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zagged-again · 2 months

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hard to believe that it isn't ai generated :( lol saw some ppl commenting how it looks ai generated. can't blame em

its gonna take years for even a trailer to come out but what are some things you're wishing to see in the movie? i hope the one guy from the concept art is her love interest, but most likely hes prob not. based on the little info we got on it, how do u think its gonna play out? any theories?

would be cool if they have a spin off series of her and her possible friend group's adventures in nyc

Yeah :(

I think it's possible he's a love interest but the romance won't be a big focus. Maybe he'll be a supportive friend who has some shippy moments with her.

When I imagine what the movie will be like, I think of animated Barbie movies, except on big screen. You got a talented young girl with magic powers, her sidekicks (musical notes and possibly animals), supportive girl friends and a guy who may or may not be a love interest, an evil lady that probably wants to steal her magic, the themes of being yourself and following your dreams and of course, songs. There are also modern fairytale vibes: I remember reading somewhere that the notes were based off the seven dwarfs, and the villainess reminds me of the evil queen/stepmother, except she's jealous not of Melody's beauty, but of her singing.

The villain lady, Rose Stellar, is probably the most interesting to me (also she's gorgeous). There is an image where Melody is singing at someone's grave, so what if one or both of her parents passed away? Imagine if it was her mother who gave her love of music, and after her death, maybe Melody abandons music for a while or the other way around - clings to music because it reminds her of her mom.

Then, when Melody arrives to the city, Rose could step in as an evil "stepmother", promising to take the girl under her wing and help her reach more fame, while secretly planning to destroy her.

I want her to have a big villain song. It could be her manipulating Melody (something like "Evil Like Me", except it's "Don't you want to be popular like me?") or her singing about her evil plans and her jealousy when she's alone (I keep thinking of "Little Girls" though in that case the antagonist is someone who wants to rise to fame, not someone who wants to maintain it).

Anyway, I think the movie could go something like this:

- Melody's childhood. We see her friends (Nina and Sunny), her family, how she discovered her love for music

- Jump to the present day, we see her deciding to go to the big city or her discovering the magical notes that serve as her guides

- In the city, she meets new people and builds up the courage to start performing in public (like at the park or at the square), attracting a lot of attention

- Rose notices her and gets jealous. Maybe she knows about the notes from the beginning or maybe, she finds out later. Either way, she wants Melody's magic and she wants to destroy her career before she gets more popular than her

- So she pretends to like Melody and says she wants to help her

- Notes try to make sure that Melody doesn't get caught up in all the fame and forget about her friends

- In the climax of the movie, Rose is close to achieving what she wants, and Melody finds out her true intentions and loses all hope. She thought her idol liked her, but actually, it was all fake, and maybe, without the notes, she feels like she's not good enough.

- Her friends reach out and tell her it's not true, and they have a touching song together (this is where I think "Sunny's letter" could come in)

- I can see something like the scene from "Belle" happening, where she starts out singing alone, and then more voices tune in, until it's the whole audience singing with her

- In the end, Rose is defeated, and Melody finds her own way to be a singer. Perhaps even helps kids like her to learn music

A spin-off series could be fun. Though Zag already has a concept for a series about a music school, Superstar, and I hope it wasn't abandoned completely because I love the designs of the charas.

#replies #melody #melody the movie

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pepperpixel · 3 years

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hellooooo, have some fantroll art! cuz im just.. im love them.. first pic is dessie and xylona havin ~tension~. ...despite the fact i drew xylona w short hair.. which usually indicates endgame completed character growth xylona. who instead of vehemently hating dessie is just sort of awkward around her... but listen... listen... i have no explanation ghghg- but hEY! look! look at pics of xylona dekkri n dessie snoozing.... arent they cute? i think they are cute.. they fill heart w joy... lov them.. guh

#aberration odium #homestuck #fantroll #fantrolls #fan troll #hs #oc #dessie #dekkri #xylona #doodles #me in my head 'aw man it sucks being multifandom i wish my brain could just get the drive to draw a fuck ton of art for one specific thing #that way i could build up an audience around it and keep ppls interest in my art and stuff. thatd be. awesome #but no my brain gotta keep hopping around to different things. or it only wants to draw my ocs. fucking damn it brain'#me now. coming to the realization idek if i count as 'multifandom' anymore. cuz 90 PERCENT OF MY ART IS OF MY FUCKING FANTROLLS #hOW DID THIS HAPPEN. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME BRAIN #its like. 'wow yay i am making a lot of art for one specific thing now! BUT ITS SOMETHING SO FEW PPL CARE ABOUT'#AUGHGHG #i started drawing them more and than i couldnt stop. i unleashed the dam months ago. but more fantroll stuff is still rocketing out of it..#slowly my percentage of oc to fandom art started to shift. and than faster. and than faster. aND NOW IM JUST. FANTROLL ARTIST #AND I LOVE IT.. I LOVE DRAWING THEM.. BUT GOD.. BRAIN IS ALSO LIKE.#'we kno u enjoy this but isnt it a little irresponsible of you to be so self indulgent? ur trying to make money off ur art arent u?#what if u scare away the ppl who like u w all this homestuck crap.. what if u fuck up. what are u doing. draw shit ppl like. do it.'#thats kind of. a very negative thought gHGH IM SORRY FOR VENTING ACTUAL FRUSTRATIONS W MYSELF IN THESE TAGS GHG #when my brain says shit like that usually i just try to remind myself that.. from what ive seen w my youtube videos. when i do buckle down #and actually make something for shit ppl like.. it usually does get a good amount of views. so. if i am in a situation #where i rlly gOTTA make bucks. i feel like. i can manage to do that... i dont neccesarily need to be making a ton of money right now tho #so its fine! if anything this is actually like.. the best time in my life to be self indulgent w my art..#cuz i dont have a lot of real world. monetary responsibilities yet #so. yeah!

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obsessioncalledhsmtmts · 3 years

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What I would've done for S2 & S3 of hsmtmts if I was the writer/director:

Nini

I would've probably changed Nini to not getting into YAC in the first season. She would've stayed the second semester at East High. She would spend the season working on her acting to get ready for an audition for YAC for senior year (so the audience could feel like she actually deserved it- instead of just bc she's the MC). -

She would have to reckon with the fact that her going off-script was probably why she wasn't accepted. -

I would've also given Nini more personality, maybe explore her interests outside of school, or her relationship with her moms. Make her have more flaws and have her learn to work through them. -

Nini lands the understudy for a main/secondary role and gets casted as the rose. She ends up helping backstage and works with Ashlyn as a songwriter/composer for the show. -

I'm thinking throughout the season she'll deal with a lot of school pressure, along with relationship problems, and her own stress of trying to make it into YAC and she'll eventually break down from the stress (Gina, Kourtney, and her parents would be there for her) -

her audition could've been in the last episode (making the "second chance" song more meaningful) -

I think Nini being low-key iced out by her friend group for going to YAC was messed up. That was her ambition. -

ALTERNATE IDEA: She could've also transferred to North High instead, making their menkies competition more relavent. Then tranferred back after a while and have to deal with going against her friends. [Idk just most of her personality in the two seasons, even after Ricky and Nini broke up, revolved around Ricky and she didn't get to have a life or personality beyond 1) the musical and 2) the boys in her life]

Ricky

Ricky's arc would be similar to the original. Him having Nini as his lifeline was pretty toxic for the both of them anyway. This time with him having some character development. Maybe having a scene where Nini says something like "I care about you Ricky, I really do. But I can't handle my own problems along with yours. I'm always here if you need to talk, but...maybe you should get some help first. You should talk to your parents." then after a bunch of stuff, Ricky learns to ask for help, and his parents send him to therapy. He apologizes to Nini. [Btw this arc wouldn't be to bash Ricky, but more of have him learn healthy ways of venting and finding help]

He finally talks and works things through with his mom and she and his dad finally realize the emotional toll their problems have caused Ricky

I was thinking about a flashback to Ricky seeing his parents fight all the time but that might be too dark for a Disney show

Ricky wasn't interested in musicals before, so therefore he should, realistically, have to learn to play the piano or guitar (Nini could've taught him)

if the writers wanted him to have acting/singing as his actual passion and not just as something he joined to get Nini back- then we should've had him practicing singing or acting (not for Nini this time) while also doing his old hobbies.

Nini and Ricky

I feel like they missed a really good opportunity to teach the audience how to open up and work through problems when they just decided to make Rini break up over miscommunication.

For a relationship that mentions them as childhood best friends, i wasn't feeling the best friends thing when they were together

If the writers were intending for us to root for Rini, then they should've made Ricky have more redeeming qualities, him doing stuff on Nini's phone was EJ-like which they established in S1 was bad

Consider this as some dialogue Nini and Ricky could've had about their relationship in the treehouse scene: Nini: "I don't even know how I got from loving you so much to not even wanting to fight for this" instead of just stating the obvious of "we've been miss-communicating all year" Ricky could've said something like: Ricky: "I wasn't honest with you. I tried to hide things from you. It feels like we're not even friends anymore." Nini: "We were friends...what happened?" Ricky: "I don't know, what's been going on with my parents has-" Nini: "No, this isn't their fault. It's ours." *a long pause* Nini: "Since we're admitting things we've done wrong. I've got one. I wasn't intending on sharing the rose song with you. I don't know i think i was just- scared it would cause more problems and i...hid a lot of the things i was feeling...about us." Ricky: "Can I ask...what are you feeling... about us? Like... was the song really all about us?"

you get the point- Rini would actually work through their problems instead of constantly having miscommunication problems that were unrealistic given that they were friends since kindergarten

Kourtney

Kourtney should've been given an arc and I would probably cut Howie (i like him but not every girl needs a love interest- if not then Howie shouldn’t have been the only depth she has).

Kourtney could have a fashion internship and we could explore her personality.

Make her more than the bff of Nini- have Nini be the one to reassure and be there for her

healthy feminism that's not just there for tokenism (and not whatever S1 Kourtney was)

Make people be there for her and don't just leave her alone because she's "strong" and "independent" People need help sometimes. Being independent is different to having no one there for you.

Gina

Jack appeared and disappeared- would've probably made him show up once more. And Gina and him wouldn't meet like that- maybe they knew each other from another school (bc normal ppl don't randomly talk to strangers at airports lol) -

I liked Gina's arc overall and would've kept it.

Introduced or at least hinted at Gina's brother more (him calling her but her refusing to answer because it's been so long)

Even if her main plot will revolve around love, Gina would have...well... a life.

Explore her relationship with her mom

explore how traveling all the time has affected her

things like not wanting to get attached bc even tho she has a place to stay, things can change at any moment and she knows that

showing her adapting to new situations really quickly

Her relationship with her brother could've been explored more

More on-screen character development

Building off the arrogant, confident character he was in the first season and still having some of those qualities as the second season progressed

Follow up for him and his dads conversation

Cousin duo with Ashlyn

EJ should've had a storyline outside of Gina being a symbol of his "development,"

He could have talked to Nini about how he was feeling about his future since they both were worried about the same

Gina and EJ

EJ's is a lot more tactful than Ricky and if the writers had wanted for us to root for them more- Ej could've represented what Ricky didn't do. Instead they had him misscomunicate about the big brother thing for shock and drama value and have Gina be the one to clear it up.

Have EJ try to be a good person, not for Gina, but for himself.

Consistent friendship with Gina before it was implied he had a crush

ALTERNATE PLOT IDEA: Instead of having them end up together, have them be more brother/sister and support system. Have EJ learn to be a good person without doing it for someone and rather do it for himself

All in all I would've kept the basic framework of their relationship and just change up a few things

Carlos and Seb

I loved Carlos' arc too (and Seb's).

Have Seb sing more

more screentime alltogether

Ashlyn

I liked them touching on body image issues with Ashlyn but i probably wouldn't have mentioned it once and then never mention it again. I think it should've lasted at least 2/3 episodes.

Ashlyn could've seen a plus size actress in a musical she goes to with Kourtney and Gina (bc that trio is amazing) and feeling a lot more confident but still a little insecure (cuz insecurities don't just disappear with a short monologue)

I'm very anti one-dimensional mean girl so, as part of Lily's redemption, lily would build up Ashlyn a little.

Maybe cut out Big Red/Ashlyn because i see them more as friends (they could still have similar scenes together tho)

have ashlyn and big red break up by spring break- ashlyn won't tell anyone and keep her personal life out of her acting and end up spiraling

completely cut out any french guy jealousy from Big Red (completely unneeded)

Lily

I would've had Lily be more of the 3 dimensional character- i think we should be over the mean girl trope. I'm thinking parental issues/pressures (building off episode 11) and some insecurity or anxiety would be pretty realistic. Maybe she’s sick of constantly being the center of attention and wants some downtime.

If they intend to make Ricky and Lily end up together (or at least have a friendship), I would do it a little differently. In the Ricky section of this post i mentioned Ricky, if acting/singing had become his passion, should've taken up some lessons. What if Lily had ended up being his tutor or something? Maybe he signed up before all the drama and got to know her before.

just think of all the possibilities tho- it would also make the “let you go” song that Ricky does on the piano have some double meaning

Lily stealing the harness makes absolutely no sense plot-wise, so I would also cut that out

Side characters

French dude should've gotten more screentime

Mazzara/Jenn should've been equal pining like in S1- not just mainly one sided

Plot

more episodes, most of the problems and conflicts presented weren't resolved or addressed by the end of the series. Characters, especially the ones in relationships, don't even talk about their problems. And yes, realistically, sometimes people don't talk it out, but most get closure within themselves and problems don't appear and disappear magically. -

maybe change the menkies competition for another competition, something where you can have more creative liberty with the plot and songs -

cut out the dance/sing off, it was completely unneeded

cut out the "come back video" to North High's diss video

cut out the sleepover episode

All these episodes did was provide unneeded drama that could've been used to instead to take a break from the conflict and be more character driven -

Maybe a different musical- BATB was a weird choice for an official competition. If not then different casting

Ej for beast, Ricky for Gaston, seb for candleholder, carlos for clock,

The scenes from the musical should've been included, I felt like there was an episode missing between ep.11 and 12

Every relationship was the exact same- the guy pining to the loosely interested girl and then when they get together the girl having to constantly reassure him about the relationship

Ok, guess they wasted that entire semester just to never open the envelope (they should've opened it because they realized that the Menkies tore them apart and they lost sight of their passion)

a lot of the events, character development, and reactions were off-screen, which made it so annoying to watch bc a lot of those scenes were important to the plot

Disclaimer: Not hating on the writers, directors, or actors of this show. I'm just inputting my own ideas of what I think would've made the show better for me. I kept and cut out some ships i did/didn't like so my personal opinion on the relationships do have an influence

#hsm the series finale #season finale #hsm the series #nini salazar roberts #ricky bowen #ashlyn caswell #gina porter #ej caswell #portwell #kourtney greene #big red #miss jenn #seblos #ricky and nini #big red x ashlyn #Ricky x Lily

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constellaj · 3 years

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Please talk more about your reboot!

16: If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

okay so how i would re-do CANON is completely different from how i would talk abt a reboot so im gonna touch on a couple things in both contexts! the reason for the difference is canon rewrites imply i can go back in time and introduce dp fresh and new, before anyone knows what it is; but for a reboot, id be working with an audience that has a better understanding of the source material, so i dont need to spend as much time explaining, but i also need to keep everything recognizable

Valerie

REWRITE: i would def make it more danny's fault that her dad lost his job, like danny was intentionally being reckless and shattered some security stuff, and he has a whole mini lesson about learning to not just run in guns blazing. i would probably remove the dating stuff with her and danny (and tuckers crush) too, I think them wanting to be good friends is good enough for freshman year

REBOOT: the fandom already knows valerie exists, so i would actually skip the whole shades-of-gray introductory episode and have her be present as the huntress from day 1-- probably even before danny got his powers. cujo is also HER dog, and her backstory-- we'd find out in like, season 1, that a natural ghost portal (maybe one wulf opened) ripped open on her dog and killed him, and since then shes had a vendetta against ghosts cause of how reckless they are and their disregard for life-- of course, cujo isnt actually dead. cujo is a halfa. a puby halfa. anyway instead of a hoverboard she actually rides cujo around cause he can fly and its big and epic. valerie has BEEN amity parks ghost-eradicating superhero for at least a year (tho shes been in the shadows abt it) and her hatred towards danny actually just becomes really petty, like them flying next to each other chasing skulker just going "I got this. no I got this. no I got this" and they just get in each others' way and its a mutual grudge.

BOTH: i am NOT keeping in vlad giving her the suit to watch danny under any circumstances. it was only utilized half assedly in canon (when vlad couldve just had an invisible duplicate watching him instead) anyway, and I dont have any reason to keep it in a reboot either. instead i want her tech to be a combination of half-stolen and half-gerryrigged stuff and she slowly slowly learns how to build her own.

I also dont want anyone knowing her secret identity, except maybe her dad, and sam or tucker. i think it works better if danny isnt privy to this magic info

Freakshow

REWRITE: i would honestly just remove him. the episodes hes in arent particularly interesting, theyre just generic "we need a plot about x" filler and he's not compelling enough a character (at least in writing) to carry a better plot that another antagonist couldnt. i'm serious

REBOOT: unfortunately in a reboot he's gonna have to pop up somewhere or else ppl will be like "where IS HE" so I'm going to stick with running some kind of ghost circus, maybe a few occult things, but cut out a lot of the spooky magical knowledge and mcguffin stuff. maybe i could make him like, someone from vlad/jack/maddies college who always felt pushed around by them and so he has a vendetta? and theyd be the only reason he even learned abt ghosts in the first place. idk in either way I want to force him into being irredeemable but also include LYDIA (the tattoo girl ghost) way more-- I want to give her an arc that ends in her tossing freakshow aside and running off to be a ghost vigilante.

BOTH: dear god the infinity gauntlet is stupid that needs to GO AWAY. especially for the reboot cause it would exist in a post-mcu world and way too many people would complain about it

Vlad

REWRITE: amp him up to a far more sinister and villainous character. the crushing on maddie isnt enough, I want to show him on-screen performing experiments on ghosts and himself, dismissing everyone else cause he thinks hes smarter than them. i want him to be actively sabotaging the fentons at every turn. i would also clarify that he doesnt actually want danny as a son, but as a trophy-- a line where danny says something along the lines of "you don't want a son. you want a slave". i want to make him a character who wants to destroy the entire planet and put it in the ghost zone so he can be the true ghost king and i want to make this all evident from day one. if i'm writing a series villain you can bet i'm going to write a GOOD one. less petty drama here and more actual stakes.

REBOOT: it seems silly but sense with reboot we have the benefit of hindsight and recognizing that vlad wasn't a big series villain, theres no way i'd actually go back and write him to be such. for starters, of course, theres the fact that anything he does would really be an exaggerated part of the original, and it would bore an audience to see the same story again-- theres also the fact that it doesnt seem right to take a character who was treated as a joke half the time and suddenly make them big and important. no, instead for my reboot i want to lean into the petty gay uncle vibe. he had a crush on jack and now just casually insults him. he moves mansions every now and again by just haunting the family who lives in the one he wants, and taking over-- i mean, who is gonna believe that an actual ghost haunted you. he dislikes danny not because he has some concept of 'evil' and 'good' but bc danny is just too damn active. of course he actually does care about danny and his safety deep down, it's just on the surface they have very conflicting motivations-- not to mention that danny has been raised on legends from his parents of the villainous Wisconsin Ghost, who has to be stopped at all costs.

BOTH: i want jack and maddie to KNOW he's a half ghost and to actively be hunting him down for it, maybe bc they think hes possessed, or been a ghost tricking them this whole time, or the victim of a tragic lab accident who needs to be put to rest, etc. whatever the case it will give vlad actual tangible reason to despise them and genuinely suspect they dont have dannys best interests at heart. i think it would be neat if vlad was cynical and every time danny hit him with the "I'll expose us both. at least theyll still love ME" vlad could be like in the back of his head "oh god theyre going to kill this child"

Dani

REWRITE: cut her out. we don't need her character at all. maybe replace her with a more ominous shadow duplicate / clone that actually looks like danny himself and doesnt really have a name? you could probably combine her and dark dans characters for their arcs

REBOOT: instead of a clone from vlad, she's a guys in white creation using some of dannys dna after he was captured (and vlad broke him out bc he was like "ugh i guess i have to save this child")

BOTH: vlad actually cares abt her (duh), shes nonbinary (double duh), she gets the funny dissolve into goo powers

i had more i thought i was gonna write but this post is already very long and also im running out of coherency for this LUL

#ask #danny phantom #long post #adpRewrite

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ravenvsfox · 4 years

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ok I just saw another post floating around about how people absolutely have to be reading novels rather than fanfiction and I just want to gently lay my thoughts here so that I may rest.

First of all, I totally get that impulse! there’s so much merit in consuming complex long-form lit if you can; it’s always crucial to stay informed, and it’s very cool to be supportive of authors (especially those who are marginalized, and whose narratives have been erased).

But I’ve also seen a lot of this intense, morally superior attitude, which makes a lot of assumptions about what qualifies as fanfiction and what actually constitutes capital L Literature. There’s always this mentality of like ‘oh wow do you want to read rpf mpreg porn or do you want to read Joyce like a big boy’, which seems...... reductive

Fanfiction is a many splendored thing! People write all manner of fluff and porn, but they can also spend a great deal of time formulating plot, accumulating research, engineering original characters, elaborating upon world-building, racking up word counts, acquiring their own fanbases, etc, etc

Like I’m sure I don’t have to tell you why it’s problematic to put classic literature on a pedestal and relegate all fan-made works to obscurity, but even if it WASN’T problematic, it also loses much of the spirit of literary criticism!!

We could be having a much more nuanced conversation about commissioned Virgil, bawdy propagandist Shakespeare and trashy serialized Dickens, about parody, satire, print culture, and intertextuality. I was just reading Celia B Whitehead’s follow-up to Henry James’ The Bostonians called “Another Chapter of the Bostonians” under the pseudonym ‘Henrietta James’, and that’s fix-it fic baby! It’s critical and funny and self aware!

How long exactly does something have to be in the public domain for it to stop being a fan work and start being allusion? what are the criteria that separate fic from literature? It can’t be word count, or hours logged, or drafting/editing processes, because those are so similar in the fic writing community that they would be impossible to sift out. Is it just about originality? publishability?

Can YOU pinpoint the moment that fanfiction becomes literature? Is it when you “command F--replace all” those pesky copyrighted names? is THAT the only border between trash and art? Shouldn’t we talk about that a bit more?

People write fanfiction that is more original content than reference material, and classical authors heavily appropriate their favourite characters, tropes, and settings, and those two behaviours bear strikingly similar fruit.

It’s easy to cry inexperience and completely discard fanfiction, and it’s easy to uphold a seminal text and thereby dodge the gruelling work of demystifying its production or retroactively putting slippery, playful, metatextual writing into categories. But man I really think you do literature a disservice when you paint with so broad a brush.

And in the meantime, what’s the merit of casting aspersions on an accessible form of writing for readers and authors alike? It’s free, it’s creative, it’s bombastic (I could also talk about how it belongs largely to young women and queer ppl, and how the disdain kind of.. stinks), it’s an unfathomable array of things, like all art.

If you want to talk about diverse creators, revitalizing the canon, and reading to expand your horizons, fab! Of course I think people should read books if they can, but not everyone has a consistent attention span, ability, energy, or desire. (Also if you think people who read and write fanfiction literally don’t read or write anything else I..... don’t know what to say to you.) Reading online articles and fan works because it’s easier to curate your reading experience is.... fine actually.

Reducing fanfiction to amateurish nonsense is often mean-spirited, but like mainly it displays a pretty glaring gap in your understanding of the genre. I promise it’s more useful to elevate your criticism beyond ‘fan work bad.. lazy... horny’ and ‘books good! acceptable to enjoy! I am very intelligent!’

Also I don’t really see people demanding that people stop consuming fanart and start consuming “real art”, maybe because it’s more obvious that much of the same technical skill goes into both, which is good to keep in mind when you’re filled with righteous anger and moral superiority because a community is sharing art.

And frankly, it’s a super interesting subculture, if you truly cared about literary or cultural studies. There’s a lot to get into: the increased impact and visibility of fan works with the advent of internet culture, the mutual influence of creator and audience, the way that stylistic mimicry/translation is a unique skill unto itself, the linguistic rules that have been created to label and circulate specific content i.e.: rarepair, AU, angst vs fluff, PWP, slow burn, etc.

Like I’m in grad school for the express purpose of reading books & I obviously think they’re Good, so that’s exactly why I think it’s dangerous to start closing off certain avenues of literary engagement because we’ve arbitrarily decided that they’re worthless :/

#fanfiction is cool you guys are just mean #fanfiction #writing #long post #sorry i have my essay hat on a little bit

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softer-ua · 3 years

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i want horikoshi to have the balls for uraraka to actually get over her crush on deku. id like to see it happen. it would be refreshing, could give her the opportunity to finally grow out of her "poorly developed love interest" box. katsuki's plot has become a major deterrent to her developing relationship with deku whether you see bkdk as romantic or not and deku showing exactly 0 serious romantic interest in her doesn't help.

ppl say there's a double standard when it comes to ppl complaining about her character being focused solely around deku when katsuki is the same, but to me they're not the same at all.

first of all, most of the characters' developments are influenced by deku because he's the MC. that's what he's supposed to do.

katsuki's development in relation to deku makes sense because of their shared baggage and backstory. they've known each other for over a decade and katsuki's treatment of izuku is one of his character's biggest sins. meanwhile for uraraka, deku is a classmate she's known for less than a year.

katsuki does not develop solely around deku. he has a lot of important solo struggles and moments. his toxic relationship with weakness and failure, his friendships with kirishima, kaminari, todoroki, the remedial classes, getting kidnapped, kamino and his guilt over it, his relationships with all might and endeavor, his goals of being number one,etc. in fact i felt that up until the most recent arcs, he improved himself in the background first and foremost, and only recently has the focus shifted to his relationship with deku and what he's doing to improve it. he is also arguably the most transformative character for deku outside of like... all might. the impact these two have on each other is huge (that said i would like to see an arc of them separated)

uraraka is the opposite. up until aoyama pointed out her crush, she was a cool character with tons of potential. she was super transformative for deku as his first friend, the one who made deku into dekiru, and generally recognized him. in the sports festival she denies deku's help and thinks up her own cool strategy, a major moment for both her and bakugou. afterwards... i feel like im watching a pitiful version of sakura. yeah she has her moments with toga, but even those are deeply connected to izuku. and all of it is so one-sided. she does not do anything for him anymore. what better example than the JTA incident. insulting bakugou riled deku up so much he unlocked a whole new aspect of his quirk, and uraraka jumping on him wasn't enough to calm him down. his care for bakugou was greater than his care for her. it's honestly such a disservice to her, because even when she's trying she falls short compared to bakugou, who's one of the most complex and subtly developed characters in the series. todoroki has filled the secondary role she could've had as tertiary protagonist, and momo is a far more compelling female lead, has taken a major role in leading the class.

i cannot think of a single struggle of uraraka's character that was not connected in some way to deku even when that connection detracted from the struggle and made it a joke to watch. her best recent chapter was the one where she was solo saving people. give us more of that instead of forcing a relationship with izuku that's just not there. toga is faaaar more compelling to me than her.

And it's a shame because I think she could've been great.

I full believe that something behind the scenes is at play with Urarakas character

She was one of Horis first characters, she’s been around almost as long as Bakugo has, her character role was supposed to be someone who could keep up with and draw Deku out of his bubble and we can see that in action until just after the sports festival

I don’t think it’s just that Katsuki’s character took a larger role because Hori has said that he’s known that Katsuki was going to be a major influence on Deku and more than an antagonist since DvsK and Uraraka still retained her relevance and role long afte that

Other characters have taken back seats to Katsuki, like literally everyone but specifically Iida, Todoroki, and even Tokoyami have all lost some of their plot time to Katsuki despite being shown to be build a friendship with Deku.

Tokoyami obviously has suffered from that the most, Iida kinda dropped off the radar for a bit but it’s hinted here and there’s that he’s very much around and that he’s been busy taking up the mantle of Ingenium, Todo mange’s to be relevant to Katsuki’s growth as well as Deku’s so he stays in the game

But Uraraka has gotten none of that, the only time she’s shown anymore is to remind the audience that she has a crush on Deku.

She had a whole ass internship with Tsu and Nejire(one of the big three!) with Ryukyu(the number 9 hero!) and we saw like none of it

In fact we don’t see much of Tsu or Nejire when their plot intertwines with Urarakas, but both have received fun character plot boosts or small updates outside of her involvement.

It feels like Hori is avoiding her character tbh, like Uraraka has almost become a negative plot factor at this point.

The only thing I can really say that might explathe wedge is Uraraka disagreeing to go rescue Kacchan after which she kinda doubles down on getting over her crush, but it backfired and made her a little obsessive about it

But that hasn’t had the plot relevance to be the actual reason.

I think someone in the chain of command isn’t happy about Hori having such a focus on Deku and Kacchan at the same time as Uraraka tries to develop as a solo character, and it’s backed her character development into a corner by the default of Katsuki simply being a more important character to the overall story

Like maybe Hori just isn’t allowed to have her actually stop crushing even though it’s where her character is supposed to go and now she’s stuck in supporting cast love interest jail

Mrs.FlipPhone isn’t allowed to pass go or collect 200$, she gonna be poor and single Pringled until someone pays her bail 😔

#softy answers #Horikoshi loved her character so much #I find it hard to believe he’d do her this dirty on purpose #then again he just had his main drop out of school in an story with ‘’academia’’ in the title #afte having him on ice in a coma for a hot minute #and has decided that Katsuki never gets to have anything nice #and the true point of the show is Todoroki family drama #so who’s to say that his love means anything but pain

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mayasdeluca · 2 years

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I think it’s funny that Andy was supposed to be the Meredith of Station 19, if you look at the formula in Which the show started it was very similar to Grey’s and probably the writers wanted to build around that.

Problems is, Andy as a character has always been annoying, a bit full of herself (Sullivan and her are really meant for other lol) the one who deserve everything, the more they pushed her character away from Vic and Maya (and toward Sullivan) the more she became unlikable.

One of the best thing of Meredith was her friendship with Cristina and the build up of other relationships with ppl around her (Derek, George,Alex and so on during the 500 years of the show) Alaskan Station 19 it didn’t really went like that, maybe at the beginning, but the character and friendships were destroyed and not in an organic way.

After a while I think the writers understood that Andy wasn’t really the most liked therefore they changed the formula of the show and other favorite characters got a little bit more of a center role instead of being Andy’s ppl.

Maya is an example, she’s a more rounded character even if very competitive she has many layers that she shows to different ppl around her, we may not like her behavior at time of some of her choices, but we as an audience understand why, we can relate to her, not so much to Andy.

Ppl who follow this show usually love more the storyline and dynamic of Travis/Vic, Maya/Carina, Travis/Emmett, Dean, Jack and Ben were put more in the sideline from time to time, they gave them enough screen time to keep the family feeling of the show, but they lost it imo when Sullivan arrived.

I understand wanting to have a character that disrupts the “station family” but the problem by doing so, the writers destroyed some of the best relationships and dynamics of the show, season 5 is a perfect example.

No more Maya/Vic/Andy they almost never interact with each other and we barely see them on screen together.

The show it’s almost all men and the storyline of the women are all related to some male Character, the story isn’t as organic as it was…

Andy doesn’t feel like the main character anymore, when episodes are about her they seemed forced and she come off as annoying almost all the time, this is not a character that can be the center of the show, the problem is there’s not really a main character any longer yes ppl are very invested in Maya/Carina Travis/Emmett but there’s barely a story for them…

I always found Maya the most interesting Character even before Carina, her growth has been organic and her friendship with other characters is beautiful she share a different piece of herself to everyone, she slowly changed and opened up, that’s character development imo (I’d love to see her brother back and how he could impact her and Carina)

I’m sad Vic only get boyfriend storyline it’s like that’s all she is…they can write her with a different interest of personal story that doesn’t involve a man..

I wish Emmett would be a more central character, I think he went through a lot but we never got to see much of it, I hope they will develop his character more.

Jack could be great but they keep him very passive, flat, I hope they tackle the foster siblings storyline, I’d love to see more aspect of him, so far he become a bit boring…

Dean always had interesting storyline, he’s an amazing character but I don’t think he’ll be around for long…

Ben has some nice insight about others but I don’t know if the writers know what to do with him any longer…

Sullivan is a self righteous pos with a fragile masculinity, he’s petulant and wants to impose his will to everyone even by being borderline abusive somehow he gets more Storyline and screen time than any other…smh

Carina is Carina, she brings a fresh funny side to the show :Idioms and Cultural differences her way to understand a new culture through the eyes of Maya and introduce and show Italy to her, it’s kinda beautiful she also brings and a very passionate side from Maya, she doesn’t take shit especially from her.

She’s fun, lovable, she’s not perfect and that’s OK, she is very open about her feelings and I just hope in a more fluid and interesting storyline for her but I don’t have much hope for it…I’ll wait and see, I’m too invested to drop it now tbh, I hope the writers will make some adjustments soon…

This show and these characters have enormous potential but it can be easily destroyed….

These are all great points and I couldn't agree more. (I'm also jealous how you were able to send such a long ask, I still get character limits if I send an ask to someone lol)

It's sad because the show has such potential and has great characters and actors but they aren't using it. They've decided to stick with their two leads and force them as a couple when all they are is toxic for one another at this point and use other people as plot points in their storyline (aka Maya's demotion which I will forever be bitter about.) Whether they want to admit it or realize it, Andy is the most likable/interesting away from Sullivan and they did that for all of two episodes before going back to old habits. I get every show needs a Sullivan type character so whatever, it is what it is at this point.

But even the whole expansion of Station 23 is annoying me now. You have all these characters at Station 19 that you are barely writing for and now you're going to start expanding another station and writing for all these characters no one cares about? Like I'm sorry but there was absolutely NO reason to make Theo a series regular. The actor seems like a great guy but give me a break. You put Andy at Station 23 so that now he can interact with her every episode to make him more relevant and oh he's also with Vic which we know won't last because Dean is in love with Vic and obviously she likes him too even if she doesn't know it yet so really, what is the point of giving Theo all this time and attention? He's a short term plot point. It would've been fine if Andy was there for a few episodes and that's it but it really seems like they're going to drag this out to be all season and it's going to be misery.

I honestly don't know what to even expect for the rest of the season but it's probably going to disappoint and a lot of characters are going to get shafted and they definitely deserve better than what's going on right now.

#asks #anon #station 19

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mevekagvain · 3 years

Text

Chapter 54- Once again, Marie's clothes are atrocious.

Chapter 55 - 'The wounds are healing like a normal person's would'. Uh no?? For a normal person you'd need to treat and stitch up that shit, not leave them wide open as you poke at them.

Chapter 58 - Honestly you don't get to say that others take away lives so easily when you and everyone under you is also murder happy Rai. Like yeah there's nuance but it's still not as clear cut as you'd think.

Chapter 65 - It's hilarious how both Rai and Frankenstein suck at all sorts of games. Maybe that's the real reason they're bffs.

- Yuna,,, cutie,,,

- You did your best M-24. It wasn't very good because you should have been distracting the infected not Jake, but you did your best.

- Never understood the whole being in pain thing from being flicked in the forehead like, how hard are they doing it?? I've been foing it to my sister my whole life and vice versa and neither of us have ever been in any pain.

Chapter 66 - They're posing while blocking the way of the kids sjksksks. Also you can obviously see that M-21 is turned away because he doesn't want to do this on a deeper note. Not that it matters because they're posing.

- Marie is so smart I love her.

Chapter 76 - The kids are honestly so sweet.

- I do not like that Jake is taller than Rai. He himself is already too tall, and Jake's supposed to be taller??

Chapter 77 - They really had to get Marie's boobs into her death silhouette huh... ew.

Chapter 78 - Wow even Cloud wasn't strong enough to handle the experimentation. The Union is real hardcore.

Chapter 79 - Tbh calling Marie and Jake the best of the best still makes sense even with all the stronger opponents considering that said stronger opponents are all in higher positions than them. Exception would be Cerberus who I'd say are more at an equal position and that's easily excused by saying they have more experience. Plus it was said by M-21 who knows jack shit and only got info from loudmouth Jake so obviously none of it is going to be accurate anyway.

Chapter 81 - Cutie 🥺

Chapter 82 - Huh, so vampires are category B in the Union for experimentation records. I'd say nobles but that's doubtful since they've only been able to replicate mind control and mutation through drinking blood. The latter only occurs in vampires since their blood bonds are corrupted.

Chapter 85 - This just reads like a creepypasta or scp lmao.

Chapter 87 - Rip Simon, I always liked him.

Chapter 88 - If Rai heard how much I mocked him he'd be shocked. Ofc he wouldn't hurt me since I haven't committed crimes but I bet he'd be hurt inside.

Chapter 89 - Even Crombel appears to think vampires and nobles are one and the same which is interesting. Maybe that means vampires, even though severely mutated through weakened blood bonds, have the same basic dna make up as nobles? Or I suppose they could have managed to get nobles to experiment on. Wouldn't be too hard to snatch a dead one from the Loyard massacre.

Chapter 90 - It wouldn't be strange if Raizel was under the impression that M-21 was actually a werewolf who was experimented on and this had his power trapped within him initially. After all, he has a werewolf heart and likely an aura somewhat similar to one in Raizel's eyes. Thus he could have easily thought that since he would never have met an actual werewolf who had been prevented from using their power and wouldn't know what their aura would be like. So human aura with faint werewolf traces? Must be a werewolf. It would be disproven quickly enough for the audience not to notice either too since Frankenstein does a checkup on him.

Chapter 91 - Raizel and Frankenstein going 'tf are you talking about' @ M-21,,, that's me at noblesse characters always.

- Idk where Frankenstein gets so much trust in Raizel's choices. The last group of people he hung out with was the traitors and as the name suggests, that didn't go well. But then again... the whole thing happened precisely because he didn't trust them enough to be their friends so I guess he's kinda right? In that if he doesn't trust ppl they'll definitely betray him compared to if he does trust them where even if he gets betrayed he'll know it's not his fault. Anyway that's irrelevant and the point is that Frankenstein has no reason to be so confident when Raizel's previous stray pets were the traitor nobles.

Chapter 92 - I guess Shinwoo doesn't like bananas if he keeps pawning his off to Rai.

- 5 hours to get to a place he's been before and should know the way to... Yeah no wonder mvp lord was always so fucking worried about him.

- Queen I know you think he's hot but you're gonna get brain damage. Also looking at the girl on the right there are definitely other foreigners in Ye Ran.

- By my hcs this would be said by Urokai because think most human experimentation in the Union is stupid. Like experimentation to cure idk, cancer? Good. This shit? He hates it.

Sidenotes - Tbh I've never really had the same complaints about the kids not being the main characters along with Rai and Frankenstein the way other people do. Like sure it would have been cool and I would have loved Shinwoo to be Union or werewolf related somehow but I always just found it hilarious how all expectations were subverted and it turned out they really just some normal kids TM. And it make sense! Sure they're special, for completely normal teenagers. Just let them chill and be teens instead of getting the trauma the rest of the household carries around like designer handbags. I say that but Shinwoo being Urokai's son is my canon lmao

- Good thing that the abandoned building didn't have automatic or rotating doors or else the kids would be super dead.

#noblesse #raining while reading

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socialwriter · 4 years

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Ch.1- Welcome to the Moulin Rouge

Listen alongside: This and this

Pairing: JJ Maybank x Female Reader

1.5 K words

TW: Prostitution, cursing, insinuations of criminal activity

A/n: This is chapter one of my Moulin Rouge series, I hope you enjoy! This is mainly to set up the coming chapters, so it will get better!

Our story begins in Paris, at the turn of the 20th century…

It's a crisp night, and all the patrons rush into the Moulin Rouge to escape the weather, the anticipation of what the night may hold causing a jump in their step. They would get a show complete with singing, dancing, and the fulfillment of their wildest, lust-filled fantasies. Liquor flows freely from bottle to cup, the intoxication of the guests no doubt a ploy so that all frugality may be forgotten while in the establishment. They were destined to see the performances of many, but it was unspoken common knowledge that they all came for one person. Her…

As the lights dimmed and latecomers scrambled to their seats, Topper Thorton, the owner and MC of the establishment, made his way onstage. He had built the business from the ground up, a way to provide housing and an income for many girls with no other option, living on the streets. He had begged, borrowed, and stolen, and was willing to do anything to keep the establishment open. It may not seem like it on a surface level, but Topper deeply cared for the girls, and in fact, what he did to keep the business running, he was really doing for them. Without the Moulin Rouge, most of his performers would be left homeless and hungry, a fate that Thorton would not accept, no matter what it cost him. He was hopeful that with the plan he had enacted involving his right-hand woman and best performer, he might save the place from going under.

"Hello, chickens!Yes! It's me your own beloved Topper Thornton in the flesh! Welcome...To the Moulin Rouge!" He exclaimed, earning polite applause from the night's audience.

"Now, are you ready for our dazzling opening duo… Sarah and Kiara!"

The curtains were pulled back, revealing the two girls clad in red corsets and black fishnets. Thornton had learned his tricks throughout the years. Put your top performers first to initially pull the audience in, and leave the best for last so that the audience stays engaged throughout the show. Sarah and Kiara were some of his best, ruthless in their pursuit of position as the best performer of all the girls of the Moulin Rouge. They used all the tricks in the book. Their voices. Their dance moves. Their bodies. Never had they had a dissatisfied customer. They made Topper proud, never doing any wrong. Yet they could never be at the top of the pecking order. That spot was reserved for one person and one person only.

The Moulin Rouge was a prime example of the economic divide, with both the rich and the poor flocking there to spend whatever money they could on a fun night. The rich aristocrats with their pristine suits and crisp white shirts sat in booths, sheltered off from who they deemed the lowlife Bohemians. These lowlife Bohemians, while clad in their best attire, looked unkempt compared to the rich. Their pants donned holes and stains, while their jackets frayed at the edges. And as Topper's top priority for his business was money, he made sure that the aristocrats received the best services, copious drinks, and the best seats for entertainment, while the Bohemians were left with the scraps.

The wealthiest and most pompous of all the aristocrats had to be Rafe Cameron, the Duke of Monroth, sat in the centermost booth. All the performers were instructed to visit him and his posse most often, as he always paid with the biggest bills. Rafe Cameron was to be used as a cash cow, milked for every penny he would give, all in an effort to save the Moulin Rouge. He was, at best, an asshole to those he disliked and at worst..well at worst, he wasn't able to be called a name at all.

The two Bohemians that had been a thorn in Thornton's side the entirety of his time at the Moulin Rouge were no doubt John B Routledge and Pope Heyward. The two of them always snuck in, never paying, distracting from the performances, and mooching off the wealthy for free booze. They were bad for business, but like cockroaches, they never could be exterminated, and they now had added a third member to their band of misfits: JJ Maybank.

----

JJ ventured through the streets of Paris that afternoon, absorbing all the new city's sights. The blond was fresh off a boat from America, and he had moved to France, hoping to share his music with the world. However, his quiet walk around the city was interrupted by the bickering of two men a little ways away. They were loudly arguing and flailing their arms, but the second JJ heard them aggressively singing tunes at each other, his interest was piqued, and he approached the two men. "I'm sorry, but what exactly is going on?"

The dark-skinned man stood up, placing his hand on JJ's shoulder, much to JJ's surprise. He had just met the men, but he had been told that the people in France were often more affectionate than those in America. "We can't decide what sounds better for our show. I think that the line should go 'the hills are alive, with the sound of clanging.'" The man with his hand on JJ's shoulder explained, to which the brown-haired man stood up, shaking his head.

"No, it should go 'the hills are alive, with the bells and chimes."

"See, that just sounds wrong."

"If I'm wrong, then you're really wrong."

JJ furrowed his brow, glancing between the two bickering men. He didn't need his musical abilities to tell you that neither option sounded good. "Um, actually, what if you went with 'the hills are alive, with the sound of music'?" He sang out, looking at the two men who both had a look of shock on their faces, mouths slightly ajar.

"That's...genius!" The brown-haired man exclaimed, looking at his friend, both grinning. "You must work with us on our show, it's going to be the big-ticket item that gets us out of this hell hole. So, what's your name, friend?"

He hadn't really noticed it before, but it appeared that JJ had stepped into the poorer part of the city, which was presumably where the two men lived. The paint on the walls was chipped and faded and the only bench on the entire street were the two crates that the men were sitting on earlier. It seemed like these two men just wanted to make it big and create a better life for themselves, something JJ had always hoped for. And if he got to share his music with the world while he did it..well he was sold. "JJ. My name's JJ Maybank." He said, shaking the hands of both men.

The more affectionate man grinned, patting JJ on the back. "Well I'm Pope Heyward, and he's John B. And Mr.Maybank, we may need to use you for more than your musical talents." Pope uttered seriously, looking JJ directly in the eye. "I,um-what?"

"You see, the Moulin Rouge is the most well known theatre in all of Paris. You get your show in there, and you're guaranteed success." John B explained to the blue eyed boy. "The problem is, our reputation," he gestured to himself and Pope, "precedes us at that place. We need a new face like yours to get our show even considered by the big dogs. We're gonna need you to talk to the it girl of the club. Thornton will do anything she wants, so you convince her, we're in. Can you do that for us JJ?"

Both Pope and John B looked at JJ hopefully, and JJ didn't have the heart to tell them no. Despite only knowing them for a short time, JJ had the feeling that he would grow very close to them, forging a bond of brothers. "Okay, I'll do it."

---

The trio of Bohemians had snuck into the Moulin Rouge after the show had begun, the dark lights making it difficult to see exactly who was sneaking into the building. "All right, one of the middle booths is open." Pope whispered to the other two boys, to which John B excitedly quickened his pace to snag the seats. JJ didn't see the big deal, it was just a set for crying out loud.

When the three were situated, John B leaned over to JJ, filling him in on the ways of the Moulin Rouge. "You don't know it, but we just snagged the best seats in the house. This is where all the girls give their attention to, making your 'mission' that much easier." John B clarified, causing JJ to form an 'o' with his mouth.

"She'll be on any minute, JJ, get ready," Pope murmured, the energy at the booth going from joking and fun to serious. These boys had a mission, and JJ didn't want to let his new friends down. But nothing could have prepared him for what he was in store for.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you our "Sparkling Diamond" The unique, the indomitable, the one and only! Y/n."

The curtain rose, and JJ's mouth instantly went dry when the most beautiful woman he had ever seen walked onstage. Immediately, butterflies erupted in his chest. He realized that this mission of his was going to be much harder than he had initially anticipated.

Tags-

@normatural @thelonewolfdies @bricksatanakinswindow @ssjiara

ppl who expressed interest (I’m only tagging u for this chap dw)- @heliopvth @girlsru1eboysdroo1 @spilledtee @obxmxybxnk @denimandcurls @pogue-writings @adoreyoudrews @stargazingstarkey @queenk00k @tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar @downbytheouterbanks @summerintheobx @shawnssongs @lefthandwritings

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prompt-master · 3 years

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Would you be willing to share how you might rewrite Yukizome, Sakakura, and Munakata to make them likable characters (if not ppl Bc there’s a big difference)???

ahhhhhhh this ask got me so stupidly excited that I was like wavin my hands around. I think about how to rewrite their characters OFTEN. very often. I’m gonna go with likeable character over likeable people because I think they work better where they’re actually not that likeable people.

The one I think about the MOST is Munakata. He was SUCH wasted potential and I partially blame the medium for that (a single season anime is too constrained for future, it needed more time and care to be a proper story). But Munakata is actually so close to being a compelling character but they made some MAJOR mistakes with him. This ended up getting really long and more like a 3 page ADHD ramble essay. SO IM VERY SORRY to anyone who cannot read this but TYTYTY if you did because these ideas make me very happy! Oh it’s only about Munakata btw because of how long it got

The thing about Munakata is that he is designed to be a foil to Naegi. In fact a majority of dr3 future FOCUSES on this foil dynamic. It is Naegi’s hope vs Munakata’s hope. The World’s hope vs The FF’s hope. And more importantly it is True Hope vs Corrupted Hope.

This is a fantastic concept...so why didn’t it work in canon? I think that the biggest most glaring issue with Munakata’s hope is his logic. Munakata is meant to be a logical man, although with corrupted morals that lead him astray. Yet in canon his logic is laughably infallible. For example as a major figure in the FF and someone who wants to spread hope....why would he tell Naegi to kill himself? More importantly why does he continue to try and slaughter Naegi? The issue here isn’t from the fact that he wants him dead but from the fact that he is under the IMPRESSION that this entire game is being broadcast to the world.

Think about this for a second. In Munakata’s eyes he is going to kill the Ultimate Hope, an international symbol of a better life, live on TV. He doesn’t just want to kill the Ultimate Hope..he wants to do it BRUTALLY as a MAJOR FIGURE OF THE FF. IMO this should have happened later on as the game furthers the emotional turmoil in Munakata’s head and he eventually snaps and gives in to the desire to kill Naegi despite the fact that this is live. And then there should be CONSEQUENCES for that. I wanted so badly a realization where Munakata realizes that he is hurting the Ultimate Hope in front of what he believes is the entire world.

Another issue with Munakata’s logic is saying things such as...implying that the HPA KG was...just a game. I mean...people DIED. it's not hard to see how wrong that logic is. you can't say “this is the real world now” when what Naegi experienced WAS the real world. I think that this could be fixed through a bit of world building. DR3 Future is rather isolated from its world. We don’t really know much about the world and its dynamics. I think it would make perfect sense if the general public viewed the HPA KG as a tv show, they got numb to the sight and even those untouched by despair had a hard time connecting that these are REAL people suffering. With this previously established Munakata expressing that the KG was not real would make a lot more sense and play into his corrupted idea of hope.

There is also Munakata’s connection to his other friends. Now I’ve talked about this before but the game was clearly designed to BREAK Munakata and Naegi. This way the FF would die, both the FF and World’s hope would be broken, and upon seeing this Mitarai would have no choice but to deploy his own forced hope. So it makes perfect sense that Yukizome’s death would break him (in fact if she hadn’t died in that way, her NG code was designed to be Munakata’s fault). But something about it felt...superficial. Again I think this is the mediums fault but it almost feels as though Munakata just forgets about Yukizome until later. I think they should spend more time establishing his pain and what he has lost and why this pushes him to kill. In his eyes if she can die then nothing else matters. It should be THE breaking point, not the first push. I do like the betrayal he feels towards realizing she had despair but it needed more time to fester.

And his relationship with Sakakura also felt weak. In all honesty it was hard for me to feel as though they were ever friends. Sakakura is written as though he just follows Munakata like a loyal dog and Munakata just orders him around. Establish their relationship more! Why are they such good friends? Why is Sakakura important to him? And more importantly why did Munakata decide to cruelly gut Sakakura knowing he was about to confess? This is because he believed that Sakaura was despair and that his confession was more manipulation, but they didn’t show this well at ALL. Munakata just comes across as a major a-sshole who does not care. I also personally found it distasteful that when changing his heart Munakata only seemed to cry for Yukizome. I understand that was his love interest but Yukizome at the end of the day killed herself. Sakakura however was an unnecessary betrayal he took into his own hands AS HE HIMSELF KILLED HIM. He should have more guilt over that! Not just in that moment where he runs to Sakakura, but ahead of time as well! Maybe even DURING his rampage they could have shown him having moments of guilt but he is so absorbed in the idea that all despairs have to die that he doesn’t even realize he has become despair in the name of hope.

A BIG weakness on Munakata’s part comes with interacting with other characters. He is a man who should know how to take charge, lead, and doesn't know what to do when things are getting too crazy even though he THINKS he does. Munakata is heavily flawed, OBVIOUSLY flawed, but many of the interactions with him are as tho his rampage isnt a big deal. There should be reasons for this! Why do people trust Munakatas guidance so much? I dont know! All ive seen from him is that hes insane! Maybe even pieces where around others hes a lot nicer so you can understand why they follow him, even though hes ready to gut Naegi alive with a flaming katana. His interactions with others feel like the writers just wanted to see the next big evil thing they could think of, but for Munakata’s character this doesn't make sense because he was appointed a high status in the foundation for a reason. Maybe even have people say they disagree with some of his methods but at the end of the day he gets the job done!

There is another major missed opportunity here and it's why Muanakata wants Naegi dead so badly in the first place. The remnants. Hiding terrorists in the apocalypse is a PERFECTLY valid reason to want someone dead and think they're a bad guy! But I think since Naegis initial arrest was already so hostile and violent we get the sense that the FF is simply just...crazy.

And let’s think about what Munakata WANTS from Naegi. He does not just want Naegi dead he wants something worse. He wants Naegi to suffer first. He thinks that Naegi doesnt understand his own personal pain. He thinks that because Naegi protected the remnants he must also not care about the suffering the remnants caused. He wants Naegi to feel despair and then die. This is important to his corrupted hope. He thinks the suffering must be shared in order to understand who must die, but he is creating a cycle of pain. Tie this back to the broadcasting issue. He wants Naegi to break for everyone to see. I think..and this is just a concept..I think it would have been a great idea for Munkata to force Naegi to watch the despair video so that he has no choice but to understand.

AND themes are majorly important to Danganronpa. And I don’t think its a stretch to say that there are parallels between Munakata and Naegi. In fact I would say that there are aspects of the og trio in this new trio. I think it would have been really cool if they showed how our favorite trio could have ended up if they had been corrupted as well. But the parrellels dont stick strongly. I think it would have been cool to show a past where Munakata’s idealism lies more strongly than Naegis. As the student council president there was a time where he himself had to use his words to solve problems. Perhaps he learned that sometimes his words made things worse. Munakata does not have Naegi’s talent of emotional intelligence. He is a man of action over words. So he interprets this as WORDS being the problem rather than understanding he does not have these skills. Especially when the apocalypse breaks out, it becomes all action over words. So he sees Naegi who is all talk as a genuine threat who will let everyone die through his “weak ineffective” idea of hope.

Another parallel could be drawn from the fact that they both have hope based careers. Their job is too keep things hopeful. Maybe Naegi stays safe doing public broadcasted speeches, while Munakata is on the field weeding out despairs. This would cause Munakata to feel as though Naegi is doing no real work yet getting all the credit for being a savior.

Munakata constantly complains that Naegi does not know true pain. But he and we as an audience have followed Naegi through his entire process of trauma. We know he is in the wrong. But what do we as an audience know about Munakata’s suffering? We are shown almost nothing! There are some implications, but for how intense he is implications are not enough. We need to see his suffering. We should see how he has witnessed death. Yukizomes death is not nearly enough for this because he talks as though he has suffered for years. How can we as an audience understand that when we have never seen it? How can we understand Munakata when he is outright denying Naegi’s trauma that we KNOW existed with no proper justification for his reasoning?

I also believe that Munakata should have died. It actually upsets me a bit that he was PLANNED to die but didn't. He should have died protecting Naegi after all that suffering and relentless brutality he offered him. Munakata again is a man of action over word, and protecting Naegi with his last breath is the perfect way to show how in the end he changed. Especially when all he wanted initially was for Naegi to die. I find that much more satisfying than just…...walking off to who knows where.

So lets recap some changes. Munakata needs a proper display of his past traumas and his relationship with Sakakura and Yukizome. Munakata needs a proper display of his work relationships and the respect he has earned. Munakata needs to fall into corruption at a better pace, and have geniune reasons for his illogical attacks on Naegi. Munakata needs to care more for his friends. Munakata needs to deal with the turmoil of wanting to hurt Naegi while he believes the world is watching. Munakata needs to die for Naegi

This has gotten long...and I still have things to say. There is so much to make Munakata a good character. Future had a lot of potential and is amazing for a rewrite concept. As for Sakakura and Yukizome since this has gotten long feel free to ask for another round of this individually when asks are open again! If you read all of this somehow….TYSM

#ask #danganronpa #kyosuke munakata #dr3 #dr3 spoilers #analysis #???#sorry sorry sorry ahhhhh i have so much to say fuuuuihkhuhi

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2ndblogg · 3 years

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Hey! Just read your hot take on novel!wangxian and I absolutely agree. I'm gonna have to say here that I believe it boils down to the fetishization of homosexual men in a lot of the fandom culture that surrounds mlm shipping, as you said it's a space for a lot of women to experiment with their desires and whatnot, but I think therein lies the breaking points between reading novel!wangxian as a good, healthy relationship vs. reading it as a very flawed and toxic one. As an LGBT person, reading the way the author dealt with their relationship made me extremely uncomfortable, it just really feels like something that is written by someone who is more invested in using her queer characters for satisfying her and her reader's own pleasure than a well-built, strong relationship between two characters. Not to take away from the novel in some other aspects, I believe that novel!wwx is a much better, much more nuanced character than what he is in cql, but when it comes to wangxian, I think the intentions are very different for each of them. To each their own, I guess, but I do find it very troubling that some people in the fandom have a really hard time admitting that novel wangxian is not even remotely healthy.

Absolutely.

And can I just say how glad it makes me to see that not everyone is praising this book for it’s lgbt representation...

But I guess that’s also why I just occasionally feel the need to scream my frustrations into the void or try to make sense of the novel.

And why I try to be understanding and accepting of people’s opinion of the novel and not take it ‘personally’ (in the sense of sitting there thinking “holy shit this is how they view ME, this is what they think of ME” etc).

I was in fandoms back when they were really a place dominated by straight (homophobic) women and realism or lgbt representation wasn’t on anyone’s mind (and the occasional dude butting in to say that’s not how sex works or bottoming is experienced was ignored or told to get out). I experienced this change to fandoms being more of a lgbt space, of people becoming aware that media can shape your views of groups of people, of people becoming aware of their fetishizing of fictional gays vs. their prejudice against real life lgbt people etc.

And tbh MXTX just writes like one of those, she writes wangxian like everyone wrote their gay relationships around 2005 and earlier; clear power imbalance, clear roles and attributes that are divided into ‘manly’ and ‘feminine’, certain physical attributes (like the female self insert character aka the bottom being pretty and slight and weaker and shorter), men/the penetrating partner can’t really be raped so anything the woman/bottom tries isn’t really ‘bad’, the male love interest is forceful and self centered but ONLY because he’s so in love and since he’s emotionally stunted he has to express that through sex, men/tops NEED sex and it’s rude/mean to deny them that, the girl/bottom isn’t THAT horny or in charge of their own sexuality but wants to please their partner and what they really get out of it is the emotional aspect, decisions need to be made for them because the dude/top just knows better, the girl/bottom is childish and flirty and the guy/top suffers through it until he finally snaps and shows the girl/bottom who'sboss etc etc. (honestly homophobia and misogyny is so tightly knit in this kind of fiction, if it wasn’t so frustrating it would be very interesting).

Tbh I disagree with novel!wwx being more nuanced (despite a lot of ppl whose opinions I really respect also feeling this way), because I simply cannot seperate him from the wangxian relationship. All I see are tropes and stereotypes applied to make him ‘work’ in the context of the wangxian relationship instead of an actual personality...

To me, in CQL WWX is clearly the main character and you love his interactions with LWJ and want more of them and value them, wheras in the novel most of the time WWX plays second fiddle even when a scene should technically be about him and LWJ’s presence is incredibly suffocating, because he’s always being controlling or at the very least influencing WWX.

I also don’t feel like WWX has much of a character arc/growth. We’re essentially told he had one but the only thing that really actually changes is him hating himself a bit more and letting LWJ smash..., and I guess: he’s less independent than ever, he’s more isolated that ever...

I’ve called novel!wangxian a relationship between an abuser and his victim, because you can find evidence of that in the text. Not because I think the author wanted to portray an unhealthy gay relationship. Like you said, she was fetishizing and wrote for a similar crowd. But to me that ‘realization’ helped...I still don’t see how people can call it a masterpiece but I can at least understand hyping something you like up...

And like, badly written gay relationship or not; gay/straight,man/women, I see how people can find it hot. Exploring your sexuality through fictional characters isn’t necessarily a strictly straight girl phenomena. I probably have read fic that was exactly like this, I can’t judge anyone for it. But no one prints out the last PWP they read and goes, “this is ideal lgbt representation and nothing will ever be this good, the fact that it includes rape makes it so realistic” like????

(Is that part or an effect of the woke and purety culture? you can’t say ‘i like this book but it has flaws’ or ‘i’ve enjoyed this but it’s not up the feminism or lgbt acceptance that i preach/live’ so you have to pretend it’s flawless?)

And like, I do think novel!wangxian is a nightmare when it comes to lgbt representation and I do believe this is largely due to a cishet woman writing about gay men and fetishizing them (the fact that a lot of peoples arguments why novel!wangxian ‘is better’ boils down to ‘there’s kissing and sex’ is also pretty telling). And I am frightend and worried by some peoples response to it.

But is it really fair to see it as just that? It’s a problem sure, but that same thing happens in straight media (which I am admittedly not well versed in). Stephanie Meyer didn’t set out to write Edward Cullen to be a creep and non of the teenage girls that went crazy over him viewed it as such...Reylo fans (aside from some of them proclaiming Finn to be the real villain and saying it’s racist and misogynistic to not find Kylo Ren hot) found a way to view him threatening her as romantic and sexy, Loki fans that didn’t ship him with Thor usually fell into the camp of “he would be a perfect boyfriend” or “what if this OFC was his slave and he raped her everyday <3″... like ignoring/glorifying/romanticizing behaviours or exploring what kinks you might have through the safety of fictional characters and fictional settings isn’t JUST happening when it comes to ‘the gays’...

And not just specifically in fandom spaces either, a lot of ‘romantic’ movies include inappropriate touching, the boy/guy knowing better than the girl what she wants etc. And I absolutely do believe that that’s something that normalized these things for a lot of young girls and guys (I don’t want to get into this too much, I’ve really seen a change in the past few years, but before that it was pretty common for young boys to believe they need to keep pursuing and pressuring a girl that has said no, girls truly thought boys could die of blue balls, girls thought it was their duty as good girlfriends to let their boyfriends fuck them even when they weren’t in the mood, that they couldn’t talk about what they want in bed or what they don’t find enjoyable because ‘sex is for boys and girls get a relationship in exchange’ etc.).

And in much the same way movies have only relatively recently begun being called out for that, it’s also still pretty recently that they’re being called out for having their one queer coded character be a pedophile and a murder or whatever...Like, society as a whole becoming aware of these issues.

But do authors that publish their work with a specific target audience in mind have a responsibility to think about the effect it might have on them? (And I can already hear loud screams of ‘no way, it’s not your fault if your audience isn’t smart enough to understand that this bad thing is bad’, but I actually do believe in a way they do. That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t write whatever you want, just maybe take a look at HOW you bring your point across. (We do KNOW people are influenced by what propaganda they’re consistantly fed. I mean, you wouldn’t write a pro-drugs childrens book...) )

What if the author isn’t aware of their bias and prejudices? Or their target audience isn’t their actual audience?

And do we, society and media, judge female and male authors differently when it comes to romance and sex in fiction? (The answer is yes btw) But also, where do we draw the line at calling something ‘badly written’ and calling it toxic? Can it be both? As I’ve said before, a lot of people claim that only the physical intimacy scenes of novel!wangxian are bad, because they’re badly written and OOC, some say the book as amazingly written and only the wangxian relationship is bad because the author doesn’t know how to write gay men. In my ‘hot take’ I essentially said that’s not necessarily bad writing so much as it’s simply an (okay, unintentional) toxic relationship. And would this relationship still come across as toxic (or badly written, whichever you want) if we didn’t know the author to be a cishet woman? Or if a gay man had written it? (my personal, eloquent answer for this is: yes, but differently.)

Which was really all just a rambly way to get to my point of: it’s not just fetishizing of gay men, it’s also the homophobia and self-inserting in a safe situation.

You can literally replace WWX in the novel with a female character and it wouldn’t change a thing. The author takes such an effort into building up this power imbalance in every aspect of their life that if WWX were a heroine nothing would change in this (sexist/ancient society) setting.

(And clearly this is something that appeals to people if you look at the amount of female!WWX fics...)

Not even the sex scenes. There are maybe two allusions in all of them combined that WWX might also have a dick but like, you can’t be sure and it sure as hell doesn’t need stimulation.

(and again, that could be written as a kink...but it’s just not.)

CQL is a gay love story. MDZS at it’s core is none of that.

But I also very much agree with your ‘to each their own’, like here I am criticizing and trying to find explanations and whatever, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter why someone might like (or write) a book like this, I vastly prefer CQL!wangxian but people have their own reasons for not doing so.

The ‘problem’ really only lies in, as you said, people not being able to accept that it’s not a healthy relationship. Or claiming it to be perfect lgbt rep.

And because my brain can’t shut up today:

I also can’t stop thinking that the way some people ‘glorify’ the book as due to their age and ‘inexperience’.

When I was a pretty young kid and got into fanfiction, there was nothing but completely OOC!whump to be found in the first two fandoms I was in. And I loved it. It was YEARS later that I thought I might like to read something with the characters being...in character. What I’m trying to say, in different stages and phases of your life you might enjoy different things, for different reasons...and obviously, in that moment, you won’t think about ‘what appeals to me here/should this appeal to me/etc’.

I don’t mean inexperience as ‘sexual inexperience’ here, though of course that could be part of it, but also like, inexperience with this genre (is this the first book like this you read, or did you just read 50 in a row that all had the same unhealthy vibes?), with lgbt people and issues (do you know any lgbt people or is your only image of them either the cute boy you can’t have and don’t want to see with another girl or grown men in full kink gear in front of children during CSD? and also: do you think ‘i like this’ and that’s the end of it or do you notice how many people idolize this objectively unhealthy relationship and won’t allow critique on it...)

I...just wanted to say thanks really.

I just can’t stop rambling apparently and I know I mostly just repeated what you said or what I already said but in longer... I just really do feel very strongly about novel!wangxian and the perception of them and have actually at times felt very personally...worried/affected, by people’s acceptance and love of them and I just... have to try and make sense of it...

#i'll be honest rambling like this is very therapeutic and I'm glad some of you read the last one and send asks and agreed #and it's why i'll (try to) put this in the tags too...i like discussions but seeing ppl NOT going 'it's true love/perfect rep' love that #mdzs #mdzs meta #mxtx critical #i guess

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charlie-minion · 3 years

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charlie-minion(.)tumblr(.)com/post/635987979304943616/could-the-same-spn-finale-make-a-little-more-sense Hey Love! Thanks for such an amazing post! It was still hard for me personally to deal with it for many reasons, but when you mentioned "yeah well we gotta work around Dean dying so let’s work around Dean dying then, stay with me" i understood why u went where u went with it. I just wanted to ask your opinion/suggest/question few things if u don't mind. 1) I can see Dean's speech (1/9)

“If we don’t keep living, then all that sacrifice is gonna be for nothing” make sense, except in psychlogy grieving and remembering people who died is not the same as not letting go. I feel this point could be GREATLY improved if we saw some memorabilia in bunker around Cas (without Dean paying much attention to them or being sad about them (2/9)

[?Miracle running to him for cuddles with mixtape in mouth and Dean freaking out about how it’s the best dog ever cuz he loves Led Zeppelin or sth, idk I’m making it up as I go with examples, dont mind me?]) and would either see that Dean is still grieving while working on letting go (not bc he can’t let go, but because grieving is a process and IT IS HEALTHY to grieve. Too many ppl are shamed for needing time to heal(!!) while it’s actually personal and normal and we know Dean doesn’t (3/9)

just insta forget (from experience), and grieving has more to do with emotionality and less with not being able to let go). OR we could be shown in some way that more time passed and he did already get to heal from grief. That would save Dean from seeming suddenly uncaring and emotionless (especially while knowing Cas is in super hell for eternity, not just ‘dead whatever it means’, and considering Dean WAS in hell and knows it’s not ‘fun and games’) towards anyone who isn’t his brother. (4/9)

I realize episode is Sam centered, but this picks huge focus on Dean by omission. 2) I feel it doesn’t matter so much whether Sam picked phone to call as that he easily decided to give up on calling while he could still stay with Dean, listen to him and continue to make the call. That death took like 7-8 minutes of the episode. The phone should be left in the car for example, it being crushed during fight is lame and cheap, but any excuse would be better than (5/9)

“Ok I guess I’ll stop calling and let u die, don’t tell me I didn’t try”. 3) That whole “I love you so much” really hit me hard when I was watching, while I fully agree with the point you made, I feel like adding “so much” was just too passionate. As you said, he needs to say it to Sam before anyone else. "I love you, my baby brother” – second part already makes it valuable and emotional. It does no business being passionate. He is dying (for a while now) adding words that don’t (6/9)

need to be there makes viewer question “Is he rly going to die? He seems to have no problem flowering his words” and to me at least felt like going from 0 (unability to say ILY) to million which just took me from the situation totally as I was questioning if I’m watching the right show/character. It’s like if Dean went to Sam in episode 1 about finding his dad, we would be informed just how relations between Dean and John looks like, and next episode they would go for burgers (7/9)

and Dean would be like “Yeah I got bored of looking for him” and show would end… 4) Also MoTW not being from journal would make world of difference. That’s a callback that rly puts the story back to years before and Dean dying finishing his father’s job seems like a joke in rly bad taste. That’s all that crossed my mind I think. What do you think about those? Sorry for a long msg. I can try to send it via phone in one piece if you would rather. I’m really interested in your opinion on it. (8/9)

I know you were trying to fix stuff with as small changes as possible in your post, but I felt those also were just small things that would mean world to fans and story. Thank you so much for giving yself to the fandom, you’re my all time favourite writer since I remember <3 (9/9)

Hey! Sorry again, I'm the anon from yday with that long question. I just felt it was worth adding: "“Dean is focusing on the task at hand. His attitude, as Ackles puts it, is, “I’m not going to think about what I’ve lost. In turn, I’m just going to focus on what I can fix.” That leads Dean down what Ackles calls a “hopeless road.”" (it’s interview about s13). Just to point out hopelessness in stopping yself from thinking of who u lost to forcefully direct yself to the future. :D

Hello, Nonnie! Sorry it took me so long to answer. The post you are referring to is this one: Could the same SPN finale make a little more sense with some additions/changes?

I didn’t write that as the kind of finale I would want. I did it to prove the finale could have been the same: pandering to general audience, w*ncest and destiel shippers alike, while still keeping some sort of logic regarding the build up of the story. It didn’t have to be so bad, but it was, and it looks intentionally bad, if I’m being honest. Maybe it was better that way, because it made it easier for us to simply ignore the existence of it.

Regarding all the points you sent in your messages to me, I’m just gonna post them all together because they seem interesting, but I don’t really want to spend more time thinking about a finale that already hurt me enough. The only two posts I’ve written about the finale were for me to cope, to kinda heal and let it go. Now I just pretend it never happened. I’m glad you had some space to vent and I’m posting your messages so others can read the whole thing and maybe let comments if they want to agree or disagree, but that’s all I can do.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me and the fandom as well. Everything that helps us heal is valid. *hugs*

#anon asks #spn finale #finale what finale #15x20 doesn't exist

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otomelavenderhaze · 4 years

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what do you think will be Rayan arc? I thought maybe him wanting to get a phd or somenthing but... ??

There is actually many possibilities for Rayan’s arc. I know for sure what I would want to see, but I also see other possibilities, because his dynamic with Candy have many conflicts. But we also need to think about how mclul and mclll worked (I don’t know if who writes his route worked on hsl).

In episode 1 they already introduced Rayan’s new job offer to work in an art department from another university (that should be on the other side of the country, meaning: far away from their current city). From that many things can develop and I would like to think that the writers didn’t introduced a ghost conflict just to distract us. Maybe this conflict has a reason to be mentioned so soon or even to exist.

At the same time, I can’t help think that Rayan had too many small arcs… his character has so many potential and it comes by in really small bits on mclul.

I think that Rayan is very centred in his job, he is a position when his career would be raising even further if he took the right opportunities.

He already said that he wouldn’t make any rash decisions and he and Candy would decide things together.

However, if Rayan convinced himself that he is holding himself back and holding Candy back with this relationship MAYBE this would be a conflict worth of his arc cuz he would learn something from it, he would grow from it.

Candy’s life is going around her relationship and the cozy bear.

In the past Rayan said that he would give up on his job for her, to have a chance with her and give their relationship a better space to grow, but if this relationship starts to actually hold her back from keep the Cozy Bear, or even holding her back in general because of the age difference, THEN thinking about her and how she deserved better, maybe Rayan would try to break up with her and take that job offer at least.

Another conflict can be Marina. They really flirted with the possibility of Melody getting in the way of his relationship with Candy somehow, but it was in only small bits, because they tried to be consistent about Rayan’s route center premise: Candy is special to him, there is no one that could challenge her on that. So Melody never really represented a threat.

But if Candy started to doubt Rayan now, because she actually likes Marina and would believe in small-double comments that Marine would do, then maybe she would start to think that she is not enough for him and the conflict would be that. With Rayan coming out and actually do something about it.

The issue with this conflict is that it wouldn’t really be an arc for Rayan, so I’m really sticking with the first theory.

There is still the thing about their age difference that is actually an interesting discussion but maybe would be claimed as “not good to talk about in a young audience” because of how it can influence younger ppl. We all know that not all older guys that have feelings for younger girls are actually as honorable and caring as Rayan, so maybe it’s a little bit too touchy to be used. They would have to write it really well to work too.

But this is also something that never was used on mclul and it’s a source of possible conflict.

What I would like to see tho, is Rayan getting to actually question himself about his future with Candy. Is marriage an option? He wants a family with her? He really seems to build a life and a family with her? Is he really going to propose to her even after his bad experience with marriage? Would another type of relationship be an option?

Because again, I find the whole “arc for each Li”-thing stupid.

Mclll should be doing their own thing. It’s an otome game with a relationship already there, then focus on the relationship, goddammit! Doesn’t even make sense we go through each and separated arc of each Li that we won’t even date anymore! The whole appeal of the game is seeing more of Candy’s dynamic and relationship with the Li’s.

But then you would argue “then what the other Li’s are doing there?” and I would say, with even confidence, they became support characters, secondaries characters, their lives matter less than what the center of the game is. Of course, they could still do conflicts with them, let Candy build memories and friendship with them.

But it’s really necessary to keep using the plot technic they used with mcl hsl? Is it? I would appreciate so much if they did something different! If all the conflicts would be about Candy and her relationship with her Li, see how they would build everything around that and how each route would be more unique and engaging like this.

However, it is too early to actually come out and say: this is what Rayan’s arc is going to be, because we need to actually see more of the game and the characters and what exactly the team has planned to actually say something.

We could have Castiel’s arc now and have no more arcs for the rest of the game, Nathaniel’s arc in mclul was around the WHOLE game as if it was the main conflict, while in hsl’s we had Armin’s and Kentin’s arc at the SAME DAMN TIME while Armin’s arc was actually Alexy’s and Evan’s arc more than anything else.

I mean kkkkkkkkkk it’s hard to set up a logical a pattern with a team that does this type of thing.

#ask #personal

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taleslations · 5 years

Text

ToX2 behind-the-scenes info

People have been wondering about the decisions behind Xillia 2’s creation, so I have compiled information found in guides and interviews. No straight-up translation because that’s too tedious, just an info dump.

X1&2 Spoilers below.

From the Complete Guide interviews

Producer & Director – Baba & Anabuki

[Note: Anabuki worked on S, A and V’s development. He was the main planner for V 360 and did some directing for the PS3 ver. He was part of the battle system team in X1, and became the director for X2.]

Reasons for making a sequel

· Fans had often said they wanted sequels in past questionnaires

· Xillia was the 15th anniversary and they’d created a very detailed setting they wanted to re-explore

· Wanted to expand on Elympios with an Elympion main character

· Felt it was a waste to use the characters in only one game

· Feels it kind of started when people said it would be fun to play as Gaius and Muzét

On what changed and what didn’t

· They wanted to keep the old characters

· Since the setting was more or less the same (tho with more focus on Elympios), they decided to build the game’s identity on its mechanics (see below)

· Game mechanics changed a lot, with the introduction of the debt system, fixed parties, chromatus ability and choices

· Setting is more modern

How the debt system came to be

· Because ppl Ludger’s age worry about money

· They wanted to have Ludger burdened by something

· 20,000,000 gald bc that’s the kind of sum that modern day salarymen could borrow. It’s a huge sum but not impossible to pay back if you work hard

The choice system

· Because part of being an adult is making choices

· Sometimes there are choices you don’t want to make but you have to (exemplified by having to destroy fractured dimensions)

Okumura as main character designer

· Because since this wasn’t a game with two protagonists, they couldn’t ask both Fujishima and Inomata like last time

· Since Ludger’s kind of a player self-insert, his design would be tricky, so it’d be easier with someone from within the studio

· Okumura’s been working on Tales designs since Eternia (mainly for minor character) and his talent shone when he designed the Chimeriad, so they weren’t worried

Why the heroine is 8

· They wanted her to be someone you’d strongly want to protect (working toward the last choice)

· It wouldn’t work if it was a strong heroine who fought alongside you like in past titles

· Yamamoto wanted her to be a girl because “I’d want to protect a little girl more than a little boy”

· If she can’t participate in battles, it’s easier to remove her from the party for plot reasons (can’t have a fighting heroine kidnapped by the last boss for gameplay reasons)

· (When she’s out of the party) Wanted to make players feel her absence in anticipation to the last choice

On Ludger’s various fighting styles

· Baba wanted a sort of style shift like in Graces

· Since he was a new protagonist, they wanted to introduce something that wasn’t in the original Xillia

· Chromatus was Anabuki’s idea, because he likes transformations

· People who played the first game probably have attachment to the old characters, but since Ludger’s the protag here, they wanted to make him stand out more

· Staff got angry at Baba because that meant they basically had to program three characters in one XD

On Ludger’s silence

· They wanted him to be a self-insert to the player

· Plus it makes the one scene where he speaks more meaningful

· They added the voiced lines option as NG+ bonus for those who like voices

· Reason they didn’t make that option available on first playthrough was they wanted to get their message across/wanted players to see what they were aiming for, which wouldn’t be possible if players could skip the voiceless aspect from the start

About Gaius and Muzét

· It was hard to include Gaius because he’s supposed to be super strong

· Also because he’s the type to handle things himself before the protag has a chance to. But since this was Ludger’s story, they had to sideline him

· They wanted to give him an ability like Vesperia’s fatal strikes, but that would make him too strong, so they had to tone it down

· Muzét’s a good middle-range character. She’s weak if you get past her guard, so she has the ability to move out of range quickly

About the endings

· The first scenario they came up with was the one where Ludger disappears, but since they implemented the choice system they wanted the game to have an important choice at the end, hence the creation of other endings

Discarded ideas

· Fractured Milla with short hair (discarded because they didn’t want ppl to realize immediately from promotion images that she was a different Milla, and also bc they didn’t think Milla was the type to cut her hair short since she doesn’t care much about her appearance)

· Otoh, something they hadn’t planned on: character models. They were originally just a way for the motion team to test things, but since it was fun they decided to include it in the game

Any chance for another sequel or anime adaptation?

· Nope on sequel, as they think that world’s story is over

· They’d like an anime or other media adaptations, but there’s no plans for it

Battle team – Fukuie, Yamase & Takizawa

[Fukuie was responsible for battle planning, various mechanics and linked artes; Yamase was the battle programmer (worked on Ludger’s artes and on mystic artes in particular); and Takizawa was battle program support (enemy artes and mystic artes, effects etc)]

What was kept from the original and what’s new

· Linked artes were an essential part of the original so it was kept. They thought of modifying it but since it was popular they decided not to and simply make it easier to use

· They gave spellcasters some more melee artes

Anabuki’s influence

· Anabuki wanted more event battles so they added a lot

· He’s also responsible for having them end the final fight with a mystic arte & cut-in

Ludger

· They made bosses stronger because Ludger is really powerful

· Elite monsters weak spots were inspired by Vesperia’s secret missions system

· Implementing Ludger’s three fighting styles was apparently tricky with the tight schedule they had, so they asked for something else, but they went back to the first idea eventually

· Example of other idea: giving him the fighting styles of the old characters. But that would cause problems if they simply copied the motions (they cited Elize’s posture, which would look weird on Ludger)

· The scenario team asked that Ludger use both hands for each weapon style

Chromatus

· The transformation part came mainly from the scenario team – someone said they wanted the image of a dark hero and someone else replied “then they should have a transformation.” The battle team was like “but he already has three fighting styles!”

· At first the transformed state was less useful than fighting normally, so they removed staggering when transformed but added a time limit

Other characters

· Anabuki wanted Gaius to be strong since he was the previous game’s last boss, but simply making him stronger than the rest would break the balance

· There was a lot of arguing about his special ability

· They also had a lot of ideas about Muzét but settled for emergency wrap because she can fly around freely

· They increased the speed at which Rowen threw knives to make him less defenseless

Trivia

They picked Cless and Stahn as cameo because they were cameo costumes in the first game; then they added Mint and Rutee

They like the cameo ending, they feel it’s like a 4koma

At the beginning, the animation team made an animation of Ludger prostrating himself, but it wasn’t used. There’s always a number of gestures that don’t make it into the final product

Takizawa cleared everything on Unknown

Scenario team – Yamamoto, Hasegawa & Hori

[Note: Yamamoto was the main scenario writer of X2 (as well as H, Z and B); in X1 he worked on sub events]

Settings

· They picked the story of Maxwell and Kresnik from the first game and developed it further as a base for X2

· They were careful not to make it look like the previous game’s story wasn’t complete or to make it sound like the previous game’s conflict was lighter than the sequel’s

· There was a request from the planning team to make up a different system, so that’s how they came up with the choice system and having the protag be a player self-insert

· However, leaving him without expression or personality would be too un-Tales-like, so that’s how he ended up like he is in the game

· It was decided from the start to change the protag because Jude and Milla’s story was over

· Since the first game was heavily focused on Rieze Maxia, they made this game from the pov of Elympios

On separating main story and character episodes

· Part of the new system idea

· You get to know the characters more in their chara eps and that can influence the main story a bit

· They’d planned on adding bonus scenes from the start; they added more than expected

Fractured dimensions

· Represent the power of choice (as they show how history would be if different choices had been made)

· Also as a way to catch X1 players’ interest

· Yamamoto’s favorite FD is Victor’s dimension because it’s full of suspense; in chara eps it’s the one with Nachtigal. Hori’s were the ones with the Chimeriad because he had wanted them to survive so that was a way to see them again. Hasegawa’s were the ones in Leia’s and Alvin’s chara eps.

· They redid Leia’s episode entirely, giving a bigger role to her boss as a result

· The target audience for X2 is a bit older than X1, so that’s why they show stuff like relationships between boss and employee, it adds a touch of realism and can make adult players empathize

Ludger and Elle

· Elle is at the center of the story. She is both a trouble bringer and a source of strength for the main character

· They wanted the last choice to be heavy, choosing between Elle and Ludger/the player themselves

· No choice is more correct than the other. While Jude etc were heroes who saved the worlds in the first game, they didn’t need for Ludger to be a hero at all cost – that’s for the player to decide with the choices

· The Julius ending was Hori’s idea. He wanted people to feel that it was a valid choice

· Choosing means eliminating the other possibility. Nothing changes if you don’t choose, you can’t go forward. That’s why they didn’t include the option to save both

· If it had been a shonen manga, everyone would be happy at the end, but they wanted an older target audience for this game, which meant burdening Ludger with difficult choices

· The two joke endings were added for more Tales-like fun. The cameo ending was requested by the planning team

· It’s just for fun though so they don’t consider the cameo “happy end” valid because it glosses over the main story’s drama

New characters

· It was hard to find balance on Gaius because he tends to solve things himself if you let him, but here he needed to have a support role

· They liked showing a more casual side to him, as well as his relationship with the Chimeriad

· Muzét didn’t really have evil intent (in the first game), it was more that she went out of control. Bc she had a hard time in X1 and since X2 had a heavy story, they decided to focus on light-hearted scenes with her

· Fractured Milla was created to show the player what fractured dimensions were in a straightforward manner

· They also wanted to surprise the players by giving her a completely different personality

· At first, she was just created as a step to bring prime Milla back, but they decided to give her a bigger role because they grew attached to her

· At first, they came up with half a dozen personalities for her before settling on one (tsundere)

· They picked a cat for a mascot because there were cat lovers among the staff

· It’s hard to have an animal move around during events, to they made him a fat cat so he wouldn’t move too much

· Ludger’s hair is silver like his father’s, and the black part is dyed

· Nova’s meche is because she saw Auj Oule women (it’s a cultural thing there) and she wanted to imitate Rieze Maxia’s fashion

Discarded ideas

· Julius’ was supposed to be Ludger’s mother at first, but they thought an older brother character would be more popular. His overprotectiveness is remnants of his motherly role

· Yamamoto wanted Bisley to use a gun and have a scene where Ludger transformed and avoided the bullets, so Bisley would go “that slow thing is useless” and discard the gun before transforming himself and punch faster than the gun fired bullets

· He also wanted a scene where Bisley showed up to the last dungeon in a car saying “Sorry for the wait”

· Anyway Bisley is really Yamamoto’s favorite XD

· Nova and Vera had a very small role originally but Nova grew as a character who cheers Ludger up when he worries about his debt

· She was originally just there to provide information; in the original idea, she was also originally in love with Ludger, not Julius, and would be irritated at Julius for causing Ludger trouble

· They didn’t expect her to even show up at the hot spring

From staff comments in the World Guidance book

· At first the debt was supposed to come from Ludger having to take responsibility for the Oscore incident

· Anabuki drew the wanted posters

· They call Kanbalar Edo lmao

· They’d originally planned to have an ending where Ludger gives up in ch.14

· The imagery of butterflies is associated to the Key of Kresnik (Elle’s hat design, Bisley’s wings in his chromatus form…)

· Jude was introduced early to cover for Ludger’s lack of lines

· They considered having him oppose Ludger at first (abt destroying the dimensions) and eventually join the party

· They decided to keep the old cast’s personalities as they were in the first game’s epilogue, but made an exception for Elize, who matured a bit in between

· They originally wanted to show Muzét regret her actions of the first game, but her chara eps took another direction

· Fractured Milla was originally simply a gimmick to show the cruelty of fractured dimensions, but her role got bigger

· They had templates for her

· A hidden thema of the extra episode is to restore Ivar’s honor

· Ideas for Rollo: Julius’ disguise, Chronos’ true form. But he ended up as a regular cat in the end

· The dungeon in ch.10 was meant as a homage to past titles

· Since the game is aimed at adults, “immorality” and “irrationality” were key themes of the first ideas

· Some character design rough sketches are dated as far back as March 2011 (the first game came out in September 2011)

Past translations:

Unused ideas for plot, fractured dimensions, Ludger & Julius episode, and fractured Milla personalities.

Staff comments about the fractured dimensions featuring the Chimeriad.

Interview with Daigo Okumura.

Interview with Takashi Kondo.

#tales of xillia 2 #tales interviews

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debbiewilder · 6 years

Note

Do you think Debbie has already forgiven Ruth and is just acting tough or do you think she’s still angry at Ruth? Also do you think the writers are even aware that fans want them together/do you think the writers are heading in that direction ever or are they just clueless?

You like GLOW now?? Whah…ok, well, I’ll answer your questions. But, there’s a lot to unpack when you ask about Debbie’s anger……

Debbie is very, very afraid of getting her heart broken again. All the anger etc is there to protect herself. She desperately wants to stay afloat and stay in one piece, and she wants to just be mad at Ruth (because that’s safe and empowers her over the person that hurt her and who could hurt her again if she was vulnerable with once more) but cracks keep showing through and she can’t seem to stay away because she cares too much, because Ruth is one of the only people she truly cares about. Suffering around her is better than the alternative, and working through it by wrestling with Ruth, too..it becomes therapeutic in ways…

She wants to push Ruth away and needs to pull her closer and that’s what defines not only this character’s arc but also the story’s arc..how to bridge this and how Debbie can find a way to her need. In the end, I think it’s all beyond this question of y/n forgiveness because the anger is so tied to the deep need Debbie has for Ruth that she can’t shake, so I don’t think it’ll ever be like yup, check, forgiven you.

This also relates to one of many reasons why this show is genius: in a fucked up way, Debbie’s struggle fits perfectly with wrestling–forced intimacy, forced closeness but also forced fighting and release of anger…like what a great catharsis for Debbie and Ruth since it directly relates to the internal struggles they are dealing with (so the interior journey fits perfectly with the external one). What a great way to force Debbie to contend with her relationship–forced to touch the person she’s supposed to hate (because look at what Ruth did) but can’t find it in herself to actually hate, forced to pretend to hate this evil soviet person in front of the audience while simultaneously finding intimacy and trust in the in between spaces that belong only to the two of them.

Wrestling is also perfect for these characters, and specifically Debbie, because it constantly forces characters to, like Sam put..um, idk exact wording ok but they wrestle with their own stereotypes on the show. And, Debbie does that throughout. I mean, in ways Debbie wants to just be seen as an angry diva now, she’s playing a role not only for others (because she doesn’t want others to see who she really is underneath, beyond that wronged woman, that indefinable, broken person who isn’t a success at all like Ruth and others perceive) but also for herself–because she can’t deal with asking herself who the fuck she is any more–what is her identity at this point? She’s been stripped of these words that made her feel comfortable and safe: housewife and wife and even friend. And, anger is her new anchor that seems empowering and safe and simple. But, Ruth can see the vulnerability hidden behind that anger. These two see each other. Beyond their roles. That’s why Debbie is so adroit at hurting Ruth..she sees Ruth and knows how to hurt her, and this all makes Debbie feel safe, and it’s really because Debbie is scared shitless of how much she cares.

Oh nooo, this is getting long, adding a read more link…

Well, going back to roles, in the hospital, when Ruth says that Debbie was miserable before (as housewife, as Mark’s wife) and then calls bullshit when Debbie tries to say she was happy, this is what leads Debbie to leave. She can’t deal with someone seeing through her facade. It all seems ridiculous now. For many reasons. For one, she tried to sell this housewife life to Ruth like she was in a commercial for it, and meanwhile Debbie knows now that Ruth saw she wasn’t happy but played along for Debbie’s benefit. There’s also the layer Ruth not only destroyed Debbie’s past identity as housewife by fucking Mark, but also in this moment in the hospital by destroying the idea of this role in Debbie’s head, the idea that Debbie was happy in it to begin with so Ruth destroys this past identity in other ways for Debbie and this shifts the definition of Ruth’s betrayal. There’s a lot to unpack with this moment…it all goes to the secrets Debbie tries to keep from others and herself–how she uses anger and these roles to protect herself….anyway, I doubt Debbie’s ever consciously, truly knew she was miserable with Mark, so I think it’s a shock to her as well to hear she was and realize Ruth’s words are true. I think she fed off of believing she was happy in the stereotype that she believed she was meant for her and was fine justifying it and selling it. I think Debbie is fine with being pretty miserable as long as others (and herself) don’t get to know who she really is beyond whatever role she feels safe inhabiting. And, Ruth, the person who broke her heart, seeing her unhappiness and vulnerability beyond even what Debbie could see in her own life? Debbie not in control of this situation and how she’s being perceived? Nope.

(Like, girl is so fucked up, she can’t even say sorry for breaking Ruth’s ankle. It reveals too much and opens herself up too much. All she can do is write it on the cast. )

If Debbie was really done with Ruth, really just pure rageTM, she would’ve told her mom what Ruth did (and stayed tf away from her). It’s a lot harder to come back to a friendship once your family knows. But, she didn’t. Because she cares much more than she would dare let on.

I think the writers are aware of the fan base and are either baiting ruth x debbie or are building the pairing BUT I DON’T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT OK BECAUSE IT MAKES ME SAD AT THE PROSPECT THAT THE WRITERS DON’T WANT THEM TO BE IN LOVE DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE IN LOVE LIKE LET THEM BE THEMSELVES WHICH MEANS LOVING EACH OTHER A WHOLE LOT BECAUSE UNDERNEATH THAT HATE AND ANGER IS A WHOLE LOT OF LOVE AND IT’S SO EASY TO SEE IT AND IT DOESN’T SEEM LIKE JUST FRIENDSHIP AT ALL IN ANY WAY OK..um, anyway, it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen because I think there was a lot in Season 2 that is so sloppy in structure…idek man because I don’t really know what story they’re trying to tell if I look at the “woods” or whatever of that season (there are a lot of nice trees, and I can squint and see something that I find meaning in but as a whole it’s a lot rougher than season 1 structure wise, which is all to say who the fuck knows ahhhhhh).

There’s a lot that points to them ending up together (Debbie, who doesn’t get to know anyone and is only close w Ruth, saying sex is only good w someone you really know, the lingering looks that last half of each episode, asking for permission to date someone else, not being ok with the other having a relationship, not telling her mom about Ruth’s shitty behavior, the fact that she can’t seem to stay away, etc etc etc) but there’s stuff that points to them not getting together I guess idk I don’t want to think about that…Well, I can for sure say the story would be better if they chose to explore their relationship because the will they won’t they for a friendship would be great for a show, yes. But, if the writers think THIS relationship is a friendship??? Dude, that means these writers have legit NEVER had friends. I don’t just stare longingly at my friends. I don’t ask friends for permission to date from a bud. I don’t sabotage my friend dating someone else or stare as my bud talks to a potential love interest etc etc I mean, basic filmic devices show that these two are in love whether the show runners realize they’re using them or not. Kuleshov effect (2 shots juxtaposed create new meaning): shot of Debbie looking longingly juxtaposed w shot of Ruth w Russell over and over. They chose to edit it this way and it all points out that Debbie is jealous and wants Ruth. You don’t go to the effort of editing and framing this stuff this way unless you want to suggest that. Or the longing looks, the fact that this takes up so much real estate of the show’s running time. Or that Debbie stands right in the middle in the frame between Ruth and Russell in a shot, suggesting she is coming between them…But, if the writers want to pretend they’re just friends….well, the story in all their visual / editing details doesn’t suggest this so why not follow through on the story you’re actually telling because it’s so compelling?

And to conclude this longgg reply, I’ll sum up with this: ppl pls stop hating on Debbie because she just wants to feel safe and only lashes out bc she’s trying to stop herself from drowning :(

#hazardeux #glow #netflix glow #glow meta #meta #ruth x debbie #debbie eagan character analysis basically

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