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starmage-constellar · 2 years

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add fans please i have the sacred texts

bro half of this is gonna be nonsense but i need to spread my truths

okay, elstumblr. add grenore right. what a dude.

he’s been through a lot, but GOD is that all so misrepresented and practically ignored

im here to give a rundown on add as a character, from his childhood all the way to when he joins the main cast (& in general, his relationship with eve)

of course, since its.. add.. there’s TW for the following:

- death

- abuse

- enslavement

of course, we start off with add being born. right off the bat, asker (his dad) didn’t even attend his birth. he was informed by one of his manor’s servants that he now had a child. and rather than be there to not only celebrate his new son’s existence but also support his own wife, he stayed at his desk and occupied him with the things that concerned him the most (which are. clearly not the people who are meant to be his family).

when add was just a child, his father pushed him through rigorous teachings. anything out of turn resulted in not only physical but verbal abuse. asker most definitely had a temper and took it out on his son during lessons. he was so frustrated with every small mistake that add made―whether it was his intention to make it or not―that add started to see it as “normal” and “understandable” just because nasods were endangered. he excused his father’s actions and temper because that’s what he was made to do.

and, it’s not like he had anyone to tell him otherwise until much later. he was completely sheltered his whole life. even if there’s nothing that tells us he didn’t talk to anyone outside of his home, i think it’s a correct assumption. do you honestly think that someone as controlling and abusive as asker would: A) allow add to do anything but put his time and energy towards nasods? & B) nourish the sort of mindset within add that would allow him to comfortably communicate with anyone outside the house? no. add would already struggle with a majority of the symptoms of c-ptsd (self-worth issues, ignoring red flags/excusing abusive behaviours, relationship difficulties, etc).

however, “excusing abusive behaviours” isn’t to say that those affected by c-ptsd arent afraid of their abusers. when add finds out about his father’s plan, he’s terrified of what asker will end up doing to him. he’s still just a kid! it’s not like he totally understands whats going on, no matter how smart he might be for his age. also, he willingly listens in on the conversation between his parents, only fleeing once he thinks he’ll get caught (though it was grace who peeked out the door). he can infer already that what he was doing wasn’t something he should’ve been doing/something asker would be displeased with. he’s never been afraid of his mother, he’s afraid of the consequences of his actions as they pertain to his father because of how much control asker has had over add’s life to that point. he’s afraid of disappointing his father again.

then, we get to the day when nasod ruler caught up with his family. they killed his family and destroyed his home. i think a part of him felt like he upset his father, but it wouldn’tve mattered then. above all else, he was utterly distraught that someone had taken away his mother. grace was the only person that, given the narrow scope of people he knew up until then, he ever cared about genuinely. he checked into her lab every day after lessons to see if she was around because he loved her. grace was his comfort, and that makes sense! she was an incredibly loving and caring mother. she was the only support system add ever had in his life.

im certain that when he was captured, it was in the midst of his panic and distress, so he would’ve been trying to get away from them as much as he could. he wanted his mother back. im not even sure if he understood she wasn’t going to come back, but i also don’t think he would care much if she was alive or dead. i have a feeling that even if he understood she was dead, he would rather stay by her corpse than be anywhere else because it was still his mother. it was still his comfort and his support, even if she wasn’t breathing.

to the actual slavery part, though. initially, add would be very uncertain about being in the situation. he wasn’t given the time to process his mother’s death, so he would be undoubtedly shaken up about it for a while. he would have so many mixed emotions and wouldn’t be given the time to process them. and this is SO important to know about his character.

throughout every traumatic situation he’s had to go through, there has been nobody that he is able to speak on these matters with. he’s had no time to question anything or understand anything from a different view. he is left to keep dealing with these things in an unhealthy manner, if dealing with them at all.

it is for this reason that his reaction to the new world when he wakes up in the library infuriates me. yes, he is fascinated by the library, and that’s understandable. it’s a vast collection of knowledge. knowledge that could help him. knowledge that could make him stop disappointing people around him. however, his reaction to dynamo sort of irritates me. in a way, i understand his abrasiveness. he wants to do things on his own. escaping from slavery was already a way of proving to himself he was capable of something. however, i don’t think he should be as annoyed with it as he is. it’s clear, by the point he entered the library, he was inquisitive enough to understand things pretty quickly. like, he was smart enough to make use of dynamo once he got outside. i don’t get why he tried to ignore dynamo so vehemently when he could’ve clearly seen it wouldn’t leave him alone lmao...

but oh god.. we get to him interacting with echo.....................

we’re going back to him having bad people skills. i doubt he would have ever gotten comfortable speaking to anyone, given what happened to him. i also think he could’ve been a little more hesitant entering elder, but that’s just my thought (he does mention that he’s never seen cities around him before, so).

i understand he knows a lot about the nasodian race, but it seems a little weird to have him come out of two incredibly-emotionally-damaging situations being able to communicate with a stranger so quickly.

however, i appreciate him being intrigued by a request. he’s only ever known how to do things for people, for the most part. to be offered a request―a chance for him to prove himself again―and possibly earn a reward in exchange is something he would be willing to do. im also thankful that he’s confused by echo’s hospitality. (still quite pissed off about his “tsundere” attitude, though...)

adding to what they’ve done right, though, i think quantum leap vol. 3 is my favourite volume. it’s a little flawed, but i think it’s a great explanation of add as a character. his driving force is to become stronger and to get rid of his weaknesses. weakness = vulnerability = suffering.

uhh.. moving past some other shit because it’s already 1:30 am

keeping this brief: add only helped wally because he thought it would be a good way to prove himself again to somebody, but ultimately betrayed him when he noticed small similarities in their relationship compared to his previous situations.

add also never let himself process anything he really went through, even when he isolated himself inside the library. again, the whole not wanting to be weak thing. any sort of vulnerability would just make him weaker, which would make him more susceptible to getting hurt again. thus, to protect himself, he refused to let himself look back on and deal with his issues when he was finally in a safe environment. to him, they’re just intrusive thoughts that he thinks he’s been able to deal with. (plus, he was down there to study. he’s not gonna waste his time with that!)

oh right i almost forgot. Eve.

god. okay. getting it out up front: i am not an add/eve shipper. i have never shipped it, and my stance is that add is simply infatuated with eve from a technological standpoint. hell, she’s the queen of the nasod race. if anyone has the answers on how the guy can get back to his time period, certainly it’s the queen of nasods! this is even reflected in 2nd path, where he’s solely focused on eve to take advantage of her coding to his own benefit (of course, 2nd path is also very arrogant and such). i understand that the main story allows for add to get closer with eve, but even in elSYION NOT ELRIANODE SORRY, he’s still acting obsessive and abnormal in terms of how he conducts himself around her compared to everyone else.

uhh i dont think i have any more to say,, if you made it this far, hi! thank you for reading my autism paper

also its 1:40 am im so fucking sleepy i cant go on with summarizing this essay

#elsword #add grenore #add elsword #edward grenore #also where the fuck did he get the catboy jacket from im still confused #like echo didn't give him that so where the fuck did that come from #my boy can't sew for shit don't even try it #character analysis

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agent-cupcake · 3 years

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You know, you've written a lot of your thoughts/hcs/etc on how various characters would behave as yanderes and so on, but I've never seen you talk about yandere readers before and I feel like that's an interesting subject to consider? Especially for 3H - you have a treasure trove of damaged boys to attract obsessiveness from girls who are convinced they are the ONLY one for them and it's their duty to drive away competition/threats/anyone they want.

Okay it's time to be toxic. I’m not going to go for all the guys, just the ones who immediately came to mind.

Dimitri: I joke quite often that I would be yandere for Dimitri. It all started when I brought up killing the girl he danced with at the White Heron Ball and quite frankly it's only spiraled from there because doesn't the Savior King Dimitri deserve to be adored and worshipped? Doesn't he deserve someone who wants the best for him and only him? Doesn’t it only make sense for him to be with someone who understands his mental issues and is willing to offer him unconditional support and patience? Doesn't he need someone with unwavering loyalty who will do anything no matter what the cost for his sake? It'd be so easy too because he's super dependent, desperate for affection, and clueless so if you just nourish those traits and constantly downplay his discomfort/suspicion of you driving away anybody who you feel is a threat by saying that this is how relationships just are, that it's just because you love him so much, that you're just looking out for him, what's he gonna do? It's not like he'd have any solid basis for knowing how relationships are supposed to be. Besides if he gets too upset you can threaten to leave him just like his mother did, I'm sure that would work to get him back in your arms (where he belongs). Yeah, that’s a little fucked up but it would be so much worse for both of you in the long run if you were apart. Being too aggressive or overt about your obsession would definitely make Dimitri wise up so it'd be better to go with love bombing. This would be good because it really lets you prove your devotion to Dimitri and makes it easier for him to just laugh off and excuse your disturbingly possessive behavior. His friends would be potentially problematic, but they're not always around and Dimitri's private enough that he probably wouldn't volunteer information about you to them. If you told him that it made you very upset and uncomfortable when he was friendly with the girls from his class, he’d most likely stop for your sake. Bonus round, have his babies. What is he going to do, abandon the mother of his children? Dimitri?!? No way. Of course he wouldn’t do anything to risk breaking his family, but neither would you! After all, this is all because you know Dimitri better than anyone which means that only you can love him.

Sylvain: Sylvain being manipulative and cheating on you after you try and prove your love to him through conventional means causing you to snap and kill hurt the girls, throw his lies back in his face, and prove that you're the only girl for him by preying on his emotional trauma with women is really something to consider. Why try to resolve toxic situations with love, compassion, and open communication when you can use blood and abuse to keep him with you? Play the part, be snarky, witty, flirty, be super hot and cold to keep him intrigued, give him the best fuck he's ever had, really show him that you don't care about his Crest, you just want to love possess him. Maybe even do the whole "I don't care who you're with, we both know you belong to me" to really engage him in those super fun mind games. Make everyone else acknowledge that you're the perfect girl for him, get them all to vilify him for continuing to be such a womanizer and breaking your heart. But, like, why stop there? Encourage him to retaliate, to be mad at you. Tease him for being so disgusted and angry at you when all you want, all you've ever wanted, was for your hearts to beat as one and then later act confused because of course you wouldn’t make light of his feelings like that, that’s horrible. All you want, all you’ve ever wanted, was for him to acknowledge that your adoration for him is true. Really break him until he gives you the whole “I’ll let you chain me up so I never even look at another girl” schtick. This might seem awful, but so is he! Reform can be difficult and if he’s going to be happy, he has to be made to understand why his behavior was so bad and the consequences of it. Because it’s not like you’d act like this if you had any other choice, it’s not like you’d continue once the two of you were truly together, of course you wouldn’t treat him so cruelly once he vowed himself to you and only you. And, really, I think it’d be a lot easier once he understood that and you got to prove your love to him through raw, unadulterated affection. Spend every day adding onto the list of why you love your Sylvain.

Claude: Claude being more than aware of the ole' saying "don't stick your dick in crazy" and then doing it anyway because he has a proclivity for the fiery, forbidden, and oh-so temping call of danger would be the perfect set up for a very bad predicament. You’d have to play some mind games to really convince him that he’s the one seeking you out, he’s the one who’s got it bad, he’s the one who wants to have you. In other words, you’d have to give him a challenge. But, you know, if it’s a game, you’d have to play back because you’re doing this for him, because you love him, because you want him to realize that he loves you, too (Uno reverse Claude’s yandere behaviors, basically) so obviously you’d have to eliminate any obstacles and taking out anybody who could be a potential threat. Get him to open up about his dreams, his past, his feelings. As it goes with basically all of these affection-starved men, make him feel loved for who he is. You know, if you were really good, you could probably even get him to give up on everything else for your sake. I mean, I loathe the ending but he does that for Lysithea. Pull a Tangled on Claude and make him believe that you’re his new dream as he mostly certainly is yours.

Felix: Sweet Felix. So oblivious but so difficult. A man who would provide the ultimate and most dangerous yan rival of them all: the thrill of the fight. In a lot of ways, I think he’d be like Dimitri. Mostly just because he’s so dense when it comes to love of any kind. But he’s also not as emotionally desperate or dependent so you wouldn’t really be able to use that against him. The similarities come from Felix’s equal amount of inexperience with romance which opens up a lot of possibilities for you convincing him that certain behaviors are normal. You can even bring up how his cold emotional state (something I believe he’s insecure about) is what forces you to be so overbearing, how badly it hurts you. You don’t necessarily mean to be so cloying but you’re so afraid of losing someone else you love so much (another insecurity of his). After all, there is nobody in the entire world who is like him, Felix Hugo Fraldarius, (three for three with his insecurities) and how irreplaceable and precious he is to you. These examples are kind of “soft” when it comes to using his insecurities against him, but you could go further with them assuming you were sure that it wouldn’t drive him away. Not knowing and having to work on assumption would always be a pretty big reason to control yourself in how you went about manipulating him because Felix is stubborn and prideful and pushing him too far would only hurt the both of you. It’s actually kind of funny because as opposed to the traditional yan mindset, it would be in your best interest to get Felix to form relationship bonds with others (but definitely not any of the girls he’s so popular with) because that would be a bargaining chip when convincing him to stay with you.

Ferdinand von Aegir: Ferdinand is, honestly, so easy for this. Like, I feel as if I don’t even need to talk about the details. You show him some affection and he’s yours. Bury him in love and praise. Tell him that it makes you unhappy when he talks to other girls or prioritizes his work over you and then reward him with boundless warmth and devotion because of course he would bend over backwards to make you happy. He just wants to be needed and treasured, to love and be loved. He’s already got the poetry and the ring and of course he wouldn’t mind getting married right away it’s true love, why would you wait?

Yuri: Yuribird is the forbidden darling. You’d need to be running on 100% love because he’d sniff out and ditch you at even the smallest whiff of deliberate obsession. But you know what he wants? More-so than the other guys, in some ways. He wants to be known and loved for who he is. In the face of genuine affection, he doesn’t stand a chance. Still, you’d have to be measured about this stuff. If you were jealous and got rid of your rivals yourself, Yuri would be disgusted and leave you. And you can’t hide that sort of thing from him, either. You’d have to go all in on the manipulation but only in the most honest way possible, that’s the only way past his defenses. Get him to prioritize your feelings first so he feels guilty talking to people or acting in ways that upset you. Reward him for putting you above everyone else. Constantly remind him that you’re the only one who knows and understands him, who loves him for who he is. Get him so emotionally fucked that even if his big brain logic is telling him that you’re toxic and horrible, he can’t stand the thought of being without you. He’d give up crime, it’s not like he even particularly likes it. Set up the perfect life for him, something domestic and sweet and warm, something he’s never had worries he doesn’t deserve, something that keeps him away from others. The goddess only knows how much he deserves a happy dream for once, and you’re the only one who can understand and provide that for him.

#dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #sylvain jose gautier #yuri leclerc #claude von riegan #felix hugo fraldarius #ferdinand von aegir #fe dimitri #fe sylvain #fe yuri #fe claude #fe felix #fe ferdinand #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #yandere #headcanons #yandere headcanons #quality content only on my blog

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haleigh-sloth · 3 years

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Hello,

I just found your page and after reading some of your mha posts had a couple things I wanted to ask if that's ok.

1. Since you feel Hawks is not justified because he could have chosen options other than killing Twice, do you think he would have been had he genuinely been made to choose between killing him and saving others? I.e. do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others? If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).

2. This might very well be a stupid question, but if we consider that heroes shouldn't treat others as an it and put them down for the "sake of society", do you feel this ought to extend to AFO too? I really don't mean to use this as a gotcha moment or anything like it, but I feel like if MHA is trying to move away from a punitive justice system in favour of a rehabilitative/restorative one, we ought to consider where people like AFO fall into this system as well. AFO is seemingly entirely unlike any of the other villains in the show, but if we judge that he deserves a different fate for this it also feels like playing into the "Some people just can't be saved" notion that's been perpetuated by hero society. It is of course entirely possible, if not likely, that he'll fall in battle, or that Shigaraki himself will kill him eventually, but I feel like that skirts the issue rather than answer it. As someone who does not seem to show any remorse, desire or even ability to be saved, and in fact feels rather inhuman, what should a reformed society even do with him? Even if we could convincingly argue him to be fundamentally different and thus deserving of punishment, it is much easier for us readers who have more information to make this call, rather than in-universe characters whose judgement will inevitably be based on something less than the full truth. So even if AFO's case in particular was easily answered, it would set a precedent for cases that may appear similar, but in truth be less clear cut. Basically, I believe you feel the villain league deserves another chance because they were victims of their circumstances, and thus not necessarily beyond salvation, because they never knew normality to begin with, but what about those who were not victims, those who by their nature have insurmountable trouble fitting into a peaceful society? Perhaps it's just my mistaken assumption that such people exist and I'm reading AFO wrong, or perhaps it's the opposite and I'm giving people like AFO undue consideration, or perhaps my assumption that AFO ought to be treated as a person rather than a carocature, a symbol, is flawed to begin with, but I just really don't think a manga that wants to argue that villains are people too should go "but here's THIS vile piece of shit, let's kill him!". Am I making sense here?

3. On another note, what do you think of Endeavor's recent speech and general recent development? I've seen some people who were upset by his "Would it fix everything if we showed you our tears" line, but rather than him being dismissive or callous I just see it as him awkwardly saying that he doesn't think anything other than actions can help him atone for what he did. He's still got a lot to work through, but him recognizing that he's got something to atone for and freely talking about what he did to his family is, as I find, certainly a huge step in the right direction.

WHOO hey! Sorry for taking a while to respond. You gave me some really well thought-out questions and I wanted to return the favor with well thought-out answers. Also I was heckin busy yesterday when you sent this. So, here we go:

To answer this question about Hawks, I first need to clarify what it means to be a hero in the eyes of the story that is BNHA:

This honestly doesn’t even make a dent in the amount of panels in BNHA that reiterate time and time again that heroes SAVE people, but I don’t feel like I should have to spend too much time looking for them, these I used above should suffice. The one with baby Midoriya and baby Tenko doesn’t even have any words in the panel, and it’s still powerful enough to get the message across. And make me cry.

Almost every story has its own “heroes” in it. And every story’s definition of a hero is different. In Marvel and DC superhero comics and movies, the heroes usually end up killing the villains, yes? I can’t say I’m familiar with these stories because they aren’t interesting to me in the slightest, but from the ones I HAVE seen, the final boss at the end dies. But all of the heroes get to keep their title of “hero”. That’s not really the standard we have in BNHA.

“Do you think it's just this killing in particular that was not justified and thus murder, or do you think heroes killing can never be justified, even if in self-defense or defense of others?”

So this is a fair point and I feel that the best way to answer this is by asking what you consider self defense? Say Hawks is at home mad chillin and not prepared for a fight in the slightest, and somebody breaks into his house and starts trying to hurt/kill him. He’s unprepared and at this point just trying to keep himself alive. If he ends up killing the guy, is he wrong? In my opinion, no. In real life this happens to people, and they aren’t considered murderers, as they shouldn’t be. To me, self defense is a situation where:

It’s either you or me. It’s one or the other.

I think it’s fair to say what happened with Hawks and Twice was absolutely NOT self defense. I’m not going to go into detail about how deciding to kill Twice was absolutely 100% premeditated, because there’s a wonderful post by someone else that already explains that in great detail here. But I’ll end this thought by saying that Hawks was not committing an act of self defense.

Nothing about this says “self-defense” to me.

“If we take the "Heroes save people" maxim to its limits, it might be reasonable to argue for a deontological approach to ethics rather than a utilitarian one, so that killing one to save others is not justified because you actively break your code (as opposed to risking not being able to save others, which would be considered a lesser moral wrong under this mindset).”

To make it simple for some people to understand these terms:

“Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on OUTCOMES.“ In a nutshell, utilitarian ethics means you make a decision based on how it will affect everything else.

“In moral philosophy, deontological ethics or deontology is the normative ethical theory that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong under a series of rules, rather than based on the consequences of the action.” In a nutshell, deontological ethics means you make a decision based on whether it follows rules or not.

So this is a complicated question, and my answer to this is....both? Throughout BNHA we’ve had this dilemma over and over again:

Break the rules and save the day? Or follow the rules and possibly suffer the consequences? Well, BNHA just says “Yes” lol. Do both. Break the rules and save the day. Make a decision based on the consequences of said decision, but also try to follow the rules as best as you can. Even in reality, people do this to get through life. You really can’t live life under a strict utilitarian approach or a strict deontological approach. If Midoriya hadn’t persisted against his classmates and the law to go save Bakugo, he WOULD have gotten kidnapped AGAIN. They were actively trying to take him with them. If Midoriya didn’t break the rules to save Kota, Kota would have straight up DIED. Muscular was actively trying to kill Kota, not to mention Kota had zero ways of defending himself. But here’s where I don’t think this is a fair comparison:

Hawks claims his killing of Twice was to save others. I don’t completely disagree with this logic, if the situation was more dire and dangerous for Hawks. The league was taking peoples’ lives. Somebody had to do something. The problem is that Twice was RUNNING AWAY when Hawks killed him. Twice wasn’t fighting Hawks back, he wasn’t endangering Hawks himself. Hawks stabbed him in the back. AND Hawks had Dabi to worry about, who was actively trying to attack Hawks. But Hawks chose to murder Twice instead of fending off Dabi. And if you refer back to the post I linked above about how it was a premeditated decision to kill Twice, you’ll see that Hawks had the capability of knocking Twice unconscious. He should have done this from the get go. And honestly? There are other heroes who could have captured Twice. There SHOULD have been other heroes to capture Twice. If Hawks was the only hope for the heroes in that war then jeez, the heroes suck at their jobs.

So TLDR for this question: Hawks’s circumstances were not drastic enough for him to be justified in killing Twice. As I said above, self-defense is one thing, where yes I could understand how if a life is lost while defending oneself is probably inevitable in some cases. But this wasn’t self defense. Twice was running away. Hawks should also be able to rely on his hero comrades to help him out.

Instead Hawks chose to be law-enforcement, judge, and executioner all in one moment.

I hope this answers your question? I tried my best. If I misunderstood or missed a talking point, feel free to shoot me a message or another ask.

Next question:

Believe me. I have thought about this! What about AFO? He’s human too isn’t he? You have a point. Should the restorative justice system extend to AFO? I would say yes. If I’m going to stick to my guns that the villains deserve restorative justice and not punitive justice, I should be fair and say it should extend to all villains.

The problem is not in the idea of exploring saving AFO, it’s just that there simply isn’t enough time to explore this in the story. If Horikoshi had said “I’m not going anywhere guys! We’re in this for the long haul!” I’d say it’s possible to explore that route. We don’t know anything about AFO except from what we’ve seen on screen, and what we’ve been told by All Might and the other OFA holders. Which still isn’t much to go on. You’re not giving AFO undue consideration. It’s definitely a deserved consideration. There are people in the story (and the real world) who may not be victimized in any way and end up being villains. Do they deserve a chance? I’d say yes. It’s in my nature as a social worker irl to give people the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance to learn. You’re right that in the end, the league being saved and the characters not considering what could have led AFO to villainy is just “skirting around the problem.” And honestly, that’s probably what we’re going to get. I wouldn’t be surprised for the thought to pass in Midoriya’s head. After saving somebody like Shigaraki, who everybody in the story (and many readers) considered to be “too far gone”, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Midoriya entertained the thought for a brief moment. “What could have saved AFO from himself?” So honestly I don’t have an answer to this question that qualifies both sides. I can’t say that AFO is “too far gone” without undermining that fact that I never believed Shigaraki was “too far gone”, simply because we don’t get to decide what “too far gone” is. All I can say is that in the eyes of the story, there are far too many differences between AFO’s circumstances and Shigaraki’s circumstances to compare the two, and say they deserve the same type of sympathy from us readers.

Truly I have no sympathy for AFO, because the story doesn’t ask for it. The story wants sympathy for Shigaraki, Toga, Touya, Spinner, and even a tiiiiiny bit for Overhaul. It asks for NONE for AFO.

Another post I’ll link here that isn’t by me but by another awesome meta blogger (@hamliet) is this.

In a nutshell it says:

It’s not that AFO can’t be saved, it’s that he won’t. That’s the best answer I can give to that question honestly.

As for the third question:

That press conference was just...eh. I mean yeah, Endeavor not denying the allegations was good. Not that he really could anyway. It sucks for the rest of his family though. But at the same time Touya deserved his revenge, even though it was at the expense of his siblings and mother. It sucks, it’s a double edged sword because somebody is hurting no matter what was gonna happen. Endeavor was an asshole to that lady but I don’t really care too much. I’m really torn on what I think is going on inside Enji’s head because the Todofam is either extremely dense, or Horikoshi is writing their dialogue extremely vague on purpose to keep reader’s on the edge of their seats regarding what they want to do about Touya. I really don’t know. I’m not thrilled with the way the Todofam plot is being written right now, even though I’m 100% sure Touya is going to get his happy ending. But right now anything to do with the Todofam that isn’t Shoto and Touya just bothers me. I don’t think Enji really understands yet what he has to do for Touya. Yes he recognizes that he has to atone, but he’s not recognizing HOW he has to atone. Right now he’s still stuck in that “I have to be a hero to absolve my crimes against my family” headspace and I don’t think he’s going to get out of that headspace until he comes face to face with his son and realizes that he can’t just fight villains and go home to a happy family that he terrorized for 20 years. He’s going to have to let his family go, let them decide when to let him back in, if they ever do (I think they will just because of the way the story is being written.) As a reader, Enji is just a character that I cannot vibe with, no matter what happens. I definitely appreciate his role in the story. His role is vital to Touya’s saving and redemption. Touya is in my top 3 favorite characters from this series and I’m emotionally invested. So while I appreciated Enji’s role in the story, I don’t like his character or anything to do with him, at least until it comes time to help save his son. Also the trio of Hawks, Best Jeanist, and Enji just gives me major back the blue vibes and I just can’t read their chapters and be in a good mood lol.

Thank you for the ask! I hope I answered everything! This was fun to answer!

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ablogthatishenceforthmine · 4 years

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Zeke Character Profile

Physical

Zeke is a very physical person, in a multitude of ways. He is tough. He loves and is good at physical activities. He is obsessed with wrestling; he does it all the time and can’t seem to stop doing it. It seems also to be an emotional thing, as he often wrestles people when he is overcome with emotion or affection.

In group tasks or environments, he often occupies roles that demand physicality. At the makeshift gambling joint the Belcher kids run in their basement in “The Kids Run the Restaraunt,” he is the doorman and bouncer. In “Few ‘Gurt Men,” his role in the mock trial is the baliff. In the heist in "The Taking of Funtime One Two Three,” his physical strength is emphasized and used to win an arcade game.

He is not just physically tough, but also physically affectionate. He is physically affectionate with most people, but is especially so with Jimmy Jr., his best friend. Zeke has no shame, embarrassment, or self-consciousness in hugging, holding, or throwing his arm around Jimmy Jr. and other boys his age. It’s really refreshing to see a male character that so thoroughly enjoys showing physical affection to his male friends without any “no homo” posturing or thoughts. To give Jimmy Jr. credit too, he likewise has no problem with the physical affection Zeke shows him or giving Zeke physical affection.

Good Friend

Zeke cares a lot about about his friendship with Jimmy Jr. He values it above all else. He and Jimmy Jr. are inseparable. Zeke is a great friend to him. He always encourages and supports Jimmy Jr., showers him with compliments, and comforts him when Jimmy Jr. needs it. The only time he is disloyal to Jimmy Jr. is in the “Oeder games,” and that’s only after Jimmy Jr. turns on him first.

Supportive and Encouraging

Zeke is extremely encouraging and supportive of other people. He’s a cheerleader: not actually, but in spirit. He is constantly cheering on and complimenting people’s ideas and accomplishments. He just really believes in people and lets them know. Even when he is being critical, he does it in a positive when. In “The Land Ship,” when everyone is bashing Tina for being bland or boring, Zeke included, he at least does it in a somewhat motivational way, telling her “get some spice into you girl!”

Kind

Zeke is incredibly kind. He really cares about other people. There are many instances of Zeke being extraordinary kind. Because there are so many instances, I will just pick out a few examples that really stuck out to me. In “Broadcast Wagstaff News,” Zeke tells Tina that after a while, he continued to be the mad pooper for Tina. It’s a surprisingly sweet and touching thing. Even Tina, who is not partial to Zeke, thinks so. In “Midday Run.” he steals the mascot costume from Wagstaff for his grandma. She is going into surgery, and he knows that him prancing around in the mascot costume in front of her would comfort her and cheer her up. Once he is caught, he is desperate to get away, not to get out of trouble, but so that he can be there for his grandma. In “The Silence of the Louise,” Zeke falsely confesses to destroying Mr. Frond’s therapy dolls so that Jimmy Jr. and the other kids can go to the waterpark. It’s a completely selfless act, putting others above himself even when he doesn’t have to.

People Person

Zeke is a people person; he loves people and loves to be around them. He is very affectionate with people and often gives them nicknames; for example, he sometimes calls Tina “T-bird.” He also loves giving compliments, which he does all the time.

And people also really like Zeke. The best example of this is “A Fish Called Tina.” At different points, he is Rudy’s and Kaylee’s big fish (their mentor). He gets along with them so well. They really like him. Rudy even starts to think that Zeke could be his soulmate. After their first fish meeting, Rudy tells Zeke “I love you so much man.” Zeke replies in kind and they hug. Zeke loves people and they love him. Zeke just gets along with others so naturally and effortlessly. He is likeable, which in his case, is an actual skill. It’s no surprise he is such a great Big Fish. Zeke is able to bond with people who are completely different from him. He likes them even though they are nothing alike. Zeke is loud, outgoing, and energetic. While Rudy and Kaylee are quiet, bookish, and meek. But he doesn’t care about this, he doesn’t look down on them or think their weird or that they’re loses. Zeke likes and appreciates them, and people in general, for who they are. It’s also telling that such quiet and reserved people are able to care about Zeke so quickly rather than finding him obnoxious or draining.

Empathetic

Zeke is extremely empathetic, and always tries to understand the reasons for others’ behavior. In "Bob Actually,” when Tina run’s away from Jimmy Jr.’s jumping kiss, Zeke empathizes wither her, telling her “feelings are scary girl.” He’s wrong about why she’s running away (it’s diarrhea), but it’s telling that he takes a guess at why she is running away, and emphasizes with it. In “The Hawkening: Look Who’s Hawking Now,” Zeke is emotional and distraught over Rudy having a broken arm and he brings up the idea of a party to celebrate Rudy getting his cast off.

In "Sit Me Baby One More Time,” Zeke’s immediate empathy for Kendra is really incredible. He almost immediately zeroes in on the fact that her behavior stems from the difficulties of being the new kid in school. He intuits that Kendra is bullying others in a preemptive strike against rejection. He says that “she rejects them in their crouch before they reject her in their heart.” He offers this girl empathy and understanding, even though the few seconds he’s interacted with her involved her attacking him unprovoked. It’s really an outstanding moment of empathy, as well as showing that Zeke has an incredible ability to understand others.

Honest and Open

Zeke may lie about the trouble he gets into, but he is completely honest and open about his thoughts and feelings. He has no trouble showing or announcing how he feels. In fact, he almost constantly does so. The audience and the other characters in the show never have to guess what he is thinking or feeling.

He has no problem showing his emotions, which is quite refreshing to see in a teenage boy character, especially one as typically boyish as Zeke. He loves to express affection for people, verbal and physical. In “The Gene and Courtney Show,” he openly cries in class at Gene’s love announcement. He informs the whole class that he is crying. He also cries and gets emotional at the puppet show in “If You Love it so Much, Why Don’t You Marrionate?” In “The Trouble with Doubles,” He openly admits to being scared by the movie. He says it without being asked.

Below Average Intelligence

Zeke is not the most intelligent kid. He doesn’t have the smartest ideas or the best critical thinking skills. He doesn’t do well in school. He is in the Home Economics class that Mr. Frond describes as “for dummies.” Part of his problem with school, seems to be his short attention span, and he probably has ADHD, but he’s also just not book smart.

Zeke is aware of his lack of intelligence. In "Ex Mach Tina,” Zeke tells Tammy and Jocelyn that they’re making him feel smart, showing that he is aware that he isn’t smart. In “Bob and Deliver,” his whole plotline revolves around this idea. Zeke says he doesn’t need cooking, and that he’s not going to college. He doesn’t seem to believe he has a bright future, and has accepted that. Bob has to badger Zeke into trying to cook. Zeke repeatedly says that he can’t do it. When Bob goes to taste it the dish Zeke made, Zeke tells Bob that he probably wrecked it. It’s clear that he doesn’t believe in himself, at least when it comes to his intelligence and general abilities. This plotline is about Zeke gaining faith in himself, and learning he can do more than he thinks he can. He learns that he is more than what he has been told he is. Once he finds a teacher who believes in him, he is able to flourish.

High Emotional Intelligence

While Zeke may struggle with some forms of intelligence, he has incredible emotional intelligence and maturity. He may be the most emotionally intelligent character, and not just out of the kid characters, but all the characters. He accepts and expresses his own emotions. He is not ashamed or afraid of them.

He approaches people with empathy and is genuinely interested in their point of view. In “Midday,” Zeke honestly asks Tina why she likes being a hall monitor, and challenges her on what the job does/means. He is genuinely trying to challenge, understand, and help her, rather than just calling her out or antagonizing her. ”

Because of his empathy and sincere interest in people, he is incredibly insightful and smart when it comes to people, their feelings, and their motivations. In "Ex Mach Tina,” he has rather insightful things to say about one of Jimmy Jr.’s songs, the one about Jimmy Jr.’s father throwing the ball too hard for Jimmy Jr. to catch when they play catch. Zeke analyses the song, telling the group it’s about parents putting too much expectations on their kids.

In “Sit Me Baby, One More Time,” Zeke displays extraordinary emotional intelligence in his ability to understand Kendra. As described above, he only meets for her a few seconds, and during those seconds, she was trying to attack him. He hears secondhand from Tina that she is new in school and that she is bullying other kids. From just this information, he is gain accurate and incredible insight into her behavior and mindset. With this example, you get the feeling that Zeke really sees people, in all their complexities, masks, and flaws. In the same episode, when Jimmy Jr. tells Zeke’s he’s scared, Zeke responds “I know buddy, that’s what makes us human.” Again insightful and empathetic. He has a great attitude toward emotions. Better yet, he doesn’t mock JJ’s fear, the way that so many boys are taught to do. He doesn’t think that fear makes someone weak, or is unmanly. He just accepts fear, and offers empathy to Jimmy Jr.

Big Picture Thinker/Philosophical

Despite his below average traditional intelligence, Zeke things about big things and issues. He is also occasionally philosophical.

In "Tina and the Real Ghost,” Zeke reveals that he doesn’t believe in ghosts or the afterlife. It says a lot that he’s thought enough about death and the afterlife to have a strong opinion on it and to not believe in it. Zeke thinks about big picture things: some pretty serious, weighty stuff. When he does start to believe in ghosts, he says very seriously, and kinda in a sort of despair, that “this changes a lot for me. A LOT.” He has a world view, and nd there is some melancholy and despair under his cheeriness. When the fraud of the ghost Jeff is revealed, Zeke says he wanted to believe that there was more than this life. This is a much more serious and philosophical desire than the other characters desires: to have a boyfriend, to hop on the bandwagon, or to win in a rivalry.

There are some other examples of Zeke thinking about big issues. In “Ex Mach Tina,” he is excited about getting philosophical about growing up. In “The Quirk-ducers,” it is revealed that Zeke co-founded a “women’s issues” club. He is also aware enough to know that no women signing up for the club is a problem. In “UFO No You Didn’t,” Zeke is concerned about the bees dying, and becomes the topic of his and Tammy’s science project. And it’s actually a good one idea, showing that Zeke can apply himself when he cares about what he’s doing.

Loud and Excitable

Zeke is very loud and excitable. He has has a sense of wonder about the world, and gets excited about the tiniest things. He is extremely enthusiastic. He uses colorful, creative, and evocative language. Zeke also loves to entertain others. He loves the attention, and making other people laugh.

Juvenile Sense of Humor

Zeke has a juvenile sense of humor. He loves gross out and sexual humor, as best indicated by his mad pooper stunt. He also has a lot of traits that are typically associated with teenage boys, such as his obsession with boobs.

Impulsive

Zeke is very impulsive, often acting without thinking. This can be both good and bad. It can be good because it means he is a doer; he takes action. This can be seen in "The Belchies,” when he, Tina Jimmy Jr, and Gene are stuck in the elevator. While Gene, Jimmy Jr., and Tina are just sitting in the elevator, accepting that they are stuck, Zeke is the one that gets them out by lifting the elevator door thing on an impulse. But his lack of impulse control also causes serious problems. It leads him to make bad decisions, and it gets him in trouble a lot at school. Zeke gets detention A LOT. However, he is aware of his impulse control issues. In “Thelma and Louise Except Linda is Thelma,” he explains that his many detentions is because he has a problem with impulse control.

Rule-breaker

Due partly to his poor impulse control, Zeke is bad at following rules. He also is just a rebellious person who enjoys causing trouble sometimes. He likes pranks, and often acts out.

But sometimes, his rule-breaking has nothing to due with this poor impulse control or love of pranks. Zeke follows his heart and his own moral code. He knows that rules aren’t always moral or right. He does what he thinks is right, even if its against the rules. This is best evidenced in “Midday Run,” when he steals the mascot costume in order to cheer up his grandma before her surgery. By the end of the episode, Zeke ended up teaching Tina that rules aren’t always right, and she shouldn’t always just obediently follow and enforce them without question.

Troubled Home Life

The show repeatedly hints that Zeke has a troubled home life; it’s a running joke of the series. In the opening of "The Runway Club,” in a homage to the film “The Breakfast Club,” Zeke plays the Bender role, further connecting him to a troubled home life.

Most of what’s mentioned or alluded to isn’t too serious or concerning. But Zeke seems to have a more adult, messy, and complicated home life than the other kid characters. His family moves around a lot, his birth mom had him when she was in high school, he has a 44 year-old brother, a clown at 7th birthday part later become famous for murdering someone. These are just some examples of things mentioned.

In “Boyz for Now,” Zeke also tells Tina and Louise that his step-mother is an alcoholic and a shopaholic. Although, during the play, when they are talking about how great moms are, Zeke makes a point to include step moms, and gives his step mom a shout out. So, he clearly has a good relationship with her. So again, nothing too dark, but still a bit troubled.

Conclusion

Zeke is a deceptive character. By which I mean, at first glance, and when he was first introduced, he seems simple. He’s a loud, gross, not very smart, impulsive teenage boy with a juvenile sense of humor. But underneath these qualities, he has a lot of depth. He is philosophical, highly emotionally intelligent, and extremely kind.

And just like viewers may at first have written him off, Wagstaff and Mr. Frond have too. Zeke is the type of kid whom schools, at least American schools, routinely fail because they have such a rigid and limited idea of what a good student is. They value a specific set of qualities, and fail to value or even see others that lay outside of that set. Unfortunately for Zeke, he lacks the qualities schools value and excels in the ones they ignore and devalue.

Zeke is labeled a bad, below-average kid. But the thing is, he is actually an extraordinary and talented kid. His level of emotional intelligence at his age is incredible, and really, rarer than the book-smarts that the “good kids” possess. He is really great with people, at dealing with them, and understanding them. That’s a real gift. But Wagstaff doesn’t value or even acknowledge these skills and qualities.

These abilities and personality traits should be acknowledged, valued, encouraged, and nourished. It is possible to create a school environment where Zeke, and kids like Zeke, can thrive. Instead of endlessly punishing Zeke and telling him that he’s a bad kid not worth very much, the school and Mr. Frond should acknowledge and cater Zeke’s school experience to his considerable gifts

For example, Zeke has a lot of qualities that make a great leader, such as his people-oriented nature and big picture thinking. Obviously, he lacks some necessarily qualities for leadership, so Zeke works best as a co-leader or leading with a group. He needs a partner/co-leader that has the leadership skills he lacks: critical thinking, attention to detail, and long-term thinking.

In “Prank You For Being a Friend,” Zeke is put in the club ‘the Thinkgineers” as a punishment. Imagine if he was encouraged or put in extracurricular activities that actually suited his skills and interests. The Thinkginners is the absolute worst club to put Zeke in. The Thinkginners is a club about inventing. It involves critical thinking, problem solving, math, and minute details. If the goal was to punish Zeke, then Mr. Frond succeeded, but wouldn’t it be better to help help. Mr. Frond should have put Zeke a club where he can actually thrive and find purpose, like with his time as a Big Fish. So maybe a mentorship club? Or a club that interacts with a lot or helps people? Or even something with leadership? These types of “punishment” would be much more helpful to Zeke than any of the other punishments he is given. Isn’t his behavior improving more important than the act of punishing?

I imagine Zeke would me more motivated and be better able to work on his weaknesses, if his strengths were recognized and encouraged in school. If he believes that his is a capable and worthy person, he might believe in himself more and work harder on his weaknesses. He might enjoy school more, which could only be a good thing.

#bob's burgers #zeke #bob's burgers zeke #my posts #ablogthatishenceforthmine

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lyrebirdswrites · 5 years

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Haikyuu: Where To From Here?

Okay, so I’ve calmed down enough now to finally put together some coherent thoughts about chapter 369.

First of all: there’s no need to panic, or to jump to conclusions! At this point, we have very little information. Here are the only concrete, confirmed facts we know for certain are true about the twist at the end of the chapter:

- an unspecified number of years have passed (above is the official Shonen jump translation, fan translations state ‘several’ years have passed)

- the story will be focusing on Brazil for the foreseeable future

- the composition of the manga strip places emphasis on a young man riding a bike - he’s a character of importance.

That’s it. That’s the only information we have. We don’t know how long the story will spend in Brazil. We don’t know for sure if the guy on the bike is Hinata - the hair is different, he appears taller, and we definitely did not see his face - and furthermore we don’t know if any characters we’re already familiar with are in Brazil at all. Heck, we don’t even know if this bike riding guy plays volleyball!

(I think it’s safe to assume he does, considering the nature of this manga, but the point is, we are not operating on an abundance of information here. Nothing is confirmed.)

I understand why this might seem like the worst possible direction for the narrative to take, especially when it feels like it came out of nowhere. Haikyuu, at its heart, has always been a series about people. Watching them grow, watching them become stronger and more skilled, watching them learn to love and rely on each other. Seeing Karasuno face up to impossible odds and achieve victory is so gratifying only because they do it together, as a team. Seeing Karasuno confront defeat and mourn a loss is so fulfilling only because they refuse to let it hold them back, and because they support and inspire each other through the good times and the bad. For a series that relies so heavily on the bonds between characters, it is jarring to see the relationships which we’ve invested in jeapordised by such an abrupt change in location and time. It’s just like Kageyama said:

We all wanted to go further with Karasuno. But here’s the thing: at it’s heart, Haikyuu has always been a series about people. The people of Karasuno, in particular. And I highly doubt that Furudate is going to throw away all that character development that they carefully cultivated over years in order to follow the story of some strangers on the other side of the planet. It’s not consistent with the themes the narrative presented to us over almost 400 chapters, and it’s not consistent with the meticulous way in which Furudate has built up the trajectory of these characters.

So I would posit that it’s very unlikely we’ve seen the last of Karasuno. That’s why the third year’s graduation was rushed. That’s why we didn’t get a proper end to the spring tournament. That’s why it wasn’t necessary for Hinata to be present at the dinner and to hear the emotional speeches. And that’s why there are so many loose ends, like the extremely skilled players from Kageyama’s national camp that Karasuno never really interacted with, or the occasional mention of scouting for university and national teams. This was never intended to be a permanent goodbye, so there was no need to wrap everything up in a neat little bow and create the perfect nostalgic ending. Their story isn’t over yet!

Honestly, I don’t think this twist is a death scentence for the manga. In fact, I think it could be just what haikyuu needs to launch into something even greater than what we’ve seen so far. Think about it: the first chapter of Haikyuu was published in February 2012, and right now at the end of 2019, 7 years later, we’ve only just seen the end of hinata’s first ever spring tournament. At this rate, it would be decades before Hinata ever graduated high school. With a time skip, we don’t have to rehash the same tournaments and face off against the same teams over and over and over in real time. As much as I would love to see Hinata become a senpai and watch him develop into a formidable third year volleyball player, I think it would be really hard to keep the story from becoming stale or feeling derivative of itself if Furudate attempted to follow Hinata’s story in real time, tracking his development as he attends the same competitions and fights the same schools while each single match takes dozens upon dozens of chapters. Also, if we’re not following the day to day experiences of Hinata in high school, then there’s no need to push the third years who’ve just graduated out of the story. Not just for Karasuno, but for all the other teams we love. If the focus is no longer on high school volleyball, then the manga is much more free to continue including the third years or even to have them play on the same team as our favourite first years. Olympics, anyone? There are so many exciting directions the story could take from here, and I can’t wait to see it.

So if their story isn’t over, then... what the heck is happening now? Like I said, we really have no idea what could happen next because there are so few details to work off of. The next few chapters should give us a clearer idea, if we can be patient enough to wait for them. But looking back through the manga can give us a few clues too. There are already some posts pointing this out, but it’s clear that Furudate has been planning this a long time based on forshadowing within the manga itself:

There’s Brazil, right there! In reference to people who are going to meet and change the world. Or more specifically, members of a volleyball team who meet, and push each other to greater heights, and eventually challenge the national (international? world?) stage. While Karasuno have been getting stronger, the narrative is pretty explicitly hinting that another team in Brazil is doing the same thing. I think we’re about to meet them.

At first I was worried we’d never see Karasuno or the Japanese volleyball players again, or at least not for a long time. But right from the start, Furudate told us they were never planning to confine these characters to high school or even to Japan.

Here, Kageyama asks Hinata to keep up with him not just in high school, but in the long term. To play with him not just at the Spring Interhigh, but beyond the very best of the national level and on a worldwide stage. Their partnership and rivalry was the foundation of this story from chapter 1, and the manga won’t end until they either face off against one another and prove who is the better player in an official world tournament - or until they become world champions on the same team. That was the premise set out at the start of the manga, and that’s the promise which needs to be fulfilled for it to end. Taking into account all the character development Hinata and Kageyama have experienced in order to become an amazing duo instead of eternal rivals, I’d say the second option is the most likely. They’ve come a long way from those first few panels, and Kageyama admitting he wanted to go even further with Karasuno proves he’s long past the be-the-best do-it-alone mindset which triggered this scene.

(it’s possible that the bike riding guy is Hinata on the Brazil team, and that Kageyama will be his ultimate opponent. But I don’t see why the bike rider guy’s face would be hidden if that was the big twist. Showing Hinata in Brazil has more shock value than showing a stranger in Brazil, and imo 369 was definitely attempting to shock! I think Hinata and Kageyama are more of a team now than they’ve ever been, and it seems unlikely that the narrative will backtrack and make them rivals again without another round of long-term character development in that direction. It wouldn’t all be hidden in a timeskip and a flashback or two.)

If Kageyama, Hinata, and other beloved characters are playing on the world stage, they need teams to play against. Haikyuu has always been known for having highly developed rivals - you can’t help but empathise with and cheer on the other team, every time. So what we’re seeing here isn’t the end of Karasuno, but rather the introduction of Hinata and Kageyama’s new competition. We’re gonna be reading about international volleyball tournaments between countries, and no team is going to be one-dimensional, nor are they going to exist only within the competition arena. It looks like we’re going to be spending a lot of time with these rival teams, or at the very least with the Brazil team. More time than we spent with Nekoma or Fukurodani. We’re gonna watch them grow and learn to rely on each other the same way we did with Karasuno, the same way we fell in love with all the high school teams - and then, we’ll watch them go head to head in a competition more epic than anything we’ve seen in Haikyuu to date.

Of course, that’s just speculation. I could be totally wrong. But at the end of the day, I trust Furudate to write a good story. For seven years they’ve composed Haikyuu, a manga that has made me laugh, made me cry, and has taught me some pretty valuable lessons about facing adversity and dealing with defeat. It’s been with me throughout my own high school years and beyond, even as I’ve grown and changed as a person, and never once has the story genuinely let me down. I have absolute faith that whatever comes next will be just as good, so long as we approach it with an open heart.

#hq!#haikyuu #haikyuu 369 #haikyuu spoilers #hinata shouyou #kageyama tobio #karasuno

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strangcrdoctor · 6 years

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∞Okay last one for the night because I am really tired and very ready for bed but I’ve gotta get in my Avengers commentary because I have to start off tomorrow on a clean slate and ready to go. Thus, here we are.

1. In lieu of only post Infinity War MCU canon, Loki’s rhetoric at the very beginning of The Avengers sounds a fucking lot like Maw’s. In the initial scenes when he’s fresh off the Tesseract Express his words and way of speaking sound nothing like his own. Even comparing his speeches at the outset of the movie versus the one he makes in Stuttgart, the tones and focuses of them are very different. (IE the first speech focuses on the “powers at be” versus the Stuttgart speech focusing on Loki’s personal opinions of humanity which are more and more developed throughout the film.) But it struck me that these first scenes are precisely on-cue for someone tortured and brainwashed by, say, The Black Order. 2. Given I literally just watched the first Captain America yesterday, I find Cap’s “old fashioned” comment about the stars and stripes on his uniform to be both sad and interesting. Especially given the context that comparatively Cap hasn’t been “up” for very long, one particular comment made to him by Schmidt literally moments before he went into the ice stands out. Schmidt says that through the Tesseract he glimpsed the future, and that there were no flags. In the America and world Steve wakes up to, compared to the world of the 1940s that claim of Schmidt’s could very suddenly appear to be true, which would be understandably uncomfortable for someone like Steve who is usually determined and quick on his feet but at such a staggering disadvantage because of the gap between his mindset and that of his contemporaries which are more varied than he necessarily knows how to quantify right at the outset. Watching his progress throughout the MCU in light of that is interesting, but that one moment of introspection about the utility of the “stars and stripes” is a uniquely postmodern comment coming from a pre-modern/modern man. 3. Okay so this intrigues me now that we have the Guardians and pretty much the entire universe in play in the MCU, but what “greater worlds,” exactly, was the Tesseract supposed to unveil? True the Tesseract is the space stone and verifiably can open portals to everywhere and anywhere in the universe, but Loki specifically makes the claim that the Tesseract can open up access to “greater worlds,” and I’m honestly still not entirely sure what precise reference this was supposed to be making. Because Thanos barely might have arguably needed the Tesseract to get to the planet the Soul Stone was on, but even so that’s a connection that still somehow feels like a stretch. So my question is, what if they meaning the Black Order or Thanos or possibly even Loki needed the Tesseract to get at something else? Somewhere else? Then again, this particular slip might just be Whedon’s doing and not necessarily be reflective of the culmination of the MCU up to this point so IDK. 4. I’m not going to lie, I’ve found it fascinating from day one that The Avengers very openly plays with godhood, to the point that I’m genuinely not sure if they’re reifying it in the MCU or tinkering with it. I mean obviously in the later movies this theme is less stressed because the tinkering patently takes precedence, but it’s still cool to me that there are both scripted and visual imagery that tie in multicultural interpretations of godhood. Fury mentions the burial rites of the Pharaohs within the first ten minutes of the film, Loki commits a human sacrifice on a Babylonian bull altar straight from Gilgamesh era in Stuttgart, Cap makes a comment about how his singular god does and does not dress after Natasha herself labels Thor and Loki as gods, and Fury unashamedly labels Thor as a god when they release the Tesseract to his custody. And while a bit ham-fisted, the correlation between theism and the bleeding-edge demand to acknowledge the reality of the universe is still pretty neat guys. 5. The old man in Stuttgart because no FUCK. If any of y’all think that my Germanist ass won’t get misty-eyed and choked-up during this scene, you’re wrong. 6. Okay so I’ll premise this by saying that I haven’t cross-checked the official script because frankly... yeah frankly I don’t want to be wrong and I really can’t hear anything but what I believe to be my interpretation of the line even though I know what the other fan alternatives have been. But when Thor and Loki are arguing on the mountaintop, when Loki says that he, “Was and should be ---,” my hearing of it instead of having been “Was and should be king,” is “Was and should be killed.” And while I’ll bow to whatever official record claims otherwise, I like my hearing better so there. (Also... there’s zero hint of Hiddleston’s palate producing a “g” sound in that sentence but I’ll put my inner linguist away and leave it at that.) 7. In light of that scene, though, when Loki and Thor are arguing is one of the first moments when Loki actually sounds like himself after the Stuttgart scene? Prior to that point the only times we see Loki is when he’s marshaling his human troops and getting policed by those lording over him. In all of those initial scenes Loki feels... very un-Loki to me. Not because Loki isn’t a bastard (hint: he is), but because his motivations and justifications are vague and not seemingly personally motivated, which is what Loki is to a fault. Post-Stuttgart, however, and the personal element seems to return for him because of some reason or another. (IE I have theories but you can read your own into it.) 8. Let it never be said that Thor is a dull bulb. Yeah it’s still sort of unclear how Thor got to Earth (though nothing is unclear about why Thor is pissed), but Thor does walk in with more than enough information to be frankly a little surprising. Bless Heimdall and all that, but seriously the fact that Thor knows about the Chitauri but doesn’t know other things casts an interesting focus on what he was told by Odin and Heimdall before going. Most importantly, though, even from conversing with Loki for a few minutes, Thor is attentive enough to pick up on some of what Loki isn’t saying. Such as, just who showed Loki how to use the Tesseract and all the things Loki claims to be motivated by. Equally interestingly, Loki specifically refuses to answer that question. 9. I feel bad for Fury for sleeping in a den of vipers for so long - though I do like the build-up from the first Avengers into the following issues with HYDRA corruption - but in ways more important to the immediate issue in the first Avengers, Fury might be a shady bitch but he is not an idiot. Because while everyone else was having pissing contests and not trusting one another, Fury was not trusting the person that deserved to be trusted the least, which isn’t just good leadership, but is good spycraft. 10. As established later in the MCU, it’s exceedingly clever that even in the first Avengers there are scenes when even without a “wielder” present, the Mind Stone - as-yet unidentified as such in the MCU - can be seen manipulating those in its vicinity such as in the lab where the biggest catfight in the history of the MCU breaks out. I mean. Until CA:CW... 11. Steve Rogers, poor cinnamon roll, unexpectedly served at dinner instead of breakfast, who cracks jokes about technology he really isn’t that bad at as “seeming to run on some kind of electricity.” Bless. Though really that internal console, while doing complicated shit, is definitely not any more or less visually complicated than the interior of a radio relay which Steve definitely dealt with in his day but kudos for the humor bb, A+. 12. Still one of the strongest and most harrowing lines ever said in the MCU in my opinion: “We are NOT soldiers.” Know why? Because they aren’t. Hell, the only ones among them that are soldiers - and some by slim and emergency-driven margins - are Steve, Bucky, Rhodey, and Sam. The rest of them are brilliant, gifted, and tortured civilians trying to do the right thing. And to Tony Stark above all else, that means something. That means that they didn’t get training to deal with this shit. They didn’t choose for this to be their lives, necessarily. And above all, they don’t deserve to die. And even though Tony knows Coulson is a SHIELD agent, Tony still considers him a person before a disposable “soldier.” 13. Mother-fucking Marvel give me an entire series devoted to my Hawk Guy I need him. You have so much to work with and yet you’re so good at squandering him. I hate it. 14. In light of how bad NYC got fucked up, it’s honestly no wonder Jessica Jones has a drinking problem because I would too even without the personal loss, experimentation, and emotional maladjustment. 15. IN WHAT FUCKING POST-9/11 WORLD DO BUSINESS BUILDINGS NOT HAVE VERY STRICT EVACUATION PLANS. SERIOUSLY. I am a little mad that there are morons ogling out of office building windows when frankly that shit wouldn’t fly. Even on fucking 9/11 that shit didn’t fly and if you think NYC is less paranoid because 9/11 was a decade prior to this movie coming out, you’re wrong. Everyone remembers, and city evacuation ordinances will sure as hell never forget either. Come on Marvel. 16. As a point of interest my grandmother - who also went to see The Avengers with me when it was in theaters but not at the midnight showing like my mom - was 84 at the time and still sat through the whole thing with a bucket full of popcorn to herself, and her favorite moment to this day is when the Hulk tosses Loki around like a rag doll. She’s 90 now, and the Hulk is still her favorite character. 17. Mother-Fuckin Nick Fury will cock-block your nuclear strike with a bazooka because he thinks you’re that dumb. Do not test Nick Fury’s willingness to be Extra (TM) . You will lose. 18. Real talk, though, I’m really curious about whether the Chitauri actually are a hive mind race or, is it their technology that runs of a hive mind link? Because the armor at least on the giant toothy space whale monstrosities does not look organic - it looks implanted. The Chitauri foot soldiers also seem to have a unique biologically based interface with their weapons, armor, and technology in general, which begs the question of whether their biometric matrix is just somehow more inclined toward shared-existence technologies, or whether they self-engineered themselves into a corner by relying on said technologies too much. Seriously guys I have questions and why won’t Marvel give me answers. 19. As a final send-off, this is the first time Tony has ever driven an Acura in the MCU and I refuse to believe it’s not because of the Avengers “A” aesthetic. Tony is canonically an Audi man. Fight me on this.

Okay I’m seriously done for now it’s 1 AM and I need to sleep I have 4 more movies to get through tomorrow. I’ll be up and around and at my shit again in the morn.∞

#''the doctor is out #''marvel meta field notes #''MMFN

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crowleplays · 6 years

Text

Phobos Deimos

Basics

Name ► Phobos Deimos Nickname[s] ► Pho, PD, Cinders (she does not enjoy this one at all) Blood Color ► Yellow Age ► 14 sweeps Voiceclaim ► Angel Coulby D.O.B. ► March 20 Astrological Sign ► Pisces/Aries cusp Alignment ► Chaotic Neutral Gender ► Female Height ► 5’2” Weight ► 142 lbs Body Type ► Pear shaped, toned but still soft Orientation ► Pansexual but good luck getting her to open up romantically Occupation[s] ► Witch and owner of an occult shop, which sells items of varying magical legitimacy and safety Lusus ► Springbok Antelope Abilities Psionics ► Spiritual & Arcane Perception – Phobos is able to pick up on spiritual and arcane activity and energies, the latter of which she’s generally able to identify the type for. She’s also able to see most ghosts. Other Abilities ► Fire, Sand, Light, and Healing/Growth Magic – She’s a witch it’s her MO. Not obscenely powerful, but enough to be on par with a gifted psionic. Flight – She has wings structured like a hummingbird hawk moth’s, which allow her to fly for short amounts of time. Astral Projection – Her soul was jiggled a little loose during her near-death experience, so she’s able to tug it out and let it roam. The further distance she travels, the more it drains her, and while she’s able to perceive things on both ends if she wants to, it works better if she focuses on the projection fully and zones out physically. Strife Specibus ► x2 Haladiekind – They are mainly her foci for magic, but can also be used for physical attacks. Doubled edged, double bladed daggers with a central grip and knuckle dusters on the outside. Pistolkind – Sometimes it’s better to not be flashy and just shoot a bitch. PC Info Trollian Handle ► reawakenedTheurgist Typing Quirk ► Replaces L’s with £, stutters when upset/scared/flustered/ect Example ► Tends t'speak with a regiona£ accent an' c£ips the endin' off certain words. I-I-If sh-sh-she's u-upset o-or s-s-s-scared sh-she s-s-stutters.

▼ Personality ▼ Formerly a very open, trusting, and bubbly individual, the past few sweeps haven’t been kind to the mindset that Phobos once held. She comes across very blunt, only dancing around her genuine opinions of people and what she thinks when she’s around someone she perceives to be a threat. Even then, she’s not above pushing her luck in certain situations, as should things turn violent she has a considerable amount of magic she can rely upon to take care of what faces her. Or, well, a decent amount of what faces her. At the end of the night, Phobos is focused on one thing and one thing only: survival. If she has to run to save her skin, she’ll do so, and unless someone has endeared themselves to her (or she is required to act otherwise), she’ll leave them behind in the dust. However when it comes to the fight vs flight ratio, Phobos is absolutely someone that will throw down first. Combat is something that she’s grown from hating to enjoying a lot, as it allows her not only to exercise but vent her emotions in a…”productive” manner.

That’s not to say she doesn’t care about other people, of course. She’s just very reluctant to allow herself to be open with people, especially considering the very recent mutation she’s had to hide. Anxiety over many of her past relationships failing also hasn’t helped at all, as she sees herself as an irresponsible and unhealthy individual to be quadrants with. Friends are a possibility, but Phobos requires a lot of reassurance and proof that someone is not only patient enough but can emotionally handle all the chaos that comes along with her life. If she doesn’t think the relationship will work out and could potentially hurt someone, she’s quick to say so and warn them of that fact. She struggles with not cutting people off out of fear of hurting them, often dropping contact with nothing but her first warning to go off of.

Should you ever gain her friendship, though, she’s incredibly nurturing and caring, as well as unshakably loyal once you’ve earned her faith. While she’s struggled with following it, Phobos is also fairly good at dispensing advice and can dip into more pale or ashen tendencies if she believes someone needs that. Of course this is paired with her regular amounts of cynicism and sarcasm; it’s recommended not to have too-thin skin around Phobos. She’ll compliment just as much as she’ll playfully rag on you, likely swearing up and down the entire Alternian language the whole way. She has a filter for this when she’s around children, as she was a teacher in her former life, but the moment she catches them swearing casually it’s gone. Her “old demeanor” is still very much present despite what she’d like to think or say, it’s just hidden behind a lot of walls, suspicions, and anxiety.

Most of what other people get to see, though, is the witch behind the counter of an occult shop. She really likes to play up the mystical aspect and spooky vibes of her job. Helps convince people to buy stuff and spreads the word to bring in more customers. Whether or not they believe her magic is real doesn’t matter; it sells when you make it flashy enough.

▼ Strengths VS Weaknesses ▼

Strengths ► Perceptive | Driven | Honest

Weaknesses ► Cynical | Stubborn | Flighty

▼ Likes ▼

✔ General “witchy” paraphernalia ✔ Relaxing near fireplaces ✔ Loose, comfy scarves ✔ Libraries ✔ Incense (Dragon’s Blood and Cedar are favorites) ✔ Bird watching ✔ Anything with an autumn aesthetic ✔ Handmade clothes ✔ Walks in the woods ✔ Honey candy ✔ Cats

▼ Dislikes ▼

✘ Subjugs ✘ Too much noise ✘ Sudden movements ✘ Being touched without warning ✘ “Unnatural” silence ✘ Uppity trolls ✘ Generally most trolls blue and above on principle ✘ Any kind of religious zealots or evangelists ✘ Dealing with her bosses ✘ Cheap liquor ✘ Centipedes, to the degree that she’ll panic and shoot at them

▼ Extra ▼

► While she’s far better at using her magic in combat than to heal, she’s recently been practicing to try and get better at it. It’s a skill she let atrophy after moving away from home, which she regrets doing now that she has to relearn what she was once really fucking good at. ► She’s willing to tolerate most people if it benefits her, but highbloods will have a harder time gaining her trust. ► She has a very hard time sleeping fully through the day, usually due to her psionics allowing her to see and hear ghosts. ► Her wings are bound most of the time, though the way they’re structured allows her to lay them flat against her back naturally and prevents the binding from damaging them too much. ► Flying takes a lot out of her. She’s only had her wings for 4 sweeps and they’ve only been fully grown for 2. ► She’s more in-shape and toned than you’d expect for a lowblood. One of her old teachers was ex-fleet and made her do basic training exercises nightly, which is a routine she tries to keep up. ► That being said, she has very little love for the fleet and is suspicious of anyone she finds bearing the emblem. ► Before everything started to fall apart, she planned to dodge the draft with her ex-moirail and just travel through space with her. ► Now she’s set up an occult shop and sells minor enchantments and crystals to goth kids and hipsters. Also some cursed items and magical advice. Really anything that’ll sell, honestly. She needs the money. ► There’s always at least some kind of notebook on her. She’s very diligent about recording information that she feels is important. It also gives her a way to voice her thoughts without talking to anyone. ► She grew up with very little exposure to modern Alternian technology for the most part, which has driven her to learn as much as she can about it. The prospect of technomancy fascinates her, though she’s not able to perform any herself.

▼ Quadrants ▼

► Moirail: N/A ► Matesprit: N/A ► Kismesis: N/A ► Auspistice: N/A

▼ Other Relationships ▼

Eeleth Kuvlew [Pure Hope] ► Your ex-matesprit and the source of a never-ending flood of complicated emotions. You hurt him deeper than anyone ever could or has, which haunts you worse than any ghost. Recently, you spoke with him after a sweep of silence, though had your hands not been tied it would’ve been much sooner. Things are still complicated, and you doubt he’ll respond to any of your letters or online messages, but that won’t keep you from writing him about important things. You don’t want to give up talking to him.

Marcel Bradik [Lowered Humanity] ► Your other ex-matesprit, though one of a much shorter time. You don’t blame him for anything that happened; all of that was on you. He taught you a fair few things while you dated, the most important being how to shoot a gun and to carry one on you at all times. The thought has crossed your mind to try and seek him out, but you’ve decided against it due to the fact that he’s a shadowdropper and prone to having a temper. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.

#Troll Bio #Phobos Deimos #fINALLY SHES DONE AAAAAAAA

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justiceleaque · 7 years

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HI COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE A REVIEW OF JUSTICE LEAGUE THANKS IN ADVANCE YO

i don’t want to get into which scenes were obviously whedon touched and which ones had snyder’s magic touch all over them, so do not expect me to differentiate them. i’m going to review the film as an experience, a whole experience, because that’s the mindset i watched the movie with

we open with the best way they could’ve gone with to turn heads: superman’s still alive. not only is superman still alive, we see him from a bunch of kids’ eyes literally looking up to him. he stops to answer their questions because he cares, because he was a kid once, because he’s human above all else. remember, this is MoS and BvS-era superman, a superman that has all too many things on his mind, a superman who’s still trying to find his footing in this world, and yet he smiles. we’ve never seen him smile this genuinely in the DCEU before which immediately bridges gaps of information we didn’t have before: people love him. people have started bonding with him, with the sense of security he provides. people on their roofs drawing his symbol as a call for help, the way they reverently touched him every chance they got, the nation (if not world?) wide mourning after doomsday… we never got to see the start of it. the reason for it. of course it’s so obvious now that it’s silly to have even questioned it before: BvS was from the eyes of a batman who hated. in reality, in the… i don’t know, actuality of the universe, people had experienced superman mostly positively and we never saw that because we were supposed to go through BvS alongside bruce’s point of view. which honestly? worked like clockwork

the music, especially in the opening montage, was so heartbreaking to sit through simply because you have to admit this world is missing a savior. the guilt bruce holds throughout the entire movie isn’t obvious because you’re forced to experience it by watching the result of a could’ve been: this, all of it, is what batman being succesful barely a few movies ago would’ve ended up meaning

everyone is amazing. from barry and victor and their friendship being developed throughout the movie, to diana being established in the universe in a way not even bruce is: she’s here. she’s been here. arthur… he went above and beyond my expectations and i was already betting on him big time. people who’ve read aquaman comics can easily tell his characterization was pretty on point, from the loner stance to the subtle jokes. bruce… my god, the roasting he got in the movie… i almost started feeling sorry for him but i’m highkey taking revenge for all the years he’s been an onion in the comics

the cgi was breathtaking. i’ve seen people complain it wasn’t good enough, that it felt rushed, but i honest to god have never experienced this smooth and realistic inside the universe’s established rules special effects. the green lantern sequence was unbelievably in accordance to comics which means they can pull off the GL movie spectacularly, steppenwolf? wanted to slap him and his hyperrealistic skin texture then dance capoeira on his stupid face

clark after his resurrection is obviously different, he’s finally… superman. he doesn’t stop to think his moves the way he did before, he doesn’t question himself. he’s bonding with everyone, he’s making jokes, and above all else, he’s quick to let bruce know that it’s okay, that he understands. that bruce is still invited to his tea party which he’ll pay for because he’s the rich bitch of the group and also he tried to kill him a year ago so fuck you

i’m victor’s cybernetic arm cannon ready to blast off anyone who annoys him

POST CREDITS!!!!!! CLARK AND BARRY DOING THE THING!!! FROM THE COMICS!!! AND THE ANIMATED SHOWS!!!!!! AND BONDING!!!!!!!!!!!!! LUTHOR!!! BEING A LITTLE BALD RICH SHIT AND SLADE LOOKING FIRE WITH THAT WHITE HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i’ve mentioned superman a lot in this and that’s because, make no mistake, this is a superman movie. Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Justice League, they’re a superman trilogy akin to a comic arc with three volumes, some of them featuring clark more prominently, some featuring the world without him but in relation to him, yet still remaining a superman title

did the film feel too short? it was. plenty of things were cut that would’ve made it into an even better experience and it was already borderline orgasmic for me, but what we got made me tear up. my childhood heroes that i love were succesfully portrayed and translated into the big screen. so many things that could happen from this point onwards, so much room for hal to barge in and make bruce rethink his new no-murdering-your-teammates stance

#jl spoilers #justice league spoilers #/ long post #asks #Anonymous

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solitaire-dreams · 5 years

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Miraculous: Secrets and Lies

*This theory was originally written after the events of Stormy Weather 2 and before the latest episode—Animaestro, I believe. Thus, predictions and assumptions are liable to change.

Season 3 has arrived and...it's been kind of a mixed bag right now. Anyone else? I don't want to get into my opinions on the episodes that have aired—or the synopsis of the upcoming ones—but analyzing where the series will go.

With the recent episode of Stormy Weather 2, or the 22-minute webisode, it brought character development back to the forefront. Many fans were annoyed that they tried to tell us these characters developed, rather than showing it. And while I do agree that they made it overblown, I was realizing before that Mari has changed as a character; subtly as it may be.

The original core traits of Mari's character development was having her grow from her shy, klutzy, and lacking friends; which the did. Whether proper steps were taken is up to you, but by the early episodes season 3, Mari has becoming more confident (best demonstrated by her becoming class rep), and she has the girl squad, consisting of Alix, Juleka, Mylene, Rose, and her really good friend of Alya.

Plus, she has been demonstrated to be on close terms with many of the other students.

And for physical capabilities, have you seen Weredad? Where Mari gets through all the traps to the rose WITHOUT turning into Ladybug? And she does a successful somersault? Yeah, she may have some klutziness, but that is leaps and bounds better then that seen from Origins 1.

Yet, the raises the big question: Where the heck is her character development going to go?

Judging from the common themes running through the first episodes of season 3, I think I have a pretty good idea; but for that we need to look at Lila.

Now that a redemption arc is (attempted) for Chloe, she cannot be the biggest antagonist to Mari at school as it would undermine this growth and make any future appearances as Queen Bee feel unearned. So, the first episode of season 3 Chameleon confirms to us that Lila is the new mean girl in town. And what is the biggest thing that tends to make us and Mari hate Lila?

Her constant lying causes her to manipulate people for her own gain, and when Mari discovered she was doing this, she began to detest Lila. Yet...and here me out...this is ironic because Mari's biggest character flaw is lying.

Wait, wait, wait before you angry comment it would be nice if you could hear (read) me out.

While Mari has become more confident in social situations and has better control of her limbs, situations that put her in panic mode cause her to lie. And not just white lie, but straight up outrageous complex lies you know will come to bite her in the back again later. This was very evident in two facets in Weredad and Chrismaster.

In Weredad, what sparks the main conflict is Mari being put in a situation where she believes Chat is beginning to suspect she is Ladybug. So, Mari panicking that her secret identity will be blown impulsively blurts out that she loves Chat and that's why she was here. This starts of a chain reaction of events leading to Tom's eventual akumatization; especially since she needs to keep piling onto the lie and force Chat into a tough situation. She falls further and further down this path because she is protecting a secret of Ladybug's.

In contrast, Mari lies in Chrismaster to protect a secret of her normal civilian form: in this case, making presents for Adrian for the next 35 years. She initially lies when Chris backs her into a corner about what is in the trunk and blurts out the ridiculously seeming lie of being an elf of Santa. This snowballs into Chris believing Santa won't give him his present and getting akumatized.

So, it goes to show that Mari has a big problem with lying in the recent episodes, specifically when compared to more varied methods that she accidentally causes people to be used by Hawk Moth like Marianne, Nino's lil bro Chris, Alya's older sis Nora, Marc, and even her own father!

What is interesting to note is that while Lila and Mari do seem to lie a lot, they do for opposite reasons. Mari subconsciously lies when put into a stressful situation that threatens to expose a secret, and she doesn't try to hurt others. Meanwhile, Lila doesn't tell the truth fairly consciously to raise her status when it is not necessary, and she does not care about anyone getting hurt because of it.

These two methods parallel each other, but the different reasons don't change the fact people tend to get hurt through these lies. Making it vaguely ironic that Mari calls out Lila for her BS when she fibs a fair amount, too. And a great writing tool would be to call this parallel into question and force Mari to grow out of this flaw, proving she is better than the antagonist.

Though, that's just one character that is associated with lying, it's not like it's concrete—

“Kagami, given that she never lies,” ~ Backwarder

Oh, hey... Looks like we found another parallel. With Kagami being the main love rival for Adrian and a core part of her personality being bluntly honest, it highlights how Mari can fib and hide things. *FUTURE NOTE: Kagami's now iconic line where she straight up tells Chloe to back off is further evidence of her brutal honesty. So it is intriguing to note that the three main girls now associated with Adrian there is: the one who always lies, the one who never lies, and now Mari who lies in a panic. How honest a character acts is a running motif in their designs and I do not think it's accidental.

Granted, this could be interpreted to make Mari's attitude feel like the best out of the three—with lies from Lila hurting others, but Kagami's brutal honesty coming off sometimes rudely—yet I think Kagami now being the major rival for Adrian's affections (essentially confirmed because Backwarder has Mari worrying about Kagami getting closer to Adrian) manifests the attitude Mari will need to develop towards. Maybe not completely, though she needs to be more honest about her feelings.

Kagami even says it herself to Mari in Frozer that she needs to stop hesitating; i.e she needs to be more honest about her feelings towards Adrian or they will never get together. And yes, there is a distinction between lying and not saying anything at all. Though the other kind of dishonesty of withholding information is best suited for her Ladybug persona and this is where it connects back to Adrian. Because the beginning from the quote above was:

“Then when Adrien finds out you're not who he thought you were, he'll be totally disappointed because he hates lying; he'll fall head-over-heels in love with Kagami, given that she never lies,”

Adrian hates lying.

And that's not some minor trait, it is something to be prominent enough to be noticed by Alya and commented that lying could complete ruin Mari's chances with him. So, she has to overcome this flaw if she wants to get closer to Adrian.

However, the implications for their alter-egos is also important. This constant theme of the truth revolves more around secrets being kept as Ladybug hides many things from Chat. The series has demonstrated countless times that Chat is not happy with being kept in the dark; probably stemming from the fact he was raised in a sheltered household not knowing why his father was so distant, and his genuine desire to help people as much as he can.

This has been an especially prominent theme in Season 2 when truth ties in to trust; all coming at a head in Syren when Chat gets fed up about how many secrets Ladybug has been and doubts her trust in him; even threatening to give up his Miraculous to manipulate Plagg into telling him what Ladybug was hiding.

The episode does border a bit into heavy handed with Chat's feelings, yet they are complete valid and understandable. The secrets Ladybug keeps makes Chat seem inferior to her (something he already gets enough as Adrian from his father) and leaves Ladybug in an even higher position of power than Chat.

(Looking at it, Nathalie and Gabriel have a lot of parallels with Chat and LB...God d*****t, I do NOT need another analysis: life expects me to actually be functional!)

Honestly, I have a few grievances with how their superhero team dynamic is portrayed, though I hope that means it is only going to grow into a stronger relationship and they can truly be a team.

Except...I don't think it's going to be all that easy. With Adrian/Chat's pent up feelings towards the idea of not knowing the truth, Ladybug having more secrets weighing down on her shoulders, and Mari's lies rising fast; the show is leading towards a dramatic explosion. Maybe it has to do with the Chat Blanc episode??? Not sure.

Regardless, I think the ideas surrounding secrets and lies are going to escalate into our heroine being caught in a lie that actually has lasting and deep impact on the people around her. And by heroine, I mean Mari.

For this moment to have the biggest impact and tie into the most characters, this blow up needs to happen while she is Mari; if it has to be chosen between civilian form or hero form.

While Lila does have drama with both Mari and Ladybug, she is in an easier position to damage Mari and it is known now that Lila isn't exactly Mari's fav person. Plus, Kagami has no connection to Ladybug and her honesty would act as a foil to the lie(s) when exposed.

If executed correctly, this concept could develop a lot of characters. Kagami could have more narrative person as Adrian has a reason to get closer to her and her mindset would be validated by anyone else as the most correct one in this scenario. Alya could have some basis for a conflict with Mari instead of the lackluster attempt tried in Chameleon; either by the secret affecting her, or her search for the truth as a journalist (truth again...hmmm...) would cause her to not support Mari's actions. Lila would be able to get the upper hand on Mari, because even if her lies were exposed, she could play it off as them being fundamentally the same in that situation—a liar disliking another liar, and question how it could make Mari any better than what she thinks Lila is. Adrian would finally have his first major conflict with Mari since the gum incident and be forced to consider the actions of everyone around him (specifically if the lie involved him in some way). Lastly, Mari of all people would come to the conclusion that her habitual lying in her civilian form (at least for things that do not involve her hero identity) is a flaw she needs to fix, because it hurt all the people around her.

This proposed plotline could do wonders for creating character development for multiple cast members and multiply to even higher lengths if it affects Ladybug's attitude. Maybe ending in her opening up to more of the secrets about the Miraculous to Chat, reciprocating the trust given to her; and the new burden of all this truth that Chat now has to keep could lead to Chat/Adrian taking more responsibility; a criticism often leveled at his character.

Wow, that was way longer than expected; but I hope this isn't in vain.

Tl;dr: Most of the major characters around Mari's age (Mari/Ladybug, Adrian/Chat, Lila, Kagami, even Alya) all have this constant theme of their characters being involved with the truths and lies; with every non-antagonist being associated with desiring truth...except for Mari /LB. So far, Mari has been panic lying at every corner, and it has caused two akumatizations already. Thus, I propose that with the new obstacle needing to be posed for Mari's character development, it will centre around her overcoming this impulsive fibbing; having a major climax where one of Mari's secrets is exposed and her having to deal with and grow from the fallout. Maybe it won't happen...

But that's just an analysis. A show analysis that I really want to be true. Thanks for reading!

#miraculous ladybug #mlb #ml #original #ml marinette #theory

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