#but she’s a complex and interesting character

[shadowtraveled]

would love to know your thoughts on rinsha dunmeshi. or on rin and kabru :-)

OH!! i love rin honestly lightning damage and unaffiliated spellcasters will get me every time.

i would have loved to see more of her, but i do really enjoy kui's style of storytelling where she gives us the information about a character that will tell us exactly what she wants us to know. it reminds me of the way someone described suzanne collins' writing as surgically precise—she has more information about characters and the world, but she included what would get her story across most effectively. kui gives off a similar impression, and i think rin is a good example of that.

sorry readmore because that was getting long already.

rin's backstory is really interesting to me because it helps us to extrapolate so much more about the world and the other characters in it.

for what it's worth, i don't think it's terribly likely that her parents were practicing ancient magic. they were immigrants of a visibly different ethnicity, though, and they were magic users, which othered them doubly in the northern continent, and that otherness cost them their lives. this is sort of a running theme in dungeon meshi overall ofc, but i think a lot of discussion surrounding dungeon meshi discrimination focuses on the elves. which is fair, since they seem to be the most significant world power and they're weird race elitists as elves in fantasy frequently are, but the story does not want us to forget that discrimination is complex and so is otherness. tallmen may not be respected by long-lived races, but in communities where they do have power, they're still perfectly capable of leveraging it against others. they seem to have a particular bias against magic, but really anything people deem weird or creepy is enough to land you in trouble: laios faced constant rejection and, in some cases, severe harassment just for being autistic; kabru's eye color was enough to push his mother to the fringes of society and get her accused of witchcraft, suggesting that "weird or creepy" is regularly conflated with "magic" in tallman societies; and falin's affinity for magic led to her isolation and ostracism as her mother frantically tried to suppress it. rin's parents, meanwhile, were outright executed. the nature of these reactions to anything unfamiliar or non-standard are definitely meant to convey something about tallman societies in the world, but i think rin and kabru's situations specifically lend some explanation as to why falin is so forgiving of her parents. they didn't really know what to do with her, and some of the things they did to her were harmful, but she seems to see them as trying their best to protect her, perhaps because she knows the emergence of her magic could have put her in immediate physical danger but didn't.

with that being said, i'm surprised rin doesn't have more of an aversion to tallmen, but maybe kabru made enough of an impression on her that she developed some hope for them.

her dislike of elves, meanwhile, is entirely understandable—her interactions with them seem to be framed as emblematic of how they treat short-lived races in a way we don't really see with the others. milsiril objectifies short-lived races but does seem to... kind of care, otta fetishizes them but seems to... kind of care, mithrun's squad only get to be patronizing for a bit before it becomes apparent they bit off way more than they could chew, and mithrun isn't invested in these designations anymore. but the elves that found rin treated her like evidence, then like a toy, and then they got bored and ignored her, and then she was evidence again, and then she got adopted out to elves who kept her like they would a pet. miserable fucking experience, and a very thorough and efficient way of expressing just how little the elves are socialized to consider the humanity of the other races.

as for her relationship with kabru... i'm glad they had each other around. it's impossible to be surprised that she latched onto him in her circumstances, and i think it's sweet that she was the one he stuck with (despite the implication that milsiril was raising other children alongside him that he ostensibly would have spent more time with).

i also love how apparent their closeness is! rin gravitates to kabru, and if i'm remembering right, most of the time she speaks it's to him. that immediately established to me that she is uniquely comfortable with him, and interestingly it goes both ways! it's less apparent with kabru, because he's a lot more social than she is, but vitally, he lets the mask slip with her. she's the only character he goes out of his way to tease, and sometimes he takes it a little bit into "alright that was kind of mean" territory, which sucks of him but is kind of the point. kabru's interactions with rin are the earliest ones where we see him fuck up or be a little bit of an asshole, and that's almost certainly because she is a person he feels comfortable enough with to not try to game every conversation. kabru being a little bit of a bitch is the first time we see him not trying to be charismatic. and she gives it RIGHT BACK lmfao it really conveys the feeling that these two are kind of "safe people" for each other, even if they're bantering a little meanly. very charming, top-tier childhood friend dynamic, no notes.

editing to add:

^ YEAH THIS IS IT thank you @gerrykeay i think this really captures the spirit of her revulsion with regard to things like magic school (and its graduates), etc... she seems to think of magic school as this sort of lofty opportunity only people with a certain level of social standing are able to access (which seems to hold a level of truth) and reject it on the basis that something like that is fundamentally incompatible with who she is as a person, and that's probably the same reason she remains unaffiliated despite knowing practicing magic without organization ties is potentially dangerous for her. these systems rejected and failed her family and her, so she rejects them in kind.... god i'm so obsessed with the way practically every character has a main character backstory and motivations this really is like a ttrpg lol

#anon #ask #rinsha fana #kabru #dungeon meshi #dungeon meshi spoilers #thank you this was fun to think about #severe problems

[scintillyyy]

anyways i do think analysis of the sexism that steph faced in 90s and early 00s comics and highlighting comparison of her treatment with that of tim's as a result of the sexism inherent in the writing by the writers is important & i've done it myself.

however. however. hm. despite this, i do think it's important to remember that by *limiting* it to a 1:1 comparison of stephanie's chances to tim's, of *course* steph is going to come out on bottom & a lot of that has less to do with sexism than one would think (it does definitely have *some* to do with sexism, i won't deny it). because the problem is that steph is a *side* character. a very important one, mind you. and dixon was doing his damndest post NML to try and elevate her to a main/core character. but she has been, since her very inception, a side character. and it's that, more than anything, that truly stymies her character chances. if the third robin had, by chance, been a female character and steph had been introduced/created to foil off her, steph *still* would have come out on bottom. if the third robin had been lonnie and steph had still been created, steph would have come out on bottom. steph coming out on bottom has suprisingly little to do with tim doing well. tim does well & is given endless chances because he's a main character. steph doesn't because she's a side character in that era. if there were a 'spoiler' title written by dixon that was allowed to make her a main character, he absolutely would have had her do well & become one of the best fighters in the dcu, of course he would have. it's why he wanted to make her robin, and not just that, an absolutely amazing robin. but since dc didn't want to elevate her to main character at the time, a side character she remained. and side characters. hm. i get it. it can be tough to like side character because you want the world for them! but in the end, side character are going to be treated as side characters.

so like. if you really want to interrogate steph as a female character of the 90s it's important to compare her not just to the male main character of the work she's in, but also to the treatment of other female characters *in her position of being a side character* at the time when evaluating whether she was treated fairly as a character. was she treated with more care and thoughtfulness to her characterization than other side female characters in the 90s? was her characterization unique to her and consistent? was she the token girl or are there other girls in the narrative? did it seem like the writer cared about her as a person? was she allowed to have interiority? was she allowed to be *more* than just a love interest? was she allowed to have meaningful and complex relationships outside the love interest? she made a lot of mistakes, but was she ditzy or airheaded or dumb? there's so much sexism surrounding steph's treatment, yes. but for a 90s female side character she makes out like a bandit on so many levels, even if she's never allowed to be as good as everyone else. idk.

#sorry was thinking of this #don't get me wrong i understand the frustration with the sexism i feel it to but #some of the frustration with her treatment is that she's a side character. and sexism does play a role in her #being unable to achieve main character status. but. hm. even comparing her to babs and cass is like #of course babs and cass get to be good and amazing at everything and get all the chances bc they're main characters

[redasuree]

This week is Lesbian visibility week which makes me want to say that Batwoman / Kate Kane is a very underused and under loved character, I honestly don't understand why she's not more popular?

She got the evil twin and morally gray father, she's Bruce cousin, an emo loner, her stories usually have Alice in wonderland references, she constantly shows up in others comic runs just to beat the shit out of the other members of the batfam, and she's in a messy but cute relationship with her gf and sometimes ex Renee montoya. She's honestly just a very complex character in general.

Like I'm being so real, she's genuinely a very interesting character yet always feels ignored or just put in something because they needed a girl character,,

#dc comics #batman #batwoman #kate kane #batfam #batfamily #please show her more love dc

[neyafromfrance95]

hey, i hope you don't mind but i kinda need to vent a little bit 😅

as a poc it's making really sad to see that "shipping vaultghoul is racist and erases maximus and barb" is such a prominent anti argument. i don't interact with these posts or these people (because i really don't want to waste my time) but it's like they don't hear themselves. maximus is a protagonist in his own right and has so much shit going on tat has nothing to do with lucy and while barb is a minor character, she's an activate member of a corporation that seeks to end the world for profit (and we get to see her own conflicts towards this) and not just cooper's wife. they're so much more than love interests but they need "special treatment" because their s/o are white 🙄

plus what is this narrow minded type of thinking where once you start to ship a couple all the other relationships become invalid? it's fiction ffs. no one is better than anyone and there's no such thing as a 'supreme ship'

i think the worst thing that came out of fallout shipping discourse is reducing maximus to a love interest of lucy when he is much, much more than that and as you said, a protagonist in his own right! like, can we stop only talking about him in the context of romance with lucy and hype him up as he deserves?! he is so complex and refreshing, he deserves more than being a talking point in a shipping discourse.

and while i mainly ship lucy x cooper, i'm fine with lucy x max and the majority of vaultghoul shippers are too. not to mention that max is like my ideal type of a dude, lol. i crushed on this man so hard while watching the show. so, those of us who ship vaultghoul do not dislike max or think he is boring (there is a difference between finding a character boring and finding his relationship with the other character a bit bland).

tbh, i hope max gets even more development and important storyline points in s2 so that maybe ppl will stop acting like he is just lucy's boyfriend.

and i think it's also weird to dismiss the possibility of max x dane when the representation this relationship could offer is very important. and as an enby myself it would be so validating for me to see the enby character paired up with the main dude (that again, i have a massive crush on).

also, i love barb and her relationship with cooper. she is a cool villain and her & cooper were a hot classy couple. tbh, it's just that ppl rarely get too shippy when it comes to the exes, especially when one is a very minor character. but i'm excited for whatever we get with her in the future.

in the end of the day, i hope the discourse (whether it is about cooper vs max for lucy, the age gap or the human x ghoul thing) won't get too heavy in this fandom bc it will ruin it and make our experiences here full of frustration instead of fun.

i'm personally all for multishipping lucy, the ghoul and maximus with everyone in this series.

#fallout #vaultghoul #lucy maclean #fallout amazon #fallout tv series 2024 #maximus #ghoulcy

[utilitycaster]

wait just realized that I owe one more "most egregiously mischaracterized character" answer still and like. the problem is I don't know if there's a character who isn't frequently egregiously mischaracterized but I will say Keyleth might take the cake specifically because on one side you have the violent hatred of her as a female character with cool abilities and on the other hand you have people who will not brook any criticism as backlash and so they erase anything interesting (self-righteousness, being naive and annoying, concerns about living a thousand years that go beyond lifespan angst in a romantic context to a sort of existential dread because she is like, 21) from her initial depiction, they do not know how to handle her anger and so you get the most "wow she's so complex, sometimes she gets angry, an emotion women don't have usually", and most importantly she serves as like, an extremely clear example of someone who is like I have deep and personal beef with the Raven Queen also I think killing her would be dumb as shit and that really does not make the dumb as shit crowd happy and also because of how hated Keyleth was and because now in C3 I think she is (appropriately!) being used, to an extent, as Matt's NPC mouthpiece of HEY YOU SHOULD TRUST THIS CHARACTER'S JUDGMENT people put words in her mouth so that they can pretend they do.

#unpopular opinions ask meme #cr tag

[bookreviewcoffee]

Dune Frank Herbert

“Dune" is, without exaggeration, an era, a magnitude in literature that is difficult to overestimate. A science fiction saga, with elements of the novel of chronicles and adulthood, space opera and dystopia, metaphorical narrative full of philosophy and mysticism.

The first trilogy of the classic cycle is full of the life and life of a free people, the planetary ecosystem including the giant worms, echoes of courtly strife, the structure of organizations equally ruling the Known Universe but also dependent on the spice that is produced only on Arrakis.

High and intense text full of concentrated substrate based on religion, politics, ecology, legal and cultural issues, immediate survival, while learning about the future.

The plot is fascinating, like standing in the center of a huge temple complex in Kornak, where the desert wind brings the essence of plans within plans.

Compared to the TV series and screen adaptations, the book predetermines the accents in relation to the characters, making them full and vivid, clear in plot twists, meeting the author's intent and the logic of behavior under given conditionsThe story itself I really liked, probably partly because I generally love fiction and somehow have not read something interesting and non-anal of this genre for a long time. A lot of fiction books are based on Christianity, and this is the first book in my memory that is based on Islam.

I also like the way Frank Herbert describes the characters' looks - almost without details, leaving room for imagination. The story is not long, lively enough and colorful enough, and I have experienced this forgotten feeling again and again, when I want to return to the book to find out what is going on.One of the main themes is the opposition between the houses of Atreides and Harkonnen. In these quotes, a clear example of the difference between the houses: the Atreides pay love for loyalty, while the Harkonnens gain submission through hatred. 'How much he talks! - Hawat thought. - This is not Duke Leto, who could speak to me with a wave of the hand, a movement of the eyebrow. What a carcass! The author (maybe the translation) shows Vladimir Harkonnen as a huge carcass, which has accumulated large reserves of precious water. This is the main peculiarity of the desert Arrakis. Arrakis. A desert planet, also known as Dune. There, under the scorching sun, there float huge worms on the sand, from which it is impossible to hide. There’s a free folk out there - Fremen with blue-tinted eyes that cover even squirrels. And, most importantly, Arrakis - the only place where the spice is extracted. Spice or melange - the most important wealth in the universe. If water is commonplace on Kaladan... here, in the desert conditions, its value is high. To show your respect, love, loyalty, you must share water. Whether it's spitting or mourning the dead. One of my favorite characters is the planetologist Kynes, who dreamed of turning the desert into an oasis. His father managed to plant and implement this idea among the Freemen, and his son continued his work ... Freemen are a hardened people of the desert with their own philosophy and way of life...they were told that the work of greening Arrakis is labor-intensive and the results can be fully appreciated only by the eighth generation. Not only that, but the Freemen and the Kynes did not abandon it, but passed it on from generation to generation. Valuable and very much appreciated. Chani is a great representative of the Freemen. Honestly, I didn't really understand why Jessica didn't think she was a good match for her son, even though she thought she was a worthy representative of the Bine Gesaerit school. Chani is wise, intelligent and loving to Paul. She is such a reliable and strong support for him.In general, the novel is a very interesting story, competently combining social problems, political peripetias, religious ascents, life philosophy, many multi-layered mysteries, and I think, even some meditation.And all this cornucopia is doused in beautiful, smooth, syllable with detailed, distinctive style descriptions that include perfectly developed characters. I wholeheartedly recommend the novel, I don't know if I'll be able to experience all six books, but I'm now serious about part two. For anyone interested, I recommend that you be patient and take your time with this story, getting to know it at your own pace.

#aesthetic #light academia #romantic academia #academia aesthetic #chaotic academia #classic academia #dark academia #dead poets society #book review #donna tartt #dune movie #dune #dune books #reading #books #book history #fantasy

[ming-sik]

georgine is such an interesting character and she was such a good villain and im. so conflicted on her last scene. the detail of sylvester begging for her to explain why she's doing this and georgine refusing to even tell him, because it's so obvious if you understand her at all, and the fact that he's never needed to is part of why she's so agonized by losing the archducal seat to him of all people that if she can't have ehrenfest, nobody can, is so good. it's narratively foreshadowed so early too, really it's foreshadowed when ferdinand tells rozemyne that it's obvious that the child with the most mana should become aub before more and more worldbuilding elements are introduced that explain why women are nevertheless mostly shut out of the position even when they want it, and it makes perfect sense that that would drive you absolutely insane. it's such a well-done take on fantasy governmental misogyny that, even though i find that trope devastatingly boring and often stemming from regular misogyny on the part of the creator when it's positioned as a matter of course, i really like georgine! i wish they let her cook a little more!

i think what i'm most unsatisfied with especially at the climax is how much of her spotlight is taken up by detlinde who i can only describe as "the generic villainess character the protagonist reincarnates as in villainess isekai manga" and gervasio who got his schtappe yesterday. so little of the admittedly complex plan to trap georgine even is shown onscreen and her actual plan is foiled by sylvester happening to leave the foundation at the correct time. i wish sylvester and the woman whose life he stole and georgine and the man who stole her life got to fight over the duchy that they were each meant to protect and that forced them into this position, in like a cooler way. the fact that even though everything was working against it being satisfying their actual conversation still got me is a testament to the strength of their dynamic.

in conclusion:

me explaining what georgine could've been

#ascendance of a bookworm #aob spoilers

[angelfirstclass]

Rogue Love Triangle

I am loving the Rogue-Remy-Erik love triangle so far. It has been complicated by *spoilers* deaths and disappearances, but it just all goes to strengthen and make Rogue a more complex character. The cartoon version of Rogue is the most complex and strong version of her and X-men 97 is just adding to that. No offense to Anna Paquin, but movie Rogue was too young and still not confident. We never got to see her grow into the sassy, strong willed woman we see in the comics. She is not only super strong, but has this inner fire that is super attractive and interesting.

I am one of those that don't mind Magneto as a love interest despite the age gap or the fact that he was an enemy for so long of the X-men. It just makes him a more interesting and complex character. He might not be end game, but I like matching him up with Rogue. He is very intelligent which make their conversations interesting and he is focused on a mission which adds stakes to their relationship. Magneto is fascinating by himself and is a dynamic character big enough to fill Professor Xavier's shoes. In Erik's eyes, Rogue is recognized as being the powerhouse we fans know her to be and is seen as his equal which is no small feat. With Magneto, Rogue becomes a Queen, not just a girl in the X-men. With Remy, there is deep love, but it's all fun and games.

On that note, I am huge Romy shipper and I loved Episode 5 and Episode 7. It made Remy into a hero and was particularly emotional for me. Rogue learned how much she truly loved Remy because Remy is her best friend. In the comics and cartoons, Rogue and Remy are really each other's best friends. They are Southerners who are full of life and full of regrets. They both have shady pasts where they were selfish or misled into fighting on the wrong side. Sometimes you overlook your best friend or take them for granted, but a big part of why Romy works or is so beloved is because they truly love each other whether or not sex was in the cards. They get each other and there is no one else that truly does.

I can't wait to see how the next few episodes play out!

#anna marie #rogue #xmen97 #xmen #x-men #x men #gambit #remy #magneto #erik lensherr

[enobariasteeth]

love remarried empress but WOW are the fans incapable of nuance

#sue me but I think Rashta is a GREAT character #do I like her? no. not at all. #but she’s a complex and interesting character #also she’s a MAJOR victim of her circumstances #i stand by the fact that if Rashta was the protagonist and not Navier everyone would love her #it’s SOVIESHUS fault for how Navier was treated #not Rashtas #atleast not at first. later on it definitely was #but sovieshu was the real villain here #also when I was reading it people would always be hyping up the family WHO ENSLAVED RASHTA?? #AND KEPT HER CHILD HOSTAGE??? #AND ABUSED HER??? #HELLO?? #rashta is insufferable and I hate her but COME ON GUYS #she was a VICTIM as well!!! #remarried empress #i like complex characters #she reminds me of Alicent and we all know how I feel about her #the women in this story are just trying to SURVIVE

[fromtheseventhhell]

Very funny to me how Stansas present her character as being so interesting and complex because of her vulnerabilities, while simultaneously ignoring those same vulnerabilities in other characters. Dany is sold as a bridal slave and lacks agency throughout AGOT and after. Her dragons are either too young/small to utilize effectively or locked away for the majority of the story. They aren't some all-powerful trump card that protects her from harm. Arya is captured as a prisoner of war, forced to watch countless people tortured and murdered, and then essentially enslaved in Harrenhal with no way to fight back. She has an entire arc of feeling powerless, of being a "mouse", during ACOK. She doesn't have "kung-fu" or the ability to magically fight her way out of every situation, she's a young child lacking physical strength with only the most basic sword training.

Sansa isn't the only female character, she isn't the only young character, she isn't the only character who suffered, and no one is obligated to prioritize her. I'm so tired of Dany and Arya being mischaracterized and having their stories erased to prop Sansa up. "Sansa has kept her dignity" In other words, let's praise her for having a level of security that Dany and Arya don't have access to. She hasn't ever been forced to make a hard decision which of course means that she's morally superior to them. They can't even admit to themselves that her lack of action is due to her own passivity. If it doesn't fit their delusion, they erase it from the story and expect the rest of us to play along. Ask one of them what they like about her character without bringing up her being the ultimate victim, and I genuinely don't believe they'd be able to give you an answer. They belittle other characters more than they talk about her and these takes just scream insecurity/jealousy at the content and development other characters have in their POVs.

#arya stark #daenerys targaryen #anti arya bs #anti daenerys bs #asoiaf #anti sansa stans #these being comments on a video of a stansas /correcting/ a Dany stan...the jokes write themselves #/she's a break from the fantasy/ /people would be equally powerless in her situation/ like they aren't even pretending #that they don't use her as a boring every-man self-insert #okay she's subjectively /normal/...what is interesting or important about that in a fantasy novel? 😭 #Arya and Dany are so interesting because they have that complexity...vulnerability but also the strength to navigate their situations #and it isn't because they're /special/ it's because that's who they are as characters #Reducing Dany to her dragons or Arya to her combat abilities (which barely exist) is such a disservice to their arcs #but of course acknowledging that they're well-developed and empathetic doesn't square with their fantasy that #Sansa is the most pure important character who deserves everything because she suffered 🙄 #they really write entire fanfictions and then go /why don't people think like us?? 😔/ #/Sansa kept her dignity/ yeah that's why she's currently part of a plot to poison a disabled child #because she was told she'd benefit from it oh yeah she's sooooooo morally superior to Dany and Arya 😑

[shorthaltsjester]

free my complex female character, she did the same thing as complex male characters but the fandom takes Any analysis of her actions/choices/motivations that doesn’t strip her of all of her agency in bad faith and claims that only misogynists would dare to critique the things that they’ve noticed in her character because she’s a woman, completely ignoring the over-presence of discourse about similarly traited male characters in their fandom.

#exhausted by people categorizing CRITIQUE. not even genuine hate just literally basic analysis of imogen’s character #as a) hate at all but b) misogynistic simply because… they assume the person like caleb and percy uncritically like #i love imogen and i love her because she’s riddled with complexity that gives reason for her to be unlikeable #the shit ashton says makes me want to tear out my hair and i could write analysis on why but they’re still one of my favourite characters #i enjoy caleb but watching him infuriated me because of his self interest which is a coherent trait of his but is a tiring one #similarly with percy of love his pretentious Smartest In The Room shit but sometimes it meant he treated others more poorly than necessary #but i’m not unpacking all of that just so i have some fandom mandated right to say that i think there’s an aspect of a female character #that is imperfect in the human sense #because like. i will continue to call imogen’s self interested until the world burns and the moon shatters. because she is. #the only reason her choice to do good is compelling at all is because the choice to do otherwise is so tangible #it isn’t a Mistake or Fault that she’s self interested. it’s by design #like. she reaches towards the storm in curiosity in her sleep. but then she fights back when she’s awake #that’s it #that’s the dynamic. that’s what’s compelling #but no ur right fandom. let’s instead all agree that imogen is actually just intrinsically good #and take away all agency and complexity and humanity from her #and instead slap a sticker of Morally Good and enjoy the caricature of her where she’s made to fit into the imagine of #the latest aesthetic ad for diarrhoea medication #imogen temult #critical role #inspired as always by dumbass twitter posts that i’m subjected to because of school n work #the worst part is i do like the laudna n imogen dynamic in the stagnancy where it is but so much of that fandom is so clear in their erosion #of both characters actuality to suit the picture of Ship Tropes #like fuckin. so much of imogen’s fanart in imodna making her fat which as a fat person great love to see it #not so much when it’s clearly to make her short n stout against laundas tall n lanky. #anyway

[hyperfixatedwhor3]

No, because block me if you compare Focalors and Furina to each other and somehow come to the conclusion that Focalors is an adult while Furina is a child. First of all, they look exactly the same with the difference being that Focalors has longer hair and Furina dresses in a style that people see as childish. "Oh, but it's because Focalors acts more mature" the only time we ever see Focalors was after she spent hundreds of years coming to terms with the fact that she was going to sacrifice herself to save the people of Fontaine, of course she was calmer than Furina who's always on the verge of a mental breakdown having to put on a constant act to fool celestia otherwise everyone dies

#Genshin impact #furina #furina genshin #focalors #focalors genshin impact #this is why we can't have complex characters #if they're not angry middle aged man with repressed homossexuality y'all lose all interest in analysing them #she's not a teenage girl #she's a grown woman having to act larger than life in order to fool her people and the heavens into thinking she's a god so no one dies fro #the prophecy #yeah she likes sweets and doesn't know how to cook but so does Ei

[hajihiko]

Do you have any OCs?

I do! Mostly dnd characters. Here's my latest baby (I'm playing tomorrow!)

#an art #Yes she's a dogboy yes it's self indulgent yes I love them #I made like 70% of Dana's character while stoned and therefore to ME they're complex and interesting but probably only to me lol

[maxphilippa]

i think that the major misinterpretation that people have with taco is that she didn't get attached to mic because of her sad face in the end wanted to show regret because "she hurted her friend". like. no, she wasn't sad because she regretted what she did. she was sad because she's alone again, but she knows very well at the end that she had it coming. the reason as to why taco was so desperate of wanting mic to tell her that she did gain something is because. she SAW pickle in mic, but of course their situation is very different. "Oh but Taco couldn't have done what she did to Mic to Pickle, Mic was fully aware" but she did do that. Mic herself says it. That is pretty much what II is telling you. Taco isn't a good friend, and is not exactly a good person either. Mic was aware that Taco was/is a bad person, but Mic's nature makes her believe in whoever acknowledges her. Taco made Mic feel like she needed her, just the way she made Pickle feel back in s1.

she didn't really change thanks to mic. her faces of "regret" aren't her actually lamenting all of the stuff she did to microphone, but rather just her realizing that she proved what everyone said about her as a result. i will give it to that she might've tried to change, but not because of mic. she wanted to win the prize so she could prove others wrong on her being a loser and a coward, by being a loser and a coward. if anything, mic made her realize that she hasn't changed. she pretty much just ruined everything for everyone who saw her as a friend, and for herself.

taco's whole arc is constantly just downgraded to questionable takes and listen. i do agree that she is heavily flawed as a character. she is morally gray, but ii doesn't portray her as a good person with good intentions, nor she should be really be treated as if she was. neither she had those good intentions with mic at all, i mean, their "friendship" pretty much started because of taco wanting the prize money, taking a part of microphone's prize if she made mic won, you know, an offer. she would get the prize and mic would get recognition. but everyone seems to forget that probably, the main reason as to why she's doing all of this, is because she does regret how she acted on s1. she doesn't exactly regret doing all of that to microphone, and even if she does, it's for the wrong reasons. (that's because she did the exact same thing to you know, pickle, her once best friend, the only person she truly ever cared about)

people do tend to forget that taco keeps sending letters to pickle, and that's often just used for pickle angst and making it his only character trait, but. it's not that. it's the fact that taco keeps on writing those letters, despite fully knowing that she did hurt pickle because of her actions. taco's biggest flaw is that she can't accept that she has ruined everything and wants so desperately to be back on pickle's life because she ended up caring about him deeply as a person. as a friend. but she was never there at all, either.

taco can't seem to understand that she has hurted people badly. sure, she seemed like a "friend" to microphone, and you can argue whatever you want but a fact is that taco IS smart, and she knew that the only way to possibly keep mic by her side is pretending to want to be better, you know, the same way she pretended to be just a odd fella so pickle and her could remain together and have an advance at the game. she played with both of them. because both pickle and mic believed in her but were just used by her for the game.

however, taco does seem to regret the way everything went during-post s1. you can see how she yearns for another chance and is saddened about not getting it, but that's not only for comedic purposes, but that's because the writing is telling you that she won't get a second chance. at least not here.

what i want people to understand is that, yes, taco is a complex character, however trying to sugarcoat what she did is pretty much missing the point of her writing as a whole. she isn't a good person neither was she a good friend. she hasn't grown because she was never able to let go of something that she thinks that she can fix with some words and a prize. she thinks that she can still fix her friendship with pickle, she thinks that she can clear her name (even if she was the one who tainted it), but she only ended up proving knife right. she proved everyone right. she hasn't changed. a morally gray character is that. they're not exactly fully bad or fully good, but it's taco's actions that speak a lot. words are cheap, and taco's title is "The Liar", and that says a lot, because she kept on lying to microphone and to pickle on both of their games. she won't heal unless she lets go.

and i want to be clear here: i do think that taco can go through redemption. i do think that taco can become a better person, but not in the way people portray her to do so. because it just pretty much goes against what her arc has settled in for us, and the other arcs that were involved in hers as well.

taco's arc is meant to be somewhat a parallel with nickel's in a way. hell, even with knife's arc if anything. she treats knife as a simple bully, but when she saw that he became smarter and way more emotionally aware than what she had expected, she felt attacked by that, because he was stable. he became a better person and he was rubbing that on her, and it made her feelings of anger way worse regarding him, but it is true. knife is pretty much everything that taco wants to be, but here's the thing that made them so different:

knife stayed. taco didn't stay.

knife is accepted by everyone in the hotel because meanwhile he hasn't explicitly said that he had a change of heart, he has shown it through actions and a big difference too is that he was there for pickle, even if they weren't close in s1, and taco is on the woods because deep down she is aware that she can't go back. not if she doesn't have something to offer as an direct apology, but here's the problem. whether or not she got the prize, she still wouldn't get forgiven by anyone due to what she said that day.

again. her problem is not being able to let go and to accept when she has messed up badly. she has been lying to everyone but she has also been lying to herself as a whole. she can't keep on doing this because it's just hurting everyone and herself. keeping grudges and holding onto past friendships that were doomed to fall is just hurting her. she is not on the state to keep on trying, she wasn't at all ever.

taco's arc most likely will have closure on a way that fits her character, and i feel like that would be with her letting go of inanimate insanity as a whole and of what she can't fix anymore. her trying to find herself after years of lying to everyone and to herself. she's not a good person. but she can become one. only if she knows what she did was wrong and that her second chance isn't there, and never will be, and if she recognizes that meanwhile she did that damage, she can still become a better person. just not there.

pickle and mic don't owe her anything, especially pickle. taco does owe them an apology, but they won't accept that. the least she could do is to accept their wishes, understand that she needs to leave them and grow to be a better person. maybe, if she does that, she would actually heal.

she doesn't need anyone to fix her. she needs to fix herself.

#inanimate insanity #ii #inanimate insanity invitational #ii 2 #ii 3 #inanimate insanity taco #inanimate insanity microphone #inanimate insanity knife #inanimate insanity pickle #and no. this isn't to bring ship discourse or anything. get that away from my character analysis. #i feel like taco is a really interesting character. it is pretty sad that even if she's popular people don't get her #“she's a complex fem character” yes she is. however you are pretty much missing the point. a character regardless of the gender can do bad- #-things and have a good intention/or a way to try to make up for that in their actions. however she is a case where she can't get closure w #-ith anyone because of the way she is written/the way she was given that complexity. she won't get closure with anyone in the cast at all #because they won't really forgive her since she kept on lying and using them as puppets. she had a change of heart. sure #but that doesn't erase all the pain she has caused #i genuinely do hope she gets her eventual closure by letting go. she does deserve to be okay but not with the cast. #i feel like the best way to put is. she had a good wish (wanting to become friends with pickle and showing that she changed) #with bad intentions and bad actions (using mic to get the prize + lying to her + other bad stuff she has done to the contestants such as h #-arming them without a motive/just because.) #max does analysis

[ot3]

People are always saying "Athena deserves to be in a better game" but like... I don't even think that's really possible... so much of Athena's shtick has the terrible parts of dual destinies fundamentally baked into it. I honestly feel what people mean when they say that is they want an ace attorney game that actually has a well written female protagonist. Which would be great. And she could sure be named Athena cykes but I think you would end up with a character that only has superficial similarities to the one we have in dual destinies because the superficial elements are the only ones unburdened by her absolutely stupid as shit backstory

#Its time we all be honest with ourselves. Athena is not that good of a character. #She's cute! I have nothing against her! I would love if she was interesting and complex. She is not.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Those Beyond The Wall

sequel/companion to The Space Between Worlds, set a decade later

character-focused sci-fi set in an area divided in two, the rich protected city on one side and everyone else in the post-apocalyptic desert

follows a woman who works under the Emperor in Ashtown, keeping the peace

when mangled bodies start showing up with seemingly no murderer, she’s tasked with finding the cause, and finds out that it’s the result of corruption spanning both cities and multiple worlds

explores oppression and messy revolution, police violence and apartheid

bi & polyamorous MC

#Those Beyond The Wall #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #space between worlds sequel!!! honestly I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it….. In general I enjoyed it and I think it had #a lot of important things to say but also maybe highlighted some weaknesses(?) in both books? #or - I guess just the fact that the sff stuff (which skews a little more magicy here) is kinda small scope relative to its potential #and more there to serve the plot and characters. Which actually maybe is the point. idk- there's def mixed reviews lol #it has a messy unlikable MC (like actually - when half the weak ass reviews are saying the MC is annoying you know they are Actually a #complex character) and some interesting relationship dynamics #it is pretty solidly a sequel - I wouldnt read this without reading TSBW #cara does show up in here& tbh her characterisation felt quite different to me? unsure how I feel about that? but maybe it's the biased POV #also to be clear: polyam MC; not a polyam romance or anything #(there's - kinda a romance? or various feelings floating around and she 'ends up' with someone. feel like i would have liked that to end #more subtley but that's probably my personal taste lol) #man some of the 1 star reviews of this are kinda.....just racist though. can we get some measured critique in here #as I said i am not entirely sure how I feel about it but not quite in a way I can articulate.... idk! i think it's worth the read tho #it's maybe one of those revolutions that feels solved a little too easily in the end - but then also is it solved or is it just that the #narrative has to end at a certain point