#can relate to them or at least empathize with them. and that's the most important thing.

[transmascutena]

rgu is not actually very hard to understand, but i do get why it's gotten that reputation. there are certainly things about it that are difficult to wrap your head around, like if you focus a lot on specific symbols. but the emotional core of the story, a narrative about abuse, should be pretty clear to anyone who watches it.

#this sounds a little mean and condescending but i promise i don't mean it that way! #i'm not trying to say 'this is actually so simple and you're stupid if you don't get it' because obviously it's not simple #and i don't wanna call anyone stupid unless they're deliberately ignoring the point. #but you don't need to focus on deciphering (this is imo the wrong way to go about analysis in general) everything on your first viewing #just let yourself feel the emotions the show gives you. get yourself invested in the characters. they're written in a way that almost anyon #can relate to them or at least empathize with them. and that's the most important thing. #leave the symbolism for the second or third rewatch if you need to. or don't get into it at all if you don't want to! that's fine too #when people come out of the show with the response of 'i didn't understand any of that' i think it's just a matter of them #focusing on the wrong thing. you will not be able to understand every single thing at once so don't try #revolutionary girl utena #m

[carlyraejepsans]

I’m wording this ask so terribly sorry.

So you know sans like the back of your hand and can pinpoint inaccurate portrayals of him but is it like that for the other members of the main cast too? Are there any characters you don’t really get in that way?

the funny thing is, as much as people think of me as a sans understander, the other members of the cast being more self-contained and confined to the narrative makes them a lot easier to puzzle out and put into context. undyne, alphys, asgore, toriel and flowey specifically. their roles are so crucial and defined by undertale's story that they almost work like the gears of a well oiled machine. not only are they characters in and of themselves, but with their backgrounds being available to the player and not left to speculation, every aspect of their personality become integral to What Happens In The Story as well.

when you take sans, on the other hand, his character is still so shrouded in lore and mystery that i do NOT doubt i'm also getting a fair bit of him wrong. he's an unknowable motherfucker. i can study his voice, what we know of him, and draw patterns in his behavior all i want, but at the end of the day there's still a good chunk of context to his character that is necessarily left to speculation. of course, we do have a LOT of lore for his character, and what that lore says seems... pretty direct, at least in terms of character goals and personality (he lost some people/somewhere important to him, he tried so hard to go home, he failed. he knows about the anomaly and it basically caused an existential crisis, however his first instinct was still to empathize with it. he takes everything life throws at him in stride because he doesn't believe in a happy ending anymore. he'll hold onto anything that proves him wrong)

you know who doesn't give you anything at all though?

FUCKING. PAPYRUS.

i do NOT get that guy. honest to god. sure, i can analyze his voice all the same, his personality and actions within the story, but papyrus is just as much of a lore mystery as his brother. with papyrus though? we get NOTHING. nada! he has the most lines out of any character and they tell you nothing about him. worse than that, what little info we get about sans' life "before" has almost no repercussions on papyrus whatsoever. homesickness who? scientific background who? knowledge of the anomaly who? sure, he's surprisingly strong and really passionate about puzzle construction. you can read into those aspects, but it's not anything that ties into any of sans' deal. which makes no sense because they're brothers, they got here together! why isn't sans' obvious baggage over his past something that connects them? at this point the only thing that makes sense to me is him being an amnesiac. which ig could tie into the whole "don't forget" motif. idfk man.

but like. that being said i can still more or less track the way he behaves around the other characters, the way he relates to them, his conflicts within undertale's main story etc. that's normal story analysis and pattern recognition. he's just... a bit trickier to puzzle out than the rest of the cast. goddamn him.

#answered asks #undertale #papyrus #sans

[skyeslittlecorner]

Guys, we're doing it!

Do you remember this survey? I didn't expect such a great response. If that many of you really want to participate, I guess I'll have to do more than one batch of the draw to choose as much of your MC's as I can.

More info under the cut!

Time for some rules, so we won't get lost

The concept is simple. You give me your precious OCs/MCs, I adopt them for a while, write fanfic (related to WHB, of course) and hand them over to your loving hands.

For now, I plan to choose 3-5 people to write for. This may change if more people apply. If one applies, I will write for one. If 96 apply, I will choose more. We'll figure it out.

You can apply in two ways. One is to reblog this post and describe everything in reply, the second is to create your own post with the hashtag #whbmcshuffle Preferably both at once. I don't want to accidentally lose any application. I also recommend following this tag for the time being because I will post further information under it.

The people I will write for will be drawn randomly. I want it to be fair, and I guess this is the only way I won't be biased when I see mutuals I like or Andrea my favorite demons.

You can apply for one week. Since we may all be in different time zones, submissions will close when this survey ends.

Feed me information. Since I want to write something good, I would like to ask you for some information. Here's the list:

Name and pronouns: Quite obvious. Short bio: Who are they? Any difficult past or traumas? What were they doing on earth? Did they get to hell like in canon? How do they feel in hell? Where they live? Character: What are their main character traits? How do they usually behave? How do they behave in crisis situations? Voice: (Not mandatory, although, very helpful.) What would the narrative look like? More calm or energetic? Confident or not at all? Funny or serious? Calm or nervous? Laid back or distrustful? You can even paste here a song or a link to some story that you think reflect your oc's voice well. Important facts: Free space, you can put whatever you want here and whatever you think is important. Demons to include in the fic: (from 1 to 3) Brief description of relationship with chosen demons: I guess that's obvious. The tone in which it should be written: (i.e. spicy, angst, fluff, funny or other) Narrative type: Second person (addressing as 'you') or third person (addressing with selected pronouns) The script you would like to see: (Not mandatory, although, very helpful) For example, a date on Earth, cooking together, whatever you come up with.

I know it's a lot to ask. This is a minimal list, but the more information you give me, the better I will be able to empathize with your MCs and hopefully imitate their character. If you have already written about them, for example in your other posts, feel free to include links, so I can take a better look at them. Of course, you can add photos, or a song, or memes, anything you want!

I didn't mention the length of the fic, but it depends on how I will feel writing it. But I'll want it to be at least 800 words.

Most important. Have fun! It's mainly about getting to know each other's OCs/MCs. Who knows, if there's a lot of interest, maybe we'll do more draws. 👀

I tried to include everything, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb oc #whb mc #whbmcshuffle

[cmyksky]

I have my fair share of criticisms for Sky lore, but I can't quite empathize with some of the things people say about it. Forgive me if this results in me sounding like a prick; this is my opinion, and nobody is obligated to agree with it. Ramble under the cut.

One such idea I can't get behind is that nothing/very little is confirmed; this is a game that relies on conveying ideas nonverbally, aside from some introductory/game mechanic stuff. I think a line has to be drawn when deciding that something is "unconfirmed" just because the game doesn't hold your hand and tell you "Hey, this is what happened" with a narration/cutscene sequence.

Tangentially related is the idea that Sky cannot be understood without supplementary material from outside the game. I do agree that some things would be harder to grasp or deduce, such as dark stone specifically being a source of conflict in the kingdom. However, I think Sky makes quite a few obvious points. If you breeze through the game without pondering it very much or paying attention, then sure, you miss a lot. Sky is fairly linear and cyclical, but there's plenty you can easily pass on your first few runs. But let's think about a few things that we can make connections between through the game alone, because I find it a bit surprising that some people don't think twice to pick up on the themes.

Your flame is the key to everything in the game: activating mechanisms, helping spirits, burning darkness, and so on. The Elders also take your flame in every cutscene in various ways. Elders have entire temples dedicated to them; the flame must be very important for these authority figures to accept your offering. The entire game beckons you to follow the light, and light creatures guide and assist your journey (pun unintended). I don't have to mention the title of the game, right? And yet, why do we see some spirits guide these creatures while others trap and kill them? Why do we free caged mantas from the forest temple and encounter a "light miner" in one of the most somber realms in the game? Why do we see war waged against these creatures? I personally do not believe it requires much complication to guess that the ancestors wanted their power and exploited them as a resource.

The game starts with our birth/rebirth, with dawn, with simple mechanics and architecture. The game ends with our death, with night, with the grand pinnacle of the kingdom and the worst of the destruction. We see joyful, carefree spirits who connect with light creatures and live in peace. We trudge through polluted waters and sludge-clogged pipes, relive memories and view murals of spirits dying and fleeing from dark creatures and war.

And no, I'm not saying I've never been disappointed or that the game should be immune from criticism simply for its format or intent in terms of player experience. I have been left wanting more, and I have oftentimes wished the devs would give at least some spotlight to the kingdom’s destruction outside of the base game and a handful of seasons/seasonal quests. I can't help but wonder why TGC wants to keep a long-lived, dedicated fanbase without giving us the deeper lore that we want! And yet, I feel like many of the criticisms I observe are skewed by burned-out players or simply exaggerated due to frustration. Hope this coheres; I just like contemplating this game's lore.

#pulselog #I wouldn't be writing if I didn't want to see more from the lore myself #but these are my two cents #does anyone suppose their lore focus was going more into the two embers rather than the game? #not that I think it's unreasonable to want to focus more on their series #it's just something that occurred to me after reading about how it's been in production for two years now #sky cotl #sky: children of the light #thatskygame #these aren't my full comprehensive thoughts on the matter but they suffice to get the idea across

[fe-fictions]

Happy new year!!! 🥳 could I request a prompt with Dimitri / Claude where they surprise Byleth for the new year? I imagine their post game where Byleth is separated from them for a while bc of their respective duties so a surprise reunion would be super cute 🥹

(This was so much fun to write ;; A ;; )

Claude: Running a country as a new king was no joke, though becoming the religious head of an entire continent (with no experience) wasn’t any easier. It was only natural that when you first started talking about what to do, and what the expectations would be in your new roles, it would mean some distance was required.

What you didn’t realize was that “little distance” thing turned into a long-term absence. Of course, letters were exchanged every day; and the timing of the responses varied depending on the carrier and the weather.

But you were in constant contact, calways wishing to see one another and longing for the separation to reach its end.

It felt more like you were widowed for six months, conversing with a  very charming ghost.

“Seteth…what are the possibilities for taking a sabbatical this year?”

You could feel the prime minister’s hackles raise at the very thought.

“It is the same as I told you last autumn, Archbishop; it’s simply not possible with your current position.”

‘But we’ve been working non-stop since the ceremony- surely we can spare a few days' rest.”

“Not with the relations between kingdoms still in such a dire state. If we were to step away now, and they were to find out, the people would become even more upset. They would feel as though we are trivializing their very lives.”

“I don't want that.” You admitted, looking down at the towering mess of papers on your desk. “But...people are allowed to have days of rest.”

“They are, indeed.” Seteth agreed, “However, we must bear in mind that we are not just any ‘people’. Our obligations transcend those whom we serve.”

It did very little to invigorate you or ease your stress. If anything, Seteth was simply piling them on higher and at a much faster pace. He was not the best at rousing speeches.

“Still…we’ve been working non-stop like this for months…surely we’ll have to slow down and rest so as not to falter later?”

“I do see your point, but I believe we are far from in need of such relief. After all, we bear the expectations of all Fodlan on our shoulders; you moreso, as both a queen and the Archbishop. I would argue that it is more necessary that we continue to push without wasting a single moment.”

“I would argue the opposite…” You mumbled, and the dragon-eared man was polite enough not to acknowledge it. After all, there was a particular reason why he was laying on the pressure so thick.

He wouldn’t have agreed to do so without there being a much desired reward waiting for you. You’d been working harder than most to pull Fodlan back from the struggles of war, and the rebuilding was being overseen in as many areas with the greatest detail you could bring to the table.

You hadn’t heard it yet; it would be a few minutes more.

“Milady, I empathize with your argument, but we must make sure not to allow such temptations that follow a ‘slowdown’, so to speak. It may be difficult for you to ever regain your vigor and our work will suffer for it!”

“Seteth, please…” You groaned, your head hitting the stack of paper before you. There was a good chance the ink hadn’t dried yet, but that was the least of your worries.

The minister worked hard to suppress his smile. Instead he continued to prattle on and on about the importance of diligence, duty, discipline, and several other responsible “d” words, until you heard a shift, outside.

As a matter of fact, you heard the sound of people gathering just below your office, towards the front gates.

And following that rabble was…a wyvern’s wingbeat.

You sat up from the papers, eyes narrowed. There weren’t any wyvern riders that were scheduled to be patrolling this time of day. 

And the only person who could possibly be riding in and exciting everyone would be-

“Claude?”

Seteth grinned, watching the hope spark in your eyes. You hurried from your desk, pulling the balcony doors back.

The shimmering white scales of his beloved wyvern reflected the sunlight right into your eyes. But you knew that roar, and you could recognize that gorgeous, golden cape from a mile away.

With a sharp gasp you turned on your heel and burst from the room. The stairs were too far-- no, the front gate was-! You had to move as quickly as possible.

That man had been gone for so long. You hadn’t seen each other in ages, but now he was flying right up to the monastery out of the blue!

You wracked your brain, trying to think if he’d referenced coming to visit you in any of his letters. Though perhaps it was easier said than done, as the closer you got to the front doors, the harder it was to think of anything other than him.

Mercifully, you did not have to wait until you were outside. The king of Almyra had already made his way inside the building. He was halfway across the great hall, speaking with Hilda about something completely inconsequential.

Well, inconsequential to you. Because all that mattered was the instant your eyes locked, and you could feel the joy build in your chest.

“Claude!!”

The Archbishop’s voice raising was already surprising, but to see her running towards her husband, decorum be damned, was a stunning sight for any bystander.

Claude’s face lit up at the sight of you, his arms spread wide to accept you.

“Byleth!!” Your name was a laugh on his lips; the very sound of his voice made your heart soar. You closed the distance and all but leapt into his arms.

His mere touch was enough to bring tears to your eyes. His scent, his laughter, his…his everything…it overwhelmed your senses in the best of ways.

“I’m home, By.” 

“Welcome back,” Your voice was muffled against his neck, his embrace tight and wanting,  with zero intention of letting you go. “I missed you so much…!”

“I  missed you too. You have no idea how bad I wanted to see you.” He murmured, peppering kisses into your hair between his breaths of laughter.

“I didn’t have a clue- but when did you say you were coming?? I can’t remember reading a single word about you visiting.” You gathered yourself enough to ask, pulling back to look up at your husband.

He grinned at you,  squeezing your waist. “That’s because it was a surprise. I cleared it with Seteth about a month ago; you and I are going to take a nice, long break from all this intercontinental repair.”

It was hard to balance your desire to take in every detail of his face and simply kissing him senseless.

“Really?”

“Of course; I’ve been waiting for ages because I know how badly you’ve wanted to get away. You’ve been talking about it in your letters for the last…three months, I think.” 

“I suppose I’m not as subtle when I’m writing to you.” You smiled sheepishly, “I would love to take a vacation with you, my love.”

“Gods, I’ve been waiting to hear that for so long.” He sighed, capturing your lips in a much needed kiss. You held his face in your hands, relishing the scruff along his jaw and the warmth of his skin.

“Hear what?” You whispered against his lips, your hands shifting from his cheeks to the collar of his tunic, tugging him closer. Your bodies were practically pressed against each other; you couldn’t have gotten closer if you wanted to.

“To hear you call me ‘my love’. I haven’t heard it in so long…I’m afraid your written word doesn’t hold a candle to the sweetness of your voice.”

“You flatter me.” You blushed, kissing the beaming smile he wore with warm reverence. “Shall we  have a proper reunion upstairs? I’d love to hear all about these plans you have for our vacation, but I think we both have some more pressing matters to attend to.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, darling.” Claude chuckled, and swept you up into his arms, carrying you down the corridor that had mercifully been emptied at some point during your touching reunion.

You were sure the rumors were swirling around the monastery from the bystanders who hadn’t escaped quickly enough, but it was the last thing on your mind.

After all, your sweet husband was back home in your arms…and there was nowhere else you’d rather be. Especially after such a punishing several months’ work without him.

You peeked around the corner, making sure no one was nearby while he strode towards the stairs with a particular skip in his step.

“I’ve been waiting to say this for a while, but…”

“Say whatever’s on  your mind; I’ve been dying to hear it for ages.”

You leaned up to his ear, whispering those longing words.

“Welcome home, Khalid.” 

He nearly tripped up the stairs and took you tumbling with him. When he steadied himself, he pressed his forehead to yours, his whole face flushed.

“If you’re not gonna fight fair, you’re gonna have to deal with the consequences, Teach.” He grumbled, making you laugh. You kissed his nose, squeezing your arms around his shoulders.

“I haven’t been able to say your name in so long either, you know…I wanted to give you a proper welcome.”

His grin turned mischievous, hoisting you back up and starting up the steps with renewed vigor.

“Don’t you worry about that- we’re about to have the greatest reunion of all time! And an even better vacation after that, might I add.”

You didn’t get a chance to ask him what the plans were until several hours later. But you weren't particularly bothered by it. 

Having your Khalid beside you again was everything you could have asked for, and more.

-------------------------

Dimitri: He’d gotten the worried letter from Prime Minister Seteth about three days ago. He was already deeply depressed because he hadn’t seen you in such a long time.

It was incredibly difficult, how you were trying so hard and working to get everything in order for the greater continent of Fodlan. 

You were working from the monastery, and had remained there long after the two of you were crowned as the king and queen of Faerghus.

It was deeply upsetting to have spent the first several months of your marriage apart. But it was nothing that heartfelt letters that were practically 300-page journals between each of you.

So when he received a much more brief letter with Seteth’s seal on it instead of the expected loving message from his wife, Dimitri was concerned.

When he read its contents, he was consumed with worry. 

“King Dimitri, it is with deep concern that I write to you regarding your wife, the Archbishop of Fodlan. I am afraid she has become obsessed with work to the point that she cannot seem to remove herself from it. 

The few times I was able to ascertain the reason behind this change in behavior is due to her separation from her spouse. I believe it would be prudent to schedule a visit to the monastery immediately. I fear she has stopped taking care of herself; her eating and sleeping habits have become practically non-existent. 

Please write with ideal dates and times that you would be able to join us. We anticipate a swift response, milord.”

Dimitri had the troops rallied and the Blue Lions en route to the monastery without a second more hesitation. He sent a pegasus knight ahead to relay the information as quickly as possible.

But there was a little more time to waste! His wife was neglecting her well-being, and even though he had no idea how he was supposed to fix it, he knew that he missed her just as terribly and wanted to do anything in his power to make everything better.

He galloped through the forests of Fodlan, not slowing down even in the face of bandits or dangerous weather. 

With the help of the Lions and their unwavering support for the royal couple, the valiant group turned what was typically a weeks’ sojourn to the central mountain range into a four day journey, instead.

And as soon as they were there, Dimitri all but ripped the front gates from their ancient, unmoving hinges.

There was no time to waste. His Beloved needed him!

“King Dimitri has arrived!” The gatekeeper managed to squawk out, sending the passersby into a confused frenzy of excitement and panic. What in the world was the Archbishop’s husband doing here, now??

Dimitri did not bother to socialize or engage with anyone outside of the green-haired man hurrying to meet him, opening the massive old doors that led into the main hall.

“Thank Sothis you arrived so quickly. I just received word from the envoy you sent hardly a day ago; it is a miracle you were able to travel with such swiftness!”

“And not a moment too late, I hope. Where is my wife?” Dimitri asked, breathless from his endless onslaught to visit his dearest.

Seteth motioned towards the stairwell. “She is locked in her office, as always. I fear it has been difficult to access her, even as her right hand. She is deeply troubled by your absence, milord. More So than even she realizes.”

“It saddens me to learn this…but I will do everything in my power to help Byleth in any way I can.” He spoke a solemn promise, striding to the steps and making his way to your office.

A swirl of memories, sweet and bitter, filled his mind. It had been so long since he’d seen the monastery, let alone restored to most of its former glory. 

It was not his favorite place to be, and in spite of all the good things that happened there, he would not lose any sleep over the thought of leaving it behind permanently.

Especially if his having to rule the kingdom while you languished in the ancient halls could cause such a panic.

He hesitated at the door of your office, finding it was indeed locked when he tried to turn the knob. He knocked on the old oak once, twice, three times…but you did not answer.

So he opted to pound on the door, instead.

“Byleth!! Byleth, my love…are you in there? Can you hear me??” His fist hit the door again, with more urgency. There was an indent starting to form where he struck the wood.

There was no answer. He grit his teeth, hitting the door harder.

“It’s me, Dimitri! Open the door- everyone is worried about you! You must-” His hand went straight through the wood, and not a moment too soon.

The punctured hole, while embarrassing, did provide immediate access to the door knob on the other side.

Dimitri dismissed the damage done and opened the door, swinging it into the wall with another crack that likely destroyed the structural integrity of the poor thing.

The sound of wood splintering was enough to get your attention, however. You had been slumped over your arm at your desk, a quill halfway falling out of your hand when the sudden eruption of noise startled you awake.

Your eyes were wild with exhaustion and confusion, only to find a large, black and blonde blob storming towards you.

“Beloved!!”

You gasped at the sound of Dimitri’s voice. That  couldn’t be right, he was far away, back home in Faerghus…his last correspondence with you had been only a week ago.

This was surely a figment of your over exhausted imagination, right?

“D…Dima?” 

“Thank goodness, you’re at least conscious.” He exhaled heavily, rushing around the side of the desk so that he might place his hands on your shoulders. “I was knocking at your door and calling for you- did you truly not hear me?”

“Dima…w-what are you doing here?”

“Dammit, your skin is so pale. The shadows under your eyes- and you’re clearly underfed! Byleth, what has happened to you? How could this have happened?”

“I…” You trailed off, looking down at your hands which trembled in your lap. Dimitri followed your gaze, feeling his heart twist in his chest.

“Nevermind. You're in dire need of rest, Beloved. I will take you to our quarters immediately. When you wake up, I will have some food ready and waiting.”

“But…but Dima, how did you-?” 

“I received an urgent message from Prime Minister Seteth.” He explained simply, taking you up from your seat and carrying you from the office. “He said that you were neglecting your health, and it is quite clear to me that is the case.”

“W-wait, you don’t have to carry me, Dimitri, I-”

“I will not risk injury because you have not been taking care of yourself. I will see to it that you are well rested and well fed before you’re ready to have a conversation about your health. Am I clear?”

You fell silent, realizing that the firm yet gentle touch was indeed quite real. That your husband had arrived from across the land to come to your aid.

Perhaps you were in worse shape than you first thought.

Dimitri took your silence as a sign that you either conceded defeat, were falling asleep, or both. Regardless, you weren’t far from your bedroom.

The attendants and knights who were anywhere nearby as the king crossed the long corridors were quick to scatter, or politely avert their eyes as he tended to you.

With far greater care than when he’d “opened” your office door, he let himself into the Archbishop’s quarters and made sure to fasten the lock as well.

The world shifted around you, and you were suddenly in the soft embrace of your bed. Gods, how long has it been since you were lying there, of all places? 

Dimitri sat on the edge of the bed, taking your ankles up and resting your feet in his lap. He began to undo the laces on your shoes, handling you as though you were glass (a technique ingrained in him since he was little).

“Dima, you don’t have to do all this…”

“You need to rest, Beloved, and I have many, many months of tending to you that I must make up for. Please, allow me to do this much.”

You hummed softly, letting him finish his work on your shoes. Then he prompted you to sit up, slipping the coat from your shoulders and shifting the pillows so that you could recline far more comfortably.

His hand cradled your head, guiding you back down so that you laid fully across the bed. 

The covers weren’t drawn over you, though. Instead, Dimitri unclasped his heavy, fur-laden cloak, and draped it over you.

The overwhelming comfort at being surrounded by his scent nearly brought tears to your eyes. This was indeed your Dimitri. Not a figment of your imagination, this time.

You drew the furry cape closer to your face, nuzzling against the fabric with a soft sniffle.

Dimitri’s smile was sad, but the tension that had wracked his body seemed to have eased at the sight of you.

“Please, rest, my dearest. I will have food prepared and waiting for you by the time you are better.”

“Will you stay with me?” You whispered, as if the pull of sleep wasn’t already  taking hold.

Dimitri laughed softly, carding a hand through his hair. 

“I am still in full regalia, my love. I fear I will be a poor bedfellow.”

“Just until I’m asleep.” You insisted, “I…I missed you so much.”

As if he could say no to that.

Dimitri walked over to his side of the bed,   careful in joining you so that he didn’t dip the mattress and jostle you out of your far too comfortable position.

He propped himself up on one elbow, facing you on his side so that you might have full access to him.

And take advantage, you did. Dimitri flushed when you shifted over, burying your face in his chest and curling your fingers into his tunic. The soft clinking of all the metal bits and pieces didn’t seem to bother you. He wasn’t in his armor, but the formal layers of Faerghus’ royal uniform did not make for excellent nightwear.

The queen did not seem to mind, however.

“I’m so happy you’re here…”” You mumbled into his chest, feeling strong arms wrap wholly around you, drawing you in as close as he could.

“I have longed for you, terribly, in the time we have been apart. I could not bear to be away from you any longer when Seteth sent for me.”

“I must remember to thank him for his wisdom…I may very well have wasted away had he not asked you to come. It…felt so hard, going through all this work without you by my side.”

“It was no more joyful in Faerghus, I’m afraid. Ruling as king feels cold and empty without you there, right alongside me.” 

You nodded into his heartbeat, melting when his fingers worked through your hair.

There was no way you’d stay up a moment longer.

“But all that matters is we’re together now. And once we have you full and smiling again, I believe we ought to make plans to visit the countryside. The snow is glistening this time of year, up in the northern mountains…I can finally introduce you to the rarer parts of our home.”

“I would…love to…” You yawned,    wide and obvious.

Dimitri bit his tongue to keep from fawning. You were too cute when you weren't even trying.

“ Please rest, Beloved. I swear I’ll be right here when you wake. I will not leave your side again.”

“Thank you for this…and…thank you for coming… I'm so happy you love me so much.”

“As am I.” He kissed your forehead, squeezing you gently. “I have been yearning to see you for far too long. To hold you in my arms, even in less ideal circumstances…I could be any happier.”

“I love you, Dima.”

“I love you, too.” He beamed, before gingerly tapping his forehead to yours. “Now rest. Sleep. I beg of you.”

You smiled softly. Perhaps Dimitri was right; you were indeed long overdue for a good nap.

It wouldn’t be until seven hours later, well into the nighttime, that you came back around.

 But Dimitri was ready and waiting, a beautiful meal set aside on the nightstand and waiting to be enjoyed by the royal couple.

And of course it was immediately paid for by a mess of urgent kisses from wife to husband, wrapping your arms around him and rolling to lay atop him, your hands happily pressed to his chest.

How you missed that strong, thundering heartbeat.

The food would have to wait, unfortunately;  you both had much more pressing matters to tend to. 

Especially for the next seven days, as prescribed by the monastery clerics to prevent further burnout.

While you were certain Dimitri had some influence in this decision (ie, nearly all), you couldn’t help but relish every single second you got to spend, alone and warm with your fiercely loyal lion.

#claude #byleth #dimitri #fe 14 #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #fe: three houses #fe-fictions #fe fictions #f!byleth #fem!byleth #dimileth #claudeleth #claudleth #dimitri x byleth #claude x byleth #fluff #hurt and comfort #but almost exclusively comfort #and we love that for them #surprise visit prompt

[hazelnut-u-out]

My "Morty Deserves More Relevance" rant:

My main criticism of S6 of “Rick and Morty” so far is that Morty hasn’t had nearly enough relevance to the season on any front for one of the two main protagonists. 

I could probably excuse this if the show had been rather Rick-focused for the majority of its run, but the show has been about BOTH of these characters since the get-go. 

I’m not someone that generally tries to hide my Morty bias. I relate to Morty in a lot of ways, and I don’t think that’s uncommon. 

I think that the writers currently have more of a Rick bias (or, at least, find it more important to tell his story or show things more in terms of how they effect him). 

I want to preface this by saying that I DO believe that Rick has a right to heal, grow, and get better. I guess I’m just saying that it’s not on us to forgive him. 

I think that the writers kind of needed to put Morty to the side for a bit– to have him pushed into the background in favor of Rick– because it’s really difficult to begin to empathize with/feel bad for an abuser when the impact of their behavior on their victim is staring you right in the face. 

(I rewatched the series to make this post, and GOD is some of Rick's behavior downright sickening and inexcusable in seasons 1-4...)

I don’t think that anyone else can forgive Rick for what he’s done to Morty. Only Morty can do that. 

Again, I’m not saying that Rick doesn’t deserve the right to heal, but I don’t think that he should get to dictate the pace of the healing in their dynamic. I think this is why I have a hard time feeling bad for Rick in terms of Morty developing agency. 

Rick most definitely deserves sympathy and support for what happened to him before he came into Morty’s life, but I have to say that I find Morty’s story a lot more tragic than Rick’s. Morty’s story is one about child abuse– about becoming a victim and having your identity swallowed alive as it’s dictated by the actions of an abuser. 

Take the events of “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall,” for example. I think this is one of the episodes that really puts into perspective the extent of Morty’s trauma bond with Rick, and how that can manifest in a victim. When you’re a victim of an abuser, one of the only avenues of control you have is deciding whether to stay in the situation or leave. That is literally all Morty has. He tries to put his foot down only for Rick to “cold shoulder” him, which is ultimately just another manipulation tactic. He wanted Morty to be afraid of losing the only real connection he has left. That’s how narcissistic abuse works: they isolate you from every other reliable relationship in your life so that you are entirely dependent upon their approval. When Rick drops the bombshell at the end of the episode that he’s going to be leaving with the crows, that literally strips Morty of any control he had at all. Morty is left with absolutely NO choice anymore- not even to cooperate with Rick or not. 

When something like that happens to a victim– when an abuser decides that they are the one who gets to dictate healing and growth– it’s technically within their rights to leave, grow, and heal, but it strips the victim of the only sense of autonomy that was left intact for them. It’s like one last vengeful powerplay, and we can see that play out in Morty’s decisions thereafter. 

We see him desperately grasp for any control of the situation back, because he (the VICTIM) wasn’t ready for this to happen, yet. 

I’m not saying that Morty isn’t a flawed character, but I think that a lot of people tend to forget about the fact that he is a CHILD, who wouldn’t otherwise be involved in the morally gray situations he’s in if he hadn’t been consistently neglected, used, and abused. 

Every fucked up thing that Morty has done has been as a child who, truthfully, doesn’t know better because of the way his worldview has been consistently skewed. He’s put in these situations time and time again that force him to stray from his own moral compass. Rick even goes out of his way (like in “The Vat of Acid Episode”) to intentionally manipulate Morty into thinking that anything he wants to do that would stray from what Rick thinks is best will only result in more harm to other people. 

There are other episodes that enforce this kind of philosophy (straying from Rick’s corrupt set of rules and regulations must be the only way to prevent death and destruction– even though that often means actively choosing death and destruction at face value), such as “Mortynight Run,” “Auto Erotic Assimilation,” etc. 

Rick, on the other hand, is the adult in the situation. Everything fucked up Rick has done throughout the course of the show was done as an adult, who most definitely DID know better. 

The core of this show is literally a “hardened adult meets naive child” trope, and I think that a lot of people have lost sight of the reason that Rick’s healing should feel so satisfying in the long run. The whole point of rooting for Rick’s healing in the first place is set up to be about giving Morty the grandpa he deserves. Morty basically has no one in his corner other than Rick, and Rick is riddled with an inky sickness that bleeds and infects Morty with every movement of his character that is too quick or abrasive. It’s important to give Morty the chance to view the world as an actual child might while he still has a bit of that  innocence left inside of him– in the same way it’s important to give Rick the opportunity to foster that innocence instead of crush it for once. 

I think that a lot of people (writers included) have started to view Rick’s “Crybaby Backstory” as an excuse for his shitty behavior over the first 5 seasons, when there really aren’t any valid excuses for what he’s put Morty through. There are only reasons that he did what he did, not excuses. Viewing these reasons as excuses for child abuse means that some people inevitably view the situation as not requiring communication, confessions, and apologies in order to right Rick’s wrongs with Morty– but those things are NEEDED in order for this to feel EARNED. Changing and growing without acknowledging the effort and will to change with the needs, wants, and feelings of the victim taken into account isn’t really conducive to change or growth in ANY character. 

99.9% of abusers exist within a cycle of trauma, and this plays a huge reason in why I have such a difficult time letting Rick’s trauma serve as a satisfying excuse for his actions towards Morty. 

I feel like a lot of the same people who allow Rick’s past to serve as an excuse are the same people who tend to hold Morty 100% accountable, but I would go out on the line to say that Morty’s actions are almost always more excusable than Rick’s. While being an adult who was traumatized but knew better isn’t a reasonable excuse, it IS a reasonable excuse to be a traumatized child who doesn’t know any better. 

A good example of this would be in “Solaricks” when Cronenberg Jerry calls Morty out for leaving them and talking about them like they weren’t people. It’s pretty obvious that the audience is supposed to agree with Jerry here, but it falls flat for me. Nothing about that situation was actually Morty’s fault, ESPECIALLY the initial leaving of the Prime Dimension in “Rick Potion No. 9.” Rick was the adult in that situation, and Morty couldn’t have known better if he’d wanted to. 

Morty is an insert character for anyone who has ever been abused/manipulated as a child, and I think that it’s not only a disservice to Morty, but also all of those people who connected with his journey, to essentially erase any relevance his feelings had to the plot of the show. I think that completely setting his relevance to the show aside was a real mishandle of his character by the writers. I understand that it would have made an exploration of Rick’s character progression feel less linear and clean cut, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t want to see Morty gain some agency in his relationship with Rick. I genuinely don’t care that Morty’s character progression has pushed him to be less compliant and more stand-offish with Rick, even if Rick is actively changing. Morty deserves to be angry. That would have felt earned– and it would have made Rick’s development towards being a more soft/docile familial figure and someone who cares about doing the right/noble thing a lot more earned, too. 

Sometimes, growth is hard. Getting better is hard. It’s so challenging to move on from being an abuser because it’s one of the most difficult things in the world to look at the carnage you’ve left in your wake and actively pick up the pieces of the people you’ve broken. It sucks to have to face your actions and realize that no one is obligated to forgive you, and that you don’t get to spend an indefinite amount of time being an abuser and then expect to dictate when people feel bad for you. That’s ultimately what’s fair, though, because you aren’t the victim.

It’s unfair for Morty to not get to share his opinion on the matter all that much when the audience’s opinion of Rick shifts to something more positive and soft. We should at least get to see some of how this has effected Morty in the present.

Morty deserves his own “Morty goes to therapy” episode. Morty deserves his own solo scenes where he lumbers off to his room and breaks down. Morty deserves to be sad and broken and irreparably damaged in the eyes of the audience as much as Rick does. I love Rick– I really, really do– but I think that part of loving Rick is rooting for his relationship with Morty to get better, too– and the reality of how all of this is effecting Morty as an equal has been a bit lost this season. 

I hope that we get a more Morty-centric season next season, or at least a good handful of Morty-centric episodes that push Rick to the background in favor of Morty’s perspective to balance everything out.

#rick and morty #rick sanchez #morty smith #blurb

[knight-rider-fan-2000]

I was chatting with my mom today about how unique Knight Rider is as a show for one reason only- having a character that's honestly, genuinely, and truly a car.

(Yeah, sure, there's Transformers, but watch any Transformers show and you'll see that they rarely keep the robots in car mode for any scenes. The car modes are almost exclusively used for scene transitions or for action set pieces.)

Knight Rider is different in that it challenges the viewer to imagine a character who is a car. This character is Kitt. There is no way for him to stop being a car, even when it's inconvenient for him, or even when it's inconvenient for the plot. Kitt, as a concept, asks the viewer to empathize- what would being a car genuinely be like? What challenges would that present? What advantages?

This is where most robots in fiction, and fiction that claims to analyze humanity through the lens of robot characters, ultimately fail. I'm hard-pressed to find another work of sci-fi with a lead character in such a genuinely divorced role from humanity. Most fictional robots have:

Hands, to physically interact with a human-scaled world in the way that humans do,

Faces, for humans to relate to, and

Eyes, for humans to look at, and tell where the robot is looking.

Kitt has none of these. He never gets any of these at any point. The show even reflects on this in episode 22 of season 1, where he projects eyes onto his screen for the little girl who's trying to understand him. Yet even this is temporary- he gets rid of them after only a minute, and the girl gets used to the real him accordingly. It's never portrayed that these attributes (of hands, a face, and eyes) are some kind of upgrade that Kitt is missing.

However, Kitt is still undeniably 'human', and this is the most important part. Kitt's way of thinking isn't alien just because his body is different. It's what he is thinking about that's been altered from the traditional human experience. This leads to a fascinating exploration of topics such as:

Accessibility. Kitt is constantly analyzing where his body can go and to what places he has access to. Even Michael Knight learns to start thinking this way as he grows closer with Kitt, to the benefit of them both. The question of what Kitt can do vs what he can't do given his body is at the core of Michael's problem solving when the show is at its best.

Priorities. What does Kitt care about? Again, it's deeply important that the first answer to this is "his friends", but barring that, what else? Things like a good road or the polish of bodywork become elevated in importance through his perspective.

Prejudice. A lot of science fiction has the trope of "robot racism", or the idea that there's a portion of humans who actively believe that sentient robots are not equal to humans. Knight Rider, however, never takes this easy drama. Humans treat Kitt differently, and sometimes with a shocking amount of disrespect (even after he's revealed himself to be a person,) but it's never out of malice. It's out of ignorance. The bulk of these humans have only the best intentions. This presentation reflects upon real-world prejudices through a different lens than the aforementioned trope, which has, by now, been thoroughly beaten to death.

Again, it's the fact that the show actively goes out of its way to tell the audience that Kitt has a soul (season 2, the episode literally titled "Soul Survivor"), yet doesn't shy away from the genuine differences he faces from being nonhuman, that makes it so damn compelling to me.

(Mind you, the way the show usually "explores" these themes is through the lens of comedy that relies on Kitt's differences being the butt of the joke. . . and that the inclusion of these deeper themes definitely do NOT cancel out the show's genuine problems with sexism/racism! But-)

I really do consider Knight Rider to be science fiction at (or at least close to) its finest. Which is an insane statement out of context, I realize, but I hope after reading this post you might be able to understand why. Knight Rider set the bar for robots in fiction for me and nothing has been able to compare since.

TL;DR: Kitt is a car. This is deeply profound.

#knight rider #k.i.t.t. #kitt #science fiction #robot #robots #artificial intelligence #robot character #yup yup bringing out the big boy tags for this one #I realized I can't say that knight rider is the best sci fi has to offer in terms of the robot department #without a whole boat of an essay to explain why #I also sound completely nuts when I say 'I want more exploration of disability like knight rider' #but I'm not brave enough to say that outside of the tags

[snakeskinass]

Random psychology disorder (somewhat) explained #2 (Borderline personality disorder)

Diagnostic Criteria

A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1. Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment. (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5.)

2. A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devastation.

3. Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.

4. Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating). (Note: Do not include suicidal or self-mutilating behavior covered in Criterion 5.)

5. Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior.

6. Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).

7. Chronic feelings of emptiness.

8. Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).

9. Transient, stress-related paranoia ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.

Diagnostic Features

The essential feature of borderline personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity that begins by early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder make frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment (Criterion 1).

The perception of impending separation or rejection, or the loss of external structure, can lead to profound changes in self-image, affect, cognition, and behavior.

These individuals are very sensitive to environmental circumstances.

They experience intense abandonment fears and inappropriate anger even when faced with a realistic time-limited separation or when there are unavoidable changes in plans (e.g., sudden despair in reaction to a clinician's announcing the end of the hour; panic or fury when someone important to them is just a few minutes late or must cancel an appointment).

They may believe that this "abandonment" implies they are "bad."

These abandonment fears are related to an intolerance of being alone and a need to have other people with them.

Their frantic efforts to avoid abandonment may include impulsive actions such as self-mutilating or suicidal behaviors, which are described separately in Criterion 5 (see also "Association With Suicidal Thoughts or Behavior").

Individuals with borderline personality disorder have a pattern of unstable and intense relationships (Criterion 2).

They may idealize potential caregivers or lovers at the first or second meeting, demand to spend a lot of time together, and share the most intimate details early in a relationship.

However, they may switch quickly from idealizing other people to devaluing them, feeling that the other person does not care enough, does not give enough, or is not "there" enough.

These individuals can empathize with and nurture other people, but only with the expectation that the other person will "be there" in return to meet their own needs on demand.

These individuals are prone to sudden and dramatic shifts in their view of others, who may alternatively be seen as beneficent supports or as cruelly punitive.

Such shifts often reflect disillusionment with a caregiver whose nurturing qualities had been idealized or whose rejection or abandonment is expected.

There may be an identity disturbance characterized by markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self (Criterion 3).

There are sudden and dramatic shifts in self-image (e.g., suddenly changing from the role of a needy supplicant for help to that of a righteous avenger of past mistreatment).

Although they usually have a self-image that is based on the feeling of being bad or evil, individuals with this disorder may at times have feelings that they do not exist at all.

This can be both painful and frightening to those with this disorder.

Such experiences usually occur in situations in which the individual feels a lack of a meaningful relationship, nurturing, and support.

These individuals may show worse performance in unstructured work or school situations.

This lack of a full and enduring identity makes it difficult for the individual with borderline personality disorder to identify maladaptive patterns of behavior and can lead to repetitive patterns of troubled relationships.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder display impulsivity in at least two areas are potentially self-damaging (Criterion 4).

They may gamble, spend money irresponsibly, binge eat, abuse substances, engage in unsafe sex, or drive recklessly.

Individuals with this disorder display recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior (Criterion 5).

Recurrent suicidal thoughts or behavior are often the reason that these individuals present for help.

These self-destructive acts are usually precipitated by threats of separation or rejection or by expectations that the individual assume increased responsibility.

Self-mutilative acts (e.g., cutting or burning) are very common and may occur during periods in which the individual is experiencing dissociative symptoms.

These acts often bring relief by reaffirming the individual's ability to feel or by expiating the individual's sense of being evil.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder may display affective instability that is due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days) (Criterion 6).

The basic dysphoric mood of those with borderline personality disorder is often disrupted by periods of anger, panic, or despair and is rarely relieved by periods of well-being or satisfaction.

These episodes may reflect the individual's extreme reactivity to interpersonal stresses.

Individuals with borderline personality disorder may be troubled by chronic feelings of emptiness, which can co-occur with painful feelings of aloneness (Criterion 7).

Easily bored, they may frequently seek excitement to avoid their feelings of emptiness.

Individuals with this disorder frequently express inappropriate, intense anger or have difficulty controlling their anger (Criterion 8).

They may display extreme sarcasm, enduring bitterness, or verbal outbursts.

The anger is often elicited when a caregiver or lover is seen as neglectful, withholding, uncaring, or abandoning.

Such expressions of anger are often followed by shame and guilt and contribute to the feeling they have of being evil.

During periods of extreme stress, transient paranoid ideation or dissociative symptoms (e.g., depersonalization) may occur (Criterion 9), but these are generally of insufficient severity or duration to warrant an additional diagnosis.

These episodes occur most frequently in response to a real or imagined abandonment.

Symptoms tend to be transient, lasting minutes or hours.

The real or perceived return of the caregiver's nurturance may result in a remission of symptoms.

Associated Features

Individuals with borderline personality disorder may have a pattern of undermining themselves at the moment a goal is about to be realized (e.g, dropping out of school just before graduation; regressing severely after a discussion of how well therapy is going; destroying a good relationship just when it is clear that the relationship could last).

Some individuals develop psychotic-like symptoms (e.g., hallucinations, body-image distortions, ideas of reference, hypnagogic phenomena) during times of stress.

Individuals with this disorder may feel more secure with transitional objects (i.e., a pet or inanimate possession) than in interpersonal relationships.

Premature death from suicide may occur in individuals with borderline personality disorder, especially in those with co-occurring depressive disorders or substance use disorders.

However, deaths from other causes. such as accidents or illness, are more than twice as common as deaths by suicide in individuals with borderline personality disorder.

Physical handicaps may result from self-inflicted abuse behaviors or failed suicide attempts.

Recurrent job losses, interrupted education, and separation or divorce are common.

Physical and sexual abuse, neglect, hostile conflict, and early parental loss are more common in the childhood histories of those with borderline personality disorder.

Differential Diagnosis

Depressive and bipolar disorders. Borderline personality disorder often co-occurs with depressive or bipolar disorders, and when criteria for both are met, both should be diagnosed.

Because the cross-sectional presentation of borderline personality disorder can be mimicked by an episode of depressive or bipolar disorder, the clinician should avoid giving an additional diagnosis of borderline personality disorder based only on cross-sectional presentation without having documented that the pattern of behavior had an early onset and a long-standing course.

Separation anxiety disorder in adults. Separation anxiety disorder and borderline personality disorder are characterized by fear of abandonment by loved ones, but problems in identity, self-direction, interpersonal functioning, and impulsivity are additionally central to borderline personality disorder.

Other personality disorders. Other personality disorders may be confused with borderline personality disorder because they have certain features in common.

It is therefore important to distinguish among these disorders based on differences in their characteristic features.

However, if an individual has personality features that meet criteria for one or more personality disorders in addition to borderline personality disorder, all can be diagnosed.

Although histrionic personality disorder can also be characterized by attention seeking, manipulative behavior, and rapidly shifting emotions, borderline personality disorder is distinguished by self-destructiveness, angry disruptions in close relationships, and chronic feelings of deep emptiness and loneliness.

Paranoid ideas or illusions may be present in both borderline personality disorder and schizotypal personality disorder, but these symptoms are more transient, interpersonally reactive, and responsive to external structuring in borderline personality disorder.

Although paranoid personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder may also be characterized by an angry reaction to minor stimuli, the relative stability of self-image, as well as the relative lack of physical self-destructiveness, repetitive impulsivity, and profound abandonment concerns, distinguishes these disorders from borderline personality disorder.

Although antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder are both characterized by manipulative behavior, individuals with antisocial personality disorder are manipulative to gain profit, power, or some other material gratification, whereas the goal in borderline personality disorder is directed more toward gaining the concern of caretakers.

Both dependent personality disorder and borderline personality disorder are characterized by fear of abandonment; however, the individual with borderline personality disorder reacts to abandonment with feelings of emotional emptiness, rage, and demands, whereas the individual with dependent personality disorder reacts with increasing appeasement and submissiveness and urgently seeks a replacement relationship to provide caregiving and support.

Borderline personality disorder can farther be distinguished from dependent personality disorder by the typical pattern of unstable and intense relationships.

Personality change due to another medical condition. Borderline personality disorder must be distinguished from personality change due to another medical condition, in which the traits that emerge are a direct physiological consequence of another medical condition.

Substance use disorders. Borderline personality disorder must also be distinguished from symptoms that may develop in association with persistent substance use.

Identity problems. Borderline personality disorder should be distinguished from an identity problem, which is reserved for identity concerns related to a developmental phase (e.g., adolescence) and does not qualify as a mental disorder.

Adolescents and young adults with identity problems (especially when accompanied by substance use) may transiently display behaviors that misleadingly give the impression of borderline personality disorder.

Such situations are characterized by emotional instability, existential dilemmas, uncertainty, anxiety-provoking choices, conflicts about sexual orientation, and competing social pressures to decide on careers.

Comorbidity

Common co-occurring disorders include depressive and bipolar disorders, substance use disorders, anxiety disorders (particularly panic disorder and social anxiety disorder), eating disorders (notably bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder), post-traumatic stress disorder, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Borderline personality disorder also frequently co-occurs with the other personality disorders.

#borderline personality disorder #borderline pd #personality disorder #long post #psychology #mentalheathawareness #dsm 5 #mental heath support #mental illness #mental health #I love you BPD bitches #cluster b #cluster b personality disorder

[eh-whereismycat]

So I have something to say about the Chloe character writing thingy in this episode (S5E23)

I feel like they write Chloe better than before in this episode, yea I know they f up season 3 on that part Really Bad.

Personally I think it's fine to write Chloe as a villain all along despite her had the chance to be a better self, as long as the writers could including some hints and foreshadows in S2, but we all know it was not the case.

But in this episode, the writers didn't paint Chloe as a one-dimension ridiculous mean girl villain and ignore the S2 & S3 development like they try to do in S4 and most of the S5. Instead they show us her relationship with her mother again, we can see how Audrey's parenting is all about fame,power and money, and Chloe is no longer looking for any emotional support from her family, she is annoyed by how her parents are dare to lecture her.

Regardless of the rationality or legitimacy of her emotions, she does feel sad and lonely. Even though her relationship with Sabina is so toxic to the point her see Sabina as her servant/slave, she doesn't know the word "friendship" nor she would care about it, after all these years she still form a emotional bond towards Sabina, she is attached to her, as soon as her is reminded that Sabina is no longer on her side, she feels hurt and heart-broken. And when she tried to let that out by ridiculing Marinette, not only she failed to do so, she was exposed by Marinette that she had NO POWER over them.

Personally I find it's funny how she had never tried to find Lila for emotional support at the end of this episode despite they were supposed to be a team. Chloe knows she is used by Lila, she is nothing but a rich and famous puppet for Lila, and being with this kind of heartless person would only enhance her inner loneliness, even Lila gave her so far the most successful plan and power, she could not form any attachments towards Lila.

Parental love, friendship, the power of control, she lost all the things she craves. She has nobody to relay on and all she can do is cry by herself.

I love how the writers are pointing out that, Chloe can have her relatable side, she is lonely, her parents are certainly doing a terrible job and there are reasons why she is acting in this way with this mindset. We can feel bad for her, but her misery could be coexist with her evil deeds. At the end of the day it's still her own choice to work with Lila and Monarch, to bully Marinette and so on. Her tears are real so as the harm she has done. She is the utterly ridiculous and miserable one.

Lastly, I've been in this fandom for some good years, not the most active one of course. I believe that nobody would ever doubt that Chloe's character development is like the saltiest topic in this fandom. I empathized with the disappointed fans, I witnessed how people went to the writers' twitter ask for explanation, even harassing them. I agree that they did Chloe dirty in terms of character development, and the strong grudge that Thomas holds towards a fictional character is not the most rational thought in the world. However, frighting over a Fictional Character with a Real Life Person who's also the writers that should have the freedom of creation & expression, and power over their own story is unnecessary. I feel like the critics, the salt, the harassment is more than enough (at least the critics is understandable and somewhat justified, but the third one shouldn't be there in the first place).

Constructive criticism is necessary for a creator and its story to growth, but sometimes I want to remind people that encouragement is also important for the creator, point out what is better than the past episodes! These kindness can motivate them and help them to figure out what the audience expecting. I would say, creators and audiences are bonded over the creation, may as well let it be a healthy, supportive and wholesome bond.

A perfect show never exist, but every episode has the potential to exceed its previous episodes.

I can see their hardwork and improvements regarding the story writing, the pace becomes much faster you can finally feel the time is flowing, they are digging the characters' background story and fixing some flaws in the early episode, relationships are envolving (both family and romantic wise), the way they keep the possibility of how the show could go while keep the timeline moving forward (i.e. whether it ends when Monarch is defeated or let Lila be the next butterfly), and animation in this season is doing great imo! ok I should stop here I still have course works to do omg

and I really want more people could see that and spread the kindness across the fandom, send more love to the creators! they deserve it!

#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #mlb #mlb spoilers #ml revolution #mlb revolution #mlb s5 #chloe bourgeois #oh and somehow I feel like chloe is a closested lesbian in denial #I mean #she is obsessed with Marinette and she needs Sabina to some extent #but you didnt hear that from me

[wegonbealright-09]

Hey,

Came across your blog on my feed, I hope you’ll find it within yourself to consume bts related content to see how much all the members care about each other.

I don’t really understand but I can empathize with solo stans, it feels like you’re fighting or campaigning for something that doesn’t really have any basis, you ( and many others ) have contributed to the us versus them mentality, I’m not sure how it is beneficial for either party.

Try to spread kindness when you can, assuming members are ‘jealous’ of another member’s achievements is odd to me, also comparing other groups is odd as well. They’re all in the same industry, there shouldn’t be any competition because as you mentioned everyone is gonna ‘get their bag’.

This kpop space is vast, achievements can be shared, celebrated, and achieved again and again. There is no shortage of love that you can spread. I’m not sure if you are solo stan because you like the community, believe in what you think, or you use it as a form to release your stress out on celebrities, but I hope you can find it within yourself to participate in fan culture in a positive way.

this is by no means hate, I hope you don’t take it that way. You can like one member in a group, it just doesn’t look right to put down the other members in it, now that is my opinion and you can take it as you will.

Hope you have a good day

- anon army

Ten points for your way of approaching this.

Okay so I was never a solo, I've only became a solo after Face if I'm dating it back correctly when jk released his concept photo that's when I stopped being an army and a shipper completely. I was an army for five years anon five years. I didn't just wake up and decided I'm gonna be a solo I'm done being an army no somethings happened and now we're here.

When I started this blog I was bit too negative and so I did what you said and watched BTS content with hopes of reviving something in me idk what but something. Truth is when you're a solo, it opens your eyes about alot of things. Armies are too naive you guys want to push this image of BTS that existed 5 years ago. You want to continue and live in this bubble and away from reality. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Yes namjoon was jealous of jimin getting that number one and yes he was insecure about the numbers that he pulled just like Hobi was about his which he said in his documentary. Yes yoongi is mean to jimin yes he gives jimin backhanded compliments and yes yoongi sometimes says things that may seem like he downplays jimin and makes him feel insecure yes yoongi has body shamed jimin times more than once, it's not a joke if only one of us is laughing it's not a joke if the person being made fun of is not laughing it's not typically boy behaviour it's bullying. Yes Tae is selfish and he's a leech he only wants to be friends with jimin when it benefits him that much is visible now, he always makes it seem like jimin is the most important person to him where as he's the least, he has time for everybody not for him, he'd go the extra mile for anybody but not even quarter a mile for jimin it's not really a friendship, a healthy friendship if only one person is pulling the weight. Jungkook is the worst person ever for all the things he's done to jimin and still continues to do. For the way he acts like being next to jimin hurts him physically for him making it seem like jimin is forcing himself to him for him "loving" jimin in private but acts the opposite in public for him seeming comfortable when with anyone but not jimin.

I'm not going to spread positivity because there's nothing to be positive about. The fandom it's self has turned to something I don't know armies are now jimin antis. BTS themselves are no longer themselves and we can't deny that but you'll since y'all like acting like everything is perfect. I can't spread positivity when there's an elephant in the room which armies are refusing to address. I won't spread positivity when armies are acting like pjms are the enemies for streaming jimin's music for standing up for him. There's nothing to be positive about. And idk what groups are you talking about because not once have I ever mentioned groups in this blog the only group I talk about is bts

But if you're referring to that post where I talked about how jimin's no1 gagged everybody. Well it did getting that no1 is everybody's dream in kpop they might not say it but they do. What some groups couldn't do in years soloist jimin did in 5 days it is what is it's not that deep.

I can like jimin and I can hate the rest of BTS ( of which I don't) because it's a free world and I'm a grown woman I can do what I want.

And no honey there's no negativity in this blog it's just positive vibes always I just seem negative when I lean a little bit towards the truth and it hits a certain nerve.

Your opinion is very much valued thanks but not thanks

Yours sincerely

wegonbealright-09

#jimin #park jimin #positivity #positive vibes #bts #bangtan #kpop #wegonbealright 09

[the-bloody-sadist]

Hello, sorry if this ask is awkward. I've come upon many of your works and they've always pulled me in. Thinking it over, I realize that I bleed my perfectionist issues into my writing and make all my characters OP or stereotypical or generally boring. How can I stop being scared of writing "human" characters? Is there a way to do that?

You don't have to answer this. You can delete this ask if I'm being weird here. Thank you for taking your time to read this, though.

From Juni.

This is not awkward in the least!!! I'm very happy to hear the questions, especially on writing! That's something I know a lot about, even if I don't believe myself capable of applying all of my knowledge in the best ways possible for some of my own works. Still, character psychology is my favorite topic.

What I would say is the most important thing (and I'm a perfectionist as well) is to realize that the more flaws a character has, the more relatable they are. The less flaws they have, the more unrealistic they are - thus unlikable or un-relatable.

To address the certain types you mentioned specifically, I'll try and use examples. For instance, if you have an OP character, the best way to make them interesting is to give them an emotional weakness. If it's Saitama from Once Punch Man, who can literally defeat any threat in a single punch, give him a friend, and then make that friend the threat, that friend the villain, whether the friend is a traitor or an unwilling participant to another villain's plans. What's he gonna do, then? Not be OP and kill him in one punch.

For OP characters, the trick is generally to make the conflict more complicated and emotional. Since I'm character-focused as a writer, the way I might do an OP character is to give him a fragile personality type. Extreme contrast to his OP-ness is interesting, it adds a direct opposite.

Opposites are the best trick to making any character complex.

If you have issues with stereotypical characters, you can use this same method. Did you make a jock character? The kind that stereotypically bullies the weak kids, has multiple girlfriends, is a player, etc? Make him a crybaby. Make him sensitive. Make him a bully of kids that remind him of himself. Maybe he can't keep girls because they expect him to be tough and cool, but then he has a breakdown over something small and they laugh at him. Cheerleader stereotype? Usually vain, obsessed with being a ringleader? Give her self-hatred so extreme that she can't even look at herself if she's not wearing layers of makeup. She hates being popular, but does it out of necessity for her own survival in the school, or else she'd be bullied, and she can't deal with that.

Typically the problem with stereotypes is that we've seen them so much (thus the label) that we no longer care about them when we see them. If you give us something that we can empathize with, relate to, or feel bad for them over, you've made progress!

Being worried about writing 'human' characters is usually a reflection of your own fear of your own flaws. You have to allow a certain amount of vulnerability with yourself when you write, including trying to let characters adopt traits from you. Almost every one of my own characters has something (many things) related to me that they deal with, whether habits or trauma types or fears or mental illnesses. That's why I'm able to write them that way! So honestly, if you're a perfectionist, try writing a character who's also perfectionist. If they want to be perfect so badly that they show none of their flaws, give them an arc where it bottles up so much that it eventually bursts out somehow.

In the end, there are quite a few ways to spice up a character. For me, I most often go to trauma. It's my passion, obviously, but it holds a lot of weight. When a character has past trauma, it shapes everything that they are in the present.

I have books I use that indicate common traits of different traumas or backstory events if I struggle with some (The Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman is the best, and I recommend all of their other thesauruses as well). This helps me if I get stuck, though I've used it so much that it's old hat by now, and my own experiences most often inform my characters'.

If you want deeper thoughts on the matter, feel free to ask me any other questions you have, or take a look at the Positive and Negative Traits Thesauruses from those authors! They have sections in the beginning of all of their books that give the most excellent breakdowns of how to create a perfectly flawed character and how to make the audience care.

Thank you so much for the ask - much love to you!! <3

#sadist’s answered asks #writing advice

[alexissara]

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady Quick Review

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady or as we'll be calling it for the rest of this review, Magirevo is an amazing yuri anime series. It made a lot of interesting choices in it's adaptation to make the 12 episodes very punchy, fast paced and really get to the heart of the series without spending a lot of time pondering. I do wish the series was longer and we had more time for getting into people's feelings, the lives of the side characters, etc but the 12 episodes we did get are superub. The anime starts a little slow and it's jokes don't land nearly as well as the manga but the comedy in this series is mostly pushed away for action.

It was a really smart choice to turn Magirevo into more of an action yuri in terms of having it reach a wider audience. The action looks very cool and it makes a lot of sense with the ending they were building to with a dramatic fight that decides what will happen with the future of the kingdom. Everything is very intentionally building to the ending and it makes a lot of the choices make a ton of sense.

Our Protagonist Anis is charming, she is funny, she's very relatable to me even as a dumb ass because she feels very real to a lesbian who is living in a fantasy world. Euphy is very much tied into the royalty, nobility, the sense of duty but the show is also super empathic to her plight and her feeling like she had a role and it was taken form her and the grief she felt about it. The side characters Tilty, Lainie and Ilia are both really good side characters whom I really wish got much more attention but at the very least every scene with them in it was a banger, when they get to talk, it's good. A lot of the other characters I found more annoying or like they were serving their role in the story.

I think the show's politics were lacking in the detail and care they needed and it is something I really hope we could see that expanded if the show were to magically gain a second season. As for the first season I think the politics were at play were all there to serve the plot and more important to serve directly as an oppressive structure for Anis who feels like she can escape it only to be dragged in again more and more. We see that system slowly killing her soul and I think that is an effective way to show the problems with the system. The main issue is that our main villain does wish to tear down the system but we aren't given a really appropriate counter weight till like epilogue scenes wrapping up the anime.

I think another place I would have loved just a bit more care in is the queer politics of the show. The anime is explicitly gay, like we get 3 gay kisses in the 12 episode run which I mean I can't say about most other shows ever. Yet, Magirevo kinda plays off Anis's dad's homophobia is a bit, a little joke and it was upsetting to like humanize him without resolving that. We jut kinda hand waved it completely. There is some implication that maybe he is bisexual later but it's all like subtext, there is no exploring that, there is no slow moment of like understanding or whatever. We understand that the politics by the elders is like very heteronormative and we show that as like a traumatic instrument but we don't get a lot of time to really explore the queerness even just on it's own merit.

All that critical stuff said OMG I love it, the animation is so good, it's very gay, the girls are super cute, I do wish Tilly and Anis got together but like that is shipper shit [in a poly waym not in a replacing Euphie way], I the pacing is great, the action scenes are so cool, I love this anime. This is for sure going in my list of favorite animes of all time, for sure.

#Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei #The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady #Anime review #yuri review #GL review #lesbian review #lesbian #lesbian anime #gl #yuri #転生王女と天才令嬢の魔法革命 #tenten kakumei #Magirevo

[gamesception]

Sception reads Cass Cain #6

Batman #569, September 1999 written by Janet Harvey, pencils by Sergio Cariello

So here we have the first instance where Cassandra is the main character of an issue, and the primary focus of its story, but the lead creatives aren't her primary team of Peterson, Puckett and Scott. And for a mainstream comic hero that's a big test. Harvey takes a different approach to writing a non-verbal character than Puckett, one that's maybe less innovative and experimental, but that's so easy and obvious that I really have to wonder why I didn't see the same approach taken more often. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The comic starts with a non-super-villain affiliated gang trying to kick this Sanchez guy out of his gas station in an area they've claimed, presumably to take whatever gas and supplies are left there. And in blue boxes we have some faux noir-esque narration of the type commonly employed throughout bat books from the dawn of time, both for exposition and for letting letting the audience in on the main characters' thoughts. I'm not a big fan of the gimmick generally, and one of the things I liked about Cass, especially in her early non-verbal days, was that her book focused more on storytelling and characterization through the art on the panel. I know "show don't tell" is a bit of an overused cliche, but imo it invited the reader to empathize more directly with Cass since you didn't have this layer of text in between you and her.

But not every writer and artist were up to that - and Cass's faceless costume design made it that much harder. Most back book writers had been relying on their narration blocks for so long that they didn't know how to tell a story, let alone a bat story, without them. As a result, it seemed like most of the bat book writers just didn't know how to use Cass, and so she showed up sparingly in other books, and when she was just this silent shadow that none of the other bat family characters could meaningfully relate to.

The funny thing is, looking back now at this issue for the first time, from before her solo book even started, Harvey had already figured out how to put the circle through the square hole.

Because the blue text blocks are Cass's thoughts, or at least describing what she's thinking, even if in universe she isn't thinking these things in words exactly. In the same way that a comic might write out a foreign character's dialog in English, and then just tack a note that in-universe they're speaking French or whatever.

Which, yeah, is just the obvious solution to the problem? If you're writing a Cass story but don't know how to do that without your typical narration boxes, then just use your typical narration boxes.

Oh, also I love that close up in the middle panel there, with her big smile - drawn right through the mask the way I keep saying artists should do. Because it's ok to cheat in comic art. Spider man cheats by having the eyes on his mask change shape to show his expression all the time. But anyway, yeah, with that big smile you can feel her easy confidence and excitement. She's enjoying herself. She's having fun. This is play to her. That idea, that she /enjoys/ being Batgirl, will be important when we get into some of her issues with guilt later in her own book, so it's great that we're already seeing that side of her here, an aspect of her personality that is entirely lost when she's portrayed as just Batman's silent ninja enforcer.

But yeah, that's Cass right there. That's our girl, that's who we're here to see.

We also see that her instincts are dangerous - she was taught by an assassin - trained to kill. No matter how much fun she's having, she can't just cut loose, can't get carried away and lose focus. She has to actively restrain herself. She starts to have fun flexing her fighting skills, but then she remembers what those skills were originally meant for, what she was originally meant for, and the fun is over.

Mr. Sanchez is in high spirits after the rescue and very chatty. Cass gets annoyed by this, which I choose to read as reflexive insecurity about not being able to communicate verbally herself.

Cass signals Bat HQ that she's secured the gas station. Apparently there had been a plan to send extra help to get some gas for the hospital (the hospital is still functional? Why isn't Dr. Thomkins there then?), but it's too dangerous at the moment so Cass is just going to have to hold the station by herself overnight. Which is framed as a tough mission, a test of her competence.

There's a flashback to a few hours earlier when the mission was first assigned, and we get to see how excited Cass is to be useful, how eager she is to please Bruce in particular. Especially nice since we get to see her emoting without the mask in the way. The scene is nice, and it emphasizes both her youth - she's still just a teenager - and her motivations. We also see Barbara both vouching for Cass's ability and worrying about her safety, which fits the big sister/surrogate mother role she'll serve in Cass's ongoing.

Meanwhile, Bruce still isn't completely sure what to make of Cassandra. He trusts Barbara's recommendation, and has seen first hand Cass's martial skills and her commitment to finding nonlethal solutions to problems even where none seems possible, but yeah, this is very much a test.

Cass gets frustrated with the chatty Mr. Sanchez and heads outside, where we get a bunch more of the narration blocks and some art I don't especially care for, with weird comic woman proportions and spray-painted-on costume and weird boots. The ruined city background art is pretty nice, and none of this is terrible looking. Just not particularly great. I like the way the artist draws Cass's Batgirl outfit when she's just a lurking shadow, just a silhouette, like in that first panel there, even if it's small, or this panel from earlier that I didn't grab before:

Yeah, good spooky Cass silhouettes. But when the details fill in, not as much.

Anyway, the thugs come back later with a rocket launcher, there's some fighting, but while Cass is able to save Mr. Sanchez, the gas station is destroyed.

Which means Cass failed her mission. Failed the test.

Failed Batman.

Cariello does a fantastic job portraying how fucking pissed Cass is in this panel, and how terrifying she is in her anger. Again, when he's rendering her as a spooky silhouette it's great.

Again Cassandra risks gets carried away - this time by her anger rather than having fun - and her restraint slips, letting the lethal training her father drilled into her come to the surface.

Sanchez talks Cass down, and she turns away just as Bruce shows up, and thankfully there was a separate stash of gas they can take to keep the hospital generators running.

....

Overall this was a pretty good issue for our girl. While I might not like some of the art or some of the writing choices as much as if this issue had been done by Peterson, Puckett, and Scott, this is still very much a Cass Cain Batgirl story, the kind you might have seen in her solo book. The tone is right, the themes are there, the interpersonal dynamics between her, Bruce, and Barbara. Her character and personality comes across well.

Given how badly her solo book drops off later on, her disastrous villain period, the mess that followed after, how I never really felt like she found her footing again... over the years I've kind of built up this idea in my head that, as great as Cass was in her prime, maybe she just wasn't a good fit for the collaborative, factory format of mainstream US superhero books. Like only one team could ever get her right, which made her a bad fit in a medium where creative teams are constantly shifting and a shared universe where characters are regularly crossing over into each others stories.

But this book stands as an easy and very early refutation of that entire thought. Harvey isn't writing this book like Puckett would have, and Cariello isn't illustrating like Scott would have. This is a book that looks and reads much more like typical Bat book fare, and yet Cass is working fine here. That's very recognizably our girl. And this right after the previous issue I looked at, where she worked pretty well as a side character.

If multiple creative teams outside of her own could get her right this early on, why did others fail - and fail so very badly - later on, when the character if anything should have been more well established?

#sception reads cassandra cain #cassandra cain #batgirl #batman #dc comics

[redheadlesbianfreak]

You are redhead yet you celebrate when any redhead representation in media gets blackwashed what an idiot

This has to be one of the most bizarre interactions I've ever had on the Internet. I can tell you right now that I've never felt underrepresented as a redhead in the media. Even though red hair is the least common hair color, there are plenty of redheaded characters in the media. There are far fewer black characters represented, especially when I was growing up.

When I was a little girl, my favorite Disney princess was Ariel because she had red hair like me. I didn't realize until I got older that black girls never had a princess that looked like them until 2009, not too long ago all things considered. There were blond princesses, and brunette princesses, but no black princesses. And they haven't had one since then.

My girlfriend has talked to me about how she never had a Disney princess that looked like her until Moana came out. Moana is special to her because of that, but it came out when she was a teenager, far too late. I don't know what it's like to feel underrepresented due to my race, but you know, there is such a thing as empathy.

It takes no effort to empathize with people of color when they talk about how much it hurts to have no representation in the media they love. Many black creators have talked about how difficult it is to get shows made about black people or books about black people published. And even if a show or movie does have representation, it can often be poor representation.

I don't like or value characters just because they look like me or because of their "relatability" factor. It's incredibly important to read literature and watch movies made by people who are nothing like you and have lived different lives from you. Not to mention that the most important thing is good characterization and good storytelling, not "do the characters look like me?"

I assume this ask is about April in Mutant Mayhem. My question is this: why does April O'Neil need to be a redhead? How does having red hair affect her character? This isn't her first time not having red hair, and hell, it's not her first time being black. And I can tell you that most of the Aprils that do have red hair don't have a natural color. I love 2003 April, but her hair is a pinkish-red. Where is your outrage over that? Why is only directed at versions of April who are depicted as black?

The thing is that it's never about "red hair representation." It always comes down to racism. I see people like you get mad over original black characters in media, and I see people like you get mad over original stories by black creators. You should seriously consider why April being black bothered you enough to get pissed at a random stranger who posted about loving April's new design.

And I think you know you're being a racist coward because you sent this ask anonymously.

#asks #anon asks #yikes #you should know that sending me an ask is always a big mistake #because i love writing long posts #anyway i'm pretty disgusted by this #fucking block me if my posts bother you so much #fucking sick of any semblance of diversity being seen as “controversial”

[kamyru]

The importance of Kuranosuke Kiba's backstory

Trigger warning: Emotional abuse, suicidal behavior, abusive families

As some of you know, I live in the dorms. I have no idea what I did to get so lucky, yet I got along with all my dormmates. And we are not just good acquaintances. We are family. If these girls need meds at two in the morning, I'm walking on the other side of the city to get them meds and some food. In these conditions, it's nearly impossible not to know their backstories. 

Dormmate #1: Comes from a small village where it is harder to find someone not related than a relative. Complete family, one younger sibling. Her parents went abroad a few times while she was a teenager so that they could provide enough money. Dad used to drink but has never touched any alcohol for years. Mom is emotionally abusive due to generational trauma: critiques her weight and can't accept she is an atheist. She is bi but won't ever come out to her family. 

Dormmate #2: Literal angel. Is still with her first boyfriend, whom she met at 19/20, and they have been together for three years. Divorced parents. Has an older sibling to whom she is not the closest. Doesn't keep in touch with her father and doesn't want to talk about him. 

Dormmate #3: Complete family, one younger sibling. Idealizes relationships because her family has strong bonds. Has never had a relationship, even if she wants one. Her dad once told her to cut out on eating vegetables and fruits because they were too expensive.

Dormmate #4: The friendliest out of the entire list, everybody loves her. Her dad left when she was ten after she asked her mom to divorce him. Her grandmother is also divorced. Has a younger brother that grew up with the three of them, all women. Wants a strong relationship and gives her all to the relationships but gives up on them the moment something goes wrong, then suffers for years. Says that the only reason she is living is her brother. 

Dormmate #5: A saint on earth. I have never met a kinder and more empathic person in my entire life. Complete family, middle child, religious family. I met her parents, very good people. Twice had a mental breakdown because she thought she wasn't meant to be happy and didn't find happiness in anything. Once asked me if I wanted to live. I didn't answer: we cried together at 1 in the morning. Can't take compliments or admit she is enough because her father has never praised her. 

Dormmate #6: Looks like a cinnamon roll, is a cinnamon roll that can kill you. Is the local officer for an international NGO. Had the highest grades in her entire town while in high school. Has the highest grades in her class at university. Her first memory is of her mother's goodbye letter on the table. Her mother wanted to run away from her abusive husband. Later, her mom tried to run away at least five more times. Once, she was the one to call the taxi for her, because she thought her mom had it harder than her. The youngest in a complete family, with two older siblings. Says that her biggest achievement is that she got into a university that is 700 km away from home. Can't feel strong feelings of attachment towards men or express her love. Doesn't want kids. 

Me: Looks like can kill you, is a cinnamon roll. Complete family, with an older sibling. Invites everyone at home due to how friendly is her family. At least three of her sibling's friends said they wanted her mom to adopt them. Had an OCD episode at 13 with suicidal ideas and tried to kill herself at that age. The gifted kid that burned out in 10th grade. Used to think that her parents were better divorced, then understood that her dad wouldn't have made it to live for so long if left alone. Believes in happy couples, but not with her. 

When writers think of a character's background, most put them in fantastic conditions. And I won't say that I'm not doing the same. It's enough to ask me about my OCs' backgrounds. That's why it's so hard for me to write about Sua: she doesn't have a flashy background. 

Do you see the pattern? None of us has dead parents, all our exes are alive, all our siblings are too, some even have nearly perfect families, and some are happy about their parents' divorce. Yet, it's not working in most cases. And here comes Kuranosuke.

Kuranosuke is from a complete family of artists, the middle child, is probably middle-class to upper-middle class. He doesn't have a flashy background: his parents are alive and in a good relationship, his siblings are alive and with good careers, and he is alive and with a good career. He is considered a good architect. Yet, Kuranosuke admitted he didn't have MC's drive to work. He is working because he has to. And he does a good job, doesn't he? 

Kuranosuke Kiba is not the super inspirational man who went through the hardest lessons a perverted writer can think about. His backstory blends compared to Public Safety officers'. But that's why he IS inspirational. 

It's easy to like a character whose backstory is sadder than death. Though, most of us don't have such backstories. We see in books, movies, and games that we can feel the way we feel only if we have encountered death, criminal abuse, our parents' divorce, and other things such as these. 

But I don't think it's quiet like this. You don't need an "easy to recognize" trauma to suffer and have life-long scars. You don't need a trauma to be successful. You don't need some revolutionary achievements to be happy. 

Kuranosuke Kiba has a family trauma while not encountering divorced parents, death, and abuse in the form usually shown in the media. He didn't go no-contact with his family. They care for him, and he tries to make them happy. And that's a good representation of how most families work, how most people work. Most people have some trauma that haunts them, but they try their best to cope with it and are more or less happy. 

It has always been hard for me to relate to Voltage Inc.'s love interests because I thought I would downgrade their trauma and success if I did it. It is some kind of an inferiority complex due to how much work they had to do while I had everything they craved. But then, Kuranosuke Kiba happened. His parents probably helped, or at least influenced his job choice. He has an acceptable relationship with them, and from afar, it looks like he comes from a perfect family. But he has had a hard time while being in that family. And he is going his way to his dreams and goals that morph with time, change, appear, and disappear. He is one of the closest-to-reality characters that Voltage Inc. has written. You can easily believe in him due to how close to most people he is. 

So yeah, thank you for listening to my Ted Talk about Kuranosuke Kiba. See you soon. 

#oops i said yes #kuranosuke kiba #voltage inc

[bookwyrminspiration]

Do you have any theories on why Shannon decided to make Keefe capable of reading Sophie’s emotions, especially since she never intended for him to be a prominent character in the beginning?

oo good question, I do have a few speculations on why that could be, the primary one just being because it adds a unique dynamic to their characters.

Keefe may not have been intended to have the importance in the story he does now, but I think he had enough of a purpose that it would be nice for him to have something unique about him. Making him an empath and then saying "oh what if he could read Sophie's emotions through the air?" makes him distinct from the rest of Sophie's friends and from other empaths, while also not needing to be this huge thing. It's not a huge step from being able to read emotions through touch to being able to read them through the air, and from there what that means for them and how it impacts the story can be figured out.

Any empath can read emotions, but Keefe being able to read them through the air is a little "okay so he's not like other girls" moment so we don't completely ignore him. he's not the main character, but it's a heads up that's he's not insignificant. It's like Dex's alchemy, or Biana's appearance (cause she hadn't manifested yet). Those are traits that each character has that are normal things, but have been dialed up to 11. Dex isn't just an alchemist, his father has a shop and he's skilled enough to make his own things and is better than others at it. Biana isn't just pretty, she's one of the most beautiful people among the elves. Keefe isn't just an empath, he can read her emotions without contact. It's not a huge deal, but it's their Thing.

And if we look at it through the lens of the love triangle (though it was being written like more of a square at the time), then it's a trait that makes him more comparable and even with Fitz. Fitz and Sophie are both telepaths and can share that experience, later going on to have a special bond related to it. Keefe being able to read her emotions and understand her that way gives him a special bond with her in a different way. The two of them each have a way of connecting with her no one else does, something that generally signifies a love interest. In order to "properly" compare the two, them having that in common makes the decision more difficult.

Last thought: maybe it's also just for fun! It definitely could be a situation where you're like "haha what if he could do this" and then you just roll with it and see where it takes you and play around with it. Because Keefe being able to read her emotions without contact lets him tease her, lets him ask her questions, and sometimes the questions are plot related! Things about her plans and her motivations and such. And it also raised questions about "what's different about me" for Sophie, because he could read her emotions without touch but no one else's so why is that? At the time they didn't know about her being the way she is, so I think that could be part of it. From there it's grown into a unique relationship and had plot relevance to Gisela's plans, but it might've all started as a "what if?" situation. I add little things like that all the time into the wings au without thinking about them, and then they turn into bigger things, so that could've happened here.

Those are some of my thoughts, at least. Even if his role has gotten a lot bigger, Keefe was still meant to have some presence in the story so I think his empathy being better was His Trait, which evolved into what it is today.

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #quil's queries #keefe sencen #kotlc character analysis #nonsie #fitz has being the youngest telepath #dex has his alchemy #biana her looks and later her being a 'natural' when it comes to vanishing and learning new ways to use it. e.g. avoiding specks of light #keefe has his superior empathy #it's Their Thing #keefe's just. really got a lot more important.