#i guess its all up to interpretation but its the same thing where fanon agrees on one thing thats literally not canon at all and then it

[possumteeths]

ok we all know like diehard astarion girlies are exhausting and plentiful but like one fandom opinion that literally makes me block ppl is saying that he’s like secretly really hurt or offended by the prospect of poly or shared partners or casual sex like …… k

[lo-fi-charming]

so i've been keeping up with TMP as it's airing, which has been fun, it's actually really nice to experience this kind of story weekly since i came into TMA late and listened up to the s4 finale in like, a month or two. i've been enjoying the new characters and statements, and while i was worried i'd have trouble actively listening (my attention span/executive functioning can be really variable when it comes to podcasts), it's been surprisingly easy for me to actually listen to each new ep the day it drops publicly

all this to say im enjoying the show! but i've found myself feeling increasingly frustrated with a couple things i keep seeing when it comes to discussions of it

to me, it seems... there's been a pervasive reluctance to take TMP as what it is. and i do understand that. it'd be stupid to pretend TMP doesn't exist exclusively because of TMA and that show's success, that it's a successor that was pitched as being similar. it's a story being written by the same people (plus guests), in the same universe (roughly), going for about the same tone and maybe themes.

i just feel like it's a bit of a shame, though, that so many folks seem unwilling not to carry TMA with them when they're engaging with TMP

i don't know where or when it was said, but i swear there was a comment made by jonny and/or alex about how TMP will have some commonality with TMA in terms of world-building, but also, people who listened to TMA first may find themselves theorizing in the wrong direction because we're judging things based off what is no longer concrete, reliable information; things are going to work differently in the world of TMP, and since we have preconceived notions on what is relevant or how things work, that's going to influence how we engage with information presented in TMP if we let it. and that's not even considering the fact that they've been explicit in conveying the idea that TMP was written so you can experience it fully without having listened to any of TMA at all!

i'm very much someone who tries to engage with media on its own terms, largely taking things at face value until i'm given reason to suspect otherwise. that's something i'm trying my best to still do with TMP, even though obviously, i've also listened to TMA and am basing some of my thoughts and personal theories on what we know from that

but that's what i mean to say i guess, it's something you have to actively choose to do. and it feels like, just based on what i've been seeing in fandom spaces, that a lot of people are having a bit of an odd time with TMP because of a reluctance to do that?

i think the easiest way to explain what i mean is to point to a general acceptance, already on the level of fanon it seems, to interpret the computer voices as Our Jon and Martin (+ Jonah/Elias, maybe). now obviously we have the actual real world reason why their voices are present in TMP, because of course jonny and alex were going to come back as voices in the show in some way. and i 100% agree it's a perfectly logical conclusion to then interpret their inclusion as being related to Jon and Martin somehow. i'm personally very into the theory that it is in no way them - not in any way that matters - but specifically their voices that have been stolen (by the Web?) as a means to help spread fears in other realities. but that's really not how i've been seeing people play with the concept? it seems largely 1:1. and again, i totally understand where people are coming from with that - especially when you consider how it can be a super fun concept for horror and angst, or even just the fact that folks want an excuse to carry their favorite characters into this new show and still play around with them. i promise i don't mean to bring this up as a means of making anyone feel bad or like, chastised for interpreting things a certain way and playing in the space!

it's the biggest example of what i mean though, and was a huge point of frustration for me when we were first being presented with TMP. it's not just that i don't want the voices to be Jon and Martin proper (i am very into their Ambiguous End, i believe it's best to leave that as a space for fans to play in); in all honesty, i think it's kind of a shame and maybe even a bit boring (im sorry!) to be engaging with TMP this way

and it's not just stuff like that - i've been seeing a fair amount of people expressing frustration and feeling disappointed with how TMP is hitting, but i mean, i feel like that's inevitable when you're going into it expecting More TMA? i saw at least one person basically say "ive been waiting for it to make me feel the way TMA made me feel, and it hasn't yet", and i really just feel like that's setting yourself up to be dissatisfied! beyond the fact that we're only 5 episodes in and the story has barely gotten a chance to happen yet, a huge element of this new show is that it's being approached as a largely collaborative effort, it seems, with lots of guests coming in to help shape the story and more writing and plotting influence that isn't jonny

obviously it's fine to not be super into that! undoubtedly it's a question of taste. but you do have to acknowledge that that's the case and adjust your expectations accordingly, or else you're not going to have a great time

i really like TMA, i had a great time with it, but even if TMP is a sequel to its parent podcast, it's not the same thing - and personally, i don't want it to be! i do hope that's a sentiment that is able to be more widely felt by some fans as we gain more distance from TMA while TMP is airing. i just think more people would be able to enjoy it that way, and come up with more interesting theories and interpretations of things! but those are really just my own personal thoughts

[princeescaluswords]

For the same ask game, 4 + 16 + 74?

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Strangely enough, I get most of my inspiration from the interplay between different media creations (literature, television, cinema) and the fandoms that exist around them. On the positive side, I am still amazed by the perspectives and the variations that people can bring to a text, even if I don't agree with them. On the negative side, I am quite frankly tasked by the racism, by the misogyny, by obsessive hostility, by the decadence pervasive in the fandom, but it also inspires me to answer it.

I have an imagination, fantastic but also moral. When I read something that I hadn't considered before, such as your excellent Great War AU for Teen Wolf, I can see how you draw a parallel between the established mores of class and patriotism that propelled British youth into Flanders fields. Your versions of the cast are placed into a bloody war not of their own making which served the interests of people above their social and economic level rather than into a supernatural feud not of their own making which served the interests of people above their social and economic level. I wouldn't want to write the same thing, but I am in the initial stages of an AU set in California during the American Civil War, where concepts of human dignity were in direct conflict. After all, I see human dignity as a value in and of itself as a core value of Teen Wolf expressed through its lead protagonist.

And then there is the endless inspiration through negative example (referred to in fandom terms as 'spitefic') where fundamentally corrupt interpretations inspire me to write countering fictions. For example, one that always gets my passion burning is the fanon idea that the primary problem with Teen Wolf is that Scott doesn't kill enough people, conjured in complete disregard of how the very story was predicated on the endless acts of vengeance between Argent and Hale. I can never bring any version of Scott, even the ones I write who do kill, to treat human life cheaply, and there is always scorn for those who do.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

I presently am preparing for publication my final offering in Scottuary 2023, a missing scene from The Wolves of War, but I have four other stories in planning stages. There's a lull, as a lack of WIPs mean that I don't have a nagging voice in the back of my head telling me that I made a promise of finish that story, so I better finish it.

I won't talk about the one that's going up this Saturday -- people will see that soon enough -- but the one that I'm interested in the most is the one I mentioned above: the Civil War Era story, set in California in 1861 rather than in 2011. It will require a significant amount of reading and research on my part, as there are three significant cultures I want to study -- the indigenous peoples, the remnants of Spanish control, and the American entrepreneurs that dominated the mid-19th century Californian society in the wake of the 40s gold rush. It would be quite a challenge to pull off successfully.

The others are continuations of my MCU fusion and my Game of Thrones fusion along with one that is difficult to write but persistent in hanging around. It's a very dark fiction, an exploration of the consequences if a post-nogitsune Stiles bought into Peter's proposition that you can kill your way to safety, because I've seen too many triumphant Steter-Kills-Anyone-They-Don't-Like-and-Live Happily-Ever-After power fantasies for them not to leave an impression.

74. You’ve posted a fic anonymously. How would someone be able to guess that you’d written it?

Aside from the characteristic typos? For some reason, I tend to leave suffixes off words or leave out necessary words altogether. But mostly I reject the idea that teenage characters don't think about their own actions and that it is boring and presumptuous to spend time wondering if they are doing the right thing. One of the flaws of many properties, including Teen Wolf, is the idea that audiences wouldn't be interested in the why. For example, Scott McCall had many adults mentoring them who demonstrated specific rationality about their behavior. It hurt the story to forbid Scott from talking about it. Empathy and compassion are not just intuitive phenomena. It does give my work a cerebral feel, though I've never posted a fiction anonymously.

[toujourspur13]

The Black family / Walburga Black / canon.

As I said before I do not care that much about canon/fanon/headcanon because transformative works by definition include a wide variety of different interpretations. However, I am forever perplexed when I see uncompromising opinions on the Black family - particularly the unwavering certainty that Sirius Black’s parents were psychotic abusers. All personal opinions aside - why is this so popular?

I mean - it’s absolutely ok to headcanon this version and to play with it - but saying 'don’t you dare say they did not physically and emotionally abuse Sirius' is a little strong, isn’t it?

This is a mystery to me. So…let’s discuss my favourite subject…Again.

Let’s stick to the facts. The frequently cited things proving the abuse in the Black family are as follows:

Sirius said his parents were awful maniacs (pureblood ideology)

he ran away from home

he was severely depressed in OoTP

Kreacher

Portrait

So…when you say that Sirius’s parents were abusive…you mean exactly what? These people got cold feet when they saw the real nature of Voldemort - I guess it somehow implies that they did not share his methods…that they were against violence as a tool to get purebloods in charge.

But then it usually goes this way: ‘well at least he was verbally and emotionally abused by his family’ - but is it so? Is this based on the portrait of Sirius's mother? She insulted strangers who took over her house and her runaway son - how does this prove anything about how Sirius and Regulus were raised and treated when they were kids? I agree it’s rather impolite - jkr did a good job showing how purebloods perceived others ( those below them) -but in all honesty, this has very little to do with Sirius and his childhood.

Why to make Sirius a victim at all? - c’mon he was tougher than this, he spent 12 years in Azkaban; are you actually saying that a portrait throwing insults at everyone is worse? I doubt that. And is it such a surprise that a mother who lost her son (that said son actually ran away and abandoned his duty) would be that furious at him when seeing him again...even if it’s only a portrait...I believe it to be a rather unpleasant experience for a parent when a child runs away.

We already talked about the portrait a lot - I don’t even want to mention it here- - I feel we should rather pay more attention to the fact that Sirius himself was not an angel.

I am not saying the colourful vocabulary of Walburga Black should be used…but Sirius himself upon seeing Snape  immediately  recognised his weakness and went for it without any hesitation …we are talking about Sirius who in fact was quite a renowned bully ( I mean - we know for a fact that from time to time Sirius and James got carried away)…

And it was Sirius who sent Snape to meet and chat with a real werewolf (yes, I agree - he was not thinking this through - he probably was just vexed and fed up with Snape and thought he wouldn’t go there, would get cold feet or idk run away…But it actually changes nothing. If a drunken driver hits someone it will be 100% his fault whether he means it or not. Whether he is in a fragile mental state or not - such situations are definite. It’s the same with Sirius - even if he did not mean anything bad he should have understood the cost of his mistake - all teenagers make silly things but not all of them send their classmate to meet a werewolf - James thought it not a very good idea as I recall… -

So we see that Sirius was not an angel from the start and I can hardly believe he was a victim by nature. His behaviour loudly manifested that he used to get what he wanted with no thought of the consequences.

And all those pictures of bikini-clad girls on the walls in his room prove that he was quite a spoiled boy who had nothing to fear from mum and dad. Harry himself noticed «Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents». All this shows that Sirius was not afraid of his parents at all. What kind of masochist would suffer for motorbike posters? That would be ridiculous.

Let’s move to Kreacher: If Sirius’s mother had been a monster why even mention her heart?  JKR wrote this for a purpose and this heavily implies that Sirius's situation was never meant to be ‘the abusive heartless parents vs the poor helpless victim’.  

The fact that Sirius ran away and hence broke his mother’s heart says against the popular idea that he was not loved by his family, that he was always the second one, that they abused him. I’m 100% certain that Kreacher told the truth in that scene. Why would he say something like this if it were not the truth - something like…that his beloved mistress having been so upset over Sirius running away that it broke her heart. Just tell me one reason that would have justified such a lie - why to say this at all?

Then this: “Leave?” Sirius smiled bitterly and ran a hand through his long, unkempt hair. “Because I hated the whole lot of them: my parents, with their pure-blood mania, convinced that to be a Black made you practically royal … my idiot brother, soft enough to believe them … that’s him.”…. “He was younger than me,” said Sirius, “and a much better son, as I was constantly reminded.”

I’ve already said it before - this ‘better son than me’ is exactly what insecure 14-year old kids like to say. Well...he’s a bit older but it’s not as if he had a life and a chance to mature. Moreover, I don’t know if it comes as a great shock but a lot of teenagers like to badmouth their parents…usually, it involves something like ‘those bloody uptight retrogrades know nothing of the real world’ (it fades away when they get closer to thirty).

To be serious, I find that it’s just another example of similarities between Sirius and his mother. They clearly did not know what it means to be composed, polite, and respectful. Yeah…I think that, on the whole, parents are owed their children’s respect (unless they are completely inadequate - somehow I don’t believe this was the case). Someone should teach both of them what mutual respect means. Anyway, there is nothing in this quote that says that Sirius was subjected to any forms of abuse - it’s about how Sirius justified his running away,  how he saw the situation.

There’s also the fact that Sirius was incredibly unhappy because he was back at his childhood home and having to spend time around anything that reminded him of his family: “Hasn’t anyone told you? This was my parents’ house,” said Sirius. “But I’m the last Black left, so it’s mine now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters — about the only useful thing I’ve been able to do.” Harry, who had expected a better welcome, noted how hard and bitter Sirius’s voice sounded”.

Here it comes…the severe depression that makes people question the severity of his abuse… I have thought a lot about this because it is the reason why some consider ‘the abusive blacks' canon while others believe it was more of a tragedy of the family rather than the banal brutality.

Of course, Sirius was upset in that house - but I don’t think he suffered the memories of his unhappy childhood - I think he suffered from the strong feeling of guilt. Being in that house meant an everyday reminder that he was a failure. And it’s not even a lie. If you look at his whole life you’ll see that he literally failed everyone in his life: he failed James and Lily - they were dead and he unwillingly became the reason. It was his plan that turned everything into a tragedy.

And, to some extent, he failed Harry- he was not around him like James and Lily would have wanted. Sirius did not give him the real family - he only promised they'd be the one «when it’s all over».

And finally - he failed his parents, his brother, his own family.

Is it possible to live with so much guilt in your heart?

I don't think that Sirius completely forgot who he was born to be. If the family keeps traditions and can trace its existence back in centuries you can't shake it off even if you want. I doubt Sirius switched it off just because he had griffindor friends. He was the last Black - it is tragically poetic that he was once the hope of his family and then this family died with him. If Sirius had heart (and I truly believe he had a heart) he knew exactly what it meant to be trapped in the house that represented the death of his family. A constant reminder  that he was the last one.  

“The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person”. 

I think that the scene when he threw his father's ring away - he threw it away because it was all over for his family. It was the end of the dynasty - and for him it was all over long before he met Bellatrix for the last time.

Well, I admit Sirius' situation is open for wide interpretation but I don’t think the abusive black household is a canon thing - of course, it’s fanon. It makes Sirius a hero who broke the chains when in fact he ended up being a victim of his own life.

You know, it always seems strange to me that fandom when discussing Walburga usually overlooks the simple truth of life - that even if you are clever enough and mean good for your loved ones it is still possible to end up on the losing side, on the dark side.  However, mistakes don't automatically turn humans into monsters.

To some extent Sirius’s story represents the consequences of war.  No-one is protected; the whole families could be wiped off the face of the earth. It’s a simple yet profound idea. It correlates with the main idea of hp books far better than the ‘abusive psychopaths’ (there are already Voldemort and Bellatrix - there is no-one who can beat them in this department).

All I say - it’s okay to imagine them bad if you want- your right - but don’t write everywhere that it’s canon because it is not.There is no need for such inflexibility especially when it comes to the fandom - a place where everyone should be welcomed and their views on the books be respected.

[panharmonium]

I would like to add Gwaine to the list of friends Merlin had. Especially in the 3/4 seasons he really was ride or die for Merlin, they shared intimate details with each other, they truly trusted each other. There were instances where the show alluded that Gwaine knows about Merlin's magic and is fine with it.

hi there!  i’m assuming this is in response to the post i reblogged about will and lancelot being merlin’s only “real” friends?  

i’m actually happy to write about this, now that the question has been posed - it’s been a while since i wrote anything long about gwaine!

fair warning in advance: i don’t personally classify gwaine the same way i do will and lancelot, and that’s what this piece will cover in more detail, but these are just my own thoughts, and it is totally cool for everybody else to have different opinions.  my take is my take, but it does not have to be everyone’s take - if people wanna scroll past because this isn’t their vibe, i don’t mind in the slightest. :)

so, without further ado - i LOVE gwaine, and i have written extensively about how amazing his relationship with merlin is (some examples here, here, here, and here, if anybody’s looking).  he is the most likely of all merlin’s living friends to ditch arthur in the name of addressing merlin’s needs, which is super important, and he also has a much healthier friendship with merlin than arthur does (in my own personal opinion, of course, which nobody is obligated to share).  he definitely does go ride or die for merlin in S3/S4, i agree.

but my own thoughts on this particular point are still the same as they were in that original post.  i tend to hide my clarifications/explanations in the tags, so they might have flown by, but i’ll just copy/paste the relevant bit here for ease of access, as some background for the rest of this post.

re: will and lancelot were merlin’s only ‘real’ friends:

#what this does not mean: merlin has no other friends!  merlin doesn't have meaningful and important relationships with other people!   #what it does mean:  #every single one of merlin's other relationships is undergirded by the sickening knowledge that those friendships are conditional   #every single one of his other relationships is accompanied by the constant undercurrent of 'they would hate me if they knew'   #merlin knows his friends 'care' about him   #except they don't really; because it's not truly him they're caring about   #they care deeply - about someone merlin made up   #about a facade.   #in the most basic sense   #those relationships aren't Real   #the love merlin feels for the people in them is real   #but you cannot truly be 'friends' with somebody who doesn't even know who you are   #you cannot be loved without being known   #you certainly cannot be loved without being safe

obviously i suppose a person’s thoughts on this would be different if they headcanoned that gwaine knew about merlin��s magic, and that’s fine.  i personally do not believe canon indicates or supports that, but i’m not out to convince people to abandon their own fanon interpretations of things; i’m happy just hanging out in my own space talking about my thoughts.  me writing meta is the virtual equivalent of me talking to myself in my room - if other people have different conversations with themselves, that’s fine :)  i don’t mind if other folks organize their thoughts about things differently.  

in accordance with that - everybody please feel free to continue on with your own interpretations, and ignore mine if mine do not appeal to you!  if people are interested about how i organize my ideas on this, though, they are essentially as follows:

1) a cage fighter, a class traitor, and a fake sorcerer walk into a tavern

ok, to start with - here’s a graph.

(...who tf starts a meta post with ‘here’s a graph’ lol i just drew a venn diagram for the first time since like...middle school...i LOVE fandom, man, this is RIDICULOUS)

anyway

this is a very rough interpretation of how i think about gwaine, lancelot, and will:

to address some of these elements individually:

lancelot and will give merlin something that gwaine can’t - safety, authenticity, the comfort of being known and seen for real, a respite from constantly qualifying every friendship with ‘they would hate me if they knew’

lancelot and gwaine, likewise, give merlin something merlin wouldn’t be as likely to get from will (if will were still alive, i mean) - an understanding of merlin’s devotion to the Crown, a supportive ally in the fight to promote arthur’s reign and keep arthur/camelot safe

will and gwaine, for their part, are more likely to tell arthur to go fuck himself, if it’s important for helping merlin, and that’s a different kind of support that merlin also really needs.

and will, on his own, gives merlin something that neither lancelot NOR gwaine can provide, which is a friend who isn’t connected to or even particularly interested in arthur pendragon (merlin has nobody in his life like this, not after will dies) - somebody who knew and cared about merlin before merlin had any proximity to arthur, before this whole ’destiny’ issue reared its merciless head.

everybody in merlin’s life matters to him and gives him something important.  gwaine is STUPIDLY important to merlin.  the love there is real.  but in canon, because gwaine is not in the know, gwaine is still one of the people from whom merlin feels compelled to hide himself.  gwaine is right up there alongside gwen, arthur, elyan, percival, etc - every other person who merlin loves, who merlin nonetheless constantly, back-of-his-mind fears, ‘they would reject me if they knew.’

the above is part of why i personally have never been too interested in ‘so-and-so knows about merlin’s magic’ canon-imaginings.  there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them, and i’m sure people must have tons of fun with them - and in an AU context maybe i would have fun with them too - but as hopeful interpretations of actual canon, they don’t appeal to me.  merlin’s near-total isolation and desperate, constantly-frustrated desire for real, honest love is an inalienable aspect of his character for me, one i can’t separate from who he is and why he does the things he does and why he eventually ends up in the place where we find him towards the end of the show.  

2) i just want someone to see me for who i am

i have seen a bit of sentiment out there along the lines of ‘merlin should have told (x person) about their magic’ or ‘(x person) obviously doesn’t have a problem with sorcerers,’ but i guess i personally don’t think it’s as clear as all that, and i think me saying it is would be doing merlin a disservice.

merlin’s desire to be seen/known/accepted is literally the most base urge he has.  if he truly thought he could tell somebody safely, he would.

i think merlin knows the people in his orbit well enough to know how they feel about sorcery, at least in a general sense.  and even if they aren’t bloodthirsty bigots like uther, they aren’t exactly welcoming magic with open arms, either.  at the most basic, elementary level, merlin understands something that we don’t like to think about: none of his friends ever challenge arthur on the sorcery ban or express any dissatisfaction with the political status quo, and, even absent outright bigotry, this fact speaks loudly enough in and of itself.  merlin’s friends might not be out clamoring for sorcerers’ blood, but they aren’t criticizing a society that criminalizes sorcery, either, and they are never shown to have a problem with the way things are, even though the way things are is wrong.

The Way Things Are is, in fact, unjust.  it’s oppressive.  and allowing that state of affairs to continue, unquestioned and unchallenged, when you have access to the king’s ear and aren’t personally in danger of being persecuted, indicates that you’re okay with the injustice.  that you’re comfortable with the oppression.  that you don’t see a problem with the status quo, and that you're unbothered enough by it to let it be.

it doesn’t matter that merlin’s friends have never straight-up said ‘boy, magic sure is evil’ onscreen.  they never say that camelot’s policies are wrong, and that delivers a clear enough message on its own.

3) it is not a crime to fight for your freedom

to bring this back to gwaine specifically, since that was originally the focus of this ask -

for me, for all that i adore gwaine, and for all that i think he was, for the most part, an INCREDIBLY sound, healthy relationship for merlin, the truth is that gwaine is as much a part of this problem as everyone else.  does that mean i personally think gwaine would have summarily dumped merlin if he’d found out merlin had magic?  no.  but i don’t think it’s as uncomplicated as maybe we wish it might be, and i think merlin has every right to be as uncertain of gwaine on this issue as he does of everyone else.

for one thing, like i said before, even gwaine, who used to have fewer qualms than any of the knights about pushing back on arthur’s BS, has never said a word about camelot’s injustices, or ever acknowledged that the laws of the land are unjust to begin with.  

for another, there are specific moments that kind of make you wonder.

5.05 (’the disir’) is a good example of this - when gwaine finds osgar in the woods, the two of them have this exchange:

you are a sorcerer, a heretic, and a murderer.  

the rhetoric of this sentence frames all three of these things as equivalent entities - criminal ones.  

to pick this apart more carefully:

a) sorcerer

it’s worth noting here that we’re never told osgar has done anything worse than evading arrest for the crime of being a known sorcerer.  when leon mentions him in the council meeting, the conversation consists solely of the following:

“as you know, a few days ago our garrison in the forest of breckfire intercepted the man who goes by the name of osgar.”

“the sorcerer.”

“the same.  they were trying to apprehend him when he used his powers to escape.”

and…that’s it.  osgar’s crime, as far as we know, was simply being a sorcerer (and then, after that, attempting to escape an unjust arrest, thereby killing a knight in the process).  there’s no mention of any other activities that would have warranted his arrest in the first place, other than the possession of magic.

but magic, even on its own, IS a crime in camelot - and gwaine levels the accusation at osgar as such.

b) heretic

that’s a hell of a word to throw around, if you think sorcery is chill.

“heretic” isn’t a mild accusation.  "heretic” has vitriolic severity behind it.  people are accused of heresy when they’re perceived to be in brazen defiance of what is (in the eyes of the accuser) unquestionably right and correct.  “heretic” is like…it’s like blasphemer.  the connotation is not just that something is bad, but that it’s sinful.

for gwaine, either osgar’s association with sorcery and/or his defiance of camelot’s army makes him a heretic.  and that’s not something a person who is down with sorcery or supportive of a magic-user’s struggle for freedom would say.

c) murderer

if gwaine were cool with sorcery, we would expect him to understand that a sorcerer who resisted arrest for the crime of being a sorcerer isn’t a murderer.  

it’s like kara said in 5.11 - it is not a crime to fight for the right to be who you are.

camelot has been killing sorcerers for decades.  osgar mortally wounded a soldier (not an innocent civilian, i might note) who was trying to imprison him.  he was resisting the armed forces of an oppressive state.  that’s not murder.

somebody who understands that camelot is an oppressive regime wouldn’t think of this as murder.  they would understand that it is not a crime to protect your own life when the state has literally been trying to exterminate your people for years.  and even if osgar had been engaged in rebellious activities against the state (which as far as we know is not the case - nothing like this is ever referenced!), they would understand that people with magic have long been overdue for a righteous uprising.  

but gwaine is a little more like arthur, in this moment - he sees the “wrong” that osgar has done (in the form of sir ranulf’s death) without seeing the thousands upon thousands of wrongs that camelot visited upon the magical community first.

4) you can’t go armed into a sacred place

the rest of this episode is similar.  gwaine pays just as little heed to merlin’s warnings as the rest of the knights, when merlin admonishes them that the disir’s cave is sacred.  gwaine doesn’t relinquish his sword or take special care upon entering the cave.  in fact, he is the one who outright interrupts the disir while they’re speaking - as they’re telling arthur a series of hard truths, that he’s persecuted magic-users, “even unto slaughter;” that he’s desecrated their space: “you come here, to the most sacred of the sacred, to the very heart of the Old Religion, with weapons drawn - trampling hallowed relics - treating our sacred space like you do your kingdom - with arrogance - with conceit - with insolence - ”

and gwaine cuts them off, pushing to the front of the group and shouting at them “enough!  you speak of the king!”  and that’s when the fight starts, when mordred gets stabbed.

someone who was fully accepting of magic, or who knew anything about it at all, would not have behaved this way.  they would not have bristled at hearing how arthur’s regime unfairly persecutes the magical community.  they would have known that it was true.

5) i just want to be myself

the above is just one example, but it’s a clear enough one to illustrate what i mean.  gwaine IS an amazing friend to merlin.  he does treat merlin well.  and merlin loves him to death.  but gwaine is NOT totally chill with magic.  i’m not saying he actively hates it, but he is not, from what merlin has witnessed, entirely safe.  merlin loves him, but he can’t be himself around him.

and i do think that pains merlin terribly.  all these people who he loves so much, and every time he’s with them there’s always that whisper: ‘this is a charade.  all the love in my life is a lie.  they only like me because they don’t know me.  if they knew who i really was, this would be over.’  

and we wonder why he never tells anyone.  we tell him he ‘should’ have told gwaine, gwen, morgana, arthur, like it would have been easy, or even possible, for him to ever consider putting himself in a position where he could lose what precarious, partially make-believe connections he has.

merlin, in the later seasons, when he worries about his magic being exposed, isn’t afraid of being executed.  he’s afraid of becoming even more alone than he is now.  and he has good reason to feel that way - even people who appear to put him first aren’t fully on board with the thing that makes him who he is.  and merlin knows this.  he’s seen it.  none of his friends are out fighting for people like him at court.  some of his friends shake their heads and assure arthur “you are a good and just king” when arthur expresses concern that maybe the disir are right, maybe he has indeed transgressed.  some of merlin’s friends used to buck the system in defense of the powerless, but now they defend the regime even when the accusations levelled against it by an oppressed population are true.

merlin knows that revealing himself is a kind of risk that could very plausibly end with him utterly disowned.  every single friendship he has is subject to this justified fear, this bitter knowledge.  merlin has every reason to doubt the soundness of his relationships.

and, circling back to the thing that started all these musings - the only friends who never made him feel that way were will and lancelot.

that’s all i mean when i say that will and lancelot were merlin’s only “real” friends.  i wish there were a better word to use than that, because i really don’t mean it like…as if merlin’s relationships with other people weren’t…valid, or important, or based on true love and care.  they were.  but there’s just not a better way to express that will and lancelot were the only people who ever even knew who they were friends with, who saw merlin for exactly who he was and said “i love you still.”  they were the only ones whose friendship was something merlin didn’t have to be afraid of losing solely for existing.

i always think of morgana’s line in 2.11 - ‘i don’t want to be brave.  i just want to be myself. i don’t want to be alone anymore.’

around everyone else, merlin has to be brave.  he has to keep up the pretense, which means even when he’s surrounded by friends, he’s completely isolated.

with will and lancelot, though, he could be himself.  with will and lancelot, he wasn’t alone.

6) post-script

i really appreciate being given the opportunity to muse to myself about this in more detail - i actually needed to think through some things regarding gwaine anyway, for writing purposes, and this was actually really helpful in organizing my brain.  so thanks, anon, for the prompt!  

i know my answer probably runs counter to your own interpretation of things, but as i said, this is just my own personal outlook.  i typed it up because the message got me thinking, and because i know i have a couple of friends who might find it interesting, but my thoughts apply only to me, and i do not mind at all if folks think about these things differently!  nobody is obligated to agree with anything i write, or give it any further thought, or even read it at all - we’re all going to engage with this story in different ways, so if anybody finds that this isn’t their cup of tea, please feel free to scroll on by, and keep having fun with this show in whatever way makes you happiest! :)

[bigskydreaming]

LOL sorry not sorry, I don’t care how annoying or repetitive it makes me sound, when it comes to Dick and Jason’s relationship when they were younger, I am a broken record on eternal repeat and can’t stop won’t stop.

Like, if there’s an even slightly tangential place for me to reference “bee tee dubs, Dick didn’t hate Jason, there is literally no canon of that, Dick was literally written making a point to put aside his resentment towards Bruce for Jason’s sake. After Jason’s origin was rebooted to the stealing the tires story, and his first encounter with Dick being rebooted to the druglab teamup, Dick made a point to give him his blessing and Robin costume and phone number and offer of being there so Jason could have a family relationship that didn’t depend on Bruce, had nothing to do with Bruce, like he literally stood there and gave him advice about how he knows how Bruce is better than anyone, and that not talking about stuff is Bruce’s problem but that doesn’t mean Jason had to make it his, so gimme a call whenever Bruce is being a pain - and yet even in fanfics that reference this exact story and even the part about Dick giving him his phone number, they all go on to write about how Jason tried calling but Dick never picked up, because yeah like it really matches ANY characterization of Dick Grayson to say he already went to the effort of extending that hand to his replacement only to then just end up ghosting the kid, please. 

Even Bruce recognized all that as an actual effort on Dick’s part, with the last panel of that issue being Creeper!Batdad spying on his two boys bonding together and saying “Thank you, Dick” even though neither of them could hear it. And just like the Nightwing: Year One retcon that revised yet again the specifics of how Dick was fired, became Nightwing, Jason was taken in and made Robin, and Dick and Jason met for the first time (and ended the story yet again on good terms, like they were literally teasing each other)....like these stories only retconned the hows and whens of Jason becoming Robin and Dick becoming Nightwing and how they first met. And they were flashbacks. Because Jason’s rebooted origin story was written fourteen issues before the issue he died. 

There wasn’t time to chronologically show any other interactions between Dick and Jason in that short a time frame, especially when the next Titans story took Dick offworld until after Jason had already died. So unless you wanna go with the idea that Jason actually at most was Robin for a few months and ignore every other story with him as Robin that was then just supposed to be read as being set after Batman #416/Nightwing: Year One.....its made fairly clear that even without us being actually shown on panel the first time Jason called Dick or Dick reached out to him again, whichever it was....I mean, one of those two definitely happened. Because otherwise you’re suggesting that Batman #416 or Nightwing: Year One were literally the ONLY times Jason and Dick even interacted, period.....because that’s the timeline. 

Every which way you look at New Earth continuity, those issues were of Dick and Jason’s FIRST encounter, and so saying this never led to any kind of bonding between them after that because Dick didn’t pick up or Jason died before he could use the number....like, it basically implies that Dick and Jason only met once the entire time Jason lived with Bruce and was Robin, and has there ever been any interaction between them after Under The Red Hood that suggests these are two guys who literally only met ONCE and once only, and only knew each other by reputation before that?

Nope. Because the issues that have them interacting as brothers are all still canon, the events within them are canon, and thus that relationship between them is canon. They’re just supposed to be read as having happened AFTER Dick and Jason met in the new retconned ways of Batman #416 or Nightwing: Year One....hence why the former opened with the caption: One Year Ago, and the latter was similarly just meant to retcon the specifics of their first meeting. 

But it literally doesn’t work to acknowledge Jason saying to Tim that he was a Titan too once, in reference to the two stories he teamed up with them, and then act like the parts where Dick was the complete and total opposite of an aloof, bitter asshole to him just....somehow got cut out of that story.

Its literally only fanfic that insisted on that interpretation of Dick and Jason pre-Death in the Family, (well, at least before someone told Scott Lobdell about it, I’d guess, lol, because like....I bet more than anything he just heard that fanon take and figured it made sense and ran with it because he thinks the only way for Jason to be a bad ass is if he’s hard and broody and isolated and alone, and he obviously can’t be that if his family like, loves him lfashiofhalfsh, don’t be ridiculous.”)

Anyway. Its not like I feel like everyone needs to be a Dick Grayson fan or agree he’s the best Robin or most important or even feel a need to make comparisons or rank the brothers at all.....but given that the experience of seeing a character you relate to be condemned for shit they didn’t do or unappreciated for stuff they did do IS such a hugely relatable experience and that’s WHY its such a huge fanfic trope......like, that one particular thing is always gonna be the thing in Batfamily fandom that always just makes me RAAAAAH with thwarted rage over my inability to make a mind ray gizmo that makes everyone share my opinions and nobody else’s. Knew I should have paid more fucking attention it science class.

You can write dynamics and characters any way you want, nobody’s saying you can’t, but just....when you then make a point to use actual canon to back up your takes on Jason and Tim, but revert to this fanon in order to prop up the two of them as misunderstood and unappreciated by Dick and thus they’re totally right to view his attempts to hug them or express affection as him overcompensating and feeling guilty about being an asshole before....like...

Bah. Its just really annoying to consistently see the one and only character in the Batfamily who makes a point to regularly express affection for his family and his desire for them to be more like a family....like, rewritten as this pompous douchebag that has never understood them and that’s why they’re totally justified in being written as treating him (who btw, a shit ton of his fans DO like and relate to and project upon due to his being a canon rape survivor)...like when they end up treating his attempts to show physical affection in stories like its a VIOLATION that they want no part of and he’s yet even more of an asshole for never getting this.....when there’s over a decade of comics full of Dick physically showing his affection for Tim and Tim very much appreciating it....just like Dick did the same with Jason when he was Robin, and Jason, again, was shown appreciating it, not treating it as a refusal to respect his boundaries.

That more than anything is what bugs. 

Anyway. LOL. Yeah wtf, this is literally just me thinking out loud as usual, and I stg the actual inception of this post was just me rereading TNTT #31 again today and then immediately after going to read some fic which was a Mistake as winning bingo and getting three fics in a row with a line about how like....Jason resents Dick trying to hug him on his birthday because its clear to him Dick is just overcompensating for having been an asshole to him when they were younger and like....sigh. Epic, eternal forever sigh. Oh, fandom. Why. Whyyyyyyyy.

I just....I defy anyone to look at this scan and tell me how they see anything remotely along the lines of Dick resenting Jason for replacing him and being an asshole to him because of it or at least just aloof, and Jason resenting Dick because he was aware of this and never got the approval or recognition from Dick that he wanted and needed. And again, whenever you offhandedly reference Jason having been a Titan in pre-Reboot continuity....this is what you’re referencing, meaning you’re literally saying that THIS happened every bit as much as Batman #416.

(Btw, the trouble Dick references as Jason and the Titans bailing him out of, was them rescuing him from being kidnapped and brainwashed yet again by the Church of Blood, and it revealed that they’d secretly been controlling him for over a year before that. So....its in the actual literal aftermath of THAT, that Dick offers to take the fall with Bruce to keep Jason out of trouble, and selling all that as though it was Dick’s fault. Which....sounds like pretty consistent Dick Grayson characterization to me...just saying).

[hitchell-mope]

(First film. Introduction to the dormitories and the first heist attempt)

Doug: So you got your basic amenities. En-suite. Walk in wardrobe. Entertainment system. On the coffee table are your new phones. Tomorrow you have a free period before your um

Jay: remedial goodness lesson.

Doug: yes. Sorry.

Mal: eh not your fault.

Doug (squeaky voiced with emotion): that’s the first time someone’s said that to me

Evie: yeah ok. Bye bye.

Doug: wait wait wait. Before your lessons tomorrow go to the IT department they’ll set you up to the schools database. Internet apps the cloud. Oh. And though it may be really tempting you might wanna stay off social media for a while. People tend to be cruel

Carlos: eh it’s nothing we can’t handle. We’ve dealt with cruelty before

Doug: pissed off heroes are a whole different breed to

Mal: the villains that raised us?

Doug: uh yeah. So anyway. On a school day you need to be inside you rooms by nine and asleep by twelve preferably

Jay: I can deal with that

Doug: PM not AM

Jay: ah

Doug: on the weekend you can stay up as long as you want provided you are rooms

(Evie shrieks)

Mal (sighing heavily): what now

Evie: these drapes are just darling

Mal: nobody cares but you

Evie: just because you have no taste magenta

(Mal’s eyes start glowing. Jay rushes to intervene. Carlos spins Doug around so he isn’t watching)

Carlos: So The IT department. Do they have a club?

Doug: yeah they meet every Saturday at noon. A buffet lunch is provided.

Carlos: who do I have to sell my soul to so I can join.

Doug: I don’t take souls or firstborns. Just show up and sign the sheet. Oh that reminds me. The other weekend electives are chess club, which I also run and hold immediately after IT club, sports, cookery and library assistance

Carlos: chess club? (Whispering to himself) I love this place

Mal: dibs on the library

Doug: wow. Nobody ever chooses the library. Usually we have to strong arm them into it

Mal: well I like books

Doug (already liking the four): alright then. Remember. Ben and I can help with anything you need. Room service is speed dial 8 on your dormitory phones. Your senior advisor for this term is Abigail Sweet the daughter of the schools doctor Joshua Sweet. Jay Carlos. If you would come with me I’ll show you your room

Carlos (practically giddy): I get to room with Jay?

Doug: yep

(Carlos lets out a happy cackle)

(Later that night. In the guys room)

Evie: ha ha we have a bath you don’t

Mal: they can use ours if they want

Evie: I hate you.

Mal: I’m sorry is that supposed to affect me?

Jay: anyway. I couldn’t get any information out of Doug.

Carlos (playing a video game): yeah. Sorry. My bad. I just really like chess and computers.

Mal: you never need to apologise

Evie: of course. The prodigal son.

Carlos: yeah yeah. I’m perfect you’re inconsequential. Get over it. Anyway Mal. What do we do first

Mal: book?

Jay: are you asking or telling

Mal: telling?

Jay: C could you get the mirror and the book. They’re on the bed that’s already reeking of Evie’s ambergris

Evie: it’s perfume

Jay: what do you think perfume is made of

Mal: eau du monstro

(She and jay high five)

Evie: yeah yeah I smell like whale carcass. Can we move on please?

Jay: sure

Mal: first we should uh. Locate the wand. I guess

Jay: mirror time

Evie: I know I know. Magic mirror/in my hand/where do we find the fairy godmother’s wand stand?

Mal: the...moozum? What’s a moozum?

Carlos: museum Mal.

Mal: ohhhh. Thank you Carlos

Jay: let’s go

(He takes them there in a puff of gold smoke)

(At the museum)

Carlos: oh crap there’s a guard

Jay: oh you’re kidding me

Evie: what?

Jay: I think this might be Mal’s area of expertise. Take a look

(Near the guard is a spindle and spinning wheel)

Mal: ah fuck. Ok let’s see now.

Jay: Mal, I believe it’s your turn

Mal: let’s see let’s see let’s see. Ah here it is. Destroy thine enemy/bring unto them pain/cancel out their heart/to ensure thy reign

(The guard gives a few sputtering breaths. Then nothing)

Evie: way to crap out magenta

Mal: you know what. I think I could swap your brain for his. Or replace it with a grain of sand. Cause that would help so much more than your unneeded comments

Jay: in other words. Shut up Evie. And let Mal do her thing. Any other ideas.

Mal (leafing through the book): not yet. Hmmmmm. Oh! Here it is. Prick the finger/prick it deep/send my enemy off to sleep

(The guard goes to touch the spindle. But hesitates)

Mal (voice quiet but powerful and reverberating through the guards head): touch the spindle. Touch it I say!

(The guards asleep)

Evie: you do sound so much like your mother mag

(Mal, unimpressed, plucks a strand of hair from Evie’s head)

Evie: owuh! What the fuck was that fit?

Mal: grey hair sis. See. Although now two will grow in its place. Like the hydra

Evie (tailing behind the others): at least the hydra had the good sense to be buried under a rock slide

(Once inside)

Carlos: So I’ve dismantled the cameras. And we know where it is. But we don’t know where it is

Mal: good boy. And nope. No we don’t

Jay: hold on

(He closes his eyes and takes and deep breath. He glows gold a second. Then stops)

Jay: down the hall. C’mon

(Halfway through the museum Carlos stops)

Jay: you ok bud

(Carlos starts hyperventilating)

Mal (rushing to him): hey. Hey hey hey hey. Hey. It’s ok what’s wrong

Evie: they’re here. Why are they here. Ooh I’m sorry I ate dinner mother

Mal: what is it-oh fuck

(They’re looking at statues of their parents. Jafar in genie form. Grimhilde as queen. Cruella after the car chase. And Maleficent, green skinned and smoke enveloping her)

Jay: what the. What the FUCK are they doing here

Mal: they’re statues. Wax. I think.

Evie (hissing): that doesn’t make it better!

Mal: hey jay. Could you take Carlos outta here please. I kinda need to be alone for a minute

Jay: sure. C’mon buddy

(He carries Carlos away)

Evie: what do you need a minute for? Oh I think I’m gonna throw up.

Mal (not really paying attention): there’s a bathroom. Up the hall and to the right

(Evie runs off. Mal eyes glow and she starts breathing heavily as emerald green flames lick at her feet then she screams and the flames explode and surround her. Then they stop and she collapses on her hands and knees)

Mal: why are you still looking over my shoulder? You know I won’t fail. So I do not need you looking over my shoulder from HUNDREDS OF MILES AWAY!!!!

(She weeps. Then pulls herself together forgetting that no one can see her. She stalks over to the inscription)

Mal: what the hell?

(This is how “when you’re evil” starts. After the song. Mal is passed out on the flagstone floor. Carlos and jay and kneeling over her. Carlos is worriedly shaking her trying desperately to wake her up)

Carlos (nearing tears): M. M please. Please wake up. Please. I need you to wake up. Jay. Try it again. Please try again

(Jay uses magic to summon water from a nearby drinking fountain and splashes Mal’s face. It doesn’t work. Carlos breaks down in sobs and clings to Jay. This makes Mal wake up)

Mal: what happened? How long was I out for?

(Carlos, still crying, throws his arms around Mal who returns the hug)

Mal: hey, hey buddy it’s ok. I’m ok. Look at me. I’m fine

Carlos (tears streaming down his face): I can’t be alone. I don’t want to be alone

Mal: you’d still have jay. And Evie.

Carlos: it’s not the same

Evie: hey guys I think I found it. Oh god what happened?

Jay: Mal was out cold. We couldn’t wake her

Evie (now cottoning onto the reason why Carlos is crying): oh. But she’s ok now.

Mal: yeah. I am. I must’ve passed out when I burned the room. So why doesn’t it look burnt?

Jay: I fixed it. Covering our tracks.

Mal: take us to the wand then

(Evie teleports them to the stand)

Mal: Carlos. It’s ok if you don’t want to.

Carlos: no. No. I’m fine. I can do it. Umm. Force field. I think. Not exactly weapons grade cause, you know, what is, but I think someone with like low level magic can get through

(They all look at Evie)

Evie: I hate you all

Mal: same. Now go

(Evie heaves a heavy sigh. She passes under the railing. Her hand gets through the force field. Next thing they know she’s thrown backwards and hitting the opposites wall. Then alarm starts)

Mal: great job indigo

Evie: next time YOU CAN DO IT THEN

Carlos (hands over his ears): how about we get out of her then Mal can murder Evie in peace!

Jay: agreed. Come on.

(The run back to the entrance. Carlos shuts off the alarm. Mal puts the guard back to sleep. Jay poofs them back to the boys room)

Evie: that was

Mal: a fucking festival of mediocrity

Carlos: I’m sorry

Mal: you have nothing to feel sorry for. Or you jay. Evie and I on the other hand

Evie: of course it’s somehow my fault

Jay: blaming each other won’t accomplish anything. But come ON Evie. Seriuosly?

Evie: you would’ve done THE SAME THING!

Jay: ya got a point

Carlos: so what do we do now.

Mal: sleep. Then. I guess we go to school.

(Evie groans loudly. Jay winces. Carlos’s face lights up)

(Elsewhere)

Ben: so how did it go

Doug: Carlos signed up for chess and IT club.

Ben: I’ve been meaning to ask. Your technologically illiterate. So

Doug: I gotta learn don’t I

Ben: fair do’s.

Doug: Mal wants to do the library work

Ben (big nervous smile on his face): so they’re settling in well. How do the like their rooms?

Doug: Evie likes the drapes. When I left Carlos was clearing out the mini fridge. And jay is a bit miffed that he has no bath

Ben: good, good and we can fix that

Doug: you know this might actually work. Strangely they seem to like me.

Ben: who wouldn’t like you? You’re amazing

Doug: well. Mal Jay and Carlos like me. I think. Evie looks straight through me.

Ben: you’re a good guy. Give her time. She’ll see

Doug: and that right there is why I’m not letting you say that ever

Ben: why.

Doug: Chad is a “good guy”. The Fanon interpretation of Captain James T Kirk of the starship Enterprise is a “good guy”. Gaston was a “good guy”. If you tell Evie that I’m a “good guy” that’s basically saying I’ll ankle chain her to the stove in shorthand

Ben: huh?

Doug: you don’t watch many romcoms do you?

Ben: only Gilmore Girls

Doug: ...Fanon interpretation of Dean Forester

Ben: OH MY GOD!!!! Oh I’m so sorry

Doug: don’t worry about it. The important thing is they feel welcome.

Ben: yes. We did good today

Doug: yes.

Ben: well. Good night. Unless of course

Doug: captain marvel or infinity war?

Ben: infinity war please

Doug: get it set up I’ll fetch snacks

Ben: yay

(In Belle and Adam’s bedroom)

Adam: I don’t like it. At all.

Belle: well it’s not up to you.

Adam: it should be. If I had my way I’d have raised taxes

Belle: knowing our son he’d tax the rich

(Adam shudders)

Belle: it’s not actually a bad idea. Least I remind you we are French after all

Adam: what’s your point?

Belle: Ben is doing what he believes is right. And I for one will not fault him for that

Adam: oh don’t you worry. Leave the fault finding to me

Belle: you are rather adept at that if nothing else. Get to your bed. I’m going for a walk

(She goes to Ben’s. She peeps into the door way to find Ben on a beanbag stonefaced)

Belle: what’s wrong?

Doug: Loki just copped it

Belle: oh. Um.

Ben: it was sad the first time. But after 18 viewings it’s a tad underwhelming

Belle: ah. How did it go this afternoon?

Ben (brightening up): it went really well.

Belle: that’s good. But don’t stretch yourself too thin ok

Ben: ok mom. Hey. Can I have a tattoo?

Belle: nope

Ben: aww worth a shot. Doug has one

Doug: it’s a birthmark. And it’s on a pick axe that I’ll inherit from my father. Not on me

Belle and Ben: I stand corrected then

Belle: boys when the movie is finished you are to go straight to bed and Doug is to go to his room. Ok

(The boys mumble in agreement)

Belle: good night

Boys: night

(Back on the island)

Grimhilde: oooh close but no cigar

Maleficent: do shut up

Jafar: what the hell did she do?

Maleficent: collapsed. Like a child having a fit

Grimhilde: then the Apple truly does not fall far

Jafar: this is true. You did have a fit

Grimhilde: may have been rage but a fit nonetheless

Maleficent: would you both like to spontaneously combust

(They stay silent)

Maleficent: good. It took sixteen years for my plan to come to fruition. And I can wait again.

Jafar: and what exactly are you planning on doing to them should they succeed?

Maleficent: separate them for good. My daughter becomes the puppet. Your son in a lamp bound to serve you. The girl married off to Westerguard. And the boy chained in his mothers abode.

Grimhilde: I adore those odds.

Jafar: and their magic?

Maleficent: expunged from their being

(Back in the boys room)

Jay: so how’d you wanna do this?

Carlos: I still don’t know why there are two beds. If I’m your roomie shouldn’t there only be one

Jay: as always you are correct C. And I have an idea

Carlos: I’m listening...

Jay: we put our stuff on the bed next to the window. We can unpack after class. And we share the bed next to the walk in wardrobe oof

(Carlos tackles him in a bear hug)

Carlos: nothing changes?

Jay: nothing changes bud

(Meanwhile in the girls room they’re fighting over who gets the bed next to the window. Evie wins by putting her makeup bag down. Mal get her revenge by getting the toilet brush and whacking it on the pillow)

Evie: that was just uncalled for

Mal: smells better then your face junk

Evie: you’re a real class act you know that right?

Mal: yes. Oh by the way. Bags-eye the bathroom from now until we leave

Evie: SHIT!

(Mal cackles)

[gaygwenpool]

*slams fists on table* MYSTELEON

I knew you wouldnt disappoint! :D  tho you already know most of these lmaoo  lotsa credit to @herbofoo anyway, i dont remember which of these you came up with but Patchwork wouldnt be the same without your Good Good Content! (And of course thanks for all your patience as i cry about comics lmao)

I’ve lost all shame long since ive started shipping them so brace yourself for the self-indulgent cheese that is Chameleon/Mysterio in my Patchwork verse. (its reallly. really Melodramatic. i gave up all pretense.. also under the cut cuz its long..)

ask meme

Who cooks:

Mysterio! Although Chameleon is objectively The Superior Cook thanks to the long years of being a servant to picky russian nobility BUT exactly because of that, he really doesnt enjoy it, even less when cooking for others and not just himself. So it is usually Beck who prepares meals (that are not bad either, they are just simpler) but as often as they can, they eat out. That said, Cham is very well aware Quentin loves his cooking so sometimes, he makes them something. (Being sick isnt so bad when it means Chammy bringin you a big bowl of hot borscht :)

On the other hand, Cham has quite a sweet tooth which Q notices Fast and decides to learn how to bake. It took more effort and failed tries than it could have, mostly because he got cocky, how hard could this be and just. kept forgetting he put stuff in the oven.. But now he makes quite delicious cookies n cakes which make Dmitri almost tear up because tasty + Quentin baked something Specifically for him?? 

Who does the laundry and other chores:

Mysterio’s laundry is usually booby trapped so he has to clean it himself and he doesnt even let Cham near it. And he keeps forgetting gadgets in his civvies. Not to mention that again, for the same servant reason, Cham really doesnt enjoy house chores in general, so he usually just gets his own clothes cleaned somewhere else (especially since his fancy suits and even fancier gowns are the highest quality and delicate materials, he doesnt even Know how to clean them..) 

As for the rest of the chores, its pretty balanced, although Cham has more of an eye for things that needs to be cleaned up (and Beck already has cooking duties) so he does a tad more. 

How many children do they have + Any pets:

In my Patchwork universe there’s a whole Thing about Leon, the Chameleon of the Ultimate universe but I’ve tried to type up a short summary and failed, it’s a long story lmao ^^;; and anyway he isnt exactly their kid, he is just much younger than them and they ended up sorta mentoring him. 

However, they have Celavi, the escaped ex-spy beluga.(Yes, it started as a joke based on this post that accidentally grew more and more serious until @herbofoo and me were too attached to let it go) She counts pretty much as their adopted daughter that they both spoil to hell and back, I mean no surprise, she saved Cham’s life once and sometimes, she helps out with heists. (Mostly for the show, you should have SEEN the look on Spider’s face when a beluga splashed him. He is used to humanoid sharks, to Hydroman.. not like. real life beluga that LAUGHS at him) Beck’s voice: “Dont you dare to insult her, SHE IS PERFECT AND FLAWLESS and A GOODNESS INCARNATE!! -she is literally a deserted russian spy that was trained to gather everything that could be used to harm USA-yea, i have a soft spot for those ;)“

She was always surprisingly clever so she never really counted as a “pet” and at one point, she even bonds with a symbiote (together they are Vague, again long story ah ha). They dont talk but have quite some range of vocalisations so communication isnt a problem. 

Who’s more dominant: 

They both have pretty dominant strong personalities (ok chameleon’s a bit more complicated with that but like.) with big egos who dont like others questioning their superiority. (Of course not at the level of like Doc Ock etc, they are surprisingly flexible and good team players that can be willing to let someone else take the spotlight if they are Nice) But the whole point of their relationship is that neither of them is dominant over the other, they get enough of that literally everywhere else. It’s very reassuring to be so sure that they are on equal footing, cooperating, no hidden nooses around their neck. Especially in their line of work of course! 

(Also, for the other interpretation of this question: anythin remotely sexual happens Pretty Late in the story and both of them are somewhere on the ace spectrum so it doesnt happen that often but they are both verses tho Beck bottoms more)

Favorite nonsexual activity:

MOVIES!! Sprawled on the giant comfy couch, closer than technically needed, cuddling and watching old movies with great special effects and/or great actors! Listening to Beck excitedly rant through the most dramatic speech of the story as he explains how the next cliffhanger is done with hydraulics! Focusing so hard on the stars in his eyes and his excited tone and gestures and just the tone of his voice you forgot to listen to the words themselves! Watching Cham’s face flawlessly mimic the faces on the screen in a blink of an eye and secretly guessing which one will he pick next. Feeling his head slowly fall on your shoulder, eyes closed, his mask smooth but not tense, instead just.. peaceful. Slight ping of annoyance, after all, this is A Classic movie dammit, but it’s gone in a second because Mitya hasnt slept since thursday and you are just relieved he is finally getting his rest. Feeling his warmth under your hand on his shoulders and suddenly never ever wanting to get up again.. EHM. anyway

PLANING HEISTS TOGETHER!! and more or less successfully executing them but planning is actually even more fun aside from the Big Reveals and Entrances which are actually harder to coordinate than one would think! 

Lots of shobiz/job talk actually, they really enjoy what they do! Lots of people already mentioned that in their hc compilations but i agree, they love goin to see all kinds of movies and plays and performances as well as acting various scenes with one another!  

Their favorite place to be together:

NEW YORK CITY BABEYY. Sure they love to travel and see other countries (and cause mayhem there) but.. they love their mess of a city, it’s never the same without the webhead around as well as the bazillion of other heroes n villains bashin each other’s heads. 

Any traditions:

Oh so many pop culture references and inside jokes, oh my god. One time, they spent the entire heist (and its planning period) speaking strictly in famous movie lines and titles, Max and other sixers tried to join but didnt last too long :’D 

Beck also has a habit of taking pictures of people with Interesting faces or styles he sees and sends them to Cham. Also another fanon classic: together they have a running game, disguising themselves as moderately famous people and the other guessing who..

Their “song”:

‘This is me’ from the Greatest Showman, i just live for the two of them singin it in Cham’s car,off key but fully immersed and living it. 

What they do for each other on holidays:

Neither of them are religious but that doesnt stop Beck from going ALL OUT at any opportunity, Sin Six doesn’t do any heists around holidays because you Know he’d make them dress for the occasion or worse, write them themed lines…  They still meet for Christmas and Hanukkah and sometimes other holidays too because this is my AU and you can pry festivities-related shenanigans from my cold, cold hands. It’s always at Beck’s place tho because he can turn his hideout into the tackiest holiday-themed showcase but he aint roping them into it.  

On the other hand, Cham despises American commercialized holidays in general and Christmas time especially, since it’s not a big thing in Russia and  also once again, he has family issues for days. (Although relatively speaking, he is pretty over these, he is not gonna like mope around or anything) 

Anyway, what they do for each other is that they try to compromise, Dmitri doesnt sneer at stupid kitsch decorations every 5 minutes and Quentin ..chills a little. :’D To be fair, Beck makes everything fun and having Cham there makes Beck appreciate the details more instead of just goin into BETTER!BIGGER! frenzy.

Where did they go for their honeymoon:

After the fuckin Ages of pinning, when they finally end up together for realsies, they wanted somethin Big and Flashy! (Well Beck wanted and Cham kinda too but also with the option to merge with the crowd unnoticed and take some chill time) Anyway they went on a whole world wide tour! Starting with a luxury cruise, they took their time, lots of crime sprees to plan and execute, lots of local shows to see, lots of dumb heroes to fool, they’re gonna have it all! 

Where did they first meet:

Around the time when Cham and Hammerhead had their criminal empire running Fisk to the ground, Otto decided the Sin Six should team up with them for their ressources needed on one heist or something. They agreed but Cham insisted on actually going in the field, it’s been a while since he really stretched his face legs like this and the mafia life was starting to bore him. Doc made him team up with Mysterio much to the fishbowl’s dismay because why do they need another disguise artist?? He is the Master Of Illusions dammit, he can run circles around this guy, what the fuck Otto?? So at the start, he pouts and fumes under his helmet and in general he is his v unpleasant self but… He can’t help but notice that the new guy is a real professional, he even uses Traditional masks, he likes the same movies… And most importantly, he is actually interested in Mysti’s craft, asking questions and even LISTENING to his long winded answers… At one point he even wondered if that X thing was meant as a HOMMAGE to the Y movie, the Six never did that!! (Usually the rest of the sixers dont know the reference, heathens, and when they do, they mock him for it, that he’s copying ideas and mixin them ridiculously.  BUT THIS GUY GETS IT!!) So it doesn’t take long for them to hit it off, of course at this point without any real Trust behind it but it’s a start. 

(Though Beck does pay a visit to Otto like, buddy pal i know you’ve been planning on manipulating these crimelords to your end somehow and honestly, any other day i’d be down, i actually had a robot prepared for my own backstab but i was thinking they werent that bad and maybe we Could hold our end of the bargain this time and just. leave each other on good terms? Mabye? Obviously it’s purely out of respect for our teammate Kraven since him and Chameleon seem to have some history, nothing more, definitely nothing to do with how bright Cham’s eyes were when i was showing him the back of my stage… ) 

What do they fight over:

this whole post has been a mountain of cheese but im bringing more! Honestly, goin through my notes on Patchwork, their biggest arguments have always been about.. the other one not taking proper care of himself :’D Or them lashing out because they were scared and worried about the other and they cant stand being so vulnerable while the other pretends it’s not a big deal because they dont know how to handle genuine concern directed at them. 

Do they go on vacations, if so where:

GIVE!!! BECK!!!! HIS!!!! ISLAND!!!!!!They actually do have one, it’s where Celavi spends most of the time and they visit her often. But never for too long, neither of them can actually spend too long doing nothing.. 

[feynites]

How would you fix snapes story? Cause we all know thats a mess, if this has already been asked sorry. (Also you should have a side blog called watch me fix this mess, where you take books that have major problems and give your opinon on what could be done to make it better, thats more of my opinion then statement though).

Ahh, thank you! I’m so pleased you think that I can do a decent job of addressing some problems in stories! I definitely make plenty myself, so it’s born of personal experience I guess. I’ll consider the side blog, though my ability to organize those has not proven to be great, in all honesty.

But, to the question!

The thing about Snape’s story is that there are a number of issues, and a lot of them are subjective, and who has problems with what creative decision or aspect of his writing is going to change depending on who you ask. So it’s difficult to get a coherent ‘solution’, because for a lot of people, the ‘problem’ is not the same thing.

Like,  some people will point out that the revelation that he was working against Voldemort doesn’t really address the fact that he’s still a petty asshole who bullies children. Others will argue that this is called ‘being a complex character’ and there’s nothing wrong with it - and they’re right, but they’re also kind of ignoring that the narrative, through Harry, implies that Snape’s actions totally did change the context of his behaviour. And so the frustration people have is that they disagree with the way the story is framing him.

Also, his status as a hero is contentious because he was never, at any point, actually being selfless. From start to finish, everything Snape did was driven by personal interest. Even his desire for atonement and revenge never exended into any kind of ‘big picture’ perception of the world, or increased sense of value for things outside of his own feelings. A lot of people define heroism by a certain amount of selfessness, and by that definition, Snape soundly fails to meet it. Just because he was willing to die doesn’t mean he was acting altruistically.

And then there’s the fact that Snape, like the goblins, is basically an antisemitic archetype. He’s petty, greedy, grasping, hook-nosed, sallow-skinned, dark-haired and ‘ugly’, and these are all canonically confirmed character flaws. He’s also treacherous, even though his betrayal of Voldemort was a good kind of treacherous. Fiction, however, has a long-established history of letting the bad guys’ infighting be their undoing, without actually salvaging the characters involved (like, Starscream and Megatron are always at odds in Transformers, but they’re rarely portrayed as not still both being bad guys). 

So changing Harry Potter’s narrative to play Snape as just another villain - complicated villain, sure, but still not viewed as having really redeemed himself - wouldn’t address that he plays into a character type with some very uncomfortable origins. Actually redeeming him, on the other hand, would also run the risk of glossing over his more blatantly cruel acts as a teacher (like his treatment of Neville and Hermione), and wouldn’t satisfy people who wanted to see that really acknowledged.

For myself, I... well. A lot of stories teach kids that the adults they think are mean or scary, or who they see being cruel to their peers or to themselves, might have important reasons for their behaviour that you won’t understand until you’re older. The message, often, is that reporting people like this or getting angry with them is a mistake, and that it’s better to be quiet and just do what they say. Harry Potter is guilty of this kind of messaging with Snape. Dumbledore is always telling Harry that he trusts Snape’s loyalty, and the stories often disprove Harry’s theories that Snape is behind some scheme or evil act, to the point where it’s basically a recurring theme. Suspecting Snape of conspiring against students is wrong. Reporting Snape won’t work. Lashing back as Snape’s misuses of power only makes things worse.

The intended narrative is usually something like ‘snap judgments are bad’ or ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’, but that only works if a character’s objectionable traits are purely superficial. Snape, though, really is misusing his authority as a teacher left, right, and center. 

The thing is, though, that kids who grow up in abusive environments (and some adults too) often end up with this fantasy where, if you’re nice enough and forgiving enough of someone’s cruelty, they will heal, and their capacity to love will mean that they stop lashing out, and instead become a great and loyal protector. Because the lesson is all too often ‘you can’t do anything except be nice to them and hope it helps’, and so the dream is ‘a story where it actually DOES help and everything turns out alright in the end’.

I think this lies at the heart of a lot of Snape’s fanon narratives and reinterpretations. Because the stories emphasize that he isn’t going to leave, and he can’t be totally avoided, and so the hopeful, optimistic idea is that he can change, or can reveal to have been motivated by outside forces with regards to his cruelty, and that once those forces are gone, he’ll be a great person to spend time around. That it’s just a matter of time and then there’s going to be a reward for all this energy spent in putting up with an insulting, petty, unfair, mean-spirited and spitefully vindictive man.

Which is a narrative that abusers really really like too, because it encourages people to prioritize forgiving and loving them over holding them accountable to standards of decent behavior.

And that is my own personal biggest problem with his story, and biggest potential dilemma with approaching it. I wouldn’t want to shame or deride people who entertain the hope of being rewarded for kindness and patience and faith in people’s better natures. Harry Potter is ultimately aimed at kids, and kids are often faced with adults who mistreat them, who they can’t escape.The Dursleys won’t change and that’s obvious to most readers. But it’s easy to zero-in on Snape as the character who could. To invest in him all that desire to see the Dream Come True, and watch an adult who was bad become good and caring and actually look after Harry. To think, maybe he’s doing it in secret? And lo, he is! And he’s a hero after all, and he died to help Harry, so maybe all the mean nasty adults who degrade and insult me are going to turn it around in the end, too!

But that’s not Snape’s story, unfortunately. He never really does turn it around.

And if he did turn it around, it would have to be because he decided to and put in the work to do that. It would probably have to happen earlier on in the books, and it would take away the mystery of ‘who’s side is Snape really on?’

So... to be honest, I’m not entirely sure what I would change about him. There are a lot of options, but ultimately, I think shifting around any number of things would mitigate the problems he presents. It’s just a question of which ones anybody wants to tackle.

The simplest fix, to solve the most overall problems would probably be to remove Lily as his motivation, though. Ultimately, if Snape had chosen to turn on Voldemort because of his own principles and standards, then his complexity as a character would actually remain at a level far more consistent with Harry’s conclusions about him. Even if everything else was the same. He’d at least have the virtue of facing down a Dark Lord and protecting a kid he hated for the sake of something decent in him. As it stands, having Lily’s death motivate him just means he’s bitterly blaming everyone else for the difficulties he’s having at half-assedly assuaging the tremendous loads of guilt he brought on himself. It also means that he has an intensely personal reason to want to screw over Voldemort, which on the one hand makes sense, but on the other hand, also means we never see him do any unquestionably noble deed. So there’s not a lot to balance against his unquestionably ignoble deeds - which are pretty damn replete.

It wouldn’t fix everything and it especially wouldn’t satisfy everyone, but I think it would leave more room to agree to disagree on various interpretation of his character.

[movingtoamultimuseblog-blog]

🔥 + fanon tbh

Oh my god. Where do I even get started? (UNPOPULAR OPINION WARNING)

I could likely go on about this topic until the day I die but I’ll try to keep it simple and sweet. (spoiler: it wasn’t simple or sweet)

Too many people think that what the fan-base says is canon. I’m sorry but I’ve been in several communities that fall victim to this. In a series, regardless of whether it’s a video game, anime, manga, movie, web-series, or TV show, there are certain things that the creator states are canon. Those are the only things that could be defended so rabidly if something honestly needed defending. Which, spoiler alert, it doesn’t need defending. I realize I’m going to sound so harsh and cold on this topic but it needs it honestly.

When people role-play, they are collectively writing what many of us like to call fan-fiction. Please take a look at the word again. Fan. Fiction. Not fact. We take creative liberties such as changing the gender of a character, changing the character’s species for supernatural stories, and changing the character’s sexual persuasion. How many times have we taken canonically hetero or homo characters and changed that? Countless.

Sometimes when a community likes these changes, they tend to adopt it as more “canon” than what the creators wrote and decided. To be honest, if you want head canons, that’s fine! But when it comes to the end of the day, that is only your interpretation of the character, a character that was not created by you.

And guess what? It’s okay not to like the same things. We all have free-will and the ability to form opinions. Why is it that people who go outside of the fanon are viciously attacked? Were you raised to treat others like that? If so, would you do it to their face if you didn’t have the security of a keyboard and screen in front of you? No; I don’t think many of the people who attack others over fanon would be able to step-up. Coming from a psychology major, I’ve learned real quick over the years that people will say anything as long as they can’t be confronted in life outside of the internet. This behavior because of technological changes has perpetuated and grown awfully rampant.

It needs to stop.

People are allowed to have their opinions. But they should express those opinions civilly and with respect. If you don’t like what someone else likes, just either say “hey I don’t agree but to each their own” or don’t say anything at all. Some people like hetero. It doesn’t make them homophobic or transphobic or acephobic or whatever stupid Tumblr-ite terms people want to use. Some people like homo. Doesn’t mean their heterophobic or bi-phobic. Like, really.

Some of this community, speaking about the Overwatch one here, have taken this dislike so far that I’ve contemplated just dropping it altogether and I don’t even ship or get involved! The fanon over things like Emily or Amelie. Fanon over various ships or backstories. Let me say this one loud and clear. Overwatch is a game that is still developing and changing constantly. We do not have everything for backstories, sexual orientations, and who some of them even definitively like in the series. Everyone can have a different interpretation and creative liberty here. But do not get pissy when the creator decides something for their series. You didn’t make it; you didn’t help make it; get off your self-entitled, privilaged, high horse and realize that you don’t have a say.

You have a creative liberty. Just like everyone else. Give respect to others regardless of your fanon or head canons and you’ll get it in return. It’s okay not to like something popular. It’s not okay to hate someone for not liking it or not following it.

Fanon will never equal canon. But that doesn’t make it bad. It just makes it a community with an opinion; an opinion that should be expressed with civility, not with echo chambers and death threats. Take away the safety of your screen sometime and say the things you say to someone on the street that you don’t even know. Watch how well that goes.

I realize this is longer than I intended but these things need to be said. Not just for the Overwatch community, but for every community out there. Please; for my sake and for the sake of those around you all. Learn to understand each other, learn to accept that not everyone is the same and thinks the same, and please for the love of anything? Stop attacking each other over fanon, claiming they’re hateful of a certain group or that they need to die. You’re better than that.

[crystalelemental]

A bit of talk about my favorite casts overall in Touhou, because I'm kinda fixated on it today:

MoF: My favorite cast.  Sanae, Kanako, and Suwako would carry this team on their own, but then you get Aya who is great, the Aki sisters who I really love despite them not having a ton going on, Hina who is interesting to me, and even Nitori who I've come around to liking through repeated exposure.  The only real detriment to the team is Momiji, who hasn't done anything wrong, I'm just constantly pissed at how unreasonably popular she is.  How the hell did this character with no dialogue ever manage to break top 20?  How did people decide she was a top favorite, much less a stronger character than Kanako and Suwako?   To each their own opinions, and I'm not about to fight anyone over it, but this is the single most confusing thing about fan perceptions to me.

SA: If anyone were to say that my pick for best cast is dumb and that it's obviously the SA crew, I'd probably concede immediately.  I can't think of a character in this game that isn't great.  Chireiden is especially fantastic, bringing in some of my favorites overall.  Half the cast typically places around top 20 for me, and I think that alone shows how great they are.  The only truly low-ranking one is Kisume, who just...doesn't have anything to work with, really.

TD: I love the TD cast.  I wish I could fully articulate why, I just appreciate them. Seiga is delightfully wicked, Miko is awesome, Futo is a lot of fun, and even Tojiko has just enough presence that I want to know more about what her deal is.  Yoshika and Kyouko are a bit lower for me, but are still solid enough characters.  Then there's Mamizou, my third favorite character overall.  In the game, she seems pretty good, but it's another situation where the more I see of her, the more I love her character.  It's a shame the extra stage is so frustrating to me.   If I sat down and actually applied myself, I might be able to clear it...

PCB: Prismrivers are A+ characters, I don't care what anyone else says!  This game also brought in Alice, who is top-tier, as well as general fan-favorites in Yukari, Yuyuko, and Youmu.  This is one situation, at least, where I agree with fan perceptions.  All of these characters are great.  The only one I don't have strong opinions on is Letty, which is a shame because she's a Yuki-Onna, and those are awesome creatures.  I guess they can't all be winners.

LoLK: I just feel like this is where they should go.  I love Junko, Clownpiece is great (especially in the manga), Sagume and Hecatia are fascinating, and I really like Doremy.  If anything really holds them back, it's the game itself, with its kind of awkward resource collection system, and the ridiculous difficulty set up by the PointDevice mode (which I really dislike).  There are some really great characters floating around, but I just can't get as attached to them.  Maybe it's because they mostly will never show up again.  Maybe it's because the game is such a pain that I can't be asked to experience the characters again by playing it.  Whatever the case, I think "above average" is a decent designation for the cast as a whole.

HSiFS: Tentatively putting them here.  May wind up going above PCB, but I'd be surprised if I wind up feeling that positively toward the whole cast.   Really, I think this is where they'd belong.  Close to average, but a little above, largely based on the few standouts and some personal attachments.  Eternity and Narumi are the two big standouts, while Satono and Mai are the ones I have personal attachment to, for reasons involving wanting to see more of their history.  Okina's also incredibly lore-significant, which is hard to ignore, even if I'm not her biggest fan right now.  They're a good cast.

UFO: And now we come to by benchmark average.  UFO is not a cast I am particularly enamored with.  I really like Kogasa, and despite never directly meeting her in-game, I love Nue's concept.  Byakuren and Nazrin are also particularly good, but the mid-game cast of Ichirin, Murasa, and Shou don't really appeal to me much.  They kind of all even out to a solid average cast.  By contrast...

IN: this cast is mostly just average.  There's really only two standouts, but both are standouts because of subsequent games and manga.  Those two being Kaguya and Mokou.  I feel almost nothing toward the rest of this cast.  Kaguya manages to be one of my overall favorites, based on her presentation largely in Inaba of the Moon/Earth, and Mokou jumped significantly based on her interactions with Futo and Sumireko in ULiL.  Reisen is also growing on me, though I wouldn't call her a favorite.  I think what keeps this one below UFO is just that the majority of the cast feels very bland to me.

EoSD: "Steve, you fucking hypocrite, they're not even last place."  Look buddy, I have only ever stated dislike for this cast based on my inherent contrarianism, and I think we all know this.  So, to kinda make my case, we're going to factor out fanon, because I could complain about fanon interpretations of this crew being the absolute worst for literal hours.  I'm serious, I've done it before. Anyway, on their own, the cast is not bad, I just have virtually no interest in them. Flandre, by all accounts, should be one of my favorites.  I love that archetype. But for some reason, she just doesn't resonate as much with me as she ought to, and I often wonder if that's because I can't separate out my contempt for fanon interpretations coupled with how high-ranked she always is.  Patchouli is excellent, and I largely adore her because of her association with elemental magic, which is a favorite of mine, though she still ranks below other magicians because she's kinda plain in that regard (Alice's dolls are way more interesting conceptually, and Marisa is far more organic in her application of magic).  And that's where the positives stop.  Remilia and Sakuya can have some good moments, but I ultimately don't appreciate them as much.  Cirno is a character I have long not liked, who is only recently starting to be appreciated with manga appearances (as a side character) and her role in HSiFS.  The rest of the cast ranges from complete disinterest to disdain.  Meiling and Rumia just aren't interesting, Koakuma gets a few points entirely because Koishi's Heart-Throbbing Adventure made her best villain, and Daiyousei is in eternal contempt for doing nothing ever yet outranking excellent characters like Kanako and Mamizou somehow.  They're a mix of disinterest, dislike, and not as interesting as they should be, which leads to a particularly low ranking.

DDC: Of course, if we're being fair, the EoSD cast is not my least-favorite. Fanon certainly makes them the group I complain about the hardest, but my most disinterested feelings go to DDC.  I struggle to think of a single character in this game that stands out at all.  Let's get this out of the way: Seija is a fascinating character, but I don't like her.  I mentioned this with Okina in another post, but I can find a lot of characters interesting while still disliking how they are.  And that's the big issue.  Seija's usually the one that would pull this team for people, and she has, hysterically, the opposite effect on me.  Sukuna is similarly not that engaging, and unlike most characters added to the fighting games, her presence in ULiL did nothing for me.  The first three stage bosses are all just smallfry who show up ready to fight with the social upheaval thing going on, but ultimately fail to have particularly unique traits, and...honestly, a mermaid and werewolf are a bit too western for me?  I have the same kind of issue with EoSD, where the western stuff feels a bit too familiar, so I can't appreciate the novelty of a character's species if there's nothing else to go off of.   Which means that the Tsukumos kinda get the favorites spot (I told you about the contrarianism). They're associated with music and storms, and you fight them in the middle of a thunderstorm.  As far as coolness factor goes, they win, hands down.  I also just like their designs best.  I know everyone else in the world seems to like them least, but I think they're the strongest entries.  You know, despite still being somewhat bland overall.  They're no Prismrivers, that's for sure.