#character commentary

[slitheryowl]

Incoming ramble about Zeref. You have been warned!

I have seen complaints levied against the curse of contradiction being an annoying plot device because it strips Zeref of his own agency and makes his decisions not his own.

I do not share these criticisms.

The fact that it strips Zeref of his agency and makes his decisions not his own is the whole point of the curse of contradiction!

Bad thing that happens because of/ gets blamed on Zeref? Alright… how much of it is actually because of Zeref? How much of it is literally the curse acting against Zeref’s will? How much of it is Zeref not in his right mind because of the curse?

Zeref isn’t evil and all of his evil acts (all that I can recall) are born from how the curse of contradiction has twisted his mind after 400 + years of being able to form zero meaningful relationships and keep everyone away from himself for their own safety. I’m sure the many heinous acts done in the name of Zeref as if he were some sort of dark god didn’t help either.

Honestly, the fact it took Zeref that long to become determined the world had to be reset is astounding and a testament to what a kind person he is at heart. If I had been in his shoes, I honestly doubt I would have made it ten years before I decided humanity was due for a reset 🤣

The fact the curse makes things difficult to truly and justly pin the blame on Zeref himself is uncomfortable and provocative, sure. But that’s what makes it so convicting and unique.

Further, my opinion is thus- almost every single attempt I have seen in fanfics to make the curse AND Zeref the problem… well bluntly, they just suck. It’s BORING. Making Zeref more ‘villainous’ makes me feel like I am no longer reading Zeref Dragneel, but a generic eevvvillll villain wrapped in a Zeref skin. At that point, why even bother?

There are plenty of pure evil villains who have done everything of their own volition. If I want that, there are many other series I can watch for that. Hell, there’s many other villains in Fairy Tail who do just that! Taking Zeref’s helplessness at himself losing his mind and forcibly becoming the world’s most hated man is just dull for his character, in my opinion.

In conclusion, Zeref’s lack of agency and control over his actions and his mind is what makes him such an intriguing antagonist.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk. There might be a part two of this, at some point. 😁

[tupik-the-officer-k-fan]

I wanna put Cecil Stedman (Invincible) & Eva Stratt (Project Hail Mary) side by side so badly cuz they're so similar but I don't have the proper English or the mental capacity for writing a giant text wall about ethics. One summer day I will write the essay though.

Also a lot of people are not ready for that conversation.

[eliotlime]

REPLYING as a new post because i want it on my blog BUT I FREAKING AGREE!!!!!!!!! ALSO if you love their sibling dynamics YOU'LL LOVE Frog's and his (their) sister's dynamic HEHE

i drew this for a strawpage qn for twitter when i was still active on it.

Actually a lot of the character dynamics in this ocverse centers around the different kinds of sibling-hood, i didn't intend for it to be one of the themes in Beck & Call (poprocks' & frog's story) but it is the main focus in Saccharine Security. Since they have a lot of overlapping characters it's kind of inevitable the themes bleed into each other.

I have a lot more drawings of frog and his sister hanging out because they're really close but they do eventually drift apart because of Frog's lifestyle choices 💔

[vivaciousprocrastinator]

The difference between Ragatha and Caine

is that Ragatha *listened*(to Kingers advice) and was able to find a good resolution to her arc.

Plus, as a human, her only purpose isn't to please others, which Kinger basically reminded her of. She's more complicated than that.

However, Caine. The ringmaster. His sole identity. And an ai. If he's criticized on the basis of that, what else of himself does he have that could make the others love him and not leave him? Yeah, nothing, in his eyes.

So he refuses to listen to what the circus members truly want(taking them too literally at times), despite being kinda possibly programmed to do so.

Damn.

[vinylfawn]

read my latest substack article "you couldn't even handle her" with the link attached! consider following me on there or subscribing to @/antlerarchives if my content interests you! feel free to share your thoughts in the comments under this post as well.

“You couldn’t even handle her!” is an exasperated statement directed towards the receptance of widely disliked or “misunderstood” fictional female characters. Its origins can be traced to Twitter/X and Tumblr, where it was used as a rebuttal against people who claimed they wished to see more challenging, deeply flawed women in media but proceeded to bash them when they were actually depicted on screen or page.

[glimmerfics]

💬 New Feature: Character Commentary!

At the end of each episode, the Love Interest (or a primary character) will now leave commentary on what they think of the MC. This works on all newly played content. Authors can:

Customize which character leaves commentary per-episode in the Author Portal:

Disable the feature in Story Setup > Advanced:

Have fun, and share screenshots of what you got! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧

[madamdeathbees]

No one will see this and that's okay

But I see a lot of commentary on various social media regarding Marazhai and why one would ever recruit him, considering what he's done not only to the Rogue Trader, but also to their retinue. And while I'm admittedly biased, here are my thoughts. Under the cut!

Firstly, there's nothing saying you can't. It is among the greatest privileges of the Warrant of Trade that you are freely able to associate with xenos, as long as you do not side with xenos over humanity. It is so incredibly easy for von Valancius to simply say "I wanted to" in regards to basically any question ever asked to them, up to and including keeping a Drukhar in their retinue.

Second, due to his circumstances aboard von Valancius's ship, he automatically becomes one of the most loyal members of the retinue. He literally cannot afford to betray the Rogue Trader or plot against them because it means his certain death. As much as I, personally, love to joke that Marazhai is an idiot, he isn't. He's incredibly smart and incredibly aware of where he stands. On the bridge, RT can comment that he seems to enjoy submitting, or at least playing second fiddle, after learning that he was (mostly) content as Dracon and even sought out the Black Heart's patronage when trying to unseat Yremeryss, and he responds that he doesn't revel in submission, but simply accepts things as they are. His loyalty aboard the von Valancius vessel is just that, him accepting his circumstances. (This is taken a step further in the sub route of his romance, but that's a whole other post that no one will read)

Additionally, it was brought up that in Act 4, during the Warp jump, he goes on a "murder spree". Not to sound like I'm woobifying him (though I've been known to) but he literally does not mean to do that. It's impossible to say what he might've done, had he known what was going to happen, but he didn't. He's never traveled through the Warp on a human vessel, so he wouldn't know. And subsequent to this, when you give him whatever you give him, whether its his own hunting grounds, free reign of the lower decks, or locking him up for Warp jumps, he does it. Without fail. He listens to you and obeys. He never, after arrangements are made for him, kills someone that the Rogue Trader does not explicitly give him permission to kill.

And that's saying a lot because he has plenty of reason to kill...basically anyone in the retinue because they all want him dead. Hell, in Commorragh, when he's attacked by Heinrix, Argenta, or Ulfar (or any combination of the three) he doesn't try to kill any of them. If he had actually tried, he would have succeeded in killing at least one of them.

Thirdly, and this is mostly from a meta perspective, but he's an incredibly lethal party member, especially when given Yremeryss's djinn blade. Before the advent of Kibellah (and Blade Dancers in general, holy shit) Marazhai has consistently been the greatest damage dealer in all 5 playthroughs that I've completed.

All this to say, yeah, I get it if you don't want to recruit the pain vampire space elf, but you're missing out on quite a lot if you decide to kill him outright or whatever other merciless fate you can imagine for him. I'm not saying he deserves it, but dig deep into your Iconoclast heart and maybe you'll find that you can give him a second (or third or tenth) chance. He won't disappoint!

[sapphire-deity]

So we all know EPIC: the musical is one of the great musical feats of our age but I just need to take a sec to talk about the gods.

Because courtesy of our extremely Christianized Western view of all religions (looking at you, ruining of Norse mythos) people have a bad habit of putting attributes of Christian religion onto Ancient Greek gods and goddesses. Like Hades being "the bad guy" because oh no, the guy who lives in "hell" must be evil! Or totally glazing over some of the more fucked up shit Zeus did because he's "in charge and closest to being capital-G God out of the pantheon."

ALL OF WHICH TO SAY, I absolutely adore how EPIC portrays the gods. Yes, Zeus is this larger than life imposing guy, but he also forces Odysseus to choose between two horrific choices, murders his men because they killed his son's favorite cows, and throws a hissy fit because Athena outwitted him. Poseidon. <- need I say more? Hermes being a capricious, neutral party willing to help Ody because it will piss off Poseidon but with zero emotional investment, he's just there for the vibes. Athena being an extremely emotionally complex character who grows and changes over time due to involving herself more heavily with humans on a consistent basis (contrasted against those who don't like Zeus and Poseidon).

Basically, the Ancient Greek gods were incredibly human, and EPIC captures that so beautifully it makes me so happy.