#I love analyzing canonically stupid characters

[literallyroselacroix]

Here’s another yap session, it’s screenshotted because. Reasons.

[rubberduckyrye]

Okay in all seriousness. There's something that I REALLY want to talk about as an open discussion with the fandom, but. This is not going to be a very nice thing to hear/talk about.

It's about how Gonta is treated by the fandom.

As a fan of all the V3 characters now, and as someone who has always been a fan of Gonta, and as someone who has many mental disabilities and two diagnosed neurodivergancies... I'm tired of playing nice about it.

You all need to stop being ableist towards Gonta.

I've mentioned in the past that I don't like shitting on personal interpretations. I don't like saying something is or is not canon because narration is just a big web of text that you try to decipher with your own personal biases, experiences, and thoughts. That's why two literary analysts analyzing the same text with the same literary criticism rules can come to wildly different conclusions--why people develop different headcanons from the same canonical information.

But one of the things that challenged my integrity is just how many people view Gonta as this innocent, naive, ignorant, baby boy who can do no harm/never has a complicated/dirty/violent/sexual thought in his life ever.

This incredibly ableist interpretation of the character bothered me for, well, obvious reasons (See: It's fucking ableist, need I say more?) but I never challenged it as harshly as I am now because to be frank, it's not my place to tell people how to HC a character. It still isn't. But I've pretty much given up on my integrity on the subject and have decided to go all in on discussing why this interpretation of Gonta is just. Really bad.

First of all, not to promote my own analyses here or anything, but I think this analysis I did of Gonta explains a LOT in regards to the ableism the cast gives him in canon. I also think that this subtle ableism is why the fandom is so bad with Gonta's characterization in headcanons and fanfic--because they've seen how the cast treats him, and they think it's normal. They don't see the microaggressions, they don't see the subtle ableism in the cast--they just see this big giant idiot who speaks like Tarzan in the English version (which... I don't actually know why people assume Tarzan (Thinking of Disney's version) is stupid. Like as a boy he had to reinvent the spear with no one to guide him on how to do it. He was able to strategize and outsmart "civilized" men in the final showdown. Still I digress) and don't see the literal genius behind his social awkwardness.

There is also another very important point I'm going to make in addition to this, and it's going to be very uncomfortable to Gonta fans who insist he's nothing but a sweet baby who only has pure thoughts. Especially to the fans who insist he "can't be sexual" or think it's weird to ship him with his peers.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but... Gonta blatantly has sexual desire and gets horny right in canon.

This is further clarified here:

It wasn't a matter of Gonta didn't want to touch her because touching someone in their underwear was inappropriate, or being flustered because she was in her underwear which is inappropriate...

It was literally a "weird feeling" that made him unable to approach her or touch her. A "weird feeling" that Miu makes pretty obvious as to what it was--sexual arousal.

He literally was sexually attracted to and felt sexual arousal from looking at Miu in her underwear. He had sexual feelings and thoughts about Miu. Why?

Because Gonta is a young man.

Gonta is a brilliant, talented young man who has normal human thoughts for someone his age--sexual desires, upsetting thoughts, complicated thoughts, ectect. He is not a child, he is not mentally stunted (I've been informed that people have literally said this on Ao3 for the NSFW Gonta fics, please for the love of god stop that)

I think the reason why Gonta fans typically want to keep him as a "pure baby child who can do no wrong" is because treating him like the young adult that he is makes it harder for them to justify Chapter 4. Every time I've seen a Gonta fan that hates Kokichi, it's always followed by the sentiment of "Kokichi manipulated and abused Gonta into killing Miu, so it's all Kokichi's fault." They're afraid of nuance and liking a character with the grey morality of genuinely thinking Mercy Killing the cast is a viable option, because it challenges their own morals about the character they adore.

To those people who read this and are upset: You can and should like Gonta! Gonta is a magnificent character who showcases the subtle way microaggressions can manifest and hurt people, he's a good-hearted person and a literal genius, he cares deeply for his friends and loves everyone with upmost sincerity.

But.

You need to re-evaluate your stance on Gonta if you think he's a stupid, naive fool who Kokichi manipulated. You need to re-evaluate why you think those thoughts, why you think Gonta being shipped with anyone is "Kinda weird" or "has weird consent problems" or "give you the ick." You have to challenge yourself and ask yourself uncomfortable questions in regards to why you treat Gonta like a child when canon has proven otherwise, why you think he cannot have violent or sexual thoughts, why he can't think mercy killing his class is the only way to save them.

This isn't an attack on you--but understand that these specific takes on Gonta? They are ableist in nature. They belittle and dismiss him, they treat him like a child, an idiot who can't think for himself--and you have to come to terms with the fact that Gonta is a far more complex character with complicated thoughts and feelings who is a young adult. Not a child. A young adult.

So again, ask yourself this: Why are you treating this young adult like he's a toddler?

[love-byers]

i had the misfortune of ending up on mileven tiktok by accident and found some gold

dude. how many times do we have to say its not the fact that they're standing next to each other. its the fact that they're standing next to each other when all the other characters are paired off with their significant other with significant space between them. they are SANDWICHED between two couples that they have numerous other parallels with. like you have to be playing dumb if you think we're just saying byler is endgame because they're in the same proximity. and WDYMMMM MIKE ISN'T EVEN LOOKING AT HIM why does that matter?? the whole point is that they're all looking forward at the fucking apocalypse beginning. nancy and jonathan weren't looking at each other, joyce and hopper weren't looking at each other. why does that matter?? and holy shit watching them try to analyze media is hilarious. the byler commenter was very concise an respectful and ofc the mlvn has to be backhanded. no, the 2 minute scene of mike saying i love you is not random, it's actually meticulously crafted so that we're able to tell mike is lying...

uhh because WILL IS THE MAIN FUCKING CHARACTER OF SEASON 5 AND THE WUOLE POINT OF AN ENDING SHOT OF A SEASON IS TO FORESHADOW THE NEXT SEASON???

do they think we're making this up???

he is the center and lead of season 5 and his arc is going to tie the whole series together. but nah they just paired him with mike and left him in the background on the hill just because el needed to be in front. they could've done a million other set ups where it actually comes off that mike and el are a team and in love and want to work together. they could've had those couples together and then had will alone or behind them and done a close up like they did with el in the actual scene, but no, he had to be with mike. and not only is he with mike, he and mike are paired off together and CENTERED. the CENTER of season 5 is CENTERED in the final shot of the season and he is standing with his long time best friend who he is desperately in love with. and all of this is foreshadowing for season 5, which if you've forgotten, is all about connection and finding belonging with others.

"People talk about mythology and The Upside Down, and all that is huge, but the magic of S5 are the characters who find a sense of belonging with other and through that connection, become heroes."

"[Season 5] It's about a group of people who question their value, who find each other, and who find superpowers in connection."

remember when mike beat himself up and questioned his value as a person because he feels weak and powerless and stupid next to el and then will gave him a painting where mike is a literal knight in shining armor and and confessed his own feelings about how mike holds everything together and makes him feel like he's better for being different and gives him the courage to keep fighting and how he'll always need mike and that finally made mike feel reassured

yeah...

alright you guys have to be lying. you can't think of a single reason why people would ship byler?? not a one??? you know what actually, you're right. why on earth would people ship two characters where one is canonically in love with the other, they've been best friends since the first day of kindergarten, they are always a duo, they have a special friendship compared to the others, one said asking the other to be his friend is the best thing he's ever done, one thinks home isn't the same without the other, they hold hands, put their arms around each other, always look out for each other, etc etc ETC. no yeah i don't see it

was the person who confirmed this named mike wheeler...

no yeah we just say random things. those of us using the knowledge we gained in film school/creative writing school to analyze a form of media are just saying random things. i just love making shit up!

mlvns are so silly lol like they really think they know more about film/writing than people who STUDY IT AND DO IT FOR A LIVING

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Love the posts on Harry’s mischaracterisation!! It’s soo soothing to come across Harry appreciation!

How infuriating is it that everything he does, particularly his successful defeat of Voldemort, hinges on Hermione’s guidance. Fic writers out here writing smack like without her, the trio would’ve been lost and aimless. Or how Hermione’s spell repertoire kept Harry alive throughout school. Uhm, ex-bloody-cuse me? And then some fics go to the extremes of even making Harry a pliable weakling who can’t think for himself or make him apologise for coming off as self-righteous and prejudiced against the racist party? 🙄

Honestly, it’s seems less like terrible reading comprehension and more of extreme bias for their fav character, who is definitely so not Harry, and some blatant dislike of him instead. You never see the titular character so severely undervalued and made fun of in other series smh.

Thank you so much! 😊

Harry is my favorite and I can't get how people can dislike him so much after reading the books.

Now, I don't want to put down Hermione. Her spell repertoire and tendency to plan ahead did save their lives multiple times. Ron, also, had his share of clever heroic moments and he got to save the trio's lives too. And so did Harry. All three of them are smart, talented, and capable wizards in their own right. Like, the entire Golden Trio are not average and it's shown to be so repeatedly.

But, Harry is special. He is the main character and the chosen one for a reason. While Ron and Hermione are smart and talented, they don't have Harry's sheer magical talent that's on par with characters like Voldemort and Dumbledore.

Honestly, I find the weak-willed passive Harry more offensive than the unintelligent or magically inept one. Harry is so smart, but one of the most defining aspects of his character is his iron will and strength of character. It's a big aspect of what makes him special. what makes him the main hero. I mean, there's a reason he can naturally resist the Imperius. Harry James Potter is so strong. He goes through so much and is such a good person anyway. He's willing to stand up and keep fighting against impossible odds, and honestly, book!Harry is an inspirational character. There's a lot you can learn from him and aspire to (not everything, but his resilience is truly something to behold).

That being said, I don't think this is unique to Harry Potter (Ron bashing which often mischaracterizes him, for example) or the HP fandom as a whole.

I used to be a huge Percy Jackson fan (I kinda hate everything past the Last Olympian, HOO was not to my liking at all, but I digress). And from what I remember in fics and the PJO fandom when I was there (I think it's worse now, from the bits I see on occasion), it had just as much of a problem as the Harry Potter fandom does. Fanon often portrayed Percy as stupid, or this kind of sunshine character, when he really isn't. Fans complained back when House of Hades came out that Percy was OOC for chocking a goddess with her own blood, and I was sitting there, like, this is the guy that turned his abusive stepdad to stone with Medusa's head when he was 12 — are we really talking about the same character?

Percy in the first 5 books was clever, witty, genuinely funny, but also really bitter. He had loads of spite in him but he also genuinely cared about people and was incredibly loyal to his loved ones. The fandom, just turned him into a happy-go-lucky funny guy who can't get out of a paper bag without Annabeth (the smart love interest). And it infuriated me there too because I liked canon Percy.

I was also, a huge Gravity Falls fan (still am, actually, even if I'm not as hyper-fixated as I was in 2015). When I was in high school, I was in the Gravity Falls cipher-breaking trenches. I was analyzing that show frame by frame and spoiled all the plot twists to my irl friends because I saw the clues (such as predicting who's the author and the stan twins situation after s1 ep19). I actually predicted a good chunk of what's written in the Book of Bill that came out this year with the Bill Cipher psychological analysis I wrote when I was 15. (I feel so vindicated about that. I sent a bunch of quotes from the book to those same irl friends who thought I was overthinking Bill and the finale captioned: "I told you so").

Point is, the main characters of Gravity Falls (Dipper and Mabel) got so mischaracterized by fandom and fics back in the day.

Dipper was often pigeonholed as a goody-two-shoes awkward smart-guy nerd and fans complained he was OOC when he acted more vindictive in season 2, when, in fact, Dipper was always vindictive and could hold a mean grudge. (Dipper Pines, s1 ep8: "Revenge is underrated, that felt awesome!"). Dipper isn't a typical smart-guy character, yes, he's nerdy and clever and socially awkward, but he's also incredibly brave and determined. Honestly, Dipper's determination is his most defining trait, not his intelligence or intellect (which is sometimes more preformative, s2 ep7: "Sometimes I use big words and I don't actually know what they mean, I mean, I'm supposed to be the smart guy"), but I digress.

Mabel was the fandom's punching back around the finale of season 2 and the fandom treated her like a selfish horrible person for acting like a twelve-year-old girl who loves her brother. They made her out to be some kind of awful monstrous person when Mabel is one of the sweetest characters in media ever. She makes mistakes, she is a little selfish at times, but she truly cares about being a good person, about doing good and making people's lives better. Hell her worst confession was her feeling guilty about not loving all her stuffed animals equally and the fandom still called her evil. She also owns up to her mistakes, which is more than many people can say.

So, really, this disdain for the main characters and mischaracterization of them isn't new or unique to the HP fandom. I think it's been part of literature analysis since human literature existed if I'm being honest. It just feels worse now because everyone with an opinion has an internet connection and social media amplifies a lot of bad takes (but also a lot of good takes!). But, yeah, this is a prevalent fandom thing, but it isn't just the HP fandom.

As I said many times before, write and read whatever fanon content you feel like, have fun, but canon exists, and sometimes, canon is better.

[ven0moir]

tw; rant. Once again here to remind everyone that byler not being endgame is, at best, negligent queerbaiting

this is the show where one of the producers said "the UD mythos is important but the heart of the show are its characters and their interconnectedness/family dynamics" or something along those lines AND also said that "very few things are coincidences in this show."

i'd have been ( and i bet a lot of other bylers too ) COMPLETELY FINE without byler even being a possible card on the table. i'd HAVE STILL BEEN A FAN OF THE SHOW without byler! in fact, i WAS--i cared more about el and hopper's rs than i did mike and will's. it wasn't until S4 that i REALLY got invested in the show bc of the promise of will's arc, WHICH INCLUDES MIKE. the way they handled the painting arc, if byler isn't endgame, is literally the most underwhelming thing i've seen.

the only difference that byler makes in my case is that if it hadn't come across as a real possibility, then i would've remained a casual viewer and not think about the show again until it came out, like yknow, most people. so this whole "will they won't they" thing going on makes it feel like a marketing technique to keep people who enjoy byler hooked at the promise of something significant developing there.

this isn't about "oh your ship didn't become canon? tough luck" it's legit that they would ruin their show for me FOR. NO. REASONNNNNN. I WAS ALREADY A FAN!!! I HAD NO BYLER EXPECTATIONS!!! not to mention how shitty it is on the lgbt community. and also, the mass hate bylers would get.

and before you say "its ur own fault for being delusional, they didn't queerbait--" I'm sorry but what Noah is doing IS QUEERBAIT even if he doesn't mean to and the duffers should tell him to stop hinting at byler until post s5 or whatever

im not even going to talk about the show IMPLYING BYLER for ages. for example; dustin telling lucas that he saw him and max holding hands and that meant there were feelings between them even if lucas denied it/said she was just scared vs mike holding will's hand AN EPISODE PRIOR

or the song "on the bus" playing during a lumax scene where they connected vs it playing on a byler scene in s4 using very similar phrasing it's like they're subtly winking at the audience.

the shitty way that mileven finally got their 'i love you' like im sorry it feels so rushed and awkward if this was supposed to be the culmination of mike's arc

i could literally go on and on and on and other bylers could as well so yeah. ugh im sorry for the negativity in the tag but i just REALLY need that to be very clear that byler vs mileven isn't an argument that is ocurring on equal ground and that byler isn't 'just a ship that people analyze too much'

if it was never going to be canon, THERE WAS NO NEED TO HINT AT IT **AT ALL** and THAT is what really grinds my gears. most bylers would still love ST bc our favorite character is WILL. we would've been fine if will's whole thing was telling his best friend he was gay and that's it. like, the bar is on the FLOOR ... me personally? i'll be satisfied with will getting a completed arc in the supernatural and having his moment to shine and bringing the story full circle like WE WERE PROMISED ( unless yknow, people want to call us stupid and delusional for expecting will to be important at all )

what i will NOT tolerate is people being mean to bylers for being upset about byler not being endgame in the end bc WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE. and if you're one of those people sincerely: FUCK YOU. i wish you get exactly what you deserve. thank you for reading and that's it from me

[agoldenblackbird]

i'm gonna be a ranty bitch for a minute.

tbh i'm turned off even reading new buddie fic despite being a multishipper and have unfollowed a bunch of buddie accounts because i'm sick of the smug attitudes. one ask that i am otherwise not going to publish or respond to ended with 'sorry you don't understand media literacy bestie :)' fuck off. listen INFANT, i have been writing fanfic and original fic AND watching, reading and analyzing queer media since before you were born, i understand how character and story development works, and i know the difference between 'storyline i personally disliked' and 'bad writing.' this was BOTH, and it also was marketed to us as 'carefully crafted bi rep' and 'queer love story that is not about a bunch of pain and conflict FOR ONCE' so we have every right to be upset at the bait-and-switch.

the fact that i'm seeing the same exact posts - 'bt bones buddie CANON' that i saw three seasons ago after the bucktaylor breakup, or every time they thought buck and taylor MIGHT break up - says something. the fact that so many fans seem genuinely convinced (STILL!) that buddie is inevitable because there have been so many 'signs,' and then they rattle off a convoluted theory that would make the most hardcore taylor swift stan say 'wow, that's a bit of a reach,' honestly weirded me out a little when i first joined the 911 fandom. i have never been in a fandom where so many fans are insistent that their ship will be - not might be or could be, but WILL be - canon. i am skeptical both from past experience with other shows mishandling queer storylines or ship-baiting, and tim minnear's proven track record with this one of not really knowing what to do with buck's LI's. but i didn't want to yuck anybody's yum, so i let them have their theories and squee in peace, and unfollowed or blocked certain tags if i was seeing too much of it and getting annoyed. it's too out there for me, but i'm glad they're having fun!

yet they can't give us the same courtesy. they deride us as delusional for thinking that a canon pairing that was presented to us both in promo and the show itself as different and important (eg the bobby approval convo and 'buck getting off the hamster wheel') might last, and we're stupid to have ever liked tommy or lou or be disappointed at how the breakup was written, and if we point out the biphobia it's just sour grapes.

the bucktommy breakup is not the first time 911 has started out strong with an interesting storyline and fumbled it in the 4th quarter either because the writers got bored or in the name of needless drama/a 'gotcha' sudden twist. amir & bobby, eddie's fight club arc, the sperm donor SL, hen vs councilwoman ortiz, whatever the hell is going on with harry, the whole mess with shannon/kim, just to name a few. and especially the past couple of seasons, for me since 6b, the pacing has been off. they seem to have too much happening at once and many of the storylines don't have enough room to breathe to be narratively satisfying, or they get resolved in ways that feel lackluster.

if the toxic buddie stans who have been attacking lou on sm and sending death threats (wtf!) actually get what they want, which i admit is possible, but it's certainly not guaranteed….i don't know why they think the writers won't fumble that just as badly. it's not going to happen precisely the way they want it to because it is impossible to please everybody, that's what fanfic is for. but at this point i have zero faith that it would even be well done at all, and zero trust in the writers not to just sabotage or regress a character for funsies, and that's an excellent reason to stop watching the show. in most of my other fandoms i regard canon as a jumping-off point or a blurry outline at best, and i can have just as much fun in the 911 sandbox without any further input from canon at all, once i'm less angry.

[juno-box]

<3 my unpop twdg opinions

As I write my fanfiction, I tend to wonder. Here’s some opinions I leave you to ponder (aka don’t jump me in the streets of Gotham)

1. Instead of the 400 cast we got (Wyatt, Shel, Russell, etc.) we should’ve gotten the Cabin group instead.

A common consensus within the fandom is that the 400 days group was wasted, saved for mere background cameos that remind you that “Hey! Remember these guys from the DLC! They’re here! And… they’re set dressing with a few determinant dialogue lines, sorry.”

Another common thing I hear people say is that the 400 Days group should’ve been the Cabin crew we got in Season 2. Which, I’ll admit would’ve actually made sense. You gave us a lot of compelling mofos in 400 Days (Wyatt & Eddie, Russell & Nate are my favorites) but did really nothing at all with them other than have Becca not like Sarah.

But I never really hear people say that the Cabin crew should’ve been the 400 group we got in the DLC. Which I’ll probably be the 2nd or 3rd person to say it then: we should’ve got them in 400 Days instead.

2. Kenny should not have appeared in Season 2, there I said it.

From the minute Kenny reappeared, he stole the spotlight from the whole cast. Which is a bad thing.

It felt like the “What would appeal to Kenny” game from there on out. Characters became essentially irrelevant. Like Nick, prime example. There is NO difference if you save him in Episode or not—he is a warm body from Episode 3 to 4. And he’s doomed with the infamous off-camera death.

Luke is pretty much AWOL ½ of Episode 3. And when he comes back, he’s… not the same, in my honest opinion. It’s not so much as things are changing and change him in return so much as he doesn’t “act right”.

They disrespected the hell out of poor Sarah. Her second death is forgotten in picoseconds once AJ is born. And knowing that internally the team hated her puts how badly she’s treated in-canon into so much perspective.

But enough about how everyone’s development and attention got soaked up by Kenneth. Let’s talk about how in the same episode he’s reintroduced they nuke his character development from Season 1. I mean they NUKE (pun intended) it all the way back to S1E2 Kenny. He’s selfish, more hostile. Remember how in S1E5 when Kenny goes down to try and rescue Ben? Now jumped to S2E2 and how he remembers it. If you saved Ben in S1E4 then you know exactly what line I’m talking about. That should’ve set off alarm bells to any TWDG analyzer.

Kenny goes on throughout the second season repeating the exact same character arc beats he did the previous season, only worse. He loses a shelter, then a lover, he falls back into a depression, he’s back to being hostile to his group, and only at the end of the season does he do something truly selfless for the final benefit of the protagonist (not referring to him saving Clementine from a beating, I meant the final sacrifice).

What was point of reviving Kenny if you were just going to retell the same story he went through last season? And just factory reset his progress before you did? Now, don’t get me wrong—maybe Kenny could have worked in this season. But focusing so much around him was such a stuuuupid decision because he stole so much cruciality from the new cast and made so many of them irrelevant by accident. I really feel like if the focus was on these new people, in this new group, fleshed out and honed this season would’ve been a bit more better than the legacy it left.

3. The New Frontier is @#$%-ing stupid holy Mackerel-

Okay. So I talk about ANF a lot. It’s a season I have a love/hate relationship with solely because of how easily it could’ve been fixed in my personal opinion. It has so many interesting characters that were absolutely positively fumbled it’s unreal.

But The New Frontier, the big baddies of Season 3, the namesake of the season? Are the most un-fleshed out factions in TWD’s comic universe… holy shit are these people dysfunctional.

Firstly, let’s start with the leaders. Joan, the group mouth piece. She handles contact with surrounding settlements. Other than that it seems like she does… nothing else. That’s not me being hyperbolic—she does nothing else. Which isn’t a bad thing. The community has 4 leaders with 4 specific skillsets. Clinton is the agricultural lead, David’s the head of defense, and Lingard’s in charge of medical.

But why does everyone treat Joan like she’s the HBIC? Aren’t the four of you in charge of Richmond’s council? Why does she get the final say in everything no matter what?

When David takes Javi to meet the rest of the council, Joan and Clint out rule David. Even though the vote should be split because even though he’s not physically present; Lingard said his vote is with whatever David sides with. So that’s 2v2 not 2v1.

Lingard’s "head of" title doesn’t even make sense when you realize there’s only Lingard tending to people in Richmond. How is he head of medical if he’s the only man in medical (prior to meeting Eleanor). Unless there's other medics in Richmond who're just invisible and unseen. But I digress we love our crackhead doctor here.

When you confront Joan the second time in the church, it STILL makes no sense. Where do I even start? The fact that even if you have Max with you and he can PROVE that the raids were not from the guy in-charge of soldiers but from Joan, Clint and Lingard STILL fence sit. Even when Javi reveals TWICE that Joan’s actions got David’s daughter executed, she straight up writes Mariana off as collateral. How did neither Clint nor Lingard go “...Hold on a second, JOan that's uncool.”

Joan cannot be THAT manipulative when the proof in the black forest gateau is sitting you guys right in the face. I could see if I killed Max, meaning the only guy who would be willing to confess wasn’t even alive. Then sure yeah, the cards aren’t in my favor.

But I have proof, Joan ADMITS IT, and yet Lingard’s too whipped to say anything that’ll help out the guy who saved his life, and Clint’s a bonafied dunce for some reason. I don’t even understand why Clint was fence sitting in the first place, he has no motive other that the "plot demands he doesn’t intervene".

The hypocrisy is insane with them, too. The most notable case being The NF vs. Clementine.

So Clementine’s in the wrong for (determinantly) stealing meds for AJ. Alright, I’ve written before how I see where the New Frontier is coming from in my David woobifying post a while back. Okay, stealing is wrong. Yeah.

But then that all falls out the window when your ONLY doctor is getting white boy wasted presumably off the community’s supply of meds. The holier-than-thou committee cannot play the “no thieves” card when your head doctor is OD’ing on half of the goddamn Percocet supply in the medical tent. It just doesn’t work.

And it REALLY doesn’t work when you, David, already KNOW that he does that shit! Often! Insert obligatory David x Lingard quip here, but in all realness you cannot acknowledge Lingard is the biggest meds thief in the New Frontier and try to hide him and his dirty laundry before the other’s see him then turn around and pretend that Clementine’s the one bleeding your pockets dry and ruining your trust.

Feel absolutely free to add onto these opinions of mine bcause I refuse to be alone on this

[demaparbat-hp]

I used to just think Zutara was cool because Zuko and Katara had that whole fire-water duality, had more chemistry with each other than their canon love interests, Kataang gave me this sexist pseudo-incestuous vibe while Mai was just way too under-developed to interest me (Zuko gets the most character development out of all the characters but they pair him off with the most boring character in the series?).

Now when I actually think about it more deeply, Zutara genuinely made more sense for the narrative and characters too. Aang was told he had to let go of Katara so he could become a fully realized Avatar but then he just gets a deus ex machina so he doesn't have to. They dropped an entire arc just for Kataang to get together and made it happen in the most stupid way. The lion turtle deus ex machina was already badly done but at least it sorta made sense with the lore. The rock was just beyond ridiculous. Aang solved his problems by randomly hitting a rock even though they already established how Aang had this unhealthy attachment to Katara because she was his coping mechanism for his lost people. Instead of letting her go, Aang keeps that attachment and becomes even more possessive of her. He never learns to prioritize the world over Katara even though it is his duty as the Avatar! He didn't have to sacrifice or learn anything to achieve his goals and the way he became a fully realized Avatar NEVER made any sense. Katara and Aand were not always intended to end up together if you look at the IP Bible. Katara goes back to the SWT to help rebuild it while Aang goes looking for the hidden Air Nomads. There's hints early on in Book 1 that the Air Nomads are still alive (like how Aang was able to get a bison whistle from some merchants but they never explain where they got it from).

Meanwhile the whole Maiko relationship seemed like it was a metaphor to represent Zuko's false destiny and dissatisfaction with his life since Mai encouraged him to sink into his bad habits and ignore everything else, and Azula actively encouraged them to get together so she could control Zuko easier and keep him in the Fire Nation. Zuko leaving Mai behind felt like him embracing his true destiny. This entire thing falls apart when they get back together though, and them being so toxic in the comics is just further proving how dysfunctional they are (like, do they think this is going to sell us on the ship?). I also thought it was strange that apparently Zuko and Mai liked each other since they were kids but Mai never bothered to write him his entire banishment, Zuko never thought about her, Iroh never mentions her, Zuko was totally fine with going on a date with Jin (which Iroh also encouraged), and Iroh thought Zuko and Katara would make a good couple as soon as he saw them interacting as friends. It makes me think Bryke just created Mai and put her with Zuko as a way to discourage Zutara shippers but then forgot to develop her properly. Zuko doesn't even think about Mai after she risked his life to save him lol.

I'm about to make this a long answer, sorry about that :)

I love narrative, and I love to analyze how it is built. Narrative is the way a story is shaped to express its themes. Narrative is using the events within the story to build metaphors. Narrative is the smart foreshadowing, the parallels, the foils. Narrative is intentional, until it isn't.

I am not a professional. I do not have a college degree on this subject. I just like to think about what can make writing be great or lacking. I am merely expressing my personal opinion on this show and these characters, not stating an universal truth.

ATLA is such a well-written show. It treats its themes maturely and builds the story and characters masterfully. Of course, it isn't perfect, as nothing made by human hands is meant to be. ATLA has issues with its storyline and characters and, ultimately, with the narrative itself.

Aang's character arc is different to Zuko's in that, while Zuko's is focused on change, Aang's ultimately ends with him standing his ground. (And isn't that poetic? That in order to grow they need to embrace the philosophy of their opposite element?)

Zuko was forced to change in order to survive from a very young age. He learned to suppress his true, compassionate nature, to become The Perfect Prince���that which Azula embodies. When Zuko fails to do this, he is burnt and tossed away and forced to change once more. He has been hurt and thus is the farthest he has ever been from his true self—Zuko almost forgets who he is.

Zuko's arc, in that way, is similar to Aang's. It's about staying true to himself, but also about learning, about opening his eyes to the horror and using that same passion he has always had to do the right thing. Zuko changes, not into the person he was, but into someone who could, in the future, turn into the better version of himself.

Aang is different. Aang is a child born into peace, who does not have the personal, terrible experience of his people's genocide or the hundred years of war that have left the world wrecked. Aang's arc is about changing and learning and adapting to this new reality, about accepting his role as the Avatar. But it's also about standing firm and saying, "This is who I am, this is where I come from—pain will not break me".

Aang's struggle to control the Avatar State was all about that. The Avatar State meant that Aang lost control. It meant the pain and the hurt had turned him into a thing of anger (righteous as it was) and instinct and awe. Aang needed to be at peace with himself in order to control the Avatar State.

That tiny rock at the final battle felt like an easy way out. It felt like taking from the sheer terror of watching yourself almost kill a man as if from afar. The real moment of triumph for Aang in the finale happened when he stopped. It happened when he took control back and ended the Avatar State, stopping himself from betraying what he believed in.

Was not killing Ozai truly the best choice? I won't get into that debate. I know where I stand on it, but it's not really the point I'm trying to make here.

Aang's triumph, character-wise, happens when he stands his ground and refuses to abandon who he is and what he believes in. And for someone whose flight or fight response almost always turns to flight, this is a huge deal.

Now, where do Katara and Mai stand on this?

It has always been clear to me (even as a Maiko shipper) that Mai was always supposed to be a narrative device. Her relationship with Zuko is supposed to give us, the viewers, and him, another reason to see that this isn't the life he wants, that everything isn't perfect even when it should be on paper.

Zuko goes back home. Zuko is welcomed by his nation with open arms. He is revered. Loved. His father tells him he is proud of him. Zuko has a doting girlfriend—a beautiful, noble girl who can kick his ass and is everything a Fire Prince could wish for. She is adequate and things with her are easy, untroubled. Zuko has everything he could wish for.

And yet he is not happy.

Mai and Zuko have issues that should not be pinned fully on either of them. They had trouble comunicating. They wanted different things in life. They had different ways to look at the world. Different ways to look at each other. Different ways to cope. Different ways to express themselves. Different expectations.

And that's okay. It's possible to make a relationship like that work. Nobody is perfect and no relationship is flawless. Opposites attract and it's possible to find a middle ground in which they can both be happy.

Except they never truly did.

Mai and Zuko's relationship was a plot device. One that did its job damn well... Until it didn't.

If your relationship with the girl is supposed to symbolize the lowest point in your life, and going back into being someone you don't like anymore, then why get back to her when the story is over?

As for Katara, well...

Many things have been said about the abandoned Letting Go Of Katara arc. I'd like to avoid that discussion right now, if that's okay.

I think Zuko and Katara's relationship would have made a lot of sense both narratively and thematically, but also (and most importantly) it would have made sense character-wise.

Give them a few years, let them explore the beautiful friendship they had at the end of the series. Let them find themselves and grow into their roles in this different, exciting new world. Let them reconnect.

If they fall in love in the process? Well, maybe it was a long time coming.

[vanillawurld]

༊*·˚West Coast

✧.* Pair - Miguel O'hara x Fem! Reader

✧.* Tags & Warnings - Smut, a little bit of fluff, swearing, kissing, teasing, fingering, sexual choking, slight spanking, degrading and praising, unprotected sex, Y/N's on the cream team, private sex (you'll see what I mean), crying, and creampie. (let me know if I missed anything)

✧.* Summary - Every spider-person in the building assumed that Miguel had left the building to complete a mission since they were unable find him, but little did they know he was too busy secretly fucking his favorite girl behind closed doors...

✧.* Extra - Reader is hinted to be from the West Coast of the U.S. Reader is hinted to being Latina. Reader is hinted of being a variant of Thena from the eternals. Miguel is a tiny bit out of character (and by that I mean a little bit nicer).

✧.* Word Count - 2,256

Miguel never really saw or thought of himself getting close to anyone. It's canon that every time a spider person gets close to someone, they get put them in an immense amount of danger. That's the sole main reason why he never wanted to get close to someone. Until he met her.

"You know Miguel, you're so negative. Why can't you have fun for once?" Y/N asked.

Miguel just ignored her snarky comment. He always said he didn't have time for stupidities and that he had too much work, he couldn't be distracted. There are some moments that people would think he was absent from the building because he's always locked in doing his multiverse work. and this was one of the times people thought he was away.

"Hey, come on. You need a break. You look like you haven't slept in day-"

"That's because I haven't." Miguel interrupted Y/N in an angry annoyed tone.

Y/N just looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows, " Ay, pero no te 'nojes. I'm just suggesting what's best for your health."

"I don't have time for your dumbass comments, Y/N. If you don't have anything useful to say, then don't say anything at all." Miguel replied and continued looking at different scenes from different dimensions.

Y/N just stayed quiet and sulked in the chair she had set next to Miguel. She hated when Miguel would get mad at her, especially if it was her fault. But oh how she loved how hot he looked. Her stomach would twist in guilt at him yelling at her, but she couldn't deny that she would get a little aroused.

A few minutes went by of pure silence. The only noise being made was the noises Miguel's devices were making. Y/N looked up at Miguel and smiled.

"You know, down on the West Coast, we have this saying... How did it go again? Shit, era como 'Late afternoon on the West Coast ends with the sky doing all its brilliant stuff.' " Y/N said. She missed her home in the West Coast. She missed the beautiful beaches and sunny skies. Miguel just looked at her and smirked just a tiny bit. He had forgotten she was pulled from the West Coast. He pulled a chair behind him and sat down to face her. "The West Coast, huh? Escuché que es muy bonito ahí."

Y/N's eyes went wide at him saying that. "Nunca has ido al West Coast?!"

Miguel only shook his head.

The two sat and talked to each other for quite a while to the point where they ignored anyone who tried calling them form their little watch devices. It was strange. Having a full civil conversation with Miguel without him insulting her or getting mad at her was very peaceful to say the least.

The tall male couldn’t deny that he enjoyed his conversation with Y/N. He always admired how courageous she was on her earth. For the love of Aphrodite, her hero name is inspired by the goddess of war and wisdom herself, Athena!

After the two stopped talking, they just looked at each other. Y/N’s eyes gleaming, attracting Miguel.

“Don’t look at me like that.” He whispered.

"Like what?" she innocently said to him.

Miguel stood up from his chair and got closer to the girl. He grabbed her jaw and leaned in, analyzing her face. She was a pretty girl, no doubt. He saw how some of the spider-people would stutter when speaking to her or how they would find anything to compliment her, whether it was her pretty eyes, funny jokes, or elegant fighting skills. They would do anything to make her smile.

That's what pissed O'hara off the most. He always told himself that he was just angry at other bullshit that was from a mission, but the little voice in the back of his head would be telling him he was angry because he was seeing other people trying to get to Y/N. That little voice was always the loudest. Miguel got tired of just staring at her. Their faces were so close to each other. Both O'hara and L/N closed the gap between them and started kissing like crazy.

It was sloppy.

The kiss was sloppy. They didn't have time for all of that slow lovey dovey bullshit. They needed to taste each other. Y/N stood up from her seat to fully experience the messy kiss. Lips moving aggressively. Tongues being shoved down each other's throats. Hands were wandering on each other's bodies.

Miguel pulled away from the kiss and made Y/N sit on a counter so he could stand in the middle of her legs. He started leaving small pecks on her lips all the way down to her collarbone. He loved hearing her whimper. It turned him on even more.

He started stripping her out of her clothes. He needed to see her in all of her glory. Y/N got a little embarrassed at the fact she was fully naked and he was still in his spider-suit, so she rested both of her hands on her private area to cover up a little bit. But Miguel didn't take that reaction very lightly.

He forcefully took her hands away from in between her thighs and slightly bared his fangs. "Don't try to cover now, slut." Miguel snarled.

"It's not fair that im all naked and you're not..." she said in response.

Miguel smirked and stepped back. He started to take off the top half of his suit. His buff figure was insane to Y/N. It's like he was molded by the gods. Miguel went back to kissing her collarbone, but this time his hands started wandering down to her most sensitive area. His fingers immediately started rubbing up and down on her wet pussy, making Y/N whimper.

Miguel looked at Y/N's face and gave her a smug smile. He needed to see more. He immediately shoved two fingers inside her wet hole and started fingering her, loving the sound of her arousal and moans.

"Te miras muy bonita, moaning for me." he whispered in her ear.

Miguel made Y/N fall into tiny pieces whenever she's with or around him. She couldn't help it. His broad strong shoulders and muscular back made her melt like ice cream and his muscles made her face warm like the morning sun.

Y/N's erotic moans made Miguel solid hard. The more she moaned, the faster his fingers kept going. She kept getting louder and louder. She couldn't take it, she needed him inside her, pounding into her like a crazy man and Miguel knew she needed him. He just loved to tease her.

"Miguel, please. I need you."

"What do you need exactly, princesa.

"I need you to fuck me~ Use me however you want~ I'm all yours..." She moaned out.

Miguel pulled his fingers out and stuck them in Y/N's mouth, making her taste her own arousal. He groaned at the sight of her sucking on his fingers, looking at him with those precious eyes that were begging him to fuck her.

He pulled away from her mouth and started taking off the bottom half of the spider suit, leaving him in his underwear. Letting his pretty girl in front of him drool at the sight of his bulge. He pulled out his hard cock and started stroking it a little bit in front of her, teasing her a bit.

"Get off the fucking table and turn around." He demanded, to which Y/N willingly complied to.

He forcefully grabbed the back of her neck and made her bend over, making her whimper at his strength. He lined the tip of his dick on her pussy and slightly pushed in. He knew what he was doing. Don't get him wrong, he wanted the same she wanted. He wanted nothing more to just pound into her until she forgot her own name, but he loved to see her all worked up.

Y/N started backing up a tiny bit so she could feel more of him inside her, but Miguel didn't like that. He slapped her ass cheek to make her stop, making Y/N moan at the impact. "You can't wait to get fuck, huh chiquita? You want me to fuck you? Yeah?" he teased.

Y/N whimpered and kept telling him yes. "Please fuck me, I need you inside m-" she was cut off by her own pornographic moan since Miguel shoved himself inside with no warning. He groaned at the feeling of her walls hugging his dick so tightly.

He started pounding into her, making her moan loudly. He suddenly remembered that people in the building thought he was absent from the building, and if they hear Y/N's sweet moans from inside his working headroom, they will know something is up and barge in. Miguel leaned forward and grabbed Y/N's throat and pulled her upper body towards his chest.

"Shut the fuck up. I don't need anyone barging in on me fucking you. Unless you want that to happen since you're moaning so fucking loud like a whore." he groaned in her ear. Y/N could only moan in response. The pleasure she was feeling in her body was too good.

"No? You don't want to listen?" Miguel started pounding into her even harder, making her scream in pleasure. The pleasure was starting to become too much for Y/N to the point where she started feeling tears build up in her eyes. Her vision started to become blurred so she closed her eyes and felt the tears fall from her eyes.

"You're such a good girl, baby. Taking me so well like a fucking slut." He praised. He started to leave little kisses on her cheek and had his unoccupied hand travel down to rub her puffy clit. He looked down to watch his cock disappear and reappear with every thrust he made and with every thrust he made, he realized Y/N was creaming more and more. To the point that it started reaching his fingers that were rubbing her clit.

The sight of Y/N creaming made O'hara's thrusts more aggressive. His groans started to become louder and louder. Everything was going smoothly and full of pleasure until Y/N's little watch started ringing, indicating someone was calling her. Miguel's thrusting didn't slow down though, he didn't care.

"Answer it." he demanded.

Y/N's eyes widened, "B-But-"

"But nothing, answer it or I'll stop fucking you."

Y/N's shaky hand pressed the button to answer the call and answered it like how anyone would answer a regular phone call. "Y/N, it's me." A voice called out.

Ben.

Ben fucking Reilly.

The Spiderman that would take his flirting with Y/N a little too far for Miguel. "H-hey Ben! Is there a r- oh fuck - reason why you're calling?" Y/N tried answering without sounding suspicious.

Ben let out a dramatic sigh, "Yes, there is actually." He dramatically said. Ben was a very dramatic Spiderman. Some spider-people would call him a wannabe anime character from how much he exaggerates things.

"Well what is-" "I just wanted to-" they both spoke at the same time. Ben let out another dramatic sigh, "Y/N, please. Don't interrupt."

Y/N brought her hand up to her mouth to try and hide the moans she wanted to let out so badly. "Y/N, I wanted to call you and ask you out on a very amazing date. I think you are the woman of my dreams and I need a strong woman like you by my side." Ben dramatcially said.

That was the final straw for Miguel.

Miguel gripped both of his hands on Y/N plump ass and started pounding into her even harder, making Y/N's tears come down even more. Y/N's grip on her mouth tightened even more, in fear of letting out a moan and ruining everything.

"Is that a yes or a no, princesa," Miguel whispered as he smirked. He forcefully took her hand off her mouth for her to answer. Y/N didn't want Ben to know Miguel was drilling into her. That would be so embarrassing.

"I-I'm sorry, Ben! I can't t-talk right now" she tried her best to say. Ben let out another dramatic sigh, "But why, Y/N?"

"Because she's busy," Miguel said out loud. He pressed the hang-up button and continued his vicious pounding. Y/N began to feel a strange but pleasurable feeling in her abdomen and so did Miguel.

"Fuck, Miguel~ I'm gonna cum~"

"Yeah? You wanna cum, baby?~" Miguel teased. Y/N moaned in response and didn't have time for his teasing. She let out her final erotic moan and came. She came all over his cock. Miguel came shortly after and filled Y/N up with his load.

Miguel groaned and let his upper body softly lay on Y/N's back, giving it little kisses. They stayed like that until their gasps started to slow down. Miguel pulled out and watched as his cum started coming out of her pussy. Running down her thigh and some even dropping to the floor. He smiled at his accomplishment.

"Okay, are you two done now!? I have some very important data I need to run and I've been waiting patiently!" a voice said, making Miguel and Y/N snap their necks to the right to see the iconic female hologram.

"Lyla, you scared the shit out of us, a-and why are you turned around?" Miguel asked confusingly.

"Because I don't want to see both of you naked! Hurry up and get dressed I need your monitor to run some data!"

˖◛. *. ⋆ Vanilla Speaks

Can you tell that i like lana del rey

also me fighting the urge to add Salvadoran slang because I'm salvadoran...

+ Ay, pero no te 'nojes - Oh but don't get mad

+ era como - It was like

+ Escuché que es muy bonito ahí - I heard it's very beautiful over there

+ Nunca has ido al - You've never been to

+ Te miras muy bonita -You look very beautiful

+ princesa - Princess

+ chiquita - little thing/ little one

[hyuga-eyes]

NaruSasu is not a bad ship, the problem is that Naruto fandom decided to make it as if it was religion. If you support any other ship with Naruto and Sasuke you are immediatly attacked, and the most shocking thing is that some people truly believed that Naruto and Sasuke would be together in the end. As if NaruSasu would be romantically canon. I mean, really? Did you really think it would happen? Really? In our homophobic 2000s world?

I'm not saying that if it was canon that it would be a bad thing, actually, I think it would be amazing cause they do have chemestry even though I don't ship it. What I'm saying is that we should have some common sense here. It would never happen.

The fact that Sakura and Hinata are getting so much hate just prove it. Even Karin gets hate sometimes. People are completely frustrated that Naruto and Sasuke are not fucking each other canonly. They are attacking female characters for nothing. Really, all your arguments are just stupid and I'm tired of people distorting the main plot of the manga. I'm tired of people pretending that Naruto and Hinata didn't have their moments together when they do have. If you don't like it then that's okay, it's your problem, but they do have important developments together whether you like it or not.

I agree that Sakura and Sasuke together has some problems the same way as NaruSasu, and it is one of the reasons of why I don't ship it because I think Sasuke is extremely toxic. But I'm really tired of people pretending that Sakura got pregnant with her finger as if Sasuke has nothing to do with it. People keep saying they are stuck in unhappy marriages, and that Naruto and Sasuke were forced to marry them like, really, what prove do you have about it? Because if no one sends me manga panels made by Kimishomoto himself showing Sakura and Hinata pointing knives at Sasuke and Naruto forcing them to get married, then I'm not gonna believe you.

And don't start with that shitty argument about Neji's death and Naruto feeling forced into something, there's no way to prove anything through this except that Neji was an important person for both of them. Anything else is just your distorted perception.

I'm also thinking about making a long post analyzing Sasuke character explaining that he does have difficulty showing love because of the traumas he suffered and how this reflects on his relationship with Sakura and their daughter. After all, you can't kick a dog and expect it not to bite anyone. But only if I'm in a good mood to do it.

[asarigg]

🍁🌺 KOUJAKU ESSAY 🌸❤

As I mentioned a while ago I started making a compilation of different symbolic elements in Koujaku’s design. I didn’t have planned to make it too long, simply pointing out the different elements, but to be honest it kind of got out of hand.

In summary, I also talk about some key points in his story, his personality, and his relationship with Aoba. I’ve tried to be as canon loyal as possible, but I also speculate when analyzing. I was also doubting if I should be including headcanons, but since I’m already doing speculation which is basically just headcanons, I thought why not.

One of the reasons I made this document was because I had a few KouAo comics I made for myself and wanted to have my references closeby and do some investigation, but after a little while compiling things I thought it would be exciting to share it with others, since I don’t talk to anyone due to shyness. I’d love to share this file slowly in my social media as well and know what you think about what I wrote here, you can let me know via DM, tumblr ask or my strawpage (although strawpage would be only for twitter and bluesky).

I have to add that I have no relation with Japanese culture or the religions referenced, so there can be wrong info. If you notice and you don’t mind telling me I’d love to correct it. Moreover, with this idea in mind my plan is to keep changing this file as needed, either adding or editing what’s being talked about here.

There are also quite several parts that I didn’t really had the intention to include because I thought they were too obvious and I honestly felt stupid explaining certain details, but the fact that I’ve seen more often than not people being dead serious about the most unhinged takes of his character I feel kind of obliged to over explain. There are probably other parts or ideas that I’ll repeat in several places, but it’s hard to avoid given the way that it’s organized. I also wasn’t sure if I should add some of the complaints and critiques I had about his character, or should I say NC (if I sound like I hate them, it’s because I do). I’m doing this out of love for this character and kind of felt wrong to do this, but every single thing that I have a complaint about is because it can be improved and talking about the possibilities and the implications is important in order to have a complete essay about him. I’ll defend Koujaku to death and to be honest most if not all the things that irk about him are NC’s fault anyway. We came here to play. *gets shot

I'll be making different posts sharing everything separately but for now here's the entire document if you want to start reading. Of course there are mentions of child abuse and s*xual abuse

[beauty-and-passion]

This is going to sound really strange but the most recent GRWM video has. Some of the best Janus characterisation I think we’ve seen in a while?? Also he canonically sheds now, so

You are not wrong, anon: this is the best characterization in a while. It's way better than the last one, in which Janus was mostly a drunk idiot, and it's way worse than SvS. This one sits in the middle: it's not bad, it's not amazing. It's good.

Just like Mr. Sanders' last videos regarding Sanders Sides, this GRWM is okay. Not groundbreaking, not impressive, not deep, not stupid. Just okay.

And trust me, this is the best possible outcome! When I found out Thomas was planning a video with Janus and it was a GRWM and Janus had questions to answer... I wasn't just scared, oh no. I was absolutely terrified. I feared to see the destruction of Janus' character. I feared to see him being all like: "YASSS QUEEN all I love is WINE and nothing else, also being SASSY is my religion BIATCH".

And we got a bit of that, sure. But it was a bit, not the avalanche I expected. I was bearable.

After all, this is just a random video. There's nothing plot-related here. Heck, there's not even too much Sanders Sides stuff, because this GRWM clearly was Thomas' attempts to reconnect with the character. I shouldn't care too much about it. I shouldn't overanalyze it.

But you know me: you know I love to over-analyze. And if you know me, you also know that Remus is my favorite child, but Janus has a special place in my heart and if one little thing about him is off I will start rambling.

Hence why I will overanalyze the shit out of these 9 minutes of a video and I will do what I shouldn't do, i.e. look back into the past's characterization. Not for shaming Mr. Sanders for not remembering it (even if the videos still exist and he can watch them too if he wants), but to remind you all of Janus' personality. The public needs to remember what kind of character he was and who he became.

So I'll over-analyze everything and no, you can't escape. You're stuck with me here, so put your seatbelt on, because you're in for one of the things I love the most: talking about Janus.

The importance of nuance

Let's talk about make-up a little bit. Don't worry, by the end you will understand my point.

The current make-up isn't even comparable to the past one. And if a lot of people complain about it and prefer the old one, it's not because they're all demanding: it's because of nuances.

Let me explain and let's start with the current photo Mr. Sanders showed to promote the GRWM video:

If you look at this make-up, your eyes will inevitably be drawn towards that sharp black line. And as soon as you will look at it, you will immediately register it as a drawn line.

It's so clear and so evident it's a line, I can literally see the black liquid eyeliner, the tip and the hand tracing that line on Thomas' skin.

But this line isn't supposed to be a line: it's supposed to be/resemble a snake's mouth.

Now, look at the past make-up:

The line isn't sharp black: the line is nuanced. You can see a bit of brown and a hint of red/pink to give it depth and emphasize the shadow.

Also, this color is very similar to the little shadow given by Thomas' upper lip on the lower one, so it looks more natural against his skin tone. It doesn't seem like something added on him, but on something that was already part of him. And isn't that the goal of make-up? To add something and disappear, so people won't notice it exists in the first place?

Look at the eye as well: the past one is a softer, more nuanced pink. It looks more natural, against Thomas' skin tone. The present one is so dark, it looks more like a bad bruise.

So the problem with the current make-up isn't just that the colors aren't the same: it's that the current colors are too much. They're too sharp, too saturated and, consequently, too fake. It's clear that Thomas wears make-up, while in the past the blend was softer, the colors closer to Thomas' actual complexion. Consequently, the make-up faded and gave us an illusion of reality.

I know Mr. Sanders had skin conditions and everything, but I'm talking about colors and nuances here. Two things a make-up artist should know better than me, an idiot on the Internet who loves art, color theory and learns from artists on the web. You can obtain these things independently of the used products.

So my opinion on the make-up would be: please Mr. Sanders, switch for softer tones, no sharp black and no coral. Too much. Nuance is the key.

And not just for make-up.

---

The fakeness of reality tv

Janus enjoys reality television because nothing about it is real. His specific words are:

I very much enjoy reality television: the scheming, the plotting, the lying. Every person for himself and even on top of that, all of the production none of reality television is actually real. It's just delightful.

I get the idea behind it and I understand why Thomas thought it was a good choice. On paper, it works: Janus should enjoy this kind of show because it's made of lies and he's Deceit.

But if I follow this line of thought, I inevitably meet with Janus from Into the Unknown:

[Patton]: Well yeah I guess you'd like it, everyone all dressed up, disguised as someone else... [Janus]: How is it we've had so many of these visits and you still know so little about me?

Janus himself said that not everything associated with lies is something he enjoys. And it makes sense, because Logan too said the same thing in the last Aside:

"Is that all I am to you? The reading guy?"

So now I'm asking: why does he like reality tv? Just because it's fake? Then why is he so happy about it being fake? Reality tv should represent reality, it should mirror how society works. And thanks to SvS, we know Janus doesn't hold society into high consideration:

[Deceit]: Society itself is a lie! (...) You get enough people to share a piece of land and breathe the same air and... you've got a society. Why? It's just a bunch of people in the same general area. It's an abstract concept, as real as the monster under your bed! But we obey these rules or get punished for breaking them. All in the name of society. It's absurd and terrifying.

Just like society, reality tv has a group of people put together and they make a society. It's an abstract concept, as real as the monster under your bed. And these people must obey the rules or get punished for breaking them.

And yet, Janus doesn't think reality tv is "absurd and terrifying", but "delightful".

Again: why does he like it? Why does he like something so similar to what he hates most?

Maybe you can live with the "It's fake" explanation and that's good for you. But what if instead of liking reality tv because "it's fake", Janus likes it, because it perfectly mirrors the flaws and the emptiness of society? What if he enjoys it, because he loves the irony of society using its own means to unmask itself and show its real face? What if he watches it, not because "it's delightful", but because it's bittersweet to see such an inability to understand your own flaws?

Which explanation do you think is more fitting for his character?

---

Remus eats glue sticks

Of course he does. His digestive system is probably able to digest molten lava, so glue sticks are a walk in the park for him, bless his chaotic soul <3

(Have I already said Remus is my favorite boi?)

---

The possibilities of shedding

Okay, the "Have you considered not having pores?" is hilarious and I love it on multiple levels.

Well, here we are. Janus sheds, two to four times a year. And I know the fandom went crazy over this and I'm happy for you... but I never really cared too much about it.

I mean: it's fine, but I can't really think of anything truly special to headcanon about it. Snakes shed their skin all the time and they just chill around, while slowly peeling their skin off. It's not dangerous, it doesn't hurt, it's just exfoliation time✨. I mean, does it hurt you, when you remove sunburnt skin? Don't think so. The worst thing for snakes is probably not being able to take the skin off with hands, since they don't have hands.

But hey, this is canon now, so I should probably integrate it in my headcanon. And I can do it in two different ways:

The shedding is just part of Janus' routine: twice a year he gets one day off, takes a reeeeally long bath and slowly peels off his skin until he's done.

I can take inspiration from this fanart and imagine the shedding as a real "leaving your body behind" process, in which Janus slowly gets submerged into his room and re-emerges as a form of pure power and instincts, which then solidifies into a new body. I think I like this idea more, because when I go with Janus, I need something that makes him look either more god-like or more monster-like.

And since we're talking about snake traits, how many more does he have? Because I already added a few on my list, like:

sunbathing

climbing trees

laying everywhere (especially on trees)

taking long relaxing baths

And I'm just waiting for an excuse to add "mating". But I suppose only future will tell.

---

What you don't like

"An important aspect of being oneself, in addition to knowing what you like, is knowing what you don't like and saying to that thing: ew get away from me, I don't like you... Roman"

Okay, that was genuinely funny and it made me smile, so kudos for that, Mr. Sanders. It was a clever move and I enjoyed it.

Also, for more reasons I will explain further down, this makes me want to write a conversation between Janus and Roman, to study how they work together, why they don't like each other and their personalities in general. My only problem would be to put it on a timeline, because I don't like to write things suspended in a temporal vacuum. If inspiration strikes, maybe I'll do it.

---

Religion... and self-preservation

Now, I don't know who made that question about Jesus Christ, but you. You. You gave me real fear... but also indirectly confirmed one of my headcanons, so thank you, I suppose.

I was bracing myself, waiting and hoping Thomas didn't say anything stupid, because Janus and religion have a super tight bond and one misstep can lead to me rambling for the rest of my life, all while throwing canon into the trash because no one can say anything wrong about the relationship Janus has with religion, not even Mr. Sanders.

But the answer was... okay. Harmless. A bit simplistic, maybe, but I can accept Janus saying that Jesus is cool for having followers and turning water into wine.

What really struck me the most was when he said Jesus is his style because "he refuses to die".

For me, that's the most important part of the video. You can take away everything else, because this is the only part that matters for me.

Why? Because this is the essence of self-preservation. Because, as I said in the past, self-preservation is that force that protects you from dangers, threats, even yourself. And it protects you from death. It's part of that intrinsic will to live that defines all living creatures.

So, since Janus encompasses this role too, it has always been implied (at least for me) that he's that force that will fight against death until the end, just to make Thomas live a little longer. In my headcanon, he literally refuses to think Thomas can die before his time, because he's built to not make this happen.

Hence why when I saw Janus putting such emphasis on the idea that Jesus refuses to die made me immensely happy, because it's (implied) canon. Janus refuses to die, because he will never surrender to death. Because it's his nature, to never surrender to it.

---

Deceit or Ego?

The snake telepathy part was fun when mentioned, then it was followed by the "memememe I'm gorgeous" part, which is perfect if you're the representation of Ego, a bit less if you're deceit.

Speaking of that, I think there's a bit of confusion in Thomas' mind regarding these two aspects. And since they're represented by two different Sides, the contrast is even more jarring.

Janus is confident and this is part of his personality. But confidence isn't repeating "me" in your head 400 times and telling yourself that you're gorgeous and handsome even when sitting still. This isn't confidence, this is Ego. This is something Roman could say to himself... and he did it, in the past. He looked at himself all the time, called himself gorgeous, asked if his makeup was okay because the prince's gonna slay, said he dramatically serenaded himself in front of the mirror. All these things are a constant reconfirmation of yourself and this is what the Ego does: it constantly reconfirms you're great and cool and gorgeous.

Confidence, on the other hand, doesn't need constant confirmations. If you're confident, you already know you're great, you don't need to repeat it yourself. You just do your things and if others criticize you, you shrug their reprimands off.

One example of confidence from this video? This part:

"What are my guilty pleasures?" Guilty pleasures? Why would a pleasure be guilty? I've got none of those. Indulge in your pleasures guilt-free, people: life is short.

This proves Janus is confident, WAY MORE than him repeating how cool he is. This is the tone he should've had for most of the video, not that "Oh, look at how cool I am".

Also because it may seem a paradox, but the more you repeat how cool you are, the less people will believe you. That's why people who constantly show off are perceived as weak and insecure: because they search for a constant reconfirmation they would probably never need, if they were truly confident.

---

All of the selfcare - and what else?

Aside from the things I already mentioned, the rest of the video is mostly made of advice like "your opinion is the only one that matters/others are less than you/don't give a shit about others".

I don't know if this is Mr. Sanders making a reminder to himself to not indulge in criticism too much, but okay, let's ignore it XD

These pieces of advice can all be traced back to another aspect of Janus' personality: the self-care one. The last canonical one.

And since it's the last, I can understand why Thomas latched onto it and made it be like 60% of the video. It's probably the part of Janus' character he remembers the most.

And it's the easiest too, along with the "sassy" aspect. Put them together and you get the sassy queen who tells you to relax dear, don't give a fuck about the rest of the world.

So I understand you, anon, when you say this is the best characterization in a while: it is, because it's based on the last canonical piece of Janus' character, mixed with the "sassy" aspect that developed more recently. Of course it seems more coherent with Janus' character, compared to him being drunk for an entire video.

But even if canonical, self-care is just an aspect of Janus' personality and it makes most of the video. The remaining part is a huge amount of Ego, which shouldn't even be here, because it's Roman's trait.

And the other aspects? Nowhere to be seen. No distaste for society, no cryptic language, no wittiness, barely any lie, barely any real confidence, barely any body language and zero foreseeing ability.

I know what you're thinking and yes, I said at the beginning that this video is clearly just a way for Mr. Sanders to reconnect with the character. So I understand why Janus' personality is like that and that there are mistakes or incomplete things. I am not blaming Thomas for trying.

I am writing this post, to remind you Janus' full personality. To remind you that he's not just "sassy wine aunt/self-care queen".

On the contrary, I think present Janus is exactly like his make-up: the traits are similar to the original one, but the aspects are too sharp. They should be here, they are part of him, but they're not in the exact shade or nuance to be him. They are similar, but off, because something is missing. And that something is nuance.

In the end, that's what this post is all about: nuance. Past Janus was more nuanced, because he was more than one aspect. Present Janus is less nuanced, because he's stuck between two aspects - which is a truly cruel irony, considering his entire thing is being a gray, multifaceted character.

My only hope is that, just like with the make-up, Mr. Sanders will find a way to bring nuances back into Janus' character and make him at least similar to who he used to be.

[princehendir]

Sorry I just keep thinking about Aveline and honestly I feel like the fandom's been giving her a pass all these years like the shit she does and says really just slips under the radar. Probably just because people are like "fuck cops" and then move on which is fair. But I've been trying to genuinely engage with and analyze her character this playthrough and I'm just so stumped. What were the writers trying to go for with this I genuinely don't even know. She's canonically doing textbook stalker behaviors on the Hawke family and I still can't tell if it's being played as a joke or not. She loves rules and proper behavior but she's still fucking her subordinate. And in conversation she's super inexplicably weird in a way that can't be fully explained by social awkwardness or neurodivergence but she's also insanely mean. Consistently, unprovokedly mean. And also completely socially unpolished? Who starts a conversation by telling the other person they're stupid in their normal smalltalk voice? No one does that. Not even Anders would do that. And brother, Anders says some shit. It's like she's never been outside before. Like they were keeping her in a barn somewhere up until right before the game started. And despite the fact that she can't communicate like a person and can't not be mean and is constantly doing strange and vaguely threatening things the narrative does very much position her as being the lone sane woman in a group of maniacs. What is going on.

[7smiles]

Part two to my recent post, I'm addressing Cal's poem, specifically the last sections of it.

Poetry is subjective and can have many meanings so I'm going to discuss it how I personally have analyzed it.

"And then there was that time when you stepped on a land mine, and I never forgave you."

Part of me reads this in Andre's perspective. Stepping on a landmine in this case would be Calvin committing. Obviously Andre could and would not ever forgive that- Calvin is the only person who understands him and is there for him.

"And you could feel the entire rise and fall of the Third Reich at your feet."

And here I see this as Andre's perspective, once again. Comparison for the Reich being to their Army of Two. If Cal had gone through with ending his life prior to Zero Day, everything falls apart for Andre. Calvin and Andre's deaths are imminent going into this film, but it weighs so much more on Calvin's character because its determined early that he is depressed and no longer wishes to be here.

Without Calvin, nothing has meaning for Andre anymore. This is also proven after this poem is said at the live show, because Andre gets very upset that he would "jeopardize" their plan. If Calvin died or got locked up or taken away from Andre, nothing is worth it anymore.

"Its a wasted life."

The end of this poem, to me, reads as both of them. Its a wasted life if Calvin ends his life alone. He did it without meaning, his reason for being is Andre.

And for Andre, its a wasted life, because he will have to live with that hurt forever, live the rest of his days out alone.

They are so intertwined with one another that these "methodical plans" that Calvin talks about are genuinely fully reliant on how much they need each other. Their recognition of equality among them is so fundamental in realizing why they do what they do.

I hear that, initially, Zero Day was supposed to have them be more romantically involved but I dont know how true that is. Even so, these characters are written in a way where canon material wouldn't even matter. They love each other in a way that does not have bounds, they literally lived and died for each other. Denying that at all would be stupid.

[ultimateloserboy]

im so sorry i love the dhmis fandom but some peeps don’t understand the characters (or even the show in general) on even the most basic level and it hurts me. (cough cough… white man youtube theorists cough…) for example, every time someone is like “OMG RED GUY KNOWS EVERHTHING AND HES SO SMART AND HES BREAKING OUT OMG HES CRACKED THE MATRIX 🤯🤯🤯🤯” i want to explode. HE IS FUCKING STUPID!!!!! THAT OLD MAN DOESNT KNOW A GOD DAMN THING!!!!!!! THAT HOMO COULD BARELY READ THE PETERSONS AND SONS NAME OFF THE WALL PLEASE BE SO FOR REAL!!!! the main point of the show is that none of them know whats going on or why. sometimes they might get little realizations or memories but (at least as of right now) their dumbasses havent ACTUALLY realized a single thing, at least that they havent forgotten. and this isnt even just about just that, people have always mischaracterized all of the characters since forever! and before anyone says “well the show is meant to be different for everyone and subjective-“ youre right! the show itself and the way the world works is subjective. but while the world/story/message may be up to interpretation the main three characters themselves ARE NOT!!!! they are VERY fleshed out characters. you can find EVERYTHING on them. we know their fears, their allergies, their wants, their hatreds, their desires and the series dives heavily into their insecurities!! these characters are the only non-debatable things about this whole series and yet people ignore that small bit of canon in favor of making the show MORE difficult!!!!!!!!! WHYY!!!!! I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND IM GOING TO SOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!! STOP MAKING SHIT UP ABOUT THEM PLEASE THEYRE JUST LITTLE GUYS PLEASE DEAR GOD!!!!!!!!!! “oh but what if yellow guy is just PRETENDING to be stupid-“ what if red guy could shoot lasers out of his god damn eyes!?! THATS WHAT YOU FUCKING SOUND LIKE!!!! SHUT UP SHUT THE FUCK UP SHUT UP!!!!!! I DONT KNOW IF DUCK WON THAT TOURNAMENT AND I DONT KNOW HOW OLD HE IS BUT I KNOW FOR A FACT HE ISNT THE FUCKING DANGANRONPA MASTERMIND OR WHATEVER YOU CALL IT. THE FUCKING MAN BEHIND THE SLAUGHTER I DONT FUCKING KNOW. HIS ASS IS NOT SMART ENOUGH TO TAKE ON LESLEYS JOB. STOP GIVING THE MAIN THREE THIS MUCH CREDIT I PROMISE YOU THEYRE ACTUALLY CONFUSED AS FUCK THEYRE NOT PRETENDING !!!! im so tired can we please make a rule where cishet white dudes stay on their podcasts and stop trying to analyze this series.

[katyspersonal]

God, not to be one of those "hateful anons" but you really need to drop the "holier than thou" type thing on all of your lore posts. As much as I'd love to debunk why half your arguements are overused and don't work, I'll save that because that's not my point.

On almost all of your lore posts you mention at least once how "people aren't ready for stories of this level" or some shit along those lines, and let me ask you this: Why do you think people like you can digest these stories better? You would probably answer something like "Because I can understand these stories unlike these stupid from haters" or something.

You aren't digesting these stories better then anyone else just because you spend 1000 hours looking into what Morgott's moldy toe item description mentions. Like seriously, all this complaining about why the fandom sucks yet youre just like all those "holier than thou" people in the fandom who keep mentioning how THEIR perspective is better then someone else's.

You also keep acting like personal interpretation doesn't exist on some note. Saying how [X] is actually what happened and that people are denying [X].

I looked into your blog because I thought some of your posts were interesting, but it turns out youre literally just like all the other fromsoftware fans you complain so much about. Hopefully this gives you some perspective, I guess.

Nah, it "didn't give me the perspective", because you are the one seriously misunderstanding here. I say that we as a fandom are not ready for Fromsoft stories SPECIFICALLY to criticize fandom behavior.

We as a fandom are not ready for Fromsoft stories because there are people who claim that "Miquella's character was assassinated by bad writing because in the base game he was hyped up to be kind and compassionate", when his arc was a fall from grace. How falling from grace equals writing him to never have had that grace to begin with? We as a fandom are not ready for Fromsoft stories because whenever Fromsoft does not directly state something, fandom splits into two hostile groups each accusing another of media illiteracy or even various -isms and -phobias. (I advice you to ask Gehrman fans from Bloodborne fandom for extra insight on this one) We as a fandom are not ready for Fromsoft stories because when they DO state something directly, the "cool kids" of the fandom decide it was either a bad writing or that they know better, and start to side-eye everyone who prefers canon over their """improved""" fanon. We as a fandom are not ready for Fromsoft stories because Miyazaki's brand of moral ambiguity, admission that there is no clear solution to world's problems and questioning the nature of humanity itself OFTEN falls on the deaf ears.

Like... you do realize that I still consider myself part of the fandom, despite not engaging beyond what is on my feed? That I do not claim that /I/ am ready for Miyazaki's writer genius? Just like everyone else, I can only do my best to TRY to understand him! Nonetheless, I am trying my best to be mature, and encourage maturity in others. It is hard to remain always calm and nice in a fandom that feels like a battlefield, everyone will get a bit rude! The point is to TRY to be better, which most people don't see the need for! I am calling out fandoms bad behavior and refusal to look deeper into story and characters than their habits and preferences, especially because these preferences often lead to conflicts and toxicity, not claiming moral superiority over my headcanons!

Personal interpretations are fair. What is NOT fair is when someone harps on a very well-researched post with easily debunked arguements, basically doing the "your post is nonsense because in my fanfic things are different" on them, and then another person that did not even read the post nor actually researched the lore beyond their preferences passionately agrees.

I'll have you know that I never spent "1000 hours on analyzing". I am autistic, you goddamn coward. I understand some obscure detail in a flash by just looking, or suddenly come up with an insight while busy at work. Sometimes I literally dream a theory or observation! I do not understand where the misconception that everyone needs to spend a lot of time to be hyper-observant about their special interest comes from. However, you believing that about me makes your claim even worse. You seriously just said that analysis of someone who.... well, analysed the lore, is not as valid as analysis of someone who just took scraps of lore they personally enjoyed to create their own thing. How does this make sense, exactly? Again: you'd have SOME point if you spoke against a stuck-up Reddittuber who makes it their daily mission to ruin someone's joy if their headcanon is not 100% accurate to the source, however, so far the inverse has been happening. People who decided something about lore just because it appealed to THEM will go and be rude to people who are trying to be objective. Not only this; I've had my headcanons (!) "corrected" multiple times because they were different from popular fanon!

.........speaking of certain people who think it is okay to harp on someone's lore post to downplay it when they are not even lorediggers themselves.... -_-

The way you glazed through my blog and jumped into an extremely inaccurate conclusion about my personality and attitude reminded me of the same impulsivity when someone took "stop treating Marika as noble hero against Hornsent evil, here are bad things that happened during her reign" as as "just another poorly researched Marika hate 🥺". 🙃 Your obvious vitriol for thorough lore research, your poorly disguised manipulation (you clearly did not think my posts were "interesting" with how much disdain you just expressed FOR them, but you wanted to wound me by faking "disappointment"), and above all, timing. My tone in yesterday's Marika and the fandom rant was in no, NO way different from how I usually speak in my blog! My mutuals (all 8 of them lol) can confirm! Yet I've never received (inaccurate) anon hate for this.. until now. Until recent very unfortunate encounter with extremely shallow individuals that started a debate yet refused to finish it when hypocrisy of the both was pointed out. 🌛

I think I know who you are. :/ 🤔 I'll keep that in mind, and being "prepared" will definitely lessen the effect if you try anything of the sort again, be sure of this.

(At the same time, IF I am wrong and you are just a fan that found me through that interaction, I'll have you know that your lowly cowardice by using anon instead of showing your face has put someone else under suspicion, and it will remain so unless you show yourself. In which case, hope you are proud of yourself. 🤦‍♂️)