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#TL;DR: just end the darn show
tribow · 9 months
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So I watched Blood+
This anime was a surprising one for me. When I saw it was 50 whole ass episodes I was waiting for this to drag. I was waiting for episodes that felt like filler. I was waiting for the boring phase where nothing happens until the final three episodes.
It never happened. This anime was intriguing the entire time. I didn't want to stop watching it every time I had to. This is yet another show where I don't actually want to do any kind of plot summary or introduction because the writing is really well handled. I'd say it's better to come at this as blind as I did.
Really like all of the characters, and hey if you were looking for a show with an actually evil woman you got one here. The only thing I would say about this going in is if you don't like watching sad stuff then you might want to pass on this. It gets heavy quick and it stays heavy the whole time.
Now as much as I like the writing, its got some problems. The pace is slow...and not in a bad way necessarily. Episodes will just feel like they ended sooner than they should have. Part of this is likely purely because of the episode count. That's a lot of time to fill up. They did something really clever though.
A lot of scenes will focus on the full reaction of the characters. The way their facial expression changes and body language shifts is very well communicated. You really get an idea of how these characters feel.
Plus, there's a lot of visual subtelty as well. A lot of stuff is not explicitly explained, but if you're paying attention the answer is probably right in front of you.
These decisions were great for production since the animators didn't need to draw anything crazy for scenes like these. The animation was a little stiff in general, but I don't blame them. Fifty episodes is HELLA episodes. Even if the animation is a little stiff it stays at a pretty consistent quality. Never looks bad.
Production IG was handling this anime. You can usually count of them to do a good job and it's no different. What's more interesting is that this is anime original! Well...sort of.
Blood+ is a narrative continuation from the Blood: The Last Vampire movie. The director of Blood+, Fujisaku Jun`ichi, was part of the production for the movie and I guess he really loved the idea. Not only did he direct the TV anime, but he also directed the video game and wrote the novel version.
Now I was completely unaware that Blood as a franchise existed. The only "Blood" I knew was Blood-C. I watched Blood-C a long time ago, but didn't finish when the ending got spoiled on me. I was going to give Blood-C a rewatch, but now that I know about the rest of Blood I'm gonna watch it all. I got Blood+ out the way first since it was so long and I'll watch the movie before I go to Blood-C.
That aside, th tl;dr is that Blood+ is actually pretty darn good and I would definitely recommend giving it a shot if 50 episodes doesn't scare you away.
I hope I didn't accidentally watch the peak of the franchise first...
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Okay so it took my a sec to collect my thoughts about one does not love breathing but finally, I have put them all together.
There is a reason that my shortcut to ao3 links first to you fic. I didn’t create this shortcut, google simply decided that since I visited your fic so much it should quick link me there. Since I really can’t put it all into words I’ll give you that.
You made me love Félix, a character I never really cared for but gosh darn it have you made me another of his fans.
You wrote Marinette how I feel she deserves to be written. Not perfect, not crazy, just flawed and stuck. She carried this fic on her back and I praise her for it (Marinette’s my favourite character but don’t tell anyone that)
The way you wrote the finale, the depth of story. It felt real. It felt like one of those TV shows that if the story had been shit you wouldn’t have minded because ‘hey, it has my favourite guys in there’ but then the story went and was amazing and you’re just left sat on the floor wondering how you got there.
I would read the spin-off where Félix and Kagami did big-boy business all day and had tense chess matches where they dissected each other’s souls.
I’d read Emile going evil, or Marinette and Adrien’s silly trip abroad while Adrien fails to propose a million times. I’d read Chloé using her bad bitch powers to push the business global while Zoé and Luka tried to follow along.
You built these characters into something so tangible and I thank you for it.
Thank you,
Tl;dr fic very good, pat pat
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sizzle oh my gosh i am hugging you so tight and crying into your shoulder 🥺💛
thank you for enjoying my story and thank you for taking the time to tell me! it means so, so much that you stopped by to offer such nice compliments. seriously, it's people like you who make me feel happy to have persevered and completed odnlb!
i know it felt like a plot-driven story (and jklsdfjkldf ok it was) but it was just as much character driven. getting a good understanding of the odnlb cast as well as defining their arcs was what really fueled the narrative! so the fact that you ended up liking all of them and how they ended up (even felix!) makes me feel like i did a good job.
i'm so glad this story means that much to you! it is you who i should be thanking for stopping by to grow my heart ten sizes 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗
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placegrenette · 8 months
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Brain dump on the Almaty concert.
Set list (not necessarily in this order): Biz, Aperem Ai, Ah! Yah! Mah!, Kalay Karaisyn?, Señorita, Jurek, Ego, Su Asty, All I Need, Jur Mapelep, Lady, Kaytadan, Mooz, E.Yeah, Blue, Tartty, Ottegi, Why'm (acoustic version), Bari Biled, Abuse (I think?), Zulym, Oinamaqo, Aiyptama, and Men Emes. So pretty much everything from Gap save Dunie, plus the greatest hits. The big missing-in-action pieces were Darn and last year's songs (Suraqtar, Drift, Orik, Symbaim).
They may have reprised Aiyptama and Kaytadan a cappella as an encore, it was hard to tell where, exactly, the concert ended
also Bala cried during Kaytadan, in what is becoming a tradition
and after he cried Alem picked him up and threw him over his shoulder and then Ace spanked him, just in case you forgot this is an idol group in 2023
but otherwise they do not seem to have spent a lot of time talking. There must have been a brief break for a costume change but that was it as far as the onstage action flagging.
One of the stories suggested total attendance of 9,000, which seemed low to me, but then I found out that Almaty Arena seats only 12,000 for ice hockey. If that's the largest arena show they could get, that probably doesn't help our dudes make bank.
At some point an 8th-anniversary cake was brought onstage and Veronika and Zhadra were the ones bearing the cake, in what I thought was a genuinely nice symbolic point. (You can spin it as the wives being subordinate, but I prefer to read it as, Alem and ZaQ insisting to possibly unfriendly Eaglez that their wives deserve to be part of the greater Ninety One celebration.)
By that point all the staff was onstage and they appear, judging from the stories, to have thoroughly enjoyed themselves, good for them
With regard to concert presentation: I saw one story of "Blue" and thought, are we sure Ace isn't relying on background vocals? Then Bibotta posted a story closer to the stage where he was very clearly singing live, but the recorded vocals were playing loud enough that that's probably all you heard if you had one of the balcony seats.
But all in all they seem to have put on a good show, complete with golf carts, smoke guns, dramatic closeups, a cameo by a stuffed Minion, and sing-alongs.
And then... ? As usual my predictions were not quite right. We did indeed get Bala crying (and I'm pretty sure none of the other three were dry-eyed by the second run-through of "Kaytadan"), but in terms of clarification as to what happens now... it doesn't seem like it, and not just because of the translation issues. Ace apparently said from the stage, "We'll miss you." Azamat Demegen, who's been with them since the early Juz days, posted a story with the title "Fin," which could refer just to satisfaction at having completed all the requirements of staging a demanding performance, or... not. Ace just posted a story, at roughly 2 am local time, looking pleased and grateful to Eaglez and also like his contacts were not going to last five more minutes. The staff accounts in general do not sound like the reports of people worried they're about to lose their collective source of income. Apparently the guys did some press interviews immediately after the show, so we might get more information soon. Or, again, not.
tl;dr these guys are experienced pop stars who put on a good concert. I would like them to be able to continue to put on good concerts. I would even like, one day, to actually see one of these concerts. Will it ever happen? Who knows! I spent more time than I care to admit today refreshing Instagram, hoping for concrete information as to whether Ninety One is breaking up or merely admitting to needing a breather or precariously perched somewhere in between. If you have concrete information, please share. In the meantime we can all take comfort in knowing that somebody got to see "Ego" performed live.
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altontowersfireworks · 8 months
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REBELFORUMS v.1.0.2.3 THREAD TAG:53173EXPRNC TYPE:EXPERIENCEPOST
USERCODE: SyringeGummy
My parents worked (and probably still do) for the ministry and they decided to hire "that" entertainer on my 9th birthday.
Long time lurker here and this is one of my first times posting here, so apologies for any grammar mistakes!
This story is kinda short but the title probably works as a TL;DR nevertheless haha
For context my parents worked for the ministry, i never really payed attention to it, they were quite busy working there so i spent most of my childhood with a babysitter or relative taking care of me and little kid me thought at first the ministry was just a "blergh, adult paperwork, booooring!" thing.
That is until i began to grow up and i started to feel uneasy about the fact that in some places around the house there was these posters with spirals and a lot of smileys, i thought it was just abstract decoration at first but something about staring too long into the spirals and the oddly happy messages just felt unsettling.
Kid me decided to ask my parents about the whole ministry thing as the curious kiddo i was and they just told me they make "people all over the world feel better and happy, like when doctors put a band-aid on your boo-boos or give you medicine and you feel better!"
Of course at that time i ate the answer up and i thought it was just some hospital or medical center with a very unusual name and that my parents were doctors of sorts, that explained why they were busy, right? wrong.
Moving on from the context, lets get into the story.
It was finally the day of my birthday, a bright sun shined outside as happy, lucky me jumped right out of the bed still with PJs on sprinting down to the kitchen, breakfast was ready!
My friends were invited and the birthday snacks were ready, pop drinks, chips, cookies, a cake themed to my favorite cartoon, you know the drill.
Of course my parents were still busy at the ministry but they left me a note that talked about them getting me a very anticipated "gift filled with joy!"
That cheered me up and i began to wonder what that "joyful gift" was, perhaps a new set of paintings to draw with or that scooter i wished so much.
The birthday absolutely rocked and i still fondly remember most of it, that is until we reach the part you have all been waiting for.
Yes, the part of THE entertainer.
Grin Grin.
Turns out the wonderful joyful gift i got from my parents was a "spectacular show" filled with jokes and entertainment from this wacky looking clown with the same colors of the posters around my house, kid me was naive about the connections and was neutral about clowns on birthdays so he was like "oh, alright!" at the time but something still felt unsettling.
The beginning of the show went quite alright but his moves and expressions were a bit too quick and hyped? crazy? dunno the word, most of it was the usual things a clown would do, making balloon animals (which were all yellow, white or black balloons, wonder why), a few tricks, some cheesy songs about joy and then there was the joke part, oh the darn cursed joke part.
I cannot describe how oddly creepy and awkward it was
it went something like this:
"HEEEY KIDS, WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?"
We all cheerily screamed "NOOOO, WHY?!"
"TO GIVE ITSELF TO THE MINISTRY OF JOY!"
After that, there was a very abrupt silence that lasted a hot pair of seconds, we just stared at eachother in confusion.
I looked at Grin Grin, he was still with that happy grin waiting for a laugh, response, whatever.
I began to forcefully laugh to try and make things a bit less awkward and my friends followed, he seemed...too happy and clapped his hands and spun around.
The rest of the jokes went just as awkward, as mentioned before the rest of the party rocked but that was something.
After the party ended and i opened all of my gifts, all my friends went home and i was eating the snack leftovers i stared out the window, the evening sunset was pretty, that is until look at the other side of the window and see Grin Grin being questioned by two guys that kid me thought looked like agents in those "cool spy movies" AKA ministry agents and some guy wearing a coat and yellow goggles.
They all hopped into a black car and drove away, they probably didn't notice i saw the whole thing.
Kid me just went to bed after that, trying to forget that weird moment.
oh the destiny, how years later i escaped from home, knowing the whole mess and connecting the pieces including this memory from my mind lol.
and for those wondering, i moved with a relative far away from my former home and haven't heard of my parents since, wonder what happened to them.
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soberyinragingyang · 3 years
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I don't neccessarily think bsmits should be canon- like I don't trust the writers with that at this point lol. But people saying smits 'deserves better' really irk me- like he clearly doesn't WANT anyone else. If the series ends with him going 'eh I think I'd rather go for someone else' that's great but what he DESERVES (in my personal opinion) is the love of the person he wants to love him, even if said person is an old gremlin man.
He gets to decide for himself what he wants, you know. But I think that's something too complex to broadcast on 'longest running show ever' on Fox, which despite being a cartoon distanced far from what it used to be people expect to Do The Right Thing- and maybe it ought to, I don't know.
I'd rather just play around with it myself and with you guys 🤷 it's more interesting and fun to me than deciding by some arbitrary standard who'd be the most wholesome match, anyway.
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itsgoldleaf · 3 years
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Hello friends please grant me the strength and I mean really send those vibes out into the aether because I’ve still not rewatched Vegas since like 2014 and I just need the emotional fortitude okay because it’s been so long that it’ll be like watching it for the first time again and i can’t HANDLE IT
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scatterpatter · 3 years
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"Where's the essay OP" Said no one, and yet here I am
Lampy isn't stupid, he's neruodivergent: a rushed-together masterpost
Disclaimer: I'm not a liscened medical professional but I'm neurodivergent who's close to many neurodivergent people so I know when certain traits strike me as very familiar... Also tblt is my comfort movie I've seen it probably over 100 times, not exaggerating, so if anyone here's an expert on it, it's me.
I'm only going by the first movie because while To The Rescue and Goes To Mars probably have evidence to back me up, I don't feel like sitting down to watch them as I don't have them as memorized as the original
Point #1: Lampy is arguably the most intelligent appliance in the movie
Honestly it apalls me that so many are convinced that Lampy is an idiot when he displays some of the most intelligent traits in the movie. I'll just list off some of the most important scenes that show this
1: When discussing a way to get to the city, Lampy comes up with plans that end up failing, true. But we should also consider that not only did Radio and Toaster come up with bad plans before deciding on the swivel chair, but 2/3 of Lampy's ideas involved the same mechanic: on something with wheels(yes the mattress had wheels for some reason) being powered by Kirby
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2: "From here you can see the really big lamp!" This scene is simply due to the appliances being sheltered from the outside world. Lampy displays the same level of naive-ness as everyone else: Radio seems earnest in calling the sun a "really big lamp", and Kirby calls the grass "shag carpet". Lampy is not at a lower intelligence in this scene, he's exactly at the same level as everyone else
3: The scene with the storm really sells his intelligence. The appliances have a rudimentary understanding of electricity, most likely from being appliances, but Lampy displays an excelled level of understanding by sacrificing himself for the battery. He understands that batteries are powered by electricity, lightning is electricity, and by using himself as a lightning rod, he acts as the conductive metal to easily transfer this energy from the bolt to the battery. Technically this should have overcharged and fried the battery but we'll suspend disbelief for the sake of this movie.
4: He knew that stacking the appliances to roughly human height, creating a dark environment with ominous sounds, and putting Toaster at eye-level to scare the human with his own reflection... Again, this is an intelligent understanding of how to scare a human
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5: It's unclear on whose idea it was to look up Rob in a phone book, however this shows that not only can Lampy read(most likely picked up from being Rob's reading light), ESPECIALLY when Toaster struggles to read, but also has an understanding of phone books, addresses, and finding humans based on family names. I cannot stress how intelligent this is for a sentient desk lamp
There's a few more minor examples, but these are the biggest cases. Lampy is intelligent.
Point #2: Lampy struggles with social cues and doesn't empathize as easily as others
My biggest point here is when people think neruodivergents are "dumb" for having trouble picking up on things like sarcasm when that just... isn't the case. A few notable examples include:
1: When Air Conditioner says "You're a real bright little lamp", Lampy doesn't pick up the sarcasm and thinks he's being complimented. Though he definitely shows a level of emotional intelligence because he looks to Toaster to confirm "hey I was complimented", sees they're still looking angry, and gets the hint that he was insulted without someone needing to explicitly tell him that, to which he then responds with "Heyyy >:("
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2: Sometimes he's able to read the room and pick up on tones, but other times he shows a level of emotional density. Legitimately not knowing if Rob had returned even when seeing Blanky disappointed to the point of near tears... But then knowing "brains wouldnt hurt either" was a jab at their intelligence and reacting with appropriate annoyance... But also when Radio says "Things could be worse!", doesn't realize he's just saying that to make Toaster feel better and asks "How could they be worse?"
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3: He bullies Blanky alongside Radio and the others, unclear if he's actually being a jerk or just "oh this is what everyone else is doing so this is the normal way to act", but he's legitimately confused when Toaster tries to explain why they're suddenly being nice to him. He doesn't get the "now I feel better" argument because his argument was "Well you were never this nice to him before". Even when Toaster tries to explain why it feels nice, it just doesn't click... until Toaster finds a way to explain that connects personally to Lampy's own emotional state. He has trouble empathizing until realizing "oh this is like this thing that I feel sometimes"
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4: Something I've noticed when gathering evidence is that more than once, Lampy goes "Wow..." After someone gloats about themself(Twice with Radio, once with the Computer). It's clear by the third time, when Radio goes "What does that mean?" And Lampy responds "I don't know. [To Computer] What does that mean?" That he doesn't even know what's being gloated about, let alone why he should be impressed. He has the emotional intelligence to recognize when someone's gloating and the "appropriate" response of amazement, but it seems like it never comes from a place of earnest. (While Neurotypicals can and do engage in "performative" behavior, I tend to notice this way more commonly with neurodivergents)
Also the "wow..." Performative thing is VERY reminiscent of Peridot from Steven Universe(a characters who many autistic fans see themselves in and the creator herself saying she doesn't consider Peridot or any of the gems to be neurotypical) going "wow thanks" as her default "this is how I've been taught to show gratitude" response
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Point #3: Miscellaneous traits that could be neurodivergent
These traits COULD be interpreted as neurodivergent, but I will admit they could also be interpreted as something else so like take these with a grain of salt
1: Lampy appears to have sensory needs. When sleeping, he needs to tap a rock a few times(presumably to make sure it's "right") before clonking his head on it. It's interesting because rocks aren't a very "lamp" thing whatsoever, and none of the other appliances look for pillow-ish objects to rest on, so this could be a sensory thing.
2: Lampy has an interesting vocal quirk: repetition of phrases at the beginning and end of a sentence. Instances include "How exactly do you propose we do that, exactly?" "All of a sudden you're being so darn nice to him all of a sudden" "The fact is there's just not enough facts" The third one is a bit of a stretch but the first two seem to indicate a possible pattern of speech. Part of me wants to say this could be a verbal tic or some type of verbal stimming, but I've never met anyone who has a tic or stim like this so I can't say it's a neurodivergent thing with confidence, but I wanted to mention this quirk regardless.
3: Physically saying how he feels. Two instances where multiple characters are laughing, Lampy speaks while laughing "That's funny - I'm dying!" "I'm aching with joy!". It's just interesting that no one else speaks while laughing and for whatever reason, Lampy needs to verbalize "Yes I find this very funny" as if simply laughing along isn't enough. I've seen somewhat similar stuff in neurodivergents who have issues expressing emotions implicitly so they state them explicitly instead.
4: I've noticed Lampy isn't touchy... except with Radio. Some neurodivergent people can have issues with physical contact, which could explain that. But I've also noticed that Radio also gives me huge neurodivergent vibes... But more importantly Radio is extremely touchy with everyone, Lampy included, hence them often getting into physical fights but also just- tapping them or wrapping a cord around the other and pulling him close(they're so in love but that's a post on its own). A possible explanation is Lampy having issues with touching others, but either feels comfortable being touchy with Radio(due to emotional bonds and trust) or simply recognizes "Radio likes being touchy so I should be touchy back". A stretch of an argument, I'll admit, but I think the interpretation is there and valid.
In conclusion
I mean idk if Lampy was written to be neurodivergent or if the writers just wanted him to be "quirky" and accidentally gave him a lot of neurodivergent traits, but he reads as very neurodivergent to me(probably autistic or adhd but I'm not a professional and can't diagnose him). But while I can chalk up neruodivergency being one of many possible interpretations of his character, I WILL argue that he's not "stupid" given the evidence we see throughout the movie
Tl;Dr: Lampy is evidently intelligent, but sometimes struggles with social cues, empathy, and overall shows numerous traits of neurodivergency
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makeste · 3 years
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some rambly Wednesday night thoughts on Kacchan’s hero name
so out of acknowledgement of the fact that the vast majority of fandom has basically accepted Dynamight as canon, I have been doing some analyzing of my own internal fandom biases these past few days, trying to identify just what it is that’s still making me have such a hard time accepting this name reveal. and I think I’ve pinpointed that now. and so now that I have, I would like to partially renege on my previous post, because that was four whole days ago, and we have to grow and change with the times or else they will a-change without us.
anyway, so basically what it boils down to is that for me, it’s not enough for his name to just be an All Might tribute. for me, the reveal of oh, he named himself after All Might is just not enough on its own to justify having a 200-chapter arc devoted to this plot. it’s not a satisfying resolution. because the thing is, we already knew that. and so that’s basically the thought that’s been running through my head these past few days whenever I see posts analyzing the new name. okay, but we already knew that, though.
I’m trying to figure out how best to describe this, but basically it’s like this constant feeling of waiting for someone to finally finish the rest of their sentence. like, yeah, I get that, I already heard that part. but where’s the rest of it? because this doesn’t tell us anything new, is the thing. this is something we’ve known about Bakugou since day one. “I’ll even surpass All Might and become the best hero out there.”  yes, he looks up to All Might, that’s fine and that’s great, but we knew that.
here’s what it is for me. I need the name reveal to answer this specific question: what makes the Kacchan from chapter 252 different from the Kacchan all the way back in chapter 45? what is it that’s changed? what is different about him now? different enough that it took a journey of more than 200 chapters for him to finally settle on this choice?
and in my view, the answer to this question is very clearly not All Might, but Deku.
Deku is what has changed for him. his relationship with Deku. his restored trust in Deku. his desire to make amends to Deku. that’s the difference. this is what chapter 252 Kacchan has that chapter 45 Kacchan did not have. this is the only answer that to me makes any kind of narrative sense. when he makes the decision in chapter 252, when he finally settles on a name, his mind is clearly fixated on thoughts of atonement. and so his chosen name, in the end, has to relate back to Deku in some way in order for it to connect. that link has to be there somehow. that’s the only way that his name ties in with all of his character growth. that’s the only possible way this is going to feel right to me.
so yeah, if it turns out that the origins of the name “Dynamight” begin and end with Katsuki being a colossal fanboy nerd, I will be disappointed, ngl. not because I don’t think his admiration for All Might is important, because it is. but I will be disappointed because “I want to be like All Might” is his starting line, not his finish line. I’ll be disappointed because he’s had so much character growth since the story began that for him to choose a name that’s seemingly unrelated to all of that would seriously feel like a letdown.
having said that, there is one popular theory which, if true, would check off that box of “the name has to be connected to Deku” which is apparently such a deal-breaker to me! and that is the “Dynamight is a name that Deku originally suggested for him when they were kids” theory (as seen here for example). which I guess technically falls less under the category of “theory” and more under “speculation”, but still. the thing is, it’s all based on reasoning rather than evidence, but I think said reasoning is pretty sound. it’s basically that same rationale of “this doesn’t make narrative sense if there is no connection to Deku; so therefore, if this is his chosen name, it means that it must relate back to Deku in some way.” which to me is reasonable. and so if it does turn out to be true, I’m thinking I can get on board with that.
the 293 reveal scene is still pretty out of left field to me, ngl! but it’s worth noting that this is absolutely not the final version of his name, because as of right now the full name is technically GREAT EXPLOSION MURDER GOD DYNAMIGHT. the “GREAT EXPLOSION MURDER GOD” part isn’t just a title or preamble (all of those end with “hero”, so if that were the case it would have been “Explosion Murder God Hero: Dynamight”); it’s literally part of the name. I do appreciate that (as others have pointed out) he has apparently upgraded himself from Lord Explosion Murder to God Explosion Murder. but anyway, so it does mean he’ll need to change it at least one more time, though. which means we’ll get another “reveal” scene, and Horikoshi can pour all of the emotional weight and resonance into this second one, and if he does it right I don’t doubt he will sell me on it fully and completely.
and actually, if he really wants to go for the jugular, there is one long-awaited bonus move he can pull that will make it so that I basically never question anything he does ever again lol. and that is... well okay, let me backtrack. so first of all, maybe we get a scene where class 1-A is gathered at the hospital, or back in the dorms after everything has wrapped up, just convalescing and taking comfort in each others’ presence to distract them from thinking about how much therapy they’re all going to need now. and so they’re all there talking, and somehow word of Kacchan’s new hero name gets out, and while everyone else in the class is collapsed on the floor in tears, Kacchan and Deku maybe make some Significant Eye Contact for a bit and then Deku eventually says he likes it, but maybe shorten it down to just “Dynamight” though. and Kacchan is all “stfu nerd if I want your opinion I’ll ask for it” but of course he does go on to change it though, but not because of Deku’s suggestion!! just so we’re clear!! it’s just cuz he felt like it!! shut up!!
anyway. and just to be clear this last part is just me being WILDLY indulgent really, but I think it would be a real Power Move on Horikoshi’s part if afterwards, we cut to Deku heading back to his dorm room and thoughtfully lying back on his bed to reminisce, leading us into the flashback (by which I mean THE flashback, where Horikoshi shows that the name was actually his idea). and then, once we emerge back out of the flashback and into the room again, we see the familiar All Might posters on the wall and assume that we’re back in the present with Deku. but then we see the person that’s actually lying on the bed and it’s like WAIT A DARN SECOND, and that’s when Horikoshi reveals that we have actually transitioned to Kacchan’s room instead. BOOM. HOW YA LIKE THAT. TWO MYSTERIES SOLVED FOR THE PRICE OF ONE. TWIN FLASHBACKS, TWIN NERDY BEDROOMS. ALL THE PARALLELS YOU COULD EVER POSSIBLY WANT. MIRROR IMAGES, BABY. IT’S SPIDER-MAN POINTING MEMES ALL THE WAY DOWN.
lol but so anyways. tl;dr I’m coming around on this a bit. there are still certain things about “Dynamight” that will still feel slightly off to me even if the Deku Invented It theory does come to pass, mind. the main one being that it doesn’t really fit in with the theming of Deku and Shouto’s hero names, which I think are so simple -- basically just their own names -- for a reason. that reason being that it symbolically sets them apart from the flashy, superficial hero society of the past, and signals that this new generation will be different from that. and I won’t lie, I’ve always liked that about their names, and so if Kacchan’s doesn’t also fit in with this theme, it’s always going to look just slightly out of place to me. but unlike the Deku thing, that one’s not a personal deal-breaker, and I can learn to live with it.
so I guess we’ll see how it goes! right now it’s still about 50/50 for me; I can only talk myself into it so much until we see more of how this develops. it’s been long enough since the chapter release that I’ve had just enough time to completely second-guess myself on everything I ever thought I knew, but then two seconds later I’ll be like “nah this whole thing is completely crazy lol it was literally just a joke panel” and the whole process begins itself anew lol. all I know for sure is that I seriously cannot wait for the aftermath of this arc. it’s gonna be lit you guys. it is going to be so stupidly, stupidly good.
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What is your favorite character trait of Nicky? What do you like most about him. And the same for Joe, what's your favorite thing about him? I love your analysis and posts
I’m a big fan of Nicky being protective and the tank of the group. I already went off on a whole ass tangent about him in another post, so I’ll spare you for now. Like he has a big heart and he cares for people SO MUCH. So much that he puts himself in danger to protect everyone else. Like he’s taking bullets for Andy (and Joe, cause Keane was TOTES about to shoot Joe before Nicky threw himself on Keane and then caught a bullet for his troubles!) He’s sleeping between Joe and Danger. He’s covering their six. He’s doing this unnecessarily extra slide:
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No one else is doing it like my protective boy! Joe said it best when he said “He think’s your a mouse Nicky.” Nicky is a fucking tank and I love him. the end.
OK. lol got that out of my system  🙈 🙈 🙈
Now, Joe’s turn 
You ready for this? I love how much Joe CARES about his family.
First of all, I can not for the life of me find it but I swear I saw someone saying that Al-Kaysani loosely translated to one who is kind? (I’m sorry if I got that wrong.) Edit: I miss-remembered, it was actually in reference to the comics where when Joe introduces himself to Nile he adds “called al-Tayyib” to the end of his name. According to google Tayyib means good natured. and al-Tayyib means good natured one, or the good.  Like literally this poet introduces himself as Yusuf (...) the good. Knight!Nicky who??? Joe is over here serving us epic chivalrous vibes.
now what I know you’re all here for Lo going way over the top while analyzing this movie.
Let’s go in order shall weeeeee????
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Look at this face???? That is the DEFINITION of heart eyes. He so gosh darn happy to have his family together again!
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When Nicky is praying (sleeping?) on the helicopter I feel like Joe’s smile is such a sign of reassurance. Like he’s so ready to give Nicky a little pick-me-up going into what is probably a very stressful mission. There are children’s lives at stake. And from what we know about Nicky (empath!Nicky for sure) I’m sure Nicky’s really worried. Joe gives him a little smile and I read as more assuring than flirting. But maybe that’s just me.
Next we see Joe acting as a spotter for Nicky.
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Spotters are pretty important for snipers, I’m no gun expert but from what little I’ve read up on them one of the most important jobs of the spotter is to protect the shooter. And like, of course Joe would be spotting for Nicky, they work in tandem in basically everything they do. but the fact that it is a thing for Spotters to be looking after their partner has me all types of warm inside.
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We talk a lot about how much Nicky seems to really care about people. (“We could do some good” + “So where are the girls”) But it’s so obvious if you look for it that Joe is freaked out by what he’s seeing. His face when he’s sees the pile of shoes, and his disgusted relief when talking about hem later really shows me a caring/empathetic guy who is shaken by the thought of those kidnapped girls. 
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Nicky is the knife, we know. (heck I even participated in that joke lol) but I think we don’t give enough credit to the fact that while Nicky is protecting Joe’s front, Joe is protecting Nicky’s back and he’s fucking nuzzled into Nicky both times we see them sleeping.
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Joe is the first person to suggest finding Nile, and pushes back against Booker objects, even before Nicky does.
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Joe is also the first person we see talk to Nile. Obviously we can assume and have some info about deleted scenes that Nile met them and had conversations before they actually sit down to eat. But Joe still takes the lead on answering Nile’s questions.
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He also delivers this gut punch of a line after helping to tell Nile about Quynh:
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Sure, some of it is fear that it could happen to him or Nicky (or the rest of them) but that’s also someone he knew for 500 years, a member of his family.
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I already talked about my take on the lab scene as it relates to Marwan’s acting, (I love how quickly Joe goes into make-Nicky-laugh-mode.)
I’m gonna skim over the big fight, even though there are some peak empath!Joe moments. (reaction to Nicky’s death is the obvious one)
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Ok and the last moment I’m gonna point out. Even though Joe is very obviously pissed at Booker, he still turns around for one last look. And Booker reassures him with a nod because I think he knows how much this hurts Joe to leave him. (Booker & Joe are best friends, we all know it’s my brotp by this point lol)
Just like Nicky’s anger is still there even if it’s less overt than Joe’s. Joe’s empathy is there, even if he tends to mask it with sarcasm and jokes and winks.
tl;dr: Nicky: his protective streak Joe: his empathy
No I’m not JUST being contrarian to what most of the fandom is saying about each character.... but I also low key I am
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opbackgrounds · 3 years
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So I read the Ace Novel (Part 1)
As promised, I have looked into some of the One Piece novels, but sadly the only one I was able to find was the Ace novel, which has an official translation through Viz. This is as shame as I was morbidly curious about Law’s and genuinely interested in what they came up with for the Heroines series, but I guess those will have to wait for another time. 
For those who aren’t aware, the Ace novel was published in two parts in the One Piece magazine and was written by Sho Hinata, with some bonus art of Ace’s crew by Oda. Part 1 (which is all that I’ve read so far) tells the story of Ace’s journey from East Blue to Sabaody Archipelago, whereas Part 2 presumably goes into his induction to the Whitebeard Pirates.
My tl;dr opinion is that it’s not bad but pretty rushed. Go ahead and give it a read if you’re an Ace stan, but otherwise it’s not exactly breaking any new ground for the series.
The biggest difficulty when writing something for a magazine will always be word count. Part 1 is only 118 pages of actual story—an infinitesimal amount for an ebook—and divided into 3 chapters that read less like an interconnected narrative and more like 3 different installments in a one shot series. Chapter 1 establishes Ace’s firstmate Deuce and tells of how they met, chapter 2 intrudices a marine Nami clone rival for Ace, and chapter 3 is the big climatic showdown that ties all the themes of the novel into one neat little bow before sending Ace off to the New World.
There’s a little connective tissue there where you can see what the author was trying to accomplish, but it’s bare bones storytelling. Anything that has to tell a coherent narrative that covers a long period of time in not a lot of words would. 
For example, Deuce finding out who Ace’s father is and hating him for it, then realizing he’s actually a good guy and deciding that judging people by the reputations of others is wrong happens over the course of like 5 pages, which doubles as the scene explaining how Ace got his Devil Fruit. Chapter 2 sets up Nami Clone Marine as a powerful fighter that Ace and co., were lucky to escape from, only to immediately turn her into a laughing stock at the beginning of chapter 3
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And I know that wasn’t the intention, but you can’t develop a Smoker-Luffy or Garp-Roger style rivalry over the course of one scene. It’s impossible. The end result is a lot of telling over showing and some bizarre contrivances (Nami Clone Marine randomly telling Ace her tragic backstory while on top of the Ferris wheel at Sabaody Archipelago five minutes before she learns the marines were the bad guys all along is the most anime thing I have ever read) which is a shame, because during the more extended scenes, there was some interesting writing and character development. 
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I feel like the writing is at its strongest at the very beginning and the end. Unsurprisingly, it’s not difficult to get through (I’d put it about middle grade as far as reading level) and the style reminds me a little of a watered down version of the Rick Rioden novels—self aware, with just a touch of irreverence that keeps it from taking itself too seriously
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The translation seems to favor accuracy to the text over what I would call a fluid reading experience, so you’ll get sentences here and there that feel wooden or just a little off. 
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And Viz must be more lenient with its novels than its manga, because it was a little more liberal with its swearing than what I’ve seen in the manga. I don’t remember any egreigious darns or dangs, and they even slipped in one instance of someone calling another a bastard.
But enough about the writing. As far as themes go, the author did a good job of tying in themes from the manga, the biggest one I noticed early on during Deuces monologue where he brings up living life without regrets. Sun imagry abounds for Ace, which I found especially interesting because it’s pretty common in fanfiction to turn Luffy into the good sunshine lad, whereas Ace was portrayed somewhat differently 
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And those last paragraphs are the point of Part 1. Ace takes in degenerates unwanted by even other degenerates. There’s even a nice scene where he offers a home for his marine rival after her entire worldview gets shattered because that’s the kind of guy he is. Ace gives others a place and a purpose...but his crew isn’t the family he seeks. There is a sense where they aren’t really peers or equals, and in that sense he is very, very different from Luffy.
Early on, we learn that Deuce’s real name isn’t really Deuce, and he wears a mask so that no one else knows who he is. Well, as much as he hates it, Ace wasn’t born with the last name Portgas, and he’s got a mask of his own, and it’ll take the likes of Whitebeard himself to tear it down. 
But that’s a story for another time. 
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FULL REVIEWS: Preface
After feeling kinda bad that I didn’t answer an ask very well and since you guys said you would read my reviews of the show, I decided to do a new series of blog posts where I review every episode individually. It helps pass time during the hiatus and has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I might have ran out of ideas for incorrect quotes. Nope. Not a darn thingy. But I wanted to type out this preface because I don’t feel like sticking it in the beginning of every review post. First:
My Rating System
I’ll be using the rating system that I use for most of the stuff I review things with. My brother loves to rate stuff out of 10 but I do mine by 5. To be more specific:
5: LOVE IT!
4: Like it.
3: Meh/It was okay/No real impression
2: Didn’t like it.
1: HATE IT!
0: Don’t know/Haven’t seen it/No idea/No opinion
I’ll be sure to leave a score and maybe a tl;dr version at the end. Before I start the reviews I need to leave one more disclaimer.
DISCLAIMER:
The opinions express in the reviews are just opinions and my opinions alone. I don’t want to see comments of “Stop liking what I don’t like” or “Stop disliking what I like” or any nonsense like that. I might make some jokes that you don’t like. To that I say, “Too bad.” But nevertheless, this is all for fun so don’t worry about it. If you like/dislike what I have to say feel free to reply or to reblog with your thoughts.
.
on to the first review!
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onisiondrama · 3 years
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"Onision: In Real Life DEBUNKED” Breakdown & Thoughts
Confirmed by Sarah over a 9 hour phone conversation with Onision
I’ve seen a lot of people speculate this phone call never happened because James’ claim that it was 9 hours long. I can’t lie, that threw me off when I first read it too. 
I believe most likely he is exaggerating the length of the conversation, although it’s not impossible for the them to speak for 9 hours.
The date he claims the call took place on lines up with the dates and times of Sarah’s last 2 tweets. She seemed very upset. I am not going to post them because her account is currently private.
the conversation started January 22, 2021 and ended around 1am her time, it continued laters that morning only to end with Sarah's sister taking the phone away and screaming that she was happy Sarah ruined his life while refusing to give the phone back to Sarah
So they took a break in-between calls. Possibly he is counting the 9 hours based on when their first phone call started and their last call ended.
Her sister taking the phone away and telling him off gives me the impression Sarah was extremely upset while talking to him. I don’t believe this was a confession / begging for forgiveness call like he is trying to make it out to be.
SARAH'S CONFESSIONS DURING COVERSATION 1-22-2021:
I doubt that these were confessions. Based on his past debates and interviews, I think it is more likely James walked her through carefully worded scenarios / events and forced her into answering with a simple yes or no. If she tried to add more or explain herself, he would cut her off and exclaim he was right. That’s how he’s treated others during debates, especially during recent interviews about Sarah’s (& others’) accusations against him, so that is how I imagine the call going down.
- The fraudulent #MeToo'ers were paid to participate in the documentary.
I understand the concept of it being unethical to pay accusers for interviews due to it possibly being an incentive for them to exaggerate, but everyone already participated in free public interviews. Everything they said in the documentary they have already stated multiple times for free. They did not say anything new. I personally don’t see them allegedly getting paid to be on the documentary as a blow to their credibility.
Also, James wanted to be paid to participate as well. So if he participated and was paid, should we no longer consider his claims valid? Especially since he would not just defend himself, but also make accusations against everyone since he claims he is actually their victims. Actually, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was already paid for at least one of his interviews about this whole thing by now.
- Sarah now has enough money to "Make a down payment on a house"
This is so incredibly vague. That could be almost any amount of money. Also, I don’t trust his quotations. He didn’t specify that was a direct quote from Sarah. He could have asked her how much she was paid and she would not say, so he asked if she could make a down payment on a house.
- Sarah again admitted to apologizing twice for raping Onision via sexual extortion.
So she agreed that she said “sorry for raping you guys” twice as she was angrily leaving the house? We already heard that story from him 100 times. He never went into detail about why she left angrily, but I always assumed it was because they got into a fight and that is when he first accused her of rape. I always assumed she said that sarcastically in response to his accusation.
- Sarah made it clear the documentary had her sign a contract of silence so she could not "legally" reveal how much the fraud #MeToo'ers were compensated to be involved.
I don’t think she would know how much other people were paid? I don’t believe she is in personal contact with Shiloh or Regina and I don’t think Discovery would disclose details of their contracts with other participants.
Since Sarah falls under “fraud #MeToo'ers” in James’ perspective, this makes me think she stopped him questioning how much she was paid. Now that I think about it that way,  he may have been taking the “down payment on a house” quote out of context. She may have been giving him an update on her life. He did says she “now has enough money” to do so, but didn’t specify that was because of the documentary.
- Sarah stated she truly hates both Shiloh & Regina (the other fake #MeToo'ers)
We already know this. Sarah and the other victims publicly cut ties with Shiloh and Regina because they chose to stick with Chris Hansen and participate in the documentary. The other victims wanted to stand together and not participate to try to prevent the documentary from happening.
- Sarah admitted Regina & Shiloh are frauds.
If she did, he’s not specifying what was allegedly fraudulent. The way he says “admitted” makes me think he talked about a specific incident and asked her if she agreed it was fraudulent. Like, Shiloh’s tattoo fund or something.
If she admitted she believed Shiloh and Regina were lying about their accusations, he definitely would have said that and not this vague shit.
- Sarah admits she herself intentionally mislead people to make Onision look bad.
Lmao as if she needed to strategically mislead people in order to make him look bad because he was so gosh darn innocent in this whole situation. I definitely believe he lead her into agreeing that she was misleading about one thing that made him look bad and he is using that to justify this broad statement.
- Sarah again admits she was kicked out of Onision's life for comitting a crime against Onision.
He’s just repeating himself. This is the same point as the alleged rape apology.
- Sarah admits she blatantly went out of her way to silence Onision/prevent interviews from happening so he could not deliver facts/evidence.
We already knew about this. Chris Hansen said he decided to drop negotiating an interview with James because the victims asked him not to do it.
This did not “silence” him. He went on plenty of other interviews.
- Sarah admits the laptop she had and mislead people about, in fact had nothing on it.
I am imagining two possibilities:
1. It’s possible James was misleading with his question and asked if there was something specific that he already knew was not on there, like photos of himself or photos of minors.
2. Sarah also sent a cell phone to Chris Hansen and Vincent. Perhaps the internet got mixed up and hyper focused on the laptop when it was really the cell phone that contained the damning nudes Kai sent to Sarah as a minor.
- Sarah admits she only turned her laptop in because the internet pressured her to. Confirming she defrauded countless people to replace the laptop via GoFundMe, not revealing to them the laptop she turned in had nothing on it.
I don’t believe the internet pressured her into originally sending the laptop to Chris Hansen / Vincent. I believe she did it to help the investigation. When she found out it was never given to the FBI months later, she seemed extremely upset.
After she got it back, that is when she noticeably hesitated on what to do with the laptop. People on the internet definitely pressured her into doing something with it before she was ready. Her being pressured into handing in the laptop to the FBI does not prove there was nothing on it. She most likely hesitated because either she did not want to deal with it / needed a break or she did not know who to trust with it.
Sarah was not the one who made the GoFundMe, it was Shiloh. The description said she needed a new laptop while the FBI had it for an investigation. That was true.
I’ve seen the argument that Sarah asking for funds for a laptop was fraudulent because she was fine without one while Vincent had it. Looking back, Vincent told her he was going to remove the hard drive, send the hard drive to the FBI, give the laptop a new one, and send her laptop back. I know during this time she was borrowing a friend’s laptop. This makes sense to me. She was borrowing because she thought it would be temporary. Once she officially handed it over herself to the FBI, she no longer had access to one and needed one for school.
(Washington state law prevents phone conversations being recorded without both parties consenting, Sarah was very concerned the conversation was being recorded, repeatedly asking if she was being recorded - as usual, Onision told the truth, he recorded nothing)
I’ve seen a lot of people talk about ways he could have gotten around this law or legal ways he could have proven this conversation happened. At the very least, he could have taken a screen shot of his call logs to show the date and how long he was on the phone for.
I think it’s worth noting he has recorded people over the phone without their consent in the past. Like Shiloh’s manager and Madison.
I’m not saying he’s outright lying about the call, but I don’t understand why he expected the internet to believe some vague bullet points about a phone call no one knew about about until he randomly made a page on his site for it a whole month after the call took place.
Tl;dr - He’s being way too vague. I believe he is taking a lot of the conversation out of context and manipulatively lead her into answering yes or no questions that would make it look like she’s admitting to the thing he’s accused her of and denounced her past accusations against him.
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movedyoakkemae · 3 years
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my thoughts on the en.deavour redemption arc (chs 164 - 302). DO NOT REBLOG.
DO NOT REBLOG !!
the endeavour redemption arc is a rather controversial arc in the manga, and, tl;dr: i think it started eh, continued badly, turned better, then ended like shit.
note: if you are anime only, this will contain spoilers ! trigger warnings: child abuse, domestic abuse, suicide, and murder.
here are the things we know: endeavour physically abused shōto, tōya, and rei. he ignored natsuo and fuyumi, and he discarded tōya once he realised that tōya got burnt through using his quirk. he also mentally and emotionally abused all of them. separated shōto from the rest of his siblings. not to mention the fact that he married rei on purpose in order to create the perfect tool that would become the number one hero in his stead. he thinks of his children as objects, as extensions of himself.
however, endeavour, not out of his own power but because of all might's lack of strength, ends up reaching the number one spot as a hero by himself. this kickstarts endeavour's "redemption" arc, particularly in chapter 164 when endeavour asks all might:
endeavour: you hear about this? how the crime rate this past month... is up 3% compared to past years? i... i'm the guy who resolved more incidents than anyone, now more than ever... but i can hear it. the thing you've built that cannot be seen... is crumbling down. so, #1 hero... what's it mean to be the symbol of peace? (ch 164)
in a lot of ways, this question is surprising to hear. as we can tell even in the question itself, endeavour's main area of focus has been about the amount of incidents that he has stopped, the amount of villains that he has defeated, but recognising that there was something missing, something that all might had built up, certainly shows an awareness that endeavour seemed to lack earlier.
in the next chapter, the conversation continues:
endeavour: i gave shōto everything. by age 20, i'd already climbed to the #2 position. it was because i made that climb that i understood... unless i reached the summit, it was all for nothing. if all i cared about were titles, i could've worn a smile like you... and played the part of the lovable fool. but i wanted to be the strongest! [...] all might: endeavor. the position you've been put in... i know what people are saying. a lot of people compare us. but you and i are different. the symbol i strove to be... that isn't the path for you to follow. take your time to figure out... ...the way you ought to do things. (ch 165)
again, we still see that hint of same sort of "all he cares about strength". being number one was all about being stronger than all might, which is why when he found it impossible for him, he went on to try to create something that could end up being stronger than both him and all might. that would be, after he beat it into shape.
also, the fact that he says "i gave shōto everything". (yeah, you gave the poor kid trauma if that's what you mean by "everything".) that's something some abusers routinely say about their children -- that they gave them everything, that they should be grateful.
at the end of the chapter, we see shōto warmly giving a little girl a small fire to put her hands next to when she was chilly, a smile on his face, and endeavour has a weird look as all might says:
all might: what purpose does our strength serve? endeavour... the answer is a simple one. (ch 165)
this is what sets the tone for endeavour's part of his conversation with shōto in the next chapter.
endeavour: i'm proud of you, son. on that note... i'm hoping to become a hero you can be proud of. as your father and the #1 hero... i want to be deserving of those titles. shōto: [clearly aggravated and tense] good luck with that... (ch 165)
inasa sees endeavour talking to shōto and notices how his eyes have changed from being cold and not looking at anyone around him to actually focusing on shōto. as such, the readers are basically hinted to see that endeavour has changed, even just a little, already. he's no longer just looking at all might as the summit he needs to climb; he's actually seeing the people around him.
now, this kickstarts endeavour's arc of thoughts that being a better #1 hero would mean that he would be a better father. this we especially see in the endeavour v. nomu arc.
i think the first interesting conversation we have about the endeavour's redemption arc is in chapter 187 with natsuo and fuyumi visiting rei in the hospital. natsuo says,
natsuo: about him... they made him number one yesterday. it's official. the world still doesn't know the truth about you [rei]. about our siblings... about how he's always treated his family. for one, he doesn't do the talk show circuit. i can barely remember most of it, really. thinking back, he was like a perfect stranger. but... what he did to you, to shōto, and to... [tōya/dabi] well, i can't let anyone pretend it all never happened. it's been almost ten years, and he still hasn't come to apologise to you. his past, his family... it's like he wants to leave it all behind. [...] rei: apparently he's [endeavour] come many times. though... we haven't met. i'm a bit scared though... and my doctor says it's not a good idea. of course, i can't say what he's thinking. it might be external pressures. but... he's not leaving anything behind. not his past. not his family. i know he's trying to make sense of it all. (ch 187)
he's also apparently been leaving rei flowers, flowers that she told him that were her favourite once when they met for the first time.
i actually think in this aspect, it's good that he hasn't actually seen rei or pushed himself onto seeing her. he's letting her take control of her own recovery (although, i will say it's pretty fucking telling that even after a decade, she's still scared of him). i'd argue that the flowers might be crossing the line, but it seems that rei thinks of them as a nice gesture, so i'm not going to argue about how that could be perceived negatively.
the battle between endeavour and the nomu gets serious, and endeavour nearly dies (which is broadcasted on TV for shōto to see, ofc).
in chapter 189, we see three different characters' thoughts on endeavour never giving up (some of it in particular directed towards his fight towards surpassing all might and being number one via strength alone).
natsuo: he knows better than anyone... that he'll never be the next all might! that's why he gave up so quickly... and basically went insane... abandoning the kids he didn't care for... and driving mom to the breaking point... [...] fuyumi: he never gave up. in fact, giving up is what he's worst at. [...] hawks: i was watching you this whole time. i get it. there was nobody else out there... really trying to surpass him [all might]. only you! you were the one working to surpass him. [manga showing endeavour building a small bridge over the chasm that metaphorically separates all might from the rest of the heroes] (ch 189).
i actually agree with fuyumi here more than anyone. endeavour marrying rei and creating his children wasn't because he was giving up (for one, he thinks of his children as extensions of himself...) but part of his way of trying to surpass all might. he also continued to work and get stronger himself, which he wouldn't have been doing if he had just given up.
that being said, i do agree with natsuo's description of their childhood, just not about it being because endeavour gave up.
also, from a narrative perspective, the shift of endeavour's obsession with surpassing all might being thought of as negative (from shōto's statements of it in the sports festival arc) to positive (you're the only one who actually tried!) through hawks point of view is... interesting. horikoshi is re-contextualising endeavour's obsession as a good thing, and that, in point, is done to soften endeavour's actions overall.
after all, if it's a good thing that endeavour was trying to surpass all might, then doesn't his actions against his family make a little bit more sense? doesn't that mean that he had good intentions, even if he did something bad?
(nope. not in my book.)
so, the next part of this arc happens in 192, where endeavour comes home from the hospital and after defeating the nomu with a huge scar on his face (the exact same side as shōto's!), and we get that beautifully passive aggressive "nasty scar you got there" from shōto while he's slurping up soba noodles.
and then natsuo tries to leave and this conversation starts:
endeavour: natsuo... if you got something to say, then say it. natsuo: say it...? that's rich, coming from a guy who's never even looked me in the eye. listen to this... i didn't know shōto loved soba until today. why? because you never let him play with us failed experiments. i get the feeling that mom and sis here want to forgive you, but all i see is the same maniac who, all of a sudden, is getting rave reviews. you might look like a changed man, but you're not. you abandoned us as failures, left us to hear mom's screams, shōto's cries. and big bro tōya too... you being the top hero and beating some big baddie can't erase any of that. did you decide to have a change of heart?! think we can just hug things out and make up?! it's sickening! don't you freaking get that?! endeavour: i'm trying to make amends, going forward. natsuo: is that so?! [leaves] (ch 192)
for one, god fucking bless natsuo. i think he fully encapsulates my issue with this part of the endeavour redemption arc, which is solidified by shōto's own speech:
shōto: as a hero, this endeavour guy... is pretty darn amazing. but it's like natsu said. i'm not ready to forgive you... for abusing mom. so, heroics aside, what sort of dad are you going to be? that's what i want to find out. sure, the perfect turning point can actually change someone. i know it's possible. (ch 192)
endeavour doesn't need to be a perfect hero to earn redemption from his family. hell, even when shōto hated endeavour the most, he could admit that endeavour was a great hero. maybe his reasons for being a hero was off, but he saved people, he stopped the bad guys. i think it's even canon that he's technically saved more people than all might.
the problem was never with "endeavour", it was with "todoroki enji". todoroki enji was a shit father who didn't give a shit about his kids aside from what he could use them for. he was too obsessed with defeating all might that he lost sight of his family -- which endeavour finally seems to realise after this little speech.
endeavour's thoughts: [having a flashback to all might saying "what purpose does our strength serve?"] power... a reason to dominate... when he told me that, it came to me in a flash. an ordinary, simple thought. "i have to safeguard the future for them." that's the job for whoever's on top! and yet... what about the futures i cut short? [image of rei in the midst of a mental breakdown] just demanding forgiveness isn't enough. it's too late for that. at this point, i need to atone... there's no other route. endeavour out loud: fuyumi, i'm sorry for everything. that was the wrong thing to say to natsuo. (ch 192)
we see actual growth in his character, him actually starting to learn what he should be focusing on rather than what he was focusing on. he still slips up, like with him trying to demand shōto's attention through texting with contact information that he only got because FUYUMI gave to him (ch 203), which i have my own issues with. as in, fuyumi better have asked shōto permission before giving endeavour his contact information because, if not, then holy fucking shit, that's so gross.
in the next part of the endeavour redemption arc, we have shōto in chapter 242 invite izuku and katsuki to join him with training at endeavour's hero agency.
we still see hints of endeavour only really thinking of shōto as an extension of his will and his beliefs when he asks izuku and katsuki in chapter 247 what they're working on and what they want to achieve. he starts to move in without even asking shōto, which shōto objects to in his own way.
endeavour: let's get to it -- shōto: [clears throat] and me? endeavour: you're here to master flashfire, shōto! shōto: all the quirk training you beat into me as a kid... i've put it into practise with my right side. thinking back, it's no wonder i couldn't escape my own hatred of you. then i got into u.a. competing alongside these two [izuku and katsuki]... and everyone else... really opened my eyes. endeavour... in the end... i'm going to do exactly what you always wanted. but please understand... the man i admire... is the one mom and i watched on the tv back then. [all might]. as a fledgling hero... in order to become a man worthy of the title... i came here of my own free will! you're a rotten number one*. you were just in the right place at the right time -- that's all. sorry this isn't going the way you want it to, number one. so let's stop that father-son crap in front of my friends. endeavour's thoughts: since he was willing to come here, i thought the boy's heart was open and ready to accept me... what a fool i was! i had it all wrong! endeavour out loud: right. i'll be evaluating you three as heroes. (ch 247) *the translation isn't quite accurate, but i don't have access to the original japanese right now to translate myself. i just remember that this translation isn't the best.
once again, we do see that endeavour is learning. shōto expresses his feelings and endeavour tries to move on from there in the way that shōto wants him to -- and he does ! he stops acting like he's close to shōto as a dad in front of the others and acts only like a hero training an apprentice (without the abuse that happened all throughout shōto's childhood).
i think this and what happens in the next part of this internship arc, is probably the best written bits of the endeavour redemption arc.
by that, in chapter 249, we open with this inner dialogue from endeavour:
endeavour: i'm trying to make amends... going forward. it might be too late... but i fall asleep every night thinking about... what i can do for my family. lately, it's been the same dream. the wife and kids, looking happy... at the dinner table. but i'm... never there with them. (ch 249)
this kickstarts his decision that he gives to natsuo later, but before we get there, we get this awkward todoroki family dinner with izuku and katsuki. izuku finally finds out that katsuki overheard them during the sports festival, and fuyumi and shōto talk when they think they're alone.
fuyumi: it's not like i don't share some of natsu's feelings... but... it feels like we've been given another chance now... how do you feel about dad? shōto: this burn... i think of it as something our old man gave me. [cue horrific flashback of the aftermath of rei pouring boiling water on shōto's face and immediately apologising] mom endured and endured... until she couldn't anymore. so, i can't just decide to forgive the guy who wore her down... but... mom is trying to get past all that now. honestly... i don't know... how i should feel about him. i still... haven't seen anything. [...] izuku: todoroki, i think... you're getting yourself ready to be able to forgive him. just say "i'll never forgive him" if you really hate the guy. because you're so caring yourself... it's like you're waiting... or at least that's how it seems. (ch 249)
i think each of the siblings (including tōya / dabi!) really showcases a lot of the different reactions children can have towards abuse. fuyumi is the type who fully embraces the abuser back because they want to become a family again. shōto is the type who isn't quite sure but doesn't want to just kick the abuser down if he's actually trying to change. natsuo is the type who just does not want to be around the abuser at all and doesn't think the abuser can change. tōya / dabi is the vengeful one who literally wants the abuser dead or feeling how he caused them to feel.
i also have an issue with how izuku words this to shōto -- does that mean that natsuo is not caring? should he not be upset with endeavour for all of the abuse, and, in natsuo's thoughts, for causing tōya to die? he cares too much, and that's really it, and i think endeavour (funnily enough) encapsulates my thoughts on that completely.
for context, natsuo gets kidnapped and held hostage by a villain who wants endeavour to kill him. the villain is threatening to kill natsuo if endeavour doesn't kill him. endeavour chokes on the save aside from catching katsuki and natsuo after the boys implement their plans to rescue natsuo, stop the villain, and save the civilians. then, endeavour has this to say:
endeavour: i'm sorry! in that moment... i couldn't help but think... about how if i saved you... then going forward... you might feel... like you couldn't stand up to me... natsuo, believe it or not... i was never trying... to neglect any of you. but... all i could do was blame others and dodge responsibility. with tōya too... i might as well have killed him myself. natsuo: didn't neglect us? so what...? tōya has always told me everything. it'll be a cold day in hell... before i forgive you. 'cause i'm not as caring as shōto. endeavour: even so... even so... you keep showing up for fuyumi, right? and for your mom's sake? your sister loves the idea of being a big happy family... because... that's exactly what i ruined. she wants that back... she's so eager to fix everything. and that's why you're trying. because you care about how she feels, right..? because you are caring. so... you don't have to forgive me. i'm not looking for forgiveness. just atonement. natsuo: [starts crying] wow. you got a real way with words all of a sudden! i know how happy it makes sis, having us all together! but... when i see your face... those memories come rushing back. why do i gotta be the one to come around? atonement? how're you gonna make that happen? endeavour: i have an idea, actually. (ch 252).
endeavour saying "i wasn't trying to neglect any of you" is such a fucking backslide, but he somewhat saves it with explaining why. at the same time, the explanation doesn't really matter -- he did neglect natsuo and fuyumi. however, the next bit of it, when he says that natsuo does care, and that it's okay for natsuo to never forgive him -- that was real fucking character growth, and we see it come to a beautiful place at the end of the chapter where endeavour talks with fuyumi and natsuo.
endeavour: fuyumi. i've already talked about this with shōto and natsuo. you've been doing your best to create a safe and sound household for your mother to come home to. i've let you shoulder all of that... and i stood by while you worked hard... but it's all okay now. [thoughts: it's always the same dream. my whole family's there, but not me.] because i'm building a new house for you all. one that makes sense for your commutes. and one where you can give your mother a warm welcome back. fuyumi: what about you, dad...? endeavour: [thoughts: if i really care about how they feel...] i'll remain here. (ch 252)
this is where i fucking cheered. this is where i really thought horikoshi was going to save this arc. abusers forcing their presence on the family is absolutely the wrong way to do it. endeavour trying to be the "best hero" is absolutely the wrong way to do it. endeavour stepping back, making sure that they're all comfortable, but (most likely) being there when they want to reach out on their terms in the way that they want to -- that's beautiful. that's actual growth. that's literally the best decision any abuser can make ever; leaving it in the hands of the people he abused.
in this part, in this moment, i could have accepted the endeavour redemption arc. i might not have agreed when shōto decided that he could see endeavour as a father (depending on when it would happen in canon and what would cause it), but in this regard, i could actually see redemption.
and then we get the fucking shitshow that is dabi reveal arc and the dabi backstory arc, and then i just want to throw away the whole fucking redemption arc.
in chapter 290, we get the dabi is todoroki tōya reveal (surprise, surprise /j). tōya, being the dramatic bitch that he is, washes off the probably water-soluble black dye off of his white hair and tells endeavour and shōto that he's tōya and that he's been waiting for years to take endeavour down and that he's sending out a broadcast to every TV station live detailing about endeavour's abuse of his family.
dabi: when, at long last, you could stare your kids in the eye... didja finally start to feel the warm and fuzzy bonds of family?! you must've thought, "as long as i can face the future, i can be better!" i can tell you're at a loss for words, so here's the answer! the past never dies! get it, yet?! you reap what you sow! so let's tango, you and me -- todoroki enji! a dance with your son, here in hell!! (ch 290).
in chapter 291, we continue the dabi reveal (including a 99.9% match between his DNA and endeavour's DNA as proof of their relation! hint: that's not actually fucking possible, but i'm pretty sure that's either a translation error or a wording issue) in the public eye. we get this fun little monologue from endeavour in the beginning of the chapter:
endeavour's thoughts: i thought it could be you [tōya]. you could have been the one... to reach my eternal goal. my frustration... my envy... the ugliness in my heart... you could have been the one... to smash it all to dust.
again, we get that whole "using child as an object/extension of endeavour" thing that has characterised endeavour for a long time. tōya shouldn't have been created to fix his frustration about not becoming number one himself.
regardless, endeavour stays in shock for the rest of the battle, unable to even move despite the fact that shōto managed to pull himself together in order to try to save everyone on the battlefield despite dabi trying to kill him.
we then go to chapter 300, where endeavour wakes up in his hospital room and ruminates on everything that he had done. he cries and expresses guilt, especially on how things played out with tōya when he was a child, and he declares that "i might get to live on... but endeavour died back there. my son's a mass murderer, yet... i can't fight him." (ch 300).
then, shōto, natsuo, and fuyumi enter the room while endeavour continues to cry.
endeavour: sorry... i'm... so sorry. i'm sorry... i didn't realise until now... these regrets... this guilt... it's too late to matter! my heart... it's... rei: [walking into the room] yes? what about your heart? those regrets and guilt... the rest of us have borne that burden... much more than you have. endeavour: rei?! why are you here?! rei: i'm here to talk about our family. and about our son, tōya. (ch 300).
this jumpstarts into a flashback of what caused tōya's "death", and i think in some truly horrific scenes that i think horikoshi writes in a way that we're supposed to feel some level of sympathy for endeavour. reading all of that makes me feel even -infinity sympathy for endeavour.
in chapter 301, we start the flashback into the past, where tōya wants to continue quirk training but endeavour begins to discard him, saying that it was for tōya's own good (because he burns himself when he uses too much fire). unfortunately, tōya doesn't care about his own burns, he just wants his dad's approval and wants to surpass all might himself.
endeavour, meanwhile, is still focused mostly on creating a child that would surpass all might, as we see in this conversation between endeavour and rei:
rei: no... that would be too much! it's too cruel! especially now that tōya knows what you're hoping to achieve through the children! endeavour: no matter what i say... he comes home with fresh burns every day. he inherited that pigheaded stubbornness from me! that's the only way to make him give up! since he'll never be the one to surpass... [all might] (ch 301)
(sure, that's your motivation. you say that while you literally have the same eyes as when you think about all might being better than you).
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endeavour's eyes when thinking about all might being better.
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endeavour's eyes when thinking of "stopping tōya" through the birth of more children.
we see that shōto is born, and that tōya doesn't stop training on his own, which causes endeavour to snap at tōya:
endeavour: no! why won't you stop?! you're covered in burns... and you still don't get it?! why?! tōya! you have to... look beyond all this. play with natsuo and fuyumi! make some friends at school! there's a whole other world besides the hero stuff... i know you understand that! take my advice, and this'll all be a distant memory soon. tōya: the kids at school all say they wanna be heroes. i can't understand that. because i've got you as a father. you lit this fire in me, dad, and it's not going out! i can't just pretend it's not there! [uses his fire] look at me, endeavour! look... at me!! [goes to attack baby!shōto] (ch 301)
all tōya wanted was not to be discarded, and he could see just as well as anyone that endeavour didn't seem to care about the others as much -- that's why tōya went for shōto, not for any of the other siblings.
endeavour had no real idea how to talk to tōya, or even knew how to reach out and get some help, and that was probably (mainly) because what he was doing with rei and creating his children was illegal, as we hear from a doctor earlier.
and before anyone blames tōya, he's young ass kid who knows he's being discarded by his father, and he wants attention. just any sort of attention. yes, he's going to lash out. yes, he's going to keep on doing what originally got him his father's attention (aka training). yes, he's going to try to attack endeavour's "perfect child" for "taking his place". i don't blame tōya for that -- i blame endeavour.
rei: [in the present] you don't get to claim you're hurting more than anyone. and you're not the only one who didn't really see him. (ch 301)
this next chapter, the next part of the flashback, chapter 302, is particularly rough, and it's in part with what's hinted in rei's last part of this comment. (i agree with the first part! endeavour doesn't get to claim that he's hurting more than anyone else. it's the second in context with chapter 302).
we return back to the flashback where endeavour is talking to rei about separating shōto from the rest of his siblings.
endeavour: i'm too busy with work to look after him [shōto] 24-y... which is why i've hired help. but you -- don't you take your eyes off of tōya. rei: he just wants you to look at him. to notice him. that's all. endeavour: all i can show anyone... is the world of heroes. rei: heroes? aren't you just running away? (ch 302)
interestingly enough, endeavour's face in this conversation is covered by shadows. all we really see are the whites of his eyes and the side of his face where sweatdrops of stress are running down. rei's face, too, is practically covered aside from a close-up on her stressed eye. a lot of rei's downward spiral focuses on rei's eyes over anything, so i think this is where we kind of see -- well, not the start of that (we do see that focus in ch 301), but the continuation of her stress that leads eventually to her mental breakdown.
then, we continue on (with an interesting conversation between tōya and rei, but we're focusing on endeavour unfortunately, so alas) with tōya talking to endeavour.
tōya: listen, dad. next time you get a day off... you gotta come up to sekoto peak with me. endeavour: [grabs tōya's shirt violently and lifts it up. his thoughts: new burns! where he can keep them hidden! he's been training that way on purpose!] damn it! again?! tōya: no, wait! what i can do now is really cool! you gotta come see! i might be as awesome as shōto sooner or later! maybe i'll be even better than all might someday! then you've gotta give me some respect, dad! you'll be glad you created me! i just know it! (ch 302)
the next scene is a very clear domestic abuse scene (even if it cuts away from the actual hitting).
endeavour: why didn't you stop him?! huh, rei?! damn it, that's all i asked you to do!! shōto: [crying and stepping in front of rei, trying to defend her] don't bully mommy! stop it! don't be mean to her! endeavour: get out, shōto! it's none of your business! natsuo & fuyumi: [cowering, crying, and covering their ears] rei: i... can't stop him. (ch 302).
skip the next scan if the narrative hint of domestic abuse happening might upset you. 
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now, i'm putting in the scan to showcase that we essentially get to explicitly see this all go down. endeavour is a shadowy figure in the bedroom, we see nothing of rei's face except for her eye (crying, and again, that same focus where we see her slow descent into her mental break), and we see all of the children cry except for tōya because he's out training on his own again.
the fact that endeavour decides to berate, and most likely hit, rei instead of going after his son -- well, he'd come to regret it later when tōya supposedly dies because "all he [endeavour] taught me... was how to turn up the heat." (ch 302). tōya burns himself to death because endeavour decided that because his quirk wasn't good enough to beat all might that he rather not train him at all anymore. that -- ugh.
and then we get out of the flashback and back into the hospital room in some of the most abhorrent lines of the present moments of this arc.
endeavour: if only i'd given it all up that day... but having killed tōya... i felt there was no turning back, so i poured all my energy into shōto... at the expense of everything else. rei: once tōya was gone, you grew worse and worse, until i couldn't stand the sight of you. it got so bad, i even started seeing hints of you in the children's faces. fuyumi: i knew our family was broken, but i was too scared to interfere. all i could do was try to fix things just to keep up appearances. natsuo: it was you who started all of this. you're the root cause, but... maybe, if i'd just slugged you in the face and made you have a few serious talks with him... "dabi" never would've come about, and i would've been enjoying some good soba with shōto all these years. rei: you're not the only one who's responsible, and now we all have to take responsibility for what comes next. (ch 302).
ignoring the next part for now, holy fucking shit. horikoshi makes the decision to spread the blame of tōya's death to the rest of the todoroki family, never mind that rei was also abused by endeavour and that fuyumi and natsuo were twelve and eight respectively.
endeavour showed no signs of listening to ANYONE. rei told him flat out that he just needed to give tōya attention, and he didn't listen. the fact that fuyumi felt burdened on trying to keep up appearances and felt like she didn't try to fix things at the age of twelve -- horrific. the fact that natsuo blames himself for not trying to talk some sense into endeavour at the age of eight -- horrific.
this is the moment where i threw the endeavour redemption arc into the garbage -- the rest of the family taking blame onto themselves that they shouldn't blame just so that endeavour can just right back up and be a hero.
endeavour was not going to change, not for anyone. hell, even with tōya's death, and endeavour admits it himself, it made him even more stubborn in his ways because one of his extensions of his will sacrificed himself, so he best make sure that shōto becomes the best extension of his will he can be.
this is genuinely so disgusting that i can't even put into words just how terrible this is. the fact that horikoshi made this decision -- i lost all respect for horikoshi as an author and in the endeavour redemption arc.
this chapter ends with shōto being proclaimed as the family hero and that endeavour needs to come back as a hero and fight dabi and by this point, i already hate everything, so throw the bitch out.
i think if the endeavour redemption arc had stopped in chapter 252, i think it would have been great. i think if they had played off the dabi reveal in any other way, without the family blaming themselves to partially absolve endeavour of his guilt, i think it could have been fine. but the way that this played out, the way that the victims are blaming themselves in part to make the abuser feel better -- no. just, fucking no.
is that a thing that happens in real life? do abuse victims internalise the abuse and then think that the abuser was just trying to do their best? oh yeah. however, with how the rest of the arc seems to be going with endeavour (endeavour showing up in the newest chapter still going around as a hero -- the number one hero, even), horikoshi is condoning that instead of writing it as unhealthy as it should be written.
thus, nope. throw the whole fucking thing away. no thank you.
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cobraonthecob · 4 years
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A Character With Chronic Running Away Issues Paired with a Character With Abandonment Issues????
For those who have seen my reblogs with RWBY and A:TLA, you all know that I adore Bumbleby but despise Kataa/ng, even though both pairings have one character with chronic running away issues and the other has abandonment issues.
GET READY FOR THE META NO ONE ASKED FOR
So why do I support one and not the other? (warning: I am not friendly to Kat@ang here)
Well...it’s because they’re in way different ballparks. Kataan/g happens when both are still 12/13 and 14/15, while Blake and Yang are about 19 by Volume 7. So for starters, there’s a massive maturity gap that almost shoots this comparison in the face right here and now. But wait! There’s more to this!
which is why i don’t like Ka/tara and A@ng getting together at such a young age, but then again, I don’t like the pairing at all, but we can talk about that another time
Now that we’ve addressed the maturity gap, let’s get into it!
For starters, Blake and Yang’s relationship started as good friends and then progressed into love interests and possibly girlfriends by the time of S7 (they haven’t quite jumped out with “we’re dating” but I personally think they’re taking it slow lol, ask me for my thoughts about it), so they kind of have the advantage of time on their side while Kata/ra and A@ng have only three seasons of development.
That being said, Kata@ng had 3 seasons, which is more than enough time to get both sides of their relationship but nooooo. We only see Aa/ng’s side of the romance, and Kat@ra for the most part acts like a mom, is uninterested, or straight up tries to let him down gently, and after the disastrous Ember Island Players kiss, which happens to be their last one-on-one interaction before the epilogue I want to pretend doesn’t exist, Katara and Aang’s friendship plumments badly. Heck, their last interaction ever ends badly, with the entire Gaang arguing with A@ng about how to end the war! 
what I’m saying is that Kat@ra and Aa/ng had a strained friendship before they did that cursed kiss while Blake and Yang’s friendship continued to build and then blossom into romance
“But Nightfalcon, what about the abandonment issues?!”
I’m getting there, be patient!
Now for the actual getting together - how do we make these two characters fit together?
By making both characters recognize their faults.
Blake herself knows she’s in the wrong, she addresses her chronic running away issues, starting in Volume 2, in Mountain Glenn, where she says it herself: “But I am! I do it all the time! When you learned I was a Faunus, I didn't know what to do, so I ran! When I realized my oldest partner had become a monster, I ran! Even my Semblance! I was born with the ability to leave behind a shadow of myself; an empty copy that takes the hit while I run away!” (taken directly from the RWBY Wiki). She feels guilt for running away in Volume 3 after the Fall of Beacon, but she internalizes this anger, which pops out at bad times, and she takes her guilt, buries it in anger, and isolates herself. After Sun is injured, Blake believes she’s the one at fault, and when she explodes at him and tells him why she isolates herself, Sun tells her that she’s in the wrong for isolating herself, but then tells her that he would always be there to protect her and be there for her, and that Yang would too (OK I’ve got a whole meta about Sun and Yang and Blake and why they’re amazing relationships but that’s a whole ‘nother meta).
By having Chronic Running Away (CRA bc that’s getting to be a mouthful) character openly address their faults (and others calling them out on it), you’re one step closer to making a ship sail much more smoothly.
Then there’s Yang.
In Alone Together, Yang talks to Weiss that she’s not upset solely at Blake, she’s upset that Blake didn’t feel safe enough to trust them to stay by them, and that they (whether if Yang was referring to just herself and Blake or herself, Ruby, and Blake [as Weiss was taken to Atlas]) could’ve been there for each other. She gets to address her anger and explain why she feels that way, and Weiss lends a listening ear and some advice for her. 
Eventually, the two are brought back into the same space, and spend the next few volumes patching up their relationship, or at least, the best they can, up until the fight with Adam, which puts everything on the table, and in the aftermath, Blake promises Yang she wouldn’t leave her and Yang understands and assures her that she already trusts/knows that Blake wouldn’t leave her.
TL;DR: Blake recognizes that her CRA issues are bad, and tries to make amends, Yang gets to vent her issues with Blake’s CRA issues and gets emotional support from Weiss and Ruby. Blake promises not to run, and Yang tells her that she’s not worried about Blake running away because she knows that Blake knows that team RWBY will always be there for her and that there’s a support system in place for Blake that she probably won’t feel the need to run. (seriously if you haven’t watched this show already, please do. It’s really great)
A:TLA, as wonderful as this show is, doesn’t do that for Kat@ra and A/ang.
From memory, The Storm is the episode that really touched on Aan/g’s flightiness, but Katara coddles him in that one, trying to tell him “it’s not your fault, if you hadn’t run, you might’ve died as well” which can be taken either way (IMO she’s right and wrong at the same time. Yes, Aa/ng might’ve died, but also, he needs a solid kick in the pants sometimes, I’ll talk about it later)
The next time his flightiness rears its ugly head, it’s in The Desert. After Appa is stolen, Aan/g runs off to go look for Appa, and Katara is left with Toph, Sokka, and Momo to try and get out of the desert on foot. The entire day turns into a trainwreck, as Toph has extreme guilt for failing to keep the sandbenders from taking Appa (it isn’t her fault but that’s another meta) and Sokka (and Momo) drink cactus juice and is as a result, mentally incapacitated. With the dire mission of getting the news of the eclipse to Ba Sing Se, Katara’s the only one clear-headed enough to lead the way through the desert. Once A/ang does come back, he’s still upset from his inability to find Appa, and lashes out at the others for not caring to look for Appa (even though he’s far away and that no one has a means of transportation to find Appa). Tensions are already high in the group - with dwindling water supply, they have to make it out of the desert fast, but the rest of the team is losing hope - Toph because she feels like a failure and Sokka shaking off the effects of the cactus juice, and Katara looks so tired. When Aa/ng snaps at her, she doesn’t snap back, only quietly telling A/ang that she’s trying to keep this group together enough for them to survive. A/ang running away this episode is not addressed in favor of the team getting out of the desert alive. 
Finally, in the finale four-parter, Aan/g runs away again. This time she can only hope that he’ll come back and do his job, but she’s got other stuff to worry about, like the upcoming fight with Azula. 
Afterwards...
they don’t talk about it.
YEAH YOU READ THAT RIGHT. They don’t talk about it. They don’t address the running away issues, they don’t address when A@ng kissed her without her consent twice, they just hug on a balcony and then kiss symbolizing a marriage, because I definitely signed up for East Asian Jesus making out with his mom! Definitely! They don’t talk, Katara becomes a silent character and it gets even worse in LoK ~
*Nightfalcon proceeds to take a few minutes to scream*
And of course, no one else really calls out Aa/ng, except for Toph in Bitter Work, but that was more on his fighting/bending style and not on him in general.
The only other really memorable time where Katara’s abandonment issues are brought up is when she’s ranting at her dad in The Awakening, where she takes issue with both him and A/ang leaving her, and for the most part, Hakoda does give her the support she needs.
Heck, in the finale arc, Zuko tells her that it’s probably for the best that Aang is given some time alone to run to his room and meditate. probably because the last time Katara and A/ang were alone, A@ng kissed her without her consent and I’m going into full speculation territory but what if Zuko knows and doesn’t want that to happen again?
So Katara is repeatedly told by the narrative that Aa/ng is the type to run away when things get tough, and that she should let him.
I see both sides of the issue, and I get it, but when it comes to pairing people off in a relationship, well, they shouldn’t have gotten together.
Anyways, Aan/g is also twelve and has proven numerous times to be unable to support Katara emotionally, and has kissed her without her consent twice, while Katara is 14 going on 28 because of the war, losing her mom and stepping up as the mother figure for her entire family, and later because Aang isn’t allowed to grow up at all, along with other symbolism that shoots Kataa/ng in the foot. 
TL;DR: Katara and A/ang never really talk about A@ng’s running away issues, and no one comes up to support Katara (they do validate her but it’s not a whole support system she can fall back on fully), and Aa/ng is way too immature for a full on relationship at the time of the show’s end. 
So what was the point of this rambly mess? It’s to show how to write a relationship where one character has a tendency to run away while the other one has abandonment issues. I like Bumbleby because Blake acknowledges that it’s a flaw of hers and she actively works to toning it down and Yang has a whole support system and both get to talk about it and aaaahhhhh the communication between them, while you have Katara and A@ng never addressing the issue because Katara’s so gosh darn afraid of stepping on his feelings (see: The Waterbending Scroll) and no one fully provides support for her (Hakoda keeps getting separated from the Gaang and she and Zuko became friends at the end of TSR, and only had an episode between that one and the finale arc so it left a lot unexplored of their friendship) and Aan/g is therefore taught that it’s a-OK to invalidate the feelings of the person you like because you’ll get them in the end!
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celticat21 · 3 years
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Echoes of the past day 9: First loves
@arcana-echoes
TW: Mentions of abuse in Alessa’s story. It will be at the end under a break. 
Tabitha: She never really had any serious relationships before Volta, but she did have a crush on a boy from her tribe for a while. Nothing came of it really, and when she went traveling she had a few short flings but again, nothing serious. She didn’t want to get too involved knowing she would travel and eventually leave them. 
Freya: She was in fact married before. While this was due to betrothal she still did love her husband, Stigr. At first she was not very excited about being betrothed but after getting to know him more she found herself liking the idea. They had good chemistry and he respected her better than anyone else in the village. He would actually take into account her feelings on things and try to help her be more independent. Eventually Freya became pregnant and they were excited to start their family. 
Unfortunately Freya lost the baby after their tribe was attacked by Lucio’s. After that, dealing with everything and all the emotions their relationship was very strained. They eventually broke up, but are still friends to this day. 
Winona: Literally their first crush was Asra. Maybe its because they both have white hair, or because he’s just so darn charming, but they never felt that way about anyone else. Similar to Tabitha, they never wanted any serious relationship because of all the travel they did. If they ever felt they were getting too attached to someone they would immediately leave and never look back. In all fairness, nearly everyone they loved ended up going missing. 
Zira: She had been in a relationship right before leaving her dimension. It was getting pretty serious until she was attacked by her mother. After that, Gorbiv showed a side of himself that Zira never knew of. He was much more self centered than she thought and told her to simply “get over” things and “move on”. He would not be very comforting or supportive during her time of need, and she got out of there quickly, with a broken heart unfortunately. 
Katarina: For a while Kat had a huge crush on this girl down the street from her. She was so smart, and showed such great kindness and compassion for those around her. Katarina was also very impressed with her physic and dare I say, she was even jealous. Although, it is very obvious based on this crush and Nahara that she has a type, and its muscular women. This crush was later in her life and she was just getting comfortable with her feelings, and still working on her confidence. Especially since she wanted to be a strong, muscular type but couldn’t because of her illness. She struggled with self-esteem and really believed the girl would just laugh at her. She was working up the courage to ask her out anyways, but found out she was moving away. At that point she figured it would be pointless to tell her how she felt and left it alone. After meeting Nahara, however, it no longer matter. 
Alessa’s story below but TL;DR: She had a really bad last relationship that messed up her idea on what a healthy relationship is. 
Alessa: She was probably too eager to rush into a relationship to prove she could make decisions for herself (not just from her parents, as she interpreted Asra’s guidance as him saying he didn’t believe she could do things on her own), and to prove to herself that she deserved love. She also really wanted to have a family. It was a dream of hers, and she was rushing in to have a family as soon as she could. She never saw the warning signs. Shortly after meeting Asra she met her ex, Stella. Asra had a bad feeling about her, which only made Alessa dig her heels in more just to prove him wrong. 
TW: Mentions of sexual abuse
Alessa was always adamant about waiting for the right moment, and she wanted to have a deep connection to her partner. Her girlfriend did not feel the same way. She would constantly ask and nag her about it. When that didn’t work, she tried slipping her some aphrodisiacs. The first time she hit Alessa was after Alessa confronted her about them. Stella apologized so much and promised it wouldn’t happen again, but it did. Eventually she convinced Alessa to let her use her hands on her since it was the “least she could do” for making Stella wait so long. Alessa eventually left, and the night she did Stella threw  vase at her. This gave her the scar she has on her eyebrow, and lead her to meeting Julian for the first time when she went to see him to fix her up. He asked questions but she just said a vase fell on her while she was trying to help the potter move his stock. To this day Alessa has never told anyone about this, even Asra.  
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@dadster-and-skelesons​
I CANT PICK JUST ONE OKAY? THEY’RE ALL GREAT! IN THIS ESSAY I WILL TELL YOU WHAT I LOVE ABOUT ALL YOUR MUSES!
Let’s start with G-man. How do I love this man, let me count the fuckin’ ways! First we got his relationship with Sans. I’ve always wanted a dad figure for him that wasn’t my own Gaster. You gave me a great opportunity for that. I love all the varying degrees of the timelines for them. From a small kid growing up with chronic illness and his dad panicking over him, to full blown fights about his origin and learning the truth of where he came from, to the tragedy of watching his father get yoinked into the void. I JUST LOVE THEM SO MUCH!
AND DON’T GET ME FUCKING STARTED ON SWINGDINGS. Oh my God these wholesome struggling single dads in love just melts my fucking heart. I love how G takes a scientific approach to everything but is slowly starting to let things just naturally happen. I love how he’s helping Swap get over his trauma from his previous marriage. Even them getting to the point where the get engaged just kills me. And the whole wholesome goopy dads reuniting in the void together just alkfghsdflkjghsldkfj I LOVE IT *flips table*
Now we move on to Grillby. KLJDFGHLDFKJ I just- I love him so much. He’s so S O F T and just a good bean! His interactions with Sans just also make me melt, but this kinky mother fucker also makes Sans melt in more ways than one lmao; gentleman in the bar, freak in the bed lol. But seriously the way he takes care of others like Ebon during the time just after they’re sealed underground, to caring for his bf, to caring for those of the afterlife in our Dusttale AU just kill me. He’s such a good egg and I’m love.
Then we got Mr. Hot Shot Ferno who’s just a vulgar stink man fuck boi who Red would die for. He loves how sweet and adoring his totally not bf can be. I just love how caring and gentle he can be but also how absolutely gremlin this man can be. He’s the perfect balance of innuendos and class. Love this mans I swear. He’s gonna give Fell a goddamn bi-awakening. Fell would also die for him ngl
And lastly there’s Flambeau and omfg this southern bell little twink is an absolute fucking delight. He’s just a cute kinkster and Blue is like 100% here for that. He’s also just an absolute sweet heart when comforting Blue and I cannot wait for more interactions with this boi. Love him to pieces.
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OSIDJFSODIJFSODFIJ WELL UM GOSH WHERE DO I EVEN START
I’m gonna have a lot to say in my inevitable essay to you but ahhh??? oh my god????? thank you?????? I’m so glad you like my assortment of many fire lads and also one (1) skeleton!!! And I realized partway through writing this that it was basically turning into my essay back to you so idk here we go!
I love Sans and Gaster’s relationship so much! G-man has very unique and interesting relationships with both his boys, and I think writing out how he is as a father was one of the things that really helped him blossom into his current characterization. I enjoy the way that their relationship is genuinely loving but complicated. Gaster sometimes struggles to understand what Sans is thinking or feeling, but he always tries, and Sans carries so many conflicting emotions on his shoulders but at the end of the day still just really loves his dad. It feels really genuine and realistic and I just like it a lot!
ALSO SWINGDINGS, I’m definitely getting into this when I write my post out to you, but their relationship is so endearing and just so!!! Charmingly WHOLESOME! You do such a great job with Swap, writing him as someone who’s been through so much but is still so kind and so gentle and just loves his family so much. I feel for G because it really just makes you fall in love with him. I’ve enjoyed seeing the sides of Swap that his and G’s budding romance has brought out of him, and I’m so HERE for Goopy Beach Wedding someday in the future.
Going back to Classic!!! I love me some OG UT Sans, and I love how you write him. His relationship with Grillby has been so sweet to write out, and with all the shit Sans has been through it’s been nice to see him just get to have some uncomplicated fun with somebody, whether it’s just cute flirting at the bar or wild kinky fun in Grillby’s apartment. And that just makes it hit all the harder when you start dipping into Dusttale shenanigans and the darker, more complicated elements of writing Classic boy. 
On that note HOLY MOLY I LOVE YOUR DUSTTALE THREADS SO MUCH???? If the fact that I made a whole-ass playlist for one damn thread wasn’t enough of an indicator lmao. Dusty has this very maliciously cold and cruel side to him that you do a good job of tempering with those moments of genuine grief and guilt, and it feels very much like he’s sort of... playing a role that he feels he has to in order to get this shit done, while also just finally letting loose all of that anger and frustration piled on from endless resets. The fact that I just keep making different Dusttale Grillbys to interact with Dusttale Sans is probably a sign of how much I love him and I am... I am a little sorry for that lmao.
Red!! Red is so great!! He and Ferno are a really interesting match in a lot of ways, and I love the way that they both sort of care for each other. Both of them have their unhealthy coping mechanisms, but they’re always right there to support each other through whatever they’re going through. I think what I love most about Red is something Ferno said in one post ages ago about why he loves Red--that he takes so much shit just all the time but he still cares so much about the people he loves. 
Which is... incidentally one thing I love about how you write Fell too, lmao, and the threads today were such a good example of that. He carries so much on his shoulders and puts up with so much, and of course it weighs on him but he can’t let that show. I can totally see why Ferno, meeting Fell at the lowest point in his life, ended up just so hardcore ride-or-die for him, and why he believes in him so damn much. I also kind of think this thing we’re backfilling with Ferno just having had it bad for Fell for years has been interesting to play around with just... across the board??? and I am so here for Fell’s bi awakening. 
And Blue!!!! Sweet little sugar skull!!! We haven’t done too much with him and Flambe yet but Blue is such a gosh darn cutiepie and I’m always happy to see him on my dash! I love all the threads you do with him, whether he’s fanboying over Napstabot or getting all kinds of fucked up on Orange’s edibles. Or getting hella kinky with Flambeau. 
tl;dr you are a DELIGHT and i am so happy we are FRIENDS!!!! <3
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