#the characters reacted often and very openly to your actions
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i dont mean to just be bitching about baldurs gate right now-- i am actually enjoying it-- but an issue i am feeling rn in terms of writing, and i am not sure if thisll change as i go on (i am not far at all) is your companions not really reacting to some pretty seriously choices you make
minor but not huge spoilers. at the very early part i started making actions towards a mind flayer, that after multiple steps (like reading its mind, trying to get closer, trying to detach) no one was doing anything, they just watched. and after those multiple actions, i died. like, my character was standing there for at least a minute or more, was not moving and got closer, and everyone just let me. and vague spoiler, later on there was someone who was supposed to help me but instead tricked and poisoned me-- there were multiple steps of conversation and i really would have expected an interjection bc the thing was a plan to help *all* of us, but no one questioned this persons method that she did not explain at all, they just stood there
they have piped up a few times! but im just surprised they didnt pop up in those far more dangerous and consequential moments. like maybe they should have had their own passive checks to react differently at least, idk.
#ok i will say it#i know ppl immediately were thrilled for this and say its far better than DAI stuff#but i do not think so rn#the characters reacted often and very openly to your actions#when they disapproved theyd sometimes say so right there and these guys are not a lot#i have heard some mixed opinions on romances in this game and everyones bi right?#which imo is already a critique for me but#a deeper one than just this game#i dont totally agree w the sentiment that DAI protag didnt feel unique enough w its options#and if anything i feel like bg3 protag rn is pretty much on the same level#your good mean and neutral are pretty much the same and not super awful#the main difference between these two i will give bg3 is the number of lore/race/class choices which is nice
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Hey Raven, hope your doing well. I was rewatching book 5 and something struck me. Crowly stills does his thing to get yuu/mc to host the NRC tribe at Ramshackle. But compare to previous chapters hes seems a little nicer, i guess? He offering renovations and upgrades ( a positive), instead of just threatening to cut yuu's food budget or something (a negative).
Where im going with this is, do you think Crowley may have felt a tiny tinge for his (in) action in book 4? Or atleast, realized he actually screwed up. He did give Yuu in case of an emergency.... and promptly ignored it (or just turned it off) when he went on break. He likely had to have heard what happened over the break...an likely saw his missed calls and put 2 and 2 together. Sure he may not feel bad enough to apologize (at least openly), but he does seem to make himself scarce early in b5. That could just be him being, well, the headmage. Maybe he's just not sure how to deal with MC or how they'd react to seeing him? So instead of threatening Yuu, he offers them something instead? Idk, maybe im reaching. Crowley relationship with Yuu is complicated. I do like to believe he has some empathy or regret (or maybe he just has more respect for yuu by b5?) After everything up to that point
Like i said, i may be reaching here. Wanted to get your input. Sorry for the long ask. Have a good one :)
In many fandom depictions of Crowley, he often serves as Yuu's guardian who is incompetent but well-meaning. I'm also guilty of doing this, Crowley is considered my OC's father figure (even if my OC isn't a Yuu). That's how we choose to engage with the characters and the world that we love! However, I don't believe that Crowley has that sort of tenderness for Yuu in canon, whether at the start or as their relationship develops over the course of the main story.
Now, that's not to say that I think Crowley is cold or hateful towards Yuu. Far from it! He does care for them, but in the same way that a teacher might care about nurturing their students and preparing them for the world beyond graduation. Crowley demonstrates a similar attitude towards other NRC students, with one very clear example being in his Raven Jacket vignettes. In those stories, he likens his students to apple trees that he raises and nurtures, hoping that one day they might bear fruit. He does not particularly grant Yuu special treatment unless it's a scenario where he wants them to do a favor for him. (Though here I would also argue he does the same for other students when he wants them to resolve an issue in his place, which happens frequently in event stories; in Fairy Gala, he warns the boys they'll be held back if classes cannot proceed due to the wacky weather. In Ghost Marriage, Crowley shames the boys for not expressing interest in rescuing Idia, etc.)
I also want to set the record straight regarding how exactly Crowley gets Yuu to comply with his requests. Reviewing all avaliable books in the main story, Crowley rarely outright threatens Yuu if they refuse to help him:
Prologue — Crowley does not initially ask anything of Yuu, but he does provide them a temporary home and food until they can sort something out. During Yuu's stay, they are meant to do handiwork to earn their keep. However, Crowley tries to expel them after their involvement in breaking what is considered a precious chandelier. In this case, his anger is somewhat justified but it's still the one major example of Crowley leveraging something to force Yuu to act in a way that he desires. The thing is, it's revealed in chapter 19 that Crowley did not believe Yuu could acquire the magestone he asked for and was all set to finalize the expulsion papers. So really, he wasn't serious at all in giving Yuu a chance to redeem themselves and was going to expel Yuu anyway (until they happened to prove their "usefulness"). Whether this counts as an example of Crowley "threatening" Yuu, then, is up to individual interpretation.
Book 1 — Crowley makes no specific request to Yuu. He shows up late in the book and suggests to the frustrated Adeuce that they fight Riddle to claim his seat as dorm leader, but does not tell Yuu to do anything in this situation. Recall that it was Ace that marched up to Ramshackle's front door and demanded that he be allowed to stay overnight; Crowley had no part in that.
Book 2 — In 2-7, Crowley asks Yuu to investigate the strange string of accidents that has befallen the students set to play in the upcoming inter-dorm magift/spelldrive tournament. There is a part where Crowley says he "never promised to cover living expenses". You, as Yuu, have the option to ask him "Is that a threat...?" to which Crowley never properly responds. Interpret that how you wish. He then offers Grim and Yuu a chance to participate in said tournament if they succeed, seeing as they lacked the 7 players needed to form a team. Crowley even says he will find 5 other players to fill in their missing team seats for them.
Book 3 — Here in 3-6, Crowley never actually threatens to cut off food. Instead, he is trying to earn pity from Yuu by guilt tripping them and emphasizing that he, the headmaster, is so busy with his tasks (like finding Yuu a way home) and will provide them with the funds they need regardless because he is so very kind. He's trying to tug at their heartstrings by pointing out the things he selflessly does for them, so they feel obligated to do something for him in return. Once Yuu agrees to help, he lavishes them with praise and says it is "expected" of someone he personally chose.
But!! I want to add that in the Episode of Octavinelle manga, this same scene is depicted as Crowley threatening to cut their food budget. I'm not sure if this is just a different interpretation (since Yuuta seems to prepare more food than is usually implied in the game; this would explain why their food costs go up significantly) or if Crowley truly was also threatening to cut the budget in the game.
Book 4 — Crowley makes a reasonable request in 4-2; he asks Yuu and Grim to tend to the fire fairies over winter break since it's a task no one else will be present to handle. In exchange, he says he will give them a banquet of tasty foods (which is not an empty promise; in 4-39, the Ramshackle Ghosts tell Yuu and Grim that the headmaster has left them with a ton of food as thanks.
Book 5 — Crowley appears in 5-21 asking that Yuu allow the NRC Tribe to stay at Ramshackle for their month-long training camp. He explains that Vil and Rook are willing to give up their share of the prize money if Yuu agrees to these terms. It is then that Crowley adds that he will help with renovation too, most likely to sweeten the deal with his word.
Book 6 — Crowley does not ask anything of Yuu. He does, however, call in STYX in 6-2 because he becomes concerned about the threat that Grim poses after consuming multiple crystallized blots. After Grim is taken, Crowley instructs Yuu in 6-4 to wait until Grim has recovered and been evaluated by a third party to speak with him again.
Book 7 — Crowley makes no specific requests to Yuu.
You can see in almost all instances that Crowley uses a variety of tactics to get his students to do what he wants them to. He bribes, shames/guilts them, points out very real consequences if the problem at hand is not resolved, and, yes, occasionally makes what can be interpreted as a vague threat. Despite this, the fact remains that he was always nice, not just post-book 4 (in fact, Crowley was also nice during book 4). I don't see the circumstances as "anything before or during book 4 is him being negative and threatening to punish Yuu and anything after book 4 is him being kind and positive to Yuu". In most cases with Yuu, he is offering them something they would want. His go-to strategy isn't threats, it tends to be the promise of a reward.
I wouldn't tie any of Crowley's actions to feeling a sense of remorse or guilt on his own part. While it's true we don't really get to see inside of his head, from what we see of him... this man is utterly shameless. He's willing to resort to emotional manipulation to convince literal children to solve problems that he, the powerful mage and adult, should be dealing with. What's more, he praises himself for Yuu's competence and willingness to step up. That's him placing a lot of faith in his students, and I don't think he feels any guilt in doing this. Why else would he send them into dangerous situations over and over again? He must, to some extent, believe they can already handle themselves just fine, otherwise he's creating tons of legal liabilities for himself by purposefully throwing children of tons of affluent families into the line of fire. Besides, he's a highly skilled mage himself--if any true, TRUE danger were to befall them, surely he could save the day himself. My thought is that he has sort of a "tough love" approach where he tosses his students into the fires and sees how they get out of it in one piece, but it's just presented in a "devil-may-care" way because of his lackadaisical attitude.
Regarding book 4, I personally see Crowley giving his cell phone number as just a means to provide reassurance to Grim and Yuu, since they (especially Grim) are protesting about him seemingly leaving on vacation. It's an empty gesture so he can have his getaway without much of a fuss; I totally believe that Crowley did not ever intend to answer his phone. When he returns in book 5, he's already asking another favor of Yuu, so I get the sense he isn't really bothered by what happened. I would even say that Crowley still has several major appearances in book 5, not that he has made himself scarcer. He appears to ask the favor, appears again to evaluate their performance, and then a third time at the cultural festival to speak with the headmaster of RSA. Crowley gets plenty of screen time here, much more then in books 6 and 7. If he truly felt bad or actively wanted to avoid Yuu, he could easily just tell other students (ie Vil) or even school staff (ghosts, teachers, etc.) to relay the deal for him.
Again, I want to be clear: THIS IS NOT CROWLEY BASHING. The only thing I am expressing in this post is that while I do love this bird-brained goober and think he cares for his students, I don't believe it's done in the conventional sense you're thinking of. Crowley can be selfish and callous and throw his students into danger, and that's okay! Sometimes we want to love a useless man who's trying his best, even if his best is pretty lousy/j
Whew, that was a lot of brain dumping! I hope I properly responded to all your thoughts and that you found this read semi-entertaining~
#twst#twisted wonderland#Dire Crowley#disney twisted wonderland#disney twst#prologue spoilers#book 1 spoilers#book 2 spoilers#book 3 spoilers#book 4 spoilers#book 5 spoilers#book 6 spoilers#book 7 spoilers#Yuu#notes from the writing raven#question#twst character analysis#twst snalysis#twisted wonderland chatacter analysis#twisted wonderland analysis#twst manga#twisted wonderland manga#Yuuta Mito#Mito Yuuta
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The interpersonal conflicts between the two Membrane siblings is an incredibly important part of Invader Zim’s comedy, and also its emotional core and the characterization of these two kids. With Gaz, this tends to be, like, the primary way she interacts with episode plots. For Dib, his interactions with Gaz tend to bring out his more Zim-like traits and are the main refutation for his Terminal Case of Main Character Syndrome.
But, also, I see a lot of assertions about their dynamic in the show that are often… kinda not very accurate? Anything from ‘Gaz beats up Dib on a regular basis’, to ‘all of Gaz’s actions are Perfectly Reasonable' to 'Gaz used to be Perfectly Reasonable and then Season 2 Flanderized her'. So, I think I want to do something a bit more… comprehensive for them.
So here is...
My Big Overview of Dib and Gaz!!
I’m going to try and go over each and every one of their conflicts in the show, go over who was most likely (the most) in the wrong, how the other reacted to it, if there’s an escalation, if it feels consistent with other episodes, how I personally see their motivations… obviously like every analysis of a piece of media it’s going to be at least kinda subjective, so I would love to hear how your view of The Siblings differ from my own - but I’m going to try and be as comprehensive and well-reasoned and balanced as I can be.
"The Nightmare Begins"
Gaz doesn’t get a lot in the first IZ episode, but she does get this!
Gaz: Dib drank the last soda. He will pay!
So, okay, it’s not entirely clear if Gaz has a good reason to be mad at Dib or not. Like, yeah, as we’re going to get to with other episodes - Dib might have a Problem of eating things that belong to Gaz. But the implication here is that this was everyone’s Soda, and she’s just mad that Dib finished it. But like, someone had to drink that last soda at some point, right?
Gaz’s anger could be justified, if, for example, she explicitly asked Dib to leave one last soda for her or if Dib already drank the majority of it… but that's all speculation. From what actually exists in canon (which is just this one line), it seems rather unfair.
But also it doesn’t matter that much, because while Gaz expresses frustration and, like, a desire for horrible vengeance - she (as far as we know, at least) doesn’t really do anything about it. She just gets herself a juice and once Dib comes home she’s just talking to him like normal (that is to say, somewhat derisively, but not openly hostile).
So really, regardless of whether drinking the last soda is a legitimate grievance or not - all Gaz did was express a minor and petty frustration in a kinda melodramatic way without doing anything about it. She didn't even do it to Dib's face!
"Nanozim"
The first proper Gaz episode! And with it, a lot more Dib-Gaz interactions! And the introduction of one of Gaz’s major grievances with her brother… that she finds him annoying.
Dib: Maybe they'll let me host the show. My own episode!
Gaz: I'm only 13 levels away from finishing this game so I either finish the game or make you wish I was never born.
Now, Dib should have the right to be as Weird as he damn pleases. Buuut… Gaz also should have the right to be left alone and Not be Bothered by people she finds grating. So while getting mad at Dib for just existing and doing his thing near her would be unfair, Dib is explicitly trying to talk to her - and she’s got the right to not want to participate in the conversation. Especially if she’s also trying to do her own Thing at the same time.
Note that she only really speaks out when the conversation really turns into stroking Dib’s own ego, that’s when she decides that talking to him is not worth risking her Gamer Time. And, much like with ‘the Nightmare Begins’, despite the harshness of her words - she doesn’t really do anything and Dib doesn’t really react. Making it seem like Gaz is prone to over-dramatic proclamations of vengeance but she doesn’t have much bite.
Hell, when Dib starts shoving his hands in her face while she plays. She’s not aware, or at least she doesn't acknowledge, that his behavior is legitimately out of his control. But all that leads too is… another empty threat and her leaving the living room to get away from him.
Gaz: I'm letting you live this time, Dib, but only because I'm still getting through this last level.
And when she shows up again, we have a bit of a Turnabout! This time, Gaz is the one trying to initiate a conversation and Dib is the one brushing her off so he can focus.
Gaz: Is that Zim? Is this an online game?
Dib: Gaz, please. I need to concentrate.
And actually, in that case, both of them were more ‘justified’. In the sense that at least Gaz was trying to talk to Dib on what she thought was a shared interest - a game he likes and she thinks looks interesting. In contrast to Dib only wanting to talk about something only he is interested in and how great he is and all the praise he’s going to get. And Dib obviously had very good reasons to take the ‘game’ very seriously and choosing to focus over small-talk with his sister.
The problem being that Dib's pride blinds him to the obvious solution of letting his über-gamer sister who can’t be hurt from the inside by Zim take the wheel. From Gaz’s perspective he is actually more reasonable than reality, because she thinks he’s not sharing a cool game he found with her because he want to play it, rather than risking his own life because he feels the need to be the one who best Zim.
And she’s being a bit of a pushy backseat gamer herself, but not really, like, more than standards for lil gaming kids. And she doesn’t actually do anything but ask to play up until Dib is literally unable too. Although she does push him aside.
Then she unknowingly saved his life, and knowingly helped him humiliate Zim. And… should we count Gaz calling the game ‘stupid’ when she thought it was actually very important to Dib as another example of her insulting him? I dunno, all-in-all both Membrane Siblings acted relatively grounded and reasonable in IZ Character Standards. Like, this is pretty standard Mildly Jerkish Sibling Behavior from both of them.
"Parent Teacher Night"
Gaz laughed at Dib when Zim splashed him with punch
Although she also laughed at Dib splashing Zim with punch.
So really, this isn’t really specific antagonism against Dib - she just really finds petty minor acts of assholery funny regardless of who's doing them. Although I guess you can argue that she should 'side' with her brother.
"Dark Harvest"
Yet another classic example of ‘Dib bothers Gaz by ranting about something she doesn’t care about, and Gaz retaliate by being uninterested’
Dib: Incredible! You see Gaz, to defeat my enemy I must study my enemy, then become my enemy, then move in with my enemy, then wear my enemy's clothes then-
Gaz: You're in my light.
There’s not even, like a toothless violent threat here this time, she’s just making it clear that she’s not interested in a way that's kinda rude.
"The Wettening"
Since I am here to discuss the antagonism between Gaz and Dib, I won’t go into much detail into this iconic scene
Outside of it being yet another demonstration of how often Gaz’s threats of physical violence usually seem more like toothless edgelordism than anything you should take seriously.
Gaz: If you wanna keep all your limbs, Zim, you will put me down, you will put me down NOW!
Our actual main focus here (outside of some mild snark from Gaz that Dib didn’t even pay much mind to)
Gaz: I'm leaving with or without you, Dib. Preferably without you.
Is what happens right after that Zim Umbrella Situation - Gaz is all set to actually make her threat a bit more than just talk
And then Dib splashes Zim and Gaz is caught in the ‘crossfire’.
And, y’know, Gaz doesn’t give a shit about Zim and Dib’s rivalry - she doesn’t see Zim as a threat and just sees Dib’s ‘fate of the world’ work as a selfish way to stroke his own ego. So while being splashed by a puddle is a relatively small slight (at least if you’re not Zim), it’s the reasoning and the fact that Dib shows no remorse or even really acknowledges what he did to Gaz that, I think, is what really sets her off.
Gaz: THAT was your fate of the world work!?! Jumping in a puddle!?! You do realize I'm gonna have to destroy you now.
Dib: It was worth it. Score one for the human race! Score nothing for the Zim... thingy race.
Gaz: I will destroy you.
So after this little threat, we don't really see much more antagonism from her outside of the usual snarky comments and general hostility to Dib trying to share his interests with her.
Until after Zim has delivered his ultimate defeat. That is when Gaz also unleashes her revenge.
Throwing a single water balloon at Dib.
This is really one of my favorite Gaz Revenge Moments of the entire show, because on one hand her anger is understandable and her way of getting back at Dib is technically perfectly proportional. He splashed her, she splashed him back. But the timing of when she does it just adds this angle of rubbing salt on Dib’s wounds that just makes it hurts so much more without her actually having to do anything extra.
"Battle-Dib"
Now, this is actually where you can say that there was a shift in Gaz’s character. Because while Dib eating her pizza right out of her hands was undeniably a Dick Move. I think that he clearly knew what he was doing since he did guess at that was what Gaz was upset about (he just couldn’t remember the food right)
Dib: Gaz! Help me! I'm sorry about your tacos or whatever, just help me...
It just feels like Dib thinks that being a ‘hero saving the world from the alien menace’ entitles him to his sister’s pizza, and Gaz - who refuses to see Zim as a legitimate threat to Earth’s existence and/or humanity's freedom - would obviously be enraged by this mindset.
And like, if you frame it as “Dib stole Gaz’s pizza, so she ruined his chances to get a permission slip from their dad”, it wouldn’t actually be all that bad. Again, Gaz doesn’t see Zim as a meaningful threat, and thus she sees Dib’s battles against him not as a heroic duty but a self-indulgent hobby. So she’s just screwing with the stupid thing he does for fun (and his own ego), not anything actually important.
But… the problem is that ‘ruining Dib’s permission slip’ wasn’t a one-and-done thing. In the process of ruining Dib’s attempt to get his permission slip signed, Gaz also got him tasered
And beat up in a variety of interesting ways
And dragged off forcibly by security.
So, like, even from Gaz’s perspective where Dib’s conflicts with Zim just Do Not Matter, this is way past the point that Pizza Vengeance can justify any of this. This is the first time we’ve got not just angry and snarky Gaz who makes a lot of threats but generally acts mean but proportionally so - but legit a ‘will destroy you over the slightest provocation’ Gaz.
Since this is still pretty early in the show's run, I wonder if this shift is just, like, what was always intended for Gaz’s characterization. Like, that from the get-go they wanted her to be this disproportionally vengeful and they just couldn't incorporate her actually fulfilling any of her threats into an episode's plot until then. OR if was an attempt to just make her more involved in episode plots and ‘wackier’ and more flawed (especially since this is a very rare occasion where Gaz doesn’t just deliver a Karmic Punishment, but also suffers one).
Especially, since this ‘change’ doesn’t necessarily stick to all, or even most, or her subsequent appearances.
"Planet Jackers"
Dib: Gaz, there's an alien in the house!
Gaz: You mean besides you?
Really just a tiny and pretty standard interaction, between these two. A snarky and mean-spirited comment against Dib when he bothers her about something she doesn’t see as important and doesn’t want to get involved in. Pretty much the baseline for these two.
"Rise of the Zitboy"
With this one it’s really clear that we’re back to the ‘classic’ Dib-Gaz dynamic despite the 'shift' in 'Battle-Dib'. Like, Gaz is trying to do her own thing, Dib is trying to initiate a conversation about the Thing She Doesn’t Care About (Zim) and she’s just trying her best to Not Engage. Only now, instead of her usual Game Slave, it’s a book!
If anything this is toned-down from her baseline, since she doesn’t even say anything mean or threatening, she just tries as hard as possible to ignore him and hopes he gets the hint (he does not).
"Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy"
Gaz is shown exacerbated by her brother’s actions during the first flashback, but outside of a light snarky comment to herself she doesn’t really do anything.
Gaz: Not again.
Now back in the present, we see a sort of inversion of the Dib-Gaz conflicts of “the Nightmare Begins” and “Battle-Dib” by having Dib complain to Gaz about her eating something he wanted to eat!
Dib: Hey Gaz, did you eat all the cereal? I was gonna have this for breakfast tomorrow, you know!
Gaz: You think you own all the cereal. Well, you know what Dib? You don't. You just don't.
Dib: Look, all I'm saying is if you're going to--
If the implication in these two previous episodes is that Dib eating Gaz’s food is a regular occurrence - then she is pretty justified by acting so appalled by his comment. It’s just plain selfish hypocrisy! Or… maybe this scene implies that the Membrane Siblings ‘stealing’ food from each other and getting angry at the other for doing this is something that they both do regularly. Which, like…okay, finishing a shared box of cereal before the second person could is still not anywhere near snatching a pizza a person was planning to eat right out of their fucking hand. But at the very least it makes both her reaction to Dib finishing the soda and her defensiveness here feel a lot less justified.
And then when the time-shift happened…Well, I’ve seen some people suggest that Gaz’s non-hostile and even, like, kinda-audibly-concerned reaction to Dib’s questions about his past accidents suggest that in this timeline Gaz is a lot kinder to her poor injured brother.
Gaz: Tricycle accident when you were 3, don't you remember?
And while this is a plausible explanation. (It’s especially consistent with her ‘Enter the Florpus’ characterization. She says she’s Mean to her brother because she knows he’s strong enough to take it, but obviously Piggy Timeline Dib is not strong enough to take it).
But I don’t actually think it’s a needed explanation. Like, even at her most extreme and petty - Gaz has always been mean in reaction to Dib. Whatever it’s just being Annoying at her or stealing her food right off her hands, and whatever this reaction is proportional to the slight or totally vengeful and unreasonable - Gaz’s meanness is almost always directed at Dib as a reaction to something. So I don’t think it’s that unthinkable for Prime Timeline Gaz to also react so amiably to Dib asking her a question that she doesn’t find horribly obnoxious.
Especially since even in the Piggy timeline, Gaz is still not beyond wanting to ignore Dib
Gaz: Dib, shhh. They're gonna show the bats eating a cow!
Or go for a snarky comment when he offers her an obvious opening.
Dib: And have my plans always been this lame?
Gaz: Ooooh yeah.
Although it is maybe notable that the second Past Sequence where she is present
Is actually the closest we see of Gaz express, like, genuine concern when her brother is bodily harmed. Which is notable compared to other episodes, including…
"Bloaty's Pizza Hog"
Now, here’s a Real Proper Gaz Focus Episode, and as such, it’s naturally very important to her characterization.
First things first, it’s the one to explicitly establish the fact that Gaz does not see Zim as a threat and therefore she sees Dib’s obsession with defeating him not as a serious world-saving undertaking, but as a frivolous hobby on kinda the same level as Dib sees her video-game obsession.
Dib: Don't you care that Zim's trying to destroy all mankind? Huh?
Gaz: But he's so bad at it.
And that perspective, of course, informs a lot of my analysis of Gaz’s behavior through the post even before we got to this episode. I think it’s actually pretty interesting because you can totally see the internal logic that justifies that perspective - Zim is often the main person throwing a wrench into his own plans, and Dib’s motivations for positioning himself as a hero standing against his evil are partially self-serving (something that’s very easy for Gaz to see since she’s lived with him trying to play out self-aggrandizing fantasies all of her life).
But from our wider perspective as the audience, we know that sometimes Zim can be a genuine threat to the people of Earth (if not legitimately dangerously close to destroying/conquering it, at least causing a lot of localized havoc and mayhem with his schemes) and that Dib’s efforts of stopping him are not entirely in-vain, and that his reasons are… not entirely just fueled by his own ego. And from Dib’s own biased perspective Zim is always a threat just one step from destroying all mankind if not for Dib's intervention which is obviously Altruistic and Heroic. So it’s very much a matter of their different perspectives and views of the Zim-Dib rivalry causing further conflicts between the two siblings.
I mean, on a smaller scale that is why Gaz is so upset whenever Dib is bothering her when she’s trying to do something for fun. You know, kinda like here-
Both of these activities, fighting aliens and drawing little piggies, are equally frivolous in her eyes. But by constantly distracting her with talks about the Stupid Shit He Does for Fun Dib is kinda putting his silly hobbies as more important than her silly hobbies and thus his own needs above her own - which is what always gets her so upset. (But again, upset, but not doing anything but be a Bit Creepy About It).
But of course, the interesting thing about this episode is that this time, Dib’s Frivolous Hobby isn’t just interrupting Gaz’s Frivolous Hobby - it’s actually interrupting something a lot more important and with much more urgent stakes. Family Dinner Night.
Gaz: You know Dad's taking us out tonight. I picked Bloaty's.
Dib: This is bigger than pizza, Gaz! This is the fate of all mankind!
Gaz: You and your mankind...
Dib: Uh-huh. Whatever. Look, if I'm not home in time, call this number and tell them the Mothman is caught in the spider's web.
Dib: They'll know what you mean. But, like I said, I'll probably be back before the Mysteries theme song starts.
Even after being told that dad is taking them to dinner… I think Gaz is very much trying to imply “this is important to me, don’t mess it up” without being directly, emotionally honest about it. And Dib’s just totally not even considering it. Like yeah, from his perspective he is going on an Important Heroic Mission that must be worth anything else he could be doing with his time, but... he is also primarily worried about not missing his favorite TV Show and reduces the idea of Family Dinner Night to just 'pizza'.
And like, this is a very complicated family situation, isn’t it? It is understandable if Dib isn’t gang-ho about having dinner with his dad, considering what their relationship is like. And maybe the fact that he couldn’t take Gaz’s hint about this being Very Important to Her isn’t, like, entirely up to his sense of self-absorption but also to his general social inaptitude (and his Autistic Swag). But I can also understand why this is so important to Gaz and why she would still read Dib’s behavior as just pure selfishness and part of a pattern of disregarding her feelings.
(There's certainly some sort of Funky Neverending Loop of, like, Dib disregards Gaz's feelings, Gaz expresses her feelings about it in the most repressed, abrasive and/or mean way possible, Dib continues to Not Get It and disregard Gaz's feelings. Like, how much is Dib Not Getting It the fault of Gaz always letting out her feelings in exclusively in the form of snarky comments and edgy threats and how much has Gaz learned to express herself in this way as a coping mechanism due to Dib always walking over her wants and needs? It's hard to say)
So when Dib ignores (from her POV of the situation. Again, maybe Dib just legit missed the subtext) her honest desire to spend time with their dad for a change, she first reacts by… trying to abandon Dib. Instead of calling the Swollen Eyeballs as backup for him, she just destroys the number and tries to go to dinner without him.
Which… okay, this can be a dick move which is kinda way out of proportions of what Dib actually did. But remember that Gaz’s perspective refuses to see Zim as a threat. So she doesn’t see it necessarily as abandoning Dib to death, but just as an inconvenience. He’ll get out eventually on his own, he’s ‘strong enough to take it’, and that means she doesn’t need to bother with lending him a hand. “Well, if he doesn’t care about Family Night Out then he doesn’t get to go. And also he doesn’t get to watch his stupid ass show!”. Like she was thinking about it as wasting his time and not necessarily leaving him to die.
But also, like, this episode goes to great lengths to establish that Gaz is only saving Dib for the sake of her getting to eat dinner with her dad for once, and not out of concern for him. And while she might not believe Zim is actually capable of killing him, she is also pretty blasé about the idea that he’ll be harmed or tortured… unless it interferes with Bloaty’s with dad, of course.
Look at her big ol’ eyes, it’s not just an ‘eh, he can get himself out on his own’ mindset - she was looking forward to seeing him suffer horribly!
Dib himself is still being kind of a Jerk throughout the episode, even in an emergency he’s still thinking about how his little sneak-in plan will affect him in the most superficial ways.
Dib: There you are, Gaz! Looks like you'll have to tape the show for me, I made it in!
Dib: Gaz, make sure you don't record over any old episodes.
Like, this isn't even a 'Dib thinks saving the world is more important than Family Dinner Night. But Gaz doesn't think the world is actually in danger so think this is just frivolous ego stroking even though we know Zim can be a genuine danger and Dib's goals are at least kinda genuinely heroic' thing when you consider these lines. Even in a dangerous situation where the world is at stake, Dib can still find the brainspace to worry about his silly TV show but not about the possibility he'd deny his sister the precious little time they have to spend with their dad.
You can argue that trying to stop Zim is actually more important than Family Dinner Night and Dib is in the right. But Dib's dialogue also puts Mysterious Mysteries as being more important than Family Dinner Night. Because that at least gets some sort of acknowledgement from him. Gaz's only chance to go to her favorite restaurant with her favorite person in the world doesn't even get a "sorry, Gaz, but I have an Important Duty to do!", he just totally ignores it.
And generally through the episode he's ignoring and understating Gaz’s desires - even after she did actually told him right to his face what she wants.
Gaz: Come home now, Dib! Your weird obsessions are not gonna mess today up for me. I just want to go out and eat with Dad, that's all! Stop playing with Zim and get back here.
Gaz: All I want is to have some pizza...hang out with Dad, and not have your weirdness mess up my day.
So at this point this stops being some sort of misunderstanding and really starts seeming more like Dib not even trying to understand his sister’s motivations.
Dib: Come on, Gaz! You'd sacrifice the entire planet just for some pizza!?!
Which… makes sense as something that will aggravate her, especially in regards to something as emotionally important as getting to hang out with her father for once. But still, letting him get tortured is, like, maybe a tad disproportionate as an outlet for these frustrations?
But I think it's still notable that while the angle of disproportionate response to technically-legitimate-grievances is similar, in contrast to her very active acts of sabotage back in “Battle-Dib”, she only really ‘gets back’ at Dib here through inaction when Zim is hurting him (and maybe being a bit abrasive to Dib during her rescue, but Dib was also a very annoying rescuee so that one I think does kinda balances out.)
"Bolognius Maximus"
Okay, back to the simpler and shorter interactions now. We once again see Dib initiate ‘conversations’ with Gaz about subjects she finds annoying and uninteresting.
Dib: They try and say it's just a regular mountain range on the Martian surface, and it's just a trick of the light, but come on! It is so a monkey face.
And this time all Gaz does is casually ignore him.
When things start getting odd with the dogs and all, she only reacts with a snarky comment. But at this point it’s not even entirely clear to Dib that something very very wrong is happening. So I dunno who would expect Gaz to be worried about this?
Now, later in the episode, when Dib is very obviously turning into a bologna, Gaz still doesn’t give a shit.
Which I think actually matches up very well with her ‘Zim is not a threat, none of the things he’s doing/planning to do will actually pan out’ outlook. Like, lowkey she is pretty sure that this new Wacky Zim Scheme is gonna go up in flames and return everything to normal so there’s no need for her concern or interest and she can just casually enjoy the free bologna. Which is actually a fun character beat because usually the show leans toward Gaz’s attitude being kinda right - but this time she was very much in the wrong.
And like, if 'Bloaty's Pizza Hog' gave me a chance to talk about how Dib's tendency to see the Inherent Importance of everything he is interested in over any of Gaz's needs and desires might not just be a difference in perspective or miscommunication but also has an element of trying to rationalize his own selfishness - I think it's only fair for me to note this can also go the other way around.
It's easy to see Gaz's total dismissal of Zim's threat potential as just her being... you know, grounded and rational enough to see things as they are. But there might be her own emotional bias in play in here motivated by her own resentment with her brother and her own selfish desire to totally ignore and disregard him. Maybe on some level, she just can't allow anything that Dib cares about to be actually worth paying attention to, even when it seems to be literally life-threatening?
"Game Slave 2"
Obviously this episode has a lot of Gaz content, some that can invite a lot of discussion about how proportionate or disproportionate her reactions are - but we are going to focus specifically on her interactions with Dib, of course. Starting with…
Dib: Come on! Bigfoot would never say that!
Gaz: Why do you have to read that in here? I'm trying to play a game!
Dib: Mysterious Mysteries is on in five minutes!
This is actually really the first time where Gaz is directly, explicitly annoyed by Dib just sort of being around here. Usually her exasperation is fueled by him trying to talk to her about all kinds of Alien Stuff she just doesn’t care about, or trying to drag her into his world-saving adventures against her will, or stealing her food - but here is just doing His Own Thing in her vicinity. Like, the living room is a Shared Space, he has just as much of a right to hang out there as Gaz does.
If anything, he has more of a right to be there since he’s waiting for his show to come on while Gaz is playing her handheld video game. So if Dib reading his magazine and complaining that Bigfoot Would Not Fucking Say That is bothering her so much - then she should probably just go to her room. Then again, she doesn’t do much other than verbally complain once and it was probably more about venting out her frustrations about the game than Dib himself.
But then…
Dib: I've been waiting all night to see this! She can wait to get her stupid game!
Prof. Membrane: Son, video games develop hand eye coordination, and make kids into better human beings!
Dib: Okay... But only after the show is over.
Gaz: You stink!
So on some level this is just the same sort cycle of conflict that is always going around these two. Both of them prioritize their own hobbies (and this time it IS Dib’s hobby, there’s not much subjectivity around this. This isn’t about saving the human race from anyone’s point of view, just about a show he wants to watch) and thinks the other one is frivolous and selfish for caring about their hobbies more. But also… in this specific context Dib is the One Being a Dick.
Just like before I sided with Dib because Gaz can play the game in her room…. We know the Membranes have a way to record shows on their TV. That came up in literally the previous episode! Dib could’ve just set his VCR to record and ‘Mysterious Mysteries’ will be waiting for him when he gets back from the mall - but Gaz’s console launch is an actual time sensitive matter. (Plus ‘Mysterious Mysteries’ is aired on, like, a weekly basis. Consoles do not release in this frequency).
So Gaz had every reason to be upset with Dib when they did get to the mall and see, like Gaz and any Gamer watching could’ve predicted, that a-half-an-hour delay in getting to the big launch event can screw up a lot.
Dib: It was a… really good episode…
And maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Dib’s reaction also feels pretty telling. You know, instead of giving Gaz any sort of apology, he’s being defensive by saying that hey, at least the MM episode was worth it? Like it is still kinda centering his interests and desires over Gaz’s.
And Gaz’s retaliation for it is…honestly relatively mild?
Gaz: Hey, Dib. I think I saw a Chupacabra or something going into that parking garage.
Dib: A Chupacabra? But there isn't a goat to feed on for miles!
She just gets him out of her way so she can be left alone in line in peace, and probably hoping to waste his time on the fake Chupacabra - a tit-for-tat revenge for getting her time wasted. Which… okay, it’s unclear if she knew about how large and labyrinthine the mall’s parking lot actually was and about, you know, the colony of horrible rat people. But still, Dib was already out of the building by the time Gaz finished Murdering a Fellow Child.
At worst, he wasted like a couple of hours that he didn’t have any specific plans for anyways.
Really, since this episode gives us a glimpse into how Gaz deals with People She Finds Annoying Who Are Not Dib... it actually kinda gives the impression that Gaz... like, not just that she doesn't hate Dib specifically and will aim a similar amount of ire at any random person who annoys her in a similar way. But also maybe that she goes easy on Dib, compared to how she delt with Iggins. Which is... probably the closest we'll get in this entire journey to an indication that Gaz has any level of care towards Dib.
"Battle of the Planets"
Dib: DAD! Gaz! Come see this!
Professor Membrane: Please! No more foolishness, son!
Gaz: Your voice is stupid!
Dib tries to get Gaz involved in something she doesn’t care about, she insults him. Pretty standard.
"Mysterious Mysteries"
Okay, so, the first thing I want to note is the lil’ babies scene.
It seems like a really inconsequential gag but this is actually, like, an extremely rare occurrence of Gaz being mean to Dib without anything even resembling a provocation. Like, at least in that little scene at the start of ‘Game Slave 2’ she was venting because of her frustrations with the game and it was just a light grumble. This is really like the most classic inarguable example of Gaz bullying Dib.
Especially when compared to both her version of the Story and her general behavior in the ‘present day’ of the episode. Like, is portraying Dib in her version of the story as a barely coherent moron kind of Mean? Yeah, sure it was. But is it any more insulting to the actual person that it’s depicting than Dib depicting Gaz as his helpless adoring sidekick? Especially as her interview implies that she did find Dib’s version of events legitimately insulting in it's inaccuracy?
Gaz: My stupid brother did drag me out to look for stupid Zim. He didn't make that part up.
Maybe Gaz deliberately exaggerated Dib’s (and Zim’s) stupidity in her version of the story out of spite of how Dib framed her on national TV. Maybe just like Dib seemed to be genuinely under the belief that his version of Gaz is a decent reflection of reality, Gaz literally just thinks of Dib as this stupid and annoying. Either way, it’s a really an equally-matched kind of sibling assholery.
Also, speaking of Gaz’s version of events... obviously it’s not entirely clear what really happened - but I do think, when it comes to like characterization and the general tone of Invader Zim, Gaz's retelling is at least pretty reliable on two fronts; why she was there-
And why did the video cut out when it did.
So while Dib’s interactions with Gaz had that undercurrent of, like, him always putting his own interests above her own for a long time - this really is the most obvious example. Literally forcibly dragging her out of whatever she was doing for the sake of getting an extra ‘eyewitness’ to his video. And so she responded with a little force of her own.
Again, this is all from Gaz’s story, and she does tend to give out exaggerated threats of violence that she doesn’t always carry out - so I don’t think it’s out of the question for her to also retroactively make up/exaggerate the acts of violence she commits. But since this kick in the shins is by far the most probable cause for the video cutting out that we have, I am going to assume that it did happen in reality on some level. And it is a very notable example of Gaz actually inflicting direct physical violence on Dib - until now, her preferred methods of inflicting pain on him were a lot less direct.
And while kicking people in the shins is wrong, it was still in reaction to Dib forcibly dragging her along - which was probably a lot less painful, but also took a lot more time. You can argue this still follows a sort of tit-for-tat logic that a lot of Gaz's retaliations do... but also, with Gaz's second scene in this episode literally being the most Unambiguous Case of her being Mean to Dib for Now Reason
In this episode more than anything, it might be fair to assume Gaz just wanted to hurt Dib and humiliate him on National TV and there's nothing more to it.
(Also, of course, Gaz refusing to corroborate Dib’s story is one of the main reasons why he failed in that episode. But as I mentioned many times before, Gaz refuses to see that rivalry as anything serious or with more stakes than her video games. In her mind, this is about as bad, or maybe even less bad, then dragging her out to waste time by participating in this stupid show in the first place.)
"Future Dib"
Okay, so most of the other Gaz and “Dib” interactions in this episode kinda follow a unified-if-winding thread of thought so I want to start with the one that I have kind of a separate Point about:
While Gaz’s reaction was very disproportionate and unnecessarily violent, I think it’s also interesting to note that the thing that set her off was “Dib” putting his hand around her. It’s actually part of a recurring implied piece of characterization that Gaz hates being touched.
Dib: Everyone, hold hands again.
Gaz: Yeah! Your lives depend on it!
Poonchy: Okay! Hold my hand.
Gaz: No way! Be serious!
Since Dib very very rarely ever touches Gaz, and, y’know, has known her all of her life - avoiding physical touch is probably an established boundary between them. So while that doesn’t fully justify the intensity of Gaz’s reaction, that does explain both why that set her off so much and why that’s really the moment where she starts to notice “Dib” is really acting strangely. He was really violating a boundary that he should’ve known by now.
(Going back for a sec, actually, her ‘dramatic re-enactment’ in Mysterious Mysteries also has the Dib Actor dragging the Gaz Actor by the arm. So that’s probably another reason why Gaz reacted kinda violently then as well)
So Gaz giving out more edgelordy threats to (who she thinks is) Dib is pretty standard at this point, but there is something very unique about it in this episode. This is the first time since ‘Battle-Dib’ where she actively acts on these threats to such a literal degree. And this is also combined with the ‘Mysterious Mysteries’ trend of being much more directly violent.
Like, Gaz explicitly only realized she was dealing with a Dib Robot Replica after choking it out so hard it’s eye popped out. All of this violence and pain, she was intending to inflict it on the real Dib. This is about as bad or maybe worse than everything she put Dib through back in ‘Battle-Dib’. And she's doing it with her own two hands this time.
Plus, the reason that she’s reacting like this isn’t because Dib was stealing her Pizza or being generally inconsiderate to her - it’s really just for being weird and annoying (which, in this context, means ‘start to scream randomly and freak out’). So that feels a lot less justified.
Then, of course, her reaction to finding out that she has been beating up a robot half-to-death is to use it as a replacement for her brother. Which has several different implications going on here about Gaz’s relationship to Dib:
First things first, I want to note that this episode ends with the implication that Gaz left Dib to be stuck in that cell for, like, the rest of his life until he died of old age or something?
I mean, yeah, obviously it is a ‘non canon’ jokey ending that gets totally ignored by the next episode. But the way I always took these snapback ending is as, like, obviously they probably didn’t actually happen in whatever passes for ‘canon’ in Invader Zim - but the events are still indicative of what would’ve happened in terms of worldbuilding and character actions. So while this episode isn’t telling us that Dib has literally died of old age after spending his entire life being beat up by a monkey for Zim’s amusement. This episode is telling us that if that did happen, Gaz would make no effort to save him, ever.
This is notable because of how it contrasts with the previous episodes, or at least my interpretation of them. Like I said, my assumption has always been that Gaz doesn’t care about the Zim-Dib rivalry and sees it as frivolous nonsense because she doesn’t see Zim as a threat. And thus, her general refusal to help her brother was less about outright hatred of him and waiting to see him gone/hurt, and more about just thinking he can handle that walking joke on his own and there’s no need for her to waste her Precious Gaming Time on this.
This is very much supported by ‘Enter the Florpus’, both in what Gaz literally tells Dib right to his face and in the sense that when Zim does prove to be a credible threat to her world and to her family - she joins forces with her brother with minimal complaints. But of course, ETF Characterization don’t always apply to 2001 Series Characterization so while I prefer this reading partially because it allows ETF Gaz to feel more consistent with Main Show Gaz - I also I feel that Main Show has enough implications to point to this characterization and motivations on it’s own and I want to draw attention to it.
But here… this is Gaz theoretically ignoring Dib’s plight for literal decades. At this point this isn’t something that can be explained as ‘she doesn’t think she needs to bother with it’. Like, at some point it should’ve been clear to her that even if Zim isn’t a threat to Earth, he is certainly torturing Dib somewhere. This really seems to be direct evidence toward the idea that Gaz just doesn’t not like her brother at all and wishes that he was gone.
And also I want to discuss what exactly Gaz turned the Robot Dib into - an abusable servant. Something that fulfills her needs while passively enduring her random acts of cruelty.
So… is this what she would like Dib to be? Like, maybe I’m just looking at it from the totally wrong angle. Maybe it’s just a matter of ‘well, if you have a Robot Servant, you’d obviously want it to serve you. And if you’re an angsty preteen with anger issues, you’d like to have something vaguely human-shaped but non-sapient to take your frustrations on’. Maybe it’s got nothing to do with Dib. But… like, this Robot is still Dib-Shaped. So I feel like the implication is that she’s using Robot Dib as a proxy of what she would also do with Dib if he was, like, mind-controlled or something?
And that’s… not really the vibe I’ve gotten from Gaz’s interactions with Dib so far? I mean, maybe I won’t go as far as to say that she actually likes him - but I thought about it more in the sense that she just wanted Dib to leave her alone most of the time. That for her an ideal situation would be more if he did his own thing and she did her own thing without his ‘weirdness’ barging in and bothering her all the time.
This is just really… I think that might be the ‘Meanest’ Gaz has ever been in my book. Like I know that there’s Another Certain Episode that people often put up as “The One Where Gaz is Really Mean to Dib” but I think that it's more Complicated than some people give it credit for. So, like, I’ll get there when I get there. But here we actually have the Gaz who physically attacks Dib over the slightest provocation and, like, actively hates him.
It’s really one of those things that make me, like, kinda question my analysis so far. I mean, is this meant to be another attempt to shift Gaz’s character because meaner and more violent characters are more fun and wacky to write? Is it just a matter of the IZ writers prioritizing wacky escalation and cartoon violence and Dib suffering over giving Gaz consistent motivations? Or have I been just totally overly generous in my analysis so far? Like, maybe I was totally off the mark trying to look at which of Dib's actions seem to set Gaz off?Maybe we were supposed to understand that Gaz was always beating Dib to a pulp off-screen since the start?
But... I dwelled on these thoughts for a while and I think that my usual read of Gaz’s character is maybe not consistent with this episode, but it is consistent with a majority of the episodes she was featured in. Which is not something I can necessarily say for a reading that just centers ‘Future-Dib’ above all else. This level of physical violence here is still very unusual for her, even in episodes where she is more cruel to Dib.
(And the idea that she just legit hates her brother and wishes he was gone… honestly, yeah, that can go either way...)
"Abducted"
Especially considering this is the very next episode with any sort of Dib-Gaz interaction!
Gaz just walking off while Dib is being, well, abducted can work pretty well if you assume that Gazthinks that obviously whatever is flying this thing
Is some sort of incompetent idiot and she doesn’t need to bother with the annoyance of saving Dib because he can handle it on his own (and she would probably be right).
But… it can also work just as well if you assume she doesn’t give a shit about Dib and would be happy if he’s gone forever.
"Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom"
Dib: How I am I still the only one who sees Zim's an alien? I mean, come on! Come on! COME ON!
Gaz: Why do you have to have a head?
Dib: Gaz! I want you to see this. Today, things are gonna change. I'm gonna do… something! I'm not just gonna sit back and watch Zim get away with his… his… things he do!
Dib: I mean—
Gaz: "Things he "DO"? What's your problem?
And we’re back to Gaz not being directly violent or even threatening violence, but just being snarky in a kinda mean way. Still, there’s maybe less of the justification for her exacerbation with Dib this time. Because this time he wasn't technically bothering her at all! Dib was lecturing another kid before she started insulting him. I think the implication was that she felt he was embarrassing her, but I still feel like that's a lot less justified.
Still, it’s not like her words seem to significantly hurt Dib, and she is at least able to share a laugh about Zim’s ridiculous behavior with him. (although with ‘Parent-Teacher Night’, there is also the implication that she would’ve also laughed at Dib in any sort of inverted scenario).
"Tak: The Hideous New Girl"
So for Dib and Gaz’s first interaction in this episode, we have this:
And well, kinda like the ‘Wonderful Life of Doom’ interaction, what Gaz does here is pretty mild in the grand scheme of things- but her reasoning also feels not very justified.
I mean, yeah, she was annoyed by the sound of them yelling, that sucks. But Dib has a right to yell in the shared living space of his own house. But… also, I suspect that she sprayed him with the soda less as a punishment for being annoying and more as a direct result of what he said just before.
Dib: Thanks, Gaz. He was really…
She wanted to make it clear that she was not shooing Zim out to help him. She did it for her own sake. Because Dib keeps making this mistake of thinking of Gaz as his sidekick and that her goals and wants align with his and obviously that causes her a lot of exasperation and wasted time. So I think she was more lashing out at this hypothetical future scenario than just Dib annoying her in the present.
Next up, we have the scene by the Evil Weenie Stand.
Gaz: Be quiet. I wanted to let you know that my brother is trying to break into this building through some secret entrance.
Weenie Clerk: We... we have chili beans.
Gaz: I just though it'd be funny to see him get beaten up by security.
So, Gaz actively trying to get Dib grievously injured just because it’s funny is actually... kind of an unusual thing for her. Like, as I’ve said previously, she’s usually a very reactive character. Even when her actions are at their most disproportionate and least justifiable, they are usually at least somewhat motivated by Dib’s actions… unless the implication is that the reason why she’s here in the first place is because Dib dragged her out here to be his lookout and she's looking at a way to get back at him for that.
That scenario feels most likely to me, and obviously that wouldn't justify ratting out Dib and enjoying his pain - to me it's kinda on the same level as getting Dib tasered and dragged off by security for stealing her Pizza... But also it's notable that this time, she actually gives up on the idea pretty quickly. If you wanna be charitable to Gaz, you can say she wasn't really serious about the security thing and was just making an edgelordy joke and honestly... with her characterization, I think it could go either way...
Interestingly, once she gets a decent look at Tak and her plans, Gaz becomes a lot more cooperative. I mean, she still grumbles about the idea of saving the Earth. But, like, she doesn’t argue when Dib says the disk is ‘theirs’ when she was the one who found it and she doesn't put up any resistance about joining Dib in seeing Zim’s base. Compared to how previously she’d at best be really abrasive about it and at worst would have tried to actively sabotage Dib and/or cause him physical pain as revenge for prioritizing himself and wasting her time.
That works very well with the idea that Gaz’s whole problem with Dib’s obsession is that she just doesn’t see Zim as a threat. Obviously after coming face-to-face with Tak, she can see she is much more of a Legitimate Threat to Earth than Zim is. So even if she’s not necessarily emotionally invested in saving the world, she can tolerate it a lot better if she can see that it is indeed something more than Dib’s extremely self-indulgent ego-stroking hobby.
"Backseat Drivers From Beyond the Stars"
Gaz finds Dib annoying, Gaz goes to vent to her dad about it, Gaz is told to give her brother another chance, Gaz finds Dib annoying again and just leaves. This is a very Mild Gaz compared to what we had in the previous few episodes, closer to my initial read of her. Like, she doesn’t even insult Dib to his face this time. She finds him annoying, so she leaves!
"Dibship Rising"
Well, I… have made the decision to not discuss Gaz’s attempt to destroy all mankind in length, even though Dib is, in fact, technically part of ‘all mankind’. I just think this scene is more about her relationship with her dad then it is about Dib.
Gaz: That didn't wipe out all life as we know it! YOU LIED TO ME, DAD!!
The actual crux of Dib and Gaz’s interactions in this episode are once again - Dib’s obsession with halting the Irken Invasion of Earth has led him to also inconvenience Gaz (this time, by causing a lot of noise and being late to dinner), and Gaz is, like, mildly abrasive as a result and ignores him a lot.
"The Voting of the Doomed"
Dib: Willy's a drooling moron! As sole defender of Earth, I've got to do something!
Gaz: I wish Willy was my brother.
Yet another case of Gaz insulting Dib unprompted (since he was talking to himself rather than to her. She just happened to be within listening range.) And also another implication that her problem with her brother is that he’s embarrassing? I think that’s how we’re supposed to read that line? "Willy would be a better brother than you cause he's less embarrassing!"
"Gaz, Taster of Pork"
Okay, now this is the big one. This is the episode that I’ve seen a lot of people in the fandom cite as being, like, the One Where Gaz is Really Cruel to Dib. And, like, I’m not gonna pretend like Dib doesn’t suffer a Lot in this episode (maybe even past the point that I find it particularly funny to rewatch) - but also the dynamic going on is a bit more complicated than just ‘cruelty’?
Because this is also probably also the episode where Dib is at his most asshole to Gaz as well. I mean, he literally used her as a guinea pig (... pun not intended) to experiment with a spell he thought might be beneficial but was worried about the consequences for himself if it wasn’t… but apparently did not extend that worry to his sister - and thus, the entire conflict of this episode. Like Gaz is entirely in the right to be mad about being ‘blessed’ with Pig-Sense without her consent. Both with Dib’s false narrative about wanting to give her superpowers for her own sake
Dib: No! I only did it to give you super powers because you're the greatest sister ever!
And when she does actually learn the truth.
Dib: cast the spell on her because I wanted to see what it would do before trying it on myself!
Like, maybe that doesn’t perfectly justify taking and destroying Dib’s personal property, or potentially shoving mashed potatoes into his eyes, or repeatedly threatening him with her man-eating plushies, or encouraging a Pig Demon to punish him in some terrible supernatural Pig Demon way...
(While it would certainly be too much to ask Gaz to forgive Dib on the spot and advocate for him when she just found out he’s been lying about his motivations all along and used her as a guinea pig. The dialogue implications of this scene is that the Shadow Hog wouldn’t have done anything to Dib without Gaz’s encouragement.)
It's still important to remember that what Dib did to her was pretty terrible on it's own and was entirely unprovoked!
Then there are a few other factors to consider here, like Gaz’s constant violent threats towards Dib. Which I usually just chalk up to being edgelordy venting unless there is a clear indication of Gaz acting or considering acting on them (like with the mashed potatoes example above) because in most episodes Gaz is mostly all-talk and Dib usually does not take them seriously. But here… although we don’t see Gaz do even like a quarter of what she threatened to do to Dib - we do see Dib acting as if the threats are 100% real and serious.
Zim: I'm going to destroy you all, Dib! Today! I've got it all set up.
Dib: Uh huh, that's nice, Zim. It can't be worse than what my sister's gonna do.
Which does make them feel a lot more 'concrete’ than in most episodes. Like maybe she would’ve beaten him up if they did fail to cure her or if the Shadow Hog wasn’t there to offer an Alternative Punishment Method for him?
But like… I think it’s closer to a proportional response than getting him tasered for stealing pizza or literally beating (a robot she thought was) him with her own two hands because he yelled in an annoying way? Like, what Dib did was really shitty and Gaz has a right to be upset about that on some level!
Then there is the other complicating factor - Membrane. Like, while Dib was Not Having a Good Time in that episode - up until that last sequence with the Shadow Hog, Gaz was suffering a lot more for a much longer period of time. The ‘Pig Mouth’ curse has cost her not just her ability to eat most foods but also most of her hobbies, her freedom, her privacy, her dignity. And it’s clear that she blames Dib - the catalyst of this whole event - for everything that has stemmed from it.
Gaz: You will pay, Dib! You will pay!
But even though what Dib did was certainly a Dick Move… like, it is Membrane and his scientist team that really did the worst by Gaz. Dib only turned to his dad out of a sincere belief he could help, Membrane was the one who decided to announce Gaz’s condition to the world and quarantined her for life and sold the rights to make a goddam movie out of her.
So if Gaz is lashing out at the mistreatment she suffered throughout this episode, she should be at least just as mad at her father as she is with her brother, right? But instead she seems to be totally chill with him, just eating pizza together. Even though his apology for her is honestly as shitty and self-justifying as anything Dib would’ve come up with.
Professor Membrane: Sorry about imprisoning you and turning you into a media freak, honey! It was in the name of science and... hey, where's your brother?
So I think that might imply that Gaz has a massive bias against her brother, causing her to channel a lot of unrelated frustrations just at him.
…Or maybe more likely a massive bias in favor of her dad. You know, she does love him a lot - to the point that ‘getting to actually spend time with him’ is like one of the few things that can get her motivated to get Involved in an episode’s plot. And she also has some serious reasons to be frustrated with him (in this episode especially, but also outside of it). And instead of trying to, like, untangle the complicated contrasting emotions she feels about her dad (a process which would be complicated and hard for anyone, but especially for an extremely emotionally repressed 11 years old), she just channels all of the negative ones unto Dib whenever possible.
Which, like, doesn’t make blaming Dib for things he didn’t actually do more justifiable, but it does make her motivations for doing so more complex than just “idk she hates Dib like everyone else does”
"The Most Horrible X-mas Ever"
And our very last Dib-Gaz conflict for the post! (I didn’t expect it to run this long I swear) Starring Bitey the Vampire!
Dib: You stare at that dog every Christmas, Gaz! Come on, already! It's creepy.
Gaz: Three Christmases ago, that dog ate the head off Bitey the Vampire! You said so yourself! I haven't forgotten.
Dib: Well, fixing an alien spaceship is hard enough without you distracting me.
The interesting thing about this conflict is how similar it is to ‘Gaz, Taster of Pork’. We once again have Dib being an inconsiderate dick to Gaz for the sake of an experiment and then lying about it to try and avoid her ire, knowing that her reaction would be both violent and extreme. Just this time instead of Gaz herself, it’s her treasured sentimental possession.
Dib: Okay, Gaz. I think it's time I told you. The dog's innocent! I used Bitey the Vampire for a teleporter experiment and switched his head onto a fly's body!
Which, you know, at least he isn't overriding Gaz's bodily anatomy this time but... like... Dib must've had so many other options for his 'Teleporter Experiment'! I guess that without specific details we can't know for sure, but I really can't think of any real justification why he would have to use his sister's doll for this experiment and not one of his own toys or even, like, buy something cheapo from the dollar store or something? Maybe you can come up with some explanation of why it had to be Bitey, but it really feels like another demonstration of Dib's thoughtlessness and inconsideration.
I almost wonder, if, y’know, the show wasn’t cut so short - if this was a deliberate attempt to emphasize this aspect of the Dib-Gaz dynamic for the episodes going forwards. You know, give some more justification and context to Gaz’s anger at Dib - even as her responses to it continue to escalate.
Although I guess beating Dib up like that in retaliation to ruining one of her beloved childhood toys and then lying about it for years isn’t like… the most disproportionate thing Gaz has done? I mean it is kinda bad, but also she has certainly done worse during the course of this list!
Also a quick shout-out to Dib complaining about Gaz distracting him by just like… standing in his vicinity quietly - when Gaz’s most common problem with Dib is him distracting her by talking at her constantly and generally being actually disruptive to her concentration.
(Some more general points in this episode are Gaz once again trying to abandon Dib at what he feels is mortal danger. Which, like most of these interactions could be read as her just underestimating Zim and thus not thinking he is in actual danger... or just legitimately not caring if her brother lives or dies. And Dib trying to take credit for Gaz repairing the ship, and threatening him with More Violence over it. First one is a pretty common sight at this point and the letter is a pretty quick interaction when they're both pretty jerky to each other.)
So… what is the main thing that I feel like I’ve learned from making such an extensive analysis? Well, I think in a way, all of those General Fandom Conceptions of Gaz that I talked about at the start… none of them were fully accurate, but also none of them are, like, entirely inaccurate either.
You know, sometimes Gaz’s reactions come off as mostly harmless edgelordisms, and sometimes they’re totally disproportionate and/or violent, sometimes her behavior comes off as reasonable or at least understandable, and sometimes she’s just another person in Dib’s life who wants to punish him for being weird. And there was an escalation in her actions over time, but it wasn’t really just in Season 2 - and it coincides with a whole lot of factors that make it more complicated than just ‘Flanderization’; the increased focus on both Dib’s negative traits and the comedy of his suffering, a general need for escalation with newer plots, and a need for her to be more involved in narratives - especially as her initial role as Someone Dib Can Talk To has become kind redundant as the writers have become more comfortable with the idea that Dib can just talk to himself like a weirdo.
The most… uncharitable reading is that Gaz’s characterization is just plain inconsistent. The writers didn’t have as clear of a vision of who she is compared to Zim or Dib, or maybe they just didn’t care enough to keep her in-line with the vision of what she was supposed to be - so her level of meanness, violence and hatred towards her brother just kinda fluctuate depending on the needs of the narrative or the joke, or what aspect of Dib's character they wanted to highlight.
Y’know, even though this was always meant to be an analysis of both Dib and Gaz’s relationship with each other - it also became a bit of a Gaz Character Analysis along the way. Because Dib’s slights against Gaz can fluctuate on levels of intensity, but they are very consistent in terms of reasoning and motivation. It is pretty much always a result of Dib’s Terminal Case of Main Character Syndrome … but also about his social isolation and general inability to communicate with others and the fact that Gaz, even at her meanest, is still more likely to tolerate him talking about his interests than basically anyone else in the world
You know, I do want to emphasize that Dib’s inconsiderate attitude can also be understandable and relatable in his own way, just like Gaz’s reactions to him. I ended up focusing on Gaz more and more as I was writing this post because I kinda assumed Dib’s motivations were more self-evident in the fandom both because he’s more of a main character and because he’s more open about his emotions compared to Gaz. And also… because it would’ve been too repetitive to go over “Yeah, Dib has a problem remembering other people have needs and interiority but he is also deeply lonely and desperate for positive attention” for basically every episode. Meanwhile, Gaz’s reasonings seem to… fluctuate a lot more.
I think my reading of the situation is a bit more positive than just ‘Gaz was written in a careless and inconsistent way’, because inconsistency… can also be a deliberate character trait. You know, a lot of people are kinda inconsistent in their reactions to things. There’s no reason why Gaz can’t just be characterized by her capriciousness. Especially when you consider the angle that she’s misdirecting some of her anger at her father or the world in general at Dib - so you’ve got maybe like a baseline of mild annoyance which is what she actually feels towards her brother in a vacuum. But every so often she is so much crueler because she is using him as a vector for a bunch of other frustrations and stress, some vaguely related to him, some not at all.
I think even the kinder Gaz we see in ‘Enter the Florpus’ can fit into that, if you take her words here not as just a statement of how she’s been all this time…
Gaz: Oh, uh, normally, you crying on the floor is hilarious, but come on.
Dib: It's all my fault, Gaz. Why aren't you saying I told you so?
Gaz: 'Cause making fun of you is no fun when you're this sad. You're my brother, man. I only torment you because I know you can handle it. I've done way worse than throwing you in a space prison. This is nothing. Get up!
And more of her, now seeing her obnoxious brother at his lowest point, suddenly coming to a realization that she doesn’t hate him as much as she thought she did.
And… okay, another challenge in analyzing all of these interactions is… I’ve been trying to look at all of the Membrane Sibling’s faults and flaws from as balanced a perspective as I can muster - but it’s also important to remember the context in which they exist. When I call out Dib or Gaz for being assholes, this is not necessarily a condemnation of their character. ‘Invader Zim’ is a show all about Flawed Messed-Up Assholes. And it’s also fundamentally a comedy show about the entertainment value in cruelty. If Dib wasn’t sometimes a selfish little egomaniac and Gaz wasn’t an asshole prone to violent acts of ‘revenge’... they just wouldn’t be good ‘Invader Zim’ characters, you know?
Really, between all the different episodes and all the times Gaz was more or less justified, more or less cruel… I think the overall picture that is painted of two very imperfect kids having understandable-but-also-shitty-reactions to the bad hand they were dealt by the world. Dib’s sometimes selfish disregard for Gaz’s interests and wants is maybe understandable considering how basically no one cares about him so… he might as well care about himself, right? And Gaz’s frustration with this disregard and constant egoism is also understandable… but also at some point it becomes kinda disproportionate. And sometimes it becomes really disproportionate.
And that’s just like… that’s just what the Membrane siblings are.
#invader zim#iz#iz analysis#dib membrane#iz dib#dib iz#dib invader zim#iz dib membrane#invader zim dib#gaz membrane#gaz iz#gaz invader zim#iz gaz#iz gaz membrane#invader zim gaz
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Individualise Emotions
Showing the emotions of your characters is one of the most important things you can do to engage with your readers. Emotionless robots may well be interesting when they’re being sent after the protagonists, but reading an entire book about people without emotions can get tiring pretty quickly. However, a common mistake that writers make, especially newer writers, is forgetting to individualise the way characters show emotion.
What do I mean by individualise?
Simply put, not everyone shows emotion in exactly the same way. To be sure, there are often commonalities in how people express emotion. For example, most people smile when they are happy, but there can be big differences in how frequently and openly people smile, as well as how their smiles look. In fact, the same character can also express their emotions very differently at different times.
These differences can stem from a variety of causes:
Circumstances
History
Personality
Idiosyncrasies
The circumstances a character is in can deeply affect how they express emotion. A character on their own may be more likely to express their grief by crying than a character who is around others. Conversely, a character may smile even when they’re not happy if they’re around others to try to make them feel better whereas they wouldn’t make the effort if they are alone.
A character who has been raised in a culture where showing emotion is not permitted will not emote as frequently or as strongly as a character who has been raised in a culture where people are taught to show their emotions openly. This can make any emotions they do show extremely important since it means they’ve slipped out of their control. It also means that you can describe their emotion in smaller ways. Instead, of grinning or smirking, they might give a small twitch of their lips. Instead of beaming with approval when someone gets something right, they might give a small nod.
People can have different personalities, and this can lead to differences in how they show emotion. Someone who is very outgoing may wear their emotions on their sleeve – or at least appear to. Someone who is very introverted may only show their emotions openly in private or around people they know very well. There are also people whose personalities might predispose them toward showing their emotions through actions rather than emotional displays. For example, a stoic soldier might not shout his loyalty to a cause, but he may be more than willing to die for it without complaint or hesitation.
There are also often many idiosyncrasies in how people display emotion. If you’ve ever seen someone smile and thought ‘their smile looks just like this other person’s’, then you know what I’m talking about. Smiles do have things in common with each other, but each person’s smile has its own unique features as well. Describing these can really add more depth to a character and help the reader feel like they know them. The same goes with other emotions like grief, anger, and so on.
Now that we know a bit more about individualising emotions, let’s talk through an example.
Let’s take Katie, Spot, Timmy, and Old Man from The Unconventional Heroes Series.
The scenario is pretty simple. They help save a village, and the villagers give them a puppy to show their gratitude. How do they react?
Katie is still a girl, but she has quite a lot of life experience under her belt. She’s also a bit more reserved around strangers. She would accept the puppy with great dignity before waiting until she’s alone with the others to shower it with affection. She would try to act like it’s not that big a deal but would be unable to completely conceal how pleased she is with the gift.
Spot is a very young dragon. He shows his emotions openly and fiercely because that is how he feels a dragon should be, and it is how his mother has encouraged him to act. He would be absolutely delighted to receive a puppy and would make sure that everybody knows it immediately. Instead of just smiling, though, he would also make it clear that anyone who tries to hurt the puppy is getting set on fire and eaten because that’s a big part of how dragons show affection for other people (threaten to murder their enemies).
Timmy is a man in his prime who has seen the very best and very worst of what life has to offer. He would thank the villagers graciously, especially since he would notice that the reason the villagers are giving him a puppy is because they’re so poor that they don’t have anything else they can give (a fact that both Katie and Spot missed due to their enthusiasm at receiving the puppy). He accepts the puppy not because he needs it, but because not accepting it would shame the villagers. He would then immediately give the puppy to Katie and Spot, knowing they would derive more enjoyment from caring for it than he would. His happiness is most obvious when observing the two children playing with the puppy because it reminds him of the childhood he never had but which he is trying to give them.
Old Man is a man well past his prime, who like Timmy has seen the best and worst of life. Like Timmy he is deeply touched by the gesture because he sees how little the villagers have. He too would immediately give the puppy to Katie and Spot. Unlike Timmy, however, Old Man has a whole lifetime of memories to draw upon. He would sit down with Katie and Spot and tell them stories about dogs he has had or met and how best to care for their new canine. It would be during these stories that he shows the most emotion with small, gentle smiles intermixed with moments of melancholy. If asked, however, Old Man will put a smile on his face and assure the two children that he’s fine and that he’s just remembering some ‘old times’, without specifying what those are. It won’t be until he’s alone that he’ll dwell on some of the sadder memories he has about dogs while hoping Katie and Spot can avoid any of those.
As you can see, how these four characters respond and how they display emotion to the same event varies dramatically. Showing these variations adds depth to your characters and truly allows them to stand out from one another.
If you’re interested in my thoughts on writing and other topics, you can find those here.
I also write original fiction, which you can find on Amazon here or on Audible here. I’ve also just released a new story, Cosmic Delivery Boy!
Also, Cosmic Delivery Boy is now available on Audible! You can get it here.
#writing#writing technique#improving your writing#writing advice#writing tips#emotions#writing emotions
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knowing your partner well can potentially make writing together a lot easier.
( repost do not reblog ! )
- Name: pip
- Pronouns: he / him
- Preference of communication: discord! ask for it anytime! i tend to appear on invis, but that’s just because i am extremely fucking shy, so long as you’re fine with me getting back to your messages at my leisure (usually 8-24 hours, on average), then by all means feel free to ask for it!
- Name of muse(s): Sigma / Siebren, and on rare occasion I will sometimes ghostwrite Moira for specific threads, but I also now have a blog for Symmetra! [laserpimp]
- Experience / How long (MONTHS / YEARS?): 13-14 years, nearly 7 spent in the ow rpc.
- Platforms you’ve used: dA chatrooms (that’s where I learned to Type Fast), facebook, discord, tumblr, and google docs. The latter three are my most-used platforms.
- Best experience: meeting @flashofyellowlights 🥺🥺🥺 i was in a super dark place emotionally between 2019-2021 after a death in my immediate family and Buncy was probably my biggest advocate to keep going. me n this blog just simply wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her. quite easily my best friend in this entire rpc, no cap.
- RP pet peeves / dealbreakers: 1) because i write a lot of introspective thoughts out for my characters to give my replies more depth, i notice that people often read that and use it to determine my characters’ mood (rather than the actual actions i purposefully insert for their character to react to). 2) a SUPER annoying thing i’ve had people do is, after explaining sieb/sig’s dichotomy to them, they often automatically assume sig is the “evil” one between the two of them..... despite me explaining that BOTH sig and sieb are morally grey, not evil. 3) my only real “dealbreaker” is when people openly demonstrate poor reading comprehension. this isn’t to say you can’t ask for clarification abt my replies, and this most certainly isn’t a knock at people who legitimately need extra help digesting my long ass replies, but considering this is a hobby exclusively based around reading and writing, I just don’t really feel the motivation to write with people who repeatedly misconstrue / misinterpret my replies simply because they just won’t read the entirety and take “creative liberties” with how they interpret my replies.
- Fluff, angst or smut: predominately angst with occasional smut 😂😂 personally i’m not a very big fan of “fluff” just because out of the three, it’s the one that gets the absolute blandest when it’s all someone wants to write with me. if you came here looking for fluff, i’m.... sorry bro 😳
- Plots or memes: primarily, plotting is generally my go-to for first interactions just to really set a scene, but once a “canon” is established between our characters, i’m open for everything. however, you are also free to use memes to break the ice! the only reason i default towards plotting is because i get anxious if i can’t immediately visualize / explain the setting when writing something up. that’s also why i tend to offer to write the starter, so that people don’t feel pressured to plot AND start.
- Long or short replies: the longer, the better!!! despite the fact that i can burn myself out kind of quickly, i will always prefer multipara to ANYTHING else. i didn’t choose the multipara life, the multipara life chose ME.
- Best time to write: i don’t really do anything on a day-to-day basis so i often operate on what i consider “dash hours”, meaning people are usually off work / done with their day at around 4-6pm (PST, my time), and usually post replies / ic posts / hc’s / etc. until about 8-10pm, which is when ppl disappear for the night. if i’m looking for small / quick interactions, that is usually the window i operate in. otherwise? anytime, although i get the most writing done around 1-5am when i don’t have people actively trying to msg me (adhd vibes)
- Are you like your muse(s): as far as the space aesthetic goes, absolutely, although in other regards, not so much! one of my reasons for picking up sigma was exclusively for the fact that he was space-themed, since anything space-related is my #1 autistic special interest. i’m certainly nothing of an astrophysicist myself but i do apply a lot of the nuanced information i’ve soaked up to sigma and how his abilities work.
TAGGED BY: literally everyone in the rpc by now, i’m always late w/ these LOL
TAGGING: idk who hasn’t done this so just say i @’d you n do it 😠
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Submission by Anon:
Scott conspired with Gerard Argent behind everyone’s back, told Gerard that Matt was the Kanima’s master (thus selling Matt and Jackson out to Gerard), and then tried – but failed – to murder Gerard using Derek’s body against his will. And Derek was never allowed to hold Scott accountable by Jeff Davis; just like Isaac was never allowed to react when Scott acted like a jealous asshole and repeatedly hit him because Isaac liked Allison, his ex girlfriend. Not to mention that Scott had zero problem working with Deucalion (who murdered Boyd, Erica and a shit tons of other people for power) to kill Josh and Tracy, just because it benefitted him. So Scott acting all morally superior and victim blaming Stiles for killing Donovan – a murderous wendigo who assaulted and actively tried to eat Stiles alive – in self defense is hypocrisy 101 and only proves Scott’s double standards. Not to mention that Stiles was the victim of Donovan’s brutal assault and of Theo’s blackmail: he’s not obligated to share his own traumas with Scott like Scott wanted and demanded. So Stiles choosing not to tell Scott about Donovan is both understandable and worthy of empathy.
Just because Scott is a “true alpha” it doesn’t mean that his friends have to obey him or let him condemn them for something they didn’t even do and that was not their fault. Scott chose to think Stiles was a cold blooded monster and serial killer based on his own prejudice and on Theo’s words alone; Scott fell for Theo’s cheap lies since the very beginning and let Theo fool him; Theo played Scott like a kazoo; Scott flat out lied to Kira’s face about her fox spirit. That’s Scott’s fault, not Stiles’ nor anyone else’s. Scott’s own actions and words proved Stiles and Theo right in the end, that’s why he had to beg his friends to give him another chance (even though Jeff Davis didn’t make Scott work all that hard to get them back to be honest. He just made them accept Scott back because Scott needs them.)
Teen Wolf is an ensemble show. Stiles, Lydia, Allison, Derek and Kira are all lead and main characters in the series – Season 3B is entirely focused on Stiles and Void Stiles with Dylan O'Brien at its front and center, and it’s the highest rated and most critically acclaimed season of Teen Wolf. Their feelings and traumas are just as important as Scott’s. But some people (aka rabid Scott stans & apologists) keep acting like they aren’t and as if Scott’s butthurt is the only thing that matters for some reason – stooping as low as to blame other characters (mostly Stiles and Derek, the characters Scott/Posey stans have an obsessive hate boner for) for Scott’s own canon failures and shitty behaviour
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In response to the above submission sent to me: You could’ve just messaged me. This submission feels as if you’re (… for lack of a better word) attacking me for already being on your side with the fact that due to the writing Scott is painted as if he’s got the highest moral point. I have at no point ever said that Scott was completely infallible because of his “True Alpha” status. I have however said that a lot of his trauma gets dismissed often and I think it’s something that should be spoken about. Scott can be both True Alpha and have Trauma that needs to be discussed.
If you’d like to speak about Scott and the bad writing of the show and how that way trauma, justice/injustice and morality is handled in the show, I am open to the discussion. You will not however act as if I have implied or stated that Scott was allowed to do whatever the fuck he wanted because he was a true Alpha. I have openly stated that his actions about the shit Theo told him and then his reaction to Stiles after the Donavon situation was a dick move and complete bullshit.
And Dear writer, I’ll call you D, if you don’t mind; if you’re going to submit something to someone without speaking to them prior, you might want to make sure your email isn’t attached to your ‘anonymous" submission because I now have your email address and know you like BTS. Please be safe on the internet. So to the person who submitted this, Please contact me to discuss this show. Otherwise, Don’t submit things without logging out first. If you’d like me to delete this submission, please contact me. Thank you.
#submission#Teen Wolf#Scott McCall#stiles stilinksi#I dont particularly enjoy having someone explain to me things I already know so if I seem a bit harsh that's why#I have been an advocate for unbiased opinionation on this show for a long time. Including fully admitted when my favorites were wrong.#And While Scott is not one of my top five favorite characters I still think his fuck ups AND trauma can be discussed in the same space#Trauma is not an excuse for fucking up or being an asshole its simply and explanation#the implication of this submission feels to me that you think that I myself thing that Scott can do no wrong as a True Alpha simply because#because I wanted to discuss Scott's trauma. And that is simply not true.#Thank you for the submission but for your own sake please be safe on the internet. Learn how to remove your email from your anon submission
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If you're still accepting these; Love at first sight and Amnesia for best tiger Atsushi! o/
Aw, no worries @cloudybraiins! I love answering self-ship asks about my f/o's, even if it takes me a few days to answer cause I either overthink the question/answer or am trying to include draws/sketches for authenticity's sake. I feel like I can never put my thinking into proper words to describe my love for my f/os, especially Atsushi, mi precioso Tigre.
I hope the wait wasn't so long to answer and appreciate your time and recent follow and likes! <3
Amnesia: what's something that you remember about your F/O that others forget?
Hmm, I am terrible at this, cause I couldn't come up with anything that most people don't already know about Atsushi.
Almost everyone is aware of the abuse he was dealt with in the orphanage; his self-sacrificing ways of trying to protect people he cares about and extending his life to strangers too...
I think what really gets to me most of the time is how people often just classify Atsushi as a "weak protagonist" because of the constant flashbacks of his abuse that are shown very prominently through the show/manga; also comparing him to Dazai or any other character. I notice this more in a handful of people that react to Bungou Stray Dogs on the first watch on youtube. Because the reactors are a small bunch only a certain few would play off Atsushi's flashbacks like an annoyance and it really made me physically ill and on the defense.
There is a list of other things,,, but I deleted it out of fear that certain people would find it and throw shade at me for not liking said thing with Atsushi. I felt very heated about it, but it's either going to go to the wall or people figure out what it is and again throw shade my way.... besides getting mad at it will only drain me and made me frustrated cause it won't stop said thing from existing~
The matter is, Atsushi is a damn well amazing protagonist, a great number of people see that, and that is what matters most to me. Those that cherish his precious being and actions of protecting others and being a chazuke-loving and sarcastic were-tiger are what matter most to me <3
Love at first sight: what's most the noticeable thing about your F/Os looked?
Ah, the most noticeable thing that, for me, made me soft and a weak mess was Atsushi's hair if you could believe it (I actually notice hair a lot in people, especially if it’s a little longer on guys). There was just something so endearing about how his hair was cut, later found out the reason it was like that was due to some kids in his orphanage doing it as a joke ;;;;;n;;;;;; ,,, like why did they do that them pricks...
But nevertheless, his haircut remains so endearing and very much a signature part of his. I definitely believe his hair is soft and floofy, despite what Wan seems to deem, I feel like he cuts his hair by himself to save money on hair cuts, and trims his tail bang occasionally to keep it from being so long and tangling on his face <3 I also softly headcanon that he lets his hair grow out a little later on in the future, making it extra fluffy and Dany tangling her hands through it, which he loves a lot!
The close second was his lovely eyes/his sweet smile, also I am just a mess over his voice in both the Japanese Sub and English Dub. There is something so melodic about both of them, especially the English dub for me,,, I just love him so much I am a mess over him. Despite me always being a self-insert person since I remember, as well as shipping Oc's that I deemed me with certain characters in the past, Atsushi holds a special place in my heart cause he (and Ranpo too) were the first characters I openly began to selfship with <3.
I appreciate the ask very much and I hope you enjoyed the responses! 🤍
#bungou stay dogs#self ship community#self ship asks#self ship ask game#atsudany#tag: we are of the moon and stars my dear#alpha howls#cloudybraiins
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Loki is not ooc, just because he doesn't fit your headcanons doesn't make him ooc. I would agree if he was drastically different from what we've seen already (aka Steve) but he's still the same, his "motivation" of wanting to be King/is whole persona is an act. He even says it in the episode.
lmao. you're allowed to have your own opinions but this is kind of a pointless ask to send imho. I know the difference between my head canons and canon thanks. I don't think Loki is ooc because he doesn't match my head canons. I think he's ooc because he is drastically different from how he has previously been characterized. Watch some clips from Thor 2011, Avengers, and TDW and then watch a scene from the Loki show. The difference is jarring.
Movie!Loki always stands with a straight posture, as befits his royal background. His expressions and the way he emotes are also very subtle. He tries to hide his true feelings and the feelings he does reveal are often to a certain extent performative in order to deflect from deeper issues. There is a stillness to him. He has tremendous economy of movement, even in a fight. He has a confident, artful speaking style. There is tremendous depth to him; he rarely says what he means but you can see all that conflict flickering in his eyes. He affects an insouciant manner. He makes a great show of being externally cool and collected and has a dry wit. He exudes charisma.
TV!Loki has none of this. He doesn’t stand straight and command the room. He doesn’t exude charisma. He’s not still at all; he constantly flails about, making grandiose over-exaggerated gestures that might work in a comic panel but feel awkward in live action. His facial expressions aren’t subtle at all nor is he guarded with his emotions. Instead he pulls clownish, comedically exaggerated expressions that are really only suitable for slapstick comedy. He doesn’t hide his vulnerabilities but instead openly shows fear, surprise and alarm, in a manner that is often meant to be silly and comedic. He also doesn’t talk at all like Loki. He uses casual earth slang - things Loki would never say even in Ragnarok which gave the Asgardians a somewhat more casual speaking style. There is also no real depth.
TV!Loki is not performative in his emotions. He just openly shows what he’s feeling at the moment. He’s not cool or collected or confident, nor does he pretend to be. He yelps in alarm. He gasps in annoyance. He grimaces and gapes in clownish fear. He doesn’t feel otherworldly or dangerous or regal. There is no sense of danger and coiled threat; he doesn’t snap and snarl when challenged but rather gapes like a fish because he can’t think of a comeback. He just feels like a regular guy who is out of his depth. A very human guy. Except he doesn’t even ring true as a human because the performance is too slapstick and comedic and over the top. He feels like a caricature. His fighting style is also totally different.
The character in the tv show doesn’t feel like Loki to me. He doesn’t stand like him or react like him or talk like him or move like him or emote like him. Other than the name and the actor they have nothing in common.
Now. You don't have to agree with me. But it has nothing to do with me being unable to distinguish head canons from canon.
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Heyyyyyy hiiiiii hope your having an awesome day drinking that water getting hydrated 😗. I was wondering if you could do a Law Angst alphabet please. But only if you feel up to it and have time. If you don’t feel free to ignore or do it later here now have a cookie 🍪 because your awesome 😊
Angst Alphabet - Trafalgar Law
a/n: HI HI!!! thank you for your kind words!! I hope you are looking after yourself <333 here is the law angst! Please enjoy 🥰
A-Accident (would they blame themselves if you died in an accident?)
He would only blame himself if any of his actions led to the accident that caused your death (we’ve seen him blame himself for that very reason about Rosinantes death). If his actions weren’t directly correlated to your death in any way then he would not blame himself, though he would kick himself for not being able to help you in time. Other than that, Law is painfully aware of the harsh reality that is life.
B-Break up (How would they break up with you?)
Law would break up with you in a seemingly emotionless way. He’d mask his true feelings, while telling you a whole bunch of excuses why the two of you could no longer be together. He doesn’t believe any of them, but he’s got to do what he’s got to do.
C-Crying (how would they make you cry?)
I feel like I’ve used this one in a few other character alphabets but it really applies to Law too. He would cause you to stress and panic so much over his health and wellbeing. He’s a literal doctor. He should know to take better care of himself, but he just doesn’t seem to care about himself the same way you do. So it isn’t until you’re crying in front of him, spilling your heart out about how concerned you are for his safety that he realizes his health is important to more than just himself.
D-Death (how would they react to your death?)
My god, if Law was to lose another person that he loved, he literally would never want to let himself get close to anyone ever again. Your death would be it for Law. He’d basically be on the verge of giving up himself. What other reason does he have to go on.
E-Emotion (what is one emotion they would try to hide the most and how would they do it?)
He tries to hide every emotion. Law doesn’t like to be too open, out of fear of people using it against him or it simply being too much of a sign of weakness. So, very rarely does he let his emotions show. He also tries to divert attention away from himself in hopes that people won’t focus on him or his emotions for too long.
F-Fight (do you two ever fight? How big are the fights? What do you fight about? Etc.)
This was covered in his fluff alphabet! But here it is again:
Your fights tend to be pretty short lived resulting in forgiveness and apologies from both sides relatively quickly. He really doesn’t like to stay mad at you for too long – he’d much rather have you two on the same page.
Most fights are caused by stress and concerns of health and safety, so Law does a lot of eye rolling and using his title as a ‘doctor’ as justification that he knows what he’s doing so you just need to chill – but like I said these fights are very short lived.
G-Guilt (what is the biggest thing they feel guilty about?)
Law will never forgive himself for Rosinantes death. He will forever feel responsible for his death – it was all his fault. If only he hadn’t given that note to Vergo, then Rosinante would still be alive. He died because of Law’s incompetence (at least that’s what he tells himself).
H-Heartbreak (what would cause them pain in the relationship? How would they deal during a break-up?)
During a break-up Law would act pretty normal. He wouldn’t behave any differently until he’s left alone. Only then would he let himself go and truly feel that heartbreak.
I-Injured (how would they react if you are badly injured?)
Thanks to the doctor in him, Law is able to remain calm. He can keep his composure until he administers whatever treatment necessary. That’s not to say he isn’t worried though. He’s just capable of focusing on the injury right in front of him.
Only once he is certain that you are stable does he (or potentially his crew) go and hunt down the cause of your beating.
J-Jealousy (what do they do if they are jealous?)
When Law does get jealous (which is rarely), he gets quiet. His fists clench a little more, and his frown deepens. He also speaks less than usual (which is already pretty hard to beat). He only gives you short snippy replies until he eventually gets over it.
K-Kill (would they kill for revenge?)
Law would kill for revenge, yes. He literally wanted to kill Doflamingo as revenge for Rosinante. However, it was in Law’s plan that Kaido would be the one to kill Doflamingo (after they fought) – so I believe that is how he’d kill for revenge as well. He would devise a fool proof plan (okay maybe not fool proof, bc if the straw hats are involved who knows what could go wrong).
In short, yes. Law would kill for revenge.
L-Loss (what is their greatest loss?)
This poor man has suffered so much loss in his life that it’s actually really difficult to choose which would be his greatest loss. He lost his entire family as a young boy while also having a shortened lifespan himself. Losing his family, and the realization that he only had a few more years to live, really made him lose his will to live a good remainder of his life. Young Law literally became a pirate.
However, he did meet Rosinante (Corazon) and he gave him another reason to live. Furthermore, Rosinante actively sought out a cure for Law so that he could continue to live a long life. Basically, Rosinante became a father figure/older brother to Law. So, losing him – another ¬person he loved so dearly – would have been beyond devastating.
M-Mistake (what is the worst mistake they ever made with you?)
There was one day where he spent the entire day ignoring you. It was completely unintentional. His mind was swarming with plans and all this other information that has just come in. He got so immersed in it that he didn’t talk to you or tell you what was going on for a whole day.
N-Nightmares (how often do they have them? What are they about? How do they deal with it?)
Nightmares are one of the many reasons Law hardly ever sleeps. He’s haunted by his family’s and Rosinantes deaths. His nightmares get particularly bad around the same time each year (that is, around the time of year that they died). He wakes up trembling and on the verge of tears (but he never lets them fall). Instead of even trying to go back to sleep, he’ll make himself a nice hot cup of coffee and immerse himself in a book or work of some kind – anything to avoid going back to sleep and risking a re-run of that horrible nightmare.
O-Outrage (how and why would they get mad at you?)
Sometimes his exhaustion catches up to him and other times its all the stress building up that finally he snaps and all the emotions are too overwhelming that he just directs it to the nearest outlet, which just so happens to be you.
P-Past (what has happened in your relationship that changed the way you saw each other?)
You walked in on him absolutely breaking down over Rosinante. One evening Law retreated to his room while you and the rest of the crew were eating and drinking. He didn’t think you had noticed him leave, but soon you were following after him. You opened the door and found him breaking down in the middle of the room. You completely forgot that it was the anniversary of Rosinantes death. It was the first time you had seen him this distraught and it broke your heart.
It really cemented into your brain that no matter how tough he may look, he still suffers (probably more so than anyone). But, you were also grateful that you were able to see him like that, as it allowed him to start relying on you a little more.
Q-Quality (what is their most dangerous/toxic quality?)
His inability to openly express his emotions. Sure, now he will share with you how he is feeling, but that is with you and ONLY you. He still insists on keeping everything else bottle away from the rest of the world which is a really unhealthy way to deal with things. It’s not that you dislike being there for him, in fact, you appreciate how trusting he is with you. It’s just, what if there comes a time where you aren’t around and he’s in desperate need of someone to confide in?
R-Rejection (how would they react to you rejecting their confession (or the other way around)).
Law would wait until he was 100% certain you returned his feelings to confess to you. So, if you were to reject his confession he would be really confused for a while. He’d let it go because well, everyone has their own reasons – its not his place to tell you how you feel. All he can do is tell you how he feels and then the rest is up to you.
S-Scars (battle or self-inflicted)
He has no self-inflicted scars, and to my knowledge he has no battle scars either. But, his arm did get cut off and then reattached during the Dressrosa arc, so it actually is likely that there is a remaining scar from that (although I’m not certain).
T-Trust (have they ever broken your trust?)
Nope not at all. In fact, the only instance in which he would possibly break your trust, or lie to you, about is when he went to Punk Hazard and sent his crew to Zou. Some would assume that he wouldn’t tell you his plan out of fear of your safety, but that’s not true. He had to tell you. You taught him to be open and honest, and to trust. So that’s exactly what he did.
U-Urge (how badly do they want to see you after you guys separated?)
Law has gotten so comfortable around you that whenever you aren’t there, he gets unbearably anxious. Your presence is soothing, even if he can’t see you, even if he can only hear your voice echoing throughout the Polar Tang, it’s enough to put his mind at ease. So, if you are separated for a while… oh boy does he want to see you badly.
V-Vicious (what do they do when they lash out on you?)
He tends to yell at you. He tells you to “piss off” and that “you’re only being a nuisance right now”, despite you only wanting to help him.
W-Weak (what makes them feel weak how do they try to avoid it?)
Not being able to control things makes Law feel really weak. Weak may not be the right word, but it definitely makes him feel unprepared. He doesn’t like when things are out of his control and he can’t account for things. Which is usually why he always does extensive research and preparation before constructing a well thought out plan.
X-X-ray (what do they hate and show it most obviously?)
Well, I mean other than his obvious hatred of bread, Law also really hates when he works extremely hard on formulating a plan only for it to be completely thrown out of the window by a reckless straw hat wearing captain and his entire crew. (and somehow everything still ends up working out!!! That is the part that frustrates Law the most HAHAH).
Y-Yearn (what is one thing that they want but can’t have?)
One of the only things he’s ever really wanted was for Doflamingo to be taken down. He’s been partially successful in that sense, seeing as Doflamingo is in prison now. However, he wants more than that. He wants Doflamingo to suffer the same way he has.
Z-Zero (what do they do/say in your dying moments?)
It may seem a little out of character but… I believe Law would be borderline desperate/inconsolable. There would be a lot of clinging on to you, begging you not to leave him like everyone else he’s ever loved. He can’t handle another person leaving him, it’s too much. It’s far too much.
He wouldn’t cry (just yet), but his voice would tremble, and his hands would be shaking. His mind would be racing with all sorts of theories and possible ways he could save you. How could he possibly prevent the inevitable?
#one piece#one piece x reader#one piece headcanons#one piece imagines#trafalgar law#trafalgar d law x reader#trafalgar d. water law#angst alphabet#one piece alphabet
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Redemption Arcs in the Stormlight Archive
As far as I can tell, there are two main types of redemption arcs in the Stormlight Archive.
The first kind is by far the more common; we see it with Dalinar, Szeth, Elhokar, and Venli, and we see it rejected by Moash and Amaram. It involves the character repenting if the wrong they have done, taking responsibility for it, and seeking to do better. It often also involves the choice to reveal their actions and be answerable for them, most particularly in the case of Dalinar (via writing Oathbringer) and Venli (when she confesses her actions to Rlain, and accepts that he would be quite justified in rejecting her; and likewise when she returns to her people and accepts their hostility and suspicion).
For Szeth, confession is somewhat redundant - there are probably few people in Roshar who don’t know of his actions - but his choice to swear himself to Dalinar (whose brother he killed and whom he tried to kill) and accept imprisonment at Dalinar’s demand, and the scene with Navani showing that he not only accepts being hated but outright wants it, show that he is very willing to be held accountable for his actions. I’m not sure that Elhokar ever actually learns the full consequences of his actions regarding Roshone, but that seems somewhat secondary to the larger point of him realizing he’s a bad king and trying to become better and humbly try to do what he can. (I’ve seen some people say that it’s selfishness for him to go on the mission to Kholinar when he openly acknowledges he think he’ll be more liability than help, but that seems to go against the core theme of Shallan’s arc in the same book - that trying and failing, and learning, and trying again is better than not trying at all.)
The people who reject this form of redemption are the ones who reject responsibility for their actions; they feel guilt, but try to push it aside, rationalize their deeds, and ultimately give into Odium so they can avoid grappling with their guilt. In Moash’s case, the rationalization is everyone is terrible, so if he’s terrible too it’s not like that’s an anomaly or anything he should do anything about. For Amaram (and Taravangian, if you ask me) it’s rationalizing that his actions are for the greater good and trying to deny the selfish motives behind them.
But there’s a second kind of redemption arc that’s a somewhat different path. And this is the part of the essay where I try to talk myself into being okay with Gaz.
Gaz is just an awful person. He’s spiteful, selfish, venal, and petty. He goes out of his way to make Bridge 4 miserable. And - rather like Moash during his Oathbringer mini-arc - he knows it. From TWOK Chapter 30: “He’d hated himself for a long time now. It wasn’t anything new to him.”When Shallan shows up and offers the possibility of a chance to be good, to do right - something he wouldn’t have imagined on his own - he risks his life for it. He experiences people being grateful to him for it. And from that point, he becomes different. He’s openly devoted to Shallan, because she’s the one who offered him this opportunity to be a person he doesn’t hate. When she draws him, he almost cries. He’s, almost unbelievably, happy. In Oathbringer, he actively wants and enjoys the opportunity to make a positive difference. He doesn’t make any attempt to take responsibility for his past actions or apologize to the bridgemen (though, given the change in their respective positions, any apology would be more likely to be taken as cowardice than sincerity), but in the narrative it’s as though his very happiness in his new life makes up for this. He doesn’t carry the change from evil to good as a burden, the way many of the people in the first category do, but as a privilege.
And I think Rhythm of War was what made me start putting that together, because it’s where we see a similar moment of transformation with Leshwi. (Whom I like a good deal more than I do Gaz). The moment Venli reveals herself as a Knight Radiant, Leshwi sees the possibility of another life she wouldn’t have imagined possibile, and reacts with joy. And I’m going to quote the scene, because I find it one of the most beautiful ones in the book.
Leshwi fell to her knees before Venli, not flying, not hovering. On her knees. Venli knelt as well, as Leshwi still held to her face - but the grip softened.
A cool, beautuful light flooded in through the window behind. Like a frozen lightning bolt, brighter than any sphere. Bright as the sun.
“What have you done, Venli?” Leshwi said. “What have you done?”
“I...I swore the First Ideal of the Radiants,” Venli said. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry...” Leshwi said. A joyspren burst about her, beautiful, like a blue storm. “Sorry? Venli, they’ve come back to us! They’ve forgiven us.”
What?
“Please,” Leswhi said to Longing, “ask your spren. Do they know of an honorspren named Riah? She was my friend once. precious to me.”
And then Leshwi immediately changes sides, fighting to defend the unconscious Radiants and the civilians. Because for the girst time in millenia, she has hope that choosing right, choosing good, is even an option. The joyspren says a lot, because Singers don’t attract spren as easily as humans. The wonder, delight, reverence in Leshwi’s reaction is incredibly powerful to me.
So those are our two types of redemption arcs. The people who go looking for it, strive for it, seek it, suffer for it; and the ones to whom it is unimaginable but, when they are unexpectedly offered it, receive it with joy.
#brandon sanderson#the stormlight archive#dalinar kholin#szeth#venli#elhokar#moash#gaz#leshwi#redemption#rhythm of war#row spoilers#one owed five hundred spheres#and another owed fifty#the debts of both were forgiven#which will love more?
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someone asked me about this so i’m gonna go into why i responded the way i did to a post about blorbofying more historical figures.
1. Edward Teach, the legitimate historical figure is not your blorbo.
if you’ve been on tumblr long enough, you’ve seen the pirate facts like they were anarchists, their ships were essentially all unionized, many were known for fleeing slaves, etc etc etc. there’s a very romantic idea of pirates out there, and don’t get me wrong i fucking love it and i absolutely shall partake.
the thing about it is these are stories that we are telling each other now. we’re using these stories as a discursive element in how we want society to be, we see things we want represented in this historical group of people. that’s great, stories are important for that reason. also the real, by-the-facts history does not completely match up. pirates were often the bad guys for good reasons.
that’s fine, because we aren’t telling these stories to share factual history, we’re telling them to comment on our society and values right now. we really really really have to keep that in fucking mind because ed blackbeard from ofmd is adorable and i love him, but historical figure edward teach was actually a psychopathic murderer. he was notorious because he was brutal, and he was not brutal for anything remotely related to noble or even sympathetic aims. a character on this tv show sharing his name is not blackbeard, and you cannot react to the historical figure blackbeard and what he did with your uwufied taika waititi glasses on. Blackbeard was equally as likely to free slaves as he was to slaughter them with the merchants/soldiers or sell them to a different slaving merchant. he was not a good guy, and his actions were historical atrocities. they were brutal, cruel human rights abuses. Blackbeard, Edward Teach, is not a fun guy. extremely seriously he is not your friend.
blackbeard was an active and renowned participant in the slave trade.
if you just got uncomfortable, you need to take a step back from your feelings about the real historical figure and separate them hard from your blorbo.
2. knocking on the devil’s door
this is probably not going to happen to blackbeard. few people will ever want to forgive him, it’s really unlikely to ever start a problem. so like. this is not an aggressive thing, just saw a post asking to blorbify more historical figures and. responded with ‘don’t knock on the devil’s door’ and that was because. well. blorbifying them is literally the process of erasing their historical crimes and making them palatable. i know that what i’m about to say sounds like a slippery-slope argument, but it’s not. this is how historical figures get sanctified, this is how their images get a make-over. this is how their crimes get exonerated, deemed small or unimportant in the face of how much we love the character, what he means, the cultural icon. you know how people get really fucking uncomfortable when you bring up that ghandi was a notorious and openly-known pedophile? or that marlon brando legitimately sexually assaulted Maria Schneider on camera and used the scene in the movie? or real fiction-specifically-reversed-the-image examples right now like the american sniper guy (i just. really dont want to google that for you right now.) or the modern uwu serial killer movement thing (horrifying) or how the animated version of pocahontas was literal propaganda written by john smith cherry-picked and altered for children and how people. think. that’s the real story. or how sacagawea, lewis and clark’s guide, was traded to them because she was a captive, that clark got overly attached to her children so her white french-trader husband gave custody of them to clark against her will* and then they said she died. she didn’t even die, she said she was the same woman, but the white people “couldn’t be sure” because it would make us sad to know that a beloved historical figure literally stole a woman’s children because she didn’t have any legal rights and couldn’t fight back like.
we really do not want to blorbofy historical figures. historical fiction is fun and i absolutely fucking love it, but seriously. it is fiction. it’s fiction. please don’t ask for fiction to uwufy human rights abusers it’s just. you know it’s a very questionable ask. american history is sad and brutal to look into because it is a sad and brutal history of conquerers barely brushing over their own atrocities. the real stories suck and they have to.
take a leaf from a historian and make sure you separate fictional characters in tv shows and historical figures in your mind hard and do not allow depictions of them in fiction to sway your opinion about their real historical counterpart. these stories, though we use them in conversation with each other, carry backdoors with them. best to step lightly
*i’ll pull better clark receipts when i find my fucking notebooks and the reference texts.
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LuNa analysis: Emotional and Intellectual chemistry
This is a special edition meant to help a friend explain this aspect of Luffy and Nami's relationship as potrayed in Oda's works (excludes the anime adaptation). It's no something truly new, it's more like a summary of multiple analyses made in this blog and other places.
The first time we mentioned this particular subject in this blog, the idea was to showcase the difference between "sexual tension" and the concept of chemistry.
Shallow fans sometimes used both terms interchangeably as if they were the same thing. Well, they're not.
Chemistry refers to the natural connection between two persons, a common feeling between two characters that leaves a impact strong enough to move their hearts and stimulate their minds. Needless to say, it's something complex, sometimes subtle, but very appealing.
It's not something tied to sexual attraction, and it's definitively not a mere infatuation. It's something much deeper than that...
However, some popular newcomers to the One Piece community mistake this concept with "dynamic." They may focus on character(s) they grow fond with, and then claim their dynamic is a sign of "chemistry" because of how much they like it.
The "character dynamics" would refer to the way characters work with or against each other within the story. While chemistry is about how the characters bond with each other throughout the story.
But then, how does LuNa showcase actual chemistry? By relying on more than one kind of chemistry.
We've seen it before, the development of a bond that grows naturally through mutual trust/faith, with the most importat trait being the capability of regulating the partner's emotions.
This kind of chemistry is marked by emotional support producing a remarkable attachment. In such a relationship, the distressed person feels comfortable enough to express their anxiety, grief, and helplessness to their partner because said partner is capable of providing with relief, comfort, and/or hope.
It's probably starting to sound familiar, right? LuNa fans would certainly think of Arlong Park and the pass of the hat, a gesture that provided Nami with the relief and hope she needed to stand up and keep going.
But, we have the moments from Skypiea too:
When she was overwhelmed by fear and doubts, Luffy does something similar, but this time is to remind Nami that she's the companion of the future Pirate King, and as such, she has nothing to fear.
It was so effective that it led to a remarkable character moment from Nami, and her brief skirmish with Enel, in which she drew courage from her captain.
That creates enough confidence for Nami to open her heart when there's something troubling her. Remember Water 7? After learning the truth about Robin's desertion, and shortly after missing the train Robin got in, Nami didn't seem distressed at all. In fact, she got up determined and unwilling to give up.
But, how did she act when she got the chance to explain the truth to Luffy?
She and displayed the helplessness, frustration, and sadness she truly felt when she got to Luffy.
A smilar scene plays out when we get to Zou. Sanji was taken away, and while Nami seemed ok and even elated at the fact Luffy and the rest are back, is when she's in Luffy's arms that she once again expresses how helpless and anguished she feels...
This is how emotional chemistry looks like! It's not about meaningless flattery, flowery words, nor a mere infatuation. It's about growing attached to one another through a strong companionship, mutual trust/faith, offering support/comfort when needed.
Now, true chemistry occurs when characters affect each other in meaningful ways. And Nami also has an effect on Luffy. When Oda wrote the Strong World movie, we get to see how she affects her captain. When Nami got no other choice but leave a message in which she seemingly doubts Luffy's strength and capabilities, Luffy reacts this way...
This shows how much Luffy values the perception Nami has of him.
Another perceptive reader explained the difference between this situation and Ennies Lobby. During that massive rescue mission "Luffy is angry at Robin for not worrying about her own safety." In Strong World, the idea of Nami not believing in him is something Luffy takes personal. And as explained in multiple posts, we later learn Nami never stopped believing in Luffy, and the idea of Luffy hearing about it was pretty embarrassing to her.
Well, what about Intellectual Chemistry?
This is a tricky one, because most people think is having a similar level of intelligence. But, even in real life, it's pretty likely potential partners have different degrees of education, so they're not always going to perfectly click or match in this regard.
Then, how people can develop this kind of chemistry under such circumstances? One of concepts of intellectual chemistry is the capability of challenging each other's perspective and beliefs on subjects and matters relevant to both persons.
LuNa fits the second bit, for the greatest challenge each character's perspective has is the other's...
...Nami’s character from the very beginning had a very clear distate for pirates and had trouble trusting others. Her perspective served as not only a contrast to Luffy's idealism, but also as a challenge Luffy and his ideals had to actively overcome.
This kind of chemistry covers other aspects that, even people who are not fond of LuNa, could see and mention. For example:
Unlike Zoro, Robin, and others crewmates who, more often than not, go along with Luffy's course of action without questioning their captain, Nami is usually the one who challenges Luffy's decisions. It makes sense given Nami's role, as she herself explained in Weatheria...
While Luffy is the one who chooses where to go, Nami is the only one can get him where he wants to go. She seeks to provide Luffy with the guidance he needs to survive his journey. She’s the compass leading Luffy towards his adventures.
Now, Intellectual Chemistry not only consists of challenging each other’s perspectives, it’s also about openly discussing each other’s ideas with the right mindset, not because you’re trying to win an argument, but as a mean to learn more about your partner, and as a result, you get to better understand that significant person and both parts work together as a team.
In this regard, it's true Nami is one who questions Luffy the most, but she doesn't actively try to change his mind, instead she attempts to get Luffy to rationalize his choices. And once Luffy voices out his reasons and/or motivations for doing something, she offers her assitance and full support. We see one example in Skypiea:
At first, she questions why Luffy is making such a great effort to climb the beanstalk and fight Enel a second time, Nami even urges him to stop and flee with her. She keeps pushing until Luffy clearly states why he's not running away.
Nami could easily run away on her own, but as soon as she understands Luffy’s reasons, she stays, and they’re able to work together to ride the beanstalk so Luffy can finally defeat Enel.
This is not one-sided either. If we go to the Dressrosa arc, we got Nami communicating Luffy her plan of splitting into two teams to keep Ceasar and Momonosuke away from Doflamingo.
And Luffy not only fully supports her idea, he even follows it up with a mission for the team that stayed at Dressrosa.
Another possible example could be one particular scene from the Zou arc. Luffy’s original intent was going to rescue Sanji on his own...
...until Nami reminds him how much he needs her and her navigation skills to keep going. Luffy accepts the reasons she gave him, and alters his original plan accordingly.
We can find other moments to showcase this aspect of their relationship, but to make things short, we can sum it up like this: when their different perspectives clash, they challenge each other’s ideas to the point of gaining a better understanding of each other, and end up acting according to that understanding, they display Intellectual chemistry.
Bonus: Physical Chemistry?
I wasn't going to include this one, but given a japanese fan brought it up ages ago, I decided to leave a couple of scenes that may fit the concept.
That japanese fan based his comment on Strong World, the movie written by Oda. To make it short, physical chemistry doesn't necessarily means "sex" either, it really comes down to how comfortable a person feels with their partner. However, the details and quirks in this particular kind of chemistry vary from people to people. Just like it can vary from writer to writer.
We often mentioned in this blog certain moment in Fishman Island, where Nami had no problem with Luffy wrapping himself around her...
...she indeed bickered with Luffy, but it was about Luffy's wanting to venture through a dangerous route rather than their physical closeness. A nice way to show how comfortable she feels around him. In contrast, she doesn't pull any punches, or thunders, when punishing people for pervying around her. Something that remains consitent even in the Wano arc (at least in the original source: the manga)
Regardless of whether or not these count as “physical chemistry,” we can still appreciate how Oda crafted a solid emotional chemistry, and intellectual chemistry as well, in the way he wrote Luffy and Nami.
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Hi! I was wondering if you can do Kakeru Manabe dating Momiji’s twin sister. She was also born with the zodiac curse, and like they tell everyone and are ready to tell Akito and he doesn’t improve, how would everyone react? Including Manabe. Would they defend her and try to make him agree to them dating? Thank you if you read this have a good day or night sjsnsnsj 😅 ALSO IM SORRY IF ITS TOO MUCH DJDKWNDK
Heya! While I do write for Fruits Basket (thank heavens for another fandom in my inbox for once lol) I write reader!inserts not the story of your OC that you don’t feel like writing out yourself. So what I will do is write a Kakeru Manabe x reader story with a character that has the zodiac curse, but otherwise there will be no Momiji’s twin, because I sure hope that the OC has more of an identity than just being a copy of Momiji.
A/N: Of course I write a Fruits Basket piece on the eve of Lunar New Year. 😅😅😅 HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE. 🐮🐮🐮
Fandom: Fruits Basket
Character: Kakeru Manabe
Prompt: Sohmacursed!reader
He slept in the flowerbeds without a care. Earning complaints from many. The school council president dared to roughen him up in public, earning a surprised look as the image of prince charming broke. He did everything differently and earned no ire, only more fans for the actions he took. Kakeru Manabe was a strange individual that went against the grain and that had your attention. Someone who was capable of pulling out a different side out of everyone.
Affable was a word that would suit him. Along with attentive, for he always thought and minded the rest first, even while he slept in flower beds, or did something silly that earned Yuki’s fist once more. Kakeru Manabe was, by all accounts a charming young male that had deserved his spot in popularity despite his ditzy outer appearance, if only because of something dark hidden beneath. It was attractive, for a Sohma at least. For they often lived under a façade as well, for they often craved the genuine attention of those surrounding them.
And here was the danger for you, for a Sohma was not supposed to interact with those from the outside. For they were not allowed to be with those uninitiated and you were very much not an exception. In fact, you were a reason even.
“We can’t be together,” you had stated, and Yuki had solemnly nodded, understanding the why but not willing to accept it just like that. However, as a fellow Sohma what was he to suggest else? The outsiders wouldn’t understand and as much as Kakeru was someone of great understanding and acceptance he was just another outsider. After all, it wasn’t unheard of from their own mothers to abandon their children once they found the curse, what obligation had he not to do the same?
“Ahaha, please don’t be like that,” Kakeru had responded, first thinking that you were jesting. Your humour had always been rather outlandish, it was why the two of you got along so well. Just last week you had been the one confessing to him, albeit covertly, but now it was him who returned the words to you, openly. Surely feelings couldn’t have changed that quickly?
“Oooh, is it because you’re actually the heir of a throne in a foreign country? It is fine, I will be your Prince Charming!” the male had exclaimed, thinking that you truly were playing a game with him, but at your stern expression Kakeru’s bright shimmering light dimmed a little as he eyed you and then Yuki and then you again.
“Is it because of my family?” he questions, a pensive look on his face as he recalls the complications his own family came with. The difficulties Machi had to suffer from. The things he fought so hard to break away from. Was it all fruitless in the end?
You shook your head once more, a soft smile on your lips as you took a step away from the male, creating distance between the two of you. It was regrettable that Yuki was here, when it was supposed to be a private moment, but also fortunate, for you were sure that he was needed to pick up the pieces of his friend that you were to leave behind.
“It is mine,” you answered honestly, remembering the way Akito had reacted to Rin and Hatsuharu, recalling the story of why Hatori’s fiance had suddenly left him, the heartbreak, the pain, the inevitable tragedy that was to come, but above all the lack of what you wanted to give him the most; the curse holding you back. And that was all you had been willing to say as you turned away, leaving him with only your rejection.
But Kakeru was amongst the many traits of affableness and charm also determined, unwilling to let go once he had understood that this went against yourself as much as it went against him to let you go.
Kakeru knew himself not to be as kind and as empathetic as he would like to be, often needing others to explain to him what the perspective of the other was. But he understood family and especially complicated families as a member of one himself. Or so he had believed when he tried to dive into yours and tried to figure out what it was that had made you say what you had.
“Have you tried to embrace a Sohma? Have you ever pressed their body against yours and felt its true form?”
The mysterious head of the Sohma family had left Kakeru with even more questions as he wondered what it was that Akito had meant. Kakeru had, without a fear, approached the head to put the hierarchy of the Sohma into question. An inquiry that had earned him a cold and callous ire in which he was challenged to do the one thing you had always avoided. Was it in there that your secret laid?
He had considered it, Kakeru had, but the thought disturbed him as he realised the implications that Akito had so carefully suggested. Was he able to disturb your boundaries as such, to force out your secrets to him so casually all for the sake of starting a relationship?
“You will destroy it before you have it,” were Yuki’s words when he tried to seek counsel from his friend. Yuki’s grey eyes had been so sad, back to that gloomy cold prince he had been before they became friends. It was a loneliness that Kakeru had come to recognise in all members of the Sohma, which he sometimes saw in you as well.
“Whatever it is,” the male decided to tell you instead, “I hope one day you will come to see me as someone that you trust enough to share your secret with,” he had told you after relaying the story of his meeting with Akito. He regretted his own noisiness, lamented his curiosity, but had satisfied himself with patience. Patience that he was willing to use to wait for you to be ready, or for his feelings to die out, though Kakeru had a feeling that was going to be another long while. He was after all, quite stubborn.
#fruits basket#fruits basket x reader#fruits basket Kakeru#Kakeru Manabe#It is the cow's year!#goodbye rat
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There are so many misconceptions about the gaang that it kinda makes me mad. Like the whole “Kyoshi is always violent” or “aang is childish for being a pacifist” or “katara is annoying” like... awful takes all around in this fandom it makes me sad
I mean ya I could list like 500 things ppl claim that simply are not true but I guess I’ll just touch on these opinions (despite having done so repeatedly in the past)
kyoshi isn’t unnecessarily violent. she didn’t even kill chin on purpose. he died due to his own hubris and she took credit for it simply because she believes in owning up to the causal effect of her actions. from everything we see of her, she is a very level headed person who wishes only to enact justice. she is also a powerful, commanding, intimidating presence, and women who are tall and confident love violence i guess???? ok..
aang’s pacifism is a huge part of his culture and he possesses incredible strength of character, wisdom, and maturity as he sticks firm to his principles in the face of no one understanding his pain and telling him there is no other way. the fact that he goes to the spirits for advice on this matter due to his powerful spiritual connection is not remotely “childish;” it’s what he’s best at. people who decry aang’s pacifism have really just internalized patriarchal + imperialist values and believe that non-violence = weakness. they clearly do not feel the trauma of genocide and imperialism in their bones the way some of us do, otherwise they would not react this way towards such a powerful and important character to have in the media landscape.
katara has been known to be annoying. she does it on purpose, because it’s her job as a little sister! but when people call katara annoying, they unfortunately are not referring to the ways in which she loves to menace sokka, but the fact that she openly discusses her trauma and allows herself to be vulnerable and feel her emotions instead of repressing them. apparently, this strength of character, this maturity and capacity for empathy, is in fact “whiny,” because she should be more stoic and perfect. of course, these people also think zuko, mr “I didn’t ask for your whole life story” himself is great and can do no wrong. expressing ones emotions and discussing trauma so openly, often as a means of empathizing with others who have experienced imperialist oppression, is one of katara’s greatest strengths. of which she has many. if you love zuko you are, for all logical + rational purposes, obligated to love katara just as much if not more! sorry bout it.
#the super mays#asks#kyoshi#aang#katara#when i call katara annoying i am exclusively referring to her little sister antics#and NEVER absolutely NEVER to her trauma
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HANK’S TRANSFORMATION AS REACTION TO TRAUMA— DECENTER THE SELF
“I think the universe is trying to tell me something and I’m finally ready to listen.”— 3x07, One Minute
(Main Post)
To understand how Hank’s trauma transforms him over the course of the show, let’s start by thinking about what Hank is like at the beginning of the show.
At the beginning of the show, Hank is the picture of toxic masculine arrogance. In the Pilot, Walt envies Hank for his power and confidence. Hank is cool, successful, manly, and everything Walt feels he is not. But we as the audience see how Hank’s ego is hurtful to those around him: he is callous, racist, misogynistic, and focuses more on the power involved in his job (the ~thrill of the bust~) than his potential to do good. What we don’t yet see, initially, though— and what it takes a great deal of trauma to reveal to Hank— is how his masculine arrogance, his obsession with himself, is also hurtful to himself.
Over the course of the first 2 and a half seasons, Hank experiences several traumatic incidents of witnessing and inflicting violent injury and death. First, Hank kills Tuco in a shoot out. Then he witnesses the tortoise explosion in El Paso. And he reacts to this trauma by engaging in increasingly reckless violent behavior— starting with bar fights, and ending with his brutal beating of Jesse.
Why does Hank react in this way? I believe it’s because, up until his beating of Jesse, Hank’s ego prevents him from properly coping with his PTSD. Hank is shaken by the violent incidents he is involved with in the field— exhibiting clear symptoms of PTSD. He has panic attacks and insomnia and startles at loud noises. Hank interprets all this as his mind and body failing him, failing to live up to his idea of a proper man and a proper cop. To accept that he has PTSD, that he has reacted to these situations emotionally, rather than brushing these violent instances off like a Real ManTM, would be to totally shatter his image of himself. So, he doesn’t accept this. When Walt suggests Hank talk to a therapist upon returning from El Paso, Hank immediately rejects the idea, saying “[if you] start going down that road, [you can] kiss your career goodbye” (2x 08, Better Call Saul). He has so built himself up in his own mind, that he believes if he admits any weakness, he will lose everything— his job, the respect of his wife and friends, himself. He won’t confront his trauma, and he won’t confront his reaction to it, and he certainly won’t confront how his natural reaction to the trauma makes him feel (frustrated, humiliated).
So he turns the anger and frustration he has with himself and his failing mind and body outwards. He is violent and reckless. In episode 3x03, I.F.T, Hank has a panic attack in a bar bathroom, from thinking about the possibility of being sent back to El Paso. And then he proceeds to pick a fight with two other patrons, under the guise of DEA business, but clearly actually because he needs to outlet his rage and panic. And Hank’s reaction is even worse when he believes Marie has been hurt (after Saul places the false call in Sunset). He is first thrown into a panic, and then into an uncontrollable rage— leading him to brutally beat Jesse. But this turns out to be the turning point for Hank, the moment when he truly, authentically changes in response to his trauma.
Let’s focus in on the brief moment in between Hank’s beating of Jesse, and his grueling near death experience with The Twins. The crucible moment when Hank’s transformation as I have described it— his decentering of the self— begins. This moment is actually one episode, and it’s one of my favorites: 3x07, One Minute. In beating Jesse as he did— blatantly outside of the boundaries of his job, Hank realizes he has gone too far. This violence touches his personal life— he fears for Marie’s life, and reacts by beating a civilian as a civilian— and so it is harder to make excuses for it as just another part of being in the DEA. Hank knows what he did was wrong. And this is (forgive the metaphor) the Jenga piece that makes the whole pile topple. He finally admits to himself (and to Marie) that “ever since that Salamanca thing” he’s been “unraveling.” He admits that his shooting of Tuco and the El Paso incident are the reasons for his violent and wrong behavior— that they have damaged him. He finally admits that he has been traumatized, and he has reacted to it poorly.
And after admitting this, Hank does something incredible. Something unprecedented in terms of who we have seen him to be previously in the show. He admits fault, he takes responsibility, and he quits the DEA. We see Hank truly and honestly humbled— he admits to both his weaknesses and his wrongdoings, with an unparalleled level of grace and self-awareness. He starts to become a better, more honest, more responsible, less arrogant person. He even weeps openly in front of Marie. This episode is Hank’s high point of the series, in terms of integrity and strength of character.
But then, oh then, there is fresh trauma for Hank.
Hank’s violent injury at the hands of The Twins, and his grueling recovery, hammer home even harder the fears and insecurities Hank had when his trauma was just emotional. Hank’s injury brings him to his lowest point— he is bed-bound, unemployed, and needs his wife’s help to take a shit. Everything Hank was feeling before— about the failure of his mind and body to live up to his masculine ideals— comes back with a vengeance.
And this does continue to humble Hank in the positive sense I described above. I believe that the incredible detective work that Hank is able to do in seasons 4 and 5 is enabled by this increased humility. I think it’s very apt when Hank says, in One Minute, “the universe is trying to tell me something and I’m finally ready to listen.” Hank’s strokes of investigative genius — first those that lead him to Gus Fring, and then the pivotal revelation that Walt is Heisenberg— could well be described as him simply listening to the universe, in a way he wasn’t ready to before. Gus had primed the DEA to never suspect him with his cop-loving act, but Hank was able to get outside of that bias and make that mental leap when all the other officers refused to believe it. He listened to what the evidence told him. And, though you could argue that Hank finding Gale’s book in Walt’s bathroom was purely random, I think Hank’s willingness to even consider Walt as a potential Heisenberg (let alone to extrapolate that possibility from a set of initials and a visually identified handwriting match on a random book) shows significant growth. There are countless moments before that in the series of incredible dramatic irony, where the idea of Walt as a drug dealer would occur to Hank, and he would immediately dismiss them as ludicrous. Because, of course, if Walt were a criminal, Hank would have to be an idiot to have been fooled by him for so long. There was a barrier of ego that was keeping Hank from considering that possibility. And only when it was removed, was Hank ready to listen to what the universe revealed to him.
But, the effects of Hank’s injury on him are not all positive.
Hank is brought SO low, and is SO humbled by his injury, that it moves to the point of humiliation. And he reacts to this by turning his attention away from himself and towards his fanatic obsessions. He decenters himself, by centering his whole life on something else. First there are, of course, his minerals. Then, he becomes obsessed with taking down Gus Fring. Then, finally, he becomes obsessed with taking down Walt.
This fanaticism is bad for Hank. His fanatic obsession with minerals almost destroys his marriage. His legally dubious pursuit of Gus Fring threatens his fragile career (and, unbenknownst to him, puts him on Gus’s hit list). And his fanatic pursuit of Walt eventually leads to his death. This fanaticism goes so wrong for Hank because, I would argue, fanatic external obsession ignores the self, where true humility accepts the self in all its flaws. Think back to Hank’s humble behavior following his beating of Jesse. Hank actually thought a lot about himself— he analyzed the patterns of behavior he’d had since his encounter with Tuco, admitted to his weaknesses, and took responsibility for his actions. He deflated his ego by taking a look at himself honestly, rather than by refusing to look at himself at all. But, after his injury, this is just what Hank does— refuses to examine himself, instead spending all his energy on something else. And that turns out to be Hank’s fatal flaw.
If Hank had examined himself instead of buying so many minerals, he would have seen he was ashamed of his physical disability and was taking that anger out on his wife. And he could have rectified that much sooner. If Hank had examined himself instead of relentlessly investigating Gus Fring, he would have seen that he was going back to the same type of crooked police work that he previously realized he was doing and quit the force because of. And he could have conducted his investigation more safely and ethically. If Hank had examined himself instead of fanatically pursuing Walt, he would have seen that he was furious with himself for failing to see Walt was Heisenberg sooner, and felt a need to redeem himself. And then maybe he would have been humble enough to ask for help from other DEA agents instead of going it on his own. And maybe, he would have survived.
Ironically, Hank’s attempts to think less about himself and his problems, actually ended up letting those problems rule his life.
Hank’s story is, in the end, a tragedy. We see the kind of positive growth Hank is capable of. His reaction to his trauma— the way he uses it to become a better person, husband, and detective— is often inspiring. By season 5, because of this growth, Hank arguably becomes the hero of the show. But, painfully, he isn’t able to grow quite enough. His ego remains involved in his detective work— though this time in the opposite direction (he frantically tries to ignore himself, rather than inflating himself, but this ends up involving him too much in his work nonetheless). And this, among the various sins of other characters, leads to Hank’s death. Which is so painful to see, because we know what Hank was capable of in terms of self-reflection, growth, and integrity. We know what he fell short of.
#breaking bad#brba#hank schrader#hank#brba analysis#brba meta#trauma post series#y’all...#i fuckin love hank schrader#im so sad he’s dead#rewatching One Minute repeatedly to write this post CHANGED ME#hope y’all are enjoying my dissertation
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What is your opinion on the parallels between Ron and Neville, especially considering that they both suffer from drastically low self-esteem? People often draw similarities between their arcs, but it seems to me that as the book series went on, Neville gained confidence while Ron lost confidence. Am I missing something?
I think you pretty much summed it up.
You could say that Neville’s self-esteem was inversely proportional to Ron’s.
When Ron comes at Hogwarts, he’s feeling a bit defeated already, but his successes in the first book (where he kinda carries the team) and the second (where he gets a Special Award For Services To The School along with Harry) serve to build up his confidence, culminating with him getting his own wand in the third. Meanwhile poor Neville, while he stands up to Grabbe and Coyle and later to his own friends, is still seen bumbling around and being generally a laughing stock.
After the third book it’s kind of a turning point. Ron doubts Harry openly, makes a fool of himself due to Fleur’s Veela glamour and is pretty much getting slapped in the face by the narration. Neville however doesn’t get humiliated as much, and even gets to go to the Yule Ball without being publically humiliated.
In OOTP the chasm deepens. Ron is bullied horribly... and no one does a thing. Neville, meanwhile, gets McGonagall telling him he’s a great wizard and a promise of her standing up to his grandmother. OOTP ends with Neville having gotten his own wand, and Ron’s triumph over his bullies is eclipsed by his defeat at the DOM.
HBP pretty much spits on every character, even uses Luna Lovegood to convince us to feel sorry for Hermione who has assaulted her friend, and Neville is pretty much the only one to come out unscathed, because he was relegated to the background. He makes a comic relief appearance at Slughorn’s party and that’s all; he’s then here and present when it comes to fighting the Death Eaters during the battle of the Astronomy Tower. Ron is also there, but people seem to forget that Hermione and Luna did not participate much in that fight...
And DH... well, no possibility to see Neville bumbling at Hogwarts in DH now that we aren’t at Hogwarts, is there? But we are given first-seats to see Ron be moody and angry and a general ass... which anyone would be in the situation he’s in (as in, having your family/little sister liable to be executed at any moment by a corrupt government, being anaemic, and being led on a wild goose chase by an asshole who doesn’t seem to care at all about the fact that YOUR FAMILY MAY DIE THE LONGER THIS DRAGS ON), but somehow JKR insists that it’s Ron and only Ron being an asshole, case in point:
This was their first encounter with the fact that a full stomach meant good spirits; an empty one, bickering and gloom. Harry was least surprised by this, because he had suffered periods of near starvation at the Dursleys’. Hermione bore up reasonably well on those nights when they managed to scavenge nothing but berries or stale biscuits, her temper perhaps a little shorter than usual and her silences rather dour. Ron, however, had always been used to three delicious meals a day, courtesy of his mother or of the Hogwarts house-elves, and hunger made him both unreasonable and irascible. Whenever lack of food coincided with Ron’s turn to wear the Horcrux, he became downright unpleasant. - Deathly Hallows
So we have
Ron, however, had always been used to three delicious meals a day, courtesy of his mother or of the Hogwarts house-elves
... but, um, Hermione too is used to three delicious meals a day, courtesy of her parents and the Hogwarts house-elves -
Hermione bore up reasonably well [...], her temper perhaps a little shorter than usual and her silences rather dour
Nevermind, Perfect Goddess Sue is perfect.
At the end of DH, we still remember that Ron behaved badly in the Horcrux Hunt because blah blah symbolism blah blah poor wee Harry blah blah catholicism parallels with St Peter denying knowing Jesus blah blah blah.
While Neville’s appearance as the fearless, epic Hogwarts leader is still a shock, but also a satisfying moment, especially when he gets his epic speech to tell Voldemort to go fuck himself.
... which leads many to forget that Ron did it before Neville (not that Neville’s speech wasn’t an epic, well-deserved moment of pure badassery).
"You see?" said Voldemort, and Harry felt him striding backward and forward right beside the place where he lay. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"
"He beat you!" yelled Ron, and the charm broke, and the defenders of Hogwarts were shouting and screaming again until a second, more powerful bang extinguished their voices once more. - Deathly Hallows
But people will mostly recall Neville’s speech. Because it lasts longer than Ron’s simple “he beat you” and Voldemort actually reacts to it, actually holds a conversation with Neville, while Ron’s scream is... mostly ignored. Even his breaking of Voldemort’s Silencing Charm doesn’t impact much, because another, stronger Charm is immediately put in place moments after.
The way Neville and Ron kill their respective Horcruxes is very different, too... Neville does it in an epic moment of badassery, set on fire and everything, and takes the sword from the Hat itself, mimicking Harry’s actions in Chamber of Secrets. It’s a pure, unadulterated moment of epicness, and nothing can taint its sheer badassery (especially if, like the rest of us intellectuals, you ignore everything JKR has tried to establish as canon after DH).
Ron, however, kills his affiliated Horcrux as an act of... eugh... redemption over leaving Harry’s side (even though it was clearly the smartest thing to do since the dumbass didn’t even manage to destroy the Horcrux while Ron was gone, so here’s your proof that Harry and Hermione absolutely do need Ron because they’re incompetent nincompoops). Ron killing the Horcrux can’t be called triumphant or a victory, no matter what idiots blabbering about symbolically destroying his inferiority complex try to say - because yeah, symbolism is nice and all, but it’s not because Ron gets a symbolic victory that he’s miraculously cured of it, but hey who cares Ron can’t possibly have a mental illness cuz he’s not Harry haha!!
... Excuse me. I’m still bitter over... things.
Ron’s defeat of the Horcrux isn’t a triumph like Neville decapitating Nagini is. He’s humiliated in front of his best friend, whose opinion he bases most of his self-esteem upon. His dirty laundry is aired for Harry to see. And finally, when he destroys the Horcrux, he is left crying in the snow with Mr Emotionally Stunted for company.
How. The fuck. Do you call that. A victory.
Ron’s killing of the Horcrux is bittersweet. It’s only Harry and Ron, isolated in a small clearing, in the snow. Ron doesn’t get the sword from the Sorting Hat itself, which may make some people think it hasn’t been won properly, even though Ron displayed bravery (jumping into a frozen pond in the middle of winter) and chivalry (rescuing Harry) to obtain it, and Ron pretty much spends the whole time being terrified (of the thing that psychologically tortured him but hey, since when do we care about Ron’s feelings) then apologizing to Harry for leaving (and Harry accepting those apologies when HE TOO OWED RON SOME FUCKING APOLOGIES BUT NAH HARRY POTTER IS TOO SPECIAL FOR THAT).
While Neville’s killing of Nagini is nothing but badass, badass, and re-badass, with loads of people to witness it. It’s epic. Neville obtains Gryffindor’s sword “”“properly”““, by taking it from the Sorting Hat. And naturally, there’s nothing about Neville “redeeming himself for his betrayal of Our Lord And Saviour Harry Potter” to taint that success.
Yeah... at the end of it all, Ron is... not fine. Him “symbolically destroying his inferiority complex” is just fucking that, a symbol. But it doesn’t mean he’s miraculously cured his insecurities and all. It doesn’t mean he’s stopped being horribly fucking depressed. It doesn’t mean he’s not traumatized. But I forgot only Harry’s traumas matter (and Hermione’s, to a lesser extent... what am I saying, Hermione doesn’t get trauma, trauma is for losers, like Harry).
Neville is slowly but steadily built up in the background through the series (huh, kinda like Ginny... wonder why more people won’t point that out). His failures are so commonplace, and usually more in the realms of “accidental fuck-up” than “feeling offended and fucking up because of it”, that it’s hard to be angry at him. Meanwhile Ron’s failures feel more personal, because he’s so important to Harry and Harry takes Ron’s disagreements with him as personal attacks like the idiot fuck he is.
So, while Neville gradually gets stronger in the background, Rowling brings Ron down a little more in every book, because as the books go on she can’t bear to have Harry and Hermione fuck up, so Ron has to do all the fucking up so she can pretend the other two are perfect instead.
#vivi answers#ask#neville longbottom#ron weasley#ron weasley defence squad#ron weasley defense squad#harry potter series#harry potter#hermione granger
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