#and defend it to the death lol

[maidenvault]

Not “Only my reading of canon is correct” or “Interpretations are subjective and all valid” but a secret third thing, “More than one interpretation can be valid but there’s a reason your English teacher had you cite quotes and examples in your papers, you have to have a strong argument that your interpretation is actually supported by the text or it is just wrong and I’m fine with telling you it’s wrong, actually.”

[aimomin]

They're my sons btw

[tabithatwo]

(x)

(this is a pls stop blaming juliette lewis for nat’s arc and death post <3)

[o-wild-west-wind]

tumblr algorithm stop feeding me takes that this show is just a silly goofy comedy that shouldn’t include death or that Izzy is the token disabled elder queer on the show where an actual disabled elder queer is literally the romantic lead or that Lucius and Pete being called “mateys” is diluting their gayness because it’s not “husbands” or that it’s sexist that Zheng lost her fleet and later prioritized her love for a man or that Ed is Izzy’s abuser because we conveniently forgot all of season 1 or that trauma is never followed through with because sometimes actions are used instead of words or that Ed learned nothing because the inn was apparently a whim as if he hasn’t been obsessing over retirement from day 1 I swear did we even watch the same show?? I literally feel like I’m in backwards land?

I have a really novel concept for y’all complaining about character’s arcs not being fully resolved or healed and that’s called there is supposed to be another season of this show

I also have another really novel concept as to why every single character did not have a one on one trauma apology session and so much time was spent on Ed and Stede and that is because this is literally the Ed and Stede show and also sometimes parallels are meant to be inferred and extrapolated because that is what efficient storytelling does instead of spoonfeeding you

And my most novel concept of all as to why some beloved characters had less screen time is because Max is a massive jerk and cut the budget

Y’all this wasn’t personal and maybe this show was never about Izzy maybe the show called our flag means death is actually about death maybe sad does not equal homophobic letdown maybe the brown gay character introduced as the love interest from day 1 gets to outlive the angry white guy that had a redemption arc after actively bullying and trying to break up every gay couple for a season I don’t know what to tell you just can you please let non-white people have this arc for once without assuming it’s an attack on you I’m BEGGING y’all

[magpiesketchins]

OOHH I KNOW I KNOW what i want to see drawn by you the most is Mort! I know you haven't reread his book yet but like, maybe you have some memory of how you imagined him, maybe you've even drawn him before 🥺

A boy for you!

Another character I didn't have a design for yet! It's been a while since I've read beyond the first few pages but I imagine him all gangly - hasn't grown into his limbs, his features or his clothes yet 😂

[dramadramallama]

deadass about to fight people defending the core message of death's game like there's nothing to criticize about suicide being straight-up presented as this Great Unforgivable Sin™. personally, i think it could have been such a powerful journey if the preachy tone was completely removed, if the personification of death was utterly neutral, and the main character, yi-jae, wasn't shamed and guilted into Understanding, after going through other people's lives.

i loved the show (!), but the punitive aspect coupled with the literal guilt-tripping and torture simply does not align with the feel-good moral i've seen pleople try to apply to it. the problem is it loses almost all meaning if the character goes through that development under the threat of rotting in hell forever. he's basically reduced to being a rat in a maze, fighting tooth and nail to survive vague, impossible rules, and being absolutely disdained and berated for it.

people do not commit suicide because they don't love their family/loved ones enough. i feel as much empathy for the ones left behind as i do for the ones who choose to leave.

how can we reasonably expect him to experience "illumination" when he's put into increasingly difficult situations where death is basically unavoidable?

i am glad yi-jae came to regret and to feel remorse, i am glad he was amazingly able to see past all the pain and torture he was put through, i am glad he was given a second shot at life (?)... but at what cost? the man basically ends up living his twelfth life alone, and empty, and broken. what a way to show him life is worth living. he did not deserve what lead to his suicide, and he certainly did not deserve what followed.

he tried. he was full of love. he did good. he was good.

[anti-ao3]

i genuinely hate how my "progressive" peers will always use muslims as primary examples of misogynists/homophobes, as though we don't already live in a christian country that kills women and lgbtq+ ppl every single day.

i ESPECIALLY hate this considering what's happening in palestine. it feels to me that ppl just want to find "reasons" to justify the genocide.

[chronicallyfckd]

I really need you all to understand the damage you're doing by continuously perpetuating the stigma around cluster B personality disorders. And I need you to understand that we are just as deserving of love and compassion, and especially respect, just like everybody else is. We are not monsters!

Did you even know that research has proven that we develop our disorders through genetic predisposition AND environmental causes, most notably repeated childhood trauma through abuse? Did you? The same abuse you claim all of us are actively partaking in by showing symptoms of our disorders. That abuse. Which are symptoms. Which are, inherently, trauma responses. But hey! That's right! Trauma responses Like That are only okay if the person has (C-)PTSD only. What? There's an extreme overlap between PTSD and cluster B PD's? No. That can't be! Cluster B is just abusive monsters and definitely not victims and survivors themselves!!! (/sarcasm) OH! And did you know that there's also a huuuge overlap between all of cluster B and autism? Especially BPD (but let's be real, all four fit...). Did you know that a lot of people are misdiagnosed with BPD, for example, when really they're only autistic? And vice versa. And some of us have both! (Like me!) Is every autistic person an abusive monster now, too? By your logic, they must be. But no. Autistic people are just big babies. They're so pure! Couldn't hurt a damn fly. (/sarcasm, again... Infantilisation of autism also needs to go.)

As if it isn't already shitty enough that this stigma is actively sabotaging our attempts at healing from our traumas and changing our reactionary behaviours... Because guess what - mental health "professionals" largely believe in the stigma and refuse patients for having any of these PD's. So, we can't even get the help we need and want. Therefore, we don't even get a chance at getting better.

Thanks for nothing. </3

[gemsofthegalaxy]

obviously i understand people being emotional and upset (even though i'm delighted, personally) that's totally cool. but folks who think they can't come back from this, that one or both of them reacted so horribly and said/did something unforgivable etc. i just don't understand.

Stolas and Blitz are both very fucked up people! Blitz is horribly self-loathing and covers it constantly with bravado and flippancy even though he cares deeply and longs for connection. Stolas is isolated, naive, and insecure and doesn't know what he's doing a good chunk of the time

of course their communication is not going to be great. they are not going to use therapyspeak or hear each other out properly the first time around. They've never come anywhere near close addressing these issues before, hell, they haven't even acknowledged them to each other, and barely to themselves in some cases. of course Blitz acts flippant, then lashes out, and of course Stolas gets overemotional and runs away. none of this is unexpected, all of it makes sense

if relationship drama is not what you're interested in with this show, that's one thing, but, it's also been a huge part of the fundamental premise of the show from day one. I will always shout to the rooftops that this is a romance we're dealing with, because the plot is heavily driven by the main character's romantic relationship and their character growth to develop into people who can be in a relationship is the fucking show! if they had one single conflict addressing things that have been bubbling under their interactions from moment 0 and it was resolved easily and nicely, well, that would not be very good or interesting writing in my humble opinion.

obviously, whether you think the conflict was handled well and whether they are redeemable as characters or as a couple is fully subjective. lord knows i've been annoyed by the trajectory of romances that other people loved. however the way i see it is this show is very clear about what it's about from the start, including how the romance would likely shake out.

what constitutes as good writing, good art, etc., is also fairly subjective too so it's not going to be the show for everyone. but i personally love what it is and am very satisfied with how this conversation between the romantic leads went

[rayssyscourse]

public service announcement!

wanna know what? I'm rejecting origin-discourse labels now. I am actually surprised at just how juvenile and petty you ALL are.

i refuse to align myself with anybody of any label who thinks doxxing people, sending death threats, hounding and harassing people, or anything else like that is in any capacity acceptable or justifiable. those are not valiant efforts to defend your truth and justice, those are crimes. doxxing is a crime. death threats are a crime. why do I have to specify that I do not support violent/malicious crime?

you are not middle schoolers. I should not have to remind you of this.

normally I'm all for different opinions, but if your "opinion" is that you should get to behave like an uncivilized three-year-old because someone on the internet made a post you didn't like... that's not an opinion, that's a one-way ticket to the alt-right. I'm sure you'll be very popular over there, and we'll be glad to see you off!

so yeah. in light of all the chaos unfolding in the syscourse tag recently, I'm dropping the 'endo critical' label entirely. I'll still have all my same outlooks and perspectives and discussions, but I'm so over origin discourse labels, lol. please feel free to keep talking to me about origins and origin discourse!! i just don't want to be put under any of those labels anymore.

behind every label, there is a person with their own perspectives and beliefs. and if labels are really SO important to you that you're ready to head off to war (and crimes! doxxing is a crime! death threats are a crime! shocker, I know!) over them... the problem isn't the labels, the problem is you.

[ladyluscinia]

Very few people bothered to find out what S1 Izzy / complex Edward enjoyers were interpreting differently than the "Izzy is Kylo Ren / Ed's his victim" crowd that made us like him in the first place, so it figures that now very few people are bothering to understand what a lot of us are criticizing in S2 while the - shockingly - exact same crowd leads the discussion on how it was a beautiful season and Izzy enjoyers are just incapable of decentering their problematic fave.

And it's once again leading to a barrage of posts lecturing us about why the takes they imagine we hold are wrong and supporting the same toxic fandom atmosphere that aimed to harass us all out for a year and a half. Cool. Glad to see no lessons were learned whatsoever.

Only difference is now we actually might leave, on account of you don't generally put up with extended harassment to support a show you don't even think is being written well. 🤷‍♀️

[elftwink]

my personal advice is a lot of you would have more coherent politics if you didn't wish death on everyone who did "evil things" without ever stopping to interrogate which things are "evil" and why you think that. also though it is not a complete picture of your personality I have a hard time believing in your ability to show compassion when you're chomping at the bit to say certain people should be condemned to die because you hate them so much. can you do some reflection on the evilness of wishing other people would die or is that automatically fine because you only wish death on "bad" people?

[limeade-l3sbian]

just because you havent ever felt deeply about media doesnt mean other ppl havent. im not satying that send threats is right but at least consider why a person might do it before you try to play high and mighty

If you have ever threatened an artist for not molding their creation to your personal liking, I am better than you. I didn't send white powder to Bryke when Zutara didn't happen. I wrote fan fiction and coped, like you're supposed to do lmao.

[starofhisheart]

So much of the "bad" behaviour in ofmd are trauma responses and i love that they show how yeah sometimes we dont respond in the most healthy of ways, we fuck up and we hurt those closest to us, but we still deserve love and kindness at the end of the day

Just so important to me

[fasttiger]

izzy in no way needed to die for ed’s character development like be fr

[uncanny-tranny]

Do you think that terfs will calm down with hating on trans women once womb transplants are a thing? Because their whole argument is that "trans women aren't women because no womb uwu"

No, because that frankly isn't their whole argument. They don't argue against trans women solely because "no womb," and if womb transplants were a viable and safe measure, that would absolutely not be a good argument to calm their grievances - a transphobe doesn't deal in a genuine care for others, it a disgust response.

Transphobes already have issues with trans women getting FFS, vaginas, and hell, they even have issues with trans women being fem (or masc), even if they say, "we're okay with gender nonconformity!" as a cover. Because, again, it is a disgust response that blooms in response to their own transohobia, it isn't about being able to debate them, really.

Additionally, with my experience of dealing with that kind of extreme reactionary transphobe, they don't fucking care if they're wrong. Like, do you know how many times I've talked to a TERF who tells me I only transition because of misogyny, only to then talk in circles once I say, "misogyny against me had only increased since I have transitioned to male, plus, I never faced misogyny before I transitioned," because again, it isn't about the trans people themselves per se, it's about this viseral disgust response. It is them trying to reason with their discomfort with hatred. That isn't going to go away when trans care expands or becomes even more advanced.

I really want to stress how important it is to not whittle their whole argument down to "[trans women*] don't have wombs," because you will end up missing a lot of trans people who are affected by this type of extreme reactionary transphobia.