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the-solar-system52 · 9 months

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Eclipse Theories

(strap in this is gonna be LONG. I'm so hyperfixatied right now.)

Theory 1: Eclipse isn't a third AI, they are Sun and Moon combined into one AI.

Edit: Youtooz basically just confirmed this!

This theory has quite a lot of evidence that I will go through in this post, but I must get something out of the way first.

I've never watched The Sun and Moon Show, but to my knowledge, SAMS Eclipse IS a third AI separate from Sun and Moon. So I'm guessing that's where the misconception about Ruin Eclipse comes from, since that series is quite popular.

But there have been SOME fans (not all SAMS fans, but some. no hate to the nice fans or creators.) that are spreading around misinformation about Ruin so I'll just say this.

The Sun and Moon Show is fan-made. It is not canon to the actual FNAF storyline. Therefore, it shouldn't be brought up as evidence when discussing theories about canon DCA lore. It is also rude to complain to Steel Wool when their lore doesn't match up to a FAN-MADE story.

With that out of the way, onto the theory!

1. Eclipse's Name

defintion of eclipse: an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination.

An Eclipse is when the Sun goes infront of the Moon, obscuring it (or vice versa).

But in most media, an Eclipse is a mixture of the Sun and Moon. So by naming this character ECLIPSE, its pretty clear that Steel Wool is trying to tell us that they are a mixture of Sun and Moon.

Think about it, if they wanted Eclipse to just be a third AI separate from Sun and Moon, why on Earth would they name them ECLIPSE? There are plenty of other space-related names they could've gone with! (Star, Cosmo, Nova, a roman planet name, a greek god related to space name, a constellation name, etc.) It'd be silly to name them Eclipse if they weren't an Eclipse!

2. "Reboot! Reboot! We need to be whole."

Listen I don't know how else to put this, but I think this line pretty much confirms this theory. He doesn't tell us to get rid of Moon, he doesn't tell us to remove any sort of virus, he doesn't just say "Reboot us!" and leave it at that. Sun specifically tells us that rebooting him will make them 'whole' again. He even says 'WE'. As in, him AND Moon. And he confirms that being whole is a good thing because otherwise he wouldn't have asked us! He even says they 'NEED' it.

I know Sun has a habit of speaking in riddles, but there are THOUSANDS of other ways he could've worded that if SteelWool intended Eclipse to be a third AI.

Like. C'mon. What more do you want from me?? I'm going full English teacher on this single sentence!

3. Personality

Okay now let's go full PYSCHO-ANALYSIS mode on them! May be a little hard since Eclipse only has one scene of screentime but I can make it work!

So, Moon's personality is very aggressive. He was 100% okay with killing Cassie and Gregory, was implied to dissemble staff bots and glamrock endos, and is very intimidating and creepy. (Plus, has succeeded in killing at least two kids if you count the books.)

Moon cares more about rules then he does people. He's so determined to make kids sleep at naptime that he attempts to KILL them, without any thought of their life.

(Sorry for all the Moon slander. He is a silly billy I know but I'm trying to make a point here, it's necessary I promise.)

The only time we see Moon acting friendly is in merch and posters. But this was confirmed in the Security Breach Files to just be a cover up by Pizzaplex publicity department to make Moon seem less creepy.

Edit: This note from the FNAF Cookbook also confirms this:

The one trait Moon DOES share with his fabricated merch personality, is calmness. Moon is aggressive and creepy, sure, but he's not loud or panicked like Sun is. He chases us very slowly and carefully instead of charging at us, he waves at us in the elevator and after knocking out Freddy, and his voicelines are menacing but in a quiet way, yknow? Idk how else to describe it.

He IS a lot louder and panicked in Ruin, but that's probably because of the bad state he's in and the fact he doesn't want the lights on. Hes angry, but not in the way Monty or Roxy are in the first game. SteelWool still makes it clear to point out this personality trait.

Now onto Sun!

Sun cares about people and isn't violent. It's clear he doesn't want to see people hurt. This is seen when he invites Gregory to arts and crafts, warns him about the lights, warns Cassie when it isn't safe and thanks her for her help.

But although Sun has good intentions, the situation he's in makes it hard for him to really be comforting to people. It's been reported on several occasions that kids are just as scared of Sun than they are Moon. This is probably due to his paranoia. He's constantly afriad of Moon coming out and hurting someone, and is desperate to keep the lights on. He's going...a small bit insane, but who can blame him! He's in a very stressful situation, and I feel very bad for him. Hes definitely TRYING to act the way Eclipse does but something is MISSING! Still, it is worth pointing out that the fandom tends to mischaractize him and take away some of his more eccentric traits. Traits that are essential to his personality and story.

He's also very energetic and loud. Overall, it seems he is missing the ability to CALM DOWN. Calm down?? You see what I'm getting at here??

All this considered, do you see now why I think Eclipse's personality is a mixture of Sun and Moon. He is calm and cares about rules, but also cares about people. He was very comforting to Cassie without a hint of violence or anxiety. He even wished us a faz-errefic day!!

I don't think Sun and Moon are SUPPOSED to be apart, and that's why they act the way they do. In Eclipse, all their personality traits balance out. But when they are apart, there's nothing to balance it out. Moon is violent and only cares about rules, because SUN is the one that is friendly and cares about people. Sun is anxious and eccentric, because MOON is the one that is calm and collected.

Edit: This line from the FNAF Cookbook also implies this?? Specifically the phrasing of "everything moon isnt."

Thats why Sun specifically ASKED us to make them whole again, because he understood that they needed to be together to have a stable personality!

Moon isn't dead or anything, his personality has just be incorporated into Eclipse. Y'know Steven Universe fusion? Y'know that one TPOH theory I made? It's like that.

Not to mention that this is literally the plot of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and the explanation of why Hyde is evil. DCA has been compared to this book twice, once in Tales of the Pizzaplex: Bobbiedots Conclusion, and again the FNAF Character Encyclopedia.

But, if Eclipse is obviously the safer and kinder option for a daycare attendant, why were they split apart into Sun and Moon in the first place?

Theory 2: When, How and Why was Eclipse split apart?

I'm not 100% confident in my theory about this yet, so I'll do this differently. Inside of saying my theory and THEN giving the evidence supporting it, I'll do it backwards. I'll lay out all the pieces of evidence first and make a theory after. This way, you'll understand where I'm coming from and it'll be easier for people to correct me if they find a better version of my theory.

Evidence:

Fazbear Entertainment must've wanted this to happen because rebooting them is very easy and there is merch of Sun and Moon around the Pizzaplex.

Eclipse must have worked in the Daycare at some point, because they talk about kids coming in and cleaning up in their dialogue.

Eclipse was most likely the original DCA because rebooting them restores them to factory settings, aka how they were first made, aka Eclipse.

Fazbear Entertainment must've had a reason not to reboot them after they realised Moon went wrong.

Vanny/Vanessa must've had something to do with this. There is purple glitches in the Eclipse Arcade machine, a drawing of a bunny in the daycare and graffiti of Vanny outside the Daycare.

They can't be effected by the same version of the Vanny Virus the Glamrocks are because that is implied to only take effect the night Gregory came to the Pizzaplex, and Moon has been evil a lot longer than that.

Okay! To start off this story, Eclipse was the original daycare attendant. The way we see them in Ruin is just Ruined Sun and Moon, so I'm guessing they used to look like Arcade Eclipse. (Yeah I know they look creepy but let's be honest they all do.) Arcade Eclipse looks a lot more like an actual ECLIPSE and has the lore implications I mentioned.

Eclipse worked at the daycare and the kids weren't afriad of them because their personality was friendly and caring, just like the way we see them in their one scene.

(Or if you follow the book narrative. They worked in the theater and acted the PART of Sun and Moon, but weren't the real deal since obviously you couldn't have a real murder robot on stage. Offstage they were just Eclipse. That's why they already had the transformation mechanic, plus merch. When they were moved to the daycare, they could have met Cassie when it opened, or before it opened, since she was been established to get early access to stuff like the Foxy Logride. Since its implied Cassie went to the daycare before and talks about it positively. Which wouldnt make sense if she met Sun and Moon. But I don't know if the books are canon or not.)

Its revealed in SB that Vanessa got the job as security with no experience and with a recommendation. She's also the ONLY security guard. From this we can infer that she is somehow able to pull strings in Fazbear Entertainment to get things going in Vanny's evil plan.

With this information, I think it was HER that confirmed Fazbear Entertainment to re-theme the Daycare to Sun and Moon. They might have wanted to use Moon as a Naptime AND Security Bot. The switch to turn off the lights is in the Daycare SECURITY office, Moon patrols the Pizzaplex at the end of each hour like a security guard, and Vanessa never seems to question it during her patrols.

Vanny specifically split them so that Moon was evil. And when Fazbear Entertainment realises what happened, Vanessa convinced them to not go through the trouble of re-theming the Daycare again so they just added generators and told Sun to keep the lights on.

The problem was that Sun still remembered being Eclipse. The drawing on the bottom seems to be of Eclipse. The one on the top has Moon's hat and different facial expressions for both of their face sides.

This also explains why the Eclipse Arcade Machine is in Sun's room, he probably stole it. Plus, in the AR version of Sun's room in Ruin, there's an image of Arcade Eclipse on the ceiling.

Thats why Sun told us to reboot him, because he knew they'd go back to being Eclipse.

So overall I think Eclipse is a happy ending for both Sun and Moon, and completes their mini character arc! That said, the amount of screentime they got was CRIMINAL and I hope we see more of them at some point.

(Edit: Updating this with more evidence!)

4. Design

In scenes where Moon is in control of their body, his left eye glows red and the right one is black.

In scenes where Sun is in control of their body, his right eye glows yellow and his left one is black.

The eyes are clearly meant to represent which personality is in control.

When Eclipse is in control, their right eye glows yellow AND their left eye glows red. This represents that both Sun and Moon are in control of their body.

If Eclipse was a new person, then their eyes would glow a completely new colour to represent them being in control. Or they wouldn't glow at all, to represent neither Sun nor Moon being in control.

Eyes are the window to the soul, and eye colours are known to have a lot of significance in the FNAF lore, like with Circus Baby!

In Ruin, Sun and Moon's arms don't glow at all. They barely have any colour because they are so broken and damaged.

But Eclipse's right arm glows yellow (Sun's signature colour) and their left arms glows blue (Moon's signature colour). I also think this represents both Sun and Moon being in control.

If Eclipse was a new character, then their arms would glow a completely new colour, or not glow at all.

This feels almost MORE intentional than the eyes, because someone had to 3D model an entirely new glow effect for ONE scene.

If that isn't visual storytelling, I dunno what is.

Edit: I also noticed that in the cutscene when you reboot them, there is a moment where they seem to be shaking and struggling, before they stop and start talking as Eclipse.

Its kind of hard to see since Sun's pupil are very bright but in this scene, both of their eyes are glowing, but they are looking around in different directions. This gives the impression of the eyes being mismatched and not yet working in unison, as eyes normally do.

Then they go quiet, their head looks down for a second, springs back up, and we have Eclipse! Eclipse's eyes are both glowing and facing the same direction, and continue to work in unison even as they move around during the rest of the cutscene.

The fact that the animators took the time to add both of their eyes glowing as they were struggling, instead of just waiting for when their head leaned down (and their face went out of the camera shot) to change their eyes, means this was important.

I kind of see this as Sun and Moon's personality "recalibrating" with eachother as they rebooted. As in, it took awhile for their code to get used to the fact that they were now both controlling their body now. Their body convulsing in this moment as they became un-paralysed also suggests this. Plus you can see their arms start glowing.

Sort of like when you reboot a computer and it takes awhile for it took clear out all the bad data and start up again.

Edit: But! When I watched their cutscenes in slow motion, I notice that Eclipse still moves a bit out of sync even while they are talking and fully rebooted. Not the same way they did when they were split up, but enough to give the impression that this body is controlled by two people. And that they aren't completely used to it yet.

You could make the argument that I am overanalyzing these animations, but as an animator myself, I know how long it takes to complete and animation and these details being intentional is a lot more probable then you might think.

After Eclipse says "Happy Birthday" he brings both his hands up to his chest in a friendly pose. But, if you slow the clip down, you see that Sun's arm clenches its fist awhile before Moon's arm does, while his arm is still off to the side and not at his chest. It's only after awhile do they actually hold hands, with Moon's arm grabbing onto Sun's. This gives the impression of them being slightly out of sync, but still trying their best to work together.

This may just be because Sun's pupil is harder to see, but I also think their eyes look very vaguely out of sync in some parts if you slow it down.

And Eclipse even does Moon's signature wave with their Moon hand when they say goodbye to you. Showing that some of their characteristics still carried over after being merged together.

Also-also, the one peice of evidence that is flimsy in my theory is Sun's 'thank you' at the end of this sequence. Some people interpert this to mean that Sun is still conscious within Eclipse so therefore he has to be a third AI.

I think the fact that it takes a moment for Eclipses system to fully reboot could also explain this moment, but not disprove my theory.

The whole Eclipse talking scene takes up around 20 seconds. It's not crazy to believe that some of Sun's code may not be calibrated yet. Plus, it's implied that Eclipses losses some if not all of his memories when he reboots, so this could be what's left of Sun's individual code thanking Cassie for helping them, since they would forget to do so when they are fully rebooted. This is backed up by what I said about Eclipse still moving a little out of sync.

Or its meant in a more symbolic way. Since we don't SEE them say this, it gives it a ghost-like vibe. Like a final send-off for Sun's character, as we know it. Confirming that they are finally OK.

Or or Eclipse is able to subconsciously slightly split themselves apart again to allow their Sun half to talk to Cassie. (or maybe they can just use Sun's voice if they want to.) Reminder that partial eclipse's exist! That's something to think about!

Either way, I don't think this scene necessarily deconfirms my theory on Eclipse. But it is very interesting.

5. Writing

Ok so this section will get into more meta stuff like the rules of storytelling and the future fnaf games. If you think that stuff is too subjective to be seen as evidence, then I see your point, but I want to add it anyway since its an element of theorising that is often overlooked.

(Feel free to just skip this part tho if you don't like it, since this theory already has decent enough evidence without it.)

So let's be honest, I think that Ruin was the end of DCA's story. Sure they had cameos in help wanted 2 but that all took place before Ruin and therefore didn't feature Eclipse. We have to remember that DCA is a side character, so even if they do get more cameos in later installments, I doubt it would be anything substantial. The writers dont have much reason to place all the spotlight on him. And from how little we see characters from older fnaf characters in modern games, I don't think the SB characters will be any different, unfortunately.

And from how it's treated narratively, I really think that them getting rebooted is supposed to be the end of DCA's character arc. And a happy one, at that.

And, if we assume this is true, then Eclipse being a third character makes absolutely ZERO sense. The entire storyline falls apart.

And, like I said before, they way people view DCA is often influenced by fanon AUs, headcanons, etc.

And in fanon, this isn't a problem! It doesn't matter that this is the end of DCAs story, because they could just write more fan story! They could explain everything about this new character, Eclipse, how Sun and Moon feel about him, what happens after that and after that. And that's fine, I'm not trying to be the fun police and say you can't do that.

But when you make the jump from "fanfiction" to "legitimate theory I think is canon" you need to keep in mind that SteelWool has...actual professional writers writing their story. So therefore you need to play by their rules if you want your theory to be solid. And the rules say that they don't have much time to develop DCA's story after this.

So, let's see how Eclipse being a third character wouldn't make sense for a proffesional writer to do, in the context that this is the last we will see of DCA, for the most part.

First of all

WHO THE FUCK IS THIS GUY??? We've been following Sun and Moon this whole time and now you are just gonna drop this random third twink on us?? And then end the character arc and leave this new guy with exactly one scene of screentime??

I mean, he had a little build-up but not enough for him to stand on his own two feet as a full character! Where's he been all this time?? What's his job?? What do Sun and Moon think of him?? Why does rebooting them to factory settings trigger him to take control for some reason??

Eclipse being a combination of Sun and Moon fixes this problem. Because we already know who he is! Technically any Sun and Moon screentime we had at this point counts as Eclipse screentime, because we can guess how Eclipse would act by combining the two. And I think his lore involves just a little less 'making stuff up'.

Second of all,

What the hell happened to Sun and Moon?

No but seriously. Are they dead? Because that's the only explanation people are giving me!

People say stuff like "oh they were finally put to rest 😔" NO??

This whole narrative was about Sun and Moon fighting for control over their body, and how much pain that caused them. How is that suddenly a good thing when some other THIRD GUY takes control of their body instead? Don't they just get send to whatever subconscious purgatory they are in when they aren't in control? Sun is still paranoid mess, Moon still wants to murder people, and they both still hate eachother. Nothing has REALLY changed.

How is that a happy ending? Why on earth would Sun THANK us for that??

Again, my theory clears that up because now Sun and Moon are BOTH in control, and don't have to fight anymore.

Do you see now how Eclipse being a third AI destroys any type of closure and satisfaction the ending gave? Plus I think it's just makes everything CANONICALLY less interesting, in my opinion. And because of that I really don't think it's how Steelwool intended the ending to be interpretated.

Again, if you just like the idea of Eclipse being a third guy for fanon reasons, than thats fine. That's what AUs are all about! But if you spread misinformation about the CANON lore, then I just have to disagree.

Edit: Another thing!

When we turn the lights on, Sun doesn't take control of their body. Instead, they are paralysed and can't move at all. Helpy mentions that they are malfunctioning, and I think this means that whatever mechanism diverts control of the body between Sun and Moon is broken. This means, in the physical world, only Moon is able to take control of the body. And the AR World is just where Sun's consciousness ended up.

If you look closely you can see their circuit board has multiple broken wires. These broken wires may have been what causes the control to divert, and they were damaged when the Pizzaplex went into ruin. This means that Sun is unable to take control of the body even if the lights are on, and the control is stuck on Moon and causes him to instead be paralysed since the system still recognises that Moon can't be in light, but can't solve the problem by giving Sun control.

With this established, it doesn't make sense for Eclipse to be a third AI that took control when they were rebooted, because the system that diverts control is broken. That system couldn't be fixed with the reboot either, since it's his actual PHYSICAL wires that are disconnected. Even if Eclipse became consciousness, there's no reason for him to be un-paralysed if he was a third AI that needs to take control away from Sun and Moon. Even if Eclipse was triggered by something other than light, if he is seperate from Sun and Moon, then the control system would still need to be used.

But if Eclipse was a fusion of Sun and Moon, then it wouldn't matter if the system was broken, because they wouldn't need to divert control to anyone! There's no one else inside their brain, it's just them now, and they are one person. Sun and Moon fusing together eliminates the paralysis because their code recognises Sun as being able to move in the light. And since Sun is already a part of Eclipse, there no need for the broken control system to be used. This allows Eclipse to be unaffected by light and can move away from the generator without anything happening. The reboot restores them to their factory settings, and those settings have no use for the control code because there is only one of them.

#fnaf #five nights at freddy's #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #fnaf security breach #fnaf ruin #fnaf ruin eclipse #fnaf ruin dlc #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf eclipse #fnaf theory #🌑#long post #rant #theory #speculation #ruin eclipse

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artzychic27 · 10 months

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And now a random post that totally doesn’t explain my current feelings by using Marc

Alix: Tell him! Do it!

Nathaniel: I don’t want to! I’m scared!

Ismael: It’s either you, his doting boyfriend he’d never hurt, or us. Just give us the signal and we’ll get him in The Box. Now go! *Pushes Nathaniel into the art classroom and shuts the door*

Nathaniel: … Uh… Rainbow?

Marc: *Looks up from his journal* Oh, hey Nath. What’s up?

Nathaniel: Um… So… AO3 is down.

Marc: Yeah, that sucks. I was right in the middle of this really good fic, but it’ll be back up in an hour or two.

Nathaniel: … Actually, Rainbow… Sweetie pie… Light of my life, my love and reason I get up every morning… There was a… DdoS attack… And… AO3 might be down for… A while…

Marc: *Creepy head tilt* … I do not understand the words you are saying…

Nathaniel: … Well…

*Outside*

Aurore: *Holding a cattle prod* How do you think it’s going?

*Before anyone could answer, a crash is heard*

Alix: GET THE FUCK IN THERE, PEOPLE! MOVE!

Marc: I’LL BURN EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE! *Chucks a table out of the window* WHO THE FUCK DO THESE BLOODY CUCKS THINK THEY ARE?! SO MANY OF MY STORIES ARE ON THERE, AND THEY HAVE THE FUCKING GALL TO DO THIS!

*Denise and Ivan tackle Marc to the floor and restrain him*

Nathaniel: They’re just gonna have you rest in The Box for a while, Rainbow. It’ll be okay.

Marc: *Getting dragged away* NOOOOOOO! I’LL BURN THIS FUCKING CITY TO THE GROUND! *Headbutts Ivan, bites Denise’s arm, and escapes while the teachers chase him down* YOU’LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!

Adrien: Uh… What’s The Box?

Nino: Oh, just something the school had made when Marc couldn’t access AO3 for… For like a week.

Adrien: How long did he stay in there?

Nino: A week.

Denise: *Bleeding from their arm* It’s pretty brutal.

Adrien: Denise! You’re bleeding!

Denise: Oh, I don’t think it’s as bad as last time… I hear colors.

Louis: *Getting choked by Marc* You have the shot! Take the shot!

M. Grotke: *Shooting tranquilizers at Marc* I am taking the shot! He’s resisting! These things are supposed to take out Clydesdales!

*One hour later*

Meme. Mendeleiev: Okay, Nath. You know the drill. Here’s his lunch, and your tranq gun. *Hands Nathaniel a lunch tray and a tranquilizer gun*

Alya: Why does he need a tranq gun?!

Marinette: Did you not see Marc rip a door off of its hinges?

Mme. Mendeleiev: Remember, if you miss, play dead, and he’ll lose interest. Godspeed. *Pushes Nathaniel into the basement and shuts the door*

Nathaniel: Okay, it’s just like last time. Nothing to worry about. *Approaches a glass box in the middle of the room, and standing dead center in it is Marc in a prison jumpsuit*

Marc: Hello, Clarisse.

Nathaniel: Really?

Marc: What? Just trying to lighten the mood. Come onnn! Let me out! I promise, I won’t try to murder anyone this time. Don’t you trust me?

Nathaniel: Marc, of course I trust you. But you just need to calm down until AO3 is back up. For God’s sake, we almost lost Louis.

Marc: … Okay. That’s fine. I get it… Why don’t you be a dear and slide that tray in?

Nathaniel: Sure. *He opens a small glass door and starts sliding the lunch tray through it, only for Marc to grab his wrist* MARC! WHAT THE HELL?!

Marc: LET ME OUT OF HERE! I’LL MAKE OUT WITH YOU UNTIL YOU’RE SICK OF ME!

Nathaniel: *Yanks his arm away* There is a laptop next to you! You can read Wattpad, Fanfiction.Net, or Quotev. Love you, nutcase. *Blows him a kiss and leaves*

Marc: YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO PEOPLE! THERE’S NOTHING ON WATTPAD BUT STORIES WRITTEN BY EMO MIDDLE SCHOOLERS! IT’S ALL BAD!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #marc anciel #BRING BACK AO3 YOU FUCKERS!#nathaniel kurtzberg #science kids #I’M GONNA FUCKING BURN EVERYTHING!#Akuma Clasd

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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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acourtofthought · 17 days

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What are your thoughts on all the contradictions from Elriels?

1. A Gwynriel book would be boring and nothing but Silver Flames 2.0 because we've already had the training/warrior falling in love story, but an Elriel book will be about him training her.

1 ½. Gwynriel is a creepy student/teacher dynamic but Azriel will teach Elain to be a spy.

2. The bonus chapter sets up a forbidden Elriel romance, but it also doesn't count because not everyone has read it.

3. Elain loves and accepts Azriel for who he is even though it's confirmed that she knows nothing about him torturing people.

4. According to several Elriels, Elucien and Gwynriel shippers are the minority in the fandom and Elriels are the majority but they also say that if Elucien and Gwynriel become canon, it will only be because sjm folded to pressure from fans. Why would an author bow to the whims of only a small portion of their fanbase?

I think an Archeron becoming a warrior while being mated to a Bat Boy is way more Feysand 2.0 than Gwynriel would be. First off, they all look very similar. Three golden brown haired females who are related with three dark haired winged fae who are "related" is giving off similar fanart. Second Gwyn is already on the path to becoming a warrior. Her story with Az would not involve her becoming a warrior at the same time they're falling in love, she's already begun the process of becoming a warrior without him (and her initial training was given by Cassian). Elain returning TT and not looking back but suddenly training from scratch with Az to become a warrior / spy in the next book while falling in love is Feysand 2.0. Besides, Az already has prior commitments to training the Valkyrie. Whether some like it or not, Gwyn will be a regular presence in his book and it would be a little odd to have her saying things like, "See you tomorrow Shadowsinger" while Elain stands there......doing what, I'm not sure. Because she is not going to be a Valkyrie, that I can almost guarantee. And the teacher / student dynamic is a pretty consistent thing in SJMs books, Rowan / Aelin. Feyre / Rhysand. Nesta / Cassian. I can't believe that's even an argument. You are right! Az confirms Elain has no idea the things he's done and Elain has never been on page for any of the moments that reveal his true darkness and rage. She wasn't there when he tortured the soldiers (Feyre was and even she was bothered). Elain wasn't there when Az said "good riddance" if Graysen ended up dead. Elain wasn't there when he couldn't admit to Rhys that he was over Mor. Elain wasn't there when he demanded that the Cauldron must be wrong even though we've got no confirmation that Elain wants Az as a mate. Elain wasn't there when Az said she shouldn't be exposed to the Darkness of the Trove but was cool if Nesta was. Honestly, I think Elain would be extremely turned off if she'd witnessed even half of those things. From the many polls I've seen, E/riels don't even make up 35% of the fandom so I'm unsure why they think Gwynriels / Eluciens combined are the minority. Now, the fandom is only a small percentage of all those who actually read this series so we don't know what the actual numbers are but based on how E/riels don't seem to make up half of the most dedicated fans of her work, I'm not sure where they're getting off claiming they are the majority. As far as fan service, I don't think you can claim an Elucien endgame is SJM catering to fans when she was the one who decided to mate them in the first place. When she is the one who had Lucien think of Elain as the most beautiful female he'd ever seen. When she is the one who spoke of them on vacation together. When she is the one who changed Lucien's father to Helion and had Elain say she needs Sunshine. When she is the one who had Lucien claim he was a mated male and has forgone all other female companionship, remaining loyal to Elain and only Elain for two years.

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postilionstruckbylightning · 7 months

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I’m not sure how to express what I’m going for here so I might fumble around a bit, but I’m learning more and more how few divisions there are between different forms of entertainment and artistic expression, how a fundamental sense of story unites them, and how much I love that.

I do impro, and not long ago I and some other people I do that with took a clowning workshop. (I hate clowns in the creepy makeup sense, but clowning as a practice is a lot of fun.) The teacher was great and gave me a lot to think about, but my favourite lesson was that a clown approaches a character by breaking it down to its barest essentials. So if you’re in a scene pretending to be a businessman, how do you do it? Well, what are three things about a businessman? He has a suitcase, he wears a suit, he’s very busy. That’s all you need, those three things, and the audience will understand who you are.

Not long after that, I was at a beer and barbecue festival where they had some wrestling as entertainment. I’d never really been into wrestling, but my friend (another improviser) was so we watched it. And not only did I have a great time, I realised how familiar the show felt. The wrestlers had personae that were like a clown’s. One guy’s gimmick was that he was a vice-principal, and immediately I could see the three things: he wore a sweater vest, he handed out detention slips, and he had a ruler. And even though there are some ways a wrestling match is different to impro - the moves are thoroughly choreographed where our stuff is made up on the spot - I saw the similarities too: the focus on quickly establishing characters, the importance of the relationship between players, the sense of trust. It felt so good to see a different take on the same impulse to entertain.

I always thought I was in a different category to the wrestling fans, or the performers, but we’re all coming from the same place. Singers, actors, comedians, artists, dancers, wrestlers, writers, and the fans of all of them, we’re all embracing story and fun and the unknown together.

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thatiranianphantom · 11 months

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I don't usually slide into the ask box of people that I strongly disagree with. It's usually utterly pointless and I usually adhere to a strict "live and let live" policy...but your RD takes are just so deeply unsettling that I am making an exception.

Claiming that RD is softcore porn now is just...not true.

This is not even remotely softcore porn. This is barely erotic. And I think your assertion that the show feels like a masturbatory fantasy from the writers has a lot more to do with the fact that you're personally unhappy with the show's direction than the show itself. It's a bad faith reading on the show, steeped in pearl clutching, Hayes Code romancing, nonsense.

Takes like yours, whether they mean to or not, are begging for the Hayes Code to come back. Begging. "Oh, TV shows should only show good morals and whenever they show something morally ambiguous, it should be clear where the moral failings are".

That's a big part of the Hayes Code. And I, for one, reject that ideology with every fiber of my being. TV shows do not need to be parables. They are under no obligation to preach good morals to their audiences. Their purpose is to express ideas!

And Riverdale is doing a bang up job, if I do say so myself (even if I personally feel it could have gone further with a lot of its plots). It's meta-commentary on Americana, film, and television is unmatched. Its refusal to be any one thing is both brave and fascinating. The show has remained true to its vision despite pissing off much of its audience, which is rare in a landscape of shameless pandering for views. God bless Riverdale for that.

(Speaking only of the show itself here, not its marketing.)

But back to the main point. You claim no one will want to hire the Riverdale writers after this and that you think they should go to prison. That's...honestly a deeply conservative mindset and you're not alone in thinking that, but you are highly visible. So, I bring my thoughts to your ask box.

I implore you to look beyond the surface of the media you consume and to recognize that our reactions to stories have a lot more to do with our own feelings than the stories themselves unless we specifically step away from ourselves for analysis. And hey, there's nothing wrong with having opinions on your own blog, so feel free to dismiss me as a little hater. <3

I apologize that this has gotten so long and if I sounded nasty. I am just so deeply disturbed by the prevalence of purity culture in fandom these days. It starts with "think of the children!" and "No kink at pride!" and ends with the eradication of anyone who doesn't fit into the conservative ideal for culture. I'm not saying that you want that, per se, but be careful because those that do want that think similarly.

Thanks.

Okay.....first of all, and I mean this genuinely, kudos to putting your name behind this. This doesn't happen often, so a true fist bump to you.

How generous of you to come here and offer unsolicited and incredibly condescending pseudo-intellectual commentary on what I am allowed to post on my blog. Very generous. But hey, I'm high profile! Lil' ol' me! Look Ma, I made it!

Now we gotta get in the weeds here. Yeah, I am not going to take back or apologize for how softcore-y this show has been this season. I stand behind the statements I made about how creepy it is to watch a grown man's masturbatory fantasy play out on screen. In the last episode alone, they have sexualized pedophilia and grooming (with a teacher student fantasy) and children playing a board game.

See the thing is, it would be purity culture to suggest a woman CAN'T have sex or be sexually attracted to someone. We spent 6 years with Betty as someone who liked sex, and that was fine! We even spent s5 with Betty who used sex as a bandaid. That wasn't healthy, but she was an adult woman having sex. It was fine. Fifties Betty has sex as her ENTIRE character. There is nothing else to 50s Betty. She's horny. She wants to have sex. She wants to have sex so much that she's actively predatory. That's it. And having one and only one character motivation kinda flies in the face of the whole "feminism" thing the show is trying to project, don't it?

Hey, I'll give you that the show THINKS it is making a feminist statement. I'll give you that the show's writers probably THINK they are fixing racism, sexism and homophobia in one fell swoop. But they aren't. Quite the contrary, they are actively furthering those issues while thinking they're doing an amazing job. They degrade women while touting themselves as feminists. They made their only Latina family mob members while touting themselves champions of POC stories. They view themselves as LGBT representation while one character decides another's sexuality and their agency in coming out is stripped from them.

Adding to that, it's fine if you disagree with me. I speak only for myself, and the block button is easy to find. It's all good. I'm not offended that you disagree with me, but to suggest Riverdale is scathing, witty meta-commentary? RIVERDALE????? I don't think I'm the one who doesn't know what this show is, anon. This show is a vehicle to leer on the hot cast members, and more recently, to act out some personal ~aesthetic* writer fantasies. It has never and will never be what you proclaimed it to be:

"meta-commentary on Americana, film, and television is unmatched. Its refusal to be any one thing is both brave and fascinating. The show has remained true to its vision despite pissing off much of its audience, which is rare in a landscape of shameless pandering for views. God bless Riverdale for that."

I'm...a little stunned that you think it is. But nonetheless, I stand behind the statement that writers whose misogyny comes out LOUDLY in their writing, who have stripped this show of anything interesting, recognizable or interesting, and whose relationship with the fans on social media is disturbing at best, will not be prime targets for new shows.

Again, I do genuinely commend you for putting your name behind your thoughts. I have no issue with you disagreeing with me, or the majority of the fandom in general. I have no ill will to you. But yes, I believe this season of the show is disturbing, misogynistic and creepily sexual. It's a statement I stand by, and while you're under no obligation to agree, I hope you're able to find the block button next time.

#answered #watergatescandelous #Riverdale #RD negativity #There's more I didn't put in here I'm just #???

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just-an-enby-lemon · 1 year

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[I have a silly idea of Batman recruiting Crane when he was still a professor because Crane was the best on his field and he needed psychiatric knowledge to help with a particular rought case. Scarecrow is already a criminal but no one knows who he is]

Jonathan: Can't I at least go back to my office and check if it's locked? I let my computer logged at all times and a student may use it to change their grade.

*Bruce sends him a look*

Jonathan: What? It happens. I was on lockup so Jeremiah could change his grade on former professor Strange's old computer multiple times. Now I always told him "why take a class on criminal psychology if you have such a weak stomach for Hugo work tales, Miah" and he would go "well my family has this Asylum" and our grades came and his was down and he was soo scared of disapointing his family. It's one of my favorite memories really. So lil old Alyce god bless her soul saw Miah crying and me failing to confort him and she always had a soft spot for Miah so she said "you know I heard that Strange never locks his door and his computer is always logged on" and at first Miah wouldn't do it, he was afraid of getting caught, fear is a very strong motivator, but you already know that, don't you, Batman? Stricking fear on the hearth of the criminals. Anyway, the best way to fight fear it appeared was with more fear as being remembered of the fear of disapoiting his old man was all it took to overcome his fear of Strange's ire. Long story short Miah decided to go. I of course offered to help and he was "you will? But your grades are good?"" and I simply reminded him that his weren't and he was "Thank you, Jon" and we did. We keept doing it the whole semester. I have no idea how Hugo never noticed... What was my point again? Oh yeah, this things happe, Dark Knight, and I pride myself of being a fair teacher. I may have being permissive of cheating as a student but never as a professor, I love Miah but we all known he would be better off teaching or working at the hospital, maybe opening a pratice not in Arkham and he wouldn't be if I didn't help him cheat. I don't want a repetition of that.

Batman: That's certainly a nobble cause, Dr. Crane but I'm afraid-

Jonathan: Afraid! We are all afraid. Now tell me, Crussader what are you afraid off?

Batman: *suspicious* Excuse me?

Jonathan: uh... *internally: dammit Crane that was too obvious* uh... bonding exercise *internally: nice save*

Batman:... Bonding exercise?

Jonathan: Yes, to help inspire trust and calm the body during a stressfull situation. I suppose I started to harshly what about you favorite color?

Batman: I understand that situation might be scary for you but I would preffer if you refrain from bonding activities.

Jonathan: *whispering* social interations make him nervous interesting

Batman: I didn't hear you?

Jonathan: Sorry, I'm a little out of it, I suppose, you are right is merely a bit of fear, it is a rather unusual stiuation. It almost fells like visiting Gotham for the first time all over again.

Batman: I imagine you liked the experience the first time though?

Jonathan: And why is that?

Batman: Because you stayed.

Jonathan: To be honest I find Gotham absolutly terrifying. It's creepy atmosphere, the gothic architeture, the almost permanent fog in the sky, the constant bad weather *raising an eyebrow at Batman* the crime. Gotham is a place where all urban legends are true! There really is poison in the water mains and we truly have crocodiles in the sewers and clowns wanting to kill you.

Batman: Than why stay?

Jonathan: Maybe I just didn't had anywhere to come back to or maybe I just like the fear or maybe and there is the real answer here maybe I just find the people of Gotham truly fascinating. How brave they are in the mist of everything.

Batman: I suppose.

Jonathan: Suppose? *he laughs* Only in Gotham you would find an old lady who would stand up in front of a deranged serial killer like Victor Zsaas and order him to finish his target already cause he was stopping the traffic. Or a kid who face to face with local terrorist Edward Nygma dared him to solve his puzzle. Only in Gotham a man would dress up like a bat to fight crime. We don't have it anywhere else. Certainly not in Georgia! It's inspiring. It makes me wonder what are the gothamites afraid of.

#it was supposed to be funny #but in the end i felt more like a movie writer making a shitty scarecrow biopoc where Jon will ofc be played by Basil Carlo #scarecrow #jonathan crane #batman #the alyce from jon's story is dr alyce sinner she is jeremiahs second in comand and partner in crime during his black mask ii arc #jon also totally did the voices when quoting people on his stories #jon is actually being humble by not saying he was the best on stranges class #also is important to notice that jon never said because i care or because I'm your friend even though that is totaly how Jeremiah remembers #at this point on college he saw jeremiah more like a pet #did he start seing him as friend? maybe #onlly in gotham #gothamites are build different

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cordycepsfem · 10 months

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Pageboy Readthrough, Part Five

Previously:

more Canadian history

EP's step-family is an absolute bucket of shit-heads

EP doesn't know the difference between a dab and a dollop, but I forgive her given the "step-family of shit-heads" thing

the subconscious message EP takes in from her family is Why aren't you like them? meaning Why aren't you normal? and your reviewer got maudlin and sad again

Now:

Chapter Six

we start off the chapter with EP and a friend at dinner

EP is living with this friend at the time

earlier in the day that we start into, EP had to call the police about a stalker

the stalker started off as a pen pal when EP was first on TV at the age of 11

EP diverges into telling us what she likes about acting, and surprise surprise, it's "being anyone but who I am"

EP has a music teacher who told her to "stop roughing up the boys at recess" which, you know, same

EP realizes that acting means she will have to wear "girl" costumes, which, you know, duh

EP there is a 900% chance that you did not know they were "cis" boys nor did you refer to them as "cis" boys because no one talked about people as "cis" when you were 11.

Also, "how is that not you"? They're wearing costumes! You are also wearing a costume for what sounds like some sort of historical drama? No one is wearing "suspenders, knickers" in modern-day Canada except in their Mennonite or Hutterite communities.

EP makes a website with basic HTML for school

a man contacts her through it

she likes it because she likes feeling "seen" - the man said he could understand her feelings

he probably could because he was like twenty-eight

we once again digress into the Canadian Part of the story, where I learn that the drive between Toronto (close to where I used to live) and Halifax (where I went on vacation once) is two days

EP and her mom would eat ketchup chips on vacation because, of course, Canadian

back to the pen pal

he is a Creepy Fuck who makes collages of her with angel wings

EP jumps headfirst into an eating disorder which starts by hearing a voice in her head

during what is going to be a very serious moment about a stalker, we take a header into Canadian Stuff because OF COURSE we do

Did you know Toronto is the Raccoon Capital of the World? OF THE WORLD? Jesus, I'm glad I moved... they could have definitely overrun my small town

apparently 100,000 raccoons live in Toronto

2.93 million people live in Toronto, just for a further demographic

anyway, back to the part that matters:

the Creepy Fuck emails all of EP's friends trying to find out where she is

he finds out

EP and her friend call the police

the police are worried and she gets a restraining order against him

we once again play All These People Are Shitheads

the Creepy Fuck FINDS HER, because of course he does

he tries to get her to take a walk with him

she runs

he gets arrested

he has schizophrenia

she does not press charges

things go from Bad to Worse because we are well and truly out of control at this point

EP decides that she will stop eating

she tells us that trans and gender-non-conforming youth are more likely to struggle with eating disorders

I did some research even though I feel like shit trying to correct her in her own sad book, but I am a very specific type of asshole

we know that female individuals are most likely to have eating disorders; I'm sure that now a lot of those female people are trans men and enbys

I had no idea that gay and bisexual men and boys made up almost half of male sufferers of eating disorders

anyway, EP starts doubling down on an eating disorder

I need a moment of levity so I will say that I would eat the fuck out of a Fear Sandwich if it was served at a cool restaurant or a nifty food truck

anyway, back into Hell

We've come to the end of the chapter which is good because I am so incredibly upset about all of this. I thought I was going to be able to do two chapters today since I didn't do much else, but Jesus fuck this book is so incredibly sad.

EP, you can have my dad. We can share dads. He is a very good dad. He would not come to Toronto to kick your ass... he would have come to Toronto to be comforting and to be very involved with everything. He was so concerned for my safety online that he told me that I had to give a fake name to the Christian women in my "Touched by an Angel" fanfic mail chain when I was fourteen, even though all we really did was tell each other we were praying for whatever causes they brought up and sending around new chapters of fic. I think I told them my name was Rachel.

My dad is funny but not at the expense of his children. He's been married to my mom for almost forty years and they love all three of us, let us be our own people throughout our childhoods. He is so incredibly proud of us, for wherever we are in our lives. He would have been proud of you and he would have fought for you the same way he fought for me when I got sick, the same way he fights for my disabled sister's care, the same way he stood up for my baby sister when she punched a kid in junior high because said kid was teasing her and the school wanted to suspend her.

(And this might just be me being selfish, but you are a few months older than I am and I would have loved an older sister. Again, we could have been weird together.)

My point is, you deserved better people around you. You still do. No matter what, you did not deserve this - from your father or from your stalker. You deserved to be a kid, and to be happy, and to eat.

And now I need to go eat, because reading this reminded me I haven't done that yet. Maybe I'll make a Fear Sandwich.

#ellie's ep posting #pageboy readthrough #radical feminism #radblr #terfs do touch

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sayammm · 16 days

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In case no one has told you this today, people usually dont care nor would judge you if you read disturbing stories. You love toxic male leads and yandere MCs? That's fine. But when you start being an apologist for toxic characters and do a mental gymnast defending their disgusting actions? Yeah that's the issue. And when people call you out in the comments section? Dont act all huffy and say "people just cant take dark stories anymore". Stop saying it's only "fiction" or that they're "fictional characters" because when you start defending actions in fiction like "a creepy teacher having a relationship with a minor/student", or that this "toxic male lead doesnt allow the FL to have a life outside of him", you'll start defending these type of actions in real life too. What we read shapes us. What we consume shapes our character. So it's definitely important to recognize what's toxic and what actions are not good even in fiction. Liking a toxic character doesnt mean you have to defend their actions. Let's learn to say I like this character but I recognize that they are sick in the head and is in need of therapy. Or a few decades in prison instead of being their apologist.

#manga #light novel #anime #shoujo

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bookaddict24-7 · 20 days

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REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

EVERY WEEK I WILL POST VARIOUS REVIEWS I’VE WRITTEN SO FAR IN 2024. YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY GOODREADS FOR MORE UP-TO-DATE REVIEWS HERE.

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119. Delinquent Daddy & Tender Teacher, Vol. 2 by Tama Mizuki--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The way this series has a chokehold on me. The adorable little kid? The heartwarming relationship between the characters? The slowly increasing seriousness of their relationship? Please, this is both the cutest and sweetest series.

This was also surprisingly...spicy? I was not expecting that LOL.

I also thought the way Mizuki marked the passing of time by seasons was really smart and well-done. It also helped set the pace of the relationship between the two MCs.

I can't believe we only have three volumes out physically in North America 🙃

___

120. Delinquent Daddy & Tender Teacher, Vol. 3 by Tama Mizuki--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Omg I love seeing the jealousy in this one because it helps bring to light some of the insecurities so the main couple can have solid communication about it all. I love these two because even though they get frustrated or hurt, they always manage to talk things out. I also loved the introduction of another set of characters and a new situation that proves to both be challenging for the little one, but also a chance to further showcase how much these characters care for each other.

I do like that one of them, despite his fears, was able to set his boundaries so well. I think that was pretty well done, as opposed to a few other storylines I've seen where everything happens so quickly and it's like boundaries don't even exist or matter.

I honestly need more. I want to devour everything this author brings us with this series.

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121. Murder Road by Simone St. James--⭐️⭐️⭐️

While Simone St. James is definitely an auto-read for me (I still haven't read her older stuff, but don't judge me too much, please), sometimes her books can really be a hit or miss.

MURDER ROAD is a story that kind of sits in the middle for me. It was...okay? And I kind of wanted it to end by the time I reached around the 70% mark. The mystery itself was intriguing and I loved that twist of this being set in the 90s (those comments about Princess Diana and Kurt Cobain threw me the hell off and I kept thinking "Who's gonna tell her?"). The twists were good and so were each of the reveals.

The thing is that something about this book just...felt off to me. I think it was just very slowly paced. The story starts off strong and metaphorically punches the reader, but then it just kind of...enters this moment in the story where it's both frustrating and drags on a bit.

I'd still recommend this to thriller fans, since I can definitely see this grabbing a thriller addict's attention, but I do wish the book had kept that same energy of the beginning all the way through the book.

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122. Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think DEEP WIZARDRY was better than the first book. While it still had some of the confusing magical math that the first book had, it wasn't as dense. We still got to see a lot of the magic at play, especially when the kids find themselves in a dangerous ocean.

This book also gave me heavy A WRINKLE IN TIME vibes. I think if this book was on today's book cases, it would be a pretty strong seller. It has the friendship goals of two young magicians, skeptical parents, and the wild adventures that kids are somehow surviving when we know in real life, adults wouldn't survive.

This also did have some creepy moments, especially when we meet some of the characters.

Okay, will be attacking book three soon!

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123. Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris--⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I spoiled myself for who Sookie ends up with and while I was disappointed, I HAVE enjoyed seeing her navigate her relationships. DEAD RECKONING doesn't disappoint as we learn some truths about Sookie's relationship and the heartbreaking reality of her situation.

One of my favourite things about this series, now that I'm one step closer to finishing, is how much Sookie has grown as a character. Thinking of how she was in book one in comparison to her now is wild. Her naive nature has changed and she is much more aware of her humanity and fragility. She is also more aware of the people around her and how her actions affect those she loves.

This instalment also tackles a situation that has been brewing for several books and it had a very, very satisfying conclusion. I'm also now very curious about what's happening with a few certain people in Sookie's life.

I'm excited to get to the next book because I'm so, so close to the end!

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124. Stay Out of the Basement by R.L. Stine--⭐️⭐️⭐️

STAY OUT OF THE BASEMENT was entertaining for what it was--especially since the concept of plants becoming self-aware and actively trying to get humans is a creepy topic. The story itself was entertaining and less frustrating than other GOOSEBUMPS titles.

There is some language in this that are very reminiscent of the 90's blasé way of speaking. Calling a kid "Fatso" because she's skinny, and having that girl make her younger brother by one year sandwiches every time he was hungry were a couple of the things that threw me off. I don't even know how many times I asked myself "Doesn't this kid know how to make himself a peanut butter sandwich? She's eleven and he's ten..."

Anyway, another classic GOOSEBUMPS bites the dust.

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Have you read any of these books? What were your thoughts?

___

Happy reading!

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the-paranoia-agent · 2 months

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Okay, so the latest chapter of Mieruko-Chan (Chapter 56) has set up three (3) things. There are spoilers in here, but this chapter was less big plot and more build up for characters and later plot.

1. Michiru and the Caterpillar Forest Spirit are still integrating

Michiru is still very Michiru, but the tentacles are goofy now. Probably because she doesn't feel like she has to be defensive or aggressive in having a friend, so the caterpillar forest spirit seems to have relaxed some. Why it's being so goofy is not yet seen but I'm not complaining. It looks like Michiru is still insecure of her place as Hana and Miko's friend (could be the cause for the goofy. She's trying to "unwind with friends"), and she's still adamant on Miko particular, but she's also interacting with Hana and is less forceful when Miko turns her down. Miko is also far less worried about the spirit (now that she knows what it is and Michiru's situation), and even considers the spirit a logical option for dangerous spirits, but isn't keen to bother Michiru with these situations. It's a process, Michiru with the group, and a good one to be seeing.

I also liked Zen-sensei's smile while seeing them goofing around. He definitely became a teacher with the mind to take notice of students in similar situations to him and act where and when he could, as we saw with Michiru's. Even if her situation was very different his "interference" was still needed. Michiru and You couldn't stay in a bubble forever.

2. The shadow

This was one of those suited shadows from the end of ch. 55. We aren't sure if these are spirits or something completely different.

These are clearly being built into an arc, but what they are for we don't yet know. These dudes and the main guy who seems very aware of Romm (and may be the Seto who Romm was going to contact but I've experienced a moment like this where characters you thought were built to be the same person turned out to be completely seperate). I'm wondering if these guys are attached to the caterpillar spirit story, cause it almost seemed like they were visiting the Caterpillar spirit's shrine which they found broken. However, I could be wrong and this is a completely different shrine. Maybe it could be linked towards Romm's near death experience we saw, or the as yet unresolved "WHAT THE HELL CAME OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN" from the end of the mountain shrine story, or something else entirely.

Altogether, they're around, they're probably going to be part of something important, and one is tailing Miko. Question is: Is it because she interacts with Michiru and the Caterpillar Spirit, or because she interacts with Romm? (And are they aware that she can see? That's a good question too, but I'm leaning towards "no and they'll just be mildly surprised she can".)

Initially when I saw the one tailing Miko, I thought it was another shape for the "photo guy" and have sense slapped my forehead realizing it wasn't. But I wonder if they might be something to get involved with the photo guy situation (I'm feeling very "each photo it appears in it grows closer" lurking death type). It did almost kill Romm after all and he's contemplating help from someone, but again I'm 50/50 on if it's actually the same person we saw in the manga.

3. Dad

On to our favorite household duo. Dad has shown he might not be around for an big reason, but he's definitely around to look after his family and that includes dangerous spirits that can latch onto and hurt the living. We have seen the first one actually capable of doing so, because it grabbed onto Kyoya with harmful intent.

A lot of people think that weird horse-dog looking ghost in the Yotsuya household may be another half of the dad, or it could be a guide for him in the way that creepy wheelchair dude that wheeled the recently deceased old man from the hospital away with his family. Either way, this entity has yet to be shown as dangerous (just unsettling for Miko) and the dad's ghost interacts with it casually. We also don't have a truely clear answer as to why dad or horse/dog spirit is still here.

However, in this chapter, we see dad is able to stand his ground against creepier entities, telling them clearly to leave, and the horse/dog acts as a sort of "guard dog" that will act if the problem doesn't back down.

Dad is sticking around to protect his family, and the other ghost is acting the same. We were lucky this spirit didn't seem to be

But, if I'm not mistaken, WE STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT ONE GHOST OUTSIDE THE DOOR THAT ONE NIGHT WAS. I thought it was going to be linked to Michiru and You, but, with retrospect, I'm wondering if it was only imitating You. Knock and say a thing to get someone to answer the door. This interaction was tense due to the situation with Michiru, but I think it was setting up that Dad can tell the good from wrong sort.

Which could have been an important moment considering the interaction between the caterpillar spirit, the horse-dog and Dad. Dad didn't seem to have much self(ghost self?) preservation with the caterpillar spirit, who was acting out of over protectiveness due to Michiru's mental state. And it was the horse-dog that de-esculated that situation, considering it had caused it. This could be due to the separation of ghosts from something like guides and the strength of forest spirits (assuming again that horse-dog is a guardian type). Maybe Dad didn't clock the danger because it's a spirit attached to a living girl. Maybe he follows the horse-dog's lead of danger vs okay. Maybe he just didn't see a threat because he could recognize it for what it was and it was the equivalent of trying to approach a chihuahua (they can lash out or become putty and its a coin toss sometimes). There's options, probably more than what I came up with.

#mieruko chan #mieruko-chan #miko yotsuya #ichijou michiru #michiru ichijou

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ava-cookidouh123 · 1 year

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Manipulation!-School AU I created lol-

Ship:Yandere/Zombie student Tubbo x fem reader! (Ik he’s not straight but idk how to exactly write this type of story by making it gender neutral-)

Plot:You and Tommy are running away from James and his zombie minions,before all this you and Tubbo were the best of friends,you shared candy with him on Halloween and you played Minecraft with him all the time!,but when Tommy wanted you,Jack and Tubbo to do a vlog with him it went wrong when you guys all saw that James Marriott,a teacher,was still at the school in after school hours,you guys played a game of tag with him however Tubbo and Jack both got tagged and it somehow got them to act as if they were possessed by something,it led to Tommy turning off the vlog and now you guys are running for your lives,but let’s just say Tubbo has a thing for you ;)

‘Y/N RUN!!!!’ Tommy yelled out to you as he was about to get tagged in a game of dodgeball,you were about to leave until you saw he was about to get tagged by James,you ran back and tried to drag him out of the gymnasium,he got and and you both ran out of the gymnasium,‘GET THEM!!!’ Marriott commanded,Tubbo and Jack ran after you and Tommy.

You and Tommy ran into the ‘staff only room’ and hid there for a bit,you spotted a camera and pointed to it ‘Hey Tom look,theres security cameras!’ Tommy did a smirk,‘Holy shit how the fuck did I forget about these?! Maybe we can see where the bastards are now!’

You and Tommy looked into the cameras and you both saw Tubbo walking into a classroom saying ‘Y/N…where are yoooou?’,Tommy looked at you and said ‘well he sure has a thing for you……OW!!!’ Tommy whined ‘Why’d you do that!’,You smirked ‘because Toby would not have a crush on me! I am a not possessed human-’

‘There you are sweetheart!’,You and Tommy turned around and saw Tubbo, ‘AHHHHHH!!!’ You tried to run away but Tubbo grabbed onto your arm,‘Mr Marriott will be pleased that we found you!’ ‘We?! Who’s we?!’ You questioned.

‘Y/N HELP!!!!!!!!!’ you heard Tom scream,‘oh yeah manifold is here’,you tried to run after him but Tubbo’s grip got tighter.

Tubbo dragged you all the way to the hallway before you could escape,‘I’m so fucking dead after this!’ You mumbled and you were probably right,Tubbo was practically possessed by a teacher if anything he could bring you over to James and you would turn into a zombie in a matter of seconds!.

You reached a dead end,you turned around and saw Tubbo slowly creeping towards you,you tried to walk away but Tubbo pinned you to a wall,‘Please let me go!’ Tubbo did a creepy giggle and said,‘I could…but I’d disobey Mr Marriott’s rules if I did that so no I won’t let you leave!’

It was like Tubbo had never been near the scent of woman before,because he kept sniffing you,‘Do you mind?!’ Tubbo glared at you before gently pressing his lips against yours,he quickly broke the kiss but he could see that you wanted more of him.

‘Want more?’,you nodded,Tubbo pinned you against the wall and his body was pressed against yours,he gently placed his lips to your neck for a couple seconds before hearing Mr Marriott through the megaphone yell, ‘TUBBO AND JACK BRING YOUR ‘FRIENDS’ TO THE GYMNASIUM AT ONCE!!!! THEY NEED TO BE DEALT WITH!!!!’

Tubbo looked at you ‘Y’know maybe I’ll give you a little more of me if you come with me~’ (that wasn’t a sex line or anything ok-) Tubbo let out his hand,you grabbed it and let’s just say…this proves not all story’s have a good ending for the reader…

|I might make this a wattpad series-|

#tubbo mcyt #tubbo x reader #tubboooo!#tommyinnit #why did i do this

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weeping-laurels · 4 months

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Story time, since I’m so verbose lately.

In zero period today I had a hell of a time transcribing Lady Gaga for my theremin. I’m a featured player in the school orchestra that only plays certain recitals and only comes to zero period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m a bit resented cause the other band kids are required to come in every day and of course they say our music teacher likes me too much, favors me.

Well, you know me, I used to have a crush on him. But it vanished after something that happened. It was last winter, I was a junior, we were all stressed rehearsing for our biggest performance of the season. He had said there wouldn’t be zero period one day and I came in to practice alone because my better theremin’s at school, and found him in the music room. I said sorry, I’ll leave. He said no, stay. I’ve been meaning to try something with you.

He started testing my pitch and seeing how fast I can find the notes he’d tell me to find with my fucking eyes closed. This isn’t a clarinet, I need to be able to see where I’m putting my hands in relation to the antenna. I’d get it wrong and he’d go no. No. No. Try this. Do this. You’re better than that. Come on. Daphne. Try looking at me. I tried. His face was unreadable. And it didn’t help. I was stressing out. He was getting more and more frustrated. Find _. I said _. No, that’s sharp. No. No. Fuck, Daphne! Come on!

Then he went all Whiplash on me, yelled in my face and slapped at my hand and when I started getting worse he looked like he was going to hit me or choke me, his hands were so close to me thrashing around and snapping in my face. I was so scared I went to get my bag and I’ll never forget the way he told me come back here, you’re not done. And unlike Miles Teller I’m a five foot tall teen girl that was terrified of this tall strong man that could badly hurt me if he wanted to, and it made me cry in front of him. But I stayed frozen in place and went back to my instrument because he was telling me to. Of course I made it even harder on myself because the tears blurred my vision.

He told me to play the “Moonlight Sonata” from the fall competition in September. Good, he said. Now with your eyes closed. And I tried, and when I fell off I mumbled an apology and asked to start again. He said, sure. And he came up behind me and put his hands over my eyes and said play. I was at a loss for words. I was shaking, and if you heard me from outside the band room you’d notice all the vibrato where there should have been none.

When I finished he sighed, nodded, and said, good. He patted my shoulders and stepped away and said, “that was pretty good. See?” We had been alone for that whole hour until the bell rang and kids were lined up outside for first. It was when they started pulling on the door I realized it had been locked. He told me that I should come back tomorrow for zero period, and that it would be worth it in the end. Oh, and that he was sorry for how he acted. At the end of class he told us no zero period tomorrow.

Something you should know is that he’s never been like this with anyone, not that I know of. Unless it’s happened to someone in private, but everyone loves him. He’s nice, always keeps the mood light, and makes jokes to lighten us up when we’re stressed. He’d never bring us down when we messed up. He was patient. So when I tried talking to people about this, they looked at me like I was crazy. When class started l stayed because I have first period with him. I kept to myself, neglected my friends to quietly practice with my eyes closed, and even then he kept glancing at me from across the room, nodding at me while he helped the other students.

They say all of our previous music teachers had been quacks. One was a pedophile. One left his wife to marry a student. This guy was praised as the first not creepy music teacher in decades, as well as the youngest and cutest one. I didn’t ever find him creepy, I felt safe and comfortable alone with him. Like I said, I had a little crush on him. Until that day. It was like a switch went off and he showed a side of himself we never see. I wasn’t sure if it was me that was making him act like this but I was scared of him and considered reporting him to the principal.

I came in for zero period because I was worried I had to. I told him I would leave if I wanted to, and to keep the door unlocked. He surprised me with coffee, somehow remembering how I like it from the time we all went to Starbucks after a show. We practiced playing with my eyes closed. I kept opening them in frustration so once again he went behind me and put his hands over my eyes. But this time it felt like he was holding me, he was that close. He wasn’t angry like yesterday, but still he was stern. He said, you know I feel you blinking in my hands, you have to really close your eyes. Relax. Breathe. He took my left wrist and held it to watch my pulse while I played. It was too fast.

Is it me? he asked. I nodded. He smiled, said okay, I’m sorry, left my side and proceeded to not touch me for the remaining forty minutes. He didn’t praise me when I did good, didn’t say anything. He’d just look at me with a certain look to see if I knew what he meant by it. It was like he was testing me, psychologically. This session was even worse than the first and I had to leave to throw up. When I returned class started and I was jittery and spilled my coffee on the band room floor. My friend noticed his name on the cup when she picked it up. No zero period tomorrow, he said again.

By Thursday morning, I had been awake since 3. I had a nightmare he forced himself on me. It sucked, and I still think about it sometimes. I couldn’t look him in the eye. He was chipper. Teasing me the way guy teachers do and making jokes. Said he was thinking of bringing me coffee but didn’t want me spilling it again. The practicing was almost normal. He didn’t touch me and didn’t stand too close. Except at one point he tucked my hair behind my ears and asked me if he could turn off my hearing aids. I was confused, but I let him.

He told me to play the Moonlight Sonata. I couldn’t hear every note, especially because my right ear is more deaf and that’s what’s closer to the pitch antenna. I’d look at him and he’d either nod or shake his head. He never told me to close my eyes though. He did tell me to practice. I did. I practiced for hours at home in spite of myself.

Friday morning, he showed up late to zero period. I can imagine he was somewhere listening to me play. He came in, asked me to sit down. Do you know why I’m making you do all this Daphne? The solo at the end of the show, it’s yours. The solo in less than a month, to be exact, that none of us thought was going to be a thing. It’s yours, would you want it?

In class he told everyone to direct their attention to me. He took out a black cloth from his pocket, walked over to me with a smile, and blindfolded me with it. Then he turned off my hearing aids. I felt him next to my ear, he said, “Daphne? Claire de lune.” In a JK Simmons-esque evil fuckery turn of events, he switched it on me. Yes, I knew Claire de lune, it’s what I auditioned to him with when I asked to join orchestra with my unique instrument. But I had practiced the Beethoven song all week. Still, I was feeling things very strongly about having a featured solo in our biggest recital and I played as well as I could.

I could hear the applause so clearly, and him going, “great job, Daphne!” I pretended to turn my hearing aids back on, but didn’t. I’d just nod to whatever people were telling me and zoned them out. And that was it. One-on-one practice never came up again.

This is the story of how I got my first big solo. I call it hell week. It ruined my relationship with my music teacher and while he never tried shit on me again, I never stopped being weary of him. Though the winter recital was a hit, I rejected his next solo offer that came up in spring. As a senior, I have his zero period but not his class. I don’t come when I don’t need to. He recently gave me the offer to play at halftime at the first local college football game in 2024, and it would be very special but my parents can’t take me and I don’t feel comfortable driving by myself so that would mean riding in a car with him, having lunch and dinner together, and riding home together late at night, unless we were to get a hotel. And I’ve never told my parents the extent of what he did. So I have a lot of thinking to do. In the end, I’m an adult now and it’s my decision to make.

I’ve always enjoyed being unique, being the “only one,” so that I feel special and like I have something to myself. People pay more attention to you, enjoy you, especially one-on-one. But I don’t like very much being the only theremin player. I’ve told him before, I’m self taught, there’s no one around to teach me and no one in our town or region that plays the instrument I do. I’m all alone in this, and I can tell he really likes that and holds me to high, special standards because of it. Like I’m the prized possession of his orchestra. After the winter recital he was so pleased with me he kissed my forehead. It made me feel confusing, warped feelings and I had to fight the feeling of pride and the feelings of being cherished and wanted, that he uses to manipulate me. Just me, it always seems it’s just me. I have to fight enjoying that too. I think that if he wasn’t so conventionally attractive and if I wasn’t such a horny teenager I’d have no problem controlling myself around him. I start to get excited from him. thrilled around him, even when I’m scared.

If I mention him again, he’s Mr. S. And I’m starting to get worried he’s obsessed with me.

#weeping laurels #weeping laurels mr. s #story time #orchestra #high school band #teachers pet #unfortunately #whiplash #i mean seriously #obsessive behavior #crush #vaguely

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