#and then with the a lot more likeable characters on the series it just came to life | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

theladybarnes · 11 months

Photo

CHERRY BOMB: CHAPTER FOUR

“Look, I wasn't trying to be a jerk. It's just that we're not kids anymore.”

▸ summary: summer rain is here, and you’re definitely feeling it’s effects on your mood ▸ characters: steve harrington, robin buckley, & dustin henderson ft. a fun phone call ▸ word count: 4.2k ▸ warnings: angst, semi-fluff ▸ series masterlist

Driving home that night proved to be a bigger stress for you. After Robin, Steve, and Dustin made a plan for the morning, you quietly took Dustin home. Listening to all the things he needed to look for Russian spies inside the mall the next day.

The only answer you gave to him was a simple ‘yes’ when he asked to be dropped off at the mall in the morning.

The severity of the situation seemed to be slipping past all their minds tonight and you can’t help but grow worried at what their snooping might do. What if this was more intense than they thought? You were still hopeful that the translated message was just gibberish. But knowing Hawkins..it could be the worst.

You were about to head to sleep when you heard the phone down the hall from your room. Not wanting to let it wake up anyone else in the house, you tiptoed out your room and quickly picked up the receiver.

“Henderson residence. What do you want?” you asked curtly.

“Geez, do you always pick up your phone like that?”

You rolled your eyes, scanning over the clock that was mounted on the wall to check the time. “I get like that when people call our house near midnight.” you sighed, moving to sit down on the chair by the phone stand. “Why are you calling so late, creep?”

Jonathan laughed on the other line, sounding amused by your attitude more than anything. “I’m calling because it’s been a good minute since I’ve seen you. I just wanted to know if you were all right.”

“I’m touched.” you said honestly. “But what’s the real reason?”

“Company?” he laughed, obviously being caught. “I’m developing some photos and wanted someone to talk to. I hoped you'd be awake.”

“Gosh, the paper is really working your ass off.” He laughed a bit on the other end again. “What kind of story are you helping with that they have you working this late?”

“If only it were a story,” he said, sounding tired. “I’m sort of developing these crazy shots of a rat for Nancy.”

“That’s romantic.” you snorted.

“It’s for something she thinks might be a lead. Something with the rats that are getting into chemical supplies…it’s a lot.”

You can’t help but frown. Knowing that he’s not entirely giving up the information that you want to seek out from his story. But at the same time, could you really dive into whatever that was and keep an eye out for the scoops trio from getting into trouble? Still..

“Is this a lead that you guys might need my help in?”

“No.” Jonathan answered quickly. “Nancy’s getting pretty angsty about things at work and I know it’ll mean a lot to her if she’s able to help figure this out.”

“Fine. But if you two need me, you’ll know where to find me.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “At the mall with Steve.”

There was the teasing you had been waiting for. But after these past few days, you couldn’t help but think for once they were way off. Steve was proving to be even more complicated than you expected and you weren’t sure you could mentally handle it.

“Did I lose you there, Henderson?”

“I’m here.” you said after a minute. “I’m just..thinking.”

“About Steve?”

“Yeah.” you said honestly. “But not in the way you think.”

“Well, tell me.”

Looking down the hall you check to see if anyone is listening in to what you’re saying before bringing the phone up to your ear. “I’m likeable, right?”

“I put up with you.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“It does actually.” You could hear the sounds of something closing, possibly a door before he came back to the phone. “I don’t like most people.” he breathed. “In fact, it takes a lot for me to like someone, actually.”

“How does that answer me?”

“I’m getting there.” he grunted. “The first week you were here, and it was like you instantly treated me better than half the kids I had grown up with. Not because you liked me, not because you knew me, but because..you wanted to.”

He took your silence as a sign to continue on.

“You’re very real and honest with everyone. In a way that has people either running away or working hard to stay as close as they can.”

“So you’re saying I’m a bitch.” you said finally, trying to lighten up the serious conversation.

“Not a word I’d use…Genuine. I think you’re genuine.”

“Genuine..” you repeated, unsure if that fit what you felt about yourself.

“And because you’re so genuine, it makes people strive to be with you. Whether it be because you’re friends..or more.”

“Do you think there’s a chance that..he’d want more?”

“Can’t say..” he sighed. The sound of him calling out to another coworker has you dreading ending the call. But before he does, Jonathan does leave you with some parting words to think over. “But what I can say is I highly doubt someone like Steve Harrington would miss his chance this summer to finally make his move.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.”

The phone call, while still nice, did very little to help improve your mood. The following morning ended up matching your mood. Instead of the lovely sunny weather you’ve been given this past week, you’re starting out the new month with gloomy gray overcast.

What was worse was you were stuck heading into work earlier than usual, called in by one of the other lifeguards to come help. At first you were going to try and find a way out of it, but after being promised the chance to head home early, you decided you couldn’t pass it up.

Unfortunately, you’d deal with having to ditch a sleeping Dustin later on.

“This weather bites.” said your coworker Zoe as she entered inside the girl’s locker room. You had spent the majority of the gloomy day inside, cleaning up around the area while you waited for your closing shift to come inside.

“Tell me about it,” you grumbled, jumping into your jeans. “Adam has had a stick up his ass all day too.”

Zoe nodded her head, pulling up her perfect curls into a high ponytail. “That would be because instead of working with his crush today. He gets your lovely disposition.” she teased, making you freeze for a moment. Did she really mean that? “Honestly, it’s probably just this rain. Makes everyone crazy.”

“It’s ridiculous.” you frowned, looking down the hall to see the gloom that seeped in from the doorway. “When the hell does summer have rainy days?”

“In Hawkins it does.” she shrugged, grabbing onto her bright red bomber jacket. The Hawkins Pool logo brightly printed on her chest. “But you’re free to go have fun and soak this lovely rain up.”

“Please.” you laughed, grabbing onto your jacket. “I’m gonna spend the day hiding in the mall. Hopefully breaking my Dad’s heart with the charges I plan on making.”

“Have fun.” she waved, heading off towards the main office. You followed after her, almost heading to where your car was before you looked down at the member board. The picture of Heather posing happily for the team photo making you wonder just where the girl had gone off today.

The light sound of thunder crackling in the distance felt like a pretty good answer. Just like you, she probably wanted to spend the day at home, under a nice blanket.

The mall is at least a nice shade from all the rain and you find that despite whatever reservations you might have about the Russian tape debacle, that you’re at least doing something this summer.

Maybe it would be best to approach this differently. More positive. If there was something secret going on then all you guys had to do was turn this into Hopper. He’d get in touch with the officials from the lab for help and that’s it. Right?

You were on the way to making your way to Scoops when you noticed two familiar heads of hair.

For some reason, the two boys had it under the notion that people inside of the mall would not see them behind the small plant life that trimmed the seating area. But also not see a giant pair of binoculars watching them.

Shaking your head, you brushed through the waves of people so that you could make your way over to them. They were kneeled beside each other, fighting over the binoculars when you listened in on their conversation.

“..I don’t get why you’re looking at girls. You have the perfect one in front of you.”

You felt your heart stop as you listened to Dustin’s words. Could have possibly noticed your interactions with Steve? Did he happen to think on his own what you were secretly hopeful for?

“Seriously, if you say Robin again–”

“Robin.” Dustin said, cutting Steve.

“No, don’t. NO.”

“Robin, Robin, Robin.”

They painfully continue this for a minute longer and you’re forced to bite down on your lip to keep from asking why Robin Buckley of all people. But really, if someone asked you to name a reason why there was a problem with Robin, you wouldn’t be able to really say anything.

“No, man, she’s not my type.” Steve exclaimed. “She’s not even..”

“Not even what, Harrington?” you asked, making your presence known. The two boys jumped a bit, but you ignored their shocked expressions to join Dustin at his left.

“Nice of you to join us, trouble.” Steve muttered, running a hand through his hair.

“Nice? Was it nice when she ditched me this morning to go to work? I had to take the bus! Like all the other people!”

You rolled your eyes, slapping Dustin on the back of his arm. “I left a note for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait around for you to finally wake up just to drive you around. I actually needed to come into work early.”

“Please, not only do you sit on a chair all day making sure a bunch of third graders don’t drown. But it is also raining. What work did they need you for?”

“Whatever.” you scoffed, moving closer towards the two. “Let’s get back to the conversation..” you mused, raising a brow at Steve.

“Well,” Steve said, clearing his throat. “She’s not even in the ballpark of what my type is, all right?”

“What’s your type again? Not awesome?”

“Thank you.” Steve said sarcastically to Dustin.“For your information, she’s still in school. And she’s weird.” he explained. “She’s a weirdo. And she’s hyper. I don’t like that she’s hyper.”

Dustin briefly ignored him, letting Steve continue on in his horrible explanation.

“And she did drama. That’s a bad look. And she’s in band?..NO.”

Your cousin looked over his shoulder, oddly sharing the same look of discomfort that you were before faced Steve again. “Now that you’re out of high school, which means you’re technically an adult, don’t you think it’s time you move on from primitive constructs such as popularity?”

“Oh, primitive constructs? That some stupid shit you learned at Camp Know..Nothing?”

“Camp Know Where, actually. And no it’s shit I learned from life.”

Shaking your head, you tried to think over what was being said exactly. While Steve wasn’t interested in Robin for trivial reasons, you couldn’t help but pick out a few things that could quite possibly be reasonable.

He was out of school, and possibly wanted to date someone his age now that he’d be out in the adult work life. And sure, Robin definitely was hyper and a bit unusual. But never in a way that you saw as something bad?

In Steve’s eyes what was the type of usual person that he could see himself dating?

“Don’t you agree?”

You snapped out of your thoughts to find that Dustin was speaking to you. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“I said that instead of dating somebody he thinks is gonna make him cooler, why not date somebody he actually enjoys being around?”

It stunned you a bit to hear something so genuine from your cousin. Despite the petty fighting and teasing they do to each other. Dustin really wanted the best for Steve. Even going as far to give a slightly tough love, but heartfelt advice.

“Wow, Dustin..that’s perfect actually.” you said, still taken back by his words.

“Exactly. Then he can have what me and Suzie have.”

“Oh, Suzie.” Steve said. “Yeah, you mean ‘hotter than Phoebe Cates.’ Yeah, that Suzie.” He stared up like he was actually thinking long and hard about his answer while he scratched at his head. But with the heavy sarcasm in his tone, you knew he was doing anything but. “Let’s think about how exactly did you score that beautiful girlfriend?..Oh, yeah with my advice.”

You can’t help but laugh at his ego right now, knowing that Dustin’s words hit him pretty hard if he felt the need to bring up his past dating advice.

“That’s how this works, Henderson. I give you the advice, you follow through. Not the other way around, all right, pea-brain?” He turned away after that, a familiar pout tugged at his bottom lip as he scanned over the mall.

“You know, Dustin, what you said was pretty cool.” you said after a minute of their silence. “Have any solid advice for me?”

“Advice?” he asked, setting down the binoculars. “For what, dating?”

“Yeah, you never worked this hard to help find me a boyfriend. Lord knows I need one.”

Steve in the back turned back to look over at you, pout slowly turned into a frown now. But before he could say anything, Dustin burst out into a fit of laughter. The two of you shared a confused look. “What’s so funny?” he asked Dustin.

“It’s just hard to imagine the poor guy that’s gonna have to put up with her and her attitude. Not to forget, the mood swings.”

You can’t control your face as you stare shocked at Dustin. Not only were these words the last thing you wanted to hear right now, but from your family of all people. Steve quickly nudged Dustin, frowning down at the kid before pointing to you.

“Trouble here deserves a good guy. Someone who will make her laugh, be there for her, and care for her. Especially after the shitty ex she just dealt with.”

Dustin snorted at that, pulling the binoculars back up to his face as he looked onto the crowds again. “Hate to break it to you, Steve. But that fairy tale prince does not exist for her.” He glanced up at you before he frowned a bit. “Why are you here anyway? Didn’t you say you wanted to shop today? We don’t need your help with this anyway. Just go.”

Suddenly you’re filled with shame. Was there something in the water that had most people being put off of you? Or was there something else you weren’t realizing? Getting up from the floor, you ignored Steve’s gaze as you patted off the dirt from your pants.

“Right..I’ll go.”

“Good, just be around later on so I can get a ride home.” Dustin said after that, facing back towards the crowd. You turn away after that, not wanting either boy to see as the tears formed in your eyes. Maybe he was right about all this. Maybe Dustin again came through with the only real advice.

Either way, you went on to do what you did best.

“Sorry Miss but if you’re not going to buy anything, we’re gonna have to ask you to leave. We’re closing in five minutes.”

You nearly dropped the dress in your hands at the sight of the girl from up the counter inside Kaufman’s shoes. Has it really been hours since you attempted to shop? Every store you had gone into had been through a blind haze. Not really seeing anything you’d like or anything that could get you out of your mind.

“I’m sorry.” you said finally, setting the item back on the counter. “I’ve been a little distracted.”

“No worries, hun. Have a safe trip home. Okay?”

Waving goodbye to the cashier, you slowly left the store along with a few other stranglers. The lights of the mall had begun to dim and you were thankful for the day to be finally at an end. It was right when you were about to set foot out of the front doors of the building that you finally remembered.

“Shit, where’s Dustin?” you groaned, slapping your hand against your forehead.

Turning around quickly, you pushed past the last few shoppers and made your way over to the escalators. Of course the machine had turned off and you carefully stepped down to the level of the food court. But it wasn’t until you were about to turn in the directions of Scoops that you suddenly felt it.

The sudden realization that despite the empty food court, you were not alone.

“Район теперь свободен. (The area is now clear).”

That’s all you needed to hear before you quickly dashed to hide behind one of the larger pillars that surrounded the escalator.

“Мы должны встретиться для доставки сейчас. (We are to meet for a delivery now.)”

Peeking out from the side, you watched as two large looking men dressed in black heading towards the entrance to the Imperial Panda. Nothing too shocking, except for the fact that they were armed with large guns.

“Holy shit.” you whispered, watching as they checked the area before finally going into the back door. “Evil Russians.”

Knowing now that what Dustin and Robin had uncovered was real, you couldn’t help but feel the sudden panic. If they were anywhere near these guys, then they were most likely near danger. Dashing over to Scoops, you quickly rush over to the counter and find that there’s a note.

“Up on the roof for further surveillance. -R ♡”

“Shit,” you hissed, pushing past the metal swing door. You’re careful when running out the backroom of the loading hall. Scared that you might run into the goons that you saw before. But thankfully there seemed to be no one there.

Running down, you finally find the door that led up to the roof, rushing upwards so that you could finally get to the group.

“Guys?” you called out, being instantly hit with the rain. It’s pouring worse than ever and you shiver a bit as you step closer.

“Duck!” you heard Dustin yell. Stepping forward, you arrive just in time to watch as they quickly turn around to face you. Confusion on their faces before Dustin reached over to drag you down on the floor. “Get down, idiot!” he hissed.

Barely being able to register what’s going on, you looked over the edge a bit to catch sight of the same guards from downstairs. Only now they were looking up towards the roof.

“Guys we should mo-“

The words die off from your lips when you take in the sight of Steve holding hands with Robin. The two of them were scared and breathing heavily but holding tightly to one another.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.” Dustin said, dragging you away. Steve noticed your gaze and dropped hands with Robin before following after you two.

The run back towards the hall to Scoops is almost fast. Making you wonder if it was the panic or the anger that was building up inside of you.

A hand grazed at your shoulder, trying to get you to turn around but you push through to keep the lead.

“Well, I think we found your Russians.” You heard Robin say behind you.

You waited until the four of you were behind the locked doors of Scoops before turning around finally.

“I can’t believe it.” Dustin gaped, “they were definitely hiding something.”

“Exactly! Tomorrow we need to find a way to get into that storage room and see what they were guarding!” Robin said to Dustin.

The two of them sounded almost excited to have their hunches confirmed. Making you frown even more at everything. Finally, after the day you had, you can’t hold back anymore.

“Are you two serious?” You asked, seething tone edging into your voice. “Did we all not see the same thing?”

The two of them turned quiet, looking over at you with confusion. It’s only Steve whose head is tilted at you eyes turning wide at the familiar tone.

“What do you mean?” Robin asked. “Of course I did. The guards had something..”

“Uh, I wouldn’t—.” Steve started. But you held up a hand to him. Taking a step closer to Robin with narrowed eyes.

“Had something? Is that really all you saw, you idiot?”

Dustin stepped forward, frowning up at you with crossed arms. Obviously not picking up at your tone. “Look, we get it. You’re upset but you don’t have to go around calling people names.”

“Oh I think I do!” You laughed, feeling your chest begin to ache with the amount of emotions running through. “You see, I tend to call people idiots when they blatantly ignore the signs of danger.”

“Look, why don’t we just call it a night?” Steve interjected, trying to hold his hands up to you.

“No, Steve. I’d like to know why I’m being insulted.” Robin countered, frowning at you for the first time ever.

“You’re being insulted because instead of being scared at the idea that there are armed men in this mall, you’re curious as to what stupid thing they’re hiding in a box!”

“But I’m not scared!” Robin yelled back. “And yes, I’m curious. But you would be too if you were invested in what’s going on!”

“You are a child, Robin!” You argued. “Fuck, we all are.” Rubbing a hand through your face, you try not to explode and explain everything that’s happened. How adding this to the list of shit going on with Hawkins is not good.

“Look, you don’t have to worry.” Robin tried, more calmly this time. “We just have to be cautious about this and approach this carefully.”

You dropped your hand from your face to look at her questionably. “You cannot be serious. We should not get any more deeper than this! Do you not realize what would happen if we had stayed on that roof? If they had caught us?” Scoffing, you look over at all of them now. “It’s like you’re looking for trouble.”

“Look, I get that you’re upset and I would be too if I was proven wrong.” Dustin said coming closer to you. “But you can still get some credit from the search if you help us out tomorrow—“

“Do you think that I would be so vapid as to be only interested in being right about this?” You gaped, looking down shocked at your cousin again today.

“Well yeah, that is why you’re mad isn’t it?”

Stunned by his reply you can’t help but stagger back. Unsure at what point you came off like this girl that Dustin saw you as.

“Hey, no.” Steve said, coming close enough that he could place a hand on your shoulder. “He’s wrong. I know you’re not—“

“Not what, Steve? Vapid? Moody? Filled with an attitude that makes me unlikeable?” You laughed feeling your head begin to ache. “You know, I thought you of all people would have put a stop to this.”

Steve’s mouth flopped open and closed as he tried to reply but you shook your head pushing his hand off from you.

“This is dangerous..and you guys just want to find out some dark truth for what? Patriotic glory?”

Looking over at Robin, you tried to ignore the hurt look on her face. Reminding yourself that maybe if she was smart enough, she’d heed your warning and get over the insults.

“Look, if you guys want to get yourselves killed then consider me out.” You sniffed, trying to keep yourself in check. “After today, I seriously see that I’m no longer needed here.”

“Hey that’s not true.” Steve said quickly, frowning at you before he looked at the others. “Tell her guys.”

“Don’t make them lie for my benefit, Steve.” You said holding a hand up. After practically being no help, Dustin’s insults, and seeing all that you saw tonight. Including that last bit on the roof. You were no longer interested in anything else anyone had to say.

“I see the signs clearly and it’s just as well. Because I’m tired of this stupid mall, this stupid tape, this stupid summer..” you take a step forward giving Steve a glare as you poke hard on his chest. “..and I’m tired of you.”

Steve’s face instantly fell at your words. But you ignore the pain that’s behind that to keep your guard up. Turning to face the other two, you give them a sardonic grin.“See if you guys can translate a ride for Dustin. I’m out of here.”

And with that you rush out of the room. Feeling like every step echoed in the empty mall as you made a dash for the exit. Once you made it to your car, you quickly left the parking lot. Leaving the bright hue of the Starcourt Mall for possibly the last time this summer.

a/n: sorry for the angst, but we all know i’m not. hope you enjoyed the chapter!

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve harrington x you #Steve Harrington x female reader #steve harrington fic #cb

126 notes · View notes

jasminedragonart · 7 months

Text

Thoughts about the impact jK Rowling has had on the female character:

I think it's fair to say that we have a long way to go in media and literature to achieve a steady basis of good female characters. That's not to say there's none, but the bad does outweigh the good. The thing is, it is getting better. These days when we look at media we can find a lot of well written female characters. Tina, Louise and Linda Belcher. Star Butterfly and Mabel Pines. Nadja of Antipaxos. These are just a few characters I thoroughly enjoy watching on screen and the reason for this is because they're relatable to me. I sometimes sing to myself like Linda, I've found myself writing fan fiction like Tina. I've had that moment like Louise where I stood there as a child and wondered why others around me don't like the things I do. I'm flawed like Mabel and I like cute things like Star.

All of these women above are women. They're feminine. They allow themselves to embrace everything that makes them who they are and yes there are struggles but they're not standing there telling me they're modernising what it means to be a woman. They're women and I like them.

Characters like these have been hard won. We've legitimately struggled to get them here and every year it's getting harder and harder to keep women like these on screen. The reason behind this, I kind of blame a lot on the impact Harry Potter had not just on media but what it means to be a woman.

Has anyone else heard the phrase 'Be a hermione in a world full of princesses?' Does anyone see how toxic this is? Does anyone else not see the problem JK has created by her series getting popular? A problem she hasn't and doesn't want to address because she doesn't realise the problems in her own books.

Hermione was a breakthrough character in children's media. By that, I mean that people finally saw the bookish girl as holding value in a narrative beyond what she had been before (maybe annoying. Maybe just a side character. Never a main character or love interest.- except no, that's wrong. we had lisa Simpson way before Hermione...

Lisa is more nuanced though. I enjoy Lisa because she's very self aware and does try and improve herself even if she's doomed to love in a sitcom she can't escape her role from.

Back to Hermione. Hermione was new to children at least. She showed kids there was value in reading and learning. But, in all honesty, how much is Hermione's popularity down to Emma Watson's portrayal of her and how much is it down to the character of Hermione.

Movie Hermione is very watered down. In fact she's given a lot of Ron's lines which makes her more impactful and Ron further into the shadow of the comedic best friend. Emma Watson is very pretty too. Even as a child she looked a lot like how a lot of prettier girls in my class looked. Her hair was the only thing that made her an outcast. But even then, this was the early 2,000s. Do you know how many kids my age came to school with Hermione's hair? They brushed those curls out until they were dead. No one knew about the curly girl method in primary. The point is, Hermione is different on screen than in the books. she's pretty, she's emotional, shes more nuanced than she is in the books and I applaud the movies for doing this to Hermione because it did make her more likeable.

That's the thing though. More likeable. In the books Hermione is not a likeable character to a lot of people. She would have been the know it all in class that reminded the teacher they had homework. Yes, she did some good things, she spoke up about the house elves, she saved Harry's life a few times but her character, in my opinion, got worse as the books went on. She remained very consistent. there wasn't a lot of change to her character. She didn't seem to grow because she didn't have to.

Worse. she was elevated.

I don't know if anyone else caught the horrific misogyny in these books but I did and it infuriates me.

JK makes a point of elevating Hermione. Hermione is always right. Hermione will always win. Hermione is the standard we should hold other females to, and I know for a fact it's because her popularity increased as the movies were brought out.

If we look at the other female characters in comparison to Hermione I honestly hate it. Mainly because Hermione is elevated to a point where she isnt feminine. If you show any femininity in those books you're villainised.

Don't believe me?

What colour does Umbridge wear? Pink. What is her favourite animal? A cat. She likes sweet things and lace. Shes everything we've come to know about women but she's twisted inside so we can't like these things. we turn against these things because Hermione doesn't wear pink. she wears blue like at the yule ball. she's almost masculine in her appearance so we don't associate her with natural beauty.

Lavender. Girly girl. Just wants a boyfriend because all girls at that age are boy crazy. She's a very supportive girl. Its turned to clinginess. Something hermione is not. In fact she keeps ron at such a distance I didn't even know they would end up together until the last book. the movies made it more obvious, they did their best with it. But the books didn't.

Cho Chang. Cries a lot. Emotional. Doesn't matter that she's grieving and was forced to give up the location due to a potion. No, she's villainised so Ginny can have a sudden romance with harry that again came out of nowhere.

Luna escapes this thankfully. Only because she's too weird for us to consider her having romantic notions. she doesn't have to be put down or twisted to make way for someone else.

Jk made a whole generation of girls hate anything girly. They turned away from pink. They would rather pick up a book than do their make up. Their interest in Hermione and rejecting femininity is the reason we have so many bad female heroines these days.

My question to jk is why? Why couldn't a girl like make up and reading? Why is it one or the other? Why must we reject the pleasures of being dainty and liking cute and fun things in order to be a good woman? Why couldn't we have a character like Louise? Louise is very much a tom boy. But you know what? Louise wears a dress and bunny ears, pink bunny ears, every day of her life because the writers of that show understood a female character. Louise loves smashing mirrors. She also loves Boo Boo. She doesn't like pixies but she still likes wearing a dress.

For years the girly girls of this world had to put up with characters like Hermione being paraded in front of them and told that they themselves were being bad women because they liked pink. Because they liked cats and boys. It wasn't right. And we really need to ask the question on why JK thought to put women down like this in her books when she herself is- apparently- such a protector on what it means to be a woman.

I spy some internal misogyny. I spy a lot of things and theres probably more i could say but it's late, I'm tired and my phone keeps smashing my words together so I need to stop typing.

This is just my opinion. You don't have to agree. This is just the experience I've had growing up in a world where these books shaped a lot of my childhood. I probably would have explored dresses and brighter colours faster if I wasn't told by a fictional character and the grip she had on me and my femininity that pink is bad. That being a girl is bad.

#hermione granger #harry potter

67 notes · View notes

fedorah-the-explorah · 5 months

Text

I saw a take that said the family dynamics between team red (especially shadowsan + carm) are somewhat exaggerated by fandom and there's not actually a lot in canon that supports a lot of popular head canons or attributed roles. And it's like, first of all, please keep your hurtful truths to yourself. Second of all, I'm probably going to need a read more.

Despite myself, I really cannot disagree with the points made by this particular poster. It's a sound argument. Carmen Sandiego (2019) is an adventure series. It's fast paced, action packed, and focused a decent amount on edutainment. This is understandable, this is after all, the point of the franchise as a whole. The characters have enough sustenance that they are likeable, though they are most noticeably flat.

I'd argue that Shadowsan and Devineaux are the most dynamic characters, but even then the handling of their respective character arcs leaves something to be desired. Much like the rest of the series, their storylines feel rushed and added in as a second thought. I get the impression that the show was envisioned simply as an adventure of the week type of thing. They had a premise and a gimmick and they wanted to run with it. This is fine. But then came the overarching story lines and... Well. There were no master pieces.

We'll take season one as an example. The first two episodes were pretty solid. They had a coherent and well executed story line supported by characters with personality and potential for growth and depth. The pilot episode of a series serves to set up character arcs and overarching themes without having to go too into depth because of the fact that it's simply the beginning. The first two episodes of this series fulfilled their purpose, and they were executed well. I will even be generous to the rest of the season's story line and say that there did seem to be at least the minimal amount of foreshadowing and groundwork laid for the twist at the end of the season.

The problem then comes into play with the remaining episodes. From episodes three to eight, the story line is episodic and self-contained. There's a formula and it works well without there necessarily being a greater need for depth. I was perfectly invested simply with the caper by caper formula. It was never thought-provoking for me nor did it need to be. It was just a bit of fun. And then came the final episode and it was... interesting! I was pleasantly surprised by the sudden inclusion of an overarching story line, if not scratching my head a little.

Shadowsan's reveal made a decent amount of sense in hindsight, but didn't come across as particularly expertly crafted. It was a sudden shift to the status quo with little build up, and it felt vaguely out of place. It's an episode that could have been executed better if the narrative had started to shift earlier in the season or if there were more episodes between "The Chasing Paper Caper" and "The French Connection Caper." Instead it's everything all at once and I found myself thinking, "Oh! Okay! So we're doing this now."

Upon rewatching, there is some build up that can be noticed and recontextualizes, but it's not much. Even knowing how the season concludes, episodes 3-8 still feel episodic and disconnected from any greater story line. You've got some angst about Carmen's origin, and Shadowsan's insistence about sending Tigress for a second time reframes itself as a calculated decision rather than misjudgment but that's about it. They have the bare essentials of story telling, but they're not skillfully crafted. And that's... fine! This is children's TV. I don't actually hold it to the same standard as adult television, and I do think it's a pretty decent show for what it is.

My point then that I want to address is this idea of bare essential story telling. Carmen Sandiego doesn't lack the elements needed to tell a good story. They're there, just not expertly executed. The post that inspired this spiel mentioned that Team Red reads more as friendly coworkers. I don't fully agree with this, but I see their point. I will also say that I don't think this was what the writers had in mind. I do believe they were meant to be read as Found Family, in fact, it is more or less explicitly stated in "The African Ice Caper." It's just that, like every other aspect of the show, it's handled in a way that gives hints of further depth while not fully conceptualizing the theme.

This is not a smear campaign against the series. No, this is very much a product of passion. It's an entertaining show with beautiful animation and captivating fight sequences. I was hooked from the first episode and I continued to be so through the end of the series. I'd say one of the greatest draws of this show lies in its weakness. We're only given impressions of characters' further depth and personality. With the obvious exception of Carmen, we're only given glimpses of characters'back stories. In regards to over arching story lines, we're only given bare bone elements. This isn't great from a critical standpoint, but it does open the door to a large array of fan interpretation and transformative fanworks.

Because of the flaws in canon, fans are not bound by strict limitations. They are free to come up with their own unique interpretations of characters, they can flesh out back stories however they see fit, and otherwise flimsy storylines lend themselves to deeper fan-driven exploration.

Frequently on Tumblr, you'll see posts that disparage fanon for the way that it tends to flanderize and flatten characters. And yeah! This is bad! Unsurprisingly, flattening complex stories into easily recognizable tropes and clichés is actually the devil! A lot of times in fandom, you see this sort of corporate brain rot that simplifies stories into familiar and easily consumable pieces of "media" ("Consuming media," my beloathed)

Fanon gets a bad rep. Is it deserved? Mm. A good majority of the time, maybe. But where is the discussion for fanon in the other direction? What about when fanon expands a work of fiction? When it assigns more complexity than canonically given? There's something innately human about connecting with a piece of fiction and wanting to do more. We don't so easily let go of things, you know? When you love a piece of art that's otherwise disappointing, you have this desire to see it do better. To meet its potential. I think that's where fanon in the opposite direction stems from.

I think the fandom surrounding Carmen Sandiego (2019) is a decent example of this. The characterization is admittedly lacking, but that's done nothing to stop fanartists from coming up with their own rich interpretations of characters and their relations to others.

Carmen and Julia are two characters that share a decent amount of screen time, but their relationship otherwise suffers from the amount of time stretching between interactions. This has done nothing to deter fans. It seems I can't throw a stone in this fandom without hitting beautiful pieces of fanart depicting the two, or multi-chapter fics exploring the two's dynamics, or impassioned ramblings about them.

The same thing can be said about Graham and Carmen. They share a decent amount of screen time and their interactions are compelling, but they're too far and in between. What's there is not fully developed. Again, bringing it back to the idea of bare essential story telling. They have what they need to hint at the intrigue of both these dynamics, but they're not satisfactorily executed and both relationships suffer as a result. Their relationships, and indeed, the show as a whole, kind of feels like a completed puzzle with various missing pieces.

I chose Julethief and Redcrackle to use as examples, but similar things can be said of every other relationship in this show. Player and Carmen have moments that hint at a dynamic friendship built on unwavering trust and care, but it's only in a few select scenes, (though, the scenes that do do this are phenomenal and make me want to cry-- and I'm so sorry shippers-- but Player and Carmen have a monopoly on the hard hitting emotionally impactful moments in this show. I don't make the rules, I'm sorry.) and the majority of their interactions are reserved for getting down to business.

However, because of the glimpses we do see, you see countless fics detailing their friendship and building on to what we see in canon by going behind the scenes. I myself have extensive head canons about these two and honestly, what I've written and published is only the tip of the iceberg. Player is a bit of a tricky character to get a grasp on because of his limited role in canon, but what we do see opens up all sort of interpretation. I have such a fun time writing him because I can use what I see in canon to shape my own ideas about how he would act in various scenarios. My version of Player is far more dynamic than what we see in canon, but it's only like that because I love the canon character so much. I want him to do more, I want him to be more. My creativity is piqued with this character.

Moving on, let's focus on Shdowsan and Carmen, my other beloved dynamic. I have so many ideas about these two's relationship, and I especially enjoy delving into the dynamic between him and Black Sheep. They suffer the same problems as prior discussed. The scenes building on their relationship are sparse, but they are there. Take for several examples:

Shadowsan interacting with little Black Sheep in the "Daisho Caper," Shadowsan's stated remorse at not being able to tell Carmen about her own family, Shadowsan nursing her back to health after "The Stockholm Syndrome Caper," his stated motive for hiding the truth of her lineage from her, Shadowsan telling her he'd be with her till the end of the line, Shadowsan reminiscing about little Black Sheep when he visits the destroyed VILE Island, Shadowsan's dedication to finding Carmen's mother for her, Shadowsan telling her she can finally rest, and, and, and, and.

There is certainly a reason that fans have interpreted he and Carmen as being father and daughter, and I am in no way surprised by the beautiful and extensive explorations that certain fans have taken into these two's shared history (@frozenwolftemplar my beloved)

After all, you really do have to wonder about the hardened assassin who couldn't bring himself to harm a child or her father. Could there have been more done on the show writers part to really cement their relationship as adoptive father and daughter? Yes, absolutely. Does the development of their relationship leave something to be desired? Yes, absolutely. Do the existing interactions inspire me to delve further and call up melancholy memories of me and my own father, thus making me want to extensively detail their shared history before expanding on their present relationship so that I can process my own feelings about my own father? Yes, absolutely. Is this type of connection a deeply valuable faucet of story telling and kind of the whole point of creating art to begin with? I think so!

Carmen Sandiego doesn't necessarily set things up just to drop them so much as it strives to create compelling story lines and interesting characters before ultimately failing to delve deep enough or dedicate enough time for these things to fully come into their own. They're there and they exist, but it's like... Drinking water with oranges in it. I can taste the oranges, but damnit, now I want orange juice.

It utilizes story telling techniques, but not enough so that the show fully benefits from them. There's an impression of character dynamics, back stories, and personality but they're not fully recognized.

However, it is because of these flaws that fans can take the source material and go absolutely bonkers with it. By engaging with the story and characters, you really get the chance to flex your creative muscle. It's like a sandbox. The sand is there, the box is there, and the tools are there, but what you make is up to you. I've seen some deeply moving pieces of writing come out of this fandom, and it's insane to me how some authors can do so much with so little. In engaging with fanworks for this show, I've drawn connections to my own life and my own relationships. There are lines of writing that have been engraved into my brain. I've met wonderfully creative people and I'm glad to be an active member of the community.

No, the show itself is no amazing piece of story telling. It's fun and it's entertaining, but it doesn't fully realize everything that it set out to do. It does, however, open the door to community as well as inspiring creativity and transformity, and that means the world to me.

#god damnit i did it again #when will i stop dedicating hours of my life to hand wavy analysis of my niche special interests #suzie speaks #carmen sandiego 2019 #carmen sandiego netflix

23 notes · View notes

binalakarchive · 7 months

Note

Love fionna and simon in those debut dresses!! The parallels aaaaaa

What are your Feelings around them 👀 I'd love to know!

the normal answer:

i really like fionna and simon’s dynamic bc ultimately, in a world where ice king was constantly isolated, fionna was the closest thing to human connection that ice king felt truly accepted in for the longest time. the fionna and cake stories were also something that helped Ice King eventually connect to other people, even with its rough start the people of Ooo eventually came to know Ice King for those stories, and started connecting with him through connecting with his work.

the Fionna and Cake series ended up. opening up a LOTTTT of doors to something i didn’t even think would be truly expanded upon, with the main question i have being: how is simon going to cope with having “his coping ocs” come to life? how are fionna and cake supposed to cope with realizing that all of their world is dependant on the existence of a crazed guy that doesn’t truly know what he’s living life for?

what is Simon to do when said OCs stop acting more like his OCs/outdated view of what the world was to him back when he was Ice King and more like their own people, even and especially now influenced with how Simon chooses to cope with the world at present day? how much is Simon willing to do if it means clinging onto the only things he can identify himself with, his constant state of grief and unhealed trauma going in hand with the characters that want to enable a madness that used to make him “likeable” to others, easier to connect with even at his worse?

what is Fionna to do when she realizes how much she meant to simon? the only human connection Ice King could fully embrace at the time he nourished the Fionna and Cake series? a character parallels with a real life human boy that actually exists, that Ice King has grown to care for over time? of realizing what kind of human the voice of your “stories”/world truly is? where does the Endearingness end and the Genuine Discomfort of self destructive delusion start?

i still have more writing in the works but i dont wanna leave this answered, especially since i know my answer is going to change the more episodes appear (which is going to just be a lot more questions until the series comes to an end)

#fionna and cake #adventure time #SORRY THIS ISNT THE ANSWER I WANNA WRITE. ITS JUST SO LONG AND I DONT WANNA LEAVE THIS HERE N END UP FORGETTING THIS ENTIRELY #fionna campbell #simon petrikov

36 notes · View notes

felassan · 1 year

Text

Lately there's been quite a few interviews with the creators of Dragon Age: Absolution, some of which contain interesting pieces of information about Absolution and DA generally. This post collects these together. :> it's under a cut due to length and will be updated if more info of note from interviews comes out. all infos have their sourcelink included. this post is Part 1, it spilled over into 2 parts due to character limits (Part 2 link). (Absolution spoilers under cut)

Unreliable narrators & fluid lore ("You think you know how things work, but it's rare that you actually do, and it's rare that everything is exactly what it seems [...] it gives us opportunities to ask questions like, 'What if that didn't actually happen that way? Maybe the world isn't what people think.'"), power at a cost/power always has a cost & this can manifest socially or literally, the characters & what happens with them & how they relate, heroism being about the choices you make & what you choose to do when confronted with a problem, and what is a hero/what makes a hero are central themes of Dragon Age [source]

Pride, ego and the belief that "only I have the answers, I'm the only one who can solve this" also came up as a theme (👁️). it was said that characters who aren't willing to acknowledge when they need help often become the villains. John Epler said that that is the kind of stuff he would love to explore going forward in the series: "Where we can see that idea of people who are convinced that they are the only ones who can solve the problems versus the people who do have that ability to lean on others, that ability to take what's given to them, take what's offered, take the help that they need." [source]

They would love to do more with the characters in this sort of way: "Using Solas as an example, using Corypheus as an example, how did they get to where they were? Being able to dive into that thought process and dive into that psyche, really being able to understand where they're coming from, even if you don't agree with it, because ultimately, they are supposed to be characters, not just caricatures, not just 'big bads.' They may be big bads, but there's more to it than just that." [source]

They wanted Miriam's story to feel as epic and as dire as someone facing the end of the world, because in a lot of ways she faces the end of her world in the show. as a character she's real, imperfect, at times very vulnerable, going through hell and she was given the space to express a full range of emotions. they didn't want to worry so much about making her perfectly likeable. "we wanted this to be a chance for her to try and start to heal some of those scars". she struggles with a sense of self-worth and finding and fighting for herself [source]

Miriam is the only person who doesn't think she's the hero of the story. Hira's VA was advised to play Hira as if she was the hero. Rezaren's was advised to play Rezaren as if he was the hero, and as if he was right. Rezaren sincerely believes that he's doing the right thing because people don't wake up in the morning and think that they're doing the wrong thing and then continue on. As villains Hira and Rezaren have a lot of sympathy but not a lot of empathy. "They feel bad when people are hurt by their actions, but they can't really put other people's needs above their own or other people's needs, in Hira's case, above the importance of her cause." [source]

When it comes to sensitive or intense topics, they like to engage consultants. John said "You don't want to be like, 'Oh, we never did this,' but also you maybe want to like, 'You know what? It maybe made sense 10 years ago or however long ago, but maybe now we're not going to go quite in the same direction. Maybe we're going to put some more nuance in it or maybe take it in a slightly different way.'" [source]

Corypheus saw himself as a figure who now needed to save the world, as the hero of the story. He's the kind of character who thinks "I'm the only one who can do this, I need to do it on my own". everyone to Corypheus was a tool and a way to get to his ultimate goal. he wasn't able to admit when he was in over his head and didn't have all the answers [source]

Nessum is based on the idea of what a high-end Tevinter resort town would feel like, and on what an opulent Tevinter Versaille would look like [source]

Tevinter is (and has always been talked about internally at BW as such) very much in a lot of ways like the ancient Roman Empire - a civilization that has over time conquered other places and drawn a lot of different elements of their architecture into influencing their own. they were trying to get this across in Absolution, the idea of the old Roman style and also pulling in some of the influences of the places that they conquered. [source]

Tevinter has been a massive weight on the fabric of Thedas for a long time [source]

Regarding who would appear at the very end of the show, they explored a few different options, it wasn't always planned to be Meredith. as they were developing the show they realized they all loved to hate Meredith and that they had an opportunity to surprise fans by bringing her back. they thought she was an interesting character, she appeals to the DAII fanbase and she has a lot of unresolved business. ultimately they wanted to use a villain who was big enough to make it feel like a major part of the Dragon Age mythos, rather than just an inconsequential side story. Meredith is also the perfect candidate for a character who would want an artifact like that and be willing to make sacrifices to get it for their own goals. John said that in that meeting when that was proposed, there was a moment of "Oh, okay, wow yeah that actually is perfect" [source]

Hira's character explores the theme of giving everything to the cause and the price of this. she truly believes herself to be a True Believer of the cause and is willing to sacrifice anything for it. "To have her run up against Meredith, and have Miriam run up against Meredith" - when you think of a Dragon Age character on a righteous crusade you think about Meredith [source]

When asked how deep Meredith has her claws in Kirkwall, they said that unfortunately there isn't a lot they can see about this. John added that "but I will say, find out more at some point for sure". Kirkwall isn't a great place at any time and this development is only making it worse [source]

[Part 2 link, as the character limit was reached in this post]

#dragon age: absolution #dragon age: absolution spoilers #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #solas #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4

101 notes · View notes

cpericardium · 2 months

Note

do tell me more about fallout equestria. i read some of it when i was a lot younger and really into mlp but i got bored of it

@mindriz Thank you for asking!! I liked Fallout Equestria a lot but don't have anything fresh to say about it other than the fact that even after I played Fallout New Vegas I still kept accidentally calling them PipBucks. Some thoughts on Fallout Equestria: Project Horizons (based off of foggy memories from reading it as a teen):

That shit is so anime. The plot is convoluted as hell and just gets more so over time. Blackjack is a dyed-in-the-wool Oh Cee. She shoots things and blows them up and is an incorrigible licentious flirt and is drunk all the time and gets beaten within an inch of her life every day and tortured and gang-raped and loses her limbs and they get replaced by cybernetic implants (with fingers) and her eyes glow yellow from radiation and she gets sharp carnivore teeth and she eats gems as fuel. I had to go look up whether she got wings because I forgot. And yes, of course she did. Jesus Christ. The whole fic is a series of massive escalations with the author constantly fighting to up the stakes by asking themselves "what's the coolest thing that could happen next?" I still kind of enjoyed it? I dropped it a few chapters in the first time I read it because Blackjack got on my nerves initially, but came back to it because it's an engaging action fic, the characters are very likeable (P-21 is my favourite), and it has a ton of fun ideas and concepts that add value to the original, albeit more in a "okay but this guy I made up was orchestrating everything you made up behind the scenes" way than in a "yes and" way. Relatedly, I think it was a mistake for PH to cross over with FoE, at least in the way that it did. By having Blackjack meet Littlepip and have them swap war stories, the reader is encouraged to compare their struggles in the wasteland. But they're different stories with vastly different scopes. Like yeah, Blackjack suffered worse, but that's because Littlepip's author had some restraint. A little disrespectful to the original fic, to me.

(Another interesting thing I've never seen anyone remark on: PH had an expansive team of betas and editors. And I would read PH author Somber's other fics, posted before and after PH. They're very, very far below the level of writing in PH, which leads me to speculate that their beta team was doing a lot of the legwork here. I could be totally wrong but I don't think I am... the descriptive writing sometimes really ramps up in quality, but inconsistently. Somber seemed to be very much the idea guy.)

#mlp #mlpfim #my little pony g4 #fallout equestria #project horizons #mlpfic #overall I would say don't read it #well maybe if you are a weeb

16 notes · View notes

negrowhat · 9 months

Note

Cherry Magic or Okd Fashion Cupcake…

OHHH Anon! Now this is a challenge! I fucking LOVE Cherry Maho and Cupcake! They're both such excellent series and magic aside they're basically the same thing in different fonts.

Both series feature such likeable and relatable characters. Adachi and Nozue are both so similar; both men keep their heads down and try not to venture out of their comfort zones. Nozue is def more popular than Adachi, but he still seems to have a ton of resentment for his own self like Adachi does. Both men lead lives where they feel unfulfilled, doomed to walk the same paths day in and day out.

Togawa and Kurosawa both seem to be superstars to their counterparts and yet both harbor years long crushes due to seemingly unimportant instances that left lifelong impacts on them. Like the reason I love both series is because they share the same content.

Togawa and Kurosawa are both gifted chances to get close to their long time crushes just by being themselves. I love how these normally calm and collected character malfunction at the slightest thing when it comes from Nozue and Adachi.

I love that both main couples are unproblematic too. Often times BLs feature one main who is really, really annoying up until a certain point but not Cherry Magic or Old Fashion Cupcake.

Also the way both series managed to display high levels of romance with little to no kissing says a lot.

I like that Cupcake manage to tell such a compelling story in such a short amount of time but at the same time I like that we got a sequel and send off to Cherry Magic. Choosing between these series is like choosing between my right and left arms.

If it absolutely came down to me choosing I'd have to say...........Cherry Magic, and I think it's because I've loved them longer, but I would totally cheat on Cherry Maho with Old Fashion Cupcake.

#this was tough #cherry magic #kurosawa x adachi #old fashion cupcake #togawa x nozue

46 notes · View notes

brasideios · 5 months

Text

10 Characters/10 Fandoms/10 Tags

Thank you for thinking of me my dears @krankittoeleven & @ainulindaelynn

Lemme see. This is long, sorry about that. I’m in a rambling mood. These are just the characters that came wandering into my noodle in no order - at least, that was intended.

1. Dorothea from Middlemarch (by George Eliot). She’s probably my fave character ever. I think in a mostly abstract way, she’s come nearest to mapping out how I perceive the feminine part of myself. She starts out so so idealistic - wanting to do something to change the world, to matter, but society has its own rules that eventually beats her down, but she’s so stoic, enduring, and self-denying, that her happy ending is earned… but then the epilogue is so melancholy so was it happy? and… I don’t know. There’s something in it all that I’ve never found a better version of.

2. My brain is on D names now lol so Daphnae from AC Odyssey. The more I think about her story, as little as we’re given of it, the more I find something tragic and fated in it, and then there’s the possibility of changing that fate, or embracing it. Something, something doomed by the narrative, unless…?

3. Demosthenes from my pdfs lol listen - ancient history RPF is a fandom (apparently) so this is valid. I have been down some serious rabbit holes with this man of late - I won’t even start on why or this will be an essay. I could also have put Thucydides in this position - but I’m on D names.

4. Daria. No seriously. I loved this show when I was a teen, and she’s honestly my spirit animal. It was my nickname because I was unfortunately very much like that. I adore her deadpan, acerbic remarks and many of them will live on in my brain forevermore. I wasn’t as witty btw - but the vibes were the same.

5. Hedwyn from the vg Pyre (woot! My brain releases me from the letter D!). I’ve played it several times now, and he’s my fave. Just a sweet guy - so sweet, you always want to free him first, but then you also very much wanna keep him with you - and sometimes I’ve been selfish enough to send everyone else instead. I also like Volfred a lot but that has everything up do with the VA 🙈

6. Alfie from Peaky Blinders. I have no excuses - the character is an unhinged maniac but Tom Hardy just brought something (a twinkling eye) to the role that makes him a very likeable, back-stabbing psychopath.

7. Caesar from HBO Rome. Ciaran Hinds has been a fave of mine since Persuasion - and I liked how he acted this part / how he was written. That’s all I’ll ever say about Caesar - character or historical figure. There are at least another half a dozen characters in this series I might’ve mentioned too. I must rewatch it one of these days.

8. Gannicus from Starz Spartacus. Dustin Clare is an old time favourite from waaaay back when I was persuaded to watch McLeod’s Daughters - really bingeable but quite trashy Aussie TV - sorry to any fans - but it really is. I so enjoyed his vibes and he brings all of that to Gannicus and it just works so well for the character. Pure cheekiness, and when he does this face 🥺 chefs kiss. Side note - I will pretty regularly say some variation of ‘my cock rages on’ about the most random stuff so - thanks to this character for that gem lol.

9. Johnny Spit from the movie Gettin Square. Yeah this is left field and I seriously doubt there’s a fandom for it - but what a character - quintessentially Australian deadbeat, (played by David Wenham). There’s a courtroom scene that kills me every time. I hope he got square, for good this time.

10. Kenny from Mad Men. I don’t even know how to explain it, I just want to protect him and he doesn’t even deserve it, and he wouldn’t have thanked me for it - maybe it was just the way everyone else was just an asshole about his writing. I want to know more about the short story about the egg. I could’ve picked almost any other character from this show though. They’re all so good/bad for their own reasons.

I made it! Haha! I have no idea who to tag - I think the only people who usually join in have already been tagged - so I’ll just add a few and call it ten. Sorry for any double ups.

No pressure at all - @nemo-of-house-frye @theinkandthesea @liminalspacecowboah @cyrus-the-younger @myriath

#tag game #ten characters

12 notes · View notes

eclairia-monarch · 2 years

Text

Power Couple with the 'It Girl' HC [Iwaizumi]

Tumblr has been fucking me over so now i can only do individual characters for the same topic due to "character limit" like huh??!?!?

Haikyuu Masterlist | Haikyuu Series Masterlist

cutest. couple. ever. (´ ⌣`ʃƪ) ♡ Oikawa could never

volleyball ace from a powerhouse + the most popular girl of Seijoh? The very definition of a power couple!

the type of couple that got everyone staring wherever you guys go because you are just that pretty and he is just that handsome when he smiles

it's not like those jock + popular chick kind of trope where you two were relentlessly flirting with that stupid sexual tension. you two were literally heads over heel for each other for so long without acting on it because you two were kinda oblivious until your friends pointed it out

the news of you guys getting together is like a hot celebrity news

the damn school newspaper club is asking you for an interview like why??

do you know how many hearts you left broken, [y/n]?? you need to answer for that!

you were voted to be the prettiest and have received many anonymous confessions that on top of face to face and text confessions

on top of that, your grades were top notch and you are kind and humble

even though Iwaizumi doesn't have a lot of fan girls compared to Oikawa, there is no denying that he is one of the most popular guys in school. like dude's got a lot of homies because he is just so likeable!

both of you have been interested in each other since middle school but it is only at the end of your second year in Seijoh that you two get together

the confession was actually right in front of your house. an impromptu confession came when Iwaizumi realised how big his competition was getting

you have always just admire how he is hardworking and passionate yet doesn't make other worry about him (we stan a responsible king, yes)

ahem unlike Oikawa ahem

so of course you accepted him as your boyfriend, teasing that you might just call him "hubby" because he is who you want in your life forever

you guys are literally the most well loved duo in school and your dynamic is just so chill

Iwaizumi always balances your energy out

you have puppy energy and your eyes ✨ sparkles ✨ at whatever caught your interest, even at the most minute thing

he just stares at you with so much love in his eyes. thinks you are the best thing that ever happen in his life

always supporting each other up like URG JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY ❤ (ɔˆз(ˆ⌣ˆc)

can you tell I am single?

he will walk you to and back from school and have lunch with you everyday, without fail. every waking seconds that isn't on volleyball or dealing with his childhood friend, will be used on you

he prioritizes you over volleyball so if you ever need him, do not hesitate to ask! even in practice, he will always make sure you are all right

you will always patiently wait for him in the gym, always fascinated at every thing he does in practice. the way he play is very charming

you do help the coaches out if they ask you to, which also got you even more favorability because they lacked a proper manager

always a protective arm around your shoulder or waist and will stare at anyone who looks at you in the wrong way

any guys that dare to even make you uncomfortable in any way, Iwaizumi has plenty of time in the world to have a nice chat with them

when you stand up for yourself, just know that Iwaizumi is staring at you from behind with the proudest smile, and calls you hot because goddamn that dominant energy that you rarely shows just grab at him and remind him why he loves you so much

tons of head ruffles from him so embrace it

will fix your hair after too （*’∀’人）♥

Iwaizumi is whipped for you and isn't ashamed to show it. you can jokingly ask him to piggyback you in the middle of a crowded hallway and he is immediately on the floor like "climb on, babe,” and just carry on your everyday conversation like its no big deal just ignore his ears glowing r e d

one tiny shiver or one small sneeze? man's already shrugging his jacket and helping you wear it

marks down every important dates and makes sure to celebrate it one way or another

this man is dedicated to you and trust me, your title as a couple power just keeps getting stronger just like your love for each other

#iwaizumi #iwaizumi hajime #hajime #iwaizumi x reader #iwaizumi hajime x reader #haikyu #haikyuu #haikyuu headcanon #iwaizumi headcanon #reader insert #anime #romance #aoba johsai #seijoh

296 notes · View notes

punkxcalibur · 11 months

Text

personal mphfpc recap since i finally finished reading all the books

spoilers for the entire mphfpc series ahead. this will mostly be me talking about the book's imperfections, because when i love a piece of media, i also love criticizing it to its core

so, i first read the books 1-4 in 2020 and i was SO obsessed!!?? i wasn't really into social media and fandom culture back then, so i didn't really have anyone to talk to about mphfpc and i remember being very sad about that. i also remember trying to make fanart of the characters, but i REALLY sucked at art back then and to this day i find old mphfpc drawings and cringe at them. maybe it's time to redraw some of those...

anyways, i read the fifth book when it first came out in germany and i kind of hated it lol. i was really rushing through it, because i couldn't wait for the fugh reunion. so i kind of missed out on the whole plot because i only cared about fiona and hugh.

basically, i recently finished rereading the books, because nostalgia or whatever and i'm kind of obsessed again. so...i'm just dumping some thoughts on the whole series here because on tumblr i can actually find ppl with mutual interests.

first of all there's literally SO MANY inconsistencies and plotholes?? what the actual fuck ransom riggs. idk how much of this is prevalent in the og books, because i mainly read the german translations, but sometimes riggs just forgets who hugh is i guess?? he mixes up his and horace's peculiarities once and at some point he is referred to as howard. who the fuck is howard. these are literally the most easiest mistakes to fix. does he not have an editor?

i'm not even gonna talk about the movie. i have a whole seperate post for it

it sometimes bothers me how only certain characters seem to serve a purpose. in every novel emma, enoch, millard and bronwyn are clearly the focus (besides jacob) despite the fact that the other characters are equally interesting and likeable. hugh, horace, claire, olive and obviously fiona are just NOT THERE for like the entirety of AMOD. are you kidding me

the entire second trilogy...is kind of a cashgrab. of course i'm happy we got more books and i liked them, but it's kind of obvious that the author simply had some pictures left and saw an opportunity to make some more profit out of them. that's not bad, but these books weren't necessary for the overall storyline.

the thing with the prophecy in DODA...the entire book was dedicated to finding the other lighteaters, but they don't really do anything in the end?? i kinda get why noor has to be the *main character*, but why introduce julius and sebbie when everything could have played out the same way without them?

julius and horace...is it really that hard to age julius down? it would've made that a lot less creepy. there is literally no reason for julius to so much older than horace. not sure if this could be considered queerbaiting, since i don't know a lot about that topic. would be grateful if anyone elaborated more on that.

hugh and fiona are still my favorite thing about these books THEY ARE PERFECT IN EVERY WAY AND DESERVED SO MANY MORE SCENES UGH. i don't need another jemma kiss i need FUGH. there is just so much potential and plus, we never really get to learn about their backstories?? like we know that they're from the 1840s, so how did they get into a loop a century later?

how was fiona able to *whisper* to hugh in DODA, she literally had her tongue cut out, hello?

so many characters with lots of potential either die or just disappear. lilly, sam, althea, peter-and-joel...ring any bells??

why is horatio kinda

ok i'm sorry

the photos are so funny sometimes, because at times there will be a photo of, say, emma and in the next book there will be another picture of her and she just looks like a different person. because,obviously, that's a photo of a different person. but apparently, ransom thinks we're too dumb to notice that.

i would just love it if there'd be storylines that focused on each character individually, because again, WASTED POTENTIAL

ricky deserved to have a comeback, i feel like this is general fandom consensus

introducing v, just to kill her off? idk man

despite all of these criticisms i just made, i fucking cherish these books

since pjo gets a new awesome reboot i think we deserve one too

i also wish the fandom was bigger but maybe it's a good thing that it's kind of niche. i don't know.

uhh i guess that was my not-so-little rant and yeah...enjoy this post i guess

#mphfpc #miss peregrine's home for peculiar children #miss peregrine book #mphfpc meta #thoughts #long post

29 notes · View notes

bird-inacage · 1 year

Text

This is my quickie review on one of last year’s highly anticipated BL dramas and pairings. A really solid and competently directed entry to 2022′s roster.

When it was first promoted, the show came across as a mystery thriller with possible supernatural/sci-fi influences as suggested by the title. But in fact this is a social commentary drama that scrutinises the education system and its hierarchy of power; the consequences of what this pressure does to both those enforcing it and the young people operating within it.

There is high tension from the get go, as several mysteries unravel over the course of the series. The pacing can be slow at times, but that is resourcefully spent on fleshing out a wide range of characters; exploring motivations, backstories, and their part to play in the wider story.

I saw a lot of speculation as to whether the climax was heading towards a unusual twist of sorts, but actually materialised into a tale much more ordinary. The use of 'the eclipse' is a metaphor rather that a situational event or happening as we may have been led to believe. As the story takes place within a school environment, it can fall within the conventions of that genre, but does it’s level best to provide refreshing new ground - creating higher stakes within a mundane setting.

There were some silly moments, one of which involved an accidental kiss in a shower stall that frankly denied all laws of physics, and an infamous ‘it was all a dream’ fake-out kiss (which was perfection had it been real), which I guarantee drew a universal ‘AWH WHAT?’ from viewers everywhere.

Characters: I give kudos whenever a drama deviates from the typical BL top/bottom tropes. Ayan is the confrontational rascal who is unafraid to display weakness, and possesses bags of emotional intelligence. He’s presented as a bad boy but is steadfastly righteous and incredibly supportive of others. What I really liked about Ayan is he can love Akk but still be critical and disapproving of his actions, encouraging him to change and do better. Too often do we see love as a justified means to gloss over wrongdoing or problematic behaviour. Akk is the studious, reserved but easily flustered and burdened prefect who disguises a host of inner turmoil. Both are incredibly likeable in their own right; Ayan with his smartass and cheeky demeanour, and Akk with his huge heart eyes and even larger dreams of bettering himself. Both are striving ‘to do the right thing’ but approach this in completely different ways. Unlike some BL pairings where the chemistry gets you hot and bothered, Akk and Ayan have a much more wholesome dynamic that feels like you're watching two people who are friends/confidantes first, lovers second. An example where emotional connection has higher importance over physical. It feels authentically real, and that’s no surprise because First and Khaotung just so happen to be long-term best friends. This is a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance that is especially entertaining during moments of push and pull.

Pairing Rating: [SENSITIVE + WHOLESOME] Expect an abundance of longing looks, playful sparring and mutually supportive, healthy relationship traits.

Acting Performance: The absolute highlight is First and Khaotung’s superb acting, in their first official stint as a couple and as main leads. I had already seen First’s work on ‘Not Me’ where his role was an instant personal favourite. This was my first time watching Khaotung and I am in awe. These two are incredibly talented at speaking volumes through looks alone - every glance and gaze is loaded with subtext or brimming with emotion. The amount of tension they can achieve through just staring is immense. They delivered some of the best crying scenes I’ve seen yet because they’re able to channel genuine feeling from their real life friendship. If you’ve seen their interviews, they’re known to often cry over how much they cherish each other. Clearly this is a winning formula. Another fun fact is that both First and Khaotung are tackling character types here they’ve never played before, which only emphasises their range.

Production is fairly understated compared to others I've seen. They don’t do anything particularly creative or showy in the way they film or edit, but I think the objective here is substance over style.

Camera Work: A lot of shots are framed to look like they’re from the perspective of a bystander or witness. As a viewer, you can easily picture yourself in the shoes of another student lurking from afar or around a corner, who happens to stumble upon the scenes in front of you. This really hits home that this is a place riddled with secrets.

Music: The main theme ‘Over the Moon’ is very memorable, performed by none other than Khaotung himself. A piano version of this is often used as a backing track which is beautiful.

>>>

FINAL THOUGHTS: There is a strong emphasis on story beats here, where narrative takes precedence over romance. Pacing means the tension can sometimes wane or prolong, which leads to a bit of an abrupt crescendo at the show’s conclusion. First and Khaotung really do provide buckets of added value to this drama and without them, this would likely be a much less interesting watch.

(Disclaimer: These are just my own opinions. It goes without saying that one still can enjoy a show for all its successes as well as recognising its shortcomings.)

#the eclipse #the eclipse series #akkayan #akkaye #akk x ayan #ayan x akk #firstkhao #khaofirst #first kanaphan #khaotung thanawat #bird-inacage reviews #the eclipse reviews #thai bl

43 notes · View notes

burgundy-is-hilarious · 9 months

Text

Was Pokemon XY and XYZ made to make up for the previous season's faults.

As you guys know, XY and XYZ are the most well liked Seasons of the pokemon anime. It is very often ranked #1 on most lists that rank pokemon seasons from worst to best. And there are several videos talking about why it is the best Pokemon season. However, I always found it a little ironic that the supposedly best Pokemon season came after the supposedly worst pokemon season that being BW. So in this post I will see how some things in XY was done in contrast to how it was done in BW and other seasons as well. I will also be sharing some of my thoughts as well.

I want to start off with Ash Ketchum himself. In BW and even in previous seasons, Ash always seemed to show some signs of immaturity. In OS he was an inexperienced trainer who made impulsive decisions. In AG while he had a little more experience, he was still quite cocky and impatient when it came to gym battles. He also still seems to make impulsive decisions in AG. I don't remember much about DP Ash since that was the series I paid the least amount of attention to but did seem to be even more experienced in DP but still showed little signs of immaturity. And then we have BW. This is the season that fans say Ash was at his worst when it came to competence and maturity. Here in the beginning, he seems to have lost a lot of the maturity and competence he had built up from all the previous seasons. This really upset older fans and I will say that if you go on forums or other sights of people talking about disliking Best Wishes, Ash's lack of maturity and competence is a lot of times the first reason people list. Obviously resetting Ash was not a good move on the creators part. However, In XY, we would see a huge change in Ash Ketchum. He became wayyy more mature, more serious, looked older, and more competent in battling. So as you guys guessed, XY Ash became a fan favorite among fans pretty quickly. People to this day consider XY to be where Ash was at his best. So it is very possible that Ash in XY was made the way he was to make up for how his behavior in Best Wishes.

Now let's talk about the traveling companions. So in Best Wishes, we have Iris and Cilan as the friends who accompany Ash. Iris is a wild child who aspires to become a dragon master while Cilan is a cook and an A Class Pokemon Connoisseur. In XY, we have Serena who has a crush on Ash and is a Pokemon Performer, Clemont who is a shy and geeky inventor, and finally Bonnie who is Clemont's cute and spunky little sister. On the surface, both sets look equally likeable. However, the two sets were received very differently by fans. I'm going to get into the female companions first. Iris when she first debuted was very disliked by fans. Mainly because of the catchphrase she would say to Ash at times. She was also disliked for the lack of dragon types on her team, and her sometimes hypocritical behavior. However, she was also very outgoing, confident, adventurous, and a pretty competent battler. The difference between her and Serena is night and day. Serena instantly became a fan favorite soon after her feelings for Ash were revealed. She was very gentle, sweet, sensitive, and girly. I do think it's possible that Serena was given a more gentle and girly nature to make up for Iris's wild behavior but I think her crush on Ash was just fanservice in general. Now for the male companions, Cilan and Clemont both have their geeky moments with Cilan getting over excited over subway trains and Clemont getting excited about one of his inventions and then it explodes. I did notice that Clemont seemed to be a bit calmer when it came to his geekiness and he seemed to get a little more development than Cilan. But I think they are similar when it comes to their character flaws so I don't think Clemont was made to be a direct improvement over Cilan. Bonnie I think was made to be an improvement over Max for sure. She was seemingly less annoying and got along better with Clemont than Max did with May. It is also to be noted that the XY gang got into wayy less arguments than the past travel groups have. So overall, The XY companions are an general improvement of past companions.

Now let's talk about the rivals. I definitely think that Alain and Sawyer was definitely supposed to be an improvement over Trip and Cameron. Trip's cockiness drove fans the wrong way same with Cameron's stupidity. Fans were also outraged that Ash lost to Cameron in the Unova league. Alain and Sawyer were definitely more well liked. Sawyer got a lot more development than Trip and Unlike Cameron, Alain was introduced well before the league and was more serious and smart. Now the side rivals are a slightly different story. Tierno was a decent rival but Trevor not so much. Stephan and Bianca in Best Wishes are overall decent characters. I think that Stephan and Tierno are equally good rivals for Ash. Both had interesting personalities and ways of battling. But Stephan was definitely better than Trevor for sure. I think the only interesting thing about Trevor was his Mega Charizard Y. I think Tierno was an improvement over Bianca but Trevor wasn't. So the secondary rivals overall are 50/50. The companions rivals are also a different story. These rivals are complicated because neither sets are well liked by fans. Serena's rivals Shauna, Miette, and Nini are disliked for being boring and not fleshed out enough while Iris's rival Georgia, and Cilan's rival Burgundy are disliked for their annoying and immature personalities, and lack of development. This one is also a 50/50 since While Shauna, Miette, and Nini are more tolerable and pleasant to watch. Georgia and Burgundy are more entertaining and interesting characters. Both sets have issues that are similar. Burgundy and Nini have really low win rates and both are put through constant misfortune. And Georgia and Miette both say things to their rival to tick her off, Miette with Serena's crush on Ash and Georgia with Iris's lack of dragon types. Overall the rivals in XY and in BW are 50/50 when compared.

My thoughts: while XY was supposedly better than BW. I will always prefer BW to XY any day. I just think that XY is too serious and mature for me. BW might have been better written but at least I felt some charm watching it. The characters in BW are so colorful and entertaining to watch while in XY, a lot of the characters were just kind of boring to me. I think BW deserves more appreciation and I know I have said that many times but it does. It's the truth. All in all, BW is better than XY and that is my opinion.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you want a part 2!

#pokémon black and white #best wishes #pokeani #pokemon #pokemon best wishes #anipoke #pokemon xy #pokemon xyz #comparison

13 notes · View notes

arkus-rhapsode · 1 year

Text

So This is My Spoiler Free Thoughts on Fire Emblem Engage

This is definitely Awakening 2. And I don't just mean because its an anniversary title. But I mean if Awakening was the greatest hits of FE rolled into one game, Engage is the second volume to that. So much of Engage is a love letter to this franchise creating a story that tries to hit on some of the best plot beats in the entire franchise. Yes even if there are storybeats that are predictable they are executed so well. The amount of love this game has for this series is admirable. Some of the cutscenes and storybeats use the switch to the best they can in a post 3DS franchise though still limited and clipping because... yknow Switch and not a main nintentedo development team. But still expressive for something that has always seemed to be limited on its hardware. It makes me super excited for the next FE on the switch.

There is also some of the best immersive experiences in the game with a real stand out being chapter 11 which might have earned itself iconic status.

The characters are generally likeable though its about Awakening level in characterization, though I did notice that this cast honest gets along super well together and it makes sense as this continent hasn't been drenched in conflict till now. Awakening, Fates, Echoes, and 3H all sorta start in a pretty cold conflict worlds.

Now storywise, Alear was good. Its been so long, but we have a protagonist with not only a personality, but an arc. I knew I like Alear the first moment I saw them be genuinely scared of the corrupted and as the story goes (even if you can predict it at points) Alear genuinely grows as a person and they do seem different from what they are. Yes, I get it they're the super special awesome, but yknow what this starts you off with that and builds the plot around so you can focus more on the characters. Honestly, Alear really doesn’t feel like an insert avatar, instead they feel like their own person that you just pick the gender of. And Honestly, I love it.

The Villains were pretty standard FE, but goddamn the FOur Hounds might be one of the best four-man villain team in FE. Zephia in particular.

The acting is pretty great. Adding a lot of heart to every performance. With the one who absolutely crushed it was Megan Taylor Harvey.

If I had some criticisms, the emblems themselves really are kinda tools and their rules really are played fast and loose with. Also they leave me a bit confused on how they exist. However I think their paralogues are at least some fun fanservice. That said they are basically just tools. Im glad its not really "their story" like Chrom in Awakening is the real protagonist, but I definetly felt like their existent could be replaced with any old legendary weapon.

The music is also kinda a bit off for me. There are some tracks I really dug, but nothing stuck out like Echoes or 3H. Probably my favorite is the Solm music. The Four Hounds track Im not sure if I like or not.

As a mark against the characters, we do have a fates problem where there's a two royal siblings in each country, but only the older siblings get plot armor. That wouldn't be too bad but they also come with two retainers each so there's some cast bloat. I know its to give you more options.

The difficulty curve also gets insane near the end. Thank god resources and the time rewind are limitless because boy some of these maps are unforgivable. The worst in my opinion being chapter 24s.

Also there's only one paired ending and its who you chose to pair with, which sucks. But hey maybe you'll avod getting a weird ending. Speaking of pairing this game's supports generally felt way grindier. If you are just looking for Alear supports, spam gifts on the Sommniel. But for anyone else, get ready to basically solve a pairing puzzle.

Now I came in with managed expectations before the game had come. I was gonna use Awakening as my meter stick as its the only other anniversary game. So I didn't expect this to be some deep political, game of thrones style story. So I found this expirence very nice for what it was.

Fire Emblem Engage is like a big budget popcorn flick of a game. Its got questionable mechanics or story points, but the real substances is giving you this exciting journey that shows off big impactful moments wrapped up in a pretty package. Basically it is an MCU movie mixed with a Fast and the Furious movie. And yknow what, I will take something that wants to be a fun and passionate romp over something trying to be epic and serious and complex that ends up not capable of pulling off that momentum for the entire run and leaving you unsatisfied wondering what could've been done differently . And

honestly... with the romantic fantasy, the over the top animeness, but still able to make a cast you care about and story you do get invested in even with some cheesey but endearing writing... That's classic FE right there. That is some Kaga-level FE. We just added different fashion

Fire Emblem Engage is a fun game and if you are a fan of the franchise, I think you will enjoy it if you want to get on this wild celebratory rollercoaster.

#fire emblem engage #fe engage #fee

51 notes · View notes

leagueofgardens · 8 months

Text

Assault Lily × Ludvico Private Girls' Academy: The Blade of Truth

For obvious reasons, I'm not writing the full title of the play.

Ever since The Gleam of Dawn had its run earlier this year, my opinion has been that it was the best individual one of the Assault Lily stage plays, but the Ludvico quartet (in their revival versions when those existed) are the best series. And though The Blade of Truth was by no means bad and a worthy finale to the series, my opinion hasn't changed.

Extensive spoilers for the play below. Don't click unless you want to be spoiled! (Also, I talk about death, so a content warning for that.)

The Blade of Truth is actually the only one of the Ludvico stage plays that I've watched the original 2019 performance of, because there was no alternative at the time I was first watching the series. It was… okay. Definitely rough compared to the revivals, but I wasn't sure how much of it was inherent and how much was because of the lower budget those plays were working with.

It turns out that at least a little of it was inherent, but I'll focus on what was good first.

BoT 2023 (I'll abbreviate it as that from now on) was excellently produced. Assault Lily's stage tradition of projecting video onto the stage came out crystal clear, for nearly the first time ever, and was used to great effect every scene it happened in.

Though the choreography wasn't quite as fancy as The Gleam of Dawn's, it was frequently impressive, and the playwright/director duo of Sakuragi Sayaka and Hayashi Shuuji elevated their trademark of simultaneous scenes to new heights by occasionally having important conversations take place on one half of the stage while battles occurred on the other.

The story was an improvement over the 2019 version with a variety of small changes to the script, and possibly also thanks to the years of extra experience the actresses and staff have. Asahi and Nagisa were adorable together, the flashback scenes with Kazane made her feel less like just Mirai #2, Ichika and Karen both got even cooler, Himari was a lot more likeable, and Nonoka's scenes were somehow even funnier.

In the back half, Professor Amamiya "installing" himself into Kosaka the same way various other characters have makes a lot more sense than the 2019 version's brain transplant. I feel really bad for Kosaka, since she seems to momentarily regain her original personality just before she dies… well, no one ever said Assault Lily stories have happy endings for everyone.

Also, Pius seems to have mostly recovered from whatever issue they had in 2022 where the stage cameras and microphones precipitously dropped in quality (maybe Bushiroad gave them loaners and took them back when they pulled out of the Assault Lily project?)

What wasn't so great? Well, it's an ongoing thing with the Ludvico series, but the plain-looking hairstyles/costumes and boring CHARMs are disappointing coming from the other stage plays. They provide the advantage that they avoid having the occasional ugly-as-sin wig (like Kasumiko's in The Gleam of Dawn,) but I wish the crew had at least used different shades of natural hair so the characters are easier to tell apart. I don't see why Yuko couldn't be a blonde and so forth.

In BoT 2023, a reasonable amount of characters have custom CHARMs (or at least less common ones like Kazane's Triglav,) but I'll be quite happy if I never see another Dainsleif Carbine or Gungnir Carbine again in my life.

I'm still not a fan of The Blade of Truth's plot, particularly the second half. I've always been disappointed by Assault Lily's dull villains and feel that Toda Kotohi is the only one, in any part of the media mix, who's genuinely a great character. A bunch of nuns and Kosaka-sensei repeatedly screaming "This is for the good of humanity!" haven't changed my mind on that.

The fights were really cool, and Makabe and Kosaka in particular have their moments, but I wish we knew more about what they were actually trying to accomplish instead of them just seeming crazy.

While Sakuragi may have felt she couldn't make a change that drastic to the script in a revival, I think Ichika should have died when Makabe shot her. It really undermined the impact of that moment when she was just fine later, and more broadly I feel that Assault Lily's aversion to allowing even a single Lily to die in the present clashes badly with how its strongest plotlines are based on the deaths of characters in the past, like Mirai.

If Yuria had died in the previous Ludvico play, that would be fine too. Just kill someone. Anyone!

I feel very edgy saying that, but I really believe AL tests the limits of our disbelief with how everything, all of a sudden, always turns out just fine for the Lilies. (Unless you're a teacher, in which case you have a 75% chance of dying horribly.)

Anyway. BoT 2023 is a solid play, not the best Assault Lily stage play and not the best Ludvico one either (I think that's probably Schwester's Secret), but well worth watching. Don't miss it… though it's a little late to say that now.

#assault lily #asslily #assault lily meta #assault lily spoilers #ludvico #ludvico private girls academy #the blade of truth #stage play #theater #butai #death tw

10 notes · View notes

kitkatopinions · 1 year

Text

If you don't like the choices a writer/content creator makes for a character, you're not obligated to hate the character. And although you can't argue that it isn't 'canon,' you don't have to only see the character through the lens of the bad thing you don't like. If you think the writer/content creator didn't make a character change or character arc convincing, you don't have to pretend that it was believable, and base your perception of the character off of something you thought was badly done or hard to believe.

I'm gonna give an example from the Office. The character of Andy Bernard started out as a meant-to-be douchey, meant-to-be annoying character, and then went to anger management and when he came back started being portrayed as more likeable, though still very flawed. This continued on for seasons, but then in the last season (though arguably starting with the season eight episode 'Welcome Party') Andy started being written as a bad boss early Michael Scott style who his coworkers didn't like. I did not like that direction, thought it was unnecessary despite some funny moments and good plot points coming from it, it sometimes wasn't done very well, and I felt like it was a mistake. I'm not obligated to hate Andy because of the choices the writers made, and I can say 'this felt out of character and it was a bad choice that I think shouldn't have happened,' and other people getting mad at me for not seeing Andy exclusively through the lens of who he was in season nine would be ridiculous. If I made some kind of statement like 'Andy was a pretty good boss at the start of season eight' and someone was like "yeah well he was horrible in the ninth season so he was clearly just pretending to be a good boss" it'd be ridiculous. And if I said 'I just skip over a lot of season nine Andy so I can enjoy his character more,' and someone responded with 'I can't believe you like a character who did such bad things, clearly you're an idiot,' it'd be ridiculous.

Why do people have this idea that if the writers decide something for a character (no matter how late in the game) you have to base whether you like or dislike a character on that alone? If you think something is badly written, if you think that something is a bad choice, if you like a character that's a villain and want to write them as a hero instead, you should be freaking allowed to just clip clip cut out the things you don't like.

I like the character of James Ironwood prior to shooting Oscar, I don't have to say 'well the writers decided he was a completely evil irredeemable villain and therefore it wouldn't be moral of me to like him and now when I watch the Fall of Beacon in volume three I'm morally obligated to seethe about what a bad person he is, better never write fanfics where he's a good guy ever again!' ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I've written fanfictions where I have certain characters just be better than they were in the universe because that makes me enjoy the universe more. I've written fics where characters who do bad things that the writers treat as acceptable apologize for their actions. I've looked at characters who have never been anything but villains and then written fics where they're just flawed good guys because I wanted to explore that universe and loved the character concepts. I've disliked whole movies in a series and decided 'in my mind the franchise cuts off here.' There's some pieces of media where I have to adjust everyone in order to enjoy writing for them, but I still enjoy the characters. I've loved badly written characters since I was a kid despite thinking the writer choices were off, and put Pixie Hollow Disney fairy books on my Christmas wish-lists even though my dad reminded me Tinkerbell tried to murder somebody because I could just ignore that. The very first thing I ever wrote was a Star Wars fanfiction when I was six and I didn't like that George Lucas made C-3PO a scaredy cat so I made him into a brave hero instead. I'm not going to just base what I like or don't like on whatever thing the writers wanted or intended. Why would I have to do that?

And honestly, I'm not posting this because I have a real problem with people who do throw out characters when the writers want them to, or only portray or see characters how the writers want them to, or anything like that. But for the love of God I would like them to stop getting angry or judgey when other people are just like 'huh, I don't like this change. I reject it for my own headcanons. This isn't how I see the character.' Like... Why the hell does it matter so much to other people that we must only see fictional characters the exact way the writers intended and therefore must hate the characters who the writers make do bad things. Also this always comes with hypocrisy, because the people that try to police who other people are allowed to like always like other flawed characters or even villains lol, and always adjust their favorites to be better or ignore the mistakes of their favorites.

#rwde #pro ironwood #some slight #office criticism #I guess lol

44 notes · View notes