#I’ve seen people say it’s too traumatizing to watch or that it didn’t have a ‘happy ending’ which makes it a harmful film

[fondcrimes]

moonlight is possibly one of the most misunderstood films ever

[mxtxfanatic]

Just wanna say for those of y’all who came into this fandom late: just a few years ago, speaking on Jiang Cheng with anything less than glowing praise used to bring so much harassment that “angry grape”-related tags had to be created to circumvent jc stans finding and subsequently dogpiling your posts. I’ve since seen this tagging convention appropriated by his stans to be an “affectionate” petname for his character. If you wrote a wangxian fic in which Jiang Cheng did not appear, your fics would get bombarded with stans flooding your comments with their own headcanons on why Jiang Cheng isn’t around but “this is how he’d react if he was” and “everyone loves him, they’re definitely thinking about him, rn” and “when is he supposed to show up, op???” If you read a wangxian fic and Jiang Cheng did appear, there was a 95% chance that you would have to slog through thousands of words of abuse apologia paired with every character (except maybe Lan Wangji, maybe) claiming that Wei Wuxian deserved to be abused and should just learn to handle it better because abuse is really love. It took me a year of reading purely (only, exclusively) wangxian fics to find a single fic that had both 1) canon Jiang Cheng and 2) did not twist the other characters into fanon iterations to justify canon Jiang Cheng’s abusive behavior. When more canon writers started appearing, their fics got flooded with negativity, claims that the fic wasn’t realistic because “jc isn’t like that,” and demands to change things. They started moderating their comment sections. Eventually, jc stan writers even stopped tagging Jiang Cheng in their fics despite writing him as a major character because people began to avoid reading fics if they knew from the tags that his character appeared.

The “canon jc” tag was created on tumblr because jc stans said that if we didn’t like being attacked for canon opinions we should “create our own tag.” It was not a tag that always existed. Nobody used it until my friends created it. And every few months after that, we’d get a new “flood the tag” campaign by jc stans pissed at the name until it died down… until twitter refugees arrived, bringing with them a new faction of jc stans. That jc appreciate week or whatever they call it that starts on Halloween? Created by jc stans in an attempt to flood out Wei Wuxian appreciation posts on his birthday by making sure that new Jiang Cheng content would dominate all the major tags on that day. I watched the creators brag about that.

One BIG fandom upset happened when a jc stan wrote a horribly mistagged rape and murder wangxian fic and had their friends promote it so that wangxian lovers would read the fic and be traumatized. They gloated about having "successfully baited people," then tried to delete their tweets admitting it when they got them in trouble. I was there for that, too, and I only dodged being triggered because I saved the fic to read for later instead of cracking it open immediately.

Some of y’all may see me around now, but I’ve been watching this fandom for much longer than I’ve been making posts, before even the friends and mutuals I know now even knew I existed (yes I was a lurker lol). I’ve seen the development of all this play out across tumblr, ao3, and twitter (despite my best efforts to avoid the twitter side, that’s how ubiquitous it was). That’s how inescapable it was. I saw so much shit go down that I already had a mile-wide blocklist before I made my first post, and even then, I still got hate commentary on some of my posts the moment I dipped my littlest toe into metas. I had anon off for like a year because I didn’t want to deal with any harassment, and the moment I turned it off, I started getting bait anons (though not as bad as the others I’ve seen, holy shit). When I started this blog, all I did was liveblog and reblog other people’s art and metas. I was so stressed entering this fandom because the shit I had seen off rip was absolutely disgusting. That’s why I have very intentional rules of engagement that I try to hold to for myself. I may never be the first to start the fight, but I damn sure will defend myself and my friends. I also will never run away from admitting my mistakes, but I will also never be bullied into treating someone’s personal fantasies as equal to the actual factual text.

This isn’t to say that fanon enjoyers don’t get harassment. Another big fandom scandal was that a popular fanfic writer obsessed with canon had been harassing other writers through a series of bot accounts into leaving the fandom. What a lot of people don’t bring up in their bid to paint canon enjoyers as particularly prone to “fandom bullying,” however, was that the “canon” they were obsessed with was tied almost exclusively to the canon wangxian’s top/bottom sexual dynamic. I’d read that person’s works before—enjoyed them, even, before the scandal happened. They wrote fanon into their fics in other ways. The fanon/canon divide isn’t the problem; entitlement to unanimous fandom praise and recognition is.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying canon or fanon, nothing right or wrong or morally superior for either camp. But do me a favor: go into the main jiang cheng character tag right now, and count how often you see a post about Jiang Cheng that portrays him in a negative light. Not one that portrays him as an snarky asshole or a teacher’s pet or a helicopter parent or a crybaby who only wants to be loved, but one which shows him in all of his uncensored glory as a piece of shit antagonist. How often do you see fanart of Jiang Cheng that isn’t “best jiujiu” or “sad didi” or “badass sect leader”? How often do you see metas that don’t include some iteration of “everyone is just so mean about poor little jc who just didn’t have a choice in anything he ever did 😢”? Go to the main novel tag and do the same. Hell, go to the wangxian tag and see what you find while you’re at it. How many of those posts are viral compared to “look at jc with his dogs!” or “look, I made lxc and jc kiss!” Then tell me whether or not you believe that jc stans are being specifically targeted for some unique and undeserved persecution by the fandom at large.

[beababoobies]

Hello!

Can I request a Hazbin Hotel with a reader whose head comes off sometimes and they are just casual about it? Like Eda from Owl House or Luci from Disenchantment. It doesn’t have to be a pairing fic with anyone specific, it can be just a reaction fic by the Hotel residents.

If you accept, thank you! If not, then ok.

THIS IS SUCH A SILLY LITTLE IDEA, ABSOLUTELY. “You dropped uh.. something” HAS ME GIGGLING. Thank you for this kekeke. Also I haven’t watched the owl house so sorry if I did this wrong. 

Head Less

You had been at the hotel for a while, going through the motions of a so called rehabilitation. You didn’t mind it too much, and the people there were funny. Everyone was a little different, but everyone was accepting. It was sweet, simple. You didn’t actually believe too strongly that you would one day actually reach angelic status, but screw it. Free place to stay.

The first person to see you drop your head was Alastor. You were looking around the hotel, walking around with no real goal. Sometimes when Charlie hadn’t fully planned the day, you’d just walk around. You were on your first round of the hallways, just for Alastor to appear behind you and scare the shit out of you when you turned around, creepy sharp-toothed smile straight up to your face.

You had jumped back, head falling and rolling down the hall, causing you to groan, cursing to yourself as your body walked over to you head, grabbing your head and holding it to your hip as you cursed out Alastor. He didn’t even seem bothered by this, just staring at you as you told him that if he snuck up on you like that again, well, you just might. 

But right after him was everyone else. You see, Alastor simply didn’t care enough to tell anyone. But because everyone else did care, you knew that dropping your head around one of them would be dropping it to everyone else. So you planned it out.

That’s where you were now - sitting and watching old footage of Charlie’s childhood, which she called a bonding excersize. Angel was making comments about how hot a younger Lucifer was, Vaggie awe-ing over her younger girlfriend, Pentious melting over tiny her, and Husk not giving a single fuck over at the bar. Nifty running around all of you with her pin, looking for bugs under the sofa.

That’s when you made your move, pretending to reach over for your cup of tea, only for your head to roll off and stop at Pentious’ feet. He screamed - so loudly everyone looked over, his high-pitch scream nearly deafening you. Charlie was the next to scream, clinging to Vaggie. Vaggie just stared at your head on the floor with wide eyes. Angel burst you laughing, winking at your head on the floor.

“Nice party trick, toots.” He said in the midst of his fit of giggles, watching Charlie try to calm herself down as your body went and picked up your head like usual, popping it back on your body as you tried to reassure you were fine while still laughing your ass - or should I say head back off, and she tried to laugh it off too, but it was pretty evident you may or may not have accidentally traumatized her. 

Husked and Nifty, having heard the screams but completely oblivious to what happened, looking around completely confused, only for Angel to explain, still out of breath from laughing, Pentious cautiously peeking over the couch. “That bitch’s head just popped off!” Angel exclaimed between laughs, keeled over on the couch as Husk raised his eyebrow.

“Is this some sort of weird fuckin’ joke?” He asked with a tired sigh, wiping down the counter. You shook your head, turning around and using your hands to pop your head off again, causing him to let out a low chuckle, shrugging. “I’ve seen crazier, but that’s not bad.” He shrugged off, throwing the towel over his shoulder.

Charlie’s face of eternal trauma and doom faded to a face of confusion but also wonder, coming up to you and doing a 360 around you and your head, tucked snug in your arm. Her eyes lit up, the smile on her face wider as she let out a small squeak.

“You’re freaking HEADLESS! That’s AWESOME!” 

[iridiss]

I think because Aphmau is a self-insert character, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what her personality is, because her personality is just…Jess’s personality. If a little different. Which makes it hard for me to get into Aphmau’s head, to see exactly how she works, what makes her tick—it doesn’t come naturally to me at all, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I wasn’t alone in that regard

Now that I’m finally working on my MCD rewrite, I really want to make sure I get Aphmau’s personality right, especially since she’s literally the protagonist character and likely the most common POV I’ll be using. I want to find a way to copy how watching her POV in-game felt, and make it so that it feels the same when I’m writing the fic. Lately, it hasn’t been feeling the same at all, and that’s mostly intentional, since I want her to evolve into the “unintentionally badass” woman that she is in the canon series. I want her to start off as kind of bright-eyed and naive, similar to Mystreet!Aphmau, as a newcomer to the world whose never seen a lick of war and violence in her life. Mainly because I know she’s going to be exposed to all of that later and fundamentally changed by it. But as I’m studying canon MCD Aphmau and trying to break down everything she does, how she thinks, the choices she makes and the patterns therein that define her, what choices she doesn’t make and what that says about her as a person… I think I have already strayed too far from the original in places.

Additionally, though Aphmau was still significantly emotionally affected by every little heinous thing that happened to her and her people, throughout season 1 she didn’t experience any sudden shift in who she was as a person. I’ve yet to finish rewatching season 2, so I could be wrong, but to me, it more seems like she held herself together and stayed largely the same person. But she was being slowly chipped away emotionally by everything that got added to the pile. From Brendan getting shot to Aaron’s death, it’s like there’s a million different little nicks and cuts in her mental health and psyche that have simply built up over time. Some of those scars are larger than others, like the 15 year timeskip and losing Aaron/Garroth/Laurance, but they all weigh on her psyche and make her progressively more anxious, more careful, more…traumatized? She’s traumatized and she’s not. I’d like to at least headcanon her as traumatized, probably severely by season 3. I’d like to think she’s a woman with the whole entire world on her shoulders and a million ghosts haunting her wherever she goes, and all of this leads to a great deal of stress and anxiety in her day-to-day life that she’s just kinda… Living With. She muscles through it. She keeps going. There are even moments I’m noticing in canon where she doesn’t allow herself to fully dwell on her grief and stress, saying it’s “selfish” to let them consume her, and then moving on to check on literally everyone else in the village and make sure they’re okay first.

Aphmau is a character that’s hard to understand in the broad strokes, like how you can see Laurance’s broad strokes of “Casanova” and “fiercely loyal” and “in love with Aphmau” and make a pretty easy surface mold of what he’s like. It’s like every other character has at least one or two giant, broad strokes of paint on the wall that distinguish them as unique.

Garroth is a gentleman, Kiki loves her animals and can be stubbornly gullible. Donna is sassy, Dale is an alcoholic, Katelyn is fierce, Travis is playful and flirtatious, Aaron is brooding and guarded, Logan has a stick up his ass, so on and so forth. But they all have really easy to find smaller pieces that you can find and study as well. MCD!Katelyn is much more calm and reserved and proper than her Mystreet counterpart, and on occasion waxes philosophical and drinks tea. Kiki has always wanted to be a mother. Brendan is a horse girl. Garroth is terrible at being ~romantically forward~ like Laurance is, and instead he gets flustered and stuttery and shy and struggles to talk about his feelings with others. Laurance is gentle and caring and will tenderly take care of you and nurse you back to health with a mature, gentle warmth that puts his cocky Casanova personality aside, still flirting and teasing every now and then, but only for the purpose of cracking a joke that would make you smile. And then he reminds you right after how fondly he loves you and how he will never, not ever, leave your side.

Laurance grew up not knowing how to talk to girls, and Sasha was the only female friend he could actually speak to and connect with. Garroth checks on Aphmau in the mornings, asking how she slept and reporting back to her on all the duties she has to tend to for the day. Dale is a brilliant accountant, and that’s his calling in life. Zoey used to regularly prepare tea for Aphmau at night to help her sleep. Logan helped Zoey raise Levin and Malachi during the 15 year timeskip and “secretly” very much loves children. You can find all the little kernels of character and personality and heart in all of them.

But for MCD!Aphmau, it’s like she has one single broad stroke. “Helps others, kind, caring.” And everything else is invisible to me. Mystreet!Aphmau might have a second broad stroke, of “silly and childish and whimsical,” a stroke that MCD!Aphmau has much less of. It’s still there, she still teases and cracks dumb jokes on occasion, but it’s dwarfed in comparison by MCD’s more serious, mature tone and the sheer emotional weight of everything she keeps going through. It’s hard to be silly and have stupid fun when you’re fighting for your life, so in a way, MCD!Aphmau had to grow up in a way that Mystreet!Aphmau never had to. Mystreet!Aphmau’s worst problem (before emerald secret) is “oh no! which cute boy am I gonna date?! Gene is so mean to me in highschool!! Gawd, I wish my mom would let me bring boys home without making it weird, jeez.” She gets to keep her innocence. She doesn’t have to grow up and face the brutality of killers and monsters and the cruelty of the gods, and even after When Angels Fall, I don’t see her heavily maturing and growing as serious as MCD!Aphmau already is on main.

So if MCD!Aphmau has one single broad stroke that, for a protagonist, is actually vague as hell to work with, then maybe she’s a character who is revealed by all the little things that slip through the cracks. Maybe I can paint a picture of what she’s truly, really like (not what I want her to be like) by looking at all the little things, and then working inwards from there,,,

I know she’s at the very least a good person. A very good person. Better than canon Garroth, who has far too many asshole tendencies for my liking after the whole Incel Hell Irene Dimension fiasco (also why the FUCK is he racist—) Better than canon Laurance, better than most people honestly. Which is kind of the point, as an Irene. She’s supposed to be inherently a good, pure-hearted soul, whose destiny and sole calling in life is to help everyone around her. She seems to display a great fear and distress over violence and war. She’s always anxious and freaking the fuck out when she’s in combat (during S1), and building up to the Phoenix War, she was absolutely mortified by the idea of going to war, and yet that distress NEVER boiled over into cowardice. She always chose what was right and stuck to it, stubbornly. Even when faced with the worst of dilemmas, she refuses to succumb to her fear and run away, or pick the easy (and scummy) way out. She cares a great deal about the greater good, even if it comes at a devastating cost to achieve, and by god, she’ll achieve it. When presented with the option of fight or flight, she NEVER picks flight. So she’s brave? Has a strong natural sense of justice? Would she ever make cruel sacrifices, if it was for a greater good? I think I at least know that if I presented her with the option of “kill Garroth and Laurance, or save the entire world,” she would refuse the dilemma entirely and go to EXTREME lengths to forge a third option where she gets to keep the world AND her boys, and everyone comes out unharmed. (And in my mind, this is what distinguishes her from the old Irene…)

She is a herald for peace, above anything else. When Scaleswind destroyed her home as an act of violent rage, she didn’t seek revenge or even allow herself to feel vitriol or resentment for the man that attacked her people. Instead, she (cautiously and hesitantly) accepted his pleas for forgiveness if it meant she could have peace for Phoenix Drop. She held him accountable for his crimes, yes, but she forgave him, trusted him with the Phoenix Drop Alliance, and even trusted him with her people. All the while reiterating to him that she is an agent working for peace, and he needs to get on her level if he wants her forgiveness. She even offers care and aid to all of the rotten O’khasis knights that still swear their fealty to Zane. She brings them to court for their crimes, but she also offers them her care and a place to stay if they need it. She believes in justice, but not cruel retribution. The moral high ground isn’t a weapon she uses to bludgeon others with. She draws her strength by pulling others up with her. Even putting her trust in those unworthy of it at times, but that then inspires them to make better choices and pledge themselves to her cause. Even if you were a horrible, terrible person, she refuses to be downright cruel. It’s very rare to see her anger get the best of her (not that I don’t doubt that has happened at least once or twice in the series, I’m just saying it’s not her go-to choice when resolving any conflict). She will always give people the benefit of the doubt.

I know she struggles with sleeping problems, mainly due to her stress. She did for most of the latter quarter of S1 and when I skipped ahead and watched a few snippets of S2, she was STILL bringing up how poorly she slept last night, so like. You could make a case that she has insomnia. She could have insomnia. And PTSD but that’s a given

She finds babies absolutely adorable and has strong maternal instincts. (a connection between this and her great care for Phoenix Drop as a whole could possibly be strung… I don’t think “maternal instincts” is at all why she helps PD though. I think she just does that…because…you should. Because it’s the right thing to do. Obviously. If given the choice to be kind and help someone, she will always pick that choice, because,,,she just does)

you could make an argument that she has dyslexia. if you made a drinking game out of every time she flubbed reading the lines on the screen you would keel over and die by episode 15 I think.

you could make an argument that she needs glasses because Jess wears glasses for the first little while of S1 before she seems to have switched to contacts for the rest of the aphverse

She loves animals and has more animals than she has children

She seems very slow to develop romantic feelings for anyone. I think she only really started to develop little bits of romantic feelings for Garroth come late S1, and for Laurance probably like. around episode 95ish if you’re pushing it early, but honestly she probably only developed feelings for him after the entirety of season 1. after Laurance and her had already become very close and intimate on a platonic level. And any of his flirtatious advances prior to that she CONSISTENTLY responded to with flat out rejection, disgust, exasperation and annoyance with zero romance in sight. meanwhile she’s been very affectionate with Zoey from the beginning and is much more sweet and domestic with her than any of the boys, so like. I can definitely see where all the aroace spectrum aphmau headcanons in the fandom are coming from now and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was some form of demiromantic as well, but that’s straying out of canon aphmau territory and into headcanon land

Her worst fear, confirmed by Malachi, is seeing the entire village be burned to the ground with everyone she loves inside. Seeing Garroth and Laurance and every single villager murdered before she can do anything to stop it. She’s scared of losing them (and wow guess exactly what ends up happening… Garroth gets lost in the Irene dimension…Laurance becomes a cold and cruel shadow knight and she loses him to the nether… Aaron dies and becomes the shadow lord… girlie can just not win. and I’d like to explore more of the deep emotional impact that could’ve had on her—your worst fear is losing everyone you loved, seeing them get torn out of your hands brutally and violently, and..that happens. that happens to her anyway. to all of her boys, individually. there’s no way that’s not traumatic and emotional as hell for her) maybe you could even play into the idea that she has abandonment issues…

Every now and then she shows a few signs of toxic positivity and emotional repression. “Smile and be happy, focus on the work that’s important right now instead of completely and utterly crumbling under the weight of my grief and trauma” type shit. I feel like I can’t help but notice a running pattern that she keeps being presented with dialogue options that are emotionally vulnerable and intimate in some way, usually ones that progress her relationships with others (both romantically and platonically) and express a great deal of care or feeling…and then there’s the exposition dump dialogue option that continues her constant search for information that furthers the plot, and she often chooses that instead. Like for example, in one dialogue option with Aaron, she doesn’t say, “I really care about you, please, can’t you trust me?” Instead, she chooses to say, “What will you do?” Which is much more business talk as opposed to spilling her heart out to people. She seems to apologize for herself whenever she expresses a heightened amount of emotion, especially if it’s sadness or grief or anger, and again, I’d like to point to her taking 90+ fucking episodes to allow herself to feel any sort of intimacy with Laurance, the very man who has been constantly showering her with affection, and not just the dumb flirty stuff!! But like deep, sincere proclamations of “you matter to me,” and “I’ll never leave your side” and “you are my world, aphmau”!!! Bro I would have MELTED into his arms 70 fucking episodes ago if I met a man that talked to me like he does!! But she doesn’t!! SHE KEEPS HIM AT ARMS LENGTH!! THATS NOT NORMAL!!! Especially when EVERY OTHER character in the cast keeps falling in love at first sight. (so intimacy issues? trust issues? probably not trust issues. fear? too much on her mind? demiromantic ?? or probably a mix of all of the above + a dash of headcanon for the sexuality part)

And it’s so fascinating to see what she could say, but doesn’t. And sometimes you’ll even see her hesitate over the other, more intimate dialogue options, and then decide otherwise. It’s utterly fascinating to think that a character hugely defined by her heart might struggle with vulnerability.

She also hesitates over funny options a lot but decides against them because the serious, emotionally mature options are more appropriate and polite for the situation at hand lol. Laurance is a frequent exception to this rule, she will tease him no matter how serious their conversation is lmao (Laurance brings out her more forgotten whimsical side…?)

So on and so forth while I continue my binge rewatch of the entire series and collect more. So far, she seems to be overall: Kind. Gentle. Soft, warm, friendly, forgiving, understanding, merciful, patient. Playful and whimsical, though that’s become more forgotten with time and hardship. Serious, very emotionally mature, very much a source of wisdom among her peers. Inherently strong sense of justice, will always fight for the right thing. Brave and persistent. Refuses to ever back down from a challenge. Probably at least a little emotionally avoidant and I would not be surprised if she struggled with a particularly harsh inner critic. Optimistic. Never lets go of her heart, led by her heart much more than her brain, though that isn’t to say she isn’t smart, she’s not an idiot. Loves animals. Natural leader. Maternal. Insomniac. Probably neurodivergent, possibly aroace, possibly dyslexic, most likely needs glasses. Traumatized, very much so. Very stressed and anxious (please god someone give her a break). Carries the weight of the world on her shoulders but refuses to let herself crumble, even if she is exhausted and worn down and at her limit. you also cannot look at Zoey and Aphmau’s daily interactions and tell me there isn’t at least a little bit of sapphicism going on there. they love each other so much <3 and if not, she is a single mother going through literal actual hell and hanging on by a string but through the force of necessity and probably at least a little bit of toxic positivity and emotional avoidance she will persevere whether she wants to or not

and I will continue to learn more as we go along 👍

[crepezinhos]

A quick story of my most recent experience about how this image literally JUST repeats itself infinitely.

Long time ago I read this cool Kazuha smut where he was drunk and was absolutely in-love with reader’s pussy. Ok, right? Yeah, it was fine with me, that’s why I opened the comments to leave my own opinion and read others’ too, until I found this person questioning the validity of that fanfiction, arguing that Kazuha couldn’t have consented because he was drunk.

Totally fine argument… if we were talking about a non/dub-con fic or a real actuation.

The fanfiction was literally just Kazuha praising reader over and over. The tags didn’t imply assault, the fic didn’t imply it too. It was just fluff. The author even argued that they never had the intention of making an assault fic too. After all, I personally didn’t see anything malicious in it until this person pointed, and you probably didn’t see it too until I mentioned it.

I responded that person and we begun arguing because she got mad at me when I said drunk people can still make conscious (or good) choices in the early stages of being drunk, but that person (who I later found out to be a minor, which explains her lack of experience) just… told me this in response:

Yes, an accusation of me being a potential assaulter because I defended an author.

If it isn’t enough that she’s treating Kazuha like a real person who genuinely went through a traumatic experience, she also treated me like a fictional character. How, you may ask? By straight ironizing with what would be a scenario of me being assaulted.

It is soooo disgusting that people go this far to defend a fictional character but also so interesting to see how that tweet above is so… real.

We basically went over and over the argument and they eventually got mad enough and blocked me because they couldn’t understand what I was trying to tell them the entire time.

I couldn’t print it but they also mentioned that the person liking it doesn’t make less abusive but personally (and probably you too) I’ve never seen a victim of assault treat their experiences like it wasn’t a trauma or something that they liked, like “Yeah I was drunk and he abused me but I was ok with it but I reported them to the police.” Like no? There are so many more layers in assault, consent is just the tip of the iceberg.

People like this are soooo funny to watch. They try making a point about assault, but minutes later are ironizing with what would be a scenario of it just because she doesn’t like the person she’s arguing with.

Remember! You can’t solve war with more war, folks!

And to clarify myself in case my argument isn’t really clear, I don’t think having sex with drunk is overall something “ok”. I personally wouldn’t do it with anyone unless I was drunk too and I think it might be a red flag depending on the situation and person, but that fanfiction was literally the fluffiest thing ever and I never said anything harmful to that person that could’ve triggered them into saying those to me (nor did I say anything harmful back to them after it). I don’t think it’s anywhere ok to ironize with someone’s possible experience of assault at any point of an argument. It is genuinely dehumanizing and in this case it was literally useless because Kazuha is totally ok.

Anyway, the author already deleted it all and thanked me for trying to reason with that person, so you can’t go and look at it yourself, but I had to share this somewhere, it was just too funny lol. 😭

Hope this feels like a lecture or a funny story too in a way.

See you soon ❤️

[narrynukezankielover]

I believe this episode is Hunteri Heroici or something like that. I laughed at this a little too much. Cas literally took that little bag out of Deans bigger bag (I don’t know what to call it) and started picking through it. What I find interesting is that Dean doesn’t say anything to Cas. Dean isn’t the type to let people pick at his stuff yet he’s letting Cas do it. I was thinking maybe it’s Sams bag but I don’t think Cas would touch Sams stuff. I don’t think he cares enough to find out more about him.

Dean said he needed his 4 hours of sleep (you can function on only 4 hours of sleep I’ve done it almost every night since I was 15 and when you’re used to it it’s not that bad) and Cas said I’ll watch over you. He’s looking directly at Dean so he’s offering to be Deans guardian angel not Dean and Sams. It’s adorable because a few people have called Cas Deans angel and it’s obvious Dean is Cas human.

If anyone else was looking at their dad’s journal Dean would’ve grabbed that out of their hands told them to f*ck themselves and probably threatened to kill them. It’s a very cute way to start this very emotional scene. I love that when Cas yelled at Dean because he told him he wasn’t going back to heaven Dean took that to mean Cas needed to talk. Dean isn’t good with his emotions but the fact that he listened to Cas and tried to help him shows growth. The look of shock and worry on Deans face when Cas said he was afraid if he went back to heaven and seen what has happened because of him he’s afraid he would kill himself was heartbreaking.

I just found this look on Cas face when he seen Dean trying to hide his porn hilarious. Cas watched porn infront of Dean and Sam so I don’t think Cas would judge him.

This is definitely the look of oh hell ya by boyfriend can get anything.

This broke my heart. Finding out Cas was tortured and he’s traumatized by it was heartbreaking. How can anyone do that to that adorable angel.

I really wish Dean felt comfortable to be himself. He’s clearly a nerd. He wanted to LARP when him and Sam were looking at it online. He had a smile on his face until he thought Sam was looking at him then he went back to his normal face. He loved it when they actually did it, he wouldn’t let Sam see him playing with a sword, he likes ballet and pop music. He’s so scared of Sam laughing at him or making fun of him that he won’t be himself.

In LARP And The Real Girl Charlie asked Dean if he broke up with someone. Interesting she used the word someone not a girl which is what you would say to a straight guy. She obviously could tell Dean was thinking about someone. Personally I think he was thinking about Cas and Benny. Cas because Dean knows there’s something wrong with Cas he just doesn’t know what and Benny because of how he told him they couldn’t talk anymore. I know some people see Dean and Benny as more then friends thing but I personally see them as just friends. Dean likes having someone else in his life other than Sam. Normally it’s Cas but when Cas was still in purgatory Dean liked talking to Benny but once Cas was back he didn’t need to talk to Benny as much.

Yet again a gay moment happens to Dean. Aaron could’ve come up with any excuse for following Dean. He even could’ve said he was trying to get someone elses attention but he clearly sensed the best option was to pretend to flirt with Dean. Dean got flustered and banged into a table and then when he found out the flirting was fake he was disappointed.

[cocogum]

how long have you been watching wakfu

Hey moth ✨✨

I’ve actually been watching Wakfu since 2012.

The first time I heard about it was when I used to have Netflix and even then, that was back when the streaming platform didn’t have Season 2 yet lol

What drew me into watching it was mainly cuz of the cover. This one specifically 👇

It used to only show Yugo opening a portal and because of the style, it made me wonder what the story could be about (at the time I used to think Yugo looked pretty cute so that was also another reason lol).

I remember how my first instinct was switch the language to English when I first watched it. THAT WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. The reason why I switched it for english tho was because netflix was primarily English so I thought that the French language of Wakfu wasn’t the main one (and I thought it sucked without even taking a second to listen to it 💀 ) Thankfully, as soon as I heard Alibert and Ruel talking, I IMMEDIATELY went back to the settings cuz I knew I fucked up. I ain’t listening to this trash again lol

So I switched it to French and i realized it was a thousand times BETTER than the English version. That’s when I realized Wakfu was french.

I loved the places and the people. It was something I’ve never seen before. The French dubbing was so smooth and funny I loved it so much. The “fillers”, which let’s be honest weren’t actual fillers, were also so fun to see with the whole gang.

Even at the time, I used to believe there would eventually be something between Amalia and Yugo lol cuz ain’t no way you guys constantly hug like this for the dumbest reasons.

When Season 1 ended, I really hoped they weren’t gonna do us like that because I really wanted a season season. At the time I didn’t think ankama already did Season 2 (since 2011 💀) cuz I thought Netflix was always on time so it took me some time to wait for it but a year passed by and it finally got here!! I was so happy that day you had no idea. I had to wait for a whole year before it dropped so my ass was pretty much traumatized after seeing Dally die for the first time I legit thought that he was gonna come back cuz of Nox’s machine but nope 💀 I remember being so sad when I first saw that ending. I really didn’t want it to end, I got too attached to these guys (Amalia was still my favorite back then cuz she was too relatable)

So i watched Season 2 in 2013 AND I LOVED IT. Again, they couldn’t disappoint me. It just got better from that day on.

That’s when I slowly started to dig deeper into Wakfu because there were so many references to things that Yugo and the others were saying that I didn’t even understand. I then learned that Wakfu was based on an MMORPG with the same name,Wakfu, and that there was a prequel to it, Dofus. I also saw how they even had a side story called “Mini Wakfu” which were just shorts from Season 1. I watched that mini series on youtube back then.

Because of Season 2, I was now sure that there will be more to it because so much has been said and yet so little has been explored. So I waited, bought myself some time by watching other shows.

That’s when the ovas happened.

And oh my god I was not ready for it.

The ovas released in 2016 on Netflix but had already been a thing since 2014. Blame Netflix.

And again, there were so much more references that made me feel so confused like who Otomaï was, Ogrest (who was only a giant mention in Season 1 to me), Maskemane, Echo, Sipho, Harebourg, etc.

I was confused but so intrigued because it made me learn that the Krosmoz was A LOT BIGGER than what I thought it would be. And that’s what I like. I love how a story has multiple timelines, has complex strange plot holes in certain places that makes you want to become a theorizer, has so many diverse characters and relationships. Things like those are why I fell in love with the legend of Zelda and fnaf franchises.

That’s how I learned about the mangas, comics, different games (Dofus, Wakfu, Krosmaga, Dofus touch, minor Dofus games on the App Store, etc.) as well as cancelled games (Islands of Wakfu, Wakfu: Les Gardiens, etc). I even started learning more about the Dofus era by going through Dofus shows like “Dofus : Kerub’s Bazaar”.

Right after the ovas, I watched Goultard’s special episode, Ogrest’s special episode, and Nox’s special episode. Then, I saw the Dofus movie featuring Joris and his mom before watching the show. After, I read the wakfu manga that was supposed to situate itself between Season 2 and the ovas. At the time, there were only four volumes so I binge read them all on a google drive that someone was kind enough to share publicly (that google drive doesn’t exist anymore). All of this happened in 2016 btw.

After that, I waited for more news of Wakfu but my dumbass got sidetracked because of binge watching other shows while waiting. I was joining multiplie fandoms while unconsciously waiting for more of Ankama. And that’s how I missed Season 3 that came out in 2017 💀💀 I’m so dumb my god all I had to do was wait another year but noooo youtube had to show me the new season trailer in 2018 instead!

I went back to Netflix, freaking the hell out, binge watched the whole season, got emotional, loved Oropo for kissing Amalia cuz I knew there’d be drama, absolutely adored the whole percedal family being a family, trying not to laugh at Adamaï’s look for the first time, expecting Ruel to get hard over money, and LOVED the drama between Yugo and Amalia. I WAS A FAN OF THEIR SHIP SINCE SEASON 1 FOR CRYING OUT LOUD which is why I was so happy that we finally got to see so much more of their problems being addressed.

After that, I knew I needed more so I went back to reading comics. I bought the actual volumes 1 to 4 of the wakfu manga (because I wanted to have a physical copy of them even though I already read the story) and then waited for the fifth one. As soon as volume 5 released in 2019 (July 4), I TOOK IT FROM AMAZON’S HANDS CUZ VOLUME 4 WAS KILLING ME WITH IT’S ENDING- (I’ve been waiting since 2016, I wasn’t gonna wait any longer).

In 2020, I joined the best wakfu amino on the amino app, and then mainly went looking for Ankama related things like their anime Radiant (I started reading the manga first and ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT FOR ITS ORIGINALITY. But I still can’t believe that it got released back in 2013 tho…) and then watched the anime that came out for it (the opening song was good but I hate how the anime changed some things to the story. The manga is better but the anime gets its fair share of popularity so I guess that’s good).

In 2021-2022 I think that’s where I heard about the kickstarter for Wakfu Season 4 and I was mind blown when I saw the trailer for it.

In 2023, I bought Ogrest’s volumes 1 to 4 because I’ve been waiting to read and know more about Ogrest and what was the deal with the Sadida dolls since I heard about those from some people. My god the manga was so good!! I’m still waiting for that volume 5 but I’m extremely certain that it will come very soon now since Mig, the illustrator for the Ogrest manga, has been giving small sneak peeks here and there lately. It was also in the same year that I learned about the One More Gate game and watched Oropo’s special episode.

Then came 2024. And that’s where I went ape shit. Now you know everything ✨

The latest thing I bought from Ankama shop in 2024 now was the standard version of the Amalia figurine, the vinyl disc pack containing Krosmoz osts, and the Wakfu S3 artbook (tho the artbook was actually not something that you can find in the Ankama shop. I had to dig deep on Amazon and find a seller willing to give it away).

So yeah my history with Wakfu is a pretty messy one and has always been all over the place mainly because I was so slow back then to realize when the releases were happening and how the lore was actually constructed lol

Like it took me so much time to understand that Wakfu was only one piece of a bigger puzzle set and being unaware of so many things back then is still something I tend to regret. I understand that it was because I was still a snotty kid back then who didn’t know much about the internet but I can’t help myself to think how easy it was to keep up the pace 💀

At least I won’t have to think I’m late anymore because I’ve got a better idea of how it all works now.

Wakfu has been playing a huge part in my life because it’s always been at the back of my mind no matter what fandom I was in at the time. Sure, it was at the back burner but I never had the intention of forgetting about it. It holds way too many memories of the simpler times and has a lot of great ideas I think I’ve never seen other shows have.

[morethansky]

As promised, my thoughts on Tech's fate.

If you think they changed their minds about revealing Tech to be alive, you might not want to read this. I'm not trying to debate or dissuade anyone; this is just my personal take.

Also, please be forewarned that this is quite Hunter critical. I love to write the man, but god, he’s so bad for my blood pressure.

This is still such a hard thing for me to talk about. To be honest, I ducked out of the TBB fandom between the time when i finished “i keep what i can of you” and S3 started because it felt like I couldn’t say what I thought without either hurting the people who thought Tech was dead and were traumatized or inciting the wrath of those believed he was alive, some of whom got so haughty and/or oddly hostile whenever any other possibilities were stated in their vicinity. It seems that after I left, the opposite started happening too? The hellish fandom ouroboros.

Anyway, so here are my unfiltered thoughts, because I might explode if I don't write them down. After I watched “Plan 99,” I thought Tech was dead, and I was extremely traumatized and hysterical about it. I remember that night I couldn’t sleep, and I stayed up till morning trying to process the sense of betrayal I felt and figure out what to do with the sweet little WIP I had been working on, which was about Tech and Wrecker facing the concept of death for the first time. (I have now rewritten it to be much darker but for Tech to live, and as CX-2, so I hope that proves I mean well with this post.)

Because it’s me and it’s media, I was not only traumatized but also furious. To be frank, I’m not usually this deeply affected by character deaths. I have written a lot of major character death fics and grief/mourning is a component of like 60 percent of my writing. In fact, when character deaths are done well, I think they’re fantastic. The worthy, well-done ones can make the characters shine even more brightly.

That is not the case here. Tech dies for literally nothing. The protagonists don’t achieve anything at all from it besides returning to square one, less a member. They don’t find the coordinates to Tantiss. They don’t find anything about who Hemlock is or what the Advanced Science Division does. They don’t overhear any vital intel from the meeting with all the Imperial bigwigs. They don’t gain any insight from Saw. They don’t even find out whether Crosshair was actually in captivity and whether his saying Plan 88 was him laying a trap for them or not.

And that is some of the worst messaging I’ve ever seen in a Y-7 American action cartoon. And believe me, I’ve watched a lot of them.

Allow me to beat the dead horse one last time. Finally, after two entire seasons of the show, a member of the main cast is like, “Hey, remember how Crosshair used to be one of us? Even if he kind of sucks, shouldn’t we help him? He did just try to warn us.” And I was ECSTATIC. Didn’t expect the autistic character to be the one to be like, no, fuck you, we should do the right thing no matter the risk (autistic characters are so often morally gray and it’s so frustrating), but I loved it so much! That’s me!!

…And then he literally dies because he wanted to do the right thing. Hunter, the character who does not want to help people, who rejects the idea of going to Eriadu and has to be convinced otherwise, IS PROVEN CORRECT. What the ever-loving fuck is that messaging? That’s right, kids—if you selflessly try to help other people, you’ll be killed. So maybe don’t bother, actually. And this show just underlines that message over and over again! The only people who matter are those you consider family. Everyone else can rot. In fact, people who are willing to risk their lives to help people are foolish and idealistic. The things Hunter says to Echo are repeatedly so fucked up ("When will it be enough?" Dude wtf???), and it's nuts that the show doesn't offer Hunter's narrow-minded perspective as a contrast to Echo's determination to do the right thing—it offers Echo as a contrast to Hunter's motivations to retire (which we understand because when the two of them split up, we follow Hunter instead of Echo—and not even in addition to Echo! He only shows up again because he's visiting Hunter's story!).

That’s straight-up American conservative ideology. I will never not be pissed at them for making the fucking deuteragonist—and a clone character at that—like that. And in Star Wars! The franchise that is overwhelmingly and consistently about fighting fascists! Made by the company founded and based in the Bay Area, the most progressive region of the country!!!

To be frank, I almost turned the TV off right then. But I thought, okay…a horrible way to get to it, but…maybe now is the moment? Maybe now they’ll finally join Echo and Rex, and be super determined to find Tantiss and Crosshair and the many other clones whose designations were on the roster—to complete the mission that Tech so passionately insisted on before he sacrificed himself.

BUT NO! Hunter immediately pressures Omega into going to Pabu. And why wouldn’t he? The narrative proved him right! By trying to do the right thing, Tech died. So we’ll just go back to ignoring the suffering of countless beings across the galaxy, including our own kind. Millions of straight-up metaphorical versions of us. Cool.

And then Omega gets captured. So because Tech wants to do the right thing, he dies, and because Omega agrees with him, she gets taken away. And then suddenly Hunter puts away Pabu entirely and becomes super gung-ho about finding her. Which is just…why did they write him like this. Why did they even have the conversation about Pabu?? Leaving it out would have made Hunter's motivations flow so much better. Because by introducing that, they invite the crucial question: Why was that what it took for him to stop running but losing Crosshair and Tech didn’t??? Because he only cares about this one child's well-being and it's his single motivation as a character???

A contingent of Crosshair fans have seemed to vocally dislike Hunter from the start because he left Crosshair, and I’m like no, you don’t understand. It’s not about the character, it’s about the writing. In some cases, it does end up being the character rather than the writing, and you can usually tell because the writing condemns that in the character. Not here though! Hunter's decisions throughout the show are celebrated by it. And Hunter gets his way, as we see now with them retiring on Pabu and ignoring the fight even as "the Rebellion needs pilots now more than ever." Thank god the finale at least posited that Echo was also right, which is kind of like the bare minimum they could've done in that regard.

So Tech’s death hit me particularly hard because it felt like just a waste of two entire episodes, a waste of an enjoyable character they had just given some really poignant depth, and a waste of the chance to give Hunter the character development I was desperate for—and also like a betrayal, a slap in the face, because it was like the show was saying that heroes are stupid, that Tech was foolish for wanting to do the right thing. Which is nuts given the rest of the SW animated oeuvre. And is fucking hurtful. And bad for kids.

So when the theories about Tech’s survival started floating around that night, I thought, okay, yeah, maybe this was such a stupid death and waste of screen time because it’s to set up something really cool. I could get behind that, even if the entire setup would still be faulty and honestly kind of repulsive to me.

I engulfed everyone’s theories in those weeks I spent mourning, desperate to be convinced—but as much as I wanted to believe there was a plan at work, I just couldn’t buy it 100 percent because…would the people who wrote this awful arc, and who made all the oddest choices possible at any given time throughout both seasons thus far, really intend to set up and execute something so well thought out and complex?

Of course not. People kept being like, “We have to trust the writers. They have a grand plan. They wouldn’t just throw away Tech. It would be ableist, and that’s why he’s not dead.” Like??? The show was already ableist! One of the main characters is disabled and his being disabled is specifically relevant to why he’s even in this squad and in this show—and it’s never remotely discussed! The closest is the most oblique reference ever to how Echo doesn't like to be alone. That's it. Just because they actually managed to write this wonderful moment about Tech being autistic doesn’t mean their track record was suddenly irrelevant! Killing off their neurodivergent character is exactly the kind of ableist shit they would do! And see now: Crosshair's hand. Also Echo suddenly having a hand after not having one for so long and it being completely untouched upon. It's par for the course!

So the Tech Lives theories all hinged on the writing being really clever, but I just. Already hated so much of the writing, and it felt way more likely that they were just continuing to be bad writers and continuing to go with the poorer plot choice option every single time they had the opportunity to go a direction that would be thought provoking and emotionally affecting.

I felt very much and very sadly proven right when the season started, and we got no mention of Tech being dead until the FIFTH episode. The Batch never talked about Crosshair and why he tried to kill them, so I guess why would they talk about Tech dying, sigh. And it was so bizarre how people were arguing that Omega and Crosshair's little exchange about Tech was super touching and gave us everything we needed. It absolutely did not! The fact that we couldn't agree on whether Crosshair even knew tells you everything you need to know about the wacky writing choices! Why was it so vague?? They literally could have added one word:

Crosshair: Did they teach you plan 72? Omega: Mm-hmm. Tech had me memorize all the plans, before... Crosshair: Of course he did.

On that note, I began to feel uneasy about the fandom again, because it started feeling like an echo chamber, and I was worried everyone was getting too hyped about something that might not happen, and even if it did, might end up being some kind of poorly done fanservice. I started seeing a lot of defensive posts being like, “Well, the reason they’re not mentioning Tech is because he’s not dead, and you’re an idiot, unlike me, if you’re falling for their sneaky tricks.”

Like??? The prevalence of ride-or-die sentiments like that started making me feel like I was losing my grip on reality and watching a completely different show from everyone else. Wouldn’t the dramatic effect of Tech being alive be strengthened by the characters all mourning him, thus making us mourn him, thus making the plot twist that he’s alive even more effective?? Wouldn't the characters being shown to be affected by his death instead of just ignoring it be the most promising sign of his impending return?

To me, the characters not mourning Tech meant that the writers had put him aside and moved on (which is, again, terrible writing because it doesn’t give the viewers the space to grieve and then move on, and it makes the characters feel terribly heartless, which, well. At least they were consistent). And that blasé moving on made the possibility of him being dead WAY more likely to me. Of course they would kill their neurodivergent character and then just all but pretend it didn't happen. Of course they would act as if he had just been a convenient plot device! Of course they would only bring him up and act like they missed him when he wasn't there to miraculously do the characters' work for them and the writers' work for them! Fuck that so hard.

So then “Infiltration” and “Extraction” were a big surprise! I was like, oh, huh, guess I was totally wrong and they’re really doing it, wow. Okay, let’s see if they can actually pull it off. I liked the writing a lot better this season, so it felt more plausible that they were finally getting down to business. The fact that the clues felt so heavy handed was kind of weird to me, and I complained a lot about there not being red herrings, but I love a good Came Back Wrong story, so I was willing to believe I had been too pessimistic and cynical, as I often am.

After “Bad Territory” and “The Harbinger,” however, I started doubting it again. Fitting both this M-count mystery that had already taken up so much screen time plus a Tech Lives mystery just felt like a lot of ground to cover, and this was the show that couldn’t even seem to fit more than five seconds of the main characters being sad about the death of their squad mate. Did they really have what it would take to pace it?

Of course not!!!

After “Point of No Return,” I started to feel like if they did bring Tech back, it would be at the cost of it being done poorly. And to me, for his purported death AND his resurrection to be badly written would be way worse than just the former. And the draw of the whole Winter Soldier deal is the fallout; the guilt and doubt the characters harbor; the way they have to reckon with the fact that even if their loved one is back, they will never be the same again, because they did die in a way—and the less time allotted after a reveal like that, the fewer of those key things there would be, which would just make it feel so tacked on for cheap shock value and social media chatter. Especially because there had been so little buildup to such a thing at the beginning of the season. These writers' abilities are just not remotely close to Ed Brubaker's, y'all.

Then Rampart being introduced afterward felt like the death knell (oop) because it was a new plot thread they would need to wrap up by the end. But the Clone X thread was still dangling, so I felt like it wasn’t out of the question. But I guess after my complaints about the Tech connections being too obvious and there needing to be more red herrings, it turned out that the Tech connections themselves were the red herrings.

Although I feel like that's probably even giving the writers too much credit. I don't know if I really believe they were trying to mislead us. I feel like they just clumsily ended up doing things that coincided with the Tech Lives theories. Like I honestly wouldn't be surprised if when they used "domicile" it was completely without realizing they had previously had Tech say it and that this would lead to the viewers drawing an erroneous conclusion. They probably just wanted CX-2 to say something fancy and mysterious tbh, and the same words tend to float in writers' minds. Rip us.

I guess now I understand what I could never work out—if CX-2 was Tech, then why did he so specifically use rifles like Crosshair does and so proficiently, i.e. specifically better than Crosshair did? Why wouldn't he dual wield hand blasters?

Also, although I was in some ways relieved that at least they didn't write a bad resurrection for Tech, and there's absolutely no way it wouldn't have been shit if it'd just been shoved anywhere in the last three episodes, all this is not to say the Clone X concept didn't end up being super hamfisted as well. Just the fact that there are other Clone X types with different weapons and uniforms makes the concept even more confusing. Clearly these guys were meant to mirror the Batch, but then why did all the ones we encountered before CX-2 wear the same uniform as him?? Did they sort the clones into categories of which Clone X they would be? It would actually be cool if the point was to sow fear in the galaxy because it would seem like the person in the CX-2 suit was undefeatable, especially because they were completely covered and their build would be the same every time. But that would be too cool and coherent for this show, sigh.

Also, was Hemlock project managing them, or was Scorch? Neither really makes sense, but who was sending them after Rex's rebel cell? Was there a military higher-up giving the Advanced Science Division that directive? Why did CX-2 and the one that Rex's cell captured hate Crosshair so much? Why the fuck did CX-2 cut off his hand???

Anyway. I could go on forever, but I think at the end of the day, we all read too much into it because we are just collectively better writers than the writers are tbh. Sadly, a classic fandom experience. I guess what ultimately saved me the most from heartbreak and allowed me to earnestly enjoy the finale was that I had already spent a year believing Tech had died and suffered through my grief (by, you guessed it, writing a grief/mourning fic), and I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was no way these writers could pull off something so emotional and complex. I swear I didn’t actually want to be right!

I think if nothing else, one thing we can all agree on is that Tech surviving could’ve been one kickass story, and it was a hell of a missed opportunity.

[lostcauses-noregrets]

SnK Final Episode thoughts

A few thoughts about the final episode of SnK now the dust has started to settle.  Although it was the anime that first got me into the series, I’m really a manga first kinda fan, I enjoy the anime, but it’s always been a nice addition for me.  Also, while I was very ambivalent about the ending of the manga and had a LOT of things to say about it at the time, I’ve more or less made my peace with it.  All of which is to say that I went into the final episode without any particular expectations. I was excited to see the series draw to a close, hoped they wouldn’t mess up Levi’s ending, and was curious to see the much touted changes. 

I have to say, I really enjoyed it. The action sequences around the Attack Titan were breathtaking and the rumbling was genuinely horrifying. The pacing was good and it felt a lot shorter than the 90 minute running time. The voice acting was fabulous; Yuki Kaji, Yui Ishikawa, Marina Inoue and Hiroshi Kamiya really knocked it out of the park. 

Jean and Connie were really touching.  I loved the way that they kept harking back to what it meant to be a Scout.  Reiner was fabulous too. I had a lot more sympathy for him by the end of the episode than I’ve had throughout the series.  The expression on his face when Jean said they were all Scouts was really moving. Pieck is my best girl, as always, but I’m afraid I still haven’t warmed to Annie, I guess I never will.  Gabi seemed to be a lot less prominent than I remembered from the manga, but her scenes with Falco and Levi were great.  It’s no secret that I’ve never been fond of Armin, however I thought he came across really well in the episode.  His conversation with Zeke in paths made a lot more sense and was actually really touching,  Kudos to Marina Inoue for her amazing voice acting. 

Levi was perfect in every single frame.  You really got the impression that he was fighting with every last fibre of his being, despite his catastrophic injuries, and of course he never forgot his vow to Erwin.  The moment when he finally killed Zeke was *chef’s kiss*.

Levi’s final salute was absolutely devastating. I completely choked up watching the subbed episode on CR, even though I’d already seen the raw and had been capping the scene all day.  The final image of Erwin and the Wings of Freedom fading into the mist had me in pieces.  The choice of theDOGS as the soundtrack for this scene just added to the pathos as Erwin’s character song, Hope of Mankind, is an arrangement of this track.  

The change to Levi’s ending was very unexpected, but I really liked it.  I’d always wondered how that city at the end of the manga survived unscathed.  It seemed more realistic to see Levi, Onyankopon, Gabi and Falco in the refugee encampment.  It’s also fully in keeping with Levi’s compassionate character for him to be contributing to the reconstruction efforts, and of course it all ties in with what we’ve seen of Bad Boy. (It’s also pretty much exactly how I imagined Levi’s post war life in The Permanence of the Young Men.)  Seeing Levi handing out sweets to children who bear such a close resemblance to Ramzi and Halil was really touching.  I’ve seen some people complaining that the lollipop scene was a jarring note of humour that seemed out of place, but I didn’t see it like that.  I interpreted it as Levi remembering children like Ramzi, and perhaps even recalling the trauma of his own childhood.  I’ve seen some interesting discussion on twitter linking Levi’s reaction to the clown in Marley to the few sketchy panels of Bad Boy and suggesting that rather than being pissed at being mistaken for a child, Levi was triggered by something traumatic that happened in his own childhood. Isayama rarely draws anything unintentionally, so we’ll have to wait and see. 

Having said all that...much as I enjoyed the episode, it didn’t change my opinion of the ending (which you can read here if you’re a real glutton for punishment).  I really appreciated the change to Armin’s dialogue when he confronted Eren in Paths.  The scene in the manga where he thanks Eren for becoming a mass murderer for their sakes still leaves a bad taste, so that change was greatly appreciated. I also liked the fact that Armin said they wouldn’t be the heroes Eren wanted them to be, though in actual fact this is the role they take on. The fact that Armin and the others were so quick to forgive Eren still really sticks in my craw, if anything, it was even more jarring in the anime after seeing how hard they had fought to stop him.  The same goes for Armin telling Mikasa to find a good place for Eren to rest quietly.  I’m sorry, but I’m not sure Eren deserves to rest in peace. 

Eren himself was pathetic in every sense of the word, just as he is in the manga, but I think he explains his fucked up rationale a bit more clearly in the anime.  I have seen some criticism that Eren is a poor villain because he lacks any coherent ideology, other than some vague nonsensical notion of “freedom”, but that’s the whole point. Eren isn’t a tragic villain or an evil genius with a masterplan, he really is just a kid who had too much power and didn’t know what to do with it.  

There’s nothing I can really say about Mikasa, she was as dignified and tragic as she is in the manga.  However I thought the connection between the Founder Ymir and Mikasa was, if anything, even more obscure in the anime.  I can’t help wondering what anime only fans make of it. I’m also not sure I liked the way the anime handled the extra scenes at the end. It was quite clever to include them as the credits rolled, but it did rather lessen their impact. I think I’d have preferred to see them full screen. 

I know there’s been a lot of criticism with the way MAPPA animated the characters, particularly in comparison to JJK, but tbh I have little patience with that.  With the notable exception of Levi, SnK has never been a pretty boy anime so the comparison to JJK seems misplaced.  Although I will always prefer WIT’s style, I think MAPPA did a good job of incorporating some of Isayama’s art style in the animation, particularly the exaggerated facial expressions he sometimes draws. 

And finally on to that scene with Erwin.  The level of outrage at the way Erwin was drawn in the scene where Levi recalls his vow was quite something.  I have several Anons in my inbox claiming that MAPPA have a deliberate anti-Erwin bias, which is nonsense.  Admittedly MAPPA’s Erwin does suffer in comparison with WIT’s season 3 Erwin who was magnificent, however even WIT didn’t manage to draw Erwin consistently.  I think some fans have been quick to forget just how wonky Erwin sometimes looked in earlier seasons of the anime.  Also as I said in this post, it’s important to remember that Levi is in the depths of despair when he remembers Erwin at this point, as he has convinced himself that he has failed him.  Erwin always looks beautiful and serene when Levi remembers him; this is the one exception. The bleak expression on Erwin’s face is a reflection of Levi’s state of mind, not some hidden agenda on MAPPA’s part.  If we’d had soft shoujo Erwin in this scene, it wouldn’t really have conveyed Levi’s despair. The fact that we did get a close-up of the most beautiful soft shoujo Erwin at the end is hopefully enough to appease the critics. 

So thems my thoughts. If you’ve had the patience to read to the end of this ramble, thank you.  However you look at it, it's been a wild ride and I'm very grateful to have been along for the trip. One last word for people who are concerned the fandom will die now the season has ended. Don't worry, it won't. It will change, but change is inevitable in fandoms. However the characters and story that Isayama has created are easily compelling enough to capture fans for years to come.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

More replies! About Rollo, some previous posts and Ortho being a popular boy.

maximumalmonduniversitysports asked:

About Rollo's plan, it came to me recently that if it succeeded, the whole world would be destabilized, since so many things run on magic. It would be a kind of end of the world situation. Not only that but Briar Valley and who knows where else might want to get revenge on Rollo for endangering their prince. What do you think?

Sounds about right; there is no way Rollo’s plan would just cleanly erase all the magic from the world without any drastic circumstances, considering just how much magic is being used in pretty much every field… The political consequences also would’ve been horrible: not only Rollo endangered Briar Valley’s prince (his main crime), but also the entirety of Briar Valley probably would’ve suffered the most if left magicless, since they don’t even have modern technology, if I remember correctly... And with a bunch of dead bodies, most likely, since they have creatures like fae.

Overall, even if Rollo’s plan succeeded in a very small capacity, it’s so problematic and disastrous on so many levels that the punishment for that would’ve been severe. Imagine Shaftlands authorities handing Rollo over to the Briar Valley as an apology for endangering Malleus on their land lol Doesn’t sound like a very nice fate… A fate that he won’t have to face because NRC boys didn’t snitch on him! Because they didn’t want the party to get cancelled oh my god these guys……..

To be honest, I don’t think Rollo has thought it through that far ahead. I’m sure he rationalised it in his head as if he is doing something very logical and cohesive, like there is a goal he would achieve, but in actuality taking revenge on magic users (and Malleus specifically as the ultimate magic user) and punishing them for existence was pretty much his actual goal. He didn’t care that he would hurt innocent people because he was too focused on fighting against his own feelings and his inner agony. Not unlike Frollo’s actions, now that I think about it lol

Anonymous asked:

I know that you haven’t watched the NBC event, I’ve only seen snippets myself but can I say that Scully REALLY reminds me of Nagito Komaeda and not just because of his white hair. I won’t elaborate more to avoid spoilers, I’ll just leave you with this tidbit.

Ohhh ANON this is a very valuable piece of information!! Nagito Komaeda vibes would be SUCH A NICE ADDITION!

Man I keep getting excited over the event and Scully……………

Anonymous asked:

Oo shota series? Are you gonna draw all the boys at younglings?

You noticed! Hehe well to be honest not really, it’s more or less a coincidence… We really wanted to finish up and post all of those sketches, and they ended up being grouped up like that.

Unfortunately, this little impromptu series ended with yesterday’s sketch :( At least for now. I would love to draw all of them like that at some point though 🤔

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

MALLEUS POOR BABY!

:C yesss. Abandonment issues baby~

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

I love the idea both Rook and Vil were each other's first kiss just based on their eyes like "Holy fucking shit...WHERE DID HE LEARN THAT-"

lol YES

They awakened things in each other that they didn’t even know about themselves…

Anonymous asked:

You made me sad too! 😭😭 But that’s okay, I’m all for ultra traumatic backstories. I’ll gladly scratch their ears all they want. And forfeit all my worldly possessions to them, as well.

(this is still about a Fellow and Gidel comic from ko-fi)

Ahhh, this is so sweet and kind of you :”3 And this is exactly what they deserve!

I support your decision and your feelings.

Anonymous asked:

do you think idia or vil would ever get into a situation where they have to fight over ortho's attention or time?

Oh Ortho would love that lol He would feel like such a protagonist of a harem anime! Such a lucky and popular little guy~

I can’t think of a situation in which it would’ve happened though, but I also wouldn’t say that it’s completely impossible. Vil does like to remind Ortho that he doesn’t need to always stay by Idia’s side, and while Idia doesn’t complain about Ortho talking to other people, I’m pretty sure he gets jealous sometimes. Also, both Vil and Idia could get kind of petty and surprisingly competitive… This is like the only social field in which Idia would compete against Vil-the-supermodel! He has an advantage: Ortho is his little brother!

Imagine Ortho giggling and teasing them for being childish.

[luzi35]

Oh my++ gosh…what the fuck is wrong with you people???

…Is this seriously all over her hate for Uzi, NUzi, and shipping J x N??

Like I’ve++ never seen her do anything bad or problematic and even then death threats and harassing her does not make you better?

It doesn’t help when I++ recognize some of the folks harassing her too like…I’m++ so shocked? I++ don’t know what happened last time, I++ saw some posts about it but didn’t really comprehend them but this now? I’m++ just seeing it like…

Is this seriously harassment over not liking fictional characters and their relationships?

I’ve++ heard of NUzi fans being horrible and was in a bit disbelief because I++ never came across one that was so awful and believed that NUzi fans on TikTok were noted as the worse ones but yall are really proving them right about yall not being all that.

I++ don’t like getting involved in situations when I++ don’t know all the details or what’s going on to avoid making major mistakes like that but now I’m++ tired of being silent and watching this person be harassed and no one saying anything.

I++ know I++ don’t really have the amount of followers to be saying this but if you could show @lesslie-sass some love, please do. You can skip over what I’m++ about to say in the Indented if you’d like since it’s directed to Lesslie anyways. I’m++ a very hearty, wordy being so I++, myself++, will always say a lot.

I’ll++ say something below myself++:

Hey Lesslie, I++ just want to show you some love and support during all of this. I++ was the Anon here and we++, as a system, would like to continue supporting you even if we++ aren’t sure about your views on systems. To us++, it’s more important to speak out against harassment that’s so severe like this than to stay silent from any preconceived notion about our++ existence.

I++ want you to know that I++ am here for you deeply if no one else seems to be and I++ would like for you to send me++ a DM so we[++] can talk and I++ promise you I++ will listen. Of course, I++ don’t want to pressure you into sending me++ one but just know that if there’s anything you need, I++ am here for you. I++ cannot stop people from harassing you but I++ can be there to listen and offer you my++ advice. I++ didn’t comprehend what happened last time and I++ wasn’t there when it went down but I++ am here now. Whatever happened then does not excuse what you’re going through now.

I++ know it’s easy for folks to just say “ignore them and move on” even with the best intentions in their heart but I++ know it isn’t that easy or that simple. I’ve++ been harassed multiple times before and those instances have left me++ traumatized. I++ have recovered more since then but I++ can still have those days where it really hurts still. However, recovery takes time whether it’s absolute or most of what you can do at the time. Being told to “get over it” even in the most kindest, sincerest way will not help you. You have to sit with the pain and cope with it.

When it comes to blocking people who harass you, it can alleviate some pain; still, I++ know that it still has the possibility of making things feel much worse. The thought of someone out there talking about you and your work without you knowing or being able to defend yourself can hurt a lot. Trust me++, I++ know. The thought of that leading to even more harassment can be a lot as well, trust me++ when I++ say I++ know that as well. It can hurt a lot but that doesn’t have to be the end of you: whether that’s yourself or your online presence.

People are gonna feel the way they feel about your artwork, regardless of your intentions. That doesn’t mean you should forget your very own intentions. I++ know it can be hard to keep going when you have to deal with all of this but I++ want you to know that despite all the bad, there’s still good to look at too. Think about your accomplishments or things in life that you have or done that have brought you joy. I’ll++ add to that: You’re a great artist and you have an adorable artstyle! That’s something to be proud of!

I++ really loved seeing your CodeGold art and it gave Seph and Ink-o more confidence to start posting sear own regarding our+ in-system relationships! Just seeing someone else out there posting semi-frequently about it was just so nice to see when the fandom tends to hate anyone who ships it / the ship itself no matter the reason behind it so I++ just really appreciate you a lot for that.

I++ know I++ could of send this in a DM instead but it takes me++ a lot of confidence and other mental health related things (ie. anxious that the person I++ DM will hate me++ immediately and so on) to feel okay to DM anyone so it’s easier to make a post strangely enough. I++ didn’t want to wait so long to say anything either—even more from how I++ woke up to seeing this and immediately started typing my++ thoughts 😭—so this was the best option for me++ and I++ can vocally support you even more this way so I++ hope you don’t mind. ^^"

Again, I’d++ like to say that I++ am here for you if you need anyone and I++ hope the best for you! ^^

Now to conclude this…I++ know there’s some of yall who follow me++ or be coming on and off my++ account liking and reposting shit and yall believe in behavior like this. Go block me++ and unfollow me++. Cause if you seriously believe you’re in the right for harassing or supporting harassment against this person, I++ strongly suggest you seek self-betterment and apologize if you actually do something. Cause this looks nothing more than the typical borderline harassment and hate out of no where which is something I’ve++ experienced before.

CURATE YOUR ONLINE SPACES.

If someone is posting something you don’t like, either block that person or that tag. Simple as that. Don’t start harassment campaigns against people over fictional characters or their thoughts on them. You can complain without saying any names! You don’t have to subject people to unwarranted harassment! If they’re doing something genuinely harmful, it’s a different thing but that still doesn’t excuse the harassment side of it and it never should. Get it together. You will be a better person by not being the one who harasses someone over an opinion over fictional ships or fictional characters especially of those with such a small account like Lesslie’s. If you seriously believe harassing someone will make them hate the ship or character less, think again. It’ll make it worse and if they DO change it’s because you took the time out of your day to use a form of abuse to make that person change their mind. Now that may not always be the case as opinions can change but in regard to fandom, that’s usually how it happens.

Here I’ll++ say something myself before I++ end this off completely.

I++ LOVE NUZI and I++ LOVE UZI. Point blank period. They’re both comforting and extremely adored by me++, if that wasn’t obvious enough. I’ve++ seen a post or 2 about Lesslie talking about not liking Uzi or NUzi and I++ personally don’t agree with her on that but I++ can understand where she’s coming from a bit in her arguments against them and that’s fine! She has her reasons for not liking Uzi or NUzi, I++ have my++ reasons for liking them! I++ still like her art posts and I++ still like my++ own NUzi and Uzi hyper-fixations. I++ avoid her serious posts talking about her dislike for them and focus on enjoying all the posts who love NUzi too over the ones hating on the ship. My++ opinion hasn’t changed over seeing her’s and wow! That’s amazing, right?

Moral of the the story, you don’t HAVE to agree with everyone you follow, you don’t HAVE to harass anyone who doesn’t agree with you, and you don’t HAVE to stoop yourself so, so LOW as a person over fictional characters because at the end of the day, you’re hurting the life of someone with real flesh and blood.

That’s all I++ have to say.

[the-owl-house-takes]

Okay I’m gonna go on a big long rant about why Huntlow pisses me off so much. Honestly, Mod Willow, you don’t even have to post this if you don’t want to cuz I don’t wanna start more discourse, I just need to vent. Please note this is gonna be pretty messy just cuz I have a lot to say.

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD I DO NOT SEE THE APPEAL OF THIS SHIP!! They have no chemistry on screen. It feels like watching two people be nice to each other out of politeness rather than out of actually enjoying the others company. It’s especially noticeably because Willow is naturally super affectionate/friendly, but all her interactions with Hunter feel super forced.

And don’t even get me started on the shippers. Too many of the shippers act like just cuz it’s canon, it means you HAVE to like it. When are people gonna learn that just because something is canon, doesn’t mean it’s good or well written?? The fan content might honestly be the worst part of it. 70% of Huntlow shippers, from what I’ve seen, don’t care about Willow at all. They just turn her into Hunter’s therapist or boil her down to “buff girlfriend” and it’s infuriating. It’s like they black out whenever Hunter isn’t on screen. And they even get him wrong too. So much Huntlow stuff turns Hunter is a “poor twaumatized wittle baby 🥺” and infantalize him, even though he is one of the strongest main characters there!! Yes, he is traumatized. But trauma doesn’t turn you into a helpless infant. There’s so much you could do to explore that in an interesting way, but I guess that’s too much work so let’s just infantilize him!!!!!

And the writing for it is a mess. “Of course it’s gonna be rushed/messy, the shortened season-“ THAT MAKES IT WORSE!!! They knew they had extremely limited time to finish the season, and they still wasted time on this stupid ship. The whole plot comes to a screeching halt just so they can focus on Hunter and Willow standing next to each other. For the Future is the worst example of this. That scene where Willow has her breakdown is awful and the writers should be embarrassed of it. Hunter is the worst person in the main cast to comfort her there. Literally anyone else would’ve been better. It could’ve been Amity, to finally give closure to their relationship and show that they’ve fully moved on from Amity’s past behavior (especially since Amity was one of the main people to make Willow feel like she was half-a-witch), or Gus, who also has magic-related breakdowns and was taught a coping mechanism for the BY WILLOW!! Or Luz, to show that, yes, they are indeed still friends, because I honestly forgot they were supposed to be best friends by then. They’ve had so few direct interactions for the past season and a half, it felt like they were strangers. But nooooo, it HAD to be Hunter. They literally had to keep Gus back with giant vines to keep it a huntlow moment (which is just another example of how Gus has been screwed by this series). Also, Hunter experienced one of the most horrific things to ever happen to him and lost his first friend mere hours ago, why are we already trying to push him into a relationship?? I’m not saying that traumatized people can’t be in relationships, that’s stupid. But I am saying that he needs some time to actually process what’s happened before immediately getting out into romantic scenes again. It just feels really gross.

The ship also just completely uprooted any and all of Willow’s development. Anytime she has a major moment in the series now HAS to be related to Hunter. It turned her from a character with a lot of cool potential development that seemed to actually be getting explored in season 2, into just Hunter’s Girlfriend. And I know this is a problem with Willow specifically because Hunter gets plenty of outstanding moments outside of this ship after it begins to be established. It feels like they didn’t know what else to do with her, so they just attached her to the closest male character.

And it’s just so amanormative/heteronormative. Note, this is not me calling it a straight ship, because it’s not. I know Willow is pan and Hunter is bi. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be heteronormative. Seriously, any and all moments of them even standing next to each other were taken by the fandom as “proof” it was gonna be canon. As I said before, Willow is super affectionate naturally. She loves her friends and isn’t afraid to show it. But when she does basic friend things with Hunter? They’re in love!! It’s obvious!! /sarc

Willow saves hunter from a deadly 200ft drop? True love. Willow doesn’t want to pummel hunter (or who she thinks is Hunter) to death with a giant vine? I hear wedding bells! Willow is distraught at the fact that her friend just tried to drown himself in a lake and is sad that he’s slowly dying? Could they be anymore obvious with how it’s canon?! Ignore the fact that literally everyone else there is also sad, it’s a huntlow moment!! And that hand holding scene in FTF…… literally so cringe inducing. Willow was holding hands with and celebrating with Amity five seconds ago, but now that she’s slightly touching Hunter’s hand? Canon! Undeniably canon! I can’t believe that made the cut into the final episode. It felt like watching a shitty fanfic written by a ten year old. They wasted precious time that could’ve been used to further the plot of the actual show.

I hate that you can’t go three feet into the owl house tag without seeing it, even if you block ten million tags relating to it. I’ve got ten different huntlow tags blocked and I still see it whenever I go into the tags. It’s infuriating. Just because it’s canon, doesn’t mean you don’t have to tag it anymore.

And back to the shippers, why do some of them just start throwing a tantrum every time they find out you don’t ship it? I’ve criticized the ship a little bit on my blog. Every time I do, I make sure to tag it so huntlow shippers specifically can avoid my posts, and encourage them to block me so they never have to see me ever again. And even with all that, anytime I criticize the ship even a little bit, I get an onslaught of huntlow shippers crying in my inbox/notes about how I’m missing the point, or just don’t get it, or how I should just block the tag. I do block the tag!! That is the first thing I did when I saw the ship was getting more popular!! Why don’t they take their own advice and block me? And they’re so condescending about it too. You don’t see me going onto anti-lumity or anti-raeda blogs and telling them how it’s their fault I disagree with them. Honestly, grow up.

Okay that’s all. Again, you don’t have to post this if you don’t wanna mod Willow. I just needed to rant.

-

[mirabellemoira]

Speak louder for the people in the back! The only right thing the showrunners did was ignore Sara Snow (who if she existed would have only one single line) but that would be enough for the fandom to favor her over Baela and we know why...

Context for those who may not have seen the tags on an ask earlier this morning:

#Ive seen wayyyy too many people in fandom at large pushing aside canon romantic interests #because they're

WOC in favor of insisting that their white male fav is obviously in love with their other white male fav #just saying #not saying everyone does it but we all know that if Baela was white #we'd have a hundred more writers in our tag

Thankful every day for one thing from HBO and one thing only and that’s them leaving Sara Snow out of S2

If it was just a fandom thing I wouldn’t even be that surprised because I’ve seen it so many times but then even HBO did it????

Let’s look at some non-canon pairings who had more romantic/sexual coded interactions than the canon engaged couple:

- Daemon and his literal Mom (I’m not going to summarize it we’re all traumatized from that)

- Aegon and Aemond (forehead kiss, hand holding, hand holding atop naked chest, being on a bed together with one of them naked, asking sexually charged questions, literally being eye level with dick, discussing past sexual partners, talking in Valyrian.)

- Daemon and Alys (sitting pressed together, hand holding, wound care, sitting on the other’s bed in tears and when they wake up to the sight they aren’t even startled, late night walks in the moonlight)

- Larys and Aegon (intimate balcony talks, vacationing together, vaguely creepy yet comforting talks over a sickbed, carrying one another across a room while injured)

Not to mention alicole getting 3 sex scenes, Aemond getting 2 nude scenes, Rhaenyra cheating on Daemon with his ex (who else thinks the writers will simply pretend this didn’t happen in s3?), and again, the fact that they had a Daemon/Alyssa dream sex montage? Still recovering from accidentally watching that scene with my parents, personally (aemonds dick out scene as well, we simply pretended it didn’t happen for a solid 2 weeks)

Also, we can’t forget the thing that finally broke me on the season finale. I was already fighting for my life after that Alicent Rhaenyra convo but I could have survived it. I could have gone on.

But they included the dragonseeds and OTTO HIGHTOWER IN A CAGE and left Jace and Baela out of the final All Must Choose montage

Insane. Absolutely insane.

[destinygoldenstar]

Golden Analyzes 2001 Nominees “Shrek”

*Have Not Seen Prior, GF Has*

We’ve reached it. The very first Best Animated Feature Winner.

Pay Respects.

So this is the first case scenario where me and my GF, (we’re watching these together) have totally different experiences with a movie on the list.

Jimmy Neutron - We both never seen it

Monsters Inc - We both seen it

THIS movie, I hadn’t watched it in full prior to this. But she has.

Actually, I think I should clarify my stance when I say ‘haven’t seen it’. Cause with Jimmy Neutron, I actually hadn’t seen a single clip of it and knew nothing going in.

With this movie? I mean I haven’t sat down and watched the movie in full before this.

I’ve been SPOILED TO DEATH about this movie. So I know the plot. I know what happens. There are no surprises waiting for me.

But I’ve only sat down and seen a few clips. One was the very end of the second movie years ago when I was walking in on a babysitting watch party. Another was that scene in the third movie of that ogre baby doing a vomit rocket, which was even longer ago back when I was a kid with Windows XP. (Come on Microsoft, make Windows interesting again!)

And we also went on a Shrek themed VR ride at Universal. I don’t remember anything about it aside from we rode it.

Though to be fair I never remember VR rides that well.

So I know Shrek. I know it’s story. I know the impact it’s had on the industry. I just never found time or interest to sit down and watch the full movie.

My GF on the other hand has seen all the movies and spin-offs, and she is a pretty casual fan. She’s rather indifferent to these movies, and said they’re good movies.

So… she’s gonna have more to say in the reactions than usual. While I descend into madness.

But due to the Oscars nominations, I will get a descent Shrek fill in. Shrek 2 is 2004. Puss N Boots & Puss N Boots The Last Wish we’re both nominated. I will be required to watch those.

But not the third of fourth movies. I am not required to watch those. And I heard they were the worst of the franchise so I probably won’t. Depends if I get that invested in Shrek.

Okay… let’s go in.

Reaction:

Bold is my GF’s words

“Did this storybook rip off Sleeping Beauty? That looks familiar.” “It’s also odd as these characters don’t look like that in the movie.”

“Sorry, my mind is dirty. That F is way too big. Replace ‘for’ with the f word. Completely changed the sentence.”

“SOME-BODY ONCE TOLD ME- I’m sorry.”

“YOU EAT MUD?!”

“He’s so ugly that the mirror couldn’t stand to look at him.”

”He murdered a fish with his farts. Oh dear gosh he murdered a lot of fish with his farts.” “That’s one way to go fishing I guess.” “Why would you shower in mud if you’re just gonna take a bath right after?”

”This movie’s gross. Especially those slugs just… they don’t look right.”

“Okay, eating eyeballs?! No no no no. Nope… I’ve watched Total Drama though. I havent had a movie that’s made me lose my appetite for Cheeze-It’s yet. Let’s see if this one breaks me.”

(It didn’t. I could still eat Cheeze-Its throughout the movie)

“I wonder if he traumatized these people for sport.”

*He puts the fire out like it’s nothing* “😂” “😂 They’re a bunch of cowards.”

”I’ve had this headcanon as to why Donkey is being sold along with the other fairy tale creatures when he’s not a fairy tale character. You know in Pinocchio the island that turns people into donkeys and one of them talks still? He’s that donkey.”

”Those banners are the Facebook logo!” “Huh? Oh yeah… I was always confused by that cause Farquad’s colors are red and yellow.” “He’s Lord Facebook! He’s the head of Facebook!”

*’Im a real boy’ *nose grows** “That is so depressing.”

“Dang, Tinker Bell is either a failure or a sociopath.”

“I mean, you did save him with no reason to, so…”

“Oh he’s so us.”

“I mean technically it’s his property, and you’re a stranger. He kinda has a right to not let you in.”

“One thing that always bothered me was how everyone looks so old.” “Yeah.” “Is it because fairy tales are old??”

“NOOOO” “What?” “I thought he was gonna eat it for a second. Whatever he pulled out of his ear.” “Ear wax candle.”

”You can’t just put a CORPSE on the table!”

“Over a DAY, they ALL set up a whole civilization here.”

*Does anyone else know where to find him?* “No trust. No respect.”

”‘I am going to save your lives! But only for my own selfish reasons. But I’m still doing it!’”

“Oh yeah, this gingerbread man suffers a lot.”

“NO NOT THE LEGS. COME ON.”

*I tried to be fair to you creatures* “So murder and enslavement is fair.”

“How is he not a king? He has a castle and is a dictator and everything.”

“She’s DEAD. 😂 Yes marry a corpse. Would you like your bride alive or dead?”

“That’s gotta be one of the worst designed castles I’ve ever seen in a movie.”

“Hi welcome to Facebook.”

”I’m perfectly okay with sacrificing all of you.”

*oh that’s not very nice…* “Shrek gets so much mistreatment that he-“ *Its just a donkey* “Oh… 😂”

”GET DRUNK YOU GOONS”

*Onions have layers* *Ogres are like onions* "...THAT had to be the WORST metaphor you could've possible come up with."

(It's a SIMILE, actually. I thought I was a writer)

“Honestly I’m with Donkey on this one.”

“I can never look at this scene the same way again knowing they have those hybrid babies” “…THE DONKEY AND DRAGON DO IT?!”

“I don’t ship this. Ew. Ew. Ew.”

“She speaks in old English?” “Yeah. She doesn’t do it all the time though.”

*well I have to save my ass* “😯” “Oh yeah, also there’s swearing in this.” “No I’m fine I just didn’t expect that reply.”

”I don’t ship this… I’m deeply uncomfortable. A dragon is trying to S/A a donkey.”

*Shrek gets his ass kissed* “AAAHHH! NOO!! NO NO NO NO NO!!” “…I forgot about that part…” “AAAAAHHH! WHY IS THERE SO MUCH SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THIS MOVIE?!”

”…oh okay… she has wings…” “Yeah good thing.” “I thought the dragon was gonna get hanged for a second.”

*Why didn’t he come rescue me?* “Yeah. Exactly.”

“No consent. Dragging a woman away without consent.”

“He’s already got the wedding outfits set up…” *sees the bear rug* “OH MY GOD.” “Yeah…” “I’m actually jumpscared…” “Earlier in the movie, the three bears were locked up together and the bears were crying for her… and then at another point in the movie she’s not there and the dad and baby are crying.” “😨NOO.”

(RIP Mama Bear)

*singing to the bird* “Awww…” *the bird explodes* “😳… actually I saw that coming. Still messed up.” *takes the eggs to cook* “NO!!!! NO. NO. NO. NO. THATS ANOTHER LEVEL OF SCREWED UP! NO! NO! IM LOSING MY MIND!!!” “Im gonna go…”

(We took a five minute break)

“Huh. A crass princess. Interesting.”

“…is it bad that I was kinda vibing with that?” “It wasn’t good. And they’re misogynistic… but yeah, I was vibing with that too.”

“…Im deeply uncomfortable but what do I expect now?”

“I was waiting for those frog balloons, oh gosh…” “It doesn’t phase me anymore.”

“…so are those animals dead?”

“She’s gonna marry Facebook.”

“DONKEY. I was digging that!”

“Is it bad that I think she’s really pretty as an ogre?” “Yes! Definitely! She’s real cute like this. Love the curves.”

“I wonder if her dress was designed specifically for this transformation.” “Im pretty sure it’s just magic.” “I think it’s just a very stretchy dress.”

*I thought that wouldn’t matter to you* “What?”

(REWINDED)

“…what’d she say?”

(REWINDED AGAIN)

“Yeah I’m not crazy. She said that SO quiet I can’t even hear it.”

(At least the version we watched, idk)

“Oh here’s the part. The leg part.” *the leg part* “😂”

“Uh…” *she presses the Farquad figure in the cake* “Yeah.”

“I’m very surprised there’s no guards blocking the door.”

“Why don’t you just go in? What’s stopping you?”

“The domino effect on the people 😂”

“…oh it does magic her clothes too.”

”😳 OKAY THEN.” “That’s a dark way to die for sure.” “I was expecting him to put up a fight, but THAT’S how he dies… that’s kinda pathetic.”

“😂” “Wait, this one window didn’t smash. Hold on.”

“I LOVE that she stays an ogre. That’s such a great message.”

(We Stan Fiona in this household)

“And then they all sing Shrek’s style in the end. Having accepted him.” “I didnt even notice that.”

Review:

Yeah, uh… I think I lost it far more than I thought I would. XD

And I’m a Total Drama viewer, which is pretty much this franchise but parodying reality Tv instead of fairy tales.

This is one of those movies that would probably not fly today from how much… rancidness is here. But apparently they’re making a fifth movie, which I, who has only seen the first movie so far, cannot comment feelings about.

I won’t dock points for it though, as it’s pretty clear it’s all done on purpose to serve as the movies distinct identity…

…you know, as one giant hate letter to Disney. If you know its history.

Okay, but putting that aside, this movie was a cultural phenomenon and a huge deal… and I get why.

Nowadays everyone’s trying to copy it, pretty much anyone under the Universal belt copied it at least once. But back then… yeah there wasn’t anything like it. And unlike those imitators that make their movies as childish garbage, this movie knows exactly what it’s doing and what it wants to say.

So much so that they repeat the message of the movie over and over and OVER again. And ngl, I felt pretty bashed in the face every time they said something under the likes of “don’t judge a book by its cover”. Because it was NOT SUBTLE AT ALL.

I think that’s a dialogue issue more than anything else. I would say kids movie, they have to use subtext less, but then I remember Monsters Inc was also an Oscar nomination and that movie knew subtext pretty well.

I think this is my biggest critique of the movie. There’s a bit of a lack of subtext.

There’s a lot of telling instead of showing. And I think the story and the message would’ve hit a whole lot harder if they showed things instead of just saying them.

For example, Shrek talks about how everyone immediately called him a monster before knowing him… but that’s it. He talks about it. What we’re shown is the aftermath of such where HE’S purposefully scaring THEM. Yeah I know he’s not attempting to murder anyone doing this he just wants privacy, but I think they could’ve made these civilians a bit more unlikeable, unreasonable, and unfair going in to make Shrek’s point have more ground to stand on. I think the scene would’ve hit a lot harder for me.

I do have other critiques as well

The animation is… actually not as bad as people make it out to be now. Yeah it aged badly but there are some really pretty skies.

Mostly the problem isn’t even the animation, it’s the designs.

That Lord Facebook castle is… YIKES, that’s bad looking.

The ogres look fine, but the people just look… OLD. Like, far older than I think they’re supposed to be. I think the only human character that looks like the age they’re supposed to be is Fiona.

My GF pointed this out too. She suggested that maybe everyone looking like this is on purpose to add to the fairytale satire angle. And maybe.

Now I have my fair share of fairytale satires in my life… but I am a little confused on how fairytales function in this world??

Like obviously the characters are there, but do they live out their respective fairytale stories? Are they aware their stories are written in stone? What about the people who aren’t fairytale characters? What do they do?

None of these world building questions get answered, at least not in this movie. Like, maybe if Shrek was a fairytale character, even if a very minor monster obstacle character, then the hatred towards him would be much more understandable?? Like, on the civilian’s end not on the message’s end.

Lord Facebook is also probably the weakest character in the movie.

Yes I know it’s Lord Farquad, but over the reaction we made a joke about the Facebook looking banners so we’re calling him Lord Facebook.

There’s really only one scene where I’m convinced he’s a threat as a villain, and that’s him torturing the gingerbread man. He hates and slaughters fairy tale creatures because… why not? (I forgot) And he somehow is not the king??

Why would he need to be king if he already has this much power?

And even then most of his power is used off screen. Like the Mama Bear murder. ON SCREEN, aside from that one scene I already mentioned, he poses pretty little threat. The heroes don’t really try to stop him until the end of the movie, Fiona puts up very little fight for her own character reasons, and in the final battle, Facebook gets eaten and killed very early and very easily without much of a fight. A fight that his GUARDS do.

I’m just saying, the main villain kinda doesn’t have too much of a ‘role’ dictating the narrative. Cause again, it was Fiona’s choice to go with him. She’s not being held captive by him or anything. He’s not the guy that locked her up in that tower.

So this movie has some issues…

I still very much appreciate it.

Despite the movie being made out of spite (if you go behind the scenes) it has a strong heart of a story of an outcast learning to let people in his life.

Shrek is not a monster. That’s just the stereotype people put on ogres. But he acts like that monster as a coping mechanism for loneliness. Which is a very real psychological thing.

I first assumed the movie was about this ogre getting a redemption arc and changing into a better person, but this is a subversion I’m pretty pleased with. I mean yeah Shrek is… flawed, but so is everyone. And he shouldn’t have to, say, remove his ogre side to fit in.

(Wait is that the plot of the second movie??)

And it’s also why his relationships with Donkey and Fiona, who accept him for who he is, is very important for both him and the story.

And I really liked these two characters in particular. MUCH more than I thought I would going in.

Except eating birds eggs. That’s a big no no.

Donkey, I suppose, fits the ‘comedic sidekick’ role, and I was prepared to be extremely annoyed by him throughout the movie…

…what I got instead was a very wholesomely pure character that was vital to the story. Yeah he’s a loudmouth, but he has by far the best heart in the movie and such an amazing friend to Shrek. Even when Shrek snaps at Donkey for a misunderstanding, he never blames Shrek for anything and remains emotionally supportive and open to listening to Shrek. It’s a friendship I completely bought from beginning to end.

I also completely bought the love story from beginning to end. The main character literally wiping his ass with the notion of true love only to find said true love? Irony at its peak.

And I will say that after watching this movie fully for the first time, I am a Fiona STAN.

I knew the twist with her being an ogre even before I watched the movie, so no surprise there. Again, I’ve been spoiled to death of this movie. What I wasn’t expecting was how well it was used as a thematic purpose to parallel Shrek.

This is something she can’t control. There is nothing she can do about it. Shrek can’t either cause he was born an ogre, but they’re both in the similar situation. In Fiona’s case however, she lies about it. She hides it. She masks herself to fit the society norm of a princess because that is what she’s supposed to be.

And being locked in a tower for god knows how long with no social contact? Of course she’d think no one would love that side of her. All she has to go off of is fairy tale logic, which is why she speaks in Old English at her debut scene.

Kinda wish they kept that part as a running thing for her, cause they kinda drop it after the rescue. That’s a nitpick though.

But after hearing Shrek having experiences that are relatable to her fears, she opens up far more to her real personality, which Shrek falls for. She’s crude, she’s cynical, she has no problem getting her hands dirty, she can kick ass without much issue. That’s another thing I like. She played the traditional damsel in distress at the tower, but it was clear it was just a gig for her and she could’ve escaped if she wanted. But it’s her willing choice to go to Farquad after the misunderstanding, and Shrek isn’t saving her physically at the wedding, he’s saving her mentally.

That was a nice subversion of the trope.

I also LOVE that she stays an ogre at the end and that’s her ‘beauty’. Cause despite not being born an ogre, it IS her. It’s genuinely very beautiful.

“Man, gotta love ogre, one of my favorite genders”

Idk how much of a hot take this is, but she’s prettier as an ogre than she is as a human. I said it.

I’m not one of those people that love romanticizing obesity, as it is a genuine health concern that be damaging to one’s life. But there is a good line between that and just having a body type that is more plus sized than others. And that’s okay. Especially if there’s nothing that can be done in some cases. I cannot speak for the plus sized women that watched this movie, but I hope it really touched them in a positive way and made them appreciate themselves more.

And to this day, Disney hasn’t made a princess with a chubbier body type. But if they ever do we all get to claim that Fiona was the first.

…and also that Red Shoes movie that’s pretty good and also did body positivity well.

Shrek’s bond with both of these characters is the heart of the movie, at least for me. It’s genuinely so touching to watch a guy who got isolated for so long be able to open up again to people who can love and care for him for who he is. Maybe it’s not the best version of this story in the world, but it’s still a well told one.

And, uh… idk how controversial it is… I like the pop music in this movie.

Nowadays its overdone and serves no purpose besides advertisement and songwriters getting a paycheck, but in this movie it serves a genuine narrative purpose and the movie would be worse without it.

It’s SHREK’s style of music. It’s HIS narrative being narrated not in a traditional fairy tale way, but by his playlist.

Every other character in the movie tries to sing traditionally like a Disney Movie. Donkey tries a lot and Shrek keeps stopping him. Fiona sings and kills a bird with her voice. (Yeah the mockery of Disney is strong here) Shrek meanwhile doesn’t give a damn about his reputation.

(I’m sorry)

And it really works for the ending after everyone else is singing the song ‘I’m a Believer’ together at Shrek and Fiona’s wedding. They join in on Shrek’s style of music because they have grown a sense of acceptance of Shrek.

(At least I think they did)

So yeah, good movie with some rough edges to it. I honestly wish I loved it more than I did. But I’m glad I didn’t hate it. At least I am now scarred by a dragon sexually harassing people.

And according to the nomination list, I will be required to watch the second movie and both of the spin-off movies.

Anyway, that's it for this movie and this concludes all the 2001 Oscar Nominated Movies For Best Animated Feature. I'll make a post where we come to our own conclusions on our opinions on the win and what movie we think should've won instead.

[undisclosed-serendipity]

postpartum journal #1

I don’t know if anyone wants to read this or maybe it’s also a lot of TMI but I want to write and I think it’s important to share? It feels a little odd because Tumblr still feels like a space for my teenager/young adult self and not a space for being a mother. But I don’t think I’ve read anyone that did really journal frankly about their experience (probably that Sarah Hawkinson video that I watched was the most frank I’ve seen someone talk about the motherhood experience)

So more under the cut. If you’re reading it/read it and am worried about me, I am doing okay and getting help in many different ways. My thoughts might be all over the place, please be gracious.

It’s been slightly more than a week since I gave birth. One more day to two weeks really. I’m still reeling from a lot of that has happened. I remembered being very worried the days prior to labour because Friday (28/6) I had an appointment for induction if labour still hasn’t decided to start . And as luck would have had it, I started feeling strong contractions 1am of 28/6. Around 17hours of struggle and labour, baby was born.

I didn’t know then but there was a few complications during the last stages of delivery. Episiotomy was performed. Vacuum extraction was used to get baby out too. Baby heartbeat was lost for a good 2-3mins. She turned out fine, pretty fine to say the least. Just perhaps a little stressed out. I didn’t know then, I only knew in depth what happened after reading the delivery report when I got discharged from the hospital.

Waves of emotions flooded me when they placed baby on my chest. I cried like a baby for a good five minutes or so, that my husband had tried to comfort me to get me to stop crying with all the bystanders around. It’s still hard to comprehend the fact that I’m a mother now. That this is what it took to be a mother.

I have to remind myself that as many days old my daughter is, I am as many days old as a mother. Today during the home visit by a midwife from the child health centre, she said to me “when a child is born, a parent is born too” I’m still trying to make sense of everything that has happened.

The birthing was a traumatic experience, the aftermath is still quite traumatic. My stitches needed restitching twice and still requiring follow ups to check if they will rupture again. On the day we were going to be discharged from the maternity ward, I woke up at 4am with my daughter on my chest (they encourage to maximise skin to skin contact while you’re still in ward) and I cried to myself silently. It finally hitting me that she’s going to be my responsibility now. That I am going to take her home. That she is mine. Sometimes I look at her and I have to remind myself that she’s my daughter. MY daughter. Not someone else’s. Not my sister. Not my husband’s sister. Or someone else’s baby. She is mine and she is made of me (and husband)

We went to the supermarket the first time today. It’s my first time after giving birth. The last time I was there, I was still pregnant. I also remember the first time I went on the bus again after giving birth. It is still hard to put together these experiences. The stark differences in myself, being pregnant and now after giving birth. People don’t treat me any different. But I feel so very different inside. I took myself out for walks everyday during the last week of pregnancy (it feels weird even writing this too) and I went to that supermarket almost every single day with my big pregnant belly. And today I was back there again, navigating through the aisles with husband, stroller and baby in tow. Nothing really changed except me. I walked past the cookies aisle, how many times I’ve stood there negotiating with my pregnant belly (my daughter then still inside of me) whether to get another box of chocolate cookies or not. I stopped there for a minute, baby is fast asleep in the stroller. She can’t have chocolate cookies now anyway too. The jarring effect of motherhood.

[blues-valentine]

Your post was so long again but I agree about what you said about Tory from cobra Kai. The show victimizes her too much. Not saying that Sam has never done anything wrong but it’s crazy how every faults her for things while Tory can around starting a fight that ends with someone being kicked over railing and breaking into someone’s house and attacking them with a weapon not once but twice. It’s crazy.

I have a lot of comments about how those two in particular are written. The show doesn’t do a good job writing for their teenage characters and has an overall problem with classism. I can’t help but notice how the poor characters are presented with negative undertones. The Miguel story line in Mexico and the way it was presented? Awful. That’s another conversation for another day.

Let’s go back to the point of the ask and is going to be a LONG one so this will probably be my last take on this whole thing.

(Tory lovers — this is probably not your place).

The problem for me is how the show is so committed on making Sam the villain and the audience cheers for it like the excuses for hating on Sam are legitimate. This fandom has a huge misogyny problem. If Sam was depicted as a more "femme fatale" type of female character the conversation around her would be different. If you cannot sexualize Sam, then she’s just an annoying teenager and I’ve said this before and the way this fandom speaks about Sam proves me right.

The rivalry between Sam and Tory was so badly executed and they want to make it seem like it comes down to social class but they are unable to make it valid without inserting the boys into it. The show has been trying to put the blame on Sam for the school fight and repeatedly tells the audience she's the one to blame. This is a huge problem and to this day I’ve seen people blindly believe this. No one told Tory to walk into school to start a violent fight. The fact she gets defended over this is insane. Her violent actions created a domino effect and she has never apologized for it. No, it didn’t start because Sam cheated on Robby. Tory decided to resolve the issue by going after Sam instated of speaking to her boyfriend. Tory stans view the school fight as a win for her and that’s actually insane because it had nothing to do with Karate, that was a criminal act. She tried to kill someone. How can people expect Sam to be okay with her after that?

The show constantly vocalizes how Sam cheated on Robby. Almost as if we as an audience need to remember this fact about her to villainize her, but the show never tries to blame Miguel for cheating on Tory and never mentions how Sam was intoxicated during that party so the responsibility falls on Miguel’s shoulders more so than Sam. Miguel never gets called out for the things he does and I love him but this a recurrent problem with the show.

Another issue is how this fandom constantly devalues and minimizes Sam’s anxiety and PTSD. The amount of edits I’ve seen using Sam's panic attacks as a "look at Tory being so bad ass". Tory was a bully. Someone capable of going physical and aggressive. Sam was beat up in a brutal way, watched her ex boyfriend fall off the rails because of a fight Tory caused and her current boyfriend ran away as a result. I’ll be traumatized and Sam had a lot of reasons to hate Tory the way she did. It wasn’t a simple thing, it was straight up attempted murder. I am not saying the things Sam did were always right but I’m sure she’s allowed to feel that way but that’s the thing Sam is never allowed to feel aggression without being sell as unreasonable.

The show never tries to make Tory regret her actions but rather make excuses for her. That is the problem that would never let me fully root for her. We saw her semi apologize to Miguel, once. Then, episodes later we saw her telling Robby: "They get to have a normal life and we don’t". How does Miguel having a life altering injury and trauma normal for him? How does Sam developing PTSD and a crumpling guilt for something she didn’t do, normal? It’s the lack of self awareness. I’m sorry, Tory does not get to feel normal because actions like that should have consequences. The fact only Robby got to be punished by the school fight is wild considering Tory (and Hawk) deserved more and they got bare minimum.

Season 3 did nothing to show Tory understood the gravity of her actions or regrets the school fight because the season ends with her committing yet another crime: breaking into a house, demolishing private property and beating Sam up with a weapon. Again, made not mistakes, Sam deserves this. For some reason, anything Sam did cannot be worst than this. It’s what the show keeps trying to make us believe because Sam is rich and has a family. The show making Tory see reason in her mistakes is what should’ve kick started her redemption arc for season 4. Hawk’s redemption arc was done bad too. It’s okay to sympathize with Tory and her life but the way the writers and the audience make excuses for her it’s wild. Sam gets blamed for Dimitri getting his arm broken, not Hawk who did it and not Tory who verbally encouraged him.

Season 4 did Sam dirty and I’m terribly sorry for Mary Mouser. She clearly loves Sam but the writers don’t give her much to work with and keep deleting important scenes for her character. Plus, half of this fandom misogynist takes fall on her. Tory and Amanda's story line was terrible and so unrealistic and it did nothing but paint her as an unsupportive mother. I would never put my daughter's bully as a priority over my owns daugther’s comfort. I would never invite my daughter's bully into my own house, the place that’s supposed to be a safe space. Nothing about this plot was okay and it was pretty insulting to survivors. This plot was just to give Tory a 'redemption' that instated of having Tory apologize for her mistakes and realize the consequences of her actions, the writers angle this by making Sam to be the bully and the "unreasonable" one. Sam does not have to play nice with Tory. The show tries really hard to make it seem normal to forget and move on from a girl that tried to brutally harm you (twice) just because she’s poor and has not family support. Sam doesn’t have to be the better person. Life doesn’t work that way and there’s not justification for this. I do believe Tory regrets it but the show doesn’t do her any justice by constantly victimizing her.

Season 5 was a disappointment. Rushed and relied too much on fan service. I get that Tory’s situation was difficult and why it was hard for her not to tell anyone what Terry did but Sam’s reaction when Tory reveals to her the tournament was rigged isn’t exaggerated. It was absolutely valid. Firstly, Tory isn’t her friend. She is someone that has caused her pain both physically and mentally. Sam has been dealing with a lot of pressure because her "losing" that tournament put her family in a difficult situation. But, here’s the catch, Sam is rich so her struggles aren’t valid, according to the show.

As someone pointed out before, the Tory and Sam scene at her apartment was not meant to give Tory a believable redemption arc. It was used as a punch line against Sam and to further victimize Tory who still hasn’t apologized to Sam for beating her up and trashing her house. Tory's living situation was redirected towards Sam and her privilege and how "inconsiderable" of people’s struggles she is. How does Tory’s living situation changes Sam’s views on her? Or what she’s done to her? This angle makes me upset because it means people are allowed to be terrible just because of their life conditions. This isn’t doing people with financial struggles any favors. The show never gave Tory a redemption arc. They just sympathy baited the audience into thinking she’s justified. The writers overall have never done Tory justice as a character either. She was only given a personality until season 4, before that she was just one dimensional, she was there to serve as their own femme fatale / Sam’s rival.

I could go on and on about how the resolutions of the "rivalry" not only for Tory and Sam but Miguel and Robby were done terrible. Robby’s issues with Miguel and Johnny don’t get to be resolved after one fight. Johnny never proved he deserves Robby’s forgiveness. The baby plot was just a way to force Robby and Miguel to get along because "they’re family" now. Sam never got to heal from Tory’s actions. The narrative is trying to force it for plot sake. There’s a lot of baggage and to this day there’s people that go "Sam x Miguel and Robby x Tory double date for S6” as if those people suddenly being bffs is normal and realistic. That group of people could never be close friends. It was not done or developed in a believable or fair way.

I am a believer that season 5 was written that way because they weren’t sure about season 6 yet so they worked for it as a de facto finale. They tried to tie some loose ends but enough of an open ending to pick right up. And it shows.