#thats the entire reason why his story is tragic!!!

[mohgreal]

IMO the biggest sign of the shittiness of Miquella's writing is the fact that his actions between the Caelid War and Mohg's death are so inconsistent and unexplained that half of the "lore fandom" still believes he's a selfish power-hungry godhood seeker even though he explicitly has to abandon his fears and doubts to go on that path, his own mind describes godhood as eternal torment, Ymir and Trina both describe him as making a terrible sacrifice out of guilt, and he sounds absolutely terrified of his inevitable godhood in the final cutscene where he's kneeling in resignation (literally stuttering and baby-talking in Japanese and sounding like he's going to cry in the English voice acting). There are three entire characters who exist for the near sole purpose of saying "Miquella really doesn't want to do this but is resigned to having to to atone for his mother, making a noble but misguided sacrifice" and it still didn't drown out the obvious questions like "wait so what was the vow?", "what was the timeline and reasoning for Mohg's kidnapping, and was that his or Mohg's idea?", and "why didn't he tell his sister and her army anything and leave them to rot in a dead tree and blow themselves up?". One of the most popular interpretations is that he really really just wanted Radahn's bussy (probably because "Radahn is my consort" is literally all he says when he's actually on-screen).

Honestly people praising Miquella's writing in the DLC (especially anything having to do with Mohg and Radahn) feels like gaslighting. This is easily noticeable when you notice that the people praising its "brilliance" have completely contradictory ideas of what actually happened or what the story was trying to say. I've heard everything from "Miquella is tragically noble but misguided" to "Miquella is mentally handicapped" to "Miquella is a victim of fate who is cursed to fail no matter what he does" to "Miquella was an evil scheming mastermind whose nobility was a carefully crafted facade" to "Miquella is a dumb, impulsive, spoiled little brat and cautionary tale against nepo babies", and all of these are supposed to be Genius Writing[TM] despite all these directions being so underbaked that people can think his story is literally the opposite of any of the above…

it also killed the fan interpretation. i used to really really like the idea of it being a misunderstanding where mohg kidnaps miquella for his own dynasty and malenia attacks caelid thinking he stole miquella and you cant even argue that i just "wanted my own au to be canon" no. i just wanted it to make sense 🙏

also the "character existing for the sole purpose of X" in the case with the DLC being just to say something about miquella is so fucking dumb. i get fromsoftware never had very in depth characters but its getting far too obvious to the point its comical;

SOTE also does screw up the entire timeline because the writers didn't know their own lore as proven by me many times on this trashy account whoops

also I agree on the "glazing miquellas writing" part because if you can take so many directions with a character that contradict each other, thats not even interpretion anymore that's straight up having your fans make the character for you 😭

getting a monthly anon rant is always a good thing. sorry if this post is as underbaked as sote's writing its the middle of the night cause my insomnia is always awake

[foolofworms]

I really like how karaoke scene with The Smallest Church in Saint-Saëns plays out in Disco Elysium and I really, really, genuinely like the limbic system version more than reptile brain's version.

Like most people will catch on to the fact that you have to pass a drama roll to "succeed" in singing. This means undoubtedly that you are basically lying to the crowd so that you have enough composure to not "embarrass yourself". You can tell that the way these two voices sing have entirely different emotions behind them. The reptile brain sounds detached and tired. Exhausted from everything it saw to the point it has a hard time caring anymore. From a washed up cop, this is a plausible story. Something that makes sense to the audience and perhaps something some of them even relate to. Its even something that's somewhat romanticized in media. This is why its considered a success compared to the limbic system version (beside the lack of voice cracks of course)

Its a story of a gruff, stoic, "manly", and battered agent of justice that doesn't give a shit anymore.

But this isn't harry's truth

The "failing" option is a screeching, voice cracking plea of desperation and sorrow. Its what happens when harry shows his feelings for what they are. Unlike the the reptile brain, the limbic system cares. A lot. Too much even, because it cares so much it hurts. The years of horror and pain didn't make any of his feelings dull and the terrible things he sees hurt just as bad as they did the first time he saw them.

This in short summarizes the honor and tragedy of being Harrier Du Bois. A cop who's story is accurately told by the reptile brain is a bad cop who is only in the field of justice for a paycheck and nothing else. A cop like that has lost his sympathies and doesn't actually care about the pain of others anymore.

Thats not harry. The reason why harry is a legend, the reason why harry only has three kills on record in spite of a long and successful career, the reason he is a pathetic mess, the reason why he nearly drank himself to death, is because he fucking cared about everything he did and everyone he met. Kim was right when he said limbic system's version was genuinely tragic.

[feelo-fick]

Headcanon: Chilchuck and his Bad Takes on Literature

i think chilchuck would be like my mom in the sense that he wouldnt like sad stories. dont get me wrong, cautionary tales? absolutely fine. they serve a purpose to him which is to tell people "dont be an idiot and do this or else something bad will happen"

generally sad or angsty stories though? no point to him, and in his perspective its really confusing how people just read things that make them sad. like whats the use of reading something if its just gonna make you sad. whats the lesson? its not even real so it doesnt help anyone.

whats the point in making yourself cry when you could just avoid that entirely by not reading it at all?

but the one of the biggest reasons why sad stories exist is to let you release all the built up grief in you. to send you something to let out all your emotions in a healthy way. catharsis. empathy.

even when i dont relate to the tragic experiences in some stories, several ones ive read have lead me to realize that im in a bad situation or that im following in the footsteps of the character suffering. its like a wake up call.

and making yourself cry isnt inherently a bad thing. if crying allows you to let go of building pressure and tension in you then thats good!

but chil wouldnt see that. of course he wouldnt, hes avoidant of most situations that would allow him to release emotion, and fearful of letting his mature (read: repressed) persona slip.

hes someone that runs away to quick comforts and distractions at the earliest sign of issue. hes already been in too many horrifying situations, dealing with another is a pain. and he knows denying everything and refusing to look at the situation doesnt help, but it definitely provides a quick and easy happiness in the comfort of ignorance.

because of this, reading something made to make one empathize with and confront these bad emotions is defeating the point of his cowering. if he faces his issues, even if only through the perspective of a story, he'd have to deal with acknowledging that things are bad and need fixing, and he'd feel terrible and guilty in the moment - which of course is the worst thing that could happen to a person (his thought, not mine).

which is why i find the concept of him being/becoming a tragedy himself at the same time as this headcanon soooo interesting. imagine the irony of him bashing on the protagonists of tragic stories for acting on emotion and impulse rather than logic, when he himself has fallen victim to irrational thinking while in grief.

cause... thats what people do when they grieve. they lash out, make bad decisions, ruin themselves, ruin others.

for a tragedy to be prevented, the protagonists would have to change fundamental parts of themselves, and act perfectly rational when under extreme stress. and chilchuck holds himself to these kinds of unrealistic standards because he unwittingly believes he can handle it all.

he cant, obviously. we see it for ourselves in his relationship with his wife. they were doomed from the beginning by chils already-established avoidance and lack of emotional vulnerabiltiy (and whatever else his wife had going on).

this is all just to say that if you told him about orpheus and eurydice, he'd probably be one of those idiots trying to point out the "plot hole" that he couldve "just not looked back" and "just trusted her"

i dont understand. whats the point in reading tragedies? the protagonist is stupid, anyways. why would you take bitter medicine? why subject yourself to that?

i think its just a bad story.

[pondering-gales-left-orb]

It kinda baffles me that the only thing i see online about Astarion's story and quest is just about the climax when Astarion cries (not even the stabbing part which was so powerful emotionally) when there are literally 3 other side stories that are quite juicey and worth disecting and exploring

Im not sure if its because people dont explore the palace or what but the side story of Cazador's Nephew being kept in the attic after he turned her and she refused to feed but forced to is tragic im surprised there is no art about that im getting alot of nods to carmilla from it

Also the little tidbit about the origin of sharesses caress being tied to Cazador's ancestor? and the hint that it didn't start as a brothel?

The craziest one yet is the room with all the history of the vampire that Turned Cazador all the lessons from his skull and comments by astarion himself so much missed discussions it makes me sad

Also the most surprising of all ... Sebastian...i.... expected to see so much fanfiction about the two? But there is almost so little

It's so jarring especially when people disect the other companions and write about everything even a small throw away line or somthing not in the game ... Like Gale's mom or the people who did a deep dive in the entire history of the weave and mystra to try to figure out the time line of Gale's life, but for astarion and cazador? I see nothing of the sort which is very sad it seems most people dont see past Astarion's practiced "charm" irl and dive into cazador and his family which is sad he and Cazador have so much depth and rich history thats just glossed over for whatever reason (aka people refusing to deep dive beyond whats presented to them on the surface)

I hope Astarion's quest and cazador gets the deepdive treatment by the fans one day

Edit: just to clarify this post is not about disecting Astarion's feelings its about literally everything els in the pale elf's quest thats not Astarion.. like i mentioned 100 times here Cazador his nephew his ancestry his prisoners his palace....what im trying to ay is that people focus too much on Astarion and too little on anything els. Like people went beyond Gale and his story to the point that they are discussing the history of magic and waterdeep why sre people not going beyond Astarion and discussing cazador and his family and all the events related to that??

[unicornsaures]

Redcoat OC lore dump!!

By no means is this EVERYTHING about these guys, just the base layers. I also dont go into specifics for a lot of these just because if i did it probably wouldnt line up so..yeah!

------------

Right, starting off with Charles Gray! He was born in Maryland on April 14, 1753 to Eleanor Gray and John Gray with three sisters - Mary Gray(last name changed to Fields when she gets married), Eleanor Gray Jr, and Frances Gray. His family was originally from London but they moved to the colonies in 1750, 3 years before he was born. His parents were devout loyalists, so he and his siblings quickly picked up on their beliefs. He primarily lived on his parents' plantation, so he was pretty well off financially and he had no struggle with money his entire life. Come 1773 when Charles is 19, his sister Frances dies and they were pretty close, he struggles to cope with her desth while being in the area she died so, he decides to move out to Pennsylvania where he instead meets Henry and William who become his closest friends and help him through all of that.

Soon enough, April of 1774 comes around and he meets Charlotte Brewer(new character alert~!), who he begins courting soon after. In august of 1774 they begin dating, and in April of 1776 he gets married!! Yeah, he doesnt get happily ever after though. He joins the british army with William and Henry not but a few months later, leaving his newly wed wife behind and hes extra guilty about it. When they meet Hamilton though, he takes an instant liking towards him and tries to make him feel welcome to distract himself from the guilt he feels. Problem is, he never actually told Ham hes married. So, whoops. The rest of the story is whats already written so ah, Hamilton still doesnt know he's married.

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Okayyy, William Fletcher! William was born in Newcastle on August 12, 1754 to George & Mary Fletcher. He has 6 siblings(im not writing out names.) Though 2 die before William even reaches the age of 1. This hasnt been brought up in the story, but he also can't remember most of his childhood other than the fact his father was shit. It wasnt anything too out of the ordinary for the time period, but it was a borderline abusive dynamic that sparked fights and fucked up his trust, making it really hard to keep stable relationships with anyone in the future. Ever wonder why he 'dislikes' Hamilton so much? Yeah thats why.

Anyway, his family moved to New York in August of 1765, and to Pennsylvania just a few months later. Life is pretty uninteresting for a few years until 1770 comes up(William is 16) and he meets Henry Reed!! Its almost instantaneous how fast they become friends, and in the future William HEAVILY cherishes their friendship because of how rare it was for him to open up to people, moreso with the gender norms in their time period. They bond a lot while theyre in Pennsylvania together and honestly fuck around and get into trouble like normal teenagers until, come 1773, they meet Charles!! He keeps them in check kind of, and they create this little trio. For william, it takes a lot longer to consider him a friend but it does happen, in which he also helps Charles court Charlotte in 1774!!

William is the one who encouraged them all to join the army, and Henry was quick to follow his word. When Hamilton came along in 1777, William really disliked him. He did warm up to him, and they were friends, but then ah..the whole Laurens thing..That trust was INSTANTLY broken and so that leaves us with William as we have it in modern chapters where he comes off as bitchy and rude. Yes, he is bitchy to Hamilton, but thats not his whole character and there is genuine reasons he acts so cold towards Hamilton, and sometimes even Charles. Charles less so because he's known him for longer, but Hamilton is someone he deemed as 'untrustworthy,' and therefore he sets up walls around him.

------------

Right! Henry Reed! Out of the group, he's the most tragic. He was Born in South Carolina on January 5, 1757 to Oliver & Molly Reed. He was also raised with two siblings though one died during his childhood and the other was almost an adult when he was born, so he has little recollection of them. His family had originally been from Norwich, but they moved to the colonies in 1745. They moved again however when he was 6 to Pennsylvania, where his mother left him and his father when he was 12. His childhood is kind of shitty overall, and most of his recollection is working in a trading company with his father to support them both after his mother had left. Even before she had left she was emotionally absent though his father had done his best to make up for that loss to little avail.

After his mother had left, Henry and his father did their best to keep afloat and it worked pretty well, though Henry felt somewhat responsible for the reason his mother left. He met William when he was 13, and like i said, they became very close very fast during some of the worst years of their life. Henry became quickly attached not only because of their friendship itself, but because he looked up to William in a sense? Like i said william was 16 when they met and often did things himself and was overly confident, Henry stayed on the sidelines and tried to hide as often as possible.

Anyway, when Charles came along Henry almost saw him as a sort of 'big brother,' and also became attached to him though not nearly as quickly or as hard as he did with william. During the whole Charles-Charlotte thing he kind of stayed off to the side and watched it all happen. He didnt like getting involved with ladies and honestly, he thinks charlotte looked too similar to his own mother. I might as well add on that he ws also extremely jealous of Charles for 'taking williams attention,' but thats not too important other than the fact that he has unresolved attachment issues.

The reason he wants to join the army is mostly because life is boring and he wants purpose, but also he wouldnt have done it if william didnt offer to join first. When he meets hamilton he doesnt mind him, theyre buddies kind of. Though a small disdain grows when he realizes william doesnt like him, and again, he looks up to william so he usually listens to his judgement. This dislike only grows during the laurens fiasco, but like charles, he doesnt HATE hamilton.

------------

I could rant about william and henrys whole dynamic if i really wanted to, but in short theyre two guys with similar traumas who found comfort in talking to each other !!! Their friendship in general isnt the healthiest, they both are overly dependent on one another with william having unresolved trust issues and henry with unresolved attachment issues but for the most part they arent miserable so thats what matters the most ig?

[pwnyta]

Now that im done with my GI dailies...

ROUND 2 of the BNHA award show starts!

The award for QUICKEST YET BADDEST ENTRANCE AND EXIT goes to...

Star!

Damn she was a bad bitch....

------

Award for I DONT BELIEVE THAT MAN HAS EVER BEEN TO MEDICAL SCHOOL goes to....

ITS A TIE!!!

JEANIST AND WHATS-HIS-FACE!

Ok they can preform open heart surgery? Sure...

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Award for BIGGEST ASSPULL goes to...

ANOTHER TIE AND WELCOME BACK

BEST JEANIST & SERIOUSLY I CANT REMEMBER HIS NAME FOR THE LIFE OF ME

AND!!! ERI!!!

Damn this was dumb as hell....

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Award for MOST DISAPPOINTING COME BACK goes to...

MIRIO!

...off-screen.... girl... Mirio I love you so much theres no way you should be this lame...

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Award for SERIOUSLY WHY THE FUCK WAS THIS GUY ADDED? IT HAD LIKE NO SATISFYING PART IN THE STORY.... goes to....

KUROGIRI!

Kurogiri you were so intriguing before Hori made you a zombie of Aizawas friend he just randomly added...

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The award for MAKING ME THINK OF THE WEATHER EPISODE FROM UNHHHHH goes to....

...??? HER!!!!

HELLLOOOO WERE HAVING WEATHER~~~~

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Award for MOST WASTED STORY POTENTIAL IN MAYBE ALL OF MANGA HISTORY goes to....

Mutant bigotry!!!

Really Hori your bringing this up now? To try and make Spinners random character turn understandable? Weve had mutant characters the ENTIRE GOD DAMN TIME HORI!!! PRO HEROES! STUDENTS! RANDOM BG CHARACTERS! YOURE BRINGING THIS UP NOW!? TOKOYAMI ALMOST KILLED SOME OF HIS CLASSMATES!!!! YOU THINK BIGOTS WOULDNT HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT!? WHAT A TOOTHLESS TONE-DEAF RACISM ALLEGORY!! HOLY SHIT HORI IM SO PISSED ABOUT THIS YOU CANT EVEN IMAGINE.

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Award for MOST DRAWN OUT NOT-DEAD REVEAL goes to...

BAKUGO

I mean obviously.... You know letting him actually have some smooth character development woulda been too hard for Hori...

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Award for HOLY SHIT THE 'CEST SHIPPERS ARE GONNA LOVE THIS SHIT goes to....

ITS A TIE!!!! TWINSIES!!!

Endeavor/Dabi

AND!!!

THE SHIGARAKIS!

...Yall can get mad at me for this one... You know I aint wrong...

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Award for MOST UNHINGED YET SELFLESS ROMANTIC SACRIFICE goes to....

STAIN!!!!

Seriously Im in tears... how did this happen...

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Award for THE MOST POINTLESS FACE HEAL FACE TURN IN HISTORY goes to....

....HER!

??? Seriously you got pissed about killing villains so you started killing heroes even a teenage boy? Thats so fucking stupid girl....fuckin WHAT?

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Award for I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS YOURE AN UNDERRATED TOP TIER G AND YOU DESERVE AN AWARD goes to...

MT LADY!!!

DAMN SHES FUCKING COOL! NEVER DISAPPOINTS IN A FIGHT!

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Award for SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! SHUT UP!!! THIS ISNT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT!!!! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE Y- goes to...

ENDEAVOR!!

SHUT YOUR BITCH ASS UP ENDEAVOR!!!

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Award for THEY NEEDED TO TAKE YOU OUT EARLIER ON SO YOU COULDNT CLAP THE BADDIES CHEEKS AND ITS SO OBVIOUS WHY DID HORI MAKE YOU SO STRONG FOR NO REASON TOKOYAMI???? goes to....

TOKOYAMI!!!

HOLY SHIT TOKOYAMI!

--------

Award for I HATE THAT THEYRE MAKING ME DEFEND YOU... goes to...

HAWKS!!!

Hawks gave Twice plenty of chances to stop fucking killing people so he could be taken in alive! WHY DO I HAVE TO DEFEND THIS BLACKHOLE OF WASTED FUCKIN TIME HORI WTF....???

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Award for MOST WEIRDLY TOUCHING DEDICATION goes to...

All Mights CANT STOP TWINKLING attack!

The way I cried a little... my little tchotchke.... Him changing his attacks from states to his students was already so good but damn... :') Aoyama deserved this.

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Award for MOST TRAGICALLY SUBMISSIVE BABYGIRL goes to...

ALL MIGHT!!!

I mean we knew from the jump but.... DAMN Toshi.

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Award for MOST HATED GOOD SHIP goes to...

KIRISHIDO!!!

Seriously FUCK those KRBK fans! Im so glad you got bested by the BKDKs you rancid fucks.... This ship was always superior!!!

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Award for LOVING SHOTO THE MOST goes to....

Certainly not his fucking family....

IIDA!!!!

So this is love... mmm mmm mmm mmm~ So this is... love?

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Award for SICKEST VILLAIN DESIGN goes to...

Kunieda(I guess?)

Seriously this guy is so fucking cool looking. Clears literally every single villain design. Its not even close.

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The award for MOST HORNGRY goes too....

AFO

Seriously AFO... if you werent so obsessed with Toshi you probably woulda won its literally so fucking funny.... Elevated the nosebleed trope to literally spurting blood from the forehead veins from how aggressively horknee you are. LMAO. AND YET somehow this is not the weirdest boner you have for another man.

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Award for THE MOST CONSISTENTLY GOOD CHARACTER IN BNHA goes to...

ALL MIGHT. Obviously.

IDK if Hori loves you or hates you by how he writes you Toshi but damn you wear this consistency so fuckin well not even Hori could fuck you up!

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Award for MOST REALISTICALLY AGED BY THE STRESS OF THIS BATTLE goes to...

Naomasa!!

.... LMAO... Damn. Stress so intense it made you turn into a distinctly designed character.. The magic of facial hair and eyebags...

---

The award for REALLY BITCH!? YOU HAVE A PERFECT COUNTER FOR STAINS QUIRK BUT NOT ONE TO AGE YOURSELF TO COUNTER YOUR DEAGING?! THATS FUCKIN CONVENIENT HORIKOSHI goes to...

AFO!!! For BLOODLET!

The only blemish on the otherwise sickest side battle in this whole arc TBH..

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Thats the end of part 2 of BNHA AWARDS!!! Some serious upsets this round! Damn!

[raiden-brannigan]

1, 2, and 3 for Raiden :D

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Ok my love for Raiden has Evolved over the years, when I got into MGS back when I was 13 it was almost entirely "oh fuckin hot cyborg guy with a sword whos just a complete badass" and while that's not an invalid reason to like a character a lot of the nuances of his tragedy never truly hit me until I got older and I'm like Oh I Know Now. Just his entire story of never truly having an identity and only ever being a tool for someone else and watching it break him down more and more until he eventually starts to find himself is so cool. Plus badass hot cyborg guy never hurts either tbh. Have you SEEN him flip a giant mech over his shoulder and the proceed to rip its arm off and fight it with its own machete limb like???? Tell me thats not the COOLEST shit ever

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

This kinda goes hand in hand with the first question but his story as a whole is so Fucked and tragic likeee watching the end of MGS2 where he throws away his dog tags and declares he's going to "find his own path" in life and live for himself only to see where he ends up in 4 and then watching him get his catharsis at the end of 4 only to be dragged into More Bullshit in Rising like from the moment he was born hes only ever been fucked by life and I'd give some "he keeps getting knocked down but gets back up again" speech but lets be real he was highkey suicidal in 4 LMAO I think the universe just needs to let that boy rest. I think I lost the question somewhere in here lmaoo tldr "favorite canon thing" just how absolutely tragic and miserable his entire life is, and how desperately he wants to just live a normal life with his family but he's been so deeply traumatized by the Everything (tm). Kojima went off with his anti-war metaphor when he made Raiden

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Honestly this one is stumping me cause like I'm having a hard time thinking about something I dislike LMAO. At first I was like, maybe the way he treats Rose sometimes? But then I'm like, it works with the story and I wouldn't change any of it, even if he's kinda a piece of shit to her here and there it fits and I wouldn't say it's ooc? Then I was like, maybe how hamfisted the whole "ripper" thing was in Rising? But then I'm like, it 110% fits the tone of the game and it would NOT be the same if they didn't commit as earnestly as they did to the over the top insanity of everything that game is. It's dumb and excessively cheesy but that's what gives MGR so much of its charm and it for sure wouldn't be as loved and meme'd as it is today if they'd dialed it back lmao.

I don't know if I'd say this is a "canon" thing but I hate that we never got to see what happened to Raiden between 2 and 4. MGS:R was supposed to bridge that gap and it was such a huge important piece to his story that we're only ever told about and I feel like it loses some of it's impact when we don't get to see any of it. Raiden goes from the way he is in 2 to this complete character change in 4 and we just have to hear about what happened when it irreversibly changed his character from that point onward (it's not a bad change, I wouldn't wish it were any different, I just wish we got to experience it)

(Send me a character and a number!)

[fandomfuntimem]

Cain and Able

I mentioned in an earlier post that I though Cain in the story of Cain and Able was "on some level, justified" and frankly I misworded it, and my reasoning at the time was wrong.

When I said "Justified" what I really ment was I could see why and how it happened, and that I pittied Cain. I thought Cain didn't intend on killing Able, he threw the rock and Able died. No human had ever died before that point, and they only ever killed livestock, so Cain couldn't have known that would kill Able.

But my mom corrected me by looking it up. In the Catholic version (I am Roman Catholic, so thats unfortunately my only frame of refference.) The devil whispered to Cain and encouraged him to kill Able. Cain and Able fought, and Cain beat Able to death.

But that got me thinking. First of all, I whent to bible school for eight years and not once did they say that happened. Hell not even the church ever said that that was what happened. So, y'know, eather they never cared to say it, or my mom lied (good chance tbh, she doesn't like blasphemy).

Second: THAT ENTIRE SITUATION, WAS GOD'S FAULT! For centuries the church has pushed this idea that God loves all his creations equally, that it pains him to see sinners in hell. But Cain and Able? That was his fault.

Reasoning:

So, the devil pushed Cain to kill. Got in his head, fed on his jealousy, and whispered in his ear. Yeah ok usual bible stuff. The bible also pushes the idea that a strong faith in God is a good way to push the Devil out. Also, jealousy is a natural emotion, but something has to trigger it.

God picked favorites. The great being, that Cain and Able were probably both told is full of love, and wrath, picked favorites. God ignored the amount of effort BOTH brothers put into their offerings. He picked Able over Cain, and Cain was hurt. Cain lost his faith. Because he was told this was a loving and fair being, but this "fair" being picked favorites. He was lied to.

This doubt, and jealousy, was planted by God's blatant favoritism. Allowing the Devil entry into Cain's heart.

Then, when Cain had realised what he had done, God came back questioning where Able was, and Cain lied. What else could he do? This is THE being, the ultimate force of everything, it created his parents, banished them from the garden, and now Cain was facing it down after committing a horrific act. Frankly, Cain was probably pissing himself. God probably already knew what happened. (That, or this story proves God is not omnipotent.) Cain lied, because what else could he do? It was that, or admit to God, and himself, that he killed his brother.

I just feel bad for him. That entire situation wouldn't have happened if God didn't pick favorites. If God stuck to his teachings and loved and cared equally.

I'm not saying Cain was justified, or that he shouldn't have been punished. I'm just saying that its tragic. I gues a large chunk of my reason for feeling bad for Cain is that I kinda get it? Y'know, being raised Catholic and all, but slowly learning that the God you follow isn't the fair and loving being you were told he was. He's just cruel, and so are his people.

Side note: my mom said "well, God just happened to like one offering more than the other," and that statement just urked me. That implies God can decide if he likes one person more than the other, two people on equal ground, similer lives, but one can be far more blessed than the other because God "just happened to like one more than the other." Thats bullshit for the ideas the church preaches.

[ac-liveblogs]

1. I think the emphasis on dragons and prophecies is also why the plot felt so meandering. We all thought that act 1 and 2 (with Lyney's trial and Navia's investigation) was supposed to critique the justice system and the people who view trials (and the weight of human lives, death, and justice) as drama. We thought that the oratrice declaring Tarts guilty despite us getting a confession from the true culprit was supposed to make us doubt Fontaine's reliance on the oratrice.

In reality, we were never supposed to question the goddamn justice system (again, of the nation of JUSTICE) at all! All those fancy trials were ONLY there to establish that Neuv is super nice, Furina is apparently super dumb, and fontainians can turn into water. Meropide was just arduous, boring filler. Focalors can perfectly do the entire work of every lawyer on her own. Tarts was declared guilty because reasons. The prison is super nice. The only read i can get is that the 'justice' were critiquing is the warped justice of celestia. Ie the fontaines original sin isnt actually evil (so they don't deserve punishment), Furina's love for Fontaine, which fuelled her through 500 yrs of suffering, is justice. Neuv's love, which inspired him to turn the fontainians into humans is justice. But thats like, such a weak message and barely connects to performance. Furina is really angsty though. Wish she was in a better plot. Love her.

Man, you are so right. Something something "themes are for 8th grade book reports" something.

Chapters 1 and 2 were bonkers because they kept setting up 'things to critique' in the justice system, but couldn't commit to any of it. Being reassured that the trials are treated respectfully and everything is above board because of Neuvi and the Oratrice in the same conversation that the court operas are mentioned.

The "critique" of the justice system Navia's quest supposedly offered was... that her dad deliberately obscured as much information as possible and died in such a way that the truth could not be discovered and it was only natural people would speculate what the heck was going on. The Oratrice has never been wrong, except this one time, and we know that because Neuvillette has always agreed with it.

Critiquing the justice system meant critiquing Neuvillette and Furina, and we're obviously meant to like and respect them. So the justice system could not be critiqued... so it all got watered down into some lukewarm 'be respectful towards other people' aesop. Which. Cool. Charlotte/The Press gets a free pass though.

Don't even get me started on Meropide. "It's super scary," says Neuvillette, "but don't be scared, because it's not scary." And Celestia is such an abstract concept outside of the Lore Dumps that critiquing them feels pointless anyway.

It's all just meaningless flavour text to try and fool you into thinking the world is more interesting than it actually is while they kill time until the parts they actually care about (The Lore) are revealed, but HYV is completely unwilling or unable to actually engage with it! Did Lyney and co. actually need to be Fatui members? Did they need to be present in the prison at all? Probably not! But they can pretend that us learning Lyney was a Fatui member Meant Something ... right up until we meet him in the prison and everything's fine, we're fine working together, actually. also our bff childe

Like, it's not just me, right? HYV will pretend something happened but then they just don't write it, right? Ei having her character arc off-screen, or Scaramouche's masterfully crafted Archon Quest where between the amnesia, The Kabukimono being absent from the flashbacks and the Kitty Story Book metaphor they somehow managed to avoid writing him having an emotional reaction to any of his tragic backstory? Despite being in a magic flashback tree???

Furina is annoying because I'd really like her... somewhere else. She was fun! Her VA knocked it out of the park! She deserved better than this!!!

[monards]

Actually wait because of that Dove Alicia Magnolia ask now I kind of want to see what your rankings on Beauford Albedo and Mint are. They're all such good boys it's so hard 😭I'm sorry

THESPIAN. I THOUGHT I COULD TRUST YOU. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ok. But really now. Here are the ULTIMATE rakings for my three favorite guys. Because theyre the onlu guys ever actuallly okay shh

3. Albedo (sorry albedo) honestly. i love albedo very much. do not get me wrong. he is such a sweet boy and i would knit him a blanket if i could. But I also think compared to the other two,, im not as emotionally attached to him; if you asked me this question like. a year ago he'd absolutely be on top. but thats also because over a year ago i hadn't played silver thread or symbiosis. so. woe is me albedo'ss story is soooo near and dear to me. like, i love how he's being set up to have this huge divide between love and knowledge. And I will ABSOLUTELY eat that up when it happens. but sadly, a certain company hasn't given him more than like a smidgen of screentime in a very long time, so i think a lot of my fixation on him has dwindled :(

2. Beafford I love beaford. he is just. so funny. he's a college dropout; he likes anime; he forces alicia to watch anime; he cosplays; he has a cat keychain that resembles himself; he left home without saying anything; hes really intelligent but acts stupid. What can you NOT love about him?? (besides his horrific taste in fashion.) I think his personality is also very important to me. Because obviously he's not the most serious person. at all. But he can still convey how smart he is; I.E the way he was able to in the moment find a way to back up Alicia and also the Chinese room experiment. Maybe I'm just a big fan of characters who are smart and dont have it as their entire character; but I think thats just SO near and dear to me. He also clearly has some stuff going on considering his few mentions around his family. So I'm glad he got to come and (against his will) work with Alicia :)

mmint I think mint deserves this spot for a lot of reasons. One, magnolia is his mother so I am just slightly impartial. But also because two, hes so horribly sweet and tragic and kind that he KILLS me. Mint lives in the forest his whole life and is told explicitly to not go out into civilization. Does he want to live in the city and go to school? yes. and does he voice this? hardly. why? because he knows it makes magnolia sad. and he doesnt want to see his mom said. Mint meets lady in forest who looks the age of his mom, and said lady tells him his mom is evil. His initial response? He knows. He knows magnolia is evil. he already knows magnolia is a murderer. but he knows magnolia loves him and he loves him mom. so its okay. (In ending B) not a horribly long time later; same women shows up in his room at an unholy hour and within the next hour the SAME women has a gun to his moms head, which is clearly making his mom very distressed. within 5 minutes he finds out this women is his moms ex-wife. within that same 5 minute period his mom disappears and tells him to treat this women like his mom. A couple years later he comes back to the house and we find out he could never bring himself to call dove mom. He also finds out his mom kept all his drawings. Tears are streaming down my face.

[chaoxfix]

i don't know what counts as an inflammatory ask but please give us the sonic movie salt (if u want)! particularly if you have takes on tails or knuckles bc i never hear anyone talk about their characterizations specifically

ty !! i appreciate the inflammatory ask <3

and i do have a decent amt of movie salt haha

in general i dont enjoy the sonic movies as much as other sonic media because i think they truly dont understand sonic as a character, and they DEFINITELY dont understand his motives or values. the sonic movies are why i think its a bad idea to give sonic a canon tragic backstory, because it fucks up his future characterization by giving way too much of the past to reference and be cautious of; sonic isnt all that cautious and he tends to live in the moment. basing the rest of his life on a traumatic moment... it works for many characters, but. not for sonic. the fact that sonic the fucking hedgehog lived in ONE TOWN on earth for like the entire time he was there and advocated for his friend to STAY THERE FOREVER and pass up an opportunity for something he was passionate about, because of his own trauma? boo. (like copaganda aside that was just bullshit) -- in general i think it's just a silly move to give sonic parents because like... hes written significantly as teenager wish fulfilment, of never being told what to do by adults and getting to live by your own rules. giving him parents.......... who is that for lol. no thanks.

but about tails and knuckles, mmm

i do actually quite like knuckles in the movies, i dont have much salt about him. i think it was honestly one of the better portrayals of knuckles, and undid some of the damage of sonic heroes onward, where he was portrayed as naive to the point of stupidity.

as for tails....

the dance scene haunts my nightmares but i try not to hate on things that are specifically made to appeal to kids. i hate it but ultimately it wasnt for me. whatever. fine. but i do have a bone to pick with his overall characterization and story. i think it just created a lot of issues -- the stalker storyline was mid at best, and he seems to have extremely low motive for being on earth. the genius trait seems unearned if hes just from a planet where thats normal, rather than something slowly built up over many games until the child prodigy story is believable. overall the question for me was just, why was he there? not just on a meta level, but on a practical one. what did he narratively add to the story? he felt a bit like a deux ex machina; to bail sonic out of trouble in one scene, and then became a motivation for sonic later on, to be tough and protect this kid. but overall he doesnt really "do" much and isn't a part of the core conflict or story structure. knuckles drove a significant portion of the plot -- he and sonic are living out the conflict between their ancestors and whatever; tails just didn't have a similar narrative use. and i think for any movie where you have a lisenced character, they should have a really compelling reason to be there. especially if its the story theyre being introduced. in general tails falls into this trap sometimes in the games too -- i wish he was more narratively important than hes often written to be. but its particularly egregious in the movies

ty for the ask!!

[darklordofthesimp]

Ok, this is me after reading Sano-lost-connection's theory:

And excuse if I don't make much sense, I'm a little dumb and english isn't my first language.

I'm literally this emoji 🤯 because I was interpreting this story differently.

In my mind, all the things that are happening make sense tied to Birdy's mental state. Birdy's is our POV, but they're deeply traumatized so they may be somewhat of an unreliable narrator. I think something important about trauma and stuff is the fact that is pretty usual for ppl going through it to be angry and resentful, but here is the thing: Birdy doesn't have WHO to direct all that anger and resent.

Birdy is "forced" to face their trauma head on, which would be König but, along the story, Birdy starts to realize that König is not that murderer beast their brain convinced them to think, König seems (to Birdy and to me, at least) to be trying to fix the relationship, not only bc they are together on the team, but bc König seems to be pretty insecure about his appearance making ppl fear him, but bc this IS a situation in which Birdy has 100% the right to be terrified of him he's trying to "mend" it. He feels deep guilt, but what's worse: he has a living reason that PROVE that his insecurities about being a monster are true. The dinamic hurts the both of them.

With this being said, Birdy's resolve in hating König is wavering due to his actions, SO: Who could Birdy BLAME? If is not König, and not the "entity" that made the mistake, who then? The system, a higher up, "someone" is out to get them.

I repeat, this is based on Birdy's traumatized point of view.

Thats why when Birdy tried to tell Saint they were like "But are you SURE", and thats why König said to let it go. Truthfully, noone would believe in such "accusations" coming from a somewhat freshly traumatized person. But in König's point of view, he may have felt that Birdy's words were a breach of the little trust he had gained from being nice to them. In a "oh, so you were being nice to me because you were trying to get me in your paranoid delusions" or something right??? So it might have hurt Königs feelings, but in Birdy's mind it ALL makes sense! Thats why they were so quick to think that König was in on it, Birdy's looking for someone to blame for the fucked up shit they had and have to endure!!!!

Welp, that's what I thought lol, but if Sano's theory is right then OUCH bc I was sososo hurt, in general, believing that Birdy and König were hurting, separately, while hurting each others feelings for being together AND trying to heal, making this some kind of super mega tragic story (which it is)...

THERE IS PHYSICALLY NO WAY FOR ME TO RESPOND TO THESE THEORIES WITHOUT ABSOLUTELY DESTROYING THE WHOLE THING I HAVE PLANNED AND VIRTUALLY THE ENTIRE PLOT OF ANYTHING

But let me tell you right now I really do be sitting here reading these giggling and swinging my feet because I love reading thoughts and theories on the story and it gets me so motivated to write cos I know y’all are waiting on what happens next

[marunalu]

She never said she felt no remorse, you are assuming she doesn't based off her self-sacrifice. Itt is obvious the League of Villain will go the route I said if you watch the story closely. If you can believe in something as stupid as All for One sacrificing himself to save Izuku then this is not hard to believe in this either.

The only way for afo sacrificing himself for izuku that would make actual sense storywise is if he is his father in a darth vader kind of style and that absolutely still WOULDNT redeem him or forgive his crimes! If he isnt izukus father, then no it wouldnt make sense at all even to me! If toga is ready to sacrifice herself for a girl she barely knows I see no reason why a father wouldnt do the same for his child even if said father is a villain! And afo will die 100% no matter what anyway! He wont get a second chance in life and have a happily ever after with his family and I NEVER claimed he will!

Okay so I checked an other translation (the one I did read left some things out) and I give you that, she doesnt say she feels no remorse for her actions BUT she also doesnt say she does! She says she refuses to get arrested and thats the only logical thing that will happen for the lov if they survive. Toga STILL choose death OVER a chance for rehabilitation in a hospital or jail for her crimes! Are you seriously trying to tell me the lov members should get a happy ending after they DESTROYED the happy endings of hundreds of other innocent people, just because these people are faceless strangers for us readers! They even killed CHILDREN or turned them into orphans by killing their parents! They helped to destroy ENTIRE citys full of normal people, killed whole familys! Seems like you have forgotten that or you just want to ignore it because you see no fault in your favorite characters! Im an afo stan, yes I believe he has a fucked up past too which is responsible for why he ended up the way he is and I still guarantee you the LAST THING I want is for him to survive or rehabilitate himself. He NEEDS to die or at the very least put into prison for the rest of his life!

Like I said, it would be a terrible message espicially to younger readers if the lov members get in the end what they took from innocent people - a second chance and a happy life. Hori would literally tell his readers that massmurder is okay as long as you have a tragic backstory! Do you seriously think after everything the lov pulled hori will just use eri for example as a plot device and let her heal all the villains and then let them face no further consequences for their crimes?! Like do you think dabi will just return home and live together with the rest of his family as if nothing ever happend? As if he hasnt killed or helped to kill dotzen of people himself? What do you think the rest of japan will do? Go to them, clapping them on the back and tell them that everything is okay and forgiven now?

Listen Im fine with you not agreeing with me, so lets just agree to disagree on this topic! You believe that the lov members will get an happily ever after, I think its unrealistic! I have no further interest in interacting with you any longer and any other ask send by you will be ignored so spare us both the time!

[pockethep]

Thanks for answering my ask.....if you don't mind me asking (again), who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

No problem, I like doing these. These are some of my favorite couples though there were lots to sort through.

Percabeth (Percy x Annabeth) Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Just like my favorite character list, I love the Percy Jackson series but most important I love a certified wife guy. Percy chose Annabeth over a seat in Olympus. There are multiple points where in life threatening situations he thinks about Annabeth immediately. "A one way trip. A very hard fall" they fell into endless darkness together and came out together. They are the blueprint.

2. Satosugu (Gojo x Geto) Jujutsu Kaisen

This will be a trend but I'm a lover of angst as much as fluff but tragic lovers is a personal favorite thing of mine. Gojo called him his "one and only". The entirety of the events in the story revolve around Gojos choice to not kill him that day in 2006 and, when they met again, destroying the body. It's "Love is the most twisted curse of them all" vs "At least curse me a little at the very end". It's "my six eyes tell me you're suguru geto but my soul knows otherwise". No matter how Gojo held out his hand, there was no way for him, he who the world shifted upon his birth, to reach him. There something poetic about their relationship.

3. Royai (Mustang x Hawkeye) Full Metal Alchemist

They're basically canon. But I mean "When we're alone the colonel calls me Riza" like COME ON. Riza is a "loyal to a fault, dedicating their entire being to the other with little hope of ever getting an ounce of affection back cause she made up her mind and decided it doesn't matter so long as she can remain by his side" character and Mustang is a "self-destructive tendencies combined with +10 charisma and noble ideals who's ready to be viewed as a villain if thats what it comes to and as such can't understand why the other is so loyal." character. Plus its all about the way they hang all over each other when hurt and how she could so easily direct him when he was blind. That trust is elite.

4. Heromari (Hero x Mari) Omori

Another tragic pairing. It's heartbreaking how much they loved each other and even if we didn't get to see a lot of it in game we know from the way everyone describes them and the pictures. Mari's death completely changed the trajectory of Hero's life and although he may heal he'll probably never get over her. Everyday I curse at the sky that they didn't get to have their future together

5. Hualian (Hua Cheng x Xie Lian) Tian Guan Ci Fu

I'll keep this one brief. Tgcf said "only after meeting you did I rediscover that it's such a simple thing to be happy" and "to me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. what matter is you, not the state of you" and "there's no banquet in the world that doesn't come to an end, so i'll say what I want to say" and I went feral for every bit of it. Hualian is such a lovely couple.

6. Kaebedo (Kaeya and Albedo) (Genshin Impact)

Without going into too much lore(another reason why I love this couple). I love the idea of Kaeya and Albedo seeing their shared heritage in one another. Learning together to see it as creative and beautiful and not just a curse or an evil. Also I love the homunculus part, it aids to a lot of good drama and tension.

7. Akiangel (Aki x Angel Devil) (Chainsaw man)

Slightly new to the list BUT the dynamic between the two goes farther beyond the "out of touch, out of time" jokes. It goes even farther than the "man who hates devils falling in love with one". It's about the drinking imagery evoking a kiss, Angel being able to break from Makima for a brief moment because of Aki, and their shared moments of kindness. Also the fan art is fantastic.

8. Chidi and Eleanor (The Good Place)

I love them so much. And even if we only saw them as a couple for a brief period of time, I love watching adults fall in love and I loved watching them both get better.

9. Orpheus and Eurydice (Greek Mythology)

Their story is one of love. A love that could drive one into the underworld. Just gonna drop this "Dying a second time, now, there was no complaint to her husband (what then could she complain of, except that she had been loved?)"

10. Chili and Bandit Heeler (Bluey)

A wild pull but I genuinely could see this in my number 1 spot. It is so refreshing to see a couple that genuinely loves each other, their children, and their lives. I'm tired of the sitcom schtick where the husband and wives hate each other and their jobs and talk about how their kids annoy them by existing. I want more of them and I want what they have.

Some Honorable Mentions:

Ichigo and Orihime, Inuyasha and Kagome, Ninguang and Beidou, Edward and Winry, Luz and Amity, Vanilla Extract and Tumblr Polls, Joe and Cherry, Beau and Yasha, Twilight and Yor, Zelda and Link, Franky and Robin, Akechi and Persona 5 Protag

[flowerslut]

Hi so this ask is a request (desperate) for twilight content since i feel like i've read all jalice fics in the fucking universe and for some reason most part of this fandom is obsessed with edbella (idc the whole saga is about them that's a detail) so here it goes: what's your currently hyperfixation inside the jasper&alice hyperfixation? like plots for fics, au, headcanons about personality traits (since jasper's canon personality is based on loving alice and being a low profile hottie with a tragic past)

yeah being a jalice girlie in the twilight saga is a rough experience bestie, I can soooooo relate to you there 😔 we truly are a group who suffers from lack of content 💔

right now my main jalicey focus is on my fic WIPs roots that I've mentioned before! I've been a bit distracted over the last several months thanks to the locked tomb fucking up my entire brain, but despite that I've still managed to write a solid 75k of roots, which has been nice.

I'm actually not real big on fixating on or even discussing headcanons unless its something I need to dissect privately for fic purposes. I'm also a huge critical bitch about other people's interpretations of my favorite characters which is why you don't see me talking about it a lot on tumblr. so many people get it (alice and jasper) so, so wrong, and obviously I have it so, soooooo right 😌💅 but lmfao okay no I mainly keep my opinions and headcanons to myself so I don't come across as an unlikeable cunt on this stupid site. unless someone asks, and then I have no problem being an asshole and telling people their tastes are bad. but I've been so well behaved recently and people have been much nicer and less insufferable in the twilight fandom in recent years which has been nice!!!!

but another huge fandom interest I have is making playlists! so I have like a dozen or so jalice-themed playlists (most of them are fic playlists for various @goldeneyedgirl stories because she really just keeps pumping out banger after banger; sometimes I swear I think about lexie's stories than I do about my own) and I am constantly listening to and working on playlists. one day I'll finish all my twilight character playlists and my Main jalice playlist, but it's already been a few years that I've been working on some of them, so what's a few more, yknow???

besides roots, I still have a kajillion big fics I need to finish outlining—my third cotn installment, it's novella, my AH au, the neglected WIP projects I have already published (sorry to my edge of it all readers, specifically). most of my jalice fixation gets redirected into planning and writing fanfiction when I'm not constantly arranging and rearranging carefully curated playlists

but thank you so much for calling jasper a "low profile hottie with a tragic past" because thats so funny. "low profile hottie" is SO good. I love any description of jasper that brushes aside the tiny bits of canon characterization we get of him to be like "ok but forget all that. he's quiet and sexy." it's like this iconic tweet:

anyways thank u kindly for the message I am so sorry there seems to be a bit of a jalice drought currently. I know lexie has been throwing prompts into the void on here recently but I'm sure if you're in here pleading for content you've probably already read all of her stuff 10x over. I can't promise you any real content out of me this month (or next) but I can guarantee you'll get plenty of snippets!!! hold strong anon 💖

[venomgender]

percy jackson really isnt a piece of media that needs romance. like the beautity of percabeth (THE straight ship for gay people) is that its there but in the background theyre their own people. what made piper and jason so doomed was the fact that (well besides hera's influence) theyre entire character arcs were centered around them dating. like jason litearlly didnt have a personality outside of piper like at all and once piper found out that jason and her werent actually dating she became a 2d character going Should I Date Him Or Should I Not.... Mother Help and it just made their relationship so boring. when you think about leo and calypso the beauty of their relationship is that its There and more than percabeth but it wasnt a main aspect like leo went back to save calypso and that was beautiful and now theyre together or whatever but leo had his entire character arc outside of calpso. calypso was an already preestablished character before leo. thats what makes solangelo so sad imo because they ARE cute together i can admit that but their character arcs have become too wrapped up in eachother. like the only reason nicos getting his own book is because of will and will wasnt even a main character before nico. so its just so tragic because why i DOUBT rick would make them break up like piper and jason did it feels like its dipping back into that same water and people are just okay with it because its gay. like im fine with them being a couple but nico needs to grow and cope without will and will needs to grow as a charcter without nico the way percy and annabeth did. like percy jackso is not a piece of media that needs romance to be a main plot point thats why the first series is so good but as soon as romance becomes a center plot point a good amount of the impacce of the story just looses its substance. percy and annabeth in tataurus was such a like. idk the word i always DREADED their chapters because at that point it became 'a couple going through hell toghether' instead of 'two people who grew up together going to hell together' and like i GET IT you can only convey so much depth in a childrens series but percy and annabeht really started loosing some of their character within each other. percy was no longer percy jackson annabeth was no longer annabeth chase they were instead Percabeth. which is just sad. the same thing is happeneing with solangelo and it makes me so sad will has so much potential as a character but he only serves to be nicos love interest and its so.... boring. percy jackson is not a series that needs romance