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thestargayzingheroine · 2 months

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Why A Better World is my favourite "Evil Superman" Story

So in the last two decades or so, there's been a notable amount of dark and edgy stories around superheroes turning evil and whatnot and most of them really love to do their own expies of Superman. I've never been the biggest fans of these kinds of stories.

And then there's the actual stories of Superman and other heroes being outright villains or at least just massive assholes. In recent years, this has been largely thanks to the influence of media like the Injustice Games or the Synderverse DC movies. It's... honestly become a trope I am tired of.

Because you know the damnest thing? There is a story that does all these ideas really damn well and arguably better. It is the two-parter from the Justice League cartoon "A Better World".

Now, I am aware how most people favouring the DCAU has become a bit of toxic nostalgia at times and it's something I myself am trying to work through a bit. But in this case, I do think it's the best idea of doing an evil DC story, much better and more interesting than the Crime Syndicate, who if you ask me are not very interesting, though I do remember liking the Crisis On Two Earths movie a lot, which funny enough, was originally going to be this two parter before various things led to it being canned and then later repurposed as a direct to DVD movie.

Anyway, my main crux of why I love this story is simple... The entire Justice League turns evil... and the reasons are very much in-character for all of them. You look at the scene with Justice Lord Batman for example.

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As fucking evil as the Justice Lords are... Batman can't quite fully hate his alternate self for his reason for taking part in all this being basically one-step further than his own mission, that no child should ever go through what he did. Hell, I recall reading that the reason the writers had Batman drop his batarang at the end of this scene... was because he genuinely wouldn't be able to come up with an argument to that.

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Superman likewise kills Lex Luthor because yeah, Luthor literally exploited the flaws in Democracy and became president of the US, threatening to kinda basically start world war 3. It's obviously horrible... but Superman is a character whose main motivation is making the world a better place. And if people who abuse the systems of power of the world are hurting people, why shouldn't Superman put a stop to that?

And yeah, Superman should obviously never kill, he's the most paragon of paragons of the DC universe, a man committed to always being better than the villains he fights... but this is him pushed to his most logical extreme. Hell, the main Superman knows this and its why Lex used his knowledge of this alternate universe as part of his plan in the season after this, to goad our Superman into crossing the line because yeah, there's a part of him that could go this far.

But right as Superman is about to apparently finish him, the big guy says this.

"I'm not the man who killed President Luthor. I wish to heaven that I were but I'm not."

Because Superman like everyone else, obviously would have those same thoughts and same urges. He's human.

I've kinda gone off Injustice a bit because to be honest... the injustice games were kinda just this but a bit too edgelordy. Hell, in A Better World, Lois Lane still lives and the whole genesis of it doesn't revolve around her getting fridged.

So yeah, A Better World is probably one of my favourite mirror universe stories because of the fact that well... it really is like looking in a mirror and seeing just how easy the greatest heroes can become evil and how they wouldn't be massively out of character doing so. But also it reminds us that as much as this darkness can tempt some of our finest, the ones who don't go down this dark path are stronger in heart than anyone else. Because when the world becomes a dark and horrible place, it becomes very easy to be just as dark. But even though it can be hard to still try and be a good person even in dark times, it's ultimately worth it. Because good always triumphs over evil.

#dc #superman #batman #dcau #justice league #justice lords #essay post #Youtube

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inbarfink · 8 months

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Okay, the thing is that I’ve seen some people speculate about the Winter King’s backstory and past assuming, like, that he’s always kinda been Like That. Like, that this version of Simon Petrikov has always been an evil heartless bastard or at least just a little less caring and loving than Mainworld Simon and that’s what led him down the path of the Winter King.

But speaking personally… I think this is a less compelling story as it relates to Simon’s character arc. I think it’s a lot more interesting if the Winter King was indeed ‘once just like’ Mainverse Simon.

That he used to be that selfless, dedicated and loving man - and he still managed to stoop this low. I mean, well, Simon seems to have come to the conclusion that this version of him was just ‘messed up’

and that was mostly part of a trend of him in these last two episodes just kinda going

You know, like, I don’t think that the lesson he should’ve learned from his adventures in Winterworld is just “wow, that one specific alternative version of me sure does suck!”. Farmworld, via its version of Finn, was a reminder for Simon of just how much of a traumatic experience the Curse of the Magic Crown is. Winterworld should’ve reminded him of the torment and indignity he was trapped in and how often he was a danger to himself and others

And of the truly fucked-up and terrible things he was capable of doing due to that torment and desperation of the Curse.

The Winter King is like a Whole New Exciting Way for Simon to lose his identity due to the Magic Crown, preserving his mind and memory by destroying the love and dedication and care that the Magic Crown never quite managed to fully burn away - his actual ‘immutable essence’. And this doesn’t work if the Winter King was always just Intrinsically a significantly different and worse person than Mainworld Simon, y’know?

And remember, we know the Winter King was in full on Ice King mode when he ‘conquered the crown’ (AKA cast that terrible spell to condemn Princess Bubblegum to the same terrible fate he’s been suffering).

And Mainverse Ice King was absolutely capable of trying to perform some fucked-up mind-altering spells of his own.

The only thing is that he was never quite that successful.

The main thing I am still unsure of with my favored reading/interpretation of how Winterworld Simon became the Winter King is…. There’s like, two different mutually-exclusive readings of what happened after the Curse was cast on Peebles and Simon regained his lucidity that are both very appealing to me from a thematic perspective. And I’m really not sure which one I like best.

Because the real issue was never ‘would Ice King be willing to cast such a horrible immoral spell?’, especially as one could easily imagine that whatever lucidity would allow Ice King to understand how his Crown is harming him and devise such a complicated spell would not necessarily extend to enough lucidity to fully understand the consequences of his actions. The issue is Winterworld Simon Petrikov, having regained his clarity of mind, choosing to maintain this spell for a hundred years. There's a reason why that's the thing Mainverse Simon fixated on when he figured out what's going on.

My first thought (and that’s something I went into more detail in a previous post) was this: Ice King’s madness was never wholly separated from Simon’s personality. Like, yeah, it was the Crown’s Magic that drove him so Mad and Sad - but it was also the trauma of losing Betty and surviving through the Mushroom War and feeling forced to abandon his beloved Marceline.

And that Madness was based on Simon’s psyche. Ice King’s loneliness and romantic obsession and Princess-nappings are all based on how much he loves and misses Betty

And now, Princess Bubblegum has been forced into a mirrored recreation of them.

The Candy Queen isn’t suffering from just the Magic Crown’s madness in general - but specifically from how it was shaped by Simon’s heart. And since you can’t actually separate this manifestation of Ice King’s Madness from Simon’s love for Betty - the Winter King ridding himself of one also rid himself of the other.

And since so much of Ice King’s Madness was interwoven into Simon’s psyche and especially his love and his kindness - throwing away all of this Madness into someone else also decimated these aspects of his personality. Princess Bubblegum already paid the ultimate price for Winterworld Simon’s sanity - but in a way he also paid a grave cost as well; becoming an unrecognizably different person he would previously find morally disgusting - even morso than Ice King.

Because the lines between Simon Petrikov and Ice King are always going to be a bit blurry and messy, and because Simon can’t probably live a life totally free of his Madness and Sadness but he’s gonna have to accept it for an actual mostly happy and sane life as someone who is recognizably Simon Petrikov.

Buuuut… that still basically means that casting of that Curse just kinda irrevocably transformed him into a Heartless Bastard. And that’s maybe not as compelling as if this change from kind and dorky Simon Petrikov into Evil Brian David Gilbert was done of his own free will

Hundreds of years of the Magic Crown eating away at his sanity and memories couldn’t truly destroy Simon Petrikov’s ‘immutable essence’. He still missed Betty more than anything even as this longing was twisted into something horrible, and still loved Marceline like a daughter even if he didn’t understand it. The one thing that could truly destroy this love that is so core to Simon’s being is him choosing to become selfish and cruel and uncaring.

And since he was in Full Ice King Mode when he cast the spell… I dunno if I can actually call it a fully-conscious act of cruelty. Deeply fucked up? Yes. But it’s hard to say how much Winterworld Ice King actually understood what he was doing. And while I think it’s much more emotionally compelling if the Winter King started from the same place as our beloved Mainworld Simon. The only difference can’t just be the pure luck that Mainworld Ice King was just never lucid or focused enough to successfully cast a spell that would transform him into an equally terrible person.

For this angle to work, this decision to continue doing the bad thing has to come from a lucid Simon who is still kinda recognizably Simon and still chose to continue perpetuating the Curse Ice King cast on Princess Bubblegum.

This might seem unthinkable, especially considering how obviously disgusted Mainworld Simon was at the Winter King’s actions. But you have to consider just how much Winterworld Simon would be desperate to not be Ice King again, Mainworld Simon was once willing to die then live the rest of eternity as IK. The fact that he’s so willing to throw away his sanity again now is so worrying because it shows just how badly he’s being doing - because at first, Simon was fighting so badly to avoid diving back into this pit of madness. And that Spell must've seen like the only chance he was gonna get.

And, yes, Simon Petrikov is a character full of kindness and love and selflessness - but that never meant he was the sort of Cinnamon Roll incapable of ever hurting anymore and especially not when he’s desperate or lashing out. That’s kinda the fallacy Simon himself fell into when he had that total identity crisis in the second episode. He just couldn’t find a way to join his previous identity as the patient and fatherly man who took care of Marceline

With the fact he made a little girl cry.

But yes, both we the audience and Simon himself have to face the fact that despite possessing such strong fatherly instinct and a desire to help children - Simon can also lash out in his trauma in a very cruel manner that goes against all of his own values.

And by the end of the fourth episode, he was tempted to let himself die - even though that will also utterly destroy a whole universe of sapient beings living in his head. It was brief thanks to Fionna knocking some sense into him and obviously the Literal Suicidal Depression involved was also seriously clouding his judgement. But that is still Simon nearly dooming a whole realm of other people because he was feeling absolutely desperate.

Not to mention him kidnapping someone and forcing him into a terrible experiment for the sake of trying to summon GOLBetty.

A desperate attempt to reconnect with his lost love (and in a way, a missing part of his identity as Betty Grof’s other half). Which I mean, yeah, ‘it’s just Choose Goose’, but also last time GOLB was summoned it nearly fucked up all of Ooo and the only thing GOLBetty could do about that is get herself as far away from Simon as she can. And now Simon is gonna try and summon his Eldritch GF again in the middle of a major population center.

And of course, Winterworld Simon and Mainworld Simon are never going to be fully exactly the same person because ‘Simon Petrikov’ is not some immutable unchanging concept and we know that they’ve had different experiences. It was really so sweet to see Mainverse Simon pay forwards the kindness he’s gotten from his loved ones when he was stuck as the Ice King towards the Candy Queen

But it also reminded me that the Winter King himself never got that sort of kindness and grace in the first place. The Curse was cast one hundred years ago. Back then, Marceline was still avoiding him because she couldn’t stand to see what he had become, Finn and Jake were not his friends on account of neither of them being born yet and… they also directly or indirectly helped him get his entire rest circle of friends.

So Mainworld Simon emerged from an Ice King who was not absolutely free from misery and loneliness… but has also experienced happiness and friends both from people who just loved him for who he was at the moment

And grace and kindness from those concerned for his condition and honestly doing their best to make sure he’s doing his best in his current state and trying to bring out whatever of Simon was left in him.

While Winterworld Simon emerged from Ice King at his worst and his most miserable.

And while the Winter King’s callousness about Betty would kinda always be a worrying testament to how much Simonness he has lost - it is extra disturbing for the viewers and Mainworld Simon because they have seen Betty sacrifice her entire being for his sake. That would just reinforce his own love and dedication to her in his mind… not always in the healthiest of ways.

But the Winter King has experienced nothing of that sort. He was not freed in a self-sacrifice fueled by love that literally defied time itself. Wintdrworld Simon only regained his lucidity because of a deeply fucked up and selfish action he has taken as the Ice King. And as far as he knew, that was his only choice except death or the eternal despair of being the Ice King.

And so maybe Winterworld Simon managed to convince himself that he can stay like this for just one day. Just one day of enjoying both lucidity and Magic and then he’s going to undo it because obviously he knows that it’s terrible what the Ice King did! I mean, yeah, Princess Bubblegum and the rest of the Candy Kingdom are suffering but they’re also going to suffer when the Ice King comes back so it’s really a lateral move for them. For just one day!

And then by the next day, Winterworld Simon finds one more excuse why he can wait until tomorrow to bring everything back to normal. And day by day it becomes just a little bit easier to justify perpetuating something so terrible. Day by day he gives up a little bit more of his morals and his selflessness and his love. Until he finally finds out that he just doesn’t care anymore about being a selfish heartless bastard.

The same way the Magic Crown took his sanity and identity gradually - he’s now so desperate to cling to them that he chose to tear away at what was once the core most parts of himself

Until he became just as unrecognizable.

Both of these ideas are really compelling to me but they’re also kinda opposite. Maybe there’s a way to balance them both in a way that preserves what makes them so interesting for Simon’s character in the first place??

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fondofcowboys · 9 months

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here's my very all over the place feelings on certain aspects of baldur's gate 3 as a romani immigrant. warnings for spoilers of course. mind you i have not finished the game yet!

1. i really can't believe there aren't more people talking about the very blatant racism in astarion's questline. im quite sure it's because the game already touches on it, even giving you the choice to call astarion a racist, and also because everytime we roma talk about anything that makes us uncomfortable we're immediately shunned and "well actually!"'d.

the problem is that it feels Extra icky because the man who was the inspiration for the original dracula, Vlad the Impaler, kept romani slaves. this is the ONLY part of vampire history that, no matter how different the media, will always stay relevant for some reason.

castlevania has the seekers, a nomadic group of magic users who pass their history down orally. while they are *mostly* treated well, the first arc of the show literally shows them being hunted out of town for the simple act of existing.

vampire the masquerade... well.. that's an entire other can of racism worms.

curse of strahd has the "vistani", a nomadic group of people who are treated like third class citizens everywhere they go, and are of course, most known for being tarot readers and drunkards.

the vampire diaries have the "travellers", who get called "gypsies" explicitly as a derogatory word by other vampires.

i want you to take any vampire media you enjoy and ask yourself, "is there anti-roma racism in this?". i guarantee you, if you look for it, you're going to find it. for SOME reason, the only thing that stays consistent with all these different vampire IPs, is that romani people are hated and scrutinized at every moment of their lives.

i MORE than understand that astarion's racial insensitivity is part of him. it's part of what makes him malleable by the player. you can help him understand why he's wrong, or you can lead him down a worse path.

i still reserve the right to feel some sort of way about astarion sacrificing fantasy-romani children for power, willingly. don't get me wrong, he's my favourite character, right up there with halsin. which is why i obviously have so many feelings about this.

(yes, the Gur were written inspired by romani people, if you were not aware)

2. the anti-immigrant sentiment is such an inherent part of the story that i did not think was going to stick around for SO long. i dont really have much to say about this, i think i should've expected it. as a fan of dragon age (i know, tragic) i'm quite used to unnecessary fantasy racism everywhere i go, i just hoped it wouldn't be part of the main crucial story.

3. larian studios i am so so so thankful for the halsin romance. eternally. forever and ever. he's my pookie bear and i'm so grateful some extra time was made to create a romance for him.

can i ask you why the hell does halsin want to LEAVE. At The End. i've noticed how much he contradicts himself throughout his questline and i just... I don't know. i've seen some other people complaining about how non-chalantly he talks about being a sex slave and i understand too, but i think it's part of his character to not take the horrible things that happened to him seriously like he does with others. that, or someone at larian took an unknown substance that led them to make halsin Very inconsistent.

with the poly situation, some people are strictly polyamorous! some people are strictly non-monogamous and do not feel comfortable being in a monogamous relationship. i understand the frustration everyone, but that's how halsin is. i dont know if that was the writers' intention, but that's certainly what he comes across as to me; strictly non-monogamous.

what i DONT understand is why he says he only wants you, calls you "my heart", is so fondly and lovingly attached to you, and then he just.... Dips? Whatever. I'm ignoring that part forever. it's not canon to ME!

anyways. yeah. feel free to Engage in some Friendly conversation. emphasis on friendly, for the love of g-d

#ezio.txt #the bear speaketh #bg3 halsin #halsin the druid #halsin #astarion #astarion bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #baldur's gate iii #antiziganism #sorry for rambling but also i have a mouth. i must scream #if you try to well actually me about this i'm eldritch blasting you #fantasy racism #dragon age

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eponastory · 3 months

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Alright, I suppose I'll get this over with since I spent some time thinking about it.

Zuko and Mai

Just look at them.

Honestly, their relationship isn't bad, it's just lacking something.

Oh right...

Communication!

They don't talk to each other. I don't mean striking up a conversation... I mean talking about their feelings to each other. Well, at least on Mai's end. We know Zuko shows his emotions very well because of his frustration. Mai is quiet, aloof, and isn't very good at showing how she feels.

She doesn't even vocalize her feelings. Now, that's fine since 74% of our communication is body language, while the rest is verbal and sensory (I bet you didn't even know that), however I think she struggles with that as well.

Zuko is very good at showing he cares by being attentive (guys, learn from Zuko) he is boyfriend/husband material (I don't want to hear about the colonizer bullshit, it's irrelevant, get an education). He may have made some horrible choices in the past, but he is a good person. So, why do he and Mai keep breaking up and getting back together?

Choices!

I've said it before and I'll say it again...

A bad relationship is set by the choices made individually.

So, you know the whole "I don't keep secrets from my partner" thing? This is it. This is why relationships fail. It's hand in hand with communication, and it's the path to breakups/divorce.

In the graphic novel (I have to go back and look, but I think it's right at the end of The Promise? Correct me if I'm wrong) the reason they broke up is because Zuko made some choices that kinda... well it wasn't great and almost led to a war with the Earth Kingdom. But it really put him in a negative light even though he turned out to be in the end. Mai saw this as Zuko becoming his father, and well, she waited to confront him about it.

Zuko made some decisions on his own and didn't really tell her about it, leading to some misunderstandings. Actually, he did this before in Book Three when he left to join the Gaang. He doesn't sit and talk to Mai about it. He just does it. This is where things go wrong. He may have thought he was doing right by her, but in the end, it was the execution that was bad.

Do I think they will get back together?

Eh... it's debatable. The creators have full control of what the characters do at this point. If they were to get back together, they would definitely have to fix the problems I mentioned above. Maybe that will happen from experience.

What do I like about this relationship?

They obviously care about each other, and I do think they look good together. I'm not a huge fan of it because I see the problems in the relationship. It's not a bad relationship, it's problematic at the worst. At best, they make a cute couple. I'm not sure if Mai is Izumi's mother, but again, we are at the mercy of the creators.

Oh that's it. That's the problems.

So how do you fix these problems?

Well, there is therapy, but there is also just talking to your partner. Talking about the things that make you uncomfortable and what makes you upset about your relationship is going to clear the air. Now, if your partner is not a great communicator, that is where a therapist can help, and I highly recommend that.

What makes a relationship toxic comes down to narcissism and other violent traits. There is bad relationships, and then there is downright toxic and hellish.

NONE of the relationships in the show are toxic except for Ozai's relationship with his wife, children, and everyone else he has a relationship with. He is an egotistical sociopathic narcissist... that is a walking nuclear waste pit right there. Run away. Run away immediately.

Anyway, this is what I think...

Oh, and Zuko is the very opposite of his father, so don't even go there.

Hope you enjoy my little relationship analysis.

#not all relationships stay static my dudes #they are dynamic #avatar the last airbender #atla zuko #atla mai #maiko #pro zuko

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tenebraevesper · 23 days

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I got a question. Why is Shadow your favorite character?

That's something I haven't really thought about. Usually, when I declare a character my favorite, it's kinda like a gut feeling - I see X Character and I instantly know they'll be my favorite. Nevertheless, I'm sure you'll probably want a more in-depth explanation.

Shadow the Hedgehog definitely fits the character archetype I tend to gravitate to, which I tend to describe as Troubled, But Cute (put a pin on the ''cute'' part tho), Anti-Hero or Anti-Villain type of character with a tragic backstory, who has an intimidating or untrustworthy presence, or is just a jerk, but deep down, they are sweet and/or genuinely care about the other characters in their own way.

If you want more examples, here is a list of my favorite characters from other franchises:

Impmon/Beelzemon from Digimon Tamers, initially a mischievous Digimon who caused trouble for the main cast, his traumatic experience with his own Tamers and his desire to become stronger led him to a path of destruction, followed by one of the most incredible and heartbreaking redemption arcs I've seen.

Bass.EXE/Forte.EXE from Rockman.EXE/MegaMan Battle Network/MegaMan NT Warrior. Bass is a Solo NetNavi who had been created by Dr. Cossack to improve internet security, but was betrayed by the humans when the internet at the time, Alpha, went berserk, causing Bass to be mistakenly blamed for that chaos. Believing that humans are monsters, Bass has set the goal to become the strongest and destroy humanity once and for all. He is also MegaMan's strongest rival, and I especially love how their relationship is portrayed in Ryo Takamisaki's MegaMan NT Warrior manga, where they both show deep respect for each other and it is acknowledged that MegaMan is the first person Bass allowed himself to bond with. Huh, when you think about it, Bass and Shadow are kinda similar, especially when the latest chapter that focused on Bass had him finally make peace with his past.

Darkrai from Pokémon, specifically Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Darkness and Sky. To quote the Pokedex: ''Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares.'' Darkrai is a Pokémon who is capable of causing horrible nightmares, but the truth is, he cannot control this ability and isolates himself on Newmoon Island. In Rise of Darkrai, he is portrayed as a misunderstood anti-hero who wanted to defend his home from Dialga and Palkia, and in PMD: Explorers, he is a maniacal tyrant who wants to plunge the world into eternal darkness, and these two different portrayals are one of the reasons why I adore Darkrai so much. And yeah, he definitely isn't the conventionally ''cute'' type, but I always had weird tastes.

Félix/Chat Noir from Ladybug PV, who I consider to be a different character from the CGI show. Having been cursed with bad luck, Félix needs to find ways to convince to Ladybug to kiss him while working together with her against the main villain and also dealing with Ladybug's civilian form, Bridgette. I'm certain that, if his character had been developed further, we would see a different side to him, show that there is more to Félix/Chat Noir than what is on the surface.

#Ten's Thoughts #ask #shadow the hedgehog #impmon #beelzemon #bass.exe #forte.exe #felix agreste #chat noir

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captainpikeachu · 2 years

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Okay so this prevailing sentiment that I keep seeing about how “this doesn’t make sense why would Bucky be with a team of bad guys” really kinda annoys because...most of the MCU Thunderbolts team members aren’t even bad guys???

Ghost, Taskmaster, and Yelena literally all share similar kinds of backstories to Bucky, they are all victims of a system that either mind controlled them or forced them into doing horrible things. They’ve all broken free and are trying to make their own choices and trying to recover and get better in their own ways.

Alexei is literally just a chaotic man being chaotic, and the last we saw of him, he was part of the protagonist team of the Black Widow film. Hardly any sense of being a “bad guy”, just a big dork guy who really wants to punch some folks and admittedly trying and sometimes failing at being a dad.

And as much as folks want Walker to be a bad guy, even the Falcon and the Winter Soldier show didn’t bother making him the villain of the story, instead head writer Malcolm Spellman even stated that Walker and Bucky are two sides of a veteran’s story, and the last time we saw of Walker, he was actually trying to save hostages and helping Sam and Bucky, with him and Bucky even working together.

The only person with remotely a whiff of possible “bad guy” is Val, and we don’t really even know enough about her to say if she’s actually doing bad things because she’s evil or if she’s just like a Nick Fury who sometimes do shady things for what she thinks are the greater good.

Sure, many of these characters have served antagonistic roles in the stories they appeared in, but being an antagonist does not equal to being a “bad guy” or being the villain. Protagonist doesn’t mean Hero, and Antagonist doesn’t mean Villain, and sometimes I fear that fandom spends so much time trying to shove characters into boxes and ends up losing sight of the characters’ complexities.

The Thunderbolts are not just a “team of bad guys”, even in their decades of comics history, this team line up has run across all ends of the spectrum with Bucky being a member of this team at various points. The most recent new comics run is even a team of heroes led by Clint Barton himself.

And if one really takes a good look at this currently known line up of the MCU Thunderbolts team, with the exception of Val whose backstory is shrounded in mystery right now, these are all characters who’ve had trauma, who’ve been through a lot, who are soldiers and warriors who’ve all fought for what they thought was right. Sure their moralities can be a bit skewed, but they aren’t just people who go around killing people for no reason and just enjoying being bad for the sake of being bad. This is a team of broken traumatized messed up chaotic warriors seeking for another chance to prove themselves, for redemption, and is that not the kind of people whom Bucky would share commonality with? Is that not the kind of people that he might be able to help, to provide guidance and advice to? He’s walked their path, he of all people knows what it takes to make a recovery stick.

What better way to continue his journey from the ending of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier than to make him the “mentor” of a group of people each trying to seek their own redemption in their own way? Wouldn’t it be character growth for Bucky to go from the learner to now the teacher?

Honestly I think Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier said it best:

I just think The Thunderbolts are an exciting opportunity to take these characters that have been seen in a certain light and kinda bring them together, and through coming together, possibly view them in another light.

So many of these characters on the team, we all have a way of seeing them through our various biases and perspectives, and this film might actually teach us all to let go of certain biases and see these characters in a new way through their perspectives.

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hood-ex · 10 months

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so ive only watched a few spn episodes ever, and your tags whenever you talk about any batfam member and comparing it to them makes me curious about your full thoughts regarding them, as in: who do you think dick is more like between dean and sam?

Dick shares qualities and experiences with both brothers, but I personally think he's more like Sam than he is like Dean.

I think when Dick was younger, he more closely resembled Dean in the sense that he started fighting young as Robin, and he wanted to be Robin. Likewise, Dean was brought into the hunter fold (or the knowledge of it) earlier on in life, and he enjoyed hunting, unlike Sam.

Dick and Dean also had a more similar relationship with their fathers. Bruce had high expectations for Dick to be Robin while John had high expectations for Dean to protect and provide for Sam. Essentially, if Bruce and John told their sons to jump, Dick and Dean would be the ones asking, "How high?"

Despite that, I think Dick and Sam are more similar for the following reasons:

Dick and Sam are more independent. Dick left Robin behind as well as his place at Bruce's side so he could become his own man and hero. Sam left a life of hunting behind to go to college and to live a normal life. Sam was also left by himself a lot when John and Dean went hunting, leaving him to fend for himself many times.

Dick went to law school and apparently has a law degree. Sam went to Stanford and intended to go to law school until he got dragged back into the hunting business. Speaking of school, Dick and Sam were more academically studious than Dean.

Dick and Sam are both good at leading teams. Dick has led multiple teams, and Sam led a group of hunters to take down the British Men of Letters as well as led members from the apocalypse world.

Dick and Sam both have a repeated history of loss of autonomy. Both are possessed or taken control of quite a few times.

Dick and Sam are generally more health conscious and aren't as gluttonous as Dean.

Dick and Sam are more empathetic/compassionate. Dick is willing to extend a hand to others even when they stumble on their path. Sam's empathy deals more with morality and how he realizes that not all monsters are inherently bad and that they don't all deserve to die. Sam can also be a lot more gentle and understanding when dealing with monsters or victims (hence why Dean once remarked that Sam was always saying "pansy" stuff to people).

Sam would absolutely murder Joker if given the chance since he HATES clowns and fears them. Dick and Sam have clown killing solidarity.

Dick and Sam's guilt has pushed them to extremes on a few occasions. For example, Dick and the Blockbuster situation. Dick tried to convict himself to prison over it. According to Bruce, he had also been showing suicidal tendencies during that period. Sam is similar in that he saw his imprisonment in hell for 100+ years as atonement for his sin (aka getting tricked into freeing Lucifer from his cage which then started the apocalypse). He also was going to let himself die after doing a series of trials because he no longer valued his life after viewing himself as a screw-up/unworthy.

When they take parental roles, Dick and Sam are more patient and understanding with their kids. Dick with Damian and Sam with Jack (Jack is a nephilim who becomes Castiel, Sam, and Dean's kid). Now Dean is actually great with kids (no surprise since he's got a baby brother) but he's horrible to Jack. I actually don't even like to think of him as one of Jack's parents because he never really trusted Jack and wanted him dead multiple times. (SPN characterization was not always... the best... in those later seasons alksda.) And listen, sometimes Dick did lose his patience with Damian, but he was never horrible to him the way Dean was with Jack.

There are also ways Dick, Sam, and Dean are all similar such as how they're all clever and inventive. Dick's a detective and uses his skills to solve problems. He also builds gadgets or inventions to assist him in his cases.

Hunting monsters also involves some form of detective work, but Sam is smart in other ways such as figuring out how to do a reverse exorcism on the spot. In season 11 when Sam got infected by a rabid virus and was trying to find a cure, he lured a rabid man to him with a video and then zapped him with a taser he built with materials from a hardware store.

Sam will be referred to as the brains of the operation, but Dean is smart as well, and Sam even says so in canon. Dean's good at lore and at figuring things out on a hunt. Plus, he's an amazing mechanic and knows how to work a car, which is something that he shares in common with Dick. Sam is less so involved with the mechanics of the car, but Dean taught him more about it before he was dragged to hell.

All three of them are also intimate with sacrifice. In general, they give up so much of their own lives to help others. In specific, Dick sacrificed everything to infiltrate Spyral. Sam sacrificed himself to lock Lucifer away in hell. Dean sacrificed the rest of his life to bring Sam back to life. And those are only a few examples. They sacrifice so much more.

#i think dick and dean can also be less willing to share their feelings or have hard time opening up #except... sam is also not the best at sharing his feelings soooo let's just say they all suck w emotions sometimes #oh i know. dick and dean don't have demon blood like sam does alskdja #sam's demon blood gives him issues that dick and dean don't have to deal with #but yeaaaah wow it's v hard to summarize sam and dean from 15 seasons lmao like there's so much i don't remember from the show atm #Dick Grayson #Sam and Dean comparisons #anon

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fairytsuk1 · 2 years

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Getting lost in a corn maze with Kuroo... can be nsfw or fluff either/or !

you were an idiot. you'd thought it might be nice to go on a date with your boyfriend in the spirit of fall and halloween! you'd suggested a corn maze, images of cute pictures and buying your own pumpkins to carve while you watched scary movies...

"they have a corn maze?" kuroo looks at you, eyebrows raised, "well now we have to do it."

you'd groaned, "why do we always have to do stuff like that? we're gonna get lost and it's gonna be like when we went into the hall of mirrors together!"

he'd laughed at the memory, the two of you had to cry uncle as someone who was clearly exasperated led two adults out of the mirror maze as if you were toddlers, "it wasn't that bad. and this has clues, so we'll find a way!"

he looks like a kid, and there's a strange and unreasonable part of you that wants to indulge him in his puppy dog eyes and handsome face that gets closer to yours.

"well, well fine! but i'm leading! last time you led was in the mirror maze, and i am not going through that again!"

hands are raised in defense, "isn't the term ladies first? go ahead!"

you two wander, cracking jokes and elbowing each-other every ten minutes because "the path is too small for your wide shouldered ass!" and "well it's not big enough for that ass either" which makes you question why you love this absolute idiot nerd.

he's a horrible distraction!! because before you know it, neither of you are sure whether to go left or right.

"...we're lost!!"

"no we aren't babe, i'm sure it's this way..."

"which way?!"

your boyfriend gulps, not wanting to work you up into a panic attack or worse, "baby listen to me. i will get us out of here, it can't be that hard right?"

you realize then that you hate both mirrors AND corn. kuroo is destroying the maze at this point, his lovely girlfriend being in distress sends him in distress and it really is his fault for letting you go first anyways (you two were disastrous with directions. and this went for everything. yes, everything.)

you're whining in his ear, "kuroo!! at this point, they're gonna have to lead us out like prisoners again."

the two of you sit on kicked over hay bales, fully leaning into your boyfriends side as he plays sudoku on his phone, "yeah. why'd you get us lost babe?"

you scoff and shoot up, a devilish smirk on his face that you know he's teasing, "me? you were the one who insisted we make out for a break!"

his hand settles on your knee, "well you liked it."

"well yeah, of course i love kissing my boyfriend. don't you like kissing me?"

"'course I do! but i'm thinking..." and then he's scooting closer, "there's a lot we can do till the rescue team gets here."

that was one reason kuroo loved you. you hated breaking the rules, but when you broke them? you broke them.

the rescue team has to avoid the pink lipstick stain on kuroo's shirt as they escort the two of you out.

#kuroo tetsuro x you #kuroo headcanons #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo x reader #kuroo imagine #kuroo tetsuro smut #tetsurou kuroo x reader #tetsurou kuroo smut #haikyuu!! smut #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu smut #haikyuu!! x reader

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tarisilmarwen · 11 months

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Rebels Rewatch: “Brothers of the Broken Horn”

Hooooooondoooooooooooooo! :D

When we open we see that Phoenix Cell has temporarily taken to port at Garel.

Which is looking as lovely as ever.

We pan down with a pleasant musical cue to see that Rex has set Ezra up with some blaster training, enlisting Chopper as a moving target.

Ezra’s already clearly frustrated and grows moreso when Kanan shows up and tells him he’s missing a Jedi training session. His discouraged, “What if I don’t want to be either [a soldier or a Jedi]?” surprises Rex but alarms Kanan, who knows how desperately Ezra wants to be a Jedi in normal circumstances.

Neither man can figure out the reason why Ezra’s upset though (really guys? y’all be dense), and they’re interrupted by Sabine calling them in for a briefing.

The mission is honestly a little bit incidental to the plot, only really there to establish the MacGuffin that people will be wrestling over trying to possess this episode. Ezra doesn’t get to participate as now Hera is on him also, to scrub the Phantom.

So many “teenager whines about chores to parents” vibes in this scene, especially when Hera chides Chopper for laughing about it and makes him help too lol.

Ezra is understandably feeling overwhelmed by the myriad pressures that are colliding over him right now, complaining to Chopper about it. Kanan and Rex are pulling him in opposite directions and fighting with each other over it every step of the way, and this has made him discouraged, unsure of his path forward, and missing the simplicity of his life before the Ghost, as rough as it was.

So of course he jumps at the opportunity to distract himself from everything when Chopper picks up a distress signal from Vizago’s ship.

Borrowing Mom’s van to make a wellness check on your old criminal fencing friends lol.

Yes, this is super irresponsible and dangerous but also Ezra really needed this little day trip to clear his head and remind himself how much he’s changed from the kind of person who would’ve jumped at Hondo’s offer.

So this episode is mostly character building/character renewal for Ezra and also a Friendship Fetch Quest that nets us Hondo Ohnaka. After Rex, he’s one of the most important allies we gain this season.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. Back to Ezra doing things that absolutely got him grounded after this episode. XD

(Lol at Ezra’s defensive little, “I know how to fly.” towards Chopper, immediately belied by him scraping the Phantom on its hooks.)

Garel be pretty, what can I say?

Hilarious that the ship got stuck in Garel airspace, I have to assume Hondo and Vizago met with their, ah, “disagreement” literally almost as soon as they took off lolol.

Fyrnock cue coming back here, I guess we’re using it as shorthand for uncertain perilous situations now.

The similarities to the previous episode in the creepy seemingly abandoned nature of the ship I’m going to assume were deliberate in order to catch us off guard when it was all subverted and Hondo was introduced, instead of some horrible danger.

And yeah, Hondo is a bit “defanged” from his Clone Wars incarnation but I think it kinda fits, you know, the all-consuming overwhelming evil of the Empire is such that mundane run-of-the-mill pirates and criminal overlords are simply just not as frightening or dangerous anymore. The Empire ruins everything, even the lives of outliers who used to just fly under the radar.

Ezra keeps darting glances at Hondo’s arm around his shoulder like he’s not entirely comfortable with it being there, lol.

I mentioned that Ezra’s mechanical skills sort of fall by the wayside as he grows into his role as Jedi so it’s nice that he gets to use them here.

“This was such a bad idea, Hera’s going to kill me when if I get back.”

Ah man, Ezra continues to have just such a look of regretting all of the decisions that led him to this point, poor bby.

He slips pretty naturally back into his street orphan trickster/swindler/pickpocket persona though, smoothly bargaining with Hondo to distract from his swiping the sentry droid control.

Frynock cue transmuted to strings instead of brass as we descend.

Nice to see a moon that looks like an actual moon. This is a pretty unique location and I’m glad we get to visit it again later in the season.

Ezra planning ahead for trouble because he remembers how this kind of thing can easily go down, kind of a subtle hint at how familiar he is with the workings of the criminal underground.

And it’s a good thing he did because it’s Azmorigan that we’re meeting. Love Ezra’s immediate look of, “Ah hell.” and hiding his face.

“I don’t deal with washed-up old relics!” “Come now, let’s leave your wife out of this.” PFFFKJHGKH HONDO PLZ.

This brief comedic exchange actually kind of gives some insight into Hondo’s changed circumstances. The current criminal overlords consider him outdated, washed up, from a bygone era, an old fool desperately clinging to relevance. It fits because Hondo is a bit of a classic romantic at heart, fond of what we would call “swashbuckling adventure”. It’s the reason he loves the Jedi and thinks back on them wistfully and nostalgically, they represent the kind of dramatic tales and bold feats of a golden era full of opportunity for reward and glory. But there’s no more room for that kind of frivolous excitement under the iron oppressive hand of the Empire, you adapt or you die out, and Hondo refuses to do either.

...Right, now that I’ve given myself feels over a comedic side character let’s move on.

The light woodwind ditties in the soundtrack belie the actual tension of this scene, especially when Ezra has his helmet pulled off. (The cadet helmet he had Sabine paint for him, which he keeps retreating into when he feels unsafe in this episode, the biased shipper in me would like to point out.)

You can practically hear the string of curses inside his head as he tries to hide his face here.

No dice, Azmorigan recognizes him, cue Big Damn Heroes moment from the orange tin can murderhobo himself and a decent little action setpiece. What I’m most impressed with/interested in in this sequence is Ezra himself, how he moves with such skill and finesse.

Also catch me crying remembering when he was tiny enough to hop over his own bound hands like a jumprope. I don’t think that trick would work as well post growth spurt.

An impulsive and genuinely selfless move from Hondo as he pushes Ezra out of the way of the cargo ladder Azmorigan sent rolling at him. And this is before he knows Ezra’s a Jedi so Hondo really basically just took one look at this kid and decided he’d die for him. Which, you know, valid.

This droid is a menace lol.

Ezra takes a risk by using his Force abilities. Fortunately Azmorigan is too busy fleeing for his life from Chopper to see, and Hondo loves Jedi. (See again: classic romanticist at heart.)

“You must have many responsibilities.” “Yeah. Too many at the moment.”

This kid. :(((( He’s under such pressure.

Ezra’s little “Wait a minute.” side look here lol.

And he continues not to enjoy Hondo’s affection ha ha.

It’s cute but also my brain is wandering to the fridge on this one because:

A) Ezra is now comfortable with all the casual touches and gestures of physical affection from the Ghost crew, which mirrors how he’s found a new home with them and no longer belongs in Hondo’s world.

And B) given the events of last episode it’s not surprising Ezra is a bit touchy about weird strangers violating his personal boundaries.

“Maybe I would make a pretty good pirate. Inquisitors don’t hunt them do they?” Honey you are Force Sensitive and already on their radar, hanging out with Hondo would only hide you for so long.

(Yet another thing that’s apparently been on his mind and adding to his anxieties. In light of that his initial refusal to help Vizago makes more sense, the kid has so much on his plate already and just does not want to deal with anything else.)

Lol Ezra talking to Vizago like Vizago’s a problem child he’s babysitting.

Right, this whole scene right here is why I don’t do stories with casts of morally gray protagonists, the constant backstabbing and side-switching are exhausting.

Look, even Ezra’s exhausted. Poor kid needs a nap he looks so tired.

Fortunately for Ezra, Chopper has his back, having put the Phantom on autopilot beforehand. So he winds up not losing the Phantom (this time) and actually accomplishing the mission without really trying.

I do wanna see that missing scene where the Phantom returns to the Ghost and Hera’s all ready to let Ezra have it and then this weird Weequay pops out lolol.

They look so proud, like, “Awww that’s our little gremlin child.”

Aaaaand this little heartwarming look from Hondo is getting to me a bit this time around.

He’s so fond of Ezra ajkhaksfjfh.

Hera’s taking the whole “running off with the Phantom instead of doing his chores” thing remarkably well all things considered. I guess it helps that he lucked into finding some generators.

There is no reason for this shot to be this pretty this is just a hanger.

*sobbing forever about how Hondo functions as narrative foil for how Ezra could have turned out if not for his Found Family and how that’s acknowledged in-text*

SEE PREVIOUS OBSERVATION ABOUT HOW EZRA IS USED TO AND COMFORTABLE WITH CASUAL AFFECTIONATE TOUCHING FROM HIS FAMILY.

I caught a lot of unexpected feels rewatching this episode, I’ve always liked it for being a fun Ezra-focused episode but I’m seeing just how it fits neatly into his character journey. Things got hairy last episode, the stressors and pressure points (Rex and Kanan’s bickering) continue to increase and he got understandably overwhelmed.

The growing pains in his self-identity, questioning whether or not he even wants to be a Jedi at this point, just to get granted a glimpse of what his life might have looked like if he had continued on that self-serving path and realizing how much he’s changed... aaaaaaah I love it!

Another successful Friendship Fetch Quest accomplished.

#star wars #star wars rebels #ezra bridger #rebels rewatch #liveblog #meta rambling #rebels rambles

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threecheersforinking · 2 years

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Character Analysis: Shouya from A Silent Voice

(Spoilers for A Silent Voice/Koe no Katachi)

Shouya Ishida is one of my favorite anime/manga characters ever, and I’ve been meaning to make a post about him. In my opinion, he is the poster child for the perfect redemption arc. I want to talk about some of the reasons why his change of heart was foreshadowed/under the surface right at the beginning, and why we as an audience are rooting for him, despite the horrible things he did to Shouko.

A Silent Voice is currently one of the top anime movies of all time, and while I do really love the movie (KyoAni is amazing) I am a much bigger fan of the manga; it has more time to expand on the characters and introduces some smaller important plot lines. In this post I will be quoting some moments that were in the manga and not the anime, aka, Shouya’s internal monologue. Anyway, let’s get into it. I want to start with why I think Shouya went down the bullying path in the first place.

Environment and Role Models

One of the biggest factors that influenced Shouya’s class’s toxic environment and led him to be a bully was having an uncaring ableist teacher. In the manga, the phrases “something we just have to deal with” and “this is your responsibility”, things that the teacher said to him regarding Shouko, repeatedly echo in Shouya’s mind whenever he interacts with her. At some points, the teacher actually laughs when the other students make fun of Shouko, letting Shouya (as well as the others) believe that it’s an ok thing to do. If Shouya had an adult figure in the classroom with a stronger sense of morality, he might have changed his tune earlier.

Shouya was also highly influenced by his peers (which makes sense because he was literally 11 years old). When another teacher comes into the classroom to explain what sign language is, there’s a very small panel before anyone else says anything, where Shouya thinks “that sounds fun”. At first, he’s interested in sign language and may have been willing to give it a shot. But then, Ueno suddenly starts complaining about how it’s much easier for them to use the notebook than sign language, and Shouya absorbs this and immediately goes back to thinking about how much of an inconvenience Shouko is to him.

Another influence on Shouya’s behavior is his home environment. I do not want to shade Shouya’s mom completely because overall I think she is a loving parent, but unfortunately she was not able to fully be there for her son because she is a single mom with a full time job. Even though he was in a caring home, he was not necessarily in one that gave him enough attention, and by the time Miyako realized what her son was up to it was too late. If she had given him more guidance earlier on in his involvement with Shouko, they may have been able to avoid disaster.

But all of these reasons aren’t excuses, they’re explanations. Regardless of why, Shouya contributed to Shouko’s severe trauma and did unforgivable things. So why do I think he’s the best case for redemption in anime?

Recognition/Guilt

Shouya is repeatedly shown as having actual remorse for his past actions. This is why other bully characters like Ueno and Kawai are seen as far less likable than Shouya. Other people on here might have actual analyses about those two characters, but as for this post all I’m going to say is that I believe they are much more widely hated than Shouya because of their initial denial of having done anything wrong.

It’s also important to remember that Shouya changed his tune as soon as Shouko left. It wasn’t years after she left his school that he realized he was wrong, it was days. He as an 11 year old realized he was wrong for hurting her; he figured it out as soon as he noticed how she was protecting him from being bullied. And once he himself started to be harassed by his peers, he finally recognized the full weight of what he had done to her.

Some might criticize this moment, saying “Shouya only realized bullying was bad because he got bullied himself”, but frankly, what’s so wrong about that? Many kids who bully don’t realize the full extent of the emotional damage they’re doing until it happens to them. Through this experience Shouya was able to realize, “this is how much pain she felt from the things I did to her”. And that unfortunate shared experience is what drives him to have so much guilt and a desire to change.

Change of Behavior

After his realization of the severe damage he had done to Shouko, Shouya started actively being more kind and thoughtful to others. He learned sign language in order to properly apologize to Shouko. He started helping out strangers and not judging people who are different (Tomohiro, Yuzuru). He acknowledged the severe financial strain he put on his mother and worked hard to pay her back.

And the whole point of the ending of the story is that him feeling sorry for himself and hating himself for the rest of his life isn’t going to undo his past behavior. All he can do now is operate with a better mindset going forward and make a positive difference instead.

Obviously, no one should be forced to or feel obligated to forgive their bully/abuser. But the story isn’t about whether Shouko should forgive Shouya, it’s about whether Shouya can change into a better person. I think it’s a very harmful ideology to believe that people who were bullies as children will be the same person forever. The world isn’t divided into ‘good people’ and ‘bad people’, it’s made up entirely of people who are capable of doing both good and bad things. And I really like how the protagonist of A Silent Voice is someone who had done bad things but is now choosing to be different.

Anyway, this was super long so thank you if you read all of it. Please let me know your thoughts on Shouya or any other characters from this movie/manga.

Thanks for reading!

-threecheersforinking

#a silent voice #a silent voice analysis #anime #anime meta #shouya ishida #ishida shouya #the shape of voice #Koe no Katachi #shouko nishimiya #anime review blog #character analysis

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team7-headquarter · 6 months

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You know, it's funny when people write the girls in Naruto being all jealous of each other and willing to fight for "their man", when in canon you have their dynamics being actually kinda cute and the implications going beyond what they feel for a guy, into "what issues led them to that point".

Take Karin and Sakura, for example. In the canon they were made to feel like trash or like they were not enough, helpless, useless, they were abused from the way they looked and made fun of and beaten up for that. Karin was objectified given her healing abilities and Sakura was objectified as an object of affection, someone to protect and love but not someone with agency, not really. Tsunade and Orochimaru took them in and even when it was not saving (because being their apprentices made it worst in some aspects), at least they were capable of fighting for themselves now.

Yeah, they both loved (or had a crush on) Sasuke and the story made of their feelings a recurring comedy gag, like how "obsessed" they were. The point is that, beyond the comedy relief moments, Sakura and Karin genuinely cared for Sasuke and wanted to help him. They wanted to see him safe and happy, to help him accomplish his dreams or goals. They were not perfect, their intentions can be selfish and flawed, but it's the same for almost every character in Naruto. They are no exception.

So when Sakura and Karin leave their safety to go after Sasuke, to go "help him", it's not just 'cause they want to romantically claim Sasuke. It's also about being useful, about feeling others trust them, about reclaiming the control they lost over their own lives, making their own decisions.

No one forced them to go there or be there, no one forced them to care about Sasuke. To say otherwise is to insult them, okay?

There's no reason why they'd help each other. No reason at all. They're strangers, they are enemies, they are kunoichis. Yet, I love the words of those panels because Sasuke calls Karin useless and he says Sakura can replace her. Sakura's fears are spoken out loud about another girl, in that panel, Karin and Sakura are one, reflected in the other. Sakura knows she won't kill the girl, she must be innocent, her target is Sasuke. She can't tho, for the same reason why Karin tells Sasuke to not kill Sakura. For all their crimes as shinobis and for all the violence they have grown used to, they're still soft, they want to do good, they still believe in the friendships they've chosen or still believe in their own choices.

Sakura saves Karin's life right then and Karin feels Sakura's sadness over her, her tears, it's clear that it affects her for the composition of the panels, for her words. Karin has been used and abused once more by someone she trusted, loved even, and now she's seeing a girl just like her but not breaking, but healing her still.

We don't really see Karin and Sakura interacting after that. That's all there is of them together, but it's the same as the Chuning Exam Preliminaries fight of Ino and Sakura. Their relationships with Sasuke were a part of who they were, but they were so much more than that and their dynamics were based on their experiences, not only a boy.

Karin didn't want Sasuke to hurt Sakura. Sakura didn't want Karin to die. Yes, they were on the same bridge, heartbroken over the same boy, but it spoke also of what is like to be a medic nin and a kunoichi at war, what is like to grow from a life of neglect or abuse or bullying or being sidelined to a life where your choices might have terrible horrible consequences, but they are yours.

Later, Karin and Sakura would decide to trust Sasuke again. Save his life. Fight for him. It's their choice to do so, but also, it's their choice to save Tsunade or Naruto and follow Orochimaru or go with Team 7 to fight Kaguya. Their paths cross because of Sasuke, because he knows them both and had worked with them both, but it's not like they'd fistfight over him in other circumstances.

Sakura worried over Hinata loving Naruto and she worried over Hinata putting herself in danger to confess to him, but she could relate. She knew that type of pain herself. Even when Ino was still interested in Sasuke, she was great friends with Sakura because their rivalry was bigger than him, so was their friendship.

In the serious moments, when it really mattered, those girls had each other's backs. To reduce them to fangirls or jealous bitches is insane, when it's most probable they'd work together to save the world or their interests than to destroy each other to see who could marry the boy.

The kinship they feel given the misogyny of the shinobi world and the severity of the lives they lead is stronger than any romance plot!!!!

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bookwyrminspiration · 8 months

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umber and trix.

who were they?

what was the horrible thing that had happened to umber?

why didn't trix leave the neverseen after umber's death?

did they join the neverseen together or separately?

were they a bad match?

how did they meet?

were they banished? or did they leave of their own volition?

did they worry about each other?

was trix ever put off by umber?

did they know each other before they manifested? is that why trix thought highly of umber even after she manifested as a shade?

so many questions . . . would love to hear your thoughts . . . theories . . .

The glimpses we get at their life are truly fascinating--and they do answer some of these questions! According to my skims (and some help from the wiki), it's said Trix joined for Umber, so whether at the same time or after, they were connected--though he was less devoted than her, and he didn't leave because it's what he thinks she would want--but that doesn't mean he'd do anything for them. He still has limits. It's also possible he has nowhere else to go. And he knew her before whatever happened to her, apparently, though we don't know what it is.

I don't have a super strong basis for this, but for some reason I've always thought of whatever happened as something done to her--as in, an active choice someone made, compared to an impartial accident. And since she was a freakishly powerful shade in a world where that's not a good thing, that perhaps it had something to do with that; that maybe she was messing with shadowflux and someone (family, maybe?) saw that and were scared. And so they tried to force her ability/the shadows out of her. So she wouldn't be a shade anymore and would be something "normal" and "better" and stop messing with extreme darkness. But since an ability is an essential part of you that cannot be undone, all it did was hurt and break her. Especially since abilities are centered in the mind and the elven mind is so fragile. And so she's broken (not shattered sanity, this is metaphor) and it's made her spiteful and hateful at the world, making her more devoted, while Trix is more focused on her than the world.

And after what happened, perhaps they fled on their own, or the Neverseen sought them out somehow knowing what had happened and provided an escape into their organization. Perhaps Umber was too broken to do any of it and Trix desperately did it on their behalf, and as Umber healed she became super devoted, and all Trix could do was watch as she became something new and try and stay by her side even though he didn't really want to be there. In my head he's a pretty typical guy his one quirk that led him down this evil path was loving Umber more than everything else.

There is some limited basis for my thinking all this, but again! Not a lot! And I'm not super familiar with their characters, so some things may be contradictory. But this is how they exist in my head at the moment

#kotlc #kotlc umber #kotlc trix #quil's queries #nonsie #long post #if I put another half hour of thought into it I could come up with so much backstory for them #but! it wouldn't be canon it would be like 99% speculation #so. can't say a whole lot about them! but these are my suspicions/interpretations based on current info #so hopefully that is sufficient for the moment--but I am open to talking more about them!

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flynnxhalliday · 4 months

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— BASICS

NAME: Flynn Halliday FACECLAIM: Colin Morgan AGE: May 21, 1988. 35 GENDER & SEXUALITY: Cismale. Pansexual HOMETOWN: NYC AFFILIATION: Law Enforcement JOB POSITION: Detective EDUCATION: High School, Police Academy. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single. CHILDREN: None

— PERSONALITY

POSITIVE TRAITS: Protective, caring, kind hearted, adaptable, considerate NEGATIVE TRAITS: Self conscious, introverted, shy, indecisive, anxious

— BIOGRAPHY

TRIGGER WARNING: Bullying, violence.

Growing up, Flynn's father was not in the picture. However, his mother and his Uncle Rowan always ensured that he knew that he was loved and cared for. They were always there for him, whether he felt like he needed them or not. And at times, he did need them, but Flynn was rarely honest to them about what was happening while he was at school.

At the age of seven, the bullying started. At first, it was about his appearance. His larger head on a scrawny body, was the first of it. Then it was his ears. His voice. The way he tried to style his hair. Then, it was his socially awkward and introverted behavior. The way he sat by himself at lunch, or the way he was quiet in class and refused to answer questions.

Academically, Flynn excelled. But over the years, with the consistant bullying, he did his best to hide that. He didn't want to give his bullies yet another reason to abuse him. And abuse, they did. It wasn't just words they threw at him. Every now and then, he'd be hit, kicked, or spit on. And Flynn to all of it. He wanted to be the bigger person. There were times when he even tried to talk to the bullies -- to try to see if they'd stop. But nothing he did ever worked.

By the time he was seventeen, he'd endured ten years of it. But, Flynn was hopeful. He had worked extremely hard to graduate a year early, just so he could be done with school. He was almost out of the situation he'd been in for a decade. That was until one of his bullies saw him outside of school. Flynn had been on his way to the book store, just a block away, when his classmate grabbed him and dragged him around a corner and into the darkness of an ally.

At first, he didn't fight back. Flynn had tried that in the past, only to be held down by others. But then, as the other's hands wrapped around his neck and began shoving him harshly into the outer wall of a building, Flynn snapped. He attacked his bully with everything he had, throwing as many punches and cicks as he could. He beat him until the other was unconscious and that's when he realized what he'd truly done.

Flynn called his Uncle Rowan first. He was like a father to him and Flynn knew that his Uncle would help him in any way he could. And while his bully sustained several critical injuries, he survived.

To this day, Flynn hates himself for what he did but he tries to not let that one incident define him. He's not a violent person and he never wants to be again, which is what led him down the career path of law enforcement. He wants to be like his Uncle, to help people who can't help themselves, in the correct way.

He just hopes that it's enough to make up for what he did.

— WANTED CONNECTIONS / PLOTS

SHORT TIME EXES - Flynn only has one ex. This is due to the fact that he his horrible at navigating relationships. He is a very giving and kind person in a relationship, but he has no idea how to maintain one and tends to constantly second guess himself. He is also not great at sharing much about himself, as he's unsure as to why anyone would want to know or care to know. This relationship could have lasted a month, or several. But ultimately, was not sustainable.

PAST CLASSMATES - Anyone who might have went to high school with him. They'd have seen what he went through. Whether they tried to talk to him in classes, avoided him, etc. Up for anything!

ENEMIES - This could be the kids who bullied him in school, or people who don't like him because he's a Detective. Maybe they've had a run in with him.

COWORKERS - They work together! Could be friends, aquaintances, etc.

#{ flynn } « biography #tw bullying #tw violence

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navree · 1 year

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Why do you like Aegon's suicide theory? I feel it's extremely sad and pretty grim ending for him

The thing is, Aegon's death is always going to be sad and grim. No matter what, it's someone who has been put through the absolute ringer, not just emotionally but physically as well, dying an ignoble death without a chance to feel a moment's calm. It's Aegon literally never knowing peace or joy in his reign and his death reflecting that. And we know Aegon died of poison, so the other option is murder. That's also sad and grim, that Aegon was prepared to keep on fighting and go down swinging but he was cut down, backstabbed and betrayed, by people he trusted to be by his side, torn from what precious remnants of his family he had without even a say. It's fucked up no matter which way you look at it.

But why do I prefer the theory that Aegon chose to kill himself? I answered in more detail about why I think it makes sense for his character here, but the main reason I like it is this: it gives Aegon agency. Aegon didn't choose to be born. He didn't choose to be in the middle of the problems his mother and Rhaenyra had. He didn't choose for his dad to fuck everything up. He didn't choose to be the eldest son. And he certainly didn't choose to become king, we saw that he was dragged kicking and screaming and begging to the Iron Throne in spite of what he wanted. Aegon was led to his fate, to all the horrible things that happened, like a lamb to the slaughter, forcing down the tears already on his face because he didn't have a choice. He had no say in what happened to him, it was predetermined by the actions of others long before he was born and by the very customs of the world in which he lives. That's the great tragedy to him, that there was no other way, no other option. But, everyone else be damned, Aegon will choose how he dies. Aegon knowing that he's in an unwinnable situation, and already sinking into despair, but deciding that at least he's going to go out on his own terms is good. Aegon choosing to take his life into his own hands just once, even if it's at the end, Aegon having this one moment of agency where he's the one making choices, where he's the one controlling his own destiny and his own path, I find that powerful.

It's sad and it's grim, yes, but it does offer some sort of catharsis, Aegon being able to make this one decision, being master of his own fate for this one moment. Aegon didn't choose to be born, no, he didn't choose any of this, but he's damn sure that he'll choose how he dies, and no one can take that away from him once he does it. It offers a resolution to him as a person and to his arc as a character that I feel isn't present if he's just murdered. And since we're turning this from a history book where these kinds of fruitless, sad, grimdark things can Just Happen, because that's how history works, into a proper narrative, I think it's stronger for the story as well, not just as a send off to Aegon.

#personal #answered #anonymous #some of the most heartrending stories are the ones where there literally was never any choice #that it was always going to be this way and you don't get a say in that #so aegon getting to throw that off and make this one choice for himself #yeah i fuck with that really hard #and i think it gives him something that he wouldn't get if it's just out and out murder by corlys and larys

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phantasmaw · 7 months

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I think to elaborate on the objectively normal to objectively horrible sapphic spectrum that you can find on phantasmaw dot gov it's like

Rosalie sits as close to the end of objectively normal as I can provide. She's a #girl in the world. She loves writing with glittery pens and she likes stomping around in the woods and all she wants to do is make friendly contact with aliens or any other "unnatural" life form. She also just casually happens to be friends with primordial ooze that possesses and puppeteers a spliced-up corpse that has, over time, become more and more horrific via the ooze's influence (the ooze being Amby). But she's a healthy and spunky sort of weird I wouldn't categorically call unwell. Canonically she does go through a few horrors but her morals are as stand up as any other person. She wants to show the type of understanding and acceptance only a certified weird girl can.

And on the objectively horrible end there's Imelda and Annabel. Now listen I could list Etoile here too very easily but surprisingly she is not as objectively horrible as Imelda or Annabel but that's only by a margin so she really shouldn't celebrate it (and she wouldn't, she'd act like my words are a bullet that just shot through her heart). Imelda's all about the fester and the obsession and the infatuation and letting love consume you until it's not love anymore but a parasite leeching off every aspect of your personhood. Also she eats people pretty regularly. Annabel was a very sweet and naive but dedicated and well-learned girl but she went through the negative character development wiggler after starting college and letting her unchecked victim complex run wild. She does not care what she has to do she WILL be the best. Also she eats people pretty regularly too. This is the part where I say they should kiss but they honestly shouldn't. They don't both need to lose their lips at the same time, I think?

Etoile, for her part, does not eat people pretty regularly and in fact has never done so. I have good reason to doubt she ever would. She's just awful in the sense that she has to be so incredibly insufferable or else she wouldn't be much of anything at all on account of the internal crystallization, and also she believes that's the only good way to get to know people, by seeing their anger and dismissal and perturbed avoidance first. I hesitate to say with my full chest that her life path has led her to assisting in perpetuating the same cyclical pains she suffered through because canonically speaking, and in the right plots/threads, she's very actively dismantling it. But I can say with my full chest that she's still incredibly manipulative and a womanizer and will take the worst route to get to where she's going because she's here for A Time not a long time.

Then there are the ones more solidly in the middle. Chaewon in truth is only in the middle because he respects the history of life too much to have dalliances with destructive tendencies and such. He is however quite knowingly selfish and possessive and the kind of person who will at least partially turn his back on good common sense for a little while if it means getting to continue to be selfish. By his clan's standards he's one of the worst children to ever be born because of taking a more individualistic approach to solve a group problem. Tough love that's sometimes not entirely just love kind of vibe. Chaewon also would eat a person but hasn't yet. I don't know if I should emphasize yet. But I mean, probably would if it was a shared meal with a loved one because why would he pass up that opportunity. Edelweiss is a little less in the middle and more on Rosalie's end. Milf I think? Or in that zone because she doesn't have children. Hypothetical milf. Long history of cowardice and then compromise with no real plan and now she lets people run away to her and her inn so they can sort their shit before she scoots them back out the door to face their problems.

Lenore is Lenore I don't know how to unpack that one. I think the most succinct way is 'my dick has led me to places I wouldn't go with a gun' if you get involved with them because they're like Silent Hill: The Person(thing).

#〈♢*〉 the horrors are incomprehensible to you; im in their dms ╲ ooc #not putting this under a read more. Read About My Sapphics Boy.#about : rosalie #about : imelda #about : annabel #about : chaewon #about : edelweiss #about : lenore

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