#unpopular opinion but I genuinely think he is (or at least has the potential to be) one of the most interesting characters in this show if

[creativity-deficient]

“Tweek isn’t a soft uwu boy!! He’s unhinged and he bites people!!” “No way!! Tweek wouldn’t hurt a fly!”

How about Tweek is a complex character who isn’t defined by one singular trait? How about tweek is a generally sweet and anxious kid who typically AVOIDS confrontation but is also a lot more capable than he looks and is more than willing to defend himself and fight for the things he cares about? How about Tweek has WAY more personality and character than people give him credit for and the show doesn’t utilize that NEARLY as much as they should? How about-

[soullessjack]

🔥 jack

oh my godddd I have so many unpopular opinions where do I even start….HOLY DISCLAIMER BATMAN!

anyways so in no particular order or tier system:

✯ i don’t think jack would wear anything feminine im sorry spn fandom. for lolz he has same-outfit-pattern-everyday autism and for serious it’s like. Really weird how fandoms tend to HC/portray non-binary amabs (and men/transmascs in general) almost exclusively as GNC or fem-presenting…like DGMW that is a real and valid form of self expression but it’s not the Only type of non-binary expression that exists. and honestly…**dare I say that most fandom/queer spaces just need to realize that queer masculinity exists and it doesn’t always have to be a matter of breaking gender norms??

** genuinely do whatever u want idc I can’t stop you i don’t want to stop you yada yada. paint his nails and put him in a skirt all u want but Please recognize patterns yall 😭

✯ more headcanon complaints (see disclaimer above ⇧) but I promise to switch it up soon. anyways every time somebody on this lil website says something along the lines of “Jack can’t handle/doesn’t like [insert violence, scary or adult-oriented thing], he prefers [soft or blatantly childlike things]” I shrivel inward like a dead spider. It’s annoying, it’s completely inaccurate to his canon personality and interests, it’s annoying ˣ2, and whether ppl wanna admit it or not—it stems from infantilization. not necessarily ableism, as infantilization is not exclusive to disabled people, but still just about the same thing.

honestly all I see of majority jack headcanons are ones that set him back to just being a child or otherwise being treated like one. for example, the one about him being able to shapeshift is pretty cool...until it just becomes about him deciding to age regress, yknow, to an age set he canonically chose not to go through, showed no desire to be in, and is more offended than anything to be considered as such. all of his interests have to be some shit like bluey or animal crossing, and he drinks apple juice from a sippy cup instead of beer. BARF.

I’ve lessened on my keyboard warring over babyjack in the past year but I have not lessened in being a hater. and I’ve said this before, but the baby-jack au already breached headcanon containment a long time ago when it’s not only so widespread that ppl take it for canon and it makes having any intelligent conversation about him nearly fucking Impossible, but it also lead to harassment and accusations of being a fucking predator, to anyone who dared find a whole grown man attractive. any potential jack ship, like jackharper? automatic grooming case to them. it’s like the fandom is just so dead set on this idea that jack really truly is a child in every aspect you can think of, and for what? if it’s just a headcanon, something you know is not part of the actual show, then don’t go Travis the Chimp levels of apeshit when you see him being treated like he is canonically 💀

unpopular opinion numero 3 which is slightly connected to 2:

✯ baby-jack and a handful of the domestic au’s are BORING (see disclaimer again ⇧), not just on a surface level to my suiting, but also because I feel like it just ..misses the point of the show?

the ragtag untraditional found family is now as nuclear and traditional as the Atomic Age. Dean and Cas are the most heteronormative “who wears the pants in the relationship” gay couple ever, Sam is demoted to the uncle that gets written out of his own family, Jack is just there to make his gay dads look cute and emphasize that they’re a gay family (while still being very heteronormative), and at least 5 of them could be found in a California gated community. everything that made any of them unique or defined their personalities is just scrubbed off, even for an AU.

so much of the later seasons focus on Sam and Dean realizing that they don’t have to make a hard splitting decision between the lives they want to live; that they can find a balance; be happy and have good things—namely families—without giving up hunting (and vice versa, that they can have hunting without giving up on family or happiness). everybody loves the gay hunters from S10(?12?) and what they represented for Dean, but I almost never see that be put into practice in the fandom.

THEY’RE ALREADY DOMESTIC!!! AND WITH THAT PERFECT BALANCE!!!! Season 13 quite literally gave Team Free Will a surrogate son to raise and established them as a family; highly untraditional, largely dysfunctional, overall not fitting of a family family, and yet they are a family still. Dean wears an apron and cooks and bakes for everyone; he built himself a man cave and established two separate family night events that they all ritually keep up; Sam has a morning jogging routine and visits his girlfriend every so often; Jack was taught how to drive, has normal chores like washing dishes, and gets groceries. And they didn’t just have that while fighting monsters—they had that while fighting a whole fucking archangel. Even if it did go down the gutter by the end, they still had it: domestic familial bliss and violent messy hunting without having to trade one for the other.

✯ I truly genuinely think Jack’s relationship with Dean is the best, most interesting and most misunderstood out of the three, and I also think that the problems with his relationship to Cas and Sam are hugely overlooked by the fandom—granted they are very small, especially if you’re comparing it to Dean, but they’re still there and I think we should bully Cas and Sam about it more. I shan’t elaborate because it’s 5AM and this was an impulsive add-on ❤️

✯ getting normal now…his plaid pattern jacket from the first half of Ouroboros is ugly as SHIT i have never liked it and don’t think I ever will. but I cannot deny it; he got that shit on.

✯ most unpopular opinion of all, I wanna do insane shit to his cervix 🙌

[chrysalis-the-butterfly]

angel dust :3

Send me a character and I’ll list:

Favourite thing about them: "Thing", singular? I can't put just one thing! There are too many things! The humour in his dialogue. The songs he sings. The fact that he's both an ex-mafia member and a femme gay man. The fact that he's got a twin sister in Heaven. The changes we see in his character over the course of Season 1. The bond he forms with Husk. The dynamic he has with Charlie (and the others in the hotel). The angst of his relationship with Valentino. The voice. The hair. The eyes. The arms. The chest fluff. The outfits. The dance moves. I just love him so much.

Least favourite thing about them: Well, the way he acted towards Husk initially was, let's face it, sexual harassment. Just because it was a response to trauma doesn't make it okay. I appreciate that Angel doesn't bother Husk like that after "Masquerade" - he still makes sex jokes, but now they're less about targeting people and making them feel uncomfortable - but I still think it would have been good for Angel to explicitly acknowledge that his behaviour wasn't acceptable and apologise to Husk.

Favourite line: (porn voice) "I've been a bad boy, and I need a big strong daddy to put me in my place..." (regular voice) "...on the path to redemption!"

brOTP: I like the friendship he develops with Charlie. The prequel comic "Dirty Healings" shows that she sees potential in him that he doesn't see at first. He initially only joins the hotel for the free rent and to get away from Valentino, but then he comes to genuinely care about Charlie, as she does for him. That's nice to see.

Also, Angel and Emily haven't interacted yet, but I think they would have a cute friendship if they did!

OTP: Huskerdust! I've seen so much cute fanart and read so many hurt/comfort fics of the two together that I can't help but love this ship. I enjoy thinking about them being together and how they could change each other for the better. Having Husk around to take care of Angel would definitely be good for him.

But Angel's trauma isn't going to go away overnight, so that'll be a lot to deal with. And Husk is also pretty judgemental, so if Angel ever has a relapse and Husk treats him too harshly for it, that could put a rift between them. Angst potential!

Everyone talks about how Husk is changing Angel, helping him to be more honest, but I do think Angel is changing Husk too. Husk certainly seems to drink less after "Masquerade". And if Husk was somehow able to help Angel out of his contract, that would be redemption for his own participation in the cruel Overlord system.

Angel and Husk are not perfect people, but they could be perfect for each other.

nOTP: Any ship that involves pairing Angel with a woman. He's gay. He wouldn't be interested.

As for Valangel ... look, I am interested in exploring the backstory - I want to find out how Angel met Valentino and what led to him signing his soul away. But I definitely do not want Angel to stay with that moth. That pairing is way too toxic.

Random headcanon: Both Anthony and Molly had albinism when they were alive, and that's why they're so pale in the afterlife. Anthony also had a visual impairment, so his demon form overcompensated by giving him extra eyes.

Unpopular opinion: Some fans love seeing Angel with all six arms out and six guns blazing, but I'm not so keen on it. That's a personal thing, really - I just don't like guns and don't think they have any reason to exist. All they do is kill people, and killing people is wrong. If Angel's got all six arms out, he should be using them to give Husk a back massage instead.

Song I associate with them: Besides "Poison"? Then "All You Wanna Do" from SIX: The Musical. They're both super-catchy pop songs about the dark topic of sexual abuse sung by characters associated with the colour pink. I watched the Hazbin Hotel pilot for the first time on the same weekend I went to see SIX: The Musical, so that's a neat coincidence!

Favourite picture of them:

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

mercy for the character ask game 💖

Mercymorn my best friend Mercymorn!!!

favorite thing about them: she contains many contradictory multitudes! I’m so intrigued by her genuine devotion to John— she’s so fervent I can only assume it’s true— next to her commitment to wanting to kill him. She loves him, she has no *moral* qualms with him. but the grief over Cristabel’s death is just so great that knowing that it could have all been avoided is like the single thing she could never look past

and she’s also very uneasy in the beginning of HTN, I wonder if she was having second thoughts? that’s the only way I can read her first conversation with Augustine

least favorite thing about them: I would’ve liked her to interact more with Harrow just because it would be interesting. I really like her dynamic and her seeming to despise Harrow for both seeing herself in her and presumably that Harrow managed to preserve her cavalier

favorite line: obviously acid jail is an all timer. from a character perspective the entire segment dinner segment before dios apate minor is FASCINATING. this bit:

“You’re wrong, Augustine. You still hate Cristabel … you hated my cavalier long before what she did.” […]

“Do I, Mercy? God help me, I don’t think I do.”

She said, “Look me in the eyes and say that.” […]

“Joy, what’s done is done. They’re dead. The crime is punished. I don’t hate Cristabel.”

Her face was savage and smooth and implacable. “Say it again,” she said

absolutely deranged choice of fake conversation to have before pivoting to having sex on the dinner table directly after. she also later yells at him for being the one to bring up Cristabel when he most certainly did not lol it was all on her!

brOTP: I don’t really have one, I feel like all the OG lyctors are fucking so it’s not much of a bro situation lol and the newbies she just doesn’t have much of a dynamic with? it is really funny seeing her yell at the Blood of Eden people tho

OTP: oh you know!!! (Mercystine)

nOTP: I don’t really have one tbh. there are plenty of potential ship dynamics I don’t care about but nothing that I actively hate

random headcanon: I do actually agree with the literal pink hair fanon. she’s the sort of person who says “hiss” out loud she was clearly super fucking online and I could see her dyeing her hair pink pre res and then just keeping it that way. like Mercymorn definitely had a tumblr and she remembers nyan cat and carmeldansen even tho both memes are probably really old by her era. she probably had an ugly pink gamer girl set up at home

unpopular opinion: Mercybel is rather boring? I prefer what that death means for Mercy rather than caring much about it as like a dynamic

favorite picture of them: I don’t have a link on hand but the Mercystine stairwell Leyendecker study is soooo good

[silasoctakiseron]

character meme: if colum has not been sent, please, I love him. silas is obvious and I'm sure someone will send him but if they don't, here's the prompt if colum is covered. if both of them have been sent then ortus because I'm crying about him rn. sorry they're all men.

Putting @butchflint's ask here also! Colum My Friend Colum

favorite thing about them

I would say that his devotion to Silas is unfortunately it. Like the incredible pain of raising a child into someone you no longer recognize and did not teach to be this way but still loving them even when you can't stand them. I wish he had his own life but I also deeply love and feel for him in this respect. I ALSO love the fact that he's one of the only cavs in the building who has actually seen combat and therefore can bring the motherfucking thunder on a bitch after sitting around being polite and mild-mannered all day.

least favorite thing about them

Genuinely don't think I have one. He's a reasonably decent guy. It sucks that he has to uncomplainingly obey Silas's will all the time but that's not his fault.

favorite line

He has some great and tragic ones but this one was the one that immediately came to mind. He's literally just some guy. “Someone could … just go ask,” rumbled Colum the Eighth, shocking Gideon with an inherently sensible suggestion.

brOTP

What if you were this guy's nephew and also a little bit his parent and also his indentured servant and also his mouthpiece and also his battery and also the closest thing he had ever had or would ever have to a friend. What then.

OTP

Married to his work, I'm afraid. That said I love the concept of him fucking like, Naberius at Canaan House as a tiny little rebellion against both general Eighth House repression and Silas specifically being in his fucking business all the time. Like please have a meaningless orgasm courtesy of some twink it's the least you deserve

nOTP

I literally cannot think of a ship with him in it that I care enough about to have active notp feelings about it.

random headcanon

Probably got explicitly reprimanded by the elders or whatever at some point in Silas's childhood for being too soft on him and potentially ruining him for the Master Templar position even though he himself was like 19 running around after a 3yo. Also in regards to matters other than Silas I think that his memory is increasingly poor in little ways and he is doing a progressively worse job of hiding this from the people around him.

unpopular opinion

Giving a fuck about his existence first of all but also I think that his absence from Harrow's Canaan bubbles was incredibly narratively important and that Silas's deranged erratic behavior and suicide were caused by his disappearance/Silas's remembrance of his death. Like I think Colum and the location of his soul (which is clearly not in the River) are going to end up being some kind of linchpin with regard to the stoma and the gang's journey through hell.

song i associate with them

Through Me (The Flood) - Hozier. Specifically the opening.

favorite picture of them

Definitely this donation comm I got from notedchampagne in which he is waiting for G-d to take him away from this vale of tears. (These are super fairly priced btw and I know their friend still needs help with rent.)

[lesbiansanemi]

SHINOBU FOR ASK GAME!!!

OFC OFC HELL YES MY BELOVED SHINOBU <3 TY JAYFORD <333

Favorite thing about them: There are so, so many things I love about Shinobu, but ultimately I think my favorite thing has to be her all-consuming desire for revenge. That sounds so edgy, but it is very rare that I get to see a female character have a genuine revenge plot line, let alone that being the main focus of her story, and it actually gets to end with her killing the man she wants revenge against. So many revenge plot lines (especially ones given to women) end with the character giving up vengeance, or allowing someone else to take it for them. Not Shinobu. She got what she wanted and told Douma to go fuck himself in hell. Queen shit

Least favorite thing about them: I tried so hard to come up with something, but I truly have no genuine complaints with Shinobu's character and how she's written. So I'll choose something petty. Her hairstyle. Like, pinned up it looks fine, I like it, but we never see her hair down so I DON'T KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IT DRIVES ME INSANE. I def don't think she has very long heir, I tend to go with shoulder length, but god I would love to know

Favorite line: Tbh her whole monologue from her opening scene still sticks with me. Her cadence and word choices and cheery smile as she talks about torturing the sister spider demon did such a good job of introducing her as a character, and their the lines I can most clearly remember off the top of my head

brOTP: Now.... hear me out.... Shinobu and Sanemi. I like the hc that they grew kind of close themselves when Sanemi and Kanae were Hashira together. I think they probably would have gotten along pretty well (well, by Shinobu and Sanemi standards) before Shinobu adopted a lot of Kanae's mannerisms and personality after her death. Because of this, I like to think that Sanemi is one of the few people she will fall back into her "old" personality with, at least in small ways. I do think they drifted apart after Kanae's death though. Partially because Shinobu emotionally distanced herself from pretty much everyone, but also because Sanemi didn't like her trying to emulate Kanae in the ways that she did. He found it weird and unsettling. But, every now and then, in brief moments where they're alone together, they can fall into old teasing and banter more easily than they realize

OTP: ShinoMitsu, easily! It's one of my favorite kny ships in general. I think that Shinobu and Mitsuri compliment each other as characters very well, and there is so much angst potential regarding their relationship (I know you know what I'm talking about, you understand Jayford haha). Mitsuri inspiring Shinobu to want to live again but she doesn't know how is actually something that can be so personal

nOTP: Shinobu x any man. Sorry that's a whole lesbian. But more specifically, I really can't fuck with Giyu//Shino or Dou//Shino. Keep that shit AWAY from me. I just don't like them in general, but I find so much of the content for them leans very heavily into "woman fixes sad broken man" and makes Shinobu way too nurturing and mothery which.... eugh....

Random headcanon: I like the headcanon that she opens the Butterfly Mansion to any women who need a shelter/resources for any reason, related to demons or not. The estate is huge, and as a Hashira, money is not an issue. So she's more than happy to give any women and girls a place to stay if they need to get out of bad situations (be it related to family, marriage, or something demonic). She is obviously very busy, so she's not directly involved with a lot of the women who are in and out, but she does what she can for them. She's also very willing to get any girls to good trainers to become swordsmen, if they want

Unpopular opinion: I feel people in the fandom swing wildly between two misinterpretations of her. The first being where people act like she's a much "better" person than she is, and who seem to fall for her smiles and pleasant tone. They treat her as if she can do no wrong, and tend to get mad/upset if someone depicts her as less than perfect (wild to me, esp considering canon makes it very obvious that she has many flaws). However, you also have the other side of the spectrum, where people act as if she's a horrible, awful irredeemable bitch and disregard her kindness as nothing but an act because she's complex and sometimes does questionable things. I do think both of these things are rooted in misogyny, the belief that women have to either be perfect goddesses, OR they're two-faced fake bitches, and unfortunately because Shinobu is so nuanced, she tends to get both. But yeah I hate both these interpretations of her and they are both very wide spread. Like guys... can we please just appreciate her for being a nuanced character who has both good and bad aspects, I'm begging

Song I associate with them: I have a couple! Kamikaze and Spoils of War for Shinobu specifically, and then Thank You For the Venom and Dying Star for some ShinoMitsu vibes imo (I should make a Shinobu/ShinoMitsu playlist)

Favorite picture of them: Every time I think of this little drawing I lose my mind, it's so cute and the way Shinobu is just fucking staring at her.... Real

[connorshalstead]

A few opinions about Chicago Med below unpopular, popular, I dunno, y’all decide!

Ava’s character had so much potential, but the way the producers wrote her relationship with Connor screwed her over.

As much as I love Rhodestead, I really, REALLY wish Manstead would’ve worked out. Albeit, give Will some therapy and teach him how to treat a woman !!

If we couldn’t have Manstead, we should’ve at the very least had Jeff Clarke with Natalie, he genuinely cares about her, but at the time, she was in love with Will. I wish they had more time together.

Elsa sucks. Period. I get, that it’s fiction and she’s meant to be quirky and not an average doctor? But she’s such an asshole to patients that I can’t respect her as a doctor.

Natalie should’ve had an arc where she was transferred to the peds department permanently. She would’ve thrived there.

I don’t like Nina. I understand people that do, but she’s personally not for me, I think her and Will’s relationship was… pointless? It was only to make Will realize he was truly in love with Natalie. Which, didn’t matter in the end cause of how badly their relationship ended.

The way Sarah left was absolutely insulting to her character and her relationship with Dr. Charles. Biggest punch to the gut ever as someone who relates strongly to Sarah.

Connor’s best arc was becoming a heart surgeon under Downey’s guidance. Their friendship was too short and underrated.

Lanik deserved so much more screen time. He was the best E.D. Chief and should’ve gotten more appreciation.

Maggie carries the show, I take not disagreeing on this one actually. /hj

April honestly deserves to be happy. She’s been through so much shit, and she and Ethan DESERVED that happy ending.

The “safe” drug use site was maybe Will’s worst decision. Next to Jennifer Baker and taking care of Burke.

And leaving Natalie in the dark ^

As bad as I feel for both Natalie and Will, she had no right to treat Will the way she did, having lost her memory or not.

There was a point where I DID NOT like Natalie. She was flat-out emotionally abusive to Will when he genuinely did care about her and tried to help.

That being said, Will still has faults. He should’ve absolutely given her space after the breakup and the Burke situation.

And I know he’s a highly secondary character but, I can’t help but feel bad for Owen? He saw Will as his dad, he was probably the first male figure he saw after he was born for… quite a while? It was shitty of Natalie to completely separate them. Especially after how much Will cared about him.

Second, to all of that, Philip was fucking pointless.

Ben was the best thing to happen to Maggie as well.

Jesus Christ, I feel like these people go through fiancés like cigarettes. (April with Tate, and in S5, Ethan)

And Natalie with Jeff, then Will?

Like, let people get married?? What is Dick Wolf so scared of? (Gay ppl probably)

Will deserves a STABLE RELATIONSHIP with a good person, not an ex-drug addict (who he fought with constantly and THEN SHE ASKED HIM TO GO TO LA WITH HER?), not Natalie, and Connor is gone so… :/ Idk, give him and Nina another chance even???

I really wish we got more “casual” crossover content. Like, I wanna see scenes of Casey, Severide, the Halstead brothers, Upton and maybe even Ruzek? Just hanging out at Molly’s :(

I really think Sarah and Connor were a missed opportunity. Especially with all the weird shit that happened in the first two seasons? It wouldn’t have been too far-fetched.

Better than Sarah and Joey 😭

Sarah deserved a love interest and someone to help carry her burdens. That girl had been through enough

Along with wanting Will to have a stable relationship, we should’ve gotten more Reesestead scenes…

Crockett is kind of a dick…? Especially to Ethan in his earlier episodes. But, he’s redeemable.

I really like Noah! But, I think he’s better suited as an E.D. doctor, not a surgeon.

Also, as much as I LOVE April and want to say she does no wrong, the way she treated Noah was extremely childish and unfair. He truly could handle himself and him becoming a surgeon goes to show that.

Finally, Chicago Med is absolutely shit at trans and gay representation. To the point of sometimes blatant transphobia in some episodes… (Looking at Claire…)

Thank you for reading, and remember that these are my opinions ! Feel free to disagree but remember, sending death threats is a crime !! Respect people’s opinions.

[piracytheorist]

Character ask : Anya Chichi

Anya Forger

First impression: Oh she looks cute. Hope she doesn't turn into a plot device. Impression now: My adorable chaotic gremlin who has more agency and control in the story than her spy and assassin parents <3 Favorite moment: I think I'll choose the moment where she rescues the drowning boy in episode 11. She's kind and selfless enough to risk her life to save him, and she didn't even hesitate to jump into the pool like how brave is that kid! And since she didn't want to expose her secret she took it all upon her to act and save him herself. Idea for a story: I think it'll be wasted potential if we never learn about the scientists who created her and their motives, so I think a story of her being taken by them will be interesting, albeit sad, until at least her parents come and kick ass to save her. Unpopular opinion: I don't ship Damιanya and that seems to be quite the unpopular opinion in this fandom... Even if they're aged up and Damian actually treats her decently, I still don't think they'd make an interesting couple. Favorite relationship: Anya with Papa and Mama. Don't make me choose! Favorite headcanon: I genuinely wonder if Endo is ever gonna explain why she has those little hats on her head, and I think it would be hilarious for them to be just hair clips that she wears literally 24/7. So my headcanon for that is that Anya is just stylish!

Loid Forger

First impression: LOL that's a way to break up with your girlfriend. Is he just gonna be one of those boring protagonists whose only character traits is past trauma and being OP? Impression now: If anyone hurts him I will commit several felonies. But please hurt him I want the whump :3 Favorite moment: Bench scene after Yor kicks the living daylights out of him. The vulnerable moment of him remembering his mother and opening up to Yor about that because we know it's real and not for the mission is unparalleled. Chef's kiss. Idea for a story: Okay okay hear me out. We know that he's a very disciplined spy so if he's ever caught he has to be caught in the act. Mere evidence won't do because he'll deny any involvement to hell and back and be pretty convincing about it. So he has to be caught red-handed. And an idea for that is, he's disguised himself as Yuri because for Reasons he has to infiltrate the SSS offices, but then for some reason the actual Yuri appears there too. "Yuri" and Yuri fight, and an incompetent officer finds them, aiming his gun at them. Twilight is silent, but Yuri tries to convince the guy that's he's the real Yuri and he should shoot the fake one. The guy says that "Only a spy would act like that" and shoots. While that happens, within a split second Twilight thinks "I have to let him die. I have to get out of here. I have to let him die." But he just cannot do that because he knows how much it would devastate Yor to lose her brother... so he pushes him out of the way and takes the bullet instead. Maybe not anywhere too dangerous, like his arm or something. But it's enough to slow him down as he tries to escape, and he's finally caught while still wearing a mask with Yuri's face. You can imagine Yuri's shock and horror when he realizes it's "Loi-Loi", who is a spy and tried to infiltrate the offices and also saved his fucking life. Because as many lies as he's said, Yuri has absolute proof that this man really does love his sister. I want this to happen so much you have no idea. Unpopular opinion: I've yet to read the manga and anything that explores his backstory but I think it's easy to think he'd abandon his spy work after he realizes he loves his family and wants to spend his life with them. Which yeah it's what we want for him but I think his desire for peace tops even his love for his family. He'd rather break his own heart along with theirs and leave if it means he can keep working as a spy and protect the fragile peace. Which is why I feel that the story cannot end without Ostania's government falling, and the new, more democratic government either signing a secure peace treaty with Westalis or uniting under one nation. Favorite relationship: Loid and Anya. Look I love twiyor as much as the next shipper but the father/daughter feelz was one of the things that hooked me into the show so it's the one I want more of. Favorite headcanon: I once read a post talking about how people from Westalis may have a different accent than people from Ostania, and now I cannot get that idea out of my mind. I think it would be interesting to see Twilight suddenly drop all pretenses and start speaking with the accent he grew up using, allowing himself to connect with that old part of himself he kept hidden. I doubt they'd do that in the anime (and since I watch the Japanese version I don't think I'd notice the difference) but it's still a very interesting headcanon.

(no manga spoilers please 😁)

Send me a character!

[veliseraptor]

xue yang/jiang yanli?

What made you ship it?

One singular fic, singlehandedly.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I mean...I have a very specific weakness, as is probably evident, for Xue Yang's startling soft spot for people who are genuinely and without ulterior motives nice to him, and Jiang Yanli is...well, she is nice, but I also like taking this in a place where she is at least slightly more jaded than she is in canon, and a little sadder and older.

I also have a weird stubborn headcanon about Xue Yang specifically having kind of a soft spot for older women who are nice to him; I've written before about how I think generally they're less threatening to him than men off the bat (not unthreatening, but less threatening historically, might've been different if his formative trauma hadn't been exclusively involving adult men). And I think that plays very well here, particularly with Xue Yang getting absolutely fanatically, murderously attached to Jiang Yanli. When Xue Yang is loyal to someone (he's not loyal to many people) he does tend to go pretty hard on it, and here I think that could potentially be rewarded.

Also Jiang Yanli is remarkably chill about her two brothers being objectively speaking scary and violent (to other people) and while, yeah, that's about them being her brothers it does make me think about how I think she'd be very good at not taking Xue Yang's outrage bait tests. He says something outrageous to try to provoke a reaction and she just goes with it a la "xianxian is three years old." I feel like Xue Yang would also find this hilarious.

obviously I'm not saying this is a ship where everything is fine and good, it is inherently messy and in a universe where it happens at all several things have already gone wrong for Jiang Yanli in particular. but. I think Jiang Yanli should get to have a fucked up murderer deeply devoted to her well being. As a treat.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

That I ship it at all, probably. I feel like the other one might be just about how I don't want, like, dark Jiang Yanli, but I also don't want a Jiang Yanli who is totally clueless about who Xue Yang is and what he's capable of. I want a Jiang Yanli who has taken a look at the worst of what the cultivation world has to offer and still has a soft heart, but the steel that was always in her spine is a little closer to the surface.

[dark-night-star-light]

Spirit Animals: The Book of Shane (Reread pt. 18)

DISCLAIMER: WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES EXCEPT THE LAST FOUR BOOKS OF THE SECOND SERIES (THIRD ARC). 

Masterpost

Who is Shane?

“It isn’t very often that a gorilla and an octopus have a polite conversation” (1). God, I forgot how much I love this book.

“‘Hello, hello,’ said a deep voice . . . ” (1). I adore Mulop. He’s probably the best Great Beast.

“‘A villain through and through. The perfect choice to destroy the world and hand it over to me’” (2). This . . . is not how villains think. They genuinely believe they’re doing the right thing. Especially Kovo. He’s not just a mustache twirling villain. He has complex motivations. Why’s he pretending otherwise???

“‘I see a boy who will regret his mistakes . . . and who will miss his only true friend’” (2). The Shane and Abeke crumbs are going to destroy me. “His only true friend” I’m going to start sobbing.

“‘Is there a soul in there with any hope of redemption?’” (3). Shane’s redemption arc is truly one of the best I’ve ever seen. Also, this book clearly hints at the Wyrm, so I wonder why the writers didn’t make Kovo seem even the least bit sympathetic.

“‘I am quite certain,’ said Mulop. ‘that he would disagree.’ ‘I am quite certain,’ said Kovo. ‘that I don’t care’” (4). Obsessed with this interaction.

I don’t know if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but I actually really like the fourth wall break at the end of the introduction.

Venom

I forgot about the quotes . . . 

The parallels to the main story are so good. Both stories start with the summoning of a spirit animal but the contrast between terror and happiness is so jarring.

 “It was only then that the true horror of the situation finally dawned on Shane” (11). I think it’s so interesting that Shane himself never summoned one. That’s such a good choice on the writers’ part.

Shane’s jerking awake and obsessive checking is so sad. It almost feels like a form of PTSD. I love how they characterized him and his bare room.

“It was only after he was satisfied that he had not summoned a spirit animal in his sleep that he remembered to breathe” (11). How would you not know, though? You’d feel it.

“The tapestries showed legendary scenes of Stetriol’s ancient past. On one, torrents of water flowed from the mouth of a frog, creating all the lakes and rivers. Another showed two lizards painting patterns on each other, one with a fine brush and an eye for detail, the other without care” (12). I feel like that means something. Also, that must be Stetriol’s legendary water frog.

“But the Great Beasts had cursed Stetriol. They were better forgotten” (12). I wonder if Shane believes in the Great Beasts’ existence. Also, it’s so interesting how the “God” interpretation works here for the Great Beasts too, seeing as how Shane blames them for Stetriol’s curse. It’s strange he never learned about the First Devourer War.

“Shane imagined that if she attempted to lower herself any more than that, she might never manage to get up again” (13). Shane is hilarious, actually. Just not in a conventional way.

“He wasn’t sure exactly how old she was, but during her history lessons it was easy to imagine that she spoke from personal experience. The oddest thing about her, though, was that she sometimes spoke of the future as if it were history, too” (13). Wait. Did Yumaris bond to the earthworm before the events of the series??? I thought she got it when she drank the Bile??? Also, wow, lots of potential for plot holes there . . . 

“‘You will be glad to have this blade,’ she said . . . ” (13). OMG WAIT. DID SHE SEE THE WAR COMING? IS THAT WHY SHE GAVE HIM THE BLADE??? I think I got it, guys . . .

“Yumaris answered, a faraway look in her eyes. ‘For words and learning do little to impress a jackal.’ Shane tightened his belt and gave his tutor a questioning look. ‘There are no jackals in Stetriol’” (13). Wait. Yumaris saw Zerif coming??? That’s how I’m going to interpret it . . . 

It’s funny how Shane sees Gar as this wicked man, then does nothing about it.

“ . . . rumor had it that King Feliandor himself had added them during his reign, sometime after he had taken to calling himself the Reptile King” (15). So, the people of Stetriol know something at least . . .

“That was only made worse after the great war and the Greencloak invasion, when the island nation’s shores were overrun” (15). Wait, so. Then that means they know the full story, right??? Also I don’t know if I’ve talked about it before but the parallels between the Devourer Wars and the World Wars. The first ones were both referred to as “the great war” and the second was directly caused by the attacking nation being sidelined after being defeated during the first. I almost wonder if the inspiration for the First and Second Devourer Wars came from World War I and II.

Okay, so Zerif’s sunburn makes sense given that he climbed to Muttering Rock, but how was he not fried alive???

So Magda appears to be a servant, but earlier it’s stated that they didn’t have money to pay servants???

I kind of wish they’d shown more scenes of Shane and Drina before the bonding sickness incident.

“‘A worm? A slug? Something small and worthless’” (19). Interesting that Drina says this, because Yumaris’s spirit animal is a worm. Almost feels like Drina has a strained relationship with Yumaris. Foreshadowing the fact that Yumaris is the one that held Drina down when she got killed by Gerathon?

[cut because block limit]

“‘It’s not fair,’ she said . . . ‘I’d be great. I’d be so great’” (19). That’s actually so heartbreaking. 

“But in that moment, he felt no pity for her, and no love - only hate. Then he saw the handkerchief she held against her mouth. It was wet and heavy with blood” (19). This hits so hard. Just straight observations with no emotions attached. It feels so hopeless.

This snake anecdote is interesting. Might talk about it more in my Shane analysis. 

“But then their mother was there” (20). Doesn’t she have the bonding sickness??? Maybe this was a good day.

“‘This is the prince of Stetriol,’ she said. ‘He’ll never bow to a mere snake’” (21). This could either be irony, considering what happened with Gerathon, or it could be symbolism, with snakes representing evil and his mother saying that Shane would never become evil.

“In her absence . . . ” (21). Is Shane’s mom dead?

“ . . . when the Reptile King’s soldiers had bonded with any animal they could get their hands on” (21). So he knows about the Bile, too???

“‘I am in charge!’ Shane shouted” (23). Yeah, gettem. Also it’s hilarious how this must look to Zerif, to have this child shout at him like that.

Why doesn’t Shane just show Zerif to his father? Like, yeah, he’s sick or whatever, but he can just have him thrown in jail afterward again.

Shane casually calling himself leader in front of Gar!!!

“‘We’re the most peaceful nation in Erdas. The rest of the world pretends we don’t exist’” (25). He literally knows the entire story except the part about the existence of Nectar??? Also, why is Gar so insistent on starting a war? Like all he cares about is building his fleet. But why?

“‘It is my honor as regent to stand before you today to christen this ship . . . ’” (27). Erdas had Christianity???

The Stetriol-post-WWI-Germany parallels are. Not subtle.

Isn’t this the scene where Shane realizes that Gar wants to send him away to war to secure his own power??? Why is that not mentioned?

The idea of a small eight-year-old child who’s determined to kill all snakes is simply adorable.

“He was armed for war” (29). *insert picture of small child in scraps of armor*

“‘He wants to hurt the snakes,’ Drina said . . . ‘Because they hurt him’” (30). It’s interesting how Shane’s mom teaches him about harming innocents with revenge as young as eight, but this scene never actually says he processed or learned that.

“‘Most snakes are harmless, Shane. And the one that bit you was only surprised. You don’t want to hurt snakes for being snakes, do you?’” (30). Parallels between the war on the snakes and the war on the Greencloaks? The Greencloaks hurt Shane first, so he tries to hurt all of them, even the innocent ones. 

Small Shane yelling about how he’s not scared is so cute.

“‘Sometimes hate and fear are the same thing’” (30). Is this coded toward his relationship with Drina or the Greencloaks?

“ . . . Shane widened his eyes as if he cared” (31). Shouldn’t . . . he? Isn’t he kinda poor? Stolen food could be expensive . . . Also why are there servants now???

It’s so interesting how we don’t see Drina’s response to Shane asking her to leave with him . . .

“The planks that made up the fort had been painted pink and green - Drina’s and Shane’s respective favorite colors” (32). I’m going to assume that Shane’s favorite color is green based on the order the names and colors are listed in . . . his favorite color used to be the color of his future enemies . . . 

“He trailed his hand along a pink plank, curled his fingers into the gap, and with sudden violence ripped the board free” (32). He’s ripping away his childhood . . . ?

Oh, this is the scene where he realizes Gar’s plans to send him away to danger.

“If Shane refused to sail with the fleet, he would look like a coward” (32). He says . . . right before the exposition about his plan to leave Stetriol. Does he think that won’t make him look like a coward???

“Perhaps they’d even have a cure for Drina” (33). He’s right . . . in a sense. Even though it’s never explicitly stated, it's definitely implied that Nectar can’t cure bonding sickness, it can only prevent it.

Nobody: Literally nobody: Shane: *screams*

“‘Sugar water. Salt water. One maniac tried to convince my father to drink snake venom’” (34). But like. Why??? Was he unhappy or something?

“‘And during the day, it’s as hot as a cauldron.’ ‘I do not burn easily,’ Zerif said . . . ” (35). Only during the day??? Well, then, a lot of people should’ve been able to get to the top, right??? Just do it during the night . . . why is Zerif the only one who’s done this???

“‘One can learn all sorts of secrets,’ . . . ‘if one takes time to listen at the base of that great pillar’” (35). So Kovo didn’t hire Zerif, Zerif just overheard him talking???

“But Shane wasn’t allowed in the water. He knew he’d never be free” (36). Free, as in freely bonded to a spirit animal??? 

I forgot Shane’s mom died. 

“ . . . the Great Beasts were all but ignored in Stetriol . . . ” (37). Because Stetriolans believe the Great Beasts cursed them? 

It’s interesting how Shane thinks of the Four Fallen as “aid[ing] the Greencloak invasion” (37).

It really means something that Shane chose Mulop and Mulop is the only Great Beast that canonically saw the best in him. Shane and Mulop both have soft spots for each other.

Feliandor-Shane parallels!

“He looked over the portrait for a moment more, and decided he didn’t see much of a resemblance” (38). Shane! Fel! Parallels! Feliandor looking at the portrait of his parents and seeing no resemblance, but seeing that as a negative thing, and Shane seeing the portrait of Fel and seeing no resemblance, but seeing that as a positive thing.

“‘So smug,’ Shane said, feeling a little smug himself” (39). Heh.

[cut because block limit]

“‘Feliandor’s soldiers all used the Bile, and none of them suffered the bonding sickness’” (39). Okay, Shane came to the right conclusion, but did nobody tell him that the bonding sickness didn't even exist before the war?

How does Shane know what a talisman even is? Isn’t that some sort of secret?

The idea of the true king having the Jade Serpent is such a cool concept, and having the talisman be in the throne as a very literal interpretation of that is kind of interesting, because it kind of symbolizes how frivolous and material Kovo saw being king of Stetriol as. By “true king” he literally meant “guy who sits on the throne”, instead of something like “had the qualities of a king”.

“Would that mean Gar was the true king of Stetriol?” (41). See, this is what I mean. The narrative implies that having the talisman equals being the true king, even though that’s just what Zerif says.

Shane tries to save the kangaroo! That’s such a cool symbolism moment, representing how he truly just had good intentions.

“But there were no jackals in Stetriol” (43). Throwback moment.

“He refused, too, to admit that his wife had been sick” (44). Why did the king marry a woman with bonding sickness, anyway?

“But when his daughter . . . was similarly stricken, something in the king has snapped” (44) and “‘But the real trouble happened when he decided he could cure himself . . . He killed his own spirit animal’” (45) imply that the king killed his spirit animal around the time Drina got the sickness. It’s interesting how the combination of the death of a spirit animal and the bonding sickness compound on one another instead of canceling each other out. 

“‘ . . . I’d have to admit that the king is . . . unfit. That Stetriol is without a true leader’” (44). Not really anything wrong with that, though? He could just claim his position as leader.

Zerif refers to Shane as “Prince Shane”!!!

So Shane knew the entire story of what happened except the part about the Greencloaks having the Nectar. And that’s the turning point. That’s the moment he goes from being innocent to . . . not so much. 

Kovo’s message being so literal is perfect symbolism for how Shane saw being king as a surface-level thing. Just have a powerful spirit animal and no sickness and you’ll be a great ruler! Never mind any other qualities a king may need!

“The sense of triumph he experienced in that moment . . . ” (46). This reminds me of how he’s described to have “cold triumph” in his eyes during the showdown on Muttering Rock.

“ . . . bracing himself for her verbal abuse” (46). It’s so sad how he got used to that, though, even though he knew it wasn’t her fault.

“The curse had been broken” (47). Ironic.

“Shane stood on the beach that night and watched his sad little handmade boat go up in flames” (47). Symbolism for destruction of innocence, me thinks. The boat was made out of his childhood playhouse.

It’s so interesting how Shane didn’t get a real spirit animal, unlike Fel. Just thinking about how in another nation, he’d have been the only one in his family to not live up to expectations.

“He felt neither. But while their eyes were averted, he allowed himself a furtive smile” (48). Sort of makes me think that Shane’s morals immediately going out the window is about the destruction of his innocence more than him finally realizing it was an option to kill his father.

“What kind of person would want a spirit animal? A ruler, thought Shane. A king.” (48). This is what I meant when I said that Shane saw very shallow things as qualities of a good ruler rather than actual good qualities.

“Shane dreamed he’d bonded with a crocodile” (48). Ohohohohooho. 

“The creature had drowned one man and maimed two others before it had been subdued” (48). Kind of reminds me of that scene in Blood Ties where Shane sacrifices his own soldier to save Abeke. He doesn’t care who’s loyal to him.

“He woke slowly from an untroubled sleep” (49). Unlike the past two years . . . 

Also this story proves that Zerif’s jackal was a natural spirit animal . . . but we know he took the Bile. We also know after the war, it runs away, but wouldn’t their bond have been natural by that point? How did it leave him?

Vendetta

“The war was over, and he’d won it” (55). Gotta love the stark contrast between this section and the next one (Vengeance).

“But who needed to tell them apart anymore? What was the point of borders, anyway? It all belonged to him now” (55). Shane being up high symbolism for his ego?

“They’d both been lying for a very long time, hiding their true natures, like a crocodile hides beneath the surface of the water, waiting to strike” (56). The crocodile-Shane symbolism is just such a cool thread. It represents his corruption and redemption beautifully.

“The days he’d spent on the boat with Abeke had been … Well, they had been a pleasant respite from months of war” (56). I love how subtle this book is with Shane’s feelings for Abeke. You just get these little gems throughout that show how much he does truly care for her and how much it did hurt to betray her.

I like how it’s shown very clearly how hard the Greencloaks tried to fight to get the talismans back. Like they didn’t just give up hope at the end of Rise and Fall like the narrative suggests. No, they still tried to get them back. And they very nearly did.

“‘Have a care!’ Shane shouted. ‘Lose me and you lose the talismans’” (58). The ego that drips off of Shane in this section is just. Wow, this guy really talked back to a Great Beast. It’s honestly so well done.

“If there was one thing Shane couldn’t stand, it was feeling powerless. He’d had enough of that back in Stetriol. But he hadn’t truly been powerless in a long time. Not since he’d drunk the Bile and joined Zerif in his campaign against the Greencloaks” (58). I kind of want to know what Zerif’s motive in all this is? Why does he hate the Greencloaks? This is a great way of tying Shane pre-corruption and Shane post-corruption, though.

“‘Why not? Let them come in force,’ Shane scoffed. ‘I took them on single-handedly. What chance would they have against my army?’” (59). Shane is such an egoistic little bitch in this section, it's hilarious.

“‘You would not wish to displease Gerathon.’ ‘I know that,’ Shane spat. His face grew warm despite the blustery wind. ‘I know that well’”  (59). Ohhhhhhhh.

Shane’s fear of spiders parallels Meilin’s fear of spiders. They both started hating spiders during the same incident (Drina getting murdered by her own spirit animal). And Shane’s ego in this section perfectly matches Meilin’s near the beginning of the series, as well. 

“ . . . the most beautiful to Shane’s eye was the leopard of amber. It seemed to glow with its own inner light” (62). Well, warning that I’m about to read into this way more than the author probably meant for me to. The talisman is almost definitely symbolism for Abeke. It says “to Shane’s eye” meaning that objectively, the talisman probably doesn’t look that much better than the other talismans. Just like how, objectively, Abeke looks pretty average, but to Shane she’s more than that. It also says there’s an “inner light” which implies something that shines from within, not necessarily anything physical to see. Just like how Abeke has an inner charm. Also, the obvious leopard-Abeke symbolism.

Why does Shane have a vial of Bile??? Why would he need that???

“Kovo’s Obsidian Ape likewise enhanced his vision, but in a subtly different way than the falcon did” (65). I wonder how the Greencloaks got their hands on Kovo’s talisman and why they never used it before.

“[The Amber Leopard] made him feel at ease in this Niloan jungle Uraza had once called home. It was simply the most practical choice, he told himself” (66). Mhm.

“They had trusted their neighbors. That had apparently been a mistake” (67). Love the detached, almost unreliable way this is narrated. Out of context, you would think that Shane was not the one responsible for all the destruction.

“‘You killed me, whether you meant to or not. And that,’ he said, ‘is your nature’” (69). Probably more about Drina, honestly, not Gar.

“ . . . Shane jolted awake . . . ” (69). Hmmmm. So that didn’t go away then.

“Conor and Rollan had almost bragged about it when they’d told him” (70). Wow, Shane is an unreliable narrator.

“He was completely cut off from his sword, the talismans were a hopeless tangle on the floor . . . ” (71). This is why he should’ve kept the talismans on his person.

“ . . . feigning innocence before he remembered that he was in fact innocent” (73). Wow. Shane corruption arc go brrrrrr.

“The village, he decided, must have been protecting Greencloaks. It was the only explanation for the savagery with which the Conquerors had descended” (73). Wow, Shane really is such a manipulative ass in this section, and I love it. 

[cut because block limit]

“ . . . he couldn’t bring himself to pose as a Greencloak” (74). Shane’s ego is really getting in his own way, like my guy. Come on.

“ . . . Shane couldn’t leave him alone in the jungle. Could he?” (75). Reading on a bit further, you can tell that Shane kind of really doesn’t care about Achi and only takes him because he’s useful as a guide.

“But he knew what question Achi was waiting to hear, and he asked it” (78). Shane is manipulative and charming as hell.

“‘Abeke?’ Shane called, louder this time. ‘Abeke, if you’re out there, I can explain everything’” (80). God, I want to know what he would’ve said. Like think about the possibilities. 

“Shane made an involuntary gurgling sound” (81). THAT’S SO FUNNY.

Shane giving the Amber Leopard to Achi cements the Achi-Abeke parallels, in my head.

“He climbed even more nimbly now that he wore Abeke’s talisman - Uraza’s talisman, Shane corrected himself” (82). Ohhhh, so he does think of it as Abeke’s. 

“‘Did you ever hear the story about how the goanna and the perentie got their coloring?’” (83). Kinda wanna hear that one.

“Kovo escaped, but he lost the tail to the cats” (85). I wanna say, it’s pretty unlikely that this story actually happened in canon, because as seen in Tales of the Great Beasts, Uraza did actually like Kovo before they were enemies, saying that it unsettled her that he would work with murderers and calling him her neighbor. But a cute story nonetheless.

Also the story is kind of foreshadowing in its own sense, since in it Kovo is manipulative, but is still defeated in the end. 

“But that was the beauty of the Bile, wasn’t it? No one could resist it in the end. Not even stubborn, foolhardy Drina” (86). Foolhardy??? It’s still unclear whether Drina was in on the plan to get herself killed. In fact, it’s unclear whether Shane knew that the plan was to get Drina killed. 

“He didn’t need to bribe Achi, and he didn’t need to bully him either” (87). Well, at least Shane still has a shred of decency in this section.

“‘She was no Greencloak. She wasn’t even Marked’” (88). Wow, the Conquerors are straight-up stupid. How dumb do you have to be to realize that a non-Marked person means you got the wrong person??? And how dumb is Achi’s dad to gamble that they’d be that dumb?

“In [the jackal’s] jaws was a bloody crown, forged in the shape of a snake devouring its own tail’” (88). Wow, foreshadowing for Zerif’s betrayal for sure.

“‘He got the cats to stop fighting. He saved the day!’” (89). It’s ironic because Shane is clearly paralleling himself, but also he’s the one that started a fight in real life. 

“He was Uraza, and he was home” (91). Kinda cute, if you ignore the context.

“Not that it would have been a very strategic choice with a man-eating cat bearing down on him” (92). Right, but he’s used to sifting through talismans while running. He’s done it several times before in this section. Yes, he’s carrying Achi, but he’s also got Uraza’s talisman to take care of him while he searches. 

“‘And I lost the man I - a good man, Tarik’” (93). Well, that’s about as close to canon as we’ll get.

“‘I haven’t killed anyone,’ Shane growled” (93). Someone needs to teach this guy that killing can be indirect. And also, I don’t think that’s true. There are several battles that he’s been in, so I feel like it’s unrealistic to say he’s never killed anyone.

“‘So high and mighty. Not against sending an assassin after me, though, are they?’” (93). Yeah??? This is a war??? They’re gonna send someone after you, duh. Bro, what kind of logic is that???

“He acted quickly, and replaced the Amber Leopard with Kovo’s Obsidian Ape” (94). Kind of showing him throwing his morals out the window, since he was so repelled by the Obsidian Ape earlier.

“Black and white. Precisely how the Greencloaks saw the world” (95). As if you don’t??? My guy???

“‘Achi, it’s okay,’ Shane said quickly. ‘Grahv won’t hurt you’” (95). Wonder how true that would be if Lishay had called his bluff . . . 

“Shane had given him Jhi’s talisman and carried him all the way here despite the ache in his limbs” (96). Why did Shane carry him? Achi should’ve been healed? And why did Achi let Shane carry him?

“ . . . Shane turned to Achi and winked . . . ” (97). Bitch, he really tried that??? Like unironically??? I’m laughing. Man, I’m laughing so fucking hard.

“He tried to grasp at a fleeting sensation of victory, but it slipped through his fingers and was gone” (97). Kind of like how his victory over the Greencloaks in this section is short-lived and he lost anyway.

Vengeance

The quote. I’m sobbing.

“‘You won. We lost. Do you have to rub it in?’” (103). My guy. Do you know how war works???

“There was real hatred there. Real hunger for revenge” (103). Shane trying desperately to convince himself he’s not as much in the wrong as he is is simply splendid.

“‘Don’t play innocent with me,’ Shane countered. ‘I wrote the book on that particular trick . . . ’” (105). Paralleling the previous section?

“But he could always get more money” (106). How???

“‘Deadly?’ Shane echoed. ‘A frog?��” (107). Does he seriously not know about the whole bright-colors-warn-predators thing??? Huh . . . 

Why does he have a vial of Bile on him??? That is so weird.

“‘They came close, though,’ Shane said, fighting to keep his voice steady” (108). Not him still trying desperately to stroke his own ego.

“ . . . hoarded so jealously over the years” (108). One thing I notice across several books in this series is that whenever they talk about the Greencloak-Nectar situation, they always say “hoarded jealously”. Like, variety in word choice is not a thing apparently.

“‘ . . . What sort of snake?’” (109). This section is so appealing because of the mystery aspect. 

“But what if it didn’t stay that way? What if it could somehow do more harm? The Bile was Shane’s mess. And he was looking to clean up his messes” (110). Right, but he effectively does nothing. The Bile does lose all its power??? That’s so weird. But okay, I guess.

“ . . . stopped to trade for a bag of roasted nuts . . . ” (110). Where did he get the money??? He just gave it all away?

“‘You sound just like a snake I used to know’” (111). Yumaris???

Where is Shane getting the money to hire Anya??? Like huh???

Also Anya is described in an incredibly similar fashion to Anka. Like. I can see how you might get the two mixed up.

“As Shane’s parents and sister grew sicker, he was left entirely to her whims” (113). The relationship between Shane and Yumaris is so interesting and kind of contradictory in some places. 

The whole conversation about tools is probably a reference to Venom, when Yumaris insists that Shane needs many tools . . .

“If this year of war had taught him anyway, it was how much he’d taken for granted as a prince” (115). This is directly contradictory to his statement in Vendetta about how he’s not pampered despite being a prince. Character development or something, I guess. 

“‘“Bushmaster” is a code. And it leads to that jungle temple’” (117). How does he know that??? Is it something Yumaris taught him???

Feel like the venom-poison-snake-frog thing is symbolism for Shane and Yumaris. Shane is a snake, who’ll hurt you by himself, but for Yumaris to hurt you, you have to interact with her first.

“‘The bright colors are a warning to predators: I am dangerous and I taste bad. Stay away.’ ‘Sort of like a Greencloak,’ Shane said under his breath” (119). LOL.

“‘We don’t have bears here.’ ‘Tell that to the bear!’” (120). I love them, Your Honor. 

[cut because block limit]

“Outside of Stetriol, they were supposed to pretend he was no more than their commander’s nephew” (121). Even the Conquerors that aren’t Stetriolan know that???

“‘I’m thinking we throw Soyland to the bear and she lets us go’” (123). I’m with Anya there, not gonna lie.

“‘The bear was a victim in all this. Poisoning her isn't right’” (124). Redemption arc Shane go brrrrr. 

“‘“Bushmaster” was what we called this operation. We- We named them all after snakes’” (124). Oh, so that’s how he knew.

Also, what was the operation specifically?

I get that they have a common enemy, but Anya doesn’t react with much ferocity toward Shane’s reveal. Like. They haven’t even known each other that long.

“But there was no point in turning down the man’s gratitude, and he accepted it with a curt nod” (127). Yes. Yes, there is??? Yes, there is.

“Shane wondered briefly how many young men and women of Stetriol had marched into battle across Erdas” (127). Oh, so they are from Stetriol. Interesting. 

“Each and every drop was a drop made by their hands” (129). Wow, the paranoia starts already.

“And then there was Yumaris, who made an unusual choice” (130). Okay, so if Yumaris hadn’t already been bonded to her worm before, then how did she know the future before taking Bile? It said she spoke of the future like the past, so was she just making that up???

“Alone among the kings and queens of Stetriol. Food for worms, all of them” (131). I guess you can never really escape your fate, even if you become great.

“‘Sir,’ said Lovvorn. ‘Sire!’ said Alix. ‘Idiot,’ said Anya” (136). Cackling.

“‘Did she tell you I have a weak spot for girl archers? Did she think I’d be more likely to trust you if you reminded me of someone I care about?’” (137). Ooooooooh. Kicking my feet at the subtle references to Abeke.

Shane blaming Yumaris for Drina’s death as if he isn’t the one that came up with the plan in the first place is so damn blame-shifty. (He came up with it right? Feel like that hasn’t been confirmed, only heavily implied.)

“‘Gerathon was going to kill one of you that day. By stepping in when I did, I ensured it wasn’t you’” (140). Why was Gerathon going to kill one of them??? I thought it was Drina, so the plan could go . . . well, according to plan. But it really seems like Shane and Yumaris had no idea Drina was going to be killed??? So what was the original plan exactly???

“‘I wish I could see for myself how you’ve grown’” (140). Awwww.

“‘The world above will need a protector who can walk the line between good and evil’” (141). Why do they need to be evil???

What happens to Anya after this? Does she just go back? Do they ever talk again? Does she know Shane eventually dies?

Venture

“‘I’m not here to cause trouble Maddox’” (148). Why are they immediately antagonistic??? I literally don’t remember shit about this. 

“ . . . Abhay wasn’t from Stetriol - and he didn’t have an obvious grudge” (149). Wait. Are the men mad because Shane lost the war? Or something different?

“‘I am Maddox’s king’” (149). He just said it didn’t bother him to not be called a king like a page ago.

“‘People said that, at the end, you fought alongside the Greencloaks’” (149). How do people even know that? It happened at the Evertree, and nobody else was there.

“‘For us, the war never ended’” (151). Huh.

“Shane dreamed he summoned a wolf . . . he knew he’d never be alone again” (151). This is kind of heartbreaking, in a way. Like he’s been alone his whole life and only because of war is he making friends. And never ones that he really keeps.

“Others called him a traitor” (153). For fighting with Greencloaks in the end?

“She had a special knack for pointing out Shane’s shortcomings, and pride ranked high on the list” (154). She’s not wrong. Even in The Burning Tide, when Shane is trying to redeem himself, he wants to impress Abeke more than anything else.

“But, oh, how he wanted to trash this guy” (154). Yeah, me too, honestly. He doesn’t appear to be the most open-minded.

“Shane could swear the figure was wearing a crown” (155). Why is he watching her during a fight, anyway??? Like, dude???

“Shane dreamed he summoned a panda. The animal wrapped him in its arms” (155). Awwww.

“‘The dirt is no place for pride, my king’” (156). If Shane wanted to help himself, shouldn't he have gotten up and not laid pathetically in the dirt?

“‘A natural bond. We grew up together’” (157). I wonder what Viktor thinks of Bile bonds in general. He grew up in Stetriol, so he’d probably be pretty torn.

Okay, so he thanks Shane for the Bile, but also wouldn’t he find it somewhat repulsive, seeing as he has a good bond with his own spirit animal?

“ . . . held no medicinal properties as far as Shane or Yumaris could discover” (159). I wish they’d shown more of Shane and Yumaris working together.

“Shane dreamed he summoned a falcon . . . He was untouchable” (160). Paralleling his ego?

“Here, at last, were the true warriors” (161). How were they picked? 

“‘See now, Karmo? I said you’d get the hang of this’” (162). Is Karmo being forced? Maybe because of his merging with his animal? But that’s a secret, right?

“He did, however, wear a tight bandage around his left forearm” (162). Oop, Shane got him.

[cut because block limit]

The woman with the nickname “Greenslayer” needs a backstory of her own.

Why did Yeffa not want Karmo to help Viktor??? There’s a reason, right?

“It was clear who they held responsible for the outcome of the war” (164). Yep, that’s it.

“Shane wasn’t wholly surprised when Karmo made a break for it later that night” (165). Why didn’t Karmo do that earlier, though?

“‘Shane as in Shane the Reptile King? Devourer Shane?’ ‘It’s just Shane these days’” (167). Shane’s humor’s at its finest when it’s unintended.

“‘King Shane is a no-good snake’” (168). The snake symbolism thread is just *chef’s kiss*

“Who would want to keep so many smelly, scaly reptiles on display?” (169). It’s ironic how Shane is the self-proclaimed Reptile King, yet hates reptiles in reality. Almost like he hates himself from the start.

“‘Zerif chose some real lowlifes. Devin was a bully. Ana was a thief. And Tahlia, the girl from Stetriol? She was downright vicious. We were all afraid of her’” (171). Kind of wonder where Ana’s from. Like, what’s her story? Maybe she was a thief because of circumstance, like Rollan.

“Faced with such devastation, Shane had decided that day that he would activate their secret asset in the next battle. Let the Greencloaks hurt one another for a change” (171). It’s almost funny how jealous he sounds. 

“‘My tribe has never had a Rain Dancer. That means we get less respect in Nilo than the insects and grubs’” (172). But Abeke’s tribe was the same before she was declared Rain Dancer, right? It doesn’t really seem like respect was Abeke’s tribe’s main problem.

“‘Finally getting called a hero, and it’s for all the wrong reasons’” (172). I think even if Karmo had succeeded in the Rumfuss mission, he’d probably have come around anyway in the end. Like he has now.

“‘The Reptile Queen?’ ‘That’s what she calls herself.’ Shane felt a weight in the pit of his stomach . . . It was the feeling he got whenever something bad was happening - and that it was his fault” (173). Oh, he figured it out immediately.

“Shane dreamed he summoned a leopard . . . And he knew he had been forgiven for all he’d done wrong” (174). Oh my God, I’m actually gonna start crying. This like. Perfectly encapsulates the tragedy of Abeke and Shane. Like Abeke forgives him but at the cost of his own life.

“‘The snake is you, if it wasn’t clear’” (176). God, this guy is stupid.

“Shane had once worn that crown . . . ” (178). How did she get her hands on Stetriol’s crown?

Okay, but how did Tahlia survive??? How did she get off the docks?

Shane didn’t know what the execution method was going to be, and didn’t have a plan for dealing with it. Which means that if they had just been planning on running him through with a sword or something, he’d have been screwed. Like, wow, that was straight-up stupid of him.

“One of the tattooed islanders lay unconscious at their feet, while the second one stood at the edge of the tree line, pleading with a huge emu . . . ” (182). Yeah, gettem. This means that the brothers are Piri and Timone. Which means they didn’t change and are still both corrupted as fuck. Nice to see that Timone has regressed with his spirit animal bond.

“She wouldn’t let go of her knives any more than she would let go of her hate” (184). It’s giving Conor and Cordelia in that final battle.

“‘The war is over!’ he cried” (186). Aww.

“‘But this time, we’ll be fighting on the right side’” (186). Shane’s redemption arc is so perfectly started in this book. I will never not be angry that he and Abeke never sat down after they met up again and had a genuine conversation about their feelings.

Final thoughts and rating (doing the negatives first this time):

Zerif and Yumaris’s bonds are weirdly inconsistent. Zerif’s bond is natural, seeing as he was bonded even before finding the Bile, so how come his jackal ran away? It can’t do that, can it? And Yumaris had a Bile bond, but had her powers even before she was bonded? So that’s sort of a plot hole. I also felt the last two stories were slightly more off-putting than the first two. They felt strange in terms of tone, which I get that they were supposed to be, but the resolutions to those sections felt so weirdly rushed. While I did enjoy getting to see what happened to Tahlia, she’s just such a weird villain. I can’t imagine her having enough finesse to put together an entire army, the way she screams at Shane and the way she doesn’t take his hand at the end. With Shane, you can see that he’s smart and careful and manipulative, but with Tahlia, I just have such a hard time believing she could stop acting like a child long enough to put together a two-hundred-person army. Anya was a strange character. I liked her while reading, but her ending was so out-of-place. 

Most of the negatives of the book are nit-picks, because there’s almost nothing wrong with this book, in my opinion. First of all, the parallels. They’re so good. I feel like Nick Eliopulos has such a different writing style, one that favors symbolism and parallels and other analyzation things over the story itself. It was really fun trying to find them all and made my reread almost as fun as the original. Also the Easter eggs??? Like the Piri and Timone thing, or the several hints about Abeke. It was fantastic. The story really rewards you for paying attention to the main series and this book. First two stories were at their best, with the backstory and the Shane-snake-crocodile symbolism. The complicated relationships in Shane’s life were also written so well, such as Drina and Yumaris. It’s clear that Shane both hated and loved both of them. It also shows why he cared for Abeke so much, seeing as that was one relationship that didn’t feel as complicated to him, at least in the beginning. Exploration of the Bile was done well, too. We can see that Timone, for example, is still bonded, because his bond was originally natural, but Piri’s killer whale apparently left him. Getting Karmo’s backstory was also a highlight. And it paves the way for Devin;s story in Tales of the Fallen Beasts. And Shane the unreliable narrator. Excellently done. His pride being his “fatal flaw”, so to speak? And that being a thread that carried the entire book? It was astonishingly well done. I could see it even when it wasn’t explicitly said. Shane as a character carries this book on his back. He is such an excellent protagonist (anti-hero?) to follow, and it makes me wish we’d gotten more page time of him in the main series, as well as more chapters from his perspective. He’s so smart, and the places where he’s figuring things out or using his wits just make him even better. This book is the one that made Shane my favorite character because he’s just written with so much depth and this book does a spectacular job of humanizing him. 

Rating: 10/10

[crossdressingdeath]

Potentially unpopular opinion: Percy's fatal flaw, especially as portrayed in PJO, is the most faux flaw shit. "Oh no, he loves his friends too much!" Fuck off. At least in HoO it's followed up with the genuinely interesting "He struggles to let other people do things he knows are dangerous because he hates to see them put themselves in danger even knowing they have to do it themselves" (although I'd still argue that the extremely limited group that falls under "other people" in terms of this is more of a flaw than the flaw itself) but PJO's setup of "Oh you'd sacrifice the world to save a friend" is made the fakest flaw imaginable by the fact that he... doesn't. It makes him sad to leave his mother in Hades or leave Beckendorf to die aboard the Princess Andromeda, he doesn't like doing it (I mean, who would), but he still does it without any real hesitation. When I think "fatal flaw" I think "thing that really, seriously screws them over, but they can't stop doing it even if they know it's a bad thing", especially if it would've been fine or even good in moderation (which is also why I see Nico's fatal flaw as self-sacrifice rather than holding grudges; the former hurts him significantly more than the latter to the point where I can't actually think of a single point where Nico ever holds a grudge that backfires on him, unless you count him still being mad at Percy for failing to save Bianca six months after it happened and not trusting him as a result, which I don't, because that's stupid). I don't think "being sad about having to do something that would make anyone sad, but still doing it because it's necessary". ...Actually even with HoO's addition it's still kind of. no one likes leaving people they love to do things alone when they know it'll hurt them, Percy, you aren't special.

If we'd ever seen him actually put a quest at risk or put himself or others in serious danger because he couldn't make a move that might sacrifice a loved one or let a loved one face danger alone, then I'd buy it and it'd be a good flaw. But he really doesn't? As mentioned he feels sad about leaving Sally in Hades and leaving Beckendorf on the ship to save himself, but he still does it. And while he doesn't like that Annabeth is going to face Arachne alone, the closest he gets to interfering in the search is asking to come with her at the Tiber (but backing down when he's told he can't). Is it a character flaw? It could be. Is it a big enough deal to be his fatal flaw, the thing that will likely ultimately lead to his downfall? Uh... not so much. Like, it could have been really good, we could've seen him actually get screwed over or screw others over because he can't let a loved one get hurt or die even if it's necessary to avoid further harm, but he doesn't! Hell, he gets past his "fatal flaw" before he even learns what it is, he leaves Sally in the Underworld for the sake of the quest in book one and there's no argument on the planet that could successfully claim Percy doesn't love his mom! You can't even argue that knowing about his fatal flaw was necessary for him to overcome it! Which kind of sucks, given that that's part of the reasoning for why it was important for Annabeth to know hers: you can't overcome it if you have no idea what it is, but apparently Percy can do so just fine.

At the end of the day Percy's fatal flaw, the thing most likely to get him killed as a hero, seems to at most make him upset about things anyone would be upset about. Which is a shame, because loyalty as a flaw is a fun concept to play with, but when the person whose fatal flaw it supposedly is is not the one most negatively affected by his loyalty by a mile (everyone wave to Nico, who could learn a thing or two about knowing when to risk a loved one from Mr. Can't Sacrifice People) it just doesn't work. And to be clear, it is not a bad thing that Percy knows when he has to let something bad happen to someone he cares about for the good of the world! Literally the only problem with it is that we're told he can't do it to the point that it's the thing that will inevitably screw him over as a hero... but we're shown that he can do it with no more difficulty than anyone else.

[bijoumikhawal]

For the ship ask game: Sisko/Garak, Kira/Dax, O'Brien/Bashir

Sisko/Garak: ship it!

What made you ship it? I Do Not Remember. It may have been @ectogeo-rebubbles ITPM fic and it gradually grew on me but I don't know what to do with I now.

What are your favorite things about the ship? 1. Potential analysis for a very different way of being intimate with Garak, for one. With Julian he's always performing a bit, and his intimacy with Julian is cloaked in layers of complications and subterfuge- they're both very used to performing, performance is how that communicate. I find their dialogue often very easy to write because they're both very witty and vaudevillian (it's a dynamic some of the guys from my attempt at an audio drama have lol). But with Sisko I've noticed that Garak has points where he drops the jovial attitude and is very straightforward with him, kind of like he's dropping a ruse. It's not that Sisko doesn't enjoy those mannerisms of Garak's- as I think @wanderingwriter87 pointed out, Sisko appreciates Garak's bits- or that that's false behavior from Garak, but it's a kind of unmasking Garak is not prone to allow. 2. There's a very different power dynamic between them- perhaps controversial but during the run of the show I think Garak is put in a weak position, powerwise, compared to the vast majority of other characters as an exile who does not seem to have his citizenship sorted out. Socially, however, there are ways he wields power with Julian or even like, Quark where he's clearly got an upper hand that he doesn't with Sisko, who is of the same generation as Garak. Like, Garak does very notably manipulate him, but not the way he does with other people. And 3. Comparing and contrasting the social contexts they come from. Obviously Hebitians are like, my blorbo culture, but they're both middle aged men who adore children, and are pretty family oriented! However Sisko has a pretty healthy relationship to his family and Garak's family is an... on fire dumpster. Garak is very loyal to his father and craves his love and needs his approval for survival, while also calling him a monster and wishing him dead. Sisko seems to have trouble understanding that other people have severely negative relationships to their parents that may not be able to get resolved (it happens at least twice) because his father has been a good man to him. And to top all that off, Sisko has a son who's coming into adulthood! Children are their own whole people! Family is not a physically distant concept for him!

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? I don't think there are popular opinions... maybe that I don't think Garak actually caught Sisko as off guard as people act like he did during IPTM. Like, Sisko’s anger is less about what Garak did and more about the fact that he knows what he did. Sisko knows who garak is, what he's capable of, and if not specifics of what he used to do, the kind of things he used to do. Hell, this is after Garak went to jail for trying to do mass murder. Sisko was planet side during that!

Kira/Dax: I have no hard feelings on it, but I think saying I ship it is lesbian-pair the spares type cheating. I find Kira interesting and have been trying to read more stuff about Jadzia to understand more about her, but I don't rotate them in my head as much separately or together to feel like it counts. I think I've written more like- character analysis? On Kai Winn than on Kira through my perspective of her as a martyr-that-wasn't and how I think DS9 fails to accurately understand and critique the religious context Bajor exists within. Which is funny, because I like Kira and think Winn is a super shitty person- I've mostly ended up thinking about her more because people have such bad takes about her.

O'Brien/Bashir- I don't ship it

Why don't you ship it? Honestly I genuinely think Miles is straight, I don't think his and Julian's relationship has that kind of intimacy and I struggle to understand the intimacy they do have as friends (Miles being an "everyman" means he's a bit of a "shittyman" and we'd be fine co-workers- he's a lot better than some of the people I worked with in welding, which is like winning and award for tallest dwarf- but I would not voluntarily talk to him on off hours). And frankly any openness I've had to it has been killed by the shitty and annoying behavior I've seen from Jiles fans towards their "competition". I'm sure some of it isn't like- sincere? But it's a style of humor and behavior I find rude and off-putting. Also like- I don't like how most people talking about it regard Keiko.

What would have made you like it? You could maybe analyze how Julian thinks he knows what's best for people and that makes him more inclined towards decisions in intrapersonal relationships that really are bad for everyone, I did read a ficlet like that once with it that I found compelling

Despite not shipping it, do you have anything positive to say about it? I do think it can be an interesting analysis of repression on Miles's part and I hope people have fun with it

[ssaalexblake]

Out of curiosity, do you think anything in particular will cause people to come around on 13, or it’ll just be that their perspectives kinda soften with time?

Hm. I don't really think there will be a particular event that'll cause people to suddenly change their perspective, the only way I see any kind of ~catalyst to changing opinions on 13 in a dramatic way is if RTD really does Whedon himself, and to be fair even thought I said i doubt there will be a catalyst, I genuinely think there's at least a chance he will actually do this because fandom is a fickle beast that will turn on people as if a bird on the wind. The fatal mix of hero worship and nostalgia, the time gap where fandom has had More than enough time to become attached to their own view of things were back in the day even if that view doesn't entirely mesh with what actually transpired. The passage of time leaving viewers nowadays far less forgiving of the type of things rife in his work that can be written off on 'product of its time' for 2006 but will not be if they show up again in 2023. The expectations being So high. People only have So much ability to write things off before the straw breaks the camel's back.

I have seen this pattern in fandom before, and yeah it might not happen, but this is also potentially whedon after the first avengers movie being everybody's best buddy straight to being their most disdained after aou.

Generally speaking, when shit like that happens, people tend to reassess preconceived notions. a 'why did we think that one was ever bad?' as a result of the above eventuality is the only way i see some kind of Thing happening that softens people on 13.

But, also, those tags was me kind of responding to the op's tags on their gifset, because despite the fact that the people on the internet have been sipping the nmd's misogynistic koolaid light without even realising it for years, the vast majority of viewers Not being chronically online haven't been doing that and were fine with her era. Judging her popularity only from the people obsessed with the show on the internet is absurd, and i include my positive views in that. I am not the average viewer lol, neither are the weirdos being hateful, no matter How much it benefits them to make people think Everybody hates it and that they're peddling the Bestest Opinion and that it's not cool to like the girl doctor.

So with the caveat that I do not think she's actually unpopular (radiotimes favourite doctor poll my beloved. 10 & 13 coming in highest with 21% of the vote each. Over 50,000 votes in total and he received only abt 90 more than her. There was no way to victimise anybody on this poll with strategic voting, no amount of block voting to support one doctor could dent her total and she came second out of all the doctors by a few measly votes. The general public Like Her.)

In time, it will soften. The misogynists will stop spending all their time talking about how uncool it is to like her to peer pressure people and the ones who don't eventually stop will be marked as losers obsessed with insulting her not worth listening to, so people will just watch it with no one sitting on their shoulder telling them it's bad. People will rewatch it with an open mind instead. I literally have had (multiple times) people in my activity page saying once they stopped listening to people saying how bad 13's era was and went back to it with an open mind it was good! This was a few different people! This has already happened and will continue to.

The nmd squad, quite successfully, were allowed to make it uncool to like her. They were open that their reasoning was misogynistic and even if they didn't use the word, anybody who knows what that means knows they are, but it was not called out as such and it poisoned the well because it gave them legitimacy they did not deserve. It won't stay that way forever, though. People will watch it and judge it Fairly without their influence. Let it have flaws without using them as an excuse to express hatred they already felt for no reason. Let it shine where it shines. Discuss its issues analytically instead of as a gotcha. Talk about themes. Discuss the characters.

This bullshit shall pass, basically.

idk how long we'll have to wait, but i'm willing. I got through being in the fandom and open about my love for it when it aired, and i sure as hell am not missing the moment when people stop being weird and can just be normal about it. I earned that sense of peace through suffering and i intend to collect. I'm not letting it go though. Being an active fan Really Really Sucked.

(shout out to my man colin baker who told the misogynists to get over it from points A to Z. Had everybody had the balls to do what he did they'd never have gotten a foothold and would have been booed out of the room as they should have been.)

[evilwickedme]

Connor Kent for the unpopular opinion thing?

So reminder this is the reverse unpopular opinion thing:D just for those who didn't see the post going around

Anyway I recently read Kon's first appearance and he is iconic. I feel like ppl know him mostly from young justice, either the animated series or the comic, but he's actually just so funny in The Return of Superman. I mean both in that he makes jokes and cracks one liners that actually made me laugh, but also he's so funky. Like he has this cool hair and swagger and he's got an agent and they've copyrighted the name Superman bc the actual Superman is dead. But he's also he's just a kid who genuinely wants to help and doesn't even know what his own powerset is yet!

Also his OG power, TTK, is so fucking cool. I get why they gave him the Superman powerset eventually too but I think it would've been super interesting if they'd kept TTK and TTK alone, like, nobody else has this and also who the fuck came up with it it's such a creative power concept!! Obviously the fanfiction potential has been explored in detail and everyone should continue to do so good job, but I feel like giving him actual flight as opposed to "I'm technically touching myself therefore I can make myself fly" flight is a bit of a miss, the second one is just objectively funnier and also, like I said, entirely unique.

Finally I think he should get a boyfriend who isn't Tim. DON'T GET ME WRONG I SHIP TIMKON I HAVE EYES, but Tim got to explore his sexuality with a different character for a reason and I feel like, besides DC's cowardice, it's at least partially because it would be a bad story and character move to have him realize he's bi because of Kon this late in the game. Introducing Bernard neutralizes the charge, so to speak, makes it so the story stands on its own. Now I don't want Kon to have a coming out narrative at all - I want Kon to just show up with his new boyfriend, someone his own age (ahem), have fun with him for a few issues, introduce him to his friends, and then they break up. It leaves Tim and Kon on neutral grounds for a future relationship where they don't have unreasonable pressure to be each other's perfect first boyfriend - either from within the narrative or from without.

Also yes timkon should be endgame, obviously. This isn't an unpopular opinion again this is just having eyes. But it needed to be said.

[loregoddess]

002 with Ochette?

Ochette, my beloved (some spoilers in the "wish would have happened" and "headcanon" sections at the bottom):

How I feel about this character: LOVE HER, LOVE HER, LOVE HER, she's my favorite character from the game, which was unexpected since I didn't have any strong opinion on her going in, aside from a vague sense of apprehension since "animal people" tend to end up being poorly-to-clumsily written fantasy racism allegories in a lot of fantasy stories I've come across (which wasn't entirely off the mark for how the beastlings were handled by the writers overall, but there's enough okay to decent writing here that I still think Ochette is one of the most compelling characters with a ton of potential complexity depending on how the text is interpreted).

All the people I ship romantically with this character: No one, but mostly for lack of any romantic chemistry with any of the other characters, main or NPCs. Which is really funny considering I headcanon Ochette as kinda sorta basically pansexual, and she's one of two characters from the main playable cast that I don't headcanon as some variation of ace. I definitely think she's had crushes before and will probably find a partner at some point in the future of her life, just...not from any of the named characters we meet in the game.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I think she remains on good terms with all the other main characters even when they go their separate ways after the story concludes, and I just love how varied the dynamics she has with everyone are. Love her dynamic with Mahina/Akala too, Ochette and her bestie for life. I also think it's possible that Ochette takes over for Juvah well before he dies, and that he acts as her mentor/advisor for a bit while she gets accustomed to the role of island warden, but that he also enjoys his early retirement--and once Ochette's really grown into the role, Juvah begins to dote on her a bit as if she was his child/grandchild.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I think Ochette gets done dirty by the writers and general fandom. Moreso the general fandom than the writers, since I've seen a lot of fans write her off as the goofy, childish genki (fox)girl, and despite the writers also kind of doing this, her canon writing at least has the potential to be read as deeper than what appears on the surface. I'm of the opinion that she's actually one of the most emotionally intelligent and mature characters of the main cast, and that she's actually way more in tune with all the other characters than even they realize. Like, she knows who she can joke around with and who's a bit more serious, and where everyone's personal boundaries seem to be, and often it feels more like she's navigating a cultural/linguistic barrier than being naïve or childish (in my opinion). I mean she's totally got a lot of energy and is goofy at times (i.e. "PARDY-HARDY!!"), but that's not the sum total of her character either.

As mentioned earlier, all the beastlings kinda suffer from iffy writing, bc it seems like the writers were genuinely trying to explore the "what if there were people who had literal animal characteristics; how would their communication be different, how would their physiology be different, etc." questions, but the writing veered into a lot of tasteless "island savage, noble savage" tropes, which...kinda happens a lot with animal-people in fiction. So I'm not trying to hand-wave the racist tropes or anything, but it also seems like the writers made an attempt (however poor) to give the beastlings a culture, and that culture's different enough that part Ochette's character arc and interactions with other characters can be read as her translating what she encounters to try and make sense of it, or otherwise trying to translate her own experiences in a way so that the others understand her.

(i.e. the "girls talk about love" tavern banter, Ochette doesn't really understand what the other three are talking about at first bc they use the words "like" and "love" which honestly, in English at least, have several meanings and would be confusing to someone coming from a language where the differences between the English definitions of "like/love" were more obvious; but when Throne mentions loving dogs and how they wag their tails, Ochette draws the connection that they're talking about "like/love" the same way a dog who's wagging its tail likes someone bc it's implied that beastling communication is more like animal communication--i.e. based on body language, scent, etc.--and so after doing the mental translations Ochette's like "oooh, gotcha, yeah that's super embarrassing for me when that happens" as she does understand what the other girls are talking about even if there was a slight disconnect about what topic they were discussing at first).

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Would have loved to see at least a conversation or something between Ochette and Temenos regarding the Dark Entity and Roi's last words bc there's...a lot of unpack there for the two of them. Also I think Petrichor should have appeared at least once in Ochette's story, I think it would have been interesting to see how the two interacted, especially since they're supposed to be narrative foils. Like the "dark hunter" gets name-dropped a few times and then we never get much past that, and Ochette's so focused on finding the creatures of legend that she doesn't do her own investigation or anything, which leaves it all sort of...way too open. I kinda wanted to see Ochette have a reaction to the memory at Toto'haha's flame as well, the way Partitio and Hikari react to the memories they see at the Crackridge and Hinoeuma flames like...you're telling me Ochette saw the Darkling maul the person who had tortured it for years and doesn't have anything to say on this? After how her battle with the Darkling ended??

a headcanon: Hmm, aside from things I've already written...I don't think Ochette met Ori until waaaay after the events of the main story arc. Like I know all the traveler arcs are kinda separate in the sense of like, "no, the second Prince of Ku who currently has a hugeass bounty on his head is not apparently just sitting on the bar stool next to Partitio as he talks to the richest man in the west" or anything like that, but we do get the travel banters and insofar as I can recall Partitio never has a travel banter with Ochette where Ori gets brought up. I feel like that was intentional given Ochette's ability to clock exactly what is going on with a person given their scent (she figured out Osvald was still a loving father before he did, she could smell the shadow in Hikari, she could smell Claude's evil on Pirro's tomb, etc.) so like, I get why Ori isn't present around Ochette (although imagining a "Hey, Pardy, that girl smells like Sadness Incarnate" would be a crazy conversation that could have existed), but it also means she was apparently just...doing other stuff and literally managed to miss Ori Every Single Time which is wild. Like I can imagine Partitio telling Ochette about this weird girl who keeps popping up seemingly out of nowhere, and Ochette's just so frustrated bc she wants to meet Ori but keeps missing her, and how do they keep missing each other when Ochette can track a squirrel halfway across a gulch.

Speaking of Partitio, since he comes out of his Ch1 coming straight out of a poverty-stricken town and lifestyle, I imagine he's really underweight when he joins up with the others. Given that Ochette's the main hunter/provider at her home, she probably just shifts those duties to making sure the party is well-fed, and was extremely concerned about Partitio when they first meet.

Also she gives nicknames to everyone...except Temenos. Going back to my "Ochette seems to be in tune with everyone and know their boundaries" thing, I think this might indicate that Temenos just doesn't really do nicknames for whatever reason. I'm thinking Ochette had a conversation with him about this (maybe suggesting a few nicknames that he shot down, and she got the sense that it made him uncomfortable--although Throne gets away with calling him Detective, but that's also a far cry from like, Temmy or Tem), and she respects his boundaries enough not to push the issue. Although on the topic of nicknames, I think it took her the longest to come up with Hikarin (and by longest I mean maybe a few extra minutes as compared to everyone else), simply because nicknames for "Hikari" aren't as intuitive.

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Ask game answer for Sakuplumeria (it won't let me tag you either, sorry!)

Ship It - Sherlouis

What made you ship it?

This is another one that I hadn't give a whole lot of thought to, until @hergan416 got the idea all up in my head, and now I'm quite fond of it. Honestly I think the only ships in this fandom that I actively don't ship are the bio sibling pairs (William/Louis or Mycroft/Sherlock...has anyone ever shipped Mycroft/Sherlock?) What I like about Sherlouis is that it feels like it has the capacity to be what I thought I was getting into with Sherliam: mind games and distaste and obsession, a classic enemies-to-lovers ship. Sherliam, of course, never pulled that off. Their bickering is entirely fond/flirtatious and they never don't like each other. Sherlouis has an edge of actual dislike that adds a little spice (at least on Louis' side. Canonically, Sherlock seems pretty neutral about Louis. But that makes his side of the relationship quite a blank canvas for fic purposes.)

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Louis is very...proper. William always gives me the feeling that he's chomping at the bit, eager to let his hair down and play, almost subconsciously limited in his self-expression by his adoration of his straight-laced brothers. I think Liam is actually very much like Sherlock, and Sherlock gives him an excuse to kick off his shoes and just enjoy things. And Albert always reads to me as having OCD/OCPD, so in his case being a bit uptight is more about soothing himself. But Louis is always the one who reads to me as coming closest to actually fitting in with the Victorian sensibilities that surround him. Not, mind you, that he actually cares about the moral/religious underpinnings of it; and obviously when the knives come out all bets are off. I think he just likes order and tidiness and manners in a way that isn't compulsive but is a strong preference. Add Sherlock's "Saint Bernard shaking off in your kitchen after rolling in a mud puddle" energy, and it becomes very funny. Because while for Albert, that might be genuinely distressing, for Louis it's just purely annoying. I think this ship gives me almost Matchablossom vibes?

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

Again, since it's not a super popular ship I'm not sure what the popular/unpopular takes are lol! I am actually so happy that I've seen more rarepairs coming up in this fandom lately. For all that I'm a basic bitch who will always main Sherliam/Mycal, it's very fun to think of alternatives and this fandom has SO MANY POTENTIAL SHIPS. I suppose, like with Sherliam, I'd probably be interested in the idea of Louis topping, and I suspect this is another ship where a lot of people would imagine it the other way.