#HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TEACH YOU THIS LESSON FANDOM

[deancasforcutie]

everyone: *talking about how Cas' confession demands to be addressed in any Supernatural followup* *still phrasing it like it's an obstacle or accident they didn't think through and not the emotional climax the whole season was building to and the whole text supports, like the trap it laid on the network to demand acknowledgment in this way somehow wasn't always the plan*

Bobo "emotionally invested" *queering-the-text-to-defy-and-expose-censorship-constraints* *wrote-the-confession-to-expose-how-it-was-already-queer-and-pull-fandom's-pants-down-on-heteronormative-bias* Berens:

[katyspersonal]

hey, I saw that you and your friend got some unwarranted nonsense for your lore posts on Marika. I thought it was nice to see people give Marika some agency for once.

Thank you for a message, and support, I suppose; I am glad that you liked the analysis and takes themselves.

Honestly, the whole thing was really unfair to Val. That post was not even about Marika, it just tangentially involved her! @val-of-the-north was addressing the situation of people seeing Marika as that noble hero who was up to rid the world of "Hornsent's evil" and making the world better by only obliterating the filth that ruins it of sorts. Correctly pointing out how much injustice and cruelty happened under her reign, caused or allowed! Yesterday I've made a post ( x ) about Marika that is the best reflection of mine and Val's opinion on her! Sounds rather humanising and positive even all things considered, right? And the reason why Val did not do a giant disclaimer explaining how Marika is not 100% cruel monster was because that post was not! about! her!

And yet, imagine how VAL was feeling. The original reblogger maybe earned (my) disrespect by admitting they hated any interpretation of Marika and Messmer that weren't their, as well as using an oddly specific made up story as a proof, but on conceptual level, it is not wrong to start a debate! Debates are good, debates are healthy, debates are vaccine against being stuck in hostile echo-chambers believing you are superior and others are "media illiterate weirdos"! They were switching goals wildly like a bunny making its traces on the snow a labyrinth, BUT, it was fun to double-check Marika's lore there! But it stopped being okay when another person faaaaaaar not Val's size got involved and not only made it some sort of 'affirmation', but then also continued to mock his post as aNoThEr CaNcEr tO MaRiKaS jOy before their followers uncritically approving of everything they say! I know I should not act like he or me are special, because this is just a constant in any fandom/community!

Imagine that big, radiant, loved by everyone artist with more followers than there are people in your country, whose creativity and presence stands in the fandom seen from every spot much like the notorious Erdtree itself, for the first time having a direct interaction with you...... only to unfairly write you down as "just another Marika hater" and "part of the problem in the fandom" with "a post so bad they wish they could remove it from the addition" pure upon virtue of agreeing with their biased subjective vision. In front. Of their. Huge. Fanbase. When they also didn't even read the post and admitted to not even loredig. (Why do you think you can be the judge whether someone's lore is right or wrong when you do not even research it? Seriously why?) There are very vitriol-filled posts about Marika that do not offer any nuance, yet from my knowledge, they only ever earned vagueblogs? Just getting readsomewhered, as 'some weird takes I've seen'? But it was a fair, researched post, dealing only with facts, that earned the "honor" of directness?

Besides, it was rich saying the post was wrong and better be removed to only keep the addition, when the post was about people approving of Hornsent genocide! And the reblog of disagreement that made it about Marika..... justified Hornsent genocide. So, proven Val's point, hilariously? Literal Queelign behavior, all. 🤦‍♂️

[deancasforcutie]

#this this this #the writers weren't just flopping their hands randomly over their keyboard #and going ''oh dearie me!'' and hitting backspace when gay shit happened by sheer mistake #they knew exactly what they were doing and they wanted to do it #intentionally and on purpose #it's the network censorship guys #S&P is the gatekeeper of the gay stuff (via @ilarual)

spn scripts make me sick bc wdym dean was supposed to say "i love you" in the crypt scene??? wdym cas was supposed to go to his own personal heaven that was full of pictures of dean?? wdym dean spread cas' ashes in a field by a windmill bc he thought cas would have liked it?? wdym dean was supposed to tell cas "i wanted you to stay" in his purgatory prayer?? wdym that while dean was worrying about them dying cas was thinking about how beautiful dean was??? wdym sam was supposed to mention cas while dean was dying???? i am physically unwell.

[soft-pine]

when i think about this scene from 15.15 it makes me want to chew glass and tear up the walls in rage.

AMARA: I wanted two things for you, Dean. I wanted you to see that your mother was just a person, that the myth you'd held onto for so long of a better life, a life where she lived, was just that, a myth. I wanted you to see that the real, complicated Mary was better than your childhood dream because she was real. That now is always better than then. That you could finally start to accept your life.

for the record i want to say i am a known amara-hater. don't like the non-con shit. don't like that she's doing what so many beings in spn do and narrativizing dean's life back at him while judging him because she drew the wrong conclusions. but i think fandom does have a tendency to take those claims at face value because that is easier than combing back through to check if it's correct or not. (see for example, rachel saying dean only calls cas when he needs him in 6.18. narrativizing, incorrectly. but i digress)

so let's talk about mary. because, through the seething rage, i think two main things about this claim. 1. dean does not have this mythos around mary and 2. mary has arguably more of that mythos around dean.

first off, we'll tackle the claim that it's a myth that if mary hadn't died, dean wouldn't have a better life. because that is absolute, utter, dogshit. OF COURSE HE'D HAVE A BETTER LIFE. while i will always maintain that clearly mary and john were far from stable before she died, her death was what speared john forward into hunting, into turning his kids into soldiers, into neglect and parentifying, and every other god forsaken thing he did. "a better life, a life where she lived, was just that, a myth" - girl, i DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE DIVINE, SHUT THE FUCK UP.

like please don't come here acting like dean grieving the future he could have had that didn't include him taking care of his younger brother alone in motel rooms for days while maybe actually being left as bait for the Kid-Eater is a character flaw on his part that he needs to learn better from.

next, amara claims dean needs to see the "real, complicated Mary."

but hasn't he? dean goes back in time and meets his mom in 4.03 and 5.13. and both times he treats her both as a competent hunter and a colleague. like to be clear, before that, i dont think he was wrong to be relying on a four-year-old's memory of what his mom was like because that's literally all he had access to. but dean actually did meet and interact with the whole, complex woman who was his mother long before amara decided to teach him a lesson with her as the homework. in both 4.03 and 5.13, dean tries to give mary advice to save her life but he doesn't belittle her experience hunting or her desire to leave and life a normal life. i don't know what more you want from him in terms of interacting with his mom as a whole, real, complex person?

this also applies wholly and completely to his interactions with her when she returns in s12. he apologizes for being nervous for her safety (AFTER SHE WAS JUST RESSURECTED) at first. mary says she wants to hunt, dean gets on board. mary says she needs space, dean asks clarifying questions to best support her request. he gets mad at her not for being who she is or needing what she needs but for lying to him for months and working with people who tortured him and sam.

in fact, s12 is what i would point to to indicate how well dean articulates and navigates the nuance of being hurt by someone's actions while still understanding and empathizing with why they did it and forgiving them. for example, he says this in 12.04

DEAN: This whole mom thing, it's... I mean, we get her back, and then she leaves. I hate it, but I get it. I do. I guess I'm just...still working through some of that crap. I'll try to be less of a dick about it.

[you're not a dick, dean, ilu]

in fact, dean's much maligned "how 'bout for once, you just try to be a mom?" isn't even about dean wanting anything particularly maternal from mary. it's about him not wanting her to ditch them to hunt alone and/or with the aforementioned torturers.

so circling back to amara's speech about expectations and myths. cause while her words do not apply to dean. amara's speech does remind me of something that happens upon mary's return in s12. these lines from 12.03:

DEAN: Mom, it's okay. All right? You're home now. MARY: No. I'm not. I miss John. I miss my boys. SAM: We're right here, mom. MARY: I know. In my head. But I'm still mourning them as I knew them. My baby Sam. My little boy Dean. Just feels like yesterday, we were together in heaven, and now...I'm her, and John is gone, and they're gone. And every moment I spend with you reminds me every moment I lost with them.

of course she has every right to grieve the time she lost with her kids. but someone in this room is having trouble really looking at the people in front of them because of their idealized memory of who they were compared to are and It Is Not Dean.

and i just think about dean's speech in 12.22. cause it wasn't dean that needed to see the real mary. it was mary, tucked away in her dream world where sam is a baby and dean is a little elementary schooler who likes pie and has never held a gun, who needed to see the real dean.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

On the discussions of leadership and leona finding fulfillment in the future, i’ve always found the times he’s stood out most in twst to be when he is mentoring someone. Subtly, never giving people answers but guiding them towards them, using language and examples they understand. We see it with ruggie, jack, jamil, all of savannaclaw and so many other characters.

which gets me thinking: what if leona becomes a teacher? he’d get the acknowledgment for his skills and ability he needs, but also be able to help improve sunset savanna by educating and equalizing the playing field for the next generation.

Ruggie’s dream got me thinking about it and now i can’t get it out of my head as a possible route to where he can get the things he ultimately needs to thrive.

Relevant posts: [ Does Leona need to be king to be happy? / Would Leona be a better king that Falena? / Catching up with him in book 7 ] [My thoughts on the book 7 part 11 Leona update is here!]

I agree that Leona tends to shine when he’s in a leadership or mentorship role to younger students! This occurs multiple times over, both in main stories (notably book 2, 3, 6, and 7), vignettes (his Camping Gear, Epel’s Union Jacket, etc.), and various voice lines (typically from younger students remarking on their admiration for him). He's actually really good at explaining things to others in a simplistic enough way and with realistic examples that slot neatly into their worldviews. I don't know that I would call it "subtle" though, there have definitely been times where Leona just outright tells others what to do or what's wrong with their way of thinking (mainly with Jamil in book 6, or ordering around his fellow magift/spelldrive team members). I think when you say "subtle", it's more like Leona has a way of leading others to acting in his favor, as he can occasionally have his own ulterior motives in imparting wisdom. (For example, he helps out the first years with mining for magestones so he can nap without being disturbed.)

Mmmm… I do think the idea of Leona as a teacher is interesting, but I don’t know if that would feasibly work. I think we as the players can appreciate, say, the NRC staff, but in reality teaching is often a thankless job (though it’s a respected profession in Japan) where parents and/or the school board will blame you for students not performing. You also need to put in several (unpaid) hours of work outside of class grading, preparing lessons, going to meetings, etc. I don’t know that he would be satisfied with “grunt work” like that. I think he’d also have to go back to get his masters/teaching license, which means more studies 💀

I also think the scale of teaching is too small for Leona’s ideals. Yes, technically your lessons will have a continuous or long-term impact because your students might then graduate and go on to change the world thanks to your teachings. But, in my opinion, it better suits his grand ambitions to be the one establishing schools and then leaving others to run those institutions for him; he’d have a much larger impact (and more immediate results, which is what Leona is after) that way, similar to how it is portrayed in Ruggie’s dream. A single teacher, by comparison, can do little to change the system for the countless people who need it (for example, the starving children in the slums). Additionally, it’s easier for Leona to control his own projects as some higher authority, whereas it’s not do easy for him to control what students do once they leave his tutelage—and for Leona, bring in command is important (he had no vice dorm leader because of this).

I also have to wonder if teaching is really the right field for Leona to get into…? I think people often confuse “being good at something” with “liking something”. This is also true of many fandom depictions of Leona; fans tend to claim he’s just “being tsundere” when he acts grumpy around his juniors other nephew Cheka and that he secretly harbors great love for kids. And while I do love me a wholesome take, I just don’t see that 💦 His official profile states his pet peeve is “dealing with kids”; why would objective information from an official profile be a lie? His annoyance seems pretty consistent and genuine when he is assigned some kind of babysitting-adjacent task, and he acts like he would rather not if given the choice but has to anyway in order to avoid graver consequences for himself, a dorm leader. I don’t think he would want to intentionally sign up for a job that means he has to put up with kids on a daily basis—and especially rebellious teenagers that won’t necessarily do what he tells them to.

I guess the comparison you could make here is Crewel, who also seemed to be wild in his youth and also seems to dislike children and disobedience—yet somehow he changed careers from fashion designer to science professor. He had a lot in common with Leona, so I think it could be argued that Leona could still potentially go down the teacher path. If I recall correctly, Leona has also tutored Ruggie and helped him achieve okay grades in present day—so Leona has a track record with teaching. We don’t know for sure what could happen; a lot can change and the future’s unpredictable! But for now, I definitely still think Leona’s ambitions wouldn’t stop at just teaching classes; he’d want to do way more.

… Imagine the insanity of having a literal big-boobed PRINCE as your professor though 💀 I don’t know if I would be able to concentrate properly in that lecture…

[ilikekidsshows]

As someone who grew up in poverty, the pretence that Chloé was never a victim of abuse because she’s rich sounds so incredibly moronic to me for two reason.

First, privilege cushions oppression and abuse but does NOT erase them. In my life I’ve had to deal with a lot of tone-deaf rich kids whose petty complains screamed first world problem, but guess what? None of that was about being abused and neglected. No I don’t want to hear about your daddy refusing to buy you a new car. YES I want you to speak out if they’re neglecting and/or emotionally abusing you. Children as a class are severely ignored. They do not have agency even if they are the richest people on the planet, because that money belongs to their parents who can take it away from their child at any given moment. This is also the reason why André being lifted of any responsibility for the way Chloé was raised is such bullshit, but I digress.  

Now to reason number two – I’m under the impression ML pats itself on the back for its supposedly eat the rich message. This is part of a bigger problem which is the inability of the writing crew to show rather than tell. Marinette life is SO normal, right? She only happens to go to school with the richest kids in town and to be the daughter of the people who run the most appreciated bakery in Paris and to be in touch with several famous people and—

You get it. You cannot “This is just a kids show!” your way out of this because either ML teaches important lessons or it’s not supposed to be taken seriously. You can’t randomly decide which is it based on what’s most convenient to you. That’s not how it works. So yeah, sure, Chloé (and Adrien and Kagami and Félix) is rich, but the other characters are never shown to struggle financially and are if anything the sons and daughters of pretty important people. The only time Marinette has money trouble is when we find out her parents were saving up to send her to Shangai, but that’s pretty normal. A normal family can’t just think “Sure, let’s fly to another continent” and do that the day after. ‘Cause you know, money. 

That still doesn’t mean Marinette is struggling financially. She has a lovely home and a perfect family – that’s so much more many people, me included, can account for. So what, Marinette’s trauma doesn’t account for anything because she’s privileged? Is this the logic the ML fandom was fed and thought “Yeah, sounds pretty good to me!” What is this show’s problem, really. 

---

Miraculous wants to have its cake and eat it too in terms of many things. The writers often include contradictory elements into the show, which is why every detail is important to the “larger picture”, unless it isn't, in which case the show is really simple and there's no need to pay attention to details and fans are just overthinking things. There's a reason actual media analysts avoid this show like the plague now; there's no reward for paying attention because the writers arbitrarily contradict themselves in several episodes, often more times than once in the same episode even. The whole “Adrien apologises to Marinette for what happened with Lila thing” is extra confusing because of the constant contradictions.

The crew are also incredibly cowardly when it comes to actually saying something. We have a blatant allegory for racism when Roland opposed Tom and Sabine’s interracial marriage because they used “rice flour” in baking, but the writers deny this was an allegory when people bring it up. The crew are only comfortable saying something “political” when it's the most milk-toast, fence-sitting take imaginable. As I’ve pointed out before, their idea of a “green episode” was the mayor shooting trashcans into space, which was basically the show going: “don't litter!” Poison Ivy in the nineties was bolder.

That said, of course Miraculous isn't going to tackle the complexities of privilege in any meaningful way. In their eyes, you're privileged and evil if you're telling your rich parents to buy you stuff. Ignore Marinette getting a whole-ass scooter and a trip to Shanghai, because she didn't ask for those things so she isn't privileged. She's a good girl who deserves nice things, unlike Chloé, who's mean so her dad buying her expensive gifts to make up for neglecting her emotionally makes her privileged and evil. The writers want the no-care life of being well-off for all their cast, and even play around with the glamour of wealth several times, so any attempt at a "eat the rich" angle is ultimately insincere.

In addition, the writers still insist on vindicating the rich white men who even create the problems in the green episode, which just makes this mess even more confusing. Because the writers are stanning Gabriel and André, we get the actual businessmen intimidating anyone beneath them socially, the ones who actually own the wealth, treated more sympathetically than a teenaged bully whose dad buys her nice things, sometimes after she asks but often without her asking. Of course, considering Gabe's from rags-to-riches background (wildly exaggerated, considering his parents are still small business owners), you could think the creators are only critical of "unearned" wealth, if it wasn't for the Marinette Exception.

There's also the aspect of how the writers seem to only count wealth as a privilege after it passes a certain threshold, and otherwise they ignore the topic of wealth completely. Considering there isn't a single character in this series that's shown financially struggling even temporarily, there clearly isn't anything definitive (read: potentially upsetting) to be said about class privilege. Frankly, I think Chloé is the primary target of the "eat the rich" angle specifically because no one can argue someone who's never worked using her father's money to one-up her peers and screw people over is not privileged. It's, as I put it, the most milk-toast, fence-sitting take on wealth privilege imaginable. "Being a jerk about being wealthy is bad!" No shit, Sherlock. Good job, clown crew.

There's also the element of Marinette's special treatment, of course, since we still can't argue Marinette is working for the money she's spending since the people spending money on her are her parents, grandmother and boyfriends, while Marinette never mentions using her potential commission/babysitting money for anything (although I don't think they even discuss her payments for these jobs which just proves how meaningless they are). Marinette is never shown spending her own money on screen, but we repeatedly see other people use money for her benefit. Chloé is the only other character shown to get paid for like this, but for her, it's a sign of her undeserved privilege and being spoiled, while, for Marinette, it's more of a perk that she totally deserves.

The way Marinette's exception is presented reads like Miraculous is trying to sell you on the notion of "inherent goodness". If you're a good enough person, everything you do, is good or a forgivable mistake. This is the double standard they apply to Marinette when compared to anyone else, because only Marinette is good enough to reach "inherent goodness" levels. She is the goodest kid in the world according to Santa Claus himself, the greatest Ladybug ever according to Jeanne d’Arc and the best version of herself according to Sublimation. All of this means that Marinette is inherently good so she can never do anything that's really that bad and she deserved all the perks and praise.

[bandtrees]

ohh my god. the world is so small! i'd done a lot of poking around on ffn and found a few people who also seem to be people he harasses, as well as old accounts of his, so i figured this was a pretty widespread thing (especially since my situations so specific i figured he just did this to about every wc author he sees) - but i had no idea he was on other sites too! wow.

i've taken the whole thing well because i honestly just think it's funny (especially because ffn is a site thats held together by toothpicks and glue and the odds of getting spam/nothing reviews compared to actual comments are like 3:1), but also, good to spread awareness on like. an actual scumbag xP we should all start a selfish cur support group. a Cur Library

my favorite part of his comments is that he says "will suck". not "your (writing skils/fics/etc) suck" but "they will suck". he cannot honestly say they suck currently, but in the future? oh man. better watch out.

>be me >update my warriors oc fic on ao3 and ffn >receive a pm >

>

>check this guy's profile >

>obvious fetish fics in favorites >favorite authors are mostly young warriors fans >sent the pm an hour after i posted my fic update >fetish miner who just pms every warriors author they see >politely respond "no i don't, sorry!" >close ffn for the day >next morning >check my fic stats on ffn >see my warriors fic has a new review >check it >

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Hello. It’s me, anonymous (yes. I am the person who submitted the torchbearer request. That was amazing by the way! You’re an amazing writer!).

I feel bad asking for another TØP one shot (another Josh one on top of that), but I was wondering if you could do a fluffy one where Josh teaches the reader to play the drums a little bit everyday after soundcheck for the Clancy tour, but they don’t tell Tyler (no reason. They just want to mess with him). You can end it however you want, but I think it would be cute Tyler accidentally interrupts a cute moment Josh and the reader are having.

You don’t have to follow this exactly (or at all), I just think it’s cute. Only if you want to of course.

Drum lessons - Josh Dun x Reader

Pairing: Josh Dun x Reader

Warnings: None! Super fluffy <3

A/N: Dude I love tøp and have been waiting for someone to just throw requests my way so NEVER feel bad for requesting tøp. They’re my main fandom anyways and no one has been requesting them so ily 🤟 I'd love to assign you an anon emoji so I know who my anons are so let me know which one you want next time you request. And keep requesting! I write for both Josh and Tyler (and I love Josh a lot so keep them coming!)

I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d watched Josh play drums and wondered how on earth he managed to get each of his limbs to move at different speeds. I’d played guitar before, and I understood how piano worked, but drums just left me clueless. The boys had been practising for the Clancy tour for a few days, and it was the last day before we travelled to Denver. Tyler had gone to get changed and shower before driving home, but Josh and I stayed behind to talk to Mark and film some stuff. The red drum kit sat alone on the stage. I stared at it before sitting behind it and holding the sticks.

“Look at you!” Josh laughed. I smiled brightly at him. “Well if you’re gonna be behind the kit at least play me something.” I hit the snare, kick, and cymbals making a loud (and awful) sound. I burst out laughing, knowing it sounded terrible yet I was thoroughly enjoying myself. 

“I should replace you as the drummer shouldn’t I?” I grinned. He walked up behind me, holding me in a backwards hug. Pressing his lips to my cheek, he whispered “Not quite.” I looked around to see the crew were all gone. “I could teach you though.” He had to be joking. Yeah, I could play guitar and was interested in what Josh did, but he was crazy to think I had the coordination even to play something basic. 

“Haha funny,” I smirked, putting the sticks down and getting up. 

“No, seriously,” he followed quickly behind me as I grabbed my stuff and headed to our car. “It would be something cool for us to do together on tour. Tyler normally leaves after soundcheck to hang with Jenna and the kids. We’d have time.” He was right. I really did want to learn to play drums; they’d always fascinated me. “Come on… it would be fun,” Josh enticed, getting into the car. 

“Yeah, okay,” I nodded, “let’s do it.” 

The first ‘session’ was a disaster. He’d attempted to get me to do a ‘basic’ drum beat he called some complicated name I’d forgotten the name of by the time I sat down. 

“No, no, like this.” He hit one of the drums before stopping to let me try. I’d just stayed to get it before we were told to get off stage. “You’ll get it next time y/n, trust me,” Josh reached for my hand and led me down the halls of the venue. 

“Why don’t we just choose a pilots’ song and you teach me that? Surely there’s an easy one?” I asked. He perked up in excitement. 

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. Routines isn’t too hard, we could even get out up on stage once you get it down,” he smiled. There was no way on earth that would ever happen. 

“Sure Josh, sure,” I rolled my eyes. 

A few sessions later I was starting to get the handle of it. Josh would play the track on his phone and tell me which drums to hit and when until I remembered what to do. 

“Kick, snare, kick, kick, kick, snare. Oh, and remember to keep hitting the high hat the whole time.” I continued to play the song while Josh air drummed and Tyler’s voice played in the background. “Yes! There you go!” I flashed him a smile as I hit the last drumbeat in the song. Josh snuck up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his lips to mine. I kissed him back, cupping his jaw and smiling into the kiss. Josh’s baseball cap brushed against my forehead as we pulled away. I pull it off him and put it on backwards, just like him. 

“Drums are actually kinda fun.”

“Of course they are. I told you, you could do it,” he still held me close in his arms, “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” I brushed one of his loose curls out of his face, wondering how lucky I was to have him. He turned his head into my hand, pressing his lips to my palm. “You’re my favourite person.” The curtains backstage ruffled as Tyler stepped out onto the stage. 

“Josh you’re still practicing? I thought we finished soundcheck,” he shouted, running across the venue to the B-stage drum island. “We already did Routines.” Tyler was dressed in his first tour outfit, holding the Clancy mask in his hand. Josh rested his head in the crook of my neck as he looked at Tyler. “Oh shoot, sorry,” Tyler smiled awkwardly, realizing the position we were in, “I didn’t realise you were uh… what was it you were doing?” I waited for Josh to say something, but he stayed quiet. Tyler waited patiently for either of us to answer the question. “Wait, was y/n playing?” A more confident smile spread across his face. Josh sat up and nodded eagerly at Tyler.

“Yep, I taught her the song, she’s amazing isn’t she?” 

“Yeah, I genuinely thought you were Josh with that hat and the drumming over the speakers,” Tyler said, sitting down on the b-stage just next to the drum kit. “You know, it would be cool to have you on stage together playing.” I knew this was coming. I could practically feel the smirk grow on Josh’s face. “And I’m guessing he’s already tried to convince you. I’m sure we can set that up, the fans would go crazy,” he rested his head on his hands, staring up at the roof of the venue. I placed the drumsticks back into their storage cup before getting up from the kit and sitting in front of Josh on the floor. He nudged me, trying to bring my attention to the idea of playing on stage. 

“I-uh… I don’t think it’s for me, you know. You guys perform in front of massive crowds and given that it took me 3 weeks to talk to Josh after we properly met, my anxiety could never,” I pulled at the sleeves of my sweater nervously. 

Tyler smiled at me, knowingly, “I get it, it takes a lot to perform in front of people every night.” I nodded, glad he understood my situation. 

“Just know that I can make it happen if you want it to,” Josh smiled. 

“Of course you can.”

//

Please submit any requests y'all have! I love to write so let me know if you've got any!

[dominos-pizza-squad]

"You're going to have to."

I don't usually write meta on account of doing my best to avoid Fandom Drama like the plague and even a hint of Star Wars meta is like a siren call to Drama but. I have Thoughts about this scene and now I'm going to share them and if you're here for anti-Mace Windu thoughts this is not the post for you my friend.

Every time I see meta or reference to this scene it's used as more 'proof' that Windu was totally the worst and we shouldn't feel at all bad about him being maimed and thrown to his death which sure is a take, and on the surface I can understand why. When you don't bother to look more into that scene it does come off as Windu being a rude bitch to a child whose dad died in front of him, which is pretty uncool.

But this is a meta post and I am here to look more into this scene. I want to start with the concept of forgiveness, because when I go, I go big. I feel like a lot of the antipathy toward this scene (and by extension toward Windu) come from the fact that again, on a surface-level reading, it looks like Windu is demanding Boba's forgiveness for Jango's death, when we all know that's not how that works. That is, in fact, a concept that to most of us is viscerally offensive- our knee-jerk reaction is something more along the lines of "screw you i resent you more now" than it is "well okay that seems reasonable". Because you can't just demand somebody's forgiveness and expect it to happen. All that is is another wrong against the person you've already wronged. It's pure conceitedness and self-interest.

It's also not what Windu was trying to say to Boba in that scene. Not even remotely, in my opinion, and I'll explain why.

Think about the way the Jedi teach, particularly the way they teach philosophical concepts- they don't simply tell their students what to think, they tell them something and then make them think about themselves. Jedi are always expected to look deeper into a lesson to see what they can get out of it, this is the way Windu's lived his whole life, of course this is the way he speaks to Boba even though Boba's not a Jedi.

It's not exactly a hot take to say that Mace Windu and Boba Fett have very different ways of approaching the world. This is important to remember, though, because it guides the way that Windu interacts with Boba in this scene. When Boba swears he's never going to forgive him, Windu looks him in the eye and says, "Well, you're going to have to." And when he says that he's not saying that as some kind of ultimatum, he's saying that as a statement of fact.

What Windu is really saying to Boba in this scene isn't "forgive me 'cuz i said so". What he's saying is "your father cannot come back, and you will have to find a way to live with that so it doesn't consume you". Because what was Boba saying when he said "I'll never forgive you"? It wasn't just "I hate you", it was "I hate you, and I hate you so much that I don't care who I destroy in the process of destroying you". Sure, he expresses regret for all of the actual human beings that died because of his actions, but he follows it up with an utter refusal to acknowledge that those actions were wrong. What he was saying was "I hate you, and I hate you so much that I don't care who I destroy in the process of destroying you, even if it's myself."

Boba has done some genuinely horrible things by this point. He's put other children's lives at risk. He's crashed a star destroyer and killed who knows how many people. Maybe he didn't shoot the injured clones himself when they went in and took their hostages, but they wouldn't have died there if it weren't for him. He is directly responsible for the death of a man whose only crime was walking through the wrong door at the wrong time. He has charged headfirst down a path of death and destruction that will spread misery everywhere he goes.

And now Windu- who has just lost all of these men, lost Ponds, nearly lost his own life to Boba's actions- is looking down at this twelve-year-old boy, and he doesn't want this for him. He so badly doesn't want this for him, but he cannot make Boba's choices. All he can do is try and tell him "this path you're on is not worth it".

Because that, in my opinion, is what he means when he says "You're going to have to." He's not saying that he's entitled to anything from Boba (because he might have killed Jango in self-defense, but his motives and intentions don't change the fact that his actions hurt Boba), he's saying that Boba has to let go of that hatred before it ruins his life.

Which is exactly what it does! What happens to Boba in the end? He continues alone down his path of hate and misery, until he gets eaten by a sarlacc and enslaved by Tuskens. He had so little, and he loses even that. And it's no one's fault but his own.

But.

But. Finally, so many years after he started down that path, he does what Windu said. Finally, he lets that anger go. Finally, he gets to become what he could have been if he hadn't let himself be consumed by his rage. And that's why I liked The Book of Boba Fett, despite its flaws, because we get to see that change. After forty-odd years of strife, Boba finally gets to be a man at peace. And that's exactly what I think Windu would have wanted.

[heraldofcrow]

SOTE haters be like: "boohoo it is all FromSLOP's fault that fans are babyfying Marika and making Miquella a villain, had they not written Marika as an actual person with the story instead of a caricature and had they not put Miquella through tragic descent instead of wholesome hopepunk stuff they literally never did, fans would magically stop ignoring obvious canon clues to make a character into what THEY want instead!!! Bad writing!!!" 🤦‍♂️

So, "good writing" is writing characters like bland caricatures that have nothing to do with how real humans and world we live in are? Honestly I have no idea what's going on in people's heads when they blame realistic writing (nobody is BORN evil @ naive idealism doesn't work on humans so you either give up or force people to be friends) for the takes they dislike

There is this thing that happened in the Elden Ring fandom that keeps reminding me of the DS2 backlash, but it’s not gamer rage over mechanics and the physical experience of the game — it’s that newer (?) (probably not) wave of nonsense that is permeating countless other fandoms that people recently blame on “puriteens.”

Basically, those younger people that haven’t had enough experience to see the world beyond black and white, Tik Tok-based morals; where everything has to be moderated and pure enough, progressive enough, GOOD enough to meet some high standard of ethics.

I’m honestly relying on the Soulsborne fandom as partial proof that this issue HAS gotten worse in some ways because of Elden Ring…but I wouldn’t be surprised if it started and flourished in places like the Undertale fandom, where the game itself trying to teach a valuable moral lesson resulted in younger people that played it becoming extremely hostile online towards anyone who dared to take the Genocide route to see the outcome.

People who wanted to see the end of that route were going to learn the lesson of the game. They were MEANT to learn that lesson and find out why it was the morally unsound path to take within the context of the story. There were also people who could take that route every time just to enjoy the tragedy of it or simply because it was more interesting.

That was absolute heresy to the puritan fans who wanted to control other players and condemn them for even thinking of committing that crime against the poor characters. They didn’t want the “lesson to be learned,” because in their minds, who would ever willingly go kill to learn that killing was bad?? Oh no, anyone who would do that is evil already!

(Forget that all of it wasn’t real of course…or that the Genocide route was essentially just a regular video game lmao.)

And even since then, I’ve seen this blossom in so many big fandoms.

���Just because I like doesn’t mean I condone blah blah”

Nobody should have to say that statement ever again.

Nobody should have to rigorously defend the satire of “my mass murderer did nothing wrong.”

And more people should understand that even the worst of the worst!!…the… *gasp* justifiers!! of fictional war criminals are often just viewers swayed by the villain or antihero’s philosophy or reasoning for revenge. Or mayhaps they were charmed by devilish good looks. How could the young ladies do this??? /s

The people screaming “Thanos was right!” or whatever, are usually….90% of the time…not mass murders in real life. Some of them might be assholes or creeps, and sure, you might have to smack them upside the head with “Hey! Your justification of this character within the story is a bad interpretation and rooted in bias or misunderstanding!”

Yeah, that can be a problem. Those people can be troublesome in the heat of fandom drama. But then again…toxic fans of any kind can be this way too. Toxic shippers are often some of the cruelest, most actively harmful members of fandoms, and even then…cases where people start getting murdered en masse is rare, mind you. Lol.

Fiction is not what affects reality in a negative way, it’s people’s IDEAS about fiction that affect reality in a negative way…IF they choose to not be responsible with how they react or behave.

That’s it.

Their interpretations, their takeaways, their decisions on how to engage with it or be inspired by it, all of this CAN be negative, yes.

The Genocide route in Undertale did not inspire anyone to go commit genocide, but it did create a wave of fandom puritanism that caused harm to others. And that’s ironic isn’t it? That shouldn’t be the case, right? A story that intended to share a moral lesson about why harming others is wrong ended up inspiring people to harm others in fandom. How does that make sense?

Well, it doesn’t if you blame the game and story.

It DOES make sense if you observe how people were choosing to interpret it. The story itself does not have to be taken seriously, engaged with, or even acknowledged. It only has as much power as you give it.

FromSoftware being blamed for people CHOOSING to treat Marika like she did nothing wrong or people not seeing the signs of Miquella’s downfall is taking the responsibility away from fans for how they engaged with the story.

Now, having said all this. Bad writing does exist and authors absolutely can mislead an audience. That’s a fair complaint and that’s one case where fiction causing people to react negatively lies partially with the fault of the writer, but it’s a spectrum in that situation as well. As fans, we still have a responsibility to not act like animals or treat each other poorly when bad writing upsets us.

I don’t believe the DLC was badly written. I think Marika’s story was beautiful and Miquella’s downfall was built up to reasonably well while still creating a nice mystery for us. I think FromSoftware is smart in leaving gaps in the story for us to fill, because that leaves us with room to decide what we think happened.

But even if they didn’t. Even if the DLC was objectively just bad…it sucked ass….that still in no way justifies what’s been going on this fandom since it released. That still would not be something to blame for people justifying the Hornsent genocide or getting too heated about interpretations of Miquella.

“Honestly I have no idea what's going on in people's heads when they blame realistic writing (nobody is BORN evil @ naive idealism doesn't work on humans so you either give up or force people to be friends) for the takes they dislike.”

Why do people blame writing at all for the takes they dislike? Why do they blame writing for OTHER people’s views and reactions?

Because of everything I just said. They shift responsibility off of others and themselves and blame it all on the story.

Video games cause violence, kids.

[taralen]

💡 The significance of Spamton's character arc and connection with Kris.

Late-night thoughts and analysis by an actual crazy person.

[Warning: Some spoilers for Chapter 2]

Say what you want about Spamton, but at least he has the self-awareness to realize he's been a piece of @#$%. Not everyone can do that despite harboring negative feelings for others. He wants revenge but is internally conflicted and values Kris despite his selfish desires. If he wants to, he can easily cannon that little sucker the moment he gets his upgrade, but he doesn't. He hesitates, and even during his secret boss fight as SNEO, he still struggles and wants Kris to be the one to give up their soul.

He knows Kris is someone he connects to on a deep level, who came into his life without warning, as if by happen-chance. They don't know each other long, but they have an instant bond, and both see eye-to-eye in their struggles, at least in the main route. In Snowgrave, we see what happens when Spamton is indulged too much. He caves into his selfish desires because he comes to see Kris and Noelle as tools rather than friends. Ultimately, he admits that he manipulated them the whole time and only cares about himself.

The player's soul is selfish in the Snowgrave route, indulging Spamton to be cruel and power-trip. Spamton has garbage self-esteem, but when the opportunity comes for something to feed his fragile ego, he takes it without thinking about the consequences. Spamton, at his core, is not evil, but he's not necessarily a good person. He has what it takes to be one, but it takes one person (Kris) to see this light in him and not give up on it. Now, imagine if, at the end of the extra boss fight, Spamton remains indignant.

Imagine how different the perception of his character would be if, instead of lending his strength, he chooses to die on this hill about how he is always right and that his ambitions matter more than anything else. 🤔

He'd probably bounce around in his wires and insist he'd "WIN" if only Kris's friends didn't interfere. Where would he end up? Probably in a cage like King, humiliated and alone or forced to become a weapon like in the Snowgrave route.

I'm glad Toby did not end his character arc in a predictable way that lacks growth. I would surely not love this character as much if he turned out that way. Sure, he would still have his charisma and be an interesting character, but he wouldn't be the Spamton we know and love in this fandom. He wouldn't be a character so many of us can resonate with and feel happy for once he finally realizes his pride and greed are not what matters most. He teaches us a valuable lesson in empathy.

Allowing himself to be vulnerable to Kris gives him this strange spiritual awakening that no one else has given him in his entire life. Rather than run and shun Kris, he values them until the very end and realizes that even though they cut his strings, they don't do it to hurt him. They do it to make him realize that his self-serving mindset truly holds him back. Humility, empathy, and being able to admit to his deepest flaws make him such a fantastic character. In the end, he learns to forgive them and himself. 💛🩷

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

I've been in the fandom for a while. I personally think Kataang getting together after the EIP kiss without any resolution wasn't a good writing choice. I think many women HAVE been in a situation where they've been kissed like that, so they automatically dislike it.

I get why people would be turned off from Kataang after the EIP kiss. What I absolutely don't get is how people think Zuko is a better romantic partner. Did they see how Zuko treated Mai in The Beach?

That's what baffles me. Shippers will say Aang's entitlement in kissing Katara without her consent turned them off Kataang. I can understand that. But the same Zutara shippers all laud Zuko as a amazing bf, despite the fact that he:

accused Mai of cheating without any evidence

Accuses Mai of being passionless, hurting her

punches a guy and destroys his property for no reason

tells Mai that his abuse is more important than her feelings

Snidely tells Ma, "where's your new bf"

Never apologises to her for acting that way

Why is there such a cognitive dissonance, do you think? Shouldn't these shippers be turned off Zuko as a bf? Even in the last episode, Zuko starts shooting flames at Aang to "teach him a lesson", clearly showing he still wants to solve his problems with violence.

Why do the same shippers (mostly women) who hate Aang for EIP, love Zuko?

Okay, a few corrections:

1 - Aang didn't kiss Katara out of entitlement. He misjudged the moment. They were talking about feelings and Katara said both "I don't see you as just a friend" and "I don't think we should date right now." Aang, a 12-year-old, was confused by that, thought he could make things clearer by kissing her since they've both enjoyed the two previous times they kissed. That was a really bad move, upset Katara, and he kicked himself for it. Would an apology be nice? Yes. Was this a forced conflict for cheap drama? Yes. But it's not the same as Aang grabbing Katara and forcing a kiss on her while she's struggling to get away from him and telling him "NO" loud and clear.

2 - While Mai did nothing wrong and looked bored as hell whenever that guy came up to her, he WAS into her and disregarding the fact that she had a boyfriend. That's a dick move, and even though Zuko should not have escalated things to physical violence, nor blamed his girlfriend, he had every right to be mad at that guy.

3 - Zuko absolutely did NOT say that his abuse was more important than Mai's feelings. They're arguing about his behavior and how he's more irritable and impatient than usual, to which Zuko reminds her of the obvious fact that it's kinda hard to NOT be like that every now and then considering what he went through - to which Mai reminds him that it being understandable doesn't make it okay, and Zuko eventually admits that the REAL source of his anger is the fact that he no longer knows what right and wrong mean to him anymore and that's stressing him the fuck out. VERY different from "My life sucked, I get to make it your problem"

4 - While Zuko did not apologize for how he acted, we see in the following episodes that he is being a good boyfriend to Mai and he explicitly tells the Gaang that he doesn't want to keep relying on anger anymore. Apologies are nice and can be very important, but an actual change in behavior is what makes it mean anything.

5 - I do feel that the moment of Zuko attacking the Gaang in the finale to "make them take the war seriously" was very forced, but even if I were to take it as just Zuko being Zuko - by the end of the story he's clearly happy that Aang managed to solve things without violence, is proud of him for it, and even says that he believes OZAI could maybe change into a better person someday. If that isn't growth I don't know what is.

As for your actual question: They don't actually hate Aang and love Zuko for anything they did/did not do. They just think Zuko is hot, thought the show would pander to them with zutara, and when it didnt they lashed out and used pseudo-feminist points to go "Aang bad, Zuko good" to cover up a childish tantrum.

[jesncin]

please do tell about why woman of tomorrow sucks i love reading your takes they’re always so well written

Sure! And thank you for throwing me this bone because WOOF

(btw it's totally fine for people to like Woman of Tomorrow, and I can even see why! This is just my experience with it that I wish was talked about more)

Quick context: Woman of Tomorrow is about a space farmgirl named Ruthye who seeks revenge on Krem, a guy who killed her dad. Supergirl guides her on this journey so they can learn lessons about grief and revenge.

The biggest flaw of the comic is the narrative prose. Ruthye's dialogue is a rambly, over-indulgent, stylized mix of an attempt at medieval Shakespearian speak, but then in the last few issues the writer remembers she's a farmgirl so he decides she should suddenly say "ain't" more often and speak in double negatives to sound a bit more Southern. I can enjoy wordy comics! But Ruthye's dialogue and narration is blatantly excessive purple prose. So many scenes would hit harder with a less-is-more approach while still being stylized and characteristic. Sometimes the narrations pairs nicely with the art to create layered irony, but most of the time it feels like it's disregarding the comics medium altogether.

The other thing about Ruthye's narration is that it holds the story back. I get that the narration is Ruthye writing from the future, but the way it's done gives us a very passive relationship with the events of the story. We don't get to be with the characters in the action heavy moments because we're reading caption boxes of Future Ruthye rambling about poetry recounting The Battle of Capes. I'm not experiencing grief or dread with the characters, I'm being told about it. All of Ruthye's narrative rants boil down to "Supergirl is really badass, sad and kind. I promise this is deep." and "here's how my farm girl experience is relevant to this". Ruthye also speaks in glowing admiration, idealization and worship of Supergirl; it makes it really hard to get to know Kara in a humanizing way. I'm sure the purple prose hits differently for others, but I personally think the story would have more room to breathe without it.

You know how people like saying "Superman is boring because everything is too easy for him, he's too powerful" yeah that's Woman of Tomorrow. The conflict Kara faces are not challenges to her character, they're inconveniences. The resolutions to each story don't feel clever or earned. Kara just knows where to find the murdered purple aliens, Kara just happens to have a silver age-reference magical horse that can outrun the suffering-ball Krem throws at her, Kara just toughs out 10 hours in the green sun. Why be a smart storyteller when you can just give your heroine the upper hand every single time? There could've been a great bonding moment where Ruthye uses her famer-smarts to build shade for Kara, she could've crafted a salve to protect Kara's skin. But I guess having her guard Kara from dinosaurs is ok. Kara helps of course, even though she's dying because she's so cool, badass, sad, kind, etc.

Kara's internal conflict is that she was hoping that taking Ruthye on this journey would teach the farmgirl a lesson about revenge, but has Kara herself learned to move on? She's still thinking about Krypton after all. The problem with how this is presented is that it's not a flaw that we get to see evolve with the story. We see Kara act mopey, get an origin story flashback and then Kara tells us this- in hopes it'll recontextualize everything you've read before. By the time we make it to the end, the characters act like they've learned so much and I'm just standing here wishing I got to see all this growth they're talking about.

At the heart of it, I feel like Woman of Tomorrow represents the side of Super-fandom that wants to see the Kryptonians deified by the narrative. They hate seeing Kara do silly girly rom-com teenager things, she needs to be SERIOUS and EDGY and SAD and ALONE but like a god would be and not how a young woman would be that way. How else will boys take her seriously? Don't forget to remind the reader that she's STRONGER than her boy scout wholesome cousin! There's potential in a short revenge story about young girls finding hope in seeing a role-model woman survive loss, but not like this.

"You don't think I could've solved all those problems? C'mon I'm Supergirl." I sure love seeing female characters be badass girl-god legends who don't get to be humanized by being unflatteringly flawed people. Anyway the better Supergirl grief+revenge story is "Supergirl: Being Super". I don't think it's perfect because it misses the crucial difference between Kal and Kara among other things- but as a story about a teenage heroine learning how grief shapes her and those around her, it's way better.

Woman of Tomorrow's art is stellar though lmao would get a copy just as an artbook to reference.

[soft-pine]

im literally so confused when people say that dean learned that his mom was a real complex person. like. he already knew that? he wanted someone to actually take his burdens from him and maybe that's not a fair thing to desire from your mom but i kind of dont get the fandom-wide presumption that amara brought mary back as a kindness, like she was doing it to teach dean a lesson and playing with his life (even if it was for his own good in her mind) and using mary as a gift.

hi anon! yes! i have said a lot more about the mary-specific stuff about this here (maybe you saw that already idk) and others added some great comments as well!

but i think this general kind of pattern comes from allowing characters narrativizations of each other to stand in place of actual analysis by the viewer. some classic examples of that, to me, are e.g. rachel's angry speech in 6.18

RACHEL: I'm his friend. SAM: What, you think we're not? RACHEL: I think you call him when you need something. We're fighting a war. SAM: We get that. RACHEL: Clearly you don't, or you wouldn't call him every time you stub your toe.

the amount of times when i've seen similar claims made by fans about dean in season 6. when, in actually, dean spent most of season six saying he knew cas was busy, asking if he could help cas at all, and when it came down to dean actually asking for help it was asking cas questions about things about which cas had significantly more knowledge or power than dean.

another example is sam's lashing out in 9.13

SAM: I'll give you this much. You are certainly willing to do the sacrificing as long as you're not the one being hurt.

hell of a thing to say to a man who sacrificed his soul to go to hell for you but ok.

another (maybe more controversial) one but one that is very dear to me is cas' claim in 6.21

CASTIEL: Dean, I do everything that you ask. I always come when you call.

it is wild to me when people take this at face value when it's a grotesque (pos) amalgamation of all of cas' desires and intentions with the beating heart of cas' own self delusion and the eerily long arms of manipulation.

anyway, that is all a long way around to saying, i think because the fan perception of dean is that he needs things explained AT him (his feelings, his trauma, his sexuality, his father, etc. etc). so when characters tell him how he is or what he needs, people sometimes just take that as a fact. so in 15.15 when amara tells dean he needed to see his mom as a real person, many people just intake that, nod and carry on. and then, worst case, repeat that pattern in fic and then the mischaracterization spreads....

but almost every time a character tells dean what he must be feeling, they are wrong (2.02 and 2.04 come to mind specifically in addition to the examples listed above). so yeah, amara's reasons for bringing mary back and her reasons for saying it don't come from a deep understanding of dean and who he is and what he needs. they come from her own selfish desires and her speech is coated in layers of manipulation.

but idk i really don't like amara. i think it makes sense that in season 15, when people were grasping for a ending godlike entity that wasn't chuck and that wasn't jack, amara was kinda there.... and her season 11 behavior wasn't as fresh in people's minds. so i think she additionally gets a pass sometimes because people (for some reason?) want a god-creature to kinda step in a solve things. so they want her to be saying true, honest things.

sorry this was a real ramble.

[tookishcombeferre]

Cedric for ask game- 1, 12, 14, 25

1. Why do you like this character? Okay. So, ever since I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, I have been a sucker for a well written redemption arc. However, if I were to get into specifics, I think there's a lot to explore in this character from a literary perspective. He's complicated. Very complicated. His motivations make a lot of sense even if he goes about things in ways that aren't objectively moral. Which, honestly? That is stuff you don't see in children's TV much since Gargoyles or other things from the 90s and early 2000s. He has the backstory and personality of a Shakespearean tragic hero. He reminds me of like if you shoved Macbeth and Hamlet in a blender in the best way possible, and then, somehow, came out with Macduff? IDK how that works, but that's what happened. Secondly, I find him relatable to my literal life. Zuko hit me when I was just a little younger than Zuko's age. I saw Sofia the First, for the first time in earnest, as I approach 30. I am, exactly, the right age to relate to Cedric's personal issues. So, I like him because a lot of the stuff he deals with is the stuff I'm processing in my own life. Aging parents. Trying to repair a difficult relationship with my own dad as we both grow older. Realizing I might not be able to fix everything that's missing there, and trying to walk the line between indifference and cynicism. Check. Trying to form a solid relationship with a/my child and teach them things. (Granted my squish is biological, but still. Check.) Trying to look past my own personal failings to create a better world for my kid and future generations. Check. Trying to look past what people say/ have said about me and others like me to see the intrinsic good in myself despite my nuanced set of identities. Check. Realizing that my kid just existing in my life is what gives me hope to see myself as great. And, maybe, just maybe, that's a lesson I can teach my kid without them having to go through all the crap I've gone through to learn it: we are great because, unmasked, in our fullness, together with others, we are greater than in isolation. So, I like him because it's easy to walk his journey and see some elements of my own life and where I'm at personally. And, you know what? The show does a nice job presenting this struggle. I feel less alone in my own crap when I watch it. I've got a buddy to walk in my adult problems with while my kiddo gets a princess to learn how to be a good person alongside. I LOVE that. It's truly something we both get something out of, which, is, like, SO supremely rare. As a parent, I just cannot express how much I care about that. Bluey might be the only other program I can think of that does "both" as well as Sofia does. Like, I don't know if there are any other fans in this fandom who are parents. But, man ... Cedric hits because *all* of the life stuff he's dealing with is stuff that, like, is so real. Especially the stuff with his parents. Oof. I don't know if any of y'all have had parents age. But, it's a different beast y'all. It makes you think about things, it makes you want to retreat, and it makes you want to fix things - all at the same time. Sorry if that's a lot. But, when we talk about Cedric being an adult, this is what we mean. So, I just kind of fell in love with Cedric's character because in so many ways his story just kept slapping for me from every angle.

[kataraslove]

Do you think Aang is a neglectful father to Bumi and Kya II?

going from just what we are shown in legend of korra through kya and bumi’s perspectives? yes. not intentionally, of course. but it’s important to recognize the amount of hurt that aang caused his children, to the point where tenzin’s idealization of him starts to falter, and he acknowledges that his father isn’t as perfect as he thought he was (or wanted him to be). don’t get me wrong - I think the fandom tends to exaggerate parts of aang’s parenting. like comparing him to ozai? that is the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever seen. but i also see pro meta glossing over kya and bumi’s concerns with him, which isn’t right. there needs to be more nuanced perspectives than “he was as bad as ozai!” or “kya and bumi really were just overexaggerating their grievances with aang. he was a great dad!”

i think here is where it’s important to discuss authorial intent: bryke have said that they had not meant for their writing to come across aang being a bad father who set out to intentionally neglect his children. rather, kya and bumi’s concerns and resentment likely stem from how they perceived his role to the world. legend of korra as a series offers a meta commentary on living up to legacy, the legacy set by the heroes in avatar the last airbender, and the legacy of living up to a critically acclaimed predecessor series. kya and bumi’s concerns also stem due to legacy: the legacy left behind by aang and how the world views their existence in accordance to this legacy - as the non-airbending children to the last airbender. kya and bumi feel that they deserve the right to be part of their father’s legacy (and they do) just as much as tenzin. i don’t think their insistence to be part of avatar aang’s legacy is due to a desire for prestige and fame, as they’ve spent much of their lives shying away from their father’s legacy. i think it’s out of a genuine realization that they are grieving and missing their father and want to celebrate his successes.

in print media, we actually get a different perspective to his parenting. kya and bumi offer good words about their father (mostly). in turf wars (2015), kya shares how he was “nothing but supportive” in relation to her coming out. she offers some interesting lore about same sex relationships among the air nomads, likely quoting something that her father could have directly shared with her. in avatar legends, it is confirmed that aang did teach both kya and bumi about their air nomad heritage, and kya internalized his lessons on philosophy, meditation, and balance:

Although she developed a slight resentment toward Aang for teaching more to Tenzin about his culture,[3] Kya internalized some of her father's lessons on philosophy, meditation, and balance.[6] She developed a stronger connection with Katara, who taught her to develop her waterbending combat and waterbending healing abilities to proficiency.[3][6] - Avatar Wiki

in bumi’s recent comic called the cat owl’s cradle (2022) released in patterns of time, i was surprised to find that bumi held a much more favourable perspective towards his father than before. he thinks about his father’s great smile all the time and tells his nephew that meelo’d smile reminds him of his father’s. he mentions that aang and him used to go fishing (a water tribe practice). he’s understanding of his father’s many duties to the world; why - as the avatar - he often didn’t have infinite time in the world to spend with him. most importantly, through the advice he offers meelo, it is evident that bumi has realized that an absence of airbending couldn’t possibly make his father love him more than he already did - that he is fine the way he is, with or without airbending. in this story, we discover a vast growth in bumi’s self-confidence, as he no longer feels a sense of inadequacy, in his own skills and in his father’s eyes.

to answer your question: if you were to only watch the legend of korra, i can completely see why you’d arrive at the conclusion that aang was a negligent father who deliberately focused on his youngest child over his other non-airbending children. if you factor in print and comic media, it tells the story of a father who was trying his best to balance his responsibilities to the world and his personal life, succeeding in some ways and failing in others. at the end of the day, it seems like kya and bumi’s genuine love for their father overtakes their grievances with him. what’s interesting is that it’s not like an “he’s my father so I’m obligated to love him” type of love. it’s more along the lines of, “yes we have our issues with him but we do believe he loved us wholeheartedly and we want to be included in his legacy.”

now, just because i’ve grasped (after so many attempts) on what bryke was trying to do in korra does not mean that i don’t have my fair share of issues with the way bryke went about writing that storyline. i dislike the fact that they blamed the fandom on the overexaggeration - if all sides of the fandom came out with the take home message that aang was a deadbeat father who gatekept his culture to his literal family, the onus is on your writing, not on the fandom. the balanced perspective years later in the comics is appreciated, but we definitely needed to see this in the show from the get go.

ultimately, if they have an interest in redeeming aang’s arc as a father (which i suspect they might want to do given post-korra material), they need to show us, rather than just tell us, that he wasn’t as bad as how korra makes him out to be. the perfect opportunity for this is in this upcoming adult gaang movie with the birth of baby bumi. we have no details surrounding this adult gaang movie, so i don’t know if bumi will be in it or not. but it is the perfect opportunity, if bryke are interested in going that route.

I will end off by saying that i’d rather have aang as a father than my own any day lmaooo.