#lucky protagonist

[tomtepixiedust]

A Czech fairytale, english translation

I’ve been thinking about making another fantasy story and picked up my fairy tale book to find some inspiration. And lo and behold, I did. So much that I decided to find justice for Liliana, the third sister but that’s for another post. Btw, this one is translated from Polish, which was translated from Czech, so in case the Czech original is found, stuff may not add up. Also, this is hot off the press translation, expect some mistakes.

Janeczek

Now, I shall tell you about Janeczek as you might not have heard about him yet. There was once a coal man, poor, as that’s how it usually goes. He did have a seven-year-old son, Janeczek. The coal man had long ago become a widower and he had to take care of his son alone. The boy, however, didn’t like to learn that much , he’d rather look after grazing goats, and he very much liked strolling around the forest. And that would be all. Years passed and Janeczek grew up to be a comely young lad. One day, as usually, he brought the goats to the forest, though never mind where to, so that he didn’t even come back home for dinner. 

And the goats, as goats do, sauntered around and searched for something delicious to nibble at, cause - as you know - these fussy creatures wouldn’t eat just anything random. In the meantime, Janeczek made a little garden out of twigs, planted flowers there, brought water in his cap and lovingly watered the flowers. Then, an idea popped up in his mind, as to search in the forest for the magical flower, which he heard about a little bit. Believe it, that such things do happen! As such, the goats followed the goats, while he wandered deeper into the forest. He looked, and there, some gray birdie flew out of the copse, as if to say something. Flying closer, then again a bit back, as if wanting to lead Janeczek somewhere. How strange! What could the birdie want? Well, well, Janeczek followed him and that’s how he came to a place, which had some kind of opening. Could this be a cave? No idea, as to what it could be! Janeczek looked around, and no way nor path in sight. Not knowing what now, he started to curse: “To hell with this birdie wretched folk! Now, I have absolutely no ide where I am!

In that moment fluttered the birdie, almost directly under his nose, with a twig in its beak. After throwing the twig right before his legs, the birdie then flew into a crack in the rock, where it sat down, and well it sits. All while chirping somewhat quaintly. Our nice Janeczek understood the birdie’s advice, took the twig, hit the rock three times with it, and then the rock immediately cracked open. A moment he looked in stupor at what was going on, but then he plucked up courage and went inside, because boys like him always want to investigate everything. At first he saw nothing due to the sudden darkness, he only felt that he was in an unknown place. A moment later the place lit up and then he found himself surrounded by plentiful of wonderful flowers, such flowers, which in all his life he had never seen before. Amongst these flowers scurried around many little midgets and none of them was bigger than a half-litre jug. Swarming like in an anthill, everyone was busy with some kind of work. Janeczek looked upon this breathlessly, his eyes popping out from his wonder. Way off in the distance there stood a glass castle, so sparkling and shiny, that it hurt his eyes. All this took a long moment, when suddenly a girl appeared in front of him, as if rising from the ground. Her whole head was covered in gold. She asked Janeczek:

“What are you looking for at our place?”

That made him even more surprised and only after a while he answered: 

“Oh, well, looking for luck” Because only such a thought came to his mind.

“In that case, follow me and you will get something. We have something for you”, the girl said. Then, she led him by his hand and as they were walking together, Janeczek asked: “What’s your name?”

“They call me Celinka. I have two other sisters and I am the one who restores health.”

“Could it be that you hath sick ones here?” Janeczek asked in surprise. 

“How could it be! We don’t even know something like that. We only help those, there, above.”

“How is that possible?”

“Don’t mind it! Here, you have a small grain. If you need anything, let it fall to the ground and I shall appear immediately. I advise you strongly, guard it properly!” Having said that, she gave him a grain the size of an almond. 

After a while, walking together like that, they came to the second garden. And here were lots of flowers, but even more beautiful than the ones before. In this garden ruled Celinka’s older sister, whose name was Milenka. She, in turn, could bring back eyesight. She bustled around in her garden, filling up the entire place with her own self: she fluttered on a glass twig and spilled out pearls everywhere. And these shone so much, that they looked like fiery sparks, as if someone had scattered stars. There were so many lying around that one could pick them up in baskets. Janeczek liked these pearls very much. Oh, if only she could give me one as a memento. And so, Milenka threw him one pearl. When he held it in his hand, she spoke:

“Be careful, guard it properly! If you ever need me, drop it to the ground and I shall appear immediately.”

Now, Milenka joined the two and went with them. Shortly after, laughter and singing reached their ears. 

“What is it? I hear singing!” Janeczek spoke up.

“We’re going to our oldest sister. Her name is Liliana and is the lady of the treasures.”

When they reached their destination, he started to look around, curious about the treasures. In the meantime, Lilianka plucked out a whithered rose, gave it to him and said: 

“Take it and put it into your pocket. I give this rose to you as a memento.”

Just as he put the flower into his pocket, something thrummed. At that, the pocket became so heavy that he had to hold it up somehow. 

The girls showed him around here and there but then a great longing for his neck of the woods overcame his mind.  And he longed for nothing more than to be at home again. 

“Surely you don’t like it here,” all three asked at once.

“I wouldn’t say it,” he refuted, “but I would like to be at home now.”

“Well, we’re not going to hold you here any longer. Return! But diligently guard the things we gave you!”

Suddenly darkness filled the surroundings. Janeczek didn’t even know how it came to be and in this moment he found himself at the entrance to the cave in that rock. In the next moment he was outside the cave. The gray birdie, that waited there for him, shot up and flew before him, showing the way back. Janeczek jauntily ran after him and soon was back home. He was sure his father would be overjoyed, when he showed the money. He looked and saw, the door was locked. No coal man in sight. The goats disappeared as well. Maybe the father went to look for the son in the forest?

Janeczek was glad that he was in the ordinary world and at home. The house, however, when he took a closer look, seemed to be very poor and empty. 

What awaits me? he wondered To live in poverty till death? Then, he decided: Oh, why not, let’s go out into the world.

Honestly speaking, can’t blame him for that decision. 

Janeczek tied his money into a knot and so he went. And as befitting a wanderer - with a stick in his hand.

He wandered and wandered, from one city to another he ventured. He stopped by for a bit to listen to various news and rumours. That way he dropped by the capital, where the king resided in. Everything was covered by a black shroud, a mourning atmosphere everywhere, like before a grand funeral. 

He asked a random person passing by, what was going on. To which he was told: “Well, we are in deep mourning. The princess is very sick and there is no doctor who could help her. Poor gal, probably won’t live for long.”

Janeczek, having heard that, thought: Maybe I should go up to the king? Maybe the grain would help? He pondered for a bit, then took courage and went in the direction of the castle stairs. There he introduced himself as a doctor from India. The guards let him through and that’s how he ended up in the castle. He was then led to the king.

“Ah, my dear golden young lad, I myself don’t know anymore what to do. Such people like you came here about fity. I doubt if you could make a difference. But seeing how you came from so far away, try. If you manage to heal her, I won’t be saddened to part with even half of the kingdom.” Janeczek was led to the chamber, where the princess was lying. Oh, you people, what a sad sight it was! It couldn’t be any worse, she looked like suffering incarnate. Janeczek asked everyone to leave the chamber as not to interrupt him. When he was alone with the princess, he dropped the grain onto the ground. The grain barely touched the ground, when the golden girl Celinka appeared, asking quietly; “Why are you summoning me?”

“If you can, heal the princess!” he pleaded.

Celinka came up to the bed, took the princess’ hand, squeezed three times and kissed so lightly as if stroking a flower. Before he knew it, she was long gone. The princess moved and tried to stand up. She felt so light, she tried to leave the bed. Only that she did it in a manner as if she didn’t recognize anything around her, as if she was blind. Janeczek quickly took out the pearl, dropped it to the ground, thump - and immediately Milenka, the second sister, stood before him, asking just as quietly: “Why are you summoning me?”

“The princess is, admittedly, healthy, but due to the sickness she lost her eyesight. Could you help her?” he pleaded.

Milenka went up to the princess, moistened her thumb with her salvia and three times rubbed the temples and eyes of the blind, three times here and then there. Before he knew it, Milenka was long gone and he didn’t make it in time to thank her.

The princess immediately opened her eyes. She looked and saw, before her stood a beautiful youngster, Janeczek. Out of joy the words were stuck in her throat. But what were word needed for! The news of her recovery immediately spread around the castle. Everyone raced back and forth, lots of commotion and joy going on, but the most happy out of all was the king. When he calmed down a bit, he said:

“There is not a thing in this whole world that I would deny you, since what you’ve done is worth more than the whole kingdom”

He took their hands, interwined them and added:

“Dear children, live in good luck till the last of your days.”

And that’s how it ended, as it couldn’t be any better. There was a wedding, so grand that no one has seen so far and wouldn’t see as it lasted a whole month. When it did, however, end, they took back the old coal man and lived happily ever after for very long years. 

The End. 

#slavic #czech #fairy tale #translation #polish #writing ideas #for future reference #for writing purposes #for further bashing #to get some writing done #lucky protagonist #classic damsel in distress #a happy ending #third sister Liliana deserved better #unappreciated character #A happy-go-lucky protagonist. #a father that didn’t die in the middle of the story. #a sister that was mentioned but didn’t come back at the end

[bonesblubs]

Saw your fetal Mobei jun post and was wondering how you think SQH would snap if smth happend to Mobei?

As an author, he can be quite creative with his revenge...

I see LBH as a bit of a self insert/power fantasy for SQH. They both share qualities; the biggest difference between them being confidence/power. SQH could be a lot bigger of a player, but he chooses to blend into the background where LBH is front and center. I think though the way they present themselves is wildly different, the way that they love is quite similar. They have almost childish approaches to love and devotion. It’s possessive, so I think if something happened to MBJ, SQH would be just as ruthless and vengeful as LBH, it would just manifest in different ways. 

#art tag #ask box #svsss #im sure u meant feral but the typo is killing me #at least im assuming you meant feral #kjfshajh #everyone in SVSSS is very lucky that SQH is humble/goofy cause he legit could have so much power #but it feels like he doesnt even consider that- or doesn't want it. #PIDW is like a power fantasy in a lot of ways #SQH is LBH with the opposite of what a protagonists halo is #thats just my take on it so far! #they also both have a thing for aloof powerful men #SQH was writing PIDW and said 'im going to give my protagonist so many cool features' and instead just passed down all of his issues #but balanced it by giving him a rly big sword

[essektheylyss]

One thing that gets lost in ship discourse (or its hyper-positive opposite) is that regardless of your feelings on a ship, in order to tell a story, the character relationships do and should have an impact on a character's story arc, and not all relationships are going to offer the same emotional weight throughout any given character's story.

This is particularly true of actual play, wherein each player character is running a separate story as a protagonist, and therefore you have to consider each of them as an individual thread within one larger narrative, on top of the narrative itself.

That being said, the farther you get into the story and the closer to the end you are, the ways those threads can interweave get culled, simply by circumstances. Relationships (platonic, romantic, familial, etc) change over time, and whether they are narratively compelling changes as well. In contrast, "ship" is generally used to suggest a dynamic an individual audience member finds compelling, which may or may not have anything to do with the narrative, even if the dynamic is interesting for reasons of narrative potential (that isn't ultimately explored within canon). These are distinct concepts in terms of analysis. So as a disclaimer, this post is about character relationships within the narrative as it exists—essentially, what makes the story that exists work as well as it does, in the end.

Now that we've got all that out of the way, let's talk about Caleb.

Caleb's problem for much of the campaign is one of survival and self-preservation. His goal is simply to last long enough to find a way to go back in time. Because that is a very open goal, it doesn't inherently have much to tie him to another character in a relationship sense. He is not looking for that, he does not see himself as worthy of it, and it's really not a necessary narrative question, regardless of what attraction he does have.

But over time (and, I would argue, in a way that is fairly singular among the Nein, but I won't get into that here), his priorities begin to shift. Many of his needs are now met in ways that they previously weren't, allowing him to fully consider what he wants. For instance, between the start of the war and the time they reach Xhorhas, he has changed his mind about becoming involved in this war—because he is not being forced into it by possible conscription. He has significantly more options than he did at the start.

What he ends up realizing, as he finds the opportunity to put an end to the war, is that he cannot trust his own judgment. There is near universal support to end the war—even the nations involved are there because of what they view as existential threats. That opinion is not in question. But everything else is. Caleb is a victim of manipulation and brainwashing, and this is very apparent when he starts pleading with the scourger prisoner of war to give him some kind of proof that people like him can change.

And this is not something that anyone else of the Nein can offer him. They can tell him that they think he is a good person and that they trust him, but because of his history—and because he knows how smart he is, and how far he can fall—this isn't something he can take at face value, especially given that they have not seen or known him at his worst, and have not experienced it either.

Yasha may be able to offer some guidance in that area, but she is working through similar issues at both a different pace and in different ways than he is—she isn't seeking any situation where she would make potentially world-shaping decisions or have influence over others like he would. His goals are singularly risky. Veth comes closest to this, in that she very briefly considers prolonging the war to alleviate her own suffering, but it's not a decision she's ever forced to make.

(Honestly, thinking about this, an arc in which Veth does take that deal with Isharnai is a fascinating alternative universe to consider—it would certainly give her the opportunity to relate to Caleb in this way, but it would probably take another fifty episodes before Caleb could even bring himself to consider forgiving her, given it would be in direct conflict to the one thing he's been working at for a third of the campaign up until then. Still, a fascinating consideration!)

So between Caleb attempting to sway the scourger and going to Astrid's house in secret, this is the point at which it seems like the Nein cannot help him do the rest of the work. They have done a lot to get him here and considering what else he wants! But they can't offer him what that is, which is essentially tangible corroboration of what they've already offered.

And at this point in the campaign when taken as a whole, there's only one character who can actually offer that. Because to have real emotional weight, what Caleb is looking for is someone who is as smart as he has, who has made a similarly horrific decision even in spite of that intelligence, and who has now committed to actual change.

It's the commitment to actual change that is difficult, because it requires a support structure—and in hindsight, there's not enough time left to build that up for someone like Astrid or Eadwulf, but it's already partially in place for Essek.

(We can debate all day long about what could've been different if the hiatus never happened, or the campaign had lasted longer, but this is specifically about the campaign that we have. I think there is also an argument to be made that Astrid or Eadwulf would've required a much longer and more intensive timeframe to reach that point even if the campaign had continued than the format really offered, because they have preconceived notions about Caleb that complicates their ability to take what he says at face value even if they care about him succeeding in his goals—but that's also not relevant to this point.)

But I do think this is why Essek progresses very quickly, and is largely committed to aiding them by 124—he already has been aiding them, and has expressed loyalty to them above anyone else.

This is not as much of a leap as it may appear to some, because even by 91 and 97, he had done significant introspection on his own time. This is only a continuation of how he has been characterized thus far. He's expressed doubt from a very early point, whereas Astrid does not begin to express doubt (regardless of whether she feels it, because this is about capacity for willing admittance) until after the dinner with Trent.

What ends up happening is that Essek's the one who actually calls Caleb on things. He gives him an ultimatum with the conversation about Trent when the Nein won't. He offers reason and perspective in the paper room when the rest of the Nein get impatient. He checks off all of the boxes of what Caleb is looking for (which is essentially a narrative mirror), and very early into the Nein's trip through Aeor, Caleb seems to have forgiven him, and his fears and misgivings erode from there.

Only this corroboration, because his opinion of Essek is specifically about his opinion of his own capacity for change, allows him to recognize that returning to the past would simply make him the same person he had been at 17, and finally put that plan, the person that he was, and his parents to rest. If he is not able to be anything other than that boy, then he has no reason to not remain as such, and return to the past; but if he believes himself capable of change, then the question of going back in time is one of leaving behind the person he is now in favor of the boy who made that choice. He is asked, if he believes himself capable of change, to acknowledge that he was that person once, but can now be more than that and move beyond it.

And the proof that he needs in order to affirm that when he is given the opportunity to do so is standing next to him.

Fundamentally, this is not related to Caleb's long-term relationship with Essek at all. This could have been the end of it—they could've parted ways and the story would've still been told and completed.

But I think it is important that a) Essek does get to have some happiness, and b) part of that is with Caleb (though this still doesn't have any bearing on platonic vs romantic, only that they have some kind of close mutual relationship in the long run). On a very basic level, because he is now in this position of being corroborating evidence for Caleb himself, Essek becomes a stand-in for how the narrative sees Caleb, and how Caleb views himself.

If the narrative condemns him and leaves him out to dry, it is an implicit reflection on Caleb—and directly conflicts with the narrative implication that Caleb is not solely worth condemnation. And however much it has nothing to do with romance or a relationship of that kind, Caleb's choice to care about him in the long run is an acknowledgement of being willing to care for and forgive himself.

#critical role #caleb widogast #cr meta #fun way to die: take a shot every time i use the word 'narrative' while reading this #this has been a long time coming and everyone is very lucky it was only 1500 words. #there's literally so much more to say about this and how fascinating it is within the narrative structure but #that's an argument for a WAY longer paper #tbh i didn't even have space here to go into it and I'm not going to but #this also does mean that essek is not *in canon* a protagonist in the same sense the PCs are and he simply can't be #he has other purposes on a narrative level and that's really important! but as much as he has an arc that arc is For Caleb narratively

[lloydfrontera]

'live up to your name' au where og knight of blood and iron javier gets "killed" in the middle of the plot but instead of dying he's transported to modern south korea, waking up in a random alleyway with no injuries whatsoever. and because he's a protagonist no matter what universe he is in, despite being deeply disoriented and confused when he sees a group of thugs harassing a guy he steps in and chases them off with no problem and barely any mention of cutting off limbs. and then after making sure the guy is okay he very sheepishly asks him if he could please help him because he was lost and had no idea of where he was or how he got there

and kim suho who just saw a gorgeous but obviously foreign stranger in awesome cosplay chase off his would be muggers with what looked like a real ass sword and is currently high and smitten in "oh thank god i didn't get my week's work salary stolen" endorphins and is about to have the weirdest week of his life innocently says "yes of course"

#i talk a lot <3 #tged #the greatest estate developer #og javier asrahan #kim suho #listen i just need javier to be the fish out of water in modern south korea so badly my heart aches for it #of course as time goes on suho goes from believing javier is just a very in-character cosplayer to thinking he just found someone #having a very bad mental breakdown lol #but the guy Did save him and he thinks it would be a shitty move on his part to leave him to his own devices when he's clearly not well #so despite this being more than what he signed up for he decides to keep trying help him even if his help does switch from trying to locate #his hotel and maybe a group of friends if they're lucky to trying to corral him into going to a hospital or a police station where they can #find who this guy really is and why the fuck does he believe he's javier asrahan protagonist of his latest favorite novel #of course that all goes out of the window when by pure chance and a healthy dose of bad luck suho almost gets run over by dear truck-kun #and when javier shields him with his own body they find themselves back in lorasia. in the middle of the plot. the very tragic #very action filled very dangerous plot #still figuring out the later details but it would definitely involve a couple more switches between universes #and the subsequent adapting to a different world than your own shenanigans

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Your art is amazing and I hope to one day post a lot of art of super sentai like you do

(I'm new to the super sentai fandom lol)

Gira and Lucky are my favs and I headcanon them being brothers because of whacky time and different universe shit

Aahaaawww! Thank you kindly, stranger, thats incredibly nice of you to say! And I always love to see people’s art out there in the wilds of the internet! You should go for it, its a lot of fun! (This is me banging my fists on the table and chanting my encouragement hahaha!)

I am also relatively new to sentai (i hopped on with lupat and kingoh in february) but the series is very my style with the themes and hyper colored heroes and big action and robots, so i settled in quick lol!

Kyuranger was the second series i watched (and completed) so i’ve got a massive soft spot for them, they’re all so cute! Here’s a collection of doodles i made of Lucky a long time ago and never posted for whatever reason just because.

#super sentai #kyuranger #uchuu sentai kyuranger #shishi red #fan art #ask and be answered #every hyper little shounen protagonist kinda guy shouts my name… thats the joke in the bottom right one lol #golly gee i love the kyuranger costumes #shishi red is beautiful #was buck wild watching lupat… where the teams fight… and king oh… where the teams fight… to kyurangr where they all love eachother lol #what do you mean we’reall teamates and should get along? #not to say they didnt have their squabbles but…. #they kyuus are too pure for this world #good thing theyre in space i guess right? #gira and lucky actually have a lot of backstory in common now that i think about it lol! #the brothers thing is hilarious and kind of works for me aaaahaha! awwww the head empty red boyssss #its what they deserve #decent family members that is akafmsdcmesc

[blerghie]

kinda funny that 1864 hsy and 1863 yjh were both jealous of 1863 hsy and 1864 yjh, respectively, for the same reason: kim dokja

#thinking always about #1863 hsy was the one who wrote wos and got herself the most loyal reader ay writer would be lucky to have #and 1864 hsy who's successful and rich and influential can only wonder what it's like to be on the receiving end of such devotion #it's painful really that there seems to only be only one kim dokja #because all the other kim dokjas never had anyone who so fiercely adored him as much as his writer and protagonist do #orv #hsy #yjh

[ur-local-kiwi]

literally starving so bad for rei content rn that im just hoping that rei will have like even a single moment in the tobi + ryuuko manga just because he was in fight song for like half a second

#kiwi is eveposting... #PLEASE EVE I BEG YOU... #like we're lucky if rei even shows up in the manga hes supposed to be the literal PROTAGONIST of atp... #genuinely actually kinda impressive how consistently he gets sidelined to make room for tobi + the other cooler characters eve likes more #not meant to be hate or anything whatsoever but like. i just wanna see my guy :(

[ask-kinders-teenau]

Ignore my last ask, I typed it wrong, I meant the hall monitors

So, how are the hall monitors doing?

((I’m gonna use this ask to post some of that Lil Kiddo AU I was doin before ☺️

((Two different types of parenting. Stevie’s all about the schedules and nutrition and staying active and all that- and Fred just kinda goes about his day, almost like having a kid didn’t change a thing except losing a bite of his food sometimes 😅

#lucky Stevie’s around to help out with that stuff! #don’t get me wrong Fred’s an okay dad! just at other stuff like talking to the kid and listening and stuff #they both have their pros and cons #my art #kindergarten protagonist #kindergarten au #kindergarten 2 carla #kindergarten hall monitor #kindergarten 2 stevie

[mollypaup]

Dungeon Meshi is about autism. That's it.

#there are going to be manga spoilers in these tags #but the demon asking Laios if he hates humans overlaid on top of #he and his sister being treated poorly by others #asking if the reason he likes monsters is because they kill humans #asking him if it wasn't his dream to become a monster #saying that it didn't really matter to laios what happened to the rest of the people in the world as long as his friends were safe #isn't that how you really feel? #whatever. whatever. insane. #cheery happy go lucky protagonist revealed to have some genuinely dark internal workings is sooooo good #'he doesn't want to hurt anyone' he does. he does want to hurt them. but he won't.

[jasontoddssuper]

Ngl you gotta be a huge weirdo to watch an abuse survivor become friends with a girl of color who used to get bullied and them developing a healthy dynamic with romantic undertones that are never shoved down the audience's throats and call that 'heteronormativity',much less straight up hate them as a ship

#huntlow makes me so happy and brings me great comfort as a black person who went through both hunter and willow's types of mistreatments #and my girlfriend has helped me in healing from my trauma a lot so i hardly think hunter dating willow would do anything but reassure him- #-that he's worthy of love.and hunter's a great person!willow would be lucky to date him and vice versa!!we have TWO canon gay ships in toh #and one of them involves the protagonist so it's frankly really ignorant to try to 'dunk on' a seconadry ship because it's 'ewww m/f' #especially since willow is a fat asian girl and hunter gives her nothing but adoration and friendship!please stop with the buzzwords😭 #huntlow #pro huntlow #t4t huntlow #trauma llama #i'm black tag #letters from summer #willow tag

[lu-llyrrodi]

GUYS! I get it!!

All the novel is nothing but a big match of yu-gi-yoh!

Cale: And now I invoke the Black dragon with blue eyes.

White star: Ha! And what you will do with that young dragon? He couldn't even use dragon's fear because is so young!

Cale: But he has a spacial hability that let me take the ancient Golden dragon from my deck and put it in the table.

White star: Wait...

Cale: And then I will use the card clock master to acelerate the time and turn the young Black dragon in an adult dragon, turning him in the Dragon Lord.

White star: shit.

……...............

White star: stop taking my discard!

Cale: *with the Guardian Knight of the north, the fake Holy maden and the Dragon half blood* nop!

.....................

White star: Now I invoke the golens and take away you castle!

Cale: But I use the special hability of the fire of destruction that was unlock after sacrifice the Gold rain and purify all your golens.

White star: Arg!

......................

White star: Now my trap is active and the dead mana Magic bombs will destroy all the section 7 of your jungle!

Cale: but I active the special hability of the indestructible Shield and invoke the trees of the jungle wicth absorb all the dead mana meanwile my swordmaster, the dark elfs and the worriors of the jungle take down your Black mages.

White star: ....

Cale: And then I will use my necromance to purify all the trees witch gives her a 1000 points in both attack and defence etch

White star: *flips the table*

#lout of the count’s family #trash of the count's family #cale henituse #white star #yu-gi-yoh references #all of the novel is a big card game! #cale have all the good cards #white star is pissed #whit star: you are cheating! #cale: I'm not #white star: so how you have not one but seven dragons! #cale: lucky and the power of the protagonist on my side #white star: you motherfucker sonofa...

[kotaerukoto]

replay notetaking going great!!! also WOW I need to get better at portraying Makoto's capacity for anger and violence because it's definitely there, specifically when he's put into pressure cooker situations like in his game where he's stressed and uncomfortable beyond belief and the people around him are dropping like flies and dying. I haven't written him in The Situations in a while though..

#ooc ramblings. #alex replays danganronpa // #Makoto thinks about destroying or wrecking the cameras a LOT man wow #and what keeps him from doing it is specifically the fact that if he did he would get killed by monokuma... #and then there are the times he outright ATTACKS monokuma! I think he's the only DR protagonist to actually do that in a mainline game? #ofc komaru does but that's a different situation-- like Makoto tries to beat the hell out of Monokuma #and even describes himself as 'lunging at Monokuma in a frenzy' after the first trial. He has to be held back and stopped! #the reason he didn't die when he tried to punch it the first time was because he MISSED (lucky or unlucky? CALL IT) #no idea where the idea that Makoto is a totally passive protagonist came from lol. the fact he's not outwardly snarky (usually) damages the #perception of him i guess...

[problemswithbooks]

I find it so strange to see endeavor basically failing in all departments, both as atoning father and atoning hero at the culmination of his arc. Despite many people here “not buying” it, his arc is about redemption, it’s pretty obviously written this way. Yet the creator deliberately writes one impossible situation for him after the other, leaving him practically no choice but all the fallout. Neither his introspection nor his sacrifices work.

He gave his arm to protect Hawks and Tokoyami. What happened next? It doesn’t matter because he couldn’t kill AFO. Hawks and tokoyami were risking their lives again and again fighting him. In the end his injury and sacrifice didn’t matter, AFO easily defeated everyone again and who knows what other injuries he caused. Everything enji said he was responsible for. All the blood spilled, including Hawks losing his quirk.

Enji supposedly found new determination to keep paying penance and keep his eyes on toya? Nope! It’s all gone now. Toya is a bomb now, with his mind long gone and there’s nothing enji can do to prevent him from explosion. He can barely move and is struggling to get him out of the civilians and heroes vicinity in time. So he chooses to die with toya. Another set up by the creator for him to fail. I know it’s done for an incoming Shoto big hero moment, for his family and everyone else in Gunga. But did the author really need to make enji such a loser again and bring him down so his family would look more heroic? And he would look more pathetic and useless?

Is it likely enji doesn’t have anything significant to do in this arc anymore? He went all out on AFO and so far it just put more pressure on everyone else and put more people in greater danger than ever before. Now he can’t help his son or his family. A pretty underwhelming conclusion to his arc if you ask me but I bet his antis are gonna love it

It's defiantly getting to the point where I don't see the point of Enji having a character arc at all if he's going to fail up until the last moment. If he's just going to fail over and over again in all aspects than why even bother having him change at all? If the story was a more adult story with the Todofam drama as the center point than i could see it fitting, but in a battle shonen Enji sticks out like a sour thumb.

The reason I loved Enji's arc was because it was more mature and he was a way more human character compared to the rest of the cast. I don't mind the idea of showing him constantly struggling and backsliding or having moments of self refection that don't necessarily lead to improvement. People don't change over night, it takes more than wanting to change, or knowing how you could change to actually succeed. Someone might know what the right thing to do is, but to do that thing requires going against everything they've ever known, and fighting against their own brain.

The problem with Enji constantly failing in BNHA is it's a shonen. This isn't HBO's Succession where the entire thing is about showing the struggle of it's characters to change and failing due to how they were raised and being trapped in a system that rewards cutthroat behavior. This is a story for teenagers about the power of friendship and how all problems can be fixed if you just try hard enough. No other character struggles this much to be a better person. No other character reacts to bad situations as negatively as Enji does. Even Izuku when he was in a bad mental state acted out in a way where he was still fighting and winning, but just doing so in a way where he got a dark design change. He didn't freeze or have inner monologues about how upset he was and once his friends spent a chapter yelling at him, he was fixed.

Because every other character only has a chapter or two (sometimes just a couple of lines) to have doubts before getting pep-talked into being better and having real growth, Enji comes across as a loser in comparison who can't get with the program. Hori refuses to give him anything except mental monologues that reiterate he wants to change, but actions wise he's not allowed follow through, even if it doesn't make any sense.

And I don't really see why. If the point is that abusers are losers who can't ever fix anything or atone why have him even bother to change anyway? The point might be that change is hard, but that change of heart is only this hard for Enji. Everyone else gets to make progress and the end of manga looks like it will end with the main villains having a change of heart in 2.5 seconds. Showing that changing and atoning is hard could have been shown without repeating the same inner monologues three or four times. Progress could have been made without undermining that message.

On top of that Hori has him 'fail' in ways where it only makes sense because of shonen logic. Enji is only wrong to take Touya up in the air and die with him because the theme of the story is hope. As the audience we know there will be some solution to save Touya despite everything telling us otherwise because it's a trope in this kind of story. In a different genre or in RL Enji's choice would be tragic but the only real solution. Not a him yet again failing, but the sad culmination of his past actions toward Touya.

He fails only because of the genre and themes of the story, not because there is an actual real solution he's just not doing because he's a bad father. Which is why when people explain why he's failing they only point out framing reasons rather than actually saying what he could be doing instead.

It's one of my biggest pet peeves in Hori's writing because if he really did need Enji to constantly fail than he could have done so in a way where it felt earned. Touya doesn't need to be on the verge of exploding, that blast doesn't have to be so big that it'll take out thousands of innocent people. He doesn't have to be delirious and screaming like a flaming monster. Enji could just fuck up and stumble over his words so Touya doesn't believe him and continues to attack him while burning himself. There's no reason to make the stakes so much higher, Touya's life being on the line is more than enough--I mean would Shoto not go save him if his death wouldn't cause mass casualties?

More and more it comes across as Enji failing only because the story says so, rather than because he makes real mistakes given the situation he's in. This is an issue with a lot of the characters not just Enji, but it's the most pronounced with him because it happens to him so often. This sort of writing has always bothered me because it makes side characters feel unimportant--there's just waiting around for the main characters to actually do stuff.

Yes, main characters like Shoto need their shining moment but it wouldn't have taken anything away from him if Enji had been allowed to make better choices. He could have said all the right things to Touya and still failed due to Touya's anger and years of resentment, so Rei steps in to help, and than Shoto comes too. The choice to be on the AfO team could have been a more thoroughly discussed decision between Shoto and Enji where they both agree that Shoto would have a better chance because Touya reacts so negatively toward Enji. Enji could have mentioned he was looking for Touya while out with Izuku (because that makes sense), maybe even he does it without Shoto because he's busy learning his new move to help cool Touya down.

Instead Enji is constantly stuck having repetitive inner monologues that go no where and do nothing in this genre of story except make him look inept or even cast doubt on whether he's trying at all. Which if that was the point than Hori shouldn't have wasted the pages on his arc at all. I really love Enji's arc and to me he feels the most real due to how he struggles and doesn't always succeed to do what he wants to, but I'm starting to think his entire arc was a page sink because it's ultimately done nothing that keeping him an asshole wouldn't have accomplished with far less time.

#endeavor #bnha spoilers #bnha #mha #thanks for the ask :) #ask #enji todoroki #never not going to be a bit bitter about this #because the potential is there #Enji is just in the wrong story #because he really does react realistically given what happens #he freaks out and almost gives up under the realization that he turned Touya into a villain #what he's done to his family weighs on him all the time even in big fights #he does his best to do right by his family but he's still him and messes up #he tries so hard and it doesn't always work out for him--in fact it rarely does #and I like that #maybe it's cuz I'm not an optimistic kid anymore #but that speaks so much more to me than Shoto who never struggled with Touya's reveal and what he's done #and will ultimately save him because he's one of the main protagonists #Enji just doesn't fit in this story with it's happy go lucky themes and characters who shrug off issues in just a chapter or two #like even when Shoto was at his most angsty and had issues with only using his ice #Izuku inspired him and besides his set back with Bakugou #he was allowed to make real progress going forward #he interned with Enji even though he hated him just a few chapters later because he knew it was the right choice for his goals #he didn't ever backslide into not using his fire again #or struggle with it once Rei told him it was fine #by the time the first war happened Shoto isn't conflicted at all and is already seen as the Hero of the family #Bakugou is a weird case because he has moments of growth but his anger and mean personality are also treated as jokes #so he'll have big moments but then revert back into angry mode for the lulz #it's not seen as backsliding because it's comic relief

[beaft]

you have an isekai story? can i read it somewhere?

one day, i hope! i'm currently attempting to get it trad-published, but if i don't have any success i'll self-publish. i've only been avoiding the self-publishing route thus far because you have to do so much of your own marketing and i'm pants at that.

#an agent mentioned to me that part of the difficulty i've been having is likely because it doesn't easily slot into a specific age bracket #which makes sense! and is fair! but i'm not entirely sure how to fix that #i've been pitching it as YA because the protagonist is a teenager but i don't know if it really feels like YA? #or at least it doesn't look like most of the stuff that's hot on the market right now #sighhhhh idk. maybe i'll get lucky and find an agent who wants to take a chance on it. we will see #also please feel free to ask me any questions you want about my writing projects lmao i luv to ramble

[moooonah]

honestly it's only in this new season that I've fully acknowledged that ichigo is just a kid, and that he's witnessing some truly fucked up stuff.

that scene in the new episode where he hears all the screaming and deaths in the twelfth division really struck me as something that'd be insanely traumatic for a seventeen year old. not only that but all these people dying brutally are depending on him to come and rescue them.

throughout the whole story he's been forced to do things way above a kid's paygrade but that scene with him listening to the phone really hit different for some reason.

#bleach #ichigo kurosaki #getting older is so weird bc u realise so many protagonists are just children #if i had faced what ichigo did as a teenager id be hospitalised #like damn this kids been sliced up stabbed had the shit beaten out of him #lucky he's such a ride or die protagonist #when you think about it ichigo hasn't experienced death on this scale in the story so fat #even in the aizen arc he was fighting individual enemies and didn't witness anything like this #bleach tybw

[incineraryperiphery]

i really love when characters run cold as ice, even if its just a perpetual poker face or a needing to act as another or shoving everything out of the way in the name of revenge.

#aloys says things sometimes #i do love happy-go-lucky little balls of sunshine with my whole heart but cold protagonists make me so happy #especially if they're also the 'sick and weak' type with too much pride and dignity to be reduced to the other person's level at first #being sick means i have way too much time on my hands to voraciously fill this dizzy hellbrain with novels