#and then he does it again later!!! his entire relationship to a victim past the point where he can't establish /control/ to hurt them

[angorwhosebabyisthis]

it's wild because over the years i've gone from shipping nive with some degree or other of fluff/happy endings (or at least hopeful ones; or if it does end badly, it's due to external factors) to just unabashedly wanting them to make each other Worse

[wishful-thinking64]

One Hell of an Unpopular Opinion #05

Apology Tour completely dismantles the very thought of Stolitz ever being a remotely healthy relationship once they actually become canon on account of AT proving that Stolas doesn't truly love Blitzø for who he is but rather the idealized version of him that Stolas created within his own head and could be replaced by anyone who's willing to take/play Stolas' idealized role of a partner. __________

As much as I hate Full Moon for wasting so much of the audiences time, it did give us that scene where Blitzø was finally sick of Stolas' shit and told him off for it. However, since it's HB the show immediately tries to run damage control in it's next episode, Apology Tour. This is not only another episode that I despise but it's also the one that solidified my hatred for Stolas and his character. In the beginning of Apology Tour, Stolas bitches and moans over how Blitzø is still making their "relationship" about sex when, news flash, it's ALWAYS been about sex because you, Stolas, have kept it that way to the point where your victim feels like he has to sleep with you in order to DESERVE to keep his OWN BUSINESS RUNNING!

And Blitzø isn't wrong! Their "relationship" has always been, as Blitzø worded it back in Season #01 of HB, "a transactional fucking." Why would he see it as anything different when that's how its always been? Now, how does Stolas reply to this?

Honestly, this IS very shocking Stolas as I believe this might be the first time where you and Blitzø have interacted with one another where you're not blatantly sexualizing or romanticizing him on screen! After this he says that Blitzø should respect the fact that he isn't in the mood to sleep with or even speak to him right now. Mind you, whenever Blitzø has told Stolas in the past that he isn't in the mood to sleep with him or be flirted with, Stolas has respected that notion ONE TIME which was after the fiasco at Ozzie's back from Season #01. Otherwise, Stolas hasn't respected his boundaries for shit. Boundaries are important but you two aren't in a real relationship and even if you were respect is still a two way street. If you command respect from someone you choose to CONTINUE to disrespect on a CONSTANT/CONSISTENT basis then why the hell should they respect you? If it wasn't for his book, Blitzø wouldn't have any incentive to cross paths with Stolas at all.

Anyway, literal seconds later, Stolas tells Blitzo how he got invited to an annual anti-Blitzø party and comments on how he's above such silly nonsense only for him to quickly change his tune upon seeing Blitzø's annoyed and enraged reaction to seeing that Verosika is behind this petty pity party.

This starts a back and forth with Stolas demanding that Blitzø leaves. This results in Blitzø, yet again, reinstating on what their relationship truly is and how Stolas fetishizes him which discomforts Stolas because deep down he knows what Blitzø is saying is true.

Now, I won't get into the conversation that takes place after this comment as the critical side of the Helluva Boss fandom on Tumblr has already (rightfully) torn it to shreds. So instead, I'll save us all some time by simply skipping ahead to when Stolas is at the party after that Incubus guy (that rabbid Stolitz shippers hate) asks him if he wants to dance and why I despise that entire scene.

We see that Blitzø is uncomfortable with this and Stolas KNOWS that he's uncomfortable with this random guy asking Stolas to dance with him as Stolas made DIRECT EYE CONTACT with Blitzø! Now, Blitzø does effectively advise that Stolas take up the Incubus' offer with a hand gesture HOWEVER for Stolas to claim that he's always been in love with Blitzø and that he has eyes for him and him alone only to later MAKE OUT WITH A STRANGER just proves and validates Blitzø's feelings that you don't actually love or care about him! And moments before this scene Stolas says this.

THEN GO AND FIND THAT PERSON AS LITERALLY ANYBODY CAN DO THAT! YOU DO NOT LOVE BLITZØ, YOU MERELY LOVE THE CONCEPT OF BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM BECAUSE TO YOU, YOU SEE HIM AS A "CHILDHOOD FRIEND" WHEN IN REALITY YOU KNEW HIM AND HUNG AROUND HIM FOR ONE DAY SINCE YOUR FATHER BOUGHT HIM TO BE YOUR PLAYMATE FOR A SINGLE DAY! ... *Ahem.* In conclusion, there's no amount of future retconning that Viv and Spindlehorse can do to successfully make Stolitz appear as a genuinely healthy ship without trashing the entirety of Apology Tour but even that would create/introduce an entire new set of problems. __________

Man, I've been wanting to get this one off my chest for a while as I haven't seen many people bring up these scenes from AT when discussing how and why Stolas doesn't love Blitzø. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts this time around and I'll see you later!

[themoonking]

elaborating on a post from last night.

back when the good omens show first came out, i saw this fandom quickly dismiss concerns transfems had about the transmisogynistic tropes present in the show, the book, and gaiman's other work. i saw this fandom praise a depiction of a man disguising himself as a woman with the sole intention of gaining access to a child and influencing them into evil as a bold, positive representation of gender nonconformity. unfortunately i, being very young at the time and not as familiar with transphobia as it applied to trans women as i was with how it applied to myself (a tme enby), was part of this dismissal. i, like many other good omens fans, participated in brushing aside trans women's valid concerns in favor of supporting neil gaiman's bullshit. but i have since left the fandom, learned, and realized how fucked up it was.

so it's honestly sickening to see this same fandom now use defense of and support for trans women as a shield to excuse neil gaiman's bullshit once again. i believe that tortoise media had motives for wanting to break the story that had more to do with gaiman's milquetoast support for trans rights than they did concern for his victims, but i also believe the victims. i wish scarlett and k had come forward about their abuse with literally any other outlet, and it's entirely possible that one or both of them have bigoted beliefs about trans people themselves, but i'm not going to dismiss what they went through just because they aren't perfect victims or perfect people.

it's without question that gaiman had sexual relationships with both of these women, both being in their early 20s while he was in his 40s and 60s, one being a fan he met when she was a teenager and the other being his employee, respectively. that alone should make you want to distance yourself from him and his work. it also seriously makes me doubt his innocence that his own defense of himself is that k is just still so upset about the way their relationship ended that she's making sa allegations to get back at him almost two decades later and that scarlett is literally delusional and has created false memories of assault due to a medical condition that she does not fucking have.

we have seen time and time again that victims get absolutely no reward for coming forward about abuse, especially so when their abuser is a wealthy public figure. the idea that women are incentivized to create false allegations is a straight up lie and i had thought, after you all were fooled by depp and his pr team not too long ago, that we had all moved past believing it, but i guess fucking not.

[dom-nautica]

Hi I wanted to ask you a question and also (politely) clarify something for you that I think you may have misunderstood.

To clarify: you have brought up the fact that Shelby pressured to marry Wilbur a very early in their relationship. In Shelby’s original stream however she says that it was actually Wilbur who “talked about ‘forever’ one month in”. It sounds like she also wanted ‘forever’ with him, but that it seems it was not pressured on him originally, but something he was also looking for. She only became upset later when he told her he changed his mind. Which I agree is not a reasonable thing to be upset about to the extent that she was, but it wasn’t her pressuring it on him at first, it was a mutual honeymoon phase where they both wanted a ‘happily ever after’ so to speak.

And my question: you’ve mentioned that you take msr to describe how Wilbur felt suffocated in the relationship. Could you explain that a bit more, like what it is that makes you think that and what specific songs/lyrics mean to you? I have been interpreting it differently (to me, it seems like a genuine expression of woe that the relationship didn’t turn out, both for reasons that he messed up about or that she messed up about, or for wanting different things) and I would love to hear where you’re coming from.

Again I mean no harm with this, just wanted to point something out that seemed inaccurate according to the knowledge I have, as well as ask about where you’re coming from with your interpretation (:

Certainly.

Wilbur and his past friends have mocked that he had a crush on Shelby for years. When she broke-up with her long-term boyfriend they quickly jumped into a relationship. I don't have a source, but I was told it wasn't even a week after she broke up they got together. Thats very quick to get into a relationship and then start talking about marriage in a month. Yes, it's honey-moon fazed.

They didn't even date a full year, but Soot went from a lovesick man to a skinny, depressed mess. So what happened?

I have to remind you that Shelby keeps a pristine innocent look to her entire career. Anytime she mocked her exes, which her long-term fans confirm existed, she deleted every post. You'll find only a clean slate of nothing negative about her. She has done this before and it seems she always does this AFTER they break-up with her. She cannot handle rejection. I believe this is what happened between her and Soot.

She saw a man she could live comfortably with and she took a leap of faith. The landing wasn't what she wanted. It was a guy that loved her without knowing who she is, but he wasn't giving her money, enough attention, time, etc. He also had traits she highly disliked such as depression and kinks.

She was still trying to get with him, even when Soot was already dating his new girlfriend! Soot was enamored by her, but accepted they don't clash together well. Soot got to know her, realized they are vastly different (which was obvious) and moved on - she didn't.

I think her reaction came from multiple things - her religious upbringing and pressure to settle down, her past boyfriends lack of obsessive admiration (which soot provided for a few months) and her own low self-worth. A confident person leaves with their emotions intact - she went out screaming she's a victim and trying her best to destroy his life. She didn't want him to be happy without her, so she grasped at straw such as "he didn't pay for my cat sitter" to somehow justify her hate for him.

The marriage comment was a stab at his lack of commitment. I fully believe soot just wanted a situationship with her, but she demanded more.

Regarding his songs in MSR:

The cover art depicts him wounded, based on the story its illustrated from: a little boy is trying to figure out who killed his neighboors dog. Its later revealed that the person that noone suspected had killed it. Hinting that: noone suspects the person that killed Soot.

The title is Mammalian Sighing Reflex - the action of trying to get air while you are drowning. Its a desperate attempt to survive. Shelby lashed out and made the allegations when this album dropped. The trying to survive and drowning feeling was her. Recently he also changed his bio to "gasping" which indicates he survived her - he didnt drown.

"I start to believe You never liked me at all" - he realises she just jumped into the relationship without thinking or getting to know him.

"I stand just out of reach of your fists" - she physically attacks him.

"You kiss me like it was your job" - Shelby didnt actually love him, she just wanted to settle down with anyone.

"I just want to feel normal again I just want to have meals with my friend I just can't go through this again Find my comfort in envisioning the end" - hes exhausted, he wants this feeling to end regardless even if its ending himself.

"Then in doing so, uh, I feel sad (He feels sad) Which is not a good feeling when you're supposedly in a good phase So as almost a self-sabotage, if you will, uh" - he's "manic". he's unhappy, but people expect him to be so he pretends he is. he pretends until he physically can't anymore.

"And I'll shave my head And forget my name" - he hates where he is in life. he isn't happy. hes dreaming of a different life somewhere else.

"I'll live with you until our bones grow old Ain't that miserable?" straight to the point. the idea of growing old with Shelby makes him miserable. through the album you can feel both anxiety, self-destruction and acceptance. the entire album he's trying to convince himself to be happy. He should be happy - he's with Shelby, his crush, so why isn't he happy?

"The melatonin doesn't work Anymore The Valium just stops the hurt But not the cortisol" - none of his medications work anymore.

"Help, why the fuck do I still self-sabotage When I'm finally happy?" he listened to what people told him. he has a gf, they want to get married, live together - but he feels trapped. he should feel happy, but he doesn't.

"Nothing around here fucking works We're justified abhorrent We're all apes with a diary book And corporate reads your pages" - self-defeat. society reads his pages, tells him what to do and he realizes he can't escape it. its anxiety and hes still forced to perform that hes ok. he IS performin - but hes not happy about it. hes trapped.

Im gonna shorten the analysis for the next ones, because this post is very long ;_;

Oh Distant You, Eulogy, Dropshipped Cat Shirt, Trying Not To Think About It - is Soot comparing Shalby to his pas ex which he sang about in lovejoy. He's sad he lost both, but he lets them go.

The Median - he hopes someone will understand WHO he was talking about. Similar to him using the word "ex" he wont say her name.

10 Week Rule - he wants to end himself.

Theres so much more to the songs, but like i said the post is just too long, I probably should have made a doc instead...

Overall: hes not happy, hes tired just by looking at his songs. his mental state is rock bottom - hes drowning, but after their breakup he updated that hes gasping (so he survived, barely)

Looking at Shlebys comments she was extremely unhappy with him (the horrible comments she said public are definitely polish for the public, i don't even want to imagine what she was like with him in private) and seeing his own physical state its even a bigger indicator he lost hope in saving himself. He's hanging on by a thread basically.

The entire internet also attacking him - 100% doesn't help.

[rise-my-angel]

I am here for your takes on Dani. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought her x Jon smelled of hot garbage. Like at best she was meh, and then when the two of them met I was just like "oh no....you're an entitled bitch". And now that its been years since I last consumed GoT, my thoughts have fermented into "oh no, she really is a conqueror" "oh no, everyone loves her because 'pretty badass lady'" "oh no i'm the fandom minority again". Anyway, where was I. She and Jon had no chemistry. The end.

The *only* way putting them in a romance even makes sense in concept is when you realize Benioff and Weiss gave Jon the Young Griff arc. It's why they gave him a Targ name, beacuse if they call him "aegon" then they can fufill that part of the books without ever having to establish Young Griff as his own character. He is the supposed son of Rhaegar Targaryean and Elia Martell, he goes to Westeros with intentions of using his better claim to take the throne and intends initially on marrying Dany, and it's theorized heavily that Dany will see his claim as a threat and the Burning of Kings Landing will come down to Aegon against Dany.

Jon Snow has nothing to do with that. He is a moral opposite to Dany as a charecter, and we've seen him time and time again be at strong odds against people with her morals. But by giving him the Young Griff arc, it means putting him into the romance spot when it makes no sense for him.

Hey I put a read more beacuse I cannot shut the fuck up about how this relationship is just rape and abuse but beacuse Jon's a man we think he wants it.

All of season 7 Jon is so out of place because he doesn't belong anywhere near Dany's Iron Throne plot, and he's being forced to interact romantically with a charecter that clearly he does not like as a person and is uncomfortable with.

But, Dany is the sacred cow of the GoT/asoiaf fandom. You love her and if you critizize her for villanious actions or morals then you are using bad faith towards her. While I personally don't like her, I don't mind other people liking her but I despise that her stans all refuse to allow any conversation about her being a morally bad person. A person who enjoys cruelty and death, enjoys creating fear and is smug when she can control others. That is not a person Jon would love, let alone even respect.

Their entire relationship wreaks of abuse, of Jon being forced into this and knows he cannot leave it without risking his and his families lives. Remember when Tyrion gave a very small level critisism of her actions and she angrily accused him of treason and siding with his family instead of her? Well what do people think would she have done, if her attraction to Jon was refused? Someone who she took all the defenses away from, all the power from, and could have killed at any moment (dont make an ygritte comparison mimi dont make an yrgitte comparison this is a different anti jon x fandom female fave charecter post).

I don't care how the show frames it, or what the intent was. What we got on screen, was Jon Snow being held prisoner to an immoral, cruel, military conquerer. And when that woman was attracted to him, she essentially forced herself into his life and gave him all but no choice. The Jon bending the knee scene and..the uh...boat...scene...later...uhhh....anyways, those to me feel so out of charecter. You cannot convince me Jon did any of this willingly. He is clearly trapped in this situation and cannot leave and is only with her beacuse she is violent and bloodthrirsty. But beacause Jon is a strong, capable man, it's not talked about as if he's the victim and that is insane to me. (Oh my good god the ygritte comparisons are almost laughable send help).

I don't consider a lot past season 5 to be canon, but if I am forced too, then I refuse to accept Jon was a willing participant in that relationship.

Jon's parentage reveal will always be about the revelations of his mother, and the understanding and acceptance of WHY Ned raised him the way he did. And how it was both his parents, his mother and his adopted father who loved him and kept him safe. The very fact that Young Griff's entire story is based around whether or not he truly is Rhaegar's son as opposed to that being a twist reveal is beacuse HE is the charecter whose Targaryean links is the important one. Jon's story is about him as Stark, and is always shown to be the moral opposite of Dany.

Their relationship in the best senario is not canon, but if it has to be, then there is no world in which Jon is there of his own free will. He is being forced into this relationship against his will. But considering his other love interest was another charecter who essentially forced him into a relationship against his will, and we were supposed to root for that tells me all I need to know.

Dany is a sacred cow charecter, and her stans are unreasonable in defending her. When you can like a charecter and critize them for their actions. Ned Stark was an idiot for ever trusting Petyr Baelish, Catelyn Stark's spiteful attitude and neglect of Jon Snow is was abusive behavior, Theon Greyjoy was a moron who ruined his own life for a father who long since abandonded him. Bam all charecters I love and there are some major flaws that I refuse to defend them for but thats also what makes them good charecters. Their flaws arent writing flaws, they are personal flaws for them as people.

Dany is not allowed to have personal flaws she is always to be justified even with incredibly bad faith defenses, but when she is flawed it's the writings fault not hers. Dany is a cruel, sadistic, controlling, military tyrant who enjoys watching her subjects fear her and her dragons. And she forced Jon Snow into a relationship with her beacuse otherwise then he is against her and we already knew she has no use for people who dont support her to be alive.

Jon Snow deserved better then to have both his love interests be domineering, controlling, abusive women who forced him into a romantic and sexual relationship.

Also, I mean, incest being normal is only a learned trait from Targaryens supporting their own blood purity. Jon was not raised to think incest is normal. Dany thinks its normal beacuse she and Viserys both were raised to think that, and Young Griff thinks marrying Dany is normal beacuse he too was raised with the mentality that Rhaegar would've been raised with. Jon finding out Dany was his aunt would've had Jon looking right at Sam and just

[raisedbythetv89]

I’m seeing a post saying “Riley isn’t terrible he’s just a 23 year old guy” and to that I say let’s look at a brief summary of his behavior,

Riley: That girl is weird but everyone around me likes her which is strange to me but I guess I like her?? Literally completely unaware of his feelings then later:

No buffy you’re stupid. Me, who didn’t know my own feelings and couldn’t even approach you without going to your friend for advice and help first, knows you better than you. I don’t care about your past heartbreak you should stop being afraid and try again because I said so without knowing literally anything about it or you

Pulls a gun on angel when literally the only person a gun would hurt is Buffy and just ASSUMES Buffy cheated on him without confirming anything first and starts acting like a lunatic and then instead of taking accountability he blames how strong he feels about buffy as a justifiable reason for behaving erratic and dangerous

Says shit like “I don’t even know if I can take you” when he learns about what an impressive slayer she is. When both spike and angel have said buffy IS STRONGER THAN THEM so no Riley you cannot take her…. Always disregarding her strength and the importance of her calling

Sleeps with Faith/Buffy because he refuses to take Buffy’s warnings about her seriously and so isn’t on high alert for anything that could be off and doesn’t even hesitate when buffy is acting SUPER WEIRD. Make all the excuses you want, her boyfriend should have known something was wrong and waited to be intimate until he figured out what was wrong

Continually victim blames buffy for everything that happens with Dracula and not believing she didn’t secretly want it because of “her history with angel”

Recreates angel trauma of basically threatening suicide and being willing to die in front of her while heavily implying this is her fault because he cannot STAND the idea of being weak around her, making her think he wishes she wasn’t the slayer, adding to her growing insecurities WHILE HER MOTHER IS SICK

Then is shocked and surprised she’s not this super emotional woman always falling apart in his arms when things get hard with her mother when she’s been the strong one for the family and her friend group AND THE WORLD for five years at this point and has literally died - again showing he doesn’t want or understand the slayer. Also why would she ever depend on someone with such a fragile ego who has lost it on SEVERAL occasions during the course of their relationship (how he handled maggie’s attempt on Buffy’s life and discovering spike, threatening the woman in the demon bar while buffy is BEGGING him to calm down, ignoring a fatal health condition for ego, handling the whole angel thing and drac HORRIBLY like if you’re a normal person sure whatever but you fought to date the slayer you gotta be better than this under pressure dude) Riley does not have the mental or physical strength to support her and then is like “why won’t you let me support you??” Like bro bsffr you can’t and you not understanding that is a PROBLEM.

Further proving how unreliable he is while she is dealing with a sick mother, glory, school, and just her general Slayer duties he puts her and her entire family at risk by going to the suck house (could you imagine the harm that could have been done if someone knew he was the slayers bf and turned him) because he needs to feel “needed” when he IS and WAS needed by buffy but just not in the ways he wanted so he had a whole ass tantrum and betrayed buffy in literally the worst way imaginable and being SUCH a hypocrite after he talked sooooo much about buffy having a thing for vampires and then blames her and spike for his own failings and selfish choices!

And then when he should be groveling for forgiveness he’s like you have to talk to me because I’m leaving unless we talk and you forgive me which is SOOOO fucked up. Like I cheated on you and betrayed you and put you and your family at risk but if you don’t forgive me immediately and accept blame for my failures I’m leaving you and going where I’m NEEDED. Because he is an actual child throwing a tantrum

And don’t even get me STARTED on as you were 🤢

He is constantly making buffy feel like she is wrong, bad, too strong, too distant, stupid and when he cheats on her, completely worthless and like everything bad in his life is somehow her responsibility to fix instead of his.

The fans have such a strong reaction to him because he is never called out or properly held accountable/villainized for all the harm he causes to buffy in the show and that lack of accountability causes all of us to feel a very justifiable outrage. So no we aren’t overreacting he has MANY crimes that go far beyond an average man in his 20’s

Basically, man tells woman she doesn’t know what she’s talking about and then is very upset and takes it out on woman over and over again when it turns out she did know what she was talking about. He succcckkkkksssss

[secretceremonials]

I'm completely fascinated by Cassandra's character. But I noticed that here on Tumblr some people romanticize her relationship with Agamemnon and I was very surprised, as I always thought it was obvious that it was a toxic relationship. You seem to understand more about this subject than I do, but did Cassandra have any affection for Agamemnon? Or even Agamemnon for her?

Hi anon! And thank you for the question, I had a lot of fun writing this.

That's a very complicated question, but I'll be my best (disclaimer that I'm not an expert, but I do read a lot).

We do have to take the relationship in its cultural context a little bit. A lot of people do seem to make Agamemnon a lot worse than he is in the texts. The fact that he took a concubine after a war would have been completely acceptable behaviour (Achilles does it, and we mostly forgive him), and doesn't really prove that he must have been violent to her or anything like that. I'm not saying that these attitudes are, or were ever, okay, but the fact that he is coming from a society in which slavery was fine means we can't just assume he is a monster on the basis of him having a slave. But I think that considering this context can also only take us so far. I find it difficult to believe that victims were less troubled by these occurrences, just because they were an accepted part of their society.

In terms of how Agamemnon views Cassandra, I do think there is something resembling affection. In Aeschylus's Agamemnon, he asks Clytemnestra to be kind to her, and in Euripides's Hecabe, Hecabe appeals to Agamemnon almost as her son-in-law, asking for his help, considering the "warm embraces" he enjoys with Cassandra. In Euripides's Trojan Women, Agamemnon takes her as his "bride", and Talthybius remarks that "Love for the god-inspired girl pierced Agamemnon's heart" (James Morwood translation), again suggesting affection, not just lust for her. But, then again, as he cannot possibly have known Cassandra for long enough to base this love on anything except her looks, can we really say it's any different (there is also the view that Apollo orchestrated the pairing, more on that later)? Ultimately, he still feels entitled to marry (have sex with) this pretty girl, by virtue of him being the general of the army that destroyed her home (cultural context is important, but its still hard to see past some things). Still, I do think that this shows that the popular interpretation of Agamemnon as a cruel old man is inaccurate. He definitely cares about Cassandra, and really only feels entitled to her in a completely socially acceptable way.

How Cassandra views Agamemnon is a bit trickier I think. In Euripides’s Trojan Women, I struggle to read anything other than her hating him. She admittedly does express a desire to marry him, but this is because she views it as a way to ensure his death (even if it comes alongside hers). So, she is motivated entirely by a desire for revenge, firmly believing that the match was orchestrated by Apollo, meaning that any acceptance she shows isn’t really any sign of love, just submitting to her fate with the knowledge that she is sealing his. In Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, I think there is a bit more apparent affection. She obviously hates Clytemnestra, and speaks badly of her murder of Agamemnon, which she callas an “accused deed” (Henry Howard translation), so this dislike doesn’t just seem to be of the woman who will kill her, but mourning for Agamemnon as well. 

I think it’s worth noting as well that these characters are really more archetypes that can fulfil a different role in whatever story they are involved in, than any concrete characters with distinct personalities. So even amongst ancient sources, opinions vary depending on what the writer intended to use them to show. For example, Aeschylus's Agamemnon is a pretty standard tragic hero plot. Here it makes sense to portray the relationship positively, to highlight Agamemnon as a hero and Clytemnestra as a villain (in very simple terms, since I’d need a whole essay to get into it fully). On the other hand, In the Trojan Women, Euripides was trying to commentate on the horror and futility of war, particularly for the women of the losing side, so it makes much more sense for Cassandra to hate her new master and be vengeful towards him. I would say that even the modern retellings can be valid as well, they are just taking these archetypes, and applying them to their own narrative (it’s just that the extent from which they have derived from the myth varies considerably).

Basically, how I view them depends almost entirely on what version I am reading. When I make my own interpretation, I would say that I don't romanticise them, and that I generally view Agamemnon as somewhat loving Cassandra, but Cassandra despising him, although he treats he fairly well. At the end of the day, he is the general behind the army that ruined her life. I do also sometimes like portrayals where they have a better relationship, but this is more because I love Cassandra and want to see her be happy than anything else.

So overall, it's not very clear cut, and a lot of Agamemnon hate is a bit unjustified (he acts like a petulant child sometimes, but honestly every hero does). While I don't think it is possible to ignore the fact that Cassandra has no agency in the relationship, it may be worthy of note that even in modern law, she could still be capable of consenting (evidential presumptions would fall onto the defence to prove the presence of consent under s75 of the Sexual offences act 2003, so consent would actually still be hypothetically possible, just harder to prove in current English law, obviously not super relevant here, but I do think it is interesting that this isn't automatically legally rape- I am stretching the statute a bit here to say that Cassandra's slavery is akin to unlawful detention, which isn't strictly true, but since slavery is illegal in any case it's the closest comparison I could think of).

Their relationship is inherently unequal, and impossible to form a conclusive judgement on, but I don't think either extreme view is particularly helpful for analysis (although completely fine for making your own interpretations).

[anyoldfandom]

Actually I've been reblogging a lot of Renfield shit (sorry to my 2 followers) and like. Readmore bc talks about abuse obvi but this film is *much* better when you realize it's not a metaphor for Renfield in an abusive relationship, but *after* an abusive relationship.

Very early on in the plot of movie we see Renfield leave Dracula, actually, and I don't think that's not on purpose. Dracula confronts him after, but doesn't try to get him back - merely tells him that his chance is over. Now all that's left for him is suffering.

Once Renfield tells Dracula it's over, he doesn't try to win him back. He just sets out to ruin his life. Dracula moves from the abuser in the relationship to the abuser *after* the relationship. He destroys the people Renfield cares about, the ones who encouraged him to leave in the first place. He does that out of vindictiveness - cuts Renfield off from his supports not to control him, but to hurt him. He leaves Renfield alone to literally deal with the aftermath, and pursues new victims - in this case, people just as bad as him.

It's not just about an abusive relationship in that way, it's the way Renfield is *after* the relationship that's important. That's why I actually love that the plot is so short - bc the plot is only something used to facilitate the character arc of Renfield.

That's why Quincy is such a static character. She doesn't change, bc she's not really a character for herself, she's a character for Renfield to understand what it means to stand up to people (as much as I don't like that bit - once again reducing the female lead, and a POC female lead, to a method for the male lead to grow). She is steadfast throughout the entire movie bc she is meant to be a beacon of light to him. And that's why Dracula wants her to join him! Bc it would hurt Renfield so much to see that the one person who gave him strength, the person he idolizes for standing up to Dracula, is not as strong as he thinks. It's *just* again all about hurting Renfield bc the story itself is all about abuse.

You hear it in how Renfield not only immediately acts submissive, but talks about himself too. How he's clearly a good person - Dracula manipulated him from the start. It's no coincidence he compared his story to one of romantic abuse. He was never at fault for what happened - he just wanted to make a better life for his family and he thought this was the way. But he was manipulated into thinking he was a bad person over and over again, that he deserves this for being greedy and abandoning his family in the past when he just wanted to get them a good life. Dracula gave him luxury, a life he thought his family deserved, and then isolated him from them.

You see it subtly, really well shown in a few lines too. When he suggests they lay low, Renfield tells Dracula that they can have the life he wanted - and then changes it to we. And then later on he makes himself seem more selfish doing the opposite, when he tells Quincy about his past.

I'm not saying he hasn't fucked up, but he clearly wasn't nearly as bad as he thinks he was, but it's all internalized abuse.

[firstagent]

Digimon Ghost Game #64 Review

With the crisis introduced last episode in full swing and the final arc kicking into gear, it’s a awkward time for a sidebar. But, as always, Hiro deals with recognizing the problem of Digimon flooding into the human world the same way he always does: refusing to offer any solutions and going off to do something else. That does take a lot of attention away from this horde of refugees, but at least Ruli and Kiyoshiro try attending to it, since it’s extremely relevant to what happens at the end. As feared, the story potential of all this won’t get a chance to be mined properly, and it’s a shame given how much earlier chaff it could have replaced. That said, it’s hard to lament that for too long, as Hiro winds up in a story that’s Ghost Game at its most savory, while the new development is big enough to catch your attention even if you didn’t commit to the earlier slog.

There was nothing subtle about the direction this episode was taking. The title, the sailors getting possessed, the fog compelling everyone to the ocean… after Millenniumon and Quartzmon, it’s not even that big a deal to see Dagomon the way we first met and fell in love with. But Dagomon’s natural influence isn’t the only good thing: the trio having to react to a sudden situation from a position of disadvantage adds plenty of tension on its own. Rather than have one of them victimized by the fog they all find a way to get past it and rally together for the big showdown. While the buildup is Ghost Game at its best, the battle itself represents Ghost Game at its clumsiest, as Espimon awkwardly bails the team out thanks to a random bit from the first act and the fight gets cut short right as it was sizzling the hottest. Even if the reason for the interruption is a welcome one and the disturbing corruption to Dagomon may be a prelude to some dangers down the road, it’s a letdown that Siriusmon doesn’t get either a clean win or a dark transformation here.

Still, it’s not like Dagomon isn’t used to being shut out abruptly and the arrival of Terriermon Joshu Hokuto makes enough waves on its own. Hiro not showing any emotion to being reunited with his lost father (as opposed to Gammamon… and Espimon) is appropriate to their relationship, but you’re salivating for him to have some sort of outburst over this later. More important—and amazingly cutting in after the requisite Angoramon outro—is both the network and the power going down everywhere. The Digimon are overwhelmed as they sense the entire Digital World has vanished. In a moment, the push to send all the Digimon into the real world has new context, and the prospect of both this and a powerless human world makes for a juicy final few episodes. Again, you wish there was more time to explore all the ramifications of this, because damn.

Initial Grade: A-

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[llycaons]

later is now. so I love herla and I'll get to her, but aethel strikes me as a horribly careless and self-centered leader fixated on her own victimization and whining about how hard HER job is to murder unarmed prisoners for what they MIGHT do. like!!! you couldn't have offered clemency to these impoverished men you ADMITTED were pressed into service for your enemy!! what the fuck!

and it IS unfair she's criticized disproportionately by misogynistic men for her strategic decisions but she also seems unable to admit when she's made a mistake and she's also like, a war leader who slaughters people in battle at the head of an army and her goals seem to be crushing rebellion (okay) but no grander principles beyond that so she just looks like a bloodthirsty mass murderer idk. what does SHE want for the people of her land? herla and boudica were fighting against roman invasion and conquest, fighting for the political liberation of their land and people. this political situation is much more complicated. I don't really care if ein is the king, and aethel's fixation on holding onto her and her husband's power doesn't inspire much enthusiasm for her or her cause.

and in fact her erratic behavior IS extremely concerning for a HEAD OF STATE like she claims to be. not to echo the sexist old men here but being a political leader means you have to be aware of your image to a certain extent. she's willing to kill a bunch of people and murder prisoners in cold blood but apparently can't control her behavior in public? THAT'S too much of a toll? like, get over yourself lady! maybe this is bc I just came from reading about a pirate commander in a similar position...sk had a horrific past, she lost so much and came from extreme poverty and literal sex slavery, she had to claw her way to power and hold it, and she takes her professional responsibility to her men and crew extremely seriously, as well as her personal relationships to the people around her. and she has zero legal legitimacy, she's done terrible things that she recognizes and that haunt her, and she acts from a place of desperation to keep control but NOT constant angry defensiveness like aethel does. it's only been one chapter so maybe this is unfair but aethel comes off as if she IS the unreasonable and brutal leader she's being accused of. it's like she's insecure. 'if they they want a she-wolf, let them see one' and then kill a guy???? 1. they DIDN'T want to see a she-wolf! and 2. you don't meed to kill a man to prove a point so pettily! wtf!

like honestly? I think the author is a fan of them ('power couple'? 🙄) but ein seems far more reasonable and humane. aethel doesn't come off well as a warrior when she's the one who holds all the political power, she seems like a spoiled and overly agressive brute. sk personally beheading a crew member as punishment for assaulting a woman after making the consequences for such a crime clear, and aethel having a prisoner of war killed without question for the mere RISK that he'd defect again, are completely different in my head.

ALSO. what is going ON with the heir. this is a serious fucking mistake on the author's part, because whatever personal hangups the king has, he HAS to have an heir. he's clearly not stupid. adopt a kid if it's so impossible for him to fuck his wife or something idk. clearly he's the one with the issue! but it was so dumb when his brother was like 'you need an heir' and ein made it about disliking aethel, and maybe his brother does dislike her, but it's an extremely important political concern! for the entire court! if aethel and ein want to be stable rulers, they NEED an heir! go and adopt someone! I'm losing my mind here. the author has GOT to know better than this right. the foreward was so interesting and she clearly did so much research. she knows what she's doing!

but that's the complaints. the other half of this story, about herla, is just spellbinding. I do wish the author knew a different word than 'tawny' when it came to hair, but the mythological style and the lyrical prose of the prologue was absolutely stunning. I WISH we'd stayed in the past with herla and boudica. I bet I would have liked boudica far more for the righteousness of her cause 😭 I like herla a lot as it is tho. her voice is very strong and I loved hearing about her intimacy with her queen. and the descriptions are ao vivid! in every chapter I'm like oohh. the scene where aethel and herla see each other was SO good

and the mythological aspect itself, the worldbuilding, is so delicious. I'm definitely going to keep reading and I feel bad I dislike one of the leads so immediately and I really hope that changes because this story is so cool in every other way. I don't want her to 'soften' or stop being a warrior I just want to see some maturity and humility and a sense of justice. something that makes me think she'd be worthy to be an spiritual succesor to boudica. she doesnt even need to stop acting insane like stop murdering prisoners in cold blood and then complaining about it. please.

[percontaion-points]

Delicious Monsters chapters 7 & 8

Today's review might be difficult for some; reader discretion is advised

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Click here for the rest of the series!

Chapter 7

Jayden and I were in our first year and hadn’t made any sort of media connections that could tell us we were being offered scraps. Both of us were just happy to be able to pay our tuition for the semester. Everything felt so shiny. Torte made it clear that this was also an investment in our future at the company. More money to come. 

This is exactly why there was such a brain-drain at Buzzfeed. After people got their start there, they left to do it on their own… Without being beholden to a company that was pocketing probably like 70% of the money made from somebody else’s hard work. 

“My connection to Daisy was… complicated.” 

“How so?” I interject. 

Noah rolls the words around in his mouth. “We met through a program at my alma mater. It paired up university upperclassmen and high school kids so you could help coach them. I signed up for people who didn’t know what they wanted to major in because, honestly, you get more interesting mentees that way.” 

More interesting mentees. I bet you also get a lot of young girls who don’t know what they want to do with their lives. Lost girls.

Brittany’s POV is interesting because it’s not holding any punches in explaining that Noah is a fucking paedophile piece of shit. 

I echo back his words with less enthusiasm, “Time for Timmins.”

Chapter 7 summary: Brittany and Jayden go over to Noah’s house to interview him for their show. Brittany starts getting bad vibes from the guy at his home, since he’s the guy who tries so hard to pretend like he’s poor when his couch costs more than what Brittany and Jayden make in a year. Part of their show involves the people talking about the people in past-tense, no matter if that person is still alive or not. 

Noah tells them about how he was at university, and signed up to mentor high school students. He says that he wanted to help those who didn’t know what they wanted to do in college, because that was “more fun”. Brittany mentally calls him a creep for intentionally putting himself close to vulnerable teenage girls. 

But Noah continues on and insists that he and Daisy weren’t in a romantic relationship. That Daisy became obsessed with him, and went so far as to stalk his actual girlfriend on social media. Again, Brittany doesn’t like that much. 

Brittany and Jayden wrap up the interview and leave. As they’re going, they do “on the spot thoughts”, which they’ll edit into a coherent storyline for the show later. Brittany calls Noah out on his shit, and insists that everybody else in Daisy’s life insists that Daisy was in a romantic relationship with Noah. Jayden only sees what Noah said as further proof that Daisy was mentally unhinged to start with, and being in the house gave her a psychotic break. 

They briefly talk about trying to find somebody who knew Peter when he was still alive. But the entire situation with him is beyond weird. Nobody liked him. His ex-wife’s family has disappeared into a void. There is exactly one person who they think could be good, but the entire situation is odd. 

Again, Brittany can’t help but hold onto the idea that Daisy was a victim in all of this. Not the obsessed stalker that Noah painted her as. 

Chapter 8

He had texted me several times during the drive. Asking why I hadn’t listened to him. Pleading for us to not move. But, of course, when I’d asked him why, he’d had nothing to say.

If you can’t be bothered to explain yourself, then it’s clearly not important. 

That was the difference between Mom and Dad. One of them pretended to know me, to care about me, and one of them actually did.

Chapter 8 summary: Daisy does a lot of thinking on her way home. When she gets in, she tells her mom that they should go to the house. 

So they make plans and then go. The closest city is Timmins (BTW, this is all taking place in Canada, so this isn’t that odd.) The worst thing about learning about all of this is finding out that Daisy’s mom spent six summers up there, and never once told Daisy any of this. 

As they drive, Daisy keeps getting texts from her dad begging her to please stop this, but refusing to explain why he’s so dead-set against them moving. When mom stops the car, she begs Daisy to call her father while she goes into some random house to talk to somebody. 

On the phone, dad tells Daisy that if she changes her mind or needs out, he’ll send her money so that she can go… Live with grandma. Not even him. Grandma. Daisy gets pissed off about the entire thing, and quizzes him about her personal likes. He has no answers for any of them. When mom comes back, Daisy asks her the same questions, to which she responds with the actual answers. Daisy thinks that simply knowing what her favourite colour is makes a huge difference between “caring” and “acting like you give a shit”. 

[catpersonwithatemper]

These are some really good points, but I think I'd have to disagree (speaking about the show here bc I haven't read the comics)

I always thought his redemption arc and his relationship with Azula was really well done, and if anything his lingering resentment towards Azula at the end made it more realistic.

Obviously to truly heal, break the cycle and grow to see the full impact of Ozai's abuse, he would need to realise that Azula was also a victim and both of their suffering is not at the fault of the other, but with their father, and Zuko needed to forgive her and find peace within himself to overcome his inferiority complex.

But he's only starting out!! I think we, as the audience, forget sometimes that the end of the show is only the start of his healing process. His redemption arc has been setting up and rolling since the beginning, but he only JUST realised he was being abused and DIDN'T deserve to have his face burnt off in the THIRD SEASON!!! And then, he had the strength to leave and comit treason, and from then on his father and Azula have been the enemy (which they already were to him just not on such a big scale)

And not to bash on Azula, she is my girl, but it's not like she didn't give him reason to resent her. She wasn't just standing there for fourteen years while Ozai pointed at her and said she was perfect. She actively picked on and bullied Zuko as children, putting herself above him in everything as they got older and encouraging his inferiority complex. Obviously we know this is a result of Ozai's abuse and she only behaves this way to please him and protect herself, but to Zuko (especially as a kid) this is just more abuse, more confirmation that he really is worthless and an outcast in his family. It makes sense then that later, when he's turned against the fire nation, that it'll take him time to see through not only Ozai's mistreatment, but Azula's as well. He only just realised he was being abused at all, and then got swept up in preparing for the final battle, so he hasn't really had time to see past the mask of power and perfection Azula has maintained their entire lives, especially at the point of Boiling Rock. Its so soon after he left and she is quite literally there to imprison his friends (or worse) and bring him back to his abusive home, and she's completely unapologetic. Just like with everything she does.

That's why I think the final Agni Kai works so well, because yes, they both seek out that rivalry once again, because it's the only way they know how to interact with each other, and now, being on separate sides of a war, Zuko knows Azula is dangerous, he knows she will destroy him if given the chance. So he doesn't give her the chance until he has to protect Katara, and it's framed by silence. It's presented as a sad and tragic thing that these siblings are fighting each other, even if neither realises it yet.

You can argue that he should have tried to reach her or convince her to switch sides or realise she was suffering sooner etc etc and that's a fair point, but I always liked the fact that he wasn't suddenly Mr Perfect at the end and his healing wasn't complete, because no one's journey is ever complete! Not that quickly, not tidied up so neatly for the last episode. He couldn't have helped Azula when he only just realised he needed help himself, and personally the pacing of his redemption arc is the best part of it for me. Even when it's left "unfinished"

Again, I haven't read the comics but from what I've heard you're definetly right and his whole relationship with Azula is soooo fucked up. I would've liked to see him realising she's in pain rather than just 'crazy and dangerous' once he's had time to work on himself and think about his childhood and how it effected both him and Azula, and then they can work on it together.

But them healing together and reconciling is definitely not feasible in the show, and I'm inclined to think the same about Zuko's forgiveness. Due to the pacing of his character development, its just too soon for him to have that breakthrough, and the other characters are a bit preoccupied being hunted by Azula to call out Zuko for resenting her (note even Iroh, Zukos guide to redemption and an extremely forgiving person saying "shes crazy and she needs to go down"), but that is something I would like to see after the show, either in the comics or the movie, when she's not a threat to them anymore and they can actually sit down and think about it.

Why Zuko's arc falls flat for me

One of the biggest things that makes up Zuko's character is his inferiority complex when it comes to his sister being better than him at firebending. As we know, he's like this because for years, Ozai made Zuko feel inferior to Azula by constantly putting him down and comparing his skills to Azula's. Zuko came to resent Azula because of this, not realizing that she wasn't the one at fault.

When Zuko defects once he realizes that Ozai was an abusive d-bag who wasn't worth the time of day, I was hoping that meant he would finally let go of his resentment that he had towards Azula. Since the only reason why it was even there was because of Ozai's abuse. And since Zuko finally realized that Ozai abused him, surely it would mean that he would finally stop blaming Azula for how his life turned out, and would let go of his resentment.

Only...he never does. Zuko still seeks out the rivalry with Azula. At the Boiling rock when Suki says "this is a rematch that I've been waiting for" Zuko responds with "yeah, me too" in regards to Azula. In the finale, he wants to "put her in her place" because she was better than him and was unapologetic about it and had the audacity to flaunt that fact in his face. If the writers really wanted to convince me that Zuko had grown? One of the lessons that he should have learned was that he doesn't HAVE to be perfect at everything. That he was just fine where he was at. That everyone learns at their own pace, and that's ok. It doesn't mean that there's something wrong with you. He should have learned that he didn't have to prove that he was better than Azula. For all the praise he gets for "breaking the cycle of abuse" in his family, he really didn't break it as much as people think he did. Because part of breaking that cycle? Would be letting go of his resentment towards Azula, and learning those lessons that I mentioned. The narrative validating Zuko's feelings towards her instead of calling them into question and calling Zuko out on this was just a disservice to his character arc. And it only gets worse in the comics.

[becomingbuffypodcast]

One of the biggest themes in the Buffyverse is choice, and apart from Buffy, no character reflects this idea more than Angel. Over the past few years, it has become increasingly common to hear Angel dismissed as boring and lacking in personality and character development, especially in his three seasons over on Buffy. And while he may not be as flashy or as outwardly demonstrative as other characters, his rich backstory, paired with both his internal and external conflicts, create a fascinating and uniquely complex character.  

Once a man, then a vampire, then a vampire cursed with a soul, his entire existence until Buffy is defined by a lack of choice. In Becoming Part 1, Whistler compares Angel’s transformation and Buffy’s calling, mirroring the similarities between two people whose lives were forever changed by circumstances out of their control. But it is that recognition of changed destiny and shared grief over the death of a future once longed for, that draws Angel to Buffy. Her strength and courage amidst her new path, sparks something in Angel, and for the first time he makes a choice.  

This is what makes it so tragic when the very next episode, both Buffy and Angel are once again forced to deal with the consequences of the roles they have been given. But just as Whistler said, the big moments, while inevitable, don’t define who we are. It’s the choices we make afterwards that define us. 

In season 3, Buffy shows who she is when she makes the choice to take up the mantle of Slayer once again. Torn out of hell by some unknown force, we see Angel’s desire to fight his nature, as he clings to Buffy, his symbol of hope and redemption, yet as the season progresses, he begins to wrestle with the purposelessness of it all. How can he choose good when outside forces continue to step in? Does he even have the option of choice, or is it all meaningless? 

Everything comes to a breaking point in Amends, when the unkillable First Evil (a representation of Angel’s never-ending fight) manipulates Angel with visions of his past victims, and then speaks to the darkest parts of him, urging him to act on his impulses and bite Buffy, his metaphorical mission. In an act of despair and desperation, Angel decides that the best choice is to give up the fight and take himself out of the equation. 

 Yet on that hilltop, Angel’s perspective begins to shift.   

Evil will never be destroyed, and he may never redeem himself, but he can either let that knowledge bring him to despair, or he can get back up and use his power of choice to make a difference in the world. It is through this that Angel discovers his meaning and purpose in life:  

“Strong is fighting, it’s hard, every day.” 

It is in this scene that the show begins to metaphorically separate Angel’s mission from Buffy. While the rest of the season shows a more purposeful Angel, his vampiric nature and impulses continue to plague him with guilt over his relationship with Buffy and his place in her world. The show subtly conveys Angel’s inner conflict over feeling unworthy through episodes like Enemies and Choices, until finally, in “the Prom,” Angel makes another significant choice and breaks up with Buffy.  

Two episodes later, and the fears whispered in his ears by the First evil become reality as he nearly kills Buffy after drinking her blood. Still desiring to do good, yet unsure of where he belongs, Angel leaves Sunnydale and Buffy, his mission as her guide supposedly complete. 

Except in Angel’s mind, it isn’t.  

In the Dark reveals that Angel still longs for Buffy, and metaphorically still has not fully accepted his mission apart from her. He rejects the ring of Amara and the synthetic redemption it would offer him, choosing instead to wait, and earn the real thing. In doing so, he takes the first major step apart from Buffy, in owning his fight against evil.  

Then, “I Will Remember You Happens,” and Angel is suddenly faced with his biggest choice yet: live a human life with Buffy, and risk her death, or take up the weight of a cursed soul once again. Ultimately, he chooses to carry not only the burden of his torment, but hers as well, in the heart-wrenching memory of a life that could have been. And while his desire is always to protect and love Buffy, his sacrifice is no longer just for her, but for the innocent people he now sees as his mission.  

The man whose life has been defined by a lack of choice, when faced with everything he could ever want, uses his freedom to sacrifice it all for the sake of the world. In making his decision, Angel owns his autonomy, embraces his mission, and proves that it is not his past that defines him, but his choices.  

He may not have chosen a soul but in “I Will Remember You,” Angel proves that he has earned his. And he does so again, and again, and again. 

[mr-oscarwilde]

@sagewhisper It would be a massive pain to try to reply to you in the comments of our post, so we’ve just put our response in one single thing. 

It is bold of you to assume that we have not read De Profundis. It was one of the first things we read when we started having an interest in Oscar. Kindly refer to our post; we never said that it was not a valid piece of evidence. It is evidence of a lot of things—chiefly Oscar’s state of mind whilst he was in prison. But it is not objective fact. You mustn't take our word alone for it, though:

Oscar’s feelings towards Bosie at this time were complicated. Contrary to what it might at first seem, De Profundis is not a break-up letter. Oscar still, very much, wanted to be with him. […] Wilde brings up the ‘Oxford Mishap’ again and again in De Profundis. He emphasises this to show that Bosie was already ‘corrupted’ before they became intimate. Wilde also highlights the times he thought about ending the relationship and depicts a dynamic in which Bosie is constantly in pursuit, and he is constantly trying to escape. The explanations and justifications of his actions, and the anger and recriminations, make up such a large part of the letter that the ‘record of bitter moments’ overwhelms the more loving parts. Had he written the story of his friendship with Bosie at another time, he might have focused on the moments of joy rather than pain. (Indeed, there was such a record once, before Bosie burned his love letters.) In prison, he could produce only a story of suffering. [...] In the context of the prison document, nothing Bosie does is good enough. (Laura Lee, Oscar’s Ghost, ch. 17)

Douglas Murray also points out the distortion of Oscar’s recollections in his biography of Bosie (pages 77 and 101-102 are particularly relevant here). Interestingly enough, this entire topic is the source of increasing scholarly debate:

If one of them was exploiting the other, it’s not entirely clear who was the predator and who was the victim. The extent to which Bosie was responsible for Wilde’s downfall has been debated, while the source of Wilde’s foolish decision to sue the Marquis (arrogance? blind love for Bosie? deliberate martyrdom for a cause?) has likewise come under scrutiny. (Jean Roberta, ‘What Wilde Left Out of De Profundis’, The Gay & Lesbian Review)

Why shouldn’t we discuss this beyond the same old narrative that has been pushed for the past 100 years? That’s the thing with history; we have the incredible benefit of hindsight to objectively look at all the evidence, and should be able to posit views informed by research without being accused of ‘fetishizing’ or thinking their relationship was ‘some cutesy aesthetic’. Obviously. I’m pretty sure everyone knows they weren’t exactly an unproblematic couple. But you cannot conclusively state that Bosie was “a horrible excuse for a man and partner”, any more than you should act like Oscar was without flaws. He wasn’t. How did so many, after his death, recall him fondly? He was incredibly complex and possessed both good and bad traits, some of which appeared at different stages of his life. And if you cared to read more about Bosie—whilst not making his actions excusable (in particular reference to many of his actions that really were bad in the 1900s and 1910s)—he later recognised many of the mistakes he had made. He had masses said for Robbie, years after his death. He managed to converse with Vyvyan, at a ball in the late 1930s. He strongly rejected his earlier condemnation of Oscar, and Oscar Wilde and Myself. Oscar himself ends De Profundis by requesting that Bosie should tell him about his life, and his article in the Mercure de France, and the dedication of his poems: 'I have no doubt that there will be beauty in it.' He then goes on to explicitly express his belief that Bosie could learn from him; if he was so awful, would Oscar still display such faith in him, or demonstrate such an interest in him and their future reunion?

In pointing this out, we are not ignoring Bosie's bad sides. Shake your head all you want. We are not ‘Bosie apologists/defenders’; we are fully capable of acknowledging wrongdoing where wrongdoing was done. But these things can and should be discussed without the lens of De Profundis blurring Oscar’s entire relationship with Bosie. Do you think we have not read more about Bosie? We’ve read two biographies dedicated to him, alongside works focusing on Oscar.

This response can end on one of Bosie’s recollections, of words spoken by Oscar, ‘to the following effect’:

Surely you are not bringing up against me what I wrote in prison when I was starving and half mad. You must know that I didn’t really mean a word of what I said.

Considering Oscar rather happily returned to Bosie after his release, this bears some consideration, no?

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon -  Once A Handmaiden (Second Half)

So Tumblr literally wouldn’t let me post the entire review in one post, so here is the second half, as promised. 

Just Because Zhan Tiri Speaks The Truth Here Doesn’t Mean She’s Some Master Manipulator All Of A Sudden

I’m mean, she’s right. Cassandra talks a big talk about being ‘sorry’ but she doesn’t actually do anything that would be considered an apology nor does she try to make amends for her past actions. Furthermore she could have given up the moonstone/mind-trap and/or stopped listening to Zhan Tiri at any point, including right now, but doesn’t.

However this isn’t some clever manipulation tactic on Zhan Tiri’s behalf. It’s just bad writing.  

Just Squish The Backstabbing Blackberry Already!

Only one person here has any power and it sure as heck ain’t Zhan Tiri.

Cassandra has the moonstone. She could simply just kick Zhan Tiri away or crush her with a rock. Meanwhile Zhan Tiri can’t do shit. If she actually had any of her demon powers she wouldn't have to rely on Cassandra and a bunch of increasingly convoluted schemes. 

That’s where the whole Cassandra and Zhan Tiri dynamic falls apart. The writers try to make it look like Cass is stuck in some abusive relationship with the shortstack, but in order for such a relationship to exist there has to be an actual exchange of power. 

Abuser's can only be abusive so long as there is an imbalance of power between them and their victims. 

Gothel is abusive because she’s an adult who has complete control over two little girls who are dependent on her for everything. 

King Frederic is abusive because he has political power over everyone and can dictate whether or not someone lives or dies on a whim.   

The Baron is abusive because he uses his money to coerce poor people into slaving away for him. 

King Edmund is abusive because he neglects his duties as a parent and leaves his young son to fend for himself. 

Moonsandra is a bully because she’s physically stronger than nearly everyone and uses that power to harm people. 

And Rapunzel takes advantage of all of the above power imbalances to her benefit throughout the show, along with the addition of peer pressure to force people to do what she wants them too. 

Zhan Tiri doesn’t have any of that. Not for the majority of her time on screen anyways. 

Now, you can, as an adult be tricked into an abusive relationship, like with an abusive spouse, toxic friend, or a cult, where the exchange of power is more gradual and subtle. But in each of these cases, the bully in question had to work hard to convince their victim that they were someone who the victim could trust and then had to offer something that they needed emotionally, like validation or security. Then they will later use the threat of taking that emotional (or sometimes physical) need away in order to keep their victim under their thumb. 

Zhan Tiri never does that. She hasn’t actually offered anything to Cassandra that Cassandra would want or need. Nor does she have anything to threaten Cassandra with if Cass doesn’t comply to what she wants. Cass is free to reject Zhan Tiri at anytime with zero consequence to herself, either emotional or physical, and as such can’t be a victim of abuse in this particular scenario. 

But watch as twitter Cass stans try to insist the opposite on the filmiest of basis because they can’t except that their fave did a bad thing.   

This Is So Fucking Forced

Why would Cassandra ever think this? What reason has she to believe this? For the past season Rapunzel has thrown away any self-respect and has been simping after Cass at every opportunity. And it’s not like she’s been shy about it at all. Or has Cassandra just forgotten the past three episodes she was in? 

And even if it was true, what would it matter? Cassandra has harmed more people than just Rapunzel. If she actually cared about being a good person then she would be trying to rectify things with everyone she’s hurt and not caring solely about Raps being her bestie again. 

That’s the problem with this conflict. The story has out grown Cassandra and Rapunzel. There’s more at stake here than just their fake friendship. As such both girls come across as incredibly self-centered and entitled as they continuously ignore the people who get wrapped up in their petty bitch fight.  

Once Again, Why Is Cass Surprised By The Consequences Of Her Own Actions, And Why Are We Pretending Like She’s The Victim Here?

People aren’t wrong for trying to defend themselves. Yeah, it sucks for Cass, but at the end of the day she has no one to blame but herself for it. Yet instead of accepting this and working to gain people trust again, she instead acts horrified that people, will, you know, take protective measurers to defend their home and loved ones.  

Remember when I talked about manipulative framing way back in my Return of the King review? They’re pulling the same trick here, focusing on Cassandra’s hurt feelings over the actual victims of her actions. 

It’s ironic really. The show can’t write intentionally manipulative villains for shit, but it sure as hell knows how to gaslight its own viewing audience.  

Zhan Tiri Is So Lame

It’s a sleeping potion. 

That’s her grand plan; a fucking sleeping potion. 

Heck I’m not even sure if she even made it herself or just stole it from Varian. 

I mean, she and Cass have pretty much stolen everything else from him. 

Varian was cool villain because he was the underdog. All his ‘tricks’ were simple steps in a larger plan, that actually made sense and cleverly compensated for his lack of strength, political power, and shear force of numbers that his opponents had. That made him simultaneously threatening and sympathetic. 

Zhan Tiri is neither of those things. She’s a demon who’s about as threatening a kitten in a litter box, though far less cute. Nor is she sympathetic because her goals and motivations are too shallow, and half the time the cast don’t even give a shit that she’s there. 

Does It Really Fucking Matter Rapunzel?

Okay first off, holding it inside the courtyard is not only safer but more practical anyways. I mean you don’t hold a greased pig catching contest out in the wild because you wouldn’t want to lose the pig, and a gopher is a lot smaller then a pig. Or did you just forget what happened the first year you entered into the gopher grab? You would think they would have moved the event to a stadium long before now in order avoid such accidents. 

Secondly, not everyone is you Rapunzel. Not everyone wants to roll around in the dirt out in the middle of the woods to catch some stupid rodent. Some would prefer to watch the event and an enclosed space with actual seating makes that easier to do. So shut the fuck up bitch. 

You know what, I take back what I said about Frederic being the worst. He at least pretended to care about the kingdom and his subjects every now and then. He also showed a modicum of critical thinking skills at times. 

Don’t get me wrong, Frederic still sucks ass, but of the two I would rather have him as ruler than a vapid selfish brat who has zero real experience but would rather humble brag about how much better she is than you at your own fucking life then legitimately put effort into helping you with anything. 

I just... wow! That’s where we are at people. The main character is now actively worse then her shitty abusive parents and we’re suppose to find this ‘relatable’ and ‘inspiring’. 

LIES!!!!

I mean, is there really anything else to say about this exchange? Not a single line spoken here is actually backed by anything on screen. Cassandra doesn’t have any reason to do anything. She has no goal and no true motivation. 

Also her ‘methods’ are kidnapping, assault, enslavement, and fucking murder. You can’t just whitewash that shit away as if she was a mere misunderstood vigilante who’s only crime is minor vandalism or something. 

And, no, there’s nothing more to it. It’s not secretly deep nor complex. There aren’t any layers to the characterization nor to the conflict at hand. There’s no ‘both sides’ this or ‘well, actually’ that. 

If there was then the writers would have put in the effort to show it! 

If it’s not on screen then it doesn’t count, and trying to plaster over the major holes in your writing with forced dialogue that contradicts what the audience already knows will not save you. 

This Steals Agency Away From The Characters, And That Is Never Good!

Tangled the Series wants to have it’s cake and eat it too. It wants to pretend that it’s main characters have choices and agency so that it can act like it’s showcasing ‘strong independent women’, but then it pulls shit like this so that said characters never have to suffer true consequences for their actions. 

This is the opposite of feminist writing. The whole point of feminism is fighting for women’s agency and choice. Which really means fighting for everyone to have the freedom of choice, but I digress. Whenever women complain about the portrayal of other women in media is all comes back to that lack of agency. 

Complaining about ‘The male gaze’ doesn't mean that the female character in question can’t wear sexy clothes; it means that the character didn’t get a choice in what to wear at all. ‘The damsel in distress’ isn’t weak because she can’t fight like a man; she’s weak because the writing won’t allow her to do anything productive at all. And ‘a strong independent woman’ is more than just someone who can throw a punch or be all broody and rude while preforming under the guise of traditional toxic masculinity. 

Writers, especially male writers, if you are listening, allow the women in your stories to make decisions, allow those decisions to be motivated by actual individualized thoughts, and then allow them to face logical consequences for those decisions. If you can do that for a male character, then you should be able to do it for a female character. There’s no excuse not to. 

Cassandra, You Idiot!

Does Cassandra need hearing aids? Has that been the true problem all along? Did she just mishear Gothel’s shitty orders during Cassandra’s Revenge? Does she think Zhan Tiri has been promising her something that she actually hasn’t? 

Because Rapunzel is literally two feet away from her telling her own guard to stand down and giving Cass that chance to explain like she asked for three seconds ago!!! 

Cassandra in season three does not behave like any human being actually would in her situation. Even someone on the edge of having a breakdown still has more clarity of thought than Moonsandra. 

Cassandra is not a victim when she’s the one instigating the conflict!!!  

It’s all so stupid. 

That’s my problem with the character and this whole damn arc; It’s dumb. 

I could forgive Cass if she had a legitimate reason to react the way she does to things. I could still respect her if she was a heartless bitch who did bad shit because she wanted to. But turning her into a moron just so that the show can pretend she’s some misunderstood woobie in need of hug... un-uh. Nope. That’s fucking insulting; both to the character and to women everywhere. 

Even The Animation Has Been Downgraded This Season

On the one hand, the animation this season is actually smoother than the last two; but it also has way more animation errors; like the above. 

Now, animation is hard. You’ll find production errors in even big mainstream films if you look hard enough, and animators on tv shows are often under paid and over worked. I am not one to usually point out flaws like this because I understand the grind. 

However, the decline in quality in what is the second to last episode showcases far deeper underlining problem. Usually you’ll let animation errors slide in an early filler episode because you’re throwing your time, attention, and money on your finale... your big ratings draw episodes. But with TTS it’s the opposite. And keep in mind, season three had less episodes than past seasons to keep up with. 

Altogether this tells me that this episode, and the finale suffered through a rushed production. Which means it must have suffered from several last minute rewrites in preproduction... even though your show’s ending, in a story like this, should be determined before even drawing a single frame of animation. Yes, fine details can change here and there, you can tweek things as needed, but you shouldn’t be rewriting things whole sale during hiatus between seasons two and three... that’s bullshit. 

Animation doesn’t get ‘reshoots’. Animation doesn’t have ‘editing’.  Animation is way too long a process for things not top be planed out from the get go. 

And while it’s annoying as a viewing audience to watch such shit writing; the people I really feel sorry here is for the crew; cause you just know Disney wasn’t compensating them enough for the shit ton of overtime they were forced to work to get this crap out.  More then one story-boarder called this show ‘hell’ to work for online; which is big considering how tight lip you have to be about working conditions in studios for fear of losing your job. 

This all falls at the feet of Chris and Ben, the co-producers/head-writers. I mean sure, there’s things Disney as a company and the industry as whole can improve on, like better pay and benefits, but at the end of the day, mismanagement of the budget, demanding rewrites for things that did not need to be changed, and failing to respect their crew is on them. 

There’s No Real Conflict Here

There’s no reason for any argument here. No one wants to fight, nothing is at stake, and there’s not even any real tension since the crew has been signposting Cassandra’s redemption all season long. No matter how this ends, I, the viewer, knows it will be undone by the next episode anyways because there’s only this and the finale to go. Therefore I have little reason to be invested in what’s going on here.

At this point most of the viewing audience that were still left were watching solely for the Varian and Quirin/Brotherhood stuff. Yeah there were a handful of New Dream shippers and Casspunzel shippers hanging on as well, but they are far and away the minority in the TTS fandom. And even then, that still wasn’t enough for most people as the ratings continued to plummet. 

Don’t believe me? New Dream has gone back to focusing mainly on the OG movie. A small subset of Casspunzel fans, who only care about Cass and nothing else, are too busy bitching on twitter and sucking up to Chris (even though he’s the one who sunk their ship and ruined their fav) to produce any real content. Meanwhile, the people who are actually keeping the fandom alive are the Varian fans and the AU people who realized that the writing was shit but that the concepts had potential. 

Even the majority of Cass fans and Casspunzel shippers fall into that later category now. The rabied twitter base is just that, twitter being twitter, they aren’t the majority and never were, no matter how loud and obnoxious they can be at times. Meaning Chris and writers completely missed the mark on what this show should have been about. 

This Is A Cop-Out

Let her finish!

Go on. Let her finish that thought. Give us an actual reason for her behavior for once. Tell us why this conflict is still going on. Heck, tell us why we’ve had to put up with this bullshit for two seasons now to begin with. Explain something show!

This is literally the writers admitting that they ain’t got a fucking clue about what’s going on themselves. 

Stop Stealing Agency Away From The Characters Show!!!

Varian has a bucket load of very legitimate reasons to pull the trigger on Cassandra himself; and each one is a far more compelling conflict than this bullshit.

Cassandra was a shit friend to him same as the rest of the cast; and unlike Rapunzel, she hasn’t even pretended to care nor put forth an effort to be friends once again. She abandoned him, and then she turned on him for her own personal gain. Until they were literally trying to kill each other on a battlefield. After which, she abandoned him once again. 

There’s a history here that could be exploited for drama but isn’t because Varian’s screen time and importance has to be unnaturally suppressed. This is because Chris doesn’t want him to be more popular than the two main girls (even though he already is anyway) and doesn’t want the focus taken off of them despite their conflict between each other being as boring as shit. 

Then there’s the fact that Cassandra kidnapped him and physically abused him; which could also have tied back into that previous drama between them but didn’t for the same reasons. Even ignoring how personally hurt Varian would be by such actions, he’s the only who has seen Cassandra for who she really is. He knows more than either Rapunzel or Eugene about how dangerous she is. 

That could also be a compelling conflict as Varian not trusting the mains to do their actual jobs has been the crux of his story since season one. And in this instance, the public would be on his side. He’s protecting Corona; they aren’t. The tables have turned. 

Every time you steal agency away from a character you weaken your story. By forcing them to only react to things rather than making choices themselves you stop them from pushing the story forward; which in turn can oversimplify the conflict and reduce tension. 

Even in a story where the conflict is only survival, like in say a disaster movie, characters till have to have agency and choice in how they respond to events; thereby having the possibility of either making an already bad situation better or worse. 

Stop Acting Sad, You Can Just Free Her When Ever You Want To Rapunzel

Of course, any tension this development could have had is already undermined by freeing Quirin too early from the amber. We the audience already know that Cass won’t die from this and that Rapunzel has the power to just free her whenever. The characters themselves should also know this so the behavior here from everyone is just bizarre.  

BULLSHIT!!!

Way to undermine three seasons worth of conflict show!

OK, if the black rocks could just destroy the amber then why the heck did Adira not try to cut her brother out using her sword back in season one?! Are you telling me she didn’t even fucking try? I thought saving her home and family was her entire motivation for season two? 

Also, if Cass can just easily break out of her own accord then what was the fucking point for trying to build up the amber a solution to the rocks? Even what very small tension we could have had over her being imprisoned is now lost as well. 

She’s so overpowered now that she can’t in any conceivable way claim she’s the victim here; nor was she ever. They only weapon against her was proven to be a dud. Everyone else are now the underdog, they are the victims, not her! You’ve just lost any sympathy you could have had for the character, and you didn’t have a whole lot to begin with! 

Lastly, Cassandra being able to think, move, ect while encased goes against what was established about the amber before hand. There’s nothing on screen to back this development up nor explain how she pulled it off. 

This entire escape is the very definition of an ass-pull! 

Defending Yourself From Abusers Isn’t Wrong Writers

Cassandra is still not the victim here. Rapunzel is still full of shit for ‘trusting’ her. And the fact that the amber didn’t work to resolve the conflict is not the failing of those who built the gun to begin with. 

Everything leading up to this point and everything going forward is Cassandra’s fault and she doesn’t have a leg to stand on as an excuse. 

We Get It, She’s Gothel’s Daughter. No One Cares Show!

This line doesn’t work in context. No one ‘forced’ Cass to be a bad guy as she was already pulling off villainy shit long before now of her own volition. In the movie Gothel said this line because she was finally dropping the ‘nice guy’ act, but Cassandra has never pretended anything. That’s just not the type of person she is. I would even argue that her being all palsy-walsy with the gang right before her ‘betrayal’ in Destinies Collide was out of character. 

Because Cassandra isn’t Gothel. Cassandra is Cassandra and you can’t just slot her into Gothel’s role and have it make any sense. Cassandra isn’t good at faking emotions. Cassandra isn’t some master manipulator. Cassandra is a bullying brute. Even if she suddenly had better motivations for her actions; that wouldn’t change her usual attitude or way of accomplishing shit, which is to hit things very very hard. 

And that is what makes her interesting! Cassandra being rude, pushy, and aggressive is what marks her as different from the rest of the villains in the show. With the exception of The Stabbingtons, most of the villains in the show are strategists. Some might be capable of fighting when they need to, but most of them prefer using manipulation, trickery, and stealth to gain the upper hand. The fact that Cassandra will just plow on through simply because she can, makes her unique. So constantly having her ape Varian and Gothel’s methods is a disservice to her character. 

I don’t mind the concept of Cassandra being Gothel’s daughter, but it’s literately the most boring aspect of the character. Like, yeah it can exist to add flavor text to her background, to complement the larger narrative, but to make it the end all and be all of who she is strips away everything that made her initially likable and interesting. 

It also entirely misses the point behind why people enjoy offspring trope in fiction. It’s particularly telling that even most Cass fans ignore the Gothel twist in fanworks or when defending/analyzing the character. Even the most hardcore Cass stans do not care about this aspect of her story. 

Oh No, A Non-Toxic Sleep Powder That Wears Off In A Few Hours, How Evil

I just ‘love’ how this one act gets more dramatic tension and focus than literally any of the more evil shit Cass has done, including her destroying the whole kingdom within this very episode. No one gives a damn about murder, but using knock out gas on the main protag? ‘Oh no! Whatever will they do!? Truly Cassandra is beyond redemption for doing such a thing to Rapunzel.’  

And by ‘love’ I mean hate. Why is this the breaking point and not the torturing of a minor, all the attempted murder, or her brainwashing four innocent people into being her mindless slaves? 

Also how did Cass manage not to get conked out by her own sleeping potion when she threw it down right in front of her? 

Why Does Varian Care?

Varian doesn’t owe Cassandra jack shit. This woman has repeatedly betrayed and harmed him. And now she is currently in the middle of threating his home and loved ones. 

Redemption for Varian shouldn’t mean making him a doormat for everyone else. Showing empathy and compassion shouldn’t involve confronting those who abused you while they’re in the middle of threating you still.  

Varian still taking the effort to reason with Cassandra, even now, only proves that he is the best human being on this damned show. It is not the reassurance that Cassandra is still sympathetic that the writers think it is. 

Also This Exchange Doesn’t Make Any Sense For Either Character

Cassandra never gave a shit about Corona. She’s barely has any connection to the people who live here. The only thing that kept her from leaving was Rapunzel and her dad, both of whom she is no longer speaking to. Outside of them, there’s only two other people she didn’t actively hate being around, Eugene and ironically Monty. Neither of whom seem to mean that much to her. So why should Casandra care now?

It also doesn’t make any sense for Varian to be the one arguing this point with her, seeing as how Corona isn’t actually his home either. It’s Old Corona. The island kingdom treated him like shit, and even post redemption few people seem to really care about him here. 

Wouldn’t the more logical argument for Varian to make be how breaking things here won’t accomplish anything? I mean if you had to have him reach out at all, then at least let him give a rational point that actually counters Cassandra’s irrational bullshit and lays bare how stupid she is being right now? 

But of course that would require holding Chris’s precious waifu accountable for her actions and we can’t have that now can we? 

Yup, Cass Sure Is the Real Victim Here

These people literally did nothing to her. They’re only ‘fault’ was trying to defend themselves from her, after she had already threatened them, attacked them, and attempted to murder some of them. Now here she is destroying their homes and nearly killing them all for nothing more than what amounts to a temper tantrum. 

Look, I’m not complaining that Cassandra does bad things as a villain. I’m not trying to pull some purity culture bullshit here. Her doing a bad thing isn’t the point. It’s the fact that she has no logical reason to do this particular ‘bad thing.’ Yet the narrative constantly tries to frame her selfishness and stupidity as something that we, the audience, should pity her for. 

No.

I do not sympathize with assholes, sorry. 

Either give your supposedly ‘complex’ villain an actual fucking reason to do the things they do, or make them fully self-aware jackoffs whom we aren’t suppose to root for. 

Like, you can still be a fan of the Joker in Batman, but he’s not someone who’s point of view you’re suppose to consider. He’s a jerk. He knows he’s a jerk. He wants to be a jerk. There’s nothing else too him, other than that he’s entertaining while doing irredeemable shit. 

On the flip side, you got Mr. Freeze. Who, since the 90s at least, is the very definition of ‘cool motive, still murder’. All he wants to do is save his wife. That doesn’t make anything he does magically right, but you can still feel sorry for him when he loses. Because while his motive is simple, it’s a more complex situation because there’s no easy way out for him.  

Both are effective villains, while serving two different story functions. Cassandra meanwhile falls into neither category and so winds up being ineffective and a detriment to the over all story. 

Welp, Those Guys Are Dead

If we think about what’s happing here logically, there’s no way Cassandra didn’t kill people during all this. It’s just a numbers game at this point. There's too many people and too much wide spread destruction for that not to be the case. 

What about these two guards here, that we never see again? What about the other no named townspeople that we don’t see after this episode? Heck what about the prisoners in the dungeons who can’t run away? (I just notice they weren’t with evacuation group in Queen for a Day either)  

Yet watch as the series presents the background and side characters fighting for their lives as being comedic and Cassandra’s violence towards them as over the top cartoony; even though this isn’t a comedy. 

That’s one of the fundamental problems with Tangled the Series. It wants us to take it’s conflicts seriously and it wants to introduce these deeper, more mature themes, but then it refuses to do anything with those themes and water downs it’s own conflicts. 

You can still be mature and be for kids; this show is neither. It’s too careless to be mature and it’s too heartless to be for children. 

Can We Please Stop With The Sister Shit?

She tried to murder you dude. 

She tried to murder your wife.

She’s right now trying to murder you’re whole fucking kingdom! 

Now is not the time to ‘reason’ with the bitch. 

Even Cass is done with this BS. 

And you know what the really sad thing here is? 

I actually buy Eugene’s claims that he cares about Cassandra as a sister more so than anyone else in the show. Certainly more so than Rapunzel. If nothing else because season one took the time to set up that relationship. 

Only for seasons two and three to promptly forget all about it. This might just be the first time they’ve had a one on one conversation since The Alchemist Returns. So this isn’t coming from a place of honesty but is more manipulative writing to further Eugene’s transformation into a doormat. 

Also, having everyone try to ‘reach out’ to Cassandra and constantly offer her sympathy and second chance after second change; even without Rapunzel there to push them into it; kind of undermines the whole narrative that Cassandra is just a misunderstood misfit whom no one loved until Rapunzel came along. 

You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Either your character is really alone and an outcast or they aren’t. There’s no middle ground there. 

Oh, But No One Gives A Crap About Cassandra Brainwashing Innocent People To Be Her Personal Slaves

Like I said before, no one calls Cassandra out for this. She suffered no consequences for taking the mind trap, and she suffers no consequences for using it here. And she had it with her this entire time! She could have given it up at any point, but she didn’t because she’s full of shit. 

She doesn’t actual care about redemption or setting things right. She never truly gave a damn about ‘forgiveness’ or being friends with Rapunzel again. This entire episode was about Cassandra’s ego being deflated and nothing more. Because every damn episode with Cassandra is ultimately about her stupid ego. Because ‘ego’ is what Chris cares about. A bruised ego is the worst thing that can happen to a person to Chris’s mind, because Chris has never suffered true oppression as a middle aged, middle classed, straight white man.  

Why Haven’t We Moved Past This?

Last time you saw her, she kicked your ass instead of saying goodbye and then proceeded to fuck off into the woods never to speak with you again. That’s about as close to a resounding ‘no’ you’re ever going to get. 

What happened to all that character development in season two? What happened to Lance’s responsibility arc? What happened to at least gaining Adira’s respect? 

This is no longer funny. The joke has run it’s course. It also fails at being heartwarming or tense because there’s a good chance that even a non-brainwashed Adria would attack Lance anyway because he’s annoying to her. 

All this is, is another pathetic reminder that writers really screwed over Lance. 

THEN WHY DIDN”T YOU DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT THREE EPISODES AGO!!!???

Does Lance even know what the Mind Trap is? Did you bother to explain to him what happened in Race to the Spire? Did you bother to warn anyone? Did you not come up with a plan for this, given that you’ve known about it for weeks now!? 

You can’t just assume that all the characters know what the audience knows. That fundamentally misunderstands how communication in storytelling works. We the audience can be privy to things that they characters wouldn’t logically know. Therefor the audience also needs to know what each individual character knows, and at what point in the story they gain such information. If you don’t show the characters gaining intel as needed then the audience can become very quickly confused by what’s going on and why. 

For instance, I’m still asking if Varian knows about the mind trap and that his father is in the brotherhood or not. I’m still asking this despite the series being over with and the mind trap controlling his dad being a major fucking plot point to his arc. Yet the series never reveals this basic ass information! He’s magically aware when it’s convenient for the plot and unaware or forgetful when it’s not. Even though that’s not how human beings work. 

I’m also still asking why it took three whole fucking episodes to get back to this plot? Why haven’t the heroes been more ball about Cassandra and Zhan Tiri’s plans? Oh, yeah, Rapunzel knows all about Zhan Tiri but still hasn’t said anything to anyone on screen so I don’t know who knows about the deamon either. 

Also why didn’t Cass and Zhan Tiri use the mind trap before now? What did they gain by waiting? Were they just holding off until Hector and Adria could travel here? If so, then how did Cass know that they were close enough to attack now? Did they make a pitstop at the tower during Tale of Two Sisters, and then went hiding inside the castle just for this moment during Flynnposter? Is that what I’m suppose to assume? Then why the fuck didn’t the writers show that to be the case? 

I’m putting more thought into this then the crew did, aren’t I? 

This Is Actually Really Horrific And The Show Does Not Do It Justice

The Brotherhood being forced to fight their family while brainwashed is fucking terrifying. We have aunts and uncles fighting their nephews, father’s fighting their sons, and siblings fighting siblings. Can you imagine the shear horror at waking up and finding you may have murdered your own child without knowing it? Or were forced to slay your own brother in self defense despite knowing that he wasn’t in control of his own actions? 

That’s some good drama right there! But the show doesn’t ever take advantage of it correctly. Because the show refuses to focus on these relationships when needed. 

I’ve already talked about how Adira fighting Lance is narratively weakened by the fact that she wasn’t allowed to form a real friendship with him. But we also see Hector and Edmund fighting each other in this same scene, and it’s the first time they’ve ever met on screen! We aren’t even told told that they are brothers until the next episode, and it’s only used for a cheap ‘twist’ that anyone could have guessed ages ago and doesn’t really add anything to the narrative. Well, not anything satisfying anyway. 

The only two relationships that get any focus is Varian vs Quirin and Eugene vs Edmund; but even that fails because the series failed to build those two relationships up as well. With Quirin being reduced to a pale shadow of his former self, and Edmund being inadvertently turned into an abusive jackass instead of the tragic figure they series was shooting for. 

Well That Was A Waste of A Pay Off

Varian spent three seasons trying to find a way to stop the black rocks. He finally finds that way, only for it to be easily destroyed minutes later. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Varian and Cassandra undermine each other’s arcs. There’s no room for them to both exist within the story, because Chris won’t allow them both to exist. 

Varian and Cassandra should complement each other, not compete with each other. They could have teamed up, or stayed on opposing sides, or been mirrors to each other and learned from one another... There’s any number of ways to fix the story and give them both equal relevance. 

But they don’t do that because Chris tried to write Varian out of the story, got push back for doing so and lost ratings, and so he then shoved Varian back in for fan service and nothing more. He’s here to draw in viewers but isn’t allowed to have any actual plot importance. Because Chris is a moron who thinks that reducing a popular character’s story relevance will magically make his favored character more popular. It doesn’t. 

Two years later and I am still utterly baffled by such a creative decision. That’s a level of ineptitude that I did not know existed; much less to come out of Disney of all places. Especially in regards to one of their more successful IPs. 

So What Is The Plan Here?

No seriously, what’s Cassandra’s plan here? 

She already has Edmund under her control. So why waste manpower by having him and Hector fake fight? Why risk losing your man on the inside or your current solider should either of them harm the other? Also why have your puppet convince everyone to retreat if you’re hell bent on destroying everyone anyways? 

Of course this is suggesting that Moonsandra thinks at all. 

As I said before, Cassandra is not the type to carefully plan ahead. Her even having sleeper agents seems out of character for her. Zhan Tiri might, but Zhan Tiri is never shown using the mind trap herself. 

It’s also hard to argue that Edmund isn’t being controlled here because, why would Cassandra hold back from using every force available to her. Especially since she’s not thinking rationally right now and is throwing a temper tantum.

Then there’s Edmund’s behavior in the finale, but we’ll get to that when we get that.  

That’s You’re First Thought Rapunzel?

You can clearly see that you and everyone you know are inside the Snuggly Duckling right now and not the courtyard that you were in last. Shouldn’t you be logically asking how you got there and why everybody else is there too? 

Sure, ask about Cass at some point, but like she shouldn’t be your first concern right now.

Since When Is The Snuggle Duckling That Close To The Capital?

It took a full day of travel to get from the Snuggly Duckling to the island in the movie. Even counting the detour to the mines, you still shouldn’t be able to see the island from the inn. It should take at least a couple of hours to get from one end of the kingdom to the other. Having Rapunzel easily run from there and back in a matter of minutes kind of undermines the film and makes the kingdom of Corona feel too small. 

Don’t Expect This To Go Anywhere

When you first see this angry look on Rapunzel’s face, you’ll be tempted to think that this is where she finally gets serious about the issues at hand and sees Cassandra for the threat that she is. 

Well she doesn’t. 

It’s another failed narrative promise. 

Also don’t expect the kingdom being destroyed to actually matter either. 

This Is A Failed Attempt At Dramatic Irony  

So we have this framing of Cassandra of sitting on the throne, completely alone inside the ruins of her former home. Which would be really tragic, if actually meant anything! 

They tried to pull this same framing back in Cassandra’s Revenge, and it didn’t work there either. You wanna know why? 

Because Cassandra never expressed any desire to rule!

You see, in order for the image of Cassandra sitting on a throne in an empty room to hold any meaning it must actually be symbolic of something. But of what I couldn’t tell you because Cassandra doesn’t have a fucking goal. 

If she had wanted the throne previously. Had wanted to be the princess, or whatever, then the series needed to actually convey that info to us. Let Cass claim she has a right to throne or something, and then make that claim logical. 

Her being Gothel’s daughter doesn’t tie into that, for Gothel had no claim to the throne. Her stealing the moonstone has nothing to do with it because why would she think the people would crown her for committing treason? Her killing Rapunzel wouldn’t have done anything because the King and Queen still exist and Cass isn’t in line for the throne. If she was fighting against Corona’s classist system in general then you might have had something to work off of, but she never expresses disdain for the royals mistreatment of others, only anger at her own personal mistreatment which isn’t even that bad comparatively speaking, and just goes on to hurt more poor people. 

So not only does she not have any reason to want to rule, and has never expressed any desire to do so before, but her actions would not logically suggest that’s what she was after either. So this scene here is utterly worthless. 

Compare that to something like, Citizen Kane. One of the best and most well known examples of dramatic irony in cinema. 

Kane is a rich insecure asshole who dies alone after driving away and/or abusing anyone who might have cared for him. That’s not a spoiler by the way. That’s how the movie opens. 

On his deathbed he whispers one word, ‘rosebud’. The rest of the film is about a reporter trying to figure out what ‘rosebud’ means as he writes a story about the infamous Kane’s life. All through out the film, told in flashback, we watch Kane fail at every attempt to make people like him. He’s relationships are all awful, his attempt at politics and publicity fails, even his once successful newspaper eventually falls under all due to his own worst tendencies. 

His tragedy comes from the fact that he was separated from his parents when young. His mother put him up for adoption thinking he would have a better life then the one she could provide, only for that not to be the case when it turns out that his relationship with his rich adopted father wasn’t the best. On the day he was carried away from her her and his home, he had been sledding in the snow on a new sled that she had bought for him. 

The sled had the word ‘rosebud’ on the front. You find out at the very end of the film as it burns away that Kane was wishing for his sled. Which was the last time he was ever happy. The sled is a symbol for his lost innocence and disconnect from his mother. The trauma of which ruined any relationship he could have had thereafter as he feared losing even more people and so was self sabotaging in everything he did in order not get too close.  

There’s more nuance to it than that, if you actually watch the film, but that is the general outline. And of course it’s not spelled out to you word for word, but it is clearly communicated nonetheless. You’re shown the defining tragedy from nearly the beginning; despite being told in flashback the film is pretty linear. You watch as Kane becomes a worse and worse person, slowly losing any redeeming qualities he once had as he repeatedly fails, until he’s left with nothing but an empty mansion as the consequence of his mistreatment of others. 

Once the reveal of the sled is made you instinctively realize what it represents because you now know this man’s life story, what motivated him, what his goals were, and why he never achieved his greatest wish.  

You have no such understanding of Cassandra, despite her having double the screen time of Kane. She has no goals, no motivation for what she does, and no deeper wish nor need to fulfill. I can’t feel sorry for her because I don’t know what she’s lost. Even temporally, because we all know even this small consequence will be reversed by the end of the next episode anyway.  

Conclusion

So there it is, the worst episode of Tangled the Series, and perhaps the worst episode of television I have ever seen. This is why the salt marathon exists. I needed to explain why this series is so bad from an actual writing perspective. Because it’s a learning opportunity for those who are interesting in writing for themselves, including myself. Knowing why something doesn’t work helps you to understand how to make it work later on. 

Next up is the series finale. Which will hopefully only be three parts long, but we will see. Depends on how Tumblr wants to behave. From there we have a few more shorts to cover and the recap. So we’re almost done, but with the holidays I make no promises as to when the reviews will come out

[lunaastoir]

fluff/relationships w the mondstadt crew

characters included: diluc, kaeya, and jean

gn! reader as always <3

tw: fluff??? domesticity??? crack??? ideal relationships w people who will never be real??? also mentions of alcohol!

an: so i’m back w a sequel to my “fluff/relationships w the liyue crew” since you guys seemed to really like it <3 thank you my heart is literally melting 😩 this post was getting too long so i excluded some of the characters but expect a part. 2 (more like part 3 but part 2 to the mondstadt version)! 

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diluc

man. this MAN.

that’s it, that’s the headcanon. 

he would literally be the most doting lover in the softest ways

SUCH a soft romantic like you thought you knew love??? nah this man will show you what love is

will constantly leave you things around the winery to convey his silent thank you’s and appreciation for you putting up with him being busy for most of the day

it’s always the most thoughtful things ever too like-

you mentioned how nice it would be to have some fresh lemonade with the hotter weather outside but it was too late in the day to actually go to the market in search of fresh lemons 

the next day you walked downstairs only to be greeted with a pitcher of cool lemonade with a side of lemon bars

there was a note attached to the handle of the pitcher <3 

“i recall you mentioning how lemonade would be perfect for the warmer weather so i decided to make some for you this morning. i hope it’s still cool by the time you drink it. love, d” 

pls sir your hand in marriage

he secretly loves it when you usher him to bed after waking up in the dead of night to see him working by candlelight on reports 

soft hands on his cheeks gently whispering about how, it’s been far too long and come to bed, darling and there will be time for this in the morning

his protests are light given the dark purple hues under his crimson eyes but he’ll still make a little fuss 

don’t let this man fool you tho he’s so so touched that you care enough to check up on him and drag him to bed!!

sometimes on the days he has a bit more free time, the two of you will quickly grab your dinners and race to the highest spot in the winery to watch the setting sun

these moments are always filled with laughter, something you’ve found you’re easily able to pull out of diluc, simply because it’s you 

uncontrollable sobbing

he would let you paint his nails black like the angsty man he is 

frankly he would let you do anything to him if it makes you happy <3 

ok but wait diluc w bLACK NAILS?? AND RINGS??? i would die on the spot ⚰️

on the topic of makeup, this man is surprisingly really good w it 

i like to think he learned after practicing on kaeya when they were younger bc kaeya was really into makeup

you found out after babysitting klee one day and trying failing to draw eyeliner on the sweet girl after her “big brother ‘bedo!”

you hastily grabbed some wipes, gently wiping off the messed up design before attempting to dive back in 

diluc however, had some down time so he decided to check up on his favorite chaotic duo 

only to be met with a pile of dirtied makeup wipes, your frustrated expression, and klee’s growing jitteriness 

swiftly moving to your side, he quietly asked if you needed help 

you glanced up quizzically before handing him the eyeliner, already looking around to find more makeup wipes when this inevitably goes wrong 

to your utter surprise tho the eyeliner is perfect??? two perfect winged lines??? in less than a minute??? WHAT

you just stood there like 😦 before diluc got back up and handed you the eyeliner 

you were short-circuiting, klee was ecstatic, diluc was worried about you 

ok last thing abt diluc 

crack! warning but the both of you like lowkey pranking kaeya 

for diluc it’s revenge on his annoying brother; for you it’s good - natured sibling rivalry fun 

every time the two of you see kaeya, one of you always swipes something of his 

small things really, it could be a pen or a handkerchief

one time, diluc swiped kaeya’s spare eyepatch and from the looks of it, kaeya’s only spare black eyepatch bc he was frantically looking for it yk he’s desperate when he even asked diluc if he saw it

the two of you spent an hour nearly laughing your asses off 

all in all, life w him is so sweet 

kaeya

pretty boy? pretty boy. 

while i can’t guarantee stability, life would never be boring w this man that’s for sure

piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 🗣 piggy back rides 

he LOVES it, the feel of you on his back while he’s walking around mondstadt most likely carrying you to your commission 

he finds it comforting especially since he can hear the rumble of your voice against him while you recount stories, or just babble on about everything under the sun 

he is SO dramatic so obviously when y’all reach the site of the commission he has to kill all the monsters even tho the both of you agreed to split it up evenly 

he makes quick work of his set before stealing some of yours much to your chagrin 

you scold him but can you really be mad at him when he looks drop dead gorgeous freezing the hilichurls the answer is no, no you cannot be

oh my god ok wait-

he does this thing where he tries to spook you in public 

so say you’re getting groceries at the mondstadt general store

you round the corner just minding your own business, looking around, taking in the sunshine 

and suddenly you just hear someone drop in behind you but before you can register anything you hear a soft “boo” and hands circle your waist 

you jump SIKE let’s be honest you shrieked 

meanwhile kaeya’s just laughing his ass off 

you can hear his rich peals of laughter while you attempt to regain your bearings 

he does this so often you SHOULD be used to it but you really aren’t bc mans is SNEAKY-

he cards his fingers in your hair whenever you’re speaking 

he doesn’t know why, it’s just a cute habit and he finds the feel of his fingers in your hair soothing

oH on the topic of comfort, kaeya really likes resting two fingers on the back of your neck???

ik he seems like the type to throw his arm around your shoulder which yes he totally is but during more serious conversations his hand automatically seeks out the warmth of your neck 

your neck feels amazing especially during the warmer months due to his chilly fingers contrasting with your warm skin  

he likes that he’s able to access such a vulnerable part of you and you would willingly let him 

HE GETS YOU MATCHING OUTFITS

no i will NOT take criticism on this i just kNOW he’s that type of guy

it would be those stupid “i’m his” and “they’re mine” sweatshirts like BYE 

it’s so cringy but for some reason it’s oddly adorable and you truly despise it but you can’t seem to say no whenever he asks 

you pretend to ignore the look of pity diluc throws your way whenever he sees you like this

kaeya really loves accessories so i think he would be the type to give you a promise ring or something similar to show that he truly does care for you 

he would brush it off, flirting a little like usual before handing you the ring 

with the way his cheeks softly darken though, you know he’s being genuine 

TICKLE FIGHTS ik i mentioned this for childe but shhhh

he has tickle fingers??? his hands just loOK like they’re itching to tickle someone so you’ll most likely be the unfortunate victim 

he will not show you mercy. at all. he’ll tickle you until there are tears streaming from your eyes, your face is hot, and your voice is hoarse from laughing so damn hard 

it gives him such a rush of serotonin its SO CUTE 

i feel like this goes without saying but he’s super into pda,,, anything and everything is on the table 

hand holding? duh. ass grabs? ofc. carrying you bridal style around mondstadt? why not 

ik he’s typically very playful but once the relationship reaches a certain stage, he’ll slowly start to let down the walls that surround his facade 

very very slowly show you the more realistic parts of him 

the real, damaged pieces of his soul 

he’ll be carefully monitoring your reaction though, any sign of fear or disgust will have him recoiling within himself again and you most likely will never see his true nature ever again 

SO BE CAREFUL 👹

once you’ve seen the parts of him he’s offered to you, the hushed whispers of his past, and the uncertain lines of his future, he will take off his eyepatch 

pretends like he’s not super nervous but he’s SWEATING- 

the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen though hands down 

you can understand why he covers it up but you would like it if he felt comfortable enough to take off the eyepatch occasionally when he’s with you 

also!!! sleeps with his eyepatch side facing you (in the event he wears it to bed) 

if this happens you KNOW he trusts you bc it’s his blindside <3 

anyways life w kaeya will never be boring but he is a very complicated man 

stay with him though, i promise it’ll be worth it 

jean

the key to jean’s heart is coffee and food 

GET HER COFFEE AND FOOD

i am begging you she deserves it 😭

the poor woman works so hard bc the knights are so mf understaffed, this is literally the best way you can ever show her your love and appreciation when she has work

she will MELT if you have a hot shower and dinner waiting for her when she inevitably returns later than she promised

will completely refuse at first with, “you did not have to do this, it’s too much” but shush her as you shOULD bc she deserves the entire world 

she’s the definition of “you do something for me, i’ll return the favor ten times grander”

you leave a flower on her desk bc it reminded you of her??? you’ll wake up to find a whole bouquet of the prettiest windwheel asters you’ve ever seen the next morning along with a thank you note

she’s so sweet BYE

she gets flustered extremely easily so you obviously use this as an opportunity to tease her 

when you’re in public rest your hand on her waist and inch it higher until your hand is underneath her shirt and in contact with her warm skin 

she’ll actually short-circuit its quite adorable 

sometimes y’all will be cuddling and you’ll hear whispers of her insecurities 

“am i a good grand master? will i ever be as valiant as vanessa?”

reassure her!!! tell her that she doesn’t need to be like vanessa, she’s already amazing as jean 

if you haven’t seen her in awhile, track her down and schedule a lunch date 

she never misses appointments and if it’s for you, she’ll gladly make time to see you even if she has to stay up even later than usual 

OH-

GIVE HER MASSAGES 

she has so much tension and the sorest muscles from hunching over papers and running around on errands 

if you sneak into her office and quietly stand behind her before gently pushing down on the sore tendons of her neck, she’ll genuinely fall over on her desk 

so make sure you steady her 😀

after you feel how tight her muscles are though, you drag her to barbara bc she needs a healer asap 😭

while most of your time is spent in her office - you helping out in the ways you can while jean is overseeing knight duties - you still have your fair share of life outside of the favonius headquarters

jean never likes to sit still so whenever you have free time, the both of you head off looking for monsters to clear

bouken da bouken???

adventuring w jean is seriously the funnest thing you could ever do 

it’s just non-stop you accidentally getting into trouble and her having to come help you 

even tho the both of you are dead tired after fighting, what? 20 hilichurl camps now??? the laughter and joy in your eyes shows how you both truly loved every minute of it

it’s both a stress reliever, good fun, and a work-out <3

you’re definitely prone to getting dragged to angel’s share w kaeya 

kaeya and jean sometimes hang out after work at the tavern so inevitably you’re dragged along too 

all three of you are drunk out of your minds which just makes everything a MILLION times funnier 

kaeya slurring over his words makes the two of you start cackling endlessly while diluc just shakes his head making sure to not give you more wine despite your pleas 

angel’s share ft. kaeya and bartender diluc are always the best times fr fr 

life with her literally feels like y’all are married 

so much domesticity it’s so NICE ALJDKSFH

your house is always so clean and the color scheme is impeccable bc jean has such a good eye 

you have a chore schedule 😎 but it almost never works out bc jean ends up doing everything without you knowing- 

you always confront her abt it and she’s like 😁 “i had some time so i did them! no worries tho” like i- time??? where bitc-

oH- she has amazing style so you can bet shopping w her is literally the best experience 

she takes you to all of the hidden gems some places lisa recommended and helps you pick out things 

will 100% get really blushy if you come out in something and ask her for her opinion tho she’s literally the cutest

basically jean is a sweet girl who deserves the entirety of teyvat that is all. 

thanks for reading! if you have any requests don’t hesitate to send them in <3