#but I legit saw some saying the victims were not innocent and that it is their fault the war in Irak started so good if it upsets. WHAT

[ben-the-hyena]

Me, a non-American, always seeing Americans on this god damn website either going "9/11 is the worse tragedy in the world, the war was justified because these Arabs and Muslims deserve it, they all are terrorists, Long Live America" or "the war had no reason to exist, poor people, all because of these fucking 9/11 victims, let's mock them and say they deserved it, they're not innocent, Fuck America" instead of seeing it as a tragical day indeed that got overused as an excuse for war propaganda making innocent victims on both sides, the first being weaponized while everyone would have just wished it never happened at all with no death, once again goverments and terrorists are the ones to blame and yet they win by having civilians choose sides over the death of fucking human beings

[nightcolorz]

i read through a few of your recent asks and it got me on an armand defense blender so here we are. & i thought about doing this anonymously but then decided to rawdog it so fuck it. this is probably gonna be ridiculously long but i have Thoughts + i have a feeling if anyone will understand it's you (also i'm too much of a coward to make my own post on this topic)

ANYWAY the way some people in this fandom treat armand is actually like... vile. it goes hand in hand with the whole "reducing louis to a victim and nothing more" thing which you talked about and i want to expand on allllll that because jesus christ some of this shit

people have been talking about how armand is Literally The Worst Ever for two years now and that has really imbibed into to the fandom. i mean i was affected by this as well, i went into the books expecting the Worst from him but it wasn't nearly as bad as i had believed it would be (though tbf i am also biased here, i saw armand in a tiktok edit like a year and a half ago and autistically imprinted on him for a long while before i even watched the show. he can do no wrong ever actually)

but that mindset of "oh you thought LESTAT was bad wait until you meet ARMAND lmfao" (not flaming anyone for that btw, i'm pretty sure even i've jokingly said that at one point) has really poisoned him to the fandom. i fully get book readers being wary of him and overanalyzing everything when it comes to him but it's often the show only fans that are the worst culprits and it's a bit out of hand honestly

after s2e4 i legit saw a person say that they don't believe a word that armand said about his backstory and that he probably made up marius and all the abuse he suffered because he wanted "sympathy" (very pointed quotation marks on that one) from louis and to manipulate him. and it would've been bad enough if those were the words they used but instead they were downright horrible about it. i genuinely had to put down my phone and take a few deep breaths after reading all that. like why would you even assume that? i really hope that's not how that person treats real life victims because holy shit

and like I DON'T GET IT!!!!! people just loooove to apply malicious intent to armand in situations where there is none and i don't get it. this is the series about complex, shitty vampires and yet some people still shove them into boxes like Irredeemable Abuser Who's Just Horrible All The Time (armand, lestat), Perfect Innocent Victim Who Can Do No Wrong (louis, claudia) and Pinnacle Of Neutrality (daniel)

and the person from earlier was a die hard loustat shipper and stanned lestat and whatnot and like i'm sorry but only one of these characters has committed dv atp and it wasn't armand. why is armand the scapegoat here? (it's because he comes in the way of loustat) (also i really don't like flaming individual people for their opinions but i feel like this is vague enough that it gets a pass + this one genuinely made me want to bang my head against a wall)

people are just not equipped to deal with 3 dimensional characters because not only can they not accept that armand is not a cartoon villain that is Unequivocally Evil and some machiavellain mastermind but they also can't accept that louis is a shitty person. you can be a victim and a bad person. you can be a victim and toxic and abusive. like.. the way louis is treating armand is not okay and people shouldn't be afraid to accept that. HE'S A BAD PERSON THEY'RE ALL BAD PEOPLE THAT'S THE WHOLE FUCKING POINTTTT

and if people are bothered by that then this is not the show for them

personally i am glad they made louis actually be undeniably shitty this season it made me like him even more (& i say undeniably but people will still deny it like their life depended on it lmaooo). and i am also glad that they managed to really humanize armand for the sane of us because this portrayal of him and his character and personality is just *chef's kiss*. assad GETS HIM and all his little nuances and autistic swagger

yeah anyway uhhhhh people stop immediately assuming the worst of armand challenge (impossible) & i could keep going for another 7 paragraphs but i fear i've waffled on enough i am really fucking frustrated with parts of this fandom send help

(also like, hate armand if you will but hate him for actual things he has done lmfao stop making him something he's not. if you hate him for what he did to claudia, fair enough you do you i can't stop you but jfc some of these people)

YESSS GO OFF 🙏🙏🔥🔥‼️‼️ U or anyone else r so so incredibly encouraged to put ur steaming hot Armand takes in my ask box that ur too scared to post urself for fear of back lash! my Armand apologist army will eat it up and I will shield u from the masses ❤️❤️ consider urself protected and embraced solider.

but anyways, ur so right omg say that shit. The “if u think lestat is bad wait till u see armand he tortures people and does animal cruelty and frankensteins kid heads onto adult bodies lol all Lestat does is graphic domestic violence Armand is like crazy fr” meme has done irreversible damage to this fandoms comprehension skills it’s wild 😭 like due to two years worth of bracing themselves for mega evil Armand we have people spouting the most disgusting insensitive takes about sexual violence I’ve ever seen said so casually in a fandom 😭. I don’t think I’ve come across the post ur referencing tho *holy shit*, even in a fictional context “this person must be lying about being assaulted” is an insane thing to say with ur full chest, but I digress. I’ve seen takes where ppl r saying Armand was trying to emotionally manipulate Louis by talking about being repeatedly raped as a child and like ?? 😨😨😨. Excuse me😭😭 genuinely what the fuck. That’s the same thing as saying Claudia was trying to manipulate Louis by telling him about when she was repeatedly raped, like that is genuinely a fucked up thing to say😭. I don’t think it’s irrational to be weary of Armand’s actions at all because of course we were all bracing ourself for his betrayal so it’s not unreasonable to suspect he has ulterior motives, but it’s both dumb and also fucked up ngl to assume that literally every thing Armand does or says is two sided, especially when there has been nothing in the show besides fandom speculation to suggest that this is the case with him😭. It’s such a shallow, dumb assumption to go “oh this character is two sided so therefore he is never ever sincere at all”. Especially since Armand isn’t two sided bcus of non complex villainous intent, his motives and his lack of trust or loyalty for people or consistent, reliable behavior is very trauma based. I always like to say, he’s not like a snake, he’s like a reactive former fighting dog. A reactive dog can and will attack you without warning at any moment, but a reactive dog is so often disproportionately violent and unreliable because it’s learned that the world is unreliable and violence is how it can protect itself. Armand isn’t rlly the schemer type, he’s more of the “lifts his head from your lap and bites your face off” type.

I think that if the show was trying to suggest that Armand telling Louis about how he was raped was emotionally manipulative that would have been a fucked up and insensitive thing to write! and the fact that ppl r interpreting it that way without anything there to imply that is 😭 um. Woah?? It’s pretty overtly explained why Armand tells Louis his backstory, I’ve talked about it before but, in that scene prior to the backstory dump Louis is telling Armand that he doesn’t feel like he knows him, and he wants to know who he really is. And in this episode Louis and Armand r having a conflict where Armand perceives their relationship as intimate and important and Louis doesn’t even really see them as “together” because he doesn’t want to open himself up to that kind of vulnerability. So when Louis explains to Armand why he doesn’t feel as close to him as Armand does, Armand decides to be vulnerable with louis and tell him about who he is (and why he is the way he is) since Louis told him that that is what he wants from him. I don’t see how telling ur partner about ur life (which is made up of constant trauma) when he tells u he doesn’t know anything about ur life and would like to know more is in anyway manipulative or deceitful. Usually when I see a take I rlly disagree with I am at least able to discern how someone could come to that conclusion, but honestly I have no idea with this one 😭. Just, dude, come on. Y’all do realize that instantly assuming wrongfulness or deceit from a scene where a character is talking about their history of childhood sexual abuse does not make u look good 😭 right? The lack of self awareness is insane 😭 I understand it probably feels uncomfortable to watch a character u perceive as a straightforward manipulator and abuser talk about being horribly abused himself in a way that’s overtly sympathetic, but I think doubling down on ur previous black and white interpretation is like kind of silly goose behavior!

until ur ask I never rlly considered that some fans might be viewing Armand as noncomplexly always in the wrong bcus they are die hard Loustat shippers, but it makes sense! It’s also even more dumb 😭 I love Loustat a lot (mostly in the books cuz the show borderline desecrated them but whateves), but the thing about iwtv and tvc is that literally every character has and will date and be with each other constantly. The defensiveness over ur ship is not necessary 😭 if ur so hyper strict over monogamous shipping that it stresses u out to see ur favs in multiple relationships in the span of a show maybe this isn’t the fandom for u 😭🙏. I think maybe this attitude is coming from a place of “I need Armand to be worse then lestat because if Armand isn’t worse then lestat then loustat will look worse then Loumand and Louis will be wrong to go back to lestat”, and like, babes 😭 Lestat has already violently beat Louis on screen the harm has already been done, if ur still clinging to the hope that lestat will be ultimately the good and right choice for Louis u r fighting a loosing battle. Ship what u wanna ship guys, u can love loustat without trying to justify it as healthy or “healthier” then Loumand . But u do look like a dummy when ur trying to vastly mischaracterize Armand for shipping reasons 😭 like c’mon now. i feel the same way about Louis being portrayed as bad making u like him more!! I’m sure I’ve talked about this, but I kind of hated iwtv s1 and a lot of it was due to how Louis wasn’t at all overtly shitty or unlikable and seemed to be mostly in the right. My favorite thing about Louis in the books is how he portrays himself as a frail gentle human-like saintly vampire who wouldn’t hurt a fly and is better then other the vampires when in reality he is really a horrible, self victimizing unempathetic judgmental asshole who only cares about morality because he wants to boost his ego and feel better about himself. AHHHH it’s so interesting and entertaining to me, I love deceitful, selfish bitch louis sm. And I’m rlly happy with how s2 is leaning into this a little more than s1 is by making Louis such an asshole to Armand!! It feels really appropriate with the former slave owner/former slave parallel translated to the former pimp/former sex slave version in the show, and the way they are fleshing out the relationships in the books and adding more context. Louis is such a great character and I like him sm more in s2 lol, let him be shittyyy!! I beg u!! It’s such a shame that a lot of fans refuse to let their faves suck 🙏

and yessss!!! Armand is being portrayed so perfectly!! Assad is the perfect Armand I am so grateful for him, he is so beautifully nuanced and complex and human. So sad some fans refuse to acknowledge that 😭

on ur last paragraph!! Yesss literally there is so much about Armand to hate so if u hate him hate him for like canon things he has done instead of twisting everything he does into being non complexly evil bcus ur making the show worse for urself if ur viewing it so shallowly 😭. Armand has fucked over Claudia and Nicki and lestat and Louis, and if u hate him for that go right ahead 🙏 I hate Marius for ruining my faves life but guess what 😭 Marius is like a complex varied character and I’d sound like a straight dumb ass if I went on tumblr and tried to claim that literally everything he does is bad intentioned and evil, bcus that’s just not the case. U guys jumping through hoops to claim that Armand is always evil is like if I tried to say that Marius was actually being evil when he tried to save half the world from genocide from Akasha 😭 u know what I’m saying? Fortunately these characters r all incredibly complex and capable of like, nuanced intentions and behavior. If u can’t handle that in ur gay vampire show then I’m sorry ur going to be disappointed. God bless tho

thank u sm for the ask ur literally such an icon and I’m obsessed with u and ur steaming hot takes, everyone stands up and claps

[sometimes-men-need-help-too]

So I looked at clips of “Quiet on Set” on Twitter, and oh my god, I wanted to cry when I watched the Drake Bell parts. Seeing a dad break down in tears broke my heart.

Then I went from sad to angry when I saw people spreading misinformation about Drake being a convicted pedophile even though that is very obviously not true. He pleaded guilty to child endangerment all because he texted a 15 year old girl that was obsessed with him and LIED about her age and lied about Drake sending her explicit photos and telling her that she was “hot” when she was 12. Keep in mind that he reached out to her when she was feeling bad on his Instagram, and then she started STALKING his wife’s Facebook pages and trying to blackmail her and harassed her and saved pictures of them.

The investigators did not see any pictures or any text messages of Drake saying some terrible stuff to a 12 year old. The minute he recognized that the girl lying about her age was actually 15, he blocked her, and she didn’t like that. Drake pleaded guilty to child endangerment because he legit felt horrible for texting a 15 year old on Instagram and the possibility of putting her in danger.

If he was on the sex offender registry, he would not be on “Quiet on Set.” If he was a convicted pedophile, then why did he release a music video recently before “Quiet on Set” was released? Why would he still have his Instagram or literally any social media if he was a convicted pedophile? Why are his songs still up on the iTunes Store? Why is he still with his wife and son? Why would his wife still stand by him and let him near their son if he was a convicted pedophile?

Like, c’mon, people, Google is literally free. And you can find the trial where Drake pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

But hey, you can believe anything on the internet, and spread misinformation on the internet and you won’t look like a fool (sarcasm).

The people spreading that misinformation are basically showing the damage that was done because of someone lying about their age and lying about being groomed by someone. Worst part is that Drake Bell himself IS a victim of grooming and rape at the age of 15.

Imagine being Drake Bell right now, being a victim of grooming and sexual assault as a child star, then decades later, you get lumped into the same category as the predator that has hurt you, over and over again, and now you have the reputation of being a creep who groomed a 12 year old all because of an obsessed fan who lied about their age and stalked him and his wife.

I can tell you right now that if the genders were reversed with an obsessed boy stalking a woman, the boy will look guilty and creepy for stalking said woman. But nope, the girl is completely innocent despite stalking someone’s wife because they’re obsessed with this man, lied about their age, and lied about something very heinous just because the man refused to leave his wife (a legal adult) for a 15 year old. Very innocent (more sarcasm).

Sources: https://www.nbcchicago.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/drake-bell-addresses-reckless-and-irresponsible-texts-to-minor/2615606/

https://youtu.be/ez7oFH8wbjI?si=gfflK5jvb5Rpsacm

This link is not a source related to Drake Bell, but this Redditor in this discussion where I found credible sources was legitimately confused as to why Drake pleaded guilty to child endangerment: https://www.reddit.com/r/AfterTheLoop/comments/1aw8pwc/drake_bell_and_his_pedophilia_charges_remaining/

.

[grandgardenercollective]

The vampire prince.. the vampire prince, Zac, And Cole, his new prisoner.. - the night of their arrival into Zuzu City the prince’s first order of business was to locate and capture their newest victim, the young man they were going to take under the castle, he was gonna be staying in the basement, they were running out of blood so the plan was to kill him to refill the blood supply, they couldn't get more than one person as there was a risk of getting killed, so a few vampires found Zane and brought him over..

The vampire prince, Zac, sat on the edge of his large king sized bed, his dark eyes scanning the room for any sign of danger, he looked down at his captive and said, "I'm sorry that you had to live like this but we don't have a choice, I have no mercy... bring him to the dungeons.." Hissed Zane, his voice deep and strong, very leader like and intimidating. He was tall, he was muscular, and he radiated an almost evil aura when he talked. The vampire prince, Zac, looked over at the young man chained to the wall in front of him, he looked extremely pale and sickly, his hair was long and matted with dirt, his face dirty and scruffy and bruised. Zac walked over, Cole squeezed his eyes shut tight, but instead of harming cole he simply wiped the dirt off his face with his gloved hand and then turned away, not saying anything, and leaving, Cole sighed in relief, it would only be for one day, he was sure that if they kept him longer than that then he would die anyway. The thought made cole shudder slightly, he wasn't afraid of death but the idea of having no choice was terrifying, Zach seemed.. nice strangely for s vampire prince whom was legit about to kill him.. but he shook it away, later that night Zac snuck him some food and forced him to eat it.. "i-is it good it was my first time making something like this" said the young prince, Zac, he seemed... nervous? weird... "it's actually really good!" cheered Cole Zac's eyes lot up a bit, "really? I've been trying to learn how to cook more human like foods" explained Zac nervously "but i haven't been able too since everyone who cooks is dead or gone..." added the young man softly, cole nodded silently, he felt bad for him "well i know just the thing to make you feel better" replied cole with a smile.

~ ~ the next day ~ ~

2 more months till Cole's execution,. it's. july 7th.. 1908

. . . Zac let Cole. wonder around the castle with him and they were actually getting along, talking just goofing around, when Cole kinda poked him a bit, it startled him but he didn't really care cold looked into Zacs dark deep redish blackish eyes. They looked so sad, so hopeless and confused and scared, and cole couldn't stand seeing that look on someone's face, especially a young innocent face like that, it broke his heart, he saw Zac smile, smile at him.. why'd he get butterflies?

Cole decided to do something about it he took ahold of the young mans arms, his warm soft hands and pulled him close and whispered gently, "come with me, let's go somewhere quiet," Zac nodded slowly and followed him, his breathing quickened a bit, he trusted cole, he wanted him to keep trusting him, they walked into an empty room in the library area of the castle, Cole pushed the taller and skinny boy against the wall "what are you do-..!?" started Zac before getting interrupted by Cole kissing him.. his brain was telling him "push away!" "push away!" but his heart was saying.. "kiss back.. please.." and his mouth moved to kiss back.. the kiss got more passionate, but then they heard the door open, both men jumped apart from each other immediately "sorry to interrupt your.. uh.. um.. whatever you guys are doing, we're going to start our training now.. we'll come back later.." Said another voice, the same girl who brought Cole to be exacuted last week... 😀😭. . but anyways, she left, the boys were both blushing like crazy. Zac was about to say something when cole spoke up "so where were we?" asked cole smiling cheekily, Zac's eyes widen a bit

~ ~ ~ to be continued ~ ~ ~

[argumentativeaxolotl]

THIS. Thank you dude. Like you get it and you can articulate it where I can’t 😭.

I cannot agree or express enough how hypocritical it is for other authors and readers to get so defensive when I haven’t said/done anything. I’m not censoring anyone nor am I outwardly going against specific people or even them as a group- simply that I would like for the Proshipper side of the fandom to back the fuck off and to not read since it likely won’t be to their taste nor do I want them interacting with a fic that has a child character since I don’t feel comfortable with that, even if the character is a robot alien and very clearly doesn’t exist. The character is still a minor in the fic. I don’t like something and I don’t read it. Just like what they want me to do. But then they get all upset and defensive for no reason when I ask for the same decency in return. Now if I ever have an actual issue with someone on the platform and they see I have a mark or a strike or something from this whole situation I’m likely not going to be taken as seriously or seriously in general because I’m part of the “anti-community” or something. This isn’t even mentioning the fact the fandom the fic takes place in is for children.

I’m all for exploring dark things and seeing how interesting it could be from a fictional standpoint, but people take it too far and GLORIFY it or bring it into reality. Or romanticize it which is just as horrible. I’ve heard of so many horror stories from other readers and creators of times when they were groomed or when someone they knew was groomed and preyed upon online which is awful, but with Ao3 it’s so widespread and so accessible to everyone that some of the most degenerate and horrible people can get away with it. So many people victimize themselves just so they can cry harassment and get innocent parties in trouble for no reason when they should be focusing on getting rid of the actual criminals and degenerates within their circles so people don’t automatically call all of them pedos or something. If proshippers want to be taken seriously and not legitimately harassed they should actively try to remove the criminals in their side of the fandom and should try to tell everyone that they don’t side with the groomers and stuff, but because they don’t people are going to automatically assume they’re pedo-sympathizers or they are one themselves because they actively defend ALL PARTS OF THEIR FANDOM. Which they shouldn’t do. I myself have been guilty of grouping all proshippers together with pedophiles and degenerates because of how many seek refuge in that side of the fandom and how much they’ve changed the term proship. I ofc know now that not all proshippers agree with the more extremes, but that’s just me.

I’m being personally sought after and people are actively going out of their way to say how I was wrong and that I should be ashamed or how I should get over it and move on or move to FF.Net, but I didn’t even do anything 😭😭. Then they say “oh you’re not being harassed sweetheart! You should be banned! I’m gonna keep reporting you! You deserved it!” And are crying and crying because I came to Tumblr to say how stupid it was- not even on Ao3. I’m on a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT platform and some of the people saying these things are from Ao3 because they’ve claimed to have read the fic or claimed to have reported me because they saw the description 💀. So they’re essentially proving that they’ve gone out of their way to my tumblr (which I promote on ao3) so they could yell at me that I was wrong. I shouldn’t have to be scared that my blog is gonna get me deleted off Ao3 because I’m mad that I’m getting flagged for “harassment” because it’s a different platform 😭.

Like I’m just here for fun and to write stupid ass fanfiction. I don’t want to involve myself with online politics or drama or anything of the sort unless it’s interesting or relevant to me. Now I normally don’t say this, but legit some people should touch grass and go outside especially if you(generalizing, not specific) can’t handle someone essentially and very basically saying “I don’t like your ship- I don’t like shipping x with y because they’re related/huge age gap/etc”, “I don’t like that ship”, or “that makes me uncomfortable”.

If I said I ship- let’s say… Klance(Keith x Lance who are both around the same age and a very popular ship in fandom) and someone else said that they don’t ship it I’m not gonna be like “HOW DARE YOU!? KYS!!!!!!” Because that’s ridiculous and very very weird and rude and I’d get shamed for doing that and it’s also very very childish and disrespectful. I’d probably ask why and from then they can tell me why or why not if they want to. But if someone said “I ship Shance!” (Shiro x Lance from Voltron- Shiro is a legal adult and seen as a father figure in most of the fandom and Lance is a teenager who is under the legal age of consent- 17 I believe) and I say “oh I’m uncomfortable with that” or “oh… I’m not gonna read that, but ok” I’m going to get absolutely bullied off the platform for not shipping that and for stating that it makes me uncomfortable or something. Some of the people who ship it will get mad at me for stating I’m uncomfortable or something and they’ll be like “oh well then you should go away! Go read something you like then!” Or something ridiculous.

In general I don’t care if the characters in a fic or in media have a very big age gap- as long as both characters are 18 or above I don’t care. Age gap can be a kink tag and I still don’t care because the characters are still LEGAL ADULTS. I take issues with a ship when one is like 28+ and the character is 17 or younger. Or if they’re 18 and still in high-school. Same goes for real life. The only reason I’d start taking issues with a ship is if it’s glorifying abuse or grooming which shouldn’t be normalized, but in ao3 and fandom it’s unfortunately VERY normalized or if the ship has a minor that just met the adult love interest and it goes from there.

If I’m being honest I think a lot is also lost in translation too- some people still think proship means just “yeah let’s ship!” (Which I wish I could see it as) but many more people also see it as “fuck yeah problematic ships”. And when I say “proshippers back off” I mean the problematic ones.

LMAOO I'M ONE OF THE PEPOPLE THAT REPORTED YOU

I'm gonna send your post to the Ao3 staff so they know you actively bash and harass people on other platforms as well, enjoy the IP ban sweetiepie!! 🥰🥰

Ah I see so you’re one of the proshippers 💀 nahhhh bro cuz I don’t give a fuck if you’re actively shipping minors and adults in your own time but don’t bring me and my fanfic into that shit. It is disgusting and it isn’t an okay thing to do. If you wanna do it in your own time I do NOT CARE. But don’t bring this shit up and get upset with my fic because I said to get lost.

If you want a proship fic go write one or talk to other proshippers. I don’t believe in proshipping(firm anti) and you will not change my mind on that. It IS GROSS. It can have REAL WORLD CONSEQUENCES. It can allow ACTUAL PEDOPHILES and SEX OFFENDERS access to REAL CHILDREN.

Again I do not give a fuck if you are a proshipper or not, but don’t actively say I’ve harassed you. I haven’t done shit to you- oh what I don’t agree with your beliefs and your ship? Womp Womp dude. You clearly don’t agree with mine and that’s OKAY. Don’t get butt-hurt over being called a creature of hell because you’re clearly acting like it dawg 💀

I haven’t harassed anyone nor have I bashed anyone. I haven’t gone after you- you’re just offended that your favorite proship isn’t in the fic. In that case, go find your favorite ship and read that instead dawg. I ain’t gonna deal with such bullshit because guess what? I do not care about what your shipping beliefs are as long is it doesn’t effect real people. If you enjoy that, go look for that on ao3.

You don’t want hate hence why you’re sending in anonymously. Actually message me and we can talk this through in private since you’re clearly not understanding what harassment is. Don’t hide behind your screen, DM me.

Oh and while you’re at it, can you give me an example of harassment? You messaged me first here and I have every right to defend myself and talk about what happened.

[omegas-spaghettios]

In Defense of Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, and Echo

I want to clarify that I like Crosshair. I used to love him and I just kinda like him now, but he's a great character. I hold nothing against his fans. I just want to talk about how people are slandering these 4 like they did everything wrong when everything they did was pretty justified.

I need to talk about Crosshair's chip, because that affects how we all view these final episodes. While I agree things don't add up completely, Cross has no scar, nursing a headache, etc., his behavior DOES indicate he is telling the truth.

Chipped clones have been shown to show loyalty to the Empire above all else. They killed the jedi, they'll kill innocents, they forget all sentimentality, and we see with Jesse that they will more than happily die to accomplish the chip's commands. The Batch has experience with this with Captain Grey in the premiere and later Wrecker. Chipped clones are basically battle droids.

Crosshair does not act like that at all. He shows sentiment and loyalty to personal history, he defies orders to even kill his fellow imperials, and he puts aside his anger in order to escape Kamino. NONE of those things are congruent with him having a chip in at all. So while it doesn't add up completely either way, the evidence honestly seems to favor that he's telling the truth as his behavior is a huge tell that has not been shown to be able to be countered for more than a few seconds (love you Rex) while an absence of a scar could indicate a variety of things and the headache can honestly just be chronic pain from his insane head injury in Episode 8. I'm not saying that is the truth, but what I am saying is the evidence provided can easily line up to more than make it believable that Wrecker, Echo, and Tech believe he has it out.

Wrecker does know what a chip feels like, so we all expected more empathy from him, but Crosshair is not acting the way did Wrecker did AT ALL. Wrecker lost all control and immediately tried to kill the people he loves most, while as stated Crosshair is exhibiting almost opposite behavior. Wrecker knows what a chip does to you and Crosshair is definetly not showing that, so why would Wrecker show empathy for it? Wrecker knows first hand that is not what the chip does to you so it more than makes sense that he sees Crosshair's behavior and story and believes it.

Crosshair's intense feelings of Supremacy and loyalty to the Empire are not out of no where. We see in TCW that he is incredibly cruel about regs, he has always hated them. So considering the journey he went on this season it does feel like a realistic progression of belief.

Crosshair also is hurting his own cause here. Now we as the audience know for sure he had it in for Episode 1, we are shown explicit evidence. We have no idea when he got it out though due to the lack of a scar, and his refusal to specify hurts him here because what he actually did as himself vs. chipped is VERY important. I also want to say that while the audience knows Crosshair has the chip in in Episode 1, no evidence is provided to the Batch to know that, so Crosshair saying he had it out "a long time ago" means it is reasonable that the Batch could even suspect everything he did since Episode 1 was him. And here's a quick rundown of some things he did this season that the Batch would know about:

Obeyed Order 66 and shot at a child jedi even when ordered to stand down

Advocated to kill civilians to the others

Shot Wrecker and used him as bait to lure the others out

Lead dozens of Troopers to Bracca to kill them

Went out of his way to order his troops to kill Omega during that confrontation within earshot of Hunter

Tried to burn them all alive with an Ion Engine

Contributed to the oppression of Ryloth

Arrested Howzer, a clone who was trying to do the right thing

Spouted supremacist jargon about how they are superior to regs (something Hunter, Tech, and Wrecker have been shown to be softening up on)

Said the might of the Empire was the only way and basically gave them all the choice to join or die.

And remember, our heroes just got the revelation that potentially all of those actions were taken of Crosshair's own free will. They have every right to be harsh or unwelcoming after that. Sure they didn't try to rescue him but he also tried to put multiple blaster bolts through their heads, no one is innocent.

So the general coldness and harshness is more than understandable considering that Crosshair just admitted to trying to get them all killed on multiple occasions on his own free will, that would sour your relationship with anyone I reckon, so why are they expected to be okay with Crosshair doing all of that?

Anyway, to specifics. When Wrecker says Crosshair never even tried to come back and that they would have taken him, there is truth to that. During both Bracca and Ryloth, Crosshair was right there and had opportunities to turn heel and help them all escape, but he never did. I've seen this described as victim-blaming but you guys need to realize that Crosshair has potentially done ALL of this of his own free will and is actively trying to pull the others to the Empire. Wrecker is right, Crosshair put more effort into killing or converting them than he ever did in returning. It's harsh but it's true.

And Tech saying it's in his nature is like, classic Tech. I don't necessarily agree that they all have set paths due to their biology like Tech does, but Tech began this season rattling off about how Wrecker was made to be the way he was, this is just how Tech rolls.

The one I see a lot is after Crosshair rescues Omega and they still have the guns up and then never thank him. First of all, Crosshair never thanked them either for saving his life so let's not go around expecting any shows of gratitude from everyone. But more importantly, how were they supposed to know that Crosshair was saving Omega? As a viewer I legit thought he was aiming for Hunter there, it makes more than enough sense that they pulled their weapons on him. And considering their recent history, it makes sense that all three of them keep their weapons up longer than needed, both Hunter and Omega are potentially at risk. We all saw how quickly all of them drew their weapons in Episode 13 at even the slightest hint of danger to Omega. Considering everything before, it makes sense they kept them up until he disarmed himself, that's just good self defense honestly.

And my final point:

CROSSHAIR WAS NOT ABANDONED AT THE END OF THE SEASON

He was given multiple invitations and opportunities to join. Sure, he was not made to feel all that welcome, but even after all of the season and the finale, Wrecker stops to ask if he is coming and Hunter gives him one last chance. He was given many opportunities to go with them. He said he made his choice, that isn't abandonment, that's stepping away.

In Conclusion

Honestly all 6 of the main characters really dropped the ball on this season's conflict and no one is blameless or unjustified.

I'm not mad about it because it makes for compelling character drama, but everyone involved kinda didn't do their best, so maybe let's not slander one side over the other?

(Small lists of commenters who showed interest is seeing this: @violettavie @shilsvampsinger @rain-over-kamino )

[testingcheats0n]

Just saw a Dream apologist say that:

1. In the Pandora's box theory where evil escapes and hope remains that Tommy is the evil and Dream is hope (despite doing the terrible things he did). Because:

2. Tommy is the one who manipulated Dream first by calling him his friend (you know that shout he does 'X, Y, Z MA FRIEND!'). Yeah, I'm serious, that's considered manipulation by this person and it's also considered a worse offense than what Dream did to Tommy in exile.

3. Dream wasn't an absolute piece of shit before the George mushroom house affair (which is factually untrue, and I have the proof.) According to this person the incident was the reason he snapped and suddenly became evil.

4. That everything Dream did to Tommy in exile was a direct and equal retaliation to things Tommy did to him first (which ???) Because:

5. He wanted to protect George (factually untrue, I can prove it mathematically) because he was an innocent party and Dream's closest friend (despite recognizing that Dream actively pushed away the people he cared for)

6. Tommy does nothing but spread negativity and cause problems, continuing to do so immediately after escaping. (Stealing Technoblade's gapples is equivalent to Sapnap killing everyone's pets, or the burning of the lemon tree, per example.)

7. Tommy betrayed Techno because he actively, and wholeheartedly joined his side after wanting to remain neutral with L'manburg. (ugh)

8. That Dream is hope because he hoped to fix the server (which the author considers to be Dream's private property in its entirety, including builds and items, and is also a completely uncanonical interpretation of his actions) and Tommy is everything negative that's ever existed because he... idk, burned George's stupid house.

9. Dream is completely justified to feel as he does, because he was legitimately threatened by a 16 y/o ~who was stealing all his power~

BONUS: (Brought to you by the poster) The character progression aka legit Trauma, Suicidal Thoughts and PTSD are a good outcome and character evolution.

BONUS 2: The comment section, who got its information from fanfiction- not my words, they admitted it- says that L'manburg was founded to be a drug empire only (a terrible, terrible crime how dare they /s) and kind, noble Sapnap (who legit began some good 60% of the conflict, canonically) tried to stop the villains and that's why the war began. Also Dream was completely innocent, super lenient, did NOTHING (word for word transcription, btw) and actually didn't want to be a leader! (again factually untrue, bonus points for contradicting OP while saying they agree)

BONUS 3: A commenter expressed how as an abuse victim, the apologism going on made them uncomfortable only for the poster to ignore the person's concerns and talk about literally anything else than the implications of the post (it actually happened with 3 different people, I kid you not)

BONUS 4: "Anime taught me that the villain is just misunderstood."

I'm just wondering how we can watch the same streams and still come to such different conclusions. Especially such wrong ones. I knew that the apologists were a messy bunch, but this is actually concerning.

[redxblueihateloveyou]

I'm surprised people see Tadashi as the victim in his relationship with Ainosuke, when it's Tadashi the one who time and time again takes away Ainosuke's agency, without being able to see that he is throwing him unto unhappiness. I can't help but think that if Tadashi was not working at Shindo's house, Ainosuke would have maybe left or broke with the family. But he can't do that if he wants the relationship with Tadashi going on, seing how Tadashi is set on enforcing the family rules...

Hmm.. I def agree with the fact that Tadashi is not what most fandom makes out of him, my man (I mean, Adam’s man) is a 100% Slytherin. But I disagree with blaming him for this, after all the revealed info. The environment they were both raised in made their situation complicated.

I like Tadashi a lot, he’s probably my fav thing about this anime, bc he’s a dark horse, and I’m once again surprised, that so little ppl see him for who he really is, portraying him as an innocent puppy, which he is definitely not.

Now to why I think both Tadashi and Adam are victims of the dad and aunties in this situation. 

We can of course say “if only they told each other how they really feel...”, but like we can say it about any love story really. Every author knows it’s no fun. The truth is that yes, they both hurt each other, and yes, if they were honest about their feelings things would’ve been different, but as I’ve already wrote under that “toxic” commentary on YT, lets look at the whole situation from both of their point of views:

We know that Adam when he was little always treated Tadashi as an equal, he never ever thought of him as someone lower than him and after their fall out, the only reason for this “harsh” treatment (well, besides their confirmed kink) was that Adam tried to get a reaction out of him, so Tadashi would stand up for himself, bc Ainosuke got mad about Tadashi caving to his dad’s wishes and abandoning him, when he needed him the most. 

But now, knowing the fact that Tadashi was his dad’s secretary and was under his control, let’s see it from his perspective: Tadashi wanted to stay by Adam’s side, Adam’s dad implied that if Tadashi did say smth, he’s gonna be.. well, dismissed and they won’t see each other ever again. That’s what caused Tadashi to stay silent in that moment. Ainosuke instead saw this as a “he’s not on my side” thing, well, because. Tadashi won’t tell him his problem, bc dad and aunties control everything, so even if he does tell him, what a teen would do really? He didn’t have any powers back then to make his dad do anything. 

And that’s when it all gone to shit, since they both were hurt for their own reasons. It’s easy to say leave the family, but 1stly nobody explained to Adam still that he’s physically and psychologically abused by his family, he sees it as them “loving him” and sadly also loves them, bc nobody told him, that love wasn’t supposed to be like that really. He definitely feels that smth is not right and feels emotionally exhausted there bc of this treatment, but did he ever consider leaving? I really don’t think so. He feels obligated to be worthy of a family, who “loves” him.

Do you think, for example, that Akashi Seijuro hates his dad for what he did to him? No. Does he understand that he wasn’t at fault for what happened to him and that his dad instead of comforting his child after his mother’s death, who was his only safe haven, made everything worse? I don’t think he does. Like his mom gave him basketball, an escape from all that family’s obligations and strictness. After her death, it was the only thing left that brought him joy, but his dad ruined even that, saying that if he’s gonna be bad at it/lose, he’d take it away from him too. Does Akashi see this as emotional abuse? No, he sees it like “well, I have to be the best bc I was born in such powerful family, so if my dad says that I must be best at everything, then I must.”

I personally hate such parents a lot. To me it doesn’t matter if Adam’s dad didn’t know about aunties hitting his child. Like if he was too busy to notice this and have no time for his kid and made his childhood miserable, it doesn’t make it any better really. 

Same as with Akashi’s dad. Some are like “he was probably also grieving about his wife”. Emm? He was like this from the beginning, bc he treated Akashi not as his son, but as his heir. And yes, that’s different things. Same with Endeavor and Todoroki. Your child is not your post production thing.

2ndly they were too young, even if they knew about each others feelings and he didn’t feel obligated and told everyone to fuck off, they’d be on the streets now, but also Adam’s dad doesn’t seem like a guy who’d leave them alone really. Also eloping seems very romantic, but I don’t think it is, esp when you’re teens. Did you want him to sell some expensive watch and go live on Hawaii or smth? Bc finding a decent job there would be difficult at this age, esp with everyone knowing who your dad is. Chen Ke from “Antidote” survived bc he was 27 and had connections and some great friends. Adam was in high school, where would he go exactly?

Now let’s go back to now. Obviously all this time it didn’t even cross Tadashi’s mind that for Ainosuke he comes first and that he would throw everyone under the bus to make Tadashi stay with him. As we see at the end, he legit believed that Adam was planning to send him to jail and didn’t get that he said it just to shaken he up and that he knew who he’d set up for this from the beginning. 

To Adam obviously it doesn’t matter whether they’re in a quarrel or not, he would never him go. Yes, he’s mad at him, he’s angry and hurt, but Tadashi’s still the person he needs the most, he’s still the person who brightens his days, even tho he deliberately behaves like he annoys him. He always looks at him and looks at him and looks at him, but then hisses smth to hurt him. Bc he knows that he needs him, but he also hates that he needs him, bc he thinks it’s unrequited.

And that’s how their classic romance goes in hellish circles. No one wants to talk as usual. Adam is mad Tadashi is like that bc his dad turned him into a slave with no opinion, while Tadashi is scared that Adam would be taken away from him bc of his ugly family. 

Now I still think that no one and I mean no one can take Tadashi from Adam now, he is his precious. So my plan is... if Tadashi made aunties do smth against him or to get rid of him, aunties will go for sure. The problem is Tadashi still doesn’t get that he comes first, so we’re stuck in this hell still.

So anyways, my point is Adam’s heart basically sings “you got a hold of me, don’t even know your power” to Tadashi, but he doesn’t hear it, bc of his insecurities, the way he was raised and his status. But yes, he holds all the power. He’s both Adam’s sanity and insanity. No matter how cheesy it sounds he was basically his only ray of sunshine in the darkness, if you take it away, that’s what it leads to, that’s why Ainosuke-sama needs more ppl who care for him. I don’t want anyone to die next time, just cause Tadashi and Adam fought about where to put their new couch lmao. I’m kidding, but you know what I mean. And kill the aunties, pls seriously, we need to be free.

Also ppl need to remember that like lots of animes/characters are parcially inspired by some other animes/characters, also the chosen seiyuus are also very important, there are lots of stuff like jokes and references, that creators use, from characters being fully inspired by smth like “Assassination classroom” characters based on KNB, to little stuff like Levi dressed in Akashi’s uniform in chibi AOT bc Hiroshi Kamiya. Utsumi already said before stuff like she sometimes think of a perfect voice for the character and then fully forms him, we also know her clear love for sports animes. So yes, I doubt Tadashi/Kuroko thing is a coincidence and even tho someone was like “zone? is this knb or smth?” I was like no, zone is actually a common thing in sports, even tho most associate it with KNB including me, it’s not like its their invention, but there were things inspired by this for sure, and from other sports animes too and no, I don’t mean the basic sports anime tropes, I mean, like way too specific things, some character designes, too. And yes, Langa appearence and personality wise is a rinharu child for real, I can literally split his scenes in “that’s Haru”, “that’s Rin”.

That’s why I’ve said that this situation in fandom reminds me of Kuroko/Akashi situation a lot, bc same as here in KNB ppl for some reason automatically thought that Kuroko is this innocent sheep and Akashi is the wolf (but also like it was Akashi who chose to dress as red riding hood, while Kuroko was a wolf lmao), not even seeing who is in reality more dangerous and who can easily control who. It just buffles me bc it’s not some deep analisys really. I mean once again there’s a reason for the saying that the sub holds all the power over the dom. 

And like just bc someone yells or threatens ppl constantly doesn’t necessarily mean he is a psycopatic killer, and just bc someone is quiet and doe-eyed, doesn’t mean he isn’t. I didn’t think we needed to explain this to someone, but aparently we do?

And it honestly kills me just how superficially ppl are watching things these days. It really gives me war flashbacks to stuff like the last mdzs s1 episode, where ppl started to comment things like “how LZ can be so heartless” lmao. Or that anonymous ask “do you think haru misses rin?”. Like you don’t see thing at all? Grey substance no needed, while watching things?

P.S. I also would die to see Adam vs Tadashi race just bc I for some reason can bet all my money, that it’s the same situation as with Akashi refusing to ankle break Kuroko, no matter how mad he is. I just can’t imagine Ainosuke hitting Tadashi in the face with a board. Like 100% sure he wouldn’t even try tbh.

[sukirichi]

— 💌 ; a love letter from @kyriaan

long post below regarding broken records. cw includes adultery, physical assault, toxic relationships, broken records spoilers, and mature content

[ from the ask ] BROKEN RECORDS ; track 005

Okay! I finally had time to actually sit down and properly read chap 5 cause ill be damned and burned if i dont pay special attention to one of my favorite series here! Rather drown or be sting by bees slowly 😒

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙃 I for the first time don't even know where to start so allow me to be all over the place cause my emotions are also all over the place with this chapter ✌️

Ill start by y/n's dad caN GO FUCK HIMSELF? Like okay sir you might have fallen in love with our mom (ill give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his feelings) BUT SIR YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN HONEST? FROM THE BEGINNING? ALSO BRUH YOU KIDDING ME??? SIR YOU LEGIT ABANDONED YOUR OTHER DAUGHTER AND THEN YOU PROCESS TO 'LEAVE US' I- YOOOOO I WOULD BITCH SLAP HIM I SWEAR!!

Also ALSO ILL SCREAM FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK NO KID HAS EVER TO BE BLAMED FOR BEING BORN!! Y/n mom's line: 'we have to atone for our sins' its legit BULLSHIT it wad NOT y/n fault her DAD COULDNT KEEP HIS DICK INSIDE HIS PANTS NOR ITS Y/N FAULT THAT HER DAD CHEATED!!! ATONE FOR OUR SINS MY ASS!! the father is the one that has to take responsibility for all this shitty situation we do NOT nor any kid out there in this situation has to be taken accountable by this!!

And now Suna 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 bruh im just gonna cry... Everything he does just makes me heart swell i feel so cozy when i read his parts like how sweet and present he is I- bruh I never had that... Actually seeing y/n breaking up with him when shes clearly falling in love with him just breaks me cause Girl for real Suna would be there for you... I get it shes afraid and shes acting on that fear but girl... Pls he truly loves you deeply not everyone is like your dad. There are happy endings. There are good people Sunas one of them pls 🥺🥺🥺 also MY LOVE TSUMU BEING A SUPPORTIVE FRIEND EVEN THO SUNA GOT THE GIRL BRUH TSUMU I FUCKING LOVE YOU MY CHILDISH YET ADORABLY SMUG BOY 😭😭😭😭😭

Nagisas a bitch btw ✌️ so far i see no redemption not excuse in what she did so far. I get her reasons but that does NOT excuse her behavior. She has to lash out at her cunt of a dad not at a innocent woman who was also a victim all along. Nor even her half sister. I get her mentality behind this but doesnt excuse her behavior at all- its basically the same as being a victim from a bully and playing bully after aswell.

Overall YOU MADE ME CRY AGAIN SUKI! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS BUT ALSO UGH MY HEART SUKI!

[ from suki ] 

BROKEN RECORDS IS UR FAVE SERIES??? babe pls you’re gonna me cry !! nah nah fr his dishonesty caused all this mess. YEAHA SAKLAA tbh I love mama lucy but her words of ‘atoning for their sins’ or her mindset of ‘we don’t deserve to be happy when we’ve hurt others’ really messed up YN. she was only 21 and vulnerable with all the shambles happening in her family + the sudden assault from nagisa, that when her mother said those words, she struggled to let go of it. to her, it became like a final verdict that dictated how she lived her life.

SUNA URGHHH PLEASE GIVE SUNA A CHANCE HE HAS PURE AND GOOD INTENTIONS BUT I CANT BLAME HER EITHER AHSJAKA. and the comparison of nagisa being a bully’s victim only to become the next bully is true. nagisa should lash out at their shitty excuse of a father. ALSO AAAAHH THE NEXT CHAPTER (007) IS WORSE AHSJKAAL

[ from the ask ] BROKEN RECORDS ; track 005

I know shins attractive I mean mans perfect?? Does he even have any flaw?? And the way he cried when he got his jersey MYGOD FHDHFHFJSKS but I still look at him and im like.... Hmmmm nah i wouldnt date him its just not my... Do i dare say type? Cause i dont think i have a type ghfhfisofbd but like I just 🧍‍♀️

I love him i just dont love him i guess

The makeout scene tho ill give you that 🥵🥵🥵 made me bark (i would still walk out next day like was a good fuck kita byeeee🚉🏃‍♀️💨)

... More drama regarding mari... And you said this will have like 10 chapters... And from 8 on will be angsty.... 🙂 *traumatized noises*

[ from suki ] 

YUUHHH KITA IS PERFECT HERE AHSJKAA IDK MAYBE ITS MY SIMPING FOR NAOYA CONVERTED TO KITA ALREADY BEING PERFECT AS HE ALREADY IS AND I AMPED IT UP BCOS THE SIMP MODE IS ACTIVATED AHSKAA. the make out scene !! pls sir i’m on my knees spare some love in ur heart AAAAAAHHHHHH. also. i assure you. businessman! kita got game. he’s gonna make you walk funny if you give him the chance HSJKA

yeah i just finished writing the outline for track7 right now and the drama is HSJKAA it gave me a headache sobs 

[ from the ask ] BROKEN RECORDS ; track 006

I want to give you my usual thoughts on the new chapter and at the same ahm...

I just saw myself on Suna... Deeply....and it kinda slapped me harder than i was expecting...there were too many things from him giving himself to mari/treating her like he wants to be treated... To deleting his best friend from social media thanks to his girlfriend... And it really hurt me ahah..

I would vent but.. Yeah

But yes this chapter i saw myself in suna and i had to take quite the long breaks cause it was getting to me 😅😅😅 also if anything i learned from my experiences is that MARI SCREAMS RED FLAGS and even Osamu can see that pls

I would honestly end Mari there, i wouldnt even bother to just retort i would walk my way into to the damn apartment and fucking take Suna for myself cause Mari does not deserve him. Shes manipulative, and in a way abusive.. Not allowing him to keep contact with his best friend his a total redflag and o know its because Suna had feelings for y/n and vice versa but Suna never gave het a reason to distrust him.

The moment he said he was best friends with y/n and was single she immediately clinged himself to him and for what? To then dump him like he was trash...

He gave himself to her, he proved he was there for her he even took her back this boy deserves the fucking world and its not Mari...

I kinda want to say it's not y/n at this point either cause the way she broke his heart was kinda the same Mari did.. Y/n disregarded his feelings and just broke it up.. Mari disregarded his feelings abd broke it up... But y/n stated from the very beginning that she would eventually break up Mari just shrugged and didn't care so i can in a way forgive y/n i cant forgive mari

Besides y/n was supportive from the beginning while Mari was obsessive and controlling.

Another really insanely well written chapter as usual (albeit this one making me ball my eyes off harder because yeah) but yes~ eagerly waiting for the next one~

Take your time tho 😌🙌

Mari can go fuck off 💗💓💞💕❣️❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💯💝💖💋💅

Suna x y/n pls

Y/n deserves to have a healthy love life with someone she loves (hence why npt Kita) and loves her back

And Suna deserve the fucking world and be treated right

[ from suki ] 

NAHHHH cuz when you said suna was treating mari the way he wanted YN to treat her... that’s right. on point. they’re all so complicated sobs. MARI IS A WALKING RED FLAG THAT OSAMU CAN SMELL FROM A MILE AWAY. ALSO yes mari is manipulative and borderline possessive when it came to suna. like yeah, let’s be real, she could tell a long time ago that suna was in love with YN and it made her insecure / jealous, but the whole time, YN kept her distance. she was supportive over their relationship from afar as to make mari comfortable. suna also did everything he could to make sure she was well cared for. for three years, he was focused on her and only her. he gave love a second chance despite being brokenhearted. suna never mari a chance to doubt because he, too, was sure he could be happy with her.

until mari left him.

and now suna is back with YN because they will always have each other. but honestly,,,if we think about it, if mari never broke up with suna or at least gave him the chance to explain himself - if mari didn’t do the exact thing YN did to suna years ago - he honestly would’ve been really happy with mari. they were going well. like yeah mari has always been toxic by pushing suna’s boundaries and asking him to unfollow his own best friend on social media, but he did it anyway. because he trusted their relationship. he wanted the best for them. 

also yeah, the parallels between mari and YN were intentional !! 

HEHEHEHE THE KITA X YN SHIP everyone loves them im so happy about that bcos kita is so amazing in my eyes. PREACH FOR THAT THO !! SUNA DESERVES THE BEST. SUNA DESERVES TO BE TREATED RIGHT. HE DESERVES THE WORLD AND SO MUCH MORE

thank you for taking the time to send me this, kya, it means a lot to me and it motivates me to work harder on the future chapters !! <33

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

Grisly, Grim and a Fucking Delight: Feedback Review

TRIGGER WARNING: Torture, rape, daytime radio DJs. Don’t blame me, that’s just what’s in the movie.

Wow. Wow and a half. Wow and a half between two slices of thick white whoa. What a fucking movie. I’d say something like ‘they don’t make ‘em like that any more’, but they clearly do, because Feedback only came out a few years ago. I am astonished that I didn’t hear about it until tonight. You see, I was looking for an epic, slow-burn thriller to watch with my girlfriend and glamorous assistant, and I came across this little British movie about a radio talk-show host getting trapped in his studio when a bunch of masked psychos invade the premises. “Neat!” I thought upon reading the synopsis and watching the advert. “It’s Diehard but without schlubby, sarcastic Brits instead of overblown yanks.” As it turns out, I was wrong. Feedback is not an enjoyable but ultimately inconsequential gas pocket of a movie: it’s actually one of the most tense, conceptually horrifying and incendiary pieces of cinema- nay, Cinema with a capital C- that I’ve ever had the good fortune to witness. The more I think about it, the more impressed and enamoured I become. Unfortunately, in order to explain why, I’m going to have to spoil the whole freaking thing. For those of you who actually watch movies based on my recommendations (which would be, maybe, like two of you?) I’ll give you a nice non-spoilery recommendation right now: the acting is on-point, the plot is serpentine but not in a pretentious way, every prop and narrative element is used to maximum effect, the atmosphere gets tenser and tenser without ever letting you catch your breath and it’s exactly as long as it needs to be: there’s nothing missing and not an ounce of spare meat on it. It’s a lean, nasty predator of a movie and, if you let it, it will pin you down and rip out your jugular. I’ve only ever described one other movie as ‘transcendent’- a little psychological horror called The Perfection. Well, Feedback gets that exact same sticker but for completely different reasons. If you’re going to watch it- and you should- stop reading this review right now and go do it. It’s amazing.

And now for the spoilers. Consider this more of an analysis than a review. You see, the film reveals early on that the masked psychos invading the studio aren’t just randos with a political or philosophical axe to grind. They have beef with the radio host (whose name is Jarvis, incidentally. You don’t see enough Jarvises, either in real life or in movies. It’s a fun name and grossly underused, but I digress). You see, they think Jarvis’s friend raped a woman, killed another woman and beat the shit out of her boyfriend… and they think Jarvis knows all about it and may even have been involved. They force Jarvis to extract a confession from his friend early on and then kill him live on air, meaning that the rest of the film is devoted to a battle of wills between them and Jarvis as they try to force him to admit complicity, again live on air. Along the way, it’s also revealed that they aren’t just crusaders: they’re survivors of the incident and relatives thereof. Now, from the moment all these pieces were in place, I watched with an expectation of being disappointed. You see, I thought I knew what I was watching: Jarvis is visually and linguistically coded as am older slightly privileged but spiky elitist, so in most movies made after 2010 he’d automatically have been the bad guy (fuck me but do ageing white movie directors love to pretend they’re ‘woke’), while the people attacking him are visually and linguistically coded as youngish (except in one case) and victims, meaning that, in most movies, they would automatically be the good guys (hey, everyone loves an underdog, right?). I assumed I was watching one of those films. You know the ones I mean. One of those oh-so-clever ones that gets you to connect with and root for a character then reveals that he’s a shit-bag and punishes him and- by extension- you the viewer for taking his side. That was clever once, but I’ve now seen it on at least eight separate occasions, and it’s become trite. It’s particularly irksome because the victim-coded characters always get a free pass for their own shenanigans: they can murder, torture, brutalise and dehumanise but it’s always okay because something bad once happened to them. Frankly, I thought that’s what I was in for. Luckily. I was super wrong. That’s like regular wrong, only sexier and with sharper graphics.

You see, Feedback is way too smart to go for a black-and-white good-victims-versus-evil-central-character narrative. Instead, it’s a film about dehumanisation… or is it? You’ll see what I mean. In order to force Jarvis to admit complicity, his assailants don’t just fuck with him and his friend: they straight-up murder an innocent bystander and threaten to murder someone close to the protagonist. They hurt and do terrible things to Jarvis and the people around him, using torture methods that would make fucking ISIS throw up its hands and go ‘steady on, bruv’. They have a version of events that they’re convinced of but have only one unreliable character’s word for and Jarvis has a version of events that they refuse, point-blank, to believe. Jarvis’s story does begin to alter, but it’s never really apparent if he’s actually done something or if he’s just saying he has in order to keep the people around him (and himself) alive. Meanwhile, the ringleader of the little troop trying to extract a confession from Jarvis might be victim, but it also becomes apparent that she’s an unhinged psychopath intent on spilling as much blood as possible for her own personal sense of satisfaction and has as much interest in justice as a black hole has in the history of the stars it swallows up. Hooray! Some fucking moral ambiguity in a movie! I thought the entire industry had just forgotten how to fucking do that!

Much to my delight, Feedback doesn’t stop there. Merely by forcing the audience to make up their own minds about what they think happened and who’s actions are most justified, Feedback is already introducing a level of sophistication alien to modern cinema. But then it goes one step further by also subverting narrative expectations. You see, in a bleak, introspective, what-monsters-are-we-all flick like this, you expect the antagonists’ plan to succeed: you expect the last shot to be of the protagonist broken by the moral blankness of his reality, sitting in the wreckage of his life, unsure of whether he deserves what has happened to him or not. And that would have been a perfectly acceptable way to end this movie. But it doesn’t end like that. Because Jarvis is that rarest of things: a competent and determined dude. He’s not a superhuman. He doesn’t have special training. The flick doesn’t turn into an action movie or anything ridiculous. Jarvis just refuses to accept the bullshit happening to him and systematically works through every possible strategy to extricate himself without caving and admitting culpability that he doesn’t feel. He tries reasoned negotiation. He tries subduing one of the assailants temporarily and using them as a bargaining chip (the minimum necessary force approach), he tries escape and, finally, when all else fails, he uses a combination of psychology, surprise and familiarity with his environment to fight back with lethal force. It’s a considered, intelligent approach and, because his assailants aren’t organised terrorists just ordinary people who may (or may not) have a legit grievance with him, it succeeds and- to cut a long story short- he kills all of them in incredibly satisfying ways. There’s a bit involving a smug, I-can-be-as-evil-as-I-like-because-I’m-a-victim character getting skewered with a pair of scissors that instantly outranks anything in the Saw or Friday the 13th franchises as one of my all-time favourite movie kills (outright all-time favourite still goes to that bit in John Wick 3 with the really creative use of a library book, but that’s off topic).

During the climatic scenes of the movie, Jarvis screams his confession, but- as I said- it might only be a tool to distract his attackers and gain the upper hand while preserving the lives of the people he cares about. Equally, though, it might not. There’s a coldness to the character at the end of the film that wasn’t there at the beginning. Has he just been changed by the trauma of recent events, or are we seeing the facade drop away to reveal the true face of ruthless monster? And here lies the film’s final genius: not only doesn’t it answer this question (ambiguity for the win!) it also seems to suggest that the answer might not matter. Jarvis didn’t prevail because he was innocent- though he might be. His attackers didn’t fail because they became as bad as the thing they sought to fight (though they did). Victory and defeat aren’t defined by moral superiority. The film doesn’t assign winners and loser based on ethical or philosophical standpoint. Jarvis wins because he knows what the fuck he’s doing and his attackers are a bunch of overemotional quarter-wits with a half-baked plan that they can’t even stick to because they get too worked up. Survival, Feedback reminds us, has everything to do with being good at things, and fuck all to do with just being good. At every turn, the film tries to convince us that it has a moral point to make. Characters talk endlessly about truth and lies, justice and injustice… but in the end, it’s all smoke and mirrors. The film doesn’t have a central moral thesis (or, if it does, it’s a profoundly nihilistic one). Its real subjects are survival and will. It’s a study of what happens when two packets of brutal, remorseless determination meet eachother coming in opposite directions. It’s a dissection of the self-preservation instinct and its only real moral is ‘don’t fuck with a smart, grimly determined guy on his home turf if all you have to bring to the table is a short fuse and a big hammer’. Maybe that shouldn’t be refreshing, but in a cinematic landscape where every movie is determined to plant its flag on one side or the other of the political or ethical spectrum, it really fucking is. The fact that it gets you to think about ethical issues and who you believe on route elevates it, but the core of the film- the thing that makes it solid- is that refreshing element of nihilism. Breathe it in, folks: we don’t get many movies like this very often.

[sepublic]

i think blaming grace for putting simon in the pit at all is a stretch. it's more like they tripped into the pit *together* because they were both children with an equal lack of misinformation about the train. the difference is that grace built a ladder and climbed out, and then simon refused her offer of the ladder & kept digging.

           That is a fair point. I guess you could say that Grace was technically responsible for getting them into the pit… But you can’t REALLY blame her for it, because she was a child acting on zero context and desperately trying to figure stuff out, and working with what she had. Unfortunately, what Grace had wasn’t much, and it came from a pretty toxic person and non-role model like Amelia. So to add onto the analogy, Grace was working with what little clues and evidence she could scrounge up, and made a reasonable conclusion/guess on what to do next, the best idea of where to go… But like anyone else, she’s not perfect and neither are her circumstances. She and Simon tripped into the pit because based on what Grace saw, that seemed to be the best course of action… But Grace, ever-vigilant to learn about her situation, was willing to listen to what Amelia and others had to say and correct her about, and realized she was going down the wrong path.

          Simon, alas, wouldn’t listen to Grace and put too much blame onto her, for a decision that while it DID harm them both in the end, ultimately seemed very reasonable to Grace at the time and was a genuine, innocent mistake that anyone else would’ve made. Simon assumed a lot more malice from Grace leading them into the pit, than was actually there… And that’s assuming there was any malice, to begin with! Grace was acting for what she legit thought was the best, she wasn’t trying to actively mislead Simon or herself either, it’s worth noting she went down that path/pit hand-in-hand with Simon… She didn’t set him up to be a sacrificial scout, that was Simon who subjected himself to a victim complex. And, like you said- Simon also agreed with Grace as well, and contributed to/supported her conclusions. He admittedly had some culpability in his own mess, not that Simon would ever acknowledge this it seems.

[iggy-of-fans]

Of Being a Ladybug part 2

So, Paris is about 6 hours ahead of Metropolis . So if Marinette sent the message at say… 8 pm, and Jagged got it at 9 because he was at dinner, then getting lawyers straightened out and all that ...say Marinette starts school at 10 am, then it would be approximately 4am in Metropolis. It would be a 7 hour flight, meaning she'd leave at noon on Monday, and arrive at 2am on Tuesday. 

The cons of being a reporter. 

TUESDAY 2AM Paris 

Lois was as excited as she was exhausted. Paris! She'd always wanted to go to Paris. As her taxi drove her past the Louvre and she could see the Eiffel tower in the distance, she couldn't help but remember the call she received yesterday. 

"I know it's early, Lois, but I have a job for you in Paris" Bruce said from the other line. 

"I'm listening." 

"The satellites from the Tower have been picking up irregularities. Burning buildings, the Eiffel Tower toppled or completely missing, then the next pass everything is normal. Hal even claims he saw a giant baby on cams once. I've gone over all the pictures of the last year, a couple of weeks ago there… I can't explain it. I'll send you the images and we'll try to find a believable cover story for going in the middle of the school year like this"

"I understand, thank you Bruce. I'll book the earliest flight I can." Burning buildings? The Eiffel tower toppled? Nothing had been said in the news. If something on a grand scale like that were happening, they would already know. 

"Thank you, Lois. I will of course pay for your accommodations while there," Bruce offered. A consolation for sending her around the globe for film effects. 

She barely got a "thank you" out, before he hung up. She flopped back onto the bed, Clark raising an eyebrow at her. Of course he'd heard both sides of the conversation, so he obviously had his own opinion to share. 

"Well? What do you think?" she asked him. If Clark gave it some weight, she might take it more seriously. 

"A video was sent by the Mayor of Paris about a year ago, asking for help because his city was being overrun by stone monsters and their only hope lay with a couple of kids. I watched it and it looked like some cheap special effects and deleted it like the other publicity stunts people pull. Diana was the one to notice the inconsistencies with the Eiffel tower, and she swears she saw a couple kids flying on rooftops. It's why Bruce started investigating. But he has no reason to be in Paris at all, since Wayne Enterprises doesn't have an hq there, and he wants to save that excuse for if there IS any trouble. Anyways, try to enjoy your little vacation while you're there" Clark smiled. 

"... Does Bruce know the mayor called for Justice League intervention?" Lois asked slowly. This… Was… Not… happening. 

"No? I mean, just some publicity stunts, Lois. We get 20 of them a day" Clark dismissed. Lois was beyond words so she got up and started packing, and turned on her civilian phone to call for a flight. Before she could get dialing she got a call incoming. 

"Penny? Is everything okay? WHAT? YES! Of course I do! That's huge! Yes, let me just call my boss…. Oh? Oh wow! Thank you! Yes, I'll see you tonight… Or I guess tomorrow for you…yes. I understand. Thank you" Lois couldn't believe her luck. She grabbed her JL phone and called Bruce. 

"Bruce! I've got a cover! I've been asked by an old college friend to interview her client and a few others on Parisian TV. Yes, totally legit, she just called me… Penny Rolling. Yes, yes Bruce! I will keep my eyes open. Did you know the Mayor tried to call for JL intervention a year ago? No? Clark told me there was a video but thought it was a publicity stunt. Maybe try to find it and give me a heads up… okay… Thank you Bruce. That'll be perfect! I'll get to the bottom of this… Okay, thank you."

Finally done with the update she rushed to call the airline. 

" NOON?!"

Before she could take in the breathtaking view any longer, the cab stopped. Lois paid the fare and stepped out and looked up. It was a beautiful hotel, owned by Mayor Bourgeois. The cabbie was loading her bags onto a trolley with a Bellhop waiting stoically by the doors. Just as Lois went to inquire about Penny, the door opened and out she came. 

"You cut your hair!" Lois exclaimed, giving her friend a hug and a LA Bise. 

"You, my beautiful ginger, are late! Had you arrived a few hours earlier you would have had quite the show!" Penny said with a smile. She'd always been jealous of Lois's hair. 

"It's Paris, Penny. How exciting could it possibly be?" Lois asked jokingly, wondering just what her visit here would truly reveal. 

I was going to end it here, but I believe I owe you all an action scene 😉 

MONDAY 10AM PARIS

Ladybug flew over buildings in the direction of the explosions. She really wished she'd had a chance to see the classroom before leaving to see if she would have to once again go up against Alya. Or Lila. 

Maybe if she was lucky it would be another unfortunate soul altogether. One she hopefully didn't know personally. Because it was starting to really take a toll on Ladybug, every time she came face to face with a friend or loved one. 

Before she was ready she was at the scene. And she was shocked. The Akuma of the day was a barely visible outline of a woman. She had a flowy garment on and only became visible when she touched a person. The person would immediately admit to bad deeds, anything from finishing the ice cream container to more horrible crimes. 

Ladybug watched as a couple hid behind a vehicle to escape the fate, only for the akuma to lift and throw the car, one handed, into another vehicle, creating another explosion. The akuma drifted ghost like towards the couple and became fully corporeal as she touched them, first the man ("I tapped your phone! I hated how much time you spent always going out!" he blurted out) then the woman ("I  can't stand being with you!" she screamed back). Ladybug swallowed. This was not good. A non corporeal being with the strength of ten men and the ability to… Spill secrets? Ladybug wasn't sure, but didn't want to get too close before she had the full story. She went to grab her yo-yo to call Chat, only for him to pop up, baton swinging. 

"What have we here? Another scary movie victim?" Chat asked, drawing all eyes to them. Ladybug wanted to scream. Or toss him off the building. Once! Just. ONCE! 

"I… am Guilty Conscience. That voice that should tell you not to do bad… It Is too quiet in most people's heads. So therefore I shall make you scream your misdeeds to the world. No longer shall there be hiding behind white lies for innocence" the ghost whispered, yet to Ladybug she may as well have screamed. 

"Che, you're out of your league! I have a picture perfect record!" Chat smirked, ever brash and fearless. Without a second thought, he jumped off the building towards the ghostly form. And just as Ladybug predicted, went right through her. She did not become solid upon contact with a human unless she so chose to. Great… 

"Chat! Fall back, we need a plan!" Ladybug called, stepping back from the roof and readying her yo-yo. 

"Just lucky charm her and we can go out for coffee!" Chat yelled back, swinging his baton uselessly through GC. Ladybug shook her head. She was almost 90% sure they'd need more backup. 

"Lucky Charm!" she cried, throwing her yo-yo high. Down fell a teapot. Back up it is, she sighed. 

"Chat! Fall back, I'm going for backup!" she called out again. 

"Awe, but M'lady, I thought I was the only one you needed in your life!" she was sure he thought he sounded charming. She cringed. 

"Not now Chat. I'll be back in a while, keep her from following me but keep your distance. No need to waste your energy for now." 

Had she looked down, or paid more attention to her surroundings, she may have seen Lila hiding in an alley not far from the akuma. She may have noticed her trying to follow her. She may even have taken another route to get where she was going. Later she would regret not being more vigilant. 

To be Continued...

Looks like me tag list is officially full. I'll try to send the rest in the comments!

@sidd-hit-my-butt-ham @kuroko26 @northernbluetongue @zelladane @chez-pezeater @luciferge @vixen-uchiha @bluerosette23 @mochinek0 @krunchy-tuna @treebrosha @geekydragonyt @vivilakitty @sassy-spocko @bluefiredemon-blog @mindfulmagics @thornangelic727 @sidefrienda @xxmadamjinxx @thepeacetea @pandocatxd @whomthefyck @lamestplaceintheworld @miraculous-ninja @mikantsume @unabashedbookworm @kandi-pie @2sunchild2 @redsparrow12 @shamefullove @cadencehood @thatonechickathottopic @yin-390 @tazanna-blythe @bb-basbusa @zazzlejazzle @fanfictionaddict13 @royalchaoticfangirl @god-is-dead-and-so-am-i @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @slytherinsheashire @imanerddealwith @tinybrie @angelisalise @graduatedmelon @trickstermiraculous @ayuchan07 @thatrandomfandomsgirl @sweatyruinsstudentbored @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay

[todomitoukei]

Last anon here.

I think you missed the point. I stan for Dabi. I just hope that what Deku said now is the remaining of a mentality which is about to go down.

If there’s any further development of Deku (and if there’s not it sucks, I’ll tell you honestly) I like that he says this on here because that’s the answer society has always provide to them until they were kids: heroes are right, villains are wrong. Period.

Most of all Deku is bound to think like this because his idol almost flawless. Really, he’s all about All Might. He always won. He was always right. Much like any kids who wants to be an hero. Those who went to UA dust that because being an hero was cool , because it’s good to save people etc etc etc.

They never saw this. They never saw a villain cry. They never saw villains who were ruined by circumstances, ignored , abused. They never saw this. And this is the society Dabi wants to destroy. One in which if you’re an hero everything is good.

The proof that Dabi is right lays in what Izuku said. Because let’s be honest: back against Stain, what Iida wanted to do? Arresting Stain?

So it’s not like I’m justifying Deku. I didn’t like Deku. But honestly. He is a kid. He’s into extreme pain. He’s seeing his friend almost burnt alive. What do you aspect? For him to use critical thinking ? Or to go back on what has been drilled into his mind since childhood ?

He’s was born quirkless and not once Deku has reflected on how being quirkless = being discarded. Dabi is doing a wake up call together with this revenge because people think exactly like Deku does. What now , that Deku has a true taste of reality? That’s what I meant.

Having flawed character is good if there’s further development. What’s wrong is that if Deku won’t change his mind about this because All Might wasn’t a rule. He was an exception. And now he’s facing the worst side of society and the bleak side of being an hero. So of course he’s speaking like that. Dabi apparently has no issues in killing them. So as any person he’s looking out for the people he knows instead of a stranger. Because that’s what people do in real life too. And it’s a flaw. It’s not good. But being confronted with reality and how much is wrong is good.

That’s what I meant. I’m not condoning Endeavor’s abuse. I’m not condemning Dabi. But... he’s no hero. Deku has flaws. It’s very human. Believing that villains are bad always is a thin dehumanising process which allows heroes to exists and avoid moral dilemmas. Now Dabi shattered it. If Deku will grow up, it’s good. It’s not , boku no here will be incredibly disappointing. That’s my point

And few of things.

Shoto isn’t one of many words. As happier I meant he has a mother again. He saw his brother Natsuo who “barely calls” and “barely knows him” more often. He’s trying to forgive his father. As happier I meant he’s happier than when he join UA. Because he never mentioned friends or wanting some. He was always distressed and angered. Maybe happier is t a good definition, but Shoto gained more piece and could put his father behind his back living as he wants. This gave Piece to his mind. Deku il even attend a family dinner which most likely Todoroki hadn’t had in years. Of course for ever optimistic Deku this is an incredible improvement.

And about innocents... I hate those topics. Dabi was said to kill people three times: one on screen, one by snatch and one by Toga. 2/3 he killed others villains who either threatened him or who wanted to join the league and he didn’t like. When Dabi said “I killed 30 innocents” I’m ready to put my hands on fire that they weren’t random people or literal innocents. But rather villains. He called them innocents because they were innocents to him. They never did anything to him personally. But guess what ? Snatch hadn’t called them innocents. He talked about “burnt corpse”. Never in Bnha they speak about a madman arsonist who burnt random good people. No news about a scaring man who burnt people alive. Dabi brushes off like “oh they were talking about me? Am i famous ?”

Like hell. How many fire quirk type are in the league? He legit burnt training camp. Snatch went “it must have been you”. He’s not even sure! This makes me think nobody cared. That no further news of being scared was given because , after all, they were villains. Because it always seemed awkward he used 30 innocents as a term. And if I’m right then it means society didn’t care about making a good quest about who this arsonist was. Because no one cares if a villains die right ? So no, I won’t bring up the subject. Because I think this underlined another flaws of their society, and not Dabi’s. Probably his “victims” are even forgotten by now.

I’m aware that his obsession with All Might and his never viewing him in a critical light are part of the problem. And yes, people have flaws, it would be an incredibly boring story otherwise.

Still, so far I have only seen him being shown so many situations that could have made him think more critically, and yet he hasn’t. If he ever does, good for him and maybe I will care then. But until then it’s just annoying, if anything, to constantly have the same situations happen over and over again. At some point, arguments just aren’t enough to justify this. He wants to be a great hero and we are told that this literally is the story of him becoming just that. It’s just that right now he has shown no signs pointing that way. How many more hundreds of chapters until he thinks that hey, maybe there is something wrong with the hero system?

As for Shouto, I’m not saying that he isn’t happier now in comparison to the start of the story. Sure, he has started to build a relationship with his mom, Natsuo, and Fuyumi. Again, though, I just don’t think that the family dinner is proof of this somehow being a healing family considering Natsuo only went for Fuyumi’s sake. Fuyumi only set the family dinner up because she so desperately longs for a healthy family. They all want just that, the problem is they all have their different ideas on what that is and how to get there. They still have to live with the culprit, who still hasn’t had to face any consequences, being around them and being part of their lives.

I do agree that Dabi most likely didn’t actually kill innocent people. I think that was just his way of making himself sound worse than he is in order to reach his goal of ruining Endeavor as much as possible.

Again, I understand the wish for wanting to see the main character of this story actually turn into someone capable of critically thinking about this and being better than those before him. It’s just that it’s hard to care when there are so many more interesting characters who are already able to do just that.

[musical-chick-13]

Melisandre too please

OKAY STRAP IN MY FRIEND BECAUSE I WANT TO SCREAM ABOUT GOT WOMEN TODAY

• Did they live up to their potential? / In what ways was their potential unachieved?

I’m going to stick to the show because, again finished when the books aren’t. So, I really love Melisandre with my whole heart. You know, you have this mysterious woman who easily manipulates a powerful man, but it’s not just a standard femme-fatale I love power kind of thing. She grew up enslaved (at least in book canon, I can’t remember if this was ever mentioned in the show), and she’s in, essentially, a codependent relationship with her religious faith. It’s not for some sort of fake demureness or quest for purity, it’s because she thinks it’s genuinely the only thing she can do to save the world. She’s not a corrupt pastor, she’s an extremist who truly thinks she’s doing the right thing. But she’s not quite a competely-brainwashed, naive young victim, either. Obviously being sold into slavery and trained in the priesthood since forever ago influences her beliefs. But she reflects deeply on the nature of morality and owns up readily to the fact that sometimes she engages in acts of violence in the name of what she believes. It’s not an accident, people’s lives simply come at the expense of her service to R’hllor and faith in the coming of Azor Azai. She balances a very fine line between two extremes of the religious zealot morality spectrum, and I think she does it very well. The one thing I will say is that the show couldn’t seem to make up its mind on whether or not she was a fraud or whether she actually had Special Magic Powers. And not in kind of a “We won’t show you all the details of what happened, judge for yourself if she’s legit” way. They had her whole conversation with Selyse about using potions for desired fire effects, but she gives birth to shadow assassin babies and then literally brought someone back from the dead. If you’re going to make it ambiguous, keep it ambiguous. If not, make a decision and commit to it. Being completely shrouded in mystery; being a complete, unapologetic fraud; and being a supernatural entity entrusted with magic who sometimes misuses it “For The Greater Good” are all much more interesting than flip-flopping back and forth on characterization because you’re afraid to commit to a concept. Also, for some reason, in season 7 her main objective was to bring Jon and Dany together? Why? They should have explained how she got to that point and why she thought it was necessary. Also her death, but I talk about that in the last point.

• How they negatively and positively affected the story.

Positive: She brought Stannis into the story, leading to a discussion about whether or not the concept of justice is born from conformity to rules or a desire to put more good into the world. We are introduced to another religion in Westeros that helps enrich the worldbuilding and leads to a moral compass that is centered so differently from the other characters that it provides a fresh way of interpreting the story’s events and keeps us engaged. We are introduced to Davos aka Onion Dad through her and I love that guy.

Negative: She brought Stannis and Davos into the story, to the point where show Shireen died FOR NO REASON  which COMPLETELY RUINED STANNIS’S CHARACTER IN THE PROCESS. Stannis wasn’t supposed to be The Irredeemable Bad Guy, he was supposed to be another link in the chain that encompassed all of the different ways of looking at morality. Instead, they used his multifaceted, complex relationship with Melisandre to flatten out his characterization, make him the resident Pathetic Game Player We Are Supposed to Laugh At, and ultimately left off all degree of nuance by making him burn a child alive for shock value. I’ll never forgive the show for that. (Also, what with Brienne’s smiting of Stannis, Davos being the All-Around Good Guy and the fact that Mel’s death was so...anticlimactic...we’re also apparently supposed to see Stannis as the one primarily responsible for Renly’s death? Just? Ignoring Mel’s (and Davos’s) part in that? Sounds fake and narratively inconsistent, but okay.)

• What my favorite arc for them is.

-I think, probably after Stannis’s death (how said death came about notwithstanding, see above), when she realizes that she was...wrong? About her faith? She thought she knew how the world was supposed to work, like she had finally figured it out and unlocked some big secret, and then it just wasn’t true at all. And (kind of similar to what I said about Cersei) she has to rebuild herself. She and Davos have reversed their ways of thinking, where Davos believes-maybe not in R’hllor or any god(s), but in the existence of inexplicable and superhuman things-and now he has to convince her. And only then does she (and the audience) learn of her true power. (Which, as I mentioned above, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. Her being a charlatan strikes me as a character choice I would want more in a story I was writing, but I’m not writing these books/episodes, lmao.) Her priorities become more skewed toward “Fighting the White Walkers and making sure whoever Azor Azai is has a world left to save,” which WE LOVE ORGANIC SHIFTS IN PERSONAL MOTIVATION WE REALLY DO Y’ALL

• What I think of their ending.

-Ugh. I don’t think I’ve ever actually talked about this, but her just going, “Well, my goal is done, bye” and then going out into the snow and just laying down to die is...how do I put it...utter bullshit. There was never any true payoff in her ongoing conflict with Davos, no resolution to her (weird, creepy) relationship with Jon or how he felt about her doing awful things but still being the person who brought him back to life, she didn’t even get a moment of dying in service of a cause she believed in (like, for example, Theon, whose ending I also hated but for much more personal reasons that have less to do with narrative structure and more to do with my feelings). She legit just said, “I’m out” and instantaneously died. Also...she, Davos, and Jon have been through a LOT. The fact that there was barely any mention of her or what her death meant save for that one conversation Davos had with Tyrion??? for some reason???? seems like a waste. If someone has been with you through multiple traumatic experiences, it doesn’t matter if you hate them, you’ll have some sort of feelings after they die. Davos never got retribution for Shireen, doesn’t that bother him?? How does Jon feel knowing he owes his life to the killer of an innocent child? How does Davos feel seeing yet another person die right in front of him, but intentionally this time?? *sigh* Emotional through-lines are a thing, people!

• When I wish they had died. / If I think they should’ve died.

-Ultimately, my biggest beef is that there was...nothing I saw in the show that suggested this was how she wanted her story to end. If you’re going to make a character feel hopeless upon resolving a specific problem or tie their entire reason for existing to one conflict, you have to have them talk about it or personally reflect on it? You can’t just stick that on as an afterthought to justify...whatever it was D&D were trying to justify. Melisandre has always had such a complicated relationship with Westerosi morality, and she NEVER got to see any direct consequence of that (and by consequence I don’t even mean, like...punishment or something, I literally just mean a result that happened because of it). She, again, legit just walked in the snow by herself and insta-died. It 100% felt like they just didn’t know what to do with this character so they just scribbled something in so they wouldn’t have to spend any time on her later because they didn’t care about her. (Which, obviously, they’re wrong. I love her and she’s so interesting this is a fact. Shame on you, D&D.) I do think, for her, it makes sense based on her religious ties to kind of...have a last-minute swerve toward penance. Not guilt or redemption, per se, but a way to honor the world she’s trying to save by way of choosing to die through a selfless act. Whether that be sacrificing herself as a distraction for the White Walkers or putting herself in the line of fire (ice?) for Jon because she thinks he'll help heal the world or (my personal favorite) fighting off a White Walker to protect Davos because she has finally come to sort-of understand his nuanced take on morality and that although he has some bad/dark parts, he is genuinely a good man and deserves to make it out alive. Let him have the life that Shireen didn’t get to have. Davos would be SO CONFLICTED because She Did a Good Selfless Thing For Someone Who Wanted To Kill Her But She’s An Awful Person What Do I Think About Good And Evil Now and the introspection would be delicious.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Do you think V8 will have anymore conclusion to Weiss and Whitley's relationship? I think I would like to see maybe the team will eventually have to get back into Atlas and Whitley who might have interim position on the Atlas Council to grant them access (undercover as Ruby would put it) which may result in Weiss and Whitley finally talking and clearing the air and Weiss possibly finally apologising for how she treated Whitley growing up. Just my hopes for V8, Whitley needs some happiness

Hello again Crystal.As much as I would love to see Weissand Whitley legit reconcile for the next volume, the ending of V7 didn’t reallyset up much for what’s next for Weiss’ relationship with her brother. At leastin my opinion. 

While V7CH9 highlighted Whitley running up to his room whileMama Schnee stared behind him in sadness, it’s not to say Weiss was the onesharing a troubled look toward her little brother; showing the slightest tingeof remorse for what her actions might’ve caused for him.

On the contrary, in spite of her own mother coming out of obscurity to ask her to look out for herbrother, Weiss didn’t even try to reach out to Whitley even after being the oneresponsible for placing their father behind bars.

It’s for this reason why I’m starting to think that V8 mightnot show a continuation of Weiss making up with Whitley.

If V7 had ended with Ironwood becoming the primary antagonist to our heroes for the nextseason and V8 was mainly about watching our heroes basically fight Ironwood andhis forces while on the cusp of Salem eventually showing up with her army---thenperhaps we could’ve probably had amoment where…I dunno…Ironwood threatened to use an innocent Whitley Schnee asbait or something along those lines to get our heroes to surrender Penny overthe Atlas Military as she is the new Winter Maiden.

Ironwood using Whitley as a means of getting to Weiss could’vebeen interesting since it could’ve tested Weiss’ feelings towards her brother.Maybe even cause some internal struggle forher given that she was asked to look out for him. Not to mention that Ironwoodusing an innocent member of Weiss’ family as leverage could be a testament tohis heartlessness and how far he’s willing to go to “save Atlas” from Salem.Not to mention that it’s a way to have Winter finally question Ironwood’smorality seeing him bring her own little brother into this when he basicallyhad nothing to do with any of the affairs related to the huntsmen or evenSalem.

That could’ve been something. But like I said, the show didn’treally leave me expecting much from Weiss and Whitley after V7. Don’t get mewrong, I still want to see Whit  become the Huntsman in Weiss’ Snow White storyand help her with his act of choosing to help his sister during a crisis inspite of their rocky relationship being what makes Weiss finally startaccepting her brother into her life.

But at the moment, I can’t really see that happening sincethe show hasn’t done much for Weiss showing even a crumb of interest in herbrother. It’s actually very disappointingif I could be more frank.

I was banking on V7 potentially showing Weiss and Whitleymaking amends, focusing a bit more on their relationship as opposed to theusual---which is her and Winter. And in the end, we didn’t get much on that atall. 

We got the usual. More development for Weiss and Winter’s bond as sisters while Whitley gets left behind...AGAIN. 

As a matter of fact, if you will allow me to go on a little rant here--- I was actually VERY disappointedwith V7CH8 after it first premiered. I’m probably in the minority when Isay this but I didn’t like how the showintroduced Willow Schnee just for the mere sake of having her be the one tohelp Weiss stop Jacques.

Personally, I thinkthat moment should’ve gone to Whitley since, no offence to Mama Schnee as acharacter but…I wasn’t invested in her ties to Weiss since the show did verylittle to previously establish that for me. 

Unlike Whitley, I had no emotionalconnection to Willow Schnee since this wasn’t the other Schnee the MAIN animated seriesfocused on back when Weiss was home in Atlas for V4. 

Sure we got a mention ofWillow in V4 and V5. But that’s the thing. All we’ve gotten from Willow arementions and even when she’s brought up; it’s usually all wrapped up with theSchnee Family Affairs involving Jacques.

Weiss’ relationship with Whit was the one the show primarilygave some focus back in V4 and based on that, I was expecting Whitley to havebeen the one to help his sister with outing Jacques. In my opinion, Whitley would’ve been the more fittingcharacter to out Jacques’ involvement with Watts to Weiss since it wasestablished in V7CH4 that Whitley saw Watts at the manor in the flesh.

Not to mention that the show also highlighted previously backin V4 that Whitley has a tendency toeavesdrop on his father’s conversations inside of his office; as evidencedby the fact that he was the one to inform Weiss of Jacques talking to someone(Ironwood) before her arrival in his office. 

Did Miles Luna---the CRWBY Writerwho wrote V7CH8 forget that little detail about Whit?

Nothing against the fans who love Willow Schnee and feelsorry for her as another tragic victim of Jacques’ abuse--- however; I’m sorrybut it annoyed me how the CRWBY Writers brought her into the story for V7.

I mean I knew we were going to eventually see Willow at somepoint during the Atlas Arc as part of Weiss’ story. However the LAST thing Iexpected was for her to help Weiss with Jacques.

It is such a plot convenience that the very first timeWeiss (and by the extension, the audience) reunites with her mother is insideof her father’s office where she was just casually standing there ready to giveWeiss exactly what she needed to stop her father.

I’m sorry but Willow’s sudden involvement in stopping Jacquesfelt so…random to me. This is acharacter who has practically been an invisible enigma for about three seasonsand the very first time her character appears in the story is for the sakeof pushing the plot with a plot convenience.

A convenience that would’ve probably felt less like such a convenienceif it were done with Whitley. Because unlike Willow, Whitley had more build up.

In my opinion, it would’ve made more sense if Whitley hadbeen the one to give Weiss the information on Watts. Instead of Willow, Whitleyshould’ve been the one waiting for Weiss in their father’s office. 

Instead ofhaving Whit be a brat for most of the episode, imagine if…Weiss had entered Jacques’ office only tofind her brother smugly waiting there for her.

Imagineif…Weiss had managed to sneak into Jacques’ office only to heara familiar “…Hello dear sister” frombehind, turning around to find Whitley seated at Jacques’ desk.

Imagineif…we had a moment of actual tension where Weiss believed that Whitley was going to rat her out to her father---y’knowwatch her get in trouble with him again because in Weiss’ eyes, that’s whatWhitley wants, right? ---harkening back to the way she accused him of the samething back in V4.

Only instead of ratting her out to their father, Whitleysurprises Weiss by doing the unexpected. He tells Weiss about their father’sinvolvement with a “very bad man whovisited their home earlier” meaning Watts. And to further prove his point;especially when Weiss shows doubt in her brother’s integrity, that’s whenWhitley hands Weiss the Scroll with the recording of Jacques’ conversation withWatts.

And when questioned on how he got this information, Whitleycould simply explain to his sister that he got the information from thesecurity cameras; pointing out the detail of how their mother had cameras secretly installedinside their father’s office and all over Schnee Manor, not like she ever daredto actually use them.

And when questioned how Whitley knew about the cameras, hethen went on to further explain that he first heard about the cameras aftertheir mother drunkenly dropped that little titbit as a bold fake threat during one of her and Jacques’ screaming matches (since Jacques yelling at Willow is acommon thing in the Schnee Manor according to V4).

Having Whitley help Weiss instead of Willow would’ve workedso much better in terms of MAIN series canon continuity. You really expect me to believe thatWillow Schnee had cameras installed all over Schnee Manor and the one time shedared to use them was coincidentally when Weiss showed up at the Manor fortheir dinner and just happened to need that information that she just so had. Really?

The only time we see Willow at all in RWBY was just for thesake of committing this one redeeming act which, in my opinion, should’ve goneto Whitley since, as I’ll stress again, HE’S THE SCHNEE WHOSE STRAINEDRELATIONSHIP WITH WEISS HAD MORE FOCUS ON BACK IN V4!!! WHY ARE YOU FOCUSING ONWILLOW---THE CHARACTER YOU BARELY SHOWED IN V4 AND BARELY HAD WEISS CARE ABOUTUNTIL V7?

And please DO NOT tellme about the RWBY DC Comics. 

In my opinion again, the RWBY DC Comics are threeto four years TOO LATE. If theshowrunners SERIOUSLY wanted ME (not speaking for anyone else here but myself)to care about Weiss and her mother, they should’ve established their relationshipa lot better in the actual MAIN animated series instead of waiting years laterafter V4 passed to tell me about this relationship that was practically non-existentin the series until the comics were made.

Apologiesagain but this squiggle meister didn’tcare for Willow Schnee helping Weissespecially since that was the only thing they had her do for this season. Youshaft Whitley to give something he could’ve done to this character that the audiencebarely spent time with before. Really?That’s what you do to my boy?

And what made it worse in my eyeswas having Willow tell Weiss that she should care more about her brother. Letme say that again. WILLOW---THIS CHARACTER WHO WE HAVE NOT SEEN FOR THREE WHOLESEASONS (including the season when Weiss was home in Atlas) AND DID NOT MEETUNTIL THE EIGHTH EPISODE OF V7--- HAD TO TELLWEISS THAT SHE SHOULD CARE MORE ABOUT WHITLEY.

Allow me to explain why I found thatto be pretty crummy especially if you’rea fan of Whitley. It’s basically the same thing that annoyed me about Oscar’streatment in previous volumes.

Instead of having Whitley be the oneto help Weiss and have this one redeeming act spark Weiss reconsidering herrelationship with her brother for herself and come to that realization on herown, you thought it would be better to have this other character that wasbarely in the story tell Weiss to do it.

I’m sorry I didn’t like that at all.And now because of it, I don’t know what’s going to be done next for Weiss andWhitley. I still wish to believe in the potential of these two Schnee Siblingsfinally sharing a good bond with one another. But unfortunately right now, theseries hasn’t given me much to hope for with how they executed things. Sorry tobe a Debby Downer here but that’s how I’m honestly feeling right now as a Whit.

Instead of having my boy commit oneredeemable act that could’ve sparked the road towards him and his sister makingamends; especially coming off of how things were left between them from V4.Instead of taking the more fitting and previously established approach withinthe animated series; what happens?

You gave it to the non-existentmother whose relationship with Weiss your audience has to consult the questionably canonical comics toread about since we all know the MAINanimated series didn’t do much about that beforehand.

…Right. Apologies for the rant but I’mjust REALLY salty about that. Such a missedopportunity for Whitley. 

But then again these are only my thoughts and opinions. Take it as you will. That being said, I guess we’llsee for things go for V8. Maybe that season might surprise us or something.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

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Jared Harris Fest: Without a Trace, Part 1

TITLE: Without a Trace

EPISODE: 202 - “Revelations”

ROLE: Father Walker

SUMMARY: A priest from a poor area of town goes missing after a car accident in the city. He needs to be found quickly because he is in need of a liver transplant, and a donor liver has just become available but can't wait for long.

YEAR: 2003

Honestly, I haven’t heard a word he’s said to Agent Anthony LaPaglia in this opening scene. Too obsessed with the American accent + glasses + patented adorable tooth gap. 

Upon further listening I think he’s trying to do a vague New York-ish accent? Though honestly it’s coming off a little bit more Boston to me (”tired” is “teyeid," for example). A for effort though, sir.  

Our boy’s credit! So proud.

ANYWAY, the plot so far is that Father Walker here is Father Missing Priest’s assistant, and Father Missing Priest was acting normally until recently.

Agent Anthony LaPaglia insinuates that Father Missing Priest was up to no good with a kid:

AGENT ANTHONY LAPAGLIA: Well, since you were working so closely with him, you would know if he was in trouble or felt threatened.

FATHER WALKER: Threatened? By what?

AGENT ANTHONY LAPAGLIA: Parishioner? An angry parent? 

FATHER WALKER: Ah. No.

AGENT ANTHONY LAPAGLIA: Father Walker, in my experience when an adult male goes missing, he’s usually done something to cause it.

Father Walker is not a fan of this idea, as you can tell by his skeptical forehead wrinkles. 

He politely tells Agent Anthony LaPaglia to buzz off so he can go teach communion class.

Plot happens. We find out that Father Missing Priest was informed by his doctor that a liver transplant was his last hope and that he disappeared after being called in by an NYPD precinct to give Last Rites to the victim of a car accident. He also has a mysterious hollow book stuffed with money, so you know that can’t be good.

Now the agents are talking to some teens in the youth group/after school program/what have you when who should walk in but Father Jared Harris Walker!

(I legit got way excited. Yay, he appears MORE THAN ONCE IN THE EPISODE as a guest star!)

The agents ask the teens if they’ve ever seen Father Missing Priest argue with anyone as Father Walker looms benevolently over them.

They appear reluctant to answer, so Agent Anthony LaPaglia asks him to step out of the room.

Then they get me right in my lapsed Catholic feels:

AGENT ANTHONY LAPAGLIA: I don’t think those boys were comfortable talking in front of a priest.

FATHER WALKER: I certainly wasn’t at their age. Were you?

AGENT ANTHONY LAPAGLIA: What makes you assume I was a Catholic?

FATHER WALKER: You have the disillusionment of someone who used to believe.  

OUCH. 

More plot: Father Missing Priest argued with a lady who wants him to stay away from her son. She comes in to talk to the agents and refuses to tell them what they were arguing about but insists Father Missing Priest was not abusing the boy. The agents have a meeting and discover that Father Missing Priest was flying to Fresno, CA regularly and that the money they found in the hollowed out book had traces of meth on it (“...And central California is the meth capital of America”).

THEN!

Father Jared Harris Walker gets to celebrate mass! 

Well, part of mass. He introduces Father Who Cares from a sister church to give a prayer which cues one of the teens from earlier to run out of mass followed by an agent. The teen reveals that he saw Father Missing Priest meet a shady-looking mystery man outside a run-down hotel.

Interesting side note I’ve noticed: almost every priest (except for our fave Father Walker) is shot with their face half in shadow. Here’s the cardinal and Father In-House Attorney:

And here’s Father Missing Priest aka Hector Elizondo:

This episode was filmed in the midst of the Catholic sex abuse scandal, so it makes sense as a narrative choice since shooting a character this way is usually a subtle sign in cinematic language that they’ve got something to hide (yay, my film degree comes in handy for something!).

Plot twist! Father Who Cares is sleeping with the mom who argued with Father Missing Priest. They’re busted at a cheap motel by the agents who were tailing her. OH SNAP!

Father Walker tells Agent Anthony LaPaglia that he and Father Missing Priest had discussed the situation, but he didn’t know the name of the priest involved.

LOOK AT THAT PRECIOUS ANGEL BABY SWEET INNOCENT FACE

On a related cinematography/cinematic language note to earlier, here’s Father Walker talking to Father Missing Priest in a flashback WITH A LITERAL LIGHT SHINING OVER HIS HEAD WHILE SAYING THE WORD “GOD.”

To sum up their convo: Father Walker feels that this is wrong wrong WRONG and Father Missing Priest is all, “Nobody’s perfect. Who am I to judge?” Father Walker is puzzled by this waffling.

Back in the present, Agent Anthony LaPaglia informs Father Walker that Father Missing Priest may have been on and/or dealing meth.

Say what!?

God, HIS SWEET BABY ANGEL FACE in this scene!

I’m DYING.

What’s that you say? Oh, PLOT! Yes. 

Father Walker says there’s no way that Father Missing Priest was on meth - he was with him every day, he’d know. And...

I’m distracted by Jared Harris’s face in this scene again. JAYSUS.

THE OVER THE GLASSES LOOK I CAN’T EVEN

“Father [Missing Priest] believes in grace.”

“Drugs don’t hold a candle to that.”

Final wrap-up bit of plot: agents find an ex-con who was making meth “in a dumpy house outside of Jacksonville” with Father Missing Priest (before he was a priest, natch) twenty years earlier. They got busted; ex-con got caught, Father Missing Priest legged it with their $38,000 in meth money. Father Missing Priest was visiting ex-con in the pen in Fresno on those mysterious trips and helped ex-con settle in the run-down hotel in New York when he got out.

Turns out the car accident where he gave Last Rites to the woman reminded him of the fact that he killed a high school football star in a hit and run when fleeing from the Jacksonville meth lab those many years ago, so he ditched his priestly life and headed to Florida to apologize to the football star’s parents. Father Missing Priest turns down the offer of the new liver that will save his life in order to speak to the parents and “wash this stain from [his] heart.”  

VERDICT: Was not expecting quite so much Jared Harris in this episode! And it was a refreshing change to see him play a precious cinnamon roll of a character (THAT FACE). Three out of five Croziers.