#she has a tendency to be a lot less pushy on personal issues in this au mostly because of how much she and mafuyu have fought over this

[arolesbianism]

I just realised that unit swap Ena doesn't actually have any friends outside of 25ji. Quick someone throw a sekai character at me to arbitrarily make her become friends with /j

[theonlycorrectcropinions]

The nicewashing of Keyleth in tlovm, while pleasant from an actual entertainment perspective, is kind of annoying. Stream Keyleth has ugly anxiety, is obnoxiously self-righteous, and shows big time Karen tendencies. Her voice is also much softer and gentler in the streams rather than the fun shrill and shout-rasp thing Marisha would do. A bit less accidental murder too. I won’t exaggerate and say she’s barely the same character or anything, but there are massive differences, maybe more so than with any of the other PCs.

Scanlan is a bit less competent and sexual harass-y (and they are foreshadowing Bard’s Lament heavily), Pike’s more around and has overall a more defined character, a lot of Vex’s nicer moments are toned down to make her a little more guarded and jagged, Vax is a bit less of a prankster, etc., Grog’s pretty spot on tbh, and I don’t particularly like Percy so my opinion may be biased, but he’s fine. They fucked around with the plot so he’s a bit more possessed; he insists he’s fine in the show where in the stream he knew he was getting pretty wild and asked the party to put him down if he got too dangerous.

But I don’t think Keyleth has been judgy or pushy once in the show, and those are some of her defining character traits in the early stream. She also spends less time wildshaped, doesn’t seem to have an issue with organized religion, and her anxiety is much cuter. She’s not freaking out and threatening a magician, she’s blushing about whether or not Transport Via Plants will work. Keyleth feels much more… conventional? I guess? in the show rather than the kind of bold, uncomfortable character she was in the stream. It has been a while since I watched c1 though, so I might be misremembering literally all of this and no one should listen to me about anything (even though I’m always right).

(Sidenote: I actually like watching Percy, I think Tal plays him with a lot of nuance and personality, but then whenever Tal talks about him outside of the stream he’s like, “actually he’s just a bad person with no redeeming qualities who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else and is a dumb traumatized bitch who didn’t go through any meaningful character development until the last episode” and I find that obnoxious and don’t think it actually reflects how he played in game so that sours him for me a bit. I know it’s Tal doing his bit, but I enjoy all of his characters more the less he talks about them.)

[loosesodamarble]

Hiya Erika! i love this ask game so much, and these will all be for Kai’ichi since…Kaizio is rotating in my head like a frozen burito in a microwave 🤣! Also I apologize that its a lot so just take your time with it 🥰!

Eros 1, Philia 2, Storge 3, Ludus 5, and Pragma 2

I wanted to ask a couple of more but I didn’t want to overwhelm you so I’ll ask next time 👀😌!

The answers to your many questions are finally here, Lyra! Thanks for waiting for them~!

..........

Eros 1: Is your OC romantic in the traditional sense? Do they enjoy giving or receiving gifts of flowers or confectionary? Or are there other courtship traditions from their culture of origin that are important to them?

Unfortunately for Kai'ichi, he isn't much for traditionally romantic gestures. They're boring because they're the standard. If his partner wants flowers or chocolates, he would do his best to give them. And he'd go above and beyond giving the "best" versions of those gifts. But Kai'ichi would find little satisfaction in such things.

He'd much rather give his romantic partner experiences to treasure. There could be physical mementos of the activities and adventures they've gone on, but rarely does Kai'ichi think to actively give some kind of souvenir. It's being with the one he loves that he finds more romantic.

Philia 2: Does your OC find it easy to make friends? Or are there barriers to them doing so? If so then are these due to issues of inclination, communication, or something else entirely?

Kai'ichi can actually make friends pretty well, despite being a bit on the socially inept side. His enthusiasm is what draws people in. He can be a little pushy but most will agree that he's pretty encouraging. And having a friend who always encourages and supports you is what Kai'ichi is there for.

His more aggressive tendencies - fight first, ask questions later attitude - will scare away the faint of heart though. Not that Kai'ichi minds. He'd rather not befriend people that he'd have to hold back around.

Storge 3: How far does parental approval (imagined or expressed) impact upon their current sense of self-worth? What might they sacrifice or attempt to achieve in order to ensure the approval of their parents?

Ichika is a hard to please person in general, but I think she'd be a little lenient on her future children. Saying that, Ichika still holds some standards as she wants her sons to be upstanding individuals.

In general, Kai has high self-esteem. He's a natural talent, which not only gives him a good dose of confidence but compels him to work hard to keep up the reputation he has. However, Kai would take it pretty hard if he disappointed Ichika. Because he believes her to be the most amazing person in the world, he does his best to adhere to her example and advice. Being unable to do that would hit him hard and make him pause to question himself as her son.

If Kai'ichi was really truly desperate to gain Ichika's approval if he felt like he needed to, he'd actually try to restrain himself. He's over the top and less in control of his impulses than his mother and that would be one of the things she criticizes him for. Thus, Kai'ichi's fire would be smothered as he tries to be more reserved like Ichika. It would be sad to see since he's the liveliest person in the Yami household and their lives become duller without his chaos.

Ludus 5: What seduction techniques are most likely to be effective when it comes to your OC? Are there some things guaranteed to get them going? Or are they immune to such things?

Assertiveness. That shit will always make Kai weak at the knees when it comes to romance. When he's in the right headspace, he's very forward himself so it's a matter of matching energy.

Approach him from across a ballroom with a smile. Be the one to ask him for a dance. Just straight up compliment him while he's trying to decide what to say. As long as a prospective partner can essentially get a head start on putting the moves on Kai'ichi, then he's going to be giving them his attention.

Oh, also the lamest, cringiest pick up lines. He's sick and tired of the roundabout and flowery romance language he hears from Shigehiro's literature so "lowbrow" romantic flirtations will make him smile.

Pragma 2: What is the biggest challenge that your OC has had to overcome in a long-term relationship or friendship? What helped them get through this?

When it comes to all of his relationships (platonic or romantic), the biggest hurdle Kai'ichi faces is his inability to slow down. He's always trying to challenge himself and find interesting things to do. So friendships have ended due to the other parties being unable to take Kai's constant energy or talk him into relaxing. Because I think Kai'ichi could learn to appreciate quieter moments, but it's going to take someone strong mentally (and maybe physically) to get Kai to sit his butt down.

For his relationships specific to characters in Clover Kingdom, the distance between Clover and Hino is a huge challenge. I believe the two countries would be able to establish contact after the final arc, but it's not like Kai'ichi can drop by whenever he feels like it. It'd either take a long journey or powerful magic to get him there in a shorter time span. Kai'ichi would do his best to believe that his connections in Clover wouldn't forget him but he would have a little anxiety about missing out on things in their lives. I'm not sure what sort of solution there'd be for this issue except finding really loyal people to call his friends in Clover.

And when Kai'ichi develops feelings for Ezio, oh man will he be conflicted. Because it was always Kai's dream to become a member of the Ryuzen Seven like his mother. But he wants to live in Clover with Ezio. His childhood dream or his new dream? Which is he going to choose?

[luimagines]

Hey, I’m not sure how to explain this but getting straight to the point, I’m the person who runs the yandere-linked-universe blog and I’m pretty sure you’re pinkittwice.

So, I was just wondering what ideas you might have about the chain being yandere for one person. Like, what would the dynamic be and how they would behave as yanderes, you know that kind of stuff.

I hope it’s not too much to ask but I’m just curious to see what you might think of it since you’re pretty much the only person on the sight that I know of who also writes things involving lu and the reader. I’m not unhappy or dissatisfied in any way but it does get a little lonely being the only person who writes stuff like this. Sorry if this is too weird.

Masterlist

Yahaha~! You found me!

Everybody go check out their stuff @yandere-linked-universe

They do cool art sometimes and are even writing a whole fic which you can find right here.

It's really well written and I'm excited to see how the story progresses and where it goes- especially endgame.

And I'm assuming the ask means if they were yandere in the same circumstance than in the story.

That being said, I'm still going to apply the rules I have set for the Links. Like how Sky was never with his Zelda and similarly how Time and Malon never really happened. As for Wind, he will not be platonic unlike in the fic mentioned above- I will explain this in his section I promise.

Also, disclaimer, I'm not good at horror and I've never written for these types of characters before. But if you want headcanons then I'll provide the brainstorm that I've been cooking up of ever since I got this ask. (And it was a while ago I'm sorry for the wait.)

I'm also including some songs that I think best fit their rose tinted glasses ideal. Not necessarily yandere and can apply to Link being in love with you in general but it's as close as I'm going to get to making a playlist.

I might come back and change them to stalker songs and add these songs to a separate list entirely but maybe not...

Content under the cut!

It's long, brace yourself.

As a group, I think jealously would run high.

Everybody wants the attention of a single person and there's eight other people as competition.

If the group was tight knit as we like to portray them, it won't last long.

If dear reader was a little caring or naturally falls into a healer/medic position in the group, the group becomes more reckless, less caring about their personal safety- if only to get a momentary caress from the love of their life's fingers as their wounds are tended to.

There's less group unity and alliances between them form.

If the reader isn't a fighter well...

They would take turns guarding their prize and fight to be the one to do it.

Leaving you behind when they go to dungeons is a must.

They won't risk you getting a scratch on your person let alone putting you in a potentially dangerous situation.

They try to keep all their weapons away and out of reach. Less you get any ideas and try to fight with them or worse, get hurt playing with them.

Or try to fight against them. HAHAHAHA!! How crazy would that be?

Like you would stand a chance.

When you're simply traveling with the group, your designated spot is on top of Epona, hands down, no questions asked.

Not only would be easier to keep an eye on you, and make it harder to get away, but Twilight has personally asked Epona (through Wolfie) that if they were ever ambushed, she was to take off with you and get away from the fight no matter the cost. She'll always come back to him anyway- so if you're tied to connected to her than all the more reason for him to be the one to retrieve you when it's all over.

The others don't like how Twilight gets to be the one to greet you first. But Epona is on Twilight's side and everyone knows it.

So they wait their turn.

You're on top of Epona even if you're a fighter as well.

If you can prove your salt and fight with them, they actually don't try to keep you away as much as they can (because now it means that they can spend more time with you!)

It instead becomes a competition to be your partner. Among the younger ones anyway.

The older ones, are less concerned now by you fighting, and more by the younger ones who keep trying to be by your side (even if that's their spot) and try to keep them out of your way.

Every bump and cut you get is treated immediately by who ever reaches you first.

It's once again a race.

The group, as yandere's go, do not know how annoying they're being nor do they plan to stop.

If you told stories of your past conquests, it a mixed bag of awe, adoration and anger for you even being put there to begin with. These thoughts are not voiced however, and they instead stew and simmer and grow into their possessive tendencies.

Because they would protect you, honor you, worship you and you wouldn't have to worry about anything ever again. Not if you were with them, not if you stayed with them, not if you were in their Hyrule.

There's a slight knee jerk reaction when you bring out your items to take it away because it's dangerous. But not only would that piss you off, it would take away what little protection you have on your person and they don't want to take any risks when it comes to your safety.

I wouldn't share too much if I were you.

Now as Individuals they're all different, obviously.

Let's explore that.

Time

He's the most dangerous

I'm starting this off with that

I'm talking the most calculating, scheming and devious of the whole group

He know he's in charge and that the others will listen to him regardless if they actually agree with him or not

Because he's the leader

His grip on the group lessens as time goes by and their unity dissipates

But he's delusional and he doesn't realize it

However, because he's already in this position, he takes it upon himself to take care of you

And others let him

Less work for them to focus on when they can be by your side instead

You never have watch

You're always in the middle of the group

He'd gladly send the boys ahead of you into danger to make sure that they deal with it before you even get there.

The others let him with little thought because it's for you

So they go for it

Time however, is somehow, never the one to go ahead, instead waiting behind (with you) while they go ahead and deal with the issue

He gets away with this 8/10 times

Mostly because he rotates who's he's sacrificing

Dad! Time is not here- not anymore

But he lets them near you because he's only biding his time

You're meant to be

Soulmates, if you will

If a little time with you is all those boys need to stay in line and listen to him then he'll allow it

Because they're only boys

He's a man through and through

They have nothing on him

And you deserve more than a mere boy

He has some other concerns on his mind while the boys fight each other like street dogs

Time has to think about your future together so he daydreams the most out of the group.

He doesn't really have a home and a roof over his head for himself- let alone you and he knows he'd have to change that

He thinks about staying as a permanent employee at Lon Lon Ranch

He can save enough money

Buy a house

Maybe some land

And enough things for you and him to make a comfortable life without any worries

Maybe even start a family?

The dream is a reprieve form the headache that are other boys who won't leave you alone

Pray you don't end up in his Hyrule

EVER

This is just the gateway he'd be waiting for to keep you all to himself

Fighter or not it's dangerous to travel with them

You're in danger

And he won't stand for that.

He doesn't know how exactly he'd do it

But he plans to leave you at Lon Lon Ranch, waiting for him, for when he comes back after the mission

He'd have to find some kind of way to actually keep you there and find you when you inevitably try to leave the Ranch

But he's traveled all over his Hyrule

There's no place you could go that he doesn't know about

As the adult of the group, he'd step over all the others

He's not going to listen to them when they try to stop him

They don't know as much as he does

They haven't experienced as much as he has

He knows that this is the best and only option to ensure that you're safe and well taken care of

He'd doesn't mind leaving you as prisoner to the Gerudo instead either if the others start to really get pushy

It won't be comfortable and it won't be glamorous

But they'll definitely keep you in one place

And he can walk in whenever he wanted thanks to that note from the chief from a time long ago

Pick you up, take you away and you'll be his

He daydreams a lot

And he knows that you'll choose him

You have to

He's the best and only option

He's never felt happier thinking about you and the life you'll both have

He's struggled so much anyway

Maybe you were the blessing the goddesses owed him for all his work in his youth

And surely they aren't so cruel to give you to him and then take you away by some monster attack or some terrible unforeseen fate

He can't have that either

So he'll take the first and best out he's given

But while you're here with him...

He's looking at you like you're magic

Warrior

Warrior is the least dangerous

He knows the feel of being on the receiving side of someone's obsession

He was ignorant for a long time about it

But he wasn't sure how to feel comfortable in his own skin again when he found out about it

He can see how the others are starting to show similar obsessive tendencies and tries to mitigate what he can

He does a lot of damage control

It's what he's trying to do anyway- he's not very successful

Warrior is the one who's challenging their train of thought

Why do they think this is ok? Why don't they ask you for your opinion? Why do they not give some time alone to recharge? Why don't they lay off?

Because it's totally for your benefit- AND THEIRS

Because it's not ok

He doesn't see himself follow the exactly same train of thought

He doesn't see himself doing what they're doing

He's just annoyed that they're the ones doing it

Warrior becomes the very definition of hypocrite.

However- because he's the one acting as your advocate- the others don't consider him as much as a threat and therefore more inclined to listen to him at this point in time than Time himself

It also means that they don't fight him as much when he wants time with you. Mostly because in their eyes, he's not interested

They're wrong

At some point in Warrior's attempt to keep the group together and keep you from going crazy or hating all of them, he begins to gain ulterior motives in his mission

He begins to play the role in an attempt to win you over.

Because- see, he's not like them

He won't violate your space

Go through your stuff

Or keep you from doing what you love

He's the one to say you should join them in fights, that you should stay, that you can hold your own

Since he's the main strategist in the group, he takes into account your skills and always places you at a distance from the fight or from the most obsessive the group.

He knows that their one track mind could kill you or them and there's still the darkness to defeat.

They don't have the luxury to afford this kind of distractions

When the others aren't paying attention to him, he'd pepper you with compliments and flirty lines, playing up his charm and suave attitude

He becomes the perfect gentleman

You'd never know that he's crazy

Just join him and be with him- that's all he wants

He loves you so what more is there to offer you?

He's got the status, the looks and the means to take care of you so you wouldn't have to worry about anything else

He'd be the best husband that Hyrule has ever seen

He'd hate to have the group scare you off with how over the top they've all been.

He knows the group is being annoying with being by your side all the time and how they don't let you be and how there's always someone by your side even when you're at your final straw

Warrior is the one who takes over guarding you when you need to pee or bath and actively argues on your behalf to let you take care of your hygiene.

He's not always successful but it's the thought that counts right?

Hyrule agrees with him most of the time and since Hyrule seems to be the only one who still cares (somewhat) about the mission, they make an agreement

Warrior isn't at all concerned about the others and know that you'd come around to him eventually.

Since he's not like the others

You're his first thought in the morning, his last thought when he rests his head to sleep and there's nothing that he hasn't been doing that wasn't for you

Hyrule

Hyrule is the least possessive

Mostly because of his low confidence.

I've mentioned in a previous post that is unrelated to this, his love language is physical touch- so he's all over you

There always have to be some way that he's holding you- whether its a hand on your shoulder or the small of your back, maybe he's holding your hand or maybe he's just pinched the edge of your tunic

But he's careful to not go beyond what you're comfortable with

He doesn't want to you to pull away from him

Because the others will not hesitate to push and pull him away if you so much as hinted at not wanting him near you

So he plays it cool

Hyrule also gets concerned when there's too many injuries to go around and he needs to heal the group

Because if you hurt then he can't spare anything else to help you

It's one of the few things he thinks that he's useful for- so if he can't do this little thing for you then why does he bother?

There's so many other guys here that could easily sweep you off of your feet and have so much more to offer you

He doesn't have any land

He doesn't have a house

His Hyrule... isn't the most welcoming and he doesn't like the idea of bringing you from one dangerous situation to another

Especially since he's being hunted for sport back home

It doesn't stop him from trying to win your heart obviously and he tries to show you and win you over in whatever little ways he can.

He's the gentlest with you

Whatever hurting you, he'll heal

Whatever scaring you, he'll deal with

Whatever danger comes your way, he'll end it's miserable existence

He- like Time- daydreams a lot but he's trying to live for the moment

He's almost resigned in a way- that you won't pick him

He knows they're on borrowed time, he knows that something dangerous can take you away from them or that he could be the one to be taken away instead

So he's trying to make up for it in the time that you do have together and spend every second by your side that he can

Because the group gets a little more reckless in their attempts to impress you and be dealt with (whether you're healing them and tending to their wounds or just yelling at them)

He heals the group a lot little less

If they're going to be stupid and get hurt- then he's not going to waste his magic when they're only going to do the same thing the next day

Soon, with enough time and patience, Hyrule begins to hoard all the healing potions as well.

It's an attempt to keep them away from you so when they're hurt he can step in and just get them healed up in a minute

But it also works to keep the group from getting too reckless

It's not his intention but he takes it as it is

If they get hurt too much anyway then that just means less competition for him to deal with and a higher chance with you!

Because of his low confidence about you actually ending up with him, he becomes one of the more mission minded of the group, probably right after Warrior

Since they both have their sights on eradicating the darkness instead of focusing on their love lives (for different reasons) this is the first alliance to be formed

Hyrule wants you to be his but he's at a crossroad

He knows Warrior has a lot of charm to win you over and has the means to make sure you live a good life

He knows it's more than he can ever give you

But he's fairly certain he can take Warrior in a fight

One well timed Thunder Strike and Warrior wouldn't stand a chance

Not to mention that they've been fighting side by side now, so he knows what to look for to bring him down

He doesn't think it'll come to that though

Warrior doesn't seem that interested with you anyway so he doesn't worry about him

Which just leaves the problem of winning your heart

He wonders what life would be like he can love like you do

Twilight

Twilight is the most protective

It's his wolf instincts and his caretaker instincts combined.

He's used to being the one to look after everyone else

Being his village's primary babysitter and all

But wolves are family animals and they protect their mates

He's the one to fight to keep you away from the fights, whether you can handle yourself or not

He can Four agree with this and it's the second alliance that forms

You must be protected at all costs and there's many things around that can injure you, or worse

So they both try their hardest to keep you safe and secure

If bubble wrap existed in Hyrule you would have been wrapped in it and then wrapped again for good measure.

He's the first to run up to you and the first to drag over Hyrule or someone with a fairy or a potion to treat you

He's not afraid to start punching anything that dares to threaten you

Forget the sword

He'll just start swinging... or maybe just go full Woflie even if he's not in his form and go for the jugular

He lets you ride on Epona more often than not and refuses to let you work more than you should

He's quick to carry things for you

He tries to impress you by being a handy man and tries to fix whatever he can get his hands on for you

He's not good at it

But he tries

His love language is acts of service so he's trying

You don't really need his help though

But let him get it out

And tell him that he's doing a good job please, for your sake

He talks a lot about his home life with you and he ask a lot of questions about your own

He's comparing notes

Trying to see what way of life you'd be more comfortable with and how he can accommodate to it

He tries to win you over with the simple life and he paints pretty pictures of having a ranch and a farm and letting you have all and any animals you want

Wolfie make an appearance every other day instead of simply whenever it's convenient

If you're a dog lover then it's even better.

Twilight is not afraid of taking advantage of it to give you all the kisses and cuddles he can get away in his other form

The others would have to fight the each other just to get kisses from you but Wolfie gets special privilege's

He gets kisses no problem

He's not above using it to his advantage

Epona is always on Twilight side and while he's in wolf form, he tells her all about you and how much he loves you and all the ways he finds you amazing and spectacular

Because you're riding Epona more often than not, he tells her to watch after you and to keep your safe and to get to a safe area if they ever get ambushed

She doesn't know how human romance works, so she agrees.

Link is her master and her best friend, so she trusts him with her life and you're important to him, clearly, so you're important to her too

He's not going to lose you like he lost Midna

She left him behind with barely a glance behind

You won't leave him at all

He'll make sure of it

The others won't take you away from him either

Four seems to be the one who's most on his side right now and together they can lessen the competition

He'd hate to fight the guy and maybe they can come to an understanding but he knows he's got the brute strength that Four lacks not to mention Wolfie and Epona as well

So maybe he'll listen to reason

His world used to be so grey with no change in either direction

An eternal twilight

You became his light in the gloom

Sky

Sky is the least violent

He actually falls in the middle of both protectiveness and jealousy.

But he's more set on letting each of the boy pick each other off (not unlike Time) and then he'll figure out who's left over to deal with them then.

Sky also isn't one to fight off the other people who you interact with

He's not going to go confront the person or drag you away and definitely not going to start swinging

He still feels uncomfortable if you aren't by his side but he'll make up for it when you're done by sticking to your hip

Sky doesn't want you to feel cramped by only talking to the group

But he does get a little jumpy when you're beyond his line of sight.

That being said- he will let you out of his sight

Not for long periods of time, mind you, but he's not going to be in your shadow the entire time or demand to be glued to your hip

He's arguably the most normal out of the group- the least yandere if you will

Still crazy though

Sky is also one to agree with Warrior and Twilight.

He's not a part of any alliance but between wanting you to be safe and still wanting you to be healthy and clean (he knows how being clean helps out ones moral and he doesn't want you to be depressed when you're with them) he'd let them do the fighting and arguing for him and when they lose a bit, he'll say something and add to their cause

He's trying to be chill and he plays on his harp when you're nearby.

If you come sit next him to listen and chill- he will absolutely be over the moon

He will go through some of your things to make sure you have anything and everything you'd need for their adventure

But he won't take away your weapons or go through your diary (he wouldn't be able to read it anyway)

He does try to ask you in some roundabout way if he has permission to do that.

It'll be long winded and vague and a total play on words, so be careful to what you agree with when he asks something of you

Sky although is the least violent, that's in regards to other humans

Monsters have learned to keep away from him when he's on the battle field and if they haven't learned that...

They will

He's the one that tries to have your relationship mature and grow naturally.

Sky is going to simply be your friend first and show you that he has your best interest at heart

So when you talk to him about your problems and how the others are driving you crazy, he'll give you advice, tell you he's on your side and openly give you outs to avoid the others.

If you want time alone and the others begin looking for you, he'll tell them you went in the other direction and he'll send them on a wild goose chase.

Since he's on your side, he tells you to at least let him know where you're going and for how long so he can distract the others.

He's not concerned about you running away, since the others are going to do the work for him

Four and Twilight and Wolfie can find and hunt you down in a heart beat and you'll be together again

He won't blame you for running away, there's a lot of people who won't leave you alone in the group and it annoys him too

And Hyrule, Wind and Time keep you within the group and close by so he never has to worry about not knowing where you are at all times

Warrior and Wild keep you well fed and well taken care of

And Legend makes sure that you always have a potion on you and has even given some power rings to ensure your safety

So all he has to do is butter you up by being the least persistent of them all and you'll fall for him and you can be together forever and ever and even be the start of Hyrule as everyone knows it

Wouldn't that be nice?

While he may not be the most musically inclined of the group, he's the one to serenade you when he gets the chance

He plays his harp more often than not, trying to get the notes out that he hears in his head when he looks at you

His life was such a simple song before you came along but now... It's a symphony, he wants you to know this

Four

Four is the most controlling

He's the one putting restrictions on you left and right and is the one to never want you to leave his side- let alone his line of sight.

You see, he's got these voices in his head that bounce ideas off of each other.

When one might be, hey that guy is talking to you

The other responds with, he's close to you too

One might say, you're smiling and it's beautiful

Another says, why is it directed at that guy?

Which snowballs to, you're a little too close, a little too nice, is he flirting? Has he touched you? Is he trying to make a move?

And then he's even more possessive and it grows and spirals and next thing he knows, he's next to you again and chewing the poor guy out for no reason when it was a simple conversation about the weather and directions.

And that's in public

Now add in the threat of monsters and traps and many other dangerous that surround the group as a whole

He's paranoids in the extreme

So when Twilight suggests that they tie you to Epona and keep you where he they can always see you, he's the first to agree

In fact he feels as if Twilight is the only one who's actually looking out for your well being

Wind tries to throw fits and get the two of them to back off but he's just a kid, what does he know? He should know better anyway, he knows how dangerous this journey is going to get, so why is Wind trying to actively put you in harms way?

Twilight a least can get Wind to listen to reason and Twilight's better at explaining it than he is so while Four'll yell, Wind is really Twilight's problem.

He doesn't like the idea of fighting is friends but he can see that well... He's the only to notice that they're not as close as they used to be when you first joined.

He thinks that Warrior can feel it but Four is the one who'll say it out loud.

Four is actually the most trigger happy out of all them, he's not afraid to break character and yell at some poor passerby who's too foolish enough to even look in your direction

He's the angry guard dog in public and it's a little hard to reign him most of the time

Twilight agree with him in this but he's also the one to hold him back

The last thing they need is to be kicked out of town

But if while you're there maybe he can get something for you?

He's the kind of person to make something for their beloved but he only knows how to make weapons and tools

Things that he's never going to give to you and actively tries to keep them away from at all costs

Yes, if you have your own weapons he'll also try to take them away

He'd rather see you angry than injured

No, he does not see how being weaponless in a fight will lead to more injuries and no, he not going to listen to those who try to tell him that.

Maybe he can learn how to make jewelry and gift that instead?

A pretty thing like yourself should be adorned in more beauty.

And he can save enough to make it with rubies and diamonds and any gold that he can salvage in Hyrule

He'd give you and make you anything you want

You'd be dripping in jewels if he had it his way

He also knows that the voices try to point out his flaws and all the ways that he's really not that appealing to any potential partners

It doesn't matter that he's merged and they all have the same flaws

But whenever he's next to you and things are calm, the voices are quiet and he feels like him

Wild

Wild is the Most violent

Like Four, he does not care if it's a simple conversation, if someone else is taking up your time and attention then he will want to start swinging.

He's usually held back by Warrior and Time since Twilight typically has to restrain Four

But if you're in danger? Real danger?

He becomes the equivalent of the Fierce Deity, no mask required

The battle field becomes a blood bath by his hand alone

Sure the others will want to to cause some destruction as well and destroy any and all threats to you, but Wild goes the extra mile

Forget Twilight going feral, he has an excuse- but Wild?

He'll go ballistically feral, even going as far to drop his weapons to rip into the threats with his hands and teeth

He has to make sure there's absolutely nothing in between you and him

He's not afraid to throw away his whole good guy reputation and even the reputation of the hero in order make sure he's the last man standing

Wild is now taking notes on how the the group fights and how they defend themselves, defend you and try to figure out the best ways to take them down

If there was ever to be a physical fight within the group, he'll not only be a part of it but most likely also the instigator

Wild has already lost all his friends and family before, he can't afford to lose anyone else

Besides his Hyrule has so much more to offer you than some of the others

Not to mention he has his own house- in a safe village- with low monsters around it- and barely any reason to think that he wouldn't be able to provide for you

He's got the rupees he needs from his monster farming and everything's nearby. Whatever he can't get, he can teleport to and he wouldn't have to leave you alone for long periods of time.

Wild goes out of his way to buy you clothes since the others have taken care of your other needs (much to his chagrin)

But he also makes sure you have the best portions of the meals he makes

He keep tracks how much you ate and when

He always there to give you a snack if you even mention of being peckish

He knows the others won't mind if he dotes in this manner

Not only because it's for you...

He has all the food anyway.

When he sees that you're wearing Legend's old tunic, he instantly hates it

He and Legend are less of an alliance and merely on tolerable terms- not that Legend notices or cares- because of this and Wild knows that your clothes have taken a lot battery

He wants to you be warm and protected

But he also has a lot of extra outfits

So he takes a page out of Legend's book and gives you some as well

He's a little disappointed you don't wear them as often but he knows that most of them are specialized for certain terrain- Legend's is more of a catch all kind of deal so he can understand the need for general uses

He's not happy about it

But he understands

The crazy thing is, you wouldn't want to end up in his Hyrule either

Pray you never do

Like Time, Wild has been all over his Hyrule and has traveled to all the nooks and crannies

He knows that he can hide you away without the others ever knowing what happened to you

Not even Wolfie would be able to track you

Why?

Because (and this is from AoC) he can teleport more than one person at a time, so he can just take you far away and somewhere secluded, somewhere where you wouldn't be able to leave

Hebra region? In the cabin where he learned how to shield surf? Or play the snow bowl game?

Gerudo Wasteland?

Akkala Region? With Robbie? It's hard to get past the guardians and the high level monsters...

Or maybe ditch you in the mountains with Paya in Kakariko Village?

Or maybe leave you on the Great Plateau? You can't get down without a paraglider...

Life with you is the only reason he's still on this journey instead of just taking you and leaving

The darkness is still around and it threatens his future with you

But it looks bright in his head when all is over and he's so happy that he met you

Life is now pink! And he won't take off his rose tinted glasses any time soon!

Legend

Legend is the most possessive

As some people have headcanoned in the past, he has a problem letting things go

He's lost so many people he cares about- he knows that items are a little harder to lose

He's the Collector- the Hoarder

Naturally when he sees something that he wants, he'll stop at nothing to make it his.

However, since he has a problem coming into direct contact with his own feelings, he's projecting

Legend instead tries to keep you at arms length and fails miserably

He doesn't want to fall for someone only to have them be ripped form him again, and again and again,

He cares for the group still even after their disagreements and eventually mistrust

He doesn't want to leave this little family they've made for themselves and has disillusioned himself into thinking that he can save it before it's too late

But in his fairytale ending, you're with him

Legend, though, still knows that their time will end and everyone will eventually go home so by the time everyone begins fighting and jealousy runs amuck, he's trying to hold everyone at arms length

When you don't give him attention, he's prone to get angry and may very well at times act like he hates you

He doesn't like it when you so much as breath in someone else's direction

You're his and his alone, why is anyone else even worth your time and energy?

But he's not going to say this out loud

So he's frustrated with himself and pouts often

So he's stuck in a cycle of self hatred and jealousy and not willing to do something to change it

But when you do give him attention, he's melts into a puddle

He's at your beck and call if so much as say his name

There's very little that he isn't willing to do for you or get for you, anything to make you happy

He's also quick to give you power rings to protect you even if he's against you fighting

Legend is also going to give you an extra tunic if (/when) your clothes take too much damage and they're too far gone for him to fix

It's a power move on his part

Not only does he feel giddy with boyish excitement when he sees you in his old tunic (that definitely has some kind of magical properties to ensure your safety), it's also him marking you as his property

And the others know it

Wild does a similar thing so you can at least have a change of clothes but Legend is quick to tailor them when you're not looking to not fit you and be uncomfortable

He's the one going through your things for sure

He need to know that he's the one who's taking care of you

He needs to know you have everything you need

He needs to know if there's anything that you're lacking so that he can sweep in and provide it for you

He's not really planning on taking out the competition or is planning beyond keeping you by his side for the day

He (like Hyrule) is living for the moment, because he's afraid he's going to blink and you'd be gone and there would be nothing else left for him

But you won't be gone

He's going to make sure of that

He's got tunnel vision for sure

But since he's also trying to not fall for you and get his heart broken, it becomes a game of hot and cold with a whole lot of minefields in between that could set him off for (what looks like) no reason

He hates you- no he doesn't- he wants nothing to do with you- he wants to be your everything- he's not going to write you poetry or braid your hair or fall asleep listening to your heart beat- he would kill for that to be his reality- he hates that you're all he's able to think about now- don't leave him please

He's not crushing

He's not

He is

Wind

Wind is the least protective- Still protective but arguably not to the degree of the others

You see, he knows that the others protect him because he's the youngest

And he's not blind

He can see that they're just as, if not more, protective over you

He can see how you hate it and how much it annoys you

He's not going to make that same move

And as a bonus, since the others are protecting you anyway, why should he put in the work and protect you as well?

There's enough people watching you all the time

With the others taking care of it, he can plan on winning you over

He's going to give you as much freedom as he's able to get away with

It'll put him as your favorite

This immediately puts him at a crossroads with Four who's somehow a hair's breadth away from tying you up and chaining you together by the wrists

They fight against each other the most

He plans on marrying you

It's honestly in the same degree of young children that say they're growing to grow up and marry their dad or their mom

Because obviously you marry the person you love and you stay with them for the rest of your life

And he loves you.

So that's what he plans to do

Win you over is step one

Then he (and you) just need to wait a few years for him to get older

And then he'll marry you

He does not see a problem with this plan

Typically I make the reader the same age as him to avoid the worst of it but in this case, this does not matter

I'd say that if you're older, he'd get more easily attached to giving you the freedom you've been missing

With him by your side obviously

Because you're older- you're an 'adult'- you can take care of yourself

You're so cool in his eyes

The others, naturally, see a problem with this

Not only out of jealously at the very thought of it not being them to marry you but because they know he's young and if you're older, (say closer to Twilight and Warrior's age) then they can see the problem it'll prove to be for you from a moral stand point

The others (mainly Legend and Four) bully tease him when you're not around about how selfish he is to even think about making you wait, when you could easily marry one of them instead, so why would you ever choose him?

He tries not to let it get to him because he does hang out with you more than they get to- so maybe they're really just jealous that his plan is working

Wind has the more innocent approach to this whole ordeal out of the whole group

His obsession isn't healthy, obviously, but he at least the excuse of being young and not knowing how to deal with crushes

Because he's awkward with it, (and he knows it) he's actually pretty quick to shut away the worst of it when he's spending time with you, less you think he's weird and push him away

Not only does he not want that to happen, but he's heard the others come up to you countless times regarding him and his behavior and if you'd like him to leave you alone

Because they will deal with him if you so much as say one word of annoyance

The choice is yours

If you indulge him when he wants your attention then he's more like himself and becomes the most normal out of the whole group

He becomes the him when you first joined

Before the obsession

Wind becomes your safest bet in terms of keeping your sanity intact and it's the groups saving grace to keep up any illusion that they're still normal

Wind is dealing with a highly flammable vial of puppy love concentrate

All in the form of budding teenage yandere hormones

If you had met him any later in his life, the cocktail would have no doubt exploded into the form of the other's behavior and he'd seem like a completely different person instead

He's almost like a lost puppy, always following you around and being in your shadow

It would be cute if he wasn't crazy

Wind adores you though and he wants you to know that

[kisant]

Annon-Guy: In regards to Marta, I do agree with you that she developes as a character (both personally and in regards to her relationship with Emil/Ratatosk), but there are instances where she falls back into her early game self during skits (all generic ones and a few story ones) and the first two Richter Side Quests. How do you explain they? I get relapses/old habits can happen when trying to better yourself, but still.

Yeah, that's what happens with the plot-less sidequests, they have to make sense at any point of the game. So it keeps not just pushy early game Marta, but also doormat Emil and funny butler Tenebrae. With nobody else of importance ever showing up.

Same with skits. There are certain skits that have in-game requirements such as "run away from enemies X times" or "cook X number of dishes" or "tame X number of monsters" that are not story-locked. So they have to be consistent with the very earliest characterization of Emil, Marta and Tenebrae just in case the player decides to tame 1000 guppies by the time they hit the second dungeon.

Also, some character related siquestests are story-locked, but from I remember from looking at the guide, they give you a margin of time/plot events before they are gone forever. So that explains the vague character development at times.

And yeah, Emil and Marta relapse on their respective bad habits at different times throughout the plot, and they do it at because they struggle with their character flaws. Which is realistic and I consider it to be good writing. Even if Marta realizes that she has been behaving badly towards Emil to the point where he got angry and wasn't talking to her anymore, it takes her time to reflect, apologize and change. Change takes time and effort. Emil also struggles with this, as there are many times when he freezes and becomes unable to act unless Ratatosk takes over, because he can't just beat away his fear and his ingrained tendency to be passive and not fight back even after he realizes that he genuinely wants to act, be brave, fight back and save others.

There is also the fact that both Emil and Marta are immature teenagers who are dealing their first crush, which evolves into their first romantic relationship. Teenagers who are given a lot of responsibility, little supervision and are also dealing with a lot of internal self-worth issues. Emil's are obvious, but Marta is also going through a lot. She just covers it up with bluster most of the time, but when she allows her emotional walls to fall, it's easy to see that the girl is having A Hard Time and uses both the quest and her crush as ways to avoid dealing with the emotional impact of her mother's death, her father's madness, and the weight of the world that Tenebrae put on her shoulders. And that's not even going into how worried late game Marta is for both Emil's and Ratatosk's lives.

So I am willing to cut them a break for acting the part of immature and impulsive teenagers from time to time, especially because almost the entire narrative is dedicated to how much they grow from their starting selves to the people they become by the end of the game.

I also think that overfocusing on Marta's bad habits and character faults is a bit unfair, especially because every single other character is similarly flawed. Emil fucks up and acts badly towards other people too. So does Ratatosk, Tenebrae, Richter, Lloyd...It doesn't make them bad people, or bad for the people around them, it makes them well-written characters with interesting personalities that play well off each other. Aka, everyone has asshole moments in the game. Which become character development moments after the group cools down and have a conversation + apologies and explanations.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Vitiate - Toxic Friendship Lila

Had a horrible thought:

What if Lila’s threat to cause Marinette to be alone wasn’t that she would turn everyone against her? What if it was instead that she would turn the class into people that Marinette can just no longer stand?

I’ve addressed this before in the toxic friendship post, but let’s expand on that a bit.

The thing about a toxic relationship is that it isn’t just unhealthy for everyone involved, it can grow and have effects on others even outside of that immediate relationship. One of the possible results of being involved with a toxic person is that the toxicity can spread to the point of causing other people in the relationship become just as toxic as the initial toxic person who started the mess. Like the spreading of muck they just can’t get rid of so they have to try to wipe it off on other people.

So in Lila’s case, she isn’t spreading rumors about Marinette or framing her or making her look like a bully to turn everyone against her. No, no. That would be easy. That would give Marinette an out. If she turned everyone against Marinette and they started bullying her, she could just leave or any of the adults could get involved.

No, no. She’s going to go for a more…subtle approach.

She doesn’t tear Marinette down. She instead starts working her magic on everyone else. False praises here. Encouragement there. Just enough to get their trust and ensnare them in her words. From there, she starts…making “suggestions”. Giving “helpful advice”. Simple “ideas”. Slowly but surely she starts giving little “nudges”. Egging them on to do things they know they probably shouldn’t.

She’s acting like the little devil on their shoulders.

Oh, poor Nino and Alya. They barely get to see each other as it is! Always stuck having to do school and babysitting. So she tells them how they can get more time together. Puts the idea out there that they can get around their parents’ rules. Feeds the line that of course it’s okay to get someone else to cover babysitting for you! After all, that’s what a “real friend” would do if they really care about you. And if LILA says it, it must be true! Soon enough, they start pushing off their responsibilities around babysitting duty and home chores while fooling their parents.

Gee, the Ladyblog sure is doing well, but it COULD be even better. She starts encouraging Alya to “sensationalize” a few posts on the Ladyblog to get some extra views and attention. So Alya starts to exaggerate things. A few stories at first. And everyone loves it! So soon she starts doing it more and more until the Ladyblog is more about what’s “interesting” than what’s necessary or useful. And anyone who complains are in the minority and their comments are easy enough to ignore. Or even delete. After all, Lila assures her, it’s her site. She can decide what is allowed on it.

She starts “helping” the classmates with issues. Pushing Mylene to be more “assertive” and voice her anger more. Convincing Nathaniel that his artwork could be better and he could get more done much quicker if he takes more “guidance” from other comics, and that it’s not technically stealing if he’s swiping or tracing the work. Feeding the egos of the guys in class. Fanning the self-importance of the girls. That things like rules and standards are for other people.

Huh, Alya sure is spending a lot of time on the Ladyblog now and less time with poor Nino. Lila encourages Nino to be more upfront with Alya about his desire for her time and attention, except that Lila is also encouraging Alya to focus on her career and future. Alya starts seeing Nino as “needy” while Nino starts seeing Alya as “cold”.

So on and so forth.

And since it’s LILA saying all of this, surely she must be right, because she has to be the nicest and most amazing person they know. She wouldn’t lie to them. She certainly wouldn’t try to push them to do bad things.

And she CERTAINLY wouldn’t be encouraging them to push others to do bad things. Like say, Adrien, who is adorably oblivious to the changes in his friends and classmates as they start engaging in less than positive or respectable behaviors.

Or when they start trying to push him to do the same.

Poor Adrien is so tired of being locked up in his room. But the idea is put out there for him to rebel more. Push back more. Maybe run away and have an evening out. Or even two…or three! Or more! Not like that would hurt anyone, right?

Oh, but Lila has a way of keeping her own hands clean in this one. SHE’S not the one who’s been encouraging Adrien to act out, after all. She’s only dropped the suggestions out there for other people to pick up on. And if say Nino or the other boys present those ideas to Adrien? And if Adrien decides to follow through on what they told him to do? And if Adrien gets caught and ends up in trouble because of it? Well, Lila has an “in” with Gabriel and can just point to the classmates being “bad influences” on Adrien. To the point that Gabriel would likely intervene to separate Adrien from them while leaving Lila with a clear path since she’s the only “responsible” one.

But of course, that all requires Adrien to act out in the first place, and he isn’t that type of person. Really!

Even if the thought is getting increasingly tempting…and his friends are further pushing the matter…

Marinette is the only odd one out. The only one left untouched by any direct manipulation from Lila. But that’s okay. Lila doesn’t have to directly involve herself with Marinette in order to manipulate her.

Marinette knows better than to trust Lila, but she’s not the one Lila’s trying to mislead. That doesn’t stop her from playing into Lila’s hands though. Because out of fear and paranoia of Lila turning everyone against her, Marinette takes her people-pleasing tendencies up to 11 to try to preemptively refute any potential lies Lila might try to spread about her. She thinks if she tries hard enough, she can prove her own trustworthiness so the class will believe in her despite whatever cruel lies Lila tries to tell them about her.

Except Lila isn’t spreading negative rumors and claims about Marinette. Oh no, quite the opposite. She’s emphasizing how HELPFUL Marinette is. How HARD WORKING Marinette is. And isn’t that just like a FRIEND to always put others first? Such a good FRIEND who will always step up to do things for them when they need it?

It becomes more clear with time that she’s not twisting their view of Marinette—she’s twisting their view on what friendship is supposed to be.

Because Marinette is a FRIEND, right? And FRIENDS help each other no matter what. FRIENDS do things for each other, even if they’re stressed or busy or unsure. FRIENDS keep secrets for you. FRIENDS have your back. FRIENDS give you what you want. And if Marinette is really their FRIEND, she would do the same, wouldn’t she?

So slowly but surely, Marinette is finding herself dragged into things that…she really doesn't want to be part of.

She helps Alya and Nino with babysitting so they can go out on dates, and only finds out later that she had actually been helping them to do so behind their parents’ backs.

She works with Alya to get footage or find news for her blog, but becomes more uncertain at the way that the stories are being twisted into more than what they were.

She’s being asked to do things, make things, give things. It’s a lot and it’s piling up, but she can handle it. Especially since they’re doing things for her as well…even if they aren’t things she really wants. Her girlfriends start getting a bit more pushy on getting her with Adrien—arranging things for her in ways without warning or preparing her and pretty much setting her up for failure.

But friends do things for each other, right? They’re just trying to be good friends, Marinette. Even if they’re assuming things for her and doing things without her input.

But it’s the thought that counts, right? And she has to return the favor. So she’s taking on more work and stress for the sake of her friends that it’s having an effect on her, but she’s a people pleaser and they all know it. More of the class has been looking to her for favors and requests. “If you were really our friend…” starts becoming commonplace, because it’s just another thing Lila had convinced them of.

Marinette’s good at standing up for people, but this level of subtlety and such changes in the people she cares about wouldn’t be the sort of thing she’d really know how to respond to. At this point, she’d be so focused on trying to counter Lila’s schemes and keep her friends from turning against her and abandoning her that she wouldn’t see how Lila is turning them against THEMSELVES.

She doesn’t end up bullied or having everyone hating her. Instead, she’s someone for them to take advantage of and she doesn’t realize it or just how much it is effecting her. She’s more tired, stressed, overwhelmed, and overworked. And it takes a while before she finally realizes just how much her friends are actually using her.

It comes to a head when things start happening that Marinette can no longer overlook.

It’s when Mylene gets upset and starts an argument with Ivan that results in the two no longer speaking.

It’s when Nino starts trying to spend more time with Marinette since Alya has been neglecting him and at one point attempts a “move”—she has to remind him he has a girlfriend who is her BEST FRIEND. It’s a sad case where Nino is responding to the situation around him, being aware that something is wrong but not understanding what that something actually is or how to handle it. He tries to turn to Marinette as a way to deal. Marinette, fortunately, doesn’t accept that. But it’s still concerning.

But most of all, it’s when Alya approaches her asking Marinette to lie to try to cover for her with her parents when she’s grounded. Marinette hates lies—Alya KNOWS this. And the prospect only stresses her out.

And when Marinette decides she already has too much on her plate and attempts to turn down one of Alya’s requests for the first time—one that Alya KNOWS she is uncomfortable with…and Alya goes off on her. Accusing Marinette of being a bad friend, of using her, of not really caring about her.

And this is…to Marinette’s horror, this is Chloe behavior.

Marinette just has this moment where she’s staring at Alya in shock. And it hits her. And she is DONE.

“Can I record you saying that and play it back for you so you can hear just how much you sound like Chloe?”

“Excuse you?” Alya snaps, offended.

“No, excuse yourself! Because this is the sort of thing I’d expect to be hearing from Chloe, not from you! What the hell, Alya?”

The reporter glared back. “Oh, I’M the one who’s like Chloe? You know, I never complained about helping you with YOUR needs!”

“Yes, you did!” Marinette retorted. “Even when I didn’t want you. And you’ve been doing a lot of that lately!”

“What?”

“‘Doing things for me’. But without actually TALKING to me. And every time I tried to say I didn’t want something, you’d get mad and say I didn’t appreciate the effort.”

“You didn’t! I’ve been going out of my way to do things for you—for our friendship!”

“No, you’ve been going out of your way to do anything but actually talk to me about what I actually want from this friendship! It’s not about what either of us can do for the other!”

“After all I’ve done for you, don’t you think this is the least you could do to return the favor?”

“Is that what our friendship is to you? A list of things someone owes someone else?”

“I’ve never heard you complain.”

“You haven’t even been listening to me at all!"

“That’s because you’d only have yet another freak out over nothing! Really, Mari, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“It is to ME!”

“But we’re supposed to be friends! And if you were really my friend, you’d be trying to support me!”

“This isn’t support, Alya. Not if you’re expecting me to enable you in doing something we both know is wrong.”

Alya’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re really going to be like that.”

Marinette felt her hands shaking as her anxiety was climbing with the tension, but she remained firm.

And Alya…

Alya just looked so sad and hurt as she turned her back to her.

“I guess that means you aren’t really my friend then.”

Marinette had to bite back the gasp at that. And just how much it tore her up inside.

“I’m still your friend, Alya. You just aren’t mine anymore. Not since the moment you started caring more about some scoreboard to see what I could do for you than you did about me as a friend.”

“I didn’t realize friendship was some sort of competition of who can get more out of the other.” Alya growled out.

Marinette could only try to hold back the tears.

“It’s not. You’ve just been treating it that way.”

Because the two now had vastly different ideas of what a “friend” was.

And only one of them had changed their view on the matter.

It’s the worst way Lila could follow through on her threat. Because Marinette won’t be chased away. There is no bullying to force her to run. Or cause her parents or other adults to step in for her. She can’t break away cleanly with the knowledge that she tried and that the mess they got trapped in was solely on them for believing Lila over her.

No. Marinette will lose her friends because she will have to CHOOSE to walk away from the incredibly toxic people they’ve become. They don’t end up leaving her. SHE will be the one to leave them.

And there is a level of guilt that will follow her because of that.

[its-jijii]

bsd character traits

howdy. idk how to start this. okay recently have been analyzing characters and,, i realized that most characters in bsd have traits (mainly one) that are blown rlly out of proportion. no spoilers below the cut i just don’t want to spam dashboards with longass posts 😩

so. a lot of bsd characters can be incredibly simplified and easy to explain. most characters that i can think of have a certain personality trait or something that makes up a lot of their character? for instance, i can say some of these traits and you’d be able to point to a certain character. childish and arrogant. happy and optimistic. obsessive and stalkerish.

ranpo, kenji, and higuchi. it’s like that for most characters, though. most of these traits are normal, or their causes are normal (such as higuchi’s “obsessive” behavior likely being a result of some mix of anxiety and idolization). anxiety and idolizing is okay and normal and moderation, but those traits are combined and amplified, which makes up a large portion of higuchi’s characterization. being optimistic is pretty normal,,, but kenji’s character is centered around being incredibly happy.

now this isn’t to say that this is a flaw in character design, or that it makes characters flat or boring. rather, i think it’s a pretty neat and interesting writing on asagiri’s part. y'know that post that’s like “if you can recognize a character by their outline, you know that it’s a good character design” or something like that,, yeah i think it's kinda like that but in writing instead of drawing? if you can write down a list of traits and think of certain bsd characters, then you’ve got a lot of the character covered already.

that isn’t to say that these traits are all that a character is, but mainly how they’re characterized and viewed. of course there is more to these characters, but if you were trying to summarize something, it’s very easy to simplify things to those traits. i think of this kind of like taking a character at face value. 

looking at a character’s dominant trait(s) and mainly associating that with them seems like taking their (entire) character at face value. and i don’t think that’s necessarily always a bad thing! but i think it’s also important to look past those fronting traits and see smaller parts of the character, or the reason characters are that way. looking past dazai’s intense suicidal character and secrecy, you find that he can be manipulative. looking past alcott’s intense anxiety, you’ll see that she is actually very intelligent and capable, but those traits are mainly covered up by her “face value” trait.

then, there’s the matter of how strange or abnormal these traits are. honestly at first, tanizaki or kenji didn’t stand out as “extreme” anything,,, that i think is bc asagiri does a good job at making some things subtle and weave perfectly into their character. some stuff, like akutagawa’s intense desire for approval and determination, can’t really be missed. tanizaki may seem like an all over kind of moderate character, but i think that it just happens to be that his “extremes” are more normalized or hidden.

for instance, tanizaki seems pretty anxious. mainly noticed this in his first appearance where he was pretending to be a bomber- bouncing his leg, apologizing thoroughly afterwards and making sure atsushi was okay, etc. seemed like he was having some anxieties over the matter. this stuff is pretty normal given the situation, and in smaller amounts is normal. the situation definitely made those actions seem more situational and less like a part of tanizaki’s character.

there’s also tanizaki’s hidden extreme, which is his obsession and protectiveness of his sister (which i also wrote about a bit). again, loving and being protective of someone, especially a sibling, is pretty normal. but with bsd, it seems like these normal traits are just,, blown out of proportion? suddenly they’re very intense, very extreme, and you tend to associate those traits with the character afterwards.

kenji’s “extreme” would be his optimism and happiness, which again doesn’t seem like an extreme, likely cause it isn’t bad. unlike negative traits like possessiveness or being gloomy, happiness when amplified doesn’t stand out that much. extreme possessiveness or antisocial behavior definitely stands out more. kenji’s happiness is simply a part of his character, and it seems like it's more like “him” than an attribute he has. he doesn’t have happiness, he is happy. really fuckin happy. kind of alarmingly happy?? i’m scared of him but that’s for another post.

anyway uhhh now that i’ve kinda talked about the traits and why they do or don’t stand out, i’m gonna just. do a list thing. with everyone’s traits. yes. i’m sorry this is gonna be rlly fucking long,, this is everyone’s “extremes” and maybe why. also this order is coming straight off the wiki sorry in advance 🥳 not including smaller side characters (office assistants, elise, and herman melville)

ada

atsushi - he’s kind of complicated but atsushi seems like a mix of extreme anxiety, desire to prove himself/do good, and babey. he’s absolute babey. most of this is due to past abuse in the orphanage. some of his smaller traits include fear of pain/death, bravery, and kindness. sometimes these traits contradict each other which is why i say he’s complicated. while afraid of pain and death, his desire to prove himself pushes him into brave and risky acts. while he is generally kind and he wants to do good for others, that sometimes means being brutally honest or pushy. (see: interactions w/ aku, especially in cannibalism arc)

dazai - extremely suicidal and fake (fake happiness/outgoingness). mainly, though, is his over the top suicidal ideation. he is incredibly suicidal, and if asked to point out the most suicidal character in bsd, there’s a very clear answer: the suicide maniac. dazai is also one of the incredible geniuses in the series, which surfaces quite often. some of his smaller traits that i said earlier would be that he’s manipulative, a liar, and insensitive. personally i think these are some of his most intense traits, but it also seems like he’s one of the characters taken at “face value”, with these other traits overlooked due to his excessive suicidal ideation/being eccentric. i could ramble more but i will save my dazai shit-talking for my other analysis. oh and i say that his faking expressions is different from lying. one is purposefully being deceitful for personal gain, where faking an emotion/reaction is simply to hide one’s true feelings.

kunikida - extremely strict and idealistic. heavily imposes his standards on not just himself, but everyone around him. can make him easily angered. some of his less evident traits are fear of failure and sadness over not being able to save people. his fear of failure can be hidden by his strict and confident nature. he also tends to act very neutral and unaffected when discussing past failures (usually people dying), which gives off an uncaring attitude. contrary to that, though, kunikida cares a lot! while it’s somewhat unclear as to why kunikida is so set on his morals, it may be his way of dealing with perfectionism issues and fear of doing things incorrectly. if all that is supposed to be done and all of his beliefs are written in his notebook, it is easier to stay to a strict schedule.

ranpo - childish and arrogant. i could leave it at that because that's 90% of him but i won’t. ranpo’s inflated ego was likely born from some kind of entitlement (im sorry that sounds mean let me make amends). with him being a great detective and the ADA being founded for him likely contributed to him having a great feeling of importance and intelligence. honestly that’s understandable though, he is a respectable genius. underneath those domineering traits are strong desires for praise, to fit in, and some motivation issues. ranpo really wants to believe that he is gifted, as he would feel like the odd one out if he didn’t have one. he will do anything for fukuzawa’s praise, which is probably linked to some childhood issues. lastly, his motivation- it’s connected to his tendency to find everything boring, and if something is boring, it isn’t worth his time.

yosano - sadistic and dominant. this sounds like weird bedroom shit but i swear it isn’t. mainly, the sadism comes to light when she’s using her ability or when she’s fighting- both which include her using weapons on other people. her domineering personality is also not always evident, as she is able to talk with a calm front if the situation needs it, mainly in civilized ADA meetings. otherwise, yosano will get intense and competitive, with an underlying desire to win. to some degree i think this aggression comes from wanting to stay in her position in life- she worked to get there, and she won’t back down from anything that may challenge or disrupt that.

kenji - overly happy and trustworthy. this is pretty clear from looking at him, but again doesn’t stand out that much,, it’s an extreme, but it’s an extreme feeling rather than mindset/goal. his happiness also doesn’t hurt anyone, so it’s less noticeable when he’s working with others- it often won’t affect them, aside from perhaps encouraging them or cheering them up. kenji is also, as we have seen, too trusting. he believes that trusting others is a good thing that will always lead to a good outcome. since this is an extreme belief rather than a feeling, it’s projected on his surroundings a bit more. i can’t explain any of his underlying traits or causes as we don’t know a ton about him :<

fukuzawa - kinda tough to say, but i guess extremely calm and protective? i wanted to say emotionless but he definitely has emotions, he just conceals them very well. rather, he tends to stay calm in almost every situation, no matter how bad it looks. he is also very protective of the detective agency and yokohama as a whole. underneath the mask, fukuzawa is caring- he literally never shows it, but i’ve never seen him scold someone, get mad, or punish someone (except post-cannibalism, but that wasn’t bad). he often looks angry but isn’t really, nor is he super strict. his past is still a bit too unknown for me to guess at why he’s like this.

tanizaki - extremely..... protective......... i just wrote about this ik but yeah uh. tanizaki is protective to the point it’s scary and he’s a danger to others. aside from that, tanizaki often seems very anxious, though he’s usually quite subtle about it. like i said earlier, it usually blends into the situation- if he’s in danger, of course he’s anxious. but, it seems that even when the danger has passed, he has lingering worries about whatever just occurred (getting scared at the mention of yosano’s treatment, desperately trying to find a way around punishment for disobeying fukuzawa). i feel like there’s more but my mind is blanking sorry y’all 😰

kyouka - emotionless? again she definitely has emotions, but similar to fukuzawa, rarely ever shows them. mainly what i mean by this is that she has a very underwhelming reaction to everything. if in danger, she won’t hesitate to do whatever, even if it’s violent, all without an expression. when bad stuff happens, she also doesn’t react much, unless atsushi is in danger or smth. one underlying extreme fear she has is being “evil” i guess? or just fearing the mafia. she absolutely doesn’t want to go back to the mafia, would rather die than kill again, and often has openly fearful reactions when faced with mafia members. her lack of fear and blank expression is probably a result of being desensitized to violence and also bad trauma from the mafia B(

katai - tired and isolated. seeing as how katai literally works from his futon, it’s safe to say that he enjoys sleeping and to some degree is lazy. he doesn’t really do anything, which also is a part of his isolation. i wouldn’t say antisocial behaviors since he isn’t aggressive, but basically he avoids social interactions like the plague. he never leaves his house, is horrible at talking to people, and is completely fine being cooped up in a small space for a week with no human contact. i’m sure people enjoy their alone time and sitting in bed.... but uhhhh....... yeah literally living in bed for a week with the only human contact being having take out dropped off? kinda extreme. his less evident trait goes hand in hand with social isolation- anxiety, or more specifically, social anxiety. what we mainly see of katai is during the small pre-cannibalism arc, which also shows his social anxiety. had the chapter not included going outside and interacting with girls, it would likely be unnoticeable. he is comfortable at home and doesn’t have that much of an issue with facing people and talking to them. however, he was very awkward in his interactions with higuchi (talking to her and pointing another way), as well as not knowing how to confess his love for gin.

pm

akutagawa - i’m so sorry in advance, akutagawa’s is rlly long bc he is kinda just. extreme. so uh, desire to get praise/prove himself, and few but extreme emotions. akutagawa’s most defining trait is his obsession with being acknowledged by dazai. unfortunately, it doesn’t end there- his very character extreme, a constant black and white fluctuation with no gray in between. there isn’t much of a spectrum with him, as it will be all or nothing. this applies to his view of others, view on the world, himself, his emotions, and actions. 

his emotions have been stated to be none at all, or intense anger/hatred and deep respect. his view of others seems to also be on opposite ends of the spectrum. either he likes them & respects them deeply, or he despises them. i can’t think of anyone who is in a neutral zone with him,, maybe he’s indifferent about some people, but i believe the majority of people fall into those two categories. then there are his actions, which are overly brutal even in the mafia. he uses excessive force and slaughter, aiming for flashy crimes to get dazai’s attention.

his view on the world doesn’t fluctuate as much, instead seeming to be fixated in one view- the world is cruel and harsh, and there are weak people and strong people. to him, the natural order of things is that the weak must die to make way for the strong. he also applies himself to a similar belief- either he is stronger, better, and more capable than everyone else, or he is weak, a failure, and would rather die than face defeat. extreme! 

mori - lack of impulse control and being an organized mess. by organized mess i mean that he thinks a lot, is smart, and leads the mafia,, buut he also seems not the best at some tasks (darts. professionalism. being a doctor?? didn’t he lose his medical license?) mori’s bad impulse control can be tied into his disarray kinda. this is hard to word but it’s kind of like when he’s presented with an issue, he immediately and casually defaults onto an extreme solution (three way war? okay let’s kill the president of the ada!) while i’m sure these things have been thought out beforehand, it’s his sheer wack presentation of things that make him look immature, irresponsible, and kinda bad at his job. 

chuuya - loyalty and irritability/aggression. while i do not believe we have seen the extent of his loyalty, it is worth noting that even after four years he trusts dazai with his life, despite dazai being a dishonest and irresponsible bastard. not trustworthy imo, but chuuya’s lingering feelings of loyalty do hold out. though not full trust and likely expecting something to go wrong, he still ends up trusting dazai. otherwise, chuuya is shown to be very loyal to the mafia, going measures to make sure dazai wouldn’t frame him to get kicked out. then there’s his irritability and aggression,, he’s shown to easily get angry and start fights with little provocation. some underlying(?) traits are his confidence (and sometimes arrogance), and his uhh,, diplomatic abilities?? idk what to call it, but if needed, he will calm down and focus to talk things out and make deals. most of these traits i believe can be linked to his old gang and possibly how they treated him due to his status as a powerful ability user. some of these also don’t seem extreme- he’s not extremely diplomatic, after all. buut these traits strongly contrast each other to make the switch more evident and dramatic.

higuchi - obsessive and stalkerish behaviors. personally i believe that this behaviors are rooted in a mixture of anxiety, loyalty, and idolization. i don’t know that higuchi has explained her infatuation with akutagawa, but it’s likely that she just admires him a lot. she also is shown to have a crush on him, which leads to the ideas that she’s obsessive and stalkerish. while i don’t deny those behaviors, i think that they’re mainly loyalty and anxiety dependent on idolization- except blown out of proportion and so extreme that she seems like a stalker. as she is loyal and deeply respects akutagawa, she also cares for him and his well-being considerably, as shown by the many times she interjects when his health is at risk. she is very, very anxious about his health, which likely is the cause for some of her obsessive behaviors (following him everywhere, trying to assist him constantly even when he says no, risking her life for him, etc). however, some isn’t all, so some of her stalkerish behaviors are genuinely rooted in a crush. but again it seems like this crush is just rlly fuckin extreme which is why she’s so persistent and radical in her attempts to help him/win him over.

kajii - curiosity. idk that this one needs a lot of explaining? his main focuses of curiosity are of god and science, but alone i don’t believe those things are extreme obsessions- he isn’t shown to praise god religiously (haha) like a certain someone, and obsession with science is already a kind of fixation on learning and curiosity, even outside of bsd. the entire concept of science is the study of the unknown. curiosity is a necessity if you are to be interested in science; its basis is observing, creating hypotheses, designing experiments, and then testing said hypotheses several times before compiling results and data into a conclusion. kajii’s fascination with experimenting is rooted in his desire to observe what happens, gather results, and learn from the experience. he is inherently curious about many things, but yes, most notably science and god. as for why..... no clue tbh.

kouyou - it’s kind of a control thing, whether it be with controlling/leading people, or being in control of tasks/responsibilities. there’s also a protective nature displayed, most notably of kyouka. in that sense, kouyou demands an amount of control over people and situations to execute action. her appearance also gives the impression that she is very specific and selective with her attire and how she presents herself- choices she has made, not mandated by anyone else. kouyou holds the position of one of the mafia’s five executives, and there’s nothing really to suggest that she is a bad leader or that she abuses her power. 

while sometimes misguided and blinded by her own experiences, kouyou’s intentions are often to protect, help, and teach, which are not bad at all. her execution of these could be worked on, but at heart she is trying to do good. currently this intense protective nature is fixed on kyouka, though it is alluded that there may have been a somewhat similar relationship with chuuya. as for why she is this way, she has already explained it with her past relationship in which her lover was killed while trying to escape with her. she doesn’t want that to happen again to those she loves.

q - he’s a mix of stuff, but mainly intense switches in mood/mindset and chaos. there’s also an underlying desire to be loved and to be not used, or “cursed”. q holds the belief that his ability is a curse that he never asked for (understandably), and has expressed that he wishes that he wasn’t forced to use his ability. paired with this wish to not be used is his wish for love- while never explicitly stated by him, he reacted very badly to being told that god is real but doesn’t love him. however, he probably wishes for more than just god’s love. q’s intense loneliness and wishing for someone to care for him can likely be attributed to the fact that he is only 14, has no friends, and seemingly spends all of his time locked up somewhere in the port mafia dungeons because he’s too dangerous. 

on the more evident side, q has extreme mood switches; he can bounce back and forth in between not wanting to hurt anyone or use his ability and then hating everyone and cursing everyone. his expression of these emotions are usually extreme, too- crying, sobbing, and begging can morph quickly into screaming, howling, and cursing others. these mood swings and hatred for others can also be attributed to his status in the mafia. it’s only natural for him to hate people when he only sees himself being used. his ability also is on the extreme side. both in what it is (mind control) and how it’s triggered (someone hurting him) speaks lengths of exactly how extreme his ability is. another smaller extreme that just occurred to me is his pain tolerance. he can be seen joyously causing intense injuries to himself which indicates that smaller and self-inflicted injuries are completely manageable for him.

oda - oda is weirdly like the opposite of what this post is about. there’s nothing really extreme about oda, unless you want to say he’s extremely bland? (i’m sorry hear me out) the entire thing with oda is his lack of emotions or opinions, and while i’m certain he has them, he very rarely expresses them. fun fact but he literally never smiled the entire dark era?? even with the kids 😭 okay but other than his extreme... lack of expressing feelings and opinions.. i think he’s very protective/concerned for others. he of course cares extremely about the orphans in his care, and he also cares for ango and dazai. i think that it can be said that oda’s main extreme is his fucking uh,, adopting orphan children. cause if i’m not mistaken he adopts like 15 kids in beast. he’s a serial orphan adopter. as for why, i don’t rlly know. i can guess that his stoic nature is some mix of trust issues and desensitized reactions to death/killing. under all that he’s strongly dedicated to his goals and future (caring for the kids and writing his novel).

hirotsu - honestly. not sure. he’s actually not that extreme. but, to me, his “face value” traits would be that he’s uptight and overly dedicated to tasks, though not to the extent that kunikida is. he was shown to harp on tachihara for being a few minutes late, killed an entire warehouse of people for stealing from the mafia, and tended to take successfully playing dazai’s video game a bit too serious, as he very formally apologized to dazai for his failure. he also seems to be dedicated to the task of supporting yokohama as best as he can, as he stays loyal and productive in the mafia even at his age. i would say that he’s loyal for staying that long (and he is), but he’s not extremely loyal, as he is shown doing random favors for dazai. however, these favors are usually to help support yokohama, so i guess he’s extremely..... uh supportive and trusting?? idk man hirotsu is just not that intense. intensely mysterious and cryptic maybe.

gin - though not exactly a character trait, gin is selectively mute. selective mutism, though normally a childhood anxiety disorder, can persist in late teens and adulthood. most likely, gin is mute by choice- and selective mutism is on the more severe end of the anxiety spectrum. while normal anxiety could cause someone to be shy, anxiety around others that’s so intense that the person can’t speak? yeah. there are, of course, other causes, but based on her interactions with others, it can be inferred that she chooses to stay silent out of fear or anxiety. she is capable of talking in select situations, and she can talk normally to some people. otherwise, she stays silent mostly, which makes her most outstanding trait her muteness. otherwise we haven’t seen enough to say if she has any other extremes. i also don’t have a definitive reason for why she’s mute.

tachihara - tachihara is another character with not many extreme aspects. what stands out most to me is probably his punk and carefree attitude. while he does easily get angry and violent, he can be just as quick to dismiss it if the situation calls for it. he is shown to be a bit more relaxed than his fellow mafia members, and he seems more into having fun with his job than being proper about things. his appearance also gives off vibes of a punk kid with an attitude, probably a mixture of kinda-spiky light hair, loose shirt, and weird fluffy cropped jacket. his attitude and appearance screams laid back to me. plus he dual wields in a weirdly casual way? he doesn’t have two guns to make his shots count and take on more enemies, he has two guns because he’s trigger happy and doesn’t care how bad his aim is. with two guns you don’t need good aim, you’ll eventually hit your target 😎 not enough known about him to say why he’s like this.

ace - not a lot is known about him since he existed for like two chapters BUT. ace is shown to be very greedy and ambitious. he frequently lies and plots to backstab others. if he’s an “extreme” anything, he’s an extreme snake, liar, and manipulative bastard.  he also has extremely slimy vibes but that’s probably just me associating all liars and manipulators into super slimy feels. as for why,, yeah no idea? he’s just extremely greedy and willing to step on whoever to get what he wants. that seems to be it though.

the guild

fitzgerald - extreme greed and determination. fitzgerald, while already wealthy, seems to seek more wealth at all times. even if it looks like he is bargaining, offering a large amount of money for something, or even randomly gifting people, he has an ulterior motive. fitzgerald is a businessman and would not strike deals unless they were ultimately profitable for him in the long run. his greed can sometimes be subtle or played off as something “good”, such as when he confronted that one businessman. the businessman admitted to the crime, attempted to pay off fitzgerald into silence, but was backstabbed in the end as fitzgerald provided evidence against him to the court despite the money given. 

another one of fitzgerald’s biggest traits is his persistent and determined nature. he is shown to not give up on his goals, no matter what the cost is. he wants to revive his daughter and help his wife? then he has no issues invading a foreign country, waging a gifted war against their gifted organizations, and willingly cursed ⅕ of yokohama with q’s ability, despite the fact that they were all innocent bystanders. as he stated, he was willing to raze yokohama to the ground to get the book. when defeated, it took a bit to convince him to try again, but once he decided to go for success again, it was almost simple for him to regain his status and wealth.

as for why he is so greedy, that isn’t really touched on or explained. his determination and independence can be chalked up to his “rules of success” or whatever. some of his underlying extremities could be social incompetence/ignorance, which honestly kind of makes up a lot of his character? beneath the absolute rich boy is an absolute ignorant rich boy. he seemed to struggle to understand why nathaniel felt responsible for mitchell. he also talks to alcott very flippantly despite her nervous reactions to him (and frequently ignores her warning to not follow dangerous plans). he doesn’t know what it’s like being poor, seen when he just walked into another person’s room in a hotel, thinking that he also owned that room.

montgomery - extremely playful and eager. the eagerness and playfulness kind of go hand in hand, as she is very excitable and loves to use her ability to mess with people and play games. this is evident in how over the top her speech is and how emphasized her actions are (the creepy big smile, her gesturing & clapping, etc.) her eagerness is mainly focused on winning and catching people in her game. these actions tend to blend into her character more than an intensified trait. an underlying strong desire is her desperation to fit in and have a place to belong, which is tied into her over-eagerness to win and do well. this is a result of her upbringing in an orphanage where she was unwanted. having no place to call home, she has fixated on creating a place where she can stay and fit in with others; particularly with other ability users, as she was outcast for having an ability when no one else did. 

steinbeck - though not as extreme as some other traits, steinbeck is above average in attributes like determination and a lack of empathy for strangers. his determination, for lack of a better word, will be used more as an umbrella term for his loyalty, thoroughness, and efficiency in his work. when needed, he will finish tasks assigned quickly and without skipping details. he is good at sticking to plans or an order and does his job well. despite disagreeing with fitzgerald’s ambitions and methods, he stays with the guild and even plans to lead it after its fall. his motivations are also rooted in his love and loyalty to his family. however, his intense thoroughness and determination also seems to lead to decreased empathy for others. he willingly went with the emergency plan, despite his ability causing q to curse ⅕ of innocent civilians in yokohama. he was also ready to sacrifice haruno and naomi for the purpose of fulfilling his mission. an underlying (and not as intense) trait is how laid back and casual he is. despite his jobs being cruel and sacrificing others, he does it easily and with a smile.

lovecraft - very very tired. being tired sometimes is normal if you didn’t sleep well, but lovecraft is constantly exhausted and on the verge of falling asleep. basically every scene with him includes him talking about how tired he is, or how much he wants to sleep. there were also instances of him briefly falling asleep in inappropriate scenes, such as when kunikida shot him and during the fight with dazai and chuuya. after the guild fell and his contract with fitzgerald expired, he immediately jumped into the ocean to sleep. aside from being incredibly tired, lovecraft has a few other feelings (though not as severe): being hungry and feeling anxious. hunger isn’t mentioned as much as being tired, nor is his anxiety; however, lovecraft has expressed that he feels anxious around people, as he never really interacts with them or goes out in public. before he was in japan with steinbeck, he apparently hadn’t been outside in four years. another extreme shut in! a bonus thing that we don’t know much about, but lovecraft seems to be bound to contracts he makes; even if he wants to do something else, he must “fulfill [his] contract”. assuming that he has no choice but to do what the contract requires, once he signs a contract, that’s a very powerful thing going on.

hawthorne - well uh. incredibly religious, and extremely dedicated/loyal. the religious part is arguably the biggest part of his character; he is a pastor, dresses like one, carries around a bible, and uses his rosary to activate his ability (which takes the form of verses from the bible). his purpose in life, and in the guild, is to pass on judgement to sinners and punish them. it is his strongest motivator, and he mainly spends his time speaking to god, reading the bible, and deciding how to use his ability to follow god’s will. all religion related- he’s incredibly dedicated. he is also loyal to margaret mitchell, to the point that it diverted him from god. his desire to save her and help restore her honor was also a big thing for him; eventually, this goal overtook following religion, which is a considerable achievement. i say that it overtook religion because he began working with fyodor in order to help mitchell- that was a mistake, as he currently is brainwashed into following fyodor’s orders without ever thinking on his own. he is no longer using his ability to follow his life’s work and to follow god. more underlying traits of his include arrogance and a lack of expressions. basically, doesn’t express much, though his tone tends to be arrogant a lot of the time. 

mitchell - with much unknown about her and little screen time, it’s a bit difficult to peg any extremes she has; however, she does possess a lot of arrogance that affects several aspects of her life. first and foremost, this arrogance tends to interfere with her relationships. mitchell is quick to start fights over petty things, automatically placing herself above others and asserting it quite forcefully. secondly, her arrogance disrupts how she acts and perceives others. as stated before, she believes herself to be above everyone else. however, beyond simply stating that, mitchell complains about having to do work when she believes that she is above that, too. she thinks that everyone else should be doing the work, and was shown to get angry at hawthorne when he wasn’t giving orders on the ship. another instance of this arrogance is her severely underestimating enemies, and becoming in critical danger as a result. a less noticeable trait is her honor, sort of? though it seems similar to her arrogance and inflated ego, mitchell is obsessed with restoring honor to her family, to the point that she would risk her life for it.

poe - hoo boy. poe has a few extremes: severe social anxiety/isolation, competitiveness, and a self esteem issue (sort of). poe faced ranpo in a battle of wits some time in the past, and when defeated, apparently fell into a deep depression. normally, someone would accept their failure and move on, but poe instead gained a lot of self-doubt and negative emotions. to recover from that fall, he became obsessed with facing off with ranpo again and winning. he is extremely dedicated and competitive, as he prepared to face ranpo again for six fuckin years. he is stated to be reclusive and shy, talking quietly and hiding his face with his hair. his profile says he dislikes noisy crowds and “being invited to a party and ignored by the only person he knows”. in short, he is not one for socializing or being the center of attention.

some of his underlying traits are his mood swings or conflicting feelings about others. though they aren’t super severe, it is worth noting that it happens quite frequently- he was confident when facing ranpo, then switched to a very depressed and sullen mood when ranpo didn’t recognize him. he was happy when he believed he beat ranpo- again, quickly transformed to intense disappointment and feeling of defeat when he realized that he lost. his conflicting feelings of others is mainly evident in his weird relationship with ranpo. he appears excited and overjoyed to watch ranpo use super deduction, but when asked if he was a fan, replied that they were rivals. when he trapped chuuya and ranpo in the book, he laughed in delight at potentially trapping and winning against ranpo in this way. immediately after, he was struck with the possibility of ranpo actually dying in the book, to which he got quiet and a bit scared about.

twain - another character with a lot of arrogance? but also a lot of excited reactions and constantly looking to mess around and have fun. he is shown to be very laid back and casual about his job, not getting disappointed when faced with defeat; rather, he laughs in excitement about someone being talented enough to escape his sniping. most scenes with him include inappropriate bouts of jokes and requests to engage in silly activities. however, he dislikes being ignored or left behind, so he tends to go with the flow anyway. more regarding his arrogance; twain believes his ability and talent to be great. his last appearance includes him commenting on how he is going to go home and finish writing his autobiography. not much is known about him, so it’s unclear why he is significant enough to write a book about. plus, his likes list himself and praise as the first two. a less evident trait of his, referenced in his likes and dislikes, is what he likes to do. sniping, of course, seems to be his favorite- this is likely because he likes adventure (and probably dangerous tasks/jobs), and dislikes plain or boring work. he likely gets bored easily, similar to ranpo, and needs an engaging and interesting task to entertain him.

alcott - most obviously, alcott has severe anxiety, though mainly it’s related to the social aspects of her life. this timidness and fear of talking to others dominates most of her character, and when thinking of alcott, the first thought that comes to mind is “oh, that really anxious and shy tactician.” alcott, for an unknown reason, relies heavily on approval from others, mainly fitzgerald. she has low self esteem, which also contributes to her fear of talking to strangers; she will run and hide if other people confront her. she only seems to feel more comfortable with fitzgerald, her boss, and poe, her fellow shy writer friend. other than her anxiety, alcott is also incredibly intelligent. it’s overshadowed by her “face value” trait, but is still very prominent. her work as a tactician means that she plans, but even her plans are the epitome of intense. using her ability allows her to write packets of potential outcomes to situations she really has no way of predicting. she also writes what to do should certain problems arise, though her cautious nature appears again as she often strongly recommends that fitzgerald does nothing.

the rats/decay of angels

fyodor - fyodor is another kind of tough one, but i’d say that it’s a mix of intelligence and composed attitude. another character with a very limited range of emotions- iirc there was one time he looked surprised, occasionally looks annoyed or confused, sometimes smiles, but mostly has no expression at all. he has dulled reactions to external stimuli, similar to kyouka, and likely hides his reactions or feelings like fukuzawa. one thing that is known, however, is that he is one of the genius characters and that he is constantly plotting and thinking. while he may not react to things happening around them, i am sure he notices them, takes them into account, and sometimes incorporates them into his complex plans. his ability to predict things rivals alcott’s, to the point that he predicts what everyone will do, how to trick them, and how to exploit the mistakes they will make. unlike alcott, his ability does not allow him to maximize his genius and complex plotting; all of his thinking and planning is done in the moment or before his plans are set into action, which is still impressive on its own. as for why he is like this, completely unknown. he also has a god complex, different from kajii and hawthorne’s religious beliefs. not only is his entire motivation to “cleanse the world of sinners” (ability users), but he has called himself god before. his religious beliefs seem to go beyond simply believing in god or following god’s word; no, he is god, and his job is to kill all ability users.

goncharov - goncharov didn’t show up much, but from what we saw of him, his main extreme is his dedication and loyalty. specifically, goncharov is very dedicated to fyodor- he underwent surgery to have “[his] unhappiness removed”, which makes him appear constantly smiling and declaring how happy he became with fyodor’s help. he is almost obsessive in his loyalty to fyodor, calling him “master” and apparently having similar interests (likes classical music, implied to have tea with fyodor, etc.) 

pushkin - again, didn’t show up much, but from what little we saw, he is very ambitious. he found joy in the way his ability was used in the cannibalism arc, stating later on that it was a genius technique and he would find it fun to do it again but with prominent world leaders. ambition is one thing and desiring to cause chaos similar to the cannibalism arc but with world leaders… yeah he must get really bored.

mushitarou - though not quite a character trait, mushitarou is extremely… clean? particular? just by looking at him, you get the impression that he is self absorbed, probably grooms himself a lot (look at his HAIR), and that he is confident. he is also shown to be very demanding, which is where his “particular” thing comes in. he requires everything to be done a certain way, with very specific and high standards. with his ability, he also believes himself to be unbeatable, though this cockiness may have led to him being caught by ranpo. fr if he’s sitting there yelling how he’s gonna get away with it, does he expect to still get away with it?? anyway. i don’t really know why he’s like this or other underlying traits, as our info on him is still pretty limited. i guess he cares about his friend a FUCK TON.

gogol - oh boy. gogol really likes freedom and being a clown. now, being a clown seems like a weird kind of extreme we’re talkin about… but i think that this trait is mainly just emphasized with how outgoing and excitable he is. he dresses like a clown, loves playing weird tricks and games, and frequently gives people “quizzes”. his body language also characterizes him as moving around excessively. overall just a mega clown. then there’s his love of freedom. his recently released character profile states that he dislikes “brainwashing, subordination, being unfree”. all his dislikes are tied into each other and definitely tied into his odd obsession with being free- hell, he even died saying, “this is a prison break! over the innate brainwashing known as morality, i choose the freedom of my soul!” basically, a reality where he must follow what others want is too confining and he would rather die to free his soul than continue living that way. pretty extreme! 

sigma - uh my boy has only existed for like 7 chapters but. we’ll go with he’s extremely secretive and also babey. so, with the secrecy, it’s more like he has very bad amnesia and most information is unknown about him. real name, backstory, age, birthday, weight, height, ability name- none of that is clear, so he is either keeping it secret or doesn’t remember (possibly a combination of both.) from what we have seen of sigma, though, he is very kind and considerate of his customers and other people. he is formal and protective of not only his casino, but those staying at his casino. he has spent a lot of time memorizing everyone’s names and info about them for the sake of maximizing their safety and enjoyment. for being a member of a terrorist organization, sigma is a sweetheart. his kindness and innocence are more traits that blend into his character more, so it isn’t as evidently an “extreme”- but i do want to say that he has extreme memory issues and for being in a terrorist organization, he is incredibly sweet, which seems somewhat out of place.

others

ango - ango is very, very hardworking. another dedicated madlad. in dead apple, ango was shown to have willingly pulled several all nighters writing reports on the incident. when we were first introduced to him in the mafia, he was shown to be going above and beyond with his job; rather than writing a list of the people who died, ango wrote out a biography for each person, basically. he was uptight and against slacking in his job, attempting to refuse dazai and oda’s offer to go drinking, and very against being hugged by them when they stank of death. a bit of a clean freak with how uptight and orderly he was. he held a high ranking position in the mafia as an informant, where he handled much of their sensitive information and deals. his job also required him to work as a triple agent- initially in the special abilities department, then sent to infiltrate the mafia, and then in the mafia was sent to infiltrate mimic to work as a double agent. overall, his job(s) required a lot of him and he gladly overworked himself in all of them.

gide - he’s kinda weirdly obsessed with a specific goal? so less a personality trait or even mindset that is amplified, but a strange goal where he, as the leader of mimic, was determined to lead himself and his men into battle with worthy opponents who could kill them. their sheer determination to fight others with the goal of dying, basically a suicide mission, was what stood out. plus, gide was willing to go to horrifying extremes to provoke oda into fighting him. he believed oda to be the only one capable and worthy enough to kill him in battle, and once he realized oda refused to fight him, kidnapped and killed oda’s orphans, essentially angering oda into fighting and killing hm, also killing oda in the process. so still pretty extreme, but also extremely specific.

shibusawa - shibusawa’s extreme traits are boredom, intelligence, and collecting. intelligence is actually kind of dubious, as we don’t know to what extent his intellect is, but it is implied that he at least believes himself to be a genius and in some way or another, superior to everyone around him. he thinks of everyone else as boring, life as boring, and as such is constantly searching to cure his boredom. this boredom is probably his strongest motivator for most things, such as conducting the dragon’s head conflict. this boredom also might be an influence on his collector tendencies, as i believe they work in tandem in his ability use. bored of everything, he finds it interesting to collect things- his ability allows him to separate ability from ability user, so of course he finds it entertaining to watch people duel their abilities, his reward being another ability gem in his large collection. his collection is massive, and seeing as how all of his gems are from getting ability users to kill themselves with their abilities,,, yikes shibu that’s really intense and hardcore 😰

and with that, i think that’s about the end of this post (thank god). i decided against including the hunting dogs in this, as there is not enough known about them to determine what their extremes are and why. also its 5 am and im kinda lazy :( i wanna say that this post is also kind of like a spectrum. almost every character has a trait/goal/mindset/habit that’s intense and kind of characterizes a lot of the character; but, some characters are less extreme than others, particularly characters that don’t convey a lot of expressions. and like i tried to explain earlier, some traits don’t stand out that much and seem more like they’re a part of the character. not every “extreme” written here is the level of extreme that akutagawa’s obsession is, for instance.

a last note to end on is that i wanna talk about intelligence in bsd. it seems like a pretty all-or-nothing situation for the most part; either a character is of average intelligence or they’re a fucking genius. now, most “average” characters are still witty, innovative, and capable of basic detective skills, but there is still a large difference in say, kenji and fyodor. both are pretty dangerous and extreme in their own aspects, but in terms of intelligence, fyodor has kenji far outmatched. i’m gonna rank the different geniuses of bsd and their intelligence type. this is entirely personal opinion btw

ranpo- on top of having amazing intuition and deduction, ranpo is excellent at analyzing small details in a short amount of time. his sheer speed at completely solving impossible cases, even with little evidence, is what makes him so remarkable. he also is pretty good at being a tactician, though his strength mainly lies in solving mysteries.

a tie between dazai and fyodor. maybe fyodor a bit smarter tho. both are incredible tacticians, and their strengths lie in analyzing what their enemies are plotting. they are good at reading people and figuring out how to best use them, and lying/faking their way to get what they want. dazai is also a pretty good detective. 

i am sad to place alcott at third bc tbh she might be a two or tied with ranpo. alcott is fucking brilliant as a tactician and her ability allows her to create complex and detailed plans, correctly able to plot out every possibility her enemies may take. she hasn’t been shown to have any particular skills in reading people or crime solving, which is why she is placed third.

the debatables: don’t actually know the extent of their genius, but they’re apparently pretty smart and capable. mori, shibusawa, and ango?? i feel like im bsing my way now im sorry LMAO

honorable mention: katai

alright that is all im out. thank u for reading this hell i didn’t mean for this to be 8,000 words but its fine. probably. originally was gonna do shorter explanations for everyone and then reblog with more in depth but fuck it, its all here.

[albyfm]

˙✫*ﾟ YUNGBLUD  ,  DEMIBOY  ,  HE/THEY  :･ did  you  hear  alby miller  is  joining  the  cast  of  exposed  after  their habit of facilitating drugs at events, festivals & awards shows  was  revealed  ?  the  twenty-three  year  old  bass guitarist  with 500k followers is  trying  to  clear  their  name  .  they've  become  known  as  the  resident  juvenile  in  the  mansion  ,  and  it's  clear  that's  spot  on  because  they're  quite -  recalcitrant & -  stuck in their ways ,  but  also +  charismatic &  +  outspoken .  you  know  they're  heading  to  the  confession  booth  if  you  hear  lonely boy  by  the black keys  blasting  ,  most  likely  talking  about  how  they're  more  than disheveled outfits of black leather & denim, talking way too candidly to the press, smashed lenses of paparazzi cameras that got too close, an unmistakable mischievous grin & an inability to express real feelings.

hey !! finally getting around to posting this. you can call me aries, i’m 23 and in the bst ( uk ) timezone. my pronouns are she / her. i’m a little lost art school grad with a lot of student debt, a taste for red wine and an unhealthy obsession with arctic monkeys. not gonna lie, i whipped this kiddo up specifically for this rp so i’m still getting used to them, but hopefully with this intro you’ll get a feel for what they’re about. without further ado, here’s alby—

trigger warnings & disclaimer: mentions of hard drugs, alcohol, anger issues, destructive tendencies. my intention writing this intro was not to glamorize or romanticize these things in any way but if anything i have written comes across that way, please lmk!

smash that ♡ to plot or hit me up on discord @ chaotic aries#5793 !!

‘and this is how it starts...’ ( the basics )

name: alby fox miller age: twenty-three gender: non-binary ( demi-boy ) pronouns: he / him & they / them date of birth: may 24th 1997 zodiac: gemini sun, pisces moon, aries rising orientation: pansexual occupation: bassist for drive like i do career claim: ross macdonald ( the 1975 ) genre: alt-pop, pop-rock

‘it’s the way we are, we were smoking by eleven & knocking ‘round town...’ ( background )

you’re born in 1997, in the north west of england. wilmslow, to be exact. a quaint and affluent town, just south of manchester. the family you’re born into is a comfortable one. not quite living lavishly, but not at all struggling, either. your parents both work in business out in the city. you go to a good school. but... all is not how you exactly want it to be.

see, your parents are quite pushy. they expect you to live how they want, rather than how you do. at the all boy’s academy they enroll you in as a teenager, they expect you to pick what they deem as intellectual subjects, such as foreign languages, further mathematics and computer science. there’s a focus on you becoming someone that makes a lot of money, rather than someone who is happy.

but you’re... not the kind of person that can be molded so easily. you’re a fairly happy-go-lucky kid, but also a rebellious one. your parents’ strict ways of trying to force you down their chosen path, only encourages you more heavily to choose your own. 

at fourteen, you meet the guys. lennox, jovi & jasper. they’re some of the only kids at school who can be bothered to be around you, with your high energy and bolshy attitude. really, they’re the only people who embrace you for who you are. they encourage your weirdness and outspokenness. it’s not long before you find yourself wanting to do everything together. it’s not long before the four of you are inseparable.

from there, you fully detach from everything your parents want you to be. you embrace your individuality. you also find the courage and bravery to come out to your parents as non-binary at the age of sixteen. there’s not a single person’s opinion that you’re afraid of, or even care about. 

it’s not all rainbows & sunshine, though. you struggle somewhat with anger issues, and a bit of depression. you’re also practically addicted to getting into trouble: picking fights with bullies at school, selling weed & pills to your friends around town, underaged drinking... you get the gist. though you keep your fears internal, you sometimes worry you’ll get nowhere in life.

so of course, the second the boys are talking about starting a band, you’re all in. imagine if you made it big someday? wouldn’t that be sick? you’re immediately drawn to bass guitar, and use a month’s worth of saved up pocket money to pick one up from the big music store in the city. thankfully, you pick it up quite quickly, because before you can even realize it, things are getting so... real. by sixteen, you don’t feel you have the option to stick around at school for sixth form, because drive like i do is already playing local venues and working on its first album.

you’re just seventeen when the album is released. somehow, the climb to fame is faster than you could have ever imagined. it seems like yesterday you were still watching bass tutorials on youtube in your bedroom and practicing in your friend’s garage after school. first is some notoriety across the uk, but before you know it — boom! global stardom. the fame is a heavy weight for someone so young to carry... but fuck it, it’s gonna be fun, and you know it.

you’re twenty-three now, and days are gone of pipedreams formed in your parent’s shoebox room. you split your time between manchester, london, and LA — and that’s just during rare moments of downtime from your world tours. your band is 4 albums in, and whoever hasn’t heard of you might as well have been living under a rock. is it narcissistic to think like that? maybe, but you don’t care. this is rock n’ roll, baby. this is the life.

naturally, all eyes are mostly on your very outspoken frontman. he’s controversial, but the media can’t get enough of him. as for you? to them, you’re... the band’s problem child. while you argue that your behavior is no different than that of your friend, he’s got the lead singer charm. they don’t seem to like you as much. why? well...

‘drink, fall, spew...’ ( troublesome tendencies & exposed secret )

you never really coped as well as you acted like you did, did you? while you were grateful for the fame, everything was... a lot, and it was all at once. you didn’t even get the chance to process it. 

take four twenty-somethings and add constant prying journalists, paparazzi, and constantly full schedules into the mix. and why not pepper in some typical rockstar vices, too? alcohol, drugs, parties, throwaway sex. things are destined to get a little rocky. though you tried at first not to show it to your fans, your destructive behavior soon got the better of you, and you became known to drunkenly lash out at paps, smash cameras and storm out of interviews when the questions got too personal. 

this all came to a head when you were caught on camera several times distributing acid tabs, cocaine and mdma at events, music festivals & awards shows. the press gave the band a pretty bad time over this, and given the other members’ controversies and lennon’s similar link to drugs, it wasn’t a good look for any of you. 

it didn’t matter that you had a side to you that was good, pure. that you were always kind and loving and down-to-earth towards your fans and friends. you were a bad seed, and you wound up on exposed with the rest of your bandmates. hopefully you can prove there’s more to you than what the media shows...

‘oh & you say, i’m such a cliche...’ ( personality )

immm gonna rush thru this section & write less formally bc those other parts too me WAY too long

basically a literal toddler. loves a laugh, loves a good time, but get on his bad side and he WILL throw a tantrum

it’s mainly people like press & paps he lets his anger out on. the band’s fans and people he’s close with on a personal level know he’s a good person underneath it all

loves a bit of mischief / rebellion / drama

king of hiding insecurities....

literal softie.... like... who allowed this binch to be so soft. he’s so open about how much he loves his friends (particularly his bandmates) and will platonically kiss and hug and love people all the time, particularly on the show bc he’s trying to show the cameras his softer side dfjghdfdfg

so excitable like WHERE does this kid get all his energy...

( tw drugs ) will probably struggle a bit on the show without access to drugs, but ( tw addiction mention ) he has never really been addicted or dependent on them, just a frequent user.

outspoken as fuck, has no filter sometimes oops

very flamboyant, in line with the general aesthetic of his band but also on a personal level. sports a kind of soft gothic/punk/early 2000s emo look. always paints his nails and wears makeup etc

sleeps around a lot but has never really been able to find a lasting relationship, has just had a bunch of short-lived flings???? but lowkey develops crushes at the drop of a hat and would love to properly fall in love with someone who could be with him forever & accept him for all his flaws, but he highly doubts that will ever happen fgjdhsfg

‘why don’t you figure my heart out?...’ ( wanted connections )

exes on good terms

exes on bad terms ( maybe someone who actually really wanted to stay with him but couldnt deal with his bullshit and now resents him? )

 someone who loves the band’s music & inflates his ego ab it

 someone he hasn’t seen for years that he’s reunited on the show & maybe they’re revisiting old feelings for each other??? and he wants it to be DIFFERENT this time but also theres shit tons of fucking cameras and shit which... makes things difficult...

first friend he made in LA or in the states in general, someone who showed him the ropes

someone who hates him / hates the band like PLEASE

and also just a straight up enemy maybe?? someone who finds him annoying as fuck??

FRIENDS!!!

literally anything just hmu and lay an idea on me and theres 90% chance ill be down

[threewaysdivided]

I appreciate the response. Yeah, among other adjustments, had the plot been handled a little differently, I feel like Sam’s relationship with her parents could have evolved into something like that of Danny and Jazz and their parents. And don’t get me wrong; I still like Sam, too.

(In reference to this post and follow-up ask.)

Good to hear from you again 😊

I think there were a lot of things across the board that could have been tweaked or edited to improve the integrity of the series.  If I had to boil down the problem with DP to a single point I’d probably say it’s that the most interesting parts of the show are the characters/world/implications but the writers (or some of them anyway - I suspect there might have been some conflict between Hartman, the lead writers and the execs’) wanted certain plots, aesops and gags, and chose to brute-force them in regardless of whether they actually worked with what was already there.  Basically, it lacks consistency and internal logic.

For Sam in particular I think there are a few things that could have been handled better:

First one’s more a general complaint at the show and might light a fire under my notes but heck lets go there anyway but the writing has kind of a sexist bent that really doesn’t fit the characters or need to be there. Considering how much Danny and Jack are shown to love and respect Maddie and Jazz there’s no way they’d call their involvement in Genius Magazine “the swimsuit edition”.  Paulina might be traditionally feminine but “She surrendered her individuality for a boy! I’m so proud of her!” is not a line that any human girl in the history of human girls would say unironically.  There’s also a few too many jokes that basically boil down to “male character is emasculated/ vulnerable/ likes feminine-coded things, hyuk hyuk hyuk”.

I’m bringing this up not just because they’re gross cheap gags but because for Sam specifically, this pervasive low-key contempt for women and femininity in the writing, especially the tendency to portray almost every non-sympathetic girl her age as one-note, brainless boy-crazy cliches that she can’t connect with, really does not help her character.  I would have loved to see more genuine interaction between Sam and the other girls, even if it most of it was Kim Possible-Bonnie Rockwaller style antagonistic rapport.  We could have seen her develop some kind of tenuous connection with one of the A-listers, or even just have a secondary-female-character to be cordial towards - kind of like Mikey is for Danny and Tucker.  Hold up, outside of Valerie, Star and Paulina are there any named secondary girls at Casper High?  Sam doesn’t seem to have a single female friend in the show and considering how vocally judgemental she is, it can almost read like she’s rejecting them outright for being girls, which really undercuts attempts to make her seem feminist. (I mentioned it in a past tag but this feels like an early-2000s-male-writer mistake of equating Female Empowerment™ with the ability to tear down other women and belittle traditional femininity - which isn’t so much Feminism as it is Internalised Misogyny.)  Even just mixing up the pairings to put her with Star instead of Kwan in Lucky in Love would have helped.

I’d have also liked to see more awareness of and consistency in the conflict between her activism and her wealth.  It kind of undercuts the significance of her activism when you realise that she’s wealthy enough to make these choices with little cost to herself; it’s much easier to go vegan or buy renewable/ recyclable /sustainable /fair-trade when price isn’t an issue, especially if you also have serving staff to offset the time cost.  Once you notice this it makes her activism feel more tokenistic, and also like she doesn’t really understand her own privilege when she tries to push her agendas onto the school/ her classmates without considering why they mightn’t be able to do so as easily.  It’s also weird because the source of her family’s wealth is a cellophane-toothpick-wrapper (i.e. something that basically produces litter) but she still seems very comfortable enjoying the material benefits despite her pro-eco anti-consumerism sentiments.  It’s bizarre that she’s more concerned with the social consequence of ‘fake friends’ than the ethics of capitalism.  It can come off a bit “do as I say, not as I do”. 

It would have been nice for the show to give more screen time to reinforcing that Sam is aware of that conflict and is making an active effort to hold to her principles even at the cost of personal comfort; maybe showing some unease at the source of her wealth, trying to live below her means and only spend up on ethical/ eco-friendly/ sustainable products, op-shopping or hand-making her goth accessories, going out of her way to re-use or re-purpose things even if buying a new one would be ‘better’, actually showing or referencing her doing substantial hands-on activities (e.g. going off-screen or taking the boys to do tree-planting, litter pickups, soup kitchens, animal-shelter work etc).  Just something to help make it clearer that she genuinely cares and isn’t just doing the low-mess lip-service activities because she enjoys indulging in the image of Wokeness™.

These things would have helped regardless of how her family was written but let’s hop back on topic and talk about them.  I don’t have any prescriptive preference but let’s spitball a few different options and how they could have played:

#1 Sam’s parents don’t respect her interests and want her to fit a mold

In this case I’d make it that they don’t really pay attention or show much caring for who Sam really is as a person; their image of and interactions with her are more of a fantasised version of the ‘perfect’ daughter they want, they make very little effort to encourage her actual interests and are perhaps restrictive about what they let her do in the few moments when they do bother paying close attention (you might compare to some versions of Tim Drake’s Parents from DC Comics).  Classist, overly image-conscious, snobby and superficial.  

This would be the most sympathetic portrayal of her character without changing it very far from how it is in DP canon - helping contextualise why Sam is so fiercely defensive of her autonomy, why she pushes so hard when trying to get her opinions across and why she’s so judgemental of rich people and disdainful towards classic femininity - even possibly explaining her more hypocritical/ manipulative/ entitled traits as learned behaviours.  It would also give her more legitimate reason to be less empathetic towards others - after all even if they have struggles and family troubles it’s still better than what she’s dealing with (Danny’s parents may not be attentive but hey, at least they love him for himself, right?)

For this version I’d probably put her arc around growing past the “suffering olympics” model of viewing other people’s pain, but also in her finding family in Danny/Tucker/her Grandmother’s circle of connections, learning how to have healthy power-balance and communication in her relationships with others (aka: getting over her hypocrisy and realising that assertiveness is about communicating that “I matter, and so do you”) and pulling away from her parents’ influence - maybe even living with Ida a lot of the time.

#2 Sam’s parents are well-intentioned but overbearing

For this one, Sam’s parents would genuinely want the best for her… only they have an overly old-fashioned and restrictive view of what “the best” is and are a bit set-in-their-ways.  They’d probably view “hippies” and “goth” stuff as “dangerously rebellious hooligan-activities” and likely to be somewhat patronising about Sam’s passion for it being “just a phase”.   They’d be worried about her hanging around “the Fenton Kid” and “the Foley Kid” both because Danny’s parents are kind of irresponsible screwballs about safety but also because they put a lot of value in image due to their belief in social connections being the way to get ahead.  Them pushing Sam towards classic femininity and specific activities would be less about disrespecting her identity and more about their overly narrow view of “success” and worrying that she’s going to end up losing valuable opportunities and “wasting her life” if she keeps on down her current path.

This would still give Sam more sympathetic context for her views on femininity and pushiness about self-expression. 

Personally I think the arc I’d like to see here is one themed around responsible/considerate assertiveness and valuing alternative perspectives.  Sam coming to realise her own hypocrisy - that she can’t push her views onto others while complaining about her parents doing the same - developing more sympathy for Danny as she realises that he’s in a similar position with Jack’s insistence that he’ll inherent Fentonworks and his parents’ narrow-mindedness about ghosts, interacting with other girls and seeing their perspective, learning how to assert her opinion while making allowances for others’ (maybe an alternative version where she connects with Star in Lucky in Love and, after Aragon’s defeat in Beauty Marked, Sam still says she personally thinks it’s dumb but then steps down and lets Star win because she understands that Star values it), and getting her Grandma’s help in convincing her parents to widen their perspective while still responding to their concerns.

(This one has the overall kindest message and I think I like it best).

#3 Sam’s parents are trying and Sam’s actually the problem 

This one is the one that’s the least sympathetic to Sam.  Her parents still don’t get the Goth/Activist thing and they have some concerns about safety but they understand that it makes her happy and they’re okay with it so long as she’s not getting into trouble or mixing up with anyone that could hurt her.  Them pushing her towards more feminine/optimistic things is less pushing and more trying to encourage some hobbies that offer a bit more common ground.  They might have reservations, and they might not always have time, but they would like to be part of their daughter’s life… except for the problem that Sam has wrapped herself up in a teen-drama persecution complex and got it into her head that they “won’t accept her” are “pushing her to be someone else” and “don’t understand” so there’s no point even trying to explain or connect.  In this one Ida isn’t taking sides on purpose but she ends up accidentally enabling Sam a little because Sam reminds her of her younger days and she likes spoiling her granddaughter (and doesn’t much care for her daughter-in-law).

In this case Sam’s flaws would be framed much more as flaws born of her making superficial snap judgements, thinking she knows better and being too proud to admit she’s wrong.  There would definitely be moments of her coming across as an entitled, privileged holier-than-thou brat who invents problems because she likes feeling sorry for herself, especially early in her arc.

This version of the story would go the hardest on Sam with the general lesson being “you need to respect that other people are people who have their own problems, feelings and needs that are as real and valid as yours”.  She’d still have good qualities and Danny and Tucker would still obviously like and value her but there’d also be times of strain where they don’t want to hurt her feelings but are clearly getting worn out with the nonsense.  At its worst, maybe a “you’re like mustard. Great in small quantities, but a lot of you is…a lot” type confrontation.

I’d also give the secondary cast the most fleshing out, agency and sympathetic-ness here, and have beats where Sam has to realise that they’re lot more complex than her 2D stereotyped view of them and are dealing with actual serious problems to which hers are largely non-issues by comparison.  I’d probably play Dash and Paulina similar to in the fic Alibi (go read it, it’s good) - Dash being gay and performing aggression because toxic masculinity, insecurity, and being terrified of anyone outside the A-listers finding out (still not okay that he’s a bully but at least more understandable), while Paulina is hiding high emotional perceptiveness behind her pretty face and deliberately bearding for him to keep bigoted parents/ teachers off his back.  I’d also probably have a subplot in an alternate Life Lessons where Sam follows Valerie around because jealous/possessive and, like Danny, ends up realising that she’s working two jobs to help her Dad with their financial problems.  Basically she’d be getting hit with the Reality Stick a lot.

There’d also be more instances of Sam getting directly called out by the other girls. Fleshing them out as people and showing that their dislike is less superficiality and more because she unfairly judges and antagonises them all the time.  Giving them more agency in Beauty Marked and have them be direct about “we know you’re just here to be smug about how much ‘Better’ you are but have you considered that we’re doing this for ourselves and actually enjoy it?”.  Having Paulina be less “tee hee I am indeed a Witch” in Parental Bonding and more “Ugh fine, fine, I don’t really like him that much but you were being so obviously Jealous and Judge-y and I figured if I played a little you might actually step up.  But fine, if you’re sure.  Here’s your necklace back, I’ll let your dorky ‘friend’ down tomorrow.  But pro-tip?  You like someone you gotta go for it - otherwise don’t complain when your boy-toy gets taken by someone who actually means it.”  (Still petty, but emotionally intelligent pettiness, which… not really much better, but at least more interesting.)  A lot more of Sam realising that she’s not a particularly good feminist and that she’s no more entitled to Danny’s affections than anyone else.

To be honest, while I could say the most about this version and there’s a lot of potential drama there it’s the one I like the least because it means canonising my least favourite proto-abusive bad-faith narcissistic reading of Sam, casting her as an almost-villain and essentially punishing her over and over until she character develops into a decent human being.  Sure it’s an important message about how you treat others but it’s not a very nice or kind story and while there might be the odd fic that makes it cathartic I can’t say I’m a huge fan.

Again, if I had to pick, I’d probably go with something like #2. 

But there we go.  Another thrilling instalment in the “overly long posts about Sam Manson” saga.  

Hope you enjoyed it and thanks for stopping by!

[ohifonlyx33]

Could you explain why you don't like Lois ? I'm asking out of curiosity.

I could. But I’d rather not. Thinking about my least favourite character in fiction is not exactly my favourite past time. I’d rather tell you about my favourite character, Lana Lang.

Suffice to say I find Lois utterly uncompelling, unlikable, annoying, and at times downright rude. Even Clark agrees with me for the majority of the show. 

actually that doesn’t quite suffice. 

it’s gonna bug me if I don’t explain a little more about my thought process. and i will confess, some of it stems from fandom drama and shipping. But there is also logic to why I don’t like her.

Look, I like a flawed character who works on overcoming their flaws. Emma Woodhouse is meant to be a spoiled rich girl who is nosy and naive, yet the reason I can still like her is because as she learns about her flaws, she grows and she has learned a lesson about meddling by the end of the novel. Rose Tyler has some annoying even selfish tendencies, yet she’s able to be wrong, she’s able to grow, she shows loyalty and compassion, and she’s able to have self-less moments whee she overcomes her own fears and insecurites because she needs to. I like a character that is more than their flaws. 

But the thing with some characters is that they are held up as being flawless, or nearly so. You are not allowed to perceive their negative traits as being a problem, instead those negative traits becoming their best qualities. A pushy woman is hailed as a feminist for bullying men, a macho dude is hailed as a masculine rolemodel for getting lots of “babes”. I mean... don’t give me that nonsense where a negative personality trait is lauded just because blah, blah, balh, BUT GENDER. That’s the same reason I used to dislike Tony Stark until I saw him start growing past those tendencies, struggling with things like PTSD and his father’s neglect, etc.

All the things I find distasteful about lois are not half as bad as the fact that those things are presented as her strengths--not because she overcomes them or grows through them, but because “lol she’s just being lois...” She’s merely praised and worshiped as a “feminist icon” for no reason other than being Superman’s bossy, spunky romantic interest whose vices are seen as virtues. She’s not a character who worked hard to become someone better, nor seems to have much interest in being a better person (because she thinks she’s perfect). In fact I rarely saw anything deep about her character. She struck me as a fairly shallow character beyond “I had daddy issues and now I chase rich, hot, powerful dudes that aren’t good for me” 

And yet. AND YET. The narrative bends to serve her character because she was predetermined to be The One. She gets propped up. She gets happily ever after. And the fans love her because they don’t have to use their brains to understand her. She’s like a cheap action hero who makes questionable personal choices, throws out one liners, and wears low tank tops.

Meanwhile the more interesting character who does work on her flaws, does have meaningful growth, does fight to be a compelling character... she gets treated terribly by fans, the narrative is cruel to her, her virtues are seen as vices, and eventually she gets written off the show despite being the original female lead character.

[goldvnby]

biography

i. — ‹ ( if there were two guarantees in edward’s life from the very start they were that 1. finding success and upholding his parents’ precious reputation was his only option, and 2. he would not receive the privilege of finding happiness for himself. his family was far from a perfect match for the young boy. his pulse always seemed to race a little faster, his room would get a little messier, and his mind would wander a little farther. still, however, they were nothing if not persistent and by the end of his childhood edward had inherited their overbearing sense of pride. they hardly deserved to be as proud as they were. an affluent and well known family for their little corner of vermont but hardly much to write home about when contrasted against the mega rich only a state away. still, they had enough money to wear their wealth on their sleeves, occupying the largest ( and gaudiest ) home in town and speeding around in luxury cars. his father’s income was enough to support their lifestyle, which allowed his mother to focus on developing a prominent reputation within the community. ).

ii. — ‹ ( when he tells people off his childhood he paints it in a warm light, the good money american dream of scorching summer days by the lake and cozy vermont winters in the ski chalets. in reality, if his childhood was anything it was cold. neither of his parents left much time for their only son, and they spared even less time for each other. whenever possible his mother would head to a warmer climate to vacation and his father would jet off on whatever business trips he could. the times that they were together the pair would alternate between icy silence and fiery arguments. the final blow to their marriage came in edward’s sixteenth year while he was away at boarding school, his mother caught his father with another woman and all hell broke loose. it was a messy divorce that left edward in the crossfire. all in all his parents left him with a pessimistic idea of love and marriage, if he even believed in it at all. one of the major roots of his commitment issues is his fear that he is his father’s son. as it turns out his father had never been a faithful man and edward has simply accepted as fact that the streak of infidelity would continue in him. it seemed easier to accept it at that than to try at love and fail. failure, after all, goes against everything that edward stands for. ).

iii. — ‹ ( when he reached high school, edward was swiftly sent away from his parents home to whatever prestigious boarding schools they could stick him in for the colder months. the schools quickly became harder and harder to find, however, as this was when edward developed his tendency towards debauchery. being surrounded by nothing but other privileged youth he quickly discovered that the perfect mixture of confidence, brashness, and general disregard for the rules, could instantly earn him all the love and attention he lacked in his childhood. he mastered the art of charming the pants off of just about everyone. unfortunately, many schools didn’t much care for his antics and by his senior year, he had thoroughly exhausted almost all the institutions on the eastern seaboard. despite his rambunctious nature and tendency to be expelled, he was still quite successful in his academic pursuits. his charisma, well learned manners, and intelligence earned him the favour of many professors, and he graduated with high grades and a long list of references. outside of academics he always earned himself a place on the lacrosse and ski teams to make friends, as well as the debate team to make enemies. high school was also when he began to establish a long line of meaningless flings and broken hearts. he craved the attention and had more than enough confidence and charm to get it, but he would bolt before things could become serious. he always wanted more. his pride made it impossible to see anyone as worthy of him, his stubbornness made it so he could never see eye to eye with anyone, and his cynicism made him doubt that love was even possible at all. above all, loneliness had always been the dominant factor in his life, and to abandon that was terrifying. ).

iv. — ‹ ( after a gap year spent flitting around europe without purpose ( during which he came dangerously close to destroying himself as well as his liver ), edward found himself studying commerce at columbia. he instantly took to the city. it felt like for the first time in his life everything around him was alive with opportunity. to him it was a place to prove himself, and more than anything he wanted to be part of the upper crust of new york society. when he sets his mind to something edward is nothing if not determined. his act was cleaned up overnight. while he didn’t abandon his hedonistic ways, he relegated them to part of his life where they couldn’t interfere with his upward trajectory. late nights spent making and losing memories in the city were met with hot coffee and hard work in the mornings. with his revelry all compacted into short bursts it became even more volatile. his penchant for self destruction became a general disregard for his own life, and there wasn’t a stunt edward wouldn’t pull for the admiration of others. yet contrasting this completely his daytime in university was spent buttering up professors, joining the best societies, and working the most prestigious internships. by the end of the four years his life was falling into place, and everything was ready for success. ).

v. — ‹ ( things can never really work out for edward though, it’s practically a fact to him by now. just six months before his graduation his father became the centre of a hefty fraud case. not only did he have to deal with his family money being wiped out and his father receiving a jail sentence, the fallout of the scandal seeped into all elements of his life. his career path was hugely derailed. any family connections he had were wiped clean, and the ones he had built up on his own quickly started to disappear as word got out of what had happened. potential employers only had to do a quick google search of his name to discover the familial connection. it took several years for him to build up his credibility and get his life back on track. although he’s now finding success, the murky waters he started out in are not something he’ll easily forget. as for his father, while it isn’t exactly something he can keep a secret, those who know edward know to never bring the man up around him. it’s rare that he’ll confide in anyone about it, even raphael knows only what he can learn from others. he visits the penitentiary once a year on his father’s birthday, and always makes up a lie for why he’s going out of town. ).

vi.  — ‹ ( most of the time edward feels like he’s just waiting for the other shoe to drop. things are going smoothly career wise, he’s shockingly happy being monogamous with raphael, and he feels secure in his friend group. it all seems too good to be true, or too good to be true for edward at least.  there’s a darkness in edward, and so far as he can tell it always manages to soak up every bit of good in his life. he worries that by letting people close to him they’re just going to get caught in the crossfire. he’s at a precipice in his life and it can go one of two ways. he can either shape up and settle down, creating the life he’s always needed and never thought he can have, or he can continue down the path of self destruction, walking right into the life he always feared but didn’t know how to escape. ).

vii. — ‹ ( he’s always been extremely loyal with those he considers his closest friends and that certainly isn’t changing anytime soon, especially with nico. while from an outside perspective edward may seem like a pushy and inconsiderate friend, the reality is far different. while he lacks commitment romantically with friends when he really, truly believes that someone cares about him he returns that commitment tenfold. still, he finds it hard to believe that someone would stick around with him for so long. as for lucy, he values her and fears her in equal measure. he’s certain that she has the ability to turn everyone against him in one fell swoop if she wanted to, and she wouldn’t exactly be without her reasons. she sees right through him, in fact, he’s pretty sure she knows him better than he knows himself, which is quite terrifying for someone who doesn’t like for their true self to be known at all. at the same time, it makes her an easy person to turn to when things get rough. the sting of sophia’s rejection still burns him more than he liked to admit. he likes to get what he wants, and it was more than a bit shocking for the rug to get pulled out from under him like that. he can’t help but feel like its confirmation that there really is something wrong with him, and he feels a pang of insecurity every time she walks into the room. the good thing to come out of the mess with sophia is raphael. he still can’t believe it’s real, and having the same person to fall asleep to every night is actually helping a lot with his insomnia. once he felt secure with raph ( something he’s never found in a romantic relationship before ) he went all in. but he’s had his bad boy behaviour on pause for a while now and he isn’t sure how much longer he can keep it up. he just expects to fail, he’s sure he’ll slip up and ruin it sometime soon. he uses that certainty in his shortcomings like a crux so that when he does blow things up he can say he saw it coming all along. still, he wishes that raphael would just realize the mess he’s gotten himself into and run for the hills now, because edward is getting more and more attached every day. he’s even starting to see a future with raph, and the hope that stirs in his chest makes him feel a little sick. ).

[daikenkki]

Okay, here's my own current view of the 'gals' in the Steam Team just now. Haven't seen the new clips so don't know how I'm 'supposed' to perceive them, it's just all my own assessments based on what I've seen of them in the new season just past and the BWBA movie. Myself, I'm pleased to say that I think they're ALL flawed to some degree--which is good insofar that it adds to their being better-rounded characters overall--but it's expressed in a more subtle way than with most of the male characters and seems more focused about their own perceptions of themselves as to whether they're 'good' enough when it comes to functioning as part of the team. This strikes me as pretty typical when it comes to characters designed to entertain little kids in general, at least when it comes to the main cast. There's still this expectation that the females are the nurturing, helpful, less troublesome ones and that it's the males who are most likely to be brash, loud, and even a little mean and obnoxious. Sexist? Outdated? Or just a nod to the reality of the differences between stereotypic boys and girls? There are many old bits of verse still about which speak to this...the one about 'what are little boys made of' comes to mind...it's very ingrained in Western society. On the other hand, you've also got the traditional little girl with the curl who was very, very good when she WAS good, but when she was bad, she was horrid! That's one that's actually always cheered me up as seeming rather promising when it comes to character creation. BUT--I wouldn't expect to see that potential to be horrid expressed by Thomas's main cast females any time soon. Bad female behaviour in my experience is usually reserved for the secondary characters. Like Daisy. Let's face it, she can be pretty awful. Yet I don't know any Thomas fans who really dislike her for it. Personally, I just laugh it off. Anyway, back to the main ladies... Nia I find quite interesting as she comes off as almost aggressively friendly at times, especially so in the movie. Not quite to the one-step-away-from-obnoxious level that Philip takes it, but enough so that it obviously annoyed Thomas when he first met her. And yet, it suits her. I'd almost go so far as to say it's entirely appropriate for a character who hails from Africa, as my own experience with the folks there is that while a lot of them don't have much when it comes to material things, they do have each other and can seem more invested and interested in one another than is usual in some other broad cultures. The long greeting ceremony which Nia exchanged with the other African engine at one part in the BWBA movie seemed quintessentially African to me, for example, and yet--again--it's very length and 'needless' elaboration seemed to bug ol' Thomas. So that's what I think Nia's big flaw is going to be. She's pushy--or is she?--and will jump in to help without being asked first. On the plus side, she strikes me as self-confident enough that I really doubt she'll ever take it personally should anyone ever resent her unwanted helpfulness. In fact, she might even prove oblivious to such resentment, and I dare say some would consider that being insensitive to the point of it being another personality flaw. We'll see... I like what's been done with her so far and I LOVE her accent, especially the way she pronounces Gordon's name. Rebecca I like even better and I feel the early description of what she's going to be all about, personality-wise, has been VERY well realized. She IS both confident, yet not confident. No problems at all interacting with other engines thanks to her astute ability to read others and her kindness and natural charm (which lets her get away with speaking her mind without incurring too much wrath, heh). Professionally, though, when on the job...well, she is the new worrier in the sheds, I'd have to say. I like that the writers have taken this approach with her as it introduces kids to the idea that one can be unsure and make mistakes when it comes to one aspect of their lives without it affecting everything...one can still be well-liked and have lots of friends even if you mess up some and get scolded by the authority figures in your life now and then. So, that's her not so fatal flaw...a tendency to angst whenever it comes to whether she'll be able to do the work asked of her. Happily for her, she's too cheerful by nature to let her self-doubt get her down for long...and that's another good example one could learn from. And now that Rebecca exists, I find myself taking a fresh look at Emily and what makes her tick. She also has confidence issues, I believe, but hers seem more about aspiring to be something more rather then being able to do what she's already doing. She's the efficient and entirely capable generalist who sometimes wishes she could achieve the glamorous performance heights (and looks) attained by the more specialized engines, such as Caitlin, and who becomes depressed when she realistically realizes that she can't do so. It's a common enough insecurity--there's always someone who's more accomplished, more talented, better-looking than you--and part of having good self-esteem is having the good common sense to appreciate what you can do (and in Emily's case, that's quite a lot) and to take pride in doing it conscientiously and well. That's Emily's role now, I think, to set the example of being able to resist her occasional bouts of wistful envy and vague feelings that she ought to be better somehow. My take, anyway. I've never found her particularly bossy, by the way. She's always just seemed...concerned.

heimchen

[loucifieri]

NDRV3 HPA AU characterization notes

(also added some additional details on their character designs :D) I already made a character guide of the kids here, but after writing a spontaneously updated fanfic about their school/dorm life, I now have a better grasp of how to portray them in this AU. More under the cut~

Family headcanons here

[Facebook] [Instagram] [Twitter] [Blogger] [Kofi]

The HPA AU comics I’ve been doing admittedly focused more on certain characters, so I’ve hardly thought about how to flesh out the others. To remedy that, I wrote a chatfic that revolved around them as a class and what started as something ‘just for fun’ turned into something a bit more serious, complete with plot and drama (which is strange for something in a chatfic format lol).

Kaede Akamatsu: The cheerful, charismatic and kind pianoholic who promotes friendship and cooperation, earning her the position of Class Representative. Selfless and empathetic to a fault, but can be quite pushy and bossy. Behind her confident facade, Kaede is insecure of not being able to live up to her responsibilities believing that all she’s ever good at is playing the piano, going by a ‘fake it til you make it’ attitude so as not to disappoint the people that relied on her ‘leadership.’ She has a tendency to be tactless towards people when very annoyed or under extreme stress.

Add: While not a very good cook, Kaede is an experienced baker.

Closest friend/s: Shuichi (childhood best friend), Rantaro, Kaito, Maki, Kirumi, Tenko (she is at least good friends with everyone in class tho)

Shuichi Saihara: The meek and soft-spoken detective in training who eventually fills the role of assistant class rep to Kaede. Cool-headed and intelligent, Shuichi shows promise of being proactive and responsible, but has difficulty in asserting himself due to confidence issues. He can be very emotional, prone to easily cry when overwhelmed by negative emotions. He also struggles with depression at times, although he tries to hide it as best he could. To people he is close with, Shuichi can be quite sassy and would joke about his ‘emo aesthetic.’

(When Shuichi wore his hat, his necktie is the standard red one)

Add: Shuichi is an avid fan of all things detective (looks up to Kyoko Kirigiri, has a sizable collection of Nancy Drew Books and Detective Conan Manga, retweets a lot of Sherlock Holmes quotes etc.)

Closest friend/s: Kaede (childhood best friend), Kaito, Maki, Kokichi, Kiibo

Kokichi Ouma: The self proclaimed supreme leader, he is a compulsive liar and prankster, fond of being disruptive and annoying towards his peers. While he tends to lie a lot, it’s not as outrageous and over the top (like in-game), and he would never push the buttons of anyone who was already distressed. Behind his outward unpleasantness, Kokichi cares a lot about his classmates, often calling them out on their bad habits (albeit it’s also in an unpleasant way) and looking out for them in his own unique way (which is subtle, at most). He dreads showing this side of him to class 79, as this was a sign of attachment on his part and this was only reserved to D.I.C.E members initially.

Add: Kokichi doesn’t know how to dance.

Closest friend/s: Rantaro, Shuichi

Maki Harukawa: The surly, unapproachable ‘assassin’ who is the walking definition of a tsundere. She dislikes socializing with her classmates, mostly because of her inability for small talk and difficulty to relate with her peer group as she spent most of her time dealing with children (in the orphanage). Maki is blunt but not unkind, and may be occasionally dismissive but (secretly) greatly appreciates those who reach out to her. Being emotional is Maki’s greatest pet peeve, making her great at compartmentalizing and repressing her emotions.

Add: Maki was physically conditioned and trained to be an assassin but it was for her to be Motion Capture stunt girl for an assassin-centric game. Has not killed anyone in real life, but physically can if desired.

Closest friend/s: Kaito, Shuichi, Kaede

Kaito Momota: The loud-mouthed and passionate astronaut who likes to give pep talks more than Kaede. Kaito pretty much keeps the class lively with his dumb antics. Despite his air of stupidity, he is quite street smart and a good judge of character.  He has patriarchal views on gender roles, naturally irking most of his female peers. Additionally, he is hot-headed, stubborn and very competitive. True to his very upbeat and positive persona though, he dislikes showing weakness/ appearing weak. Kaito suffers from Tuberculosis, hence he coughs a lot.

Add: Kaito makes the best omelettes.

Closest friend/s: Maki, Shuichi, Kaede, Ryoma (one-sided)

Rantaro Amami: The lax and enigmatic adventurer who likes to meme, apart from traveling the world. Rantaro has a big brother vibe to him, but can be quite silly at times. He is fond of recounting experiences about his travels, often retelling them in a more imaginative version. Despite his nonchalant approach on everything, Rantaro is very particular on people’s perspective of him. He craves to be an important figure among his classmates, just like his central role on his siblings’ lives.

Add: Rantaro has a Youtube channel where he makes travel vlogs in the style of Bear Grylls’ Man VS Wild.

Closest friend/s: Tsumugi (middle school bestfriend), Kokichi, Kaede, Kiibo, Korekiyo

Kirumi Tojo: The responsible and mature maid with a strict adherence to her creed on selfless devotion. Kirumi is very capable of doing any (reasonable) task given to her, completing them with practiced efficiency. Taking her talent more seriously, she appears impassive and mechanical to her classmates. Her maid schtick is actually a conscious effort for her; beneath the carefully-maintained frigid and collected persona is a shy and anxious Kirumi with personal whims and ambitions. She has a sense of humor and would sometimes tease her classmates in some way or another (which always takes them by surprise). She can be quite condescending and judgmental when pushed to the limit.

Add: Kirumi is a closet bookworm, and has a collection of cheesy, young adult romance novels (may or may not own some raunchy ones).

Closest friend/s: Ryoma, Kaede

Korekiyo Shinguji: The studious and aloof anthropologist who revels in the beauty of humanity. Kiyo likes to observe people, mentally taking note of the intricacies of human nature, although this hobby of his isn’t taken kindly by some. Ambitious and resourceful, he spends a lot of time reading to further his knowledge. In turn, he is quite socially inept and often scares away any ‘potential friend’ with his intelligent ramblings. He is very close with his sickly older sister, but gets annoyed with her fussiness.

Add: He is a capable illustrator, often adding sketches on his journal of anthropological notes.

Closest friend/s: Rantaro, Gonta, Angie

Tsumugi Shirogane: The quirky cosplayer and talented seamstress with a habit of referencing popular and obscure pop culture stuff. Tsumugi is an avid fan of a lot media, from games to animes to TV shows, both western and japanese, often spending most of her time in her room to indulge in her fandoms. She also has a tendency to break the fourth wall and would reference the ‘NDRV3 canon universe.’ Tsumugi is quite insecure of her geeky side, and is a bag of nerves when under the spotlight. She is cowardly and unable to stand her ground, often playing for both sides in an argument in an effort to please both.

(the only one wearing the HPA uniform without modifications lol)

Add: She is a big fan of Junko Enoshima (a fashion blogger with her own brand of clothing).

Closest friend/s: Rantaro (middle school bestfriend)

Ryoma Hoshi: The stoic and detached Pro Tennis player who is very fond of felines. Ryoma likes to spend most of his time alone and would often disappear to god knows where. He is responsive when in conversation, talking in a melancholic tone. He is profound and insightful, open to giving advice freely to those in need. While very patient, he is vindictive and unforgiving to those who wronged him horribly. His whole family was murdered by a mafia group (leaving him with just the family cat) and he has since personally chased leads that will bring the perpetrators to justice. Despite his pursuit of the killers, he is not interested in delivering justice on his own and merely conducted his own investigation to aid law enforcement.

Add: Ryoma has a folder of cat game apps on his phone, his favorite in particular being Neko Atsume.

Closest friend/s: Kirumi, Gonta

Gonta Gokuhara: The gentle giant with a fascination on animals, particularly insects. Gonta is good-natured (very kind, polite and honest) but naive and childish. In spite of this, he cannot be easily tricked by Kokichi and would sometimes even join in on roasting him. He wants to be a gentleman and really tries his best to exhibit qualities of such. While not academically smart (being raised in the wild), he has extensive knowledge on flora and fauna. Gonta has bouts of self-doubt, believing himself to be incapable of anything. He can be very hard on himself and would do reckless things to prove himself.

Add: Contrary to most of his classmates’ impression on him, Gonta is not technologically challenged. He plays Overwatch in his free time (he mains Bastion).

Close friend/s: Ryoma, Korekiyo

Miu Iruma: The lewd and brash inventor with onion skin. Miu is outspoken and campy, often considered obnoxious by her classmates. She likes to make dirty jokes and projects an air of self-importance, but is also quick to deflate when reprimanded or talked back at. Being neglected her whole life, Miu wants attention, hence her over the top personality but this in turn made her a deplorable person. She spends most of her time building knickknacks to stave off the loneliness she feels. Over time, she does try to be less of a difficult person.

Add: Miu doesn’t know how to swim or ride a bike (but she can invent something that will keep her afloat on water and something that can keep her balanced on the bike).

Close friend/s: Kiibo

Kiibo Idabashi (not a Robot): The well-meaning and pacifistic Robotics Engineer that has a difficulty in relating with his fellow humans. Kiibo has lived a very sheltered life and has not been exposed to any social interaction with his age group prior to his enrollment at Hope’s Peak, making him quite stiff and robotic. He is very shy and apprehensive at speaking in class or called to recitation. He is also wimpy, but can get very defensive of his robotic creations.

Add: Kiibo missed out a lot on his childhood, so class 79 would often indulge him on what he was deprived of (like having pizza, playing tag and watching animated films).

Close friend/s: Miu, Shuichi, Rantaro

Tenko Chabashira: The energetic and cheerful aikido master who loves to defend girls from the degenerate MENaces. Tenko loves to be active, often encouraging the girls to exercise (especially those with a sedentary lifestlye). A fiery character, she wears her emotions on her sleeves and reacts strongly on impulse. She has a on a hair trigger temper, especially if the aggressor involves a guy and has a tendency to be physically violent. Tenko’s distaste towards men in general stems from a dark past: she and her mother suffered abuse from her own father. Her mother was eventually murdered by her father in front of her (at a young age) and after her father was subsequently locked up, she was taken in by her mother’s friend who was matriarchal.

Add: She is an adept shogi and chess player.

Close friend/s: Himiko, Angie, Kaede

Himiko Yumeno: The resident sloth who also happens to be a magician (er… mage). Himiko is very lethargic, dislikes doing almost any physical activity, often trying to weasel her way out of doing assigned tasks and the like. She isn’t dismissive of social interaction though, and is quite talkative when you start a conversation with her. She loves to watch youtube videos and web series, particularly korean drama. She is good at math, and would tutor Angie and Tenko when pestered enough.

Add: Himiko is ambidextrous, and can seamlessly use chopsticks with her left hand.

Close friend/s: Tenko, Angie

Angie Yonaga: The eccentric and bubbly artist with a deep devotion to an obscure religion. Angie is a pious devotee of Atua, and is willing to provide for the spiritual needs of her classmates. She loves mentioning unusual habits and customs from her island home, such as blood sacrifices and orgies. Hardly anything fazes her, this nonchalance and ignorance being considered sinister by some of her peers. Even with the best intentions in mind, she sometimes used religion to get what she wanted.

Add: Angie owns four horses (named War, Famine, Pestilence and Death) that Hope’s Peak allowed her to keep in school (for some reason). Their stables were located at the student/staff parking lot.

Close friend/s: Korekiyo, Tenko, Himiko

Great Gozu: The former Ultimate Wrestler is now the homeroom teacher of Class 79A. Despite his intimidating physique, he is gentle, patient and very supportive. He becomes quickly attached to class 79A and is quite protective of them.

--

And now for the romantic relationships~ (I inadvertently retconned some stuff from the HPA AU comics in the fanfic version apparently, I’m not very good at slow burn lol)

Kaede//Kirumi: Both of them are altruistic, though one is out of pure selflessness while the other due to moral obligation. Kaede is the first to develop a crush on the other, mostly out of physical attraction but it’s Kirumi that first falls in love between the two of them. Kirumi is mostly drawn to Kaede’s comforting presence and empathic nature, and is impressed with the pianist’s diligence in perfecting her musical craft. Kaede admires the maid’s dedicated work ethic, and is very enamored with Kirumi’s elegance and grace. Kaede’s considerate nature holds her back from pursuing Kirumi head-on out of respect for the maid’s seemingly unshakeable adherence to her creed of selfless devotion, while Kirumi struggles internally in balancing her whims and sticking to her creed. This results in them tiptoeing around their feelings towards each other.

Shuichi//Kokichi: One lies while the other exposes the truth. Kokichi, despite his growing interest on the detective, denies his feelings. Shuichi, initially unconfident about his chances with the supreme leader, takes the leap and reveals his feelings first. Kokichi is drawn to Shuichi’s intelligence, good-natured personality and cute face (and he may or may not have a detective kink). Shuichi is drawn to Kokichi’s complex personality, considering it a mystery puzzle only he could solve. Both Kokichi and Shuichi suffer from insecurities that the other deserve better than themselves; Kokichi believes Shuichi wouldn’t fall for him because of his complicated personality while Shuichi thinks Kokichi was in love with the more appealing Kaito, somewhat resigned he has no chance.

Kaito//Maki: Polar opposites and yet both hide the same thing; one relies on outward emotion to hide a weakness while the other represses emotion to hide a weakness. Kaito is greatly drawn to Maki’s independent and capable mindset but struggles with his own sexist mindset. Maki falls for Kaito’s endearing personality, but struggles to make sense of her romantic feelings. Eventually, they both overcome their weaknesses. Maki is the first to fall for the other, and while she is also the one to confess her feelings first, it was Kaito who first changed his ways, learning to be less sexist. Maki avoids Kaito when her feelings toward him intensified, but this unfazed the astronaut and remained wooing her consistently.

Tenko//Himiko: Polar opposites that balance each other out. Tenko and Himiko may have been the first pair to be immediately drawn to each other but they are the last pair to be officially together. Tenko’s more active lifestyle gets Himiko to reconsider her lethargic nature while Himiko’s relaxed attitude grounds Tenko’s overactive nature. Tenko was drawn to Himiko from the get-go, and while the smaller girl was initially annoyed by the aikido master being insistent, she eventually warms up to her. They subsequently act like girlfriends, but surprisingly their ‘official’ get together doesn’t happen til later.

[others to be added lol]

[kitsutoshi]

Highways

I was looking for something mindless to watch and stumbled on an old chestnut, “Highway to Heaven.”  What’s better than some moralizing Michael Landon in a feel-good everything-works-out-in-the-end bit of fluff right? Apparently not so much.  Maybe it’s a mark of how much things have changed since then, but from the first minute of the first episode, I was hooked, watching in amazement as the train-wreck progressed.

It really was like watching a horror film.  I was talking to the TV, trying to warn the characters “No! he’s a stalker!”  “Don’t let him follow you home, he’s probably a rapist!” “Ack! Old people! Do not give him your life savings to gamble on a horse race!”  “Seriously kid? You just accepted a big wrapped gift from a total stranger who walked into your back yard and pretended to know your dad?!” Just…wow.  Ok, sure, on the show this guy is an angel, but he acts like the sleaziest grifter/rapist/stalker/pedophile/abuser in the world.  How did we not see it? (or maybe others saw it, and I’m just slow)

But it did make me think about some things.  One of the most difficult and frustrating experiences I’ve had repeated over the years when working with survivors of abuse and assault, and teaching women’s self-defense, is getting folks to see and believe red-flags. To trust their guts when some authoritative-sounding guy is gaslighting. To understand when lines are being crossed that might give a little advanced warning.  A heads-up to at least watch for issues (or just run the other way).

But the problem with red flags is that many apply equally well to both over-helpful persistently “nice” people and to stalker/grifter/rapist/abusers.  And there’s a reason for that.  Because these guys want so very badly to convince you that they are Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven.  Too good to be true.  Angels on earth.  Those words they use have come to us first in childhood television, from trusted authority figures, from “angels.” Of course those words are effective.

Men with these tendencies will argue with you that it’s just “gentlemanly” behavior to be pushy and overcome a woman’s objections to accepting their help.  They’ll say anything to quiet objections, persuade us to ignore our gut instincts. “What harm is there?”  “C’mon, I know you, you want to try it.” “Wouldn’t the world be a better place if people trusted each other?” “You could really help me out by…”  “I need someone I can truly trust and rely on to do _____ for me.”  

I wonder how much their techniques change over generations.  I wonder if they learn it from TV.  Because the words coming out of Michael Landon’s mouth sound like the playbook of an abuser.  And that’s the insidious thing.  Some of these abusers really believe themselves to be “angels.”  Others just put on that face.  There’s a lot of talk about “stalkery” romantic comedies that give people bad/dangerous ideas about how romance should work.  But shows about “nice guys” who use abuser techniques to overcome people’s instincts and objections are just as dangerous.  

It’s obvious watching an 80’s show.  Back then, TV had all of the subtlety of a neon pink charging bull.  But watching a show like that can be informative. Playing a game of “spot the red flags” is outstanding practice.  Sure, you can do it in movies ABOUT stalkers and abusers, but those are usually less realistic.  Watching a show about an angel who uses the same insidious techniques to win people over, a character who you’re predisposed to see as harmless, whose every bit of body-language and your whole childhood tells you is “safe” is much better practice.  Because that’s how it works in real life. When you talk with an abused woman about why she won’t leave, a major reason is that He. Is. So. Convincing.  People don’t need to train in women’s self-defense to run away from obvious monsters, ones who give immediate heebie-jeebies.  it’s the ones who sound like angels, the ones who slip under the radar, who are too good to be true.  Spot the red flags when they come from “good” guys on TV. That’s closer. In real life, that guy could turn out to be either a harmless pushy nice guy, or the worst experience of your life.  Heck, if that show was made now, when TV has to be a lot more “what’s this person’s nature really?” there’s 100% chance that Michael Landon would turn out to be a demon in a shock season-ender (and then get reformed the next season, and lured back to the dark side the season after that…I’m lookin’ at you Jaime Lannister). But all the while, his words would be exactly the same. The highway goes somewhere, but maybe we don’t really know where.

[timeflies1007-blog]

Doctor Who Reviews by a Female Doctor, Season 5, part I

Please note: these reviews contain spoilers for this season as well as other seasons of the reboot, and contain occasional references to the classic series.

Previously on Doctor Who: Russell T. Davies presided over the rebirth of the show, starting with Rose Tyler’s escape from mannequins in a shop and ending with the Tenth Doctor’s sad exit. Lots of glorious things happened, we met some fabulous new monsters, we were introduced to an unprecedented amount of information about companions’ homes and families, and if there were occasional detours into deeply annoying pieces of plot and characterization, there were also many triumphant forays into charming and highly emotional stories. Once Steven Moffat takes over as showrunner, the show gets more complicated; people usually mean by this that the plot becomes convoluted, which I think is only intermittently true, but the approach that the show takes to its characters is, to me, the much bigger leap in terms of complexity. In the Davies era, we had a lot of very emotionally demonstrative characters, who often verbalized their thoughts directly, and who had such expressive faces and body language that they were usually legible to us immediately even if they were refusing to speak about certain feelings. With Moffat in charge, I don’t think that the characters’ emotions are less deeply felt, but I do think that they are less directly expressed, to the point that elements of plot, music, and imagery are far more thoroughly burdened with conveying—sometimes with extreme subtlety, sometimes with banging-you-over-the-head obviousness—the feelings that the characters conceal from each other and occasionally from themselves. This season is not quite as subtext-heavy as the next one, but I do think that, while you can turn your brain off and enjoy much of this season as a compilation of lots of good jokes and some entertaining running around, it does seem like a very different kind of storytelling that fundamentally involves more work for the audience, at least if you want to grasp what’s going on with these characters. I don’t think that this is necessarily a qualitative difference—more directly visible characterization can be brilliant and can be terrible, and the same is true of more subtext-driven work. Sometimes, the Moffat era is smarter, in its indirect character-building, than the Davies era was, and sometimes it is clumsier, but regardless of the result, I do think that the approach is extremely different. With that said, plenty remains the same: the show is fun, the monsters are scary, and, as we start this new season, the Doctor is about to make an endearing new human friend.

The Eleventh Hour: There are two high-stakes situations unfolding very quickly in this episode: the Doctor has twenty minutes to save the Earth from incineration, and the show has about an hour to prove that it can survive without David Tennant. The combined pressures exerted on both the show and its characters result in a frenzied, often breathtaking episode that feels a bit like inhaling five shots of espresso, but it finds just enough moments to slow down and let us appreciate this new array of characters.

           Smith is immediately good, but Doctor himself takes a few minutes to win me over. While the initial meeting between the Doctor and tiny Amelia is cute, the long sequence in which the Doctor tries and spits out various foods quickly gets annoying; making a little girl cook what seems like most of the contents of her fridge for him seems like an awfully pushy thing for the Doctor to do in his opening minutes, and the scene puts the Doctor right on the line between quirky and exasperating. At the end of the scene, though, we get the first piece of magic in this fairytaleish season, appearing in the unlikely form of fish fingers and custard. There are quite a few things on Doctor Who that work for reasons that are difficult to articulate—murdery trashcans really shouldn’t be some of the most engaging villains in television history, but somehow they are. Smith, until the end of this scene, has been a mostly likeable presence without quite being able to shake the little voice saying “He seems pretty good, but why did they cast someone so young?” This was my initial reaction to his casting, and continued to be my reaction to his first few minutes, but then he dips bits of fish into a bowl of yellow gloop and why this works is entirely beyond me but suddenly he’s the Doctor. Hi, Eleven.

           The Doctor, whose tendency to show off becomes especially troublesome in this regeneration, gets plenty of opportunity to do so here. He gets the attention of world leaders by sending them a proof of Fermat’s theorem and several elaborate pieces of knowledge, he practically revels in the chance to save the world with no TARDIS and a twenty-minute countdown, and his warning to the Atraxi, in which all of the previous Doctors appear, is both a terrific moment and a huge display of vanity. The Doctor refers to his confrontation with the Atraxi as “showtime,” but he’s putting on a show the whole time, and enjoying the performance quite a bit. Even his pep talk to Jeff—“First, you have to be magnificent. You have to make them trust you and get them working…This is when you fly”—seems like something he is saying to himself as much as to the bewildered young man he is addressing. The Tenth Doctor was often a huge spectacle, but he was rarely as self-aware of it or as intentional in building it as this Doctor so immediately is. This means that there is even more potential for aggravation here than in his previous incarnation, but the Eleventh Doctor’s tendency to indulge in performance is so clearly-defined and so easily-perceived by other characters that it plays a slightly different role here than it did before—most notably, it produces problems more often than it solves them. This is one of the rare moments in which his self-glorification really does straightforwardly solve the problem, but it’s just so nice to see glimpses of the previous Doctors just as we’re starting with a new one that I still really like the sequence.

           There were a lot of complaints about Amy Pond being introduced to us as a short-skirt-wearing kissogram, which is a reasonable objection. On the one hand, her outfit allows her reunion with the Doctor to take the form of hitting him with a cricket bat, handcuffing him to a radiator, dressing up as a police officer, and communicating with fake police on a fake radio, which is sort of fabulous in itself; I appreciate people who have a proper respect for costumes and props. On the other hand, it really is just an unnecessarily objectifying first look at grown-up Amy, and it invites the audience to sexualize her in a way that hadn’t really happened with the reboot’s previous companions. The decision to have her let her hair down just as she reveals that she’s a kiss-o-gram makes the scene look even more sexualized, and the return to the subject later on at Jeff’s house is just cringeworthy. We really, really didn’t need the Doctor making a judgmental face about Amy’s choice of profession, nor did we need a list of the different people she dresses up as—apparently, she’s been a police officer, a nurse, and a nun. It’s a brief scene, but it really does feel sexist, and it’s an unfortunate distraction from the much more interesting elements of Amy’s personality that we encounter in this episode. (On the subject of gender, it’s also worth pointing out that if you’re on a laptop talking to a group of world leaders, at least one of whom appears to be female, you might want to refer to them by a less gender-specific term than “fellas.”)

           Other than the questionable choice of occupation, though, we get a marvelous introduction to Amy here. I particularly like that the companion who’s going to go through pretty much every imaginable faith-related psychological issue over the next couple of seasons is introduced praying to Santa Claus (in April!) It’s a silly moment, but one that shows that her tendency to resort to belief that some sort of miraculous intervention will solve problems is exacerbated by the Doctor but doesn’t originate with him. She’s had many years to obsess about the Doctor, and her long period of disillusionment with him before she even sets foot in the TARDIS means that she reacts very differently from what we’ve seen in other companions. I really like the scene in which she traps him by locking his tie in a car door in spite of the fact that the apocalypse is looming, and I love that there’s no “bigger on the inside” moment when she first enters the TARDIS, just wide-eyed silence. The presence of the Doctor and his time machine is as much a validation of her stubbornness as anything else, and the “Scottish girl in the English village” who clung to her accent in spite of the geographic change already has a complicated relationship to the man whose existence she spent so much time defending. There’s some interesting thematic work connected with her as well: the act of carefully looking is an important element throughout Amy’s time on the show, and the Doctor’s promptings to look for what’s in the corner of her eye create a nice beginning to this, as does the fact that the Atraxi is basically just a giant eyeball.

           Amy’s world—a small town with a post office, a hospital, and a duck pond with no ducks—doesn’t look as endearing as Davies-era London often did, but it’s very pleasant and I sort of wish that future episodes had let us spend a bit more time there. I particularly like the Doctor’s frustrated remark that in their current possibly apocalyptic scenario, “We’ve got a post office. And it’s shut!” Rory isn’t especially memorable here, but we get a solid introduction to him. While everyone else is busy filming whatever is happening with the sun, Rory is calmly trying to do the useful thing by recording the inexplicable phenomenon of a walking coma patient, and the impression of Rory as quietly and unostentatiously helpful is a pretty accurate first glimpse of him.

           In addition to Amy, Rory, and the Doctor, we’re also introduced to the new TARDIS, who gets possibly the best debut of the four. Debates about who has the best TARDIS entrance generally center on companions, but my answer would be the Eleventh Doctor. I’m really glad that he’s the Doctor who eventually gets to talk to the human TARDIS (in next season’s “The Doctor’s Wife”) because he and the TARDIS somehow manage to have off-the-charts chemistry even while she’s still a machine. His awed “What have you got for me this time?” as he first enters his newly-redecorated TARDIS is my favorite moment of the entire episode, because he delivers the line with such a palpable sense of love that I suddenly get their relationship more than I ever have before. The TARDIS has always been fabulous—I mean, she’s what makes the show possible—and there have been plenty of moments that showcase the Doctor’s emotional connection to his time-space machine, but the end of this episode is the first time that she genuinely seems to me like a real character with a personality. This is partly due to Smith’s reaction, but the camera also shows an unprecedented level of excitement about the buttons and switches, and there’s a spinny thing that made me really want to poke it when I first saw it. (It should be pointed out that Amy does so almost as soon as she enters. Well done, Pond.) It’s like the camera, after years of taking it for granted, suddenly noticed how amazing the control room was, and while I have often wanted to travel on the TARDIS, this episode made me feel much more connected to the TARDIS herself than ever before.

           There is so much attention to new characters and spaces here that it’s easy to lose sight of the plot, but it’s a solid one—the Atraxi’s broadcasts to the entire Earth are quite frightening, and Prisoner Zero’s ability to change form is used to good effect. I wish that Olivia Colman had gotten a bit more to do, but she makes the most of a tiny role, looking and sounding tremendously intimidating as one of Prisoner Zero’s bodies. We also get a number of references to upcoming plot points, including the first appearance of the eerie cracks in time and the first mentions of the Silence. As a shift in tone and an introduction to new characters, storylines, and themes, this is a phenomenal piece of writing, and if Moffat had managed to come up with a different job for Amy, this would probably be in my top ten episodes of the reboot. The kissogram nonsense brings the quality down a bit, but it’s still easily the best debut episode for a Doctor in the reboot, and “Spearhead from Space” is really the only episode in the history of the show to compete with it as an introduction to a new Doctor. “Spearhead from Space” is an important predecessor here, in that it, too, marked a huge departure in tone from what had come before. The change here is not as drastic as the shift between “War Games” and “Spearhead,” but it does feel like we’re in a quite different world from the one of the Davies era. It definitely requires some adjustment, but for the most part, the new world looks absolutely stunning. A/A-

The Beast Below: I really disliked this episode the first time I watched it, but there are only a couple of episodes that have grown on me more over time. The Starship UK isn’t among the best worlds this show has portrayed—it’s a bit too wrapped up in generic Police State Surveillance things to be completely enjoyable. (The logic doesn’t really hold up either. Having children fed to the whale because they perform badly in school is horrifying to an extent that doesn’t really gel with the idea that the leaders here are trying to do the least terrible thing possible in an awful ethical dilemma. It’s also pretty stupid that the Starwhale clearly doesn’t eat children, and yet they keep getting sent to it.) The episode manages not to fall too badly into the trap of dystopian dullness, however, in large part because it features a queen wearing a giant, awesome cape who has strewn water glasses all over the floor and is secretly investigating her kingdom. It’s too bad that we only got one episode (and then a tiny cameo at the end of the season) of the marvelous Sophie Okonedo, but she really sells both the Queen’s enjoyment of trying to take down her own government and her eventual guilt when she realizes what she has allowed to happen. She looks, at first, like she’s going to be fabulous and fun but sort of lacking in depth, but by the end I’m really intrigued by her role in the Starship’s moral dilemma. She makes the Starship a much more interesting space, and some very nice direction allows the camera to find some really beautiful moments in the generally pretty drab world.  I tend to get annoyed with episodes that take a general approach of “It’s the future, and everything’s terrible! And technology, in particular, is terrible! Look at all the terribleness!!” because it’s just a boring way of creating a new place. Unlike some other episodes, though, the episode mixes a simplistically grim-looking future with some whimsical features and some much more compelling and creative darkness, and so the world of the Starship winds up with a varied enough atmosphere that it mostly works.

           The plot itself is solid without being especially original—basically “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” with a whale in it—but it’s a surprisingly hopeful version of this story in several respects. The choice between the agony of the whale and the destruction of the Starship is taken entirely seriously, and the reveal that Liz 10 was behind this all along manages to avoid making her look straightforwardly evil. (Non-misanthropic dystopias are my favorite kind of dystopia.) There are also more options here than there are in “Omelas,” as we see in both the Doctor’s attempted plan and Amy’s actual solution. The absence of the binary decision between tormenting an innocent victim and harming the rest of society means that this isn’t as good as “Omelas” in terms of serving as a thought experiment, but this does allow for a more character-driven story. Smith is not quite as memorable in this episode as he was in the previous one, but he gets both some fun moments of physical comedy and some interesting moments of darkness, particularly in his grief over thinking that he has to murder an innocent creature. He starts to get unnecessarily condescending—he clearly sees that the choice between protecting the whale and protecting the Starship is an impossibly difficult one, so his insistence that he’s taking Amy home after this trip and his infuriated “Nobody human has anything to say to me today!” seem a little bit unjustified. Interestingly, though, he is shown to be wrong almost immediately. He and Liz 10 have sort of the same problem here, in that they both see themselves as the hero, and so the whale is placed into the role of victim, either to be saved or to be abandoned to his continuing misery.

               Enter Amy Pond, whose continuing state of awe renders her far more capable of understanding that in this narrative, the Starwhale is, well, the star. Amy gets a huge amount to do in this episode, from cheerfully picking a lock to leaving herself messages about how to rescue the Doctor from having to make a difficult choice. Her delighted reaction to being listed as 1306 years old is adorable, and the scene in which she floats just outside the TARDIS is a beautiful image—so lovely that I’m not even particularly bothered by the unnecessary voiceover. Her resolution to the whale dilemma partly relies on her observational skills, the importance of which is highlighted by the Doctor as soon as they land. “Use your eyes. Notice everything,” he tells her, and her effort to do this definitely helps her to figure out the whale’s actual motives. Mixed in with her observational abilities is her somewhat idolizing view of the Doctor, which shapes her actions in a number of ways. You don’t want your childhood imaginary friend to become morally compromised, and her immediate response to the information about the Starwhale is to leave herself a message to get the Doctor away from the ship, where he would be forced into doing something that might tarnish his image as the perfect hero. Amy eventually does create a compassionate ending, but she was entirely willing to run away and leave the whale there in order to remove the Doctor from a morally ambiguous context. Amy is a character who is defined by her ability to believe—she puts her faith in the Doctor to an extent that allows them to develop a wonderful sense of trust, but that also can become dangerous because of how fervent that faith is. Her belief in the Doctor shapes her reading of the Starwhale here; she is so committed to her vision of a perfect Doctor that she sees the whale through that lens, and is willing to take a huge, possibly catastrophic leap as a result. As it turns out, she’s right—the whale really is too kind to let down the Starship passengers. If she’d been wrong, though, she would not only have killed herself and the Doctor but also the entire population of the Starship. It’s a great introduction to the mind of Amy Pond—fundamentally good and kind and trusting, but in a way that carries quite a lot of risk with it. What I really like about this is that the Doctor doesn’t just need a human perspective, he needs Amy’s in particular; what she does here is so specific to her personality and mentality that it really does seem unique to her, and I don’t think we’ve ever had quite this much information about a companion’s mindset by her second episode before.

           The problem with this episode is that Moffat doesn’t quite seem to be able to trust the intelligence of his audience. In fairness, there are some pretty subtle things here, including the first reference to silence in relation to emotional pain, but there’s also a tendency to over-repeat important points to a ridiculous extent. We spend too much time watching Amy flash back to the clues that help her put together the real nature of the whale, and then once she’s figured it out, she goes on about kind, lonely creatures who are the last of their species for about five years. The notion of Starwhale=Doctor isn’t a very complicated one, even for a show with lots of children watching, so the decision to keep the dialogue one tiny hop away from “The cast of Schoolhouse Rock shows up and sings a song called Metaphors Are Your Friend Also Do You Get How the Whale Represents the Doctor” is just completely unnecessary, as is the poem that Amy recites at the end.

           Other than the poem and the belaboring of the point, the ending has some lovely moments. The hug really solidifies the connection between Amy and the Doctor, and the final scene on the TARDIS, in which Amy answers a phone call from Winston Churchill, is an absolute joy. On the whole, the episode does a stellar job of conveying the nuances of Amy’s emotional state, and it gives us one of the season’s best guest characters in Liz 10. If the details and logic of this world had been ironed out a bit more, and Moffat had written the ending with anything approaching subtlety, restraint, or basic faith in his audience’s intellect, this could have been a great episode, but even with these errors, it’s still a very enjoyable one. B

Victory of the Daleks: For a while, until disaster strikes and everything collapses into multi-colored nonsense, this episode seems like a return to form for the Daleks. The show’s most famous villains had a mixed run in the Davies era: they’re brilliant and terrifying in Season One, kind of fun but shoehorned into the plot in Season Two, an absolute mess in Season Three, and even in Season Four, when they improve a bit, they get slightly buried under the avalanche of plot and character things happening in the finale. In the first twenty minutes of this episode, the Daleks are sensational: terrifying, visually fascinating, and deeply unsettling in their uncharacteristic subservience. (This isn’t the first time that the Daleks have masqueraded as servants, as this was a thing in “The Power of the Daleks” as well. We only have that in animated form, though, since it was erased, and so it’s nice to have the creepy visual of tea-serving Daleks here.) I love having the Daleks fight Nazis, on whom they were initially based, and the hidden threat contained in their stated ambition of “win[ning] the war” is fantastic, although slightly diminished by having the Doctor explain the double meaning a few minutes later. The reveal that Bracewell is a robot that they constructed in order to explain their presence is terrific, and they have a solid plan for getting the Doctor to inadvertently help them. (I mean, if you’re a Dalek and your plan relies on the Doctor’s tendency to grandstand about his longstanding rivalry with your species, you can feel pretty confident about your chances of success.) Even after they have stopped pretending to be Ironsides, the Daleks do some intensely creepy stuff, like turning all the lights on during an air raid.

           The triumphant portrayal of Daleks in the early scenes of the episode makes it even more disappointing that the climax of their plan involves intimidating the world by…changing color. Moffat has said in interviews that he was too focused on the first block of filming, and didn’t shift his attention soon enough to the second block, which included this episode, and so he didn’t put enough thought into evaluating how these new Daleks looked on camera. This is a plausible enough thing, particularly for someone in his first season as showrunner, but I can’t imagine what even prompted the initial idea to do this to the Daleks in the first place. There was nothing wrong with the existing appearance of the Daleks, and this redesign just makes me think of the song in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat where they list all the colors. (“It was red and yellow and green and brown and scarlet and black and ochre and peach and ruby and olive and violet and fawn etc.” and then in the film version there are eventually multi-colored sheep.) There has been some variety in the Daleks’ appearance across the history of the show, but this is easily the silliest and least frightening that they have ever looked.  

           Other than the Daleks themselves, the episode is uneven in terms of quality. The portrayal of Churchill is pretty one-dimensional and doesn’t acknowledge the many ways in which he was a quite problematic figure, but he’s entertaining and the World War II-era atmosphere is nicely established. This is probably Smith’s weakest outing among the early episodes of this season, perhaps due to some awkward writing of his initial rage against the Daleks. He does, however, try to confuse the Daleks by pretending that a jammy dodger is a self-destruct device, which is awesome. I’m pretty tired, at this point, of “The Doctor must choose between destroying the Daleks and preserving the Earth” as a plot point, though, even as a fairly minor one. Enough with this for a while. Amy continues to be an appealing presence, but she doesn’t get anywhere near the kind of depth that she had in the previous episode. She is pretty heavily involved in the resolution of the plot, but her ability to talk Bracewell through his feelings really just reveals that she is developing a crush on the Doctor—not an aspect of this season that I enjoy. Bracewell is an intriguing character, and the notion that having human memories makes him a real person accords nicely with the focus on memories as soul throughout the Moffat era, but the ending doesn’t make sense. It’s not unreasonable to say that a robot capable of deep emotion might philosophically be considered human, but in this case it would still be a human with considerable physical differences, including a bomb inside. There’s just no reason for the character’s emotional awakening to disrupt the physical process that the Daleks have set in motion, so the last-minute escape from destruction seems unearned. The decision to let him run off and carry on being human makes for a cute scene, though, and the episode concludes with a nicely-done reappearance of the crack from Amy’s wall, as well as the intriguing realization that Amy ought to remember who the Daleks are but clearly doesn’t.

           This episode is often offered as evidence that Mark Gatiss isn’t a good Doctor Who writer, which honestly I think is a bit unjustified. As I said in my review of “Idiot’s Lantern,” I do tend to like Gatiss’s writing of more realistic stories, like Sherlock and An Adventure in Space and Time, much more than I like his work on sci-fi stories. That being said, if the Dalek redesign didn’t look so idiotic, I would think of this as a pretty good episode, slightly let down by an illogical ending. While there are other flaws, there really is quite a lot that I enjoy here, and the one thing that completely capsizes the episode is the appearance of the Daleks, which Gatiss presumably wasn’t responsible for. It’s difficult to grade this episode, because it involves balancing a lot of good moments against some incredibly stupid decisions; on the whole, I think of this as a weak episode, but I don’t think I dislike it as much as some fans do. C+/C

The Time of Angels: This episode probably features more terrifying things than any other episode of the reboot. The Angel’s slow emergence from the television screen is creepy enough, but the gravel pouring out of Amy’s eye is the stuff of absolute nightmares. The Angel’s use of Bob’s voice is also enormously chilling—I would not want to hear an actual Angel’s voice, as that would take away from the mysteriousness of the species, but having it use a human’s voice and even make use of some of his thoughts means that the Angel conveys a lot of malice while retaining its elusive nature. The conversation is nicely structured too, so that we initially think it’s really Bob talking until we hear “I didn’t escape, sir. It killed me too.” The very best moment, though, is the reveal that they have inadvertently surrounded themselves with Angels; the Doctor introduces the two-headed nature of the Applans so casually that it just didn’t register to me, and I audibly gasped when the Angels’ presence became clear. (I am usually a very, very silent TV-watcher, so it takes a lot to get a vocal reaction from me.) It’s a perfect example of how easy it is to endanger oneself by simple misinterpretation—the notion that an Angel would hide amongst statues seemed so plausible that the possibility of another way of looking at the scenario just never occurred to me.

           While this is an extremely plot-twist-heavy episode, it does some interesting work with the characters. I really like the army of clerics, especially the Bishop in charge, who is beautifully played by Iain Glen. There are plenty of reasons to be dubious about a church that has evolved into a military, but what I like about the portrayal of these figures here is that the Doctor basically treats them like he does any other slightly odd civilization by just sort of getting on with the work that he’s trying to do. The idea of an overtly militant church is allowed to be unsettling without the Doctor doing an entire production number about how terrible they are, and the episode goes along with this by making the Bishop a figure of considerable integrity. It’s also a nice touch that we get both a religious army and a mass of angel statues in a season that largely deals with the (over)development of Amy’s faith.

River makes quite an entrance, burning a message into an artifact and then, once she lands on the TARDIS, being much better at actually flying her than the Doctor is and provoking a hilarious TARDIS-landing-noise imitation from him. I do think that her exchange with the men on the spaceship at the beginning gets a bit over-sexualized, both in the dialogue and in the closeup on her stilettos, but once we get past that scene she’s terrific, especially in her interactions with Amy. There’s an easy sense of connection between the two, which makes sense given later revelations, and I like that Amy seems intrigued by River’s relationship with the Doctor without appearing jealous. Amy herself also really impresses me by figuring out how to neutralize the TV Angel by pausing the clip on an Angel-free moment, and her brief spell of believing that her arm has turned to stone is a chilling scene that ends in hilarity as she questions whether the Doctor has “space teeth.”

The end of the episode allows the Doctor to do his usual yelling at monsters about how scared of him they should be, but it also gives some attention to his relationship with Amy. The revelation that Bob’s voice is actually an Angel is a scary plot twist in itself, but what’s even more interesting about this conversation is that it plays very precisely upon Amy’s fears. It’s unsettling to hear Angel Bob use the Doctor’s words about fear against him, saying that his fear did nothing for him and that the Doctor obtained his trust and then let him down. Amy has had more occasion than most companions to think about her level of trust in the Doctor, given his long abandonment of her, and the camera occasionally cuts back to her nervous expression as the Angel continues to taunt the Doctor about his betrayal of that trust. As the episode draws to a close, the Doctor gets everyone to reaffirm their faith in him—to take, in fact, a very literal leap of faith—but while the characters make this leap willingly, there remains a persistent sense of doubt about whether or not their faith is warranted. A/A-

Flesh and Stone: The Dalek episode was difficult to grade, but this one is nearly impossible, as most of it is amazing but the last scene is absolutely dreadful. I’m not sure if any other episode of the show has ever collapsed in on itself in its final moments quite as much as this one does; I mean, I had a huge problem with the end of “Love and Monsters,” but while the last scene is the worst part of that episode, it started to decline in quality about two-thirds of the way through, while this one is generally terrific until its very last minute.

           Until the final scene, there is a great deal to love here. A lot of absolutely terrifying things happen in this two-parter, but Amy’s slow countdown from ten is probably what scares me the most. It doesn’t lose any of its impact on rewatch, even though I know that it’s coming and what it means. The subsequent need to keep her eyes shut also makes for a lot of good drama, although her ability to avoid being sent back in time by the Angels by pretending she can see, even with her eyes closed, requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief. As far-fetched as it is, though, I can’t watch it without holding my breath, and having to walk through danger without being able to see creates yet another test of her trust in the Doctor. (It reminded me a bit of those trust exercises they made us do in school, where you put on a blindfold and had to wander around the hallway guided by your partner’s voice. I have painful memories of almost falling down the stairs.) In fact, for a while, so many great things are happening that it takes a bit of an effort to properly appreciate them as they whiz by: the clerics use their guns to create short bursts of light so that they can see the Angels with the lights off! There’s a forest on a spaceship! With tree borgs! The Doctor gets Angel Bob to say “comfy chairs!” The clerics keep disappearing and only Amy can remember that they ever existed! The Doctor finds out part of River’s background! The Angels show up in a big scary tableau! The Doctor enters in a slightly altered costume, looking very mysterious while telling Amy to believe in him and to remember what he told her as a child! My favorite, though, is probably the scene in which the Doctor and River try to figure out how to stop Amy’s ominous countdown. The Doctor and Amy don’t know it yet, but River knows that she’s with her husband and her mother, and looking back on it with knowledge from future seasons I just think it’s a beautiful interaction between their family. River and Amy continue to have a lovely connection, and they work so well together that the episode leaves us not only with the usual questions about who River is to the Doctor but also with new questions about who she is to Amy.

           As in the last episode, there are a lot of terrifying moments with the Angels, but there are also slightly too many new developments. The worst of these is the moment in which we watch them actually turn their heads, which is the one total miscalculation that Moffat makes with the Angels in this two-parter. Part of the creepy charm of these characters is that we see where they were and then how far they’ve progressed in the blink of an eye, and I like that “Blink” left open the possibility that they essentially became something utterly different when no one was looking. Having the Angels just kill people instead of sending them back in time also isn’t as interesting, but it does lead to Bishop Octavian getting one of my very favorite death scenes of a single-story character in the whole reboot. Smith does some really beautiful work in this last exchange with Octavian, and their final words—“I wish I had known you better” and “I think, sir, you know me at my best” make for a really moving end to the character. He returns to his faith at the end, as well, saying that he thanks God for his own courage and for the Doctor’s safety, and for all that I think a militant church is all kinds of bad ideas, I really like how sincerely devoted Octavian is to his work and beliefs.

           The time crack could have benefited from just a little bit more explanation—it’s not entirely clear to me exactly what it means to never have existed, and whether this involves people’s memories being erased or the actual erasure of all of the effects that they had. (It seems to mostly be the former, but it could definitely be a lot clearer.) The clerics disappearing into it one by one is genuinely frightening, though, and it’s good continuity that the Doctor realizes that throwing a major time event (like himself) into the time energy would seal things up, as this becomes important later on. The resolution to the Angel plot also stretches plausibility a bit—it’s not the first time that the show has suggested that holding on really tight can completely offset exceedingly strong gravitational forces, and my science knowledge is limited but it always seems questionable to me. Still, I appreciate that the previous episode established the gravity turning off as a real possibility, which makes the moment more believable than it would otherwise be.

           And then there’s that last scene. Introducing a sort of love triangle between the Doctor, Amy, and Rory is a stupid enough idea to begin with, but the details of the scene make it even worse than necessary. I get that trauma can make people lose their judgment a bit, but Amy’s efforts to seduce the Doctor don’t read like someone who is shaken up and making questionable decisions, they just come across as a male fantasy of an attractive woman suddenly becoming desperate for sex. She’s so aggressive in trying to get with the Doctor—even persisting in her attempts to kiss him after he has resisted—that the whole thing is just exploitative and objectifying to a ridiculous extent. Sexual attraction between a Doctor and companion generally isn’t my favorite thing in the first place, but creating a love triangle between Amy, the Doctor, and Rory is even worse, especially with the added drama of Amy trying to seduce the Doctor on the night before her wedding. Her connection to the Doctor has so far been fascinating and unique, and this just rewrites it as something much, much less interesting. It makes this episode difficult to evaluate, because in spite of a couple of unnecessary new details about the Angels, there is so much loveliness before this scene, but this ridiculous ending is enough to bring my opinion of the episode way down. B-

[kathydsalters31]

Featured Dog Breed: Weimaraner

Weimaraners are a dedicated canine breed who intend to be with people every one of the time, which can be unnerving. Yet if you take pleasure in always having a pet at hand– as well as can spare plenty of time for hiking, running, or hunting– the Weimaraner can be a suitable canine partner.

Today, we’ll take a look at the Weimaraner dog type, including its personality, wellness, background, look, as well as brushing!

Weimaraner Temperament Weimaraners can be pleasant, delighted, brave, smart, curious and also lively. They are excellent with youngsters as well as can be incredibly affixed to their family. They need a great deal of interest, and also they become deeply connected to their owners as well as will wish to follow you almost everywhere. They make fantastic watch dogs and also are extremely protective of their households. Weimaraners have an incredible level of energy, and also they require to run everyday. They enjoy nearly all activities, consisting of running with you, running together with your bike, hiking with you, swimming, agility, as well as obtaining. It is claimed that no person has reported something a Weimaraner could not do.

On the flip side, these pet dogs can not be disregarded. If overlooked, they can bark excessively, dirt the house, or simply ordinary ruin your home in minutes! They have actually been recognized to chew, go after cats, as well as steal food off the kitchen counter. They need to be well interacted socially to counter these tendencies.

Owning a Weimaraner is a full-time job, however one that repays in dividends if they are well dealt with and well educated.

His individuality can vary from in-charge to laidback. Males tend to be wonderful, while women have more guts. Young puppies with more prey drive and independence succeed in the field, while those that are upbeat as well as easygoing are best matched for friend residences. If you’re hoping to reveal, choose puppies with outward bound and confident mindsets.

As well as, if you grab a pup as well as he doesn’t settle in your arms quickly, it’s a clue that he’s mosting likely to be extremely energetic– the very same holds true if he employers the other young puppies– so believe lengthy and difficult concerning whether he’s the ideal sort of pet dog for you. For a lot of us, the most effective selection is the good, middle-of-the-road pup who is neither too controlling nor as well shy.

Weims are delicate, smart, as well as goal to please, which gives you a head start with training, especially if you begin early. A young Weimaraner will certainly test you to see just how much he can escape, so attempt to get him right into young puppy kindergarten class by the time he is 10 to 12 weeks old, and interact socially, mingle, socialize.

Be conscious that numerous puppy training classes call for particular vaccinations (like kennel cough) to be up to date, and several vets recommend minimal exposure to various other dogs and public places till pup injections (consisting of rabies, distemper and also parvovirus) have been completed. In lieu of formal training, you can start training your young puppy at home and also mingling him among friends and family until puppy vaccines are finished.

As charming as he is, the Weimaraner can be high-maintenance. He needs lots of social interaction and also reassurance to develop that certain, devoted Weimaraner attitude. He’ll also introduce you to two basic regulations of nature: A Weim at rest is burnt out and a bored Weimaraner is damaging. So strategy to keep him hectic or he’ll put his very own strategy right into action– like nibbling wall surfaces and carpets– as well as you probably won’t like it.

Weimaraners delight in running, hunting, opting for walks, boating, swimming– basically anything, as long as it involves being with you. (Tip: These pet dogs live to chase any things that moves, consisting of runners, bicycle riders, youngsters, and other animals, so confine him to a safely fenced lawn and also always stroll him on leash.)

They enjoy monitoring, search, and also dexterity tests when it comes to dog sporting activities. As a matter of fact, be prepared for presents of dead things: frogs, birds, the great feline that’s been spending time the yard. Your Weim does not recognize that she’s your neighbor’s cat; he’s primed to search hairy points and that’s what he does. As well as never ever deny his presents or penalize him, which could drastically damage your partnership.

A Weimaraner loves you and wishes to please you, but he’s likewise an independent thinker who suches as to have his own means. He’ll be pushy as well as difficult– and not just throughout teenage years. When it comes to the Weimaraner, the “teenager” years can begin at 6 months and proceed up until the pet is about two years old.

Educating a Weim calls for sensitivity, suppleness with a light touch, and also an outstanding funny bone. It takes a very wise person to stay one step ahead of a Weimaraner, and also then, there’s still lots of area to be outsmarted by one of these pets.

Weimaraner Appearance

German Weimaraners typically evaluate between 55 to 85 pounds as well as stand around 23 to 27 inches high. They are a huge canine with a trim, athletic as well as muscular build. They have a brief layer that is available in various tones of grey. Their label is “The Grey Ghost.”

Generally talking, the Weimaraner is a huge canine with a sports construct as well as great muscle mass tone. The coloring of the Weimaraner ranges from mousy gray to silvery grey. His coat is sleek, smooth, and close fitting, and also he sports a alert and eager expression. The weight of the Weimaraner is around 55-70 pounds for females, as well as 75-90 pounds for males. The elevation of these pets is around 23-25 inches for females, and around 25-27 inches for men.

Weimaraner Grooming

The Weimaraner needs a quite much no-fuss strategy to grooming, he will require to be cleaned on a normal basis in order to keep his layer sleek as well as in good problem. With normal brushing shedding is kept to a minimum with the Weim, which suggests that he may prove ideal for some allergy patients.

The Weimaraner’s short layer is very easy to keep: Brush it with a rubber curry brush at least as soon as a week. The brush gets rid of dead hair that would certainly or else wind up on your furnishings, garments, as well as floor. Weimaraners dropped, so the extra you clean, the much less hair you’ll have flying around. As well as shower your Weimaraner just when he’s dirty, which should not be really often.

The Weimaraner is a searching dog, so great foot condition is essential. Maintain his nails cut short. Finally, clean his teeth with a vet-approved pet dog toothpaste completely general health and wellness and also fresh breath.

Weimaraner Health Problems as well as Life Expectancy

All canines have the potential to develop genetic health problems, so it’s essential to pick your dog breeder sensibly. Weimaraner dog breeders ought to find out about a number of problems, consisting of hip dysplasia, hypothyroidism, tricuspid dysplasia (a genetic heart condition), and eye problems like corneal dystrophy and entropion.

A small percent of Weimaraner young puppies can develop an autoimmune response following vaccination. It usually shows up as a problem called hypertrophic osteodystrophy, an agonizing condition that can impact the bones.

To aid protect against such reactions, breeders suggest providing each vaccination separately, instead of all on the exact same day. The Weimaraner Club of America (WCA) does not advise providing vaccinations for coronavirus, lyme, leptospirosis, and bordetella disease, unless the conditions are prevalent in your area. Ask your veterinarian if your pet need to be vaccinated against any one of these diseases.

Weimaraners can likewise have elevated levels of uric acid in their pee, predisposing them to develop uncomfortable bladder and kidney rocks, which may call for surgical procedure. This condition, called hyperuricosuria, is acquired. A DNA test for the condition is readily available from the University of California at Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory.

Not all of these conditions are noticeable in an expanding puppy, and also it can be hard to anticipate whether an animal will certainly be free of these ailments, which is why you must discover a credible breeder that is committed to breeding the healthiest animals feasible. They should have the ability to create independent accreditation that the parents of the pet (as well as grandparents, etc.) have actually been evaluated for these issues and also considered healthy and balanced for breeding. That’s where wellness windows registries been available in.

The Weimaraner Club of America joins the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC), a health and wellness database. Breeders should agree to have all examination results, unfavorable or favorable, published in the data source, which can be accessed by any person who wishes to examine the health of a pup’s moms and dads.

Before Weimaraners can be issued a CHIC number, breeders have to submit hip and thyroid examinations from the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) as well as eye test arises from the Canine Eye Registration Foundation (CERF). PennHip certification of hips is additionally accepted. One more optional test that’s advised: a DNA testing for hyperuricosuria from the University of California at Davis Veterinary Genetics Lab. To be safe, numerous dog breeders likewise check arm joints as well as hearts.

Weimaraner History

The Weimaraner go back to the very early 19th century where they were established in Weimar, Germany. The noblemen who bred them liked to search and also wanted a dog with nerve, intelligence, endurance, rate, and great scenting capacity.

The types they used to create the Weimaraner consist of the Bloodhound, the English Pointer, the German Shorthaired Pointer, heaven Great Dane, and also the silver-gray Huehnerhund, or chicken dog. They were initially reproduced as big-game hunters for bear, deer, and also wolves, however they ultimately hunted foxes, bunnies, as well as birds.

They were and also are outstanding guidelines and also well-rounded seekers. Weimaraners made their method to America in the early 1900’s, and after that after World War II numerous American servicemen brought Weimaraners residence with them where they swiftly expanded in appeal. Weimaraners were recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1942.

Finding A Weimaraner Breeder

Picking a highly regarded dog breeder is an excellent way to discover the best pup. Credible dog breeders will welcome questions about character and health and wellness clearances, as well as clarify the history of the type as well as what kind of pup produces a good family pet. Don’t be shy about defining specifically what you’re searching for in a canine– dog breeders connect with their puppies daily and also can make accurate referrals once they know something about your way of life and character.

To begin your search, take a look at the internet site of the Weimaraner Club of America (WCA), which uses sources for locating a good breeder. Select a breeder that has actually consented to follow the club’s code of principles, defining that members not put weim pups prior to 12 weeks of age, prohibits the sale of puppies via pet dog shops, and also requires the breeder to get recommended health clearances prior to reproducing.

Lots of breeders have sites, so how can you inform that’s excellent and that’s not? Warning to watch out for: several trashes on the premises, pups always being readily available, having your choice of any pup, as well as being used the option to pay online with a charge card.

Breeders that market puppies at a reduced price “without documents” are underhanded and also need to be reported to the American Kennel Club. You should additionally remember that acquiring a pup from a web site that provides to deliver the dog quickly can be a risky venture– it leaves you no recourse if what you get isn’t specifically what you expected.

Whether you’re preparing to obtain your brand-new friend from a breeder, an animal store, or an additional resource, don’t neglect that old proverb “allow the buyer beware”. Dishonest breeders and also facilities that manage pup mills can be tough to identify from dependable operations.

There’s no 100% guaranteed means to ensure you’ll never buy an unwell pup, however investigating the breed (so you recognize what to anticipate), checking out the facility (to recognize harmful conditions or sick animals), and also asking the right inquiries can minimize the chances of heading right into a devastating scenario.

And do not neglect to ask your vet, that can usually refer you to a reliable breeder, breed rescue organization, or other dependable source for healthy and balanced pups.

The price of a Weim puppy differs depending on the dog breeder’s area, the sex of the young puppy, the titles that the young puppy’s moms and dads have, as well as whether the young puppy is best matched for the program ring or a pet home. Pups must be personality examined, vetted, dewormed, and also socialized to give them a healthy and balanced, positive start in life.

While the majority of Weimaraners have great personalities, a breeder who has American Temperament Test Society (TT) certification on her pets is more effective. If you put as much initiative right into researching your young puppy as you would certainly when buying a new car, it will certainly conserve you cash over time.

Prior to you decide to purchase a pup, think about whether an adult Weimaraner may better match your way of living. Puppies are lots of enjoyable, but they require a good deal of time as well as effort prior to they grow up to be the pet of your dreams. A grownup might currently have some training, and also he’ll most likely be less energetic, damaging, as well as demanding than a young puppy.

With a grown-up, you recognize more regarding what you’re entering terms of character and wellness as well as you can find grownups with shelters or dog breeders. If you want getting an older canine through dog breeders, inquire about acquiring a retired show pet dog or if they understand of a grown-up dog who needs a new house. If you want to embrace a pet, checked out the suggestions below on how to do that.

Adopting a Weimaraner If you want to take on a pet from a pet shelter or type rescue company, there are lots of terrific alternatives available. Here is

how to start. Use the Web Websites like Petfinder.com and also Adopt-a-Pet. com can have you looking for a Weimaraner in your location in no time at all level. The website enables you to be very certain in your demands (housetraining condition, as an example) or extremely general (all the Weimaraners readily available on Petfinder throughout the country). AnimalShelter.org can help you find animal rescue groups in your location. Likewise some regional newspapers have “pet dogs looking for residences” areas you can evaluate.

Social media site is another excellent means to discover a pet. Article on your Facebook page that you are searching for a certain breed to ensure that your entire community can be your ears as well as eyes.

Connect to Local Experts

Beginning talking with all the animal pros in your area about your need for a Weimaraner. That includes veterinarians, canine walkers, and also groomers. When a person has to make the hard decision to quit a pet dog, that person will usually ask her own relied on network for referrals.

Talk to Breed Rescue

Most individuals who enjoy Weimaraners enjoy all Weimaraners. That’s why breed clubs have actually rescue organizations committed to caring for homeless pet dogs. The Weimaraner Club of America’s rescue network can aid you discover a pet dog that might be the perfect buddy for your family members. You can also browse online for various other Weimaraner saves in your location.

The great feature of breed rescue groups is that they have a tendency to be really in advance concerning any type of health problems the dogs may have as well as are a valuable resource for advice. They also frequently offer cultivating possibilities so, with training, you could bring a Weimaraner house with you to see what the experience resembles.

Trick Questions to Ask

You now understand things to talk about with a dog breeder, but there are likewise concerns you should discuss with sanctuary or rescue group team or volunteers before you earn a pet. These include:

— What is his energy degree?– How is he around various other animals?– How does he respond to shelter workers,

site visitors, and also kids?– What is his character like?

— What is his age?– Is he housetrained ?– Has he ever hurt or attack any person that they understand of?

— Are there any recognized wellness problems?

Wherever you obtain your Weimaraner, make

sure you have a good agreement with the vendor, sanctuary or

rescue team that define obligations on both sides . Petfinder offers anAdopters Bill of Rights that assists you recognize what

you can take into consideration normal as well as ideal when you obtain a dog from a sanctuary. In states with”puppy lemon laws,”make certain you and also the person you obtain the dog from both understand your legal rights. Pup or adult, take your Weimaraner to your vet not long after fostering. Your veterinarian will certainly have the ability to identify problems, and will certainly collaborate with you to establish a preventative regimen that will aid you prevent numerous health problems. === === ==== ==== Learn more concerning the Weimaraner Vorstehhund. Weimaraner Temperament The Weimaraner is a really strong minder, independent, and also energetic pet dog, with bags so stamina. These huge pet dogs have boundless power, as well as require to be in a home that is energetic, along with individuals

that have plenty

of time and dedication to commit to a pet dog.

Thee dogs do not like to be

restricted or ignored, and this can bring about dullness, irritation, and devastating habits. These pets require very early socialization, constant training, and also a certain, assertive owner with some experience of canine possession and training. The Weimaraner will enjoy participating in a variety of outdoors tasks with his proprietor, and is the suitable buddy for those that take pleasure in outdoor leisure. Although the Weimaraner can be really strong willed, which can make educating a challenge, he is likewise highly smart and also receptive with the best fitness instructor. Some Weimaraners can be difficult to housebreak. The Weimaraner tends to manage fine with kids, yet his large size might mean that he unintentionally tears down a child. He can be controlling with other pet dogs, as well as smaller sized pets might be viewed as target, consisting of cats. When it comes to unfamiliar people the Weimaraner is skeptical and careful. He does make an efficient watchdog and also will certainly raise the alarm system if something appears to be amiss. Although the Weimaraner can appear like a handful, these large pets make superb companions and also pets for owners with the time, training, as well as power capacity to manage them successfully. Weimaraner Appearance The Weimaraner is a large dog with a sports construct and great muscle mass tone. Called the’ Silver Ghost’, the coloring of the Weimaraner ranges from mousy gray to silvery gray. His layer is sleek, smooth, and also close fitting, as well as he sporting activities a excited and also alert expression. The weight of the Weimaraner is around 55-70 pounds for women, as well as 75-90 pounds for males

. The height of these pets is around

23-25 inches for women, and also around 25-27 inches for males. Weimaraner Grooming Although the Weimaraner requires a virtually no-fuss technique to grooming, he will need to be combed regularly in order to keep his coat sleek and in good problem. With normal brushing losing is kept to a minimum with the Weimaraner, which implies that he may verify ideal for some allergic reaction patients. Weimaraner Health Problems and also Life Expectancy The life expectancy of the Weimaraner is around 10-12 years. There are a variety of health issue to look out for with this breed, and this includes entropion, heart problems, spine troubles, gastrointestinal issues, bleeding disorders, PRA, HD, joint dysplasia, HOD, PRA, torsion, bloat, cancer cells, skin issues, as well as thyroid issues. The moms and dads of the Weimaraner pup ought to have OFA and also CERF certificates. Weimaraner History The history of the Weimaraner go back over

a century, and he originates from Germany.

Reproduced to quest bear, swine, as well as deer, this breed started to end up being prominent in the USA, Canada, and also England after the Second World War. The type was signed up with the AKC in 1943. http://www.justdogbreeds.com/weimaraner.html

source http://www.luckydogsolutions.com/featured-dog-breed-weimaraner/

from Lucky Dog Solutions https://luckydogsolutions.blogspot.com/2020/07/featured-dog-breed-weimaraner.html