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bookworm-with-coffee · 4 months

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The Greatest Heist of All. . .

(How they react to your pet - Slytherin Boys x Reader)

Plot; Niffler inspired crackfics

Pairings; Sebastian Sallow x Reader (Romantic), Ominis Gaunt x Reader (Romantic)

Warnings; jealousy, coarse language, floofity fluff

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Sebastian Sallow

When Sebastian first laid eyes on that Niffler, he knew trouble would start. In rescuing creatures, you had come to love many of them, but none more than those greedy little—

The brunette fumed at the thought of them. Those cute little beady eyes had won you over that day you'd both gone walking in the woods for a picnic date. That's when you'd stumbled upon a den of Nifflers.

Of course, most ran away. But, one remained. One annoying little—

Unafraid and curious, the little creature had sniffled and shuffled closer to you both.

"Mind your pockets", Sebastian commented, your hand waving to dismiss his words without a care.

"Look at you!!", you'd cooed at the little one, your boyfriend hardly sharing your enthusiasm on the creature.

You admired the blue fur on his back, reaching keenly to pet the cheeky little thing before it practically clambered onto your lap and into your arms. Sebastian's eyes rolled as your arms engulfed the Niffler, stroking your hands along his smooth hairs.

Attention went from your date to your uninvited guest, and after some time, Sebastian grew impatient and perhaps, a bit jealous as well?

"Alright, great. You've pet it. Now, can we go?", he huffed, raising a brow.

You pouted up at your boyfriend, the Niffler eagerly accepting your affections, "I don't want to just leave him here".

"He's a wild animal", the brunette reasoned. "He has a family. He'll be fine". But, the Niffler also seemed to share your resolve, not wishing to leave your kind embrace.

"I think— I want to keep him".

Oh God. Oh no—

"Nifflers are little thieves!", Sebastian insisted. "Who wants a pet that could rob you blind??".

Kneeling by your side, your freckled partner laid a gentle hand on your back before sliding it down to hold your spare hand in his attempt to coax you away.

The Niffler saw Sebastian's possessive behaviour and recognised it as a similar behaviour to those of his own kind. Could it be that you were valuable? Not gold, but a treasure as yourself?? This would be his biggest win yet, if that were so.

Sebastian's brown hues drifted to the Niffler, whose attitude had become a bit more insistent. The creature's eyes met his own and without breaking contact, deliberately snuggled into your chest, even daring to lay a possessive paw by your shoulder as if to say, mine.

Oh, it was on.

In the weeks that followed, things grew worse.

Every time there was even a mention of Sebastian, your Niffler saw fit to jump into your lap or arms to draw your attention.

Sebastian was at breaking point. Each time he spoke with you, there was that miscreant stirring him up. He'd even taken to insisting that the thing was evil, to your amusement.

Once or twice, the brunette even went as far as to mouth, "I'm watching you!", from over your shoulder, making the signal with his hands when you weren't looking.

It was unbelievable. A Niffler participating in some form of torturous psychological warfare. And Sebastian wouldn't let him win. You were his.

Then, your owl came and the existential dread continued.

Sebastian,

Would you be so kind as to babysit my Niffler? You'd be doing me a HUGE favour, as I'm away for most of the day on Saturday and he'll be left with no supervision and company.

Love always,

(Y/n) ♡

Bloody thing can starve, was his first thought, finally inwardly relenting when he thought of the consequences. You'd hate him forever if he did that.

So, it was off to your home he'd have to go.

"You boys behave while I'm gone", you'd teasingly instructed with a pointed finger and Sebastian played it off with a forced smile.

"Don't rush", he shrugged, making sure to pull you into the most passionate kiss he could offer, hoping the Niffler would weep on the inside.

"Sebastian", you giggled against his lips, almost tempted to stay for a more intimate moment were it not for your plans. "I am coming back".

His forehead leant on your own, the Niffler forgotten whilst his hands drew imaginary patterns on your waist. "I'll be waiting with bated breath", the brunette whispered, pressing another kiss to the tip of your nose. "I love you".

"I love you too", you sighed, allowing only one more peck on the lips before your parting.

Until the Niffler scuttled to you, pulling on the fabric of your blouse from where he sat on a table. "Oh, Darling", you fawned, Sebastian resisting the urge to hurl. "I'd nearly forgotten you!!". Lifting the creature, you kissed the top of his head. "Mama will be back soon, okay? Behave for your Dad".

Oh, God. He really was going to be sick.

Giving a final wave of your hand, you were off and away, Sebastian's unimpressed glower falling onto the Niffler beside him. "I am not your Dad".

The Niffler seemed to chatter, something akin to mischievous laughter. And I'm not going to behave.

Some of the most horrible hours of Sebastian's life came to follow.

It was one incident after the other, resulting in a few smashed vases and a bruised ego for Sebastian.

"That's it!", he finally snapped, pointing an accusatory finger at the little creature. "I've had it!! Whatever, it is!!".

As if scolding a child, Sebastian continued, "(Y/n) may think you're adorable, but I know the truth, you conniving thief! You might have fooled her, but you don't fool me!! And if you think for one second that—".

"Sebastian?".

His face paled, hearing the voice of his love and the Niffler took his chance. The mischievous creature began to sniffle, as if it were crying, before faking a limp whilst walking to you.

"What happened??", you cried out, spying the shards of a broken vase by the bench, still not cleaned up because of one little Niffler. Your attention instantly diverted to your pet, seemingly in hurt. "What did you do, Sebastian?!".

"What did I do??", he repeated incredulously. "I didn't do anything to him! It was that damn creature running amok!!".

All the while, you were focused on the aforementioned miscreant, feeding into his lies and infuriating Sebastian further.

"He's evil, (Y/n)! That thing needs to go!!".

"That 'thing', is Jeffrey!", you shot back.

"Oh?? So, it has a name now??".

Your eyes bore into the brunette's, searching his darker hues in silent scrutiny for a moment before you spoke again.

"You're jealous".

Those words made him stiffen, silencing any comebacks he'd bottled inside.

"That's ridiculous", Sebastian offered, too weak to be an argument.

"You are!", your mouth fell open, drawing your boyfriend's brows together.

"I am not jealous!".

"By Merlin", you gasped, trying to restrain any laughter threatening to spill out. "You're jealous. Of a Niffler?? ".

"He gets in the way!", Sebastian yelled, harsher than intended. "You're always giving him your attention, I hardly get it anymore! He's also consciously trying to steal you from me, for whatever reason!".

"Steal me?", your brow rose, a few giggles slipping out before your expression softened. Your eyes shifted to Jeffrey, noting that he was uncharacteristically fine for a creature so 'hurt' and you stroked over his fur, placing him aside. "You'll be fine".

The Niffler watched as you approached Sebastian, bringing him into an embrace. Your fingers combed through the soft waves of his hair and down to the nape of his neck, allowing him to melt in your arms.

"Sebastian", you sighed, shaking your head only slightly. "You're right. My attention from you has been divided. And while Jeffrey's behaviour was far from innocent—". You pulled back, running your fingertips over his face, encouraging his eyes to meet yours. "— I will never be stolen away from you. No Human or Niffler can steal me from the one who matters most to me. There's only one Sebastian Sallow. And that's rarer than any treasure".

A smile finally returned to Sebastian's face, the gap closing between you both. Your lips met his, gentle and breezy, calming the fires of anger and jealousy that had once stoked within his heart.

"I'll make us a cup of tea", you whispered, tapping the brunette on his nose, leaving only the brightest of smiles in your wake as you brushed by.

Sebastian turned his attention to the little shit sitting on the nearby counter, his tongue darting out teasingly. "I win".

The Niffler's head seemed to dip, suddenly sad and deflated. A pang of guilt hit Sebastian in that moment and it made him relent to the small creature.

"Fine", he grumbled, unable to fight his growing smile. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but–". He offered his hand. "— friends?". Jeffrey sniffled, almost seeming to nod in agreement when he extended his paw. "Just don't push your luck".

♡ °•° ♡ °•° ♡ °•° ♡ °•° ♡

Ominis Gaunt

The day Ominis met your pet Niffler was utterly magical.

You had lead him into your vivarium for the first time, introducing him to the array of magical creatures that were under your care.

Ominis got to feel the smooth and pristine feathers of a Joberknoll, the fluffy hairs of a Puffskein; and the beak of your Hippogriff, Highwing.

And then the cherry on top; your Niffler.

Nifflers were curious, but harmless creatures. They were notorious for stealing jewels, treasure, coins— anything that sparkled, really. With their affectionate nature and reputation for an adorable stature, it was not a mystery as to why you chose to keep the Niffler you rescued from poachers.

The blonde had always wanted to meet one of those cute little theives and in knowing this, you'd excitedly given him the opportunity.

"Where is he??", Ominis had asked, unable to mask the way his voice travelled an octave higher in his anticipation.

"This way!", he was able to hear the grin in your tone, widening his own as he eagerly allowed himself to be tugged along by the pale tips of his nimble fingers.

You'd gently helped the blonde to be seated on the soft grass, almost finding yourself mesmerised with how the sunlight struck his delicate features.

Whistling and clicking your fingers, there was a shuffling in the grass as something approached. It had startled Ominis only slightly, the new grip of your hand over his own settling him.

You guided his hand forward as you had done so before, his palm finally landing on something soft. A short gasp heaved from the blonde, his lashes fluttering at the new sensations beneath his skin.

There was the rapid rising and falling of the little creature's breaths as he sniffed over the new guest of the vivarium.

A smile carved its way onto Ominis' expression, hesitantly stroking over the little creature beneath his grasp. Your hand lead his over the Niffler's head and snuffling snout, a breathy laugh slipping from the blonde when the small breaths tickled his skin.

Long had he dreamed about this..

"Ominis, I'd like you to meet Sebastian", you laughed at the sudden quizzical look that dawned on your counterpart's expression.

"Sebastian?", Ominis echoed with a quirk of his brow. "You named your Niffler after our friend? ".

No, he wasn't jealous. Not at all.

"Only because he gets into so much trouble", you giggled. "He also has these adorable speckles on his fur around his face. Lilac fur with faded spots".

"Like freckles", he nodded in understanding, trying to fight the deflation dampening his initial excitement. "Does Sebastian know that you've named your 'child' after him?".

Ominis was sure that with the amount of time you'd spent with Sebastian on various escapades in the fifth year and the closeness you still shared now in your seventh, that the brunette had undoubtedly been the first to be shown the Room of Requirement and these lovely creatures.

Perhaps Sebastian was the better suitor for you??

"No, actually", your amused answer shocked Ominis. "I've never brought him here. He doesn't even know of this place".

"He doesn't?", the blonde's brows creased in a bout of confusion. "I thought he'd be the first to know of this place".

"What do you mean??".

Ominis' heart had begun to beat frantically within his chest whilst he'd attempted to play his jealousy and nerves off with a smile, as he often did when it came to your friendship with Sebastian.

"I— I just meant that you two are close", he replied with a tug of his shoulders. "I thought you might have been more inclined to show him over me, is all. I was only confused as to why it was the contrary".

In the few seconds of thoughtful silence that followed, you both had taken notice to the warmth of your hand that still lingered on his own, neither of you daring to separate them. Instead, your fingers slowly inched into the gaps between his own, hinting your intentions with your words,

"Do you not know?".

Ominis squeezed the digits threaded with his own like they were a life-raft, assuring you of his consent before your lips had taken his own in careful caresses.

Absolutely magical.

Or so he'd thought at the time, not realizing he'd just unknowingly declared war against a very protective Niffler.

Ominis dismissed it as paranoia at first, just shrugging off the seemingly possessive behaviour the little creature conveyed.

But, it had become apparent over the many weeks that it wasn't just his imagination playing tricks on him..

The Niffler was clearly jealous of your diverted attention. Ominis had figured that out rather quickly.

Just as the Niffler had figured out how to push his buttons. Like Sebastian.

Whenever you both had picnics in the vivarium or brought Ominis along to help in the care of your creatures, Sebastian lived up to his name.

The mischeievous miscreant always managed to get in the way, snatching Ominis' wand from his robes so that he wouldn't be able to find you or the other creatures before misplacing it to make it look as if it had dropped out by mistake.

You thought that's all it was, despite Ominis knowing and insisting otherwise.

Then, it was the Niffler napping on your lap whenever Ominis wanted to. And of course, you were a sucker for that adorable little shit. He could do no evil, apparently.

Holding hands? The Niffler went out of his way to pry the blonde's hand from yours, snuggling under yours to draw your attention; even going as far as to shove Ominis' hand away and preoccupy your palm with his paw.

Sitting together? Sebastian interfered with that too, worming his annoying little self between your bodies so that he could sit in the middle as a barrier to separate you both.

Whenever Ominis wanted time with you, Sebastian was always there. It was like the Niffler had been incarnated with a piece of his best friend's soul, always troublesome and always interfering.

Ominis finally hit breaking point when the little shit decided to make off not only with his wand, but with the handmade necklace he'd bought from Feldcroft in his most recent visit.

The blonde planned to give it to you as a gift, but even he should've known better than to have it in his pockets when visiting the vivarium to carry out a favour for you, his beloved.

Whilst you would be attending to family business today, he would care for your creatures. Something that was turning out to be a complete impossibility.

In Sebastian's mouth? Ominis' wand.

In his paws?? The necklace.

"Come back here, you little rat! Give those back, Sebastian!!", he cried out, only able to follow the scuttling in the grass and the jingling of the jewellery in the Niffler's greedy grasp.

Wheezing and panting, Ominis crawled and sprinted around, the Niffler releasing an occasional squeak whenever he got close. Until—

"Got you!", the blonde shouted, finding a grip on the Niffler that struggled desperately in his grasp.

It soon became clear that he was holding the little miscreant upside down, coins seeming to pour out of his marsupial-like pouch. His paws were still occupied with the necklace he'd stolen, whining in despair at the loss of his precious coins as they rained down to the floor.

"Serves you right!", Ominis seethed, breathless from his pursuit.

In a sense of victory, the blonde's lips curled into a grin, his fingertips running along the Niffler's belly. The creature chattered as if he were laughing, especially ticklish at the gentle prodding. More coins and jewels rained out as Ominis' fingers reached his sniffling snout.

Quickly snatching his wand back from the little creature's jaw, he boasted, "I win", before reaching for Sebastian's paws.

Ominis caught ahold of the necklace, but the Niffler's grip was like iron.

"Sebastian, give it to me", the blonde chided, tugging on the precious piece of jewellery. "Come on, Sebastian".

The Niffler struggled and resisted, never being more keen to possess anything in his life. Even the measly coins Ominis tried to trade couldn't compare to the necklace and he wasn't willing to break it.

"You stubborn mule! Fine!!", he snapped, huffing as he set Sebastian loose.

Dejected, the blonde sat himself down, soon recieving the company of your Puffskein as it nuzzled into his side. Despite his sadness, even he was unable to resist smiling at the affectionate creature.

Ominis reached over to pet the Puffskein, your mischievous Niffler watching from a distance. All of his lost coins were on the ground by the blonde's legs, but it wasn't them that drew Sebastian back.

It was the realisation that Ominis could love him just as much as you could. That his love was not a threat to the friendship you shared with your favourite pet.

Perhaps he'd tried stealing the wrong person??

Ominis seemed just as compassionate, if not moreso.

His attention soon became divided from the Puffskein when the cool and delicate metal of a necklace was dropped into his palm. The blonde almost couldn't believe it.

A Niffler?? Returning something shiny??

And then it clicked. It wasn't of value to him, but a ploy to sabotage your relationship with Ominis. Sebastian had felt threatened.

"Thank you", Ominis whispered, his lips curling out of amusement as the little creature began to shuffle around and pick up the coins that had dropped.

Perhaps Sebastian was more alike to his human counterpart than the blonde first realised? He has a heart of gold too, although it rarely shows.

And upon your return to the vivarium, you were delighted to find things resolved between your pet and boyfriend, knowing tensions and jealousy had been spiked between the two.

There, Ominis laid on the grass asleep, a freckled lilac Niffler upon his chest.

Your plan had worked..

The End. . .

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Hey readers!! ❤❤ I hope you all enjoyed these fics as much as I loved writing them!! As always, any and all feedback is welcome!

So, please - let me know how I went in writing for Sebastian and Ominis for the first time and how to improve, if I can! If you wished to be added to my taglist for this fandom or any others I write for, check out my masterlist and let me know what you'd like to be tagged in!

Thank you all for your support!! ❤❤❤

#ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy #slytherin boys #ominis gaunt x mc #ominis gaunt x reader #ominis gaunt x you #hogwarts legacy fanfic #hogwarts legacy ominis #ominis x mc #ominis x reader #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow x reader #sebastian sallow x you #sebastian x mc #sebastian x reader #fanfiction #my writing #gifs not mine

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sapphic-agent · 10 months

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Let's Talk About the Bakugou Problem

I've been enjoying the Bakugou slander here on Tumblr, but I haven't come across anyone that gets to the root of the problem with Bakugou's character yet. I think it goes further than him having anger issues, being annoying, or even how violent and abusive he is. Why I think Bakugou is a bad character is due to the effect he has on the plot, world-building, and the rest of the characters. There's a lot of layers here, so I'd like to take the time to talk as in-detail as I can while typing on mobile.

*Note: I'll be following the anime as it's easier for me to follow and pick specific examples. Manga readers if you have anything to add I'd love to hear it, even if it's against what I've listed here*

*Note: Bakugou fans you're more than welcome to read, though I warn you might not like what you see. I tried to keep this as constructive as I could without letting my own biases seep in (whether I succeeded is up for debate) so that everyone could read it whether you like Bakugou or not. I'm fine with criticism towards my points, I only ask that you remain respectful. I won't engage with anyone who disrespects me or other users*

1. Consequences

This is a big one among Bakugou critics, so I think it's a pretty good place to start. Bakugou has almost never faced actual consequences to his actions (there's a difference between something bad that happens to happen to him and the world around him not accepting his behavior). There are two instances that I can think of that there was a direct ramification to something Bakugou has done. The first was during the Deku vs Kacchan fight where Bakugou does get suspended for four days while Izuku gets suspended for three days. The other is when he and Todoroki fail the provisional licensing exam. However, there's a problem with these two instances I mentioned.

With the D vs K fight, Bakugou was the one who goaded Izuku out of the dorms and instigated a fight. Izuku was trying to get him to go back to the dorms so they could settle their "issue" under adult supervision. He was trying to do the responsible thing. For Izuku to only receive a day less of punishment seems unfair. Though, you could make the case that he should have ignored Bakugou, it's still very clear that one was way more at fault than the other and there was barely a difference in their punishment.

The provisional licensing exam actually did well with failing Bakugou. It was almost a great lesson; that he can't say and do whatever he wants and expect the world to roll over for him. Unfortunately, it's undermined by Todoroki failing as well. Yes, Todoroki failed because of Inasa. But a) Inasa attacked him first which should have resulted in disqualification (what was Todoroki supposed to do, not fight back when he was being assaulted?) and b) Inasa's entire character seems shoehorned into the story. He doesn't really add anything to Todoroki's character as most of his problems with Todoroki were already resolved back in season 2. He also contributes nothing to the overall story. Shindou, for example, has a hand in testing 1A and forces them to work together congruently. Inasa seems like he was put in the story simply to make Todoroki fail. Why does Todoroki have to fail? Because Bakugou does.

It seems like Horikoshi always softens the blow for Bakugou in a way, if he's dealt any blow at all. By not allowing Bakugou to face consequences on his own, he might as well not be facing them at all.

Why are consequences so important? Because Bakugou's privilege is a problem.

I don't think I've seen anyone address this. The root of Bakugou's behavior comes from the fact that he was allowed to do all those terrible things because the world around him was tolerant of it. Teachers turned a blind eyes when he bullied Izuku because he had a great quirk and Izuku was quirkless. He's allowed to do and say whatever he wants because he has a great quirk. While people seem to be harder on Izuku because of either having no quirk or not being able to fully control his quirk. This is a huge part of the story that was set up in the beginning, but was almost never addressed despite being persistent throughout. And it's the most present with Aizawa.

Bakugou attempts to attack a fellow student the first day of class? Simply restrained, no repercussions. Bakugou uses excessive force against a classmate despite his teacher telling him to stop? Nothing more than a few not-so-nice words. Bakugou assaults his partner and refuses to cooperate? No words at all.

Now look at Izuku. Doesn't have full control of his quirk? His teacher attempts to humiliate and expel him in front of his classmates on the first day of class. Saves a classmate in an admittedly risky rescue mission? Said teacher proclaims he lost his trust and labels him a problem child (despite the orchestrator of said mission- Kirishima- being in the same room and not getting spoken to at all).

(I don't know if Aizawa's projecting, but pandering to the kid with the strong quirk while simultaneously disliking All Might isn't a great look.)

Even before UA, Bakugou is praised by the heroes for his strong quirk against the sludge villain despite the fact that his quirk made everything worse while Izuku is scolded even though they were the ones who did nothing while he did what he could to save someone.

"All men aren't created equal." That's one of Izuku's very first lines and a central point of the story. It's something you expect it to address multiple times, especially in regards to Izuku and Bakugou. But Bakugou being spared from consequences every single time he does something terrible means that the statement is validated, but the problem still persists and is never rectified or solved. Even if you think Bakugou "changed," that doesn't make his privilege go away.

2. Plot Compensation

The story goes out of its way to make Bakugou seem like a better person than he is.

My first example is the Sports Festival, specifically his fight with Uraraka. In this fight, Bakugou is met with booing from the audience for not going easy on her. And right off the bat, this is weird. Because not only have we never seen this attitude toward women heroes before or after this, the show is trying to tell us something when Aizawa tears the crowd down. Almost as if saying, "The crowd is dumb and wrong and if you think like the crowd, you're dumb and wrong." Aizawa claims that Bakugou is treating Uraraka like a real opponent by not going easy on her.

...is he though?

Because we never see Bakugou stand still in a fight like he does with her. Bakugou's fighting style relies a lot on mobility. During his fight with Tokoyami, who he knew he had an advantage over because of the light from his quirk, he isn't standing still. During his fight with Todoroki he isn't standing still. He only does this with Uraraka. Because this isn't Bakugou showing respect, it's him still looking down on her. He doesn't see her as a serious opponent, just an obstacle in his way.

And I know this sounds like a bold claim. But if you recall, Bakugou immediately confronts Izuku after the fight and accuses him of giving Uraraka the idea she used during their match. He assumes it was a ploy from Izuku, implying that he didn't think Uraraka capable of coming up with a plan with the potential to work against him. This isn't respect for an opponent.

(Note: the only thing in Bakugou's favor is it's probably not because she's a girl. He just naturally looks down on everyone who doesn't immediately stand out to him with a show of power like Todoroki)

Then we have the revered scene with the League or Villains.

This scene is praised because it "subverts expectations." That the violent, angry kid doesn't want to be a villain. He wants to be a noble hero. Aizawa- again- silences claims against Bakugou, citing that he wants to win and he knows he can't do that if he's a villain.

My thing is, however, the League targeting him in the first place. Why would they do this? Bakugou clearly has a heroic quirk. He scored first on the entrance exam. If they did any research at all beforehand, they would know that Bakugou was at the top of his class before UA and is in the top five currently. And they'd know he has wealthy parents.

(You would think Dabi especially would draw parallels to Endeavor and would be aware that Bakugou's ambition and heroic quirk don't make him similar to the League who have been discriminated against, shunned, and abused for most of their lives. Even with his behavior at the Sports Festival, Endeavor isn't the noble and kind type like All Might and most other heroes. So I'm not sure why Bakugou's behavior immediately screamed villain potential)

Nothing about him suggests he's had a hard life like most of the League. Nothing about him suggests he'd want to leave his comfortable life and secured future to become a villain.

This scene sets up Bakugou's redemption, right? It leads us to the Deku vs Kacchan fight and All Might's advice is what makes him take on his "save to win" mentality.

But not only does this seem like a convenient plot device, it decidedly ignores the uglier part of Bakugou's decision.

Bakugou rejected the LOV because he saw them as losers. But what if they hadn't been losers? What if they had been doing as well as they were at the end of season 5? Merging and becoming the MLA front, organized teams, wealthy, successfully recruiting members right under the heroes' noses.

Maybe Bakugou wouldn't have outright joined them. But at this point before shifting his perspective, his answer might have been very different.

But the story goes out of its way to hammer in Bakugou's scarce good traits to take your focus away from his overwhelming bad ones.

3. Bakugou's Character Shift "Development"

The way Horikoshi wrote Bakugou in the beginning is very different to how he is portrayed later in the show. No, I don't mean his development. I mean the major shift in his character between seasons 1/2 and season 3/4.

Bakugou in the beginning of the show is cruel, meanspirited, and violent. And he's still all of those things throughout the show. The one difference is that it's played for laughs in later seasons.

Bakugou's actions and words in seasons 1 and 2 are portrayed a lot more serious than in later seasons. He's an antagonistic force, one that Izuku has to strive to overcome not just to be a good hero, but for himself as Bakugou has been one of the most prominent obstacles in his strive to become a hero.

Look at his behavior during the battle trials. It's something serious, something that has even All Might worried. Bakugou knew he could have very well killed Midoriya and didn't care. It's brutal and almost hard to watch because at this point in the show Midoriya is weak and tiny (visually, we know he's never really been weak) compared to Bakugou and can really only outsmart him to win.

We never see Bakugou display anything close to this level of violence in later seasons. Not in the Sports Festival or 1A vs 1B or D vs K or the licensing exam or even against literal villains. Season 1 went out of its way to show Bakugou's cruel behavior even using it as something Izuku has to learn how to overcome even if he has to risk everything.

By season 3, the perspective has changed. Bakugou name calling people, belittling people, yelling, and his acts of violence are now exaggerated for comedy. None of his actions are taken as seriously as they were before, despite some being almost or just as bad.

(It's worth mentioning that this was also around the time Bakugou began to get popular among fans)

A great example of this is in season 5 when he throws his headpiece at Izuku and makes him bleed. His casual act of his aggression towards his lifelong victim is present to make the audience laugh, despite the fact that Izuku was bleeding and the 1A boys are (rightfully) horrified.

(I'd like to add that there was no real reason to do this. Nothing he was saying would have exposed OFA and even if it had, he was done talking by the time Bakugou threw it)

If Bakugou had really changed at this point, this would have never happened in the first place. I can't call this changing or development, I call this his actions shifting into comedic relief and away from the serious connotations they previously held. By taking that away, it allows Bakugou to continue to do the same things he has all his life while under the guise of development. It undermines what's supposed to be his redemption arc.

4. Other Characters

Bakugou isn't the only one who gets a character shift. It's approximately the moment that Bakugou begins to get more attention that the other characters lose the substance they had at the beginning of the show.

The ones hit most notably by this are obviously Uraraka and Iida. They were Izuku's first friends, his original trio. More than that, they are set up as interesting characters with their own arcs and paths for becoming great heroes.

Even though I did have my complaints about her fight with Bakugou in the Sports Festival, it does turn Uraraka onto improving past her goal of becoming a rescue hero. She wants to become better in other aspects of being a hero so that she can succeed and keep up with her stronger classmates. She proved herself capable of this during her fight with Bakugou and it was the catalyst of her character development.

Iida was not only resolving himself with caring for Midoriya as a friend as well as being his rival and wanting to surpass him. There's also this darker side to him that no one expects from goody two shoes, straight-laced Iida that had so much potential for exploration.

Both of them are tossed to the side in favor of Bakugou. I would even go as far as to say that after season 2, they're almost irrelevant until season 6 and even then they're limited (before season 6 Uraraka's only character trait is that she ignores he feelings for Midoriya to become a better hero, which came out of nowhere and does nothing for her character). And they barley ever get moments with Izuku during time despite being his first friends.

Todoroki is a similar yet very different case. At the beginning of the show, he was intense and has strong feelings. (An interesting parallel is that if Iida was his friend becoming his rival, Todoroki was his rival becoming his friend and both relationships speak to Izuku as a character) Even if he didn't express them, we as the audience knew they were there. But as times passes he becomes flat and dull. Even though he's supposed to be part of the new trio, he's barley present (the dynamic between the three of them is uninteresting all around as it's basically Bakugou yelling at Izuku with Todoroki in the background. They never have any deep or heartfelt moments nor do they have good chemistry) and barely gets any one-on-one interaction with Izuku despite them being very good friends.

(I can't blame this all on Bakugou as the show also shifts from focusing to Todoroki to focusing on his own abuser which is part of the issue with his lack of character, but Bakugou's character does contribute to this problem of making the abusers more sympathetic than the victims)

Most if not the rest of 1A fade into the background after this, save for a few who have notable moments sprinkled in throughout the show. You can take this as a Bakugou prevalence problem, or it can be seen as Horikoshi just not knowing how to balance characters.

However, the character that suffers the most because of this is Izuku himself.

I don't think it's a bad thing that Izuku admires or looks up to Bakugou. I don't think it's a problem that he doesn't see anything wrong with Bakugou's behavior against him. Izuku grew up in an environment where that was normalized. That he's worthless because of his lack of quirk and Bakugou deserves to be on top because of his great quirk. Of course he internalized that, even though he knows that a quirk doesn't determine someone's worth. He was never given the tools or the means to beat that mindset.

What I despise is the fact that everyone around him enables it.

As I stated above, Aizawa is definitely the worst when it comes to this. Not only shoving Bakugou and Izuku together and making it Izuku's job to get Bakugou to cooperate, but hardly if ever condemning Bakugou when he lashes out against Izuku. Even without their history, what Bakugou does is wrong and should be treated as such.

Unfortunately and even though I love All Might, he's also guilty of this. It's true that he might not know the full extent of their toxic relationship, but All Might sees Bakugou instigate a fight with Izuku and decides it's okay to tell Bakugou about One For All. Bakugou did nothing to earn this honor: he hasn't shown Izuku support and hasn't been a reliable ally he could depend on. But even disregarding that, Bakugou had just been captured by villains who work for All For One. He was the last person on Earth who should have been entrusted with this secret.

The adults in Izuku's life enable and reward Bakugou's bad behavior and urge them into forming a relationship and partnership that frankly shouldn't exist (and only does to make Bakugou a better person and hero, it does nothing for Izuku). It's to the point where almost Izuku's entire character revolves around his relationship with Bakugou and how he improves because of it and how he helps Bakugou improve. And he further projects this when he "subtly" implies that Todoroki should forgive Endeavor, which feels like a justification towards the audience of his own feelings towards Bakugou.

5. Accountability

I mentioned consequences as my first point. But what many who want this miss, it goes hand-in-hand with accountability.

Unlike consequences, Bakugou more or less does take accountability in the form of his apology. But the apology was lackluster for a couple of reasons. The main thing is that it feels like a list of excuses rather than simply owning up to the fact that he was shitty and there's really no good reason for it. But simply explaining why you hurt the person you hurt isn't giving them the apology they deserve. It's making it about you.

Another thing, though, is that the apology is very scarce. It skips over the worst of Bakugou's actions. Nothing he said was anything 1A didn't already know. They don't know about the s*icide baiting which is one of the worst things he's done to Izuku (and that's only what we saw, who knows what Bakugou's been saying for years?). It also ignores everything he did in UA, which was a very big part of the problem. He treated Izuku poorly months prior to the apology and that shouldn't be ignored.

As far as accountability goes this apology isn't that great. But it's something. No, what's worse is that the other characters don't hold Bakugou accountable.

The other characters more often than not turn a blind eye to Bakugou's behavior. We've already covered Aizawa, but the rest of 1A is guilty of this too. No one says anything about the Battle Trials. Hardly anyone condemns Bakugou when he attacks or insults Izuku. Sometimes they'll chime in like Uraraka or Kirishima, but other than that no one outright tells him off. This is out of character for Iida in particular because he's such a stickler about rules and courtesy for others (he literally told off a six year old when he punched Izuku and tried to stop Mineta from perving on the girls, why wouldn't he do the same when it comes to Bakugou?). It's almost like the characters are blind to Bakugou's behavior.

What's weirder is that Mina and Kirishima- who were both stated to hate bullying- are friends with him. Why would the show go out of its way to tell us this only to saddle them into the "BakuSquad?" It doesn't make sense.

It's hypocritical that everyone in 1A is so tolerant of Bakugou but get annoyed with others; like Monoma for example. Or even Mineta because as much as I dislike him he's constantly being called out by 1A. It means that they know certain behavior is wrong and/or shouldn't be entertained, so we know they aren't completely unaware. But the fact that they largely ignore Bakugou's behavior and condemn Monoma's is so weird. You can't excuse one and not the other.

Conclusion

There's certainly more than this to my dislike of Bakugou. But I think I've mostly covered his negative impact on the story. Doing a deep dive into his awful personality is something I wouldn't wish on anyway. Many others have done that anyway, so I'm content to leave it out. But I hope you liked my little breakdown!

#anti bakugo katsuki #anti bakugou #anti aizawa shota #bnha critical #bhna criticism #bhna #mha #mha critical #criticism

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pikahlua · 16 days

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I've been in the dkbk fandom for 3 years and my husband is an anime only. We just watched the new episode and he was disappointed. He predicted that Star will die and the plot won't really move forward. He's a sci-fi fan and he's seen many a series fall apart after more characters, complexity, and a war are introduced. I've been avoiding spoling the manga for him but since he's lost interest, I spoiled him and confirmed that the manga has been in a holding pattern for 2-3 years with this final arc. I told him what you said about Bk's death and Deku losing his arms as being symbolic but he said those actions being reversed lowers the stakes and it's hard to maintain emotional investment if you know that major plot points will just get reversed. I wanna believe in Hori but I'm waiting for payoff instead of enjoying the story. Is what's happening really good storytelling if this final battle has been dragging on so long and Deku's characterization has come to a halt?

I’m hesitant to answer this. I said I wouldn't answer any asks that were looking to me for reasons to keep liking MHA, and I really don't want to encourage more asks like this--and yes OP, I don't know if you realize it but that's basically what you're asking. You've framed this question around your husband's opinions, but you're couching your own thoughts inside.

If your issue is that you and your husband like different media, then that's a marital issue to resolve; accept that you shouldn't always watch all media together, particularly if doing so isn't fun for both of you. But your husband doesn't like what's going on in MHA, and this is enough to make you doubt whether or not MHA is written well? Despite the fact that many, many people like MHA in its current form? That sounds more to me like you agree with your husband. It certainly doesn't sound like you tried to sell this story arc to him.

I decided I'll answer a question like this this one time because it'll help me summarize my feelings on these topics, though I'm sorry to say the topics I address may not be what you expect.

"We just watched the new episode and he was disappointed. He predicted that Star will die and the plot won't really move forward."

Is this really a surprise? I don't remember anyone being all that into this arc when it first came out. Everyone was saying Star would die, and yet most people did not correctly predict the actual outcome of this fight--that Star's quirk would be eliminated and Tomura would be weakened. Most guessed Tomura would steal Star's quirk and become overpowered.

"He's a sci-fi fan and he's seen many a series fall apart after more characters, complexity, and a war are introduced."

You mention sci-fi but uh, has your husband watched like...any other anime? Ever? At all? MHA is far from the first shounen anime to do this. You can't really make your husband like MHA if his problem is that he came to an anime restaurant and got upset when there was nothing but anime on the menu.

Seriously, MHA is not doing all that much different with its ending than what Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood did, and that's one of the most critically acclaimed shounen anime of all time. If he's predisposed to dislike the stuff anime does, that's not a writing problem. That's a mismatch of anime with his tastes.

It strikes a nerve with me because I grew up loving anime and was bullied for it by people with opinions such as your husband's. Now, the mainstream-ification of anime has drawn those same sorts of people to anime for whatever reason, and all they seem to wanna do is complain about anime being anime. Take sci-fi for example: I typically hate outerspace-themed media and the concepts such media often explore, and you know what I do? Not watch it. I've decided such media is not for me. Honestly, the same is true for a lot of anime too. I am very picky about anime because there are some tropes or themes I'm just sick of.

"I've been avoiding spoling the manga for him but since he's lost interest, I spoiled him and confirmed that the manga has been in a holding pattern for 2-3 years with this final arc."

This is where it sounds like you primed him with your own feelings, because it certainly doesn't sound like you were selling him. I don't even know what this means. "A holding pattern"? Do you mean the arc has just been going on a long time (see: welcome to anime being anime)? Or do you mean not much has happened with Izuku? Because I am getting a bit of a sense that your issue is you're an Izuku fan and his growth has been slow because the arc has had to wrap up all the other characters' arcs first. Because a lot HAS been happening with all the other characters (and we recently got some Izuku progression too).

The only other thing I can think of is an opinion I've had for a long time. I think a lot of anime fans don't realize they're not actually manga people. You watch an anime you like a lot and you wanna get up to speed, so you go to the manga not understanding that the manga is different from the anime. The pacing is different, as is the presentation and focus on details. The manga presents one or two story points per chapter, whereas anime episodes are 2-3 chapters compressed into one sitting. The anime's major selling point is its fast pacing, but this is not a selling point of the manga--of ANY weekly manga. "2-3 years" means very little in the context of a 15-page-a-week-AT-BEST manga.

"I told him what you said about Bk's death and Deku losing his arms as being symbolic"

The symbolism angle is one thing. I've never really understood why people like any media without symbolism--that's what gives a story its flavor, isn't it? If we're talking about tropes and familiar story structures, the artist's approach to familiar items is precisely what makes it unique and interesting to me. I wouldn't become invested enough to care about Katsuki's death if all that mattered to me was the surface-level event.

But are you saying you spoiled the fact that Izuku lost his arms? That's...not that big of a plot point to spoil if you ask me. Certainly not one I'd bring up as one of the greatest hits of this arc. This is another detail that makes me feel like you're particularly focused on Izuku, which is not a bad thing nor is there anything wrong with that, but Izuku doesn't actually feature very much in this anime season all things considered. It's hard to sell anyone on what's currently happening with Izuku in the manga since we just got to his stuff and it's not complete.

Again, this was what happened with Fullmetal Alchemist. The last arc covered the events of one day that ended the final war. The main characters were only occasionally featured and didn't do all that much in the season until the very end, as one would expect. When it was coming out in manga form, the pacing was admittedly very weird because of this storytelling choice, albeit it felt a bit different from MHA since it was a monthly manga and covered more ground per chapter. But when the same arc was adapted to anime, the feeling and pacing were very different, and a lot of iffy elements improved on me as a result.

"he said those actions being reversed lowers the stakes and it's hard to maintain emotional investment if you know that major plot points will just get reversed."

Is your husband someone who watches things only once and then can't rewatch and enjoy them ever again? Does he only watch stories for plot twists and once he knows the twist he stops liking it?

I don't understand this general obsession with consequences and stakes a lot of people have. Sure, they are elements that can contribute to a mood or feeling in a story, but they're far from the make-or-break linchpins so many people make them out to be. The "reversals" are major plot points too. I find much more enjoyment in trying to follow why a writer would do such things and what they're trying to say than wondering how likely some character is to die or how many people will be brutalized.

I'm in the camp that believes spoilers should not make a difference in whether or not I find a series "good" or whether or not I can invest in it. I personally have played video games specifically BECAUSE they were spoiled for me and it sounded like I would like them, and having those major things spoiled for me did not detract from my enjoyment at all. I'm not saying everyone has to be like me, but I do certainly think a story's ability to persist as an impactful and memorable work has very little to do with its stakes and everything to do with how it handles its story and characters. Was Star Wars memorable and beloved because of how many people were at risk of dying in it? Was something taken away from the story when Luke got a robotic replacement for the hand he lost?

Goodness, didn't the MHA fandom predict for years that Dabi was Touya Todoroki? And wasn't everyone just waiting for the reveal to fucking happen already so we could get it over with? And wasn't the entire fandom surprised and enthralled when the Touya reveal did happen precisely because it was handled in such a unique and cool way with Horikoshi's flair? Did predicting that twist really ruin anything for the story?

A good story is a good story.

"I'm waiting for payoff instead of enjoying the story."

I can't know what payoff you're waiting for. I've enjoyed all the events and details along the way, even if there were some expected dips here and there. When I went back and reread the entire arc in one go, the pacing really hit me differently and I got a lot out of it. If you're not enjoying the story, that's not about whether or not the story is employing "good storytelling." I've enjoyed plenty of stories that were told poorly and sloppily because there were other redeeming features that appealed to me. This is about preference. You and your husband have your own personal preferences, and that's okay! But you both have to manage your preferences with respect to each other and to yourselves.

"Is what's happening really good storytelling if this final battle has been dragging on so long and Deku's characterization has come to a halt?"

If you're actually interested in whether or not MHA has "good storytelling," I'd suggest you take a creative writing class or otherwise learn about the way stories are told in different media i.e. novels vs comics vs TV shows vs movies vs video games. But I honestly don't think that's what you mean. I think you're looking for permission to keep liking MHA even if you personally don't like its storytelling or how Izuku's character is currently being handled. I can tell you from experience that yeah, you can. Plenty of people do it all the time. Some people get so frustrated with the stories they like they write fix-it fanfiction. Some people appreciate the way a story is so perfectly written that they cannot build a fandom around it because they can't come up with anything to add. It's going to depend on you and how you want to approach the situation, and while I'm happy to talk about what I like about MHA and which writing choices I think are well made, that's not going to get us very far if you don't like the same things.

I do often find media that I personally think is not written that well, and like I said, sometimes I like it and sometimes I hate it, but if it's a piece of media with a large fanbase like MHA, I have a hard time calling its writing universally "bad." If it speaks to that many people in some way, clearly there's something about it that reaches people effectively, and who am I to judge? I'm certainly no expert in quality of writing. All I have are what I've taken away from my education in literature/writing, my years of experience with many anime that came before MHA, and my thoughts on all the other media I've enjoyed. My experiences will lead to different conclusions than others'. I know I don't like a lot of what's popular with most people, so I certainly can't hold myself out as some paragon of good taste.

It's okay to like or dislike whatever for whatever reason. I don't always stay with the same fandom. I move around when I find new and good things. I sometimes come back to old things I loved and like it anew or find it underwhelming as I currently am. As of right now, I'm actually willing to say something I never was before, which is that MHA might be one of the best-written manga if not the best manga I've ever read. While FMA is top-tier, its themes are a lot safer than MHA's ambitious goals. MHA was always going to be controversial in some ways just because of what it attempts to do, such as telling its story through comic book-themed superheroes. It also says a lot of political things that risk alienating readers. The levels of risk MHA takes are part of what makes it amazing to me and what makes it a worthwhile piece of art to enjoy. I'm so happy it exists, flaws and all. No story will be universally loved, and that's something I accepted a long time ago when I decided I wouldn't let the bullying stop me from liking anime. All I can hope to do is have the courage to love the things I love and the grace to leave alone the things I dislike for others to enjoy.

#anon ask #ask pika #my hero academia manga spoilers #final arc spoilers

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carigm · 1 year

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Today Millie had a fan panel in which she answered that her ideal ending would be Mike and El getting married and Will being happy and confessing to Mike (lol) and ofc the Stranger Things fandom kicked up the old Byler vs Mlvn war once again, regardless of the fact she doesn’t write the show. But I want to break down some points here about things I’ve been noticing today, but also for a while and that I think need to be discussed. Keep reading if you want.

I’ve seen a lot of hostility towards Byler and Bylers on Twitter lately, saying we’re delusional and don’t know what we’re talking about. This always seems to be the go to argument even tho it’s all in the narrative. Today it got really bad after Millie’s comments and even people that were merely disagreeing with her opinions got called everything from delusional to misogynistic.

IF the Duffers suddenly decided to ignore everything they’ve carefully crafted and put into their narrative that doesn’t make anyone delusional, it just makes them terrible writers. Who would be doing a great disservice to all three characters involved in the love triangle.

There’s been an insurgence (on Twitter) of so called “Will stans” who seem to be completely fine with the idea of mlvn being endgame because “Will can just get another boyfriend” Not only is this insulting to what the writers have already established for Will’s character but it’s also a defense and endorsement of the worst kind of lazy/bad writing that could graze our screens.

The Duffers CHOSE to tie Will’s character arc to Mike’s and El’s.

How do you expect them to undo that and create a well fleshed out character that’s deserving of Will, in 8 episodes that we know are not just gonna be dedicated to Will’s supposed love interest, because there’s a shit ton of stuff to resolve?

If this was the route the Duffers were going for, they could’ve clearly given Will a love interest last season (like with Robin) or two seasons ago (like with Dustin) And yet somehow, people think it would be totally okay for Will to get the most meaningless romance of all time as the writers ignore the same story they’ve created.

Another point I’ve been seeing a lot from these people is “Mike won’t come out. Let it go. He’s just a very unlikable character” What does that say about the quality of the writing and content you’re willing to consume then? You’re okay with characters being poorly written? And please someone explain to me how Mike’s actions, especially in S4, make any sense unless he likes Will.

The more people try to simplify this story the more plot holes and inconsistencies it creates.

The funny thing is that a lot of these “Will stans” used to be Bylers themselves but are so deathly afraid it won’t be endgame that they’ve started to use the same rhetoric mlvns use every day to justify what would be atrocious writing.

And this next thing might be controversial but I think it needs to be said.

So many people on Twitter have hit those who disagree with Millie’s opinion today with “y’all are misinterpreting Millie’s words” and let me tell you, no one has. She’s been saying the same stuff for forever and quite frankly she’s never had a coherent thought about Will. Which is fine, at the end of the day that’s not the character she plays. However, I haven’t forgotten how last year (at another panel) she was asked about Byler and said it was just a reflection of Finn and Noah’s friendship and that was what people were seeing…

Whatever the fuck that means, I guess.

Again, I’m not taking her answer today too seriously cause truth be told she’s been saying some version of this since she was around twelve, and has even at times said she was joking about it. If a wedding were actually happening she wouldn’t be able to say it cause I’d literally be a spoiler, even if she doesn’t have the scripts yet or doesn’t know I’m sure there’s things that would be off limits for any actor to say at this point.

But this defense squad that formed today begging for us to not misconstrue her words because “she really cares about Will’s character” is laughable.

Her answers regarding the topic of the love triangle have been anything but nuanced. If she doesn’t want to get into it or address it, that’s fine. It’s her choice.

But of course, mlvn stans are gonna take her answers seriously, as well as those who are now “Will stans” who basically ship mlvn too.

And to me there’s a fundamental flaw regarding the ship wars in this fandom, which these people don’t seem to grasp. At this point, it isn’t so much about “which ship is better” but “which outcome isn’t violently homophobic”

That’s it.

I don’t care how much you ship mlvn, this is the undisputed truth here.

But when your lead actors act like it’s not a big deal, it’s no surprise the fandom doesn’t give a shit.

I can only hope the Duffers were smart enough to see reason and were able to write the only outcome that won’t set television back around 10 years or so.

And hopefully one day, when S5 is out, we can get a more in depth and honest conversation with the actors about all of this.

As for me, I’m gonna lay low and not give much of a fuck until we start getting those Reddit leaks, which were very much accurate for last season. I’ll take a peak at those, and depending on what they look like, I’ll stay around or dip completely.

If you read all of this, thank you.

#byler #byler theory #byler is real

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ranchthoughts · 1 year

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The Good Place and MSP: Pacing and Narrative Structure [a crossover for a probably tiny audience]

this post will contain spoilers for The Good Place and My School President so be forewarned!

I was watching a couple of videos about The Good Place by the youtube channel Pillar of Garbage (this one and this one) and it sparked some *thoughts* which reminded me of one of my powerpoint presentations on MSP that I made.

Basically, The Good Place (TGP) and My School President (MSP) have an atypical narrative structure and in particular atypical pacing compared to other shows like them or the shows we might expect them to be.

Firstly, both shows have “premature” big reveals:

halfway through the first season of TGP, Eleanor admits that she is in the Good Place by mistake, instead of filling an entire season or more with her hijinks as she tries to hide that fact

MSP establishes that Tinn is not an unmoved cool guy out to get Gun but in fact a soft, pining gay romantic in the first episode, a reveal which in other shows hasn’t happened until the mid-point of the season or even the very end

Secondly, both shows move through plot lines more quickly than other shows would:

TGP introduces several season- or episode-spanning concepts and then move past them with in an episode or two: e.g., season 2 of TGP starts with all the characters being rebooted in a second go-round of the Good Place experiment, and it seems the whole second season will be much like the first with the characters only realizing they are in the Bad Place at the end → in the second episode of the season Eleanor figures out they are in the Bad Place; and episode 3 of the season (Dance Dance Resolution) has them speed run through hundreds of reboots, representing possible seasons of content.

practically every problem introduced in MSP is resolved by the end of the episode: e.g., Sound is introduced and wants to take over the club → by the end of the episode Gun is back in charge and Sound has been welcomed into the fold; or Tinn knows Gun’s mother is sick but she tells him not to tell Gun → in the next scene Gun finds out, a couple of scenes later things are smoothed over with Tinn, and by the end of the episode we know Gun’s mother is going to be ok; a girl gives Tinn sweets and compliments him which makes Gun jealous → in the next scene we learn it was a case of mistaken identity. As a result, there is little protracted drama or angst (especially revolving around miscommunication) in MSP compared to other BL shows

Thirdly, both shows don’t always have us win:

e.g., at the end of season 2 of TGP, when Eleanor is on her quest to be a better person, she isn’t rewarded for it, it makes her life harder, and she falls back into her old ways

e.g., in MSP, Chinzilla doesn’t win Hot Wave

It was really interesting reading through peoples’ speculations on social media while TGP and MSP were airing about where these shows were heading next, as invariably there were people thinking of other shows (sitcoms, BLs, etc.) and expecting these shows to go those routes (e.g., expanding relatively simple premises over full seasons, or extensive plotlines and drama steeped in miscommunication and jealousy). But then the next episode of TGP or MSP would air and blow through a full season’s premise in half an episode or sidestep all the most dramatic possibilities

Because of these three things (“premature” reveals, quick pacing, the protagonists don’t always win), TGP and MSP felt fresh week after week. We didn’t know where TGP was going to go next, and MSP was flipping the conventional BL narrative arcs and plot devices on their heads. The shows felt confident: they didn’t need to stretch things out over multiple episodes or full seasons because they knew they had more than enough compelling narrative material to keep going.

These shows surprised us, but at the same time the progression of the story and the characters felt more realistic than in other shows. The characters in TGP face setbacks but ultimately grow as people over the course of the show, and the characters of MSP communicate with each other like most real-life friends and partners would and don’t get mired down in extended miscommunication plotlines.

Also shoutout to this post by @distant-screaming that reminded me of the narrative/pacing section my MSP ppt

#ranch thoughts #msp #msp meta #tgp #tgp meta #my school president #the good place

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sapphicteaparty · 11 months

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g witch ending spoilers

g witch is over. i don't have any criticism that isn't nitpicking and i don't care about nitpicking. to me this was a 10/10 show with zero filler episodes and i'm very happy with the conclusion of this story.

some thoughts about the ending:

calibarn's gay rainbow permet colors were so cool. no notes.

all the gay rainbow permet effects were cool. i don't even care about how ridiculous they were.

miorine dissolved the benerit group. i am so glad she doesn't have to continue the corporate legacy that delling created and it seems like she is working with gund-arm like she wanted, developing the medical uses of gund tech. living her best life.

nobody could end spacian capitalism but the space/earth power balance seems to be disrupted. that's not nothing.

delling, sarius etc are actually held accountable for benerit's crimes. good.

earth probably welcomed prospera after what she did to that SAL fleet IF they knew that she was behind it. i doubt earth even has a seat at the SAL table at all so someone like prospera could be a hero to them. or maybe she's just a refugee now, who knows. earth is probably the one place where she won't get arrested and where she can live in peace. either way i'm glad she lived. that scene in the data storm with nadim got to me. 😭

everything about Peil in this episode was so funny.

both miorine and suletta have some sort of gund-tech implants on the backs of their head. i assume this tech is for establishing connection to eri?

eri in the keychain??? so fucking stupid i love it. sometimes a family is you, your wife, your shitty dad, your mother-in-law and your sister-in-law inside a keychain mascot.

…what if you lose the keychain?? what then?? i'm not going to think about this any further. it's fine. she's fine.

sulemio is married. they should have kissed on screen (that's one nitpick) but i'll take this. i'm not disappointed at all in the way their relationship was portrayed throughout the show and i liked that they avoided so many common romance tropes. sulemio is canon (always was) and they get a happy ending which is what i wanted.

i knew she wouldn't die but suletta was still hurt by all of that gundam action. the permet scars, becoming disabled - details like that are a nice touch to show that suletta (and by extension anyone else) piloting giant death robots can't come out of it unharmed. and she didn't just survive, she's thriving and she's so happy!!!!

gund-arm's medical tech really is a ray of hope for many (like petra).

suletta's dreams came true 😭😭😭😭😭😭

actually nobody died??? after ep 23 i had the feeling that this would be the case because g witch seemed to be making the point that redemption through death is not helpful to those who are alive. killing off characters is such an easy way resolve conflicts and to drive stories forward and g witch examines if there can be a different way without violence.

…the downside to that is that it could go to the other extreme and be full on pacifist and excuse all those who had committed horrible acts (delling, prospera, shaddiq etc) but aside from prospera they're all held accountable and suffering the consequences.

prospera was right to want revenge and to want to create a place in the world for eri but her means were not justified. one of the thematic throughlines in season 2 was that how you do something matters just as much as what you do (like sameen shaw said). prospera admitting that she couldn't forgive herself for the things she'd done was just the perfect way of ending her story. i didn't need her to succeed in her revenge plot or to go to jail or die, i just wanted her to see that how she did things was wrong and that's the biggest payoff her story could have had.

and when she was like "my legs will be paralyzed soon anyway" and suletta just refused to leave her behind, and she got to be part of their family.... g witch really said disabled ppl deserve to be happy 😭

can't believe this show gave me everything i wanted???

#g witch #spoilers #g witch spoilers #long post #mp

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tea-earl-grey · 2 months

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Re: your Disco S4 review:

but there was just a bit too much Therapy Talk for my liking. and to be clear, i don't mean too much Actual Therapy. i really respect the show for portraying therapy and trauma recovery in depth and just having cool main characters go to therapy because it's good and healthy is Very Cool. but i do think there are definitely scenes (particularly in the beginning of the show) that has dialogue fall into Therapy Talk where all the characters go around in a circle and coherently state their thoughts and emotions and then resolve their conflict.

I also have the same issue, I know the crew were heavily traumatized in season 1 and I love that we’re finally getting a Trek have Starfleet take mental health seriously.

But it’s how the writers execute the scene that’s the problem. I think you’re right on the money about them needing another pass at scenes like that.

I also think, most of the time the show literally stops the action for the characters to just talk. And I adore characters being in a room, just talking. But I think it’s because most of the time it’s because those scenes do two things at the same time. Or they usually have characters talk around it and be difficult.

In season 4, it seems the characters start their scene and they just over indulge too much, maybe a tighter edit would also work.

But also I think most modern shows have that problem where they use Therapy talk as a crutch for character development and relationships.

And again, I preface this that I do love having mental health taken seriously but I think there’s a way to do it where writer’s integrate it organically— one of the new shows I like from AppleTV— Shrinking, is literally all about it but it’s funny and heartbreaking and sweet. I think maybe it’s because the writers are also new to the concepts and think they have to fit everything to be relevant.

Hopefully, they worked out the kinks for season 5!

Yeah exactly. I love Disco but sometimes it feels like the writers just need to read their dialogue aloud to make some last revisions (and also put some nuance/unspoken things into the dialogue).

This!!!! I know fiction is never meant to accurately reflect reality and that there are always going to be weirdly timed conversations for the sake of narrative but Discovery in particular has SO MANY "stop and talk" scenes during Big Action and it drives me crazy when the plot just establishes a strict time limit to do something and then we spend three minutes for characters to have a heart to heart instead of just. Doing The Thing. I know the 90s era "walk and talks" were annoying to film but those downbeats of characters chatting while going from point A to point B is a great place to add small bits of characterization (and movement!) instead of standing still and monologuing.

Thanks for the rec, I've never heard of Shrinking but will have to check it out!

(putting a big tangential ramble about Disco's portrayal of mental health/therapy under a cut because yeesh it got long)

As someone who has been in therapy, has a psychology degree, and has written fiction that uses therapy sessions as a setting/framing device, I can say with a decent amount of confidence that the way therapy/mental health is utilized in Disco is neither super realistic nor using its full narrative potential. Imo we skipped a very interesting part of everyone's healing journeys between s3 and s4 where characters are actually struggling to articulate their problems or denying their issues. Particularly with Detmer who went from having severe PTSD flashbacks in s3 to talking about her feelings with total clarity in s4 when actual trauma recovery is nowhere near as quick or linear and usually requires making major lifestyle changes to actually heal and maintain that healing.

And also I take issue with the fact that all of the characters are growing and facing similar issues at the same time and pace. It ends up making a lot of awkward and redundant conversations between characters who aren't in conflict and are self-actualized enough that they state everything they mean. And when there is meaningful conflict, the characters seem to very quickly overcome their flaws and make up. It's like the opposite problem that a lot of sitcoms and soap operas run into when characters are so driven to conflict and secret-keeping. It is refreshing to have a show where everyone is committed to being their best selves (which is quite similar to tng in that regard) but it doesn't easily mesh with the sort of drama that Discovery seems interested in telling stories about. All of this is also probably why Book's narrative (and his relationship with Michael) was one of the best parts of s4 because it felt like the writers actually committed to realistic season-long conflict born out of trauma and loss that wasn't written off. And as a result I think David Ajala's acting was some of the best of the show because he was given so much depth. I really just wish that the other characters had something similar but Disco's style of hyper-serialization, shorter season orders, and a large cast of recurring characters just doesn't lend to realistically telling stories about trauma and recovery because we almost only see the action and not the characters living their ordinary lives.

And while 90s Trek certainly wasn't The Best at portraying mental health (the therapy it shows in tng is just. Wrong. And so many characters like B'Elanna and Janeway have their issues with depression forgotten about after an episode or two), portrayals of PTSD with characters like Kira, Seven, Neelix, Picard, and Sisko tend to be more interesting to me because those characters' journeys through healing aren't linear. And as always, more episodes and episodic television in general makes it so emotional moments really hit (like Picard's breakdown in Family after Best of Both Worlds, seeing Kira's trauma around her father's death in Ties of Blood and Water, or whenever Neelix, the usual comedic relief and lighthearted character, has to confront how his family was killed in a brutal genocide) whereas with a show like Discovery – there's constant character drama and confrontations and big emotional moments so the catharsis of someone having a breakthrough in their treatment is a bit undercut. For something like that to be memorable, there have to be unmemorable moments too which just isn't Disco's style. It's not inherently a bad thing, but it's not really to my tastes.

Even the other new Treks tend to be a bit more grounded with character dialogue and addressing mental health. My enjoyment of Lower Decks shot way up in s4 because her admitting that Sito's death drove her away from wanting to be an officer was such a huge moment of catharsis when Mariner usually avoids talking about her feelings with a six foot poll. SNW has both La'an, M'Benga, and Chapel dealing with PTSD and their moments of vulnerability and pain are better because SNW tries to balance the silliness and seriousness of Trek. Picard is probably the most similar in content/tone to Discovery and even there despite the serialization and awkward characterization moments, the characters all have consistent issues with trauma that affect them at different times and affect them despite self-improvement. And I think Picard sometimes dips into heavy-handed emotional conversations but it's not quite as much as Disco because oh boy these characters are good at avoiding their feelings.

To be clear, I do love Discovery and people blow the awkward writing/Therapy Talk problem WAY out of proportion to cover for the bigoted reasons some people vocally hate the show. Like this problem does annoy me but it is just one aspect of the show and I hope one that will be fixed (or at least less noticeable) for season 5.

#discovery #my posts #asks #i need to drag my “Seven goes to therapy” fic out of my convoluted AU because therapy sessions are such a good framing device to get into a #character's head but you have to use it right! nuance! show don't tell!#therapy is a good way to jump start growth and unpacking trauma but irl you have to be an active participant #and in fiction your character has to actively confront their issues instead of just time skipping to a month later when they're fine becaus #of one conversation they had #this is a pet peeve of mine

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wawamouse · 4 months

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Oz Rewatch 3: S2E03: Legs

This week, leading up to the midseason finale, we have another episode that felt a little filler-y. A lot

I'll just bullet point them first to refer back to:

Resolved/continuing from last episode:

Miguel refuses to name Glynn’s daughter’s rapist after learning who it is / Glynn refuses Schibetta's help in getting the name

Diane returns to Em City and gets the cold shoulder from McManus

Kenny's rehabilitation progress regresses after Adebisi interferes

Schillinger out of Solitary, charged with Conspiracy to Murder

Augustus + Beecher tension resolved through extended fart joke lol

Ryan gets his breast tumor surgery

New storyline introduced:

Augustus’s retrial w Said

Giles’s babbling and Sister Peter

The Aryans kill Alexander Vogel, Schillinger starts his revenge plot against Beecher

Busmalis starts digging a hole

Cyril is introduced

Shirley is introduced

Of course, we started out the episode with Sister tittering gleefully over Glynn and Mukada's "lover's tiff". She would be disappointed to realise as the episode progressed that her little soap opera from last week's episode had basically come to an end, though.

[No words; I hear a soft, dejected sigh from Sister over my shoulder]

Unfortunately, Giles is introduced this episode. As I have made clear in my posts in the past, I don't really care much for his storyline or that fact that this is the only real storyline Sister Pete has that is disconnected from many of the other characters she usually deals with. Thinking it over, I believe what might've improved this arc would've been if the lack of resolution over Sister Pete's husband's dead had been introduced earlier on as something affecting her, with the story revolving more around Sister Pete's lingering feelings on the matter and less on Giles and the mystery his babbling presents. I just don't think Giles is that compelling as a character, and if he is really only supposed to be there to unlock some of Sister Pete's back story, I would have liked the whole plot to actually focus more on her.

I sorted of tipsily ranted about it on my Season 1 finale post, but once again something about this bugs me. I don't really have any problem with Said being characterised as arrogant and somewhat foolish, but on this third viewing, I'm starting to see more flaws with the way Said is written. I'm still not sure how to explain it necessarily. In my season 1 rant, I chalked it up to the fact that the writers don't seem familiar with any of the concrete viewpoints a character like Said would have, and therefore he's always just saying vague things about black liberation or prison abolition or revolution or what have you. At the same time, my suspicion that maybe Said is actually sort of just dumb (to put it bluntly) seems like a viable option; Sister mused while we were watching Said boast about Augustus's chances that maybe he was just supposed to be daft about the law... After all, if he understood how things actually worked in the world, maybe he wouldn't be in prison. I think the "Said is actually just that dumb" theory falls flat, though, because in-universe he seems like a pretty highly regarded thinker (except by Querns? lol).

I sort of forget how Said's arrogance plays out in the long run in this season (beyond failing Augustus), so maybe this is a thought I'll put a pin in for now... But I do find it a little 🤨🙄 how he is painted as so delusional in this particular arc. I did sort of think he had been coming down to earth at the end of season 1 after his heart problems but season 2 has him back to doing Too Much. Having Busmalis as the voice of reason, telling Said that he couldn't overthrow the system felt very much like a moment where the writer was speaking to those who Said is meant to represent. Maybe I'm reading too much into that one, but I just feel like it's a cheap move. Of course Said's vague and radical views are going to look preposterous! He hasn't been written from a concrete understanding of any particular ideology or framework! Idk. They should've made Said a communist or something 💀

Anyway.

Moving on, we have a continuation of Ryan's cancer storyline.

I must say, me and Sister were very ???? about Ryan's story to Gloria about how he knew his wife since high school, they impressed their friends by fucking like bunnies minus the babies and then he married his wife because he felt bad she was barren, before cheating on her "a lot" and somehow, the conclusion of this story was... that he didn't want to die in prison? And somehow this monologue earned sympathy points from Gloria? Lol? GIRL? Were you even listening?

Sister: Aw, he does actually love his wife... [long, dubious silence]... I think.

Sister: Ummmmm... what about SHANNON...?

Takeaways & Stray Thoughts:

Sister: I only remember Shannon Me: You only remember her name because she’s pretty Sister: [cackling wildly] That’s true! You know me so well… I don’t even remember the brother’s name—I just remember Shannon saying “what are we going to do about your brother?” 😜… I don’t remember the commissioner’s name… or the girl whose legs we were looking through in that one scene (Diane; there was a scene where McManus was doing sit-ups and the camera was shooting from ankle level behind her) 🥴… I don’t remember the commissioner’s name (Glynn)🤣, or the priest (Mukada)🤨. I remember Sister Peter Marie’s name, but she’s pretty, too... I also remember Miguel’s name but that’s because I’ve become his guardian angel 😌…… Hm, the fiancee (Said’s ex-fiancee) was pretty too… Is Shannon coming back? [sighing, flopping around] Probably not... I bet she'll be too busy supermodeling to be on this show again... 😭

Let it be known that between our episode viewing/discussion and me making some decaf to type this up, Sister kept musing about prison health insurance premiums, at one point saying something about "...She™—Shannon. You know, Shannon?"

Sister: I feel like Mr Religious Guy (Said) is becoming crazy...

New nicknames earned: Miguel, "the rat king" (due to how he tends to hunch his shoulders when he's walking "like a little rat, scurrying around", according to Sister) (frankly "the rat king" is just what she has been calling me all week due to a sweater I have been wearing so I think the name was already on her mind)

The Rat King in motion

I noticed that there were a lot of amusing background details happening in this episode. I wonder if different directors for episodes pay particular mind to having extras do stuff in the background (does the 2nd AD change between episodes? Maybe I should start looking up the crew, too...) Anyway, this episode seemed especially rife with extras amusing themselves in background scenes and moving around more to look busy. Likewise, I feel like this episode had a couple more fun little character/interaction moments compared to past episodes... Augustus and Beecher bickering, Agamemnon "Mm, me too" Busmalis, etc...

Arm wrestling, basketball, reading and walking—all in one shot; Adebisi terrorising Fiona and Tony; McManus keeps ketchup in his important looking cabinet, it turns out; a push-up contest, possibly

Sister: Faces smushed this episode.... two

Why was this episode titled Legs? Besides Diane's leg?

Sister is not a fan of Peter Schibetta so far

During Hanlon's scene with Mukada where he was talking about how he loved to take it up the ass, Sister mistakenly thought I said he was one "one of the gang" instead of "one of the gays", which led her to thinking he was one of the Italians

...Immaculate side eye....

#oz hbo #text #oz rewatch

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crestfallercanyon · 6 months

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I got tagged in some questions from @callivich and while I didn't answer all of them, I've got some! (I also kept these answers Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich centric, though I did have a couple thoughts about just the show generally haha). Anyway --

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? makes a cathedral, him pressing against me and then the companion piece and we will be like sailors, swimming in the sound of it by misandrywitch and intimatelyrearranged respectively -- they're just really good post-mickey's-coming-out-fics which I tend to love every rendition but those ones are really good (also I, like many tumblr people, love richard siken, so it had me hooked from the start)

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? I love the idea that Ian gets really into photography. I think when he's settled in life he takes a lot of photos He's a sentimental guy, I think he's someone who would definitely have photos of his family in his wallet, and would just love taking pictures. (I also like the idea of when he is struggling, maybe going through a manic phase, this propensity to take photos is helpful for his family to find him and figure out what mental state he's in because the photos are kind of all over the place or of things that aren't there). And then ever since finding out Noel Fisher actually plays the piano, I love the idea that Mickey always wanted to play piano. (and that after expressing this desire that was when Terry tattooed his knuckles as an attempt to quash this dream). It's something I may explore in a fic later on.

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration? I have a bajillion but we'll stick with two that I'm not actually currently trying to write -- Kind of a strange idea, but I loved -- especially earliest seasons -- Sheila Jackson. Her struggle with agoraphobia was really heartwrenching (I love the scene where she finally leaves the house for the first time both for Liam and for Karen -- she's just someone who I rooted for then so uncomplicatedly). Anyway, I have an idea where Mickey, before Terry's dead but maybe safely with the Gallaghers, starts to develop agoraphobia like Sheila Jackson had. He finally feels safe at home and he starts to really fear the outside world, and it sneaks up on him, because he's supposed to be fine right? But he's not. He keeps repressing this fear and now it's coming out in this way of being unable to leave the house. And Ian -- from Fiona -- thinks to call Sheila Jackson. With Sheila's help, Ian and her and Mickey actually have interactions. I just think it'd be a really interesting dynamic, because Sheila was so motherly and kind and Mickey I think would hate that at first, but it's also kind of the care he should have had? Anyways, it's strange, but I'd love to explore it. The other one I have is a North American Western Au. Usually I don't write modern-world-setting canon in other contexts but for gallavich I have ideas. And I love western aus, I've written one for another fandoms, it's just fun. Maybe a small town where Ian was a sheriff but he struggles with his disorder and so he resigned; and then Mickey is part of the Milkovich gang that's raising hell all throughout the state but ends up finding Ian and... well if I ever actually write it you'll see.

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? I just wish the show would talk about characters that left more often. Or things that happened in their past more often. The only one they seemed to have done a decent job with in the beginning is Jimmy-Steve. But like, why the heck don't they mention Mandy? Or Karen? Or... ANYONE? That and there are events that should absolutely be referenced again. All of the shit with 3.6 at some point could probably use a rehash of trying to process that trauma. The characters talk a bit about what happened with Monica, or Fiona when Ian and Lip were kids, in later seasons they should be telling the stories of what happened in the early seasons to Liam or Carl or Franny or whoever. I understand many shows drop things for sake of the future plots, but as Shameless is a family drama, things that are dramatic in the family I think could have maintained their relevance for longer. Especially since Shameless has such a brilliant focus on generational trauma and how the kids are, in many ways, going to become their parents in some aspects (but how much so is up to them) it would have been neat for them to actually discuss some of the scars they earned during the show.

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough? I don't know how much more it could be discussed, but I want to discuss it lmao -- but when Mickey says "missed ya", with the cigarette in his mouth and Ian responds with "really?" To me, it's the first time that Mickey says something real to Ian about their relationship, really the first acknowledgment that there's something to miss. He says this, and it's something he's said with no ulterior motive that he knows will make Ian happy, really for only the sake of making Ian happy. It will probably get him laid because this is Ian and they're both horny teenagers, but there's no guarantee, and that's clearly not why he's saying it. The best part of the interaction, though? The way Mickey smiles because he knows Ian's going to be thrilled. That like preemptive "watch this" and then he says it. I just, there's something really sweet about the interaction in a way that Mickey never let himself be previously.

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? There's also a song aptly named "Goodnight Chicago" by Rainbow Kitten Surprise that immediately had me thinking about these two. Here's one verse: "...I killed a man there, in spite, and when he died, I took his place/eighteen made you callous to the kisses that you gave/a course exchange, a cause for blame, and I stood out in the rain/You killed a man there, and I cried, but the rain masked the hurt behind your face/by the way dear, we're alive, and it hurts 'cause we survived."

I'm going to leave this as an open tag and also reference the original questions from callivich because there's some great ones! I did a reblog because I figured this would be overwhelming if I answered on their asks. But please go ahead and answer and hope you enjoyed what you've read here lol. <3

#shameless #shameless (us)#tag game #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich

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leporellian · 9 months

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the fiorello post

@a-tired-bass asked about my Thoughts on this guy yesterday so i figured i might as well make an entire post about The Trials and Tribulations of Fiorello Operacharacter (who shows up only briefly in the barber of seville and then disappears), The Personality I Decided to Give Him, and then My Silly Attempts At Operatic Matchmaker Because The Composers Are Dead And Cannot Stop Me.

SO (for those unaware) fiorello is count almaviva's servant who appears at the very start of the barber of seville and then dips like fairly immediately afterward. given the count tasked him with what is a relatively pretty weighty mission (corral the townspeople into helping him woo the girl) and brought fiorello along w/ him to seville in the first place, we can get the sense fiorello is a pretty high-ranking servant, if not the count's head servant. usually, fiorello isn't ever seen or mentioned after the first ten minutes, and his absence carries into the marriage of figaro (which makes sense, as fiorello doesn't exist in the figaro plays and thus wouldn't have been around before rossini's barber of seville premiered).

fiorello's entire appearance is very weird. such a character didn't exist in the original play barber is based on, and there doesn't seem to be a reason for why he'd need to be there and after he leaves, he's never seen again. HOWEVER, if we go look at the original libretto in its entirety, we find that fiorello DOES in fact reappear in a very short, frequently-cut scene! in which he points out how badly his boss treats him and resolves to eventually leave. (this scene is super rare to find and is nearly always cut- although it remains intact in the ponnelle film version, which you can see below at around the 41 minute mark:)

youtube

and THERE'S the character's true purpose: to foreshadow that the count is, in reality, kind of a shitty guy (as we'll come to see in the marriage of figaro) AND to set up the idea that the count will be in need of a new head servant. fiorello is a continuity point for those who had seen mozart's opera, similar to marcellina/berta's aria that sets up the dilemma she eventually faces in marriage of figaro.

outside of this little spot at the top of barber, fiorello has made other occasional appearances in the figaro-verse. he appears in one of the versions of the fanmade figaro play the two figaros (remember the two figaros? well don’t it’s not that good) as one of the count’s other servants. he appears in this one weird loose adaptation of the barber of seville, which gives him a particularly interesting charcater detail: fiorello actively looks down on figaro and resents him until figaro convinces him into allyship:

then there’s the weird covent garden marriage of figaro from the early 19th century, from back in the day when opera translations were incredibly loose and therefore often changed the plot (this is where we also got the berlin don giovanni where ottavio Fucking Dies and the scandinavian love triangle magic flute i heard about once and never again). among other things the marcellina subplot is erased, barbarina becomes susanna’s rival, antonio gets an aria, and fiorello becomes figaro and susanna’s close friend who helps them stop the count. try this on for bizarro world size:

over time it seems people have gotten less and less interested in fiorello as a character, and now he’s mostly just a footnote.

anyway, so i took pity on him! and decided to give him a concrete personality.

i used to write a webcomic based on operas (it was bad LOL it is not seeing the light of day ever again) and i was made to reconsider this guy because he showed up in that for continuity's sake. since then i've had fun figuring out what kind of guy fiorello should be. i decided to make him the 'anti-figaro' of sorts, turning a lot of fig's traits on their head in order to set up what fiorello would be like. (i like the idea of fiorello initially resenting figaro and it being hilariously one-sided on his end, so that carries over here.)

here's what i think he's like. primarily he's a silly little guy. he has a gloriously tacky fashion sense and absolutely would be a dandy if he had the money for that kind of thing, but he doesn't, so instead he just embroiders stuff on his coats. he's very kind and patient, although this often turns into complete naïveté and letting others kind of walk on him. (even though he's nice that doesn't mean he's above pettiness. were he a little more socially aware he would love gossip.) fiorello tends to act as though he cares more about social conventions than he actually does. he's also incredibly genuine- the man cannot tell a lie to save his life. he's an extrovert and always eager to please, if a bit of an attention seeker... which makes him a good servant but also annoying to some.

anyway, after figuring all that out, i thought 'that's funny! he and leporello from don giovanni would get along! and they have similar names and are both basses what if they dated. that would be funny. as a joke. funny.' and then unfortunately i i thought about it hard enough that i ended up liking it unironically and now in my heart of hearts sometime after their respective opera plots they find each other and get together.

whatever. cringe but free. and that's the story of how i adopted this guy who has like 11 lines in the opera and no friends.

#fiorello #the barber of seville #opera tag #rambles

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mylifebeingautistic · 12 days

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book review: The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

Sam Sylvester is an autistic, non-binary 18-year-old who has just moved to Astoria, Oregon to escape a traumatic event in their past. Sam is interested in what they call “half-lived lives”, people who died before their nineteenth birthdays, and they are worried that they may have the same fate.

So when they move into the house of one of these people, Sam begins an investigation. Everyone in the town claims that the teenage boy who died in Sam’s house was killed in a tragic accident, but Sam and their new friend Shep are convinced it was murder.

I loved this book. The teenage characters were written so realistically and I really liked how Sam was able to find people who they could be themselves around. Also, Sam’s dad was one of my favourite characters! He’s such a good parent because he’s so understanding and kind.

The only thing I wasn’t so sure about with this book was the ending. It just didn’t fully satisfy me, I wanted the mystery to be wrapped up better. But overall, this was a really good book!

From this point on, I will be discussing spoilers and quotes from The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester. If you don’t want to see those, stop reading here!

First I wanted to share my thoughts on the autistic representation in this book.

Sometimes I feel like a balloon with a thousand inputs filling me with conversation noise, smells, clanking chairs, whispers, someone talking to me, so many things until I’m full to bursting but can’t pop, and the only way is to release that pressure with my fists. My leg’s the most usual casualty.

I really relate to the way Sam feels here: it can be hard to find healthy ways to release all the pressure that builds up inside you from just existing in the world. Their dad buys them a punching bag to help them channel these feelings in a way that doesn’t harm them, which was so thoughtful and nice!

“I’m autistic.” “Oh.” Shep nods towards the crosswalk, and I follow, afraid she’s going to say something dreaded like but you don’t seem autistic or you must be “high-functioning” or you should say “person with autism” or some other horrible thing that neurotypical people say to me when they find out, all of which just mean you’re really good at pretending to be “normal”, but you’ll never really be normal. Instead, the next thing out of her mouth is “What’s it like?”

This scene made me so happy! When autistic people trust someone enough to tell them that we’re autistic, people often have reactions that make us uncomfortable. Shep is a good friend because she doesn’t want to be affected by her preconceptions of what autism is, she just wants to support her friend in the way that is best for them.

“Can I tell them you’re autistic?” he asks me, and I appreciate it.

This is something that might be difficult to understand for some people, but it really is important that (when it’s possible) autistic people are allowed to decide whether or not they want to share their diagnosis. It’s a very personal thing and there may be all sorts of reasons why someone wouldn’t want to share, so the best practice is to always ask first.

Now I’m going to write about my thoughts about the plot and the mystery element of the book.

What I found hard to understand in this book was whether or not it was supposed to have a fantasy element. Sam seems to be in communication with Billy, the boy who died in their house, but it was unclear whether this was real, or just their imagination. So I didn’t really enjoy that element of the book.

The mystery was good and I liked the reveal of the murderer being Carl, but Esme thinking she had accidentally killed Billy. But I didn’t like how the mystery of who was threatening Sam was resolved. I’m not even sure who it was that was throwing the rocks at their windows, whether that was one of the people from school or if it was Carl.

That’s all I have to say about this book! Have you read it? Did you like it? What did you like or dislike about it?

#actually autistic #autistic adult #autism awareness #book review #the many half-lived lives of sam sylvester #maya macgregor #autistic books #autistic representation

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feathers-in-the-night · 10 months

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I’m placing the snippet under a read more because it does contain mild spoilers

(its a very early scene so not any huge plot spoilers, but just in case anyone wants to read the story spoilerfree when it’s finally uoploaded)

April 27th Watchtower Morgan

“How has meditation been going? You told me last time it was helping your telekinesis stay under control, but I’m more interested in hearing about the mental and psychological benefits.”

Morgan tore her eyes away from the stunning view of space outside the window. “It’s good. It helps me stay on top of things.” She fidgeted with a curl resting loosely on her collarbone. Not because she was nervous, but because talking so openly about her vulnerabilities was still difficult for her. “I don’t get stressed because I start every day by grounding myself. It helps with keeping unwanted memories at bay too because my mind is more at peace. And I feel more in control of it.”

She redirected her eyes onto Earth, watching a storm gather in the ocean just outside of the Chilean coastline. She wondered if the League was going to be deployed to help if the weather got too dangerous.

Dinah cleared her throat, forcing Morgan to refocus. “You’re distracted.” Her sharp eyes pinned Morgan down and she found she couldn’t lie.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to lose focus. I’m just tired. I’ve been having.. nightmares.” She coughed awkwardly once and gnawed on her lower lip.

“Nightmares?”

“I’ve been having them every other night for two weeks or so now. They’re about fire.”

“Tell me a bit about them, if you want to.”

She didn’t, but Morgan knew these sessions were good for her – sharing – was good for her. Dinah had already helped her sort through a lot of stuff and Morgan trusted her enough at this point to tell her everything.

“I’m in a burning building and I keep running up the stairs to different floors. Every floor is the same except the fire seems to be getting closer with each one.” She fidgeted in her chair again. “There’s something else though. There’s this.. black shape, its undefinable, like it’s made of smoke. And it’s chasing me. Everywhere I go, it’s always behind me and it’s always getting closer. The dreams either end when the fire gets to me and I burn alive, or when the figure reaches me and consumes me.”

She chanced a look at Dinah, who was wearing a serious but not unsympathetic look. “That sounds intense.”

“It is!” Morgan kept going, feeling a strange sort of relief to have finally told someone about her nightmares. “I wake up in a cold sweat every time. My heart is pounding like it’s about to give out and I feel like I can’t breathe.”

“And how do you deal with it when this happens?”

Morgan shrugged. “I just get up. There’s no point in going back to sleep – I’ve tried, it doesn’t work. I just lie in bed for hours afterwards thinking about the dream. So, I get up – I distract myself, I meditate, I go to the gym. Whatever is needed.”

Dinah nodded in approval. “Do you have any idea why you’re having these nightmares?”

Morgan shook her head. “No clue. I guess maybe the explosions at M’gann and Connor’s wedding triggered something, because they’ve been happening since then.”

“When you first came to me, you told me you used to have nightmares about your father’s death. That you were constantly dreaming about explosions and fire. Do you think this could be the same thing?”

“I – well, I guess?” Morgan frowned. She hadn’t considered that. “I suppose the explosions at the wedding might have trigged some kind of – some kind of relapse?”

Dinah nodded. “It is possible. Do you think you still have unresolved feelings or trauma related to the incident?”

“What, my father’s death?” she tried to sound casual, but her voice still got thick. “I lost a parent. And sure, he was an absent asshole, but he was still a parent. I don’t think I’ll ever fully resolve that trauma. But I think as long as I admit that and don’t try to squash down those feelings, they aren’t unhealthy.”

Dinah gave her a proud smile. “That’s very insightful.” She cocked her head slightly to the side and studied the girl briefly. “You’ve come a long way since you first approached me and asked for these sessions. I’m proud of you.”

Morgan fought down a pleased smile at the praise, but she couldn’t stop her wings from fluttering with delight. “I’ve been working hard. I realized how much energy I was wasting every day keeping my emotional shields up, how much of my anger was from unresolved traumas. You’ve helped me a lot – I’m really grateful.”

Just her being able to talk so openly and vulnerably was a testament to the therapy. She hadn’t been able to do that six months ago. Still, it was a steep learning curve, and it wasn’t without some tough battles.

“Now, tell me about the dark figure. Why do you think you’re being chased by it?”

Morgan gnawed on her lower lip again. After four months of these bi-weekly therapy sessions with Dinah, she’d gotten better at this introspection, but sometimes she still felt like she was at an exam she hadn’t been allowed to study for. “I suppose maybe the figure represents something I’m running from?”

Dinah made a thoughtful noise. “Do you have anything you’re running from, currently?”

Morgan shrugged, slumping further down into the comfy chair. “Not to my own recollection.” she feigned casualty.

“How was the wedding?”

Morgan blinked at this sudden change of topic. “It was good? I mean, aside from the way it ended.” She frowned and pointed an accusatory finger at Dinah. “Weren’t you also there, though?”

Dinah nodded. “I was. But just because we attended the same event doesn’t mean we had the same experience.”

Morgan raised a challenging eyebrow at her, feeling her internal shields twitch. What was Dinah getting at?

Mind open, Morgan.

“How is Nightwing doing?”

Her mental shields slammed into place immediately.

Mind closed.

“I’m not talking about this.” She quickly shut the conversation down before it had a chance to begin.

Dinah held up her hands in a placating way. “You said you thought the black figure represented something you were running from.” Her eyes nailed Morgan to her seat. “Morgan, you reached out to me a few weeks after your breakup with Dick, and you’ve refused to talk about it since. I assume it’s what must’ve gotten you to realize you needed therapy and yet it’s the one thing you won’t look into.”

Morgan opened her mouth to protest but Dinah had already launched her attack, and she wasn’t about to lose her footing. “Now, we’ve been talking a whole lot about stuff from your past and you’ve worked through a lot of traumas related to your father’s absence and eventual death, and dealing with an alien invasion during your first year as a superhero. Almost all those events, Nightwing was heavily implicated in. I am just worried we’re missing a big piece of the puzzle here because you refuse to even speak his name.”

This time Morgan did interject. “I can say his name,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest in defense. She felt like she’d been led into an ambush, and she was thrown completely off balance.

“Do it then.” Dinah challenged.

Morgan huffed. “This is stupid. And pointless.”

The older hero didn’t move.

She looked around the room, search for anything to focus on but Dinah’s unrelenting gaze. The longer she tried to look away, the more energy she spent avoiding this, the more she began to realize Dinah was right.

“Nightwing.” She mumbled sullenly, hating that her heart did a small jump. She tried to appear casual and unbothered. “See? I’ll even do it again: Nightwing! Or Dick, if you prefer.” her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Dinah raised a singular eyebrow. Morgan felt defiance flare up and she look back, challenge in her eyes. They sat like that for an extended moment. Eventually, the other woman sighed, probably realizing she was getting nowhere with the stubborn girl, and looked at the clock on her desk.

“It looks like the hour is up.”

Morgan got up as quickly as she could without seeming rude. Talk about great timing. “Cool. I’ll see you in two weeks? Same time?”

“Unless something comes up,” Dinah relented. They both knew the probability of one or both getting help up with superhero work was high.

Morgan was halfway out the door when Dinah spoke up again.

“Morgan?” her voice allowed for no shenanigans. Morgan halted in her escape and looked at the other hero over her shoulder.

“You will have to talk about it at some point. Nothing stays bottled up for long.”

She met Dinah’s gaze quickly, but found she had nothing to say in response. She thought about the fight she’d had with Dick the night of M’gann and Connor’s wedding, how devastated she’d been when she got home. How she’d cried in her bed for hours, letting out weeks of bottled up hurt and heartache. But she wasn’t ready to talk about any of that yet. She wasn’t ready to admit every day felt like a punishment, like leaving him had been the biggest mistake of her life. How, every day, she wondered if she should’ve tried harder, should’ve done more to get through to him before giving up.

No, she wasn’t ready to admit any of that. Not to Dinah – not even to herself.

And so, she left.

Bottle; closed.

#i hope you like <3 #i like this scene a lot. the conversation flows in a way im very pleased with #anyway itll have to partly rewritten because of some timeline stuff - it takes place before the wedding in the new version #and some other things. but i wont go into detail!

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hawkinsschoolcounselor · 2 years

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I don’t know if you’ve already answered this, but it’s been wracking my brain like crazy ever since vol. 1 aired. Why do you think the duffers decided to bring back Stancy? I feel like Steve was just starting to finally get over Nancy, and the relationship problems in Jancys storyline last season was finally resolved and they seemed to be perfectly healthy. Based on my assumptions of the show, the duffers wrote Jancy to be an endgame ship. Still, I know we don’t really know that they won’t be endgame yet, but it’s really leaning toward it, which I’m confused about. It’s not that I don’t want Stancy to happen, it’s just that a lot of things hint at Jancy being the endgame ship above all else (Stancy) lol. Could the duffers be changing their original idea of where they’re relationship is headed for one reason or another and it’s just a mishap that the previously placed hints point to their endgame? Or was the abrupt Stancy just a silly goofy choice to spice up the romance plots a bit more by adding drama? Or it’s actually all on purpose and I’m just worrying unnecessarily?

As much as I personally don’t like that they’re revisiting Steve and Nancy’s romance, it was sort of always left unresolved in the first place. I think it’s only nature that they finally do something with it.

If you think about it, they never really broke up in the first place. They had a fight where Nancy drunkenly called their relationship bullshit, then Steve asked Jonathan to make sure she got home safely. By the time he next saw her, she had already gotten with Jonathan, and Steve sort of just let the matter drop. He didn’t really get over her. Season 3 showed us that he still thought he had loved her, and there’s a suggestion that he still harbored those feelings. With Jonathan out of the picture, there’s nothing but their own reservations stopping them from getting back together.

I think that’s actually what bugs me the most. There’s nothing but themselves stopping them. Nancy shouldn’t even really be entertaining this whole idea, and, in my opinion, it makes her look very bad. She got together with Jonathan in the first place during a traumatic situation while she and Steve were having trouble, and now she’s being teased as about to do the same thing with Steve. Jonathan is away, they’re having trouble, and Steve is there. is Jonathan going to show up and be made to just accept it like Steve did in season 2? Come on, Nancy. It doesn’t make her look like she likes both of them. Instead, it makes it look like she doesn’t like either of them, and she just goes to whoever is the most convenient at the time. I’m hoping it turns out to be a misdirect.

Steve doesn’t deserve this, either. He’s feeling alone because all of his relationships have been shallow, being only about sex. It’s normal to think he’d be rethinking things when put back into a traumatic situation with Nancy, but the situation is all wrong.

So, I’m not really surprised they’re teasing all of this, but if it becomes a thing, then I don’t really know what they’re thinking. There’s still unresolved issues between them, after all. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Jonathan gets to Hawkins. Honestly, I feel like Nancy needs to separate from both of them and figure out what she really wants.

#stranger things 4 #nancy wheeler #steve harrington #jonathan byers

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angelmichelangelo · 1 year

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I don't think I can actually contain my excitement for the new Mutant Mayhem movie!!! What are you most looking forward to/anticipating and hoping for?

anon i’m right there with you pal, hahah.

more under the cut cos i went a little insane lol

and oh boy SO much. it’s funny because i am a no trailer kind of person. i don’t mind teasers but on a general note i tend to avoid trailers only because most of the time they’re very spoilery. but i broke my own rule mostly because i have no impulse control and was very very happy when it decided to not show me the entire plot of the movie in 2 minutes or less.

i really REALLY love that it’s not a krang/shredder movie. don’t get me wrong: love those guys, i think they’re great “main” villains but it gets a little tiresome of seeing them on the big screen most of the time.

it feels really reminiscent of spider man homecoming in the sense that, we didn’t need the entire movie to spell out peter’s origins. we already KNOW he’s been bitten by a spider, we already KNOW about ben and about responsibility and blah blah blah. and having homecoming be a little ways into his new life, having him takedown smaller, street level villains felt super refreshing and so much more down to earth and so much more like spider man, and that’s the feeling i get with this new tmnt movie.

we don’t need them going to space taking down aliens or making mortal enemies right away, we need them saving shitty parts of the city from purple dragons, making home for all the stray mutants. if feels so much more.. homely? in a way? it feels grounded and im really happy to finally see that in a tmnt movie.

(we can save shredder or krang for a sequel lol)

I LOVE that it doesn’t seem to be focused on just one of the brothers. unfortunately over time tmnt seems to boil itself down to “this is the plot and then we have leo/raph conflict, then we have the peak, and then leo/raph conflict resolves and they finally work as a team and save the world”

and again, i do enjoy some brotherly angst from time to time but it really gets tiresome after a while, especially when you’re watching donnie and mikey get shafted into essentially background support cast lol.

brothers fight and argue and i don’t doubt that we’ll see that in the movie, maybe driving somewhat of a wedge between them before their big moment but as long as it isn’t the resounding conflict of the movie i’ll be happy. i want name calling and hair pulling but don’t make the entire movie just leo vs raph match. they’re each others best friends at the end of the day.

i’m hoping for a little more of mikey and donnie. again like i said in my last point, they’re always pretty under-utilised. mikey always falls into the comic relief cycle and donnie is just. there until someone needs him to pick a lock or defuse a bomb lol. notice in the trailer when mikey asked what they would do if they weren’t monsters (coming back to that in a moment) we never actually hear what it is mike and don want. whether it was just for the gag of donnie’s sarcastic response to leo’s answer or whether it was intentional, i have full faith in seth rogan ever since he put out the characters sheets about mikey wanting to be taken more seriously AND the fact that it was mikey looking longingly out of the sewer towards the city. he might make me cry in this movie. he might make me cry.

i want to be HURT. yes mikey is my very first blorbo so naturally i treat him like a personal punching bag. mike sees himself as a monster, no doubt the others do too, but throughout the lifespan of the tmnt franchise, mikey’s always the one that wants to be part of the “normal” world, making human friends, wanting to be accepted. yeah we got that in bayverse 2 but if we get a repeat of the scene where the police officers that were surrounding them with guns calls them monsters to their faces and mikey starts tearing up… i might not make it. look for me on the isle floor underneath the fold up cinema seats cos i’ll be there, weeping like a damn baby. i want this movie to be fun and im okay with it if it isn’t more angst heavy but the tmnt fandom are pretty used to the pain by now, it’s almost expected lmao.

things im hoping for: a casey hint. hand on heart i don’t think he’ll be here for this movie, and unless he’s referred to at the end then im hoping we get a Easter egg at least, a la yoshi at the end of the super mario bros movie. show me a hockey mask and i will go bananas.

woody dirkins. i will honestly do so many unlawful things for a woody cameo AT LEAST. woody is one of my favourite side characters…. i want Woody. i might protest this who is with me.

no multiverse shit. i don’t mind tongue in cheek references, i think that’s cute and it’s fine and hey. if we get a 2003 reference or joke i might just combust because it’ll be nice if SOMEBODY in the Nick studios remembered those guys. but i’m so happy with this being a standalone movie. no crossovers no sky splitting open no big blue beam going to destroy the city. i want this bubble of a world to exist on its own, mostly because the multiverse trope is everywhere at the moment, so it would just be really cool not to have it again lol

OH. ideas for a sequel despite not even having seen the first one ???? here is one:

the rat king. again, we don’t have to go full main mega villain yet but 2012 rat king was UNREAL and genuinely one of my favourite villains of all time. it wouldn’t have to be beat for beat the same as that particular episode but i quite enjoy it when they give Splinter stuff to do.

overall i think i’m gonna be pleased with this movie. i genuinely am not fussed about many things, if it’s gots the turtles, i’m gonna be happy, trust me.

i’m also looking forward to the soundtrack. we’ve only had one song so far but i just know it’s gonna be very fun, 90s hip hop, my kinda thing.

a lot of love seems to have been poured into this project and it doesn’t feel like a cash grab or toy selling front in any shape or form. the tmnt fandom has pretty much been bobbing about in waves of content for years, some good some bad, some left in the mud. we haven’t gotten a real movie since 2016, back when i was in college making essays on the franchise itself, and now here we are seven years later and i’m just as hyped as i knew i would have been if I’d known this movie was coming out back then.

i cant wait for this movie, to feel it’s love through the screen from the writers and the cast, and it’s just so exciting. be prepared because as soon as my little mushroom brain goes and watches that movie, i’m making it my entire personality for perhaps forever. i won’t even be sorry lol

thanks for the ask anon, sorry it got a little rambly there — have a good day :)

#ask #anon #tmnt #tmnt mutant mayhem #teenage mutant ninja turtles #mutant mayhem

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