#It just to me adds a lot to the nuance of heart as a character and a representation of the complexities of human emotion | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

anodymalion · 10 days

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ok I am in fact using this as an excuse to make a long post about this thank you thank you asjksdjfaljdf

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Interpreting Yuri as asexual is my very very favorite type of headcanon, which is one that 1. is compellingly coded in the source material (even if that wasn't the creator's intent), 2. is thematically relevant to what the piece of media is Trying To Do as a whole, and 3. just means a lot to me, personally, because I said so.

Coded in the source material

Yuri’s short program is “eros”, aka desire (you can interpret what “eros” means in various ways, but YOI itself explicitly refers to sexual love, at least in the English translations). Yuri struggles with this. Hard. He can’t come up with an answer when asked what eros means to him. His big revelatory moment about desire is that it’s how he feels about wanting to eat his favorite food (omg… boy). Even as the season goes on and the way he views the Eros program changes, the program doesn’t ever really embody the idea of eros as sexuality or romance (which was how the other characters expect him to interpret it) but rather as a desire to keep Victor in his life.

Like look. I’m obviously not going to say that the creator intended any kind of ace subtext to be there. I kind of doubt it was her intent. But goddamn is the subtext there.

2. Thematic relevance

The central theme throughout YOI is “love”, and especially loving people in a way that inspires you both to be your best selves: Yuri learning that the people in his life truly love and support him; Victor finding someone who makes him feel joy about skating again.

Like, Yuri’s whole skating theme for the Grand Prix is literally about him exploring what love looks like to him, even when it takes a form that other people don’t totally understand. Viewing all this through a lens of him being ace is really compelling. It adds depth to the idea of learning how to express the way you feel love even when it looks different than what other people expect. I think it’s a really delicious layer that adds even more nuance to what the show is getting at.

Besides, it’s an interesting way of viewing the criticism of the show that occurred for it not being 100% explicit about them being a couple (aka people getting mad because the kiss in ep 7 is blocked by Victor’s arm lmaooo). Like, ok, did you see the ending scene of ep 9? Did you see ep 10??? They definitely, definitely love each other, in whatever way that means for them. Their relationship takes a form that’s pretty different than the other way people in the show are going about romantic relationships, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real for them. That is very much in line with the main themes of the show.

3. Means a lot to me

In the final scene of the penultimate episode, Yuri tells Victor that they should end their coaching relationship after the Grand Prix ends. This is because he thinks he’s holding Victor back, that Victor would be happier being free to go back to skating on his own instead of being Yuri’s coach. When I watched this (and, I’ll be honest, this is completely me projecting here) I REALLY interpreted this as an ace thing. I think it’s pretty easy to internalize the idea when you’re asexual that you just won’t be… enough, for other people. In my case I ended up a strong impulse to self-sabotage relationships because I would rather be the one to end things than to let someone else tell me that who I am as a person is fundamentally lacking. Yuri destroying a connection he desperately wants because he thinks there’s something about him that is holding Victor back from a life he’d be truly happy with? Oh yeah. I can fucking relate to that.

Also: YOI came out in 2016, which was the absolute peak of hostility to ace people I was seeing on this site. It was bad here. At the same time Tumblr was going wild over this show. Everyone was watching it. Seeing a whole site of people absolutely adore a character I very deeply in my heart believed to be ace? Extremely vindicating.

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In conclusion Yuri is asexual because it is fun and interesting that way, and also because of this:

#like it adds so much to the show if you view it through this lens! it's really good!#same reason for why I hc zuko as gay like ->#yeah ok you don't *have* to see it this way... but don't you want to live deliciously (in your media analysis)???#yoi #yuri on ice #thank u for giving me the excuse to finally post about this lol this has been building in my head for literally the last 8 years

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ilybeam · 10 months

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“Tat my name on you so I know it’s real”

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You jokingly tell him to tattoo your name so you know he’s serious about your relationship.

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Various x Gn!reader

Gun Park, Dg/James Lee, Hudson Ahn, Samuel Seo, Vasco, and Jake Kim

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Content Warnings - Established relationship, unintentionally manipulative reader?

A/n - Didn’t add all my favorite characters so if people enjoy this I might make a part two.

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Doesn’t tat it

Gun park -

- Definitely scoffed at you when you said that.

- I mean are you crazy? His body is a temple, of course he’s not going to go through with something that he could potentially regret in the future.

- Told you to get his name first and then he’d think about it. Was not serious about that proposition when he said it.

- Has semi realistic expectations of romantic relationships.

- Scolded you even after you said it was a joke.

“All jokes have some truth to them, [name].” He chided

“God you sound like my mother.” You bit back.”

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Dg/James Lee-

- Looked at you like you had three eyes.

- He’s an idol, his image is everything. A tacky tattoo of his lovers name would not slide.

- Doesn’t even matter if he thinks y’all would last forever, a tattoo is just too much.

- Would try to compromise by buying a chain with your name on it.

—

Didn’t agree to it, but definitely thought about it

Hudson Ahn-

- The man reeks of commitment what can I say.

- His devotion to relying on his right hand is a testament to that.

- But even with all things considered a tattoo of your name is a bit much.

- Definitely thinks it’s a bit tacky as well.

- Not to mention, your significant others name as a first tattoo is a lot.

- All things considered, you should be thankful he even thought about.

—

Samuel Seo -

- Laughed at you when you said it.

- But even so, it definitely took him a minute to think about it.

- I mean his whole body is tatted up, how’s one more going to make a difference.

- Would also be very easy to cover up or incorporate in the design of his whole body’s

- But a king with his significant others name tattooed on his body, I’m not sure if that’s a great idea.

- Told you he’d tattoo your name, if you tattooed his.

- But unlike gun he wasn’t joking.

“Okay I’ll do it-“ he smirked, he’s definitely up to something.

“Wait really?” you interrupted, not actually thinking he’d agree.

“But only if you tattoo mine aswell”

—

Agreed to tattoo your name, no regrets.

Vasco-

- Didn’t think of the nuances of tattooing your name.

- I mean look at him, what’s one more tattoo.

- Not much more to be said.

“Vasco?” You called out, gaining his attention.

You both sat in the park whilst Vasco was in between sets.

“Hmm?” He replied, slowly catching his breath after completing his ridiculous workout regimen.

“You should get my name tattooed” you tried to hide the smile forming on your face.

“Huh, get your name tattooed, why?” His whole attention was on on you now, he was genuinely confused.

“So I know it’s real” it was really hard to contain your laugh now.

His face fell some more, even more confused than before. An adorable display of his emotions.

“Let me rephrase that, so I know you’re serious about me .” You pouted as those last words came out of your mouth, attempting to add sincerity to your words. You knew Vasco was serious about you, from your first, albeit, disastrous date.

“Okay” he smiled as his reply came out, full of real sincerity.

“Okay?” Now you felt bad, you didn’t think he’d actually agree.

“Mhm, I’m real serious. I’ll have to set an appointment for it then. Sorry if it takes too long, my artist might not have any availability.” With those words he turned back to his set, ready to complete the rest of his push-ups.

Okay, now you felt really bad. His face when he said that made you take pause when telling him it was a joke. You forget how sincere your boyfriend really is. One to always wear his heart on his sleeve.

“No, no Vasco. I was joking. Don’t get my name tattooed please.”

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Jake Kim-

- What can I say, he’s as committed as they come.

- Would only get into a relationship if he’s completely sure he wants to stay with you forever.

- A tattoo is for ever and so is your love.

- Would hope you’d get his name tattooed aswell, but wouldn’t force it. Especially if you don’t have any other tattoos.

- Definitely pouted when you said it was a joke.

- Told you he was going to get it done anyways now that you put the Idea into his head.

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m.list

A/n - got a bit carried away with Vasco’s one, I’m not sure how it happened but I wanted to add a bit of a Drabble since his was so short and it turned into that. Hope y’all enjoy anyways.

#jake kim x reader #jake kim #gun park #samuel seo #lookism #gun park x reader #samuel seo x reader #vasco x reader #euntae lee #euntae lee x reader #hudson ahn #hudson ahn x reader #dg x reader #diego kang #dg #James Lee #james lee x reader #Spotify

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sweetestpopcorn · 5 months

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How would you rank Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s children in terms of greatness/potential? For me, Baelon was best out their children with Saera being second. I also think Viserra was a waisted potential. I think she could have done interesting stuff had she lived. Do you think perhaps maybe Baelon should’ve married her after Alyssa’s death? Obviously, no one could replace Alyssa in his heart.

Hi there :)

I have already kind of answered this regarding my thoughts about Saera and Viserra and none of it is good. I will just link them here and here . Legit they are just portrayed as mean girls with no real depth to them, though of the two, Saera is much, much worse. Viserra I can at least sympathise with since her parents seem to not give half a f_ck about her and did not even extend to her the same courtesy they did her siblings of having a say about her marriage (more here), but that's about it. I don't find anything else likeable about her she's just... empty.

I will go from least favourite to favourite.

Saera and Viserra go right to the bottom of my list. Followed very closely by Vaegon by obvious reasons. Like Vaegon, it literally costs you 0 golden dragons to not be so unlikable.

Then I would say Daenerys, she has a lot of sweet moments but dies young so I don't really know how she would have turned out. Besides, I know it's petty of me, but I don't like other characters having Dany's name. I do like Daenerys, Naerys's daughter but... yeah no more. You don't need more Daenerys, we have our Mother of Dragons. Yes, I know I am petty.

Then Gael because... poor baby 🥺 seriously what was George thinking writing a character who is Alysanne's comfort, with some degree of cognitive disability be r...... by some random singer, give birth, lose her baby, and kill herself?! Like enough's enough. It's literally just to add tragedy to her story and honestly Turtle man it's getting f:cking OLD. I swear this man gets his rocks off by adding tragedy and terrible abuse to female characters. This when he can bother to make them more than a walking womb.

Then I would say Aemon. Maybe he would be higher but at times I just feel he's too perfect if that's a thing. There’s just nothing wrong with him like 😂 he literally does nothing wrong.

Daella comes next because I find her funny. She's such a drama queen 24/7 making everyone around her want to protect her XD even Alyssa. I kind of got the vibes at times from her that she kind of knew what she was doing to get attention. Like the fact that she and Alyssa are Rhaenyra's grandmothers just makes so much sense no matter how you look at it. In a way Rhaenyra seems kind of a mixture of both? With tons of stubborn and style added. Another moment that really endeared me to Daella was her very tragic death, and how despite all her suffering she still wanted to be given Aemma and to feed her. Prime mom material right there -> like you can tell both from her and Alyssa that Rhaenyra got some top notch mom genes.

Then Alyssa of course, because she was THE queen. Literally she was just a better behaved version of her son and I'm here for it! I love how despite the fact that she was clearly a tomboy she still wanted to marry Baelon and give him an army of kids X'D because these two things are not mutually exclusive and liking or enjoying traditional boy things does not have to say anything about your sexuality or your desire to be a mother - just like being very feminine and liking traditionally feminine activities does not have to say anything about your sexuality or desire to parent. These are rules a society that does not understand nuance and in a sense is deeply sexist and stereotypical likes to put in place and that I find deeply harmful to people. But Alyssa is the BOMB, so funny, so bold, the way she embarrassed Vaegon who was a little sh:t *chef's kiss*

Then there's the best man ever -> Baelon Targaryen

Had his own cool nickname, The Spring Prince, funny, charming, sexy, single dad who never once forgot about his lady with the mismatched eyes, entered a tourney under the name of the Silver Fool... I don't feel like a need to say more, and in an era where all men were literally so problematic, Baelon was IT.

Baelon is what this fandom thinks Corlys is. Sorry not sorry.

And that's it :D

Also no, and more important that should Baelon remarry, the question is did he want to remarry? And the answer is no, and any Baelon fan would respect the Spring Prince and his undying love for his lady with the mismatched eyes <3

#saera targaryen #viserra targaryen #vaegon targaryen #daenerys targaryen #gael targaryen #aemon targaryen #daella targaryen #alyssa targaryen #baelon targaryen #fire and blood #valyrianscrolls #popcorn answers

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doodlegirl1998 · 7 months

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Oh my god...

I just realized something about how some characters are treated, so I'm gonna quote Joshscorcher from one of his fails videos

"You aren't a person, you ARE a disability! You're not a human, you ARE a skin color! You're not alive, you ARE a checkbox!"

Doesn't that just fit some of the characters in BNHA to a T?

We got the crazy yandere! The hotheaded rival! The hardass teacher with a heart of gold! The black guy!

And of course! The disabled kid who magically gets cured to be like everyone else!

Hori seems to believe that if he just adds pieces of representation or tropes that people like, they will just eat it up without question.

Not even considering or bothering to think about actual backstory, personality, goals, likes or dislikes.

You know, things that make a character an actual character!

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

This fits how MHA treats it's characters to a T or at the very least they develop from Nuanced characters to a stereotype which is never what you want from a series. Also Hori even fails at fitting these characters into the cookie cutter molds he tries to contort them into at times.

Let's give a few examples based on what you have said above:

"Crazy Yandere and Token Bi" = Toga (which the LGBTQ fans of MHA should be offended by, because having a Yandere who is coded very creepily (yet also not condemned for her creepy behavior in general or how she groped Uraraka without consent) as prominent representation is not good...

"Sweet generic shonen love interest" = Uraraka (well this is what Hori intends for her with IzuOcha endgame even with how weakly its built in the series. And Uraraka herself denying her feelings for Izu and freely simping for Toga. I feel so sorry for Ocha fans, how she has been written with Toga is a complete mess.)

"Hardass Teacher with a heart of gold" = Aizawa (or this is what Hori intends for him realistically a lot of his actions under a critical lense read as malice at worse and negligence at best but go off about how he cares about his kids, Hori. Despite dropping a building on them and making them believe their parents are kidnapped by villains. Or the fact that he expelled tonnes of other students prior to 1A without a care - what makes 1A so special?)

"Hot headhead rival" = Bakugou... (Well this is meant to be him, narratively speaking, but rivals are meant to inspire and respect each other. Bakugou doesn't respect Izuku, Bakugou abuses Izuku and acts as his parasite. Bakugou brings Izuku down at every opportunity.)

"The 'token black/ blasian' characters" = Rumi and Rock Lock. (While I'd say Rock Lock is good black representation. Rumi... She's not my favourite. I like strong female characters but the way she's so aggressive and violence hungry as a hero - that rubs me the wrong way. Realistically, I could see her killing a villain by accident through use of excessive force. And I can't ignore that she's used as a stick for Hori's gore porn fetish which isn't a great look as one of Hori's few Blasian characters.)

"The disabled kid who gets magically cured to be like everyone else." - Midoriya Izuku. (You could say this is the case for All Might and Aoyama too but Izuku is the most prominent example as the main protagonist.) Izuku's story and the lack of how his backstory is touched on is one of the one that's the most upsetting parts of MHA to me. Personally, I have a disability and mine can't be fixed, while I accept and embrace it now, I didn't when I was Izuku's age. I would daydream about getting "fixed" and being like everyone else so I could fit in. As an adult, I have now achieved many things that I was told that I could not hope to ever be able to do - and I didn't need to be "fixed/ made normal" to do it. Instead, I worked my ass off to achieve those things.

Izuku's story would have been way more powerful if he trained relentlessly with All Might, stayed quirkless and achieved as much as his quirked peers.

OR, if he had to gain OFA, the cognitive dissonance between how he was treated then in his backstory vs now should heavily influence him. Either way, he should have grown out of "Kacchan" and told Bakugou, his bully and abuser, to fuck right off.

The fact that Izuku isn't allowed to think of his backstory or one negative thought of Kacchan severely limits him. And it's one of the things that has stunted him as a character. All Izuku is now is OFA 'generic shonen protagonist' who will save Shig and destroy All for One. What a waste.

TLDR - developing good characters is like nurturing a particularly fussy plant, you can put down the right soil (backstory) to get readers hooked but if you get lazy and don't water it regularly (develop plot points, think through what is in character rather than what you as the Author want them to do, have them show up regularly) it (the characters) will never grow.

#mha critical #bnha critical #anti bakugou #anti bakugou katsuki #anti aizawa shota #aizawa critical #Ochaco Uraraka critical #Toga Himiko critical

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overseer-picard · 1 year

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Gaping plot holes aside, Picard having a synth body in STP really bothers me because so much history and character nuance was tied with his actual body, mainly the Borg implants and his artificial heart. These two details grounded his character and humanized him in so many profound, fascinating ways.

Knowing that this controlled, disciplined man carries a chunk of metal in his chest as a permanent reminder that he was once a reckless, cocky hell-raiser instantly adds depth and intrigue to his character. Seeing the terror and fury in his eyes as the Borg collective whispers in his mind because he still has pieces of their technology permanently embedded in his brain is heartbreaking and compelling.

Deciding to just snap these details out of existence for literally no reason except shoehorned, empty symbolism (synth bad? well hero synth now. hah poetry) is incredibly irksome to me. Obviously Picard remembers these experiences and they are still a part of him psychologically, but it added so much to his character to have physical, present manifestations of trauma and weakness in a seemingly unbreakable man.

I also have a petty little gripe that Beverly spent so much time patching up his broken body and pulling him back from the jaws of death and now it's not her work anymore. Just an identical copy without the history and connection.

Picard being a synth added literally nothing to anything but it managed to take away a lot.

(It was also just flat out nonsensical from a plot perspective. You could've cut out his whole illness plot line and nothing of significance would've changed)

#star trek picard #thoughts and feelings #picard #long post

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squidsheepdev · 3 months

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P3: The Answer spoilers below

Just finished the Persona 3: The Answer. Worst game I ever enjoyed.

The Reload team have an impossible job of trying to fix this, cause its a mess on so many fundamental levels. Persona 3 autism demands I now ramble about it.

The Abyss of Time does not stand on its own, and even with the changes to Tartatrus in Reload, it still won't. There needs to be more to balance it. Especially when the first 39 hours of the game is just the Abyss and occasional flashbacks.

Speaking of, placing almost all of the major events in the story and with the characters in the last 3-5 hours is insane to me. These are all cool moments with minimal buildup and justification.

The Makoto shadow is cool but the "mystery" of it was too drawn out. That was time that could have been spent on the far more interesting party split at the end.

I think Yukari was handled very well, but more time was needed on Akihiko and Ken, and the Junpei and Koromaru fight feels contrived.

Even beyond that, I feel the party splitting should have been the main focus through the whole game (memories along side). Too much can be done with that entire concept that making it take place in about an hour seems ridiculous.

Imagine Heartful Cry playing after half a game of build up and nuance, not 10 minutes.

Generally, I believe The Answer: Reload would need to change things FUNDAMENTALLY.

So what, do they mix the party split along side all the memories? Do they massively extend the arena segment? Do they have more time between the arena and the final boss? Do they change how the entire premise works so that you can fit it a balance with the Abyss?

The entire structure as is just doesn't work. But obviously changing that would be antithetical to how they remade Persona 3 itself.

It's ideas are great and I wanna see them excuted with the same finese as the original I adore so much.

I like a lot of things in the Answer, even if all those things feel like missed potential. Generally, everything it adds to the story is good, and P3 as a whole is better for it.

Though its messy I still enjoyed my time with it (Persona 3 Autism).

I hope the Reload team feels the same.

#persona 3 #persona #persona 3: the answer #persona 3 fes #persona 3 reload

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impunkster-syndrome · 3 months

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Things I like about the comic:

There is a saturation toggle, especially with the eyestrain in the art that can make it inaccessible. I noticed in the preboot that the media is perfectly aware of how overwhelming it can be on the eyes, so I do appreciate a toggler since I am photosensitive.

The transcripts.

There's some acknowledgement of how it can feel weird to have your possessions and clothes taken from you for hospitalization. Characters wear hospital gowns which adds to the alienation of being visibly ill or disabled in some way. Especially with how some psych ward clothes can feel violating to wear because of being stripped of something so personal to you.

Doom's ears becoming more triangular really helps him not be confused with Mood. It also stylistically sets him apart as being more jaded by using the sharp features as a shorthand.

The things I don't:

Lack of page numbers in a volume. It makes it harder to reference specific pages if this is not listed on the site. It's in the links to the page sure, but it would be great to be able to easily see what page you are on and to be able to skip to specific pages.

Important worldbuilding information is not directly found in the comic. The meanings of the color schemes, what the roles of doctors and nurses are, and more are not easily deciphered via the text and have to be found in supplemental media. I call this kind of problem "Author brainspace expectation" because the media is not made with absolute beginners in mind and the author expects people who have never heard of it before to have the same level of knowledge as them, thus raising the barrier to entry for being able to understand the media. Other pieces of media that suffer from this same problem are Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel. Kingdom Hearts gets a pass because it became more like that as time went on but the first game is still understandable for people new to it.

The themes of the website changing for specific sections. This can add more contrast and keep things less accessible due to the contrast not allowing it to be easy to read.

The shaky text. Sorry but I don't like feeling sick as I try to read.

Nurses being completely good while doctors are completely evil. It's not a nuanced take and ignores systemic problems, plus how nurses can mistreat people. Things like Nurse Mood's refusal to write down medical history due to not caring to believe a patient is actually a form of normalized ableism that can really impact people. Happened to me and due to that I could barely eat any food brought to me while hospitalized due to my celiac and that not being on my chart despite me telling people over and over.

Jay's mobility aid is used as a plot device and then never seen again.

While every artist dreams of just being able to be paid for making art, that means that whatever you are releasing is open to criticism and that needs to be acknowledged. The patreon means this is making money and has to make a profit to sustain itself. It's not just a personal vent project anymore due to that and having staff. Kittycorn and staff need to accept that and not use the author (That they tend to tokenize, mind you) and kits trauma as a shield for any critique.

Cut down on the controlling rules for the media. You cannot control what someone does with your characters once you've made them more public. The rule that everyone must hate Cuddles and similar rules are overreaching and not a reasonable boundary to be enforced. Related to above, it's one thing to just talk about thoughts on media in a public space no matter how negative it is (acceptable), and something else entirely to send anon hate to staff and the author or to directly spam them with links to criticism directly unless they make it clear it is fine to do so (unacceptable). I see a lot more people complaining about the first when it is perfectly fine to have opinions about media and not the second. People having conflicted or not entirely positive thoughts on media is not a bad thing and actually fosters a deeper discussion of the media.

FAQs are for additional information and making things clear that are maybe unclear in the text, not for exposition and worldbuilding information.

The AUs of a paid project are forcing the comic to come to a halt. Breaks are fine, sure, but you need to be releasing things consistently for the project that people are paying you to make. A complete stop for months and no public progress makes this feel scam-adjacent.

The staff. If you find yourself attacking critics for existing while you yourself are on staff, you should not be on staff and should not be interacting with the fanbase at all. Both ZCP members I have spoken to initiated contact with me without ever reading any of my criticism and taking anything stated to them as bad faith when I would not allow them to be hostile with me. If you cannot have some level of separation between you and your fanbase, you need to create that so people do not see you/your staff as entitled assholes. Make internal rules to not publicly respond to criticism but still read it so you all can improve. I know this is the "piss on the poor" site but staff of a webcomic being so defensive to people who give valid critique are in the wrong and all it does is give everyone a poor view of the comic.

Tonal whiplash from dealing with ableism to ship content is jarring. You can't just flip between one or another constantly and expect either to mean anything to the reader.

Barruni needs to not be pushed as aggressively. It alienates anyone from the comic who wants to see anyone but them.

#long post #sparklecare critical #sparklecare #sparklecare hospital #blackbox thoughts

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skyfallscotland · 20 days

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Currently typing out some FAQ's to kind of organise my blog (because I can't organise my life) and I thought I'd do a separate post on this, because it required a more in-depth answer.

Can I use a scenario in your fic for my own, or write something inspired by your fic?

The answer is yes, but with nuance.

I can't stop anyone from doing anything, this is the internet after all, but I've gotten this question a few times so I'll give you a deep dive into my feelings on this. I apologise in advance if this comes off as condescending—if so, then it's probably not meant for you—but I think there are a lot of people getting into fanfic for the first time right now, so it might be helpful to them.

If something I wrote inspired you that's great! If you want to link it back to me in your notes that's cool too, thanks so much! 💖

A trope is a trope, we're all welcome to reuse them, that's not an issue at all—I'm certainly not the first person to write a twin fic, I might not have been the first in this fandom for all I know. Eventually (hopefully) the fandom will grow so large we'll be repeating all of them over and over, but until then the world is wide! There's so much opportunity to write something original and I'd encourage you to try 🫶

Ask yourself firstly if what you would like to use would add value to your fic and then think about how specific it is. I'll use Fear & Flame as an example. You want to write a Xaden/OC fic where the FMC is Violet's twin? Sure, go off! You want her to be snarky and generally depressed? Ok that's your prerogative. She was hoping to go into the Healer Quadrant? Ok, well there's only four of them, so put your own spin on it and get cracking 💃

You want her to be Violet's sister, snarky and depressed, was meant to be a healer, with a parental relationship with Winifred and Nolon, best friends with Bodhi and Liam, and draws to escape reality, with a history of self-harm due to trauma from her brother's death, become a mender, and then you want to reword lines I wrote from the heart and have your character say the same things at the same times? I can't stop you doing that either, but it's kinda meh, you know? 😪

I don't really understand why you'd want to do that, but people do so there, that's my thoughts on it, out in the open. If you're kinda writing the exact same story, or paraphrasing lines from someone else's, that's a lot of work when you could just...read someone else's. It's hard to say where the line should be when it comes to transformative works, especially ones we don't own, so you have to decide that for yourself. At least now you have my thoughts on it.

TLDR: Use all the tropes or scenarios you like, but if you're just rewriting someone else's story that's kinda boring dude ✌️

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multiversal-bridge · 2 years

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So there's been a big discussion lately about the pacing in the works of Wildbow (creator of bespoke internet fiction), particularly in his latest work, Pale, which has become longer than the others in just a couple of years of writing. I have thoughts about this and I can't get them out of my head so I'll just post.

I think the framing of this discussion leaves something out? Because I genuinely think Pale is Wildbow's best paced work.

Sounds super weird to say that when it's so long, right?

But I think there's a difference between length and quality of pacing, and I think the key to understanding what Wildbow's doing is this:

Pale is paced like a television show.

To explain a bit more what I mean by this:

Movies and television shows are forms of storytelling that are both valid in different ways, and allow you to do different things. The advantage of a television show is that you get to add layers of nuance to character's psychology as well as explore a number of different characters over the full runtime of the show. (Bear in mind I'm trying to imply a TV show that everyone agrees is good throughout its run, like the Sopranos or something.) There's advantages to doing this sort of thing, at least if you do it well.

Wildbow is a big fan of TV and talks a lot about shows he watches. So it's not surprising that his pacing is like TV. You bring on a character for an episode, and you may not see them again in the next season, but their mini-arc informed the larger arc that was going on with the protagonists at that point in the story. A chapter is basically written like an episode. 2-3 arcs roughly corresponds to a season of the show, with certain arcs ending in a major change in the status quo.

And Wildbow has a very good sense of those larger arcs. I was talking with a friend recently about what a contrast Pale is with the later A Song of Ice and Fire books. Where Martin is creating an ever-expanding list of characters going off in ever expanding directions, in Pale Wildbow keeps his characters from straying too far by tying new ideas back to the main plot. We have an arc where we meet a bunch of new magical creatures, but it's also about gaining allies and figuring out which of them are being used as pawns by the conspirators behind the main mystery. And yeah, recently, we got in theory like 18 new characters, but in practice we've only really focused on like three of them, and they're ultimately extensions of the final villain(s) in a plot that seems to be chugging toward the last station.

And I like this better than the pacing in Ward, or Pact, or Twig, or the latter half of Worm! In all of those works, there were moments where I thought oh, come on, this is stretched out way more than it needs to be. In contrast, despite its length, I've never really felt that with Pale. And I was initially skeptical about some of the plot developments!

It's true that Wildbow's chapters have gotten longer, but it feels to me like that's more about embracing an episode structure with multiple scenes in it, whereas in other works I often felt a bit cut off by one-scene chapters. Wildbow may also be playing to his strengths, as Pale focuses much more on psychological dialogues instead if action scenes. And character psychology has always been at the heart of what makes Wildbow works good.

Your milage may vary. I might just be weirdly into psychological dialogue scenes. And I freely confess that there may be a difference in experiencing the story chapter by chapter over the last two years, as I have, and maybe it might not read as well binged all at once. But I've seen writing that's badly paced before (including in other long-form web fiction), and this doesn't trip that trigger for me.

Obviously no one should feel obligated to read Pale. But may be more helpful to think of Pale as a good thing that's continued in its same good vein for a long time than something that's suffering from the sin of excess. At the very least, there are reasons why those of us who are reading it are having such a fun time.

#pale #wildbow #otherverse #pale web serial #parahumans #mb posts

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atlasofthestaars · 8 months

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i love love love this timeline's raiden i want to hold him in my hands like 🤲 and the little moment reader and him have at the end of chapter 4 was so cute oh my word 😭😭😭 "Yes please!" DO YOU HEAR ME CRYING 😭😭😭😭 ++ a question if you dont mind!! which of the characters (either ones you have written already or havent yet) would you say was the hardest to get a grasp on, personality wise? i deeply admire your dedication to writing a series following the story mode!

Same! I've always been a fan of Raiden, but this variation of Raiden has a VERY special place in my heart. I'm glad you enjoyed that part! I wanted to end it on a cute and light note :D

Hopefully within the next few chapters I can continue to provide more of those cute moments!

Oh and for your question, you gave me an opportunity to rant on characters for my FAVORITE series, so I will take this opportunity.

Also! I finally figured out how to put the keep reading link, so hopefully now I can prevent my page from being such a scroll LMAO

I have a lot of different reasons and feelings why the characters I find "difficult" are difficult, so I'll be splitting them into tiers/groups so you can kinda get a grasp on my mindset, tiers are ordered from "easy hard" to "hardest"

Also I'm JUST talking about MK1 characters in this post.

VILLAINS

On the BASE level I think the villains are actually pretty easy to write for. Aside from Shang Tsung and Rain who I am NOT including in this tier, I find that most of the villains are kindaaa one note. General Shao seeks power and seeks to elevate his position (actually, on second thought this isn't the BEST way to describe him, but I feel like I can write dialogue for him no issue), Bi-Han wants power and is kind of an asshole (sorry! but it's a good way to describe how he talks towards others) Quan-Chi, etc. etc. they all kinda fall under the "want one thing and are willing to do anything to get it with varying degrees of assholishness. And then there's Reiko who feels like the slight exception to that rule but his gimmick is General Shao and fighting. So why do I have a tier for them for hard to grasp personalities?

It's trying to figure out how to flesh out these characters without making them too far off from their original characters. It's not TOO hard, but I do think a lot on how to add depth in a believable way.

I'M IN JUST MY HEAD

This tier is like, I understand them, but I feel like I ALWAYS need to double check with their intros to make sure that I am getting them right, and when I do I just find oh. Nevermind I'm right.

Scorpion - I do NOT know why I struggle with Kuai Liang in this timeline, but I do! I just think for some reason I write him weird or don't quite understand how to write him, but every time I double check I'm like, yeah no that works.

Johnny Cage - He confuses me for NO reason at all, and I think it's because of how in every game his attitude is SLIGHTLY different every time in storymode/intros. In MK9 he's full comedic relief. In MKX/11 they tone him down a bit, but in 11 his younger self is more akin to his 9 self. I would say 1 is a good balance of comedy and and seriousness, but I always want to make sure I'm striking that balance.

Kung Lao - I don't know WHY I doubt myself so much on him. He is legitimately my favorite character, and that's probably it. I trust that I know him, but I worry that I might flanderize him despite how much I adore him. I think this is just me putting a lot of pressure on myself to get him so right so I can show you all why I personally love him.

NOT A LOT OF EXPERIENCE

While I've finished the MK1 story and watched a lot of intros, I've not dedicated a lot of time to these characters and looking too much into them.

Tanya - I like her! I just haven't gotten around to looking too much into her. I get the basics of her character, but I don't quite get the nuance of her yet. She also mostly sticks around the princesses in story mode too so her personality doesn't get to shine too much there either.

Havik - I haven't looked too much on him, and it doesn't help that the story mode doesn't do much with him (probably due to the credits scene), so I don't really know much! I know about his whole archanist schtick for the freedom of his people, his self heal, etc. but I don't really know much about him outside of that.

Sindel - I like her as well, it's just that she keeps on changing in every iteration so this has me all jumbled up. I know she's a strong, firm leader who cares about her daughters and isn't afraid to do what she must for her people, but I don't really know why I don't feel confident. I feel like I don't quite understand all of her motivations as deeply as I should to call myself "confident", and I don't have a clear grasp on how she would treat those she isn't too familiar with but cordial with vs those she knows better, and even though that may not seem too important, it is to me since I don't know how to quite write a proper interaction between her and the reader yet.

VILLAINS PART TWO

Here I place the more complex villains.

Shang Tsung - He's sly, sneaky, cunning, etc. But he's a bit more than that I feel. He looks out mostly for himself and tries to gain power by putting others down, and I feel like despite me dabbling in villain characters, I'm a bit afraid that I won't know how to write the nuances that make his character more than just a simple snake and into an iconic character.

Rain - Okay. Lowkey I did NOT care for Rain before until this game. I didn't care for the descendant of Argus schtick before, so having him in this game as an ambitious mage with a character arc that goes from greeding for unlocking more of his power to a man who regrets those he hurts really interested me. I just wish that WHOLE arc was in the story mode and that most of that story wasn't locked behind his story. So the issue with him is that I feel like he never got much time in the story to show how he acts before he was revealed as a character, he was kinda just there. And we don't really get to know how he acts before because I feel like a good chunk of his intros talk about the aftermath of his crimes and how he feels afterwards. So basically, I know how to write him after the tragedy, but not clear on how to flesh his arc out since he was sidelined so much.

COMPLEX TO ME

I just feel like these characters always make me question if I'm writing them right, both in actions and in dialogue

Kenshi - Everytime I think of him his MKX variation pops up instead. I know he's more of a serious character in 1, but I know there's definitely more there. I just feel like I always need to refer to all the material I can for Kenshi because I get SO worried that I'll butcher him badly and I do NOT want that because I think he's a cool character. He's a character I struggle to write for at the moment, and I hope to improve on that.

Reptile - I feel like most times people brush him off as just a "good man" but I feel like there's more to him than that? And I cannot describe him well. I know he's a good guy at heart but that's all I feel like I can describe him as despite watching a good chunk of his intros. I don't know, I feel like I'm just ALSO worried about butchering him.

HARDEST

Smoke.

THIS MAN. Okay, so I feel like he is the one I fear flanderizing the MOST. I feel like I already wrote him kinda off character in the two lines I wrote for him. I feel like a lot of people simply write him off as a golden retriever, which I personally disagree with. BUT, I can see why people misinterpret this. I only get that vibe when he's with Johnny Cage since he seems to really look up and almost idolize the dude due to his acting career. Aside from that, I think he's a more down to earth person who is really respectful. He's a bit more lighthearted and can be an optimist at times, and even has a more playful and I feel like people take this aspect way too far. I don't think it's helped by the fact that he is contrasted by more edgier and serious characters like Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. I could go on and on about Smoke, but yeah. I think I understand him and can put him into words, but I feel like putting all those concepts into paper is just...a struggle for me.

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tamsong · 9 months

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the homestuck quadrant system & relationships in KotLC

i am fully aware no one asked for this. WAIT that’s a lie three of you asked for this. @orionhong @the-way-astray @soryasongsaa this post is for you <3 it’s been simmering in my drafts since november and i finally had an excuse to finish, and i hope u guys find it interesting!

so. what exactly is the quadrant system, you may ask? and why is it relevant to kotlc? well, we’ll start with the webcomic homestuck. (oh boy) this comic features an alien species called trolls (based off internet trolls) that have some very fun cultural distinctions, such as a caste system based on blood color and the quadrant system, which is a fun variation of romance that i think could be very fun if we applied it to elves, which don’t have enough cultural differences in my opinion.

homestuck trolls have four type of romance as opposed to one and each has its own specific purpose. 2 of them are necessary for reproduction, and 2 of them are necessary for peace and harmony in society. it’s considered desirable to partake in all four kinds of romance, and there are certain rules around this that i’ll get to later. while KOTLC elves only use the one traditional form of romance, it’s considered desirable to be in a socially-acceptable relationship, an approved match, to help grow the elven species, and have a similar sense of Regulation around romance. telepaths also have cognatedom, a special kind of relationship that adds potential for romantic drama into the mix.

i thought it would be interesting if in an alternate universe, the elves recognized more than one form of romance to distinguish their society even more from that of humans. it’s also just fun to ship characters but with extra nuance and spice. so without further ado, let me explain the four quadrants and speculate which relationships in KOTLC, both canon and otherwise, would be in which quadrant! enjoy this silly little time with me

so!! there are two categories: red romance and black romance. red is associated with positive feelings and black with negative, although it’s a bit more nuanced than that. they’re also divided into Concupiscent (associated but not exclusively linked with sexual attraction and reproduction) and Conciliatory (not associated with reproduction). each of the quadrants is assigned one of the four suits in a deck of cards, hence red and black. here's a convenient chart:

a relationship might not just fall into one quadrant, too. relationships are only meant to use one label at a time (more on this later) but often shift across quadrants or be called one quadrant but have some traits of another.

below, i’ve written descriptions of each romance type and also given suggestions for KOTLC ships that would fall into these categories. feel free to fight with me on my choices if you like.

FLUSHED QUADRANT: MATESPRITSHIP/HEARTS <3 (red, concupiscent)

this quadrant is most similar to regular human romance, and already features in kotlc. there's not a whole lot much more to say here, so let's get into examples.

a good canonical example of this in KOTLC is edaline and grady ruewen being matesprits (the name for this kind of partner). an example of flushed feelings that were mutual but never became a relationship is kenric and oralie. sophie and fitz also had flushed feelings for each other canonically, as do sophie and keefe right now, but i would say in both cases the feelings aren't purely <3. i'll talk more about that soon, though.

other noncanon relationships i would describe as matesprits/flushed crushes are tiergan/prentice and marella/linh.

PALE QUADRANT: MOIRALLEGIANCE/DIAMONDS <> (red, concilliatory)

moirails could be best described in our terms as platonic soulmates/queerplatonic partners. that being said, while it doesn't involve kissing or sexual attraction, it IS a type of romance and is distinct from an average friendship. moirallegiance is actually WILDLY similar to the concept of Cognatedom in KOTLC, which is what inspired this behemoth of a post in the first place.

(furthermore, this is why posts implying that cognates are always romantic rub me the wrong way. there are plenty of forms of closeness that aren't traditional romance/flushed).

like cognates, moirails aren't just soul besties, but they're balancing forces that complement each other and keep each other grounded. these relationships hinge on sharing feelings, mutual acceptance, giving advice, and bringing the other person down to earth.

this makes alden and quinlin a good canonical example of ex-moirails. a non-cognate relationship in KOTLC that resembles moirallegiance is that between keefe and dex: they have similar personalities, share secrets, and are able to help each other even when their other relationships are on the rocks.

while sophie and fitz obviously had flushed feelings for each other, their cognate relationship most closely resembles a moirallegiance. they're a pretty good representation of quadrant vacillation, going from close friends and cognates to dating to back to close friends (although their friendship is still recovering from that).

also, while sophie and keefe have flushed feelings for each other, they would actually make really good moirails. they repeatedly have "feelings jams" where they share their worries and trauma with each other (not to say that matesprits can't do this, it's just specifically associated with moirallegiance) like the sleepover scene in neverseen. they're able to see who each other are under their own individual masks, and have well-complementing personalities that bring each other back down to earth. sophie is impulsive but good at connecting with others while keefe thinks things through but makes decisions without consulting other people.

PITCH QUADRANT: KISMESISSITUDE/SPADES <3< (black, concupiscent)

this is where we start to get a bit confusing. pitch relationships are based on hatred, frustration, and annoyance, but just like moirallegiance isn't just an average friendship, kismesissitude isn't your average hatred. there is also an element of attraction and in homestuck is one of the two reproduction-based quadrants.

a kismesis, one's pitch partner, must be someone that not only annoys and angers you but also indirectly challenges you to grow and recognize your own flaws. a kismesis is someone you hate, but grudgingly respect, but also find attractive. basically, it's a very strong arch-rivalry. and while a kismesis is intrinsically hate-based, they’re supposed to cause more or less equal trouble for each other and not actually wish to kill or permanently disable the other. if one or both wants this, or there is a power dynamic where one is harming the other much more, then it’s not a healthy kismesis.

obviously, these feelings aren't really recognized in human or canonical elf society, but if they were i think keefe and tam would make a good kismesis pair. they have outwardly clashing personalities and abilities, but are actually very similar people with a lot of chemistry who just present in different ways. they are at odds for most of their interactions but do show trust and care.

some even better kismesis pairs could be sophie/stina, marella/stina, or even dex/stina. tbh this is just telling me that stina is really good as kismesissitude. home girl just loves hatred i guess. maruca/biana is also a plausible one. you could even do vespera/fintan. go crazy lol

a good example of unrequited pitch feelings is dex’s hate obsession with fitz in the first couple books. in recent material, keefe/fitz could be on their way to a pitch relationship after spending most of their lives in an either pale or platonic situation, but i digress.

ASHEN QUADRANT: AUSPITICISM/CLUBS c3< (black, conciliatory)

this is definitely the weirdest one and is the least defined within the text of homestuck itself, but it means we can also have some fun with it. in homestuck, the ashen quadrant is mostly used for the purpose of mediating two opposing people so they don’t fall into the pitch quadrant. it’s a weird three-way situation involving the conflicting pair and the auspistice, who would be the one having ashen feelings. these feelings might be expressed through an attitude of “god these two are idiots but they’re My idiots damn it and i need to make sure they don’t cause problems.”

two important things to note here: 1) you are only meant to have one person in each of your four quadrants at any given time. 2) while you can shift quadrants, your relationship with someone is only meant to have one of these labels at a time. homestuck trolls are very aggressive and develop feelings of dislike quite easily, so auspistices are needed to prevent people from cheating / getting into romantic fights with people who aren’t their kismesis. while elves aren’t as aggressive, this still could be a problem. for example, if tam and keefe were an established kismesis pair, but keefe and fitz started fighting in a way that could turn into hatred, sophie might be called to be an auspistice for them and make sure their fighting doesn’t turn pitch (in which case keefe would be cheating).

assuming keefe and sophie are matesprits, this also poses a problem for their relationship since sophie is acting as keefe’s auspistice and not his matesprit. It’s a lot.

auspisticism can also be a generalized way of describing relationship mediation. sophie, fitz, and keefe probably need some auspisticizing for all the quadrant shifting they’re doing.

this kind of feeling may be hard to recognize as romantic because of all the utilitarianism surrounding it. think of it as being a very dedicated therapist friend, or part of a very stressful polycule. it requires a Hell of a lot of devotion for two people for their friend to get involved in all that conflict, a devotion which can very much be romantic. I imagine sophie having a high capacity/desire to be an auspistice, as would biana.

that’s the main chunk of the explanation, and there’s a lot to play with here. beyond what i described, you can also get things like two people rapid-firing between flushed and pitch and back to flushed, to people who have feelings for each other but not the same kind, to messy groups of 3, 4, or even more people where relationship types are constantly shifting. conflict in one quadrant can also impact your relationships with all other partners. for example, when alden and quinlin’s cognatedom/moirallegiance fell apart, it could have put stress on quinlin’s matespritship with livvy to the point where the flushed feelings between them are either gone or turned into unhealthy kismesissitude depending on how you look at it.

still confused? that’s okay, you’re kind of meant to be. andrew hussie is a fucking mad lad who doesn’t even take their own story seriously. that being said he did give us the bare ideas for some cool and complex relationship dynamics and a new way of seeing romance, so i’ll give them that.

but anyways, have fun with this!! i would LOVE to see your homestuck-based HCs if you happen to come up with any. a couple more kotlc/homestuck related notes before you go:

- sophie foster is a valid troll name (6 letter first and last name) as is gisela sencen. i couldn’t find any others, which is weird considering the amount of characters.

- trolls have varying powers depending on their blood color, not unlike special abilities.

that’s all folks! have a spectacular day and i hope you learned something cool!

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samasmith23 · 5 months

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I always enjoy your write ups for every Eva episode, and I really liked your analysis of episode 13. I feel like the episode is quite underrated and under-discussed by the Eva fandom/community, and that’s a shame because I love this episode. It’s a very important episode for understanding Ritsukos character, and it’s just a fun change of pace of the usual angel fights we see at the beginning of the series.

Something I’d like to “add” onto your review that I personally found very interesting is Misatos presence inside Magi alongside Ritsuko. I think Misatos presence is intentional, especially on a subtextual level, as Misato realistically could have been cut from that entire scene if Anno didn’t want to expand on the relationship between Ritsuko and Misato. You mention the inside of Magi being like a womb, and to me it’s also like a private or almost sacred space to Ritsuko. For example, we see Maya looking inside the Magi to look at the sticky notes but she is never allowed inside MAGI. Yes Ritsuko relies on her, but it is quite literally from afar, she does not allow Maya to enter into this (very conflicting) but personal space. This is seen through the entire series witth Ritsuko and Mayas relationship. Misato on the other hand is seemingly allowed to not only enter Magi, but help Ritsuko, handing her tools and assisting her. Ironically, a sharp contrast to Misato a few scenes earlier when she told Ritusko that she never asks for help and wants to do everything on her own (side note it’s sort of funny how Misato drops that very personal remark in front of literally everyone). Regardless of the truth within that statement for Ritusko, she seems to take Misatos words to heart and allows her into Magi to help her, and by extension allowing Misato into this deeply personal, and likely painful space. I have no doubt that Ritsuko relied on Misatos presence mentally over the physical help Misato gave her. I also think inside Magi it is a showcase of their true selves, not beholden by rank or status. Misato drops titles and calls Ritsuko by her name while in Magi and Ritsuko shares likely very confidential information about MAGI at Misatos request and opens up more about her mother. Misatos school quip is sweet as well, and her VA nails a very soft voice for Misato during this scene. I don’t think it is quite accurate to say that inside the MAGI is like being inside Ritsukos heart, but I think there is heavy significance to Misato being the only person besides Ritsuko ever allowed inside MAGI.

I 99.99% know that there was never any intention by writers to ever imply that Misato and Ritsuko harbored any romantic feelings for each other, but it’s episodes like this where I wonder why there’s not more slightly delusional people out there like me haha! (The idea that Ritsuko could have a VERY repressed crush on Misato since college is so intriguing to me, but that’s a can of worms for another time.)

I hope you don’t mind my geeking out over this episode in your inbox, I just really enjoy episode 13 and I’m glad that other people view it in a similar way as I do. Looking forward to your next reviews.

Thank you very much for the positive feedback! I hadn't considered the interpretation of the MAGI as a "sacred place" for Ritsuko, but that does also make a lot of sense as does how Misato's presence helped provide some physical and emotional support for her best friend inside the tunnels of the supercomputer! Discussing this is a major reason why I love Evangelion so much! It's so multi-layered and nuanced that there's no universal interpretation for the show's plot and character developments!

#neon genesis evangelion #nge #evangelion #eva #misato katsuragi #ritsuko akagi #magi #feedback #anime and manga

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thatonebirdwrites · 2 months

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lena and kara 7 and 8 please for the ask game :D

KARA:

7. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you like?

I like when the fandom is willing to explore her alien nature, and how easy it is to misinterpret things. I mean, her coming of age is basically being dumped at age 13/14 and forced into a quick assimilation course on humanity. There's bound to be some rather odd and strange behaviors or verbiage that gets mixed up in her head, and it's fascinating and fun to see that appear in the fandom. Especially if it relates to how her Kryptonian heritage impacts her understanding of humanity and the society in which she current lives. (Bonus points if people work in the differences in courtship between what Kara grew up learning on Krypton versus human courtship.) I feel sometimes the fandom doesn't dig into this part of her nature enough honestly, but when I do see it appear, I always love reading it. I also really love how the fandom all agrees that Kara is more of a hands-on sort of person when it comes to jobs. She likes to get in the thick of things to better understand, to work through the problem, etc. And I love a good Kara-ramble.

8. What's something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

I feel like the fandom will sometimes paint Kara as too much of a silly, oblivious, dumb himbo. She's very intelligent, and although she has to hide this to pretend to be human, I wish there was more acknowledgement of her intelligence. Like I get if the fic is meant to be a crack fic and just for laughs (I enjoy reading crack fics sometimes to help me destress). But I feel like the fandom trends toward this characterization of Kara that doesn't really fit how she was portrayed in the show. (Even if the show was rather... inconsistent on this point, she still has her moments where her intelligence shows. She can definitely keep up with Lena, but sometimes fic writers write her as if she can't. And that rubs me wrong.) It's important to note, especially for AUs, that intelligence doesn't just exist for 'being good at science and math.' One can be quite intelligent but instead it's within their field -- like the Dancing with the Stars AU that Jazz did, where Kara's intelligence comes through in her brilliance with choreography and building stories through motion. (Using that fic as an example because it very vividly shows an intelligent Kara that is unrelated to journalism or science/math). So if it's not a crack fic, I wanna see Kara's intelligence come out somehow. Don't just make her silly, hot, dumb himbo. LENA:

7. It kind of makes me laugh that the fandom as a whole decided she's a bottom. I love how fic writers portray her as complex but kind. Lena is a more cynical kind person while Kara is a more idealistic kind person. Both approach kindness in different ways. Lena can be snarky and cynical, but her actions are always her trying to find a solution that causes the least amount of harm. (Heck, even her "revenge plot" was her trying to find a way to stop humans from harming one another, which uh, her application of that goal was problematic. She really doesn't make a good villain; she wants to help others far more than she wants to hurt. She also doesn't want power for power's sake either, and tends to be somewhat humble. Like when she creates something to help others, she puts it out there, but doesn't make a big deal that she is the one who made it. In a way, she's the opposite of her brother, Lex.) So although I love seeing her be snarky in a fic, I love it more when fic writers explore how she approaches the "leave the world better than I found it" ideology that she seems to take to heart. How she goes about trying to make the world better is where Lena may drift into morally grey areas, and I think that adds a lot of interesting nuance to her character that is pretty consistent across the fandom.

8. I feel like this question is harder to answer for Lena. Probably because there's a lot of similarities in how Lena is written that seems to exist across the entire fandom, which I like for the most part. I think one thing that I don't like -- it's not that I despise it per se, just can't quite stomach it -- is when writers go down the angst fest until it becomes angst for angst sake rather than anything really to do with Lena's characterization or arc. It's in these moments where the angst feels contrived and stagnant the plot and characters. Makes it hard to stomach it. This seems to be an issue primarily with Lena as I don't see this happen with other characters in the fandom. I'm trying to think if there's something else... Oh! When Lena is portrayed as cruel. That's one thing she doesn't do well, even in canon. She's never cruel for cruel's sake -- she can't even stomach it. Her actions and words might get snarky or mean-sounding, but her goals and intentions are always rooted in her drive to 'make the world better than how we found it" ideology. (Which is the opposite of cruelness). She tends toward kindness not cruelty. Snarky also doesn't equal cruel either, so I think sometimes it's a lack of understanding of that aspect of her character. Anyway, that really got me thinking! Thanks for asking!!

#character ask game

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daisymylove · 1 year

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Hide the breakables and board up the windows, my beloved Mfs, for a rant is coming your way.

I want to be done complaining about chot I really do, I hate being so negative about a book I waited and yearned for, for so long, but there’s one more thing that annoyed me greatly, and, per usual, I want to know what yall think

Today’s subject is our Blackthorn sibling duo.

I wanna preface this by saying that Grace’s povs were one of my favourite parts of Choi.Her character in itself adds grayness to a narrative of angels and demons, good vs evil, and I really enjoyed all the complexity and layers given to her.I ended Chog cursing her name to the wind swear to god, the cursing emoji was a perfect visual representation of me when she put that thing on james again, but in choi cc achieved exactly what she aimed for with grace :” an explanation, not an excuse”

However, I feel like all that information we were given in the previous book was completely wasted in Chot.The characters never find out that she was threatened into putting the bracelet back on James, or that she tried to take it off at his wedding. Her motivations, too, are never known.The way it was portrayed, it looks like Grace stayed so long by Tatiana’s side bc she truly had some sort of fetish for torturing men, when, in reality, it was all for Jesse

She could’ve begged for sanctuary in an institute, once she became old enough, she could’ve fled with Magnus when he offered to help her in TMH, but she never did.Grace never left bc leaving Tatiana would also mean leaving Jesse and what was all that for? home boy discarded her like some rancid food at the first opportunity When she went to Curzon street to demand James kissed her? That was for him. Even that train wreck she caused by the end of choi was for him, bc she couldn’t bear the thought of controlling her brother and twisting his feelings for her.To me, this is some very relevant info that should’ve become known if all the secrets were going to be revealed, AND YET NONE OF THIS IS ADRESSED IN THE GODDAMN BOOK

the only explanation I can think of is because that knowledge would require of Jesse to have at least a little bit of loyalty towards his sister, or look like an ungrateful arse which he did, but I’ll get there.

Now about jesse.I had great expectations for him in this last installment, the first one in which he’s alive, but my main take away is that he has become an extension of Lucie’s feelings and opinions, in the most symbiotic way possible, with no personality of his own.

In choi we find out that Grace withstood a lot of physical and psychological abuse from Tatiana that he didn’t know about.I was expecting them to have a true heart to heart, they would discuss everything that went down when they were kids, not just james and the bracelet, and jesse would not only feel guilty about not being able to protect his little sister, but also decide to stick by her side no matter what.

And yes, he could’ve done that while also condemning her mistakes and treatment towards James.The two are not mutually exclusive, and would do justice to his little speech about complicated stories, which, to me, is a very hypocritical spiel since he decided to become his sister’s jury, judge and executioner

I never thought I would say this in my life, but I was infuriated on Grace’s behalf reading their scene in the silent city.Everything about it was very odd, Grace conveniently for cc withholding something so important, the way she explained herself, his storming off. Jesse had never had ONE conversation with Cordelia in his life, he barely knew James, can a kind soul explain to me WHY he would be more concerned about their marriage than his actual sister? Considering his beloved had just done necromancy (YES, Thats what it was, even if it was a unconventional form of it.Bro was dead, then bro was alive again, just like that. N e c r o m a n c y) his moralism is very hypocritical and his understanding of nuance lacking

It irked something so deep inside me to see not just kit defending a girl he barely knew tooth and nail over his cousin and life long friend, but also Jesse not giving a fuck about his sister.They were talking about leaving Grace completely isolated from society (that was disgusting btw, it was up to their authorities to decide her future, not a bunch of teenagers thinking they can treat a person like a broken doll, to be put away wherever they feel like it) and Jesse looked like he couldn’t spare a visit. He seemed more than eager to put Tatiana AND grace behind him in order to start a new life with the herondales. So much for them being all each other had growing up and his so called loyalty

As some last thoughts bc this is getting way too long, Grace should’ve been the one to kill Tatiana.That wasnt Cordelia’s business and had no emotional significance. When that fight happens Grace looks the polar opposite of everything Tatiana ever groomed her to be.She is dirty, shoeless, bedraggled and feral looking, Lucie even thinks that grace’s little training would only be useful if she got close enough.Imagine, my siblings in christ, Grace slitting Tatiana’s throat, after she kills Grace’s only friend, while she is distracted with Rupert.Tatiana molded Grace into her blade, and that Blade was responsible for her end.Feel the sheer power of it, the poetic justice that could’ve been ours.

I also think Grace should’ve been sent away to the scholomance (against her wishes, hence the I didnt choose this) for intensive training both bc she’s really behind in it, and as a punishment from the clave.Its not like she had a place to go to, and staying at her ex fiance’s parent’s house is not the way to go. .

This new scenario would give her a fresh start to properly heal and eventually make friendships/ find love without the taint from the past on her heels.Her hanging out and chilling with James and his friends has no sense and is a disrespect to his abuse.James doesnt need his abuser living in his uncle and aunt’s house, Grace needs to start her life over where her past won’t haunt her everyday

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birlwrites · 10 months

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somthing that annoys me SO MUCH about a lot of Regulus fics (other than how many of them are jegulus. seriously so many of their plots look so interesting but i just can't read jegulus it Reallly doesn't do it for me) is how in almost every single one, Regulus has no friends. not a single one. and the authors always just sort of add him on to the end of the marauders and call it done. SO, I just wanted to say that I appreciate it a lot that in ttdl (and career goals) you gave Regulus FRIENDS!! I like that you've given the Slytherins personalities beyond "Evil" and "Bully," even the ones that are Bullies and will be Evil! (Regulus' camaraderie with the quidditch team my BELOVED. the group celebration after the winning game in ttdl? that heart stopping moment in career goals: tyrant when Megan fell off her broom and Regulus was so worried? His protective thoughts about her ex. 'my second year'? Geoff being Dad? Theophania? (her matching hair ribbons with Megan and Emma was soo cute (nothing to do with Regulus but jsyk I really liked that detail)) Travers (i can't remember his first name but i appreciate him anyways) I totally just got sidetracked but <3<3<3 REGULUS HAS FRIENDS!!)

ok SAME. regulus is another character, like james and lily, who is very easy to reduce down to like. 1-2 canon moments and a couple of character traits, and i think a lot of the 'regulus doesn't have his own friends' fics are also the ones that tend to infantilize regulus and/or just make him someone who exists to Be Saved (by either james or sirius, usually)

which!! i cannot stress enough!! is easy to write. there's a reason these fics are all over the place. if regulus doesn't have his own friends, then you don't need to figure out who they are or what their personalities are like or how they impact him and his relationships with the marauders (who tend to be the focal point of the story). simple casts of characters make things simple. that's valid as a writing choice.

however. GIVE THE BOY SOME GODDAMN FRIENDS. i s2g it's like canon lily. she just has the convenient muggle sister (bad relationship), snape (bad relationship, also he's in love with her which reinforces lily as Romantic Interest™ instead of a person), james (canonically, they apparently seem to be on bad terms until lily finally gives in and starts dating him, which, yuck), and harry (so lily can die for him!!)

(more ranting and the joys of regulus with friends under the cut)

whereas regulus, in contrast, tends to have walburga (bad relationship), sirius (estrangement), MAYBE narcissa (who is usually older than him by enough that she's already graduated from hogwarts), and james (JEGULUS)

there is absolutely no way that the entire house of slytherin was a complete monolith of asshole death eaters And Then Regulus, and personally i find it very dull as a narrative choice - even if it's a house full of asshole death eaters, regulus has been living with these people since the age of eleven. he's on a sports team. he has friends.

but i think frequently the reason he doesn't is because that makes it easy for him to be a damsel in distress who gets saved, insert jegulus, and when regulus gets swooped out of that Horrible Nasty Dungeon Full Of Slytherins, it doesn't leave any inconvenient loose ends, because he doesn't have any personal connections. the marauders (primarily sirius and james) never have to learn how to interact with regulus's friends. they can comfortably continue to be super anti-slytherin because regulus isn't 'like the rest of them,' so he's not REEEEEALLY a slytherin :)

(and regulus not being friends with any of the Asshole Death Eaters also conveniently makes him a very Pure character who has only ever been a victim and doesn't introduce any complex or nuanced moral questions to the narrative)

in general i just really hate when regulus is treated as an appendage of one of the marauders, and it happens all the time. that was a big driving force behind writing ttdl in the first place. i'm tired of regulus getting saved sjflsghjsgjkdhkjsf and i'm tired of him just being characterized however is convenient to the marauders

and i do STRONGLY BELIEVE that regulus had friends. maybe he wasn't ✨super popular✨ like ✨sirius and james✨ but like?? that's not a requirement to have friends???

and the slytherin quidditch team is a SLYTHERIN. TEAM. they are going to be both aggressively competitive (regarding the other teams) and AGGRESSIVELY TEAM-ORIENTED (because that's how you fucking wIN). ambition does not mean 'everyone for themself' (we don't have time to get into That canon theme) and IF SOMEONE DOESN'T PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS, THEY ARE HURTING SLYTHERIN'S CHANCES AT WINNING. IT IS A TEAM SPORT.

and like!! they have early morning practices together!! they eat breakfast together because Nobody Else Is Awake!! they work together and they respond viciously if one of them gets hurt and they have BONDED. regulus thinks of himself as being a little bit isolated from the rest of the team but that is the result of HIS OWN ISSUES WITH SELF WORTH and *REGARDLESS* OF THAT, HE STILL IS PERFECTLY AWARE THAT THEY'RE ALL FRIENDS

plus regulus is so much more fun with friends. he needs an outlet for all that drama. he wrote an incredibly elegant 'fuck you' note in a fake locket that he bothered to stash in the basin - LIKE???? HE COULD HAVE JUST TAKEN THE REAL LOCKET AND BLOWN UP THE CAVE???????

and i love regulus being best friends with barty because barty is similarly dramatic and they make the best team. especially when it comes to taking down people they hate. i LOVE the idea of them meeting in first year and both of them immediately going 'ok. mine now' and they are just choosing each other relentlessly from the beginning - and i ESPECIALLY love it because of the difference in their backgrounds, which makes them complete opposites on the surface but the same underneath (which i am a huge fan of as a character dynamic in general alghksgjhkjsdkf, you can see it all over the place in ttdl)

anyway im a huge proponent of 'give regulus his own life instead of just putting him in convenient stasis until the marauders show up.' even if you DO intend to have him sort of merge with the marauders and end up in a relationship with james, it'll be so much more interesting if regulus has his own history and social circle that the marauders have to reckon with, and it puts him on much more equal footing in that relationship, instead of just having it be 'savior/saved'

#i mean when you think about it sirius only really had the three close friends canonically #admittedly they were a lil codependent but Still #hashtag regulus was more popular than sirius at school it's just that nobody ever told harry that #dark lord wip #should i make an inbox tag #im laughing over the notion of regulus being the regina george of hogwarts The Whole Time #and just. nobody ever mentioned it because it ~wasn't relevant to harry's journey~

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