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inke-ri · 2 years

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So I couldn't help but browse the THG tag bc those books own my whole heart. I actually check it now and again, and it's been interesting see how opinions have changed over the years, especially in regards to Gale and Peeta. Going through the evolution of them as just potential love interests to being far more complex than I could have expected has been a wild ride. Crazy how this reads different than from when I was a preteen.

That said, I wanted to give my unsolicited two cents on my boys, because though I have been enjoying the discussion on Peeta and Gale and what they mean to the story, I also feel like reducing them to Peeta = peace and Gale = war is far too simplistic... and oftentimes unfair to one or both of them.

See, I don't think Peeta and Gale are peace and war/destruction. They're compassion and indignation.

Peeta worries about the other tributes, or their families, or how to repay people like Rue and Thresh for what they did.

Gale is indignation at how the Capitol treats its citizens, it's anger at the injustice of inequality and brutality.

Both are needed in a story like THG. You can't have people like even Peeta not say something like "maybe we're wrong about keeping things quiet in the districts", you can't have him not drop the baby bomb, you can't start a revolution without Gale's indignation at the status quo. At deserving a better life but being denied it, at having your kids be mercilessly killed for literal sport.

However, if you start a rebellion and loose sight of your compassion, you end up no better than the people you're fighting against. Gale wasn't a bad person, imo. His heart was in the right place. He was flawed, yes, but so is everyone in this series. Gale, most importantly, lost sight of the line between fighting for the people he cared about and fighting against the people who hurt him.

Reducing Gale's indignation to just revenge and hatred ignores so much of what he stands for. Who hasn't seen laws passed that dehumanize people, who hasn't been angry and furious when someone is elected who fundamentally hates everything you are, who doesn't think some people need to pay for the atrocities they committed? There's a little bit of Gale in every single one of us - and it's important that it's there, because that's what gives us strength to challenge the status quo and make life better for the future generations.

But. You can't let it take over. You can't loose sight of your compassion or your empathy.

That's where Peeta comes in. Peeta is the voice in your head that worries about how many good lives will be lost when they give themselves up for this cause. Peeta is the worry about the people caught in the crossfire. Peeta is rebuilding when it's over and believing that the next generation will have a better life than your own. Peeta is being kind, even to people who may not deserve it.

And Gale... Gale looses sight of his compassion, and he doesn't realize it until it smacks him in the face when the bombs go off and Prim is gone and he's too far gone. Meanwhile, Peeta advocates for the end of the war even though it means the status quo remains - and regardless of what he believes himself, I don't think Suzanne chose him to say those lines by chance. It means both mindsets have their flaws: too kind and things that shouldn't remain will never be challenged and changed, too angry and you may loose sight of what you're fighting for.

And that's just how Suzanne uses her characters, both of them, all of them. Just look at who is with Katniss depending on the situation:

- Katniss chooses to "rebel" after Gale is brutally whipped. She kisses him.

- Katniss realizes that in order for D12 to rebel, everyone would need to be in on it, and she realizes most of them are not like her, that they're scared and she understands, emphasises with them. Peeta walks by her side.

- Katniss finally does it though, shoots the arrow at the force field, and Peeta is taken from her, it's now Gale by her side.

(You can't start a rebellion without indignation, and sometimes you HAVE to do it or things will never change, regardless of the inevitable pain that will come along.)

- Katniss is righteously angry at the Capitol bombing a hospital full of innocents to make a point. Gale remains there.

- Coin twists people's compassion into an army to fight for her own personal gain. Peeta is hijacked and looses his sense of self.

- Katniss and Gale go to District 2 and even though she tries to be like Peeta, she's still shot- reinforcing Gale's views, the person who was with her during that sequence.

- Katniss is angry at Snow, Katniss goes to the Capitol to kill him. Gale is there.

- Katniss gets in way over her head and realizes she is responsible for the death of most of her squad. She shares the lamb stew with Peeta, and later cleans his wounds.

- Finnick dies and she's at her lowest up until that point and all she wants to do is give up and give in to the anger. She kisses Peeta and begs him to stay with her.

... Claiming that Gale is destruction ignores the fact that he's with Katniss through her own moments of strength. Her desire to change things, to fight back, is as important as her compassion. Mockingjay just brutally shows you what war does to your indignation, to your compassion. How easy it is to cross a line between righteous anger and revenge, or how your sense of empathy and compassion can be manipulated into something monstrous by others, or by all the terrible, brutal, painful things you see.

How easy it is to loose yourself- and that goes for both of them.

Peeta and Gale aren't static characters, they go from representations of sentiments regarding an injust government to what happens to those feelings when an extreme situation such as war breaks out. All of that, by the way, while dealing with this duality themselves, because they are still characters who think and feel and struggle and have flaws of their own- and while I love what they stand for, I've seen too many comments that pin everything into what they mean, that they forget that Peeta and Gale are still people, they aren't perfect metaphors. They're human.

Ultimately, Katniss doesn't really choose peace. She wants peace, yes. But what she chooses is compassion. empathy. hope. There's a time and place for anger at injustice. There's a time when fighting back is the right thing to do. There are even times when you wanna give in to your despair and lash out. But if you want peace, then you have to choose Peeta, because Peeta represents what you need to focus on to achieve that peace. You have to let go of the anger or you won't ever rest. So Gale leaves, and does not come back... And yet, Katniss still has her moments of indignation, of making a stand, even as he goes - she still casts her vote at that meeting, she still shoots Coin. Katniss does not abandon that part of who she is. It's just not her main drive anymore.

So then she goes on to make the choice, every single day, to be compassionate to others. To have hope. To rebuild. Of course she chooses Peeta.

... Idk, man. These boys are so much more than what I see them so often reduced to. They're in all of us. There will be times to stand and fight, and times to show mercy and be kind. We just need to find that balance, as Katniss eventually did.

#the hunger games #thg #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #gale hawthorne #it took me over a decade but I finally bit the bullet and decided to talk about this series #I love it so much #there's so much more I could say I had to hold myself back #like how BOTH Gale and Peeta are never fully gone even tho most people only focus on Peeta #But Gale knew what he did was wrong #It's not as clear bc he's not a pov character and katniss is too tired to try and read him but #prim's death touched him #he didn't brush it off he didnt see it as justified bc at least now its over #regardless of his reasons he still has enough sense of self to realize this #unlike y'know. characters like coriolanus who makes up so many excuses for what he did #including indirectly killing the character who is the personification of innocence and hope #like prim was #(side note I dont think any of the tbosas characters are direct parallels to the thg ones)#(theres little bits of katniss peeta AND gale in characters like snow)#(bc they're all representative of indignation and anger / compassion / fear and the need to feel safe)#(which every human being in the world has - even that bastard)#(he just chooses a different path)#(tbosas is very good btw)#(y'all should read it before the movie makes it about romance like I'm terrified it will)#ps if anyone knows how to put a read more on mobile can you let me know thx ily

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knight-of-the-graces · 2 months

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I... am having EPIC Thoughts. I read a post that talked about how Odysseus really isn't doing any better with ruthlessness than mercy, and I just started thinking, so... here you so. Yes, I'm writing an essay now, you're welcome, I am 'That Guy' in every fandom I'm in ever, yes.

Ruthlessness and Mercy: Would It Matter? An EPIC: The Musical Study

In short... no. No, it really wouldn't.

From the beginning, the conflict was never about ruthlessness or mercy; it was always about the will of the gods. It never mattered whether Odysseus was merciful or ruthless or prideful or what-have-you, insert-chosen-character-trait-or-flaw-here-- the only thing that mattered was if he was obeying the gods, if he had angered them or not. Odysseus wasn't the problem in The Odyssey, at least at the start.

(This is not me saying the man doesn't have or cause problems, because he definitely does, but the overarching problem of The Odyssey isn't about Odysseus.)

Think about it. Several of the gods had decided --at least, in The Odyssey-- to make Odysseus' life a living nightmare. The reason for this seems to vary, but it's there. So right there, no matter what he did, what choices he made, the outcome was already decided for him. He was doomed from the start and didn't even know it.

See, here's the thing, about the Greek gods: Most of them really don't care about mortals any more than most humans care about insects. Interesting on occasion, but usually just something to ignore. And then you have the people who like to torment them, to pull off their wings and legs and watch them suffer and squirm-- those are the gods who involved themselves in the Trojan War. They weren't interested in the affairs of mortals in that they didn't care about the cause of the war, only that it was something interesting to do to break up the monotony of their daily lives up on Mount Olympus, a chance to show off and compete with one another and settle old scores. (I'm particularly upset about Aphrodite. Like, seriously, who just kidnaps some poor woman to marry off to a random guy she's never even met? I mean, c'mon, you're a literal goddess, you couldn't've just... y'know, made a person out of clay instead of kidnapping someone who already had a husband and family? Goodness.)

But anyway. Let's take a hypothetical, shall we? Let's say that Odysseus didn't show Polyphemus mercy, when Athena said to kill him. Do you really think Poseidon would've been any less angry about a dead descendant than a blinded one? I mean, even in this same tale the gods were known for taking vengeance on those who wronged their descendants, and being dead is definitely worse of a wrong than being blind, at least in my humble opinion.

Then, let's take into consideration who exactly killed him: that'd be Odysseus, King of Ithaca and all of that... and a champion of Athena. Now, this might or might not be common knowledge, but Poseidon and Athena competed extensively for the patronage of the city of Athens, and Poseidon lost, badly; that isn't the kind of slight he'd forget easily. (I mean, an olive tree is a food source, though, so... sorry, but it's definitely more useful than a salty spring from the salty man of the sea. Thanks, but no thanks.)

In EPIC, Odysseus had at least defied Athena, so she'd left him by the time Poseidon could discover what exactly he'd done, and thus wasn't responsible for defending her former champion; however, in a Ruthless hypothetical, he'd done exactly as she'd said, and now she had a predicament on her hands: Abandon the champion who had obeyed her to the letter, or face the wrath of Poseidon herself, too?

In The Odyssey, Athena abandons Odysseus to face the wrath of Poseidon by himself, so as not to incur her uncle's ire as well. So in our hypothetical, she would likely have abandoned Odysseus here too. The only thing that would change would be the guilt.

Why is that?

Well, to put it simply, there isn't a way for Odysseus to not incur Poseidon's wrath here. Polyphemus is Poseidon's son, and Odysseus --in order to save the lives of himself and as many of his men as he can-- will do him harm. Poseidon, as Polyphemus' father --whether a good one or not--, is responsible for avenging a slight against his bloodline. Athena, due to Odysseus' actions, will leave him.

Perhaps --straying from the question of ruthlessness and mercy-- if Odysseus hadn't said his name, if pride or anger or stress or whatever interpretation of it you take hadn't influenced his decision, Poseidon might not have learned who was responsible for the act. But then again, who else was sailing the sea --Poseidon's domain, about which he knew every detail-- in that exact area at that exact time, with a captain clever enough to give his name as Nobody so as to not reveal himself, with a sudden influx of stolen sheep on their ships where Polyphemus the shepherd had lost his?

Really, though, that isn't relevant. The question was if it would make a difference whether he was ruthless or merciful, and honestly... I don't think it would make much of a difference. One way or another, his crew was going to die. One way or another, he was going to wind up alone. Do you think that his crew wouldn't have mutinied after yet another monster their captain had chosen to spare came back with a vengeance? Do you think they would have listened when he warned them about Helios' cows then?

Do you think a merciful Odysseus would've chosen his traitorous crew, his former friends, over the chance to see his wife and son again?

#sorry I'm off on a ramble #I don't know what this is but I was thinking so #epic the musical #epic: the musical #epic: the cyclops saga #epic: the ocean saga #epic: the thunder saga #I'm only tagging the ones I actively mentioned; if I should tag the others let me know!#odysseus #ruthless and mercy #ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves #or is it?#the odyssey

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kindheart525 · 10 months

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unpopular opinions on the fim show?

I��m not entirely sure how many of these opinions are unpopular in the fandom as a whole, but they seem kind of uncommon compared to what shows up in my feed so here goes

Pinkie’s family is not abusive or toxic. I know they are portrayed as extremely old-fashioned and strict in their lifestyle, based on what is probably a surface-level understanding of Amish communities. This makes it easy to compare them to similar communities irl who engage in practices like shunning. But the Pies’ behavior in the show and especially Pinkie’s attitude towards them seems to make clear that they have not shunned or abused her despite her “leaving the community.” In other words, I think there are key differences between the Pies and some of the real-life people they were meant to emulate, so it’s inaccurate to say that abusive Pie headcanons have any real basis in the show. I wrote more on this opinion here.

Zephyr Breeze is not nearly as likely to be a deadbeat dad as some might think. He was shown to be on the road to being more responsible by the end of his own debut episode, so I highly doubt he’d be the same pony he was at the beginning of the episode by the time he would become a father. Not that I don’t think he could be at least a little bit irresponsible as a dad; I just don’t think he’d leave his child or not love them. I wrote more on this opinion here.

Amending Fences was a missed opportunity for a very important friendship lesson, one that the show never dared to touch. Which is that sometimes people are incompatible and sometimes your old friends won’t forgive you. Instead, Moondancer was written in an extremely exaggerated way (her whole life was ruined by one rejection??) yet this wasn’t regarded as an overreaction at all. It was weirdly handled at best. I wrote more on this opinion here.

Rarity gets a bad rap from the fandom. I don’t know if it’s her mediocre taste in stallions or if there’s something about her ultra-feminine nature that some people don’t care for, but I think her maturity and intelligence are severely underrated. Of course she can be a drama queen, but so can Twilight and Pinkie and pretty much every other member of the main cast. Rarity had a breakdown over getting a fashion piece critiqued, but Twilight blew up at her friends over having a late paper; the two scenarios really aren’t that different.

Just because Rarity has multiple crushes on mediocre stallions (Blueblood, Trenderhoof) doesn’t mean that she would sleep around or have a tumultuous love life. Haven’t most people had celebrity crushes? Multiple celebrity crushes, in fact, and also multiple crushes and relationships involving people they actually know before finding “the one”? I’m sure a lot of people have also been disappointed to find out the celebrity they fancied is actually a terrible person, like Rarity has. It’s part of the human experience for many, and Rarity’s TWO moments of poor judgment are not a reflection of her whole character or even her full palate of romantic taste.

Along with being a drama queen, Rarity can have moments where she’s materialistic and selfish, like the time she convinced Spike to give her his fire ruby. That was not a good moment for her. But on a bigger picture, materialistic and selfish is not her usual state. She is literally the element of generosity!!! She made Gala dresses for all of her friends FOR FREE! She has also shown herself to be a leader among her friends, at times taking charge and coming up with plans in Twilight’s absence much like Applejack does sometimes. One example is Castle Sweet Castle; the whole premise of the episode was Rarity’s idea! To help Twilight feel more at home! It’s clear that her generous spirit informs her actions through most of the show, unlike Rainbow Dash who’s only truly loyal when the plot needs her to be.

Yes Rarity is flawed, but all her friends are too. Her flaws are not objectively worse than the others. In fact, Rarity was literally under mind control once and still regarded Spike as a genuine friend, while Rainbow Dash sold one of her best friends into indentured servitude completely sober (among a long list of other things). Twilight yelled at her friends that she didn’t need them, also with an unaltered mind. Rarity has had her own hurtful blowups ofc but hers aren’t any worse than the others. Give her more credit y’all.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, I’ve seen a number of opinion posts about how she and Applejack should switch their elements (so RD is honesty and AJ is loyalty), but as I started rewatching the show myself I’ve come to disagree. Rainbow Dash may be honest, but her brand of honesty is extremely rude. There’s no integrity behind it, not like AJ’s honesty. Rainbow Dash in general is extremely rude. There are a lot of points where I’ve wondered if she even likes her friends. There was also that Secrets and Pies episode which establishes that Rainbow Dash has lied prolifically to Pinkie over something that meant a lot to the latter, so RD really isn’t that honest either. I do agree that AJ would deserve the element of loyalty if she didn’t already have honesty. But you know who else is loyal? Spike. The elements of harmony would honestly make more sense if RD were just removed from the group entirely and Spike replaced her as loyalty /hj

I promise I don’t actually want to remove Rainbow Dash from the show, I just really wish she was written better. That’s what fan fiction is for I guess 😂

I have mixed feelings about AppleDash as a ship. I really like the fandom portrayals of it which is why I reblog quite a bit of AppleDash art, but canon alone doesn’t seem to show the good side of their dynamic very much. All they do is argue. Applejack is normally mature and levelheaded, but around Rainbow Dash she’s much less so. Dash really brings out the worst in her sometimes. It’s much different from the loving bickering that people write for them in fan works, which I think is a better spin on the dynamic. If I went off their canon interactions alone, I could see them being exes or on-and-off lovers at most, not a stable, long-term married couple.

This would only be unpopular in very specific circles, but I think it’s pretty stereotypical to insist that Rainbow Dash and Applejack are lesbians primarily based on their tomboy interests and the former’s rainbow mane. It’s one thing to headcanon them as such just because you want to, and that’s perfectly fine! I write Applejack as a lesbian too. It’s another to insist that it’s canon based on xyz evidence from the show or think it’s wrong for anyone to ship them with stallions. Even if you consider AppleDash canon, one or both of them could be bi or pan for all we know. Canon tells us very little about their sexualities so there’s a lot of room for different headcanons. I wrote more on this opinion here.

(More specific to the next gen community) Just because Fluttershy is good with animals does not automatically mean she would be a good mother. There was a whole episode (Stare Master) about how she couldn’t handle babysitting even though she thought her animal caretaking skills made her qualified. Obviously she was shown to be much better with kids later in the show (becoming very popular among the School of Friendship students), but again that’s teaching, not parenting. This isn’t to say that I think Fluttershy would definitely be a bad mom, just that her being good with animals is not a solid reason for her being a good mom.

I definitely have more opinions about the show, characters, and fandom of mlp, but I don’t think many of them are so unpopular. Like for example:

I don’t think the Apples would be queerphobic just because they value tradition and are coded as Southern US Americans. The word “tradition” doesn’t automatically equate to conservative politics, and even if it did, these ponies have been shown to learn new things all the time. But all the trans Big Mac positivity I’ve been seeing tells me that a lot of people agree with that sentiment.

I don’t think most of the popular/generic ships of the fandom (like FlutterCord, FlashLight, and SoarinDash) are necessarily bad or devoid of positive chemistry, they’re just way too often written in extremely boring and generic ways. But I’ve also seen such ships written in unique and interesting ways so I think there a lot of people who also understand that sometimes all they need is a more creative approach.

Episodes like Over A Barrel, Bridle Gossip, and She’s All Yak (among others) were horribly handled and should not have been written. I don’t even consider them canon. I don’t know about the larger fandom, but most of the next gen community that I interact with feels the same way.

I think Starlight’s backstory was stupid and contrived, but it seems like the whole fandom thinks so too. We’re all rewriting it lmao

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dootznbootz · 4 months

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Literally just found out about you today and I'm already follow in you. As fellow tele-GONE-y hater, I absolutely stan with all the hate we have for that stupid fan fiction. Circe used to be one of my favorite books, I still think the writing is good. But when you look at the original source material? Yikes- I don't get why Miller chose CIRCE out of everyone. If she wanted to write a feministic story that's fine. But why chose a female character whom you have to make better and corrupt all the other characters in the source material so that Circe is more sympathetic? Why couldn't she write a TRUE feministic story about some other character?? I personally would've loved a story about Nausikaa. Which would make more sense considering she is a character who is often forgotten in most retellings of the Odyssey.

Circe isn't a sympathetic character, she was never supposed to be one. To make her sympathetic is to make everyone around her terrible. I'm so angry when people use this book for insight on Circe character because it is so different to actual Circe.

I'm also so very salty about what she did to my boy Hermes because what.

Thank you so much!!! Sorry this took a while to answer! Thankfully most folks are not a fan of the Tele-GONE-y either :'D it's mostly the "well, actually" folks who talk about it. >:(

"If she wanted to write a feministic story that's fine. But why choose a female character whom you have to make better and corrupt all the other characters in the source material so that Circe is more sympathetic?"

This right here, is exactly how I feel with so many of these "feminist retellings". Feminism is about lifting each other up. If you have to make everybody else "worse" to make your main character better, then...that's just not good storytelling.

This goes along with the whole "all men are bad no matter what" that happens all the time and I hate it so much. Even if the system may be sexist, that does not mean that every single male agrees with it.

You put everything into words well but I like to ramble so Ima say shit too but it's basically the same thing lol

With the whole "every horrible thing Circe has done is done fo a reason. she's defending herself, she was wronged, men are so evil uwu" is just fucking lazy and SUCKS. >:( LET WOMEN BE FLAWED, COWARDS!

I actually really love Odyssey Circe as a character. She's morally gray and does whatever she wants as a goddess. Yes, she terrifies Odysseus but she's COMPLEX. Why does she need a reason to turn men into pigs? Why can't she just do it "for funsies"?

I think it takes away from her as a goddess to always have a reason for her to do the things she does, you know? Immortals are fickle and don't have the same morals as mortals. I think Miller changed so much as "to have a morally gray protagonist?? No, that's wrong!" which BORING!!!!!!!

I fucking love Penelope. But I still have her a lil mean and even a bit snooty sometimes as her and Odysseus are like-minded. Hubris would be her downfall as well. She is petty and holds grudges like no other. because she's a PERSON. Not "bland empowerment in a can for everyone to consume". Ofc, she has her wonderful qualities like her intelligence, devotion, determination, and yes, she does have her kind moments (she goes 0 to 100% real quick. She takes the "Do no harm, Take no shit" phrase to the extremes. lol)

But honestly? I think there's a real problem in writing in many YA books and especially in fandom where people treat female characters as goddesses (which yes, understandable) but then they can't...make her human you know? Almost like they cannot see any of the woman's flaws or even WANT her to have flaws because "woman doing a bad thing that isn't done 'cutely' ("endearingly clumsy", "quirky chatterbox", etc. traits that are usually not the greatest are "cute" now simply because she's a woman. Maybe a love interest sees her that way but those traits would probably be considered annoying to many others.) regardless is antifeminist"

And even then, so many things that I want to write about are what many would consider feminist when...She's just existing. And I'm getting silly with it. Penelope is athletic and a naiad (75% but you know. with her parentage) but I don't write her that way TO make it feminist. I'm not doing it for that. I just like tiny but mighty wife ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I don't plan to write other women as "lesser" for not being athletic for example. Anticlea doesn't understand why Penelope likes doing that stuff but she's still supportive and they enjoy weaving together. I am NEVER putting down another female character for not being "girlboss" enough.

I really hate that this book has made people constantly bring up the Tele-GONE-y AND Shittalking all of them. I don't like looking at retellings and seeing "a new feminist take". Usually goes against the entire story to begin with. Often portraying good male characters in the original as "bad and horrible".

Also no hate to those that enjoy Circe the Book, but to me, it sounds like trauma porn. adding rapes that were never there, making the victim of the situation the PERPATRATOR because, clearly, a man cannot be a victim. I heard about her hating being a mom despite her literally having servants and she's a GODDESS in the Odyssey. She could literally have a nanny/nurse if she wanted.

Fun fact: I was watching a video essay about villainesses and how to write them well and as soon as it started to talk about historical villainesses and how Circe was a "femme fatale", I exited the video. She's an "antagonist", she lets them stay there but she's still...Not GOOD. To be a femme fatale means to usually seduce. She does not seduce Odysseus. He was literally commanded to by Hermes and her.

#Hope you don't mind that I'm all over the place :P this is just how I am honestly #ask #Mad rambles #shot by odysseus #tamaruaart #save me morally gray circe #anti madeline miller #anti circe #<-I like her in the odyssey. She's a good antagonist.#essay

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gorgeouslypink · 1 year

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I was watching Clueless for the billionth time and I was thinking about Cher's character arc and how she overcomes her biggest flaw, being clueless. I'm just going to give a quick summary for people who haven't watched before I start talking about loa/the void state.

So Cher is like the prettiest, richest girl in school that everyone loves and she knows this and she loves it. People (mostly Josh but probably other people too) have told her that she's clueless and vain, but she kind of just ignores them and continues living her best life.

That is until it literally blows up in her face.

So what does Cher do? Yes she's upset and distraught over it but then she picks herself up and decides she's going to change.

And then she actually sticks to that. She's seen volunteering and removing her judgemental biases towards people and just working to become a better person.

So why am I talking about this and how does this correlate to the void?

1. You need to change your mindset! I always think it's so funny when people don't want to work on/change their mindset and think their life is somehow going to magically change. Mindset is a big part of manifestation and even outside of loa, changing one's mindset is how people work towards solving problem. I can promise you, go look at almost every book, movie, etc where a character succeeds and they'll have undergone some mindset change. Forget fiction, look at any successful figure in real life and you'll see that they talk about either manifeststion or at the very least, the importance of mindset. Changing your mindset to align with your goals is so important and easy and I don't understand why loa girls of all people don't see that!

2. Persistence is so important! Cher had a pretty solid reputation in being popular and pretty, but that also applied for her reputation of being clueless and vain and that's not going to change overnight, both with her own mindset and people's perceptions. I'm sure Cher would have loved to just tap into the state of being kind and fair but she probably didn't read Edward Art, but does that mean she just gave up? No, she persisted everyday in trying to be kinder and fair and actively did things to push outside her noraml comfort zone and as her 3d changed, her 4d followed suit. The same thing applies to the void. Right now, you probably haven't entered the void, but that's okay. Spend everyday fixing your mindset so that you belive in the void and in your own power to enter it, do things to actively work towards it (refer to my SATS post or just any method that is compatible with you) , and just know that your 4d will follow suit soon. This is literally the law.

3. Don't go backwards. I think if most of us were in Cher's position, we would have probably just gotten over being sad and just went back to being a popular, pretty, clueless girl, but Cher acknowledges her fault and works to overcome it. The thing about the void is most people don't have a positive 3d to return to, but they still return to it instead of trying to overcome their faults, whether it be due to laziness or lack of motivation. Don't let that happen! Acknowledge your faults, make a plan to overcome it, and then overcome it. Stay strong and motivated and I know you will live your dream life soon.

Good luck everyone 💗

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fairytale-poll · 10 months

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ROUND 1B, MATCH 16 OUT OF 16!

*Though I am referring to her as Popelka, her original name in Czech, she is also often referred to as Aschenbrödel, her German name. Additionally, Three Wishes for Cinderella is the English title (with an alternate localized title being Three Gifts for Cinderella). The original Czech title, Tři oříšky pro Popelku, and the German title Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel both are translated as Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella. All names and titles have been tagged. Any local Czech or German speakers feel free to correct me for any mistakes! :)

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Danielle:

This is, imo, the single best retelling of Cinderella out there. She has a great character, her relationship with the prince grows organically rather than happening in a single night, and the scene with the bandits is top tier

The story is told as a historical romance instead of anything supernatural happening. Drew Barrymore is a cute Cinderella, Anjelica Houston is an incredible stepmother, and she's also really nasty to one of the stepsisters too, who ends up taking Danielle (Cinderella)'s side. Also Leonardo da Vinci is hanging around painting a portrait of Danielle at one point.

The Drew Barrymore Cinderella is fantastic. It’s got real history mixed with beautiful whimsy! I absolutely love the butterfly wings and how she spoke up for her step mother and sister at the end (and that they were still punished). I feel like I need to go watch it now.

she’s funny and smart and she’s resourceful (also her outfits are historically accurate!)

Popelka:

She has so much personality. She's funny, smart, kind, has a lot of spunk, and she really does things instead of just waiting for miracles to occur. Also, she's a great rider and has a deadly aim with bow and arrow.

She finds three hazelnuts that grant her wishes by giving the clothes to do what she wants. Beautiful dresses. The prince puts a ring on her finger while she’s in her huntsman’s outfit.

I don't know how it's faring in modern day Czechia, but here in Germany, Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel is still THE (non-Disney) Cinderella adaptation and a yearly rewatch for many, despite literally turning fifty this year. It's just so fairytale and also just... good? And she hangs out in the woods and shoots with a crossbow and saves deer and gives the prince riddles and then the music aaa the music!! I guess this isn't just a submission of this version of the character but this version of the story. For those who don't know: This adaptation is based on a Czech author's retelling of the Grimm version of the story, the film was a co-production of Czechoslovakia and East Germany and it slaps so hard it gets played at least 10 times (usually more) on public german television in and around December every single year. This is not an exaggeration, you can look it up, they even make a special, official info graphic with all the air dates every year that people can (and do!) share on social media. In Germany, the main event of Christmas is the 24th, Christmas eve, and on that day they play it at least 4 times (often more) at different times of the day on different public channels (ALL of which any German with a hooked up tv has access to) so anyone who wants to watch it gets a chance to. And Aschenbrödel herself in the movie STILL holds up as a (within reasonable expectations) feminist character, she's skilled, she's smart, she's witty, she and the prince actually talk and they like each other for their personalities, like... yes, there's a couple of flaws with the movie that time has pointed out, but mostly small, background things or things you simply cannot expect a movie from 1973 to get right. It's SO well made and just plain charming, it has truly stood the test of time and I would be devastated if it weren't included. It's also my mum's favourite movie (she's from East Germany and was born in 1969 so she's had regular access to it basically all her conscious life) so we would actually usually watch it multiple times each year and even record it (first on VHS, later again on DVD) so we could rewatch it any time and yet, I literally never got tired of it. It's just good & magical & I love it. Even my brother, who usually didn't care for fairytale movies at all and would much rather play video games in his room, would come down and sit with us to watch this one, THAT'S how good and magical this movie is.

And if all that hasn't convinced you yet but you speak German, here it is on YouTube, go watch it:

[Link]

(I won't provide a Czech link since I can't vouch for any of them as I don't speak czech)

Anyway, dear tournament runner: Have a pic of Aschenbrödel, in my favourite of her magically provided outfits, for the poll:

[Link]

She is the Cinderella of like eastern central Europe and the Story is a little different (she's no. 1 girlboss, beats the prince in a shooting contest and instead of a fairy she has 3 magic hazelnuts/ a magic owl)

#cinderpoll #round 1 #round 1b #danielle de barbarac #ever after #cinderella #popelka #aschenbrödel #three wishes for cinderella #three gifts for cinderella #three little nuts for cinderella #tři oříšky pro popelku #drei haselnüsse für aschenbrödel #fairytale #poll tournament #poll bracket #character polls #polls

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hamliet · 1 month

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Hi I love your meta about Hazbin Hotel, and I wanted to ask what you think about specifically Lute and Adam's relationship?

I see it as perhaps a prime example of an unhealthy power balance in a relationship, but not a romantic one. I could see an argument for unrequited love on Lute's part, but it's not particularly clear. I think it's more like adoration on Lute's behalf and ego for Adam.

I also know @aspoonofsugar is working on a meta about the angels that will touch a lot on this relationship, so I'll let Sugar do most of the meta-ing here, but I will say a few things.

Adam reminds me of a cult leader--a person who uses the ideals of a religion, philosophy, or political matter to prop up themselves. He doesn't even believe anything necessarily--he believes only in what benefits himself. All things are permissible. His end is destruction, his God is his own desires, and his glory is in his shame (hence why he gets stabbed by Niffty in the dick). He only cares about sex and his own comfort. He is God in his own mind, and his pride is his downfall.

Lute: Angels make no mistakes! Adam: Yeah, I've never made a mistake in my fuckin' life!

I do think there's a deliberate irony here, and a retelling to a degree of the Fall in Genesis where Adam's character is taken from--Adam's pride, falling for the serpent's words in Genesis 3:

For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

But the serpent here is not the literal serpent or the character of Lucifer. Instead, it is Adam's own ego and pride. It is part of his humanity, but he refuses to consider that he could have any flaws. He's flawless. He's God. (He's not, and that's why he dies.)

I do think Hazbin is deliberately criticizing white American evangelical Christianity, and I strongly suspect Adam's character is modeled after a particular category of preacher : the sex-obsessed dudebro. See Mark Driscoll; there's a whole podcast called "The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill" that details his story. And here and here for the tl;dr version. I witnessed this in real time, and know people who survived his church.

These men are almost always brought down by people exposing their own abuse of their power, yet they always crawl back. They do not care about Jesus or God or any belief. They only care about aggrandizing themselves and the world being exactly how they think it should be.

Lute is extremely deferential to Adam and tries to uphold his idiocy. You could say she's a bit of a "pick me." But like Vaggie, she's kind of a victim of brainwashing, and I feel for her. Her admiration of and love for Adam is genuine on her part. But that doesn't make it less toxic, and Adam uses that loyalty to get her to participate in mass murders and yet, when called out on it directly, humiliates Lute.

I think my favorite exchange between Lute and Adam is this:

Adam: Extermination Day is here, bitches. We're going to go down and exterminate demon ass! Lute: Destroy that ass! Adam: Prepare to slaughter every sinner in that shit hotel, and you all remember Vaggie? [The Exorcists all boo Vaggie] Exorcists: Boo! We hate her! Lute: Rip Vaggie's cunt mouth out her ass! Adam: Would you just-ju-chill, Lute. Fuck. Anyway, whoever brings me Vaggie's head gets...uh, I dunno, a million Heaven bucks. How about that, huh?

I have actually seen several YouTube critics laughing and saying "when even Adam thinks you've gone too far, you know you're whacked" and the like. Except, I think that misses the point of this exchange (though to be fair it is comedy and it is funny so I'm not saying it's a wrong impression, just that I think there's a poignant layer to this).

Is anything Lute says worse than what Adam says? Like, Adam has himself said extremely cruel things. Like this:

Oh, fuck yes! I win! Suck it, bitches! You better save the date, cunts, because we're coming to your hotel... first!

But when Lute does it, Adam is repulsed because he knows how it looks to his other followers. His followers can be flawed, after all. He can't be. He throws Lute under the bus for stating exactly what he's asking for in no uncertain terms to remind Lute who is boss, and also because he needs to maintain his position of power.

It's exactly what all these dudebro sex-crazed theobros routinely do. When one of their followers states exactly what they mean without any "heehees" or glitter, they disavow that person when in reality that person represents exactly what they've always said, just without any cloaks. And usually it's a woman. The women who side with these men get hung out to dry eventually.

#ask hamliet #hazbin hotel #hazbin adam #hazbin lute #hazbin hotel meta

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king-candybug-backup · 6 days

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Going to gush a little about a couple Kill Switch scenes that I appreciate because I think you're being too hard on yourself about whatever pacing issues you think you have :)

Every night, after the arcade had closed and the random roster race was concluded, Vanellope would sneak a heal kit out of Hero’s Duty, gather up some food, and then come to see him for a few hours.

Whatever true reasons she must’ve had, she’d always hide them under the guise of ‘keeping him company’. Perhaps it was her sneaky way of torturing him, forcing him to listen to her ear-gratingly-annoying voice every night. If this little brat weren’t his only ticket out of here, he’d have tried to kill her a hundred times over by now.

This part I particularly love because it does a really good job at communicating how King Candy thinks in such a small, casual paragraph! He's only ever used kindness as a manipulation tactic, so it makes total sense that he'd see Vanellope's kindness as the same thing; not true kindness, but some sort of means to an end, something she must be doing to get one over on him somehow. He's completely and totally wrong of course but this small thought process fits his character really well! There's so much I could say about just this part if I were better at wording things, but ye, I just love this!

His head arose at the sound, blinking a few times to squint at her, as though he couldn’t tell if he’d actually woken up yet. “... You’re back?”

“Well, yeah, obviously.” She replied, hoisting her haul against the bars of the cage. “If it took threats of violence to get ridda me, I’d’ve just left ya trapped in Diet Cola Mountain.”

Completely baffled, he just stared at her, slack-jawed. She really was a lot stupider than he initially thought.

This part I really like because I think it's another short but effective way to show how his thought process is going to develop about the situation. He keeps seeing her nice gestures as her being foolish and dumb, which I think will let his guard down more as time goes on and he sees this more and more as "oh she'll be EASY to manipulate" even though Vanellope is actually smart and knows full well to be wary of him, and he just can't process how her kindness does not equal stupidity, so his flawed world view there is pretty much setting himself up for failure if he misleads himself into thinking she's a lot dumber than she actually is (That is, if I'm reading into that part correctly. Mayby I'm overthinking a little bit there. xD Bad at wording things)

She shot a snarky look his way. “Also, you literally tried to kill me in Rainbow Lane, I don’t think you have much room to judge, there.”

He looked as though he were about to object, took a second to think about it, then shrugged in a surprisingly nonchalant manner. “True.”

Vanellope rolled her eyes before continuing on her original tangent. “So, what, d’you think every single other racer on the track suddenly doesn’t matter if they don’t win every single time?” When she saw King Candy open his mouth to respond, she quickly held up her hand, remembering who it was she’d been speaking to. “Actually, don’t answer that.”

And this part I don't have much to say about I just like because it's funny xD

Brb, gotta go have a cry real quick 😭

But seriously, thank you, that's so sweet! :') I'm honestly blown away by how much people seem to be liking the fic so far, it makes me really happy that you're enjoying it! 💗 Your ask honestly just made my day, like, THIS FANDOM IS SO NICE, WHAT IS HAPPENING

It also makes me very very happy to know that people are picking up on the vibes I am putting down, thank you very muchly

And what I mean by the whole "pacing issues" thing is really just, like, there were a couple of parts that simply didn't transition between scenes very smoothly, and it comes off as a little jarring (in my opinion). I didn't have the chance to finish the edits yesterday as originally planned, but basically all I'm going to do is add a scene with Candy and Vanellope talking a little bit more before the Sinistar attack, because I feel like that part happened too quickly before they had a chance to build up a bit more of a consistent dynamic, and I'm also going to add a scene before Candy tries to attack her to show his anger growing a bit more naturally, as I feel like that part was glossed over a little too much. Like, he went from "I'm going to bide my time and wait for an opportune moment" to "Actually f#@% everything I'm going to stab this child right now" without exploring his worsening emotional state enough, lol. Those were really the only two issues that were bothering me about it. Like I know it's not the HUGEST deal, but I feel like I can make it better, so I wanna try, lmao

#wreck it ralph #king candy #vanellope #turbo #Text Post #Asks #I'm trying not to be a perfectionist because lord knows nothing ever gets done that way lmao but I also don't wanna be TOO sloppy #KillSwitch

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captain-amadeus · 8 months

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You have some of the literal best takes ever about Stf characters. Chief ones among them being you get the point of the show!!! which is to give people the opportunity to change, and you don't hate them obnoxiously to prop up cedric (who doesn't need that to begin with anyways)

Basically I'm just so happy there's people out here who like Roland and Chrysta and all the other good characters the fandom demonizes

GAHHHHHH

/pos this is so nice man

I do not understand why people are so adamant to point out every other character's flaws, and yet they make Cedric out to be correct in so many situations that have so much grey area to them. Cedric was NOT always the best person because he was not treated the best. The thing is people sometimes do bad things if they are treated badly, but when treated with kindness, can change for the better. That is literally the whole thing about Cedric and Sofia's dynamic: Sofia is good towards Cedric, which makes Cedric want to be good, despite how people treated him in the pass. It's even thanks to Sofia convincing others to treat Cedric better and give him a chance to show what he's capable of that overall allows Cedric to be better off in his life.

While Cedric does change for the better, he still does some things that aren't justifiable. It depends on how much other characters are willing to forgive him, but the ending of Day of the Sorcerers shows how despite people like Roland not completely forgiving his actions right away are willing to give him another chance because Roland realizes there was a REASON why he did all of this, and that there could be something done to get to the root of the problem.

There's also this thing called "people aren’t perfect and they will make mistakes, but that doesn't make them completely evil," and I feel like the fandom forgets that a lot. Especially with Roland.

Oh my god, Roland is hung up on a crucifix for breathing. I can't fathom how people come to the conclusion that Roland is the worst father to Sofia, when he's actually one of the sweetest dads I've seen in fiction.

I feel there's a lot of reasons why people mischaracterize him so much like:

1) He treats Cedric a bit poorly (and yes, the things Roland said about Cedric were bad, but Roland doesn't come from hating Cedric. It's more of a pity he has towards him, which is still disappointing because Roland should've supported Cedric more, but because he grew up with the notion that Cedric isn't as capable as his father, doubts Cedric's abilities like everyone else. He still has good intentions and doesn't mean to hurt his feelings, could talk about Cedric's Apprentice but we'd be here all day, but he still does because he doesn't quite recognize how his words impact his confidence)

2) People watch and focus on the Cedric centric episodes and think that Roland isn't doing his job as a father, when there's so many reasons why he can't always be on screen.

Personally reason two sort of icks me out, because people don't recognize how the small moments with Sofia and Roland have as much value as with Sofia and Cedric, but also kind of strange why people make Sofia and Cedric have this extremely close relationship where Sofia only goes to Cedric for literally everything. There is little balance when it comes to who Sofia interacts with in fan stuff, and I can see why their bond is father-daughter coded. Just, man, it's like she doesn't have an entire family she can turn to for help, who've shown nothing but support for her, where Cedric is the only person that exists for her in this stuff that it's, man at least let her talk with Miranda who is the best character in the show and the best mother ever when she needs help like she does in the show. Or maybe have her figure things out with Amber and/or James, hell, even Clover could offer a few words, the worst thing that could happen is the advice doesn't help and everyone learns a lesson in the end like in the SHOW.

Anyways I'll just stop here and say I will always love the royal family as a whole and as individuals, despite how most of them are ignored or demonized. You are very swag HEHSHSISJHDUEJSBEIJD

#answrs #stf #sofia the first #sofia the fandom #cedric the sorcerer #king roland #queen miranda #princess amber #prince james #clover sofia the first

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kozumesphone · 3 months

Text

𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐔𝐏𝐎𝐍 𝐀 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓 ♡

~ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

✶⋆.˚ “I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. every story has the potential for infinite endings.” ⋆˚

🤍 ༘⋆ spoilers marked !

✶⋆.˚ “i’d give you the world if I could. the moon, the stars, and all the suns in the universe. anything for you, my heart.” ⋆˚

𐙚 songs to listen to while reading this . . . ᝰ.ᐟ

↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺

⟢ the archer — taylor swift

⟢ worship — ari abdul

⟢ lunch — billie eilish

⟢ the prophecy — taylor swift

⟢ rockland — gracie abrams

✶⋆.˚ “have you forgotten the way heartbreak rips apart the soul piece by piece, how it turns you into a masochist making you long for the thing that just eviscerated you until there’s nothing left of you to be destroyed?” ⋆˚

𐙚 mini brain dump . . . ᝰ.ᐟ

♒︎ heavenly. to say I devoured this book would be an understatement.

♒︎ i’ve read a few reviews after finishing the book, and i can’t relate the complaints about the addition of vampires to the plot. they might’ve been unnecessary, but did i love it? yes. because, if there’s magical objects, potions, mysterious arches, and prophecies… why not vampires? i ate that up fr.

♒︎ also, i just like vampires 🫣

SPOILERS‼️

♒︎ apollo’s ‘death’ came as a shock, to me. I WAS LITERALLY SPEECHLESS. but that ending? i could seriously have never expected that. he’s so alive that I just know shit is going to hit the fan and if he wakes up in tbona, he’s going to be bitchy and i’m going to hate him <3

♒︎ and, oh, jacks. i so so so hope there’s much more to what eva thinks he’s done (manipulating her) bc i want him to get a good character arc.

spoilers end <3 ^

✶⋆.˚ “hurt is what made me.” ⋆˚

𐙚 characters & relationships . . . ᝰ.ᐟ

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ evangeline fox — evangeline fox might just be the most unrelatable fmc i’ve ever read, but it’s seriously okay. each novel’s mcs have their own traits and flaws, and eva’s is that she’s too optimistic and trusting. i do feel bad for her, tho.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ jacks / the prince of hearts — now look, for someone who’s reading this after reading caraval, I’M IN LOVE ALL OVER AGAIN. my absolute fav kind of fictional characters are the cocky and sarcastic ones with a mysterious backstory, so jacks is perfect <33 everything about him screams ‘love me’ so 😋💓

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ evajacks — SPOILERS ‼️ : evajacks’ chemistry was almost non-existent in this book (except when he tried to bite her and turn into a vampire beep boop), but i’m hoping it gets much better in the next (though, i’m finding it hard to predict how that will happen considering what eva knows about jacks what she does 💀) i’m rooting for evajacks anyway because they’re now my caravalverse otp along with scarlian <3 : spoilers end <3 <

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ marisol tourmaline — marisol is such a classic high school white girl. see, i get that her mum said all that stuff to her face (which is so not how parenting works) which might have led her to want to be loved and cared for, BUT STILL. MARISOL. COME ON. she’s literally like ‘i want only what she has, because i just do.’ which is so wrong on a lot of levels. get yourself a bf without bewitching them, and i would have had 0 problems with you, marisol.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ apollo acadian — apollo. mon dieu, this man. ik it was a curse, but oh god. my hopeless romantic heart beat for apollo’s dialogues when he was cursed in this book. he was borderline obsessed (but in a non-stalker way, guys) but STILL 😭 (can you tell I have issues? 💀) oh, to be loved like cursed apollo loved eva.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ♱ tiberius acadian — tiberius ah.. well.. bro’s just sort of.. there.

✶⋆.˚ “for anyone who has ever made a bad decision because of a broken heart.” ⋆˚

reviews m.list

kozumesphone © 2024 | don’t repost my works onto other platforms, or edit and post them even on tumblr, without asking me first • don’t steal my works, steal my heart instead • reblogs and comments are more than appreciated !

#skye's cafe ~ ⋆.˚#✮⋆˙skye’s reviews #review #book review #once upon a broken heart #stephanie garber #jacks #evangeline fox #evajacks #ouabh #ouabh review #books #caravalverse

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sapphire-weapon · 1 year

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I think people tend to ignore Leon fucking up (like with Shen May), because they have the mindset of "oh no, that's my favourite character! So he can't do anything wrong or have any flaws!" It's such a limiting way to think. I mean, I really like Leon too, but I'll openly say that he often gives me the fucking ick, lmao. The Shen May scene had me recoiling. Man's a stereotype of "that creepy guy at the bar" and he exudes that a LOT. I'm glad he was turned down. Even the characters we love need to be humbled when they're full of shit, because it's realistic and interesting. It's okay to think outside of the caveman "he good! no bad!"

Also, tacking on, because despite it being a different topic, I may as well stick to a singular ask. Jilleon is such a weird concept to me, lmao. I think for the most part it's treated pretty lightheartedly, but I'm confused because I couldn't really identify where it came from, other than that they're both attractive. I love Jill, but I don't see her reciprocating any attraction. Like, remotely. They get along fine, but I can't even see a close friendship. Maybe I'm biased though, cause I love her and as much as I enjoy Leon, dear god above he doesn't need another love interest. Also Capcom please just grow your balls and properly address Valenfield. We all know they're either a couple or have been pining for several decades.

I'm not gonna lie, if OG Leon asked me out, I'd have told him I had a boyfriend, too. Or maybe just even told him I wasn't interested in men all together. His approach is so... old-fashioned in a bad way. It's evidence that his development was arrested in 1998; he hasn't matured past that point, so he thinks that it's still a thing to just go up to a cute girl and ask for her number right after getting her name.

So like. I'm not surprised that it's pretty much exclusively early 20s and younger ppl who don't think he's trying to ask her on an actual date, because no one does that shit anymore. That was already out of fashion by the time I was in high school, even, and I entered high school in 2003.

But for any tiny childrens who are reading this: yes this is literally how relationships would start in the 80s and 90s. Out of nowhere and on a whim between complete strangers and just hoping it works.

Re: jilleon

Prior to Death Island, I would have agreed with you. 100% I didn't understand what the basis for it was, and I didn't think she'd be interested in him at all.

Then I watched Death Island. And I'm 85% sure that they've already slept together LMAO Chris dropped the ball between RE5 and DI, and Leon just kind of slid in there and took his shot and actually seems to have made it???

If I'm not mistaken, Jill is the only person other than Remake Ashley in the entire series who actually laughs at Leon's jokes. And she actually gets him to laugh out loud in return -- which is almost unheard of for him.

They just seem very comfortable around each other in general. Jill seems more at ease in his presence than she's been in Chris's since... Lost in Nightmares? And Leon is definitely more comfortable being with her than he is being with Ada or Claire. Like, Jill seems as comfy as a presence for Leon as Chris and Ashley are.

I just really like their dynamic in general. I don't think of them as romantic, but I see them as very, very good friends who just fuck every once in a while.

Like, Chris is still Leon's best friend, but their relationship is a lot more intense. But Jill is the person that Leon first thinks to call when he needs to nerd out about movies or to just bullshit in general. And then every so often, a text message conversation happens like:

"Gonna be in DC for a weekend for BSAA shit. Pick me up from the airport?"

"Sure. What hotel?"

"Staying with a friend actually idk if you know him. Leon Kennedy? In the DSO. Brown hair, blue eyes, giant cock?"

"Never heard of him. Sounds like he's in for a fun weekend though."

#resident evil #leon kennedy #jill valentine #jilleon

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lottieurl · 1 year

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you can literally always hate jeff in the tags of my misty posts btw im reading those tags the way one reads a morning newspaper. the fanon version of jeff seems so different to canon jeff like he’s not really the dedicated malewife people make him out to be shsjsks. he didn’t want to even try strawberry lube like c’mon now. he freaked out when she saved their asses and grabbed the gun. perhaps this is an unfair assumption for me to have of the writers but ive seen it happen in other shows and i fear they might’ve seen how the general audience liked there’s no book club!jeff and added more of him and that general vibe bc of it. but to me s1 jeff worked bc you spend most of it distrusting or disliking him and then he has a shining moment at the taylors and thennn he goes back to being Like That when you find out he’s the blackmailer. and it’s like this really sad, terrible marriage two people are stuck in for various reason so idk where the couple goals even in a fun failmarriage way comes from. he’s not even the most interesting non shauna member of the sadecki family!!! callie is right there esp if they’re focusing on her motherhood!!! ANYWAYS. jeff & walter’s downfall 2k23 im with you

okay thank you for giving me the excuse to talk about it actually cause i was thinking this since the season started. people's ENTIRE interpretation of jeff as a character hinges and is almost exclusively based on THERE WAS NO BOOK CLUB? literally everything else he does gets twisted so he can stay this fanon dream himbo wifeguy. and that's the show's fault to an extent for sure cause there is a framing there due to how much they want jeff in the comic relief role. but the show does make a point of showing that jeff is deeply disturbed by shauna, that he's been a shit husband actually and he's kind of an awful person tbh. like! thats not a character flaw per se, we are all here for awful characters. but people don't want an interesting dynamic between those two or for jeff to be more than a one dimensional goofy idiot. and they also want shaunajeff to be like. santa clarita diet marriage or whatever which. loved santa clarita diet but that's AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THING. and an entirely different type of show and we do all get that this would strip shauna of all her amazing nuances right? right? anyways back to jeff. people will see how he reacts to shauna pulling that gun or how he's entirely against everything shauna does regarding callie and go omg wifeguy always supportive. he is not? and for good reasons lmao? people will see teen jeff cheating and be like ye shauna was awful for doing this to jackie but jeff is just a poor little idiot plus (did see a take like this which. hello) jackie wouldn't have sex with him so he's without fault. like. what. anyways he's a cheater who found out SOME of what his wife experiened in the wilderness (not everything for sure cause that man is way waaay WAY too freaked out by shauna's behaviors to know it all lets be real) and decided to profit off the victims he knew as a teen dgsbjfjdjdsb like he offered to go to jail for adam murder in part cause his own blackmailing scheme is what pushed shauna to kill adam? just cause he's kind of funny every once in a while doesn't mean he's A Loving Himbo Wifeguy. all jeff related posts are that and its why i started having an allergic reaction to jeff

#genuinely hate it like this dynamic with him and shauna makes people sort of forget abt all the nuances and complexities #of shauna's character #like i hate that i hate it sorry jeff fans i cant stand this man anymore im tired #i dont want this sitcom vibe except for when callie is there. bye #yellowjackets blogging

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chaoxfix · 2 years

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hm. upon replaying frontiers. the cutscenes and character talks ... are. not as good as i remember. so im doing a belated frontiers review, focusing more on characterization than gameplay -- because i have very few complaints with the gameplay, except for chaos island. because fuck that volcano in particular smh

anyways -- for all my criticisms here, i still like the game, and i see the characterization as lightyears beyond forces, and its definitely doing damage control for about a decade of bad characterization... but... all i can still say for certain is that its a step in the right direction but definitely not without some flaws i really want to write out to get out of my head. because some of the conversations are kind of. hm.

anyways. im gonna go a little more in depth with whats rubbing me the wrong way about a few characters under the cut, ALONG WITH SOME POSITIVES, but if you don't want to see anything negative about frontiers, please don't read! i don't want to damage anyone's perceptions of the game if you love it. and i do stand by the gameplay being really genuinely fun, its really just the characterization that has a few things that are bugging me -- which is surprising because i really liked it the first go around. anyway, here we go.

okay so here's whats bugging me about the following characters: mainly amy and tails, and following them, in order of most to least 'off' to me -- sage, eggman, sonic, and knuckles. that being said, even the negative points COULD spin to a positive, and i'll end with the positives after i explain what's bugging me and why.

amy, the negatives:

she just seems incredibly melancholy. yes, the atmosphere of the game is overall mysterious and melancholy, but amy seems more affected than anyone else. it also feels like no one was quite sure what to do with her character in this game, and she has a moodness that she's never had in other games (other than crying over sonics literal dead body in 06).

the interaction with her and sonic and reuiniting the koco with its long lost love ... "would you really not help a person in need?" and i think sonics response was really good -- a gentle "no, but we need to prioritize XYZ first" -- ... yet we're meant to sympathize with amy? why? to me, the emotional impact of this scene with the kocos just did not land. it has the bones to be really impactful, but there are just some elements of the conversation between them that feel really, really off-putting. amy seems very pushy and defensive, and i don't feel inclined at any point to root for her, which is a shame, since sonic clearly seems to.

continuing with the kocos scenes -- amy asking the kocos to be careful when they finally reunite -- it feels really ooc and quite melodramatic. it makes me think they're trying to go with overprotective mother character for amy now, which i just really dislike, and doesn't quite feel like her. i hope they can make her more of the elements of her characterization that best suit her -- headstrong and protective, and inclined to do things herself, in her own way, even if she's taking too much control of a situation.

on that note -- agency. i get that she doesn't have agency in this game (none of the digitized friends have much) -- but unlike knuckles and tails, amy doesn't seem to try and do much herself. she asks sonic to do tasks for her, but it just seems that compared to the others, she's not putting in much work or taking much interest in her surroundings. knuckles tries to fight sage, and tails helps with a few tech things -- what does amy do? why was she written into this position -- no agency, and picking fights with sonic and attacking his character when he doesn't follow what she wants? i don't like this for her. i want her to be written well so badly but at every turn in the games, there's nothing to show what a well-written and compelling amy would even look like.

lastly, the scene where she says, "and i want to share that love with the world, no matter how far apart it takes us" -- i viewed every single side story and overanalyzed every detail i could find. this part still doesn't really track for me. what exactly does she mean by this? what type of love is she sharing and how? frontiers seemed like it was trying to set up side stories for all sonics friends, but... if amy goes on a solo adventure, what will it actually be about? how will it make her grow as a person? what will her character arc be? based on what she said here, i have no goddamn clue! right now, i feel like not enough seeds have been planted for her, unlike with some of the other characters. hers is the least clear set-up for a solo story beyond this, and i find that very disappointing. i hope she still gets one, but an amy-centric game will already have a difficult time selling given the niche market sonic fills in the gaming world -- she doesn't need even more sabotage to a potential solo-game by a poor setup.

overall, it just confirms that the amy i want to see most in a game, is an amy who simply has never existed. in sega canon, the only thing that's ever been consistent is that she has a crush. meanwhile, the fanbase might be pretty divided, but from what i can tell, fans; most consistent characterization desires for her are that we want her to be: extremely compassionate, maybe nature-focused, an incredible friend. protective and hot-headed, always taking charge even if she should probably think things through first. a girl with some growing-up to do, but she's always someone who takes responsibility for her friends' safety and will do whatever it takes to bail them out. she loves the world and everyone in it, and wants everyone to have a chance to find happiness and love. she's a huge romantic -- and yes, she has a crush, but it shouldn't be the most central thing to her identity. yet... i cannot point to a single game that's given us that, without an extreme level of gunk to wade through in-between decent traits. i want to love amy so badly -- but at some point, she has got to actually be written well again, or she'll be beyond saving.

tails, the negatives: (many of these are more minor, things that just really nag at me, and aren't as grounded and consistent as amy's)

this one kind of hurts me to even mention, because im really not sure how much was the script and how much was just voice actors not putting emphasis on the right words. but it kills me. in the like, very first scene with tails, sonic's getting cyber corrupted, and they have a back and forth that's EXCELLENT on paper, but the VA delivery really puts me off. to summarize the conversation, "[fancy version of] im digitized and the cybercorruption is super bad for you" "uh, in english?" "im fine, you're not, and i'm worried." "ill be fine! and i need this power to rescue you!" "you're always rescuing me, and... lets focus on the now. what do you need?" -- and ON PAPER, seeing it written, it's mostly fine, though could use a few more filler words in some areas to make it sound a bit more human. but tails's VA puts such weird inflection on the 'you're always rescuing me, and' part of it. it just doesn't make much sense as-is. for the effect it seems to be going for on paper, the last bit of the conversation should have been altered to be a heavy-sounding: "heh- i'll be fine! and I need this power to rescue you, anyways. don't worry about me, i can handle this." "yeah, but... you're always rescuing me. i just wish... for once i could... - nevermind. let's focus on the now. what do you need?" -- it doesn't change the substance of the conversation, but the tone would have been so much more compatible with the rest of tails's lines. i really wish they would've had more time to tweak the script and voice acting, because so much of this game could've been stellar, but it just barely misses the mark for me.

creepy energy when sonic shows up looking visibly exhausted and injured and tails not only doesn't acknowledge it. but puts on a huge smile and grins and waves at him as he leaves? what the fuck was that about? putting on a brave face would be a great move but fr what is he trying to do here? sonics not even looking back at him, why is he grinning and waving when his brother's badly hurt?

overall i think i just had a few nitpicks with voice acting but i have way fewer problems with tails than amy <3

sage, the negative:

i. honestly do not like her character. her death was sad but for most of her screen time, she was just so needlessly frustrating to interact with, and ive never been a fan of "the conflict only exists due to someone purposefully withholding information." shes aggravating.

i did not like her song. it was mad funny which was not the point.

it implies eggman could be a good father figure. bite bite kill kill etc.

she worsened every single cutscene where she was watching from a distance. get out of here sage... im trying to watch sonic talk to his friends :(

dialogue just sounds stiff

if she JUST TOLD SONIC WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE FIRST PLACE.........

eggman, the negative:

father figure eggman??? in this good christian minecraft server?

sonic:

overall, i quite like him here! i think my main complaint is that there was clearly so much more planned that just was not implemented very well, so its sonic's story arc that suffers most

the amnesia storyline is literally SO juicy that i feel robbed that almost all of the dialogue is nearly impossible to trigger, and almost nothing comes of it in the main cutscenes.

i feel robbed that his cyber corruption was resolved with zero effort. i would have KILLED for a cyber corruption fight, or some cyberspace levels that were super fucked up and needed some outside thinking to beat and escape back into reality.

notice how all of these are mainly wanting MORE though -- his actual lines, characterization, line-delivery, etc -- i don't have a problem with any of what we got. my issue is i just wish we'd gotten to see the finished product that we all know the game devs were hoping to finish before they got crunched. :( amnesia sonic i'll love you til the day i die

knuckles:

hes a little stiff at times but i have literally no complaints hes great. knuckles sweep etc

no but for real i do have a few issues with how congested and stiff he sounds. there are also some really weird pauses in the middle of conversation? it was most noticeable with knuckles, but i did notice it with all the others. i think they probably should have edited the sound a bit better to make it flow more, like a conversation and not like VAs just reading lines one at a time in a booth

something about the way he interacts with the koco rubs me the wrong way but i can't put my finger on it.

i still don't love the idea of commander knuckles.

NOW FOR THE PART WHERE I TALK ABOUT THE POSITIVES.

Because believe it or not, most of the negatives can be re-framed, AND/OR, are intentionally left somewhat lacking to set up for a transitional period so that the best characterization doesn't come premature. as in, if the characterization was perfect, it'd be like "haha, let's just pretend the last decade and a half didn't even happen. forces who?" instead, this takes the bold choice to acknowledge it and say, "yep! that happened. it sucked. we're doing better, but like real people, you have to go through the period of 'sucking less' before you get to the holy grail of self actualization.

so here's some of what i think are the positives, and/or the hidden meanings with some of these characters. but first i do want to go with a quick theme because its something i certainly believe while watching/playing.

the koco theory:

the kocos that each of the friends latch onto are ones that specifically project their issues from forces. it's most obvious with tails, but knuckles and amy have the same thing going for them.

with tails, the koco was a hero's assistant/pilot/whatever who fell short when the hero wasn't around. not much to say about it -- the game makes it super clear. tails even directly addresses 'just like when i fell apart around infinite' (paraphrasing). but just because his is the most obvious doesn't mean the others aren't doing it, too.

with knuckles, the koco were in a war against impossible odds... and knuckles was forced into a sudden commander position and didn't end up physically fighting much -- just like in forces. in forces, we hope he was fighting behind the scenes, but from what we the player saw, he was just in a supervisory position. sonic makes a dig at him for this in frontiers -- and i think it was meant to be a playful jab in-universe, but knuckles clearly takes it a bit more seriously. it bothers him to be in a supervisory position, and he's clearly a leader who researches military tactics, because he would've studied echidna war maneuvers, etc. i think this was partly meant to forgive forces / explain the role he was put into, but also to apologize to him as a character. he likes fighting even more than leading; putting him in a position where he's too immaterial to fight is torture for him, and he's grateful that sonic can help when knuckles himself is unable.

and amy... the koco she sees are lovers who are separated in a war zone; one is clearly a high ranking soldier, and the other, their lover. they come back together and confess their love just in time for both koco to die. this isn't a perfect 1:1 metaphor, but bear in mind that everyone thought sonic was dead. for six months. to them, he died in battle, with zero warning. of course amy would want a reunion between lovers before it's too late and someone dies. i think she has some serious survivor's guilt and regret going on. i still feel less overall emotional impact from amy's, because i'm just not a fan of love stories in general and i don't love how pushy she is with her scenes. but i think even sonic can tell that there's something going on with the way she's reacting to the kocos.

with that in mind, i'll add in a few other notes for each character. because the kocos being trauma-projection maps doesn't perfectly fix everything, but it does offer some explanations for some of the gaps in the stories.

amy, the positives:

despite still not being an amy characterization that i truly and unabashedly like..., this is still leagues better than any characterization i've seen for her in. ages. maybe ever. there are no moments where i think she's a bad person or aggravating -- instead, she seems very melancholy and thoughtful. i wished i could like her more, but we do see that sonic cares about her feelings deeply, and that's a step in the right direction.

notes about amy being knowledgeable about nature -- this is a trait that amy hasn't always had, but between this and prime, im liking this direction for her as a nature protector.

amy having a knowledge of the arcane! it's back and i couldn't be more pleased! i just think it's a very fun characterization trait for her and i quite like it

for the more mellow conversations, she seems like quite a sweet and friendly person. neat!

tails, the positives:

oh my god every single scene with sonic

no listen. listen. we've been waiting years for this to happen. tails getting some more room to breathe and grow up a bit? legendary!

i actually thought he grew up a bit too fast; the fact that they gave him the 'im mature and independent now!' arc in the VERY FIRST 3D SONIC GAME is kind of why the rest of the games have slowly watered him down and chipped away at his characterization. they played that card too soon, and too far. now we get to have that arc again and a bit slower; we're setting up in this game to see the real thing in a future adventure, and i'm very pleased by that.

little bro / buddy -> partner growth? holy shit... i adore this sm

the way tails reaches for sonic to physically try and hold him up -- twice in this game. my heart.

his vocabulary feels about right. it's not so over the top that it's aggravating.

he and sonic play off each other quite well, and understand each other fine -- aside from one joke about "those sure are words you said just now" (when sonics actively weakened by the corruption), sonic is insightful and his IQ isn't watered down just because tails is using higher vocabulary. this is clearly a duo that talks to each other frequently and understands each other quite well.

tails and sage's discussion is the only time i liked sage. i liked the way they communicated; i liked tails's ability to get to her by saying, 'my trust in sonic is also backed up by a lifetime of data' which was also super sweet <3

tails clearly cares about sonic and worries about him in return; he got an opportunity to see sonic when he was clearly not at his best. but he ALSO has a hero's mindset for most of this island of not trying to be a burden. granted, he does still need multiple pep talks, but his focus is to be useful and efficient as much as possible. you can also see that sonic has rubbed off on him in that way; you don't have to wonder where tails learned to push through negative feelings -- but he's still young enough, and sonic's a good enough friend, to help him open up. (unlike sonic who remains rather stoic through the end -- but thats just how i like him)

sage, the positives:

im putting a bulletin here so you don't think i forgot her. yeah.

eggman:

the fact that all the Deep Lore are from eggman and in the big fishing minigame. holy shit. i was SO PLEASED to find that out. this was such a fun way to give lil sprinklings of lore

and the content of the eggman voice logs were all great! he was in character and very fun to listen to

sonic:

my sweet summer child this is the best youve been written in so long. i am kissing you on your forehead you sweet blue creature.

optimistic and driven. focused on helping his friends. not stupid -- but he will follow the only lead he has, because what choice does he have? even then, he's not antagonistic towards sage, because he wants to have the bigger picture. he clearly doesn't completely trust the weird sky voice, otherwise why would he keep seeking out sage's information? he knows not to put all his eggs in one basket, it's just a pity that sage refuses to share information

RESILIENT LITTLE PUNK. i love him so much. he gets put through SO MUCH this game, and i really liked seeing it because it just drives home that he's an actual hero. this is doing damage control from forces, where he was allegedly tortured (yeesh) and was suuuuper chill about it, to the point that he has no reaction whatsoever when being freed. in this game, he's thrown through walls, shot missiles at, chased by giant buzz saws, keeps having to start titan fights without the last emerald -- and he presses on. we get to SEE him struggle. it's not heroism without struggle, and by seeing that it can be actually-difficult, his story is more impactful, and he's more interesting as a character.

his dynamic with each of his friends is unique, but he remains consistently characterized. it's fantastic. he's confident and devil-may-care while being a good friend and genuinely caring about each -- but with amy, there's a sweeter and more earnest undertone, with knuckles there's a clear rivalry and 'holding each other accountable and picking up the slack where the other fails' dynamic. they care but they're also both extremely stubborn about it so their affection is shown through tough love, and it's great. and sonic and tails's interactions are all gold. siblings, yes -- but sonic being tails's primary caretaker, there's a lot of responsibility there, even if it's largely masked by friendly banter. they care about each other, but it's clear who the older brother who's giving the pep talks is.

love that he continues to follow his views of right and wrong, without it being too in your face. it's not that he's stupid about sage -- but he knows she knows something he doesn't, so he won't antagonize her as long as he thinks she might crack and change sides -- he's seen it happen often enough, y'know? he's not the most patient guy for some stuff, but he's persistent when he needs to be

loved the voice acting in general. very fun sounds when running, especially the chuckles when you kinda miss a jump. he just sounds like he's having a blast on this adventure

loved all the mentions of the landscape etc as he's running. gives personality to both him and the area around the player.

no clue what sonic's doing after this game -- if all his friends are on solo missions, i hope he gets another one too. i know everyone wants him to house-sit for everyone else but i still love sonic going on adventures. i think he could have a fun solo adventure too :( storybook part 3 when? take sonic through a counseling book and make him fight all his demons from forced lol. by that i mean make him kick infinite's ass. kidding. mostly.

knuckles:

loved all his feelings about the architecture

he's definitely going through something and i love it

his friendship with sonic really shines here. yeah they're rivals but clearly they have a deep respect for each other. they also call each other out on shit which i think is important for both of them.

i liked his 'i think i'll have my own adventure after this' spiel best out of the 3 of them. yes even more than tails's. very well set-up. him and sonic sitting on the ledge just chatting felt like the most natural friendship in the world, and i get why knuckles is jealous.

that scene where the ruins are about to be destroyed. it got the perfect balance of 'deeply upset and worried' and 'can't express strong feelings well' ... beautiful

i loved so much of it but i actually don't have a lot to say specifically about him -- ares island was very atmospheric and i just liked him and his interactions with the landscape and sonic and the ruins.

overall?

more positives than negatives, truly. yeah, the characterization does still feel off in a few ways, and i don't like sage, and the cutscenes still aren't quite as good as i remember on my first run through. i think i wish they'd zoomed in a bit more, or made the digitized faces clearer, to show more feeling. i think i did also wish for deeper conversations than we got... especially with amy. but aside from some stiff conversations in some of the ruins-chatting, and some VA nitpicking where i wish they'd tweaked the lines or had lines closer together (there are some really awkward pauses in a conversation thats meant to be flowing) ... or done a few more takes of some things ... overall, i still don't dislike the characterization. it has room for improvement for a lot of these characters... but, there's officially positive trajectory now. i hope that these characters will continue on their upwards journey!

and bear in mind that i believe almost all of these could have / would have been fixed with a bit more time -- but that's sega's fault for rushing their franchise-saving game. the gameplay is a lot of fun, sega -- but everything else could've been even better if you just gave your game developers TIME. fuck's sake.

#sonic frontiers spoilers

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