#idk i think it's valid to have complaints or not like something a creator is doing

[bramblepaws]

people who loudly critique a comic in a place where the comic creator can CLEARLY see it are so rude. like...yikes dude

[gwemrys]

i dont often see takes on morgana that are nuanced enough to my taste lol. she was designed by cis male writers who made like 90% of their already scarce amount of women villains, and who had her make damn good points first to then completely and utterly destroy anything that was good and kind about her, so they could justify dismissing all the good things she said and every valid complaint she had. (i am not complaining abt the mere fact that morgana herself was an antagonist but more about how it was handled.. keeping in mind that its written by cis men.) add onto that the fact that the creators made tons n tons of other choices that were So misogynistic it hurts.

BUT idk i just have mixed feelings abt discussing morgana bc if id make posts sort of defending her by saying she is written that way and its not her fault i feel like the white feminism side of the fandom will just loooooove to intensely agree, to then be able to continue praising the shit out of her with only rly rly vague n small side comments to ‘acknowledge’ that.. “she did bad things but but 🥺🥺..” ......like. many morgana stans (BY FAR not everyone but, many) just dont strike me as That angry at all about her cruel mistreatment of gwen for example.... theyre like oh nooo so tragic..... like they will admit its Bad but still keep their focus on morgana instead of how it rly affects gwen, a black woman. even tho i think honestly gwen was treated worse than morgana was. but the ratio of ppl complaining abt that versus about morgana’s mistreatment is so...... uneven. its just annoying that morgana is always centered when we complain abt how the writers mistreated female characters.... when actually its striking how morgana turned malicious towards gwen from the moment she knew gwen would become queen, something morgana wanted for herself.... which is such a whitefeminist(TM) thing to do

and if id make posts about how im not rly comfortable with some of the ways morgana is worshipped then id maybe give the wrong impression that i cant see or dont care about how fucked up it is that the way they wrote her and the way they wrote the whole show is flooded with misogyny and so many other kinds of bigotry.

i know i generalised a Lot here and i obviously dont assume everyone’s thinking falls into this dichotomy just because they dont express every possible nuance to everything at all times. but i just tend to see both extremes rly often and i think more ppl could do with some extra critical thinking skills tbh.

anyway in conclusion i do love morgana but many takes on her, whether they reflect a positive or negative attitude towards her, are just. way too one-sided n superficial.. plus they fail to devote the same amount of effort to addressing the harm that was done to gwen

[absurdty]

A popular YouTuber came out as aroace recently, and a few people who know about my identity decided to announce it to me, despite me not watching this person’s content at all. (I’m not naming them, not because I have anything negative to say about them - on the contrary, congrats to them for coming out, especially to a large audience! I just feel like it could be awkward as this post ages to have name-dropped this random creator and their coming out story, when this post isn’t exactly about them.)

It wasn’t the end of the world, not that many people know about my identity and I didn’t feel harrassed, but it did awaken some Thoughts that I feel like sharing.

I’m going to quote parts of a conversation I had with a close friend, just because I feel like sharing my immediate reaction:

“Idk, people are announcing it to me. Like. Ok. I still don't know them. Next time I meet a straight person I'll say "oh cool my neighbour is straight too". Literally why would I [watch the video]? Like. Unless they're spilling some good tea-- If they're just coming out, good for them I guess, I'm not a viewer of theirs so I don't feel entitled to that info (even as a viewer I wouldn't be tbh).”

My friend told me that this creator was “describing something somewhat similar to what I've said too, though it's also a bit different”. They added that they didn’t know if that’d feel validating to me in one way or another.

To that I reacted with “I'm my own person. I'm not a teenager discovering my sexuality for the first time. I don't need my own experience explained to me by a stranger.“ (Note, obviously this is my very personal reaction as an adult who has been out for a long time.) “I kinda get being :O if maybe a creator I knew came out as aroace just like me but......... I really don't care about the sexuality of a complete stranger....................... It's cool if by having a platform they spread some good knowledge ofc (I'm kinda not comfy with having a token aroace YouTuber to represent us though).”

I mentioned that I personally knew a few ace YouTubers, but none who were aroace specifically, so this YouTuber could turn out to be the most famous one. But I had more to say about the notion that our experiences were slightly different.

“Yeah obviously it's different because we're two different people. We're forced to explain our experience and simplify it for other people because being aroace is not seen as normal and people don't even know that it can exist. If every gay person had to explain exactly what it means to be gay with no other reference than themselves, each one would give a slightly different definition too.” Upon further thought, I’m convinced that the same could be said about a straight person, and might even be seen in regular conversations about how an individual experiences their dating life, with the only difference that people tend to question it less.

Anyway, I concluded with: “I just wish we had more representation on a much larger level and that someone like them coming out didn't have to feel exceptional. And also, I hope [going forward] people can respect my own identity as an individual and not compare it to a famous YouTuber's despite them coming out after I did, lol.”

I slept on it, and something else I considered is that I never even described the full extent of my identity and how I experience it to this friend (which isn’t a complaint about you luv btw I’m thankful for this conversation, it’s about me and sOciEty too). What I know for a fact I talked about recently was my relationship to having dated and potentially dating in the future, but that in no way describes the extent of my identity as aroace. I actually haven’t talked about how I experience my identity as asexual in a very long time. My relationship to potentially dating is an important part of the conversation to me, but it still is what it is - only part of it.

Although I have not watched this creator’s coming out video, I think it’s important to assume that they’re only sharing a facet of their identity as aroace. Because you can only say so much at once, because the journey is rarely ever over, and because there’s a limit to how much info we’re ever comfortable sharing on the internet.

I think my reaction speaks to how little representation we unfortunately have, and so does the fact that people thought important to tell me that someone else in the world is aroace. (Generally speaking, I already knew... fortunately.) I’m not mad at them. When I was a teenager, this could have mattered to me, and I’m sure there are tons of people today to whom it matters a lot. But that’s not where I am today, and I wish my identity weren’t seen as so rare that people can’t ignore it. Because I think these friends of mine would assume that I don’t care about creators I don’t know the first thing about coming out as whatever their identity is - but coming out as aroace? That’s exceptional. This might be the first time they see it, and they assume that it’s a big deal to me too.

Honestly, I wish it weren’t. I wish no one in the world ever had to come out. I wish we could just... be. (Yes, I am the first person in the world to say that. /s) But I know how it is, so once again, I would like to congratulate this creator for taking that step, as an individual. Because of their platform, this could even turn out to be a huge help to many other people.

Either way, this was fortunately a small enough deal to me that I was able to immediately follow it up by this:

[kitkatopinions]

You know what always bugged me about Jaune attacking Oscar (aside from the obvious)? It felt like he took advantage of the fact that Oscar was a defenseless child. I doubt he'd have the gall to attack Ozpin in his previous body. Now with Qrow on the other hand, I'm not too sure. One of his more consistent traits is picking fights when he shouldn't.

I don’t know, Jaune didn’t have any trouble charging at Cinder, or lashing out at Qrow around the campfire (though he didn’t attack him physically.) It seems like Jaune was willing to lash out at anyone who might have possibly sort of contributed to Pyrrha’s choice and he seemed more controlled by his grief more than logic or power complex. Idk, thinking he’d be just as physical with adult Professor Ozpin doesn’t seem too far off base. He was pretty illogical. Like, not trying to throw shade. And he did get it right to blame Cinder, obviously, although I feel like Jaune of all people charging at Cinder should’ve resulted in more injury to him than it did.  His actions were frustrating, but were at least understandable for someone (especially a teenager) dealing with grief. But Oscar deserved a sincere apology from him and I’m so glad we started moving on from that.

...If Penny’s death triggers an ‘aggressive Jaune trying to find someone to blame and lashing out at everyone 2.0′ I’ll be very annoyed.

As for Qrow, I didn’t think he’d punch Oz at all before it happened and it confused the living daylights out of me. His fight with Winter was when he was seemingly in a pretty good mood and it seemed like a mutual grudge match he was more or less enjoying. And even though Winter seemed to take it much more seriously, there were moments where she was acting like it wasn’t all that serious too.

Qrow Vs Winter really read like an anime fight where you knew the stakes were low and they weren’t really out to hurt each other - and the person that actually got the closest to breaking that feeling was Winter. Qrow’s other conflicts like his spat with James and his arguing with Raven, those were all verbal fights. Qrow and Winter was (if I recall correctly) the only time we saw him actively get physical with an ally or even a former ally who hadn’t revealed themselves to be working with Salem yet, and again, Winter was the one who first started trying to deal blows and she’s the one who seemed more violent.

I mean, this is Qrow with Raven pre-her working with Salem.

And this is Qrow when she showed up at Haven with Cinder to help her steal the Relic.

So the understanding I at least was working with was that Qrow - while prone to arguments and being rude and disrespectful - wasn’t just a violent person. He fought with Winter because they had some messed up understanding linked to their school-rival-like relationship, and she was the exception, rather than the rule. Outside of her, he only seemed to get physical when the situation demanded a fight.

So Qrow just punching an ally - and longtime friend - because it’d been revealed that he’d lied to Qrow - albeit, about an important detail - seemed really out of left field for me considering the prior established thresh-hold of who he’s willing to attack. Qrow didn’t even reach for a weapon with Raven in the bar while she was getting in the way of Oz’s life saving plans out of selfishness and cowardice and being dismissive of Yang’s pain to his face plus acting kind of aggressively herself. But he was ready to shoot her the minute he thought she had gone to Salem. But Oz wasn’t revealed as having done some horrible, evil, non-understandable thing. He was revealed to have lied out of desperation about something admittedly important in his effort to do what he could to save people. Although I  would’ve liked Qrow to take his side from the beginning, it makes sense for his character to have been mad, upset, and to have lashed out. Like I said before, what Qrow is known to get into is serious verbal fights. But punching Oz? When Oz clearly wouldn’t defend himself? When he’s in a body of a child? When his abuse at the hands of Salem was just revealed? That so didn’t even feel like Qrow!

In my opinion, the punch wasn’t a trackable, Qrow-like reaction that made sense. The punch was what started the whole ‘Qrow is violent’ spiral. It was so out there that I had tried to come up with an explanation (like 'maybe there was an Apathy near by they just didn't know about?') And then I started trying to reason that Qrow seeming to slide into deeper depression and drinking heavier was because he felt super bad about it and he was going to give a big heartfelt apology in Volume 7 when Oz came back, which obviously didn't happen. And then the writers randomly had Qrow fight Clover with Tyrian and decide James was at fault for it and get determined to kill him for most of a season without even having gotten the whole story, plus picking fights with Harriet, only to try and talk her down in the next scene he's in?

Qrow punching Oscar felt like an isolated incident that I was willing to consider a really weird and bad mistake on the part of the creators without throwing out the character, but then in seasons seven and eight, he got more violent and less loveable. But confusingly, sometimes Qrow acts like he used to. He waffles between Good Qrow and Bad Qrow sometimes, and sometimes on a scene by scene basis. Good Qrow would totally try and talk Harriet down, whereas Bad Qrow would totally knock her to the ground and taunt her about getting that fight she wanted. It's so weird to see such disjointed writing that makes characters feel so back and forth. It’s not just Qrow, the CRWBY writers have a tendency to just write whatever they think feels valid in the moment without considering the larger character journeys, I think. And once they start hearing complaints, sometimes they double down, but sometimes they start trying to write their characters to act differently without addressing the flaw itself. Like having Yang act like Summer is her mom again, or having Blake suddenly acting like she's really close friends with Ruby, or having Winter suddenly act like she was against the things she’d been totally fine with last season. So there's every chance they're just gonna pretend Qrow never did the violent things he did, and never address the punch or how he helped fight Clover or how he wanted to kill Ironwood. It's possible season nine or ten will feature Qrow acting like his Volume 3 - 5 self again and the writers just expecting everyone to roll with it.

... I spent way too long talking about Qrow. XD Oh well.

[finaledenialist]

ok but i'm getting really tired of seeing all the post complaining about ppl not reblogging, i reblog like 50 posts a day, i'm seriously asking for ppl to explain on anon here (if you're ok with it) why they don't reblog stuff, be honest ppl, cos everyone’s complaining and nothing's changing, i seriously suspect a huge part of why now ppl interact differently with posts here is that this site has changed over the years, within the last year they stopped supporting the pagination of likes 1/2

okay thanks for this Anon, I would gladly hear why people don’t reblog as much anymore, for me this has a lot to do with ‘like’ culture from twitter and especially instagram where likes actually mean something and a lot of newer users might think tumblr works the same way when it doesn’t. i agree that the site changed over the years, because it’s userbase changed. 6-7 years ago people were here for content, for gifs, maybe the wave of new users aren’t interested in that anymore, maybe textposts and memes are what they want, so that is why shitposts gain notes. i said 2 years ago that memes will kill tumblr and i stand by it to this day tbh

> within the last year they stopped supporting the pagination of likes

I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU ANON, you can cheat the system by typing: 

https://www.tumblr.com/liked/by/[yourtumblrurl]/page/2 

in my case it looks like this:

https://www.tumblr.com/liked/by/evermorecastiel/page/4000

pagination problem solved! 

tumblr was built on content being reblogged, and sending anon hate to content creators because they are bitter that their work is not reblogged (and it reaches less and less people) is extremely shitty behaviour, because these complaints are valid! if i may add, people who reblog a lot get questions: ‘why are you spamming?’ (this is legit ask i was sent one day) so idk i think it has to do with a shift in fandom tumblr culture and not with website problems

[storiesbeyondthestars]

I'm the anon from before and oof thank you for putting my exact feelings into words. people keep saying that it "upset an mlm" but like, they're not the only mlm in the world or even enjoying kl and I've not heard the same complaints from others. I don't want to "kids these days" but it seems like a lot of people who are upset with the creator tend to be on the younger side and idk what to make of that

One thing that I think everyone has to keep in mind is that everyone has a different perspective on things, no matter what gender or sexuality they identify as. Unless it’s an agreed upon leader, no one person speaks for an entire group, especially not in fandom spaces. This is why it’s important to respectfully listen to everyone who is willing to actually talk. It’s also why it’s better to just walk away from people who seem to just be lashing out rather than arguing, but it’s still well within our rights to defend ourselves and our own thoughts.

I’m not going to judge a person for sharing their opinion, it’s how they go about it that’s important, along with the acknowledgement that it is theirs and theirs alone. It’s the actions you take that speak more than the words you say.  

Honestly, I’ve seen plenty of older creators lash out the same way. I think it largely comes down to personality. Your choice in choosing to lash out at someone because you don’t like their portrayal of characters speaks more than your points do, even if there may be some validity to your points.

I actually had a lot of thoughts on why younger people might be more likely to get upset and lash out, but it got long so I decided to just not bother, especially since it’s all just based on my own personal observations and not concrete fact. Gets really off topic.

A friend of mine just gave me a really good analogy to play off of (and expand on, because I’m wordy as all shit when I get going).

You’re playing in your own sandbox and having a great time. Then you look up and see another kid in their sandbox building something else. You don’t like what they’re building at all. In fact, it may genuinely bother you. However, that child is not being malicious, they’re not bothering you or anyone else, they’re just having their own fun.

Being genuinely bothered is completely valid, but unless someone is actively out to hurt you, how the situation unfolds is entirely up to you.

You can choose to ignore it entirely, looking away and focusing on your own thing. Maybe you rant a little bit to yourself or to another friend that you know won’t say anything or bother someone. That’s fine. Get it out, move on.

You can get up and move yourself to an entirely different spot so that they’re out of sight, out of mind.

You can choose to go over to their sandbox and explain why it’s not okay and leave.

You can choose to go over to their sandbox, explain, and offer to help them out or discuss why they’re doing things they’re doing. They may not listen, but you did your piece and can leave.

You could storm over there, screaming at them and bringing your friends to scream too.

You can stay in your sandbox and scream to your friends with the purpose of sending them over there to scream and destroy what they’re making.

How you approach the kid in the sandbox says everything about you as a person.

[lastdropofthesun]

Small but significant Voltron Season 6 thoughts

because I can't keep all of this inside and I need to get it out there.

SPOILERS so don't read if you haven't watched it yet.

- The governess bit. Funny. I enjoyed.

- Lance's feelings are valid, Allura's feelings are valid, everyone's feelings are valid as long as they are true, genuine, and not manipulative. I just really don't think any relationship is going to be made canon, which is fine bc that's not what this series is about (or at least it really doesn't seem that way)

- Lotor is a good character, not in a "good guy/bad guy" way, but as part of the plot. I'm glad he's bringing what he does to the show.

- Hell yeah, throw some D&D(DND??) in there. Shiro/Kuron's bit was so funny. Oh, haha, innocent Shiro just wants to be a Paladin any chance he gets, let him LIVE.

- Still very curious about how the clone thing even worked, like, I get that the Physical form was gone, hence the shit ton of clones, but like did Haggar steal Shiro's memories from his year of imprisonment (my best guess)? Was the clone actually not aware that he was a clonee until there were glitches or at the end? Was he his own version of Shiro, and is he gone forever now?

- Love the white hair effect with Shiro. But. It looked grey. Like, Honerva hair grey. Idk if it was the lighting in that scene or what but it didn't look like his signature white flood or Haggar/Lotor's white locks. Tiny nit-pick there, but overall I loved that bit. Cried.

- KEITH. This child right here. Literally grows up so much this season. I do have questions about that. I know he says "Two years and we can finally complete this mission" or something very similar, BUT does he literally mean "It's been two years since we've been stuck on this celestial being with this adorable wolf pup I raised" or like "We (the Blades) have waited two years to find this information" because before they set out on this particular mission, Keith said he and Kolivan had been looking for what Krolia was talking about. For a Long Time. I think it's safe to say that since time & space we're acting very strangely when Keith was with Krolia & Space Wolf, they were in a Narnia-like situation (not exactly, but you get the idea).

- KROLIA, KEITH, & BACKSTORY. I loved this so so much. We got so many answers and even though it may seem like a far-fetched tactic to some, I like the way they executed the reunion/flashbacks/bonding time.

- SPACE WOLF. Yeah, so what that they don't explain why the pup showed up randomly. Keith made a new friend, and had several moments of pure joy on this journey and it's thanks to that cute af doggo he kept at his side and BONDED with. And Krolia seems to have a good relationship with the wolf, too, so that's a plus!

- The animation was so different sometimes, especially nearing the end/the later half of the season. This isn't a complaint, I just couldn't help but notice and share this tid-bit.

- Of course the whole Allura saving Lance with her newfound Altean power at the beginning was foreshadowing for the ending where she transfers Shiro's consciousness. Which I appreciated. I appreciated both of these actions, because why not, ya know?

- All Keith & Shiro moments were great, even the clone ones and the fighting. Again, the animation definitely changed for the fight, and I'd love for the creators to give some explanation as to why Keith became more visibly Galra when he was fighting Kuron (Is it his emotions taking over and being more in touch with his True Self? Is it all the Galra energy around him, like the clone's Galra arm, or the quintessence around them like what we saw happen inseason 1 or something else?). Because he supposedly spent two years with his Galran Mom, probably learning a LOT about his Galran side, and that is an easy explanation for the marking/eyes being a thing, but why would it be triggered then, and not sometime during those years he spent with Krolia, literally growing up ? I don't think I'll hear direct answers to these things, and that's alright. Everything could be answered with "It's up for interpretation" but I'd still like to know if the creators have specific thoughts on these matters.

There's so much more on my mind concerning this season, but I'm still stuck on re-watching it because it was SO GOOD!!? Even the "filler" episode was great. Great all around in my opinion. Definitely might develop different thoughts/feelings as I re-watch the season, or even the whole series, but for now I feel satisfied.

[inkofamethyst]

March 16, 2021

Heyo can we just let Wanda Maximoff please be happy for once?  Please?  My sister asked me how powerful Wanda is because she just finished binging WandaVision and I had to go on a whole rant about her and Chaos Magic and AvX which made me bring out my AvX comic series and the companion comics and I realized that Wanda really does not get a break.  Ever.  Like I haven’t read what happens before AvX (the first comic series I read start to finish, and I read through it at least four times (and I was flipping/skimming it today and UGH I love that series so much)), but I want to bc I know Wanda wasn’t in her right mind in the events that caused mutants to face extinction originally and like ?????  I just want my poor girl to get a breaaaaak.  In the MCU she lost her brother, she was blamed for that thing in Lagos even though she literally was only trying to help and had she not acted the result would’ve been even worse so, as soon as she found a family they started fighting amongst themselves, she had to lose her man twice, her man’s wishes were not taken into consideration and in her grief she did the whole Westview thing... this feels like a villain origin story if I’ve ever heard one, not gonna lie.  I just feel so BAD for her (and I also empathize with her as much as I possibly an, considering that I don’t, you know, have superpowers) because she’s always trying her best to do what’s right and it so rarely works out in her favor.  As a matter of fact, I cannot remember a time when she did something on her own and it was positive (except, maybe, letting the Westview incident end, and I suppose she did play a large role in reversing what she did prior to AvX (only after all the big battles and stuff though, of course)).

Also, skimming through AvX (and smiling when I reached some of the panels I explicitly remembered) made me realize that I am so rarely critical of the content that I consume.  Like, I’m just very easily impressed/entertained, and I don’t actually think there’s anything wrong with that.  I don’t know what the ratings were for AvX, but it doesn’t really matter, because I liked it a lot!

That said, I’m watching through Fate: A Winx Saga on Netflix and like,,,, okay.  If you approach the show from the view of someone who watched the cartoon (or, at least, the first few seasons because I believe I stopped somewhere around S4 or S5 (maybe?�� idk)), then it’s just... eh.  It’s not terrible, but there are definitely valid (and some nitpicky) complaints you can level against the show (so far, I’ve only seen two episodes).  That said, I actually don’t hate it all that much?  The references to ~teenager stuff~ (weed, drinking, there was one line about “mansplaining,” etc.) feel a little out of place, but I understand that the purpose is to age up the characters and setting for an older audience.  It’s not super effective with Nostalgia-baiting which makes me wonder whether the goal was to nostalgia-bait in the first place as opposed to... I dunno something else?  The show is very different from Winx Club!  It’s gritty and dark and Stella is emotionally manipulating what’s-his-face-hot-guy (y’all this man is so incredibly attractive in the most basic blond white boy way but... I can’t help myself, I call it as I see it), and I don’t think this is a bad thing!  Not really.  Can the argument be made that the creators should’ve made an original show instead of slapping the name Winx on it for brand recognition?  Of course!  But I don’t think it’s fair to necessarily expect the same brightness of the original series in an aged-up version, because in nearly all cases, they would not have done it correctly in the eyes of the fans.  I am, of course, only two episodes in and I’m super willing to have a conversation that changes my view on this because it doesn’t really matter, it’s just opinions about a show.

Now, I do know that adults can enjoy bright things too!  The Dragon Prince, ATLA, TLoK (not quite as youthful as atla, but I think it still counts)!  It’s just that live action has this expectation of being ~grittier~ and ~serious~.  So, idk.  I’ll come back with more thoughts later, I suppose.

Speaking of shows, I watched the first episode of Superman and Lois with my family today and I’ve got thoughts on that as well.  There were some... eh lines in the pilot, but I liked the way we had, like, four plotlines or something (1. Superman’s villain (Lex?), 2. Clark’s somewhat functional family moving to Smallville and working a farm, 3. One of the kids has powers, 4. Some corporation is trying to take over Smallville) set up, and I am looking forward to the family dynamic.  It’s not really something we get to see in Superman stories very much at all.  I think this will be cool!

Were I to attempt streaming this summer (only, of course, if my program switches to on-site), there’s so much that I’d have to private, now that I think about it.  My cringiest tiktoks would have to become friends-only, I’d have to delete everything on that music app I was screwing around with because like, no matter how proud I was of any of those videos, I am not a singer, not really, and I cannot allow those to be used against me in any way.  As a matter of fact, I may just delete the whole account.  Of course, that’s only if I begin to pick up an online presence.  I’d need to curate it carefully, you know?

And speaking of summer possibilities, I accepted the offer today!  I... I already know that I’m going to get hit bad with imposter syndrome.  I just know it.  I’m excited!  Supremely ecstatic!  But one of these days I know that the honeymoon phase of “wow, I can’t believe I’ve got this!” will fade into “wow, I can’t believe I managed to fool them!” and, frankly, I am not looking forward to that!  Not at all!  Right now I just need to focus on closing out this awful academic year.  Like, there’s been a lot to celebrate, sure!  But there’s also been a lot of pitfalls!  And I kina just want it to be over!  Um, so, yeah.  I’m calling it now, and I’m sure this happens to people all the time when they get new jobs, right?  The feeling that your qualification is entirely a fluke?

hmmmmm I need to make an appointment with a therapist soon.

Today... I’m thankful for Spring Break.  I’m getting some much needed time to just chill which is fantastic.  I’m also playing Minecraft (Bedrock lol) more, and I’m feeling pretty good about being able to finally complete the game at some point.

[him-e]

Maybe Im just being harsh, but i don't get how people think RO was so much better than TFA. In my opinion RO lacked severely in character development which really caused a disconnect. People give TFA crap for being a rehash of old stuff, but RO has them too, and even more fan service i think. I also found the third act of them actually getting the plans to be so muddled and ridiculous. I don't think TFA doesn't feel like a star wars film just because time has passed and characters have changed

I think at the end of the day it’s a matter of personal taste. RO and TFA are two different ways of rehashing/expanding a known story. TFA is a sequel while RO is more like a “missing moments”. This is already a basic difference—some people naturally prefer the former and others the latter. Especially because in the latter the outcome is fixed, so there isn’t a lot of wiggle room with the characters and their destination in the first place. You must be inclined and willing to watch a story that you already know in advance isn’t going to end well. 

RO lacked severely in character development which really caused a disconnect

Eh, I wonder where this perception comes from, actually. Because what I see is a two hours movie starring an ensemble cast who is just as developed as it gets in a two hours movie with an ensemble cast. Okay, we have characters like Baze Malbus who objectively get little characterization. We could have seen something more of Bodhi—his defection, the moment Galen entrusted him with the mission—and of Galen himself as well. Krennic, as a villain, is weak and doesn’t really work, because the film spends more time on cgi!Tarkin than him (I would add Vader to this complaint, but I won’t, because I’m too busy fangirling over his scenes. Nope, I think Vader was used splendidly). 

RO is a standalone film constricted within the boundaries of a necessarily fixed ending. Narrative-wise, character-wise, the horizon is much wider in TFA. I wonder, is Cassian really lacking character development compared to, I dunno, Poe? Is Finn’s defection actually better written than Bodhi’s? Do Jyn’s actions—her going from refusal of the call to accepting the call—make less sense than Rey’s? And why? 

I think one of the reasons the TFA characters are perceived as “better” developed lies in the potential. Anticipation of their future arcs and developments makes the way they’re written in TFA much juicier, it adds layers that aren’t necessarily there yet, it creates expectations, it encourages daydreaming about possible future scenarios (and ships!). This isn’t possible with RO, unless you leave canon behind and go full au route. Another example: TFA gets the luxury of telling us NOTHING about Rey’s backstory, nothing, just hints and a big ass mystery about who her family is, because it will explained in future films. Jyn’s backstory is laid out because there’s no other option, it’s now or never. Of course it’s not perfect. And of course people prefer Rey’s vague promise of a backstory because they can project whatever they like on it, while Jyn’s is fully established, and apparently not tragic enough to justify her abrasiveness? You might complain that Jyn’s story is cursory, or not satisfying enough, that her relationship with Galen and Saw is barely sketched, and okay, these are valid complaints but at least the backstory is there, instead of being handily postponed to the next episode to create artificial hype. (and while I’m at it, I wonder how much of the audience’s fascination with Rey revolves around her ~lost skywalker~ aura, rather than her actual identity as an orphan who grew up alone in Jakku? Do people really like Rey as a character, or do they like the puzzle and the skywalker mantle?)

Anyway. I agree that the third act of RO, minus the final sacrifice, is a bit muddled and—let’s just say that I would have loved to see less explosions and a more elaborated plan to infiltrate the Scarif base (which I think would also have offered less stiff, more organic ways to show the villains and have the heroes interact with them). But then again, the whole movie is muddled, due to the reshoots (TFA surely has a better flow). Also yes, if you go beyond the surface, you’ll see familiar patterns in RO as well (first act: set up + characters meet + the bad guys do something awful revealing how Evil they are + daring escape; second act: regrouping + meeting the Rebellion/Resistance; third act: hitting the bad guys in their ridiculously small and accessible weak spot, be it the oscillator or the death star’s plans + big battle ensues). However, I think RO simply does a better job at dissimulating these staple points, and that, combined with a less simplistic narrative (more moral complexity, the good guys have also done Bad Things, etc.) gave the audience the impression of a more innovative, less derivative movie. Some of it may be just smokescreen, but it clearly didn’t go unnoticed. 

Re: the fanservice, idk. What feels more fanservice-y, the death star appearing in a movie that’s explicitly about stealing the death star’s plans, or something that looks exactly like the death star, just bigger and called starkiller? Is it that weird to see Darth Vader, Leia, Tarkin and Mon Mothma appear in a movie ending half an hour before ANH kicks off? Is that more of a cop out to win the audience’s approval than having a carbon copy of the Empire rise 30 years later? (not that it matters, because at the end of the day, Star Wars is the infinite fight for freedom against oppression and totalitarianism, and the specifics may wary but must always be instantly recognizable, but I digress)

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Rogue One is necessarily “better”—I like TFA, a lot. The characters that are really going to engage me in the long run are Rey, Kylo and Finn. I like the Rogue One crew, but I also feel like it’s a well that is going to be soon extinguished, as personally I tend to thrive with serialized fiction rather than standalones. Also note that like I said I think TFA was a necessary step to ensure continuity between the old and the new canon; without TFA paving the way, I don’t think Rogue One could have existed. 

But I would also like to see Episode VIII take more risks and wander a bit in uncharted territory. Not that Rogue One is exactly uncharted territory, but it has some things I’m interested in (e.g. more nuances/shades of grey in the Rebellion/Resistance, not-likeable-at-all-costs protagonists, not-skywalker-at-all-costs protagonists, exploration of those who are more or less willingly affiliated with the Empire/First Order, etc). We shouldn’t be having a competition between the two movies, because, despite being part of the same ‘verse and the same new canon, they’re like apples and oranges. Neither film is perfect, and it’s ok to like one better than the other. RO was more of an experiment though, so they logically had more creative freedom than with TFA, which on the other hand had no option but become a worldwide success, so they played safe. I think people expressing their appreciation of Rogue One is a good thing for the franchise, because it’s the first movie that doesn’t belong to a trilogy, and it can pave the way for new stories to explore in this ‘verse. It means the creators will be more comfortable expanding new aspects of the sw universe in the sequel trilogy too, instead of limiting their options to the usual paths.