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pastxlscorp · 5 months

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Palia Character Characterizations/Impres.

(impres. is short for impressions btw! also big ass rambling)

I started Palia the other day and I'm amazed it's free. Aside from some obvious glitches, the game is pretty good and it's on par with some games that charge money. I've been doing some quests but I'm not too far into the story, but I have some strong feelings about some characters. This might not have a big fanbase but if there is only one fan, I am one! I'm just gonna give some first impressions and how I headcanon some characters personality wise based on other impressions of them from the villagers n shit. You should try it out if you already haven't!

Nai'O:

STARTING OFF WITH MY ANNOYANCE FOR THIS MAN. I know a big controversy with him is that he's in a monogamous relationship with another villager (spoilers: Kenyatta) yet he is still a romancable character. Although in his culture it is normal to have poly relationships, he has some pretty inconsistent writing (im gonna get into this more later with Reth). He argues that Reth flirts with everyone, which he clearly is annoyed by, but if he falls in love with the player, he actually is fine dating both you and Kenyatta depending on your dialogue choices. Seems inconsistent that he would get pissed at Reth while he was over here flirting with the player. ALSO— Kenyatta literally calls Reth hot, so she’s not even fully loyal to him either. He seems aware of this, since it honestly sounds like his disliking of Reth is more jealousy than anything. I personally don’t see the significance of having the two of them date monogamously if they’re clearly open to poly or having an open relationship. Aside from that, he's a very sweet villager who I knew I was gonna like from the start. Farm boy himbo that knows what he's doing until it comes to social cues. Romance him if you wish! He's a sweet boy who wants what's best for his family but aside from that, he's a fairly simple character. As far as I've explored the world and quests, I haven't found any deeper nuance or lore with him since his family is pretty wholesome. Nothing wrong with simplicity, but I love characters with a little more complexity and nuance since there is so much more to dive into, analyze, and admire.

Reth:

my boyfriend First impression was how this man was a flirt. It's pretty heavily implied imo that Reth is a womanizer and sleeps around. His boss, Ashura, mentions something about Reth likes having his nights free and Nai'O blatantly just says this man flirts with everyone in proximity. I find the beef between him and Nai'O interesting, as it implies either Reth is jealous of him or dislikes him because he considers him cowardly for hiding his relationship with Kenyatta. When Nai'O sends you off on a quest to deliver something to Reth, he calls Reth "loverboy" and he calls out him and Kenyatta for sneaking around and also Hassian's love poems. This is kinda reiteriated when he makes a comment about Hassian's love letters being not-so-secret. He's aware how he's an obvious flirt, which I find admirable. He does not give a fuck about how anyone perceives him and is open about it, which is why he shames the other two for sneaking around with their romance lives. In another quest, he makes another comment about stealing Nai'O's muscles. Initially I thought he was interested in Kenyatta but I think him flirting with her is more of a rivalry between him and Nai’O. Amongst the villagers, they are the two canonically best looking, which is an interesting dynamic. It makes sense why Nai’O would then be pissed off Reth was flirting with Kenyatta, as he knows she does find him attractive. I headcanon that Reth is one of the few characters that would be romantically interested in the player even if they didn’t romance him because of his voicelines. Some of them are like “uh oh, gotta go uh…” and he’ll make up an excuse to leave sounding flustered. Reth, to me, is one of the more complex characters because of how much shit goes unsaid with him. He comes off as very easygoing because he's stressed because he has a hard time saying no and ends up lying, which gets him into a load of shit. His small talk is really sweet though, I like to headcanon he's flirty so the (spoilers) cartel can’t tell who he’s close with. I'm currently romancing him and one other man! I really find it cute how he sweet he is to his sister. Bold move to abandon the family careerline (especially since he is I think the only dude in the village who is not carrying family tradition) and he knows all eyes are on Tish (his sister) because of it. It's cute that he only cares about how people talk about him when it impacts his sister. I assume this is why he usually takes all the shit the other villagers give him because he knows it would go on his sister otherwise. I felt so bad bc I actually didn’t cover for him in one of his friendship quests because I thought ashura would’ve figured I was lying. In Reth’s letter, he writes if you covered for him or didn’t and says there’s no hard feelings and that he was using the free time he got to spend with his sister. I’m sorry pookie 🥹

Hassian:

Really liked him at first, but he became unlikable really fast. He's super attractive if you're looking for a black cat boyfriend or a tsundere, but it gets old quick. He comes out rude even when he's trying to be nice and in real life this shit would be so toxic. In game reasonably it's more tolerated but it just is not my cup of tea. I'm usually a sucker for dudes with this archetype too since it's just nice to see people soften up and get comfortable, but Hassian just can be overbearing. I was leveling up my friendship with him and he sent a letter saying "You'll probably freeze to death without my help, so take this. You'll thank me for it later." like lil bro fuck u. Jokes aside, I'm not a fan of the fact he's romancable mainly because it's revealed later on (spoilers) that he is in love with another villager, Tamala. It's lowkey fucked up because there is a whole quest where you have to deliver one of his letters to her and if you deliver it to her on the first try, she laughs at his letter, showing it's clearly not reciprocal, at least anymore. On his romance quests (I searched it up bc I got curious) she admits she led Hassian on because she wanted a fling and he wanted marriage. I felt so bad for bro but lowkey he brought this shit on himself. Tamala affirms what I'm arguing because she explains they broke up b/c of his "sour" demeanor. Again, cute on paper, but if you don't write any development it gets old fast. It kind of even feels like you're a rebound for Tamala. I do like that the villagers know he has a soft spot for Auni (one of the 2 children villagers) because he always plays with him. This could have been a great premise for character development but unfortunately it just does not go anywhere. I know there's a reddit thread complaining about Hassian's lack of development and another for Nai'O being in a relationship and romanceable-- if anyone's is interested in reading more.

Hodari:

First impression: dilf. I'm not crossing that out I'm being honest. I instantly wanted to romance Hodari but honestly as I kept playing he lowkey came off as such a dad and then I realized bro is in fact a father. If you want a dilf, go for it. But if you have daddy issues like me, you're gonna look at bro in a different light when you get to know his character. His lore is pretty fucked up but it's sweet he's trying to look out for his kid, just the way he goes about it is not the best. I did really like one dialogue in idle chat with him that he admits he knows his daughter sneaks out and he doesn't say anything about it because he knows he can be a helicopter dad sometimes. I'm still debating as of now if I'm gonna romance him or not but I haven't seen any red flags with Hodari as of yet, just that he's reasonably a little closed in and dry, but he's not nearly as hostile as Hassian.

Jel:

bros side profile is immaculate. my HUSBAND. Loud and proud bro. At first I genuinely did not fuck with him because he was so mean initially. He made it sound like you were a peasant. He develops quickly through small talk though and it's so cute, like he easily became my favorite. He goes on night walks and enjoys the beauty of literally everything: some of his favorite gifts are insects and shells. He finds everything potential of beauty. He's a little corny when he's greeting you (he'll talk abt how you brighten his loneliness bc he's so dramatic) but I adore it. Also call me odd but I find that when a man has a girl best friend, immediate green flag. His relationship with Tish reminds me a lot of me and my best friend I adore it SOOO much. I'm in the process of romancing him and BRO I found out through youtube tutorials that if you're romancing him and someone else he comes to your house and tells you "If you were trying to keep this from me because you thought it would affect things between you and I, you're wrong. I'm a big boy. I know how to share." WHAT? WHAT? WHAT. Anyways I would 100% recommend romancing him I see no flags if they are any, red is my favorite color. goodnight.

#palia #palia game #palia reth #palia jel #palia hassian #palia hodari #palia nai'o #reth #jel #hodari #nai'o #hassian #palia mmo #palia open beta

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emmitaaa4 · 4 months

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Addressing some fandom BS inconsistencies

Gwyn was shadow mommy, Az was shadow daddy, they were gonna have shadow babies with her extra super pliable bones.

I audibly chocked when I read this @nikethestatue (btw everything said in this post was on point). No but seriously this is how they sound, too many of them insisting that there is nothing wrong with basing the likelihood of a ship on who has the more suitable uterus to be with a man... cause supposedly they're just picking up on the hints SJM wrote for them? She likes babies for HEAs so ofc children are the end all be all of a relationship, plus there's absolutely no way that she could ever write an adoption plot SJM is literally adopted and has done it in other series. Selective reading strikes again.

A minimum amount of critical thinking would tell you that 1) the infamous *magical uterus change* scene was about nessian (& feysand), not about any ship; 2) if SJM had written Nesta changing Elain's uterus, it would have given too much away, not to mention 3) how disturbing/violating it would have been for Nesta to change her sister's reproductive anatomy WITHOUT HER CONSENT?! None of it makes sense narratively; my girl Nes would never, especially given the trauma they both suffered from having their bodily autonomy--and so much more--ripped away by the Cauldron.

This argument is so trivialized that I see it every other day on reddit/tiktok/*insert media app*, and yet elriels are the toxic side of the fandom? The ones whom people are allowed to insult, to ridicule for theories all made in good fun, the women that are villainized over a difference of opinion? Don't get me wrong, there's assholes on both sides and people keep calling one another variations of delulu (and the nastier personal attacks). But by painting this fandom-wide villain there is such a lack of accountability for the plethora of harmful talking points spread by other portions of the fandom. (I've been silently reading the anti-elain & anti-elriel tags for like a year, and I'm on tiktok. Yes, I have self-destructive tendencies).

Anyways.

I never understood either how people ever actually thought (or well still think) that gwynriel would happen BEFORE elucien?? It makes no sense logically, narratively, or in terms of characterization & the arc she's set up for Elain, Azriel, and Lucien. Yet it took one controversial bonus chapter for people to decenter Elain in her own story, that is make her choice of romantic partner--which SJM spent 3+ books setting up--Azriel's. It took one bonus chapter that soo many readers are still unaware of, to brush Elain off as a "sexual object" Az is using to distract himself until his therapist-extraordinaire Gwyn comes in and heals him all up. Because ofc she will: she's badass and not the "passive and weak and boring" Eplain (aka "Plant" or "brain dead gardener"), she fits the YA archetype of the spunky warrior-girl so she can handle his darkness, and SJM supposedly spent time fleshing her out because she wrote her as a LI for Azriel; she's made for him, she is what he needs to grow (I actually enjoyed Gwyn's character btw, just pointing out how silly it all sounds). “Next book is a love triangle between Elain/Az/Gwyn” “Elain will turn evil or is secretly evil”. So you're telling me that SJM would pit Elain & Gwyn against each other in a love triangle over a man... all because of a necklace that was not even mentioned once in the actual books? Please, let's be logical for a second.

All this because instead of reading the bonus chapter in the context of the books, some people are reading the books in the context of the bonus chapter. Which now that I think of it is probably why so many people mischaracterize Az the way they do--because yes we know enough of his character to know half of the stuff the fandom diagnoses him with is questionable. Azriel? Entitled incel x fuckboy hybrid (gotta be the first of his kind, minute slay ig)? Interesting tell me more. No joke I saw a semi-popular post on here where a gwynriel said they read the bonus WITHOUT HAVING READ ANY OF THE BOOKS. I'm sorry, ship wars are silly and believe it or not idc who ppl ship, but it makes it hard to take some of the things they say seriously.

All this to say that the fandom isn't even debating the right thing. If you consider everything SJM has said in her interviews:

(she's been planting seeds for Nesta & Elain's book since acomaf; she knows who she is writing the first 2 books about + is keeping things open for the 3rd one--with 5 different ship options--which automatically rules out "Elain will close the series"; she said she's doing research for Elain's book in the ACOFAS bonus & there's seeds for future bookS in acofas; all she said recently about her beloved *heroines* and the themes of fate/true love/choice she finds *very* interesting & wants to discuss)

and if you also consider all she's written in the actual books (elain's characterization + the overarching plot in general & how she fits into it), then it's pretty evident that Elain's book is next.

The question then would be who is the MMC / 2nd PoV in her book, aka would acotar 5 be an elucien or an elriel story? Because logically, gwynriel was always a consequence of elucien. I honestly do not understand how people don't see that.

Oh and they always think they're gagging elriels with the "obviously Azriel is the next MC" as if elriels aren't saying the same thing? And we're the ones twisting info and not making sense. It's just funny at this point.

---sidenote: I realize that this post generalizes some things, and I just wanted to say that I have interacted with lovely eluciens / people on either side of this headache of a ship war. My hard limit is Elain haters though... back off I say 🤺 BACK OFF 🤺

---sidenote 2: I would have written this as a reblog except im not entirely sure how tumblr works and I get no visibility from them rip.

#please be so for real rn #elain archeron #anti gwynriel #anti nonsense #acotar 5 #elriel #pro elriel #pro elain #pro azriel #sjm interview #azriel bonus chapter #nesta archeron #elucien

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generouskittentidalwave · 9 months

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I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH THE KUNG FU PANDA SERIES, I'M GRABBING IT BY THE THROAT AND DRAGGING IT TO THE DEPTHS

JUST COME'RE, COME'RE FOR A MINUTE AND EXPLAIN TO ME

WHAT. THE FUCK. IS THIS?

This has GOTTA be another Macaque disguise in order to mess with Wukong's image cause I refuse to believe that THIS is Wukong.

Now don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with adaptions made of our beloved monkey gremlin, a lot of them are super cool and well made! But there is a difference between an adaption and then just full on disgracing the source material BECAUSE HOW CAN ONE FUCK UP THIS BADLY ON SUCH A WELL KNOWN AND BELOVED CHARACTER? OKAY SIT DOWN FOR CLASS TIME AND LET ME STATE MY CASE.

First of all the looks, why is only one eye red and gold? I'm sorry but if I remember correctly Wukong wasn't half way in the furnace. My second gripe is with the monkey species they chose for him. Listen, Wukong is supposed to be the representation and embodiment of a monkey, he isn't supposed to be a specific species of monkey in the first place as he is not only his own species of monkey but he is supposed to represent all the monkey species. So making him into a specific species of monkey doesn't work all that well in the first place, but out of all the species they could've picked why the species that looks like a reverse oompa loompa?

AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON HIS POWERS

Okay okay, get this, not only did they heavily nerf him, but they also made it so all his power comes from THE GOLDEN CIRCLET. YEAH THAT'S RIGHT THEY MADE THE TRAUMA RING AROUND HIS HEAD INTO A CROWN THAT GIVES HIM POWERS AND THAT HE WANTS TO GET THE CROWN BACK.

The crown is most known for being the equivalent of a shock collar for him, how do you mess that one up THAT BAD?

And we haven't even touched on his backstory yet oh no no no no. Sit down as you are gonna LOVE this one folks

Apparently Wukong was great friends with the gods in heaven until he was framed for something he didn't do and was imprisoned, not in the mountains by the Buddha, but was imprisoned in the red jade mines for it. Not only that but he basically poisoned Po and his trainees as he could only get out if he replaced himself in the mines with another and keep them there until like sunset. First of all Wukong would never do that in the first place sure he was impulsive and reckless but he wasn't bad for the sake of being bad, he was just a bit of a trouble maker that needed proper guidance. NOT ONLY THAT BUT PO'S TRAINEES WHO ARE LITERALLY KIDS BEAT HIM. LIKE- HELLO? LITERAL KIDS BEAT SUN WUKONG? THE MOST OP CHARACTER IN KNOWN HISTORY?

Apparently the ldb was the one behind things and Wukong needed to stop her which we saw that be done much better in Lego Monkie Kid (amazing show I HIGHLY recommend watching that instead of this). And Wukong redeemed himself and became besties with the gods again.

OH OH AND TO ADD MORE SALT TO THE WOUND? MONKEY'S BROTHER IN KFP IS NAMED "WU KONG", THE SAME BROTHER WHO CAUSED THEIR OWN MOM TO DIE DUE TO HIS OWN SELFISHNESS.

LIKE BRO WTF DO THEY HAVE AGAINST WUKONG? WHY ALL THE BEEF AGAINST SUCH A BELOVED AND AMAZING CHARACTER AND MAKING HIM OUT TO BE A HORRIBLE AND PATHETIC GUY WHEN HE ISN'T?

Kung Fu Panda is beloved by China for it's good representation and understanding of it's culture, so how the franchise could let one of the most well known characters in Chinese mythology and stories get slanderized THIS BADLY by one of their spin off series is beyond me.

I know this has just been me ranting about how a recurring character in a series was characterized in a spin off series kid show people hardly know about but like- for some reason I was just absolutely flabbergasted by this characterization of Wukong as a whole in a franchise that's known for doing plenty of good research on chinese culture, mythology, belief and stories. My only hope is that this was Macaque disguised as a fake Wukong the whole time just pulling a funny prank.

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arkus-rhapsode · 7 months

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I want to talk about Crimson Flower and 3H as a narrative

So... after FE3H discourse makes the round every other week, I end up thinking about it for a bit until I realize, hey maybe its better to not focus on a 4 year old game at this point and occupy your time with something else. Everything has basically been said about it at this point and you know where you land.

But this time my thoughts were just getting too strong for me to ignore, so that's why I'm writing this both get it out of my system and maybe just be another voice in the crowd that some people might want to listen to on the divisive topic that is Crimson Flower route.

Now I really hate that I have to put this disclaimer up front, but I feel like the well of this discussion has become so poisoned that I have to before I make my piece. I want to say that if you enjoy Crimson Flower, if you love Edelgard and believe she did nothing wrong and this is the right route, if you are a Black Eagles stan and you genuinely do not have any issues with Crimson Flower route as a whole-that is perfectly fine.

This will be a somewhat critical examination of the narrative choices about the execution of CF, which I feel like whenever 3H, specifically Edelgard is discussed, there is often very disingenuous arguments people make. Which I believe can create more defensive fans of a particular aspect of a story that we should be able to criticize freely. Which perpetuates this never ending cycle of discourse of legit criticism and defense against that criticism becomes drowned out by trying to decouple these very disingenuous claims from legitimate flaws. So I at least want to make it known that I am going to try my best to be in good faith with this post about this tricky subject.

I also want to just say, this is also going to be mostly an examination of narrative. The thing that I personally enjoy the most in an FE game, but we need to genuinely acknowledge that narrative isn't the only reason why people may like Fire Emblem. The ability to form parasocial relationships with fictional characters and being able to experience something the genuinely brings you emotional fulfillment is not invalid. Being able to enjoy fighting against establishments or ideologies you in the real world disagree with through the experience of a video game is not invalid. The same way someone who plays this game for the experience of gameplay isn't invalid when their primary enjoyment stems from the actual mechanics rather than the "logistics" of the story. The point I'm trying to make is that everyone will engage in media in different ways and will enjoy it other ways and that you don't want to invalidate those feelings someone had with their personal experience. So this is going to be about me and my experience as someone who primarily enjoys narrative.

I am just one guy with opinions who is going to layout what I had an issue with and how I think for me that could've been improved upon. You don't have to agree with me on that, and I'm not saying my way is legitimately better. This is all opinionated.

Buckle this is a long one

First things first Im gonna say Im not going to be using any information given in Three Hopes that may contradict what Im about to say. As in my opinion Three Houses came first and does not include the content from Three Hopes so I should think that Three Houses can stand on its own merits and the content that was provided.

Next thing is I want to catch people up on what in my opinion are the points I think CF did for me that ultimately left me unsatisfied

The post time skip Fodlan was too different and felt contradictory to Byleth's role

Edelgard's Characterization in CF in comparison to the other lord's in their respected routes

The role of Rhea

The role of Those who Slither in the Dark

SO the first thing is probably the thing I'm mostly going to have to defend if I haven't lost you already, but Fire Emblem Three Houses as a narrative provides us with a five year time skip in the game that depending on the route will change who is control of the monastery at this point in the war, with each route providing a lord the chance the forge their campaign. However, something I don't think is brought up enough is talking about the liberties that CF takes with their time skip vs the other three routes. Azure Moon, Verdant Wind, and Silver snow all paint a post five years Fodlan as one where the monastery territory has been abandoned, Rhea has been captured, the Alliance territory is split between an imperialist faction and an anti imperialism faction, and the Kingdom has been split with Cornelia making an alliance with the Empire to create the Dukedom of Faerghus as the houses of Gautier and Faldarius hold up the Kingdom.

There are obviously minor changes like Dimitri camping out in the monastery in Azure Moon rather than in the care of Kingdom Allies, but for the most part there is a consistently defined world between the three routes. However, Crimson Flower's post Fodlan is much different. With a grid locked Fodlan after five years with just the church territory falling under the control of Adrestia, Rhea wasn't captured and instead made it to Faerghus, The Alliance is still feuding amongst itself, but most importantly than all, Faerghus is a complete kingdom with Dimitri as King and no Cornelia's Dukedom.

So there are two main reasons why this bothers me.

The first is that Three Houses as a game wants to present you with three options at first, with the idea that your choices will effect the outcome of the war when Byleth returns, however there's enough consistency to imply that this is what Fodlan would be like regardless of whose House you would join, with the primary effect being your class making it to the church for the festival which in turn will make the monastery your new territory for which route. However, Crimson Flower decides to do away with the consistency, implying that the effect Byleth had on the situation is far greater than that of any other route resulting in a drastically shifted Fodlan. So this is more of a problem with FE3H as a whole with the consistency of choice. Fire Emblem has never really had a BioWare style choose your own adventure type of game. There's only one real choice you're given in the case of 3H and that's which house you side with, which you are essentially locked into. Black Eagles is really the only route that offers a choice beyond that with choosing to side with Edelgard or Rhea which will effect who the class sides with in the time skip. The reason I bring this up is that it essentially means that you the player are for the most part on rails for a predetermined plot where all the choices for the series have already been made. So the Fodlan post five years being consistent makes some sense as essentially mostly everything that happened in White Clouds was the same with the acceptation of the class. However, the Crimson Flower one not being consistent and being so radically different based on a game with so minimal choice feels more like an act of narrative convenience. That this is what happened because of a writer fully independent from me the player had decided that this is how Fodlan shall be for this story because it fits what they want to tell.

Somewhere I had once read that FE3H shouldn't be treated as one story, but since its a bunch of routes they're all a different universe. Everything might look the same but everything is fundamentally altered that you should accept it as an independent universe. And I can't necessarily say that's wrong as the concept of multiverses is to create a world/scenario that allows to explore familiar characters in unfamiliar settings and you could say that Byleth effect on Edelgard in picking this universe was just so much greater that it would result in such a different universe.

I personally disagree with that which brings me to my second point as I believe this one is going to be a more philosophical point on game design. But I feel like the effort to make three routes so consistent with each other with one so different seems to deliberately undercut the core themes of the game. Offering you a choice that this is who you get to spend your happy schools days with and it is what is going to result in them returning to the monastery one the day of your return. That is the true effect of Byleth on the characters. But as you play through white clouds you can't change what happens to other characters which will result in a brand new scenario. Byleth's presence can never stop Dimitri from going blood mad, Byleth's presence can't stop Claude from discovering the Immaculate One research, and Byleths presence can't stop Edelgard from declaring war. And that is a good thing for this type of on rails route story. Byleth while a player insert who can help their lord in the future, right now everyone is on a path that Byleth can only lightly change. With the characters acting independently of what Byleth and the player desire. And the post time skip Fodlan is a sign of that. Its Five Years without Byleth. This is what these characters would do, that they were always capable of doing and that is why Byleth's return and effect on them is important. This also gives us the ability to observe what a lord is like now after the war, and Byleth's effect on them but also see what a character could be like without that Byleth effect on them. Without Byleth Dimitri stays mad, without Byleth Claude always flees Fodlan, without Byeth Edelgard... well lets put a pin in that.

The only other true choice the player can make beyond the initial one is the side with Edelgard or Rhea which radically alters her. Which honestly feels kinda defeating in a game that has locked Byleth so much on a path and the one time it can deviate actively alters everything. It just feels very hollow as there are parts that make you realize how great the effect Byleth could have on people's lives could be if the game actively wanted to integrate choice with the plot. But it didn't. It wants to make one early choice then lock you in that route for several chapters then remove Byleth and then have their return effect real change on the future of Fodlan. Except for this one route. Its why Crimson Flower feels so much like an asterisk compared to the other route. And I don't just mean the lack of chapters, but this feels like a route that can only exist because it was the one that the developers bothered to create something overly deviating from everything else.

Which brings us to Edelgard's role in Crimson Flower as a whole. Now lets just get this out of the way. Im not going to be talking at all on the morality/realistic implications of what Edelgard is doing. I feel like the "Is she a fascist/authoritarian" conversation is not really helpful to talking about FE3H as a work of narrative and mostly exists to create a bunch of petty beef. This is also not going to be a deconstruction of ever minute detail of Edelgard as a character. This is an examination of her as a character in the narrative that we are presented. This will also involve comparison's to Edelgard and other series lords and I want it to be known that this is not a talking down to the only female lord in the game as being something "lesser" than her male contemporaries. I believe there is genuinely sexism when discussing Edelgard as a character, so I want to say that I am approaching Crimson Flower and Three Houses as a whole in a good conscious that there is not a "right route." That this is a game that where all choices have their pros and their cons. Because that's why we like this entry, right? That 3H would provide us some genuinely complex lords who were all capable of doing great and terrible things regardless of gender?

That's why I had such a long winded discussion about why the change in the post time skip Fodlan is so important both for narrative consistency, but also just generally keeping with the tone, but also it reinforced that Fodlan and its lords while all righteous in their own way can be dangers in their own way. Well that's when I return to the pin about Edelgard. So first I want to go through how the lords are characterized in non devoted routes.

Dimitri in non AZ routes is portrayed as someone so damaged by loss that his who response is to avenge and fight. To never stop making those pay for the damage it has brought on his kingdom as well as any lives lost during the tragedies in places like Duscar and Remire.

Claude in non VW routes is portrayed as a brilliant individual with a lot of charm but seems to be hiding something from everyone. He's a lot smarter than one could assume and that he has some mysterious tie to the kingdom of Almyra that he departs after leaving his land to the stronger kingdom that has come so far, be it Dimitri or Edelgard or the Church.

Edelgard in non CF routes is portrayed as a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Now I want to talk about what happens to those lords as you play them in their routes.

Dimitri in AZ is portrayed as someone burdened by loss and his quest for vengeance has led to a neglect for his own health and his own actions. That his kill everyone attitude will perpetuate more loss of those he loves and that he needs to learn to rely upon others. That is his true responsibility as king.

Claude in VW is portrayed as an individual who is outside of Fodlan's system who has observed it more as a third party and believes it can be a great place if people work through diplomatically. He too is not a fan of inequality and racism and wishes to make a Fodlan that is more accepting and able to work through negotiation. While he still leaves Fodlan at the end, this time he has been able to implement real systemic change and make one that is sustainable beyond that of a ruler.

In CF we find out that Edelgard is a traumatized girl who was experimented on for the purposes of Crest Research. This makes her a conspirator to overthrow not only the church but all rule in Fodlan as she believes the Crest based system is flawed and that the only way to enact systemic change is through a single rule. And while she is aware her ideals have costs, she believes that those costs are worth it when weighed against perpetuity of the crest system.

Hey wait a minute, that's the same?

So this is where I get to the most glaring flaw for me in this case of narrative and why I think altering the post time skip so much did a lot of damage. Edelgard is a good character and a fascinating one, but in the practice of her narrative, her character journey in her own route isn't like the other lords. Rather she is "right" from the start of the time skip and with the world altering in ways to justify why she is that way.

Now look, I know right now someone could be saying I can't read, that its clearly stated in the text that Edelgard says without Byleth she may have turned into a complete monster to see her goals through to the end. This is referring to how in non CF routes she is on the backfoot getting beaten back and forced to take more drastic measures as whoever Byleth comes closer to ending her ideals. Unlike Dimitri or Claude there's not really a psychological arc she is working through with her sociological arc. Dimitri's arc is almost entirely hinged on him as a character changing in his route. And while Claude the character is also mostly the same, you get an understanding of how his continued participation in Fodlan's politics is so important as he effects sociological change. Claude also does the less stuff that could be considered questionable in Fodlan. He neither initiates the war nor does he intimate greater conflict that is tied into a character arc like Dimitri. Claude action's through the war are mostly to keep the Alliance fighting against each other with avoids giving one side a greater advantage. The truth is Claude real "flaw" is that by being an Almyra he is from a race outside of Fodlan that is inherently untrustworthy in society so his continued prescience in his expanded campaign is done with changing that mentality.

Now one could look at everything I said about Claude and say "well isn't that Edelgard though? She's not the one who needs to change but rather society needs to and this is you making it a fruition?" And I would agree however, then why did post time skip need to change and not Edelgard? So going back to the altered Fodlan, the Fodlan post time skip we see in non CF routes has what can be argued Edelgard's biggest moment of political conquest, making an alliance with Cornelia inside of Faerghus using her authority and influence to expand and bring over a chunk of the kingdom underneath Edelgard's wing. And this makes sense with what has been proposed before us-Edelgard had released a manifesto to lords that would side with her and become her allies in the war to come. This act of subversion is something that benefits her goals for conquering all of Fodlan. However, this is one of the key alterations in CF's time skip. Faerghus is not broken in half, with Edelgard having not empowered Cornelia over the five years. In fact, you do battle with Cornelia with her as a kingdom general.

So if Edelgard isn't a character who is subject to change, why did the world change? Well there is speculation in universe that perhaps Rhea fleeing to Faerghus didn't give her the ability. But I do believe the most likely reason is that narratively the writers of 3H wanted to avoid a scenario where while Byleth was gone Edlegard may have empowered and individual like Cornelia. One of the most objectively evil characters in the game. Now I won't go into to detail if I believe Edelgard knew Cornelia was a TWSITD or not, but as it is presented to us, she seems unaware. Instead I'll focus on the primary point is where they don't want to discuss that while in her route Edelgard was capable of doing something that would potentially cast her in such a negative light. After all, the point of her campaign is the while the bloodshed is worth it to make a new Fodlan free of crests, she's willing to show lenency to those who bend the knee. Again, an action not unreasonable for her character. However, I feel like this not happening in CF genuinely robs us from exploring the flaws of Edelgard's path/showing us what Byleth's effect on her truly is.

This is compounded by my issues with how CF is the only route in which you have an active choice beyond class. That by choosing to side with Edelgard when given the option in the tomb would result in this much radical history alteration. But also all of Byleth's effect on her not being as much conqueror over the last 5 years was all done pre time skip. That all that change was done at that moment rather than being something that prompted her to return to Garreg Mach where they'd remeet Byleth and then that would get them to claim it as a base of oppositions in their future war. In CF, Garreg Mach is already claimed rather than the formation of the Dukedom with no real progress. So it makes it seem as though Byleth's real effect on altering this lord's path was always possible in the short time they knew them before disappearing over five years. Of course this is again a bit miffling given that CF is the only route this is a possibility. We can't Change how Dimitri will act in the pre time skip. That he will make choices without Byleth even if they feel urged to remeet at Garreg Mach. But in the case of CF, Edelgard has apparently been changed despite the only real difference in white clouds fighting beside her in the tomb and against the church pre timeskip. But that has sociologically altered so much of Fodlan.

And maybe you genuinely believe that one extra change is enough. Perhaps that one extra choice is enough justification for such a radically new scenario. For me personally, I find that unsatisfying and feels more like the writers traded in a level of consistency for this new scenario that greater justified being on the side of someone who is portrayed as a more active antagonistic force in other routes (Reminder this not me saying the Empire route is an antagonist route. All routes are antagonistic relative to which side you are on).

This is where we get my first what I would've done to make it more narratively satisfying for me. Keep the same post time skip Fodlan as the other routes. Keep Edelgard having brokered a deal with Cornelia to establish the Dukedom and have Byleth find out about it. Be some that either Byleth or another character close to Edelgard questions the extremity of. Then have Cornelia do something evil like she's experimenting on people for TWSITD or maybe she's just abusing the power. Then have Edelgard clean it up. Have Edelgard realize that while she still wants to make her dream of a crestless Fodlan a reality she can't just back lords or nobles that are willing to go along with her for more power. She can still keep the Dukedom territory, but instead she'd be now more understanding what it means for there to be a ruler with a noble soul. So she continues her campaign of conquest but has realized that if she's going to be emperor, she can't just empower people arbitrarily.

In my opinion this not only would tie together some more TWSITD plot while also paralleling it to Edelgard's past and how there was no authority figure to step in and help her all those years ago. But now she is that authority figure. And while it doesn't call her method in question and like Dimitri and Claude she can continue her expanded influence over Fodlan, but now we actively see that Byleth has helped show her that her allies aren't just those pledging loyalty, she actually needs to empower those who are good. She gets to have her fight with Cornelia level and this won't stop her from killing Dimitri in the future.

Like I said, this is what I'd do. And in my opinion it would give Byleth's presence in CF more purpose beyond the bond with Edelgard is nice and fun. But also stay consistent with each route. Showing that there are flaws in Edelgard's sociological plan, but not undercutting what her actual goal is. You can still believe her quest is just and the only right one with her taking an active role in not making the mistakes she perceives Rhea as doing.

And if you are still with me up to my third point, lets talk about Rhea.

So Rhea as a character can best be described as a neutral evil throughout White Clouds. She doesn't really do anything but there is a lot of ominous foreshowing and presentation that Rhea may be up to something or at the very least complicit with many of her policies and tendencies. And when I say "evil" I don't mean she's bad (please don't skewer me Rhea fans). I mean that if the crest system is flawed and the church is emblematic of the systems maintenance of that flawed system. Then Rhea as the face/founder/head of that church bares some responsibility even if all she does is passive.

In all other routes, Rhea is captured by the Empire. Imprisoned in their capital. Anytime she is seen after she is characterized as somewhat docile or defeated, having been imprisoned for so long. VW goes a step farther to reveal what she did as Seiros and all of her actions leading to this point presumably all thanks to be imprisoned and rethinking her life over. CF is the only one Rhea is allowed to be an active player, she is now portrayed a ranting self righteous warrior priest who swears vengeance upon Byleth for being the reincarnation of her mother but not being a proper vessel as she intended and fighting against her. Naturally, if Byleth being the potential for the reincarnation of Sothis siding against her is what her drives her mad, that is believable, however much like the altered Fodlan Rhea in this version is not captured. This is now for Rhea to serve as Edelgard's true climatic opponent. With her symbolically killing the representation of the church and the power of crests being slain by Byleth and Edelgard. Its very poetic. But once again we reach my issue of the time skip altering so much in CF.

As stated before, Rhea was presented as a neutral evil, in doing so she's not really a direct antagonist in any route. Except of course Silver Snow. Where she is deployed as a weapon against Byleth. In this case killing the immaculate one symbolically is cleansing the church of Rhea and allowing it to pass into the hands of the new archbishop. However, Rhea in that fight is under control. Rather than be conscious as an opponent, they make her more of a beast without choice. Thus making this less a flawed character meeting their end and rather a forced confrontation by the evil cult of evil. Now Rhea I think being kept a neutral party was ultimately a good choice. We are given enough about her to understand she has done things questionable and should possibly not hold the authority she has. But she also has not instigated any open any hostility. As such Rhea is more a symbolic player. By making her an active player, CF has to make Rhea more domino and more a threat. She can't portray constant neutrality in a war. But by making her the active antagonist, it makes her less of a symbol and more if just a rotten character who Edelgard is justified in wanting dead. And much like Cornelia and the Dukedom, this alteration comes off as an attempt by the writers to never truly challenge Edelgard's plans for Fodlan. That Edelgard has no flaws in her plan and the bloodshed is beyond justified more than just philosophically. Had Edelgard captured Rhea in CF this would lead to some genuinely uncomfortable questions of keeping her a prisoner. And to 3H's credit they were actually willing to make the player uncomfortable already in Dimitri's route showing him as a mass murderer. Once again, I want to express this isn't me saying Edelgard's quest or goals are wrong and the plot should undermine it. This is me saying that for a game that wants to genuinely have nuanced and uncomfortable political choices made by their character, this is the route where they opt to alter the scenario so that Edelgard is the most justified and does less things that one could find objectionable. Flattening a lot of interesting implications this would raise and what Byleth as a force in this route could possibly able to influence.

Now one could again say, well the reason Rhea wasn't captured because Edelgard didn't use crest beasts this time. Edelgard not using crest beasts is a sign Byleth is changing her and thus that greatly alters the future. Once again, I can see that as understandable justification, but again, my issue off only ever being able to effect this lord pre time skip comes in again. If it was possible to get Edelgard to not use crest beasts, then how come it wasn't possible for me to get Claude to have Almyra support? How come I couldn't stop Dimitri before the war? The answer is again as a game the only other narrative choice that could possibly alter the story happens in CF which is the side with Edelgard in tombs choice. And while I'm not against the idea of angry pope Rhea, but I feel making her CF's full on antagonist was almost making a straw man antagonist for your opposition.

As an aside we also know Arundel is still on Edelgard's side and he is Thales so while she might not know his entire deal, I hesitate to imagine he'd stop using crest beasts in the war over the two years Byleth was gone.

If I was going to once again alter CF to be something I would personally find more satisfying. Have Rhea captured and then have Arundel use the same rage stuff he uses on her Silver Snow. This way you can facilitate an Edelgard vs TWSITD conflict AND you still get your symbolic victory of Edelgard and Byleth killing the symbol of the crests and church. Again, Edelgard is able to do what she wanted to originally, but now we are also confronted with the role TWSITD did play in her life and allowing her to rectify it as well as truly killing the old world by getting rid of Rhea and Thales.

And final point TWSITD. TWSITD are bad. They've always been bad. And they genuinely damage the overall story of CF because this is beyond just a narrative choice, its very clear CF as a story wasn't complete. I feel confident in saying that given the numerous chapters missing compared to the other routes, but also the epilogue needs to say "Oh yeah there was totally a bunch of war against them. Totally." I know this point is probably the least controversial when talking about CF, but I still think its a glaring flaw.

So what's the tl;dr?

This is not an "I hate Crimson Flower or Edelgard post" I genuinely have no interest in debating people about characters that like or enjoy. Nor did I want to turn this into a moral argument about the implication CF. I feel like these topics do real damage to any real criticisms one can have for CF as a narrative.

Which for me, CF as a route fails to really mesh with the rest of 3H as a whole. It feels like it takes a lot of narrative ways out to avoid potentially making their lord seem objectionable, despite much of this game wanting to be about how tragically flawed everyone is. Im not saying Edelgard needed a come to Jesus moment of "Are we the bad guys?" No absolutely not. In my opinion we just lack seeing Edelgard change the same way post time skip as others have due to creating an entirely brand new setting that keeping her as a mostly the same character is not questionable. Nor does she have to do anything that could truly be seen as flawed. Things that Byleth's influence may overcome.

Edelgard is a good character and her goals are understandable. I just personally find the narrative bending to accommodate her in ways so different from the other time skips genuinely make it a weaker narrative for me.

If you enjoy CF as it it. More power to you. Please keep loving CF. This isn't supposed to be a dissuading post. This is merely me as one guy who likes a lot of FE because of the stories it can tell sharing why he personally didn't enjoy this one. Maybe I helped put it words for some who might feel similar. But this is just my opinion

If you have something you'd like to add or reply in the replies or tags please flee free, but for the love god, please be cordial about it. There is so much toxicity and disingenuous takes around Fire Emblem Crimson Flower and Edelgard and Rhea in general, that I would like for us to please be able to talk about this in good faith.

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fe3h #black eagles #edelgard von hresvelg #crimson flower #rhea #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #claude von riegan #rhapsode rambles

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marshmallowprotection · 2 months

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The dynamic between Yoosung and Saeran is so interesting to me, not necessarily in a shipping context because depending on which timeline you’re talking about that can be extremely unhealthy, but endings where Yoosung gets recruited into Mint Eye are such an interesting glimpse into his character for me. He’s so desperate for answers about Rika and already has some mistrust in the RFA, mostly V, whereas Saeran knows exactly what happened to Rika and thinks of the RFA as liars, especially V, so it’s easy for Yoosung to be manipulated into joining under the wrong circumstances. Mysmes bad endings in general are extremely interesting to me because we get to see how these characters react when they’re at their worst. Not that I want them to be unhappy, I have and will cry over these endings, but they’re interesting from an analysis and story writing standpoint. I don’t understand the point of romanticizing them when, in my opinion, there’s a much more intriguing conversation to be had about how the characters react to these terrible things happening

I'm not huge on Yooran, either. At least, when it's the confines of Yoosung's Bad Ending. I don't see much hope for SE Saeran and Yoosung, either, but that's because I think Saeran struggles with Yoosung and Jumin as a given due to their proximity to Rika and Jihyun in the past.

He knows neither supports what happened in the end, with nothing but hurt and heartache in knowing what Rika and V did, and that’s not even counting what happened with the gun, but it's hard to be around them knowing that connection. It’s hard to look at Jumin in the eyes knowing he took a life. It’s hard to look at Yoosung knowing that Yoosung will never know the truth about Rika.

But, that's just how I read into it, and I know most people would rather imagine the secret ending being a place where everyone can bond with Saeran. But, I just don't see him wanting to bond with anyone, I see him wanting to get far away from all of them.

He wants nothing to do with them because why would he want to be around people he stalked for years, why would he want them to be around him knowing that they might only keep him around to humor his twin brother? It's a lot of messy feelings and he would rather avoid that. I digress, but most Yooran content builds ideas from the BE in Yoosung's Route and since I can't stand that, or the characterization that paints SE Saeran out to be sardonic and an asshole, I tend not to read most Yooran stuff, haha.

But, in the confines of Another Story, where we see Yoosung and GE Saeran, I do adore their bond. Yoosung himself confesses he's got a strong sense of attraction and adoration for Saeran, and I get it. Me too, Yoosung. If you're gonna have a crush on someone, he's quite a catch. I do think they have a stronger likelihood of being romantically entangled in that ending then they would in any other ending.

But, I also think exploring a platonic relationship between them is also interesting. You're right in saying that they have a lot in common and I think a lot of people gloss over that fact sometimes. Yoosung is someone who understands where Saeran's coming from, even if the emotions are messy, because those two have been denied the truth in some way, shape, and form.

It's not hard for them to find a sense of kinship in each other. It's a sense of familiarity they find in one another. Yoosung sees a pain he knows in Saeran’s eyes, and Saeran sees someone who understands how much it hurts to be betrayed by someone you think you knew. I think no matter how you play it, romantic, platonic, or whatever else you see, there is a lot of sincere intrigue to be had in what it's like to put these two characters in a room together.

I wanna see what happens when they talk about the past.

#ask #mod kait #anon #they can kiss if they want though #my bisexual kings for the win #i'm just picky about characterization sobs

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winter-sol · 1 year

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Levi's characterization at the Valentine's Event and why I live for it (Spoilers)

Am I here to overthink about Levi's writing again? Hell yes I am. I guess I'm analyzing this event and his role in particular because not only I enjoyed it, but also it had so many interesting aspects to notice I needed to point them out. Now that the event is almost over, I hope I'm not spoiling anyone!

I was a little bit taken aback when I played the event and noticed how Levi centric it was. I still have no idea why they made the decision of basically make him the protagonist but you won't ever find me complaining, I love that demon.

(is this the character oriented event for him? Like we had with Satan and Barbatos? It wasn't stated as such, so I'm curious)

So, recapping a bit, a curse triggered by Beel made all the chocolates of the Devildom disappear, threatening Valentine's day. The brothers need to fix it since they're all simps and want to give us chocolate. In fact, Levi is highly motivated to fix it since he wants a special Ruri-chan chocolate (and we later find out there's more to it).

So, Levi's role starts with the Abstinence Brigade (lmao it sounds so funny), where he makes sure everyone is following the plan of not doing the things they love the most.

I won't lie, I was laughing the entire time because he was just SO ridiculous. Exactly as I love him to be. He was loud and annoying, but above that, I was actually nodding at the screen with how consistent he was.

See, if anyone ever had any doubt this guy is a military genius since his role during events is mostly having weird ideas and fanboying over any otaku stuff (*ahem*... Comic relief), I assure you it's not that much of a strange concept.

It's a simple role he had in here, but that didn't make him any less bossy and strict. For someone who's quite sensitive and self deprecating, Levi certainly has a way with how he can give himself the right to command his own brothers, and I assure you this is not the first event I remember him doing it (it's kinda old at this point, but for example the Manga event was all him ordering his brothers around to make a good manga and scolding them for doing it wrong).

He can be really insecure, but when he knows he's right he's very stubborn and you won't convince him otherwise unless you can prove there's a better way or someone more competent to do it.

Now, moving on.

We find ourselves with the two routes. The normal one has this interesting dialogue, with Barbatos pointing out Leviathan had this piece of knowledge that could work out. I shit you not, I laughed at how Levi was once again relevant because there were at least 6 other characters that could've taken that role.

When did he even mention that? Lmao. Who cares, the guy has already been carrying the entire event on his back.

So ok, we all got to see he was particularly invested in fixing this situation, looking for solutions and having an active role. But that doesn't stop here.

The neutral route is saved thanks to Diavolo, Barbatos and Simeon and, yay!, everyone gets their little chocolate gifting scene if that's what you chose.

But still, the goddamn route still has an ending scene with him particularly. WHY. That was a surprise, but not as much as...

The unlockable route 🔑

So the story has moved and nothing worked from the original plan. Mc and Beel head to the cafeteria at night after hearing a rumor about an evil spirit appearing there at 3am. Turns out it was... Levi. Levi trying to cook chocolate because he needs to fix everything and restore chocolate in the Devildom.

I'm not gonna delve into Levi's growing as a character, romantically speaking, because I believe it's pretty noticable to anyone. He's not as much as a hater as he was before, and since he's in love, he actually appreciates Valentine's day now. That was really cute and made my heart go doki doki, of course. But c'mon, let me talk about his bossy attitude and sassy remarks cuz I live for them.

His way of speaking is always direct and blunt, even sounding mean. But what I love about it is the fact he never intends it as a passive-aggresive personal attack. It's more like an objective take of the truth and him feeling entitled to it (man that's some extraverted thinking if you're into MBTI). It might not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly is mine lol

Moving on, not only he feels responsible, but since the plan with all the brothers failed he's actually trying to solve it himself. Since MC and Beel are helping, now he's leading and guiding what to do next.

So it kinda fails as well and Beel gets horny weird all of the sudden. So here I absolutely adored this dialogue.

Hell no, he's not going to get moody and self deprecating, he's kinda confident now you two are a thing now.

Also, Beel can kick his ass and he'll still stand strong. Man, I love a "loser" (cuz we all know he isn't) who's willing to fight for me.

But the last thing I wanna remark from this scene is how, when he needs you to prepare the antidote while he distracts Beel, if you pick the choice where you're insecure about it, he does it himself. Like, I thought he was gonna be like "you can do it!" But no, he takes the time to prepare the stuff himself. And without any bickering, he thinks fast and does it quickly.

Man, how can I not be a simp when this guy's character is so multidimensional and consistent? Yes, he's weird, loud, has crazy ideas all the time, and is always described as annoying and disgusting for being a hardcore otaku.

But damn, he's also dependable, strong and intelligent. As much as he's in his own head and his own world all the time, he's quite practical, detail oriented and good at problem solving. And as I mentioned before, this is not the first time we see him like this.

(also, have you all seen the lyrics from the song "Trigger"? The guy does a 34 seconds rap on how he's smarter than others might think, he actually sees everything, but somehow he's still insecure. fuck, his character is so coherent it's even flexing at this point)

A long time ago I made a post about my own expectations regarding Grand Admiral Leviathan, and this event is feeding me even more to believe there's so much interesting material to work with Leviathan's character. It's so funny how it starts all comic relief, but turned out to be so good he's third at the popularity contest. OM Nightbringer, I surely hope you can deliver and do justice to all this potential.

Did I write too much? Yeah, but I needed to make this analysis and appreciation post.

As always, I'm open for discussing it further or fangirling together.

Oh, and I hope you all enjoyed the valentine's event (and the real life valentine's day) 💖✌️

#i dont know what else to say besides i love him #obey me leviathan #obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me levi #obey me analysis #omswd #winter analyzes #simping levi

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pitynostars · 5 months

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ok so first things first, i loooove gatwa's doctor so much already. if nothing else, i love the masterclass in acting he's putting on, his expressiveness is so impressive. he brings a very fun energy to the role

the church on ruby road has me feeling a bit mixed as well. the plot was kind of meh, and i didn't like how in the alternate universe ruby's mum was just so mean without her. it didn't make sense. like what makes ruby so special, hm 🤨 what's this one white blond baby got that all the other babies in the world don't 🤨 i know the point was to show how much ruby meant to her mum, but like. there are other ways to do it than have a complete 180 in characterization.

i'm honestly not super interested in the mystery of ruby's parentage (which apparently seems like it will be a huge thing unless they're just making stuff up to fake us out, in which case, good on them). but i don't want it to be some big reveal i'm sorry 😩 especially not because if it is, people will bend over backwards to say how great storytelling it is when they'd never say that if moffat did a plot like this. i hadn't even considered the possibility really, when i'd first watched it, i thought it's just not that deep, but maybe i'm wrong. the people who are theorizing that ruby is rose and tentoo's daughter are sooo funny though like

ur only saying that because she's blond and we all know nobody on this show can be blond without being related to The Blond(tm) 🙄

that literally means they abandoned their kid. yes. such good parents 😫

i also feel like we didn't....really get to know ruby that well? i'll reserve judgement to give them more time obviously, and millie seems very green (not a judgement on her, and she and ncuti seem to have a lot of fun energy together) so there's still time and there's a lot of time in general for the stories to get going, and it had to do double duty as a christmas special and an intro episode for both new doctor and new companion so like, my feelings may also change with time. anyways those are my thots for now

yesss i was sold on gatwa very quickly i just hope he doesn't become 10th doctor rehash number 2345932853845 i am so tired. give him something new. also praying him and ruby don't have a romance angle there were a couple of moments in CORR i was like. GOD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NOT AGAIN.

CORR plot being meh i agreeee but also xmas specials plot is a lot of times like a wafer and as someone who watched it quite roasted ngl i kinda appreciated it 😂

YEAH omhg tho with ruby disappearing and her mum (i want to say carla??) completely changing as a person??? i get that the point was supposed to be like one little change can make such an impact etc etc as well. but also i was just like. .... ok but what about the other kids wasnt good enuf ???? maybe i'm a cynic lol. but fr have another MORE kids on the wall bc she's trying to fill a gap she doesn't know is from what !!!! IMAGINE.... especially with it being sort of set up as a doctor/companions parallel oh my god

nooo oh my god i know what you mean about rubys parents i like that theyre setting it up as a counter to 13s "it doesn't matter i'm good as i am my past doesnt define me" etc. but i really want it to not be interesting. i want her parents to just be like. normal people who had to make a hard choice lol. oh my god. i just realised. we're gonna go thru a fucking rey star wars arc with her im gonna lose it byee... imagine she ends the series like "im ruby doctor" :) i would quit watching.

but yeah 100% it's gonna be a big thing. atm i dont care but i guess we'll see and hope they do something interesting with it.... prayers she's an alien tbf

rose and tentoo would be terrible parents tbf i said what i said.

YEAH i know what you mean i feel like that about gatwa too i think its hard making the first intro for both an xmas special because it has to be kinda silly and rompy so you cant rlly get too into the grit of the characters?? still reserving judgement on them both, but its taken me a while to warm up to like. everyone in dr who since bill--- wait i take that back i loved bel in flux from like her first scene but she's not a doc or companion.

#replies tag #long post #dw spoilers

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marley-manson · 10 months

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okay the full review in a pros and cons list lol

pros:

uh my ship canon. i win, motherfuckers. fuckin 15 year old me was right this whole time, as always, but it's nice to see it acknowledged for once.

the confession scene also just kicked ass tbh

i gotta admire the cheekiness of the back and forth hesitant phrasing of their relationship, eg crowley referring to '...us' and aziraphale's 'i need you!' 'we can be together' etc until finally crowley just runs back to kiss him

and you know aziraphale was about to say 'i love you' before cutting himself off <3

touching his lips after too <3

the reasons for the break up felt reasonable to me and justified with the season's flashbacks to crowley questioning things and aziraphale's resistance

some pretty funny jokes, i laughed outloud a few times

michael sheen and david tennant do have excellent chemistry

never gonna say no to side lesbians even if they were incredibly bland

i think the way it was structured like a fanfic was a pro honestly lol. the plot sucked, i don't care about it, so it's nice that the story itself also doesn't care

amnesiac gabriel was endearing

crowley not kiling goats was cute

ty tennant was in it for about a minute and spent that minute hitting on aziraphale and it was fucking bonkers

no het

like i think job and his wife may have literally been the sole exception including like references to offscreen spouses lmao, i'm v impressed, and if this is penance for last season then i forgive.

i thought it was cute that gaiman incorporated the song he wanted for season 1 into this season as a plot point

beelzebub's new actor was so much better. and the flies were somehow kinda cute, i'll give the gabriel/beelzebub ship that.

good old fashioned lover boy. we all wanted it, they gave it to us, i appreciate it

here's my review: gay enough

cons:

mostly sucked as like, a narrative

tennant's fucking performance as crowley was so annoying, he or the director doubled down on what i hated last season and stripped him of all the endearing humanizing aspects of his performance and the result was like watching donald duck screaming for 6 episodes

the chemistry was still there but the actual pining kiiiiinda wasn't, actually lol. oh they referred to it in scripted moments, jokes, parallels, and straightforward statements, but they didn't... show it, particularly. until the confession nothing even approaches the tenderness and emotion of like any of their season 1 scenes, let alone the car scene or the bus stop scene or the ritz or the french revolution rescue or the blitz or eden etc etc. and david tennant did not say one word in that cute hopeful pining tone

to be honest after watching the whole show this is the most disappointing part. like the car scene??? could i not get a sequel to that? let crowley be tender!!!!

i think the reason we don't get scenes like that, other than perhaps uncomfortable restraint due to acknowledging the romance textually, is that they went from crowley practically begging aziraphale to cave and fuck him for centuries to crowley now angry repressed and needing a push to say anything, which also felt wrong to me, like iffy fanfic characterization

it was bad enough that i was nervous they were going to depict neither as actually aware of their feelings. thankfully they did not, and it still feels like crowley has been pining for a thousand years and they've both been aware but dancing around it, with the way the confession was phrased. that should be a pro, actually.

also yk all the obvious things. dumb jokes, a lot of bad acting (i feel like the director is at fault though tbf), not into the twee tone in general for the most part, a lot of scenes that were way too drawn out, utterly nonsensical narrative, characters doing things for no reason other than convenience constantly (why do the lesbians stay to help fight the demons? because their characters are more important and need more screen time), 0 stakes wrt heaven and hell because they're all so wholly ineffectual as antagonists and neither crowley nor aziraphale ever gave a shit about their threats, etc etc

oh lol nina sosanya being cast again as a brand new character, no relation to sister mary loquacious. it's not a big con since i like her and was happy to see her again, but it did feel lazy lol. at least give me the identical twin cousin explanation

was crowley living out of his car a joke bc they don't have the set from last season? did god not restore his flat like the bookshop? what's up with that? and how much time has passed since last season anyway? why didn't he get a new flat? why is he living in his car? what's going on?

nightingale references at the end felt tacked on and awkward to me tbh

ohhhhh raphael!crowley's very obviously hinted at and i hate that headcanon :/

crowley's kinda hilariously gary stuish honestly, making me really miss the book and even season 1 where he was like, yk, fucking incompetent sometimes. here he's lounging on couches without a care while being threatened by heaven and hell multiple times, pulling off perfect shots with no practice, waltzing into heaven without a second thought, bluffing demons easily and successfully, etc. and that's in addition to being right about everything and also being raphael like what happened to my dumbass low-level loser fave who fucked up the apocalypse by accident and lived in terror of phone calls from hell???

heaven and hell are "toxic" lol? that phrasing is so awkward, and like, i'd say minimizing but i guess tbf they didn't pose much of a threat in this season. but still c'mon, why you describing 2 murderous doomsday cults/cold warring governments as toxic like they're your annoying ex? especially after the running gag about nina's shitty girlfriend constantly therapy speaking at her condescendingly lol. how about 'hey remember how they worked together to try to kill us last season?'

oh gabriel/beelzebub of course lol, whatever happened to neil gaiman being unable to read fanfic or even people's headcanon posts for fear of accidentally plagiarizing ideas? bring back the separation between fandom and creator stat, fandom has way too much influence here and fandom fucking sucks

a little petty but honestly the kiss could've been good, yk? there's no reason it had to be bad, they could've just given into it for a bit for a hopeful romantic moment before aziraphale freaks and pulls away. like can i get 2 dudes to kiss with tongue at some point on my television here?

needs more queen

#text post #marley on good omens #good omens spoilers

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genericpuff · 1 year

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I really can't wait to see how you write Demeter! Is she going to be the villain?

yaay it's a good day for asks! sorry because I'm about to go on ANOTHER HUGE TANGENT LMAO but I hope it answers your question thoroughly enough ! 😅 (and if it doesn't at all lmk LOL) Demeter's gonna be an interesting one. I think you already know the answer to this, but I really can't stand how she's villainized like some Mother Gothel archetype, especially when it comes to how Rachel portrays it, because everything Demeter thinks/does/says is honestly justified, try as Rachel might to make her seem like some insane overbearing 'evil' stepmother. Everything always comes back to "Demeter bad!" whereas reading her depiction of Persephone is like watching The Little Mermaid as an adult.

(it's very frustrating, to say the least LMAO)

Personally I'm gonna be going for what LO started with, but never followed up on - Demeter wants to see her daughter gain independence, but is fearful of her being taken advantage of and hurt the same way she, her "sisters", and her "mother" was (and yes, I have my own way of tackling the incest and familial labels in a way Rachel could have but didn't, I don't wanna reveal too much but it's very fun and I can't wait to explore it haha). All this is gonna affect how her relationship with her daughter plays out - it won't be exactly like the Hymn of Demeter, focusing solely on Demeter's grief, but it won't be exactly like LO either where it throws aside the purpose and messaging of the original myth entirely. All the gods are nuanced and morally problematic in their own way, and that includes Persephone and Hades.

Honestly, I think the reason why so many myth 'retellings' like LO end up being this Flanderized in their characterizations ("Demeter bad, Persephone good!" and "Zeus bad husband, Hades perfect husband!") is because there's so little material surrounding Persephone and Hades compared to all the others. While this can make it fun for having more freedom in re-interpretations, it unfortunately has the opposite effect as well where people tend to forgo the entire point of the original story so they can have some feel good cute story where Hades was some "soft" husband who did nothing wrong and Persephone was some "boss babe" icon with no nuance in between.

I see this type of fetishization of the original myth in a lot of these interpretations but especially Rachel's work. I'm not sure if "fandomification" is a word that can be used here, but I definitely get the feeling Rachel idolizes and fetishizes Greek myth the same way a lot of young Westerners often idolize and fetishize Japanese lore and content, or, more personally, Indigenous cultures (as I myself am Indigenous, specifically Mi'kmaq) - by reducing it down to its most "consumable" formats and turning it into something more 'palatable' and 'fandom-y' for modern audiences that almost comes across as pandering and demeaning to anyone looking for anything with more depth than a teaspoon (and especially to those who belong to the respective cultures being portrayed through this lens).

This isn't to say that creators have to stick to their lane when writing about other cultures or myths, but you can tell when someone hasn't done their research and is working from a very romanticized template they've built up in their heads. Rachel's, in this case, feels like it's definitely come from her time on Tumblr back in the day, when Hades x Persephone writing prompts were all the rage and people were coming up with all sorts of feel good AU content. The thing with AU prompts like that though is they're just that - prompts, memes, mere thought experiments or hypotheticals, not something that can necessarily work as an actual serious long form story unless you know what you're doing. I think creators who want to go so far as to 're-interpret' these stories through their own lens have a huge responsibility to still recognize and treat the original source material with some semblance of respect. In this regard, LO in its current state really should have stayed as a slice-of-life type series if it wanted to keep things light.

And I'm saying this entirely as someone who grew up on weeb content in the freaking West and got more into Greek myth because of LO. That's why I don't entirely chastise it, fandom-y type stories like LO can definitely help introduce people to cultures and stories they wouldn't have batted an eye at before (as I've started to detest LO over the last year, it's made for even better learning because I've had to research the original myths just to see how Rachel is misfiring on them entirely LMAO) but there comes the added responsibility of making sure you're not erasing or reducing the original material in favor of the silly cutesy stuff. It's an entry point, not the entire course! And that's a responsibility that falls both on the audience and the content's creator, IMO.

Yay, more text dumps! Sorry if a lot of that seems weirdly gatekeepy, it's def not what I'm trying to get across, just trying to voice my own frustrations with the depiction of LO's characters as best I can, I feel like a lot of it comes down to Rachel just not having done proper research and relying solely on tropes and self-fulfilling fantasies. If LO stayed as a slice-of-life thing that would have been fine, there's definitely a place for that sort of feel-good goofy storytelling, but by trying to be super ultra serious, it's tripped over its own feet because that's just not what Rachel is capable of depicting at this moment. She's trying to write a super serious story, but doesn't come across as if she actually takes it seriously by extension and it shows.

TL ; DR: Basically, we're gonna actually hone in on Demeter's trauma from the Titanomachy and how it affects her parenting style and 'controlling' tendencies, not only of Persephone, but of the community of nymphs she's fostered over the years. It's not about whether Demeter is the hero or the villain, because that would be missing the point entirely - it's about her role and experiences as a mother and leader of her community, a woman in a struggling position of power among a patriarchal system, and a mother who lost her child to that same patriarchal system, whether by choice or through forced marriage. No matter how one wishes to tell it, whether it's in tragedy or celebration, you can't have the story of Persephone and Hades without Demeter. That is the core of what I want to focus on and bring back to the retellings of Hades and Persephone.

#keep the questions coming yo #i love answering these #lore olympus critical #lo critical #unpopularloreolympus #ask me anything #ama

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weebsinstash · 11 months

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Ok so finished watching Across The Spiderverse in theaters and here are my thoughts, under readmore so you guys won't get spoiled cause I'll mention plot shit

Nonspoiler review: these movies really are works of art, both visually and in sound. They draw on very relatable and powerful emotions of wanting to fit in, feeling like you belong, feeling like you're important, are you doing the right thing, are you living up to the expectations of others. These are the kinds of movies that could introduce people to the franchise and even if you're not into superheroes the emotion and visuals and writing itself is spectacular. Definitely a movie I could own and rewatch later

Now, here's my takes with more spoilers

-Miguel is actually so snarky and sassy. He is 100% done the entire movie and he's sarcastic or condescending almost every time he opens his mouth. He has a sense of humor it's just more mean spirited lmao "well you're gonna have to shut up and trust me" saying "how wonderful" sarcastically to Miles, being all "spiderverse? No thats dumb, its called the Arachnid poly multiverse, which, I guess sounds just as dumb"

-seeing him on the big screen really was like wow. He could be go from being sort of a dork to being so imposing and threatening, like, there was a small part where he steps closer to Miles as a silent intimidating gesture because hes so much taller, he could be so stone faced and cold when things got serious when Miles wasnt taking his warnings, but initially he was trying to be more compassionate, just, mwah, definitely going to help with any writing endeavors and characterizations of this man

-just seeing how the wristwatches and "daypasses" work is useful for any fanfic ideas I'm having ;) but holy shit you could just glitch until you die? I much prefer the concept of "Reader somehow whether being a mutant or an anomaly or just lucky gets transported to other dimensions instead or just back home"

-God just. Gwen's opening was amazing I don't even know how to describe it. When she's recounting her past and she's starting to talk about Miles while she's playing the drums and her drum playing keeps getting more and more intense, her music angry and frustrated and powerful as she keeps saying "and he's not the only one", speaking of his pain and isolation and how she feels connected to him, just, the way these movies write relationships between people and emotions is so human

-Spider Cat my beloved. LEGO Spiderman my beloved. Plushie Spiderman my beloved. Sun Spider is a fancharacter and got a speaking role. The thick, plus size, and fat spiders. Just the variety. It really is fun to imagine a Spidersona and feel represented kwim

-Jesus the intro to Mumbattan was insane. The way these movies constantly have you flying and falling through the air and falling through multiple levels and layers as objects whiz by, the music, the choreography. Just. The visuals and music the entire movie was insane

-HOBIE! definitely a fucking star. He's smart enough to build his own watch dude!! Love that guy. Definitely see him being in some stuff of mine as a helping hand if nothing else. Hobie helping Reader out during the YouTwo drama by offering you safe haven in his universe?

-I'm guessing Miguel has to give himself regular, spider nanomachine whatever injections? His powers kind of seem to have changed from his comic book a little bit. In the comics he has organic webs and was atomically spliced with spider dna but in the movie I think it's all technology idk? Correct me if im wrong, maybe they're red and glowing in the comics too 🤷‍♀️

-something something "smutty story where Miguel boyches a formula and turns himself into like a possessive horny borderline pure animal in heat and of course you're the lucky lady to stumble into him first"

-I got the bunny filter version of Lyla by the way!

Ugh this movie has me filled with so many emotions and also I snuck alcohol into the theaters and was on an edible gummy so I was FEELING this movie and just. Definitely two of my all time favorite movies

#atsv spoilers #across the spiderverse spoilers

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sparkly-caroline · 1 month

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(Warning, beating a dead horse probably, and I might be horribly wrong about several of these things, and if so please correct me)

Rewatching Sonic 06's Silver campain cuz of the recent Lythero video, I noticed a little something:

Did Blaze even do anything before she was thanos snapped out of existance in Silver's ending? I mean, a lot of characters already don't do a lot in the game (*cough* Amy *cough*), but Blaze in particular stuck out to me.

For one, in this game Blaze is in the future with Silver, but Sonic Rush AND Sonic Rush Adventure clearly state that Blaze is a princess from another dimension and the guardian of the Sol Emeralds, the latter game taking place in said dimension.

Brief summary of what Rush established for Blaze: she never had any friends before meeting Cream and Sonic, she's the princess of a dimension separate from Sonic's, she's the guardian of the Sol Emeralds (the Chaos Emeralds of that dimension) and she takes that role VERY seriously.

The first Sonic Rush game came out in 2005, that was Blaze's proper introduction. What is she doing 200 years into the FUUUUUTUUUURE (spongebob ref lmao). Sonic 06 recons not one, but two games that clearly establish Blaze's lore (one comes after, but it still applies for the first one) just so they could put her in this game.

But even though she had to be retconed into being here, she... kinda doesn't do much. Granted it's not as bad as Amy, Amy is still the biggest offender of "I really don't do jackshit in this plot" character in 06, but still.

Other than being Silver's only friend in the waste land that is the future and dying/being sent away/whatever it was at the end of his story, Blaze barely has a prescense. Hell, I don't think she ever interacts with Amy, the other playable character in the Silver campaign. TWO of the three playable characters in the Silver story NEVER meet each other onscreen even ONCE.

Hell, before Sonic's last level, she was right there and they don't even speak to each other. Not a single reference towards Sonic Rush or anything, the two may as well be complete strangers. Remember that Blaze was Sonic's main rival in that game? 06 sure doesn't.

(Also where was she before? Silver destroyed the robots in front of Sonic and once Kingdom Valley is over, she was just... there with them. Where was she before this cutscene? Was she with Silver the whole time??)

And I'm not gonna pretend that her "death" didn't make me cry like a little girl the first time, but now I'm like... she did nothing. She did literally nothing. She was there to be the girl that Silver liked and that's about it. Rouge and Omega are a lot more important to the plot, hell even Tails at the very least interacts with Elise and Eggman. I checked all the cutscenes in 06, and I can confirmed that Blaze never said a single word to anyone except Silver. No way you'd get much characterization from her if you hadn't played Sonic Rush prior to this game.

So the thing is: what's the deal with 06 Blaze? Is she a different character from Rush Blaze? Is she even still a princess? How does SHE know what a Chaos Emerald is when Silver doesn't if she lived in the same future that he has?? Did the time reset at the end of 06 rewrite her entire backstory into the one we get in the Rush games??

My brain hurts, man, Sonic lore is all over the place

#ramblings #long post #sonic #sonic the hedgehog #sonic rush #sonic 06 #blaze the cat #blaze #looking too deep into it probably

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purpleheartskies · 1 year

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(These are general thoughts and not directed at anyone in particular.)

I recently got into The Mandalorian a month or so before its s3 started coming out. At first, I'd told myself I'd wait for the whole season to come out and then binge watch it, but I caved a few days after the first episode came out and watched it. Since then each week, I've been watching each new episode, reading fan comments, and watching how the fandom responded. If you haven't watched Mando s3, I'm not gonna spoil anything in this post. I'm just going to do some reflecting on how fans have responded to Cobra Kai in light of how fans responded to Mando s3.

Honestly, it's been so refreshing to watch a real found father-son story in which no child of any species has been replaced in the process. Din and Grogu's story has been so fun and heartwarming to watch. Many CK fans claim that Johnny and Miguel's story is a found father-son story, but it's clearly not presented to be, primarily because the entire context of Johnny and Miguel's storyline throughout the 5 seasons has been that Johnny abandons/neglects (including emotionally) Robby in favor of Miguel. Their stories are all interwoven to show the clear contrast between Johnny's behavior wrt Miguel and Johnny's behavior wrt Robby. Johnny has a son who needs him and who Johnny willfully abandons/neglects for a random kid. (From Robby's pov, Miguel is a random kid). This is still an important part of the story in s5. Also, an important part of the story is how Robby has been affected by Johnny's behavior throughout the series. Robby's behavior in s5 (fawning) is truly nothing to cheer on, like the majority of fans do because they got the endgame they wanted: Johnny's dream family with the Diazs, and Robby tacked on as an afterthought. (I've talked in detail about Robby and Johnny's relationship in s5 in this post.)

As I mentioned, I wanted to talk about the fan responses to CK and the fan responses to Mando s3. Getting CK seasons as 10-episode dumps followed by a period of waiting is somewhat similar to getting an episode of a season and then having to wait a whole week for another episode. It gives time for the hype of the new story content to die down, for disappointment to set in and permeate, for more analyses to happen, and for different groups of hive-mind thinking to form and echo throughout the fandom.

I really enjoyed watching how the story unfolded as each episode of Mando was revealed. There were those who, like me, recognized that this is a story and, well, storytelling is taking place. We enjoyed watching the pieces being laid out, the layers being assembled, things slowly coming together, etc. However, there were those who were just bashing the season, saying things aren't making sense, they're not getting the story they want, the writers don't know what they're doing, etc...

This made me think of how the CK fan response has evolved with each season. As each season has come out, the fan response has gotten worse. People aren't getting the story they want, they're insulting the writers and the storytelling, they're complaining that things were too "rushed" and this is a "dumb" show so the serious elements don't matter, they're claiming that their fics would have been better, "this is the way it should have gone... [insert fic with completely wrong characterizations]...", etc.

I know I'm a rarity when it comes to loving Robby's character and not hating on the writers' storytelling abilities. I'm disappointed with them for sure for the messaging so far, and I completely understand why some have quit the show and the fandom. (The topics explored in CK (childhood trauma, mental health, dysfunctional relationships, etc) can be very personal and how they're depicted, even in the interim, absolutely matters. Also, interacting with fans who don't care about these topics can be draining.) However I will say this: the writers have a really well-thought-out story that has been consistent and has been building this whole time. They have always said that they have their major story beats figured out and some endgames in mind, and that hasn't changed. With all the analyzing I've done, I believe them. However, I also do understand the disappointment that fellow Robby fans feel. I had certain things I would have loved to have seen happen in this story too. But, for a while now, I try to remind myself with every show/movie I watch or book I read that I'm not writing the story. I'm just along for the ride. I know with moving to Netflix there has been a change in how things look in the show. However, if someone analyzes the patterns in behaviors and dialogue in order to understand the characterizations, they'll see that the storytelling approach and characterizations are still consistent.

Watching Mando as its new episodes dropped and browsing that fandom each week has helped put some things about this fandom into perspective for me. I've browsed other fandoms as well, but I'm mostly immersed in these two fandoms these days and the similarities in fan responses in these fandoms just stuck out to me. Storytelling is an art, and I wish people would be more open to treating these stories like stories.

Despite how much people hate the writers, they're the ones who gave us Robby and keep him the best, most central character in the show, regardless of how much he's resented and his traumas are minimized in the fandom. The writers still treat him like the most important teen, and imo, the most important character because Robby overshadows/drives Johnny's character journey as well. For example, in s5, Johnny still kept mentioning Robby when it came to the baby. If Johnny were redeemed or absolved, he himself wouldn't keep bringing up his failures with Robby. Robby's relationship with Johnny is still complex and painful and his relationship with the LaRussos is still complicated and meaningful. Robby was the key to bringing Daniel back and getting everyone together against Cobra Kai, something established in s4 when Sam first went to Robby to get him to come back and when Daniel realized he needed Johnny's help to coach Sam in the avt because Robby had taught the Cobras Miyagi-Do. Robby was also still the only character with people he cared about on both sides of the dojo war, as has been the case since s1. Robby's scene with Silver in s5 especially establishes Robby's importance amongst the teens. Silver mentions the 3 senseis, and Kim says that they're pests and they'll swat the next one that lands on their arm, and then Robby walks in immediately after. No other kid gets equated to the senseis like Robby does. There's more I can say about Robby's significance in the story, but that could be another post later on.

Out of all the characters, Robby's story is the deepest. He's a teenager trying to overcome his worsening c-ptsd (due to childhood trauma and other experiences) using the different karate styles/philosophies while everyone, especially the adults that "care" about him, keeps failing him, even in s5. I know the karate part sounds silly in a way, but there's nothing silly about c-pstd or coping with it. Robby's trying to apply what he learns to cope with it while caring about who he is. He's trying to overcome all the odds that keep stacking against him and to be the better person he wants to be. And part of his struggles with his traumas is that he's too hard on himself about how bad of a person he is. He's literally one of the best people in the show. If only he and the people around him could see that too. Robby coming out on top in karate and in life next season will be the most inspiring story this series could possibly come out with.

Like I've posted recently, I want to keep talking about the story and its nuances because Robby's story especially is important and represents the struggles of many in society who have experienced or are experiencing similar traumas to those he has experienced and is currently experiencing.

Robby is THE underdog in the story.

Cobra Kai is Robby's story.

I have spoken.

These two cuties 🥰

#cobra kai is robby's story #robby keene

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inexplicablepeas · 1 month

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Pandora Thoughts

So I finally read Pandora for the first time (first new to me book in the series since I started re-reading). I'm just gonna ignore that whole "New Tales of the Vampires" thing as it fully just seems like one of the Vampire Chronicles.

Thoughts below the cut!

From the off I liked Pandora's voice, she's sardonic and playful as well as having a commanding and in control presence. She's a good character to spend some time with and I was veeery interested to get her perspective on things. She's quite romantic and poetic like Armand but she doesn't take herself quite so seriously and there's some humor and light moments to enjoy as well, which was kind of a surprise, with her only previous POV chapter being her searching for Marius in QOTD at Azim's temple and fairly serious and angsty, given the circumstances.

One thing I noticed is that she seems a lot less vain that a lot of Anne Rice's other POV vampires, she seems to be quite happy to give us unflattering details, like when she has to dress herself without any help as a Roman upper-class woman for the first time in Antioch and she picks clothes that are awkward and unintentionally revealing and makes a total mess of her hair and makeup. She could have just as easily left that out but she'd rather poke fun at herself. You get the feeling that she'd be fun to hang out with (when she's not catatonic)!

Her early life is interesting and entertainingly told. We zoom through her account of her childhood through two divorces (she has nothing to say about her mortal husbands lol), by her 30s she's living as kind of a weird spinster with her beloved old dad. In the early sections there's few little moments of Marius here and there (and they're great, pretending to be bear like a total dork etc.) but nothing substantial until we get to the real action in the second half of the book, after her father's death and her fleeing Rome for Antioch where she finds Marius again. Even though I'm always dying to get-to-the-vampires-already in these life-story style chronicles the details of her early life do add a lot to her characterization. You get the impression of a sharp and passionate young woman who chafes under the patriarchal Roman social strictures but who tries her best to live up to cultural expectations for her dad's sake. After her dad dies, despite her considerable grief, she knows freedom for the first time in her life and she's just coming to fully embrace that when vampires happen.

When we do get into the proper plot of the book (her being lured by Akasha into a perilous situation that will culminate in Marius turning her to prevent her death) it does feel a little rushed. When we finally get to the bit we're interested in (her life as a vampire with Marius for 200 years and what she did after he left) there's only 3 chapters left, and it's a short book, so these are short chapters! I did absolutely love getting more details on her life with Marius, chapter 10 in particular gets into the nitty-gritty of how they both came to terms with and understood her turning and as well as being juicy in those terms it's also quite a love letter to Marius at times. It's good to get the details that Marius will never tell you and to get her perspective on what went wrong in their relationship, which is a bit more in depth and revealing than the version we get in Blood and Gold (well I did read them out of order so I suppose you're meant to have those details already). We get a bit more specific on things that Marius only hints at in his account (how extreme Marius' fear of emotion was, how overbearing and insulting he was to Pandora and the role that fundamentally different perspectives on religion played in their disagreements) and things that he omits entirely (like Flavius' existence and turning).

There are things I had hoped would be covered but that we get little to no new details on, I'm realizing that expecting something in particular when you start an Anne Rice novel is a fools game. In this case I was really curious to learn more about her relationship with Arjun, it seems to be very complicated in Blood and Gold, and well… OK, so in one of the last chapters (I think the last one) Pandora does briefly address their relationship. She doesn't refer to him by name (only as 'the Asian' =/, yeah, it's gross) and simply says she never cared about him. A bit disappointing, I suppose Anne likely had character-based reasons for this (maybe they had a nasty break up) but I would have liked to have known more about how they met and that period they spent traveling around Europe in a Disney villain ostentatious black carriage that carried their sleeping forms by day. I'm kinda curious! I'm also suspicious of her account of their relationship, that he almost held her captive, because she's an extremely strong and (as we come to know in her account) willful vampire and I wonder if she's giving the version of their relationship that she's knows Marius would prefer, with her as a damsel in distress. On the other hand I also wonder if being abandoned by Marius all those years ago had a lasting effect of making her less willing to assert herself in romantic relationships, feeling that her assertiveness was the quality she was abandoned for… I want answers damnit!

Anyway, getting back to the point, the ending did feel a little rushed for me, and guys, I can't help but roll my eyes when we get "I must go to Lestat" - practically mandatory for a non-Lestat POV character to end their narrative with something like that, right? 😅 I like Lestat but not half as much as Anne Rice or her vampires. I'd like to see them ignore what he's up to and just get on with their own lives sometimes. Behind her plan to go to Lestat though is her desire to reunite with Marius, evidently in recalling past events she's become nostalgic for what they had and wants to give it another go maybe! I guess they have a lot of arguing to do about the nature of Lestat's religious experiences! So it does tie in with her narrative but I can't help but have that "give me a break" reaction when she says that. Overall it's a great, zippy little read (could be longer!) that fleshes out Pandora's character and gives some great insight on Marius and their relationship.

I've got Tale of the Body Thief next (because I will insist in reading these books in a stupid order) which is also new for me! Exciting!

#pandrora thoughts #pandora #marius #akasha #flavius #vampire chronicles #new tales of the vampires???

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