#frank has common sense when it comes to other people <3 not themself <3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

carnivalcarriondiscarded · 9 months

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Frank! fantasy flavor!

rambles:

i really wanted to blend that monk-class inspiration w/ Frank's personal vibe... i like to think that i Succeeded!

i turned his tie into a sort of brooch since, yk. bowties aren't all that Fantastical. they miss the style. also i think they'd be more comfortable with something smaller since he's very active and needs a wide range of maneuverability

i bet Eddie or someone wheedled them into adding the leather shoulder pauldrons - leather to keep it a bit more flexy, and also. it just looks Cool!

figuring out what would replace his vest was tough. i didn't want them to be entirely unprotected, but i couldn't give him straight armor. though i will admit! a sort of tight-fitting crop top was Considered! but i landed on a gambeson vest as the best fit - comfortable, flexible, a Vest, while providing some level of protection! also, gambesons are quilted, which fits Frank's diamond-checkered vest!

ive already mentioned that one of my favorite outfit things is Flowy Pants Tucked Into Boots, so... that choice wasn't very character driven. except the boots are a tall ankle wrap - for that extra stability and strength! their shoes are pretty flexible and are only a few steps away from being slippers.

and the half-skirt - open skirt? - thing (still don't know what its called) is purely some self indulgence. i think Frank looks great in skirts!! also imagining him Throwing Down w/ the added flair of the skirt... damn. it'd probably help confuse enemies too - what're they gonna do next? who knows! the skirt is in the way and adding extra Movement!

i like to think that his knife is either in a sheath attached to the back of the belt, or they have it on their thigh (under the skirt) like Wally's bag. he probably never uses it... punching is the way to go for Frank methinks. it's probably reserved for cutting ropes and fruit

speaking of punching.... wrist wraps! inspired by boxing gauze! pads his knuckles, keeps his wrist compressed, its the best choice for physical combat. though the wrapped knuckles probably always have blood showing through anyway... or no yeah it's mostly other people's blood...

as for scars - Frank probably has quite the collection! i imagine that they've been picking fights since a young age, and in such a dangerous world he probably got hit a Lot until they learned how to hit back. and hit back Well. still, i wanted to give him a cool face scar with a very lame backstory - a book with a crisp, sharp spine corner fell off a high shelf and bonked them in the face at juuuust the right angle <3 he probably stays very fucking quiet about it which makes everyone think there's some intense traumatic backstory behind it. there isn't. Frank's just embarrassed.

closing note: i imagine that Frank has zero magic. literally none. cannot wield it for shit cannot utilize it. he's just like Howdy fr

#im Very happy with this outfit ngl #they probably know a bunch of different fighting styles...#and then stitches them all together into a Frankenstyle #get it? frankenstein's monster + frank + style - yeah yeah i know im hilarious #he probably stresses everyone tf out with how gung-ho they are in a fight Without Much Protection #like yeah gambesons can cushion blows and depending on the quality can lessen or even stop arrows / stabs #but frank's is a Vest. yeah it covers his vital organ area but like. their face? arms? legs? its free target practice #everytime eddie sees frank throw himself at an enemy w/ magic or Much Bigger Than Frank #he has about 100 heart attacks #catch him sprinting to cover's franks ass. they need it #frank Will look at someone way above his pay grade and go 'yeah i can take em'#(and that's why they consistently end up under poppy's healing wing)#julie unfortunately is on the same bullshit as frank #so if frank takes on someone he cant handle - so will she. without blinking!#though when she (or anyone else) tries it that's when frank goes 'are you crazy?! dont fight them they'll kill you'#frank has common sense when it comes to other people <3 not themself <3 #scribble salad #wh fantasy au #ah yes and the tiny knife... the glorified cheese knife...#even sally has a nice dagger and she's got some Powerful magic on her side #meanwhile frank is bringing fists to a gunfight smh #tryin ta think of a backstory for him for this au...#im thinking... he was either an orphan or his parents straight up Ditched him as a kid...#and he was taken in by a... fuck im missing the word. monastery? or something?#whatever it was it was run by somewhat spiritual people that raised & trained highly skilled/disciplined fighters #with the intent of 'you will fight for good blah blah blah'#maybe frank would sneak out and thats how he met julie? and he taught her some combat skills maybe...#& then he wound up running away w/ her or somethn #or he completed his training and went out to be a Soldier For Good but wound up following his own path & moral compass... idk

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anime-and-manga-rants · 3 years

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Why I Believe Deku Fails as a Character (Part 3 of 3)

SPOILERS (for My Hero Academia Chapter 306 and 307, Attack On Titan manga spoilers occurring after Season 4 Part 1)

...

Allow me to introduce you to two kinds of character arcs in writing: the positive change arc and the flat arc.

(There are five major kinds of character arcs in total, but I’m going to focus on the two above for right now. The other three are as follows: the fall arc, the disillusionment arc, and the corruption arc. In general, the positive change arc is the most common, so I’ll be sticking to that for the majority of this part. However, I will briefly cover the other three in light of Chapter 306 and 307 and where I believe the manga might be headed.)

First, the positive change arc:

To make this easier (in other words, less time-consuming), let’s just focus on the three phrases under the title.

Character believes lie, overcomes lie, and new truth is liberating.

...

Second, the flat arc:

Again, let’s stick to the three phrases under the title.

Character believes truth, maintains truth, and uses truth to overcome the world’s lie.

...

All right, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s begin.

Deku follows a flat arc, not a positive change arc, at least up until Chapter 305 (but I will discuss that later). While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing as a concept, because flat arcs can still be quite interesting, his character arc is executed in such a way that makes it boring. To be frank.

The reason why I first introduced you to the positive change arc, if you are not already familiar with it, is because it was most likely what you expected when you first began the watching the anime or reading the manga. It was what I expected, at least. Because it is the most common out of the five in any story you either watch or read, whether it be an anime, a movie, a TV show, a manga, or a novel.

There’s nothing absolutely wrong with subverting expectations as long as it’s done well. That is why so many people love Eren Jaeger after the recent chapters of the manga or after the final season of the anime. Eren absolutely does not follow a positive change or a flat arc. No, you’ll see people claiming that Eren is one of the best anime protagonists in history because he doesn’t follow the popular positive change arc. His development is tragic, but it’s so real, and it’s so compelling to see him go from Point A to Point B.

I, of course, expected Eren to eventually follow a positive change arc, and the fact that he didn’t was great. Isayama handled his character arc so well that the subversion of that expectation only made Eren, as a character, all the more appealing.

Just... the anger, then the resignation, then the resigned determination that’s present even in his character design:

Let me first explain how Deku is going through a flat arc.

Deku’s views of the world of heroes are never challenged by anyone else in the anime or the manga. In fact, they’re only ever confirmed, especially by Stain when he saves Deku from the Nomu because he deems Deku worthy of becoming a hero. We’re only reminded of this later, during the League’s attack on the training camp, when Spinner saves Deku from Magne because Stain acknowledged him.

(And maybe this is okay, because his view is that heroes should want to save everyone with a smile. Heroes should be like All Might, who reassured everyone just by showing up, all because they knew he was powerful enough to save them. And that he would save them without fail. His view of the world, of what a hero should be, is right in most people’s eyes.)

In other words, Deku does not believe a Lie that will eventually become a Truth. No sirree. Instead, he believes a Truth and has maintained it, and we expect he will eventually go on to change the world with it. (Unless that changes, but let’s assume this for now. Besides, even if he does have a character arc now with Chapter 306 and beyond, that doesn’t negate the fact that he hasn’t grown in the first 300 or so chapters.)

So, as of the anime right now, Deku’s following a flat arc. Which would be fine, if his arc was still compelling. You see, flat arcs need something to make them compelling if the character themself isn’t going to change.

For most flat arcs, you’ll see the main character, rather than growing or changing themself, change the world around them. They will uphold their inner truth in a world that doesn’t agree with them, and, eventually, the world will see that the character was right all along. But the world’s opposition at first is what drives the plot, and it is what makes the main character’s journey interesting.

Because it’s conflict. Stories need conflict.

So, automatically, Deku’s flat arc fails this requirement. It’s been proven over and over again that Deku’s outlook is right. Out of all the villains in MHA, Stain is the one whose philosophy we can agree with. Even the characters in the anime/manga agree with him! Horikoshi goes so far as to include Class 1-A commenting about how Stain’s philosophy is actually correct in some ways, and he mentions that Stain has merchandise created for him (in the MHA world) because his beliefs are appealing to the masses.

Essentially, what a flat arc character needs is a Doubt. In other words, the character needs something to make them question whether their Truth is right or not. Maybe this takes the form of doubt in a normal sense, with the character wondering whether or not they chose the correct Truth. Maybe this takes the form of doubt in the sense that they don’t know if they have the strength to carry out their conviction.

There are many ways to execute a Doubt in a flat arc story, and yet Deku doesn’t seem to have one.

I mean, hell, there isn’t even a doubt (ha-ha, see what I did there?) that Deku will become a great hero. From Day One, we’ve already known he’s going to become not only a great hero but the greatest hero:

So we know Deku succeeds in his goal of becoming a hero. This immediately strips away the fear that Deku won’t succeed in his current goal of becoming the next All Might. And while we can’t say for certain, I don’t think it’s farfetched to believe that the ‘greatest hero’ version of Deku believes the same thing as Deku in the second episode, where this line is from. With the word choice of “by the way” coupled with the fact that this line appears when it does, it seems to suggest that Deku’s going to become a hero with the same convictions as he has now. It gives off a childlike tone that parallels what Deku believes in now, as a child, which is the Truth I described up above.

I just can’t name a single time where I’ve doubted that Deku would achieve his goal with the Truth he holds. It’s obvious that he already believes the Truth that the story is trying to push, because it’s the same philosophy of the former Number One Hero and the same philosophy of the only villain who the story tries to justify. And because we know Deku is going to become the ‘greatest hero,’ we know he’s got the strength to become a hero with the Truth he has now. With how overpowered OFA is, we know that as soon as Deku masters it, he’ll be stronger than the rest. We never doubt that.

We can also pretty easily eliminate the idea of a Doubt in the sense that Deku is afraid he’s actually wrong about his ideas. I can’t name a single instance in the anime or manga that would indicate he believes his Truth could be wrong. In fact, as I mentioned earlier, the people around Deku only seem to prove that Deku’s Truth is correct. You would think that Stain, a hero killer, agreeing with Deku might raise some red flags in Deku’s mind, even if only for a brief moment, but we don’t even get that.

I could list more ways that Deku fails to have other kinds of Doubts, but I think you get the point; there isn’t anything in MHA’s plot that makes you doubt Deku’s ability to accomplish his goals with the convictions he currently has and has had since the first episode/chapter.

Basically, Deku’s got no conflict between him and anyone or anything other than an omnipresent and surface-level clash between heroes and villains.

So, because Deku is a flat arc character with no Doubt, and because he has no truly interesting conflicts to overcome, he comes across as one-dimensional and boring. And, due to this, along with my other points from Parts 1 and 2, I believe Deku fails as a main character.

...

But, before I wrap this up, let me mention what I promised earlier:

Chapter 306 and what might lie beyond.

From this picture, we can see that the light has left Deku’s eyes. He’s not as hopeful anymore, if he’s even still hopeful at all.

This is backed up by Chapter 307:

The line “No wonder my gift from the Fourth wouldn’t shut up” just doesn’t really sound like something the Deku we know would say. It's too mean.

It’s almost as if Deku has given up on playing the nice guy, which is understandable, I suppose, but not really. Because why now of all times? Why has he given up now rather than before, and why all at once?

While I might be completely wrong, it seems like Horikoshi just might be trying to change Deku’s arc from a flat arc to one of the three negative character arcs. Again, this is referring to either a disillusionment arc, a fall arc, or a corruption arc. Most likely, he’s trying to take Deku from an idealized hero to someone a little more open to vigilantism.

But, if this is indeed the route he’s trying to take, it’s probably not going to work. Because he just hasn’t built up to it. He’s trying to subvert our expectations, but he’s not doing so hot, because you can’t change something like that just to give your plot an exciting little twist.

This isn’t Eren Jaeger transitioning from the little boy who wants to kill every titan he sees to starting the Rumbling and killing millions all in order to assure his friends’ freedom. And the reason why it isn’t is simple: there’s no transition. Eren’s journey from Point A to Point B has many stops along the way, where he grows closer and closer to B with each one but he’s still too close to A to be at B yet. Unlike Eren, however, Deku jumps from Point A to Point B without stopping at all, and he leaves you wondering how the hell he got there. Did he teleport? Since when was that one of his seven Quirks?

You can argue that his loss against Shigaraki was a breaking point of sorts, but this implies that there’s a buildup, and that just isn’t present in the anime or manga. I can’t name a single instance in the anime or manga where Deku’s actions suggest he’s questioning his Truth, his idea that he should save people with a smile and do it as a Pro Hero. Which is why the concept of Deku becoming less like All Might thanks to a loss of hope is interesting but can’t exactly be executed well at this point.

Because you can argue that his loss against Shigaraki is his first taste of true defeat that leaves him reeling, but I would have to counter with: “Why then is Deku so dramatically affected now? Shouldn’t it be more gradual? It’s not believable if he suddenly becomes an entirely different person. He should still resist such a dramatic change if he’s been so unwavering in his Truth up until this point. It’s like he came across a wall and instantly decided he can’t scale it despite the anime/manga constantly telling us that he’s not one to give up.”

So, despite Horikoshi’s potential attempt at changing Deku’s arc to one of the three negative character arcs, this won’t work well either.

...

Despite everything I’ve just said, I’m still caught up with the manga (obviously) and am now patiently awaiting every new episode of season 5. And this is because, despite all of the flaws with Deku as a character, especially as a main character, Horikoshi has still managed to keep me interested in his story. And, honestly, that’s kind of impressive, isn’t it? Goes to show that, despite a show’s flaws, it can still be enjoyed.

#bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #attack on titan #bnha manga #attack on titan manga #aot #my hero manga #attack on titan eren #deku #midoriya izuku #bnha analysis #mha analysis

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