#And that's okay just because you want to redeem a character doesn't mean that every single person has to forgive them

[merlinfromberlin]

TFP AU idea: Megatron redemption arc but it's an emotional drama about Bumblebee's conflict with Optimus regarding Megatron and Bee feeling utterly betrayed by Optimus' acceptance of Megatron;

and maybe later it turns out that it really has been a psychological thriller all this time with Megatron slowly brainwashing all of the Autobots into trusting him;

[hiraethminds]

This is a tangent, I'm here to entertain with needless rambling

The deep rooted hatred for taco I see in the II community genuinely concerns me. Especially since those people tend to be Mephone "apologists"(For lack of a better word, I love Mephone don't get me wrong) despite how taco is the "active" side of the coin to his "passive". The connections between them are there trust me Im connecting the dots. Ive connected them.

I understand that she's done bad things, but blaming her for her shortcomings when she doesn't and never had the same support group to change as Mephone did makes me a little ehh.. Getting upset because Microphone showed her support in the new episodes simply because you don't like the ship(I understand why people wouldnt but thats not an excuse to deny her anything), and because Taco doesn't know how to change yet and you refuse to see her as anything redeemable. I'm not big on shipping, thats not the point of this tangent, but Taco finally having someone to support her and help her change is a GOOD thing. Microphone was being the bigger person there, she was being mature and thoughtful because Taco clearly needs the help. The fact that people continue to deny Taco any kind of growth even if she goes about it in the wrong way makes me deeply uncomfortable. Because the moment any character does anything bad that isn't HER they don't say anything about it. She was shunned by her peers because she was playing the game and continued to 'play the game' so to speak.

Theres a deep rooted hint of misogyny in the way they treat her, but I wont yap about that you dont need to read allat.

I understand people have reasons for not liking characters! That's ok. But I've seen them actively go out of their way to harass people that DO like Taco and actively criticize enjoying her character.

They tend to take it as defending her actions. Which is not what's happening. I don't think oscommunity could handle vriska is all I'm saying.

Feel free to not answer this I just need whatever little imp is telling me to scream about it to get out. go draw a taco dis is driving me crazy

Thank you for dumping this in my inbox bigbarf200, I feel like a wise confidant.

okay so I don't interact/observe with the wider ii community (Mainly cuz i like playing with my touys without being bothered) So this information is so Interesting to me!!!

As you mentioned, the hate might stem from misogyny (and by the way, I’d love to read your essay—talk all you want, my friend!). This is a societal issue that affects every part of life.

That said, I also think some people might dislike her simply because she’s a hustler and stubborn. When she has a goal, she’ll do whatever it takes to achieve it, even if it means crossing into morally gray areas.

holding Mepad hostage > hijacking the show

lying and deceiving objects with good intentions > winning s1

seriously hurting Fan > winning Mic immunity

as you said in the greater scheme of things, she's genuinely done horrible things. But if you just accept that at face value you are missing out on such an amazing character. You have to consider her perspective and the circumstances of her birth (especially in a story like ii!!) to fully understand and come to an option on her. But I digress this is baby level analysis so ill move on.

people who think Mic being friendly towards Taco post e14 is out of character are misunderstanding Microphone as both a character and thematic device I think

that's literally the only rational reason I could think of as to why people would be mad about taco and mic being on good terms???

so yeah, these haters just sound like crazy irrational people who have a lot of pent-up emotions. crazy

anyways ty!!! I feel like I didn't have alot to add since, as stated, these people are just incredibly irrational. but its nice getting an earful of whagh the fuck the community is like. here are soem taco drawings for the occasion

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Do you think that Voldemort/Tom Riddle could be redeemed or find redemption “through” anyone else but Harry? Obviously we are going with a very broad & loose canon divergence scenario here, but, assuming we try to follow canon as closely as possible, do you think that anyone else aside Harry might lend any amount of support for redemption? (I’m referring to the last scene of them with that remorse part)

Omph, okay, so, first of all, I don't think redemption is something that could be found "through" anyone. Redemption and remorse are processes Tom should go through. It's not Harry (or anyone) that leads him through it but Tom actively looking in and choosing to examine himself and his actions — something I don't really see him doing.

Like remorse requires a combination of two things:

A sense of guilt over your actions

Regret of said actions due to the aforementioned guilt.

Now, Tom, I think, does have his regrets. I think he regrets going after Harry, he regrets killing Myrtle to a degree as well, but not because of the effects on others, but because of how these events effected himself. He regrets going to kill Harry on Halloween 1981 because it killed him. He regretted killing Myrtle (at one point) because it ruined his chances to stay at Hogwarts during the summer, but he did not regret her death, or creating a Horcrux. So, Tom does experience regret, so that's no problem.

The guilt is a more interesting aspect. Guilt is defined as a feeling of blame, the sense that you are to blame. Now, I think Tom is definitely aware he is to blame for each and every death he caused, I think he just doesn't particularly care about most people. Not enough to feel anything about it. But, I think he does feel guilt for some things. I think him killing his father and grandparents was in a moment of passion and I think he does feel some remorse over it. Over killing them, not over making their deaths into a Horcrux or making the Horcrux.

The reason I keep mentioning the Horcruxes is because in the quote you brought up, Harry mentioned "remorse" as a means of destroying Horcruxes. I mentioned here and here how remorse could destroy a Horcrux: by regretting the creation of said Horcrux you'll break the oath that binds the Horcrux's magic. So, this specific brand of remorse would only happen if Tom decides he wishes to die (either now or eventually) but the moment he accepts his own death, he breaks the Horcruxes.

Now, I think that the final one is something Tom could eventually do. I mentioned here how Tom's behavior indicates he suspects he would wish to die, eventually, or that he at least wants that option open to him. Another person could help point the journey out to him, but it would still be a decision Tom would have to make. Otherwise, it won't really mean anything.

As for who, well, I mean, there is a reason Harry is the person we see asking Tom to try for some remorse. Harry isn't offering to lead Tom in his redemption, but he offers that path to him. He tells him he could try it, that he has another choice, which Tom, as we know, declines. But I think Harry is the only character in canon (definitely around book 7) who could or would offer Tom this alternative.

Ron mentioned in DH it's scary how well Harry understands Tom:

When Harry had finished speaking, Ron shook his head. “You really understand him.” “Bits of him,” said Harry. “Bits . . . I just wish I’d understood Dumbledore as much. But we’ll see. Come on—Ollivander now.”

(DH, 420)

Now, I don't think Harry understands Tom as well as I do, but he definitely understands Tom better than Dumbledore. I think it's striking how Harry feels he knows Voldemort better than he does Dumbledore, but I digress.

the point is, that Harry always showed sympathy towards Tom Riddle. When Dumbledore showed him Tom Riddle's memories, Harry didn't see a psychopath who was born evil, but a child, an orphan, not so dissimilar to himself, who ended up evil. Harry and Tom both remark on how similar their circumstances were:

Because there are strange likenesses between us, Harry Potter. Even you must have noticed. Both half-bloods, orphans, raised by Muggles. Probably the only two Parselmouths to come to Hogwarts since the great Slytherin himself. We even look something alike. . . .

(CoS, 292)

On how, if Harry's gone on a slightly different path, they could've been even more similar, with how he was almost in Slytherin.

When we see Harry calling Voldemort Tom in the final book, it's in a different tune than when Dumbledore called Voldemort Tom.

Dumbledore called Voldemort "Tom" as a statement of power. To diminish Tom back to the student he was, to diminish his achievements, to remind Tom he is still the same boy and no lord. That he isn't as special as he thinks he is. When Harry calls Tom by his name, Tom is convinced he is doing the same, but I don't think he is.

I think Harry calls him "Tom" because it's his name. Because he's human like everyone else. For Harry, it's from a place of understanding and sympathy and not a taunt. Not really. The taunt is Harry knowing something Voldemort doesn't, Harry is taunting him over magic and information, not about his name.

Harry is the only character in book 7 that can claim to have a resemblance of understanding of Tom Riddle and who he is. More importantly, Harry is the only character we see who feels sympathy towards Tom Riddle. That's why I said Harry is the only one who would offer Tom another option, a chance at redemption because no one else would. The entire wizarding world in the final book, even Death Eaters, Ron and Hermione see Voldemort as a kind of bogyman, a figure of fear more akin to death than a mortal man. Harry calls him Tom Riddle because he sees him as a human being, something which is necessary to be able to offer sympathy and to tell him he could choose remorse — redemption.

I think Harry, who determines how he feels about people not necessarily according to their actions, but according to how much he cares about them (he doesn't mind when Hermione kidnaps Rita Skeeter but is willing to strangle, maybe kill, Mundungus for stealing from Grimmauld Place) and understands Tom too much to not care about him enough to make him this offer at the final moment. And I think Harry is one of the only people, if not the only person, who would look at Lord Voldemort and what he did, and decide that knowing Tom Riddle is enough to offer him a chance at forgiveness. Like, this decision is insane and shows Harry's insane compassion. Yes, his compassion is somewhat selective, but once he decides he cares about you, even the most minuscule amount (like Stan Shunpike) he'll go very far for you. Up to and including giving Voldemort the option to choose redemption. But this isn't something I think anyone else would've offered.

I mean, the Order lost too much to Voldemort in the first war (and the second one). They see him as a monster more than a man. The same goes for Ron and Hermione and everyone else, really. Even Snape doesn't really know Voldemort enough to consider himself his equal, to see Voldemort as just another human. But Harry does: "Mark him as his equal" and all that.

So, basically, I think it could've only been Harry to make that offer because no one else would. But, unless we drastically change the books, no way would Tom have ever said "Yes, I want to try remorse".

(As an aside, I think it could've been hilarious if Voldemort did say: "yeah, sure" and Harry had to explain to everyone Voldemort is alright now, because he's feeling remorse and Harry decided he can forgive him. I can see how well that's going to go)

[nekropsii]

is it normal, would you say, to be a fan of a character who is on paper completely reprehensible because you _enjoy them as a character, not as a person?_

rufioh and kankri in particular are two of my favourite dancestors but it feels so wrong to say i'm a 'kankri fan' or a 'rufioh fan' because. that's such a loaded title that almost feels like holding up a neon sign that says 'i'm ignoring the textual misogyny both of these assholes espouse in every other sentence'

it also doesn't help that i am yet to find a single fan work (besides sovstuck, of course) that actually gets them right. any and all depth they have is taken away, rufioh is painted as being in the right and damara as his 'psycho ex', and kankri is just a walking joke with no nuance to his characterisation.

Literally completely normal, and I’ve spoken at length before how I believe the seeming general inability to separate “liking a character as a Character” vs. “liking a character as a Person” is doing some extreme damage and is also a major source of discourse and apologetics within fandoms in general.

From what I’ve observed, people seem to tend to think that when you enjoy a Character, you must also enjoy who they are as a Person, so they start sanding their Character down to make them a more palatable Person. Their actions and words are disregarded, their more unsavory traits are either softened or removed entirely, suddenly they have deep and tragic reasons as to why they viciously abused that person or hold bigoted beliefs so it’s actually okay, guys, so on and so forth.

I talk about Cronus a lot because he’s actually one of my favorite Alpha Trolls. As a character, he provides an excellent source of conflict and symbolism, and he’s an extremely important element in what makes Mituna so interesting and likable. Cronus is a vicious, unrepentant abuser and a total, unapologetic sex pest, he wants Alternian Culling to be legal to Beforus so he can legally kill Mituna for his disability with zero social repercussions, and so much more. He has absolutely zero redeeming qualities, and pretending like he even edges close to one means you’ve completely mischaracterized him and totally missed the point. If your version of Cronus even glances in the general direction of Genuine Redemption, throw it all away, you’ve made an OC and it’s too late for you. He’s a great character, and there’s a reason why I’m the main writer for him for Sovereignstuck.

There’s a reason I’d never call myself a fan, though. Hell, I’ve blocked people for labeling themselves as that before, because frankly… Jesus Christ. I’ve learned to take someone labeling themselves a Cronus Fan as a Red Flag. I’ve been here for 10 years. I know what that shit means 99% of the time, and I’m not going to be very willing to take chances for the 1%.

[cat-downthestreet]

hey, listen! this is a rant post about neurodivergent characters in Genshin and my frustration with the fandom's reading comprehension skills. if you're in a bad place or just don't like angry rants, please don't force yourself and go read something else instead. <3

Okay, so, I watched this video recently, and let's just say, I have some thoughts.

https://youtu.be/tYK3297p4rk?si=eMaf8NF57HFlUhfd

This isn't just a Xiao problem- the entire fandom is terrible at characterization. The example that makes me the most angry is the mischaracterization of neurodivergent characters.

Take Alhaitham for example. He's often seen as rude and narcissistic by the fandom- which is especially apparent in Haikaveh content, where people portray him as straight up abusive.

You wanna know why this makes me so mad? The supposedly narcissistic and rude traits Alhaitham has are actually just exaggerated symptoms of autism.

Like, come ON, people. Don't skip dialogue. Better yet, go read through his story quest again. He straight up tells someone who sees him as narcissistic that he doesn't see others as less than himself. Also, his voicelines basically confirm this- he's extremely socially inept and he doesn't care. He has difficulty showing emotions as readily as his peers- that doesn't mean he doesn't have them, just that he expresses them differently. He comes across as rude because he doesn't get that people don't like to hear what they're doing wrong, and he probably doesn't care because that's not his problem. If people don't like how blunt he is, that's their problem. At least, that's how I think he views the world.

And like, there are SO many hints that he's autistic. He wears sound-blocking earpieces, for crying out loud. Hell, the ENTIRE REASON why he helped out during the Archon quest was because he didn't want his life to change too much. Preferring routine is an autistic trait.

And the worst part is, when I talk about this outside of neurodivergent groups, people tell me I'm wrong and that he couldn't be autistic DESPITE THOSE PEOPLE NOT BEING AUTISTIC THEMSELVES.

And I'm not saying that every autistic person relates to Alhaitham, but I certainly do. And I'm actually quite friendly because I'm anxious about being rejected. Alhaitham isn't, and I'm so jealous of him for that. He's living his best life.

Finally, back to the Haikaveh thing... Alhaitham isn't abusive. He doesn't say horrible things to Kaveh, and the one example of him doing that I could find, he immediately backtracked and subtly tried to make Kaveh feel better. Hell, Alhaitham doesn't even actually care about making sure Kaveh pays rent. He says it as a joke, but because he's autistic and his tone of voice doesn't give that away as well, he's portrayed as abusive and misunderstood as narcissistic. Y'all just don't like neurodivergent people and it shows.

Yes, neurodivergent includes Xiao. PTSD is often viewed as a form of neurodivergency, and there are many MANY characters in Genshin that have PTSD or some other form of neurodivergence. Yet people refuse to see them as such and mischaracterize them as "edgy," "narcissistic," "unapproachable," "weird," and the like. Yet none of these characters are any of those things.

You wanna know the true narcissists? The true edgelords? The actually rude people? Might I direct your attention to Scaramouche, Childe, and Dottore, whom everyone makes out to be as misunderstood pathetic little meow meows that need love.

Reminder that only two of those three are actually redeemable, and one is STILL an edgelord who is more rude than Alhaitham could ever be, while the other is a certified insane person with a weird set of morals.

(Side note: I love Scaramouche and Childe as characters. I'm just tired of people acting like they aren't worse than the autistic characters. Scaramouche is extremely rude, but he's trying to be better as Wanderer thanks to Nahida's help. He has severe PTSD, and Childe does, too. But both of them are actually messed up and have done horrible things, yet people portray them as better and more in need of love than the characters with unlikable (read: neurodivergent) traits.)

Don't even get me started on how people portray Kokomi, Sucrose, Fischl, Diluc, Zhongli, Cyno, Furina, Neuvillette, and Albedo. Especially that last one- I WILL get mad if one more person tries to tell me he's just emotionless and rude.

Also, if anyone is wondering where I've seen people misunderstanding these characters, it's mostly on Hoyolab site discussions. There's one too many posts talking about how "rude" and "annoying" these characters are.

With Alhaitham especially, I see many people writing him as abusive in Haikaveh content. I see people arguing about the ship being toxic because Alhaitham is "abusive," "unfeeling," and "cruel." Even people who like the ship portray him as such. And I've seen too many people comparing him to Dr. Ratio, who is literally just a narcissist who views others as beneath him. Don't get me wrong, I understand the comparison. It's just... very obvious that people skipped dialogue during Genshin's Archon and story quests.

And it's frustrating because I've been misunderstood in the exact same way. I've been called "rude," "annoying," and "unfeeling" in the past and it's screwed me up. Seeing people do the same thing to a character I so deeply relate to makes me lose confidence in both myself and people around me.

If that's how you view a fictional character with autistic traits, how do you treat real people with the same traits?

Thanks for reading this far. My previous post seemed to get a lot of attention, so I felt more confident about posting my full perspective on this subject. Can any of you think of other characters that have been constantly misunderstood in the fandom? I'd love to hear about it.

[linkspooky]

I've followed this blog for years now. What I find most interesting about your analysis is how you tie "revenge is bad" back to your Bad Victims TM stuff. Now, I still enjoy straight revenge stories but I think you helped me enjoy deconstructions/cycle of revenge tales even more than I like the simple stuff. As a convert, I want to ask a meta meta question: how do you feel about people who use straight revenge stories as catharsis?

Well, the idea of Catharsis ties into my bad victims stuff TM. On one hand I dislike straightforward revenge stories where revenge is the solution to the problem and not the problem in and of itself. On the other hand, like I went to great length to explain with Yun, I hate denying the sympathy to a victim who's been pushed so far that seeking revenge is their only means of coping.

In the first place, like I said revenge tends to follow protagonist centered morality. When a protagonist does it, it's justice, when an antagonist does it, it's revenge and they need to let go. Telling someone to let go without acknowledging their hurt feelings and doing something to address those or even reaching out to try to show them another way is incredibly dismissive of those feelings.

Shadow of Kyoshi tells us that revenge is bad, but punishing Yun in the form of putting him down like a mad dog before he hurts anyone else is okay. As I said, what exactly is the difference here between punishment and revenge? Where's the fairness in letting Yun's abusers redeem themselves but deciding that Yun is too far gone to live on. Like hmm, maybe the reason his abusers want to seek redemption and Yun doesn't is because they weren't regularly abused by all their teachers then abandoned nearly killed, dragged into the spirit world for weeks and then denied help when they finally escaped.

Yun has to deal with all the trauma his abusers inflicted on him whereas, his abusers just have to deal with their own personal feelings of guilt. To prioritize their feelings and well-being over the pain of the person they hurt, and criticize Yun's response to his abuse is incredibly tone deaf of the book. If I saw my friend siding with my abusers and insisting that I was the problem I definitely wouldn't want to back down.

All of this to say there is an element to catharsis in every revenge story, to strike back at the people who hurt you. I also think it's wrong to insist victims be morally pure and blame them for lashing out. Especially for people like Kohaku and Yun where they have been pushed so far that revenge is the only thing that's giving them a reason to still live.

I also feel like it's incredibly tragic that Kohaku in particular can't envision any future for herself, or any escape from the pain of being a doll and the only way out of her situation is to hurt others. That Yun feels like all of the things he suffered were for nothing, and his dreams of helping people are all pointless and the only thing he can get is justice upon those who hurt something. That Yun is so damaged he threw away his desire to help people, which was a very significant part of who he is. It's the same with Kohaku, she's a very loving protector, she loves Akiha and Hisui very much but not only does she resolve to kill Akiha (something that ultimately destroys her in the long run) but she also has decided that Hisui is better off without her.

All of this to say that catharsis is an important element of any tragedy. Either individuals seeking catharsis, or the catharsis that's brought about by watching someone like Kohaku or Yun give into anguish and despair. The catharsis of seeing your own internal pain represented on stage. The catharsis of seeing characters lash out like you wish you could, or the catharsis of seeing a character react in a very human way and fall apart when we are often told that we have to be strong at all times and swallow our grief.

Tragedies operate on the principal of catharsis, this is outlined very well in Aristotle's poetics.

Catharsis is a metaphor used to describe the effects of true tagedy on the spectator (derived from the ter katharsis meaning purgation or pufication). The purpose of tragedy is to arouse "terror and pity" and thereby effect the catharsis of these emotions.

While purging something means getting rid of it, purifying something means getting rid of the worse or baser parts of it. It is possible that tragedy purifies the feelings themselves of fear and pity. These arise in us from the frustration of our real lives and the emotions we cannot cope with, which we then can vicariously experience through the characters in the stories we tell.

The catharsis in a revenge tragedy comes from both the horror we feel about the circumstances that pushed a person to their revenge, Yun's abuse by his teachers who he was so desperate to please, Kohaku's years of sexual abuse she had to endure to protect her sister. While at the same time it evokes pity for the people who are lashing out. Even if you condemn Kohaku for hurting others, most people's response is to want her to stop hurting otheres and swaddle her in a warm blanket instead. In fact Kohaku's ending is so sad, because both the reader and Shiki don't want to see a longeterm victim of sexual abuse kill herself because she believes there's no hope in living.

So even when revenge is temporarily satisfying in these stories and evokes catharsis, it's purging you of ugly emotions not positive ones. It's validating to see the hate and anger acted out by characters on the stage, but that's not like a good way to deal with your problems. Most revenge stories have characters at least partially succeed with their revenge. The count of monte cristo takes out most of his targets. Yun successfully kills Jianzhu. Kohaku is able to murder both of her rapists. Toya reveals his abuser's crimes on live television. Then it usually escalates to the revenge spiraling out of control, the Count almost kills a baby, Yun attacks a friend's mother (and he was right for that), Kohaku kills Akiha. Toya blames and decides to hurt Shoto who is completely innocent out of envy.

That's a tragedy though, you asked about the catharsis of watching straightforward revenge stories that don't depict the part two. That begin and end with the revenge, where revenge is the solution. Stories like Kill Bill or Maki Zen'in killing the Zen'in Clan where revenge is depicting as empowering.

I don't really have a problem with those stories even if they don't personally interest me. I definitely understand the enjoyment and escapist fantasy of being Toya and being able to hurt your abusers right back especially in a world where most abusers just get to walk away from what they did with little consequence. I also think there's a fine line between like, revenge, and just standing up for yourself and fighting back against your abusers and people confuse the latter for the former. They also get too preachy and expect victims to remain morally pure, and condemn any fighting back even when it's necessary for their survival.

I watch horror movies and my favorite genre of horror is slasher. Horror movies are known for their weirdly regressive politics at time. When I watch a horror movie I don't think that teens who have sex are morally impure and should be punished. I watch horror movies for catharsis too, to purge myself of fear. Not every slasher movie I watch is a deep analysis of horror, like say how The Shining has a lot to say about addiction and domestic violence. Sometimes I am just watching to see a bunch of teenagers get hunted down by a guy in a mask.

This is again a readily recognizable dramatic form, called the horror story, or in a recent fashion, the mad-slasher movie. The thrill of fear is the primary object of such amusements, and the story alternates between the build-up of apprehension and the shock of violence. Again, as with the tear-jerker, it doesn’t much matter whether it ends happily or with uneasiness, or even with one last shock, so indeterminate is its form. And while the tearjerker gives us an illusion of compassionate delicacy, the unrestrained shock-drama obviously has the effect of coarsening feeling. Genuine human pity could not co-exist with the so-called graphic effects these films use to keep scaring us. The attraction of this kind of amusement is again the thrill of strong feeling, and again the price of indulging the desire for that thrill may be high. [SOURCE]

Of course there's also the matter of genre and expectations. When I'm watching a horror story, I know what I'm getting into. I'm not bothered to see victims like Junpei die in Jujutsu Kaisen (even though I've written like a massive fanfiction AU where he lives) because I know I'm reading a horror story. Whereas, My Hero Academia killing its victims is incredibly tone deaf because it's supposed to be an optimistic manga about heroes saving people.

This is Jujutsu Kaisen, this is the manga gege would write if he were allowed to write in a seinen magazine.

Kyoshi killing Yun doesn't work at all because it clashes with the tone. The same book goes to great extents to redeem one of Yun's abusers who is an adult who chose to do all those things, but at the same time doesn't offer Yun the same chance, an orphaned child. It even comes off as punching down, because Kyoshi who we're supposed to believe is an ally to crimminals and outcasts like Daofei and grew up poor murders another orphaned child while giving a privileged rich noble lady like Hei-Ran a chance to redeem herself.

It's ridiculous that Endeavor faces no legal consequences except being forced to retire due to a career ending injury and still has the support of all of his sidekicks, Hawks and his wife, while Toya doesn't get the chance to redeem himself and gets a slow horrific death while hooked up to life support. Toya who was once again, a child, who was homeless and living on the streets for years while Endeavor was an extremely rich man and made the decision to purchase a bride and abuse his family as an adult.

Honestly, even though I'm against straightforward revenge I was rooting for Toga to kill Hawks because there was no other way he was going to face any consequences for his actions.

If I'm watching The Princess Bride I cheer when Inigo Montoya kills his enemy because I know I'm watching a fairy tale. Kill Bill is my least favorite Tarantino Movie (my favorite is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, second favorite Inglorious Bastards) but I understand the appeal of people who do like it.

If people want to watch a simple revenge story for Catharsis that's totally fine. My tastes aren't much better my favorite genre of horror is slasher. On the other hand I think the problem arises when people who only watch stories for their personal catharsis or escapism don't allow room for other people's interpretations.

Like, if you don't think Azula deserves redemption because you deeply empathize with the way that she hurt Zuko go ahead. I don't have the right to tell you how to feel about certain characters. Abuse is also a touchy subject and the definition of abuse depends from person to person.

However, if I'm making a logical argument based upon the text Azula would make a logical next step in Zuko's redemption because one, the writing goes out of its way to show that Zuko had a support system in Iroh and the others and Azula never had that same support system. Two, it's a parallel for Iroh redeeming himself by coming to care for Zuko and being that support. Three, it's Zuko showing his emotional growth by giving someone else the chance to redeem themselves just like he was shown that chance. Four one of Azula's main writers Aaron Ehasz literally said that's what they would have written if they got a season 4 greenlit.

If you come onto my post and be like "No, I don't think Azula deserves redemption. Zuko doesn't owe her shit." I can't argue with that.

That's just like... your opinion man.

So, if you read straight up revenge stories for catharsis, I am glad you are reading something that makes you happy. If it helps you feel validated for your emotions then that's great! I just think everyone should be mindful of the fact that people look for different things in stories. I personally don't just read stories for what makes me feel good, I like stories that challenge you. Which is why I like the idea of Zuko having to learn to forgive Azula, because it's more challenging than the simple answer of "Zuko should just cut all the abusers out of his life." If you think that Zuko should be able to cut her off though like I said that's just like your opinion man.

[ceo-mochee]

Right I'm gonna say it cus I've seen and heard enough.

If you ship something toxic, Do NOT complain when people hate it.

(NOTE : Do NOT send me hate asks/comments if you choose to read this, cus I really do not gaf if you hate me for this. It's just my opinion and I wanted to get it off my chest.)

If the ship your shipping is a healthy pairing and people are hating you for it, then sure you have a reason to be upset. However if you're shipping something like Romesse, Aidesse or I don't know...... AXDEN.... (which are pretty toxic ships in general (my opinion)) then yeah people have a right to hate the ship.

I will agree on some part that attacking people is not a good thing, and this goes to both sides. People who don't like your ships shouldn't have to force you to change that, but at the same time if people hate on the SHIP itself (and are NOT namedropping people), then why should you be so worried? I literally watched one of my moots get attacked by someone because they wrote about not liking Axden.

Hell I'm even gonna take a quick minute to slander this ship now. Why? Cus it's pretty toxic- Aiden bullied Axel and tried killing his friends, do you reaaaaally think Axel would be friends with someone like Aiden, let alone get in a romantic relationship with him?? Yeah I don't think so either.

Here's the thing tho, this is just MY OPINION. If you disagree, COOL! But making a huge fuss about it and attacking others who disagree is only fueling that belief that "its not the ship itself, it's the shippers that are the problem." Getting pissy cus you CHOOSE to read someone's opinions and decide that because you disagree, and believing that you should go send anonymous asks attacking said person is also just making yourself look real pathetic.

I'm sorry, but if you're gonna get sensitive over a fictional pairing getting hate, then I don't know what to tell ya. s

I, of course, may or may not be the one to talk. I've shipped Axel and Lukas together for a long while and I may or may not have been hurt by some people's opinions myself, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna go off with my pitchfork and torch and bombard someone with hate asks/comments, you know how much easier life is when ya just silently disagree with one's opinions and move on? It's amazing lemme tell ya.

So far I've only seen this happening with the ship Axden (Axel x Aiden), which is pretty damn bonkers if you ask me. Why can't y'all just accept the fact that no matter how much you preach, self project onto characters, or fuss about your own opinions, not every single person is gonna agree with you. My ass already got turned into a damn PTSD trigger to one person (who I'm of course choosing NOT to namedrop) cus I disliked that ship.

"I know Aiden bullied Axel but... but I made it to where he redeemed himself!!!"

Okay??? Still doesn't change the fact that you're getting upset that people are understandably uncomfortable with that ship mate... do you understand how happier we would all be if you'd just BLOCK people who disagree instead of burning an innocent user at the stake because they dislike a toxic ship.

Like seriously if you're gonna get upset and attack someone for not liking a (pretty toxic) ship that you like and not just like- Idk- BLOCK them... then you're probably already a lost cause my friend.

[purpleheartskies]

s6 part 1 will be out in a week. I wanted to share some thoughts about what we've gotten so far. S6 SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Trailers, character promos, interviews, etc... they're all marketing. They're usually not gonna give away major or important plot/character spoilers. They can also include misdirects. Regardless, their main purpose is to build hype about the show.

Trailers are out-of-context dialogue and scenes edited together.

Although written from the characters' povs, some of the promos so far had some major mistakes. Jon said the promos aren't canon. In their podcast posted this week, Xolo and Jacob said that the Netflix marketing team wrote these promos. They made it sound like the actors all (at least the younger cast) didn't like/agree with their characters' promo scripts.

Interviews are interesting too. Sometimes they're intriguing, sometimes they're misleading, and sometimes they're just fluff. Regardless, the actors and writers won't purposely give away or talk about spoilers, until after the release. So far, I've been intrigued by some things that Hayden, Jon, Billy, and Xolo have said. Tanner has interestingly been contradicting himself, and sometimes Xolo even looks at him like he doesn't agree with him.

I think I'm most intrigued by Billy's admission in this interview (at 11:30). He has wanted Johnny to evolve and has felt every season he has left something unresolved. It's pretty obvious to those fans who pay attention to the actual canon and details that Johnny, the deadbeat abusive alcoholic father, indeed has something left unresolved: ROBBY. In another interview, Hayden said that Johnny will go through the most growth this season. Obviously, this was expected because they had to wrap up Johnny's story eventually.

Now, this doesn't change my mind about Johnny. I still want to throw him away, lol. To me, he is too far gone. They made decisions for him that I eventually wanted to see Robby walk away from. That could have been a possible storyline too, and a healthy one in situations like this. I used to root for a Johnny-Robby relationship, but I stopped after s5. It's really gotten to the point that the message is "It's okay if you give your kid trauma after trauma after trauma... you can magically grow eventually and they'll forgive you, no matter." That's a bad message to send imo. Seems like most of the stories that tackle generational trauma take this approach. Don't get why they don't show the parent making amends and healing the relationship as the journey. Why not send the message: "Don't let things get so bad in the first place. Work on yourself, and help your kids recover from the trauma that your behavior has already caused." That can also still make for good comedy and/or drama. Billy and Tanner would have elevated such a story too.

Does this mean that I think Johnny can't be redeemed? The perspectives on redemption are subjective. For me, Johnny's a lost cause character. But from a storytelling standpoint, I'm curious what is to come. Johnny already foreshadowed in s5e10 that he'll lose everything. That's usually what happens in stories. That big loss late in the story that shakes up the character's world and gets them to stop believing in their "lie" and accept their "truth". In Johnny's case, he's been running from the past, using other kids as second chances, and not making amends with Robby. In this interview (and in another), Billy commented that things fall out from under Johnny. Good! Karma's a bitch! I hope this bitch doesn't leave Johnny alone next season.

I still believe, and will always believe, that the baby plotline wasn't written to last for Johnny and Robby. Neither were Johnny's relationships with the Diazs. The story just isnt organically built out that way. Johnny and Robby seem meant to end the series as just father and son and being friends with the LaRussos, but no Diazs. (Given the baby plot is continuing, it's very possible the baby isn't Johnny's. He was impotent or turning down sex for most of the season that Carmen got pregnant. This would be an organic way to handle a lot of the setups so far. Carmen is also absolutely a flawed character, like all the other characters. Fan choose to deny it, though.) This is of course based off of the notion that the characterizations will be explored and have proper considerations as the story resolves, as would be the case in storytelling. There are too many layers coming together in a way that indicates this. Josh said in an s6 interview, "all the tie ups should be satisfying, from a storytelling perspective, whether they're happy, sad or murky."

Anyway, I'm also curious how they'll handle Robby getting back into school. Robby seems to cut his hair at one point in part 1. He has the shorter haircut in that one shot of him in school. Robby's hair seems to have a journey as part of Robby's character journey. Maybe he cuts his hair after he gets back into school, as an indication of a new beginning. Based on the Hero's Journey, s6 part 1 should be The Road Back to the ordinary world. Him being back in school can fit this stage, as his future/educational prospects are being restored. Though, I hope he gets some better resolutions for how the school fight was handled. My main wishes for Robby returning back to school are that Robby is validated for what he has experienced and that these adults who claim to "care" about him finally step up and stop failing/scapegoating him for that fight. After all, this is the last Act of the story.

I liked the Barnes clip. The focus on Robby's reactions was interesting. Hopefully, Mike can be a mentor to Robby and focus some 1:1 time on him. Oh, and a random thought I had yesterday after Sean Kanan posted the bts pic of him and Tanner. If Mike's wife really has left him, is it wrong to ship Mike Barnes and Shannon? lol One main issue is the implied drug use by Barnes in the s5 finale. But if this issue didn't exist, I like this ship. And, Mike would probably/hopefully be a good stepdad to Robby. Anyway, it's just a fun thought. Regardless, I hope Mike becomes a good mentor to Robby. I of course hope Johnny, Robby, and Shannon finally have at least one scene together and that Shannon has more scenes in general in s6. Wouldn't mind a scene of her and Mike interacting, so I can see if they have chemistry. lol

Anyway, just a waiting game till the 18th. Wonder what news and leaks come out between now and then. The s5 leaks were so bad... both because they were major spoilers and because... that plot and how things went for Robby.

At least, there will be new Robby content and more story to pick apart. I hope s6 part 1 will be better for Robby than s5. That he starts to be validated, his experiences start to be explored, and the adults stop failing him.

[shadowqueenjude]

Hi!! read some of the beaf that you had with some anons and honestly, i can kinda agree and kinda not agree.

(Let me first establish that I don't write lucien but if someone wants to diss him i will throw hands)

Okay, Azriel: Azriel's character and morals on a whole are questionable and not that great and a lot of shit that he's done especially with Elain is not...ugh just not it. Which is honestly why 70% of fanfiction I write is just ignoring canon or using his shitty character to create angst. He's hot, and the main reason I like him is because he's willing to risk his life for people he cares about. Does that excuse him from being biased and favouritism towards his brothers and Feyre? no. That's where delulu comes in and I erase that part of his character from my mind. So Azriel is the kind of character where since he does not exist I choose the parts of him I want to acknowledge and which parts I don't want to. Also, yeah, Elain should not be with him that dynamic is just...no.

Rhysand: I understand anti-rhysand just as much as I understand pro-rhysand. Both don't make sense to me, tbh i kinda ignored his existence his death did not affect me whatsoever and neither did his revival.

Cassian: He's...interesting. See I like the parts of his character where he's a goofy and funny dude but where it starts going downhill is he does his job with no questions asked and the way he treated Nesta is an ick. I'd like to be his bestfriend when it comes to his blatant sense of humour (not including when he pushed Nesta cause that's just plain messed up) but I would not want to be his lover. Not for a billion years.

In conclusion, get rid of Rhysand, teach Azriel and Cassian to have a backbone (or at least more of one), teach them how to have a guilty conscience, and also we need an Eris POV because I need to start justifying why I love Eris so much T^T My fics are honestly always reader leaves Azriel for Eris.

It's the Fae world. Everyone is "hot" so Azriel being "good looking" doesn't mean shit to me. If you mean his personality being hot? He has no personality aside from being delusional and crazy. Cassian I was cool with mostly until ACOSF. UGH I hate that SJM did that to Cassian because she wanted Nesta to wind up part of the Inner Circle. Rhysand? He's a dick in every sense of the word. The only way Cassian and Azriel could redeem themselves to me is if they destroyed Rhysand and his shoddy system, treat the Archerons right, and bow down to the king Lucien. For fuck's sake it's impossible to find a character who hasn't done Lucien dirty. Except maybe Tarquin or whatever. As for daddy Eris, this man could make Azzy PAY for how he treated Lulu. Lucien is too nice to do it himself. But Eris has no such qualms. Lucien and Eris together have too much power, that's why SJM hasn't had them made up yet 🔥🔥🔥 Anyway, the bat boys should just drop dread and Lucien should become High King. Eris can be his right hand man. Elain can be his High Queen and Nesta can be Eris's wife. Tamlin gets on his knees for Lucien who forgives him and adopts him as his pet dog. Feyre can go to therapy sessions with Thesan.

[pastelwitchling]

The Missteps of Bridgerton Season 3

I love Bridgerton, I love Polin, and I enjoyed the first half of the season fine... but as someone who'd started watching Bridgerton only because of Polin, who'd read the book, and who had been looking forward to this particular season from the very beginning, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by what we got. Not because it wasn't good, but because it wasn't as amazing as it could've been.

And no, I will not be tagging this as 'anti.' I've gone through the anti tag, and it's some very vile bull from people who genuinely hate the show or hate the characters (or hate other fans), and I love them. I just have some criticism of a few choices made.

So. If you can't handle any critique to the show at all, then please don't read the rest of this. Otherwise, grab some tea and a snack because I have quite a few thoughts.

I don't even know where to start.

I think the most frustrating thing for me in the beginning was how many other plotlines they tried to shove into this season. I don't want to sound mean, but I don't care about Will and Alice's business, I don't care about Benedict's boring relationship with another dArInG wOmAn WhO dEfIeS sOcIeTy'S eXpEcTaTiOnS (more on that later), I don't care about Cressida's redemption.

In fact, let's start with her. This was such a bad fucking idea. Not the redemption itself, though I don't know why some storytellers think there are no unlikable people in the world, why every woman especially has to be redeemed and forgiven. Some are just awful, they exist, it happens. It's okay to have scenes of our characters just reacting to these people and navigating kindness and forgiveness in spite of them. But anyway, working on Cressida's redemption in this kind of story doesn't freaking work. Why? Because we've seen this character put Penelope through endless shit already, and her season is not the season to work on her bully's redemption. Because Penelope already lost her best friend to this girl, and trying to redeem her now isolates Penelope even more, because instead of Eloise getting to properly realize how much she's lost in giving up Penelope as a friend, we're getting her genuinely bonding and getting closer to someone else. Most importantly, redeeming Cressida now doesn't fucking work because you have her and Penelope competing for the affections of the same guy.

You can't pit the girl we want to see win and root for against her bully for the affections of a man, and try to make us sympathetic for the bully. Are we not supposed to want Penelope to get him? Are we not supposed to root for Penelope? I get the idea of complex characters and relationships, but for the love of the gods, Penelope has been crapped on over and over and over in this series. I don't know about anybody else, but I got so excited when I saw her with Lord Debling in the promos because I thought, "Finally! We're going to see Penelope actually be pursued and cherished by someone else!" And instead? We have her embarrassing herself in cringey and awkward conversations against the bully we're also supposed to sympathize with? This was the show's chance to finally give Penelope someone who values her, but oh no, we have to show how tough things are for Cressida, so we have to make her actual competition who actually connects to Debling as well. So which is it, writers? Are we supposed to root for Penelope or Cressida? When Penelope wins, which is already unfair because she's had to bust her butt to get this guy so it's always her in pursuit, how are we supposed to be happy for her when Cressida is in the corner all sad?

Don't get me wrong, when Cressida chose not to gossip about Penelope at the ball, I was really touched. But the problem in trying to redeem her is that it works, which then creates a whole other problem when her and our heroine are then competing for the same guy!

Speaking of that guy; Lord Debling. I'm conflicted on him because I like how much he comes to learn about Penelope (arguably more than Colin does, but we'll get into that later), and I like how genuinely kind he is. But I hated seeing Penelope have to embarrass herself in front of him. I hated that we had to watch this girl who already feels like less than everyone else not even properly get this guy's attention for half the time we know him. Why did the writers think that would be fun to watch? I thought a majority of the time with him would be spent with Colin's jealousy, but even in those brief moments when Colin was jealous, it was from a distance, and we knew that in reality, those conversations Penelope was having with Debling were awkward and kind of degrading to her character.

Which brings me to my biggest pet peeve in this whole thing. The changes made to Penelope herself. Look. I'm not a stickler for accurate adaptations, okay? I don't care if the adaptation matches the source material so long as it's entertaining, which is why I enjoy the Percy Jackson movies more than the actual show. How I see it, we get two different, very fun and likable versions of a beloved story. So I didn't come into this season hoping it would be like the book, I just hoped it would be a good time. However...

Something I did appreciate in the book, and in the past two Bridgerton seasons, was Penelope's wisdom. She was hopeful with Colin, but realistic. She knew she would probably never be with him, but she was determined to be happy anyway. Lady Danbury even calls her something along the lines of the cleverest person in the room, and that's why she takes such a liking to her. Penelope is supposed to be clever, witty, amusing, and wise enough to know that even if she may not get everything she wants, she has her best friend and a guide in Lady Danbury and the small joys of being alongside the Bridgertons, and that was enough for her. Colin saw her for that wisdom and wit, saw the love and joy and pride she had in her work, saw that her priorities were the people she loved and the craft she'd perfected, and fell in love with her for it.

Here? She's the butt of every joke, she's a subject of mockery and dismissals, she's someone to be pitied, not appreciated. Yes, she was a wallflower in the book too, but she had at least a few supporting figures who she admired and helped her be happy where she was. I don't care SO much that they switched the scene of him finding out she's Whistledown, so much as the fact that they changed the meaning behind it. Her and Colin honestly spent so little time together because the show was trying to shoehorn in all these other plots, and so when he suddenly decides he's going to stop her marriage, it feels like he just does it because he's horny! In the book, he's impressed with the strong, talented, and passionate woman she is. In the show, I technically know that he wants to be married to his best friend, but the scenes I was most looking forward to with Colin and Penelope properly talking more and getting to really know each other aren't even there, so based off what friendly interaction had he suddenly learned to see her differently?

Finding out she was Whistledown was a shock to him, and it pushed him over the edge of his feelings for her. Not to mention, him finding out she was Whistledown told him so much about her as a person. Really think about it; what does Colin Bridgerton in the show know about Penelope? Nothing! Lord Debling knows more about her interests and what she enjoys better than Colin does! Knowing about Whistledown also gave him access to a secret part of her that no one else was privy to! Taking that away means that when they get married, Penelope knows everything about Colin and his travels and what he enjoys, and he knows next to NOTHING about her! So we spent the season with her being a joke to everyone, her having to compete for a guy and fail for a good long conversation, and then her ending up in a relationship with a guy who never bothered to get to know her? Fun.

In fact, why don't we talk a little more about Colin, too. Um. What the fuck was he writing? I don't care that it's sexual, but him describing Greek beaches and Scottish pubs in the book and interactions he's had with people shows exactly how grown he really is without him even knowing it. In the book, Colin hated being known for nothing but his charm. He even resented it and turned bitter when Penelope brought it up! He wanted to be more than that, he wanted to have a real purpose and be taken seriously and even be perceived more like Anthony. Writing about the landscapes he'd seen on his travels and his interactions showed that he wasn't just travelling to sleep his way through Europe, but that he was actually learning about new cultures and experiencing new worlds and lands. Here? He's just writing smut! In itself, it would be fine, except that he CLEARLY had a problem not having a purpose in his conversation with Anthony and Benedict and when Penelope praised his writing, so he does want the same thing Book Colin does, except... doesn't just writing erotica completely undermine his whole thing of wanting to be known as more than a charming flirt??

Not to mention, Book Colin ends up publishing his travel journals, so how's this version going to do that? You can tell us he's doing it at the end, but it will ring hollow because we all saw what he's been writing, so if they try to divert at the end to Book Colin's ending, it won't make any sense when we've already heard what he's written. In that time period, how the hell is he going to publish that? AND Book Colin ends up giving his stuff to Penelope to read once they're married because he wants her opinion on it! How the hell is that going to work, giving your wife your erotica with other women to test read? I know it could be done, but the charm of the book version is then gone because it feels like you've reduced a cultured man to a rake who just wants to gloat about how many foreign women he'd gotten to sleep with. Doesn't even that then undermine the whole flirty act he put on in the first episode when even Lady Whistledown could tell he was just pretending to be someone he wasn't??

I'm so tired, so I'm going to end this with a few final notes:

Why does arguably the most charming Bridgerton brother, Benedict, always get the most BORING storyline? I hate the woman he's with, there's absolutely nothing original or charming about her, and I am SICK TO DEATH of these so-called "quirky, strong women who don't care what anybody else says because they're edgy like that," it's just so cliched, and I need that archetype to die already. I thought they were going to do something with the fact that she's clearly a lot older than him, but they don't address it at all, so there goes that interesting concept.

Francesca's fickleness was getting on my last nerve, and I was so bored with her storyline until she met that guy. Their relationship is a cute and unique one, but before he shows up, nothing of what she wants is clear. She doesn't mind meeting a guy, but the second someone actually tries speaking to her, she backs off. She wants to talk about music, but when someone tries to speak to her about music, she backs off. I just couldn't get a reading on what she wanted.

I really don't care at all about Will and Alice's business. It's the same storyline every freaking season.

Eloise's whole "It's not nice when Whistledown writes about you, is it?" is very stupid because Lady Whistledown has written plenty about Penelope's family before that point (and in the book, about Penelope herself). You can't have Colin acknowledging that Whistledown outed Marina in the first episode, and then have Eloise forget that Penelope threw her own family name under the bus to protect Colin.

The carriage scene, I'm sorry, was cringey and came a little bit out of nowhere. And I really didn't like that Colin was backing away until, again, Penelope put herself forward. She's always the pursuer, and I'd hoped for something different this season. I also didn't like that she had to be dumped first. Like, yeah, let's really not give her a single break until Colin deems it time to actually do something for her.

That's all I've got that I can think of, at least in terms of negative criticism. I'm sure more will come to me later, but this was the big stuff. And I don't want to hear anything about, "But Rin, the season's not done yet!" Yeah, but half of it is. No matter what happens in the last four episodes, this was how they started. I guess when the cast said it was their most graphic season so far, they meant the most graphic for everyone but the main couple, and isn't that what you wanted to see?

[flightfoot]

The word "fanon" doesn't mean a lot to me. Fandoms are big and diverse. No one has the full picture.

But YOU are the exception. You seam to know every aspect of the MLB fandom. Or at least most of it.

So when you reblog a post about disliking a fanon Verizon of a character I noticed.

Do you want to elaborate on that?

Honestly I was mostly thinking about Chloe Bourgeois. I was gonna elaborate in the tags, but well... honestly, even in this case, it's not really the fanon version of CHLOE that's the problem. Which is why I didn't elaborate on it at the time, because it didn't totally fit.

Thing is, I do like Chloe, and I especially like versions of Chloe that follow off of the earlier seasons of ML, when it looked like there was going to be more to her, when there are hints of her having these insecurities because of her awful parents and just wanting to be recognized. With her being a mean bully, but beneath all of that being deeply hurt and trying to fill in the holes left behind by her parents' neglect or disdain. With her desperately trying to earn Ladybug's approval, approval that she couldn't get from her own mother. With her not thinking much of most other people, but going far to help the few people she cares about. So stories where she's still recognizably herself and still can function as a classic mean girl bully if the story calls for it, but with more to her, where she's treated as a person beneath it all still.

I'm not so fond of stories just giving her a straight-up personality replacement, where she's Chloe in-name-only, and she turns into a nice person off-screen with little explanation. I don't hate it, but it also doesn't feel like Chloe, and takes away what could be a really interesting character development arc. It's okay, but not my jam.

The stories I hate are the ones that do either of these types of things (especially the second one where she just gets a straight-up personality replacement) and then the other, canonically nicer kids are made worse, with Chloe and Alya basically swapping personalities. Everyone knows how much I hate Alya, Adrien, and the rest of the class being bashed, and Chloe and Alya having swapped roles just showcases the intense double standards of the writer, and is incredibly frustrating for me since it makes me leery of Good!Chloe and makes me want to vent about people making Chloe into a nicer person when that's not actually my central problem with the trope. So I have to try and take great pains to convey that I like Chloe being good, but doing it at other characters' expense, especially with how Alya in particular ends up getting targeted in these cases, is not cool.

I still remember when I briefly filtered out "Chloe Bourgeois Redemption" on AO3 because of a fic that started demonizing Alya out of nowhere by making her be mean to Chloe, and that was the only tag the fic had at the time that was even remotely associated with salt. I took out that filter soon afterwards because I do really like fics that redeem her, but dammit, BECAUSE of how those good and redeemed versions of Chloe are used, I'm often leery when I see her treated too positively and it sucks to have that knee-jerk reaction.

[hamliet]

I'm really worried now about how bnha is going to end. I fell in love with the story because a lot of horikoshi's hero characters (nana, enji, hawks for example) were allowed to have flaws while his villain characters were still painted as sympathetic and human without having their villainy be erased. Now I'm feeling like hori is trying to turn this into a good vs bad kind of thing and the message is going more and more into the direction of some people are in fact born evil. on the one hand, we are constantly being told that all villains are human and that deku is special because he can see that, on the other hand we have AFO who is supposed to be the bad guy behind it all and heartless and whom the narrative never sympathizes with. it's all very odd to me. You could potentially argue that afo is a product of his environment and that nana, Kotaro, and shigaraki all made their choices in the end no matter how much they were being manipulated, but I got the feeling that the narrative doesn't believe that and even if it does, it bothers me that it refuses to acknowledge it. it feels so empty and cowardly, like horikoshi can't decide between "this guy is the big bad and just pure evil" and "every villain has a human heart" and like he doesn't actually believe in redemption as a concept, only in good people who do bad things but don't mean it and bad people who are really just bad. there's just something gross about it in general

I mean... yeah. That's why it's a thematic mess.

I will say that I think Hori isn't attempting to argue that he doesn't believe in redemption; it's more that

he wants to please everyone, and actually

he wants everyone to root for redemption.

By Trying to Please Everyone, You've Pleased No One.

I've actually talked about this before particularly in regards to the Endeavor arc, where it felt thematically confused because he was trying to placate both sides--people who didn't want Enji redeemed because they feared he would wash away the abuse, and people who wanted him redeemed. And we know Horikoshi initially had different plans for Enji but changed it, so this is partly to blame as well.

But the reality is it's a stronger story if the story isn't written to be enjoyed by everyone. If people can dislike parts of it. Even if people scream about how it's morally bad for saying circumstances influence how people become or something like that. (Those attacks come from genuine pain, and I honestly get the feeling that Hori is very, very aware of this, especially considering how visceral he writes abuse. But that doesn't mean they are themselves valid criticisms.)

You can't please everyone. You just can't. No one wants every single ice cream flavor melted together. Not every story will be for everyone. And no, that doesn't mean you should be deliberately hurtful, but if you're writing a story where the abuser is redeemed, if you want to portray the abuser as human, some victims may not want to read it. But many will want to read it. And both are okay. Some people will misunderstand you, and that's just--life.

The reality is that in this world everyone has competing needs, and what can meet someone's need doesn't meet another's, and that's okay. The beauty of humanity is that with all the billions of us on this earth, someone should be able to help meet someone else's needs in a certain area. You can't feed everyone, but you can feed someone, and watering down the story so that it's basically now devoid of nutrients/what makes a story interesting doesn't actually help anyone. By trying to please everyone, you've pleased no one.

Hori Is Very Pro-Redemption

I genuinely think Hori somehow decided to try to make Shigaraki extremely palatable not because he doesn't believe in redemption, but because he wants everyone to believe in it and root for Shigaraki.

It's not unique for him to retcon characters' mistakes; like I said, he's done this with Enji, with All Might, and with Hawks where he very obviously swerves from the initial plan. However, that weakens the very themes and the characters, and makes the story less interesting and objectively less well-written.* And now this AFO reveal, considering it's the main plot, kinda throws these more subplot ideas to the back burner and weakens the entire frame of the story rather than just the subplot.

So Hori's into redemption. The problem is that he doesn't know how to convince everyone that redemption is worth it, and so makes it so obvious that it's devoid of any actual interesting questions we can ponder. Essentially if you refuse redemption for Shig now, what's wrong with you? It's nigh morally impossible not to.

But I, Redemption Arc #1 Fan, like it when it's questionable. Redemption, for me, is never about deserve.

It's disappointing, but I've also seen way worse lol in terms of thematically undermining a story at its ending. So, no, I'm not happy about it and I will critique it. But I still want to see the characters I've loved for so long get their happy endings.

*Yes, "good writing" is an opinion; however, there are general consensuses of what constitute good and bad writing. This type of thing--removing agency completely in the last hour--is bad writing.

[centrally-unplanned]

Saw this going around Twitter, a list of "ring wing anime", which I thought was pretty interesting. I haven't seen all of them by any means, thoughts on a few:

Crest of the Stars: Been a long time but eh...its like okay sure it has the ~vibes of militarism and genetic engineering and noble duty and all that. But there is a lot of "war = right wing" energy sometimes that is totally unjustified (war is a universal tool of society unless you are explicitly pacifist, and while pacifists are left most left aren't pacifists), and Crest of the Stars is a good example of that, its just that its a space opera story, its not about validating this or that ideology. But it does have the vibes, i'll give it a C

Gunbuster: Okay, we all know why this is here. Slowly, in the background of the show, you pick up that they live in a timeline where Japan mastered new technology, gained economic supremacy, beat America's attempt to smack them down and annexed Hawaii, and became the first-amoung-equals of a united Earth alliance. It smacks of apologia for Japan's empire in WW2, a sense of revenge for past wrongs. And you have all this other stuff - like oh a bunch of it takes place in Okinawa because Anno was a huge fan of the 1971 film Battle of Okinawa due to its huge action setpieces, but that film also completely whitewashes the atrocities of the IJA. Its all true, like it reflect that cultural milieu.

But it doesn't do anything with any of that. Anno just likes Okinawa guys, he doesn't think Japan should have won in WW2 and rule China right now. And the thing you actually watch is a group of international space pilots serving in the equivalent of the UN Space Fleet experiencing the horrors of war fighting for peace (and also fanservice). Its a world where Japan's economic & technological innovation makes it a world leader via soft power, and international cooperation defends earth. This peak liberalism. C-

Patlabor: Yeah an odd one, like its simultaneously about the corruption of the powerful and all that, but also about the need for heavy policing and the "fragility" of society. This one is one where you can take from it what you want, but if you wanna be right wing yeah sure. B

Girls Und Panzer:

ಠ╭╮ಠ

F-

Niea_7: Wtf is this doing here? Like okay, its humor definitely spills into a bit of racial stereotyping and stuff. But this is an anime about refugees being discriminated against due to disabilities and caste and the humanity behind the outer differences. You cannot weasel your way around that. D-

Urusei Yatsura: By no means have I watched every episode or anything, but I feel like this is a bit of "well its just showing past society right? Therefore its right-wing". And like okay, that isn't entirely off-base, like it has stories about how men and women are Just Different and Being A Man and all that, so sure. But it was also mocking those social themes of the time just as much as it was reinforcing them. Like Mendou is not an aspirational character!

A bit like Patlabor, I guess I can see pulling what you want out of it. But its a bit harder here imo. B-

Space Battleship Yamato: Yeah I'll give you this one. Its just space opera in the end, but the way it sets up its symbols to redeem the legacy of the Japanese empire is far more explicit than say Gunbuster, no way around that. A-

Would be interested in other people's takes on anime I haven't seen or didn't mention!

[iridescentis]

for the ask game :)

001 - perfectdolls

Ooo fun!!

when I started shipping it if I did:

I wanna say a couple months ago? I think? the earliest perfectdolls reblog I did was early june and that makes sense since I got into RTC in april, so I've shipped them for roughly that long :)

my thoughts:

LOVEEEEE <333333 My darlings my favs they are WONDERFUL I could talk about them foreverrr

I think they have SUCH a fun dynamic with tons of potential like okay so Jane and Ocean, ADORE, the beauty of Ocean's character development coming from seeing the human in a lost girl with no identity and sacrificing her own motivations to give someone she never even knew the chance is poetic PERFECTION AGH <3 the love is just so complex and beautiful I could SCREAM, then we've got RTC fanon Penny and Ocean, so essentially Penny the blank canvas, which I also ADORE, I love seeing their dynamic with different Pennys since every writer has a different take on her

BUT ANOTHER THING. TELL ME LEGOLAND PENNY AND OCEAN AREN'T WONDERFUL. like you've got this girl who has ultimately done some fucked up stuff but doesn't swear, is very anxious and is trying to be a good person, and then little miss perfect over here with her high and mighty attitude THAT IS A WHOLE COMBINATION I LOVE (and will explore in my next multichap I mean what cough cough)

What makes me happy about them:

I think they have such cute potential, just from seeing how Ocean starts to soften to Jane's presence within the show but also outside of that, it's two girls who have done fucked up stuff, whether it was justified or not, finding each other and healing in a way. They have kinda similar backgrounds, and I think they would really ground each other. They just complete each other in that way, Ocean has the determination and outspokeness that Penny needs to stand up for herself and be confident, and Penny has that deep understanding and care for other people that Ocean needs (both for herself and to learn from)

What makes me sad about them:

THEY ARE SO TRAGIC. THEY ARE PEAK TRAGEDY TO ME. I WILL NEVER STOP WRITING FUCKED UP POETIC RAMBLINGS ABOUT HOW FUCKING SAD THEY ARE.

Ocean's sacrifice, letting go of Jane and in the process her only chance at life, just to let her last moments go towards something good, Jane leaving the girl who learned to care for her too late, the intrinsic separation between the two of them and life and death, two lovers who can never be together AGH IT'S SO GOOD. I think they are perfect for absolutely heartbreaking angst, cyclone accident included or not, and it will always make me weep

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

This is more of a general thing for RTC fics but it does annoy me in perfectdolls fics especially - Ocean's flaws being ignored. I totally get not wanting to delve into hard-hitting character stuff and redeeming her in a realistic, detailed way, sometimes you just wanna write some fluffy lesbians, I get that! But I do feel like some perfectdolls fics kinda butcher Ocean's character entirely to avoid having to address she's flawed or even that she's more than just a blushy mess in a romance scenario like she's always VERY outspoken and loud and energetic I just can't see her being shy, sweet and agreeable while also ignoring ALL of her faults

it's easier to gloss over her character being simplified when she's not the main one in a fic but it really bugs me when people just. get rid of the bad stuff with no explanation or even acknowledgement. and you really can't get away with that when she's half of the main ship in the fic. my only exception for this would be future AUs, like if they're in their 20s I think you're fine to move past that but still, OOC Ocean pisses me off in all shapes and forms

I think Penny is hard to write OOC because most fics don't use Legoland!Penny and thus have literally nothing to go off, so remarkably Penny characterisation doesn't ever really bother me, AS LONG AS SHE HAS CHARACTER. PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE BOTH OF THESE GIRLS A PERSONALITY.

okay I have ranted enough now 😅

things I look for in fanfic:

BACKSTORY. I FUCKING LOVE PERFECTDOLLS BACKSTORY. ALSO ANGST.

perfectdolls have great slowburn potential but sadly I do not have the patience for slowburn unless the fic is incomplete and I'm reading updates as they come out, so with oneshots and stuff I look for solid characterisation, probably post-cyclone but I'm not too fussy with that, some good build up and context, and just a lil bit of spice yk just a dash for some flavour

in a general sense, with fanfic I'm always looking for getting together, in universe, probably friends to lovers although rivals can be good, and like a maximum of 20k words

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

CDPLAYER 💞💓💖💕 MY LOVES. yeah if Penny is not with Ocean she is 100% with Tammy I love them DEARLY <3333

Ocean is a tricky one, I think I would be happy for her to end up with Constance, I'm not a huge blackrose shipper but I'm never mad at them as a side pairing in other fics, I would be comfortable with them together if not perfectdolls, although generally if I'm not writing perfectdolls Ocean won't end up with anyone

My happily ever after for them:

This one is hard because almost everything I have written or come up for them that has an ending always ends badly 😭 I have never written them a happy ending before oops

I think, them living together in the city in their twenties, both of them chasing their dreams, going to college together and moving in together afterwards, I think that could be cute

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Jane x Ocean - Jane is the big spoon, Ocean is the little spoon RTC!Penny x Ocean - Penny is the big spoon, Ocean is the little spoon Legoland!Penny x Ocean - Ocean is the big spoon, Penny is the little spoon

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

hmmm again the fact I only ever think about sad ass prompts for them is failing me 😭

this is more of genre of activities rather than a particular one but intimate non-sexual self-care is probably super important to them, like washing and brushing each others hair, doing their routines for each other, meditating together, just simple very close things to take care of each other

I think both characters can have tendency to neglect themselves and be detrimental to their own wellbeing (whether that's self neglect in pursuit of perfection or self-sabotage) and so I think taking care of each other in a sweet and healing way would be their favourite

for more generic answers I think they love doing things together, whatever it is, they love to be productive together like running errands, organising events/hang outs, volunteering (animal shelter perhaps?) and they are DEFINITELY the kind of people who love coexisting while doing their own thing, like doing homework in silence in the same room is precious to them, Penny listening to music while Ocean studies or plans whatever she's got her heart set on, and they would definitely call just to have each other on the phone even though they aren't talking

That's all I've got! This was fun :D

[butterrats]

ATTENTION 2012 TMNT FANBASE I HAVE A PSA

I love 2012 Donnie

I severely dislike 2012 April, one could say I hate her.

I am allowed to have my own opinions on these not-real-people characters because it. Is. A. Cartoon.

No, I am not a misogynist because I hate 2012 April. I actually love literally all five female characters they put in the show except her (Wow writers...) I'm a fucking feminist lesbian. Disliking a female character does not make you a misogynist. I honestly think a lot of her slander is undeserved, but I'd be a goddamn liar if I didn't say I kinda (ok I love it) enjoy participating in it. HOWEVER, I do not think she is a bad person. Is she snippy, rude, entitled, and kinda a brat in my eyes? Yeah, no dip. Do I think she's evil and intentionally trying to seduce every guy she sees into being her man slave? Uh no. I think she's annoying and I dislike her, but I don't want her to burn in hell. I want what I want for every character I see on a show: *clears throat* OWNING UP TO THEIR SHIT AND CHANGING FOR THE BETTER AND NOT BEING A MARY SUE AND MANY OTHER THINGS I DON'T FEEL LIKE GETTING INTO AT 11:30 PM. This goes for literally all the characters on the show. I wanna see Donnie and Casey apologize to April for being weird with her, AND I want April to apologize to them for being weird with them. THEY ALL DESERVED BETTER. They all could have developed amazingly if the writers didn't stick their heads up their asses and spew whatever shit they inhaled onto the script. I have so many other examples of this: I want Splinter to realize the generational trauma he's inflicting on his sons, Karai developing her relationships with all her brothers, Casey going into his backstory, insert other example.

No, I am not encouraging "nice guy" behavior by loving on Donnie. Oh wow, a kid with zero social interaction outside of his three brothers an strict dad gets weirdly obsessed with the first person he develops romantic feelings for? Who could've seen that coming? He should have left her alone when she wanted to be left alone and given her space, yes, but goddamn people, these characters are children. They're always making dumb choices. It's TEENAGE mutant ninja turtles. My boy never once tried to force himself on this girl. Never tried turning her no into a yes. Never wanted her to do anything she wasn't okay with. He's not a "nice guy" or an "incel" or a "stalker" he's a smart boy who made some very dumb choices. So did literally every other character in the goddamn show. You wanna talk creepy? Leo knowingly had the hots for his motherfudging sister but that's a whole 'nother can of worms I ain't touching tonight baby. I just personally think Donnie has so many more redeeming qualities to his character. Honestly, in my opinion, his apology to April was good enough for me. Not perfect by any means, but good enough. Donnie is literally one of the only characters who quickly owns up when he messes up, I think that' worth something considering the characters. Honestly, Donnie is a sweetheart, super smart, sassy, and fun to watch, and I think his qualities outweigh his flaws, unlike how I feel about April. (How I feel about her.)

My morality should not be called into question when I have an opinion on a fictional character for fuck's sake. This franchise is beloved, BELOVE IT. Have your opinions, love April, hate April, love Donnie, hate Donnie, just enjoy yourselves (except you, Tcesters, stay the fuck away from me and my son.) These characters aren't perfect, they're flawed, they're young, they're children. It's not their fault they were written like shit. They're ALL good people at the end of the day.

I hate 2012 April's guts and I love 2012 Donnie to death. But that doesn't mean you have to as well. LOVE YOUR CHARACTERS.

Holy jumping Jesus on a hoagie sandwich why did I waste an hour of my life writing this? I need to get to bed, I have work tomorrow. Anyways, hope this gets to someone who needs it, love yourself, love characters, don't fucking ship siblings, eat your homework, and enjoy your life. Love you <3

[helsm]

Hazbin Hotel Adam Speech

Okay, I've been mulling over since the finale, but Adam was a bit of a disappointment. I like how Adam is portrayed, but not because of who he is, but because of the Voice Actor, his songs, how funny he is (mostly because almost everyone in the main cast is so barebones with character, and no, the pilot does not count). I didn't like it because of how much of a dick he was, and how one sided the argument feels. Okay, Adam is suppose to display "Heaven isn't as great as it sounds" but the show never brought up how much he was screwed over, not just with Lilith and Eve, but Cain and Abel, and maybe the extermination had a point. I mean, Hell is full of horrible people who deserve to be killed. The show doesn't try to look at things from multiple perspectives; Charlie has to be right, the sinner should be redeemed, but it never asks if they deserve to be redeemed, it talks about the lives of the sinners when they were alive. I think Adam would work better if he had a point, gung ho for killing Demons, but not because he's sadistic, I mean that could be part of it, but also because he thinks what he's doing is righteous, maybe a foil to Charlie. If you are going to keep the vulgar behavior, maybe save it for the sinners and Charlie, and when he's in Heaven, he's respectful and nice to everyone there. I have this speech in mind, in my HH, he says it in the season 2 finale (Season 1 is reserved to the Vs and Lucifer, partially, (that's another can of worms) and Season 2 explores Heaven.)

(Adam is sitting by himself, his helmet off, mentally preparing himself. Lute walks up to him.)

Lute: You ready, sir.

Adam: As ready as I'll ever be.

Lute: I don't like this, sir, it's too dangerous.

Adam: It needs to be done. I can trust you to take care of things, right? (Lute is silent) Right?

Lute: Yes, Adam.

(Adam hugs Lute.)

Adam: I don't know if I say this enough, but... I'm glad to have you by my side.

(Lute hugs him back. Adam leaves, presenting himself to the army of Exortcists. He materiallizes a microphone with holy energy.)

Adam: Ladies, exorcists, you all know what today is, Extermination Day (They cheer), the day where we impart our righteous fury on that ruined plane!!! (They cheer) But this is a special case, before we destroy every Demon on sight, we are to destroy (he makes the hotel appear with Charlie) this hotel!!! (They boo it.) This hotel stands as the antithesis of what Heaven stands for, the resting place for the righteous and the just!!! Do you think these sinners deserve to be in Heaven?!!!

Exorcists: NO!!!!

Adam: Well this Princess does, she thinks that these sinners should have a second chance to be better people, do you agree with that?!!!!

Exorcists: NO!!!!

Adam: They had their chance on Earth!!! They earned their damnation, they earned their eternal torment, they earned their second death by our BLADES!!!! (They cheer while holding up their weapons.) We will kill every Demon that resides in that forsaken place, we will tear that building apart brick by brick, we will burn it to ashes in holy fire, are you with me?!!!!

Exorcists: YES!!!!

Adam: THEN, (he puts on the Helmet) LET'S RAZE HELL!!!!!

(He opens the portal and everyone goes in.)

I have other ideas for how I wanted the show to go, but what do you think of how Adam is portrayed here. I'm very proud of the "Raze Hell" line.