#The 'redemption' was just EXONERATION

[bonebabbles]

slash did disrespect the dead but at least he's not leaving the bodies out to rot like a spectacle for all to see. HORRENDOUSLY low bar, i know, but ... eugh

Like... he left Misty's corpse out there for at least a day, maybe longer. Wind Runner and Gorse HAPPENED to find it, and that lead to the Bumble death scene. Clear Sky disrespecting the dead was a relevant plot point.

But the team doesn't remember their own books so they've just totally forgotten that!

[sapphic-agent]

you know I think one of the main of the main reasons I dont feel sympathetic for the league of villains is that their end goal is death and destruction. Having a villain be sympathetic for me means having motives that you understand whrre their coming from, even the methods are reprehensible. But the league just seem to want to spread misery and pain everyone around them with no remorse, which makes the storys attempts to make me feel sympathize with them fall flat as a pancake. I made a post comparing them to a group of sympathetic villains I actually sympathized with that I personally think are super underrated. I was curious what youre thoughts are on that.

Have you ever heard of the saying, "The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth”? It's an African proverb, a simile used to describe how the rejection of society can lead individuals down roads of destruction.

This applies to a good chunk of the League in my opinion. It's not outlandish for me to understand why kids who grew up with destruction and violence now only know how to destroy things. Especially in Shigaraki's case since Decay was forced onto him and changed his biology/mindset. His entire existence past his life as Tenko, he has been built to destroy.

I find the current LOV sympathetic, just not exonerable. I think that's what both their critics and defenders miss. You can condemn the actions of the LOV but understand that they're products of a flawed society who needed actual help. You can understand and sympathize with the fact that they were never given fair shots at life and admit that it doesn't excuse their actions towards innocents. They don't have to be mutually exclusive.

However, the LOV in the MLA Arc onwards and the LOV in their introduction are two different LOVs.

I've talked about the regression of the LOV before. Specifically in Toga, Dabi, and Spinner. Horikoshi simplified them a lot by casting aside that their involvement with the LOV was only because of Stain. Dabi even called Shigaraki out when they first met for having no plan or means of action. Dabi was also much more focused on false heroes as a concept, which implied that he saw Endeavor's abuse and ranking a societal issue, not an isolated one.

I do think the LOV deserves better. Not necessarily redemption, but I think they deserved to have their stories and characters handled with more care and consideration outside of being used as devices for the heroes to beat/save. The only one who kind of gets this is Toga, but she still died in the end so to me it doesn't mean much

[darkpoisonouslove]

Griffin and Valtor's backstory is so fascinating because Griffin is still alive.

Think about it. She was literally attacked by the Ancestral Witches as she was escaping, then she kept fighting in the war against them and Valtor, whom she'd just betrayed, and she survived all the way to and past the final battle while all of them plus Marion, Oritel and Domino's population were imprisoned. Now I know this is mostly because the backstory was, in fact, added later but the trope of a former villain sacrificing their life as redemption was successfully avoided. She got to live/had to live depending on how deeply you believe she regretted her former servitude of the Ancestral Witches and/or the time period (as I think all remaining CoL members were devastated right after the final battle on Domino). She got to build herself a new life, independent of her previous mistakes only to then - almost two decades later - be forced to face the man she betrayed again.

The fact is that no one but Griffin herself ever attempts to justify her betrayal. No one. Not even once. When she confirms to the Winx and Mirta that she was a member of the Company, her previous affiliations are never mentioned. She is allowed to be an equal member of the Company that's never treated as lesser because she was initially working against them; she gets to share in both their victory and their failure (an entire planet perishing is hardly a real victory but they survived and the culprits of the devastation were imprisoned); her past is never held against her to imply she might not be trustworthy. Her course of action is understandable if poorly motivated in the minute this backstory gets to be explained. She is also never exonerated for betraying Valtor, though, which is, frankly, more nuance than you'd expect from Winx Club of all shows.

But then there's the flip side of this whole situation, which is even more intriguing. Just like she's forced to live with her betrayal, so is Valtor. Again, she is alive. Not only did she run away from him, but she also survived any subsequent attempts at revenge on her and remained at large while he was imprisoned. Whether because he still cares for her or his power simply wasn't enough to grant him his vengeance, he has failed to punish her. And failure is a rarity for Valtor.

With the might of the corrupted Dragon Fire, he is so powerful that none of the characters that have handled threats of universal magnitude before are able to stand up to him for longer than a minute. He's also smart and cunning, always knowing what to say to get on top of the situation. As such any failures he endures are far removed from one another and temporary. Really, most of his schemes during season 3 were initially successful and later only failed due to lack of direct involvement from him as he would leave the execution to his pawns - either Cassandra & Chimera, Diaspro or the Trix. The things he personally oversaw in their entirety did always succeed up until the very end.

His one colossal failure - allowing to be imprisoned - was hardly a bigger challenge than anything else he faced and would have eventually failed to contain him even without the Trix' intervention. For one simple reason - he is effectively immortal. He had all the time in the world and no one that could kill him, considering that Marion and Oritel would have probably done that rather than simply imprison him if they'd been able to. Sooner or later something (like the Trix coming across him) would have happened and he'd have been roaming around stealing magic again, his defeat barely registering except... for Griffin.

She is right there, his failure - in the flesh - staring him in the face. There is no way to rationalize this away. She betrayed him and joined his enemies. Either he allowed her to play him for a fool or his charm and power weren't alluring enough to keep her by his side. He can pretend she was too weak-willed to achieve greatness beside him but that is still a lapse in judgment on his part since he had deemed her worthy of being his partner. In fact, despite anything else he may say, he still speaks highly of their joint abilities so he definitely believed her to be a good match for him.

He fucked up. There is no way around it. And to differ from all his other failures, including his imprisonment, this one is not going away. In fact, he only temporarily succeeded with taking revenge on her by imprisoning her in turn and taking over her school and her students' minds but that barely lasted a few episodes. Before he knew it, she was free and running around again. His one permanent failure that he cannot get away from, that's been haunting him for literal decades now since she left him.

With how overpowered Valtor is, introducing such a permanent reminder that even he makes mistakes that he can't always fix with a snap of his fingers is ingenious. Granted, they don't really explore any of it but the fact is that that is the only long-term failure that he has to deal with aside from his subservience to the Ancestral Witches. The implication that the soured relationship between him and Griffin is the only thing that is even comparable in any way (as a blow to his abilities and self-image) to his slavery to the Ancestral Witches makes me mentally unwell.

Regardless of the nature of their partnership, Griffin is the only person that has managed to force him to look past his self-importance and egomania, which could have very well been traumatic in light of his lack of agency where his bond to the Ancestral Witches is concerned and has never been framed as the right thing to do on Griffin's part. It adds layers of complexity both to Griffin's morality and to Valtor's image and self-image (or at least would have if they'd explored it a little as forcing him to acknowledge failure would have added more dimension to him and tamed how overpowered he is). It's the perfect ground for headcanons and fanfiction examining the complexities of the characters and their relationship to thrive.

[legends-on-legends]

People who get defensive about Ganondorf’s characterization (or lack thereof) in ToTK seem to willfully misunderstand the criticisms we’re making about that game. Nobody’s demanding that Ganondorf have a “tragic backstory” that exonerates him or a “redemption arc,” we’re just asking for the bare minimum: a coherent motivation and some thematic relevance, that’s it. Also, maybe some actual dignity for the Gerudo, too, instead of them getting disproportionately shamed for the deeds of One Guy over ten thousand years ago.

It’s not like ToTK would have had to stretch very far to give Ganondorf that bare minimum, all the ingredients were already there: the Zonai mining activities in the Gerudo region, the “ancient evil” that existed before Ganondorf entered the scene, the Gerudo’s own archaeological site from where they investigated the Depths, etc. Just add like 2 – 3 more backstory scenes focused on developing Ganondorf a little more, put some actual meat on the skeleton of a story we got in ToTK, and there you go.

The fact that some Zelda fans are so vehemently opposed to the bare minimum effort of writing for one of Nintendo’s most iconic villains is honestly baffling. The fact that they’re so opposed to Ganondorf having any semblance of humanity, that they’re apparently fine with Nintendo outsourcing the script for the highly anticipated sequel to one of their most successful games, absolutely bewilders me.

Like…this is definitely a combination of Modern Fandom’s extreme polarization and moral puritanism, plus the Zelda franchise containing conservative themes that a large part of the fandom seems to have internalized, and of course, good ol’ fashioned orientalism.

I’m inclined to mostly blame Modern Fandom because the way that people talk about villain tropes and “redemption arcs” and all that seems to overlap with “antishipper” nonsense. It’s like many young people nowadays are terrified of being judged for the “sin” of liking or relating to the designated Bad Guys, so they have to loudly and repeatedly proclaim that they are Good and Proper Christian Fans who engage with media in the Appropriate Manner, and denounce anyone who wants villains to be interesting or complex.

Even something like ATLA that recently had a revival is seeing Discourse like “Zuko should never have been redeemed bc he’s an evil colonizer, that teenage boy should have been executed instead!!!1! and Aang not killing Ozai at the end means that the writers are trying to excuse/defend genocide!!!1!”

I know it’s not most fans who have this kind of mindset, but dang, it’s getting more common.

[sokkastyles]

I'm already seeing people saying they are gonna "soften" zuko in the first season heh it made me think of your prediction

Listen, the marketing team of this show knows their audience. Zuko is already being marketed as one of the main protagonists. His character and his redemption arc is hugely popular and known as one of the main draws of the series. Does anyone honestly think that the writers of the show are gonna be like "now, listen, we can't make him too likeable." He's their cash cow, and they know it, and of course they're going to play that up.

That doesn't necessarily mean they're going to soften the character, but we'll probably get more of him being portrayed as a protagonist and not just a villain early on.

A lot of this is par for the course with an adaptation. You have to remember that when ATLA was airing, people didn't know how Zuko's arc was going to play out. Oh, there are lots of hints early on that the writers intended for him to be redeemed from the first episode, bit they themselves have said they didn't know how it would happen. That developed along the way.

Netflix has the advantage of knowing all the beats in advance, in an arc that in the original, was more ambitious than any of the other character arcs. But this poses a new problem, because an ambitious arc that we haven't seen before is less ambitious the second time around. So what to do? The obvious answer is to change things up a bit, to play up the things we know are going to happen later. So I suspect we will get some of that.

Am I worried that Dallas Liu won't be able to quite pull off what Zuko did in the original? Yeah, but that's a testament to how good OG Zuko was. It's challenging to pull off that kind of characterization. That and hindsight are both going to affect how people view Liu's performance.

Even so, there are already people who say that OG Zuko is too soft, or that fans soften him, or try to make him seem worse even after his redemption. That's a testament to how complex of a character Zuko is. I find myself analyzing the few seconds we've gotten of Liu's performance, looking for that complexity. That's a lot to put on the young actor's shoulders.

Especially since everything is going to be more subdued going from live action to cartoon. So my guess is that we'll get a less shouty Zuko. The other thing is that a lot of Zuko's early vulnerability is revealed to us by seeing him getting comedically smashed into a wall over and over again, so there will also be less of that. Which means the show will have to show Zuko's mix of simmering rage, petulance, vulnerability and insecurity in other ways. That plus hindsight plus the netflix episode format of less and longer episodes means we'll probably also get Zuko's backstory much more early on, or at least parts of it, probably as early as the first episode.

As for specifically the fear that Zhao being present on Kyoshi Island means Zuko will play less of a role there, I think it's more likely that the show is expanding Zhao's role both as an antagonist for Zuko and as an antagonist for the rest of the gaang, in anticipation of the season one finale. That also goes back to the fact that things will probably need to be toned down in the move to live action anyway. I've said before that it makes little sense to hold Zuko burning Kyoshi against him since it's the result of reckless cartoon bending and Aang puts the fire out very easily via Unagi in an equally cartoonish way. My guess is that in the adaptation Zhao will follow Zuko there and we'll get a three-way fight, and even if Zhao does most of the burning, Zuko will still be responsible for bringing Zhao there, so it's not like they're exonerating Zuko for something the original show didn't even treat seriously to begin with.

[storytellingbadger]

First of all, good morning! I hope you're having a good day and that everything is okay in your life

Congrats on being such a talented writer too!

Now, I was reading a bit here on your blog out of curiosity, and your conversation with the other anon has made me consider that this small but striking fandom either doesn't really understand the concept of redemption or they use the word too lightly. Which, to be fair, I can't blame them at all, when they come from a show where someone named KILL Code was exorcised of all evil by simply having a conversation with Glamrock Freddy lmao

And it also seems like many can't find a middle ground in their stances, either they want the villain to suffer a lot for their evil deeds, which being impartial seems the fairest thing to do, or they just want them to be forgiven by everyone including their victims and start having a happy life with friends and family.

Personally, I think I'd be in the first group?? just because the second seems so unrealistic and idyllic. Boreeeed

Especially if we consider that at least in canon the response and behavior of the victims varies a lot. On the one hand, there are Sun and Moon who maintain their quite justified hatred of Eclipse, but at the same time, at least Sun doesn't seem to have that same response towards Ruin, despite the fact that the Brit also tried to kill him several times, revived Blood Moon, Sun's worst trauma, and even managed to kill a member of his family. And yet he doesn't receive the same spiteful and hostile treatment that they give, again with good reason, to Eclipse. It's weird.

While on the other hand we have Lunar, who apparently simply had to kill his toxic murderer and manipulator to stop being afraid of him and even get to the point of being able to play video games with him??? Even weirder.

But anyway, I guess I shouldn't think that all authors will be logical in their stories, and that their emotions and feelings towards a character will always influence the story in one way or another.

Anyway, thanks for reading and have a Nice day < 3

Hello! Thank you, that's very kind of you.

Small but striking fandom XD what a description, I like that! The redemption piece is interesting. For my series, I'm trying to muddle through that messy mid-ground you've identified between those two absolutes. Someone's past trauma can and will affect them, and explain many current actions. But for my Eclipse, that doesn't absolve him from awful things he does in the present. It just means he's not a nasty piece of work for fun.

His trauma explains him but doesn't necessarily excuse him, and doesn't automatically exonerate him.

You're also absolutely right of course, that canon characters don't have hard and fast rules for all. Can make it tricky for fan discourse, but it's much more realistic.

Thank you for the ask - you have a good day too!

[desultory-novice]

(Warning, inadverdently long ask) On characters being represented, do you think that the fanbase downplays Magolor's redemption too much? Like don't get me wrong, Magolor being treated as completely innocent is also an issue, and he still has his vices, but I feel like the other extreme is a problem too. Maybe it's just a vocal minority, but I've seen people say that Magolor is outright faking being redeemed both before and after the release of the Magolor Epilogue (though Star Allies did not help).

Especially regarding the "Old Friend" mask. Its a minor thing, but I die a little on the inside whenever someone brings that up as one of Magolor's "sins" or even proof that he has not changed. Or when people claim that it's a major slap in the face to Taranza, even though we don't even get Taranza's opinion on the matter! As far as we know, it could easily be a innocuous tribute to Taranza's late friend (of course, I like to think the mask might even be Taranza's own idea). It doesn't help that Taranza is also portrayed in a one-dimensional manner regarding the loss of Joronia/Sectonia (again canon does not help), and his character has even become the subject of mockery among the fans over their own collective take of the character.

Fun coincidence- I almost brought the Joronia mask thing up when writing my Blorbo post!! I think it is something that, like the Star Allies skit with Susie and Meta Knight, some people are judging it from outside the actual perspective it is being presented to us.

(And I'll never like when bringing in outside context is being used to claim a character is a horrendous bastard. >_> It's KIRBY. View it through a different lens if it helps you creatively but don't twist it into something it's not and then talk like you're preaching canon.)

Now, I'm not sure I've necessarily run into the people who are downplaying his redemption (or maybe I'm mistaking them for people just having a little laugh at Magolor's expense. But like you said with Taranza, it can get tiresome when characters are played for the saaaaaame joke over and over again) but I think it would be silly to do so with ANY serious intent at this point.

He's definitely not innocent of all misdeeds - he lied to Kirby and the others long before the crown literally sunk its talons into him(1) - but he is a victim. And to say that he would fake his redemption after DX is just plain false. We have evidence he regretted the Master Crown incident and wanted to be free of it and despite feeling like he didn't deserve rescue, Kirby RESCUED him and in the process made him realize how important their friendship truly was. That's all canon.

-

(1) I will say if you buy into the wild but not without evidence HC that the crown already had Magolor fairly well brainwashed by the time he landed on Halcandra, you can view him as slightly more innocent. Course, at a certain point, you have to decide how much you're going to exonerate him for doing/saying under his own right mind and if you do that too much, then you're basically admitting his entire personality in RtDL was just the Master Crown talking through him.

-

Back to the mask, to say that the very SIGHT of the Joronia mask or the Max mask would traumatize Taranza or Susie is... kinda silly, also. Do these people think that after someone dies, you just throw away everything that reminds you of them or shout angrily at someone who shows you a picture or a memento of the deceased? Grief comes in lots of different forms, yeah but...

I'm going to get personal for a moment but after my father died, my mother was grateful whenever an old friend dug out or recovered a photo or recording of dad, or posted their memories of him.

Let's just make this clear:

The mask is a tribute

That's what Merry Magoland IS! The whole park! It is decorated to look like Magolor but under the surface, the whole thing is a tribute to Kirby, Kirby's friends, and all they've been through!

...I sometimes worry with the "Ooh, Magolor did the mask to prank Taranza and now he's crying!" "Ooh, DMK corrupted Sectonia and now Taranza is crying or wants to kill him!" that maybe...I dunno... It's hard to explain but it doesn't make me feel great that Taranza always gets caught up in this kind of thing... It just feels kinda...

We do have to fill in the blanks about how the characters would respond to these things because the game doesn't tell us, but like I said up top, it feels very out of bounds for the tone laid out in Kirby the game series to assume that this act of Magolor's was done to harm Taranza or that Taranza would feel harmed by it.

Let's get Doylian for a second! 

All the masks were included by HAL Labs as a purposeful celebration and a fun form of fanservice so the players could see their favorite characters, including characters they hadn't seen in a long time or never got a clear look at! Their creation was entirely positive!

...Does it now make sense to say that in universe, these masks would TRAUMATIZE a character who saw them? That the character responsible for making these masks was intentionally being a sneaky little bastard by doing so? If it does, I encourage you to carefully re-read the above paragraph. Thanks!

[raghavbinwal]

ShadowsOfJustice

This tale unravels in the midst of India, where Girish, a man entangled in a mesh of suspicion, finds himself falsely associated with a militant group. Concerned for his son's safety, Girish's father engineers his escape to London. However, Girish becomes ensnared in a shadowy world of crime amidst the bustling streets of the city. Just when hope seems distant, a catastrophic explosion in Mumbai shatters the very foundation of his existence. Upon his return to his hometown, Girish is thrust into a nightmarish ordeal as authorities label him a terrorist. Extradited to England, Girish, accompanied by his steadfast friend Pavan and two others, endures relentless interrogation. Despite vehemently asserting his innocence, Girish succumbs to coercion and confesses to crimes he did not commit, all to shield his loved ones. As Girish languishes in incarceration, a glimmer of hope emerges when a fellow inmate confesses to the very crime Girish is accused of. Yet, justice remains elusive as authorities choose to ignore the revelation. Amidst the chaos, tragedy strikes with the untimely demise of Girish's father, igniting a fierce determination within Girish to seek truth and redemption. In the midst of Girish's nightmarish ordeal, his only beacon of hope is Mithun, his father's resolute lawyer. Mithun, a seasoned legal expert known for his unwavering commitment to justice, takes on Girish's case with utmost determination and resolve. As the trial progresses, Mithun encounters numerous obstacles and challenges in his quest to save Girish from wrongful conviction. The prosecution, backed by powerful interests, presents a compelling case against Girish, relying on circumstantial evidence and fabricated testimonies to frame him for the terrorist attack in Mumbai. However, Mithun is undeterred by the daunting odds stacked against him. Armed with his sharp legal acumen and unwavering belief in Girish's innocence, he meticulously scrutinizes every piece of evidence presented by the prosecution, uncovering inconsistencies and loopholes that cast doubt on their narrative. Mithun also leverages his extensive network of contacts within the legal community to unearth crucial witnesses and evidence that could exonerate Girish. He delves deep into the shadowy world of crime and corruption, following leads and pursuing avenues of investigation that others dare not tread. As the trial reaches its climax, Mithun unveils a series of dramatic revelations in the courtroom, presenting irrefutable evidence that not only disproves the prosecution's case but also exposes the true perpetrators behind the terrorist attack. His impassioned defense and masterful cross-examinations leave the prosecution scrambling to salvage their crumbling case. In a pivotal moment of the trial, Mithun confronts a key witness whose testimony forms the linchpin of the prosecution's case. Through a series of incisive questions and relentless pressure, he manages to elicit a confession from the witness, revealing the intricate web of lies and deceit orchestrated by those seeking to scapegoat Girish for their own nefarious purposes. As the truth comes to light, the courtroom erupts in disbelief and astonishment. Girish, overcome with emotion, watches as Mithun's unwavering determination and brilliance turn the tide of the trial in his favor. In the end, justice prevails, and Girish is vindicated of all charges, his name cleared of the stigma of terrorism that had threatened to destroy his life. Mithun's heroics in saving Girish serve as a testament to the power of perseverance, integrity, and unwavering belief in the pursuit of truth. His relentless pursuit of justice against all odds not only saves Girish from wrongful conviction but also exposes the flaws and injustices inherent in the legal system, inspiring hope for a better, more just society.

#story

[tyrannuspitch]

re: discussion of anti-imperialism in ragnarok: something i think is pretty striking about t3 in contrast to previous thor films (and avengers 2012) is the total absence of the perspective of any victims of asgardian imperialism.

those three films give us a variety of perspectives, including but not limited to:

jane, a human, as a main character and love interest, and thor beginning to overcome his anti-human prejudice as key to his redemption

jotunheim initially depicted as monsters, but then revealed to be victims, and their demonisation to be part of their victimhood

loki as both victim and perpetrator of imperial violence; a stolen child who was groomed to redirect his self-loathing onto others, now doing exactly that

humanity defending against invasion as protagonists and (in the avengers) the majority of the cast

malekith as both victim and perpetrator of imperial violence; a brutally defeated rival of asgard's returning to exact revenge both on asgard and on the universe they were competing to control

and like, these films are definitely not perfect. but there is always at least one major character for whose life asgardian imperialism has ruined or could ruin during the course of the film.

whereas in ragnarok...

the jotuns, the dark elves, and all of asgard's other rivals and victims are absent - except a brief appearance of surtur, who is treated straightforwardly as a dragon to slay.

one human (bruce) is there, but his humanity, iirc, goes basically unremarked upon, and earth is not important.

loki is still there, but his past is brushed under the rug.

hela is a thematic focal point, but, unlikely loki (who she's clearly meant to mirror), she's only a victim of interpersonal abuse, not of imperial violence, because she's just asgardian royalty and nothing else.

valkyrie is a new character who was traumatised by hela's imperialism... but only because she was a soldier of asgard at the time.

like... do you see the void? the whole film is about how asgard's imperial past impacts the royal family and citizens of asgard. we're told ABOUT violence in a distant, almost mythical past, but we don't witness it. we're told to associate that dark past almost exclusively with hela; we're led to exonerate odin as a good king who learnt from his mistakes; we're introduced to val as a warrior from that exact era without the matter of her participation EVER coming up; and we're almost retconned into believing that thor and loki *didn't* participate in asgardian imperialism (outside of loki's villain arcs) even though that's exactly what we saw in thor 1.

the one group of victims we *do* see are the victims of the *grandmaster's* tyranny, a category which includes thor, loki, bruce and val to various extents... but again, isn't that odd? we see asgardians as victims, but we don't see the victims *of asgard*?

i'm not saying this is necessarily Evil or whatever, just poorly thought-out. but still... once you see it, it's a pretty glaring oversight, isn't it?

[sebastianshaw]

I needed to wake my brain up for posts earlier today so I wrote this rant. It’s nothing old mutuals haven’t seen me say a million times before though. It’s really for @dcmonshcad who I think will appreciate it  A really frustrating thing to me about The Retcons is that they’re done to exonerate E.mma from her villainy and transfer all the blame for that to S.haw, unless it was something Cool and Justified in which case it’s retconned as being HER idea when originally it was HIS.

If she’s his abuse victim, then she’s not really culpable for ANYTHING she did while with him because she’s acting under the influence of her abuser. No matter how much she’s clearly enjoying it, if we accept that S.haw is abusing her and grooming her this whole time, it’s not her fault. For instance, one retcon SPECIFICALLY depicts S.haw as having S.elene erase E.mma’s memory that S.haw is building S.entinels. There’s….numerous problems with this. For one thing, D.onald P.ierce is there, and he was kicked out of the Club by the time Shaw was doing this. Secondly, S.elene would never help S.haw with ANYTHING, and she ESPCIALLY would never want to DETER conflict between him and E.mma, as they were united AGAINST HER. Thirdly, while I’m told that it was actually supposed to be T.ESSA he orders to erase her memory and calling her S.elene was a writer/editorial mistake, that still makes no sense since T.essa sure as hell can’t levitate ((which Selene was doing in this panel) and I don’t think she’s EVER been shown as a telepath on the level it would take to meddle with Emma’s memory. But most damningly of all—-we KNOW E.mma knew. She literally mentions it in N.ew M.utants, when S.haw gets kicked out of the Club. She brings up that S.haw manufactures S.entinels and she thinks N.imrod, which killed Harry, is a highly advanced S.entinel. Emma knew full well what he was doing and it’s right on the page that she didn’t have a problem with it till one of their own was hurt and/or she had an opportunity to use it against him. As an example of the “E.mma gets exonerated from her own villainy and/or knowledge of S.haw’s actions, but if he has a GOOD idea it gets retconned as being HERS” in D.uggan’s retcon on L.ourdes, it’s E.mma who whispers to S.haw that L.ourdes must be avenged, to which S.haw COMEDICALLY SHRIEKS that YES SHE MUST BE AVENGED because apparently S.haw is just WAY too much of an idiot to ever think of avenging his own lover against those who killed her like he did in the original canon. Yeah, S.haw could never think to organize a violent coup against his own enemies! It had to be E.mma! Behind every moronic man must be a great girlboss woman, right? (Also that story has even more canon fuckups than the “E.mma had her memory erased” ones like where the hell was even T.essa?!) It’s frustrating as both someone who likes E.mma and S.haw. On liking S.haw, obviously I hate seeing a formerly more complex and capable character reduced down to a 2-dimensional monster who is also so inept he’s easily lead around by the nose by E.mma (who he is…somehow also abusing? Which is it???) who can best him at every turn (again, how was he controlling her then???) On liking E.mma, it’s frustrating because if we find out that E.mma was actually NOT that bad and she didn’t even know the WORST of what S.haw was doing and she HELPED his victims and she WAS his victim herself. . .she’s no longer a redemption story. You can’t be “redeemed” if you were never evil or to blame in the first place. And E.mma was evil. Very joyously so, if you look at her OG days. She enjoyed what she was doing and was clearly doing it for her own gain, and there’s never a single hint that anyone was making her do it. That’s what makes her CHOICE to do BETTER in the present so POWERFUL. The death of her students hit her so hard that she completely turned her life around, and she STILL struggles with her own morality and ruthless nature. E.mma is FASCINATING because not only was she a truly nasty villain, at her core she has traits that are far more traditionally suitable in the service of villainy. Being a hero is HARD for her and she’s a very atypical hero, ESPECIALLY for a woman as female heroes are often held to a much higher standard of moral purity than male ones by writers and fans alike. Speaking of that, actually, the Victorians believed that women were automatically more moral than men, that an evil woman was an unnatural thing, and this is why so many villainesses is Victorian literature are either insane or, more often, acting this way because they were (A) wronged by a man or (B) acting on a man’s behalf, typically out of love. This has carried over into the modern era with a long history of right-hand women to male Big Bads who are often in love with the Big Bad, controlled/abused by him, or both. When women do get their own motivations for their own solo villainy, it’s traditionally been “feminine” ones, like wanting the hero for herself, or the classic “Vain Sorceress” archetype who wants to keep her youth/beauty (S.elene), is threatened by the heroine’s own beauty (S.now W.hite), or over some petty social slight (M.aleficent) E.mma broke all these molds; she had the trappings of the typical Sexy Vain Bad Girl, but her motives were no different than the men, and she wasn’t anyone’s right-hand girl, she was depicted as equally on parr with S.haw, with Harry, Pierce, and later the short-lived V.on R.oehm as all mooks compared to her. In fact, after the D.ark P.hoenix Saga, E.mma becomes much more the “face” of the H.FC than S.haw. In other words, she had power and agency in the original, and therefore, yes, also culpability. Which is what makes her redemption possible, and therefore, what makes her complexity possible. When we rob women of their culpability for evil, when we make it all a man’s fault, we also rob them of their humanity, much like the Victorians did. If women can be just as heroic as men, they must also be allowed to be just as villainous, and to have the same greedy motives as men do that have nothing to do with misaimed “feminine” desires for love or beauty or, as E.mma has often been retconned as truly caring about all along even BEFORE her face-heel turn, the good of mutantkind! Bollocks, E.mma didn’t have good motives, and that’s AWESOME. Her being evil at the start and choosing better is a million times more powerful than if she had good intentions all along and just fell in with the wrong crowd. Yes, bad actions for good intentions is a great motive for a lot of great characters, like M.ystique and M.agneto, but for E.mma I really feel her original story worked the best. It also made a fuck ton more sense. Because again. . .how was Shaw abusing this woman? I know abuse is mainly mental control, the victim’s own mind making them unable to run or right back, thinking they love and need the abuser. . .but in every single retcon story or flashback, E.mma seems to have nothing but contempt for S.haw, and no problem either trying to get away from him herself or helping someone else do it. And in the L.ourdes story, she displays that her telepathy was perfectly effective on him. If she can craft an entire illusion that his lover died, if she despised him even back then, what exactly was stopping her from making him into HER puppet? She doesn’t love him, she’s not too scared to act against him, she hates him, AND her powers are effective against him, so. . .what gives? It doesn’t make sense. These retcons want Emma to be a blameless victim yet at the same time must depict her as a total girlboss who was in control at all times while S.haw was an oafish brute who was easily duped and manipulated, who can never ever EVER have a leg up on Emma. . .and you can’t have both. Certainly not at once. As one of my friends put it, so is S.haw a moron or a mastermind? It’s actually insulting to Emma too to depict S.haw this way and then say such a man could EVER control her. Of course, real-world abuse cases often are not so cut and dry. In fact, the subject of survivors who were not “perfect” victims and who could gain leverage against their abusers through apparent complicity for the sake of their own survival, who have very complicated relationships with said abusers, who were in situations with dynamics that are not what people typically think of when they imagine the abused and the abuser, are all subjects of immense interest to me and I’d like to see more of them in media of all types. I truly would. But that’s not what’s happening here, and they’re not the characters for it. It’s not that these dynamics are complicated, just illogical and inconsistent, trying to go for contradictory things that can’t both be true at once. And while I love the IDEA of an abused woman getting out from under her abuser and helping a fellow victim in female solidarity, it doesn’t work for E.mma’s story or character and actually does a disservice to her as a character because it undermines her redemption arc and development from a terrible person into a better person, as I’ve described. Basically, while a good H.arley Q.uinn story is fantastic, it needs to be set up that way from the start, I think. If H.arley had had agency and stuff from the beginning and THEN it got turned around after she went solo that “oh no actually she was being abused by the J.oker all along and we just never saw it!” that really would not work at all. It works because we SEE it onscreen from the beginning and that’s not the case with E.mma—it’s contradictory to the case, in fact. And that’s shitty to her, and it’s shitty to S.haw, and I think it’s just shitty writing. 

[sapphic-agent]

Hopefully I’m not the only one who thinks this, but isn’t it super weird and awful that when it was revealed that Vaggie was an exorcist, the narrative doesn’t hold her accountable for keeping such a secret for three years and was just never going to tell Charlie?

And since it doesn’t want to acknowledge that it was kind of fucked up on her part, it’s almost like it’s saying Vaggie was IN THE RIGHT! For keeping it a secret!

I mentioned this before, but this could have been easily rectified if it had been Vaggie's first Extermination. It would have made sense that she wasn't prepared to kill and it would have exonerated her from actually doing anything wrong. But as it is now, she got off scot-free.

The point of Vaggie letting that kid go was to show that she isn't a coldblooded murderer. Except she is because according to Adam she's killed thousands of Sinners. She had no issues taking part in slaughtering the people of Hell prior to that point.

And yes, the theme of HH is redemption. But Vaggie doesn't even need to try being redeemed, Charlie forgave her completely unearned. This could have been her admitting that she was wrong about Sinners, genuinely caring about Husk, Nifty, Angel, and Pentious, making an effort to connect with the people of hell, etc. But she's still prejudiced against them, she's learned nothing

[morganreviews]

greta gerwig's "barbie"

a review and commentary on the new hot pink hit film.

how greta gerwig's barbie managed to discuss the topics of patriarchy and feminism with seriousness and satire simultaneously is something that i personally feel is being lost in much of the audience. it is being diminished to "liberal feminism," "superficial," and promoting a message that has been tired out. i won't dive into the emotions of watching barbie as a girl or how america ferrera's monologue encapsulated everything i have ever felt about womanhood, but i will say that barbie is not the reductive, shallow-messaged film it is being accused of being. we were not auditing "feminism 101," rather, we were witnessing a young girl learn for the first time in her life that the world has been built against her. the reason barbie feels like such amateur commentary is because barbie herself is comparable to a child, which explains why a middle schooler's illy given argument brings her to tears. it is not meant to be a radical or even a significant approach to the concept of feminism, and it's relatability is not rooted in the idea that all women, at some point, will inevitably suffer at the hands of patriarchy, but it is rooted in the fact that barbie is a retelling of every girl's first realization that society has constructed itself to fail her and encourage continued mediocrity from the men around her.

on the topic of the men in this film (or kens, if you will), i found myself feeling as if i was watching the boys around me grow up all over again. i see the once kind, innocent young boys of kindergarten whose minds were contaminated by alpha male podcasts and softcore tradwife pornography in ken, and it is worth noting that none of the kens throughout this film were ever painted as villains. even at their most antagonistic, they were made out to be nothing more than just misguided, ill-informed and insecure. some may even say the kens in this film were pitiable. and even in such a feminist, patriarchy-centric film, there is a redemption arch and a moment of self-actualization for the focal ken of this film.

while i will defend barbie from it's accusations of facile meaning, it goes without saying that barbie does still serve as a capitalistic promotion. at some points, you may have forgotten you weren't watching a car commercial, and while barbie does provide a diverse, heavy representation of men and women in this film, it is still a movie which follows a conventionally attractive white woman. the film even breaks the fourth wall in addressing this irony, but the topic of diversity and representation is still a topic worth discussing. some argue that the two queer-coded characters (if you perceive weird barbie and allan to be queer-coded) are presented as weird and unlikable and that barbie receiving the most amount of credit for dismantling the barbieland patriarchy despite significant help from america ferrera's chatacter along with several other barbies feeds into the idea of white supremacy and the white savior complex (which is also addressed in the film with the comment, "go white savior barbie!"). but even with its flaws, barbie still serves its purpose of relatability. seeing someone who could only be as described as the perfect woman struggle with self-worth the same every other woman has struggled with self-worth is morbidly healing. i did not expect barbie to exonerate the guilt of womanhood the way that it did, and i certainly did not expect to leave the movie theater with the weight of every girl i have ever been resting on my shoulders.

and for those that feel that the topics of feminism, womanhood, and women's rights are tired and redundant, i encourage you to ask yourself what you are doing to diminish womankind's need to repeat this topic over and over. let me know if you have an answer.

[curlysgirl0202]

Short Story:

The Outlaw's Advocate: A Tale of Love, Romance and Redemption.

Curly Bill and a few other cowboys are accused of assaulting a shop keeper. Not only are they innocent, the reader defends and exonerates the Cowboys.

Read About Their Amazing Adventure

The tension between the Cowboys and the Earps falls over Tombstone like a dark cloud of uncertainty. The Earps came to Tombstone for the same reason the Cowboys did; to get rich and they had no intention or interest in becoming law enforcement officers again. For them, it wasn't their job anymore until Wyatt decided to break into politics. If he could win as US Marshall, his next step could be a mayor and then he would only climb the strategic ladder to higher aspirations. But then the Cowboys with their partying and desire to have an unbridled good time began causing trouble in Tombstone and that threatened the Earps business and political goals. Wyatt and his brothers knew they would need to swear themselves in once again and wear the badge that gave them the authority to arrest anyone they wanted to. And with the Cowboys becoming more of a threat to the Earps, Wyatt decided to run for US Marshall. Then his power and authority could be unlimited and he would have the ability to exercise marshal law and deputize anyone he pleased, including Doc Holliday.

During an evening of drinking, gambling and visiting the houses of ill repute, the Cowboys find themselves in real trouble. Although they're known for their wild behavior and firing their pistols in the air while riding up and down Allen Street, on this evening, the Cowboy crew were spending their ill-gotten gains on whiskey and women and placed themselves out of sight of the nosey and self righteous Earp brothers.

The commotion begins with a robbery at the general store. Four masked and well armed men held the cashier at gunpoint and ordered him to empty the register. The frightened clerk took whatever money he could find and with shaking hands, gave it to the bandits. Then the bandits instructed the shop keeper to strip naked. The clerk quickly acquiesces, mumbling a prayer to himself. Once undressed, he holds his hands up and begs for the thieves to leave. One of the strangers takes a bite out of a large apple and then places the remaining part of the fruit on the steady head of the cashier who remained still, his hands up.

"Now, stay real still!" The bandit leader demands. "And you won't get hurt."

The general store worker continues praying to himself and closes his eyes while the gang leader shoots the apple right off the poor man's head. When the merchant opens his eyes, he sees the banditos mounting their horses and heading out of town.

Curly Bill and a few others look up from their whiskey shots and wonder what the commotion is about. You work as a waitress in the restaurant they're enjoying their food and drinks and you glance over at the red sash gang and Curly looks back at you. He winks and tips his hat. Curly Bill has had a major crush on you since he first saw you and enjoys his meals at this restaurant just to see you everyday. You always greet him and the others with a warm smile and you show attentiveness to them by ensuring they have plenty of warm bread and that their glasses are always full of whatever booze they're sipping.

On this particular evening, the loud gunfire doesn't shake your routine or that of any of the patrons enjoying their meals. These types of disturbances are regular occurrences in the town too tough to die.

Curly watches you work and is diligent about ensuring your safety. He usually waits for your shift to end and then as always, offers to take you home. Although you stay at the hotel at a reduced rate as a condition of your employment as a waitress, the old cowboy can't resist making you feel safe. And since anything can happen in Tombstone, Curly is delighted to be the man that ensures your safety. Although many eligible men made plays to court you, no one makes a bigger fool of themselves than old Curly. His fellow red sash gang members chuckle while they watch the rustler try to impress you by laying on the charm. On some days, you barely say a word and Curly Bill understands women can have their moody days, but he continues to do things to get your attention. And although you could choose any man you want, you do enjoy the big cowboy. Curly Bill is loud and is usually laughing or drinking or playing practical jokes or telling stories. But he's got a charm that seems different; as big and strong as he is, he seems gentle, almost tame when he's around you. Since he first saw you, he's changed a few habits; he bathes more regularly, has his clothes laundered often so they don't smell like horses and he goes to the barber weekly for a trim of his mustache and his unruly dark hair. He's convinced himself he can charm you and allow him to court you, but with each goodnight that comes without a kiss from you, causes the cowboy to double down and try even harder by having every meal at the restaurant and coming in in between for pie and coffee just so he can be in the same place as you. Curly has even invited you to join him for coffee and when you return to work, he takes your coffee cup and sips from it, knowing your luscious lips had touched it. The brazen cowboy has fallen in love and is completely unprepared and pleasantly surprised when you come to his defense when he's accused of robbing the general store.

"Thank you for walking me home, Curly Bill!"

Curly removes his hat, holds it against his chest and takes a bow. You walk close to him and kiss him on the cheek. Curly is so surprised by your sudden burst of affection, he sheepishly chuckles. He desperately wants to take you in his arms and devour you, but simply watches you once again enter the hotel.

Curly Bill stands in front of the hotel for a few minutes before turning to leave and when he does, he sees Wyatt and Virgil Earp marching towards him. Curly Bill grins and holds his hands up in a manner suggesting a surrender.

"I always walk her home, Wyatt." Curly begins.

"Nevermind that! You're under arrest, Curly! Eyewitnesses place you and a few of your cowboys robbing the mercantile!"

Curly Bill rages, "I haven't done anything such thing! I wasn't even nowhere near there! You got the wrong man, Earp!" Curly bellows.

"We already arrested the Clanton brothers and Stillwell. The merchant told us a few cowboys came in earlier this evening, robbed the till and forced him to strip naked! Sounds just like you, Brocious!"

Curly Bill throws his hands up. "I swear, Wyatt! I was at the restaurant. I ain't had no beef with that old merchant!"

"What about the Clanton's and Stillwell?"

"They were with me having dinner at the restaurant! Ask YN! We was there!"

Curly Bill feared for a moment that you may cooperate with the Earps out of fear or that they may do to you what they did to Big Nose Kate when they got her drunk and angry enough to finger Rattlesnake Charlie for a robbery he never committed. Wyatt had an issue with Rattlesnake and since he couldn't nail him for his other crimes due to a lack of cooperation by witnessness, he was able to get a drunken Kate to sign a sworn affidavit.

Please don't let that happen!

"We're not bothering YN this late! Let's go, Brocious!"

"Where are you taking me?" Curly demands.

"We'll talk to YN tomorrow. For now, you'll be spending the night in jail with your friends!"

"Son of a bitch!" Curly Bill growls while the brothers take a hold of him. They put Curly in the same cell as Billy and Ike Clanton and Frank Stillwell.

"You boys ain't going anywhere now!"

Curly grabs the prison bars. "You got this all wrong! We didn't do nothin' to that old shop keep. You're gonna be lookin' mighty foolish when YN tells you we wasn't any where near the general store!"

"Oh, we'll see about that!" Wyatt snaps. "I got Big Nose Kate to sign a sworn affidavit and I can do the same thing with YN. I'll let her know all about your treeing days, Curly! How you made a preacher dance a jig or how you forced party goers to strip naked and dance for your amusement. Shouldn't she know that? And when I tell her about that and after she's had some whiskey, there won't be any problem...And this is a hanging offense!"

Curly Bill shook the bars of the cell and then kicked the small table over.

"I don't think she'll be impressed when I tell her about your past. You're a thief, a rustler and a killer!"

"You son of a bitch! You ain't gettin' away with this!"

"When your cowboys see you four swing, they'll leave town! Slowly or quickly. But either way, anything I can do to get rid of your kind, I'll do it! Besides, you've been making a fool of yourself over YN for weeks and she's still not letting you court her!"

Curly became infuriated with humiliation. That was the proof that the men of Tombstone knew about how Curly Bill feels about you. And the envious men of the town would be all too eager to warn you about the gunslinging cattle rustler. Curly takes his hat off and throws it and then runs his filthy hand through his dark hair.

"Have a nice evening, boys," Wyatt groans and leaves the three in the cell.

"What the hell, Curly?" Ike whines. "That damn merchant blamin' us for that when we wasn't even there!"

"YN will tell Earp that we was there," Billy says. "She's always been real nice. I ain't that worried!"

Curly could excuse Ike's whining, but he felt Billy was dreaming if he thought YN wasn't going to be seriously intimidated by the Earp brothers. Everyone feared them.

"What the hell happened?" Stillwell asks, not looking up.

"She ain't gonna finger us, boss!" Billy Clanton "She's real sweet."

"It ain't YN, damnit!" Curly howls. "You don't know what them Earps will do to her. They did the same damn to Holiday's woman, remember? Got her good and drunk and hell, she was so damn drunk, Wyatt had to hold the pen in her hand! You don't think he's gonna scare YN into doin' the same? She's a real lady and ain't saavy like Kate and iffin' they could do that with Big Nose, they can with anybody!"

"You really think YN would sell us out?" Billy begs.

"No! I think them Earps would do whatever it takes to get her to say we done it and iffin' she has a drink with them, they'll just keep ordering more drinks and she won't remember my name!" Curly Bill sits on the makeshift bed, his head in his hands. Eventually, exhaustion overtook the rustlers and they fell asleep.

The morning clouds soaked up the sunlight and the town seemed gray and dismal. Son of a Gun Sam opens the door to the sheriff's office and serves the prisoners their meager breakfast. Curly Bill, Stillwell and the Clanton's munch on the chuck that's at least free of maggots.

Later that afternoon, Wyatt goes to the hotel in the hopes of talking with you. But more important, turn you against Curly and his red sash Cowboys. Wyatt is certain that if he's able to turn Kate Elder, he could get any woman to turn against any man. And Wyatt usually won...And that is something that scares old Curly.

The steely gray clouds fall lazily over Tombstone and a mild drizzle begins to sprinkle onto the townsfolk who are moving in between stores.

Wyatt strolls to the restaurant where you're serving and he asks for a table in your station. When your eyes meet, you head to the kitchen. When you return, you bring Wyatt a menu.

"Let me buy you a drink, YN," Wyatt begins. "I've got a feeling that you need to get something off your chest. I understand. You don't need to be scared of Curly Bill."

"Why would I be scared of Curly Bill?" You respond innocently.

Wyatt looks at you and wonders if you've been manipulated by the Cowboys or if you're just as sweet as you look.

"Don't you know who he is? He's King of the Cowboys!" Wyatt takes your arm, but to his surprise, you pull away.

"Curly has been nothing short of a gentleman," you plead. "He looks out for me. He walks me back to the hotel so I get home safe. Curly Bill has never been anything but a wonderful gentleman! You just don't know him!"

"Whiskey for her and just a beer for me," Wyatt motions for the other server.

"I'm not drinking. I'm at work." You answer.

"Just one shot. Relax. I'm not here as an enemy. Consider me a trusted confidant. I just think you should know a little more about him. So you know he was arrested for a stage coach robbery in Galleyville?"

"There's lots of types around here. The war did crazy things to people."

"YN, he's been implicated in a crime and he and his friends are going before the Judge, you understand? They held up a shop keeper last night and forced the poor fellow to strip completely naked and then they took turns firing at his head. And Curly Bill has been known to do things like that. Have you ever heard about his treeing days back in Dodge? Harassed innocent people and forced a preacher to dance a jig while Curly Bill's boys fired shots at the poor fellow. Then he took his boys to a wedding and forced every guest to strip naked and dance for him. That's who's walking you home every night!"

"I already told you!" The server brings your drinks and Wyatt pushes the shot glass towards you. You glance at it and then push it away from you. "Curly Bill is funny and he's got a big personality. I like him."

"He was arrested last night! Do you understand?"

"Of course." You answer.

"Have some whisky. It will help relax you."

*I'm working!" You scowl.

"Jack doesn't care if you have a few drinks while working!" Wyatt responds.

"You say the store was robbed last night?"

"That's right. Probably just after Curly walked you back to the hotel. You must have heard the shots!"

Suddenly you recall the commotion from the previous evening. "Oh wait! Yes! I did hear that!"

"Well, see? There we have it. A confession! So you did hear it!"

"Well, here they come now!" Wyatt announces. You are Virgil and Morgan Earp along with Yankee Jim and they're pushing Curly Bill, Stillwell and the Clanton brothers forward..

"Move it, boys!" Yankee Jim demands.

Curly Bill and the other cowboys have their hands tied while waiting for you to verify their whereabouts. Wyatt tells his brothers to keep a close eye on the rustlers and that he was going to try one last time to get you drunk and angry.

"Wait! What are you doing?" You demand.

"Obtaining the confession I needed. Just have a drink and calm down. You're just upset."

"I don't want a drink, Wyatt!" You grumble.

"Let's talk," Wyatt whispers. "Let's just start over. Come sit and have your drink and I'll fill you in on everything you need to know about that worthless cowboy."

"He's not worthless!" You howl.

"Please calm down, you're being hysterical, YN. This is why you need a drink. Here. Take it."

Morgan and Virgil wait outside with the four cowboys and are positioned so you can't completely see them.

"Wyatt! You got the wrong men! Curly was at the restaurant last night."

"Well, before he got there or after he walked you home, he and his boys had plenty of opportunity to carry this out!"

Morgan and Virgil pushed the cowboys into the restaurant.

"Why are they tied up like that?" You fire at the deputies.

"They forced that poor merchant to strip naked, then they placed an apple on his head and took turns firing at him! And that's the man you wish to court you?"

"What?" At that moment you realize it was more than Curly just trying to protect you, he has genuine feelings for you because he desires a relationship with you. A flood of emotions wash over you at that moment and you know in your heart what Wyatt is saying cannot be true.

"We were here, YN!" Billy Clanton shouts. "Tell them we were here!"

"Shut up, Billy!" Ike whines.

You stand in complete confusion. Could it be that before Curly came, he treed the poor fellow or after he walked you home? But then you remember the gunshots and how you and Curly both heard the commotion and thought nothing of it.

"No!" You begin. "It couldn't have been them!" Your face turns from fear and confusion to clarify and certainty.

"The merchant already said it was them!" Morgan interjects.

"What time did this occur?" You inquire.

"That doesn't make any difference! There's an eyewitness account! It was them!" Wyatt groans.

"No, it wasn't and it couldn't have been! I know what I heard!" You're beautiful in your anger and Curly Bill watches in awe as you defend him when you could have allowed yourself to be manipulated by the law man. Most people would have cowered by now. Curly Bill knows the Earps are trying to break you down. But you seem to rise above it and hold steadfast to your conviction.

"YN," Morgan starts. "We're ready to go before Spicer. The merchant is there, waiting to give his testimony. And when he fingers these boys, we don't have a choice. It's a hanging offense."

Your heart drops. "Fine! I'll go and testify to what I heard and saw!"

Curly Bill is too moved to say anything. He's delighted that you're willing to testify on their behalf as it could result in serious consequences for you; you may lose your job for siding with the Cowboys or citizens may force you out of town after they hang the cowboys. Curly fears it may take more than your testimony to save them.

"We were denied a lawyer!" Curly demands. And at that moment, Virgil slaps the big rustler.

"Stop it!" You scream, moving towards Curly. Wyatt intercedes and grabs your arms.

"Let's go! Spicer is waiting.

You all walk to the courthouse, citizens of Tombstone looking at the four cowboys marching to the courthouse. Curly Bill feels a strong sense of guilt that the townsfolk are watching you walk along as if you're one of them. He lowers his head and fights back tears.

At the courthouse, the merchant stands and points his finger at Curly.

"That's them! Those were the men! They had masks, but I know! I know it was those damn cowboys!"

Wyatt looks at you with a satisfied grin. "See? I told you!"

You turn to face the shop keeper. "What time did this occur?"

"Just around 8 o'clock. I was getting ready to stoco some new items and them four boys come in a d robbed me before they rode off!"

"8 o'clock? Are you sure?"

"Sure as anything!" He answers. "A feller don't forget that!"

"Wyatt, Curly Bill and the others here were at the restaurant at 8. I know because I was working! We heard the gunfire but thought nothing of it. You got the wrong men!"

Wyatt turned to the old man.."You said it was Brocious! You told us that!"

"Well, I wasn't sure iffin' it was them or not. They had masks on their faces."

"What's going on here?" Judge Spicer demands. "Do you have any proof it was these men here?"

"You said it was the cowboys!" Wyatt shouts.

"Do you have anything? Besides his testimony?"

"Yes!" You announce. "I'm a witness and I heard the shots and Curly Bill, Ike, Billy and Frank were having dinner. It couldn't have been them! You got the wrong men, Wyatt!" At this point, Wyatt sees his futile attempts at breaking you down have failed and Curly Bill looks over at his cowboys and they share a smile. Without you and your intervention, they'd be waiting to be hanged.

"And you'll swear to that?" Spicer asks.

"Yes. I will."

"You're going up against the Earps, YN. You know this can become more complicated because of their eyewitness."

"But I'm an eyewitness too!"

"It could have occurred earlier or later. Perhaps gunshots from after you were home or before. Sometimes the sounds of the town drown that out. You do understand they have a strong case."

"I understand they have no case!"

Spicer leans back in his chair and strokes his beard. "You understand the risk you're taking defending these boys?" The old judge asks.

You nod and Curly Bill and the others look at the ground and feel they are unworthy receivers of your compassion and intervention.The Cowboys don't have anyone in their corner and no one has ever spoken up for them. When in these situations, people don't come forward to defend the cowboys. They're looking for reasons to blame them for something to get rid of them. And these Cowboys are more than familiar with that truth. But now to have a beautiful woman like yourself come to their defense and be willing to stand before a judge and go up against the Earps all by yourself fills them with inexplicable pride, relief and gratitude.

"I understand the risk in not defending them! It's completely wrong to put the blame on them when I already told you where they were!"

Wyatt moves closer to you, knowing it bothers Curly Bill, whose hands are tied.

"And we have an eyewitness!"

"An eyewitness who already said that the event occurred at 8 o'clock! And at 8 o'clock, they were having dinner in the restaurant I work at."

"It was crowded, they could have left and returned!" Wyatt suggests.

You shake your head. "No! They were there the entire time and we heard the gunfire! We were all in the same place so your accusations are unfounded!" You brush the hair away from your face and stand like a warrior after a victory. Your lips fiery red and your face gorgeous in the light.

"There doesn't seem to be enough evidence here to charge these boys," Judge Spicer declares, leaning forward.

"Well! Maybe the shop keeper got the time wrong," Morgan suggests.

You look at Curly Bill and roll your eyes and sigh, looking like a defiant little girl, your arms folded. Curly Bill chuckles to himself and can't hold back his smile. You're brilliant in your defense of the Cowboys and Curly Bill is never going to forget this moment and neither will his entire red sash gang. It will be a story they will tell over and over. How they were a few days away from swinging by their necks to having a gorgeous woman rush to their rescue and so eloquently put Wyatt Earp and his brothers in their place and made fools out of them all within a few moments!

"Can't you at least untie their hands?" You beg, your head to the ground.

"Once we're done here," Morgan answers.

Judge Spicer leans back. "Oh we're done here and I'd like you to not waste my time again, Wyatt."

'Untie them!" You hollar. You take the knife from Curly's belt and untie his hands for him. He looks down at you, his smile so bright, it lights up the room. He wishes he could cup your face and kiss you.

Then you cut the ropes for the others.

As you move towards the door, Curly Bill puts his arm around you, his smile never leaving his face. Ike and the others take their hats off and show their gratitude by taking short bows. You can't help but laugh out loud and then the five of you enjoy a short laugh together.

"Three cheers for YN!" Curly howls.

A few other cowboys including Ringo come walking towards them.

"What happened? Breckenridge said you were as good as hung!" Ringo shouts.

"Well we were until this lovely lady came along and put them old Earps in their place! You shoulda seen it, boys!" Curly declares, his arm around you.

"Yeah!" Ike adds.."She was something else! She was sayin' all kinds of stuff every time Wyatt said anything!" Ike claps his hands together and poses the way you did, your arms folded with your head held high. "She was lookin' just like that and then the judge said we was done! Now we ain't hanging, boys!"

Your eyes meet Curly's and the two of you stand, facing each other. You're both so overwhelmed, you fall into a sweet kiss. The Cowboys take their hats off, hoot and then throw their hats on the air, causing a small crowd of onlookers to gather, shaking their heads in wonder. You're well known around Tombstone and are the most popular waitress. A smile always decorates your lovely face, you never admonish or talk down to anyone and your friendliness clearly extends to everyone. In short, your popularity gives the Cowboys a serious edge in the community and their gratitude couldn't be greater.

"We got ourselves a new member of our family here and it's YN! When she could have just left us to fend for ourselves, she went all the way to the courthouse with us!" Curly Bill explains. 'Whaddya say, YN? Us old cowboys sure do like havin' you around and you're one of us now! Anythin' you need, all you gotta do is ask! We ain't never gonna forget this and how you saved us boys! Iffin' it weren't for you, we'd be waiting for a hangin' and then they'd find somethin' on all you boys! And we're gonna be just fine now all because of YN!"

"Oh, Curly Bill!" you shout, covering your mouth with your hands.

You're so moved yourself, you jump into Curly's arms and he growls while holding you close. The two of you hold each other for a moment.

"I never thought you'd kiss me, YN," Curly Bill whispers. You lay your head on his chest. You rub your nose against Curly's and he chuckles, while flicking his tongue. He kisses your forehead and cannot believe you are there with him. Curly cannot remember a time when he felt more overwhelmed.

"Hey! Let's celebrate!" Pony Diel shouts. "Let's go to the restaurant! You ain't working today, right?" The older cowboy looks at you.

"She ain't working today if I have anything to say about it!" Curly shouts. "My girl has the day off!" At that, you jump back into Curly's arms and his cowboys cheer again. You can't stop hugging your cowboy. You hold him so tight for so long, he tickles you to get you to let go. You beam up at him and kiss his chin. Curly can't believe how smitten you seem to be. He shakes his head and flashes his big white teeth, unable to stop grinning. "You're something else, you know that?" Curly asks, rubbing your back.

"Is that alright with you?" Curly asks, holding your chin with his hand.

"I would love the day off!" You shout, laughing.

Curly chuckles. "No, about being my girl? This old cowboy would really like that!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" You gaze deep into his laughing eyes.

Ringo looks over and smiles. He shakes Curly's hand and tips his hat to you. "I wish I had been there, YN. Sounds like you had them dead to rights. I would have loved to see that." Ringo takes his hat off and looks into your eyes, savoring your beauty and feeling elated for Curly. Most of the ladies ignored Curly and devoted their attention to Ringo, a gentleman, Shakespearean quoting gunfighter. But this time, Curly Bill got the girl and although Ringo can't help but be somewhat envious, he couldn't be happier for old Curly.

"Well, I couldn't let those Earp brothers do that to you or anyone of you. It seems like they're always looking to blame you boys for everything. I had to make a stand!"

"That's very brave of you." Ringo responds, his face looking down.

You shrug . "I'm not afraid of them."

Ringo quickly looks up. "You're probably the only person around here who isn't," Ringo says, admiring your spirit. He knows that most people, especially a woman would cower to the Earp brothers. They could intimidate the toughest of men and Ringo knew that Wyatt Earp could give Bloody Bill Anderson a run for his money. And here you are, a gorgeous and strong woman, willing to stand before Spicer, a hard nosed judge with a propensity for hanging trouble makers. Ringo tries to imagine what you must have looked like; he recalls how Ike Clanton imitated your stance, but to actually see you like that has Ringo's imagination going wild.

"Old Curly's never gonna stop talking about this, YN. Clearly he's really impressed with you. And not just because you're generous and sweet; you're absolutely beautiful and strong too. I guess the kind of woman we all want."

You feel a sense of sadness for Ringo at first. Then he straightens up and continues talking. "But I'm happy for Curly. Women don't usually pay him any mind. Not that he isn't a good catch. He's always been a really good friend."

"I can't help but really like Curly Bill," you answer. "He's so funny and always looks out for me. And I think he's really cute," you continue, your voice falling into a whisper.

Ringo grins. No one ever accused Curly Bill Brocious of being cute and he has never been described as handsome. Sometimes Ringo felt a tad guilty when women would swoon over him and ignore Curly, even when he had money. So Curly is over the moon having one of the most beautiful women in Tombstone letting the old cowboy court her.

"I'm glad you feel that way. He's lucky he's got you. He'll be telling me everyday. Curly Bill will enjoy watching other men look at him with envy when he's walking through town with you." Ringo smiles.

"That's so sweet, Johnny!" Your gratitude dances in your eyes and Ringo absent mindedly strokes your face.

"He doesn't need to tell me how lucky he is."

At that moment, Curly walks over to where you are. "How's my girl?" Curly Bill asks, beams. "Damn, I can't believe I'm sayin' that! I ain't never gonna tired of callin' you that!" Curly Bill strokes your face and brushes your hair behind your ear and then kisses your forehead. His heart pounds with excitement and sensuality. He wants to kiss you again, but exercises some self control as he doesn't want his gang of rowdy cowboys to scare you or make you feel uncomfortable. In fact, he would rather just have a quiet dinner with just the two of you. But he would enjoy celebrating with his friends as long as they behave themselves which can be a problem. Especially in the presence of a lovely lady like yourself. They seem to line up just to get a chance to tip their hats to you or be close enough to smell your perfume. Being near a beautiful woman would make any man feel special, especially for these boys who never receive attention from women unless they're paying well.

Ike and Billy Clanton were still talking about the showdown at the courthouse.

"Yeah, and then YN told them Earps that she was goin' to testify for us and then she marched right over to the courthouse and she weren't even afraid of old Spicer or them brothers!" Ike exclaims to some of the other cowboys.

"She really said that?" Johnny Barnes asks, leaning forward.

"Yep," Billy interjects. "She was somethin' else! I ain't never seen anyone talk to them Earps that way!"

"Hey boss!" Ike Clanton shouts toward Curly Bill. "Let's take YN to camp and we can have a party there! Then she can stay with you, Curly!"

Curly Bill looks down at you. He can't imagine a beautiful woman like yourself enjoying the cowboys' nightly shindig. They get drunk and loud and play music, but now they've got a beauty to dance with. If Curly Bill would let anyone close enough to touch you.

"Well, I don't think YN wants to party with a bunch of smelly cowboys!" Curly howls, his arm around your waist.

"We ain't gonna bother her none!" Billy Clanton mumbles.

"After what my girl done today, I'd rather just stay in town. And the hotel is still serving dinner so I'm takin' her there! And they're gonna give us the best damn table in the place!" He looks at you again, his hand never leaving your waist.

"Iffin' that's alright by you, YN!"

You lay your head on Curly's shoulder and he feels mighty special and important.

"I just want to be with you, Curly Bill!" You look up at him and your eyes light up the night.

"Well that settles it, boys! And after what YN did today for us old cowboys, she's gettin' whatever she wants and well, she wants me!"

At that moment, you kiss the big rustler on the cheek and he chuckles. The Cowboys watch while Curly Bill escorts you to the hotel and hopes you'll invite him to spend the night with you.

[metabolizemotions]

Feminism? Justice?

Notes: in tags of that.

(forgot about spoiler feature. edited to shorten)

I am confused by the idea of feminism and justice on the show. It loves to preach big ideas and have characters give big speeches, but the very writing of the show uses double standards when it comes to women, and not just on plots about sexism. 

I. Gender, Sexuality & the anti-hero

The women in Shondaland have to jump thru rings of fire to “atone for their sins” - be it personally or professionally. Problematic men don’t. They show toxic traits of a man and then frame him as a tortured soul and then use better traits to exonerate him. He doesn’t even need to begin to try to address his issues or become a better person. The others need to accept him as he is. While he often remains on his high horse and criticizes others for not living up to his standard or accommodating to his whims. He is flawed, but he is, you know, also good. Essentially, they serve his redemption on a silver platter.

GA has been more progressive in its production and tone, even when it first started. All the characters are flawed and are constantly called out for their mistakes and bad behavior. (Even when they love their toxic men, they are still called out often).

S19 has overarching themes of overcoming workplace sexism and corruption, but the characters hardly acknowledge it or are simply resigned. There's scarce portrayal of substantial female friendships and solitary among the women in standing against it. (In the case of Andy supporting Ross, the framing was problematic.) The women are largely isolated and deal with toxic behavior of men on their own.

It is even regressive in some women and queer issues, even when compared to GA's earlier seasons. 

Maya Bishop, the anti-hero

Maya Bishop. The anti-hero. She makes such a good antagonist in other people’s stories cos she is so intense and complex. Danielle’s nuanced portrayal always elevates the material. Diving into her psyche and drawing parallels to aspects of her character makes me more sympathetic to the other characters. Because her character has been more flashed out in writing and her actions more contextualized. But she often bears the brunt of the vilification. Any good she does is minimized, overlooked and dismissed. Any bad she does is exaggerated, scrutinized and disproportionately penalized. That happens both to her personally and professionally.  

I. Gender, Sexuality & the anti-hero

(1/5) Maya, Andy, Jack - s3 drama & the world according to Andy  

(2/5) Jack, George, Sp*rmgate, Killing Eve, The Last of Us - a rant 

(3/5) Bishop, Andy Herrera, Elena Herrera, Ross - their experience of sexism

(4/5) Sullivan, Derek, Owen - toxic men that Shondaland makes their competent and ambitious female characters fall in love with

(5/5) Cristina, Elena, Bailey, Carina, Roe v. Wade - the progression and regression of women's rights

II. The political game

[hikarisakurariver]

This is a shocking moment for Shouto because Endeavor has been training him (beating him up) him his whole life, telling him boys don't cry and to man up. Just all that toxic masculinity stuff. Endeavor, though he has show signs of regret over his actions, is just scum.

and then Shouto comes in and finds him crying over having to fight his 'dead son' I'm on Shouto's side... I like endeavor's character arc but he is only going through a redemption arc because Shouto and his mom are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was massively misguided in his attempts to help Shouto become a strong hero. This doesn't exonerate him at all from all the frankly abusive stunts he pulled, we only understand his motivations now and the grief he was under over his 1st sons death. But at the very least he acknowledges that he was wrong and is trying to make it up to them.

[anothersebastianblog]

the history of not going through followings to vet them and not unfollowing the guy whom he followed way before all the shit became public is in no way comparable to liking a post in support of that guy in present time. / I was about to say the same thing, but I was afraid I would be attacked so I gave up, I'm glad someone said it before me. Following someone before any of this became public is not good optics, but it's 20 times worse, IMO, to like a post about his self-proclaimed redemption arc. I know people would bring up hanging around with Ric Flair and Tommy Lee and I agree it's a shitty thing to do, but the equivalent would be if Sebastian liked their posts defending those particular allegations ("I was exonerated", "I served my time, I paid my dues"). So yeah, however you look at it, it's a serious misstep, to say the least, and I'm kinda shocked people can defend something like this.

I don’t think people are defending this tbh

It’s just we are tired. Whatever