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thekingofwinterblog · 2 days

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Maka and Crona's Journey - Wasted Potential

So one of the things I have come to heavily critique the Soul Eater manga for is the way it handled Maka post the defeat of Archnophobia, where it feels like there was a whole host of interesting character moments, but because this was the point where the Manga began to spin it's wheels and had no idea how to connect it's various ideas together into a coherent whole, it ultimately leads her story to feel like a mess of wasted potential.

And after doing an analysis of Maka and Crona's relationship through the manga, i came to realise that the pieces are there to tell a very good character journey that came thiiiiisss close to being amazing, but fumbles the ball on the most important moments, of which the ending is just the final, coup the grace that ensures it's a truly terrible story at the end of the day, rather than just being wasted potential.

I have always been of the opinion that Maka and Cronas second fight was where Soul Eater as a story peaked, as it represented the highpoint of it's themes and the journey of it's characters that would never quite be matched in either the anime, nor manga... But one thing I only realised when looking at what the Manga was trying to do, and how it differed from the Anime, is that the intention behind Manga Maka's journey foreward, was how, while this moment was the defining moment for both Maka and Crona, unlike the Anime, the Manga wanted to explore the negative aspects of this idea.

Maka comes to deeply love and appreciate Chrona and the bond they shared together... But this deep affection also led to Maka's biggest moment of weakness in either take on Soul Eater.

Her learning that Medusa is still alive and Chrona is still under her strings.

This revelation paralyzes Maka. She, the girl who during her second fight with Crona finally was able to overcome fear and be truly brave, now finds herself held back by fear. Not fear of what could happen to herself, but fear of what might happen to Crona depending on her own choices.

If she turns Crona in, there is a very strong possibility that Shinigami-Sama's wrath upon Crona will be quite brutal and swift, but on the other hand, if she does nothing, Medusa's plan will continue unopposed and she might lose Crona anyway.

And so she does... Nothing.

She turns into a coward. She's unwilling to commit to any course out of fear of where it would go.

This is great. It's easily some of Maka's best moments, but the problem comes later.

Because in theory Manga Maka and Anime Maka aren't supposed to be different characters, it's just that they go different journey's to reach the same place.

Anime Maka does not learn about Medusa the same way, instead she only learns about everything after the fact, and so has to react to the revelations in a manner that forces her to make a choice then and there... And her choice is that she will support Crona all the way, consequences and the opinion of anyone else be damned.

Manga Maka however, because of her moment of Weakness loses Crona, and they don't reunite again before near the end of the series.

When Maka tries to reach out to Crona, and convince the Pinkette to come back with her home, it's a sign of both Maka's loyalty and devotion... But also an intentional backslide of her development.

Rather than confront the matter head on, Maka tries to essentially sweep EVERYTHING that has happened since they last saw each other under the rug.

Lets go home, and pretend this never happened.

It's not that Maka's words that she WILL protect Crona are empty, because they're not, but the Manga very much want's this entire scene to be a mirror to the basement scene where the two of them first bonded.

Back then, Maka left Soul behind because she understood Crona, and trusted that she didn't need him for what she had to do.

Here, while she's alone inside the church, she brought her entire team with her, that is outside just waiting to back her up if something goes wrong.

Back then she understood that to reach Crona she had to confront the problem head on, with both kindness, but also with a very firm hand.

Here she is wishy-washy and though she is kind, she has none of that firmness that was so essential in forging their bond back then.

When Crona confesses to murdering Medusa, Maka, better than anyone understands how much this destroyed Crona... But she doesn't have an answer.

The confidence she once had in being certain in how to help Crona is gone.

And of course...

The girl who once walked through deadly and painful spikes to embrace Crona, now flinches away in shock, pain and fear at those spikes.

It is a remarkably powerful contrast and symbolism.

The problem... Is how we got here.

The idea is that this is meant to be where Maka fails Crona a second time, once more due to a moment of weakness, only here it's because she hasn't truly come to terms with the consequences of her own choice back then, and having mustered the strength to truly accept Crona's actions, and then go from there.

She wants everything to go back to normal, the wqy it used to be, when Crona tells her very clearly that that is impossible.

What Maka NEEDED to do here(And what should have been the climax of the story when they meet again inside the black blood) was to help Crona deal with the trauma of Medusa's murder, to help Crona realize that whatever else has happened, Maka still loves them, and that Crona is not fundamentally unworthy of that love as Crona thinks they are.

And at this she fails. Spectacularily.

It's a great sequence of events... It's a real shame then, that her character arc post Archne hasn't been about building up to this moment AT ALL!

Maka's storyline COULD have been about her dealing with depression, sadness over losing Crona, and probably more importantly than anything else, a deep, deep longing to go back to the time they spent together, to return to "Simplier days".

It COULD have been about exploring Maka in a deeply unhealthy and yet incredibly human part of her life, when the backsliding from the person she had begun to become thanks to her and Crona's bond was both painfully obvious, and clearly intentional storywise.

Even after growing as a person, that doesn't mean the way to reaching your best self is a straight road upwards. Sometimes you fall off the track, sometimes you lose sight of the goal you were seeking, and sometimes you look back and what was and feel tempted to go back to an earlier point because you are deeply unhappy with where you are now.

It's a real shame then that Maka's storyline between these points tackles absolutely none of these points or ideas for her character.

And on the moon, we see this pattern of a clear idea for a coherent character story continue, both with Maka's incredibly vicious reaction when she and Crona begins fighting, and how the plot points set up between them really goes nowhere.

The idea here is that Maka is having another moment of weakness, only this time one fueled by anger and Hurt, as she beats the snot out of Crona while saying things she obviously doesn't really mean.

It is, again, an intentional backtracking on her entire character, and if you look at it from the concept stages for her and Crona's relationship it makes perfect sense.

Maka, despite her love for Crona was deeply, deeply hurt by Crona's actions both at the church, and at the moon... The problems with the execution here is:

1. Her mood between the church and here has not in ANY way been building up to this very viscious but human outburst of anger.

2. Other than rejecting Maka at the Church, Crona hasn't really done anything yet that varrants Maka being this viscious and agressive. It feels like there should have been a scene where Crona really wrecked the rest of the cast here, but it didnt happen in the final product, and so while the idea of frustration and anger reaching a boiling point on paper makes sense, in practice Maka's anger in this scene feels really overblown.

3. It doesn't really lead anywhere. This moment comes, and then it's gone, forgotten, rather than playing into Maka's final character arc. You would think Maka would have a moment where she snaps out of it and realises how bad an idea/reqction on her part this was, but no. Much like the rest of the moon fight, it's flash and no substance.

And finally Maka's assession here where she informs her dad(and Black star) that Crona killed Medusa was clearly meant to be some dramatic turning point originally. The point where she FINALLY gets her shit together and realizes what she has to do... Only for Asura to regain control, and so she instead of talking this out with a hug here and now she has to break into Crona'a soul and talk there directly.

And there, you would probably expect her to have to once more go through some scenario where she has to brave painful thorns despite the pain, before embracing Crona in a hug anew, thus showcasing that Maka has FINALLY gotten her shit back together again, and has both regained her courage, but also her determination, her self confidence, from when she was at her height, and is now, finally, after a long, long period of depression and loneliness, ready to take on Azura, with Crona at her side.

You know, the logical rule of 3(one success, one failure, and then a final success as the big redepmtion to make up for our Heroines previous moments of weakness) of storytelling used to showcase both Maka's growth, her hugging Crona leading into some development where Maka finally manages to get Crona to forgive themselves for Medusa's death, and embrace the courage to face the world anew.

The pieces are all here to tell a really, really good tale of a Character who went through ips and downs, who lost something very, very important to her along the way... Only to regain it anew thanks to the bond eith the person she treasures most in the world.

She isn't perfect... But that's okay. She has the people she loves besides her, her partner, her friends, even her dad who she dinally is able to let go off her resentment towards(Which should have been the entire point of her finally wielding him in battle), and her relationship with Crona, the single most important bond she ever made with anyone through the story. Ready to take on the world.

Thst sure would have been a way better story, while also continuing all of Soul Eater's themes into an actual, thematicly coherent climax.

#soul eater #soul eater manga #maka albarn #what could have been #crona #kishin asura #meta #character arc #medusa gorgon #relationships

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starlitangels · 3 months

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Any advice for someone practicing scripts for voice acting and still stumbling and stuttering after a good amount of run throughs?

I want to get clearer and be able to easily run scripts but I have a lot of anxiety even when I’m not trying to record or post it.

-💛

Ohhh... that's a good question. Especially considering I don't usually fully script my stuff. I might script out the beginning for a good introduction, but my usual method of making audios is to outline what I want to cover in the video and then improvise the actual wording. I think I sound very... stilted when I fully script a whole audio. It doesn't sound natural to my own ears, so I try not to script the whole thing

But when I do, I'm usually the one writing it so I usually know how I want it to sound when I say it...

That said, I still f^&* up all the time. Give yourself space and leave to stammer and stutter. It's okay if you do. Hell, it's okay if you do when you're recording. It just means you'll have a good blooper reel lol

And here's what I do when I keep messing up: start slow. Speak slow and clear. Don't worry about making it sound natural yet. Just build the muscle memory of the lines you're saying into your mouth and vocal cords. I do this all the time. Literally one word at a time. I end up sounding like an idiot, but I'm practicing so who cares?

You don't have to memorize your lines, but the better you know them, the better they'll get, leaving your face. So, literally, if you end up "taaalkiiinnnggg liiike thiiiiisss" or "Talking. Like. This." or "t a l k i n g... l i k e... t h i s..." all you're doing is helping your mouth learn what you're saying

Which is ultimately the goal, right?

Start slow and clear. You can over-enunciate your diction. Work your way up to a normal-sounding pace and a natural cadence.

And, if you have to, change the script! Is one specific line turning out to be more difficult to say than you expected? Adjust the wording! Keep the spirit of the message, but simplify the wording. Shorten the sentence. Split a run-on into two. Do what makes it better for you. Change a whole damn paragraph if you can't say it!

At the end of the day, it's that "practice, practice, practice" that teachers like to spout, buuut. It's more "practice, adjust, do what will make this simpler or easier for you"

And give yourself the grace to be okay with your fumbling while you're practicing. We as humans often beat ourselves up for making mistakes. Don't bother with that. It's fine to fumble. There's no consequences to tripping up over a line when you're practicing except to know which lines to practice and where you do well and where you struggle

And if you've got practice anxiety (which also fine!), take deep breaths, do some vocal warmups if you need to. I personally like to make my vocal warmups silly so that I make myself laugh because it takes the edge off. If I laugh at myself, I find my recording environment to be much easier and looser. (Also vocal warmups are just good in general depending on your character. I happen to be a cisgender girl who naturally has a bit of a lower, gravelly voice. Especially when I just wake up. Which is great for a character like Hazel—I never do warmups before voicing Hazel early in the morning because I want that quality to my voice—but not as great for, say, Celeste. I try to give Celeste a smoother, higher-pitched voice than Hazel. More in my normal register. Hazel I deliberately talk as low as I can—which is not very low haha. Doesn't always work but that's my intention. And giving Celeste a smoother, normal-pitched voice doesn't always work either. But warming up my voice before I do a Celeste video helps me be less gravelly or low. It helps me sound more awake than I am. The warmups just help for some characters)

Best of luck!

#answered #Echo ♥️

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elonmuskfansgossipblog · 10 months

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So anon, what happened to this audio him talking about new baby? 🤔 Can we listen to it, too?

Thiiiiisss.

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mymelodymia · 5 months

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yall wanna do sm fun??

So what I want you all to do is basically shower me with christmas/holiday reqs. I don't even care how many per person. Buuuutt...at the start it would be funny for yall to be like: 🎶all I want for Christmas is for you to write thiiiiisss 🎶

you know?

#delete later #send reqs #Christmas #holiday #:'3

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thebluejayawe · 10 months

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OH MY GOD i'm just lowkey freaking out rn bc i just saw you reblog my silly little marcheron text edit and i just wanted to quickly pop by and tell you that i fucking love ur writing and it's a huge HUGE reason that i got THIIIIISSS into marcheron and why it's my number 1 (and practically only) ship. i love you. you're so cool.

just wanted you to know

WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THIS THURSDAY NIGHT??? HAVE I DIED? IS THIS A COMA DREAM WHA T IS HAPPENING???

mate your silly little marcheron text edit had me on the floor and now i am BACK on the floor from this ask holy shit thank you so much??? i am crying tears.

always happy to do my duty and drag someone into marcheron hell with me (it is hell, this love is hell, the way they're so???? all the time?? with each other??? it breaks me and I enjoy the pain)

YOU THINK IM COOL????

#ive ceased to exist #im actually lying on the floor #thats not exaggerating #im just #im #i #i think we have to get married now i love you too #youve no idea the horrible no good very bad week i was having and now im just like #ive ascended #ask #ALSO THIS POST PUT ME IN THE 100 POSTS CLUB LMAOOO

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dreamwritesimagines · 2 years

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Sis… I scream this respectfully….

I WAS SO FREAKING HAPPY AT THE BEGINNING. HUGH WAS HAPPY AND ABOUT TO GET SOME. CECE WAS HAPPY AND HAD JUST GOTTEN SOME. AND THEN. THEEENNNN. ALL WE GET IS HEARTBREAK. WORSE THAN THE PREVIOUS ATTACKS ON OUR HEARTS. WAY WORSE. IDK HOW HE CAN EVER COME BACK FROM THIS. IDK HOW IM SUPPOSED TO FORGIVE HIM AFTER THIS ROYAL FUCK UP AND NOW IM EXTREMELY SAD AND DEPRESSED AND THIIIIISSS IS WHY I HAVE TRUST ISSUES 😭😭😭😭

Ok I sat for a minute, cried a bit more and am calmer now, so now I can say what I originally wanted to after reading through the first half of this chapter lol

Cherie walking in on Hugh and Kenneth and then making sure Pen didn’t see them and then being completely chill while Hugh was for sure freaking out 🥹👏🏾😭🙇🏾‍♀️🥰.

THEIR WHOLE SCENE 😭🙌🏾❤️

I JUST WANNA HUG THEM BOTH AND KEEP THEM SAFE FOREVER.

THANK YOU MAMA DANBURY FOR TRYING TO TALK SOME SENSE INTO HER 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 (even if she don’t listen lol)

The ending of this chapter has left me so totally wrecked. This level of angst hurt me bad.

When I read "Marry me instead." my heart literally STOPPED

And then came "Because I—" he trailed off and paused for a moment to swallow thickly, his eyes darting over your face as if he was searching for words. *enter the sprinkling of emotions starting to trickle in*

But when he found them, you wished he hadn't. *I FELT EVERY SINGLE BUTTERFLY DROP DEAD IN MY STOMACH.*

This line absolutely TORE MY HEART OUT

"It's the logical thing to do, for both of us."

I FELT EVERY SINGLE EMOTION IN A MATTER OF MILLISECONDS & THEN IMMEDIATELY STARTED CRYING.

THE URGE TO THROW MY PHONE WAS VERY STRONG BUT I SCREAMED INTO A PILLOW AND CRIED FOR LIKE TEN MINUTES INSTEAD

I NEED A HUG AND SOME GOOD BREAKUP REMEDY MOVIES ASAP

Ellie loveeee hi! 😱❤

Oh Hugh had already...got some 😈 By the time Cherie saw them, they were finished 😏

WORSE THAN THE PREVIOUS ATTACKS ON OUR HEARTS. WAY WORSE. Oh yeah, that was very heartbreaking for Cherie😂

Hugh and Cherie actually trust each other a lot❤

Ooooh that's a good sign for angst! 😂 Cherie went from hopeful to devastated as well😏

Thank you so much for this, you're awesome! ❤❤❤

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