ROUND 1 — Match 239 of 276
Loulan (The Apothecary Diaries)
Problematic because: "SPOILERS: Some people have a problem with the fact that she kidnapped the MC. She also poisoned children. The kids woke up and most of them were perfectly physically fine, but some people still say it's unforgivable." Propaganda: "SHE'S SO INTERESTING. She truly played a long game. She did a lot of gambits and they just WORKED. What do you mean you didn't even know if your mom would try to kill you but still put the gun in her hand? What do you mean you scratched the crown prince not just to intentionally seal your fate but to honor the trauma bond you had with your abusive mother? What do you mean you saved your sister? What do you mean you made the crown prince promise to not hurt the kids since they technically already died by your hand? Girl pops abortifacients like they're candy so she won't get pregnant and to avoid being used as a pawn even more. She's a master of disguise just cause most people don't pay attention. Plus, she's maomao's girlfriend. No one is doing it like her. Character of all time."
vs. Kadaj (Final Fantasy VII)
Problematic because: "He’s one of the Remnants of Sephiroth, and his whole goal is to find Jenova (the alien entity Sephiroth calls “Mother”) so he can start another Reunion and bring Sephiroth back. In Advent Children, Kadaj and the other remnants recruit children who have Geostigma, a disease connected to Jenova/Sephiroth’s influence, by promising them a cure. Denzel gets pulled in that way, Marlene is taken too, and the children are brought to the Forgotten City because their connection to Jenova can help Kadaj find what he’s looking for. Then he brings the chaos back to Edge, attacks the city, and summons Bahamut SIN, so a lot of random civilians get dragged into his Sephiroth resurrection quest." Propaganda: 1. "Kadaj is honestly one of my favourite post-game villains because he feels like a leftover wound from FFVII rather than just a random sequel antagonist. He’s not Sephiroth, and that’s exactly why he works for me. He wants to be loved by Jenova, wants to matter, wants to become something complete, but all of that longing comes out as violence because he was basically born from someone else’s unfinished obsession. I like that he’s both dangerous and kind of pathetic. He’s leading Loz and Yazoo, threatening Rufus, using the Geostigma kids, attacking Edge, doing all this huge villain stuff, and yet the emotional core of him is still this desperate need to know whether “Mother” actually sees him. He’s a villain, absolutely, but he’s also sad in this very specific way where you can tell he never really had a chance to become anything normal. It makes him more interesting than “Sephiroth Jr.” jokes give him credit for." 2. "he is NOT just mini sephiroth, even though he is trying so hard to be connected to him that it hurts. he’s dramatic and violent and clearly dangerous, but he also has this huge abandoned-child energy where every awful thing he does is tied back to wanting jenova to choose him, recognise him, answer him, whatever. unfortunately his coping strategy is kidnapping sick children and trying to bring back sephiroth, so we cant exactly give him a gold star for emotional processing. but as a character? i love him. he’s messy, needy, scary, stylish, and way more fragile than he wants anyone to notice. advent children is already very much a movie about cloud being haunted by the past, and kadaj fits that perfectly because he is literally the past refusing to stay dead. also his voice, his design, his whole frantic little breakdown energy. sorry. he’s good." 3. "the children? bad. the city attack? bad. the whole “let’s bring sephiroth back” plan? famously not great for the planet. but he’s entertaining because he’s not calm about any of it. sephiroth has that cold, untouchable final boss thing - kadaj is all nerves and insecurity and rage. he’s trying to act like the leader, the chosen son, the next big threat, and underneath it he’s basically falling apart in real time. i don’t want to fix him because that seems medically and spiritually above my pay grade, but i do want him in the bracket"
Who should advance?
Loulan
Kadaj
(Disclaimer: All text above was sent in by submitters and not written by OP.)
