#biased towards villains

[vibescornerr]

Maybe its just me and im insane but maddie being the traitor and ‘bad guy’ felt like a real shit way to just brush off the fact cait literally cheated on her with vi 😭😭😭 im??? oh yeah guys its okay she cheated on maddie because maddie is actually bad and didnt love her so she deserved it!! Huh???? ??? Cait didn’t know anything like that when she cheated. It’s still shit. She didn’t even have the balls to tell maddie. Like it makes sense. The scene with mel implying a traitor or ambessa saying vi leaving gave her a whole in caitlyn to fill. (The whole probably making maddie rebound.)

[starry-eyer]

i think most people would hate him if the showrunners decided to stick with canon

let’s not forget Bitterbridge and Tumbleton

daeron the war criminal deserved his pathetic death

[misty-moth]

Ellis’ birthday messages 🌌

Elbert:

Jude:

[radio-4-is-static]

You Could Have It So Much Better: Franz Ferdinand Interview + In the Studio ⤷ Week Two of FranzFeb: appreciation for your favorite album

[brionysea]

i see the potential for a dick and jason reverse robins au. jason staying on the good kid track from his childhood and being put on a pedestal despite still having so many issues, and then pre-teen dick grayson shows up; problem child, keeps running away from juvie and foster homes because he's lusting for murder, filled with rage and plastering a feral smile on top of it all--which jason can't even comprehend because he's so fundamentally authentic with his emotions at any given moment--and above all, making jason cry with laughter because of the look on bruce's face when he sees dick on the chandelier. it's perfectly backwards. i'm obsessed

[bloomeng]

as a person who has a sorta complicated relationship with my step parents i want to know so badly how kaveh feels about his step dad

[eats-the-stars]

my 4yo nephew is honestly such a character. love kids at this age. right now he has three favorite things. Cars. Dinosaurs...and Zombies. heard from school today that he has a select group of friends who he plays Zombies with. By which they mean that he pretends to be a zombie, and they all happily scramble to hide under a table and clutch each other and scream. He does this every day. Honestly do think this kid is going to keep his horror interest possibly long-term because he also loves to play lots of "hide/run from the zombies/ghosts" games at home. Including turning off the lights and having the both of us hide in a blanket fort huddled together while he insists that we both fake cry in fear. Most other kids he interacts with at this age are firmly in the "afraid of the dark" stage, and can only play the lights off version, or include the "pretend to bite your friend and now they are also a zombie" bit in very small doses. He has a night light in his room, but regularly chooses to sleep on the couch in the pitch black living room instead. To be fair, I had very little fear of the dark as a little kid, so maybe that part just runs in the family.

[transmascvash]

"uuuuuugg why do so many stories say revenge is bad and focus on forgiveness why does the protagonist try to be the better person and not just kill the villain when they OBVIOUSLY should" well I don't know about you but i like to read stories about nice people who try to be nice

[fabuloustrash05]

Some Fun Facts According to Sparking Zero’s Encyclopedia (aka Girl Talk)

Chichi still thinks ALL Super Saiyans are delinquents (and yes that includes Frieza’s golden form) meanwhile Bulma defends the Super Saiyan forms.

Chichi considers Krillin to be just as tough as a Saiyan because of all that he’s been through.

Bulma LOVES Vegeta’s red hair when he turns into a SSJ God.

Videl wonders if she and Future Gohan ever crossed paths in the future timeline. She also wishes she was there to fight by his side when he faced the androids.

Chichi thinks SSJ3 Goku and SSJ4 Gogeta are scary looking.

The girls all agreed that Krillin hit the jackpot with Android 18.

According to Videl, Vegeta is a good cook.

Chichi still hasn’t forgiven Piccolo for kidnapping Gohan, but looks past it cause Gohan looks up to Piccolo.

Bulma thinks Piccolo’s fusion with Nail and Kami is unimpressive compared to the other fusions she’s seen.

Bulma has a biased towards SSJ Blue, cause well, blue hair lol

Videl believes Goku and Bulma were positive influences on Vegeta (she’s right).

The girls don’t like Paragus for what he did to Broly (Super).

Bulma thinks SSJ4 Vegeta is “cool looking” and “wild”.

Videl thinks Baby Vegeta is scary.

The girls don’t understand the purpose behind Frieza stretched out head in his 3rd form. They think he looks gross.

Bulma defends Vegeta as a father and husband, saying he’s a good dad to their kids.

Videl hopes that Yamcha will find love someday.

The girls think Garlic Jr is Pilaf

Bulma is glad Trunks doesn’t have a tail, fearful of what would happen to the house if her husband and kids could transform into a giant apes.

Bulma mistook Recoome for Android 16.

Videl is shocked to learn Piccolo was once a villain.

Videl wants a “foodie buddy” like Whis is to Bulma.

Bulma confirms she’s the breadwinner of her family while Vegeta is the protector.

The girls wonder and are envious that Android 18 will most likely stay young and beautiful forever.

Bulma wonders why Zamasu didn’t steal Vegeta’s body instead of Goku’s.

Videl did not know that Bulma and Yamcha used to date.

The girls criticized Baby Vegeta for constantly changing forms so quickly XD

Chichi respects Bulma for slapping Beerus across the face.

Chichi hopes to one day meet Bardock in Otherworld and thank him for bringing Goku to her

[sugarlywhispers]

b.katsuki x reader (fem) | villain!reader, prohero!dynamight.

a.n; a bit of context for this little idea i had yesterday (LINK HERE). 😉🌟should i make it a serie?? 👀

The war lasted years. Years that brought not only destruction but losses that hurt deep in the soul. Years in which the whole world changed, including people. Deaths, injuries, betrayals. Wins and loses.

It took years to bring Shigaraki and his whole team down, but once it was done, Bakugou remembers clearly turning toward his best friend, Izuku, and hugging him so tight.

None of them will admit it, or at least Katsuki won't, but they both cried in that embrace.

Bakugou also remembers you.

You, who once used to fight alongside him and the rest of his hero friends. You, who knew them all from your first year at UA, because you had also been a classmate. You, who had shared laughs, cries, and many moments with them. You, who chose to betray them all and turn to Shigaraki's side.

He still remembers when it happened.

You had been right by his side; actually, back-to-back covering for him in the middle of a fight. Suddenly, the sun was clouded, leaving a gloomy and terrifying tension in the air.

"Enough!" A deep male voice roared, making everyone silent, heroes and villains alike. Bakugou felt your body tensing, and he immediately knew something was wrong.

"Y/N, stop this nonsense right now."

Bakugou turned and saw you looking straight ahead towards the voice. Your chest raised and lowered rapidly thanks to your breathing, he didn't know if it was because of the fight you both had recently been in or because you were afraid.

"Come. Now."

Bakugou didn't understand, or maybe he did but he didn't want to. But he definitely felt a sort of heaviness in his chest when he heard you murmur to him "I'm sorry" and walked towards the man.

He tried to stop you by grabbing your wrist, but you never turned to look at him. You simply shook his hand away and walked towards the villain.

"Don't make it any more dramatic, you stupid hero. She has always been one of us." The man smiled devilishly, an arm surrounding your shoulders once you stood by his side.

Bakugou felt like vomiting at that image.

Your betrayal felt heavy on everyone. But especially on Katsuki.

Why? Why did you do it? There had to be a reason behind your actions. You didn't even go willingly, he knew that. He saw it. He knew it had to be under some threat or something.

He just couldn't accept the fact that the only person he had felt any sort of feeling besides annoyance towards, could not be a villain. You were not a villain.

However, that's the title the government sentenced you under after the war. And how everyone saw you. A villain, someone who betrayed them.

You are a villain, who has been sentenced to a whole life in prison after the war was over, alongside many other villains. Many other people who betrayed the hero side too.

Katsuki had been at your trial when the sentence was declared. He and others too. Izuku, Mina, Sero, Ochako, Shoto and Denki. Many were missing, many were dead.

You were standing, the first one in a line of other betrayers, clearly on purpose, just to put more shame on your person for your decisions. And behind you were people like Hawks, Inasa, Koda and Jiro, among others. A system of anti-Quirk chains connecting all of you by the ankles and wrists.

"This is... unfair," Round cheeks sighed, eyes glossy, watching the people they knew. Or used to know.

Several mmhs agreed with her. Including Katsuki.

Call him biased, he'll fucking blast you to pieces, but he was sure you didn't have a choice. Something happened that made you turn, and he was going to fucking find out what happened.

Even if after the judge read your crimes and asked you how pleaded yourself and you simply said, "guilty", with a raspy, clearly hurting voice, yet your stance was neutral, cold even.

Bakugou Katsuki didn't believe it for one second.

He kicked away an empty cardboard box that was on the ground, clearly showing his anger, as everyone walked out of the courtroom.

"This is bullshit," Sero groaned, pissed off too.

"There's something we could do," Mina declared firmly, making everyone turn around to her as she was the last one leaving the room. "Follow me."

They were all standing outside now, in an adjacent alley from the Court of Law where the sentence had been made.

"Spill it." They were all alone now, no media, no civilians.

"Yeah, what did you mean, Mina?" Ochako took a step closer to her friend, clearly anxious.

"I heard this from lawyers yesterday at the girls' restroom in the CoL. They didn't know I was there too, so they were talking freely. One of them said that she was surprised no one mentioned one of the protections of one specific law regarding certain cases. Cases where heroes are undercover, where they have to join villains."

Katsuki took a step closer, full attention to what Mina was saying. All of them were paying attention.

"They said that probably that law wasn't brought into the defense because they have no defense. They are just taking the blame for the war because that's what the government wants. Someone to point at, someone to blame."

"Fucking pieces of shit."

"Oh my God, that's horrible!" Ochako cried, hugging herself.

"I understand it now. It's perfect for them. They once fought alongside us, but then they turned, probably under government directions to play undercover. And now they are taking the blame because there isn't enough evidence that can help them, that says the contrary. Or they don’t want to show it." Izuku analyzed, crossing his arms over his chest, eyebrows frowning in thought, clearly activating his "nerd mode".

"Well, that would apply to some of them," Denki said, the anger clear in every feature of his.

"What does that mean?" Sero asked, but he didn’t seem confused. More like, indignation making its way into him.

"Please. We all clearly know who I'm talking about." 

All eyes traveled to Katsuki.

"Don't you dare fucking say it."

"Come on, Bakugou! She was right beside you when it happened! Her freaking father called out to her and she went! She fucking chose to turn to their side!"

Before Katsuki even decided to move towards Denki, Izuku and Sero were already holding him back, each one grabbing him by his arms and pushing him away.

“Who do you fucking think you are, huh?! She took a fucking bullet for you, you asshole! You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for her, that same person you’re fucking accusing-...”

“She still betrayed us! She betrayed YOU.”

A growl left Katsuki’s mouth that could have frightened even All Might in his prime era, followed by a strong push that made Izuku and Sero activate their Quirks to hold their friend back. Uselessly.

But before he could reach where Denki was waiting for him, already electricity dancing around him, Mina stood right in between them, making Bakugou abruptly stop in his run in front of her.

“Cut it out! Both of you!” She yelled, “This is not the moment for this!” She told them off, scowling at each of them. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, Denki, but if this is about Jiro,” Mina’s voice trembled, clearly upset about recognizing another of her dear friends who betrayed them. Denki’s hands closed in fists tightly, just like his eyes, as if the name physically injured him, “it’s the same as Y/N…”

“No, it’s not! She didn’t have another choice!”

“And what the fuck makes you think Y/N did?!” Katsuki yelled back.

“She walked away willingly!”

“Jiro did too!”

“I said, enough! Stop yelling!” Mina interfered again, “We are not going to do what everyone else is doing. We are not blaming our friends if we don’t know exactly what happened.”

“The only way to know is if we try to contact them, and all sorts of communications are restricted,” Ochako offered sadly.

Mina nodded, “If you all are done yelling, I was about to tell you guys how we can get them out of there.”

Bakugou buffed one last time, feeling Izuku’s hand on his bicep, pulling him away softly. The message was clear, “stand down, Kacchan, and calm down”. He took a deep breath and let Izuku drag him a few steps back.

Everyone’s attention was back on Mina, as she explained in good detail what they were going to do.

a.n; just so everyone is aware, i do NOT make taglists. sorry. don't hate me, please🥺

[yourtypicalhuman09]

Beyond The Bat

(Neglected Reader x Yandere batfam)

Chapter 2: Hidden Truths

TW!!! Cursing !!Dark AU!!Mentions of Rape and Violence(not towards reader)!!

(N/N)- your nickname

3rd POV

The long twisting halls of the manor glowed radiantly with a childlike joy. Colorful drawings were plastered on walls and little trinkets and toys were scattered along rooms and hallways causing the young boy walking down the hall to chuckle and smile amusedly. 'What am I going to do with you' he thought to himself, smirking as he heard the small giggles of his sweet little sibling coming from his room. The boy walking into his room smiling at the sight of the young child laying on his bed kicking their feet as they drew.

"(N/N) you know you have to pick up after yourself after playing"

The little child immediately jumped up with excitement and ran towards the boy who opened his arms for a hug.

"Jay!"

(Y/N) squealed with joy as they jumped up into Jason's arms giving him their best attempt of a bear hug. Jason ran his fingers through their soft locks as he sat on the bed peering at their drawing.

"So what did you draw (N/N)?"

(Y/N)'s eyes lit up with excitement as they scrambled off Jason's lap to grab their drawing.

"Look Jay it's you, me, Dickie, and daddy! We're on one of those night adventures you guys promised me I could go to when I'm older!"

Jason looked at his little sibling, who held up their drawing proudly, with an affectionate smile. The drawing was as colorful as the others scattered in the manor, it depicted four figures on top of a tall building looking at the city hand in hand. Jason loved that his little sibling wanted to be with them, when they get older he hopes that they'll still want to go with them even after knowing the truth that these midnight adventures are more dangerous than their innocent mind may think. The image of him helping his beloved younger sibling train and fight by his side makes his heart swell with joy.

"It's beautiful (N/N), just a few more years and it'll be real"

"Really?! Pinkie promise?!"

Jason smiled fondly at little (Y/N) and wrapped his pinkie finger around theirs

"Yeah, pinkie promise..."

(Y/N) POV

I woke up huffing and sweating, looks like I fell asleep working on my project. After school I had met up with Cyrus and he dropped off the supplies I asked him to get. I was currently working on the biggest project of my entire life I need to get serious, no more sleeping or slacking off. Gotham was easily one of the most dangerous places in the US, even with all the heroes patrolling the area crime rates are through the roof. Despite what most think Gotham Prep isn't filled with only rich kids, there's also kids coming from middle or low class families who work their asses off to make sure their children have good lives. Unfortunately most who work here are bastards who submit to bribery or are just simply biased towards the rich, I however have no such bias. Casualty rates are extremely high for children, buses and schools are constantly in the crossfire of massive fights and unfortunately due to bad city planning there's pubs, clubs, and bars dangerously close to many schools. Rape and death are nothing new to even young children, it's sick and horrible but it's true. The police and heroes are preoccupied with keeping people safe from villains and bigger threats, so I've put it on myself to make something to at least help all the children, poor or rich, because at least most have themselves and loving friends and families to live for. I want to make some sort of public child safety technology and years of seeing Tim work and learning about technology has given me some sort of advantage to figuring this out. I have only the resources to make one for the school but hopefully it's successful and spreads to other schools and homes.

"Oh you're awake.! Mornin sleepin beauty."

I looked up to see Cyrus walk in chuckling and holding a plate of food.

"why are you here... you didn't have to wait here at the school with me."

"Oh no it's no problem at all! Plus I was worried about you, you've been workin yourself to the bone as of late."

I froze and looked at him but he just stood there with the same grin he always wears as if it was truly nothing. Why the hell would he be worried about me? No one ever worries about me so why does he? Why why why why why why why why why why why why why wh-

"Hey it's ok (Y/N), breathe in and out... breathe with me..."

I could barely hear anything he was saying but when he put a hand on my shoulder and guided me to breathe slower I could feel myself calming down.

"(Y/N)... I know your situation at home isn't the greatest but trust me you're safe with me... I care about you (Y/N)..."

I looked up at Cyrus, he was almost unrecognizable, I've never seen him this serious and worried before. Usually he's the stupid silly one and I'm the collected one-. Red hot embarrassment shot straight though me as I scrambled away from him and straightened myself out.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that Cyrus, I would appreciate it if we never talk of this shameful event."

I turned and walked away, missing the way Cyrus' face crumpled further with worry, despair, and longing. Missing the words of reasoning he tried to make me listen to, 'No (Y/N)... it's ok... nothing shameful...come back'.

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for being gone for so long😭🙏 School has been killing me plus practice ugh shoot me now🥲🔫 Anyways I hope y'all like this chapter and like always thank you for reading and I hope y'all have a good day/night!

Credits to khaer for the dividers

@simpingpandas @rosalietodd013 @sirenetheblogger @cim0nnin @00hellohello00 @crazycaoticsimp @lovebug-apple @youdontknowshtaboutfk @kittzu @h-ib @classicsimpforaaronwarner

[raayllum]

I get that in general a lot of kids shows do utilize the protagonists ('good guys') in ways where they're supposed to be role models, particularly because some do have a "lesson of the week" where the character does bad things, then clearly learns and explains what they should've done instead by the end of the episode.

That has just... never been how TDP has operated, and I don't get how and why people think we're supposed to take what anyone does in the show as being unilaterally good or evil. Particularly in arc 2; any moral simplicity that was hanging on by a thread in arc 1 has been taken out back and shot numerous times by now.

TDP very rarely calls anything Evil or Good, and when it does, it's always filtered through the characters' biases, and rarely does more then 2-3 characters ever have the same opinion on something for the same reasons. Soren and Rayla, who have inverted character arcs, are some of the only characters to ever use the term villain / good guys or bad guys, and are two of the most staunchly black-and-white thinking characters, heavily to their detriment, I might add, in terms of coping with the increasing complexity of their lives. They have cognitive biases. They're not always right, and are frequently wrong. This is true for everyone in the show.

The show refuses to condemn murder, indirectly and directly condemns the expulsion of humans from Xadia routinely (Evrkynd being a city for everyone, Ezran arguing with Karim, who is the most wrong about the most things), and shows a variety of viewpoints on all things.

The show understands that the choices people make—whether the same character trait is a flaw or a strength—as well as 'moral' choices are all circumstantial.

Are you wrong to burn people alive? Mostly yes (2x07, 6x08) but also no (3x09). Are you wrong to kill people? Sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes whether it's 'wrong' or 'right' doesn't even factor in. Are you wrong to use dark magic, or use the dangerous Staff of Ziard, or coin someone and condemn them to a 'fate worse than death'? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Is lying or hiding the truth to protect someone wrong? Sometimes yes (1x06, 2x03, 3x03, 5x01, 7x04, 7x06) sometimes no (1x02, 2x03, 6x06, 5x08, 7x08).

Are you doing the right thing?

Do you have no choice? Is that true, or is that just what you think, or how you rationalize it yourself?

When is it right or cowardly to leave (Viren, Lissa, Rayla, Callum, Ezran, the Cosmic Council, the offer made to Karim's troops)? When should you stay? When do you decide to share resources (2x05) to your potential detriment or withhold them in the name of protecting yourself and your own people (Xadia and magic)? At what point(s) do you prioritize your own pain and grief, or someone else's (i.e. the Keeper vs Callum vs Ezran)? At what point is someone too dangerous or 'too far gone' to keep alive (Runaan about Harrow, Ezran about Aaravos)? At what point do you decide someone cannot change? When do you refuse to change (Karim, Terry) who you are no matter what happens, and when do you decide that you must (Ezran, Soren)? When is it wrong to use illusions to trick someone (3x09 and 7x06) and when is it more reasonable (2x03)? When should you be willing to sacrifice others (Rayla with her family, Runaan and Rayla with Callum, Soren with Viren) and when should you refuse? When should you sacrifice yourself, and when it is wrong to? Did you betray them, or did they betray you, or both (usually both)? When should you betray or stay loyal to your family? What is the right thing to do?

The show, tbh, doesn't know, at least 90% of the time. It's not interested in knowing. It's interested in exploring. That's the whole point. At most, it says you should work towards harm reduction, but what constitutes harm, and what peace looks like, is also something that greatly differs for all the characters.

Rayla is willing to sacrifice the love of her life, Ezran is willing to create weapons of mass destruction and wield one, and Callum used a torture spell on someone when he absolutely did not have to. The idea that any of the protagonists are meant to be paragons of unblemished virtue who are always 100% right, or that any of the antagonists do not canonically have a good point of contention with anything that's happened and are always 100% wrong, is reductive to everything the show is and explores, because it is Quite Literally not what the show does, ever tbh.

They literally spelled it out this past season as a core theme; I don't think they needed to have a character directly point it out every time a main character did something that was Kinda Fucked Up or Complicated But Understandable to know that the show knows it was Canonically Fucked Up or Complicated But Understandable.

There is not a single character or action in TDP that is always right, and there is not a singular character or action in TDP that is always wrong. Hell, even narrowing it down to "this is 'right' or 'wrong'" feels counterintuitive because it's so subjective within the narrative.

Every choice the characters make is often well reasoned, aligns with their values and world views, and fits into how they work through problems. Every choice has benefits and consequences, for them or for others. That doesn't mean it's Right for everyone involved. That doesn't mean it's Wrong for everyone involved. That's what makes the show interesting. Everything has nuance. Everything has Complexity. I'm not interested in a simplified version of TDP. I'm interested in the show as is.

I hope you are, too.

[skullmoss]

here's the thing like. as a loghain Liker i 100% understand why many think loghain deserves to die for all the awful shit he did. completely understand it. i personally like making loghain a warden bc the warden order takes in the worst of the worst as cannon fodder against the blight and that is Interesting to me, but if you think loghain deserves death because he worked with slavers and fucked over the city elves in the denerim alienage then yes!!!! good!! kill that fucker!!!!

but then you shouldn't turn around and make a pouty face about solas. /taps nose/ something tells me you don't think his war crimes are Bad because his victims were titans, dwarves, and spirits he lied to.

im just going to be a certified dragon age (ancient) elf hater

me, zevran, sera & my DA protags (except hawke bc theyre dead and human and idc about hawke lmao) are going to roll up and rip solas's egghead right off his shoulders and punt him down into the depths along with all the other ancient elven gods i just hate solas the most bc he thinks he's Better Than Other Ancient Elves like no buddy ur the guy who made the genocide weapon ur the first on my chopping block

[bimbroad]

a very very very long winded ramble about mel, classism and the poor writing in arcane

Jumping off from my tags in the other post I reblogged, the way arcane ultimately fails to say anything meaningful about classism except “there are bad and good people on both sides :(“ is why I can’t take most “class-conscious” criticism about/hatred towards Mel seriously. Like if this was a show that took classism seriously within its own narrative, a lot of these arguments would have more merit but classism is unintentionally baked into the way the show is written because of the writers’ own inherent biases and poorly rendered viewpoints of systemic and structural oppression.

I’ve seen several critiques aimed at her character about her billionaire status (which is almost exclusively levied at her, and not any of the other characters that were already rich or would’ve realistically profited greatly from Hextech’s commercialization, such as Viktor and Jayce) claiming she should’ve been depicted as some cartoonishly evil villain because of it and the show did a disservice by not expounding on that…and it confuses me because there is such an easy way to show her class makes her a morally gray character without completely rewriting her personality, but like I said before, the writers did not commit to most aspects of depicting classism in a meaningful way.

I know that neoliberal gets thrown around a lot, but I’m defining it by this quote from Stanford:

“Neoliberalism holds that a society’s political and economic institutions should be robustly liberal and capitalist, but supplemented by a constitutionally limited democracy and a modest welfare state. Neoliberals endorse liberal rights and the free-market economy to protect freedom and promote economic prosperity. Neoliberals are broadly democratic, but stress the limitations of democracy as much as its necessity. And while neoliberals typically think government should provide social insurance and public goods, they are skeptical of the regulatory state, extensive government spending, and government-led countercyclical policy.”

As much as I love Mel (as much as I loved every other morally gray character in this story in s1), she is a neoliberal through and through. She is kind, she is smart, she understands politics like the back of her hand, she supports the liberation of Zaun and actively used her position on the council to “change the system from within” to help Zaunites achieve this and was staunchly against the weaponization of Hextech, but as we later see, Piltover’s “liberation” of Zaun hinges on oppressed people never responding to the violence enacted onto them with violence. It’s the veneer of liberation while Piltover maintains the upper hand because of the oppressive systems they created that Zaunites will spend generations trying to free themselves from.

This doesn’t stop Piltover from being a classist, technocratic oligarchy (“The city is governed by the Council, which is made up of members of some of Piltover's most influential Houses or individuals.”). This doesn’t stop the prejudice for Zaun baked into their culture. This doesn’t stop that Piltover is a technologically-advanced, resource rich city with access to the rest of the world while Zaun is not, and must either figure out how to establish their own access to resources, cultivate their own from almost nothing, or go through Piltover to get them. It wouldn’t stop Piltover from having an economy now shaped around Hextech, in which making synthetic crystals produces the Gray that actively disables and kills Zaunites, disregarding the environmental impact entirely. I could go on about how socioeconomically disadvantaged that Zaun would remain if they were “liberated” by the Piltover council, but all of this to say: the solution that would address the class war between Zaun and Piltover is, at its mildest, a complete reconstruction of Piltover’s society from the top down; not, as Mel advocated for, making slight adjustments within a violently oppressive system that will send police dogs to brutalize the oppressed when they get unruly.

Mel is already somebody who sympathizes with Zaunites, but her methods are ineffective in the long run, although I genuinely don’t think the writers understand that how she’s written. Her moral grayness isn’t because she “manipulated” Jayce, it’s because despite her altruism, she systemically contributes to oppression of Zaunites, especially with the hyper-production of Hextech which, even without direct weaponization, furthers the class divide and pollution in Zaun. If the writers were more aware of this, they could’ve easily written Mel as a billionaire philanthropist.

Piecing together a bunch of quotes to sum up my thoughts on how they could’ve leaned into this already established aspect of her character:

“Large-scale philanthropy is an exercise of power that is fundamentally undemocratic. Since charitable giving brings tax benefits, large-scale philanthropy can undermine the people’s will in favour of the donor’s own values. In effect, taxpayers subsidise the freedom of the rich to realise their own vision of what is good while simultaneously depriving democratically chosen programmes of valuable public funds.

The structure of philanthropy around the world is increasingly a manifestation of plutocracy – government by the wealthy. Rewarding large-scale philanthropy through tax relief and other subsidies gives the rich even more power than their wealth already provides to create a society that furthers their interests at the expense of others.

In fact, the decline of democracy and the rise of vast wealth disparities produces a looping effect: through funding political campaigns and legislative lobbying along with media management of public opinion, the rich can influence the government to protect the institutions and practices that enable them to accumulate even greater wealth. Wealth begets power and power begets wealth.

However, even if not philanthropy, such arrangements are at risk of fostering academic plutocracy. Corporations contribute millions to labs in order to promote and guide research that improves their product and enhances their likelihood of making a profit. Some would argue that this is an important part of what research universities are for. But it is also clear that this funding model incentivises research on certain topics and not others, promoting certain ends and not others.”

Many Mel fans can agree that despite how cool and bad ass she was once she discovered her powers, most of the political aspect of her character kind of…vanished. Like I mentioned in a previous post, most characters in this story are motivated by or shaped by classism because that is the primary struggle (at least at first) between Piltover and Zaun, but because the writers’ gave up on having a difficult solution to a difficult problem, so much of her (and several others) intrigue went with it.

Season 2 Mel could’ve been filled with internal turmoil between wanting to be a good person and do good things, but ultimately realizing that where she stood in society, as an ultra-rich heiress on a council of bigoted, meandering bureaucrats that only move for violence or wealth, was in direct opposition with this goal. She didn’t even have to come to this conclusion by the end of s2, but the show could’ve easily sown the seeds that this struggle existed within her, but that would necessitate that the writers understood that she is a well-meaning neoliberal trying to put a bandaid over bleeding wound of the Piltover and Zaun class war.

anyway thanks for coming to my ted talk

[niniane17]

I realize that anti Got Season 8 posting in late 2024 is a bit boomerish, but screw that it's my blog and there's no law stating that I can't post about That Series again.

I've stumbled across an old anti-Daenerys post written by a Sansa fan some months after the show ended and...oh my God. I had nearly forgotten just how batshit crazy those takes are.

Dany is a colonialist. Dany is a white supremacist. If you like her you are both. Martin is just pretending to write her as a hero, in the end he will reveal she was evil all along and freeing slaves was a secret code for enslaving people. Valyria is evil and the Targaryens are evil. Westeros is simultaneously the ancient Americas and Medieval Europe. Essos is Europe but also the Oppressed Middle East.

Sansa is the true anti colonialist hero. Sansa is the true opprossed woman. If you don't support her you are an oppressor and possibly a rapist yourself. The North is good and the Starks are good. When Arya sails West of Westeros sporting the North's banner, she is not partaking in colonialism, in fact, she will be the anti Christopher Columbus. How do we know that? Because she's a Stark, the Starks are good...

It's maddening. No wonder Daenerys fans are driven into a frenzy. It's not irrationality, it's just natural frustration at constantly being held to double standards and fighting some crazy takes.

Now, treating a fantasy tv show fandom as anti-colonial activism is bad enough, but it's clear to me that at least some of these takes are motivated by the fact they see Sansa as the underdog, mistreated by both the characters and sometimes even the narrative.

And here's where things get weird.

I've said many times that I didn't become a full Dany fan until she was heavily mistreated by the narrative, and I'm definitely not alone in this. Back in the day, many people who previously didn't care one bit for Daenerys suddenly ended up defending her or even stanning her.

Like, of course if somebody wants to root for the underdog, the first thing to do is rooting for the actual underdog. Season 8's underdog was Daenerys. Everyone and everything was deadly set against her from the moment she arrived in Winterfell. They constantly disrespected her, undercut her efforts, killed off or villainized her allies, snobbed her non-traditional upbringing, conspired behind her back. And all the while they always asked asked asked for more, nothing she was giving was enough.

In contrast, the Starks' and the North's actions were constantly justified or presented as good, even betrayal (which is a very huge deal in Westeros) or, in one instance, outright racism by the Northern people -this time fully intended by the production, rather than an unintentional outcome of some poor behind-the-scene choices.

At the end, Season 8's Starks were absolute gods who could do no wrong and were always in the right no matter what they did -except their bastard son, who was contaminated by the evil people's blood and has to symbolically kill that part of himself forever.

Well, guess what, people didn't like that. But the newfound Dany fans were perfectly consistent: they wanted the underdog to win, to overcome her hurdles, internal or external, and be happy at the end. If the underdog is Dany, well, then it's time for Dany to win.

It's Sansa stans that see everything in terms of How This Affects My Fave and are willing to bend over the narrative to get what they want. They are perfectly happy with a biased narrative and double standards, they just want it to be biased towards Sansa, and everything is fair game to them, including real life politics and vocabulary, with some hilarious results. For example: Sansa as the voice of the Oppressed Minorities is...a take, to say the least. Her world doesn't even have a prejudice against red hair, as it would have in real life.

And guess what else, this kind of Protagonist-Centered Morality is very similar to the one used by real life colonizers, especially in their "explorations". Not that it matters because this isn't a post-colonial story and it never will be. It's a story about a messed up Fantasy Medieval/Early Renassaince World with Dragons, heavily influenced by various periods of European history. The only vaguely post-colonial element are maybe the zombies-as-slaves metaphor, and I think it's more due to the fact that Martin was probably inspired by old horror Movies pre-dating the Romero ones. And who is liberating slaves in his story, again?

Anyway. 2019-2020 was a really weird time to be a Dany fan, and in hindsight it was crazy how much shit there was around a fantasy series with dragons. Surely five years later people are a little more normal, right? Right?

[alicentral]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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