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sinvilles · 3 months

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Gathering my thoughts: Danielle Stopframe analysis

also like. I'm not concerned with whether any character in the series was "redeemed" or not. the show was cut in half, and so was every character arc. hence we end up with a show that got cancelled when all the main characters were at their lowest point of development in the narrative, and all the surrounding characters getting half developed to a point of mild satisfaction.

Danielle seems to get the least amount of interest when it comes to what makes him tick. He's a favorite of mine because of all the characters in Moralton, he's one of the few who is very unashamed of who he is and wears it on his sleeve. And I like that his weird presence is built up from the very start of the series. He's over the assumptions of others, and chooses to be himself, which in a show where the major theme is repression juxtaposes him as a foil to the rest of the town.

I wanted to make a mental inventory of this character, starting with some of his personality traits:

The Coach

Danielle is a body builder, and athletic coach to both adults and children. He's coached tennis, track, plays golf, figure skates- he understands discipline, long-term goal setting and is patient enough to work with others to achieve what they're trying to get. Being good with kids has nothing to do with it- its all about being consistent and doing it every day. He seems to approach everything like this- more of that obsession quality. Though he's not beyond trying to perform witchcraft to speed thing up a bit when he gets impatient.

He doubles as your typical gym bunny gay man. Self eroticized, willing to do anything to achieve that romanticized ideal. This brings us to the next bit.

Narcissistic qualities (classic + clinical)

Stopframe is obsessed with appearances. Good appearances means discipline to him, which might be what attracted him to Clay in the first place. But its all very surface level of course. When he sees people without discipline- like the hedonistic satanists, many of whom were overweight- their indulgence, both sexual and gluttonous, turned him off so hard he called it a night and went home. Which is funny coming from the guy with a piss kink.

"Sorry Clay, its just not worth it."

It echoes back later, when he throws out Clay's picture the moment he calls him up for a nightcap at midday. It seems he was either unaware of the extent of Clay's alcoholism or that it had never been that bad up until that point. I think the latter is more likely, since Clay's drinking isn't as pathological throughout the series until we get to Nature. Also suggests to me that Clay, while already having drinking problems prior, started drinking more after he met Danielle. We do see Stopframe say he's "better when he drinks" at least once, and Clay can only really go out and see him at Forghetty's. But this is a tangent for a Clay alcoholism analysis.

He cares very little for his family- Shapey is little more than a long distance trophy to him. I guess. I think. Shapey hugged him that time so I wonder if he ever gives him presents or comes to his birthdays (he was at Orel's). He only spends time with Joe when he's foisted upon him, otherwise ignoring him. He assumes he isn't any good with children, I think because he dislikes Joe's attitude.

A big reason I think his development is unfinished- and this is under the lens of character arcs as want vs need, where getting something they needed makes the character whole- is that we don't see him own up to the fact that he's as flawed as anybody else. He admits he has a problem, but he didn't find the root of it- namely that real love involves accepting the flaws of others and choosing to be there for them anyway. He didn't even own up to disrupting the Puppington home, which he had done intentionally and calculatingly for years. All interesting paths for his character.

Person Addiction

Danielle, much like Clay, has an addiction. It's a lesser known thing called Limerence, or "Person Addiction". Not everyone is aware it's even a thing- some people go through it once in their life, some people cycle through it over and over. There are people who mistake it for love. Scott Adsit once mentioned in a promo that Stopframe is "obsessed with Clay because he hasn't slept with him"- it's one way to describe it, specifically the way a lot of men tend to experience it. Having been through it once I can say with full clarity that it makes you feel temporarily insane and can mirror both anxious attachment and OCD. Realistically, it only feels much creepier than it actually is, because very few who go through it in real life ever want to indulge it the way Stopframe does- pictures everywhere, seducing the guy's wife, fathering a child with her just to insert his DNA into their family, so that Clay raises HIS son alongside his own... absolutely cuckoo bird. Even the part where he says Bloberta is only sexy by her association to Clay- that is the logic that person addiction runs on. Because Clay is literally a hit to him, he gets an oxytocin high from being near him or thinking about him. When he's away from Clay he goes through a withdrawal, sitting alone in the shower and holding himself. Clay is his worst habit.

So, walk with me… his plan to sleep with Clay involves sleeping with his wife first. Because if she commits infidelity, what's to stop Clay from doing it? and then he just has to wait years for the ball to drop and for Clay to eventually walk out. He has no problem fixating on this for almost a decade, but actively puts off ever interacting with Clay until the first episode of the series- even then its just to watch him piss on the wall, and then walk away. He avoids knowing Clay, because I think for a long time he's afraid of ruining the idea he has of him in his head- the idealized Clay that doesn't exist, the built up image. This is not to say that Limerence doesn't happen if you know the person well (its worse somehow), but he's able to easily quit him the moment that Orel tells him what Clay is really like.

Loneliness

It's not easy being queer in a place like Moralton. For one, the gay dating pool must be tiny since so many would be in the closet, or move out altogether. The culture is so 50s adjacent he might have to limit himself to cruising public bathrooms or exchanging letters long distance- its no wonder he fixated on Clay. Something about it might feel "safe" to him, compared to actively getting to know somebody. I don't think he has a problem getting laid so much as a problem connecting to others, which was why it was so sweet to see him make an effort to have a fun day with Orel in the finale.

Family

I might be in the minority on this but I don't think Stopframe is related to Bendy. If the Secondopinionsons wanted to keep Joe's mother a secret they needed to fully cut ties with anyone in her family- and she was a child at the time, so some hush money was definitely involved, maybe enough to send her to nursing school. For Stopframe to be babysitting Joe, he'd have to be in the immediate family of his father- the fact that he has a different name is of interest to me, and the fact that he's so much younger than Dr. Secondopinionson. He could very well have been a bastard child who either changed his name later or was raised primarily by and named after an unwed mother- perpetuating the cycle with Shapey so to speak.

The Romantic Agnostic

He's a big fan of Gothic Erotica, and vampires. Big on fantasizing. Open to trying anything. He is wishy washy on the topic of religion, switching from worshipping God to Satan on a whim. Makes sense, if God loves all his children, but hates homosexuality, and Satan hates all humanity, and loves homosexuality- you've got a 50% chance of pleasing either. I think he probably loves Halloween.

andddd thats all I got

#thoughts of feelings

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mandowifey · 1 year

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Headcanon request for either Albert Shaw or Arthur Harrow as a dad. But honestly, I would accept such a Headcanon for any villianeous character you write about. So surprise me.

This has been sitting in my head for awhile, so I'm excited to get to work on it.

I'm gonna do both these handsome fellas!

° ° °

Fatherhood

Albert Shaw & Arthur Harrow x Reader HCs

Warnings: Hints of Dubcon, definitely Noncon, implications of above mentions, crazy boys around kids, reader is not referred to by specific gender terms but is able to get pregnant.

♡ ♡ ♡

Arthur Harrow, first and foremost, wanted a child.

A child to him is a means of keeping you beside him. The bond would tie you two together forever. He likes the sense of control it brings him, especially over you. When you first met him, you were on the pill and mentioned never wanting kids of your own. But Arthur, as he does, convinces you otherwise. Perhaps even it was an 'accident'. He is certainly the kind of man who would swap your birth control with sugar pills. But he'd smile anyways and assure you it was fate.

While pregnant, you would be doted over. Every need met, whether it be from him or his followers. You would be given luxury and love and treasured like a little goddess. This is Arthur's child, after all, and that baby would be considered a herald. He would enjoy sitting with you, head on your stomach as you two talked. He would additionally make sure you ate well and took all the things you need for a healthy child. Arthur enjoys touching your belly while he reads or falls asleep. You have never looked more stunning.

When the child arrives, Arthur is in love immediately. While most wish for a boy, he always wanted a girl. Regardless, he was happy with whichever. He would sit beside you and help you cradle the crying newborn, imagining all the great things your baby would grow to accomplish. You, as the carrier, get to name the baby. Arthur would suggest names of course but leave the choice to you.

Fatherhood suits him. The man is extremely patient and controlled. He is great with teaching your child and helping them along. You've never heard him laugh so much before. There is considerable joy in his life now, and it shows. That baby would be raised with love and expectations. However, he is stern and unrelenting. The child never gets away with anything, and punishment is taken very seriously. It will learn that for actions, there are consequences.

I think Arthur would be a natural with parenting and fatherhood. He'd enjoy the molding of such a young life. He would eventually ask you for another, and maybe one more, once the first is a little older.

○ ○ ○

Albert Shaw has never wanted children. As a child, he was violently abused and mistreated. He can not mentally grasp the responsibility of a child (even if he can raise and train a dog, it's different).

That being said, in this instance, you are a victim/obsession that he's grown fond of and wants to keep. Pregnancy at its core appeals to him. The idea of his seed stuck inside of you, the fact that you are forced to grow and bear something that is equal parts his own excites him. He enjoys the thought of you being stuck with a piece of him inside of you and for life. But that is just about where it ends for him.

When you start showing signs of pregnancy, he'd simply watch. Maybe, depending on if he really enjoys you, he'll give you water and use his softer tone to reassure you that all was well. He does find it arousing that your skin clears and breasts swell - he'd be very interested in those. When your tummy grows, he'd touch it and talk to you about it, generally wanting to make you uncomfortable.

"How does it feel? Being stuck with a piece of me inside of you."

When it came time for birth, you were most likely alone. Stuck in the basement and forced to go through the entire process alone. In this instance, if you survived, he would return home surprised to see and hear a baby.

There is a long pause, and he is gripping and loosening his hands. You can't really tell what he's thinking. You would be filthy, tired, barely awake if not for that need to protect your newborn. He would come across the room and shake his head, scolding you about the mess you made. You are afraid when he sits beside you and looks at the child. Part of you wants to believe he cares, but you see no semblance of love in those eyes of his.

He'd sit in silence for a while, wincing if the baby cried. Eventually, when you got too tired to keep awake, he'd take the child out of your arms and leave the basement.

And you would never see the baby again.

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moongothic · 9 months

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i would love trans crocodile but im very cynical that oda would write him in a respectful manner. thats not even thinking of how horrible that one portion of the one piece fandom would treat him

Yeah the fandom sucks and I'm going to strangle everyone (including the cishets who claim to be trans allies and then use "Crocomom")

But with Oda it's weird because like. The more I think about it, the more I'm like... 50/50 about Oda being able to actually deliver good, respectful trans masc rep.

Like I've posted about this before but One Piece does have this on-going theme of having characters "stuck in wrong bodies" or "having one's body changed" (sometimes reversably, sometimes irreversably; sometimes against their will, sometimes consentually). Which, in theory, in my mind, does kind of signal that on some level Oda understands the idea of being "the wrong sex" (whether or not that's a good way to explain The Trans Experience™ is a whole different subject but it's an old fashioned explanation that Oda would probably be/is familiar with) But at the same time, while the concept pops up again and again in One Piece, Oda doesn't really dwell too deep into the idea of what that's like. Like, emotionally. How it feels like to like, get turned into a toy or be a child who gets aged 20 years or to get turned into a cyborg or a giant child or have parts of your body permanently turned into animal parts (sometimes with a will of their own) etc

And like. Part of me understands why, Oda does tend to want to focus on writing a story he thinks teenaged boys would be interested in reading, and he has often stated he wants to have fun with his story too (like that's partially why Luffy's a Rubber Man, because Oda thought giving Luffy a ridiculous ability would make him more fun to write and draw long-term, which is valid as hell) This is why for example Oda has avoided doing any romances in OP, and while there are dark themes in the story, often he has done his best to avoid making them too blatant, as some things would be too mature for his youngest readers (like, for example until Kuma's backstory, it was never explicitly stated what would happen to the slave wives of the Tenryuubito, even saying it was "implied" would be pushing how that subject had been treated until now)

So like. Because of that, I understand why Oda hasn't dwelled into The Feelings™ part much/at all despite the "stuck in the wrong body" narrative appearing time and time again

Either Oda thinks it'd be too boring either for himself or his readers, or he hasn't dwelled into it because he doesn't really understand gender dysphoria and can't relate to the experience (despite how often it shows its face in OP). Or it could be both, even

The thing is though, as OP has gone on, while I wouldn't say Oda has "broken his writing rules", Kuma's backstory alone has pushed them to a new limit with the love-that-never-was story and the all-but-explicitly-stated storytelling.

So a part of me wonders, if Crocodile is trans, could Oda actually like... take a slightly deeper look into his feelings and explore his queer experience? ('Cause god knows, if Crocodad Real, then there really would be a literal coming out-story built into his backstory that would be extremely unavoidable, and as I've mentioned before, the fact that we haven't gotten to learn almost anything about his backstory yet is Kinda Fucking Sus)

Also I do want to mention how... like Oda gets a lot of bad rap when it comes to queer rep in One Piece, but the more I think about it, I think it's more an issue with the terminology and how translators have gone about either localizing it, or more often than not, leaving it unlocalized 'Cause like. Yes the "okama" would be horrible trans rep but... really... they're not trans representation. They're representation for draq queens. Piss poor draq rep, but still, they're draq queens. And just like our very real life drag performers; some of them are cishets. Some of them are gender non-conforming gay men. Some of them are nonbinary*. Some of them are trans women. Obviously lumping all of these people into one group is kinda offensive (which is why "okama" is (as far as I understand it) such an unpopular term even amongst queer people in Japan), and the way Oda often chooses to draw these characters looks no different to how gender criticals choose to present trans women in their propaganda.

*Like Bon-chan, who explicitly states they are both male and female. And Iva-chan, who switches between boy-mode and girl-mode from time to time, could arguably be called genderfluid (though any specific terminology is up to debate). Both are nonbinary draq queens.

And yet, despite all that. It can not be understated how if you put aside the nameless background gag-characters, Oda does treat the actual, proper queer characters with respect. Everyone would agree that Bon-chan is an absolute hero, we would all die for them. Iva-chan (and Inazuma too) is explicitly presented in a heroic light, seen as someone who helps people and fights for justice (with the Revs)

And then there's the first binary trans characters we've actually gotten, Okiku and Yamato. And I'm pretty sure we would all agree Okiku is 10/10 perfect trans fem representation (I am not entirely serious, I'm not trans fem so I can't speak for trans women here, it's just that I can't see anything Horrendously Wrong with how Okiku is presented within the story- not actually perfect but all things considdered, damn good). She is stunning, people around her (INCLUDING SANJI!!) don't just view her as a woman but would go out of their way to date her (as in, she is seen as "desirable", and not as some kind of a disgusting freak to avoid), she is heroic and sweet and kind and just. IDK I love her And while I'm sure many trans mascs would agree Yamato may not be how they want to be seen by the world (though having Yamato ID as a man while having the biggest moobs is surely validating for a lot of people, including anybody who might not want or be able to get top surgery and/or HRT), again, he is only presented as heroic within the narrative and respected by the characters around him, Luffy especially, which is by far the most important part; the protagonist going out of his way to be respectful of trans characters does represent the values of the story.

And like.

Think about how Oda has treated Crocodile so far.

Like, although we're all having a bit of a laugh over the whole Cross Guild thing, Oda is still treating him as a cool character whom he presents seriously and treats with respect. Like Oda wants the readers to see Crocodile as at least a little bit cool. So I can't imagine him pulling a full 180 with how Croc would be treated in the story if he was revealed to be trans, especially when the potential foreshadowing for that was laid out in the story years ago already.

All this to say; Oda is not perfect at all, but considdering the things he has gotten right so far, I think there is hope he could pull it off. Because Oda is for Queer Liberation.

Really, my only concerns would be whether or not there's a risk Crocodile could get somehow detrans'd during the story (I'm praying the Haki theory isn't an option, really Doc Q might be the only true risk here), if he's stealth and that got presented as "a wrong thing to do" (which I'd hope not, like our previous queer characters have been okay with being openly queer but that may have been more for the readers than anything else. At least, I hope, god knows if Crocodile is and wants to be stealth trans then that's his right and he shouldn't have to out if he doesn't want to, and yeah, I don't want him to be demonized within the narrative for being stealth (if he's stealth, for all we know he could be out)) and like, most importantly, what'd end up being Crocodile's "motivation" for transitioning in the first place

Like. God. I just. I don't want there to be a twist where Crocodile transitioned because "being a woman was weak" or because he "wanted to be acknowledged by Whitebeard" ('cause WB doesn't take women into his crew) or "the scar in his face made him so ugly he decided he should be a man instead" (seen unironic Redditors suggest that. Almost lost my mind) or something

Like I hope someone's at least tried to explain gender dysphoria to Oda. Like the man does have actual queer friends in real life (some of whom inspired characters in OP), so I'm hoping at least someone's tried to explain the feelings that come with The Trans Experience™ to him so that, if Crocodile's trans, then Oda can actually try to base his reasoning to transition on those feelings instead of any stupid "reasons" that no actual queer person would relate to

But it all just boils down to... Is Oda willing to actually dwell into those feelings and explore them in the story.

It... it really could go either way with Oda

So yeah. Anon, I'm with you, I'd be lying if I didn't admit I was at least A Little Worried. But also... I want to be hopeful. Because I do believe there is reason to be hopeful.

Only time will tell how it'll go

#Moon posting #Asks #Sir Crocodile #OP Meta #OP Spoilers #Long post #CW Discussions of transphobia #For the record- cishets using ''crocomom'' for like fandom tagging purposes is fine #But outside of that. P e r i s h #Literally no need to misgender him.#(And obligatory disclaimer: yes if you're trans masc you get a pass on misgendering Crocodile. I'm @'ing the cishets not you)#(Also I'm not dead serious. It's just a pet peeve and god dammit I need to complain about it somewhere djkfghdskfgh)#While I'm at it with the tagging complaints please for the love of god tag your genderbends so people can blacklist and avoid them #Your Cross Guild Yuri is fun and fine but for some people having a trans man get presented as a woman in fanart #For no other reason than “girl pretty” pretty much #Can be just really emotionally draining and painful when the world so explicitly **does not want you to be trans**#Just. It'd be The Nice Thing To Do. You can draw your fem Croc just. Please tag it. For the love of god.#These tags are an absolute mess yeehaw

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paragonrobits · 2 months

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there's a few ships i specifically dislike because they did not happen in canon and their supporters complain non-stop about how the series personally betrayed them (often for a relationship which is not only noncanon but the characters in question barely interact and this hypothetical relationship is unrelated, or even contrary, to their narrative arcs) but a lot of the discourse they create around this is also eerily similar to the discourse you see with people propping up a faction or group that is inherently antagonistic and, using very similar arguments, these people straight up make up stuff to make these groups look better, and their opponents (the canonical protagonists, the characters they view as romantic rivals for their fanon ship) as being villified in very similar ways.

Let's take, for example, that One ATLA Ship. You know the one. The one that those big name fans never shut up about; the most frustrating discourse about it is that the diehard shippers have straight up invented all manner of details and criticisms that have no actual relationship to canon, and this is important because the validity of their arguments revolves entirely around these facts they've made up and have no basis in canon.

Lets take, for example, the ever popular 'Katara should become a bad ass Fire Lady and rule over the Fire Nation' fic concept. A lot of this premise requires certain details that either directly antithetical to established canon, or presume aspects of the character that are not canonical. The Fire Lady has never been shown to have any real political power at all, and novels have indicated that the consort to the Fire Lord has only one purpose: to produce heirs. That's it. They have no political power at all. And to be blunt, these fans SHOULD realize this because the Fire Nation has been established as exactly the sort of empire that puts all its power in the hands of an autocrat revered as a god-king.

Other facts further tear down this notion. Katara is characterized as wanting freedom and happiness for everyone, regardless of nation, but she is also characterized as someone who loves her homeland and would prefer to live there, and not abandon her cultural customs and visual details (as much of the Fire Lady Katara imagery does, having her dress entirely in FN style, including her hair, which is culturally an extremely loaded thing, as I understand it). She certainly doesn't give the indication of wanting to rule over an enemy nation like a conqueror. I think a lot of this mentality comes from the idea of 'absolute power = empowerment' to some people, which is also where we get the whole girlboss concept; the idea of absolute political power equating to personal empowerment and being liberating, rather than it being exercising power over others, with all the moral difficulties that entails.

The arguments of the people who support this concept relies heavily on aspects of her character which do not exist in canon or she has given no indication of but her existing characterization leans towards 'no', both in terms of romantic interest and long-term goals. She is the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. She wants there to be more waterbenders from the Southern Water Tribe, and living the rest of her life in a nation populated by the people who systemically destroyed her people's culture and killed most of them is not in any part suggested as something she would want to do.

Now, consider the Sith. In Star Wars canon, they are a pretty blatant faction of bad guys. They are built, from the ground up, to be evil. Their philosphy explicitly hates compassion and any form of love outside the context of possession; their ideology revolves around selfishness and weaponizing hatred, and just about every iteration and established character is incredibly cruel, heartless and even the most reasonable of them, so much so that they are no longer considered Sith, constantly yell at you if you do things like 'give homeless people money' or 'help anyone for any reason that does not further your personal goals'.

There are no canonically good Sith. You cannot be a good person and a Sith, because their ideology explicitly forbids things that generally make a person moral and kind, and that same ideology expressly encourages hatred, jealous possessiveness, and betraying others for gain. When we see Kylo Ren in the first movie of the sequel trilology throwing a violent temper tantrum that could kill anyone nearby when he lost his temper, that's the logical conclusion of all Sith mindsets.

However, the Sith are very widely believed in fandom circles to be more inherently moral or capable of heroism compared to the Jedi.

Part of it, I think, comes from the Jedi's philosophy discourages certain things that people tend to romanticize or believe are essential; its very common to believe in the idea of love being inherently ennobling or making you a better person, in family as the ultimate good, and personal being the most important thing. The Jedi do not permit marriage if you are a part of the order (and its crucial to mention here that leaving the Order is perfectly fine and usually doesn't even have any stigma; Dooku did so and he was well regarded by the Jedi until his actions were revealed), they don't usually have children and instead adopt children into their culture, and their philosophy stresses about letting go from attachment, due to the nature of attachment as inherently jealous and thus giving the Dark Side a way into your spirit.

It is important to remind a reader here that this is NOT attachment as in 'cares for someone' or 'values another'. The term instead is used in the philosophical definition of attachment as jealous possessiveness or, at the very least, the inability to accept that all things fade; everyone dies, or all relationships end one way or another. The desperation to keep those things by clawing at them or pulling them closer is attachment; causing harm, to yourself or others, because you cannot accept the inevitable. This is fairly basic philosophical stuff.

However, because these Sith apologists refuse to accept either the Sith being the big bad villains of the franchise or what the series means about attachment, they view the idea of attachment as a moral good in its own, believing the Sith to be inherently more noble than the Jedi because they believe that a personal attachment induces morality. Just because you care about ONE person does not mean you care about others.

Many people in real life love their friends and family deeply, but could not care less about anyone outside that family. Consider the classic case of a family man or woman who loves their family, kisses their children goodnight, is unfailingly faithful to their spouse, and then goes to work and tortures people for a living, or participates in genocide and the systematic oppression of other people, all without the faintless twinge of guilt or moral compromise.

Caring for a specific person does not induce universal compassion. Love for a speciifc person is exactly that; just love for a particular person. It doesn't guard you from indifference, callousness, or anything at all.

So, its very interesting to me that a lot of these fandom obsessions, despite being very different, have very similar arguments going on about them; whether its AtLA fandom trying to argue that Aang is the most evil person in the universe actually, or insist that the Sith could secretly become the greatest heroes in the setting, while ignoring both Aang being a compassionate hero while his foils are explicitly selfish (and crucially, KATARA is also just as compassionate and not focused solely on her loved ones), and the Sith's iconic technique being a torture beam.

#queued

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melissa-titanium · 4 months

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OC QUESTION!! :D

which kind of stories do your ocs like? (can be any oc) like, how we read books and watch shows, which kind of stories would your ocs like?

OMG HI AZ. HI HI HI HI fuck ok that is a very good question.

oryx because i've been thinking about him lately... he's a doctor, so very analytical and has similar interests to mel (though he LOATHES that fact.) often reads nonfiction, usually factual things like studies of the brain and soul magic. despite being a physical doctor, he reads a LOT about mental disorders & the like. if you asked him what stories he liked, in terms of fictional ones... he'd probably like something like evangelion. he'd definitely watch house md, and find the medical practices funny. though again, humans don't really exist in this era so house md wouldnt.,... like.,......happen . eva either. but like HYPOTHETICALLY. you know.

mel will read anything and everything. stories, anatomical reference books, automotive mechanic books, pre-koboreal invasion literature, fucking give him a 600 page book on cleaning bathroom floor tiles he Will Read It. he wants to KNOW shit. he fucking HATES movies, but because he's a contrarian there are some instances where he'll watch them. he can't sit still long enough to watch entire hour long movies/episodes etc but if you give him something to do while listening in the bg he'll be set for life. he's ME so he'd watch what i watch, mp100, dunmeshi, murder drones (he would LOVE murder drones. ep 4 would make him hungry for oil, which is dangerous because he works as a mechanic on occasion LOL) you could never get him to admit it but he's probably watched twilight. he's a vampire and he LOVES wolves. (i... don't share this trait. i haven't watched twilight. mel would NEVER watch true crime/horror movies. not because he's scared of them or anything similar, because he much prefers when the violence is actually happening in front of him, ESPECIALLY when he's the one doing it. don't forget he is a mass murderer & a cannibal who enjoys violence.

draco is illiterate. she's not stupid, but she, similarly to me, struggles in investing herself in a story unless she really clicks with it/its characters or story. she probably likes MAKING stories more than reading them, honestly... the issue with that though is that she can't write because of her claws. she's too insecure about her own opinions to think too hard about characters & stories and even MORE so to even share them, but maybe at some point she read with magmivit, & they helped her write! you gotta consider she was living away from civilization with nothing & no one but her freak ass of a mom & crazy bitch dad out in the woods, she never had stories, so she really likes them. she'd much rather cozy up and struggle to read a book than go out and do something on her own, unless the "doing something" involved being useful for others. stories that are more blunt & obvious in their delivery but still handle mature themes would be good for her... atla, mlp, guardians of gahoole would be good for her. i think she'd like warrior cats if it didn't make her sad.

TROUT! manga reader. anime watcher. she's kind of a weeb... DEFINITELY WATCHES RWBY & AMPHIBIA & HOMESTUCK my main inspos for her were ruby, marcy & june after all . haha. she watches eva because of oryx, when your weird adoptive cat uncle/past life recommends you a show you HAVE to watch it. she doesn't *read* a lot, she likes picture books & comics more than big walls of text because of how easily she's bored. action movies would be something she likes. she's museful, but likes to shut her brain off sometimes. not very character-analysis-y, prefers when characters are easy to read & relatable.

THJANK UOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME THIS I LIOVE QUESTINS ABOUT MY; OCS. *DIES

#asks

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dapperrokyuu · 1 year

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RULER OF MY HEART (Studio LICO | Alien Stage: Round 5 Song) - English Translyrics

Hi! Alien Stage BANGER? Time to make lyrics! Not much to say other than Round 5 has Changed Me(TM) and the fact that Ruler of My Heart sounds so good doesnt help, lol. Now we can sing along with society's prince, Luka... *tosses him like a hacky sack in my mind* AND OUR LOVELY MIZI, UWAHHH-

As always, feel free to use, as long as you credit me! If anyone wants further thought process clarification for any lyrics, feel free to ask too! I have notes under the Read More to that end and some alternative lyrics as well! Have a wonderful day, fellas!

Translation Base: Captions in original video.

You can turn away from– You can even outburn– The light and sun, my star.

You’re the perfect subject, With the whole world within Those saddened eyes of yours.

My savior is such a beautiful soul… I don’t believe. You’re a liar. When our darkness starts to overlap each other, Let me take it all away…

Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart,

Your beauty is eternal.

Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart…

The walls are so endless… It’s a fall with no ground.

In a single moment, breaking down–

My sight comes to an end, My ears start to go deaf. Collapsing, my world.

My savior, such a beautiful lady…. Make me your god, I can give you everything. When our darkness starts to overlap each other, Let me take it all away…

Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart,

Your beauty is eternal.

Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart…

— Break —

Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart, Ruler, ruler of my heart…

Ruler, ruler of my heart Ruler, ruler of my heart Ruler, ruler of my heart…

---

NOTE 1: First stanza was the most awkward to make and probably still is the most awkward in general. But I couldnt think of an alternative thats without even more awkward sentence structure. And I think it works out in terms of Luka uncomfortably dogpiling Mizi with compliments, while also calling her “The light and sun, my star.”

NOTE 2: Sad vs. saddened has an odd difference in nuance in my mind but using a synonym for sad felt more jarring and excessive. Left it as is because it does get the point across, and maybe its just me overthinking it, lol.

NOTE 3: Ive considered changing “I don’t believe. You’re a liar.” to something like “Dont believe it,” or “Dont believe you,” but I try not to change lyrics that are already in English. I also think the awkwardness serves to portray Mizi’s state (of struggling to sing) in Round 5 very well and that there may be some intentional play on words of taking the “You” from “You’re” to finish the first phrase, so it works out.

NOTE 4: The original translation of “The endless walls / A fall with no ground” is actually pretty interesting to ponder about and I encourage others to do so about Luka’s character!

At first, I personally interpreted it as walls being obstacles to a goal, in which, no matter how much you overcome, there is another to face. And then the fall part is simpler to understand and just illustrates the hopelessness and despair of such a situation.

Thinking more, I considered joining the two lines and perceiving the walls' “endlessness” in terms of “height,” which would be why the fall would be perceive as "with no ground." Even if you were to overcome and stand at the top of such a wall (potentially referring to Luka’s position as a winner of Alien Stage), the situation is terrifying. And of course, falling from such a height (dying) is terrifying too. So this lyric could refer to how Luka views life as terrible either way (theres no winning) and/or that, despite his “advantageous position,” he’ll never be able to properly overcome his circumstances as a human pet.

Anyways! *kicks my feet* I translated the wall line as ambiguous to either interpretation because the ambiguity is likely the intention and I think theres value in all those takes.

ALTERNATIVE LYRICS (Line 9 and 27): “When our darkness overlaps onto each other” You have to pause on the “o” in “overlap,” which is a bit awkward. The current lyric works out well since the syllable that needs to be paused on is a single word (“starts”). This line rhythmically was probably the most difficult to tackle, haha.

ALTERNATIVE LYRICS (Line 14 and 32): “Your beauty is forever.” As someone who prefers not deviating from a translation as much as possible, to be frank, that just sounds bad, imo, lol. But if you prefer that option, go for it, I guess!

ALTERNATIVE LYRICS (Line 21 and 22): “I will lose all my sense / I will go blind and deaf” I enjoyed the first half implying that one’s losing their “mental” sense (mind), but felt that it deviated from original meaning too much.

If youve read this far, thank you for listening, haha! Again, have a wonderful day! c:

#dee does things #dapper translyrics #alien stage #alnst #vivinos #translyrics

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sineala · 2 years

Note

Love your fics! Wanted to know your opinion about AXE now that it's finished :>

Oh boy oh boy! Thank you for asking! I loved AXE so much. It was definitely the best story I've ever read about what would happen if your house acquired sentience and hated you and decided to destroy the world.

Seriously, though -- I really loved AXE Judgment Day. I have a half-finished post where I was attempting to summarize the complete event with all the tie-ins and I should probably… finish reading all the tie-ins and finish writing that. I have an AXE Steve/Tony WIP -- the kind of fic that is basically meta disguised as a story where they talk through how they feel about the whole thing -- that is 42,000 words and I am nowhere near done yet. I honestly think it's one of the best line-wide Marvel events in a long time, which is really impressive when you consider that for the most part it's an event about the X-Men and the Eternals and I have almost no fannish interest in the Eternals and I haven't been consistently reading any X books since X Of Swords started.

So why do I like this event so much if it's not even about characters I am currently following? Well, I'm here for Steve/Tony, and I think it's a really good event for Steve and Tony, both as individual characters and for their relationship with each other, and I think the end of the story leaves them each in a really interesting place emotionally, with enough hanging threads that make it interesting to me fannishly.

We've had a few events in the past several years where Steve and Tony were basically on opposite sides -- Infinity (when you consider the fact that Tony has already been secretly betraying Steve), Axis, Time Runs Out/Secret Wars, Civil War II (when you consider the fact that it wasn't actually Steve), Secret Empire. Sometimes these events have prominently featured Steve and/or Tony, but as a Steve/Tony fan most of these weren't satisfying to me on an OTP level because they're not really on good terms. Although, yes, Secret Empire did provide a hell of a lot to think about and also some really interesting material for AUs because it did give us an evil Steve who, uh, canonically loves Tony. You should see my WIP list. But Secret Empire wouldn't make my list of events where Steve and Tony are BFFs, if you get what I mean.

We've had events where they were on the same side but the event wasn't really about them -- War of the Realms, Empyre, King in Black, Devil's Reign. (As far as I can tell, Devil's Reign never actually had the real Tony in it, either, but I will admit to not reading all the tie-ins.) Heroes Reborn was also a thing but didn't ever have Tony even meet Steve, AFAIK. So, I mean, it's nice that they don't hate each other but also they are just a couple characters in a cast of thousands. I think Empyre comes the closest, and I really enjoyed Empyre, but I wouldn't call Steve & Tony the stars of the event.

So AXE is one of the first events in a long time -- maybe since AvX? -- where both Steve and Tony have been friends on the same team with neither of them secretly being evil and where they have had big roles to play in the event itself. Both Steve and Tony have a lot to do in the mainline and Tony has an entire issue about him. Also, though I think it has its flaws, AXE is definitely much kinder to Tony than a lot of the other comics featuring Tony have been in a while. It portrays Tony and Steve as friends and as heroes genuinely trying to do good. And if you're like "isn't that what most superhero comics are like?" then you haven't been reading a lot of Iron Man comics in the past several years, although that is maybe, maybe starting to change.

I also think the setup of AXE is the kind of thing that lends itself to interesting fannish theorizing without being unkind to most of the heroes. I suppose technically it starts out as a hero vs. hero event, depending on who you consider heroes. A faction of Eternals decides that mutants are deviants and decides to wipe them out. The Avengers decide this is a bad idea and they and the remaining Eternals join in on the side of the mutants. Since Eternals have to do what Celestials tell them, the good guys (starring Tony) come up with a plan to reanimate Avengers Mountain (a dead Celestial) and it will become a god to the Eternals again and it'll tell them to knock it off with the mutant-killing. This works. Sort of. Then the Celestial decides it's going to judge the rest of humanity on an individual and a collective basis and everyone has to band together to try to stop it. Steve ends up basically leading humanity in battle and Tony ends up taking point on the strike team trying to bring the Celestial down from the inside. Literally the inside.

So, yes, as a Steve/Tony fan, I enjoy the fact that they're working together. They're friends! They're clearly coming up with plans together and they're concerned about each other and Steve doesn't even blame Tony for being the guy who arguably headed the project that started the mess in the first place.

Also Steve makes some great rallying speeches.

(Don't worry, Steve's fine.)

And Tony also makes some great speeches, honestly, just on a smaller scale.

I feel like the AA references in there are very in-character for Tony.

It's been my experience that fandom tends to really enjoy events that let them sort characters based on their beliefs and powers -- who would win in a fight? Who would support Registration? And this gets you that, and they don't even have to fight each other. Because what a lot of the tie-ins are about is "who passes, who fails, and why?" and so, without even pitting your faves against each other, you get to do the same kind of theorizing. And because Steve and Tony are major characters, we get to see both of their judgments, and we get a lot about Tony's.

And it's really cool, I think, because it absolutely does not go the way you think it would go. It does not go the way they think it will go. Because Steve is one of the very first to fail -- and Tony is at his side, wondering who possibly has a chance to pass if Steve fails. So Steve basically spends the whole rest of the event clearly feeling like a massive failure and trying to pull himself together for the rest of humanity. I have feelings about this.

And Tony, in a move that surprises everyone including himself, passes. There is a whole issue devoted to this and I really like it except for a couple of points I will detail below and also the fact that it requires us to acknowledge that Cantwell's run happened, which is a thing I was really trying to not do. Anyway, it has a great callback to The Confession.

Tony just doesn't want to let Steve down.

The whole thing is interesting. It gives you a lot to think about. They're clearly still both unsettled about this by the end of the event, and then Tony asks Steve to go hot-tubbing with him, which. You know. There's potential there. I and my massive WIP clearly think there's potential there.

So that's a lot of fun. At least, I think so.

This event has a downside for me, which is that it has a Did Not Do The Research problem. I think this is most apparent in AXE Avengers, the issue all about Tony, which includes such odd developments as "Tony agrees with the assertion that he likes to date people who are parental figures with strong moral compasses" (I have literally no idea where this is coming from, as I would have said that he likes to date people to try to kill him) and "the Celestial, in the form of Howard, tells Tony that they wanted him so badly but then he wasn't a great father to Tony." I feel like "we wanted you so badly" is an interesting way of describing "we adopted you solely because we needed a decoy son to save the life of our biological son." If this had been by any other writer, I would have said, oh, well, I guess they just didn't read the adoption arc. This is by Kieron Gillen. You know, the guy who wrote the adoption arc.

There are a couple of other places in the event itself where the plot doesn't match up to itself across comics, which you would probably expect in tie-ins except… these were all also by Kieron Gillen. So after Steve dies and is reborn from an egg, naked, in the Avengers Mansion kitchen (don't worry about it), he either has enough time to get dressed and talk to Tony before the strike team heads out (if you believe Death To The Mutants) or Tony is already on-mission when Steve hatches (if you believe the mainline). These are, again, both by the same writer.

Anyway, if you believe the version where Steve gets to wish Tony well, it's very sweet:

There is also one further instance where Not Doing The Research isn't a problem, per se, but there was one canonical reference that AXE Avengers could have made, that the entire issue was leading me to think that it was going to make, and then it got there and it didn't, presumably because Gillen didn't know it, and I was so confused because it would have made the issue so much stronger.

So the culmination of AXE Avengers features the Celestial reenacting Tony's parents' car accident, which the Celestial is using as an analogy for the disaster the world is currently going through, and asks Tony what Tony will do. Tony immediately heads to the car and starts trying to repair it and explains that it may not make a difference, but he has to try, and if he works hard enough, no one has to die in a car crash.

It's a nice moment. It's very Tony. It's very touching. It seems like a philosophy he would espouse. It is also an established canon fact that is thirty years old.

In Iron Man #288, we learn that the first thing Tony did after his parents' death was find out what the cause of the crash was (a flaw in the brake design). Then he spent forty hours redesigning the brakes in that car model, bought the car company, and implemented his new, improved brake design. So no one else was ever going to die in a crash like that.

So that thing he says in AXE Avengers that he would do, hypothetically, about fixing the car so no one else would die? He did it. It wasn't hypothetical. He actually 100% did that exact thing, in canon, when faced with this exact situation. So you can kind of see why I was expecting the AXE Avengers issue to refer to this, because I figured this was him describing the thing that he did. It would have been the perfect thing for him to mention. I just assumed that was what was going on here and we were leading up to that.

The issue does not refer to this fact, at all.

I don't know, I just thought it was a bizarre omission. I guess no one involved with this issue knew enough to mention it.

Also I feel like if I were the Avengers I personally would not want to move right back into living in the dead Celestial corpse as soon as it died and the fighting was over. They cannot be hurting that badly for real estate. I'm just saying.

But overall? Yeah, great event. I loved AXE Judgment Day. Give me ten more just like it.

#replies #seraphiine

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callmegaith · 6 months

Note

You’re not boring me! With just a peek into the fandom with its writers and artists like you, I could never be. It’s a good thing that blogs can give new perspectives that make media feel fresh again. I asked about David out of sincere interest, especially since the eilander siblings always seemed so tragic

Thanks for the link though! I never knew that he wrote a apology letter to Dale though! The fact that David is remorseful for his actions makes me realize I should have given his character more introspect. Hopefully in the next game, Dale can come to terms with his parents death by reconciling with David, or at the very least understand why he did what he did—That poor detective boy deserves closure. And maybe David knew that something about Dale would be different. They're both special cases of corrupted souls (You explained with David in your link, and Dale seems to switch in and out of his normal self and corrupted soul when leaving the Lake). When he gets the golden cube to hopefully save himself from repeating the same cycle of violence and tragedy by changing his future, maybe he can change David's future too from forever being a wandering corrupted soul This is long and let me know if I have any facts wrong, but aaaa I just love all this

Yeah he did write a letter to Dale :D

Here it is:

He is remorseful but he also wanted to save himself so I totally get it. I wouldn't wanna be a corrupted soul either

And I agree that the Eilander siblings are so tragic. They were simply born into this sorta life, none of them asked for this but alas. They are just doomed by the narrative. It hurts me to think about them, of how Jakob and David never got the chance to form a bond because they didn't have the time to be brothers and David never really knew him. The only truly innocent collateral I feel tho is Elizabeth. She never harmed anyone. Tho she did get to be reborn as the Lady of the Lake now I suppose while David is the one out of the three siblings who for whatever reason was never allowed his reincarnation.

But David is resilient and has escaped death before. I'm sure he has more tricks up his sleeve. He's a magician after all.

As for him and Dale... Boy, that's a whole new can of worms you're opening up. They're my fav and the idea of them reconciling is the topic of most my art and comics of them. A slowburn with so much angst and pain but also hopefully healing, because a part of me thinks that's what Rusty Lake is all about... Healing from traumas. If the two of them just had the chance to meet again and work things out 😭

Dale IS special. He is meant to be the successor of Mr. Owl. And I suppose we will see if he will repeat the cycle or do something different. Mr. Owl wants Dale to get rid of the corrupted souls underneath the lake so I assume that means it's his fate to... Idk? Kill them?? Cleanse them??

But do hope on his journey to do that, that he can meet David one last time for them to put their differences aside... Or idk Dale has the upper hand here, if he wants revenge at that moment he could probably have it.

Tho I hope he doesn't. I hope they make amends, cuz at the end of it all, they're both just pawns for the lake and victims of it all the same. They were both put into these situations under unforgiving and unfair circumstances and they sorta just have to play the hands that they are dealt. 😔

I did talk about this before too but a part of the tragedy of Dale and David is David grew up with a lot of trauma without a mother. He knows what it's like to be in the position he later puts Dale in. Hurt people hurt people, and he repeated the cycle of trauma by putting Dale through it. They'd have an understanding but it would be funny to go "yeah I know how it feels" WHEN YOURE THE ONE WHO PUT THE OTHER PERSON IN THAT SITUATION!

Or maybe all this is just my wishful thinking 😩 I just know I want them to reconcile so bad cuz Dale tried killing David but it didn't fix him. If not revenge, then maybe forgiveness is what he needs to truly heal and move on.

#asks!#RL: lore and theories

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fearlessinger · 2 years

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Hello, grieving Adrien stan here.

Do i need to read all the pjo and heroes novels to fully “get” trials of Apollo books? I was never that interested in greco-roman myth or those series as a kid when they were super popular. also I haven’t read a proper book in an embarrassingly long time. Nevertheless I’d like to give a chance if they’re as great as you say.

unrelated,a while back I had half a mind to watch smallville do you know if its worth it?

hey Anon, first of all, my condolences. I’ve been there too.

Second: no you absolutely do not have to read any of the previous novels to understand/appreciate TOA! I am a big proponent of the “TOA first” reading approach in fact (tho obviously you won't have to go back and read the rest of the saga afterwards either), and I’ve already written a little primer for fellow readers who may want to start directly from TOA like I did, based on my own reading experience and the knowledge gaps that I found myself having. I will add, given what’s your reason for wanting to check this out, a few caveats:

this story is not a romance. It's about abuse, emancipation and self actualization. It’s also simultaneously a redemption story because

this Adrien is older (like 4000+ years older lol) and both his personal history and the amount of character development he underwent before the story even starts reflect this. He’s had time to grow up, fuck up very badly in ways that his upbringing explains but does not excuse, and this story is also the story of him coming to terms with and figuring out what he can do about that.

He’s also an incredibly unreliable narrator, and not in the ways you’re led to expect (if you’re familiar with the Adrien The Liar meta know that it’s as much - at this point probably more lbr - about Apollo than it is about Adrien, except for Apollo you gotta multiply it for like 10000). Which means you may have a hard time recognizing him for a while (I think when it really clicked for me was between book 3 and 4). Or maybe not, bc apparently some people clocked the similarities since the very beginning

it’s all so cringe. You’re a fellow ML (ex) fan so I'm sure you can appreciate some quality cringe but I feel compelled to give a warning anyway. I love it, and I don’t think a story like this about a character like this could have been told any other way because (among other reasons that I won’t say bc I’m already spoiling enough) nobody who cares as much and earnestly as Apollo does could ever be Cool ™. But yeah. The narrative style either works for you or it doesn’t bc it’s 100% not a bug but a feature.

Last but not least, if you think it might be easier for you to digest a whole book series in audio format, I’ve been told by multiple people that the TOA audiobooks are really well done.

As for Smallville… well, the show as a whole is definitely… an acquired taste 😅 It’s so dumb in so many ways, and not self aware enough to make up for it. I have an incredible fondness for SV, and for its version of Clark & Lois especially; I’d dare say it is still my favorite modern interpretation of their dynamic on screen to date, but it took the show a while to get to the point where their relationship took center stage (S8-9-10, basically. This is after all technically a superman origin story) and it was a very bumpy ride. The show has some truly terrible writing mixed in with the brilliance lol. But yeah go for it if you feel in the mood! Fyi Lois Lane only gets introduced in season 4 which is also one of the show’s best, most enjoyable & silly seasons imho so if you’re on the fence you could try beginning from there (I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to figure out what’s going from context clues).

#toa #adrien agreste #smallville #clois

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medea10 · 2 years

Text

My Review of Love Live Superstar

…

I never left Idol Hell. Every season, I find myself watching something idol related or playing one of the rhythm games. And now I just happen to be back in Love Live’s grip. So, who’s escapade am I watching now, Honoka, Chika, Ayumu, or one of those so-so grabs from LLSIF?

None mentioned!

That is correct. Superstar was announced in early 2020, shortly after learning about the Love Live Nijigasaki series that was to come later that year. This time, fans got a chance to input name ideas for the name of the group and the name of the school these girls will attend.

SUPERSTAR: So, we all knew going in this new story that it was going to be different from all of the other series to come from the franchise. Yes, all of the series have stark differences, but end up becoming school idols in the end. Let’s take a look and Yuigaoka High School to see how the girls there differ from all the others in the Love Live franchise.

Kanon Shibuya always loved singing. Once she puts on her headphones, she’s on full blast. The only problem is that when she has to perform, like in an audition or solo performance, she freezes up. This even caused problems when she was auditioning for an entrance into Yuigaoka High School (a school famous for its music program). Kanon was still accepted into the school, it’s just that she was shunned from the music department, so she’s only a regular student in the general studies program. Kanon just decided to give up her dreams of singing. But on her way to school, she was singing without realizing and caught the attention of another student. Keke Tang was enthralled and wanted to know more about Kanon.

Later in the day, we learn that Keke is a student originally from Shanghai. So, we’re keeping with the tradition of having one member in the group not Japanese. And then we see she came to Japan to be a school idol. I guess Keke is pretty much like Emma from Nijigasaki since she did that exact same thing! But the girls are constantly stopped by a student council member (Ren). She bans their attempts at them starting a school idol club (much like Eli and Dia from previous series). Thankfully, the principal had a little mercy by allowing Kanon and Keke to start an idol group at school under the condition that they win 1st place in a local competition. While it was damn-near impossible, the girls won a special newcomer award for their performance and the principal caved in on giving Keke and Kanon the opportunity to start a school idol club.

LICENSING: When this first came out it was a FUNimation exclusive and no one else could touch it. But once the FUNimation/Crunchyroll merger happened, Crunchyroll slowly got ahold of this anime. Love Live Superstar eventually made its way onto the catalog, like one week before the second season aired. It was a long wait, but we got it. My only gripe was that I was watching this weekly and would get impatient with each episode. The episodes would air in Japan Sunday night (my time) and I would have to wait 24 hours for the major sites to get it. Stupid, first-world gripe!

NEW CHARACTERS: As usual, we have the barrage of high school girls with aspirations of either becoming an idol or something in that field. And once again as usual, we have brand-new seiyuus voicing these characters. In fact, only one of the girls has one anime credit to her name because Liyuu sang a couple of theme songs for anime. Before I get to the seiyuu list, let’s talk about the girls of Liella.

As I’ve mentioned in the synopsis, Kanon has a gift of song. Unfortunately, stage fright has always been her biggest cripple. As a result, she was never given a chance to do a solo and it even messed with her chances of being admitted into the music program at school and was instead shoved in the general studies program. It wasn’t until she met Keke and got interested in becoming a school idol that things started to change in terms of her stage fright.

Keke came to Japan from Shanghai in order to become a school idol. And after listening to Kanon singing, Keke was convinced that Kanon must become an idol with her. But Keke’s first inspiration came from an idol duo named Sunny Passion. Funny enough, Sunny Passion ended up becoming the girl’s first and main rival.

Sumire joined the school idol club in hopes of being awarded the title of “center”. That’s cute, lady! As it turns out, Sumire has some experience in show business. Even though her biggest role was when she was a child in an isopod costume dancing, she still sees that as a win (if not totally embarrassing). Get ready to see a lot of scenes of her dancing in the isopod costume. And just like many other Love Live characters with catchphrases, Sumire has one too.

Chisato is Kanon’s very close friend and they’ve stayed close for many years. Chisato got in the dance program at school. So, when Kanon and Keke ended up forming the school idol club, Chisato decided to help the girls with training. Chisato ends up an idol eventually, it’s just that it took a while because of a dance competition.

Ren’s story gets a little complicated. Yes, she’s the typical snotty president. And she does reject the idea of there being any kind of idol activity on campus. But in reality, her mother was a school idol when she was in high school. In fact, her mother was an idol in order to save her school from shutting down. Where have I heard that story before? Anyways, it didn’t go well and the school closed. But Ren’s mother worked hard to bring to life another school in its place that focuses on music programs (Yuigaoka). But in later years and after her death, the school faces closure and Ren faces having to leave Japan to go live with her father. But does she change her outlook and join Kanon? Come on, you all know the answer already.

Here's the cast!

JAPANESE CAST: *Kanon is played by Sayuri Date

*Keke is played by Liyuu (known for the ED theme to I’m Standing on a Million Lives)

*Sumire is played by Naomi Payton

*Chisato is played by Nako Misaki

*Ren is played by Nagisa Aoyama

ENGLISH CAST: *Kanon is played by Kristi Rothrock (known for Ilulu on Miss Kobayashi)

*Keke is played by Julia Gu

*Sumire is played by Lizzie Freeman (known for Chizuru on Rent-A-Girlfriend, Trish on Jojo’s Pt. 5, Cardinal on SAO: Alicization, Hinata on Tokyo Revengers, Chitose on Tonikawa, and Mujika on The Promised Neverland)

*Chisato is played by Maddie Matsumoto

*Ren is played by Natalie Van Sistine (known for Yor on Spy x Family)

SHIPPING?: I know it’s almost impossible asking me what I support in any Love Live series without going total multi on everyone (with some exceptions). In the first season, I wasn’t totally thrilled with anything with a few love/hate moments between Sumire and Keke, but that’s all from them. Come season two, I raise my eyebrow slightly at the sight of Mei and Shiki…and then again at Mei and Ren. Mei is total lez-chow and I stand by that.

Yeah, I’m a Mei x Shiki shipper after all that.

IS THIS A FIRST?: When it comes to female idol shows, usually the male gender is rare if not non-existent. When it comes to the Love Live franchise, men are literally non-existent physically. All the parents seen are female. Mari from Love Live Sunshine had a father, we were damn sure of that. But not once was he seen or heard. Every school for the Love Live animes were strictly female-only schools. Every character who had a sibling has to be a sister or too young to notice. So, excuse me while I spit out my ginger ale when I see Kanon’s father not once, but twice in the series.

I mean yeah, they didn’t give him a face and he doesn’t say anything. But he exists! Look at this fool. They have to have him face away from his daughter because the anime dictates it. He totally exists in an idol anime. I think he’s some kind of linguist. That’s the most I’ve ever heard of a father in the Love Live franchise in like, ever!

END OF SEASON ONE: After getting Ren to join the group, the girls face their toughest struggle(s). Love Live! Yes, we get the actual Love Live competition in this series. Now let’s list all the problems these girls have. What’s this groups official name? What about songs? Who’s going to write these lyrics? What kind of music? Better call Kanon to figure everything out.

You know what? Kanon does too much for his group. I can understand helping Chisato out, they’re besties! But Kanon became an idol because Keke begged her, overcame her massive stage-fright, did all the music to all the songs sung up to this point, help Ren sort out her mommy issues, and now she’s gotta do all this. She’s the most hardcore of the leaders of Love Live. Apparently, this year there was a record number of school idols competing in Love Live. And so, there’s going to be preliminary rounds to weed out the unwanted. First, we got a rap battle.

And I gotta tell you, whenever I think of rap and anime, I get the giggles. Whether Veronica Taylor doing a rap for KidsWB or Akio’s rap in Clannad, 9 times out of 10, I will laugh! And this episode did not let me down in the laughter department. But we did get some character growth for Sumire. The girl who was never given a chance to shine on stage gets her chance and the girls make it to the next round. Okay, next qualifier. Solos!

LET’S PILE MORE SHIT ON KANON! Oh yeah, they sure did. They chose Kanon to do the solo. Not only that, but get her to sing for her old elementary school by herself, literally forcing her to confront her fears of performing in front of an audience from where the trauma first started. Dick move, guys. I know everything turned out okay for Kanon and she was able to make peace with the past, but seriously that was just fucked. Chisato does dance moves, Keke makes costumes, and Kanon does everything else. What the fuck guys? Ren, Sumire, pick up some slack, you fucking dead-weights!

Well, it’s time to prepare for the next qualifier and we do get several good notes to go on here. The school has dodged the shut-down fairy that shows up quie a bit in this franchise. A lot of girls are interested in enrolling for the next school year. Add to that, Ren’s father sends money in order for the school to stay thriving and for Ren to continue to live in town. And the girls are going to perform their qualifier in style thanks to the people of town and their dedicated classmates. Their performance was…it had Snow Halation vibes. Did anybody else feel that way too?

Unlike that performance, this gave the girls of Liella a big dose of reality. Second place! This finally struck a chord with Kanon who up to this point was just trying to overcome her crippling stage fright. It hurts to lose. But the girls of Liella are going to work even harder for the next Love Live and we will see that next season.

Holy God damn, two Love Lives in one year!

SEASON TWO: Here’s something we’ve never seen in any Love Live up to this point, the girls are one year older. Yeah, all of the Love Live series are kinda set in the world’s longest school year. But the Liella girls are now second years and are about to be senpais to a bunch of incoming freshmen. Ooh, does this mean we’re getting new members?

Yes. Yes, we are!

The incoming freshmen were aware of Liella and were big fans of the group. It’s just that no one wants to venture on and become part of the school idol group out of intimidation. They all know how close Liella came to getting into Love Live and that their rivals Sunny Passion see them as their biggest rival (despite competing at a higher level than Liella).

New student Kinako Sakurakouji (from Hokkaido) kinda stumbled upon the girls practicing and they have high hopes for her (despite being a “Plain-Jane”). Kinako wasn’t aware of the appeal of Liella or school idols until she watched a prior performance and was entranced. Other students like Mei (the one with the red hair) knew of the group, but was one of those who feared of screwing up their chances of making it to the top. Shiki (the one with the blue hair) joined Liella on her own only to get under Mei’s skin, but enjoyed it so much that she decided to stay on as a permanent member. And Natsumi (the one with the blonde hair) is a V-tuber! We get a little deeper with Natsumi as she seemed to have failed on many dreams, but eventually got bitten by the idol bug. Now we have the standard 9 members.

*Kinako is played by Nozomi Suzuhara

*Mei is played by Akane Yabushima

*Shiki is played by Wakana Ookuma

*Natsumi is played by Aya Emori

As of the date of posting this review, the English cast for the four new members has not been announced, nor has there been a drop on an English dub coming out.

TWO RIVALS: So, this season of Love Live, Liella has another rival to look out for. We’ve seen different kinds of rivals throughout the Love Live franchise. A-Rise was a challenge for µ's, but supportive nonetheless. Saint Snow was one of those rivals where they had chips on their shoulder, but became allies to Aqours. As for Nijigasaki, I can’t really say any of the other schools were rivals. Everyone worked together and everyone had each other’s back. This series has the duo group Sunny Passion. They’re kinda like A-Rise in a way. They’re challenging to Liella, yet supportive. In the second season, Sunny Passion was still there. And then the creators thought, how about we give Liella another rival?

Meet Wien Margarete! She…oh, I am being told that I put up the wrong stock-photo of her and that this is really a picture of some Himalayan pink salt.

Here’s Wien Margarete for real. She has low opinions on school idols and idol competitions. And has this fixation with Kanon that I don’t know if it’s grudge-worthy or a tsundere in the making. Make your own call on her. What’s a nice way to say this? Margarete is like all of Ash Ketchum’s asshole rivals mashed into one with a vagina. You’re so welcome for that image!

So, was it absolutely necessary to have another rival for Liella? Sure, why the hell not? I honestly think that she’s only going to be a temporary rival. Isn’t she only a middle schooler? If she’s in her final year there, she could enter Yuigaoka High School if we’re to get a third season. But at this point and time, it feels like a little overkill to have two rivals for Liella. Sunny Passion was a hard rival to beat. They beat Liella the previous year and with this being their final year to compete in Love Live, they might be unbeatable. At least that’s what we all thought until little miss pink salty bitch came in and beat Sunny Passion in the qualifiers.

ENDING: Liella is about to go through the same thing as the year prior, Tokyo prelims for the Love Live. As we all remember, they came in second to Sunny Passion. This year, Sunny Passion isn’t even in the competition. They lost to the solo idol Wien Margarete. And sucks for them as this was Sunny Passion’s final chance to compete in Love Live since both of them are graduating high school this year. Margarete is a unique idol. She made her stance about school idols and the Love Live competition during a video conference. It was not looked upon favorably. Regardless of her salty-bitch attitude, Margarete is no one to mess with. She’s fierce! She even beat Liella earlier in the season at a local competition. So, the stakes are pretty freakin’ high.

The second years once again came upon this dilemma of having the first years perform in the competition or just have the original 5 members. This is something we really haven’t come across in any other Love Live series. Nearly all of the idol groups in Love Live banded together in the same year. Yes, Kanan, Mari, and Dia had a little more experience than the rest of the girls of Aqours, but it wasn’t even a thought of having just them perform in the competiton. Here, the second years have a whole year’s worth of experience and performing under their belt. The first years just started and are only in this like a couple of months. In the end, the group decided to perform as a group, the full group. As a result, they won first place and get to advance to the finals. Good for Liella! Good for Kanon! Now let’s all watch Liella revel in their victory. I mean, let’s watch the salty pink bitch throw a hissy fit now.

No, I’m not kidding. Margarete took the microphone out of the emcee’s hand and cried foul over Liella winning over her. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!

The audacity of this bitch right here.

The internet obviously thinks the same thing. This bitch and the audacity of it all! Kanon wanted to know why Margarete is the way she is. She wants to see if there’s something behind this sore loser act or if she’s just a bitch. Turns out Margarete and Kanon have a little more in common than one would think. As you might recall, Kanon had a rough time when it came to singing in front of crowds even though she wanted to sing. And as a result, she would fail each audition, including the one to get into the music program at her high school. With Margarete, her dream was to follow in her elder sister’s footsteps and enter this music school in Vienna, Austria. But it seems that she was given an opportunity to maybe enter if she were to go to school in Japan, learn about school idols, and compete in Love Live. I believe the terms were for Margarete to win Love Live and then she’d be accepted to that school. Not only did she lose, that school in Vienna is interested in Kanon and wants her to go for her third year of high school. I think this might be Margarete’s chance to get in (again) because this school really wants Kanon.

Kanon of course declined the offer. But that isn’t the end of that subject. Chisato brings it up again and tells Kanon she should go to Vienna. Actually, all of the girls of Liella want Kanon to go. This kind of opportunity only comes once and she shouldn’t waste it. So, after enough arm-twisting, Kanon decided to go. And now for the finals of Love Live!

Liella won!

On Kanon’s way home to get ready for her trip, Margarete stops by (wearing a Yuigaoka uniform) and says the exchange has been cancelled. And that’s how season two ends! Gee, I hope there’s a movie that can clear things up for us.

A THIRD SEASON?! FOR REAL?! But Love Live’s never get a third season. The sequence goes first season, second season, movie, done! I guess we will live to see a third season here. I want some explanations of seeing Margarete in the Yuigaoka uniform. Is she going to the school now or what? And if so, does that mean she’s going to be member #10 for Liella?

I don’t like how they ended this episode. Everything up to this point has been really exciting to watch. This Love Live is inching closer to being my favorite of the Love Lives. I’m still partial to Love Live Sunshine if you want to know the truth. But the season finale giving us a major cliff-hanger was not a good look. I know it’s more of a, you want more, stay tuned! At this point, the third season is announced and they’re in the middle of auditioning for new members. That means this third season might take a while before it’s fully finished. I’m guessing 2024. I know Margarete will be in the third season. But I’m wondering if Kanon’s younger sister is going to enter Yuigaoka and become an idol like her sister. I know we already have Ruby and Dia from Love Live Sunshine, but I don’t know, I kinda like that idea. But we’ll see what happens when it happens.

Love Live Superstar has been a fun ride and if you were a big fan of any of the Love Live series, I recommend you check this one out. Yes, the story is formulaic, but season two does give us a lot of interesting twists and things we haven’t seen in this franchise yet. I applaud this series on some of the risk-taking they took. Not that cliff-hanger though, they did no one any favors by doing that. But if you want to check out this Love Live series, Crunchyroll has every episode available. And while you’re there, check out Love Live Sunshine and Love Live Nijigasaki. Still no word if they’ll gain the original Love Live series back.

Final thought: Shiki is best girl in this series.

#anime review #love live #love live supertar #keke tang #kanon shibuya #sumire heanna #chisato arashi #ren hazuki #shiki wakana #mei yoneme #kinako sakurakoji #wien margarete #liella #sunny passion #natsumi onitsuka

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stolencrownsofplenty · 7 months

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Anonymous | Accepting

5, 13, 25, 37, 44, 56 >:3c

5. What do you hope to see at your funeral/wake/burial/cremation? What do you think you’ll actually see?

((I would hope to see at my burial, my family would recycle my dead body to used as fertilizer for a tree; either its just a baby or a thousand year old one, it would not matter to me either way. I feel in some part while my family would be saddened I'd pasted away either due to an accident or just life taking its course, but I would want them to honor me in a way my life would still be apart of theirs' in some way. I don't know if that do that sorta program anymore, but it's a nice thought to think about at least.

What would I see on the other side though? I wouldn't know. I haven't lived it yet, so you never know honestly.))

13. If you could live in a movie or movie franchise, which would it be? Why?

((Monster's Inc or Zootopia. Both would lean into on the slight fantasy but still feel familiar to me if I ever got stuck in those universes somehow. If I even got the chance to have my form as my lambsona? That'd make it even better since I wouldn't be too different from those guys anyhow.))

25. Who is someone you admire?

((My friends! Would absolutely throw a rock if I got to visit them over the world some day. ^o^))

37. When was the last time someone texted you and what about?

((From my last text message? It was from my horse trainer talking to me and my mother about having horse riding lessons later this Monday night. We try to have them weekly when we can manage it, since riding horses is my physical therapy, and they are always something I look forward to during my long weeks.))

44. Think about some strong opinions (about anything) that you have. Could be about RP, life, school, work, people. Where did that come from; what happened to make you feel or think that way?

((I do have some opinions when it comes to how Neurotypical writers who work in the film industry write really poor autism representation and don't do the proper research to portray a person with autism with human respect; and I am especially talking about older media that still has some sort of cultural impact. As much as we've gotten some decent rep in the last few years and they're far and between? I do have a strong hatred for the characters like Ra.in Ma.n, Shel.don Co.oper, and The Go.od Doc.tor. Since fictional media is what the common everyday viewer often consumes on an everyday basis to either learn about the world or what autism might be like in some cases? Those older character representation leaves a bitter taste in my mouth since they leave a super surface level rep of the autism definition, and can often give someone who isn't neurodivergent an unfair idea of what someone with autism might actually be like

Sure, it can be possible to be really into a special interest to turn into a career for themselves, but it leaves a lot to be desired when characters like that are only written to be nothing but THAT one "Smart Guy" trait. Being mentally disabled doesn't make it weird I am super smart. As someone who is more on the average side of smarts? I'm just someone who picks up random facts because of my writing, but I wouldn't be able to help you if it came to terms of math though. Plus! A lot of time for this rep, they don't even show the good sides of the autism with it comes to interacting with the world and even the relationships around them.

It even makes me sad to think, while I do love the people I've built friendships with, that some people would get inconvenienced by me wanting to be effective in either communication or just not understand autism is not what we are entirely. We're a person with our own personality. And autism is just something that came along with our physical body; and we have to interact with the world with a body that wasn't build to survive in a loud world.))

56. How important is getting to know a mun when writing with them?

((Super important actually! Not only would you want to get to know me better to learn what could be a potential no-no or yes-yes when it comes to boundaries? Getting to know me as much as I am getting to know you helps me feel me more comfortable when it comes to each of us writing our muses together. I like to learn about a person's muse when I have my muse interacting with them, but it makes the process go a bit smoother when I have an idea of what's going on in their head when I have some friend bonding going down with my mutuals. I WANT to see how our characters might become best friends, worst enemies, or even potential lovers, but it helps to bond with the writer first since building trust there lets me know what a person wants and how I can help make the best out of our writing experiences.))

#ask #anon #ooc #long post cw //

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animebw · 2 years

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In my defense, my scoring system has always been incredibly confusing even to me, lol.

Actually, this would probably be a good time to talk about how I score things. Because despite how long I’ve been writing for this blog, I don’t think I’ve ever actually explained that part. Like, yeah, high numbers good, low numbers bad and all that, but I don’t necessarily score shows based on how “good” I think they are. The way I come up with the exact numerical value to give a show or movie is a little different than most people, I think. And that difference explains why I can respect a show like Kaiji for all its many strengths, but still not rate it as highly as some other shows.

Put simply: the way I score shows is based on how much I value them.

The fact of the matter is, rating anime on the success of their component parts has never worked for me. I can compare and contrast different ways shows can succeed and fail until I’m blue in the face- this anime had more likable characters! This anime had a more interesting fantasy world! This anime had more unique and creative animation- but ultimately, trying to compartmentalize my criticism like that won’t get at the heart of how each and every show succeeds or fails at connecting with me. I could give Kaiji a higher rating on the basis of it just being an incredibly solid show with no obvious weaknesses, and plenty of anime I’ve rated higher than Kaiji have much more glaring flaws. But when I look down into the core of my being and compare Kaiji against, say, The Day I Became a God, a deeply flawed show I’ve nevertheless given a 7/10? If you asked me which anime means more to me? Which one left me with more positive things to chew on? I would have to choose Jun Maeda’s imperfect, seriously problematic ode to learning how to be a caretaker for your disabled loved ones over Kaiji’s smarter, more mature storytelling that nevertheless didn’t engage me on such a visceral level.

I’ve been watching anime for a long time, and after lots of trial and error, this is the only system that really makes sense to me. All art is subjective, after all, and the only way I can think to objectively quantify my subjective taste is to be honest about that subjectivity. Is Beyond the Boundary a mess of a story that falls apart unless you watch the sequel film? Yes, but the colors are gorgeous and the KyoAni aesthetic activates my neurons, so it gets to be a 7/10. Is Symphogear full of bad writing decisions and overwrought emotional drama? Yes, but it’s such a lightning-in-a-bottle masterclass of everything that makes anime special to me in the first place that I have no choice but to award it a full 10/10. Is Kaiji objectively a much better written show than either of those in terms of basic logic, coherency, planting and payoff? I’d say yes... but it’s nowhere near as special to me. It doesn’t offer me nearly as much that I really, truly love. And if I rated it any higher, I know it would feel constantly out of place among other anime with the same writing that may not be as technically proficient as it, but that I nevertheless care far more about.

To put it another way, I don’t score anime by saying “Hm, this show did X, Y, and Z, therefore it’s good/bad/just okay.” I score anime by saying “Hm, I really loved/hated/didn’t care about this show. I wonder if it’s because it did X, Y, and Z.” Ultimately, the only thing I can trust to measure my taste in anime is how I, personally, reacted to it, even if the reasons aren’t always immediately clear or reasonable. If that means giving a good show a lower rating because it didn’t mean as much to be as something that spoke more personally to me? Then so be it. After watching anime for five years and counting, that’s the only way judging it fairly makes sense to me anymore.

Also, keep in mind that 6.5 is still a good rating. I’m not one of those weirdos who only uses 5 through 10 and sees the lower half of my scoring system as basically nonexistent. I’ve liked plenty of shows I’ve given an even worse rating than Kaiji, and my 6,5/10s are full of shows I have a lot of respect for. Gurren Lagann, Aharen-san wa Hakarenai, Carole and Tuesday, Zankyou no Terror, Welcome to the NHK, Princess Principal, Akame ga Kill (it’s better than you remember, trust me)... trust me, Kaiji only being a 6,5/10 still puts it in some very good company.

#anime #the anime binge-watcher #tabw #kaiji ultimate survivor #kaiji: ultimate survivor #gyakkyou burai kaiji #kaiji #0607 aniwatch

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makeste · 4 years

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save no matter what.

so this is going to ultimately be a post about Deku. however, if you’ll be so kind as to indulge me, I would like to start things off by making a point about Bakugou. specifically, I’d like to point out that back in the day before this kid got Character Development no Jutsu’d, people weren’t always so inclined to view his attitude towards winning in the best light. which is a nice way of saying that he came off as unhealthily obsessed, not to mention more than a little unhinged.

sorry for the image spam btw, I just think they’re funny. he’s so demented lmao. KILL DIE CRUSH.

anyway so we’re gonna do the rest of this below a cut before it gets long. but I promise it really is a Deku post lol. don’t let the pre-readmore stuff fool you. I PROMISE THERE IS A POINT, AND WE WILL GET TO IT.

anyway! so yeah, we really didn’t have the best impression of Bakugou’s whole winning fixation at the beginning there. and I mean, it’s not like we had the best impression of Bakugou himself at the start of things either. we were already primed from the very first chapter to see this kid as an adversary to Izuku. the story goes out of its way to paint him in pretty much the worst light possible. which is why what happens next is so interesting.

because one might see all this and think, “holy heck, this kid is off the shits, somebody needs to set him straight pronto and get it into his head that winning isn’t everything.” because that’s almost the natural conclusion to draw. “look at this kid, he doesn’t care about helping other people at all, all he cares about is winning, someone needs to come along and show him that he’s got it backwards.”

except that’s not what happens, is it? because this is where, much to my delight, Horikoshi came along and started subverting expectations. because not only is Katsuki not rebuked for being so obsessed with winning -- it’s pretty much the exact opposite.

the one and only time Deku ever straight up hands Katsuki’s ass to him is when he says he doesn’t want to win. Deku is IMMEDIATELY all, “THE FUCK KIND OF BULLSHIT DID I JUST HEAR OUT OF YOUR TRASH MOUTH,” and that’s when he sets him straight.

the important people in Katsuki’s life never tell him, “hey you need to cool it with the whole winning thing.” All Might and Aizawa never scold him for it, or tell him that he shouldn’t try with everything he has to win, or that wanting to win is a bad thing. on the contrary, they both commend him for it. and ultimately, he’s told by All Might that this desire is actually one of the two fundamental qualities that every great hero needs.

he completely turns the whole thing on its head. not only is it not a bad thing, it’s actually crucial. essential. because what the desire to win really is, at its core, is tenacity. it’s the fiercest kind of determination. it’s not something he should be ashamed of; it’s something that sets him apart, something that makes him worthy. he is someone who refuses to back down no matter what. refuses to give up, no matter what. and this quality, which is initially misunderstood by some to the point where even the villains mistakenly take him for one of their own in the making, is eventually validated to the fullest degree by the person that Katsuki looks up to the most. his desire to win goes from being this awkward “son wtf are you doing” thing to being one of the core philosophies of the series. and ever since then, we pretty much don’t question it.

so why do I bring this up now? well, the answer to that can basically be summed up in one word.

“parallels.”

so here’s the thing. there’s been a lot of talk lately about Deku’s ridiculous, reckless, and absurdly self-destructive desire to save others while having little to no regard for himself. currently he’s lying in a hospital bed, having broken approximately 218 out of the 206 bones in his little hero body (yes, somewhere along the way he found an additional dozen bones to break). it is worrying. it is Concerning. and it’s raised a lot of questions, such as “???” and “wtf is this idiot doing.”

and a lot of people have been pretty critical of him! this is, of course, an ongoing thing with this child, and people have been giving him grief over it going as far back as chapter 6.

while others have been bothered by it going even further back than that.

and I’ve seen these sentiments being echoed pretty frequently in the fandom as well. and there are basically two talking points that I want to address here. the first is the idea that Deku’s aggressive brand of selflessness stems from an inherent lack of self-worth. in other words, because he prioritizes other people’s safety and well-being above his own, and is willing to go to such drastic lengths to save them, there’s this feeling that he doesn’t value himself enough, that he must not care about himself.

but I don’t think that’s quite it. let’s go back to those parallels first, though. let’s take another look at Kacchan.

what I mainly want to call attention to is the intensity here. again, it’s something that at first strikes most readers as being absurdly over the top. the truth is, I think a lot of people simply can’t relate to it. Katsuki cares about winning with a ferocity and a fervor that most people, for better or worse, simply don’t have. I certainly don’t, lol.

but he does. to him it’s not a shallow, superficial thing at all. it’s important to him, perhaps the most important thing. I think we often talk about it in terms of it being a desire, but imo a more accurate way to define it is not as a want, but as a need. in other words, it’s the opposite of the question “what is it this character wants” (i.e. “what is it they can’t live without”)? instead, it’s a question of “what is it they don’t want” (i.e. “what is it they can’t live with”)?

and in Katsuki’s case, the thing he can’t live with is feeling like he hasn’t tried his absolute best. he needs to give his all in everything he does. he wants to win, but winning just on its own is not enough.

it has to be earned. he has to prove to himself and to everyone else that he deserves it. anything less than that is unacceptable. anything less than that, and he can’t be at ease. he can’t be settled. he can’t rest. and so he puts everything he has into winning, even if it means going to extremes. because it’s that important to him.

it’s something that’s at times alarming and even disturbing for others to witness. but nonetheless, it’s a part of who he is, and at the end of the day his teachers accept that, and the story acknowledges that it’s his greatest strength.

so now, to finally bring this back around to Deku, this is what I keep seeing in his character as well. only in his case, the thing he can’t live with is knowing that he didn’t do everything he possibly could to save someone. or to put it another way, Deku, at his core, is someone who cannot rest until he knows that everyone is safe. simple as that. it’s not just a desire to protect people; it’s a need. he needs to know that everyone is safe and protected. otherwise he can’t be at ease. it’s no different from how normal, everyday people aren’t able to feel at ease unless they know that they are safe and that their loved ones are safe. it’s just that in Deku’s case, this same fundamental need extends to everyone, not just himself and his friends and family. everyone. he can’t live with himself knowing that someone was in trouble, and he had the ability to do something to help, but didn’t. and so, if you literally can’t live with not doing something, you basically have no choice but to do it.

and this is what in my opinion defines Deku’s character. Kacchan, in trying to understand it, noted that Deku doesn’t seem to take himself into account. but I think OFA Prime summed it up a little more accurately. “he rages for the sake of others. for them, he does his best until he can do no more. this young man is possessed by a drive to save others that eclipses all common understanding.”

so yeah. it’s not that he doesn’t care about himself at all, it’s that he cares about others even more. he has that same intensity and ferocity towards saving people that Katsuki has towards winning. and just as it was difficult at first for fans to understand Katsuki’s feelings, it’s hard to fathom the sheer depth of that “save everyone” feeling that compels Deku to break his own body in that pursuit. it’s scary, not to mention extremely destructive and dangerous. and so really, it was almost inevitable that there would be some backlash.

but just like Katsuki’s desire to win was ultimately validated in the end, I think Deku’s desire to save others will be as well. in fact it already is being validated, for starters by the other denizens of OFA, led by Lil Bro as mentioned above. let’s go back for a moment to that same scene.

here we get a huge hint that “Deku gets taken down a notch and chewed out and scolded for his recklessness” is not, in fact, the direction that the story is going in. because in general, when the main villain starts mocking the hero and saying that they’ve done something wrong, that’s a very good sign that said hero is actually on the exact right track. like, no offense, but as far as character critiques go, AFO is probably the least qualified person in the entire manga to start offering those up lol. so yeah. if AFO is denouncing Deku for something, and OFA Prime is praising him for that exact same thing, I think it’s safe to say that means he is in fact doing something very, very right.

“okay but makeste, he nearly got himself killed and broke all of his arms AND legs and is now lying in a fucking coma,” you say, gesturing emphatically to the last page of chapter 298. “so I mean, that’s all well and good that Wonder Boy has the best of intentions and all that, but at the end of the day he’s only one kid. he literally can’t save everyone, and if he pulls one or two more stunts like this, he’s going to get himself killed.”

and okay, but this here is the other talking point that I wanted to address. because it’s true, Deku does need to learn a specific lesson here. but that lesson is NOT that he can’t save everyone. this is a superhero story, guys -- “you can’t save everyone” is never going to be the underlying message, ever. it’s the OPPOSITE of the message. Deku is the hero because he tries to save everyone. because he doesn’t give up on saving people no matter what. that is literally the core of the story. it has been since the very first chapter.

so then what is it that Deku actually needs to learn here? well, once again, it all comes back to those parallels.

btw, I really just love how he’s carrying Katsuki there lol. he’s just so done with him.

but anyway. so, the final exam arc. Katsuki initially wants to win at all costs -- but there’s a hitch. because even though he wants to win, he refuses to do so while working with Deku. enter Deku’s left hook, and one impromptu Rival Encouragement Speech later, our boy has thankfully come to his senses.

but here’s the point -- the lesson here wasn’t “you can’t always win.” rather, the lesson that Katsuki needed to learn was that you can’t always win alone.

yeah. so now you can see what I’m getting at here.

“...on your own.”

that’s the key. this is the one and only thing that Deku actually needs to get into his head. wanting to save everyone is fine! his will to save others has never been a weakness -- it’s been the most admirable thing about him from day one. it’s what makes him strong. it’s why All Might chose him. it’s why OFA has chosen him. it’s what sets him apart, and I firmly believe it’s what will ultimately help him save the day and defeat AFO as well. because what other character would look at Shigaraki Tomura, the person who just impaled his friend and destroyed an entire city, and instinctively reach out a hand to try and save him? and if you don’t think that’s going to wind up being key to the final battle, you and I have very different ideas about this series’ endgame.

Deku’s determination to save everyone isn’t arrogance or futility. it is and always has been his greatest strength. but what he’s missing now, what he needs to learn, is simply to trust. y’all might have seen that theory about the Fourth’s quirk, and why All Might was so hesitant to tell Deku about it. basically, the theory (which is based on an attempted translation of the crossed-out parts of All Might’s OFA notebook) goes that the Spidey Sense was so overwhelming that the Fourth -- whose cause of death was one of the things crossed out -- eventually couldn’t bear it, and went to live alone in the middle of the woods somewhere. and possibly wound up killing himself?? all of which is just speculation right now of course. but it makes sense. and it would certainly explain why All Might, being all too aware of Deku’s self-destructive tendencies, would keep that from him.

but if this is the case, that means it’s clear that the Fourth’s solution didn’t work. “give up and accept that you can’t save everyone” clearly is NOT the answer to be had here.

the answer is trust. trust that his fellow heroes have his back. trust that they’ll be able to help him reach the people he’s not able to reach on his own. trust that they can work together to save everyone. that he doesn’t have to rest the entire world on his shoulders alone.

it’s the one lesson that All Might, his predecessor and his teacher, never learned himself until it was too late. but of course, All Might never had a prickly and determined rival who was ready to step in and deal out some tough love if need be. a rival who, perhaps, just might soon get a chance to repay an old favor.

“I don’t wanna hear you say you can’t save someone.”

I’m just saying. just as Deku has been watching Katsuki all this time, and admiring his determination to win, and emulating it himself, so has Katsuki recently begun to emulate Deku’s determination to save others. we’ve seen it not just in his recent act of self-sacrifice, but even in little things like his habits and tricks of speech. just like Katsuki is Deku’s image of victory, Deku is becoming Katsuki’s image of saving others.

and so I’ll bet you anything that if Deku ever starts to doubt himself, or starts feeling like his dream and desires are futile, Kacchan will be there to set him straight with a good old fashioned Rival Encouragement Speech of his own. possibly with his own left hook to match, though his left shoulder is currently out of sorts atm so he might need to modify that approach a little bit. but the point is, he’ll be there. and he will not allow Deku to give up on himself. he will be there to remind him that he doesn’t have to face this alone.

so yeah! finally managed to wrap up my giant Deku meta which I’ve been working on for ages and rewritten like fifteen times lmao. just in time for this to be relevant for all of a day, probably, depending on what happens once chapter 279 drops lol. but yeah. tl;dr, local boy tries to do too much, but his heart is in the right place, and hopefully all he really needs is a good pep talk from his tsundere bff to set him to rights again. r.i.p. to the Fourth, but he’s different.

#bnha 298 #midoriya izuku #bakugou katsuki #bakudeku #bnha meta #deku meta #bakugou meta #bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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demonslayedher · 3 years

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Buriko-Senpai! This is such a wonderful blog to read, and I love your art so much! It's so nice to see other traditional artists out there! What's your thoughts on the demon slayer marks and their affects after Muzan's defeat? Do you think they're a purely physical effect, or a supernatural curse like Ubuyashiki's? It seems like in the latter case it would be lifted? In Tanjiro's status report, he mentions wanting everyone to be happy "when he's gone", and hints of preparation for the future...

Thank you for the kind words on my art! (≧◡≦) Glad to know people like the style, I like the feel of trad art both for the final product and how the pen feels in my hand, haha~. I love all the additional possibilities in digital art, but will leave that to the people who are good at it. Glad you find my blog a good read too, because we’ve got another lengthy read ahead.

As for the mark and whether it works in a purely physical sense or a curse sense, I'm ok thinking of it in either way, depending on its purposes in post-canon fanwork (but of course, you can do whatever you want in fanwork totally inventing the mark or completely ignoring it too). As Gotouge never states exactly what becomes of Tanjiro, Giyuu, and Sanemi, I don’t feel we can declare it working one way or another. We'll consider it from both angles, but in general, I think canon evidence leans toward an avoidable physical impact. Even that, however, leaves room for interpretation on strict "25" might be or not.

If we approach the curse direction first, the worldbuilding surrounding the Ubuyashiki curse gives a lot of framework for the mark being a curse. The second fanbook even gives us more circumstance and age-related perimeters that seem very arbitrary, like how only one male will survive each generation and how the daughters will also die young by sudden illness or accident if they don’t marry out. As the curse is tied to Muzan’s/demons existence, it is completely lifted once Muzan is eradicated, but Kiriya still anticipates dying in his 20’s and does not feel relieved that it’s gone until he’s in his 30’s. This would put Giyuu and Sanemi in their 50’s if they’re still around, and with their own curses effectively gone, they’d probably have spent the past couple decades insisting to Kiriya that he can relax.

If the rebound of the mark is a supernatural curse, there are a couple other things that make sense about this to me, in the light of cosmic justice at play in this universe. First, it’s a general rule in a lot of philosophies and other works of fiction that to gain something powerful, you must pay the price and sacrifice something. Second, the Ubuyashiki family is cursed to carry the sins of one of its members until they can stop that demon member. While Demon Slayers may not necessarily be carrying the sins of demons, we see demon marks at play in this series first, though its effects are not clear until we see how Nezuko is stronger when her vines appear. A Demon Slayer also gaining extra strength like this is, perhaps, taboo.

As for the mark being a purely physical effect, I think the emphasis on physical effects of the mark (especially how in Chapter 129 Muichiro analyzes its effects on body temperature and the heart), and how throughout the manga it is continually stressed that the Demon Slayers are mere humans even if Breath helps them push the natural limits of human ability, lend to a more physical interpretation that in order to push so far past normal limits, it has to borrow against the natural human lifespan. This is how the characters in-universe also interpret its effects. If we look more into what Muichiro says:

Muichiro: The anger was too strong for me to have any handle on my emotions. I believe that in that moment, my heartrate exceeded 200 beats, and my body felt as hot as though it was burning. My temperature would had measured at least 39 degrees or more. Shinobu: !? Could you move like that? That would be life-threatening. Muichiro: Right. That’s why I think it’s a matter of falling into one category or another. Whether you die or survive that moment is what determines whether a mark will appear or not. Amane: A heartrate of over 200, and why a temperature of 39 degrees? Muichiro: That’s because when I was received treatment at Kocho-san’s place I was running a fever. When my temperature was taken, the thermometer read 39 degrees. At the time I would have been said to have a mark appear, my body was just as feverish.

(For reference, according to searching with the same terms used in the original text, your top heartrate is 220 minus your age, making Muichiro's 206 beats per minute. The average for someone in their 20's is 120~140, somewhat hard exercise would put it at 150, and hard exercise puts it at 170, according to the Borg scale. Normal body temperature in Celsius is 37 degrees; while 39 C = 102.2 F.)

If we look back at when Tanjiro is first facing off against Daki, he considers how he gets more power out of Hinokami Kagura than from Water Breathing because it suits his body better, but he is not yet physically capable of the switch between them. As he psyches himself out in Chapter 77, we see that he has physically been trying to prepare himself for this, and he’s shouting at himself to set his heart ablaze. Clearly, Tanjiro is leaning into that advice from Rengoku-san, and if he’s on his way to getting the mark, he’s been taking that advice somewhat literally.

In Chapter 78, as he purposely raises his own temperature to fight the side effects of switching to Hinokami Kagura, we get a flashback that Kiyo-chan was very worried that Tanjiro was running a temperature of 38 degrees (100.4 F) for three days, but Tanjiro begged her not to tell Shinobu yet because he felt fine in that sustained feverish state, and was able to put more power into Hinokami Kagura that way. (This may also be part of why the mark seems to have a different effect on Sun Breath users, as their body draws from this power in a more sustained way.)

We can probably think of most of the other Breath Users who attained the mark as having gotten it in a similar way to Muichiro. In a fit of high emotion and desperate battle, their body pulled from its natural reserves, and similar to a human and/or demon being exposed to lots of Muzan’s cells all at once and either dying or quickly adapting, they attained a mark and relied on that temporary extra burst of strength. While it either happens or doesn’t happen for the others (Muichiro plainly states he was unaware of a mark’s appearance) based on being the flow of tense battle, Himejima seemed to have gained enough ability that he could choose when he wanted to tap into that power. When we’re first left not knowing what else Amane told the Pillars, Himejima openly wonders what would happen in his case (seeing as he is over the age of 25). In the third light novel, we get a brief scene of Himejima pulling Muichiro aside after that meeting to ask if he’s alright with this, since he’s just found out that he has no chance already of living a long life. Muichiro is fine and wonders about Himejima, who is also fine with this. They both are willing to do whatever it takes to fight Upper Moons and know their survival has never been assured. Himejima goes on to say similar things to Kokushibo in Chapters 169 and 170, when we the readers are finally told about the limited life expectancy. The two of them both sort of expect Himejima to drop dead that night because of his limited stores to draw from. Himejima would had preferred to not raise his temperature so much until facing Muzan (seeing as he knows he’ll be racing against time), but knows he has no choice but to start while facing Kokushibo. Kokushibo is somewhat impressed with his control of getting a mark and his preparation to die, and he finds it a waste of Himejima’s ability and likewise is like, “why not preserve your flesh as a demon” because, as we find out in Kokushibo’s flashbacks in Chapter 178, this was part of what motivated him to accept Muzan’s blood. He couldn’t handle the frustration of his polished techniques being wiped out by a short life span, especially since it would mean he was soon out of time to match or best Yoriichi. If we go back to that conversation between Himejima and Kokushibo, Kokushibo loses his cool (hahaha, that feels like a bit of a pun here) the moment Himejima is like, “there was one exception to the rule though, wasn’t there?” I suspect that Yoriichi was the exception partly due to Sun Breathing being a more perfected, sustained form of pushing the limits of human capability, and Yoriichi being born naturally perfect at it, so his body didn’t need to scramble looking for extras sources of power like hastily (or slowly) borrowing against his lifespan. What’s very interesting about Kokushibo is that he also regularly sustained his mark, so perhaps it’s possible he could had lived past 25? Here's what really key: We also don’t know about these early marked users. Did they regularly sustain their marks, or did they only show up regularly when they battled demons, repeatedly borrowing against their future lifespan? Or was it a one-off thing for each of them, like it was for Giyuu and Sanemi? It’s possible that even if Giyuu and Sanemi are doomed to shorter lives, since they both only had the marks for relatively short periods of time on a single night, they might well exceed 25 years. The fact that Gotouge gave them descendants (as opposed to only implied reincarnations), and because they are both characters generally written as dense in the ways of love and close personal relationships, that sort of implies they needed some time before leaving behind offspring, and I hear a lot of voices in the fandom displeased with the idea of them leaving children behind when they know they won't be around to raise them. Since we don't know any canon details on this, let's cut the boys some slack and say they took a chance on being happy. After all, all their time in the Corp already teaches them tomorrow is never assured.

Side note while we’re on the Sanemi topic, he attains his mark right after Himejima brings his own forth (because Himejima is a badass who can just be like, “ok, now”). While he comments to Himejima what a good idea it was to do Pillar Training so he could attain that powerful state, it’s also possible that being in the presence of someone who already had one was part of what triggered Sanemi’s body to access that state as well. The nature of the mark’s spread from person to person is another tick in the “supernatural curse” box if people like that interpretation more.

Let’s take a look back at Tanjiro, though.

Tanjiro, our special Hinokami Kagura boy, was already a special case for his own knowledge of Sun Breathing (however imperfect), and his own sustained mark (though as Genya notes in Chapter 134, it tends to transform slowly, and as Tanjiro remarks in response to Shinjuro’s comments in Chapter 81, his mark was not something he was born with like the original Sun Breath user was, it was but a childhood injury which took on a different shape when he was injured at the Final Selection). While Amane cites him as the one who started the trickle of marks appearing again, we know in the Pleasure Quarter arc than Tanjiro was been unknowingly training himself to make the mark appear, like the Pillars later tried to do in training.

Tanjiro also, however, has the very unique experience of undergoing repeated cruel and unusual suffering in battle against Muzan, basically dying, turning into a demon with more of Muzan’s cells than any other demon in history, and turning human again with man-made medicine all in the span of about two hours.

We can’t really compare Tanjiro’s case to Giyuu’s and Sanemi’s very easily. Besides the slightly different nature of his mark (which Muzan says will still kill him anyway if he becomes human again, but whether he says that based on a cosmic rule or historical precident, we don't know), we simply don’t know all the details of how Tanjiro's flesh has been affected by everything that happened to him in that two hour period. It seems safe to say that becoming a demon is what saved his life since it rebuilt his flesh and supercharged life back into him, but since he wasn’t a demon long enough to have fully integrated those new cells, the entirely reconstructed parts of him (his left arm and right eye) are essentially lifeless. However, there may still be some amount of reclaiming that his body did during his demon minutes, for the whole right side of his face should be paralyzed (yet he can still use it expressively), and there was probably internal damage throughout his entire body and other various injuries (like stabbing himself) which were repaired enough for him to survive. Had he been a demon longer (long enough that his body with Muzan’s memories likely would had broken down the medicine Kanao gave him), my guess is that he would had fully integrated these body parts, like how Nezuko gets to keep her legs despite all the times they were blown or chopped off.

But we also know that Tanjiro had to take a few months to recover (his visitors looked like they waited the whole three months before getting permission to see him), and that his condition allows him to live and work, but he generally is in a weakened state. Again, rather than only having borrowed (on multiple occasions) against his own lifespan, we don't know the extent of the damage and repair he's undergone.

While he’s got 25 as a historical benchmark to anticipate, and as you mention, he does seem to fully anticipate that early demise, his case is so unique that it could go in any direction. Tanjiro might live longer than 25, as this would give him time to pass on Hinokami Kagura to at least his eldest son, but like Tanjuro, he’d probably have a pretty weak constitution for the rest of his dwindling life. But also worth noting, the phrase is that they die by at least age 25. That means some of the Warring States era swordsmen probably died before that age. (｡•́︿•̀｡) I don't feel this is likely for Tanjiro, Giyuu, and Sanemi, but it is worth noting as a possibility.

#kny fandom theories and meta #kamado tanjirou #kamado tanjiro #tomioka giyuu #tomioka giyu #shinazugawa sanemi #himejima gyomei #himejima gyoumei #tokitou muichirou #tokito muichiro #tsugikuni yoriichi #kokushibo #kokushibou #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer

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