#i have many other opinions about this season

[abbulark]

It's still happening! I was obsessed with Law & Order in high school, and that's copaganda. Sometimes it's very bad at being copaganda, but it's very interesting to see how things changed over the years. In a season 5 episode of Law and Order that aired in 1994, S. Epatha Merkerson's character Anita Van Buren shoots a young black man who is mugging her at an ATM. It later comes out that he is intellectually disabled. The episode is about her trying to come to terms with the fact that she shot a child that isn't that much older than her own sons, and knowing that even if she gets in no legal trouble, she still did it. Dick Wolf definitely wanted to repair the reputation of the police in New York, but he couldn't go hard against public opinion. But then, public opinion has a tendency to shift.

Twenty years later, the year that Trayvon Martin was gunned down in the street by a civilian PRETENDING to be a cop, the episode ripped from the Trayvon Martin headlines was ALSO ripped from the headlines of Paula Deen saying slurs. It was watered down, had very little message, and was weak. This was clearly on purpose. They didn't even have to justify it, because it was already justified. They just wrote a story about how scary young black people are and called it a day. Here's Jezebel's contemporary review.

I definitely ate the copaganda watching Law and Order contemporaneously, especially when SVU was at the height of its popularity. But Law and Order has such a huge body of programming, some of which is less copagandic than others due to the effect of history. There are shows that came behind it that are straight up glorifying cops killing, like Blue Bloods, The Shield, and one of the worst of all, NCIS.

NCIS has a special place in my hate because it was a clear arm of propaganda for the Israeli military in the era of anti-terrorism task forces. They kill so many fucking people on NCIS, even when they're not doing it with Israeli secret police. Many people in America who justify the genocide in Palestine are doing it with vague memories of episodes of NCIS they've watched.

Anyway. Most of our parents are probably a loss when it comes to not thinking cops are cool and great. But my brother told me that when he watched the video interview our dad gave before his death, dad said he thought my brother would never become a cop. He was right. My brother wanted to save lives, and he never became a cop.

Public opinion does have a way of shifting, after all.

I have to admit it annoys me when folks talk like 1990s media was so daring for mildly disrespecting cops. "Oh, The Simpsons was ahead of its time" no, that was a completely normal level of contempt for the police at the time. There was a big wave of pro-cop media in the early 2000s from which we have yet to fully recover!

[barblaz-arts]

I know you've been making a lot of art of it lately, but out of curiosity, what's your opinion on Hazbin Hotel in general? I'm referring to both the show and the fandom here. Just curious.

God. What a loaded question. Are you ready? Bcuz I'm fresh from Vaggie discourse on twitter and I have a lot to say.

I think that Hazbin Hotel seems worse than it is for people who know the fandom but haven't actually watched the show. Honestly, I think it's a fine show. It isnt super incredible and I'm not gonna sing praises about how deep and thought provoking it is or whether it's an artistic masterpiece. It never tried to be that and was never advertised as such(to my knowledge) anyway. I just had a lot of fun. Like, yeh sure the cussing in the dialogue can be a bit much, especially in ep 1, but there are different writers in other episodes, so it gets better. It can be super crude yeh, but I grew up watching things like the Scary Movie franchise and other dumb american movies (yes, i was too young for them. yes, i still watched them), so it's pretty tolerable for me. It also helps that Charlie is the main character. That's one of the main reasons why I watch HH but dont watch HB. It's probably a fun show, but without a sweetheart like Charlie to balance things out, I'd just get tired of the sex jokes and mean jokes.

Compared to my last hyperfixation, I think I have more things to love about Hazbin Hotel, believe it or not. With Netflix's Wednesday, I had already been an Addams Family fan for a while and hung on because I loved the family and eventually Enid and wenclair. The show itself was honestly meh... so far! I'll give season 2 another shot.

But with Hazbin Hotel, it catered to a lot of things I've always loved. Found family with a bunch of misfits? We didnt get to see it much bcuz of the fuckass 8-ep per season format we have nowadays, but its fine its there! The juxtaposition of a kind hearted woman in a harsh world? Love love Charlie for that, I watched the show in the first place because of her. A canon lesbian lover with a "fuck the world cuz my world is you" type of love for the protag? Fuck yes. How very Pearl-from-Steven-Universe of Vaggie. And the music? The music is soooo good. I didn't know the songwriter prior to watching, so I was nervous about the songs, but I knew most of the theater actors they cast(still cant believe Jeremy fucking Jordan is Lucifer) so I figured even if the songs are mid, at least the performances would be topnotch. And they were! But the songs were a pleasant surprise. Sam Haft did real damn well. I still listen to the soundtrack to this day.

The fandom, however, is probably the worst one I've been in. And I've been in a lot in my big age... Just... lacking media literacy, and based on the replies I get when I say something on twitter, it seems a lot of them lack reading comprehension and just plain emotional intelligence too.

There's a lot of criticisms about this show that I honestly think is fair. Pacing, character design, overuse of the F word, whatever. But in my opinion, claiming that Hazbin is a male-centered show is an unfair misconception that is mostly the fault of the fandom.

Bcuz, sure, the male characters are uber popular. Alastor, Vox, Lucifer, Angel Dust and the many web of ships they're involved in went trending every few business days. But come on now. How often does a fandom even have their main protag as the most talked about character? This has been going on for ages. Just because the boys have the most merch and fics and fanarts and thirsty fans doesn't mean that they had the spotlight for most of the show itself. It only meant that they were the ones the viewers paid attention to, in a fandom filled with people drooling over the next tumblr sexyman and toxic yaoi ship of the month.

But if you actually look back at what the show gave us so far, the boys didnt outshine the women. I actually think the women got to do more and be more as characters than the men did. Let's take a look at the male characters.

Alastor was not in all the episodes. In fact, he was MIA in two out of the eight episodes. In all the episodes he was in, he was a mere side character. His purpose in season one was to stir the pot and be the intriguing mystery that occasionally quips. But he was not the one whose deeper thoughts were explored and whose character and goals was challenged THROUGHOUT the show, merely alluded to at the VERY END of the season, which is hardly him taking the spotlight away from Charlie. If you merely looked at the fan content of him, you'd think he were a father figure to Charlie(or a love interest. whatever) and that he has developed a soft spot for the Hazbins deep down in that cannibal heart of his. But if you pay attention to the show, he never had even a meaningful one on one conversation with the Hazbins. The only time that happened is when (a)he threatened Husk's life (b)when he constantly mocked Charlie while she was down in the dumps and used this as an opportunity to manipulate her and (b)when he told Niffty watching the crew sure can "make one sentimental", even tho he had taken no prior opportunity to bond with them! There's no foundation for all the fandom's claims that he could be redeemed bcuz of a budding fondness for the group, but that's all you see of his fan content(aside from the horniness). I dont have any problem with his lack of an actual relationship with the Hazbins bcuz I believe redemption for him is not what the show is going for, but it's frustrating to see people interpreting it that way BUT not seeing how horridly developed it would be if that is the case, meanwhile they turn around and say that Vaggie and Chaggie as a ship "had terrible development".

Then we have the male Vees. Vox was only ever in episode two, and was essentially a youtube reactor in episode 8. He was in ep 4 but had no speaking lines. We only know of his obsession with Alastor and the toxic relationship he has with Val. Val, meanwhile, is merely shown as the sex obsessed fiend behind Hell's sex industry and Angel's abuse. They did what they needed to do with minimal screentime. It was fine, but that's IT. Despite what little CANON gave so far, you have hundreds of people writing essays and fics and fanarts about them being complicated characters. But to reiterate, this does not mean that they are bad characters or that they don't deserve the fame. But to say that these men are better written within canon than the women is such a bold statement when most of the depth they knew of these characters were lore drops given before the show and their own speculations as they dug into the shallow soil of what the show has so far.

I'm not gonna speak about Angel and Lucifer. Because I think they were characters who were legitimately well-explored so far.

Now onto the women. So many of them were given the opportunity to have their characters challenged or given the agency to push characters and the plot forward or give you intrigue about implications of what's to come for the characters and the plot. I've talked a lot about Charlie and Vaggie. So let me talk about the other, terribly underrated women of Hazbin.

Velvette and Carmilla were the ones who advanced the subplot in the war against Heaven. Because of Carmilla's love for her family despite being a demon, an angel was killed. It gave Heaven the excuse to escalate things, but it also gave Charlie hope later on in the season that they're not powerless. Carmilla was also the first demon shown to make selfless actions that is contrary to what is expected of demons, making it proof that Charlie's belief that demons deserve a second chance isn't unwarranted. She's an interesting character, as an overlord who hangs on to power but clearly has morals. But how often do you see people writing essays about her? Eating up the fact that she's a powerful overlord but would sacrifice anything for her daughters? If Carmilla were a man, hundreds of girlies would be drooling over the crime boss who has a soft spot for his daughters.

Meanwhile, Velvette got to demonstrate why exactly she's an Overlord despite being the youngest demon in there. She's calculating and observant. She gives off a haughty vibe and constantly boasts about how she's young and fresh, but she isn't naive. During that meeting, she paid attention to Carmilla and Zestial's relationship. In order to find out who killed the angel, she riled everyone up, and when she got the feeling it was Carmilla, she mocked Zestial so that Carmilla could slip up. By playing these Overlords who are older and more experienced than her, Velvette showed what exactly her asset was to the Vees and why she's a threat, something that Vox and Val have yet to be given the opportunity to do when they were busy eye-fucking Alastor and literally fucking Angel. But in fan content about the Vees, Velvette is almost treated as an after thought to the boys...

Then we have the Seraphs. Not only were their designs gorgeous, their dynamic and presence as characters had impact to the plot and main characters.

Emily is a much needed character to show that this story isn't meant to tell you that Heaven = bad; Hell = good. There is good and bad in both, and it is so important for the protags to know that they have an ally in Emily who represents the true virtues that heaven is supposed to uphold. And I love the confrontation she had with Sera when her own view of what's right and good was challenged. We got to see the strength of her character and started the seeds of what could be heaven's acceptance of Charlie's goals.

Sera is such an interesting character to me. She was also important to show that not all angels were sadistic like Adam and Lute, but not in the same way Emily was. I have no idea so far which direction this show would go with her. But I'm intrigued by the fact that she seems to be driven by fear, unlike Adam and Lute's cruelty. She knew Lucifer and was there when he was cast out for his disobedience. Whether everything she's doing is to prevent that from happening again remains to be seen, and I'm looking forward to this kind of subplot for her.

And then Rosie! I really really look forward to seeing more from her. Spoilers aside, something I barely see people talk about is how interesting it is that Rosie is every bit the leader that Charlie hopes to be. Rosie is able to be a respected overlord in her own faction without needing to sacrifice her love for showmanship and music and her positive disposition. When we were officially introduced to her, they show how she seems to care about actually taking care of her people, not JUST ordering them around, by talking to them personally and giving advice. That's exactly what Charlie wanted to do for her people, isn't it? The hotel to Charlie was what the emporium was to Rosie. They have a lot of similarities that could set up for Rosie to be the one to teach Charlie in becoming a leader. Now whether that's a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen, but it is rather compelling.

So yeah! With all that said, I really dont think this show ignores its women at all. Just because a bigger part of the fandom gravitated towards the men doesn't necessarily mean its a misogynistic show so far. But if certain people are claiming that the women are badly written, then I hope they also own up to the fact that their blorbos are just as shallowly presented within the show, maybe even more so. Which wouldn't even be a bad thing! Since when did a show or character have to be amazingly written for a person to like them? That's just no fun at all. All I'm saying is... Fuck this fandom's double standards, hiding behind claims that it's the writing's fault when the problem is they couldn't be bothered to think about the women.

[hockybish]

hey hope you're doing well

I was wondering if you could write #55 from your prompt list where theirs an age gap where the reader is younger with Joseph Woll

thx love your writing

Hi Sweetie, Im good. I'm so sorry this is so late, I've been working on cross stitching Christmas presents and I've made myself sick from staying up too late.

Anyways. Enjoy! Let me know what you think

Just a Number

l Joseph Woll x Younger!Reader l Masterlist l

You looked pretty good.

Or at least that's what you thought with your makeup and hair done just right. You had your favorite pleather leggings on, and the best part of the whole outfit in your opinion was blue and white jersey with your boyfriend's last name on the nameplate.

You smoothed down the logo of the jersey to get a better look at the whole thing put together. You deemed it perfect and set off for the game.

Due to you busy school schedule and work this was the first Leafs game you were able to attend since the beginning of the season. It also just so happened that Joe was slated to start in goal that game.

It was perfect. Right?

The first time you heard some of the ladies saying things, you were minding your business the family room. You didn't know many people so you mainly kept to yourself.

That was until a couple of the wags found you and decided to introduce themselves.

"Are your here to watch your brother or something?" The one with the blonde hair snickered.

"No. I'm here supporting my boyfriend. He's p-playing tonight. He's the goalie." You smile.

"Joseph Woll is your boyfriend? Ha yeah right, you're a bit young for him don't you think? You're practically a baby." The other lady joined the conversation, continuing on with what felt like insults.

You were taken aback. You had no idea how to respond. Sure Joe was a bit older than you, but you were pretty sure you did the math correctly and it was totally socially acceptable for you to be someone who was six years older than you. Right?

"Also what are you wearing? It's a bit tacky and pick me to be wearing your boyfriend's jersey?" The blonde chimed in again.

You were always confident in your looks but them judging and making comments you made you question yourself and why Joe was even with you.

You were so out of it during the game, you hadn't noticed the Leafs won. That Joseph gave an amazing performace, even earning himself a shutout.

But you hadn't noticed any of that. Sure you had been going through the motions, cheering when the team scored or the goalie had made a big save. You were too consumed with other thoughts to comprehend what was actually going on around you.

"Hey Babe" Joe found after the game standing on to the side, you were looking at something interesting on the ground while hugging yourself.

When there wasn't an answer from you, Joe hooked his finger under your chin to lift it so you would face him. He leaned in to kiss you only to have you turn your head and his lips land on your cheek instead of your lips.

"Y/N, what's up?" He frowned sensing you weren't all there.

"Nothing. Can we just go home? Please?" You couldn't look at him but you couldn't hear the ladies from before laughing at you again.

He nodded. Joseph managed to pry a hand free so he could lead you to the car. A little ways into the drive he started in with the questions again. He was determined to get out of you what was up.

You were tight lipped, but somehow he was able to put a crack in your defense.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Do you ever think maybe I'm too young for you? It's a pretty big gap between twenty and twenty six. And maybe it's too big of an age gap. I'm just a baby after all. An inexperienced baby."

"Where is this coming from?" Joseph

"I- I don't know. I was just thinking."

"Well I don't care about age, it's just a number. I think you're perfect just the way you are. We're learning together." He tried his best reassuring you, by saying all the typical things people say when posed with the big age question. It wasn't makig you feel better.

"Plus if your really worried about it. Do the age equation. You know take your age divide by two add seven or your age minus seven times two." He urged you to find the range.

"20 and 26"

"Exactly! We're just the right age for each other." He reached over to take your hand.

"You mean we're skirting on the edge. If you were born one year earlier and I one year later, it wouldn't big of a gap."

Joe sighed heavily. There was no winning with you. "But we weren't. We're just right. I promise. Please" He could feel he was losing you. He didn't want that at all. He loved you.

"Can you just take me home?"

"That's a perfect idea, we can -"

"No Joe. I want to be myself right now" You turned away from the man you loved, letting go of his hand in the process.

--

A couple of weeks had passed since you had asked Joseph to drop you off at your apartment and then proceeded to ghost him. In that time you had gotten a couple dozen phone call, voicemails, and text messages from the overly concerned man.

In that time Joe had gotten the message that the two of you were over. He didn't understand why. He wanted a chance to talk to you and would do anything to get that chance. Even asking for the things that he left at your place that he really didn't care about.

Joe was the only one to speak when you handed over the Maple Leafs hoodie that he absolutely needed back. "Can I ask what happened?"

"Joe" You pleaded.

"Y/N, please, I think you owe me that much. Because everything had been going great and then something happened that night of that game. Was it me? Did I do something?"

"No. You could never do anything wrong. It wasn't you, it is me" You sigh quickly deciding to tell him everything that had happened that night. Everything that had been said to you and everything you had overheard.

"None of that is true. I don't think you're too young, or a baby. You, Y/N Y/L/N are perfect. I don't care what you wear to games, dress up, jersey, I don't care."

If he remembered correctly that night he thought you looked hot as hell wearing his jersey, and he was kinda hoping to fuck you while you were wearing it.

"I would like another chance. Please let me show you are perfect the way you are. That age is just a number." Joe let you know.

"I know this is a bad idea, but I want it so much" You bite your lip. Joe was here and looking rather scrumptious as always. This was bad.

"Do whatever you want, Y/N, the ball is in your court."

You take a quick look on either side of the to make sure none of your nosey neighbors happen to be in the hallway. They didn't need to see what you were about do. Thank god the coast was clear.

What happened next was a bit of a blur. You don't really think. You grab onto Joe's shirt, pulling him into your apartment. Once he clears the door, you crash your lips against his.

Joe fumbles with the hem of your shirt waiting for your word to go any further, the Lego roses he had made for you now decorated the floor in pieces.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Sure Joseph was a bit older than you, but age is really just a silly number. You're both adults and you really did love him.

[nqueso-emergency]

I hope you had a lovely Christmas!

I absolutely adore the way the Tevan community has come together and done something positive this year. You are all incredible human beings. I have been near tears for the last few days overcome with how proud I am to be a part of this community.

Do you think the writes/producers/cast and even Lou, are completely confused about the current hashtags? Do you think they know about the donations?

I'm asking for your opinion, not for insider info, I'm not about that. I like the way you word things and how honest you are, which is why I follow you 🩷

Thank you! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well!!

This community is better than I could ever dream. So many kind, talented, beautiful souls in this space it's amazing ❤️

The hashtag Alliwantforchristmasislou, I think, is pretty self-explanatory, so I'm sure they understand that one lol but I'm not sure they've looked into anything like the others or the donations. Especially during this holiday season.

Thank you for being so sweet and reaching out!! I appreciate you so much!!

[zariahthechocolatecookie]

Alrighty, done with season 7! That was quite the season - so many things happened! And it was a pretty darn good season, too; for me, I'd say this was a solid 8/10 season. So many parts of it were phenomenal, but some parts, especially in the earlier episodes, just didn't do it for me. So, yeah, let's get into it! Beware, there are spoilers beyond this point, read at your own risk!

Alright, so, let's start with the awesome parts - because there were a lot! Claudia has always been one of my favorite characters, but this season moved her all the way up to #1 favorite. Her character arc in this season is absolutely phenomenal. The way she came to terms with her struggles and her grief and loss. How she was able to do what she felt was right, and trust in her own choices - even if us, the viewers, or other people don't agree with them.

I fully intend to make a longer post about Claudia later because I haven't seen NEARLY enough people talk about her story, but that's probably enough ranting for now.

Probably because of Claudia, all the characters that were part of her story (Soren, Terry, Aaravos) really shone this season. Terry's choice this season, as well as Soren's, were just spectacularly done. And, surprisingly, my opinion on Aaravos really changed. I came into this fully believing he was a manipulative, lying bastard - and he totally still is! But he has a heart now, and I felt oddly sad when he died.

Now, let's see here, other good things... Ezran's whole storyline was pretty good. I feel like it could have been made better in a few places, but it was enjoyable! The second half of Callum's arc - basically everything after Astrid showed up - was done wonderfully, we could really see his struggles. The last two episodes were amazing, I don't have any complaints. Oh, and Astrid was great - can't forget about her!

As for the not so great parts... I feel like my struggle is that the stakes didn't feel high enough, all of the time. This is supposed to be the "dark" season - yet Rayla and Callum spent half of it happily picnicking in the Silvergrove. The only people that died were the Archdragons, despite them baiting us with the deaths of Lujane and Callum. I might make a post about this later, it'll depend on how irritated it makes me. Also, the Nova Blade just... Came out of nowhere, and didn't really do anything. That part also felt kinda pointless.

But, despite my complaints, I really enjoyed this season!! It was absolutely wonderful, and I'm sincerely hoping they make an act 3.

[iwillseeyouinanother-life]

People might eat me up for this but I think that the ending of Hero Academia was dumb as hell.

There was no resolution to the conflict in my opinion.

Now hear me out.

The main point of the story is how izuku became a hero blah blah blah we got there I’m aware.

The main conflict was why do villians exist right? (At least that’s what I took away)

Many characters— the most notorious being Stain stated that hero’s only protect the rich and villians will always exist so long as heroism is a for profit industry. Vulnerable people will always be left behind so long as money is a motivator for heroes.

WE SAW THIS POINT MORE THAN ONCE!!

We saw it from the origin stories from the league of villains but my favorite example is Rody Soul.

Rody lives in poverty and resides in a low income neighborhood. In his movie he states that not a lot of hero’s work in his neighborhood because there isn’t a lot of money for their work there. The absence of hero’s because there is not money to make in that area leaves that community vulnerable. It’s part of the reason why Rody has to keep his family afloat outside of the law. Heroism being a for profit industry leaves people like Rody Soul to fend for themselves. If money is a motivator for heros to find areas to work— heros are more likely to protect the rich over the poor.

Midoriya has empathized and reached out to understand Rody Soul, Shigaraki, and others who share those experiences. He doesn’t change the system that creates the issues that leaves people or communities vulnerable. Izuku is also from a vulnerable community as well— he is not wealthy and he is quirkless (which in this society makes him a minority). The only reason he was able to get in with the wealthy is because someone from the wealthy class (all might) opened the door for him and let him walk through. Could he have done it on his own? Maybe— but that’s not how the story went.

Izuku could have been a catalyst for change. He wasn’t. That’s what’s disappointing. Throughout the story he collected so many testimonies about how the profit based system of heroism created villians from the conditions of poverty to social rejection. Still Izuku did nothing with them. Nothing that we can see at least. The classism imbedded within the hero Industry is never addressed or resolved. Which begs the question what was the point? You got rid of Shigaraki and now you wait for the society’s next disgruntled reject to rise to power and take his place?

I know we are all thinking— why is this izuku’s responsibility? Simple. He is the main character. It was hella weird all the adults had a 16 year old child leading a literal civil war. But he is the main character so therefore he is at the front everything. So when everyone was and still is looking towards him— why did he change nothing?

The hero industry is still a for profit system which means heroes are still working in majority wealthier areas. The big conflict of why do villains exist was never resolved.

It’s nice that we got a happy ending but it sucks that the main conflict never actually got a resolution.

I honestly think that the summer camp/kidnapping Bakugo arc of season 3 was the peak of this show and they were never able to create a storyline that impactful again. The only thing that compares is the overhaul arc of season 4. Eri could have been another Shigaraki but she didn’t because heros stepped in to protect a vulnerable person. THE ANSWER WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM AND YET NOTHING CHANGES IN THE END. YOU JUST WENT BACK TO THE STATUS QUO.

[alevolpe]

Could I bother you to do a dump of your thoughts on everyone's favorite undercooked and over-punctured hero, Chiba Mamoru?

Hmm, thoughts, i have a lot of thoughts about Mamo, but at the same time, not as many as others would think.

I like him, i think most people who follow my blog know this. He’s a very nice addition to the cast despite his many.. problems.

I’ll first address the elephant in the room.. he should not be a part of the main cast fighting along the girls.

Sorry, I know some people love that for him, but for me it just doesn’t work and he doesn’t organically fit in the story after season 1. He’s basically stringed along to be just the damsel in destress to motivate Usagi in most cases and that’s not compelling for me or is a good turn for his character.(there’s nothing there, there’s no character for me to care about. Just pretty guy looks pretty, wow, I’m compelled)

He should’ve been mostly done after season 1. After that he should’ve been a supporting character helping Usagi as a regular guy trying to go back to his regular life while being a loving and supportive boyfriend to Usagi. (It’s also such a missed opportunity with this dynamic that you NEVER see. A female superhero and his bf being the normal guy trying his best to keep up with wtf is going on with his gf and magic beings while also studying for his diploma, living the life of a regular guy trying to make it through school and his job and trying his best to also be a nice and helpful person to his gf’s team/best friends. Most of whom don’t have the highest opinion of him lol).

It’s genuinely what he deserves, he doesn’t need to be stringed along this journey as a puppy for Usagi to be chase after. LET THE MAN GET HIS HUMAN LIFE BACK TOGETHER!! (And maybe some therapy) His whole existence is not just Usagi/moon romance/future bullshit, he’s his own person ffs.

Sigh.. ok with that out the way I’ve already talked about my problems with the “miracle romance” here (tldr, I wanna keep it I like it, just workshopping needed).

Now, is there a way I could possibly organically integrate him into the story as an equal and distinct identity to Usagi.. yes.. do I want to? Not really.

In short I don’t really have a ton of interest in exploring that outside of the first season. That’s where his character gets introduced, where he has the most connections, with Serenity and with the 4 kings and Beryl, that’s where his character peaks and where he deserves to have his “happy ending”. My story is mostly centered around the bond around the girls and the world around them, not romance (even tho there are moments of it, yes, it’s not mainly a romance unlike the manga). Also trying to fit him without having the girls take an active step back is really difficult and has never been executed right.

In the manga him and Usagi are the main characters and in the anime everyone is written to be useless til he shows up. You basically have to scale down everyone else for him to shine and I don’t vibe with that.

Also also, in my version he has no Crystal. People have no Crystals, just the senshi. having a Crystal in you is a strictly senshi thing, him having one never made sense to me (if you like it, good for u, I don’t care for it, idc if it’s explained in canon). So he’s just a regular guy, he’s a smart reincarnated regular guy who committed a bunch of heists and some breaking and entering, but like.. tf he gonna do against a senshi.

TLDR: I like Mamo. Mamo is good, good character, but scale him down to supporting cast and make him a more supportive boyfriend to Usagi and honestly give him more of his own person outside of his reincarnation or future self.

ALSO SMALL THING BUT actually have him interact with the girls in some way, with different and fun levels of chemistry. Like him being awkward cause he knows both him and them want the best for Usagi, but like Rei.. is Rei, Mako’s pissed at him for being a dirty thief, Mina just fucks with him 24/7 and Ami, idk I guess Ami does kind of vibe with him, but like, they are both awkward nerds. I wanna see that!

[themoonking]

you know the way starscream is written in the second and third seasons of earthspark actually takes away potential character development from megatron, which is a shame because i actually quite like es megatron.

(aka, my attempt to prove that my issues with es s2/3 aren't just because i'm a bitter starscream stan. but also it’s still mostly about starscream </3 warning: long!)

in my opinion, s1e21 "what dwells within" deliberately set up a little mini character arc for megatron regarding his attitude toward starscream that (at least as of right now) was never followed up on. and in fact has lowkey been completely dropped. while earthspark megatron saw the error of his ways and changed his behavior before the events of the series, and is generally depicted as being very aware of the harm he has caused and wanting to atone for that harm, he has a very obvious blind spot when it comes to starscream and his treatment of him.

in "what dwells within", when starscream escapes from prison and megatron + optimus prime are discussing next steps, optimus directly asks megatron to bring starscream in without excessive force (the implication being that he believes this will be difficult for megatron), to which megatron replies that he will me when i lie. however, when megatron first encounters starscream later in the episode, his immediate reaction is to blast him with his cannon, even though in that moment starscream is literally just standing there. this clearly demonstrates that while this version of megatron is typically very calm and measured (being a grandfatherly source of stability for the malto children, rarely raising his voice, and also himself being the one to advocate for moderation when dealing with the other decepticons), he is unable or perhaps unwilling to temper himself when dealing, specifically, with starscream.

while the audience has only ever seen es megatron as gentle and caring, starscream describes a megatron that "ruled... with fear and intimidation", one that did not hesitate to use violence against those he had authority over. and that version of megatron is directly shown to us in his eagerness to use violence against starscream. near the beginning of the episode it was megatron who was very angrily pushing hard for croft to focus on recapturing starscream, specifically; he's so persistent about recapturing starscream that he, personally, sets out to do so despite croft's commands and optimus's obvious hesitance; as mentioned, his immediate reaction to seeing starscream is to beat him to the ground, despite the fact that when he sees starscream he is just hanging out and despite his earlier promise to bring starscream in "without excessive force". it's very deliberately shown to the audience that however many strides megatron has made in bettering himself as a person in the last ~15 years, the "old megatron" is still very much present when it comes to starscream.

however, "what dwells within" then depicts megatron as coming to some realization about the harm that he has caused to starscream, and as having potential for growth in that regard. when hashtag defends starscream against him and is clearly distraught at the way he's acting, megatron is forced to see how his actions toward starscream appear to others (particularly, others who he cares about). when starscream deliberately puts himself in danger to protect hashtag, megatron is forced to consider if his internal conception of starscream as "too unpredictable and dangerous" to be allowed to exist out in the world is, perhaps, off base. most especially, at the end of the episode when megatron offers "somewhere safe" to starscream and is rejected with the line "nowhere is safe if it's with you", the "camera" lingers on megatron's expression. we are very deliberately shown megatron's reaction to starscream's words; upon hearing this, megatron is either surprised or contemplative or something along those lines.

my reading of these moments (and particularly that ending moment), which i don't think is that controversial, is that megatron never really considered the damage that he has done to starscream. if i may theorize a bit: i think megatron conceptualized the conflict between starscream and himself as one between matched equals, while what starscream presents it as (and, let's be real, what it actually was) is a conflict between an authority figure and his subordinate, who he had both physical and social power over. therefore i don't think megatron ever really stopped to consider both the physical harm and the enduring psycological harm that he inflicted on starscream, even after his redemption arc where he presumably spent a lot of time thinking about how he has hurt others. you know, the large scale societal harm caused by starting a multi-million-year long interplanetary war is perhaps easier to recognize than the intimate, personal harm inflicted by one individual onto another in a complicated relationship between two people.

in this episode, however, megatron is forced to consider this. the fact that the reality of the situation may be different than how he's been conceptualizing it for ~15 years (if not millions of years) is brought into acute focus both by starscream all but directly telling him how his treatment had long-lasting negative effects on him and also by hashtag all but directly telling him how deranged his violent fixation on starscream looks to outsiders.

and i think it's a massive shame that this (in my opinion) deliberate set up was unceremoniously dropped between seasons.

first of all, while to be clear i do not believe that megatron's redemption happening off-screen before the events of the series is a flaw with the series itself, it still would have been interesting to see some kind of microcosm of that redemption arc through his relationship with starscream. especially considering how much of earthspark's first season was about change and redemption and second chances, it would have been. i don't know. nice. if they continued that theme into the rest of the show. and particularly this would provide an opportunity to send a message to the show's intended audience of children about how redemption is an ongoing process, and a process that isn't perfect. you know, just because megatron has changed doesn't mean there isn't still room to grow. just because he's recognized his faults in this area doesn't mean there aren't other areas that haven't gotten that same attention. we should always be working to better ourselves, don't let yourself become complacent and too self-assured of your own goodness to see where you need to change, et cetera. the closest we get to this is his changing dynamic with prowl, but that simply doesn't have the same punch because (1) neither the audience nor megatron have any kind of pre-existing relationship to prowl beyond knowing that he exists and (2) megatron's attitude toward prowl is that of being a little mean and jealous - it's just not the same. it's not as strong of an impact if the starting point that megatron needs to grow from is "having a mutually catty antagonism with a new addition to the friend group".

and second of all, the dropping of this storyline kind of leads to some gross unintentional messaging lmao?? like, season one very deliberately presents starscream as a victim of abuse from megatron, and presents megatron as needing to change in regards to both his physical treatment and also his mental conception of starscream. but when this is dropped, and starscream is rewritten between seasons to be so cartoonishly evil in contrast to his s1 portrayal that it's almost laughable, it kind of just validates megatron's earlier attitude - the attitude that was clearly presented in s1 as being off base and in need of altering. like, no, actually, megatron doesn't need to work on his obsessive and at times violent fixation on his former victim, because his paranoia about what starscream would get up to if left unsupervised was correct and warranted! no, actually, megatron doesn't need to feel bad about the physical and psychological violence he inflicted on starscream over the course of millennia, because starscream is "worse than [he] ever was"! very upsettingly, it almost sends a kind of... "look what happens when megatron isn't around to keep starscream in line; wasn't it better when megatron was in charge?" message. which is, again, gross as hell considering s1 all but explicitly stated that the way in which megatron treated starscream was abuse. like, to be clear, i do not believe this was intentional on the part of the earthspark writing team - i don't think this is what they were trying to say. it's just that, much like with the 😬 stuff surrounding the chaos terrans, i do not think they thought about the implications of their own writing in conjunction with the previous season before metaphorically hitting send.

anyway. the complete assassination of starscream's character also dominoed into megatron having his own little character arc pulled out from under him, which is just sad :-( i would have wanted to see some emotional development for megatron. and they should have given that old man something to do besides bitch at prowl for a season. and i'm making this post on my birthday so you're legally not allowed to disagree with me /lh

[mot-hesbian]

The Mondrich storyline in season 3 is so unnecessary, personally I think they should have saved it for Benedict's season bc I find his relationship with them and his advice to be really interesting and would love for it to go both ways with him receiving advice regarding his relationship with Sophie.

[greyedian]

MAN I'm seriously so sad about season 2. Bc I wish act 2 had the same emotional impact on me as it appears to have on so many others. But rn I'm just somewhere between unable to care and actively annoyed by some of those writing decisions. Seriously the more I think about it the less I like it.

[redhoodie1723]

the imaginary carlos and charles beef that some fans are convinced is going on is giving Netflix DTS trying to convince us that charles and sebastian were mortal enemies that prayed on each other’s downfall nightly

[deus-ex-mona]

no thoughts, just the way the narumi sisters are so different yet fundamentally similar at the same time yk?

[haaam-guuuurl]

BABE WAKE UP THEY'RE FINALLY LETTING RHAENYRA TARGARYEN KISS WOMEN ON TV

[quietwingsinthesky]

Do you agree w/ the fandom interpretation that john was so homophobic he’d have beaten up and abandoned his sons for being gay? Cause sure, he grew up in the 60s as a mechanic and then later became a marine during the vietnam war, but i also don’t think homophobia would’ve necessarily been a priority for him? Like obviously he’s not gonna be the full on supportive and politically correct loving dad, but i think that the fandom’s general opinion on that is pretty warped by people’s relationships w/ their own fathers

I do think this is one place where people tend to project. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that; working out our issues through fiction is healthy and good! I don’t think there’s any canon proof of it beyond, as you said, him being a marine from the sixties who would probably not be super knowledgeable about being queer, maybe a little apprehensive about it from what he’s absorbed through the culture he grew up in. I think we’d be correct to point out that if Sam or Dean were queer, he might be uncomfortable about it, he might try to avoid the topic, which is in of itself hurtful.

The thing about me is: I fully disagree that John was ever physically abusive towards his kids. At most, I will bend this interpretation to say he was probably too harsh on them while teaching them to fight and that maybe he and Sam have traded blows before when arguments got too loud (by blows, I mean, probably shoving with the yelling, you know, assertion of physical space. It seems realistic to me that two people who have been using violence for a long time to protect themselves, and for John, his family, down to the hierarchal power he’s put in place of him -> Dean -> Sam, would resort to it when things got too heated.)

(I also think that sometimes fandom’s insistence that John had to be physically abusive can sometimes get a little insulting because it perpetuates the idea that emotional abuse does less harm and can be overlooked and for flattening out John’s character in a way the show very literally pointed to and said He Did Not Do That. This is the entire point of Max’s episode in s1, for the show to point out that their experiences of abuse were different. How well it was handled is arguable, but I take it as clear evidence that when we talk about John’s relationship with his sons, the focus should be on the emotional abuse, the codependency he developed with Dean from a very young age, his neglect of them both, his attempts to suppress Sam, etc. And I appreciate this about the show, because you can’t talk about any of those things without also talking about why they’re happening, why John thinks this is necessary, how he loves his sons and isolates them to protect them and ends up doing more and more damage that will never leave them through their entire lives.

I’m sure there’s depictions of John being physically abusive that handle it with the same amount of nuance that the show handles him being emotionally abusive in canon. I have not seen them, unfortunately. I’ve seen John being physically abusive 90% of the time just being used as shorthand for him being Bad and Evil and A Terrible Father. Which does not interest me. So I will remain here as a staunch defender of He Would Not Fucking Hit His Kids.)

Sorry, okay, we got off topic there this is about gay shit.

The point of All Of That was for me to be able to say, John’s not going to react to his sons being queer by beating them. He’s definitely not going to abandon them. Hello? John Winchester? Abandon his kids? John Winchester, the guy who has been keeping them in warded up motel rooms their whole lives and moving them across the country out of paranoia the demon who killed his wife could find them if they say anywhere too long? John Winchester who only trusted one or two people to ever look after his sons when he went on a hunting trip too long? We think that John would ditch his kid because they’re queer???

Like I said, I think the most realistic reaction for John, (if not just flat out him going ‘that’s fine, now load this gun while I time you because that’s more important for me to know that you can do’, because. He kind of has bigger priorities to worry about here. Like werewolves.) would be discomfort and pushing it out of his view, ignoring it. Which would still fucking hurt! And would have horrible effects on Sam and Dean both, would encourage Dean to repress it if he thinks his dad is ashamed of him, would push Sam away if he trusts John with this fact about himself and can’t be accepted easily.

I just think this is truer to John’s character.

Anyway. If nothing else here persuades anyone reading that John Would Not Fucking Do That, well. He thought his kid was demonspawn, remember? He thought Sam was corrupted and might not be able to be saved. I don’t think you can get more clear queercoding than that, and you know what John’s very telling response was to that information, to finding out something a thousand times more terrifying than Sam being gay ever could be? To refuse to look at it. To insist to himself that whatever Hell wanted with Sam, he wouldn’t let it happen. To tell Dean to take care of it, because even when John is certain that his son might literally become a demon, he could never bring himself to pull the trigger on him. Because he loves Sam.

So like. He literally would not do anything for the much smaller realization that Sam is gay. His son has demon blood that might turn him super evil, and John still wouldn’t hurt him.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is, I try to keep the fact that John loved his sons at the forefront of my mind when I’m writing stuff about him, because I think if you let that slide out of your head, you can very easily make him much worse, much more flat than he was in canon. The real picture of him is just an extremely flawed man in a terrible situation who fucks up his kids as much as he protects them.

And also he wouldn’t care about them being gay because JohnAzazel real and true and they fucked sloppy in that hospital basement-

[theflyingfeeling]

the love of my entire life

[anhonestdaysworkcomic]

i've done so much research on medieval farming and all it's gotten me is more questions