#it's criticism of the in-universe character

[lesbiansforboromir]

I find this kind of unfair and lacking context for both RoP and WotR, inspite of my own criticisms with both stories. My main gripe being the idea that, especially RoP, is trying to 'reinvent LotR'.

RoP is not LotR, it's adapting a completely different story written by Tolkien, set in the same universe but with very different themes and character narratives that never saw the light of day in LotR. But those themes still existed in these historical accounts of the world, and the events based on them formed an important foundation for LotR as a tale in and of itself.

RoP is also absolutely not about an 'Aragorn-style destined royal hero', the story is going to be one long miserable series of prideful mistakes and well meaning intentions that eventually lead to one of the most devastating losses of life Arda has ever seen. This is not a story with a happy eucatastrophe ending, despair and death will reign and the Galadriel of the show could not be more emblematic of that course.

And whilst it is arguable whether or not her character suits the role she's been given, this narrative is just as part of Tolkien's work as LotR is. Like you would essentially have to claim that adapting any piece of Tolkien's writing other than the ones with Hobbits in it that aren't about royalty is misrepresenting his work. Which would essentially exclude all Tolkien's work BUT LotR and The Hobbit.

Honestly, I think the attitude that 'it's not Tolkien if there aren't hobbits in it' is one of the major criticisms I have with the show. One of the showrunners said something to the same effect in an interview, as explanation for inserting a completely superfluous hobbit/gandalf plot that should never have been there and robs time from what should be the main story and characters.

I could not agree more that it was extremely egregious that The Hobbit films became so much about everything but THE Hobbit (and the dwarves). The main substance of the original tale was sidelined for either commercial, cynical or misguided reasons (to my perspective). But RoP isn't adapting The Hobbit, and WotR isn't either. They're adapting the Akallabeth and the ending of the first Royal Line of Rohan, respectively. And inserting narratives about 'the little people' into these stories would be just as egregious as what happened to the Hobbit films.

And like! Well something to this effect definitely did happen to WotR! A story about how a grim King's brutality and vicious prejudice lead to the deaths of nearly his entire family was turned into a shallow attempt at a feminist story that was really just a worse version of Eowyn. The realities of Helm's violence and Frecca's murder were muted to give him more plausible deniability and to launder the reputation of Middle-Earth royalty as a whole, a thing the Warner Bros cinematic Tolkien universe puts a lot of work into in general, one assumes for all the same cynical/commercial reasons.

So I don't disagree that Tolkien adaptations skew the ways in which Tolkien's work portrayed royalty, I just don't really agree that the original PJ films did not do the same thing, nor that the only narrative of value worth telling in Tolkien adaptations is one of small heroes. Like, yes, those themes existed in LotR, and now there are new stories to tell with their own themes in them that suit their plots. Tolkien adaptations do not need to be chained to the altar of one theme from one story. That seems quite boring and restrictive.

It's ironic how a major part of Lord of the Rings is that storytellers always overlook hobbits in their legends because their simple lives are "less important" than the lives of Great Royals & Grand Warriors--- since that's ultimately been reflected in the current state of the Tolkien franchise itself! After the LOTR films, big-budget Tolkien franchise installments (and copycats) overwhelmingly focus on their Aragorn analogues, with hobbit-like characters shoved to the sidelines. The Lord of the Rings films may be flawed, but they succeeded because they had a strong central story-- the relationship between Frodo and Sam, and the fairytale-themes about small overlooked people who save the day while the villains are distracted by Great Heroes from Noble Bloodlines, are what give the story the deep lasting emotional impact that it has. But the franchise(tm) quickly decided that the royal warrior elves/men were the far more exciting marketable characters, and their battle skills could allow for more flashy spectacle. The Hobbit films gradually focused more heavily on the warrior characters, with Bilbo being a glorified extra by the last movie; The Amazon LOTR show focuses on a noble warrior elf of royal blood as its main character and political intrigue among the royalty of different kingdoms as its main plot; the recent animated film focuses on a noble hero of royal blood involved in epic battles. I've mentioned before that it's fascinating how all the new "Tolkien franchise" installments (as well as media inspired by LOTR) continue to center their stories on the Aragorn archetype-- a Destined Noble Hero/Warrior from a Royal Bloodline etc etc. The entire premise of Lord of the Rings is that Aragorn represents the hero of a typical generic fantasy epic, while the ordinary Hobbits are the heroes of this one. Aragorn is interesting not in spite of the fact that he is a side character, but because of it. If he were the central character of the story, Lord of the Rings would be very bland and generic. "Let's do a new version of Lord of the Rings but focus on powerful grand royal hero characters instead" is a lot like saying "let's do a retelling of Wicked from Dorothy's point of view." It's like, "congrats! you've successfully reinvented the exact type of story the original writer was commenting on and subverting." XD

[superectojazzmage]

There's been a number of posts observing the "isn't this superhero stuff so dumb?" syndrome that a lot of modern superhero media has. Where the creators are basically weirdly insecure about the fact that they're making something based on comic books and either refuse to take it seriously or strip out anything even slightly fantastical in favor gritty "realism" so nobody will think they're not serious filmmakers. And I just wanted to observe the patient zero of this phenomena, the case study that is Batman.

Because, for decades now, live-action adaptations of Batman have been so utterly terrified of being seen as remotely similar to the Adam West or Joel Schumacher versions - or really, most of the original Batman comics in general - that they obsessively try to scrub out (in a very superficial way) anything about the series that could be seen as fantastical, strange, or even just lighthearted. Every single Batman live-action adaptation after Batman And Robin has absolutely no hook beyond "it's Batman but TOTALLY GRITTY AND DARK AND REALISTIC AND NOT LIKE THOSE DUMB COMICS".

All of Batman's family and friends except Alfred will be thrown away, with the creators proudly boasting about how they'll never do Robin or Ace because sidekicks ruin the grounded maturity of a rich guy dressing up as a bat. All of Batman's less "mundane" enemies will be ignored or reimagined as mundane criminals; no Killer Croc, no Hugo Strange, no Maxie Zeus, just movie after movie of Joker but he shoots people instead of telling jokes or Riddler but he shoots people instead of telling riddles or Penguin but he shoots people instead of liking birds. All the decades of lore and worldbuilding around Gotham will be disregarded in favor or depicting it as just a vaguely defined crappy city that looks and feels no different from whatever city the film was shot in. Any stories that are even mildly "weird" will go unadapted or have all it's fantasy elements removed, so seminal arcs like Strange Apparitions or Knightfall or Night Of The Owls will be discarded or neutered in favor of endless repeats of the mob subplots in Year One and Long Halloween, nobody caring that they're locking themselves out of something like 90% of the Batcanon.

And, as alluded to previously, it's all done in a very shallow way that often ends up making things LESS realistic. Batman will always just be some asshole alone in his manor with nobody but Alfred for company, even though realistically he would absolutely NEED that huge family/support network of sidekicks and techies to achieve anything at all beyond dressing up in a costume and getting shot by the first guy he fights. There can be no "silly" characters but the creators desperately want to pretend that a furry beating up a clown is like The Wire. And even the more comic book elements are adapted, they'll be either altered in ways that make them unrecognizable for that precious faux-realism or have their unusual nature downplayed severely.

Just look at the Nolan movies; in his desperation to seem "serious", Nolan did stuff like having Bane not use a super-steroid or wear a luchador outfit, not caring that he was usually replacing the supervillain gimmicks with ideas that were even stupider and less real, like Bane wearing a mask to constantly huff painkillers yet somehow not being a crippled addict like such a thing would render him in real life. And Nolan likewise used the League of Assassins Shadows but was simultaneously crazed to avoid or downplay the supernatural aspects of that group in the comics, so Ra's is just some guy who presumably inherited his title and this secret ninja organization totally doesn't have magic or anything, shut up, and also them being an ancient cult will be remanded to, like, a single brief conversation than never mentioned again.

The consequences of this kind of thinking are becoming especially apparent with Matt Reeves' take. Reeves was a subscriber to that ideology of Batman having to be a bleak street crime drama instead of a colorful superhero, but also tried to pay lip-service to the Twitter discourse about Batman beating up poor people instead of being a symbol of hope. And now he's left himself trapped in this catch-22 where he can't adapt the vast majority of stories from the comics because they're too goofy and fantastical in the eyes of Hollywood but also has to keep playing into this idea of Batman as not just being a scowling brooder who goes out at night to beat endless waves of criminals into comas without making a meaningful change. The best he could manage is a mini-series about Penguin that, while not bad, has basically nothing to do with Batman as a series whatsoever and indeed has to bend over backwards to not acknowledge Batman's existence outside of a five-second shot in the final episode. The proper sequel to Reeves' Batman is stuck in pre-production hell, very probably straining to come up with something that hasn't been done before, isn't weird, and doesn't have Batman being overly dark. Good fucking luck with that.

It's especially bad because the animated and video game adaptations DON'T do this shit and embrace the crazier aspects of Batman as a series, and it works out great and produces works just as good or even better than the live action stuff. Batman The Animated Series wasn't afraid of adapting stuff like The Laughing Fish or Moon Of The Wolf alongside grittier arcs. The Arkham games had Batman punching sharks and dollotrons unironically and those are fantastic. Shows like The Brave And The Bold or Beware or Caped Crusader gleefully embrace stuff from all ages of Batman history and are better for it.

Something has to give on the live-action front. We need a Batman movie that dares to go beyond maybe three miniseries from the 80s, otherwise we're just wasting time and the potential of Batman as a character, whose success is partially owed to his ability to slot into all kinds of adventures.

[ladey]

in response to this whole male reader x female arcane characters situation..

i know lesbians write female reader x female character even if the character is canonically straight or the sexuality isn’t really established. but straight dudes doing the same with literal established lesbian characters…? it doesn’t sit quiiite right with me…

because in my opinion it’s just stripping the characters of their representation (i’m thinking of caitlyn and vi specifically rn). straight is considered the default. sorry but it pretty much is. a lesbian making reader insert fanfiction about a straight/non-established female character is simply put; them wanting to indulge in their own lack of representation with a character that they like.

not to mention that in our society, lesbians are sexualized and fetishized by men. and it only feels like that is being perpetuated when a man makes literal caitvi x male reader content. do u see what i mean???!!!! those two characters are canon lesbians in a relationship and yet here we are.

also, being down right offensive and homophobic towards gay girls headcanoning jinx as lesbian, or bi, or whatever simply because u believe she is straight cuz her character had a boyfriend in an alternate universe is low-key high-key ignorant, tell me i’m wrong. you guys are reachinggg!! (both jinx and ekko have been pretty much assumed/headcanoned by lol fans as bisexual for SO long, especially ekko i believe which i THINK is canon ?) you just wanna feel validated knowing that she’s into men and wanna believe she’s ONLY into men. (let’s not even get into the fetishization of her character type puh-lease😒)

we cannot stop u (men) from writing this content. but i genuinely ask of u to please be aware of the harm ur causing while pursuing it… like seriously, use some critical thinking if ur capable.

anyways, that’s all i really have to say on the matter rn,

peace and cheese 💕

[princeescaluswords]

Because a lot of Villain Stans don't actually stan villains; they don't want the characters they enjoy to be labelled as villains in the first place. They understand that those characters do things that are almost universally acknowledged to be destructive, harmful, and morally wrong, but they enjoy imagining a situation where characters not only have the motivation and opportunity (and sometimes justification) to act in those ways, but they also have the ability to get away with doing them. In other words, they evade the consequences of their actions.

Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with this. It's a power fantasy.

Things go off the rails when they insist that not only should their favored villains evade the consequences of their actions for their aesthetic pleasure but that everyone else in the audience must accept their publicly communicated power fantasy as desirable; that it should not matter to anyone if the villain evading consequences of their actions violates the narrative and thematic structure of the story in which they appear; or even that treating the villain as not a villain would not make any logical sense to the characters existing within the same story.

As an example, Kylo Ren stans were outraged when John Boyega mocked shipping Rey with her genocidal fascist torturer. Kylo Ren helped kill billions as part of an attempt by the First Order to reestablish the Sith Empire and tortured Rey in an effort to bring that about. How dare someone speak out like that? (I have plenty to say about why the outrage was particularly virulent, but that's another post).

It's not that they've gone too far in their enjoyment of villains; it's that they've gone too far in their entitlement that they believe the rest of the world should rearrange itself to match their personal tastes. Logical and emotional objections to their publicly-presented interpretations of villain-stanning are seen as Puritanical moralizing or even bullying. Calling a villain a villain is not reserved solely for a sixteenth-century Christian sect; insisting that celebrating the ability of a character who is a serial killer to slaughter innocents at will is a manifestation of decadence is not the same as punching someone until they give you their lunch money. There is a point when it is unreasonable to expect your public statements to be immune from criticism. That's been reached.

Villain stans are always so shocked and dismayed that people dislike their favourite characters and that amuses me to no end like babe they’re a villain! Why are you surprised that fans hate them? When characters do bad things that hurt other characters people are gonna dislike them like what’s not clicking beloveds?

[electricneonvalkyrie]

Let’s get one thing straight: Abby Anderson’s physique in The Last of Us Part II isn’t a plot hole or some impossible fantasy. It’s a testament to grit, determination, and the human ability to adapt under extreme circumstances.

First, to those claiming Abby is “too muscular” for a post-apocalyptic world—do you even hear yourselves? The woman lives in an organized militia with access to resources, gyms, and regular meals. You think the WLF, a faction built on military principles and discipline, wouldn’t have a fitness regimen? They’re literally preparing for war. Fighting for their lives every day. Abby didn’t just stumble into her strength by the magic of imagination; she built it day after grueling day over the course of years because she was intensely driven and needed to survive.

Just because you can't do it, even in our modern world, doesn't mean what she accomplished is impossible. This is the type of thinking our society desperately needs to do away with.

Second, let’s talk motivation. Abby isn’t lifting weights for the Instagram clout or brand sponsorships. She’s fueled by raw trauma—the kind that makes you get up at 4 a.m. to hit the gym even when you’re running on fumes. Losing her father didn’t just hurt—it left a hole so deep that she filled it with a number of difficult things, including an iron will to never be helpless again. Trauma doesn’t just motivate you; it rewires you, driving you to do things others might not understand at first glance.

And this is where the criticism truly misses the mark. If you’re scoffing at her physique, it’s clear you’ve never lived with PTSD. You don’t understand what it’s like to carry the weight of grief and fear every single day, to wake up with nightmares that never truly go away. For Abby, working on her body wasn’t just about survival—it was about control and escapism in a world where everything else was stolen from her.

Let’s also address the tired “she’s too masculine” argument. Muscles don’t have a gender. Abby is a woman who took control of her body and reshaped it into a weapon—because that’s what her reality demanded. That's the only way she felt she could exert control over her situation. If you think that’s “unrealistic,” maybe it’s time to reevaluate your understanding of human resilience and perhaps, of women altogether.

Abby’s physique tells a story—a story of loss, determination, and the refusal to break under unimaginable pressure. A physical manifestation of trauma and perhaps even addiction. Criticizing this aspect of her character only highlights a lack of empathy and an inability to grasp what it means to live with trauma.

Also, let's be honest here, it's just a weak argument. Weaker than your fragile ass ego. Reducing her to her physical appearance? That’s the easiest, most surface-level shit imaginable.

At the end of the day, Abby’s strength—physical, mental, and emotional—isn’t just believable; it’s iconic. So instead of tearing her down, maybe take a moment to reflect on how her story shines a light on what humans are truly capable of, even in the darkest of times.

Personally, I'm stoked to see how they encapsulate this aspect of her character in the TV show. I pray they do. You won’t encounter a character like Abby Anderson in most other forms of media, and her grit—both physical and emotional—is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated and defining aspects of her.

You don’t have to love Abby. You’re free to hate her for her choices, her story, or even her personality. But the sheer number of men fixating on her physique as the primary issue is a painfully sad reminder of what it’s like to be a woman in any universe—scrutinized, judged, and diminished for daring to exist outside their expectations.

[inkblotspotshot]

It's weird that this happened twice.

I'm going to chalk it up to both instances being a symptom of an identical group, because it is the exact same complaint in two completely different franchises.

Guardians of the Galaxy and Helluva Boss: Season 2, Ep. 12 - Sinsmas.

If you're immediately confused, let me explain.

I witnessed the complaint that Stolas' pupils are making him cuter, so that the audience feels sorry for him, despite how, in this person's perspective, he doesn't deserve the sympathy, is an asshole, and is being babied by the narrative.

This, believe it or not, was the same complaint that the only people who hated Guardians of the Galaxy, made. It was claimed that the mere inclusion of Rocket and Groot was "emotional manipulation" because of their appearance as a talking raccoon and a sentient tree, to "cheat" at scriptwriting.

Mind you, James Gunn has his share of diehard haters who, let's just say, aren't the most mature critical thinkers this side of the internet; the exact breed of haters that Vivzie has.

Death threat senders, boycotters, cancel culture mobs, etcetera.

Funnily enough, these sorts of people can't seem to help frothing with impotent rage at wildly successful, groundbreaking, liberal leaning creatives who inject their violent, action filled narratives with deep, solemn, and meaningful emotional moments and themes about healing.

Of course, this complaint is about as stable as the type of people who made it back then, and are making it now. If it's such a nothing-burger, then why am I bringing it up? Well, it's because of the realization I gained and am going to use as my mental ethos from now on.

Most of the people who complain about things I like, 99.89% of them, do not possess the actual knowledge, expertise, or critical thinking to say anything meaningful.

You want to know how I know that?

Because if they had even a rudimentary understanding of how writing, theater, film, character development, and themes worked, they wouldn't hold the opinions that they do.

And how do I know that?

Because I have a Bachelor's in Theatre - Performance and a Minor in Film Studies from a college university. I have been in films, I have been on the proscenium, I have written scripts to be performed in front of audiences, and I have always been English-inclined. Storytelling is my realm.

I can guarantee you, they have not done the same.

[jonathan-taylor]

𝐉𝐎𝐇𝐍𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐎𝐑

“Pain is temporary, but the scars tell my story.”

➤ PROFILE

Name: Jonathan Ezekiel Taylor DOB: 24 March 1998 Location: Notre Dame, IN, USA

➤ BASICS

Nicknames: Johnny, John, JET Birthplace: Austin, TX, USA Hometown: Austin, TX, USA Nationality: American Occupation: Sports Therapist

⍟ FAMILY

Father: Andrew Taylor Mother: Mary Anne Taylor (née Collins) † Siblings: Benjamin, Christian †, Jackson, Faith & Hannah Taylor Cousins: Ariel & Billie Wright Niece: Shea Carter (née Taylor)

⍟ BACKSTORY

Jonathan, or better known to his family and friends as "Johnny" is the youngest of six. Born a full two decades after the eldest, Benjamin, Johnny would sometimes be referred to as "Benjamin 2.0", though not for their personalities. The two were their parents' favourites — a well-known fact neither parent has ever tried to deny. In reality, the two couldn't be more different. While Benjamin was the standard in which all the other Taylor children were measured, being the youngest gave Johnny a little more leeway that others never had — along with every advantage and disadvantage that came with that. Not only did Benjamin and Mary ensure that their "Golden Boy" had everything he needed to succeed, but he was also pushed to get a full scholarship to the University of Notre Dame where he played for the school's first-rate men's soccer team. Pushed until he was the highest scoring rookie in the team's history and the youngest MVP. Pushed until playing through a grave injury lost him everything.

⍟ TEMPERAMENT

✓ down-to-earth, hardworking, jovial ✗ jaded, perfectionist, self-critical

⍟ ARCHIVE

N01

DISCLAIMER This account is for roleplaying purposes only and is not associated with any individuals depicted herein. All written content are original works of fiction; any resemblance to existing works and/or characters should be considered coincidental and free of malicious intent. Please do not reproduce/redistribute. Thank you.

[jonnyardor]

2024 writer review for @jonnyardor

🎊

12 Types of power (Poem)

12 types of power:

Outcome independence is power.

Ownership is power.

Influence is power.

Community is power.

Independence is power.

Interdependence is power.

Leverage is power.

Altruism is power.

Submitting to the Will of God is Power.

Love is power.

Peace is power.

🎉

Ein Träumer unter Zynikern (Gedicht)

Wer hätt gedacht, was ich heute mach

Ihr schaut verwirrt, weil ich heut lach

Nach euch allen, ließ mir vieles gefallen

Fäuste geballt, doch euch keine geknallt

Sylvester, wünsch dir was zum Feuerwerk

Wie letztes Jahr, noch gar nicht lange her

Dasselbe Spiel, bis alle Flaschen leer

Es dröhnte die Birne nach den Promille sehr

Sie haben sich aufgegeben

Haben sich längst ergeben

Die Träumerei ist eben

Nur für die Frühen im Leben

Sie haben mehr gehofft als gemacht

Ja, nicht einmal mehr versucht

Aus Furcht vor der Einsamkeit

Und davor, dass man sie ausbuht

Nun sehen sie dich

Energisch und entschlossen

Sehen in dir ihr altes Ich

Voller Vorfreude auf morgen

Also wollen sie dich schützen

Oder nicht mit ansehen müssen

Wie du stirbst und lebst, so glücklich

Weil du tust, was ist dir wichtig

🎀 Inkling (melodic Gospel rap)

🔮 Sunsets With Bianka (Narrative nonfiction about a romance)

⏳ Outgrowing Album, Sunsets With Bianka (Narrative nonfiction about a romance)

🧮 I don't count words since I mostly completed songs and poems this year.

💡Kansas City Shuffle (heist story and political book)

🏅 Outgrowing Album , because it's a 30 track album written and produced by myself while I was at home with two toddlers and overtired

💌 The comments from my Pakistani friend and from a social worker in a another part of Germany made me really happy

🪄 the Daily Poem series on WordPress, soon to she renamed as Poems, My upcoming project "Lagrimas"were fairly easy to write and sing, but the production of the music and the recording of the music took some time

🔪 recording of the Spanish songs and of Outgrowing really took a lot of time, the Outline of Sunsets with Bianka

🛠️ I want to begin and finish more manuscripts. That way I get consistency, find my voice, work on the fundamentals as a storyteller. Also I learn to edit my writing and how to format physical books and ebooks.

📁 I have many literary projects yet to be finished . 'Kansas City Shuffle' and over 20 more Ideas have been noted with an elevator pitch. some projects have already a couple chapters and even more notes about the characters, plot and intended theme of the story.

📌 I learned that poetry is far more effortless for me than prose writing. But since I learned to write songs over the course of 10 years (2015-2025), I am confident that my storytelling will also improve greatly over the course of my lifetime.

💬 a dialogue between an writer and his female teacher that was his critic and became his mentor

💭 the description of a fictionalized small town and another description of the hectic Rushhour in the busses of Kiel in the university

🎶 I listened to Jaden - Roses and Nicki Minaj - Let Me Calm Down (ft. J Cole).

🎆 In Music: Listen to my own songs from the Outgrowing Album and to my instrumentals from the Weightless Instrumental Album.

In Literature: you can read my poetry and musings on WordPress

🎁 Instagram : "Buecherkarawane" book reviews in German

Tumblr: @nondelphic so relatable and funny, or at least reminding me to create more so that I can relate to more writer posts from you

Also, I want to send much love to my mutuals @wise-writer-girl , @emelkae @sogentleandsohonest and @tahbhie . I hope to read more from you, whether it's blog posts, Literature or private messages from I hope will be a growing friendship.

@faelanvance is very informative and entertaining for writers, I suggest you writers also check this blog out.

Happy new year 2025! I hope you all make great experiences and learn a lot about yourselves.

May you progress and not stagnate or regress in your artistic and personal development.

May your efforts be rewarded and your kindness be reciprocated with equal or greater intensity.

May your mental health be flourishing and your physical health be just as good.

May you feel fulfilled, excited and optimistic throughout the whole year, not just the first few weeks.

May God bless you abundantly, guide you intuitively and keep you safe from harm in this hostile world.

writing asks: the year in review

🎊 what's the first thing you wrote/posted this year? 🎉 what's the last thing you wrote/posted this year? (or what do you expect it'll be?) 🎀 what's your FAVORITE thing you wrote/posted this year? 🔮 what are you hoping to write in the coming year? ⏳ what project(s) did you spend the most time on? 🧮 do you know how many words you wrote this year? 💡 what's a fun idea you had that you didn't have time to get to? 🏅 what are you most proud of accomplishing? 💌 did you receive any comments/reviews that stuck with you? 🪄 which project flowed like magic? 🔪 which project challenged you more than you expected? 🛠 is there anything you're hoping to improve on in the coming year? 📂 what's still in your wip folder? 📌 did you learn anything about yourself as a writer this year? 💬 what dialogue are you most proud of? 💭 what description(s) are you most proud of? 🎶 any music/playlists you listened to while writing? 🪅 brag about any project you want to! tell us why we should be reading it RIGHT NOW!!! 🎁 hype up one of your writing buds! what of theirs did you enjoy this year? 💞 HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

[albi-bumblebee]

I think there are many things you can criticize about HP but I’ve literally never understood the “Slytherin being the evil house was a signifier of bigotry of jkr” like what.

Slytherin is the in universe equivalent of conservative sorority/fraternities actually. they are on normal campus with normal young adults but most of them are bigots with “traditional” beliefs who have a weird secret gang. they’re not lile systematically oppressed because people make assumptions based on the fact joined a notoriously bigoted sorority/fraternity😭

“Hogwarts houses are chosen at 11–“ the only kids who wouldn’t have joined knowing what Slytherin was about are halfbloods raised in the muggle world. If you wanted to criticize the characters for not getting rid of a house whoose main purpose was to radicalize young people/or keep them away from peers who would introduce them to non bigoted beliefs then sure, but the only criticism that can really be attributed to the Fuckwad is that the way houses are used in HP is very juvenile. but it is a children’s series sadly.

there are literally so many things to criticize about the world building of HP and how it is at least kinda racist but like the criticism of the houses in particular in this way has never made sense😭

[werewolfetone]

And loosely on the topic honestly sally rooney is far from my favourite author for other reasons but "it was bad because why don't they just talk to each other" is maybe the funniest ever thing to say about her books. apart from "the characters were flawed and did not act exactly as I imagine I should have personally behaved in an idealised universe and that made it bad" being an invalid criticism of any literary work (⬅️ this being to my mind the root issue; you can't just say a book is bad cos the characters weren't perfect), all this is doing is explaining in so many words that you've never interacted with an irish person before

[il3x]

(spoilers for reboot s2, but not the endgame!)

thinking about the reboot cloning plot again and you know I love a clone plot, but the fact that This Specific clone plot is presented as a neutral to positive thing kinda rubs me the wrong way. I think there should be more exploration of how fucked up it was.

Like... Seb decides, without consulting most of his teammates, that the best-slash-only way for Pr0 to escape his pursuers is to die. He does not ask Pr0 about this plan, he does not tell Pr0 about this plan. He just straight up Murders Him. That's already a pretty big violation, and it's done to a character whose arc is about escaping control and abuse.

THEN, when Pr0's cloned, Seb just... decides, again, Without Any Input, that what would be best for Pr0 is to have his memories edited to process/heal his trauma. Better than just deleting it entirely, I guess, but it's kinda iffy that 1. in rebootworld there is apparently A Singular Point Of Healing after which trauma doesn't bother you any more and 2. you can get to that point precisely via invasive surgery/genetic reprogramming adn. 3. this is a kind and good thing to do to (to!!! he's not doing it FOR Pr0! pr0's fucking dead! Seb killed him!!) your friend who Has Been Controlled Posessed And Moulded For Most Of His Life. not to mention that Seb, iirc, specifically words it as like. hey can you make him more useful to us. Kinda fucked up innit

also they straight up inject 4 years of simulated military service into pr0's mind and like That's also kinda fucked up eh. What if that also gives him trauma. What if pr0 was anti-war and would never have wanted those memories and the resulting alterations to his personality. He might've been, man, we don't know. because again Sebastian Killed Him.

anyways pr0 is explicitly a new person (without any of those pesky coping mechanisms that annoyed his teammates, yippee!! /sarcastic) now, and again. like. this Could Have Been Good. if it was treated as "yo that was kinda fucked up". but no. Peter/clone-Pr0 is totally chill with it. Even Xiang, who explicitly believes that peter/clone-pr0 is a separate person and original pr0 is dead, is totally chill with it. She's still dating Seb. Y'know. The guy who murdered your friend/apprentice in front of you.

And for some more fun (worrying) context, Seb is, at this point, Actively Preparing his plan for global eugenics to... forcibly sterilise all mean people, I guess?? I don't actually recall the details. But he is all too happy about making unilateral decisions on who deserves to live.

(His global eugenics plan which he would've gone through with if his gf hadn't talked him out of it, to be clear! His gf Xiang who is disabled and presumably Asian, and therefore probably has a vested interest in Not Doing Eugenics, and this still doesn't impact her opinion of Seb very much. Xiang deserved better, I'm sorry. I love everything about her except her taste in men.)

Oh, and for Further Context, the guy who offers to adjust Pr0's mind and actually makes the adjustments (and takes it upon himself to age Pr0 up four years physically) legally owns Pr0. Just in case you're wondering if it's really that fucked up to make non-consensual mind and body modifications to a human trafficking survivor whose previous non consensual body modifications were explicitly done by his captors as a form of abuse. Y'know.

Oh, fuck, and now I'm realising that said previous modifications (cybernetics, experimental drugs, etc - they're mentioned in ep1) were for the purpose of making him a better weapon. And in-universe, the necessity of giving Jazza's character some more combat levels comes through as Seb going "hey, dad, could you make him a better weapon". clears throat. Fucked Up innit.)

AND the only team member Seb consults about killing and rebooting Pr0 in the first place is Incongruent, iirc, who is also the only other main character with a "replace all humans with a better race [robots]" plan. Also worth noting that when Incongruent, a member of an oppressed class directly reacting to his oppression, wants to replace all humans, it's kinda fucked up and part of the dystopia and the other characters don't like it very much and Incongruent changes his mind of his own accord, but when Seb and his mom, members of the ruling class, want to replace humanity, it's hand-waved as an "oh well" dropped plot thread despite that having Even More potential to be a load-bearing piece of worldbuilding w/r/t "this is a fucked up dystopia".

I do get why this happened on a meta level - Jazza needed to reboot (heh) his character build. And in-universe, it kinda works, it has some fun parts. In isolation I really like how chill Peter is about being a clone. Icon behaviour. I also get that Seb is reacting to his own horrific trauma. But just. Y'know. I didn't like Seb in this arc very much, and I wish the narrative had acknowledged that more.

[lakesbian]

ok thank you everyone much appreciated. here's my reviews for fun

scp 1730: didn't care for this one very much, it's in the genre of scps that are trying to be action movies referentially synthesized from other scps. which is not something i think holds very much narrative appeal. additional subtracted points for "the Marxist extremist terrorist attack on the sears tower in 1994"

scp 4991: nothing to complain about here, perfectly fine 2 minute read. imitations of social media posts within scps are always fun when they're done well

scp 6595: the best thing this one has going for it is the part where the scp foundation interviewing muppets that are real and alive as a normal part of the universe is introduced and played completely straight without acknowledgement. apparently this bit was inspired by a predecessor article that also offhandedly includes the muppets being alive for real, but i overall liked this one more than the predecessor for having a more natural (and thus funnier/more interesting) take on it. however i think the most recent comment on it has agreeable criticism re a few factual and plot nitpicks. it doesn't feel like quite the attentive love letter to the source material that it could have, which is a shame, bc that's what elevates these scps referencing a pop culture thing from "not a bad read" to "genuinely quite good." and this just stayed at not a bad read level for me

scp 5999: im bad at mystery scps and scps that reference a bunch of other lore so i can't fairly review this but i thought it seemed well written...the exploration log had personality to it. also i notice a lot of scps just shamelessly casually don't include any female characters/don't include any women in non-stereotyped roles so i was glad that this one at least had women casually on the mobile task force and all that

scp 5031: ive read this one it's cute. i do always think it's funny how a story intended to subvert the idea of murder monster scps for wholesome effect does still textually take place in a setting where the scp foundation is feeding random prisoners to murder monsters lmao. it's a fun one though i like it

scp 2747: ive read this one before as well but i reread it bc it's so good. great concept and execution, by far the best one listed in this post so far. the linked tale is admittedly dense enough i don't have a thoughtful opinion on it but it's really well written too. this type of scp is scp at its best i think, higher concept horror couched in academic language. the fake media snippets are great, reminds me of the library of babel one that i also like

scp 2293: yeah this one's fun, not much to say about an scp that was created by someone online as a meme, but it does what it sets out to do well

scp 2790: i liked this one :) one of those short fun little "SCP affects the documentation" ones. like it's not unique no but it made me smile, it's fun (said in a different tone of voice than prior usages of the word 'fun' indicating that i liked this one more than those other ones but called them fun regardless because i didn't want my picky tendency towards calling things 'Fine.' as a review to sound mean)

scp 7179: agree w what the recommender said, concept is good, execution isn't much of anything. it's a short story about the horror of eternity that doesn't have a grasp on the scale of time or a natural progression of dread. amateur writing

the whole antimemetics division: already read it, my rating of different parts of it varies but overall it's my good friend because there's Urs in there. like from pact. soooo many fantastically fucked moments it's great. like the original antimeme scp is Fantastic in its own right and it's so impressive how the tale revealing what the indescribable object actually is succeeds at making the answer more horrible than whatever you were imagining. like in horror i think oftentimes people shoot themselves in the foot by removing a sense of mystery but here the answer to the question of what it is is terrifying and gripping

scary gatorade: recommender lied to me, it's not bad, it's good

scp 3001: ILL BE REAL. i get why people like this one. but i did not care about it that much i did not find the logs of the dude slowly progressing into madness™️ scary. LIKE I GET IT. but it's not up there for me at all

does anyone have any scp recommendations im in the mood to read scps. not ones that are bad please

[valnorok]

im really obsessed with dc right now and @sreppub's selkie drawings tingled my brain because seals r just so :3

i also ran with the idea of damian being a polar bear bc i just think its neat. once hes an adult he gonn be a UNIT but hes just a lil baby man rn

inspirations below the cut thank u pinterest

[raiiny-bay]

Love, Dhes

Parker,

It's unfair how time with you feels so short. How the last 10 years have felt like no time at all. I like to think there are other versions of us out there, somewhere. Maybe in another timeline, another universe. I like to think we find each other no matter where we are or what we're doing. That we're together and happy and I get to love you in a dozen different lifetimes. That's what I hope, anyway. And I hope when this lifetime ends, we get to start over and do it all again. Because once just isn't enough. Not for me. Not with you.

I hope the next 10 years pass slower.

Love, Dhes

[tshortik]

The traitor duo absolutely nobody has ever asked for | og meme

[soath]

Ashton “if this was a decentralized anarchist godkilling endeavor i might be in favor of it but you guys have an org chart. and i hate the person on top of it. so fuck you” Greymoore-of-the-Hishari, I’d say you’re a gem but everyone already knows that.