#but it doesnt excuse his actions — first 'cause they were much worse second 'cause his character arc is him realizing he fucked up

[luneemeritus]

Don't get me wrong I'm all for fanfictions where Erik moves on and finds another love for himself, EXCEPT when the author tries to make him an innocent heartbroken puppy and Christine the villain.

Hear me out. I'm number 1 Erik defender and NOT friendly with "Erik critical/hate" folks, and I'm also not fond of Raoul (I dont defend him, he was also bad and never learned anything). But I also DESPISE Christine-hate takes.

Erik was wrong with Christine, since the beginning of their relationship. End. Of. Story. Does that make him evil? No. Does that make him a monstrous abuser? No. Does he have the right to move on and start a new life? Absolutely yes. But he was not the victim on his relationship with Christine, don't make her the villain in his story when it's pretty much the opposite.

While it's true that Erik had a mental breakdown and wasn't intentionally malicious with Christine, he was also shitty and toxic and not good for her. The whole point about Erik's redemption in the ending was that regretted the shit he did, he knew it was wrong, he knew he needed to STOP. Instead of making Christine "the villain that destroyed Erik's feelings and lost her chance with him for someone else", make Erik heal, grow and have a healthier relationship with someone else that won't be hurted by him the way Christine was. And plus, make Erik and Christine make amends and become good friends, letting the past behind. It's so much better for real.

Btw I shipp Erik and Christine but not in a "she was wrong by not choosing him" way, but in a "he learned from his mistakes and became a better man that she deserves" way.

[agp]

cant believe the level of holocaust revisionism im seeing today: 'israel, unlike nazi germany, warns people.' lets not elaborate on what is being warned and dwell for a second about what a warning is. it is a threat. it is an action that suggests the possibility of another, perhaps more violent action.

ive witnessed the glorification of the clarity of these threats increase over the years. but never have i seen it explicitly compared to the holocaust to feed the (also familiar) myth that the holocaust was a surprise to most people (the extent of 'most' varying).

the nazis were famous for their antisemitism long before the first american soldiers were to witness the camps. the genocidal process that ultimately lead to the death of six million jewish people was also a series of warnings in relation to those final actions. it was preventable precisely because it was recognized as a threat.

we should not praise hitler for his antisemitism, but even worse would be to critique him and his party on grounds that they were not clearly antisemitic enough. that they did not provide enough warnings, if any at all. that he could be praised if his genocidal ambitions were better communicated, because when orchestrating a genocide, making your ambitions known constitutes playing fair and is encouraged.

not only does this excuse genocidal policy in palestine today, it treats the holocaust as unforeseeable and therefore unpreventable.

the ongoing genocide of the palestinian people by the israeli state is recognizable and preventable. it is precisely the potential for recognition that develops the potential for preventative action.

it doesnt have to be this way. a better future is possible and we must insist on it. the liberation of palestine is not a lost cause, no matter how much zionism wants you to abandon it.

[thekingofwinterblog]

The Kinslayings, an escalation of Pointless Violence

One thing I love about how Tolkien portrays the Kinslayings of the Feanorians, is how they tell a tale that ties into his ideas of how evil is an influencing force that will destroy a person over time if he ever tries to justify wickedness for "the greater good".

And he should know, as a man who fought and survived WW1, one of the most pointless wastes of human lives there ever was, justified by "othering" men with the same roots, religion and values as oneself in order to justify killing millions of them, as well as sending off an entire generation of young men to die for these hollow ideals, he would know a thing or teo about justifying wickedness "for the greater good".

The start of the first kinslaying is the only one that is arguably "Necessary" from a brutal, utilitarian perspective.

The Noldor need to get across the sea, meaning they either have to procure ships, or they have to walk across the deadly land bridge in the north.

So with these two options, if they choose to sail, they have 2 options. Either they get the ships that alreqdy exists one way or another, or they take the painstakingly longer road of making new ships themselves.

Now this second choice doesnt exactly line up neatly with an event that came later, but it very much brings to mind how during the war of the last alliance, the gathered forces of Arnor and Gil-galad spent years painstakingly making equipment, procuring food, and making battle plans for the campaign that would lead them to victory.

Now they didn't exactly have any easy options then like the Feanorians do, but it shows what Tolkien's message is. The hard road, with work, preparation and planning is the way to go.

But of course Feanor was not one such.

Instead when he was not allowed to borrow the ships, he and his responded with threats, then murder, as they slaughtered their own until just now friends and "Countrymen"(In as so far that they were all elves of Valinor".

It is a brutal, heartless afair that sours any and all goodwill they might have gotten from the Valar if they had done this in a better way, and has massive consequences for all elves who now find themselves barred from Valinor.

But that's not where it ends, because what follows is Escalation.

Feanor and his sons have gone down a path from which there is seemingly no going back from, and so, deciding that if he uses the boats to go back to valinor and ferry across the rest of his own people, his subjects, the people he hinself lead to kill their own comrades and friends, he leaves them to their own fate and burns the ships he stole down, in order to ensure that he would remain the unchallenged leader of the Noldor in Middle Earth.

Taking the boats, horrible, and evil though it was, was a genuine means to an end.

This is simply banal politics that not only split the Noldor at a time they really, really needed it, but probably cost hundreds of thousands of them their lives during the crossing of the Helcaraxë.

Its a slippery slope.

Once you give in to justifying evil for a cause, you will innevitably become more than willing to excuse other evil for it.

But you know what the best part is?

Acording to one version of the Kinslaying, One of Feanor's sons wanted to go back to Valinor, presumably to repent, and despite having sworn an "unbreakable oath", he was willing to go back on it because he came to realise that his actions were wrong.

And he was not killed by some divine bolt of lightning, but his own father lighting the ship he was on ablaze withouth knowing he was there.

Again, Tolkien makes his view on people who cling to "justifications" for evil quite clear.

The second Kinslaying is even worse than thw first, for it exposes absolutely everything for how it is.

It is important that this takes place AFTER the battle of unnumbered tears.

There is no glory left for the sons of Feanor at this point, for any chance of actually defeating Morgoth, avenging their grandfatger, father and all their now fallen brothers and reclaiming the silmarills by some glorious feat of arms has now passed.

They, and all the rest of beleriand now lives in the shadow of Morgoths innevitable victory, which he is taking his sweet time with.

But since there is small chance at taking the silmarills from Morgoth, they give up on that, because that is the hard road, and these men do not have the character of strength to actually take the hard road, which demands actual strength of character.

Instead they decide to target the one they can target, the one carried by King Dior, a man who has done them no harm, no injustice and by all accounts is a good man.

And they murder him. They kill his wife, and destroy his kingdom, one of the few realms that still exists and still fights the good fight against their supposed final enemy Morgoth.

And then, in an act of cruel and wicked spite, angry that this man had the gal to resist when they came to steal from him, and murdered his people, they take his two sons out in the woods, and leave them to starve or be slaughtered by wild animals.

But should we expect better? These men partook in all the ills of the first kinslaying, and so, are willing to cross any and all lines for their "great cause", for that is all that they have left.

Maedhros tries some repentence at this point, and decide to seek out the children his men left so cruelly to die, but he does not find them. The narratice does not reward him for this halfhearted attempt at redeeming himself if he is not willing to give up this vainglorious oath of his.

Which leads us to the final kinslaying, though i would argue there was a fourth one, which serves as the ending of this tale

The third kinslaying is the worst of all, and it is such an evil act that even some of their own troops, people who stood by them through the first kinslaying, the betraying with the burning ships, the tragedic defeat and aftermath of the battle of the unnumbered tears, and the second kinslaying, turns on them and tries to oppose them, having found the guts to do what none of the sons of feanor ever had and abandon this foolish quest.

Upon learning that Elwing, the only surviving member of Dior's family they unjustly slew is chilling with the survivors of the rest of the genocides of Beleriand, they decide, screw it, lets just sack this last remaining, undefended city, kill everyone we can, take the silmarill and sort out the consequnses later.

The previous kinslayings were unjust, evil, wicked, but they were military conflicts. There was a fight, regardless of how onesided they might have been.

The slaughter at the havens is anything but.

Is is genocide, snuffing out, or as good as, the last remaining survivors of Doriath, Gondolin and others.

If any of them survived this final sack, they were so few that their entire cultures effectively died out with them.

And once again, they are denied their price. They capture Elwings sons, Elros and Elrond to use as hostages in hope of negotiating back the silmarills.

With all of this in mind, the final chapter of this story is not particularily surprising.

For after the war of wrath is over, and the Valar's forces has done what they could not, and defeated Morgoth and taken back the silmarills, they are bluntly denied them when they try to claim them from the victorious forces, citing all their very evil deeds.

The two surviving brothers have a debate of what to do. Breaking their oath, or trying to fulfill it, either by once more trying to take them by force, or by going back to valinor and seeking pardon, hoping to once more get back the silmarills not by force of arms, but by showing themselves worthy of them after seeking redemption.

Of course, the first and last option would require actual strength of character, and so the two of them decide to take the two silmarills at hand by force, assuming they will die trying.

However, they are denied that death, and instead the commander, after they slay several of his men, decides to let them go with the silmarils, rather than respond with the death these two probably deserve at this point.

Their prize, as he expected, rejecta both of them.

The holy jewels they started this whole adventure to find, the ones they exterminated people to get, now violently rejects them for their evil deeds and character.

And in one, final set of utter and total showcase of what pathetic men they are, rather than abandoning the gems so that they could be returned to Valinor, they instead ensure that if they cant have them, nobody can.

Maedhras throws himself into a gaping, fiery chasm to ensure that both he and the Silmaril are lost beneath the earth.

Meanwhile Maglor throws his into the sea, to ensure the same thing, only chooses not to take his own life as well.

It is a last, spiteful set of acts that shows that neither of these men ever had the fortitude to do the right thing, and as a consequnce of their horrible oath, it all spiralled to this point, where even if told by the silmarills themselves how evil they have become, they still arent able or willing to do the right thing if it means going against their own oaths.

Because if they did, then that means that absolutely every, single evil, monstrous thing they and their brothers did was conpletely inexcusable, and they dont have the guts to do that.

It takes character to admit that you were wrong, owe up to your mistakes and take responsibility rather than clinging to the justification that brought you down this road to begin with. Or as Tolkien described both himself, his countrymen, and his enemies, all so similar to each other during the first world war.

"We were all Orcs in the great war" - J.R.R Tolkien.

[xoxo-ren-xoxo]

Tommy’s (and Tubbo’s) Character /rp /dSMP

This is a bit of a rant so like be warned. I have nothing against any CCs mentioned in this, this is all roleplay, lighthearted, and just a bit of fun analysis. Mostly this is a ramble about how I see certain people analysing Tommy’s character on tumblr and twt, and why I think they’re wrong. This isn’t directed at anyone specific, just a trend I’ve been seeing that kinda irks me. I don’t dislike the fandom, just a few ‘takes’ have been really weird for me.

TW for everything below: analysing the effects of trauma, abuse, manipulation, gaslighting, and lack of therapy.

I’m not really liking how victim-blamey everyone is getting currently in the dSMP, both in fandom and canon. In canon with certain characters but especially in fan analysis posts and especially about Tommy and Tubbo. People legitimately celebrating that Tommy might start ‘apologising’ for his actions more and 'growing as a person' somehow don’t realise that hes been made this way through a tonne of negative reinforcement. abuse, and gaslighting. And people blaming Tubbo for actions he had no choice in, rather than the actions he did choose.

Currently, as I see it, Tommy is so scared that anyone would find a reason to be pissed off at him that his fighting spirit has been completely crushed. He was exiled and abused when he should have been helped and given an understanding figure to guide him and teach him how to deal with things non-violently. In everyone’s eyes, the problem was that Tommy was creating violence with no real reason, acting recklessly and commiting crimes. Tubbo, having made him a part of his cabinet, knew that this would only harm the country. So instead of talking to him reasonably, he got angry, put him on trial, and punished him with the logbook (humiliating him by making him report back to Fundy, which he obviously hated). Tommy’s actions were, of course, bad, but did he deserve everyone ganging up on him? No. Especially when Tubbo was supposed to be in his corner, helping him out like he always said he would (”It’s me and you vs Dream” etc). This is the first betrayal of trust from Tommy’s POV. He doesn’t understand what he did wrong to its full extent, and no one can explain it to him. 

However, Tubbo was under a lot of pressure from Dream and George, and he’s a literal child President, so his ‘safety over friendship’ actions are understandable. I don’t believe Tubbo is solely to blame for anything he’s done in season 2, but it can’t all be excused. If you are to blame Tommy for his recklessness, you have to blame Tubbo, at least partially, for his disregard for Tommy’s feelings and mental state. There were other ways to go about the entire thing, including the trial, which was just horrible to watch, and agreeing to give Dream the disc, something Tommy gave him in pure confidence that it would be safe with Tubbo. Yikes moment.

At that time, Tubbo knew a lot of things about Tommy. In fact, he probably knew the most about Tommy out of anyone on the server. He knew the discs were incredibly important and a comfort item for Tommy. He knew Tommy had trauma from being exiled in the past. He knew Tommy was abused, or at least manipulated by Wilbur, in addition to growing up in war. Wilbur once told Tommy to stop being reckless, and Tommy listened, changing his attitude because he looked up to Wilbur so much. Then Wilbur said ‘let’s be the bad guys’ and stopped trying to mentor Tommy. There’s a conflict here, because Tommy was told by Wilbur that he wasn’t good enough to be President (links to the idea of ‘not being strong enough’) but he knows that Wilbur was a bad person. But Tommy is never given the chance to reconsile his feelings surrounding Wilbur, both because of Ghostbur and because of the conflict he starts with George. So he is harbouring a mixture of emotions about his mentor and brother, not understanding how to untangle the ‘real Tommy’ from the manipulated boy he became. 

What was going through his head when he stole from George and griefed him? Perhaps the thought that he needed to show he was still the same old Tommy. Maybe the need to ‘prove himself’ as a strong person? It could have just been an outlet for his trauma. He’s grown up in a world where everyone is either a friend or an enemy. George isn’t a friend. How was he supposed to know that hurting him was bad?

Tubbo was pressured into the actions he took against Tommy, but he was pressured far too easily. There is no moment where Tubbo turns to Tommy and makes sure he’s okay, he views him as ‘selfish’ and overdramatic, and sees his actions that way. This makes sense from Tubbo’s POV, he’s struggling to be President in ways that Wilbur *knew* he would, but in Tommy’s eyes this is the worst betrayal he’s ever known. The moment Tubbo (rightfully, but poorly executed) defies Tommy’s plan to hire Technoblade (ahem, seeing Techno as a weapon again) and exiles Tommy is the moment their friendship shatters. They’re two people who don’t understand each other anymore. Two people who are technically in the right, but only hurt each other. 

What Tommy needed was a therapist, instead he had Dream, who put out the fire of rebellion that made him so strong, and Techno, who was trying to help but doing it in the wrong way. 

People see tommy's change post-exile as a good thing because he's not as rebellious anymore and he’s thinking things through a lot before he does them, but they will soon realise that his rebellion was one of his best traits and the fact that no one saw it as anything but a problem really shows. He now second-guesses himself so much and is so scared of being wrong that everything seems too difficult and too dangerous. Every trait can have a positive and negative side. Tommy's defiant nature would have made him the perfect negotiator with a little practise. In fact, he had plenty of good ideas before he was exiled (using spirit against Dream, though it didnt work in the end, for example). The negative side of this was recklessness and the desire to cause problems on purpose, but what he needed was a friend (looking at you Tubbo) who understood that hes been through several wars, was manipulated by Wilbur, and hasnt known a time of peace where everyone who wasnt on his side was out to kill him. Now that ‘fight’ is gone he's just become easier to manipulate.

He may be getting better (see: telling Dream to go fuck himself) but there hasn't been any long-term growth because he was never told what kind of rebellion was good and what was bad. He was just told it was all bad. By Dream (and by Tubbo). Who he doesn't trust. So he's just going to revert back to his old ways because no one told him what was bad in a way that didn't make him feel like everyone was against him. Dream is the enemy (though Tommy’s feelings towards him are complicated, they make his brain go all ‘flippy floppy’) and Dream told him that rebellion was bad, so rebellion must be good always, right? 

And then there's Techno. Techno did nothing wrong except for when he did. Techno is 100% right except for when he isn’t. He doesn't understand Tommy because Tommy was never fully open about what Dream had done and how it affected him. That's not Tommys fault though, because who the fuck openly talks about their trauma? So neither of them are to blame for pretty much anything up until the confrontation at the community house. 

However, Techno's methods and ideology were not what Tommy needed. He was thrown from one extreme to another over and over again, from complete subservience to total rebellion. Neither of these inforce good attitudes in Tommy. One, as stated before, makes it so that he will regain his negative traits again. The other reinforces those violent traits as good, just like Wilbur did. The only difference is that Techno had good intentions, he wasnt trying to use Tommy, which is why he feels so used when Tommy 'betrays' him (Techno doesnt realise that he himself betrayed Tommy by teaming with Dream, he sees it more as a transaction than a personal thing). Techno feels so hurt by Tommy ‘viewing him as a weapon’ that he goes on with his no-mercy attack, completely dropping Tommy at his lowest point. 

Tommy says he doesn't want to be like everyone he's hated. In fact, he say's he is 'worse' than all the villains. This is very obviously untrue, though he was clearly going down a dangerous path with Techno's influence (see: bullying Fundy, spawning wither, kidnapping Connor, and saying that the discs are more important than Tubbo, more on that later). He's not a villain but who exactly has said he's not a villain. Dream? Techno? Neither of them can be trusted in his eyes. They say he's a good guy, Wilbur wanted to be the bad guy, who's right? He doesn't know. He has a crisis of morality. 

And? Some people want to point at that and say 'aha! Character development! He's finally realising his actions have a negative affect on others!' OH GOD NO??? He's a *child* who thinks that he is worse than his abuser. Does that sound like positive character growth to you? 

Lastly, the discs. We know theyre a comfort item blahblahblah. He hates himself for valuing them more than he values Tubbo. He's literally innocent in this. He’s been horribly manipulated by Dream to believe that the discs are worth anything. Theyre really not worth anything if they are being used as tools rather than, yknow, discs. My poor boy. He doesnt trust people, so what can he trust? The discs. But then he says it out loud and realises he misses Tubbo and he wants to be with his best friend again and and and WAHHHH. This also isnt really character growth its just fucking sad leave me alone. 

Anyways what the fuck guys. @ Niki and Jack what the fuck. Yeah we get it it’s miscommunication but wtf. Kinda worried that the actual lore will make Niki and Jack’s hatred of Tommy justified in some way and take on a big victim-blamey vibe, but I’m hoping that everyone is smart enough to not do that. I cannot praise Tommy enough for how he’s portrayed his character. I’m currently hoping that he himself understands the true complexity of it all. I’m sure he does.

Mostly though im actually pissed off at all the people praising tommy's character for 'maturing' when hes literally just got trauma. Nice one, tumblr and twt users. Thanks. Great job. He hasnt 'learnt his lesson', he’s traumatised. What the fuck.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk, leave your responses in the reblogs and comments.

[honnybunnie]

Mc has been bullied at Rad, and is refusing to do anything about it. So the brothers step in.

Mentions of violence

Lucifer:

He was always the last to know what was going on in Mc's life. This time he spotted mc fishing out their backpack from the fountain.

He was about approach them, but he could hear Mc muttering. "This always happens! This is the fourth time I find something of mine in the fountain... i can't even tell the brothers. I don't know what they would do this time. I already lost my pin because of this"

He stopped, he wasn't going to admit openly to them, that he indeed cared. He was going to wait at the fountain every chance he could to catch who it was that was doing this. He wasn't going to go easy on them, but he needed to tell the other brothers.

He brought out his D.D.D and messaged his brothers, explaining that it was time for them to squash a bug. Yet again, it seemed he was the last to know. As some of the brothers had either beaten some ass or handed out some warnings. "This time" the words echoed in his head. He was hurt, he really is the one to know everything last.

Mammon:

When Mc started to rush home after rad, and declined every invitation to go out. He started to get on the defensive, assuming it was just him they kept declining. Asmo asked Mammon if Mc had already made plans with him, because mc declined going shopping together.

At this point Mammon made it a mission to see where Mc was rushing off to everyday and why?

While Mc was walking up, a succubus walked up to them. "I thought I told you to die, why do you have to hang out with the brothers so much? Huh? Don't say because you all live in the same house, thats not an excuse," she said shoving mc to a wall. Mammon was fuming, he rushed over and pulled Mc into his side. "Excuse ya, we love having Mc around, if I see or hear you bothering them again. Be sure to know it won't just me that ya will have to face," he shouted pulling mc closer.

Levi:

Although it never bothered him when people would make fun of him for being a otaku for a high level demon.

When he overheard that Mc was being bullied because of the weebaboo trash pin they wore, levi grew livid. He was always proud and envious on how Mc was able to show their otakuness so proudly. Bullies saying its a shame that the brothers have to live with a disappointment of a human.

Mc began to wear it less and eventually not at all. When Levi confronted mc about it, they would just state that it kept coming lose.

This time Levi was able to catch the Bully who was currently berating his normie. He watched as Mc hung their head, and took the verbal abuse. Levi cloaked himself in his demon form, grabbing the bully with his tail, hanging him upside down, "if I or any of my brothers catch you bullying them again, we will not hesitate to take a violent action," Levi hissed as he tossed the bully to the ground.

Satan:

Mammon had told him, what had happened, so that he could be aware of the situation.

Satan had to remain calm, he's read books where sometimes the victims blame themselves, and thats why they don't seek help. He was was ready to kill the succubus, that made Mc feel like they couldn't get help.

If he were to be the one to step in on them being bullied, he was going to scold Mc first, before ripping the bully to sheds.

Mammon and Satan waited out for Succubus at Rad. They have stangled some in the past, so its not like they weren't skilled at tourturing and killing them.

Asmo:

Mc and Asmo were on their monthly shopping spree, mc had always made sure to save their money for when Asmo wanted to have a day where only them two can engage and indulge in shopping and spill tea together.

While Asmo was in the dressing room, next to Mc's, mc had stepped out with a crop top. They were always confident and proud in their skin, no matter the color, or shape they were.

Thats when Asmo heard a girl demon begin to insult. That they had no right feeling proud. That mc was nothing but a frog standing next to the brothers who were bascially princes.

They never cared when a human said things like this, it meant nothing, because as the saying goes its always based on envious thoughts. But when this demon started to make them second guess their confidence.

Asmo could not stay quiet, he rushed out face to face with the demon. Normally he would charm them to break their heart, but this time he wasnt having it. "You don't even have the right to insult my Mc, much less be charmed by my power," he exclaimed, "Its worse to be excorsised socially, so starting today you social life will decline rapidlly."

Beel:

Beel noticed that mc had started to eat less and less. He thought maybe they were lacking an appetite.

That changed when he saw mc at the same times as him in the gym. Mc usually went early in the morning before Rad, so they were now going twice a day with barely any food as energy.

He saw as the one the female demons push them, and watched as Mc took it. He rushed over to the Mc.

"Mc did they push you hard?, " he muttered, looking at their blank stare. "I didn't push them hard, its just no matter what they do, they're going to stay ugly compared to someone like you," she purred.

Beel couldn't believe what he heard, how could someone as strong as MC just accept this? He didn't want to cause a scene, but he was going to come back for that demon. Right now he just wanted Mc cuddled in his arms. He shot a death glare at the demon, scooping Mc in his arms and headed home. He was going to come back to deal with the demon, but without mc to witness the soon to be horror of the demon.

Belphie:

Although Belphie wanted to Assist Asmo and Beel with their plans to take out the same demon. He couldn't, all the other brothers were assisting each other to take Mc's bullies.

Bullies left and right, he couldn't fathom, how Mc was okay. Why they even let them bully them to begin with. He was honored with being put on emotional support. Though beel was better at it, he was just happy to be alone with Mc.

Mc sighed "I didnt want you all to make it a big deal, bullies are everywhere, earth, heaven, and hell. Its a part of life thats dreadful." They hug tackled Belphie, "but doesnt mean I don't appreciate you all for sticking for me, when I didnt really care to do it myself. Thank you! "

Belphie stroked their hair, smiling a bit, knowing that he would protect this human, physically or emotionally.

[tumblunni]

Fuckinghell i got to That Part in USUM and it was even worse than i expected

Kfuckinh fuck i alreadyhated lusamine cos i hadan abusivemum like that in real life but this time i wanted to fucking stab her actual eyes out with my thumbs! How can a bad writing flub trigger such a huge ass panic attack in me!! Am i really that pathetic!! God im just sitting with my face in a fan cos im overheated as fuck i was all fight or flight mode just about hitting the A button and knowing the next scene i get will be Somehow Lusamine Was Right, in the place of the execellent callout scene lillie got in the original. So much actual detailed analysis of child abuse and now NOPE ITS OKAYMOMMY HURT U FOR A GOOD CAUSE

And what i hate so much is that they didmt even completely rewrite it! This isnt even an 'alternate universe story' where lusamine was a good mom, which would already be problematic in context but at least there'd be an excuse for it. Nah instead they just left in all the foreshadowing leading up to her being abusive and all the scenes of her being a fucl but just at the last second its ok cos something something necrozma.

Things that are still canon in this universe:

lillie and gladion ran away from their mother and nearly died on the streets and all that

Lusamine still controlled how much they acted and looked and etc that lillie has anxiety over picking her own damn clothes in a shop (and gladion mentions the same in an optional dialogue that also wasnt removed)

"Oh no its a big reveal that aether foundation is evil and working with team skull and they kidnapped lillie and now u have to fight thru an entire foundation full of evil murderous adults and also faba the fuckmeister supreme"

Lusamine wants to murder cosmog to open an ultra wormhole and laughs about it

Lusamine has an entire fuckin secret room full of pokemon corpses preserved in ice so they'll 'stay beautiful and never disobey'

Lusamine tells her kids theyre disgusting for disobeying her and she doesnt love them and never did and also they are selfish cunts for daring to want to be not abused

Then she fuckin attacks them, and you fight

Fuckin ALL THEY CHANGED was that at the end shes like 'but i do it cos necrozma bad and i was really save world'. And the writers seem to think that this somehow justifies her actions rather than just making her an equally evil equally abusive person who just has a dumb knight templar reason for why she thinks she's in the right. Like maybe you could say this would make her more redeemable in the end, i guess?? Like if she actually had a proper redemption plotline you could use this as a springboard to jump off in order to create that plotline. That she was once good and her evilness is a very specific sort of 'murder and hate is justified because my purpose is so important' kind of thing, which should honestly have led to her personality being entirely different and written entirely different. But you still actually have to write a redemption route! Shes not just suddenly good because she has a motive for being evil! And shes not even as redeemable as the other villain bosses, if we only hear about her 'good reason' AFTER we see her do everything evil! And her evil is so much more personal than the other bosses! Like maxie and archie were still likeable eveb before their VERY EXTENSIVE AND WELL WRITTEN redemption plot, because their evil plot was abstract and nonsensical ('destroy world') rather than actual detailed real life crimes to characters we care about. Abd very manipulative and deliberate ones! Maxie and Archie had it established very early on that they THOUGHT what they weredoing would improve the worls even if it was obvious they would actually destroy it. Lusamine didnt abuse her kids accidentally or because of a mistake, the only way she thought she was doing the right thing is that she thought her kids were ungrateful evil fucks who deserved being hurt because they MERELY WOULDNT OBEY HER EVERY WHIM! And we see this from the perspective of the kids who are very much just goddamn innocent kids and very much show actual realistic ptsd symptoms and relateable stories of abuse. So yeah lusamine already starts at a higher tier of villainy that would require more redemption than archie and maxie, even if you can technically say 'maybe her plan to beat necrozma via pet murder and child abuse might actually work'. (Or, in the origonal, that technically her plan was just to fuck off to another dimension of obedient mindless slave jellyfish and never come back, which is technically less wprld damaging than the hoenn guys.)

And just MANNNN what i really hate is that they didnt remove anything except like.. The parts where you sympathise with the kids. I feel like the scene of lillie at the clothes shop early on and the dramatic break in to aether paradise were just left in out of laziness more than anything. Like theres a lot of stuff that seems 'oh we have to do that cos thats how it went last time, but lets half ass it and rewrite the dialogue shorter and rush to my New Bits'. I feel like if someone played this first before sun and moon then half of the plot wouldnt make sense! But why did they choose to leave in just enough that it made lusamine still look like a monster, if she never gets her comeuppance!!!

And man i really fucking hate how they rewrote lillie and gladion during the big plot swrrve into LUSMINE HAD GUD REASONS 2 DO THE THING. Lillie says barely anything and gladion is suddenly all 'please stop because I CANT LOSEYOU ASWELL AS DAD, MOM' not fuckin please stop because you are murdering nebby and you just told me you dont love me. Andthen hebegs her to take him with her to fight necrozma becauseits type null's destiny to be a beast killer?? When just five seconds ago hehad unchanged dialogue about how he saved type null becauze he saw it was born and raised to be what its 'parent' wanted it to be, just like how lusamine abusively raised him. Like fuckin entire story about him escaping to be himself and give this lil frankendog a chance at a real normal life, just WHOOOSH right over the new writer's head...

And then THE FUCKIN WORST BIT is that they kept the same scene of lillie sleeping in lusamine's bed but changed all the dialogue to just 'i'll sleep here' *scene ends* rather than 'i remember when i used to sleep in her bed after nightmares when i was like five and thats the last time i can remember that it felt like she actually loved us, i need to sleep here again to say goodbye and steel myself to fight to save the world next time we see her'

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha nuance what is that complexity who is she never heard of her

Fuck that scene was so relateable cos thats literally what i did the day before i ran away from home.fuck you for removing it.

Fuck this game really is like a weirdass rom hack some other guy did of a game he didnt understand. It at least makes me feel better to know it was directed by a different team and isnt considered the 'final full version' like platinum and emerald and stuff. I felt practically gaslit when i was tryong to reconcile the idea someone could write a complex analysis of child abuse and then unwrite it as if it was never important. Was it never really intended to be abuse at all and i was just imagining it?? But nah no its just someone else handling the expansion pack for a game and turning it into an 'alternative story' with his different lame motiveless Bad Legendary villain cos somehow he didnt think the original was good enough. Fuck, it was the most emotional most terrifying villain boss of all time, fuckin geez what is wrong with you!

GUZMAAAA WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUUU

oh yeh did i mention that also Still Exists but the npc thats implied to be his abusive dad has his dialogue slightly rewritten to be 'my kid ran away on a pikemon journey and beat me' not 'i beat my kid but he beat me back'

God fuck u fuck this fuck EVERYTHING what goddamn motives do you have for removing a goddamn How To Spot Child Abuse manual for kids in game form. THIS ENTIRE PLOT WAS SO IMPORTANT IF I SAW THIS AS A KID I WOULDNT HAVE TRIED TO KILL MYSELF

gahhhahahahhhhh

[talysalankil]

@psylenco replied to your post: @psylenco replied to your post: ...

Okay so this person left me a massive response and now I’m actually frustrated as happens every time I dare raise criticism against a tumblr darling so let’s go.

Sunny gets kidnapped because she’s an infant. Olaf can easily just hold a knife to their throats but that’s just boring.

I’m not saying Olaf has to put a knife to their throat, just that reusing the same solution twice in as many stories is…lazy. Like, purely from a storytelling standpoint, it’s lazy. It makes you look creatively bankrupt at the second story out of the four in this season, which is…a bad look.

Also, “because she’s an infant”? She’s apparently as intelligent as her siblings if not more (her subtitles literally have her speaking Italian, and of course she beats a guy at poker even though she didn’t even know how to play) and has what can only be described as superhuman strength in her jaws (which also means this piece of tape would probably not muzzle her very efficiently; there’s a reason real-life muzzles surround the entire jaw rather than being focused at the point where lever effect would make Sunny’s jaw the most effective).

So she’s an infant when the plot demands for her to be helpless, but she also isn’t when necessary? Good job with the consistency.

Also if everyone is a bad guy, it wouldn’t make sense. The issues with morality are called a “conflict”. Any writer knows that a conflict is good for stories.

Um…what? You’re right, conflict is good for stories. But I have no idea what you’re talking about with “issues of morality”. Do you mean the fact that most of the characters aren’t good or evil? Because that has nothing to do with conflict…at all.

But since you brought it up, conflict requires agency to be meaningful. So far, in the show, the only person who’s expressed any agency is, ironically, Count Olaf. Literally everyone else is reacting to his actions. That does not make for a compelling story.

Conflict generally arises from the protagonists’ wants and needs conflicting with each other and with the antagonist’s opposition. Here, the Baudelaires don’t want for anything (in the sense that they have no goal set out in front of them). They have situations to escape, but that is not the same in terms of analyzing a story.

It’s not like you couldn’t give the Baudelaires something to want that revolves around escaping abuse. That’s…basically what every Cinderella story does with their protagonists. But this story doesn’t provide us with that. The kids have no goal to work towards. That makes for poor protagonists, and therefore, a poor story.

And it’s very hypocritical to say the children are whining babies when you are doing the same about the plot. They’re A. Children, B. Chased by a murderer/ possible pedophile C. Lost their parents and home. D. No one listens to them. So excuse them if they seem to cry a bit.

Me saying I am frustrated with the show = children not doing anything when put in a situation that they are fully aware they should escape? Um…what?

I have no problem with them crying/grieving. I have an issue with them not doing anything. For a show that you claimed is about self reliance, they sure don’t do a lot of that. I mean, seriously. "The Bad Beginning” is resolved by appealing to an authority figure anyway and swaying her to their side after she’d been fooled by Olaf, how is this self-reliance?

[Side-note: I should point out the glaring ignorance of basic “show don’t tell” with Klaus’s speech, but I realize that’s an intentional quirk and use of tone so I’ll let it slide. That said, it does mean the protagonists’ biggest action in that climax happens more or less off-screen while Lemony Snicket narrates to us. I’m just saying. It doesn’t help with the kids’ lack of agency.]

Speaking of the grieving…they don’t do a whole lot of that either, actually. They are vaguely miserable, but as far as crying or…well, expressing any kind of emotional pain, there’s not much of that anyway. What there’s a lot of is apathy. Which I guess could be part of the grieving process, but again, doesn’t make for very relatable characters or work for a story that’s supposedly about self-reliance.

And no, not everyone is bad, youre just missing the point. Poe and Monty are willfully ignorant. Justice Strauss was blinded by her dreams.

I didn’t say they were all bad. Although…they kind of are. It’s the banality of evil—look it up.

Which, incidentally, would make for an interesting theme…if it wasn’t pushed to the extreme that it is here. Take for instance Olaf’s first lie to Poe: telling him that “closest living relative” means closest in proximity. Doesn’t Poe do this on a regular basis? Or have some common sense? Hell, even if I were to accept Poe is fooled by that definition (which is hard to believe when the person trying to play with words can’t use words himself), Olaf doesn’t even provide evidence that he’s related to the children or that there are no relatives living closer that he does.

See, the banality of evil requires a competent villain to work. The whole point of that concept is that people’s apathy in the face of evil allows it to prosper. But that does require a competent villain, which Olaf…isn’t. Also it’s a pretty tough and complicated subject in general, so you want your non-evil characters to be…regular humans with regular human brains.

Gustav and Jacqueline who?

Idk I should ask you that, I’ve barely seen either of them and considering Jacqueline got trapped even though she clearly knows what’s going on she’s not striking me as any more intelligent or competent than the rest of the case. And Gustav…I don’t even remember what happened to him. So eh. Whatever you say.

Sorry for the long posts but it doesnt make sense to criticize a miserable (But not bad) story if the narrator himself says its a miserable story. And sure, forget the kidnapped parents i guess cause the misery just gets worse.

You’re missing the point of my criticism though? I’m not criticizing the story for being miserable, I’m saying the execution of the story to make it miserable is lazy and requires everyone in it to be unbearably stupid. The concept is a good one, the execution is shoddy.

Of course, that is all opinion even if I’m using facts to justify my opinion and you’re still free to like it. 

As for the kidnapped parents, yeah I know they’re out there but it’s like…a subplot. If the main plot makes me angry watching it I’m not sticking around for the subplot, with or without cobie smulders. Sorry.

anyway sorry if I missed things I typed this in 5 minutes bc I had to leave.

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/oscar-diversity-doesnt-reflect-real-world-industry/

Oscar Diversity doesn't reflect real world industry

Hollywood is a prime example of why things are the way they are now in America. For years, it ignored the fact that minorities got the short end of the stick when it came to the Academy Awards and film roles while still praising itself for being so liberal minded. They would hold fundraisers for so many liberal causes without realizing that it was part of the problem by whitewashing so many of their films. Of course, they tried to use every excuse in the book for this, but it was all about the bottom line. It's always been like that since the film industry began. Now that Donald Trump is in office, Hollywood is seeing a rather horrid reflection of itself in letting things slide for so long. Yes, this year there are more minorities that were nominated, but it's a gesture that has come too late. Whitewashing in film has only empowered those in our country who feel that anyone with skin darker than theirs is a lesser being. That's how this has always worked in the past. People know there is a problem in their actions, but they'll rationalize by saying at least they're not like 'those people.' Sadly, that type of thinking makes the person even worse than 'those people' because 'those people' aren't afraid to let their views be known. Donald Trump's campaign put red hats on top of their heads so we could see them. By hiding behind, 'at least I'm not like them' has let 'them' come to be in power now. So while Hollywood is congratulating itself for being so forward thinking, just remember, you were forced into this thinking by being shamed. If you are truly as forward thinking as you promote, this would never have been a problem needed to be brought to your attention. After two years of intense public scrutiny over the academy's all-white acting nominations, the 2017 Oscar nominees are as diverse a group as the organization has ever seen, thanks to films like "Moonlight," ''Fences," ''Hidden Figures" and "Loving." It's been cause for celebration, but also for reflection and heightened scrutiny of areas where there is still work to be done. And there are some in the industry who wonder whether the rich diversity of this year's Oscars is a blip, a sign of progress, or some complicated combination of the two. Then there's the matter of who will ultimately win on Sunday night. The landmark nominations are undeniable, especially in the acting categories. It's the first time ever that each has at least one black nominee. Denzel Washington ("Fences") is up for best actor (his seventh nomination), Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight") for best-supporting actor, Ruth Negga ("Loving") is a best actress contender, and, in another first, the best-supporting actress category includes three black nominees (Naomie Harris for "Moonlight," Viola Davis for "Fences" and Octavia Spencer for "Hidden Figures"). All in all, there are six black actors nominated and seven actors of color (including Dev Patel for "Lion") - a deafening response to #OscarsSoWhite, which activist April Reign coined in response to the all-white acting nominees in 2015, and then again in 2016. There were strides made behind the camera as well. Bradford Young became the first African American to be nominated for cinematography for "Arrival." ''Moonlight" editor Joi McMillon is the first black female nominee in that category. It's the second time a black female producer has been nominated for best picture (Kimberly Steward for "Manchester by the Sea") and the first time that three films with black producers were nominated for best picture (including Washington for "Fences" and Pharrell Williams for "Hidden Figures"). There are also four black directors whose documentaries were nominated, three of which are about race. It might lead one to think that #OscarsSoWhite is a thing of the past - eradicated through public outcries and an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership shake-up in which 683 new faces were invited to join with an emphasis on diversity. One of those new members, director Amma Asante, said it's "a good thing" that "more people who look like me have been nominated." In reality, however, the nominations are the result of a messy confluence of factors that don't lend themselves to a simple narrative - not to mention the fact that diversity doesn't end with black and white. "One year does not make up for over 80 years of a lack of representation of black people in the film industry," Reign said. She never intended #OscarsSoWhite to just be about black nominees, either, or even race. Instead, it was meant to shine a light on all underrepresented communities in films. And while much has been made of the breadth of the academy's efforts, David Poland, editor of MovieCityNews.com, has estimated that in the end, there were fewer than 50 new black members and just over 30 new female members inducted. (The academy does release specific information about membership.) He and others have questioned the idea that this year's nominations are a result of those changes. "The diversity of the nominees is 100% a function of the films that were released this year," Poland said. "It is wonderful that these films were recognized this season, but not because they were 'of color,' but because they are excellent movies ... It is, in reality, insulting to the films that are about or made by people of color that they will get in or have gotten in based on the issue of race." Conflating the protest with the accolades is a double-edged sword for many, especially those involved in the films. It's one thing to recognize correlation. It's another to assume causation. "I'm hoping it's not a trend," Viola Davis said. "I'm hoping it's not something based on a hashtag. It is something based on the natural fabric of what America is and what America now wants to see." Also, as nominated "Moonlight" director Barry Jenkins points out, many of the films responsible for the diversity this year were in the works before OscarsSoWhite. "Most of these films started a few years ago - four years ago, five years ago - not as a response to what happened last year, but as a response to the lack of these voices," Jenkins said. "I have no doubt that next year we'll be here this time of year and it'll be the same thing ... we're not going away." To be fair, Reign, too, doesn't believe that anyone was nominated because of a hashtag, or that any of the films were made in response. Ultimately what the hashtag did, like all effective protest movements, is raise awareness and consciousness around representation and, possibly, the films. But the Oscars litmus test is a shallow one for some. Oscar nominations (and even wins) are simply a last stage reflection of the industry at large and what films actually get made and put into the marketplace. It's telling that most of the best picture nominees started as independent films. "Let's be clear, it's a much better year than it was the last two years, but complacency and the notion that things have changed are things that I would guard against," said actor David Oyelowo. "The infrastructure that enabled two years of OscarsSoWhite hasn't fundamentally changed." Raoul Peck, the nominated director of the documentary "I Am Not Your Negro," echoed Oyelowo's sentiments. "As long as the person giving the greenlight to a movie is not a woman, a black person, a Latino, a gay, whatever - if there is not a bigger repartition of this power structure, nothing will change," Peck said. "We will go back and back to this conversation as long as nobody can say these are the definite changes."

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[naijamoment]

“The last 20 months have not witnessed any significant changes in the national economy. Contrary to expectations, we have so far been subjected to a steady deterioration in the general standard of living; and intolerable suffering by ordinary Nigerians have risen higher, scarcity of commodities has increased…. Unemployment has stretched to critical dimensions.” The above quote was an excerpt from the inaugural broadcast as military president of then Major General Ibrahim Babangida, justifying the August 27, 1985 coup that ousted his then friend and comrade-in-arms, Major General Muhammadu Buhari. Over the years, Buhari had disputed the real reason for his overthrow, attributing it to his investigation and indictment of some top military officers involved in import licence fraud. Whoever was the purveyor of truth between Buhari and Babangida is not the subject of this article. For the purpose of this piece, what is important was Babangida’s analysis of the person of Buhari, and the administration he ran for 20 months. I will lift some excerpts from Babangida’s scorecard of Buhari’s first coming some 32 years ago and place these within the context of today’s realities, starting from the opening quote above. By a stroke of interesting coincidence, it’s been 20 months since Buhari was sworn in as president, after leading a coalition of opposition politicians in the All Progressives Congress (APC) to defeat the then ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan. At the inception of the Buhari administration, expectations were indeed really high just as there were celebrations when Buhari sacked the Shehu Shagari administration on December 31, 1983. Twenty months on, however, have there been any significant changes in the national economy? Of course, but for the worse! The unemployment situation is more than critical; companies that have not closed down are finding it difficult to pay salaries, as most states and local governments. The deterioration in the standard of living of the people is horrendous – inflation is close to 20%, power outages have never been this intolerable, workers have difficulty paying their house rents, millions are living in hunger and deprivation. With the unendurable exchange rate regime, it would be little surprise if Nigerians were soon forced to deal with scarcity of commodities, or queue for essential ones, as happened during Buhari’s first coming in 1984. “Regrettably, it turned out that Major General Muhammadu Buhari was too rigid and uncompromising in his attitudes to issues of national significance. Efforts to make him understand that a diverse polity like Nigeria required recognition and appreciation of differences in both cultural and individual perceptions only served to aggravate these attitudes.” Despite the 30-year gap, Buhari in his second coming appeared to have planted his governance principles on the template of his first. If those principles failed the nation woefully in 1984, they are even far less likely to work in today’s much-changed world. The economy has gone down south not so much because of the oil price crash long predicted since the last quarter of 2014, important though that was, but more crucially because of the Buhari administration’s monetary and fiscal policy choices. And when those choices failed to bring desired results, the administration kept charging in one direction like a blind bull, ignoring the suggestions of well-meaning individuals and regarding every criticism as enemy action. Indeed, in its management of the economy, the administration has been an insufferable bully focused on driving on a one-dimensional track, believing it has answers to all the problems (even as the situation worsens) while dismissing suggestions from Nigerians who know better. The administration’s unbearable arrogance is also reflected in other areas outside of the economy. It is there in the insularity in appointments, and glaring imbalances therein that do not reflect the nation’s ethnic and religious diversities, and violate all constitutional safeguards. It is there in the seeming soft handling of the rampaging Fulani herdsmen compared to the tough stance against the Niger Delta militants and IPBO campaigners. It is there in the pervasive perception that the anti-graft battle has been no more than a persecution of the leaders of the PDP. It is also there in the strong-arm tactics the DSS has resorted to in making arrests of a political nature as against the polite invitation, which democratic norms demand, and which the security agency has mastered since the nation’s return to civil rule. For every complaint and criticism, the administration has dug in its teeth into the very wrong it was accused of perpetrating. “While the government recognizes the bitterness created by the irresponsible excesses of the politicians, we consider it unfortunate that methods of such nature as to cause more bitterness were applied to deal with past misdeeds. We must never allow ourselves to lose our sense of natural justice. …. The guilty should be punished only as a lesson for the future.” As it was in the second republic when the politicians behaved mostly irresponsibly, so it has been since the return to the present civil democratic rule in May 1999. The rascally mismanagement of public funds under Jonathan was particularly disturbing. The Buhari administration has in the last 20 months, however, devoted a disproportionate amount of energy pursuing vengeance rather than justice, natural or legal. Just as in his first coming when some deposed state governors were convicted and jailed for 100 years, and those the military tribunals had no evidence to convict were detained sine die under Decree 2, Buhari in his second coming has fallen back on a similar template, hounding his opponents, and getting his pound of flesh for past wrongs, in the guise of anti-graft war. The only politicians with corruption allegations against them have been those in the former ruling PDP. The observance of due process, in bringing those allegedly corrupt politicians to justice, has more often than not been in the breach. The government has for instance ignored repeated court orders to release, on bail, former NSA Sambo Dasuki. Shiite leader Ibrahim El-Zakzaki has been detained for months despite a high court order for his release. Some PDP politicians released on bail were rearrested and slammed with some other charges. Yet there have been no attempts to investigate corruption allegations against politicians in the ruling APC. And SGF Babachir Lawal, indicted by the Senate for fraudulent contract awards, was dismissively cleared of any wrongdoing. The administration’s blind pursuit of justice, no vengeance, its uneven-handedness, its cavalier disregard for judicial process, and its manifest persecution of political opponents have deepened, rather than heal, the bitterness in the polity; widened, rather than mend, the nation’s fault lines. “The Nigerian public has been made to believe that the slow pace of action of the federal government … was due to the enormity of the problems left by the last civilian administration. Although it is true a lot of problems were left behind by the last civilian government, the real reason, however, for the very slow pace of action was due to the lack of unanimity of purpose among (members of) the ruling body; subsequently the business of governance has gradually been subjected to ill-motivated power play considerations.” The above excerpt was not from Babangida’s inaugural broadcast but from the coup speech of then Major General Joshua Dogonyaro, announcing the termination of the Buhari military regime on August 27, 1985. As in his first coming in 1984, Buhari today has been slow, very slow, in decision-making and implementation. On inauguration May 29, 2015 it took more than six months for the president to constitute his cabinet. Almost two years on, envoys have not been deployed to represent the country abroad, and critical government agencies have no boards. Whenever the administration was accused of being unduly slow, Buhari was wont to put the blame on his immediate predecessor. Indeed for more than one year, Buhari’s singsong was either that the Jonathan administration, or 16 years of PDP, destroyed Nigeria. Like a broken record, Buhari and his aides repeatedly bandied Jonathan, or the PDP, as an excuse for the administration’s slow inaction or policy failure, even when around the president were erstwhile strongmen of that party. It was of course obvious that there was “the lack of unanimity of purpose” in the ruling party and that “ill-motivated power play considerations” impacted negatively on the business of governance. Remember the politics surrounding the election of the National Assembly principal officers and how the presidency and APC became upset with the emergence of Bukola Saraki as Senate president and Yakubu Dogara as House speaker. Remember how Saraki’s arraignment for false declaration of assets at the Code of Conduct Tribunal was believed to be the fallout of his election as senate president in spite of the party’s support for another candidate. Remember how senators made an unseemly spectacle of themselves by following Saraki to the courtroom and abandoning their parliamentary duties in the process. Remember the different political underhand tactics to minimize the reach and influence of APC leader Bola Tinubu and cut him down to size. There were at different times “ill-motivated power play considerations” involving presidency officials and party executives against the senate leadership, presidency officials and party executives against Tinubu, the senate leadership against Tinubu, some governors and ministers against Tinubu, and some ministers against some other ministers. “… the initial objectives and programmes of action, which were meant to have been implemented since the ascension to power of the Buhari administration, have been betrayed and discarded.” Continue Reading