8 posts
I’m gonna be honest this ain’t it. Your article basically takes these two complicated and interesting characters and strips them down to how “masculine” and “feminine” they are, all the while cherry picking moments and dialogue to fit your needs. But most importantly, you seem to be ignoring who these characters are, their motivations and goals and why they did what they did.
Let’s start with Fordola.
In your complaints about Fordola in the English localization you pretty much focus entirely on one set of scenes, the ones with Fordola in prison. The first you point out the missing tattoo scene and how it leaves out how she’s fighting as an Ala Mhigan. But this completely ignores her monologue in Specula Imperatorius where she basically says that she’s fighting so that Ala Mhigans can be seen as equal in Garlemald. You claim this means she’s denying being Ala Mhigan, but that’s just blatantly untrue. And her Resonant Scene wasn’t her simping for the WOL, it was her asking “how are you not a broken, miserable person like I am?” You say the removal of her tattoo scene makes her look stupid and less sympathetic, but that’s basically only works if you just, like completely ignore her backstory and everything we know about how Garlemald (especially under Gaius) operates.
Now let’s move on to Yotsuyu.
First and foremost, your assertion that Yotsuyu didn’t get redeemed because of “how much of a woman she is about it” is just completely ridiculous. You can only come to that conclusion if you just ignore everything about Yotsuyu, who she is, her motivations, her goals etc. While it’s true that the actions done to her are were because she is a woman, this is really just missing the forest for the trees. Yotsuyu doesn’t just hate the people who did bad things to her she hates everyone else who just stood by and let it happen. And this isn’t speculation or anything she says this out loud, in game.
If Yotsuyu were a man and was, say, forced into hard labor or servitude, he’d still hate the domans all the same and would be just as cruel to them. This is kinda the point of the Tsuyu plot. No matter which choice you make things don’t go well for her. Let her live as Tsuyu and she lives in a place where everyone hates her for something she can’t remember doing. Let her go back to being Yotsuyu and she’ll just be back to what she did before. While I will concede it could have been written better, the point still stands. It could have been Asahi, her parents, Jifuya, or just the constant hatred and suspicion from the Domans, something would have caused her to snap. To quote the game and Yotsuyu herself again.
And perhaps most importantly, and I cannot stress this enough Yotsuyu did not get a redemption because Yotsuyu did not want a redemption. Redemption is something that must be actively worked for by the person who wants to be redeemed.
Final Thoughts: You’re big issue is that you’ve taken two characters that have similarities and basically said that because the more feminine one did not get the kind of redemption you wanted her to, that the writers are misogynist. But your take completely ignores the fact that beyond these similarities Fordola and Yotsuyu had very different motivations and goals.
Fordola loved Ala Mhigo and wanted to what she thought was best for it. It’s just that her thinking has become corrupted by a childhood of tragedy and Garlean Propogands.
Yotsuyu hated Doma and the Domans for letting her suffer as bystanders and to put it simply, was never going to be like Fordola. Yotsuyu would probably much rather die than so much as lift a finger for Doma or the Domans
I wrote an article comparing fordola and yotsuyu's arcs you should read it❗
So. I’ve been thinking of a Stoneheart! AU, especially for March and the Trailblazer. Basically a “what if they were found by the IPC instead of the Astral Express. And I just kinda want to get it all out, so to speak.
So here I go.
Recruited after the events of Herta Space station.
Is much more formal and polite, yet still has some of that raccoon energy we all know and love
Can be somewhat off putting when you first meet them. Their Neutral face and tone tends to intimidate many people.
Largely invests in independent planets and projects. infrastructure projects, Smaller businesses they think will be successful, basically have their hand in all of the cookie jars.
Big into gaming and convinced the IPC to host a E-Sports tournament.
Started out as an Idol working for the IPC, her ability to read and predict trends got her Diamond’s attention.
Heavily invested in the Entertainment industry. Idols, Streamers, Cartoons, Toys, even fashion. You name it, She’s got something to do with it.
Still the Happy go lucky girl we all know and love, and is largely considered the best Stoneheart to work under
Is a it more passive aggressive in this AU. Not as blunt as she is in Canon but will still cut you up with her tongue
As stated before, she is extremely good at figuring out the current trends. Knows how to differentiate between a trend the IPC can capitalize on and a fad that’s gonna be gone in a week.
As I said these are just ideas I came up with sorts on the fly. Let me know what you think!
I was heavily inspired by @enatopiaa and their Robin!Yuu series so I thought I’d give something similar a shot.
But instead of a playable character in this headcanon Yuu will be normal Foxian from the Realm Keeping Commision.
So Foxian! Yuu who
- is 100 years old Graduated top of their class at their Academy and has a position in the Realm Keeping Commission
- And now they have to deal with this fool (gestures to Crowley)
- Essentially force Crowley to make them his assistant.
- And by “assistant” they mean “doing his job for him” because Lan only knows this man would never pass the civil service exam.
- Revises the budget to make room for two things. A team of Therapists and a Security Team.
- Takes step to enforce order, creating a way in which students may settle their disputes peacefully
- Generally getting the school back on track and attempting to find a way to go home. By the Hunt they can already see the stacks of paperwork.
- And they swear if one more person asks to touch their tail or ears they’ll show them that just because their part of the Realm Keeping Commission does not mean they can’t fight
TL;DR: Foxian!Yuu pulls a coup on Crowley and does his job for him. Yes, they will be charging.
A good amount of people need to hear this.
You were a sprout once.
You were a confused little newbie once.
You did stupid shit.
You made mistakes.
So why are you being so nasty to sprouts coming to the game? Why are you being cruel to new tanks and healers in Sastasha? The first dungeon thats whole point is to get you to figure out what you're doing.
Why are you being aggressive to new players asking questions? Why are you being a dick? Why are you pulling the boss when the sprout is in cutscene? Why are you being an asshole?
You were a sprout once. Don't tell me you were perfect from the get go. Don't tell me you knew your rotation perfectly off the bat. Don't tell me you never did something stupid as a newbie. Don't tell me it didn't suck when you wanted to watch a cutscene but the party pulled anyways, leaving you behind and forcing you to abandon your cutscene.
Sprouts shouldn't have to say "sorry I'm new"- BECAUSE ITS OKAY TO BE NEW!!! ITS OKAY TO LEARN!!! ITS OKAY TO FUCK UP AND EAT SHIT!!! God knows you throw a limit cut at me and it's like HUH and I've been playing 7 years.
Fuck sakes you dicks, let sprouts learn, fuck up and ask questions.
God I wish you shit rolls and bad rng
Stealing this from my own Twitter because I think I'm hilarious
Also Papalymo deserved better and I miss him
I just feel bad for the Green Kids. Viserys showed he cared far more about Rhaenyra than he does them. Aemond literally gets his Eye slashed and Viserys is more concerned with the rumors of the Strong boys lineage (rumors that are largely as result Rhaenyra’s actions). And he’s just supposed to get over it according to Team Black. Aegon clearly has self worth problems, likely in part to Viserys’ blatant favoritism. And poor Helaena just wants it all over with. And Team Black wants them to just…ignore it all and blindly follow Rhaenyra.
Sorry for the rant, but some of the attitudes from the Fandom give me the creeps.
Honestly, it feels like the problem is that a lot of the HOTD fandom can only see things through Rhaenyra’s POV, and as a result everyone else’s POV or opinions are considered as an afterthought at best.
The Greens are just supposed to accept and love her. Criston is just supposed to accept being her loyal dog and let her use him as she pleases. The Lords of the realm are just supposed to ignore her obvious flaws and shortcomings, it goes on and on. Everyone’s supposed to take her crap with a smile because she’s such a girlboss qween.
THIS.
her stans just can't acknowledge the fact that rhaenyra has done shitty things & people that she hurt has the right to hate her. criston is a great example. rhaenyra coerced him & treated him horribly after. he was genuinely hurt by her. his anger does not justify him killing another man, but he has the right to hate rhaenyra for what she did it him. but for some reason, he's branded as this women-hating incel who's just bitter. completely ignoring the fact that criston was very loyal to rhaenyra and her claim until ep 4, and that hating rhaenyra doesn't equal to hating all women.
not supporting rhaenyra = evil characters that deserves to be punished by the narrative -[ especially if they're women. ]
like alicent has a lot of reason for wanting her son on the throne, but rhaenyra stans just make it all about alicent's jealousy and hatred towards rhaenyra - completely ignoring that the main reason that alicent wants aegon on the throne is to protect her children's lives.
You know one of the things that always bothered me about the relationship between Izuku and Bakugou was the potential for it to be a great subversion of the Arrogant rival trope.
Imagine Bakugou being introduced as he is in Canon. A horrible arrogant bully who everybody loves and praises. As Izuku trains with All Might we get a picture of an egotistical brat who seems to be in complete control.
An then U.A. Happens.
Now rather than in Canon where he is this oh so skilled person who excelled at everything and is so smart, in this version he struggles. He passes the Entrance Exam no problem, but as classes begin he’s slapped in the face with the fact that he’s no longer the hot stuff he thinks he is.
Everyone thinks he’s an arrogant loser, He’s outdone physically by people like Kirishima and Shoji, and Outsmarted by people like Momo, Tenya, and Ochacko. His crappy behavior has him on the brink of expulsion and he’s forced to recognize that he was a big fish in a small pond.
But perhaps worst of all, in my little head canon version, Izuku gives him the biggest blow. He ignores him. Izuku doesn’t entertain his tantrums, instead focusing more on schoolwork, training with All Might, hanging out with the Dekusquad. It’s the ultimate defeat for Bakugou who has always seen Izuku as a punching bag.
I’m sorry this was so long but I wanted to hear your thoughts if that’s ok with you.
You ate with this take, I fear.
I've said something similar before. UA should have been Bakugou's wake up call where he learns he's no more special or worthy than anyone else. Where no one's impressed with him because, and I stress this, UA is the best hero school in Japan. Everyone should have either been at his level or above him.
It would have been a great way to humble him. This happens a lot irl. You're hailed as a prodigy as a child only to find out you were merely the biggest fish in the smallest pond when you make it to the real world.
But nah, let's have Bakugou be better than everyone at UA for no reason
Have a scholar who studies drider and will pay the party for any depictions of them they find on their adventures.
Specifically, a middle aged, angry scholar with a mustache and alliterative name who keeps banging the table and demanding pictures of spider men.