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wof-reworked · 4 months

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ok I can't stop thinking about the jade winglet, here's my gender hcs for all of them

Moonwatcher - she/they (nonbinary)

I feel like this is fun bc rn (in canon) her gender is just "anxiety" but like,,, one day in the future she gets to actually play around with it

like she captures a very specific type of person I've met who you go "oh I mean I know she's gay but she's probably cis..." and then you have like one real convo and find out they're like not only nonbinary but better at it then you

I think she should get to be butch when she's older. I think she deserves being a) massive compared to her two twink boyfriends and b) gnc as shit

Kinkajou- any/all (genderfluid +transfem)

Kinkajou strikes me as being like. totally ambivalent to gender. Kinkajou changes her pronouns based on how the fruit he ate for breakfast makes him feel. Kinkajou is better than you

I think she was like staunchly using she/her for a while bc it just felt right and like changes pronouns situationally- Rainwing village is she/her, Jade Academy is any/all, close friends it varies, etc etc

Qibli- he/they (transmasc)

Qibli's just always kind of known who he is, and has been like. pretty contentedly in his corner for a while. I think it's like- a pillar of stability for him of like "at least I know I'm (x)"

Proximity to Moonwatcher puts the they/them in there bc I think it's nice when ppl get more comfortable so they start branching out a lil bit :> Qibli has like. guy who says "he/they" because he doesn't mind they/them and wants his friends to feel supported y'know

Winter- he/him (cis + gnc)

Look I feel bad making him one of like. two cis ppl at JMA but like I think it's funny if he's cis but inflicts a status effect of gender envy on every trans person in his proximity

guy who does makeup flawlessly because "it's fun" and decimates your sense of identity as you wonder why the fuck god gave these gifts to a man

extra funny for the fact that as a dragonet he gets offended by the implication he's pretty. he gets over it eventually I think

Turtle- she/her or he/she/they (transwoman/trans)

See here. Otherwise I think she's like trans and this could go in like. any fucking direction ngl

transmasc turtle??? hell yeah !!! transfem turtle??? hell yeah !!! gender is whatever Turtle has going on and god knows if she knows it

last egg to crack bc Turtle is immune to self reflection that isn't anxiety and self loathing

"Haha everyone hates how other people refer to them and their gender what do you mean? :)" (entire jade winglet: cringing with worry)

Umber- he/him (cis)

cis and a lil insecure about it but like. he's just nice :)

he's like experimented with pronouns and gender and found none of them really stuck so like. cis+. cis (extended dlc). you know what I mean I hope

gonna be honest I'm lost for him bc I genuinely forget he was there bc he peaced out so fast. justice for my boy I want to know more !!!!!

I could be persuaded for transman Umber ngl,,, it tempts me,,,,,,

Peril- she/her (trans woman)

On one hand I'm torn bc I think it almost doesn't make sense for her backstory BUT ON THE OTHER HAND the idea of Scarlet being supportive of Peril's identity and LITERALLY NOTHING ELSE is hysterical to me

though actually if we wanna get sad,,,, that 100% could be a manipulation tactic of Scarlet. "see I love you I even accept you" etc etc. now I just feel bad man

Peril's also in the same camp of Qibli of knowing this abt herself since she could think and being happy in it. She knows what she's about

BONUS:

Carnelian- she/they/he (transmasc)

Look butch can be a gender and sometimes you're a mean butch skywing idk what to tell you

wish she stayed alive bc her and Moon could've been legendary together. girl who will kill for you vs girl who desperately wants you to do anything else please we talked about this you can't solve your problems with murder

I think Carnelian's true gender is Skywing Patriot and idk how to put that in hc form but this is as best I've got

#wings of fire #wof headcanons #wof reworked #this is canon 2 me so it goes in the tag ok #qibli wof #winter wof #moonwatcher wof #turtle wof #kinkajou wof #peril wof #carnelian wof #umber wof

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finnitesimal · 10 months

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4Maxo but. Bibi Reden and Amy Lee

thoughts about them under the cut

- big part of bibi's backstory is that she has no one real support system or reliable adult to explain love or consequences or rein in her murderous tendencies but I think it's funny if contrasting that forever had his family that not only doesn't mind his behavior but supports them 100%

- forever gets attached to phil pretty much because he looks really similar to that guy who was really into edgy middle school vampire roleplay. same guy who asked him to saw off all his limbs for him

- max under the cover of the school newsletter is trying to investigate the school related to the disappearances of several students. related to dan, who right after taking custody of their egg project immediately moved out and and the gang had to break into their old house to save trump and found him sitting deflated and gross on the kitchen counter. The funeral was very sad

- maxo gets roped in on stalking Phil through the power of funding money and holy shit pretty boy telling me what to do

- traditional schoolgirl yandere forever means missa is absolutely getting stabbed at some point

- no one's evil they're just in gay high school

#qsmpshipping #4max #4maxo #qsmp forever #qsmp maximus #i love amy #finnsketches #forever really is an insane name for a yandere archetype huh

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ystrike1 · 1 year

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The Silent Daughter of a Duke and the Cold Emperor ~ The Child I Found in My Past Life Became the Emperor ~ - By Bekio (8/10)

I love it when a reincarnation story makes sense. It also takes place in an established universe and NONE of the characters are inserts from the modern world. It's cute, quirky, and very dark. I didn't peg the love interest as a yandere until his full backstory was revealed.

Lady Eleanora, an unwanted child of a nobleman, used to be a hideous monster named Pie. She likes her new life, but her snotty family thinks she's miserable because they... frankly look down on her. Pie was a homeless vagabond, so living in a smaller house with unfashionable dresses is no problem for her.

Eleanora is dense, but it's in a fun way. She doesn't feel all that attached to her family naturally, because she used to live alone in the woods. She thinks life as a noble lady is rather silly and boring, but she's not a jerk about it. She still does her duties as a daughter. The mistreatment she goes through doesn't affect her much at all. Some of the humor in this is above average.

Ok, so to be clear Pie has moved on with her life. She's fine with her life as Eleanora. She only had one friend in her former life. A lost boy who kept his identity a secret. His name was Ham. It was a nickname of course, and he gave her the name Pie for an equally random reason. Their relationship was super sweet, but Eleanora thinks he is not her concern. It's been many years. The boy has either grown up or died.

Eleanora still has her hick accent. Hahahaha. It's not a bad joke and it's helpful. Her voice is easy to recognize, even though she doesn't look like a monster anymore. She's pretty but unpopular because of her family. They spread bad rumors about their own daughter. Sofia, her younger sister, is favored over her because her father remarried.

Ham grew up and became the Emperor, Alexei. He is known for his coldness. He took as much power as he could, because he wants to execute everyone who caused Pie's death. I think he maybe did it already. There was a pretty big time skip.

Here's what happened. Young prince Alexei was murdered, but his mother gave him resurrection powers. He can only be killed under very specific circumstances. So, Alexei dies in the woods multiple times before Pie finds him. Here's the saddest part. Pie was never a monster. She was just a deformed human girl, who left her village because "her appearance was causing trouble for her parents"

....sad...

Ham is very happy with Pie, but he cannot let go of his hate. Pie just says that she enjoys his company. If he does have a bad side that's ok. As long as he respects her and treats her well. Most people run screaming at the sight of her, so she appreciates him.

After Pie is killed by his Knights, who invaded the forest to find him, he feels guilty. He really loved Pie, and he also doesn't trust anyone. The Knights who came for him had ulterior motives as well. Nobody really cares for him. They just need him. Big difference. Anyway he's a really tough guy now. He's nearly impossible to kill. Only death by aging can get him, basically.

Alexei is devoted to Pie, even though she is dead. He has no thoughts of love. Only revenge and his power. His servants fear him. He's unpopular with fussy nobles because he's impossible to corrupt. He has a goal he will not let go of. I'm sure that he's managed to kill a bunch of the Knights already, but that's not going to be super relevant...

Pie is back. He...might let go of his darkness and be happy with her. Eleanora doesn't recognize him. He recognizes her first, and he's very happy. Also, Pie/Eleanora can communicate with magical beasts. She is a powerful and beautiful potential Empress. I like this kind of reincarnation plot. It's like a classic fairy tale. True love over beauty. Griffons everywhere. The atmosphere is nice!

#yandere #male yandere #yandere male #yandere boy #recommendations #recs #rec #recommended #manga #otome isekai #isekai #The Silent Daughter of a Duke and the Cold Emperor ~ The Child I Found in My Past Life Became the Emperor ~

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rinskazuu · 1 year

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rating record of ragnarok characters /10, because i can.

DISCLAIMER: i’m only rating the characters based off what the manga & anime has portrayed. i’ve done little to no research on these people themselves, which is why i don’t condone anything immoral that they’ve done. this was written before the release of chapter 73+

a/n: i think i wanna do this for every anime + genshin & val. PLS WATCH IT & LMK IF YOU GUYS LIKE IT. also i dont care abt grammatical and/or punctual errors, this is a shit post

MANGA SPOILER WARNING!!

THOR: first of all, he’s so fucking hot. his smile caught me so off guard tho, i kinda just stood there watching the screen, baffled. not much character to him, he’s just hot. 7/10

LU BU: i’m chinese, i literally feel so happy when i see chinese characters. biased, but definitely a plus. he, just like thor, has little to no character. first character i called hot, is hot, but there are hotter characters. (what, i am not talking abt hermes wdym?) 7/10

HERMES: 10/10. no explanation. my man right there. i literally scream & cream every time i see him. why is he so fine. not a single panel or clip where he looks bad. pls eat me out, sir i beg. i will serve you. ONE CHANCE. JUST ONE?? i’m in love with him. who needs real men or women when hermes.

GOLL: she is SO ANNOYING. her eng & jp voice are both annoying asl. she’s that one character, that exists in mostly every anime, used to explain background info & battle info on other characters. brunhilde is too nice on her. she reminds me of when i first saw yachi (haikyuu) on screen. yachi, too, was annoying. but i grew to love her🫶. 1/10

BRUNHILDE: SHES SO HOT. ATE. SHE ALDNAHDISKZ. yeah, what else is there to say? 8/10

APHRODITE: she truly lives up to her version in the greek mythology. hottest woman/goddess alive. ate. her boobs, i want to squish them & bury my face in them. WHEN IS IT MY TURN TO HOLD THEM? 8/10

ZEUS: idgaf what anyone says, he’s not hot. not even his younger self. he looks like mirio (mha) turned netero (hxh). love his character tho. the eyes scared me at first. he’s hilarious. 5/10

ADAM: my friend, the one who recommended snv to me, told me he’d be more my type. he was, minus the fact that’s he literally butt fucking naked. nice ass cheeks tho. def pretty boy, his wife is hot too. i want her more😋. his line abt fighting for his children made me cry. should’ve won. i say, let hermes be uncleless & fatherless. 7/10

POSEIDON: he was fs the blueprint for adam. anywho, yk hes fine. SOOO FINE. meowing for him. he doesn’t beat hermes tho. nobody beats hermes. well, look wise at least. it was rlly hard choosing who to root for in this fight. that’s a lie, i was always on humanity’s side. sad he died:( 9/10. -1 for being a little, arrogant, narcissistic, egotistical bitch. 8/10

SASAKI KOJIRO: see, zeus coulda been hot like him at that old age. man aged like fine wine. character was a W. hot, determined, good character, funny. what else can you want from a man? 8/10

HERACLES: disappointed. so disappointed. he looked better in the disney ver. this fight was so boring for me. you’re telling me i’m supposed to watch the fight instead of ogling at hot characters? no. character was okay. 6/10

JACK THE RIPPER: massive L. not supporting a murderer. next. 0/10

SHIVA: hot from the beginning. 4 arms? do what you want to me, sir. 3 WIVES? tengen (kny), is that you bro?😭 anywho, he’s cocky, def my type irl LMAO. i wouldn’t let that slide tho.. his wives are hot too😋 8/10

RAIDEN TAMEEMON: i paid very little attention to this fight. don’t remember his backstory too well (i read this fight not even 24 hours ago btw). not that good looking, not ugly either. i liked his character, upset he took 3 of shiva’s arms. why 3? why not 2? he got 1 arm left. 4/10

BUDDHA: THATS MY GOD RIGHT THERE. ate. i’m not religious, and neither are my family, but they are buddhist, so by default, i am too. i personally think buddhism is the best religion, but we’re not gonna get into that. i have very valid reasons btw. love his personality, love his looks. massive W. ofc he fights for humanity. he’s a walking W. 9/10

ZEROFUKU: precious. definition of deserved better. what made me sad, is how he was written during the fight. he’s consistently hitting, with little to no strategy. his backstory is sad, but his battle exp was written poorly. also the random ass monster possessing took me tf out. 7/10

HADES: fine ass mf. he’s so different from how he’s usually portrayed, both look & personality wise. the first W netflix has pulled. he’s hot and responsible? persephone, we can share him babes. also, the relationship between him & poseidon made me SOB. like actually. hurt so bad i made an angst edit. 9/10

QIN SHI HUANG: first off, i don’t do research on my own ethnicity’s history. i didn’t even know who tf lu bu was. my family knew tho. with that aside, PROUD TO BE CHINESE❗️ he’s so fine. SO FINE. the way his character was written, was wonderful. i loved the fight between him & hades. the tension & the lengths they went to try & win. 9/10

BEELZEBUB: his backstory was so tragic. what i didn’t like, was how they rushed his & lilith’s story. like, they kinda randomly said i love you to each other. i’d love to see their adventures tgt. lilith, leave that emo thing, and come be w me. he’s fine too. i rlly like how they introduced him. 8/10

NIKOLA TESLA: i don’t have much of an opinion on him. very chatty, which i don’t actually mind. i guess we’ll have to wait for more chapters to release before i form an opinion on him. 5/10

ODIN: the hair bro. THE HAIR. i keep forgetting he exists, but i’m not his biggest fan. not bad, but i prefer his sons. i do like the theory of him being a traitor. he looks the part. 5/10

LOKI: honestly, i liked him a lot in the beginning, but now, it’s like he’s kinda on the side. cute & hot. thor is the better brother tho. speaking of, how tf are they even brothers? moving on, i like his personality. i like his shocked, mixed w angry, facial expressions more. 7/10

ARES: the hair again. very stylish, i do like it, but it took me out. walking around looking like a school girl. i don’t like how he tries to be a know-it-all w hermes, when he literally relies on him for info. but that’s my man for you. his expressions are SO WELL. 6/10

ADAMAS: i was awfully confused, at first, when there were 3 older brothers to zeus. usually, it’s just hades, poseidon & zeus. not his biggest fan, his character was rushed. 4/10

BONUSES

JESUS: i was very happy to see jesus. i’m not sure why, i just was. why is he the only character, THAT LOOKS LIKE THEMSELVES? 9/10

LU BU SIMP AGENCY: 10/10. i don’t need to say anymore. W cheng gong. love that man.

FORSETI: what a loser. he was so annoying. 2/10

EVE: mother? mommy? whatever. MEOW. 9/10

SASAKI SIMP AGENCY: love them as well. 10/10. walking Ws all around.

i don’t think i’m missing anyone, am i?

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stars-and-cows · 5 months

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I'm sad so more of my "It was just a nightmare au"

Okay so we'll take my boy Byakuya as the target

I don't really have a full backstory for him like I had with Celestia but I have the image of the person he would be after the dream.

He is selfish and only gains-motivated. He isn't a person to get terribly traumatized by the things he did in the nightmare, like Celestia, but he isn't ruthless either. He's a teen who grew up only knowing power and money.

I think he would mostly be worried about how his classmates perceive him. But not in the "I want them to like me" kind of way but more of a "it's a pain in the ass if they hate me". So he is mostly bothered at how nobody will talk to him or do anything he asks them to.

But he is already a traumatized person. He was traumatized way before the nightmare. Growing up in the house where his worth was determined by his actions and love wasn't guaranteed. He grew up as a person who can't see people, and himself, beyond their actions. He is usually the last person to know how HE is feeling about HIS problems because of how he was never taught how to process emotions. (I'm projecting)

So he definitely cares. He is sorry and he would like to apologize to his classmates. He just doesn't know it yet.

I think Makoto as the ultimate hope would help Byakuya work through his emotions. Makoto has incredible survivors guilt and he also feels like he was useless when it came to the prevention of murders.

Byakuya, being calculative as he is, sees the facts above feelings. He saw how much Makoto managed to piece everything during every trail. And, though he wouldn't admit it, knows they all would get executed if not for Makoto.

"I know I could do more, do better, do... Something!" Makoto said as the tears started to run down his face

"You did enough" Byakuya answered without thinking "You did so much. You practically carried us through those trials. Without you... We would be dead" He finally admitted. Mostly to himself than to the other boy. And before Makoto could speak he continued "And even if you didn't, at least you didn't actively hurt anyone. You don't need to blame yourself for the irrational things you didn't do while experiencing what was basically hell. At least I wouldn't, from your perspective."

Yeah so Makoto would be basically the only person that spoke to Byakuya normally. Well except Kiyoko. They just understand each other pretty well and are just grateful to have each other around. Byakuya, because Makoto is the only person that speaks to him. And Makoto, because he feels like Byakuya is misunderstood and wants to say thank you for helping him in the trials.

(I might put Naegami as canon in this au but I dunno for sure yet)

#I love Byakuya so much #I mean mostly my headcanonned version of him #He's such a comfort character for me #ANYWAY NEXT IS TAKA #danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #danganronpa thh #danganronpa au #danganronpa byakuya #byakuya togami #danganronpa makoto #makoto naegi #danganronpa togami #danganronpa naegi #naegami #It was just a nightmare au

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marunalu · 1 year

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don't understand why people think afo possibly having a bad childhood would cheapen his character, he grew up during a time where everything was chaos and people were going insnae. it's not too far fetched to think he's a had a bad past and doesn't lessen any evil he does now. it's a little annoying when you suggest that he probably has had something bad happen to him when he was younger and people get mad at you saying let villains be villains.

Absolutely agree!

I think the main reason why people dont want afo to have a terrible past is because they dont want to sympathy with him! They want to hate him and they know a sad backstory could change their view of him. I mean look at tomura: at first pretty much all of the readers hated his guts or at least thought he is an terrible excuse of a villain, because how whiny, spoiled and bratty he is! But then we got his past flashbacks and BAMM all of a sudden he was everyones favorite character and even wanted him to succeed in his goal of destroying everything! Feeling sorry for someone is the main reason why people are ready to start to make excuses for that persons behavior, no matter how horrible their actions are. The thing is a villains backstory is there to explain why he ended up that way and NOT to make excuses for him!

Lets face it: tomura, dabi, toga, spinner etc. are all HORRIBLE people! They are terrorists and massmurderers. Thats a fact! No sane person in real life would want to interact with them or accept their reasonings. The reason why readers are ready to forgive them their crimes and want a happy ending for them is because its fiction and we know their backstorys and what they went through during their childhood. All of them are MURDERERS of innocents, but they are also lost, lonely and traumatized children who need help and therapy! And I think deep down people are aware that its the same or similar case with afo, because thats how hori writes his main villains. They are complex and complicated characters. Hori made very early clear that afo is not pure evil, because in yoichis flashbacks we hear him say that he loves his brother and in the recent chapters this is even more confirmed when we see afo crying (most likely shortly after yoichis death) when he is about to kill 2th. Pure evil doesnt love! Pure evil doesnt cry, after they lost a family member! And I think its pissing people off. They dont want afo to be turned into someone they pity and sympathize with, because of what he did to tomura, to some degree to dabi and other horrible things (turning people into nomous), despite that every single member of the lov is a horrible person too from a realistic point of view!

Afo already showed clear signs of suffering from past trauma himself, for example his unhealthy obsession with his "the only family I have" brother. We dont have the full context yet what actually happend in their past, but we know that afo was there when the "dawn of quirks" happend. He was there from the start. We know it was full chaos! From one day to the other the world turned upside down. It was violent! It was bloody! People startet to kill each other out of the blue! Know picture how horrifying this apocalyptical world must have been for two young boys! Espicially for the older one, who has to take care for the younger, sickly brother and wants to shield him from the horrors of that world! The fact that afo mentions that yoichi was the only family he had, makes clear that there were no parents or guardians to take care of them. In a world in which people startet all of a sudden to kill each other, because they developed scary powers. Afo shows clear abandonment issues (his unwillingness of yoichi leaving him and rather locking him inside a vault like a treasure and his obsession with getting ofa back) and I believe its because the brothers either lost their parents pretty early in life or they lived in an abusive househould and when afo showed first signs of a quirk, the parents kicked them out. All in all I believe afo was the one "raising" yoichi (at least as good as he could in that time) and made a lot of sacrifices to make sure his younger brother stays safe and gets enough to eat and evtl. medication.

A while ago I watched the disney movie encanto and I think the lyrics of the song "pressure" are perfect for how I picture afos life was back then. Everything he did was for his brother, he wanted to make order for his brother, to bring peace even if it meant he had to do nasty things to archive that. But then his brother was gone and afo lost his main motivation for wanting to change the world to the better. I think its interesting how afo never refers to himself as a villain while yoichi was still alive, in fact he trys to lay the blame on others and that his hands are clean ("they did it on their own, I never ordered them to do it"), but after yoichis death he has no problem anymore to call himself a villain. But why? Well, yoichi was "kidnapped" by two heroes, right? Afo locked him into a vault for his own safety, but this two dumb heroes showed up and took him away from him and what was the end result? They motivated yoichi even more to live after his heroic ideals and that got him (most likely) killed! The heroes killed his brother (thats what he is telling himself) and what is the opposite of the hero?

The villain!

So afo rather wants to be seen as a villain, because its the opposite of what killed his brother. This is of course mainly my own speculation, but I think its clear that afo is a by FAR more complex character then readers give him credit for, because they arent ready to accept that! Complexity doesnt cheapen a character. It flashs them out and hits home that just one bad day can destroy your life, your future and turning you into someone you never planned to become. No matter what happened in afos past it doesnt change the fact that he is a horrible man now, it just explains he wasnt born that way, because no one is born evil! Evil is born by circumstances!

#bnha #bnha all for one #yoichi shigaraki #ufff that got longer then expected

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an-architect-of-words · 8 months

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I WISH BORIS HAD BEEN THE ANTAGONIST OF THE GOLDFINCH

Okay Boris Pavlikovsky take based on people requesting it from this post where I said I’m like 90% sure my take on him is 🔥, meaning I could tell immediately he’d be popular as hell and yet he’s the subject of my biggest critique of the novel.

The short:

I’m extremely mixed on Boris and was for most of the book, especially at the end. His usage within the story just was an odd roller coaster. Now, I think I’d summarize it this way— I wish Boris had just been treated as an incredibly nuanced antagonist. I get that Donna Tartt books don’t fully deal in hero-villain terms but let me explain!! He would have been very heartbreaking, compelling, and unique as an actual antagonist.

The long:

I want to like Boris a lot because of his positive qualities. His dialogue is so charmingly good (I was so impressed by Tartt’s writing of someone who is speaking a second/third language and may write a whole post on that). Boris is also characterized by gratitude and loyalty to the people who’ve done right by him such as Theo, the folks from his backstory such as Judy and the Muslim preachers, and his guys— Cherry, Shirley, Gyuri. He recognizes kindness and responds to it in a way that is just so likable. He even cries when he thinks of his betrayal of Theo and says that he can’t stand what he did, knowing that Theo was only ever generous and good to him. Finally, Boris was a good foil to Theo, optimism vs dread. Boris’s optimism and love did save Theo at points, and it provides a very believable basis for their friendship.

But my problem is that Boris’s flaws were a little TOO big to have been so under-commented on. His vices crossed from palatable things to things that you really can’t take lightly, at least as lightly as I think this story did at the end. To summarize some things: 1) Boris beat his girlfriend (and casually assumed Theo had beaten Pippa) and is of the opinion that this is sad but necessary since sometimes “women deserve it.” 2) He is a serial cheater who rarely visits his wife and his own babies but has a girlfriend in Antwerp and is implied to buy escorts/prostitutes fairly regularly, which is further unconscionable since the reason he hurt Kotku was that she was potentially cheating on him! 3) Boris has ruined and ended countless lives. Anyone who runs a cartel has. But he was also introducing the kids at his school to drugs since they were too nervous to deal with adults. And maybe it’s because I know someone who died by a heroin overdose, but I just saw Boris as a indirect murderer throughout the book. He is against direct, cold-blooded murder, sure. But there comes a point where you have to take the domino-effect implications of your own actions seriously. It’s not even just the cartel. It’s minor things that show he doesn’t care about indirectly ending lives. He lost his license from drunk driving, then gave Gyuri cocaine WHILE GYURI WAS DRIVING. So, well, blatant lack of concern towards the lives of everyone else on the road. 4) while he did help Theo in ways, he really ruined him in other ways. The drugs and alcohol. But also getting him accustomed to thievery and sexual activity at a young age (I was pretty disturbed by Boris’s attraction to certain women because they were over the legal age and his way of romanticizing these relationships to Theo. I get this isn’t exactly uncommon talk among teen boys, at a level. But it reached icky too-far points in context. Then we see Theo get in this kind of relationship later, with Julie).

To summarize this: I was thinking that Boris shows that a person can be a good friend without being good for his friend. If that makes sense?

Boris loved Theo, saved his life, spent years planning how to make things up to him— but he was also emblematic of a very bad era of Theo’s. Now, I can love deeply flawed characters. Heck, I loved everyone in The Secret History. But the thing is, I think characters who reach this level of flawed are only fully likable when I can approach them knowing they were indeed wholly lambasted by the text itself. It’s a comfortable place from which to feel empathy.

For Boris… that didn’t come through well to me. It started to at points, for sure. Theo definitely comments on Boris’s flaws. And I think there’s a really dirty sort of filter on the events of the story where Boris is concerned. But to be honest, it wasn’t enough for what this guy was doing. I was most disappointed when Theo started to really get at him in the hotel room, only for the scene to shift into a moment that lifts Boris up. I liked the idea of Theo breaking away from the attitude of his father and of Boris. But then *bam* Goldfinch. Now Boris is all right again. The problem is— while making good from the bad is a great lesson and I agree that even our low points have meaning in a divine scheme— that doesn’t mean our bad actions were good, actually. It’s just that goodness was able to work with what we did. But our wrongs are wrong. Boris returning the painting shows some redemption and that Theo’s woes and miserable life story did have meaning. But Boris’s cheating, drug dealing, thievery, and violence are still evil mistakes. Not good because they worked out.

This return-of-The-Goldfinch moment is further muddied by the fact that Boris had something to gain financially by returning the finch. Now he’s loaded with cash, and that was a motivating factor in the return. I guess the lesson is that good pays and in a much better way than evil. And Boris did learn this. He was so fixated on how to get what he wanted sneakily, by beating the system, that he didn’t consider that he could come out on top by doing good. The lesson may be that good is not without opportunity itself. Still, the moment does swerve from fully critiquing Boris’s wrongs, and he’s never really treated fairly for them in my opinion.

So back to my point. I wish Boris had been just treated as the antagonist of this novel. I think that this would have been an awesome direction and could have happened while keeping his personality in-tact. All the pieces were there but the trigger never pulled.

An antagonist is merely someone stopping a protagonist from getting what he wants or what is good for him. An antagonist doesn’t have to be fully villain-y. It can be a rival sports team, for example. I think Boris would have made a great, very nuanced antagonist with sympathetic intentions. It would have been fun to see him fight so hard for Theo’s good that he doesn’t see that he’s preventing Theo’s redemption. Again, a lot of this IS already in the text, but I wish it all had followed through. I wish that Boris as an antagonist who only wants what’s best for the protagonist was his eventual and clearly stated characterization. It would have been compelling, to me, if the end had been Theo against Boris on the grounds that they both are so certain what’s best for Theo’s life. Boris would not want to be in this position, but is sure he has to be. Honestly?! HE HAS STRONG REASONS FOR THINKING THIS. He watched Theo try to kill himself many times. Imagine how traumatizing that would be, how much you wouldn’t trust your friend because you’re so afraid of losing him.

For a bit, I thought the reason Boris didn’t want to return the Goldfinch had to do with him viewing it as the thing that would fix Theo and mend their relationship. I thought maybe his connection to the thing was that he considered it a panacea like, if it were back in Theo’s hands, they could return to boyhood. I thought maybe he didn’t want to let go of the painting because it represented his own redemption and a happier side of Theo; he’s convinced that if it’s given to the authorities, he’s lost the fight and Theo won’t ever find happiness again. I think the in-book reason for Boris not wanting to return the painting was literally just fear of the cops. But it would have been interesting if he just didn’t have faith that Theo would be okay if it was released.

The end even covers the idea that our hearts are not always something to be trusted. Sometimes the things that you do out of love aren’t good. I do believe Boris got Theo on drugs partially because of love (but also wanting company in his own lifestyle). He didn’t want to see Theo suffering; he felt upset when Theo was sick or in pain. So his answer was to give him ecstasy or vodka or weed or coke so that his friend would relax and smile again. But obviously this isn’t right. It’s very wrong. And is it just me or did the book treat this as an oddly benevolent act? (In fact, it also just seems “generous” when Boris said he was just giving drugs away at school because he liked being liked— but that’s FURTHER basis for a sort of well-meaning antagonist. He’s generous but in awful ways at times. I wish this were commented on as such, as evil born from a good yet disordered heart, rather than just “Boris is generous.”)

I also thought for sure that Boris would have a come-to-Jesus moment where he’s like “maybe this is all wrong,” only for him to be advised against this feeling by Myriam who has a plan for how he can get what he wants for himself and Theo, quick and dirty. Was I the only one who felt Myriam seemed efficient in a Devil-like way? The text really puts demon/snake symbolism on her, and Boris trusts her so much and this isn’t expanded upon. It should have been used!

Bottom line is that some things done in this book are serious. Really serious, not character quirks and they felt a little too casually handled when it came to Boris. The book does seem to go “yes he’s a mess” here and there. But not in a way that rises to the proper level, in my opinion. I do get that he shows there’s good to be found in bad people, and that fate can use broken human beings! But I kind of wish I wasn’t left with a feeling of the book going, “lol Boris, that beautiful scoundrel” when the man in question was a woman-beating, cheating, drug lord.

Like I said, I’m mixed. But I think I’d have loved him if he was just, up front, the affectionate antagonist of the whole novel. I think he would have made a great overarchingly dark figure, whose motivations stem from how close he’s come to losing Theo. That would have better married his positive qualities with his negative ones. It would have combined what we know of him as a selfish, often violent figure with his good intentions. I just want him to be depicted for what he is and let his vices lead up to an actual boiling point— while letting him keep his kind aspects too.

#though I get Boris wasn’t responsible for EVERYTHING #also theo has his own responsibilities to take #still the story was too kind to Borya #I want to write a fanfic where he’s actually like this #donna tartt #boris pavlikovsky #the goldfinch

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dykevanny · 2 months

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hm . I guess this is just difficult to word but as much as I enjoy ggy he feels just. Tacked on. Is he interesting to think abt? Hell yeah. But it’s just … random? We didn’t need it for him to be tragic, an homeless kid just trying to survive is good!!! Plus it’s another blow to vanny. Like, first she got sidelined in her debut game, then they make the orphan kid protagonist (already pretty tragic!) and give him. Her backstory. Like okay… that kind of sucks. then people treat him like he’s sooo much more of a villain than her and he’s such a tragic character and like . Vannys only brought up with him as ‘hehe evil rabbit found family for ggy’ and it is. Tiresome. Sighs. Realistically you’d think from what proof we’ve gotten he’d be more hacking less murder?? Still important but not just… taking vanny’s role?? Like there’s ways to go about ggy that’s not just. Vanny but a boy. But I don’t see much of that. Idk it just makes me sad to see her sidelined even harder. Give my girl more than 5 minutes of screentime please god

#And like. I’m a ggy liker guys.#Just . Can we please pay attention to her too #Cmonnn

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aquaburst3 · 4 months

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I've seen TikToks where people dunk on Rollo and Honest Fellow, and others, mainly in the Spanish and JP fandoms, being confused about this reaction. To play devil's advocate, the main reason is how the game handled them and that they're poorly written characters. I can pinpoint a few reasons why that is...

Honest Fellow: His motivations to make him sympathetic and his actions are at odds with one another.

In that arc, Honest Fellow gleefully turns people into puppets to sell off to the highest bidder, even hinting at some people using them for sexual pleasure in the JP version. Why is he doing this? Because the school system is hard and he wants to get back at rich people. Yes, really. That's one of the dumbest villain motivations I ever heard! How does that justify what he did or put his actions into perspective? He's a human trafficker! By making the reason why he's doing this something so disconnected from the story makes him seem like a sociopathic monster on par with the Coachman. It's like if someone murdered your pet and said they did that because had a hard time in school. That's horrible, but that has nothing to do with that action nor does that make you like that more any more.

(Personally, if I was writing this arc, I would've made his boss the TWST Coachman, who is threatening to turn Giddel into a puppet if he doesn't do what he says. That makes far more sense, and makes his actions more understandable. I think a lot of us had shitty bosses that forced us to do things we disagreed with or would do a horrible act to protect a loved one. It makes him more like his movie counterpart due to Honest John and Gideon being threatened by the Coachman to convince Pinocchio to come to Pleasure Island, despite Honest John thinking it was fucked up. Idk, that's just me.)

Rollo: While he's better written than Honest Fellow due to his motivations at least making sense, he's still not the best written character either. Shitty and lazy character name aside, being a woobie and not adapting the character in a...questionable manner.

A woobie, for those of you who don't know, is an older fandom term used to describe bland pretty characters with a tragic backstory that the author expects you to feel sorry for them and get away with everything. Oh, boy. Does he fit that definition in spades. He's pretty bland. His only real standout personality traits are that he hates magic and the fae, prideful, traditional and possibly athletic. That's it. He has a sad backstory where his brother died in a fire after his magic got out of control. Fine, that's cliche, but it works. Hell, it's kinda clever in a sense where it's inspired by the Hunchback of Notre Dame off-broadway musical. Characters like Idia point out the hypocrisy in Rollo's ideology and that he is really doing this thanks to his own guilt for his brother's death, which is a good thing. The problem is, outside of him being boring as a character, that despite wanting to suck out all of the magic in the world, he got away with it scott free, and his only form of "punishment" was living with the guilt of knowing everyone thinking that he was some sort of hero…despite Malleus wanting revenge on him five minutes earlier. (I don't get it either.) I think a lot of this problem plays into a reoccurring one the game has a whole—the character stagnation and Yana's utter unwillingness to let them face any consequences for their actions. Rollo is also prejudice against the fae if him covering his nose whenever he's around one is to be concerned, which is also never addressed.

I think the way he was handled was in poor taste. Frollo is one of the most realistic villains in the Disney canon and is triggering to a lot of westerners due to his ties with the Catholic church. Unlike the other Great Seven, there's no way to possibly turn his story to make him seem like a hero nor are their any admirable traits. The fact of the matter is that by making Noble Bell honoured after Frollo, who is such a realistic character and is tied up in a lot of religious baggage for westerners, the game is glorifying his actions to an extent. While I know Christianity is a minor religion in Japan, so adding Christian elements to "spice things up" is common in anime, the developers know that the game is being distributed internationally and should've known better. The game should've made Rollo like the staff where he has no dorm or school honoured after his counterpart. That would've lessened the impact a lot.

Both of them: Like I said with Rollo, they completely get away with their crimes, despite everything they did. That is asinine. All actions have punishments, and that goes for them. Plus, the NRC boys are based on villains! Wouldn't they want to exact their revenge on them, especially in Honest Fellow's case who wanted to turn them into living household items and sex dolls! You are based on villains, act like it!

(This is also a huge problem with the game as a whole, but I wrote other posts about that before, so I don't wanna get into it here.)

So, yeah. There reasons why many English speaking fans dislike or despise these characters. Hell, if anything the reason why they are so beloved in JP and Spanish fandom circles is more bizarre to me. I get it. Honest Fellow is hot. But outside of that...Really? So I guess it goes both ways and we can be baffled at each other's choices. xD

#twst critical #twst negative #aqua rambles #twisted wonderland

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alexanderlightweight · 1 year

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@faejilly

thank you!!! i have been dying to flail about a fic! and fic and @saeths is asleep and needs rest cause they're sick.

okay so it's a bit funny but this fic is one of my longest wips and still doesn't have a name but basically magnus accidentally woos kelpie!alec (half seelie/half shadowhunter sad backstory blahblahblah) who is very just. he's very impressed by Magnus' everything okay.

also saeth finds it really funny that in some of my darkest fics i focus the most on how good of a friendship magnus and cat and ragnor have. and so i just... half of the fic is now ragnor and cat and magnus and then figuring out the addition of alec to their party because while magnus will hangout with them without alec, he wants alec to be apart of it since its so important to him.

uhm there is quite a bit of murder in this fic. like magnus goes and kills a bunch of people he's slept with to get them out of the way because of a misunderstanding and cat and ragnor have absolutely no fucks to give with it. cat is literally just like, 'i need at least eight hours of sleep and a massage after this' because she loves her boys to pieces. and alec eats people in a none hannibal way its much messier.

... maybe i should have thought about what fic i wanted to share before begging for interaction. you dont have to read further if its not your cuppa tea, i can totally rant about a less dark fic

and saeth is part of alxndrlghtwoods and writes amazing stuff like dominion magic and they have a fic called 'take me for a ride' and so that fic has pretty heavily influenced the vibe of this magnus. except we see a lot of behind the scenes where he's with his friends, not just alec.

and magnus is very much a terrifying traumatizing person, but he's still the same immensely powerful person that ragnor had to douse with tea when he was learning to be hungover. and who ragnor chased around for 'bringing that disgusting tar into my house' when he tried to get ragnor to try coffee.

and he's still the person that ragnor held as he and cat pieced together magnus' heart so that not another single soul could ever hurt him like camille tried to. magnus lost any softness he did after camille and there is a very specific reason he opens himself up to alec in this fic and it's quite literally because of an accident.

like magnus wasn't hurt by camille in the same way as canon. what hurt him the most was that 'to him at the time' he was weak enough to almost be hurt by her. and that was worse. magnus doesn't do friends outside of cat and ragnor. and he doesnt do relationships.

alec very much has his own goals for the entire fic, as does magnus and their goals reach the same endgame? so even they go about different ways of getting there, it's fine? and magnus puts a magical pond on the roof so alec can still enjoy water and the first time magnus dips his toes in, he almost loses a couple because alec has an automatic reaction.

magnus: ... you could have said if you were that hungry

alec: magnus. you put body parts in water. it's a conditioned reflex at this point. i didn't realize they were attached to you.

magnus: my toes alexander! i just painted them

its a very morally grey fic because you have two very-nonhuman sets of instincts and quiet misunderstandings (no angst in the misunderstandings though) and a lot of brunch with the trio.

brunch is any meal that is with the three of them. if someone else tries to argue about it, they either die, or magnus mockingly takes them to where it is still brunch. Magnus has lost several dates this way.

He lost them on purpose. they were never found.

brunch is a vibe, not a time. yes, they frequently plot out mass casualties and murder over scones and lemon curd and cat's favorite of strawberry crepes and papaya with lime juice. ragnor still prefers kippers and toast. even if he has finally upgraded to the 'fancy' version. and magnus cycles through favorites but always has a very specific tea that he imports from where he was born.

magnus and alec have a very intense predator/prey but also with greater predator/smaller predator in that Alec is very willingly submitting to magnus and they both know that. because he is also incredibly dangerous and powerful. magnus very much does not want to deal with an upset alexander, he's seen how powerful his teeth are okay.

oh something that i love in this fic is alec gets most of his power from the small lake pocket dimension that he lives in. because it's created a self-sustaining cycle that balanced on alec being a big enough predator to protect the lake until natural magical defenses could shore up. it's pretty much a magical leyline and alec got anchored to/by it in the way of natural dominion magic. so he's not a king like magnus, he doesn't have a magical sovereign, he's just the sole guardian and sentinel for a, think of it kind of like those self-sustaining eco-systems but magical.

because i love magical realism and i love exploring into all the nooks and crannies that the showrunners never bothered to explore. like there is an entire different world of bugs and insects and flora and fauna and reptiles and animals and even canon!alec is more likely to know about magical creatures than mundane.

and magnus is super thrilled when they finally go back to alec's lake because hidden under a very clever array, is the fact that the entire lake is brimming with magical plants and magnus can very carefully and protectively cultivate some without harming the ecosystem, damaging the plants, hurting the environment. like magnus is mostly going to take a few cuttings from where alec needs to weed anyway.

alec is like: these are all trash, you can have them

magnus: darling, these are the magical equivalent of saffron

alec: yeah i don't know what that is either, do you want them? or ill feed them to the lily pod fairies.

alec knows they're important to the lake but he also can tell when the plants are getting too greedy and so he kind of tends to the lake very carefully. sometimes he uses a plant or another for its use, but he's very happy to just take care of the plants and only take them when necessary for himself or the lake health.

saeth likes calling my fics 'cute' and 'soft' even when they have like, mass murder and cannibalism and it's kind of funny because i do get it. i really love writing darkly and horrifically soft malec. it's the jam and butter to my bread. its good with only one, but better with both.

uh and if you managed to make it through that long winded smash of keys, here is a snippet from one such murderous brunch

—

Cat accepts a cup of tea with a small smile as Magnus laughs and Ragnor’s scolding gets increasingly louder.

“They were a perfectly lovely invention!” Ragnor is saying. “They should never have gone out of fashion!”

He’s said the same thing three times. Increasingly louder, as if it will eventually shut Magnus up.

Cat sips her —perfect as always— tea and summons a box of biscuits.

Normally Ragnor offers them himself, but Cat will allow the discrepancy. They did find him quite indisposed.

Magnus is still laughing, holding his belly as though it might burst as he slumps into one of Ragnor’s large armchairs.

Ragnor seems to have given up and is grumpily sipping his own tea as he gives Magnus a snotty look.

When Magnus has finally, finally stopped laughing, Cat gives a silent sigh of relief.

And then Ragnor opens his mouth, dooming them all.

“If you must know.” He says with an aggrieved sniff, “it helps keep my horns from rubbing against the headboard. It’s quite annoying to have to polish them so often. Valois mentioned they were looking a little worn at the last gathering.”

And Magnus loses it again.

Ragnor had been napping on an armchair when they’d portaled in. Small round glasses perched on his snoring nose, a long flowing nightgown and a nightcap that hasn’t been used in several hundred years.

It was only several lifetimes spent practicing self control that ensured Cat didn’t burst into laughter herself.

She makes a note to order and send several bonnets to Ragnor, they’re much nicer than the undoubtedly musty nightcap Ragnor probably dug out of a moth-infested dresser in some half-abandoned cottage he forgot about.

Ragnor huffs and gulps half of his cup before Cat has pity and offers him a digestive.

“The cheek on this lad.” Ragnor grumbles, “and what kind of present is this! At least it was well taken care of in that witch Selene’s library. If not tragically undervalued, so why is there blood on my bloody book?”

Magnus is going to give himself a hernia at this rate and Cat is both off duty and not inclined to be nice so she sends him a little zap and gives Ragnor the most mischievous smile she can.

Ragnor immediately catches on and good humor replaces his glower.

“Oh? What’s this? Cat, love! Don’t hold out on me. What’s ducky done now?”

“Guess who has to do a little spring cleaning, because he accidentally courted an un-declared kelpie.” Cat says in a rush, fingers snapping her biscuit in her eagerness to share.

Magnus gives a mock groan, “yes yes, laugh at my hubris. But trust me, a little bit of cleanup is well worth my Alexander.”

Magnus has one of his arms flung over his eyes and doesn’t see the quick, tight look Ragnor shares with Cat. Nor the brief joy when Cat simply smiles and nods, giving her assurance that Ragnor won’t need to make too many contingencies.

“And what does this time of new life and purging entail?” Ragnor asks and this time it’s Cat who laughs as Magnus gives them both a sheepish smirk.

“Ah, Alexander may be under the impression that I have been courting him… exclusively.” Magnus winces, “For the last four decades.”

Ragnor fights desperately not to gawp, and to not ruin his tea with incredulous laughter.

And then he realizes the problem and his laughter fades.

“But you didn’t know.”

Magnus shakes his head, something bitter and angry in his eyes that Ragnor will worry over later.

With sherry and Cat as backup.

“That’s quite a bit of cleanup.” Ragnor murmurs quietly. Because Magnus takes fidelity seriously when it’s offered, “better take it to the last five decades, just to be safe. Don’t forget that orgy you told me about, the one in Dubai that you talked about for weeks in the 70’s. Don’t just do memory wipes, make it clean.”

Magnus nods and Cat sighs despairingly as he summons a notebook and jots it down.

“My, dear overachieving boys. Magnus should just use a ritual. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it properly. So we need to be thorough. We’ll have to add some element of a geas to the secret, Magnus can use one of his loose ends to power it. We can’t just murder all of them outright, it’s too conspicuous. Are there any spells that the Council needs done that require past lovers?” Cat looks at both of them sternly, “see how much we can brush under the Council’s cauldron and go from there.”

“There, there ducky.” Ragnor tuts and sends over a cup and saucer to a groaning Magnus. “There’s not as many as you think. It’s a much smaller mess than if this happened when you were younger and off sowing your oats.”

‘Sowing my oats?’ Magnus mouths incredulously across his cup at Cat and she bites her lip to hide a chuckle.

“Ah and Camille will need to finally be dealt with.” Ragnor says, so very obvious in how hard he’s trying to be nonchalant. Ragnor is always looking for a reason Magnus can accept and Cat is always hoping it works.

And for once, Magnus doesn’t even notice.

“You know what, you’re right.” And Ragnor’s gaze snaps to Magnus with a relieved but disbelieving look as Magnus continues.

“She would definitely use any opportunity to get between us.” Magnus looks angry now, instead of the bitter pain that Camille normally brings out. “Putting a geas on her and sealing her won’t be enough.” And then Magnus pauses and there’s a dangerous, confident gleam to his eyes that Cat has mourned the lack of.

“Alexander does look divine in jewelry, and after everything he’s made for me, I should return the gesture. So I’ll need to commission him some.” And Magnus gives a soft, pleased smile. Like some deep wound has finally been healed, “and I have always wondered what the color of Camille’s soul is.”

Ragnor gives a content, pleased smile and nods sharply. “If need be we’ll say you’re cleaning up your court. Camille is a perfect and public example of a traitor being dealt with. There’s always an enemy if you look hard enough.”

#shadowhunters au #fics rants #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #lumine rants about words

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toonqueen · 6 months

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Duckvember Day 11: Cowardly Duck

To get to Cowardly Duck I have to explain some backstory for a headcanon I had for Posiverse like 15+ years lulz. I had a story for different chars I was writing back then. Back then it was an OC that was Launchpad’s son Ornithopter and OC that was Splatter’s son Author. Author was technically a villain but ultimately became goodish to work with Orn to save the world and stuff. HERE IS ART OF THEM BY @fluxchix I always like to show off:

My idea for their Posi-verse version was set in a posi-verse that was TOO perfect. Everything is super clean, no crime, and everyone seems cheery and happy. But some people also seem a little on edge. Things aren’t quite right. The vague idea for that Posi-verse being that any crime would get you locked away for life. Be it vandalism or murder just life for it all. Even having a temper or being sad would be reason for suspicion. EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PERFECT. IN this universe, Author is locked up but in a sleep stasis because of his powers being a threat. (Anything he writes becomes true kind of thing.) However, over time he is able to affect peoples dreams and gets in contact with Orn.

Now, Posi-Author is much more evil than his prime counterpart. He deserves to be in jail even those this society is very unfair in other respects. Orn in this universe is a quiet nerdy librarian and not an adventurer/hero like his prime version. Posi-Orn is easily influenced by Author though to do some tiny tasks here and there that aren’t even bad or against the law. They are minor things that start a domino effect that would ultimately in the long run cause Author to be able to escape. (stuff like having Orn get his coffee at a different shop and it causes one of the prison guards that also gets coffee there to be 5 minutes late which causes a distraction so Author is mentally able to manipulate one of the jail cameras to be off by inches which sometime in the future will somehow help with his escape ect ect.) But what he needs Orn to do starts to get increasingly more dangerous until he is finally free.

So while in Prime verse Orn make Author on the good side, in Posi-verse Author is making Orn lean a bit to the bad side. DUN dun dun. But what is the ‘bad’ side when SOCIETY IS SO EXTREME WANTING PEOPLE TO BE PERFECT. Anyways back when I had this was my main song I had for Orn and Author in Posi-verse haaa.

SO BACK TO COWARDLY DUCK. With this idea of this posi-verse from 15+ years ago I’ve had this idea rolling around for awhile for what Darkwing and Gos would be like there. THEN WE FINALLY GET TO COWARDLY DUCK.

Drake Mallard wouldn’t have his superhero alter ego at all. He is a Care Officer. Pretty much a cop on this universe. I picture the uniform looking like a boy scout lol. He’s a very nervous guy, who has a hard time saying no to being given extra work and extra shifts. So he kinda gets walked all over by coworkers. MIND YOU YOU CANNOT BULLY IN THIS SOCIETY SO THEY DON’T PICK ON HIM. Just give him their work because they know he won’t say no???!? I guess that's how it works?!?!

This version of Drake is very much following the rules and crossing his t’s and dotting his i’s. He worried about breaking some rule and getting in trouble for it. Though he had been behaving perfect in work and public, he did have a secret. While at work if someone was caught doing something minor and it was their last offense before being locked away for LIFE he would let it slide. Like littering or looking sad at the park he’d just let that person slide. In some instances of other officers there he had to even take more a risk. He would then have to alter records in the database to show the suspect had maybe one less minor offense then they did so they wouldn’t be locked up forever right at that moment.

Of course one day Officer Mallard gets a call to the Waddlemeyer residence. In this universe Gosalyn’s parents and grandpa are very much alive. My idea for this Posi-Gos I would say starting out wasn’t really any more wild than prime Gos, but in a world with everything having to be perfect, being spirited stuck out a lot more. Her parents know she’s on her last strike but are the ones that actually called an officer on her. This puts Drake in a position that he can’t fake that she had one more pass.

Drake does not report in the system. He pretends he’s arresting her since that is what her family was expecting. As they’re driving away he starts to tell Gos something like, “Hey kiddo I’m not really turning you in. We have to figure something out though-” but Gos has already somehow broken out of the back seat of the car and running, making Drake have to go after her. He explains he is not turning her in. He’ll hide her until he like finds some resistance contact and then they can take care of her or something.

Anyways, long story short Drake really can’t find any resistance to talk to him because he’s a cop and it seems suspicious. So she ends up staying with Drake for the time being. Gosalyn ends up going by Lynn. Drake kinda home schools her because, well, don’t want her to get in trouble again any time soon. Lynn then starts to do some vigilante stuff under the name Pretty Poison. She ends up swooping in and stopping arrests for minor stuff to allow the suspects to run off before the officers can catch them and arrest them and stuff.

Drake finds out about this but doesn’t stop it. Eventually he even lets Lynn know when one of his coworkers has a call the can’t get to, and to have Lynn break it up since he can’t get there do help in any way.

Lynn thinks Drake is a coward because he’s super smart and has access to do more but doesn’t. While Drake is not being outwardly confrontational by being a vigilante, he is using his position to help as much as he can, and a risk to himself. She does get to see him as her dad over time, and gets he has a good heart and is trying his best. Drake would gradually help fight against the whole perfect society situation more and more. Maybe don a costume at some point himself when he’s off duty. I would think at some point Lynn would get contacted by some sort of resistance. She would be willing to help them with whatever missions they need her help on. However, she wouldn’t take the opportunity to leave Drake though.

SEMI RELATED DETAIL, Drake would fight Darkwarrior Duck. He would be pissed about there being a version of him that seems to be a whole embodiment of the society he came from. He would take out all his frustration about that on one guy that looks like him EASILY. Darkwarrior won’t know what HIT HIM. This Posi-Drake has some bottled up rage he was needing to release on someone. And it will be twice as bad if Darkwarrior had kidnapped Lynn or something. For some reason when I picture it I see Drake being in that fork lift mech suit Ripley used to fight the Alien in Aliens. Lolol.

#duckvember 2023 #duckvember #darkwing duck #posiverse #drake mallard #gosalyn mallard #gosalyn waddlemeyer

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calliethetrekkie · 7 months

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Star Trek TOS S01E12: The Conscience of the King

Original Thoughts

"It was fine. Not too much to keep me invested compared to others, but still worth a watch. Learning some more Kirk backstory was nice and performed well by William Shatner. The climax and ending are very much tragic. A tyrant caused genocide, then tried to hide and keep that legacy out of his daughter’s touch. But it failed, and that daughter killed the survivors to keep her father from facing retribution. It’s just… sad. They’re both murderers, but clearly loved each other, and the ending where the girl accidentally kills her father is just heartbreaking (even if her reaction dragged a bit too long). Finding out that Kirk survived a freakin’ genocide was also a pretty big reveal. Not the most interesting watch, but still a good one."

(Original Post)

Rewatch Thoughts

I sometimes wonder what was going on in my head back when I did the first watchthrough. I had originally started watching TOS out of pure boredom, so maybe I wasn't giving it as much attention as I should have. I had a feeling that I would enjoy this one far more than the first time... and ho boy was I right~!

This one is... a lot. Like... a looooot. We're dealing with a Shakespearean company, murder, and past genocide. And in the middle of it is Captain James T. Kirk. We find out that he was one of the people who survived said genocide and one of the few witnesses to have seen the man who ordered it. It certainly wasn't a detail about Kirk that I was expecting when I started this show, haha...

This is such an excellent Kirk episode. This is him dealing with a situation that is incredibly personal. One that he thought that he had moved on from until one of the other witnesses involves him and ends up dead. We see Kirk investigating, changing plans and reassigning one of the other witnesses without giving any explanation to Spock or anyone else, and trying to get close to the suspect's daughter Lenore (who is 19... ugh, at least she's of legal age this time...) to find out more. This is Kirk at some of his most methodical. He is a man on a mission, and the looming question throughout is if Kirk is doing this for justice? Or is it out of vengeance? A question that even he doesn't know the answer to.

This won't be the last time we see this kind of personal conflict pop up with Kirk. Obsession next season will do something similar. But this one is much more... real, for lack of a better word. He's composed for the most part, but you can tell that what happened on Tarsus still haunts Kirk. How when presented with the fact that this dictator may be alive, he doesn't want to believe it at first, but the more he looks into it the more he has to do something. He even snaps at Spock, who has realized what's going on and points out his irrational behavior, for getting involved in his personal business despite how it's affecting the ship, and it's thus Spock's job to pry. Even at the end when he stops Riley from killing Kodos, he also makes no move to save him when Lenore accidentally kills her own father. Say what you want about William Shatner as a person and as an actor, but he did a phenomenal job as Kirk here. It's one of his best performances.

Kodos himself is complicated. I don't think anyone will argue that he's a horrible person. He didn't get the name 'Kodos the Executioner' for nothing. You can argue that he was put in a difficult situation with deciding who on Tarsus got food and who didn't... but the fact that he did it based off eugenics theories causes it to not hold water. And regardless, he killed thousands, caused immense trauma for countless others, and was so much of a coward that he faked his death and started over. A chance that none of his victims had. Twenty years later he's a shell of a man, forever haunted by what he did and the constant threat of being discovered. You know what? Good. He brought all of this onto himself, and him evading justice for so long in and of itself is terrible. And the one person he tried to shield from his horrible legacy? Went insane, murdered, and caused his own death. It's sad in a away, even pitiful. But more because of those that Kodos affected, not for Kodos himself.

And Lenore... oh God Lenore. The girl was born after the Tarsus massacre, but still ended up in her father's bloody legacy. A legacy that even he wanted to keep her out of, probably the only decency he's ever shown. But not only did he fail, but she chose to murder the people her father ruined the lives of to save him. Kirk and Riley are the only ones who survived, and that was just barely. It's clear when she confesses that she's not quite mentally stable, and she loses it completely, living in her own world where her father is able to continue with his performances. There's no justifying what she did, but it's just unfortunate to see this girl ruin her own life as she did. An utter tragedy.

Then we have Spock and McCoy. Ah, we're in that part of S1 where we start getting far more with them, and their scenes are a delight. When alarmed about Kirk's bizarre choices, who does Spock go to? McCoy. Mind you, McCoy doesn't take it seriously at first, but it's still nice to see the two talk about Kirk matters. Then as Spock uncovers more and shares it with McCoy, the latter tries to deny it... but it's clear that he realizes exactly what Spock is. And even despite that, when Kirk snaps at Spock, McCoy outright tells him that it's Spock's job. We're gonna be seeing some more tension rise between the two, especially since Galileo Seven is the next episode, but it's still nice to see McCoy defend Spock.

They're both concerned about what Kirk is doing, though ultimately McCoy has to deal with Riley while he's recovering and Spock actually helps Kirk with identifying Kodos. McCoy's also worried about Kirk's mental state and what his actual motive is. Justice or vengeance? Kirk himself has no answer... and he never does reach an answer, I don't think. He didn't get to. I don't know what's worse, finding out that the tyrant who caused you and others so much torment was alive, or watching them die and not being able to see them get either justice or get your own vengeance. He can't even feel glad that Lenore is stopped, since she both lost her mind, and he grew to at least like her despite using her. You get nothing. All that Kirk can do is have Lenore placed in proper care and go on with the knowledge that he's seen Kodos die before his eyes, but never truly have closure. Even as McCoy tries to talk to him at the end, he just stays in Captain Mode and gives orders to continue on. It says all that you need to know.

Like I said, there's a lot here. This episode is a tragedy, full stop. I don't know enough about Shakespeare to read into any of that, but it certainly feels like a Shakespearean tragedy. It's an excellent episode, and I can't believe that I thought it wasn't much of a watch the first time. There is SO MUCH to read into with Kirk, this tidbit of his history, about Kodos and Lenore, and just how horrible and senseless it all feels. So many lives ruined by one man, including his own flesh and blood, despite trying to prevent it. At least he's dead now, for all that's worth.

Original Rating: 3/5 Rewatch Rating: 8/10

[My TOS Reviews]

[TOS S1 Reviews]

[Previous Review] / [Next Review]

#star trek #star trek tos #tos s1 #st reviews #tos s1 reviews #conscience of the king #tos reviews

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koifly · 17 days

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About James' backstory

So as you can tell, I haven't posted the backstory my OC James yet.

But that will change in a few weeks. I'm currently working on it but school and private problems often gets in the way of it. I'm not quite sure when it will be finished but I wanted to say that the story will have illustrated parts. I mean I gotta use my 'skills' in a way, right?

General information about the story:

The story on its own will not have any type of direct connection to the Slenderman. So no Slenderman showing up outside a window or something like that. Although, it will partly play in my AU of the forest in which the Slenderman resides in. The proxies do exist in that universe, as well as some of the other creeps. While working on James' story I'm also working on my own AU of creepypasta so there will definitely be connections.

This may be a surprise but James does NOT have a canon romantic interest, a bit different than the art I post of him with my version of Toby. I personally think that the romance is a bit unnecessary for his story and non of the proxies will be directly involved in his story for now. Maybe a small, subtle appearance or traces of one of them being near James, but no actual conversation.

I will mention this again when I actually post the story but here is the trigger warning list (for now):

-SA, abusive behaviour of authority

-Mention of SH

-Mention of delusions and hallucinations (I'm not sure if this TW is necessary but just in case)

What even is/does do James post-incident?

James is a sort of vengeful spirit. He is going to murder the man that has assaulted him, but not actively. Using psychological torture is his thing, so he will inflict no direct physical harm to the man. James is NOT a serial killer. He does not lure in people, he does not kill innocent people, he does not hurt wandering humans. His first and last murder will be the one that assaulted him. After that he will wander around the forest, like some sort of ghost. People are able to see him, but only how he WANTS to be perceived. I mentioned this in a post earlier, James has two official appearances.

1. Realistic post death corpse. I think the name sums it up pretty well, he just looks pretty disfigured, rotten and torn in that form.

2. Post death spirit. In this second form, he really just looks like how he did when he was alive. He still has blood running down his body, he still has bruises and wounds but in a way, he still looks alive. He doesn't look disfigured nor rotten. The closest non creepypasta character I can compare him too in that form is the final form of Chandramukhi in the first movie 'Chandramukhi' from the year 2005. (Great, nostalgic horror/comedy Tamil movie btw)

Just to make things clear, in no way whatsoever is James mentally well. He has schizophrenia, social anxiety and body dysmorphia. He is extremely sensitive to his surroundings and empathetic towards others. And no, I don't mean empathic in a healthy way but in a way that other's moods and problems directly affect him. He is a soul that will feel the same amount of fear, stress, anger, sadness, whatever feeling you want as the person he is currently spending time with. This causes him to be stressed and/or overwhelmed most of the time. So yes, he is a really nervous person, yet I don't want him to be perceived as some sort of 'soft boy'. James is a 21 years old male who was in university for a psychology major before he was murdered. I'm currently giving him a slight redesign so that his body and physique actually look appropriate to his lifestyle. He is a bharatanatyam dancer, he helps out in his sister's garage and regularly hits the gym. That guy is athletic af and not some damsel in distress just because his bharatanatyam clothes are pretty.

If you have any questions about James and/or my creepypasta AU, my ask box is open:)

(pls excuse any grammar mistakes, English isn't my first language)

So uhhh, yeah. I hope I'll finish the story and the illustrations soon. I still have some other art WiP's that I need to finish too but it'll come together.

Have a wonderful day/night:D

#artists on tumblr #creepypasta #creepypasta fandom #creepypasta oc #creepypasta au #creeepypasta #creepypasta ocs #creepypasta headcanon #creepypasta blog #james jayachandran #joy talking more than he should #oc backstory #oc #my oc

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flashbic · 1 month

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@fritz-valentine i did it i answered the ask game for the other two!!

2. Favorite canon thing about this character

Cartouche: One bit the show doesn’t lean into enough imo but it's there is that he’s overconfident! Dude is self-assured to a fault! He can make an effort to plan things sometimes, but usually he doesn’t like to bother unless he made a first attempt beforehand and fucked up. He runs into fights unarmed all the damn time! also the bit from the first ep where he’s being smug at Galichon like “of COURSE this is the door to the exit, I trust my instinct on this one, I just KNOW” and they open the door and it’s like. the guards break room asdfgk it’s funny ok

also his whole deal with Isabelle!! His dumb crush is showing at all times, he’s not as smooth as he thinks he is, i just think he’s cute heehee

Falconi: MY BOY HAS ANGER ISSUES. It's so funny how he's presented as the cold, quiet, calculating bad guy… but actually he's fucking seething all the time. He's got that anger always bubbling up right under the surface, and not only is he massively pissed off, it makes him so fucking stupid too, it's great.

I love his sad backstory, but also love that the whole thing happened over 10 years ago and it doesn't excuse any of the shitty things he does through the show, like, at all, except for the multiple murder attempts on le Lorrain.

(also the fact that they had to nerf him for the hero-villain team-up episode is never not funny)

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Cartouche : He argues with Isabelle when she calls him a bandit, but look, the guy didn't learn to commit crimes by being nice and never breaking the law, right?? My headcanon is he used to be a whole lot less nice, but ended up being swayed into helping people as the situation in Paris kept getting worse. He’s a good dude in the end, but he did grow up on the streets with no one to rely on! You can’t blame a guy for enjoying a bit of crime, i think…

He is very good at card games, and actually taught himself how to count cards! He used to gamble a lot but has generally put that all behind him these days and only plays for fun with his friends. Without cheating, for the most part. Honestly he's infuriating at most luck-based games.

Absolutely thinks of his friends as his family. He'd do anything for them <3 But out of all of them, le Lorrain is the one he most consistently on the same wavelength with. Le Lorrain is the one who joined the gang most recently, but as far as Cartouche is concerned that doesn't matter at all: they just get each other!

Falconi: When he first arrived at the academy, for a brief moment he really thought he’d be able to fit in with the other students and kinda hoped to make friends! When the whole friends thing didn’t pan out (the most popular guy around and his friends deciding they don’t like you will kinda do that, but he struggled to connect with people who weren’t hostile too), he kinda gave up on that to focus on training, which had always been the most important thing to him anyways.

My other headcanon here that kinda ties with the previous one is that there was never any real possibility of him ever marrying Anne de Montsirac, but he genuinely let himself believe it might happen. He was lonely and didn’t know how to fit in with all these rich people, and she was gentle and kind and pretty, and he fell so hard for her… She did like him back, but her feelings didn’t run as deep as his, and in the end her family never would’ve let any kind of proposal happen anyways. It was never going to happen, but everything went so badly that Falconi never quite stopped convincing himself that everything could've been different if he'd been able to propose first.

The bonus Falconi headcanon is he absolutely has a hands kink. He just does.

#cartouche prince des faubourgs #my other Very Important headcanon is that Falconi absolutely is a romantic. not that you'd know considering his current situation #but he is!#bonus le Lorrain headcanon: pre-flashback he would occasionally visit the Palais-Royal!#it was a good place to hear music and it was right next to the Opéra so it makes sense ok #he never really met Philippe d'Orléans though

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misrepresentedmorallygrey · 7 months

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PROPAGANDA

Rose Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Feferi Propaganda

"While Feferi isn't completely innocent, a lot of people in the fandom only use acknowledge her existence to make her ex look like a pitiful sad boi. He's literally a racist facist that made plans for genocide. She is not a selfish beach who only wanted him to do stuff for her; she dated to save lives and keep him from murdering innocents."

#round 2 #round 2A #females fucked over tournament #steven universe #homestuck #rose quartz #feferi peixes #yes feferi got a new image #it felt off how I used the pesterquest sprites for the humans but the actual webcomic sprites for the trolls #so feferi got upgraded

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