#you can’t just Decide that someone isn’t the protagonist because you don’t like them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

heyimdove · 9 months

Text

More on why Persuasion is the real Jane Austen parallel to Aziracrow, and why Pride and Prejudice is not, because I can’t stop dwelling.

There’s a lot here so I’ll try to structure this in a way that makes sense. Wish me luck.

I’ve seen so many people equate Aziraphale to Lizzie and Crowley to Darcy, but these comparisons don’t make sense. Character-wise, they are far more like Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth, respectively.

We’ll start with Elizabeth Bennet, who I love with all my heart and is one of those characters I feel like I know (I’m delusional, it’s fine). Elizabeth is wonderfully intelligent, but she isn’t “accomplished” and isn’t a perfect specimen of Regency womanhood. Instead she’s sharp and headstrong. She wants to live how she wants and with someone she loves for a partner. She rejects a match that is, on paper, perfect and would solve all her family’s problems, because she won’t settle for unhappiness. You know who that doesn’t sound like?

Aziraphale, were he a Regency Era woman, would be considered very accomplished for the time; well-read, polite, even a music tutor. But he’s more unlike Elizabeth because he desires to “do what’s best for the family”. In other words, if Elizabeth Bennet was more like Aziraphale, she’d be married to Mr. Collins. She would’ve considered it her duty to marry him because it would protect her loved ones (see Aziraphale accepting the Metatron). For Aziraphale, his duty to protect trumps his personal desire.

So does that make Crowley our Lizzie? No, that doesn’t fit either, and not only because Aziraphale makes a terrible Darcy. Sure, Aziraphale’s status as an angel might be considered comparable to Darcy’s elevated status as a rich person, but Crowley has never hated Aziraphale, never even considered it, and wouldn’t hate him even after the rejection. Lizzie’s hatred is what spurs Darcy to grow. Darcy needed to be completely despised by her to decide to put in the work to be worthy of her.

Okay, so then is Crowley Darcy? Perhaps we could shoehorn that in somewhere because Darcy doesn’t seem good but actually is, or is considered grouchy, but it’s such a loose connection, it barely works-

-Especially when you consider how much better the two fit as the protagonists of Persuasion.

(And yes, shut up, I liked the Dakota Johnson one and I will be using the gifs.)

Where Pride and Prejudice is about two different people gradually seeing the value in the other, Persuasion is the story of two different people seeing the value in the other right from the start, but who then repeatedly make mistakes that keep them separate and in agony.

Aziraphale is *so* much like Anne. First, Anne is the only reasonable (read: likable) member of her high-born family, who believe people in other societal castes to not only be inferior, but disgusting.

Anne sees this is not true, and falls madly in love with the low-born Wentworth- only to be persuaded by outside input not to marry him. Station and familial duty play a part in this decision, and she regrets it for years. She is completely unable to move on.

Like Aziraphale, Anne is certainly more accomplished, for one thing, and she plays by the rules of women of her time and status. BUT her sense of mortality breaks often from that of her family. When she tries to impart her good morals upon them, they are dismissive and insulting, reacting as if Anne is the one who “doesn’t get it”.

She spends eight years with a family she barely belongs to, wondering why she ever thought the company of people like this was worth the loss of Wentworth.

For all of Anne’s kindness, she is a pushover. She’s rarely confident in herself. When she needs to speak up, or just have a direct conversation with Wentworth, she doesn’t. She can’t. She repeatedly makes Wentworth come to her.

Wentworth, meanwhile, is a far better match for Crowley than Darcy is. Wentworth will never be an aristocrat like the Elliots, but he carves out a life he considers valuable using new rules. Sound familiar?

Are Wentworth’s and Crowley’s morals obviously a bit different? Yes, of course. Crowley is a DEMON, after all. But Crowley conducts himself in such a way that he’s literally cast out of Heaven and removed from Hell- in other words, he’s twice been given “the rules” for how to act and has twice decided, nah, that’s not for me. Wentworth was given the rules for what he could have as a low-born man and became a wealthy, high-ranking naval officer. And Wentworth didn’t do that for love, either. He found the consideration of one’s wealth in determining whether they should be loved abhorrent. Wentworth did it for himself initially (bitterly too, maybe), just like Crowley saves the goats and the kids for himself.

And, of course, Crowley’s confession parallels Wentworth’s position in relation to Anne far more than Darcy’s position to Lizzie. Crowley says “if they (two apparent opposites) can do it, so can we,” because he knows he and Aziraphale love each other. At the start of Persuasion, Wentworth asks Anne to be his wife despite their differing societal rank because he knows they love each other. At the end of Persuasion, he asks again because he knows they have both been in agony, that they both love each other as much as they ever did.

Darcy, meanwhile, does not know if Lizzie loves him, but arrogantly believes she will accept on the basis that what he can offer her monetarily is better than what anyone else can, not knowing what she actually values. She demolishes him.

On that note, that’s really the only parallel between Aziracrow and Darcy/Lizzie, only Aziraphale is Darcy. Aziraphale believed Crowley would accept his offer because he believed Crowley would want to be an angel again. Crowley believed Aziraphale would accept his offer because he knew they loved each other.

These are all very different characters, but ultimately, I think we were gunning for Pride and Prejudice and wound up with Persuasion; the slowest, most agonizing burn with the most beautiful reunion. So we didn’t get “you have bewitched me, body and soul,” in S2. We got the events leading up to Persuasion, and will have S3 to watch them play out. Neil knows that Aziraphale and Crowley’s relationship is the most compelling part of the story, so I doubt they’ll be separated for long. But everything is so messy, isn’t it? So it makes sense to keep them, like Anne and Wentworth, in close proximity, in mutual, bitter, unspoken pining, but still not together. It will be absolutely delicious to watch. Isn’t that what we loved the most from S1?

Because we know they love each other. And whatever catalyzing event forces them to say it out loud will be all the better if every moment they don’t say it hurts. I don’t want a “you have bewitched me” moment, I want “I’m half agony, half hope.”

#good omens #jane austen #meta #ineffable divorce #crowley #aziraphale #aziracrow #pride and prejudice #persuasion #im in pain #im in so much pain

762 notes · View notes

jals-stuff · 18 days

Text

short washing machine headcanons...

How would the Mashle characters react if they found their s/o stuck in the washing machine? + personal ratings (I know, no one asked)

For Mash, Dot, Finn, Lemon, Lance, Rayne, Abel, Abyss, Wirth, Margarette, Carpaccio, Orter, Renatus, Ryoh, Kaldo.

Warnings: SLIGHT spoiler for Margarette? Other than that, none. ratings are purely subjective, please don't bury me alive.

Note: none of this is canon so some charas might be ooc, don’t take it too seriously! Might write for Domina, Meliadoul, Famin and Delisaster one day, idk

MASH...

He’s probably busy eating or making cream puffs when he hears you call for help. It isn’t common for you to do such a thing so he freaks out a little bit at first, but upon finding out the mess you’ve made while trying to empty the washing machine, he just stands there, completely dumbfounded.

He’s a little dense, so it takes him a minute or two to figure out that you’re actually stuck. He’s never been in this situation before, therefore he’s sweating a little and panicking internally. “T-t-t-t-this is bad. I-I-I have to help them out.”

Pulling on your legs would be a terrible idea, considering his strength, and he’s just completely clueless on how to get you out.

Would 100% rip open the washing machine and leave you completely astonished as he does so, then pat your shoulder in a comforting way with a thumbs up.

Overall very cute, even tried to comfort you after such a “traumatising” ordeal. 8/10.

DOT...

He thinks he’s the main character, we all know it. He’s probably checking himself out in the mirror and saying cool protagonist lines when he hears you call out for help, and suddenly, his main quest has changed!

He walks in on you, stuck head first in the washing machine, and much like Mash, he just looks at you for a bit before taking in the situation. Of course, he’s going to help you, but he needs to gloat about it first, you know it.

“Damn, how could you ever get out of here without my help, huh?” He’d just take on dramatic poses that he assumes are cool (they are not), and try to pull you out by himself. “Can’t be helped, huuuh?”

Despite all his efforts, he doesn’t manage to get you out and he just starts mumbling things about the washing machine being a worthy opponent before actually grabbing his phone and calling someone for help.

Dot is just being Dot, after all, but he’s full of good intentions. 5/10, at least you had a good laugh..?

FINN...

Finn immediately interrupts his studying when he hears you call out for him, and he’s running like his own life depends on it! “What’s wrong, (Y/N)?!”

Upon seeing you stuck in there head first, he gets into panic mode! It isn’t completely horrible either and it’s just purely annoying to be stuck, but Finn sees it differently. If you called for help, then SURELY you must be terrified or in pain!

He’s going to pace around the room for a minute, wondering “How do I get them out? How do I get them out? How do I get them out?” before deciding that he’s going to take it step by step!

Gently guides you out of the washing machine without too much trouble and doesn’t judge you even once for it! He gives you a big hug afterwards because he’s convinced you were very scared (you weren’t, but he was)!

I physically cannot give Finn anything under 9/10. He is bebe.

LEMON...

She’s probably making a cute keychain for you when you call out for her. She will make you her utmost priority and cheerily trot up to you. “Yeeees~ what is it?”

You’re… stuck. She blushes dramatically and screams out something like “Kyaaah! Just like in those movies! You perv!” But then carefully inspect the position you’re in and how the hell you got stuck in there.

She’s going to try pretty much everything in her power, from pulling you out to switching your position and figuring out a way to painlessly get you out of there…

And eventually get you out! However, be warned: she will give you the side eye with a blush every time she sees you for at least a month and giggle. Who knows what’s going through her head?

Helpful, cute, and funny. 8/10 would recommend.

LANCE...

He’s reading a book when you call for him. He will automatically assume something bad happened (well, technically yes, but.. yeah) and quickly run to the laundry room. “(Y/N), what happened?!”

Looks down on you without you knowing. The display is pretty ridiculous and laughable, but he won’t make a sound. He’s just going to pat your back. “I’ll get you out of here.”

He’s a very smart guy, so he just has to look at the way you’re stuck for a few seconds before figuring out the most efficient way to help you, and it takes him very little time.

Will sigh and shake his head in disapproval, but internally scream when you pout at him for sighing because he thinks you’re adorable. He’s going to look away and clear his throat so you can’t see his blush.

Efficient and definitely nice, he won’t even tease you about it. He did look down on you though, 7/10.

RAYNE...

Where is he anyway? He’s taking his sweet time when you call for him, and when he does finally arrive, you’re met with his usual neutral voice. “Yes, I heard you calling the first time.”

You can’t tell, but when he walks in on you stuck like this, he gives you the look… but again, it’s probably his neutral face. How’d you get stuck in there anyway? You really can’t do anything by yourself, can you?

Much like Lance, he’s extremely smart, so he’s going to pull you out of there very quickly, and he sighs while doing so. How can you be so clumsy? It’s almost as if you did it on purpose.

He’s about to lecture you but notices that you’re very embarrassed and can’t even look him in the eyes, so his expression softens just a little and he decides not to say anything mean and just gives you a comforting pat on the head. “Don’t get stuck again, alright?”

Very thoughtful despite the cold look he gives you, efficient and nice. 8/10.

ABEL...

Abel rarely stays away from you for very long, so he was probably there when it happened and he saw you getting stuck. He also noticed how you couldn’t get out by yourself. “It appears you need some help.”

You’re now aware that he saw you and it’s just fully embarrassing, but he’s part of the clever ones, so you’re pretty sure he will help you out quickly. Or will he? He’s always been a little odd, even around you anyway.

It’s really curious to him, how you managed to get stuck that fast yet you just can’t get out by yourself. Will definitely ask if you did it on purpose while keeping a straight face and blank tone.

Gets you out in a longer time than he should’ve because he was busy trying to understand how you got in there in the first place. He won’t judge you for it, but he will absolutely bring it up around other people like it’s no big deal.

It’s nice that he was already there, did help, but embarrasses you in front of your friends. 6/10

ABYSS...

No matter what he’s doing when you call out for him or where he is, he will Acceleraise his way to you immediately! You are his top 1 priority!

He will however take a second to appreciate the display and chuckle a little bit to himself like “Hah… cute.” before actively looking for a solution because he can literally feel your embarrassment.

“How did you manage to do this?” He mumbles, and makes sure that you aren’t hurt or in any pain first of all. He will 100% reassure you through the whole process!

Abyss is smart and will get you out quickly and without making fun of you. Unlike Abel, he won’t mention it around anyone else, and makes a self note: needs to buy a bigger washing machine so you don’t get stuck again.

Sweet and efficient, very nice and comforting. 10/10, would get stuck again.

WIRTH...

He’s training and trying to improve his capacities when you call out for him. He’s used to you getting into such and such situations, so he just takes his time now. “What is it this time, (Y/N)?”

A bit dumbfounded when he sees the way you’ve managed to get stuck, will crackle up in laughter because as used as he is to see stuff like that with you, it always manages to surprise him.

He’s going to keep giggling as he helps you through, and you just wish you could wipe that smirk off his face but you can’t really do anything and just wait for him to help.

He even hesitates and feels like he should leave you like that, but he doesn’t want you to be upset at him, so he will get you out pretty easily and tease you about it later on. “Aww, c’mon, don’t sulk now~!”

Kind of a jerk, but in a lovable way. You need to find something to tease him back with, 7/10 though.

MARGARETTE...

They’re probably rehearsing or composing another one of these musical masterpieces to play on the piano when their beloved calls out for help.

They’ll gently chuckle and crouch down next to you. “Oh my! How’d you get in such a situation, dear?” Their arms are a little too bulky to reach out for you from the outside, so they’ll shift into their true form and easily reach for your shoulders so they can pull you out!

Margarette is one of the smart characters and will get you out of the washing machine in no time, very gently and gracefully, making sure you don’t get hurt or anything in the process.

Will give you a hug and gentle pats on the head to comfort you. “There, there~.” They won’t tease you about it nor make fun, but will definitely chuckle a little upon remembering it.

A mother figure, very nice and gentle. Cannot wait to hear the masterpiece they were busy composing, 10/10.

CARPACCIO...

He’s experimenting on lab rats and seems very engrossed with his occupation, so it will take him a little bit of time to hear you calling out for him.

Freezes when he sees you stuck head first inside the washing machine and stares blankly without a word for way longer than necessary. He’s got a little smirk and his lower eyelids rise up in amusement.

“Heh.” is all you can hear before he makes his way towards you and inspects you while he considers leaving you like this for a bit longer because it sure as hell is funny for him. But he knows you’ll be upset and he doesn’t want you to give him the silent treatment.

If he doesn’t find a quick way to get you out, he will stab his way through the washing machine (and give you a good scare as he does that) to free you! Terrifyingly sweet, he’s just staring with a very slight smirk and you know he will tease you about it.

Mean but at least he helped you out. You got scared for your life even though you know he wouldn’t hurt you. 7/10

ORTER...

He’s reading a book and he’s sure as hell he heard you call for him. He will carefully put down his book and look for the source of the muffled cry he just heard.

Despite being quite the jerk around others, Orter is a mature man, and he isn’t going to make any snarky remarks or make fun of you. He will sigh upon seeing you squirm, crouching next to you to check the mess you’ve been making.

“Calm down. If you’ve managed to find a way in, there’s obviously a way out.” Very rational throughout the whole process and effectively gets you out of the washing machine, inspecting you afterwards to make sure you aren’t hurt.

Much like Abyss, he will make a mental note to buy a larger washing machine, and kindly help you back up without teasing you or ever bringing it up around anyone else. If you apologise, he’ll tell you it’s nonsense.

Very logical and calm, efficient and polite. 10/10.

RENATUS...

Sure as hell taking a nice nap when he hears that scream of his name that could wake up the dead. He groans and stands up to lazily make his way to the laundry room.

He whistles when he sees you stuck there and gives a snarky chuckle. “Woah, just for me?” and you can physically feel your face heat up. He’s going to get closer to check the way you’re stuck and…

Whack! He’ll give your butt a playful slap before helping you out and laughing out loud at the ridiculous situation. After all, it’s not everyday that he gets to see his s/o in such an embarrassing state!

He will however stop teasing you if he sees you get uncomfortable and wrap his arms around your waist to comfort you with a softer chuckle. He might tease you later if he ever remembers this happened.

Again, jerk but in a lovable way. You need to give him that spank back tho, 7/10.

RYOH...

Like Abyss, you are his utmost priority and he will immediately drop anything he’s doing (probably admiring his reflection in a mirror) when he hears you call out for him!

He’ll chuckle when he sees you stuck in there, and you can tell his mind is running! But there is no time for this. If Ryoh's s/o is stuck in the washing machine, he must overcome this trial!

Will get you out in a manly way (whatever that means!) and you’ll even wonder how he did it so easily, that’s how flawless his whole performance is.

He might tease you if you’re comfortable with it, winking at you way too many times and making it pretty obvious what kind of ideas he has. If you aren’t, it’s also fine, he’s just going to cuddle you into forgetting it.

Ryoh is just a W man. There’s nothing else to say, 10/10.

KALDO...

It’s good that you called him, he was about to ruin yet another perfectly fine dish by pouring an ungodly amount of honey on top of it. He will pout in disappointment but come check what’s up.

“(Y/N), dear, are you having fun in there~?” He teases with a chuckle. “Can I join?” But upon hearing your frustrated groan, he will go into thinking mode and consider his options.

His first thought is to use honey to make it easier to pull you out, but he quickly dismisses it. He will, instead, pull on your clothes to avoid hurting your skin when you get out.

Will get you out, but your clothes are ruined, so he’ll give you his coat so you can cover up and not be too embarrassed. He might bring it up later and pretend he forgot how embarrassing it was for you, but really, he just wants to tease you.

Playful and cute, but he did ruin that shirt you liked a lot. 7/10.

208 notes · View notes

spicyicetea · 4 months

Text

So I got the new Pokemon DLC for Christmas and I’m on a big Pokemon kick currently so I’m going to give a gift to my fellow Pokémon lovers. Now I’m more well known for Yandere work but I also do love doing more soft romantic stuff. It heals my traumatised self. So I’ve decided to go through all Pokémon games I’ve played and write romantic and yandere sfw+slight Nsfw headcannons for every character I personally like. [No DLC content because I haven’t played any of them yet]. If there are any characters I haven’t done that anyone wants, either comment or request and I can add it onto this post. Merry late Christmas!

As mentioned before, these posts will contain NSFW topics like violence and sexual references, so if you’re triggered by these topic please be careful. The reader in this is also a Fem reader, I can redo this post for a Masc or GN reader if wanted but I’m writing it as Fem currently is just easiest for me. I don’t describe appearance like skin colour or hair but I do write the Y/N with a curvy figure in mind (I can’t help myself, I love thick thighs IM SORRY-)

Kanto

Red

Ah the original silent protagonist. I love this man so much, even more after his cameo is Sun and Moon. I’m not sure what it is about him but he has this strange allure to him, although I doubt that’s a unique opinion on silent characters. Anyway, onto the headcannons.

This is almost a given with the silent types but I feel like he is an amazing listener, only ever nodding to show he’s still listening or giving small “mhms”

You’re probably the only one he comfortably talks to other than Blue.

In public he likes holding your hand, he often communicates through squeezing your hand or fiddling with your fingers.

Psychic boyfriend No.1

This man can just tell what you need, when you need it. Whether it’s comfort cuddles after a bad day of for period troubles.

Speaking of period troubles, this man not only will buy you whatever you need, he’ll wash the sheets, run you a bath and let you use him as a personal heater.

Yandere + NSFW

This man doesn’t open up to people easily yet you made him fall apart.

You made him stutter, drop things and slip up in battles when you cheered for him, he’s whipped.

You were the only woman that’s ever caught his attention and you aren’t leaving him anytime soon.

So get used to him possessively having a hand on you at all times, glaring daggers at any other person you pay attention to.

He’s a very private person so isn’t one to leave marks on you openly, but he does take great pleasure in leaving dark marks on your thighs.

Speaking of thighs… he’s a giver, do what you want with that.

Blue

Ah the smug bastard rival, and I promise you… he’s still insufferable, but in a loving way.

Bullies you playfully. A day doesn’t go by where he doesn’t mess up your hair and trip you up.

But he loves you truly.

You could not have asked for a more cuddly man, I didn’t expect to have this headcannon but I imagine this man is very eager to stay cuddled up to you as much as possible.

Although he talks a lot and loves it when you compliment him, I also think he’s a good listener, but like I’m a hype man way.

He’ll sit by the bathroom door while you’re in the bath letting you vent about anything you want just egging you on. “Wow she sounds like a bitch-“

A man who loves PDA, it’s his favourite way of staking his claim on your beautiful self.

Yandere + NSFW

Has dated his fair share of girls, but he wants you so bad.

He will fight for you, no matter what. This man will abuse whatever position he has to impress you. A relative of the professor’s, ex Champion, and a gym leader. He will do whatever he can to have you.

He is incredibly touchy, the moment other people aren’t looking, his hands are under your shirt. Nibbling your neck and kissing your earlobes. Actually he’d do that even with people watching,

Although he’d be mighty mad if someone watched your gorgeous body, he might even hurt someone.

Brock

This man is underrated.

The most loveable family man you’ll ever meet.

He loves to cook for you. Everyday. Please let this man make you breakfast in bed.

In fact no, he wants you to cook with him. All romantic. His chest to your back, whispering sweet nothings in your ears while you chop up vegetables.

If you get along with his siblings, he will propose to you on the spot.

Very openly affectionate, but never goes further than a hug in public… ok maybe you can get a kiss on the cheek.

Yandere + NSFW

This man has a breeding kink… you can’t change my mind.

He wants a nice big family and the idea of you, heavy and round with his baby. Not to mention how your… other assets will change.

Will happily suffocate in your tits, and if you’re pregnant, he will help relieve any discomfort you have.

If another man hurt you in any way, he’s going to go… missing. He’d break a man in half over his knee for you, and his Onix is very strong.

Lance

Am I the only one who would smash? Yes? No? Alrighty-

He’s always hits me as a someone who likes spending time with his lover in silence.

Not opposed to PDA but gets worried about his fans potentially harassing you, let’s you borrow his dragonite to escort you between towns.

Away from the public and just with his friends (elite four mainly) he loves to have you by his side, often whispering things about his day to you, information he only shares with you.

Also a man who is very hot, like he’s warm constantly, will be the best snuggler when it’s cold.

Yandere + NSFW

Originally I thought this man would be rather… vanilla but I feel like he’d be into wax play. I can’t explain it, but I can picture him loving to spill wax all over your tits.

For the more yandere side of things, he’s the strongest dragon trainer in Kanto. He will use his influence to make himself your only option, not that you’d realise, he’s not an idiot.

Giovanni

BARK BARK BARK GRRR MAFIA DADDY-

Your relationship is hidden very well from most people, you don’t get to villain status with a clean record and no enemies.

Despite that, you love a life of luxury baby.

He loves nothing more than to pamper you. His beautiful girl sat on his lap, with her hair all done up and nails all pretty. Now that’s the life.

Yandere + NSFW

I think he has great Yandere potential.

You sat comfortably on his lap in his office, his hands trailing comfortably under your skirt.

He loves watching you squirm as his fingers traces tight circles- well that’s all you get for now.

As I mentioned before, I believe he’d default to yandere to be honest.

He would not hesitate to kidnap but I like the idea that he’d try and woo you first. Dinner dates… wine… murdering his competitors.

Yeah, he’d be a yandere.

Johto

(I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never played these ones so I have no significant opinion on any of the characters)

Hoenn

Steven

This is just a crow in a human form, mr I love shiny rocks (me fr fr)

His love language is most definitely gift giving. Your shared house is littered with crystals and shiny things he’s found over his travels.

He loves to press kisses all over your fingers, buying you as many rings as possible for you and him to match. If he buys himself a new ring you’re getting one too.

Loves showing you off to the elite four, and begs that his dad approves. Not that he needs his approval but it’d be awkward if he didn’t.

Yandere + NSFW

Possessive as fuck.

You ain’t getting away from him easily. He will track you down as long as he needs to before you calm down and quit running away.

Loves pampering you once you behave though.

He kisses up your legs to your thighs, such passionate loving words followed by the mantra of “dirty girl” and “slut”

Maxie

Ok all the villains just radiate Yandere energy- so they’re all gonna be pure yandere + NSFW warning

This man doesn’t have it in him to kidnap someone… oh wait that’s a lie.

When he met you that all changed

He needs you, he would hurt anyone to get you to himself.

He’d leave dark bites on your neck, massaging your hips to tangle you together.

Another man I think would be into wax play, also a corruption kink. (No I won’t elaborate)

Archie

Big brute of a man… he’s going to make you beg for his mercy.

He loves holding you in his lap, cradling you delicately while he peppers kisses along your neck.

Will bite you, this man is a shark and will leave slightly bloody bite marks all over your body.

This man eats pussy for breakfast, you will never not cum first, a truly good man.

He is far more eager to kill a man to prove his love for you than he should be.

Sinnoh

I’ll be honest I tried to but I’m tired and I’m just going to be writing Yandere and NSFW headcannons. I’m sorry people-

Barry

This boy is so happy to finally have met someone who loves him… you’re not allowed to leave, he’ll cry.

For some reason I see this mans as wanting a family… he wants to be a more present father than his own.

Not one to leave marks on you but will beg you to stay home so he can cuddle and pamper you all day.

When he eventually takes over the battle frontier (he so would you can’t tell em otherwise) he will use that position to “protect you”.

Cyrus

Ah yes, the cold emotionless man who falls for a sweet woman and kills all competition… I approve!

PDA? Who is that? The most you’ll get from him is his hand on your shoulder moment before he orders team galactic to handle someone who was making moves on you.

That doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you. You’re the only woman he could ever love.

He lays awkwardly in bed but melts when your head rests on his chest, that was when the yandere switch flipped and he locked you in his apartment.

At least the man lays some good pipe, also this man has a bondage kink cause I said so.

Unova

Elesa

You think that the world won’t notice the famous model and gym leader with a girl on her arm. You’re going to end up centre of the Unova news for the next month.

She loves this though, now everyone knows you belong to her, and anyone who ignores that will just get zapped.

Prepare to share clothes, and prepare for her to watch you undress, she can’t help herself.

The woman loves to zap you, just lightly though, you’ll live… and probably cum.

Emmett + Ingo

Yes you get both, these two are a package deal ok?

Now… prepare to never leave their sight.

They want you at every battle, cheering them on, cuddling with the Joltiks or napping in their office using their coats as blankets.

Now… ok these two are kinky. They just are-

Ingo is 100% a family man, big breeding kink.

I think Emmett is more, adventurous, bondage and impact play seems right in my opinion.

Love to… “threaten” to throw people on the tracks when they flirt with you.

Aww what a sweet little thing, come and give me a hug- now time to hide you away where no one can ever see you again!

Honestly, he probably fell for you after seeing your relationship with your Pokemon. Almost every Pokemon you see likes you.

He’s very possessive over you. It’s no secret that he was raised in an incredibly unhealthy way, so he can’t exactly discern between inappropriate and appropriate behaviour in pursuing his courtship with you.

Now onto more NSFW art themes, he 100% praises you constantly and makes sure you’re tended to first. Often ends up super pent up because he wants to take care of you but sometimes go so far and overstimulates you. Don’t worry, the aftercare is amazing though.

Ghetsis

. . . Bastard

I’m only including this mother fucker because he’s so evil he’d be one of the most extreme Yanderes out of all of them. And because if still smash because I’m sinful-

The moment he sees you and falls for you, you can bet you’re getting kidnapped, sorry you just are.

I would bet money that he is the most possessive out of all of them but, and hear me out, would also be kinda attentive?

I can totally picture him being cold and accidentally upsetting you only to spend the rest of the next day showering you on gifts.

You’d also be seen as a god to the rest of team plasma, so enjoy being worshipped.

Oh and NSFW… spanking, degrading and tying you up, enjoy

Colress

Ah yes, my adorable scientist that I think is a kinky motherfucker-

He would make a collar to track you when you leave his side, he isn’t too keen on the idea of locking you insider after all.

Wouldn’t kidnap you but would murder the competitors.

Anyway onto the kinks I think would suit him…

He’d 100% make different types of vibrators so he can cuff you to the bed and watch you squirm. Considered making you a ball gag but he gets off on your moans, that does mean he ends up edging you before fucking you himself.

Kalos

Lysandre

Sugar daddy

I could leave that like that but fine fine I’ll feed you horny bastards.

He parades you around more than any of the others, always making sure you’re wearing the finest clothes. Usually also wearing his jacket, he can’t stand gawkers staring. Admiring your beauty he can handle, but staring at his woman is punishable by a flamethrower.

You live the luxury life. Fancy bath soaps and massages. Cafe trips daily so he can make sure you’re eating well. Sex in the back of his car in secluded car parks when you’ve been misbehaving at dinner.

He’s a rough lover but amazing with aftercare, so there’s that.

Alola

Nanu

Dilf energy… and I’m hungry for it I’ll be honest.

So tired, but you give him energy. Energy to do crime to keep you to himself but still energy. But hey why argue, you get to cuddle his cats all day.

Also, if you’re a trainer that has cat Pokemon… he’d probably marry you. Proposal on sight. Already on one knee.

He isn’t very openly affectionate but as long as no one is around he’ll always have an arm around your waist. You’re well protected.

Another man that I believe would make sure you cum first every time. Just make sure you have a warm bath after for your back, he hits me as a rough lover.

Guzma

Oh you poor girl… not because he’s going to treat you bad but he’s obsessed.

You’re probably kidnapped by team skull but you had no idea it was a kidnapping, it was more of a scooby-doo chase.

Yeah you now have like 50 babies to care for but don’t worry, big sis Plumeria and your new husband will help you. What you don’t remember getting married? Oh silly, you belonged to him the moment your eyes met.

He’s very inexperienced with relationships so give him a little time to learn. He’s a fast learner in bed so he won’t leave you unsatisfied. Will pamper you anyway he can.

Oh and have mercy on this man… don’t wear his clothes, he can’t handle it.

Hisui

Volo

Little shit… he’s going to try and use anything he can to claim you.

Whether that be advances in front of people to scare them off and stake his claim over you.

He does have a decently good reputation so no one would expect him to be dangerous, so you’re kinda fucked, Cyllene would protect you if she needed to though.

He talks down to you all the time, you’re not his equal, you are his property in his eyes.

Adaman

This man is smitten. No more smooth and confident Adaman, this man is a stuttering mess.

He wants to marry you so badly, please let this man marry you… and then put a baby in you but marriage first.

This man gives you jewellery, clothes, helps you befriend Pokémon or catch them depending on which method you prefer.

Cuddler, he will snuggle and cuddle as long as you want, so what he has duties? His pretty little wife wants his attention and you will get it.

Irida

Had noooo idea how to handle her feelings. Probably started as a childish crush at first but it developed into something much more.

She wants to spend the rest of her life with you by her side.

Glares at everyone who speaks to you, even people from her clan. She’s very jealous very easily.

But she loves you, and will let you spend unsupervised time with some people she trusts… only her Wardens, although she doesn’t trust Ingo as much as she doesn’t know him as well, not with you at least.

Warden Ingo

Dilf energy again

His memory may be strange and shaky but he remembers how to treat a woman he loves. Remembers things Elesa told him and Emmet, although to him it’s more echos of voices he thinks he knows.

He loves cuddling up to you while watching the newly hatched sneasels learn how to live. Although this does awaken a want for family he forgot he had.

He isn’t the most trusting person, but he is a good judge of character… and has gotten into a fistfight with Volo when he hit on you. Blood was drawn.

He throws a good punch, but would never hurt you, he adores you, you make him feel good in a familiar way.

Anyway you freaks want NSFW- this man lives up in the mountains, them rough hands can do wonders. And he loves making you feel good, people pleaser but only for you.

Paldea

Arven

Aw what a sweet boy, who will strangle anyone who tries to take you from him.

This boy lost both his parents and nearly lost his best friend/dog… he is terrified he’ll lose you too.

He cooks he cleans and then makes sure to rub your back and give you love so you’ll love him back

Please give this boy some affection or the boys around you will pay the price of you don’t.

Professor Sada

Mommy?

This woman is feral, not only did she basically throw you over her shoulder when she met you but you never don’t have bite marks all over your skin. It’s her way of telling everyone your hers.

I feel she’d give more freedom than Turo, only if Robo Sada was with you for safety… and to break the arms of whoever looked at you the way she did.

Also this woman is a mosterous pussy devouring fiend, don’t argue, you know I’m right.

Professor Turo

Oh daddy Turo- criminally underrated daddy let alone Yandere daddy.

I feel like Turo most definitely would have kept you locked down in his lab with him, convincing you that you help him with his research. I mean… he isn’t wrong, you motivate him to keep going.

However girl has needs and he often get consumed by his work. It wasn’t until he caught you handling problems yourself on your shared bed that he decided robo Turo should take over his research a little bit more.

It’d be a shame if you fell in love with a toy he so kindly made for you than him himself.

Larry

Ah my favourite ordinary business man… I’m so normal about him.

He is very normal about you too, except the fact that he has pocketed any handkerchief you’ve used while eating with him.

Oh and many dates that are just trying new food, oh and bird watching.

Again, call me weird but I think this man wants a family, total breeding kink.

Also I feel like he likes a rather feminine woman, not in the frilly skirt way but in the way of “I don’t N E E D a man but I like you”. You like him, right?

Rika

M m mommy?

Dominatrix… owns a whip… bondage. ANYWAY-

Not above using their position as elite four to scare off competition and keeping you in line.

Oh don’t cry, you won’t escape anyways.

She only uses PDA to send a message to other women or men, “hands off”

Jacq

Teach me about biology bb-

ANYWAY… loves to discover new Pokémon with you.

Will happily teach you about your favourite Pokémon for your attention.

Please don’t look away, he’ll have a breakdown.

Miriam

Ah cute little nurse… she has access to so many dangerous drugs.

She will scream and cry if you choose someone else, don’t do it, she’s an ugly cryer.

She loves to give you “check ups” when no one is looking.

On a side note, don’t you know that orgasms are good for your health? You didn’t? Oh silly let Miriam help you out, her fingers can work wonders.

THIS TOOK FOREVER…

But it was worth it enjoy animals. I want to get more serious with Pokemon x reader writing so I hope some people enjoy this… I’m never doing this big of a post again… this was meant to be a Christmas post- way to many bloody tags to add :,)

251 notes · View notes

pinkpinkstarlet · 2 months

Text

guys I have an idea for how it would got if house of mouse came back

@orchestra-of-demonic-screeching @champmorado @x0stormie0x @anemoia42 @thisismisogynoir

Imagine the house of mouse starting off with Mickey announcing to the gang that he’s rebooting the show, this time inviting not only the new Disney characters in store, but also the Pixar characters!

There’s the Toy Story gang, the Bug’s Life gang, Monster’s Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and everyone else in the Pixar studio is invited to join this new show in the House of Mouse. The new Disney characters such as those from Wish, Encanto, Frozen, Tangled, Moana, etc is also invited.

That includes…the villains.

But we’ll get to them later.

anyways, Mickey and the gang feel overwhelmed with how many more guests there are now, with Mickey especially feeling like he isn’t doing enough and isn’t being grand enough for the “much more advanced and futuristic characters”. But Minnie reassures him and over time this inner conflict is resolved with great payoff. This will also connect with the second conflict of this:

The Pixar and Disney heroes not getting along. They have their tensions during the opening episode, but there’s a moment in the climax of it where they start arguing with each other about everything due to a big moment enacted by the villains.

Oh by the way, let me bring up those villains again!

Similar to ‘the House of Villains’, this time, The Evil Queen, Maleficent, Jafar, Chernabog along with Auto, Syndrome, Hopper, and Lotso lead the Disney and Pixar Villains into a total overthrowing of the house of mouse, getting all the protagonists kicked out while the antagonists and villains reign free in the house. We could have a little gag here where when the Disney villains are singing and they point to the Pixar villains, they just go “oh we don’t sing sorry lol” and they have an “ok whatever” moment and continue.

This makes the tensions between the Pixar and Disney characters that were previously established reach its peak. It starts off with one of the Disney characters saying that it was the Pixar characters’ fault for not stopping them since they’re so much more advanced than the Disney characters. It then blows off from there, and, at least for me, I’d wanna see a moment in this huge argument where someone shames mater for being just an idiot tow truck, with lightning defending his best friend by saying “oh so dopey and goofy are allowed to be silly but mater can’t? Give me a break!” Or maybe something where lightning or mater respond but this time making fun of the early disney princesses for just being damsels in distress who sing with animals, with the princesses gasping in shock and the sidekicks of snow, cinderella and aurora being like “how DARE you!” (Especially grumpy because. He’s Grumpy). You could only pick one to keep the consistency but both are funny ideas for this.

This argument ends abruptly with Mickey yelling “ENOUGH!” which leaves everyone silent. He starts talking about how all the fighting they’ve been having is not only pointless, but extremely damaging to any chances they have at taking back the house. He goes on saying that the Pixar and Disney villains were able to cooperate and they become stronger, and if the protagonists couldn’t do the same in time then they’d be letting the villains take over everyone’s worlds. The other Pixar characters such as (but not limited to) woody and buzz join in as well as other Disney characters talking about their stories and how they’ve had to grow to understand others to get to their goals and more importantly to not let evil prevail. There’s a little heart to heart before Carl from Up interrupts saying “well, how are we gonna defeat them together? We can’t just believe in the power of friendship to do this!” and then Mickey gets an idea. And the training montage starts.

Mickey and his gang along with Woody and his gang of friends are the leaders of the operation, and they decide to use the magic of Disney and the technology of Pixar and mix them together. Thinking of Antonio from encanto leading the bug’s life characters into battle, miguel and moana getting an epic team up with maui as they fight against tamatoa, and some other cool stuff with other characters but the thing that I’m thinking about the most (because I’m a die hard cars fan and since this probably won’t happen I don’t have to worry about the other characters) is the idea of LIGHTNING MCQUEEN MATER AND THE OTHER CARS CHARACTERS DRIVING WITH TINKERBELL’S PIXIE DUST. LIKE IMAGINE LIGHTNING ZOOMING BY AND ABSOLUTELY BESTING CHICK IN A RACE WHILE FLYING WITH TINK’S PIXIE DUST AND MATER BEATING UP THE LEMONS WHILE A BUNCH OF GLITTER IS EMITTING FROM HIM OMGGG

Also like tinker bell teaching them how to control themselves while flying with her little bell voice and them learning how to steer and stuff and lightning stumbling a bit in the beginning omggg

but the final act comes from sorcerer Mickey. There’s a moment where the villains are weakened where Maleficent decides to transforms into her dragon form as a way to finish the battle quickly. Mickey shows up in his wizard attire and they go in a final battle which ends with Mickey winning, and saying that the villains are allowed in the house of mouse, but ONLY if they don’t pull a stunt like that again, which they reluctantly agree to.

This ends the opening episode for the new house of mouse, and with the heroes from Pixar and Disney being closer now.

Now here’s some ideas for other episodes in this new house of mouse. Keep in mind this is all cars related because I am a massive fan of cars, and I’m not really thinking of the other franchises for this as it probably is not gonna happen. If you have any ideas for the other characters though, feel free to share them in the notes!

here’s the first idea:

Lightning and Mater enter the house of mouse, with lightning talking about how great Cruz has been in training and in her races, as well as both of them just being glad that they’ve found the time to be in the house of mouse again. But then, we focus our attention to the evil queen from Snow White, who has a new magic mirror after her old one quit to work as Walt Disney’s co-host (my headcanon btw LMAO). She asks her iconic question and it shows that MATER is the fairest now, due to his naturally optimistic and kind personality and how everyone enjoys his company. She then decides to try and kill mater, first using some poisoned gas to try and kill him. Lightning, who knows exactly what’s going on, kicks the can of gas away before mater can consume it. We get a whole montage of the evil queen in her hag form trying numerous ways to kill mater but failing as the episode progresses while the different cartoons are played, only with the hag having a breakdown after not being able to kill him. Mater asks what’s wrong and the queen replies saying that she just wanted to be the fairest in the land, which mater says he can help with, since “that’s what a tow truck does!” The episode ends off on a comedic note, kind of similar to that one 2013 Mickey Mouse cartoon short, where despite still being an ugly hag, the queen is much happier than she was before, and mater being proud of himself for helping someone out (while lightning is slightly uncomfortable but still happy for his best friend).

now here’s the second one:

Here we have lightning and mater in the house of mouse again, this time with lightning remarking that he hasn’t been spending much time with Sally, especially since he’s started training cruz. He goes to look for her with mater only to find her hanging out with…the Disney villains! She’s seen sitting at a table and laughing with all the female Disney villains, such as Maleficent, lady Tremaine, cruella, madame Medusa, the evil queen, and more. Lightning shows up to the table asking her why she’s hanging out with the villains of all people, with her replying that yeah sure they may be a bit eccentric, but they’re actually fun to hang around. The episode progresses with this conflict and Lightning realizes that because he has been neglecting time with Sally, she actually feels a little hurt because of it, even though she knows racing means a lot to him. Lightning convinces Sally to not hang with the villains and apologizes to her for not giving enough love to her, which Sally forgives him for. This one isn’t as strong in my head as the first one but if I think it through it can be decent.

hope yall liked this train wreck of a post though! I might add more who knows lol

22 notes · View notes

merrodi · 1 year

Photo

☆ Chocomimi Volume 6 English Translation / Chapter 1

Translated through phone scans and my limited knowledge of Japanese! I appreciate any and all corrections.

This series was a big part of my childhood but localization had stopped after volume five, so I’ve decided to translate as much as I can for fun. I hope someone out there enjoys!

link to purchase this book (japanese only)

Note: comments in italics are words spoken outside of the bubble. (comments in parenthesis are thought, not spoken) [comments in brackets are words contained inside a bracket]

This comic is traditionally read right to left, top to bottom.

(skipping over the character pages for now because they’re a lot to translate)

☆ Reading ☆

Choco: It’s autumn, the best season for reading! Choco: Guys, how about we all read books and write down our impressions of them?

Mumu: okay! Is a fashion magazine alright? Choco: Can you please choose something that has a story?

Mimi: okay! Is a shoujo manga alright? Choco: Could you please choose something that doesn’t have pictures?

Mikachin: okay! Is a Japanese dictionary alright? Choco: As long as you’re using it to write down your impressions…

☆ Recommended ☆ Mimi: Mikachin, I read the book you recommended~♡ (New universe theories)

Mikachin: Really? How was it? Mimi: (ehe) Difficult to get through, but interesting!

Mikachin: I see. Mimi, you’re very admirable. Mimi: (honestly, I didn’t understand any of it, but I’m glad I read it anyways)

Mumu: Woah, what’s with the difficulty in this? Mumu: I’m trying to read it, but it’s impossible.

Mikachin: Is that so? Mikachin: Should I explain to you the parts you don’t understand? Mimi: gasp!

Mikachin: Come over to my house after school today. there’s cake, too. Mumu: huh——- okay, sure. Mimi: ((I made a mistake!!)) how nice…

☆ The Next Day ☆

Mimi: Mumu-chan, did you go to Mikachin’s house yesterday? Mumu: hm? I did.

Mumu: The two of us read the book the whole time in Mikami-kun’s room. I got sleepy. Mimi: (just them alone in Mikachin’s room?!)

Mumu: Halfway through, I fell asleep. Mumu: Mikami-kun ended up giving me a piggyback ride to my house. He’s really kind, huh. Mimi: (A PIGGYBACK RIDE FROM MIKACHIN?!!??) AAAHHH….

Mimi: I’d also like to be an idiotic and inconsiderate human being… I envy Mumu-chan... sigh… Andrew: You’re already idiotic and inconsiderate enough.

☆ Girls ☆

Mikachin: Sometimes I just don’t get girls, y’know? Andrew: Huh? what happened?

Mikachin: on Snow White... Mikachin: If a stranger covered from head to toe in black offered you an apple… would you normally eat it? Witch: here, take this apple Snow White: oh dear

Andrew: I wouldn’t eat it. That’s way too suspicious. Mikachin: and Little Red Riding Hood, too… Mikachin: The wolf was pretending to be her grandmother in her house…

Mikachin: To not be able to tell the difference from a beast to a human… is that even possible? Red: Gramma, why are your ears so big? Andrew: That’s just how fairy tales are.

☆ Tears ☆

Choco: Speaking of emotional stories… Choco: Once in a while, I’m hit with the desire to really want to read one.

Mumu: I know what you mean! The more you cry, the better it is. Choco: Exactly! I have to read those alone, because tears end up falling from my face.

Mumu: Exactly! And that’s when I snap a pic of my crying face!

Mumu: I like verifying that my crying face is the cutest thing ever~ it’s the photo after I was reading Choco: Sorry, can’t relate to that whatsoever.

☆ Shoujo Manga ☆

Choco: Mimi, the manga you lent me is so interesting! I really relate to the main character. Mimi: The protagonist Shouko is really similar to you, Choco!

Choco: Isn’t the transfer student Shindou-kun also a bit like Ando? Choco: Her close friend Yumi is just like you, Mimi, and almost predictably, Matsuda-sensei is like Take-chan, too! (The manga she’s reading is called chocomint)

Mimi: [hehe… Choco doesn’t know this yet, but in volume five, Shouko and Shindou confess to each other and find out they have mutual feelings~] Shindou: please go out with me. Mimi: [and also, Yumi, the girl that Choco said looked like me]

Mimi: [confesses to her homeroom teacher, Matsuda-sensei] Matsuda-sensei: You moron! Matsuda-sensei: I’m going to use this triangle ruler’s 30-degree angle to stab you! Mimi: [that’s just horrible, honestly…] It seems so depressing...

☆ Bible ☆

Choco: Mimi, what book are you reading? Mimi: The “How to Be a Good Woman Book”! If you read it, you’ll become a wonderful lady!

Mimi: Ah, it’s essential that a good woman has an attractive lover! Mimi: I guess I’ll have to study up on the “How to Find a Great Boyfriend Book”.

Mimi: Ahhh… but there’s no doubt that a wonderful boyfriend would also be popular with the ladies… Mimi: I’ll have to research the "Affair Detection book”...

Mimi: sigh… and I’ll need to read the “Getting Back Up After a Broken Heart Book” after we split up from the cheating… I can’t get depressed now! Choco: ah... the only thing she’s learning is delusion…

Fashion tips section!

☆ Feelings ☆

Choco: Ando, have you read this too? It’s a book about understanding your pet’s feelings! I borrowed it from Mimi! Ando: nah, I don’t need it.

Choco: Ahh.. you already know whatever Picho’s thinking, huh. Ando: Not at all, but…

Ando: Even if we never reach understanding over an entire lifetime, it’s okay. Ando: If that’s how it is, then I’d be pleased just guessing as to how I can make her smile… thinking of my beloved companion day and night…

Ando: Isn’t that the key to continuing to love other people? Choco: What’s with your dialogue sounding like it’s coming from a master of love?

☆ Returning a Favor ☆ (this is based off a japanese tale called tsuru no ongaeshi)

Bambi: Like a crane who comes to return a favor, Picho turns into a human before your eyes! Bambi: What would you do?

[One night, Picho had opened the door and returned in the appearance of a beautiful maiden...] Picho: Good evening... Ando: That wouldn’t be bad…

Mikachin: Wait, Picho is a girl? I thought he was a guy this whole time. Bambi: Oh yeah, and Picho’s also a little kid. So instead…

Bambi: One night, Picho opened the door and had returned in the appearance of an elementary school boy with a shaved head! Ando: Absolutely not.

☆ Heroine ☆

[A great man’s entire life will remain in history through books.] [His story will be read by all.]

Jin: Wouldn’t it be nice if there were books about ordinary people, not just the greats? Jin: A book written about an ordinary person’s life from their birth up to their death!

Aoi: Would that be interesting to read about? Jin: There’s a chance it wouldn’t be interesting, and there’s a chance it wouldn’t have a happy ending…

Aoi: right? Aoi: (But, if it’s Jin-kun’s book, I might be interested in reading it...)

[If it’s Jin-kun’s book, then I think it’d definitely be happy.] Jin: look, that cloud is like taiyaki! [How many pages in it will I appear?]

Aoi: (No, it’s not how many pages… how many lines?…) Aoi: (Oh…I wonder if I’ll be able to make an appearance at all...) Jin: You know…

Jin: It’s fine if I end up not reading about Aoi-chan’s life.

Aoi: (I-is it…because it’d be so insignificant?!) Jin: or should I say, I wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of reading it.

Jin: Whatever happens in Aoi-chan’s life, my eyes will have seen ALL of it, so that’s why I wouldn’t need a book. Jin: We’ll be together forever, yeah?

Aoi: ........ Aoi: Forever?

Jin: Yep, forever. Aoi: Even when we become adults? Jin: Yup, foreverrrrr. Aoi: I see…

[Then, my book] Jin: look, that cloud is a heart-♥️ Aoi: You’re right. [Will surely have a happy ending.]

#chocomimi #chocomimi manga #translation #shoujo

120 notes · View notes

pinkandpurple360 · 3 months

Note

Hey, as someone who was nearly groomed, I find the line “two deadly sins taking advantage of a traumatised scared disabled kid who lost everyone and was lied to that his closest friend did it on purpose” kind of odd? Well ok for Mammon I agree it applies. But for Asmodeus? When did he lie to him about his closest friend? The RoboFizz situation’s not one I really see as Asmodeus “taking advantage” of Fizz because a. he clearly doesn’t want to do it and b. what the hell does Asmodeus gain from it (especially if apparently he’s not getting any of the profit per Viv’s Patreon?).

I’m not saying the man’s a saint, but I felt your original Fizzarozzie criticisms were legit and got me thinking deeply about codependency and taking risks. I enjoyed them a lot, and I liked how you didn’t demonize (no pun intended) anyone. But This just kind of seems like a stretch, and kind of disrespectful to compare a fictional character to a groomer when that’s not what happened at all!

I’m very sorry that happened to you, but none of these shallow characters in this story can accurately represent that. Its a show that works within its own logic and has protagonist centric morality.

Mammon 100% groomed and exploited Fizz for one, but it was Asmodeus who still designed, built, shipped out, sold, and advertised those robots all across his ring and in his businesses. For nine solid years. And he only decides to have the “I’m pretty sure you might be uncomfortable maybe”conversation on year ten. The best he could do to stop it was to try make fizz quit his job? Why does she make some of the men in her stories so…weak?

Apparently this is, like with stolas, trying to retcon all the bad things the royal boyfriend did to make him look better in the peasant x Prince otp. But it doesn’t, it only removes all depth. Even though it’s completely and utterly illogical. Her patreon literally contradicts her own story. The products have Asmodeus’ brand on their foreheads. He makes them in his factory, he sells them, he does profit off of them. When people see and hear his ads, they buy from him. He partook and contributed in the exploitation. And why did he have to make them all conscious? He’s like Lyle Lipton times a thousand, except he donates to an orphanage. Billionaires with pure hearts of gold like Warbucks just don’t exist.

It seems that it wasn’t the sins who lied, but they did “swoop in” so to speak, to “save” him. And he was vulnerable because of the lies he was fed. When he was at his absolute lowest, both of them do all the things they do without fizz’s informed consent. Emphasis on informed. It’s only this ep they ask if he’s sure. But he feels unworthy of them both because of it all.

Point a. …he still did it though, he still made those things. He owns that entire factory, it’s assets, and pays all of its employees. You’re telling me he gets them all to work for free, he pays for this all just with his savings account?

I think you kindve..are saying he’s a saint? Can you tell me a few things he has done wrong in episode six or seven of s2? Products don’t appear on shelves for free and you don’t keep making them for free either, you get a cut, or you can’t keep building them. Mam and Oz were clearly business partners in all of this. Asmodeus isn’t stupid and he isn’t weak…why are we doing this all again..

if he had regrets about it after experiencing love that’d be one thing. And an actually good story. But saying he did it for free cause he just…can’t say no to mammon or fizz?? It’s exclusively the moustache twirling mammon who has an ounce of evil for some reason, while no other sin has any? I’ve literally seen better written fanfic dude.

#helluva boss critical #Fizzarozzie crit

15 notes · View notes

ecoterrorist-katara · 16 days

Note

I saw you say you mind the mishmash of cultures in the show. That’s fine and all (well actually not fine but whatever), but the show is still orientalist at its core

And two white men mishmashing different stuff from various Asian and indigenous cultures isnt cute nor endearing, and it’s weird for you to think it is. it just shows they don’t actually respect those cultures and see it as a playground of some sorts. Something they can dip in and out of, as if they are fucking crayons and not actual cultures. Especially cultures that are undermined. Like….the fuck is wrong with you?

Oh you don’t know what Orientalism is lmao. Edward Said wrote Orientalism to demonstrate how the West had created a vision of the Middle East (through art) that is mysterious & depraved & Other, which in turn justified imperialist politics in the Middle East. Even if you applied this to East/Southeast/South Asia and the Indigenous Americas, ATLA doesn’t qualify, because 1) precisely due to its deliberate eclecticism, it is explicitly a fantasy setting that never claims to represent the cultures that influenced it, and 2) the narrative does not Other its inspirations in this fantasy setting, because the people and cultures depicted in ATLA are framed as aspirational to a young watcher. Orientalism is not wrong just because white people learned about Sultans and decided to paint them: the framing and the political environment make all the difference. An Orientalist text does not encourage the audience to identify with the Other, yet hordes and hordes of kids grew up identifying with Katara and Aang and Zuko, who are shown as the protagonists in their world.

Ironically, I would be harsher on ATLA if it wasn’t a pastiche (and I mean pastiche, not parody) of existing cultures. I would have a much higher standard for a cartoon depicting Imperial Japan, but bringing inspiration from e.g. Thailand into the Fire Nation allows for a greater degree of playfulness and subsumes it into an explicitly fantasy setting. That doesn’t mean ATLA is always successful at it — in fact it annoys me quite a bit that the Earth Kingdom is very much China — or that the adult audience is capable of differentiating between fantasy and history. It also doesn’t mean there isn’t disrespect in the actual depictions: Guru Pathik is a pretty lazy stereotype. Were Bryan and Mike 100% respectful of the cultures they took inspo from? Probably not, but their intent is not interesting to me.

I do take issue with the way ATLA portrays resistance (ie Jet and Hama), or how the subsequent comics talk about colonial progress (North and South, The Promise), or whatever milquetoast political allegories that were in the Legend of Korra, so you'd never hear me claim that ATLA is politically sound. But do I take issue with the fundamental conceit of ATLA, as a fantasy world inspired by Asian & Indigenous cultures? No, I don’t. I actually come from one of the cultures that heavily influenced ATLA, and I didn’t like the show when I was younger because I used to think it was culturally appropriative. Of course you’re free to feel that way, but then I don’t get why you would read ATLA posts, and read my tags on a post that wasn’t even mine, if you fundamentally object to this piece of media.

Then again, even when I was the most self-righteous freshman knees-deep in PoCo theory, I wouldn’t have asked someone “what the fuck is wrong with you” for enjoying this cartoon, so maybe I just can’t relate to you, anon 🙃

#ATLA fandom be even mildly literate in the postcolonial theory that they keep throwing around challenge (impossible)#ATLA colonization discourse #anti Bryke #But very mildly because of their multitudes of writing sins “creating a fantasy world inspired by other cultures” is not one I care about #can i ask you a question?

7 notes · View notes

religion-is-a-mental-illness · 3 months

Text

By: Salomé Sibonex

Published: Jan 29, 2024

I’ve been seeking a reprieve from the ugly sides of our world lately and I found it in Hogwarts Wizarding School of Magic.

Even though Harry Potter’s world isn’t utopian, the whimsy of magic and the drama of a battle between good and evil helped wash away the ugly banality of the real world’s problems. There was one problem I couldn’t find a reprieve from, though. In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry encounters a problem I’m all too familiar with and that lives at the core of many societal issues. At this point in the series, Harry’s known for his infamous past as a child who survived a direct attack from the embodiment of evil, Voldemort, and his battles against evil and chaos conquering Hogwarts. And yet, even Harry Potter in a world of elves and flying brooms can’t escape the ever-present human problem of conformity.

Watching Harry Potter struggle to overcome other people’s desire for conformity and disdain for anyone who threatens it made me realize: many people cheering this fictional protagonist on would fight against him in real life.

Despite having proven his loyalty, courage, and inclination to fight against evil, Harry Potter’s warning that Voldemort has returned is met with annoyance and disbelief from everyone but his close friends and the embodiment of wisdom, Dumbledore. This problem introduces a crucial element of what causes a lot of today’s destructive conformity: motivated reasoning. Similar to confirmation bias, motivated reasoning happens when someone is motivated to either agree or disagree with new information based on their current beliefs, thus letting that motivation shape their response more than whether the information is true.

You often hear people lament how, despite having access to all the information in the world, it seems like people are getting dumber. A big part of why access to information alone doesn’t reduce ignorance is because of motivated reasoning. People today are inclined to fight against information that challenges their worldview, often because it’s just easier than updating it.

It would be easier for his peers and the authorities if Harry Potter was wrong about danger on the horizon, so they decide to believe he’s wrong, regardless of whether he’s wrong. They deride and dismiss him with accusations I’ve faced myself when sharing inconvenient truths; his classmates scoff “he just wants to be famous!”, which our culture has shortened to “grifter!” Harry Potter—the infamous beacon of hope and repeated warrior for good over evil—is accused of grifting by his own classmates simply because it’d be easier if that were true. Unfortunately for them, it’s not.

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a masterpiece for many reasons, but one reason is that her characters and the stories they live out are so real despite happening in such a surreal world. Watching the scene where Harry Potter tries to warn people about a problem he’s proven himself trustworthy and competent to assess—only to be shouted down by people who want the easy route today at the risk of hardship tomorrow—felt uncomfortably real.

I criticized the manipulative pressure activists used to make people pledge allegiance to BLM without researching the organization (which turned out to be corrupt) or the movement itself (which turned out to be a guise for spreading destructive ideas in the name of “anti-racism”). When I speak about that today, I’m praised. But then the Israel attack on October 7th happened and suddenly the same message against letting social pressure rush you to pledge allegiance to positions you don’t understand now got me derided for not “using my platform” properly. The pattern repeats.

You can be the same person with the same message, but other people will respond to you differently based on where the winds of culture have blown them this week.

Unprincipled people are constantly shifting their targets because their worldviews aren’t tethered to anything deeper than seeking social approval and avoiding cognitive dissonance. They will wish death on you for not posting a flag emoji while claiming to hold the moral high ground.

Unprincipled people believe their frantic rushing from Current Thing to Current Thing is proof of their moral character, but it’s actually proof of how unreliable the opinions of anyone but your close friends and personal Dumbledores can be. Just look at J.K. Rowling’s experience.

While the fact that people with Harry Potter tattoos were the quickest to turn on the creator of their favorite story simply because her opinions didn’t sway with the ever-changing winds of culture (she maintains the once-uncontested reality that trans-women are trans-women and biological women are biological women), that’s only one example of a conformist culture that hates heroes. Harry Potter himself is the perfect litmus test for whether we have a culture that praises heroes or villains.

Forget about Harry’s magic abilities. What truly makes Harry Potter a magical character isn’t his ability to wield magic, which most of the magic world can do—it’s his character that makes him stand apart from all others. If Harry Potter were a real, non-magical person in our society today, his unusually strong character would make him a pariah. Unlike most of the magical world’s people, Harry Potter is pursuing a goal far bigger than himself; this makes him the target of both disgruntled plebs and power-hungry tyrants. People who don’t have a strong and honorable mission in life hate seeing people who do—it either reminds them they’re wasting their lives or threatens their ability to fulfill their evil mission. A lot of arm-chair internet activists and government officials would hate Harry Potter.

It’s not just that Harry has a unique destiny that makes his character compelling—it’s the fact that he has the courage and determination to pursue that destiny and develop the necessary skills to do so that makes his character admirable. Every person—especially in an individualistic culture that valorizes people who make their own way in life—wants to feel like they have a unique life path that leads to greatness. Luckily for those living in a free society, they do. Unlike in centrally-planned economies like Cuba and China, where your destiny is mostly determined by what your government allows, people in free countries can determine the course of their lives.

The government doesn’t dictate what you can study, what businesses you can open, how many kids you can have, or how much money you’re allowed to make. We’re free to imagine a future for ourselves and set out to develop the skills needed to achieve it. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone will.

Businesses fail, personal tragedies happen, and obstacles appear. The people who give up on their journey or never get going but believe they could’ve done otherwise harbor regrets, and those regrets easily turn to resentment. These are the bitter people who see the hope and success of others as a stinging reminder of their failures. People who’ve given up or never tried to forge the future they wanted would hate some as determined and ambitious as Harry Potter.

Despite being an orphan, a victim of neglect by his step-family, stalked by a violent gang of death-eaters working for Voldemort, and a childhood victim of assault, Harry Potter doesn’t wear the label of victim.

In a culture like ours that sees victimhood as a hierarchy that dictates your treatment, an individual who refuses to identify as a victim is inherently subversive.

Instead of demanding special treatment because of his hardships, Harry Potter strives not just to overcome them, but uses his hardships as fuel to make him stronger than he would be without them. One might argue it would’ve been better if Harry Potter’s parents were never killed by Voldemort and thus he would’ve never been fated to fight him—and if your idea of a good life is ease and subsistence, that would be true—but your life would make a terrible story. Harry Potter’s victimization by Voldemort’s evil is what imbued him with the ability to become a hero. With darkness comes light, but in a culture that doesn’t believe in light, many people linger in the dark and resent anyone who reminds them their darkness is a choice.

Harry Potter is the archetypical hero. He pursues a mission that starts with his personal journey of understanding himself and helping those close to him, which leads him to help the world. He goes above and beyond what others do to become worthy of the future he wants. He never identifies with the many ways he’s been victimized, but instead transmutes his hardships into victories. And for all these heroic qualities, Harry Potter would be maligned by our culture as privileged, “alt-right,” and much like his creator has experienced, his efforts to do good would be met with hostility and accusations of grifting from people who care more about the ease of clinging to their worldview than discovering the truth.

Entire countries end up on the wrong side of history when they stop cheering for heroes.

#Salomé Sibonex #Salome Sibonex #We The Black Sheep #Harry Potter #heterodox #privilege #oppressor #oppressed #meritocracy #heroes #villains #victimhood #victimhood culture #victimhood hierarchy #religion is a mental illness

10 notes · View notes

rarepears · 1 year

Note

So… I can’t send images in Anon!

But here’s a vague outline of what happens before the reset!

There are a few minor background changes that don’t impact the plot.

Himbo finally gets to be a nanny that gets to go on cool missions!

He also gets a few demons trying to bridenap him but he thinks their trying to steal his kids. ( They’re actually his clients kids but he loves them like his own)

Our Himbo tries out cottagecore the first year he ends up in PIDW. He makes a bro out of a carnivorous plant spirit with weak acids but great sucking power. Really good sucking power.

And our Fratbro gives a LOT of nutrients. So Fratbro gets to live safely in the forest now! He lives here after the reset as well.

He doesn’t know it but cultivation with spirits, this spirit in particular help with people who start cultivating late in life.

After our Himbo fully sets up something horrible happens! People are chasing down a cosplaying child!

So our Himbo with the help of his bro! (Who’s gotten gains these past months!) save the kid!

And the people chasing the kid down disappear? He doesn’t know what happened but he forgot about them after plant bro said he wanted to ‘share the bounty’ and ‘celebrate their engagement’ and that ‘he’d be a good consort’

He still doesn’t known this language but those sounded like good things!

Can’t forget that most Isekai nowadays tend to be harems! It’s just that those systems thought he was going to have a harem of girls.

The child is a demon, male, who originally is cannon fodder but under the tutelage of our Himbo’s protagonist Halo gets many enlightenments and breakthroughs leading him to be a commander under LBH who eventually goes and meets the family.

He near immediately marries the Wife Himbo adopted but is stopped by Himbo(who now understands Chinese) who insists they need to get to know each other first.

Himbo believe the word for Father in Chinese means Uncle and by the time he realized it means Father he just goes along with it.

Himbo mentally adopts LBH and has already started planning the wedding.

“Kiddos! What’s a ‘dowry’?”

“It’s what you give the grooms family when they marry your daughter”

“Why? Don’t we like, give the two wedding gifts? Why give stuff to the fam?”

“To ensure they treat the daughter well and to show she has a powerful background so the other wives and family members won’t bully her”

“THeY’lL bULLy mY DAUghTher!?! OthER WIveS?!?”

And Himbo assumes LBH other wives are just family and the kissing is some cultural thing.

Even after the world resets and he knows the culture and like of ancient China he still does his own thing because

“We have to respect each other’s culture man. I dunno about you but I can be respectful.

After the reset our Himbo immediately tries to adopt LBH when he’s born.

Because LBH is part of the world he doesn’t get his memories back until the Abyss while Himbo just isn’t affected and is where he was standing with his full cultivation.

Himbo starts an overpowered family with dozens of children because he has come into peak dadness as a result.

Also. He tries to marry Tianlang Jung. He wants to be his baby’s dad! So they have to get married! He did it once with someone else so he can do it again right!?

A REVEAL! HALLO AUTHOR! 👋

Fratbro treating the kidnapping attempts like they are "capture the flag" games! Or American football; that works too.

And our Fratbro gives a LOT of nutrients. So Fratbro gets to live safely in the forest now!

LMAO what you are saying is that he pisses a lot on the trees. (Diluted) urine is great fertilizer. Golden shower play, anyone? With his first consort too LOL.

I love Fratbro's inane logic here; yes, please do chase down Tianlang Jun, trying to convince the man that they should get married so he can officially be Luo Binghe's dad! With Tianlang Jun continually saying no, Fratbro decides that he's just going to kidnap Tianlang Jun and force a marriage regardless.

Anyways, that's how he participates in another demonic custom without realizing it; yes he went and successfully pulled off a bridenapping.

[More in #a himbo fratboy in svsss au]

#svsss #the scum villain's self saving system #mxtx #svsss ideas #svsss au #a himbo fratboy in svsss au #luo binghe #tianlang jun

70 notes · View notes

crestofshame · 10 months

Text

@knowledgeseeker01

I hope you don’t mind me responding to this with a post so I’m not restricted by the limited reply character count!

But, yes! I really, really loved that scene. My understanding was that the intention of the silence was mostly just to add a feeling of suspense for the audience, seeing that we experience the show with Suletta as our protagonist. While we do have a more omniscient understanding of the characters than we would if we were entirely restricted to a Suletta POV only, especially with the show’s use of dramatic irony to build conflict, the show is written for us to root for Suletta. So, during that silence, we have that extra sense of dread because we can clearly see Miorine shouting, but can’t hear anything until the moment Suletta wakes up.

I agree that it is a very well-integrated callback.

So much is the same from the blue light

To the headbutt (which is not really easy to get a screen grab of from episode 1 because that one was mostly a folly effect that conveyed it).

While it’s true that these two scenes were intentionally very similar, I feel like a lot of their relationship is in general centered around them saving each other in both a figurative and a literal sense.

Besides these two scenes, there’s also the one where Miorine drags Suletta out of the way from that first duel she witnesses. Then Suletta stops Guel and his lackeys from trashing Miorine’s greenhouse (which is very personal to her). Then we have Miorine trying to step in and fight Suletta’s duel against Guel for her and struggling, so Suletta steps in and takes her place. There’s also the instance where Miorine saves Suletta in court from her father and throws away her chance to escape to Earth. Suletta also continues dueling over and over to ensure that Miorine isn’t married off to some jerk. Not to mention that Miorine starts a whole-ass company to save Suletta from going back to court. Then you have Suletta having the spiral where she feels useless and Miorine confronting her and reassigning the work she originally thought was burdensome on Suletta so that she knows that she is wanted and needed. Suletta also literally KILLS someone to save Miorine at Plant, and Miorine responds in horror when she realizes how deep Prospera’s influence runs and she decides to sacrifice her own happiness for the sake of Suletta not being tainted by the whole “sins of the father” premise that we see through the show.

We see another small reference to all of these instances after they’ve been separated for that time after their “breakup” where we see Mio spiral into a depression for platforming someone to start a war, and is pulled back into reality by Suletta (which I could write another analysis on in itself). Shaddiq even asks Miorine if her change in character is “because of that Mercurian Girl,” which shows that their strengthening relationship is palpable to other characters. So, to me, to see that this whole cycle of building trust and feelings for one another through saving the other person start and end in the same way was confirmation for just how important it is that their relationship is mutual in what they provide for each other, which is generally one of the primary factors of a successful and loving relationship. The sequence being the same is just a beautiful cherry-on-top for this whole “I want you to rely on me” / “Now I want to ask her the same” cycle.

#Sulemio #G witch #gwitch spoilers

38 notes · View notes

alwaysahiccupandastrid · 1 year

Text

I didn’t want to be a hater of the new Peter Pan remake before it even started, and I’m not hating, but as someone who cherishes the original book and various adaptations of the story, I do have some things I need to say regarding the Disney remake.

Firstly, I’ve seen people complain about the diversity - namely Peter and Tinkerbell. I don’t have a problem with non-white actors playing any parts - I think Yara is beautiful as Tinkerbell and I’m intrigued to see what Alexander Molony brings since the trailer didn’t really showcase much of him as Peter. The Lost Boys especially being a diverse group makes sense to me as they’re “lost” - they should all look different; I welcome the casting of non-white, disabled etc boys in the gang. Anyone complaining about “wokeness” just because they’re not all pasty white kids is just racist; I’ve even seen people complaining Tiger Lily isn’t white, which…? Hello??? She has NEVER been white, she and her tribe have always been Native Americans.

Having said that, the Lost Boys should all still be boys - “girls are much too clever to fall out of their prams”, and the fact that Wendy is the first girl they meet and they see her as a motherly figure because the only girls/women they’ve ever known have presumably been fairies, Tiger Lily (who is a princess in her tribe) or the distant memories they hold of their own mothers. Supposedly you could argue that “Lost Boys” is just the name of their gang, regardless of whether it’s boys or girls in the group, but still… I don’t know. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned, but I don’t particularly agree with this change. But honestly, it’s not the end of the world, I can get over it.

“Wahhh they’ve made Wendy the main character and not Peter Pan!!!” — my guys… the original novel was LITERALLY called Peter and Wendy. The book literally opens with this paragraph:

“All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather de- lightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, “Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!” This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.”

This is literally Wendy’s story that ends with her deciding to go home and grow up; we meet Peter through her eyes, not the other way around. If you’re that mad that Wendy is being given a big part, you clearly haven’t bothered to read the source material and you’re just mad because you don’t like the idea of the female character being the protagonist.

If you want to take an issue with casting/characters, look at Hook/Mr Darling: how they’ve made Hook look aside (although… mmm, yikes), Disney has decided not to have the same actor play Hook and Mr Darling - Hook is Jude Law and Mr Darling is Alan Tudyk. I have nothing to comment on either of them as actors: my issue is that it’s a tradition for the same actor to play both of them that originates back to when the story was a stage play and has carried over to other media adaptations of the story. Having the same actor play both parts adds extra layers to the story (the relationship with the father vs fighting Captain Hook, parallels between the two characters, the subtext between Wendy and Hook as she’s on the cusp of adulthood etc).

My main issue though? The colour palette of this film - and all the Disney remakes, in fact.

I think the current colour palette of dull greys and muted greens could have worked for the London scenes because then the contrast between it and Neverland would have been even more striking; Neverland is a magical place where the children don’t want to grow up. Barrie wrote in his book that the Neverlands are found in the minds of children; although each is "always more or less an island" as well as having a family resemblance, they are not the same from one child to the next. For example, John’s Neverland had "a lagoon with flamingos flying over it," while Michael's had "a flamingo with lagoons flying over it." Neverland should be magical and colourful to reflect this, because a child’s imagination is limitless.

This just looks… dull. Like they’ve put a filter over it to make it look gritty.

In comparison, this is how the original animated film looked:

“But it’s live action, of course it’ll look less colourful” - wrong. The 2003 live action managed to make Neverland look twice as colourful as this new film, and that was released two entire decades before:

It’s not just this remake: it’s most remakes quite frankly - The Lion King, Little Mermaid, etc.

I don’t want to hate on the film when it’s not actually out yet, and I’m going to reserve full judgement until it does release, but I feel like people are claiming anyone with criticism is just being racist when there are genuine critiques and concerns. As I said, I don’t have any issue with the casting or in diversifying the cast, my issue comes from the colour palette of the film, the changes from the source material where there don’t need to be changes, and also the fact that Disney (and most other companies for that matter) should waste less money on pointless remakes and spend more resources producing original content.

#peter pan #peter pan and wendy #disney

50 notes · View notes

tiffanylamps · 2 years

Text

Beyond Evil: the Romantic Rain trope

Hello! Guess who's back on their shit again... Me!

When I first finished watching Beyond Evil/ 괴물 on 5/02/22 (yes, I know, it surprised me too during the last episode), I immediately started writing an essay about the show's queer subtext/queer coding. The essay is an analysis of episodes 1-8... and it's ridiculously long and unfinished (and probably never will be finished). This post includes the opening parts. I like them, so I have decided to share them. These opening thoughts surround the rain scene in episode two and how it is romantic in tone.

[I do have another bit analysing Dong Sik's queer coding, which I might post one day.] So, yeah, this is a part of a larger piece. So, that's why it feels a bit incomplete.

A disclaimer: ~ I use the word ‘queer’, a lot. But this is not meant as a derogatory/offensive term. But instead, is used by its reclaimed meaning: a generalised term to refer to someone who isn’t heterosexual.Also, all spellings of characters’ names are taken from AsianWiki.

(my very gloomy-looking screenshots)

Enjoy!

“Why are you doing this to me? Why?” Han Joo Won talking to Lee Dong Sik (episode 5).

Have you ever asked someone a question that they refuse to answer? Instead of giving you the information you want, they dance around it, jump to conclusions, and add the right amount of distraction; until you can’t even remember what you asked in the first place. This is a recurrence of Beyond Evil’s main characters Lee Dong Sik and Han Joo Won. Their conversations and arguments often spark one of them to ask a question that the other does not answer.

This happens numerous times throughout the first half of the series. Typically, these questions are of the following nature:

“Just what about me interests you so much?” Lee Dong Sik, episode 2

“It’s a dangerous thing to become attached to someone. Don’t you think?” Lee Dong Sik, episode 4

“Why can’t you leave me alone?” Lee Dong Sik, episode 5

(English translations taken from Netflix)

Oftentimes these questions are more for the audience to ponder on, rather than for the characters to outright answer. This is why they aren’t answered with verbal confirmation but instead, with the character’s actions.

In the thriller, crime, and mystery genres, it is usual to have a protagonist investigate and chase our anti-hero/sympathetic villain. Beyond Evil (otherwise known as Monster/ 괴물) uses this narrative trope as the basis of its storytelling: one hotshot young guy comes from the big city to investigate an older seemingly unhinged man of a crime he may or may not have committed. But over time, as the protagonist learns more, we get to see the shades of ambiguity that are bursting at the seams. Furthermore, both characters will be forever changed because of their relationship and the events that follow.

One element that makes Beyond Evil stand out from others within the same genre is that this story isn’t really about a small hometown murder. It uses the murders within this rural area as a canvas in which to tell the real story: love. One way this is proven is that the story focuses on the victims and their friends and families, and the overall community, instead of the killer(s).

Beyond Evil explores and showcases the Ancient Greeks’ philosophy of the seven kinds of love:

Eros: romantic love; passionate, lustful, the want for sexual intimacy Philia: friendship; affectionate, platonic, sweet and equal Storge: familial; strong bonds, kin-ship, unconditional Agape: altruism; empathy, selflessness, love for worldly experiences Ludus: new love; non-committal, flirtatious, playful Pragma: committed love; long-term relationships, companionship, maturity Philautia: self-love; self-esteem, self-worth, a necessity

(information source: https://www.wellandgood.com/greek-words-for-love/)

It is a story highlighting the importance of love: all the different kinds of love we encounter in our lives; how we are affected by them; what it looks like to live without love; including, when it's time to accept love and when it's time to let it go. But most importantly, sometimes, you can find love in the most unexpected place.

[But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s sprinkle some background information and analyse the first half (the first act, if you will) of Beyond Evil (episodes 1-8) and look at how Joo Won ended up broken-hearted in Dong Sik’s front garden.] Redacted for this post.

On the first watch-through of this show, the audience is told the story predominantly through Joo Won’s gaze; which is biassed and trifled with unreliable narration. Through his perspective, we are toyed with and encouraged to constantly doubt the other characters. The show expertly uses Alfred Hitchcock’s film theory Pure Cinematics for instilling doubt, harnessing the power of the editing process to define the visual narrative. In other words, the show creators displayed a key understanding of how the narrative changes with context.

The best example of this is the butcher shop sequence on the night of Kang Min Jeong's disappearance. We are first introduced to the sequence from Joo Won’s perspective: all of Dong Sik’s actions are awkward and suspicious, and we over-analyse his movements and actions/inactions to come to the conclusion that he’s done something. Then later on in the show, we revisit this sequence from Dong Sik’s perspective and yes, he has done something but not what we were led to believe. All of his awkward and suspicious behaviour becomes a painful and morally grey experience, where the audience feels great sympathy for him.

The context defines the narrative. Without the full context, we do not get the full story.

And only with the full context, can we look past the structure of the piece and unveil the answers to the questions that are asked... we reveal the truth.

Whilst rewatching the show, the viewing experience is completely different. All the pieces are already fitted into place, so I spent less time trying to decipher and instead, leisurely trying to digest. The experience is nowhere near as suspenseful but far more gut-wrenching. This is because the viewer already has the full story - the full context - everyone’s actions and inactions are accounted for: we know why x was acting sketchy in episode y because of what they did 20 years ago, and so on.

When everyone’s actions are accounted for it is a lot easier to follow the story from Dong Sik’s perspective. We see the injustices that innocent people go through more harshly, we also see the cruelty of the guilty from the get-go. We are able to focus on the smaller details of people’s relationships, instead of thinking about the big picture. We are also able to take the time to truly understand the visual language the creators are showing us and how that shapes the narrative.

There is one sequence that comes to mind that is told purely from Joo Won’s perspective. There is no dialogue during this particular sequence of shots, so the audience is completely reliant on the visual language to understand what is being conveyed. This scene is greatly important for the show as a whole, as it gives us an uncensored look into Joo Won’s thoughts. Without it, the narrative of the story would be different, as it adds context to Joo Won’s actions later on in the series. That scene is from episode two.

iii

Joo Won and Dong Sik are on patrol, still getting used to each other as partners. One) because their personalities clash and two) because Joo Won is actively investigating Dong Sik for murder, which is just hanging there between them. They stop their patrol to help a disabled young adult who is lost in the rain. Dong Sik takes charge of the situation because he is better equipped at interacting with disabled people and the people of Manyang (and the wider Munju area) as a whole. This scene is one of the most important as it is an untainted humanisation of Dong Sik’s character, giving the audience (and Joo Won) a first glimpse into who Dong Sik really is.

Up until this point, Joo Won has only seen Dong Sik as a character: the killer; “the suspect” as Dong Sik later describes it. He vehemently dislikes him but still has a misguided interest in Dong Sik’s life. But this suddenly is challenged. Standing there in the rain, with no shoes on, smiling at the young man who is dancing, we get to see what Joo Won sees for the first time: kindness, humility, and beauty.

It’s a glitch in the system.

This scene is slightly baffling. It poses the question of what the creators are truly trying to tell its audience. Is it that these two characters work best when they are unified and Joo Won’s assumptions of Dong Sik are wrong?... Well, yes ... but also, of course, hiding in plain sight is the subtext that Joo Won is gay/queer.

Which point takes paramount importance? It would seem that in this scene it’s the subtext. We see why this is so through the sequence of shots:

After the situation has been assessed by the pair and they have come to an agreement. Joo Won goes to the shop to get supplies to help with the young man and when he returns, we, the audience, are faced with a sequence of ever-closing in close-up shots. With each cut, the camera is showing us what Joo Won is choosing to focus on; where his eyes are gravitating. What is odd about the sequence is the information that is chosen to be shared: Dong Sik's feet, the umbrella, the smile: kindness, humility, beauty.

Joo Won returns to the pair and falters, he seems shocked into stillness. Which almost seems frivolous, as Joo Won is already privy to two-thirds of the information being presented.

Joo Won already knew that Dong Sik had given his shoes to the young man.

He knew about the umbrella because he is the one who gave it to Dong Sik to use.

Then… they cut to a slow-motion close-up of Dong Sik’s smiling face, rain behind him and sunshine kissing his face. This last shot is the only piece of information we didn’t have before Joo Won went to the shop because it’s Joo Won’s thoughts at that moment. It’s no longer information that can be detailed in a police report but a deeply human moment. He has digested the information in front of him and this is his conclusion: beauty.

This screams romantic undertones- especially with the knowledge that rain is often used as a romantic trope in visual media. “Rain seems to go along with pivotal moments in characters' lives. It's implied that if you can ignore bad weather and brave the elements, then your big moment is even more real and intense and genuine. If you want to be deserving of your love, you won't care if it's raining, you will rush out into the rain to be with her or him-” tvtopes.org, Romantic Rain.

This trope is used often within Korean media, especially within the romance genres. So, it is a visual language that is common knowledge with Korean audiences. It is less likely to be seen within the crime and mystery genres, so it speaks volumes that the creators decided to include it.

Here are three examples of Korean dramas that use the Romantic Rain trope to show the protagonists have romantic feelings for one another:

Legend of the Blue Sea: offering an umbrella as protection/taking someone into your care Flower of Evil: Hee Sung allows himself to become soaked because of his feelings Goblin: slow motion shot of the characters passing one another in the rain

How Beyond Evil uses the same visuals within this scene:

Protection: Joo Won gives Dong Sik an umbrella and forensic shoe covers Soaked: Joo Won stops mid-run to stare at Dong Sik in the rain, seemingly awestruck/concerned Slow-motion: Joo Won’s perspective in the following sequence of close-ups is in slow motion

This scene is not the moment that Joo Won realises the extent of his feelings for Dong Sik. It is used as supporting evidence for the later conversations Joo Won has with Park Jung Je and Nam Sang Bae. In which he is asked by both of them why he cares so much about the cold case (in which Dong Sik is his suspect). To which, Joo Won replies the first time he’s asked:

“This is Lee Dong Sik’s–”

He shouts this and has to stop himself, calming down to answer that he’s determined to solve the cold case because one of the victims is Lee Dong Sik’s sister. The key person in that answer is Lee Dong Sik. He is the reason Han Joo Won cares so deeply [and because of his own personal involvement] about a case that no police officer would try to solve: “-there isn’t a single cop in the country that would prioritise such a case.” [Park Jung-Je.]

Han Joo Won is a determined person. When he sets his mind to something, he will achieve it, even if it upsets other people or hurts himself. He’s a person who cares deeply about things and can become easily fixated. If the creators wanted us to see Joo Won’s actions deriving from a place of spite or a self-righteous need for the truth, they would never have used the Romantic Rain trope.

Following the scene in the rain, Joo Won chooses to not act upon what he felt then and instead, suppresses his feelings. It makes sense. He’s experiencing attraction (eros) for his murder suspect; the man that he has been obsessing over; the man who only now is more than just a character to him. He is becoming a human and a very attractive one, at that.

Joo Won doesn’t know what to do with that newfound knowledge. So… he starts to lose his cool. This is obviously aided by other factors…

Without this scene, and those particular shots, Joo Won’s intense interest in Dong Sik and his mental decline over the next two episodes wouldn’t make as much sense. When we take the queer subtext into consideration, it makes the puzzle pieces fit all that bit more snuggly. It gives us the knowledge that Joo Won has humanised Dong Sik in his mind, he likes what he sees and he doesn’t know how that fits around his rigid moral compass… and what Joo Won knows about himself because really this scene is more about Joo Won discovering himself than it is about Joo Won discovering Dong Sik.

---

Look how devastated he is. This man has literally stalked the very handsome man he's staring at, has taken pictures of him, has said pictures on his tablet/printed out, spends his days staring at these pictures whilst biting his lip- then gets all bent out of shape because he realises he's attracted to him?? Baffling.

That is it for that scene's analysis, I remember writing more but I must have deleted it at some point. Anyway, hope that was entertaining and easy to read (I have the tendency to ramble on/make grammatical errors haha).

See ya!

#beyond evil #jtbc beyond evil #han juwon #han joo won #lee dongsik #jwds #sir is it gay to use romantic tropes #whilst staring at your murder suspect??#look how beautiful jw thinks ds is!#my guy is doomed #beyond evil analysis

179 notes · View notes

spiralcass · 1 year

Text

NEW MUTANTS: LETHAL LEGION #1 - THOUGHTS

There were several X-books out this week, but my favorite was the fantastic first issue of New Mutants: Lethal Legion, the FIRST Big 2 mainline mini-series ever to have a trans femme character as the protagonist, and I feel like talking about it a little.

Brought to us by @charliejaneanders and a fantastic team of artists, this issue sets up two plots, with Escapade, Cerebella, and Honey Badger (Sorry, Charlie, can’t bring myself to call her Scout) doing a silly heist in the hopes of distracting Martha from her trauma, while Wolfsbane attempts to convince Morgan to come to Krakoa.

I won’t be doing a beat-for-beat rundown (Go read the issue!), instead just highlighting some of the things that stuck out to me.

First, for as kind and compassionate as Shela is, I enjoy how she is completely unmerciful toward those who don’t deserve it. She may have realized calling herself a “villain” was silly and didn’t suit her at all, but she’s still someone who’s faced heavy discrimination, who’s been fighting and involved in crime to survive since she was a teenager, and who wanted to be like Emma Frost; of course she’s practical (and a little extra) about dealing with enemies.

Martha’s always been great, but I’ve absolutely been loving her since Vita Ayala made her part of their cast, and continuing to give her shine as Shela’s “best friend” was a great call. Martha still struggling to unpack her trauma, even though by all logic she should feel better, and contrasting her and Shela’s different views on things based on the different types of hate they’ve faced in their lives is good stuff.

Look, this is sad for Morgan and all, genuinely so, but like...well, it’s acknowledged in-universe at this point that even on a good day, the X-Men are kind of jerks (It’s part of their charm!), but there’s something hilarious about this being Shela’s first issue as a proper X-hero, and mostly-Krakoan, and instantly she’s being a bitch and ignoring her lifelong best friend’s texts as he’s getting kicked out of his (formerly THEIR) apartment.

Yes, it’s because she’s gotten sucked into her new life, and she’s been focusing her attention on helping Martha, but still.

This. Motherfucking. Ensemble.

It is the worst outfit I have ever seen, and I’m in love.

Rahne Sinclair, we all know you’re a lesbian. Admit it already.

What Martha is going through is very similar to what Rahne went through in Hickman and Ayala’s runs, and I’m hoping that’s intentional, and these two plots will intersect.

This part I’ve already joked about, but Shela, girl, let’s talk about this.

1. You used to look up to Emma Frost. Did you only start saying “Eat the Rich” after Krakoa came around?

2. Did no one tell you that being Krakoan automatically makes you rich? You could be stocking up on so much food for Hibbert!

3. You’ve now mostly decided to live on Krakoa. You do understand this nation is ruled by a dictatorial oligarchy of 12 who wield absolute power and live in castles while having everyone else share habitat domes with a dozen other people, RIGHT? Don’t worry, I don’t expect you to know literally all but one of them are extremely corrupt; you’re new here after all.

Called it. I totally called it. I 100% called it. The last three issues of New Mutants made it far too clear this was where we were heading, and I’m so happy we did. Shela and Martha are adorable together, and now, this isn’t just the first mainline mini-series with a trans femme lead, it’s also another Marvel book with a sapphic couple in the leading roles! Well done!

(Also, Shela, I see you fantasizing about wearing that Emma-looking outfit. Me thinks you haven’t completely turned on her)

Gabby is only in this story because she heard something stupid was going on and she wanted to be a part of it. I love her.

There is not one brain cell to be found here.

To be honest, at least so far, I haven’t really enjoyed Morgan as a character. Compared to all the facets we’ve gotten from Shela as the focus of her stories, Morgan’s remained pretty one-note, and it’s not a note I particularly enjoy. He’s prissy, hates Krakoa, and liked things how they were.

It also really doesn’t help that when actually asked about his issues with Krakoa, he makes an extremely weak argument. There are COUNTLESS major issues with Krakoa, but all he brings up is “You made your own language” and “All Mutants are soldiers”.

And I’m sitting here like...really? Rahne ends up refuting his latter point in a great speech that makes a lot of sense for her, specifically, to give (though she could have also brought up that 99% of the Mutant population aren’t combatants. Then again, that would bring up Krakoa’s class system, and that would be a genuine thing Morgan would be right to complain about), but she doesn’t even bother addressing the language thing, probably because it’s such a ridiculous thing to complain about.

She also doesn’t address the mention of “nationalism”. Krakoa IS absolutely a nationalist state, but whether that means “We are superior to all the monkeys who call themselves humans living on this planet” or “We have pride in our culture and will do whatever we have to to protect it from those who’d do us harm” really just comes down to whether you’re reading a Hickman-era book or a Post Hickman-era book.

You idiots are all going to die. I’d laugh, but I’ve been waiting since X-Factor was unfairly cancelled to see a trans woman go through resurrection, so fingers crossed.

That’s all I’ve got! Hope you all enjoyed ,and if you’d like to see me go over other comics like this, let me know!

#x-men #new mutants #shela sexton #escapade #martha johansson #cerebella #gabby kinney #honey badger #rahne sinclair #wolfsbane

38 notes · View notes

this-is-getting-silly · 1 year

Text

I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m not a professional critic or reviewer, and these are just my subjective opinions. There’s no need to get upset that someone on the internet has a different opinion than you.

Now, with that out of the way- I THINK WORM SUCKS

Okay just kidding. It’s good, I like it a lot… but for the most part, I like it despite its protagonist, rather than because of her. And not just because I think the story contorts itself around her in a frustrating way, although it very much does do that. It’s just that, at the end of the day, I don’t think there’s much about her that makes for an interesting viewpoint character.

At the end of the day, what actually motivates Taylor? She starts off wanting to ‘be a hero,’ but gives up on that pretty quickly, yet never really commits to ‘being a villain’ either. It’s not saving the world, either, that’s just basic self-preservation. Her real motivation is simple- protecting her friends, and having them continue to like her. She continues being a villain explicitly for the latter reason (once Coil is dead and Dinah is free there’s no real reason for her to remain a villain other than that), and does most of what she does in service of the former.

Self-preservation and the desire to protect one’s friends are fine primary motivations for a main character… in the right context. For the former, we need only look at Blake from Pact, whose life is in constant danger through pretty much the entire book, so he never gets the chance to develop any goals beyond ‘stay alive,’ and instrumental to that, ‘get stronger.’ That’s fine- it would be weird if Blake was really preoccupied with some other goal considering all that’s happening to him during the events of that story.

Likewise, in the latter case, you have Sylvester from Twig, whose desire to protect his friends is important because their lives are considered expendable, so wanting to protect them motivates him to act proactively and pursue other goals. He even extends his definition of ‘friends’ to basically all experiments, which eventually pushes him to take on the entire Academy and Crown, because he’s got a problem with what they do to his fellow experiments and him. That’s a great motivation for a character! (Twig is the best thing Wildbow has ever written and I hope it never gets a sequel.)

On the other hand, Taylor wanting to protect her friends is a much weaker motivation, because they are almost never in any danger that they didn’t put themselves in. I can’t really cheer for her beating up on Protectorate heroes to save her pals because they chose to take over an entire city. That’s on them. Of course, Taylor is incapable of not perceiving it as unjust persecution, because she has a literal victim complex, and rightfully so, she was a victim for a long time, but not for most of the events of the story itself.

So when it comes down to it, her motivation is basically ‘me and my friends should be able to do whatever we want, and get to kill anybody who tries to stop us.’ Which isn’t an especially compelling motivation from an outside perspective! If she was really driven to be the best parahuman criminal in the city, and supplanting Coil as a crime lord was her plan all along, that would at least be interesting, but she just kind of gets dragged along into everything, and then retroactively justifies it in her mind by deciding the people opposing her are ‘bullies.’

As a consequence of this, Taylor doesn’t really stand for anything, either. She does plenty, but in many ways she’s still basically a passive protagonist, going in whichever direction the flow of the narrative takes her. It just so happens that the narrative flows very quickly, so she never ends up spinning her wheels too long (badly mixing metaphors there, I know), but if things weren’t constantly happening for her to respond to, Taylor really wouldn’t end up doing much on her own.

So- we’ve established why I think Taylor makes for a weak protagonist. Let’s take a look at who I think would make for a compelling replacement.

Number one with a bullet, it’s your boy Theo. I’ve touched on this recently elsewhere, but I want to make a more comprehensive pitch for him now. You might say ‘but isn’t Theo also largely reactive and motivated by self-preservation?’ To a degree, yeah- most of what he does in the story is motivated by not wanting to get killed by Jack Slash. But even if you take Jack out of his story completely, he would still have a more interesting motivation than Taylor. The heroic scion (heh) of a villainous legacy trying to atone for his parents’ misdeeds is a way more interesting story than whatever she has going on. The thing with Jack is just a cherry on top.

(Atonement is a great character motivation in general, which is part of why Rain would have been a far superior protagonist for Ward than Victoria, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.)

Obviously you’d have to rework the story somewhat significantly to make him work as the protagonist, but I think it’s doable. If you wanted to keep things as much the same as possible, you’d probably start with Theo already in the Chicago Wards, and tell the story of how he got there in recurring flashbacks. Taylor could also still be in the story, I actually kind of think she’d work better as a supporting character (as long as you got rid of some of the truly ridiculous shit she did like killing Alexandria). Seeing her training Theo from his perspective would be very interesting, since canon Worm skips pretty much all that stuff.

Next pick: Weld. You might think you’re detecting a theme here, but not so much, actually. Weld’s story is more about him becoming disillusioned with the Protectorate, and even with being a hero in general. But unlike Taylor, who gives up on being a hero roughly three chapters into Worm, that would be a slow arc, starting with him as a true believer, who over the course of the entire story loses his faith and quits to found his own team. It’s worth noting too that the Irregulars weren’t just an independent hero team, but mercenaries, which suggests Weld has soured on the ‘hero’ thing overall.

Plus, Weld has a very solid motivation- finding out who the hell turned him into a Case 53. That’s an actual goal he could pursue over the course of a story and get closure for! We could see his relationship with Sveta actually develop, watch him try to manage the internal tensions of the Irregulars, and go up against Cauldron, which Taylor only really interacts with incidentally until the very end of the story.

Third choice: Faultline. We know a lot less about her than any of the others I’ve named so far- her interlude is so unmemorable I actually forgot it existed before writing this. We never learn her actual name (I’d keep ‘Miss Fitts’ because I like the pun but modern wildbow is a joyless monster so he’d probably change it) or even her trigger event, but I still think she’d make a solid choice. Clearly Wildbow agrees because she was the protagonist in an earlier draft of the story.

Much like Weld, she has a strong motivation in wanting to track down Cauldron, and I think the cast of characters surrounding her is more interesting than the Irregulars, and arguably even the Undersiders themselves.

My next choice is gonna be controversial, but… Armsmaster. Yeah, he starts out as an antagonistic force in Worm, but only because Taylor perceives literally every authority figure in existence as her enemy. His actual story is really compelling, not least because I firmly believe he was framed for the armband thing. That interpretation isn’t canon, but the facts fit, and I think it makes Worm a hundred times more interesting, so I choose to believe it.

So you have a kind of autistic, extremely driven but also somewhat self-involved hero, who gets framed for something he didn’t do, loses everything, and has all the people whose respect he was hoping to earn turn on him. And he comes back from that! Tell me that isn’t a more interesting story than Taylor, who never meaningfully loses a fight or has anything taken from her.

Bonuses for him include: getting to see him fight Leviathan one on one from his perspective, getting a better look at the inner workings of the Protectorate and Guild, giving his relationship with Dragon more development, and seeing a Tinker actually do some tinkering, which is something we’ve basically been completely denied across two books.

And finally, we have the wildcard option: someone else entirely. There are vast swathes of Worm’s world left entirely unexplored, and I’m sure there are plenty of more interesting protagonists hiding somewhere in them. People with more interesting powers, histories, and motivations than the protagonist we actually got. Or Victoria. Goddamn do I wish we got someone other than Victoria for Ward. Rain was right fucking there, hoW DO YOU FUCK THAT UP AAAA

okay that’s it, post over, thanks for reading. bye

#worm #worm meta #worm crit #Ward #parahumans #wildbow #effortpost #seriously if you take nothing else from this post #read that thing I linked #it’s extremely convincing #worm spoilers #Ward spoilers #twig spoilers #pact spoilers #just to be safe I don’t really give details for any of them except Worm #also #Read Twig

23 notes · View notes

mozillavulpix · 9 months

Text

So okay, a bit delayed but

the things about the Rain Code ending that confuse me (story and gameplay-wise)

Because I actually really enjoyed the ending but there’s a few parts that I legitimately don’t know why they did it like that, it almost feels like weird game and script oversights

So the final chapter of Rain Code has Very Big Danganronpa vibes.

The main reason being that at the end of the day, it comes down to the protagonist being forced to make an impossible choice.

The choices being:

a) Yuma reaps Makoto’s soul in the Mystery Labyrinth to uncover the truth (and escape the labyrinth he’s stuck in), but this means having to reveal the truth that everyone living in Kanai Ward is a homunculus that’ll turn into a mindless flesh-eating zombie if they’re exposed to sunlight. So they’re vampire zombies.

b) Yuma lets Makoto go, allowing him to keep them in relative safety under the artificial rain cloud where they’re in no danger of harming anyone, but that means Yuma can’t leave the Mystery Labyrinth since the mystery won’t be uncovered and his soul will eventually be consumed from staying there for too long.

Of course, in typical Danganronpa fashion, Yuma chooses the secret third option.

c) He lets Makoto go, but tells him he trusts him to tell the residents the truth himself. If that happens, the mystery of Kanai Ward will no longer be a mystery, so the Mystery Labyrinth will disappear on its own and he’ll be freed.

On paper this is a nice ending, but it’s done kind of weirdly?

1. The game actually physically makes you make the decision of either “Destroy the Labyrinth” or “Remain in the Labyrinth”, but it actually doesn’t matter what decision you make. Even though Yuma’s decision really does come down to “Remain in the Labyrinth”, even if you choose to destroy the labyrinth, the game will act like you chose to remain. I guess it’s because ‘Yuma asks someone to destroy it from the outside’ isn’t exactly either of those choices, but also the game treats it like this is a decision to “Remain” first and foremost.

This is especially weird compared to Danganronpa Ultra Despair Girls and V3. In those games, they give you the option to physically decide between the choices, and if you don’t do what the protagonist chooses to do (ie: “Don’t break the controller” and “Refuse to vote”), you get a nonstandard game over. But that’s not the case in this one. It’s just baffling because they didn’t need to give you the ability to make the choice if it doesn’t actually do anything.

2. It kind of contradicts itself on whether or not Yuma was choosing to sacrifice himself.

On the one hand, he acts like there’s no way that Makoto would be able to destroy the Mystery Labyrinth on the outside in time before his soul is destroyed. So is the point that he’s choosing to give up his life for the hope that Makoto will find a better solution? Even if that’s the case, he is still resigned he’ll die, so it doesn’t even feel like the game is making him choose a “third option” at all.

But then just as he’s waiting to die, Shinigami suddenly tells him that there’s an emergency exit that he can use to leave the Labyrinth whenever he wanted. She offhand mentions it in an earlier chapter, but you had probably forgotten about it. I guess she didn’t want to bring it up until there was no other option because doing that breaks their contact, meaning he can never use her power again, but also...Shinigami, shouldn’t you have told Yuma while he was still deliberating on that choice? She’s completely silent when he has to make the decision, saying it’s all up to him, but like...coming-of-age story aside, don’t you think you should tell him important details like that before he chooses? Because the game seems to say that Yuma definitely didn’t remember that option.

3. Yuma gets his memories back as a consequence of choosing to break the contract with Shinigami and I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a good or bad outcome.

Because on the one hand, Yuma’s lost memories are that he’s Number One of the World Detective Organisation, that he’s literally the greatest detective in the world and is said to have the “world’s greatest mind”.

But on the other hand, himself as Number One seemed a bit unhinged and you’d also think Yuma would be conflicted over whether getting back those memories would fundamentally change the person he’s become over the course of the game.

Like, the main thing is the game spends zero time discussing the implications of this if he uses the emergency exit. Yuma is more concerned and upset about the fact breaking the contract means losing his memories of Shinigami. Which is fine, it’s a nice way to end it, but...are you worried about getting your old memories back or not? He literally doesn’t say. It’s like just a side-effect of losing Shinigami and they don’t bring it up at all.

It gives me major Danganronpa 2 vibes, but comparing it to Danganronpa 2 confuses me more than anything. Because in Danganronpa 2, it was clear that Hajime having to wake up as Izuru would risk destroying his entire sense of self. It was only through Hajime’s sheer determination that he changed the rules to force his personality to remain even after the choice was made. We also had a whole epilogue narrated by Hajime that gives an unambiguous answer that he chooses to live as Hajime once the story is over. In contrast, we barely know anything about what Yuma actually *is* at the end of the game. We know he’s choosing to be a detective, but that’d be the case whether he was Number One or Yuma Kokohead. We also don’t know if he has some kind of detective super-brain like Izuru or...Makoto. He just gives Kurumi a letter saying he’s leaving on a journey, and he’s in a place with mysteries, but he doesn’t do any actions on-screen to give us an idea of how competent he is.

Like, at least give Number One a different eye colour or something. It makes no sense that amnesia would change your eye colour to begin with, but this is a game with vampire zombies and a death god that can turn into an anime girl. Realism is not their priority here. It’d help give a clear way to tell the difference between the personalities. Hajime doesn’t show his eyes in the epilogue of Danganronpa 2, but Danganronpa 3 gives him hetereochromia just to nail in that his personality is some sort of combination between the two. Or even just a different outfit. Or a different hat. Why did make him look identical as Number One? It makes it all the more confusing.

anyway, I still enjoyed it. I think it was actually a less confusing ending than Danganronpa V3. At least it was clear on what things were real and what things mattered.

But I just find it weird because these issues all have very simple fixes. Change the way the player has to make the ‘choice’ at the end. Have Shinigami bring up the emergency exit before that. And make Number One have some noticeable difference to Yuma so we know who he is at the epilogue there. I don’t know why they didn’t do it like that.

#rain code #spoilers #spoilers for danganronpa as well

9 notes · View notes