#they are obviously the best and most important character so i don't get why they're taking so long

[splonk-fox]

The flaws of Jax and Ragatha, and why they matter to Pomni's character arc.

Within the two episodes of The Amazing Digital Circus that have been released so far as of writing this post, there have been two characters who have been given the most attention and depth out of any of the cast (ignoring Pomni obviously), and those two characters are Ragatha and Jax.

The duo consisting of the kindhearted optimist and the meanspirited pessimist have without a doubt become some of the most interesting characters to analyze within this series so far thanks to how much meaningful screentime and character depth they have been given within the the two episodes that we viewers have been fortunate enough to witness with our very eyes.

But why is this? Why is it that these two have received special attention from the writers so far, and what role do they play in Pomni's character journey? Well I believe I may have found the answer, and it's unfortunately one that does not spell a good future for these characters. But to truly understand where I am coming from, we must first understand who these two characters are and how they relate to our main protagonist.

To start off with the kindest of the duo, we have already learned quite a lot about Ragatha thanks to the two episodes she has been featured in so far.

Her most prominent character trait is without a doubt her kindness. She is the first person to really be genuinely nice to Pomni upon her entrance to the circus and spends the rest of the episode showing her around the place and trying her best to help her get settled in.

She's also someone who doesn't like to be overly blunt with her responses, such is shown when Pomni asks how they leave the circus, to which Ragatha, instead of just saying that she couldn't, phrases it in a way that makes it sound as if they simply haven't found a way to leave yet, this was obviously done in an attempt to not freak Pomni out too much, though this doesn't really go anywhere thanks to Jax.

Now that's great and all, Ragatha's a nice person, you can easily observe that through casual watches of the show, looking deeper however, you can see that there is a lot more going on with Ragatha than she would like to make you believe.

Insecurity is another trait that Ragatha has that, while not shown off as prominently as her optimism, is still very important to Ragatha's character.

As we see in episode 2 of the series, one of Ragatha's biggest fears is not being liked. She vents to Kinger about how she feels like Pomni doesn't really like her that much, and that clearly scares her. And why wouldn't it? The end of episode 2 makes it clear that one of the most important things in this show when it comes to keeping the main cast mentally stable, is their sense of community.

They're all in this together, they have each other's backs and will do their best to be there for each other when it's needed. That is what is communicated to us within the second episode through Kaufmo's funeral.

This segment of the episode, while somber in its tone, is also one that instills hope within Pomni and the viewer. Because it shows that despite everything, the circus members do care about each other. That abstraction is something that affects everyone and it isn't something that is just brushed off immediately, which if you recall, was the crux of Pomni's fears as seen at the beginning of the second episode, the fear of being forgotten, the fear of no one caring.

"I don't even remember her name honestly" - Dream Jax.

So with how the importance of community has been firmly established within this show's messaging at this point, it should be no surprise that Ragatha's biggest fear is not having that community. Of people not liking you, of people hating you. So how does Ragatha solve this?

Repression, that's how. Of all of Ragatha's personality traits her tendency to not display her true feelings towards things are without a doubt the most damaging.

The best example of this is how she reacts to Pomni abandoning her for the exit. The pilot would lead you to believe that she was mad at Pomni for doing this, that she didn't trust her anymore because of this selfish act.

And yet, that's all brushed to the side in the following episode. Ragatha is back to her optimistic self and is saying that everything is fine! That it was completely understandable and that there was no bad blood between them. Yet you can tell that isn't the whole truth, that Ragatha really didn't get over what Pomni had done to her that easily.

Now do I think Ragatha hates Pomni or secretly resents her? No, not really. I do think she's being honest when she says that she doesn't hold anything against her for doing this. But that doesn't mean she wasn't hurt by it. We can see clear as day from the pilot that this did affect her, so why does she act like she doesn't?

Because, from her perspective, her feelings do not matter. The only thing that does is to make sure Pomni is able to adjust, to make sure that everyone is happy, that everyone is still somewhat sane within the circus, and so she compromises her emotions in order to do this. Gooseworx has even said it herself that Ragatha often says things she doesn't necessarily mean in order to ease tensions. She doesn't want to cause conflict, she doesn't want people to fight with each other because she understands how important community is to the members of the circus persisting.

Yet in the midst of all of this, what Ragatha fails to realize is that with how she currently handles things, she is paving the way for her own mental break.

Ragatha, in her attempts to be there for others, has walled herself off from others being there for her. By lying about how she really feels about things, by acting as if she is fine, she is not allowing herself the emotional vulnerability necessary for others to be there for her when she needs it.

The closest thing we have had to this so far is with Kinger, and while having someone she feels comfortable enough to lament her feelings around is a good thing, this is one person, one person who is... not exactly mentally stable, to put it lightly. Is not exactly an end all be all solution to her problems.

Kinger being the only person who Ragatha can rely on is only gonna work for a limited amount of time, the more she represses, the more she hides her true emotions and clear mental instability, the closer she is to meeting a cruel fate, one that no one would be able to save her from because no one even realized there was something wrong with her. For in her pursuit to make everyone else happy, she has sacrificed her own happiness, as a result.

And then there's Jax.

Jax, in a lot of ways, is pretty much the polar opposite of Ragatha. While her leading trait is kindness, Jax's leading trait is being a complete and utter asshole. And while Ragatha is all about answering things in a roundabout way to ease stress, Jax is all about the blunt answers.

This is best shown to us in the pilot when, in the same scene where Ragatha tries to answer Pomni's question of "how do I leave?" in a way that wouldn't stress her out too heavily, Jax goes straight in with the "you can't". Jax is a pessimist, he has accepted that there is no way out, and is simply riding things as they go by.

Jax's leading character trait is all about causing as much chaos as he can for the sake of his own satisfaction. He doesn't care about how others feel, the only thing he cares about is causing as much chaos as possible simply because he can.

Yet that isn't all that's going on with Jax, there's something deeper here, something more complex.

When it comes to the scenes everyone points to when saying that Jax has a lot more going on with him than meets the eye, the scene where he reacts to Kaufmo's funeral is the one everyone looks at with an analytical lens, and that's for a good reason.

For I think this little scene might just tell us a lot more about Jax than we think.

One thing that I've come to notice about Jax's brand of chaos is that it's very reliant on others' reactions. All of the chaos he causes, all of the absurd and awful things he does are for the sake of seeing how others react. From throwing Pomni over the side of a truck and attempting to use her as a human bridge, or literally everything that he does to Gangle, it's all reaction-based, and that made me realize that, despite how selfish and uncaring he acts towards everyone else, community is still the one thing that truly matters most.

He needs the others so that they can react to his hijinx, as they are what give said actions meaning. If he had no crowd to watch as he acts like a shitty person, then he has no reason to do anything. But that is also where Jax's true character flaw comes in, his selfishness.

With how Jax is constantly pushing others around for the sake of his own amusement, Jax is very clearly a self-centered person. He is someone who is in it for himself and no one else. Who cares if others don't like him? Who cares if others despise him? As long as he gets to see funny things happen to people, he is gonna be okay.

But what happens when that method is no longer effective? What happens when the others don't give him the reaction he wants? What happens when he can no longer use chaos as a way to distract from the pointlessness of his reality?

Well, as scary as this may be to think about, Jax won't really have much of anything to fall back on. His cruel actions have wrote him into a corner. No one likes him, that much is obvious. And while Jax seems content with this now? What happens when he is put in the position of needing someone else's help?

Well, then he'll have no one, and it's ironically for the exact opposite reason to Ragatha. Ragatha's problem is that she is constantly repressing her emotions, despite the fact that she has people who care about her, she doesn't open up to them because in her eyes, her feelings are secondary to others'.

Yet Jax is the opposite, he's honest, he is self-centered, and that's also why he is one of the members who are in this most danger.

In a show that seems to be about how important community is and how important it is to stay together and be there for each other? To have a character who is the complete opposite of that. To have someone who doesn't care about others, who won't be there when someone else is hurting. To have someone who is actively making things harder for everyone... that just spells out demise.

Jax's true weakness is that he does not have a community who will be there for him when he needs it, he was never there for others so why should they be there for him? Meaning that when Jax is at the end of his rope, crying out for help, no one will listen, because as cruel as it sounds, most of the members would probably be happy that he's gone.

While this does admittedly rely a bit on speculation, I think what I've stated above might be the true reason for why Jax looked sad for a moment when the other characters were talking about the funerals held for those who have abstracted. Because in that small moment, he realizes he might not get a funeral of his own when he "dies", or if he did, no one would really have anything nice to say about him.

And that fear, that knowing of how the way you've built yourself up by putting others down has lead to everyone hating you, to everyone not having a single good thing to say about you... that is terrifying. And yet he hides it, he walks away, he refuses to attend the funeral because then he will have to be confronted with the uncomfortable reality of the fact that he won't die as someone who was remembered for doing good things.

The only thing he'll be remembered for, is how much everyone hated him. And all of that brings us right back, to Pomni.

I said at the beginning of this post, as well as with the title itself, that Ragatha and Jax matter to Pomni's character arc, but why is this? Sure they're both main characters so obviously they're going to influence her journey going forward, but how exactly does any of this matter to Pomni? It's simple really.

Ragatha and Jax represent two extremes, they represent what happens when you lean too far in one direction. In one case, it is caring too much about others and not caring about yourself, and in the other, it's caring too much about yoursef and not caring about others.

Pomni has already shown traits of both Jax and Ragatha. She has shown an empathetic, kindhearted side as seen in her interactions with Gummigoo, and she has shown a selfish side, as seen when she abandoned Ragatha for the "exit" in the pilot.

Pomni has shown herself to be both selfish and selfless. But what part of her matters more? Simple answer, both. It is important to care about others while also taking time to take care of yourself. Ragatha and Jax show what happens when you forget to do one of these things.

By always taking care of others, you're forgetting to take care of yourself, and by always taking care of yourself, you fail to take care of others. To find a healthy balance is to do both. To be aware of your own mental health while also making sure that others are doing okay too. And this is something that Pomni will need to realize if she is going to make it in the circus.

And this is where Jax and Ragatha become important. I believe these two will show Pomni how important it is to keep a balance of things. To not lean too far in one direction, as if you do, it spells bad news for you either way. And how will this be communicated to her and the audience?

Abstraction.

Think about it. If Ragatha and Jax's harmful practices continue without change and they end up abstracing because of it, that will be a wakeup call to Pomni, it will show her the flaws of being too selfless, and too selfish. Is it an extreme way to communicate such message? Sure, but it's also one that can't be ignored.

We, the audience, and Pomni, would see first hand the consequences of leaning too far in either direction, that if you don't find a balance, you will end up like Jax and Ragatha did.

And that's why I think these two in particular have been given so much screentime and attention these past two episodes. Because they are meant to show us the most extreme versions of Pomni's most prominent character traits.

The ability to care about yourself, and the ability to care about others.

Of course, I might be wrong in this assessment. We are far too early in the show's runtime to truly predict any big events like this. But from a narrative standpoint, I believe this interpretation makes the most sense in the way of showing us the audience, and Pomni, what truly matters. It's not just about you, it's not just about others, it's about both.

Thank you for reading.

[enby-axels]

this entire scene is so revealing. notice how all these rich young masters are lost? lan qiren is asking them about something as important (and basic) for cultivators as handling a dead human soul, and they have to flip through their books for an answer.

my opinion is that they're ignorant because these obligations are, at best, boring procedural matters to them. unnecessary red tape, even. as members of the cultivation world's gentry, they're largely shielded from the possibility of becoming resentful corpses due to the soul tranquilization rites. this isnt their problem, so why should they care?

their ignorance stands in stark contrast to lan wangji's textbook perfect answer. (an early example of him displaying an earnest dedication to his duty that sets him apart from the rest of the gentry.) he makes it clear that destroying souls is an extreme last resort.

notably lan wangji's answer implies that orthodox cultivators are taught to procedurally destroy souls. but at the same time, many of these cultivators — namely the rich young masters who at this age are already going on night hunts — don't care enough to know, or much less adhere to, the correct order that places this method as a last resort. i think there's a strong implication that it's not uncommon for impatient or glory-obsessed cultivators to carelessly skip the first two methods entirely and just destroy the soul, because it's more convenient.

but the character whose reaction i find most interesting is wei wuxian. rather than automatically giving the textbook, orthodox answer, he visibly hesitates and contemplates. this is obviously something he's putting a lot of thought into!

and interestingly, when he does provide an answer, he never mentions destroying souls. he places manipulation of resentful energy between deliverance and suppression — implicitly excluding extinction (translated by seven seas as obliteration) from the order entirely.

i think it's important that unlike his classmates, wei wuxian is intimately familiar with destitution and precarity. moreover, as the novel reveals much later on, wei wuxian is not sheltered from the reality of the underclass facing extinction of the soul after death. he is keenly aware of the possibility that he could become one of them.

so when wei wuxian answers, he's speaking from the heart. it's true that he's trying to provoke lan qiren here, but it's equally true that he's giving an honest answer.

while rewriting this analysis for tumblr, it struck me as deeply ironic that lan qiren is singling out wei wuxian to accuse him of not taking his cultivator duties seriously and letting the glory get to his head.

but on closer examination, nobody in this room — not lan qiren, not the sheltered young masters, not even lan wangji — put as much thought and care into this issue as wei wuxian.

[antianakin]

Out of curiosity: do you believe Anakin was truly was the Chosen One or was it Luke the whole time?

Anakin. 1000% Anakin. I believe it's Anakin as per Word of God, as well, but I don't have the quote on hand right now.

Part of the weirdness over this is because of how the films were released, Luke is obviously the main character of the original trilogy of films, he's the one on the hero's journey, and there was never any mention of a prophecy in those films. So when the Prequels came out and made this whole prophecy thing for Anakin, it's understandable that people sort-of looked at it and went, "But if Anakin was the Chosen One, why is Luke the hero in the end still?" Which has obviously led to a bunch of theories that it was Luke all along, that Qui-Gon misunderstood the prophecy or just misapplied it to Anakin, or even that Luke BECAME the new Chosen One when Anakin fell (all of which are made worse by Rebels sort-of validating this take by having Obi-Wan claim Luke is the Chosen One). I get it.

But the entire purpose of Anakin's story to me only works if he IS the Chosen One and he just... fails. Anakin fails. He defies his own destiny and it destroys an entire galaxy. One of the BEST things about the Prequels is how hard they work to subvert certain tropes and narrative expectations. Padme and Anakin are forbidden lovers, but it's a toxic unhealthy love and the relationship is forbidden for good reason. Anakin is willing to burn down the world for Padme, but it's not at all romantic when the world is actually burning and it's going to burn both of them down with it. Prophecies exist, Chosen Ones exist, but prophecies can be DEFIED and Chosen Ones can fail if they're making selfish choices. You only get the happy ending from the prophecy if you're making the right choices.

So Anakin DOES end up destroying the Sith and bringing balance to the Force, but only when he makes a choice that's primarily SELFLESS in nature. He MIGHT'VE been able to destroy Palpatine the Sith way, but then he himself would still be a Sith and so the prophecy isn't actually fulfilled. There would be no balance in the Force while Anakin remains a Sith. So until he figures out how to leave his darkness behind, he'll continue to defy his own fate.

And that is a FASCINATING way to represent a prophecy and apply a destiny to someone without completely removing their agency or making all of their choices unimportant. Anakin's choices literally define the fate of the GALAXY because the prophecy only gets to come true when he makes the right choices. Theoretically, Anakin could defy this prophecy until he dies. Personally, I think that this is something that could happen. Anakin could make that choice, he could literally just defy the prophecy FOREVER and it would just never happen. It doesn't mean he ISN'T the Chosen One, he just chose incorrectly and so the prophecy never actually gets to come true.

I also like that this leaves room for other people to achieve the same end without being part of the prophecy. Theoretically, Palpatine could still be killed in other ways, even while Anakin's alive. The prophecy isn't stopping someone ELSE from killing Palpatine (or Anakin), it's just a LOT harder. We do see people more attuned to the Force kind-of stepping back from something they can feel is perhaps someone else's destiny or following someone specifically because they have a destiny for something, but the opportunity is there for regular people to step up where a Chosen One has failed. And it's one of the things I love MOST about the Star Wars universe, I love the way this worldbuilding works.

Luke is still a hero, obviously, he plays a major role in Anakin ultimately making that final selfless choice, his faith in Anakin and his refusal to kill Anakin and his adherence to Jedi compassion are what eventually help lead Anakin towards making the choice that allows the prophecy to finally be fulfilled. I'm not downplaying Luke's importance or his heroism at all, but I think it kind-of makes all of his choices even MORE heroic if he's NOT a Chosen One. He doesn't do these things because he was destined to do them, but because he's a good, kind, brave, strong person making the choice to do heroic things. He's choosing to do what he believes needs to be done for the greater good. He's just a regular person, with no prophecies to fulfill, having to step into the shoes of a hero because his father failed and threw the galaxy into chaos. How is that NOT more interesting than just saying Luke was the real Chosen One all along?

So you'll never catch me saying the Chosen One was anybody but Anakin in canon. It's absolutely Anakin and it'll always BE Anakin. You remove SO MUCH of the best parts of Star Wars if you take away that part of it.

[lemotmo]

I don't understand why they keep walking into this. Wow. 🤣

Q. When you remove the scene context from his dialogue you deliberately diminish the character. The context provides the importance. Of course you already know that. It's why you chose to remove it. You're not very good at this, are you?

A. You're correct, anon. I shouldn't have removed the context. Allow me to provide it for you now.

'can never have too much closet space, right Evan'.

The context of this scene is: Buck is on his first ever date with a man. He's clearly nervous, as most of us would be. He runs into his best friend, whose opinion, as Tommy is well aware, is insanely important to Buck, and he was not prepared to run into him in the middle of said first date. So he panicked and made things awkward. In other words, he acted like Buck.

'look, Evan I think you're adorable, but you're clearly not ready'

The context is: After Buck's nerves get the best of him, and, again he acts like Buck, Tommy had the opportunity to grant him the grace he obviously didn't get when he himself came out. Instead he called an Uber and left Buck standing alone on the restaurant's curb. (No one in that scene was trying to 'force' Tommy back into the closet. That take is super gross and the definition of overreaching to force a narrative).

'mm okay so not like that'

The context is: This is just Buck also being Buck, and wanting to fix something he thinks he messed up. He wanted to try again so he called and asked to meet. He messed up the coffee order. And this was the way they worked Tommy into the bachelor party.

' they had Henley's in the 80's'

' who are you all supposed to be, The Wedding Singer?'

The context is: Tommy shows up to Chimney's bachelor party (he gets props for showing up at all, it was nice of him). Buck had told him the theme, but Tommy chose not to participate in the costume part. The context for the Wedding Singer line was to point out that not only was Eddie dressed on theme, he actually coordinated with Buck. Then the writers wanted Tommy away from the bachelor party so they sent him to fight a fire. The rest of the bachelor party was a deliberate parallel to the story Eddie would later tell Christopher about the day he met his mother. Buck and Eddie separated themselves from their friends and spent the entire night talking and hanging out with one another. As it turns out, paralleling that story was the entire point of the bachelor party.

'sorry I'm late, that fire was a beast'

The context is: they needed a second kiss and something else 'light' to put in the ending song overlay. They also needed a way to allow the group at large to find out without Buck having to tell everyone individually. Thus making Eddie the only one Buck intentionally came out too. They made a point of showcasing Buck's parents and Eddie's reaction to this. And Hen confirmed she knew he was queer all along.

'well enjoy it while it lasts'

The context is: Buck and the group involved in the cruise rescue were given medals for their efforts. Buck was, once again being Buck, and wanted to soak up the attention, because Buck has a praise kink, but Tommy wasn't interested in playing along.

'well I certainly hope so' (daddy kink joke)

The context is: The audience had just spent the previous 45 minutes watching the man Buck considers his dad basically die, and Buck wanted to talk about it. When he attempted to start the conversation, Tommy turned it into a daddy joke.

The scene context doesn't help him, anon. When you provide the scene details it actually makes him look even more like a plot device. And makes the obvious Eddie of it all even more apparent. But ask for context and receive it. You're not very good at this are you?

I know Nonny! They should know by now that they're fighting a losing battle. They don't seem to get the context of what will happen when they send passive-aggressive messages like this to Ali. :b

She is lethal with words. :)

I don't think this needs any additions, so I'll just shut up. LOL!

IMPORTANT! Please don't repost this ask and/or a link that leads straight to my Tumblr account on Twitter or any other social media. Thank you!

Heads up! For anyone who is giving me the shifty eyes for reposting Ali's updates instead of reblogging. Read this.

Remember, no hate in comments, reblogs or inboxes. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of Ali’s posts, you can find all of her posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[mandatory-blog-stop-asking]

thinking about Emma Frost again. let's imagine for a second X-Men matters and my opinion must be shared.

When I was a kid I really respected and liked Professor X. I thought his stances on issues were calm and reasonable and I thought his efforts were, while ultimately fruitless, the best ones in the fictional conversation about inclusivity and race and all that. this is a subtle reference to the fact I only watched the cartoon and the movies as a kid.

When I grew older and learned English I started engaging with the comics and realized that oh, turns out the adaptations are superficial at best and fladerizing at worst, and there's a lot more to Charles than Being Correct. He's actually in fact a scathing critique of control and flawed leaders of good faith ideals, and how you're supposed to grow over those who created the words you use to free yourself from tyranny. Professor X is a jerk, Magneto was right, all that.

But over time I realized how much that erases Emma Frost, villain turned voice of reason extraordinaire.

Emma starts her tenure in X-Men as Claremont's personification of everything that is bad with high society, accosted by Sebastian Shaw, which is that but male. Emma is genuinely awful when Claremont writes her; a GOOD awful, on purpose, but she's not supposed to be relatable. She has her own mutant school, her own team of mutants, her own answer to Cerebro. She's the most genuine Evil Xavier we get for a full two decades. and she's great at it! Even if the hellfire club almost always truces with the X-Men for the sake of fighting a more important battle, there's no question that you're not supposed to root for Emma.

And then in the 90s something changes, Claremont goes away for a second, other people approach the character, and the question becomes, why are we treating her like evil Xavier? She's building community. She's giving a voice to the disenfranchised. She's training them and she's caring for them and at no point is she asking of them things they actively disagree with, which can't be said of Charles. And so starts the process most every X-Men villain goes through: humanization, complexity, redemption. And fuck does Emma redeem herself.

Ten years into not being a caricature of high class, Emma has accrued a tragic backstory, several positive projects in canon, renown as a genius, positive relationships to several characters, and a main team spot in a highly acclaimed, influential run as of New X-Men. A whole new generation of readers introduced to Emma, new powers, new MO, new everything. Other characters are changing drastically, usually backwards, to accompany the movie's success -- Magneto is evil again, Jean goes back to being the Phoenix, Charles is a lot more like Captain Picard. But Emma? Emma gets to keep going. She changes things wherever she goes.

She hooks up with Cyclops, her daughters become their new Cerebro, she becomes the new heavy-hitter, the Hellfire Club becomes more Shaw and Shinobi's deal than hers... obviously, this isn't consistent. She's got low points and moments that don't agree to her new character. But this woman, who started as commentary on how the rich will destroy you for fun, is now a key positive portion of the world because at some point in time, she had a point -- Charles *isn't* the end-all-be-all of the matter of teaching young mutants, Erik *isn't* the best way forward as far as mutant armadas go, there *is* nuance to their dualistic conversation, the dichotomy is only enforced because they're loud, but she can be louder, she can be louder than any of them--

And then Krakoa hits. Yes, there's a full ten years of bad X-Men stories, many of them including Emma, at least one of them including Emma genociding a few Inhumans. But then Krakoa hits, and every character gets a new project.

Cyclops? Seeing the world move on in ways he might not approve of. Wolverine? Being happy, and realizing he means to fight to keep it going. Erik? Charles? Apocalypse?? Seeing how strong their "dreams" are when they compromise, and realizing oh, I am willing to do *anything* to keep this going, quite literally anything, there is no crime predicted by man or god that would be beyond my reach if it meant paradise would not be lost.

Emma? Emma keeps doing what she's been doing from the word go. Keep it fabulous. Keep the children safe. Don't fall for the lies. At some point someone will invade your privacy and try to take everything away from you. Your job is not to simply destroy them. Your job is to showcase to them how this too was accounted for.

Emma, alongside her planning, her alliances, her leading of the resistance, her unfathomable internal strength and her willingness to see the world for what it is, won the war for Krakoa. Charles wanted things to stay the way they were, Erik wanted things to be the way he dreamed they could be, Apocalypse wanted things to impress him.

Emma wanted them to be safe and sound. Emma wanted the children to be safe. And when Krakoa rose and left, now fully developed and having outgrown her as well, she picked herself back up and went to train a new generation.

There's always children to keep safe. There's always a new generation. The work is never finished.

Yes, the O5 have their own version of Xavier's dream fulfilled, but Emma is the only one who managed to keep herself genuine while evolving. In a room with religious zealots, war criminals, villains and ancients evils, Emma could always look at Kitty Pryde and think to herself, look at what we're doing, my friend. Look at what we have to work with. We're not saving them from themselves, we're saving everyone they're willing to sacrifice.

I wish those adaptations would make Emma Frost sound like she does to me. She's not just a third option to the Professor X-Magneto dichotomy. She's a person asking why is this a dichotomy in the first place. She's too busy actually caring about people to bother with the bickering.

For the children, they said when they wanted her to join their little utopia. For the children, she sighed back, realizing that if she didn't say it, quite literally no one else would.

[usagikookiejams]

HOW BLLK! MEN TREAT THEIR PREGNANT WIFE

Oliver Aiku, Tokimitsu Aoshi, Barou Shoei (all aged-up character)

OLIVER just got back from the 7-Eleven, after searching for your craving food at 3 in the morning. He got what u asked for and also bought some ice cream for you as you guys promised to watch short film once he's back. Once at home, both of you cuddled on the sofa while you were happily munching on the food you craved for. He loves how cute you're looking atm, so fluffy and hugable. Hence, he bent down his head a little and kissing you on the forehead, 'Babe, why am I so lucky?'. 'Hmm? Why is that?' you looked at him questionably. 'Cuz I gotta enjoy my whole life with you, growing old together raising our children' he replied. 'CHILDREN?!' you blushed at that. 'I dunno about that honey, let see how this pregnancy goes' you answered while hiding your face in his chest. He just smiled at your action while unconciously stroking your baby bump, still wondering how he got so lucky having you as his babymama ♡

TOKIMITSU sworn he almost got a heart attack after witnessing you climbing on the short bench to reach the top shelf in the kitchen. He immediately ran to you and carried you down from there in bridal style, 'Babeee! Why did u do that? Omg, u could just asked me to help.' You could listen to how fast his heart was beating, feeling bad that you made him anxious about what happened just now. 'Sorry, I don't wanna disturb you. I know you're doing cardio at the home gym' you pouted, stopping yourself from crying. He set you down on the sofa, going to the kitchen to get what you're reaching for before coming back to you. 'It's okay babe, but promise me not to do that again. You may accidentally hurt yourself in the process' he comforted you. After a while, you guys just enjoyed having a conversation together while he massaged your swollen feet gently. Enjoying one another's company while talking about what the future has in store for your small family ♡

BAROU and you currently at the park having a small walk. You obviously didn't feel like going but after being lectured by Barou about how important it is for the pregnancy, you unwillingly went there at last. He was now holding your hand while enjoying the nature. 'This is great, isn't it? I hope that we could bring our kid here next time' he look at you while smiling. 'Uh huh, I can't wait to play with them! I wonder what they will enjoy to play the most' you wondering. 'Maybe I could teach them football if they're interested in it, want them to learn from the best you know' he jokingly stated. You rolled your eyes at his statement, 'Ughh I hope they don't get your snobbish personality.' You looked at each other while laughing to your heart content. Both of you continued walking before going home. He then went to the kitchen to cook healthy and nutritious foods for you while you go take a shower. Humming to himself happily, feeling very lucky to be given the opportunity to live a life where you and his kid are by his side. Hmm, perhaps children in the future? Who knows ♡

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

@grimharuspex in the comments of that @zoe-oneesama post said it the best; Butterfly should’ve been Emotion and Peacock should’ve been Desire. I know that Zoe has a limit on what canon she changes for her comic which I respect/appreciate given the thought she puts into it (even when canon’s various nonsensical magic rules are especially grating like this) but how do you think things would’ve gone in-show if this was the setup from the get-go? On that note, do you think it’s a good setup for canon in the first place? Why or why not?

This is going to be a rather long lecture on lore and world building and how the peacock fails on every level, so before we get into that, let's start with the positives. I saw a few people pointed out the Desire idea - that being that the peacock's associated Force should have been Desire while the butterfly got Emotions - and I think that they're absolutely right. That one tiny change does fix the surface level issues and make the peacock make sense for its larger role in the narrative.

It would complicate the whole magical slave thing and also mean that you probably have to rework a few of the minor sentimonsters, but generally speaking, it makes way more sense for Desire to birth a fully realized human being. The sentipeople being people while also coming from a single emotion will always be total BS in my eyes.

At the same time, I blame no one for just sticking to canon's lore. Reworking the lore is a serious thing and even I only do it when I'm telling a lore-heavy story. There are plenty of stories where I just stick to canon's nonsense because the lore isn't important.

Now that we've done our positives, let's getting into the negatives! The issue of the day is this: changing the Force from Emotions to Desire doesn't solve the larger problems with the peacock. Problems that we'll now get into. Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one.

Issue 1: Power Diversity

While I would not call myself a superhero expert, I have seen a good deal of superhero and magical girl team shows in my time. Most of you probably have. If you think about the power sets that we see in those shows, then you'll notice that one thing is pretty much always true: every power is unique OR the powers are all closely related in some way. You never do both because the two concepts don't mix. It makes no sense for half of the characters to have totally unique powers while the other half have copies unless there's some sort of special thematic reason for this like siblings sharing a power.

Without that sort of explanation, it just feels weird and it also makes the characters feel redundant. You don't need two speedsters or two supermen! One is enough. Heck, Avatar the Last Airbender takes place in a world where whole civilizations have the same power and they STILL didn't duplicate powers for the core team because they understood that it's important to keep the characters unique.

Miraculous is pretty obviously supposed to be the type of show where the powers don't overlap. Every character gets a unique power that's uniquely suited to them. We even have this confirmed in universe during that confusing scene in the episode Destruction where Orikko - the rooster - tries to explain how his powers work:

Orikko: No, you're mistaken! Time travel is Fluff's power and I can't grant the power that already belongs to another Kwami!

This brings us to the problem with the peacock: it is not a unique power. It's derivative on multiple levels.

Derivation Level One: Akumas

The first and most obvious level is how similar sentimonsters are to akumas. In terms of how they're normally used in the narrative, they're pretty much the exact same power to the point that you literally can't tell which one you're dealing with until someone tells you. The narrative uses them interchangeably with some episodes using an akuma, some using a sentimonster, and some using both.

In fact, I thought that it was really weird that Gabriel didn't switch to maining sentimonsters back in season four. You had akumas breaking their bonds left and right, which is a thing that sentimonsters literally cannot do, making them the obvious fix to this new problem.

To really highlight the whole "indistinguishable power" issue, allow me to highlight some dialogue from Kuro Neko to show that this is very much an in-universe problem:

Cat Walker: You think that's Cat Noir? Ladybug: Of course it's Cat Noir! He must've been akumatized because he regrets having given up his Miraculous!

Ladybug: You'll see once we deakumatize him. (She runs towards Kuro Neko.) Cataclysm his bell, I'm sure that's where the akuma is! Cat Walker: Hang on! (follows her) Ladybug, what if that's a sentimonster? If I use my power on him, he'll lose control and become more dangerous!

Cat Walker: (cringes) What I mean is you're right to doubt, and I agree with you. Until we know for sure whether we're dealing with a sentimonster or someone who's been akumatized, we shouldn't make any brash decisions. (Kuro Neko leaps away.) Let's find out more.

This sort of confusion should be impossible unless it's the result of clever planning by the villain, but that's not what we're dealing with here. Kuro Neko was not about Gabriel tricking the heroes. He sent out a normal sentimonster having no idea that Chat Noir had just quit. And yet Ladybug had no idea that this was a sentimonster. She looked at it and saw an akuma.

Cat Walker also didn't know that it was a sentimonster. He just knew that it wasn't Chat Noir, which was probably the only reason that he thought to question Ladybug and warn her to be cautious. They only realize that it's a sentimonster once they learn that there's a child inside it.

This is canon accidentally telling us that akumas and sentimonster are just straight up indistinguishable unless you see then made or do some experiments to figure out what you're dealing with. That's not a good look if your claiming that each miraculous grants a unique power. It is, however, a great lead in to the second power that the peacock copies: the power of illusions.

Derivation Level Two: Illusions

I said above that it should take careful planning for a sentimonster to be confused with an akuma. While we never see that type of carefully planned setup, we do see sentimonsters used to successfully impersonate humans on several occasions. One example is the episode Optigami which gave us SentiNino and SentiAlec. Seemingly perfect clones of Nino and Alec who did whatever Shadow Moth told them to. We even see a scene where Shadow Moth is telling SentiAlec exactly what to say.

You know who else gives us this type of scene? Rena Furtive in Rocketear:

Ladybug: You said that if Nino could have heard what you were saying, there'd be no misunderstanding? Rena Furtive: Absolutely! Ladybug: How well do you remember what you guys said on the balcony? Rena Furtive: Every. Word. Ladybug: Do you think you could make... a sound illusion? Rena Furtive: Totally.

Is there any doubt in your mind that the peacock can do anything that the fox can do? What's even worse is that the peacock does illusions better than the fox! Fox illusion vanish in a puff of smoke if you touch them. SentiNino was real enough to wield a miraculous because he was a fully corporeal illusion that would have kept on going if he hadn't been snapped away. This brings us to derivation level three: the power of creation.

Derivation Level Three: Creation

The peacock doesn't just outshine the fox, it outshines the ladybug! Lucky charms vanish as soon as Ladybug detransforms. Sentimonsters last forever. The ladybug is only useful in battle as it requires a super villain to cast its cure (which is asinine, but let's not get into that here). The peacock can be used at any time. The ladybug doesn't give you what you want, it just gives you a puzzle to solve. The peacock can fulfill your deepest desires and even create life.

Outside of the extremely specific circumstances that the show gives us - aka an ongoing battle with a super villain - the ladybug is kind of useless. If you want the power of Creation, you're going to use the peacock. This brings us to our second main issue: power balancing.

Issue Two: Power Balancing

The ladybug and the black cat are supposed to be the two most powerful miraculous in existence, but it really doesn't feel like that's true. Sure, if you put them together they rewrite the universe, but that's not part of their individual base power sets. At an individual level, they don't actually feel all that powerful when compared to the butterfly and the peacock. It's more like Marinette and Adrien are smart enough to make their very limited powers work while Gabriel and Nathalie are dancing along easy street and making fools of themselves with every step.

I've mentioned before that I can forgive the butterfly's overpowered nature because this is an episodic show. They want each episode's fight to be unique and interesting and so we have to give them room to have one power set that should be an insta-win card, but isn't because plot.

I can give them that grace once. I cannot give it to them twice.

There is no reason why both the butterfly and the peacock need to feel more powerful than the supposed most powerful miraculous in existence. I've even talked to one person who is rewriting canon with the assumption that the peacock and the butterfly ARE the most powerful ones because they are! Nothing proves this better than the fact that they've both made creations that can copy the powers of the ladybug and the black cat (see: Copycat, Strikeback, Ladybug, Sandboy, Miraculer, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting).

They're also the only miraculous that don't require an active user. You can create a sentimonster or an akuma, then detransform and have a snack while your creation does whatever you need it to do. That's so incredibly broken and such a terrible move in terms of power balancing. Either have all of the powers require active users or, at the very least, have more of a mix of active and passive powers. Why do Mirage, Shelter, and Lucky Charm vanish when their caster's detransform while akumas and amoks stick around? There is no in-universe logic to explain this. It works this way because that's what the writers needed these miraculous to do. A fact that makes it impossible to get invested in the lore of this show.

When designing a complex magic system, you generally don't want "because plot" to be the only answer to why things work they way they do. You want your magic system to feel real and organic to the world. That's how fictional worlds come to life! If Miraculous' magic system was well designed, then you could take it and use it to tell a wildly different story set in the same universe, but you can't. Everything about it is designed around making canon's story work and not around making an immersive world that you can almost believe exists.

There are stories that I wouldn't hold to that standard, but they're mostly short form stories. Anything as big and complex as Miraculous needs to have a solid lore system backing it or else you lose all sense of stakes. A great example of this is the Bunnyx problem where you know that she can show up at any time and reset the timeline even if things are happening in her own past, so why do we need to worry about bad things happening? And how are the ladybug and the black cat the most powerful ones when you have nonsense like time travel and the power to create human-like creatures? Early canon lore was decently solid, but the longer the show goes, the more nonsense the lore gets and that makes me sad because I love good lore.

Some Final Thoughts

You may have noticed that I didn't really talk about the sentikid issue in this post. That's because my dislike of the peacock came long before that fun little twist. While sentiAdrien is yet another great reason to dislike the peacock, it didn't need to be a thing for the peacock to be a terrible idea. Take away the sentikids and you still have an incredibly derivative and lore-breaking power set that never should have made it into the show.

I actually completely redesigned the peacock for my own rewrite which I start plotting back when I was first watching season three, long before sentiAdrein was even on my radar. That's not something that I usually do in my fix it stuff. I usually try to stick close to canon and make more minor tweaks, but the peacock is so fundamentally world breaking that I had no choice but to do a total overhaul. This is already an incredibly long post, so I won't go into that here. I'll save it for another ask that's sitting in my inbox. I'll schedule them to post back to back.

For this post, I'll just end by pointing out that switching the peacock to Desire makes it derivative of and arguably better than the pig, too, since the pig can only tease you with what you want. The peacock actually gives it to you. In fact, I'd say that the peacock may be a better pig even without the switch!

You can also argue that the peacock is better than or at least equal to the rooster and the goat because they're also just variations of the butterfly and the ladybug's power. Like there is legitimatly potential in taking those miraculous and doing an AU where each Kwami's power is an aspect of creation because the powers are so awkwardly intertwined. Probably make the peacock the master and all others spawn from that one or something like that.

Anyway, this is why you can't design powers around characters if you want good lore and a large team! You have to start with the powers and go from there! It's why I edit Nino's character to be more of a protector since that's his supposed True Force! Also because I want him to be more narratively important but that is a rant for another day.

[littlespoonevan]

i think it's funny that there's a sort of inevitability to buck and eddie becoming a popular ship when you look at the start of s2. and it's not because they're two attractive guys or because of their chemistry or even because of what their relationship becomes later on. it's because of how eddie is introduced and folded into the narrative

with abby gone, there's a void in the show

maddie slips into her role at dispatch, taking over that 911 operator pov and offering the compassionate and clever perspective abby brought to the emergencies she dealt with

eddie, on the other hand, takes on her role in buck's life

abby is the person buck spends the most time with on a one to one basis in s1. abby is the one he talks to and who also confides in him when she's struggling. abby is the one he makes a conscious decision to step up for at the end of s1.

with her gone, it would make sense narratively to introduce a new love interest for buck. instead they introduce his sister (a dynamic we understand already exists, even if we don't know it yet) and his new coworker/best friend (and rival for approximately 20 mins lol) and everything abby was to buck and was for buck basically gets transferred to eddie. this is the person he's spending time with now, this is the person confiding in him, this is the person he can show up for over and over again because he wants to

i remember when i was watching the show for the first time back in 2021 i was trying So Hard not to get sucked in to buddie so i was very much watching as an outside observer. and i remember watching those first 4 or 5 eps of s2 and thinking, 'oh yeah i see why this is a thing because if this was a man and a woman all of this would be hinting to them falling in love down the line'

and even all these years and rewatches later it still reads like that!!!!

so much of those first couple of eps is orchestrating moments to establish buck and eddie's dynamic:

buck reassuring eddie during the earthquake that chris is fine before bringing eddie to pick him up at the end of the night (vs. say, buck helping abby look for her mom when she's goes missing and reassuring her, until he brings her to the hospital once she's found - significantly their first meeting and the thing that changes things between them).

and then buck taking eddie to the hospital when pepa calls about isabel's accident, giving bobby a head's up about eddie bringing chris to the station, discussing eddie's struggles with maddie bc he wants to help, calling carla to help eddie with childcare (all a direct parallel to bobby's encouragement he step up for abby and the way he did try to do that before she left)

those first few eps tell us eddie is Important to buck and he is personally invested in trying to make eddie's life better/more manageable (and on the flip side, they obviously need to create connections between eddie and the other characters if they want us to root for him. and with bobby and athena together, hen with karen, and chimney about to meet maddie for the first time, the only person missing a counterpoint is buck)

and none of this is me saying the show intentionally put eddie in abby's shoes (they definitely didn't) but from a purely logistical perspective of making eddie buck's primary new scene partner and when you consider the show didn't make the effort to establish ali as a new viable rival to what abby was for buck, it's like, of course people are gonna latch onto eddie and buck's relationship instead!!!!! of course this is where we were gonna end up!!!!!! what else did you expect!!!!!!

[thebramblewood]

Apologies if you've answered this before, but I was looking through your asks and couldn't find anything.

Do you have any advice on how you take such good screenshots of your game? You have such a knack for lighting, having variety of shots, and making them immersive.

This is so sweet. Thank you! 🥰

If I'm being honest, it's 90% vibes and gut feelings for me. I don’t have any formal background in filmmaking or photography, and everything I know is by sheer osmosis. There’s a lot of fancy terminology to describe why certain image compositions look better than others. I admire and respect anyone who purposefully keeps that in mind. But I am definitely not that person. I think I’ve watched enough film and TV, though, to subconsciously be doing the "right thing" - or at least what looks right to me.

That being said, I think the best way to improve is practice. If you spend enough time doing something you'll obviously get better at it, even if you don't realize it at first. So the most important thing is to give yourself the patience to grow and the freedom to experiment! At any rate, here are some things I've learned that will maybe be helpful to others.

Camera Tricks: We all know the camera in TS4 can be a little wonky at times. I use Buckley's camera mod. It hasn't been updated in eons but still works as far as I can tell. It gives you more freedom with movement, and I've found it especially helpful for getting shots that are lower to the ground.

Now that I've realized how sneakily useful first person camera can be, I also take advantage of that all the time. There's the trick of making your Sim look in a specific direction. (This works with poses and gameplay actions, by the way! For example, I used it to turn Caleb's head toward Lilith while he was trimming the bonsai tree.) There's the Dutch angle trick explained in this video. This is great for moments of disorientation and unease. I also just straight-up used first person camera to convey Helena's confusion upon waking after being turned.

Also, saved camera positions are your best friends. You can save up to five positions using CTRL+5-9. Then you just click the corresponding number to return to that position. I've used these for so many reasons. By taking two shots in the same position and Photoshopping them together, I've been able to edit Sims in (like Vlad below), fix accessory clashes (the book was in the hat category, so Lilith couldn't actually wear it at the same time as the towel on her head), and to pose Sims in open doorways (Helena had to walk through the door to open it for the Vatores, so I shot both halves separately).

Zoom: I love smashing that zoom button, whether it's zooming way in or way out. Zoomed out shots are perfect for establishing setting or as interstitial shots during a long conversation when you don't want to always focus on Sims' faces. They're also great for the draaama. Extreme close-ups are great for emphasizing emotion or a tiny but significant detail. Playing around with the extremes of zoom is one of the best ways to achieve shot variety!

Focus: I don't think Reshade is a necessity for good visual storytelling, but it does make certain things easier. I rely a lot on depth of field shaders to pull focus in shots. I like using cinematic depth of field especially in conversations to blur some characters while emphasizing others. I feel like this helps ground conversations because it reminds us there are multiple participants instead of always zeroing in on the speaker alone. Another way to play with focus is to allow the angle to mirror the emotions of the conversation. It's an older shot, but I always liked how Caleb seems to cower beneath Lilith's bat form here even though she's technically smaller. And in the recent conversation between Lilith and Helena, I kept the camera to Lilith's back to emphasize her vulnerability and discomfort and put the focus on Helena's reaction to it.

Framing/Angles: I do this by pure instinct, honestly, and have gotten better at getting it right on the first shot over time. I used to take half a dozen shots of the same pose from different angles and choose the best one. Nowadays, I'm quicker to commit and often take only one shot. I've learned that if something immediately tickles my brain, it's usually the way to go. I usually angle shots so that the characters aren't looking directly at camera, as it seems more natural that way. On the other hand, sometimes the direct to camera look can actually work in more confrontational or unsettling moments.

Environment: If I can help it, I don't do my own builds. In some ways, this is a disadvantage because I have to set up the scene within a space that wasn't specifically catered to it. On the other hand, it makes for fun little surprises, like the ability to peek in through a skylight or frame two characters within perfectly placed archways. I like using objects and structures to create interest when I can. I often don't discover things like this until I'm pulling the camera around and randomly happen upon them. I definitely recommend navigating all around to see what you've got to work with before committing to any specific angle. You might find one you didn't even think of!

Lighting: I do what I can with the game's lighting. I avoid placing ceiling lamps or at least turn the brightness down much lower, and I don't usually turn all the lights on in a room at once. I tend to change the color to one of the warmer golden hues to avoid a stark white that washes everything out. I always like when I can get some sources of light into frame because it adds a lot to the ambience. But I've also been using Relight on all of my posts lately. It's an addiction, and it truly makes all the difference. I'll use it to give light sources a stronger glow so they stand out more and also to create shadows on Sims' faces. It's also very good for flashlights and computer screen glow!

After having self-indulgently written all this, I'm not sure how much is usable advice versus rambling musings. I find it hard to give storytelling "tips" because so much of it feels innate and personal and hard to put into generalized terms. I also don't want to imply that every one of my shots is perfect or that there aren't a million other ways to go about achieving good results. But thank you to anyone who's made it this far, and I hope you found it worthwhile. 💕

[orphiclovers]

ahem ahem. What if sp x 1863 hsy!? Can you see the toxic vision!?

I want to so BAD you have no IDEA. SP and 1863!HSY are my favourite characters, yoohan is my favourite ship, this should be perfectly tailored to me, right? And YET, I've never gotten farther than "someone should make this a thing...."

But I'll try for you.

They do have some canon interactions going for them. Namely, we know that SP made a covenant with her to do some unspecified thing in the 1863rd regression.

It's not certain how many of the messages he sent to KDJ's channel were actually him personally, and how many one of his kkomas, and while I think a couple of them in the important moments was actually him, I headcanon he spent most of his time watching the alt-1863rd round. For Han Sooyoung I imagine he was a cold and distant figure who sent few indirect messages but whose attention was always hanging over her head. She had to rely on his satisfaction with the way she ran the world for him to hold up his part of the deal and give her a new worldline.

And we know he wasn't satisfied, because when he sent KDJ there, he said "I hope you're not as disappointing as the last one." So clearly there was some kind of disagreement between them.

Despite all this fun context, I don't think they have many strong feelings about each other other than mutual dislike. Neither of them spend time thinking of the other except for when they have to interact for the sake of the covenant. They're relationship is purely business, and they don't leave a huge impression on the other's psyche or change the trajectory of their lives forever. (Unlike, for example, 1863 Yoo Joonghyuk does for the both of them.)

Only thing they have going for them is their love triangle with 1863 YJH. It's the kind that doesn't end in a thruple for once, but where they both stay feeling entirely neutral about the other corner.

The Big Issue for them is that SP gives HSY a task he doesn't actually wish to be achieved, but HSY has no choice but to do her best to attempt anyway. And when she does come up with a perfect plan to achieve the death of Yoo Joonghyuk, the thing SP supposedly wants, he gets cold feet and sends KDJ in last minute, saying he's 'dissapointed' in her. Why? The plan would have worked. But he didn't want Yoo Joonghyuk to die at that point.

What he actually wanted her to do was fight radically change the world like Kim Dokja did. (This comes up in the SP/999 fight or sometime around then.) She never could have lived up to that expectation.

And in the aftermath of Kim Dokja's visit to the 1863rd round, all their plans were ruined anyway. Maybe she neutrally told him she 'wouldn't be leaving this round' and that their deal was off. SP said nothing, since obviously everything had fallen apart at that point. I think Secretive Plotter, much like Kim Dokja, doesn't care for a world without Yoo Joonghyuk in it. That was probably the last time they spoke to each other. The 1863rd round became completely irrelevant to him, including the Han Sooyoung left there to pick up the pieces. And she was obsessively fixated on Kim Dokja and didn't have time to think about SP. That was all over and done with.

But I'm very willing to hear anyone out if they have a HSY/SP vision. I want to be persuaded on this!

[altraviolet]

Spending too much time reacting to a youtube comment

A hopefully informative post about POV characters and scenes and dear god please save yourself some time.

You ever seen advice that makes you go "what the fuck? That's NUTS" (ID beneath)

[ID: Screenshot of a youtube comment by user datahigh So annoying that authors don't just tell people this... I mean it makes sense cuz it's easier for them, with less competition... 1. Write the entire book through a narrator's perspective, this should be your longest version by far, maybe even 300k words for an intended 100k word final version, it will be a way to identify the most important descriptions and create a leaner final book in the end. This is the most vital step by far because all you're doing is just explaining, so it doesn't have to be perfect and obvs will change anyways, it's like outlining to the most extreme extent.

2. Write the same book through a secondary character's perspective, consider doing it for multiple secondary characters, but like from the love-interest's perspective, or the main villain's, for examples... this way you can create more complete characters, you can justify more alarming actions they might take from the reader's/MC's perspective because they'll have deeper motives, conflicts of their own, etc. 3. Write the entire book but each scene is from an involved character's perspective other than the MC's, again maybe even multiple perspectives per scene.

4. Write the book again, from the perspective of the MC... Probably the most efficient way is to complete each step to completion prior to moving on, but it's whatever you think works best for you... end ID]

This comment is beneath a video where an editor talks about common issues he sees when editing books (the link below the pic goes to the video). And uh... no. No, I really gotta say, I don't recommend this. I can absolutely see why someone might do this. I can see how it would be helpful. This sounds like the most excruciating way to become better at picking POVs and getting to know your characters and figuring out the plot.

But writing the same book four+ different times?? The ENTIRE, whole book multiple times from different points of view?! Every single scene? Every single sentence of a 100,000+ word project, written and rewritten and rewritten from scratch? Man, I don't have time and brain energy for that.

Here's what I would recommend you do, instead. We're going to proceed with the assumption that your story has two+ POV characters.

First, you need to pick which POV character you're going to use. Here's my advice. Pick either:

The most impactful character

This character choice will provide the most interesting filter through which the reader experiences the scene, by way of emotional reaction, internal thoughts, dialog, moving the plot, etc.

OR

The most necessary character

This character is absolutely needed for functionality reasons: they will impart (or purposefully hide) the information the scene exists to show the reader.

Whichever character fulfills either of the above will be the POV character. Obviously it's funnest if these two things are embodied in the same character, but sometimes they can't be. Sometimes you can't have the cool, favorite character be the POV character, because the story needs something to happen that another POV character better suits.

Next we have to think about how this particular POV character will influence and take part in the scene.

Think about what that POV character knows up to the point of the scene. Think about who that POV character is in terms of:

What will they notice about their environment.

This is to ground them, and the reader, in the scene. Different characters will notice different things. If your POV character works with textiles, they're going to notice the cloth the curtains are made out of. Your hunter character probably won't. That might not be a detail necessary to the scene, but keeping it in mind will help you attune to your character's thought processes.

Note- such details may be part of the environmental description, which has inherent value for grounding the reader, and are a way of showcasing character:

Reader: Where are we? Seamstress: The tavern with the ugly curtains that badly need hemming. I hate them! I even offered the owner a discount to fix them but he said no.

Reader: Where are we? Hunter: The tavern with the doe head mounted over the fireplace that someone glued antlers to. I laughed so hard the first time I saw it, I got kicked out.

This could be the same tavern, but the POV characters describe it differently. They're describing it from their point of view, which is informed by their past, their beliefs, their experiences, etc.

How does the POV character know the other characters in the scene and what do they think of them.

You don't need to write out every single character dynamic, but keeping them in mind will help guide you with their interactions.

If A hates B, B loves C, and C is secretly plotting to kill A in this scene, and our point of view character is B... what might happen? Do you think B will let C do it, or no? I haven't told you how B feels about A, but we know how B feels about C, and B knows how A feels about them...

As you can see, it can get complicated quickly. But keeping all that stuff in mind will help the scene flow organically.

How is the POV character going to impart information.

Keep in mind I don't mean "information" like how a spy might impart information. The purpose of a scene is to accomplish something. Something has to happen in a scene. And all the little data points constructing the scene add up to the "information" I'm talking about. I suppose here I broadly mean, how is the character going to interact with everyone else?

Is your character going to converse freely? Strike a bargain? Withhold vital news?

Is your character generally an agreeable person, and will help someone willingly? Or are they generally agreeable but pointedly and markedly not going to help someone? Is the reason they are acting counter to their usual characterization clear to the reader? If not, will it be explained later?

Conflict/tying back to the plot

Many scenes involve a conflict of some type, whether it's something small ("I want to go home!" "You can't!") or something big (declaring war, fighting a battle, filing for divorce). How does the scene change from the beginning to the end? How does your POV character cause that change, and how does the scene change the POV character in turn?

To sum up:

Pick the POV character based on: -who is the most interesting POV to read from, OR -who is needed for the scene

Ask yourself, how does your POV character:

-understand/perceive their environment? -understand/know/perceive the characters around them? -embody their purpose in the scene? (act/speak/what are they doing) -how does their existence in the scene tie back to the main plot?

Sooooo yeah instead of writing the same story over and over so many times, thinking and planning your scenes should serve the same purpose as what's being advocated for above. You could absolutely write down some notes or sketches for scenes from different POVs, but, again, I think writing your entire book that way is going to be wasteful and mind numbing.

Obligatory statements now: yes, you can follow that youtube comment advice. Yes, it does make for a good writing exercise. Yes, you will probably figure out some stuff (better ways of phrasing things, tighter plotting) while writing the book nine times. But I think writing with intention the first or second time around is going to save you a lot of time.

I would only recommend this advice of rewriting and rewriting and rewriting and rewriting:

-for a very very beginning writer who has a LOT of patience and time -for a short story -for targeting scenes where you're not sure which POV character is best

Obligatory statement: everyone writes differently, so if you want to write your novel completely over again from different POVs, you can do that. The advice above should still help with thinking about your POV characters as you go.

[greyborn2]

Elisif headcanons now! (friendly tone ofc <3) Why do you think she would be a good marriage candidate? I'm curious :)

Yesssss!!! Okay - so this boils down to two categories. Personal interest in it, and underrated narrative JUICE. Starting with the former because its easier to begin with. So Elisif is just... she's neat. She's simultaneously one of the most politically important people in skyrim while also being COMPLETELY overshadowed by the men around her (Nobody talks about her, really, they talk of Torygg. The civil war isnt her vs ulfric, its TULLIUS vs ulfric. Her own decisions in court the first time we even see her are seemingly overruled on a dime by her own court, by Falk.). Its like she's this big thing of incredible importance and is constantly hidden away both in narrative and in game. But despite that, if you actually sneak in a bit, ignore all the big figures standing in front of her and propping themselves up on top of her, she has a surprising amount of meat to her.

Most of the Jarls are like... a few word summary at best. Greedy idiot boy, honourable honorman, paranoid bigot, old seer, etc etc etc. You get an initial impression of them and thats kinda it. Ulfric has a lot more, obviously, because he's a major character but it would *SEEM* that Elisif should be on the lower end of content. It takes so much to seek her out in her overshadowed little corner after all, but she has so so so much surprising stuff around her. The necromancer potema plot revolves around her, a whole big dialogue tree that isnt super common to see for a jarl, some touching personal quests that go into detail about how she saw her late husband. Its just all super compelling to me to have a character that, despite being so important, is *soooo* hidden away actually have some meat to her. Plus she's just a nice person!!! ANYWAYS!! PART 2!! The JUICE!!

For starters, I think, there should just be more opportunities for the dragonborn to play the political game if they want. Beyond just choosing a side in a war or ticking off their 'thane of everywhere' list, actually getting in on climbing the ladder and enmeshing oneself with the politics of the land they're in. BUT BUT... same can be said for Ulfric. Absolutely true. I do think he should also be a marriage candidate. BUT...

I think Elisif PARTICULARLY makes sense as a marriage opportunity that isn't one you seek out, but one that is put forward to the player. Specifically with an Imperial victory in the civil war.

The war is won. Alduin MAY or MAY NOT be slain. But either way, no matter what, at this point the dragonborn is a war hero, a champion of the people, and decorated imperial legate. And this would be fucking FRIGHTNING, I think, to the politicians back in Cyrodiil. There's a *history* of war hero dragonborns, popular with the people, turning on their commanders and declaring themselves emperor afterall. Oh boy is there a precedent. Suddenly they're the big figure in a war that was supposed to be Tullius' duty and they might start sweating in their boots a little.

SO... after the war is won... the legion starts... pushing. Just a little. A few letters, a few comments, that the dragonborn should maybe marry Elisif. Become High King by marriage. Lock them in and satisfy the war hero with a political title off in the ass end of the empire before they turn their gaze toward a ruby throne. Don't give them time to think on it. Ooooh look tasty treat right here shhhh dont think yes you did very good dragonborn yes yes be high king.

I think from there it could go one of three ways;

1) Last Dragonborn marries Elisif but with her actually agreeing to the union (after completing her personal quests) and she FINALLY steps out of the shadows. Rather than the expected you using her for power, she uses YOU for power. You allow yourself to be the thing she props herself up on and finally really starts coming into public view. Maybe to the nervousness of the Empire as she's a less eager puppet then they might have thought, now.

2) Last Dragonborn falls right into the trap the empire placed. You didnt do the quests for Elisif, she remains in the shadows, there's a loveless marriage and you get to be satisfied with a big title that hopefully keeps you occupied.

3) Last Dragonborn refuses all of this. Things seem to proceed as they do in canon but... well... maybe you notice a few more non-DB assassins using imperial weapons attacking you on the road then you did before. Curious.

[doctorofmagic]

BLOOD HUNT PREDICTIONS (and spoilers!)

Okay, I see everyone is struggling to keep it cool because of what just happened today in Blood Hunt #1. But honestly I'm very excited to put the pieces together (also very HYPED!!!). So here are my thoughts (and my friend Red's, thank you, my darling) on what we gathered so far through clues, covers and solicitations.

Obviously, spoilers.

Well, first thing I'd like to establish is that people will probably feel lost if they haven't read the last Blade volume. Thankfully, yours truly did! Which means I can provide some context:

Just recently, Blade released an ancient evil called the Adana by accident. To make it up for this mistake (which would lead to the end of the world, basically), he had to embrace his full vampiric powers by drinking Dracula's blood (they're in a kinda complicated relationship right now, not friends nor enemies but necessary allies). That also meant that he was corrupted by its evil.

Plus, as I said it many times, Blade has a deep respect for Stephen because of the Montesi Formula, which resulted in the extinction of all vampires. Yes, Stephen did it once, and I'll get back to it because I think it's REALLY important.

Since we established that Blade might be corrupted, let's move on to the next topic.

Is Stephen dead?

My best guess is "not really".

In Blood Hunt, we see that T'Challa sacrificed himself to protect Cap America Sam and the rest of the Avengers who survived the first strike. But is T'Challa gone? Luckily, I follow Farid Karami on twitter and he posted a few inks he did for Black Panther: Blood Hunt. And guess what? That's right, we'll about to have vampire!T'Challa!

Besides, we all know that the next Doctor Strange issue will feature Wong and vampire!Stephen. What we didn't know was how Stephen would fit in the plot, but thanks to the variant cover I posted last week, we do now: he'll be guiding his allies via his astral form.

Now, how can the Sorcerer Supreme deal with the vampiric threat? It was shown that Stephen and Clea are looking for the Montesi Formula again.

For those who don't know, the Montesi Formula is a spell from the Darkhold that can wipe every single vampire off the face of the Earth. Stephen already used this spell once when he fought Dracula (and Blade was there, hence the respect he holds for Stephen). Unfortunately for them, Wanda has just recently absorbed the Darkhold within her body as a way to gain autonomy from Chthon (as seen in Darkhold: Alpha and Omega). Besides, Wanda was captured by the Bloodcoven, which means she can't do much right now. In addition, as hinted by Blade himself, she won't use the Montesi Formula, mostly because the character can't be involved in another kind of genocide (thanks, Bendis). And that leads us to the next topic.

Who could do it? The very one character who would overcome morals on behalf of his people, the same one who already appeared in the first issue: Doctor Doom. And if we think about it, he has two advantages already: 1) he's second in line to be the Sorcerer Supreme, and 2) as already established, he'd do anything to protect his planet and, most importantly, Latverians.

It's also important to reiterate that an astral form is not as powerful as the body+soul. With Stephen's strength limited, it's not that crazy to imagine that he could pass the mantle to Victor for a limited period while they find the spell. "Why not Clea?" I don't know. It's already established that managing the power of two sorcerers supreme is extremely hard and draining. Could be another reason as well. I'm just trying to find a coherent train of thought through this variant cover here:

Still, we're left with a very important dilemma. We have nice vampire allies in current comics: Brielle (Blade's daughter) and Soldier and Reese from the Midnight Mission (Moon Knight), the three of them being characters to be featured in the tie-ins. Well, not to mention Stephen and T'Challa, and maybe some more to be turned in the next issues. This is why I don't think the Montesi Formula will happen. Jed won't kill THE Black Panther, let's be real. So what's next?

We're expecting a plot twist at some point, and Blade will have an important role here. He's set to have another solo title this year, probably following the consequences of his actions. But there's a high chance someone else is involved. Let's check this panel once more:

Atlantean rituals.... Where did we hear about it before? That's right, Sorcerer Supreme #11!

During the old age, Varnae become ruler of the vampires and was brought back by Marie Laveau in modern age, fighting Doctors Strange and Voodoo. His last appearance traces back to Blade when he and his friends confronted him. Frank Drake sacrificed himself in an explosion to kill Varnae, and that's the last time we hear about him.

But see how the pieces come together? Blade, Stephen and Varnae. It makes sense that things would center around these three. And this is why I'm very excited. It's not a surprise that I love Blade and Stephen's relationship, and all these elements would make a wonderful drama, one that I'm really looking forward to!

Overall, I'm not worried about status quo or anything like that. I know things will work out in time, and seeing so many of my favorite characters involved in an event written by McKay only makes it better!

And that's it! Feel free to add your thoughts on this post! And see you all next week with Doctor Strange #15! 👀

[still-a-morosexual-help]

(Gonna use Queen B MC's default name because fucking Bea is a perfect name for her)

I have so much to get off my chest about this rn -> i'm chewing through my bars

!!! So the thing about Queen B is that there's only two LIs right? But Bea gets the option to flirt with and sleep with a whole bunch of other people. And the difference between these two sets of choices are shown by the icon that appears when you have a romantic moment with them.

So for the two LIs any romantic/sexual moment is followed by a -> ❤️

And for casual flirting/hookups it's followed by a -> 👄

And in Book 1, you get multiple opportunities to romance the two LIs but only about a couple opportunities per character to flirt with the other characters

And then, in Book 2, suddenly, this changes! Suddenly, you're getting almost as many chances to flirt with/sleep with Poppy (Bea's arch fucking enemy) as you are to romance the two LIs. But still her icon firmly remains as 👄.

Because she's not a Love Interest. Bea and Poppy hate each other. They're constantly trying to ruin each other's lives in the most Evil ways possible. At most they're enemies-with-benefits having a hatefuck to work out the tension. Bea straight up just Evil Laughs while thinking about killing Poppy using her bare hands on a regular basis

But then,

But Then, it starts becoming obvious that they're having fun together. Whether they're plotting the other's ultimate downfall or just sniping at each other this is fun for them. Bea accuses Poppy of never having met anyone more interesting & fun than her, and Poppy accuses Bea of being obsessed with her. And they're both right.

And then Bea starts joking about Poppy being in love with her, which Poppy never outright denies

And then Poppy compares Bea to a dog follwing her around, and Bea cheerfully reminds Poppy that she likes dogs, and not only does Poppy not deny it, she agrees by saying she's always had a thing for strays

And then Poppy starts saying insanely romantic things while they dance together, like how Bea makes her more herself/ths best version of herself (more cunning, manipulative and straight up evil of course)

And then Bea starts calling Poppy adorably cute nicknames like "Pop" and "Poptart" (while obviously ruining her life of course)

And then at one point when Bea teases Poppy about liking her and gets a scoff in return the achievement that pops up is "De-nial isn't only a river"

But through this all, it's still 👄. Because it's not Romance. They're still gleefully trying to tear each other down to use the other as a stepping stool to their own success. There's no actual Romantic feelings here, right? They're just flirting with their enemy as one more thing they can hold over the other. They're just flying a little too close to the sun.

And then at the end of Book 2 if you choose Bea's final moments after the gala to be spent with Poppy, you skip ahead to the graduation;

Rightfully, this should be It for Poppy & Bea. The last day they see each other. They don't ever have to meet again. Not after all the horrible things they've done to each other. Nothing binds them.

There are reasons why Bea will still be involved with the two Actual LIs because Zoey is her best friend & partner in crime, and Ina/Ian has instant sexual chemisty with her and is fully in love with Bea whether or not you choose any romantic options for them. There's nothing like that binding Poppy to Bea. Because even if they do have fun together they also spend an awful lot of time wishing to never see the other again - and now there's no more excuse left for them.

There's a difference between ❤️ & 👄 characters, and it's made obvious from the beginning that there's nothing more to 👄 options, there no strings attached at all. So that's the end.

Unless, Bea spends her last moments of the gala with Poppy.

Because then, during her graduation speech she starts talking about the most important person to her in Uni, the one who made the biggest impact in her life, the one she can't let go of, and it's Poppy. And it's all said with a sincere yet mocking edge to it, because that's what they's like. And Poppy is fucking furious. And where Bea & the LIs would have exchanged "I love you"s here, Bea & Poppy exhange a "I loathe you"

And then you know what happens, you know what fucking happens!!???

A Fucking ❤️ pops up and the entire series just ends.

Do you see why I'm tearing my hair out!???? The end of the fucking Queen B series is the start of Bea x Poppy's actual romance. It's an open ending for them and the only thing you can do is imagine where they go from here and it's beautiful. They're always gonna be plotting to destroy the other and they're always gonna daydream about the other's death by their hand but now they're going to do it while falling in love.

[yah1dka]

i probably need to stop trying analyze something while i'm not 100% sure but

i've seen a bunch of fanfics/comics where izuku has a quirk and bakugou never becomes his bully because of that, or bakugou just has overall better thoughts about quirkless people and ending up protecting izuku. but was izuku's quirklessness really the problem here?

beside being quirkless, izuku overall was weaker than katsuki. not only physically, but he was softer (and tell me bakugou doesn't view that as weakness). and from bakugou's perspective he looked down on him while also being so much worse. and it should've been impossible, but that deku. that river. that hand. how dared he even try to surpass katsuki while obviously katsuki should be number one.

izuku being worse than katsuki was just objective fact in bakugou's head. at some point not even in mean way, just the piece of information. and bakugou was fine with it, okay, cool, but then. the river.

that's moment became so important for katsuki not because he just couldn't let this random memory fade. no, in the second izuku's offering his hand to katsuki he suddenly understands: midoriya now in superior position and this could happen literally any time even while bakugou is the best. and if bakugou understands this, then it means the kid and the rest of them know this too. and knew long time ago because why izuku isn't as surprised as bakugou?

and katsuki is terrified of failures, like, panic attack after training, just remember it. he should make sure that deku never ever would be in this position again: standing on the ground while katsuki is laying in the dirt. so. quirkless? yeah, you know your own diagnosis, nerd, so don't even try. most bullies are insecure like shit and just trying to make sure that the victim's insecure more.

but if izuku isn't quirkless? he can't stand up for himself, so continue to sit on your knees, deku. he can speak up? well, katsuki always would be taller, lick dirt from his shoes with this height (this is an absurd example, but it's the idea that matters).

changing izuku wouldn't fix katsuki's behaviour because none of the izuku's traits really were the problem here. changing katsuki's view on discrimination also wouldn't fix much. katsuki's mindset and character are the problem, that's it. get the kid some wise mentor or idk, couple of sessions with the psychologist (at four years?) if you want to do besties au, but take away izuku's quirks, they're useless.

he saw a threat in izuku, so really nothing could've make bakugou change his mind easily. that's like the point, he was just "a pank going through something" (or what else was said)

[beanghostprincess]

What’s so fascinating about shuggy that makes you go this wild? Aren’t shanks completely over this guy? And buggy just bitter? Am I interpreting it wrong?

I'm not gonna ask whether you want the short or the long version, because I'm gonna give you the longest, gayest version no matter what you tell me. So. Yeah. I think I'm kind of crazy about them but in a very normal way (I just lied on the internet). I'm gonna answer your last three questions before actually getting into the subject of why Shuggy makes me go so wild:

(Spoilers: manga ch.1082 and that Wano flashback)

Shanks being "completely over this guy" would be a very simple way to put his feelings for Buggy into words, I think. Although the fandom exaggerates the way he feels for him (turning into obsession and just complete depression) for fun or for angst purposes (I must say I don't really dislike it and I do believe Shanks still holds Buggy close to his heart in this way, and if we talk in a shippy way, he's definitely the clingy one) I think Shanks isn't completely over Buggy. At least not in the cynical way some people say. I think that after parting ways, Shanks accepted Buggy leaving him. I don't think he quite understands his reasons (he never will, tbh) but accepted his decision. I think he tried to choose the more mature way (not that he had other options) and moved on. But moving on doesn't mean forgetting or being completely over someone, because I wholeheartedly think that even if Buggy isn't on his mind 24/7, he's still one of the most important people in Shanks' life and story. Buggy is there in the back of his mind like a catchy song you can't get rid of, you know? It itches sometimes, too, but Shanks can't do anything about it so he just lives with it. To Shanks, he would gladly reconnect with Buggy and go back to the way they were in the blink of an eye, but he knows it can't be. I think Shanks has moved on but the second somebody mentions Buggy he goes into nostalgia mode and thinks about their times together back when they were just kids with endless dreams aboard the Oro Jackson. I think Shanks has more things to worry about than his past to be the way the fandom portrays him, but that doesn't mean he has completely forgotten about it and doesn't want Buggy back. Because he definitely does.

Buggy is- He isn't just bitter. I don't think you can say Buggy is just bitter when Shanks' decision was what determined his whole life. Leaving the thing about the map and the devil fruit aside (which also affects the story but we know his resentment isn't really about that) Buggy has every right to feel the way he does towards Shanks. Perhaps it's just that I find this pathetic clown to be very relatable, but I will always be both a Buggy apologist and defender. I'll probably get into a more detailed version of this later, but Buggy isn't just bitter. Buggy is rightfully frustrated at how his life ended up to be without Shanks. "But he's the one who left Shanks"... Is he, though? He did leave Shanks physically, but Shanks was the first to break the relationship. The thing about Buggy that I absolutely love is how his character portrays envy and jealousy into a... I wouldn't say healthy way, but at least not a damaging way to Shanks. Despite fighting all the time, they obviously loved and cared for each other. Being best friends and the youngest of the crew, always together in both the worst and best of their moments, etc. So Buggy, even though he lived as Shanks' shadow, that isn't why he's resentful towards him. He could be angry about that, right? Just bitter Roger chose him to keep his legacy alive instead of him. But no. Buggy chose to follow Shanks instead because he trusted him. Because he thought "Well, I might not be able to follow my dream, but Shanks will do it for us as our captain's legacy". Which makes sense because they were so damn close. They're always together. Like. Just watch/read the Oden flashback. Their presentation was even together, lmfao. And when they talk about them, they mention them together. The whole thing about Shanks not going to Laugh Tale to take care of Buggy? It's just- It's just so obvious that they were best friends and intended to be together forever. Buggy was willing to follow Shanks until the end of the world until Shanks hesitated when asked about following Roger's steps (Buggy doesn't actually say he'll be in Shanks' crew, but the way he reacts to Shanks' words makes me think he would've accepted to go with him as a co-captain until... Well. Yeah. That happened). And like, I get it. Shanks knew they were too young. Shanks knew they needed to grow up and live more experiences as pirates before going to Laugh Tale and for the One Piece. For Shanks it's just a little pause before they actually fulfill their dreams. But for Buggy? For Buggy, his whole world is crumbling down because the person he trusted the most literally told him he wasn't going to follow their dream. For Buggy, Shanks doesn't take the role of Roger's legacy seriously enough, so it's unfair. It's unfair that he had to leave his dream behind for him. It's unfair that he trusted him. It's unfair that Shanks didn't believe in himself. It's unfair that their captain died. It's unfair that now Buggy has to be completely on his own, with no ability to swim and no map to follow because Shanks also ruined that for him. So, yeah, Buggy is a bit more than just bitter, and rightfully so. It's classic miscommunication because obviously, Shanks wasn't going to give up on going to Laugh Tale, but Buggy takes it that way. And he also sees it as Shanks doubting himself and the dream and it's unfair that the one who got the straw hat is the one to hesitate, and the one who didn't get anything is the one who wants to fight for their dream. Buggy is more than just bitter. I know it's played for laughs, but his grudge towards Shanks is deeper than that.

You are not interpreting it wrong, tbh. I think the fandom just exaggerates their behavior and in canon you pretty much have to analyze the characters to fully understand them. If you're not a fan of these two characters, their whole relationship can feel like "Oh, they were just friends in the same crew" even when it's way deeper than that. Although I think chapter 1082 (my favorite chapter ngl I've read it so many times google instantly shows it to me when I look for the page where I read OP) explains what I just said pretty well from Buggy's POV.

So now onto the real question, what's so fascinating about Shuggy?

I'm gonna be honest with you, before writing this I have to say that I have a tendency to love these types of ships. Soukoku (BSD) and Satosugu (JJK) are no exception and they follow the same "former BFFs/partners who turned into enemies and are very very gay". The reason I like these three ships so much is probably because of personal experiences I'm not gonna talk about, but somebody mentioned something very interesting about lesbians/sapphics relating to these ships because we always have this experience about having a really close girl bff that we have a crush on, but since we don't acknowledge the real feelings, it ends up in a very toxic way that leads only to resentment and nostalgia. And, you know, as a lesbian who has been through that I can confirm wholeheartedly that this is why Shuggy is so important to me (considering Shuggy a ship for the lesbians in my heart </3)

Leaving that aside and the fact that childhood best friends to lovers is like my favorite trope, I just think their characters are so perfectly written. And it's surprising because they barely have scenes talking about each other or being with each other (Marineford is Shuggys' Roman Empire atp, although I will always remember that first flashback in episode 8 in the anime. That changed my life fr). But their story is made with so much care and love for the characters (it's obvious Oda likes Buggy a lot) that you can feel it. At least I do. Because although not having many scenes they've completely taken over my heart and soul.

Shanks is a very complicated character due to lack of information and the fact that we know he hides something deeper, but he is, after all, a symbol of hope and dreams. At least for our main character. Shanks is the main reason why Luffy becomes a pirate and there are so many parallelisms between them that I can't count them. I find it so ironic that the symbol of hope and freedom Luffy follows is actually somebody who crushed somebody's dreams and hopes. Talk about irony, right? And then we have Buggy, who's the complete opposite. With Buggy's first appearance (and honestly all of his scenes until the Wano flashback and chapter 1082) we think he's one of the bad guys. And yeah, all of them are like that because they're pirates and yadda yadda. But I'm talking about "bad guy" as in "bad bad person with no hopes and dreams and that is just interested in being feared and powerful". And he is a failguy. A very funny one, too. But he's so much more. And the fact that this comedic relief character that's always played for laughs when it comes to his own misery turns out to be the one who has the biggest of dreams and the biggest of heartbreaks about it? It just shatters my heart.

Shuggy makes me go wild because of Buggy, mostly, ngl. I wouldn't like Shanks this much if it wasn't for Shuggy, probably (I love him a ton outside of his relationship with Buggy, but you know, it makes things a lot easier). I like Shuggy because the topics the ship touches are very emotional and angsty and they crush me completely. Buggy living in Shanks' shadow? Buggy wanting to follow Roger's steps and following Shanks instead because his self-esteem disappeared the moment his captain's legacy ended up on Shanks instead of him? The trust he had in Shanks? The way Shanks hesitates and the way Buggy refuses to follow somebody like that? Buggy running away on his own because he gave up his dream for somebody who doesn't even treat it the way it deserves? It's just heartbreaking. Especially if you have in mind that they just lost the man that raised them.

Buggy then becomes somebody that people make fun of and ridicule, and they don't even think about the possibility of him being part of the crew of the king of the pirates. And when they find out, they can't believe it. They don't talk about this much, but I think that it must hurt so fucking much to be seen this way. He was just as important as Shanks. Roger loved him too. And to this day, being Shanks' shadow still haunts him. I love the angst Shuggy has. It breaks me and I love it.

Then, (and this is something I adore) with the creation of Cross Guild, Buggy has the chance to get out of Shanks' shadow. He's surrounded by two guys who only think about money and stability and business and... It's boring, isn't it? It's not flashy! And I think he has this realization of "this is my chance to prove I'm worth something. This is my chance to actually go for my dream. Mine" because these two idiots keep talking about boring things instead of following their dreams and aspirations and bigger things! And it just shows how much Buggy truly cared about Laugh Tale and the One Piece and how much he has had to wait for it. And this has nothing to do with Shuggy, I just really love this fucking clown.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I love Shanks making Buggy lose the map and eat the devil fruit. Because, okay, in retrospect it feels very stupid because it was a simple accident. But just hear me out- Even though it was an accident, Buggy lost his ability to swim for powers he didn't want. He lost the ability of independence, because what's a pirate on his own if he can't swim? He lost his individuality that night, and we see him depend on others constantly throughout the show. And Shanks mentioning that Buggy is a great swimmer? Oh, fuck you Oda for making me cry so early in the show. Then, the map. He lost his individuality and then he lost the only thing that led him to a future with treasures and his dreams. Then again, losing his independence because he couldn't just go on his own without a map. Fucking great. The fact that Shanks jumps to rescue him the second Buggy starts to drown haunts me at night, too. They're just so-- Ugh.

But Shuggy is not everything about Buggy's resentment and angst. And it's not about Shanks missing him and wanting his best friend back because he doesn't know what happened for him to run away so easily.

It's also about unconditional love, and I am so passionate about that. Shanks care and love for Buggy is something the fandom exaggerates but... These people are not wrong, tbh. Shanks gave up his dream to go to Laugh Tale (postponed it) to stay with Buggy and take care of him because he was sick. Shanks is a very selfless person all the way, and when it comes to Buggy it seems that he doesn't hesitate to put him first (in serious situations. Their usual arguments don't count. They're just stupid, and love to argue and fight like the divorced couple they are). And besides, this happens right in the same episode after Toki gets sick and Oden wants to take care of her but she forces him to follow his dream and leave her behind. Like- What the actual fuck. Ah, yes, parallel the main couple in the Wano arc. I'm sure that's not romantic at all. The difference is that Shanks stayed. And god, does that hurt. Especially when he says they'll go on their own one day, because it shows he cared about Laugh Tale too (I mean, ofc, but from Buggy's POV it's just different).

To end this I also want to say that, leaving the whole deep analysis behind: Their personalities just match. They're funny to watch. They're cute. They have an angsty story behind them. They won't stop arguing like little kids but they care for each other still. They are chaotic. They're just... Perfect for each other.

Hope you liked my tiny essay about them because I could've kept going on and on and on about it, but some people (like me, sadly) have to wake up early tomorrow to work instead of just posting about gay fictional characters (somebody please pay me to do these things and I'll stay on tumblr 24/7).