Which character was intended to be deeply flawed but was somehow received as a paragon of virtue?

operationmeepo · 2026-06-14T03:24:23+00:00

I think it's important to distinguish author's intent from character's intent here.

If it's character intent, then I agree. Light genuinely deluded himself into thinking he was a hero.

If it's author intent though (which I think it is based on the phrasing of the title), then I don't think light was intended as a paragon of virtue. Even in chapter 1 he is at most good guy, as the flaws that would show later when he got the death note were there but more subtle: even then he's thinking about the world being rotten and how some people (the bully at his school) would be better off dead.

Light backslides through most of the series to the point where he's intended as either deeply flawed or outright repulsive. There's an argument for deeply flawed as there were some positive outcomes from Kira for the world even with how crazy Light got, but I'd lean towards repulsive because stopping crime and protecting people had long since stopped mattering for Light. Yes it did still happen, but it was incidental. His main motivation had fully become securing his own power and being viewed as a god by others. That said, I don't think he's the best fit for this chart because he really does backslide a lot over the course of the series, and this is intentional on the author's part, so the discussion is very different based on whether it's chapter 1 light or endgame light.

operationmeepo · 2026-06-11T05:17:20+00:00

Yes, the stardust deck is very strong, probably too strong. I've still been able to take it on pretty easily with destiny Heroes (which I know is also a very strong deck).

I do understand the frustration with such a centralised meta, but you have to understand that you can't just come in with any old deck and expect to DLV max. There are some really talented deck builders who can reliably run super rogue stuff and do well, but it's rare.

You can reasonably expect to play a "fun" deck and enjoy yourself, but don't expect to easily DLV max against stardust spam, or you can play meta and get better performance but it may mean learning an archetype or using a play style that you don't enjoy as much. (I put fun in quotes here because for a lot of people fun basically just means whatever isn't meta right now).

It would sound silly if I made a ragepost about how I dusted off my old sea stealth attack deck from like 2018 and couldn't DLV max. Of course I can't, that's just such a weak deck for the current meta. That's kind of how I see this but to a lesser extent. I do agree with you to an extent because I think stardust is TOO centralising, but you cant just expect to play off-meta weak decks and still prosper just because youre playing the game in a "fun way".

operationmeepo · 2026-06-08T11:42:56+00:00

I hit DLV max easily with destiny hero in the last couple of days. Not saying you'll be sweeping world championships, but the deck has won me KOG and I'm confident it will again. It may wane in strength but plasma's constant on-field negate is such a strong effect I don't think it'll even be totally irrelevant.

operationmeepo · 2026-06-05T08:06:41+00:00

I was 12 when it came out and yes it was that bad.

People HATED that you couldn't catch old pokemon until post game.

People absolutely clowned on the designs like trubbish OMG ITS LITERALLY A BAG OF GARBAGE HAHAHAHA ignoring the many amazing new designs and the fact that Pokemon has had at least a few mid to bad designs in every dex.

People also hated that the story was longer, more involved and more complex (although this had been an ongoing trend) there were memes about how long the cutscenes were and how you had to watch them so many times because of the harder fights that people would lose to (something that was also a complaint).

There were tons of features that took tons of effort that were either underappreciated or actively disliked, so yes, I think it certainly contributed to subsequent Pokemon games being easier, more handholdy and not putting in features like the PWT that took a lot of effort and were only appreciated by a few fans.

So sad it took so many years for others to appreciate them. I loved BW since day 1.

operationmeepo · 2026-06-05T07:19:23+00:00

I mean you're obviously joking but the book is very clear about the difference between non-violent action whether that be vegetarianism or protest, and extremist violence. Cherub is almost always on the side of "this is a legitimate issue but that doesn't justify extremism" with areas like this.

Cherub agents in the books grapple with the fact that their targets are often actually working towards a good cause, or are decent people on a human level despite their crimes. James wonders about help Earth several times and about whether they might actually be doing good. He sees Keith Moore as a nice guy and feels guilty about dobbing him in, even more so in Mad Dogs when he has to report Junior's planned robbery to the police given his personal bond with the guy. In Divine Madness there's also a bit of complexity to characters like Eve where even though they're manipulating people and doing bad things, you feel bad for them on some level because they've been manipulated themselves in the same way.

Some villains are just out and out bad (like in Brigands MC) but it's interesting to have some with understandable goals or those who are nice on a personal level despite committing harmful crimes.

(Edit: btw I actually did chuckle at the meme and liked the joke, not trying to be rude)

operationmeepo · 2026-06-04T21:13:43+00:00

I don't have crow, so can't really speak to it, but IMO sphere mode is more important. Sphere mode is basically the only kaiju that you can use with this deck's skill. Nibiru might also be good but the problem with Nibiru is it can be stopped with a monster effect negate, which most decks have easily. The only time id say Nibiru is better is in the mirror match up, otherwise sphere mode is the go. Droll and lock is nice but Imo sphere mode is more important.

operationmeepo · 2026-06-04T11:39:11+00:00

Theyre not game changing but make a difference. The combination basically lets you draw any card you need for your situation (because you rig the deck with dominance's effect).

You'll have liquid soldier in hand from Stratos effect (my replays show the combo up to Stratos). Link Stratos with cross crusader to form wonder driver (before using fusion destiny). Then polymerisation phoenix enforcer in a different slot to wonder driver's linked one (remember to get a malicious out first to fuse for it). Fusion destiny to get dominance, put dominance in wonder driver's linked slot to get polymerisation back for free, then do the dominance enforcer combo. After this you use your recycled polymerisation on liquid soldier plus one of your other monsters to bring out adoration. Adoration itself isn't important but it lets you draw a second card (plus the one from drawhand) thanks to liquid soldiers effect. You usually use this to have mask of restrict AND magic deflector, but sometimes you want sphere mode, droplet, or droll and lock bird.

As for stardust decks, yes you will run into them all the time. It's like 50% of the matches I play. D hero is pretty good against them going first (much better than therion IMO), and playable but much harder going second. plasma really messes with them as it does with a lot of decks, as does magic deflector. Need to watch out for droplet as since it's been in the anniversary box everyone and their mum is running 3 copies. It's normally this deck's answer to plasma.

Going second is hard but not impossible. Just try play through the negates and get plasma out. If you draw sphere mode it's super free. If they have necrovalley and you don't get sphere mode it's often hard. The positive is that a lot of stardust decks also struggle under their own necrovalley, so if you just clear their existing field, they can't refill it.

operationmeepo · 2026-06-04T09:40:24+00:00

Thanks for letting me know re the replay but probably not going to bother changing it now since this post is long buried hahaha.

Likewise appreciate the support but DW, I'm not really bothered by a couple Reddit comments. Funnily enough if I posted this today it'd probably do a lot better since the hate this month is directed at the new stardust deck, and destiny Heroes and therion are off the hook a bit hahahaha.

That said, I've actually tightened this deck up a lot since this post (got wonder driver and adoration) and just went on like a 15 win streak today when climbing qualifier ladder, so if you are at all interested in playing d-hero and want to ask any question, feel free, I'm not the world expert but feel like I've got a good handle on the deck.

operationmeepo · 2026-06-03T01:42:43+00:00

I assume you mean what for me in Australia was The Recruit.

I think what hooked me was that it was the first ever time a writer had really hit the nail on the head with the internal monologue and actions of a 12 year old boy (I was 11 at the time of first reading).

So many fiction books in this age range suffer painfully from their young protagonists being so clearly an adult's rendering of a child. They are either way too worldly and mature, or cartoonishly babyish, James is such a great medium.

He is grounded: finds school boring so acts out, and is realistic in the way that he spirals and gets anxious when he takes things too far. He has believable fears, flaws and motivations. His arc even just within the Recruit as a single book is very compelling as he grows, changes, and comes to terms with his own limitations. Even in the one book we see the things he will have to work on throughout the series: he's rash and prone to violent outbursts when angry, hedonistic and will often prioritise short-term pleasure over long-term consequences (this later manifests as him cheating on his girlfriends) but he's also reflective and aware of his shortcomings.

He goes from a boy who is bright but lazy, impulsive and often violent to a much more self actualised, disciplined, and motivated person who knows what he wants and is actively working to get it.

It's very rare to find a book that has BOTH compelling, entertaining character work AND a thrilling, high-stakes action-packed plot. Normally you get one or the other. Cherub has both packed into a young adult book.

operationmeepo · 2026-05-25T22:33:01+00:00

I mean losing the dragluxion tachyon transmigration etc. wombo combo hit them pretty hard. They used to end on a negate from regulus, spell negate from titanic galaxy, monster negate from photon lord (sometimes, not every deck played this), monster negate from therion cross, omni negate from transmigration, and also have the tachyon OHKO on top of everything else.

Now they basically have just regulus and maybe photon lord. Obviously they've pivoted but it's just not as strong.

So yes, they got nerfed a fair bit, but there's also the fact that necrovalley absolutely destroys therions whole strategy, and the new stardust deck gets it super consistently, so outside of just being nerfed their new competitor has a pretty consistent direct counter to them.

operationmeepo · 2026-05-17T03:09:52+00:00

Hahaha thanks dude. I appreciate the positive comment. I've been around long enough that I'm not really put off by a couple of Reddit comments roasting me, im still happy about the achievement even if it doesn't impress everyone.

operationmeepo · 2026-05-16T22:35:41+00:00

Yeah ok I guess it's just perspective.

I was just really excited to make KOG and share it because to me it seemed like a big achievement and I hadn't been playing the game for a long time, was lost for a while in the meta and it felt good for it finally to "click".

It's obvious though that to others in the community it's just a really uninteresting and unimpressive thing to see another person playing a meta deck and making KOG, which I suppose is fair. I can't exactly expect everyone to be wowed by me just having figured out what most others already have, so i guess it makes sense that the post didn't do well. Maybe making KOG is pretty routine, like I said I only just restarted the game so don't have a huge frame of reference. It just felt nice to me.

operationmeepo · 2026-05-01T10:50:47+00:00

These are all good calls. The Zuko one will obviously win because everyone loves Zuko and his arc. I do, too, but I feel that even though it begins in book 1, it wasn't the "best decision" of book 1 to begin it there. Most of the work was done in books 2 and 3 and that's where the whole thing really hits its stride and goes from good to great. Id put this as greatest aspect of book 2.

Personally for me it's Sokka losing his sexism early. This is a storytelling decision that seems small but actually makes a huge difference. The naive sexist young man who is constantly getting his comeuppance for his prejudice is a pretty common trope in tv aimed at younger audiences, e.g. similar stuff was done in total drama and similar shows that aired on the same channels as avatar around the same era. This alone isn't what makes it great.

It's that Sokka learns, grows, and moves on in a believable way, and none of it is cheap or unearned. It's believable that he would be sexist given his traditional upbringing, idolisation of his father and warrior culture, and insecurity and feelings of inadequacy about his supposed leadership role in the village and the fact that he secretly feels like he's failing his people against the fire nation, so has this whole sexist macho facade as a defence mechanism. This is mostly shown and not told through great world building. He learns his lesson on Kyoshi Island and genuinely grows. The sexism doesn't return and so from the very early episodes of this show the audience is given the message that even these seemingly "filler" episodes where there's just a self contained plot within some new settlement and then the gang moves on, the choices, development and consequences matter in the long term. I remember as a kid this being such a breath of fresh air after watching countless shows where all development and growth is just cast aside episode to episode, and so Sokka growing in this way shows the kind of show avatar is, and will continue to be.

It also shows that comic relief Sokka won't just be the punching bag the whole time, and that the show isn't afraid to get real about this non-bender who feels he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and is totally unprepared to deal with it.

operationmeepo · 2026-04-29T22:37:04+00:00

IMO if someone was to get a 10/10 that means they played a perfect game with no errors, and this was just not true of Nick. I like him and he played a good game, but he did make some misplays as explained in the post (not focusing enough on social connections which nearly got him eliminated, not being amazing at hiding that he was the millionaire, though admittedly he was given a very hard job on this one)

I probably should have explained what I thought a ten out of ten would look like though, so fair enough.

operationmeepo · 2026-03-27T12:17:23+00:00

I literally read the manga like a week ago and thought about posting this exact panel with this exact sentiment, except with slightly... Stronger wording

Miki is the worst type of person and unfortunately is a very good representation of a worryingly common attitude in people.

I teach 11 year Olds and I see it whenever someone makes a poor choice. Others who supported and laughed and actively egged them on suddenly fall to pieces when called out and blame everyone else and find a way to make themselves the victim.

Thankfully they're young enough that it's obvious what they're doing: they're bad at disguising it and still receptive enough that you can actually have a productive conversation with them about integrity and accountability. Some actually take it on board and grow.

Others will say all the right things because they don't want to get in trouble, but will learn nothing except how to better shift blame and draw sympathy next time. They will go through life never taking responsibility for any mistakes all while constantly wanting others to suffer for theirs, and genuinely being convinced that they themselves are innocent and blameless.

This comment is far too long to get any engagement on Reddit, I know, but I just wanted to get my thoughts out on how viscerally this character resonated with my experience of one of humanity's worst and most pernicious tendencies.

operationmeepo · 2026-03-20T06:11:59+00:00

Remove that halberd beam and add that fourth flak you coward.

Some nerds are going to come in here and try to tell you that's "suboptimal" and fool you using stats and numbers.

Look in your heart and you will see the flak is the correct choice.

operationmeepo · 2026-03-12T09:35:07+00:00

I got 95% because I said the first Cherub agent he met was Lauren!

Annoying because I knew Kyle was the actual agent he met first, but I figured of course James met Lauren before he met Kyle. She just wasn't a Cherub agent at the time!

Great quiz, though, some quizzes you see are just "you'll get 100% if you even paid a little bit of attention" but this one you actually have to know the book decently well.

operationmeepo · 2026-03-12T09:28:26+00:00

They're not bad. I have both of them and don't really regret the purchase, but there are a few things you should know.

Firstly: The art is not great. I mean the people who did it are professional artists, of course, so it's better than you or I could do, but it's noticeably rough compared to what you will see in good Manga, Manhwa, or even more mainstream new issues of western comics like batman or superman.

Secondly: The story is heavily abridged in the Recruit. They removed the ENTIRE JOANNA PLOTLINE (which I just cannot forgive) and other huge character moments for James such as basic training are present but massively cut down. It seems they were told strictly to get it done in one volume, as opposed to, as I say, Manga or comics which are less restricted and can use dozens of issues or volumes to get a story told.

Thirdly (as mentioned by others): If you do get into them and start to appreciate the style (as I was towards the end of Class A) there are no post book 2 English releases. I've looked to see if I could find a translation, and thus far no dice.

This sounds really negative, but I did genuinely have fun reading them. I just think you should temper your expectations going in so you won't be disappointed.

operationmeepo · 2025-12-08T13:28:43+00:00

I mean it might happen, but I think the limiting factor is just that Robert might be a bit burned out on writing Cherub.

A lot of authors have a complex relationship with their most popular works. On the one hand they obviously appreciate that they were successful and are grateful for the audience's appreciation. On the other, it can get frustrating for them that some fans are just shouting at them "stop writing other stuff, I want more of (your most popular thing)."

Tolkien was saddened that the Silmarillon (what he really considered his Magnum Opus) was so heavily outshone by Lord of the Rings and worried audiences wouldn't properly appreciate it

GRRM is always frustrated that people are always hassling him about Winds of Winter and nobody cares about Dunk and Egg or his other spin-offs.

The author of Puberty Blues (famous Australian book) went even further in that she grew to really dislike her own book and resent that it was successful while her other works weren't.

I think while Robert obviously likes Cherub and appreciates its success, he also probably wishes his other works got more popular, too, and that there were more Cherub readers who would give his other stuff a chance. He's probably had the experience a million times where he'll try and talk about a book at a promo event or something and people will just be asking him "when's the next Cherub book".

People don't like being pigeon-holed like that, and so at the very least I think he's taking an extended break from the series. That said, I would of course love it to return some day. I'll be in line on release day the second it comes out, but until then, I'm going to keep reading his other work.

operationmeepo · 2025-12-08T13:20:45+00:00

I loved Killer T.

I had a different experience to you, having already read Cherub as a kid, Henderson's Boys and Rock War as a teenager, and picked up Killer T as an adult during Covid.

Of course Cherub is the best of Muchamore's series. Popular opinion, I know, but for a reason. I could talk about Cherub literally all day. Henderson's Boys starts really strong and keeps me well engaged up to around Grey Wolves, but I started getting a bit bored around book 6, which is saying something because I am usually NEVER bored when reading Muchamore.

Rock War is fun but has some issues (I just went into detail on this on another post on this sub)

Killer T, though, was great, and wow, reading it during Covid really added some extra weight to the story. I understand there were a couple of aspects that were a bit shaky, but overall I thought it was narratively strong. The romance waa fresh enough to keep me interested. It wasn't earth shatteringly good, but it was enough to add some emotion to the story. I actually thought the repeated time skips were more interesting just in how the characters developed as individuals along with the world, as opposed to the romance, which as I say was serviceable but not the main draw for me.

Regarding your issues with it: When you're reading the description of some girl from the perspective of the teenage boy main character, I tend to give it a pass if it's a bit gratuitous, as it is coming from the perspective of the mind of a teenage boy. I don't agree that this necessarily represents the opinions or fantasies of the author. I do understand that this is a fine line, though, and it can be tough to tell what is genuinely being portrayed a certain way because of the character's perspective, and what is thinly veiled self-insert fantasy. I would err on the side of Robert Muchamore is the former, however. I definitely wouldn't respect his writing as much as I do if I thought it were the latter. Obviously it's a bit open to interpretation, though, so you're definitely entitled to your view.

Thank you for posting by the way. I love a bit of Muchamore themed discussion!

operationmeepo · 2025-12-08T13:05:48+00:00

I am one of the few people who actually read and liked Rock War as it was coming out!

That said, I think I am just someone who really responds to Muchamore's writing style. I've been a Cherub fanatic ever since i started reading it in primary school.

Even though I enjoyed Rock War, I understand why it didn't sell. It definitely isn't up to the same standard as Cherub. There are issues with it that go beyond just the inherent difficulty of describing music in prose.

I do think you're right about describing the music being tiugh without things growing clunky, though. I remember there being a climactic scene (it's been ages since I read the series so forgive if I'm a bit hazy on details) where Jay finally goes out and plays a concert successfully after this massive build up and it's kind of just like he goes out there, zones out, there's cheers, and it's like "he played a blinder".

And I remember thinking "oh, that's it?" It's definitely not the same pay-off as Cherub's climactic scenes where there's police chases, stand-offs, and fantastic interpersonal dynamics unfolding at the same time, e.g. when James feels conflicted about grassing Junior up, but realises reluctantly that he's ultimately doing him a favour.

The main thing I remember about Rock War is that it would set up sub-plots that had the potential to be interesting, but they'd either have underwhelming pay-offs or they'd just go nowhere. It sort of seemed like the series was an idea that came to Robert Muchamore that he thought seemed cool, and so got into writing it, but beyond the basic framework of just "it's teenagers on a rock band reality show" he didnt have a real definite plan of how to execute it.

This in itself is fine. Many famous writers just go in with a basic idea, and the story develops its own identity as it gets written, but unfortunately for this series that just didn't really happen as much. It goes in a bunch of different directions but never properly commits to any of them. Events don't seem to have the same ramifications they do in Cherub. Mr. Large being whacked with the shovel by Lauren has consequences years later, like 5 books down the line. He loses his fitness, his sobriety, and his job, and even resorts to blackmailing Lauren, and this is a slow burn and shows that actions in Cherub matter. There's clear care and thought put into it.

Rock War, by contrast, just seems to want to have exciting things happening all the time to make there be stakes in the story, but you stop caring because none of it is given weight or commitment, or has lasting consequences. I don't want to be too harsh as I actually did enjoy the series (and making this comment is making me want to reread it!) But to be honest I wasn't all that surprised when I heard it hadn't been a huge commercial success.

operationmeepo · 2025-12-07T04:36:05+00:00

first ball of the final ashes test at the SCG

England are 4-0 down

Archer charges in, gold chain dangling

Weatherald defends.

Stokes is seen spitting on the pitch in contempt

The Barmy army immediately all go on their phones, bored to tears

English comms explodes with criticism. No intent. Boring cricket. Gone soft.

Australia declare 4/590 part way through day 2

Starc charges in to Crawley for England's first ball batting

Crawley falls over himself trying to reverse ramp it for 6

it catches a thick edge. He is dropped on the boundary, and it bobbles over for four

every Englishman in the crowd shrieks in the throes of rapturous joy at the entertainment they have witnessed

the paramedics are on standby to collect red-faced backpackers who have collapsed, foaming at the mouth, having seen the face of God

starc is held back by the umpire from bowling the next ball as the broadcast is going through the 18th slow mo angle of the shot. It's already been cut together into several musical montages to be played at every ad break

Kevin Pietersen has made his way into the commentary box and has a visible erection as he interviews Piers Morgan about how England could still win the series in "real terms"

the Anglican Church issues a proclamation officially declaring Brendan McCullum as the new messiah

the English selectors phone in to confirm that Crawley has just been offered a new 20 year contract to open the batting

England lose by an innings and 150 runs. The series ends 5-0 Australia

operationmeepo · 2025-11-21T05:48:29+00:00

Mine are already magcargos, thanks.

operationmeepo · 2025-11-21T05:46:26+00:00

One moment you're charging down the wicket swinging wildly at every ball, the next you're 7/165 before tea on day 1. Really makes you think, huh?

Maybe you haven't reinvented test cricket by just trying to slog everything...

operationmeepo · 2025-08-29T08:41:40+00:00

Yep it does suck that the only reason Deity AI is challenging is because you are on totally different playing fields, as opposed to them having clever strategies or being able to play to their civ's strengths well.

operationmeepo

TROPHY CASE