#points with the same characters with the same plot

[beepborpdoodledorp]

Alright it’s that time again, general ramblings post about Ep 5

I never thought certified silly billy Caine would ever actually scare me but I was proven wrong within the first minute. We definitely all expected him to become really unstable this episode but I can’t imagine many of us were thinking he was going to become violent. (And not in his ‘oblivious to the pain he’s causing others’ way.) Really scared for the players in the future episodes not gonna lie.

It’s not like it’s a huge shock a scene like this happened but I do find it very funny I wrote a one-shot with a nearly identical plot to this back in January

Also just…Jax and Pomni friendship!! I’ve been holding out for their love/hate frenemies bond to develop and I’m honestly surprised it’s happening this soon but I’m not complaining. I read them as having a purely platonic ‘bickering best buds’ dynamic but I’m proud of the funnybunny shippers for eating with this episode

Also where do I even start with these two. They’re just adorable. In a sea of messy emotions and messier relationships it’s so refreshing to see these two just…have a healthy friendship, support each other and enjoy each others’ company. They’re so in love I will die on this hill

I liked Kinger pulling Pomni under the desk to talk to her since he thinks better in the dark! Honestly very sweet of him. Their dynamic makes my heart happy

Was just trying to find a good screenshot of the anime segment to talk about how funny it was but then I spotted TGD Easter eggs on the bulletin board! Just thought it was neat

I do find it both kinda funny and fascinating how all of these lines up with the fanbase’s most popular headcanons. I know a lot of this could just be inferred from the previous episodes (and in Pomni’s case her being an accountant was just confirmed outright before) but the fact these all lined up nearly to a T to the most common interpretations of them just goes to show how well the fanbase knows these characters. It took wading through some content farming but Goose struck the right audience eventually

Found it interesting that Pomni didn’t vote for Jax to be put in the maid dress. They bonded pretty damn quick lol

I think all of us were expecting a scene like this at some point but I wasn’t thinking Pomni was going to be involved like this. It’s interesting how Jax and Ragatha are basically doing a tug-of-war over her, denying her of her agency and trying to project their own ideals onto her. I expected Pomni to play peacekeeper but I wasn’t expecting her to be a pawn in the middle of this argument. Honestly that’s just scratching the surface of this scene’s nuances, Jax and Ragatha are such fantastic foils to each other and I am very glad Ragatha finally got to have her crash out moment

Also I know there is a TON of analysis that could be made just off this one expression but just look at him for a moment. stupid man

I did find it very funny that Evil Pomni curses with basically the same frequency I write regular Pomni lol

This fucking mannequin dude…I was on the fence if they were actually plot relevant or just a running Easter egg and it definitely looks like the former’s the case. Can’t wait to find out what this guy’s deal is

Also how dare they call me out like this

[theballadofthesunandthestars]

Hello! I'm an aroace lesbian, here's my thoughts on the soulmate trope! I'll be talking about real life too, but I promise it all relates back to ship tropes and fanfic. And sorry it's kinda ramble-y!

So, I am not really a fan of the idea that each person has only one soulmate, and I especially hate the idea that soulmates are purely romantic. But I actually do believe in soulmates! I believe that each person has multiple soulmates, but soulmates are not necessarily a romantic partner that you're destined to be with. I believe that there are people that are meant to be in our lives one way or another, sometimes forever and sometimes temporarily. I think that soulmates can be not just romantic, but platonic and familial as well. All soulmates are just people that you are meant to have in your life.

A big aspect of this belief is that I don't see love between friends as lesser than love between romantic partners. I absolutely despise the phrasing "more than friends" when talking about romantic relationships, because friendships are just as nuanced, wonderful, and powerful as romances. And maybe that's just because I don't experience romantic attraction, but I don't think that's why. I know straight girls who have boyfriends, yet they share this deeply intimate connection that goes almost deeper than the feelings they have for their romantic partners. There's nothing romantic or sexual about their relationship; they just love each other deeply, and cannot imagine life without each other. In my mind, they're soulmates. They're meant to be in each other's lives, and they're linked to each other. In a romantic sense, we all have multiple people in the world that we could be romantic soulmates with. You can lose a soulmate due to bad timing or the relationship not working out, and there's still someone out there in the world for you if you want them. Some people dedicate themselves to one soulmate. Others have multiple throughout their lives. But one lifestyle is not above the other.

I've read one soulmate AU fic that I kind of liked. It was one where soulmates could feel each other's pain, and it was incredibly well-written. But there was one plot point I adored where it's revealed that one of the main couples in the story are actually not soulmates; both of them have different soulmates that they met, but realized that they were terrible with their soulmates romantically, and so while they keep in touch with their soulmates, they ultimately fell in love with someone who was not their soulmate, and found just as much fulfillment in that. And I LOVED that plot point; it made me like that relationship so much more. There was also an aroace character in the fanfic who had a soulmate, but he didn't want to be with him romantically, and so he wasn't. And I loved that plot point too because it showed that aroace people aren't incapable of deep love and aren't missing out on anything when they don't feel romantic attraction. That fic was super good in other words.

And I also think that my belief on soulmates is what makes me a multi-shipper and makes me not understand ship discourse in the slightest. Because first of all; polyamory anyone? I think that you can totally love multiple people at the same time, and it doesn't take away from the love you experience with any one person. Secondly, since friendship is not below romance in my mind and is just as valuable, I can totally be chill with a ship that I like being platonic or romantic in a given fanfic or universe. It doesn't feel like a loss in the relationship in the slightest.

I get the appeal of a soulmate trope; the idea that there is someone out there destined to love you no matter your flaws and shortcomings? Love that! But I guess I hate the idea that's usually promoted that everyone only has one soulmate, and it's romantic. And on the rare occasions when those fics include an aroace character, that character just doesn't get a soulmate of any kind. And that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So I generally don't read those fics, though I hope people never stop writing them because you should not let some weird fuck like me on the internet stop you from writing what you want!

I recommend this world view personally though because I was able to heal so much for it! I was so scared that I was broken, that I was missing out on a big part of life, but no. Like Chappell Roan said, love is a kaleidoscope; even with all the colors and shapes, it somehow all boils down to the same emotion. And my friends that do have romantic attraction, I think that believing platonic connections are not lesser than can really help with a lot of insecurities and anguish that come from dating and engaging in romantic relationships. Because you don't need them to experience true love, and so there's no pressure anymore! You can explore romance at your own pace and leisure. You can be unafraid to let people go that you need to, because there's someone else out there who'll love you just as much! It makes life so much more fulfilling in my opinion!

But as I said, I'm a weird fuck on the internet and you know your life better than I do. So if this doesn't work for you, feel free to say "oh no thanks!" and live the life that's best suited for you! You got this!

Whew. Sorry for the cheesiness

Curious, I haven’t really seen any real trend among aspec people and the ship tropes they do like, however I think I kinda seen a trend in what they dislike. So in the tags tell me if you’re aspec (ace and/or aro) and if you dislike soulmates, and I mean the most straightforward romantic non subverted kind (but if there are versions you like feel free to elaborate)

[fierce-little-miana]

Spoilers for 28 years later

Something I really was not expecting from 28 years later was the commentary on zombies and how we have come to perceive them (culturally speaking) as completely deshumanized bodies that we can kill gleefully.

28 years later is constantly reminding you that its zombies are infected people, not mythical creatures completly removed from us. That doesn't make them less dangerous, or killing them in self defense (or even mercy-killing them) wrong. But it does give a sinister spin on the "zombies killer" warrior figure that a lot of zombie media come to present as a given.

The movie does that through two main narative devices. Humanizing the infected and deconstructing the ideology behind the zombies killer figure.

It humanizes the infected notably by:

Introducing the Alphas. They are an extra threats sure, but they are also capable of reasons.

The entire plot with the pregnant infected woman.

The fact the everyone in Great-Britain is treated the same by the outisde world, infected or not.

Isla's disease. Isla is sick from a mystery illness that impairs her mental capacities. Isla is not infected, but she is often confused and sometimes even physically lashes out in way that are violent (when she wakes up and break everything on her nightstand, in the same scene she also turns against Jamie). I don't think it is a coincidence that Isla is the only character in the entire movie that kills an infected with her bare hands, and then has trouble remembering it. It is also not a coincidence that she is the first one showing compassion on screen to an infected.

The fact that Dr Kelson treats infected and non-infected in the exact same way in death and does not immediately turns to killing the infected to defend himself from them.

It deconstructs the figure of the zombie killer by:

Having Jamie being a troubling figure and an even more troubling father figure. He insists on taking his son on his first killing trip three years before it is common to do so (something the movie points out explicitly twice). He says he likes the smell of rotting carcasses. He lies to make his son appear more heroic (I am not saying that Spike was cowardly or anything, but still Jamie does embelish how this first hunt went).

The community that sanctions this kind of attitude is very much coded as conservative in an uncomfortable way. It is for example, routinely visually compared with English history (through the display of medieval battles and images of the boers war). However everytime it is compared to the medieval era (the mythical chivalric) the images shown are very clearly extracted from movies and artistic depictions rather than rigourous reconstruction. The only real images shown are from most recent colonial wars in which England commited war crimes.

It is nice to see a zombie film not taking the zombies as acceptable killable meatsack as a given.

[thewriteadviceforwriters]

🔪 3 Plot Twists That Slap (and 1 that should be arrested) 🔪

hello and welcome back to me yelling on main about storytelling crimes. today we are talking about plot twists. specifically: the good, the god-tier, and the why-would-you-do-this-i-trusted-you tier.

let’s go.

✨ The Twist That Reframes Everything ✨ a.k.a. the “wait. WAIT.” twist. This is when you drop a twist that doesn’t just add drama - it recontextualizes the entire story. It makes the reader go back and reread earlier scenes like “was this character ALWAYS sketchy or am I just stupid??” It retroactively changes the emotional weight of everything that’s happened. Suddenly that offhanded comment in chapter three hits like a brick. The romance subplot becomes 500% more tragic. The villain’s motive makes SENSE now. Delicious.

✅ Best used when: the breadcrumbs are subtle but real. The twist shouldn’t come out of nowhere - it should feel inevitable in hindsight. Like Sixth Sense, Knives Out, that one betrayal in your favorite anime you still haven’t recovered from.

2.🧨 The Emotional Betrayal It’s giving: “i would’ve died for you” energy. This is the kind of twist that hurts. You thought they were loyal. You thought they cared. They did care - and still did it anyway. Or they never cared, and now you’re spiraling. This twist slaps because it’s not just about plot, it’s about trust. It stabs the characters AND the reader in the same motion. Bonus points if it’s a slow burn betrayal. Bonus bonus points if the betrayer feels genuinely torn up about it.

✅ Best used when: the reader is emotionally attached. Don’t waste this one on a side character we barely know. Save it for the love interest. The best friend. The mentor figure with dad energy. Make it personal. Make it RUIN lives.

3. 🧊 The “They Were Dead the Whole Time” but Make It Interesting Listen. This one’s risky. It’s a classic for a reason but also easy to flop. But when done well? Haunting. Creepy. Unhinged in a gorgeous way. It doesn’t have to be death either - maybe the character’s been possessed. Or they’re not real. Or the narrator’s memory is lying. The KEY is to not lean too hard on the shock. Lean on the vibes. Give it eeriness. Make it a slow unraveling. Give us dread. Give us melancholy. Give us psychological decay with a side of unreliable narrator.

✅ Best used when: you’re writing something surreal, gothic, speculative, or emotionally weird. This twist isn’t about plot logic, it’s about atmosphere and emotional rot.

🚨 The Twist That Should Be Arrested: “It Was All a Dream” 🚨 I’m sorry but. no. if I read 80k words of someone’s descent into madness just to find out it was their stress dream and now they’re normal again?? I will throw the entire book into a lake. This twist erases tension instead of escalating it. It invalidates everything the reader emotionally invested in. It’s the narrative equivalent of gaslighting. don’t do it. UNLESS - and this is a big unless - you’re doing it with INTENT. Meta intent. Dream-within-a-dream psychological horror intent. If you’re gonna do it, it better haunt me. It better RUIN me. Otherwise? Into the lake.

okay that’s all. go forth and commit plot crimes responsibly. bonus points if you use all three Good Twists in the same story and then look me in the eye like “oh was that too much?”

it wasn’t.

tag me when you emotionally destroy someone with it.

🕯️ download the pack & write something cursed:

[meanbossart]

Ask compilation: Overnight honkers, Vampire flu, and non-canonical threesomes.

A quick ask compilation I put together. Thank you all so much for your well wishes to both me and my partner during the recovery/break so far!

Hello!

Well, kind of. If he happened upon any other Bhaalspawn he would immediately attempt to kill them regardless of race, unless explicitly instructed to do otherwise by Sarevok or Bhaal himself.

As a Bhaalist (both prior to the campaign and in the case of a bad end) he wouldn't want any competition - especially after Orin's betrayal. In his "canon" state where he denies Bhaal, he would antagonize them for the obvious reasons - and not really believe that they are able to control themselves like he did - but perhaps he wouldn't not be AS gung-ho about murdering them on-site, though he would believe that to be the right thing to do.

Special circumstances could definitely arise! But that's the most straight-forward answer.

To be clear, DU drow just isn't into very "butch" people and generally prefers aesthetics and behavior most commonly associated with femininity and high society; being poise, dressing elegantly, practicing grooming, softer features, less body hair, etc - that just so happens to more often be the women of the races that he is exposed to the most, but he also comes across plenty of high elves, where there is less of a distinction between genders. In those cases his preference is pretty much totally neutral.

Which is to say, he does not care more for Lady Astarion more than Dude Astarion beyond the initial excitement you that would expect with something as novel as your partner growing bangin' honkers overnight.

Yes, but it's kind of impossible to ignore the personality and the fact that Izzantar is a drow - which DU drow isn't very much into at all.

I think there are things that are of detriment to his health; running bodies of water, holy places, entering homes uninvited - these are things that would weaken him and result in something that would appear similar to a bad fever or the flu, save for the high internal temperatures. Rather, being "sick" in his case means becoming more and more corpse-like.

I also don't believe that Astarion is affected by the cold in the same way a humanoid would. He can feel temperature, but unless it reaches a destructive extreme (severe burns, frostbite) it doesn't result in any discomfort for him.

DU drow has no issue buying into Astarion's narrative of "all vampires are conniving backstabbers" and doesn't care if harm comes upon any of them - ESPECIALLY not Petras, who proves himself annoying in record time.

Alas! ANE has already been outlined to the end and I can say with full confidence that Grodderick's and Izzantar's relationship will never be explicitly displayed, since it has no relevance to the ongoing plot.

Definitely the cleavage. He can't properly inspect the feet from that high up.

Because I thought they looked cool, as simple as that, LOL.

They are not infernal eyes, just plain off-white like I depict them in my art (sometimes I lean more yellow depending on my mood). I think in the character creator they're called "demonic white" and I picked those because they were the evilest option.

At this point, I justify DU drow's odd appearance on behalf of him being a bhaalspawn before being a drow - in a way, he isn't a drow at all, rather he only vaguely resembles one in color scheme.

And thank YOU so much for supporting me on patreon!

I have! you can find a couple of pieces like that on my patreon, though obviously there's far less of them in comparison to the gay content.

Glad to hear that you like that art! However, I was just having a bit of fun, as I like to do. The boys are ultimately very monogamous and their friendship with Shadowheart, while very intimate, never breaches into sexual or romantic.

Unfortunately, Shadowheart is very likely dead in that AU 😬 if not dead, she has definitely split ways from them at the end of the game and wasn't particularly close to either, to begin with. Shadowheart is kind of a key part of DU drow's "redemption" - so I doubt that they would have had much of a friendship at any point in the story of that particular iteration of him.

Just "the drow", or nothing at all if they are referring to him directly. If he isn't the only nameless "drow" in the room, they might call him "the big drow" or "our drow" instead.

Astarion uses his usual nicknames on him, and Shadowheart isn't much for them - I guess characters like Karlach would have come up with something appropriate to call him, like "greysteak" or "goldilocks".

No, that wouldn't really work or be very interesting (to me!) because it would just result in them either killing each other or going their separate ways, since DU drow would never accept to be turned into a spawn or want remain in a relationship with that Astarion.

However, there is an alternate universe where Astarion Ascends and DU drow fails Bhaal 😇

[scrapyardboyfriends]

for those of us casuals who abandoned ship when robert left, how would you describe the changes in aaron’s character since we last saw him?

he seems in some ways more emotionally open in his relationship, at least as far as saying i love you more frequently and easily, and getting married to someone he’s known 9 months. but i read he came back a chas-anti and that losing liv (and robert) made him harder.

hes in a marriage which is clearly not long for this world so not sure how much of his vibe rn is his new vibe or is john specific?

Aaron has had a lot of misery and trauma to deal with in these last six years and I think he's been really beaten down and exhausted and I feel like the idea of John represented a little bit of hope for him but I feel like a lot of his "emotional openness" that you've been seeing in these last couple weeks is more to do with the fact that A) he's trying to convince himself he loves John and B) it's easier to say to John because he doesn't feel it as deeply.

His post Robert spiral was rough. He was just doing anything and everything to try and feel something. He was so broken and it was very sad. There were lots of reckless hook ups, drinking, lots of crime with Cain. Then he also lost access to Seb, which just broke him more. Seb was like this last shred of hope and that life he lost that he could hold onto and that was taken from him too.

I think the lockdown episode where he got that letter from Robert settled something in him for a bit. It let him know that Robert really did love him and it allowed him, for plot purposes to say that he would always love Robert but if the chance to move on came around, he felt like he could take it now.

Then he meets Ben. I don't think he had nearly the same emotional openness with Ben as he appears to have right now with John. I don't even think they did their cringe in unison "I love you" until just before Ben was about to be paddled to death. Also Covid meant they blessedly had very little physical affection. Plus the most emotion Aaron showed during that whole relationship was when the idea of Robert appealing came up and he "chose" Ben over the potential heartbreak of Robert not winning said appeal.

During the Ben era, they also did the Liv alcoholism story, which really exhausted Aaron even more. He was trying so hard to help her and she just was not in a place to accept that and their relationship got even more toxic than it had ever been before to the point where they actually finally acknowledged it when he was going to move away with Ben. And he left on very bad terms with her because he thought she'd killed Ben.

So then he's all "this place hasn't been the same since Robert went to prison" and he goes off to hang with Adam on the run, which apparently landed him in Italy where he met off screen Marco. Now we know nothing about Marco, except that Aaron was apparently happy cause you know...he was off screen and the angst plots couldn't get him there. But I would imagine that getting out of the village and all of the memories was probably really helpful for him at the time.

Then he came back for the 50th anniversary. He reconciled with Liv but then she died and that was horrible for him. He also discovered Chas's ongoing affair with Al, which is why she forced Aaron out of the village on the day of Liv's funeral because she wanted to keep her secret.

Then Italy wasn't so great for him anymore. He was grieving and spiraling and off screen Marco was not a good support system and broke up with him. He was apparently being reckless enough to steal 30 grand from the Italian mafia and worried Adam enough to call Cain.

So Cain and Caleb drag him back and hold him hostage basically in a barn. This Aaron was a mess. He was very much a Chas Anti because he blamed her for Liv's death. Her meeting with Al during the storm got her injured and Paddy wanted to go see her in hospital and sent Liv out into the storm to check on Eve, which got her crushed by the caravan. And then he also blamed her for taking away his support system when grieving her death. And brought up a lot of stuff from the past if I recall. But he was mostly blaming her for Liv's death so all of the other very valid complaints kind of got swept under the rug.

Anyway, he was pretty awful to everyone. He was mean to Sam, to Paddy, to Vinny. He had a whole thing with Cain that resulted in them trying to beat each other up and landed Cain in hospital with some brief, curable for the plot, brain damage. Everyone hated him and wished he'd never come back even though they had dragged him back.

Then Chas got cancer and he was like "great I'm going to lose someone else maybe" and he tried to run away and leave again. Mack tracked him down and they had a long chat about how Aaron couldn't stand to lose another person, go to another funeral etc and how he was putting on this act of not caring because it was easier than getting close to people and then losing them. That last part feels pretty poignant to now.

So after that chat, he came back and reconciled with Chas and then stepped up to help her with her treatment and recovery and everyone else eventually stopped hating him completely. He settled down a bit again. But he was still pretty empty and didn't have a lot going on. (I'm still working my way through some of his 2024 stuff). I just got to the part about him telling Chas he is positive for the cancer gene and talking about how he doesn't want to die.

And then just before the John stuff started, he had apparently decided to get back on the apps so he was starting to open himself up to the possibility of meeting someone and moving on.

And then he met John. And he hated him at first. Didn't want to even go there because of all the Robert stuff his presence brought up. But then the Plot must Plot so he did go there. But he wasn't very emotionally open with him either at first. And John basically had to manipulate a half hearted "I think I might love you" confession out of him by lying about his Aiden trauma some more.

He didn't really start being more open about telling John he loved him until after John had helped out with the Anthony stuff and disposed of the body when Aaron thought he'd killed him. And I think that A) led him to be very grateful and B) led to John manipulating him more and being like "this is what people in love do" etc. And I think that led to Aaron saying "I love you" a lot more.

And now, like I said at the top of this very long response, I feel like he's saying "I love you" a lot more because he's trying to placate him and also convince himself and because it's easier to say to John because he doesn't love him the same way as Robert. He tells Robert "it's just words" when he tells him he still loves him but that's what I would call it when he tells John he loves him.

I do think he wants to love John. I think he thinks it would be easier if he could just be with John and spare himself the risk of utter destruction if he let's Robert back in and loses him again.

So I guess, all this to say, I don't think Aaron is suddenly better with expressing his feelings or that he'll be telling Robert he loves him all the time or whatever when they get back together. I feel like Aaron regressed in a lot of ways post Robert, partially because they didn't know what else to do with his character. So I think him learning to trust Robert again, to trust love again, would actually be good growth for him.

[danmeidiaries]

Why I love Shassie

'Psych' is one of my comfort shows. I absolutely adore it and it is one of the fews show I have seen that I consider to be PERFECT. That being said, I still wish I could see a cut of the show where Shassie were the endgame pairing. I know why it never happened, I do like Shules well enough, but Shassie just has so much comedic and compelling potential in this show. They're a fascinating AU and What If scenario that I do sometimes wish I could have seen play out.

There wouldn't have been so much drama about the 'reveal' that Shawn isn't psychic. Jules was the only character in the show who 100% believed that Shawn was psychic. Everyone else ranged from actively helping the lie (Gus & Henry), sceptical but accepting of Shawn's methods (Vick) to flat out refusal to believe (Lassiter). If Shassie had gotten together, then I think that it would have been a fun quirk of their relationship. They both KNOW that Shawn isn't psychic, but Shawn won't tell him the truth (because it's less fun) and Lassiter wants to work it out by himself anyway. So it could have just been a "I won't tell you the truth but if you ever figure it out, I'll tell you if you're right" through-line. Plus then we wouldn't have had the awkwardness of Shawn having to maintain such a big lie in his relationship with Jules (even Abigail - his other main love interest - didn't seem to buy that he was really psychic) and the drama after Jules worked it out. (That stretch of episodes after Jules found out were some of my least favorites due to this plot point hanging over everything.)

The "Oh God, no. Why him????" realisation comedy - especially from Lassiter - when they realise they like each other. Lassiter is canonically pansexual but he's definitely 100% Spencerphobic. Lassiter would have zero qualms about liking dudes but liking Shawn is probably where he draws the line. Shawn would also probably have a similar reaction and the comedy would be GOLD.

Gus' reaction. If Shassie's reaction to liking each other would have been comedy gold, Gus' reaction to if the two started dating would have been comedy platinum. Henry also would have probably had a really funny reaction as well. To be honest, everyone would have, but Gus' reaction would have been spectacular.

It wouldn't have even really changed their dynamic. I can 100% see Shawn and Lassiter being EXACTLY the same with each other while working - because they're both competitive about case solving and bickering is their form of flirting honestly - but burning off all that at work and having an actual functioning relationship when they aren't working. It would probably confuse the hell out of everyone else but it would be a hilarious contrast to their working/home life.

The episodes where Lassiter and Shawn work together are some of the best in the show anyway and would have been great stepping stones to a Frenemies to Lovers kind of story. Seasons 3 & 4 are peak Shassie with 'Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing', 'The Head, The Tail, and the Whole Damn Episode', 'Gus Walks into a Bank', 'Shawn Gets the Yips' and 'Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark' being some of my favorites in the entire show. 'Last Night Gus' in S6 is also particularly standout for Shassie content.

Did I mention that the theme song 'I Know, You Know' is basically Shawn singing to Lassiter?

I know, you know, that I'm not telling the truth, I know, you know, they just don't have any proof, Embrace the deception, learn how to bend, Your worst inhibitions tend to psych you out in the end!

Lassiter is the one who learns how to bend and embrace the deception over the course of the show (he breaks that disk in the season finale because he's fully accepted it and doesn't need to know the answer.) And he is the only character NOT in on the lie who 100% doesn't believe Shawn and doesn't just embrace and accept what he's doing.

So, in conclusion, Psych is perfect, but Shassie is that one extra nugget of gold I wish could have been unearthed within it. If you haven't seen Psych, please do. It's such a fun show and one I revisit every once in a while. The entire cast is clearly having an absolute blast making it and the mysteries are always really fun to watch play out.

[xenodile]

Honestly, I don't think I can say that it's just some characters in Nikke that have transfem vibes, fighting against transmisogyny and its effects on society is an integral part of Nikke's story on a fundamental level.

The story is, at its core, about a demographic of women who are othered, discriminated, hated, and objectified just because of who they are. A point is made that only women make up this group. They are simultaneously expected to perform both femininity and masculinity, yet their efforts are not recognized, ignored, or attributed to others. Most of them are immediately "clockable" for what they are, with only a select few able to "pass" as "real" humans. Society at large views them as repulsive and disgusting, but also as sex objects that exist to be used and discarded.

The women in this othered group are treated as machines, objects, and tools, yet are undeniably still human beings with all the same feelings and needs. Like it's emphasized that, for all intents and purposes, they are indistinguishable from normal people but are nonetheless recognized as "the other" simply for their nature. There are in universe slurs for them, there are major plot beats about the hate crimes committed against them.

These women are viewed as disposable, and their independence and rights are seen as inherently violent. Systems are in place to force them into obedience and compliance, and society at large sees any threat to those systems as impending doom. The state labels anyone that advocates for the rights of these othered women as a criminal.

Their lives are colorful and varied, each one unique and beautiful, but all have one thing in common: they were all someone else before becoming the person they are now. Their accounts and feelings about this vary, from seeing their "old self" as an extension of who they are now, recounting the exact moment they made the decision to be the woman they are now and are happy and proud of themselves for it, to seeing whoever they were before as a stranger, someone depressed and suicidal before she finally found purpose and pride after "the change". Others don't bother remembering their past, the person they used to be simply not mattering because who they are now, the name they use now, that is what matters.

The main character of the story is a man who sees what is happening to these women and is told by the status quo that he is not only encouraged but expected to participate in this systemic violence, and is so horrified by the experience that he devotes his entire being to fighting for their rights and trying to support them, to the point that he's willing to dehumanize and sacrifice himself if it means even one of them can be happy. Despite being described multiple times as nigh superhuman and the ideal man, he is functionally powerless and his primary role is to provide emotional support, friendship, and advocacy for the women that actually move the plot and make things happen, because the only way society will take them seriously is if a man vouches for them. One of his and his allies' main goals is to overturn the government and reform society so that these women will not be subject to this objectification and discrimination, and the main method through which this is accomplished is by showing solidarity with those the government deems undesirable, refusing to engage in the systemic discrimination the government enforces on society. Also he gets force femmed, instant lossed, pegged, beat up for being a "robot fucker", dom'd by lesbians, roofied, and much more.

And then we go into the individual character stories, some of which are very bluntly and transparently allegories for real life issues faced by transwomen. Things like parental abandonment after coming out, autism and dysphoria resulting in crippling depression, passing in a transphobic workplace, struggling to have your accomplishments as an athlete recognized, just to name a few. The ShiftUp writing team either has transwomen in it, or have a lot of transfem friends.

[damnfandomproblems]

Fandom Problem #9330:

When canon reduces your Faves, which USED to have nuance and interesting stuff going on, to a comedic punchline that barfs up "Hello Fellow Kids" memes every other line, which not only are dated the second they're spoken, but make it to even watch because of how DRASTIC a departure it all is from what the character, up to that point, was on a trajectory to becoming. Same writers, same company, same plot and universe, someone at the writing table simply went for coffee and told Logan Paul to take over.

[itsnotthesamewithoutyou]

who i think is dying s5

won't die:

hopper won't die, he already "died" once and it would make no sense to re-kill him

lucas or max won't die (no point in not giving them their movie date if it's already been set up as a plot point. plus they've already "killed" max, now her plot consists of recovering, they won't re-kill her. also they'll call them racist if lucas dies he's the only black one literally)

mike won't die, it serves no purpose, he needs to resolve his issues with will and el and his internal issues and to make that a plot point and go through all the trouble to resolve it only to kill him later would make no sense also byler endgame

will won't die, they already made him the saddest kid in the entire series and it would be unsatisfying to not give him a finally happy ending. this is also why i think characters like joyce or jonathan aren't that likely to die, they've already given will enough shit and they'll give him more in s5 regarding his connection to vecna so i doubt they'll take away his family as well.

joyce won't die, winona is the face of the show

robin/vickie won't die or they'll call them homophobic

holly: i'm sure they'll find her and she'll be important to the plot after she's found.

might die (except i mostly don't think so):

eleven: i'm very mixed on this one. could happen because her connection to the ud/it's the only way blah blah, however i think she also suffered a lot and needs a happy ending :( plus she's literally what you think of when you think stranger things, but the writers might not agree, after all she did have SOME happy moments unlike will, and millie's "i saw my ending and walked away very slowly" kinda points to that. BUT at the same time, it would be pretty terrible to take ANOTHER daughter away from hopper and he'd never recover, and they won't kill hopper so i'm leaning more towards her not dying for some reason

despite what i said before jonathan might die, there's nothing impeding it that would make it shit writing, but i don't think it'll happen tbh will's had enough

nancy: i feel like it serves no purpose but she could, why not. nothing stopping it

steve: honestly the duffers have a history of changing the show a lot for the fans, so maybe not just because he's THE fan favorite, but at the same time for that same reason it would be really heartbreaking and maybe they'll use that to their advantage. however, might happen ONLY if dustin dies, because otherwise they won't take away another of his friends (he already went through eddie dying)

ted: it could be that scene of karen hugging holly as they look at something scared and would explain the leaked pics of mike having a talk with hopper, maybe as a father figure. however it would be kind of an empty plot point who cares about ted

karen: she could but i feel like it does nothing for mike's character

dying

dustin: 100% dead

[kosmicdream]

I kinda wanted to challenge myself to really strictly isolate FFAK characters into groups in terms of screentime/narrative focus. Which was hard! It got messier as the categories expanded.. However.. I do think this is a pretty accurate idea for at least, the main and secondary group. The third group, however, is already getting messy to define for me - as I think several other characters could also be included in that section - and it might be more accurate to bump Chain/Aunt K into the second group. But I won’t at least for now.

I was partly wanting to do this to help with organizing my outline and seeing who/what characters I might have overlooked. I also wanted to point out I didn’t include characters like Aldebaran, Rowan Aiguille & Evil Mother - despite them being MAJORLY influential to the plot/world, they do NOT get many scenes in the story and are mostly mentioned. They also weren’t included in terms of like.. Thinking about characters as “active” participants in the comic moving forward in the present day. While they have certainly shaped the past to be what it is in the present, they might not really be as much.. Like.. there, interacting with other characters in present day scenes.

The third group also gets very messy with defining "what it is" or "what counts" because I think there’s a few OTHER members of the cast that might qualify more as a sort of “rising star” supporting role, however.. They still really have not been there yet, or gotten enough scenes to make me feel like i can include them..? So.. I haven’t. But that means this list can & will change, at least for the third and second groups. I don’t really think the first group is gonna change. Those characters get so much different kinds of screentime, backstory focus, ect at this point in the story that it sets them really apart from even the characters in the second group. I also wanted to note, that it was a challenge to not include Celadon #2 in with the main group. While i do almost think of her as like.. Essential to Celadon #1 in a way, she also feels distinct enough that she isn’t as complicated or developed as a distinct character to be in the main group. So I put her in the secondary cast which just felt more right for her anyway.

Then, for characters like Cash, Aeschylus, Randall, ect - I included ‘all versions” when including them. Thats because, 1 version on their own might not really be enough to put them in this group - but combining them makes them count to me. I did not include “original” nail as his own version in the main group, as well as simon’s, as those past versions of the character equally influenced the new two halves that its like. Kinda pointless to also include them, as they are technically “dead” as characters and just part of their pasts now.

Anyway.. That was just something I felt like doing for fun and sharing my thoughts on the choices here! Once again, I think the third group will not stay the same for long as the 2nd arc unfolds lmao. Hope it was interesting to look at!

[angelofthemornings]

This is something that really interests me. First of all, it's been done in the romance industry for forever. (That's how you get titles like The Billionaire Sheik's Secret American Mistress, you've got the whole setup right there.) (We'll discuss the racism in calling love interests of Middle Eastern descent "sheiks" at a later date.) People who like romance do in fact read them for SPECIFICALLY the tropes and their predictability. This isn't an insult towards the romance novel as a medium, but an acknowledgement that people who read romance novels are doing so for a very specific reason (the comfort of predictability) and are going to seek out situations that turn them on with the assumed knowledge that the plot is going to do the same old XYZ and end up with a HEA (happily ever after) every time. (There's probably a whole master thesis somewhere in how said predictability makes women feel like they're in a safer space to explore desire or whatever, but I'm not the guy to write it. The point is, a romance novel has a mission and is a highly efficient machine. If you don't believe me, ask somebody who's genuinely into romance or pick up something like Romancing the Beat which is about how and why to write a romance novel.)

The *only* problem here is that this is starting to splash over into "normal" books marketed at people who read novels for different reasons. Personally I would read, say, a tragic fable about an emotionally scarred assassin who falls in love with the prince she's supposed to kill, but I don't want to know how it ends, I want some solid worldbuilding and a meaty plot, I want a hint that the woman has emotional depth and isn't a stock character, and I want to know if it's actually going to be a tragic fable or some goofy shit where they go on the run together and bicker the entire time. Some of this is compatible with a romance novel's goals and some of it isn't. If you're trying to catch a more average fantasy fan into your net, just saying "it's enemies to lovers!" does nothing for that demographic. I need a summary and maybe a couple sample pages.

I don't know when or where the wires got crossed, but they did, and marketing other books like they're romance novels doesn't work. For the most part, actual professional advertisers know this and if it's a real ad you can expect the book to be targeted towards romance readers alone, but the people on BookTok trying to get you to read, like...Iron Widow or whatever by doing this are barking up the wrong tree. People who don't read romance novels are also sort of starting to expect this type of advertising for "normal" books without realizing that this form of advertisement was meant for speaking to a different audience. (No, Crime & Punishment does not have any fucking spice!)

(I do have no problem whatsoever when they advertise specifically romances this way. I'm not the target audience for those, not gonna criticize.)

do publishers realize that advertising books using fanfic tropes spoils the experience of reading an original story. stop telling me it’s enemies to lovers and there was only one bed and unrequited love hurt comfort golden retriever black cat timeloop major character death. why do i give a fuck if i don’t know any of the characters and now plus i already know the entire plot of the story. that’s what ao3 is supposed to be for

[talk-danmei-to-me]

Ranking Every Danmei I’ve Ever Read: Spring 2025

To celebrate a year of being a danmei blog, I’ve decided to share my personal ranking of danmei I’ve read sharing what’s good, what’s not, it’s ability to peddle smut and who I’d recommend it to. I’m going in descending order for added tension 😉

12) Scum Villain’s Self Saving System

Pros: Conceptually, I dig it. Do I wish Airplane was the MC - yes. Do I wish that Airplane and Shen Yuan banged - yes. If that happened would I have finished - probably.

Cons: Luo Binghe is not my Shizun fucker! Currently, it’s the only danmei I’ve dropped. It’s kind of boring and being a transmigration into a novel, it’s hard to care about any of the characters because they’re not real? Also if you’ve read a lot of bl Shen Yuan’s ‘I’m not gay’ trope has definitely been done better elsewhere.

Smut peddler rating: I dropped it before I got to the good part, but if mdzs is any kind of marker - I’ll grade it unsexy but present.

Recommended for: Transmigration fans. Maybe?

11) Heaven Official’s Blessing

Pros: It’s honestly the ultimate gateway drug into danmei, its donghua is on point and it’s super accessible. It’s got some solid side characters and I did really enjoy some of the volumes. I read all of the extras.

Cons: Some of the volumes are an absolute slog to get through. I honestly think it’s way too long. The way it’s written is very caperlike which I think damages the cohesion a bit. It’s almost like a series of related short stories.

Smut peddler rating: censorship got this one, but it still manages to have its horny moments. You’ll never look at dice the same.

Recommended for: fans of fluff and workplace shenanigans.

10) Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

Pros: gateway drug into

Cons: You need to read this early in your danmei journey otherwise the politics won’t hit. Mxtx plays with a lot of fun tropes here, but when you start reading more widely, they’re definitely done better elsewhere.

Smut peddler rating: Poor. Lan Wangji does not believe in foreplay and lube is a myth in the cloud recesses.

Recommended for: fans of courtly drama.

9) Lip and Sword

Pros: Toxic Workplace Yaoi in my danmei! With regular smut (the word cock has never been used so much!) Lip and Sword is vibes. The television studio was a novel setting and the toxicity was on point.

Cons: No shade to Via Lactea, but the editing in this is not good and over time that can become jarring. Also I feel like the big mystery element kind of fell apart at the end. I suppose the whole thing is about corruption but the pay off didn’t feel very satisfying.

Smut peddler rating: These boys be descriptive fucking every other chapter. It’s just a shame the grammar is not supporting their shenanigans.

Recommended for: longtime fans of toxic yaoi, salaryman flavoured bl and general workplace fuckery. It’s boku no sh does monogamy.

8) To Rule in a Turbulent World

Pros: You Miao is the funniest bitch I know and I will always champion Fei Tian Ye Xiang. The politics are very present. Zhao Chao is also one of my favourite side characters. I adore him.

Cons: Li Zhifeng is honestly so dull to me as a LI. Also suffers from being a Via Lactea production.

Smut peddler rating: Chapter 3 is famous in the danmei community for a reason. A whole chapter dedicated to explicit sex with a little sprinkling of kink. Also skinship in this novel is off the scale. Sexual tension didn’t bother to show up though. Very established relationship from the start.

Recommended for: fans of Ballad of Sword and Wine. You like reading about the dramas of grain - have more! Also Remnants of Filth - more of that young master/slave dynamic.

7) Remnants of Filth

Pros: ALL OF THE ANGST! Also it feature shady bitch Murong Lian. Early on it has some solid plot twists and Mo Xi is the ultimate danmei sad boy if you’re into that sort of thing.

Cons: If it’s not your first Meatbun it will feel tame. Also I found that I just stopped caring from vol 6 onwards. It’s well known that this isn’t the story Meatbun wanted to write and I think you feel that once you hit a certain point. She just stops caring and plot points and tropes are thrown into the void and I just know she could do better.

Smut peddler rating: It’s there but it definitely feels like Meatbun’s weakest work. But for fans of the omegaverse please note that Gu Mang has a self lubricating hole and that will never not be iconic.

Recommended for: Chengxian shippers. Mo Xi is Jiang Cheng with main character energy. Becoming sort of a demonic cultivator I guess makes Gu Mang Wei Wuxian.

6) Ballad of Sword and Wine

Pros: Cezhou are everything! When things are delivering in Qjj the world is your oyster - the eunuchs are eunuching, the gays are fucking, donkeys are getting murdered for sport. It’s giving Game of Thrones when it was still good minus the dragons in Ancient China. What’s not to like?

Cons: Why are there so many side characters? Also the politics do ride on heavy. You will absolutely forget who people are and if you’re along for the Cezhou ride, be prepared to go off on tangents about grain.

Smut peddler rating: Genius. Censorship took out some of the fun but Cezhou are definitely speedrunning every kink. Between foot jobs, fucking on a horse and Shen Zechuan Calling Xiao Chiye daddy, bl fans are well fed with this one.

Recommended for: Fans of Captive Prince, anyone who wishes Jin Guangyao was the main character and people who really love reading about grain.

5) Guardian

Pros: Has a talking cat, the yearning and the longing is so high. Zhao Yunlan gets blue balled so hard he comes out to his mother. Shen Wei is such a delicious character. The side characters are all well fleshed out and adorable. It’s sort of fluffy work place yaoi, but with a constant sense of impending doom.

Cons: You will probably get lost with what the fuck is going on at some point.

Smut peddler rating: Fade to black because it’s Priest BUT Shen Wei has canonical murder come that can only be fixed with a casual bit of blood drinking so even though the explicit content is low, the payoff is high.

Recommended for: Fans of tgcf, anyone who loves office shenanigans, people who love Chinese mythology.

4) Riverbay Road Men’s Dormitory

Pros: I adore literally everyone in this book. I’m invested in everyone’s love lives and the slice of life aspect never gets boring because these fuckers are all shady bitches. There’s also an element of realism

Cons: Huo Sichen is king of dull as a LI. This seems to be a bit of a Fei Tian issue. Guess he’s just too good at writing side characters.

Smut peddler rating: High! It’s Fei Tian after all. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in mutual masturbation and someone definitely fucks a pillow. Post nut clarity is a sentence you will read too many times.

Recommended for: Slice of life fans and those who want more modern danmei.

3) Case File Compendium

Pros: Meatbun is living her best life with this one. He Yu is an obsessive theatre kid with mummy issues and I love him to the moon and back. Xie Qingcheng is rocking that repressed sad boy energy I cannot say no to. It’s unhinged. Embrace the chaos. There’s something really nostalgic about Case File Compendium if you are a long term bl fan.

Cons: The first volume is diabolical.

Smut peddler rating: Meatbun went to town with this one. Non con at an all time high. Nostalgic for long term fans of bl.

Recommended for: fans of toxic yaoi. It’s basically a modern au of the Husky and his White Cat Shizun. Apparently there’s a Sci-Fi element that I live in fear of.

2) The Husky and his White Cat Shizun

Pros: Mo Ran and Chu Wanning are everything to me. It’s absolutely hilarious and the mix of fluff and angst is just right.

Cons: I feel like the toxic yaoi is underutilised. The evil timeline is so good but there’s also an element of it not counting which as a fan of villainy makes me a bit sad. Also I don’t have a lot of faith in Meatbun being able to stick a landing.

Smut peddler rating: High. If you liked Wei Wuxian fucking a sword in his dreams - Chu Wanning will raise you a candlestick in real life. Meatbun really buys into foreplay as well. That she went with intercrural sex for Ranwan’s first time will never not blow my mind.

Recommended for: fans of bl who want to branch out into danmei.

1) Legend of Exorcism

Pros: It’s basically a gay fantasy RPG. There’s a nice sprinkling of angst throughout. Li Jinglong is an absolute diamond. He’s saved Fei Tian’s LI’s for me. The amount of questing going on here is so pleasing. Everyone’s dynamics are so enjoyable and like with all Fei Tian novels, gay characters acknowledge that they are attracted to men. There’s no gay for you nonsense going on here.

Cons: It is threatening on becoming a slow burn.

Smut peddler rating: 0 so far, but there’s been a lot of erections. Also, it’s Fei Tian and I believe in him. Li Jinglong is just waiting to destroy someone and Kong Hongjun is begging to be railed. When these two finally get their shit together the result is going to be pure debauchery and I am here for it.

Recommended for: Everyone.

[bnhaobservation]

I agree with your observation of Horikoshi’s tendency to ignore trauma in characters like Shoto. I have also observed the same thing towards other characters such as Midoriya. I find Midoriya’s ending overall worse because a lot of his plot points such as losing the One for All quirk and the trauma of killing Tomura (and this is not mention of the overall mess when it comes to the themes and built ups between them) are either completely brushed off or used to prop up Bakugo. This pattern of using a victim in order to prop up the abuser is present in the entire manga, particularly Endeavor and Bakugo. From my perspective, I find Midoriya’s overall treatment as a victim of bullying and abusive friendship extremely terrible and downright offensive. Midoriya’s trauma is never explored at any point of the manga and he’s never allowed to react in uglier ways (basically a good victim). This is further exemplified by the apology scene where Bakugo gives an extremely vague apology while Midoriya barely reacts to it. In addition, there’s no follow up of the scene afterwards at any point. Horikoshi wants to present the two of them reconciling years later and Bakugo giving the hero suit (another thing completely centered on him) as a good ending; however, I don’t find their reconciliation and Bakugo’s redemption any believable because of the lack of focus on Midoriya’s feelings. What I find it alarming in particular is the type of abuse it covers which is abusive friendships. Abusive friendships are barely recognized in mainstream media, and a bad portrayal like this is going to cause a lot of damage.

Undoubtedly the story doesn't handle Midoriya's trauma well either...

...because it doesn't judge it as trauma inflicted by society (people like to mention Bakugou but the whole of Midoriya's class, teachers included were bullying and moking him, and Bakugou was just the most evident bully, not the only one) but something Midoriya has to overcome.

I tend to summarize the whole thing by simply saying that the story lacks compassion beause at the end of the day all it wants for it's characters each time they're suffering through something else is the following:

not get angry

stick to law

not upset the people around them (if they get a scar they should hid their face)

forgive

act according to their social role

be the best version of themselves

wait for a Hero or be the Hero and save themselves and the others

believe if you do all this things will eventually get better in the future

So we've Midoriya, who shows us how things should be done, who doesn't get angry with Bakugou, doesn't seek retaliation, doesn't even truly feel wronged by him, overcomes his fear of Bakugou and becomes the best version of himself TAKING INSPIRATION FROM BAKUGOU TOO and continuing to consider him his 'childhood friend' (this as a deeper meaning in Japan than it might have in other countries).

Giving away OFA?

It was the heroic thing to do, such Quirk after all wasn't given to him for his sake but because he had to inherit Yoichi's will and defeat AFO, that was why OFA existed and Midoriya received such Quirk to do this (even if no one informed him beforehand) so of course he can't complain or it would undermine all this. Midoriya did the heroic thing and fulfilled his role as possessor of OFA so of course he doesn't get to mourn over doing the right thing.

The worst part is that the story is totally on board with having Midoriya kill Tomura, Gran Torino even encourages him doing so telling him that 'killing is saving' and All Might insists if Tomura's expression was okay then it was okay to kill him.

Let's remember that Japan is okay with murdering dangerous criminals even when THEY ARE ESCAPING so of course it's okay with murdering Tomura who wasn't escaping and the story doesn't have a single good character criticize the use of child soldiers because 'hey, they're better than the Pro!'.

Plus there's this desperate need for a happy ending so that when finally Midoriya tries to mourn Tomura while Uraraka mourns Himiko, the whole thing is handled as them bonding and establishing Uraraka is Midoriya's Hero and it's quickly pushed aside by Class A coming to resque the chapter ending with them smiling as grandmother saves 'the kid who's meant to be a stand in for Tomura with a whorse past so that we can all believe now society is all better because this kid created solely for the sake of this is saved'.

Back to bullying, of course it gets handled in a disrespectful manner.

Bullying is likely included because at the time it was likely 'trending' as in Japan, in 2013, it was enacted an anti-bullying act which prohibits bullying, due to a 13-year-boy committing suicide in Otsu due to bullying in October 2011, and its parents suing three former classmates, their parents and the city in February 2012. The Act still does not stipulate any punishment for those who bully others but it's hard not to see the connection between how BNHA starts in 2014 with Bakugou encouraging Midoriya to commit suicide while with two other classmates.

The predominant mentality prior to this law (and for a long while even after this law passed) was that if you were to get bullied it was your fault so Horikoshi claiming that... hum, no, it's also that Bakugou has a bad character, might feel a little more modern, but actually CLAMP handled bullying way better in 1991 so no, I'm not impressed.

Having Midoriya be strong and not commit suicide nor resent the bully, and be still basically charged with the duty of overcoming his own trauma as if it were an obstacle in his Hero path is disrespectful to the kid who died and to all the other kids who died PRIOR and AFTER him as while the intention might be to show them it's possible to overcome things, the overall problem is handled in a way too tame way, and mostly solved by magically giving Midoriya what he lacked that caused him to be bullied, a Quirk.

Since at this point Midoriya isn't anymore handled with a victim of bullying but as someone who's tasked with overcoming an obstacle created by having been bullied, Bakugou is also no more handled as an abuser but as someone who has to overcome his bad character and realize how amazing Midoriya is and that he didn't deserve to be bullied. Midoriya in short has to be the better person and PROVE HIM that he wasn't deserving of bullying (making his own his Quirk, proving his way to view All Might is right, surpassing Bakugou) because they are equal/Midoriya is better.

Bakugou's story becomes therefore one in which he, simply put, grows up from an insecure teenager who bullied Midoriya because he undermined his idea of being the best, to a confident man that can accept Midoriya is his equal and wants to compete with him.

In short... the bullying behaviour becomes the obstacle Bakugou has to overcome. In the story there's a little of pondering about how Bakugou's behaviour toward Midoriya was wrong but... it's overall very minor because the bullying isn't allowed to have consequences since Midoriya, having to be amazing, has to overcome it.

Therefore, since Bakugou's bullying didn't do great damage it ends up looking like something minor. Bakugou will apologize for it, he'll cry when it'll turn out Midoriya lost his Quirk, he'll even give him a suit so that Midoriya will be able to continue doing heroics and will ask him to join him in his agency, but since we don't see Midoriya's suffering, what Bakugou does end up on raising Bakugou, working for Bakugou's 'grow up' plotline that will lead him to become a better person where it affects little Midoriya who was already a great person on his own and doesn't need Bakugou to do anything.

It's similar to Shouto's story as he's asked to overcome his family drama and, the moment he thinks he can do it after he has met Rei, he has to accept to intern under his father because this is the best solution, where Enji's arc is one in which he becomes a better person regardless of his family as we're never shown what he can do to make Rei, Fuyumi or Natsuo better and the little he does for Touya and Shouto, especially in a western setting, feels too little.

Horikoshi doesn't really want to andle none of those stories as the stories of a victim and their abuser but as the stories of people becoming better people.

However, removing from the stories of the character that they were victims (it happens to Midoriya, to Shouto and his family, to Shouji and to many other) to place solely on them the burden of overcoming what is turned into a hurdle in their past toward becoming the best version of themselves is disrespectful toward the victims, especially as it's done over and over and who can't do it and snap (the League for example but also Rei or even Hawks who feels less because he can't forgive his parents) is criticized.

There are things that a person just can't bear, things that are damaging and that you can't just tolerate and overcome, they can break you and turn you into someone else or forever cripple you in certain things and insisting on the idea we've to be like Midoriya and be Heroes and it's on us to overcome such things and yes, the one causing them has to be ashamed of causing them but that's all fine as long as he tries to be better is not a good answer.

Someone can be like Midoriya but, generally, the mass won't be like Midoriya and that's fine because IT'S NOT UP ON THEM TO PROVE THEY DIDN'T DESERVE THIS.

What if Midoriya were to never receive a Quirk? What if he was a guy who just wasn't suited for being a Hero? Does it make okay for Bakugou to bully him because he's Quirkless if Midoriya can't become better than he is, if Midoriya breaks down and drops from school and becomes an hikikomori like Shuuichi did? If Midoriya, instead than admiring Bakugou, always hates him and refuses to help him?

Mind you, I don't think this is the message Horikoshi wants to pass but his story toes dangerously in this direction because it praises no-stop as heroic silent bearing of pain and personal betterment and places all who can't just bear silently among the people who snap and become Villains. There's no middle way and there's no compassion, not for those who bear it nor for those who don't.

The story doesn't want to lead us to have compassion for whose who will overcome their trauma because HEY, they'll overcome it and doesn't want to lead us to have compassion of those who didn't because HEY, they became a Villain and their pain is no excuse and society has no blame for this.

Yes, a bit of sadness spice up things but that's all there is. Midoriya, Shouto, Shouji must not be victims, they're HEROES. And if you can't be a Hero, at least you've to be a good victim like Eri and wait for a Hero to save you. Actually just know what? You should be careful not to bother people by requesting for help, what if your abuser were to turn toward them? Learn from Eri how to be a good victim if you can't be a Hero. That's the way to be.

And okay, now I'm being sarcastic and over the top but this story is harsh with Aoyama, a teen who was threatened to be killed and with him his parents if he didn't comply with AFO.

Tsukauchi says he'll sympathize, but THE BOY TURNED HIS BACK ON DECENT SOCIETY. The boys hould have totally chosen to be a good victim and die and let his parents die instead than trouble society.

Extenuating circumstances just aren't meant to be considered.

So at the bottom of the story I think Horikoshi should have just given more thoughts and more compassions to his victims, their circumstances and the burdens he places upon them, be they bullied kids like Midoriya, discriminated people like the Heteromorphs, victims of an abusive family like the Todorokis or of society in general.

Instead they're asked to stick their neck out for society even when society was turning its back to them or worse.

That or he shouldn't have included huge things like bullying, abuse and discrimination in his story merely for the sake of giving characters a hurdle to overcome. Just give them powerful enemies, they would have been fine.

Horikoshi creates a society that has insane high expectations on the tolerance and ability to overcome trauma of its characters and just labels them as Villains if they fail to fulfill such expectations, break and turn against a society that was squashing them.

And the 'problem' of Midoriya and Bakugou's friendship is that there was never reconciliation and redemption because Midoriya, in order to fulfil such expectations with flying colors, never held it against Bakugou. Bakugou never had to gain back Midoriya's friendship, Midoriya always viewed him as a friend and an admirable fighter despite the bullying and never needed Bakugou to pay him back for what he did. The result is that the reconciliation and atonement are entirely on Bakugou's side in the sense that it's Bakugou that has to decide to accept Midoriya as a friend and it's always Bakugou who, now that he has matured, wants to atone for what he did because now he feels guilty.

He doesn't have to win back Midoriya's friendship and all he does can't pay Midoriya back because for Midoriya his slate is clean already.

Horikoshi uses a similar pattern with Enji, as the moment we learn Enji wants to atone is the moment we learn Rei and Fuyumi are already willing to forgive him and Midoriya will claim Shouto is also willing to do so even though for Shouto's own admission, he hadn't seen anything that would make Enji deserving of such thing. But SHouto is kind so he's supposed to forgive him already.

On the other side there's no reconciliation with Natsuo but... Enji doesn't fight for it, he just accepts it and, while there's likely reconciliation with Touya... we don't really get to see it.

To us all this feels unsatisfactory because it's not a redemption arc. A redemption arc requires the redemption of the character, aka he pays back the victim for his wrongdoing. If the victim doesn't feel a victim and claim there's nothing to pay back, where's the struggle, the effort?

And if the victim claims there's nothing that can be done to pay them back, that the wrongdoing between them will always remain, and the character says, fine I'll just keep on atoning, without breaking down at the uselessness of their efforts, it feels equally unsatisfying because it doesn't change anything, it feels like a wasted effort that doesn't really help the victim nor break the abuser letting them grasp the huge amount of damage done.

Overall I'm not won over by the atonement arcs in the story. Maybe it's just me though.

Sorry for this long reply and thank you for your ask!

[pearsandrust]

in honour of me deciding to appease my 2021 self by going to a genshin event this week, here's how i'd rewrite sumeru if i were given the chance. note that this is solely based off of the in-game themes and lore that i still remember, and i quit pretty early on. so. warning for canonical inaccuracy.

also, this is a traveller-less rewrite. i love aether/lumine, but i think their reputation as the "hero" often ends up taking away other characters' autonomy. the MC being capable of practically everything means that we don't get as many moments where other characters realize they have to step up. anyway, that's enough yapping. thoughts under the cut <3

PLOT

the general flow of the plot would be kept the same, but here's a list of points i want to include:

the sages don't imprison nahida by any physical means. instead, they take advantage of the fact that she's the first/central akasha terminal. the sheer volume of requests the sages send to the akasha causes her to be a) constantly overstimulated, therefore locking herself in the sanctuary of surasthana, and b) unable to use her mind for herself, which takes away her biggest source of power

another reason nahida is unable to communicate with the people is because the akasha is actively diminishing the population's cognitive capacities

the first person to realize that critical thinking is declining among the citizens of sumeru is, of course, alhaitham. he notices that a lot of people have stopped using figures of speech. instead, everyone seems to speak the same way, which he finds unsettling.

at the same time, the sages have enlisted kaveh to redesign the akademiya's buildings for "efficiency". that's right. they're making kaveh do minimalism. the horror ! the intrigue ! what did they do to get him to agree (i will cover this later when i talk about his character)

(this one is a WIP) as the manifestation of the withering in people, i'd want eleazar to have more notable psychological effects. distortion of memories/dreams would be my first instinct. since the withering is also linked to the remains of greater lord rukkhadevata, i think collei would be the first person to see irminsul and hear the words "world, forget me" (instead of the traveller).

i'd keep the samsara arc, but instead of having nilou host the dream, the host changes during every "reboot". the beep everyone hears at the end of the day isn't just the dream restarting, but also a confirmation that a new host has been found. of course, every person's dream would still have features unique to them. because i love kaveh, i'd like to write a dream hosted by him at some point -- with his dream's defining factor being that his parents are still in sumeru city.

the sages are still trying to make scaramouche a god btw.

i want the tale of king deshret's civilization and the introduction of forbidden knowledge to be basically lost history. it would be so interesting to have the characters wonder if the desert's mysterious machines hide the secret to defeating scara, only to eventually find out that the sages are just repeating deshret's sins. it would also be interesting to see people wish for deshret to return without knowing exactly why he fell in the first place

speaking of the desert, i'd like the conflict between the akademiya and the desert people to focus at least a little on the destruction of history in the pursuit of "progress". the sages are willing to overwrite the past whenever it's convenient for them, so there's no way they can be entrusted with the knowledge/culture of the desert. but then again, i'm actually not too sure why hoyo wrote the desert/forest conflict the way they did in the sumeru main story, so i could be missing something crucial here. let me know!

tying nahida's imprisonment to the akasha system does also mean that the cast needs to find a way to dismantle it before freeing her, which is something i haven't quite figured out yet (sigh). i was thinking of doing something along the lines of how alhaitham broke the hivemind in his story quest.

you know that theory that's like "nilou is the reincarnation of the goddess of flowers and [other character] is the reincarnation of deshret"? while i don't fully agree with it, i'd like to introduce some mechanism by which the main cast can draw power from the memories of those gods (perhaps using nahida as a conduit). memory is such a prominent motif in sumeru, and it would make such a perfect antithesis to how collei's eleazar was once suppressed using a dead god's remains, resulting in her having uncontrollable powers. useful powers through honouring the past vs terrible power through exploiting it. do you see the vision

CHARACTERS

okay, now for points relating to individual characters!

nahida

i don't have much to change about her personality, but here are a few points i'd like to add to her:

metaphors metaphors metaphors! i know she already speaks pretty metaphorically, but i don't want to just play it off for humour ("haha nahida why are you talking like that"). i want her to get weird and creative with them!! use symbols that people wouldn't expect !!

a core problem with nahida attempting to take control of sumeru again is that if the akasha has made everyone unable to learn for themselves, she can't really spread knowledge to the people. i think this could make for an incredibly interesting character arc. nahida initially tries to make herself seem more like an archon of wisdom and plays into the akademiya's stereotypes of wisdom/intelligence, using very specific language and explaining things literally to people (as the sages/traditional academics might do). in the end, she realizes that her personal style of teaching -- using fairy tales and stories as metaphors -- is far more effective

note: while the official lore doesn't confirm that rukkhadevata is the "ruler of yesterday and tomorrow morning" mentioned in one of the sumeru books, it's such a powerful idea that i'd like to make it the basis of her identity in this rewrite. it encapsulates the importance of memory -- how the past informs the future. this both connects back to irminsul and explains nahida's biggest weakness. she does not have nearly as much lived experience, and thus, she has less memories to draw power from.

kaveh

kaveh's my favourite genshin character, which is why this whole thing is a little biased towards him. but honestly, it's hoyo's fault for stating he's canonically the closest to nahida's ideal of wisdom and then not putting him in the story.

of all the sumeru characters, i feel like he'd be the most opposed to the akademiya defunding the arts and focusing solely on progress. in such an environment, i imagine that he'd feel like he never has enough time to process everything, which also plays into the concept of "debt". he feels like he owes the universe everything he has failed to preserve.

i'd like kaveh's mother to send him the occasional letter. in each one, she seems to get a little further from who she used to be, giving him the feeling that the past is slipping away. i want him to wish that he could stop or rewind time, and for this wish to eventually bring him to the orchard of pairidaeza (the time-stop place underneath the desert). i'm not entirely sure why -- i just think it would fit.

in a similar vein: the reason he agrees to help the akademiya redesign their buildings in a minimalist style is not because they offer him money, but because they threaten to destroy all the notebooks and papers his mother contributed to their library. you know, the last evidence that she was ever an architect.

alhaitham

hoo boy. alhaitham. while i love his current character, the sumeru story didn't really challenge him in any meaningful way. he kind of just. handled it all. and that's ... kind of disappointing? i'm not saying we should overstimulate him for sport or anything, but i'd try something like this:

have alhaitham be a parallel to scaramouche. NOW BEFORE YOU GUYS YELL AT ME. HEAR ME OUT

both alhaitham and scaramouche are heavily influenced by their respective pasts, but neither of them really acknowledge it. in scaramouche's case, he's actively trying to repress his memories. alhaitham is a bit different -- we know his grandmother had a big influence on him, but i cannot remember a single time that he has brought her up. i don't think he's actively trying to forget her, but i presume he usually just focuses on other things. at the beginning of the story, i'd characterize alhaitham as someone who usually neglects past issues in favour of current/future ones. he would think this is an efficient, more peaceful way to live. as the story progresses, he gradually realizes that neglecting the past is not a strength, but rather something that makes you more susceptible to repeating your previous mistakes.

he doesn't need to become excessively sappy or nostalgic to accomplish this. it would mostly happen through small, fleeting moments. for example, the sages get rid of some of the books in the house of daena because they're "old and redundant", and alhaitham realizes this makes him uncomfortable.

meanwhile, scaramouche becomes wrongly convinced that you can only be successful if you rid yourself of your past. even though both of them start with similar ideologies, they end up as vastly different characters. which would be !! so interesting !!

collei

COLLEI NATION !!! ILOVEHERILOVEHERILOVEHER.

collei is a perfect example of the importance of memory, if only because of how deeply she values amber. and the fact that she had to learn how to read after arriving in sumeru makes her a perfect addition to the story's exploration of language. also, the fact that her favourite stories are fairy tale picture books? which exactly aligns with how nahida prefers to tell stories? collei is the true main character of sumeru and none of you can tell me otherwise. i am dying on this hill

HEAR ME OUT. since there's no traveller, i want collei to be the one who defeats scaramouche in the end. there are a lot of more powerful characters, but her lore perfectly aligns with scara's. as an example, collei's doll (cuilein-anbar, named after amber) is a great parallel to the doll scaramouche's friend once made for him.

we can tell from collei's ascension voiceline (even if it's a life-or-death situation, i'll never need to rely on their power again) that she wants to develop her own set of skills; that way, she'll never need to call on the power that was sealed within her. this makes her a great character for the scaramouche fight. when the traveller does it, they use the knowledge of everyone in sumeru. similarly, we could see collei willingly learn different skills from different characters throughout the story. that way, it feels natural for her to tap into all of that knowledge during the climax -- just like aether/lumine does. do you see it. do you see the vision

candace

collectively we are sleeping on candace. this includes whoever wrote her character stories. they were also sleeping on candace.

like alhaitham, i'd also like candace to have a bit more of an internal struggle. her character stories don't offer us much ("candace was not depressed" -- ah. okay,,,?), but we do get the hint that she always has to have her guard up. she has to remain calm at all times. she can't really wear the cute trinkets she buys. i feel like there could be a really interesting conflict between her determination to protect everyone and her innate desire to be someone else.

there is a lot that candace can teach the other characters about language, which is a Core Sumeru Motif! the way she speaks in the story is actually really unique, given that people come to her for Divine Guidance TM. this could add to the ongoing idea that objective/academic language is not necessarily the best way to communicate with people.

dehya

not too much to say here -- her character works well as is!

i would lean a little more into the fact that she keeps returning to the desert, no matter what. this could directly conflict with her desire to obtain a position where she can help her loved ones live better lives. she wants them to break free of the restrictive mindset they've developed due to the harsh conditions of the desert. if she remains a mercenary, she may never have that sort of influence, but can she really tolerate working somewhere like the akademiya? this is especially interesting considering alhaitham asks her to join the akademiya himself at some point (IIRC).

i think she could have a really interesting friendship with nilou, though. they are vastly different people and yet they both have an appreciation for beauty. they both also want to live a carefree life. i think it would be so fun to see them bond, and we could have some cool scenes where they teach each other how to fight/dance :)

nilou

speaking of nilou,

i think it would be interesting to dive deeper into why the akademiya is defunding the arts. it could be because of their subjectivity, or because they don't really "advance the current state of knowledge" in sumeru. in any case, it would be fun to have the conflict stem from the sages' desire to intellectualize everything. it would definitely clash with nilou's carefree personality.

out of everyone, nilou would be most affected by the negative side effects of the akasha. it diminishes her creativity, leading her to feel burnt out. i would love to have an arc where nilou feels uninspired, but later realizes it's because her access to instantaneous knowledge has made her stop observing the world around her.

it would be really cool if nilou could see the aranara. for no particular reason tbh. i just think it fits her

unfinished characters: tighnari & cyno & faruzan & layla & sethos

i haven't read the lore for these characters, but if this idea ever comes to fruition, rest assured that they will be added :)

dori

no dori. i am so sorry dori fans but i genuinely do not know what to do with her. please enlighten me

scara

just one thing:

the dendro archon is the avatar of irminsul, which contains all the world's memories. this, in itself, is a form of "eternity". i imagine that's part of why he agreed to try and overtake nahida in the first place. it was another shot at holding onto "eternity".

aaaand that's it! that was such a long post. i'm never posting about genshin again (i say that every time i post about genshin). if anyone read the entire thing i love you.

[runefaustblack]

HOLY SHIT this has gotta be a record

Nolan's Batman trilogy

The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins/The Dark Knight/The Dark Knight Rises) (Film Series, 2005)

Explain your reasoning in the reblogs!