#does he really deserve to die TWICE canonically?

[bitterkarmaa]

Haven’t we been here before

#THIS IS ALL #MOTIONS FRANTICALLY #ALREADY DONE #WHY #sobbing #I know he’s a bitch but #does he really deserve to die TWICE canonically? #I honestly have no idea what’s going on with the show these days #it’s just chaos #gah #sun and moon show #the sun and moon show #tsams #sams eclipse

[saintsenara]

everlasting ink harry potter/ginny weasley teen | 6.2k words

‘blood is thicker than water,’ they all muttered, conspiratorially, when percy left. but, ginny will think, as delphini manages to turn harry into a teddy bear and run into the crystalline stream, water is just as life-giving as blood.

ginny weasley has always been a magnet for dark-haired orphans. what's one more?

this piece was written for week ten of @ladiesofhpfest, on the theme of daughters [you can find the masterlist for this week's fics here].

as i’ve said elsewhere about this piece, i am not ordinarily a hinny fan. i am a sweety, though, and was perfectly happy to be the sort of lovely lass who would write noted twee hinny girly @whinlatter her favourite couple, as a treat.

i've also written her some notes.

my reasoning for thinking that harry and ginny don’t really work is that, frankly, i think ginny deserves better. after all, she spends most of the seven-book canon being kept at arm’s length from harry’s mission - with a brief, and iconic, burst of forcing her way in during order of the phoenix - because he spends books one to four not really interested in her (which, fair, i tried to hang around with my brother’s friends when i was little and it was not well received) and because he spends books six and seven actualising her into a place of safety, a person who needs to be protected, rather than his supporter and equal in the task he has been dealt.

as i’ve written about many times - and as i’ve had numerous enjoyable conversations with @ashesandhackles about - i cannot even imagine how furious i would have been if i were ginny, to discover that my boyfriend seemed to be constitutionally unwilling to acknowledge that i spent the period in which deathly hallows takes place as a resistance leader in my own right.

but above and beyond this, i also think that the pre-epilogue harry is remarkably self-centred when it comes to his trauma. i don’t think this is malicious - or even particularly intentional - but i always find it striking that harry believes himself to be the only person of his acquaintance who is badly affected by dementors, or whose family was hunted down by the death eaters, or who was devastated to see sirius die.

or who was manipulated by tom riddle.

harry’s relationship with the young voldemort is incredibly interesting, not least for the way in which he separates this voldemort (attractive, orphaned, at home in hogwarts) out from the one who killed his parents. that harry understands and empathises with voldemort’s issues - especially his colossal childhood trauma - better than dumbledore does is one of the key themes of the series, and it is - of course - one facet of the purity-of-soul which makes him the books’ hero.

but it is also something ginny can’t ever relate to. after all, the voldemort that ruined her life was the one that harry feels sorry for.

the shadow of ginny’s first year is something which is glaring in canon by its absence. this isn’t, i think, harry’s fault, and nor do i think it’s jkr’s - that chamber of secrets needs to resolve itself neatly with an ‘and then everything was fine’ is a genre convention, since the book is children’s literature. but i do think that it’s something which is really valuable to explore.

because we do get hints that ginny is traumatised by her experience with riddle’s diary even when the books are still conforming to the conventions of children’s stories - above all, as mentioned in everlasting ink, that she seems to be equally as affected by the dementor on the train in prisoner of azkaban as harry is.

and yet all the attention goes to him.

everlasting ink was, then, an attempt to deviate from my usual way of looking at this tension in harry and ginny’s relationship (break them up) and choose a different path (keep them together and happy). and i only had to scream into a pillow once or twice to get that done.

harry does not, i think it’s fair to say, initially appear to be acquitting himself well in the rekindled relationship. he throws himself into being the saviour of the world with a righteousness which blinkers him to anyone else's needs, he never asks ginny about what she is going through, he continues to view her as something to protect, he doesn’t dream about her when he’s reliving his almost-death, and - perhaps worst of all - he foists a daughter on her without asking.

[but perhaps we can forgive him this - after all, he doesn’t really have any experience of motherhood which isn’t sacrificial, or mothers who make their children something other than the entire focus of their self-conception. although i do still think he might have spent a little bit of time thinking about why plopping a toddler with the patented riddle face (those muggle genes are strong, lord voldemort is turning in his grave) on his girlfriend might not have been the best idea he’s ever had…]

this is the part of the author’s note where i out myself as a delphini stan account. [i think her conception makes sense! the entire point of the series is that lord voldemort can't outrun basic human biology! it’s not his fault that he was daydreaming about horcruxes when slughorn was trying to teach him sexual education!] the bellamort baby is a great little plot device for an examination of all sorts of people’s post-war neuroses, and she’s really delivering here, providing a little window not only into harry and ginny’s relationship but into ginny’s wider understanding of her position in her family.

it’s always struck me that ron’s belief, expressed in deathly hallows, that ginny is the favourite child doesn’t seem to be reflected in canon (the favourite child, by quite some distance, is clearly bill). which isn’t to say that ron’s feelings of neglect are invalid - he clearly is overlooked! even though his parents love him and are trying their best! in particular, i've always noticed that ginny’s suffering during her first year doesn’t make her special within the family - as she points out in this piece, nobody ever remembers that she nearly dies.

but there is also a gendered implication to what the locket spills about ron’s darkest secrets - that he thinks that ginny is special within the family solely because she is a daughter. and i have always wondered how that experience - of being the last and longed-for girl to make the family complete - might weigh on her.

so the main familial relationship examined in this piece is the mother and daughter one: ginny and delphini; hermione and rose, and - of course - ginny and her own mother.

i’m always struck that molly weasley must - like her narrative mirror, narcissa malfoy - be quite lonely. this is, i think, not exactly what the narrative wants us to read her as: the text sets her up as central to the weasleys and pseudo-weasleys’ worlds, and most scenes set at either the burrow or grimmauld place take place around mealtimes, with kitchens and dining rooms cast in the story as molly’s domain. and, while this association of good mothers with domestic labour is something i am critical of in the series, i do acknowledge that it makes narrative sense in a way which evidently isn’t intended to be condescending. the weasleys are harry’s first experience of the family life he desires above all else, which - naturally - features as its maternal figure someone who is the polar opposite of the detached, brittle, and cold petunia.

but, on the other hand, the narrative excludes molly from the rest of the family once the domestic sphere is left. she is the only one of them not to like quidditch (there is, after all, no meaningful reason why she would miss the world cup if she did), she doesn’t seem to have any friends of her own (whereas arthur, who seems to be sincerely popular in the ministry, does), and the child with whom she is most aligned - percy - is estranged from her for much of the series. in terms of personality, she lacks the daring streak which defines the other weasleys, she is more interested in social convention, and she is less flexible in how she defines things like ambition or success.

and i think it’s worth noting that this loneliness is gendered. all of the weasley children - and arthur - help out around the house, absolutely, and i don’t think that it’s ever possible to suggest that ron and his brothers become the sort of boors who don’t lift a finger while their wives do everything; but molly’s place within the family is still defined by providing. she is a table or a hand-knitted jumper or a cake. and the rest of the weasleys, who go out and live active lives away from the home, are not.

i always wonder if this is something we’re supposed to read behind molly’s dislike of fleur. that, maybe, she was hoping for a daughter-in-law who would be a kindred spirit, and gets instead someone who considers any sort of domestic role to be beneath her. it is, undoubtedly, also something which features in her relationship with ginny.

and so everlasting ink deals with ginny maturing from an adolescent chafing against her mother’s experience of womanhood - which she sees through her child’s eyes as meaning playing with dolls and being a housewife - into something which understands the complex web of dreams and disappointments which drive molly’s life, and which enables her to embrace the similarities between the two of them she might have once run from.

because they are very similar. above all, i always think that the canonical ginny must also be quite lonely. we are told she’s popular, but all of her friendships seem to be tenuous - she never writes to or visits anyone, harry never notices her with a particular close friend, she spends a full summer not seeing her boyfriend (an insult from jkr towards dean’s canonical rizz).

in particular, i never feel that her friendship with hermione is as close as fanon makes out (nor, indeed, as close as harry suggests it is in half-blood prince - he should have a think about how likely it seems that hermione has any time for other friends when she’s locked in a codependent triad with him and ron), and my view has always been that post-war ginny and hermione would take a long time to become comfortable with each other. some of this is just due to them having to learn how to let their opposing personality traits work together (ginny has no interest in hermione’s constant desire to argue, push, and debate - she’s going to see it, like harry does, as nagging and meddling), but it’s also due to the fact that neither of them can really relate to the defining experiences of the other’s life in the way teenage girls might ordinarily be expected to be able to.

but they get there. even if bitching about their daughters is the way they have to do it.

the harry potter series’ quasi-mystical view of motherhood means that it has a tendency to treat adoption as something negative. we have three examples of kinship adoption in canon - harry’s by petunia, neville’s by his grandmother, and teddy’s by andromeda - and all come about because of a tragedy in which the biological mother sacrifices herself for the anti-voldemort cause.

all three are also treated as something which is a cause of suffering to the adoptee - which, crucially, the series thinks is a good thing. harry’s neglect by the dursleys is considered character-building, and his orphanhood is set up several times in the text as the cause of his ability to understand love.

[on the flip side, voldemort’s own orphanhood is not permitted to be an excuse for his own struggle with the concept of love, and the narrative blames merope gaunt for not staying alive for him, by implying that she could simply have chosen not to bleed to death in childbirth if she’d had little of lily potter’s courage.]

but adoption is neutral. it happens for all sorts of reasons and it provokes all sorts of emotional responses in the people involved. and so it was important to me to show that ginny went on a journey from feeling as though the fact that delphini wasn’t her biological child was a bad thing to not caring about that in the slightest, and that all four potter children grow up equally loved by their parents and extended family.

more specifically, i wanted to focus on ginny choosing not to care about things like the tragedy of orphanhood to the detriment of being happy and silly. i talk a lot about how i find the aspect of love which the harry potter series focuses on - love as suffering and sacrifice, love which is rooted in loss, love which has, to some degree, an element of fate behind it - insufficient. the canon narrative rarely approaches love as something comforting, pleasurable, self-indulgent, or fun - indeed, harry and ginny’s brief burst of a love which is all of these things is snatched away at the end of half-blood prince so that harry can focus on love-as-sacrifice - and it also rarely approaches love as something people choose. love drives characters’ choices - snape chief among them - but the text tends to imply that these choices were made because the love itself was innate and unstoppable.

but that’s kind of bullshit. in the vast majority of relationships we have in our lives, love - whether romantic, platonic, or familial - is a choice freely and constantly made. love as a choice - above all, how love is a very strange choice - is a key theme in everlasting ink, both from the perspective of harry and ginny’s decision to make their relationship work and from the perspective of them becoming part of a sprawling post-war found family.

this gave me a chance to explore one of molly’s most underappreciated traits - that she is someone who collects waifs and strays, and that she is extraordinarily generous in how she opens up herself to these people. i think this is often missed in fanon criticism of her for meddling or being overbearing in the lives of people who aren’t her immediate family - particularly in relation to sirius in order of the phoenix. i wanted her to be the source of the idea that ‘water is just as life-giving as blood’, and for her obvious affection for delphini to be a turning point in ginny’s relationship both with her own role as a mother and with her role as a daughter.

in particular, i wanted it it to change how ginny thinks about heredity.

having to learn that your children have lives outside of you is a complicated experience for all parents, but for the parents of adopted children there is the additional complication of knowing that your child has the right to uncover who their biological parents were, no matter how painful that might be. for harry and ginny, this means becoming comfortable with the idea that delphini might want to have a relationship with the malfoys, or to speak to rodolphus lestrange about her mother, or to think positively about her father.

this would be difficult for them to face. obviously. but i think it would also be healing for them to realise that lord voldemort was not just a one-dimensional caricature of absolute evil but also someone with lots of admirable personality traits. (nor that the positive experiences which they - ginny especially, you can prise the headcanon that they were sincerely bffs from my cold, dead hands - had with him based entirely on lies). delphini is - both physically and in terms of personality - exactly like him, which means that she is funny and theatrical and daring and cunning and possessed of a great taste in tattoos. [he is also, as fans of the asenora cinematic universe will know, the source of her sweet tooth.]

the same is true of bellatrix - that she is very like both andromeda and tonks is a headcanon i’m wedded to, and i like the idea of harry and ginny coming to see her with more nuance as they begin to understand what she had in common with two women they adore.

[i’m not sure they ever get over delphini not liking quidditch, though - but i think they can both begrudgingly respect that voldemort learning the principles of unaided flight because he was terrible on a broom is iconic.]

#asenora fics #hinny #ginny weasley #delphini riddle #everlasting ink #ladies of hp fest

[tokiro07]

So, i was about to make a post about it myself, but i decided to ask you instead: How will Andy's final death look like?

Given that Undead Unluck is described by a narration box as a story about MC's quest for "the greatest death ever, not once, not twice, but it was now chosen to be the final line of every epiosde of the anime... I think this might genuinly be the entire driving force behind the story. That Tozuka really does want to write the greatest death scene ever, and Undead Unluck is the result of that desire.

Now, the question is: How will this happen? Fuuko yeeting her boyfriend at the Sun during final ragnarok? Andy growing old with Fuuko and dying of old age, surrounded by friends and family? SEX SCENE???? (probably not, but the possibilty of that is very funny to me)

Im pondering this question, becuase on one hand i want AnFuu to live happily ever after as they deserve it. On the other, im sucker for tearjerking scenes, and Andy having a grand epic death would emotionally draining, and i love when stories do that to me...

And, lastly, theres my personal elephant in the room... I kinda want Gina to smooch Fuuko. Now,for the record, i love Fuuko's romance with Andy, and i am NOT the type of shipper who wants the rival ship to be killed off for "getting in the way of OTP" - like, cmon, ITS ANFUU, THE BEST CANON SHIP IN A BATTLE MANGA EVER!

I didnt really ship Fuuko/Gina (or Andy/Fuuko/Gina for that matter) until the loop 101. At that point, i somewhat became a "Andy x Fuuko x Gina OT3 truther", but that was mostly just a joke, i had no true hopesfor it... and then FUCKING POLYAMORY was offically introduced into the story! Something that you see even less in fiction then same-sex reletionships... Like, holy shit, i dont think anything's off the table anymore.

But unfortuently, that poses a dilemna: like one of your reblogs said, idk if AnFuu would be down with going poly, but i also dont want Gina to be shipped with Sean just for the sake of pairing her off with a guy...

So, once again, let me repeat this question: What happens to Andy at the end of the story? How does he die? and how does Gina fit into all of this?

(sorry for the long ask, i hope i didnt sound like a crazy shipper at the end lol)

I'm fairly confident that Andy's death is going to be a shockingly quiet affair given how much buildup it has on the basis that the idea of him finding the "greatest" death is no longer predicated on him trying to kill himself, but achieving a sense of fulfillment

He doesn't want to die for the sake of dying anymore, he wants to die knowing that he lived a good life and left something meaningful behind. Ever since we got to see the shape of Andy's soul, I've believed wholeheartedly that Andy's death will be surrounded by the smiling and tearful faces of everyone he loves and who loves him back

It's not the flashiest death, but it is the best death that I think anyone who enjoys their life can ask for

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #uu spoilers #i didn't answer the question about gina because i've already done that before and i didn't want to distract from the core response #but whether gina is dating anyone or not she's going to be an integral part of andy and fuuko's life going forward

[sapphire-weapon]

I love how unlike in the original game, Leon is actually angry at Ada. In the original not only does he seem unaffected by the fact that she's still alive, he doesn't even care that she used and betrayed him. I like how Leon now acts indifferent and distrustful of her, and now Ada is the one trying to get his attention.

Another thing that stood out to me was that Ada tried to convince Leon to let Ashley die twice, and I love her disappointed expression when Leon ignored her both times lol.

I'm happy that Capcom is rewriting their canon, and I really hope they scrap Aeon if they plan on remaking RE 6. Ada is still basically treating Leon like a dog and that's disgusting and I don't understand how some people think the Aeon is a "beautiful, romantic relationship".

Their meeting in OG is so weird because it almost feels like that's not actually the first time that they've seen each other between RE2 and RE4. I don't think that that's actually the case -- but, at the very least, Leon seems to have gotten confirmation a long time ago that Ada was actually still alive. ("So it is true. You, working with Wesker.") So, it does make sense that he's not super shocked or otherwise emotionally affected to see her.

I don't think that it's fair to say that he doesn't care that she betrayed him, though. He's definitely wary of her throughout the game ("Why are you here? Why'd you show up like this?" / "Maybe it's about time you told me the reason why you're here."), and he's right to be because -- duh, Wesker.

But, he's not overly worried about it because Ada also gave him a declaration of love and a genuine, dying kiss in OG RE2, so OG Leon has no reason to believe that Ada's going to do anything to actively hurt him or fuck him over, even if she is working with Wesker.

Remake canon is a whole different beast.

Ada never professed feelings in RE2make, and the kiss she gave him in that version of the story was disingenuous and outwardly manipulative. He might not have realized it at the time, but I'm sure he definitely saw it in hindsight. And Leon doesn't have the intel about Wesker going into RE4make, either, so he has absolutely no idea what she's been up to in the last six years. He has every reason to be way more suspicious and uncertain of her motives than he was in OG.

For all intents and purposes, I would argue that Remake canon killed Aeon in RE2make, when Leon points a gun at her and tells her that he never trusted her. OG Leon would have never, because, arguably, OG Ada never deserved it.

Like, I really don't think it's fair to say that OG Ada treated OG Leon like a dog. OG Ada was honest with Leon in ways that Remake Ada never, ever was. OG Ada was also kinder and softer in a lot of different ways that Remake Ada isn't -- and, OG Ada has only ever been on Leon's side. No matter which way the tides turned, Ada always kept her lot thrown in with Leon and never went back on it.

Remake Ada does not do that -- at least, not in a way that he can see. Remake Ada actually does manipulate Remake Leon in the way that people perceive her as always having done in OG (but she actually didn't).

Like, is Aeon stupid and poorly written and badly executed in OG? Oh, absolutely. That's why we're having this conversation to begin with. It's so poorly executed that people can't even agree on what the fuck actually happened between them. But... it is internally consistent, if you pull back and look at it as a complete picture.

This might be a weird pedantic, overly nuanced thing I'm about to say but, like.

I feel like Ada's use of Leon in OG was done from a place of respect, if that makes sense? She knew how smart and capable he was, and she respected that about him, so she looked at him from the perspective of "we'll work together on shit as a team, but I just can't/won't tell him the full extent of what I'm actually doing." And Leon kind of understood that and was grateful for her help, because she continuously gave him reasons to trust her. So, his response was, "We'll work together on shit as a team, and if I don't ask her what she's doing, we can stay a team."

Remake Ada's use of Leon is a lot more malicious. She doesn't respect him; she wants something from him. Remake Ada's use/manipulation of Leon feels more like her looking at him and going "You know, I could probably get something out of him if I play my cards right." It's like that old Chris Rock bit where he talks about how girls don't fuck him just because they want to fuck him; they look at him and go "You know, if I fuck Chris Rock, I bet I could get him to pay my Visa bill."

I feel like that has the opportunity to change, though? Because it does seem like Ada has a genuine change of heart in the post-credits scene of RE4make. The question now is if Remake Leon would actually accept that change of heart or not.

Personally, I don't think that he will -- I think he wants to, just like he wanted to trust her in RE2make. But, ultimately, he didn't trust her. And I think he won't accept her change of heart, either, simply because she's given him absolutely no reason to.

And I think Remake canon could be setting up to turn Ada into a far more tragic character. Without Leon's support and without a plan already set in place when she betrays Wesker, I don't think that this is going to end well for her. She might become the type of character who learned the lesson too late and now can't be saved.

Which... like... sucks. But at the same time is really fucking awesome, because literally no one in the RE universe ever faces real, actual, tangible consequences for their actions. Most of that fucking cast should be dead or turned or both by now. And while it sucks that Ada might end up the sacrificial lamb for this, she's also the best candidate for being the first one to go through it -- because, if Capcom can pull it off with Ada, they're coming for Chris next. Because no one needs to face consequences more than that motherfucker.

And that's gonna be a whole fuckin thing, man.

#resident evil #resident evil 4 #resident evil 2 #ada wong #leon kennedy

[burr-ell]

Man, if I had a nickel for everytime a godly/divine group was called colonizers that deserves to die primarily by a niche of people trying to justify the morally questionable/lacking decisions of a fan fave character, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't much, but it's weird it's happened twice right?

That's been playing on a loop in my head ever since all this kicked up. (Especially relevant given the lunatic who's been running around claiming the Nabatean genocide was good and that all white people should die and then pulling Schrödinger's Joke when called out.) Fortunately, Imogen is a genuinely compelling character played by a real human woman rather than a cobbled-together mess written by a group of conservative corporate men who desperately want her to appeal to adolescent boys—but the "I support women's wrongs <3 unless I actually have to deal with their implications in the narrative" fan crowd functions the same for both.

And I know you didn't really ask about my thoughts on Imogen (TLDR: I enjoy her in canon a million times more than in fanon), but I had some:

To be clear, I like Imogen a lot! She's kind-hearted and irritable; caring and withdrawn; moral and cynical; clever and impatient; protective and ruthless. She does everything in her power to keep her friends safe, but she still looks at their murderers and wonders (in front of her friends!) if they have a point. She wants to keep innocents out of harm's way, but she doesn't seem to clock that the people of Gelvaan might be wary of her because she almost killed some of them. She never asked for her powers and is sometimes afraid of herself because of them, but she's also intrigued by what they can do and won't hesitate to use them for what are sometimes, in the scheme of things, rather petty reasons.

All of that is good—not because her unpleasant actions are excusable, but because they say something interesting about her as a person. And in order for unpleasant actions to actually say anything, they have to have actually been unpleasant, rather than handwaved away under mountains of blorbofied excuses.

It's the same with Percy, where in order to engage with him fully as a character I have to actually acknowledge that he's both a deeply flawed and deeply virtuous person who helped resurrect a child he'd never met and knowingly gave a cursed sword to his friend. Or, to bring it back to FE3H for a second, I wrote this meta a few months ago about why I find Claude to be more compelling than Dimitri, and the summary of it is that I actually enjoy the moments where Claude acts like kind of a dick because they're very grounded and it fleshes out his character—but I have to actually acknowledge that Claude was acting like kind of a dick before I can really appreciate that facet of him.

Plenty of criticism aimed at Imogen is just thinly-veiled misogyny, but some of it is also criticism that's been leveled at Percy, Vax, Caleb, and Fjord, so that's clearly not the only reason behind it. A fair bit of the complaints we're hearing (Main Character Syndrome, why is it all about them, [player] is hogging the spotlight, etc) are, at the end of the day, usually more rooted in "well why isn't it about my blorbo/escapism experience!". Ultimately though, the difference between the good- and bad-faith criticism is that every single person I've seen actually engaging with realistic implications of Imogen's flaws absolutely loves her and isn't at all shy about saying so.

I mean, y'know, people can engage with fandom however they want—but if you're only willing to grapple with negative emotions as far as "oh i made myself sad :(", you're going to have a very difficult time when someone else's choices make you a lot more than sad.

#critical role #cr meta #cr discourse #fe3h discourse

[fan-mans]

You're right! Tiger deserves more love, ehat are you'r hc for him?

FUCK YEAH MR. KITTY

Sikh, not hindu or muslim- a fact that's actually canon to the game. He gets so goddamn angry when people get it wrong. More than a few people have gotten their teeth knocked out for insisting he's muslim/hindu.

Magic has been practiced by his family in private for generations, he's the first to bring it public. They're seen as a bit odd among Sikhs because of it, but they deal with it.

Tiger's magic does not come form his gem, it comes from his body. His gem is just there to act like a wizard staff- a conduit to better control the magic. He also practices learned magic and taught Don a basic transfiguration trick.

Autistic swag

Has some pretty good bangers on his soundcloud… when he’s not attempting to rap at least. Extremely good as an Indian hip hop/trap/r&b artist. A lot of his music fans don't know of his boxing career and vice versa with his boxing fans.

He has a habit of floating while asleep- an effect of his magic he can't control. He has plenty others, like imbuing anything he creates with a little bit of magic, but the floating is the big one.

Hates bugs and snakes. He was bitten by a cobra when he was little and never got over the trauma.

Does not get most memes.

Would die rather than do dishes.

Snores like a motherfucker. Will also spawn clones and proceed to have full conversations with them if he's taken something like cold medicine.

Though he loves big cats, he actually prefers dogs as pets. He had a bunch growing up but never got one as an adult.

His hair is curly and very, very long. It's so long that if it isn't tied up, he can sit on it. He takes extremely good care of his hair and only lets a few touch his hair. Kaiser is the only person in the world allowed to touch his hair without asking first and often helps Tiger brush it all out.

Tiger likes being pet. Touch in general is something he frequently seeks out but someone petting his facial hair or running a hand up and down his arms is the best stim and relaxes him instantly.

Works in retail as a side job in a magic shop, as well as making music. He's scared the rest of the major circuit plenty whenever he automatically goes into Retail Voice™.

He gets head-splitting migraines when he overuses his powers and has even shattered a gem before.

Designated driver of the circuit cause he doesn't drink.

He didn't intend to be a boxer. He entered the wvba's Seattle branch as a cameraman and sound guy, setting up music for matches and making sure recordings looked and sounded good. One day, however, a boxer just starting out suddenly cancelled and, with no one to fight, Tiger stepped in the ring still in his work clothes. He beat his opponent quickly and was offered a spot on the New York team.

He's cool with comparisons to cats- he finds it really funny even.

Shaving is something he has to do twice a day. His hair is magically infused so it grows very fast.

Lactose intolerant... still drinks milk though.

Using clones specifically makes him very dizzy. He can see through their eyes and feel what they feel depending on how corporeal they are.

Cat naps all the time. He also can't keep a consistent sleep schedule for shit.

A fan sent him fursona art and he fully, unironically, adores the crap out of it. It's currently his twitter profile pic and how he displays himself on soundcloud and twitch.

He streams music making sessions for his hardcore fans. He also occasionally plays walking sims and games of Tetris or virtual chess and poker with them.

Also very into the my little pony franchise. He likes all the versions but watches My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic the most. His favorites are Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

#great tiger #punch out #punch out wii #headcanons #ask game #my hcs

[restlesshush]

The thing is you can’t fix jack’s relationship with dean post-canon if the resolution in anyway hinges on the fact that jack will just automatically forgive him, because that’s a massive part of the problem itself. However genuinely apologetic and remorseful and determined to do better dean is after eg moriah and unity, a lot of work needs to happen on jack’s end before they can have any sort of relationship going forward.

(With sam the situation obviously is still bad given eg jack in the box but 1) sam’s behaviour towards jack has generally been a lot better 2) jack isn’t quite so pathologically inclined to forgive him for everything and 3) it’s repairing jack and dean’s relationship that gets more focus in fic, so this problem crops up more in that context. This isn’t about having a go at dean, this is about addressing an issue that arises quite a lot.)

Okay so fundamentally, the biggest issue with repairing jack and dean’s relationship is that in canon, jack doesn’t know that he’s been mistreated. For example, unity presumably makes jack more afraid of dean, but it doesn’t actually damage his perception of him otherwise, because he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong. Gimme shelter implies he maybe expected dean to be more concerned, but if anything that just means he’s relieved dean is going along with his plan – that doesn’t cast dean in a negative light for him, because he thinks he’s doing the right thing. More broadly, given that in s15 jack is actively willing to die to ‘earn’ sam and dean’s ‘forgiveness’, he also clearly doesn’t think anything the two of them did to him in 14x19-14x20 is wrong. On a doylist level, this is because the narrative is caught somewhere between not knowing and being afraid to admit that maybe our protagonists have treated jack badly, so you can’t have anything that acknowledges the reality of the situation, including any implication that jack himself recognises it. As a result, s15 jack ends up being the story of someone who’s experienced horrible mistreatment still living with the people he experienced it at the hands of and desperately trying to get them to forgive him. He can’t have anything resembling a healthy dynamic with either of them until he learns that he didn’t deserve what happened to him, and that he doesn’t have to just accept it. This would obviously take a lot to work through, but from a writing perspective, it’s something you have to do before a reconciliation can feel properly earned, instead of leaving a relationship that is still just very upsetting when considered from jack’s point of view.

One approach that people take to try and get around this is the idea that maybe what jack’s experienced doesn’t stick with him that badly, so as long as (mostly, because he’s the one who both behaved worse and gets more focus) dean is going to do better in the future, it’s fine. The thing is that though jack has this cheery surface level persona, he’s very unquestionably deeply affected by what he’s gone through – like, not to be too bleak, but he does effectively try to kill himself twice a season. Obviously that’s by no means all to do with either brother, or anyone else, but it does show that regardless of how he comes across, he’s deeply deeply impacted by all that he’s gone through, and isn’t ~just brushing it off~ by any stretch, so for things to be resolved satisfactorily, a story dealing with him as a character can’t do that either.

It is understandable that when trying to resolve dean and jack’s dynamic, people focus on dean given he’s the lead, and the character they both know better and are mostly more interested in, but the thing is if you really think about it, jack is the one bearing the brunt of the damage here, so most of the legwork for making the issue feel genuinely resolved has to happen re his character. Otherwise, however kind dean is being to jack, you’re still left with him as someone who is terrified of displeasing dean and prepared to desperately seek his approval regardless of anything, and that’s not remotely healthy (for either of them – it’s not fun from dean’s point of view either). It is just a pretty uncomfortable way to leave a story. And it is how you’d be leaving it if you don’t properly resolve things from jack’s side because what it boils down to is that even though jack absolutely would immediately forgive dean, that 1) is not good and 2) doesn’t actually mean anything until he understands what he has to forgive him for. And as of the end of the show, he doesn’t yet.

#jack kline #spn meta #spn #worded thoughts #suicide mention

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

//For shits and giggles, and because I don't really talk about DRA and SDRA2 that much

The concept of fanmade Danganronpa's was completely and totally foreign to me, and I didn't even consider it being a possibility until I found a random video of SDRA2 Chapter 3 of the game, being Kanade and Hibiki's case. I didn't know what it was and assumed it was a fan animation with their OC's (because I'd seen that before) and then I realized jesus christ it's a whole ass game?

I actually like DRA better. Mainly because of the colourful character designs and how it's a much more interesting take on a classic killing game than it's sequel.

DRA1 Fav: Chapter 4 SDRA2 Fav: Chapter 1 DRA1 Least Fav: Chapter 3 SDRA2 Least Fav: Chapter 2

Akane. Utsuro is too similar to Izuru, and I hated Mikado.

Probably Hajime, only because when compared to the rest, he's the most chill. (He still has issues but I like his character and he was a very good first killer)

Rei from the first game, Yoruko from the second.

Kanata from the first game, Sora from the second.

TOO many. Both games barely take into account Ultimate Talents with the murders (and I love it when DR does that) and to my knowledge it only happens twice, with Mitch and Emma (AKA the two most disappointing killers in the series) But my verdict is ultimately going to go to the Otonokoji twins, because it comes up so NOT often I actually forget what their talents are. Yes, they had a show in one chapter, but that was just one bit.

From the second game, both Kokoro and Hibiki were handled very poorly and I wish they weren't. They just ended up boring and irrelevant.

I liked Hajime a lot, and really wish there was more of him because I think he was a pretty decent character throughout.

Again, Hibiki. I still don't understand the point of the Otonokoji Twins even being twins. They might as well not be because Hibiki's only purpose in the whole game is to be an accomplice to Kanade.

AGAIN, Hibiki from the second game. Fuck she deserved it after everything. But other than her, I definitely wanted Kanata to survive in the first game. Her death was a similar "fuck you" moment.

Setsuka's execution is extremally visceral in it's description and now I kind of want to see it to see just how horrible it is.

I said this a long time ago when I ranked the executions across the Another series, but it honestly changes depending on the context of the question. If we're talking narratively, then the group execution of SDRA2 Chapter 5. If we're talking visually, then Emma's Execution from SDRA2 Chapter 2. It seemed SDRA2 and Danganronpa V3 have the commonality of giving a really harsh and powerful execution to a character I really don't give a shit about in the second chapter.

I honestly don't really know. My first thought is perhaps Iroha, not because I don't like her, but because none of the VOID's die by being a victim. Hajime, Emma and Nikei are all executed and Iroha survives, so I was wondering what if her plan to murder Teruya backfires, then everyone, Teruya himself, believes he's the killer, then Mikado pulls the middle-finger switch.

I feel like this a similar question to Number 3, so I'll just say my favourite trial in the whole series is DRA1 Chapter 2/Chapter 6 (one or the other) My least fav in the series is SDRA2 Chapter 2/Chapter 3 (One is too boring, the other is too long and stupid.

There are a few, but the main one's are the DRA mastermind reveal and Satsuki outing herself as the killer right at the start of Trial 4

Most headcanons of SDRA2 are canon in Survivor, but I think a big one is that Syobai begrudgingly becomes a big brother/uncle figure to the young Iroha post game and the two bond through survival, and become better people because of each other (The Omake says otherwise but...fuck it.)

I don't like DRA or SDRA2 over the main series. I don't think it improves on the Danganronpa format at all, and I think it just exists as it's own little take on the series that isn't really a better version.

Both endings were pretty decent. I think both games conclude pretty well, even SDRA2 with it's controversial run time for me.

@a-student-out-of-time I'm tagging you because I want to see you try this. (I don't know your main so I'm tagging the blog)

#danganronpa survivor #danganronpa another 2 #sdra2 #ranking #mod #mod talks #Instagram

[lumiereandcogsworth]

I’ve been meaning to ask !!! Its possible you’ve already posted abt this BUT I got in an angsty mood recently and was curious, do you think Adam or Belle dies first? and how does the other cope with it ?

ooohhh i love that you Know i’m just crazy enough about them to know the answer to this question. i’ve thought TOO much about this, unfortunately! look you have one otp for six years, YOUR MIND WANDERS, OKAY?

okay so obviously in the ideal perfect world, they die at the same time asleep in bed in each other’s arms after a very long life of being so ridiculously in love. that way no one has to deal with anything (except the rest of their family, of course). that’s the ideal otp death scenario. BUT. i do have a sadder answer, yeah

so for a while i actually could not decide who would die first. it really wasn’t ideal either way because if adam dies first, belle has to go through experiencing his death TWICE in life. and if belle dies first, adam is… disaster. but ultimately, belle is by far the stronger one between the two of them, they both know it and always have, so i decided that adam would die first.

i once entertained the idea of belle dying first and adam just… oh my gosh… like they’re always very old when they die but even still it’s like… belle is the air that adam breathes… watching him lose her is so… dark. and grim. he really can’t live without her and the aftermath is far too upsetting to include it into my canon. he becomes so unwell…

now, obviously, belle is utterly heartbroken by adam’s death, and she doesn’t do all that much better than the alternative. i headcanon they both die in their 90s (no i do not CARE that they’re from the 18th century!!!!! they’re living long ass lives because i SAID SO!!!!!!) and it’s really no specific illness that takes adam. it was just his time. he was in bed for a week or so, too weak at this point to do anything else. belle never left his side, caring for him even though she had slowed down in her old age too. even as nurses and grandchildren tried to take over, she wouldn’t let them. she’d do anything for him. she’d take his place if it were possible.

he dies at the grand age of 98, surrounded by his family and loved ones, holding his wife’s hand. she can tell he’s nearly gone, but he’s fighting it. he loves his life too much now to leave it. he’s been sunbathing in happiness for over 70 years and he doesn’t want to let it go. but belle kisses his hand and tells him it’s okay, they’ll be okay. this family he’s raised, this family he’s protected, this family he’s loved. they’ll be okay. rest now, my love.

silent tears fall down belle’s wrinkled cheeks as adam turns and looks at her. though his face and body age, his eyes never changed. still the same crystal blue that she fell in love with. he looks at her and he squeezes her hand. his lips turn up in a slight smile. “my darling…” he whispers, just as his last breath escapes his lungs.

everyone knows he’s gone. he was husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, beloved king. he was rescued so many years ago, it seems none of it matters anymore. but belle remembers. belle remembers when her love was lost in the darkness. belle remembers when he accepted her light.

the following days are a blur. everyone is sad, but relieved too — in the way anyone is when an old, beloved family member passes. he deserved to die that way. life fulfilled, loved by plenty, surrounded by those who meant the most to him.

while the children (grown and old themselves, frankly) tend to announcements and letters and funeral arrangements, belle keeps to herself. she sits on the balcony of their chambers in the west wing. she watches another sunset alone. she hasn’t felt such sadness since her father died many years ago. she thought she would never recover from the deep pain she felt at his loss. but adam had been there to hold her while she cried. adam had kissed her head and told her things would be better again. and at the time she couldn’t fathom it, but she never left his arms. his warm, comforting arms. belle had never felt safer than when she was in adam’s embrace. and now… now she shivers under even the warmest of blankets.

they were old. and belle always thinks too much. she knew their time on this earth could not be much longer. and when adam could no longer get up, it was only a matter of time. what she did not anticipate was how utterly betrayed she would feel by death itself. how dare he be taken away from her? to leave her alone? she always prided herself on being able to do things on her own, but the true reality of it was devastating. she didn’t want to do anything alone ever again. she wanted her best friend back. who was she going to dance with now?

the last entry of her diary was short, but clear in how sad the queen felt. how lost she was, how high up in the clouds her head floated, with no one to keep her grounded. her heart had completely and irreversibly broken in two. she would see adam; visions of when they were young, and some when they were older. but he’d always vanish again before she could say anything to him. “where is my adam?” she’d ask her children when they found her. they would simply take her hand and kiss her cheek, asking her to come and sit awhile with the little ones.

a week after adam’s death, their children found belle in bed, having peacefully died in her sleep. they were devastated, but equally knew how much their mama loved their papa. they had always known of their parents’ grand love. and they knew this may just be too much for her. knew that dying from a broken heart was as real as it could be.

so, adam and belle were buried together, entombed in the rose garden behind the castle. their precious home. a huge, lovely structure was placed to honor them, with vines and flowers growing around it, and eloquent words on a plaque speaking of a beloved king and queen, who loved like no other.

#thanks bro made myself cry :) #i am in shambles thinking about belle seeing a vision of adam. young and healthy and rocking their baby daughter #and she smiles to herself #and then that same daughter - old and a grandmother herself now - comes in and gently sits beside her mama #and belle tells her to stay quiet. adam’s tending to their little renée. he’s so good with her you know #and renée looks over and sees nobody. her heart aches #she kisses belle’s cheek and asks her to come sit with the little ones. come be with family. don’t be alone mama #belle loses sight of adam. he’s vanished again. she goes with renée and asks where her adam has gone #‘you’ll find him again mama’ renée promises as they walk slowly. arm in arm. #alex tag #answered #batb 2017 #adelle #batb headcanons

[hopelesshawks]

We know I'm going to ask for Hawks 😂

Rise of the Monarch https://open.spotify.com/track/4yModqqawKGib2poAkgk8g

Can't wait to see the vibe you pick for it.

Part of why I adore doing these is also getting new song recs hahaha love the hero turned villain vibe of this and after everything Hori has put our husband through Hawks deserves a little anti-hero arc

I don’t typically write stuff like this but listening to the song honestly reminded me so much of the moment where Hawks had to kill Twice after being backed into the corner and just the aesthetics of that setting where Hawks was very much drawn the way villains typically are in manga and was made to seem so terrifying and really was the villain to Twice so have a deep dive into that scene and the fallout after:

TW canonical minor character death

Keigo didn’t want it to come to this.

He tried to reach out to Bubaigawara. Tried to reason with him. Tried to show him that there can be a life for him outside of all of this. Outside of the League of Villains. A possibility for a support system that doesn’t come with a side of mass murder and terrorism.

But now Hawks is running out of options. He is burned, beaten, and cornered in a fight he knows he has little chance of winning. Far more lives are on the line that just his, Dabi’s, and Bubaigawara’s. Hundreds, if not thousands, if not even more innocent lives are at stake if Twice enters the main battle.

Keigo doesn’t regret trying to reason with the other man first. Not for a moment. It may have gotten him into the situation he is now but he knows in his heart it was right. But that was then. This is now. Twice and Dabi have forced his hand and he will not let good people die to save one man.

Hawks sinks his feather blades into Twice’s back and while Keigo’s heart breaks for Bubaigawara, he does not regret that either.

He is burned, he is beaten, he loses the fight.

He wakes up in the hospital and his wings are gone, his past dredged up for the world to see, and his actions presented as murderous and cruel for all of Japan to judge.

But like a phoenix he rises from the ashes. His work is not done, not in the slightest. Dabi may have won the battle but the war is far from over, and you can bet he won’t be sitting on the sidelines while it rages on.

Dabi has not seen the last of him. Perhaps all of Japan will call him a villain for what he’s done. It matters not. Hawks knows what he has to do. He knows what his role is on this chessboard. If he has to play the villainous hero fighting heroic villains to save Japan, than so be it.

Wings or no, he’s the number two hero. And he’ll be damned if he lets anyone else die on his watch

#I can’t tell if I captured enough of the song’s vibe considering it’s more of a jilted lover revenge song #and I did *flails in this post’s general direction* this with it #but I hope you like it <3 #and that it’s at least interesting!!! #ended up with very character study vibes #hhrequests #hawks bnha #keigo takami #hawks character study #keigo takami character study

[specialagentartemis]

ghostsquidsandspacebees said: HNY to the duo unfailingly responsible for me seeing the same post on my dash twice in a row on the regular! @ Both of you, thoughts on Minlace, platonic or romantic? (If thoughts are any other than "hate it," maybe an interaction you wish they had in canon or a favorite fanwork trope?)

Hahaha we just have takes that make each other go YEAH

It’s funny, I didn’t start out with any strong feelings about Minlace as a ship, though I loved both of their characters and the friction between them.  However, early in season 4, I just sort of went “oh... these two are like binary stars, balanced and defining each other’s orbits.”  And I still feel that way.

I’ve also definitely started to enjoy the awkward tension of Minkowski wanting to be with her husband but also wanting to be with Lovelace at the same time.  Minkowski went to space as a good American, a nice straight-married socially liberal fiscally conservative air force pilot, and came back from space a bisexual polyamorous anticapitalist.  #growth

But the thing I love about Minkowski and Lovelace’s relationship is how balanced they are, in a lot of ways; they’re peers in a way they aren’t really with anyone else.  They’re both commanders of the Hephaestus.  Lovelace isn’t a member of Minkowski’s crew, and doesn’t answer to Minkowski; at the same time, even though Lovelace outranks Minkowski in the Air Force, this is currently Minkowski’s station.  They both understand leadership in this place that’s trying to kill them.  As of the season 2-3 time skip, they both know loss and abject failure and being abandoned in space to die and having to be a leader through it all anyway.  They come to really trust each other.

I would have loved to see more of those months between s2 and s3.  And I love to see fanwork set in that period.  What were they doing, knowing they were being abandoned to die as the station fell apart around them?  What was this like for Lovelace, brought back to the same cyclical nightmare to go through it again, and how does she now from this position of experience see Minkowski dealing with it for the first time?  How does Minkowski deal with the slow, crushing inevitability of eventual failure?  It’s just the two of them, Hera, and Hilbert who they’re mostly not talking to.  Hera clearly blames Lovelace for Eiffel’s death; Minkowski refuses to admit he’s dead.  Neither can be easy on Lovelace!  Both would really, really be an awful feeling for her, Hera’s blame and Minkowski’s denial, because she also tried so desperately to save her crew and failed, the new cocktail of the pain of blame that is more her fault than Hilbert’s this time, and the potential for... pain? anger? frustration? heartbreak?... of watching Minkowski not admit she’s going through the same thing must have been ROUGH.  But at the same time, Minkowski and Lovelace can commiserate.  They both know how it feels.  Neither holds any blame for the other for any of what happened.  Both are really upset with themselves.  And scared, and upset in general, and if they cuddled because they’re the only warm bodies on the station that are not Hilbert, then, well, I think they deserve it :’)

#replies #ghostsquidsandspacebees #I'm honored #Wolf 359 #Perpetual Perpetual Ladies Night #my first use of that tag! Happy New Year!

[lesenbyan]

Give me the director's commentary on the fic about Falon'Din's temple beatdown - what compelled you to write it, what you wanted it to accomplish, etc.!

Fanfic Writer Director's Cut

oh man hon it's been years and my memory is terrible, let me see what I can slot together with the pieces it gives me.

First off, though you know this, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I'm a Falon'Din kinnie with Opinions and Headcanons (read: projection).

But I think what compelled me ti write it is the same thing I wanted to accomplish, which is. basically the same thing any sympathetic retelling of a villain's story does. Like. I'm not gonna argue with the very little lore we've got that says he was fucking terrible bc like yeah. yeah. They all were, they had to be. He was a fucking monster. And the temple beat down was very much him getting a bit of what he deserved (but. not from anyone who deserved to dish it out) but like.

You know how when you take a character canon gives you nothing on and you build them from the ground up everything you made shapes how you see canon events? Like the only telling we have of it is that it happened really, and not a whole lot more. But when you add in the many flavors of mentally unwell and otherwise traumatized my hcs make Falon'Din it gives the whole thing a different tint. From the outside it's an arrogant asshole refusing to back down. From the inside it's a scared boy bluffing a fake it til you make it as so many of his actions actually are and the moment the bluff starts the fracture internally where his worries go.

Like, I've always been fascinated in what makes people break, where that line is for each person and whether or not they can recover. But, of course, it is far more ethical to explore this in fiction which is why I can't even really write fluff past a certain word count without a vein of bittersweet or crack to keep it light. And when the mighty and arrogant fall they fall hard. But my Falon'Din, while he's bought into his own act, it's doesn't run very deep. My Falon'Din is conscious of how much of him was shaped by Dirthamen and how much of his power he owes to his twin. Could he have done it alone given the same knowledge? sure, probably. But no one was going to give him that. Literally and figuratively Falon'Din knows he owes everything he has to Dirthamen and would give it up in a moment if Dirthamen asked (love as a corrupting force, y'see) but Dirthamen wouldn't ask bc like. He doesn't want it. that's so much work. he only worked for the goal bc Falon'Din wanted it.

So he honestly thinks he can't die, that he's in the right, but he also knows this shit is real which is why he doesn't let Dirthamen stay. Bc he's cocky and arrogant but he knows that this isn't just gonna be some reprimand, he knows this is gonna be bloody, and he's a damn good fighter, he fights among his own front lines, but Dirthamen isn't here to shield him and he's against everyone else. And that moment is compelling.

But to balance it, to show him in his entirety, his recovery needed to be seen too- his recovery and his past. Bc there is where we see Dirthamen's hand molding the clay, shaping him. I wanted to convey that Falon'Din (excuse me, Athim) is a blank slate and not once, but twice Dirthamen (Renan, bc what is he to the world here if not his voice?) took him and molded him into this. That Falon'Din's a monster and knows it and loves it, but he knows it's because Dirthamen made him so.

#asks; #sezja #ask meme; #dragon age; #it's about the devotion and the corruption and the death and rebirth and the love and loyalty #its about how they're monsters but they love each other so deeply #it's about how Falon'Din cares about so few people except that he cares about them all- why else guide them in death? #it's about how Dirthamen gives him his whole identity when he needs it. how he takes on roles he would otherwise shy away from #just to maintain a farce while his twin cannot even stand his own face #It's about opposites and similarities and about how both sides of the coin are connected after all #this got far more poetic than I expected it to get #but you feel me

[bringerofdeathandtheapocolypse]

I went on a tiny tangent that I figured deserved its own post so eh.

Team Natsu is probably one of my least favourite of the teams. I don't hate them but they aren't as interesting now as they used to be.

I enjoyed watching them when they had character arcs that I cared about. You know, Gray's unresolved trauma with Ur, Erza learning to be open with those around her, Lucy learning to stand up to her father. Those I enjoyed because they were good character arcs that actually got me feeling emotional.

Now, eh. Its kinda dropped off. Like Natsu has one of the most interesting concepts possible, He's a demon from the X300s who probably remembers dying to fire and is the younger brother of Zeref. Like that's such a cool concept. But nothing is done with it. Like yeah his relation to Zeref is brought up once or twice (which him using it against Alderon was definitely a smart move. Like I've said, he is smart but in his own way) but we never really address the whole, he's a demon thing again. Yeah Lucy rewrote his book but that doesn't magically make him human. And what exactly happened to the book? Is it tucked away in the guild library? His house? Dunno. Never mentioned.

My main issue with Gray is that he kinda just stopped with the creativity of his spells. Like maker mages can make whatever they imagine based around what they can do. (Lyon could make any animal, Gray any object and Rufus can combine an infinate amount of spells) Yet he sticks to the same 5 spells with some Devil slayer magic thrown in on occasion(which why is it canonically called Devil slaying magic when it slays demons. Why not just call it demon slayer magic?) Also I will say this over and over, I don't hate Juvia but I can't help but see Gray now liking her as him just being worn down. Like he was on and off constantly and its just.... Kinda uncomfortable.

I think I really dropped of the Erza bandwagon during the Alveraz arc after she destroyed an asteroid with only one arm that wasn't broken. Like that's one of the most op things ever and then her power level seems to have dropped slightly in 100 years. I know she's always been strong and such but that was a bit much for me (Alveraz was a pretty hit or miss arc anyway. Its not as focused as it probably should be and is full of too many fakeouts to keep the stakes high enough throughout. The good arcs are the ones where the stakes don't get absolutely hammered into the dirt with a metal stick. You know like almost all the arcs before it. All of them had some form of stakes that kept me on the edge but Alveraz ruined the stakes when anyone who was supposed to die didn't. Gajeel, Juvia, Makarov and Natsu all had last minute ass pulls to keep them alive or bring them back. (Natsu kinda makes sense since his life essence is the book Lucy rewrote and Gajeel I can give a slight leeway since he wasn't physically harmed and while Irene's spell was convient, it wasn't to do with Gajeel but Acnologia so I can forgive that. Juvia and Makarov rocked the boat though and that fake out with Anna and Ichiya was pretty cheap along. Lucy was never actually dead so that one doesn't count and Carla came close but she was suspended in time so I can believe that she'd live too)

With Lucy I'm half and half. I don't hate her (in fact I think she is pretty unfairly 'teased' a lot (Happy's weight comments come to mind when he's carried people who must weigh more than Lucy. He's carried Gajeel for one who I'm 100% confident is heavier than Lucy considering he is taller, more muscular and has a lot of hair. All things that would contribute to him weighing more than Lucy does. So really the comments are just not warranted or needed and its one of the running jokes I just can't get behind now like I did when I was younger) although 'teasing' seems to be common place for certain members of the guild considering Gajeel gets his own fair share of hurtful comments thrown his way. They aren't of the same nature, Lucy's mainly focus on her personality and appearance while Gajeel's are more focused on either his strength or his likes but still, both ways are mean) but like I don't have as much intrigue in her as other characters. Like she has a bit more to her than some other celestial mages (Sorry Yukino but the only time you are entertaining is in the twin dragons manga and anime only people will def not have read it. Make the dragon slayer side manga's into ovas or something you cowards) But like, I just don't get that excited overall with her.

Maybe its kind of telling that most of my favs are characters we rarely see. Like The sabers, the thunder legion, crime sorciere don't get as much focus after their original introductions. Like I'd love to see Gray interact with Bickslow or Freed at some point or Erza with Ever(even if it is petty fights, its fun to see) or even show Laxus interacting with his own team more often. That's what I enjoy most, the interactions so it kinda bums when we mainly stick to interactions with the main group. Its why I like the second split up in KOTSH because it actually has the characters work with someone else. (Shame we didn't get to see much of team ups like Freed and Gray) I liked seeing Erza being petty with Ever, Bickslow trying to protect Wendy only for her to insist that she protect him (the whole cow thing was funny) Gajeel and Juvia having drifted apart after bonding with others. It was fun and I wish to see more of it.

#Fairy tail #Rant #Opinion

[significantfoliage]

911, S2 E10, it's fucking Christmas y'all:

- I refuse to believe Buck is this messy, he kept his ex's apartment nice the whole time!!

- oh wait, this is going to end with Buck taking Bobby's apartment and Bobby moving in with Athena isn't it

- ewwww Eddie ditch her!!!

- THEY LITERALLY HAVEN'T TALKED TO EACH OTHER OR THEIR FAMILY, INCLUDING THEIR SON??? RIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS???? Bruh like. They may be okay individuals but they're a wreck of a couple

- everyone involved in this relationship deserves better

- oh nooooooo not an assembly line!!!

- BRUH THEY FUCKING SHIPPED HIM

- NOT AN AIRPLANE

- oof he looks bad.... Tbh I kinda expected him to die, good job Maddie!!!! And team obv

- Eddie got to be put together for 9 episodes but now it's his turn to deal with this show being a drama

- YOU DON'T NEED THE ANSWERS EDDIE, YOU NEED TO MAKE A DECISION AND COMMUNICATE

- who the fuck just walked up to Chim, he is So Tall

- Jason Bailey wtf, are we continuing the ghosts thing, are ghosts just canon here

- oh noooo does Maddie have Christmas trauma

- wait sorry just had a moment of imagining by brother running in with a bunch of supplies to try and comfort me and felt a real emotion 🥺😭

- I'm like begging Maddie to talk to someone. Her and Eddie bro

- are you shitting me the drone was that Powerful???

- Bobby I know that the point of this show is the emergencies mirroring your personal drama but we're not supposed to say it At the scene!!

- Jason Bailey has on blue plaid.....👀👀👀

- EDDIE BROUGHT BUCK TO CHRISTOPHER'S CHRISTMAS THING AND NOT HIS WIFE???? I'M LOSING IT!!!

- Eddie word vomiting everything to Buck is So Good

- oh okay so she has reason to say Eddie being in Afghanistan was selfish. I was kinda confused by that cause like

- YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME WITH THIS ELF ASSUMING BUCK AND EDDIE ARE CHRISTOPHER'S PARENTS AND BUCK JUST SAID THANK YOU???

- I'm gonna be So Sad if this soldier misses this event

- hmm yeah of course there's an accident. I do know what show I'm watching.

- NOOO, HE DOES HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE!!!

- lol what did the LA Chronicle do to the show writers for that to be the truck

- if they don't give this man a ride I swear

- HELL YEAH RANDOM WOMAN, YOU HELP THAT MAN!!!

- glad he had a change of clothes lol that was. A lot of blood.

- okay okay yes it's a show but her singing I'll be home for Christmas is getting Me, I'm also crying Bobby, oops.

- damn this episode has gotten me TWICE, I hate this 😭

- this is of course cute but I kinda feel bad for the rest of the choir

- YOU'VE GOTTA BE SHITTING ME BOBBY, THIS ISNT ONE UPMANSHIP, YOURE REALLY PROPOSING WHEN YOU WEREN'T SURE OF MOVING IN, AAAAAAA

- damn I did NOT expect her to say yes, good for him lol

- bruh they've got ham AND turkey??? Fair tbh cause this family does grow exponentially, at least in recent history

- Athena saying "you are always welcome" to Buck feeds my theory that he's her favorite of the fire fighters that aren't Athena

- genuinely where the FUCK is up with the rest of Buck and Maddie's family?? Parents? Anything?

- HOLY FUCK BUCK'S CHRISTMAS CARD IS PART OF WHAT HELPED HER GET AWAY FROM DOUG??? I love that they pulled that little line back into this, damn

- uhhhhhhh UHHHHHH HEY IS "JASON BAILEY" DOUG????

- FUCK IT IS!!!!! AAAAAAAAAA

Well I. Didn't expect THAT to be the end of the Xmas episode??? Damn holy shit

#911 #911 fox #signi watches

[flashfuture]

Let’s talk about canon Batfam things. Basically I just wanna jot down a list of batfam relationship things in canon that might make your fanworks more spicy. 

As well they’re great for generating AUs because if you know how things are then you can ask, but what if?

Okay let’s get started with some relationships-

It’s pretty common knowledge that Damian and Tim don’t get along. Dick and Damian do get along. And I think a lot of people know that Damian and Steph get along

But did you know that Tim was the first one to reach out to Damian? That even now after years of mental and physical abuse Tim would die for his baby brother and mourned his death so heavily he hallucinated him.

Dick and Damian do not have a perfect relationship. Dick has knocked Damian flat on his ass before when he’s getting out of line. Dick does not have endless patience and no one tests patience like Damian.

Duke has never once been afraid of Damian and they hang out sometimes

Jason and Damian don’t really know each other that well. Jason rarely is in Gotham and he’s tried to reach out to Damian but the boy is rude and Jason doesn’t have time for that. Still Jason would do anything for his brother and probably vice versa.

Jason and Tim on the other hand is an interesting one. Started from the bottom and now we here type of deal. We all know Jason tried to kill Tim and was angry as hell. But currently Tim is Jason’s favorite sibling. They get along well and seem to hang out every once and awhile. Jason couldn’t even bring himself to go to Tim’s funeral. Not that he was really dead of course.

Another thing in fanfiction is that everyone is equally loved or Cass is the favorite (she deserves it). But in the comics it’s pretty much non negotiable- Dick is Bruce’s favorite kid.

Important to note about Dick and Bruce which might give more insight to their relationship and why it’s so much stronger. They are not just father and son. They’re also brothers and friends. Many people including Clark have said no one knows Bruce like Dick does. The way Bruce and Dick act is not comparable to the way the others interact with Bruce and he interacts with them.

Dick is adopted by Bruce. He was adopted as an adult in the early 2000s. There are lots of in universe reasons given for this. Important to note that the real reason is back in 1940 a single male was not adopting a kid he had no blood relation to. Bruce had to fight tooth and nail to get guardianship and even had that questioned once or twice. But of course from this point in time twenty years ago Bruce could have adopted Dick but to keep the stories the same and stuff they have to make up reasons to why he didn’t.

When Jason was introduced Dick was angry. He was jealous. And he was hurt that his dad replaced him. Dick told Jason to call him if he needed help and gave him an old costume. They weren’t brothers in the sense that Dick was spending weekends at home. Remember this is when Bruce and Dick were on the outs. They get along better now in post rebirth but there is a bit of tension with Dick faking his death.

Another interesting point. Dick and Cass do not get along in the comics. Dick doesn’t trust Cass and she is tired of being judged by him. They don’t interact often and Dick wants nothing to do with her. I haven’t really seen them talk post Flashpoint so I have no idea what’s up with that. But they basically erased Cass from the Batfam in New 52 so whatever make up what you will I don’t want her erased.

Steph isn’t really a batkid she’s more like a bat-in law between Tim and the very popular I hope it’s canon soon StephCass ship. 

Babs is also not a batkid. She works with the Batfam but her main squad is the Birds of Prey.

Anyways feel free to add anything. I just think these could be fun points in fanfiction to address. Basically a lot of Batfam fics I read have everyone getting along with no biases but like you have your favorites and that’s normal. Parents shouldn’t say who their favorites are obviously but humans latch onto some tighter than others. Siblings do the same. But also I like reading about non abusive batdad so what are ya gonna do. 

Edit: When I say batkid I mean one of Bruce’s kids. Not a member of team Batman. Just want to clarify. Steph and Babs are obviously very important to the Batman/Gotham Team Roster. 

Edit 2: For Jason I mean anything Post Flashpoint really. Post Crisis Jason was a mess and he had his reasons but he really was just out for blood.

#dc comics #batman #batfam #fanfiction #fanon vs canon #batfam relationships #are these hot takes? #I don't think so it's all canon backed #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #cass cain #cassandra cain #damian wayne #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #duke thomas #nightwing #robin #red hood #red robin #black bat #spoiler #signal #batgirl

[hamliet]

What Does It Mean to Save?

I keep seeing it said that Deku, Ochaco, and Shouto will “save” Shigaraki, Himiko, and Dabi, but that there will be no redemption and/or no survival for them. I’m truly not trying to vague these posts and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but literary criticism is fundamentally responsive so I’m writing this anyways.

I personally think that’s not BNHA’s definition of saving nor of redemption. So here, have a deep dive into literary tropes related to redemption, genre, and character arcs as they pertain to BNHA and the question of: what does it mean to save Shigaraki, Touya, and Himiko?

Before we begin, let me say that while we might be personally uncomfortable with redemption (there’s a redemption arc in BNHA I am personally quite uncomfortable with), that doesn’t inherently mean the narrative won’t go there. The key principle I’m operating on here is BNHA’s message that heroes save people. It’s held up as the highest ideal. 

So let’s talk redemption in BNHA-verse. With this guy, whose redemption arc I dislike in principle but accept as part of the story so don’t come for me stans and/or antis. I’m analyzing because it shows us what redemption means in BNHA-verse, whether or not that is satisfying to you personally as it fits/does not fit with your own morality/philosophy.

If Endeavor can be redeemed and live, and he’s Bakugou’s negative foil, I highly doubt Shigaraki and Deku as well as Touya and Shouto and Ochaco and Himiko will be any different. Why? Because Enji is an adult character. The others--well, Himiko’s age we don’t know, but we do know that Shigaraki and Dabi are technically adults. But does the story consider them adults?

(It doesn’t.)

Child-coded characters are generally more likely to survive a redemption, which I’ll explain more later. First I have to define what I mean by child-coding, because I DO NOT mean this in the way it’s often (mis)used in fandom wank. Child-coding is a real thing, but it is not done to infantilize and it has nothing to do with shipping.

Child coding frames the character as a child for a few narrative purposes to convey a story’s theme or purpose. For example, if it’s a coming of age story coding a character as a child even if they legally are not emphasizes their journey to an understanding of self-actualization, or a true understanding of self with self-awareness and an understanding of self-value. An example of an adult coded as a child is The Kite Runner, wherein Amir is a legal adult for half the story, even married for fifteen years so we’re talking 30s-40s, but he does not truly become an adult until he returns to his homeland and takes responsibility for a childhood sin. In Attack on Titan, the main characters are now nineteen, but are still struggling to take responsibility as adults and have only started doing so now that their mentors/parental figures have started dying.

Along those lines, in any kind of story, you can code a character as a child of someone, regardless of biological relationship, to convey the type of relationship they have (usually a mentor one). For an example of this, see Bungo Stray Dogs’ Dazai and Akutagawa. Despite their two year age difference, Dazai recruited him to the mafia, abandoned him, and Akutagawa desperately seeks his approval. Usually in these stories a character will “overcome” their parental figure. This can be done through overcoming their need for the parental figure’s approval in stories where the parental figure is kindly (such as in Harry Potter, when in the final book Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave the Weasleys to find the Horcruxes despite Mrs. Weasley’s please) or through like, killing/stopping/leaving the parental figure when they are abusive (see fairy tales like Rapunzel and Cinderella). The parental link to self-actualization is because it is childlike (and a part of actual psychology that is reflected in literature) to see yourself as a part of your parent; self-actualized person would see yourself as a distinct person from your parent, but also acknowledge the ways in which they’ve shaped you.

So, how do you code a character as a child? BNHA isn’t subtle about it, because Horikoshi seldom is subtle about anything. The villain trio are all coded as children.

Shigaraki Tomura:

Who cannot achieve self-actualization so long as AFO has access to his body, as he’s literally trying to possess him. He’s trying, but it’s not gonna work because Shigaraki can’t keep AFO and become an adult at the same time. It’s a choice the narrative is setting up: your dream of destroying, or your freedom? (To get the latter, he’ll probably have to destroy AFO).

Todoroki Touya, who is repeatedly emphasized as a small child when compared to his siblings, and yes, I know he’s now tall. Specifically he’s spotlighted as the child of Endeavor:

And he’s the least self-actualized one in a lot of ways, contradicting himself constantly. I’m not Endeavor, DUH! But these are Endeavor’s flames! He’s gonna have to choose one or the other, because the tragic irony is that the more he takes out his rage on those around him, the more like Endeavor he becomes.

And Toga Himiko (who might well literally be a legal child), who is actually the most self-actualized one thus far, because she rejects Curious’s child insistence (Curious holds her in a Pieta pose, based on Michelangelo’s statue wherein Mary holds a deceased Christ):

She’s still got, like, a way to go though:

Because Himiko also wants to be like the people she loves to the point where she loses her own identity in them, which is er, not self-actualization. So she’ll have to choose whether or not she really wants to be like the people she loves or whether she wants to live her own way, which she herself tells us how that would end (death):

Deku said it himself: it’s good to focus on what someone is doing now. And look, I have issues with this statement and how it’s framed. I’ve talked about it at length and it was doomed to fail because Shouto himself told us long ago that it was annoying to hear a righteous speech by a stranger when you hadn’t gone through the same, plus Endeavor kinda failed by choosing being a hero over a dad here. But, the principle is that if the past doesn’t preclude Endeavor from seeking a better self, why would it preclude three characters coded as children, one of whom is literally somewhat the product of Endeavor’s sins? BNHA doesn’t think the past keeps someone from a better future. 

So what about Dabi’s counterpoint, which is indeed valid? Well, redemption doesn’t mean the past forgets, either. It’s complicated and nuanced, and we can debate how well Horikoshi strikes this nuance (it’s got its flaws), and admittedly I don’t know how this will go down in the future. But it is asking Endeavor: how do you redeem yourself to the people you’ve hurt? And we have Endeavor asking this question to Touya’s shrine. I mean, the foreshadowing is obvious. Endeavor has to redeem himself by trying to save Touya. However, it will still probably come down to Shouto to save Touya.

For our three villains, it’s a little harder to predict... well, sort of. For Shigaraki it’s extremely obvious: he has to help take down AFO. Dabi probably has to do something to help his family (siblings probably), but it’s vague. Toga needs help and not condemnation, but presumably she’ll help Ochaco with something.

So, is this redemption? I’d define it as redemption in the eyes of the narrative. To address what makes a redemption is another essay unto itself, but if we bring in the oft-compared Star Wars example: did Darth Vader get a redemption? Did Ben Solo? Everyone says yes to both. However, only Luke witnesses Vader’s redemption, and only Rey Ben Solo’s. So the rest of the galaxy? Doesn’t think so. When I say they’ll be redeemed, I’m defining it as their role in the eyes of the narrative, not whether or not society will accept them or even whether their victims will forgive them (of note, in canonical novels, Leia never forgave Darth Vader despite learning he was her father and obviously knowing Luke’s account of his redemption was true).

So, redemption in a narrative doesn’t mean all of society has to forgive and accept them. Dabi has still like, murdered 30 people--many of whom were thugs, but he himself acknowledges they didn’t deserve to die. Additionally, he himself also acknowledges that the families left behind--their feelings matter:

But why does that mean they have to die? Why even does it mean they have to languish in prison forever? (If there’s even a safe prison at the end of BNHA which I kinda have doubts about.) Heroes have also killed: see Hawks as Exhibit A. In fact, some people want revenge on the heroes precisely because they arrested or killed their loved ones (jail isn’t held up as a rehabilitative place in BNHA’s world. In most countries it isn’t in real life, either, but again that’s for another essay). So why don’t the League’s feelings on Twice’s death matter just as much as the feelings of unnamed and unseen (and thereby less important narratively) characters?

Additionally, regarding death... the villains routinely get called on their death wishes. Himiko’s determination to decide how/when she dies is called out because this is right  before Twice overcomes his trauma to save her, and the next arc they appear in is when Twice dies trying to save her again. Dabi’s suicide wish keeps him from getting close to others, and it keeps getting thwarted. Shigaraki’s obsession with destruction and death is clearly not a good thing, and his rejection of his family’s desire for them to join him in death this past arc is growth.

In other words: what Dabi said and what Snatch said about families and how they feel matter for the villains too. The villains are their own weird found family (Dabi as the deadbeat prodigal brother of both his families). Their deaths--Magne’s and Twice’s thus far, and I’m not ruling out further deaths in the future--affect the others. People’s feelings on losing loved ones matter. The villains are people, as Himiko said herself this arc:

Their feelings about each other matter:

How would Touya dying affect the Todorokis? At least they saved him spiritually, I guess, but that’s absolutely lame narratively, and if you have Enji eventually do a sacrifice to save Dabi (pretty likely, even if I personally think Enji will survive said sacrifice) then what’s the point of Dabi dying? How would Himiko dying affect society? As a martyr like Curious wanted her to be, even a redeemed one? A tragic warning story? What even is the point of Ochaco saving her if that’s the case? If Shigaraki dies, well, who would mourn besides Deku? How would Shigaraki dying affect the surviving members of the league? He just couldn’t be saved physically? 

It’s not impossible some of this happens, but it doesn’t seem like great writing, especially with panels like, oh, these that show us BNHA’s perspective on death:

Sacrificing something is a type of death that occurs in stories; this should happen in a redemption arc, which is why I’ve been saying Enji needs to sacrifice his hero reputation to help save Touya and even then it’ll still be Shouto imo who does the saving. But physical death?

If you want further analysis of the latter two panels and how they relate to the ending, see here.

We already have another villain who will definitely die redemptively (Kurogiri--an adult coded character--because he’s already, like, dead), and Spinner and Mr. Compress aren’t coded as kids so I hold them with anxiety towards the end. But again, this isn’t me being ageist or saying this is the way things ought to be in fiction or real life: it’s me looking at writing tropes and saying that child-coded characters tend to survive their redemptions. See: Zuko. Why? Because the death of children or child-coded characters is a tragedy. When a child-coded character dies redemptively it doesn’t feel like a happy ending and if framed as such, it’s often criticized for bad writing (see: Ben Solo). Curious even called this out in her fight with Himiko. I would hope Horikoshi doesn’t end the story being like yeah Curious was right that’s the best use of Himiko’s/Dabi’s/Shigaraki’s arcs:

Additionally, as for the believability of a character getting a new chance after so much destruction and murder... well, it’s kinda a thing in shonen and even in seinen? For better or for worse, it’s a thing. We have Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z and Kaneki Ken in Tokyo Ghoul (Kaneki, by the way, is absolutely an inspiration for Shigaraki). We can debate how well-written these redemptions are (I personally have been quite critical of Kaneki’s despite wanting it to happen narratively), but it can be done. BNHA’s Japan especially isn’t as harsh a world as Tokyo Ghoul’s Japan, so it would make even more sense for something like Kaneki’s ending.

The reality is that the cycle of revenge via hurting people and then leaving hurting families and loved ones has to stop somewhere. Someone has to be the bigger person and step up and be like “naw.” That’s heroic. That’s brave. That’s sacrificial itself. Justice itself doesn’t really exist in its purest form without mercy.

There’s another genre-reason I don’t see death or jail as likely (I could see, like, maybe a mental health ward like Rei’s? But it’s too soon to speculate).

If saving is considered a good thing for the story, if it’s truly the highest ideal, then saving someone should be rewarded by the narrative. The characters who save should have a positive result to show us this a good thing.

This is why it doesn’t work for the heroes’ end journey to be accepting that some people cannot be saved. The notion of just accepting that you cannot do something, you cannot save everyone, you cannot, cannot, cannot, is called out as a flaw of society. Determination, on the other hand, is rewarded.

We see it with Deku as well as with Mirio.

So, what if they save them and the redeemed characters then go on to sacrifice themselves in their redemption and die (come to the same end)? If saving changes absolutely nothing for the saved person, if it’s too late for the saved from themselves to change and/or do anything that matters besides die, then the narrative theme of saving as important is left unemphasized at best and undermined at worst. Simple intrinsic knowledge that the kids “did the right thing” doesn’t cut it for a story with so much focus on physical saving when the kids are already doing the right thing; moral struggles about whether to choose to be good aren’t really Deku, Ochaco, or Shouto’s arcs. It works for Aizawa’s arc with Kurogiri, but not for the kiddos. If BNHA was more of a philosophical/spiritual text, that would indeed make sense, but it is not. Genre-wise, BNHA is a fantastical superhero optimistic story, not a gritty real-world set drama.

#bnha meta #mha meta #bnha 295 #mha 295 #deku #league of villains #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #todoroki shouto #todoroki touya #todoroki enji #endeavor #todoroki family #toga himiko #all for one #afo #uraraka ochako #bakugou katsuki #aizawa shouta #bnha theory #mha theory #my hero academia #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #kurogiri