[general fandom rant] You know, Zeno's birthday passed by and made me muse about how I managed to like his flashback when I'm not enjoying Yonhi's, and this made me think about my own tolerance to tragic flashbacks in other canons and what breaks the deal for me
at first I thought "well, Yonhi arc characters are dull" but that's just a personal opinion. they're not THAT flat although the fact both moms literal say "I'm just hanging in there for my marriage and child" is on the oof side
and let's face it: I love them, but Hiryuu-tachi and Kaya aren't portraited deep at all
so I think about the parts I do like about Yonhi arc and it's like "when a kid shows up and is precious". like I only smiled when baby Soo-won or baby Ik-soo or baby Hak or baby Yona
and I'm trying to think if it's the familiar characters but no. I like A-Yuan in the MDZS flashbacks and he's apparently a stranger. or the fact they're kids but no, the dragon warrior flashbacks are kid flashbacks that are sad. what was it, then?
it's that the heavy mood was lifted
I need a sense of fun
to balance the awful
but it wasn't still enough because seeing a cheerful trio when you know they'll be miserable and broken up later was just more dread to the pile
so I need a little dash of fun and HOPE for a tragic flashback to be okay. Yonhi isn't enjoying her life at all and she'll die of her disease full of guilt. Zeno had misery but he also had genuine good times and he's now not alone and enjoying his new family
I can be fine with the other dragon boys' sad flashbacks or Hohenheim's in FMA since their story isn't over and we know they met more people
Yonhi fucking dies and her man gives her more grief than happiness imho
so now to MDZS because it's my main fandom, because this is where I galaxy brain'd
Wei Wuxian's flashbacks? perfect balance of happy times and miserable times and tragic times. and yes, his story isn't over and I knew he would get a happy ending
I saw a dumb hot take today of someone saying the story should've ended with his death, and they're missing the whole point of the series and his characte arc
so I thought that well, you know, maybe this is why I don't like the NMJ flashback at all
we know he's doomed to die and we see his spirit liveblogging JGY's method to kill him. the amount of fun or hopeful times with the 3zun are............ low
then I realize why I'm either lukewarm or averse to all 3zun ships. I find no enjoyment in neither combo since it's all engrained relationship wise to that one flashback I find unbearable
it's absolutely personal taste but I don't remember any scene of either pair of the 3 interacting that I found fun or interesting. and that's most of their onscreen time together in the book, give or take some stuff during the WWX flashbacks
meanwhile, I do like Yi City arc's flashback even though it's the most hopeless thing ever. why? the characters do have fun
I mean, until shit hits the fan
it's all fun and games until someone you lost your eyes for arrives
so yeah, it's proof that I don't need a tragedy to have a happy ending if there's a balance in the narrative
so maybe this is why as a villain I do enjoy Xue Yang but my mind can't wrap my head around Jin Guangyao
sorry, I know no one of you will understand the entirety of this rant because no one is into both series here, but it's what I wanted to talk about
the canons I love the most just swing between comedy relief+fluff and absolutely devastating shit. that's how I roll even in the micro storytelling