#and it if wasn’t for that

[mareastrorum]

Hi I just saw that you have the same 'why am I watching XMen (derogatory)' feeling! Same hat!

Yeah, and it’s like, theoretically, I should love the X-men. I’m mixed race, grew up in shitty circumstances, dealt with a lot of -isms and violence, and did well in school despite intense challenges on multiple fronts. But they just don’t appeal to me. There’s some novelty and entertainment value, but it gets old quick. It’s similar with other superhero stories, but the X-men story depends on the status quo not changing. Once mutants are accepted and the goal is achieved, that’s a different story. The narrative posture depends on never meaningfully moving toward that goal. That’s alright in short form, but any long term stuff loses my interest.

Campaign 3 feels similarly to me. I tune in every Thursday to watch, but the characters’ arcs just haven’t hooked me. They could TPK tomorrow and I wouldn’t feel a thing—except maybe Braius because he’s a lying liar who lies, and those are fun. I don’t dislike any of them; I just don’t concern myself with how their stories will end because they don’t have any interesting goals in mind.

I like characters with ambition, ruthlessness, and/or competitiveness. Of course, that means I often adore villains, and I’ve embraced that. Characters don’t need to cave to the negative impacts of those traits for me to enjoy them. Unfortunately, the Hells don’t really have strong facets of those. They can get into the right mood, but generally, that isn’t their vibe. Braius is the only one that comes close, but he’s still so new that I don’t know if there’s even enough time for me to get invested.

Caleb’s arc was wonderful. Insane, obsessive ambition to change reality that eventually was pushed aside by love for his friends and the life he built with them. The potential of their future mattered more than correcting his past. That dedication wasn’t thrown away; just redirected. Percy had a similar arc in C1.

I liked Beau and Fjord for the same reasons: directionless and abandoned in the beginning, then deciding upon a purpose and persistently moving toward it. They stumbled, suffered loss, but eventually came into their own. Fjord was more ruthless than the rest when he made decisions, and Beau had a wonderful competitive streak.

I like characters with goals, dreams, or plans. Better if they’re insane. Wonderful if they fail. Fantastic if they succeed. Make it a spectacle. Make it hurt. Add fanfare and pizazz.

But there has to be some kind of end point for that character in mind. Not dying and preventing the apocalypse are good motivations, but they don’t compel me as an audience member to pay attention to a character arc. That’s a plot hook, not a reason to give a shit about who the story has focused on. Like, Vox Machina’s and the Mighty Nein’s character arcs are done, and I still would have enjoyed following them through the C3 plot more than Bell’s Hells. At least those teams have a vision for their own futures beyond their immediate needs. The Hells are just (un)happy to be here.

It’s like the Matron’s speech in the last episode: if you don’t want to do this, leave. I’m too far along in my own life experience to care about characters who are paralyzed by the fear of consequences. Make a choice or make way for someone who will. Even better, get crushed by someone with a spine. Villains fill that role so well, and I adore when I get to see that play out.

Unfortunately, the Hells are just the X-men: they don’t have a purpose other than dealing with a shitty situation. They don’t achieve goals; the most they accomplish is interfering with others’ goals. Maybe they could have come up with personal goals more easily in a different plot arrangement, but it wasn’t impossible to achieve here. They just didn’t do it.

[goldensunset]

you! tumblr user!

[raychleadele]

“Why did you follow this person ? uwu”

I’ve been here for fourteen years, do you think I remember? I don’t know who any of these people are anymore. I don’t know why they’re on my dash. I allow them to stay because they haven’t pissed me off enough to unfollow them yet. “Why did you follow this person?” I’m not sure I ever did. They’re just part of my ecosystem now.

[mioakem]

the imagery in this part of the ep was actually insane like this is genuinely beautiful

[juno-infernal]

[covered in blood, with tears in my eyes] I AM VERY YOUNG AND I AM LEARNING HOW TO LIVE

[humming-fly]

I love how Gerald was trying to keep Shadow from spoiling anything about the future meanwhile literally everything Shadow says and does around Maria is the biggest death flag ever

[baristabomb]

...weird amount of dunmeshi fans have been saying being a caretaker in a relationship is the worst thing ever..marcille must want to killl everyone soo bad because doing things for people suuuucks sooo muchh

it's an act of love, not just a job i promise. we all want someone who's willing to take care of us in some way, just like how senshi shows care for others by cooking for them :'|

[kuronekoartsblog]

I offer you: Tim Drake being absolutely demolished in a way or another for being good at videogames, both by his opponent and his own teammate

Recently this is the only thing capable of pumping some dopamine in my ADHD brain so this is what u get lol

More to come!

[traumatizeddfox]

“but it wasn’t that bad”

did it hurt? did you feel scared? unsafe? were you embarrassed? humiliated? terrified? did you feel confused on why? does it keep you up at night? do you avoid being in a similar situation? did you cry? did you want to cry? who told you it wasn’t that bad?

[riverside-lavender]

found this on my monthly tiktok scroll. i think we should add murder too.

[thatrandomblogsays]

Annabeth: I, a child, had to earn Thalia’s love, that’s how the world works! I have to earn my moms love. Love is transactional, you gotta be worthy of it first silly :)

Percy, listening to this on the train

[glitchedcosmos]

I’m ace, aro and tired

Reblog if you are also LGBT+ and tired

[goldensunset]

can you reblog a two-part post in the correct order?

[tired-all-the-time22]

14-Year-Old-Half-Ghost-Vigilante Daniel Fenton experiences first-hand the universal blunder of Fucking Around and Finding Out for the nth time

Friends and confidants Sam Manson and Tucker Foley are not amused.

[thatskindarough]

Ice cream parlor (December 2023)