#I’m not saying this is wrong hes human and complex but the way the fandom just ignores this side of him…

[cosmics-beings]

Why do you like Skybound? From the little I’ve seen on tumblr, it looks like it’s made Starscream into a heartless, ruthless villain with no emotions and that doesn’t sound like something a Starscream fan would enjoy.

The thing about it is that, I like it because it is Starscream. Starscream is ruthless, he is heartless and he is a villain. Especially to humans. The only thing I don’t really like about Skybound is that, for two seconds, I was terrified he was killed off early but people are saying he might be alive?

I think the interesting thing about Starscream, depending on the iteration or what version of the character you absorb, is that he can be multifaceted. I think that the two Starscream’s we have now are Earthspark and Skybound Starscream. It’s fair to say that Earthspark Starscream is handled with a lot of nuance and respect for what happened to him, which is what I absolutely love and adore. But Starscream is still, at his core, before any form or redemption can ever take place, and awful person. Even Earthspark Starscream was not a good person until the episode dropped.

Skybound Starscream to me at least, isn’t that shocking because that shows us one of the many facets of Starscream he can be. I think that, given the various iterations we’ve had of him, and the franchises lack of actually committing to a type of Starscream, it is easy to mix those versions + fandom interpretation (which imo , does tend to water him down and overly pacify him for many reasons), and in a way, think they should be canon.

But in reality, despite the iterations, Starscream is not supposed to be viewed as a good person. At least, not to begin with. Starscream has always been an extremely violent, ruthless, manipulative and abusive person. Even in Earthspark, or TFP, or Cyberverse, etc. He has always resorted to violence to get what he wants. He mistreats those around him, and those who try to help him whether it be his Trine, Knockout, etc. That’s why I don’t think that Skybound is inaccurate because that’s just who he is. I think as Starscream fans, it’s logical to want a version of Starscream that is nuance and more complex because we have gotten that in the past, even among the violence. And I mean, other characters are allowed to have that.

But I’m also okay accepting that Skybound isn’t that version, and that Skybound is also very canon, and often times forgotten version of Starscream that I think the fanbase sometimes needs to be reminded of. I’ve spoken about this before, but while I am heavily empathetic toward Starscream, especially in like TFP and Earthspark (and IDW), he is still an awful person, and he actually has to change to get sympathy points. And what Skybound is doing is in a way, reminding us of that or leaning into that side of Starscream that is either overlooked by the fandom, or a side we haven’t seen in years.

I am literally all for crazed, violent characters like Starscream, and I do like it. Because I also think that, with all the discourse surrounding his character, it is important to recognize that he isn’t this helpless person who has done no wrong. He is still, at his core until he changes, a violent person. And it is satisfying seeing him be violent but also seeing him be held accountable for it.

Skybound Starscream, like all depictions of him, is realistic. I just don’t think we get the nuance or the sympathetic nature of him, which again is okay. That’s not to say that in the future, we don’t see it. Because I believe we will.  

I am very curious to see how his relationship with Megatron is going to be, and in my mind I hope they have a good/better relationship but I hope they're good to each other, or at least can work together. I really don't want any of them to be redeemed I just want them to be terrible actually and just feed off of that.

[wesleysniperking]

Usopp isn’t an Underdog (TL;DR)

If we really take the time to look at it, in a very practical way. An a**pull isn’t really an a**pull. Or whatever way powerscalers like to get red in the face for.

I think a lot of people and One Piece fans have been going about Usopp in the wrong way. If you feel you haven’t, that’s fine. But for the past couple of weeks when on my break, I came to the realization after reading a book (I’ll give the title later) that when considering the genre One Piece falls under and who it’s catered to, it has indeed been a hindrance for Usopp, and even the writer, Oda. Why? Because Oda is as predictable as he is unpredictable. The same can be said for Usopp.

What do I mean by that?

Before I even get into how smart and great Usopp is, I want to state a point. A lot of people are right, Usopp is inevitably a target. Forget about the Sanji v Zoro rap sessions, or Gear 5's overpowered characteristics. Because copium or not, what Oda is doing to Usopp is intentional. When people say that Oda intended for Usopp to always be the weakest it sometimes bothered me. Not because I want him to be crazy f**kin strong. Or that my expectations are aimless. But that statement always bothered me because it seemed like those people were trying to make it a point to say that there’s nothing left for Usopp. He’s regressed and is fodder. Those two years spent on that island, Boin, with his quirky mentor Heracles was all for naught. Everyone else got these nice trainers, and Usopp’s wasn’t as nearly cool. This pained me to even just think about it. And all this shade is something I'm quoting, I don't believe any of these bad things said about Usopp. I stress this.

But I’m actually starting to embrace this aspect. No, the haters didn’t cause me to resign to their stupid agenda or hate bon*r. But they made me realize (including the book I just read), that Oda is writing Usopp perfectly. I kid you not. It took a whole analysis on David and Goliath to really make me think.

For starters, in general, us mortals (or humans) have a really twisted way of looking at the odds, or the underdog. We often think that the Goliaths are these powerful beings. We think that when we find ourselves up against these stronger people we’re at a disadvantage. Despite the One Piece fandom having a vague idea of what Usopp’s underdog status represents and how Shonen grades “weak characters”, I think this brings forward that fact. Therefore, Usopp is a weak little a**hole no one gives a shit about, and if they do, it’s to prove a point (very passionately indeed) that he’s nothing but fodder and Oda has forgotten about him. But wait. Due to our twisted way of thinking, this is where Oda is challenging us. From the start we were at first under the idea that Luffy was at a disadvantage a few times when he was up against certain villains like Arlong or Crocodile, but Oda and Luffy proved to us a few times afterwards that this small Strawhat had what it took. He had balls.

But Usopp’s journey is much more unique and complex.

I must admit, the Usopp haters sometimes get to me. I’m human. It happens. But after reading the book and a eureka moment happened, I understood that Oda was baiting the haters, HE IS BAITING THE HATERS. He’s baiting his audience. For the last three weeks, it was as though everyone couldn’t stop trash-talking Usopp, I started to go crazy. I spent 5 days straight arguing with this a**hole on YouTube who just wanted to prove and beat into my f**cking head that Usopp is “the butt” of the crew. “He’ll never be as strong as Luffy”, “He spent two years on an island and suffered from Obesity. A joke my friend”, and “Nami’s even stronger than him. He’s useless and disloyal”. Ugh!!! Anywho, I understood after reading the book that a**hats like him are what Oda wants. He’s making fun of and light-heartedly taking advantage of Usopp getting sh*tted upon. One Piece is a Shonen manga, baby! But Oda isn’t a conventional writer (that’s what makes One Piece the GOAT).

So, Oda is taking into consideration how flawed humans are in thinking what a powerful person is. He knows we think the Goliaths are the ones who have a chance of winning, when in fact, the Davids are just as formidable. If he had Usopp “take a back seat” in Wano, it was intentional.

When David stepped out behind that protective barrier to defend his people, King Saul stopped him and said “Dude, there’s no way you’re winning this.” Saul was wrong because he thought Goliath had this fight in the bag. And we know who really had the fight in the bag. And if there’s one thing to very strongly note, one thing to consider in the David and Goliath battle is that David was a projectile fighter fighting an infantryman. David was so talented with a sling that he could’ve shot that pebble through Goliath's head so deep it was practically a hot bullet—the stone/pebble David used equated to a bullet during biblical times. And he did "stun" Goliath. The worst opponent for an infantry fighter is in fact a projectile fighter because infantry fighters require making close contact to land multiple blows on an enemy. But projectile fighters can counteract that quickly with just one shot. Therefore, Usopp is at an advantage more than we think due to Usopp’s quick thinking and ammo as well. He just needs to position himself correctly up against the right opponent, and bang!

So, in this 20+ years journey, Oda has taken advantage of Usopp’s character. He wants US to undermine Usopp so badly. So that when Usopp has his biggest moment, it’ll break the fandom.

“No way! How could Usopp win that?!” “OMG. What a major a**pull!” “Damn, he one shot the hell outta [insert future adversary]!”

That finicky little word, a**pull made its appearance again. But nah, it wasn’t an a**pull.

Why?

Because David was never at a disadvantage when he fought Goliath.

Related Link 1 (more similarities between Usopp and David are discussed here)

Related Link 2

Related Link 3

Usopp fan club (join if you’d like)

photo link credit

Work Cited:

Gladwell, M. (2013). David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. Little, Brown and Company.

[olasketches]

jjk reflection time

this is NOT going to be a post where I criticise what went well and what wrong in the manga and honestly… there won’t be any post like that from me in the future either. I am aware of jjk’s flaws and other people are also aware of jjk’s flaws and whatever people decide to do with that knowledge is completely up to them. I personally really enjoyed the manga and I totally understand if others didn’t and find it rather unsatisfying and disappointing. Their reasons are more than valid and understandable. I'm making this post cause I actually find the fandom to be more irritating than anything gege ever gave us or did. I’m not even going to be ranting about this fandoms biggest issues, I just wanted to share my own thoughts and feelings about the story and its characters… that may not be really popular but we’ll see. If I accidentally end up offending one of my moots then know that I’m so sorry and I love you, pls forgive me.

my number one favourite was… and still is sowyyy…  sukuna, then yuuji joined and then megumi… and nothing much changed here tbh

I love these characters but for completely different reasons than (most of) the fandom does

I love sukuna’s confidence, overwhelming sense of self and the way he carried himself like a royalty. I really appreciate his god-like persona and religious symbolism or how he always respected his opponents (altho I do love that specific trait of his very much tbh) but that's not the reason why I ended up loving him. I love him because he's a messy petty bitch and the fact that he always had a problem with yuuji (someone called it a yuuji complex on the cursed app and they were totally spot on with that) made his character even more compelling and dynamic because it contradicted everything people known him as. it humanised him, is what I’m trying to say and for that reason I’ve never seen him as a curse or a god… to me he was not only a huge asshole who had a beef with a teenager but also… just a little human who tried to act like he was anything but.

yuuji… ahhh yuuji yuuji yuuji.. he's cute and all and he got hurt.. a lot..and he didn't want to be alone.. when he dies ig?? but honestly I’ve never cared for any of that. none of those things made me care or love him in the end. there are plenty of cute and sunshine boys who got lots of trauma on their backs… but none of them are yuuji. No, what made me really love yuuji is his unwavering determination and ability to endure the worst of the worst AND still hold onto his core values. yuuji is kind and compassionate but NOT out of naiveness… god I hate when people potray his good nature as his default behaviour… because he doesn’t know any better… it's really saddening when he’s being reduce to his sunshine, nice boy persona because he’s wayyyy more than that. yuuji is not kind and compassionate because he doesn’t know any better… during the course of the manga he had to fight against everything the jujutsu world threw at him and try to make him believe in. A lot of jujutsu society's values defied everything yuuji believed in and tried to shape him into something he could never be… a cog. a mindless cog who does and kills whatever he is told to and doesn’t see people and the world for its complexity and greyness. he had to fight for his ideas while fighting against his own hatred, guilt and resentment.. so plssss can we stop downplaying yuuji’s kindness and treating is as his weakness and core of his naivety?? please?? cause yuuji may be naive in some ways but his compassion and kindness is NOT one of those things. thank you. let’s move on.

megumi. listen I loved all those megumi corruption or (my personal favourite) distillation theories. I loved them I was totally behind them. And nowwww it really may seem like gege didn’t deliver with megumi’s character… which is completely understandable and a valid point to make, cause… yeah?? I see you, but I feel like none of us ever considered that this boy…. is just really fucking tired. he probably didn't get a once of good night sleep since gojo sent him on that mission to retreat that finger. he’s been on high alert since god knows how long and trying to act as the responsible adult he definitely isn’t and never has been… he’s still a kid goddamnit. So you know, I get that megumi just doesn’t have it in him anymore…….. AS IN ENERGY lol. I mean boy is most likely still depressed, has gone through the most traumatic experience in his life and endured more than anyone else ever should have to in multiple lifetimes. HE HAD IT THE W O R S T LETS BE REAL RIGHT NOW. send that boy to bed and give him plenty of time to replenish cause his own battery percentage is at all times LOW… and tbh it might take a really long time for him to learn how to be a person again… how to be just megumi. someone he’s never had a real chance to be, until now.

this is not the part where I offend people (I think) more thoughts on other characters might come.. later… as a part two of this post. for now I just needed to rant a bit about my top 3 most beloved characters :]

[d3sertdream3r]

I’ve noticed a lot of rancid takes about Taliesin’s characters that are annoying me, so I’m going to rant for a minute. 

Tal has perfected the art of creating paradoxical characters, and I think a lot of people end up getting lost and confused in the layers. This is not a “if you don't get it, you’re dumb” type of thing. It’s just that I wish people would truly ponder his characters and why they’re the way they are because they’re not the stereotypical protagonists that North American entertainment focuses on. They’re not strictly kind and generous, intelligent and charming, or hateful and arrogant. They’re all of the above. 

A lot of western media features characters that are fairly cut and dry and easy to understand. There isn’t a ton of complexity happening, and from what I’ve seen, the majority of the people hating on his characters and role-play style are from areas where they aren't used to Tal’s type of character. They’re not used to characters having multiple characteristics that seem to contradict each other all at once (even though that’s how people are in real life). I’m guessing that’s part of why they don't like them, but who knows. 

Caduceus is the least paradoxical of his characters, which is why I think most people say he’s their favorite of Tal’s characters. He is the personification of a fluffy blanket and a warm hug. What’s not to love?? Percy, Molly/Kingsley, and Ashton on the other hand, are all much rougher around the edges. The point of them is to provide the opposite of comfort for the audience; they're meant to make people a little uncomfortable. They hold up a mirror to the audience and force us to look at the parts of humanity that we try to avoid. Not the pure evil of mankind that Matt’s villains often show, but something even more sad and hard to swallow. 

Audiences tend to like characters that deal with trauma through humor and/or charm. People benefit from these types of characters by laughing at them or lusting over them. There’s nothing wrong with this by any means; that’s all part of the fun of fandom! However, characters that deal with their trauma in ways that are more raw and painful tend to be disliked. 

Percy is filled with constant fear that his past will haunt his future. He is convinced that wherever he goes, the darkness will follow and the pain awaits. He has horrible nightmares and lives with incessant paranoia, yet faces the deadliest monsters, demons, gods, etc with nothing but his wit and a gun. He can't stop inventing, not just to glorify himself but to protect everyone. He’s so many things at once, which is what makes him so real and complex and fascinating. 

Molly/Kingsley’s story is about wondering who you truly are and not meeting expectations of those you care about. Imagine that you’re not the only one comparing yourself to someone else; all your friends are too. You’re trying to figure out what defines you while feeling like everyone you know wants you to be someone else. His story is also filled with questions about nihilism and whether or not anything truly matters, including identity. 

Ashton represents the endless loneliness of abandonment and feeling like no matter what you do, those you love will never care about you as much as you care about them. He pushes people away and acts like he doesn’t have a care in the world while simultaneously doing everything he can to grip onto his friends. He is jealous of Laudna for the way she died because it showed how loved she was, and how sick is that? To be jealous of someone’s death? To try and force someone to admit that they haven’t gotten over their issues because you can’t accept that it’s possible to overcome yours? What's wrong with you? If it’s possible for people to do that, why can't you? What’s wrong with you? Why is it so hard for you when it seems so easy for others? What’s wrong with you? They represent not just the physical, but the emotional chronic pain that most people don’t have to think about every day. 

I have so much more to say about these amazing characters, but that would take an entire novel. They emotionally bleed all over the place. While they can still be lighthearted and humorous at times, they’re often really messy in various ways. But that doesn’t stop them from being so loving and wonderful at the same time! 

TL;DR, Taliesin’s characters are incredible and I’m so grateful that he is willing to play them in such a raw and real way for those of us that aren’t always funny or charming enough about our trauma to make society like us. 

[moon932]

I feel like Vautrin as a character gets passed by a lot in the fandom, which is a shame because he is such an interesting part of Neuvillette's past in Fontaine. And in my (very humble) opinion, I feel like out of all the characters he probably had the biggest impact on Neuvillete.

(more thoughts under the cut)

First thing that stands out to me with him is that he's the only other human character that is mentioned to have been close to Neuvillette. And most likely the first human, outside of Furina (which she both does and doesn't count? idk it weird), he would've met and grown close to when he came to Fontaine ~400 years ago. And this is interesting to me because we know how this story ends and I wonder if he is partially the reason, or maybe he just reinforced the idea, that Neuvillette abstains from forming close relationships?

Think about it, Neuvillette and Vautrin worked closely for years. Hoyo likes to be vague with their timelines so idk how long they would have been working together, but it must've been substantial for Neuvillette (who is an immortal being, so time probably feels different to him) to remember and reminisce about. We're both shown and told that they both had great respect for each other. Also one of the biggest things that stick out to me with the trial part of the story quest, is the noticable emotions in Neuvillette's voice as he juries over the trial. Which yes we know that trials make him emotional which usually manifests in the rain, but this is the first and only time (I think? pls correct me if I'm wrong on this) that it's noticeable in his voice.

The last big thing I think about isn’t the trial itself necessarily, but the way Neuvillette talks about it in the fortress with Wriothesley. I think this is more specific for the english dub bc Ray Chase, instead of saying “And I believed he had every right to feel that way.” he changes it into present tense: “I believe he had every right to feel that way.” Ok this one may be a bit of a stretch because they essentially mean and get across the same thing, but it’s so interesting that it’s changed to present tense. And honestly? I think it works better with the present tense. Because Neuvillette doesn’t condemn Vautrin for the emotions he felt, (which wild theory but maybe he was channeling his emotions towards those he killed and not necessarily towards Neuvillette? so out there ik) if anything Neuvillette seems more then ok to readily accept them and the fact that they are (supposedly) directed at him.

Some other minor stuff that always makes my brain start to whir is that while the parallel were drawn between Vautrin and Carole / Traveller and Paimon in the quest, I do think it’s more fitting to say Wriothesley and Sigewinne are a more accurate parallel. Is this a slight critique on main character privilege? Yes.

If you’re wondering why I’m fixated on this it’s because Neuvillette is a character, that while his interpersonal relationships are sparse, they’re usually a lot more complex and often deeper under the surface. Neuvillette and the melusines are some dynamics that I wished Hoyo explored more often because I would love to know how to the melusines view Neuvillette more in depth. (If Sigewinne’s voice lines or character stories touch on this please let me know! I’d love to read them.) I have barely even touched on Neuvillette and Furina because their relationship is such a complex mix of trust and fear and pain and love. Not to mention Neuvillette and Wriothesley “The words unspoken are the flower.” Okay sir, keep your secrets I see how it is.

Do I think that Neuvillette always had the idea that the Chief Justice must remain impartial in any circumstances running through his head when he first took position in Fontaine? Yes, but I do think that the trial with Vautrin may have exacerbated this thought and made it more of a lifestyle type thing. Or maybe Neuvillette believes all his relationships from then on may be set in a perpetual cycle of grief and loss because surely nothing will out live the sovereign of water, the original god of life itself?

[musicalmoritz]

Hm is it even good to like Tsukasa? Or ship him?

Why am I getting so many controversial asks today😭 No hate to you ofc, I just think it’s funny. I’ve talked abt SA/incest, problematic ships, and now I’m about to talk abt the ethics of liking villain characters. I guess I should thank you guys bcuz I did say I liked talking abt more complex subjects…

Yes it is completely fine to like Tsukasa, I’m surprised I even have to say this. People have about a million reasons for liking villain characters, watch any interview of an actor playing an evil role and you’ll see them passionately talk about how fun it is. Tsukasa is not a real person and therefore none of his crimes are real, he hasn’t hurt anybody and he is incapable of ever causing any real harm because he does not exist. A person’s taste in fictional characters should never be used as an indication of their real life morals, the only people who think otherwise are people who actively engage in fandoms and have therefore lost touch of the way normal people consume fictional content (aka people like me but I try to stay grounded in reality)

Personally I love characters that are morally reprehensible. Even with characters that are morally good, I tend to be fascinated by their flaws (ex: Kou and Nene). I like Tsukasa because he causes conflict, which gives the story a plot. If he weren’t there things wouldn’t be as interesting. He’s actually my favorite Yugi twin, he’s very entertaining to read about. I love how he just does shit to mess with people, he’s so creepy (affectionate). Characters that do really bad things are fun to analyze, they help us conceptualize certain behaviors without glorifying any real life perpetrators of those crimes. The majority of the time, there is more to characters than their worst behaviors, and fans may like them for other reasons as well

As for the shipping, no there’s nothing wrong with shipping Tsukasa with other characters. I know the fandom as a whole disagrees with this but those takes lack a lot of nuance. What if people are shipping him with characters he hasn’t hurt??? Or shipping him in AUs where he’s more chill??? Also keep in mind that the rhetoric of “mentally ill people shouldn’t date because they’ll hurt someone” is used to oppress mentally ill individuals irl, particularly people with personality disorders. Everyone is capable of growing and changing if they choose to do so

Even if you think it’s problematic to ship Tsukasa, it’s weird to assume everyone who does so is a terrible person. It’s even weirder to assume that simply liking him makes you a bad person

Idk sorry I’m getting so heated about this, none of this is aimed at you specifically. This is just a really important issue to me, it disturbs me to see so many people conflating fictional killers/abusers to human beings. It is the peak of chronically online behavior and I hope to see it dead in a ditch someday. Unfortunately I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon…

[louisisalarrie]

I must say that best was panic in between hairballs after louis' mexico concert. I know it maybe wasnt 70k people on the end (32k is still massive in my opinion) but how they were stressed that louis can have this big audition ( it was really near to harrys numbers, and they live in their own fantasy that harry is something better than others) , they spreaded lies about people going random around and whatever they could think right from their ass. Even if all these people on videos were AI it worth it....and dont take me wrong im very proud of harry and his succes, it is only about this type of his "fans"

hehehe I love watching them scramble. it’s the same when we get some solid larry proof, it is so very funny.

but yes, I don’t think he’s very proud of the way his fans treat people. There are a lot of them that are great, don’t get me wrong, one of my best friends (who also works in the industry) is a MAJOR harrie. like… followed him around AU & NZ to go to all of his shows etc. (respectfully like not camping out his hotel just going to the shows), and she’s also an anti. but she does not say a single disrespectful thing about Louis and has seen all harry, louis, and niall’s solo shows. she’s a stan, but has really stayed away from the toxicity. it’s possible to be a fucking beautiful and lovely human while also being a solo harrie, but fuck, so many people are so far from it.

and twitter is a major factor for that. back in the day, whatever we wrote on twitter, we risked the boys seeing it, so even when things got heated, we kept in mind they could reply to us at any time and call us out if necessary. hence why all the chaos was on tumblr.

but the boys did in fact see so much and respond to so much - we used twitter to tweet at them more than each other. but now, it’s a vacuum hellscape and FULL of bots, folks who shouldn’t be allowed in any fandom, and politics. it’s icky. and that change, obviously came with the way Twitter started being used for marketing purposes only, and an influx of solos when 1d went on hiatus. instead of waiting for the boys to jump online and start a twitcam, or fighting the beliebers, all we get now is promo, or a half hearted q&a which is usually just to push a stunt, and our for you pages just don’t align with what we want to see. Everything is an argument.

But my point is that, while they probably do take a solid amount of time off Twitter because it is such a hellscape, they would check, and be told by their pr coordinators, as to what’s going on. harry would see his fandom fucking creating hurt and chaos and divide, and his response has been ‘treat people with kindness’, which is as diplomatic as he can be without causing more chaos. But those fans just… ignore that. And half the time they don’t even treat HIM with kindness, is the most embarrassing fandom I’ve ever seen.

Every fan in the 1d days had their fave boy, and it was NOTHING like this. I didn’t yell at someone who loved zayn because I loved niall, we were just all there together, fucking supporting these terrible, terrible dancers as a team. sorry but fandoms just don’t have the same community vibe they used to. The only consistently loving and supportive and sweet people I’ve seen throughout all these years are larries (I’m sure there are a couple instigators, but overall).

anyway sorry I really ended up floating away here but yes, they have a severe superiority complex that goes hand in hand with their insecurities.

[pumpkincarriage3]

Malleus Draconia: Character Analysis

This is a character analysis of Malleus Draconia. Please keep in mind that I haven’t been apart of the fandom for a super long time, so I’ll probably get some things wrong. But I’m more than welling to have corrections, so if you see anything inherently incorrect on my analysis, please feel free to tell me.

Onto that character analysis --

Something I’ve noticed about Malleus is how inherently Fae he is. Which sounds weird, because he is a Fae, but I mean in the sense of how much Malleus was based around the old stories of Fae.

One thing being that he likes ice cream. Part of that reason, at least as far as the implication goes, is that he likes cold desserts in general. Which is true, probably because he is a dragon and can breathe fire, so he probably likes something cold going down his throat. At least, that seems to be the implication.

But another thing most people don’t know is that in older stories, Fae were known to like cream. In fact, Malleus himself when eating a melon, filled with ice cream, in the A Firelit Sky over the Sands, he remarks how creamy it is.

Malleus himself also has a bit of a playful streak. In-particular, I can think of is in Malleus’s gym uniform vignette and some of the events that happened in A Firelit Sky over the Sands, he messes with both Cater and Grimm, respectively. Cater in the way that he runs around when Cater tries to get a picture, and with Grimm how he moves so Grimm can’t get in his shadow. He even tells them the can both do the things they wish to, as long as they find a way to do it.

He also makes quite a few jokes here and there, but most people don’t realize he’s joking. This being because he constantly has to hold himself to a certain decorum because he is the first in line for the throne, and that typically carries over into when he’s playing a joke unless he’s being really playful.

Fae normalcy and Fae morals are also different from any other creature. Something Malleus inherited. Proof by the Halloween events and his actions. Even the other characters, human, beastmen, and mermen alike all say that Fae standards are skewed. Fae have such different moral standards that all the other creatures think its strange. Which, holds as far as folklore goes.

One could even category him allowing both Grimm and Yuu to call him Tsunotaro as his way of making a joke. He admits to Vil that part of the reason that he allows Yuu to do so is because he found it amusing, mainly because Vil calls him out on it for “messing with his juniors”. Malleus accusing Vil of the same.

Another thing would be how he doesn’t give out his name right away. Which, this is because he doesn’t want Yuu to know who he is, but names are important to Fae. A name holds a lot of power over someone.

This might be part of the reason he allows Yuu to keep calling him as such even when they figure out who he is, because he told them they could call him whatever they want previously. Fae’s are trickster by nature, but they always keep their end of the bargain and keep their word. He told Yuu they could call him that previously, so allowing them to do so is him keeping his word. As an added benefit, it’s a name that he finds amusing.

It could also be why he has such a superiority complex. Fae are known to see themselves above humans and have a bit of an ego. Which explains Sebek’s discrimination towards humans, and Malleus’ superiority complex any time we do get to see it.

And he does have one. He thinks himself superior to most. Either this be because of his magic, being Fae, or even because he’s a prince -- who knows -- it might even be all three.

But even with his superiority complex, he gets lonely because most people run away in terror. Or when his own subjects talk about him as if he’s some god, putting him up on some pedestal that he can’t get down from. He unknowingly also puts himself up there, because he does have superiority complex. He unknowingly flaunts his greatest assets but gets annoyed when people put themselves at a distance from him. A self-fulfilling prophecy in a way. 

Especially if you consider he might be flaunting his assets to draw people to him, but ends up doing the exact opposite. But I can see it going both ways. To either scare people away or draw them closer.

It’s why he finds people with such a different reaction to him so amusing, because their reaction is so different. So he wants to keep them around for his own entertainment. Once again establishing that distance without realizing it.

It’s why he glorifies gargoyles and abandoned places so much. He feels lonely because everyone is at a distance, so he goes to the places that he relates to on some level. Abandoned buildings can be dangerous, and gargoyles are seen as things meant to scare things away, most people ignore them, so he relates to them. That’s why he likes them so much.

He also gets offended relatively easily, he does a good job of showing that he isn’t upset, more than likely because he is the next sovereign, but he does easily get offended. Another thing Fae do.

That’s not to he doesn’t care for people. He does. We see proof of this in Chapter Six in regards to Yuu. In regards to his retainers and guards in many other instances. But he doesn’t always realize he cares for them. For several different reasons. 

One being, that he is always at such a distance to people. Because people put him up on a pedestal. So, he’s never gotten to sit down and really interact. His guards and retainers don’t count because he knows they have to hang around him because that’s their jobs. Not to say that they don’t care for Malleus and he doesn’t care for them in turn, but no doubt the presence of the imbalance of the power dynamics in the relationship is always there. They can’t get away from it and have to act within how their duty calls for.

He was also very isolated. He’s never gone very far from his castle, except for when he’s sneaking out. And people typically know who he is, so he probably never really stuck around to chat until Yuu came along. He’s been surrounded by Fae who live a very long time.

Everything has always been static for him. Nothing major ever changes because he grew up around people who isolated him from the world and move at a slow pace. It’s his normal. Where nothing major ever changes.

And then Yuu comes along, being the first major change in a long time. Its why he doesn’t realize he cares for them. At first he likes them simply for the entertainment that they provide, until he actually learns to care for them as themselves. Something so rare and foreign and outside of the normal, he doesn’t realize it until they are already gone. And even then, he doesn’t actually realize it. He’s just beginning to contemplate the idea that he *might* care for them.

It’s probably why Chapter Seven more than likely will be him coming to the understanding that things actively change and rarely is the world forgiving.

This probably seems more like a ramble than an analysis, but its just my thoughts on the subject. I might do more character analysis or maybe not. Is there anyone people would be interested in seeing a character analysis on if that’s the case?

[good-beans]

YES thank you @kyanako5972 for your service 😤👏 (I was actually looping them both for a bit but I keep forgetting to run it lately ah...)

And hehe I have been ✨enabled ✨Have some Triage thoughts, and feel free to add your own!!

Starting off with my main praise of the song: “I want to be Innocent, I want to live.” I know the point of milgram is that all the characters are going to get worse, but I feel like this video is the first t2 song we’ve seen a prisoner get better. (People have talked about his savior complex being an issue but that’s coming after the inno verdict, in Triage he specifically says he never wanted this to be some kind of hostage situation where he has the power to save/kill people.) This is when we can finally see one of our verdicts go right. The others had an issue, or creeping guilt, or uncertainty, but Shidou gets over any uncertainty right then and there – he wants to live again!! In a series so full of death, in which half of the cast makes some reference to suicidal thoughts, plus two victims who did commit suicide, there’s something extremely profound about seeing one of them change their mind onscreen. We hadn’t gotten a moment of healing like that before, and I doubt we’re ever going to get one again.

The moment itself is shown very accurately and beautifully, in my opinion. His expression when he makes his statement about wanting to live is so unique. It’s not a smile, it’s not a grimace, it’s something in between. His voice is strained, but set. He’s not excited about it – when you’re in that mental place, it isn’t a cheery switch to wanting to live, it’s a grit-your-teeth and pick yourself up and make the tough choice. It’ll be so, so hard but by god you have a job to do. It made sense, given all the previous mentions of him helping Fuuta and Mahiru – he had a lot of complicated feelings about being a doctor, but he remembered that saving others really is his purpose in life.

And then the shock factor. Because of that moment and the family reveal, I think this video had the biggest twist of t2. The others had surprises, sure, but they were hinted at in the voice clips and vds, or they just exaggerated things we already knew about the characters. I was completely blindsided by Triage. Everything leading up to it paralleled Shidou with Mahiru, so I thought it was just a lover he’d lost (and maybe someone he’d just met or something). He had his moments with Amane, but I always assumed it was because of her connection to him, not vice versa. I assumed he was just overdramatic and killing people for some lady he’d fallen for, and then decided to take the easy way out and ask for death. So to find out he had a fully established family, wife and two kids??? To see his main character trait from season one was completely reversed??? (but in a way that wasn’t at all forced???)

Now, it’s much easier to make a character unlikable than it is to redeem them. We saw how quickly the fandom turned on certain characters, we felt pangs of horror for many of them. But it’s very difficult to make someone like a character they’d previously despised. Which is why I’m insanely impressed with the way those three minutes could undo months of my hatred toward Shidou, and bring me literally to tears over him. Suddenly his actions weren’t so selfish, as rash. He’s not taking the coward’s way out. He had incredibly good reason to do what he did, and now he’s taking accountability and choosing to face pain in order to atone. I’ll add more in a sec, but it’s not even that the video shows him as this perfect saint. Without holding back on everything he’d done wrong, it conveyed a real, grieving human that really moved me.

Of course the music itself was amazing – Shugo Nakamura sounds incredible. I don’t know too much about actual music structure, but the tone of both Shidou’s songs manages to be so fun and relaxing while simultaneously filling you with that profound sadness. It’s like an embodiment of his peaceful, sad smile. There’s something so human about his voicemail message, and it’s unique hearing different types of speaking parts in a song! But that moment is also foreboding. You wonder why he missed the call, and who’s calling, and you kind of already know, and you hear the three beeps as the line is dead. Then there’s the gut-wrenching return of those sounds, with the added visuals bringing to mind a dying heart?? Insane. 

And lastly, the visuals are gorgeous. Bringing back the flower/pomegranate symbolism in a similar but new way was perfect. The bright scenery and picturesque scenes really emphasized how happy he was. The video is so bright. His family is gorgeous, they’re happy. His neighborhood is sunny and warm. His house is comfortable and light. Which meant the dark scenes contrasted perfectly, driving home how jarring his loss was. And despite all the good things I said about him before, the video isn’t actually trying to paint him in an innocent light. There are literal graveyards behind him, showing how much blood is on his hands. The rotting food is such a disgustingly painful way to show what he was doing to people. He handed the tag directly to his son, showing full accountability: he gave his son his fate, he killed him himself. The images seem beautiful at first, especially compared to AKAA’s dark, bloody rooms, Backdraft’s grim tunnel, and INMF’s monstrous bees. But no matter how lovely it looks, it successfully  conveys a truly horrendous crime. 

In conclusion Shidou my fucking beloved. Go watch Triage again :3

[dirtytransmasc]

I gotta say, I’ll read just about any fic where Spider is getting shown love and acceptance, but I’m not the biggest fan of fics that will go out of their way to make Quaritch worse to Spider than he was in canon. Because to me, the fact that Quaritch is kind to Spider is one of the things that makes his character interesting. Making him worse just isn’t compelling. And it’s almost always used in fics where he gets adopted by Jake and Neytiri, so it’s just kind of like… did you have to make Quaritch awful so the Sully’s prior neglect doesn’t look as bad in comparison?

TW; r4pe, child abuse, violence against children,

oh thank you, someone said it.

I have seen so many fics where recom quaritch was made to be worse than even human quaritch just for the sake of making the sully's look good. I have seen more than one r4pe fic, multiple fics where quaritch beat spider bloody, and that's only the tip of the iceberg just so spider can scurry home to the sully's and have everything go 'back to normal'. the neglect, abuse, neytiri almost killing spider situation, the sully's abandoning spider with the RDA situation, etc all gets ignored and they're a happy family. it boggles my mind how that makes sense to anyone.

I get that not everyone likes him, but, changing his entire narrative just to fit your own non canon narrative is just kinda annoying. especially cause like, the whole purpose of their characters were to show the complexity of healthy father/son relationships, even if they are on opposing sides, even if one is on the wrong side to begin with. it's the duality of quaritchs role within the movie that make it worthwhile.

the day the majority of people within any given fandom space can actually have critical thinking and analysis skills will be the day I live in peace.

[rivetgoth]

It feels weird to admit out loud but tbh I feel like I’ve completely outgrown “fandom” as a concept. I remember being an awkward lonely teenager who was super isolated from everyone else and fandoms were everythinggggg to me. I don’t hold any regret for that or view it as “cringe” or something, I made all of my online friends that way and some of those friends are people I’m still in contact with today and who were there for me during some of the darkest moments of my entire life, plus a huge portion of the practice I got writing and actually receiving feedback was fanfiction, it was definitely what made me become a confident enough writer to actually start sharing my works with people. I got into “kinning” and all that and just was super into fandoms, shipping, etc.

But nowadays I just feel so removed from it. Most importantly I feel like I reached a point where I felt like a lot of fanfiction culture was honestly holding me back as a writer. It became more dependent on writing a certain way or certain content to generate views and the more I started writing for myself rather than emphasizing popular ships or tropes the less attention my work got and I felt a lot of distaste for all the memes I’d see about how to get more views, about never finishing projects, never editing your work before posting, etc, when I was really pushing myself to try to turn out quality content. I switched over to entirely original fiction when I started realizing that the stories I wanted to tell could be told through my own characters and I could put the effort into actually crafting something of my own for myself that was original from the ground up and that felt way more exciting. Shipping for me was extremelyyyy a byproduct of being very lonely IRL. Both romantically and otherwise. It was like, a way for me to project my “ideal relationship” and envision a world where I basically was making up what I wanted a relationship to look like via the characters I was using as a stand-in for myself. Once I was actually forming complex deep human relationships in real life I actually realized I had a lot of toxic traits and unhealthy attachment of my own I had to work through and it changed my outlook a LOT on “shipping” and how I was going about it and just what a healthy relationship really looks like irl… And I also realized that a lot of the time the characters I was projecting onto were because I was insecure and didn’t really know myself (or even WANT to know myself), so I was putting more stock into comparing myself to these characters I liked and sort of viewing myself through that lens instead of confronting myself…

I still looooove many characters to death don’t get me wrong, and I totally have characters where I either 1. Super duper relate to them or 2. Think they are hot as fuck or 3. Think it’d be hot if they fucked another character. But it’s just not a world I engage with or have any interest in engaging with. I don’t think I’ve actually sat down and read a fanfiction in, like… god, almost a decade now probably. And is it way too mean to say I honestly just find the landscape of modern fandom extremely uninteresting and a bit juvenile? I’m not a huge fan of how much of what I see nowadays is about projecting onto characters rather than trying to come up with interesting new stories or concepts for them pertaining to the character themself. Like, you go through the tags and it’s just like… “omg this character is a he/they MCR fan with autism” and then you go to OP’s bio and they are a he/they MCR fan with autism 😭 & it’s like… just very deeply uninteresting to me to engage with media that way. I see people get called out for headcanoning a villainous character committing a heinous non-canon act as if it’s morally “wrong” and I think it’s because people are more interested in like, projecting onto characters than viewing them as unique entities, so saying “this villain is an abuser” is basically saying “YOU, fan of this character, are an abuser.” It’s weird and not very fun to me. Fanmixes are all music OP already knows and likes, nobody is making anything that feels particularly high effort (fan games, animations, etc) and those SAME DAMN “no line editing we upload at 3 am like men” posts that encourage lazy ass writing are STILL going around!! I just think so much of it feels low effort and I’m at a point in my life where I really desire effort, in my own work and in others’ work.

There’s just a lot of aspects of it I feel so removed from nowadays. I love weird sex and unbridled sexuality and fandom feels so sexless even though people talk all the time about being horny for XYZ characters and I can’t quite put my finger on why. Like even back in 2012 fandom “zomg my ovaries” type stuff felt more sexually charged. I think, and this is quite judgmental I know, it’s because a lot of the people who are immensely into fandom As A Lifestyle kind of substitute real life for these fantasy daydream versions and it’s in part because they are a bit emotionally immature and insecure IRL… and I say that because I was there at some point. Like, they aren’t actually confident enough in themselves to just own unrestrained sexual attraction so instead it’s all kinda milquetoast. Back when I was in fandoms all the time I hated myself too much to ever even make self-inserts. I was like, disgusted with the idea of picturing myself in situations. Once I was freed of that I felt way less interested in “shipping” unless there is REALLY GOOD sexual tension because ultimately if I think a character is hot I’m just like. Damn I wish I could fuck them & that’s really it. Then I just like jerk off and move on but even then I find it more titillating to jerk off to real people than someone fictional 😭 Plus I think a lot of fandom ppl have an issue that I’ve talked about before, which is making interest-based friends that they never attempt to develop a deeper connection to beyond their interests, so the moment one of you stops being as obsessed with something the friendship ends. And I’m just not really interested in that kinda dynamic, especially with total strangers online.

Uh idk. Sorry to be a normie but I think at this point I’m just so much more interested in real people first ov all, because I go out like multiple times a week and am surrounded by so many strange interesting characters and I’m just so much more interested in THEM, and the chance to actually get close to them, than any characters that don’t exist. With cool people in real life you can actually work to be closer to them and get to know them! And when it comes to characters that don’t exist, I’m way more interested in crafting my OWN and developing my own worlds and stories for myself. And I’m just interested in the story of my own life and improving myself and making myself cooler and more interesting rather than getting caught up putting that time and energy into someone else’s creation. I also think I just don’t really vibe with fandom culture around the types of things that get popular, from art styles to character interpretations to the way cliques manifest in places like Discord or whatever. And I haaaaaate the fact that it feels like every fandom in the world just has the most inane pointless drama, people like coming for each other over what characters they like or what headcanons they have, terms like proship or antiship meaning literally nothing of value because they change definition every single time I see someone new use them, really weird fetishism that continues to go unchecked of nonwhite people and LGBT people and the like… it’s just like. Not fun to me.

But like. Idk. I don’t mean to sound like a judgmental ass and make sweeping statements about every single fandom person and every single fandom or try to just sound way more morally or intellectually superior or something. But it’s kinda interesting I guess to realize how far from that culture I am at this point in my life. I just can’t imagine spending really any time or energy focusing on fictional characters invented by other people and projecting onto them rather than just confronting myself and my life directly and making things that are original manifestations of my soul and my desires and my own rich inner world. Huh.

[wibble-wobbegong]

I have read people complaining that Will didn’t deserve to be treated that way at Rink O Mania, but nobody said that he did. We’re not defending Mike’s actions or saying that he wasn’t wrong, but that both of them were wrong for different reasons. Apparently you can’t ask this fandom to have a nuanced mind.

the nuance disappeared for people after having to watch him experience horrific trauma and now he’s no longer a complex person and only a victim therefore anything and anyone that hurts him is automatically entirely at fault and will didn’t do anything wrong. not all pains are universal yet people struggle to fathom that even a deeply traumatized person who isn’t following the trope of “becoming what hurt him most” is still a human being who fucks up and isn’t constantly a victim

will is a traumatized person. he has gone through a lot which was not his fault at all, but that didn’t change the fact that he’s a person. being traumatized doesn’t mean that every pain you experience is grandiose and you’re once again being forced to suffer and are a victim (of course trauma responses happen but even then that doesn’t mean you didn’t fuck up, it just means you need some help getting reoriented so you can talk to the person and apologize or sort it out), it just means you have trauma

maybe i’m fighting an invisible force here but people tend to witness suffering and become insanely protective of the person who suffered from even the smallest of pains and excuse all their actions rather than letting them be people again

[finitefall]

I agree on kid!aemond being the most developed out of the kids, but older aemond? he is basically just standing there and he barely talks, at least aegon has dialogue scenes with his mother and the coronation was his big moment where he could shine. and aemond is still guilty of killing luke and the general audience hates him anyway. I also don't believe the writers didn't expect daemon to be popular or that they dislike him, they compared him to fan favorite characters like oberyn, jaime and bronn, they hired popular and acclaimed actor, he was given coolest scenes where he is a badass, he connects with the dragons and even sings to them, the scene with vermithor looked like a pure fanservice.

When I say Aegon isn't developed so far, unlike Aemond with the writers spending more time on his character, I'm talking about the whole season, not just episode 9.

There's a huge difference between being guilty of someone's death by accident and being guilty of someone's death because you meant to kill them. The fandom doesn't hate Aemond for this, there are even Greens stans defending him because "he didn't meant to kill Luke and it was Luke's fault that Aemond tried to scare him since he lost an eye because of him". I don't know where you saw everyone hating Aemond, honestly.

What Ryan Condal said was after the reactions about Daemon choking Rhaenyra, about Daemon being a fan favorite loved by many people:

I’m having trouble understanding it. We established right out of the gate, in the pilot, that Daemon is a fascinating guy, but he’s not Ned Stark. So I didn’t see it coming. To me, Daemon is the antihero of this story. He’s a character with a real darkness to him, who’s dangerous and charming in equal parts. I knew people would be fascinated by him and latch onto him, but I figured they’d do it in the way they did with Jaime Lannister or Bronn or the Red Viper. I did not think they would oddly apply this sort of super-fandom to him and try to justify every single thing he’s done as being intrinsically heroic. It simply isn’t. It’s not the case. Nor will it be in the future. We did not set out to write villains and heroes in this. We set out to write interesting humans and complex characters who are hopefully compelling, but compelling doesn’t always mean heroic or unimpeachable. I see Daemon as having heroic aspects to him, and I understand why people would. I mean, he’s incredibly charismatic, he’s handsome, he looks great in that wig, he rides a dragon, he has a cool sword. I totally get it. But if you’re looking for Han Solo, who’s always going to do the right thing in the end, you’re in the wrong franchise, folks.

Daemon fans (except a few unfortunate people) never said he was a hero, and never wanted him to be Ned Stark or Han Solo. They said he was a morally grey character. Book!Daemon is in fact the most obvious example of a morally grey character, and people loved him that way. Daemon fans didn't try to justify every thing he's done, they just called bullshit because the writers cut the scenes that truly showed his humanity and included one where he choked Rhaenyra instead, portraying him more as just a bad guy than a morally grey character. As for HOTD writers, they don't seem to know what a complex character is.

[chibikittens]

a little sad and frustrated again over HFY. I used to love all these stories, and I’ll admit I haven’t been involved in it lately so I could be completely wrong, but are there any... good stories anymore?

(ngl this is just a vent post about nothing important bc I love to complain, but hey if you have any recommendations... ;_;)

It feels like so many of them steal ideas from one another, and- fine. It IS a fandom, after all. That’s kind of the point. But it seems like so many stories out there are just really wonky (barely there) science facts without any real overarching story. Or stories with interesting ideas but NO drive to explore them. It’s just “woooa humans have this funny organ/bio-chemical and it makes them WAY BETTER than these weak silly aliens who have the personality of a wet napkin haha!” (which is its own problem too ngl)

(and some of them are like, ‘posted 8 hrs ago’ and blatantly rips off a 5m youtube video that just came out about the exact same super niche trivia knowledge... like... cmon)

And then there are the... pro-war, weirdly eugenics-y ones out there that make you raise your brow at the moral. Like all the stories where humans (or whoever) have to prove their personhood, and then... they do. They prove it, as if they needed to in the first place. Or the ones like “fuck with humanity and find out” and then the aliens fuck around and they find out, and there’s SO MANY of those, why are there so many...?

And like I’m not saying there can’t be stories with complex and flawed societies! I’ve read great stories out there like that! It just doesn’t feel like those are being written anymore, and any sense of nuance has been lost, exchanged for this sense of genetic or mental superiority, and it’s so off-putting...

And I think it’s frustrating ‘cause I have read super amazing stories that frankly, baffling that they’re free?? Like, published-book-quality stories I would’ve been glad to pay for.  I remember Prey, an unfinished story where humans were one of two of the only predatory species in the galaxy - and sure, it wasn’t perfect, the enemy was genetically evil. But, as the human race was being shown in its complexities within the story, and their predatory-nature was mostly political and they directly acknowledge the more nuanced hunter-gatherer type of background humanity has had, maybe there would’ve eventually been something like that for the other species too. Sad it ended, but it was showing a lot of promise for unraveling more nuanced ideas along the way.

And then there’s Betty Adam’s short stories! Where, yes, the humans are wacky but their alien counterparts are just as wacky, too! And, not only are the alien cultures unique, but so are the individuals within the cultures as well! And they’re not all just drab fucking dry and salty fucking white-coat scientists! (Just god how much I have come to loath that character sub-type) (I should just be reading those ones honestly, like can I tell you how fucking refreshing it was that, instead of reading another adrenaline-story ((you know the ones they’re ALL the same)) I read a short story where a cleaner wouldn’t start cleaning cause someone moved his favorite broom, and an insectoid person was like ‘what does it matter lol also you have a favorite broom???’)

And then the shorter stories that actually had heart to them, stories that were smaller in scale but just as passionate as the galaxy-wide stories. I remember this one where a man crashes onto a planet, and is rescued by the aliens living there, only they don’t live as long as he does... he ages so slow in comparison that he becomes a sort of living historian/weather predictor for them, and when he finally dies at the end, its like such a profound shift, like this man who has seen generations after generations of this species live and grow and thrive, and he’s just... gone, too. Like everything else that came before.

I dunno. I just needed to vent about it I guess. I miss those stories. Maybe they still exist and I just can’t find them because the sites they’re posted to aren’t really meant for story-archiving and they become buried and lost, but if they’re there then I cannot find them, and I get sad thinking about that too.

[overheaven]

hypmic spoilers

hahah nooo don’t humanize Rei he’s so sexy and unknowable…

no but really i do want him to always be at least a smidge “irredeemable” if you know what i mean. “redemption” is so trite and misused in fannish type stuff these days so i don’t even like using that word but it’s the best i’ve got. i really hope his motivations don’t end up wholly justifying his actions yknow? i don’t think he needs to be a villain (i don’t think there are any villains in hypmic actually, just antagonists. characters with wildly different motives and morals yknow.) but i would be very sad if all of his edges got smoothed.

while i love guys who are just Bad and Gross all the way through, it makes for an interesting character that he was “good” (or at least “honest”) at some point but then he got burned or even just backed into a corner and had to play the villain to get [his loved ones or even himself] out safely. again, Hypmic just doesn’t have many characters who are just evil for the sake of being evil, the main characters DO often have good intentions and multilayered backstories, complex conflicts that they have to deal with and navigate imperfectly. they all get messy. but i do fear Rei’s choices being undermined by a big HAHA IT WAS ALL AN ACT!! AND I’M SORRY!! moment. he’s a lot like Ardyn from FFXV for me, where yeah the guy as we know him was forged in grief and genuine good intent, but that doesn’t absolve him of the dubious things he’s done on the way here. remorse doesn’t mean shit when you’re digging your heels in and continuing to stomp down a path of spite.

i mean he even tells Saburo that one time like “even if i had a good reason for it, i still abandoned you kids.” so he’s aware of the role he’s been given, he’s not biding his time until he can shuck off this slimy facade and reveal a kind sad repentant man uwu— he IS a bit of a scumbag and he knows it. & he doesn’t expect his family to forgive him! (also i personally would love if he’s been kind of like. leaning into it too much and yknow. might as well have fun with it! if you want me to be a suspicious scheming conman, i will be! he’s committed to the bit too much etc etc. his solos are all about hustling and manipulating people and all that… it would be charming if that’s a genuine side of him just as much as his more “noble” ideals are)

ULTIMATELY i don’t want fans to end up with a really shallow take of “aw he was just a wife guy all along 🥺 he made some mistakes but he’s trying to take the world back from these Evil Women 🥺 he loves his sons 🥺 which means he’s Good, actually” UGH. like that’s my worst nightmare lol. but i guess other interpretations don’t have to be my problem even if that comes to pass because yknow he’s subject to my own He Would Not Fucking Say That sense when i come to this fandom & i can always pretend i do not see it i just. (claws at my skull) please let him be gross. just let him be sleazy and mysterious. he can have a heart of gold underneath but please understand that he’s still Like This now and he can’t go back.

THAT ALL SAID i don’t take issue with the most recent events, he’s still not showing us all of his cards and he’s still always cryptic. there’s a lot of potential for him to still be dishonest and stubborn, weaving webs and burning things down, all that. Otome is posed as someone who had good intentions but became “corrupted” so to speak. Rei even says he thinks something of this nature & that’s why he’s trying to destroy what she’s done in order to correct it all. so narratively, Otome is the Big Bad and Rei is “on our side” (i.e., on a team, part of the main cast) but we really shouldn’t forget that he’s a foil for her. whatever ideals he has are not The Solution just because he’s on this side— they’re his ideals, not the story’s ideals. his goals & methods are probably just as Wrong as hers by now. also i love them both a LOT i think they should both get worse.

i don’t have a conclusion to this post lol. just pondering the state of things and admiring the complexity of this character that i love, and how you can’t have his complexity without baggage, and hopefully things will get even MORE complicated as the story goes on… it’s great.

also i hope he pays attention to Jiro soon because i don’t want my baby suffering from too much middle child syndrome please please please let him have a one on one with Jiro too

[the1975attheirverybest]

I have to admit smth. The love I have for Matty kills me, it makes me sad and depressed I need to stop bc after put the phone away I realize how bad my life is

Oh, hun. I’m sorry.

To be honest, and maybe this is controversial to say, and probably unhealthy, so you should feel totally free not to listen to me and just…do the normal human thing. But, I think it’s a bit shitty that society makes us feel bad about our love for art. I could go on and on about this for ages. I’ll spare your the details, but I’m kind of sick of the whole “parasocial relationships are bad” thing.

I think, yes, it’s helpful to remember that we do not actually KNOW Matty. That we only see a version of him based on what he actively chooses to share with us. I think we definitely shouldn’t reduce him to his celebrity status or do the kind of thing that allows people to just bombard him at airports or show up to his hotel or whatever. Definitely yeah that shit is important. However, I absolutely REFUSE to apologize for the joy that he brings me and that his music brings me. When I say that he saved my life, I’m not exaggerating. I know he says shit about like not knowing if fans are being dramatic when they say that to him. Well, I’m not. I was actively suic*dal when I discovered the 1975, and the fact that someone out there not only felt the way that I did, but put words to it, made it into art, transformed it into a positive thing made me feel so much comfort when scene mental professionals were at all loss for how to help me.

To this day, just the fact that someone as beautiful and smart and kind as he is exists in the world and is out there making it better by making music and bringing crowds together and articulating such complex and often contradictory ideas in such a relatable way, challenging us to think differently, and all the other weird and wonderful things that this rat of a man does on a daily basis brings me so much hope, joy, and comfort. So I just absolutely refuse to be guilted into feeling bad about it cuz he doesn’t know I exist or cuz it’s not normal to feel this intensely about some public figure. Yeah, if I were feeling this way about [insert stereotypical celeb here] then absolutely shame me for it. But I think he’s one of a handful of people who is worth it. You won’t catch me saying that shit about, like, Kim Kardashian, or Drake. The day that I start writing Drake fanfics is the day that….idk take me out of my misery.

So, if it makes you happy, and you find it meaningful, do it! Fuck societal expectations. If it makes you sad that you don’t actually know someone who’s like that, BE THAT PERSON. Be that for others.

If, however, it’s actually hurting your mental health to participate in a fandom that brings you more harm than good, then yeah, maybe think about why that is/ what you can do to change it.

Again, I might be completely in the wrong here. I’m well aware that I sound fucking insane. So, if this isn’t sitting right with you, feel free to tell me to fuck right off. I totally understand. …thanks for coming to my ted talk lol