#like i have my Takes on why i think most of the villains on the qsmp outside of cucurucho feel very stale and not that great

[tulliok]

we stopped watching around the later seasons and barely remember what happened in them so we're encouraging you to talk about what you dislike or want to criticize

Got asked, so here’s my abridged season 8-9 thoughts.

As someone who grew up watching the show from the beginning, I have a lot of gripes with how “friendship” is defined as a power-up or a material resource. However, it really wasn’t that big of a deal because I understand that MLP is a show targeted towards young girls that enjoy playing with toys, and the show was able to still portray realistic and educational lessons. 

The introduction of a friendship school in season 8 was a poor decision for so many reasons. Narratively, it locks our main characters into a single location, and we go from having a cast with unique occupations and storylines… to one where all six share the same responsibilities as an instructor and tackle the same lessons. Especially when some of them don’t seem like the type to enjoy teaching at all.

But the biggest issue I have is that the school validates the show’s idea that friendship is a unique resource that has to be taught, and that comes with a load of problematic implications. To get to the worst one right away, the school came packaged with a storyline about xenophobia and Equestria’s prejudice against their foreign neighbors. The coding of non-pony species in the show has always had weird racial implications (yaks and dragons being depicted as loud, unintelligent barbarians, the buffalo and Zecora representing members of real marginalized groups), but it is made even worse in this season by depicting them as people that are uneducated and need to be taught basic social skills and lessons in a foreign land. The Friendship School is literally a project designed by Twilight to spread Equestria’s idea of friendship to other countries! On top of that, they introduce what is essentially a conservative, white supremacist pony as a villain, and to beat him Twilight needs to prove that the exchange students are worthy of being taught. I really don’t think I need to explain why this is extremely weird and shouldn’t even be in the show in the first place.

I love the show because of episodes like Amending Fences, Leap of Faith, and No Second Prances—episodes that teach children that relationships aren’t big battles of morality and power but are complicated experiences that everyone has a unique response to. These experiences cannot be taught in a school with sewing lessons and apple picking and taking exams. They are also not unique to any particular community or race—that is a fact of life that most children should immediately understand. It’s extremely disheartening watching the show regress to the point where Rarity is telling a young girl that her cultural costume isn’t pretty enough and she’s dolling her up in wigs to cover her braids and giving her etiquette lessons to “fit right in." I don’t care that the moral was that she was wrong; what’s wrong is that the show even bothered making episodes like this at all. 

Season 9 concludes with a happy ending where all is well, but it isn't because the young child villain, the one character that needed friendship lessons and the grace to grow up, was turned into a garden accessory without a second thought. All while surrounded by the redeemed villains that the series arbitrarily decided were more worthy of our sympathy.

I don’t want to overwhelm anyone with my opinions and I want to be as fair as possible about what made me so uncomfortable with the show’s conclusion. I am a longtime fan, but I also care a lot about children’s media being responsible with their messaging, especially when they tackle subjects that require a great level of care, such as race and relationships. MLP (whether older fans like it or not) is ultimately a show about teaching children valuable social skills and providing moral lessons with every adventure.

I doubt this mixed messaging was intentional on the writer’s part. Rather, the last seasons were recklessly handled. To a viewer’s eyes, there isn’t a difference between these two.

[utilitycaster]

Do you think the god debate and narrative around it in C3 would be more compelling if Ludinus only focused on killing the Betrayer Gods a la Cassida? As many pointed out, the impact that Primes have on mortals is largely positive. Aside from cool abilities, they give healing, meaning and comfort to their followers. Up until very recently (Braius) we haven't seen Betrayers do much of that and their followers are, more often than not, people who would cause great harm to others.

I actually do not. There's multiple questions in here, and honestly I could probably write 5000 words on any of them, which I'm not going to do, but I will split this up into components.

First: I don't think Ludinus is the problem at all. He is unambiguously the villain, but he is always narratively compelling. It is fun to make fun of him because he is genuinely a fantastically crafted villain. When I dunk on villains who are boring, it's nowhere near as fun because all you can say is "wow what do you even do. boring-ass" whereas Ludinus is full of interesting possibilities and hooks to be like how can you be so smart and have lived for so long and seen so much and come to the fucking worst conclusions. There's a reason why people have been side-eyeing him consistently since at least his first speaking appearance in Campaign 2, if not his first appearance ever, in Felderwin, and it's because he's a great character who I hope dies horribly. So his motivations are fine. I'm not saying the possibility you suggest wouldn't be a very interesting different story, but my complaints about narrative and the gods debate do not require anything different from Ludinus, who has been a consistent bright spot within the muddied narrative by being a consistent blot on Exandria and also sometimes the moon.

The narrative and the god debate are intertwined - the issue is a dull indecision that plagues both of them - so I'm splitting this one up a little differently.

What do I as a viewer think is the most reasonable stance regarding the gods based on my understanding of the worldbuilding of Exandria?

What is interesting to watch?

And therein lies the problem. I, as a viewer, think that killing the gods is a bad idea, and I've articulated this in various spaces and am not going to write another 5000 words about it right now, but between the events of past campaigns; the events of this campaign including Downfall; who within the narrative supports the choice to not kill the gods; and the complete uncertainty regarding the fate of existence let alone mortaldom should they be killed or chased away I have come to this position. Any counter-argument tends to rely either on entirely false statements, or a nebulous "a better world is possible" without any assurances that the allegedly better world is, in fact, probable. Ironically enough, I am not willing to take a leap of faith.

But as for what's interesting to watch? That's an entirely different story. My issue with the the gods debates is that they are endless, circular, indecisive, and between the least informed group of PCs we've had by a large margin. They say the same 5 sentences in different words over and over. It's like watching a bunch of high people while you're sober. It only hits hard if you're stupid. For more on this see here and here. If Bells Hells had decided 30 or 40 episodes ago to side with Ludinus, or to try to only kill the Betrayers, or to oppose Ludinus but kill the gods? Great. Fantastic. I'm not saying I wouldn't have had my critiques of it given the worldbuilding setup as described above, but I think it would have held up infinitely better as a standalone story, at least, than it does now. My problem is that instead they had endless circular indecisive conversations during a bunch of (comparatively much more interesting) fetch quests, finally came to some kind of conclusion that gave the end game some structure and direction like 4 episodes ago, and then had yet another wrench thrown at them. And convention panels and Cooldown have consistently confirmed my suspicions about the lack of planning in the places where this campaign really needed it. In my conversations after the latest episode, multiple people independently used the term "sludge" to describe their feelings about the plot.

In actual play, I want characters who have clear conviction and make bold and decisive moves because handwringing forever in such a slow-moving medium is excruciatingly boring. Like, do I think Percy in the Briarwoods arc is making good, informed decisions that make him a moral person? Absolutely the fuck not. Do I think the story where he's shooting first and asking questions later is infinitely superior to one where Vox Machina can't decide what to do for 50 episodes? Yeah.

The god debates are ultimately a symptom of this narrative aimlessness. The lack of an answer is the problem, not what the answer is.

[fools-ramblings-and-whatnot]

Character Musings: Neige vs Vil Fairest of them All

Aight so this is a fun little musing. This is not a full character analysis and based on my personal speculations. May be inaccurate as I am making headcanons along the way but its fun to write.

Neige Leblanche was warm. He was relatable, approachable and his naive ways was endearing. In the point of view of people, Neige was more like the masses. The People's sweet Prince.

Vil Schoenheit was cool. He was perfect in everyway. On camera he is as polite as amicable .Professional, Perfect and put on the pedestal. His beauty enchants his fans however, he is untainable. The Inhuman Queen.

In the point of view of the audience in Twst, Neige was more human because of his flaws, while Vil is more of a monarch. Someone to be worshipped but not approached.

They are both put in a pedestal, two Stars shining bright, however only one wished is upon.

That's the awfulness of parasocial relationships.

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Vil's constant effort to strive for perfection, in the most ironic and insulting way possible, backfired and kept him in second place.

He may be a versatile actor but he is always type casted a a Villain because no one wants a "hero" the audience cannot relate with.

The villain is always cold, calculating and beautiful like the moon. The Hero is always warm, hopeful and dazzling like the sun.

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Some Fans and people (referring again to Twst NPCS) like to delude themselves that they have a chance with an Idol, even unconsciously, even if they know its impossible, romantically or platonically. That is why they gravitate to the more approachable and flawed Neige. They want to be Neige or be with him.

While Vil?Oh they adore him, but he is seen as a star you gaze upon, not wish for. Vil, in the point of view of the masses, is in a different league than all of them.

So Vil is adored, worshipped and admired, like a painting in an exhibit, meant to stay under the bright lights but never approached. And somehow that makes him less popular, because some fans cannot delude themselves with Vil the way they delude themselves with Neige. They cannot fathom themselves being looked upon the untouchable Vil. They can fathom themselves living as "perfect" as he does. They cannot even imagine being his friend. He is just a literal "Idol"

Its awful, yes. Showbiz really is awful. It tears someone who doesn't have the strength to stand apart.

No camera can see how hard Vil works to be the best version of himself. No audience to hear his more inner thoughts, his fears and insecurities. Vil is a impenetrable wall.

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Have you ever wondered how discouraging it is to be defeated by someone who is born talented while you, your whole life, have to work hard to be on par with them? It eats you up.

It eats Vil up.

Not to say that Neige doesn't struggle. He went from probably destitute to famous, and the road towards that path isn't easy. Do you know how hard it is to be kind when the whole world isn't ? It takes a special courage to choose to see the better in people, no matter how naive that may be.

Also, do you think he got the opportunity Vil did when they were younger? Did he have the leisure of a childhood while taking care of 7 other people? Ah, this is all speculation but everything else is, isn't it?

Neige would not have grown watching movies or going abroad. He wouldn't be doing skincare routines or trying to improve his beauty . He was simply beautiful as is and that helped him survive.

Both have their struggles .

Both the masses would not know that.

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Neige isn't the fairest of them all because he is more beautiful than Vil, he is the fairest because people find his flaws endearing.

Vil isn't less fair than Neige, he is put in second place because the Twst audience find him too unreal.

It feels like a sin to love him more than a fan does.

Or to think he is within reach.

A mix of envy and admiration.

This, is something the Twst NPCs do not know. Perhaps if Vil opens himself up a little, the (NPC) masses would love him more.

And that's why its so confusing to us Vil isn't on top, because we know his story the way the Twst NPCs doesn't.

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So yes, The Fairest of them all is a biased title.

Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, unfortunately , the beholders do not see beyond the veil.

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Yuu wonders, if Neige and Vil knows they are more alike than they know.

[olympeline]

Been thinking about why I found Arthur in the Dark so impressive and it made me realise something kinda significant. Something significant that I’m going to put under a read more because it revolves around a heavy subject. So I wouldn’t advise looking beyond the cut if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing.

Less important, but everything below is a big spoiler and, guys seriously. If you like USUK and can handle darker fiction - no pun intended - give AitD a try. Don’t spoil yourself here. Go try it first and then come back if you’re interested. Try it if you’re neutral on USUK. Or, heck, even if USUK is a ship you dislike but isn’t an outright NOTP. I’d still recommend checking out this comic. Arthur in the Dark is still worth a read in my opinion. It’s that good. But enough gushing. Read on for the meat of this post.

Ready? Here we go: Arthur in the Dark has one of the best depictions of rape I’ve ever seen in a piece of media. “Best” as in most skillfully crafted for narrative purposes. Honestly and truly. Not even kidding. Which is kind of amazing considering it’s a depiction that came from a fan comic based on a jokey, anime gag series. Why do I feel this way? A couple of reasons:

Firstly, the rape in AitD is frighteningly, tragically realistic. Something the majority of fictional rapes are not. We tend to think of rape as taking place in a dark alley in the inner city. Stereotyping up a scene of a bottom feeder, criminal man dragging a (young, attractive) woman away to violate her. They’re usually total strangers and it’s always violent. These kind of rapes do happen, but statistics tell us they’re the minority. The majority of rapes happen like the one in AitD did: between two people who know each other well. Friends, romantic couples, even family members, make up the bulk of rapists and their victims.

Most narratives prefer the less common type of rape. Usually because the creator doesn’t want to tell a story about rape. Not really. What they want is a gut-punch to add easy drama and darkness to their creation. The sliding scale of “irredeemable bad guy” roughly goes: murderer → cold blooded torturer → rapist → child rapist. Making a villain a rapist is one of the worst things he - because 99% of the time it’s a he - can be. Conversely having a character be raped gains them instant sympathy because people are moral and empathetic creatures at heart. Most creators know this and throw in a rape for the shorthand: “Look how evil our villain is!” Which often makes the rape and its aftermath feel artificial. In no small part because the rapist characters, by virtue of being written to be the worst of the worst, don’t come off as very human. They can’t be when their main purpose is to be loathed by the audience. I could go on because there’s tons more to unpack about rape in fiction, but you get the point.

The rape in AitD isn’t like that. America and England know and love each other. Their relationship is complicated (oh boy, is it ever!) but that part of it is never in doubt. They’re each other’s most treasured person and have been for centuries. They’re not a duo made up of a flat, hate bait, villain on a collision course with their victim. Who’s doomed to suffer and be pitied until the creator decides the audience has had enough of their trauma and shuts it away so the story can move on. America and England are two people living together, going through a period of immense change and stress, trying to manage as best they can, and sometimes getting it very wrong. From a narrative point of view, this makes what happens between them so much better and so much more upsetting at the same time.

Which brings me nicely to reason number two of why this particular rape works: the build up. Like everything else in AitD, America raping England is carefully planned out and set up. The chocolate bar scene, man. Brilliant, I have to say. Alarming, uncomfortable, and brilliant. The scene in the garden is not just sprung on the reader for a jarring “Oh no! Oh shit-!” moment. If your typical under written rape is a cheap jump scare, the rape in AitD is a carefully crafted slowburn dread. Early on we start to become aware we’re building to something bad. From the foreshadowing, the art, the atmosphere, etc. We just know a storm is coming. It’s done without America acting OOC too, which is very important. It’s how he can come back from what he did. Something that would be impossible if the author didn’t handle this setup well. America’s actions aren’t right, but they are understandable. That’s the crucial distinction. The psychology of the whole thing is so very well done. America was in love with England and had been for a long time. The guilt he felt tormented him because of what their relationship was in the past. Caught between his human side and his immortal one. The guilt helped keep America in check because he didn’t want England seeing the lustful way he’d begun to look at him. Then they started living together and England was suddenly vulnerable. Vulnerable in more ways than America was aware. Which is another vital detail of how the creator keeps America sympathetic, but more on that in a moment. England willingly went blind so he wouldn’t have to see when America - the man grown from the child he raised - looked at him with lust. The guilt America felt peaked, only to clash with the realisation that he could freely indulge in his fantasies. Indulge and push (again, chocolate bar scene) now the usual moral restraint - England seeing his desire - was removed.

Meanwhile, England himself felt that same guilt but his was also laced with panic and despair. He didn’t want to lose or strain his relationship with the most important person of his centuries long life. Pulled between human standards of morality and the very inhuman existence of nation-people. Incidentally the clash between their existence as humans, while also being something more than human, is brilliantly done in AitD. It’s something that’s hard to get right - especially involving such taboo topics - but Hotama nails it. USUK usually handwaves the implications around England raising America, but here it’s made part of the narrative. Part of the tragedy, part of the resolution. Good stuff. Anyway, England begged Arthur to take his sight away so he wouldn’t have to see the way America looked at him. Then banished Arthur back into the dark in an attempt to run away from his problems. But without Arthur - without his strength - England couldn’t stand up to America when he needed to. Not that America was aware of any of this because he never knew about Arthur. Which brings me to point three: nuance of blame.

“Blame” is a very loaded word in this context, so I’ll do my best to talk about this carefully. Rape in the media is almost always black and white. Absolutely evil, irredeemable rapist. Absolutely blameless, sympathetic victim. But real life isn’t always that simple. Obviously the rapist is always the perpetrator and the one most in the wrong. I need to make that very clear. But the scene in AitD illustrates that sometimes a victim could have done more to help themselves. Not always, but sometimes. This is a delicate subject so I hope you understand I’m not trying to victim blame. Just saying that rape, like all crimes, doesn’t always deal in absolutes. Unlike media, real life is often complicated and tragic. Good people can give in to temptation. Be weak, do bad things, or allow those bad things to happen. England told America to stop, but failed to follow it up when needed. When America pushed for more and used England’s own words to argue he’d already been given consent, that was when England needed to push back. Interpretation comes in here but, personally, I think if England had told America to stop when prompted, America would have. But England didn’t and he gave in instead. Something America took as a tacit “yes.” Again, not right, but understandable in how it could happen. Their power imbalance had grown extreme, stress and feelings were running high, they were struggling to connect as they used to, England’s prior cowardice and separation from Arthur prevented him from being strong when he needed to be, America was ignorant of his problem, and it all came together in a horrible, tragic mistake. All throughout, the rape continued to be brilliantly, awfully realistic. America not noticing - either genuinely or from denial - that England was not enjoying what was happening. England quickly becoming too distracted by the pain to do anything other than focus on enduring it. Then the aftermath where America didn’t realise what he’d just done due to coming down from a post-sex, post-stress euphoria. Awful, miserable, horrifying, tragic, perfectly crafted scene.

Which brings me to my final reason why this comic impressed me in its depiction of rape: where the story goes from there. Where it goes and how the narrative builds from the rape instead of trying to move on because the “shocking” part is over and now we’re in diminishing returns. Going back to my first point, too many stories see rape as something that happens in an isolated part of the narrative. It happened, it was shocking and brutal, now it’s done and we can move on because we didn’t plan to interweve the rape with the rest of the story. So we won’t give it the weight it needs. At best the victim might get a few scenes expressing their trauma later on - maybe a callback or two - but that’s it. It’s shallow. Plenty of fictional rapes could be replaced with a savage beating and nothing would change. In the worst cases you could remove the rape, not replace it with anything, then run the story with minimal problems. Not so in AitD. There, the rape isn’t just another semi-important plot point. It’s a crucial one which couldn’t be replaced with anything else. The whole first part of the story, the engine of the narrative, is built around America and England failing to deal with their changing relationship. A relationship between a pair of humans who also happen to be strange, immortal beings that ordinary humans can’t understand. Changing from platonic/familial to romantic over hundreds of years. With romance comes lust. Lust can be perfectly healthy just like any other bodily appetite. In this case it became twisted by circumstance, and the only “suitable” narrative payoff was rape. Nothing else would have had the necessary impact.

Then there’s how the rape compares to the final sex scene in some classic narrative juxtaposition. The final sex scene which happens to be the only one in the comic that’s fully consensual on both sides. The one that goes beyond sex and becomes real, honest to goodness lovemaking. It’s a perfect contrast. The rape scene had all the trappings of a classic romance. Right down to it being their first time and taking place in a rose garden. But it’s tragic, horrifying, and deeply unsexy. Then, near the end of their story, America and Arthur get lost on their road trip and have sex in their car. Their crappy, cramped car, where they’re surrounded by ordinary luggage, both of them sweaty and a little cranky with each other after a long day. It’s awkward, ordinary, imperfect and gorgeous. If we didn’t have the rape before to show us the nadir of this relationship, the healing and the dawn that came after wouldn’t be half so meaningful. A very strange thing to say without context, but it was a perfectly done rape that gave the audience the payoff of perfectly done lovemaking. It’s no small feat to get a reader to cheer for a romantic resolution after all of the above. Kind of in awe of Hotama’s skills, I tell you what.

Up to this point and I don’t know what else there is to say other than, geez. This comic, man. Blew me away. I’m so happy I rediscovered my interest in Hetalia if for no other reason than I got to read Arthur in the Dark. I’m a bit of a bookworm in my spare time and I’ve read quite a lot of classic literature over the years. Classic literature with rape scenes not crafted half so well as AitD did. Really think about that. An amateur fan comic based on a jokey gag series about national personifications being silly with each other. Did better at something than the books we hold up as the best of the best. Can’t really say anything else than that is genuinely bloody amazing

[generalluxun]

A second scene between fics.

“-and that’s the latest we have on this new hero careening across the streets of Paris,” Nadja Camchak’s image smiled vaguely from the TV screen.

“Can we even call them a hero, Nadja?” Her co-anchor asked with an even more vapid cheer.

“Well Jean,” Nadja simpered, “It’s definitely a curious situation. They helped defeat an akuma, but almost immediately got in a fight with our very own Ladybug. How are we supposed to interpret that, especially alongside moments like these?”

She gestured at the air and a half dozen images of Purrge apprehending criminals, pulling people from ruined cars, and even rescuing a cat, scrolled behind her.

“I think it’s safe to say that at the very least they’re not a villain. Perhaps we have a heroic territorial dispute on our hands?”

The camera swung back to Jean who was frowning in overexaggerated concern, “A most troubling thought, Nadja. It doesn’t help that when asked for comment this Not-Cat-Noir hissed at reporters and crushed a microphone.”

Nadja tilted her head in mock camaraderie, “Well Jean-”

*Kthunk* The heavy slap of metal plates overrode the TV.

The TV that hung small and as an afterthought in a stuffy room that predated the very idea of a ‘recreational gym.’ Le Grand Paris had repurposed it for guests, stuffed it full of exercise machinery despite the lack of ventilation, though only one patron was present at the moment.

Chloé leaned forward, panting where she sat at the lat-pull down machine. As sweat dripped down her face, framing a maniacal grin, she glanced up at the news cast, “Ha! Crushed it, bit it in half, and spit it back in his face more like.”

Almost empty; Plagg floated up out of a nest of discarded hand towels, cackling. He floated up towards the screen. “You people have made so many new and interesting things to break since I was last out. Electronics? Sparks and fires already barely contained. It’s brilliant!”

Chloé adjusted her fingerless gloves and reached up for the pull bar again. She made sure of her grip before starting another set, “nnf. You should have seen the cat one. Hfff. Cat in a tree? Cataclysm! Gnnf.  Poof! No tree and I didn’t even drop the cat.”

Plagg sidebarred, “I would hope not.” Then louder, “What’s with all this? There’s not a butterfly in sight when you go out.”

Chloé’s response continued between repetitions, “Better. Than. Ladybug.”

Plagg gestured at the screen. “Yeah, but it’s not making you any friends.”

“Doesn’t. Matter. Better.”

He flew down, dodging back and forth under the rise and fall of weights as Chloé worked.

When she stopped he sat on the weights and asked, “You aren’t moving this anywhere, just back and forth.”

She slumped forward again, forehead against the frame of the weight machine. Sucking in deep breaths in shakey gulps. “Get stronger. That’s how it works, right? You said. For fighting.”

The words seemed to take a while to sink in, or maybe he was considering his answer more than usual. Chloé’s ragged panting filled up the room. Plagg twitched one ear slowly. “Kinda? My power enhances what you already got. So unless you take lessons you’re not suddenly become good with the baton-”

“-stupid stick anyway-”

Plagg wrinkled his nose and deadpanned. “...Right… Anyway, but if you are strong, or fast, you get stronger or faster… like you with your jumps-”

“-eight years of ballet.”

Plagg waved a paw. “Whatever that is. Yeah. So, sure you can raise the baseline, but that takes time. It’s not gonna happen overnight.”

Chloé sat up again and wiped the sweat from her lips. “Doesn’t matter, I’ll still be better.”

Plagg squinted. As Chloé reached up for the bar again he floated off the weights quickly. “Look, fun is fun, but your room says ‘Miss Priss’ to me, so why the sudden urgency?”

She adjusted her grip, looking through him into the past. “I won’t lose this time.”

“What do you mean by-”

The beep and click of the gym door unlocking sent Plagg diving for cover. The door opened slowly and André’s head showed itself around the edge. Spotting Chloé, he paused. “Sweety, hi. I am glad you are enjoying the gym, but our patrons need to be able to use it too…”

Chloé instantly scowled, standing and stomping her foot. “No! I need my privacy. They can have it when I ‘m done.!”

André grimaced. “Honey, I’ll get you a new gym. There’s that old ice rink no one uses any more. You’d have the biggest gym in Paris!”

The mention of the rink triggered a memory. She hadn't gotten the gym back then either; another failure. “No! I don’t want that one. Give it to your guests. This one is mine!”

She stomped her foot again for good measure. Instead of retreating though André’s expression hardened again. “If the gym isn’t open in fifteen minutes, honey, I’ll have the lock changed on it and you won’t get the new key.”

He pulled his head back like the world’s fastest snail as soon as he was finished speaking. The door clicked shut while Chloé was still fighting to not swallow her own tongue in rage.

Plagg poked his head up and scented the air quickly. “Hey now, kid, it’s no big deal. It’s just one time, right kid? Kid?”

“Claws out!”

Purrge grabbed the exercise machine she had been using by one upright and heaved the multi-station behemoth across the room.

Steel buckled, plaster crumbled, and heavy plates splintered the hardwood floor. The tangled wreckage effectively blocked the only exit. It was still minutes before anyone dared try the handle from the other side. Rattle, rattle, click. The door wasn’t budging. Muffled voices called out in intermined frustration and concern.

Purrge sat on the floor, back against the wall and knees to her chest. She held one hand palm up above them. The swirling motes of cataclysm danced and popped in the air; all potential one moment, the next nothing. Her slitted eyes watched unblinking at the world moved on around her.

[demodraws0606]

I hope i'm not stepping on any toes when I say I have extremely Mixed feelings on Forever's lore right now

[themyscirah]

Suffering more than Jesus atm (being a fan of 80s/90s Suicide squad in 2024)

[basssiliskk]

I have personal beef with most of the tiktok mlp infection aus because of how they mischaracterize or immediately kill off Twilight as if she doesn't literally give off the most potent Final Girl vibes 💀 like she's smart, strong, and knows how to function both alone & w/ a group. Her ass would NOT be dying immediately. Then if they don't make her the first to die they usually make her the evil-scientist villain or something.

Really missing the whole point of why survival horrors are scary, the main conflict should revolve around the struggle of surviving in a wasteland and the strained relationships that come along with that. What good does having a "main antagonist" do? They defeat them and then what? There's still zombies outside

[shopcat]

who are ur favorite mha characters?? :3 mine are aoyama and kirishima and bakugo is like my pet hampter

cut because i got embarrassedddd

TBH bc there's no character i like necessarily Hate other than like endeavour and overhaul im a lover at hearttttt i think so many charas are fun in some way or other or at least have interesting designs or something or a fun dynamic w someone else that makes them cool TEEHEE ^_^ i love kiri too and aoyama is sooo funny and i rmr the day everyone found out he was the traitor so vividly. also all the candidates for who it was before him omfg ... that was what we call dj crazy times. i am definitely more of a kirishimahead than i used to be what people don't understand about him is he's actually emo for real like for real though i always thought he was funnyyy with his likes listed as "manly men" LMFAO 😭 GAY 🫵 . OH and i do love bakugou he's so stupid & i enjoy the platonic (🤨) baku deku dynamic a lot they are teenage boys. which is such a nothingburger statement and yet So true. but you basically can't hate bakugou anyway with a rowan in your heart that's just stupid and talking about him w him over the years has formed a lot of fondness for him he's weirdo

anyway. myyy favourites will always be shinsou todoroki & aizawa (That one oomf who does NOT play about aizawa) but i love deku too idg how people can watch/read something and dislike the MAIN CHARACTER like omfg you're so sour he's legiterally my c section baby =_=. i also love TAMAKI he's my lockscreen atm he's like my bias wrecker my other c section baby. my beautiful twins. over all i'd say i enjoy thinking abt the whole todoroki family in general minus endeavour but in a way bc of the endeavour shaped hole too + dabi both in that and otherwise just as himself yknow. & tomura is my oomf in another life. pretty much the whole league too but i love toga and need to safe her like she's literally 16. though i have a certain fondness for twice atm at least and also spinneraki nation.

ummm i think about the weird tragic amalgamation of kuroboro mostly by nature of also being erasermic nation. i generally just hold a lot of care for pretty much all of 1a minus you know .. i think outside of the quote unquote main cast i love mina the most she's so cute & came around on denki too i'm taking custody of him awayyyy from horikoshi like for real. at this point in time i think hawks is cool and a hottie with a body and i will 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖙𝖊𝖈𝖙 him re: tragic backstory... also obv i love monoma he's crazy and ibara ocd realness and i like the mushroom girl whose name i don't know she's creeepyyyy. hound dog is also cool i like all the anthros and such LOVE tokoyami another real emo... and i am not an all might hater i am an all might lover (🤨). i can't think of anyone else rn there's too many of these bitches. my final message goodbye.

[no1ryomafan]

My brain has gone back and forth on between which anime if arma or new is my favorite. Cause even with all its issues Arma means a lot to me, it’s the reason I got into getter and helped me through one of the worst times of my life- But then new is objectively better written and it drives me nuts compared to arma it’s not talked about ENOUGH despite all the stuff you can poke at from it’s plot and I’m trying to pinpoint that reason since the general consensus is “no one hates new and it gets a lot of fanart in the Japanese community yet it’s never deeply acknowledged so it feels unpopular”

So my standpoint is “do I keep investing into the popular iteration despite its issues or do I invested into the less flawed unpopular iteration when it comes to introducing getter to new people?” cause man as much as I’m a critical person of media I still can forgive some messy writing if I have a good time with it and can clearly tell the staff had fun making it, which is definitely armas case. (Though they absolutely had fun with new too)

[critterchitters-closedcaptions]

funny thing about attraction is that i am Not at all interested in cis guys. right.

except for the literal worst fictional men you've ever layed eyes on.

this character is horrible and *will* harm my general health?

comfort character babey.

occasionally theres the just Regular Ass Guy right, but 90% of the time its either women or the literal scum of the earth (or both. lady villains. aaough <3 yes please)

[boygirlctommy]

i madeeee sillay new characters and i love them

[steakout-05]

i think having TF2 as a special interest really early in my childhood influenced so many things about myself and my identity.... my gender is big men my sexuality is big men and my sense of humour is big men. i even named myself after the "very tiny and scrawny but still big" big man and i think about all the big men in TF2 on a semi daily basis,,,,,, anyway yeah i like the men in TF2 :)

[lecliss]

OO has me in a fucking vice grip with the urge to lunge at Seph's throat!!!!!!! I can't fucking believe he convinced Kadaj to join him!!!!!! I'm gonna go fucking feral!!!! Leave my sonboy alone!!!!! He has no free will!!! He keeps being used for what Jenova wants cuz of the cells and he keeps being used by Seph as a remnant!!! Daj can never truly have something of his own accord cuz of the very meaning of his existence!!!!! He can never be an individual cuz of them, but without them he wouldn't exist!!!! LET HIM BE HIS OWN PERSON!!!!

And to top it off, Team Ninja dangles a Loz and Yazoo tease in my face after I just said I need Kadaj to have his real brothers back!!!! FUCK!!!! I FUCKING HATE FINAL FANTASY!!!!!!!

[weaselle]

i want to talk about real life villains

Not someone who mugs you, or kills someone while driving drunk, those are just criminals. I mean VILLAINS.

Not like trump or musk, who are... cartoonishly evil. And not sexy villains, not grandiose villains, not even satisfyingly two dimensional villains it is easy to hate unconditionally. The real villains.

I had a client who was a retired executive for one of the big oil companies, i think it was Shell or Chevron. Had a home just outside of San Francisco that was wall to wall floor to ceiling full of expensive art. Literally. I once accidentally knocked a painting off the wall because it was hanging at knee height at the corner of the stairs, and it had a little brass plaque on it, and i looked up the name of the artist and it was Monet's apprentice and son-in-law, who was apparently also a famous painter. He had an original Andy Warhol, which should have been a prize piece for anyone to showcase -- it was hanging in the bathroom. I swear to god this guy was using a Chihuly (famous glass sculptor) as a fruit bowl. And he was like, "idk my wife was the one who liked art"

I was intrigued by this guy, because in the circles i run this dude is The Enemy. right? Wealthy oil executive? But as my client, he was... like a sweet grandpa. A poor widower, a nice old man, anyone who knew him would have called him a sweetheart. He had a slightly bewildered air, a sort of gentle bumbling nature.

And the fact that he was both of these things, a Sweet Little Old Man and The Enemy, at the same time, seemed important and fascinating to me.

He reminded me of some antagonist from fiction, but i couldn't put my finger on who. And when i did it all made sense.

John Hammond.

probably one of the most realistic bad guys ever written.

If you've only ever seen the movie, this will need some explaining.

Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park in 1990, and i read it shortly thereafter. In the movie, the dinosaurs are the antagonists, which imo erases 50% of the point of the story.

book spoilers below.

In the book, John Hammond is the villain but it takes the reader like half the book to figure that out. Just like my client, John is a sweet old man who wants lovely things for people. He's a very sympathetic character. But as the book progresses, you start to see something about him.

He has an idea, and he's sure it's a good one. When someone else dies in pursuit of his dream, he doesn't think anything of it. When other people turn out to care about that, he brings in experts to evaluate the safety of his idea, and when they quickly tell him his idea is dangerous and needs to be put on hold, he ignores his own experts that he himself hired, because they are telling him that he is wrong, and he is sure he is right.

In his mind, he's a visionary, and nobody understands his vision. He is surrounded by naysayers. Several things have proven too difficult to do the best and safest way, so he has cut corners and taken shortcuts so he can keep moving forward with his plans, but he's sure it's fine. He refuses to hear any word of caution, because he believes he is being cautious enough, and he knows best, even though he has no background in any of the sciences or professions involved. He sends his own grandchildren out into a life-threatening situation because he is willfully ignorant of the danger he is creating.

THIS is like the real villains of the world. He doesn't want anyone to die. Far from it, he only wants good things for people! He's a sweet old man who loves his grandchildren. But he has money and power and refuses to hear that what he is doing is dangerous for everyone, even his own family.

I think he's possibly one of the most important villains ever written in popular fiction.

In the book, he is killed by a pack of the smallest, cutest, "least dangerous" dinosaurs, because a big part of why we read fiction is to see the villains face thematic justice. But like a cigarette CEO dying of lung cancer, his death does not stop his creation from spreading out into the world to continue to endanger everyone else.

I think it is really important to see and understand this kind of villainy in fiction, so you can recognize it in real life.

Sweetheart of a grandfather. Wanted the best for everyone. Right up until what was best for everyone inconvenienced the pursuit of his own interests.

And my client was like that too. His wife had died, and his dog was now the love of his life, and she was this little old dog with silky hair in a hair cut that left long wispy bits on her lower legs. Certain plant materials were easily entangled in this hair and impossible to get out without pulling her hair which clearly hurt her. When i suggested he ask his groomer to trim her lower leg hair short to avoid this, he refused, saying he really liked her usual hair cut.

I emphasized that she was in pain after every walk due to the plant debris getting caught in her leg hair, and a simple trim could put an end to her daily painful removal of it, and he just frowned like i'd recommended he take a bath in pig shit and said "But she'll be ugly" and refused to talk about it anymore.

Sweet old man though. Everyone loved him.

[kiss2012]

ummmmm ok.