#and i think his problem is sympathetic and relatable for many people

[atlasofoverthinking]

The Problem with the League of Villains

this is just me ranting after reading many people say that the lov deserved a better ending (i agree with them don't worry). most of that stuff has already been said but i'm bored and need something to write

so why is everyone disappointed?

by definition, an antagonist is someone that goes against the main character(s) and a villain is someone who does immoral and/or illegal things (wow, shocking)

so by definition, the league of villains is aptly named. shigaraki and dabi are mass murderers, toga is a killer too, and even if the others are 'less dangerous' they're all guilty of terorism and kidnapping a teenager.

not nice, right? then why would anyone would want them to have a good ending?

long story short: horikoshi made the league too sympathetic and relatable

when horikoshi has decided to make them funny, he's decided to make them likeable. that's not enough though. you can find a fictional villain funny and not root for them (for some reason the examples that comes to my mind are the disney villains. captain hook is hilarious but no one wants him to win)

the cause of everyone's disappointment is the relatable part. everyone in the league has gone through stuff viewers can relate. touya, shigaraki and toga have been abused; twice has mental health issues (and stuggling to get a job is relatable too lmao); spinner has been discriminated against... you get the idea

and even without knowing their backstory, most of the league's fights can be considered noble: they want to change society and make the world a better place. to take a more precise example, the league kidnapped bakugou because they thought he had gone through similar struggle as them

(this is mr compress talking in chapter 85) as far as i've seen, most of the fandom either think bakugou being chained and muzzled at the end of the sport festival was just comic relief or agree that it was fucked up

so yeah, you can't put a group of people rejected by society, who just want a better world and expect people to not like them

and that's why their ending is disappointing (the rest contains heavy spoilers of the last few chapters of mha)

they're all either in jail or six feet underground. we rationally could understand it, they're all criminals/villains so of course they wouldn't get a happy ending and face consequences for their actions. the only one who could have gotten away with it is shigaraki because of all the grooming/brainwashing he's gone through and maybe toga because she's a child

but if you relate to a character, you want them to get a happy ending. of course fans would want dabi to be at peace, but instead he's forced to spend his last moments being stared at by his abuser). of course fans would want shigaraki to be free from afo (but instead his only freedom was death). of course fans would want toga to be understood and cared for (but she never had that opportunity)

that's not very 'save to win' out of you horikoshi

maybe it's just a shortcut made by the fandom, but the league are seen more as victims of abuse than actual criminals. i mean, what's more important in dabi's story? the fact that he burned himself alive after overworking himself to get his abusive father's attention, or the fact that he's burned people alive? probably both, but there's more focus on the first element.

and obviously we would want abuse victims to get a happy ending

basically, their ending isn't coherent with what we've seen of them, and that's why people are disappointed

btw, the same logic applies to stain. some fans agree with stain's reasoning bc he's fighting against corruption. of course, his logic is stupid and he's delusional but he's introduced not long after we've discovered shouto's past. you can't say "one of the most popular heroes is abusing + all he wants is to get n°1 to satisfy his own ego" and then follow with "see that guy fighting against corruption? he's bad, don't do that"

the clever way to make sure no one would agree with stain would have been to make the heroes fight against injustice with good methods. i live for the fanfics in which izuku takes down the hpsc

okay i'm done ranting thanks for reading

[alicentral]

This is a response to a hotd critical post about the "favouritism towards Greens in screen time ratio", and I think it's so interesting how team black also feel like they're being fucked over by the showrunners when, to me, it's blindingly obvious that it's the other way round.

Not only are the show runners villainising the greens, not the blacks, they've also gone out of their way to make the blacks seem like the badass heroes who can do no wrong, and this is the root of the problem for both team black and team green. It oversimplifies the dance and goes against the themes and message of the whole book, rendering the characters either inconsistent, one-dimensional, and worst of all, flat and boring.

Lets start off with the greens. The argument that the showrunners are "gagging on the greens" doesn't hold up when we actually think about it for more than 2 seconds.

With the source material of hotd being a fictional history book with different biases and perspectives (emphasis on different perspectives), the showrunners have cherry picked what to adapt, and have chosen to take the worst of the greens as the objective truth and erase their good moments as "green propaganda". The main example that comes to mind is aegon. Plenty of other people have talked about this in depth before, but in f&b, aegon raping a girl was a rumour spread by mushroom, a narrator with a clear black bias who wasn't even in kings landing at the time. There was no reason in adapting this rumour other than to demonise aegon, and by extension, team green. The way the scene is framed, it is clear that it was never about dyana, how the rape affected her mentally, emotionally, socially, physically. For a supposedly feminist show, dyana's rape was a throwaway scene, it never had any impact on the story further. So what was the point of the scene other than to tell the audience "look at what a monster aegon is. How can you support someone like that?" And it works.

You can see on social media, any time there's something vaguely positive about the greens, you have hoards of people comment "yeah but he's a rapist" "how can you support a rapist?", etc. It forces you to side with team black. Later in the show, the audience gets to know that aegon's dick burst "like a sausage". Why would the audience need to know this? Aegon's mutilated dick is presented as "karma" for dyana and is only meant to humiliate him. And again, after this revelation, so many people on social media were making fun of his "burnt sausage". They've made a laughingstock of aegon, and as the figurehead of team green, it's clear that we're not meant to side with team green.

Furthermore, in bastardising, and sometimes, even completely erasing the relationships between team green, the showrunners have dehumanised them and made them irredeemable villains, because, again, we were never meant to side with those who "usurped the rightful queen".

The loyalty and commitment the greens had to one another made them such compelling characters and heavily shaped their central motivations and actions. Aegon only took the crown to protect his family. Aemond, after rooks rest, never called himself a king, only lord protecter even though he knows he would've made a better king than aegon. Daeron torched the riverlands to get to his mother and sister and sacked bitterbridge as revenge for his nephew. Helaena offered up her life for her son, and chose to sacrifice maelor because she knew he wouldn't understand what was happening. Their actions may not be necessarily good (and in daeron's case, actually happen to be war crimes), and their motivations may be morally grey, but they're understandable, they're sympathetic, seeing as it was out of love and loyalty, something that 21st century society can relate to. Without these complex and compelling ties, the audience is left asking why would the greens stick together if they all seemingly can't stand each other? Why fight for aegon if he doesn't even seem to care for them? What was the point in having the crown then? As a result, the characterisations feel one-dimensional (helaena being reduced to being just an "innocent" amidst her bloodthirsty family) or inconsistent (alicent. just her entire story arc. it could've been interesting if done right, but alas, no such luck), or rushed (suddenly aemond wants to be king in his own right after defending his brother's claim at storms end).

This isn't to say that team green are perfect, far from it, but the close emotional ties and relationships could've been used to elevate the internal conflicts in the show. We could've had complex characters who aren't necessarily good, but they're family and they stick together despite their personal grievances.

And this isn't even mentioning their bonds with their dragons. Where was vhagar roaring when aemond's eye was cut out? Aegon and sunfyre had the closest bond between dragon and human and that was given to rhaenyra in the show and where is dreamfyre?

One last thing on the greens, they are presented as incompetent and not equipped to rule, which is meant to show how it would be oh so much better if rhaenyra was on the throne. Criston parading meleys' head is framed as stupid as meleys was "a beloved dragon", ignoring the fact that she murdered hundreds of smallfolk at the coronation. Alicent is presented as stupid for thinking that after rooks rest, the small council would appoint her the queen, aegon in the small council was meant to be laughed at. Of course, this begs the question, if the greens were meant to be a mess of a faction with only 3 functioning dragons and now 2 effective dragon riders, how did they hold out against the blacks for so long? It's clear that the showrunners haven't thought this through.

So yeah, i don't really understand what this person was trying to say when they say that the showrunners are "gagging on the greens" when they are demonised, humiliated and stripped of compassion. I would like to say here, nothing i've said about the greens here is new to team green fans, and so many more people have gone into more depth about this.

Lets move onto the blacks. In a conflict where no side was meant to be in the right (who has the right to rule is a beast for another day), where there were no winners, only losers, where a dynastic dispute almost tore down the entire aforementioned dynasty, the blacks are framed as the heroes, the side the audience should root for. If they come off as villainised to the audience, i don't think it was done on purpose.

Opposite to the greens, they're mistakes and flaws are glossed over. I think this is the main reason why team black falls flat as opposed to lack of screen time, which i don't really want to count.

An important example of this is blood and cheese. In f&b, blood and cheese was a horrific event which drove queen helaena mad and, importantly, was meant to murder one of aegon and helaena's sons in revenge for lucerys. A son for a son. It was always meant to be jaehaerys. By making blood and cheese all one big mistake in the show, with aemond as the real target and oops, we can't find him so jaehaerys will do, team black and rhaenyra can't be held accountable for the murder of an innocent 6 year old boy. Moreover, the fact that rhaenyra never knew or sanctioned the murder, and it was all daemon going rogue, rhaenyra is even further removed from the horrific murder of a child, because, of course, our heroine can't be responsible for anything bad, she's meant to be the one in the right!

Furthermore, condal and hess try to force the smallfolk's love of rhaenyra during the dance, contrary to the book, which serves to uphold rhaenyra's right to the throne and show how team black are the right side. During the blockade on kings landing, the smallfolk conveniently forget that she's the one causing the blockade when she sends food through (showing that she could've done that at any time). The cheering for rhaenyra and the riot makes no sense, as again, she was the one who caused the blockade in the first place.

The introduction of the prophecy also is only meant to justify any "wrong" rhaenyra and team black do. The death of the dragonseeds and the smallfolk were all in the name of a prophecy so it's ok. And this is the thing which infuriates me the most, because the prophecy could've been a fascinating aspect of team black's motivations if framed right. The idea of committing atrocities in the name of a believed divine, higher purpose could've been used to expand upon team black's character growth and internal conflict vis a vis the knights templar and the crusades. How do they feel about this? Are they even aware of what they're doing? Alas, the show itself buys into the prophecy, buys into the divine purpose and suddenly, the atrocities aren't presented as "that bad" anyways. All of that to say, the show has never intentionally villainised team black.

So we've established that as the heroes, team black can't do anything wrong, and if they do, it's for a higher purpose, so it's alright. Team black's "emotions and conflicts are made secondary" not to "disposable filler scenes of Greens", but to themselves, or rather, to rhaenyra and her right to rule. So many team black scenes were used to uplift rhaenyra to show how she is the rightful queen. The main two examples of this that stick out to me is baela rebuking jace when he rightfully questions rhaenyra's decisions and daemon's whole harrenhal arc, which serves as his redemption and so he can reaffirm his commitment to rhaenyra's right to rule. Of course it's going to be "a bore" if the main characters, the ones we're meant to be cheering haven't got anything going for them except for cheering on rhaenyra.

There's no character interaction, no character growth, no real internal conflict because from the beginning, team black has been presented as in the right and can do no wrong, so there's no room to grow, no room to develop, not because of lack of screen time. When character development almost breaks through (see: jace questioning rhaenyra), it's quickly quashed, because the audience needs to be reminded that rhaenyra is always right. There's a clear good and bad side that the show is trying to force, which doesn't work in this setting because it reinforces the idea of the divine right of kings, the idea that one person, one family is superior to all others, and that person is rhaenyra here. It undermines the idea that no one was in the right for the atrocities they committed. No one can be justified and that fundamentally, these are not good people, they're interesting characters (or could've been interesting characters), but they're not good people.

So why? Why are the blacks presented as the good side and the greens presented as evil? It all comes down to the fact that the showrunners have propagated the idea that the dance is about a woman's struggle to rule in the face of misogyny, rather than the decline of house targaryen due to their belief in targaryen exceptionalism or the consequences of the pursuit of power. Sure, feminism and misogyny is one aspect of the dance, but it's not a major driving factor. The showrunners have backed themselves into a corner here, because they trying to portray the dance through a modern feminist lens, and so they believe that they can't write women being flawed or evil, and so we get the free, liberated good side and the "misogynistic", conservative bad side.

So in conclusion, it is clear that the showrunners aren't villainising the blacks as this person believes, but the greens. In doing this, they've made a clear cut good and bad side which works to the detriment of both team black and team green. It leads team green's characterisation to be inconsistent and one-dimensional and it chokes team black from having character growth.

Listen, i don't know if team black truly have less screen time than team green, but if they do, it's not the reason why team black falls flat.

[jollmaster]

asileverse!AU: MANY silly (or sad) information about characters

Adam knows all his exorcists by name and date of first death

Eve gets annoyed when the fruit of knowledge of good and evil is confidently called "an apple" (seriously, NEVER call the fruit of knowledge like this when Eve is near)

Lute isn't frowning, she just has a default face like this

when Emily grows up, she'll be VERY lanky

Sera is aloof from adult people, but patronizes pregnant women because she's had affairs in the past that resulted in babies

Lilith doesn't mind being called a bad mother, and is even a little proud of it

Lucifer regularly forgets Charlie's real name (Charnett, dad!) and calls her Charlotte; sinners have the same problem

Asmodeus is actually on quite friendly terms with stepfather, Lucifer is the only one among the Sins to whom he listens attentively

Beelzebub has no control over the cannibalistic subspecies of the local inhabitants, — for them it's not satiety, but normal order of things

Mammon likes to hang out at noisy parties in his castle (I beg you, he likes to show off)

Fizzarolli sometimes secretly frees prisoners from dungeons

Satan is lowkey sympathetic to Jesus Christ

Belphegor doesn't care, whether he's addressed as "Lord" or "Lady"

If Seviathan could rewind time, he'd marry Charlie, purely out of curiosity

Helsa doesn't really dislike her brother's ex-fiancée, she just likes to piss her off

Baxter avoids women (he was married... twice)

Katie Killjoy secretly likes it when Tom carries her on back because of her paralysis: it reminds Katie of childhood and how dad used to carry her

Tom Trench's face is badly distorted under the mask, only his eyes are... relatively normal

widowed Mimzy during the war, to support herself and little son, worked in a poultry farm; that's when parents and sisters started affectionately referring to her as "our brood-hen"

Arackniss was the most educated of three children in the family and was deeply interested in Greek mythology

Molly doesn't want Antonio to know she's already dead (she died after him): she's afraid it will hurt brother

Vox secretly hopes to one day meet sons in the afterlife and hug them again, — deep down he would trade this world to see his sons and wife

Valentino once went to the temple of Eisheth Zenunim, hoping to find the lover who had died in his arms after abortion (Eisheth takes former prostitutes under patronage); he wasn't let in

Velvette has a revolver with a bullet made of consecrated steel stashed for her ex-boyfriend who shot her

Zestial sleeps upside down in a bat-like manner

Rosie's white hair isn't an age-related change, she was born with this (anticipating further questions: she's white only on head)

Carmilla Carmine touches the scar across her face when she's worried or thinking

Flaming Skull Guy is warm to French sinners because his tribe allied with colonists of that nationality

Odette prefers women, and one of her crushes, but (sadly?) unrequited, is Velvette

Clara was very feminine when she was alive; she started wearing pants and cuirass in Eden, imitating the exorcists

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

I have no problem of being accused of “whitewashing” Sauron’s character because the majority of the “Rings of Power” fandom doesn’t really understand what he is, anyway.

Sauron is not a human nor a symbolically human character (like the Elves, who are meant to represent the intellectual and artistic-driven humans on Tolkien legendarium). Charlie Vickers already said, using different words, that the fandom can’t really atribute human-like feelings (or characteristics) onto his character, and he’s absolutely correct. Because he’s not playing a human.

Charlie talked about this in the context of Sauron’s cosmic connection to Galadriel in “Rings of Power”, and almost everyone nods in agreement, but then makes the mistake of projecting human-like onto Sauron (narcissism, psychopath, sociopath, whatever it may be).

Sauron/Mairon is a Maia, which is the equivalent of a demigod or an angel in Tolkien legendarium; a servant to a Vala, the Gods or archangels of the lore. He was created by Eru Ilúvatar, so he’s divine in nature, a higher being, at the beginning. He chooses to side with Melkor/Morgoth (the Devil of the legendarium); he becomes a fallen angel, a demon. He’s not longer a ���higher being” per say because, in Catholic-Christian tradition, demons operate on the lower frequencies of existence.

I would even argue that Tolkien wrote Sauron as more of an idea, than an actual character. With this being the reason why we don’t have much dialogue from him throughout the legendarium. Of course, “Rings of Power” needs to adapt this to the best of their possibilities, and I think they are doing a great job with Sauron’s character, and it’s also clear Charlie Vickers has done his homework on the character.

I still see a bit of hesitation on Charlie’s part on elaborating on Sauron in his interviews, which is very common among actors who have to play villains or “supervillains”. He doesn’t want to sound like he’s justifying his actions or making Sauron look sympathetic. But Charlie, like all actors, understands his character motivations better than anyone. And the show is trying to make the audience understand it, as well, but this usually flies over peoples’ heads who are accusing the show of making Sauron “relatable” in some way or even make you cheer for him or whatever.

This could be the case if he was a human character, but he isn’t. He’s a spiritual being, a supernatural creature, a demon. Us, humans, can’t never relate to him, no matter how many spins folks try to make on it. He operates in a total different level. And that’s why I hate with a burning passion these takes of him having “evil” human-like characteristics or mental disorders. To me, this is completely missing the point of Sauron’s character.

Of course he feels entitled to rule Middle-earth; he helped create the place alongside the other Valar and Maiar at the beginning of time. He literally shaped the world he seeks to dominate; his qualities are imprinted on it (this being the reason why he has true immortality and can’t never be destroyed for real, by the way). Of course he sees himself above Men, Elves and Dwarves, because he literally is. Tolkien wrote him that way.

Would you call the Christian/Jewish/Islamic God, Odin, Zeus, and all the others God of worldwide mythology “psychopaths” or “narcissists”? Probably not because they are Gods, and Gods are, in general, assh*les and d*cks.

Even in Tolkien legendarium, who drew inspiration from several mythological sources, Eru Ilúvatar sinks an entire island, killing everyone in it, because Men wanted to achieve immortality. Is he a “psychopath” too? Tolkien tells us that Eru is the supreme authority on his legendarium, the ultimate good, because he symbolizes the Christian God; and during the Second age He’s very much like the Old Testament God, a punisher, more than the modern “God the Father”, and Númenor is the Atlantis myth.

I’m not really a fan of the phrasing of Sauron seeing other characters like insects, but it’s a way to put it. Precisely because he’s a demigod, who’ll aspire to become an actual God. And that’s probably his biggest sin in the legendarium, alongside with betraying Eru Ilúvatar (God) for Melkor (Satan). On the Third Age, Sauron becomes a “incarnation of evil” and a “spirit of malice and hatred”, like Tolkien tells us. But he’s not “absolute evil” because Tolkien doesn’t believe in such a thing. I already talked about this in here.

In “Rings of Power”, it seems the “not wholly evil” bit is related to his connection with Galadriel. His true intentions/feelings towards her are yet to be revealed to the audience. Why does Sauron want to bind himself to Galadriel so badly? We had this plot in two seasons already.

The simplest explanation is that Sauron wants to harvest her light for himself, but he could easily find the same light in every other Elf who was born during the Years of the Trees in Valinor, because the light of the Two Trees also shines on them. Even Celebrimbor had the same light, and Sauron never had the intention of binding them together. So, indeed, what makes Galadriel different? Because he was willing to share his power with her, too.

All of this is very theological, but it is what it is. Don’t shoot the messenger. We can’t really analyze Tolkien legendarium without the heavy religious Catholic-Christian inspiration, because that’s the core of the mythology Tolkien created. It’s really inevitable if we want to understand it.

Anyway, you can think of Second Age Sauron as a sort of “Dracula on steroids”. I think that’s the closest comparison I can find. Because Dracula is also demonic character, but he’s not a “fallen angel” like Sauron. I wouldn’t exactly compare him with representations of Satan/Devil/Lucifer on pop culture, because that’s Melkor.

Then we have character arcs, and even Sauron has one in Tolkien legendarium: Sauron starts “Rings of Power” in his repentance era (Halbrand); then we have Annatar or “Sauron the reformer” who wants to rebuild Middle-earth with good intentions; then the “King of Men” when he starts to get carried away with pride and power; until he returns to his role as Morgoth’s secretary/representative, at the end of the Second age; he gets defeated. When he returns in the Third Age (the version most fans are familiar with from “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy and the Peter Jackson adaptations), he claims to be Morgoth come again, and this is the evilest he has even been, a “second incarnation of evil” like Tolkien describes him.

[liliasmusicmonday]

“Teens of Denial” is the tenth album, and first studio recorded album, by the American indie rock band Car Seat Headrest released May 20, 2016! Car Seat Headrest is a band that started as a solo project by Will Toledo in Leesburg Virginia, but since has grown into a four piece with an impressive discography.

I really enjoyed listening to “Teens of Denial”, and I think it’s biggest drawing point is it’s lyricism. Song like “Vincent”, “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, “1937 State Park”, and “Cosmic Hero” have amazing and poetic lyrics that talk about things like feeling unloved, clinical depression, and failing relationships. I think Will Toledo did an incredible job articulating his feelings and problems in his writing, and I found many of the songs very relatable or at the very least sympathetic. I think the lyricism of the album is it’s best aspect, but the rest is still great. With simple yet fun guitar riffs and drum patterns it makes an album that is very easy for a lot of different people to get interested in but every now and then aspects of trumpets or unique singing styles will keep it interesting and engaging. Throughout “Teens of Denial” I felt strongly reminded of some of the Strokes work as well as a personal favorite indie band of mine, Wolf Parade (which hopefully I will get to talk about at some point, khee hee~). “Teens of Denial” feels like a culmination of common indie rock motifs and cliches but still stays interesting and personal to the musicians, and I really admire that!

My favorite song off this project has to be “Cosmic Hero”, with STELLAR instrumentals but also amazing lyrics that reminded me of how it feels to have self-destructive and self-sabotaging urges and how hopelessly frustrating that can be. My least favorite was “Connect the Dots (Saga of Frank Sanatra)”. It wasn’t a bad song by any means, just not as thrilling as the other songs. This album obviously had a lot of dedication put into it and I had a great time hearing it, with a few songs going into my own playlists, so I feel good giving this album an 8 out of 10!

What do you think about this album? I’d love to know! Please recommend me music you’d like me to review in the future, khee hee!~ See you next Monday!

[frozenjokes]

LET'S MAKE CUBFAN137!!!!!!

There was something on Atlas’s [Cub's] mind, clear as day, but whatever they were mulling over, they hadn’t been ready to put it to words over the course of the next week. Mumbo’s first thought was that Atlas had some human-related concern, but the beach had been quiet for days, leaving just the two of them at the bottom of the lake. That was alright. Atlas would speak up when they were ready.

Though Mumbo couldn’t say he was expecting Atlas to come to him while he was in the zone harvesting his roots and vines, spooking him into a patch of brambles when they popped out of the water. A few hisses and a bit of maneuvering later, Atlas was able to lift his tail fin out so Mumbo didn’t tear it trying to drag himself away. 

‘You’re too big to be this jumpy. Why aren’t you scared of anything that matters?’

‘As if you aren’t.’

‘My fears are rational.’

Mumbo flicked his fins, dismissive, but besides an unhappy rumble, Atlas said no more before sliding back into the water. Mumbo joined them; Atlas wouldn’t have sought him out if they didn’t want to speak. Despite being certain, Atlas was twitchy and silent, staring deeper into the lake, so Mumbo let them be, turning to the muck under the shoreline and parsing through underwater roots. Tiny silver fish danced away at his disturbance; Mumbo watched them go.

With the pressure of Mumbo’s full attention gone, Atlas found the will to speak. ‘I’m going to return to the deep soon. My extended stay is doing no one any favors; I’ve far passed the point of useful learning. I think it’s selfish to linger. Stupid, maybe, but you know me.. Can’t unlearn this many seasons of distrust.’

Mumbo inclined his head, sympathetic. ‘I suspected you were ready to go. I just hope you don’t feel guilty for staying; you’ve long served your dues. You’re a good mer, Atlas.’

Atlas clicked, less a dismissive sound than a soft, defeated thing. They would never forgive themself, the cultural shame too deeply embedded despite everything Atlas had done to preserve their people’s memory.

The two of them were quiet for a long while.

‘I will wait until Ghost returns. I want to say goodbye. I owe them thanks.’

‘It might be awhile. Are you in a hurry?’

‘No,’ Atlas communicated the sentiment with a sideways flick of two tentacles, ‘Actually, I have.. a large ask of you. Feel no pressure, please, I am aware this is.. a strange, maybe selfish thing.’

‘You’re too concerned with selfishness.’

‘You don’t even know what I’m asking, yet.’

Mumbo flicked his fins, dismissal, before giving a short wave of his tail. ‘Go on.’

Atlas did not go on. In fact, they were quiet for a long, long while, the silence lingering even after Mumbo turned back to his roots. Not necessarily an uncommon thing for mermaids, but Mumbo had gotten very used to the snappy conversation of humans. 

‘I want my child, if I ever have one, to know the sun. I want them to love the surface like I used to. To be careful, obviously, but not so- so afraid. I couldn’t give them that life, not without passing on my fear, not to mention the amount of travel I get up to isn’t suitable for a young mer. Even the distance from here to the deep would be taxing, but..’ Atlas blinked, slow, intentional. ‘You could do it. Share your joy. If you wanted to.’

Mumbo had no words. Well. He had quite a few words actually, but no way of speaking them. A quick amendment from Atlas took the pressure off.

‘I could carry, if that’s your concern. Or we can forget this altogether.’

Mumbo imagined one of those stark human sounds, a laugh or a bark, disbelief. He made no such noise of course, not like a human, anyway.

‘You think if I had a problem, it would be carrying the child?’

‘Well I don’t want to.’

‘Then I will!’

Atlas jolted upright, teeth flashing in alarm, ‘Mumbo, this isn’t- Have you ever thought about having kids?’

‘Not in much detail, but I’ve never been opposed. I’m not making my decision now, mind you-‘

‘Good,’ Atlas’s shoulders sagged in relief, and Mumbo snorted.

‘Do you think I’m that impulsive? About a baby, seriously?’

‘Yes.’ Without hesitation. Mumbo was affronted. 

‘You think so little of me. I would never give you a scale.’

It was Atlas’s turn to snort, ‘I don’t want any scales, thank you. We don’t need the entire pod to know the sire, that kid’ll be torn to pieces..’ Atlas paused, the silence loud enough that Mumbo knew not to speak, ‘But I don’t think little of you. I just know you’d sell your hide on a friend’s behalf, and I.. wasn’t trying to force this on you. It’s a difficult subject to approach, especially when you know this.. means something. To me. My sire’s name should not die with a mer who abandoned their people.’

Mumbo’s fins pinched, then waved gently, ‘It’s not true, even if you won’t believe me.’ He quieted, eyes closing in thought. ‘What will you do? If I say no?’

‘Find someone else, sooner rather than later.’ Atlas flicked a tentacle, almost dismissively, ‘They will be raised in the deep, by a pod I haven’t yet made a reputation for myself. I will leave them with my sire’s name as soon as I’m sure they’re healthy, strong. One day, if they’re where I left them, I will tell them of their familial history. Maybe we will visit the North. If there are still [bears], they can see their namesake. Besides exposure to the surface, which is not of integral importance to me, nothing will change. My preference is for the primary caretaker to be someone I trust, but honestly, it’s much safer for a mer to be raised solely in the deep. I have already weighed the pros and cons, and I am in no rush for an answer. Within the next few seasons would be just fine with me. Just. Think about it. I mean that. I’d rather eat my own tail than have you make this commitment out of obligation.’

‘I wonder if a mer child might learn a human language just as well as its sire’s if exposed at the right age.’

‘If I find out that’s your motivation for having a kid, I’ll kill you.’

Mumbo blinked at Atlas genially, fins waving in amusement. Atlas could not keep their teeth bared for long.

‘It’s miserable up here,’ they whistled with a flatness that Mumbo could not parse as wistfulness or distain. Their relaxed tentacles suggested some good nature. ‘I’m just so angry we don’t get a choice. To live here, if we want to. And don’t say-“

‘I know.’ Mumbo spoke firmly, so Atlas didn’t feel they had to defend their position. ‘I know..’

The silence lingered, but not uncomfortably. There was a certain peace to it, being here, Atlas drifting behind Mumbo to see what he was doing; mostly dicking around with plants, but Atlas didn’t have to know that. He wondered how deep a tree’s roots could go. Could he ever dig that far? He gave it a try, digging around a stubborn root after he failed to yank it from the ground’s hold. A small, rare trill floated from Atlas’s throat, and Mumbo whipped around to see them looking amused above him.

‘The world needs more mers like you. Innovative. Joyful. Fucking weird.’

Mumbo snapped at their arm, too slow, but he was fast enough to whack Atlas’s tentacles to the wayside as they reached for Mumbo’s throat. Mumbo shot upwards in an attempt to get above them, but that only gave Atlas the opportunity to latch on to Mumbo’s midsection, the two of them rolling around in the water as they wrestled out their energy. It was fun. Good. Mumbo missed play like this, the kind he’d never get to have from a human companion in the weeks he spent at the surface. Not to mention all the time he spent alone. 

There were all sorts of things he could teach a kid up here; the best tasting freshwater fish, the most effective ways to move on land, the sturdiest materials for tinkering, and which ones held up best to the water. Not to mention the humans; what would they want to pass on to a juvenile mermaid? 

Long after the moon had risen and Atlas had retired to their separate hovel, Mumbo thought about it. Sometimes, before this, he had imagined what it would be like to raise a kid. More than once he didn’t have to imagine; child rearing was a pod-wide responsibility, and he’d watched and hunted with plenty of toddlers in his time. He liked kids, small and goofy as they were. Really, the only thing stopping him from having his own was all the travel; he’d never considered before that he could take a child here.

Would that be irresponsible? The pod would disapprove, surely, but Mumbo wasn’t about to drag a newborn to the surface, goodness gracious. He’d wait at least a season, maybe longer, he’d be responsible, and they’d take the journey slow so that the temperature and pressure differential was not so intense. Maybe if they got tired, Mumbo could utilize some kind of bjorn— he could fasten something like that together, surely! That kind of thing wasn’t unheard of, but usually only for young young mers, with parents a little too clingy to leave them with the pod while they were hunting. Generally looked down upon, especially given the possible danger, but this was different. Mumbo sighed, sinking into his hovel as he imagined it; a young mer, asleep beneath him, gills gently pulsing as Mumbo slowly swam onward, the warming water easing his very own child into an even deeper slumber. That picture was so sweet, Mumbo longed to reach out and grasp it, make it real.

Though, being a single parent wouldn’t be easy, even with a mer old enough to hunt and defend themself. Maybe especially then; Mumbo didn’t want to be the only mer around when that little bastard started teething, gosh, there were no teeth any sharper than those of a toddler mermaid that couldn’t help but put their mouth on everything. Mumbo bet they’d love old logs on the surface; even as an adult, chewing apart a rotting piece of wood elicited a certain kind of satisfaction Mumbo rarely found anywhere else. Atlas did not agree, but they’d also never tried it, mostly to spite Mumbo. Whatever. More logs for him..

Mumbo snorted when he thought about the humans trying to manage a little mer. He’d kill to see them fumbling around, squealing as the little one waddled after them on the beach, tearing through their belongings without remorse. Would they try to parent his kid? Now that would be a show; Mumbo would love to teach his little one a few human words and gestures and watch Scar go absolutely wild, while Grian would cower up on his big rock where no babies could reach him, up until said baby starting digging through his fishing supplies, when Grian would sternly and miserable fail to tell the kid off.

Mumbo could think of no better future.

…

Scar was here! Ooohh, it had been so long since Scar had come around, Mumbo was really starting to feel awful, but he was back, and he didn’t look hurt at all!

Scar must have been equally delighted, brightening further at Mumbo’s trill, and when Grian grabbed lazily for Scar’s wrist, he was already running toward the water.

“Take it easy, Scar!”

The human did slow once he reached the waterline; it was cold today, he must not want to go in, but Mumbo didn’t mind, beaching himself just a few feet away, a tad nervous Scar would shatter if Mumbo breathed on him the wrong way. As per usual, Scar was unphased, the babbling starting up in earnest, fast and loud and passionate, and if Mumbo didn’t know any better, he’d think Scar was angry with him. 

Mumbo sighed a long, contented whistle, closing his eyes. He didn’t catch a single word.

Grian was laying blankets down on the beach, as well as a few other soft-things Mumbo did not recognize, and when Scar retreated to Grian’s side, Mumbo trailed behind, curious. 

Grian’s face was knit in focus, messing with the nest he’d made with fastidious concern, but his eyes widened on Scar’s sprinting approach. “Scar! No— Be careful! The sand!” Grian screeched as Scar jumped, throwing himself of the nest with a soft thump, sending sand exploding in every direction and rumpling everything. Scar curled up, innocent, and Grian threw his head back in a loud groan, re-straightening the blankets around him and brushing away sand. Mumbo came up the beach with some caution, not wanting to disturb Grian’s work, but once it seemed his presence was not minded, he set out to try and help, removing pinches of sand from the blankets one by one. Scar cooed, and while Mumbo was pleased by the attention, he was even happier when Grian’s face softened and the tension in his body eased.

‘Thank you.’

Mumbo’s fins jumped; he’d forgotten Grian knew that word. He wondered if they really worked on it, if Mumbo could teach him other things. It was unfortunate that the humans had almost no affinity for his language like he had for theirs; enough to figure a few basic things out, anyway. Maybe that’s because Mumbo never worked on it with them? He’d have to try sometime. Maybe today, though Grian seemed busy.. he was always busying himself with other things, so maybe that was the reason they hadn’t done this before. It’s not like Scar would have much luck with a disability that severe.

Eventually, Grian seemed pleased with his work, scampering off to retrieve two more blankets, tip-toeing into the dent Scar had made in the nest, then settling, draping the other blankets over the both of them.

Mumbo stared. He stared for a long time, just watching them wiggle around, cuddle up, get comfortable— they— they were so cute!? How come they’d never done this before!? Well, there was that incident on the cliff, but that was for a lack of space and Mumbo had always thought Scar just didn’t want to be left out. Was this what humans did when the weather changed? Were they cold? Oh, they looked so cozy! Mumbo was certain he had never looked this cozy in his LIFE. He needed to know how it felt. He was going to know.

He started innocently, maintaining plausible deniability as he poked his head under the covers at their feet. Scar giggled, drawing his legs back. Grian did the same. Good! They were making room!

Mumbo got his shoulders under the blanket before promptly running out of space. The humans were muttering to each other now, talking about him surely, but with all the shifting, Mumbo guessed his hair against their legs was causing some discomfort. Darn it! Why didn’t he have useless flimsy human hair! Mumbo readjusted, resting his chin over one of their legs. Scar cooed, but this wasn’t very comfortable.. Mumbo would push on. Achieve Cozy.

Slowly, very slowly as not to disturb his humans, Mumbo began to crawl up over their legs. The blanket was getting stuck on his skin, but one of them pulled it back down, and Mumbo felt unstoppable. He liked it under here. Dark. Good.

“Oh no,” Grian laughed as Mumbo slotted himself between their stomachs, to which he froze, tactful, until they were quiet again, and he could safely continue his journey without fear of being kicked out.

There were a few other vague complaints like “He’s so wet!” and “AAUGH THE SAND” and “OW.” but Mumbo would pause his movement at any worrying exclamations, gauge safety of continuing, then soldier on! He liked how it felt to have the humans laying half on top of him; just more soft things in a nest of soft things. The ocean was not soft, and Mumbo would argue the land wasn’t either, but where there’s a will, there’s a way, he supposed! Humans must run on willpower or they’d definitely be extinct by now. Mumbo never considered this was something he’d even wanted.

Eventually, he breached the light at the end of the tunnel, which, honestly, he liked much less, but he could stand to be here for a while longer when the air underneath the blanket was starting to get stuffy. It did feel odd though to be so close to their faces, their teeth; it wasn’t that Mumbo didn’t trust them not to bite him, but come on, did humans not find this proximity unnerving? Well. If intimacy included smashing their heads together, it would probably be counterintuitive to fear it..

“This is just about as horrible as I could have ever imagined,” Grian groaned on Mumbo’s left.

“It’s definitely not-! Comfortable! But come on, Grian, is this not awesome!? Mermaid cuddling! Probably no one ever has done this before!”

Grian rolled his eyes. “Yeah, because their skin feels like sandpaper, maybe. He’s going to tear every thread out of my stupid sweater.”

“He felt left out!” Scar cooed, “He loves us!”

Mumbo wasn’t really listening to them, though the bickering was worrying; they were quiet when they had settled in, had Mumbo been too disruptive? Oh, he’d hate himself forever if he’d destroyed the coziest human nest on the planet! Gosh, he was so selfish! 

Speaking of selfish. No, not selfish, this would not be selfish because intimacy was relaxing, Mumbo could absolutely mend this situation with a kiss!

“Kiss?” Mumbo asked, perfectly polite, blinking at Grian and ignoring Scar who jolted on his other side. Sorry, buddy, you’re just too fragile!

“Yeah, Mumbo, he’s fine,” Grian said, with an emotion Mumbo really was struggling to parse. Not positive or negative, but Mumbo’s heart jumped in recognition of a ‘yes.’ The rest of what Grian had said was anyone’s guess, but as far as Mumbo was concerned, he’d just gotten the okay!

“Wait, Grian, what do you think he was—“ Scar started babbling, but Mumbo had a mission, and he was excruciatingly gentle as he lowered his head, Grian gasping as their foreheads touched. He was warm. Stiff. Mumbo had to think this was having the intended effect; both humans were dead quiet.. Mumbo must have been doing a great job! Redeemed!!! Gently, Mumbo pressed Grian’s head into the sand, then withdrew, readjusting until his head was mostly obscured under the blanket. Much better under here! Plus, the humans would probably be able to get more comfortable without his big head between them. Maybe they already were? Both of them had remained very still.. maybe this kind of thing had a lightly paralyzing effect? Maybe they were just relaxed. Who knew!

“Was..” Grian finally spoke, distinctly far away.

“Oh my god. OH MY GOD!!” Scar jerked suddenly, which combined with the screaming, made Mumbo wonder if he was succumbing to his various lifelong head injuries, but then Scar ripped the blanket from over Mumbo’s head, and he looked very alive. “Mumbo!! Mumbo!! It’s my turn! It’s my turn!!! You did not just KISS HIM, Mumbo, IN FRONT OF ME! I know we’re broken up, but this is ridiculous! You do not get to be this petty! Kiss me. Mumbo. Mumbo. I’m going to need you to kiss me. Mumbo!?”

Scar was being loud and annoying and stupid, so Mumbo yanked the blanket out of his hands and back over his own head.

Grian laughed, though he sounded so winded that Mumbo had to poke his head out from under the blanket to make sure he hadn’t concussed another human, to which Scar immediately shoved the blanket back over his nose.

“I’m out!” Scar declared, and Mumbo felt him kick and scramble as he wormed out from under the nest. “I’m telling on you to Etho!”

“On me or Mumbo?”

“Both of you!”

Grian scoffed, “How was I supposed to know he was going to do that! My skull’s not as thick as yours, I would have said no!”

“He literally asked for a kiss, and you said yes! The fact that you didn’t get that is— beyond me!!”

“He was obviously asking about you. He doesn’t have the words, Scar.”

“He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about me!!” Scar’s voice peaked in a squeak, and Mumbo was growing concerned he was actually distressed, reemerging once more to see him with his arms thrown in the air, phone in hand. “And he kissed you! If he wasn’t asking to kiss you he wouldn’t have done it!”

Grian rolled his eyes, smiling, which helped to ease Mumbo’s worries, if only a small amount. “Too bad, then. You missed out, it was awesome.”

Scar squealed like a squirrel that have been ripped in half (not that Mumbo would know what that sounded like..), then started frantically fidgeting with his phone.

“Etho!”

There was no response on the other line. 

“Etho! Etho!”

“..what.”

“Mumbo kissed Grian! In front of me! Yell at him! Tell him to kiss me too!”

“Is Grian dead?”

“No!” The line clicked, and Scar stared blankly at his phone for a good few moments before dialing again, only for the line to ring and ring and ring..

Grian started snickering on the third attempt, to which Scar shot him a glare, and now Mumbo wasn’t sure if Scar was actually upset or not.. maybe Mumbo should have considered this more carefully. Scar had said it was a big deal. Kind of. Maybe he didn’t say that, but he was acting like it was a big deal.

Mumbo slithered out of the nest, mussing the whole thing and sending Grian squeaking with alarm, but Mumbo was focused on Scar, bringing himself to human height with his most apologetic fins.

‘I’m sorry, Scars. I like your head. I don’t want to break it. Again.’ Mumbo took one of Scar’s hands in his own, hopeful. Scar sniffed at him, looking back at his phone, so Mumbo snatched that, threw it down the beach, and took his other hand. 

“My phone! Mumbo!”

‘I’m sorry. Maybe another time’

“Stop chittering. Your eyes are too big and remorseful, you’re terrible. You are a menace. I’ll forgive you if you kiss me though. Kiss. Scar.”

Mumbo blinked, sympathetic. “Kiss. No. Scar.” ‘I’m sorry.’

“He said he’s sorry,” Grian said, lifting up his blankets and whipping the sand out of them.

Scar groaned. “If he was sorry, he’d kiss me!”

Mumbo released Scar’s hands, bringing his own fists together and snapping them away.

Scar threw up his arms. “I’m not going to break!”

“Bad track record,” Grian mumbled, but there was a smile on both of their faces when Scar whipped around to face him.

“Your commentary isn’t necessary! You know what—“ Scar swiveled back to Mumbo, snatching at his hand in a way that Mumbo didn’t love. “I’m taking this. Penance. If I get this for the rest of the day, I will forgive you, but you’re not off the hook.”

Mumbo lightly yanked his hand back, uncomfortable, holding it awkwardly in front of his waist. Scar stared. Ohhh, he was so sad looking, Mumbo did owe him, didn’t he..

He returned his hand. Scar brightened instantly. “Great! Your sacrifice has been acknowledged. Back to the blankets, brrr, it’s cold today, and you are not helping!” Scar skipped away, not letting go, and Mumbo had to slither awkwardly to keep up. 

Grian was still whipping sand out of the blankets, and when Scar hopped up behind him, Grian grinned, throwing the blanket out so Scar would get thrashed by it. Scar squealed, releasing Mumbo’s hand and diving for his own blanket to do battle, the beach turning in seconds to a warzone of which Mumbo wanted nothing to do with.

Mumbo was relieved to spot Atlas close to the shallows, and crawled down the beach to get away from the noise, exaggerating the exasperation in his fins.

‘Are they trying to kill each other?’ Atlas asked, not the least concerned.

‘Probably.’

[titsthedamnseason]

Why are u a Charlie hater? Perhaps I just sympathise with him too much but I really feel as though it takes a certain type of person to get him yk?

Also this isn't me hating on your opinion or anything bc obv it's yours I just like to know details, also lmk if you're ever down to talk more in depth about the series?

i’m not a charlie hater 🤷‍♀️ i’m sure i have used that phrase before but i definitely mean it more like im giving off negative vibes / opinions as in im being a hater but not that i hate charlie. sorry if that makes no sense im insane. what i mean is that yes i guess im a charlie hater but that does not mean i hate charlie or dont like anything about his character or think he’s entirely irredeemable.

also, please talk to me about this series literally ANY time! it’s basically my full time job outside of my actual full time job. there is nothing i enjoy more 🥰 literally any time, any topic i am here for the in depth conversations. you just lmk and im there (also this is making me want to reread the entire like us series which is unfortunate because i am NOT supposed to do that this year)

i just relate to connor a lot more as a character and i don’t get really what there is to sympathize with charlie over. i only bring up connor because everyone is so determined to make charlie out to be another “version” of connor but they are so different to me. kbr paint charlie as SOOOOOO TORTURED but it’s like dude be for real you have a great life. and whatever mental issues he’s battling that sucks…but i do NOT sympathize with his treatment of the people around him especially his family

making disparaging comments about lily and lo’s addictions TO THE PUBLIC, calling them weak to their children, literally EVERYTHING he has EVER said to sulli (which i’ll admit is sometimes super funny but still MEAN AS HELL)…..these things can’t be excused. we don’t really know a lot about his inner workings which is why i’m excited to get into his head but i doubt anything could justify his general behavior towards the people around him. everyone has problems, no one else is a massive dick and uses the fact that they are too smart (????) that it makes their life agony to justify it

get real. charlie is a LOSERRRRRR who has no capacity for managing his feelings despite the infinite resources he could utilize to learn how to do so

also i’m cranky as hell today if it isn’t obvious but when you said “it takes a certain type of person to get him yk” i didn’t like your tone! i mean that lightheartedly 🫶🏻 i promise and i would be very interested in hearing why you DO like charlie and what you find sympathetic about his character and what i am apparently lacking in that makes me unable to do so…

before i close this out i just remembered something else that really bothers me about him is the way he has always treated moffy. you can be sympathetic to his feelings about that whole situation and their dynamic but i find it VERY hard to sympathize with his response. he is immature as hell and never once actually tried to talk to moffy or explain his frustrations and he used moffy as a sounding board for his negative feelings about SO MANY aspects of the world it wasn’t fair at all. it’s sort of the same with his behavior towards sulli like we all have family members we don’t like or problems with people but they aren’t supposed to KNOW that…how come everyone else in the world learns this lesson from childhood but charlie gets a free pass to be rude just because he’s charlie?

and again, it’s annoying because i really do think charlie is often quite funny (like when he threw that book at maximoff’s head? and farrow got so mad because moffy hadn’t slept in days? that was objectively TERRIBLE but his determination to be a menace just HAS to make you laugh i’m so sorry maximoff you did not deserve that king 💚)

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

so i've seen someone people say this...

and some people even say that...

Catra's redemption is better than Zuko's..

and people here wonder

"why do other redemption arcs get praised while Catra's doesn't?"

i'll just address each screenshot individually.

1st: you don't have to "learn to love" a character. or anyone, for that matter. you can just dislike a character, that's okay. idk why this person is acting like they have no choice but to love catra and support c//a.

idk much about dragonball z but i've heard people complain about vegeta's redemption. it doesn't matter if another character's redemption arc is worse than catra's, that doesn't make catra's arc the best.

2nd: i mean, yeah. that's basically the crux of catra's character. she wants validation and praise, and she hurts people to receive that.

but i don't think she really felt bad for like,, 90% of the things she did. we never see her regretting hurting innocent people in the war and conquering kingdoms. for the most part, there's not much regret in hurting adora either. catra was either sad that adora left or jealous that shadow weaver still prioritized adora. and i trust i don't have to talk about how fake and shoehorned in catra's guilt in s5 was.

the only thing she seemed to feel actually guilty about was hurting scorpia. and even then, she expected scorpia to just forget about all that and talk to her.

yeah, just because it's a children's show doesn't mean it has to be black and white. i agree with that. but spop was very much black and white. if it wasn't, it would have actually addressed catra's actions in s5, instead of going "she said she's sorry, so now everything is okay!" that's the epitome of a black and white morality if i've ever seen one.

3rd: holy— okay. first of all. people don't like zuko's redemption arc because he had a bad childhood or an abusive parent. we like it because we actually see him putting in effort to be a better person. we like it because the writers planned his arc well instead of shoving a forced redemption in the last season.

secondly, i get that many people relate to catra and that's why they tend to be defensive about her. i don't entirely relate to catra but i can understand the feeling of finally seeing someone like yourself on the screen and feeling represented.

i think the problem is that whenever people think about redeemable characters, they immediately think about tragic backstories, sympathetic motivations, years of abuse and torture. but this is not what makes a character redeemable.

any character is redeemable so long as they actually put in effort to change themselves. that's it. that's the only criteria.

so it's not that we don't want to give catra a second chance or that we hate abuse victims, it's just that catra's redemption arc doesn't even meet the basic criteria to be qualified as a redemption arc.

[jheselbraum]

Do you think the GF fandom tends to wobbify Stan a lot more than Ford?

Oh absolutely. And part of it is standard fandom projection, you know? Which is fine, it's whatever. People do it to Ford a lot, too. No biggie. People do it because they see themselves in Stan and that's fine, it just gets in the way of more serious thematic discussion, though back in the day it was a Lot worse people were a lot less chill about the whole thing to the point where if you so much as dared to point out that Stan is a criminal without the qualifiers that he's a criminal because he had no familial support as he was maturing into an adult and was homeless so he kind of had to in order to get by, you'd get fucking demolished.

And like, it's because a lot of people relate to having shitty parents and being told by teachers that they're not smart enough and being homeless or at least really fucking poor. Like, it's just kind of something that happens with fandom, you know? And it's fine, mostly, fandom is a sandbox and a lot of these people are projecting so they can work through real world shit that's happening in their lives (you guys have no idea how many unposted "Ford has some kind of mystery chronic illness that's just absolutely wreaking havoc on his daily life" fics I wrote after I got diagnosed). And it's not like there's zero justification for it, Stan's a very sympathetic character in the show canonically, despite his status as a wanted criminal (presumably internationally), and a bit of a softie at times.

The problem is when the fanon woobification is used in place of actual textual evidence when people try to have serious discussions about the canon material and not your fanfic where Stan is just. Just real sad about his brother, why won't he thank him? He's sad!

This chart from @itsabouttimex2 explains the cycle very succinctly.

Like, I'd argue that Stan isn't even the most woobified character in Gravity Falls by volume (that honor goes to Fiddleford to be honest) but he's the character whose woobification is the most visible and has the most capacity to grind any serious discussion about anything even slightly negative that happened to Stan or, god forbid, was caused by Stan to a halt. Again, this problem has gotten better over the years, despite the fandom's recent "relapse" for lack of a better term, but (and I say this knowing exactly who I was in 2017) sometimes in order to talk about something you like in a fan context, you have to take a step back and remind yourself of who these characters actually are and what the text of a work is actually trying to say. Like, "death of the author" as a way to interpret a work is incredibly popular in fandom at large, not just in Gravity Falls, and it has its merits, but I feel like it's gone from "the meaning of the text is not derived from the author's intention, but the reader's interpretation" to "the meaning of the text is not derived from the text, but the reader"

"Sometimes the curtains are just blue" has already been used to justify completely abandoning the idea of critically analyzing a work (to the point where many reading this will see the word "critical" and assume that I'm talking about literally criticizing something and not analyzing a work to determine its meaning, its purpose, and effectiveness at conveying those two things) and some people will take that a step further and go "Sometimes the curtains are red, because red is better than blue. Sometimes morally."

I didn't expect to go off to yes or no question like that, it just kind of happened. I don't know, I prefer discussions about this show where I don't have to step over a dozen people who think I'm talking about the version of Stanley Pines that lives in their head and always Responds Correctly to whatever personal issue they might have.

[radiofreesanjak]

[ECHO.EXE RUNNING]

- I- um. H-hello. I-

- ...

- Mine apologies. I am n-nervous, as things art tense at the moment and this is one of the two most i-illegal contacts I have ever made, and the topic itself doth frighten me.

- I am Ren Hurst, sister of Rosceline Hurst. I b-believe thou hast had previous contact with a friend; one Marceline, a maid and beloved of mine sister. Um...

- I do ramble. I... thou hast made several posts calling for the abdication of noble titles, and... I do beseech thee for advice on a related matter...

- I care very little for mine title of Scion. Twas always the case, truth be told. The only reason I have not abdicated already is for fear of mine m-mother. I am unaware of how much thou knowest of recent developments mine sister hath posted here, but we do plan a coup against our mother for her barbarous treatment of ignobles. Once she is... d-dealt with... I intend to abdicate posthaste.

- The problem I seek thine advice upon regardeth mine sister. Tis not that I believe she would refuse to do the same, but rather I don't know that it is wise. I know how that doth sound and I understand the evils of this system, but... The legal standing of mine sister's title as Heiress is the only thing which shall keep the other Minor Houses and the House of Remembrance from viewing our actions as a full ignoble revolt.

- Frankly, we haven't the resources nor the firepower to defend ourselves from all angles: pirates on our planet, every other Minor House backed by the Major to suppress a revolt, Harrison Armory at the door? So many have offered to help us, but a handful of lancers shan't be enough. We have too many enemies. What are we to do? Should we really give up such a potent tool, which shields us and our people, out of principle?

- These questions art not meant in an argumentative way; they are genuine inquiries. I know thou thinkest low of nobility, but I promise thee we seek only the safety and freedom of our people.

------

OOC: Hi! Name's Kiwi! Wanted to introduce myself along with the ask! Sorry it's so damn long, i had a lot of information I was trying to compress. Anyway I hope you have a lovely night! :D

Oh, you mean that the vaunted liberal House of Remembrance might react badly to the wishes of its nobles peacefully abdicating to give power to the people? The liberals, who are so kind in how they trod upon our backs?

Ah, I jest and you seem anxious. Some in our audience seem to deny that such a problem could occur among liberals. Let me reassure you:

The strategy in fighting the House of Remembrance is to turn their ethics against them. They say they seek to respect the ignoble, just without reforming the system? You posit that the extreme politics of your mother has required concessions. You have spoken to the Republicans who live under you (they surely exist, especially if what i have heard is true) and decided that the most appropriate apology is a concession of power to them. This is an action you are taking to prevent an Ignoble uprising, for surely you have seen the seeds of us unkind Ungratefuls among your populace.

This is a strategy that worked for some sympathizers in the House of Dust. The noble house cedes their territory to the councils of the people they once ruled, and says they do so because it was the only peaceful option. It leaves those who would contest you in a bind: if they intervene in a peaceful transition of power they would risk conflict for real. This is a problem made worse for the liberal; do they not differentiate themselves from the federalists among them by their sympathy for the plight of the ignoble?

As for your fellow minor houses, who I hear lean less sympathetic to those on Arrudye, think about it like this: they could respond as they do, but their action in this regard risks remand from both the House of Remembrance and Harrison Armory smelling blood in the water. This action would surely rally any Ungrateful to your defense. Could they risk a prolonged conflict?

A course of action to think on. A different set of potential allies to reach out to, perhaps.

Let me know if you wish for me to find my comrades in your area.

OOC: Hi! No worries, everyone knows I'm no stranger to the text wall. You too!

[castieltrash1]

for the sleepover: noah when you're having a bad day...

i think the way he'd handle it differs a lot when he's younger/older, so post-war!noah will be under the cut! i hope this makes your day a little easier, anon <3

pre-war!noah x gn!reader; hurt/comfort, unspecified angst, mentions of fighting

seeing you sad is something noah loathes more than most things in life. he’s a generally sympathetic guy, even to complete strangers, but he's extra sensitive when it comes to you. if he had one wish, it’d be to make sure you never even frowned again. that’s why when you are feeling down, he’s wholly dedicated to getting a smile back on your face. he doesn’t have much to his name but he’s determined, and the devotion he has toward your happiness results in a few too many creative remedies. flowers, of course, wild and pulled straight from a field he’s taken you to for picnics before. if you’re more of a sweet tooth, he’ll spend his last dime getting your favorite candy, tying a loose ribbon around it for added effect. he’ll sing, dance, and even tell bad jokes recited directly from a brightly colored book of gags. 

since he knows he can’t offer you a lot in other areas of life, noah tries to make it up to you in moments like these. if he can’t cheer you up quickly he’ll feel bad about himself, doubting his abilities to give you something as simple as happiness. of course, most of the time your negative emotions aren’t related to him at all, but that doesn’t mean he won’t internalize any sadness you do project. if you are sad about something he’s done or a situation between you two, he’s adamant about fixing it. at first, it might just seem like he wants to kick your relationship issues under the rug, but he eventually tells you that he knows life is short, and would rather spend every second he has with you feeling nothing but joy.

“we can’t just run away from this, noah! you really hurt my feelings.” swallowing the lump in your throat, you try to hold your voice steady as you confront him. “don’t you care about what i think?” you ask, feeling your skin grow warm in a mix of embarrassment and frustration, the latter of which only grows with each passing second that your boyfriend stands frowning in front of you.

“y’know i do,” noah replies, softening his tone after his earlier outburst. he takes a step closer to you with his palms outstretched, eyes wide and hopeful. “i just don’t like it when we fight. don’t see a point in all of it.”

“couples fight, noah. it’s normal.”

his lips quirk at the corners and, when you finally let him interlock his fingers with yours, a small smile spreads across his face. “can’t we just be happy instead?” you scoff, trying not to give in to his persuasive words and the way his thumb rubs gently against the back of your hand. you’re already forgetting what the fight was even about and why you’ve been giving him the cold shoulder these past few days. “c’mon, you forgive me, don’t ya?”

sighing, you pull him closer. “i really don’t know how you do it.”

“is that a yes?”

+ if you like being left alone when you’re sad, you’re dating the wrong guy. as long as you’re feeling down noah’s gonna be stuck to your side like glue no matter where you are. even if you're in the bathroom he’ll be sitting outside humming to himself, trying to strike up a conversation through the door. the last thing he wants is for you to be sad and lonely, so if he can only take care of one of those problems for now don’t expect him to be leaving anytime soon.

post-war!noah x gn!reader; hurt/comfort, unspecified angst, v slight mentions of depression/ptsd

after the war, noah’s naive, narrow view of the world and other people’s emotions within it develops into a much more mature perspective. it’s an unspoken thing, really, and he only brings it up off-handedly in rare moments that you collect over years of being with him. he’s seen and dealt with things he’d never dreamed of when he was younger and the effects of those situations are obvious in the way he treats you; especially if you knew him before and can see a direct contrast to his previously blind optimism. 

instead of trying to “fix” your bad mood, noah just lets you embrace it. he knows that sometimes there isn’t much to do but ride out the wave of emotions until it subsides. of course, he’ll do whatever he can to make your day even a little easier, but he won’t let you feel guilty for wallowing in it either. sure, he can show some tough love, but he’s a real softie for you! he'll only lash out if your negativity is targeted toward him specifically, otherwise, he sees no reason to add to your already lousy day. when he is the problem, well, the sight of your tears is enough for him to drop his grudge (eventually.)

“we spendin’ all day in bed?” noah asks, the mattress sinking slightly as he sits beside your curled-up form. “'s beautiful outside.” when you peer over the comforter to look at him, you find his gaze already fixated on the view from your bedroom window, a hint of a smile hiding beneath his untamed beard. the normally cheerful tune of the birds' morning call only serves to remind you of your own lingering sadness, and you let out a heavy sigh.

“right, well…” noah shifts, and you close your eyes, waiting for the sound of the door closing behind him as he goes to start his day. “c’mon, darling, scooch over.” instead, his rough palm pats your hip, determination clear in his steady tone.

you sit up a little, brows furrowing. “aren’t you gonna go out?”

he shakes his head, crawling under the various quilts and blankets thrown across your bed the second you give him enough space. “and leave you here to mope all by yourself?” his fingers dig into your sides, urging you closer until he can press a ticklish kiss to your bare shoulder. “nah…” the gentle touch of his lips lingers and he only continues once you’ve settled against him. “i think i can stay a while longer.”

+ noah is, underneath all the bluntness, surprisingly rational. if your bad mood is the result of a less-than-ideal situation, he’s a great man to have talk you through it. he’ll take you out for a drive, boat ride, or even just a walk, letting you rant about whatever is bothering you before offering his own advice. as long as you take it with a grain of salt, and execute the delivery with a bit more decorum, his suggestions can be a lot of help!

gosling sleepover sunday (no longer taking requests!)

[reason-with-the-underdog]

haikavetham & childhood finances, pt 2

(analysis of alhaitham's & kaveh's attitudes towards money, with a focus on kaveh since more of his character story is about financial struggles)

part 1 here

to recap, i'm outlining aspects of kaveh's current financial mindset that make sense if he knowingly experienced poverty as an adolescent

4. his belief in mutual aid

Kaveh’s expresses a belief in mutual aid (& shows it by giving money to unemployed shipwrights + referring them for a job)

basically mutual aid acts like an unofficial social safety net for poor folks. Pay it forward, be generous within your community, etc... do a favor for your neighbor and they might help you back, that kinda thing

It’s a mixed bag research-wise on if poor people are more generous than rich people

but anecdotally, i've seen many ppl saying that their experiences w poverty made them not care if they were getting scammed by a homeless person, the risk of not helping was much worse.

like yea that’s kaveh

5. inability to ask for help

Ok i admit this one’s pretty complicated and definitely wrapped up in kaveh’s own guilt complex

however an inability to ask for/accept help and gifts is definitely a character trait that many people who experienced poverty as children can relate to

6. couponing/discount-shopping but not buying in bulk

This one’s more a sidenote than “evidence”

Kaveh’s famous locally for being able to catch when high-quality wine gets discounted by 90%

buying in bulk has higher up-front costs even if the per-unit cost is cheaper, so it’s more of a middle-class habit (rich people don’t necessarily care, and poor ppl can’t afford it)

so onto the counter(?) evidence!

His teapot dialogue at first glance seems to have him talking about his bankruptcy and how it shocked him as an otherwise financially privileged and idealistic/naive student. But i dont think it necessarily contradicts my headcanon here

His teapot dialogue talks about abject poverty in relation to his bankruptcy period (living at lambad’s)

This makes sense to me bc homelessness is a uniquely harrowing experience& idt he’d consider childhood financial insecurity as “abject poverty” (again they always had a house)

+ he naturally has the desire to minimise any problems his mother had as a single parent

And being poor as a kid doesn’t mean he couldn’t still have strong ideals/pride as a student (and still does have as an adult)

Ok so that’s my case for why i think kaveh experienced being “cash poor” as a kid

Why am i so invested in this hc?

Beyond it explaining a lot of his financial habits/helplessness, it also makes for fun comparisons to Alhaitham!

Alhaitham is very much set up as a middle-class saver and spender. I think there’s a case to be made for him lacking insight into the struggles of the poor in a "hidden blindspots" middle-class kinda way

(the whole “free healthcare” comment vs dori’s backstory about her sister dying from being unable to afford healthcare, kaveh believing in the reality of kids in sumeru starving, etc)

here he gave decent advice (their skills are obsolete, they need to transition to more relevant industries/skills)

but at the same time… he’s asking them to leave their families behind for possibly months while they’re at sea, to invest a lot of up-front money for training, etc

ppl who grow up privileged (middle class/rich bg) tend to have those "blind spots"

good well-intentioned advice, but maybe not understanding that it may not be practical

Real life examples might be like “young and unemployed? Join the army” or “stop buying lattes/avocado toast”

(ok the latter advice may not be well-intentioned, but a lot of the rich folks saying “stop buying X” do seem to genuinely believe their words... but the problem is that if your debt is massive or buying a house is forever away, saving a teensy bit over time isn't going to fix things really)

if kaveh is set up as having experienced living as low-income, it makes sense why he’s more sympathetic to the craftsmans’ concerns and gives them what they’re actually asking for

(money for short-term needs & gigs to gain more mots asap w/o having to completely switch industries)

Anyways that’s my very long-winded soapbox. Hope this gave some food for thought on the implications the potential years of grieving faranak not working or being underemployed have for kaveh's childhood!

As a final parting shot, here’s dori in a nutshell

dori's interesting, she's more like kaveh's foil than alhaitham is (alhaitham being his mirror and sharing similar values/goals, just having different ideas and approaches to getting there)

in conclusion: there's a reason why so many thought kaveh's bg was underprivileged pre-lore drop. so many of his behaviors & ideals align with that sort of upbringing

reposted with permission, ty river!

[pupmkincake2000]

So, I never thought that I'd play Baldur's Gate 3, since turn-based RPGs are not my thing. But I was literally persuaded to play this game and I just have to share my impressions.

I did watch shorts and videos on YouTube, so I was aware of the world and characters before playing. That's why I decided to start Gale's origin

and I think if I decide to replay the game, I will choose him again, since he is the best. Yes, I think he is. I love good characters, kind, sympathetic, a little ambitious, gentle and loyal. And Gale fits my taste standards perfectly. He kind of reminds me of a sweet Hank Anderson from Detroit: Become Human. Noble, kind, gentle and faithful.

And, the funniest thing is that I decided to romance Astarion. Playing as Gale.

But not because I like Astarion.

On the contrary (and now hear me out), the more I played, the more he annoyed me, and I didn’t understand why people were so crazy about him. I mean, if you want him to like you, you need to do morally questionable things. Not to mention he is absolutely not my type, I never liked characters like him. That is, Astarion is the embodiment of everything that disappoints me in characters.

And you can talk as much as you like about his life being difficult. Because this does not justify many of his actions.

However, the ship itself works surprisingly well. I mean, I really like Gale and I don't like Astarion, but their ship surprisingly works. And now in a ship Astarion seems much... likable?

Basically, they are a perfect complement to each other, which is exactly the type of relationship I love. They help each other, they do not “fix” each other, but complement each other. They heal each other. Their relationship is not abusive if both work on this relationship, and the love between them is that type of love that happens probably once in a century. And to be honest, I don't want to make Astarion an ascended vampire (I haven't finished the game yet), I'm sure Gale will find a way for him to walk in the sun without the ritual.

Well, now to the other characters. Karlach and Wyll

are just two incredible sunshines. I tried to build friendly relations with them, I didn’t choose flirt while answering their lines, but for some reason they still ended up offering me sex, and it was really awkward and painful to turn them down.

So I just started shipping them together because it's another type of relationship I enjoy. It’s a pity that their couple is not popular (is there such a pairing at all?). This is the perfect “enemies to lovers” ship and it’s a shame that they can’t, like in some games, flirt with each other if they don’t have any affair with the main character .

I have almost nothing to say about Shadowheart, I’m not particularly interested in her (my party consists mainly of Astarion, Karlach and Lae'zel), but I think she has enough fans.

Halsin… oh, he is a magnificent man, and I would have romanced him if not the reasons. But I want you to know that he is also an incredible sunshine too, kind soft teddy bear who I wanted to hug and never let go.

And finally, HIM. Mysterious Guest. I knew this was an emperor, but I really liked the look I've created for him! I made him look like Hank Anderson, of course he didn’t look exactly like him, but nevertheless… I think he turned out very beautiful.

Let me scream about this beaty for a while!

In general, apart from problems with the gameplay (it took me a long time to get used to it), the game is really nice. The only thing that, it seems to me, would be worth changing is the permissiveness of choices when you go through the origin of any of the main characters, as was done with the Dark Urge. I mean, Wyll, Karlach and Gail are sunshines, so I absolutely can't believe that they are capable of doing bad things. If you can't avoid bad deeds when playing as the Urge, why can't you make it so that good characters are unable to do bad deeds? Would you really believe that Gale, Wyll or Karlach would be capable of slaughtering the whole village of children? For example, I believe that Astarion most likely would not have saved Shadowheart in the first act; he behaves selfishly throughout the entire first act. But I don’t believe that Karlach, Wyll and Gale would be capable of leaving her caged.

So, yeah, that's it.

[rockmangurl]

Probably going to edit this a lot. Sorry.

Hot take: ProQuake is something I like in concept, and have seen/read good stuff with them, but I personally prefer shipping RS!Proto/Blues and Quake/Tempo because the proximity of the wall punch in the comics honestly sours any potential connection they maybe could have had at times.

Sometimes I like the comic version pairing, sometimes I don't.

Doesn't matter if Blues apologized, if he wasn't one of the most popular characters, he would be getting more heat for it. I'm sympathetic toward his situation but he ultimately helped cause a lot of his own problems.

But even still, the concept of the comic counterpart appeals to me in some way. I don't hate Ian Flynn, I promise.

Aka, I don't hate the pairing (I actually like the concept of both the pairing and/or platonic angle and contrasting history and plan on leaving things open for interpretation when it relates to the Archie versions and people are free to ship them and whoever as it’s ultimately fiction and many are sane individuals with concepts of right and wrong) but it does feel like, no matter how potentially cute or good it could be, Blues has a long, LONG way to go if I were in Tempo’s position. At least unless something major happened.

But the friends angle is ok whether you ship or not I think.

Its not until the end of the events of MM5 that actually challenge her own perception and ways of thinking, but extending agape is always necessary.

Hence why I think it's important to show that such behavior is not ok no matter the circumstances.

Growing up with that from someone you are supposed to trust is terrible.

[hero-villian-blog]

A Problem With Magento

Oh look another X-Men related post, yes I know I've been making a lot of posts about the X-Men recently. Anyways I wanted to throw my thoughts out about the character of Magneto and the dynamic he and Charles Xavier have.

So Magneto is often depicted as a sympathetic villain who has good points, but at the same time falls into the whole oh but they do bad things like kill. Many sympathetic villains bug me in how they are depicted, and how they create unsympathetic heroes in turn. But That's not what this post is about, just remember Nimona is a great movie fight me!

Okay back on track, Magneto and Xavier are often said to represent or be depicted like 2 individuals from the Civil Rights Movement. I don't like this because it basically plays into this old pitting of 2 individuals against each other post one of their deaths by a certain garbage nation leader. But also the person Magneto is often used to represent never tried to wipe all of the opposing side or rule over them. Something we see in the movies, comics, and tv shows. Like how in X2 Magneto basically tries to wipe out all non mutants. Which also ties into my previous post about the lack of mutant supporters and groups of people who have suffered in very similar ways mutants, and would definitely exist in such a world. That basically Magneto would wipe out those people as well, and the group that he shares an identity with as well.

Speaking of that identity, does anyone else find it odd that Magneto adopts the ideology of the people who did that to him and others because of that identity? You have him referring to non mutants as bugs, lesser, etc. While referring to mutants as superior, gods, and goddesses with other characters adopting such language as well. With Magneto either trying to wipe out all non mutants all out like in X2, or like in rule over them like he plans to do in X-Men: First Class.

Speaking of first class you have Magneto literally saying he agrees with everything that Sebastian Shaw says. It almost a bit worse given Magneto and other mutants associated with him like the Brotherhood of Mutants are an allegory for specific groups, and someone like Magneto adopting the ideology of the oppressors of said groups is just too similar to fear of said oppressors that said groups will do back to the oppressors what was done to them. It also falls into that same issue I made a post about where characters in the X-Men world act like mutants aren't humans. In the end I just find it weird an oppressed character would adopt the views of their oppressor, I don't think many would do something like that. The whole thing seems like there's almost an intent to make him a hypocrite.

Small spoiler for X-Men 97 here.

Side note, while I get in X-Men 97 is having Magneto be better, and he is much better than many of his other depictions. But he still spits out some nonsense. Not saying everything he says in nonsense, he has some pretty good lines like the one in Episode 5.

[very-straight-blog]

Perhaps it's time for Aegon's fans to wake up and realize that the whitewashing and victimization of Alicent also harm Aegon's character. On TG, people always talk about how Rhaenyra's whitewashing hurts Aegon, but why don't we talk about how Alicent's victimization does too? Many don't mention this because the change in Alicent's story to make her "sympathetic" was the reason many people started to like her. Several of the arguments people use to defend and victimize her couldn't be used if she were like in the book.

The writers should never have made Alicent the main focus of the Greens. All the time they spent changing her character's story could have been invested in Aegon's character. Aegon could have appeared as a baby and then as a child from the first episodes if they had respected the ages and the story. But the writers decided to make Alicent younger and develop her character by giving her a new story. They could have focused on Aegon's childhood from the beginning, showing more of him, along with Alicent starting her plan to put him on the throne. They could have shown him dealing with his mother's pressure, his feelings about not being his father's heir, his dynamics with Viserys and Criston, his siblings, and other characters. Showing more of his childhood/pre-adolescence would have been possible if they had respected the book's timeline. Even Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron could have appeared from the first episodes as babies and children, and they could have shown us a little more about them. The first season had few episodes and many time jumps, but if they had respected the book's timeline, we could have had more of the Green children.

The writers even focus on Alicent at moments that should be Aegon's. They gave her his line about "What kind of brother would steal his sister's birthright?" The rape scene then focuses on Alicent and how she feels sympathy for the girl and abhors her son for his actions. They don't show us Aegon's state of mind or how he deals with his bad actions; this focuses on Alicent, a victim sympathizing with another victim. Aegon became secondary in his own story because now Alicent is the main character of the Greens. Tom should have been on the cover of EW with Emma D'Arcy, not Olivia, because this is Rhaenyra vs. Aegon, but now everything is Rhaenyra vs. Alicent.

"Perhaps it's time for Aegon's fans to wake up and realize that the whitewashing and victimization of Alicent also harm Aegon's character." I don't really understand what kind of Aegon's fans you're talking about, because personally I never liked the way the writers changed the accents in the series compared to the books. I've repeatedly mentioned the problems related to the narrative that we have received due to the fact that Aegon was sidelined, because he's literally Rhaenyra's main rival and the second main character of this story. So I really don't understand why you wrote this thought to me.

"Many don't mention this because the change in Alicent's story to make her "sympathetic" was the reason many people started to like her." I've also repeatedly mentioned that I've always liked Alicent from the books more - a strong and ambitious woman, while Alicent on the screen is a weak victim of her surroundings and I find her pathetic.

As for the rest - well, yes, it's true, I agree with that. The screenwriters wrote an almost completely new story and as a result, Aegon turned out to be a minor character, even being literally a king. I really love Aegon from the books and I think that with proper adaptation, we could get a character that the audience would find much more fascinating than Rhaenyra. I'm very interested in how the screenwriters will develop the plot further, because after the death of "the black queen", Aegon becomes the main character - how are they going to present this to the audience? Although, I wouldn't be surprised if they rewrite the ending completely.