#Which is part of the reason why he was so accepting of Stan.

[a-scary-lack-of-common-sense]

So mimicstan's Ford was an only child, child prodigy, went to his dream school and never went through the portal

I just know this has to be a very different man

He’s just Some Guy!

[shinjisdone]

𝑇𝜎 𝑆𝜎𝑓𝜏𝜀𝜋 𝛼 𝑊𝛼𝑟𝑟𝜄𝜎𝑟’𝑠 𝐻𝜀𝛼𝑟𝜏 (Vinland Saga; Thorfinn - 𝑺𝒍𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑨𝒓𝒄, 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕 4)

In which you have joined Askeladd’s band…and grow closer to the Son of Thors - though as your future seemed promising, his thirst for revenge devastated all that you had left.

[Headcanons of how it would be like to meet Thorfinn again after he shattered your heart (based on season 2; both platonic and romantic)

Sᴇᴀsᴏɴ ₁ ﹙Wᴀʀ Aʀᴄ﹚ is here

Part 1: - (Thorfinn as a slave and his struggles) Part 2: - (Thorfinn trying to accept your existence as a slave)

Part 3: - (Thorfinn finds a reason to live, you finally see him)

Tag list:

@luopenis , @jinsecho , @mitsureigen , @theknightssecrets , @lana-del-stan , @theghostofanficpresent , @night-shadowblood-writes2

[Mentions of murder, death, war, slave trade, harrasment against women and whatever awful things happened in the viking era. Slavery will be a main subject throughout the entire arc. Mostly gender-neutral examples but female-leaning ones are there, too.]

[TW: This part will specifically mention: depressed tension, attempted murder, suicidal thoughts, lots of talking, lotsa dialoge, short but detailed description of strangulation, finding reasons to still keep living including being begged to]

Mighty River, Release My Soul...

Your arms were as warm as they were on that winter day.

You scolded him back then too, though he reckoned it was far more vicious than your prattling now.

The way you looked at him, were so focused on tending him even if it was for a mere moment, was like breathing in fresh, icey cold air that he has been deprived from for weeks. It coursed through him and stung each limb. It only found an end after Pater cleared his throat.

Immediately you let go of Thorfinn, spinning to the man with a confused noise and a gasp. He smiled. "Thorfinn is fine now, you don't need to worry. These two boys just need to take the rest of the day off. Now that you are willing to talk...I believe we'd best have a conversation. Not with Master Ketil, do not worry."

Still, that flustered panic did not leave your face as you meekly nodded and followed him. Pater waved Thorfinn and Einar one last goodbye before motioning you to follow with an easy gait. You looked back to Thorfinn before tailing after Pater.

Einar let go of his baited breath. "How..strange. They...you really know them, don't-" The brunette chocked on his breath as Thorfinn was disappearing into the dense forest. Work had to be done, injured or not. Perplexed and with a huff of irritation, he ran after him.

First he doesn't know how to show gratitude and say 'thank you' and now he is shrugging off - someone who was scared to death for him!

What the hell is this guy's problem?!

The way to the forest was easier than the last few weeks. The both of them were able to cut down quite a lot of trees, clearing the path, but the stumps remained, leaving the woods like a rugged wasteland of dead trees.

Einar didn't even noticed his stomps and the way his bruisened feet dug into the soil. Narrowed blue eyes watched Thorfinn swing down the axe again, again, again. Cut, cut and cut.

His movements were fluid as he observed him, as he wasn't threatened this day at all. As if he wasn't a second from throwing his life away at all.

But he dodged. He sprung out of the way and didn't seem to be aware to have tried to kill Snake. He seemed so...light and out of it. Like a drunken bird.

"Hey, Thorfinn." The blonde barely showed any sign of listening to him, continuing to cut. "Have you ever been to war?"

Thorfinn chopped once, "I have."

Einar's gaze darkened. He answered him clearly and with focus.

"Have you ever killed people?"

Again, he cut. The tree fell down swiftly. "I have."

"How many? A few? Five, ten?"

"Why do you want to know? Don't you hate war?"

His blue eyes snapped up as the blonde halted. If he stalled or wanted to hear his answer, he didn't know. He just knew that each and every day of being with him confused him more, made a tiny flame in him flick, made the gall in his throat come up.

"I'm asking because...if you went to war and killed, then how-"

Einar took a deep breath and swallowed the gall that threatened to spit out, "-How can that person be worried about you? Why do they want you to live if you killed?"

The axe hovered above his head before he slowly lowered it down - and having it fall with a thud to the ground. His dull eyes oversaw the mess he left. "I don't know...", "Why not? They seem to know you. Are they like you?"

"No." Thorfinn quickly and sharply answered. Though his next words fell flat and soft again, "They aren't a dog like me."

Not when you looked at him like that. Not when you were so heavily relieved by seeing him breathing and battered, like his father was back then.

...I Need To See The World...

Waged war since he was a child.

Ever since he was a wee lad, he said, but he couldn't remember the exact age. He is only about eighteen, so how long ago was it that he can't even remember? Could he even recall it?

It sounded...ridicilous as Einar walked back to the little barn they called their home - or beds, he wasn't sure - back hunched and steps sulken, though his face was as dark as thunder.

He pillaged and killed and stole of people's hard work. Their land, wheat and loved ones. And he can't even remember who, when and why?

Let that fool cut away at the last standing trees as roughed up as he is. Einar is allowed to rest and he'd rather drown in his thoughts alone, bundled up in hay than look at Thorfinn for another minute.

Falling asleep alone feels somewhat sad...but at least he'd fall asleep without any screaming waking him into the early night.

It was the sound of spilled water that made him shoot up his gaze up at the person holding a bucket and rags with them. You shuffled awkwardly to the side, standing right in front of the barn.

Einar was quick to wipe the glare off his face. "Oh...good evening."

"...G-Good evening." You struggled to reply, he thought.

Einar couldn't help but make a long and wide face, pursing his lips as his blue eyes took in your uncertain form. You finally met his eyes with your own. "Are you waiting for Thorfinn?" Your brows rose as you nodded. He must've figured it out quick - or you are just that predictable.

"Pater allowed me to go see him quick. For his ear. Just to make sure the wound didn't fester through the day." "He's still back in the forest chopping. If you wait too long, you might get in trouble."

Shuffling a bit, you hesitated. "I'll wait a bit more. He's stubborn."

The brunette's shoulder sank. With a sigh, he swiftly sat down on the boulder next to the barn's entrance and crossed his arms. "I'll wait too, then."

He sat there on the right, while you stood on the left side. You stared at him briefly, confusion written on your face. The sky turned even darker, with the stars shining through their hiding spots. The moon was nowhere to be seen but the lights from the master's estate still offered some solace. It was illuminated enough for both people to see each other and perhaps recognize an possible incomer.

The silence did not feel heavy yet pressuring. As if any moment, something was waiting to happen.

You glanced at the man and took a deep breath. "...Are you hurt somewhere, too?"

"Uh, what?" Einar jumped and whipped his head to you. "You were there too, right? With the guests. They must've hurt you, too." "Oh! Well - I'm fine enough. Just a few bruises," He rolled his shoudler while chuckling dryly, "The real unlucky bastard is Thorfinn."

You hummed and rose the bucket in your hand. "Pater didn't give me any balms or medicines but the water should cool the bruises." "Ah, uh," Einar waved with his arms, laughing as he shook his head, "No, no, I'm okay. Honestly I...got really off scott-free. Really, the one who has it the worst is...Thorfinn."

You pulled a face - Einar could not decipher what it meant - and went back on being on the look out. "I'd figure. He likes getting in trouble."

The man glanced in your direction, taking in your unreadable, narrowed expression briefly, before staring back down the hill as well, though halfheartedly. "You know him?" He dared to glance to you again, "That he's like that?"

The grip on the bucket tightened and your eyes darted around the cool meadow below. For a moment, you shifted aimlessly but decided to give in. "Yes. He...is an old friend."

There was no need to pretend. To act coy and unknowing when you so foolishly started to speak and cradled him in your arms. Not when you were waiting here like an idiot for him to return and see him again just this once for tonight.

As if he was deserving of it. Thorfinn did not return when you ran after him, did not stay as you lead him to Leif's boat and now you are waiting for him again - and the only certainty you had was that he had the order to do so as a slave.

You yourself needed to oblige.

Lying here will bring you nothing but punishments and you had to be on your best behaviour, even if it meant not being with Thorfinn for however long you were allowed to. But for now, you could use Pater as an excuse and do all that you could - even if this whole place, Thorfinn himself and your own actions didn't make any sense to you.

You are a slave here now on this farm. Why should you even try?

Back with Askeladd you could fight back. But here, your hands are only untied by Ketil's orders.

"There he is." Einar lowly let out and made you snap your head up to see the short blonde march towards you with a hunched back and one arm holding the other bandaged one. His own lidded gaze was focused on the ground before they widened upon your sight.

"Your friend has been waiting." Einar got up with a start, his voice stern and certain, "I'll be just outside. Let's head to bed soon after." Thorfinn barely had the chance to utter a protest as the brunette simply turned around the corner of the barn, staying a few steps away from it. Though his eyes quickly went back to you, wide and unsure, before he walked into the barn and sat down on the hay. You kneeled down next to him, dunking the cloth into the water.

Wordlessly, you got up and went around to his side, pulling his greasy strands away to observe his ear. Thorfinn felt the gentle, almost ghostly tips of your fingers graze his shell as he unblinkingly hung his head, sitting cross-legged. His hands were clutched and the fingers would tense around one another, slightly, as if shivering from the cold.

There was nothing to see. No festering, no tissue. A clean cut that won't affect his hearing at all. You knew, but wanted to see him anyway. Perhaps it was the paranoia, perhaps you didn't trust Pater's word, felt like you couldn't, or you truly just wanted to see him again. This ghost of a man from the past.

You didn't know. But you knew you were a fool for feeling drawn to him after all this time, for wanting to see if he is really alright.

Gaze remained on the wound for a while before you let his hair slip off your hold and kneeled down next to him again. Watching him, Thorfinn didn't meet your eyes, not even when you brought the wet, cold cloth up to pat his face.

His jawline felt thinner. The short stubbles tickled your skin and bent back against the cloth. You couldn't remember him with any stubbles, let alone a sliver of what seems to be a beard ever appear on his grimsome mug. Blonde hair heavy and stringy tickling his shoulders - he used to hate having long hair. It bothered him so that he'd cut it whenever it got too long for his tastes, leaving him with this disheveled, wild look. But here, he was downcast, downtrodden, like nothing he has ever been before or wanted to be. Yet his eyes stayed the same. The sorrow you saw reflected in the deep brown, the same you saw that winter day.

Still, Thorfinn didn't want to look at you.

...To The Unknown, I'll Go Against My Sorrow...

"What are you doing?" Was all he muttered instead, staring holes into the ground. The cloth hung in the hair before you dapped it in water again. "I don't know. I think I wanted to see if you're still...here."

Pressing the water out, you took his limb hands and gently glided the cloth over his course skin. "You shouldn't. You'll get in trouble and..." For a moment, Thorfinn glanced to the side, "...I'll drag you down with me."

You couldnt help the frown as you focused back on his hands and picking out the splinters of wood. Thorfinn dragged you down with him ever since you met him. Drowning together seemed like fate, a curse that befell upon you the moment you so foolishly returned his dagger.

Is it punishment for not being like Askeladd and letting him die? For not being like Canute and letting him be? Are people like you just meant to suffer in this world, all caused by your own actions?

It felt like it. Yet here you were with him again. Was a reunion another form of punishment, prolonging your suffering just a bit more before you die?

Was sitting here and tending to him suffering as well?

"I can't be dragged lower than this. There's nothing else." Finally, Thorfinn looked at you and the action was as painful as he thought it'd be. Your hair was longer, face bearing more and you've grown, too. Lidded eyes were focused on his calloused hand, the shadows of the night consuming you, not even the stars were bright enough. Hesitation would flicker within every minute, every moment, if it's really you - yet then his eyes would unwittingly search for the familiar injuries you had in the past, that one uniquness you wore, a certain pattern of speech and it would ease all doubts he had, eliminate them with the memory from just today. When you embraced him. When you told him he should be back in Iceland.

Thorfinn turned his hand around, grabbing one of yours, while the other one swiped the cloth in your hand off, as if it meant nothing in this, as if his injuries meant nothing at all, and held both of your hands in a tight, suffocating grip. With every passing second, they trembled more.

"You shouldn't be here. You should be somewhere far away, somewhere that isn't here. I'm doing this to you." He glared at your hands with an anguished frown, gripping them as if they could be swept away any second while yours were lying limbly in his. "I thought if I could be here...it'll be fine. But I'm still finding ways of doing this to you. Even after all I did...I'm still managing to hurt someone, and that's you."

Suddenly, he whipped his wide-eyed stare to you, taking in your own frustrated and chagrin-filled face. Your dry, pressed lips, the frown etched onto your visage, your bulging eyes. Thorfinn felt like he needed to continue before you began tearing up. "I'm...still me. But I will be here tomorrow. And the day after that." The blonde hesitated - before deciding to not promise it. He can't tell how much faith you can still put in him and neither can he.

Your watery gaze narrows before looking back over your shoulder. The house's lights are out and you'll need some to find your way back.

Slowly, weakly almost, you got on your feet. Hands still clung to Thorfinn's as they slowly slipped out of his grip. With one last look you offered to him, you hoarsely whispered, "You'll be here."

The man could only nod with wide eyes as you finally let go and went back. The darkness of the night swallowed you whole, only the sound of splashing water letting him know you're still nearby before only the sound of critters were left.

As Einar turned towards the entrance of the barn, he saw Thorfinn lying on his side. He watched him, the blonde almost motionless but the rise of his chest was a relief. He wondered how on earth Thorfinn could've fallen asleep so quickly but he didn't care enough to ponder for a minute more. This...guy. He was another beast, wasn't he?

He killed and pillaged and caused people like him and Arnheid and Pater to end up in places like this. Though Master Ketil was a kind trader, he was an exception to the rule. Anywhere else, and he might have it worse. And you seemed to be just like this guy.

One by one, the brunette took a step closer. How many has he killed? And have you taken lives as well? Can any of you remember?

The hay glided off his legs like snow. Have you caused fires, burned down fields and houses, flung spears and arrows into people?

He stood in front of him. The hay was warm around his knees. This murderer is now cutting down trees to make a field, to plant, to grow, to thrive. To feed people. To still their hunger, use the wood for houses and tools and use the wheat to bargain and trade.

His thick, scarred hands fit around his neck. The anger burning inside him and filling the hole in his chest made it easy to clam them around tightly. Einar could feel his pulse, steady and clear against his skin. Further back was part of his spine, feeling every movement of each inhale. Yet it feels so surprisingly soft when he puts pressure. Soft as his fingers curl around the back of his neck, squeezing the spine in, feeling his pulse quicken and his breath labored. The peaceful snores turned into winces, into pleas for the pain to stop.

Just a bit more. More. The blonde gasps, wiggling around in the hay as his whimpers turned into groans of pain. Somehow he could still breath.

"...Shit."

The throat was warm but Einar could feel his palms getting sweaty. In an blink of an eye, he surprised himself of how quickly he let go. His squatted legs trembled and stumbled back. Thorfinn didn't stop screaming.

Shit. He can't do it. Einar can't kill someone!

It's scary. The feel of someone's neck around your hands is terrifying and daunting, like a weight itself is put on his chest even though he is pretending to be the predator. To be stronger. To be the winner. He can't do it. He doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want to hate. He doesn't want anyone to die.

Suddenly his hands whipped out into the air, wailing around for help. Thorfinn gasped for air, only to screech out more. Even when Einar tried to kill him, he's still throwing a tantrum.

Quivering with hitched gasps, coughing and panting. It's the same every night.

A man like him. It's all nightmares, every night, and he knows it but now - now he wants to live to keep dreaming and live to keep seeing you and live to keep chopping down trees. Yet still, he feels so out of place here.

A desperate inhale and he reckoned he wanted to call for someone. His sweaty hand stiffened. In an blink of an eye he could feel it coil to a fist, pressure forcing his fingers down and he snapped his gaze wide open. Einar's hand clung around his.

"...You..." Thorfinn could finally feel the coolness of the air, the way the hay prickled his back as he desperately sucked in deep breaths like a man starved of food.

A good minute passed, at least to Einar, and Thorfinn shuffled around to sit up. He wiped the sweat off his face before glancing towards the brunette's back. Finally he calmed down, and noticed how dry his mouth was while swallowing. "...Why..." The blonde licked his lips, "...Why do you wake me...everytime I have a nightmare?" He took another breath and could clearly hear the crickets, hiding among the high grass, now. "...I...killed people, too." Propping his knee up, he leaned his elbow on it and his face against his hand - scarred and big enough to cover half his downtrodden visage. "I helped pillage and kill in each village I passed by. People like you. For years. I am...I am as despicable as the warriors that killed your family. And I'll just drag you down, too. So why-!"

Suddenly, Einar shot up, like a predator seeing his chance. Swiftly he snapped to him, a steel-tight grip on his tunic and a glare as dark as thunder as tears welled up in his eyes. "So, you wanna die, huh?!" He gave him a good shake and Thorfinn let it happen, "You wanna die here in the woods you chop down?! You and your - listen," His tone turned dark and Thorfinn's eyes widened, "I don't know exactly what happened to you. And I don't wanna know! I can't even imagine it!" Another rock, "But even if we are far down in our lowest point, there are - there are still some things we can be glad about to experience! Even if we just eat, work, sleep and shit all day, it's worth something! Never had anything good happen to me, my ass! When you get cleaned up all nice, even when its with a stinky, worn out rag, it's still something good! By someone...someone that cares about you! And all of that...all of that is only possible because someone let you live!"

Through gritted teeth, he swallowed his snot and fought against his tears. Images and voices of his mother and sister flashed by and Einar bit his lip to focus on the pain. He shook Thorfinn again.

"So be grateful for that at least! Do you hear me?!" He couldn't help but let a shaky sigh escape him. He didn't even have the strength to throw the blonde to the ground - he'd let that happen, too. So his grip grew softer and in defeat, Einar slumped down on his side of the barn. "Besides," He muttered, "It's not like you were the one who killed my family."

His brown eyes observed his hunched back, the way his body curled into a ball. Quiet and steady were his breaths as Thorfinn looked back to his hand. His scarred, calloused hand Einar took to get him back to the waking world, to the cold and dark night, the crisp air as crickets played their songs. It was better. Calmer than any other place he had ever been to.

"...Thank you, Einar." His voice was a mere attempt to utter his gratitude but it made Einar's heart beat faster. "Thank you for always waking me when I have a nightmare."

"...Yeah. Can't get a good night's sleep with you brailing around. Just go to sleep, Thorfinn."

"I will. I'll get up with you tomorrow."

Mighty River, Release My Soul, Out To The Open Gold...

He did wake up first.

Washed his face, stretched, got his axe. Waited for Einar to finish his chatting with Arnheid as you came around the corner.

It seemed like Pater was not angry last night nor did you get in trouble. Thorfinn couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Einar noticed you as well and tried to give his best welcoming smile. "...Good morning!" The brunette noticed the crack in his voice but tried to brush off his embarassment with a wider grin. You blinked and gave a somber reply. "Oh...good morning." Your eyes immediately went to the shorter blonde, seeing him ready with the axe over his shoulder. His locks hid the shine in his gaze. He, too, greeted you. "Good morning."

The sound of your name on his tongue felt foreign. Like a hometown meal he hadn't had in ages, or learning a melody from his long-gone childhood. He saw your eyes widen as you struggled to instantly give a response. "G-Good morning, Thorfinn..."

His back was straighter, you weren't sure if he even noticed that himself, and his steps were heavy. The deep rise and fall of his chest was...relieving in a way, but before you could glance at him again, Einar sucked in a baited breath and stepped forward. "Well, we'd best get going, haha!" His laughter was too forced and so was his goofy grin, "Trees don't chop themselves! Uh, have a good, productive day, you two! See you later!" He marched away with a comedic wave towards Arnheid, and with Thorfinn in tow.

The woman chuckled before looking at you. "We're lucky to have such sweet and funny guys as our neighbors, don't we?"

The sun slowly went her way down across the sky but Thorfinn was more eager than ever to drop his axe, rope and knife to walk towards the edge of the decreasing forest. Einar rose a brow but brushed his confusion off, believing the blonde wanted to greet the master. "You're up and about, you lads, aren't you? Very good work ethics, I must say."

"Thank you, Master Ketil." Einar noted Thorfinn's quick and serious reply but kept his mouth shut. As fair as Ketil was, here on his high horse, it wasn't like Thorfinn to be so eager for conversations with him. "I do plan to turn this place into a field in about three years," Thorfinn added with an determined tone, his words cut and clear. Ketil, too, rose a brow. "Oh? Have you planned for that exact time?" The shorter man shook his head. "No. But I will get it done by then."

Look at that guy. Talking all high and mighty, confident like a carpenter as if Einar isn't doing half the work, too!

"And when it is done, Master...I'd like to ask you for a favor." The elder straightened his back and took a sharp inhale. Thorfinn making any suggestions piqued his interest - yet rather in puzzlement. "What did you have in mind, boy?"

Now, he, too, straightened his back, widened his eyes as if trying to pierce through Ketil's soul, wanting dearly for him to understand the utter necessity that bore in his words, that tore apart his heart. He had to say it and the man had to understand. Please.

"If you would so kindly allow, I'd like to work as much as I need to till this soil and grow its crops here. But instead of buying myself, I'd like to sell you the produce in order to buy their freedom back."

"What?!"

Both Einar and Ketil jumped at the boldness of his words. Thorfinn didn't blink an eye as he kept his expectant stare on the master. "Thorfinn...do you know what you're saying? Three years, at the least, all for this...one, one person? You don't mean the shy, new one?"

"I do." Thorfinn did not falter, "I want to work to buy their freedom back. To get somewhere else, far away from here. I want them to be free."

I Can't Stay Here Forever In This Hollow...

----

okay, so, this took too long-

ngl, I didn't get his speech at first - but pondering it about it more, Einar had already gone through a tragedy as a child with his father fighting off warriors/vikings to defend their village and not being sold off as slaves. After the huge amount of damage vikings have done (I imagine), there was prbly a lot of things to recover and rebuild again where all he, as a child, could do was work to rebuild, eat what they had, sleep as much as he could, and shit all day until their village recovered and they could enjoy their peace again - aka Einar being rather hopeful and ready to do that all over again as a slave and buy his freedom back.

first of all, I noticed way too late that Einar is, in fact, not a brunette;;;;his hair is rather dark reddish...oops. i'll pay more attention to that in the next

also, i read a few posts of manga-onlys/those who read the manga first that they didn't like Einar's confrontation with Thorfinn in the barn after their drama with Snake. That he's too violent, put in a bad light and I do get that - considering how incredibly kind and open-minded the guy actually is and even called Thorfinn his friend in that very chapter (in the anime it happened way later).

this is...complete bias on my part but I don't mind the scene in the anime. its scary, almost unnecessarily so in some regards considering how long the strangle goes on, like wtf - but I do like that it allowed Einar to be angry and grief in a rather negative way and realise in the midst of the action that what he is doing is wrong and that he physically does not have the guts nor want to kill someone. Imo not even giving into the thought of hurting Finny (like in the manga) shows more maturity but I don't mind both scenes. Plus, I like his speech of finding even the smallest things worthwhile and letting go of his anger in the moment to wake up Finn, cause he knows its wrong - that he isnt doing anything helpful or good, despite not liking Finn during that time at all.

[rewritingcanon]

What would you say are your more controversial opinions about the hp characters?

ohhhh okayyy. i feel like my opinions on a lot of the characters aren’t controversial because i dont feel super strongly towards anyone in any negative light but here are some i could think of at the top of my head:

i’m glad the malfoys faced more extreme backlash after the second wizarding war. a lot of people in the fandom seem to be very sympathetic towards draco and scorpius for getting dogpiled with the brunt of it (which yeah, it sucks, especially for scorpius) but the prejudice makes complete make sense to me. if i was someone who didn’t know scorpius’ character, and had someone from my family get killed in the second war due to death eaters or something— seeing the malfoys still be wealthy and walk around freely without any jailtime, i would be bitter too. they’re hated on but they’re still one of the richest families ever, so they’ll live LOL

another anon has asked about this and i haven’t responded to them yet but when i do i will link it here for my reasons. basically: the best character in the cursed child is harry potter. i think the way they wrote his character and ptsd carried the play. it was def his story, not albus’.

i do think dumbledore has some aspects of him that may be considered morally gray, but mostly i dont think he is. he does everything for the good of the world, and his complete selflessness leads him to sacrifice anything for it— even himself and the people he loves, when necessary. i completely understand why people wouldn’t agree with his methods though.

james potter isn’t a sunshine character he’s a dickhead. fans of him made him a golden retriever character to be more palatable for modern times. i like him the way he is: an asshole and then less of an asshole 👍 this is what true stanning looks like

pansy parkinson is racist and out of all the female side characters, developing HER is so questionable from fandom

harry had questionable descriptions about a lot of male characters to make people think he could be a little 🏳️‍🌈 there was bill, there was sirius, there was cedric. but draco is not a part of that list. harry was not feeling draco whatsoever throughout the series but drarry shippers cling to that one ‘obsessed’ line

furthermore, harry rejecting draco’s offer of friendship wasn’t a sad or a ‘what if’ scene. draco was being a classist piece of shit and harry didnt want to fuck with that, there isnt any way in any timeline he wouldve accepted draco’s friendship.

slytherin sucks just generally lol. people want so bad to pluck anti-heroes out of a series that was written specifically with the mind to make all the characters suck.

hermione and ron’s drama isn’t as toxic as people make it out to be. yes, this includes the time hermione sent birds after him. people act like its the end of the world but she was tackling puberty and the end of society soooo i give her a pass to tweak out.

mostly every harry potter character has horrific names. like literally mostly everyone. even the name harry potter 🙁

movie romione wasn’t that bad LOL

severus snape’s ‘redemption’ or whatever was so ass. he bullies kids for five years and then everything is chill because… true love? on harry’s mum? are you kidding me 💀

weasley family angst goes hard but people (especially percy stans and some ron&ginny stans) acting like they’re the most toxic family to walk the earth make me want to rip my hair out and eat it. molly loves her kids guys shes not evil. jesus.

genuinely trying to think of more but i can’t right now…. maybe i will reblog and add to it. i feel like most of my opinions aren’t that controversial though 😭

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

I didn't want to say that here since you love Leona now but I actually hate that lion guy😭😭 I feel like he would bully me for just existing!

Like this part in book 3 when he made us fight his dorm members so we could stay in the dorm makes me look at him like this 😒 like sir I'm magicless and homeless and physically weak and you want me to fight your muscled dorm members + they have magic!😭😭 Why?! At this rate I would have slept in one of the class rooms instead ��I mean it was Grim do the fighting but still! But that's not the only reason I have other reasons why I hate him 😭 (I'm scared of him lol)

I have beef with that lion guy😞

I don't see myself loving him any soon but who knows maybe one day I would feel in love with him like you 🫢

Lemme tell you this right here and right now: I have learned from observation that there are no bigger L*ona haters out there than L*ona stans themselves 💀 We They will say, "Leona Kingscholar is literally the fucking worst character not just in Twisted Wonderland, but in all media that has ever and will ever be conceived. Hate that guy, what a shitty scumbag," one moment and then turn right around and kiss our their lion merch with all the tender love and care a human could possibly lavish an object with.

ANYWAY, that's beside the point. I don't like this character of which you speak of.

Early main story Leona is definitely the type to bully the crud out of others 💀 To be fair to him though, honestly any dorm (other than Heartslabyul) would have been reluctant to house a pair that they have little to no personal connection with. The students at NRC are known for their pride and reluctance to help each other out, right? Night Raven College also has a culture of "the strong obey the weak", so to have Yuu and Grim "earn their keep" by demonstrating their strength makes sense. The other dorms would have probably demanded similar things of them, regardless of how downtrodden and dreary their circumstances are. It's not like Azul or the mob students showed Yuu and Grim any mercy before. Most of the student population is not nice or welcoming, especially if there's nothing in it for them to gain. In this case, Leona would be gaining two temporary students that aren't deadweights to him. Of course, that doesn't justify what he did/said in book 3 or any of the other things he did/said. It doesn't mean you have to like the guy for what he did. It's just that I don't know if that one scene is a specific-to-Leona asshole move. I do want to point to the Episode of Octavinelle manga too; in that, Leona doesn't make Yuuta fight mobs to sleep over, he accepts Yuuta's cooking abilities as a substitute. This loops right back around to what I was saying about "earning your keep" and how most NRC students won't want to help you out unless you have something to offer them in return. For Yuuta, that was his culinary skills. For in-game Yuu and Grim, it had to be combat prowess. Is it cruel in comparison to letting them sleep over in return for nothing? Yes, absolutely. But is it in character for them to be selfish about it? Also yes, absolutely. I think it's fine to have as a characterization moment--though whether you enjoy this or not is up to the individual fan.

I get that he's not going to appeal to everyone. Leona definitely comes off as intimidating and he has plenty of other traits to loathe. Every character will have people that dislike them or even outright hate them. That's completely normal and should be expected, since everyone has different experiences, tastes, and perspectives to bring to the table--each equally as valid as the last. Feelings can change over time, feelings can stay the same. Whatever happens, it's fine! No one decent is going to hold a (water) gun to your head and force you to like L*ona. Enjoy fandom in your own way!

That being said 💦💦 I will advise that you avoid sending messages of, "I actually HATE this character that you happen to like" into people's inboxes. It's okay to have a different opinion than the fan you're expressing the opinion to, but you should keep in mind that it's not always appropriate to voice it or to press the matter. I might be generally indifferent about discussing why we like or dislike certain characters, but others might not be so happy to get a message that could be considered bashing on their favorite(s). Again, just be mindful of others and their boundaries!

[echos-gal]

ok i'm rapidly losing hope that Tech is still alive, and this sucks because it was basically the top thing i desperately wanted from this season. i wanted to see him survive. so here's my exhaustive and embarrassingly long list of reasons why he SHOULD still be alive, and if he isn't, why it was a missed opportunity. obviously no hate to the writers or anything, i love them dearly for creating this show!!!

(if you're a "Tech should stay dead for the stakes/so someone in SW stays dead for once/i hate delusional Tech stans" person, kindly keep scrolling, this ain't for you)

SEASON 2:

right from the start, Romar connects with Tech and calls himself "a survivor." HELLO???

in this same arc, Tech breaks his leg in a fall which he survives. he continues to walk on it, fighting off troopers to save Echo & Omega, showcasing his persistence and grit.

one of Phee's first lines is "better late than dead," and we know she shares a connection with Tech. she flirts with him later in this scene. it would be a shame not to reuse this line, i'm just saying....

Cid still owes Tech for racing for her in Faster. we see Cid looking miserable as she betrays the batch in Plan 99, so her playing a part in his rescue/comeback would be a nice way to show her growth. (i'm afraid there isn't enough time for this, though- as much as i thought a Cid redemption was on the horizon!)

Phee and Tech's departure is awkward, and although we have some context from season 3 (they talked more than we realized), the scene would do best if reconciled in person imo. it felt like it was setting up for something, and feels weird to leave hanging.

"don't go running off with any pirates or smugglers" could not have just been a throw away line. it set up for him to do exactly that. how fitting would it be if pirates or smugglers actually did manage to pick him up before the empire made it to the railcar crash site?

Hemlock's retrieval of the goggles shows that he sent a team to look through the wreckage. he thought there was a chance Tech survived, and may have him.

i won't go into the logistics, but big falls ARE survivable. in star wars especially. we have no idea what was below the layer of clouds/mist Tech fell through.

SEASON 3:

this is mostly CX-2 centric. their armor is very similar: the jaw/mouth shape, the hexagons over the ears, the rectangles on the chest, and the pouches/pockets.

"domicile." that is all.

CX-2 uses technology more than the other operatives we've seen, and he gets past the encryption on Phee's ship with ease.

"who are you?" was enunciated in the exact same way Tech says it to Trace and Rafa, which i definitely think was intentional.

CX-2 stops to use his rifle scope in the exact same spot where Tech and Phee stood to let down the ladders in the sea surge on Pabu.

he survives a waterfall plunge on Teth, which appears to have fooled Rex's group into thinking he'd died. the writers could have killed him off there and sent a new operative, but they chose to stick with CX-2 pursuing them to Pabu.

it's worth noting that while this CX is designated as "2," Tech's CT number is CT-9902. he is associated with the number even on a visual level: he's a dual-wielder, he wears goggles, he salutes with two fingers.

FROM A STORY PERSPECTIVE:

firstly, i am sorry and i LOVE the writers, but if you want people to accept a character's death, you've got to show his family and friends' grief. we saw no reaction from Crosshair or Phee, no tears from Hunter or Echo. it feels like fans were sadder about Tech's death than the characters in the story.

Tech seems to have been mentioned more in the second half of season 3 than the first half, which works if they want to bring him back in the finale.

the finale is called "The Cavalry Has Arrived." i really don't think you can have the cavalry (aka the bad batch) arrive without every member present. i also don't think it would feel right to play their theme without Tech there. idk, that feels incomplete!

we saw no body, and Hunter received Tech's goggles not from a trusted ally or friend, but from Hemlock. this calls into question the legitimacy of his claim that the goggles were "all he could salvage."

Tech alive and being held on Tantiss would provide a nice parallel to Echo in the first mission where we meet the batch, in TCW. and [ep 14 SPOILERS] we see that Echo is currently looking more like his TCW self, with his earpiece removed.

feels kinda sour that a character who a lot of people related to as neurodivergent representation would die just a few episodes after having a deep conversation with his sister about it.

likewise (and as a white woman i can't speak for WOC), from what i have seen, Black women are rarely the main love interest of a series! Phee is the ONLY love interest in this whole show, and it would suck to just cut off that romance before it could really become something. a lot of people wanted to see TechPhee become canon.

CX-2 is the one who destroys the marauder. it works well storywise for its pilot to have been the one to do that- the person who worked so hard modifying it, flying it, and teaching his sister to fly it. i'll be lowkey pissed if it turns out some random dude blew it up.

it's also CX-2 who invades and sets fire to Pabu. this is emotionally gripping on its own, but if he is Tech, it's even more so.

we have no idea what the operatives go through. Crosshair isn't telling, but it clearly put him in a really bad place. if Tech underwent this conditioning in his post-fall injured state, there's a chance he could come back from it. Emerie is probably the key to this, if they take the CX-2 route.

this show is all about a family trying to stay together as the Empire desperately tries to rip them apart. seeing the whole family together again - even if not everyone survives - in the finale is the satisfaction that the show ideally would go for. the last time they were all together was the season 1 finale. that was about 2 years ago in the show's timeline.

leaving Crosshair and Tech's final interactions be where they parted on the Kamino platform also feels off. Tech was the one who really vocalized the need to rescue Crosshair in season 2's finale. Crosshair, in the meantime, has changed significantly as a person. Tech's comment about Crosshair being "severe and unyielding," and unable to change this facet of his nature, is incorrect. leaving Tech dead would mean that he never gets to see this change in Crosshair, which makes me feel like a deflated balloon.

FROM MY SELFISH PERSPECTIVE!!!

give me Tech with cool scars and slightly disheveled longer hair. this is such a good opportunity for the creators to give him a sweet new look!

we never got to see Tech without his goggles on, despite Phee constantly referring to his eyes. he definitely doesn't have them right now (they're in the Archium), so we could get Mister Big Brown Eyes if he's alive. it's another missed opportunity if not, imo!

the goggles being placed in the Archium was a beautiful scene that makes me tear up whenever i think about it. it's symbolic, it's bittersweet, and it's exactly where the goggles belong. but was it closure for me? not really.

Tech is a character who became a LOT of people's favorite in season 2, including my own. why kill off a fan-favorite with an entire season to go?

yes, i desperately want a Rex and Echo series. yes, i want the batch to cameo in it, and yes... that includes Tech. making up for lost season 3 Tech content 😎

the finale will feature the zillo beast, and Tech loves the zillo beast. FREE HER! REUNITE THEM! he would love to witness her rampage.

FROM A "SURPRISE!!!!!" PERSPECTIVE

it seems like most people think Tech is either CX-2 or dead. it would be a great finale twist if we DID get CX-2's identity, it's NOT Tech, the audience loses hope, and then he shows up. i think this is actually plausible given the other assassin schematics Hemlock was looking at in Point of No Return. Tech might be in Hemlock's grasp, but not an active operative. having an enhanced clone to toy with is something Hemlock would want to keep under wraps. we see him step out of the assassin chamber at the start of that episode - if Tech is anywhere on Tantiss, i think it's here.

i think the writers have expected us to have all lost hope by now, so his finale reappearance would ideally come as a shock. the finale is almost guaranteed to be a very long episode, so we really might have quite a bit of time to explore his return, if it happens.

secret 16th episode: i know, i'm putting my clown makeup on as i type this. but the previous 2 seasons each had 16 episodes, with a two-parter finale. season 3 is just 15, with a single episode finale. TBB formally ends may 1st, so what if we get a may 4th surprise episode detailing how Tech survived? (that or an epilogue leading into a new series, which i think is more likely actually!)

[triptychcryptid]

Ok, here's some stuff on Demon's Disciple Stan. I think I'm putting these out almost EXCLUSIVELY for @localcanadiancreature62 because they like it so much. XD

The second half of this is more self-indulgent though. XD

After being betrayed and injured by his brother and left to die in the multiverse alone after Ford went back to Bill, he would have stumbled upon an alien tribe that helped him and gave him a translator. Yes, the same one Ford ran into in Journal 3.

After this incident, Stan would be EXTREMELY distrusting of other Fords. He would not project his murderous intent or abject hatred on all of them though, because he IS smart enough to realize that not all Fords would be the same. But if they showed the same ego and lack of accountability as his own, he'd write them off as useless to him and leave.

He would end up being generally more serious than Cannon Stan, but would be able to turn on the charm instantly when he needed to, which was often. He'd be a BIT of a playboy like cannon except it would actually work. Most of the time though, he only slept with someone because they had something he needed. And you know, the man's got needs. XD

He is very much a wanted criminal in the multiverse too because he's MUCH less discriminate about what he steals than Cannon Ford was. He steals things for survival, but also just things he wants because he's an expert swindler. XD

He got into "trading" goods and bounty hunting and got damn good at both. Basically he got in with this one dude who accepted some earth contraband he had on him (cigarettes, probably. VERY hard to come by in certain places) in exchange for some clothes. Particularly this one brand of combat boots that are the most comfortable boots he'd ever had. Sturdy, teflon coating, light and LOTS of cushion. He would also trade for mods on the boots that gave him speed, enhanced jumping capalities, magnetism, etc.

His jacket would have temperature regulation capabilities and he would get a coating on it to protect from laser guns, as well as teflon for when he made it to parallel versions of his dimension that had regular ol garden variety guns. XD His fingerless gloves have padding on the bottom to help protect his palms in instances of climbing or gripping things that could harm his hands normally. They also have the ability to shock, burn and stun people, as well as tell him his heart rate, the time or weather, depending on what he wanted to do. XD There's a button in the back that controls this.

He would stay away from Fords for the most part, unless they happened to have parts he needed and could steal. The only Fords he could stand to be in the same room with would be the most NOT versions of his Ford.

If he happened upon them, he wouldn't mind @tinfoil-jones's Jerk Ford if only because Jerk Ford knows he's a jerk and is upfront about his assholery. XD There is no trying to hide it for ulterior motives or just straight up denying that what he's doing is for anything other than his own selfish reasons like his own Ford. He would like Anti-Ford because that would be the most NOT Ford you could be. The streaming stuff would annoy him though.

If he ever came across @nowimjustastranger's Watchdog Ford, Stan would tell him in no uncertain terms was his Ford to get another Stanley. He was in fact, very much alive and had big plans to kill his twin when he got back home.

One of the services he would offer would be himself, after he found out that humans were VERY coveted in certain sectors. Most folk would pay handsomely just for a few ours with one, and this was actually how he met his best friend/fwb. She hired him one night and offered a large sum of money. He declined, stating instead that he wanted some parts she had that could work for a gun he was building. She agreed.

Afterward, she asked why he needed it and he explained his story. She took pity on him and offered him a drink. He accepted, and suddenly his broken and chipped teeth were fixed. His nose that got broken and never quite set right. His spine that got kinda messed up from all the years of sleeping in his car. The fingertip he lost during his last fight with Ford when Ford stranded him.

After this, they became allies and stole things together for Stan's boss. XD

[hainethehero]

So I made the mistake of stumbling onto the NOT STEVE ROGERS FRIENDLY tag today and..

You have to be a special type of delusional to be this obsessed with a character you don't like!??

Over 2k fics have the tag and are almost entirely Tony Stark-centered fics. I'm assuming these are the "fans" who totally buy into the MCU canon and don't know any other Captain America lore outside of what Feige and Whedon have done. Or, they're the "fans" who refuse to understand the politics behind Steve's character and how he was inherently undermined throughout the entire ten years of the MCU by the directors and writers for most of the films.

Because the arguments in most of these fics for being "not Steve rogers friendly" are really surface level shit like:

1) "Steve refused to sign the Accords and broke up the Avengers" (he was right & he didn't break them up, an overemotional Tony did when he refused to listen to Bucky's side of the story).

2) Steve fought Tony and almost killed him (yeah, like Tony didn't blast Bucky's arm off and shoot his repulsor rays directly at Steve).

3)Steve is homophobic (y'all are just making up reasons to hate this man atp)

4)Steve is racist (Steve hated racists & you'd know that if you read the comics, or you guys are just that deluded that you're making Steve racist & trying to project it as canon and therefore a "reasonable" explanation as to why you hate him)

5)Blaming Steve for Rhodey's accident (WHICH WAS TEAM TONY'S FAULT!)

6)YALL, THEY MADE STEVE THE BAD GUY IN A BROCK RUMLOW/BUCKY FIC! I stg I cannot make this shit up💀 Steve's bad for wanting Bucky to be Bucky again, but somehow Brock's the good guy for wanting Bucky to be the Soldier...

Steve left Bucky for Peggy (we'll get to this soon)

There's a hundred more irrational reasons for the Steve Rogers hate, but let me get to the WORST part.

THERE ARE BUCKY STANS WHO ARE ANTI-STEVE ROGERS.

And I'm sorry, no. I don't accept that you love Bucky Barnes but hate the one person he loves the most in the world.

They argued in a couple fics that "Bucky also went rogue after Siberia but he didn't want to associate with Steve, Nat & the rest of the team- WHO HELPED RESCUE BUCKY & EVENTUALLY EXONERATE HIM- but rather, he went off on his own & eventually Tony finds him, they hash it out and become friends to lovers."

Helppp???? Wdym Bucky isn't gonna stick with the one man he's been keeping diaries about to try and get back his memories? But he'll go to the one guy that re-traumatized him by blowing out his arm again?

Not only that, but Bucky absolutely hates Steve in some of these fics and the reason will be, "he left Bucky to go back to Peggy." Like, you cannot be a serious fan if you're still going with the Endgame canon. For a majority of us, we recognize Endgame as being nothing but terrible writing and mischaracterizations. Why are yall not analyzing and interpreting media critically? The MCU has never been on Steve's side and have always diminished his character in an attempt to make Tony the ultimate hero of the OG 6. Don't yall know the discourse? It's embarrassing atp.

And this is my stance on the entire thing: there's nothing wrong with writing fics about characters you don't necessarily like or aren't interested in. It's OKAY if you don't like Steve Rogers- but you've gotta be rational about him, instead of hateful. Most, if not all of these "anti-steve" fics are written in bad faith. Bad understanding of the character and pure, shameless mischaracterizations which just makes these types of fics fickle and weak- hilarious to read though cos that Brock one had me deadddd😭💀.

[tinfoil-jones]

Hey what would happened if Stan didn't cut their twin bonds and stayed death even after Bill possessed his body? Ford would have gone to the funeral?

Twin bond intact until the end, Stanford would know Stanley was dead. And Stan staying dead after being possessed by Bill? His body wouldn't be in his car anymore it'd be in the ravine, so his funeral would have an actual body to bury.

Ford would go to his funeral, but his attitude from then on...

"Fordsy isn’t going to get over this. I know everything about him, and I’m telling you he never will. This will haunt him the rest of his natural life. The same way it would haunt you if he died.” - Bill in the flashback in Ch.20

Ford would focus on his anger and skepticism first, so he wouldn't have to focus on his sadness, and he'd question the validity of this being an 'accident'.

Using his superior intellect, and having Bills help, Ford would eventually discover that it was Agent Powers who did it.

In the fanfic, Ford opted to erase Agent Powers whole memory and sense of self as vengeance for what he did to Stan. Left to his own devices, he would have killed Powers and the only reason he didn't is because he knows Stan himself wouldn't kill him.

But this time, Stan being irreversibly dead? Stanford is committing murder. He will kill him, and it will be in the worst ways Ford could imagine, which is a lot worse when you consider that he has Bill Cipher in his head.

After that he's just kinda numb. A part of him isn't missing, a part of him is gone. He isn't going to go the fandom 'frankenstan' route, and he loses some of his zeal when it comes to discovery. He becomes a less fantastical scientist and more of a 'normal' one who sticks to math and physics rather than the paranormal.

Bill doesn't necessarily get bored of him, but he is frustrated that someone who used to be so whimsical and excited when it came to science and the unknown became such a downer. This is exactly why he tried to save the Conman in the first place! Why couldn't he have just accepted Bills deal?

Ford wouldn't regain passion in his life until Dipper and Mabel come into his life thirty years later, and even then it takes him a while to warm up because he's afraid of getting attached. And even though its been decades he can't help but think that if Stanley were still around he would have loved these kids.

He would likely be rather sensitive when if those two ever happened to get into a fight because children you never know when its going to be the last time you speak to each other.

Like, this isn't the worst timeline possible, but it's still pretty sad.

[solarwynd]

A few pjms / Jimin biased always seem a bit surprised by this so I just want to make this clear - all solos and a good part of armys who are diet solos legit despise Jimin more than any other member ever. Part of it is because this fandom is made of shippers but that's not all of it. Its because pre chapter two every dumbfck army had a totem pole of popularity for the members and they always had Jimin third. Then they had a totem pole for talent and god knows where they put Jimin on that one - it was near the bottom for sure. And then finally they had their totem poles for solo ambition / capability and they all placed Jimin dead last as the member who cared the least about a solo career and the one who would be the least artistically involved in his solo work

Chapter 2 has finally come and every other member has performed almost exactly as they were expected to except Tae who underperformed a fair bit and Jungkook being a bit more of a sellout than expected. But apart from that there's not a single member who didn't fall in line with armys imagination save one of course - Jimin.

This is why Jimins achievements rile them up so much because they still look at everything he does through this lens. They won't consider that they severely underestimated him or that talent and good music can make that much of a difference because what does that say about their fave who's still in the pits of obscurity or needing millions of dollars of payola to achieve the same thing? Aren't rap line supposed the geniuses that built BTS? Isn't Taehyung supposed to be the most popular kpop idol ever? Isn't Jungkook supposed to be the golden maknae who is positioned as the successor and true inheritor of BTS' legacy? What's Jimin doing at the top of the charts everytime he releases anything? Why's his solo music loved by most casual fans who dip their toes into BTS' solo ventures? Isn't he just Jimin who's only good at dancing but still not the best dancer from BTS?

This is what they all think. They're wrong but I swear this is what each and every one of them thinks which is why they'll all swallow bot farms and thirty versions and any other bs that gets thrown around because they do not want to accept reality - that Jimin is and has always been one of the biggest reasons BTS got as big as it did and that him not bragging about his talents or hyping his own image is just him being (a little too) humble and not an accurate reflection of the truth. Truth is his solo music has always done extremely well, truth is his dance has always been more compelling to watch than jhopes, truth is JK sounds like every run of the mill sm male kpop idol whose stans will brag about a voice that nobody listens to. But these are not the narratives that have run through this fandom for years like a disease

I don’t think any pjm is surprised at armys behavior because them treating jimin like an outsider has been a thing for a while now. It’s just the natural disbelief that armys still have the gall to be peddling “OT7” and believing that solos are the worst people ever when a good chunk of them clearly have very strong feelings of resentment towards him.

[acourtofthought]

Wait I think you’re taking my previous “ask” incorrectly. I am not saying that Azriel shouldn’t be blamed or that Elain should accept Lucien immediately. I am in fact advocating that BOTH she and Lucien take the time they need to accept the bond. All I’m saying is that Elain stans keep doing this thing where they make it seem like Elain should not be blamed at all or that she should never be blamed as much as other people.. repeatedly. It really is infantilizing her because she is an adult and she knows full well that her relationship with Azriel will not be the "smoothest" because she does have a mate. So I don’t know why Azriel seems like he’s the only one responsible. I'm only saying they are BOTH consenting adults in that situation.

I don’t even like Azriel (I think he's a creep at times) and Elain’s okay so I have no problem seeing it from both sides. Azriel’s an ass in that BC period. But Elain shouldn’t be treated like she has no say in the situation, as if it’s all Azriel’s fault. Yes he's way older and should know way better, but she participated in it knowing full well that no matter what happened between her-Azriel-Lucien it would be hard. I think at times Eluciens are too similar to Elriels. One side makes it seem like Lucien will force the mate bond or sth and the other makes it seem like Azriel forced Elain to like him. Elain is an adult. An adult. Elain stans from both Elucien and Elriel truly act the same when it comes to her.

Idk if you will post the answer to this or not, but it's just food for thought I guess. I like Elucien and I think they’re endgame, but my god, both Elucien and Elriel stans annoy me when it comes to Elain. I will not be shocked if Eluciens start acting like Elriels soon, getting angry every time Elain isn’t shipped with Lucien.

Again, I completely disagree with everything you've said. Yes, there is a portion of the fandom that babies Elain but Elucien's are typically not on that side of it. From what I've found, some Gwynriels and some Elucien's take it to the opposite extreme of E/riels. Where Nesta is allowed to be as bitchy as she wants because of trauma, that she's really got a good heart despite it yet the second Elain finally snaps back, "she's not that nice". Where Elain is "manipulating others to do her bidding" though the text literally tells us she's tired of them treating her like a child and telling her what she can and can't do. What exactly should we be blaming Elain for? The cabin? Don't you think at some point it's ok to move beyond that since it's been how many years? Since she already gave a really heartfelt apology to Feyre and owned up for not doing enough back then? Since she now goes out of her way to cook for Feyre's household? To care for the gardens at Feyre's home? We know that will not be Elain's home in the future therefore everything she's doing is going to benefit Rhys and Feyre only. Should we blame Elain for Az telling her they were a mistake? I'm not quite sure what you think she did wrong there. "She knew their relationship wouldn't be the smoothest". I can't believe you're even saying such bullshit. When has any SJM situationship ever been the smoothest? Feyre agreed to marry Tamlin when she knew she wanted Rhys UTM, should she apologize to Tamlin for accepting his proposal? Though I'm guessing you probably think we should blame Elain for not doing more for Nesta though you might have missed the part where Nesta literally said she had her life and they had their's which means she didn't count Elain as part of her life. Where Nesta literally ran the other way when Elain wanted to approach her in the market. Where Nesta told Elain she was boring and accused her of being the reason their father was dead. You know why Nesta was able to be there for Elain over the years? Because Elain never hurled out insults to Nesta and didn't actively push her away. But sure, let's blame Elain for choosing not to be a punching bag. That is not infantilizing, that is showing respect for a girl who is learning to stand up for herself.

E/riel and Elucien stans might annoy you but boy have you ever annoyed me.

[mrs-stans]

INTERVIEW Cristian Mungiu, about the collaboration with Sebastian Stan and the film "Fjord", on which they are working together / "In film, it's easier to say when you hope to start than when you think you'll finish" (Agerpres)

Director Cristian Mungiu collaborates in his newest project with the American actor of Romanian origin Sebastian Stan, nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role category at the Oscars for his portrayal of Donald Trump in "The Apprentice", but also winner of the Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in the film "A Different Man", Agerpres reports.

The director's new film - "Fjord" - is being shot mainly in Norway, and the cast includes actors from Denmark, Sweden and Romania.

Cristian Mungiu reveals, in an interview with AGERPRES, how he met Sebastian Stan, the idea behind the film, and when it could be offered to the public.

"With film, it's easier to say when you hope to start than when you think you'll finish. Many things depend on the actors' schedules, the weather, the duration of the special effects and post-production. (…) At this moment, it's more likely that the film will be ready to be shown to the public only in 2026, but after we finish filming we'll know better if we could be ready faster," said Mungiu.

The director also announces another project he will start working on after filming for "Fjord" ends - "Memories of the Golden Age 3".

AGERPRES: You have started a new project – a film that has the working title “Fjord.” What is this film about?

Cristian Mungiu: Through the meanings of the story in “Fjord”, I continue to ask myself questions and bring into discussion aspects of today's globalized society, in which people with very different cultures and upbringings end up intersecting, having to communicate and coexist – which is sometimes not easy to do. I probed this relationship of the individual with the atavistic part of himself in “RMN”, I sought an explanation for the reasons why Eastern Europeans identify with the victims of Western colonialism in “Traffic / Jaful Secolului”, and now, in “Fjord”, I question the causes of the extreme polarization in our world today. Society is divided, not only Romanian, but Western society as a whole, and it is not just about ideology or social classes, but also about substantial differences explained by very different education, culture, well-being, historical and religious developments. Today, in an era in which we theoretically proclaim tolerance and individual freedom, we are in fact almost incapable of assimilating visions of society and private life that are different from our own.

AGERPRES: Actor Sebastian Stan will have one of the main roles in your film. How was your first meeting with Sebastian Stan and how did he accept the role you offered him? What will be the role he will play?

Cristian Mungiu: In 2016, Sebastian came to the screening of “The Baccalaureate” at the New York Film Festival to meet us. I remember the meeting because his mother made the effort to drive 300 miles that day just so Sebastian and I could talk for a bit after the screening. We talked and he stayed in touch, to see if one day we could find a project to work on together.

A few years later, I invited Sebastian as a guest at the American Independent Film Festival, and that was his first meeting with the Romanian public. A very warm one, I would say, even though he didn't have the notoriety he has today. We continued to talk and looked for ways to collaborate on other projects before "Fjord", but for various reasons it wasn't possible. Last year, however, it seemed to me, since I started writing the story, that Sebastian would be a good fit for the role in "Fjord". I wrote to him, told him a little bit, then when I had the first version of the script ready, I sent it to him, he read it and we agreed that we would work together. Sebastian plays the role of a father who is looking for the most appropriate answers related to the education of his children in a society in rapid change.

AGERPRES: How is the collaboration with Sebastian Stan?

Cristian Mungiu: I will be able to tell you more about this after we finish filming. For now, we are not able to see each other very often physically, as Sebastian continues to have a lot of promotional obligations from the two remarkable films he made last year. However, we went through the script several times with him and his main partner in the film, Renate Reinsve, we talked about the character and discussed his biography, we exposed Sebastian to different experiences that he had to have in order to know what his character's values ​​and beliefs were, and we did various tests looking for the most suitable appearance and outfits.

AGERPRES: What is the subject of the film and where will the filming take place?

Cristian Mungiu: Filming will take place mainly in Norway. The film starts from the relationship between two families with children who end up living next to each other in a very small settlement, a proximity that makes them meditate more on the limits of personal freedom, the fluid border between family authority and that of society, as well as the relationship between personal values ​​and social norms.

AGERPRES: What other actors are in the cast?

Cristian Mungiu: Renate Reinsve plays Sebastian's wife in the film. There are many other actors from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, but also a few from Romania.

AGERPRES: You said that filming could start in March and finish in May. When do you expect the film to be ready to reach the public?

Cristian Mungiu: With film, it's easier to say when you hope to start than when you think you'll finish. A lot depends on the actors' schedules, the weather, the duration of the special effects and post-production. We are in the process of creating a series of partnerships for the production of the film, associations that will give us as much creative freedom as possible. At this point, it is more likely that the film will be ready to be shown to the public only in 2026, but after we finish filming we will know better if we could be ready faster. A lot also depends on the date when we start filming for "Memories of the Golden Age 3", which we hope to start working on as soon as possible after filming for "Fjord".

[owl-falls-au]

Stan talking to Bill Owl Falls AU | Stan hablando con Bill Owl Falls AU

IN ENGLISH

Bill: What are you doing here?

Stan looked at Bill, they were back in their mental escape, the reason for his visit was for desperate measures, right outside his head he was trying to stop Hunter from hurting the other kids. He knows that Belos had control over his mind, so he wouldn't allow him to continue hurting that child... But for that, he needed Bill's help.

Stan: Look, I know I told you not to interfere with anything in the physical world and all that, and I wouldn't come here if it wasn't to ask you for help...

Bill:Hahaha! At least you're honest, flea-eater - he laughs mockingly as he sits down on an armchair that appeared out of nowhere -

Stan: Just listen, please! I need you to help me, I don't know how to get Belos out of Hunter's head, and with every second that passes, we could lose him!

Bill: And why do you think I care about that, furball?

Stan didn't want to say it out loud, he knew the answer, he knew it perfectly...

He and Bill were one and the same, two sides of the same coin...

I didn't remember this until a few weeks ago with the help of Ford...

He was horrified, terrified, livid, and mortified all at the same time... all he could do was rage at this new revelation. The revelation that he was Bill Cipher and everything he had done under that name haunted him as the man he was now.

I wasn't sure if I would remember everything as time went on and less important memories would fade away, But I was sure that in his mind there were memories of a life as a swindler demon.

He regretted everything. Everything. He had regretted a lot back then too, but now he could look back with the wisdom that his second chance had given him.

... Oh titan, this was crazy. And that's even with the Collector and Belos here...

No, he wasn't that person. Not anymore!

And in the end it was not like Belos, nor the collector, nor Bill!

It was different now. He'd lived a different life. A life with people who loved him. Even if they hadn't always been the best. Eda, King, Luz, Fiddleford, the kids... Ford....

Oh Titan... Ford didn't know... But he could already sense that he had figured it out after Stan left the subject hanging.

How was he going to tell Ford all this? Was he going to? Would Ford even believe him? Would he think Bill was back? That Bill had taken over Stan's psyche or merged with Stan? That last idea disgusts him...

No, it wasn't Bill, even though he had his memories, he wasn't that person anymore, and he refused to accept Bill even as a part of himself...

Bill: I can hear all your thoughts, mangy... And I don't like the idea of us being the same person either...

Stan sighs heavily, he didn't have time to ramble, he had to come to an agreement, something, anything... he couldn't allow Hunter to suffer any more...

Stan: Please, Bill... I need to save that kid...

Bill doesn't answer, he just turns his back, it was curious that they now looked the same, which reinforces the horrible thought that They are the same person, they shared memories, they shared experiences... It was a damn mirror... And the only person who could help him save his children was himself...

There was a somewhat long silence, while Bill did not look at Stan, he seemed to be thinking, considering something. What was he thinking?

Bill: ... Why do you care so much about those humans? Humans are so weak... They are easy to manipulate, to hurt, to kill... Like everything in the universe... Why do you care about those humans if you are me?

Stan: N-no, we're not the same person...

Bill: Oh, Fez, you're wrong about that... You and I are one soul sharing the same body, two halves divided by AXOLOTL... doomed to fight each other in an endless cycle... You are me and I am you... You can't escape the truth... So answer me, my future incarnation... What makes you so different from me?

Stan hesitates a little, he knew they were similar in many ways, they were scammers, survivors, people who lost their home due to a terrible mistake, who pretend to be happy when they are not, who seek something more than just what they have been given... But there was something that set Stan apart from Bill...

Stan: ...I have a lot to lose... People who need my help... And I need them to be safe...

Bill: ...Okay, I'll help you...

Stan: Really?

Bill: On one condition...

Stan: Sure, one condition, why not? ... What do you want?

Bill: admit that we are the same person ...

Stan: What?! No! I never-

The conversation is interrupted by screams outside Stan's mind.

Bill: Tick tock, Fez... You're running out of time... - he said mockingly

Stan: I... I... Ah! Okay! I admit it! You and I are the same person!

Bill: Very good, very good... And...?

Stan: - frustrado - Listen, you knucklehead! I have to get back there and protect my kids! I know you don't care about anything but your own ass, but I need your help! So do something good for once with your life and help me save my family!

EN ESPAÑOL

Bill: ¿Que haces aquí?

Stan miro a Bill, estaban de nuevo en su escape mental, la razón de su visita era por medidas desesperadas, justo afuera de su cabeza estaba tratando de evitar que Hunter le haga daño a los demas niños, sabia que Belos tenía control sobre su mente, así que no permitiría que continuara lastimando a ese niño... Pero para eso, necesitaba la ayuda de Bill

Stan: mira, se que te dije que no interfieras en nada del mundo físico y todo eso, y no vendría aqui si no fuera para pedirte ayuda...

Bill: ¡Jajaja! Al menos eres sincero, pulgoso - rie burlonamente mientras se sienta en un sillón que apareció de la nada

Stan: ¡Solo escucha, por favor! Necesito que me ayudes, no sé cómo sacar a Belos de la cabeza de Hunter ¡y con cada segundo que pase, podríamos perderlo!

Bill: ¿Y por qué crees que eso me importa, bola de pelos?

Stan: ... Porque...

Stan no quería decirlo en voz alta, sabia la respuesta, la sabia perfectamente...

El y Bill eran una misma persona , las dos caras de la misma moneda...

No lo recordaba hasta hace semanas atrás con ayuda de Ford...

Estaba horrorizado, aterrorizado, lívido y mortificado, todo al mismo tiempo... todo lo que podía hacer era enfurecerse con esta nueva revelación. La revelación de que él era Bill Cipher y que todo lo que había hecho bajo ese nombre lo atormentaba como el hombre que era ahora.

No estaba seguro de si recordaría todo a medida que pasara el tiempo y los recuerdos menos importantes se iban a desvanecer, pero si tenía la seguridad de saber que en su mente hay recuerdos de una vida como un demonio estafador

Se arrepintió de todo. De todo. También se había arrepentido de mucho en aquel entonces, pero ahora podía mirar atrás con la sabiduría que le dió su segunda oportunidad

... Oh, titán, esto era una locura. Y eso que incluso con el coleccionista y Belos aquí...

No, él no era esa persona. ¡Ya no!

¡Y en definitiva no era como Belos, ni el coleccionista, ni Bill!

Ahora era diferente. Había vivido una vida diferente. Una vida con personas que lo amaban. Aunque no siempre habían sido las mejores. Eda, King, Luz, Fiddleford, los niños... Ford.

Oh Titan... Ford no lo sabía... Pero ya podía intuir que lo había descifrado después de que Stan dejara el tema al aire

¿Cómo iba a contarle todo esto a Ford? ¿Lo iba a hacer? ¿Ford siquiera le creería? ¿Pensaría que Bill había vuelto? ¿Que Bill se había apoderado de la psique de Stan o se había fusionado con Stan? Esa última idea le repugna...

No, no era Bill, aunque tenga sus memorias, ya no era esa persona, y se negaba a aceptar a Bill siquiera como una parte de si mismo...

Bill: puedo escuchar todos tus pensamientos, sarnoso... Y a mí tampoco me agrada la idea de que seamos la misma persona...

Stan suspira pesadamente, no tenía tiempo para divagar, tenía que llegar a un acuerdo, algo, lo que sea... no podía permitir que Hunter sufra más...

Stan: por favor, Bill... Necesito salvar a ese niño...

Bill no responde, solo le da la espalda, era curioso que ahora se vieran igual, lo que refuerza el horrible pensamiento de que son la misma persona, de que compartían memorias, que compartían experiencias... Era un maldito espejo... Y la única persona que podría ayudarlo a salvar a sus niños era si mismo...

Hubo un silencio algo largo, mientras Bill no le dirigía la mirada a Stan, parecía estar pensando, considerando algo ¿Que era lo que estaba pensando?

Bill: ... ¿Porque te importan tanto esos humanos? Los humanos son tan débiles... Son fáciles de manipular, de lastimar, de matar... Cómo todo en el universo... ¿Porque te importan esos humanos si tú eres yo?

Stan: n-no, no somos la misma persona...

Bill: oh, Fez, te equivocas en eso... Tu y yo somos un alma compartiendo el mismo cuerpo, dos mitades divididas por AXOLOTL... condenados a pelear el uno contra el otro en un ciclo sin fin... Tu eres yo y yo soy tu... No puedes escapar de la verdad... Así que respóndeme, futura encarnación mía... ¿Que te hace tan diferente a mi?

Stan duda un poco, sabía que eran similares en muchos aspectos, eran estafadores, sobrevivientes, personas que perdieron su hogar por un terrible error, que fingen estar felices cuando no es así, que buscan algo más que solo lo que se les ha dado... Pero había algo que diferencia a Stan de Bill...

Stan: ... Yo tengo mucho que perder... Personas que necesitan mi ayuda... Y necesito que estén a salvo...

Bill: ... Bien, te ayudaré...

Stan: ¿En serio?

Bill: con una condición...

Stan: claro, una condición, ¿Porque no? ... ¿Que quieres?

Bill: admite que somos la misma persona ...

Stan: ¡¿Que?! ¡No! ¡Yo nunca-

La conversación es interrumpida por los gritos en el exterior de la mente de Stan

Bill: tic tac, Fez... Se te acaba el tiempo... - dijo de forma burlona

Stan: yo... Yo... ¡Ah! ¡Está bien! ¡Lo admito! ¡Tu y yo somos la misma persona!

Bill: muy bien, muy bien... ¿Y...?

Stan: - frustrado - ¡Escucha, cabeza hueca! ¡Tengo que volver allá y proteger a mis niños! ¡Se que no te importa nada más que tú trasero, pero necesito tu ayuda! ¡Así que haz algo bueno por una vez con tu vida y ayúdame a salvar a mi familia!

[overbiots]

I DESPERATELY need Dottore c.ai bots that aren't "Hes insane, evil and horny!" as the opening or "im dottore" I NEED bots that have a bunch of interaction straight from the first interaction ( shout out @vaampiired for that )

Not so little rant about wrong accusations of dottore utc, if you don't wanna read about S/A mentions feel free to ignore what's under the cut.

And another thing most people don't seem to grasp is the fact that he NEVER S/A'd Collei. Not once has it been stated or implied that he has. He's known for CRUEL EXPERIMENTS. I'm not quite sure how the rumor that he assaulted Collei even started, but it's not even remotely factual. Even so, he cured Collei AND experimented on her. LET ME REITERATE, HE'S NEVER S/A'D COLLEI. He never did; people just like to make up reasons to further their hatred for Dottore and his stans. Tbh, it’s more of people act like a hive mind than them making their own decisions. They probably saw one post from an anti saying that Dottore assaulted her and that they should hate Dottore and now everyone echoes the same reason. Dottore isn’t a problematic villain; he’s just a villain. Which again, I don’t get why they make up shit that isn't stated by the game or its mangas. because without an actual villain genshin would be boring. Everyone always complains how “baby” this game is but when a villain comes along that’s actually evil, everyone suddenly hates it, and throws around false claims that arent true. HOWEVER, Dottore never had an onscreen interaction with her and never mentions her both in game and webtoon. But, Collei's connection with Dottore is the only thing a select few are pinning their focus on, they are legit mad the story moved past her trauma and now Collei is... just a girl trying to grow up, with a few side effects from the didease she used to have. She is shy, anxious, and not as important as she was in webtoon, which I believe is a part of reason the why some people are so hyper-fixated on Dottore, and bounce around infactual accusations. This type of thing is nothing new: so long as a character who is morally gray or morally “wrong” exists, people will come up with reasons (canon or otherwise) to hate them and shame people for liking them, which is asinine might I add. Collei has only one mention of him in her voicelines, saying that she was sent to him to cure her Eleazar. Collei doesn't mention him in her character stories, nor she talked about him in any event or quest. Same for the manga. The only people at fault are always or abstract "fatui", or Barnabas.

There are a lot of interesting moments around her cure. As we know, she was injected with god's resedue (GR). Pulling from reddit, In the Baizhu story quest, GR was used as a cure, and at the end (after the twist), it was portrayed as a last-resort-ish medicine. So now we have two instances of using GR as a somewhat valid cure. An ending of the webtoon is implying that Webtorre disposed of Barnabas, who was responsible for experiments on Collei, and Omega build later erased Webtorre. But this plot point is such a sheer horror for people, who expect that their fav will be relevant 'til Celestia chapters, they you rarely see it being aknowledged, let alone accepted. Dottore is a villain. It's not a diabolical, evil one. Just a villain to the plot, A well written one at that.

And to anyone that actually took the time to read all of this, I commend you.

[saintsenara]

What I really struggle with in HP is JKR's shallow neoliberal world-building, and how it forces characters to navigate it quite awkwardly. As a big fan of the werewolf lore, I hate what she did there. I want to accept some of the self hatred and oversimplification of the society as complexities of the characters, but some of it also just feels like bad writing. Of course I am a bit of a Lupin stan and I'll do some gymnastics to try to make him a better man/werewolf than he'd ever be (I like to picture him as kind of a Union rep), but I don't know, I just really feel like canon is lacking. Am I just not a great reader?

no, i don't think you're a bad reader, anon.

when it comes to worldbuilding, jkr is certainly no tolkien - a lot of the inconsistencies in canon [i.e. why dumbledore flies to the ministry in philosopher's stone] come from her not having the world fully mapped out prior to writing, and, while this isn't as much of an issue as the fandom makes out [lots of authors adapt their worldbuilding as they go along!], it's definitely exacerbated by the fact that she has a tendency to claim certain inconsistencies were intentional.

the series' politics are also clearly incredibly neoliberal. and part of this [such as the fact that the order is defending the "sensible" status quo] is obviously a bleed-through from jkr's worldview, and i think it's legitimate to acknowledge and criticise that and how it manifests itself in the doylist text.

nonetheless, i think it is worth saying that the fandom has a tendency to criticise aspects of the text which ought instead to be understood as intentional spaces we can devote our energy to filling in. the genre conventions of the series require it to become an uncomplicated good-versus-evil trajectory which ends with all being well - and i do think that, when we're criticising jkr's writing, it's important to acknowledge that the ending of the series feels unsatisfactory because it does these conventions properly, rather than in spite of that fact. similarly, the reason that apparently key aspects of wizarding society [law, politics, etc.] don't get discussed in detail is because they're not the series' focus - i've mentioned elsewhere that i'm obsessed with the concept of wizarding medicine, and that i find the way this is presented in the series really shallow, but i recognise that this is because medicine isn't something the series wants to focus on. order of the phoenix is too long as it is - we don't need 200 more pages of detailed descriptions of how healers learn their craft...

and so i think it's fun for us to work in our own writing to make the worldbuilding feel a bit more cohesive.

the easiest way i've found to square this circle with the watsonian text is to recognise that harry is a partial narrator. he's someone with an incredibly self-serving, black-and-white moral code; he's incredibly privileged within wizarding society and comparatively privileged within muggle society [by which i don't mean that he isn't neglected by the dursleys, but he's also canonically white, able-bodied, cisgender, a native english speaker, well-educated, raised in a middle-class household and so on] and, therefore, never has to actually think about the politics and structure of wizarding society; and he's also a teenage boy, which explains him not being particularly observant or politically aware.

[the best example of this is, of course, that he doesn't give a shit about sirius' treatment of kreacher - because he likes sirius - and he doesn't consider his own mastery over kreacher to be a moral abomination - because he's shown to not really understand the broader social impact of slavery - but he detests the malfoys' treatment of dobby entirely and only because he dislikes the malfoys.]

his attitude towards lupin - and his attitude towards werewolves more generally - can be made sense of through this, i think. harry doesn't care about the broader state-sanctioned oppression of werewolves because it doesn't impact him, he cares about lupin's experience because it does; harry doesn't notice the imperialist overtones to lupin's self-presentation [that is, that he bears "the unmistakable signs of having tried to live among wizards"] and considers lupin's embrace of "civilisation" to be a good thing [in comparison to werewolves like greyback, who reject it] because it's what he personally considers legitimate; harry focuses on specific aspects of lupin's character because he's not a omniscient perspective - he's a [canonically short-sighted] teenage boy.

[jedimasterbailey]

WARNING! AHSOKA SHOW RANT DOWN BELOW! SPOILERS!

Furthermore, I’m going to be completely honest in this review so if you’re someone who truly enjoyed the show, you’re a Rebels stan, etc. then this post isn’t for you. Haters will be blocked immediately so take your negative energy elsewhere. You have been warned!

For everyone else, buckle up because I’ve got a lot to say and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well. All comments are welcome so long as they are respectful to everyone.

Okay, so now that the show is done for now. I’m going to be listing some major talking points. We’re there some aspects of the show that I enjoyed/appreciated? Absolutely! But overall, I’m leaving this show very disappointed, confused, and frustrated. The finale left me feeling empty and never have I personally been more silent after a Star Wars show. Now mind you I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I love Ahsoka’s character dearly as well as the Clone Wars and the prequels so there is bias here. Furthermore I am pretty indifferent with Rebels so going in knowing that the Ahsoka show wasn’t going to be…well about Ahsoka but rather a Rebels sequel, that already put a bad taste in my mouth and I was very nervous how this show was going to go and well…it was exactly what I expected from a Filoni/cheap Disney production. Without further ado, here’s a list of all my beef.

1.) Lack of a Coherent and Cohesive Story

So I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but my main issue with Dave Feloni productions is that the story seems to be going all over the place and there’s a lot of moving parts that don’t necessarily meld well together. I often think to myself that Ahsoka is an example of a poorly written fanfiction brought to the screen. So the plot of the show initally was focused on Ahsoka bringing Ezra home. Okay, that’s simple, there’s many different ways we can make that cool and interesting but that’s not what happened here. We’re just filled with a ton of confusing information and we’re in for a very boring journey heading for a very anticlimactic and unsatisfying ending.

For starters, we the audience are informed that Ahsoka and Sabine had started an apprenticeship (which I have ALOT of issues with but that’s for another talking point) but they got into a tiff (which we never find out about and/or see) and now things are just depressing and weird between them. First of all, anyone who has seen Rebels KNOWS that Ahsoka and Sabine literally had very little to do with each other; I can’t recall a single conversation those two have had in the past, nor was it ever eluded to us that Sabine is Force sensitive.

Second we see that Hera and Sabine don’t have anything to do with each other for some reason? Which is weird considering all that’s happened and their history but okay suddenly Sabine, a grown ass 30+ year old woman is Ahsoka’s responsibility, which again why? We don’t get any background information, we’re just expected to accept and go with it.

Third, Ahsoka and Hyuang are reunited and working together immediately but again do we know how that became to be? No. We see none of that.

Fourth we are told that Morgan Elsbeth, a one off antagonist from the Mandalorian that Ahsoka fought is suddenly a Dathormirian woman even though she looks nothing like one besides her outfits in the show nor was that eluded to previously.

Fifth, we are introduced to these two new…I don’t even know what to call them “dark siders” “non Jedi” Shin and Baylan (who is apparently a former Jedi from the Clone Wars but did we see that or see how he knew Ahsoka and Anakin? No.) but we aren’t given any reason to care about them other than they’re in Ahsoka’s way of completing her mission. They end up being more like time fillers that anything else and end up walking away from the big conclusion. Like…why are they even in this show and why should we care?

Perhaps Dave Feloni has this big grand story in his mind but he’s so far up his own ass that none of us get to see this story. It’s like seeing a little kid play with their action figures and they’re super passionate about it but as a outsider you have no idea what’s going on. Now this isn’t good not only for the sake of good storytelling but it’s bad for business too.

Disney wants to make as much money off of Star Wars as they can. That’s extremely obvious. However here you have a show that isn’t going to pull in a casual Star Wars viewers (they would have to watch so much content to catch up on whose who and what is going on) nor is it really going to pull in fans of Clone Wars and Rebels because while they overlap, the fandoms are different and Feloni hasn’t done a good job melding those worlds together thus the divisive opinions on this show. This leaves for an incredibly small niche of people and honestly I think whatever toy sells they make from this show will do better than the actual ratings. I would be shocked if they greenlit for another season because I’m pretty done with this story as is many of the people who would be willing to watch.

All in all this is embarrassing how Feloni and the gang with all the money and resources can’t pull off a simple and epic show when there are thousands of unpaid fanfic writers that could pull off a much better story and build these beloved up characters, which leads into my next point.

2. The Characterizations of Ahsoka, Sabine, and Hera Are Bad

Now I have mentioned previously how much I love Ahsoka but damn it upon watching this show, she may as well be dead. Ahsoka has been given the Luke Skywalker treatment in that Ahsoka has been stripped of everything that made her lovable in Clone Wars and Rebels and is left as a sorry shell of who she once was. Her dialouge is hollow and lifeless not like the lively Ashley counterpart that made us all love Ahsoka in the first place. And no don’t give this “well she’s older now” bullshti excuse because Obi Wan Kenobi never lost his cheekiness and charisma as an old man, neither did Yoda, or Leia, etc. Just because you age doesn’t mean you have to be lifeless. Maturity does not equate to emotionless. Secondly for a woman whose well into her fifties and still acts very much like a Jedi Ahsoka’s views on the Jedi and their philosophy seem very warped and the audience is again left confused as to where she stands on the Jedi. I mentioned in a previous post how I couldn’t stand Ahsoka’s negativity towards the Jedi and how nobody seems to matter but Anakin (even though he’s put her through a ton of trauma and has tried to kill her as Vader) because it’s just so distasteful to the people who raised her and loved her that died by genocide no thanks to Anakin. Ahsoka has zero character development other than she seems to forgive Anakin for his wrongdoings despite the nonexistent apology. For a show that has her name on it, she sure is boring. Makes me miss Ashley and old Ahsoka even more.

As for Sabine I probably could write a whole thesis on how unlikeable she is but I’ll keep it short. One, I find it sick on Feloni’s part that he’s having a grown 30+ year old woman act like a teenager and be snarky with just about everyone. Ezra, who annoyed me immensely in Rebels, was WAY more mature and grounded. And again I’m sick and tired of the Mandalorian excuse of you getting to be an asshole because youre Mandalorian. Shut up. No one is above manners and decency. Sabine’s actions in this show have been far from Jedi like and thanks to her immaturity, she left Ahsoka for dead once and is indirectly responsible for the death of New Republic officers who were trying to stop this very dangerous mission that could possibly bring Thrawn and the Empire back ensuing more death and destruction of innocents. Ahsoka deserves to be angry with her for her words and actions, but of course Sabine gets a free pass and her bad behavior will continue to be enabled.

As for Hera…when did she become such a Karen? Just because you’re an officer doesn’t mean you get to abuse your power for your own personal agenda. That Senator was right about her. Finding Thrawn is a threat to the galaxy and using resources and putting lives at risk for it is a big deal. Hera was depicted as honorable and responsible in the Rebels series and I swear I was watching a different person on screen. Also she is a major Sabine enabler and that needs to stop. Sabine is grown and needs to grow up and fix her attitude.

3.) Anakin’s Role In the Show

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Hayden and I love Anakin, I have the dude tattooed on me for Force sake so don’t come at me for that, but I had some issues on how his character was used here. First, I’m tired of Ahsoka’s relevance to Anakin being the only defining trait about her. Second, I’m continuously annoyed by Anakin’s lack of accountability in these shows; he never once apologizes to Ahsoka for all that’s happened, he never once’s has a meaningful conversation with her; he just basically beats her down until she finally lets go of her past. Did I love the Clone Wars flashbacks! YES! They were my favorite part of the entire show and I want MORE of that; but I so wish Anakin could have been reflecting on his own actions with Ahsoka instead of being like “Is ThAt WhAt ThIs Is AbOuT?” Like come on 🙄

4.) Ahsoka’s “It’s Time To Move On” Line

Are you kidding me Ahsoka? There is still so much more to unpack with her past such as all the other relationships she’s had that completely changed her trajectory like BARRISS and REX and she could also be a mentor figure to Luke and Leia, etc. But nope the only thing that matters is getting over Anakin and all is well despite being stranded in another galaxy and Thrawn being unleashed back home. Like THIS IS NOT OKAY!

5.) The Cheap Ass Production of this Show

I’m not normally one to comment on production but it was so obvious in this show how many corners were cut. For one characters like Thrawn look god awful. Dude looking like a blue Elon Musk instead of an intimidating villain. The use of fog and the volume were very obvious and the places we went to were so boring minus the red leaves forest. The worlds of Star Wars used to be so cool and otherworldly but that’s not the case nowadays and it’s sad. Also why does Force ghost Anakin look better in the 2000’s than it does now? I prefer quality over quantity so I really wish Disney would quit churning out these cheaply made productions and have the audacity to rise their Disney plus subscriptions and not pay their people well.

6.) THE RACISM

I’m so fucking tired of this y’all! 🤬 of course make the Jewish actor in the shipyard be greedy and power hungry. Of course make the Asian Senator the asshole and not any of the white protagonists. The antisemitism and racism against POC is unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to you too.

Conclusion

I’m sure I’m missing some talking points but these are my biggest grips and as an Ahsoka fan I’m disappointed. Being a miserable Jedi not Jedi responsible for bringing a new evil into the galaxy but being content being stranded in another galaxy is not the future I believe Ahsoka deserves and I sincerely hope they don’t continue this story. It’s just bad all around. Except for the Loth cats… the Loth cats can stay. And Clone Wars flashbacks.

[profundcherrylady]

Analysis on Mabel (Part 2)

They were both very temperamental people who were going through their own hell, and it wouldn't be fair to say one had it worse than the other, because yes, Stan did spend all those years trying to get Ford back through the portal and didn't even get a "thank you", but he had been warned about the dangers of said portal and the reason why he fell into it in the first place was because of a fight that could've been avoided in the first place. I feel like there are situations like this one where it's not a matter of who was in the "right" because pointing fingers doesn't solve anything nor does any good to any of the people involved. Which is why, getting back to the main topic, is so absurd to expect Mabel to be better than these two. I mean Stan ruined Ford's proyect being fairly older and more mature than Mabel (not for that many years, but still, they were almost in college) so how does him making that selfish decision make more sense than Mabel being an emotional pre-teen?. Mabel was a 12 year old who asked for ONE more day of summer because she was scared of being left behind, which if it did actually happen it wouldn't had caused any harm to anybody, she also didn't know what was the thing that Dipper had in his backpack or what could unleash, nor that Blendin's body was being possesed like Bill. Not even we as an audience knew at the time, so how could we expect HER to know? Things had been going bad for her all day and one more day of summer wasn't going to kill anybody, which is why she was tricked. I think it's incredible how people seem to forget that fact... she was tricked, she had been promised something harmful by someone she trusted. And besides, as it has been said, staying with Ford was NOT the right decision for Dipper either; he was not thinking clearly when he almost accepted, nor Ford was when offering it tbh. Something reasonable would've been, I don't know, tell him that they could both come back to Gravity Falls every summer and during the summer he could be his apprientance, which would have let Dipper learn a lot without taking out all other parts of his life, letting him live his life, go to school, interact with other kids his age and socialize and stay with Mabel while helping out Ford during the summer. Mabel during the weirdmaggedon is a bit different, because she had been told people were suffering out of her bubble but she still wanted to stay, but thinking back it isn't THAT crazy. Like.. she was in the one place she knew she wasn't getting harmed in the middle of the apocalypse as long she just didn't leave, which is selfish of course considering none of it was real, but regardless in a situation of crisis a lot of people would be making the selfish choices, so I don't feel like I'm in a place to judge. So in conclusion, Mabel, they could never make me hate you; she is a very complex character which is what I love about her.