#character critical

[wtv-i-feel-like-saying-atm]

isn’t it interesting that the two characters gooseworx relates to most either doesn’t understand consent or intentionally wants to bulldoze over it, specifically when you’re a non-man and especially when you’re a woman?

[damoselcastel]

Gautier son, the Elder

aka why I think Miklan contextually, damns himself with his own actions

So this guy, Sylvain's older brother that is a mandatory boss in White Clouds. He's a bit of a bellweather for the fandom in that, to some he's a blorbo full of infinite possibilities and to others he's an example of Fodlan's inconsistent writing. I fall a bit more to the latter in opinion, but also think within the og Three Houses game we're given several concrete reason as to why I find Miklan to be a villain through and through.

Edelgard says he's a capable leader, Claude remarks the bandits picked a good hideout as well as being impressed someone without a Crest wielded a Hero's Relic, and in a vacuum these statements could be compelling for sympathy. Except when playing the Blue Lions introduction to this map, Dimitri talks about how Miklan has been ransacking the citizenry on Gautier lands. AKA all of the laypeople he would've grown up with, who would've shown him and his family deference and pledged loyalty. That is a people group specifically vulnerable to the Gautiers, to him, people he would've been raised knowing their family was meant to protect. And he chooses to target and exploit them during his stint as bandit leader. A ruling family tormenting those directly under their power is a medieval boogeyman that's ingrained into fictional stories, both during and after its time. Here in the high fantasy fictional FE game, we might recognize such a depiction more with villains like FE7's Erik and Lord Darin(1), FE4's MacBeth of Anphony(2)- Nobles who'd wielded their powers to abuse those vulnerable under their authority. But Miklan's actions as a bandit leader, are the same flavor as these men, no matter that he's 'destitute' and struck from the family registry.

One of Sylvain's signature critiques of the Crest system is the belief that women only want him because he has one(3), but in the context of a world where Hannamen tells us how women from a Crest bloodline can be forced into over-birthing children to the detriment of their own health, men castigating the ambitions of female ladder-climbers reads as a very entitled concern.

Similarly, Miklan's blame at the prioritization of Crests for inheritance, feels very much like someone in dysfunction denial. Largely because the player gets a first hand look at the 'supplanter' in question, and despite the difference being determined by genetic lottery, Sylvain himself is highly capable and one of the biggest forces for societal change regarding Crests in the epilogues. With Miklan, how he might've contributed to the future was lost with his death, but his actions in the present and recent past were reprehensible. When presented with someone helplessly young, Miklan again attacks that vulnerability. His claim to inheritance is seemingly nonsensical as well, "firstborn son", as if primogeniture matters when the Crest System is decried with the same breath? (mostly it's clear he wishes Sylvain had never been born)

Personally, Three Hopes' lore retcons also cemented the fact that Miklan's home situation isn't as tragic as fans might've believed.

Before Three Hopes, many believed Miklan suffered as the unwanted child because of his lack of Crest, but the Warriors writers almost over-corrected. Making Miklan not only the child of Matthias Gautier's first love, but also "loved" by his step-mother, and sent to the premier Academy attended by the most influential children on the continent. However, being disinherited by a younger sibling was apparently, something Miklan refused to accept. A bar too far. Time to throw the child down the well, and leave him on a frozen mountainside.

Nevermind that Miklan lived with the luxuries of a wealthy noble family, with loving parents; his jealousy fueled attempts at murder- which his father didn't seemingly discipline him for, and Three Hopes establishes that Miklan disowned himself. All of that stacked together, means is was Sylvain who was the neglected child even while having the pressure of learning to be heir alongside his brother's hatred. We see first hand Lord Gautier trying to send Sylvain on a seeming suicide mission alone. Oh the irony!

BTW I do think the og Three Houses depicts ever off-screen Lord Gautier as a bad dad, and here are my receipts.

(1) FE7's Erik and Lord Darin are kidnapping attractive young women against their will, highlighted by Priscilla's introduction. (2) FE4's MacBeth of Anphony sends 'bandits' to pillage his own territory's villages, wanting to illicitly collect their money and valuables. (3) Sylvain's claim ignores the fact he is a man of status also both handsome and rich, things young women would've been attracted to regardless of the additional fictional priority advantage. (4) in the DLC Yuri has serious accusations, but in Three Hopes they deny it as fact, so I consider it a flip-flop wash. (5) FEH writing seems to be continuing 'sad backstory' vibes with Miklan

[dragonageconfessions]

CONFESSION:

As a trans man I'm relieved that some of the problematic ((and transphobic) voice actors will not be in DA4. I'm fully not surprised when it comes to one of them but learning about the other was a huge blow especially when always assuming they were an ally.  What disgusts me are the people making excuses and I just want to say jokes are hurtful.  Saying it was "just a joke" or "that they didn't mean anything and probably didn't know that could be interpreted as hurtful" does NOT excuse that behavior. And defending them does NOT make you an ally.  I just hope and pray the characters are NOT in Dreadwolf with new voices because I will ALWAYS associate the characters with their original voice, I will understand if this does not get posted and I am sorry if this offends but its been bothering me for a long time.   

[elderscrollsconfessions]

Confession: I really, really, REALLY don't get the level of Serana simpery.   Like yes, vampire chick with daddy issues, has its appeal to some on the  surface, but I'm RP'ing a vampire slayer and her little speech leaves a  lot to be desired in convincing me to spare her. I'm the Dragonborn, I  can just take the scroll for myself and fuck Harkon's shit up instead of  chaperoning her on the way back to *deliver the scroll to him.* She won't leave, she won't carry my stuff, she's embarrassing me in front of  Isran! =(  

[celestiall0tus]

Luka Couffaine Notes - All That Remained

So, I think I see what issue I've had with Luka that I don't with Kagami. And, I ask your forgiveness for the blasphemy I'm about to speak. But you know what they say, right? Better to ask forgiveness than permission. So, let's crack into this.

With all due respect to Luka, he's a decent character in concept. However, from what I've seen, he's dreadfully bland. It's honestly hilarious seeing what a far cry he is in show versus what the fanon is. I've known this fact, but it really isn't until rewatching the older seasons that I see what my issue is. He was really just made to be for Marinette. He is the typical love interest catered to be for the main lead.

Now, there's nothing wrong with the original intention of a character being a love interest. One of my favorite characters, Sally Acorn, was originally intended to be a love interest for Sonic in the Archie Comics. However, for those that read the comics and know her, she became so much more. It's honestly arguable that the world of those comics was built for Sally and not Sonic. Sally became such a big part of the comics and her role was incredible, but she was still intended to be Sonic's love interest. Same goes for Kagami. She is a love interest for Adrien and rival to Marinette, but she feels so much more fleshed out. Like Sally, she's utilized so much more than Luka, which is a shame.

Luka, for all the potential he has, is nothing more than the would-be gold medal. He comes in to offer emotional support and be the rock for the main leads, but mostly Marinette. He is perfect for her, is everything she needs him to be. Day on the ice rink? He's a professional skater. Having trouble with your feelings? Shoulder to cry on and advice giver. She's feeling down and needs a pick me up that the girls can't give her? Enter stage right, Luka.

We see this even in their akumatizations. Luka is akumatized because of Marinette. It is only ever because of Marinette. Kagami did have her share of akumatizations because of Adrien, but for different reasons. Wanting a rematch, Lila, and Adrien lying. And let's not forget the cloud titan that was due to Marinette, not Adrien. Then there's Luka who was akumatized because of either an injustice to Marinette or wanting the fucking truth. (I'm not counting Migration. You all can fuck off with that. That was just bad writing all around that fucking episode.)

Doubling back on the bit about fleshed out. We see more with Kagami about who she is, her struggles, and so much more. We even see her GASP grow as a person. Whereas we have Luka. The man who is always kind, caring, protective, understanding, and patient. Well, that's all fine and all, but what else? What are his flaws? What are his weaknesses? What makes him human? I'm honestly reminded of the scene in Barbie the Nutcracker with the Rat King reading on the Sugar Plum Fairy and just being like "That's it?" Or in Swan Lake when Odette asks "What else?" and prince asshole asks "What else is there?"

You know, it kinda makes sense that when I see canon Luka, I just laugh. I don't see a character like I used to. I see a character with potential relegated to a glorified plot device. He only ever served as a way to advance the plot, which is a fucking sin. If Kagami was allowed to be important later on (which I get for what season 5 was) why couldn't we get that with Luka? I would have loved to have seen more than just a glorified plot device and, I wager, almost falls into the everyman trope. He is ordinary at the time we meet him. The one bit of normal in Marinette's life that we all honestly became attached to. Well, most of us anyway. Makes sense given his borderline blank slate personality of generic good traits.

It also makes sense why I latched onto the Luka in fanon. The entire fandom, all of y'all, make Luka such an interesting character. And I, for one, thank you all. We see more with these characters that don't get the spotlight, especially with Luka. It's amazing seeing what we do with him with the meager template provided by the show. Thank you.

[cumbiazevran]

I know I’m batting at the hornet nest, and please know that if you like this character, it’s nothing personal bc we interpret things as they make more sense to us that being said, I cannot stand the Solas gang who paint him as nothing BUT someone who has the interest of elves at heart and was their liberator, who is just kind and thoughtful and does his best to help people. I do not have a problem with people who like Solas bc this isn’t a morality competition about who has the most correct opinions, nor I care about people who do that, but did we play the same game?

Destroying the world is not the revolutionary move of liberation you think it is. I think we have seen enough movies that deal with that ecofascist narrative (bc even if the character isn’t, the narrative is). People still live in the world, and anyone who would genuinely suggest this would be destroyed in an argument by people who do actual mutual aid and left-based activism. What is or isn’t revolutionary doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and the devs being terminally Canadian/USAmerican don’t get to redefine things that exist beyond and over them

Solas isn’t a particularly helpful person. Not even to elves. Thinking pitifully of city elves and as the Dalish as savages, without any will to recognise the culture that flourished among them is also not the solidarity move you think it is

Solas isn’t particularly kind. Being soft spoken isn’t the same as being kind

For a fandom that usually has a lot of issues with other characters being used as BioWare mouth pieces (which is honestly understandable and I’m not jabbing at bc me too bestie), a lot of people in this fandom seem to be okay with Solas being one of the most blatant mouth-pieces there is

A person who laments hurting you, and saying he doesn’t want to hurt you, and how he wish he wasn’t hurting you, and who has the space to STOP and DOESN’T is you know. not someone who’s particularly interested in listening to other people

This is the guy who killed his best friend because he had the audacity to believe that a city elf could actually better the conditions of elves who are currently alive. Which is the revolutionary thing to do

The Elvhenan being destroyed is literally Solas’ doing. Organise unions and commit regicide like a normal person if it bothers you so much

“But they were enslavers” gee listen, I’m not saying the ancient elvhen empire should be pristine and perfect and a happy utopia, but you’ve never stopped to think how it’s at least a little racist that they modelled a people after several indigenous cultures and cultures of colour and then decided that the guy who wanted to fix them was a white looking king and fallen god who thinks people who are lesser than him are underdeveloped and savage? Not only that but that BioWare decided that that very culture was going to be based on slavery like a wildly inaccurate, racist, methodologically questionable global north high school text talking about Mesoamerican cultures? That they took the ancient practice of face tattoos and decided they were slave markings? How white are you???

Once again he constantly distances himself from modern elves, and the only one he speaks kindly of is a high approval Dalish Inquisitor.

He is one of the biggest “all faith in anything at all is subjugation if you disagree with me you are committing an attack on the very concept of freedom" characters in the franchise. I fully see going that route when you’re playing with Andrastianism, because of the narrative around it in the game and the influences it has. But with other minority religions and Otherised cultures in the game? It is straight up racist to me, and sounds too close to white atheism for my comfort. This isn’t just a Solas thing, but a Bioware thing in general. Even if Andrastianism is criticised or portrayed as genuinely damaging, every single person who isn’t a human andrastian is portrayed as being Oppressed Without Knowing It. every single dialogue and investigation option is framed like this.

Also foreign liberators don’t really tend to be liberators. People who seek to free other people because they know better should be met with resistance. It is with the people or not at all, and Solas actually fits in this category. He sees himself as the granter of Freedom. Where I come from, we call these people gringos or conquistadores, so you choose.

I’m not saying you can’t find entertainment, enjoyment, pathos or whatever else in this particular character. On the contrary, as different narratives and different narrative devices satisfy different things. That, however, doesn’t mean the narrative they use is extremely skewed and can be interpreted as extremely infective in terms of what people pretend it is aka a story about Liberation.

In my personal opinion, Bioware doesn’t have stories about liberation because it does not have the range for it in Dragon Age, which leaves us with a lot of half assed attempts, but I digress. My point is I’m not claiming to know what you see in this character just because I don’t enjoy him, or that you can’t at all. I’m not the boss of you. I am, however, proposing that perhaps people should stop ignoring Solas’ negative traits and the actual text material to pretend he’s some benevolent, lost, elvhen King Arthur come to fix things while being willing to kill everyone else in the process. Again.

[elemental-daddy-neos]

Sadfunny part is he very much did ask to get manhandled into a different dimension. That mf walked into that dimensional transporter after 13 yr old Ceo is like "Dont do anything" and he didnt even leave behind a note.

Real and true, he doesn't even Talk to his wife when he finally comes back and only focuses on Yuya, like. Hello. Your hot wife is right there. Can you at least look at her.