yes he's written off as the PTSD character but there is SO MUCH that could be done with him... i think what the game lacks is his redemption arc. okay, he hates himself, he doesn't feel at home with his wife and children, vincent is afraid of him, sam doesn't know how to act in front of him, jodi wishes he was different- back to what he was, and god knows he wishes the same. like, so what. he's just going to grit his teeth talking about his recurring dream of seeing sam bleeding out besides him in the trenches? forever and ever? NOOOO i need him to have some sort of plot, heart event, something that helps ease his mind, helps show him he isn't alone- he has a wife who loves him and children who want a father to play catch with, to fish alongside with... so yeah. i think he's done a lot of things wrong <- while simultaneously excusing everything he's ever done as he is FICTIONAL! <- fuck the troops and ACAB etcetera -> and deserves to forgive himself after it all so he can move on...

*everything i like about him is definitely just me going insane. like okay dilf-type character with hardcore baggage i can work with it! i adopted a sort of savior-type complex for him where he only enlisted/decided to be drafted without any qualms so he can help out his family [perhaps the army offered great benefits for military wives] = basically i imposed all these headcanons to create him as a sort of character who always puts others before himself -> exhausted himself and now all that's left of him is regrets

*also ummm who else sees the freaky headcanons about kent aka him being like. WILDLY inappropriate <- trying to keep it PG13. anyway also have you seen the homophobic/bootlicking kent... NO! are you kidding all he ever says about the army is how much he detests it for taking away his humanity... he totally was a punk liberal when he was younger and had to change to fit in -> another headcanon i have is the idea of my farmer discussing leftist politics with him and to their surprise he's able to hold a conversation about marxist economics... he's like what . and the farmer twirls their hair like haha that's kind of hot ngl...

for willy:

okay babes you know willy is like. the love of everyone's life...

*like he is just some fisherman who gives you a free fishing rod, offers to get you free gear but knows that'll bankrupt him- he apologizes for having to charge you for lil bobbers and trappers, wears his pride for you when you reel in a legendary fish and excitedly show him... like he's just a great guy that TOTALLY deserves more story/background!

*also hello um... rugged bearded man who smells of the salted sea, skin burned from long afternoons fishing, rough hands from steering boats all his life, holding fishing rods fighting against fishes longer than him! like... that's pretty hot!

but thank youuu for this ask you know i would talk about the little ex-soldier blorbo forever. and god willy... i saw a post about him how he needs to be marriageable and.. like why not? he's cute funny sweet and has a little pirate accent. let me kiss him NOW!

[seasaltbaptism]

i’m deleting this later.

so bleach used to be one of my favorite shows / mangas and i still have love for it but it’s LARGELY unsatisfactory when it comes to ichigo’s heroes journey ,,? does that make sense? i’m not going to get too technical, but he starts as a kid who’s got issues bc he lost his mom ( tragically ) and he’s living life with this chip on his shoulder. bla bla bla inciting action , transformation & boom . . . we’re on our journey with our magical aid. the soul society arc was one of the best pieces of story i have seen from any mangaka to date and that’s just bc it’s so interesting to me. you have this outlier ( ichigo ) busting into a stagnant world and completely shaking it to its foundations BY SHEER LOVE AND WILLPOWER, and his friends follow him for the same reasons! they clash with this society, meet people, understand their motives more, their lives. they make FRIENDS and ENEMIES and uncover heinous secrets, cruelties and injustice and actually stand up and say ‘ yo wtf? ? ‘

throughout the arc we see major figureheads ‘change sides ‘ / change their minds and stand up too and it’s just really cool to see the ripple effect ichigo has on things, he’s a shaker and a mover. this arc ends with aizen’s betrayal revealed and his promise to return and destroy soul society and BAM we’re led into another amazing arc : hueco mundo. now if you pay attention THIS is a continuation where we see ichigo sort of confronting himself more but also denying himself in this arc ( he did a lot of soul searching in the first arc do not get me wrong homie jilted a 10+ year process in three days ) but in this arc we see how far he really goes for the ones he calls family ( i.e orihime getting nabbed + ichigo DYING & returning in that one fight , to him agreeing to split his soul to achieve final getsuga ) which just leads me to feel like after / during this arc we see ichigo really come alive meeting people who are like him? ikkaku? renji? ganju?? like it’s so. . . . idk ! seeing him continuing to fight for a society like their attack dog that ( albeit made some changes ! ) is still so stagnant ?? forever ? his whole arc after soul society + hueco mundo is him dealing with his depression which i actually enjoy bc at least it’s touching on ? his ptsd ? pain? loss of HALF HIS SOUL. i think this is such a powerful moment in his life? idk what i wanted done with him but then we hit the fullbring arc and it was so unsatisfactory to me bc ?? he regains his soul reaper powers ONLY because they needed him to defeat ginjo on their behalf. they didn’t pool their power into a zanpakuto BEFORE ??? it’s just,,, idk !

and anytime after that all ichigo does is fight for soul society, all side plot non canon movies , all filler eps , thousand year blood war? ichigo is not even 18 ?? and soul society once again asks him for his help, it’s just unsatisfactory to me! i miss the first arc and maybe the second one where we take more of a psychological look at ichigo , his motivations , his pains and how that makes him act around the people he loves. where do you take a character like that after he’s gotten his friend back? does he continue to change the society from the inside out? does he quit ? does he stay? that’s sort of the catch 22 with him, you CANT realistically say ichigo would give up his power and carry on as if nothing ever happened bc that’s not who he IS , he has a savior complex / survivors guilt + ptsd. he’s obsessed with making sure EVERYTHING is okay and safe because he’ll make it ok and safe but he won’t tell you whatever’s going on with him bc that’s just too much and he can handle it. i’m getting ahead of myself

tdlr; ichigo loses his mother who he loved more than anything -> ichigo pulls into himself and keeps friends who he can relate to close but not too close, not ever too close -> he meets rukia and undergoes massive change to save his family , he lets her in -> rejects the responsibility over everyone at first but then is convinced that he can’t half-ass the job , all souls need him -> his new friend who he sees himself in ( and someone who taught him the ropes ) gets kidnapped and imprisoned and sentenced to death for ‘ helping him ‘ / saving his life / doing her fucking job -> his friends who love him so much were empowered just by being around ichigo and train to help him -> they all go to get their new friend back and save them from a grim fate, fall into a world with so many personalities , backstories, motivations, rules , fuckery that they can’t help but make friends and garner allies -> he lets people in, he has motivation and a goal and a reason to push past boundaries and overcome the odds and blow people away -> he fails and gets back up and wins and fails again and carries on , who is he if he can’t save his friends even at the cost of his own well-being -> cue his friends ready to push it to the limit too bc they love him and he has to realize he can’t be self sacrificial and expect his friends to not do the same -> eventually they save rukia and bring attention to oddity of her DEATH SENTENCE -> ichigo achieves his goal but can’t help but feel anger as aizen reveals his betrayal and plan for the world at large , he lives in the world and takes it SO personally -> MORE growth for ichigo as he literally plows through enemies without really going through proper inner channels , but needs the power so he has quick meetings and sheer force of wills himself through situations -> eventually makes the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of others and his family / friends , splitting himself away from himself. he’s harshly cutting away the piece that has made him feel alive, useful , for the first time in a long long time. and his father encourages it. where does that leave him? where would that lead you? after everything ? all the adventures, adversaries, people you met? you must say goodbye bc this was never a choice for you? this was like breathing, you’d cut yourself into smaller pieces if it met you could fill the bellies of those you loved. ichigo’s arc makes me fucking crazy because it’s like a snake that eats itself, it’s never ending , and tite tried to end it? he tried to say that there ‘ is no zanpakuto spirit , you’re always fighting alone , it’s self acceptance and love that’s the answer. ‘ and he gets another power up and everything’s wrapped up ( it’s not , lots are missing / dead but hey kubo was sick so ) and ichigo married and had a kid , he could finally rest and give up reaping — like WHAT

[takaraphoenix]

Ship game!! What about Nico and Will?? It’s pretty popular, but I don’t think I’ve seen you write much of it…

That's an interesting one in that I have vocalized my reasons for disliking it way back when it first became popular but instead of just linking that, it has been years so I think it's time for an updated version.

Firstly: This post is gonna be properly tagged and not crosstagged so if any shipper comes across it and feels the need to bitch about it, just don't; your lack of curating your own tumblr experience is not my problem! ;D

Now, there are three key factors that play into my dislike of this ship: How it was written, what it represents, how the fandom around it acts.

1. It’s rushed and uncomfortable

In BoO, it was incredibly rushed. They had literally five sentences of interactions before they walked into the literal sunset together. Five. It was just entirely born from Riordan's Noah's Ark Complex, where he just can't let people be single. The series was ending and he needed Nico to have an endgame so he rushed into some random romance with zero build-up.

The way their interactions went down was also severely uncomfortable for me. Will was acting so offended by Nico not wanting to go to camp and be friends in an entitled way that he had no right to be, he downright guilt-tripped Nico about how he had wanted to be friends. Nico has been just so severely traumatized at such a young age and his coping mechanism, as unhealthy as it was, was to run away and hide. Will acted like Nico not wanting to form attachments to people who could potentially leave him again was somehow just an Edgy Emo Decision and not a direct reaction to his trauma. His entire approach to Nico was basically all these hippie posts of "Don't have depression!! Just go out into the sun and stop being depressed!", which is already a bad take with non-medical people but he's supposed to be a doctor (and let's not get into the shadiness of him technically being Nico's doctor).

There is also an inherent "I can fix him" angle to this ship and to me, only few ship dynamics are more uncomfortable than that. If you want to fundamentally change a person's behavior and personality, you... don't actually want to be with this person.

Now, here's where my points overlap, because the following parts of their writing that bothers me also stand for what this ship fundamentally represents.

2. Solangelo is a queer ship written by and for straights

I'm a queer woman and as a queer woman, I want queer wish-fulfillment, not what straights want out of queerness. I'm kind of tired of that, I've been sitting through it for enough decades now. That's, of course, not to say that no straight writer can give proper queer representation, but far too often do straight writers - even the most well-meaning ones - project straight desires of queerness into their queer representation.

Let me explain that closer through this ship.

Nico's been in love with Percy for years and I'm going to do my best to not hijack this post with some Percico agenda; that's not what this his about, this isn't some "my ship is better than your ship" ship-war nonsense. It's simply a canonical fact that Nico has had romantic feelings for another character for years.

A character who, in this medium, is heterosexual. And if you're queer, you've been there. In love with your straight best friend. It's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason.

We have also all been well-meaningly rejected by said straight friend.

And here's the straight desires for you: The queer person who was in love with a straight person just immediately stops having those feelings and will then as quickly as possible fall in love with the next queer person they meet to be happy and no longer uncomfortably in love with a straight person, because that thought makes the straights uncomfortable.

Queer wish-fulfillment would be for Percy to return those feelings, for the queer character to get his first love, to not be rejected. That thing queer teens always dreamed about for themselves.

Aside from the wish-fulfillment angle, the pacing is another problem. Let me repeat, Nico was in love for years. But a five sentence conversation with Will once causes a crush on Will and we see him physically turn away from Percy and toward Will just immediately to rebound and actually fall out of love with Percy and in love with Will. Anyone who's ever been unlucky in love will attest to just how unrealistic and ridiculous the pacing here is.

It's also straight queerness in another respect; Nico has been the first ever queer character we meet in that world. He loves a straight guy - and to get over that, we introduce the second queer character. Because heaven forbid there are multiple queers to pick from. No, in straight-written queer romances, there is always that one main queer and then they introduce a second one and the two just immediately hit it off and develop a romance like all a queer person needs to form attraction to someone is the confirmation that the other person shares your sexuality.

Also the notable gay guy on gay guy ship here, whereas the more queer-wish-fulfillment option would have also included more nuance to the queer experience, because Percy doesn't have to be heterosexual just because he has only been with girls so far. It's a very old-fashioned - think 90s and early 2000s - kind of straight-written queerness that there are only exactly two homosexuals and that those two homosexuals then pair up.

And, listen, I'm not immune to these outdated straight-written queers entirely, I have many such ships that I grew up with that I am still fond of because they were groundbreaking at that time and they weren't outdated yet back when they happened in said 90s and early 2000s. I am however a grown woman now and just like I have grown, so has queer rep so I am not as easily baited into falling onto my knees in gratitude for canon rep. You have to go with the times. And this ship, by all that is given to us, is just entirely outdated straight-written rep.

Which, I mention earlier that even straight-written rep can be good. If the author tries. Riordan doesn't really try though; he does the bare minimum when he writes any of his rep - and there have been many, many more qualified voices being very vocal about his depiction of people of color and, as a woman, I've been vocal about his depiction of women. I don't want to derail this post with all of that, but I do think that it bears mentioning that Riordan doing rep but only doing a bare minimum and not putting in the necessary work to deepen the representation he wants to give is a repeating pattern that has been pointed out many times by now.

(I’d also like to point out that no, it is not just the ship and not just the listed instances that make it straight-written rep for straights. It’s Nico’s entire queer arc, starting with his forced coming out. A severely traumatizing event that is completely brushed over because the straight author doesn’t understand the impact this has on queer people. Not to mention the framework; Nico’s coming out isn’t Nico’s story, it happens in Jason’s POV, it is given to us through the POV of the straight bystander who gets to be Best Ally by assuring Nico that being gay is okay. This kind of coming out is not a queer wish-fulfillment, it’s a straight wish-fulfillment of getting to be the straight savior, the ally to show the gay the light of acceptance. And, additional to the ridiculous pacing of how fast Nico gets over his love for Percy, Nico also gets over years of internalized homophobia just because of, I don’t know, Jason’s few encouraging words and the fact that Will paid attention to him? For a gay kid who was in the closet all his life, the nonchalant way in which he publicly confessed his crush to Percy at the end made absolutely no sense and was written as basically a joke, finished off with Nico literally high-fiving Percy’s girlfriend despite those two never having seen eye to eye before but this is straight wish-fulfillment so all straights are Super Allies, because that’s the way straights want to see themselves, even though Annabeth has shown before just how jealous she can be and she most definitely wouldn’t go around high-fiving people who confess to her boyfriend. Nothing about Nico’s queer arc in HoO felt natural or queer or satisfying.)

Sure, Solangelo on a surface level is big because it's a canon queer couple in a YA book-series and kudos for that and yay for the kids who get to grow up seeing queers in YA books, but I actually do think that kids growing up with books written in the 2010s shouldn't grow up with 1990s levels of representation, because the 2010s overall are actually at a far more nuanced and better level of representation when it comes to queerness. And I do reserve the right to quit on too straight-written and too outdated queer rep in a landscape where I can get more satisfying representation elsewhere; we don’t live in times anymore where you necessarily have to love every bit of rep because it’s the only one you get.

Now that we've gone through my first two gripes, let's wrap this up with the final point, because it also directly ties into this.

3. The new wave of antis hiding behind this ship

A huge part of the fandom is so busy kissing Riordan's ass solely for giving them queer rep at all they think that both the author and the ship are beyond flawless and that kind of attitude is not good. Just because an author includes rep doesn't make either perfect. Absolutely no one is beyond critique - especially not when said critique comes from the very people the author is representing. And even beyond any "valid" critique on the ship, quite frankly, someone should also be allowed to just not like it, without any reasons given at all.

But there is a certain... protective obsessiveness about this ship that doesn't allow a not liking. Very similar to how PJO bore this mindset around Perc/abeth already. It's okay to have OTPs, even OTPs that you have a blindspot for and just don't want to see any flaws in. It is however not okay to then go around attacking people who don't like the thing and mind their own business.

Solangelo's bred a new generation of antis in this fandom. And, particularly with the fact that this post too receives an "anti" tag, I feel like there needs to be a clarification (because tumblr likes to forget what actually makes an anti). Not liking something doesn't make you an anti, venting in properly tagged posts doesn't either; it's the people who harass others, who seek out the content they dislike to then complain that it even exists and who actively try to make others stop creating for it - those are antis.

And with Solangelo's popularity, there was a high rise in Percico antis, who sought it out, were unnecessarily nasty about it, harrassed creators and tried to enforce some kind of "Solangelo supremacy" that won't allow other ships for the characters.

I've been in fandom long enough to be perfectly aware that not all Solangelo shippers count into this category and that there are completely normal and nice Solangelo shippers, but this is a Venn diagram where the overlap between Solangelo shippers and antis is too large to not widely associate the nasty people with the ship itself. (I've been there myself, shipping the very ship behind which a fandom's antis all hid. The second-hand embarrassment of having these people give the ship a bad name is horrendous and I do feel bad for all the normal Solangelo shippers.)

The more often I encountered these people, who made Percico bad (sometimes in wildly ridiculous manners that bent and deliberately misinterpreted canon) and who in the same breath praised Solangelo high, the more tired I grew of that ship. It's a simple game of association, really. You see that linked to the gross and nasty behavior and you start associating the ship itself with that gross and nasty behavior - and with all the things I said before that already weighed into my dislike of the ship, this just was the final tipping point, really.

And that's it. That sums up why I dislike Solangelo. It was hastily rushed, uncomfortable in its execution, it is outdated rep that very much feels as straight-written as it factually is and it does not feel aimed at me as a queer person but rather at the straight audience and it has gathered a cult following of quite uncomfortable people who on their own would be reason enough to avoid it so you can avoid them.

Send me a ship and I will explain why I do or don't ship it

[class1akids]

realizing there’s so much missed opportunity for izuocha to be greatly development like this latest chapter but hori just doesn’t and im so confused

Let me give you a non-shipper perspective on this.

This arc has been primarily about Deku and OFA. How he tames his power, what being an OFA-holder means in terms of expectations, danger, how it changes the way people look at him or treat him, how AFO toys with him and in turn how it drives him to the brink.

Bakugou has been part of the OFA-plot in one way or another since the beginning. He's the indirect reason Deku even gets OFA.

But since DvK2, and especially since All Might made Bakugou part of Team OFA, he's always had a different perspective on the power, challenging Deku and All Might's thinking who both were too used to pussyfooting around each other.

Bakugou was the first one who said that it was a cursed power, he was also the one who clearly saw what getting a power like this would do to Izuku - because out of everyone here, he knows quirkless Deku's heroic spirit and how far he's willing to go more than anyone. A lot of people were upset with Bakugou's involvement of the OFA plot, but it's been built for a long time - when it comes down to Deku's interest (staying alive, being the type of hero he wanted to be) vs. the interests of OFA (driving the holder to complete the mission at any cost) - Bakugou will clearly take Deku's side in each case.

So when Izuku left alone, (and wow, we have no idea how he left - was there a “stay back, Kacchan” moment there? With the current framing, I wouldn’t be surprised) many people said he won't need Bakugou anymore, because he has all the pros for protection and because he has the vestiges for personal training and he has All Might for emotional support. And I'm sure that's what Izuku thought too (plus he was driven by trying to protect Kacchan, whose injury probably traumatized him to an extent that hasn't been truly acknowledged yet).

But we also saw how the people surrounding Izuku fed his own martyr-complex and piled on with the crushing expectations: the pros immediately became passive and made Izuku be the one shouldering their plan, the vestiges reinforced that Deku was the one to complete OFA, that it could not be passed on any further, plus he got the weight of Nana's personal regrets, and while All Might watched with worry Izuku's deteroriating state, he kept enabling his behavior, and when he tried to stand up to him, he was the wrong messenger (because of how himself did the same).

All the while as Izuku was being pushed towards his lone chosen savior role, Bakugou has been undergoing a very different development. Even understanding what Deku's power was, and that he was All Might's chosen one, Bakugou never gave up his claim to All Might's legacy. He even chose his hero name as a homage to All Might - and people made fun of him for it - but it's a challenge to the status quo - not only the OFA holder could aim to be All Might's heir. The pillar doesn't have to be the OFA-holder. Crazy? But Bakugou is the only one who even entertains this notion, while the pros, including Endeavor, just kind of fell in line behind Deku.

Bakugou also had a fantastic development as a team-player. Even back in the USJ, he has this notion that part of teamplay is to trust in others' ability to be able to handle themselves. But then around JTA, he understands perfect victory as the type of play where not only the mission is complete, but nobody gets hurt.

Contrast Bakugou leading during the war arc - where it's really about coming up with a plan that minimizes risk to everyone. He himself is not even the flashiest part in this plan - it doesn't matter as long as the mission get done and nobody gets hurt - but he literally carries the team.

Now see what Deku was doing (so much of the fandom interpreted this as Deku "leading" the pros) when he was just marching ahead, paying no attention if anyone follows him even:

So it's extremely symbolic for both of their arcs, for Bakugou to come back (with a team), to Kamino (just like Deku came for him with others), to be at the place where he "ended" All Might to come and save All Might's heir who is literally drowning under the people he's trying to save. And for Bakugou to come also as All Might's heir, the hero Dynamight, against the backdrop of the "I'm not here" All Might statue.

This moment was set up in both Deku's and Bakugou's arc - Deku pushing OFA to its extreme conclusion, and Bakugou as the challenger of OFA, not just as a power but everything it means for the status quo. They are also bringing to full circle their own win-and-save dynamic. Since Bakugou had no villain on his own, I think it's been clear that he'll be part of the OFA-plot somehow.

Sorry for the long ramble - but I just wanted to give you how I see these story beats in a totally non-shipping, no rose-tinted glasses, and why as someone who doesn't particularly ship BKDK romantically (though I'm not opposed to it either) I do absolutely, 100% believe this rescue moment belonged to Bakugou.

Now for Ochako - as Bakugou came with others (just like Deku didn't rescue Bakugou alone either after his kidnapping) - I think there is a very good chance Ochako is among them.

If the parallels with the Bakugou-rescue continue, she may be even one of the instigators (at the previous Kamino, it was Shouto and Kirishima). Judging from Shouto's call to Endeavor last chapter, I can imagine the whole Dekusquad being behind the rescue together with Bakugou.

Also, in Kamino, Deku gave the role of extending the hand to Kirishima - so it's also possible that something similar will happen here, and the big BKDK handhold will be pushed off until after their talk.

So if Ochako is part of the current rescue team, it will give an opportunity for them to interact. Deku's spiral wasn't caused by one person - and him getting back to his feet I think will also require more than just a single person.

Also, the fight with the villain may not yet be over. There are many angsty possibilities here of how the fight can go if it continues - so the others may get their own moments to shine. So far, all Bakugou did was arrive and blast the Dictator's head once. Let's see how it unfolds.

Otherwise, I do agree that Horikoshi has underused Ochako a lot in the story. Personally, I think her character suffered a lot from there not being a proper theme for her, and how her hero arc kept pivoting to new elements: from doing this for money for my parents -> gotta become a martial arts expert -> oh, no what do i do with my crush -> i wanna be like Deku and save people -> wait, who saves the heroes?

Because she herself has no clear arc, she really takes the backseat against people who have their own arc fitting into the narrative. This why Shouto HAD to be the third star, and this is why this rescue moment HAD to go to Bakugou. The narrative beats for these events have been built for a long time.

It doesn't mean that Horikoshi didn't do Ochako dirty - he did. But it's not in this moment choosing Bakugou over her, but throughout the story. Making her do this rescue wouldn't undo the bad writing her character suffered from, but would just pile on more bad writing decisions. What hasn't been built consistently, can't be quick-fixed.

I personally think that Ochako's character can only be salvaged if she gets the "Kirishima-treatment", with a fight that focuses on her and her motivations out of the romantic context. If she wants to save heroes - I think it would be more solid as an arc, if the hero in question wasn't her romantic interest yet again.

I personally thought that the way she was written in Ch 296 was really good. Horikoshi built up to that moment with her confrontation with Toga - entrapping her with a face of civilian in need of rescue - and then when a second such moment arrived, Ochako still went into that house knowing full well that it could be a villain and another trap. In a way, she came to the conclusion before Deku that yes, she would even save villains.

I think she could have had an amazing arc if the focus of the story would have been her wanting to become a rescue hero first for job security, but then realizing it's much more than a job. It could have tied in with how the ranking board values flashy combat heroes over the rescue ones, and trying to reconcile this role. But becoming Toga's foil pushed her character to the crush direction.

This was a strong moment for Bakugou, because it’s not a “romantic development”, but a culmination of his own arc built for 300+ chapters intersecting with Deku’s arc built for 300+ chapters in an organic way.  That’s what makes their relationship so compelling even without a shipping perspective - how they both grow in different curves - and how those curves keep intersecting at crucial moments of the story. 

[hamliet]

The Crows Summon the Sun

Or, Hamliet’s review of Shadow & Bone, which gets a 4.5/5 for enjoyment and a 3.5/5 in terms of writing.

The true heroes of this story and the saviors of the show are the Crows. However, the problem is that the show then has an uneven feel, because the strength of the Crows plotline highlights the weaknesses of the trilogy storyline. But imo, overall, the strengths overshadow (#punintended) the weaknesses. 

I’ll divide the review into the narrative and the technical (show stuff, social commentary), starting with narrative.

Narrative: The Good 

It’s What The Crows Deserve

I went into the show watching it for the Crows; however, knowing that their storyline was intended to be a prequel, I wasn’t terribly optimistic. And while it is a prequel, the characters have complete and full arcs that perfectly set them up for the further development they will have in the books (which I think should be the next season?). Instead of retreading the arcs they’d have in the books, which is how prequels usually go, they had perfect set up for these arcs. It’s really excellent. 

Jesper, Inej, and Kaz are all allowed to be flawed, to have serious conflicts with one another, and yet to love each other. They feel like a found family in the best of ways. Kaz is the perfect selfish rogue; he’s a much more successfully executed Byronic hero than the Darkling, actually. Inej is heroic and her faith is not mocked, yet she too is flawed and her choices are not always entirely justified, but instead left to the audience to ponder (like killing the girl), which is a more mature writing choice that I appreciated. 

Jesper is charming, has a heart of gold despite being a murderer and on the surface fairly greedy, and MILO THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. I also liked Jesper’s fling with Dima but I felt it could be better used rather than merely establishing his sexuality, like if Jesper and Dima had seen each other one more time or something had come of their tryst for the plot/themes/development of Jesper. 

Nina and Matthias’s backstory being in the first season, instead of in flashbacks, really works because it automatically erases any discomfort of the implications of Nina having falsely accused Matthias that the books start with. We know Nina, we know Matthias, we know their motivations, backgrounds, and why they feel the way we do. It’ll be easy for the audience to root for them without a lot of unnecessary hate springing from misunderstanding Nina (since she’s my favorite). Matthias’s arc was also really strongly executed and satisfyingly tragic. Their plotline was a bit unfortunately disconnected from the rest of the story, but Danielle Gallagan and Callahan Skogman have absolutely sizzling chemistry so I found myself looking forward to their scenes instead of feeling distracted. Also? It’s nice seeing a woman with Nina’s body type as a romantic and powerful character. 

Hamliet Likes Malina Now

Insofar as the trilogy storyline goes, the best change the show made was Mal. He still is the same character from the books, but much more likable. The pining was... a lot (too much in episode 4, I felt) but Malina is a ship I actually enjoyed in the show while I NOTP’d it in the books. Mal has complexity and layers to his motivations (somewhat) and a likable if awkward charm. Archie Renaux was fantastic. 

Ben Barnes is the perfect Aleksandr Kirigan, and 15 year old me, who had the biggest of big crushes on Ben Barnes (first celebrity crush over a decade ago lol), was pretty damn happy lol. He’s magnificantly acted--sympathetic and terrifying, sincerely caring and yet villainous in moments. Story-wise, I think it was smart to reveal his name earlier on than in the books, because it helps with the humanization especially in a visual medium like film. Luda was a fitting (if heartbreaking) backstory, but it is also hard for me to stomach knowing what the endgame of his character is. Like... I get the X-men fallacy thing, but I hope the show gives more kindness to his character than the books did, yet I’m afraid to hold my breath. Just saying that if you employ save the cat, if you directly say you added this part (Luda) to make the character more likable (as the director did) please do not punish the audience for feeling what you intended. 

I also liked the change that made Alina half-Shu. It adds well to her arc and fits with her character, actually giving her motivations (she kinda just wants to be ordinary in a lot of ways) a much more interesting foundation than in the books. Also it’s nice not to have another knock-off Daenerys (looking to you Celaena and book!Alina). Jessie Mei Li does a good job playing Alina’s insecurities and emotions, but... 

Narrative: The Ehhhhhhh

Alina the Lamp

Sigh. Here we go. Alina has little consistent characterization. She’s almost always passive when we see her, yet she apparently punches an officer for calling her a name and this seems to be normal for her, but it doesn’t fit at all with what we know about her thus far. Contradictions are a part of humanity, but it’s never given any focus, so it comes across as inconsistent instead of a flaw or repression. 

I have no idea what Alina wants, beside that she wants to be with Mal, which is fine except I have no idea what the basis of their bond is. Even with like, other childhood friends to lovers like Ren/Nora in RWBY or Eren/Mikasa in SnK, there’s an inciting moment, a reason, that we learn very early on in their story to show us what draws them together. Alina and Mal just don’t have that. There’s the meadow/running away thing, but they were already so close, and why?  Why, exactly? What brought them together? The term “bullies” is thrown around but it isn’t ever explored and it needed to be this season. If I have to deal with intense pining for so many episodes at least give me a foundation for their devotion. You need to put this in the beginning, in the first season. You just do.

A “lamp” character is a common metaphor to describe a bad character: essentially, you could replace the character with a lamp and nothing changes. Considering Alina’s gift is light, it’s a funnily apt metaphor, but it really does apply. Her choices just don’t... matter. She could be a special lamp everyone is fighting over and almost nothing would change. The ironic thing is that everyone treating her like a fancy lamp is exactly the conflict, but it’s never delved into. We’re never shown that Alina is more than a lamp. She never has to struggle because her choices are made for her and information is gifted to her when she needs it. Not making choices protects Alina from consequences and the story gives her little incentive to change that; in fact, things tend to turn out better when she doesn’t make choices (magic stags will arrive). 

Like... let’s look at a few occasions when Alina almost or does make choices. For example, she chooses to (it seems) sleep with Kirigan, but then there’s a convenient knock at the door and Bhagra arrives with key information that changes Alina’s mind instantly despite the fact that Bhagra’s been pretty terrible to her. If you want to write a woman realizing she’s been duped by a cruel man, show her discovering it instead of having the man’s abusive mother tell her when she had absolutely no such suspicions beforehand. There’s no emotional weight there because Alina doesn’t struggle. 

When she is actually allowed to carry out a bad choice, the consequences are handwaved away instead of built into a challenge for her. Like... Alina got her friends killed. More than once. I’m not saying she’s entirely to blame for these but could we show her reacting to it? Feeling any sort of grief? She never mentions Raisa or Alexei after they’re gone, just Mal, and I’m... okay. They were there because of you. Aren’t you feeling anything? Aren’t you sad? The only time Alina brings up her friends’ deaths is to tell Kirigan he killed her friends when they were only there because she burned the maps. She yells at Kirigan for “never” giving her a choice, but she almost never makes any, so why would he? Alina has the gall to lecture Genya about choices, but she herself almost never has to make any. 

Which brings me to another complaint in general: Alina’s lack of care for everyone around her when they’re not Mal, even if they care for her. Marie dies because of her (absolutely not her fault of course) but as far as we know she never even learns about Marie. She certainly doesn’t ever ask about her or Nadia. Alina seems apathetic at best to people, certainly not compassionate or kind. 

The frustrating thing is that there is potential here. Like, it actually makes a lot of psychological sense for an orphan who has grown up losing to be reluctant to care for people outside of her orbit and that she would struggle to believe she can have any say in her destiny (ie make choices). It’s also interesting that a girl who feels like an outsider views others outside her. But the show never offers examines Alina’s psychology with any depth; it simply tells us she’s compassionate when she is demonstrably not, it tells us she makes decisions when it takes magical intervention to do so. It’s a missed opportunity. This does not change between episodes 1 and 8, despite the episodes’ parallel structures and scenes, which unintentionally reinforces that Alina had little real development. 

Inej and ironically Jesper and Kaz embody the concept of “mercy” far better and with far more complexity than Alina does. The Crows have reactions to the loss of people who even betray them (Arken, etc), learn, and course-correct (or don’t) when they are even loosely involved in having strangers die. They’re good characters because they change and learn and have their choices matter. When they kill we see them wrestle with it and what this means even if they are accustomed to doing so. Jesper can’t kill in front of a child. Kaz wonders what his killings do to Inej’s idea of him.

Narrative: The Mixed Bag

Tropes, Themes, Telling vs. Showing

So the show’s themes in the Alina storyline are a mess, as they are in the trilogy too. Tropes are a very valuable way to show your audience what you’re trying to say. They’re utilized worldwide because they resonate with people and we know what to expect from them. The Crows' storyline shows us what it wants us to learn.

Preaching tells, and unfortunately, the trilogy relies on telling/preaching against fornicationBad Boys. It’s your right to write any trope or trample any trope you want--your story--but you should at least understand what/why you are doing so. The author clearly knows enough about Jungian shadows and dark/light yin/yang symbolism to use it in the story, but then just handwaves it away as “I don’t like this” but never does so in a narratively effective way: addressing the appeal in the first place. If you really wanna deconstruct a trope, you gotta empathize with the core of the reason these tropes appeal to people (it allays deep fears that we are ourselves unlovable, through loving another person despite how beastly they can be), and address this instead of ignoring it. Show us a better way through the Fold of your story. Don’t just go around it and ignore the issue.

The trilogy offers highly simplistic themes at best--bad boy bad and good boy good, which is fine-ish for kid lit but less fine for adult complexity, which the show (more so than the books) seems to try to push despite not actually having much of it.

Alina and Mal are intended to be good, we’re told they are, but I’m not sure why beyond just that we’re told so. Alina claims the stag chose her, but in the show it’s never explained why at all. Unlike with Kaz, Inej, Jesper, and hell even Matthias and Nina, we don’t see Alina or Mal’s complex choices and internal wrestling. 

Like, Inej’s half-episode where she almost killed the guy they needed was far more character exploration than Alina has the entire show, to say nothing of Inej’s later killing which not only makes her leaps and bounds more interesting, but ironically cements her as a far more compelling and yes, likable, heroine than Alina. We see Inej’s emotional and moral conflict. We can relate to her. We see Kaz struggling with his selfishness and regrets, with his understanding of himself through his interactions with and observations of Inej, Alina, the Darkling, Arken, and Jesper.

We don’t explore what makes Mal or Alina good and what makes them bad. We don’t know what Alina discovers about herself, what her power means for her. We are told they are good, we are told she knows her power is hers, but never shown what this means or what this costs them/her. Their opportunities to be good are handed to them (the stag, Bhagra) instead of given to them as a challenge in which they risk things, in which doing good or making a merciful choice costs them. Alina gets to preach about choices without ever making any; Inej risks going back to the Menagerie to trust Kaz. Her choices risk. They cost. They matter and direct her storyline and her arc, and those of the people around her.

Production Stuff:

The Good: 

The production overall is quite excellent. The costumes, pacing, acting, and cinematography (for example, one of the earliest scenes between the Darkling and Alina has Alina with her back to the light, face covered in his shadow, while the Darkling’s face is light up by her light even if he stands in the shadows) are top-notch. The soundtrack as well is incredible and emphasizes the scenes playing. The actors have great chemistry together, friend chemistry and romantic when necessary (Mal and Alina, the Darkling and Alina, Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, David and Genya, etc.) All are perfectly cast. 

The Uncomfortable Technicalities Hamliet Wants to Bitch About:

The only characters from fantasy!Europe having any trace of an accent reminiscent of said fantasy country's real-world equivalent are antagonists like Druskelle (Scandinavia) and Pekka (Ireland). When the heroes mostly have British accents despite being from fantasy Russia and Holland, it is certainly A Choice to have the Irish accent emphasized. The actor is British by the way, so I presume he purposely put on an Irish accent. I'm sure no one even considered the potential implications of this but it is A Look nonetheless.

The Anachronisms Hamliet Has a Pet Peeve About: 

The worldbuilding is compelling, but the only blight on the worldbuilding within the story itself (ignoring context) was that there are some anachronisms that took me out of the story, particularly in the first episode where “would you like to share with the class” and “saved by the horn” are both used. Both are modern-day idioms in English that just don’t fit, especially the latter. The last episode uses “the friends we made along the way.” There are other modern idioms as well.

IT’S STARKOVA and Other Pet Peeves Around the Russian Portrayal 

Russian names are not hard, and Russian naming systems are very, very easy to learn. I could have waved “Starkov” not being “Starkova,” “Nazyalensky” not being “Nazyalenskaya,”  and “Safin” not being “Safina” as an American interpretation (since in America, the names do not femininize). However, “Mozorova” as a man is unfathomable and suggests to me the author just doesn’t understand how names work, which is a bit... uh okay considering a simple google search gets you to understand Russian names. They aren’t hard. I cannot understand why the show did not fix this. It is so simple to fix and would be a major way to help the story’s overall... caricature of Russia. 

Speaking of that... Ravka is supposedly Russian-based, but it is more accurately based on the stereotypes of what Americans think of Russia. Amerussia? Russica? Not great. 

The royals are exactly what Americans think of the Romanovs, right down to the “greasy” “spiritual advisor” who is clearly Rasputin and which ignores the Romanov history, very real tragedy, and the reason Rasputin was present in the court. The religion with all its saints is a vapid reflection of Russian Orthodoxy. The military portrayal with its lotteries and brutality and war is how the US views the Russian military. The emphasis on orphans, constant starvation, classification, and children being ripped from their homes to serve the government is a classic US understanding of USSR communism right down to the USSR having weapons of destruction the rest of the world fears (Grisha). Not trying to defend the Soviet Union here at all, but it is simplistic and reductive and probably done unconsciously but still ehhhh. 

However, I’m not Russian. I just studied Russian literature. I’ve seen very little by way of discussion of this topic online, but what I do see from Russian people has been mixed--some mind, some don’t. The reality is that I actually don’t really mind this because it’s fantasy, though I see why some do. I'm not like CANCEL THIS. So why am I talking about this beyond just having a pet peeve?

Well, because it is a valid critique, and because it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The Grishaverse is heralded as an almost paragon for woke Young Adult literature, which underlines itself what so frustrates me about how literary circles discuss issues of diversity and culture. Such praise, while ignoring its quasi-caricature of Russia, reflects a very ethnocentric (specifically American) understanding of culture, appropriation, and representation. All stories are products of their culture to various extents, but it bothers me on principle what the lit community reacts (and overreacts sometimes?) to and what people give a pass to. The answer to what the community reacts to and what it gives a pass always pivots on how palatable the appropriation is to American understandings and sensibilities. There’s nuance here as well, though. 

I'm not cancelling the story or thinking it should be harshly attacked for this, but it is something that can be discussed and imo should be far more often--but with the nuance it begs, instead of black/white. But that’s a tall ask. 

[wildfey]

It punches me emotionally that Phoenix either doesn't have motivation on his own or that he lets motivations inspired by other people push away things he likes, like his art degree. There's so much issues to unttangle there, like lacking direction in his life, depression, self-worth issues, identity, and so on. Also, for Kristoph's trap, it's possible that Phoenix just. Wasn't surprised that it happened. Even without potentially disassociating, he's eeriely calm.

(continued) Like Phoenix seemed to expect it could happen that he was set up. It would have been possible to prove his innocence. He didn't. Did he fear only more attacks against him would follow?

ooh, now this is a deeply fun ask to get on my day off, thank you very much anon.

I'm gonna assume this is a reference to this post where I did some tag rambling, so I'll continue some thoughts from there.

100% agree in regards to motivation. Trilogy Phoenix is fascinating to me, I know Takumi said that Phoenix tends to be something of a self-insert for the player, as the "detective" in a mystery plot he's there to solve, not act. But when you take away that doylist perspective, and go inside the text to look at him as a character, things get interesting.

The way I always saw it, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games aren't really about Phoenix Wright. AA1 dedicates its largest and most significant character arc to Edgeworth, AA2 mostly has Phoenix being pushed through cases by others (all the games do this but it's really noticable in AA2) and AA3 finishes the Fey family's 3-game arc, which is more about Mia and Maya. Phoenix has very little backstory, and very few personal goals, but that's complemented by the fact that Phoenix's characterisation explains why. His motivations, his sense of self, identity, etc. all seem to exist as projections from other people. He's Edgeworth & Larry's friend because they saved him, he becomes a defence attorney because of Edgeworth's childhood beliefs, and the turnabout terror because he's emulating Mia (this is so obvious that Godot points it out). He dates Dahlia because she tells him he's her boyfriend now, his friendship with Maya begins because Mia told her to take care of him, he's Trucy's father because she casts him in the role... this is a repeated pattern for pre 7yg Phoenix. Even in terms of one of his strongest trilogy motivations - saving Edgeworth - he's still to some extent repeating the pattern that Edgeworth unknowingly set at 9 years old.

And when there aren't people around... well that's when the inverse kicks in. When Maya isn't around, Phoenix won't take cases for months (this... has always sounded like depression to me, and I think there's a really good argument for Phoenix having some form of depression. It's how I tend to write him.) He talks about Trucy "being his light", and implies that without her, he would have given up post-disbarment. Phoenix has a VERY obvious savior complex, and it's repeatedly taken advantage of; he defines his worth by how good he is at rescuing others. Examples of this off the top of my head include apologising to Lana for not fully aquiting her when she very much did commit a crime, how upset he is during AA2 because he tried to save Edgeworth and couldn't (even though it's clear that Edgeworth needed to save himself), and wanting to defend Iris even though for all he knows, she's his evil ex (at the point he decides to defend her, he has 0 evidence this isn't the same woman who tried to kill him.) But when it comes to himself? Well, he can get injured or threatened (and he does! a lot!) but Phoenix will NEVER defend himself in the same way he does other people (there's a whole tangent I could go into about how he's a very non-violent character and the few instances in the series where he's physically violent are extremly indicative of this protective streak. But I digress).

So we come to the Zak Gramarye case - Why doesn't Phoenix react? Well, he does. But to defend Zak, not himself. I think this case would have been different if any assistant had been there, whether Maya, Ema, or Pearl, because they wouldn't have accepted it, would have taken it as a challenge to themselves, and by extention motivated Phoenix. But with Phoenix alone... he's only fighting for his client. And when his client disappears... well then, he'll take it passively (If Zak had stayed, would Phoenix have pulled a turnabout? Possibly, there may have been some way to fix the situation if he'd been motivated to do so. He's arguably fought worse.)

This is why the 7yg is deeply, deeeeeeply interesting to me as someone who loves to fill in character development, because the character development that happens in the 7yg changes basically all of this. By the time we see Phoenix again in 4-1, he has gained a decidedly selfish streak, he's out for... something, whether justice, vengeance or just stopping Kristoph from hurting people, Phoenix is finally has his own goals, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. (Thus comes the reversal, Phoenix is to Apollo in AA4 what other people were to Phoenix in the trilogy, though I'd argue that Apollo has a far better developed sense of self)

Would love to hear other peoples opinions on this one though (anon you are very welcome to come back and talk more, would love to hear ur opinions on Phoenix expecting to be set-up)

[gakkubi]

Ame Trio Analysis: Konan

I want to share some thoughts on the Ame Trio/Ame Orphans because I do think they have one of the most complex, interesting and beautiful arcs in the Narutoverse. I will discuss their personalities and thoughts. This post is about Konan, there are also Yahiko and Nagato. (3/3): I'll end with Konan because she's the one who lives the longer and is impacted by both Yahiko and Nagato's death.

KONAN:

Also available in Russian: ссылка на русский перевод

Konan is possibly the hardest character to analyse because her stand-alone arc is the last one to appear, and the story doesn't dwell on her ideals and motivations until the very end - despite that, it's my personal belief she's one of the best female characters developed in the series. With a few exceptions, female characters in the Narutoverse will usually take the position of supporting the male characters - but unlike most of the other women, Konan's position of support actually makes sense with her character.

A person not being the "original creator" of the philosophy they follow or joining other characters to achieve a common goal does not mean they don't have a mind or will of their own; Konan is just as free to make her own decisions as the other characters.

While Yahiko takes the role of "fallen hero" and Nagato is the "unwilling protagonist", Konan is the ever-present observer; she's the last one to take the spotlight in the Ame Trio storyline, and with her, the last open ends are closed. Konan is the element which endured throughout all of the Ame Trio's different phases, from their start to their brightest and darkest points until the very end. She's the Angel, the one who will carry and reinforce the will she has received.

Konan has a moral trait which makes her strikingly different from Yahiko and Nagato; she is not loyal to abstract ideals, but rather concrete ones. Even though Yahiko and Nagato eventually digress on their philosophies, both dedicate their lives to the pursuit of peace and give up their lives to guarantee the survival of their goal, as abstract as it may be.

Konan, on the other hand, is loyal to people; of course she had beliefs of her own, but they mostly come from a local perspective, not a universal one. She's loyal to Amegakure; to her country, to her people, her citizens, her friends.

It's heavily implied in the story (more in the anime than the manga) that the people of Amegakure held her in high esteem (perhaps even more than they held Pain himself). This shines a new light on Konan, who early on the story was just an unknown villain of the Akatsuki - in fact, we come to learn most of the important aspects of her personality lie outside of the classic, evil Akatsuki.

To understand Konan it's important to understand the Ame Trio's dynamic as a whole; it's fundamental to consider that, just like Nagato, Konan owes her life to Yahiko's fierce will of surviving- her backstory alone with Yahiko is never shown but it's heavily implied that she was just as dependent on him as Nagato was. Like Nagato, her personality is much more passive and quiet until provoked.

Both Konan and Nagato were Yahiko's followers, and they were happy that way - they believed in his dream and his philosophy and found in the Akatsuki the meaning of their lives. It's important to understand that Yahiko's goals are also her goals, regardless if she was the one who created them or not; it's better to say he first inspired her into creating such dreams for herself.

Many other (very popular and loved) characters in the Naruto universe follow dreams and philosophies not originally created by themselves and are not perceived as mere "followers without opinion" like Konan sometimes is.

A common reason for the misunderstanding of Konan's character to claim she has no will of her own is that she continued to support Nagato even though he suffers an immense personality and philosophical shift after Yahiko's death. It's often wondered why Konan decided to stay by Nagato's side after Yahiko's death despite his radical change, and it's often associated with her having no ideas of her own. This is not true; the story builds a very logical and realistic reason for her to continue supporting him regardless of her truly agreeing with his new peace philosophy.

Very much like Nagato, Konan saw the people she loved and her reasons to live be taken away from her twice. The first time, it was Yahiko who gave both of them meaning and direction; the second time Nagato and Konan found themselves having nothing again - all they had was the legacy Jiraiya and Yahiko left behind.

Konan's life was saved by Yahiko twice; first when he helped her survive and second when he sacrificed himself so she could escape Hanzo's trap. It's important to realize the reason why Hanzo could trap Yahiko and Nagato is that they captured her first; although we have no evidence for this, it's possible Konan also felt guilt for "giving" the enemy a token to which they could manipulate Yahiko into obedience.

Yahiko being a key factor on her survival (both physical and mental) and her feeling responsible for his death are both factors that could result in her feeling immense guilt and a sense of debt with him. Like Nagato, Konan couldn't just let Yahiko's death be pointless after giving up his life for them.

Any reasonable person would have their hope shaken after seeing Yahiko get killed after his "non-violence, mutual understanding" philosophy failed. It would take an enormous endurance and faith to lose a person who she loved and keep on trying the same thing with the hope that "next time things will work as intended." Perhaps, things would never work as Yahiko imagined - perhaps his original plan needed adaptations.

However, unlike Nagato, Konan hadn't been conditioned by either Jiraiya or Yahiko to think that she was the one who would find the key to peace; she didn't spend her life pressured by the responsibility of coming up with a plan. Nagato was the one who the former leaders trusted would find the answer to end all the wars - and he stepped up to continue the "plan to peace" with his new ideas of how to get there.

And there's yet another important factor in all this; Yahiko had left her with a mission - the mission of supporting Nagato. The conversation where Yahiko entitles her with the responsibility of being by Nagato's side is highlighted in her fight against Obito to tell us, the audience, why Konan is so determined to help Naruto now - her mission of protecting the "savior of the world", originally given by Yahiko, had been transferred from supporting Nagato to Naruto.

Once we see the perspective of her feeling like she was in debt with Yahiko for saving her life twice - and adding love and guilt to the mixture, which makes it much harder for reason to overpower emotion -, it's easy to see why it could be hard to nearly impossible for her to dismiss the last mission she could actually complete; following Yahiko's will was a way of still being connected to him after he was gone.

Both Nagato and Konan nearly lost the meaning of their lives when Yahiko was killed and the original Akatsuki destroyed - both clinged to what they had left. Neither ever had a proper environment to deal with the grief they felt, a grief that echoed a childhood trauma that shaped all of their lives.

All of these factors are reasons why it would be hard for Konan to look objectively at what she was doing by supporting Nagato's new philosophy; however, Konan wasn't just guilt trapped into being by his side.

Konan, as I stated before, is much more pragmatic than her counterparts; she's loyal to what is hers - her friends, her nation. Even if we ignore the guilt or the "mission", it's safe to assume she would have stayed by his side anyway; Nagato was all the family she had left, and she was loyal to what was hers above all else.

Perhaps, if the mental conditions weren't so harsh, Konan could have resisted or opposed some of Nagato's new radical ideas more than she already did - debated with him, perhaps they could have convinced each other to stay in Yahiko's path. In the anime, Obito even says he relied on Konan for "calming" Nagato, which tells us that she reasoned with him to some extent - however, neither of them were able to keep their pain from overriding the morals they previously had.

Konan has a mind of her own, and it's shown to us in the moments where she disagrees either visually or verbally with Nagato's actions; Jiraiya's death, Konoha's destruction and the conversation with Naruto are moments where she confronts him. She is shown disagreeing with Nagato on multiple instances, which is proof that she felt she could voice her discontent with him - that she didn't feel completely trapped by guilt or that all she had to do was simply obey him; she was not just a voiceless "Angel" obeying her "God." We're also shown that Nagato disregards many of her opinions - by the time he becomes a villain, he is extremely narcissistic and confident in his hability to make the right choice - but that doesn't keep her from voicing her disagreement anyway.

It's not clear to us, the audience, how much Konan was hurt by Nagato's disregard (we're shown she is uncomfortable to some extent); it's the combination of her guilt, Yahiko's "mission" and her own faith in Nagato's plan that keeps her following their goal.

All the members of the Ame Trio value the search for peace above everything else, each in their own particular way.

Unlike Nagato, Konan has a much clear and objective way of thinking, interested only in what will serve them to achieve their goal and dismissing everything else that will not be useful.

Konan is never shown having any interest whatsoever in the other members of the Akatsuki (she never engages in the conversations they have), in the people of Konoha (which is why she condones wasting energy on being violent with them) or even in what Naruto has to say. All that she cares about is what is hers - her nation, her family; she's completely indifferent to everything else.

(That being said, I must note we don't know how her relationships with the other Akatsuki work as it would be impossible for her to spend almost 20 years without interacting with the other members. One of Konan's most important traits is her kindness, so it's "in character" to assume she would treat them respectfully and kindly, being fond of them to some extent; it's also safe to assume she didn't care about them at all, given her behavior in the manga. I think both interpretations are equally canonical because they lean on different aspects of her personality to fill a backstory we're never shown).

Although Konan is never shown being especially inclined to violence, her indifference and disergard for everything that is not hers - together with her own belief on Nagato's plan and the suffering which she endured - allows her to be the cold-blooded leader and killer she eventually becomes.

Konan believed in Nagato - like both Jiraiya and Yahiko did - while recognizing his flaws. When Naruto received recognition and acceptance from Nagato, he was incorporated to Konan's definition of what is "hers"; she aligns him in a sequence of "saviors" who she believed, a sequence that began with Yahiko and continued with Nagato. She makes the conscious decision of giving up her life for her dream of peace as Yahiko and Nagato have done before her.

Obito is the example of a person who Konan never incorporated on what is "hers" - this is clear on their fight where she says she studied his moves and his powers all the years they have worked together, and also clear on the passive-aggressive conversation they have after Jiraiya's death (Chapter 407). The way their relationship works - especially considering that she spent approximately half of her life working with him - also shows that Konan doesn't blindly support other characters for the sake of supporting them; for all we know, she trusted him much less than Nagato did.

It's also in Konan's fight with him that we see her analytical intelligence at full bloom - I dare say she is the most intelligent of the trio when it comes to strategy; first, for not ever truly trusting Obito to begin with (possibly because Yahiko also didn't), and second for being able to set a strategy that effectively killed him (hence why he used Izanagi - he was killed by her) with information based on her own observations.

Konan is extremely careful and precise; she pays incredible attention to detail, being able to draw accurate conclusions after analyzing just a little information.

Konan isn't ever shown to be hateful or angry, with the exception of her encounter with Jiraiya, where she treats him with spite, taunting him with the idea that following Orochimaru's suggestion could have avoided all the trouble he was going through with the Akatsuki. It's one of the few times we see Konan treating anyone in a way that is not kind or neutral, as if she held some type of resentment against Jiraiya - I like to think she blamed him, in a way or another, for not preparing them well enough for the cruelty of the world; for letting them be so naïve that Yahiko could be killed in a trap easily avoidable. It's obvious that Konan still held Jiraiya in some regard as it's easier for people to lash out on those who they like the most - after many years interacting with people to whom she was completely indifferent (outside of Nagato), Konan was finally talking to a person she had feelings for.

She is also - as described by Jiraiya and also viewed on the characters memories - a very kind, gentle, caring person; the very fact that she chose to save Nagato by sharing food with him shows her predisposition to helping others. Her kindness wasn't lost after Yahiko's death, but mostly replaced by the indifference she felt at everything that did not contemplate her goals, her family or her nation. After she accepts Naruto as being "one of her own" and sharing goals with him, she's quick to display kindness towards him and indirectly make amends with Jiraiya in the process.

As quiet, introspective person, Konan is very self-sufficient; although she is a member of the Akatsuki, she only interacts with them when necessary, probably spending most of her time alone or caring for Amegakure's business (as she shared both Akatsuki and Amegakure's leadership with Nagato and he was more active with the Akatsuki, it's safe to assume she cared for the other half). Her quiet, calmer nature matches that of Nagato; they could find understanding by having similar thought processes and also having a harder time processing their feelings, finding sympathy and comfort in each other.

Although I have mentioned that Konan might have felt a sense of debt towards Yahiko for saving her life, I want to highlight I see this feelings as possible only after his death because of its traumatizing circumstances; I don't think she felt she owed him anything while they were all alive, especially because it's never shown that he ever demanded such recognition. Yahiko and Konan have very distinct energies and personalities that complete each other, their relationship has a strong foundation because they share the same core beliefs and traits; loyalty and faith. I can see her falling in love with him for many reasons and one of them being by her admiring how hard he works to achieve the goal of peace.

Konan is a person that feels gentle and kind towards life as a whole; she doesn't seem to need much to be happy - as a child she made origami to pass time and have fun (and eventually used her intelligence to turn her passion into power); as an adult, the anime dedicates a scene to show her smiling to the rain while thinking of happy memories - happy for the sake of being in peace with the new direction she was taking her life after she and Nagato found someone to believe in again.

(Edit: Unfortunately I could not add another image to the post to illustrate this comment, but I wanted to talk about one aspect of Konan's personality that I like a lot and also forgot to mention. Despite her collected and serious demeanor, she also has a tendency to taunt people, a bit similar to Nagato's taste for ironic jokes. This is shown just a few times. In chapter 373, when Yahiko says he will save Nagato the next time something happens, Konan makes fun of him by remarking that Nagato is actually stronger than him, and she laughs when he gets annoyed. As I showed before, she also provokes Jiraiya with the hypothesis of things being better if Orochimaru had killed them. In her fight with Obito, despite his clear disinterest in what she was saying, Konan goes on to explain why Nagato and her betrayed him, and why he will never win. During the Water on a Frog's Face Training with Jiraiya she's also shown laughing at Yahiko's clumsiness. In my opinion, the way she evidently enjoys herself when she mocks people is strikingly contrasting to her generally unaffected personality, and personally I like that most of those times Yahiko was involved. Both in the anime, because of the animation, and in the manga because of Yahiko's surprise, I'm also under the impression that she was the one to initiate their kiss).

All of the Rain Trio's characters have very distinct and interesting psychologies; personally, I find Konan to be the most complex one because of the extreme discrepancies she displays, sometimes warm and kind, sometimes extremely cold and indifferent. I think the way she seems to only care about a very limited aspect of things is very attractive, as it shows how focused she is on her goals - as a nonviolent person, the most cruel act of Konan as a villain comes from her apathy to everyone else that is not part of what is "hers." Unlike Nagato and most of the other members of the Akatsuki who actively indulge in vile acts, she simply pursues her goals, removing anything and anyone on her way.

When he watch Konan's childhood, we see a child that is kind and light-hearted despite of all the pain she has endured, and only after being inflicted by yet another wave of suffering Konan's empathy and hope are shaken to the core; however, we learn her feelings were not dead but rather dormant, and it's by reconnecting to her core traits and beliefs that she finally finds peace in the very end.

[caneannabelle]

ok hi guys. it’s been a while. i wrote this analysis back when Mag 187 aka Checking Out aka The One Where Helen Dies first came out and literally ever since i’ve posted it i’ve wanted to redo it because it feels. lacking. listen if there’s one thing i hate it’s incomplete media analysis and i must right my wrongs lest i be forced to look upon myself and crumble from within. that being said, i’ve been putting off this rewrite for a long long time bc Life Gets Weird. tldr this was written over the course of several months so i apologize for inconsistent quality. anyways let’s get into it!

part one: recap!

it’s been a while! let’s just go over what happened. the scene i wanna focus on in particular is this one:

VICTIM

You’ve got to help me!

ARCHIVIST

[Angrily] Don’t touch me!

[THE ARCHIVIST PULLS AWAY, AS THE VICTIM FALLS AND IS CRYING]

HELEN

Oopsie. Not so easy, is it? Keeping up your humanity?

(187).

that being said i’m gonna be kind of all over the place but! i do think that’s a good jumping off point.

part two (part one): disparaging everyone’s problematic fav

in my original post my point was that in reflexively reacting to a victim with disgust and anger jon inadvertently reveals the nature of his dedication to helping victims as ego driven, especially because this line is directly preceded by him asserting his moral high ground over helen as being a “protector” as opposed to her indulgence in destruction. what i’m saying is homeboy has a savior complex. honestly there’s a lot of evidence to support that claim but i think the most obvious example would be jordan kennedy. like.

JORDAN

…Yeah. But wrong. Sick.

What did you do to me?

ARCHIVIST

I helped you.

JORDAN

Helped me? I don’t feel right, I, I just – Ah! No I don’t – argh! I don’t want this!

(184). to be clear it’s an action with a good intent! he just wants to help someone who once helped him! BUT it also demonstrates a lack of conscious empathy. i feel like i don’t have to argue this since jordan Literally vocally said he didn’t want this several times throughout the scene but the point remains that while jon’s intent is good the actual application of his saviourism removes the autonomy of those he affects. i’m not gonna touch on the “is it objectively immoral to become an oppressor for the sake of self preservation while existing within an extreme system in which all are oppressed regardless of your individual status” query mostly because i do not have the brainpower available rn to come to my own conclusion about systems of power and the way they’re represented in tma (which is a whole other rant tbh) but jon DOES rob jordan of the ability to come to his own conclusion in this debate and make his own choice, thereby removing his autonomy. you know. autonomy. free will. the thing that is central to jon’s internal conflicts. huh.

anyways i NEED to stress that i’m not saying that he’s the same as jonah or the web or even annabelle (although annabelle is a victim. no i don’t take constructive criticism). i just want to point out that his actions reflect a lack of understanding. while he’s able to empathize with the pain others experience and is eternally hyper- aware of it he is unable to view that pain through any lense besides his own and uses it in his cycle of self pity and blame, minimizing it at any point possible in the quickest way and Not prioritizing the wishes of the victim but instead the efficiency in decreasing his own guilt. anyways back to 187- both the victim and jordan are treated as props by jon (and helen) and once they serve their purpose in reaffirming the two’s sense of self are cast aside and ignored. ok from here i’m gonna get conceptual and self indulgent bc it’s my analysis and i get to bring up vague convoluted philosophy.

part two (part two): part two

let’s talk about the distortion for a sec. i refuse to believe helen and michael were both completely gone and it was just the distortion piloting their visage, mostly because… like that’s not what the text would indicate

HELEN

Michael isn’t me. Not now.

ARCHIVIST

What happened?

HELEN

He got… distracted. Let feelings that shouldn’t have been his overwhelm me.

Lost my way.

(101). it’s heavily implied that there was SOME remainder of michael in there, even if the being wasn’t him. maybe i’m way off base here but the way i interpreted the implosion of michael was that it was driven by his inability to maintain the repressed resentment and anger he had for gertrude. like it’s pretty clear that some warped version of michael’s feelings were trapped inside of the distortion and i’d go as far as to say that they were integral to his formation as it. i’m gonna operate on the assumption that michael and helen are two separate beings here for a sec even though we know they’re not. As opposed to michael’s resentment for the archivist, helen actively sought refuge in the institute and from the small amount we saw of her Pre-Distortion it seems like her paranoia is internally directed. i think you could even say that while michael was caught in an eternal battle with the concept of connection, helen is caught in a battle with the concept of self. the point is that she thinks of jon in a less “The Archivist” sense and more as just That Guy who she had an intense connection with that one time.

ARCHIVIST

So… S-so what do you want?

HELEN

I don’t know. Helen liked you, so… there’s a lot to consider. But I will help you leave.

(101). i would also like to point out that helen’s emergence as the distortion coincides with jon coming to terms with his identity as the archivist. parallels, baby! SO helen is a newly formed being that is grappling with the concept of her own existence and jon is reevaluating his understanding of identity as he comes to terms with the fact that he is turning into the thing he’s fighting against and this is all happening at the same time. live laugh love. stay with me here, i promise i’ll get back to 187. Throughout seasons 4 and 5 helen attempts to validate her own moral decisions via jon who she once saw herself in. conversely, jon sees both an image of what he could become AND arguably a representation of his past failure in her.

ARCHIVIST

It did. I think… I mean, you remember how I was back then, how paranoid. The Not!Sasha was there, and I could sense something wasn’t right, but I just couldn’t place it. It left me a suspicious wreck. Then when Helen Richardson came in, it seemed like… she was in the same place I was, but worse, further along. I thought, maybe if I could help her, that would mean… maybe I wasn’t beyond help?

(188). helen and jon lie at opposite ends of the same spectrum. both of them derive pleasure from the suffering of others

HELEN

Oh, John! This existence can be wonderful, if you just let it.

ARCHIVIST

[Sadly] I know.

(187). needless to say that a LOT of jon's arc and the themes surrounding him focus on the concept of autonomy and addiction and i think it'd be fair to say that this component is an aspect of that. repressing these qualities is both a way of reaffirming his control and also just.. him trying to be what he perceives as Good, and season 5 is the point at which this comes to the forefront of his character- particularly the line between what is intrinsic and what he truly has control over. a battle of the concept of the self, if you will. while the two share similar traits, jon is intensely moralistic while helen indulges in a twisted sense of hedonism and both are fueled by an inability to expand their viewpoint. helen fully immerses herself within these qualities and intentionally blinds herself to any concepts of morality (indulgence), and jon actively pushes back on this as hard as he can and follows black and white moral framework (repression). this means that in order for their relationship to function he must either accept her, choosing to let go in his personal battle with autonomy OR she must break out of her worldview and conform to standards of human morality which goes against her own nature.

part three: questions i do not have the answer to

so. what does it all mean. WELL. 187 is the boiling point of all this tension. we know that helen relies on jon to validate her sense of self and we know that jon sees himself in helen, both past and present

HELEN

But that doesn’t make any sense. You barely met her. You had half an hour together, and she spent most of that ranting about mazes! She was positively delirious with paranoia!

ARCHIVIST

True. But as you’ll recall, I was pretty paranoid myself at that point.

HELEN

So what? You saw yourself in her? A sad reflection? A possible future?

(187). I’d argue that 187 is demonstrative of jon’s inability to either fall into complete indulgence in intrinsic values that lack moral validity vs. maintain and image of self that does not conflict with the values he attempts to uphold in order to find internal satisfaction and yes both of those concepts are inherently egocentric as he bases his moral judgement on what he can justify to himself instead of what can be calculated via empathy. however. paired with the alternative (helen). is that BAD. is it inherently selfish to do what you perceive as good in order to feed your own savior complex? and if so, is it inherently selfish to indulge in destructive qualities as to not delude yourself? is honesty vs deception a black and white question? if not, where does helen even fall? in not deluding herself does she achieve a moral high ground? IS she deluding herself by denying the potential to be facetiously benevolent at the detriment of both her personal enjoyment and her honesty? does helen even posses the capability to repress her violent qualities? if she doesn't, does she have any autonomy? if she and jon are both inherently selfish and intentionally resistant to introspection, what makes them different? i do not have answers but i do think the text is meant to invoke these questions. i mean,

MICHAEL (STATEMENT)

There was a great evil, she said, and Michael was going to help her fight it. Am I evil, Archivist? Is a thing evil when it simply obeys its own nature? When it embodies its nature? When that nature is created by those which revile it? Perhaps Gertrude believed so. Michael certainly did. He believed everything she told him.

(101).

part 5: conclusion

so once again. what does it all mean. well! even post helen’s death jon continues to fight for autonomy and preserve his moral worldview so. i think that probably indicates something good.

MARTIN

Huh. She couldn’t help what she was, I guess.

ARCHIVIST

She didn’t even try.

(188). i honestly don’t have a thesis i just find it incredibly interesting how the themes surrounding these two intersect and play off of each other. anyways looping back to 187 i do think in a broad sense jon killing helen is representative of him choosing to stick by his convictions and keep fighting. i don’t have any good way to end this but thanks for sticking around during my self indulgent rambling!

[killianmesmalls]

On your comments about Jack: ye-es, in the sense that Jack is a character who definitely deserved better than he was treated by the characters. The way Dean especially treats him reflects very badly on Dean, no question. But, speaking as a viewer, I think the perspective needs to shift a little bit.

To me, Jack is Dawn from Buffy, or Scrappy Doo. He’s an (in my opinion) irritating kid who is introduced out of nowhere to be both super vulnerable and super OP, and the jeopardy is centered around him in a way that has nothing to do with his actual character or relationships. He’s mostly around to be cute and to solve or create problems — he never has any firm character arcs or goals of his own, nor any deeper purpose in the meta narrative. In this way, he’s a miss for SPN, which focuses heavily on conflicts as metaphors for real life.

Mary fits so much better in that framework, and introducing her as a developed, flawed person works really well with the narrative. It is easy for us to care about Mary, both as the dead perfect mother on the pedestal and as the flawed, human woman who could not live up to her sons’ expectations. That connection is built into the core of SPN, and was developed over years, even before she was a character. When she was added, she was given depth and nuance organically, and treated as a flawed, complex character rather than as a plot device or a contrivance. She was given a voice and independence, and became a powerful metaphor for developing new understandings of our parents in adulthood, as well as an interesting and well-rounded character. You care that she’s dead, not just because Sam and Dean are sad, but for the loss of her development and the potential she offered. So, in that sense, I think a lot of people were frustrated that she died essentially fridged for a second time, and especially in service of the arc of a weaker character.

And like, you’re right, no one can figure out if Jack is a toddler or a teenager. He’s both and he’s neither, because he’s never anything consistently and his character arc is always “whatever the plot needs it to be.” Every episode is different. Is he Dean’s sunny opportunity to be a parent and make up for his dad’s shitty parenting? Yes! Is he also Dean’s worst failure and a reminder that he has done many horrible things, including to “innocent” children? Yes! Is he Cas’s child? Yes! Is he Dean’s child? Yes! But also, no! Is he Sam’s child? Yes! Is he a lonely teenager who does terrible things? Yes! Is he a totally innocent little lamb who doesn’t get why what he is doing is wrong? Yes! Is he the most powerful being in the universe? Yes! Does he need everyone to take care of him? Yes! Is he just along for the ride? Yes! Is he responsible for his actions? Kinda??? Sometimes??? What is he???

Mary as a character is narratively cohesive and fleshed-out. Jack is a mishmash of confusing whatever’s that all add up to a frustrating plot device with no consistent traits to latch on to. Everything that fans like about him (cute outfits, gender play, well-developed parental bonds with the characters) is fanon. So, yes, the narrative prioritizes Mary. Many fans prioritize Mary, at least enough that Dean’s most heinous acts barely register. To the narrative (not to Cas, which is a totally different situation), Jack is only barely more of a character than Emma Winchester, who Sam killed without uproar seasons earlier. He’s been around longer, but he’s equally not really real.

I debated on responding to this because, to tell the truth, I think we fundamentally disagree on a number of subjects and, as they say, true insanity is arguing with anyone on the internet. However, you spent a lot of time on the above and I feel it's only fair to say my thoughts, even if I don't believe it will sway you any more than what you said changed my opinions.

I'm assuming this was in response to this post regarding how Jack's accidental killing of Mary was treated so severely by the brothers, particularly Dean, because it was Mary and, had it been a random character like the security guard in 13x06, it would have been treated far differently. However, then the argument becomes less about the reaction of the Winchester brothers to this incident and more the value of Jack or Mary to the audience.

I believe we need to first admit that both characters are inherently archetypes—Mary as the Madonna character initially then, later, as a metaphor for how imperfect and truly human our parents are compared to the idol we have as children, and Jack as the overpowered child who is a Jesus allegory by the end. Both have a function within the story to serve the Winchester brothers, through whose lens and with whose biases we are meant to view the show's events. We also need to admit that the writers didn't think more than a season ahead for either character, especially since it wasn't initially supposed to be Mary that came back at the end of season 11 but John, and they only wrote enough for Jack in season 13 to gauge whether or not the audience would want him to continue on or if he needed to be killed off by the end of the season. Now, I know we curate our own experiences online which leads to us being in our own fandom echo chambers, however it is important to note that the character was immediately successful enough with the general audience that, after his first episode or two, he was basically guaranteed a longer future on the show.

I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure why the perspective of how his character is processed by some audience members versus others has any bearing on the argument that he deserved to be treated better overall by the other characters especially when taking their own previous actions in mind. I’m not going to tell you that your opinion is wrong regarding your feelings for Jack. It’s your opinion and you’re entitled to it, it harms no one to have it and express it. My feelings on Jack are clearly very different from your own, but this is really just two different people who processed a fictional person in different ways. I personally believe he has a purpose in the Winchesters’ story, including Castiel’s, as he reflects certain aspects of all of them, gives them a way to explore their own histories through a different perspective, and changes the overall dynamic of Team Free Will from “soldiers in arms” to a family (Misha’s words). In the beginning he allows Sam to work through his past as the “freak” and powerful, dangerous boy wonder destined to bring hell on earth. With Dean, his presence lets Dean work through his issues with John and asks whether he will let history repeat itself or if he’ll work to break the cycle. Regarding Cas, in my opinion he helps the angel reach his “final form” of a father, member of a family, lover and protector of humanity, rebellious son, and the true show of free will. 

From strictly the story, he has several arcs that work within themes explored in Supernatural, such as the argument of nature versus nurture, the question of what we’re willing to give up in order to protect something or someone else and how ends justify the means, and the struggle between feeling helpless and powerless versus the corruptive nature of having too much power and the dangerous lack of a moral compass. His goals are mentioned and on display throughout his stint on the show, ones that are truly relatable to some viewers: the strong desire to belong—the need for family and what you’ll do to find and keep it. 

With Mary, we first need to establish whether the two versions of her were a writing flaw due to the constant change in who was dictating her story and her relationship to the boys, which goes against the idea that her characterization was cohesive and fleshed-out but, rather, put together when needed for convenience, or if they both exist because, as stated above, we are seeing the show primarily through the biased lens of the Winchester brothers and come to face facts about the true Mary as they do. Like I said in my previous post, I don’t dislike Mary and I don’t blame her for her death (either one). However, I do have a hard time seeing her as a more nuanced, fleshed-out character than Jack. True, a lot of her problems are more adult in nature considering she has to struggle with losing her sons’ formative years and meeting them as whole adults she knows almost nothing about, all because of a choice she made before they were born. 

However, her personal struggles being more “mature” in nature (as they center primarily on parental battles) doesn’t necessarily mean her story has layers and Jack’s does not. They are entirely different but sometimes interconnected in a way that adds to both of their arcs, like Mary taking Jack on as an adoptive son which gives her the moments of parenting she lost with Sam and Dean, and Jack having Mary as a parental figure who understands and supports him gives him that sense of belonging he had just been struggling with to the point of running away while he is also given the chance to show “even monsters can do good”. 

I’d also argue that Jack being many ages at once isn’t poor writing so much as a metaphor for how, even if you’re forced to grow up fast, that doesn’t mean you’re a fully equipped adult. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I believe Jack simultaneously taking a lot of responsibility and constantly trying to prove to others he’s useful while having childish moments is relatable to some who were forced to play an adult role at a young age. He proves a number of times that he doesn’t need everyone to take care of him, but he also has limited life experience and, as such, will make some mistakes while he’s also being a valuable member of the group. Jack constantly exists on a fine line in multiple respects. Some may see that as a writing flaw but it is who the character was conceived to be: the balance between nature or nurture, between good and evil, between savior and devil. 

Now, I was also frustrated Mary was “fridged” for a second time. It really provided no other purpose than to give the brothers more man pain to further the plot along. However, this can exist while also acknowledging that the way it happened and the subsequent fallout for Jack was also unnecessary and a sign of blatant hypocrisy from Dean, primarily, and Sam. 

And, yes, Jack can be different things at once because, I mean, can’t we all? If Mary can be both the perfect mother and the flawed, independent, distant parent, can’t Jack be the sweet kid who helps his father-figures process their own feelings on fatherhood while also being a lost young-adult forcing them to face their failures? Both characters contain multitudes because, I mean, we all do. 

I can provide articles or posts on Jack’s characterization and popularity along with Mary’s if needed, but for now I think this is a long enough ramble on my thoughts and feelings. I’m happy to discuss more, my messenger is always open for (polite) discussion. Until then, I’m going to leave it at we maybe agree to disagree.