Khonaker

⟢ Protagonist never gets seriously injured despite constant danger

⟢ Convenient skills appear exactly when needed

⟢ "Somehow" doing heavy lifting in your explanations

⟢ Bullets miss protagonist but hit everyone around them

⟢ Protagonist immune to their own bad decisions

⟢ Only character who doesn't catch the deadly plague

⟢ Falling from deadly height with minor bruises

⟢ Allies die dramatically, protagonist gets rescued last-second

⟢ Learning complex skills overnight

⟢ "Lucky" so many times it's a superpower

⟢ Stab wound? Walking it off!

⟢ Resources appear when needed, vanish when inconvenient

⟢ Guards always look the other way at the right moment

⟢ Protagonist's impulsive plans always work

⟢ Enemies become incompetent around protagonist

⟢ Saved by coincidence (seventeenth time this book)

⟢ Technology works/fails based on plot needs

⟢ "Unconscious" for exactly the right amount of time

⟢ No food/water/sleep needed during crisis Injuries that would cause shock? Totally fine!

⟢ Emotional trauma with no PTSD

⟢ Protagonist never makes a truly fatal mistake

⟢ Backup arrives at the exact dramatic moment "Just in time" is your most common phrase

⟢ Escaping impossible situations off-page "I don't know how I did it" (yes you do: plot armor)

⟢ "Trust your instincts" = always right

⟢ Redemption arc speedrun with no actual work

⟢ "Chosen One" immunity to normal consequences

౨ৎ Special in every way except interesting

౨ৎ Everyone else is wrong, they're always right "

౨ৎ Sassy" means "verbally abusive to helpful people"

౨ৎ Treats service workers like NPCs

౨ৎ Main personality trait is "not like other girls/guys"

౨ৎ Never apologizes, never grows, never wrong

౨ৎ Conveniently skilled at whatever the plot needs

౨ৎ "Flawed" but the flaw is "cares too much"

౨ৎ Rude to everyone but it's framed as charming

౨ৎ Other characters stop being competent when protagonist arrives

౨ৎ Tragic backstory but no actual trauma responses

౨ৎ Mean to their friends for no reason

౨ৎ Everything they do works out perfectly

౨ৎ They monologue about their own character development

౨ৎ Love interest's only personality trait is loving them

౨ৎ Every authority figure is wrong and stupid

౨ৎ They never face real consequences

౨ৎ "Witty banter" is just them being a jerk

౨ৎ They're 16 but somehow smarter than every adult

౨ৎ Designed by committee to be "likeable"

౨ৎ Has strong opinions on things they know nothing about

౨ৎ Other characters find their obvious flaws endearing

I recently created this ink and watercolour painting for an art show at local brewpub Working Title. :) If you're in Brisbane (Australia), Working Title has a whole wall of Pokemon art up for viewing to celebrate the Pokemon 30th Anniversary! The show is only up for a couple more weekends! Some pieces are even for sale.

I was inspired by cutaway drawings that I used to pore over in kid-centric animal encyclopaedias when I was young. I tried to make every corner interesting to look at with little details! It was fun to think about what could be going on beneath the surface of somewhere like Viridian Forest that trainers will never see.

This is mostly about the whole Deku vs Bakugou thing right after the provisional license arc. People love to parade that fight around as the defining “start” or even middle of his redemption arc, but it just falls flat to me because it really doesn’t prove he’s any better or different a person than he was in season one.

He essentially lured Midoriya out to where there was nobody to stop him, and then attacked him while ignoring attempts to deescalate. How is that any different from him waiting till after class in season one to tell Midoriya to kill himself? If anything, it’s worse considering this time it actually got physical.

And see, I don’t even hate the idea of him doing this- it could’ve worked for me if it ended as a REAL self reflective moment for Bakugou, realizing how he treats people is wrong and that he has to change for the better. But instead it’s just a pity party about how bad he feels for “making” All Might retire, then it ends with him being comforted and them both being punished for fighting. As if Midoriya had much of a choice in the matter, it was either lie there and let Bakugou beat him, or defend himself. He shouldn’t have been punished for that.

The part that gets me is that we’re supposed to feel bad for him in that scene, which yeah, I can understand since he got kidnapped and all. But EVERYTHING else about it is just so icky to me.

day 21