#I will die on this fucking hill because this is not how redemption arcs work

[lovemyromance]

My god, I don't check in on this fandom for TWO days and suddenly people are willing to die over the Tamlain hill??

I thought we were over this y'all 😭 I've had it up to HERE with your babying men and claiming everyone and their mother needs a redemption arc.

Sometimes people are bad people. Accept it, move on.

Sometimes, those bad people do redeem themselves, but that doesn't erase the history of pain and suffering they caused.

If the author herself does not see Tamlin in a positive light, provides the number to a domestic abuse hotline in her books when discussing his behavior - what the fuck gives you the right to claim "oh he's misunderstood".

HE's not misunderstood. YOU misunderstood.

Just because you thought a red light meant a green light - doesn't mean you are correct in reality.

Tamlin is the villain. Him feeling regret and getting depression after ACOWAR is a result of HIS OWN ACTIONS.

And listen - you can believe he redeemed himself. You can have sympathy for him. You can do whatever you want.

But to act like Elain of all people should be the one to "fix him" because she likes flowers and YOU love Tamlin - that's clownery. That is PEAK clownery 🤡🤡

That's her sister's abuser, for fucks sake.

And again - if you want to ship them because you hate Elain and love Tamlin - go for it. But if someone holds an Elain Archeron appreciation week and says they don't want Tamlain ships - RESPECT THAT.

If you don't like it - make your own Tamlain week, sicko.

I'm all for ship whoever you want to ship but you can't FORCE OTHERS to include your deranged lil crackship, especially when it's one that glorifies DA. You can ship Tamlain - but you can't force me or others to accept it

I don't even care if y'all are mad reading this, if you ship Tamlain and are invested enough to argue about being included in Elain Archeron week, I think you're crazy 🤡.

I don't care if they're fictional characters - that's weird as fuck. And you don't know how relationships work if you think "flowers" is all it takes to erase a history of DA. Your misogyny is showing, and it ain't pretty.

[inastarlesssky]

In Defense of Dramione - an essay

Okay, time for another Ted talk/ soapbox/ pointless rambling...Putting it under the cut because I have opinions.

In Defense of Dramione - an essay

First of all, I want to say I ship Dramione. Which is a recent thing, specifically about half a year ago. I didn't always because well it never occurred to me that you could. Of course, that's how ships are. We ship some ships bc they're canon, okay, fine. But we ship a whole lot others that aren't because you name whatever reason (they've got chemistry, they WORK, they're better than the canonically approved pairings whatever the hell else, idk). My point is, it had never crossed my mind that I myself would actually like the idea of Draco and Hermione. Bc naturally, you look at them and you think, "He did insult her when they were children. He was an asshat, etc etc." But...BUT.

You know that trope Enemies to Lovers? Ever heard of redemption arcs? Yeah, those are things. Of course, I don't speak on behalf of everyone in the fandom because we all have our reasons for why. But I ship them because there is potential in Draco's character for growth, for repentance, for redemption. I believe that he's capable, when he's an adult of realizing that he fucked up and that the beliefs he was spoonfed as a child are not the law of the land. I've read more fics than I can count that describe this character arc for him and they do it masterfully. Honestly, I think he's a pretty complex character and I believe that we see a sliver of that in the last few movies. Like look, in 6th year, Harry hit him with Sectumsempra and nearly killed him. But when the Golden Trio were at the Manor and it was on Draco's shoulders to identify Harry and basically seal their doom, did he do it? Did he rat them out? Nope.

Maybe this wasn't exactly Draco "forgiving" Harry, admittedly. But Draco saw that Harry was their only hope for destroying Voldemort or for having some sliver of a winning chance, of a possibility of surviving the mess Voldemort was orchestrating. He obviously deemed it important enough to dare to lie, especially knowing that Bellatrix would have summoned the Dark Lord himself in the next few moments. If Draco really didn't care about the outcome of everything, he wouldn't have done that. If anything, we see that he cares at least about the safety of his family because that could have also been the motive. But that gets me thinking, couldn't he also have confirmed Harry's identity? Voldy would have arrived, perhaps praised Draco and spared the Malfoys to die another die. So really, Draco might have gotten more out of it if he HAD confirmed Harry's identity. Hmm food for thought.

Second point, I'm not going to judge anyone in the fandom because of reasons stated above, but I will go so far as to say, please, if you don't ship Dramione, that's okay. Everyone has their own cup of tea, but please, do NOT claim that all of us (that every single one of us who happen to support this ship) are and I quote "are just a bunch of horny teenagers desperate for some pretty boy and pretty girl sex". That isn't fair and it frankly isn't true, so please don't. I know many wonderful people who have crafted amazing stories and shown great talent through their writing to express the complexities I've just spoken about.

I'll end by saying that we all have our ships, and that's okay. There's no real right or wrong inasfaras who you ship with whom. But it's a basic gesture of respect, I think, to let others love the pairings that they love. Spreading hatred, ill-will or just unkindness toward those of us who enjoy a particular ship, that's not cool and that's what brings us down in what should be something we all enjoy and go to find joy and share that joy with others.

Okay, it seems I really defended Draco more than Hermione here but I will die on this hill and defend my dorks. Fight me on it (joking here but really though. XD) Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.

[deadweight-at7am]

Vanderpump Rules Reunion part 1 thoughts

The Bravo producers for VPR and The Valley are misogynists. Yeah, I said it. They are. Alex Baskin is a fucking gremlin. I know that certain things make for "good TV" but there is never an episode that goes by that men's shitty behavior isn't explained away or had excuses made and a woman is blamed for her reactions to real and actual disrespect. Lisa Vanderpump, despite all her success as a woman, is also a huge misogynist and male apologist.

2. When will they stop trying to make Katie Maloney the villain? Katie is nothing but consistent, honest and authentic. I think she has started to hold her tongue and temper a bit more than she used to in the past due to how it made her appear to the audience. She always gets a shitty edit. She always gets blamed for her attitude, never given credit for being right about anything, etc. When is Tom Schwartz going to do an interview and admit Katie was right about Jo? According to Jo he blocked her due to her "strange" behavior. Didn't Katie call this years ago? People also act like Katie not liking Tom's new weirdo pseudo-girlfriend is weird for a newly divorced couple.

3. They tried really hard to make us accept Tom Sandoval's redemption arc by using his mental health as a weapon. He accused Ariana of "faking it" when really, that was a call out of himself. HE used suicidal ideation as a weapon to make people back off of him and give him grace.

4. I'll die on this hill, TOM SCHWARTZ IS THE REAL VILLAIN OF VANDERPUMP RULES. If Schwartz has zero haters, I am dead. The way he disrespects, gaslights, makes a fool of and ridicules openly Katie, his ex-wife and ex-partner of over 10 years is FOUL. His nice guy mask drops the second anyone calls him out. Brock made the comment that Schwartz ruined Katie's confidence (Go Brock? Rare Brock W) and he suddenly snaps into reality and is offended at the idea. Scheana calls him a shitty husband and he protests "No I wasn't!" HE ABSOLUTELY WAS. He was in fact, the shittiest husband! He is a goofy/dumb nice guy until the second he's intoxicated or he's dealing with criticism from anyone, especially Katie.

5. Lauren from Utah is a production puppet that is doing and saying things to cause and stir controversy because they were afraid without that angle the show this season would be super boring. It was boring, but just for different reasons. They're trying to make Ariana an unforgiving, unrelenting bitch and Lala the "voice of reason". It's not working on most viewers.

[eggman91]

hello and greeting a update on that au or fic whatever

so it going slow. I apologize. I’ve been busy with other things like work and well half life so so to make up for that here’s some random thoughts and here the main one this may be a perfect theme for voodoo Mordecai they should’ve thought of from day one

(yes I play more of undead nightmare then the actually first game and I’m still waiting for a new one rockstar..)

In a past post I say something about a swamp arc for mordecai well what that is mordecai after fail attempts and a very crazy week decide to fully commit to his power and fully accept the grand zombi offer ( he need to find who truly kill Atlas and get revenge)and then he meet papa legba and they led him to nearby swamp and do some training while the savoy cover for him of course it only for another few weeks so what mister sweet is curious what his top man his hatchet man up to too but hey he still doing his job

Calvin after the whole “oh crap I have magic “ is very conflicted more then ever I mean why can he even do that and what but hey Ivy and rocky thought it was fucking cool “freckle you totally wreck there car sweet revenge for miss pepper car” and etc but ok maybe this is like good magic maybe “boom” he find out about the whole fae stuff I don’t how yet but you guys can say anything that you think it’s cool) and so identity crisis like he was always going to hell No matter what he does he a bloody forest demon or something also Ivy is alittle worry over sleep talk in Gaelic and why does it weird blue and black butterfly always show up?

ok this is totally not canon to the au just a random ideal. Rocky has a sweet girlfriend, like imagine like the famous ocs pluto or ari but

she a demon like fallen like not like that Helluva boss like truly hellish stuff like faith (someone call father Garcia) do you know what I’m talking about that truly undescribable hill because that’s what I believe hell is undescribable so imagine Rocky having a GF real appearance or something like that is this

It genuinely love him(ps it’s in my belief demons or angels have no gender something like that I don’t know really and I’m a dumb southerner remember) like this is the only time it enjoying it time since the fall but this is not Cannon, but just imagine the reaction

anyways my thing is about to die because my charger is broken so I’m gonna go ahead and post this once I’m charged I will post more of the random ideals. I have please if you have any ideals that you think would help in this AU or that you like and think is cool please share you probably have a better idea then me

[ao3feed-hawks]

L.O.V: RELOADED!

L.O.V: RELOADED! by AlyTheLostSoul

(PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARNINGS IN THE TAGS, THEY WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER There will be warnings in the chapter notes as well but use this as a guide This will be updated Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays)

The final version/rewrite of my League of Villains chat fic that follows after Kamino Ward following the chaos that comes about when the group winds up with a bunch of heroes/people trying to redeem them on the team

Seriously, what could possibly go wrong? It's not like they're going to get attached to the new number 2 hero and try to figure out what the government agency that raised him had been doing to him for the past say 15 years or so

Oh wait, fuck

-Plot is slow going, do not expect us to get to the main point quickly. Hawks' arc starts in like chapter 5 and goes though like the whole fic, he doesn't become a main piece of the plot for awhile even though he is the catalyst of it

So just keep it in mind that while that description does explain the main plot, we won't get there for a little while as we have to get through a few mini arcs and buildup -This isn't a full chat fic, a lot of chapters go out of chat form. Such as 4, 5, 10)

Words: 1123, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Kurogiri, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Toga Himiko, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Hikiishi Kenji | Magne, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice, Takami Keigo | Hawks, Ashido Mina, Midoriya Izuku, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Other Character Tags to Be Added

Relationships: Ashido Mina/Toga Himiko, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner/Takami Keigo | Hawks

Additional Tags: I'm back fuckers!, okay okay that was aggressive, But I've been holding this rewrite in my drafts for like a month so, League of Villains as Family, Found Family is the best fanfiction trope and I will die on that hill, Parental Kurogiri, Parental Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Magne is also parental but there's not a tag for that, Trying not to spoil the fic in the tags, Ashido Mina is a neutral party, Midoriya is here for redemption only, Hawks does not know what the fuck he is, Takami Keigo | Hawks Acts Like a Bird, Well more than that, has a whole bunch of bird traits THAT I DID RESEARCH FOR, I have a whole bunch of knowledge on hawk hunting patterns and idk how I feel about that, The ships don't matter, Can be read without acknowledging them, Spinner and Hawks are shipped mostly because of mutant reasons, Like you don't have completely random reasons for why you ship things, I thought it worked don't @ me, Miruko is going to beat the shit out of Hawks if he doesn't explain shit to her, Good thing he has security, A random plot point is that Miruko and Best Jeanist are roommates, They're also designers/tailors, It doesn't come up too much so I wanted to put it here, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone Is Alive, warnings, PAY ATTENTION TO THE NEXT FEW TAGS, THIS IS RATED FOR THESE, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Suicide Attempt, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Anorexia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, I took an abnormal psych class last semester, and passed, read all chapter notes carefully if something is written there, You'll understand the mature warning eventually, Please read with caution, I am so sorry, chat fic, mostly, Mostly Gen

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43449871

[ao3feed-bnha-girls]

L.O.V: RELOADED!

L.O.V: RELOADED! by AlyTheLostSoul

(PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THE WARNINGS IN THE TAGS, THEY WILL BE IMPORTANT LATER There will be warnings in the chapter notes as well but use this as a guide This will be updated Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays)

The final version/rewrite of my League of Villains chat fic that follows after Kamino Ward following the chaos that comes about when the group winds up with a bunch of heroes/people trying to redeem them on the team

Seriously, what could possibly go wrong? It's not like they're going to get attached to the new number 2 hero and try to figure out what the government agency that raised him had been doing to him for the past say 15 years or so

Oh wait, fuck

-Plot is slow going, do not expect us to get to the main point quickly. Hawks' arc starts in like chapter 5 and goes though like the whole fic, he doesn't become a main piece of the plot for awhile even though he is the catalyst of it

So just keep it in mind that while that description does explain the main plot, we won't get there for a little while as we have to get through a few mini arcs and buildup -This isn't a full chat fic, a lot of chapters go out of chat form. Such as 4, 5, 10)

Words: 1123, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Kurogiri, Shigaraki Tomura | Shimura Tenko, Toga Himiko, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner, Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Hikiishi Kenji | Magne, Dabi | Todoroki Touya, Bubaigawara Jin | Twice, Takami Keigo | Hawks, Ashido Mina, Midoriya Izuku, Usagiyama Rumi | Miruko, Todoroki Enji | Endeavor, Other Character Tags to Be Added

Relationships: Ashido Mina/Toga Himiko, Iguchi Shuuichi | Spinner/Takami Keigo | Hawks

Additional Tags: I'm back fuckers!, okay okay that was aggressive, But I've been holding this rewrite in my drafts for like a month so, League of Villains as Family, Found Family is the best fanfiction trope and I will die on that hill, Parental Kurogiri, Parental Sako Atsuhiro | Mr. Compress, Magne is also parental but there's not a tag for that, Trying not to spoil the fic in the tags, Ashido Mina is a neutral party, Midoriya is here for redemption only, Hawks does not know what the fuck he is, Takami Keigo | Hawks Acts Like a Bird, Well more than that, has a whole bunch of bird traits THAT I DID RESEARCH FOR, I have a whole bunch of knowledge on hawk hunting patterns and idk how I feel about that, The ships don't matter, Can be read without acknowledging them, Spinner and Hawks are shipped mostly because of mutant reasons, Like you don't have completely random reasons for why you ship things, I thought it worked don't @ me, Miruko is going to beat the shit out of Hawks if he doesn't explain shit to her, Good thing he has security, A random plot point is that Miruko and Best Jeanist are roommates, They're also designers/tailors, It doesn't come up too much so I wanted to put it here, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone Is Alive, warnings, PAY ATTENTION TO THE NEXT FEW TAGS, THIS IS RATED FOR THESE, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Suicide Attempt, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Anorexia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, I took an abnormal psych class last semester, and passed, read all chapter notes carefully if something is written there, You'll understand the mature warning eventually, Please read with caution, I am so sorry, chat fic, mostly, Mostly Gen

Read Here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43449871

[elsinorelive]

This is a response to an essay about why Stranger Things season 3 disappointed my best friend in a big way.

(I would also like to point out that there is some speculation about Season 3 being something WRONG in the whole meta of Stranger Things, like it doesn’t belong with the rest of the seasons (to the point that the banner on Stranger Things Day showed the s3 VHS tape upside down in the pile of rightside up seasons) so I’m not 100% sure that there isn’t some other time travel, alternate dimension bullshit going on in s3 to begin with)

(Also take anything I say with a grain of salt because Scoops Ahoy Stevie is literally the love of my life and I would die for his stupid truth-serumed ass)

Teenagers suck

Absolutely. Teenagers do suck. The boys being nerdy and endearing did make the first two seasons endearing. But they had to grow up a little. The structure of the story forced the party to grow up, literally and figuratively. It’s almost a year later in the show and 2 years later in real time. Yes, it overlooks a lot of the trauma of s1 and s2, like all of it, which is completely inexcusable, but MAYBE the dating and the relationship bullshit is how they’re trying to cope. They think the threat is over. El closed the gate, they didn’t have to worry anymore, and being stupid teenagers is the only priority. I also remember what it was like to be this age and start being interested in dating and shit. This is where the groups start to splinter. Couples splitting of, girls only wanting to be friends with girls, boys with boys. Dustin is preoccupied with a girlfriend that the others don’t believe exist (he only goes to Steve because the others left him alone and he knows that Steve is just as lonely as he is and is the only (pseudo)adult that knows about the UD). Max and Lucas are on again off again over and over and over. Mike and El are obsessed. Max and El are starting to have a girl friendship outside of the party and the boys. And poor Will is in love with his idiot best friend. The dynamics are changing and a lot of the story is about the how they’re trying to navigate the changing dynamics of their friendships and relationships. They still love each other, but it’s different now.

The plot was overly pandering to the audience

Yes. It was less true to what the show was about and more interested in doing what people wanted.

Redemption arcs take work and Billy’s was cheap and lazy

I could fully go on about this for fucking hours. Billy did not deserve a redemption arc. He didn’t try to do better. He didn’t work to be a better person, to make it up to his sister, to apologize to Steve for cracking his fucking skull. You don’t get redeemed by being a martyr. The Duffers tried to do this TWICE in the same show. Once to Billy who didn’t deserve the redemption and once to Eddie who DIDN’T NEED TO BE REDEEMED (I will die on this hill). Billy didn’t suffer, he was possessed and got exactly what he wanted, power and control over other people even while he was being controlled. He never showed that he loved his sister. And she didn’t get to know if he really cared about her. Fuck Billy Hargrove and the Duffer he rode in on.

Killing People

Stop killing people. Why can’t anyone just live with the consequences of their actions.

Laziness

I got nothing, season 3 was lazy. It took the best these kids had ever acted, some of the best relationships (Steve/Dustin, Steve/Robin, Murray/Alexi, Dustin/Erica, Max/El) and let them fester. Russians? C’mon man, really? What’s next, the Satanic Panic? Russians are lazy, a real world Red Scare that would spook the pants off of Ted Wheeler, something that could have been real, but that is taken down by two kids in sailor suits and a lazy chief of police in a stolen uniform. It’s boring.

(Apparently, I'll only stick up for the characterization of the kids. You're right about everything else.)

This is an essay about why Stranger Things Season 3 Disappointed me in a big way.

1) Teenagers suck

Obviously, this is an overgeneralization and a matter or preference but a lot of what made seasons 1 and 2 so entertaining and endearing was that the kids were entertaining and endearing. They were nerdy kids who loved science and each other and they got in way over their heads with some shit they should never have been involved with in the first place. This season turned them into snotty teenagers who abandon their friends and only care about dating - basically forgetting about the trauma they went through over the last two years. Dustin wasn’t even with them for the whole show! It’s unrealistic and boring.

Which brings me to:

2) The plot was overly pandering to the audience

This season was very “We’re going to take what everyone talked about in season 2 and just do it mORE”

Dustin didn’t spend any time with his friends over the course of the show because they put him with Steve Harrington at the end of last season and the audience loved it. So they did it MORE.

People loved Joyce and Hopper so they have us that but MORE.

Lucas’s little sister became an overnight icon on tumblr for the two (2) lines she had last season so they gave us her but MORE.

I adore her, I’m just trying to make a point.

And the point is that just because the audience likes these things, doesn’t mean they do anything to serve the plot of your show. It does your characters a disservice when you let the story be influenced by the people who watch rather than by the characters themselves.

People loved Billy even though he was a massive fucking shit lord so they gave us him but MORE and with some bullshit ‘redemption’

3) Redemption arc take work and Billy’s was cheap and lazy

Completely glossing over the messaging that a bad person can only be redeemed through death, and how DAMAGING that might be for people who think they’re bad, let’s look at fucking story structure. 

A redemption arc only works if a) a character is punished by the narrative, b) a character feels remorse and makes an active choice to grow c) a character is actually given the chance to grow and be redeemed.

Killing them does fuck all. Having them kill themselves does fuck all.

“But Jessie!” I hear you saying.”Maybe the remorse makes them actively chose to sacrifice themselves. And isn’t dying them being punished by the narrative?”

I am here to say NO! I martry does not a redeemed character make. Dying is fucking easy. That’s not suffering. That’s not working to be better. To do better.

As with any case of redemption arcs, it’s time to bring up motherfucking Prince Zuko.

Prince Zuko, first of all, never did anything truly heinous. He was the antagonist and sought to capture the Avatar out of some misguided attempt to do right by his people and his father. He learned. He grew. He literally felt so much remorse there is an entire episode dedicated to him feeling SICK WITH IT.

And then he spent a whole fucking season trying to make it better.

What we got with Billy was this guy threatening and harming CHILDREN, being a racist fuck, terrorizing his sister, and generally being the worst. 

Was he a victim? Sure! We got his tragic backstory and that EXPLAINED his monstrous behavior but it didn’t make him less of a monster.

I’m not saying Billy couldn’t be redeemed. He could have. But he wasn’t. And he can’t be redeemed now because he’s fucking dead.

And we’re supposed to feel bad about it.

4) Killing people

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again: killing off characters is a cheap manipulation tactic of lazy writers.

Are there death scenes that mattered? Duh! Boromir’s death is one of the most powerful in literary history. It set the tone, and launched the ships, and really made everyone sad for a long time.

Not every death is that death.

Making us like the Russian lad to kill him for no reason was cheap and gross.

Billy’s death as a kind of redemption and to make Max cry - even though she is shown to BARELY CARE ABOUT IT MERE MONTHS LATER - was bad.

HOPPER.

We know he’s not really dead which probably makes this worse.

But his character was butchered this season. Instead of doing actual police work or be shown to be doing anything smart, he was brash and stupid and wore a Hawaiian shirt. Because it was cute and funny and the audience loves Hopper. I wish they had given him some growth this season, especially because he had a kid.

And Hopper and Eleven and Hopper and Joyce: these relationships that were set up and developed last season. They completely stagnated. It’s like the writers just didn’t know what to do with these relationships. The Joyce and Hopper relationship was no longer the carefully constructed thing of the past two seasons. They got lazy and impatient and absolutely fucked it up. The thing with Eleven was more generic ‘dad deals with a teenage daughter’ thing which is tired and boring. 

That didn’t mean it didn’t fucking break your heart when you saw them react to his death. But, again, it wasn’t a real death. And it was unearned manipulation.

5) Laziness

I’ve used that word a lot so far but that’s really what this boils down to. Laziness.

The first two seasons (some would argue just the first season) were so good because they felt fresh and innovative. It was a new take on old stories: myths and urban legends like secret facilities where they nurture psychic powers and government cover-ups and monsters and alternate dimensions. It had different groups coming together to solve one mystery and they each had a little information but they didn’t have the right information for the part of the mystery they were trying to solve.

This season used fucking Russians.

Using Russians is lazy! Rehashing the same shit with the door opening to the upside down is lazy! Having the Mind Flayer cook up some half-baked revenge plot is motherfucking lazy.

I was bored watching it. I played a game on my phone through most of the last half. 

They could have brought back the other special children like 8 from last season. They could have run into another kid that had similar powers but was never part of the experiment so they just started lashing out or something. They could have made Nancy an aspiring novelist who takes inspiration from the shit with the Upside Down and when she runs out of material of real events she starts making up her own and her belief and the belief of others in this makes it manifest in the actual upside down like some kind of Tulpa.

I don’t know! Something! Anything other than what we got.

Well, not anything. At least no more women died.

But still

[wichitalk]

People on tumblr be like “Wilbur isn’t a redeemable character because he was a bad dad and also mentally ill” please just say you don’t know how redemption arcs work and move on

[low-budget-korra]

Comments on Euphoria season 2 finale

-I like redemption arcs but for them to work, they need to be earned and not given. And I hate how they are just giving a redem to Nate.

The writing of his character this season was a mess. He only was that complex character from s1 after episode 5, and now this little redemption a few chapters after he threatened Maddy at gun point? Really?

I don't care if he turn Cal to the cops, he still is the one who is pulling a gun to Maddy's head and the one who is manipulating Cassie. He should first suffer the consequences of his actions and then actually change, at least that's how a good redem is supposed to be (at least for me)

- I love how Maddy didn't beat the shit outta Cassie because of a guy, Nate. She beat the shit outta Cassie because of Lexi.

-What a pathetic scene between Rue and Eliott.

Sure Eliott, your stupid song will make me forget that you went for Jules right after hear Rue's say how much he loves her and how devastating would be losing her. Or forget how you gaslight and manipulate Jules into thinking that Rue didn't feel attracted to her. Or even how you keep giving Rue drugs knowing that Jules was against it and didn't know Rue was on drugs again and that this could separate them.

Fuck u Eliott. The worst character I have the displeasure to meet since Arthuro from La Casa del Papel (Money Heist)

-I don't know why people think that in order to be dark, they need to kill someone. Ash death was unnecessary af. The whole thing about the police be so into find and capture Mouse murder feels so off, like , it's not like Mouse was a rich white man for them to care that much about his death.

Anyway, for me Ash's death just as Fezco's (if he was the one to die) is just for the sake of shock value. They wanted this season to be darker than the first one and for that they thought they needed to kill someone. It felt forced, just shock value.

And to be honest, the writing is going down hill so bad that if Ash is still alive and that was, I don't know, Fezco's nightmare and they are both in prison, I wouldn't be surprised

-And in the end, the fan theories were way better and way more interesting than what actually happened.

[freepandahugs]

Elriel Rapunzel Retelling 🌸🦇

okay, so i know we have all heard of the idea that maybe elriel's book is going to be a sleeping beauty retelling

but imagine this: rapunzel retelling

in the original rapunzel tale, rapunzel's parents make a bargain with the witch in exchange for food that will prevent rapunzel's mother from dying from childbirth (or it was something along those lines) so what if, in order to save someone or get something 👀, rhysand make a treaty with Beron and promises elain as she is his "son" 's mate (let's be honest, as much as we love Rhys he would pull something like this if he considered it was right, also, it would give us the feysand subplot for the book)

so anyways, the day comes when elain is taken away (no one knew of this except rhysand and maybe amren, because she would not me opposed to it, i don't think, if she saw enough reason behind it) and everyone goes mad and they are like "why would you do this?", but especially azriel who is this close to punching rhys into the mext dimension and he swears on the Mother that he will find a say to get Elain back

anyways, back at Autumn, Elain is locked away in a tower till Lucien comes home (as Beron is sending word to him that he has his mate and he expects him back) and eventually, a guard discovers she has seeing abilities (bonuz points if she befriends said guard in the end and he helps her escape or smt) and tells on her, thus starting a period of time where Beron tries to get information out of Elain; or maybe Eris is the one that finds out and keeps the information for himself (Eris redemption arc? everyone?)

the autumn court using elain's seeing powers would be a parallel with the witch from the original tale using rapunzel for her hair

anyways, back to the NC, the IC is in shambles because of Rhys' decision and maybe it even gets out how he told Azriel to stay away? Meanwhile, Lucien comes back and is outraged as they essentially sold his mate to someone he hates, and Azriel and Lucien find this common ground on the fact that they both will go and save Elain

Elain in the meantime, tries to learn as much information about Autumn's involvement with Koschei (remember how she befriended the guard? well, she really would make a charming spy) and she Sees that Azriel is coming back for her, but he will get in trouble, so she sets off to work in avoiding said trouble

fast forward, Lucien and Azriel find a way into Autumn and they figure out where Elain is trapped, but uh oh, Beron catches them and takes Lucien away with him, ordering the guards to get rid of Azriel

(remember how in the original tale, the prince falls back in a rose bush after the witch catches him trying to sneak into the tower and becomes blind? this is that lol)

anyways, the guards take Azriel down to the dungeons (after beating him up for sure, maybe we get something to do with Azriel's scars) and oh surprise, they find a pretty flower girl waiting for them there, ready to strike with her friend by her side

except when she sees Azriel all beaten up she goes ballistik and all her unknown Cauldron powers come to play (i will live and die on the hill that she has Life powers) and well, the guards never stood a chance

anyways, oh joyous reunion (maybe secret relationship before all of this happens?), they are this close to fucking in the dungeon and Elain's friend is all like "hey guys, I'm still here"

and then Azriel, being the good person that he is and as much as he cannot stand Lucien even still, decided they have to save him from Beron because who knows what he wants to do with him

and lo and behold, Eris comes in and is all like "help me save my brother and kill my father and i will let you leave"

i have no ideas for what happens right this second, but they kill Beron (maybe Elain with Truth Teller, once again?) and Eris becomes High Lord, and he is all like "the Autumn court will never forget your help" (so one more ally against Koschei and one less Koschei ally, a win win situation)

and Elain and Lucien (who are friends at this point) are all like, "omg i am so glad you're okay" and they sass about and azriel is just watching them and all of a sudden lucien goes "please ellie, just put the poor guy out of his mysery, he's been growling at me for the last half hour" (as our sassy lulu would) and elain laughs and goes over to azriel and they kiss and they have a happy ending

and they go back to the NC (all three of them) and give Rhys a little piece of their minds

anyways, this does not make sense but it was fun writing it, feel free to add anything to this little headcanon of mine 😙

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 305: Worst Intervention Ever

Previously on BnHA: Shinomori, whose name took me an entire week to memorize, was all, “nice to meet you Deku, I’m ten feet tall, do you want to know how I died?” and without waiting for an answer explained that he kicked it from old age at forty thanks to good ol’ OFA. Deku was all “wait a minute, then how come All Might, who’s fifty-five and is definitely dyeing his gray hair, is still alive?” First and Shino were all, “we really have no fucking clue but we think it’s cuz he’s quirkless, JUST LIKE YOU!” So basically, since quirkless people don’t exactly grow on trees these days, Deku is probably going to be the last user of OFA. The chapter ended with Nana being all, “psst, Deku, about my grandson. Uh, can you kill him?” which is sure to lead to a very interesting conversation this week.

Today on BnHA: Nana And The Gang are all “so, Deku, how can we put this delicately. The thing is, we’re pretty sure that AFO really fucked my grandson up, so on the off chance you can’t save him, how would you feel about, you know... [throat slitting gesture].” Deku is all “idk you guys, I kinda feel like he’s really just a traumatized child at heart and he’s in a lot of pain and stuff and so I should try to help him.” The Vestiges are all “BUT WHAT IF YOU CAN’T” and Deku is all “BUT I WANT TO TRY, DAMMIT” and the Vestiges are all “well when you put it that way, we, uh, were just testing you, so congrats, you passed!” The chapter ends with First being all, “ANYWAY SO WHY DON’T YOU TWO SHY BOYS STANDING OVER THERE IN THE SHADOWS COME SAY HELLO” before we CUT AWAY FOR ANOTHER WEEK, goddammit.

seriously, Nana

just... have you met Deku?? look, if you really want Tomura dead, just sic him on the U.A. first years and tell Shouto and Honenuki that it’s a training exercise

oh my god lmao

we’re too far away to see Nana’s face here so I will just assume that she turned and is staring DIRECTLY INTO THE CAMERA for this one line lmao. “I just wanted to clarify in case anyone felt inclined to take my dialogue out of context and spend an entire week complaining about it”

oh my god?! are you all purposely trying to make me sad??

someone stop me before I launch into an impromptu rant about all my Tomura feels. WHY IS NOBODY STOPPING ME. oh my god but yes, exactly. he’s just in pain all the time. this is exactly why I think Tomura has such high redemption potential even though so far he seems to lack so many of the redemption arc essentials such as feeling remorse, wanting to change, and taking responsibility for his actions. the reason why I’m willing to overlook all that in his case is because Tomura has essentially had zero agency his entire life. AFO molded him into a killer by making sure he was in constant mental agony, and making it so that the only thing that even slightly relieved that agony was killing peeps. like, please don’t think I’m making excuses for him or anything, but if you take a child and manipulate their existence to make it virtually impossible for that child to grow up as anything other than a killer, and basically never give him the chance to be anything else, then no shit he’s gonna be a killer?? he’s basically never had the choice not to be. it’s never been an option for him. anyways I feel like I am EXPLAINING MYSELF SO BADLY but nonetheless I am prepared to die on this hill

anyway so now Nana is all “that’s a rhetorical question btw because Our Hearts And Minds Are One so we can feel everything you feel bro.” so yeah, that’s interesting

now Banjou is getting started on the “let’s try and talk Deku out of wanting to save Tomura because it’s insane” part of their OFA Mystical Space Void Reunion agenda

look, Banjou, I feel you, I really do. you guys don’t think it’s realistic that Deku can defeat Tomura without killing him. so if it’s a choice between killing Tomura vs letting Deku and everyone else in the entire world die, then duh, you think Deku should kill him. I get it! and if this were a real life mass murderer I’d totally agree with you. but the problem is that this isn’t real life, this is a sympathetic shounen villain with a tragic past who might as well have FUTURE REDEMPTION ARC RECEIPIENT stamped on his forehead at this point

so First is all “look, there’s absolutely no doubt my brother has fucked this kid up good and proper by now”, which, again, fair

though, that’s kind of exactly my point though. everything that Tomura is, everything he’s done, he’s done because of AFO. AFO has so effectively shaped his personality and his worldview by this point that it’s all but impossible to penetrate that. he’s AFO’s puppet. but the problem is that rather than treating him like a victim, you all are treating him like a casualty. like he’s already a lost cause. but good luck trying to convince Deku of that

WHOA WHAT, RANDOM SUPER-IMPORTANT AND BIZARRELY UNRELATED EXPOSITION DROPPED IN JUST LIKE THAT??

way to still not reveal Sixth’s name, btw. THE PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW, DAMMIT. but also so this confirms something we basically already knew already, which is that not even AFO can steal OFA. it literally can’t be taken away by anyone unless the owner wills it. SO SUCK ON THAT AFO YOU EGG

(ETA: so I have no idea why this was omitted from this translation, but apparently the Sixth’s name was revealed as “En”, which is obviously not his full name but at least it’s something. also he most likely has a fire or smoke-related quirk based on the kanji used, 煙.)

so Banjou is saying that Deku’s “lack of an iron will” could be a disadvantage against AFO. hahaha what?? Midoriya “I’ll break all of my bones without blinking an eye just to protect someone” Izuku lacks an iron will? do tell

he says this is going to be a test of Deku’s determination. well yeah, no shit. but just not in the way you guys think

OH HELLO AGAIN

darker hair again here! but I don’t trust the contrast in these scans at all after last week. his coveralls are way darker than they looked before too, and you can clearly see he’s standing in the shadows now

(ETA: yep, once again the raw shows that his hair is considerably lighter than what’s shown in these scans here. although there’s no mistaking now that his hair is consistently being colored in this slightly darker shade, and it’s not just the lighting.)

anyways lol First was saying something about how AFO can’t steal OFA, and they’ve spent all this time cultivating it as the ultimate weapon against AFO, and blah blah blah. go on then, keep lecturing

NANA GODDAMMIT NONE OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT

girl what?? you did everything in your power to protect your family, and AFO, fucked up man that he is, targeted them anyway. there is one person and one person only to blame for what’s happened to Tomura, and that potato-faced asshole needs a good kick in the balls

NANA GODDAMMIT DON’T MAKE ME COME OVER THERE

SO HELP ME GOD!! I WILL GIVE YOU THE BIGGEST HUG YOU’VE EVER HAD!! THAT IS A THREAT

so now Nana is all “I’m just going to call my grandson a Thing to ensure that fandom has only the freshest, grass-fed no-hormones-added discourse this week”

I don’t even need to drop into the tags to know exactly which specific people are going to respond to this, and what kind of posts they are going to write lmao. everyone’s all caught up in the “that thing”, and meanwhile I’m over here completely hung up on this “nay” that’s appeared out of NOWHERE you guys. look at that. she really said “NAY”

Nana, my love, my dearest, I feel you girl I really do. but he’s not an unforgivable manifestation of pure evil, Deku is exactly right actually, he’s a boy in pain. you guys need to stop questioning Deku’s shounen protagonist instincts here and just let him work his sparkly magic. “let’s try and convince Midoriya Fucking Izuku that he can’t save someone” is a plan that is NEVER going to turn out well you guys

“DEKU GODDAMMIT WHAT IF WE CAN’T SAVE HIM” lmao it’s like an intervention

“DAMMIT DEKU JUST ADMIT YOU HAVE A SAVING PEOPLE PROBLEM!”

RED ALERT IT’S ANOTHER CLOSE-UP OF THE BACK OF MISTER TWO BON CLAY’S HEAD OMG

(ETA: I was too distracted with freaking out about Two and Three to really appreciate how ridiculously handsome First looks in this panel. but on my second readthrough it stood out so much that I had to go back and add an extra bullet point just to talk about how hot he is. look at him. wtf.)

THAT IS DEFINITELY AN UNDERCUT. THE PLOT THICKENSSSS. also those are fucking exhaust vents on Mister Three’s neck. MISTER THREE COULD YOU POSSIBLY BE RELATED TO THE IIDAS, PLEASE TELL ME YOUR SECRETS I’M DYING OVER HERE

so now Deku is launching into what will undoubtedly be a “saving people problems require SAVING PEOPLE SOLUTIONS” heroic counter-speech!

I mean, they can already feel the “lol nah I’m gonna try and save him” feelings running through him lol. ~OuR hEaRtS aNd MiNdS aRe CoNnEcTeD~ and all that. this is just a formality, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love a good shounen protag speech

oh wait hold up, do you mean to tell me that the whole “hearts and minds are connected” thing I was just mocking just a paragraph ago actually allowed Deku to feel what Tomura was feeling?? like literally feel it??

YET AGAIN these Tomura feels are pounding on my front door you guys?? they just will not quit?? people my house is already full of feels, does it look like I need you to sell me any more of them?? -- what do you mean, they’re free??

AW YISS THAT’S IT DEKU. THAT’S SOME GOOD SPEECH RIGHT THERE

I appreciate the contrast here between the Douchebag Triumvirate of Overhaul, Muscular, and Stain versus the Misguided Twosome of Gentle and La Brava. never let it be said that Deku doesn’t know the difference between a redeemable villain and an unredeemable one

OH NO -- OH MY GOD

someone please help me I need directions to the OFA Spooky Galactic Nebula Realm in this fictional Japanese manga land. it’s not on google maps. I need to give these two babies a big hug and wrap them up in a blanket and treat them to some McDonalds Happy Meals please help

other things: (1) ENDEAVOR CHILLING OUT IN DEKU’S “PEOPLE I HOLD DEAR” PANEL LMAO NEON DISCOURSE EXTRAVAGANZA, (2) “ONE FOR ALL IS A POWER TO SAVE, NOT TO KILL” I’M ABOUT TO CRY DEKU I LOVE YOU SO MUCH HOW IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO FEEL ALL THIS LOVE, (3) [SLAMS HANDS ON TABLE] THERE’S YOUR MOTHERFUCKING IRON WILL!!!!!!!! -- I’m sorry, please don’t call security, I’ll be good

I just randomly remembered that Deku is still saying all of this in his muffled “FMMPHHMMPHMM” voice and I’m somehow cracking up lol. so actually it’s a very good thing Their Hearts And Minds Are Connected, otherwise they’d no doubt be all, “...what?”

(ETA: so I completely missed this on account of it literally not being visible in the scan at all, but in the raw you can clearly see Baby Kacchan and Baby Shouto fanboying over All Might in two of these panels, and excuse me, ma’am??

thank you very much Deku for including them in your montage, particularly since you’ve never seen Baby Shouto before lol. amazingly accurate image you managed to conjure up, all things considered.)

SDKFJLSKHG -- AS IF ON CUE???

HE’S SO ADORABLE HELP?? Trippy Space All Might looks like he’s about to cry, and First is all “don’t crack a smile... you have to be Firm and Serious here... dammit, don’t smile” omg

anyways! YOU GO DEKU. “MY QUIRK MY RULES, BITCHES” damn, son

KLJLKKHLG TRIPPY SPACE ALL MIGHT LITERALLY ACTUALLY IS CRYING ALL MIGHT HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

“I JUST... [CLENCHES FIST] REALLY LOVE SAVING PEOPLE” FUCKING HELL LMAO THIS IS THE WORST INTERVENTION OF ALL TIME

Deku is literally all “sure, maybe I’ll have to kill him, but have you guys also considered, MAYBE NOT??” it’s no use Nana he’s too powerful

LMAO FIRST

“like I’ve been saying this whole time, you should definitely try saving Shigaraki Tomura.” “but, uh... First, didn’t you just -- ” “shut up”

(ETA: clearly it’s not just his brother who inherited those smooth-talking genes.)

so now Deku has turned back into a sixteen year old and his clothes have gone missing again. just OFA things

dskljdlsklgk

yes... sure... “testing” you...

HEY

FIRST OF ALL, DAMN YOU HORIKOSHI YOU MADE NANA CRY. even if I’m pretty sure they’re actually tears of happiness/relief. and SECOND OF ALL, “TELL MY BOYFRIEND I SAID HI” DJSKDLKJJL ANYWAY MAYBE GRAN, NANA, AND MR. SHIMURA WERE IN A THROUPLE

[SCREAMS]

WHY WOULD YOU END IT THERE?? WHY WOULD YOU END IT THERE!!!!!

(ETA: and two-to-one odds that we cut away to some other scene once they finally start to turn around next week. I’M CALLING IT NOW. giving myself a week to brace myself for the rage.)

fucking hell. well if anyone needs me I will be adding Horikoshi fucking Kouhei to the list of irredeemable villains, peace

[iamanartichoke]

I wrote a Thing. It’s extremely long. I’d prefer it not be reblogged; I wrote this for my own catharsis and would prefer it not be circulated, bc of Reasons. 

I changed my mind, okay to reblog. <3 

Under a cut for (extreme, did I mention?) length. 

So I got about 12 minutes of sleep last night, as you do, and around 3am or so I found myself - out of sheer curiosity - going down a meta hole of Ragnarok discourse, trying to figure out where this "satisfying redemption arc" for Loki happened. (I mean, there's a lot of things I would like to figure out, but I started there.) Because I could. 

Basically I was looking for meta that went into detail about how Loki was redeemed in a satisfactory way. The ‘satisfactory’  is an important word here bc there is a redemption arc in the film, in that Loki starts off the film as an antagonist (kinda) to Thor and he ends the film as an ally to Thor, standing at Thor's side. In that sense, yes, there's a redemption arc. I didn't find much (and I had no idea how much people just despise Ragnarok "antis" [I really dislike that word] but that's another topic [that I don't particularly want to get into, tbh]) but I did find some. I read what I could find, and I read it open-mindedly, and overall I came away feeling like, okay, there are some valid points being made here and I can kinda see where they're coming from.

But it was a bit (a lot) like -- flat. Idk. The best comparison I can think of is that it’s like if a literature class read, I don't know, The Yellow Wallpaper for an assignment, and some of the students came away from it feeling like it was a creepy story about a woman slowly driving herself insane, and the other students came away from it incensed at the oppression and infantilization of women in the late 19th century -

- and neither side is wrong, but the former is a very surface-level reading and the latter isn't (bc it stems from looking at why she drives herself insane, why she was prescribed 'rest' in the first place, the context of what women could and couldn't do back then, etc; basically, a bit more work has to go into it). 

[Note: I am not disparaging the quality of The Yellow Wallpaper. At all. It’s just the first relatively well-known story that popped into my head.]

In this sense, I can see the argument for Loki's redemption arc, but I don't think it's a very good argument. Not invalid, but not great.

I mean, for example, I think the most consistent argument I found variations of re: Loki's redemption is that Ragnarok shows Loki finally taking responsibility for his bad behaviour and misdeeds. This includes recognizing that his actions were fueled from a place of self-hatred and a desire to self-destruct in addition to bringing destruction on others. That he probably feels awkward and regretful of these things and doesn't know how to act around Thor, but he figures it out by the end, and decides that returning to Asgard is the best way to show that he's ready to make amends. His act of bringing the Statesman to Asgard is an apology. He allies himself with Thor and ends up in a better place, both narratively (united with Thor once again) and mentally (having taken responsibility and made amends for his past).

And setting aside that he had already made amends by sacrificing his life in TDW (and also setting aside that the argument is made that Loki redeems himself in IW by sacrificing himself to Thanos but if that's the case, wouldn't that imply that he hadn't achieved redemption in Ragnarok or else there would be no need to achieve it again in IW? Or, if you think he did achieve redemption in Ragnarok, then what the fuck did he give his life in IW for? What was his motivation there, and why did the narrative not make it clearer? I digress.) 

- setting aside those two factors, I think this is a very fair argument. Loki is fueled by self-hatred, and he does want to self-destruct, and he does want to inflict that pain on others as well (particularly Thor). No lies detected here. 

However, I also need to know where that self-hatred and desire for destruction (toward himself and others) comes from and for that, we need to go back to Thor 1.

Thor 1. 

Loki starts Thor 1 out as "a clenched fist with hair," to borrow a quote from the Haunting of Hill House (that I tucked away in my mental box of Lovely Things bc it says so much so very simply). He's very used to bottling everything up, pushing it down; he slinks around behind the scenes, pulling the strings to this plot or that. He's "always been one for mischief," but the narrative implies that the coronation incident is the first time Loki's done anything truly terrible. And it all immediately pretty much goes to shit, so Loki spends the rest of the movie frantically juggling all these moving pieces while trying to seem as if he's got it all under control, every step of the way. That's how I view his actions. 

But I always come back to that quote where Kenneth Branaugh tells Tom, of the scene in the vault, "This is where the thin steel rod that's been holding your mind together snaps." In other words this is where Loki discovering he's Jotun is just one thing too many. He can't take it. But though the rod snaps, his descent isn't a nosedive. It's a tumble. As the story progresses, the clenched fist starts to loosen, the muscles are flexed in unfamiliar ways (that feel kinda good, after being stiff for so long), and it culminates with the hand opening completely and shaking itself out. All of that repression, that self-hatred, that rage and jealousy just explodes so that, by the time the bifrost scene happens, Loki's already hit bottom. It's not just about proving his worthiness to Odin. He wants to hurt Thor, too; he, essentially, throws a tantrum. (That's right, I said tantrum.) 

(Note: The word 'tantrum’ has negative connotations bc we normally equate it with a toddler stamping their feet and screaming in the aisle when their parent won't buy them the toy they want. But in itself, the word tantrum isn't infantalizing. It's an "emotional outburst, an uncontrolled explosion of anger and frustration" [paraphrasing from dictionary.com]. That's exactly what happens here [and why Tom called Loki's actions a massive tantrum, but people took that to mean Tom agreed it was childish whereas I doubt Tom meant it that way]).

He's been pushed past his limit, and he does bad things. He does really shitty things. He hurts Thor, he hurts his family. I'm pretty sure he knows this all along so this isn't, like, some revelation further down the line that "hey, those things I did were probably kinda bad." He got the memo already. 

Ragnarok 

Fast forward to Ragnarok, and we're introduced to a version of Loki who's had 4ish years to sit with everything that's happened. To sit with it and not do much else. The rawness of it has faded, and now it seems as though it's just become a thing, like when you move through life aware of your childhood traumas and have more or less just accepted them (and you probably share a lot of really funny depression memes on Facebook, which is kinda the equivalent of Loki's play, but that's probably just me). 

Loki has, more or less, chilled out. He seems more bored than anything else; he's been masquerading as Odin for longer than he ever planned or intended to, so he's more or less ended up hanging out, letting Asgard mind its own business, and entertaining himself with silly plays. This is the version that starts out the movie as an antagonist to Thor - a version that is, arguably, in a much different place [and is a much milder threat] than the version who originally did those Bad Things. 

And of course Thor is still mad at him, and of course they're going to butt heads, because that's what they do (and Thor's grievances are genuine, I’ll add, bc it's not really his fault he assumed Loki faked his death, nor can he be blamed for being pissed about Odin).

One argument framed this version of Loki as being a person who is facing the awkwardness of coming out of a dark place, which is fair. If we're going to frame his actions in Thor 1 as a tantrum, then Ragnarok would be the part where the toddler has been taken home, possibly has had some lunch and a juice box, and is now watching cartoons. They're over the tantrum, and would probably feel pretty silly about it if they weren't, yknow, toddlers. They probably can't remember why they even wanted that toy so badly. If they're a little older and self-aware, they might even be embarrassed for having melted down.

Like the word tantrum, this feeling isn't a thing limited to toddlers. I know I've had a few epic meltdowns as a grown ass adult, and I know I always feel deeply embarrassed afterwards - like, want to crawl into a hole and die. I've said things I can't take back. Adolescents and teenagers throw tantrums, mentally ill people throw tantrums, adults throw tantrums (I mean, my god, look at all the videos of Karens having screaming meltdowns - screaming! - over having to wear masks in order to shop at stores). Humans throw tantrums. And usually, after the feelings have been let out and the tantrum has passed, humans feel pretty regretful and awkward and embarrassed about whatever they did and said in the midst of their meltdown. 

I get all of that and agree it's valid and that Loki probably feels it. By the time Ragnarok happens, Loki's had some time to reflect and think hmm, yeah, probably could've handled that one a lot better. The argument further goes that in order to navigate this awkward period, Loki must come to terms with what he's done, acknowledge that some things can't be unsaid or undone, and begin to make amends. Supposedly, some people feel that Loki becomes a better person because he does "own" everything he did wrong and, even though he feels like a jackass (paraphrasing), he sets that aside to become a become a better person by choosing to help Thor and Asgard at the end. 

Thus, the overall arc goes like this. Loki, Thor's jealous little brother, 

throws a tantrum of epic proportions bc Reasons 

continues to act badly and make things even worse (Avengers) 

has to face consequences for his actions (prison sentence) 

ends up with a stretch of time in which he's free to contemplate and chill out 

feels embarrassed and awkward about how he's behaved

sees an opportunity to make up for it and decides to take it 

helps Thor, saves the day, and ends the film a better person. 

Redemption achieved.

None of this is wrong. The film supports it. It's a fair interpretation. But it leaves. out. so. much.

To circle all the way back around Loki being "a clenched fist with hair," and his actions stemming from his self-hatred, you have to ask - how did he get that way? He didn't end up with all this self-hatred on accident. Generally, one isn't born despising themselves, it's a learned behavior. (I realize chemical imbalances are a thing, obviously, as I have Mental Shit myself, but for argument's sake I'm assuming that's not the case with Loki [at this point in time]). 

Where did Loki learn it? From his family, from his surroundings, from his culture. We see examples of these microaggressions in the first, like, twenty minutes of the movie - a guard openly laughs at Loki's magic after Thor makes a joke about it (the tone of the conversation implies that Thor "jokes" like this often) and though Loki does the snake thing, the guard faces no real consequences. Thor doesn't acknowledge that anything went amiss. Not much later, on their way to Jotunheim, Loki's barely gotten two words out to Heimdall before Thor cuts him off, steps in front of him, and takes charge. Loki doesn't look annoyed at this; he looks resigned. 

Then, for absolutely no reason at all, Volstagg decides to make a jab at Loki ("silver tongue turned to lead?") just because he can. The ease with which he makes this comment and the way that no one else blinks an eye at it implies that this isn't out of the norm. And Loki doesn't react, not really. In the deleted version, he delivers a particularly nasty comeback but he delivers it under his breath, without intending Volstagg to hear it. In the final version, he simply says nothing, though his expression can be read as hurt or stung. Either way, the audience sees an example of Loki being walked all over by Thor and his friends and bottling up his reactions instead of standing up for himself. 

Microaggressions matter. They are mentally and emotionally damaging. They hurt. The implication that this is not unusual treatment for Loki means that Loki's probably gone through this for most of his life. It's like the equivalent of being, I don't know, twenty two and you're the friend who has to walk behind the others when the sidewalk isn't wide enough, and it's been that way since the first day of kindergarten. At this point, you're used to it, but that doesn't make it hurt any less when the jabs come seemingly out of nowhere, for no reason other than to make you feel bad.

(I personally identify a lot with this bc I experienced passive bullying in social settings for years. I was the 'doesn't fit on the sidewalk' friend; I hung around with people who'd pretend to be my friend and would be more or less nice to my face, but would laugh at me and make fun of me behind my back for whatever reasons. And often there'd be the random jabs at me, things that would come out of nowhere to smack me in the face, followed by the fake laugh and “just kidding!" so that I couldn't even get upset without being made to feel like I was overreacting and couldn't take a joke. I'd deal with this socially, particularly in middle school when girls are their most vicious, and then I'd go home and, because I was the only girl with a lot of brothers and because boys are mean and because I am who I am, the dynamic was that my brothers would just endlessly roast me to my face and sometimes it was a "just kidding!" thing, where I was the only one not laughing. But that’s beside the point; my point is that microaggressions, passive bullying, and consistent invalidation are harmful and that shit stays with you into adulthood.) 

So, yes, Loki needs to be held responsible for his misdeeds, and it's valid to say that he recognizes those misdeeds and wants to make amends. I have never disagreed with that. But the problem with this interpretation is that it lets every single other character who contributed to Loki's self-hatred and mental breakdown (let's just call a spade a spade here, that's what it was; he was broken psychologically) get off scot-free.

First of all,

Odin is not held accountable for instilling in the princes a mentality of Asgard first, everyone is beneath us but Jotuns are benath us the most, they are literal monsters. He is not held accountable for pitting his sons against one another (even if it was unintentional, he still did it) with "you were both born to be kings but only one of you can rule" being the general tone of their upbringing. He's not held accountable for his favoritism toward Thor.

Frigga is not held accountable for deferring to Odin both in supporting the above things and in keeping the truth of Loki's origins a secret while doing nothing to discourage the "monsters" narrative. 

Thor is not held accountable for his own tendency of taking Loki for granted (he assumes Loki will come to Jotunheim, he oversteps Loki constantly, “know your place,” etc.. He grants his implicit permission for Loki to be treated as the sidewalk friend in their “group,” a group which is loyal to and takes their cues from Thor as Thor continues to do nothing in his brother's defense).

[Note: Wanting Thor to be held accountable for things he's done wrong isn't vilifying him. Acknowledging that Thor benefited from Odin's favoritism and his own place as Crown Prince doesn't negate Thor also being raised in an abusive environment. I don't think anyone's saying that or, if they have, it's not something I agree with.]

Furthermore, 

Odin is not held accountable for his cruelty in disowning Loki (”your birthright was to die” is never going to be forgotten, speaking of people saying things that can't be unsaid or taken back) and in sentencing Loki to a severe prison sentence (life! only bc Frigga wouldn't let him execute Loki) for crimes that are no worse than what Odin himself has committed (around which the entire plot of Ragnarok revolves! Colonialism (and subjugation) is wrong is, like, a major theme [that people rush to praise, even] here). 

Thor is also never held accountable for not trying harder to understand what made Loki snap (fair enough, he didn't have a ton of time after returning from Earth, but certainly he had lots of time to sit around reflecting while Loki was being tortured by Thanos for a year). He knows Loki is "not himself" and "beyond reason" and accepts it at face value; he questions it once and then lets it go. He's fine with assuming Loki's just lost his mind, and isn't that a shame. (I realize I'm simplifying Thor's emotions but my point is that Thor could've tried harder to figure out that Loki was being influenced and/or not acting completely autonomously.) 

Thor is also never held accountable for - if not facing consequences for his own slaughter of Jotuns - then at least addressing why Loki can't kill an entire race even though Thor tried to do that, like, two days ago. (Granted, it’s difficult to understand how Thor got from Point A ("let's finish them together, Father!") to Point B (this is wrong!), but that failing belongs to Thor 1 (which is not, by the way, a perfect movie).

The interpretation that Loki is fully redeemed because he took responsibility for his actions, returned to Asgard, and allied himself with Thor to save their people is all well and good - but, why is Loki the only one here who has to take responsibility for their actions? 

What about all the loose threads in his story? 

For example, how did he get from: 

Point A (believing himself a literal monster, having a complete mental breakdown, getting tortured and further traumatized after that, etc) 

to 

Point B (Hey, yknow what would be fun? I'm going to write and direct a play about how I heroically died to save Thor and Jane, and I'll go ahead and have Odin say he accepts me and has always loved me. I'm going to do these things because Odin never said this in real life and instead of acknowledging my sacrifice, Thor left my body in the dirt, so someone has to validate what I've done right and that someone might as well be me. And hey, while I'm at it, I'm going to control the narrative on revealing myself as Jotun to Asgard, instead of living in fear of it being found out, and I'm going to do it in a way that they have to sympathize with me and revere me in death, bc they never bothered to do so when I was alive. And Matt Damon should play me, also.) 

to 

Point C (Yeah, I guess I feel kinda awkward about that whole tantrum thing, also I should help Thor and support him being king.)

? 

The answers to these questions are handwaved and the audience takes that to mean they don't matter. Furthermore, framing Loki's redemption around an act of service (more or less) to Thor makes Loki's redemption about Thor. Does Loki make this decision for the sake of Thor and of Asgard, or does he make it for himself? It's not super clear to me, and I think arguments can be made for both. Which, again, is fine, but - whatever.

If we're going to collectively agree, as a fandom, that Loki is complex, that he's morally gray, that he's worthy of redemption and therefore arguably a good person who's done bad things, then why is it asking too much to have it acknowledged that Thor (also a good person who's done bad things) played a part in Loki's downfall and has shit to apologize for, too? Bc one can only assume the reason is that you're taking a very gray concept and making it black and white by saying Loki has to apologize and make amends because he is the villain, and Thor doesn't because he is the hero (and it's his movie). And it's lazy.

This is where the crux of the issue lands. There's more than one valid interpretation, yes. And no two people (or groups of people, or whatever) are going to consume and therefore interpret or analyze the source material in the same way. I think I saw a post recently about how studies have been done on this, in fact. But, there is a lot going on under the surface that tends to get overlooked when exploring Loki's redemption arc in Ragnarok, as far as I can see, and that’s why I don’t consider it satisfactory. 

[I did read similar arguments regarding other issues that are often debated ('debated'), like Loki's magic and/or being underpowered, whether or not Loki's betrayal of Thor was the natural outcome of the situation on Sakaar or not, whether Thor actually gets closure with Odin [if he does, how does he reconcile the father he's idolized with the imperialistic conqueror he's discovered? Why doesn't he hold Odin responsible for covering up Hela's existence and the threat of her return, especially as he knew he was nearing the end of his life? Is Thor's "I'm not as strong as you" meant to imply that he acknowledges those shortcomings of Odin's and that he's okay with them, or that he's just overlooking them, or is he not okay with them but didn't have the chance to get into it bc he was in the middle of battle? T'Challa confronted his father on his wrongdoings in Black Panther; could Thor not have had at least one line that was confrontational enough to establish where he stands as opposed to this gray middle? Can someone explain to me how any of this equates to Thor gaining closure? Please?) but obviously I'm not going to go into all of them (well, I tried not to), bc this mammoth post has gone on long enough (I may not even post this tbh)]

- but my overall point to this entire thing is that when I say I'm critical of Ragnarok bc it's flawed, that Loki's arc was neither complete nor satisfactory, that many things went unaddressed and, due to all of these things, I do not think Ragnarok is a very good movie nor a very cohesive movie, this is where I'm coming from. I have not seen anything to change my mind to the contrary. 

But I am not saying that anyone satisfied with it is wrong, or shouldn't have the interpretation that they do. I'm not vilifying Thor in order to lift Loki up, just acknowledging that Thor is arguably just as flawed as Loki without the stigma of being Designated Villain. I think a lot of these arguments get overlooked or dismissed, and that's fine, but it doesn't make the people who do engage with them hateful, or bitter, or trying to excuse Loki's crimes, or feeling like redemption means that Loki's crimes should be erased rather than reconciled. 

And sure, yes, perhaps we are expecting too much and exploring all of these themes (or wanting them explored) means that somehow we think it should be Loki's movie (we don't). Loki is a supporting character, but he's still a character. And the movie itself doesn't have to delve into all these things - no one's saying that. (At least, I'm not.) We just want acknowledgement, from the narrative, that this stuff was an Issue. 

This could have been accomplished with - 

Some dialogue closer to the novelization (and original script), like Thor and Loki both acknowledging the harm they've done one another and their kingdom due to their Feels.

 A single line of Thor confronting Odin, or even asking "Why?" 

A narrative acknowledgement that Odin did both Thor and Loki dirty (”I love you, my sons” isn't an apology, because it doesn't acknowledge either that there's been wrong-doing or express regret for having done the wrong in the first place). 

A little bit more nuance in the way Loki treats his own past (ie, instead of flippantly telling the story of his suicide attempt, maybe - if it must be flippant - talk about getting blasted in the face with Hawkeye's arrow or sailing through to Svartalfheim [And in that moment, I sang ta-daaaa!]) or whatever. 

I recognize that wanting full, in-depth exploration on all of these issues regarding a supporting character is probably too much to ask or expect - but, I also feel like, if you're going to be professionally writing a narrative (or rewriting/improvising, as it were), it's not too much to ask that a little more care be taken in regards to all of the layers that have contributed to said supporting character's downfall and subsequent redemption arc. I don't think that's an unreasonable thing to want. 

And maybe if there had been more nuance and continuity in how these things were portrayed on screen (ie, if TW had actually done as good a job as his stans think he did), the fandom wouldn't have divided and conquered itself over which "version" of the same character is more valid and whether or not the film did its best to close out a trilogy (not start a new one), to the point where everyone in this fandom space makes navigating it feel like walking through a minefield. 

But, I mean 

(Again, please don’t reblog if possible.) 

Edit: Okay to reblog. <3 

[americankimchi]

7 and 40 for the star wars asks?

i typed out my answer twice and accidentally refreshed the page both times and i'm eUHFRHGJSDGUINJG anyways.....

7. If you could choose any profession to have in the GFFA, what would you be?

i don't want to be a jedi like anakin and co. i think i'd be down to be one that works in the archives..... or goes out and searches for things to record IN the archives. like go deep diving in an ancient jedi temple lost to time (or an ancient sith one 👀)

40. If you could make your own Star Wars trilogy/series, what would it be about?

man i had this whole thing written out but like i said i hit refresh and fucked myself over so

i think i'd like to re-do the sequel trilogy

not from the ground up just change one or two aspects of it so it goes from an affront to mankind to palatable

things i would change:

kylo ren stays a villain because i'm sick and tired of contrived redemption arcs and his was literally just a speedrun of eps 1-6 so no thanks

also i simply think he makes for a far more interesting villain/character if he fully commits to the role. sure have some like underlying doubts about his going dark side/potential to return to the light bc that makes him more fleshed out but like. would it not be juicy to simply Stay Evil because he's obsessed with vader at his peak and wants to emulate that power

what the FUCK was up with snoke. he really just died like that huh!!! LIKE A PUNK BITCH!!!!!! NO PANACHE NO NOTHING JUST GETS FRUIT NINJA'D IN HALF!!!!!!! i want this bitch to stay alive and die spectacularly in ep 9. how that happens is up to you but palpatine stays dead bc that was vader-as-anakin's last act!!! AN ACT OF LOVE BROUGHT TO LIFE BY THE LOVE FOR HIS SON!!!!!!!! DUSTY MAN STAYS DUST!!!!!!!

rey and the dyad with kylo can stay if it must. but i want it to be like a "oh shit rey is secretly a spy for the enemy??? even if an unwilling one??? we can't tell her anything because we don't know how this connection works and she clearly can't control it" BECAUSE HOW FUCKING SPICY WOULD THAT BEEEEEEEEEE. everyone knows she's an ally. BUT IS SHE? CAN SHE BE? WITH A CONNECTION TO KYLO REN AS STRONG AS A FORCE DYAD????

fuck r//ylo all my homies hate r//ylo.

FINN SHOULD'VE BEEN A JEDI I WILL STAND AND DIE ON THIS FUCKING HILL THAT SCENE IN TFA WHERE HE'S HOLDING ONTO ANAKIN'S LIGHTSABER AND ROARING AT KYLO REN AS HE CHARGES AT HIM FOREVER CHANGED THE FABRIC OF THE COSMOS FOR FUCK'S SAKE HIS STORY ARC WAS SO FUCKING GOOD

kid who is raised with no name no individuality only a number and extensive YEARS of brainwashing to fit the mold others have put him into breaks that mental programming by sheer force (heh) of will and compassion after he is faced with the realities of war. he quits everything he's known immediately, even freeing a member of the enemy faction he's been taught to loathe because it's the right fucking thing to do and ends up launching himself into a fight against the very organization that raised him. even though he has multiple opportunities to abandon the fight and almost takes them he ultimately STAYS because his moral code (!!!) tells him that to do otherwise is unnaceptable

MANS WAS A JEDI IN ALL BUT NAME FUCK YOUUUUUUUUU SEQUEL TRILOGY

also i want han and leia's marriage to survive. that shit made me so sad. i loved them in the OT so much.......... ):

/looks away from the scene where luke tosses anakin's lightsaber aside because i can't do it. i simply can't do it.

ALSO luke "a new hope" skywalker just giving up like that like HELLO???????????????????????

???????????????????????????????????????????????????

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

I SIMPLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND

there is no WAY that luke would turn from a galaxy at need just because his padawan failed him in every conceivable way ESPECIALLY since he doesn't even have a prerogative keeping him from doing so like protecting innocent lives! HIM JUST FUCKING OFF TO AN ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE WAS JUSTJG9TUIWRONGUTOBNFD. im fine. im ok.

BUT I'M NOT, THOUGH.

anyways.

i could go on but long story short rey kicks kylo's teeth in and then finn comes in and turns snoke to smoke

finn, rey, and force ghost luke go on to revive the jedi. again. because for some fucking reason star wars sees fit to raze them to the ground every 50 years. fuck u let them thrive

[catrasredemption-moved]

I honestly feel you're one of the few people (including me) who think that Catra's redemption was justified and I respect that

Honestly if there’s anyone following me who thinks Catra didn’t deserve redemption, then they’re in the very wrong place lmao.

I feel like a lot of people kind of... miss the point of Catra’s character arc, tbh, either because they’ve never been in a toxic environment or because they think she should be more like Adora, which sorta defeats the purpose of Catra as a character. 

Adora’s abuse was all about moving the goalposts and always making her think she wasn’t quite good enough yet, but she could be. Catra was outright set up to fail from the very beginning because Shadow Weaver pitted the two of them against each other, and between that and her obvious bias toward Adora, there was no way Catra was ever going to win. The goalpost just didn’t exist for her. Adora is a people pleaser - it was mean of Catra to say that, but not necessarily wrong. She fell over herself trying to earn everyone’s approval, and was devastated when it didn’t always work out for her. And that’s not her fault! Shadow Weaver raised her to basically constantly seek validation and want to be perfect. So of course she took the heroic path when it was given to her - be a hero and save Etheria? That’s like the ultimate way to get everyone to like her. Did she want to give up the life she knew and her best friend and go to this strange place that she’d thought for so long was evil? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Who knows? Seriously, who knows, because Adora definitely doesn’t.

Catra, on the other hand, was taught that she would never be good enough and to not even bother looking for validation because she was never going to get it. And that sucked, and she hated it, and those feelings manifested in a lot of unhealthy ways, but she had Adora, and that was all she needed. And then Adora left, and Catra was content to just kind of hate her life forever, until Hordak put that badge in her hand. Adora basically left behind a power vacuum, and Catra was given the responsibility of filling it. She tried to fill Adora’s shoes, and that included taking on her need for approval, something Shadow Weaver absolutely refused to give her. But Catra also had years of anger and resentment driving her, so when she didn’t get the approval, she took it into her own hands - she took out Shadow Weaver, she overthrew Hordak, she worked overtime to make sure no one ever disrespected her. While Adora kept looking for validation, Catra said fuck it and just threw aside anyone who wouldn’t give it to her (Shadow Weaver permanently occupies a little space in her head because of her parental role in Catra’s life, but that’s a different thing entirely).

But spending your entire life set up to fail fucks you up in a lot of different ways. Catra ruined everything while she was racing to the top - sure, she was running the Horde, but she had no one left who cared about her. Adora was gone, Scorpia left, she was never going to get what she wanted from Shadow Weaver, she didn’t even really care about herself by the end of it all. She gave everything to the Horde, and it sucked her dry.

The thing is, you can’t just write a character who constantly gets screwed over and then give them no resolution. Every bad thing Catra did was moving her closer to that redemption arc, because she needed to hit rock bottom before she could try and climb back up. She needed to see how empty and meaningless her life was once she got what she thought she wanted, because it was the only way she could start working toward what she actually wanted. Adora was right - Catra wasn’t a bad person. She was just seriously fucked up and following the path that had been laid for her. That doesn’t excuse the bad things she did, at all, it just complicates her story. There are a lot of sides to Catra’s character, and people choose to focus on just one side, which means they end up missing a lot of the story.

So yeah, Catra’s redemption was totally justified, and I will legit die on this hill. She never really had an opportunity to be anything else (so close in the Crimson Waste, so close, but Adora said those two magic words - Shadow Weaver), and by the time she got to saving Glimmer, she didn’t think she had anything to live for, so she gave the one last thing she had - her life. And even then Adora couldn’t just let her die in peace. It doesn’t magically fix everything - that’s a lot more work she’ll have to do now that they’re done fighting an alien overlord. But she proved she was willing to put in the work necessary to continue earning her redemption. She just needs people to keep her on the right path. (which is completely okay by the way, redemption isn’t something someone can do alone, and anyone who begrudges her getting help from Adora, Bow, and/or Glimmer can fight me.)

Anyway, uh... thanks for coming to my TED talk?

[nott-gay]

CR No Nuance November takes

(cuz i think they’re fun)

Vox Machina idolize Pike too much.

The Mighty Nein idolize Jester too much.

Yeza is way too nice and perfect - Matt keeps dropping the ball whenever Sam tries to characterize Yeza as flawed.

Early Vaxleth was forced and rushed.

Keyleth showed more interest in Vex than she ever did for Vax - I will die on this fucking hill.

Pikelan is good and makes sense actually, some of y’all just didn’t see it cuz Pike was usually gone and you took Scanlan’s early characterization as his constant when he worked to be better for her and himself since as early as the Briarwood arc.

Veth’s alcoholism was cured way too easily. 

Scanlan had the best character development in the whole show. Yes, the whole show.

While Scanlan was ultimately wrong for doing what he did in Bard’s Lament, he was still justified and everything he did made sense.

No one in Vox Machina except Vex understood why Scanlan said or did the things he did in Bard’s Lament.

Nott never saw herself as Caleb’s mom, watch the scene again. Literally every time the topic comes back up again she rejects that assumption.

How come Sam can play characters as confrontational and complex but as soon as Marisha and Liam make their characters angry or upset, then they’re “overreacting.” What the fuck is up with that? Either portraying anger and complex feelings is genius acting and improv, or it’s annoying and overreacting, pick one and stick to it. 

I understand that angst is juicy and seeing your fave go off is cathartic, but no one could or should try to “pull a Scanlan.” It only worked with Scanlan because of how the plot and character relationships were developed in campaign 1. If anyone tried to do that in campaign 2 it would come off as cheap and forced.

Essek shouldn’t be redeemed. 

On a similar note, Caleb’s redemption should come from himself, Essek not being redeemed would reinforce that. 

A player can’t “play their character wrong” - just admit you read too much fanfiction and got used to the fanon interpretation of a character and their relationships and got blindsided when you found out you were in the wrong.

Speaking of which, some of y’all will defend Marisha from the haters on Reddit and in chat but then turn right around and hate on her for doing something you didn’t agree with. 

[rigginsstreet]

not to like...be a billy apologist on christmas but im gonna be a billy apologist on christmas

even if he does end up being alive in s4 and becomes a changed person because of what he went through in s3 that doesnt like... sit right with my spirit. even just thinking in terms of his season 3 “redemption” .... the fact that he had to be possessed, be forced to kill people, and fucking die all because what? he was a teenager with a shitty attitude? the punishment does not fit the crime your honor!

and im just thinking back on dan scotts redemption arc on one tree hill (the pinnacle of redemption arcs in which i compare them all to). and how he really had to go through the ringer to earn that redemption and ultimately (after 9 seasons - 6 after his most heinous crime) died in one last final act of good. that made sense. because the man fucking murdered his brother in cold blood. THAT is something you gotta really make a character work to come back from

but billy ??? the fuck he do? 

there is literally nothing he did in two seasons (one really since the entirety of s3 he wasnt in control of his body) that warrants him having to die like he did lmfao? (and if anyone comes on this post tryna tell me anything he did in s2 was soooo heinous... stop yourself from clowning right now)

put that anger towards neil ‘slap and throw slurs at my kid’ hargrove fucking bitch ass gets to live i cannot believe this

we’re going into 2021 still angry about this idgaf