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Not sure if this was asked before, but what’s your favorite plot twist (or the one you think was the best written) in EC?
I've written about the Elluka-is-Levia twist before--genuinely I think that's the best one. I won't make another long essay about it but I think it added a ton of depth and really turned the series on its head.
Close second would be the Margarita-is-Eve twist. I adore it. I know a lot of fans come away from all this thinking the story unfairly maligns Eve but I really, really enjoy her as a villain. There was something so creepy about discovering that everything you knew about a character was wrong, that this part of the backstory which had up until this point been distant and far removed from the rest of the series was actually still relevant the whole time. It was Eve's debut in the novels, you know, not counting her other identities. Revealing that she had deceived not just Elluka but the reader as well.
It's true there are some parts of it that don't 100% work--I don't know what the deal was with Platonic, and she didn't sound particularly like Eve when speaking to Mikulia in her head--but there's so many elements that line up with it, I do truly think it was planned all the way back in the Daughter of Evil series, if not from the start. "Mikulia" being callous enough to murder her own child, the way the Sloth doll has been described as the "mother" of all sins, Irina carving it to look like Eve...It's one of those "the truth was staring you in the face all along" type reveals, but it just hadn't occurred to anyone as the kind of thing that could happen in-universe.
And it's one of those twists that's just. Not as easy to enjoy now that the cat's out of the bag, you know? Everyone takes for granted that Eve is the demon of Sloth, that most of the contracts in the series are unique in how they occur. But the twist completely changed how we (I, at least) viewed the series. The Seven Deadly Sins series frames itself as very formulaic with its first two books; contractor gets a demon vessel, makes contract, bad shit happens, they die and Elluka shows up too late to make any meaningful intervention or retrieve the vessel. The Sloth novel sets itself up as following this same formula. Only, we discover that there was never any demon and there was no contractor either. It was the spirit of a human mage instead, driven mad by living as a demon for centuries. It completely broke the formula.
And this also came at a time when the identities of the demons as a whole were largely unknown to us, so they were viewed as more monstrous beings (because all we knew was their corrupted animal forms). This made it stand out more that Eve was actually human, and thus not one of them. New fans of course know that the demons were all originally Second Period denizens, so Eve no longer feels like as much of an anomaly. I once had an anon ask what the line "false sin" meant in Crimes and Punishments because to their knowledge it was only "revealed" that Eve wasn't part of the original demon lineup in the OSS novels--No!!! it's referring to the twist of the Sloth novel! Argh!!!
Anyway, apologies for the long essay on that one. Another twist that I deeply enjoy and is absolutely ruined for all new fans forever is the reveal that Irina is the red cat, not the mage whose shoulder it perches on. The thing is that her (narratively) first host, Abyss IR, being an old woman gave her a semi-plausible reason to have history with the immortal Elluka, and it played into stereotypes about "evil old crones" besides (even Arkatoir talks smack about her for being old and creepy, which is doubly tragic in hindsight given that this was an innocent woman being controlled for who knows how long). And not knowing that it's actually the cat that's the problem creates a lot of mystery and tension with plot points like Elluka being "possessed" by Abyss, Mikina taking in the red cat later, etc. The beginning of the fourth novel starts with the heroes heading to Marlon to confront a great conspiracy that they believe Abyss IR is at the head of, and then when they get there they discover that she fucking died offscreen! Brilliant! Completely ruined by knowing the truth ahead of time!
#i know a lot of people think mothy relies too heavily on twists#but i think it's a function of him being easily bored#he is deeply familiar with fairytales and fantasy tropes as a fan of these things#and so he is trying to make things interesting for himself by turning them on their head#subverting stories you already know by revealing it's something else instead#it's what i like about the series and it DOES NOT work if you keep sending people to the wiki for everything#which is not only not written to preserve these twists#but presents them without any of the buildup or story context behind them#“Mikina hates cats btw” yeah that's a dumb tidbit to have on her wiki page#but it was relevant to mention IN THE BOOK because it was after she suspiciously adopted a cat that once belonged to an evil sorcerer#you get what i'm saying
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Of all the themes in Mouthwashing, I think the themes of punishment and virtue are the most subtle.
It’s so odd because it’s a subversion where all the characters are punished for their virtues more than their flaws except Jimmy. Curly sees the best and people and tries to do right by all parties whether deserving or not. He is then forced to see everyone fall to their worst states while he can’t do anything. Daisuke is optimistic and hopeful, playful to a fault and a big morale. He dies in agony the one time he is forced to act in a serious event. Anya is kind and capable, knowledgeable in her field. Yet, she is treated like a dunce and does being treated like a dead weight.
The only characters who aren’t punished per se are those without direct virtues. Swansea is ornery and rude the moment we meet him, Jimmy is self explanatory. Yet, Swansea is still punished with Daisuke’s death, while Jimmy escapes in a way. Not having to face the final aftermath or even acknowledging how he could never really fix it. He suffers and is tormented, but he doesn’t really care because in his mind he didn’t fail in his head of proving something to Curly.
This is rambling y really but it really is the theme of no good deed but to the extreme. Good people punished for their attempts at virtue while the bad person victimizes themself over their suffering.
#I mainly think of this because I started seeing so many posts blaming curly for not stopping Jimmy and leading to this#but that’s the exact thing Jimmy would want in the end where he skirts direct blame behind everyone else#however it was Jimmy who started it all he freaked out first#he assaulted Anya and stiff armed all attempts at taking accountability from Curly or being presented with his actions#he goes unpunished and still other than having hate pieces written about him he skirts it in fan discussions#like it’s so hard to explain it without sounding like no one could have done anything but they shouldn’t have had to do something#because Jimmy shouldn’t have done what he did at any point and while others had a responsibility to negate it is only his fault it occurred#tdlr don’t let Jimmy skirt most of the blame#mouthwashing#mouthwashing spoilers#Mouthwashing game#like this is a scenario where you would be punished for doing the right thing considering the context and I wonder if that’s intentional#Jimmy really is the one bad apple that spoils the bunch
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#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles#rise of the tmnt#rottmnt#rottmnt raphael#rottmnt raph#frozen#disney frozen#frozen elsa#elsa frozen#rottmnt fanart#frozen fanart#doodles#traditional#memes#steven universe#presenting this without any context#just my two comfort characters having a moment
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MAFUYU'S WL2 CHAPTERS HAVE HARMED ME IRREPARABLY.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE KNOWS SHE'S IN A DREAM? WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S GOING OUT OF HER WAY TO FIND NIIGO? WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE PULLS IDENTICAL SAD SMILES AT SEEING ALL OF THEM INTERACTING WITH HER LIKE A STRANGER? CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?
she was SURPRISED when her mother said they 'had a talk' about mafuyu not being a doctor. she doesn't remember that conversation. she didn't KNOW what their relationship was in this world until her mother explicitly told her.
she reached out to ena THROUGH airi (when she shouldn't have otherwise even KNOWN about her) so they could all practice drawing together. she let mizuki suggest clothes for her to wear (going on a whole expedition with her classmates just to engineer a chance to take them to her boutique) bc there's no other way for her to interact with her?????????????
she literally said that kanade's songs give """"everyone"""" a warm feeling when everyone else has referred to them just as being 'cheerful' and 'popular'. and then the way she pushed kanade to list all the things she wanted to do... insisted on doing all of them in what might literally have been experienced by them AS a montage... it's like she's trying to gift kanade experiences + memories that she otherwise wouldn't have? and it's such a clear parallel between all the expeditions/trips niigo take HER on in the prime timeline in the name of finding herself?
i was already betting everything on kaito being the vocaloid to sing to her but his use here is now like. infinitely crazier to me in the context of the actual story. the 'hold onto your true feelings' vocaloid sings to mafuyu to comfort her in a world where she doesn't have her friends. and then she acts on those feelings by bringing them as close together as she can? because? she loves? her friends?
#prsk#prsk spoilers#idfk how to tag this but like . spoilers you know#(the focus on her relationship with niigo is PARTICULARLY interesting in the context of this event being set#before mafuyu6. she's gifted a world where she's living at peace with her parents -- her apparent goal in the 'real world' -- but what's#clearly more important to her is the fact that her peace + security from nightcord's friendship is missing#she categorically cannot leave that be even when it means acting out of character (like her classmates being surprised that she's taking a#break at the mall with them)#and this might be reading too much into it considering how much of her chapter is presented through implications#but her specific concern over kanade doing the things 'she wants to do' makes me think she's also#concerned about how the others are doing without their group as well#like. she knows they were all suicidal. she knows when mizuki left in mzk5 shit was Incredibly Dire#you go like six months bracing urself for generic angst from this wl theme#and then what's this? IT'S PREMISE-AWARE ASAHINA MAFUYU WITH A STEEL CHAIR !!!!!!!!!!#even with kanade's apparent happiness + general Mood Improvement . like who is encouraging her to try new things without niigo#who is giving her new perspectives and challenging her passivity + stagnant nature#not that i think that's what mafuyu was literally thinking when she went after kanade so aggressively but like. the concerns that I As An#Audience Member had about kanade felt quite decently mirrored by mafuyu's behaviour#(ALSO I CANT BELIEVE SHE PUSHED BACK AGAINST KANADE SAYING HER COMPOSITIONS AREN'T AS GOOD AS HER DADS#THATS MY FUCKING GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SCREAMING LIKE IM AT A WRESLTING MATCH SEEING THAT#YES!!!!!!!!! DON'T LET HER MINIMISE HERSELF + HER SKILL LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!)#also omfg the implication that kanade turned mafuyus first invite down to go compose. YOU LITETRALLY WANT TO BE HER FRIEND WHAT IS WRONG#WITH YOUUUUUUUUUUU.#this is getting incomprehensible im just. so overwhelmed with how genius a story this is to tell with MAFUYU out of all of them#the character defined by not knowing who she is and what she wants. spending her dream looking for her friends..............#AND NO NARRATION#NO OPPORTUNITY TO SEE WHAT SHE'S THINKING#THROUGH ANY OF IT!#ALL WE HAVE IS HER HEARTBREAKING LITTLE SMILES AND THE REACTIONS#SHE CAN'T SURPRESS IN TIME
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ngl it sort of pisses me off the way adults regard Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen at times. Which could be a very interesting and poignant point in a good way if well written, but as it is it becomes mainly just frustrating and sad in a negative way.
Nanami saying Gojo never cared about anything or anyone other than himself crashes interestingly with Kusakabe saying the whole situation was just all his fault because he refused to kill Itadori. The students are very aware of those aspects of Gojo's personality, but overall they seem to regard him with way more kindness and fondness even when at their rudest, not truly coinciding with either Nanami's or Kusakabe's views.
#Kusakabe's words are harsh and negative but there's some true and some logic to them#but in beholding the entire story and the whole context‚ especially with the flashbacks in mind‚ in getting to know the sweet kid Yuuji is‚#the reader is made to find Kusakabe's words a bit outrageous and cruel and Gojo's position becomes the obvious one like Nanami's was#Like Kusakabe's is too in a way since he too says no matter what it's always the adults' fault whatever the cause was#And following the story we see Gojo cared a lot about those kids and them keeping their youthful cheerfulness if in his very flippant way#That's basically his main constant thread. We see it at the very beginning in what he did for Yuta and how Yuta is so fond of him#We see him at the very end in a way too with the letters he left#And his entire motivation was changing the very messed up society to avoid the kids going through what he and his friends went through#and to prevent them from being lonely the way he felt he was. Ontologically alienated. Entirely othered#And of course it's in part him keeping people away like Shoko. Or even Yuta (though here again it's at the core of his action his attempt#at protecting the kids and trying to prevent them from growing too fast)#And of course this is motivated by his own experiences and in that sense not entirely a selfless act#But those things still don't negate that his goal was for the future kids to be... in a better situation than what he and his friends lived#So Nanami's words are very cruel and... blind. Of course it's possible that Gojo's way of approaching the problem is still something#Nanami would regard as selfish (but it could be argued that so is Nanami's)‚ or that Gojo's perception of Nanami's way of thinking#about him would be this negative. But what we see through the story absolutely contradict Nanami's words in that airport#And though both Nanami's words and Kusakabe's are negative in regards to Gojo‚ they in a way contradict each other#The kids' words and way of seeing Gojo is most of the time more... accurate? If also diverse among them#They see him like an idiot. They trust him. They think he's childish and annoying. They love him#They find him flippant. They know he cares about them. In a way they see both what Kusakabe and Nanami say about him#The negative. And the ultimate positive aspect at the core of it all. That Gojo did care and that Gojo did take care#and that Gojo risked and sacrificed a lot for them and that Gojo was doing this in great part because of his own past#Yuta perhaps is the one who sees it best but it's so interesting too the dynamic Maki‚ Yuuji and Megumi have with Gojo‚ his acts and antics#And this whole thing‚ this frivolous and even... cruel way most adults seem to regard Gojo and how it clashes with the kids' deep feelings#about him (beyond the initial 'he's an untrustworthy idiot' though those as well!') is super interesting and super sad and super juicy#OR IT COULD BE bc in the end all that happens is that Nanami says that and Gojo pouts comically or that Kusakabe makes that offhand comment#as if it held no weight‚ as if Yuji weren't present and had never agonised over it‚ as if Gojo hadn't lost his life trying to save the kid#And yes he risked more than his life but he was trying to save a kid bc another kid (bc Megumi!) asked. But maybe it didn't matter if no one#asked. He saved Yuta too. Of course he would have risked it all. In his mix of selfishness and selflessness. Everything is so juicy#yet the writing feels so dry and lame. There's no pondering. There's talk of guilt and grief without any true sense of grieving or loss
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I did it folks I found the best way to recommend Trauma Team to people
"There’s high drama moments like that, and then there’s, you know. The surgeon who’s also serving like 250 consecutive life sentences in prison but gets his own little prison in the hospital so he can operate there. The teleporting ninja-doctor with her teleporting butler and custom-made endoscope (yes you heard me right, endoscope, as in the thing they use to check your colon). The orthopedic surgeon who literally dresses up like a superhero in his off hours. Maria who is absolutely feral and acts like she lives on energy drinks but in our eyes is absolutely an ADHD icon. The time you use a sword as a scalpel to cut into this guy’s chest, and use your endoscope to treat his lungs. The time the orthopedic surgeon, who by the way looks like an Elvis impersonator, SOMEHOW USES HIS OWN BODY AS A CIRCUIT TO RESTORE POWER TO THE HOSPITAL AND DOESN’T EVEN NEED MEDICAL CARE meanwhile the diagnostician, Mr. smokes even in the shower, is pranking the FBI btw. The bus that crashes into the second floor of the mall, also you use your endoscope to find victims under the rubble, now WHY DO YOU HAVE YOUR ENDOSCOPE AT THE MALL WERE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR YOUR FRIES WITH A FREE COLONOSCOPY."
#ALSO I LOVE HOW MARIA IS LITERALLY THE ONLY ONE WHOSE NAME I ACTUALLY USED#p.s. i love naomi too but im p sure making fun of her is illegal thx#anyway presented without any other context lmao#trauma team#trauma center
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A.J Pollard’s biography on Edward IV was so cringe lol (generic; minor but frustrating inaccuracies; intensely judgmental at times and oddly dismissive at others while never considering the broader context; entirely diminished and trivialized Elizabeth Woodville as both queen and wife of his main subject in the name of "defending" her; created a false dichotomy between Edward and Henry VII’s styles of ruling and lauded the latter at the former’s expense even though Henry literally followed Edward’s example for the very things Pollard was criticizing Edward for; had a downright nonsensical and thoroughly misleading conclusion about Edward’s legacy & Richard’s usurpation that was based entirely on hindsight, Pollard's own assumptions, and the complete downplaying Richard’s agency and actions to emphasize what Pollard wrongly and misleadingly claimed were Edward's so-called 'failings', etc, etc)
I wanted to buy his book on Henry V but after reading this shitshow and the synopsis of that book, im guessing it's going to be 10x worse, so...no thanks
#history media#this was written months ago im posting it to get it out of my drafts#it wasn't necessarily BAD. it was generic and readable. but it was very disappointing and misleading and its conclusion was just nonsense#listen I have no patience for the dumbfuck idea that edward somehow had the ultimate responsibility for his own son's deposition because#of his 'policies' during his reign. like I said it's based fully on hindsight and entirely devoid of actual context. it's bafflingly stupid#literally everyone expected Edward V to succeed his father and 'both hoped for and expected' (Croyland's own words) a successful reign#Edward V's deposition was richard and solely Richard's fault lol this should not be difficult to understand#the reason Richard's usurpation was possible in the first place was bcause everyone expected E5 to succeed and didn't expect Richard#do to what he did. nothing would have happened without his initiative and decisions. it had nothing to do with Edward's 'policies'#Edward's policies were fine. henry vii - who pollard vaunts to no end - literally *followed* them#and claiming that he failed to unite England under the Yorkist dynasty is just plain stupid#buddy if he truly failed at that then neither Richard III nor Henry VII would have thrones lol. both emphasized continuity with#him when aiming for the throne. like the whole point of 1483-85 was that it was a conflict WITHIN the 'Yorkist' dynasty#it was not an external threat against it.#'his legacy failed' his legacy didn't fail his brother destroyed it (while also presenting himself as his heir because logic what's logic?)#henry's victory was very much the triumph of his legacy (a claimant chosen by his supporters as the husband of his daughter)#like this is really not my interpretation it is literally what happened#i'm not trying to glorify e4 but his son did inherit the throne in a more advantageous circumstances than any other minor king of england#and frankly than most other adult kings. dumping blame on Edward's literal corpse rather than acknowledge Richard's agency is so tasteless#the problem isn't that edward made a mistake in trusting his brother. many other kings including Henry V also trusted theirs.#the problem is that his brother was willing to break that trust in a way that was unprecedented and broke all political norms of that age#ie: Richard's usurpation occurred because of Richard who re-ignited conflict to make himself king. please drill this into your head#also btw this illogical 'interpretation' is based entirely on Charles Ross' hatred and derision towards Elizabeth Woodville and her family#if you agree with this inteterpretation you agree with his vilification of them 🤷🏻♀️#anyway if you want a better interpretation that's actually analytical and looks a relevant rather than a flawed retrospective perspective#i would recommend rosemary horrox's 'richard iii: a study of service' and david horspool's 'richard iii: a ruler and his reputation'#anyway one last time: STOP downplaying Richard's agency and actions. historians who do this are stupid and embarrassing. bye.#(i should really post horspool's glorious takedown of ross and Pollard huh? it was very entertaining to read)
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#dragon age#as a nonbinary trans person this is fairly close to how i felt about it#in some ways inquisition did trans inclusion better just because it engaged with it in the context of the in-universe cultures#which is not to say it was without flaws either#at minimum they could've cast a transmasc VA for Krem for example#and veilguard does a great job there! there are at least four confirmed trans characters all played by appropriately gendered trans actors#but i've played through the entire game as a nonbinary rook#and now started another run as an aqun-athlok qunari who's socially transitioned but not physically#and when you use the mirror to mark your character as trans there's zero option to say your physical presentation hasn't changed#and you're happy with that#ultimately i feel like it's a symptom of the broader problem of the game in that everything is relatively shallow compared to earlier games#there wasn't enough time/care put into making stuff fit into the world and give it depth and meaning#i have friends who've found this plotline to be enlightening and empowering and i am so happy for them that it's opened the door#i do not think including the trans stuff was a mistake in any way whatsoever and i'm glad they did it#i just wish it'd had more time to cook#I ALSO wish we hadn't been stuck with a binary choice of encouraging Taash to be Rivaini or Qunari at exclusion of the other#both because they're nonbinary and because that's how being an immigrant or mixed race works#it's really weird to insist it has to be one identity or the other period
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this line paired with the fact that (if my spoilers were right anyway) peepers did the loveheart pupils thing directed toward hater . much to think about
#Which could mea#this probably makes no sense without the context Wgatever whatever i just need to talk about them#i know like the whole thing jsntheyre evil and they do awful things constantly Anyways but that part in the funk where peepers just keeps#doing increasingly bad things just to try and amuse hater a little bit and cheer him up#i keep thinking back to it and im like ough wow love is happening#love is alive in the evil fucking skull spaceship#and another thing about that episode . i dunno if the part with the van and peepers reuniting hater with what he originally loved about#villainy was like. the show maybe implying that peepers knew hater back then? like theyve known eachother since before hater had the whole#rest of the watchdog army and the ship . i think i love to think that he was with him since before that#omg that makes the watchdogs kinda sweet ..i dont want any other things i want my army to be just a bunch of your species that looks#identical to u#this shit is. so good.#ALSO BACK TO THEBORIFINAL TOPIC. in the scene where peepers does the heart thing bc of hater#from what ive seen of it it looks like theres like several layers not just the one heart that all the watchdogs got from the present#AND ANOTHER THING#im just wondering like. i know hater treats peepers badly too but the with the thing at the end about how wander made the watchdogs think#that it was hater giving them all the gifts and that was what made them so happy . cuz they usually get absolutely no validation from him at#all. i feel like that wouldn’t like be the same in peepers case yknow. like he’s the only one who actually talks to hater and they’re on lik#pretty sorta kinda casual acquantance terms compared to most of the watchdogs like hoping to ever have a conversation with hater intheirlife#ok thats it#Oh jesus thats a big tag ramble. hokay
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I'm the LAST person to suggest that you have to preface every single comment you make about a character/fictional relationship/etc. you like with a reminder that you Know™ it's pRoBLeMaTiC, but I DO question what the point of acting genuinely for real like there were no problems is.
#I don't even mean in a 'what would it look like if this relationship were healthy' or 'what if this character were a good person'#because I think that's interesting to explore and I have several things I'm working on with elements of that#but I genuinely will hear people go 'there ARE no flaws in this thing' with their whole chest in a completely serious manner#when they could just. talk about how they like the thing without that qualification? and I feel like...#...idk. just because *I* am someone who enjoys horrible characters and deranged unhealthy fictional relationships#I feel like it's a disservice to act like there were never any faults or problems or [insert applicable noun here] at all? it gets rid of#the narrative complexity that's present#I was talking to long-distance best friend last night and I went on a rant about how I wouldn't like jaime as much if he actually WAS as#Super For Real Actually A Completely Good Person Who Was Never Flawed In Any Way as some people act like he is.#it's BECAUSE he does shitty things and isn't A Super Good Person™ that makes him particularly interesting#if you want to imagine a version of this story where he doesn't act horribly and is a 100% Stand Up Guy then go for it you don't need to#justify that by saying that that is completely for real without exception who he actually is in canon?#(this wasn't even the example that brought this on. he's one of many MANY examples.)#and you know I could write a story (I won't) where like. idk altena for example. handles her issues and doesn't become The Antagonist™#where she gets therapy and ends up with a fulfilling life where she participates in society as a more well-adjusted person.#but again it would be an INCREDIBLE disservice to the way this character (a complicated fascinating character) is written to act like#she was Always Like That or that this turn of events was intended by the story or that She Genuinely Never Did Anything Wrong Actually#it's less 'oh people are having sympathy for [xyz] in a story context that I think isn't merited' & it's more 'acting like this is the way#the story was all along and the way it was meant to be interpreted all along is a misreading of the text and I don't think that's fair'#mel's media criticism
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DONNA NOBLE.
NOT STUPID. NOT USELESS.
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