#progression in both relationship & character development dont just do THAT how is that attractive that just

[farshores]

Honestly for me, the worst part about the Night to Remember quest with the addon isn't even the goat thing (though that is effing disgusting). It's how Kaidan absolutely loses it on the player when he finds out about the "engagement" (if you've already started the romance arc with him). The jealous rage is so cringe, incredibly unattractive, and completely out of character for him. The questline is meant to be silly and fun, but the addon turned it into disgust, f-bombs, anger.

ooooh not sure i like that one

[imonoyte]

Why NO PATHS ARE BOUNDS is the best fic ever, an essay

First of all, the author made everything so much more twisted and painful, of course my love for the original story, plot and characters remain unchanged it's just insanely satisfying to see it all exacerbated

×the amount of pain xie lian had to go through is astronomical and the consequences on his personality and punctual dissociating is really well depicted

×all the "perfect" sides of the characters are deconstrustructed like hua cheng's selfless behavior toward xl, his tendency to let him do what he wants all the times but in the fic he opposed him a few times over his own safety but still; lan chang is not the perfect mother that loves his son despite what he came out to be, she's resentfull and did harm,

×in contrary, all the hatefull sides of the bad characters who have few little chances to be appreciated have explaination arc if not redemption, for exemple shi wudu from my impression from the original tgcf is a family-first but piece of shit type with the water tyrant title and what happened to he xuan but there in npab it's clearly more complicated than that and oh my day i absolutly love the progress in relationship between he sheng and shi wudu excuse me i almost could've started shipping them both it bring so much comfort to witness them having each other's back and omg THE HUG !! THE PROTECRIVENESS !! THE TALKS !! please i love them;

the developement of bai wuxian story just fall right into the plot, what happened for jun wu to be that way

there's also qi rong's character who is despicable even more than he was and lovable, even more than he was, his humility toward mu qing brought tears to my eyes

Pursuing with Mu qing, the absolute love of my life that i would defend against all who is so so so sooo... I just love him and his progress and ouch his backstory was hard take but also it makes more sense in a way that he hadn't moved on after 800years, i'm not saying the original back story's lacking but it feels like some things were kept unsaid because i believe mu qing and his good heart must have been pushed in a corner way more painfully repeatedly for him to be so deeply wounded like we dont really know the extend of his past bullying

It's so well written and makes so much sense sometimes some elements could just fit right into the original story like why pei ming and hua cheng are the only one xie lian ever found attractive in the story, it just makes so much sense to me now like ?? pein ming being the zeus of tgcf and hua cheng being powerful fatherless makes it all possible plus that makes he xuan and hua cheng family by extend and that's just *intense screaming*

- he xuan coming back as the water master and the story FINALLY finally introduce us to a Thunder master

-hua cheng offering the armory to xl for him to profect himself and all of them being made by hc himself just feels right

(There's probably way more but i can't find them at the moment send help)

And the new original characters reng song the absolute perfection also i loved how lan qianqiu became a more central characters than he was in the original and their bickering was the epithom of cute, huz cheng's past and all the story around the forge i say it shortly but yk how much this weights in the story

Of course the additional nsfw scenes that we've all been craving for and everyone falling in love it's just too cute and ling wen and the rain master ? Absolute chef kiss

On a personal note i love depictions of body horror and monstruous behaviour and body changes and i was SPOILED on this side

%starting with the shackles, on the ankle, neck and eyes, constricting him, his breathing, his sight, his life. Plus blind are characters and stories from the point of view of blind characters are one of my favorite this days thanks to another kind white clothed cultivator; when they started thinking of a way to destroy the shackles it was horrible omg and just basically xie lian's level of pain tolerence and vision of normalcy and casually almost saying he got his eyed gouged out several times

%the animalistic/ bestial traits of the ghost kings like fangs, long nails, snarling, baring their teeth, please when he sheng brought shu wudu behind him to protest against to punishment almost turning feral i loved it.

That's it, that's the word, i love when they turn feral, when they embrace insanity and great amount of pain bring that out of them and this fic was perfect in this very aspect i think

And EXCUSE ME dragon hua cheng was the cherry on top of the cake it's one of my absolute favorite and it was beautifully described

Continuing on body horror and gory stuffs xie lian being hanged from his shackled, the pain, the screaming scenes, mu qing's qi deviation, yin yu's death... so well written

Let's not forget the perfect addition of the mdzs elements that fitted so naturally in the story, so fluid and logical in the telling, I love Zidian btw

On a more joyfull note, the growth of the characters, the humour, most of them were lovable, despite all the angst it's easy to just fall into it and enjoy the ride (then the angst is back and you just cry but oh well).

It's still followed the tram and order of the story and it's really pleasant to read your tgcf favorite scenes incorporated in a new not so divergent plot

In short y'all need to read no paths are bound on ao3 by CataclysmicEvent

[marinerainbow]

Can you do a little drabble about NiGHTS x Reader/Visitor? :')

Oh! O-Ok! I hope I do the character and request justice.

NiGHTS x Visitor!reader

(Gif courtesy of @marshmallow-biscuit-blog)

...

When you looked back on how your relationship with the purple dream jester started, and was unfolding, it was still jarring to this day. Not necessarily because you fell in love with a person you could only see in your dreams, but because of how... Real it was. It wasn't like a fairy tale as you had thought it would be. It felt more like a romance that would happen in the real world rather then in the dream world.

You had met NiGHTS so long ago, at least a few years ago. The fact that you were an adult in the night dimension alone made the nightmaren immidiatly be attracted to you, but back then it was more like how a child would be in awe at a seemingly impossible thing. They had chose to spend as much time with you as possible the first night you came here, expecting you to be gone the second you woke up.

But you came back.

Somehow, something within you allowed you to come back to the night dimension. NiGHTS was, once again, amazed at the sight of you. They, like last time, took all the time they could to play with you, dualize with you, explore with you, anything they could do with you, they did. All because they kept believing they wouldn't get another chance like this again.

But no matter what, you always came back. Night after night you would find yourself in the night dimension, and night after night they would drop whatever they were doing to quell their curiosity about you.

However, as you continued to visit the night dimension, NiGHTS had started to pace themselves with you; they would actually take time with an activity the two of you would do together, and wouldn't try to immediately jump to something else when you both were done. At first you had thought that they were growing bored of you, but then they started asking questions.

They would ask you questions about not only your world, but also your hobbies, your interests, your hopes, your ideas, anything about you they could ask without being too invasive.

Eventually, you noticed how they only inquired about you, but you had never asked about them, no doubt because of you being too busy answering all of the dream being's questions. You could still remember the first time you inquired about them, the shock on their face heavily implied they had never been asked questions that were about them, or at least they hadn't expected you to be curious about them. But nonetheless, NiGHTS was delighted to know that you had questions for them specifically, and would answer whatever you asked.

This was when your relationship with NiGHTS started to feel real, not just a dream.

As the two of you continued to ask questions about each other, you both had then started to do more then ask questions. The two of you started having just normal conversations, just talking about how your day- or in NiGHTS' case how the past cycle- went for the two of you. It was pleasent honestly, just the two of you being calm together, no fights with nightmaren, no confrontations with Reala no chasing Octopaw, just you, them, and your words.

However, once again, your relationship with NiGHTS took another turn.

You noticed how they had started being more touchy feely with you, they would out of the blue grab your hand to hold, embrace you, and on occasion they would even try to rub their face into yours, no doubt trying to give you an eskimo kiss without the nose. They would even take their fights more seriously when they were dualized with you. Of course, their teasing and their daring streak didn't disappear, that was simply how they were.

But you had also noticed that you liked the purple nightmaren more then just in a friendly way. You wanted more then just your friendly conversations and your fun adventures. You would worry about them when you were awake, even though you knew they could handle themselves. You had always accepted their physical displays of affection, but now you would actively seek NiGHTS out for their touches, and would even reciprocate with your own way of showing affection.

You had known by then what you were feeling. You had been in romantic relationships before, but you werent sure if dream folk like NiGHTS actually wanted relationships like that, so you just left it alone.

However, one day, they had just walked up to you and... Well, they just told you how they had started seeing you as a potential lover and would like it if the two of you took your relationship further. No nervous stammering, no impressive confession, they were just blunt and straight to the point with you, and only stared expectantly back at you when they saw the shocked look on your face, waiting for your answer.

You most definitely didn't expect NiGHTS to be the one to approach you first, you didn't even think that they would be interested in the first place! However, looking at how your relationship with them had progressed, you couldn't be surprised. So, after getting over your shock at how blunt their confession was, you accepted, and they gave you one of the biggest smiles you had seen.

Since then, the two of you had... Been normal, aside from the extra affection and how extra protective NiGHTS was of you, but other then that there werent any real changes. The two of you hadn't changed at all like those couples in those sappy movies would. You both would still tease the other, you both would still bicker with each other, and you both would still go on adventures around the night dimension.

If you were honest, you wondered if NiGHTS knew what a romantic relationship was for a while. One day you had decided to ask them what they thought dating was, and you could never forget their answer to this day.

"Dating? Well it allows me to be closer to my friend then I had ever thought possible!" They answered with their signature smile.

"B-But... You see me as more then a friend, right?" You had asked, trying to hold back your dejection for just a little longer.

They quirked a brow at your question, and then answered simply, "More then a friend? Well I see you as one of my best friends! But your also my lover. Your my friend, and my lover!"

And it was only then did you realize what they meant. You two were in a relationship, yes, but you both were still friends. That may have sounded obvious, but it didn't really click before then-

"Aren't you going to tell me what your thinking about?"

You gasped as you were startled out of your thoughts. Looking up, you saw the curious yet still smug grin on NiGHTS' face. If it werent for the fact that you had been lying on top of the purple jesters floating frame like a canopy, you would have shrieked at how close their face was to yours.

Smiling, you propped your chin on top of your folded arms, being careful not to poke yourself with the red crystal embedded in your lovers chest, before answering them, "It's nothing really, I'm just thinking about our past together."

They hummed, taking a second to readjust you in their arms before replying, "I see. With how lost in your own thoughts you were, I assumed you had wandered off into your own world without inviting me!"

You rolled your eyes at their teasing while smiling, "Well you dont need to worry, if I ever were to 'wander off into my own world', I'll bring you along for the ride."

Their eyes glimmered with mischief as they feigned relief, they even used one of their hands to drape dramatically over their forehead, "Oh goodness, what a relief! For a moment I thought my Y/N had forgotten about me!" They moaned, being sure to exaggerate their voice and features as much as they could.

You opened your mouth, about to respond in kind, before you noticed their lips were unguarded. Smirking, you reached forward to peck them on the lips, resisting the urge to chuckle when you saw the slight surprise on their face, "C'mon NiGHTS, you know I could never forget you."

Their shock only lasted a moment before they looked down at you, their smile turning tender as they gently clutched your chin and returned your kiss. They pretended to ignore your own shock as they pulled away, "I should hope so, you've left too much of an imprint on my life for me to forget you."

You returned their loving smile before resting your head on your arms again, "Of course, how can I when you and your world have changed my life?"

Although their smile had stayed the same, you could see a hint of sadness in their eyes, no doubt thinking about all the other visitors who had said those words and hadn't came back. Slowly, they wrapped both arms around you in a hug. This time, they said nothing, though their actions spoke louder then any words could.

You knew by now how much pain they hid behind their playful and flamboyant personality. You knew of their past haunting visitors' nightmares, betraying their own kind, and being able to do nothing as visitors kept leaving and not returning. Nothing needed to be said as you unfolded your arms as best as you could to return their embrace, trying to give them the reassurance they needed now.

Yes, you and NiGHTS were not your typical fairy tale, they were not some prince charming and you weren't a princess waiting to be rescued. You guys didn't have a special relationship because they were from another world, your relationship was special because of how you two were so familiar with one another. You two werent strangers that fell in love at first sight, you both had slowly developed feelings for each other over the course of your friendship. And that was how your relationship with them felt so real and genuine; you were friends who fell in love.

And you wouldn't have it any other way.

...

How was this? Please tell me what you think! Questions and constructive criticism are more then welcome!

[sunfortune]

Sunny, I remember you saying that you would have loved to rewrite parts of the start up to develop characters and make it a more complete story.... if you don’t mind I would love to hear your improved take on it! That show had so much potential and they wasted it for what???

okay! (this is gonna be long. i apologize in advance) 

i think the first two episodes of start up were perfect. like *chefs kiss*. academy AWARD 

(the way the backstory was set up. getting to know young dalmi and her family as well as young ji pyeong and her grandma (🥺). the subsequent tragedies that played out. the jump to the future. showing dal mi’s personality as an adult with how competent/smart she was handling that mess at the coffee shop. the reintroduction of ji pyeong. the introduction of nam do san. the way even with the ridiculous set up and the fact that as a viewer you are already invested in jipyeong they managed to make nam do sans character stand out bc he didnt meet dalmi for any selfish reasons at the end of the day. he just wanted to help this woman he didnt even know bc thats just the type of person he is . like the set up was PERFECT. it was so good. i loved every character)  

my PROBLEM is litchrally everything that happened in terms of character progression after that. i dont mind the way the story went in terms of the main plot points. its just how they got to and through those plot points was just SO uninspired. they WASTED those characters.

as soon as they started prioritizing the love triangle over the individual characters arcs the quality of the writing went down. 

one. everything shouldve been out in the open after dalmi met dosan at sandbox and found out he wasnt rich. there was NO reason to keep the lie going after that and it was a disservice to dalmis character to have her be bamboozled for SO long. they tainted so many of the best parts of the show for that lie. them meeting at sandbox and then being on the same team and ji pyeong as mentor was the perfect opportunity to come clean about the other shit bc the story no longer NEEDED that other shit to continue the plot and even the love triangle. that lie was just dragged out TOO long and in the real world dalmi shouldve never talked to EITHER of them again. (if they revealed it earlier it wouldnt have been such a huge deal)

two. i love ji pyeongs character, i think he was very interesting and complex but i didnt once want him and dal mi to end up together. to me no matter how it wouldve happened they wouldve gotten together for the wrong reasons. she was 26 years old with an unhealthy attachment to her elementary school pen pal that she never even MET. and he had this perpetual sense of guilt for what happened when he was a kid. i wanted them to be friends. i feel like so much of his attraction to dalmi was just loneliness. and it was such a disservice to his character to have him hung up on her until the END?? he was lonely in the whole show and then still kind of lonely at the end? literal whole time jump and he was still inexplicably hung up on her?? that was ridiculous. that was MEAN

three. ji pyeong and dosan shouldve became real friends and ji pyeong shouldnt have liked dalmi until the end (that was mean and dumb). they ROBBED me of ji pyeong/dosan friendship. theyre evil for that. if you think about the way the plot started jipyeong and dosan learned so much from each other about love and friendship. i think ji pyeong really introduced like romanticism and ~love~ to dosan while dosans relationship with his friends showed jipyeong like real loyalty and platonic love without ulterior motive (bc he was always talking about how dosans friends are gonna turn on him bc thats just business) . and the fact that ONE) they never really acknowledge how they changed each other for the better and TWO) they just never warm up to each other?! even after jipyeong bought him home drunk and they slept in each other arms (lmfksjkgf) and also beat the shit out of each other that one time (loved that btw) i think it was really SOOOO wack they didnt become friends. when the pieces were all already in place. WASTED POTENTIAL

four. as a rule i think all time jump character development is bad writing. where instead of doing the actual work to develop a character they just put in a time jump and imply the development all happened off screen. and the fact that they did that with injae’s character was just so corny and LAZY. they had ample time to flesh her out. and with the way the backstory played out dalmi and injaes relationship was arguably MORE important than anything with either of the men. and they just didnt show it?! they just dislike each other before the time jump and then after theyre cool and thats just it?? it was a disservice to her and dalmi and the viewer to just do all that shit off screen so they could keep clowning with the love triangle 

five. the Love Triangle was more between the VIEWER, ji pyeong and dosan than it was DALMI, ji pyeong and dosan. they kept trying to sell the back and forth of the love triangle to US but there was a blatant disconnect in the story on the ji pyeong and dalmi front! dalmi didnt ONCE think of ji pyeong romantically. so much of the love triangle was just pulling the leg of the viewer. (ALSO this couldve been solved if they revealed the truth earlier bc dalmi wouldve at least considered them both) like i dont care too much for love triangles but i feel like if they were gonna spend SO much time and effort on it, the least they couldve done was actually write a love triangle??

six. this is kind of a crack idea (so if you disagree with this its fine) but i think ji pyeong and injae shouldve had something instead of him being hung up on dalmi the whole show. he shouldve realized halfway through he was just lonely and guilty about his past (also he was dalmis mentor) and then they shouldve started peppering in some subtle hints about him and injae. injae was not only older, she had a similar disposition to jipyeong in terms of just her outlook of the world and their work. injae and ji pyeong were both more cynical and also mature in a way that dalmi and dosan just werent. they shouldve at the very LEAST hinted at it instead of them both just being alone at the end?! it wouldve rounded out everyones characters so well. ji pyeong not being lonely bc of his friendship with dosan and falling in love with injae. dalmi gaining her relationship with her sister back and falling in love with dosan and getting that sweet romance she always wanted WITHOUT any big lie. AND dalmi and jipyeong being family bc of her grandma. it wouldve covered everything! 

but NOOOO. start up writers said we are gonna focus all our energy on this love triangle that isnt even a love triangle. fuck you

[titsthedamnseason]

This isn’t meant to be aggressive, just curious (don’t have to answer if you don’t want to because people on this sit like to vilify others for having different opinions) but I was just curious about your feelings as to why you dn’t like k*tty. Is there a post i missed on your blog or sumthing or do you just not talk about it (which is understandable because I feel that kitty stans would come after you so bad)

no need to worry youre fine and, no, i havent really posted about it yet. there’s a few reasons that contribute to why i dont love kitty but i do want to first start off by saying that it’s not hate on either character or even on the ship. im hesitant to full on claim to “hate” them yet, even if im not the biggest fan and not afraid to admit that.

i would say the biggest part of my dislike for them comes from the fans. im going to generalize, which is why im going to explicitly state that i know not all of the fans are like this, but a lot of them in my experience are childish and pretty gross. first of all, even when i “shipped” (to use the word lightly) kitty in tda, it was never really actually shipping them yet if that makes sense? in my opinion, kitty’s progression in tda was pretty slow and most of the stuff between them was strictly platonic. any time i thought a real romantic relationship between them would be cute, it was always just that, an appreciation for what would be. it’s more like having a premature appreciation of “wow we arent there yet, but after more development and later on in twp they could be a really cute couple.” despite that, fans of them ran WILD with the bare minimum that we were given, and took it too far. fans writing explicit scenes about a gay couple made up of two minors before even an ounce of romantic content was provided is honestly so disgusting. and there is a LOT of explicit content out there for them, unfortunately 

more on their age, in fact, they are SO YOUNG. im sure we’ve all shipped two young people before, and taking out the factor of sexualizing them, it’s honestly okay. but again, it comes back to the fans once again aggressively shipping them despite how young they are! not even just because sexualizing them is gross and terrible, but because neither of them are in a spot where a relationship would be good for them and it’s clearly why cassie ended tda with them as she did? people seem to forget that theyre 15, and saying this as a 16 year old, the intensity with which people portray their relationship and how they expect it to be TERRIFIES me. we, as a fandom, dont really have any business to look at these two fucking children and fantasize about how nice their wedding would be? ya is already bad enough doing this with 16/17 year olds, why are we normalizing this for kit and ty who have barely one canon romantic scene (that even still, could easily be seen as platonic)?

and there are more reasons, but the last major one is that ty should not have to feel like the first person outside of his immediate family to treat him normally is the one for him, and i wish cc wasnt promoting that idea either. not to mention that ty, in my opinion, hasnt even ever expressed attraction towards kit? like yes, in the “i love you” scene he was distracted by his grief and not in a position to respond well to that no matter what but even in other scenes, their relationship was so friendly. we’ve never seen ty’s point of view, so there’s no way to really know, but even from the outside we havent seen him express outward interest in others like kit does, even if just to appreciate their appearance at a surface level. it’s also canon that ty doesnt love the way others do, and that the way he expresses his affection towards his family and loved ones is unique. he should obviously have freedom to turn that love towards whomever he chooses if that’s what he wants, but i think a very beneficial and mature storyline on cc’s part would be to let him explore how he conveys those feelings towards other people, and let him get comfortable with that, before immediately endgaming him with kit. that being said, i would also love for kit to have a love interest or multiple before the wicked powers, to also let him explore his sexuality and get experience before automatically ending up with the first person he said “i love you” to. with ty being on the spectrum, and both of them clearly being lgbtq+, i think the best move for them would be to wait it out before feeling an obligation to be together forever without getting any other experience first

again, does any of this mean i would despise a kitty endgame? not at all. i just think there’s a long way to go for it to be done right and that the fandom is really jumping the gun with shipping them before seeing how cc handles it. that being said, im sure if she does give them a twp slow burn she’ll get hate, and if other love interests are explored those characters will be hated on for just breathing. i can easily see myself warming up to kitty throughout twp (although, probably never the Stans) but i can also acknowledge that im not there yet, and until then i like them far better as just friends.

[seolhe]

I was wondering,,, why do you say the dark wife is one of the worst books you've read? I read it a few years ago, and I dont remember anything about it tbh, so I'm curious

Oh boy, where do I start? I had a lot of problems with this novel, both as a Greek myth retelling and from a writing standpoint. Now, keep in mind that I read thisabout 2 years ago, so I might be forgetting some small details here and there, but I’ll try to explain the main reasons it bugged me so much. So buckle up, because this is gonna be a long one.

Characters: All the characters are two-dimensional and poorly developed. None of them have any amount of nuance or depth.Zeus is moustache twirling villain who is evil for the sake of being evil. Hades is as good as Zeus is evil, endlessly noble and selfless and devoted. I genuinely can’t remember a single defining trait of Persephone? She’s such abland and generic protagonist, nothing really stands out about her in my memory other than her obsessive pining over Hades and hatred of Zeus. A lot of this feels like it’s pulled straight from the shallow and occasionally downright inaccurate readings of Greek myths that have become so popular in recent years, especially on places like tumblr (Zeus as an evil rapist, Hades as a pure cinnamon roll, Persephone descending willingly into the Underworld, etc.).But there are also more confusing takes on these characters, like turning chaste virgin goddess Athena into a self-centered, promiscuous lesbian (not to say that being a lesbian or being promiscuous is bad, it’s just such a strange interpretation of Athena’s character that doesn’t make any sense)And don’t even get me started on poor Charis! Charis, Persephone’s first lover in the book, exists solely to be raped and killed by Zeus. She’s fridged to show us that Zeus is BAD and giving Persephone a reason to hate him. The author’s treatment of this character is lazy and offensive. I’m sure this is something that won’t bother all readers, but as someone with a deep love for the mythology, I found the portrayal of the Greek gods franklyinsulting. Plot:“Three thousand years ago, a god told a lie.”Here we run into a big problem with the narrative. We’re told from the very prologue that the story of Hades and Persephone we’re familiar with is a lie, a narrative created by Zeus, and this is Persephone’s attempt to set the record straight.These are the first lines of our story: “I am not my mother’s daughter. I have forfeited my inheritance, my birthright. I do not possess the privilege of truth. The stories told by fires, the myth of my kidnap and my rape, are all that remain of me. Forever I will be known as the girl who was stolen away to be the wife of Hades, lord of all the dead. Andnone of it is true, or is so fragmented that the truth is nothing more than ashadow, malformed. The stories are wrong. I am not who they say I am.I am Persephone, and my story must begin with the truth.Here it is, or as close as I can tell it.”Well, this doesn’t really make any sense when, at the end of the story, Zeus is defeated and thrown into Tartarus. Why does this narrative survive into modern day when Hades and Persephone won? Why is Persephone only able to tell her story now, after thousands of years without Zeus in power? Speaking of Zeus and lies, the justification for the whole “What, Hades is awoman?!” thing really doesn’t make any sense. We’re told that Zeus calls Hades “lord” of the dead as a joke, Hades even refers to it as a “slur” in the story. The reason given for this is that Hades is only attracted to women. Well, if that’s the case, why doesn’t that same logic apply to Athena, who’salso shown to be attracted only to women? Or to Persephone for that matter? Same-sex attraction, even between women, is never shown to be frowned upon in their society, so why would Zeus single out Hades for her attraction to women? And why do all the other gods apparently go along with that “joke” to the point that Persephone literally didn’t know Hades was a woman until she meets her in person? And why, again, did this idea of Hades being a man survive into modern day? The story is constructed so poorly on so many different levels. There are so many threads that are just dropped entirely. For example:- The story starts with Demeter confidently proclaiming that Persephone will become the queen of the gods, setting up this big rivalry between her and the daughters of Hera and Aphrodite. This plot never goes anywhere, in fact, I don’t think it’s ever brought up again after the first chapter, and Demeter basically spends the rest of the book cowering before Zeus. - There’s a significant plotline about Pallas having Persephone try to deliver a message to Athena, a plotline that is unceremoniously dropped without anyresolution. After all the build-up, there’s a throwaway line about Pallas giving the note to Persephone right before the big showdown with Zeus, and that’s the last we hear of it. We never see it delivered, we don’t get to see Athena’s reaction to it, we don’t know how this impacts Pallas, if at all. In fact, Pallas basically doesn’t show up at all after this point. Then there’s the main conflict of the story: Zeus wants Persephone, and as we’re told over and over and over, Zeus always gets what he wants (the author really beats this into our heads). We’re never really given any motivation for any of Zeus’ actions, so this conflict feels weak and contrived. It doesn’t help that we get so much build-up for what a terrible threat he is, and then Persephone defeats Zeus, the most powerful god, feared by all, in like… two pages? It’s such a weak and anticlimactic end to the story.

There was also some sort of convoluted plan concocted by Zeus to, idk, have the dead rise up and overthrow Hades? For some reason? Again, we never get any clear motivation from Zeus. As far as I can remember, we’re never told why he hates Hades so much, or why he wants to overthrow her. I don’t even remember if the author explained what Zeus was going to do with the Underworld without Hades there to rule. I’m sorry, I genuinely can’t even remember the details, but it was just reallybadly set up and, once again, easily solved in a few pages.And that’s really the main problem with the story, everything is so easily solved. Our good guys all get happily ever afters with no sacrifices and no consequences for anything, and there’s always a quick and easy solution to any threat or conflict. Mythology:So how does it hold up as a Hades and Persephone retelling?Well, not great, imho. A lot of classical elements are incorporated into this retelling, but they’re stripped of any meaning or importance to the plot. The pomegranate? It’s there at their wedding, but it never figures into the greater narrative.Demeter causing famine by bringing infertility to the fields? She does freeze the world in this story, threatening everlasting winter, but unlike in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, it’s not an act of agency on her part, refusing to submit to the will of Zeus and fighting to be reunited with her daughter. Nah. She’s just being manipulated by Zeus and it’s used as a cheap reason to tear our lovers apart.And somehow, I don’t even know why seeing as it doesn’t tie into Demeter freezing the earth or Persephone eating the seeds of the pomegranate, butPersephone is still forced to spend half the year on earth and half in theUnderworld.In the epilogue, we see her in modern day New York*, acting as psychopomp (for some reason???), happily guiding the souls to the afterlife, which we’re told is her duty for the half of the year she spends above ground. I’m just so confused as to what the author was even going for here. Where did this come from? It doesn’t originate in the original myths, but it’s also not explained (as far as I can remember) in the book.*This isn’t a problem with the book per se, and it’s 100% a matter oftaste, but I personally really dislike it when mythological figures appearin a modern setting, especially when the author has to put them in anAmerican setting rather than the geographical location of their origin, whetherthat’s Greece or Egypt or Scandinavia or what have you. Romance: Hades and Persephone are destined soulmates and instantly fall in love pretty much the moment they first set eyes on each other, which doesn’t allow for any growth or progression of their relationship. They’re instantly deeply and madly in love with each other and their feelings never change over the span of the story. They spend most of their time together staring lovingly into each others eyes and when they’re separated for literally 3 days Persephone basically spends her entire days languishing in despair.It’s ridiculously melodramatic and cheesy, which again, personal taste thing,I’m just really not into. Other writing issues: - The worldbuilding is pretty much non-existent. The story doesn’t feel grounded in any particular time period or cultural context, and you never get any sense of the setting, or how the world works and what this society is like.  - The pacing was really poor, either dragging or exploding into rushed action. - A lot of page time is spent on describing things that doesn’t really further the plot or has any thematic relevance. One example would be the garden of metal and precious stones Hades made for Persephone. It’s cool I guess? But what purpose does it serve? We also waste a lot of time which could be better used developing the characters or moving the plot forward on watching Persephone play with puppy Cerberus or petting Hades’ horses (see poor pacing). - There’s a lot of talk about Persephone having some sort of grand destiny, and that her actions have been prophesized. This is never properly explained and it only serves to weaken Persephone’s story arc, stripping her of agency by implying that she doesn’t really have a choice in the matter. Prophecy and destiny are story elements that have to be handled delicately and are easy to screw up, and they’re just dealt with so clumsily here.  - Also the writing was just… not very good.I’m sure there are more things I could dig up and complain about, but I feel like this is probably too long and rambly already, so I’ll stop here.

Obligatory disclaimer:This is obviously just my personal opinion. There are a lot of people who love this book (going by Goodreads ratings, I am clearly in the minority) and I am genuinely happy for them! I also mean no disrespect to the author who seems like a genuinely lovely person. 

[zanyanimalstechnologytaco]

My Hero Academia, the series, the fan media, the community all was a mistake of our time

I hate this show. More than Naruto and more than Fairy Tail. I hate Izuku, I hate Kstsuki, I hate how everyone and everything is just being forced to like everything about them, I hate All Might, I hate the Hero Association, I hate how light hearted and shallow arcs end. And I hate how things ended up with my once favorite character, his ship and everything I ever expected to be better became much worse and theres no male based fan media to or communities that allow my project myself in shouto anymore, seriously hes manly than "Cant stop Sparkling" guy now adays based on all the fan stuff he has about being with deku.

Todomomo was a mistake and Todoroki is a mistake. All bnha ships are unholy and wrong. Bnha is all shallowness and impure GARBAGE. I used to love bnha and was a big todoroki fan. But the more I invested through time in this character, the more i felt alone and isolated from the fandoms intention on shouto being bland fangirl fuel, the more I felt more distant from the character and not even the manga supports my reasons to invest in todoroki whom hori treats like the most shoehorned false hype emo in the show. And that offends me deeply, you got all these characters and the ones that you are expected to take seriously (and live through vicariously) are the most important characters in the show. Deku, Bakugou, All Might, Mineta, Kirishima and even Endeavor are these character and he obviously builds up there hidden character development in abilities and progression, shouto still struggles with his own personal development and is basically the same as he started with the added bonus of jobbing.

Oh and all the hype about him being cool and attractive, just irrelevant blanket statement extra tidbit filler, nothing meaningful but to make shouto explained why hes special, I prefer it if the story elaborates this by "showing" it, which the author just skims through with him and hand waves consistancy with contradiction in other following scenes making him seem like a weaker/dumber from before(ex. Fighting Festival(shouto a top tier student in every respect according to deku) to Stain Fight(Shouto is nothing but quirk reliant) according to Stain). Strongest quirk wise, this is all he has for him but even hes not even the most talented or intelligently trained with it, which makes me wonder of all shouto is just a blanket statement based character that just meant to exist to explore how insignificant he is with all his power and advantages compared to the main duo and other coming of age based events involving the cast. Even his father represents this more than his son.

Todomomo seems to relate to this, but its meaningless, just like everything else shouto has been portrayed by fans, based on how much the author puts his narrative into play which is also meaningless in the grander context of the story. Why make momo and shouto work together in the first place only to not build that relationship in future developments.

That pairing I hate(todomomo), I didnt hate in the beginning only to me because it was the only humanizing aspect todoroki had not related to his family and later the forced shoehorned dynamic with deku and bakugou, it made sense because the two are socially awkward people despite their supreme standing in the class and as first years and yet they both encourage each other by standing firm to overcome their own lack of socialization skills to grow as ideal people and improve socially, which seems to be working for momo now not shouto who's still the brooding loner elitist type(only has friends with elitist characters like friends too) . Now it's a husk and a relic of a potential investment in shoutos own story, I dont give a damn anymore, shoutos has no real anticipating developments to compel him to me, his quirk is boring as fuck since it's just a shooting targeting spammer, he isnt a good character to entertain me from a personal way, he really is a broken record of the same issues with a new idea, his family outside of endeavor and overcooked guy is more boring than him, and god I hate him with deku and bakugou which gives me more a reason to not bother with anything about him specifically since they will always overshadow him as story narrative and progress development narrative types, and I hate those two more. They are really just stand ins as horikoshi escapist fantasies, and both of them get more attention than any character as narratives who pretty much get the most attention in doing the most awesome feats and accomplishments as main roles. The new movie was about that. Shoutos accomplishments center around how he plays second fiddle to that basically instead of exploring the potential of being a pure equal to deku and bakugou, he gets the second in command villains or does something less than them in battles they already excell at in quirk control.

It's all worthless, shouto should not be this popular anything, and eventually this reflects in the popularity polls recently, which I noticed in the west from the previous one, shouto was less recieved by a significant margin compared to the main leads as a third place holder, maybe it shows me that todoroki is losing favor slowly, it makes sense, the author is not doing anything with him that makes people catch interest with the plot about strong heroes and villains getting more relevant as major players, while hes stronger than most the class but not plot relevant with his strength like deku has. Bakugou is like just like deku since the plot focuses on his strength to and is naturally stronger than Shouto via being the more badass and more aggressively driven he gets and thus gets as strong if not stronger and more skilled than shouto out of sheer plot armor. Shouto is just getting hotter and cold, bigger and more raw and unrefined in his power, so he has to control it which is still not as grand as bakugous perfect skills and genius and deku grander scaling in brains and brawn. If I were to make a guess, shouto is just going to to be behind them both as a stronger quirk user eventually and more about being a defensively capable than battle capable like kirishima and ochako, fitting for a major yet minor character, which disappoints me even more since shouto can be more battle creative than both of them if the author didnt have a bias in making deku and bakugou better than him despite having a stronger quirk.

God I hate this series. Theres no likable characters that are relatable or even human, there all shallow power and fanservice fantasies, the only character in class 1s that acts less cartoonish and serves as a stand in audience Surrogate is jirou and tail guy, but they are all about being generic looking compared to the unrealistically attractive guys and girls, the looney toon designed comic relief, and the recycled shonen trope cast. But if anything shouto represents all these shallow functions the most, and it's made him a less than a character too, it made him a sellout fan appeal type with no credibility as a character, which is why men dont like him due to not showing much concern to connect to him as a human narrative, at least the characters compared to him are showing why they(despite acting like shallow cliches) are interesting characters to care about, shoutos thing is telling about how tragically sympathetic his character needs to be as the only important thing about him, not as a part of him as a character to endear towards while he grows and helps build up a leading narrative with his development. His story doesnt help any part of the main lead or rivals growth, or his class, or his own personal objectives for his goals as a hero(being like all might and surpassing all might is a all purpose blanket statement to keep him near deku and bakugou as a power hype, not a individual self defined person). Dragging out objectives(season 1: being anti endeavor on surpassing all might which in the end pledges to learn not to do that and become better, season 2.Learning from the festival and from then on to being able to take endeavors legacy and take his training seriously which compared to deku and bakugou isnt enough to show much, Season 3. Promises to make people depend on him, doesnt happen since hes still the unapproachable person people in his class know him for. Season 4. Still makes promises hes gonna be a dependable hero, still accept his fire side, still be his own hero, things he repeats and fails to attempt because hori is lazy or just doesnt care about showing how much hes changed compared to his mary sue duo. etc) that dont happen and are inconsistent with new story details is why shouto is dead to me. High expectations about him are problematic since the author has agendas that don't involve story relevancy about him compared to the actual leading roles, plus the fan reception helps effect how I feel about shouto to, hes not even popular enough to have drawn pornagraphy with most all the girls and high quality momo hentai fanservice artists and circles, fucking mineta and your average joe otaku faceless male is more likely than shouto instead. That's how much the value shouto means to anyone than just a fangirl targeted audience which is just gay or bishi equivalent to sasuke fanworks and the feminine answer to male targeted audiences of characters like deku, bakugou and mineta, the worst and most common types of shonen stock characters in the series.

I hope this series and all the fans get tired of this shit when it gets eventually cancled. Or maybe it has. I dont really keep up with it anymore.

[yumeka36]

Happy birthday, Elsa!

Art credited to  星瓶

A day late on this but felt like doing something to celebrate the birthday of my favorite character~! :3 Below are excerpts from posts I’ve written about Elsa and why I think she’s amazing (and I hope to add more once Frozen 2 comes out!)

---

It’s not hard to see why Elsa has become the iconic figure of Frozen even though Anna is technically the main protagonist. It would have been easy for Disney to make Elsa either a villain (which they were going to do early in the film’s development) or yet another head-strong, reluctant princess yearning for something more. But in the end, she became a more conflicted and sympathetic character than I’m sure anyone imagined for a Disney princess; strong without being dominating or tomboyish, attractive without being girly, vulnerable without being weak, determined without being rebellious, and selfless without being blandly good. There’s an interesting parallel between Elsa and Anna in that, at first, they’re both just trying to do what they think is right – Anna wants to find true love after being sheltered for so long and Elsa wants to become the “good girl” her father wanted and take her place as queen without any trouble. But once her powers are revealed and she realizes how dangerous they’ve become, she isolates herself, not because she wanted to, but because she didn’t want to hurt anyone. And acting on that selfless decision, she discovers the ecstasy of freedom and casting off all the fears she had (fear of hurting others). Making such a noble sacrifice for others, and at the same time, reveling in the freedom of being herself and leaving behind her troubled past, is an appealing quality and is what makes Elsa more complex than the usual Disney protagonist. She doesn’t dream of true love or “something more,” no desires for herself…she just doesn’t want to live with the fear of hurting anyone. “Let It Go” is the embodiment of this transformation, and the song itself is something unique in that it almost seems like a villainous song, with Elsa basically saying “F*ck this sh*t!” by the end of it, yet it’s sung by one of the protagonists, and after we see what she went through up until then, it’s hard not to be sympathetic. I believe it’s also the only Disney song a character sings completely alone, without interacting with any other living thing throughout the sequence, which makes it even more striking. This isn’t to say that the 6-7 other songs in Frozen aren’t great – they are, but for me, “Let It Go” is the most amazing segment of singing+animation I’ve seen. There’s also the thrilling unpredictability, and beauty, of Elsa’s ice powers. It’s never explained exactly how her powers work, but a lot can be interpreted just by observing; for example, the two times she experienced utter grief – when her parents died and when Hans told her she had killed Anna – the snow and ice she creates get suspended in mid-air. The fact that we have to interpret how her powers work rather than being told anything about them makes it even more interesting. Elsa’s design is also something unique, with her snowflake-dotted platinum blonde braid and triangular cape of glittering snowflakes.

But back to her parallel with Anna, as I said, most of what Anna does in the movie is for Elsa’s sake and Arendelle’s, and it’s the same with Elsa; everything she does is to protect Anna and her kingdom. Even when she’s brought back to Arendelle by Hans, once she sees how much worse the winter becomes when she’s there, all she wants to do is get away again, saying how she’s a danger and they have to let her go. But, while she and Anna have similar goals in wanting to protect each other and their home, Anna also wants to mend the relationship with her sister, something Elsa doesn’t try to do, not because she doesn’t want to, but because she feels that it isn’t even a possibility after everything that’s happened. That’s where Anna’s optimism eventually saves the day. She so strongly believes that there’s hope for Elsa (while Elsa feels that there isn’t any) that she’d give her life for it over saving her own.

What’s also interesting about Elsa is that, besides a brief comment by Hans, finding a suitor for her isn’t even brought up. Everyone’s perfectly fine with just a queen ruling them, which is another progressive idea for a Disney movie. Getting a love interest for Elsa is something we may see in a Frozen sequel, and while there are mixed feelings about this within the fandom, I don’t think it’s a bad thing if it’s handled the right way. Seeing how Elsa reacts to romantic love rather than just sisterly love can only enhance her already great character.

Frozen 2 will have been out for a month already by this time next year, so her birthday then is going to be lit~

Art credited to  A-KA

[bigskydreaming]

gingerjab replied to your post “ANYWAY. The petition/prayer circle for Michael Trevino to be cast as...”

I’m forever an asshole obsessed with fire/ice ships so Thunderbird or Sunfire, fuck the inhumans one off and St. John. Also, Rahul Kohli as Neal Shaara/Thunderbird/Agni. Also I’m sposed to be asleep so ignore if this is a shit idea.

For the record, I actually kinda like the Inhuman guy, cuz I mean, its not his fault he’s part of a trash franchise. I think it probably helps that I’ve only ever read one issue with him, so as to render it absolutely impossible for his writing to piss me off. I like to just close my eyes and pretend he’s a mutant. Y’know. Like I do with Kamala!

Who is obviously a mutant.

(And like.....let’s be real. The dude is a pyrokinetic with a demon form, the codename INFERNO, and his REAL name is DANTE Pertuz. DANTE. INFERNO. Like, that’s the on-the-nose-fuck-your-subtlety-we-came-here-to-be-pretentious-as-fuck-with-our-literary-references-look-how-dignified-it-makes-our-character balls to the wall character concept I am HERE for. I’m like OH HAI I SEE WHAT U DID THAR. And they’re like “oh yeah? You got it? Hahaha, we were worried nobody would, phew, good job tho. Totally adds to the character right? Pretty clever of us.” And then I’d be like Hahahaha no, not even a little bit, but ‘scool, I like him anyway cuz I’m easy like that. I put out for puns.” And then they’d be like awwwww, dammit, we worked so hard on that. And I’d be like....well, that doesn’t speak highly of your abilities, I mean it was a super obvious joke. And then I stopped making up conversations with hypothetical people in my head.)

Also, in defense of comic book St. John Allerdyce and absolutely NO OTHER VERSIONS EVER because agreed, they all suck....

Comic book St. John is a snarky Australian asshole who in between acts of mutant mass destruction, has a side career as a successful romance novelist under a pen name.

(I’m not even joking. Comic book St. John, in canon, writes romance novels in his spare time as a hobby. LOLOLOL c’mon, how is that not a great character beat for a supervillain slash occasional kinda-if-you-squint-superhero).

Anyway.

I too am also trash for fire/ice ships because SCREW SUBTLETY, WE SHIP THEMATICALLY. But like, its gotta be the RIGHT fire/ice ship. I weirdly have standards with my fire/ice ships? Probably just because I’m obsessed with Bobby Drake but whatever, who cares, how is that relevant.

I mean, OBVIOUSLY, you have your proto-fire/ice ship, the one, the original, the Word I came out of the womb prepared to preach and ship and like, spread to the masses....Bobby Drake/Johnny Storm. Because like. They are elemental dorks whose competitiveness is only matched by their dumbness, how can you not love them, I DEFY YOU TO SAY.

I’m kinda meh on Iceman/Pyro, because like, original comic book Pyro and Bobby never even interacted I think? And in cartoons they’re always totally different generations/age groups, and in the movies they’re like....boring and stale and not even all that attractive and also did I mention boring, omg no offense to whomever wrote them, but I tried reading Bobby/Pyro movie fanfic years ago because like, that’s the only movie Bobby fic there is, unless you want to read about him being an asshole to Rogue and/or cheating with Kitty and just generally driving Rogue into the arms of the much (much much much much, like ewww) older Logan or Gambit. Because srsly, so appealing. So obviously, I caved and tried reading Bobby/Pyro fics because like, they had the word ‘Bobby’ in them, and the bar is too low in my X-Men fic reading habits. And omg I fell asleep. I just. It was all just the standard m/m cookie cutter generic ‘good boy plus bad boy uwu yaoi-zowey’ bleh starring two not at all deeply written or well-acted meh-looking white dudes, and just. Why.

But that’s what I mean when I say I’m wary of fire/ice ships, because sometimes with powered characters like, authors think oh hey, LOOK ONE IS FIRE AND ONE IS ICE, THIS TOTALLY COUNTS AS THEM HAVING OPPOSITES ATTRACT PERSONALITIES AND THUS I DONT NEED TO GIVE THEM A PERSONALITY, RIGHT? Like. They’re just very boring and unimaginative in execution, just because they expect the basic premise of fire and ice/’obvious opposites attract, obviously’ to do all the work for them.

(Katey if you’re reading this I’m super for sure not talking about YOUR superpowered romances, because you are wonderful and GOOD at writing and imaginative, and thus none of this applies to you. Requisite disclaimer.)

So, when they did this random Bobby/’New Pyro Dude like where did he even come from I still dont know’ hook-up, I was prepared to like, yawn endlessly, because I figured it would be more boring imaginationless ‘ooh look what an obvious pair they are and yet still praise me for how clever I am for pairing them’ crap. 

And I was absolutely right!

(But I mean, it was written by Marc Guggenheim, the odds of it sucking were totally in my favor. Betting against them being well-written under his pen might feasibly be construed as cheating. Whatever).

And also, the art did them ZERO favors, like I know they’re both generic blond dudes in their twenties, but I LITERALLY COULD NOT TELL WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WHICH in any of the panels that they were like, in bed together or dressing or talking or literally anything until they started using their powers to fight bad guys. It was soooooooo bad. Like the art just manifested every ‘look at the white gay date his mirror reflection lol what is variety even’ cliche and beat you over the head with it.

(Also Bobby is supposed to have brown hair, which at least would’ve helped a LITTLE bit. Meh. Still was gonna suck because like, nobody had any intention of WRITING them together, like, developing their characters and laying the groundwork for a possible relationship. It was just ‘oh look, the fire and ice dude got drunk at a wedding and hooked up, cool deal, now on with the story.’)

Anyway, the ONLY redeeming potential for a Bobby/Simon relationship in my opinion is ENTIRELY due to a fic I read with them. Its probably the only fic written about Simon ever, lmfao, so its not like the writer’s characterization of him has any competition among either canon or other fans’ renditions of him. But it was pretty well written, I actually liked their portrayal of Bobby, which I’m SUPER picky about in fanfics, and they actually invested time in developing Simon and his POV and giving him an actual personality and shit, that wasn’t half bad. So if Simon was written like that in the comics and their relationship progressed in similar ways, I could feasibly be on board with them.

But it won’t, so I’m not. Meh. Anyway.

I actually really REALLY like both Shiro AND Neal, with the caveat that I hate Neal’s stupid offensive-ass codename, I know Claremont only named him Thunderbird because he introduced him in an anniversary issue that was supposed to be a call-back to the original Giant Size lineup, and he needed a stand-in for John Proudstar, but like....wtf Claremont, just use your brain and save Neal to introduce a whole issue later and stick Jamie in John’s place the way everyone else does. He literally went by Thunderbird in the comics already in his Hellion days, which YOU wrote, so why the fuck did you feel the need to be stupidly offensive and act like Native American people and traditions are interchangeable with those of a guy from India? Ugh he’s so....gah.

Anyway. So I actually like both Shiro and Neal, though pretty much only when people other than Claremont are writing them, lololol. Which is admittedly...rare. Because of all his pet characters, they’re both at the top of the list of ones nobody else has any interest in touching. Bizarrely, my favorite run involving Shiro was when he was randomly shoe-horned into that Alpha Flight relaunch in the late 90s, that only lasted a couple years? Dunno if you know what I’m talking about, the team with Radius, Flex, Murmur, Heather as Vindicator and Mac was a robot or some weird shit.

I have no real thoughts on either of them with Bobby though, for a fire and ice pairing. Tbh I can’t really see Bobby/Shiro like, at ALL lmfao. For one, Shiro’s always felt written as though he’s a good ten years older than Bobby at least. Like they’re not really compatible dialogue-wise lol. And he’s pretty much never had any patience for Bobby in the comics, which has a lot to do with most of their interactions being written by Claremont himself, and Claremont infamously haaaaaaates Bobby’s character and trashes him any chance he gets, aka the few times editorial makes him actually use Bobby in a script. But I also think even under other writers, like....Shiro honestly is not the type to have any patience for Bobby’s antics or brand of humor, like.....he’s like JP but without the superficial crush JP used in canon to view Bobby’s idiosyncrasies as endearing instead of migraine inducing. I don’t think any readers would buy someone of JP or Shiro’s personality-type crushing on Bobby twice, lololol.

I DO however kinda like the idea of Neal/Bobby? If someone ever actually brought Neal back and gave him a new codename and stuck him on a team with Bobby? They’ve also barely interacted in canon, and the only time I can think of, Neal was super rude and dismissive of Bobby, because like, Claremont was writing it of course, so it made total sense for him to have the dude who’s literally been an X-Man for two issues talk down to the X-Man of several decades like the latter had no clue what he was doing, lol. Oops, still slightly salty there. 

But honestly, I doubt anyone who didn’t have hyperfixation fueled grudges on a fictional fave’s behalf would ever even remember that one canon interaction, and tbh Neal’s pretty much a blank slate character wise. His only defining traits from what little he’s been used are that he’s fairly young, in his early to mid-twenties, from a wealthy family, a little full of himself but in a ‘really wants to impress people and prove himself’ kinda way instead of an overly entitled ‘i genuinely believe I am superior to all you buffoons’ kinda way. And he was always endearingly enthusiastic and eager about new stuff he encountered from being with the X-Men.

(He was also randomly obsessed with Psylocke, but I truly think Claremont was like, well I’m just gonna write him like I would Warren Worthington because why not. So yeah, obvsly he’s super obsessed with Betsy. Duh.)

Anyway - I would like someone to do something interesting with Neal, and I think his and Bobby’s chemistry has a lot of potential and they could bounce off each other well. 

Also, I like Rahul, but I was randomly fancasting some of the more obscure X-Men awhile back for Reasons (I forget what they were tbh, but I’m sure I had them. I usually do). I came across this Indian actor named Karan Tacker and was like ohhhhhhh he totally looks like he could be Neal Shaara.

I mean, I’ve literally never seen him act, so who knows what his acting is like, but since we’ve established Neal’s character is essentially whatever the person to actually use him next wants it to be, I don’t think that’s a big deal lol.

So this is totally superficially based casting, like I think this guy looks and ‘feels’ the way Neal’s typically been drawn and the kinda vibe he gives off.

Also, incidentally, having absolutely nothing to do with anything, let alone my selection process, by pure coincidence the dude just so happens to have abs for daaaaaaays.

But I mean. Like I said, that is neither here nor there. Obviously.

Of no relevance whatsoever. I didn’t even notice, tbh. Don’t even know who hijacked my body and ghost wrote these last few sentences, quick, call an exorcist.

....oh noes, is this one of the consequences of being an ‘anti’? IS THIS MY COMEUPPANCE? *flees*

[fuanteinasekai]

Hi Kaoru and Shibata anon! Your question is behind the cut because it references spoilers.

1. I really loved ur analysis!! 2. Ur posts dont show up in the tags :( 3. thoughts on future developments shaking things up in trios dynamic ie: Kaoru? Sensei has started bringing charas back as she said w' Shibata & Kaoru sees yokai, conditionaly & is a girl, & so would relate w' all three. & "Taki finally started talking 2 girls after an awful year messed w' her social life" storyline started (tho anime muddied it w' sasada) while "Natsume/Tanuma spend time alone" storyline started beside it

(a) Thank you! Sorry I’m bad at tagging, haha.

(b) Thank you for your question! I’m afraid I don’t really see a whole lot of Shibata or Kaoru in the future. The other four kids are all schoolmates, which makes them (particularly Nishimura, being in the same class) really accessible and easy to write in, if only for brief scenes. Shibata is far enough out of town they have to take a train to see him. And Kaoru is (1) older and (2) preoccupied with her boyfriend. So I don’t see them forming a larger friend group or anything like that.

With Shibata, I could see him coming back whenever Midorikawa-sensei wants that “bull in a china shop” dynamic, but you also have to account for how slow the publishing process is. She only gets to put out 6-7 chapters a year, so when there are ongoing plot issues like Natsume’s grandfather and The Thing With Tanuma, that’s something that has to be balanced with the need for yokai-centered stories in the style she originally intended. Between the two of these, there’s very little room for lower tier characters unless they happen to fit a storyline just right. And I can’t really predict when that would happen.

As far as Kaoru goes, there’s also the potential symbolism. Since Kaoru’s story is about fighting for romantic love—and how desperate Natsume was to help make it work—it would make sense if she were brought back in that context. Especially if Natsume’s romance, like hers, were to somehow defy social conventions. *cough* I’m about 90% sure Kaoru isn’t coming back until Natsume starts explicitly addressing his romantic issues.

Btw, as far as the Taki thing: based on the Japanese, I got the impression that the point was not that her curse set her back socially. It’s that Natsume actually overestimated how much the curse was her problem. The real problem was that Taki is an absentminded nerd who’s not good at talking to people. She probably would have had an easier time making friends at a new school without her curse problem, but she was never very social. Natsume’s wording was something along the lines that Taki still lacked other friends in spite of her curse being cured. Like, she hadn’t made the kind of progress you would expect.

Also, I’m far from willing to say this is certain, but to me Taki’s relationship with that girl read as queer subtext. So it’s not really about normal friendship, exactly, but about Taki growing a bit past her yokai obsession (something Natsume+Tanuma are inherently connected to) and establishing unrelated but still very significant relationships. The concept of Taki/Natsume is actually, for both of them, something rooted in their unhealthy attachment to their past. Natsume’s childhood trauma led him to associate happiness with normality, and Taki’s remarkably easy relationship with her grandfather led her to associate yokai with close relationships, as well as to expect relationships to be super-easy. A big theme of this story is her complete failure to communicate with her own brother, despite them both caring deeply for each other. Like, she throws eclairs at him and expects him to open up? Taki, no, that’s not how it works.

I really, really, really don’t want to make definitive statements on this. I’m still super-wary of Taki/Natsume being a real, intentional thing. But the framing of the girl with Taki (and the later framing of Natsume/Tanuma) is so suggestive it’s difficult for me to look past it and see the heteronormative reading. For example, the word the girl uses for Taki, 素敵 (suteki), means “lovely.” It’s not just semi-objectively “pretty” like 綺麗 (kirei), but like... an all-encompassing term that implies someone (or something) is sort of ideal to you personally. It’s the kind of word you say while sighing. It’s not that it isn’t used platonically, but that it’s so often used in a “romantic attraction” context that it makes you go “hmm.” Also, sorry for the awkward photo, but look at the interaction with her friend:

This isn’t two girls gushing over how amazing another girl is. This is one girl and her concerned friend. And then the same girl comes to Taki, alone, at the end of the story, and stammers while asking Taki to have sweets with her? I’m sorry but that’s not subtle.

(There’s stuff like this in Tanuma’s story as well: the phrase Natsume uses for complaining that Misuzu is “interfering” with Tanuma can also mean “to hit on.” Like, as in flirting. It REALLY stands out because it actually makes sense that way.)

So in this context, Kaoru obviously wouldn’t really have anything to do with the new girl or Taki’s new openness. In fact, it’s quite the opposite: it would just be more yokai-related relationships for Taki.

(But yeah, the Sasada thing is “oops,” lol.) 

[flatstarcarcosa]

extremely detailed character meme (Van, ships: right on target and far from any road)

found this on my dash and i thought i’d fill it in! under a cut b/c it is REALLY detailed! some of the questions don’t apply for me, and i tried to make it easy to tell which ship i’m referring too b/c some things are different here and there 

Character Chart Character’s full name: Van (pronounced vaughn, rhymes with fawn) Miller Reason or meaning of name: None  Character’s nickname: None, aside from petnames Reason for nickname: None Birth date: for ship: right on target: 10/03/1990 for ship: far from any road: 10/03/1970  Physical appearance Age: ship: right on target: 29\ ship: far from any road: 24 in 95, 30 in 02, 40 in 2012 How old do they appear: Perpetually babyfaced. So about 15 or so until they hit their mid 30′s Weight: honestly i don’t know Height: 5′2 (look what’s the point of a self insert if i can’t achieve my dream of being at least five foot tall all right) Body build: stronk.  Shape of face: square ish?  Eye color: grey Glasses or contacts: glasses, doesn’t like them unless they’re sunglasses though, prefers to squint and look like a hamster  Skin tone: pale/sickly at times, tan if they’ve been in the sun, but still very white  Distinguishing marks: pointy canines  Predominant features: nothing really sticks out, van’s physical features are pretty normal Hair color: naturally a muted blonde. prone to dying it a bright yellow in 95 and 02 for ship: far from any road. dyed black for ship: right on target Type of hair: straight Hairstyle: fluffy, over hair sprayed mullet ponytail thing for ‘95, ‘02 has a less hair band style looking thing but still pretty punky, ‘12 Van has what i call the ‘business undercut’ (far from any road). also just a normal, kind of spiky undercut for (right on target) Voice: i dont know how to answer this?  Overall attractiveness: this is just a bad question  Physical disabilities: I’m gonna break this one down because one thing i love about my self inserts is modifying my own, actual disabilities a bit so: far from any road: van has kidney and bladder problems that get progressively worse as time goes on, and undiagnosed celiac disease. because of a severe motorcycle accident in ‘89 they also have a weak/bum leg that is prone at times to flaring up with pain and instability with no warning. after a second motorcycle accident in ‘95, these things get a lot worse. by the time ‘12 rolls around van resigns themself to having traded in their bike years earlier for an actual car and using a cane. they’re not happy about it.  right on target: same kidney/bladder/digestive issues. bum leg is a side effect of general chronic pain caused by it. their leg has a habit of still going out at random, and despite needing a cane sometimes they refuse to use it. lester always keep an eye out in case their leg is about to collapse under them. he’s grabbed them many times to keep them from hitting the ground.  Usual fashion of dress: dark, leather, jeans, punky looking things.  Favorite outfit: leather jacket, motorcycle boots even if they’re not riding, jeans.  Jewelry or accessories: big clunky silver rings. right on target!van has a solid black metal band on their left thumb that matches one lester has.

Personality Good personality traits: tries to be kind, tries to make things better for others at the expense of themself, funny, loves animals,  Bad personality traits: addiction problems, quick temper, far from any road!van likes to hustle people at bars and get into bar fights but usually only if they’ve been provoked  Mood character is most often in: it cycles a lot, so  Sense of humor: good? this is a vague question  Character’s greatest joy in life: photography, making people laugh, alone time Character’s greatest fear: death, being in poverty again/being stuck in poverty,  Why? being poor is Not Fun What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? far from any road: something happening to rust. they don’t realize at it first but he’s become their grounding agent, and without him there to balance them out they would not fare well.  right on target: lester’s brief stint of being fucking dead and murdered on TV wasn’t a good time.  Character is most at ease when: it’s cold and rainy out and they have an excuse to stay in bed and snooze.  Most ill at ease when: surrounded by too many people and too many noises. Enraged when: hhhhhhhhhhhhh often? the worst they get is in ‘95 when marty makes a few jabs at their trauma and they beat him bloody before rust pulls them off him.  Depressed or sad when: also often, sometimes for no reason. thats kind of what clinical depression is. Priorities: money. taking care of themself with it in order to be able to help others. Life philosophy: sometimes you don’t have to be great, you can just be okay.  If granted one wish, it would be: ability to change gender/sex characteristics at will. Why? it’s the transgenderism (i use that word satirically and as a joke, for those that don’t know that’s a te]]]rf dogwhistle in other situations, a lot of trans people have taken it back)  Character’s soft spot: their pets and the fact that being a raging asshole is a front they have to actively work at. Is this soft spot obvious to others? depends on the person. to rust? yes. to lester? not as much.  Greatest strength: refusal to give up. Greatest vulnerability or weakness: raging asshole disease and the addiction issues. Biggest regret: developing addiction issues.   Minor regret: it also cycles like their moods. Biggest accomplishment: far from any road: got a bachelor’s degree in sociology before deciding to get into journalism.  right on target: ??? van doesn’t feel accomplished. lester is trying to encourage them at going to college but he’s not very good at it.  Minor accomplishment: “not fucking dead yet, assholes”  Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: far from any road: van was never able to find out who it was in the south texas area that was targeting members of the LGBT community, that’s the whole reason they ended up with the crusaders and met rust, they had reason to believe it was someone connected to the gang. despite help from rust, the investigation went nowhere and all they have is a half finished expose.  right on target: they didn’t try to leave an abusive situation sooner. Why? see above Character’s darkest secret: i? don’t know??   Does anyone else know? N/A Goals Drives and motivations: just live the best they can Immediate goals: not die Long term goals: not die, perhaps be less of an alcoholic  How the character plans to accomplish these goals: slowly?  How other characters will be affected: they help.  Past Hometown: --- Type of childhood: traumatic Pets: dogs, frogs, turtles, hamsters First memory: ---- Most important childhood memory: ----  Why:  ------ Childhood hero:------ Dream job: ------ Education: bachelor’s degree for far from any road, GED for right on target Religion: atheistic but understanding and accepting of others Finances: far from any road: not fucking superb, hence the side hustles. right on target: poor  Present Current location: far from any road: Louisiana, i don’t remember TD ever stating where at aside from in the sticks right on target: NYC  Currently living with: rust or lester  Pets: far from any road is various pets at various times, right on target is initially just the doggo. Religion: still the same  Occupation: hustler slash freelance journalist for far from any road, unemployed for right on target Finances: better by 2012 (far from any road) thanks to a boring but stable office job, and for right on target they have lester’s money now and even lester doesn’t know how much he has aside from “a lot”. Family Mother: ------- Relationship with her: nonexistent    Father: Bastard Sr. Relationship with him: nonexistent.  Siblings: sister, older Relationship with them: non existent Spouse: rust/lester Relationship with him/her: i mean in both settings it’s a long term (rust right at around 20 years if you count their time in the crusaders initially, lester about 7 years) so, good if complicated at times Children:  no Relationship with them: none Other important family members: none  Favorites Color: purple, green, black Least favorite color: red Music: prog rock Food: pizza, waffles, hash browns, cereal  Literature: lots! really, its across all genres Form of entertainment: viddy gaems Expressions: what?  Mode of transportation: motorcycle or car  Most prized possession: also motorcycle or car Habits Hobbies: viddy gaemz, photography, sketch comedy  Plays a musical instrument? nah Plays a sport? is pool a sport?  How he/she would spend a rainy day: cozy in bed, s***ing some d***  Spending habits: they are fucking cheap as fuck whether they have money or not Smokes: yes, they say they’re planning to quit but [thor voice] is he though  Drinks: yes, it’s the alcoholism  Other drugs: pills mostly. to be fair they do HAVE to have a lot of meds because of chronic illness but they do love them some benzos  What does he/she do too much of? drinks, sleeps, smokes What does he/she do too little of? healthy food, exercise  Extremely skilled at: hustling. that works in both setting because with rust they learned it themself, with lester he taught them. also, writing.  Extremely unskilled at: art, socialising with people  Nervous tics: knuckle cracking,  Usual body posture: crosses arms a lot  Mannerisms: ???? Peculiarities: ????? Traits Optimist or pessimist? pessimist  Introvert or extrovert? introvert  Daredevil or cautious? cautious  Logical or emotional? both actually, it’s not fun Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? disorderly and messy, clashes with rust’s methodical and neat Prefers working or relaxing? relaxing  Confident or unsure of himself/herself? switches rapidly between both  Animal lover? yes Self-perception How he/she feels about himself/herself: bad.  One word the character would use to describe self: asshole  One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: no good alcoholic junkie with a shitty temper, a shittier outlook and few skills or worth to bring to the table except a raging selfish streak What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? sense of humor  What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? temper  What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? thicc What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? crippled How does the character think others perceive him/her: badly,  What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: alcoholism  Relationships with others Opinion of other people in general: they try to be cordial, unless they’re in traffic, in which case it’s fuck you and your fucking mother you stupid fucking motherfucker  Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others? yes Person character most hates: [redacted]  Best friend(s): @dadbodsandbots is p much hanging out somewhere in every setting  Love interest(s): rust and lester  Person character goes to for advice: they don’t, that requires enough vulnerability to admit there’s a problem Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: also rust and lester Person character feels shy or awkward around: van is very uncomfortable around marty most of the time, he reminds them of their father. it smooths out as time goes on, but still. also when lester was stuck with the DA, they didn’t like daken at first  Person character openly admires: ehh? Person character secretly admires: ehh?  Most important person in character’s life before story starts: ehh?  After story starts: ehh? 

found here

[sovietarchive-blog]

so i need to know what are certian things you see in illya others dont? does he fear anything? does he wish to redo anything? what is his relationship with solo & teller now? does he still see himself as a monster? how do you canon his sexuality and kgb training? is more attuned to uncle or the kgb? has he seen his parents ever again? does he lile to travel, if so best place he traveled? what was the one thing he got in trouble for the most as a child? who does he look up to?

          thank you so much for sending this in!  I love questions like this and don’t get the opportunity to answer them very often.  while I can’t say that I definitively see things in illya that other people definitely don’t  –  I do flatter myself that I’ve put an enormous amount of thought into his character and understand him pretty well, so I’m really excited to delve into all of these things!

does he fear anything?

          illya is very, very human, despite what some might think.  (see: solo’s initial comments to his superior officer after that first chase with him.)  he certainly has fears, although death isn’t among them ;  he’d much rather die with honor than live with shame.  for the most part, he’s been desensitized to fears the way most people see them, as part of his kgb training, because ultimately the goal is for these agents to have very little for their enemies to hold over their heads / threaten them with.  that said, his superiors, as exhibited in the film, actively fed illya’s single deepest fear:  ending up like his father.  in a way, I think that fear was partially artificially created by the institution which got its claws into him at an incredibly young age ;  even before his official kgb training, he attended ‘exclusive’ schools closely monitored by the government and was fed propaganda which eventually morphed his opinion of both himself and his country, which we see later.

          illya has very little concern for his own self-preservation and clearly quite a low self-image, in that he sees himself as little more than a cog in the soviet machine.  shame on himself is shame on his country  –  and perhaps more importantly than that, shame on his family.  his mother remains a deeply important part of his life and I think that he fears for her reputation as well.  solo brings up his mother’s reputation in the movie  –  and I think illya’s rage has less to do with how his father’s friends saw her and more with the fact that these were things she had to do in order to keep herself and her young son afloat.  he never wants to put her in the same position his father did, and the idea of shaming himself and compromising her in the process is also a great fear of his.  all other fears, in comparison, are inconsequential.

does he wish to redo anything?

          I’m not sure illya has ever felt like he has the sort of autonomy to be able to wish this.  even later on in life, when he’s been given the opportunity to step back from the soviets, join u.n.c.l.e., and eventually retire, even after he comes to terms with the fact that he didn’t deserve what they did to him, he realizes that things could not have ended up any other way.  he was too young to have had the opportunity to make a choice when they got their hands on him, and by the time he’s deep into the kgb, it was simply too dangerous to try to leave  –  and he has his mother to think about.  fortunately, u.n.c.l.e. provided him some relief and eventually he gets to leave spying entirely, but when it comes to wishing he could redo things?

          honestly there’s the occasional moment he wishes he could relive.  he wishes he could say something else to someone he likes, instead of being his awkward self.  he wishes he would have used a different move in a fight or a different interrogation tactic in a particular moment.  but when it comes to overarching themes of his life?  there’s not much he feels he could have done differently even if he wanted to.

what is his relationship with solo & teller now?

          I can honestly say that every dynamic I’ve ever imagined or rped with others has me convinced that, despite occasional roadblocks, illya grows to deeply care for both solo and teller more than anyone he’s ever cared for in his life, except perhaps his mother.  you see those relationships growing in the duration of the film, but illya  …  well, frankly, he’s never had anything like a functional family, nor people he feels actually care about him.  his relationship with gaby obviously progresses more quickly in the film  –  in that he’s willing to even voice his concern about her to solo later on and he’s very soft with her particularly in their last one on one scene  –  but I think that solo returning his watch is a real turning point in their relationship.  obviously, they’ve grown to care in some capacity about each other and they’re in a place where they won’t leave each other behind.  illya definitely feels some level of camaraderie with solo even before this moment.  but until then, he’s absolutely planning on killing solo for the disc.  sure, illya is aware that solo was, more or less, saving his own skin in that moment  –  but the fact that solo a) remembered the significance of the watch, b) considered that even as they were storming that island and c) thought enough of it to both recognize and take back the watch to begin with, is more thoughtfulness by far than illya is used to, despite the motivations of the exact moment in which he returns it.

          the following scene, in which they burn the disc, is by far the most egregious breach of orders illya has ever committed, but not only is he unwilling to destroy this relationship he’s built up, no matter how tenuous it remains, he’s also fully aware of the implications of either the u.s.a. or soviet union getting their hands on that disk.

          I can only imagine those strange yet strong bonds deepen with each mission.  regardless of any romantic connections, which largely rely on my rp partners, he would die for either of them, whether or not they feel the same.  he’s never had a dynamic support system like the one they offer, and frankly, I think waverly, to some extent, is included in this as well.  as far as illya is concerned, even if only on a subconscious level, this is the closest thing he’s had since childhood to a real family and he’ll do anything to protect that.

does he still see himself as a monster?

          yes and no.  having functional and meaningful relationships with other people, as we see him developing at the end of tmfu, certainly helps him understand his humanity outside of what the kgb expects of him.  I think he will always be somewhat ashamed of some of the things he’s done  –  and alarmingly blasé about others  –  and he’s certainly, to some extent, broken for the rest of his life, but having gaby and solo in his life absolutely helps him rebuild at least some of his opinion of himself, allowing him to see more than just a monster or a machine, because they help him see more than that, too.

          I haven’t written much about his relationship with waverly either  …  but I’m fairly convinced that the human way in which waverly treats them  ( shitty sarcastic jokes and all )  helps a great deal with this recovery process as well.  the way his soviet handler speaks to him is alarmingly awful, and even though waverly pokes dry fun at both the boys at almost all times, I have a hard time believing he wouldn’t be a far more empathetic boss than illya is used to  –  likely checking in on their well being, as he did for gaby, and just generally being  …  a pleasant superior in the harsh world of intelligence.  specifically I headcanon that waverly learns everything he can about illya’s skills and encourages him to use all of them, particularly those that aren’t connected to his physical prowess and rather to his intellectual side, which I think is often underutilized and underestimated by others.

how do you headcanon his sexuality and kgb training?

          since I don’t have time to go into his whole kgb training, I’m just going to kind of  …  do this as a ‘how did his training affect his sexuality’ even though I don’t know if that’s how it’s meant.  it’s really quite simple:  russia has never felt great about homosexuality, so although he’s always been attracted to men, it’s always something he’s vehemently ignored and tried to move past.  it’s been drilled into him over and over that same sex attraction is a bad thing  –  and furthermore that the government won’t hesitate to hurt him over it.  it’s something that makes him feel dirty and wrong for a very long time, at least until he’s a little more freed from their expectations.

          illya has been aware of his attraction to both men and women since he was in his mid-teens.  do I think he was ever punished for it?  no, because he’s always been quiet, cautious, and watchful.  I don’t think he’s ever told anybody up until  ( and frankly past )  tmfu canon, because before he ever had the chance to trust anyone enough to reveal it, he saw what happened to those who did and were found out.  within the ranks, it could be brutal and it put him off ever vocalizing his feelings, encouraging him instead to hold those urges back for years.

          in this way, u.n.c.l.e. serves yet another healthy purpose for him.  it gives him just a little more freedom to explore himself  –  and furthermore, an environment in which to do it.  I’m a big subscriber to the napoleon / illya ship and I actually don’t think that illya had much, if any, experience with men before he and solo started their thing  –  which again varies depending on who I’m rping with / what situation I’m thinking of.  this is something he’s repressed for a very long time, and no matter what, it takes time for him to be comfortable with his sexuality.  I also can’t get on board with the initial solo / illya hate-fucking that I see a lot, even though I really wish I could, mostly because I think that illya would absolutely have to learn to trust solo long before he’d be willing to engage with him sexually  --  because he’s terrified of the repercussions and what the russians would do to him, his mother, and his reputation as a result if they found out.

is he more attuned to u.n.c.l.e. or the kgb?

          I think that, at first, he’d like to think it’s the kgb, but he’s always been more attuned to u.n.c.l.e.  I’ve explained many of the reasons why further up in this post, but it basically comes down to the fact that u.n.c.l.e. offers him a camaraderie that the kgb never has and the people he works with in the organization actually care about him as a human being rather than just a weapon.

has he seen his parents ever again?

          he never saw his father after he was shipped off to siberia when illya was a child.  however, as for his mother, he did actually grow up with her still around and he maintains a pretty good relationship with her, although he doesn’t care for the man she eventually chose to remarry, who was a friend of his father’s.  he talks to her somewhat regularly and spends holidays with her when he can, although often he ends up being away and simply sends her a present.  he loves his mother very much and will always be available for her, no matter what.

does he like to travel?  if so, what’s the best place he’s ever traveled?

          this is another ‘yes and no’ question.  he’s spent the majority of his career traveling and I think that he has questionable memories in the majority of the world.  he equates a lot of his traveling experience with his profession and that’s not necessarily a good thing for his opinion of it.  however, he’s also an academic and he does love to visit certain locations around the world when he can.  he loves germany.  he loves vienna.  he loves egypt and scotland and croatia.  he didn’t initially like paris at all but he’s grown to truly appreciate it over the years.

          after his retirement, I think he finds much more peace in traveling for himself and thus will enjoy it more.  however, as for his favorite place, I headcanon that he purchases land sometime during his career in the black forest of western germany, a few miles outside a small town, in a very picturesque location where he can essentially just  ...  disappear.  the mystery and lore and beauty of that area just  ...  fits him wonderfully.  I think he’d want a place outside of russia in addition to his moscow flat, which he visits less and less as he gets older, and the entire area is just so lovely and fairly isolated and would give him an opportunity to really live his best life.  it’s not so much traveling, as he would live there, but it would certainly be his favorite place.  it’s peaceful and beautiful and honestly waht he deserves.

what was the one thing he in trouble for the most as a child?

          he was largely a very well behaved child, especially after his father was taken away, and I don’t think he got into pretty much any trouble after his father was taken to the gulag, because it scared him too much.  he was also always a very quiet boy without too many friends and certainly not prone to being disruptive or careless or really even particularly reckless.  ( even the recklessness we see in the film is typically very calculated. )  as a schoolchild, I think he used to get in trouble for a) not engaging well with other children and b) probably trying to read while the teacher taught, on occasion.

          when the ‘ psychotic episodes ’ began  ...  that was a different story.  I think that he unwittingly hurt several fellow students and was subsequently sent to reform / military schools.  nobody really did much to help what was happening to him and instead the government eventually took advantage of this part of him.  he has them largely under control now, but it’s still something that continues to haunt him  --  and that he continues to struggle with regularly, as we see.

who does he look up to?

          illya’s past is  ...  almost devoid of any role models, when you really think about it.  his superiors were almost always fairly cruel, and while he respected them and strove to please, I don’t really think he looked up to them.  he once looked up to his father, but that faded once he was sent off ;  frankly, his father broke his heart and betrayed him, and while he still holds love for him in his heart, I wouldn’t say he looks up to him.

          in his youth, I think that illya was guided largely by the heroes of russian literature, in the absence of anyone of flesh and blood.  grigoriy pechorin of lermontov’s a hero of our time.  pierre bezukhov of tolstoy’s war and peace.  ( oddly )  rodion raskolnikov of dostoyevsky’s crime and punishment.  university had an excellent influence on him, however, as the professors he encountered there gave him an opportunity to look up to real people, and he remains in contact particularly with his mentors from his graduate and doctorate programs, as often as he can.  university was the first time when he connected with people he felt were interested in mentoring him, rather than simply controlling him, and it was a very positive experience for him.

          I also believe that he eventually develops a real respect and admiration for waverly as a superior officer.  waverly, who is intelligent, often kind, but also firm.  waverly, who grows to understand illya’s humor more quickly than others do.  waverly, the first superior in his life who genuinely ends up being kind to him.  in his life as a spy, this relationship ends up providing him the most guidance and confidence, eventually.

[blacktomatolive]

Ok is it just me or its a bad habit of mine to never let the patience get the best of me while reading a story, skipping plot development and build up - essentially 2 characters whom you are rooting for not interacting/no whatsoever hint or the absence of stimuli and external forces that points both characters to consider possible attraction one has towards each other, and fcking spoil yourself with the outcome by jumping to the part to find out if they are together. Yeah. Thats how I cope with slowburn. Time and again I remind myself to hold it out and kick this horsesheat behaviour cold turkey. There you have it. Not even coming close to imperceptible progress. I guess I deserve the painstaking abandoned chapters catch - wont call it a pleasant rewind - stomach all the write up, dont get me started especially when one or both characters are already in or start a relationship with someone else, just because if the writer is willing to give up their blood and sweat, energy, time, hell life essence for us, and we on the receiving end feel truly connected to and fully engrossed or at once with the story, the least I could do is to do right by them, make it a mission to consume the whole story. I might have a list of unfinished stories on the side, but hey no excuse. There re some guilts and Im eating them up.

[sonic-nyoom]

so wait you dont like boom!sonamy because Boom!Amy is not the type of girl to really be all that encouraging as Modern Amy is to Modern Sonic, but are fine if Modern Amy swapped places with Boom Amy? Yet you dont like Modern Sonamy? I dont get that. I though what you wanted was for Amy to mature and ease up on her affection for Sonic. Which she does in Boom. She sill loves and supports him, but not to the point Modern would. So you want her to ease up, or to be super suppertive?

Okay, out of the multiple asks I’m guessing are mostly from you since they were sent in a very short timespan, this one I can actually follow and understand because I was admittedly very vague about it in my original post.

Gonna make three things abundantly clear right off the bat:

1 - Modern!Amy > Boom!Amy every time; that doesn’t mean I’m super fond of either of them, but if I had to choose, I’d immediately pick Modern!Amy.

2 - Modern!Sonic ≠ Boom!Sonic; they both have fairly different personalities, meaning how I’d fit them with other characters is also different. I might say that Modern!Amy is not good for Modern!Sonic, but that doesn’t mean I think the other way around as false. In fact, I firmly believe that Modern!Sonic is not good for Modern!Amy either.

3 - They are not swapping places; that would imply that Boom!Amy just has Modern!Amy’s personality, which is not what I’m going for here. This AU involves the two universes having some sort of portal to connect to each other and only the two Sonic being aware of it at first, so they decide to have a little fun.

The AU (which isn’t even supposed to be taken that seriously anyway) is about Modern!Amy developing as a character. Through the AU, she progresses as a character, because, while she DOES think Boom!Sonic is Modern!Sonic at first, she eventually realizes that this isn’t the case, which is where the AU actually takes off.

Now, firstly, let me point out the key differences between both Amy and both Sonic. Modern!Amy is extremely supportive, while Boom!Amy is more - I don’t agree with this word, but since you used it, I will too - “mature”. However, while Modern!Sonic gets enough support as it is, Boom!Sonic does not. Thus, ironically, the thing that the writers did to make Boom!Amy more compatible with Boom!Sonic actually makes her less compatible.

Modern!Sonic is constantly moving, always exploring new places and never staying in one place for very long. Boom!Sonic is more relaxed; he loves running, but doesn’t go exploring often and enjoys lounging in his hammock, away from all the noise and distress of the villagers. Those traits are key, because Modern!Amy hates it when Modern!Sonic goes off on his own. She wants someone who’s more there for her, and Boom!Sonic would actually have the time to give her that.

And, at the start of the AU, Boom!Sonic would actually take a bit of advantage of the situation. He’s a nice guy of course, but he’s a little selfish too since he’d like Modern!Amy’s attention, fearing ruining it by outing himself as being not-her-Sonic.

Through Modern!Amy, he stops feeling like he has to always be the ego guy; like he can actually be himself without needing to put himself on a pedestal just to make himself feel better, as there’s a girl who does seem to really like him. Even if he’s living a lie, what he does actually makes her smile.

But once the secret is out, Modern!Amy would start questioning herself. There would be two Sonic now; does she love them both? That would be shallow of her, loving a Sonic just because he’s Sonic, wouldn’t it? And yet, she enjoyed the time she had with Boom!Sonic, loving him like she would Modern!Sonic, even if she was mistaken.

Maybe part of her even knew that this wasn’t her Sonic; maybe part of her was certain of it, but didn’t want to believe it because this one was spending time with her and loved her company.

That’s where the development comes in. She would either move on from Modern!Sonic or become friends with Boom!Sonic which would then blossom into a legitimate crush. This makes her mature and supportive; something Boom!Amy is not.

Modern!Amy is a lot of things; she’s obsessive, she’s got a short fuse, and she doesn’t understand that Modern!Sonic is just not interested.

But, you know what? No matter what she did, I never for a moment thought that she didn’t care about him. Even if it was just his hero side, I at least got the impression that she legitimately cared.

For comparison’s sake, let’s look at two episodes that try to paint Sonic as a bad guy, “The Light is Ours!!” from Sonic X, and “Just a Guy” from Sonic Boom.

Now, before anyone says, “Just a Guy is a satire!”, that’s no excuse. The villagers are supposed to be the pawns for the writers to do whatever they want, not Sonic’s “friends”. Thus, I will judge them as such.

The light arc of Sonic X has Eggman as a “good guy” for giving all these people the lights they need, and Sonic as the “bad guy” for taking those away by knocking down the towers that power them.

Now, keep in mind that Amy doesn’t even know Sonic’s reasoning for doing this, yet, what’s her reaction to it?

She trusts him, because “she likes him”. She doesn’t know why he’s doing these things, but she has faith in him anyway.

In “Just a Guy”, Sonic is practically hated by everyone in the village because he didn’t want someone to get hurt. That’s literally it. He had no other way of conveying this and everyone got offended.

What does Amy do? She goes full-on lecture mode on him and tells him that he has to change, that he has to apologize.

And when Sonic loses his cool and storms off? Does she feel bad for pushing him? Nope! In fact, she tricks him by taking everyone else away from the village, leaving it thoroughly unprotected, so that Sonic is forced to step up because he’s a nice guy who can’t stand to see the village destroyed. And, she doesn’t even have a problem straight up admitting this right to his face when they come back down from the mountains after he’d saved the day.

That is not maturity. That is manipulation.

Sonic Boom likes to act like their Amy is better. Sonic Boom likes to act like she’s a better character, but she’s not.

Modern!Amy, despite her faults, at least cares. No matter what, her attraction is at least right out in the open. She’s immature in her obsessiveness, but she has a goal. She doesn’t dance around the problem; she actually goes for it.

If Boom!Amy was as mature as she’s claimed to be, why doesn’t she actually do something and confess to Boom!Sonic already? She’s definitely not shy, because she’s been very forward about literally everything else. If she doesn’t want to ruin their relationship, oh, yeah, that ship totally hasn’t sailed or anything. If she was really this touchy-feelsy type who’s always supposed to have the solution to everyone’s problem, then she needs to get off her high horse, buck up, and stop dancing around this apparent crush.

I know why she’s not saying anything. She’s not saying anything because she wants him to confess to her. She wants to sit her on her throne and not care how long it takes if it means not doing anything. She wants someone who’s romantic and will sweep her off her feet (going off of Tails’ Crush), and that’s not what Boom!Sonic is.

Either that, or the other option being that she has this fleeting attraction for him, which would more easily explain why she falls for every other guy introduced (e.g: Swifty, Tommy, alternate!Knuckles), thus negating this whole shipping argument anyway.

Modern!Amy doesn’t expect Modern!Sonic to be super romantic. Walks on the beach, a flower or date here and there, but that’s it. This is why the AU exists. Boom!Sonic gets the support he wants and deserves while Modern!Amy gets someone whose personality is similar to one she originally had her eyes on, but is actually better for her and is thus a more logical match. Plus, she gets to mature through the thought process of what it means to be in love and what someone being in love with her means.

[tumblunni]

also wtf who designed rune factory 4 this way THIS IS MY ONLY COMPLAINT IN AN AMAZING GAME why are all the romance routes entirely random?? even after youve reached the relationship milestones its COMPLETELY RANDOM whether the event will start every day same for every friendship event and town event and even some plot events you just have to sit there at your bed constantly skipping days for multiple years til the random number god gives you the marriage scene you did EVERYTHING to earn this marriage scene and you have nothing left to do but wait and youll never see any new events with that character until it happens, and you have a very limited amount of dates to go on while youre waiting, and they all do NOTHING except raise the relationship bar over maximum which does nothing. doesnt even increase the chance of the random event?? why even LET me increase it over maximum if it does nothing? thats just tricking me into thinking i havent unlocked the marriage event yet! when I HAVE and i just need to WAIT A BAZILLION YEARS OF RANDOM

anyway i finally got Leon’s random marriage quest and it was Awesome and So Many Tears and now im even more conflicted on who to marry gahhhhh its such a shame you cant resolve everyone’s plot unless you date them, i feel so bad dating all these people when im not able to marry them all, just cos i wanna fix their lives and make them happy but then theyre gon be sad that we didnt get married aaaa

and Leon is especially saddddd

now cos his whole plot is that he had a depressing scenario with a friend as a kid. She loved him but he saw her as just a little sister, and he jokingly promised to marry her once when they were too young to understand. And he didnt know she took it seriously until after he DIED and reincarnated as a fox monster person centuries later too late to do anything about it. And he’s crushed full of guilt that he somehow led her on, and he was never able to apologise, and he’s scared she spent her whole life waiting for him to come back. and then you get this very cool series of sidequests thatre a realistic look at translating languages, and its really motivational how leon is able to help bring knowledge of a dead language back to life and preserve the ancient culture that people thought was lost BUT THEN ENDLESS FUCKIN TRAGEDY kiel accidentally finds an old diary of leon’s friend (WHAT ARE THE ODDS) and he has frickin detailed anxiety attacks unable to even hold the damn paper cos he’s shaking so much and you go on a big treasure hunt to find all the pages and he’s just CRYING SO MUCH mr playboy man! mr flirty asshole! mr stoic! he’s fuckin crying and he cant hold a book without your help and aaaa and his whole story is about how he isnt really the negative stereotypes of a flirty character, he really REALLY values love and he feels depressed he cant love everyone who loves him, so he tries to fake it. And he tries to push people away whenever it seems genuine, but also like... entertain them enough that they dont feel he doesnt love them, i guess? and no matter how promiscuous a person is, they still cant love EVERYONE, you cant just force a relationship on them and say they must be asking for it cos they date other people and enjoy sex. its so depressing that he considers his biggest flaw that he wasnt able to force himself to love someone he didnt, especially when he did care about her, just as a best friend instead! if theyd just talked about it, it would have saved all this heartache for both of them! so then we start piecing together this book and it looks like his worst fears are confirmed, she spent her whole life waiting for him and hating him and its really fucking EXPLODINGLY SAD and then the quest is a bit confusing so i spent several days stuck on this point not knowing who to talk to next, going through random dungeons in case that somehow helped. turned out i did find the right spot but the quest just doesnt progress until you talk to the right person first GAH! stuck for five days on crying leon scene!! NOOOOOO but I finally got past it and CLIMACTIC HAPPY END or bittersweet end more like we find out we mistranslated one bit which was actually PAGE NUMBERS, and we were missing a page all along! and then the final page reveals that she actually moved on and found a new love and had a happy family and grew old together, and her only frustration with leon was imagining that he couldnt find the same thing, worrying that she’d betrayed him. So this wasnt a diary, it was actually a letter she wrote for him to find, having confidence he’d wake up someday and have another chance at happiness! She just wanted him to know that she kept his memory alive and she’s sorry and she was happy and AAAAAAUUUGH im tearing up again the bit that really got me was that we find out that leon’s favourite romance novel was actually written by her. It was so popular it survived into the modern day as a literature classic, and it convinces him that she really was happy with her new boyfriend if she could write something as beautiful as this. And he wants to embody the spirit of the book with you, and keep his new promise to her to have a happy family of his own :) ... AGHHHHHHHHAAAAAHHHHH why cant i marry everyone why do so many of them have plots where it seems like they wont be happy unless i love them... even now i dont really think the leon pairing is my favourite, i wish i could have had this plot as a friendship route! i think it would have resonated just as much since the whole backstory is about him being friends with someone who had unrequited love for him. i wanna be leon’s bestie and ultimate wingman! I like him a lot but I dont really think i wanna marry him! IM SO SORRY LEON AAAA he’s such a soulful beefcake dammit I’m sure he’d find a bazillion better lovers! I’m sure a lot of players did marry him! WHY DO I FEEL SO GUILTY AAAAA its not fair, aaaa arthur was the first one i dated and i also really care about him but in his case his way of acting in the romance isnt very different to when youre just friends so i dont think i wanna commit to that relationship maybe? it might change when i see his final random event but i dont get much ‘he’ll be happy with you’ vibes, its just strengthening their powerful brotp that they had from the start of the game. he feels like someone protagonist would indeed date, but theyd part again on friendly terms after it didnt work out, and then be amicable exes who still care a lot about each other. and I just feel like I wanna marry dylas even though he’s had the least tragic events so far. gahhhh! he just seems SO HAPPY dating you, and has loads of character development since it started, unlike the other two ive seen the dates for. he feels like he’s actually getting something out of this that he wouldnt if we were just friends? its so hard trying to weigh up the pros and cons of romance options in games when im inacapble of actually being attracted to anyone, its just ‘i care about you all and i wanna give you the best possible ending’. I haaaaate when games have it so that romance is always the best possible ending for every single character and they all suffer forever if you dont pick them :P and I havent even seen the romances with the other three dudes yet! GAHHHHH!! Theyre all the ones I wasnt immediately interested in dating, but that opinion could totally change, i could end up with a six way tie :P ... ALSO RANDOM BUT is anyone else really uncomfortable with the queerbaiting in this game? there is a LOt, a LOT of ‘lol maybe gay’, sometimes so clear that it seems the game is outright canonically stating this character is gay or bisexual yet you have no option to marry them unless youre the opposite sex. It gets REALLY uncomfortable with Dylas, he just,,, does not express any interest in women at all unless the player pursues him. And his mutual crush with doug is CONSTANTLY REFERENCED, and called out very clearly for what it is. IOf the game didnt keep pointing it out i would have been able to shrug it off as just accidental chemistry from a failed rivalry plotline or something, but we have EVERYONE saying ‘oh a lover’s quarrel’ and ‘be honest about your feelings’ and ‘i bet you wanna see doug in a swimsuit’ and ‘gee i really wanna see doug in a swimsuit’ and IT CANT BE ANY MORE CANON THAN THIS. And.. like.. Dylas even says he DOESNT wanna see women in swimsuits, he’s just here at the beach cos Doug might come along. He does not express any interest in women at all except the protagonist! It makes me feel SO uncomfortable! it feels like he’s actually gay, when with most other characters they seem bisexual?? I dunno how to explain it, thats just how it comes off to me. Why is there no option for him and doug to date, why cant i date him as the male protagonist?? His romance route is so totally gender neutral, i did the postgame protagonist swap cheat and it just feels more in-character for him this way. if im gonna steal him away from Doug i dont want it to be a weird gay conversion therapy type thing, it just feels so WEIRD. The one and ONLY stated crush he has on another character, and its gay, and theres NO OPTION FOR IT TO HAPPEN and then he suddenly becomes 100% straight and never talks about doug again if a fem protagonist dates him. SO WEEEEEIRD... I’m just gonna sit here on the non-canon bonus feature dylas x male protag train and never leave. If you cant have doug you shall have the transitioned me! Its funny cos he’s like the only batchelor i very vehemently cannot ship with fem protag, yet do with male protag :P but GAHHH leon deserves a family and i could give him a child and aaaaa SO HARD TO CHOOSE also i am sad that the postgame cheatmode lets you switch to any character but if its not one of the two protags its only your overworld model and not your face portraits. Its weird because every batchelor and batchelorette has the exact same full set of emotions and costumes, so why cant i access that?? its also a shame cos it means i cant roleplay my doug and dylas marriage properly :P CMON MAN WHY U EVEN TELL ME THEY IN LOVE IF THEY CANT BE IN LOVE :P they have the best portmanteau ship name too! douglas! :P