Hehe

(kofi request) izuku beat her comphet <3 they're girlfriends <3

the loss of the addiction angle in Kevin's character in the transition from ogs to uaf really shows to me the flaws in uaf's writing compared to ogs's, at least in terms of Kevin's redemption.

Kevin's energy addiction is a key part of his character in ogs. it's implied to be why he swings so drastically from being good to Ben out of the kindness of his heart to trying to kill hundreds of people in mere hours, and it seems like this has been going on a while, shifts in mood correlating to his energy consumption. the addiction is why Ben and Kevin break apart, because Kevin's behavior because of the effects of the drug and his pursuit of it stop them from being healthy friends. Ben never stops believing Kevin might have the capacity to change, though, trying to see through the person the drug created to the person inside, like him sparing Kevin in framed and helping him out in grudge match. Kevin is, at this point in his life, dangerous, but he's still a kid, and Ben's failure to protect him weighs heavy on him for the rest of his life. you see this narrative and think well, if he's redeemed later, this should be important. recovery should be hard, especially when he seems to have been in survival mode for years. it must be hard for Ben to trust him afterwards, especially with the sheer amount of pain they've put each other through, Kevin especially, because of his addiction.

in uaf, Kevin is already good. he can still absorb things, but they don't hurt him now, they aren't a compromise he makes, sanity for safety. he's a con man, he makes measured plans and scams, not drugged out bids of random violence. he's calm, mostly, and he's a good guy now, and he'll help Ben because he has "honor", and he no longer thinks of life totally selfishly. this, I feel, is a cop out.

main characters aren't really allowed to have rough edges in uaf, and when they do, it seems jarring and out of place, or a result of weird writing. Ben's transition from being a little too kind for Ben to being unreasonably cruel in a way he never was as a child is strange, unfitting of how perfect the show wants him to seem. gwen's random bouts of insulting Kevin or pettily harping on him for things he apologized for seem strange when paired with how kind she usually is to him. and Kevin, Kevin is a "bad boy", but not in a dangerous way. all of his crimes are amorphous "things he's done" that they never elaborate on, his scams not cruel but only conniving. even when mutated, he still seems lucid, way less vengeful and violent than he was as a child. he's not an addict. why would he be? he's a good guy. he's changed. even at times where it seems obvious to show that he's "fallen off the wagon", they don't mention it.

I feel like this leads into a larger discussion about uaf, mainly about character flaws and the white sheet covering specifically the alien trio. character traits that got lost in translation, Ben's hobbies, Gwen's love of technology, Kevin's addiction metaphor. especially in terms of flaws. in uaf Ben's "flaws" fluctuate, sometimes being perfect, sometimes randomly getting an ego, losing it, then gaining it back. Gwen in uaf has no stated flaws, or at least ones that are intentional, but because of that, the ones she accidentally has are more toxic and weird than she ever did as a child. and Kevin? he's an amorphous concept. vaguely criminal. vaguely angry. a doormat. what's the issue with writing Kevin in a way where he really does feel like a homeless kid with addiction problems and enough trauma to have that dead look in his eyes forever? I don't know. I don't know where I'm going with this. give Kevin a little violence back.

Silco and his terror of a daughter

I think I peaked with this art specifically

When will the albus severus name discourse in this fandom die omggg. I feel like people are missing a really crucial point when talking about this, which is that all of these characters’ lives were defined around war. No, ginny would not have an issue naming her son after snape because he was a dick to neville! Snape dedicated his entire life to fighting a war on the side she was on, a war that her whole family was heavily involved in, a war that she fought her entire sixth year, a war that took her brother's life, why in the world would she care about something so considerably petty like snape being a shit teacher when he fought and died heroically for her and her loved one's lives?

"The destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young man" - wdym rests? He got crushed, absolutely flattened. Destiny turned that man into a pancake

📷

(:-D

It pisses me off so much when people defend Sirius in debates by saying, “But he grew up! Unlike Snape, who’s just a bitter loser stuck in the past!”

And I’m always like, “Uh… what? Sirius? An adult? In what universe?”

The response I usually get is, “BUT HE WAS IN PRISON!!!!!” Like… yeah 😅 he was in prison, but that doesn’t answer my question. Sirius is just as much a teenager in an adult’s body as Snape is.

“BUT HE WAS IN PRISON, OF COURSE HIS MENTAL STATE SUFFERED!!” … Right. Do these people even have a functioning brain, or is it just jelly sloshing around in there? ,’/

Sirius was in prison, and that prevented him from developing emotionally and socially as he should have. Severus was someone who carried a huge amount of trauma and was forced to stay and work in the very place where most of that trauma originated. Both of them remained stuck in their teenage selves because, in their own ways, they suffered such immense trauma that it stopped them from progressing in their emotional development.

Both of them. Equally. Because they’re both grown-ass men with gray hairs who can hold it together for five minutes, but the moment something triggers them or pisses them off, the teenager inside takes over and is still the one in charge of regulating their emotions.

And I find it insulting, offensive, and a terrible mischaracterization to try to take that away from Sirius. The whole point of Sirius is that he carries a massive amount of unresolved baggage, and that baggage has prevented him from growing and developing properly into a functional adult. You can see it in his reactions, in the decisions he makes, and in the way he deals with his internal conflicts. And that’s fine—it’s not a bad thing. In fact, it enriches him as a character.

So don’t come at me with this idea of a super mature, responsible Sirius Black who is the perfect father figure, because that’s not Sirius Black. Sirius Black is an impulsive man obsessed with the loss of his best friend, who has the best intentions for his godson but can’t help projecting his trauma onto him—and then feels disappointed when he realizes that Harry is not James. Not because that makes him love Harry any less, but because it forces him to confront a reality he clearly doesn’t want to accept.

Sirius Black is the guy who sees the kid he used to bully as a teenager and cannot stand the fact that this same kid now outranks him in the Order. It eats him up inside, so he falls for every single one of his provocations because the arrogant, abusive teenager inside him is still in control and refuses to let that nerd get the upper hand. Sirius Black is the man who makes rash decisions, who hides away in his mother’s old room—the woman he hated—just to wallow in self-pity, who gives advice that he himself doesn’t follow.

Like, out of all the “good guys,” Sirius is arguably the grayest and the least manichaean or one-dimensional. Let him stay that way. Don’t strip him of his best psychological traits, please.

6 years later, same favorite alien