#I get disliking a character but if you do so for legit reasons you shouldn’t have to alter them to express that

[cecenyss]

The best OCs fics can stand alone. When canon is nothing more than context for them, and their character has their own, individual story to tell.

This is always made easier in fandoms like the mcu or the arrowverse, which has a series of villains that are introduced and then defeated, usually within a single short show, season, or movie, and much more difficult with fandoms such as my hero academia, which has a singular “big bad” or “evil” organization of some sort that the main characters work together to overcome within the entirety of the franchise. The singular goal shared by all characters makes it more difficult for OCs to branch off and do their own thing with their own separate, personal storyline.

Of course, in something like a wartime setting this is also made easier without the separation of enemies over different installments, because there’s the understanding that this is a universal thing; something affecting millions of people across different countries or areas or wherever this war is taking place.

In stories with wartime settings, it’s also taking place over the course of several years, making it easier for your original character to go off, do their own thing, and then regroup with the main characters for the bit bad fight, usually the opposing force in the aforementioned war.

There’s no real point to me saying this, I just thought it was interesting. Also I just read The Siren by emmagnetised and it’s fantastic. I love OC stories so much and I always think it’s such a shame what a bad reputation they get; the well-written ones are few and far between and it’s a shame, in my opinion.

There’s something about reading an individual’s own story from within a universe you’re already familiar with that’s so spellbinding to me and I love it. Adding new characters and introducing new ideas, altering canon through the eyes of an entirely new person. It’s like reading an entire novel, with all the thrill of getting to know the character it’s about, but you don’t need to trouble yourself with the world or the other characters. Less to keep track of because you already know everybody else and their dynamics; you just need to focus on this person’s.

It’s the same reason I like reading fics which introduce two characters who never got the chance to meet or write out backstories for people who never got their own canon one. Even just novelizing someone’s backstory when you already have most of the disjointed details.

I prefer pre-canon type fics to future ones or fix-it ones, because to me fanfiction is about expanding on the rudimentary details we’re given. World-building in an otherwise unexplored world. Even just tiny details about what it would be like to live in this world is just fascinating to me.

This ended up as a longer ramble than I thought it would. Read more OC fics and write more OC fics I think they’re cool.

(also I am taking OC fic recommendations for the mcu please and thank you)

[elrondhalfelven]

Rocket for the ask game, please!

1. favorite thing about them

how he genuinely is quite sensitive to the needs of his friends - he’s hell when dealing with strangers, and maybe isn’t the best at reading the room, but he DOES care. he’ll be kicking and screaming about it and denying it but if something is not right he’s not one to sit by and ignore the problem

2. least favorite thing about them

it probably ties into the first thing in that just cause he recognises a problem it doesn’t mean he knows the right way to go about fixing it. try telling him that though. i’ve noticed a lot over the years (and obviously different writers too so this is all subjective) that rocket’s version of arguing back tends to hinge on being louder than the other person and getting the last word. he needs to learn to shut the fuck up sometimes (affectionate). (wouldn’t be him if he wasn’t like this though! it shouldn’t change!)

that being said, kind of a tangent, I dislike it when some writers choose rocket arguing back as just him being an asshole. i haven’t played the telltale game in a long time, but i seem to remember their rocket falling into this trap. sometimes he would be contrary just cause…. the writers called for it i guess? so he came across as a dick for no reason. eidos rocket meanwhile was kind of a dick but always a dick who was trying to make a point and had legitimate quibbles. for his two page appearance in star-lord grounded rocket also blew up at peter - but had objectively good reasons to! and was willing to listen when pete met him on his level.

so long story short - he’ll snark back, might blow his top a bit but in his mind he always has his reasons and when you look at them they’re mostly legit from his perspective.

a lot of writers unfortunately just make him angry for no reason and it’s really, really, REALLY annoying /rantover

3. favorite line

rocket probably makes me laugh the most out of any character he has so many ridiculous lines there’s too many to count. “that’s how we do things in the raccooniverse”lmfao. that being said I’ve always liked the dialogue between him and Pete at the end of vol. 2. Rocket’s hardly an optimist but it kind of ties into my answer for 1. He knows Peter is beating himself up and when Peter tentatively reaches out, Rocket knows what he needs to hear. Hell, Rocket himself probably also needs to tell himself but they did good!

Peter: This guarding the galaxy thing sure comes at a price.

Rocket: You knew that when you put this team together, Pete.

Peter: Yeah… but Adam? Phyla? The cosmos will be a poorer place without them.

Rocket: What about Mantis? The Major? Gamora? God help me, even that damn dog. We thought they were dead. Life and death. The trick is to keep the books balanced.

4. brOTP

groot obviously. Pete.

5. OTP

none

6. nOTP

none

7. random headcanon

he and gamora are actually closer than you’d suspect - he quite often will help her deal with her implants if they’re becoming painful, or even take out ones she doesn’t need anymore. raccoons having weirdly small human hands comes in handy (ha!) for that. she’s surprised at first - he’s more capable of serious conversation than she initially thought - they have way more in common than both of them originally thought. he knows all too well how painful it is when your implants start bugging out, but he didn’t expect one of the most famous assassins in the universe, who should by all means have the best, to be almost as cobbled together as him.

it’s sad, though neither would admit that, but it makes the two of them feel less alone.

8. unpopular opinion

i feel like a lot of this is just wider MCU fandomy stuff that i’m not part of but, like i said, generally rocket ISN’T just an asshole for no reason.

9. song I associate with him

Mr Roboto by Styx

10. favorite picture of them

I wish i had a screencap of that selfie that he took of him and the team that’s in pete’s room in the eidos gotg game because it’s too cute. that one.

[me-and-jake]

“The Cullens aren’t racist! They just hate werewolves. That’s why they call them DOGS.”

But why?

The reason why I can’t get behind the Cullens is because they literally have NO reason to hate the pack. First of all, the Cullens treaded on THEIR land, when hey could’ve simply went ANYWHEREEEE else. These mfs can live under water if they wanted to. Forks is not the only wet and green place in America, and especially in the world. Secondly, the pack literally does not affect them in any way, as opposed to the Cullens, who’s presence affects the entire tribe, especially the ones with the wolf gene. Thirdly, they’re not even fucking werewolves, so you’re argument is invalid from the start.

If not racist intent, what the hell was Stephanie Meyer trying to do? Like has anyone ever asked this woman, face to face, what THE HELL was she thinking about putting this dynamic into her series? By putting in a REAL—not fake—tribe in her book series, changed their history and stories, and made them into werewolves. And THEN added these white ass vampires and created this “rivalry” and forced this treaty. OH but surprise surprise, they’re not even fucking werewolves! SO WHAT WAS THE POINTTTTT.

I am legit upset by the incompetence of her writing. She writes it as if we should dislike Jacob and the pack by writing them as dangerous, aggressive, etc, but then turns around and says, “No no, you shouldn’t hate them. Jacob is actually one of my favorite characters.” THIS WOMAN IS INSANE.

[hayleysayshay]

Kuvira fans must understand that "Kuvira is not correct, and her portrayal as a fascist leader isn’t unrealistic or exaggerated, i’m sorry if people can’t imagine a dictator offering good things and bad things at the same time". like people can like Kuvira all they want, she an interesting character but stop using the excuse that she had gOod InTeNtIoNs, fascism is fascism no matter what the reason for becoming one. Kuvira took advantage of the problems of EK to gain power and control EK at will. she committed a massacre with her robot destroying almost the entire city. (Kuvira only gave up and apologized because Korra stopped her and had no other choice, Kuvira told korra her sad story so that Korra would feel sorry for her).

CONTENT WARNING: This does contain a discussion about concentration camps, Nazis and war crimes. I only use this to explain my position and argue against arguments I have seen.

I think to a certain extent people just like Kuvira and want to defend her because they find her interesting. And I do try and not moralise on people’s choices and characters.

What I do find annoying is the dismissal of legit fair comparisons between fascism and Kuvira’s regime. It’s fair to call Kuvira’s regime fascistic.

I find most of the discourse is around Kuvira’s re-education camps, and whether or not it’s fair to label them concentration camps and say this is inherently fascistic.

People really twist themselves into knots to stop people labelling Kuvira’s actions as fascistic, and this is what I’ve had the greatest annoyance with. I have seen the most discourse with regards to Kuvira’s re-education camps and the use of the term concentration camps. I have written a reply once, but I did delete it as engaging in a discussion directly can perhaps be more pain than it’s worth.

I have seen someone say that it’s not right to call Kuvira’s regime as fascistic as concentration camps are linked to the N@zi regime, and I’ve seen someone else say, and this is of course paraphrasing, ‘they’re similar to camps that America has used so Kuvira can’t be bad’ like...., you think this is a defence for Kuvira and not an indictment of the USA? It isn’t really an argument that Kuvira isn’t bad.

The problem with some of the arguments is that it’s bad history. The concentration camp system in N@zi Germany was never only specific to that period of history. Concentration camps are not specific to one regime. They were started by the British in the Boer war, used by the Americans against Japanese Americans, and are used to describe the Uighur camps in China. There is no universally agreed definition of when a prison becomes a concentration camp, and if there is any difference between a concentration/internment/re-education camp, and what exactly these definitions are.

So no, concentration camps are not unique to fascist regimes, but it is fair to call what we hear of in the legend of korra concentration camps, in all definitions of the term. We can discuss whether or not it’s appropriate to throw out that term ‘concentration camp’ a potentially triggering and highly emotive term in a discussion about a fictional character in fandom spaces, but I don’t think that means the person originally using the term is using the term incorrectly. Kuvira uses these camps to punish people who are bandits (not inherently fascistic), threatens to send people who disagree with her to one (Bolin) so she uses them against political opponents, and then is said by a character that she’s putting bending minorities in them. By all definitions, this is mass internment, these are concentration camps. These camps are used in fascistic regimes. If the shoe fits...

(I do dislike people calling Kuvira a N@zi, that is an ideology that is tied to one specific regime that Kuvira does not have, fascist is a broader term and can be used in different contexts other than N@zi Germany).

No, we don’t know Kuvira’s exact ideology. It is vague. This is a kids show with a million other things happening. We don’t know exactly why or how she motivated herself to do the things she did. Maybe Kuvira did really intend to give up power after consolidating the Earth Empire’s rule including the United Republic. She literally says she thinks she’s better than Wu at the coronation but who knows, but maybe she just hated the monarchy. But this fan speculation. This is not canon.

What is canon:

- Kuvira named her regime the Earth Empire. Pretty imperialistic.

- Kuvira’s goals are achieved primarily through the use of an army. Pretty militaristic.

- Kuvira used her army to conquer states, even states that were unwilling (the state she conquers in the first episode) or completely stable and didn’t need any help to begin with (Zaofu).

- Kuvira expresses an interest and then attempts to conquer the United Republic, a nation state that has been independent for decades, because it was formerly of the Earth Kingdom.

- Kuvira uses a wide range of re-education camps to intern and punish prisoners who commit crimes, oppose her policies, or are bending minorities.

- The Earth Empire uses green, clean uniforms that evoke N@zi uniforms. There is a railway gun clearly inspired by a N@zi railway gun. The creators are intentionally using fascistic imagery to evoke certain feelings.

Kuvira may just be a ‘generic military dictator’ and she might not be truly ‘fascist’ but it’s not incorrect for any viewer to look at the canon events above and conclude she is a fascist. But the main argument against these is either some weird twisting of real history (by dragging in the definitions of concentration camps and fascism) or just saying ‘she had good intentions so can’t be a fascist.’ These arguments never prove anything, they usually just use specific events from history and pretend that these events correlate to general uses of these terms.

Now, if someone really likes Kuvira and wants to redeem her, then fine, I understand, I just wish they would acknowledge that the fascistic points of contention are not inaccurate, and a completely fair reading of the legend of Korra, and saying that ‘she had good intentions’ doesn’t change anything for anyone. I don’t care about her intentions in the past, I’m looking at her actions in the show. I do believe that Kuvira probably did have good intentions setting off. She probably doesn’t consider herself as a bad guy. But it’s fine for people to dislike Kuvira and consider her a fascist. They are not wrong.

I think it’s fine for people to want to redeem this fictional character. People can find characters darker motivations interesting and engaging. This isn’t the same as redeeming real life people who commit war crimes. It’s an interesting story. If the person writing this post or fic does not consider Kuvira a fascist than fine, but that is not anymore canon that Kuvira being a fascist and does not invalidate.

But ‘she isn’t a fascist because she had good intentions’ is just shallow and unconvincing and missing the point. And then falling back onto historical arguments does not prove that Kuvira is not a fascist either. Kuvira’s actions do not exist in a vacuum, they are inspired and pulled from history, and history is also not so exact and precise that it means that Kuvira cannot be labelled as a fascist.

I think I’m approaching this at a slightly different angle from you but I broadly agree- I don’t necessarily think people have to think Kuvira is a fascist, but they shouldn’t get into over long discussions of what is and what isn’t fascism to defend themselves. They’re seeking to define terms that have always been used in circumstances other than WWII. Please just own what you like.

[intothewickedwood]

Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 6x19 The Black Fairy

Peter Pan! So weird to think they were married but I mean they’re both kinda obsessed with collecting children that aren’t their son which is a weird coincidence.

Aww baby Rumple!

Malcolm looks so happy to have a baby. It seems it was the loss of Fiona that made him resent Rumple. Perhaps he could have been a father with her support but he just couldn’t handle being a single father. 

I wish we got to know more about fairy lore

Rumple was born in winter. He’s totally a Capricorn!

Aren’t Saviors meant to save realms from dark curses? But the dark curse wasn’t created yet. Maybe they retconned it and they’re just meant to save people.

That dragon egg is awfully convenient. What happened to the characters going on quests to find things like this? It’s too easy to wake Blue up.

Snow straight up strangling the Blue Fairy. I know it’s not her but I think Snow deserves that opportunity. 

Quick thinking Rumple with that cuff! 

Why does Emma have to have sleepy time too?

Is the shack Rumple was born in the same place he and Milah lived in? Probably not.

Yep. Really shouldn’t have given her that book of prophecies. What did they expect? Fiona to be overjoyed her son would die at the hands of a great evil?

Wait. It’s not possible for someone to turn themselves into a fairy? There must be something about Fiona. There’s something about that family, I swear. It seems they were all destined for great power and great evil.

Regina teaching Zelena to drive is the best thing ever but she totally could have escaped with Henry on her broom if things went wrong. If people in New York saw her and Henry flying high defying gravity they’d just think it was promo for Broadway’s Wicked.

Lmao! Omg Zelena! This scene is glorious!

Oh yeah, baby Robin could fit on the broom too. They’d make it work!

Regina: “I trust him to raise you.” Lol. So true but now I need all the fics with Henry raising his little cousin and Auntie in New York. 

The Black Fairy is so freaking creepy singing a lullaby to Blue.

The hatred emanating from the Black Fairy for Blue gives me shivers. 

And then she’s like “I’m so happy we get a chance to play,” and sits down like a child. Chills, I tell you! Like, Blue has completely destroyed who she used to be.

What was she going to do to the child if she’d found one with the crescent mark? 

Aww. Rumple breaking down and saying “I would do anything for you, son.” This man freaking loves his children. 

How did they end up in Rumple’s dream when Gideon was the first to be sprinkled with the night night sand?

Hook: “How do we know you are actually you.” Regina: “Because it’s me!” Sounds legit.

Aww, Hook just called Regina “love”. Are they getting along again, now? I saw a meta the other day that noted how Regina only started to dislike Hook when he got serious with Emma and I’m pretty sure that’s true. Interesting!

I wanted to see a proper witch fight dammit! For a show with so many sorcerers, we deserved more magical duels.

But omg Zelena suddenly running the Black Fairy over and her flipping over the car is the best thing in existence! 

Aww the sisters’ little smiles to each other. 

The sacred vault of the fairies? Are they, like, religious? 

This poor woman. I feel so sorry for her. She’s just desperately and feverishly trying to protect her baby. What did they expect from her? Most mothers would go to those lengths if they were told their child would suffer such a horrible fate. That would bring anyone to the end of their tether.

Omg wtf. “He’s destined to die so that other children may live.” That is a beyond cruel thing to say to the face of a mother. What the hell? Omg the pain on Fiona’s face. No child should be sacrificed for another. How heartless of the fairies.

So did Emma replace Rumple as the EF’s Savior or can their be multiple Saviors? 

Agggh this is so horrific. Poor Fiona finding out she is destined to kill her own child. She’s devastated. 

Oh, did she get the crescent scar when she was disarmed? 

Oh cool, the Black Fairy can project memories! That’s quite a unique power.

Blue could have saved a lot of people by remotely teleporting their hearts into her hands from the EQ’s or Cora’s and yet she didn’t.

She has a point. Even if she severed her destiny so she wouldn’t be the one to kill him, he could still be in danger from some other threat.

Blue, what the hell! Summoning a portal was absolutely uncalled for. What because she dared to upset you as you were so desperate for him to become the Savior for some reason? Probably part of her long-game evil plan. So what if he didn’t become a Savior?! Blue’s going on like that was the worst crime. She was just trying to protect him and you separated a doting mother who was no longer a danger to him from her child! You had no right! She is so self-righteous, I swear to god. It’s nothing to do with her. Who does she think she is?! Blue has ruined so many lives and gotten away with it because she believes she’s all high and mighty. She’s just as much of a villain as any other on this show. It makes me so mad. Poor Fiona. No wonder she hates Blue. 

Fiona: “I promise you son, I will spend every moment of every day trying to find my way back to you!”

I think she let Rumple hate her because it was too painful and she didn’t think she deserved his love. 

There are a lot of parallels between Rumple and his mother’s stories. They are much alike. 

Malcolm genuinely loved Fiona. He said she was the love of his life. Gosh I needed backstory with those two! After her he felt the only way he could be happy again was to return to childhood and Neverland so he didn’t have to think about Fiona. It was too painful. Easier to pretend he’d never loved. 

Malcolm must have lied to Rumple and told him his mother had abandoned him.

The fairies imply Fiona is dead to cover their own asses. They won’t say they banished her because they damn well know he’d fight them to get the love of his life back.

Lol. Sorry but calling your child Rumplestiltskin just to spite him is hilarious. What does it mean? Oh! It means “Little Rattle Stilt.” I mean it could have been worse it could have been “Little Sh*thead.” 

Also the Fairies hearing him blame the baby for his wife’s death should have rung alarm bells. They should have put him in a home where he’d be loved and cared for. Nope, just leave him with this guy who hates him.

Eww. They put a heart on the dinner table.

Giddy Up’s got his heart back! Yehaaaw!

“A seafaring man does not take superstitions likely.” So he is superstitious! He allowed a woman on his ship for years so maybe superstitions are different in the EF.

Oh my God, next week’s the musical episode!!!! I can’t wait!!!!

[thinking-outside-the-giftbox18]

Tablet Doodles of the Week - YBG OC Jennifer [I am so sorry...]

Warning to Minors, do not interact as this is a +18 topic... AND I AM SERIOUS.

*sighs* I’m going to be honest with you. Some recent things have happened that I have to tell.

When it comes to entering a fandom, I have set a few rules for myself based on my own experience. This includes having a favorite character or a character that caught my attention:

1 - This character shouldn’t be problematic, even if they are a murderer.

2 - The creator should be trusted as this would reflect on the character you like.

3 - I should like the character because my preference is questionable, I can like a popular or an unpopular character.

4, which is a bonus point/saving grace - Less drama and no one innocent should be hurt, as ALL FANDOMS HAVE DRAMA, but it’s the worst fandom when someone gets hurt (Undertale, FNAF, VOLTRON: LD, etc.) 

One rule broken would make me lose interest slowly, but if all rules get broken, the ideas I made for the fandom are forgotten and make me move to the next one or go back to the previous fandom.

So, two fandoms made me slowly lose interest - Balan Wonderworld and Your Boyfriend Game. I still make A Hat In Time content because I don’t the motivation to draw anything based on these fandoms mentioned.

Why? 

⬇️

((Warning - TW// Mentions of harassment, lesbophobia, grooming))

Balan Wonderworld - I had my first Anti-BaLance comment after months of not making any BWW-related content [due to college and the on-going dramas where someone gets harassed or there is a discourse about something that happens in the novel and in the game] and the reply was in the reblog of my Happy Balan Day fanart [which was wholesome and I have also made a DNI for any Anti-BaLance Shippers in that art when I’ve heard many horror stories of harassment and bullying from fellow BaLance shippers].

It was also the first time I had to block some blogs that aren’t Tumblr bots.

Your Boyfriend Game - WHERE TO EVEN BEGIN??? My dislike for the Yandere trope but I still stayed for the story. The rumors about the creator grooming minors, I’ve tried to find out if it’s true and wanted to justify them as rumors as the creator herself says that the game is strictly not for minors, I STILL DON’T KNOW WHAT THE HECK’S GOING ON. The drama of how the game was supporting unhealthy relationships [I don’t have a problem with people liking this game, just those who are bullying others for liking it] and the creator being related to R*born*ca [WHAT??????? HOW IS THIS RELATED TO THE GAME IN QUESTION????] So...Final nail in the coffin? Peter [IDK anymore that YB hates his real name, I’m getting tired and pissed] being LESBOPHOBIC IN A TUMBLR ASK BLOG.

An odd final reason but I’m done with this fandom, I’ll be liking the stories and fanarts on my dashboard but honestly, Urgh! 

I hate being confrontational and bring this into light because I am a coward who is afraid of conflicts in real life, but if I am drawing BWW or YGB once a week, that means I have better things to do than to have anxiety and panic over my safety and my content that I pour my heart and soul on 👏 EVERY 👏 DAMN 👏 DAY!!👏 

I don’t need drama when I live in a Disney channel show or a Tamil soap opera!

Pardon my outburst, I want to bring this here and it has been a rough day with feeling sick and all.

Despite my characters not being real, I legit feel sorry for them for having to deal with this, especially Jennifer who I plan to ship with Peter but now she deserves better...

As for Balan and Lance, they’ll be fine, Giftbox is sure about that.

That’s all the doodles I’ve done for this week.

-Giftbox Mod

[fiore-rosewood9]

♫FrUk :D

Thank you for the ask, I will send a few songs that remind me of fruk, a whole playlist if you may, not only one song. I also touch a few of triggering topics as I explain the nations's personalities and relationships with one another so I apologize in advance if I upset/trigger someone and will put my trigger here - Warning - mentions of abuse, alcoholism, s*exual trauma. Under the explanation there is a playlist of songs that make me think of Ukfr/Fruk, so if anyone gets upset you can feel free to skip my general headcanons about fruk/ukfr relationship dynamics. There are too many songs that make me think of different characters or ships but I collected the ones that make me think the most of them.

I know the original song is by Lady gaga but this version is too sweet and cheesy for me so I chose the rock cover by the group Halestorm since I prefer it, it sounds more genuine and rough and kinda makes me think of the dynamic that ukfr/fruk has, that some people present is as just the enemies to lovers trope or them just fighting which is.....simply unhealthy????? Fruk is much more than that and I wish people would stop seeing it as a two dimensional thing, yeah they do argue on a lot of things and it is not the healthiest dynamic however it does work in my mind because they stick through thin and thick and that requires effort and true love since a lot of people nowdays do not take time to know the other person, they just jump into marriage and have a few divorces and just argue over everything and then separate, fruk is an off and on thing where they break and make. This kind of dedication is hard to find in today's couples. I know they're fictional characters and no one really cares but I practice my psychology skills and my knowledge of people around me, and I sometimes see people with similar or almost the same characters as fictional characters, they may not have all of their hobbies but they do act the same way. And certain pairs, no offence, just make me want to gag my self due to history with bad and toxic fans but if I look at it subjectivly and never encountered mean fans from a certain ship, I would say that they ship simply doesn't work. No ship bashing but as far as I know, people with this kind of personality from this ship that I dislike, and get upset when seeing fan art of, simply just do not get along and had a hard time divorcing, it is not only unhealthy and unbalanced, it is downright abusive because both partners seek control and to have the upper hand and this is not...what romance is about???? It is about two people taking care of each other, understanding personal space and boundaries, lifting each other up and yeah, they will argue a lot, sometimes for small things, sometimes for bigger things, but generally the point of romantic relationships is not someone using you, or abusing you financially and generally being better or bigger than you. This breeds insecurity and jealousy in the other partner and makes them feel inadequate. Usually such problems are not talked over and one of the partners acts passive agressive which is what ultimaltly leads to said divorce. So yeah, people can go away with their (BUT IT IS CUTE, IT IS SO FUCKING CUTE) pairing because real life pairings and how humans communicate and develop friendships and relationships isn't based on what your mind conciders and doesn't concider cute and there are lots of factors on whether relationship will ever happen like common interests, type personality, etc and just block me so I will never hear from them and their childish mindset ever again, which is why I blocked certain tumbrl fan art hetalia accounts who produce art of a pairing I (dislike) lowkey hate, for historical reasons, for manga reasons, for toxic fans who bullied me and made me go on 3 hiatuses reason and ultimatly in real life experience and psychology and how humans and the human mind works and what is healthy and unhealthy reason. Why should I support something where certain people have been hateful towards me and these same people that act like these characters and I know in my life are on bad terms in real life? Why shouldn't I just move on to something more realistic and more healthy, that I have seen that works with humans I know first hand? I am not a clinical psychologist and I have no power or saying in this but I had to write thesis and read books by psycholgists and analyze them in high school and my first year of Uni, in order to pass the year and I have also read reccomended books by a psychologist I went to because I wanted an advice on how to deal with my anxiety and talking to people, because my condition is extremely severe but I honestly feel stuck and try to improve but also feel confused, I sometimes feel like I am not doing enough to

self improve as a human. I sometimes come off as too cold or overly bitter and angry without intending to, and it sucks.

Francis is a really manipulative person and Matthew picked up that from him while part of Alfred's agression doesn't only come from confidence in his own abilities but the fact that England him self is an overly agressive person and is very dominant or at least used to be for a very long time, now he is more mild to keep his gentleman persona but he does suffer from severe anger issues which he hides while Alfred is prone to breaking things and screaming, Arthur is more prone to being rude, sarcastic and generally mean before he loses it. Matthew and Francis do not engage in fight if they can avoid it which is why sometimes people call them cowardly I think? And Matthew is a bit prone to being a codependent people pleaser as far as I see and he seems to have severe anxiety issues. Francis albeit charismatic and beautiful, is deep down in his core lonely.

I think that part of his pervertedness, shocking people with his s*xual humour and all of this sex obsession comes from trauma in his childhood and dressing like a girl. I wouldn't explain what the trauma in question was since it is not canon but I do headcanon that he had s*xual trauma and it is partly why Hungary dressed like a guy. I don't know if this is legit, it is bias from reading too much japanese fan comics relating to hetalia or just general history of humans and how they treated consent and what is moral today, wasn't amoral or against the law a few centuries ago, but I have seen artists touch on it. I think both Arthur and Francis suffer from neglect and they weren't particularly good fathers, in fact no country is, the whole FACE family is dysfunctional and while I love all of them, I kinda pity them. I think Rome was a bit discriminatory mostly towards France and never towards his other children while Arthur had to constantly prove him self and was bullied by his brothers. While other nations have suffered from trauma too (I headcanon that Prussia was burnt on stake and people threw rocks at him due to his albinism and being left handed) something similar happened to Arthur, who I headcanon that he was burnt for being a witch and Francis went a few times through the guillotine, or Arthur still having a bullet scar on his arm from the American revolution or Francis having nightmares from that day where Jeanne was burnt and waking up in his own sweat. Arthur also must suffer from workholism and alcoholism, judging by how much he works and goes to pubs to drink. Everyone chooses their own poison and how to cope with life and many use unhealthy coping mechanisms, hell, even I used unhealthy coping mechanisms a lot in the past and I am not proud of them, in fact, I try to improve.

I can talk about their history and how it relates to their mental health and what scars they have for hours but I would bore you. You came for a song and I am probably boring you so I apologize for writting a lot of words, in advance. I basically think that fruk/ukfr is the ultimate ship for many reasons because they click, I do ship spuk/engita/asakiku and many other things but fruk/ukfr is kinda like butter and bread, it is a great combination. I never said it is 100 percent healthy, however their relationship makes psychological sense and their personalities click. I know people like to present arthur as this dumb tsundere man that blushes and says baka, or he is this garbage rat dad that no one likes or francis is presented or at least used to be this perverted sex machine that touched other countries inappropriatly or at least the 2012-2015 fans saw him this way and while he still has the reputation of a pervert, what many young people in the fandom see as disgusting, I just see as an overly lonely man that just happens to have high libido and copes with it by having casual sex and just has a sex humour, the same way some people have fart jokes humour or darker, more cursed humour, I am really glad that fans mostly left off this whole - Francis is a r**ist and will grope you, in the past, because honestly r**e is not joke and as a character he clearly understands consent and boundaries and I don't think someone like him would do such a thing. Also Greece and Turkey have even higher libido than him and sleep around more, yet he is the ''pervert'', I don't get it??????????? but fruk is just so much more than opposites attract, they have a lot in common so I can't say they're full opposites, no one is truly. I have heard people ask why does anyone ship fruk when it is just opposites attract/enemies to lovers trope and I am honestly confused, because that is extremely rough generalization to say the least, it is like saying - All men/women are the same, it is simply wrong/uncorrect. I think they ''married'' five times - The Treaty of Paris (1657) formed an alliance against Spain. The Anglo-French Alliance (1716–31) formed another alliance against Spain. The Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata (1845-1850). The Anglo-French joint invasion of Qing Dynasty (1856–1860). And the last one which is their official marriage The Entente Cordiale (1904) fought together in both World Wars. As far as I remember Francis tried to marry Arthur but he refused and why he refused is up for subjective opinion but I must write a whole thesis on why Fruk/ukfr works so well and people are not here for that, they're here for the music and I will provide. I also always saw Francis as the more gentle and more submissive partner, I just love to see him drawn in frilly beautiful dresses with bows and stuff and Arthur as the more dominant, I mean as a country he was a powerhouse during the 1600s-1800s and used to be a punkrocker, usually rockers are mentally tough and that man is extremely cunning and witty so...people drawing him as this useless baka uwu overly feminine anorexic boy that looks more like a tween rather than a 23 year old guy just assasinated his character in my opinion and it disturbs me but I am just some awkward human on the internet and no one values my opinion anyway because this is the internet and many people nowdays love to have hot takes and try to gain followers through clickbait stuff which sometimes goes out of control and everything just seems more fake and shallow to me, the more old I get.Okay that was my silly rant no one asked about but I feel really passionate about hetalia and Fruk/Ukfr. Anyway, I apologize again for my long rant and going all over the place, please enjoy this playlist

PLAYLIST WITH SONGS THAT REMIND ME OF FRUK/UKFR

1 - Halestorm - Bad romance - rock cover https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll4NJs3NBIU

2 - Queen - Somebody to love - lyrics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj69iA_goIk

3 - ABBA - Voulez vous - (I know everyone chooses Waterloo and while waterloo is a fruk theme, I think Voulez vous works too) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwcgMVXuBJc

4 - London beat - I've been thinking about you - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixBryyQSrD8

5 - Santana - Smooth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Whgn_iE5uc

6 - George Michael - Careless whisper - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGwDsrQ1eQ

7 - Robbie Williams - Feel - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy4mXZN1Zzk

8 - Michael Buble - Feeling good - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edwsf-8F3sI

9 - Edith Piaf - La vie en rose - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFzViYkZAz4

10 - Chopin - Marriage d'amour (Spring waltz) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFJ7kDva7JE

11 - Vanessa Carlton - A thousand miles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERw2LuU6Jj8

[princess-butters]

Just a celebrity [knj X reader]

A/n: Hi, I know it’s been a while since my last post, I legit have no excuse except that it’s procrastination and that I had no ideas to go by, I still don’t, but I’m trying my best to write as much as I can now. I have a fanfic in the works that I have coming up and it’s hard to write each chapter without it being mostly filler and actually relevant to the story, you know? It’s actually something that’s been in the works for almost 4. Fucking. Years. and I’m just now writing most of the chapters I have planned. It’s somewhat of a short story too which I’m glad because I was really worried it would be too long and dragged out with said filler but what I do have is a character introduction to the characters. It’s not all of them but it’s at least something to begin the story so once it’s done, I can post it and show you guys what I’m working on. But anyways I’m getting sidetracked. This was originally supposed to be for an imagine but it became too long and I decided it should be its own story so enjoy.

Warnings: [TW // Mentions of forced strict diet, and starvation, Namjoon really wants to eat but can’t because of his company, description of being underweight. Fluff with bits of angst. Y/n is a cynical bitch to Namjoon in the beginning but warms up to him at the end of their first encounter. It’s a fluffy relationship at the end. If I’m missing any TW, please let me know.]

Word count: 1.8k

Your first interaction with Namjoon was during his concerts in Korea since you were studying abroad and your friend, whom you’ve met online and was the sole reason why you wanted to move here, told you about a K-pop group that had debuted a while ago and it’s safe to say that you...didn’t care too much for their music and you only went to their concert to support your friend who was quickly becoming a big fan of them. It’s a unique story, really, it’s not your simple story of a fangirl who goes to some concert and one of the members sees them in the audience and brings them backstage. No, this was completely different. You never had the desire about fantasizing idols when you were younger, now that’s not to say that you didn’t enjoy music because you did, hell, you even own band merch that you still proudly wear but you never found them to be attractive like most fans would and always saw them just as artists.

While Namjoon did spot you and your friend in the crowd, he didn’t tell some security guard so you could exchange phone numbers – it was by complete accident and fate one day when you were walking home from the grocery store to pick up some food for you and your friend until you heard someone bolting towards you, running away from something that seemed serious. Annoyed and a bit taken back by his actions at first, you glance behind you not expecting much but what you didn’t expect was the amount of crazed fangirls heading your way. Gasping as you saw the hurdle of fans, your feet were stuck planted on the ground, standing there frozen with fear as the young, violent fans inched closer and closer, pushing each other around like a bunch of wild animals, until you felt the warmth of someone’s hand, presumably the same guy from earlier.

“Come on, don’t just stand there like a crazy person! I know a place where we can get rid of them!” He sounded young, about your age, the young musician took your hand in his and dragged you with him.

And that’s how you became stuck with each other behind some gritty, old building, trash bins and garbage all over the bleak scenery, you and the young musician huddled up together in-between two dumpsters as the loud and obnoxious cheers of fans faded out into the air. Both sighing with relief, you look up at him unimpressed.

“I guess this is your everyday lifestyle?” You question the young star and he lets out a heavy sigh, still trying to catch his breath from running so fast. It probably didn’t help matters that he was also dragging you along with him.

“You haven’t seen the worst of it. I usually find these girls in my room.” He tells you nonchalantly, like he’s used to it at this point.

“Shouldn’t that be considered trespassing?”

“Yeah but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m a big star around here and what these girls want, they’ll sure as hell get it.”

“Wow. And here I thought you were just another puppet for the music industry.” You reply back with a snarky undertone, lifting yourself up from the ground and wiping any muck and dirt left on your clothes. The young musician didn’t take your words kindly and narrowed his eyebrows together.

“Hey listen, it’s not as easy as you may think. Just be thankful you’re still alive because if they had caught you, you would’ve been roadkill by now.” He commented as if it was a statement of fact.

“I barely know you!” You argued, lifting your arms up to emphasize your point.

“Doesn’t matter to them. They see some girl out with a popular celebrity, they become lions and you’re their prey.”

You roll at his comment, thinking he’s just over-exaggerating. “Well thank you for the joyride, but I really should get back to my apartment.”

“What did you get?” He asks curiously as he stares at your bag full of food, he sounded like a kid who saw a bag full of candy on Halloween.

“Black bean noodles with rice on the side.” You explain to him simply, going over to make sure you got exactly what you needed and it didn’t fall out while you were running.

The man rests his hand against his stomach, it begins rumbling with hunger as he heard those three words. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday because of the intense and strict schedule his company has forced him to go through and he would be lying right now if he said he wasn’t hungry. “Black bean noodles? That sounds really good! That’s one of my favorite dishes, I haven’t had something like that in a while.”

You cross your arms, thinking it was his way of attempting to relate to you on some level. “Oh please, you’re a star! I bet you eat everything that’s handed to you.” You didn’t mean for it to come out so cold and bitter but you couldn’t help yourself, this was some celebrity and you’ve had a dislike for them because a lot of them are just stuck-up snobs who bully everyone lower class than them. The man gives you a look that even you couldn’t figure out, almost like he was envisioning the different foods he wished he could eat but couldn’t.

“I wish it were that simple. My company would kill me if they saw me eating anything like that, I’m forced to be on a strict diet and I’m barely allowed to eat a granola bar let alone noodles.”

Shocked by his explanation, you lower down your arms and began feeling bad for making such assumptions. You alternate looking between him and the food, clearly the thought of him starving had profusely disturbed you and you couldn’t help but send an expression of empathy and sadness to the lone musician. When you decided to speak up once more, your voice went up an octave, softly responding back in a more friendly manner, it was your discreet way of apologizing to the poor guy for being so harsh. “Really? I’ve never got it before. My friend likes them and practically begged me to get it for her.”

“Your friend has good taste. I guess I better get going, the fans have died down and it’s probably safe for me to leave. It was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah.” You mindlessly say as you watch him turn around before you could say anything else but when he rounds the corner, you quickly find your voice once again and call out to him, hoping he hasn’t left just yet. “Hey! If you want to, why don’t you come over and have dinner?”

He emerges from the side and leans against the bricks walls, hands in his pockets like he’s trying to protect himself from the freezing cold. “I can’t. Mostly because we don’t know each other and my company would kill me if I ate something that wasn’t on their list which is not many, to be honest.”

You slowly walk up towards him and look at him directly, taking a minute to look at his features. Poor thing looked like he was starving himself, even though you’ve never liked idols and found them all to be the same mindless puppets, it can’t be said for this guy. His cheek bones were hollowed, he’s skinny but to an unhealthy standard, and his eyes were baggy and darkened around the sockets, almost sunken in. You couldn’t tell if it was from a lack of sleep, starvation, or both. You hesitate for a moment before placing your mitten hand on top of his exposed hand. “But you’re starving. I can’t let you walk away and not have something.”

“I really can’t.”

“Please? I really don’t want to leave you in this state and the food I have isn’t that bad for you.”

After realizing that you’re not gonna give up on this and that you really were serious, he took a second to think it over. The thought really was enticing and he would be lying to himself once more if he said he wasn’t interested and desperate to eat anything, even if it came from a complete stranger, and he knew the food was legit because well, he can see it very clearly. “Well...alright.”

Once you heard his confirmation, you show a small smile and nodded with him. “Then it’s settled! Off to my house we go!” You latch onto his arm and begin walking home with him when another thought came to mind and halted in your steps. “Oh yeah, you’d better wear your disguise or we’re gonna be running from your psycho fans. I didn’t even catch your name.”

A chuckle came out of him as he placed his cap snug on his head and his mask covering half of his face, the only thing visible were his eyes, everything else made him seem like he was invincible to the public eye. “My name’s Namjoon.”

“So you’re that Namjoon guy my friend always talks about! Oh boy, this is gonna be fun.” You smirk to yourself as you two resume walking, the thought of your friend acting like a complete psycho in front of her bias entertained you.

Once you and Namjoon arrived at your place, your first instinct when you walked through the front door was give an explanation to your friend about why you were late and how worried she was. When you told her what had happened and showed her evidence to prove your case, her reaction was a lot more different than how she usually is. Throughout the evening, you and Namjoon got along fairly well—with the exception of your friend asking him benign questions about his career as an idol and if the other members are exactly the same in real life—you would frequently apologize for her erratic behavior as it worried you it would make the idol uncomfortable but he says it’s nothing compared to what he always hears from fangirls.

You and Namjoon surprisingly hit it off at the end of the night and you exchanged phone numbers when he was about to leave and promised each other you would meet again soon, this time without your friend in the picture. After he left, thoughts began to provoke and you wondered to yourself that maybe, just maybe, you were wrong about idols for once.

And now let’s look at today’s events, where are you and Namjoon right now in your relationship? Well one thing’s for certain is that you two are officially dating and have been since 2017, two years after your initial meeting. When you two became more comfortable with each other, he had invited you over to the dorms and introduced you to his members, to which they immediately welcomed you into their group with open arms, you’ve actually become best friends with some of them. It’s been a fun and crazy ride, exploring different countries and cultures had never crossed your mind before but now you can safely say that it’s been one of the best things to have ever happened in your life. You were fortunate to have somebody like him and him you because along the way, you have made each other better, Namjoon had taught you that being guarded and stubborn shouldn’t lock you out of the world and it’s okay to let your guard down sometimes, and you taught him that just because he was an idol doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be any boundaries and that he was a human being first.

Whenever the media caught wind of your relationship, they always thought it was just a fling and that the two of you would break up like everybody else in the industry but so far, you have proved each and every one of them wrong and now both you and Joon don’t give two shits about what everybody says.

[handlewithkara]

Thanks, I hate it

So, I was trying to rewatch season 3 again and wow, I remembered why I hate it (and particularly 3B) so much. Maybe hate is the wrong word. There is good things in there. Things I can appreciate. 

But I feel like my biggest gripe with it, more than shipping, more than characterization is that it is really hard to watch a show when you very fundamentally disagree with a position the show takes. 

And I think I knew that that was going to be the case I think from the moment Mon-El has his revealing conversation with J’onn in 3x13. J’onn is a character we are supposed to like, so it was pretty clear to me, that in this case, the position he took in this conversation was a position the show takes. 

Here is goes: Supergirl Season 3 firmly takes the position that it is the morally right thing for Mon-El to do is to not tell Kara that he has feelings for her. 

(the show also takes the position that it is honorable of Kara not to tell Lena her secret identity, situations that are paralleled on occasion. I think the situations are somewhat different, but still think that in both cases the position of the show is questionable or at least something I really disagree with)

First: What I think they were trying to achieve with this

1.) One of Mon-El's character flaws was arguably lack of restraint. Showing him holding back on telling Kara shows that he has matured. 

In this area I feel like the biggest disagreement is likely one of taste. If one likes Mon-El, one might argue that yes, lack of restraint and consideration was a character trait and flaw of Mon-El's, but "curing" him of this flaw arguably makes him at lost less entertaining as a character. 

The other problem is that Mon-El still has certain moments which the show itself characterizes as lack of consideration. Seems kind of late for him to still be learning this lesson on the fly? Rather than just struggling with it? Still, one can argue the fact that he was struggling with this issue on a relatively high level is a way of showing that he has changed a lot and is in a very different place. 

2.) Telling Kara about his feelings while she is still hurting and confused especially when he is unsure himself, yes would arguably be shitty. 

Now, this I partly get. When Mon-El comes back Kara is in a lot of emotional pain, she is distraught, she is confused, she is dealing with a lot. 

If at this point Mon-El goes to her and tells her that he's still into her (but there is still a chance that he still wants to honor his commitment to Imra more) that would cause her a lot of additional pain. 

Not that I think it would have changed a lot in how Kara would react or how much would have happened between them, but the same decisions would likely have caused her a lot of additional anguish. That would have been jerking her around and playing with her feelings by my defintion of things and in that case, I agree, he shouldn’t tell her.

Getting her hopes up just to leave again would so not be cool. 

3.) Talking to Kara about how he is struggling too might hamper their ability to fight Reign.

Now granted, this is just my personal feelings, as this wasn't really a topic that the show brought up itself. Still, this is something I could at least picture being a concern for these characters, that they want to put their feelings aside till Reign is defeated. (and in a way... that is what happens on the show, Karamel start getting a lot shippier in the time when they mistakenly think Reign has been defeated)

Second: Why I think it's wrong

The show over and over goes over the concept that it is wrong to tell somebody the truth just to make yourself feel better. And I keep thinking... why?

I agree with the concept that it is morally wrong to cause pointless pain to Kara by telling her. The thing is ... is it really pointless?

I fully agree that if Mon-El had fessed up to her at some point late into the season, it would have temporarily made Kara's life more confusing... but .... wouldn't that be worth it? Simply in the interest of things being more honest between and the information being out there?

And why isn't "it would make Mon-El feel better and lift a weight off his shoulders" a totally legit and fair outcome? Why does that have to be cast as "that's selfish and so he should never do that"?

I can maybe get that in the beginning when Kara is still super raw and emotional, but later on? Kara is a strong person, with a great support system. And I get that it's immoral to draw her into messy marriage issues.

But I don't see how just telling Kara what his emotional state is does that. He could just tell her "I'm really struggling too, but I'm trying to hold it together. This is hard for me in particular because I’m dealing with a lot of additional political weight being placed on my shoulders".

And yes I can envision a world where that makes communication between them even harder and it makes fighting Reign harder. But I still think it would be worth it for the benefit of things being more honest between them. And I would have said that both characters are emotionally strong enough that they could handle it.

Third: Why I’m beginning to think that they genuinely believed that

You know, for the longest time I thought, okay, maybe they just disliked Mon-El and wanted to get rid of him, so maybe they gave him a shitty story and that's all there is too it.

But the longer things go on, the more I get the impression. OMG they were actually serious about that?

In season 3, they draw strong parallels between it being honorable of Mon-El not to tell Kara and it being honorable of Kara not to tell Lena her identity. This is most explicit in The Fanatical where Mon-El says exactly that in a traditional "he gives advice about Lena, but he's actually talking about himself" scene.

Well, if you tell [her] the truth, you'd be doing it to make yourself feel better, not her. So maybe, in this case, it's, uh... Not telling her the truth is the noble thing. It's a sacrifice you're making to protect her.

(Bless Chris Wood, I think he looks entirely unconvinced by his own dialogue here)

Fast forward to episode 100. The big anniversary episode. The one that celebrates Kara and her influence on people. And this episode is full of people assuring Kara that her motivations were noble AND it ends with Kara embracing this point of view and putting her foot down (and no, I don't think that the writers intend to take that back and portray that as Kara misunderstanding something when this is the big celebration episode)

Executing The Premise

Either way. The whole season consisted of people preaching to Mon-El that he shouldn't tell. So Mon-El tries to do the right thing and keep his feelings mostly close to his vest.

And then it just ends!!!!

I'm sorry, this just feels wrong. It feels like there is something missing. Like either Mon-El should be rewarded for holding back (either by him realizing that loves the future best anyway (instead ... the opposite of that happened) or him actually getting a better chance with Kara somewhere in the future when the circumstances are better). Or in lieu of that, a storyline that makes it explictly clear that Mon-El was being a dumbass, did exactly the wrong thing and that is what costs him his chance with Kara. Except that didn't happen either.

Instead he disappear uncommented into nothingness and the only other glimpse we see of him is till an episode that actually doubles down on the message of 3B.

Summation

So my deep, fundamental gripe with season 3 is that I just deeply, deeply disagree with the central thesis the season puts forth (keeping things from people is not just understandable and excusable, but actually morally good) THE SHOW DIDN'T EVEN DELIVER PROPERLY ON THE STAKES AND MORAL STANDARDS THEY BUILT UP.

That's why season 3 was frustrating and hard to get connected to on multiple levels when it comes to these central story tenants. You have these characters discussing and debating and going back and forth and here I’m sitting, watching them and going “Yes, but this moral conundrum is stupid” (I had this reaction during pretty much any Mon-El scenes in regards to telling the truth and during any of the Kara and Lena arguments). I think even if the show had told a "clean" story with their premise, I still would have been sour on it when I just so fundamentally disagree with the premise on a personal level.

And that is in addition to the entertainment level of "I just don't think that it's very entertaining to watch characters who are constantly holding back to be heroic and moral and honorable" (compared to holding back for personal reasons like insecurity, something that is way more interesting because that is compelling characterization a lot of the time and casts telling the truth as characters facing their fears or seeing things weren’t as bad as they imagined it). 

I disliked that honorable holding back in Kara/James and I disliked it again in season 3. [yes I think it’s marginally better set up in season 3 simply because Karamel had an actual relationship as the basis rather than just the potential of a flirtation, Mimra were married and there was a political reason why it had to stay that way rather than Lucy in the end being just a nice girlfriend/boyfriend relationship ... but just because it is a slightly more solid version of that trope doesn’t change that that trope is bad and boring to me]

Look, this isn't about morals. This isn't about me thinking the show would have been better if Kara would have thrown herself at James in season 1. It's just that those stories are (to me) fundamentally boring to watch and there was a reason why I preferred the chaotic back and forth of season 2 Karamel. So in a way, I felt fundamentally betrayed by the story even without the ending, because to me the season betrayed a lot about what I liked about Karamel in season 2 and made them more like Kara/James whose story I often did not care for for a reason. I'm not claiming that season 3 was devoid of good things, outside of Karamel or within (and I will try to make posts on that), but in regards to Karamel, a lot of these things were new areas, new themes or side aspects compared to what their strongest threads were in season 2.(for what it’s worth, I think the normal, “soapy” way to tell this story would have been not that Mon-El tells, but that Mon-El keeps it quiet, but somebody else blabs out the truth and Kara finds out anyway and is initally mad at Mon-El. Would still have been a cop out compared to how I see this conflict, but it would have been a more normal story compared to “everybody tells Mon-El not to tell and he mostly doesn’t”)

But I can put my shipper values aside. I can try to appreciate a story for its craftsmanship or for what it is trying to do even if things don't go my way. But it's really hard to get invested in a show if you just don't see eye to eye with one of the core themes the show proposes.

And that’s why I have a lot of animosity left towards this aspect of season 3. 

[enixamyram]

I did this for Once Upon A Time and Sons Of Anarchy on Screenrant, so let’s do one for Bleach! This is my opinions on a (obviously fan made) list. Because I like expressing my opinions, especially when I see a list that I very strongly disagree with to the point where I’m almost seeing red... So anyway, here’s:

Disagree. I know there are a lot of people who wanted them together, but I never once saw a romance. This is for a variety of reasons but my main one being the amount of times they insulted and assaulted each other meant I’d never really be able to accept them as a romantic pair. Instead I can accept them as a wonderful platonic friendship of two buddies who occasionally smack each other around when they think the others being a bit stupid.

Disagree. The thing is, I knew Orihime and Ichigo were going to be romantically involved way before I ever actually shipped them - before I even liked either of their characters no less. They follow all the usual tropes and to try and downplay them by claiming Ichigo sees her as “a sister” makes no sense to me. It seems to me like that’s just pulled out of nowhere with absolutely no evidence and it’s just an excuse to give for why they shouldn’t be a couple.

Disagree. I mean I don’t have very strong feelings against it, but like Rukia and Ichigo, I much more enjoy their friendship and genuinely could not imagine them as being romantically involved. (I don’t exactly ship either of them with anyone but if I did have to pick a pair, I’d like to imagine that Yoruichi and Soi-Fon might have a thing eventually...)

Disagree. And I’ll admit; this one I DID ship from the beginning. Way back when we got our first flashback of their time growing up together, I thought they were so cute and really enjoyed all of their scenes. They continued to have some of my favourite interactions and I was very happy when they did end up together in the end!

... What... The... Fuck...?! NO!!!!!!!! HELL NO! FRACK NO! FREAK NO! SHIT NO! Who in this hellhole wants this?! Quite honestly a pairing like this just straight up makes no sense to me unless it’s because they enjoy some kind of twisted dark angsty relationship. We saw only a very tiny bit of Aizen before he “died” and then when he came back the first thing he did was stab Momo and leave her to die. I genuinely cannot wrap my head around why anyone would want anything even close to this.

I mean, I don’t like this pair... But I also don’t agree the show ever hinted for it to be romantic. Maybe it’s just me - maybe there’s something in the manga that I have missed and will catch when I do my read through - but all I ever got was a (abusive) father-daughter vibe off of them. Either way, the pairing or relationship (whatever it is) sucks to high heavens so agreed.

Nooooooooooooooo. This is another pair who have a good and enjoyable friendship and I cannot imagine them as anything else - and I really don’t want to try because something about Toshiro’s youthful appearance and Rangiku’s developed appearance just feels really creepy to me. They are partners in work who definitely would sacrifice for one another but that’s it, and it’s perfect just as it is. No romance needed or wanted.

Disagree. I enjoyed the relationship between these two. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Gin was an idiot and insanely extra to go through all of what he did for her, but in the end he did it for Rangiku and there’s a (twisted) sweetness in that. I’m still sad how their story ended, while also accepting that’s probably the only way it could have ended when you take in Gin’s obvious determination.

Ugh, God no! Much like Aizen and Momo, I fail to see how anyone could genuinely ship these two based on the canon material we were given. I feel like most people who do have to make it very OOC and do it for the “good girl turns bad boy” trope. Because legit, All Ulquiorra does to Orihime is abuse her in every sense of the word and as such, this pairing really does need to crash, burn and have its ashes blown into the wind.

I genuinely have no feelings for this either way. Don’t like, don’t dislike. I straight up don’t really care.

---

Anyway! Those are my personal thoughts on these particular ships. Just needed to get this out of my system after I saw the list at work today! XD

[maverick-werewolf]

(Just resending in case it got eaten) So with every transformation sequence I've seen, it's either 100 percent painless or the magical equivalent of getting pulled through a woodchipper. Are there pros and cons to these two extremes? Where's the happy medium found that isn't seen that often? Thanks for reading! PS Hope your internet is working now!

Ooh, I love this question! Sorry for taking so long to be able to answer it!

I think it all depends entirely on what the author/creator is going for. Personally, I am a huge proponent for painful transformation sequences. I love them. I think they make it feel more like a curse, make it more traumatizing (for the werewolf and for anyone around), make it scarier, and make it more dramatic. There’s just so much I could say about painful transformations and why I love them.

However, I also see the cons to having that. Some people don’t want to do werewolves as a curse, which I also think is 100% legit and I support that as well. It all depends on how you want to tell the story and how you want to portray the werewolves.

This isn’t so say that werewolves with painful transformations are inherently negative, though. I could go on about that.

Back to the pain levels themselves, though, I will say that I think the happy medium is painful but not visually and physically ridiculous (I have a few posts on that and where I discuss that, like this one and this one, as well as a few others). Personally - and, again, this is just me - I intensely dislike the ridiculous gore festivals like Hemlock Grove where the werewolf transforms by flaying themselves with their eyeballs falling out and blood spurting everywhere and then a wolf jumps out of the human viscera. I do not like that at all for so many reasons.

Whether or not the transformation is painful, and how painful it is, can completely change how lycanthropy itself is perceived in the setting. Generally, most people will immediately think of something incredibly painful as being bad and monstrous (and generally consider it a curse), and something not painful as being good/mystical. This doesn’t mean lycanthropy has to be either one based on the assumptions, of course, but that’s what will be assumed by readers and probably any characters involved.

I personally prefer transformation sequences where the person physically shifts into a wolf or wolf-man form and that is very painful and shocking for them. Screaming will be involved. Because let’s face it, they’re witnessing and feeling their body turn into something bestial, something inhuman. That’s got to be pretty scary. Bearing in mind, of course, that this is a case in which the werewolf character is not embracing being a werewolf.

I think super ultra drawn-out transformation sequences are an important part to discussing a happy medium, too.

I don’t like it when they’re literally instant and just basically an on/off switch. Making it pretty brief, though, can also be an element that the creators of the thing in question were going for. Plenty of werewolves in legend had nigh-upon instant transformations, and in media, this is often used if the thing is making werewolves less these cursed scary monsters and more majestic beings. I like both portrayals just fine, they can both be done well or done horribly.

However, it also shouldn’t take THAT long because if we’re watching a guy turn for 5 full minutes, that’s really pushing it.

I like something in-between. Long enough that was get a sense of the trauma (again, if that’s what they’re going for), but brief enough that it doesn’t make one wonder why everyone hasn’t already run away and/or tried to kill the werewolf while it was turning.

This sure is a lot of rambling without quite giving a direct answer! I guess my happy medium is something painful and traumatic with a physical transformation of the human body into a bestial form, but not so ridiculously gruesome and gory that we wonder what the heck is even going on.

[crossdressingdeath]

I’m legit puzzled by people trying to figure out what JC has done so right with his parenting for JL not to grow up as neurotic as him... JL is precisely this way because JL wasn't at all raised by JC, but by people in the Jin sect? Though JC’s parenting has already done some damage as seen during the night hunt at the beginning of the story. I understand the fans’ desire to see JL raised by JC because JL is literally the only named character post time skip to interact with JC on a voluntary1/5

basis, but there is no reason at all for JL to be raised by his maternal uncle, unless everyone in the Jin clan was dead. And the argument that JL doesn’t act like JGY, so he was raised by JC instead of him is stupid because why the legitimate spoiled heir of the richest sect would learn to act anything like the son of a prostitute who elbowed his way to power? Children don’t grow up to be carbon copies of their parents, especially when the circumstances of their childhoods are so different2/5

(Some people even tried to argue that LSZ was actually raised by LXC/LQR/other Lan sect people because LSZ and LWJ have different demeanors. First, no, second, in canon, LSZ says LWJ was like his brother and father.) I also disagree with the other side of that argument, that JC raised JL because they are extremely similar in personality. And no? JL is haughty, sullen and doesn’t empathize with other people easily, as 13yo spoiled boys are wont to be and as was his father and as is JC because3/5

they are all rich sect heirs with a privileged upbringing. But we have never seen JL be cruel and angry in the way JC is to everyone, and he actually saved people like MXY of his own initiative when not put under pressure by his uncle like it was the case with the cultivators caught in the nets. Like how can we even say that he’s like his uncle when during his short screen time and despite him being a child, we see him going explicitly against his uncle’s decisions at least twice (saving MXY,4/5 

 trying to help JC to reconnect with WWX), and the whole complex processing of the grief over his parents and WWX that he goes through, coming on the other side with the very important understanding that it’s pointless to hang on on old grudges; something also unlike his uncle. They are not alike at all, JL is already more mature at his young age.5/5

JL does occasionally act like JC, especially right at the beginning, but he snaps out of that the second he starts spending time with the other juniors and Wangxian and sees that he’s genuinely happier if he has friends instead of enemies and rivals, which is something JC never taught him. But here’s the thing: children don’t necessarily follow the best influence in their life, they follow the loudest, the one they think they should be like. JL is told he shouldn’t want to be like the son of a prostitute, so he copies his other uncle, the other major familial influence over his life. Then he meets WWX, another uncle, and follows his example instead because WWX teaches him how to have friends and how to defend himself, things that will serve JL far better than anger and resentment. And yeah, JL’s a spoiled thirteen year old; of course he’s haughty and arrogant! And yet he does manage to show more kindness and maturity than JC ever does despite his childish arrogance.

And here’s another thing: JC came perilously close to ruining JL’s life. I’m not even talking about the times JL almost gets himself killed because of JC’s goading, which would almost certainly have ended with permanent, likely fatal consequences if not for Wangxian. Think about it. When we first meet JL, he has no friends. I didn’t get the impression he was friends with Sizhui and Jingyi at Dafan Mountain, in fact they seem to actively dislike him, we know he has no friends in Koi Tower... JL is alone except for his uncles. That’s not healthy! He’s thirteen and spends all his time with his thirty-something uncles and his dog! No matter how introverted you are, you need at least some friends your own age to talk to! And then he meets WWX and starts spending time with him, and by the end of Yi City... he’s getting on great with his peers. There are still rough patches, he’s still learning, but he has friends. In less than six months WWX manages to do more for that kid than JC has offered in thirteen years. JC failed JL by never teaching him how to make friends, or even encouraging him to talk to people. He never even taught him how to defend himself if ganged up on! JC failed JL. He failed him so badly that it genuinely pisses me off to hear people say he’s the best parent in MDZS. 

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Not In the Mood

So at long last we’ve finally reached the last of the filler episodes for season one. Yes, I know the mood potion comes into play later and that Varian makes a cameo at the end, but the actual plot of the episode itself doesn’t add anything to the overall narrative and the elements that do come back are ones that could have been better introduced or written out altogether. Ergo making this another weak entry into the series. 

Summary: Thanks to Max and Pascal's intervention, Rapunzel, Eugene and Cassandra inadvertently drink a potion that reverses their personalities. They turn to Xavier for his help in reversing their personalities to normal. Unfortunately, the elixir reverses everyone's character, making a mess of the royal visit.

So Why Should I Care About The Mains Fighting With Each Other... Again?

This episode wants to act like this sudden bickering is abnormal and a breakdown in their relationships but really, it’s the same plot we’ve had for nearly every episode the entire season. When has Eugene and Cassandra ever gotten alone? What plot hasn’t focused on Raps and Cass not seeing eye to eye? Like, this is nothing new and not a good inciting action for the plot to happen. If anything this episode only confirms to me that these people shouldn’t be wasting their time associating with each other, as I haven’t seen them actually being real friends and enjoying each other’s company before this. 

Xavier, Why Do You Have a Random Magic Potion Just Sitting Around Your Workplace?

Once again we get no explanation as to how or why Xavier knows what he knows. He just so happens to have this mood potion ready to go and no one questions it. Given how this is a very dubiously unethical plan and his previous connections with two main bad guys, Zhan Tiri and the Saporians; I legit thought he’d be revealed as a villain later. But nope. He just there to get the plot going and nothing else. What a waste. 

Oh Look, Cass is Getting What She Wants Yet Again. 

Cass gets another guard assignment, running security detail for the upcoming banquet. It doesn’t go well because of the mood potion, but the very fact that she was entrusted with the job in the first place undermines her arcs in seasons two and three. 

Poor Worldbuilding 

Throughout the show we hear about these seven kingdoms. However, we never get any insight into what these seven kingdoms are. An alliance? A trade deal? Just the seven kingdoms that so happen to be the most powerful in this world?Regional stand-ins for the seven continents of the globe and not actual countries? A fantasy version of the Prussian Empire before the unification of Germany? Who knows. For we only focus on two of these ‘kingdoms’ in two episodes; Beginnings in season three and this episode.    

‘Pittsford’ is the only kingdom to have an episode dedicated to it and all it amounts to is a nonsensical Napoleon Complex joke. Given the World War I inspired German uniform that the character above is wearing, the show can’t even keep its parodies and references straight. Like, that’s it. The joke is that everyone from this kingdom is short, grumpy, and wears that ridiculous helmet.  

We never see this kingdom nor ever visit any of the other kingdoms. We get no insight into their cultures or way of life, despite Rapunzel’s desire for travel. And we also receive very little understanding of how these kingdoms relate back to Corona even when focusing on a possible war between them. 

Unlike the mishmash of time periods I talked about earlier, this is a straight up failure in execution and not me merely being picky. It’s once again a lack of set up and resolve. The show builds something up only to never follow through with it. 

Hypocrisy in Who’s to Blame Leading to Lessons Unlearned 

Umm.. no, Cass is right. This is Max and Pascal’s fault. But mostly it’s Xavier’s fault for creating the potion in the first place and deciding it was a-okay to drug people with it without their consent. 

But of course the writing lets them off the hook in order to make its point about the characters needing to grow. A lesson that the show will promptly forget come next episode, making it’s point, well pointless. 

However the worst outcome here is the narrative letting Xavier get away without consequence while treating Varian as a villain for doing the exact same thing later on. The writers have double standards for how they treat the characters and use biased points of view to try and manipulate the audience into siding with the characters they want you to side with, rather than just presenting a conflict honestly and trusting the viewers to come to their own understandings.

Inconstancy is Left Unexplained

This is a joke, sure, but Griffin from Pittsford is also shown to be unaffected and characters conveniently fall in and out of the spell as the story needs it. There’s no explanation as for why the established rules of the potion are suddenly ignored. 

Look, you don't always have explain where magic comes from or how it does what it does, but you do need an internal set of rules to act as parameters for your magic. That way when a rule changes or a person breaks a rule, it means something to the narrative and helps to drive tension. There’s no set rules for Tangled’s magic system. Things change on a dime for no given reason. Ergo the story winds up being confused in places and tension is diluted. 

The Resolution is Weak

Griffin here just changes his mind about needing a peace treaty with Corona off screen with no explanation. He just does it so that the episode can end and reward the main character; so that Rapunzel won't have to face any consequences for her behavior. The universe just bends unnaturally to her will.

Her confrontation with Frederic earlier is an extension of this problem. 

He snaps out of the spell just because Raps confronted him, despite the episode showing us earlier that that’s not how the potion works. Furthermore, her entire confrontation is supposed to be buildup to her becoming more assertive, but the narrative presents it like a ‘love saves the day’ deal; meaning she’s rewarded for the wrong reason.  Last off she does not learn this lesson and it’ll be another three episodes before it sinks in. Even more than that if you watch the season in its intended order. 

Oh Yeah, We’re Still Showing Things Out of Order and The Full Awfulness of How Rapunzel Treats Varian is Just Glossed Over. 

So Pascal’s Story and Big Brother’s of Corona was suppose to come before this episode. The Wrath of Ruthless Ruth, Max's Enemy, and The Way of the Willow are meant to come after. This means that Rapunzel is still ignoring her duty, has been ignoring it, and will keep on ignoring it for several more weeks/months.   

Varian’s Cameo Doesn’t Add Anything Here 

Despite trying to tie into the main plot, Varian’s part in this episode is skippable. There’s no reason why he couldn’t have just made the truth serum from scratch. We didn’t need yet another run around just to establish the mood potion first. It’s slightly more forgivable than say, Monty, Willow, or Axel being introduced for next to no reason, but it’s still a mishandling of the time and resources given to the show. 

Conclusion

I honestly found this episode kind of cringe. It has a lot of tropes that I personally dislike and reads like a bad 60s sitcom. It more well constructed then say Max’s Enemy, and it has more to do with the plot then Way of the Willow, but it still suffers from filler fatigue. 

[valhalla-awaitsfor-us]

My bad opinion: Monoma doesn't deserve the treatment he gets from the rest of UA. Aizawa legit choked him out and he doesn't even know the kid. Mirio calling him the dark side of UA is bad as well. Also why does everyone resort to hitting him when he's in a manic mood. I understand it's funny but I wish they showed class B being nice to him during his manic mood once. Also Kaminari calls him mentally ill everytime they meet and it pisses me off that people ignore that. 1/2

Heeey there, whats up, Anon? Nice to see meet you

SO. Let me talk a little bit about this whole Monoma situation (And yeah, I already done this in other post, but I love writing rants, and you give me a perfect excuse. Thanks)

Bakugou 

Im gonna start poiting out something that may seem out of the blue for some people who know me. I do NOT dislike Bakugou at all, hell, Im even a bakudeku shipper and their relationship, I think, is one of the few reasons I still feel draw to the story. 

I feel like is natural that people cares more for Bakugou than for Monoma. For starters he is a main character, and for that reason he gets a lot more of screen time. Also he is good looking, and people tends to overlook bad characters developments when the characters in question are"hot"

NOW, HAVING ESTABLISHED THAT.

Yes, Bakugou has more screentime than Monoma. Is reasonable that Monoma is not the favorite. Now, why is that a issue?Because there are significant flaws on the story and in the development of characters.Yes, Bakugou is a main character that has more screentime, and yes, he does have emotional moments in the sotry that make you feel or him.  And yet is not enough. And plase keep in mind that Im not here saying he deserves the worst of fates because he was a bully. I suffered from depression and anxiety all my life, and people on school bullyed me in horrible ways for that same reasons. And yet, I can tell that BNHA is a fictional piece of media. I can discern between reality and fiction.Probably because I’m a filmmaker who studied about this,  but I learned that a review of a piece of art cant be done focusing in only one specific point, because if you do, you lose sight of the biggest picture. Yes he was bad, but what is the author trying to say here? How is the author writing the character development?  I think Horikoshi does knows what future he wants for Bakugou, i do truly think that he wants this to be a big redemption arc, and put Bakugou and Deku side to side as the greatest heroes ever for the end of the story…. But…. Horikoshi struggles a lot with character development. A lot of people who likes Bakugou, excluding those who just like him for his looks, do it because they can see the potential and get the general idea.Which is great. but the character development, at this point of the story, is just not enough.Not enough to justify a lot of Bakugo current actions. Hell, even my bakudeku heart was disappointed with the movie because the structure of the story was weak and Bakugou arc went to nowhere. Instead of meaningful conversations or actions between characters (Wich there a few are ofc, I almost cried watching Deku vs Kacchan) , we have to assume the Bakugou aggressiveness is just endearing now. And that’s just not how this work. 

I realy hope Horikoshi gets better at writng Bakugou develoment because I truly think he could be such a good character. Im rooting for him.

Now, how I connect this with Monoma?

Monoma

Monoma, just like Bakugou, can be a “problematic” character. (God hate to use that word) but the differences between the both of them are crystal clear.

1) Monoma is not a main character, so even if Bakugou is this aggressive and short tempered character, we still see the other side of him because, again, he has more screentime.  With Monoma we cannot see the other side of him that often, which can be a problem when the only side you show of a character is such a pathetic and unfair side. In comparison, you would think Monoma is worse than Bakugou, but thats only because they are showing us only the worst side of Monoma. Wich bring me to the second point.

2) Monomas mental state is treated as joke.  Just as I said that I don’t care about Bakugou being a debetable ex bully,  I should say the same here and affirm that just because they make fun of his mental issues it shouldn’t affect me, even if I deal with depression and anxiety. Well kids, let me tell you something: You are wrong. Why you may ask? For a little concept called: Character development.With Bakugou, even if is FAR from perfect, does have more little moments here and there, where you can see the other side of him. Monoma isn’t that lucky. So you are showing just his crazy side and making fun of that. Which just simply bad and a little sad that you think that is a good character design. When you have a piece of media with this kind of success, you cant ignore this. You just can not. You need to take responsibility of what you put out there.And we are talking about Monoma, but we could also be talking about how they treated their token characters, how they treat those characters who are mentally unstable (cofcofTwiceforexamplecofcof). That is just another rant, but is bad. Realy bad. 

BNHA has a really problem in justifying villainous actions just because class A or a Pros do them.  And yes I’m talking about Mineta and Endeavor, but Im also talking about a lot of your Favs like Aizawa, or class A students.I understand that in japanese culture Monoma being loud and weird and just being legitimately crazy is funny.  But some things you can’t justify. Just like you cant justify a lot of what happened in this story and how some characters are treated.

3) Monoma was supposed to be different.We all know about this, he was meant to be this cunning strategic individual who could actually be more interesting that the freaking main character,  but because he dared to do look at Bakugou in the wrong way, the fans started hating him,so Horikoshi changed him… I just can’t . How could an author change his characters because of that reason? Sometimes you have to stand with your ideas man.

Anyway, I liked the JTs Monoma. And I hope Shinsou ends up in class 1B with him. THAT would be an interesting writing. But I learned to never expect anything. So… We’ll see

[elencelebrindal]

Honest Opinion - Athena

General Overall score: 5/10

Part 1 - Saori Kido

Called Lady Isabel di Thule in the Italian dub, a name that I quite like. It’s cool. It’s in Pegasus Fantasy too, click here if you want to listen!

Overall score (character, not looks): 3/10

She’s definitely not my favorite character of the whole series. As a matter of fact, Saori is one of the female characters I dislike the most. 

As a child, she was insufferable, spoiled, with no sense of respect for other people. If little Saori wanted something, she didn’t care about how people would feel about it. The fact she had to be reprimanded by Mitsumasa, when Jabu ended up injured because of her antics, told everything about her. 

And then, she grew up to be... that. Initially, I genuinely hated her. I don’t like Seiya, but when he faced her about his sister, and about the promise she clearly didn’t intend to keep, I was totally with him.  Saori only cared about Mitsumasa’s ambition, back at the beginning, she wanted every Saint to fight in the Galaxian Wars to realize his dream. Without knowing the real reason behind it yet, not until she was told about being Athena. 

But even then, things didn’t change so much.  I appreciate how keen she is for business, and how straightforward they depicted her in dealing with the whole mess of problems following Ikki’s appearance and the theft of the Sagittarius Cloth.  That’s it.  I don’t like her personality, because it’s completely up to what the plot needs and not consistent.

Also, how stupid do you have to be to send you enemy a letter informing him you’re coming?!  I get the symbolic gesture, but that was so dumb. No wonder she almost got killed in the process, that’s what she literally asked for. 

There are moments where Saori comes up as forgiving and smart, don’t get me wrong. But there’s also the fact she’s in love with Seiya, and most of the time she doesn’t care about everyone else because he’s important and they’re not, in her eyes.  This is just worse when she finally takes on Athena’s role, and almost nothing changes about this behavior. 

And to end it, why is Saori even still around? It only made sense during the Poseidon Arc, when she attended an event as head of the Foundation, but in any other circumstance? She’s Athena, she’s supposed to stay in Greece, at her Sanctuary. Not strolling around as Saori, in her mansion, while her Saints struggle in the aftermath of a devastating battle.  Her constantly keeping up the whole “I’m Saori, and Athena when I want to” it’s honestly infuriating. It doesn’t make sense, and I’m so happy in Hades she finally got some sense knocked into her brain. 

Part 2 - Athena

Just the translation. Atena. We’ve been amazing with her name. 

Overall score (character, not looks): 2/10

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is not how to be a goddess.  I know some of you might think I’m being too harsh with her, I know there are people who love her. But I said I was going to be honest, and honest I will be.  Because this Athena is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.  (She does get better in the Hades Chapter, I like her there, but bear with me here).

Listen, I’m not saying a goddess shouldn’t care for one Saint over every other, refuse to be where she needs to be because her human side is too appealing, and be so useless she doesn’t do anything for 90% of the series... who am I kidding, I’m totally saying it. 

I will be fair. She did useful things. She healed the Bronze Saints and aided them (if only just a little bit) during the Twelve Temples Arc. She tried to be of help during the Asgard Arc. She was willing to sacrifice herself during the Poseidon Arc.  Those happened. She took on her role as a goddess, and fulfilled it. Even if kind on unsuccessfully. 

But, and this is a huge but, she doesn’t care for all her Saints equally. You can tell she cares more about Seiya, she constantly helps him more than anyone else, she legit ignored other Saints in favor of him.  She also didn’t care for the Gold Saints, after the battle against evil Saga (listen, I’m still not sure about the whole Arles thing being international, don’t @ me); Athena, being Athena, should have stayed in Greece. With the Gold Saints who die every damn generation for her. She didn’t. Everything ended, and back to Saori she went, in her million dollar mansion, with five Bronze Saints who were not as shocked and devastated by what happened at the Sanctuary as the Golds. 

Also, what about the Silver Saints? The one time she showed any kind of interest towards them was with Babel. It’s like she doesn’t give a damn about all the ones who died, the majority of which under evil Saga’s spell.  What gives, Athena? 

And don’t get me started on how many times she gets kidnapped, it’s so ridiculous. Though, she did get a (sort of) fair treatment in Legend of Crimson Youth, where she actually tried to conjure up a plan against Abel (she failed, because of course an Olympian gets defeated by someone who isn’t even a real god, but fine, te effort counted), and Warriors of the Final Holy Battle. This, actually, is the movie that actually gave her the best justice. Athena acted like a real goddess here, willing to do whatever it takes to be of help, trying to save her Saints before letting them intervene.  Sure, she lost herself at the end, but this is what really gave her the only points she has. 

Part 3 - Comparison with the mythological Athena

This is mostly because I love Greek Mythology, and I wanted to give my opinion on how Athena has been represented in general, without taking into consideration Saint Seiya’s plot.  I only have one word: BAD.  Athena is not a perfect goddess, with a pure heart, obsessed with world peace and safety.  She’s the goddess of strategic war, not of peace and justice. She did her fair share of awful things, alongside the good deeds.  Kurumada representing her as this flawless, spotless deity never met my full approval.  If anything, she should be a warrior just as much as her Saints. It’s not like she cannot fight (her Kamui, anyone?), but it’s more like she is not supposed to fight.  Also, I want to point out how stupid is that Kurumada’s Athena is literally everywhere, included Lucifer’s story. What a bunch of bullshit. 

Part 4 - Legend of Sanctuary

Lady Isabel and Atena again. Consistency is the key.

Overall score (character, not looks): 8/10

A little bit better, compared to the classic version of her, especially considering her backstory. She’s been represented as a kind person, as a child, and I appreciated that. I don’t like how different that was from the main show, but it was definitely better. More fitting for a character like her.  Even though, I still think it’s ridiculous she was able to use her cosmo like that as a child, whilst not knowing about the whole Athena thing. 

Now, she did have those classic moments of “it’s time to be awkward with Seiya, even though now I know I am a goddess and should not be doing this”, but honestly?  She was better.  This movie had a whole deal of hilarious scenes with her, and a lot of sad and difficult ones, but they all made sense. Her not knowing how to react at suddenly being told “hey, you’re Athena!”, her laughing and being amazed, everything was fitting for a human character trying to understand something bigger.  This didn’t happen in the classic series, Saori just switched back and fort without a care in the world in there. 

Saori, in this movie, doesn’t become Athena until the very end, but while being Saori, she also had a deeper understanding of her being a goddess and having the power to help her Saints. 

I loved the scene with Aiolia, where her human side didn’t know why her godly cosmo kept her from fleeing, and instead wanted to protect the Bronze Saints and save Leo from his ignorance.  And I loved how Saori scolded the Gold Saints, went out of her way to save who almost died for her, despite being weakened by Saga’s doing. She cared for all of them, without choosing a favorite, and made it until the end with a reason for her Saints to still follow and defend her. 

And even though Seiya stole everyone’s spotlight, she didn’t side with him and with him only, like what happens time and time again in the classic series.  But she didn’t stay with the Gold Saints, and that’s the worst thing Athena could do; the Bronzes don’t need her. the Golds? Yeah, they do. They lost companions and friends, and their houses received a beating.  Athena being merciful towards Saga doesn’t save her from all the critiques I’m going to throw in her direction for going back on Earth. 

[zitkaplushie]

nightwing secret files liveblog:

this is gonna be a long one so it’s under a cut!

taking wing-

is that jason??

i like this 'a christmas carol' type exposition i'm ngl

i'm not sure if 'jason''s dismissal of the circus is dixon using an unreliable narrator, or if dixon actually believes that

god i hate this art so much

how dare u insult the teen titans in any way 😤 i like the name

also titans cameo!!

more awful jason characterisation (pls dixon just stay 8732894738 feet away from jason)

"without robin i have no family" i guess the titans are just chopped liver huh

"i always thought that one day i'd be batman" nope nope nope nope you have 0 understanding of dick's character if that's what you think mr dixon

i love clark having a part in dick becoming nightwing - i adore it - but the way dixon retcons the importance of the titans, and especially kory, in dick becoming nightwing rubs me the complete wrong way. i'm choosing to read this as a between the scenes moment, but i 100% dixon intended this to replace the titans' importance. and the way ppl just swallow it up w/o thinking about the reasons behind why dixon would want to erase the titans - and kory - pisses me off lmao

"i didn't mean to stay so long [with the titans]" *eternal screaming* he really wants to undermine the titans at every possible turn wow

at least the next page acknowledges the importance of kory in dick's life, but right afterwards we have "lmao she must've liked your costume. all the girls did. you're a chick magnet" (paraphrased) and i'm just back to sighing

also hi i'm mad at the framing of babs being the endgame bc of course they'd do that. and also at kory being shorter than dick. thanks! i hate it! i'm willing to bet that dixon asked for that specifically.

"this is where i came in" i'm confused at this part but tbh i don't care enough to think abt it any more

i'm also ughhhh at the way they're trying to give bludhaven importance. i don't care, i don't like it, he should've never moved there

ok i do really like that last page

the fact files things are good enough, i love the art for the haly's circus one! the pt barnum ref is 😬 though (ik ik it's the 90s but fjskdh why)

lost pages: teen titans-

ok so, i don't like devin grayson. i don't like her writing at all, i don't think she gets the characters at all, and hot take: if you dislike a character who's super important part of dick's life, and helped him come into his own and be who he is, you shouldn't be writing that character. (i'm talking about kory here, but tbh if you dislike any of the characters who dick interacts with frequently and are a huge part of his life - especially his love interests, and his family - you shouldn't be writing dick.) so i'm not going into this story with high hopes. however i've seen ppl talk about this story as being really good so i hope i'll like it too

you can tell she mostly cares about the fab five, which wouldn't be a problem if she treated the ntt characters better but alas ://

kory and vic both say 1 thing the entire page lmao

ALSO KORY NOT KNOWING WHAT DAY IT IS IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT I CANNOT BELIEVE

i loooove the parallel between dick grasping wally's hand and young!dick holding his dad's hand 🥺🥺🥺🥺

vic legit says one thing the entire story lmaoooooooo 🙃🙃🙃

i love garth and roy being brought to the tower 🥺

this is def some of grayson's better work, but it suffers from the same thing all of her stories do. she doesn't fully understand all the characters. if one character is off it affects the whole story. a lot of her stories have good ideas and poor execution, and this one definitely doesn't have awful execution but there's still something missing and as someone who loves the titans it's just sad. i get why people like this story - it made me tear up at the end ngl - but the rest of the titans are just as important as dick and it feels like the writer doesn't understand that. (i get this is a dick comic but it's still a titans story.) (it does however make me want to write a fic expanding upon this moment and the aftermath bc the idea of the titans all coming together to cheer dick up is so goooooood. are they gonna have a party celebrating dick's parent's lives? are they gonna eat junk food and watch a comfort movie? are they gonna just sit and talk?? the possibilities are endless!!)

the art is gorgeous as all of jimenez' art is, i love his style so freaking much!!

the next page is of the bludhaven supporting cast and all it does is remind me how much i do not care abt them. i think the only one i actually like is clancy, the others are expendable and forgettable. (i do love clancy a lot though, i wish she'd been written by more people than just dixon). though, i usually love guice's art, i think i actually prefer mcdaniel's take on clancy??? which is 100% a first for me.

i like seeing the set up to dick's apartment, bc i'm a sucker for layouts and maps. i wish this comic was way better written bc the concept of dick living in an apartment building and interacting with his neighbours is one i really like, esp in superhero comics. but again i have to say, alas.

a day in the life of nite-wing/hangin'-with tad:

painful... just painful...

i physically couldn't care less about this if you paid me

the next page is tad's file and i am Not Reading That. nope nope nope. and also fuck you.

next is a map of bludhaven, and like i said, i'm a sucker for maps.

the page after that is brutale's file and again i just do not care. the art is by damion scott who i really like, but the design looks like knock off scarecrow so

the next pages are files for double dare, lady vidc, shrike and blockbuster and i'm skipping them all bc i give negative fucks

next is a spread of what i assume is dick's cork-board? it looks kinda interesting but the writing is hard to make out and i don't care enough to try to decipher it

next is torque's files and same same, idc idc

nightwing's romances/orange you glad i didn't say banana?:

ok so y'all know i hate dickbabs. i hate everything about how it was built on the foundation of tearing down kory and dickkory and i'm a kory fan first and foremost so i hate this whole situation. so i'm already predisposed to disliking anything that talks about how babs is dick's true love, and talks down any of his other love interests. i come into this with an admitted bias. i'd try to be charitable but i don't see why i should when no one involved in the writing of dickbabs is charitable towards my faves so 🤷

i love love love stelfreeze's art! he's drawn babs in something else i read and i loved it then and i love it here!

i adore dick and babs' friendship, so the beginning is really sweet and cute. i also love the concept of baby!dickie being obsessed with watermelons and wanting to eat them forever

dewey decimal system!!! librarian babs reference!! fdjkh she's such a nerd i love it

babs trying to talk about romance and dick's like 'lol nah what abt fighting' lmao

i Do Not like babs hitting dick while talking abt 'i was segueing into talking about romance, hint hint'

this is romance? dick giving exactly 0 fucks?

why are these writers obsessed with hinting at dick and donna??? like first dixon and now grayson??? please stop!!!! i do love how he says he loves her bc 🥺🥺🥺 i love them

ur not being slick having babs call donna 'donna' and kory 'starfire', i see you grayson. i see ur hate for kory.

and reducing kory to just her body, and dick's sexual attraction to her boils my blood

i'm choosing to interpret babs's face in that panel as her being attracted to kory too

i do like that dick talks about being in love with kory, and thinking about still being with her. a) i'll take those crumbs, and b) thats how i see dick's relationship to love as being (though devin views him as kinda flighty and unfaithful so idk how we're agreeing on this lmao)

pls stop talking shit abt huntress devin, ur the one who made dick/hel a thing

since devin loves her brudick subtext, i'm side-eyeing the mention of bruce there

also why are we hinting at cass pls stop

babs being jealous and petty pls stop

the ending was smooth i have to admit it. if it was any other ship i'd probs love it but as it is, i'm tired of everyone else being downplayed in favour of the ~babs is dick's true loooooveee, it's always been herrrrr, from the beginningggggg~

i don't mind babs being dick's first crush though, in fact that's my hc for him because hello?? who wouldn't have a crush on babs??

thank you mr stelfreeze for accurately portraying babs' bitchface bc she's being a petty bitch here (and i love her but lmaooo i hate this whole thing)

next is the files on the bludhaven pd and i do not caaaare

then there's a timeline, but i don't care about any timeline that dixon writes. i'm petty though so i'm gonna read it and talk abt why i don't like the retcons.

i hate the dickbabs reference in YEAR FUCKING 3 jfc. pls stop with the retcons.

also lmao the difference between the way dick's canon relationship from that time is described in the shittiest way possible (though reluctant at first, dick begins a long and tumultuous romance with teammate starfire.) and how he wrote dick and babs' relationship (robin first teams with ... barbara in her guise as batgirl. the two will pair time and again over the course of their careers and develop a burgeoning affection for one another) this was at a time when they weren't even remotely interested in each other!!! there was no affections there dixon! no matter how much you wish it to be true!! and again the contrast with 'starfire' and 'barbara'! like it's dehumanising and i hate it.

and he can't even bother to get the new teen titans' team name right.

no mention of kory's importance in dick becoming nightwing, nope we ignore that bc it's thanks to superman now.

stepping away from the way he hates kory to talk about the way he hates jason! jason's described as a 'troubled orphan' and a 'juvenile delinquent'.

no mentions of how jason and dick bonded but as soon as tim gets introduced he talks about how dick and tim 'switfly bond as brothers'.

another incredibly impersonal description of dick and kory's relationship (the wedding of dick grayson and kory anders (aka starfire) is aborted by the rogue titan raven. dick and kory soon part company and dissolve their relationship.) but at least he calls her kory this time.

also i love how he speeds up through all the 'non important' development for dick but spends a whole page talking about all the bullshit he's been writing for nightwing. i understand why, but it's just lmaooooo 🙃 when you read it like that, it really shows how shitty this comic is.

talks of the 'doomed relationship' between dick and hel and i really hate it pls stop

the last page is dick's evaluation by the police academy and i do not care so i'm skipping it too.