#arei vs antis

[venus-is-thinking]

DRDT Chapter 2 Episode 16: Initial Thoughts

Sorry for missing episode 15 :(

That being said, oh my god, Chapter 2 is actually complete! This is so exciting! I'm really hyped to talk about this episode and give my not-live summary of my live reactions!

SPOILER WARNING FOR DRDT THROUGH THE END OF CH 2!!!

CW: Murder, sacrifice, suicide

The Reactions

12-1, this time. I'm still personally partial to the extra vote on Teruko last Trial being Arei (being petty about her "I'm voting for you no matter what" thing), so I would assume Ace is the Teruko vote. If so, I do think it's interesting that he voted Teruko as opposed to, like, Nico. Then again, it might be that it's just more convenient for DRDTdev to consistently put the extra vote on Teruko, lol.

Notably, the dead people have "N/A," not 0. We probably could tell this because of Xander last time, but I didn't check. I wonder if this implies we won't ever need to vote for someone dead (ex. a mastermind who "died" earlier in the killing game).

I'm free... I can read whatever Eden says as genuine...

Take THAT, Whit time loop theorists /j

I do think it's funny/kinda telling? that Whit is only saying this after the trial is over. Like, I feel like the normal time to go "oh my god we're having another trial" is, like... when you find the body? So, it's interesting that his reaction is so delayed.

So, I don't know if this was an intentional parallel, but...

These feel similar to me. I really like the Ace/Arei parallels, where they're both chronically hated people, but Arei apologizes and tries to change whereas Ace lets the fear and paranoia consume him until there's no turning back. Ace only says this after he's already been found guilty of murder; Arei says this before promising to change her ways to the victim of her bullying.

Teruko out here hopping on that self-blame train.

It's so funny how different Hu's standards are when talking about Ace's murder vs. Nico's attempted murder. Like... Hu this is what everyone was telling you like an hour ago. What.

It's really interesting that we're highlighting this line. I wonder if this is part of a theme that we're going to explore further, maybe tied into the "all murderers have to be punished" thing. Or maybe Eden isn't actually accurate here, but doesn't know it; has Ace killed someone in the past?

Fun trick you can do here!

When we first met Teruko a week ago, she was the same person, certainly, but she was also different. She was happier, and she trusted people more.

There are so many good character parallels in DRDT. The Ace/Teruko one was really interesting in this post-trial.

Ooh, new flavor of J anti-murder! This seems to be broadening it to also being critical of the killing game, which would go against my weird hypothetical "J is anti-murderer but also the mastermind" read.

It's interesting, with how this is Ace's logic. It makes total sense for his character, though. I think it's easy for us, the viewers, to forget the fact that the characters probably don't have the precedent of "every blackened ever always loses." When Ace is running the odds, he thinks his survival odds were better as a killer than as a participant in the killing game. And y'know, considering how close he came to dying as Nico's victim, that's kinda fair.

I desperately want to know what Levi was going to say here.

I really like the fact that Ace DID care about Levi. That he intrinsically cares about him, but he knows factually that he isn't supposed to like or trust someone in a killing game. That once he killed Arei, he had to resolve to kill everyone in the killing game, even Levi.

The only way Ace knew to prevent himself from caring was to stay mad, I guess. Kinda unfortunate though, considering that I do think Levi wanted to patch things up with him genuinely.

Meanwhile, Levi, who doesn't understand emotions, is just like "man what the fuck. That makes no sense."

What a pair. I'm sad we're not going to get to see their dynamic anymore :(

In other words, I'm back on the Levi survivor train baby! My biggest problem with it before was that I thought Ace was gonna survive and I didn't think Ace and Levi were both gonna survive, so now we're locking tf in!

This is fun! I always wonder why more people don't try stuff like this. Like... shoot your shot. You're gonna die otherwise, soooo...

Great animation as always

I think it's really funny that Teruko is so fucking mad that she bullies Ace into action. Like, that's so fitting for both of them.

I love using this David expression here. He's just like, "was it that easy? Why was I trying to throw the trial then???"

aaaaAAAAAAAA--

What the fuck!! XF-Ture mention!!!!!!!!

I like the spooky vibe MonoTV has for this post-trial, but I do hope we get our normal silly lil guy back next chapter. I like the MonoTV personality we see all the time. I'm gonna miss it if it just died like that :(

I am also squinting so hard at everyone's reactions through "who is the mastermind" goggles. Maybe I'll analyze them in a different post sometime.

Fascinating purpose. Not "to create despair." Not "to run the killing game until only one participant survives." To kill everyone.

Does this include whichever mastermind?

Why does whoever programmed MonoTV want to kill all of these people? Are they being punished for something?

This countdown sequence fucked me up. The tensions and emotions are so high. Even as someone who was confident that Teruko, at least, wasn't going to die no matter what, I was so on edge. I got really scared that Eden was going to take the hit for Teruko, though, and that's what I was reading into when I wasn't sure Eden would make it to Chapter 3.

This speech, more than any other one Teruko has made or any actions she's taken or endured, really made me feel for Teruko. The fact that she can so casually talk about truly traumatic and horrific things happening to her, while smiling, truly shows how much she's grown used to it. Like, girl. You don't deserve this. What.

The character work on Teruko especially this episode is just fantastic. No words.

This panel stressed me out so bad because it was really just a question of WHO took the bullet for Teruko. Like, if she's thinking this, someone clearly did.

My bets were on either Eden, Charles, or Ace.

Levi, though, was such a surprise to see. Like, in a good way. It means so much.

First of all, it's a callback to the end of the prologue. Levi attacks MonoTV, and when MonoTV tries to kill him in response, Teruko's danger sense alerts her. It's only through Teruko warning Levi to move that Levi dodged the main attack, resulting in only an arm injury rather than death. Now, Levi returns her favor, preventing her from dying from attacking MonoTV.

Second, it puts Ace into the position we see of having to confront the possibility of Levi's death. I got the distinct sense that they wanted Ace to be able to do something heroic on his way out, to prove all the haters wrong (which is why I thought it was possible he'd take the hit for Teruko instead of Levi). By putting Levi, pretty clearly the person he cares most about, into harm's way, it makes Ace take action. It means that he HAS to confront the fact that he cares Levi, and that he has to die.

And, thirdly... I am so fascinated to learn why Levi did this. Was it as simple as a transactional, "you saved me from execution before?" Is it "I thought saving someone would make me a good person?" Does Levi actually feel some remorse for Teruko in this moment, causing him to take action?

No matter what his reasoning, I can't wait to hear from him. I strongly suspect Levi won't actually die from this (at the very least, I hope not, because I really want to hear more from him), but even if he does, hopefully we'll still get some more insight in a bonus episode or a flashback or something.

I'm trying to figure out what triggered Whit here.

This is immediately following "The elevator won't open," but it also definitely can just correlate to "[person] will die if they don't receive immediate medical treatment." I have to assume that something here is reminding Whit of his mom...?

With the weird "Whit knows a lot about hanging" earlier, I got the impression that Whit's mom probably hung herself. From this, I would probably theorize that Whit found her while she was still alive, but not quickly enough to save her. Yikes.

Anyways, I think that means everyone has some kind of despair sprite now! That's fun!

o7

I'm sure many have pointed this out, but do we think he's counting himself here (Arei + Ace + Levi = 3), or do we think he feels responsible for someone else's death in his past (probably Taylor)? I'd lean towards the second one.

Y'know, before I thought Arturo was just pressed about the surgeon thing because people were unfairly hating on him. This, at least, I think implies something relating to Felicity.

Arturo doesn't have any experience saving lives. He left, and Felicity died. He can't save lives; he's only responsible for Felicity's ending. I think that's how he sees it.

On a side note, I think there's a very definite possibility that Chapter 3 cold opens on Arturo saving Levi's life??? Like, how Chapter 2 started with Eden POV, I think Chapter 3 could start with Arturo taking his shot at healing Levi, eventually resulting in Levi stabilizing. I'm not sure who would be there with him. Possibly Hu, since she was leading the "let's get Levi to the infirmary" effort...?

I love executions like this. Accirax has said before that the best executions are what make their recipient feel the most despair, and that's definitely what they did with Ace here. Put the talent aside; fear is what Ace fears the most.

Uhhhh. I'm pulling an Accirax. Part 2 in reblog!

[areiton]

Imagine obsessively hating on Dylan O’Brien and mocking a real person’s trauma and life threatening accident just because you are still bitter that Dylan’s the star and breakout star of Teen Wolf and overshadowed your talentless fav Posey from day one without even trying... Scott McCall/Tyler Posey fan @noncanonfan (also known as @camelotpark) can relate

So I got this ask. And a few submissions that I’m not gonna share for two reasons. Bear with me, nonnie. 

1. I don’t want to share links to angry ramblings. I spent a bit of time--not a lot cuz it’s ridiculous--on noncanonfan’s tumblr last night and look--they’re literally just shouting into the void. There’s no responses. There’s no interactions. And there’s no reason to give them that. DOB is doing just fine, bless his quirky little self, and the best way to shut up haters is to not bother giving them a voice to begin with. So I’m not gonna share those posts for that reason. 

2. I really really need positive stuff on this tumblr. Nonnie, my darling, my dear, my friend. Send me pics of DOB with puppies or with anyone who isn’t Posey. Send me fic recs and head canons and gifs. Send me ‘omg i miss you in this fandom what do you think about lydia and allison opening a detective agency’ (i miss it too, and that’s fucking badass and we were robbed). But the posts about scott-stans and antis are really not my jam. It’s 2020. My kid is in the hospital. My other two are in quarantine for covid. Let’s ignore the trashfire stans, stop wasting our time on their hate, and focus on some positive, k? 

This goes for all of you, dear readers! Please feel free to fill up my inbox with prompts and nonsense and your shitty days and what you had for lunch (I’m having the most delicious chai coffee) because I truly lOVE hearing about the good things and your lives. 

[areiton]

Friendly reminder:

*Block content you dont want to see

*Ship and let ship

*Tag responsibly

*Curate your own internet/fandom experience

*Try to find joy in fandom, instead of dwelling on hate.

*You can't control other people and their fandom experience/shipping preferences, so don't try.

*Problematic ships don't equal problematic people.

[areiton]

It's April, which means flowers and rain and antis frothing at the mouth that people voluntarily give money to a site that they use, for no other reason than the site put a banner up about their fundraiser.

It's April, which means green grass and bunny rabbits and my faith in fandom being restored despite actual fucking idiots ranting in their corners.

I fucking love April.

[areiton]

Can a single anti please show me the child who was harmed by shipping?

Just--I want to see someone who was hurt by shipping. 

Not by trauma that is triggered by a ship--be careful and protect yourself, but not the internet’s fault if you aren’t. 

Not by making stupid decisions that were ‘influenced by a ship’--if you’re young enough this is happening, fandom is prolly not where you need to be. 

Not by a predator who met them in fandom--don’t blame fandom for bad people doing bad shit. 

By shipping. 

Because if you’re gonna say this shipping is harming children--I’m gonna call bullshit. And then I’m gonna say--show me where. 

Disliking something? Doesn’t make it harmful. 

[areiton]

So I just saw a Iron Man bingo thing. 

Which was apparently created specifically because the current Tony Stark bingo allows properly tagged Starker. 

And you know--that’s ok. It doesn’t bother me that some antis created an event specifically to avoid a certain kind of content. That is curating the internet experience they want, so good job, kiddos. 

What annoys me? Is that they also want their followers to scold the original bingo for allowing things they disagree with. 

Kiddos. That? Is not curating the internet experience you want. It’s annoying and harassment and just childish. Which--I know, you’re all about protecting the children, but like. 

As a person who entered fandom (an age ago) as one of those mystical ‘children to be protected’ and now, as a mother of one of those ‘to be protected’ fandom children, and as a problematic shipper, I want to just go ahead and say--

Starkers aren’t the problem. Problematic ships aren’t the problem. People who make other people’s internet their moral responsibility is the problem, kiddos. 

Mind your business and let others do the same. You were doing so good and you had to go and ruin it. 

[areiton]

I read this post (it’s long but so good, friends) and it got me thinking. 

I was 10, I wandered into the adult section of the library for the first time, and Courtney, my favorite librarian and (looking back) a high school student, handed me Stephen King. An older librarian swooped in and plucked it from my hands, and steered me back toward the Babysitter Club, and I grabbed a book called Lace because it was near the kid’s section and big and I was only allowed to take one book on our family vacation--for a girl who read two or three books a day, that was tantamount to torture. 

Sometimes I wonder if Brenda, the nice protective older librarian realized that King’s Salem’s Lot was a lot less impactful than Lace and the themes of incest and sexual violence I spent the entire drive to Texas devouring. 

But we’ll never know, and for a few more years, I didn’t peruse King.  

I was 14 the first time I heard about Harry Potter. And at the time--I was knee deep in the Kushiel Trilogy. But the one I was told I wasn’t allowed to read? Harry Potter. Kushiel, with it’s thick dense pages and lush sexuality and homage to BDSM--that was fine. A boy in a closet learning the power of love? Not so much. 

Sometimes I wonder if my mom would have stopped me, if she’d actually read the first few pages, or if she realized that two decades later, both series sit on my bookshelves, but only one is tattooed on my body, only one tugs at me, who I am as person. 

But we’ll never know, and for a few more years, I didn’t read Potter. 

When I was 13, my parents wouldn’t let me or my brothers watch Saving Private Ryan, because of the graphic violence. They wouldn’t let me watch Braveheart because of the sex scene. 

That was fine. I curled up with a series of historical fiction that detailed the lush, exotic life of Cleopatra and her lovers, read all about the battle and executions and killings in Rome with Colleen McCullough’s Master of Rome series, read about Alexander and Hephstation fighting and fucking in an ancient dusty book I still wish I had a copy of--and missing Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart didn’t bother me. 

I wonder, sometimes, what my parents would have done, if they realized how very little I cared about what media I wasn’t allowed to consume because I had everything I wanted and no one paid any attention. 

The point of this is--censorship doesn’t work. Kids are gonna read what they want, they’re gonna partake in the media they want. Take away what you think is gonna hurt them, and they’re still gonna find something comparable or worse. 

And in the end--it’s ok. It’s ok. Those kids--they’re gonna be ok. I am ok. No one was hurt in the making of this adult. Trying to shelter me actually hurt me worse than monitoring and talking would have but that’s a story for a different day. 

I say this as a parent who gives her kids pretty free rein over their media consumption--censoring doesn’t work. Talking to them? Discussing what they’re watching and sometimes saying, hey this might be something we need to wait on for a bit? That works. Or it’s working for me. 

Antis need to stop trying to shelter these kids they think they’re protecting, and maybe realize they aren’t pretty dolls on a shelf somewhere who shouldn’t ever experience life--they’re real people with real interests and a real world they will have to interact with. Let them do it. Let them do it in a space that safe and has guidance.  

[areiton]

Oh! Can I tackle the admin thing? *slides on small buisness owner hat(s)* *clears throat*

Even web-based entities, such as AO3, have adminstrative costs--i.e. subscription costs for emails or communication platforms. Those aren't (and often shouldn't) be disclosed in detail because their the minutia of running a company or non-profit and it is easier to say 8.5% of the budget is for admin and lump all of that minutiae in one space. I COULD be wrong about that. But coming from running a small buisness or two for the past 8 years, that's what I assume because that's what my budget looks like.

I won't dignify the rest of your nonsense with a response.

Full disclosure: I've always supported AO3 and its mission. I don't have the financial freedom to donate money but I'm hardly alone in that. I understand the fandom history and the value.

The donation drive currently going on bothers me. It bothers me a lot. The title alone, Finding Community in Isolation, is emotionally manipulative considering the lack of a Covid-19 impact statement beyond the emergency measures discussed in [this] Forbes article.

I've been around a long time and I've been using AO3 for almost a decade. I understand the costs involved and how servers work etc etc. But why is an organization that has been in beta for almost eleven years, and regularly surpasses projected goals asking for more donations during a time of extreme crisis?

AO3 has raised more than twice the amount they projected to need. And the drive is still open.

This is tacky as fuck!

I've always been quite bothered by the breakdown of the budget, as well. 8.5% of their budget is simply listed as "admin." I'm an adult and have held many jobs. I understand in theory what admin means but that's almost 10% of their budget lacking transparency! Especially now when they're fear mongering about shutting down when the world is in a state of emergency! Financial and otherwise!

I'm really disgusted by this and am considering pulling my works and closing my account.

*anyone who comes at me over this will be blocked. I've no interest in fighting other Fandom Olds about their beloved fic archive. I'm just as old as you and been around just as long and I'm just as fucking cranky.

[areiton]

PSA for Antis

When you send hateful 'omg you're writing <insert whatever you dislike>' asks? It makes us want to write MORE of it. To write it darker and dirtier, if for no other reason than fuck you.

You are achieving the opposite of your desires, kiddos. Cut it the fuck out.

[areiton]

Ew. Imagine comparing an actual hero and a canonically gifted, complex neurodiverse character of Polish origins to mass murderers and crime lords just because you are an ableist piece of rancid trash who’s still pathologically jealous and butthurt over Teen Wolf fans and viewers preferring actually compelling fictional characters over your badly written and portrayed fave True Privileged ManChild & Shitty, Entitled White Boy Scott McCall: https://princeescaluswords.tumblr.com/post/185186369205/so-about-endgame-more-specifically-tonys-rant

Privileged ManChild & Shitty, Entitled White Boy princeescaluswords and his gross delusional squad buddies can relate.

Arei: I can’t bother to argue with them right now. Because here’s the thing--if they watched that scene and came away with those feels, arguing with them won’t do anything. It’s pointless. Here’s my thought, sweet nonnie. I won’t argue with folks who dislike a character. You aren’t required to like Tony Stark or Stiles Stilinski or Peter Hale. I don’t like Steve Rogers (MCU canon Rogers, fanon and comics Rogers isn’t so bad) and I expect some people prolly would take issue with my ‘he’s an entitled self-righteous asshole who needs to go to therapy and figure out what gaslighting is’ stance. But! That’s my opinion and I generally keep it to myself because this is my happy place. (To be fair, Tony is ALSO a entitled asshole who needs therapy and to stop manipulating those around him. Neither are perfect--no one in the MCU is. That’s what I like about it) 

I don’t care if PEW or whoever the fuck else doesn’t like my favs. I care when they shove their moral standards--which constantly shift and only they get to decide--on other people and their writing. Censorship offends me. And PEW and all the rest can say they don’t advocate censorship--but they do. 

But disliking a character? Sure, go for it. I think they’re all batshit and can’t follow a story or subtext to save their damn lives, but hey--their choice. If you can watch Endgame (or all of the MCU) and walk away thinking Tony didn’t pay a price for things? Well, fuck, me shouting on the internet isn’t gonna do anything, you are an actual idiot. 

(Tony is Polish?? I thought he was Italian? Someone halp--what’s our boy’s heritage?) 

[areiton]

ugh, scott mccall delusional squad members russianspacegeckosexparty and princeescaluswords are currently harassing a queer black woman and teen wolf writer just because she doesn't worship their personal fav and writes *AMAZING* sterek fics instead of scott mccall centered ones like they demand her to. and i... i am beyond disgusted by antis' toxic, abusive behaviour tbfh. they stay literal trash

I’ve seen a lot of Scott McCall nonsense and anti bullshit and general discussion over on @thisdiscontentedwinter tumblr–if anyone wants a recap, she does a much better job dealing with their nonsense than I do. 

Here’s the problem with anti behavior. In their need to defend a fictional character–they hurt real people. Right now it’s a black woman. In the past, they’ve accused me (a Lantix woman) of being racist. Their logic is–well, laughable and shouldn’t be called logic because it’s a disservice to the word. 

And frankly, they’re boring. It’s the same goddamn argument every time. We’re racist because we think other people are better at some things than Scott. We’re abusers because we think villains deserve redemption arcs. We’re blah blah blah bullshit. We’re horrible naughty very bad people who need to rethink our wicked ways.

It’s the same argument ad naseaum and it’s frankly, boring. And gross. You want to come up with new material, squad, or you want to, idk, use actual logic and not just rambling nonsense that makes no sense (have any of y’all actually attempted to read Camel or Pew’s posts? They’re actually nonsense) come back and we’ll talk. Until then–go write fic or something. 

Why can’t we all just live and let live with fandom, ffs. 

[areiton]

I just saw a post condemning Starker and Thorki and comparing them to Sterek (???) and Wincest.

And like, Wincest isn't a hardcore ship of mine, but the other three, yeah, I'm here for.

(I don't know why Sterek is on this person's list. SOMONE CHIME IN.)

So apparently my type is problematic ships and I give exactly zero shits.

Ship and let ship, y'all. Don't like it? Ignore it. But leave people who aren't hurting anyone alone. Jesus.

[areiton]

So, Starker fam, @irondadgroupie is getting a bunch of hate and unfollows because of a Starker positive post. Maybe give 'em a follow if you can. And honestly, screw the antis.

[areiton]

As entertaining as arguing with antis is...

I'm gonna go hang out with my kids at a wedding. And maybe I'll write something problematic in my downtime.

[areiton]

Guys. Look. I love y’all and I LOVE talking about fic and fandom and meta and headcanons. I love it. 

But. 

PLEASE. Stop sending me wank. 

I don’t want to argue with antis about why their fav character is awesome or not. I’m not gonna make anyone change their mind. Moreover--I don’t care to change anyone’s mind. 

I don’t care if someone thinks Scott McCall is the best thing since sliced bread or loathes Tony Stark. I stay outta their tags for a reason. 

I only care when people start screaming censorship or try to silence authors and artists. If they aren’t? Just--send happy making stuff. Honestly. 

Right now I’m exhausted and I want my inbox to just--stop. Please help me out here, friends, cuz I like talking to y’all but I will always put myself and self-care first and if that means closing the inbox? I will. Let’s not make that necessary, k? 

Cool. 

[areiton]

Who is prince?

An asshole anti who likes to tell people they’re morally wrong because they don’t like his fave, Scott McCall. Or to tell them they’re racist, whichev. Apparently he’s got Starker on the radar for bad/wrong/don’t ship and I’m over here like, “kiddo, you need a hobby that isn’t so damn negative. Do you need fic? I feel like you need fic.”