#i do think hes been scapegoated but also like

[jrueships]

ants team combusted right before play-ins and people expect him to wanna carry that energy into play offs as well?? leave my girlboss alone. free him. and jaden. how was he supposed to know he had the might of Zeus and the bones of deuce? he did not know the might of his malewife rage, sue him

[lavender-phoenix-flames]

Wei wuxian: the protagonist of all time

One of the many things I love about wei wuxian is that how great of a protagonist he is (quite a long post) :

Wei wuxian is introduced as a villian that gets resurrected but as the story progresses we see that he is actually a naturally heroic person, who did his best to do the right thing and survive the unfair, unjust and classist system.

He is very self aware, confident, charming, charismatic, handsome and competent. He has a very healthy self esteem, high emotional intelligence and he is a renowned genius, a prodigy. He is also amazingly observant, perceptive, a logic driven person, a quick thinker. He is so calculated in everything he does and reasonable too. He isn't impulsive or reckless rather he thinks all his actions through, considers the consequences and then takes action. He isn't oblivious either (anyone who thinks otherwise go read the book again).

Above mentioned traits are something you don't usually find in protagonists that often and it's refreshing to see a character so greatly skilled and intelligent in all ways yet so humble, sweet, kind, free spirited, full of life and selfless (selfless not self sacrificing). Usually any other character with his level of greatness would have been arrogant about it, but wwx is different. He has not only attempted the impossible but successfully achieved it, not once but multiple times, yet he knew his limits and shortcomings well, even when he was the strongest he never thought himself invincible/omnipotent, he never thought anyone above or below him.

He is so misunderstood both by the world he lives in and the fandom. Being orphaned at a young age, surviving living on the streets, being raised in a abusive household, scapegoated, backed into the farthest corner, having being into worst of situations, where his beliefs, his own life and life of his loved ones are threatened, having limited options where it is either forsake yourself or other innocent ones, he chooses the former. It isn't self sacrificial if he didn't have any other option, cuz other option is just betrayal of his self and morals.

And at the end he is just as human as any of us if not more. He has his flaws, his trauma, his sufferings, his dark days and moments where he wasn't himself but he never let it hold him back, dictate his life. He seeked revenge on those who wronged him, even in his darkest days he knew the limits of violence he can commit. Never regretted any of his actions, if he did he moved on quickly.

At the end there really isn't anyone like him, he isn't perfect but he is ideal, he is someone who we should learn from and strive to be. For me this is how an ideal protagonists should be, not only is he lovable, admirable, and deserving of immense respect, he is someone we can all be, it isn't impossible.

[khattikeri]

one of my favorite things about mdzs is that for how heavily its plot involves politics of classism and misogyny... even the characters most directly impacted by it can't and don't free themselves from it. literally the closest exception is mianmian.

meng yao being the "son of a whore" wasn't some sort of commie awakening for him that led him to wanting everyone to be socially equal. he played the political game, climbed the ladders, sucked up to and backstabbed and murdered people, including other prostitutes who actually had nothing to do with how he and his mother were treated at the brothel he grew up in.

he put in so much extra excessive effort for even a fraction of the same respect that members of gentry cultivation clans got. and he did deserve to be treated more humanely! but he feeds into the exact same system that created him, leading to his own undoing.

his efforts were for a fragile upward mobility that was never going to hold up. he never surpassed his origins nor did he empower others in similar stations, because the society he lives in is not one that would accept that.

the second he got caught and all those crimes exposed, he was scapegoated to hell and back, replacing wei wuxian as society's terrible one-sidedly evil boogeyman overnight.

speaking of not-quite male gentry, i think it's interesting that wei wuxian explicitly doesn't try to climb the ladders in BOTH lives, knowing full well that anything he does will be punished just for the sheer fact that he is wei wuxian.

wei wuxian is scolded for giving intelligent and correct answers in school. lan wangji does the same and is praised.

wei wuxian occasionally lounges around with fellow disciples and is punished. jiang cheng does the same and mostly escapes.

wei wuxian refuses to carry his sword around in public (after losing his golden core, which nobody knows) and is scorned as an arrogant upstart. nie huaisang has been doing the EXACT SAME THING for YEARS and nobody bats an eye.

unlike jin guangyao, wei wuxian knew subconsciously from the start that his acceptance was superficial and that he could be cast out any time. when he was 10 and recently taken in by the jiangs, he canonically would not eat or use "too much" food and water because he thought they'd find him a nuisance for "wasting their things" and kick him back out.

now away from just the classism, yu ziyuan is a proud and strong noblewoman in a society that belittles and derides women for everything they do. her strong cultivation doesn't matter. she's victim to the vicious rumors of her husband loving another woman who is strong like her but apparently had a more likeable personality.

it doesn't matter even if jiang fengmian didn't cheat or that wei wuxian is wei changze's son with cangse sanren; yu ziyuan can't bear with the humiliation of herself (and by extension her children) not being "good enough". she's ridiculed for "failing" in that one duty as a wife, mother, and woman.

she lashes out and takes out that anger on everyone present for years, giving her children lasting trauma and also being a key element in how the jiang family and yunmeng jiang sect are effectively wiped out at the hands of the wen clan.

madam jin doesn't even have a name outside of the fact that she's married to jin guangshan. i don't even remember reading anything that indicates if she's a strong or weak cultivator, or what, which in itself proves that to most people, it doesn't matter. she's "just" a woman.

of course she's angry at her husband's affairs and all the bastard children they bring in. but she also can't do anything about them, so she lashes out at the few people she can: servants. non-cultivators, probably. those very same bastard children.

shoutout to meng yao getting shoved down a flight of stairs at age fourteen, because if madam jin tried that move against her husband instead, it would make her lose even more face, which as a noblewoman she'd never do.

and that's not getting into how jiang yanli is consistently sidelined for being physically weak.

that's not getting into how mianmian was actually a good cultivator, but was mocked by everyone around her for trying to stand up for wei wuxian when everyone was turning on him. how everyone scoffed at luo qingyang's words as "just some lovesick woman" who "obviously wants to marry or bed him since he saved her".

luo qingyang is the only one of these characters who HASN'T died. she didn't play society's games like jin guangyao. she didn't dig her heels in confidence of her own abilities like wei wuxian.

she didn't bitterly lash out like yu ziyuan and madam jin. she didn't gently accept it like jiang yanli.

she just LEFT.

she married an ordinary merchant and cultivates separately from mainstream cultivation society, and therein found her own peace and happiness.

mxtx doesn't bother with particularly class conscious or feminist vocabulary to hand-hold readers into understanding these disparities, but that choice highlights them & the deeply entrenched politics of their society even more. i really love it.

[thefrogsennaneverfound]

I ask this question from a curiosity standpoint, and don’t mean to seem rude or anything, but why don’t you like Daniel Ricciardo? Am I missing something?

He’s far less offensive than a lot of the other drivers. He has a tendency to awkwardly laugh rather than say “that’s a shitty joke. Not okay”, which is frustrating, but not even in the same universe as something like Lance Stroll physically assaulting his trainer.

Like all F1 drivers, he wants to be WDC and talks a big talk, but he’s still nowhere near as obnoxious as a lot of the other drivers, who all think and say the same.

Maybe my understanding isn’t correct? As far as I know, his only really shit time as a driver was with McLaren in 2022, and words like “scapegoating” and “sabotage” get thrown around a lot. In 2021, he gave McLaren its only win in over a decade, and it wasn’t team orders based, and he hauled Renault back up into the podium as well, for their first time in almost a decade. I don’t think he should have left Red Bull, and I don’t think he’s necessarily an Alonso or Verstappen level talent, but he also made those Red Bulls and Renaults that he drove look a lot better than they were.

It's not just about what a driver's like on the track; it's his attitudes off the track too and Ricciardo has really bad form. As for dragging the Renault into the points, and the Red Bull when it was underperforming - that's his job and the cars weren't that bad. If he'd swapped with one of the back markers at the time, they'd likely have performed just the same. Plus, if he made the Red Bull look better than it was, why wasn't he the one winning championships in it? Why did Vettel get all that action when all Ricciardo got was a handful of race wins?

Anyway, here's (just some of) why I firmly believe that Daniel Ricciardo is every bit as obnoxious as the most obnoxious drivers on the grid. If you don't read right to the end, and I wouldn't blame you, please at least take in the part I've highlighted in red; it pretty much sums up the type of character he is and why I - along with many others - really do feel that he's most definitely obnoxious.

“I don’t watch the news and feel better about my day so I choose not to watch it.” Just one direct quote regarding his complete and shameless ignorance about the extreme humans rights abuses prevelent in some of the countries F1 travels to. What it amounts to is that the “drama and negativity” (his own words) of news reports on out-dated and abusive attitudes to women and LGBTQ people is a buzz kill so he’d rather not know about it, thanks all the same.

His attitude to the sexist objectification of the (now thankfully defunct) Grid Girls: "It's kind of like part of the attraction of the sport, fast cars and fast girls,". In his opinion, because it’s a male dominated sport it’s “a cool thing” so “let’s keep them”. If that's not obnoxious, I don't know what is.

On “Your Mom’s House” (a lowest common denominator podcast aimed at pathetic little boys who think they’re men) he laughed along with deeply sexist, misogynistic ‘jokes’ about women. There are plenty of drivers who would, at the very least, have kept their reactions neutral, making it clear they didn’t think it funny, but not Ricciardo; he was more than content to chuckle away at their vile comments about women.

Tricking Yuki Tsunoda into trusting him to come closer on a boat so he could throw him overboard, because it’s funny to force someone to face a very real phobia of sharks by throwing them into a body of water that’s widely known to contain them. I don’t care what Tsunoda’s reaction was to it (it's common for the victim of bullying to make light of their ordeal) or that Ricciardo threw himself into the water too; it’s still an appalling way to treat someone when they’ve been brave enough to be in such close proximity to one of their greatest fears. It’s the behaviour of a bully and Ricciardo is the worst kind of that particular species – a charming bully. The reason he gets away with so much of his crappy behaviour is because so many people are taken in by a cheeky smile, a twinkle in the eyes, and the friendly disclaimer that it’s just a bit of fun; they’re just trying to lighten the mood and make people laugh. It’s always at someone else’s expense though.

Given he was in a highly competitive Red Bull for all those years, he won precious few races, and left because he wasn’t getting the attention he thought was his right. I know athletes have to have an enormous amount of self-belief but to have looked at a racer like Verstappen and sincerely felt that he was his equal? That’s delusional. But is that really how he felt? Or did he – like so many who can’t face real competition when they know someone else is going to come out on top – jump ship because being a big fish in a small pond is preferable to being outperformed and therefore second best? I don’t know which it is but if he really, genuinely, sincerely thought he was on the same level as, first, Verstappen and then Norris, surely he’s just not very bright?

Monza 2021 absolutely was a team orders win for Ricciardo. Have you listened to Norris’s radio? He was faster; he wanted to pass; he asked if he could pass; he was told to maintain position. Either the team were concerned that the two might take each other out (although I am absolutely certain that Norris could have made that move with ease so was it more a case of Ricciardo taking Norris out if he tried to overtake?) or Ricciardo’s ego was so fragile by that point (Norris had been wiping the floor with him) that they decided he needed the win to boost his confidence and get a few more much needed points for McLaren. Either way, Norris was robbed of his maiden victory because he’s a team player who obeyed team orders rather than saying “screw this; I can win and I’m damn well gonna win”. I respect him for playing the team game but I hate the fact that Ricciardo got an undeserved win at his considerable expense (that’s not hyperbole; a driver’s first F1 win really is huge).

You're probably sorry you asked now.

[tealvenetianmask]

"I can always do better." A trauma, neurodivergence, and RSD analysis about Blitz because this is how I spend my free time now.

A lot has been made of this line, and I think it says a ton about what makes this show great and especially how it deals with trauma.

This is a show where to main character is a literal demon assassin from hell who accidentally destroyed his whole life in a fire, and that all would be enough to create a damaged, lonely character, but no-- that's all important, but the original root of his self-image issues is that he's spent his whole life feeling never good enough and trying to fight that. It's woven into the story seamlessly, and it's so human scale and relatable.

I've written some posts before about Blitz being neurodivergent (I've focused on ADHD because it's what I know the most about, but folks analyzing him for ASD, yes I see and appreciate you. And dyslexia is there too.). Yes, neurotypical people can also be raised with unfair expectations, treated as commodities, scapegoated by their parents, etc., but also, rejection sensitive dysphoria is so tied to ADHD that it's considered part of the diagnostic criteria. Poor emotional regulation + often getting in trouble for messing up/not being good enough = this feeling that we have to always look over our shoulders because we're not worthy and going to be rejected over and over again.

In this show, we don't just see upsetting flashbacks and connect them to issues in the present. We see a continuous pattern of deep insecurity breaking through a facade of confidence. Then when we see Blitz at his most vulnerable in The Full Moon, he's just a kid again begging for a chance to prove himself.

For Blitz, social class plays into this too (the idea that it's rare for an imp to run a business? To even get looked at by someone like Stolas?). I like that it's not simple. I like that there are pieces of his psychology that lots of different people can relate to in different ways. I love Blitz, and I love this show.

[dxxtruction]

Thinking about Santiago.

How Armand was definitely appeasing Santiago to make up for killing his maker by colluding with him on the get go. Like Santiago definitely knew right when Armand knew about the two of them, and fair would only be fair. Santiago is someone who might act out frequently from all his resentment about his maker, and so Armand's probably thinking already that if he gives him this he'll finally cool his head about it. Stroke his ego a bit and give him a sense of power over something only Armand really has the power to do. But he doesn't follow through, as he'd caught feelings for Louis along the way. He's also realizing during this period of courting how much he really hates appeasing the coven all the time (he's notably bartered his body to them to solve arguments as this is 'how one endures'. and Coven life requires a 'letting of of the self'), let alone upholding all its laws with so much violence. He's not against either on principle, but is seriously questioning if this is who he wants to be at this period of time. Has honestly been disillusioned from the desire of coven life for the last century or so, because he's given the opportunity to see he can have other things. Like love.

With Claudia, Santiago's very much putting on a mask of innocence around her, scapegoating all the future blame onto Armand, anything that will happen will be Armand's fault. When really the only thing keeping this going is Santiago not backing down on needing the two of them dead so his ego is soothed. Santiago himself doesn't even care about all the laws. I'm not sure any of the coven or Armand do, let alone never indulging themselves in acting out in ways not tied solely to the group benefit. Which makes the fact they snitched on Claudia particularly interesting. They get to but she doesn't? Everyone hates Claudia to some degree and I think this just fuels Armand's hatred of her, because he's the one to always clean it up. And Claudia's going to act out, because, well she doesn't get along with anyone. I think the Baby Loulou play was a deliberate ploy to make the two of them buttheads, and what none of them, and their inflated egos, were expecting was for her to be a sweeping hit.

Armand knows if some coven members get to run rampant and some don't it leads to total chaos. So he can't just let Claudia have special privileges, but is technically letting her have them on a law the whole coven is in agreement on is something where a death sentence is entirely justified. (that of killing another vampire.) So this doubles over itself.

And to Armand, Santiago frequently emotionally degrades him, and publicly embarrasses him, in order to break him to a point where he has him where he wants him. He needs him broken so he can put him back together as he sees fit. Cause he can definitely easily coup and become the new maître, like he wants, but if Armand's all high and mighty, and feeling like he has any other choice, the whole plans a flop. Armand knows this sort of thing well enough to not see all this going on behind him (he does get lazy), even if he has a vague sense they'd probably get up to something, he's secure enough in Louis plan that they won't (which he calls love).

It's one of those things then where it has nothing to do with really wanting Claudia or Louis dead, at least for Santiago and Armand, but all about a clashing and contention between egos in a social contract that necessitates those bound to it be killed if they don't uphold, or fit into it well enough. Normally those who don't fit in are just prone to doing it themselves. It's a toxic work envoirment on steroids. Which Armand is in no small part apart of fostering the same as the rest of them. He does use a lot of their same tactics, and is normalized to them. (Such is a culture of toxicity). Then it's a little nation of vampires turning to fascism to get rid of the 'undesirables'. Which I think Armand does only come to sympathize with, because he felt he had no other choice (they'd broken him down), and it provided him with security. Much like Madeleine.

Moral of the story: never appease a fascist, and leave your toxic friend group at the soonest opportunity. Also leadership in relations where those who are in it do not have your best interest or values at heart, let alone if it's the group of the two of you, will likely want to undermine that leadership and relationship to serve their own interests (and visa-versa). This doubles as well for a larger community, or any person being against you, regardless of position. If they think they can get away with it, and desire to. And a lot of ways people think to do it is if it's already a normalized thought. I mean it's a big question when it comes to genocidal thinking, or really murder of any kind, how does an entire group of people, or person, become okay with the idea?

[concerningwolves]

Also, this talk about scapegoating ND people because of "incorrect" or "weird" behaviours vividly reminds me of this time in middle school when our entire year group did this desert island survival team-building exercise.

I've blanked most of it from my memory because the whole scenario was unspeakably miserable, but I don't think I'll ever forget what happened when the teachers introduced a Traitors-type mechanic. Basically, they randomly picked a student who would "sabotage" the "supplies" by stealing some (iirc, these were a stock of those little beanbags we used in PE), and we were supposed to work together to salvage the situation.

What actually happened was a witch hunt for the saboteur, and because I (undiagnosed autistic) wasn't reacting "correctly" to the situation, everyone came down on me. I remember standing in the corridor while a bunch of people that I called acquaintances, and some who I considered friends, all crowded around asking me if I was the thief. I think I might have been almost hysterical, because I started laughing and grinning in that painfully embarrassed way while I protested my innocence, and they took this as further "proof" and pressed me harder. I remember feeling absolutely filthy with hot-and-cold sweat, so frustrated I wanted to cry, because nobody would believe me. They were convinced it was me, because I'd committed some social transgression or other that I didn't understand, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.

The teachers put a stop to it in the end. (I think they actually cancelled the entire exercise, but maybe it was just that particular aspect they scrapped). Our form teacher gave everyone a very disappointed talk and revealed that the real thief was someone nobody had even glanced at, because he was popular and well-liked. I don't remember if anyone ever apologised to me. One of my friends told me I'd been "over-reacting", because it was "just a game", but to me it'd felt like a microcosm of my social life with the stakes dialled up a 100%.

I will always be able to point to that instance as the first time I became really, excruciatingly aware just how Different I was. For some reason, I'd put a target on myself, I thought. I know now that it was actually a case of ableism and inherent biases against neurodivergent behaviors, but that's a recent revelation. And my heart breaks when I think about how that kind of thing happens every day, all across the world, because so many societies train people to see ND traits as red flags.

[atopvisenyashill]

i think tyrion often acts incredibly stupidly when it comes to cersei, i think because he is a man, he doesn’t really understand just how damaging robert was to her; not dissimilar to kevan holding the lancel issue against cersei, tyrion can recognize the sexual abuse that HE experiences as being awful & over the line, but can’t see that thread tying what he experiences at his father’s hands to what cersei experiences at Robert’s hands. tyrion, like kevan, imo certainly feels some empathy for cersei but stop short of recognizing that a lot of her anger is tied to the way her family just kinda throws her to the wolves & expects her to get over it.

obviously tyrion’s issue is a bit more complicated given that cersei also sexually abused him as a child at an age that she should have understood what she was doing was wrong, & is more than happy to play into tywin’s scapegoating of tyrion. but at the same time, tyrion is more than willing to play into this “just shut up and get raped your husband” mindset that tywin forces onto cersei as well! cersei is at many points the aggressor in this dynamic but tyrion loves to shoot himself in the foot when it comes to cersei specifically, and you can say the same for cersei - she’s too bogged down in the mindset of blaming him to ever connect her suffering to the suffering tyrion experiences! they both eat up their roles in that abusive family dynamic hook line and sinker when it comes to each other, both vying for that mastermind spot next to tywin.

when it comes to jaime though it’s like. i think tyrion tries so hard. he ignores the times jaime will use cruel words to refer to him. he tries so hard to always see in the good in jaime, i think because tyrion is very aware that their dynamic of golden child & scapegoat is not something jaime asked for, not something jaime wants, and to a degree something jaime is innocent of. it’s not jaime’s fault he’s able bodied and handsome and born first, it’s not jaime’s fault tywin is a hateful stubborn man, and tyrion sees that tywin’s treatment of jaime DOES negatively impact jaime. he loves jaime, even as he struggles with always being compared to jaime & coming up quite literally short, through no fault of tyrion’s.

and the tysha thing is like. you can almost understand why jaime thought it was better not to say anything. this is the same man who trusted his father wouldn’t sack the city! jaime wants to believe in the best of his father! but as he gets older, i think tyrion is right to be angry that jaime continuously kept it from him. for tyrion it was like - it was them against the world, it was them against tywin’s stubbornness. tyrion will ignore jaime’s faults so long as jaime remains united with tyrion against their problems. but all along, jaime was helping tywin cover up his sins! it’s not something jaime is doing actively, he’s still stuck there as that child believing his father would never be capable of hurting elia & the babies, but he’s too damn old to be acting this naive, and suddenly all those faults that tyrion ignores become so much more severe. suddenly it’s like - well if you were never on my side what the hell have i been suffering for all these years??

[nerdragenewvegas]

Thinking a lot today about how despite my insane thirst for Joshua Graham, looking at him logically for 35 seconds made me realise that my years in the Mormon church were effectively years in a cult and how projection seems to change how people experience Honest Hearts a lot.

Like there's a huge subsect of people who credit the character with reconnecting them with their faith and I mean hey if that's a positive life change for you that gives you grounding, cool. But I really struggle to kind of understand that perspective of in to be honest because the point of the arc (at least to me) is that Joshua was using faith to project his own feelings and traumas and bias in a way that allowed him to somewhat avoid blame or responsibility in the event he learns he's wrong - he even admits this much depending on your ending.

First time around he did this with the Legion taking that place of a "higher power" once he was out on his own and seperated from the accountability that the other New Canaanites gave him, and when we meet him, he's doing the same thing with his Faith. And believe me when I tell you that scapegoating like this is so common in Mormonism that it's actually hard to clock once you've been in for a while, and Joshua is so good at romanticising what he's doing that we spend a lot of the DLC willing to believe him until he's about to actually do a genocide for real and we realise what's happening here.

This happens a lot in Mormonism with things like LGBTQ+ and gender stuff, where nice things like the Plan of Salvation (which can genuinely be quite reassuing and warm in a spiritual sense) are co-opted to justify homophobia and transphobia and misogyny. "I, personally, don't have an issue with trans people at all! But the plan of salvation is so clear about our bodies and how we need to respect gods choices in our design!" - despite the Plan of Salvation saying nothing about gender identity or expression and honestly kind of validating the idea that transitioning etc is also part of gods plan for some people. "I love lots of gay people and so does the church, but the word of God is clear that temple marriage is for men and women only." That kind of thing. "The whitelegs are gods children, too, but the bible is clear about how we handle those who would seek to harm this Zion we've built! I don't enjoy murder, but it's what God wants, it's a chore."

Realising this and then looking at times in my life where I saw this happen in the Mormon Church is what took me from "gently deconstructing and still believing some of it" to "I was brainwashed and in a fucking cult." So i always kind of struggle to see how anyone can get "I should seek God again" from this, but at the same time? I think that's the best part about Honest Hearts and a lot of Fallout NV in general: it forces you to learn not about yourself than anything else in the actual game. It's such a wonderful game when it comes to getting players to self reflect - maybe this is why it's so known for being the "omg I'm trans now" game.

What a special fucking game, huh?

[scoobydoodean]

am I the only one who thinks the very existence of crossroad demons in canon makes it clear that selling your soul for someone else is not even something that's particularly unhinged? they have people out there making demon deals for far less than bringing a family member back from the dead lol it's just that demons are very invested in fucking with the winchesters and poking at dean's perceived neediness and vulnerability and his and sam's codependency. maybe it's just terminal deangirlism but I have never really bought into him being particularly needy or clingy I think he's baseline normal but everyone else acts like he's smothering them

Context

Copying my tags also:

Dean's main way of saving Sam is by sacrificing himself? And I think a lot of that reflects Dean's struggles with depression and suicidal ideation. Sam isn't the only one Dean has been shown to be willing to sacrifice himself for when he was at a low point. He was ready to die for Layla in 1.12 and he was ready to die in 13.05. Both emotional low points where he was struggling with his own sense of worth. 2.22 is a low point Dean has been building to all season. His worsening depression is very clear. 9.01 is simply... severely misinterpreted in terms of Dean's perspective. He risks his life every day. He stood between max and his mom in 1.14 also with a gun pointed at his chest

And yeah people in SPN make demon deals a lot. Sam says he tried to make a demon deal to get Dean back in 4.01, but no demon would deal. He also tried to re-open the Devil's Gate from 2.22 (which would let out hundreds of demons yet again to wreak havoc on the world). John made a demon deal to save Dean's life, and many fans don't even think he cares about Dean. Bobby made one, Bela made one, etc.

I could go through the whole show to prove Dean being a Needy and Clingy and Smothering person simply is not accurate... or, because I'm tired of making up people's arguments for them and proving a negative by going through a whole show is very annoying (and I am technically already doing that very extensively through a series of searchable tags), I could just say fans who think this way are incorrect.

If they don't think they are, they're welcome to give me examples of Dean actually being a uniquely horribly needy and clingy and desperate and demanding person who forces people to stay with him forever and ever because he doesn't care what they want and desperately wants to control their lives. I've certainly seen people try to make the argument before, but without fail each time they point to examples that are 1) not even remotely unique to Dean (and he's usually the weakest example and I can think of multiple for other characters showing behavior that is objectively more extreme) 2) presented in an intentionally misleading or mind-blowingly out of context manner 3) woefully (and often rather deliberately) mischaracterizes Dean's motivations.

Anyway, feel free to stream related tags I track:

#sams motivations

#taurus sam in the flesh

#In which Sam is not a helpless little waif with his hands cast over his eyes being carried along by the tides of the immutable sea

#sam the hunter

#sams moral compass

#projecting displaced aggression and scapegoating in spn

spn revisionisms

#demons lie

#youre such a control freak

[hazardouslesbian]

another interesting piece to the dichotomy between Clark and Lex is they both have their issues with letting people get close to them due to their own respective traumas, but it manifests in different, almost opposite ways, which imo ends up being their downfall

Lex obviously has this air of “I’m a Luthor, I’m secretive, I won’t let anyone close to me” that he’s developed from a combination of lionel’s fucked up parenting, and a life of keeping secrets to protect the people he cares about, but actually looking at his actions the idea that he’s secretive and closed off or whatever starts to feel like a facade. In practice (especially with Clark) Lex is so desperate for connection that he lets his walls down almost every chance he gets. Like if I recall correctly in the show he really doesn’t shy away from talking about his childhood trauma whenever Clark asks. Plus Lex is pretty honest throughout the show, especially to Clark. There’s several moments from the start where other characters THINK Lex is lying, but in the beginning it’s almost always Lex being scapegoated.

And I think the idea that he’s a closed off person that’s hard to reach isn’t just something he tries to present to the world, I think it’s also a lie lex tells himself to convince himself he has any sense of power over who he chooses to let in, because in a community where he IS constantly the scapegoat choosing to let people in and connect to them opens him up too way too much opportunity for disappointment and heart break, so he has to convince himself he’s able to stay disconnected and keep people at arm’s length, but in reality I really don’t think he’s that capable of keeping people out? Like if someone genuinely wants to connect with him I don’t think he has the power to stop himself from letting that happen at LEAST in the early seasons of the show

Clark on the other hand feels like the kind of guy who should be an open book, and in a lot of ways he is! he’s earnest and kind and can make friends with just about anybody, including the widely distrusted Lex Luthor, but he’s got a secret that he’s been told his whole life he has to guard at all costs for the sake of his survival. And his fears of ending up on a lab table tortured and experimented on are reasonable so you can’t really fault him for being dishonest with everyone. But Clark clearly doesn’t want to be this secretive aloof guy, he’s lonely and displaced, the sole survivor of a world he never knew. He’s similarly desperate to be this trustworthy, friendly guy, with deep relationships with the people in his life. So he tries to compromise and instead lets people in just enough for it to feel devastating when they put together that he’s undeniably lying to them.

It nearly ruins every one of Clark’s relationships at some point in the show, but ultimately his other relationships survive it, his relationship with Lex can’t

the real reason they’re “doomed by the narrative” is Lex is so desperate to connect with Clark, and Clark is incapable of ever fully letting that happen, even though he wanted to!! and in the same way Lex tries to be okay with their “incomplete” relationship because he wants to be understanding and doesn’t want to ruin his relationship with Clark but in the end he can’t do it either!!

[irithnova]

About my Siberia ocs...

So I think it's important to balance their characterisation in a way in which they are distinctive characters with interesting personalities and backstories but also acknowledges the challenges they face without making their entire character essentially "They're sad all the time because of Russia" or "Stop talking about their struggles under Russia I don't like politics."

I think both are problematic however I find the latter to be far more distasteful because well. This is a nation personification OC we're talking about and not only that, they're essentially nations within a nation (Russia) by virtue of colonisation and so are minority groups within the larger nation. Hell - because of displacement and immigration from European Russia , a lot of these groups are minorities within their own lands. It's a special case when dealing with minority groups/occupied people personifications and it's particularly egregious when someone wants to forgo any kind of acknowledgement of these power imbalances yet still insists that their interpretation is sensitive.

I've seen some pretty bad OCs of Siberian groups which are the product of the creator going "I hate politics stop talking about politics!" or, an almost direct quote, "I hate when people shove politics into historical hetalia." Which... Is an interesting take to say the least considering how history feeds into politics and vice versa. Historical hetalia is a beast in an of itself and is one of the only hetalia communities/bubbles in which "no politics" will get you laughed out the door from what I've seen considering *gestures to my previous statement*. If you've ever taken a history course - you'll know how much history and politics are intertwined.

This is how you get interps which consists of the likes of "Russia was wandering around the empty lands of Siberia" which not only blatantly disregards the brutality of the Russian colonisation of Siberia but also promotes the concept of "Terra Nullius" or "Virgin Land". I'm quoting myself from an even bigger post I have in store which focuses on anti Mongolian sentiment however stereotypes about Mongolians and Siberian groups often overlap because of their placement in Northern Asia, hence why it applies to both,

"In addition, to hone in on Mongolia being an "untouched, pristine" land - this is also a common trope that is launched towards traditionally nomadic "unsettled groups” (such as Siberian and Native American groups). The concept of "Terra Nullius", a Latin word meaning "nobody's land". It completely disregards the presence and rights of the people who inhabit the land and has been historically used to justify the colonisation and displacement of such groups - their land belonged to "nobody" so it was essentially up for grabs...It divorces the people from their landscape and paves the way for dangerous misconceptions and justifications to blossom.

Here is an example of "Terra Nullius" in action in a Russian propaganda poster, encouraging Russians to move to Kazakhstan."

Or interps such as "[Siberian group] has forgiven Russia for everything he did/most things he did and is in love with him" which implies that the mistreatment of the Siberian groups is merely something in the past when it is in fact ongoing. The mistreatment of Siberian groups such as the Sakha, Buryats, Chukchi and Tuvans has been all the more highlighted in their disproportionate mobilisation in the invasion of Ukraine - and the heaps of scapegoating that was subsequently shovelled onto them.

That's not to say ethnic minority soldiers in the Russian army shouldn't be held accountable for their crimes - however that and the fact that they themselves are victims of Russian imperialism can both exist as true statements. The scapegoating is so bad that even Pope Francis joined in, blaming the brunt of the war crimes committed onto "Non Russians" such as Buryats and Chechens, as they do not come from "Russian culture."

Back to my main point... I think the resistance to do research on and publicly acknowledge how these groups live under Russia and what kind of struggles they face in some kind of bid to "not paint them as victims!!11" is sorely misinformed and ignorant. Because well. They are victims.

Not in the sense that you should portray them as sad, pitiful, weak little meow meows but in the sense that yes they are living under Russian occupation and are an occupied people who's been subjected to centuries of Russification, and so compared to making an OC of Mongolia who is an independent nation state at least I think there is far less room to be hauling around "leave politics out of historical hetalia!" "don't talk to me about politics!" "stop victimising them!!" because then it leads to tone deaf interpretations such as "They've forgiven Russia for everything and is in love with him ♥️💖", "Russia is actually [Siberia groups] father", "Here is my singular Siberia OC who represents ALL Siberian groups and by the way Russia is their father" (yes these are all real interpretations I've seen and I've made a separate really strongly worded post ranting about it) and worse. I mean I've literally seen an "aph Siberia oc" who was Russia and France's love child. Terra Nullius executed Hetalia-style.

I don't really think I need to elaborate on why a singular Siberia OC is problematic - Siberia is filled with a myriad of different groups who speak different languages, have different origins and ways of lives and practices, different religions, who've experienced eras of peace and conflict with each other, etc and yeah to shove them all into one personification is an erasure of the sheer diversity that is in Siberia. I definitely don't need to elaborate on why making Russia a father to any of these groups is problematic, to say very the least.

On the point of "don't only portray them in a victimising lense", I think making Siberian groups all depressed all the time is also a Russia-centric perspective. Of course it's ignorant at best to not acknowledge their shared suffering because of Russia however when this point and this point alone is central to their character I believe in a way that it strips them of their autonomy and ability to feel things and do things outside of Russia's gaze. There is absolutely a lot of joy to be had despite their current situation, perhaps even in spite of their current situation. It's ok to give them odd quirks and put them in funny situations as well as acknowledge that they are an occupied people and approach that territory carefully when need be.

For example, I made my Buryatia bubbly and loud but made my Tuva a bit more deadpan because I see them as a pair who often associate with each other and I think the dynamic is funny. I also made Buryatia an overbearing "husband" to Soyot who is perpetually tired™ from all the se- .

I made a crack dynamic between Sakha, Evenkia and Dolgan where Evenkia was Sakha's teacher at first but then became a deadbeat dad leaving Sakha to primarily raise Dolgan, thus Dolgan takes after Sakha and is uh lawyermaxxing👍. Yukaghir is the little old lady of the group who is often forgetful but very nifty and Chukotka acts like a big sister to people which Koryak (who I see as her brother) always finds annoying and they often bicker. Ket is on the slightly edgy side and is extremely particular about his routines and Nganasan terrifies Nenet because he eats reindeer whereas Nenet doesn't.

All of these quirks/ more lighthearted interpretations and "they are an occupied people under Russia" can coexist. One should not be thrown out for the sake of the other.

I think there's also problem - though I've seen this far less, in making Siberia ocs purely as a middle finger at Russia. As in, you made the OC because you wanted to say loud and proud FUCK RUSSIA which well yeah, fuck Russia, but I highly doubt your interest in this group lies outside of wanting to #own the Russians which is dehumanising in and of itself. At least pretend to care about the history and culture instead of using an entire group of people to make a virtue-signally oc purely to try and upset some Russians.

Anyways yeah Siberia 👍

[akajustmerry]

I haven't seen chibnall but I have a hard time imagining being worse than moffat. I'm sure it's possible but that man... he was bad. also out of curiosity what's the problem with eccleston? or did you just use his name as a reference for which era was rtd. feel free to ignore this if you like, I hope you have a good day!

hellooo!

look, you won't hear me arguing moffat wasn't bad but believe me Chibnall was worse. He wrote an entire sequence where the Doctor tricks the Master (then played by British-Indian actor Sacha Dhawan) into being caught by the Nazis, knowing what the Nazis would do to him. Like, the Doctor, presenting as a white woman, handed over the Master, her best friend presenting as a Brown man to the most notorious white supremacist regimes in history. And that moment was framed as a successful ploy!! As a "win" for the Doctor.

I'm sorry but, to me, Moffats fucking decrepit cringe Gen X Misogyny did nowhere near as much damage as thoughtlessly portraying the Doctor as someone who will literally use Nazism against a poc and framing it as clever girlboss behaviour. Like, it's not fun that these are the people we have to choose from but one of these things is not like the other.

As for the Eccleston stuff, I was referring to Christopher Eccleston's conflict with the BBC and by extension implied conflict with RTD. The full details of the conflict have never been fully made public but Eccleston has always maintained he quit the show due to the culture created by the show runners and producers. He's said he'd never work with RTD again. Eccleston implied that one of the reasons the relationship between himself and RTD broke down was Eccleston's desire for the Doctor to be a role model whose intellect wasn't inherently tied to being upper class English and had to really fight to use his natural accent. It's worth noting that the we wouldn't have a Doctor without an RP (received pronunciation) accent again until Capaldi. David even mentioned Russell's "enthusiasm" for DT to speak in RP not his natural accent in his interview with Jodie in 2020.

I want to believe that RTD has grown since the mid 00s, and perhaps this time around things will be different. But I think a lot of people point to Moffat as the worst because his bigotry is the most visible and easiest to critique. It's more popular and acceptable to critique sexism against white women than it is to critique racism and classism. But in reality all of these showrunners are white British men who have pulled white British bullshit and I won't stand for Chibnall and Davies shortcomings being scapegoated via Moffat.

Also, this is not a defense necessarily but a lot of people who hate moffat era who did NOT watch Capaldi's seasons and did not watch season 10 with Bill Potts. So their critique often lacks the perspective of Moffat's best season that proves he's capable of writing something genuinely compelling that's not gross and sexiest. Like it genuinely infuriates me when people talk about "moffat who" but they're only really talking about Matt Smiths seasons. Again none of that is a defence but it's just to say that most people who say Moffat is the worst are people who a) are really talking about Sherlock, which, fair enough that was shit b) people who just think 10th Doctor best Doctor and don't actually care about anything after that era in any meaningful way. Or c) people who have a pretty incomplete view of the series was and where it currently is.

omg this is long sorry I hope I don't sound rude I'm not trying to be I just have so many thoughts about this. I hope this answers your question, please let me know if I need to clarify anything <3

[quitealotofsodapop]

LMK assorted Spider Gang LMK headcanons/theories

sequel to this post. Focusing on the Spider Gang cus I just finished reading that section of Journey to the West.

Spider Queen:

Spider Queen was one of seven sisters... seven sisters who fell to Monkey King's staff after trying to capture Tripitaka/Tang Sanzang for their master; Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord/Centipede Demon. Spider Queen was the only survivor of the fight besides the sisters' adoptive sons. She has spent the last countless years trying to rebuild the family and home she once had, accidentally becoming a "queen" of spider demon-kind in the process.

The Hundred-Eyed Demon Lord's current status is unknown. Spider Queen doesn't care. Her former "brother" refused to give up the Tang monk in exchange for the safety of his sisters. She views this as the ultimate betrayal from someone she had considered her mentor/older brother. She did steal his alchemy supplies though, hence her cauldron.

Spider Queen actually lost her legs in her and Wukong's original fight - hence why she uses a mechanical lower body. Modern mobility aids yall.

Spider Queen also has beef (accidental Pun) with Zhu Bajie for harassing her and her sisters when they were bathing. Homeboy really went so creepy that they predatory spider demons didn't even wanna eat him. Even Pigsy's brief lapse of braincells when he first met Spider Queen was more polite than what his predecesor did.

Spider Queen's motherly nature extends beyond her clan. It's why LBD deliberately possessed a child to approach her - she knew Spider Queen would think twice about hurting "just a little girl". Spider Queen even gets a little protective over MK once she starts talking to him on an equal level.

Syntax:

Syntax was once a scientist who worked at the Weather Station. When the station was damaged by Red Son and MK's fighting in "Bad Weather"; he got scapegoated by the company as it's lead programmer and was fired. This gives him mega resentment towards both the Monkie Kid gang and the DBK family specifically.

He ran into Spider Queen while trying to find work as a freelance programmer. She needed someone to design a delivery system for her venom that didn't require her biting every single victim's neck. Syntax scoffed and went "I could just program a swarm of mini-robots to do it for you. We use similar drones while cloud-seeding at the station." and the rest is history.

Syntax's name is not only a programming reference, but is a ref to a type of spider family called Synotaxidae - related to Huntsmans and Black Widows (family <3). His name in Mandarian is "Liù yǎn zhū"/六眼蛛 meaning "Six-eyed Spider", which could be a glasses joke from the rest of the spider gang (who normally have four eyes) or a reference to a species in the same family - a six-eyed sand spider, known for their reclusive natures, and having the most powerful venom of any spider species. Hilarious if Syntax ever accidentally bit someone and it was a 1-hit KO.

The antidote made by Red Son wouldn't have worked on Syntax. While it did cure those envenomated during New Years, Syntax getting the "first spin" of the refined venom meant that he recieved far higher a survivable dosage/damage from the spider-bot. He had to work out a few more kinks before the New Years parade or else Megaopolis would been filled with dead half-spider people.

Syntax is having a small crisis of humanity. Not as big as the gang expected, but more like "Oh dang. I could've just been a demon this whole time? This rocks!- Hey why do chickens freak me out all of a sudden?" There's lot of spider demon stuff he has no context for - Spider Queen probably has to give him the spider demon version of "The Talk" the first time Syntax drums his legs at someone he likes.

Has/had a very mild rivalry with Macaque, mostly cus the shadow monkey would poke fun at Syntax for being a magic-less former human, and the programmer could toss the criticism right back at him in words Macaque didn't understand. The hostility died down when Macaque got weirdly interested in an RPG Maker game Syntax was playing, and wanted to know how videogames worked. And so the development of the "Macaque VR game" began.

He def chose the name "Syntax" for himself.

Huntsman:

Huntsman is only slightly younger than Spider Queen. He was a fellow spider demon disgusted by what the pilgrims had done to her sisters. And was a little curious at how strong they truly were. Encountered Sha Wujing on the road when the river demon was foraging, and was immediately enamored with his strength. He knows Sandy is pretending to be a reincarnation, he could recognise his Blue from anywhere.

Hates being seen as weak. Will act out if he suspects someome is "going easy" on him. Even with spicy cooking.

Saw some Things in the potion-portal Tang accidentally sent him to in Laozi/Lao Tzu's lab. The "duck" label was a metaphor.

Beyond tracking devices, this spider is tech blind. Has no gotdamn idea Syntax is talking about half the time.

Goliath/Strong Spider:

Is a little older than Huntsman. But no one's really sure how old he is. Not even him.

Was a drifter from another clan before joining Spider Queen. He doesn't like to talk about what happened with his birth clan.

Deliberately trained his body so he could physically protect his friends/clan from harm. A lot of things can squish a spider, and Goliath wants to make sure that never happens again.

Goliath/Strong Spider has no idea how to make or spin a web. It's the folly of his sub-species. He can however, knit you a pretty good wool blanket instead. :3

Since he's based on a spider called a Goliath Bird-Eater; Goliath occasionally just plucks a bird out of the sky and noms on it like Hogsqueal in The Spiderwick Chronicles. If he ever saw Peng, not even the Buddha could stop Goliath from trying to take a bite.

Spindrax (sadly toyline only ;_;):

Has an obnoxiously black-and-pink colour scheme as a foil to Mei's white-and-green aesthetic.

Is Mei's equal rival in everything. Racing, pinball, arcade games, hand-to-hand combat, etc... Spindrax and Mei even go toe-to-toes when it comes to dancing.

Uses a stylized motorcycle helmet while driving, so much so that Mei honestly didn't know what Spindrax's face looked like until after a race/spider gang fight.

Youngest of the whole spider clan. She's barely considered a young-adult by their standards. Gets babied/underestimated sometimes by them and wishes to prove herself.

Would annoy Syntax while he's working by flicking rubber bands at him.

Bonus ideas+:

The original spider clan was once an actual kingdom, but it fell to silk-greedy humans during the mid Tang Dynasty when the empire began enforcing extreme measures to prevent rival nations from getting their hands on easy silk. When a few too many Roman and Greek tradesmen went to the Spider Kingdom instead of following the Silk Road - the kingdom was burnt to the ground. The Seven Sisters were the only surviving members of a very minor branch of the royal family - saved by a centipede schoolmate.

The Spider Sisters in Journey to the West had adoptive children in the form of other bug demons known as; Bee, Hornet, Cockroach, Cantharis/Spanish-Fly/Blister-Beetle, Grasshopper, Maggot/Wax-Fly, and Dragonfly, who came to defend their moms' after Zhu Bajie harassed them. However they were just little kids, so they could barely nip at the pilgrims even as a swarm of insects. Even the tallest of them was said to be "no more than two and a half feet". SWK simply scared them off by making his hair-clones turn into different birds. It's likely that Spider Queen had to care for her orphaned nephews/students in the aftermath of Jttw.

Would be cool if the seven niblings were still around, trying to avenge their moms and aunts. Hilarious if they were somehow more successful than Jin and Yin at villainy - if only a smidge. Then again that means at the end of canon S3 they're left without a family, if LBD doesn't see them as extra mech material that is...

MK: *driving home from a delivery* A voice off to the side: "Hey monkey-head!" MK, stops driving: "???" (MK turns, only to see seven scrappy-looking kids) MK: "Aww. You guys fans of mine?" Kid 1#: "No! We are sons of the Seven Spider Sisters! Sworn enemies of the Monkey King!" MK, tensing up cus arachnophobia: "S-spiders?" Kid 2#: "Yeah! Now you're gonnna get it!" The Kids: *transforms into their true demon forms* MK: *massive sigh of relief* "Oh thank the buddha! You're just regular bug demons. Sorry nothing personal, I just can *not* deal with a swarm of baby spiders right now. You guys get home to Spider Queen before it gets dark ok?" MK: *continues driving home* The Kids, briefly stunned: "HEY! Get back here!" "You're not suppose to run away!" "We're telling mama about this!"

Spider Demons are able to heal/hibernate inside cocoons similar to those seen in the cave system. Huntsman and Goliath were sleeping off the worst of the winter frost when New Year's woke them up. It could also give an explaination to where Spindrax and the seven adopted bug kiddos are - they sleepin'.

I leave you with this funny Gary Larson comic with a spider in it:

[fantasyinvader]

I think the translation was hiding the truth about Edelgard. You guys know me, how I've been trying to piece together what her character was supposed to be before the localization happened, where we have her coming off as harsher initially, downplaying her lying to and manipulating others as well as it could, before finally making her seem better in her ending. I mean, it does lead into a very questionable ends justify the means due to the translation trying to downplay Edelgard's oppression of the people and instead make her about freedom.

Looking at those changes, anything Edelgard says she's fighting for can be eliminated as in the Japanese script she outright confirms she was attempting to sway Byleth. Like when she says that this war is about restoring the Empire, yet she's defending Nemesis, making Wilhelm out to have betrayed humanity, and denounces the faith that helped found the Empire in the first place, Edelgard isn't restoring the Empire into what it once was. If anything, she's everything her ancestors fought against, which could explain her saying she didn't want to betray Rhea in the JPN as she knows Rhea is supposedly her ancestor. She says she'll fight for freedom yet subjugates and oppresses the masses, she's against corruption so she'll just eliminate every noble who refused to bow down to her while maintaining the positions of those who do, she's against the Goddess yet will make her own messages out to be the teachings of the Goddess, against the false history yet spreads lies and misinformation for her own benefit, for meritocracy yet steals credit for Byleth's leadership and assigns Caspar to controlling the military when he can't even keep the army under control as the Empire invades other nations, world for humanity yet turns herself into a monster, champion of the weak and silent yet only rewards the strong while silencing her critics... Edelgard says one thing, does another just like when she offers Rhea a chance to surrender publicly yet in private says she needs to be destroyed. And this came right after Arianrhod, where she lied and scapegoated the Church to her her entire army.

Taking that into consideration, it becomes clear that Edelgard isn't fighting for what she says she is. So what is this all about really? The answer is simple really, something that the translators changed. She wants POWER, uncontested power so that she can reshape Fodlan as she pleases. And this clicks well on so many thematic levels.

There's the whole Nirvana thing. While the BE route is meant to be Byleth's route, where the Flame of Attachment can cause them to go off script and lose access to Nirvana in the process. However, Attachment can also be seen as greed, and with Edelgard's true goal simply being to conquer Fodlan and install herself as a supreme, uncontested ruler, this can say it is ultimately her fatal flaw that prevents her from reaching her own form of enlightenment. Her ideals are simply a by-product of that greed, which in turn leads to her abandoning them when convenient despite her saying she started a war for them.

It would also contradict Byleth being reluctant to rule Fodlan but doing so out of necessity, Claude leaving Fodlan in Byleth or Dimitri's care, and how the people rally around Dimitri. Meanwhile, in addition to manipulating others into supporting her Edelgard also conscripts civilians to do so and when they resist they are executed. Rather than people supporting her and pushing her to the top like the others, she imposes her will upon them then blames the people for her actions against them.

Her turning herself into the Hegemon Husk, throwing away her humanity in exchange for power. This is after her parley with Dimitri, where she explained her ideals and was happy when Dimitri called her “strong.” Dimitri, like Byleth and Claude, his strength comes from people rallying around him. The people give Dimitri his strength, the same people Edelgard is willing to sacrifice to empower herself.

The whole “animal path” theme of her route does have a survival of the fittest aspect, where the strong prey upon the weak while the weak hate the strong. Her going after Rhea for being a Nabatean, a long-lived and powerful being, as well as saying she could never trust her hints to Edelgard acting on some level of fear to those she viewed as stronger than her. This would tie into the Hegemon Husk transformation, showing Edelgard's desperation in the face of a superior foe.

In Verdant Wind, Edelgard is said to be running amok much like Dimitri by Ferdinand. However, I think this ties into how she's been consumed by her desire for power. In the JPN version of Caspar's endings, it's stated that the Imperial army is conducting expeditions into other countries (where they are “often out of control”). This would point to Edelgard not being satisfied with just having power over Fodlan and sets her sights on the world afterwards. This would stand in contrast to Claude's character growth, how he wants to bring the world together but ends up rejecting forcing it upon the people and his own goal for this extends to the world. It would also link to Edelgard telling Claude during her final battle with him that she doesn't believe their ideals are the same. What's more, this also puts her closer to being like the Agarthans and how they pissed off Sothis with their warfare (Hell, Hubert even calls his forces Those Who Rule The Shadows, the cycle is continuing).

Then there's Rhea losing control of her power at the end of Silver Snow, becoming a threat that can't be talked down to by Byleth and must be defeated. Rhea becomes like an animal at that point, but is able to be saved thanks to Byleth's support allowing her to meet Sothis once again. Comparatively, we have Edelgard consumed by not just her power but her desire for it, can't be talked down, the whole animal path thing, and she doesn't get any salvation for this. Whereas Rhea lost herself due to protecting others, Edelgard lost herself and began sacrificing others.

According to the devs, Edelgard's depth came from her having two distinct sides to her. A surface level version of her we're introduced to, the noble girl, and the twist reveal that she's the game's red emperor. That once you looked path the former, you'd see that she was really the villain all along. The fact that Treehouse needed to essentially rewriter her character, to attempt to make her ends justify her means, it does show that the Western Edelgard and the Japanese version are essentially written as two different characters. It's the Marx/Xander dichotomy all over again.

I mean, I can understand why they'd probably want to change this. There was the whole MeToo movement going on, and having a story where the female lord is the villain lying to the players could attract controversy. That's exactly what happened with Rising of the Shield Hero at the time, people saying that it was an incel fantasy because the MC is falsely accused of rape at the start of the story and how wrong it is to release such a story at that time (meanwhile, there as no such controversy in Japan).

But at the same time, was it appropriate to try and justify human experiments, imperialism, lies, secret police, government censorship, genocide, oppression, and more? If anything, the translation has aged the game in a different manner that the memes of Awakening and Fates.

The truth about Edelgard is simply she's power hungry and is willing to do anything to feed that hunger.

[galatoma]

Someone made a post about how the federation has a track record for making things illegal only after q!tubbo does it when other people were never punished for it in the same manner as he had been (the big drill getting create nerfes, doing things such as cheating your way into the nether giving you a penalty, etc.) and it has given me brain worms. I truly do wonder if the federation knows that they can't make tubbo buckle through intimidation and so they instead try to make him fall in line by scapegoating him. If they put more of the blame on him for the harsh punishments that befall the islanders then the other islanders will only see him as a troublemaker and a hindrance. And if you lack the support of the only people who can have your backs while surrounded by enemies, you're literally just a sitting duck (pun intended).

It also doesn't help that he also has the reputation for the "tubbo chunk" and that he's build a 16 x 16 chunk perimeter for his factory, because despite the fact he's making things to help the other islanders, they don't know that, and so to them this just makes it seem like he's chaotic and selfish for building machines that make things lag and making crators.

So tldr: @ q!tubbo i think you're fucked, brother you should change your name and move cities