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the-orion-scribe · 1 year

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The Stanchurian Candidate is more messed-up than we thought

I think the majority of the fandom is unaware of or often overlooked two major plot holes for this episode, which I think are best highlighted here. If anyone were to think deeper, this episode is actually super messed-up with many out-of-character moments.

Major Plot Hole #1: Why is Stan both insistent upon brutal honesty and somehow completely unable to handle himself in front of a crowd during his mayoral campaign? Public speaking and being a showman, often to these very people, was literally Stan’s entire job description for over half his life, so he should have no reason to be that awkward and incompetent. Suddenly insisting upon brutal honesty is also completely out of character for him. (Seriously, if Stan managed to not spill anything about Ford during the Truth Teeth episode, how is he suddenly incapable of lying here?) But even this massive break in character pales in comparison to…

Major Plot Hole #2: (This one is deeper than the Bottomless Pit.) How are Dipper and Mabel just completely OK with using the mind-control tie on Stan, without even seeking his consent first? Especially given that Dipper was possessed by Bill (and, based on the events of the very next episode, definitely traumatized by the incident) not more than two weeks prior? I am positive that such an incident could be never forgotten so easily by either of the twins, but particularly by Dipper. Yet he raises no objection beyond “that’s… ethically ambiguous!”

Even when Soos was very visibly frightened after having the Tie “tested” on him, Dipper and Mabel just laughed at his pain and fear. Keep in mind that just a few episodes prior, the twins risked their lives and/or existences just to fix Soos’s issues with his birthday. I hardly think they’d be inclined to laugh at his pain and distress for any reason.

And, because I know someone will suggest it, the twins’ memories of the Sock Opera could not have been wiped by the Society of the Blind Eye, since 1) the Society was destroyed less than a week after the Sock Opera, and 2) in the Journal 3 entry corresponding to s2e11: Not What He Seems, Dipper directly references his being possessed by Bill, meaning he remembered the experience at that point (after the Society was gone), and would therefore also remember it during the events of The Stanchurian Candidate.

And also quoting from a conversation with @detectivejigsawpines, The twins literally overrode their uncle’s autonomy and took over his body without his knowing consent. And Ford should have known better, considering he was doing the same thing Bill did.

But I’m not being entirely fair. Though it pains me to say it, The Stanchurian Candidate does still have good points, despite all these faults. It is, of course, still an episode of Gravity Falls, and was, according to the credits, written by the same people as the rest of the series.

In actuality, the episode is quite good when viewed completely in a vacuum. Were this the first episode of the show that someone ever saw, they would (probably) not think it was bad. Without the greater context of Sock Opera and the personality traits the main cast has firmly established throughout the first season and a half, there would be nothing amiss about any of their actions.

In addition, the selfless love of Grunkle Stan still shines through in this episode, when he doesn't hesitate to break off his campaign speech and rescue Dipper and Mabel who are in great danger.

When viewed from that mindset, it’s alright. There are good jokes, fun moments, and the villain-of-the-week is soundly beaten in a satisfying manner. Still not the best episode in the series by a long shot, but not the worst either.

Of course, since Gravity Falls is a very story-based cartoon, you can’t consider this episode in a vacuum, which is where all the problems come from. Even the initial premise of the wacky mayoral election and why Stan wants to participate in it don’t make sense unless you understand something about Gravity Falls as a town, and Stan as a person, respectively.

Idea for a fix: My head canon has become that the majority of the episode (basically everything after they get back from the town hall) was a dream Stan had, since I think the writers may have intended for it to be an episode addressing the “stuff” Stan mentions he has been dealing with later, in “[Twins] vs the Future.” I feel this makes sense because, stylistically, the bulk of the plot appears less like a standard episode and more like the stories Stan sometimes tells throughout the series (such as those in the non-canon s2e06: Little Gift Shop of Horrors), which tend to feature exaggerated behavior and a slight sense of ‘unreality’ (compared to the baseline). Therefore, him having a vivid, all-the-negative-emotions-fueled dream that distorts his family members in somewhat disturbing ways makes a lot more sense than “and then Dipper and Mabel were randomly and - most significantly - gleefully supervillainous (and surprisingly, given their personalities, competent politicians) for one episode.”

Thoughts? Opinions? Soundly reasoned rebuttals?

(Above written with assistance from @callipraxia and @theoryofweirdness)

#gravity falls #gravity falls essays #stan pines #stanley pines #the stanchurian candidate #plot holes #dipper pines #mabel pines

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hxhhasmysoul · 10 days

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should I read jjk

idk, probably not

Its power system is very much an homage to Nen and powerscaling makes as little sense in JJK as it does in HxH, bless the authors curse the fandom.

Gege also sometimes uses anticlimax effectively like Togashi. The story, similarly to HxH doesn't overly concentrate on just one character.

I think Yuuji is an amazing protag, on par with Gon or Killua. I love the main villain and I very openly simp for the other main villain, as a character he's ok too.

Other characters are more hit and miss, some I love some I'm fed up with, and I won't say who and why because that would spoil the whole thing.

There's a lot of: things are set up and then pay off later in the story, a little like putting a puzzle together.

It fails at a lot of things it tries to do. It is rather left leaning for a shounen, and has some very strong leftist themes, but it's very uneven in handling some them, it doesn't always stick the landing.

It tries things and it fails. Gege seems to have got fed up with it half way through and seems to desperately want to wind it down, you can actually see where there were likely supposed to be character moments or plot developments and well they are condensed to off screen and exposition dumps, one fight feels like it was written by an editor or ghost writer from Gege's notes. ;-;

To me it's beautifully drawn but that's a personal preference.

I need to get traumatised by the story to get into the fandom. HxH took me for an emotional ride, JJK in its best moments too. I'm emotionally attached to Yuuji like I'm to Gon and Killua. I will always love it for what it did to me at its peak, no matter what Gege does to finish faster.

The fandom is atrocious. The either true lack of reading comprehension or willful misinterpretation is shocking. People has no attention span, they don't remember what happened earlier in the story, they will say lol what did I just read, and instead of reading the chapter again write that jjk makes no sense, that those who claim to understand it are lying, that it's boring and mid because they don't know what's going on in it. Some characters exist in fandom mostly as fanon and fans will openly reject canon. People will literally argue with manga panels. The transphobia, misgendering, thinly veiled homophobia, misogyny concealed as terfy "feminism" and racism are pervasive in the fandom. They will often be used to perform morality and write about how awful the author is. A lot of people think it's a cute joke to write very vile, violent things about the author, whenever the story doesn't go their way.

If you want this kind of mess in your life, then sure, read it. Maybe you will get attached to it, maybe just think it's whatever, no harm no foul. But if any of the above makes it not worth your time then it's understandable to ignore it, there's so much other stuff out there. Have you read the Summer when Hikaru Died?

__ edit

also, if you choose to give it a try start with the main story and maybe read Zero (the prequel) just before the Shibuya Incident ark starts. The writing in Zero is much weaker, the world is much less fleshed out.

#answering asks #jjk #jujutsu kaisen

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oh-meow-swirls · 8 days

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i love 3's story so much but it is also such a mess at times. like. they tried so hard to foreshadow stuff but it just comes out of nowhere, like there's one scene in chapter 5 as hailey where like. after the whole scene at the end of the quest with dr. maddiman there's just??? randomly some ghoulies watching??? why are they there. it's so random i literally forgot it until i replayed it-

i think my favorite is that you can tell they did not think through having six main characters because after nate and hailey's stories converge there's just occasional extended periods of time where one of them just does not have any dialogue. most notable to me is that the writers seemingly just forgot buck was there while writing the key quest in new yo-kai city cuz he literally has no dialogue during them despite. literally being present in all the cutscenes-

also i hate how you can't play as hailey during any of the plot important stuff after the stories converge. she and nate are both present so it just doesn't make any sense to me. i guess they just wanted there to be some reason to play as nate instead of hailey??? but i feel like there's a better way they could've executed that than just. forcing you to play as nate.

ALSO also this is kind of related to the foreshadowing thing but LITERALLY WHY DO BLUNDER AND FOLLY EXIST. all they do during the main story is show up once or twice during nate's story, go to new yo-kai city, briefly get turned into ghoulies by the ghoulfather and that's literally it. i think there's a quest in the post-game (either after blasters t or the tower of zenlightenment, not sure which) involving them??? but it just feels unnecessary for them to exist. i do like the fby pun though and they are admittedly amusing. they're just also completely unnecessary klsfdjkfdsfjfsksljfd-

3 excels at like basically everything else though honestly. the comedy's on par with 2 and the anime, the characters are great (every main yo-kai watch character is my blorbo <3), the sad moments are great too (and inexplicably mostly on hailey's side despite that being the more comedy-driven story???), i just. i love this game man. i wish i'd gotten it when it first released but unfortunately i didn't find out it released until like a year or two later when. y'know. the like 3,000 physical copies had already vanished off the face of the earth fslkdjfdsfjkskjfdj-

#puppy rambles #yo-kai watch #yw3 #i rambled in the tags for an extended period of time here but none of it was related to 3 #and then tumblr decided to log me out randomly. so

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starry-eyed-extraterrestrial · 19 days

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Alrighty Mötley WIPs that are currently in the works/that I just love. I'll give you guys a top ten. Warning poly!Crue and Crue! slash under the cut.

1. Eternally- if you've been on my Tumblr and checked out literally any of my fic stuff you'll know what eternally is all about but if you don't it's an afterlife AU for Mötley crüe where the boys are all banished to purgatory on a creepy demon infested farmhouse where they have to take care of the creatures and crops living there while also trying to figure out how to deal with having four guys in the house and one bathroom. Poly!Crue, this one will get pretty serious and there will be alot of explicit content mentioned. This is also currently in development hell, as I am unsatisfied with literally every draft I do of it. (14% finished)

2.Balancing act- A TommyMick/ MarLee story where Tommy tries to get Mick into meditation, thinking that it might help Mick with his back problems, but all it does is make Mick really good at seeking glances at Tommy while pretending his eyes are closed when Tommy is doing some chacra healing stuff on him. 2006-ish/red, white and crue era. (Haven't started this one yet so 0%)

3.Detective Mars - AU fic. Mick is a hardened La detective with a back injury that sends him into early retirement. He has one final case to solve before that though and it just so happens to be a missing persons case where the victim just poofed out of existence one night or so his bandmates claim. Mick doesn't really believe them however and decides to go undercover as a normal guitar player looking for a band so that he could scope out whether they'd commited the crime or not. The case quickly unravels in a much different way when a strange connection from his past, is somehow linked to this La club band and now his mission is to protect them at all costs, without them figuring out his identity.(20% finished) (Also poly!Crue but very subtle)

4.Don't have a title for this one but(I take suggestions), the ADHD Tommy/ autistic mick fic- Over the years Nikki has gotten used to the quirks of his bandmates, but it's only when he has a particularly heated conversation with his therapist that he starts to take a closer look at their daily actions and suddenly....years of differences start to make sense. So he decided to journal his findings. (0%)

5. Mötley omegaverse fic- yeah I'm not gonna electorate. (2%)

6. Spank bank- Nsft warning, pure smut, poly!crue fic it's literally about the guys... pleasing themselves in the same room and secretly stealing glances. (Sorry, I'm a degenerate) (6%)

7. Whitehorse- Mick Whitehorse era fic, basically what Mick's dinamic was like in that band and what the guys treated him like and his general journey to becoming Mick Mars and all the growing pains in between. (Also there's a story that they tell about all the guys having to sleep in the van one night and all of them could just, not stop farting and I am a child so I think that's hilarious and I wanna write it) (0%)

8. Always my fist choice- Tommy proposed to Mick the day they met and then every single night afterwards, as a joke obviously never truely, he was just messing around. But if asking Mick to marry him everyday meant that he'd one day say yes then he wasn't going to deny them a wedding now was he? This one is gonna be angsty, right off the bat it takes a pretty realistic approach and it has alot more plot then this but I'm to tired to get into it rn. TommyMick/ Marlee

9. Be my daddy- based on the Lana Del Rey song of the same name this is pure Nikkimick smut ft. Nikki's daddy issues. Pretty self-explanatory. (10% finished)

10. Don't have a title for this one but Mick generation swine era angst. I don't wanna give too much away but there's a scene where Mick cries infront of them for the first time.

#my fic #starry rambles #poly!crue #crue!slash #ideas #tell me if you want me to elaborate on any of these i know my explanation skills suck

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dangermousie · 8 months

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The Kingdom of the Winds OTP post - part 2

Continued from here:

(99+) Musings of the Obsessive Kind on Tumblr

Point 5: The family that ninjaes together, stays together

And then they are sent on a mission and she volunteers. Nothing like mixing a bit of deadly poison and being protected by your hottie forbidden OTP.

There is also this:

And then she bandages up his arm completely ignoring her own wound. Awwww.

Especially when he is reminded by everyone all the time that he is a slave and she is a Princess so he better give up. So he just stares angstily at her with the other hot and messed-up assassin instead:

(Clearly assassin org only hires hot men. As they should.)

Because seriously, how could you not love Yeon? She's literally the pink light of his tortured existence.

Point 6: If your father is executed for treason, your life will suck. But you'll get a hot guy out of it.

Yeon's ninja daddy is framed and ordered killed with his whole family - by Muhyul's elite ninja squad. But Muhyul rescies Yeon regardless in a spectacularly awesome fashion. Significantly, he does not rescue the Daddy and something tells me he doesn't feel too bad about his demise.

"Wherever you are, I will find you." Someone is channeling the Last of the Mohicans.

This does not make Muhyul's issues any better however. On the plus side, the more messed-up he is, the hotter he looks. As I said, with the amount of whump, h/c and general angst, by the end he's so hot he's a bio hazard.

Point 7: The pretty girl? Is made of grit. And the pretty boy? Is made of angst.

Yeon has nothing now: no royal status, no family, no money, and she is hunted. However, she is determined. And bookish. I love that she is on foot in enemy country, by herself, still with a book!

She gets caught and sold into slavery. But luckily the buyer recognizes her doctor skills so she becomes a money-earning venture for him and not a bedmate.

Just as well, because do you really want to mess with this guy?

In the middle of his spectacular break-down and kidnapping/regicide plots (because believe or not, this drama actually has a long and complicated plot), he takes time out to carve the figure of Yeon. Once again, a killer artist in more than one sense.

Here he is, finding out everything he dedicated himself to in the last few years has been a lie. This is not strictly ship related but it's hot so here you go.

Point 8: Hurt/comfort is still better than anything

Theis speaks for themselves:

And when he is better, she comforts him:

Point 9: But cuteness personified is even better!

Point 10: And so are hugs!

Point 11: Even plot helps the shippy!

He finds out he is a cursed cursed prince and...of course...seeks Yeon.

And she worries about his bloody hands.

And he asks her to go away with him and she says yes!

Point 12: Rescuing a woman from death is like foreplay

Case in point:

To be continued in part 3:

(99+) Musings of the Obsessive Kind on Tumblr

#kdrama #the kingdom of the winds #song il gook #choi jung won

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doodlebloo · 2 years

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Ok breaking my silence it's mildly upsetting how much of season 4 cTubbo is ruled by meta issues (? That's the wrong term but you'll see what I mean)

1. Has to go look for his missing son and gets called a terrible father because Sapnap (whose character wouldn't know Michael exists) broke into c!Tubbo's house (while Tubbo was literally live doing an IRL stream) threatening to kill Michael_B (no character motive given + as we have established that's a real ass toddler he's trying to kill) and Eret to moved him to keep him safe. This was likely meant to be an ooc stream but it got turned into a plot point Later to help with

2. c!Ranboo's death, which is now being used to say c!Tubbo is a Bad Husband for not trying to revive him. Like I get it if Ghostboo is meant to be an unreliable narrator but the unreliable narrator trope doesn't work if we aren't ever shown that the narrator is wrong. The explanation for why cTubbo hasn't visited or interacted is bc PLANS CHANGED and cRanboo went from "he'll be revived in a week" to now, it's because of meta reasons and there isn't really an in-character explanation that we have been given, only speculation from fans

3. cTubbo just got his first canon kill because he was messing around with cAimsey and the death got canonized after the fact. Not trying to accuse anyone of anything & I'm sure ccTubbo doesn't mind, he can speak for himself when it comes to lore. I'm not trying to say he's a victim here or that the ccs aren't allowed to make this kind of writing decision but it sucks to see such a huge moment like that which does not make sense for his character (unless it was an accident) come out of nowhere.

Not to mention his alliance with cTechnoblade was also set in motion by the Michael thing, + how c!clingyduo is notably and confusingly missing from the current plot purely because cc!clingyduo just Don't do lore together, & there hasn't been any in-universe explanation for that.

I'm not saying the dsmp has never run into problems like this before, I'm not saying that this is anyone in particular's fault, and I'm not saying that ccTubbo is bothered by this or trying to victimize him or whatever. All I'm saying is that as a long time fan it's hard to watch this character who has been fairly consistent have ooc thing after ooc thing pop up in canon and for it to seem to largely be caused by a lack of communication. If you can think of perfectly logical explanations for each of the things on this list that's awesome for you, but the point I'm trying to make here is that even if we as fans can come up with in-universe explanations for why it may make sense it kind of sucks to know from an out of universe standpoint how much of it has been at least partially accidental and therefore mildly ooc for c!Tubbo.

#LORE TALK ON THE DASH HAS MADE ME BRAVE ENOUGH TO POST THIS. I drafted it like right after the c!Aimsey death stream #THIS IS A DRAFT FROM BEFORE THE GOODBYE MR PRESIDENT STREAM BTW!!!!!!#also this is not cc critical. someone making writing decisions i dont agree with or not having great rp ettiquette #does not make them a bad person.#negativity #dsmp critical

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prettyboysdontlookatexplosions · 1 year

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my main review of mister impossible is: wow, what a boring book.

declan continues to be an icon, the star, the hero, my babygirl, etc. literally he is such a great and endearing character who does not serve to be surrounded by this mess. put him in some other better book. matthew can come too. one of several "not bad but poorly executed" ideas in here was the idea that matthew is struggling with his dream identity but also maybe some of the stuff he's struggling with is just growing up (and being an orphan whose parents were dysfunctional, and also, what i would put in if i were writing this but also i feel like just what would be in here if it were good, being rich but discovering in himself a desire to live with dignity)

ronan: dreaming bryde was a fun reveal, no notes. i like the idea of bryde as ronan's id that he's dressed up as his superego, but i also don't want to get too attached to that because who knows what will happen in the next one. my favorite ronan content in this book is how completely fucking insane he has driven himself about his relationship with adam. a specific kind of content i am always hungry for for personal reasons is stories about teenagers or young adults in love that really zero in on how insane-making this phenomenon is when you're both very young and pretty fucked up, and there are like 12 sentences in this book that really delivered on that front. other than that, it's wild to me how someone who was such a vibrant and engaging, even if imperfectly written, character in TRC is so meh here. i think my main complaint carries over from what i said last time, which is that i think ronan's personal crisis just needed to be zeroed in on and brought out a little more. the book gestures towards it enough that you know what's going on (and the thing with adam's gloves over his or whatever was maybe the most effective image in the book), but it doesn't do enough to make you feel it. this feels related to point below.

hennessy: on paper, again, the idea that she like connected to or created the lace because of her traumatic upbringing, sure. why not. in practice, i don't understand how a character so boring exists. there is really something about her that feels 100% telling 0% showing. i also think that her relationship with ronan needed to be... i was gonna say fleshed out more but idek if that's what i mean. it just needed to be better. there needed to be more of a sense of the two of them having a relationship, a specific dynamic that was meaningful to each of them, both to make their chapters less boring and also to make hennessy's betrayal-ish at the end land better. this whole book was weird because it was like in some ways constant plot but also nothing happened, so like there was no time devoted to just character work but we also didn't get to know characters through the kinds of choices they made, because mostly, they didn't (except my babe declan).

oh we did get like ALMOST EVERY CHAPTER opening up with a weird little flashback vignette. um. i DO NOT know who told her this was a good way to write an action-heavy fantasy novel, but they are either stupid or a liar. completely slammed the breaks down on any potential momentum every time that happened, which was, again, almost every single chapter, like it was bananas. like why. all of that should have either been cut or integrated into the narrative. i've been thinking about why these books feel less alive than the raven cycle did, even though the raven cycle was also dumb and badly plotted, and i think it has to do with how much "characterization" is happening in this weird silo'd off way. i mean, ronan didn't even have POV chapters in the raven boys, but he (and noah!) still came across as real characters, because they revealed themselves through their interactions with other people. extremely little of that character work is happening here (and where it could be it feels rushed or forced - like jordan cheering matthew up about being a dream - not the worst scene but not earned, either) and i think it contributes to the sense that none of these people have personalities, even though she keeps beating us over the head with their personalities and struggles and blah blah blah.

sweetmetals are another "could be a cool idea in some other less boring book"

farooq-lane, i can't with that. no thank you. the most boring of all time. i do not want stief providing wuhluhwuh representation thanks and bye.

#the shmeamer shmilogy

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sevensistersofsussex · 10 months

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In my opinion Caroline was the worst character. She was a judgmental hypocrite who didn’t deserve Tyler after what she did to him. She was always jealous of Elena because she got everything she wanted first (ie Stefan) So unlikeable in season 1 and even more unlikeable in seasons 3-6. Seriously all that insensitive stuff she said at the dinner in season 1 (forgot what episode) LIKE WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, SHE LOST HER PARENTS! And she couldn’t keep her mouth shut when Elena told her not to tell her about her and Damon. She literally had the audacity to act like a victim to Tyler when she hooked up with the guy that KILLED HIS MOTHER and her BEST FRIEND’S AUNT! Caroline is definitely NOT a girlboss, she is a stupid shallow waste of a character.

A nerve has been struck.

I'm assuming this is coming from my post where I reference the girlbossification of Caroline.

I somewhat agree with you. Caroline is not a "girlboss". But I do disagree that she's a stupid, shallow waste of a character.

Caroline x Tyler

So much to unpack here. These characters had a lot of potential that I loved. Tyler and Caroline knew each other for a long time and saw each other at their worst. Acknowledged their worst traits and still wanted to date. They were there for each other in the beginning and then....it started to unravel.

Caroline plotting his friends murder with her other friends.

Demanding that he choose her over his "revenge" against Klaus.

Wanting his immediate forgiveness when he founds out that she slept with said tormenter.

It's interesting because a lot of the relationships in the latter half of the series tend to serve one character over another. Typically the woman making the man better.

But this relationship tends to serve Caroline's character more. Instead of them both equally which is how it started.

A lot of people, myself included, think the latter half of the series was bad for Elena's character writing and I'd say the same thing for Caroline and most of the other characters. I think Elena was blamed for a lot of strange things in the show and I think Caroline was uplifted for a lot of strange things. Both of these perspectives hurts the character and their writing. It's like the scapegoat and the golden child, both hurt but in different ways.

Jealousy

Caroline's jealousy and self-pity are a core part of who she is as a person in the beginning. And no outside force can placate that sense in her that she is somehow not enough or worse, too much. Not becoming a cheerleader, not becoming the captain, not dating any guy. It's never enough. Because those feelings are coming from within.

And despite it not being outwardly addressed in the show, I do believe that she was likely hurt by how close Elena and Bonnie had become in the aftermath of Elena's parents dying. Maybe Caroline wanted her old friend back too fast. Maybe Bonnie was better at holding space for feelings because of the friend group she was the first to deal with familial loss. Either way, we do see that Caroline is excluded and treated like she is exasperating. Which, she is, but it is still something that would hurt.

I think these aspects do make her relatable to people watching. But I think the part people also miss is that this doesn't make Elena the villain. It's easy to look for wrong-doing but sometimes hurt feelings happen without any wrong-doing.

Insensitive remarks

Oh definitely! A lot of things she says, especially in the first season are completely insensitive to Elena's grief. I think this also plays into Caroline's feelings that she's too much for people. She lacks tact and a filter. She honestly probably says whatever is in her head without thinking about how to make it tactful.

And the thing is.

These people exist. The people who regret a lot of what they say. The people who say insensitive things and have to apologize for it later. The people who have to learn how to have tact and empathy the hard way by continually messing up and having to make amends for it.

The show definitely didn't focus on her making amends cause she was part of an ensemble and not the main character for awhile so it's fine that we don't see it.

But still. Caroline knows she says the wrong things. She's aware of it and does show anguish over it.

Not keeping secrets

Yes, true. She does tell Tyler she's a vampire when she's been asked not to. She tells Stefan about Elena and Damon even though Elena asked for time to tell him herself. Which does suck. She probably felt bad for Stefan being unaware. She's been there before with her friends keeping her out of information. And also, she liked him a lot. That doesn't go away. Yes, maybe she had ulterior motives....

....but, it keeps the narrative moving and creates drama which is necessary for a story.

#anon rant #anon making me defend caroline forbes #a character I'm fairly lukewarm about #not sure what you wanted from me #but it probably wasn't that

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loopy777 · 2 years

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Do you think what Mai did in Smoke and Shadow (about her father/NOS) is as evil/unforgivable as others make it out to be?

What are your thoughts on Maiko in Smoke and Shadow in general? Thank you!

For the first part, these are the same comics in which:

Zuko asks his genocidal father about how to handle international relations when millions of lives are at stake and then lies to Mai about it (The Promise, Part 2)

Zuko physically attacks Aang for saying that randomly breaking into people's houses looking for Azula probably won't work (Smoke & Shadow)

Zuko orders his guards to attack his friends instead of talking to them about their Harmony Restoration Movement not taking into account all the facts they didn't yet have when they came up with it (The Promise, Part 1)

Aang tries to murder Zuko because Zuko is trying to prevent the forced mass deportation of mixed-race kids born in the former colonies (The Promise, Part 3)

Katara forces Aang to promise to murder Zuko if Zuko ever makes a mistake (The Promise, Part 1)

So no, I don't think Mai trying to protect her family -- shortly after her brother's kidnapping by what everyone thinks are angry ghosts -- by lying about her Dad having committed treason is "evil" or "unforgivable" compared to any of our other supposed good guys. She makes a bad choice in a stressful moment with the goal of trying to protect her family and provide a good home to her toddler brother after she's already saved Zuko from her dad's treason. And I'm pretty sure she'd save Zuko again if her dad tried anything new.

Also, compare what Mai did to the first bullet point up there. Both she and Zuko lied to each other based on messed-up feelings of loyalty to their evil fathers. If what Mai did was evil, didn't Zuko also commit evil to her first?

My problem with Mai's actions is similar to my problems with all the other comics, as hinted by my bullet points: it's an out-of-character, contrived moment that doesn't make any sense in the moment and exists only to create drama in a story with a plot held together by string and bubble gum.

See, Mai is feeling bad because she thinks that her dad could have protected Tom-Tom from being kidnapped by the ghosts. That's right there in her dialogue. But why would she think that? What would her dad, who couldn't even actually assassinate Zuko right, actually do to fight off the ghosts? Does she think that the ghosts would have taken a political poll and passed over anyone who claims they voted for Ozai in the last election? Why would she think that, when Aang is right there in the room telling people that ghosts don't work that way?

To be fair, Kei Lo calls out exact what I'm criticizing- but then Mai never gives a response to it and the story moves on without addressing it again. Mai doesn't get a moment where she realizes she's being irrational; she doesn't acknowledge how she's letting her sense of guilt drive her to gloss over the truth; she doesn't even get to have her relationship with Kei Lo change based on this interaction.

Moreover, the story itself doesn't even seem concerned with his moment from her. Even though it's a mistake, it doesn't come back to bite her. Zuko merely asks why she would lie like that, and then she explains herself, and then he apologizes for doubting her and forgives her for what she did because he can completely understand.

Literally, it all goes down in exactly two panels. I wouldn't be surprised if Gene Yang actually forgot about what he did in S&S Part 2, and his editor made him insert a resolution into a mostly completed script for Part 3.

But let's take it at face value and ask why Zuko might be so willing to shrug it off?

The answer is that the story itself does not consider Mai's action evil, and maybe not even all that wrong. Or it considers intent to be more important than the actions. Or maybe everyone involved likes Mai so much that they really don't care.

It's a fairly shallow treatment of forgiveness, honestly. I consider 'Smoke & Shadow' to be a mess of a story made up of thrown-together elements that at best have nothing to do with each other and at worst get in each other's way. The whole story accomplishes nothing, leaving all the characters in the exact same place they were at the beginning. It even has Mai date and break up with the same terrorist boyfriend as she did in the prior 8-page Free Comic Book Day short (which actually told a better story).

And that's the core of my problem with how S&S treats Maiko. Mai's transgression could have been used as a springboard for them both confronting the matter of Zuko going to Ozai for advice and lying to Mai about it. We have parallel lies about fathers who don't deserve that kind of loyalty, but no one seems to notice. Both Mai and Zuko could have examined why they felt the need to tell those lies, and about how their family issues are pulling them apart. They could choose to overcome those issues and get back together, or they could tragically decide that they'll never be able to find a balance and go their separate ways forever. I'd prefer the first option, but at least the second one would still be a story.

Instead, we get some vague stuff about how Mai doesn't want to get hurt, so she doesn't want to be with someone she actually cares about. And then she breaks up with Kei Lo at the end, but is that because she's changed her mind about love, or has she actually come to have feelings for him? The story is kind of vague on it, and I see evidence that could support either reading. And since those readings are contradictory, that's not good.

About the only Maiko thing I felt satisfied with in S&S is that it establishes that Mai and Zuko both still love each other. So all a future story needs to do is address the matter of them telling lies to each other. I just don't understand why it's been 6 years and we haven't gotten that story.

So is Mai's action evil? No, it's stupid, but it's not as bad as what everyone else in these comics are doing, and it's directly comparable to what Zuko did to her in a prior comic. Does S&S treat Maiko well? Also no, because I'm not sure it realizes what I just described.

If I wanted to respond to someone calling Mai evil for her lie, I would say, "lol you're actually taking these comics seriously? go touch some grass, kid." But no one who calls Mai evil is actually using their brains for anything but justifying an existing preference. It's fair to dislike Mai or Maiko, but this kind of disingenuous garbage is what makes the whole rest of the fandom not want to be associated with Zutarians- and that's especially unfair to the nice Zutarians, who just want to enjoy their ship in peace but are treated as guilty by association with the militant fanatics.

I hope Anon dislikes S&S as much as me, otherwise this is going to be a really awkward answer.

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bone-and-butterflies · 2 years

Text

Writing Lesson IX:

How to make your writing clear and concise

What is good writing? Is it a good plot? Good characters? Good world? Or just grammatically correct sentences?

I like to think that good writing is clear and concise. That means that I can understand what is happening, both thematically(furture) and literally(present), without getting lost in the sauce. This is a words-on-paper kind of lesson if you can't already tell.

Clear and concise writing means that I can understand what you are trying to tell me, whether it be through flowery metaphors or a character's actions. This doesn't mean you have to tell me directly that Sally's sad. If my dog died I was a child, I would be sad too.

Clear and concise writing gives me the pieces of the puzzle, so that when it is put together at the end, there aren't any pieces missing. These pieces can be character traits, part of a character's backstory, or plot points. The pieces are just information that connects to form a larger picture. Sometimes the pieces are given to me in quick succession because that information requires more understanding as opposed to interpretation. I can't understand the thematic messages woven into the magic system and how it functions within that Society if I don't understand how the magic system works in a logical sense. The reason these pieces are split up is so that they're easily understandable.

What I'm saying is also that Clarity and conciseness comes before theme in prose. Metaphors should exist to enhance the story as opposed to telling it. When in doubt, cut it out (and use it at a later date!)

Now for grammar and other miscellaneous things:

Read your writing out loud! If you stumble over something or it sounds weird, you probably need to change the word choice used or the way the sentence is written. This is especially important in dialogue and can even help you figure out the direction a scene is going!

Don't be afraid to use commas to clarify a sentence's meaning. Sometimes we mess up clauses and we end up with a tree jumping as opposed to a character jumping. Clarity is more important than having complex sentences.

Slightly off topic, but character interactions that serve character arcs can also disguise smaller pieces of foreshadowing. (Ex: Kung Fu Panda 2)

I know that last bit was a little random, but I couldn't think of another topic it would fall under, except for the most vague Topic in the universe that is this lesson.

Go edit something now!

#novel #writers and poets #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writing advice #writing #writing resources #writing tips

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hxhhasmysoul · 4 months

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Just see this in twitter by someone :

"Why do people read shonen for subtextual doomed yaoi click bait when X exists and you don’t have to pretend?"

"I'm starting to think maybe people should read actual BL manga. perhaps considering manga written with actual gay characters in it in addition to shipping m x m from whatever battle shounen you're into."

Like because of those subtext, there can be fanfics and fanarts, right? And then I decided to come here, this blog of yours is one of my favorite place...

First of, thank you for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying my blog even if it's a hot mess at times.

While I enjoy my ships that I have from the shounes I like, I didn't read /watch HxH or JJK for the ships. When I first watched the HxH anime it was after years of deep depression where I stopped reading things and watching things or playing games with plots. I'd just put forgettable shows or youtube videos in the background and play some mind numbing click game if I wasn't working.

I literally don't remember anything from that time, at least I was semi functional then, I had worse times. But summer was the worst, I didn't make much money generally but over the summer I had like one fifth of my regular work load at best and I just couldn't handle the existential dread and anxiety.

And I was watching videos of people speaking about media i knew all day and eventually I ran out of those that were about stuff I knew but I liked the person's voice so I clicked onto videos about stuff i didn't. And things they said about HxH made me go: really? And it was something about the last phase of the Hunter's Exam, it had nothing to do with any ship.

And I made the effort to watch a whole ass fucking anime. Like 100+ episodes. In about 5 days. It had characters I really started to love early on like Gon and Killua or Melody and train-wreck characters like Hisoka or Illumi that I couldn't stop myself from looking at with utter fascination, like wtf. And it had these intertwining plot lines and it didn't focus on just one character and Gon didn't even fight some of the bosses and the plot just veered into places I didn't expect but in the best fucking way possible and in the Chimera Ant arc it was really going from bad to worse and getting more tense and painful and the sense of dread and doom was mounting ... and it traumatised me. And I didn't know what to do with myself and for the first time ever I turned to fandom to process what I've experienced. And yeah I came out of convince that Gon and Killua loved each other in a romantic way and it was very important but like I didn't go into it or even kept watching for that.

HxH unlocked in me the ability to enjoy stuff again. To actually interact with media. It made me write alone again, not just co-write with a friend.

And like I don't watch/read that much. I don't have the time or energy, I also want to keep enjoying fandom and that takes up time and write my own stuff.

I don't even remember why I watched JJK. I knew absolutely nothing about it going, not who the characters were, not what the plot was. Like I must've read some blurb but I really don't know. And like episode one and I loved Yuuji and I just kept watching and the Junpei episodes came and I had to stop watching for a day and collect myself because how could they you know, how could they to my child... And after I finished the anime I read the manga and it was better? And worse, so much more traumatising.

But JJK is my kind of story too, it doesn't overfocus on one character, it has intertwining plots. It has some characters that I love or am fascinated by.

Years ago I used to read a lot of BL but none really stuck with me because they weren't that much my kind of stories. I'm not saying they were bad, they just weren't it for me.

But this is why I read HxH or JJK. The shipping for me is the result, not the reason. I just want more with the characters I love, more situations more emotions. So I love the fanart and the fanfic and it really adds to my enjoyment of these characters and their stories.

But also everyone is different and reads for different reasons. So people who say you should read X instead are really presumptuous, the imagine that they understand why someone enjoys something, what experiences and emotions they are after. And like maybe there are BL stories with characters like Gon and Killua and Yuuji, there are certainly BL stories with guys with kinda Sukuna vibes, I vaguely remember that. It's just that I haven't stumbled upon any that'd have the other factors too that make me enjoy HxH or JJK. Maybe I will encounter them and enjoy them but with how much time and energy I have, I likely won't go out there to look for them to prove someone's point that I'd just enjoy those hypothetical stories more.

There's this annoying culture in fandom where people expect others to justify why they enjoy things. And it's not enough for you to have a reason to like something, the reason will be scritinised and it's validity will be judged. And those people who feel that need to play judge to what others enjoy and and how, they really make fandom and online spaces worse for everyone. They are like those nosy neighbours who stand in their window all day watching what everyone else is doing. And we all know that the window neighbours are creepy, but somehow the fandom judges are not called nosy and creepy enough and honestly they should be. Because honestly they should mind their fucking business.

#answering asks #thank you for the ask #fandom #sorry i went off with this answer #it took my adhd places XD #i'm slowly going through the asks #i hope i will manage to answer most of them this weekend #or not if they all trigger my adhd like this XD

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thevoidcannotbefilled · 2 years

Text

One of my fundamental issues as Annabelle is written is that... she's not a person. Or more accurately, you could replace her with a walking talking spider or a person possessed by spiders, or something to that effect and it would be the exact same role in the narrative.

Thing is, I don't mind if she's mostly Web. I think that makes sense for an avatar of it. The more you're in it, the more you lose yourself, the more you let go of your natural impulses and can be guided by your entity. I also find the idea of giving yourself up to the Web due to seeing your own insignificance within the world fascinating (maybe especially now where there's so much happening in the world and personally being able to do nothing to stop the bad in it. There's a temptation to give into that misery). The Web is also a huge parallel with Jon's entire journey. Any character who embodies the idea of inevitability, the choices within lack of choices, and feeling small in a complex world should be a huge deal! In a way, her character is everything Jon would hate himself to be. And while I personally don't like taking her statement literally, the fact she parallels her backstory to Jon to mess with him shows how much she directly can get under his skin.

But...

1) there isn't a major moment where she does anything to have an effect on Jon that's related to who she is as a person. There is no shining moment where she and Jon have an understanding or see each other beyond just barebone avatars. And that's because...

2) Annabelle doesn't want anything. As much as the idea of giving herself up to the Web is fascinating... she just doesn't want anything from it. No side schemes to use the Web to counter productively get a better future. No setting up her own manipulations by twisting the final plan. No sense of giving herself up to the Web for protection. Not even "Jon make it easy and just do what you need to do. Then the fear can go away".

She has no motivation. Nothing. Because at the end of the day, all she does within the plot of the show is make sure the Web can do its plan. That's it.

Ever since I saw the line where she was okay with dying to make sure the Web's plan went into fruition it just made me so sad about her character. Oliver makes sense; he is an End avatar, that's his whole thing. His entire journey was learning to accept the monster and the messed up fear the End was teaching him.

But Annabelle? I can see where the whole "I'm just one small step to this plan" mindset is but... for every other avatar there has been some examination of their humanity. What motivates them. Who they are and so on. Season 4 and season 5 explore their complex existence where even if they're hurting people they still have wants and desires. There's something driving them to do what they're doing. Oliver is part of the exception but his exception proves a point in his horror. Even Jonah for how horrible he is, has desires that can be graciously translated to "he never wants to die and wants to make sure no one can ever kill him".

Annabelle doesn't have any of that and I'm not 100% sure why she was written that way. Yes, she wants the Web's final gambit to go through, but idk, its just so odd to me to have an actual person in the role she plays in the current story when a puppeted character could do the same. If there was an examination of the idea of letting yourself go to a higher force for some sake, then that would be something. But as it stands, Annabelle Cane is an awkward character that is too much of a person on the narrative to reliably be seen as just a person possessed by spiders but not enough motivations or want in the narrative to actually be one.

And that's just disappointing more than anything else for a show that's otherwise so good at having wonderful layered characters.

#tma #the magnus archives #annabelle cane #tma crit #long post #tma analysis

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toko-writing-imagines · 3 years

Note

Sis can I have some….. dating head cannons? For… uh- Toko and Syo? Please and thank you of course.

Woah sis is so formal when requesting

but of course you can! Enjoy your hcs sis ♡

Toko and Syo dating headcanons

【Toko Fukawa】

• Dating Toko (with the addition of Syo) can be both tricky and a lot of work

• No matter how long the two of you have been dating, she will always hit you with her mean comments about literally anything and everything

• Though luckily she has toned it down a bit, so she won't say anything that would hurt your feelings, but it's more like a tease

• Toko also loves to look forward to any sort of dates (although she usually doesn't act like it). She plans most dates, which usually range from small local cafés to a quiet library date, but she loves it when you treat her for a date

• And whenever the date is over, she always locks herself in her room afterwards and writes about it

• You really are her muse, and if you read any of her new books, you may catch a paragraph or more describing the date you two have been on in perfect detail (maybe even the main characters are based off of you and her)

• Also she loves cuddling. It feels nice for her to know that you aren't deceiving her in any way and are actually a nice person who won't her - it gives her a sense of security

• And if you really want her to basically melt like puddy while cuddling, all you gotta do is tell her sweet nothings and that just makes her fall in love with you even more

• Watching movies aren't really her thing, she likes watching documentaries more, but when she does watch a movie with you or something she always talks during it. Mostly just to rant about how stupid the characters are, pointing out plot holes, and saying how she can probably write a better movie plot

• She loves romance and fantasy movies though, but that won't stop her from ranting

【Genocide Jack/Syo】

• Much more of the loud outgoing type in the relationship

• It's always unpredictable of what Syo will do whenever she fronts, which usually just leads to utter chaos

• And whenever she does cause trouble, you are the one to almost always pick up her mess

• Syo is almost always dragging you around with her wherever she goes. She likes to call you her 'accomplice'

• Her favorite types of dates are ones where they can be around any classmates or just generally any place so she can annoy the people there

• Absolutely loves to say goofy and flirtatious comments, fluster you, or just poke fun at you. Its basically her hobby at this point

• Also one to say stupid cheesy one-liners just for the heck of it

• Is honestly a real goof when it comes to relationships or just about anything romantic, but can be serious about it when she needs to be

• This girl can ramble on and on about anything and everyone. It can be the dumbest thing to existence and Syo will still find some way to talk about it for hours on end (you still listen because you love her)

• Watching crime movies with her can be a pain sometimes since she always rambles (like Toko) that her methods of murder are much more better

• But she loves watching any shows,videos, or documentaries that are based or revolved around her. It basically filled up her ego and pride

• Do I think Syo will stop her murders just because she is dating someone? No, not really. More like a 50/50 chance if anything. She is the Genocide Jack after all. The (former) Ultimate murderous fiend who has never been caught

• The closest answer you would get from her is a 'maybe' if you do ask her to refrain from killing

• But don't worry, she won't kill you :)

꒦ ͝ ꒷ ͝ ꒦ ͝ ꒷꒦ ͝ ꒷ ͝ ꒦ ͝ ꒷꒦ ͝ ꒷ ͝ ꒦ ͝ ꒷꒦ ͝ ꒷

↳ ੈ‧₊˚ Half the stuff I wrote was just a jumble of word vomit that doesn't exactly make sense

But I still hope you like the hcs I wrote for you, sis

I'm tired now . . might play genshin and take a nap

~ Mod Toko 💜

#toko fukawa #toko fukawa x reader #toko x reader #genocide jack #genocider syo #genocide jack x reader #genocider syo x reader #danganronpa #danganronpa imagines #danganronpa headcanons #danganronpa hc #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #danganronpa x reader #dr trigger happy havoc #dr x reader #thh x reader

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bbq-hawks-wings · 3 years

Text

Chapter 316: BBQ is capable of critiquing BNHA and… Oh boy.

Let's start this off properly, Horikoshi's typical quality of writing has been diminishing in recent chapters, but this week it was so different that it didn't even feel like Horikoshi was the one who wrote it.

To be clear, I'm not blaming Horikoshi for the issues I'm about to bring up. The man is criminally overworked, usually doesn't even get the final say in what makes it in the final drafts, and even in his other rough patches he's still produced decent chapters that hold up amongst the grand scheme of things. This feels like something else is going on behind the scenes, and while I have my suspicions on who/what might be the culprit behind it, I choose not to share it at this time because if I name names some people might go off on a crusade, and that's not what I want.

I just want to be clear that I'm not blindly firing off shots in the dark, but despite my frustrations I want to wait to see if this gets resolved down the line, and while I do I can complain about the specific reasons this chapter left such a bitter taste in my mouth.

Buckle up, buttercups, because we got a lot of points to cover.

Where's the Gun?

Not a literal gun, but I mean Chekhov's Gun. It has always been a staple of Horikoshi's writing and the reason so many of his long-standing plot lines have paid off so well.

Chekhov's Gun is a writing principal that if you see a gun on the table in the first act of a play, it will be used in the murder that happens in act 2. Basically, the author should include details that are relevant to the story and not betray the audience by leading them in one direction and at the last minute pull the rug out from underneath them to go in another direction.

Horikoshi has done this to phenomenal success in the past. Just as one example, he dropped hints about Nomu being human experiments early in the series but held off explicitly stating it for a while. He hinted at the loss of Shirakumo in the main narrative and that he was important to Aizawa and Mic as well as approved it for Vigilantes so when it was revealed that Kurogiri was Shirakumo's body, not only did it narratively make sense but it also pulled in Eraserhead and Present Mic's emotional stakes into the battle with the Doctor, and then when Ujiko reveals he was after Aizawa's quirk the whole time it made the payoff for Mic punching him in the face all that much better and brings the weight of his crimes and the impact they have on the victims full circle.

That's 3 different guns paying off in the long run: the Nomu, Shirakumo, and both Mic and Eraserheads' personal arcs past the loss of their childhood friend and that they could finally finish processing their grief and avenge him in full righteous fury instead of chalking it all up to cruel chance.

He has left details, some particularly innocuously, in plot lines like the Touya Todoroki reveal, Hawks' backstory, Shigaraki's blood connection to Nana Shimura, even with Mr. Compress's backstory, and more. When re-read, these details become more obvious and usually leaves us with a greater sense of satisfaction in the plot knowing that twists and turns were not only planned, but built up to and hinted at for us to find so the payoff is that much better and it feels purposeful instead of just shock factor.

None of that happened this chapter.

Lady Nagant has zero business being in this plotline. She was never hinted about before this arc, and her existence does nothing to tell us about the plot moving forward or the world that they're trying to change. Nothing her existence provides actually has any bearing on the universe or tells us anything we don't already know. But that's not how she was presented.

In the beginning we're given a glimpse of her helping Overhaul escape from Tartarus. The focus on her was odd enough to begin with as a new character, and the fact that she didn't look like she fit the profile of someone who belonged in Tartarus was like a flashing neon sign saying, "Pay attention! This new character is important!!!" She then shows up later with Overhaul in hand to attack Deku out of the blue. We get her talking about how she thought Overhaul might be useful and her disillusions with Hero Society. We catch her mannerisms with eery similarity to Hawks only to find out immediately after she was a senior colleague in the HPSC. Never once to my knowledge has Hawks referred to any of his senior colleagues as a "senpai" - not even his fellow heroes - and when he catches her in midair, he uses the words, "Don't die on me, senpai!" as if she's near and dear to his heart.

The entire character arc is set up for her to have known about Hawks and grapple with her desire to help people and her fear of re-creating what she hated, and this also set up Hawks to be the successor who succeeded where she failed and helped bring her to a place where she could be a hero without guilt again. What actually happened?

They're strangers.

They have never actually met before, and while he seems to know a lot about her, she doesn't even seem to have any idea of who he was - at least as far as being another hero under the thumb of the HPSC. So ALLLL that setup, all that gesturing, and all of the potential themes that would be right at home in an arc like this goes completely out the window.

Her story doesn't tell us anything new. The HPSC bad. We knew that. They're not above throwing innocents under the bus to achieve that goal. We knew that. They preyed upon young hopefuls with powerful quirks with the intent to maintain the status quo. We knew that even if the fact that Hawks isn't the only one now makes more questions than answers. We know that these young heroes can never say no under threat of steep, life-shattering consequences. We knew that already.

So what does Lady Nagant even bring to the table?! The entire "you're just a puppet doing what you've been told" angle is a little tired and out of place in this point and time with actual anarchy in the streets (not to mention hypocritical considering she was a blind puppet following orders and offers zero actual solutions that supposedly fall in line with her heroic nature), and it could have been left to any number of other villain characters who could have executed on the theme better - you know, like Shigaraki who's justification this entire time has been, "hero society doesn't make people safe, it just makes them feel safe" from the moment of his inception.

So from that angle she's unnecessary.

Her presence messes with the continuity of the series as well. If Hawks is supposed to explicitly replace her, that would mean that he wasn't just a fluke find on the commission's part and grabbed to mold into their own special superweapon; and that also would mean that her killing of the former president was before he was discovered which should put her at least in her forties. If this isn't the case, and he was meant to simply replace her in a "special agent" case, that still begs the question of how many more gifted children the commission preyed upon and are still out there.

And maybe the worst kicker for me is that something stinks. The way the art in this chapter is presented, if you completely blanked out the speech bubbles, is the same setup I had before - Hawks reaches out to his former mentor and pulls her from the brink of despair with a moving message about why he never gave up hope in being a hero who could actually make a difference.

Again, this is not what we got. He claims he knows her, and it's implied to have been a deep, personal character witness; but at best he only knows about her from secondhand sources. Even his reasoning as to how he never lost hope doesn't vibe with his character.

We have gotten so many cool one-liners for Hawks, but there has always been a consistent tone and imagery with them.

"Those who can fly, should."

"I don't belong in a cage."

"I'm free of my shackles."

"Can I be a shining light, just like him?"

What we got was, "I'm an optimist to a fault" which was the wording the official release went with and was by far the best iteration I have seen, but even this falls short of being truly in character for him and answering her question properly.

@mikeana made an edit of the titular panels for us Hawks stans this week with dialogue we and a few other friends felt was more fitting not only with the imagery of the chapter itself but internally consistent with the specific expressions Hawks uses in his heartfelt, personal dialogue. I just tweaked it a little bit more to fit what I was going for in our original conversation.

Which brings me to another concern.

2. What's the point?

There was no use for Nagant in the series as she's been presented so far. But more than that, Hawks has no business in this fight to begin with. He literally did nothing to earn this emotional moment, and this should have been Deku's moment.

We were teased in an interview with Horikoshi that Hawks was going to get a special moment as an important end-game character as a "shining light" of hope for others to follow as well as promises for Ochako to have another moment in the spotlight to make a difference.

If this was Hawks' shining light moment, it wasn't necessary, and it does nothing to move the plot forward or develop characters in any true or believable way. It just happened because plot. This should have been Deku's victory through and through, and even he is the reason BOTH Hawks and Nagant made it out alive instead of painting the street below them.

Deku's victory was stolen from him, too. It sours the other promises made to us about other characters moving forward, as well, if this really was Hawks' "Shining Light" moment.

By the way, did you forget about Overhaul? Me too!!! What was the point of getting our hopes up about reintroducing this beloved character with the implications this was a major arc setup to have him scream about pops and then get detained with no clues about what's going to happen to him besides, "Say you're sorry to Eri, and you get to see pops"?!

All this posturing and clumsy narrative flailing only actually succeeded in getting Deku in front of AFO again for plot when we already know Mr. Potato Head could summon, show himself to, or find Deku at any time he wanted. But instead we get this time skip with a bunch of heroes completely mended walking into a big, spooky mansion for AFO to evil monologue at Deku for… *counts*

FOUR PAGES!!!

Only to then give him the "I want YOU!" point over a pre-recorded message and the final nail in the coffin to me that something is off.

3. Ex-pu-LOOOO-SHUN!

It's become almost a game among friends to count how many explosions have happened since the end of the war arc - and specifically fake-out explosions. In the end of 311 we get All Might's car attacked via explosion and Deku cornered by Nagant only for All Might to be fine in the next chapter. In 315 Lady Nagant herself explodes in a blaze of glory to once again not be dead.

Gee! I wOnDeR if aLl the heroes were AcTuAlLy cornered and KiLlEd in that explosion in the mansion!

None of us do. They're fine. We're going to see it first thing next week. The shock has worn off, and it's repetitive and annoying at this point. There is no cliffhanger despite how the framing might try to tell you otherwise.

It's BAD WRITING.

The writing has been moving far too quickly and clumsily with no explanation in sight, and even character interactions are being cut short to the point of them being meaningless and empty.

This doesn't even feel like Horikoshi's bad writing. It feels like someone else is trying to call the shots and rushing him through these final bits of the series, and he's run out of things he's previously set up for months and months to reappear so someone is trying to get Dabi-reveal levels of attention with arcs and storylines that don't have the build-up to result in a satisfactory payoff.

4. At least it can get better... I hope.

Maybe those who share my suspicions or know what particular suspicions I have are with me in believing that this is a temporary disappointment and we haven't seen the last of the writing that's captivated me for years. I don't blame Horikoshi for these glaring faults that all came to a head in this chapter.

It CAN get better later, and I think it WILL- we just probably are going to have to wait for it. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the Hawks panels we got, maybe edit the last few chapters to be more in line with something more like the BNHA I know in a "fix it fic" fashion so I don't groan in anticipation of how long it might take us to get there.

See you all next week, hopefully on a much brighter note.

#she speaks #chapter review #bnha 316 #bnha chapter 316 #bnha manga spoilers

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bitegore · 2 years

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alright you got me. where do i start with transformers. is it possible to justread the comics and not watch the shows, and if not what single show would you recommend

It is absolutely possible to read the comics* and not watch the shows!

* There are multiple series of comics and this is more or less true for all of them except for Marvel's G1 comics, which are from the 80s and iirc (haven't read them) tie into the plots of the G1 (80s) cartoon episodes.

For clarity's sake, we have IDW1 (Started in 2005, ended 2019, and has the most attention on this site), IDW2 (started in 2019, the central title of it is clearly going long-form, and has received a lot of criticism on here), Marvel Comics (from the 80s, and a product of its time, as well as like i said very possibly a TV tie-in), and Dreamwave (which ran for a short period of time and then died; idk if anyone talks about it any more).

The "comics" you'd probably want to read are the IDW1 comics. WITHIN IDW1 we have:

Phase 1: my personal favorite part of the canon. Not objectively great, and a lot of people don't like it. Lays the groundwork for Phase 2, and ends with a massive fight that basically destroys and restarts Cybertron.

Phase 2: the part that holds that one comic that everyone talks about and pretends is the only part of the continuity to exist. This begins after the war ends, and deals with the reconstruction of Cybertron. In this is the comic More Than Meets The Eye and its continuation Lost Light, which is basically all anyone talks about on this website for the most part. Also contains (ex) Robots in Disguise/Transformers Ongoing, which is set elsewhere at the same time. If you want to read IDW1, a lot of advice will literally just tell you to start with MTMTE/LL and read nothing else. I don't like that advice, personally, because first of all it doesn't make sense because exRID is a direct parallel/tie in and is supposed to be read at the same time, but also because I think it literally must be confusing to new readers to have no background for any of the events referenced in them. But I also didn't love MTMTE/LL as much as everyone around me does, so there's also that.

My advice would actually be to follow this reading guide: https://web.archive.org/web/20180504120023/https://www.howtolovecomics.com/2016/10/17/idws-transformers-reading-order/ (yeah at that link specifically. they changed it after the continuity ended and made it worse). If you decide to follow this guide, don't read Hearts of Steel because it's from a different continuity altogether and has no importance on the story, and don't read New Avengers/Tranformers for the same reason (and also because it sucks mad ass? it's just written really badly). You can pretty much skip over anything too boring but bear in mind that Phase 1 basically explains the background of Phase 2- Stormbringer, for example, is dry as fuck but it's where "cybertron as a really messed up nightmare planet" comes from, and Spotlight: Arcee is transmisogynistic as fuck (actually you can skip that one, also this is why we all hate Simon Furman. among other reasons. fuck that guy).

Anyways this is like nearly 15 years worth of comics. Understandably, you might not want to read all that.

The 2019 comic is short enough so far, because they went on a hiatus in 2020 and also don't have nearly as much Content(tm) to read through. It's just (in my opinion, at least) not... super... engaging... and what there is, there, is not enough Stuff to really get engaging. It's been a while since I sat down to read it last, though, so it might've gotten better while I wasn't looking.

As an onboarding cartoon, Transformers: Prime is probably the best entry point. It largely keeps the same concepts from G1 and IDW (big war that is active, Optimus Prime and Megatron as figurehead enemies) and is fun enough. I also really like Transformers: Animated, but they took a really big step away from the normal formula and made Optimus a military school washout years after the war ended, so it won't really give you that much experience with Regular Transformers even though in my opinion it's probably far and away the best Transformers cartoon I've watched. People also really like Cyberverse. It takes me like a year to watch half a season of anything, so I haven't actually watched that one all the way through yet, but it starts out really dull and then gets pretty good and then from what I understand it just gets better after season 2. I haven't watched it that far yet though. There's a movie for it that just came out with ??? cool and interesting stuff that ive seen some disconnected spoilers for but completely don't understand??? so if you want to watch a lighthearted show that starts off slow, you'll be walking right into the like most excited fizzy core of TF fandom on here as of right now, and it also is pretty good for most of TF canon, though from what I understand it borrows heavily from IDW1 at times.

Sorry; this probably wasn't exactly what you were looking for. Ask anyone else and they'll tell you to just read More than Meets the Eye and Lost Light and ignore everything else, I just... as a person who didn't like them that much and find most of the concepts and characterization beats I like come from literally everywhere else, I cannot say that in good faith without feeling like I'm setting you up for failure LMAO.

#red replies #bireaucracy #spotlight: nightbeat is really great horror tbh. like the plot driver of that comic is kind of stupid but the comic itself slaps #thats one of the earlier spotlights

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