You know it’s a bit ironic how canonically, Dark Choco is supposed to be very powerful, but in both Ovenbreak and Kingdom he’s pretty useless

Now granted, this is because of the constantly changing meta and power creep, and because he’s an old character who’s been around since launch for Kingdom and not long after the launch of Ovenbreak, he’s been rendered obsolete for quite a while. It’s not really his fault, and I’m given to understand at Kingdom’s launch, he was a very useful Cookie to have, it’s just how the game goes. It’s still a little funny though

[HAZBIN HOTEL SPOILERS!]

Yay my baby boy pentious got redeemed!! With this art I made I will also state a theory:

Is sir pentious a seraphim? Maybe. As you see in his design his back? Hair? Thing? Has six points similar to a seraphims six wings, theres also eyes on the ends, just like the seraphims six wings. „Oh but smooshee! Thats on his head not his back like wings are supposed to be!!“ who else has wing things on their head? Emily in her angel form, look it up. Also the eye on his chest Is similar to emilys and seras at the end of episode 6. also he spawned in with the other two seraphims, realistically you would think, „oh but thats where all angels come in“ but realisticallyer that would be too many people to hassle in such a weird place, souls could and would come in several at a time so why would the spawn point be such a small room? Plus emily when sir pentious spawned got out of her chair instantly as if she wasn’t expecting someone to spawn there, because shes the youngest, she hasn’t seen a seraphim spawn there before. You could also say „oh but smooshy! He had the eye imagery on his design before entering heaven so it‘s probably just his design“ probably, but think of it this way, what of he was always meant to be a seraphim? What if thats what he was meant for in the first place? What if being sent to hell was a mistake? We need to focus on these „what if“-s. It could also explain why he was the first to be redeemed due to the angelicness already being in his soul.

But hey thats just a theory, a game theory!!

Yeah I‘m probably wrong but oh well, it‘s a fun idea.

operation true love: nine- i just fell to my knees

author's note: so there is a longgg written part underneath this . and ik what u may be thinking!! "im reading this smau because i dont want to read" . why tf is the written part so long?? but just read it because a major part of the plot happens in this chapter!! and there are more social media slides under the written part 🤍

Jake is passive in every aspect of life except soccer.

Truly a golden boy, Jake has always been naturally good at everything: good at school, good at being handsome, and good at socializing.

Jake does have natural talent when it comes to athleticism, but everybody knows that no athlete has been successful by just natural talent- you need hard work, grit, and drive.

Since everything else comes with ease, he channels all that energy into soccer- which is why he has met so much success within his athletic career.

Jake was a member of *country name*'s U-19 soccer team, until he turned 20 and decided to join his university's soccer team before joining a soccer club. It was an odd career path- going back to school after playing for the U-19 team, but Jake didn't want to miss out on university life before he went pro.

Right now, the team is warming up before dribbling drills. He's practicing one touch passes with Huening Kai, launching the ball at Huening Kaiwith strength and precision before Huening Kai kicks it back. And usually, Jake is usually super attentive- even during warms ups when there's really nothing going on until..

"Hey Y/N!" Sunghoon's voice echoing across the field pulls Jake from his trance, and he whips his head to your direction. The soccer ball that Huening Kai kicked his way rolls meters behind Jake.

He sees you roll your eyes when Sunghoon and Jungwon run up to you to start making face, and he stifles his laughter at the way Sunghoon gasps dramatically and puts his palm on his chest.

What is it about you that distracts him so much?

Empathy, probably. And not in the pity kinda way- Jake isn't like that. He doesn't pity anyone. If anything, he dislikes pitiful people, and as harsh as it sounds, it’s true.

He remembers when you used to show up to soccer practice with food and water, waiting patiently on the sidelines for Minwoo. You would feed him, wipe his face, buy him food, and drive him home all while Minwoo treated you like utter shit.

"Is she dumb? Following after him like a puppy while he doesn't even look at her?" were the types of thoughts that would cross Jake's mind.

He thought that you were an idiot and strongly disliked that part of you until what you said to Minwoo during the soccer game. "Go fuck yourself." It was satisfying, hearing you tell Minwoo off because the guy is such a pretentious asshole.

But when he saw you run off, tears falling from your eyes, Jake wanted to run after you (because your stupid ex-boyfriend couldn't) to make sure you were okay.

He didn't even know why he wanted to run after you. His legs were just screaming at him to sprint after you. It was instinct.

But nonetheless he couldn't because he was in the middle of the game. They blew that games thanks to Minwoo. Minwoo played like ass for the rest of the game, practically passing the ball to the other team. Jake was so frustrated, screaming at Minwoo from across the field to pass the ball to him. But like stated before, Minwoo is a pretentious asshole who doesn't like passing the ball.

After the game, Jake stayed longer like he usually does, taking his after game shower in the men's locker room. After he was done, he walked by a few classrooms in the athletic building, his steps faltering when he saw Ra-Im and Minwoo making out in one of the classrooms.

A grimace was etched on Jake's face when he saw that. Minwoo literally has zero redeemable qualities. And he's completely done with Ra- Im too, who he considered a friend at one point.

The thing is, Jake can tolerate questionable behavior. Everybody is young, still in college, and navigating their way through life.

But he finds cheating reprehensible. He remembers the way his father punched him in the face after Jake caught him having an affair with his old soccer mentor. He remembers the way he stood in front of his mother to shield her from his father, and the way that woman was sobbing as if she had been slighted. He hates cheaters.

So maybe that's why he weirdly pushed you against the wall and held onto your hand. Maybe that's why he let you cry into his $500 Saint Laurent hoodie. And maybe that's why he's literally staring at you from across the field while Huening Kai is waving his arms in front of Jake to catch his attention.

-

"Jungwon, I already read the tweet. I know you forgot the cones," Sunghoon says matter a factly, rolling his eyes while you tried to "discreetly" leave the cones on the ground.

"Just don't tell coach," Jungwon grumbles in response before grabbing the bag of cones from the ground.

Jungwon leans down, giving you a friendly hug. "Thank you so much Y/N. I'll make it up to you,” he grins at you before you roll your eyes, swatting his upper arm.

"I've heard that one before," you mumble, referring to all the times Jungwon has said I owe you and then giving you nothing.

"That's slander," Jungwon retorts, "I always buy you food!" "Okay, and I always buy you food too so what's your point?" you reciprocate with equal sass.

"Y/N if you stay and watch practice-“

Oh hell no. "I am not staying here," you enunciate firmly.

"-I'll treat you to Korean barbeque afterwards,” he says in a sing song tone, and you immediately shut up. Korean barbeque was literally your weakness and Jungwon knows that.

Sunghoon owlishly blinks at your interaction, then stifling a laughter at your and Jungwon's bickering. "What? No invite?” he jokes.

Jungwon smiles at the upperclassmen. "You just have to pay for yourself since I'm currently broke-“

"If you're broke why are you offering to treat people to expensive meals?" you add, unimpressed before you turn the heel and begin to walk away. "I'm turning off my phone so don't text me!" you call out, leaving Jungwon dumbfounded.

"Well that's a shame," Sunghoon adds, "My parents actually run a barbeque place and we could get in there for free," he fakes a pout, "only if Y/N stayed,” he yells out- a little too loud. And like lighting speed you run back. "Wait!" you sit down on the sidelines, looking up at them.

“I'm sat.”

-

So that's how you ended up staying during practice. Honestly, you just sat on the cold grass watching Blue Lock on your phone. Jungwon and Sunghoon never said you had to watch them play, and you aren't interested anyways.

Maybe your lack of enthusiasm is why you completely miss the way a soccer ball comes flying towards your head at like 40 miles per hour.

"Y/N! Move!" Jungwon's voice pulls you from your trance and you look up and see a ball coming your way and you freeze, squeezing your eyes shut and preparing for impact.

When it doesn't come, you open your eyes and see Jake standing in front of you with the ball at his feet. A big sigh of relief leaves your lips. "

Th-thank you Jake," you express quietly. Jake swivels around and smiles at you. "No problem. But you probably shouldn't be sitting here, it's too dangerous." He picks up your purse and offers a hand, helping you stand up.

"Oh yea, it probably is," you reply, still a little out of breath and scared.

"You should sit here instead," he suggests, pointing to a cozy sitting area under a tree- plenty far away from the field

"Oh thanks," you respond, following him and settling under the tree. Jake squats to meet your height. "Are you okay though? Man I'm gonna kill Riki for that," he grumbles.

You tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. "Yea, I'm all good, don't worry. Just a little startled?" you express.

Jake laughs at that. "Well I have to get back now. I'll see you around?" he asks before standing up. "

Yea, you will," are the words that suddenly leave your lips, and you're surprised that you even said that.

Jake smiles at that, and for some reason your hand reaches for his wrist before he can leave. "Um, Sunghoon, Jungwon, and I are going out for barbeque after this. Did you maybe want to join?" you ask shyly.

"Oh yea, sure. I'd love to," he responds without even a brief moment of hesitation. And just like that he's running back to the field to get back to the scrimmage game.

And for some reason, you find yourself paying more attention to the game. With your eyes focused on Jake, you can't help but admire how good he is at soccer. He's amazing.

He's fast good at stealing the ball, and when he kicks the ball right into the goal, your heart flutters slightly.

But for some reason? You can't help but think that Jake is being really aggressive with Minwoo. But eh, you don't know anything about soccer when it's not in anime so who are you to make that call?

operation true love!

nine: i just fell to my knees

prev/next

taglist: @curly-fr13s , @viagumi , @gyurtl  , @haechansbbg  , @vexstrils , @flamiricky , @lomzy5 , @loves0ft , 

Cain a Daddy's boy!

Also, did Lucifer knows that Cain's his son or is he just realized it with the rest of Hell?

Another thing, I get the feeling that if Charlie reveal the fact Sir Pentious is redeemed and is now an angel, Cain would fire back the to be redeem, he got obliterated by holy light so if a sinner want to prove themself 'redeem', they would have to willingly subject themself to potential permanent death

Lucifer didn’t know he had another child but he did know Cain existed through word of mouth. So he finds out Cain is his son with the rest of hell on live TV. He’s in denial for a while before confirming that Cain isn’t some sort of shapeshifter. Also, he may or may not have sent out spies to see where Cain has been hiding.

Cain is stunned that Sir Pentious is in Heaven. The announcement makes him look like a fool after confronting his half sister, dirtied and with his Imp friends. The public's opinion turns in Charlie's favor and she tries to capitalize on this. That's when Cain points out that ‘redemption’ is just another game played by the Morningstars. Probably likens it to Russian Roulette or the Knife Game. 'Was it actually redemption or a consequence unrelated to removing sin?' Unfortunately this mystery drives people towards the Hazbin Hotel instead of away from it. Everyone wants to know the truth and Charlie is easier to get ahold of than Cain.

So Cain takes a risk. He gives a press statement stating there's proof his father is the reason why Sir Pentious got into Heaven and that The Lead Exterminator is alive. News stations devolve into Redeemed Sinner vs Living Adam content. However, Cain has to be careful because Adam is in a really weak state so too much attention could backfire. But he can't let Charlie gain public sympathy considering what he plans to do.

While Dr. Merlot isn't really on your radar, I think it's still interesting just how much you can see the twisted gears of Ozpin's ideology just blending together with his perverse fascination with the Grimm.

Like, you can see his belief that the Grimm can be changed to benefit humanity, that the Grimm are certainly monstrous in appearance, but also clearly have some kind of beauty in their savagery that he whole-heartedly believes that he can harness to make them "worthwhile" to humanity. Kinda akin to how Ozpin thought at one point that Salem could be "saved" from her current state.

And just the raw arrogance and just the extent of the mis/disinformation about how "Grimm are mindless savage beasts" is there too, despite him frankly being one of the few people who would have had consistent interaction with them, and thus probably more opportunity than most raised in a God of Light-influenced society to actually recognize their capacity intelligence and sentience.

And much like many of Ozpin's other disciples, he became disillusioned with Ozpin after a time (granted, experimenting on Grimm is very different from "Ozpin lied and failed us repeatedly").

anon there is absolutely no way you could’ve known this but it is hysterical that you say merlot is not really on my radar bc he is. um. in all the ash burnt roses leave. HRGHKS

but yeah yeah exactly. he’s fucking fascinating in the way he talks about grimm—“perfect vessels” and in lusus naturae in particular, “grimm i will redeem,” “what nature warped/i will restore”—he really seems to harken back to older beliefs that grimm are “animals possessed by evil spirits, or perhaps the spirits of tortured animals themselves” and that colors how he sees them in relation to his work in such a fundamental way. they’re just ore to him. and as you point out he and ozpin are in this way much more similar than oz would care to admit, it’s just the subject of focus and the extremity of action that differs.

i didn’t much like the particulars of how grimm eclipse did merlot’s mad science if i’m honest—the ‘mutant serum super-grimm’ thing is frankly boring—but the way he talks about grimm, the general thrust of his song, the very fucking overt allusion to doctor moreau, and the thread of transhumanist ideology woven into the foundations of his research (his interest in AI and genetic research, the grimm being ‘vessels,’ his god complex, “building a better tomorrow” linking all this together) is sooo.

(he and salem are at diametrically opposed extreme ends of a spectrum and i think they would hate each other <3)

like video game bullshit (<- affectionate) mutant serum nonsense aside, the guy is looking at the grimm and seeing flawless savagery which he can ‘elevate’ and mold as he pleases, and he also calls them ‘perfect vessels’ so how close is he to “i’m going to upload my consciousness into a computer a grimm to live forever!” levels of deranged transhumanism. probably pretty close lmfao.

Kinda weird question- do you have any links to people talking about Mira from ZTD and ableist stereotypes? I mentioned that I was uncomfortable with her portrayal but kinda fumbled it and made some other ND people in chat uncomfortable. I searched for various keyword combinations but most of what I'm finding is like "and not to mention the ableism with Mira" and doesn't elaborate lol.

Not weird at all! And uh, you see, there's a recent post I made where what I complain about is the very fact I've never seen anyone post too in-depth about her at all, I'd love to see posts that do elaborate on that but I do not have any that I know of right now, sorry :/ hopefully someone else who sees this can point to one? Okay!! After some tag searches I have found exactly one post who kind of gets into it I like this take still would love to see. more than just one but hooray

And like though I complain I couldn't elaborate much on it myself I don't think, I believe most of the posts people make about Saito from aitsf would apply since it's a different uchikoshi take on the very same trope of "emotionless characters who cannot function without killing others" I guess he's a worse portrayal though since she's at least not stated to get reward brain chemicals when killing people and I guess her case also has the added layer of "femme fatale" to it? Which either makes it less bad or worse depending on where you approach it from As I said I am not doing a good job of being coherent on this oh and also there's her being "redeemed" and "cured" in the epilogue which in on itself is kinda not great to imply it just goes away like that and honestly I personally don't even buy it I think she'd just be like oh okay Akane over here has like a thousand reasons to hate me after all that oh and what's that she's the leader of a super wealthy underground organization who's organized one of these death traps before yeah no I'm better off going to prison I'll be fine there lmao bye

But I'll say as an autistic person with relatively low empathy I usually see a character who just doesn't understand other people's feelings and wants to feel them too and is just trying to survive despite getting no help and I just kinda go hm. yeah. shout-out to roxas kingdom hearts shout out to mary from ib shout out that's why I started hyperfixating on media art helps me with understanding others a great lot and Mira is just in a story too badly executed for me to care or even begin to wrap my head around tbh like god she's so fucking terribly used as a plot device in every conceivable way that it makes it difficult to see past it and into what she could possibly be if it weren't for the stereotype of equalling low empathy with no compassion what's with her killing off screen in ways that wildly deviate from her stated m.o? why or how was she even in cahoots with Zero why was that a thing? Honestly her dynamic with Sean could have been better fleshed out could have done something interesting about robot child and his aspd big sis but we just kind of don't get any attention brought to the subject of emotions and the authenticity there of except for the "reveal"...

YOU KNOW WHAT that's probably one huge reason it feels so fucked up actually! Like the whole fucking game is written so you could experience it in whatever order you want and therefore Mira being a serial killer at all is something that though not very well hidden it also cannot be a topic of discussion or explored Ever ever because the player may not have seen the fragment where that is revealed yet- problem being the menu design of that game sucks so bad and practically everyone gravitates towards the same few more interesting looking thumbnails first and then the rest is kinda just there, I mean that is part of the reason A Lot of characters feel half-baked I think but also I think it definitely does impact perception of her character specifically probably The Most and then there's just the general not being given nuance not being able to see the minutiae of how that disorder manifests in her character aside from the killings about how she acts aside from being overly flirty trying to lure in Eric but that affects pretty much all of the new cast we don't have last names and in her case we barely have any backstory at all like Saito is a harmful stereotype sure but we get So Much Context for him that people still love talking about him and delving into different aspects of his life since we have that very well telegraphed in the narrative meanwhile for Mira all we can do is fill in the blanks guesswork that only highlights the worst aspects of the surface level portrayal we got and ultimately that people just don't care enough to dissect because there isn't much there character wise once you remove it

I have no liveblog to offer this weekend, so instead please take 2000 words of Meyneth analysis because I have opinions and I'm no longer afraid to share them. Summary: According to the canon of xenoblade 1, Meyneth is either an existentially less powerful god than Zanza, or her stated morals are in direct conflict with the actions she takes within the plot of the game. I walk through the reasons the former is at most implied by the game while being contradicted by the game's events and lore and what about Meyneth's characterization points towards the latter explanation. Huge thanks to @likestoimagine16 for chatting with me about this and looking this over before I posted it, it was super fun!

(Before we begin, a note: all of the following analysis is based solely on the canon of Xenoblade 1.  I will not be incorporating any potentially relevant information from 2, Future Connected, or Future Redeemed.  Anything from after the first game is just not true to who Meyneth is or to the characterizations of the people surrounding her in 1.)

Introduction For all of her stated importance in-game as the Mechonis's soul, Meyneth really does not do a lot during the game. The sum total of her actions are as follows:

Speaks to Zanza at Prison Island, begging him to cease their war and let the living be at peace

Saves the party from Egil at Galahad Fortress

Briefly acts from within Fiora to guard the party from Gadolt after his boss fight, but does not speak

Reveals herself properly for the first time in Agniratha and exposits the history of the Machina to the party

Saves the party from the explosion and holds them in the air long enough for Miqol to catch them

Battles Zanza at Mechonis Core and dies

At first glance, this doesn't seem too terrible. Zanza also doesn't actively do a ton over the course of the game; in fact, he probably does fewer discrete actions as himself than Meyneth does. There is one big difference between them, though: Zanza is inactive because he has a plan. He's controlling the narrative via the passage of fate, making him extremely active even if the party and player don't know he's there. Meyneth, on the other hand, is almost entirely reactive to what Zanza is doing and gives us no indication that she has any sort of plan to fight him. The most she does directly as a means of fighting him is ask to talk to him at Prison Island (which Zanza immediately rebuffs) and then debate him on philosophy before dying at Mechonis Core.

Option 1: Weaker God I can see two potential explanations for this inaction.  Option one: she’s just less powerful than him, and so any attempt by her to fight him is immediately doomed to fail.  There are some things in-game that support this.  Most strikingly to me, she and Alvis never directly interact.  For a while I was concerned that they never directly acknowledge each other’s existence at all, leaving open the possibility that Meyneth doesn’t know Alvis exists*.  Alvis does have a single line of thought immediately pre-Mechonis Core where he acknowledges that it’s Meyneth residing within Fiora.  However, Meyneth herself never acknowledges Alvis.  If only Zanza has direct access to Alvis’s power in Providence, that would in fact make Meyneth significantly less powerful and extremely disadvantaged against him.

*To be clear, I don’t actually think this is the case.  Based on everything else in the game, it would be absurd if Meyneth didn’t know about Alvis.  Where else could she possibly get her divine power from?  However, I do think it’s notable that the writers didn’t consider it necessary or narratively valuable to show Alvis and Meyneth interacting as an overall indicator of her status in the narrative, so I’m pointing it out here.

However, very little else in the game supports this.  Both Zanza and Meyneth have titan bodies, they seem to be about evenly matched within those bodies given that the battle at the beginning of the game ended in a standstill draw and not Zanza winning right then and there, and both Zanza and Meyneth seem to have created successful civilizations of people on their titan bodies.  

If anything, Meyneth might have been “better” at it, as the Machina worship her directly while neither the Homs nor the High Entia know of Zanza.  The Homs do hold the Monado in reverence as the fabled sword of the Bionis that can cut through Mechon and they have their funerary rites centered on the Bionis, but neither of those require a direct knowledge of Zanza of the kind we see the Machina have of Meyneth.  The High Entia I find even more interesting; while it would make sense for them to have intentionally erased the cultural knowledge of Zanza after the first battle of the titans when they sealed Arglas and the Monado away, there’s no evidence of that cultural knowledge ever existing, considering there are multiple side quests concerning High Entian history and not a hint of Zanza’s presence as an object of worship.  (Would the Valak Mountain War God count as an aspect of Zanza in this sense?  Interesting idea to think about…)  

Additionally, Zanza says “Now that I have both Monados, I should be at one with the passage of fate,” during one of the cutscenes before the final boss fight.  That implies that Meyneth’s presence in this world as the bearer of a Monado interfered with his control over the passage of fate (which is corroborated by Shulk interfering with Zanza’s sight during the final battle).  That in turn suggests that Meyneth had some amount of power over fate as a god, if we believe control over fate to be something that can be divided as Zanza alludes to in his dialogue.  All of this leads me to believe that if Meyneth is a weaker god than Zanza, it doesn’t affect any of her actions in the backstory or during the events of the game.

Option 2: Weaker Writing That leaves the other option: a writing flaw in which Meyneth’s stated character does not align with her actions and morals within the game.  We’ve been through her actions, but what are her stated morals?  She believes in the right of life to self-determination.  She sees Zanza’s actions specifically as directly in conflict with said stated right, and potentially the existence of gods as a whole.  Most of all, she believes in peace to the exclusion of things such as revenge or justice.  She (and the other Machina) want Egil to give up his plan of revenge and live in peace with them to heal from what Zanza has done.  When she’s speaking to Zanza telepathically on Prison Island, she asks him how many more he’ll kill and then tells him she’s there to talk.  Even when they’re battling in Mechonis Core, Meyneth is more focused on arguing against his philosophy and telling him that gods should not interfere with the lives of their people.

This is the heart of the problem.  Meyneth is portrayed as an unconditionally good character, Zanza’s rival in every way who wants mortal lives to be lived in peace, not under the tyranny of gods.  However, her actions and apparent values within the game make her near criminally passive against a god who fundamentally does not care about any of that.  Zanza creates and destroys all life in order to sustain his own existence (and I have to assume also Meyneth’s?  If she’s figured out the secret to divine immortality and hasn’t shared it with Zanza to make him stop that just makes her even worse, so…).  Narrative choices are narrative choices, but that Meyneth would still be at the “I can fix him” stage after who knows how many cycles of this is a narrative choice that strains my disbelief.  

Characters choosing to adhere to their morals even when it puts them at a disadvantage against their enemies is not a bad thing; however, having her hold to pacificism to this extent just makes her seem selfish and callous.  It is simply incompatible with her stated goal of opposing Zanza when Zanza’s actions are so extreme.  And to be clear, her choice to continue to try and talk Zanza down wouldn’t be so bad if the narrative didn’t absolutely stonewall her for it.  It’s very clear that Zanza is not open to negotiation, and Shulk doesn’t win by convincing him that living beings have inherent value outside of the resource they are to him.  It just makes Meyneth look silly to keep trying to talk the genocidal maniac down from doing genocide.

Objections Before I conclude, I want to take a moment to address some objections I could see to what I’ve laid out here so far.  First, as far as her actions go, Meyneth does have Vanea place her into Fiora with the stated intent to get closer to Shulk, but it’s still unclear what the end goal was there.  Was it to counterbalance Zanza’s influence on Shulk as the wielder of the Monado?  If so, Meyneth does remarkably little towards that goal.  The party isn’t ascending the Mechonis because of anything Meyneth said to them, they’re going up to fight Egil.  They don’t even know Meyneth is there until Agniratha, and the exposition there is mostly delivered by hologram.  Meyneth never directly interacts with Shulk about anything, let alone the cycle of war, which I feel is the bare minimum action if her goal is to erode Zanza’s influence on Shulk.

Notably, there are some suggestions in-game that imply peace with Zanza could be possible.  While I wouldn’t believe Zanza’s definition of “friendship” that he says he longed for at the end of the game to be reliable or at all similar to what friendship actually is, Alvis does repeat that Zanza wanted friendship and I’m much more inclined to take him at his word.  After the final battle, Alvis says that Zanza’s future and the desires of the party (and by extension Meyneth) could have coexisted, “but that time has passed”.  However, the game doesn’t indicate exactly when the time passed; the timing certainly implies that it was Zanza’s death that ended the possibility, but there’s no reason it couldn’t have been earlier.  

In addition, we’re given no indication of how likely that event was.  Given that nothing else in the game supports Zanza’s world being compatible with the freedom of mortal lives, I find it likely that the chance was infinitesimally small, something never quite impossible but extremely unlikely nonetheless.  While this does open up the possibility that Meyneth was justified in continuing to try to talk to him, the way it’s tossed in at the last second and is only told to us, never shown in any way throughout the game (through, say, High Entian legends or any kind of relationships between Zanza and his disciples) make me more inclined to believe it’s a last-second effort to add false depth to Zanza’s character.

Conclusion Overall, Meyneth suffers from a lack of focus that is sadly common to many of the female characters in xenoblade 1.  A lack of insight as to her inner thoughts combined with her extreme pacificism make for a narratively weak character who seems to be either fundamentally weaker in-story than her sworn nemesis or so committed to talking to him and making him realize the error of his ways that it literally gets her killed.  I find it most likely that the writers simply intended for her to be weaker than Zanza for unspecified reasons: disappointing, but not surprising.

What gets to me the most is that it didn’t have to be this way.  Even if she were just as strong as Zanza and/or more willing to fight against him, she would still have a significant disadvantage against him that sets the ground for the conflict seen in the game: her care for the lives and wills of mortals.  Her care to minimize collateral damage in the form of mortal lives will always give Zanza the upper hand in battle, whether directly in the form of attacking mortals being another way to hurt Meyneth or indirectly in the fact that Zanza has no qualms about manipulating mortals to do his will, while Meyneth likely would consider such a thing to be immoral and avoid it.  That, to me, would be a far more interesting setup than what we got in-game.

If you made it all the way to the end, thanks for reading! Please drop a comment or leave some tags, I'd love to keep discussing this.

spoilers for the 3.2 archon quest! below the cut is some of my thoughts regarding Dottore and his segments after the sumeru archon quests ^^

I feel like I have to start by explaining my current understanding of what went down in A Winter’s Night Lazzo.

I will continue to refer to him as Lazzottore so it won't get too confusing. Imo this one is definitely a Segment. Age wise he must be slightly younger than OG Dottore and maybe other segments as well. This speculation is purely based on Columbina / Sandrone (I'm actually not sure which one of the two it is) saying that whole "you're looking very young today, Doctor". Though this obviously also could've been sarcasm, but let's just stay with this assumption for now.

The next segment we get introduced to in game is Prime.

Now this is where I feel like my opinion is rather unpopular? I am pretty sure that Prime is yet another segment. He is clearly refered to as "the segment in the prime of his life". It's arguable what exactly the prime of his life would be. I feel like Dottore would consider the prime of his life when he was the most efficient. He knew what results he wanted and did not hesitate. Also the most emotionless one, because clearly emotions only get in the way. The perfect mindset for research. Probably the most productive one. I believe he is the Omega Build we meet in Sumeru.

aka this one. So in my understanding Prime = Omega Build. This is where it gets a bit more interesting. He was most likely the one having the conversation with Nahida towards the end of the archon quest. He called himself the most egoistic segment, which still fits my interpretation of what Dottore would understand as the prime of his life. Of course Prime himself would also be aware of being the one perceived as maybe the best segment, which would be one of the reasons he has no problem getting rid of the other segments, apart from simply being annoyed by them. But why did Prime even have the power to be able to simply destroy the other segments? One of my theories would be, that the original Dottore has long passed and Prime is his "successor" as the one in charge. Someone has to control the messy mind of the Dottores asdjk. And with Prime never having been particularly fond of the segments it was an easy choice that he would've made sooner or later then anyway. I feel the reason he might not be fond of the segments is simply because he was the well.. the prime. He knows how good he can be and all the others are below him and therefore inefficient and not needed.

The other segment we see in Sumeru might be one we haven't seen yet. I don't have any particular reason to believe that our favorite lil Boattore is Lazzottore. He might just be a segment sent to Sumeru to confuse the Traveler and lure them into a false sense of safety.

Character wise he seems less arrogant than Prime, though I feel like a certain arrogance can be expected from all segments. I wish we would've gotten to see more of him, before he most likely got thanos snapped </3 He genuinely seemed to have a lowkey good time in Sumeru :'') you will be missed

Webttore is of course my lil skrunkly, but unfortunately the game has not shown any kind of trace of him, so I won't be focusing on him for now.

Until now I was pretty sure Hoyoverse was eventually gonna pull the "oh no, one segment has gotten rogue / has his own consciousness and was never evil" card to make sure Dottore could become playable. Because how else would you redeem this man xD But now, a lot of his dialogue in Sumeru was heavily focused on him having a rather neutral stance. He wants to do experiments for knowledges sake, caring more about the experiment than the outcome, as he stated himself after not helping Scaramouche. Now this was said by Prime, there might be a segment that has different view of this, but I think it's safe to assume that this is the view the original Dottore also shares. So Hoyoverse might continue pushing this view. We'll get a bossfight with Dottore in another region, he loses but simply sees this as another experiment, not necessarily holding any grudges, somewhat similar to Childe. He then joins the Traveler for more "research". This is based on the assumption that Prime will be the playable one.

Though what if, Hoyoverse is trying to make Prime play the villain card? With that small scene of the what I think are the segment's last words they clearly wanted us to feel some kind of sympathy. They want us to know that, even though Dottore is a villain, that Prime's action just took it a step further. The perfect opportunity to put all those bad actions on his shoulders. We know Dottore wants to create an enhanced human, godlike. Maybe with Prime he has started to get close to this, being stronger than OG Dottore, who is still very much human. So what if Prime ends up being our enemy, going rogue in the different direction. He is not bound to the other segments anymore, maybe his connection to Dottore himself has also been severed because of this. He's not being held back anymore by all that emotional baggage of the other segments. The only one left in his way is his creator himself. That way we might end up fighting along the original Dottore himself, if he's even still around.

I have a lot more thoughts to sort through about this whole situation, I am still going through all stages of grief simulatously because of the loss of Webttore and Boattore. I can't help but feel a bit disappointed, that Hoyoverse teased this incredible concept of Dottore having segments, only to use it for one cheap plottwist (Dottore not actually being gone from Sumeru) and then completely discarding of it. Is there a possibility that the segments will come back? Maybe. But I feel like that's just copium :') so I don't wanna keep my hopes up. Maybe I'll edit this at some point or even delete it.

Feel free to add your own thoughts, my brain is still scrambled so I might be thinking about things that are absolutely crap lmao.

since I am currently on the truthful route of survive I wanna talk a bit about Shuuji!

CWs: mentions of child abuse & death under the cut. Digimon survive spoilers as well.

Shuuji is a very hated character, even if you have not even touched the game you have probably seen some things about him being hated. I think it’s extremely reasonable, but I also cannot bring myself to hate him. Even in the normal path where he dies and has no sort of redemption, I cannot get myself to hate him.

I am not condoning his actions towards the others and especially not his actions towards Lopmon, not at all. But I also cannot say that I don’t understand WHY he got to the point he did.

His father (his mother is never mentioned, if he even has one) from the little we see, appears to be extremely emotionally abusive. He appears to guilt-trip Shuuji for not being “good enough” and makes him feel terrible about himself. Shuuji’s older brother does not help, and while I don’t think he’s actively TRYING to harm Shuuji, he is as well. Shuuji had a very rough life in the real world, and then once transported to some new place everyone is depending on him. Telling him to suck it up because he’s the oldest, not to get so worked up, and treating him pretty awfully. Not to say he wasn’t awful himself, he definitely was!

But all of that pressure to be better, to be more mature, act his age, just piled on and on. Add all of the abuse and poor treatment he had dealt with from his father from before all of this, and the way he acts makes perfect sense. It’s not uncalled for at all, while he acts terrible, if you put yourself in his shoes, could you really really say you wouldn’t feel the same? You wouldn’t snap under the pressure of it all?

The way he deals with this ISN’T good at all, actively being rude to those around him (though I’d argue he isn’t trying to be rude to them most of the time) and full on abusing Lopmon both physically and emotionally are downright horrible. These aren’t good ways to deal with it, but they are pretty real. The environment around them also seems to fuel these negative emotions and reaction. (There are some examples of this, Ryo being the big one, but that’s for another time)

He says he saw himself in Lopmon, and he hates himself, therefore he took it out on Lopmon and began to “hate” him too. Though, I would say he didn’t ever really hate Lopmon and I think the truthful path shows that a lot!

Shuuji gets redeemed in the truthful path, and he’s a pretty enjoyable character. Once he comes to his senses after Ryo punches him (epic Ryo win) he immediately realizes how wrong he had been, and what he was doing wasn’t right, and how horribly he treated Lopmon.

Shuuji even mentions that he hated himself. He hated the way he was, and multiple times before his downfall he says that Lopmon is like him. This is why I don’t think he ever hated Lopmon, he just hated the parts of himself he saw in Lopmon, he just hated himself. Once he realizes Lopmon is different and Lopmon cares about him, he has an extreme change of heart. Even going as far as bringing up their similarities in a POSITIVE sense!

I am not yet finished with this route, but I just wanted to talk about him since it bugs me a little how much unbridled hate he has been getting. He does get to be redeemed, he does reflect on his actions, he does want to grow as a person. I perfectly understand hating him! I just think acknowledging that the way he acted makes sense is important too!

That’s all on Shuuji…!! Thank you for reading my rambles if you did!

Also, I once more want to state, I am not condoning Shuuji’s actions. I am just saying they make sense when you stop and think about his character. They’re bad, he did bad things, and this is acknowledged in the plot, I have acknowledged this multiple times throughout this post as well. Abuse does not excuse a person’s actions. Please do not yell at me saying I’m condoning his behavior.

PROMPT 006

An itemized list of mental states of one Virgil Thanes-Thrall

The Love Game:

He had said it.

He had said who he truly was and wasn't able to take it back.

"I'm the son of Asclepius."

Of course there was more that Virgil had shared in front of his fellow demigods along with the Norse demigods as well. He had felt himself seeming more and more like the old snake guy with each passing breath. It kind of scared the son of Asclepius. Throughout his life as a surgeon, he had always acted as the one in charge. His action were only reflective of himself alone. Now, in hearing himself say who his father was, Virgil had a shadow before him. One he wasn't sure he could fill.

At times, Virgil had felt like he should leave. Use what he's learned from camp and help others. However, knowing what he knew about his father, Virgil was sure that would only continue the cycle of… whatever the children of Asclepius were destined to follow. Doomed, more like.

"I am the son of Asclepius.." Virgil's face twinges in disgust as he says it aloud in his cabin.

That damn sexy fae prince forced the truth out of Virgil and there was nothing he'd like more than to scrape the taste of it off of his own tongue. In true Virgil fashion, the thoughts between his own tongue and the fae prince bleed into each. He shakes his head at the inappropriate timing of such out of character behavior.

The Apology:

Virgil knew it didn't seem genuine coming form him. Hell, at this point in time, anything coming out of the son of Asclepius's mouth would seem as real as Alexandria's genesis. After lying to practically everybody to get his meeting with Romeo, Virgil didn't blame them. It wasn't a side of him he displayed often amongst the residents of the camp. Often times the sides he did show others wasn't nearly as articulate, or dressed for that matter, as Virgil was during his attempt to apologize.

It was something Virgil wished he could just switch off. Shed his scales and start all over. Someone who could gain the trust he needed from them, who wouldn't have their words met with constant questions, someone born in the 90s and early 2000s, probably twinkish as well. In any case, Virgil would find a way to redeem himself to the camp. Probably won't be walking around the camp naked while someone ringing a bell behind him yells "shame" throughout the whole thing. People might think Virgil would enjoy that too much… he would… but that should detract from how serious he is in wanting to do anything to make sure the camp knew he was sorry.

He had felt it was a fool's errand, getting people to meet, getting Romeo to hear him out. At least Virgil got a few words in before waking up in the infirmary. He supposes staying on the outskirts of the son of Zeus' way would have to do for now. Virgil would have to find a way to get him to trust him now.

Character ask game: The Enchantress from Beauty and the Beast

(Note: These answers are for the original film and state musical only. They don't apply to Agathe in the 2017 live-action remake.)

Favorite thing about them: Her magical power and her status as the story's godlike moral authority, despite the fact that she never appears onscreen. When she sees a selfish prince with no love or care for other people, she does what we all probably wish we could do to abusers of power, and not only punishes him in a fitting way – turning him into an ugly outcast after he scorned her for being an ugly outcast – but gives him a chance to redeem himself too. A chance that he might never have had without the spell.

I also love the fact that she requires two conditions for the spell to be broken: the Beast has to learn to love another and be loved in return. Most traditional versions of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale only require that a maiden fall in love with and/or agree to marry the Beast, without needing him to love her too, per se. In some of those versions, we might question whether the Beast really loves Beauty for herself or just as a potential spell-breaker. I like that this Enchantress expressly requires a mutual love to break her spell.

Least favorite thing about them: That she cursed the servants as well as the Prince. The stage musical and live-action remake try to justify it by explaining that they helped to make the Prince so hard-hearted and selfish, either by spoiling him (stage show) or by doing nothing as his father abused him (remake). But does that justify enchanting even a small child like Chip, and even the dog?

Three things I have in common with them:

*I'm female.

*I don't like rich people who refuse to help the poor.

*I like roses.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I don't have magical powers.

*If I were to cast a spell on a prince, I would probably spare his servants.

*I'm not blonde.

Favorite line: N/A.

brOTP: None.

OTP: None.

nOTP: The Beast/Prince.

Random headcanon: The "incongruity" of her offering the Prince a rose on a winter's night in her old beggar woman disguise was really an intentional part of her test. The Prince failed the test not only because he shut out a person in need, but because he was so fixated on her ugliness that he overlooked the obvious magic in her hand – a rose in winter, being offered by a woman too poor to have bought it from a greenhouse. At that point, the Enchantress could have quoted another Alan Menken musical, his version of A Christmas Carol – "You aren't just a sinner, you're an outright fool!"

Unpopular opinion: I'm all in favor of assuming that the Prince was only eleven years old when she cursed him. I don't understand why the fandom ties itself into knots trying to explain that, no, he was already an adult, and Lumiere's "Ten years we've been rusting" really means this or that. In the first place, we already know that the Enchantress doesn't spare children: look at Chip, who's only about six years old and never even did anything wrong. Secondly, the Prince was no ordinary eleven-year-old. He already had an immense amount of power, and his parents had probably already died, leaving him as the master of the castle with no adult authority figures, only servants. When he turned her away in her old beggar woman disguise, presumably leaving her to freeze to death just because she was poor and ugly, she realized that he was shaping up to become a truly dangerous adult. So she took drastic action not only to punish him and try to redeem him, but to save the kingdom from the tyrannical ruler he could have become.

Song I associate with them:

The instrumental music of the Prologue. Here it is without the narration:

Favorite picture of them:

Why I Like Regulus Black

Regulus Black is one of my favorite Harry Potter characters, and I want to talk about why. I feel like there's a frequent misconception that people only like him for superficial reasons or in ways that are contradictory to canon, so here's my take on what I find interesting about him and why I think he appeals to me as a character.

Just to be clear upfront, this is not:

An argument that Regulus was a totally good person and did nothing wrong.

A criticism of other morally gray characters or their fans. I am not interested in playing the "only my problematic fave is valid" game.

An attempt to speak for Regulus fans in general. This is my opinion only.

All that being said ...

I like morally gray characters.

Regulus is not the first character I've liked who's done things I would absolutely not condone in real life. I don't tend to like straightforward "pure evil" villains (e.g., Voldemort) except in a "love to hate them" sort of way, but I often end up liking anti-heroes and more nuanced villains.

I also tend to have a very positive view of redemption arcs. That doesn't mean I think every villain can or should get one, or that they're all to my liking. But the potential for one is usually going to make a character more appealing to me, not less. I like the idea that people are capable of growth and change. Of becoming better than they were. And I tend to be pretty flexible on what sort of characters I'll consider redeemable. There are limits, but "teenager who joined the wrong side, quickly changed his mind, and then died trying to back out" is very much on the "not too far gone" side of the line for me.

I'm a fan of the Black family in general.

I don't love all of them, but the family dynamics and backstory are really interesting. Regulus is not even the most obscure name on the family tree who I have headcanons for. Not even close. *gestures vaguely to not-yet-posted WIP about these ladies*:

Sirius and Andromeda are other favorites of mine. I love their narratives of breaking away and taking control of their own lives. Regulus's story is a bit different. He stays behind. He tries to be exactly what his family wants. I imagine both he and Narcissa would be strongly affected by having an older sibling disowned, and all the more careful in their own choices as a result. I almost certainly find Regulus (and quite a few others in the family) more interesting as part of these family dynamics than I would without them.

Getting a bit personal for a moment ...

I grew up in an ultra-conservative area of the United States* and bought into some crappy ideas as a teenager. Not in an intentionally hateful or ignorant way, just in a "most people I know agree on this, so I guess it's true" kind of way. When I grew up, moved away, and went to college, I ended up rethinking a lot of things and forming my own opinions. So the idea of realizing you've been wrong, breaking away, and having to figure everything out all over again as a young adult? I find that super relatable. That's probably a part of why I like Andromeda and Sirius so much.

Regulus, in canon, doesn't do that, or only does it on a very limited basis just before his death. But there's the potential to explore that angle in canon divergence stories. It was very cathartic for me, in my first "Regulus lives" fic, to stick him in a situation where he's separated from the negative influences and slowly starting to question stuff he's taken for granted all his life.

*although my family was actually way more chill than a lot of my friends, teachers, neighbors, etc. For instance, they were fine with letting me read Harry Potter.

How I see Regulus

Now we're getting more into headcanon territory. Regulus is only described second-hand; he never actually appears on the page. So, naturally, fans have interpreted him a million different ways. If I'm going to talk about why I like Regulus, I should probably also mention what my take on him actually is.

I see him as being driven by a strong sense of duty. He wasn't forced to join the Death Eaters, but he knew or believed his parents would be proud of him for doing so and that played a part in his decision. When he chose to turn against Voldemort, he kept it a secret from them in an attempt to protect them (that part is strongly implied in canon).

Despite those loyalist tendencies, I also imagine him being stubbornly independent, trying to take things on alone rather than ask for help. The horcrux is a perfect example of this. He didn't tell his family, any friends he might have had, or anybody on the opposite side of the war. He went after it himself, alone, with just a house-elf for help and without letting anyone know what he was doing. There's probably an element of pride in this, but I'd say also a level of distrust, a feeling that there's no one he can rely on and that he doesn't want to show weakness.

I think it's reasonable to assume he shared the Death Eaters' prejudices and committed crimes for them. But I do imagine him as a lesser evil, so to speak, compared to people like the Lestranges. The way Sirius describes him - an "idiot" who was "soft enough to believe" their parents - is not flattering, but very mild compared to what he says about other family members. There's nothing to imply Regulus was a really cruel, bloodthirsty sort of person, and I find it hard to believe Sirius would be so quick to shift the blame for his choices to their parents if he had been. And there are other signs as well. Kreacher said Regulus believed that Voldemort would "bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggle-borns," which is awful but stops short of what actually happens when Voldemort takes power in Deathly Hallows. And, of course, there's his relationship with Kreacher.

House-elves are a whole other can of worms I don't want to get into right now, but I do think Regulus probably treated Kreacher better than their society would have expected. I'm not saying he was Hermione-level enlightened. He probably didn't see him as an equal or spend his free time campaigning for elf rights. But when the full story of Regulus's death is revealed, it's made clear that he was fond of Kreacher and upset by what Voldemort did to him. He literally drank a potion that caused him extreme agony rather than ordering Kreacher to do it in his place. That doesn't make him a totally good person, but it does hint at a softer side to him and a sort of nuance that isn't typical of the Death Eaters.

He clearly knew what a horcrux was and strongly objected to finding out about the locket, either on the basis of "that's crossing a line" or "actually, the Dark Lord probably shouldn't live forever." Or both. I've seen people question why a Death Eater would have a problem with horcruxes, and I suspect some of them wouldn't. Bellatrix, for instance, would probably be overjoyed to know she was entrusted with a piece of Voldemort's soul. But the idea of horcruxes being repulsive even to many Dark Wizards is actually foreshadowed a bit in Half-Blood Prince, where the author of Magick Moste Evile warns his readers against them. So I do think Regulus was probably not thrilled to find out he was working for someone who had one.

There can be multiple factors in why he did what he did: anger about Voldemort's treatment of Kreacher AND objection to horcruxes AND possibly doubts and second thoughts that had been building up already, since Sirius knew nothing about the specifics but was sure he died trying to back out.

Now, going after the locket on his own, without telling anybody who might have an interest in stopping Voldemort, was not the smartest decision. And I don't see his death as something that should be glorified. I've seen people claim that his redemption arc is more valid because he gave his life, and I disagree with that take and actually find it to be very troubling. Redemption Equals Death can work if it's a meaningful self-sacrifice, but Regulus's death didn't really accomplish much other than getting him killed, and if he had lived longer he might have been able to do more to atone. Like actually destroying a horcrux, for instance, or providing info to the Order.

But still, the fact that he did anything at all is a big deal. The fact that something - or multiple somethings - seemed wrong to him, and given the choice between "a lifetime of service or death," he decided he still couldn't keep serving Voldemort? That's huge. That says something important about who he was as a person. A weird combination of a damaged but not completely absent moral compass paired with an unexpected sense of integrity and courage.

Final thoughts

Most of what I described in the section above is personal interpretation, and there are other valid takes on what might have been going on. But I tried to keep it to just what I think can be reasonably extrapolated from canon, not random headcanons that I'm happy to admit I pulled out of thin air or adopted from fanon.

I see a lot of interesting contradictions in Regulus, and specifically, a lot of positive traits turned bad. Loyalty and dedication towards a family and a cause that don't deserve it. Capacity for kindness that remains so undeveloped it never actually leads him to question his prejudices. The willingness to admit he was on the wrong side and the courage do something about it, but it ends up being a pointless self-sacrifice.

I see him as someone who isn't inherently evil, who could have been a good person if he'd been brought up differently. Someone who might very well have changed for the better and made a positive impact if he'd survived. And yet whose life ultimately amounted to very little. I don't know about you, but that strikes me as a tragedy.

It also screams "opportunity" to the fanfic writer in me. I love "what if?" storylines. I love fleshing out characters who were not well-developed in canon. Regulus has hints of a personality and storyline that I find really interesting, but isn't a main character or developed enough that I feel like the story has already been told in a satisfying way in canon. That's exactly the sort of character I'm likely to end up reading and writing fic for, etc.

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

Hi sorry for the late reply I was dealing with *flashbacks to me screaming and crying over Yuumori on the floor* stuff

Boy this is tough because I love so may characters. So this isn’t in any particular order:

1. Cardan Greenbriar- I love his character development. He’s such a complex character shown to be selfish but also selfless, cruel yet kind, incredibly smart but dumb. And also a real romantic. He’s a genuinely kind person being forced into a heavily toxic and abusive environment and being forced to abide by the rule “survival of the fittest”. Take him out of that environment and you discover that he’s just a playful kind boy who never had anyone to rely to. Just really love him so much

2. Alex Fierro- they’re literally my favorite in the entire pj universe. Amazing, brave, talented, fierce but kind too, stands for their ideals and rights, never takes shit from anyone etc etc. I love them a lot. And I think Uncle Rick wrote Alex’s genderfluidity really well. Alex just wants people to accept their gender and them as a person. They’re not just their gender or their “unusual” appearance. They’re an awesome warrior, smart, creative and just. The turned the powers they got from Loki which he used to manipulate and control them, and made them their own. And they have a great sense of style if I may say.

3. Eruhaben- he’s an old soul. The dad of the group. And he’s a tsundere which is one of my weakness. It’s honestly his kindness that attracted me to him. He’s a dragon so that’s why he should be extremely selfish but he’s so selfless. He wants to protect his kids. He doesn’t think it’s worth living anymore even with everyone telling him otherwise, even if he actually wants to live. I just have a lot of feels about Goldie gramps.

4. Penelope Eckart- queen. She’s fierce, intelligent, calculative but also really emotionally vulnerable and broken. The entire Yvonne arc thing showed us just what a terrible mental state she’s in. She’s really complex and in my opinion an accurate representation of someone suffering from depression. And my favorite thing is that she didn’t stay with the duke family no matter how much they redeemed themselves. She chose the best environment for herself and her mental health.

5. 707 (Saeyoung Choi)- My husband in Mystic Messenger. Before playing the game I didn’t really have a big impression of him, I actually liked Yoosung more. But than I started getting into the game lore and he stole my heart. Reading about his past, his countless sacrifices, his pure love, his selfless, his desire to protect and how he loves you in every route and is self aware that this is a game for us. That just broke me and made me love this man so so much. He deserves everything.

6. Anya Forger- she’s a kid. That’s what I like about her. She was experimented since she was probably a baby, lost her biological parents, due to her powers she definitely knows too much, stuff that no child should hear or know, she definitely has a fear of abandonment and that’s why she tries so hard to keep her parents from finding out their and her real identities, so they don’t leave her. But despite all of this she’s just a little girl. She likes goofy tv shows, she wants to make friends, she doesn’t like doing homework, she over exaggerates a lot of things like any child her age does, she likes to sleep with her stuffed animals, she likes her big doggo. Anya could have been written as one of those kids that have lost hope on everything because of what happened to them before, but she’s not. She’s just a little kid.

7. William James Moriarty- man who saw this coming(said no one). Ok so I may be fairly new to the Yuumori fandom but god damn me of I would not give my life and soul for this man! He’s so complex and terrifying but he’s so kind. He has the right mindset but chose to execute his ideals in the cruelest way possible but only because he deemed that that was the only way. He used and hurt people, despite himself never wanting to, falling deeper and deeper into despair, making himself the greatest evil alone just so the people around him didn’t get punished and chose death as his ending because he wanted to escape and rest. Honestly Sherlock saved him. And their relationship is beautiful and pure. Exactly what Liam needed.

8. Kym Ladell- (please read Purple Hyacinth!!) Kym is the type of friend everyone deserves and doesn’t deserve at the same time. She’s selfless, courageous, the sunshine everyone needs. But she’s also broken. She hides her pain behind her smile. She’s scared for her loved ones, scared that they could get hurt or that she could hurt them. She’s scared of herself. And yet she tries to be ok. To act ok. She’s cheerful and goofy. If she can make her friends laugh that’s all that matters to her

9. Xie Lian- I’m channeling my inner Hua Cheng to explain this. Beloved angel who has never done anything wrong ever in his entire life. He’s gone through so much and has had every right to turn evil and destroy everything. And yet he chose to be good. He chose to forgive. He doesn’t know how to appreciate himself anymore because he finds no good within himself. He’s just surviving. That is until Hua Cheng came. Even after that he still never he still never stopped being selfless. But he has more self worth now. He’s not just surviving anymore, he’s living. And it’s so beautiful when a character does that

10. Princess Yona- It’s the amazing character development! She went from being this naïve princess, to getting betrayed by her loved ones and loosing everything overnight, experiencing the harshness and difficult life of every citizen of her kingdom and beyond outside of the palace walls, experiencing and fighting wars, changing the lives of so many and knowing what being a true ruler is like. She has the dragons, Yoon and Hak who always support her and she does depend on them but she fights her own battles, even if she has to bleed and hurt, she never backs down and fights. She wants the best for her country, her friends, her loved ones and for everyone else

Boy was it hard to choose only 10. I have so many more characters to talk about bit I’m not that great with explaining and writing stuff even those above took a lot of time to formulate and they’re not that good. I want to say so much about all of them but I don’t know how to say it.

Anyway thanks for letting me talk about this I really appreciate it😊

So, have we talked enough about the line of succession thing and how, maybe, it doesn´t need to make sense?

It´s just something I´ve been thinking about and I´d seen some posts about it early on, so.

To me it looks like the queen knows and banks on how desperate August is and indeed manipulates August further into his guilt and gratitude for the opportunity to redeem himself (summoning him to the palace like that? What a Move!) So, in that state and in that room he certainly won´t question if this path makes any sense. He probably doesn´t even ~want to question it later on, even if he develops doubts.

So, if this is just another ploy to try to get Wille in line and keep August close and under control at the same time, that means at least for the moment, as a strategic game move, it doesn´t need to be based in actual formal court rules, right?

We as an audience can absolutely question the logic, of course, because our perspective is so much wider than August´s and Wille´s.

Neither Wille nor August at this point in their lives seem even able to question much of anything, since they´re both too busy dodging hits (sorry, Wille) and living through emotional highs and lows while being teenagers.

The queen on the other hand has the advantage of absolute stone-cold strategic thinking and years of experience. (Chess, anyone. Being 6-7 moves ahead, anyone. The fact that she does miscalculate in regards to Wille, well. She might be the queen, but she´s got her blind spots. Emotions being one of them, ironically, but not surprisingly.)

And even if the court introduces August as a more prominent part of the royal family, that could still make sense years down the line, it´s not like they´re publicly announcing anything has changed at all right now. August has been part of official court pictures since S1 ep 1, too.

Like, it might be that the court actually considers keeping both doors open in their attempt at damage control, which is their daily job anyway, and intentionally push both Wille and August to were they want them, maybe even where they keep each other in check for a while.

(I also wouldn´t put it past them that there are at least three other contingency plans in place, cooked up in that war room we see in 2x1.)

In general, I´d take whatever the queen says at any given moment with a grain of royal salt since she is the royal family personified, never just mom to Wille or much family at all to August. I feel like we´ve long moved past just believing whatever she says and especially what she says to her heir(s?) that she needs to keep the institution going.

And why would we want to believe her anyway? Is it because she seems rational and unemotional, so we naturally want to treat her like an authority on the truth?

In S 1 she asks her son if love is worth it and tells him it´s not the most important thing in life, putting strategy (of dealing with the video fallout) and emotion in opposition, and we´re with Wille, right? We cheer when he gives a speech on how her ways are not the way forward. Love wins. Stone-cold strategy and secret-keeping to uphold tradition is not the truth for him anymore.)

Like, if this was a daily soap I wouldn´t be poking holes into this plot line at all, but this is a well-thought out, many-layered show that likes to turn the screws this way and that so we have to turn our heads a little at times and suddenly find meaning behind meaning.

I think it´s a plausible thought that we´re not meant to take at face value everything she´s telling August and Wille. That we can say wait a minute, I know her now, I´ve seen the damage. That we, by now, recognize the wider context of her ways that those two teens can´t (yet) and we can just. Refuse.

I just think we shouldn´t accept her words just like that, unqualified, and rather keep in mind that there´s moves she makes and untold truths that she likes to keep in the dark to keep things moving the way she/the court want. I mean, come on, Wille doesn´t want us to just accept things.

Do it for Wille. Question the queen.

(unpopular opinion) A Defense of Diabolik Lovers: 2

3. “I hate Yui because she’s a pick me and doesn’t defend herself”, aka one of the most common bullshit I see even among the otome fandom. There’s already some nice defenses of Yui but I wanted to throw in my two cents. Before I even begin I’m going to state that this defense is coming from someone who has seen both the games, the show and listened to selective drama CDs. Alright let’s get started. First, she is not weak. As what I mentioned earlier, Diabolik Lovers is a freaking universe full of highly sadistic and insane creatures of the night who doesn’t know anything about being human, no matter how beautiful or gorgeous they looked it would not change that they aren’t human in the first place. Try living in this kind of world for real, let’s see how it’ll turn out because these vampires ain’t like Edward Cullen of Twilight, they’re the most realistic depiction of vampires in terms of personality. Second of all, she is NOT a Mary Sue. Oh come on now you all, it’s damn obvious that most of the fans are jealous because she’s the freaking center of their universe and they are all handsome but that doesn’t make her a SUE! Yui wasn’t aware that she has Cordelia’s heart and I am sure that if given a chance to choose, she would choose not to have that crazy woman’s heart in the first place. And another thing, it never showed in the series that she enjoyed the vampires biting her in fact most of the time she was in pain and forced to be bitten. Third of all, the main reason why she’s very important to the Sakamakis, Mukamis and Tsukinamis is because of her heart–which is technically not hers because it was just implanted. Cordelia is a powerful daughter of the Demon King so her blood is really of the finest quality which now flows in Yui’s veins so…in reality she was actually really nothing but a blood container to them all. Being forced against her will, bitten at the same time without her permission, being yelled or accused and treated like she has no rights are not exactly signs of love and affection. Fourth, she wasn’t useless or spineless. She tried prying them off and say no to them but she was not successful at all, the ending is always the same for her as shown by the start of the series. Throughout the years, especially in the early ones, people have been making fun of Yui for being “meek”, “dumb”, “pick me” and countless more. Granted these people have probably never read, played or watched every DL–related media and have better things to do. Unfortunately, I don’t. I have way too much time and not enough motivation. Because of that, in this following paragraph, I’ll be explaining why Yui survived to the point where she’s gotten and whether or not Cordelia’s heart had a factor in her survival. First off, Cordelia’s heart - Yui’s chances exponentially increased because of her special blood and the circumstances that surround it. Recall in the games and anime that Karl specifically said to the Sakamaki brothers to not kill her off at least not immediately. Note that I said increased. Despite his orders, in HDB and MB, Yui has died in several endings. Meaning even though her blood is a specialty that has been the biggest contributing factor for her surviving the horrors of the DL brothers and one of her biggest defenses, it still isn’t enough to ensure that she lives. Because of this, it has led me to believe that the reason for Yui’s survival isn’t her blood, but rather her personality. Yui’s patience and understanding character is so inhumanly powerful, because it showed that she was willing to give each and every DL boy a chance at redeeming themselves. This is where the ‘air-headed’, ‘dumb’ and other similar comments come into play. Most of these comments target her for being naive, ignorant, gullible and ‘too-trusting’. But I think what they failed to see was that she didn’t have a choice. She knew that there was no way for her to escape the manors, especially since each DL boy has reminded her of that fact in their respective routes. Yet instead of letting this bring her down, she instead chose to be determined

i have sort of been streaming on ‘n off (art and games, as pictured here)  and keep hemming & hawwing about announcing it anywhere public so i’ve decided to announce it on the tumbo i’m not looking for a huge audience, but i would like to try reaching affiliate for the funny emotes & redeemables  (tbh, i’m mostly trying to get comfy with my voice because i do not like it & it has bothered me my whole life  😭 )

i am 10ish away from the required 50 followers, so here’s what i’ll do:

~Request Streams!~

info under the cut!

-You must be following my twitch channel to make a request!  (current followers welcome too!  pls let me know if you have a completely different username between sites) https://www.twitch.tv/shalmons -But, you do Not need to be present in order have your request drawn (i like planning what i’m gonna do beforehand anyway)  -1 request per person;  single-subject, SFW, no volatile IRL stuff.  can be OCs, fandom, or even something generic like an animal or whatever -time limits: i will do a last call for requests once i reach my follower goal of 50 or so.  this will be open to any overflow followers as well, but the “last call” window for this event will be roughly one week, so keep an eye out!   -the requests will be experimental & probably not too time-consuming, but at least they’re free, eh?  :’)  (i may take time post-stream to do finishing touches on these, but i’ll make sure to at least start them on-stream.  oh & they’ll probably all be colored, ‘cause i love coloring  :’v ) -you can send your requests either through here or discord, whichever you prefer.  if discord, pls go ahead and state your request in your message; i tend to ignore singular “hi” or “hey”s due to it looking bot/scam-ish lol   (my discord is Shalmons#0614 ) -so when’s the first request stream??  i’ll aim for sometime in the coming week!  twitch e-mail notifications are currently the best way to know when i’m live, but i’ll try to remember to do an announcement here as well, since i know not everyone uses those