#but I don’t believe an arc is truly a redemption arc unless the character is actually a villain. which she isn’t

[cringefailcabitha]

Have to wonder why people don’t generally refer to TT’s season 2 arc as a redemption arc but Cabby’s arc somehow is?

[fractalheart-real]

Hazbin Hotel, The Death of a Misogynist, and The Issue with Aesthetics of Redemption

Now that we have the pretentious psuedo-intellectual caption, let me clarify that I love Hazbin Hotel, Adam is a horrific (fictional) person whos actions shouldn’t be belittled in an actual discussion. I’ve been thinking about this horrible, horrible man alot though!

So, the baseline. The hook and pitch of Hazbin Hotel is that its a show about demons being redeemed and working through their issues while the world dismisses the idea of change. The actual story of Hazbin Hotel is a constant uphill battle against an unfair, fascist bureaucracy and the status quo of complacency its created, while the world dismisses the idea of change. My issue is I don’t think Hazbin Hotel is truly interested in discussions about redemption. I enjoy its discussions on status quo and complacency, but all its shown is that its entirely uninterested in talking about redemption in any meaningful way.

The character of Adam, from his first to near-last moments on screen is consistently characterized as an entitled, misogynistic, dangerous man-child who firmly believes himself above the concept of making mistakes. The first man thinks that he was made perfect and thus acts above those around him. (Despite this he is a delight to have on screen, hes hilarious, don’t @ me). In the final episode of Season 1, Adam is killed in an anticlimactic way after his third act breakdown. Perhaps its the shows own evident pacing issues, but I find it very strange that a show with the aesthetics of rehabilitation portrays Adam as beyond it, and a joke. (Which he very well might be, but it conflicts with the shows aesthetics). Why is a show which claims to be about second chances so disconnected to its pure-evil villains? This critique somewhat extends to Valentino, but I consider him to be more of a plot device for Angel’s own arc (which I love) rather than his own character (it would be extreme tonal whiplash to try to humanize him so soon after Poison) While Adam exists as an extension of heaven and one of the shows many embodiments of an evil status quo.

In the show’s current state, it doesn’t treat the residents of the hotel as “that bad” of people. Which is good for a show supposedly about rehabilitation! But it clashes so hard with how it (and to a worse degree its fandom, but I digress) treat characters who’re meant to be hated.

This post might not be entirely honest, as in Adam’s very last moments he smiles to his lieutenant in an admittedly heartfelt scene, humanizing him in a way the show didn’t care to before. And while I enjoy this, unless Adam and Lute’s possible remnants of humanity are explored in season 2, the show’s aesthetics are hypocritical with how it treats pure-evil.

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Also Guitarspear😭

[lukaherehelp]

Do you believe there is going to be a love story in Playboyy and if yes, who is it going to be ? I would say Zouey and Teena based on the character description and what we saw. Zouey is Zouey but Teena is a hopeless romantic, however I fear that we might get the cutie that turn bad with Zouey. Also do you know more about Captain/Puen/Aoab, I don’t get who is the pairing, are they going to be in a threesome. I noticed the actors were interacting together yesterday.

I was halfway done answering this and I deleted everything I had written so let's see if I remember.

Do I believe we are getting a love story and who?

In theory, we are getting multiple. The catch is what couples will be endgame, if that's even a possibility.

My money for now is fully on NuthPhop due to their character descriptions and the little addon of information they gave us. I know y'all haven't meet them yet, but trust me. However, something tells me there's not going to be a happy ending for them. I truly wish do, cause their teaser photo is the most beautiful one so far:

Another couple I feel it could be endgame is KeenCaptain. They are a really common archetype (brat/brat-tamer) and their storyline (Captain blackmailing Keen with a sextape) is one that, added to the accusations by Nont that he might be the reason Nant when missing, give foot for their love story to work as redemption arc for Captain's character. There's also this teaser photo:

which gives me major "we can work things out, I care about you". Really suits Keen's statement in the Foreplay video (now forever gone to the ages) saying that he has Captain's heart in his hands.

For AobPuen, JumpPorche and PromNont I cannot say anything yet cause we have seeing almost anything from them yet.

Now, TeenaZouy feels like it can be endgame. It has all the cards to be. It truly depends if neither of them had anything to do with Nant's disappearance.

The same could be said about SoongFirst, unless something major happens, I also feel like they could be endgame but I want to be cautious about it.

About Captain/Puen/Aob and the possibility of a threesome:

I think you got confused and that's okey, this is all a mess. Let me clarify things:

The guys in yesterday fuckery (cause that what happend in that club last night) are the actors for Captain (Vivit), Keen (Boat) and Puen (Parm).

which we have already seeing together in the show:

Could something happened between this three? Maybe... I mean, we are talking about three sports guys in university... The changing rooms are right there, if you know what I mean ✨👀

As far as we know, there hasn't being any info or hint about a trio, so we'll have to wait if anything happens.

[bohemian-nights]

It's so sad that we never got to know what Daemon truly thinks of his Netty, he spent his whole life in wrapped with the idea of Valaryian blood purity and Targaryeon rule but a young bastard girl comes by and turns his whole world, his whole life upside down in just a few years? In the end he refuses his queen, his Targaryeon wife and also the fact that Daemon was so anguished with the loss of Nettles that the emotion was strong enough for Caraxes to cry out and SHATTER windows? That fact right there solidifies the fact that Daemon loved Nettles, his own dragon screamed for her when he could not. But I want to know what was going through his mind ad he was falling for her.

Yeah, Daemon met Nettles once Team Black took King’s Landing around the first moon of 130 AC and they part early into the fifth moon of that year.

He spent nearly 50 years of his life believing in Valyrian supremacy and Targaryen exceptionalism and then he met her. Her very existence breaks all those beliefs. Those last few months taught him more than all of his years(well maybe not more, but they definitely had the most impact on him in the end). He goes against everything he knows for her when it would be easy enough to just abandon her and “come home.” Come back to what he knows, but he doesn’t. He sticks by her and he saves her.

Let us not mention that scene where Caraxes literally expresses Daemon’s inner rage at being parted from her. If that’s not the most romantic scene in Fire & Blood then I don’t know what is🤷🏽‍♀️ Nettles might not have been his first love, but she was his last.

Unfortunately, because F&B is written as a historical text we do not get to see into the minds of characters like with GOT/ASOIAF. So our only hope for a canon depiction of what went on in Daemon’s head that caused him to fall in love with Netty is for the show to depict it 😬

I hope that HOTD includes Nettles(it would be a hate crime not to) and fully fleshes out their relationship. To be honest, unless they plan on turning Daemon into a straight-up villain, they kinda have to include her at this point. He is supposed to be a morally gray character who is capable of having a decent relationship, but so far, the healthiest relationship he has is with Caraxes 🫠

Daemon is teetering on the very edge of being morally gray, and I know it’s a hot take with this fandom, but he needs a redemption arc with someone he hasn’t groomed, neglected, or abused🤷🏽‍♀️

[series-and-movies]

Rafe Cameron - character analysis

(This post contains mentions of OBX s2 scenes, panic/anxiety, drugs and psychopathy. If you do not want/feel comfortable reading this, please don't! Also if you're anti rafe don't hate me please xoxo)

I've seen so many people call Rafe a psychopath/sociopath and honestly I don't think he is one. Other than the fact that psychopaths are rarely potrayed accurately in media and people not knowing the right terminology (even Drew himself has said that Rafe has psychopathic tendencies which, arguably, makes some sense). But from what I've seen so far, Rafe doesn't seem like a psychopath.

Why?

Because psychopaths feel no remorse or shame for their actions. Rafe has expressed those feelings multiple times, albeit not always verbally. He clearly feels regret for getting his family in this situation, and I don't believe that's just to please his dad.

Psychopaths also do not care about others and feel no connection to them, which leads to lying, manipulating, superficial charm to get what they want etc. Now, Rafe has lied a good few times, and definitely manipulates Barry to do shit for him in return for money. But he's not completely emotionless. He cares about his dad and Wheezie, he's often seen showing vulnerable emotions, which a psychopath would not do unless it gains them something. Also, his friendship with Kelce and Topper seemed genuine until he started losing it for real. The fact that he doesn't have many friends could also be due to his drug use, anxiety (being suspicious of others) or any other reason, and is not directly attributable to psychopathy.

They also generally do not learn from mistakes and do not have anxiety (although the latter is still controversial in current understandings of psychopathy). Clearly Rafe has some anxiety issues. Anytime he starts losing it (eg. s1 when Barry said he owned him now, s2 when he punched the wall in the island room) he starts breathing heavily, looking around sorta dazed/scared with those wide eyes, fidgets with his fingers. That to me seems like he's on the verge of a panic attack. And to dissolve that he starts screaming/punching things (or using drugs lol). Obviously that's bad coping, but it's not all violent tendencies. Also from season 2, clearly he's learned at least a bit from his mistakes.

Rafe truly believes he's doing the right thing. At least from his/his family's perspective, he tries to do the right thing. Now since his dad is Ward, clearly what benefits his family doesn't benefit everyone, but it seems like Rafe has a bit of tunnel vision in that sense. Even when he killed Peterkin, he immediately showed moral disengagement. Rafe STRUGGLES with the fact he killed someone. He doesn't ENJOY hurting others! He doesn't want to feel even worse about himself, so he tries to talk it right and make himself believe he did the right thing. Saying he saved his dad, saying Sarah was tearing their family apart. It's justifying behaviour to not feel miserable about his actions. A psychopath doesn't do this because they're so unemotional they don't even feel bad about what they did.

And lastly, (and i do truly hate myself for saying this), but usually psychopaths have a very prominiscious sex life. I know yall dirties wanna see Drew do a sex scene (mood.) but the fact that he doesn't seem to have any sort of sex/dating life seems contradictory to this.

The only reason rafe could be seen as a psychopath is because he truly believes the pogues deserve to get hurt, abuses drugs which occurs often in psychopaths and he's impulsive with little to no behavioural control. But these could be attributed to other issues as well.

Other than that, evidence of psychopathy is pretty much nonexistent. And it irks me that people call him a psychopath and think that therefore he does not deserve a redemption arc because 1. CLEARLY there is something wrong with him but it doesn't mean he can't grow and learn and heal? He's said multiple times that he needs and wants help, he wants to get clean, he didn't shoot the pogues when he had a chance to. He KNOWS something's wrong. He KNOWS he needs to change. Just because he's not capable of doing it on his own doesn't mean he doesn't deserve a redemption arc. OBX would be a real one if they show some good and realistic therapy scenes ! And 2. let's say he does show signs of psychopathy in s3, that still doesn't mean he can't get better? Psychopathy treatments are scarce and don't always work irl, but they're out there and it's worth a shot. I've seen people saying they want him to die, but if this were a real person, would you say the same? Even if he is a psychopath, he's still a victim of his circumstances, his environment, genetics and his dad. Take those factors out, would he not be capable of redemption?

Point being: Rafe is not a psychopath, he seems more anxious, possibly with vulnerable narcissistic tendencies, paranoid personality or psychosis, and severe attachment and drugs problems. He is not in itself a bad person, and for season 3 they need to give him a stable environment and hopefully give him some time/tools to heal. Lord knows he needs it.

[dystopiandilfs]

My opinion on the different Dream manipulating someone storylines.

Disclaimer: This isn't meant to shit on anyone as a creator or anyone's acting. This might be kind of negative but isn't meant to be offensive to any DreamSMP creator especially since the main ones I'm talking about are minors. This is just my thoughts and you can obviously disagree. I don't think that Dream as a person is a manipulative person so whenever I mention Dream I mean the SMP character unless I state otherwise.

This is mainly based off of my own experiences as someone who was manipulated and gaslighted for a lot of time by several people and as someone who is doing a human psychology degree.

First thing I want to say is I love Dream as a villain and will be a bit annoyed if they try to redeem him like in every cliché film or TV show. The only redemption arc I will accept is Dream being possessed by a Dreamon from way back since that storyline was set up before Dream was considered the main villain. However if the Dreamon storyline is used as a Dream redemption arc it has to be flawlessly written otherwise it will come off cringe.

~~Here's the short version: From best to worst storyline based on my opinion is Ranboo, Tubbo, Wilbur, Tommy, Ghostbur and Techno~~

So the first manipulated storyline I want to talk about is Wilbur. I love the fact that Dream used Wilbur's already messy mental health to play him and turn him against everyone and made him the villain. I think it was the original starting point of Dream's biggest villain trait being a manipulative person. I think it was mainly used to be a lead up to Dream manipulating Tommy and Tubbo. I would call this the Clingyduo test run. If Dream can turn Wilbur against Tommy then he can turn everyone including Tubbo against Tommy. It also helped to explain how Wilbur managed to get all the tnt and how he always managed to sneak into the L'Manberg to set it up as well as clearing up mainly plot holes. The acting was fairly decent especially since it's not scripted and wasn't an intentional plot point. I like the fact it was more behind the scenes manipulation since nobody knew how much Dream was actually controlling Wilbur and most people just assumed Wilbur was just going insane. It made it so nobody was weary of Dream as a manipulator which made the Tommy exile arc more impactful since nobody knew this side of Dream.

Next up is the Tubbo being manipulated by Dream storyline. I like this one mainly because it was from a different angle compared to Wilbur and Tommy's. Dream pretended to be Tubbo's friend to get the disc whilst simultaneously manipulating Tommy to suicide in exile. Dream would talk about how Tommy's been (obviously lying) and saying how much better Tommy and Tubbo are doing apart. Tubbo was getting gaslighted more than straight up manipulated. Dream was saying how much calmer and safer L'Manberg was now that Tommy's gone. Dream's aim with Tubbo was to make him see how much better things were without Tommy and how when Tommy's around Tubbo gets pushed about and Tommy being all of L'Manberg's problems like the wall being built because Tommy burned down George's lesbian mushroom cottage. At the same time as feeding all these ideas and thoughts to Tubbo he playing nice by helping build things, playing games and respecting L'Manberg rules. It's a very sly manipulation because Tubbo obviously told Quackity, Fundy and Ranboo about all his conversations with Dream and it made them slightly less weary of Dream as well as making them think worse of Tommy. It was a good way of showing different kinds of manipulation and how it isn't all painfully obvious. Also Tubbo having a storyline that doesn't revolve around Tommy is an instant win in my book

3rd storyline is Techno and Ghostbur. I'm grouping these together because they were smaller storylines and were similar in tactics. Dream told Techno about The Butcher Army as well as where to get a totem to hold a future favour above his head. Dream knew Tommy was at Techno's but chose to let it play out knowing that Tommy and Techno had very different morals and end goals. Even if they didn't end up butting heads Dream could use his favour to separate Techno and Tommy either by getting Techno to do something to upset Tommy (killing Tubbo) or getting Techno to appear like he's using Tommy to destroy L'Manberg. Making Tommy see Techno as another powerful manipulator. Dream used Ghostburs lack of memory to his advantage. Ghostbur didn't remember that Dream and Wilbur were teamed up or that Dream was using Wilbur which meant that Dream could once again manipulate Wilbur but as less insane, kinder Ghostbur. He used Ghostbur by pretending to be his friend and offering him thing such as food, friendship and shelter to get Ghostbur to trust him so when he tells Ghostbur that he'll (Dream) deliver Tommy's beach party invites Ghostbur sees nothing weird or wrong because to him Dream is helpful. Then he tells Ghostbur to go for a walk so he can make Tommy think that Ghostbur has abandoned him making it so Tommy only has Dream left.

Next is Tommy. Dream used the discs to manipulate Tommy for a long time. When the opportunity of exiling Tommy making him truly alone appeared Dream took it. Then the whole exile arc was Dream manipulating Tommy to the point of him being so isolated and alone he relied solely on Dream until Dream stopped playing games and was ridiculously blunt with Tommy making him want to commit suicide because his last friend wasn't even his friend and he'd lost everything and everyone. I think in my personal opinion this was one of the less believable manipulation arcs nothing against Tommy but it came off as a very textbook/TV show manipulator story where the victim gets close to death only for the manipulator to switch up and start exposing themselves. Manipulators are smart and people around them don't know someone's being manipulated. Yes I enjoyed the storyline but I think it dragged on for too long with no changes and the immediately shifted tones. I would have appreciated it if instead of Dream snapping at the community house and revealing everything in front of everyone, if Dream would start to slip up and Tommy started to notice then Dream slips up Infront of Techno and Phil, then Infront of Tubbo and other L'Manberg members. So it was a domino effect of people realising what was happening instead of everyone finding out at one and having no time to process. Everyone finding out at once because Dream told them sort of ruined it a bit for me. I still think it was an excellent storyline and they both acted their hearts out it just went from a cool individual storyline to a cliché villain speech where they reveal everything in time for people to stop all plans. (However bonus points for doing the non canon chill streams with Drista and Mexican Dream in-between)

Finally is Ranboo's. I absolutely love the irl Ranboo and irl Dream dynamic. They are both incredibly good at portraying their characters down to the little details of Dream changing his voice to Ranboo stuttering and shaking. I think it might be my second favourite storyline out of all of them (first being Egg because it's the only storyline to be mainly og members like Sam, BBH, Ant and Punz). I appreciate the amount of work and details that have gone into the story so far, including doing the prison but of a different server so they could use special effects and coding. The story has a very structured and strong foundation compared to every other storyline which is helped obviously by Ranboo being new. Going to be honest the streams sometimes trigger me because of how realistic they are from Dream being the manipulative voice in Ranboo's head to Ranboo having to question what's real and what's fake. Ranboo's convincing himself he blew up the community house purely because of the Dream voice in his head. The fact that both Dream and Ranboo gave had to do content warnings and trigger warnings should be enough to explain how good the acting is. Honestly where are their awards. (Yes this is me praising Ranboo and Dream but I genuinely love this storyline so much eventhough it's another Dream manipulating a minor storyline. It's done so well and you can tell how passionate both Dream and Ranboo are about Ranboo's lore and storyline. Favourite child much)

[for-the-ninth]

Cullen’s “Redemption”

I’m very fucking late to the party, but here’s where I stand on the seemingly neverending Cullen debate. 

Is he deserving of redemption? 

No. I don’t think anybody is “deserving” of redemption, because forgiveness is something that you as a perpetrator of harm have to earn. Some people will be willing to let you back into their good graces, and sometimes the harm that you’ve caused is too much and they choose not to forgive you. Both of those responses are entirely valid. No one owes Cullen any sort of redemption or forgiveness for the people he has harmed. 

Is he capable of redemption?

Yes. I believe anyone who is willing to take accountability for their actions, make true amends that center those they’ve harmed, and make a genuine commitment (and stick to it) to do better going forward is capable of redemption. 

Was Cullen redeemed in DA:I?

I don’t think so, no. In my headcanon (and the fic I’m writing), Cullen acknowledges that he’s fucked up in a big way, and he makes efforts to amend the harm. He is confronted directly by the Inquisitor and when that happens, he makes a true apology and listens to her experiences. He actually offers to step down from his position in the Inquisition because he recognizes that he has abused his power in the past and is unfit for the role that he’s been given. In the real world, when people betray us or others we love, accountability doesn’t happen overnight and neither does forgiveness. For Cullen to go through the entire plot of DA:I still expressing anti-mage sentiments and never being confronted by the other characters is hardly what I would consider redemption or accountability. 

But isn’t Cullen traumatized? What about his indoctrination by the Chantry?

Yes, Cullen has PTSD and was both indoctrinated and made a drug addict by the Chantry. He also used his position of power to aid and abet the widespread abuse of mages. The two are not mutually exclusive. Again, if we’re looking for stories that mimic humanity in the real world, we have to make room for nuance. Survivors of abuse can still perpetuate that cycle, and we can have empathy for what they’ve been through while also acknowledging that it isn’t okay for that trauma to continue manifesting in ways that harm others. Real people are not just “good” or “bad” and characters in our media should not be reduced to this either. 

Okay, but Cullen said he feels differently now, so clearly he’s changed, right?

Not exactly. He repeatedly expresses anti-mage sentiments during political discussions in DA:I, despite telling a romanced mage Inquisitor that he feels differently now. And even if he were not to express these sentiments, accountability is more than just words. We never see him apologize directly to anyone, nor do we see him use his position of power to criticize the Chantry and address abuses of power within the Templar ranks. 

I see, but is his bigotry truly based in hatred toward mages, or is it a manifestation of his fear of magic/demons?

That’s really for us to decide, because the writers don’t make it clear imo. Personally, I believe that his hatred toward mages has a lot to do with indoctrination and fear of magic instilled by the Chantry, as well as a conflation between magic and demons (also perpetuated by the Chantry). But as with bigotry in real life, the source of one’s bigotry doesn’t change the impact it has on those who are oppressed by it. 

This is really the Chantry’s fault then! They’ve taken advantage of someone who had good intentions. 

One could absolutely argue that Cullen became a Templar because he felt called to protect. I believe he did have good intentions, and the Chantry should most definitely be held responsible for the harm that they have perpetuated. However, that does not absolve Cullen of his own wrongdoings. He had a choice to make within that system, and we can acknowledge that it would have been a difficult choice - losing access to Lyrium, being scorned by his peers, losing access to a community and its resources etc - but we can’t sit here and act like he didn’t have one at all. The ethical choice is rarely a comfortable one. 

So, you’re saying that Cullen is irredeemable? 

Not at all. Cullen could have been a redeemable character, but his creators didn’t write him that way. There was space for a redemption arc in DA:I, but we didn’t truly get one. Instead we got a lot of vague platitudes and Cullen essentially saying, “let’s put the past behind us and forget everything I did, because I’m different now.” 

Aaaaaand this is what fanfic is for! If you want a real redemption arc for Cullen then write one. Center the people he has harmed, create a story where he makes tangible changes in his behavior, and let other characters be mad at him! A mage Inquisitor - especially one who lived in a Circle - would likely never have agreed to work with him so closely unless he made real efforts to change. 

[kitkatopinions]

Is it bad that i want ironwood to be alive in the show and travel with the ace ops and have a redemption? I know most of his fans are happy that he is dead so they cant ruin him anymore but still, his ending is so wrong to me like they redeemed cordo, emerald, FUCKING HAZEL, but not james? I was pulled back into rwby because of james and the atlas arc. v6 last episodes pissed me off so much i didnt even watched the finale to this day but then i saw scenes of james and winter and the ace ops in v7... and now i just want him to swim up from the ruins and be the amazing character he was before v8. His death is so fucking sad to me even with how much they ruined the character... he deserved a redemption arc the most (and better writers, sorry the ask got so long but james ironwood gives me so much feels)

You know, I am right there with you, anon. Here's the thing about James. We didn't see an on screen death and the writers kept his semblance completely unmentioned in volumes seven and eight, but made it public. Yes, Miles Luna said 'rest in pieces' (the total douche) when talking about him in a cameo, but tbh, Miles Luna is sloppy and unprofessional, he could straight up say whatever to try and make the next 'twist' in RWBY surprising.

In fact SPOILER ALERT. I don't remember who, but after Avengers Infinity War when Loki died, people in the project 'confirmed' that Loki was good and truly dead this time, and of course no one believed them and of course no one was surprised to see some version of Loki escape alive in End Game. They had a better ability to twist a not-quite lie out there, due to multiple universes and time travel or whatever (idk the details, I stopped paying attention after I watched and hated Thor Ragnarok.) But still, it stands that if you want to make a character death believable in today's day and age when 'character death' is taken back so regularly and sometimes multiple times per character, writers should A. show the death/show a body (which they didn't do for Ironwood or Watts,) and B. Not leave any character threads hanging.

With Ironwood, they didn't delve into enough emotional responses to things (like Oscar/Oz getting shot off a cliff, or Qrow ever confronting him,) which leaves his story feeling like it lacks a solution and like there's still a lot to be resolved there already. But confirming his semblance outside of the show proper, which seems to act as a form of at least partial mind control, is obviously one giant thread too. Of course, this is MKEK, so the likelihood that they were foolish enough to give Ironwood a semblance that forced his actions at least in part and then not address it, kill him off, and expect everyone to just be happy with that on top of the lack of emotional depth they bothered to give other characters in regards to his 'fall' is high. However, that doesn't make James feel dead, he still doesn't feel like a dead character to me, yet, even if I know a lot of the reasons for that feeling stem from bad writing.

But on top of his semblance being a very big thread that was left untouched, his semblance also would be a very easy out if the writers did want to bring him back or if they wanted to bring him back and redeem him. His semblance could help him survive Atlas and Mantle falling, and it could easily be explained as having pushed him into his acts of villainy. It would still feel like a big ol' retcon (especially with how hard they tried to convince everyone he's pure evil,) but for once, I would like a retcon that actually goes my way in this show. XD

On top of that, you're absolutely right that in the show where Hazel can get 'death equals redemptioned' and tell life lessons to Oscar, Ironwood could be able to be redeemed even without the semblance. In the show where Hazel can beat a child while victim blaming the already-a-victim-of-abuse guy in the kid's head for *checks notes* training young women to be able to fight the soulless monsters who will devour anyone (four to six year old child or not,) and then get redeemed within 24 hours of that... yeah, Ironwood could be able to be redeemed. Emerald can murder Penny, try to kill everyone else at Haven, try to murder Penny again in Atlas, and then join the friend group enough that everyone good naturedly ribs her, including Penny who giggles over Emerald saying 'switched sides' despite the fact that Emerald never once apologized for literally murdering her in cold blood. So yeah, I don't think it'd be off brand of the show to have the 'does bad for good reasons' guy get redeemed even if they did make him express regret that he hadn't tortured children. Clearly, the standard isn't 'if they apologize they're worthy of redemption,' and the standard isn't 'if they only always had good intentions they're worthy of redemption' or 'only kids who are villains can get redeemed,' or even 'so long as they haven't tortured or tried to kill children they're worthy of redemption.'

However, here's where things get a little tricky. Because the standard in RWBY seems to have much more to do with what was done personally against the main group that made them mad or sad, rather than actual moral standings, harm done to the world, intentions, etc. I've talked about that idea in another post, that the show (whether intentionally or otherwise) is treating going against Ruby and her team as worse than actual criminal acts. Emerald's actions are easily brushed aside without her ever admitting she was wrong or trying to apologize, but Ozpin's act of not explicitly trusting Team RWBY with dire secrets months after knowing them is so unquestioningly bad that he has to give an in-depth and very serious apology while explicitly saying he was in the wrong, which the mains then begrudgingly and seriously accept (even though they were laughing with Emerald mere seconds before.) Which isn't to say that I don't think Ozpin had anything to apologize for, just that the framing of Ozpin's dialogue and reception versus Emerald's is ridiculous. Therefore Ironwood being redeemed after wishing he could torture, shooting a child off a high place, and threatening to destroy a town... In the narrative of the show, that can be brushed aside fairly easily. But both the show and the FNDM at large have constructed a narrative where going against the mains is what's treated as hard to come back from and worthy of all the ire and disgust in the world - unless the character comes crawling back, bowing to Ruby's whims in every plan, and regretting ever doubting Ruby's amazing simple soul and the protagonist approved goals she's decided on.

If the price of Ironwood coming back and being redeemed is him kissing up to Ruby and joining the gang of people who just pat her on the back and assure her she doesn't ever need to change or listen to others... I might kindly ask MKEK to keep him dead. Ironwood belongs to his fans now as far as I'm concerned.

They can bring James back, and they even have an easy way to redeem him in their back pocket. But I don't trust them as far as I can throw them, and with the way they've been writing their show, I'd just as soon let James rest.

[usagi-mitsu]

Werlyt & Gaius - a bunch of thoughts.

I am a little late to the party. I know. But I just finished the Emerald weapon and before I go to try out the „not Zenos“ weapon as in „Diamond“, I need to get my thoughts on the story straight.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by 5.0s brilliant MSQ and cannot appreciate the inherent beauty of at least decent writing any longer. But this felt so wrong and out of tune with the rest of the game. I started writing this 2 hours ago! I wanted to one in bed by now! XD But I had to get it out of my system… so….

Spoilers for the MSQ and Werlyt incoming??? And no I did not re-read this so not just spoilers but also writing errors incoming. -.-

The good

These fights are epic! I have only ever cleared the normal versions, but I loved those. They are amazing. The callbacks to Eula (her being a woman here! When did they discover that???), Regula (may he rest in peace) and Gaius himself in his prime were delightful. But I could do with a little less rotating, ok? A dragoon has positional, you know? And being allowed to pilot my very own mecha was like *chefs kiss*. On that front? Well done Square Enix!

I am also glad they were able to get another use out of Porta Praetora! That place looks amazing with the wide open field and the lake – and Ala Mhigo across it. It was one of my favourite Stormblood areas and I am always glad to return there. And of course… being able to visit the allied camp again… And Werlyt itself. It’s simply a beautiful place. It reminds me very much of southern Greece. If you’ve watched the movie Mamma Mia you know what I mean.

The music too was really nice. But I don’t think I’ll… you know… listen to it on repeat as I am doing with other parts of the soundtrack.

I’ve also loved how much amazing lore we got about Garlemald and especially the garlean military. And the military abroad. The way soldiers not from the mainland get treated. I love learning about these things.

Gaius

The man. The legend. The guy yelling in Prae.

He’s so very boring here. He has so much potential as a character and maybe I’m missing something, but all throughout this story he has been nothing but passive. He’s a reactive character in this storyline. You know. The guy who made deals with Lahabread (the d is intended), tried to take over Eorzea, lead a whole army, stood idly by as the moon dropped, almost died but then decided just not to die and then though „hm… I’ve got so much freetime now. How about I go and hunt some ascians?“ That guy is NOT a reactive character. He is active. He goes out of his way to make shit he wants happen. And in here? He seems too starstruck and devastated by his adopted kids actions to actually have one clear thought.

The only explanation I have is that he might have gotten hit in the head by something on his way to the ruby weapon. I get why he would rely on Cid for help, but the WoL??? The alliance? If you wish to be an ally and help or something, fucking act like it. You were a former legatus and I expect you to live up to your name – even after retiring.

And yeah.. I guess it’s hard having to watch your kids willingly, knowingly dying. But you fucking raised them. You are a big part of the reason to why they are in that predicament. So like… Aside from that I don’t even get why you are in this story at all.

And for the record: I’m not sorry for him. I’m just flabbergasted by all the bullshit we’ve been learning about him.

To be quite honest, I think this story could have worked just as well or maybe even better, if we got another man as the „hero“ of the story. I am talking about none other than our engineering, hammer-swinging, ex-enemy - of course talking about Nero!

The MSQ has long established that his research into the Ultimate Weapon had been taken, twisted and turned – Estinien had to experience this first-hand. I’m not saying that Nero was in need of a redemption arc and I cannot remember if these weapons were of his creation or even stem from anything he did, but it would make so much more sense for me, to have him confront his past in the garlean military like this and be responsible for the death of his former colleagues. Soldiers that he served with, whom he faught with. Give me Nero and them working together to get the weapons going and him bonding with them as his pilots to a degree. Comrades. Not that strange familiar bond that Gaius appareantly has with them. … Scratch that: Let Gaius be the father figure. Him being that wouldn’t change Nero’s relationship with them, but maybe his with Gaius as his superior.

The story wouldn’t even need to try and redeem Nero: He has already gone through major character development with the MSQ and the Omega raid tier. It would simply be Nero, confronted with the things he created, hopefully instilling more morals and a sense of responsibility for his creations. Heck: Let Cid yell at the guy! Seriously! Cid sticking around to help out would make so much more sense if it was Nero instead of freaking Gaius! Cid hated the guy! He might be a professional, but he is not one to torture himself by staying around a guy he (as far as I know) detests.

Make Nero the central figure and give Cid and Gaius the roles of „angel and demon“: One desperately trying to reach out to his old friend, reminding him why they became engineers and trying to make him realise that he can’t just run around designing weapons and leaving the scematics for everyone to read; while the other has trouble letting go of his imperial past and is struggling to see the errors of his ways – if Nero was wrong, than he (Gaius) was wrong too -and of course they did all of this for their home, to further their cause, and to bring peace to the savage lands of Eorzea, who had been fighting amongst themselves for so long… You get the point.

And you could still have these gundam themed fights. But I think everything would make so much more sense in general.

But speaking of which-

The children

I do not truly care for any of them. And that is a shame: I do think there are great characters and dynamics hidden behind these very few cutscenes. When they were first introduced I was wondering why I was suddenly watching „heartwarming“ cutscenes of my foes as children – until I realised that I was supposed to care and that they were supposed to make me feel pity for Gaius. I was supposed to feel bad for him, because they died and he blames himself. But while their fates so far have been gruesome, I cannot say that I am sad they died. They chose to die as they did. There were a myriad more options. And they chose that.

Actually. Their whole story makes me feel like they were huge masochist from the very beginning. They could have just run away and gotten help from someone more competent than them, but they stayed in an abusive military arrangement just so nobody else got hurt?? Please. Use your brains next time. And for the Berserk-like torture scene? I mean. I get what was implied here. But was it necessary? As a writer myself I follow the rule that torture and sexual violence should never be used in a story, unless it must be in there for the story to work or to bring across a vital point important to the story or it’s moral (or if you are writing porn and you are into it – but we are talking official in-game content here). But the violence towards these „children“ seems unnecessary for the plot and the violence of their deaths by piloting the weapons is already gruesome enough. Sometimes it’s better to leave things like this out – the emotional torture of feeling stuck and having a martyrs complex would have been enough here, I think. If the rest of the story had been well written at least.

(I believe my utter lack of sympathy shows how little character developement they had. I love tragic characters, who choose to suffer for the good of other people – even better if those people don’t even like them. It’s just my thing. And those kids are just… well.)

Their reasons and especially why they were making Allie out as the one who would need to survive was also just… weird. Like. I feel like 75% of what happened would not have happened, if they actually talked to each other, used their brains and had done something about their problems. But no…

These characters are also so exchangeable with basic anime/j-RPG character tropes… I only remember Alfonse, Rex and Allie – because I just did the Emerald weapon. And right afterwards I thought, „huh. So… Fullmetal Alchemist?“ Which brings me to my third point …

…the story at large.

„Pacing is a virtue“ or was it patience..? Anyhow: The author of this story should have had more patience with his story and characters and taken a bloody break! And I am not talking about the obvious blunder of „How is Allie feeling?“, „she is in shock and you cannot talk to her“ turning to „oh yeah if you are careful you can talk to her now“. I mean. WTF. That was MAYBE 10-20 in-game minutes of dialogue.

But everything was moving so very fast – and not even in a good way. There are few things better than a fast paced, action rich story about a group of young people trying to safe (their) world. But if you try to cram in two expansions worth of character development and story telling into about two hours of content each patch.. Well, then you get whatever the hell this is.

Gaius is a very interesting character and while I did not understand why they needed to bring him back in 4.4 (?), I do see how he could be a good asset for endwalker. And his involvement in 5.0 with Estinien was just a dear delight. So I am not opposed to learning more about him, to watching his character grow and changed with time. But I am not ready for badly written content of which 50% get told by suddenly induced echo-sequences. I mean – weren’t there rules for the echo at some point???

I’m not sure which one of the devs said it, but the feature that let’s you play an NPC is super convenient for them to tell the story, because before they could only show what happened where the WoL was.

And that’s just it. Rule number 1 in writing anything is „Show don’t tell“. It feels like they literally turned this one around for these cutscenes. While Valens torture and diet-Fandaniel-routine were very much „show“, the rest of the story was one long cutscene of exposition: We get exposition by Cid, by Gaius, by echo, by Gaius and his crew again, then by Allie. Before having to watch scenes we are not there for.

BTW. Dear square Enix: Your writers are capable of writing amazing villains, antagonist and despicable assholes. You don’t have to write „asshole, must die“ on Valens name card. And I also think the „WoL, strike here“ sign above his head was a tad bit too much. Nuance, dear writers. Nuance. Or perhaps I just got spoiled by these last few foes in the MSQ.

When I said I wanted to just be able to punch a bad guy for once and not feel bad about it, I did not mean this! I meant that I just wanted to play training dummy with Danny-Boy.

(Oh! And as far as I’m concerned you can just… sideline Gaius … „would be killer“ and the lady? Make them targetable NPCs with Dialoge to read. Let them stand somewhere accessible and comment on the latest developement. But ffs don’t give me hour long speeches about how you are going to kill Gaius if he does something you don’t like. The guy could and would wipe the floor with you if he felt like it. -.- So. Please. Shut up.)

Conclusion

Basically. I have to finish the Diamond weapon. But I doubt it will change my perception of this story line even in the slightest.

To be perfectly honest though … bringing Gaius back, having this story with and about him, forcing a sort of redemption ark here. It feels like they are really „grooming“ him to be a morally grey ally in Endwalker, with perhaps a big part to play in the endgame. At this point I wouldn’t even be surprised if they pulled a GoT and made him „King in the North“. Or if they had him die a heroic death to save the world, but especially his country. And to do so they need us to think his sacrifice means something. Or that he is the right person to lead Garlemald into a new future (I don’t think he is). But: For one, neither we (the players) nor the characters need to find him worthy of throne or death by heroism for his sacrifice/ascension to work. To be a useful tool for the story, only the other garleans who might oppose the alliance and scions need to deem him or his sacrifice „worthy“. And only they. And Ishikawa-san has all of 6.0 to accomplish whatever the hell she needs him for. He did not need to be the center of his own botched redemption ark. If that’s what they wanted to do. Or maybe I’m looking at this all wrong and all they wanted was to give the writes in training some literal training grounds to test their abilities.

But! On a positive note: I have yet to be told that raids and other side content are canon to any degree. So when playing the next story quests I’ll blissfully ignore all that happened in Werlyt and if it get’s mentioned (because they do that sometimes when you’ve done certain content) I’ll just ignore it.

Happy ignoring! Also: GIVE ME MORE NERO CONTENT!

[djemsostylist]

Farewell, my love

I thought I was done ranting about SCK, and I swear this is the last one. I've learned my dizi lesson, and I have so many good ones to look forward to watching. Lesson number one, don't watch a dizi where the only draw is the two leads.

Here's the thing. In the past couple of months, and having watched a few other dizis, I started to wonder if maybe Hande and Kerem had blinded me into liking a show that was never actually more than crap. But in my recent rewatch (I'm up to 12) it was good. It genuinely was. The chemistry was great, the slow burn was great, but for me, the biggest part of why SCK 1-12 was great is that the angst and the drawn out story made sense. Eda and Serkan not talking to each other and keeping their feelings close made sense when Serkan wasn't sure Eda didn't hate him and Eda wasn't sure he wouldn't always choose Selin. Their angst and noncommunication worked here, because this was a story about two people getting to know each other and falling in love. Here, we (and they) learn about their fears, their doubts, their insecurities, their uncertainties, and we learned who they were as people. In 13-21, we watched them grow as people. We watched as they loved each other through pain and as they set up boundaries and learned what would and would not be acceptable to them as a couple. They learned how to talk and share their feelings and be open with how they feel (granted it took fucking forever, but we got there. Finally).

And, and perhaps this is the MOST key--they were in character, they had arcs, and things didn't simply happen for plot. At least not in ways that sacrificed character.

From 22-39, we mostly dealt with plot. Plot which drove characters, but one thing, ONE THING that remained at the of it all was the Eda and Serkan could not be apart. Even when they aren't together, they are together. Their longest separation is immediately following the plane crash, in which Eda does everything humanly possible to keep pieces of Serkan as close to her as she can.

They are it for each other. The love story told in the first several episodes was clear--they are soul mates, they have invisible handcuffs, etc etc. They can't separate, they won't no matter how hard things get. And they both have lines. Eda believes strongly in telling the truth, trusting your partner, believing in them, and above all, family. She lost her parents--being able to be a mom with a family is something we know is important to her. Serkan is self-sacrificial, but he channels it into doing anything and everything he can to make Eda happy. He has learned how to be a partner, how to share his feelings and trust others, and like Eda, his own issues with his parents and the feeling of abandonment mean that he has a deep desire to want to build a strong family.

We have watched them go through literal hell and back. We have watched them fall in love and learn each other over, and over, and over. So to see them having finally survived all of that--crazy families, tumors, plane crashes, gas lighting fiancees, awful friends, terrible parents, and to have survived and come out the other side--and then, what, break up? Spend five years hating each other and Eda keeping his child from him...for what? What could possibly have caused them to be so broken that they left each other and Eda kept a child from him? What is worse than plane crashes, crazy grandmothers, amnesia, crazy ex-girlfriends--what? This isn't sensible angst that shows characters growing and changing and moving. This is angst for angst sake. This is drama for drama's sake. And it's not it for me.

The Eda I know would never, EVER keep Serkan's child from him. Ever. No matter what he said or did, the Eda I know, the one who confronts people head on, who fights for the people she loves and who doesn't let someone off the hook, the one who knows how hurt he was by his own father, who still mourns her own, would not do this. Even if, as some people think, Serkan tried to drive her away (and we'll address that in a minute), my Eda, episode 15 Eda, would shove her pregnancy test in his face and say "yeah? You don't love me, fine, but your child? How about that?" She wouldn't leave. Or would she? This is the Eda, after all, who ran away in 37 instead of standing with him and finding out the truth and making choices together. Did she leave bc he didn't tell her about the tumor? "Sorry you found out you're dying, but since you lied I'm gonna let you die alone. Oh, and keep your kid's existence from you, peace out."

As for Serkan, why would he let her go? Because he thought he was dying? I mean, I guess if she got mad enough about the secret to leave him, I could see him letting her go. It would reinforce what he has always though, that he isn't worthy of love--hers, his parents. It means that all the growth and reassurance and peace he got means nothing. And honestly, I don't think he's survive that. After all, what would he even have to live for, after it's reaffirmed that he isn't worth loving? And if he drives her away instead, then what was the entire point of 14-21? What? That entire 7 episodes of learning to love her, of learning to be the partner who listens and gives and trusts means nothing. Hell, 14-28 mean nothing. Because he is right back to where he started in 13. And if Eda, who knows he has a tumor, listens?

The point is, these aren't the people I love. These aren't my characters. This isn't the kind of beautiful angst that was built in 1-12. This is pure plot to sell things, and I hate everything about it. For me, there is no redemption here for Eda. She kept a child from him. It's not a thing you can say "oops sorry" for. She kept his child from him. Unless she was escaping a plot on her life bc Serkan is a secret mob boss and she had to go into hiding for her safety, there is not way I see this not making her not only a pretty horrible person, but also a hypocrite of the highest order.

As for Serkan, he's already been "the bad guy". He's made mistakes before (although I'd argue he gets a pass for actual brain damage), and I have no desire to see him, once again, thrust into the "Asshole Bolat" role. Not Robot Bolat, because our beloved RoBo would never have let Eda leave. Just Asshole. Which is what I assume, otherwise how do you justify another fucking breakup?

This show is starting it's 40th episode. 40th, and our couple has been together and happy for 4? Almost 5 episodes. It's too much. I'm done. At some point you start to wonder if they aren't just toxic and need to stay away from each other. Because if all they are is pride and miscommunication and refusing to talk and now a child is being hurt as a result--just no. This isn't the love story I signed up for.

So, it was a good run. I'm grateful to SCK for introducing me to Turkish tv (again), for helping me meet some truly amazing people, and for giving me a fandom again after far too long. But, like every other fandom I've been in, it's time for it to end. It's reached a point where I no longer find joy in a story that has gone so far beyond it's original tale as to be entirely unrecognizable. So I'm getting off this train. It's been real.

[princeescaluswords]

*walks up to a podium in a college lecture hall* "Kate Argent and Peter Hale were parallels of each other, which fandom refuses to acknowledge because to do so would mean admitting Peter actually was in the wrong and that his actions aren't worthy of defense. Chris obviously disapproved of Kate's actions, thus she wasn't some Left Hand therefore neither was Peter. Peter was literally a monstrous, murderous, red eyed beast wolf who killed his own niece and hurt and manipulated Derek so it was never about family, it was about Peter himself being hurt and his family as possessions or extensions of himself."

I sit in the audience of that hall taking notes, but at the top of the page, I write -- they know this already.  

I understand your frustration; I empathize with it whole heartedly.  Fandom is unanimous in its hatred of Kate Argent, who seduced a sixteen-year-old boy and then used that relationship to kill his family.

Kate is greeted with all the revulsion that she deserves.  Even though we don’t actually see the original violation on the screen, when Kate gets all creepily flirty and touchy with Derek in Formality (1x11) and Code Breaker (1x12), the fandom doesn’t rewrite that as something that Kate had to do in order to protect her family or to protect herself.  It’s criminal and immoral.  When Kate kisses the de-aged Derek in 117 (4x02), I don’t know of a single member of the fandom who said “wow, that’s hot.”  

There’s not a single person who tries to mount a defense that Kate was only protecting her family or doing what she had to in order to survive.  Universally, she is seen as using those as excuses.

The fandom is very good at condemning her sexually predatory behavior.  They’re even skilled at twisting things that aren’t sexual or predatory at all, such as Scott’s at-claw-point neck grab of Derek, into things that could be seen as hurting a sexual assault survivor.  

Unless, of course, the sexually predatory criminal is a hot white serial killer.

I’m going to piss off a whole bunch of people by saying what Peter Hale did to Lydia Martin is just as bad  (if not worse) as Kate seducing Derek.  Let’s compare them.

Both Kate and Peter shared an ulterior motive -- both of their sexual assaults were motivated by things that had nothing to do with the act itself

Both Kate and Peter possessed greater physical power

Both Kate and Peter created the illusion of consent

Both Kate and Peter employed corruption of romantic feelings

Both Kate and Peter targeted already traumatized individuals, though in Peter’s case, he targeted the trauma he caused

There is however, a fundamental difference in their sexual assaults (beyond the fact that the fandom pretends that what Peter did isn’t almost identical to what Kate did):   Peter got the pleasure of having his victim forced to interact with him in a way that justified his actions and denied her reaction:  

“I’m the spark that lit your fire, sweetheart.”

Pardon me while I throw up in my mouth a little bit.  But imagine the outrage in the fandom if Derek had been forced by events to go to Kate for help repeatedly.  To negotiate with her for help in understanding what was happening to him -- what she did to him.  To force him to stand there and hold Scott and Stiles back as she explained in a smirky voice why what she did all turned out good for everybody in the end.

They would have burned Viacom to the ground.

Imagine if in the final season, they would have written Scott having to recruit Kate to defeat her father, or they would have given Kate and Derek a nice comic dialogue in the McCall kitchen.

Yeah, fandom’s a trip, isn’t it?   This attitude will continue to prevail and influence institutions like studios to give men like Joss Whedon and Harvey Weinstein passes on their creepy, predatory behavior toward women.  After all, they don’t excuse his actions, they just love his art. We have all talked about Hollywood’s toleration of slimy white men.  Does anyone truly believe that the powerful don’t include the way the public accepts predatory behavior from white male characters -- as long as they are entertaining -- when they think about what to do about the predatory behavior of white artists?  Deniers can scream “fiction =/= reality” until they grow hoarse, but the fact is that there is a cultural predisposition to tolerate sexually predatory white men as long as they are sexy and funny.

Stay tuned for Joss Whedon’s redemption arc.

[mesaprotector]

Higurashi Gou has been pretty divisive, with a lot of focus on its execution. See this post detailing a lot of ideas that could have helped the writing fit together, or this one looking at the direction. But it’s my belief that even if it had been written, directed, and animated perfectly, Gou would still not have been a compelling sequel.

This very long post contains spoilers for the Higurashi VN and Higurashi Gou, and very mild, non-specific spoilers for Umineko right near the end.

I first want to say a couple of things in Gou’s defense. I believe the story it tries to tell is, in itself, a pretty neat idea - two friends growing up and drifting apart, and one of them refusing to accept it and dragging the other back into a terrible situation. It’s a premise worth caring about! And I also feel pretty strongly that both Rika and Satoko are capable of all the actions they take in Gou. Satoko’s dependency and vindictiveness are well-established, and so is Rika’s passive complacency. I don’t think Satoko would ever have fallen as abruptly and unevenly as she does in the anime, but that’s a matter of execution. With a couple of extra episodes or better writing, Satokowashi would have been entirely in line with how the two of them are characterized in the original.

It’s also hella entertaining (except maybe some of the slower parts of the first three arcs). I’ll watch Sotsu, and I’ll probably enjoy it too. But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to feel like it’s part of the same story. I have nothing against tragedy and suffering as a part of a narrative, and even if a story had a happy ending, it can still be really interesting to read a sequel that wrecks that and puts its characters through even more trials. There is just one exception, and that is when the happy ending itself was a major part of the story’s message.

Higurashi has many themes, but there are two in particular that it focuses on as it moves towards its conclusion. One, if everyone comes together and fights, a miracle can happen, and if not everyone does, it can’t - and two, you should never, ever resign yourself to fate because people always have the ability to surprise you no matter what. Matsuribayashi’s ending is a direct result of these two conditions being fulfilled. Thanks to Rika’s friends, allies, and everyone in the whole town of Hinamizawa, she finally breaks free from her inhuman, endless fate. A miracle happens - and now she can look forward to the future for the first time.

But then Gou happens, and Rika is right back in Hinamizawa in June 1983. It’s mentioned once in the VN, but there’s nothing magic about the month of June itself - in one loop Rika survives into July, but she still falls victim to the same end. So, in Gou, she does live all the way into 1988 - an extension of five years instead of one month - but when she wakes up, she hasn’t made it anywhere. From that perspective, it’s not like Rika escaped from the loop before being put back in - it’s more like she never escaped, and the miracle never even happened at all. And it is this that is such a problem for the message of the original story. Higurashi says “a miracle can happen”. Gou says “except when it can’t”. Even if Sotsu has a happy ending - which I’m pretty sure it will - this is the one thing it can’t fix.

It’d be something if Gou was intended as a reconstruction of the message of Higurashi, instead of a deconstruction. Some praise for Teppei’s focus episode came along those lines - if everyone had to come together for a happy ending, why wasn’t he part of it? In the VN, Teppei was never shown to be anything but completely evil, and I’ll be honest - that is a flaw. My feeling is that Ryukishi either completely forgot about him, or just decided there were more important characters to focus on. But unless Sotsu does the same for Rina, Nomura, and so on…

So, yes, it’s true that not everything is resolved at the end of Matsuribayashi. Most of the mysteries are, but Miyo is far from even beginning the slow journey to redemption. The stifling traditionalism of Hinamizawa isn’t going to vanish overnight, and all of the kids have psychological issues they’ll be struggling with for a long time.

But it’s a resolution for Rika, it’s at least one moment of true happiness with nothing held back, and, for all of the characters, it’s something they’ve deserved for so, so, so long.

That’s because I’m gonna become much much more happy from now on.

I’m not gonna compromise with just this. We are gonna take back all of our happiness that we lost.

For me, that’s about a hundred year’s worth. For you, a thousand year’s worth.

- Frederica Bernkastel

Why do we read stories? Part of it is to pass the time, of course. But a major reason is catharsis. To paraphrase Aristotle, through experiencing pity, fear, and all kinds of negative emotions in stories we receive the gift of being able to go into the darkness and come back into the light. When those same feelings that can keep us trapped for years instead are given closure within the story, we can not only hear but actually believe that even the darkest night still has a dawn.

In real life, nothing is simple and there’s no such thing as complete closure. We live with our experiences until we die. But it’s no accident that every story ever told has a beginning and an ending. It’s an echo of the span of a human life - it’s taking a whole universe and putting it onto a few small pieces of paper. And only then can we finally see something.

That something is like one of the little fragments Rika sees. It’s one little message, one little feeling we can carry along with us and connect to all the other fragments in our lives. And in Higurashi’s case, that feeling is the feeling seeing the first truly happy Watanagashi that Hinamizawa has ever had.

It’s a very hard thing, to let a story rest, to decide that not knowing everything is okay and to be grateful for the little bit of magic we’ve already found. Umineko says as much. I’m incredibly grateful for Higurashi, and I consider it one of the wisest stories I’ve ever had the chance to read. I don’t mind Gou as entertainment, but it’s not Higurashi. On June 19, 1983, Rika, Satoko, Keiichi, Mion, Shion, and Rena were happy. What happens after that is a catbox I’ll never get the chance to look into, because ending with that moment of happiness is what made the entire story worth it.

[hunterguyveriv]

My Hopes and Wants for the new Masters of the Universe series

So in approximately less then 12 hours(if Netflix still follows its "release a new series at 3am" mandate) Masters of the Universe: Revelations is set to premiere on Netflix. While I am still a bit upset about the recent reveal I can't help but feel that I'll be going into another shitshow-reboot that started off with great potential but ended up going to trash. And this is based off going to youtube for Godzilla videos and music and seeing reviewers and vloggers practically all say the same thing.

Lets get one thing straight before all of you jump down my throat. I've been a MotU fan since I was a 2 in the 1984. I had bedspreads,pillow covers, books, toys, pajamas/underwear, even a homemade muscle suit that my mother found the pattern to make at a fabric shop for Halloween one year. So know that when I say I had high hopes for this series from the moment it was announced it's the truth.

Even when it was revealed that when Netflix released it's synapses, and the drama behind the scenes with some youtube vloggers and Kevin Smith over the past group of months I still had hope it would be one of the very few reboots that surpasses the original like 2002s He-Man series, the 2011 ThunderCats, 2012 TMNT series (which could have had a better ending IMO).

I wasn't even upset when it was revealed that King Greyskull and Andra were what people call today "race-bent." Andra was never really that important in the MotU universe only appearing once or twice in the comic strips and again in Injustice vs Masters of the Universe. As for King Greyskull, I grew to accept because of, well my own family. Looking at my family (Aunt who identifies as black gave birth to a daughter who is biracial who then had 3 blond hair blue-eyed kids) so I am taking this as a win for biracial/mixed blood rep.

I even like most of the cast and crew that I recognize with the exception of one, but I never really liked the actress from the 90s. I am talking about Sarah Michelle Gellar. I never liked her as Buffy or any other role she was in. Some may say that makes me bias towards Teela, but you are wrong.

I've always loved the character Teela. Because she is the Sorceress' daughter she has always been Prince Adam/He-Man's equal both in the previous series and comics. Even though she seemed like she was a tsundere towards Adam because she has to even after learning who he is (in the comics), she was always been He-Man's version of what Lois Lane is to Superman, or Abby Arcane is to Swamp Thing, she was his rock - his light in the darkness.

I am still a bit pissed about the Orko thing, but I explain my reasons in one of my previous posts - so I won't go into that.

The purpose of this post on the eve of the series being released is to voice my hopes and wants for it.

1.) Lets get the big one out of the way - Representation. I want representation, (because God forbid there be a series without it these days) to be natural and not the focus or feel forced. Believe me being a mixed-race person who is part Native/White/Black I get it more than anyone gives me credit.

Growing up Star Trek from 1966-2016 was the king of natural representation. Where unless the episode's story called for it NO ONE CARED about race/gender/ or one's orientation.

2.) Developed Story Well developed story that makes you feel like the show-runners have a plan from start to finish. That means a well thought out story, developed characters, what are their contingency plans if no one likes the series, what are their plans if the series is received? It needs to leave you wanting more!

3.) Let the villains be villains! Enough with the frigging "redemption" arcs! A redemption arc worked for Zuko in the Avatar series because of his character development. But ever since A:TLA, it seems every villain needs to have a redemption arc. Characters like Zarkon, Haggar, Lotor, HORDAK who is practically the Darkseid/Thanos of the MotU universe doesn't need a redemption arc or a "happy ending." In the MotU universe genocidal threats like Skeletor and Hordak raise the stakes for the heroes and drive them to win. Evil-Lyn does not need a redemption arc she has ALWAYS been Skeletor's equivalent to the Sorceress.

4.) Fans need to respect each other unlike when Voltron and She-Ra were playing. People are entitled to their own opinions whether they are new fans or old-timers like myself. If we don't like the way a series is going we are allowed to voice our opinions whether it congeals to someone else's opinions or not. Keep in mind that many of us have kept series like Voltron, She-Ra, TMNT, ThunderCats, and many other 1980s cartoon series going for the better part of 40 years for you to watch and enjoy these newer series. Our opinions mater just as much as yours.

5.) If you truly want to support this new series, and MotU as a whole buy official merch to the series. Like it was when we were young, getting the official merch helps the series more than you would expect. Now I am not saying don't support fellow fans who make trinkets and cosplay outfits and so-forth. Just keep in mind if there is a demand for officially licenced merch it can and will help the series.

These are my hopes and wants for the new series. I am still holding out on hope that the critics and vloggers are wrong on Masters of the Universe: Revelations lives up to the original series while being original itself as it has been advertised as when others (see below) with the exception of 3 did not, it has a a Godzilla sized mountain to climb to impress me. But know this when I see this series I will give my honest opinion of it, whether people like it or not. 

[i-love-side-characters]

What did you think of the end of The Toll?

!!! TOLL SPOILERS !!! PROCEED WITH CAUTION !!!

Scythe Cult:  @honorablescythecurie @honorablescythefaraday @palli-x @book-limerence @lochscinders @a-lonely-tatertot @shellyseashell

bored? send me serotonin please <3

Okay now lets get a couple things out of the way. I haven’t read Toll in a little bit, and it’s taking forever to come from the library. Also, yes I did have it downloaded before, but I kept rereading Faraday’s journal entry when he find out Curie is dead. I know, I’m trash for them but honestly let me have this #curiedeservedbetter2021 #faradaydeservedbetter2021 #curadayforlife

Now that we’ve established that I’m just lonely and so I cling onto healthy (ish) fictional couples for my source of love, let’s proceed.

Things I remember:

 - Rowan and Citra go zoomy zoom into spacey space, but Citra’s deadish because Goddard pulled some shit and so Rowan’s going to wait a couple hundred years for her to wake up

 - Total hottie Ayn Rand shanked Goddard which is honestly a power move you go girl

 - Faraday and Munira unleashed the failsafe, which basically infected a whole bunch of people and now Scythes just kill the infected people so that there’s no suffering

 - Jeri!!! and Greyson!!! Babeys!!! Smol Beans!!! My genderfluid babey with my weird Jesus man it’s a match made by the Thunderhead (because it literally is)

 - Rowan and Citra (who renounced her Scythehood) are going to start a new colony on some random ass planet

Things I don’t remember:

 - Whatever happen with Cirrus

 - Whatever happen with Joel the Jobe Man

 - Whatever happen with Loriana and Munira who are totally in love Shusterman said Sapphic rights 

Okay Akki stfu lets move on:

Okay. I didn’t really like it. I did like Rowan’s sarcasm, but the ending fell a little flat. Compared to the other books’ endings, I didn’t really think it measured up. It was just a bit bland. Here’s why.

The end goal:

Let’s just work our way through the series to show why The Toll just didn’t really work for me.

Scythe - Book 1:

Goal/Climax:

The goal/climax of the book was clear. Citra and Rowan are fighting for the ring. Only one can get it, and the winner has to glean the other. 

The ending:

Citra wins the ring, and is ordained. Instead of actually killing (gleaning) Rowan, she slyly grants him immunity by punching him so that his blood’s DNA would transfer to the database and no Scythe could kill him.  We also got a confession scene where they tell each other they love the other. It ends with Rowan finding out that Faraday did not self-glean.

Why it works:

It is tense. We are watching the two main characters have to either kill the other or be killed. Neither want to. It is clear from their actions throughout that they harbour feelings for each other. This is a high stakes situation. And it flows nicely. We don’t have any unnecessary dialogue/scenes. We don’t have a dumb solution to the problem where a bunch of unnecessary events happen like a character death/romantic scene. They do tell the other that they love them, but the moment is quick and is not the focus of the moment. The focus is on the actual ordainment ceremony and the challenge. The solution directly addresses the main conflict of the book.

Thunderhead - Book 2:

Goal/Climax:

Goddard and Citra (now Anastasia) are presenting their arguments as to who will win the inquest. The inquest was called because Anastasia and Curie needed time to gain more votes in favour of Curie for the position of High Blade. 

The ending:

Anastasia and Curie win the inquest, and Goddard must complete a full new apprenticeship in order to train his new body. Goddard, however, has tricks up his sleeve. He had made a plan prior to the events on Endura to cripple the Grandslayers tower. The plan changes, but works to his favour and destroys the entire island. Curie, in a desperate attempt to save Rowan and Citra, locks them in an airtight chamber that will preserve them so they can be revived. With this sacrifice, Curie is forced to self glean.

“She thrust her blade inward, directly into her heart. She fell to the ground only seconds before the sea would wash over her, but she knew death would wash over her faster. And the blade hurt far less than she imagined it would, which made her smile. She was good. Very, very good.”

-Thunderhead, page 499

Why it works:

*violently screams in my head* I’m good don’t worry

It is a logical ending. If Curie and Anastasia had won the inquest and survived Endura, there would be no need for a third book, unless Shusterman had decided to write a book about Curie being High Blade and Goddard sulking in the shadows and plotting to kill her. That wouldn’t work because I don’t think there is any possible way Curie wouldn’t catch Goddard in two seconds because she’s a boss.

Many people say that Curie should have gotten Rowan to lock her and Anastasia in the vault instead of him. Rowan would have died for Anastasia, it makes sense, but that takes away from the very essence of Curie’s character. She is a truly Honourable Scythe. She knows that Anastasia loves him, and she cares deeply about Anastasia. Letting herself survive would have been completely out of character. She also knows that Anastasia is the future of the Scythedom. While it would be a great help if Curie didn’t die, as well as sparing us emotional trauma, it doesn’t make sense for her character.

This ending also directly “solved” the issue in the book. While the villain won, it was a satisfying ending. Curie is dead, that was a very smart move, because obviously Goddard wouldn’t survive two seconds if she was there. It gave us a good reason for the Thunderhead to disappear.

 *violently screams again* Curie died, yeah, no, I’m okay

The Toll - Book 3: *note that some details may be wrong

Goal/Climax:

Faraday, Rowan, Jeri, Munira, Loriana, Anastasia, Greyson, and Cirrus need to figure out what to with the frozen Tonists, all unknowing that Scythes Goddard and Rand are heading towards the island. They still need to beat him in order to make sure that the non-Scythe population won’t be subject to bias/malice/aforethought/Goddard’s ego. 

The ending:

Rowan, and Citra, who renounced her Scythehood, travel to another planet that can support life with the frozen Tonists, as well as 42 other ships carrying Tonists. Cirrus is copied into 42 different versions in order to save humanity. After being offered Citra’s old ring, Munira (I believe) returns to the Library of Alexandria. Faraday follows through with the failsafe and gleans only the suffering. Greyson and Jeri stay together on the island, and become romantically involved. Scythe Rand is the one who eventually kills Goddard.

Why it DOESN’T work:

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here. I’m just going to go character by character and by the plot.

1. Plot - It just doesn’t make sense. The hero’s solution doesn’t in any way stop Goddard, who is the main villain. We’ve led up to this for a very long time, and Rand is the one who gleans him. If I’m correct, The main characters don’t interact with Goddard for nearly the entire book, save Rowan. The solution, to save humanity by colonizing other planets would, without Rand’s interference, let Goddard wreak his havoc on the world. Only Scythe Faraday and Morrison could truly challenge him, and even then Faraday is old and hasn’t kept his abilities refined, and Morrison is young and inexperienced and wears a denim robe.

2. Rand and Goddard’s Arcs - Rand is the one who kills Goddard. I think that this was a very interesting move, and one that made a lot of sense. Goddard has treated her terribly, it would satisfy her arc of turning against him, as well as giving her a redemption arc that would also avenge Tyger’s death. I think that this is actually a really good arc, were it not for the fact that Citra and Goddard never fought/interacted with each other. If there had been a fight, and Rand had killed him then, that would have been better and would have better satisfied the actual conflict in the book.

3. Rowan and Citra’s Arcs - In terms of Citra’s arc, I think it was emotionally impactful to have her renounce her Scythehood. But Rowan didn’t have as much of a part to play in this book as he could have had. Citra and Goddard also never interacted, which would have been very interesting since he was the direct cause of her mentor and canon mother figure’s death. It would have been an interesting scene that could have played out really well. Based on Discord texts from a conversation I had, I know an reminded that the last two pages of The Toll were incredibly impactful and beautiful. I don’t have much to say about Rowan since I don’t remember much of his role.

4. Jeri, Greyson, Loriana, and Munira’s Arcs - I paired these four together since their doings aren’t very solid after the books. Jeri and Greyson are canonically together, which I think was a great move by Shusterman. Having a main character in a healthy relationship with a canon LGBTQ+ character was incredibly impactful for me, and it satisfied Greyson’s thoughts about how he doesn’t care if Jeri is a boy or a girl, he just loves them. Loriana didn’t have as much of an arc, but Munira did have a small one. Her refusal of the Scythe’s ring let her dispense of her hatred for Scythes and their system, and let her let go of her bitter feelings about not being ordained. 

5. Cirrus’ Arc? - I do not remember enough to speak about Cirrus’ role in the books.

6. Faraday’s Arc - This is probably the one I have the most to say about. I am sorry in advance. Faraday is an emotional character. He has cried canonically twice as far as I can remember, once when he gleaned a child, and the other when he found out Scythe Curie and Anastasia had died on Endura. He is also openly disgusted with Scythe Goddard and his practices, which is why I supremely dislike his arc. It would have been so interesting to see how he would have reacted if Scythe Goddard and the heroes had interacted during the end scene of The Toll. We know he is an Honourable Scythe, like Curie, and upholds the Scythe Commandments, especially after his punishment over his breaking of the 9th commandment “Thou shalt have no spouse nor spawn.” It would have been so. interesting. to see whether Faraday would snap and attack Goddard, if he would try and talk to him, how he would react. Like with Anastasia, he would have been interacting with Curie’s murderer. The potential of that moment! Don’t forget that Faraday is definitely still in love with Curie, based on his elevated heart rate in Thunderhead, and his journal entry in The Toll. I think it would have been so interesting to see him confront her killer.

Summary:

Okay that was much longer than I intended, and I have more thoughts, but it’s 2:40 am and I haven’t slept in a while. So my summary. I liked The Toll. It was a solid book, that had funny moments, jaw dropping moments, heartfelt moments, and emotionally impactful scenes. It was a solid book.

I don’t think it compared as much to the other two, especially Thunderhead. The ending fell a little flat and didn’t carry the arcs as well as I would have liked, but honestly, I still reread it. Shusterman really managed to pull at your emotions.

Because I just beat up on the book for the last couple paragraphs, let me tell you some of my favourite parts of the book.

1. Literally any scene with Possuelo and Anastasia that dynamic was so good and him calling her “meu anjo” literally made my heart do a little happy dance the father-daughter dynamic was what we needed. It also offered a nice levity to tough scenes.

2. The Rowan-Anastasia Reunion. They ran towards each other and knocked each other off their feet. Ohhhh my god, they ran towards each other and knocked each other off their feet! That was so cute, and as someone who was a strong supporter of platonic Rowan & Anastasia, I honestly loved it.

3. Faraday-Anastasia Reunion. Him dropping to his knees in front her her, her initial confusion as to who he was, and the “perhaps the greatest of all Scythes was kneeling in front of her” part killed me. Their reunion was so well written and heart-wrenching.

4. Anastasia Cries about Curie’s Death. I feel like WatchMojo right now. Anyways, the way her emotions break after trying to repress her sadness over her mentor’s sacrifice for her.

5. Rowan’s sarcasm. Beauty. What a power move to sass the guy who’s going to set you on fire in front of 3000 people.

6. Scythe Constantine and Rand. What a dynamic I wasn’t ready for. Rand’s cool comebacks with Constantine’s sly personality just made for the most amazing dialogue opportunities. 

Thank you anon!

[bthump]

How have you come to read Berserk? Do you remember what your thoughts and impressions were while reading this story for the first time?

ty for your interest!

I actually watched the 97 anime first. I watched it with a friend like a decade ago and I don’t remember those first impressions very well because a lot of weed was involved lol. But I do know I thought I’d be bored by it and ended up surprisingly invested and engaged. I of course shipped griffguts and I was definitely shocked at how close to canon it was, with scenes like Casca’s cave monologue and Griff’s torture chamber monologue.

Then I found the Band of the Hawk scanlation and read that bc I wanted more, though I often found it confusing. I actually just checked and realized I still have a little wordpad doc I wrote notes in back then while I was reading it. So here’s some highlights:

- I adored both Guts and Griffith, and I called Guts “Gatts,” thanks to the scanlation.

- I found their trauma backstories really fascinating since I’d never rly seen that with male characters before.

- I hated Puck a lot lol :(

- From around the Lost Children arc: Hell, he's doing the same as Griffith did - building a mountain of bodies. I predict that he will eventually use the Behelit, and his sacrifice will be... Griffith! Because enemies can also be the most important person to you. But then he will turn it down. Also if he takes Jill, she'll be the Casca to his Griffith. Waaaiiit... if they explicitly state that it's a possibility Gatts'll use the Behelit and get all demon-y... well, obviously the temptation will be soon, and he'll say no. Not a climax as such. Just an event. Damn. Well, unless a central theme of the rest of this is Gatts' temptation to monsterize himself.

well hey I called Guts getting his own Casca parallel follower, I just didn’t know it would be Farnese.

- I was seeing Casca and Griffith parallels apparently, but I was being vague so I don’t know what parallels exactly. Maybe just the ‘shell of former self’ thing.

- very exasperated by how no man can interact with Casca without trying to rape her.

- went ham during hill of swords ofc but surprisingly not at Guts forgetting his urge to kill lol: OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS CHAPTER IS CALLED REUNION ON THE HILL OF SWORDS OMFG REUNION OMG OMG OMGOMGOMGOMGOMOMGOMGOMOGMOGMOGMOMGOD OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

- bb me still knew what was up re: Griff: He's not sociopathic, he's just so singleminded that he'll do anything for his goal. I was going to say that he's so single minded that he doesn't care what he does for his goal, but that's not true - he DOES care, he just does it anyway.

- I was getting bored with the Millenium Falcon arc and didn’t care about any of the new characters aside from kind of liking Serpico and absolutely hating Isidro. I didn’t say anything about Farnese but I do have a vague memory of getting excited that there was another female soldier character followed immediately by disappointment that she can’t actually fight. So if I didn’t like her back then that’s probably why.

- I was a little disappointed when Guts got the berserk armour because fight scenes aren’t as cool when the protag has a magic power up. I was right tbh.

- I seem to have quit writing around the beach chapters. I think I did actually drop it around there probably, I’d already taken one break and I was forgetting stuff and generally losing the thread of the story iirc.

also I believed Griffith was very likely to get redeemed at the end? Here’s my “reasoning” lol:

Consise, laid-out reasoning why Griffith will be redeemed. He'll probably die right afterwards, but he will certainly sacrifice himself in an act of redemption. 1. The slug-dude did so for his daughter in an act of foreshadowy self-sacrifice. 2. Skull-knight dude tells Gatts that he perhaps has the power to stop fate or whatever. 3. Griffith's whole friendship speech that throws everything in motion. It's super important, but one aspect that is truly important is that for him to call someone a friend, he has to be an equal - following his own dream, etc. When he becomes Femto, this gives Gatts the motivation he needs to get real. If Femto/Griffith eventually sees Gatts as his equal, this metaphorically equals friendship. Of course this will manifest in a respectful arch-enemy thing, once Femto learns to truly fear Gatts, but the metaphor is still there and it will come out when he eventually DOES sacrifice himself because he can't bear to lose his one equal/bff/etc. It will be very Final Gameish. 4. The only man who made Griffith forget his dream is Gatts. Gatts has a huge amount of power over Griffith in regards to his desire to rule everything. 5. Portions of the story are still seen from Griffith's point of view - indeed, a humanized Femto - and this gives me great hope that during these bits we'll see more greyscale characterization. 6. Also in a weird way they kind of have a child together apparently. Idk. 7. Based on the whole sequence before The Golden Age, Gatts gets dark. And ruthless. Mirroring Griffith's transformation, just a bit. 8. Also the fact that Gatts has a freaking

I didn’t fail to copypaste it properly, I just never finished that sentence. But it was probably “behelit” if I gotta guess. Final Game def references the never-made 70s Doctor Who episode where the Master was going to sacrifice himself to save the Doctor, fyi, not the Sherlock Holmes story. Me lowkey comparing every hero/villain dynamic to Doctor/Master when I was 20 is presumably why I assumed they’d get to a respectful arch nemeses vibe lmao.

I guess tbf I wasn’t talking about a redemption arc so much as a humanizing death lol, I just wouldn’t call that a redemption now. I don’t completely disagree with my past self, though I def had some dumb ideas.

It sucks that I dropped it before all the good parts of the MF arc tbh, Griffith vs Ganishka and Guts and Zodd teaming up etc. I wonder what I would’ve thought of it.

Anyway yeah lol, ty for asking and prompting me to find this lol, it was fun to reminisce!

Oh also if you want to see my more recent and technically third impressions lol I did start this blog just to liveblog my more meta-y re-read of Berserk. Here’s the tag for that in chronological order.

[sokkastyles]

Hi! Completely agree with everything you’ve said wrt aang and zuko’s redemption arc, just wanted to add (though this might not be too pertinent :/) isn’t it fairly unlikely that aang would have been killed had zuko actually succeeded in bringing him back to the FN? I mean, unless ozai found a way to trigger aang’s avatar state, I doubt he would have wanted the next avatar running around with no idea who or where they are? I hope people don’t get me wrong in saying this, cause I’m definitely not trying to imply that ozai would have “given him a room in the palace or adopted him” or anything lol, but I also don’t think that zuko was really thinking about anything wrt aang beyond finally going home? like, we all acknowledge that zuko made mistakes and did bad things, hence why his redemption arc is so powerful, but I feel as much as fandom recognises that aang was “just a kid” and therefore his tendency to sometimes make poor choices is understandable, shouldn’t fandom also acknowledge that a displaced traumatised child (not much older than aang at the time of his exile) isn’t going to be known for his sound decision making skills either? I really hope this doesn’t come across as “apologist”, but I truly never got the impression that zuko was ever (even in B1) a completely “evil”/unsympathetic character like some of these people are making him out to be? not to say that victims of abuse can’t hurt others and shouldn’t be held accountable (which he was and as azula should be) but I believe it was also very early on in the narrative that we discovered his back story as means of establishing him as something other than a “traditional antagonist” who we are meant to root for to make better choices because the story itself illustrates that he’s not actually a “villain”?

Yeah, as some other people have pointed out, what Zhao says about how they would “keep him alive, but just barely” is probably what Ozai would have done. Although it’s also ridiculous to blame Zuko for that, which I saw people doing. Zuko wasn’t there when Zhao said that, and even though Zuko didn’t rescue Aang out of the kindness of his heart, it is set up as early as EPISODE THREE that Zuko is nowhere near Zhao’s level of nasty. Zuko couldn’t even harm Zhao even though he obviously hates Zhao and Zhao provoked him.

Obviously what Zhao says he would have done with Aang is not better, but it’s rather ridiculous to ascribe this to Zuko. I agree, I don’t think he was thinking about anything beyond going home. Which itself is a problem, people can justify all sorts of horrible actions that way, but Zuko is also a sixteen year old. And as I said, we are repeatedly shown his cognitive dissonance and his lack of thinking things through so treating him like he’s the same as a hardened adult when he’s clearly not is just silly. When Ozai gave Zuko the mission to capture the Avatar I don’t even think Ozai expected Zuko to find him, and Zuko CLEARLY was not thinking of the implications of being sent to find someone who disappeared a hundred years ago. His thought process seems to be pretty much like that Despicable Me meme:

Capture the Avatar --> Regain Honor --> Go Home to Father :) --> Go Home to Father :(

Saying that Zuko never tried to kill Aang isn’t being an “apologist.” The difference between Aang’s poor decisions and Zuko’s poor decisions is that Zuko’s have much more of a capacity to cause harm, but he still never intended to kill anybody.