#i will accept no criticism to these characters

[crooked-wasteland]

You probably wanna avoid interacting with Chai btw. They’re just a toxic person who condones doxxing and harassment based on ships. Only sending this as a warning in case you weren’t aware of the things they’ve done, a lot of their fans have been bullying critics and downplaying what they’ve done and said. I literally don’t trust any of their mutuals it’s all internet brainrot

Frankly, Anon, I think you and I have fundamentally different ideas of what Toxic is. For example, I think lying about someone simply because you don't like them is toxic.

Chai has always been a vocal advocate of letting people ship whatever they want in fiction for the last 2 years I have been following his social media. It is something so consistent, in fact, that I am entirely comfortable saying that portion of your post is a blatant lie.

Second, if there are fans of Chai, their actions are their own. Once again, Chai has always been very accepting of shipping whatever anyone wants to ship so long as they don't harm real people and animals. If so-called "fans" wish to act out, that isn't Chai's problem. Unlike Medrano, Chai has told his audience to not engage in that sort of behavior. So he has done his due diligence and is not responsible for the actions of others in my opinion.

I am not a friend of Chai, I have barely talked to him in fact. I personally follow him because he does have connections and information I use to form my thoughts on Spindlehorse and Medrano's character. Not based on Chai's opinions, but on the patterns of behavior Chai has been able to bring to light by knowing those who were directly involved with Medrano.

If you genuinely believe these falsehoods and are earnestly looking out for some stranger on the internet, then rest assured I hear you and am able to say with personal certainty that the information you have is simply incorrect.

But on the off chance that I am wrong, I do request you bring me evidence instead of making baseless accusations the next time you have a concern.

[emblemxeno]

Why do you take criticism of Fates so personally? Sometimes it seems like you think you're fighting for your life out there, defending yourself against people who want to come at you personally because you like a divisive video game.

On this site and others, I've been accused of being a pedophile, an incest loving freak, accused of supporting depictions of grooming/SA, supporting depictions of conversion therapy, and the ever constant "Freak!!" for liking the game.

I've also been called every substitution for the R slur you can think of for daring to have the controversial opinion of... liking a game's story.

There's also the omnipresent attitudes of "Yeah Fates fans can't accept the truth/shouldn't deny their favorite game is trash" and especially "Fates fans like the characters because they're horny/I can name two big reasons why people like Camilla". FE-tubers in particular say that shit constantly.

Like... I have good reason to be bitter lol.

You did get me thinking, though. Really, if all of it was purely personal against me, I... probably wouldn't actually give as much of damn? Sure it fucking sucks having heinous shit thrown at you, but it's nothing the good ol' block button can't handle.

But the fact that this attitude is just accepted and encouraged in the greater community? That's what sets me off, that's why I rant a lot. Because it's constant, it's everywhere. It's not a matter of Fates being divisive, it's the fact that you can't express a positive opinion about the damn game without coating it in irony and sarcasm. And that sucks. You shouldn't have to lie to have your thoughts be taken seriously and your person be respected.

To compare FE to Sonic again, for a long period of time people had to just be comfortable with the fact that they're expected to think Sonic games aren't good whatsoever and they can only be enjoyed in ironic ways. That kind of mentality fucking blows, and the community got understandably sick of it.

I refuse to not call out that same bullshit in the FE community. If that makes me seem unreasonable (in an overreacting, oversensitive way), then... well I'm not apologizing or changing how I feel, but I can make my approach more palatable in the future I guess lol.

[taradactyls]

This is a really great example of how the reader's emotions affect our view of a character's actions.

We know from very early on that Henry isn't serious, and we have a pretty critical opinion of Maria and Julia, who he's toying with. It's just a mess of jealousy and selfishness and characters who aren't thinking empathetically of others or being very wise. We simply aren't sympathetically emotionally engaged with any of those characters or the situation.

Whereas the first time we encounter Sense and Sensibility it's natural to see Willoughby's intentions as generally coming from love, even when there are a few inconstancies raised. Because we don't know his history and we are more likely to sympathise and agree with kind and sensible Elinor and kind, if sometimes overly passionate, Marianne. When he abandons Marianne, and ignores her when they meet in London, discarding her for another, we hate him.

We don't know about his seduction of Eliza yet: only his falseness towards Marianne, how desperately he hurt her after encouraging her affections, and how little he seems to feel about it. That's all criticism which can apply to Henry Crawford - perhaps even moreso to Henry at this point, since as far as we know Willoughby isn't a repeat offender and we know Henry is. Both men deliberately inspired love in a woman they had no serious intentions towards and had done it before and would likely have done it again if the consequences of their lifestyles didn't catch up to them. The difference is in our (and Elinor's/Fanny's) sympathy towards the victims, our insight into the gentlemen's motivations from the beginning, and the focus of the narrative on the emotional fallout. If Maria had had the sensibilities of Marianne she might have fallen into the same level of grief, and if Marianne had the resentment of Maria she may've also made decisions based on spite. There is also something to be said, if we include Eliza into the mix, that only the woman with the sensible, caring, and emotionally and physically present support system was able to ultimately come out the other side of falling for these men without her future being irreparably ruined.

We do of course find out more about Willoughby that paints him even worse - seducing and abandoning a girl is horrific. But even before that the way readers view both Willoughby and Henry Crawford and their victims hugely differently is always surprising.

And then lets see how that also applies to how we view their seductions.

Eliza was younger and perhaps sheltered, and I do think that was objectively worse. But readers seem only too eager to forget that Maria was also expecting marriage, also deliberately misled as to the level of affection he felt for her, and in an emotionally vulnerable position and trying to escape an unhappy marriage (I wonder if anyone bothered explaining properly what her wifely duties towards Mr Rushworth - whom she neither liked nor respected, and who viewed her superficially - would entail, and then on top of that having power struggles with her MIL) literally the only way feasible.

Both women knew what they were doing would injure their families/caretakers and wasn't 'right' as such and were only too happy to accept the gentlemen's attentions, and they were both taken advantage of and deceived. They both suffered the consequences in a disproportionate amount to their male counterparts - not only in the narrative and likely the public perception of contemporary readers in an incredibly sexist society, but still so today. Even though I imagine so many readers hate victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and the like. The added cheating aspect can explain some of it, because Maria unarguably acted badly towards her husband, but somehow that criticism also seems to fall solely at Maria's feet and never Henry's, even though he also knew Rushworth, pretended to be friendly with him, and knew exactly what he was doing. It is absolutely a greater betrayal on Maria's end, but Henry is not an innocent and unknowing party in this, and does seem to view his own actions as akin to cheating on Fanny.

Maria is a great example of how someone doesn't need to be a perfect - or even that likeable - person to still be a victim of another; and how this general dislike of a victim (and I think disliking Maria is plenty justified) is often used to exonerate the actions of the person who preyed upon them.

We don't even know if Eliza Williams is that different from Maria Bertram, or Lydia Bennet, for that matter. She's a perfect victim because we never see her, and so the fandom has only sympathy for her and condemnation for Willoughby. But if we did see her, if we saw her being silly, selfish, vain, or any other number of dislikeable traits, would we have less sympathy for her situation? Would we think Willoughby less at fault?

Because we shouldn't. Willoughby's pursuit of self-indulgence without a care for her life being ruined is the same regardless of whether Eliza was as sweet as Georgiana Darcy or as silly and self-centred as Lydia Bennet at the time they they were persuaded to elope. And we should apply that to Henry Crawford, who, just like Willoughby, knew what he was doing, was happy to lie just as much in the pursuit of his enjoyment, held no qualms over manipulating women or breaking their hearts and (in Maria and Eliza's cases, respectively) ruining their life and reputation forever.

We shouldn't give Henry Crawford an easier time just because neither us as readers nor characters we like were deceived by him. He's cut from the same cloth as both John Willoughby and George Wickham when it comes to a general disregard of others and pursuit of their own gratification above all morals and empathy. And I truly believe that if his true nature was a plot twist, or his victims more sympathetic, readers wouldn't be so eager to forgive him.

In another note on Mansfield Park – the thing that bothers me most about Henry Crawford is that he is doing, repeatedly, exactly what Willoughby did to Marianne in Sense and Sensibility: charm them, get them to fall in love with him, give them all the social signals that he is about to propose marriage, and then drop them and act like they were reading too much into it. From the way he and Mary talk, he’s done this to dozens of women. Willoughby differs in that he ended up actually falling for Marianne, whereas Henry does not fall in love with his conquests (until he tries to play this trick on Fanny, who remains unconquered).

And we hate Willoughby for what he did to Marianne! Marianne’s experience with Willoughby came near to being life-ruining, she was so devastated by it.

Willoughby is worse in his seduction and abandonment of Eliza, Colonel Brandon’s ward, but not in any other respect.

And the excuse made for Henry Crawford seems to be the assumption/assertion that these offscreen women were all silly, shallow, and vain, and only their pride was hurt. But there’s no reason to actually believe this! It’s just placing the blame for Henry’s actions on the people that he’s mistreating and making miserable.

It frustrates me to see this written off as “flirting”. It’s much more than that! When he toys with Maria at Sotherton, he is telling her in clear symbolism that she should drop Rushworth for him and, if she does, he will marry her. He is lying. And saying of all the women he’s lied to, “They should have known better,” is not remotely an excuse.

[chaifootsteps]

Hey chai, I was discussing the critic community in Limus's discord server. They replied about how you are into beastiality among other topics.

I'm a bit concerned because the critic community is all i have, but the fact there's a group in limus's server that is coming together to make a large doc on you has me worried.

If you could clarify your stance that would be much appreciated

Lemme save them some time.

I'm a CSA survivor, I believe in judging people by what they do in real life and what they wish they could do in real life and not what they do with fictional characters. I've got a handful of once acceptable ships leftover from when I actually was a kid myself. I'm incredibly thirsty for monsters, especially dragons. Actual pedos and zoos get the brazen bull.

[flaakea-blog]

I recently rewatched X-Men: First Class, Days of Future Past, and I must admit—I’ve completely fallen for this version of Charles.

He is an exceptional character. Despite his ability to read minds and his deep awareness of both the world’s cruelty and its beauty, he still chooses to be a better person.

My only criticism of Charles in the first film is his failure to encourage Raven to accept herself as she is. However, I can somewhat understand his perspective—he is fully aware of human nature and how difficult it is for people to accept what is different. It is not easy to force yourself into a world that fears you when you have the option to blend in instead.

Beyond that, his struggles, strengths, and vulnerabilities make him a truly remarkable character—one we can learn so much from. He sees goodness even in the darkest of minds, such as Erik’s. However, Erik’s past does not justify his present actions in any way. Anyone who believes otherwise, I would argue, has a flawed perception of morality.

Take, for instance, the scene where Shaw attacks the CIA facility. In the past, I saw it as just another moment in the film. But this time, I couldn’t help but feel for the soldiers who lost their lives protecting those children. In the end, the mutants only listened to the one who betrayed them—which, to some extent, is understandable. Mutants may possess great power, but those soldiers sacrificed everything to ensure the children’s safety.

This is why I understand Charles. I see his perspective—it reflects reality.

Humans harm one another, and it is not merely a conflict between humans and mutants. Mutants, too, inflict harm upon each other and are often responsible for their own suffering, regardless of the reasons. The real issue lies within an individual’s essence, not their nature, identity, or background. Charles understands this. A person is defined by their choices. And because he recognizes the potential for goodness even in the worst individuals, taking the path of violence is not an option he can easily embrace.

In Days of Future Past, Charles is broken. And rightfully so—after enduring such immense loss, he has every reason to struggle emotionally. He experiences deep depression, yet for some reason, his role as a teacher and protector is seen as an obligation rather than a virtue.

He, too, has his own battles to fight.

But in his darkest moments, he truly believed he could never return to the man he once was—because no one understood him or supported him in the same way he supported others.

And so, in the end, the only one who could guide him back was himself—his future self—through words that were both profound and deeply moving.

That, in essence, is what I wanted to express about Charles.

[m0dernchr0n1cles]

Golden Child vs Scapegoat (Pre-Canon, cont.)

[set in the Black Myth, New Gods AU.]

In my previous post, I made a "Ao Bing = Adora; Nezha = Catra" analysis.

TD;DR: Ao Bing can do no wrong, or else. Nezha can do no right.

So, their reincarnations going to be a continuation of this unstable Catradora dynamic (still haven't decided if it will be romantic or not), and the twist is that they inevitably switch places.

(I will also be using/drawing inspiration from other iterations of Nezha, like LEGO Monkie Kid)

I got to watch Nezha 2, and was shocked by how little I had to change to my story. I actually got more inspiring material work with, especially for other characters, like Ao Guang and Shen Gongbao

This is how their story continues after the War of Deification.

[WARNING: mentions of child abuse, racism, workplace abuse, suicide]

In Heaven

In Heaven, their extreme positions are pushed a bit closer. Ao Bing might not be so praised, and Nezha might receive a bit more prestige.

In Investiture of the Gods, a bunch of people that Nezha killed were resurrected and defied.

Ao Bing was one of them, and became the God of Imperial Canopy Star (華蓋星 huāgàixīng), working under the Ziwei Emperor (紫薇大帝 Zǐwēi Dàdì), or the Great Emperor of the North Star.

He's also the Jade Emperor's personal umbrella carrier.

Nezha becomes the Marshal of the Central Altar (中壇元帥 zhōngtányuánshuài) and the Third Lotus Prince (蓮花三太子 liánhuāsāntàizǐ), a respected warrior and leader of armies.

Ao Bing

Ao Bing is working under one of the Jade Emperor's direct subordinates, but he is still a dragon (a demon) who was wrongfully bestowed with the Spirit Pearl. He'd receive the bare minimum respect, if any. He's disdained for existing, and yet is still expected to do his job, and is harshly criticized just for every imagined thing.

(I also doubt that Ao Bing is able to do anything to help the Dragons, and is mocked when he tried to bring it up).

Ao Bing has finally got what he's (supposedly) wanted, what he worked his life for, what he was born for, and is repaid with workplace abuse.

Shen Gongbao's warnings about, "They'll never accept us" comes true. As a result, Ao Bing feels alone, unsafe, in an extremely hostile work environment.

Nezha, on the other hand, becomes a respected general in the Celestial Army. He's given more opportunities to succeed, and more second chances when he fails. Yes, he's still the Demon Pill, but he has the support of the respected Taiyi Zhenren, which boosts his social standing. He ends up making new friends (Sun Wukong, Yang Jian, etc.) and he is finally able to reach his full potential.

But, now due to his new status, he's given more responsibilities (Celestial soldier, Child protection diety, Filial son, etc.), and he has actual reasons to not let people down.

Nezha finally gets freedom, second chances, and the approval that he desperately craved his whole life. Now, he has to not screw it up. This is compounded by his reputation of being "the Demon Child" and how easy it would be to lose all the prestige that was given to him.

Thus, he gains a bit of a martyr complex, willing to throw himself at into the battle, willing to fight to the end, all to make up for his (mostly imaginary) sins.

We already see that he has an unhealthy need to self-sacrifice in Nezha (2019) and LEGO Monkie Kid

Despite this, they still try to be friends, since they're still new to the whole "immortal member of Celestial Court), but the cracks are showing.

Ao Bing clings to the one person who makes him feel safe in the Celestial Court, where everyone is against him. He sees his only friend splitting time with other people, which makes him anxious that Nezha would ditch "the inferior demon dragon who stole his destiny as the Spirit Pearl" for "better" friends (Yang Jian/Erlang Shen, Princess Iron Fan/Rakshasi, etc.).

Even as an adult with a 9-to-5 job in the government, his father's and master's teachings are still prevalent. What's worse, he is now getting external confirmation of his deepest insecurities.

But he still wants to be Nezha's friend, so he bottles up his feelings for the sake of others, like he always does. We see Ao Bing "shut down" in the movie, when Nezha invites him to his birthday party. Judging by the resigned look and how well he concealed his true feelings means he has a lot of practice.

In many cases of emotional abuse, "shutting down" is a major symptom. It was likely a survival mechanism, since expressing his true feelings would earn him a harsher punishment. From a young age, Ao Bing learned that lying was necessary to staying safe (not just hiding his dragon identity, but avoiding Ao Guang and Shen Gongbao's wrath). He also believe that it will benefit everyone if he stops "complaining" since it would be "selfish" of him to express himself.

The problem is that this isn't making those negative feelings or insecurities go away. It causes them to bottle up and fester, and eventually that comes out in negative ways.

Sound familiar?

What’s worse is that Nezha is just going through life, making friends, having fun, as if nothing happened. He even tries to introduce Ao Bing to some of his “other friends”, which goes predictably poorly.

From Ao Bing’s perspective, Nezha is being flippant and callous. He doesn’t see how Ao Bing is sacrificing his own emotional and mental wellbeing for his best friend. He doesn’t see how Ao Bing is being mistreated in the workplace. He doesn’t see how they are growing more distant from each other.

He especially doesn’t see how Ao Bing desperately needs his best friend during an extremely trying part of his life.

This growing resentment, compounded by his already existing trauma and baggage (thanks Ao Guang and Shen Gongbao) begins to simmer (and eventually boils over).

You know where this goes...

Ao Bing has a lot of pent up rage, and this is make even more clear in Nezha 2

Nezha

Now for Nezha's side of the story...

Nezha is now a member of Heaven's military, a commanding officer responsible for millions of lives: those of his soldiers, and those that he fights to protect. If he falters, he is responsible for millions of casualties. When he makes a mistake, the consequences aren't just him, they're for everyone.

He needs to shape up, to be the bigger man, since it's not about him anymore. It's about the Three Realms, the Heavenly Court, the soldiers, and those that he fails to save. Following his father's role model, he shuts down emotionally, trying to be "the stern soldier", since that's all he knows.

Despite this, there are some benefits. As a respected soldier and deity, he's believed and respected. It's easier to make friends. He tries to be more open and sociable, and is met with open arms and validation. But, on some level, he knows that all this "love" is conditional, tied to his status and skills. With the exception of a few, he becomes disillusioned with the Court of Heaven.

Still, he has opportunities that Ao Bing does not. He does make friends, like Erlang Shen and Princess Iron Fan. As far as everyone is concerned, he has stepped up in the world.

While Nezha is making new friends, he still wants Ao Bing in his life. Ao Bing was the first friend, a stranger who unconditionally wanted him for him. No powers, no political butt-kissing, no manipulation, just unconditional love.

So when Ao Bing starts acting strangely, it confuses him. What's worse is that Ao Bing refuses to talk about his insecurities, meaning Nezha isn't aware of them (or aware of the full extent of Ao Bing’s insecurities), so he doesn't know how to handle them.

Nezha does know that there is a problem, he just doesn't know the root of it. Considering his upbringing, he wouldn't even know how to solve it.

I mentioned in the last post that while Li Jing isn't abusive (a take that I personally love when done well), he is emotionally neglectful and doesn't fully explain what Nezha is doing wrong or how to fix it. As a result, Nezha doesn't have a role model for how to "fix" interpersonal relationships.

I think the best solutions he could come up with is:

A) Pretend the problem isn't there B) Try to get Ao Bing to open up about his issues C) Try to solve the (perceivable) issues on his own

Now, here are the problems with each "solution"...

A) He can't just ignore the problem, it will only cause things to get worse B) As previously mentioned, Ao Bing is "no talk about feelings", so getting him to open up is like pulling teeth (with the risk of causing him to blow up) C) This is the one that causes the most problems...

From Nezha's perspective, Ao Bing is understandably uncomfortable in an unfamiliar situation. Nezha tries to help him, but Ao Bing ends up shutting Nezha out.

Nezha is a "fixer", as we see, he is willing to give his own life for the sake of others (his parents, Jade Emperor, etc.). While he doesn't always express it in the best way, he does want to help people.

Nezha doesn't fully understand what is going on. He wouldn't be fully aware of the discrimination and oppression that Ao Bing and the Dragon Clan have experienced for centuries, but he does realize his friend is being mistreated. But the hostile work environment gets to Nezha as well. Nezha's attempts to help Ao Bing or protect him are likely shut down by Heavenly Bureaucracy, and probing the issue could make things worse for Ao Bing.

There is also the idea of "staying quiet for your own safety", and while Nezha wouldn't do that when standing up for his friends and loved ones, Ao Bing would encourage it to keep Nezha from getting into trouble, since it seemingly keeps things from getting worse.

Expect me to make a post about this later

It’s a classic “Try to please everyone, you end up pleasing no one” situation. Now that Nezha gets a taste of external validation, he’s desperate to keep it. But he also wants Ao Bing to be his friend.

So, he tries to integrate Ao Bing into his new friend group, which goes disastrously. All it does is end up further alienating Ao Bing, who likely lashes out, possibly blaming Nezha for stirring the pot and creating more problems for him.

Nezha tries to help his best friend, only for it to backfire horribly, confirming his own deep-seated self-loathing of being the "Demon Child", who is constantly failing and destroying everything he touches.

This is all compounded by his new military responsibilities.

He is losing his best friend, and he's only making it worse. People are getting hurt and its all because he isn't doing enough. He is letting everyone down, and it's all his fault. He isn't doing enough to be a "good soldier".

Does this sound familiar...

Eventually, Nezha begins to realize the corruption of Heaven, and decides he won't stand for it, which causes further problems between him and Ao Bing. But that's another post...

TL; DR: Thanks to Heaven and how they were each raised, Ao Bing is becoming Catra. Nezha is becoming Adora.

[4thwallbreakerdraws2]

SELF-INSERTS IN THE RTV AU

Alrighty, just to start it off the bet:

Yes, Self-Inserts are allowed and yes, they are canon to the AU.

However, there are a few things to consider:

It is up to me to deem that Self-Insert canon. Please, accept criticism when I say that concept would be difficult to implement in the AU.

Don’t overpower them. Self-explanatory, I think.

If you make up a department or job for your OC, please make it so it actually fits into the setting of the studio. Alternatively, you could also make your Insert play a role outside the studio. The RTV AU doesn’t just revolve around that place after all.

RTV does not trust you guys a lot. You would have to give him a very good reason to make you a part of the Security Department, but he would never let you anywhere near the control rooms or the studio system. That’s Wr3n’s jurisdiction.

Yes, you can make your self insert interact with the Resistence (Mickey, Smg4 and Beeg). RTV won’t be happy though, so you will be on the enemy list 100 percent.

Shipping my characters is still not allowed.

You cannot replace existing characters.

It’s up to you whether you make your Self-Insert self aware or not.

For the 200 Follower event/RTV Tour: Your Self insert can either be the same as you submitted there or they can just be another version of yourself. -> Let’s keep 2 Self-Inserts the maximum for now.

If you have questions and/or scenarios you would like me to consider, then never be afraid to message or @ me!

I will also add this to the pinned post so you can always check on it!

[m1sc3llaneous]

I see what you’re saying but I want to counter that with another hot take, a lot of the reasons people like Percy or any other character in the series (namely characters like Nico or any of the seven, etc) have evolved into mainly headcanons and fanon interpretation as well, that’s just what happens to characters people like and spin around a lot in their brains.

Also we don’t see a lot of character development for those new people introduced in HoO, so many people can only speculate what those character are like outside of the scenarios written in canon. I like canon Jason, I just want to see him outside of the limitations Rick out on him in the books and wonder what he was like in Camp Jupiter before the swap, in his quests, defeating Krios which are all things we only have context clues for and have to fill in with imagination. That’s the joy of reading though, taking this world the author presents and shares and making yourself a part of it through imagining the characters, seeing them in various scenarios and turning them around over and over again and just immersing yourself in the fandom. I don’t think people liking fanon necessarily changes whether they like canon Jason or not. Much of the basis of liking and even looking into fanon interpretations for a character is liking them enough in the original to take that time to understand them in your own way outside of the canon universe. Nothing wrong with sticking to canon but there’s nothing wrong with extrapolating and liking the way you’ve dissected a character even more.

This isn’t to criticize this original post, I’m just tired of people hating on Jason Grace in the Jason Grace tag and or overlooking him in general all these years, and wanted to take this chance to express some of my thoughts regarding people’s comments and I guess confusion over why people like him and give him so many headcanons or changes. He isn’t treated any differently or liked in any different way the other characters are, people are just more accepting to those headcanons and fanon interpretations that have become widespread over the years because those characters are more popularly liked and his interpretations are more widely accepted. People are more aware of the divide between canon and fanon for Jason because they’re so inherently uninterested or disliking of Jason to begin with that they don’t have the interest to consider him further and have any fanon idea that makes him more likable become widely accepted to the point people blur the line between canon and fanon.

That’s all to say people have different opinions on characters, and yes Jason gets extrapolated a lot but so do other characters and that’s not made a big deal of for them, so if you’re only going to leave negative comments or anything of the sort of people just wanting to spin their favorite blorbo around and dissect him on meta levels you personally don’t see, leave the tag and go somewhere else. Don’t share that thought under those posts without valid reasoning.

Again this isn’t actually related to the original post, just some of my thoughts relating to topics mentioned in it. If you’ve read this far, thanks I guess, and I hope what I say provides some food for thought. And not just for the PJO/HoO fandom, but all fandoms out there. Nothing wrong with liking canon and wanting people to stick to it, but there’s nothing wrong with people who like to extrapolate either, we all just have to learn to coexist and appreciate each other.

Hot take: the pro-Jason thinkpieces seem to deviate a lot from actual canon and seem to be based on heavy personal interpretation/self-projection. I don't dislike Jason or anything, just saying, you know...

[isthataraccoon]

types of podcasts I think the crows would like:

Kaz: stocks/business and true crime/unsolved mysteries (bitch would hear a case and solve a decades old crime)

Nina: celebrity gossip podcasts (also not sure if this is a thing but if it is like language podcasts)

Jesper: comedy, reddit podcasts (he would LOVE bullying the incells)

Inej: true crime (she would love the morbidity of them and would listen to them with Kaz in his office), self help/meditation podcasts

Matthias: sports podcasts (definitely a hockey guy), old man news podcasts (and ONLY the old man ones)

Wylan: audiobooks, he would probably listen to music more than podcasts but would listen to all of Jesper’s podcasts with him

[cosmicredcadet]

All this aroace character shipcourse has proven to me that a majority of people that interact in fandom cannot actually interact with characters and media outside of shipping and genuinely I believe you need to learn how to interact with media outside of shipping.

[towards-toramunda]

Caduceus Clay is fully aware that he is a character in a game of dnd and that dnd is based on generally predetermined storylines made up by the DM aka “destiny” or “fate”, but I think if Ashton Greymoore realized they were a character in a dnd game they’d try to punch both Matt Mercer and Taliesin Jaffe in the face

[glitter-stained]

Ngl it really peeves me when the debate about Jason's ethics regarding killing in the batfam mixes up the question of him being a moral character in regards to sticking to his own philosophy (aka compromising with what he thinks is right to salvage relationships, but also exploding trains to evade capture, killing random goons in a gang war, etc) and the question of him being a moral character in regards to whether his philosophy is right. And even with regards to his philosophy there is his philosophy on politics, crime control and harm reduction, and his ethical philosophy itself (utilitarianism, aka focusing on intended positive consequences of actions for the greater good rather than the action being fundamentally moral or immoral in itself). Those are different things. Those require different debates and should not be conflated together. I'm not even saying Jason is right! I think utilitarianism and deontology both suck and fail at providing sufficient guidelines for moral behaviour. ("Everybody still loses" like the nihilist clown says. The symbolism of that one scene is pretty cool on that regard.)

And I think some people at dc would very much like for you to make the connection that because Jason is harming civilians/killing unnamed goons, he is a bad person, and as such you don't need to examine the way his stance on moral philosophy (utilitarianism) opposes Batman's. But that's not right, they don't get to wiggle out of the fact that utilitarianism vs deontology is a complicated debate that has been going on for ages, that there is no clear-cut answer where Batman fundamentally comes out on top, they don't get to use the fact that Jason (in the era currently discussed) is a villain to saddle us with a false dichotomy of "well jason is wrong about stuff so batman has to be right" to avoid addressing the actual question. The traits of the people being tied on the tracks do not change the shape of the trolley problem. The traits of the person deciding to pull the lever do not change the shape of the trolley problem. It's still one lever, three people tied on one track, one on the other, do you pull the lever. That's it. Yes, bending the metaphor to address other questions (such as "who keeps tying people to the tracks" to question systemic violence or "how does my bias, my prejudice and empathy impact my decision to pull the lever depending on who is on the tracks") are interesting but that's not what the debate is about. If I wrote an essay about the trolley problem in high school and focused primarily on the nature of the people being tied on the tracks, I'd get a big fat zero with "off-topic" written in red all over my essay, so I'm not inclined to allow DC comics to get away with it.

[kucho04]

Rakuzan High

[mollysunder]

The Medarda arc of s2 struggled to be good, because the plot viciously smothered it. You can argue that Arcane was never about politics but you cannot say the Medardas were never explicitly a family defined by politics. So when the show shifted it's priorities from a drama steeped in political conflict where even though the setting was fantastical the stakes were grounded to a shift where magic is the end all be all threat to humanity, the Medardas are rendered largely irrelevant.

In s2 Mel's agency over her own story is both largely stripped from her and poorly communicated. Arcane has Mel abducted from the plot to be the Black Rose's captive. Even when Mel manages to free herself it's not through the traits the audience understands are her strengths, her cunning and social intelligence, it's through an innate instinct that natural to her and indecipherable to the audience.

Ambessa as a character is more or less a villain of convenience, which would be fine if she wasn't immediately following Silco's act. Once Mel is removed from the story Ambessa is largely disconnected from any emotional tension fuels conflict between the characters and previously drove the plot in s1. She's there to play the worse bad guy for Caitlyn and then give Viktor the man power for the Glorious Evolution.

It's frustrating to see the Medardas used the way they are in s2 because when they're together I can see how it could be good. When they're together Mel forces emotion out of Ambessa. In Act 1, Ambessa proved she could do circles around Piltover's court, which could actually put Mel in a tight spot.

Their final scene on paper sounds like a good idea where the true resolution to Mel and Ambessa's story was that Ambessa saw Mel's own ruthless behavior as she not only betrayed Ambessa to the Black Rose, but used her as BAIT to double cross LeBlanc. Ambessa died proud that her daughter killed her the way she did, and that's so cool and tragic, but the execution was a flop.

One, their final fight is completely unimportant to the actual Glorious Evolution, Mel's grief can't even be a highlight because it's interrupted by Viktor's mind trap. Two, their fight didn't rely on any of Mel's actual strengths, just magic and the poorly explained MacGuffin LeBlanc gave her. How did Mel even know it would do that?

It's like the writers had the bones for a great story for the Medardas, but then they're like the world's worst archeologists and fit those bones together in the worst way possible because they were convinced the bones made a stegasaurus instead of a T-rex or something.

[srslylini]

I have some thoughts about the idea of forgiveness and moving on we see in media and fans. The thoughts mostly come from being in therapy and spending time with people who specialize in those fields and helped me come to terms with my own pain.

This can very well be taken in general but is mostly about Vi.

Right. So.

Vi is a genuinely interesting character, who has gone through hell and back to put it lightly. She lives in conditions in the undercity that has people who don't live in them wear masks to handle them. She grew up and saw her parents die, which means she had to step up. Vander did adopt her, her sister, Mylo and Claggor but Vander still put a lot of responsibilities on Vi. She was told she cannot be selfish when people look up to her.

Then, of course, the entire act 1 of season 1 happens, which in itself is already very much and not something that should have ever happened to anyone, let alone a kid/teenager. She then, on TOP of all of this, got thrown into Stillwater after seeing her entire family die (and presumed Powder also as dead, although she continued to hope), where she was canonically beaten, starved, put into isolation and... the rest is up to interpretation because I guess the writers did not care. But that interpretation is not a good one.

What I am trying to say with all of this is that Vi has been put through so much by the system and by people (Enforcers get a special mention here) all around her.

This gets me to the point. I see a lot of people, the writers themself even, talk about how Vi needs to (or already did) forgive and move on. And I just wonder where this idea comes from?

In all my time in therapy, no matter what and who I talked about, you know what I have never heard? That I need to forgive.

What I heard instead was rather close to this:

"What happened was not your fault. It happened and can't be changed. But there is still something you can do, because you stand here now. You can imagine yourself back then and guide yourself. Hold yourself and tell the younger version of you that what happened isn't ever going to be fine but that you are still here and that you need to be kind to yourself." She told me "take the hand of your younger version and walk her through it because in the end it will have always happened but you can choose to help yourself"

There is a lot more she told me, but that is between her and me. What I am trying to say with this is that not once did I ever get told that I need to forgive the people involved. I am also not trying to say that doing this works for everyone, because health does not work this way. The point I am making is that I find it incredibly weird that we came to the point of saying that the only way to let go is to forgive, when that could not be further from the truth.

I would say understanding it happened and being kind to yourself does a lot more than trying to forgive people who hurt you so much that it ends in you being broken to what seems beyond repair (it isn't I have learned that much, lol). That's what my therapist taught me.

Which brings me back to Vi and why I find the notion of "she needs to forgive and move on to get better" or the writers writing "she forgave and moved on" so weird.

What happened to her is not something that can be forgiven. And... that is okay. Or it should be okay. But for some reason it isn't?

I mean if you can and want to forgive that is for you to do but to say that it is a (or even THE) way to move on does not sit right with me. At all.

[smrvero]

nap