#never trust the narrative bias of a show like this

[tossawary]

I finished Volume 3 of SVSSS, which encompasses the main story, and currently have my bookmark sitting at the first chapter of the Airplane Extras in Volume 4. I took a bunch of quote pics but have yet to review them and add thoughts.

Every time I read SVSSS, I forget how... incredible... the inside of Shen Yuan's head is. He's fascinating.

Like, he's misogynistic (even while criticizing Airplane's own misogynistic writing), he's homophobic, AND he's transphobic. Not in a way where I think he thinks anyone deserves fewer rights than anyone else (I think he's generally a nice person, although, holy shit, I would not trust this man to craft policy of any kind) or would prevent anyone from living however they chose to live, a lot of his problematic bullshit stays inside his own head as he tries to understand the world around him using the stallion novel formulas he was given, but he's carrying around SO MUCH unexamined bias that supports his refusal to examine himself and his own desires.

Some of it reads (presumably intentionally) a LOT like the kind of conflicting, problematic bullshit a lot of queer people carry around inside their heads as they struggle to untangle themselves and their beliefs.

And while I do wish that Shen Yuan had been forced to confront and address his misogyny and transmisogyny even further than it does come up (in part because it is DEFINITELY affecting the way he thinks about gay men as well, including and especially Binghe), I do kind of... appreciate on some level that he thinks this way? From a character standpoint? Because I think it's probably realistic for a privileged young man spending a lot of time on the internet reading shit like PIDW to look at the world this way. And it's clear even through his own narration that his blindness in certain areas is causing him a lot of trouble. While I do have criticisms and personal wishes, I do appreciate the depiction of personal character development that is just... a cringeworthy mess of internalized bullshit the whole fucking time.

Also, it's SO funny to me that he reads as SO aro-ace-spectrum to me (probably gay, but generally detached from sexuality and possibly also partially from gender) AND he actually knows... the word asexual, I don't think he has a very broad understanding of asexuality... but he knows the word and yet doesn't personally identify that way. He mentally accuses both Luo Binghe (main story, before finding out Binghe is into him) and Liu Qingge (Succubus Extra) of being asexual for showing no interest in women, only to fail to reflect on how he ALSO demonstrably has no lasting personal interest in the women around them, which doesn't read as very genuine to me.

(EDIT: Again, I am not against a bisexual Shen Yuan interpretation either! I am willing to be persuaded by any author who wishes to tell a particular story. But Shen Yuan's attraction towards women often reads personally to me as very shallow and possibly insincere.)

"I willingly read PIDW, that proves I'm straight!" he sincerely thinks to himself, even though his favorite wife is the one without explicit sex scenes and he also admits to skipping over a lot of them.

"I'm able to tell when women are beautiful, that makes me straight!" thinks the guy who mentally censors nudity whenever demon women lose their clothes, and keeps telling us how "the average reader" of PIDW would react to these beautiful women instead of conveying his own attracted reactions. His actual reactions are generally centered on a woman's narrative significance. The only people he personally seems to find attractive are Luo Binghe and maybe Liu Qingge.

Though my interpretation was that he does probably experience sexual arousal and have a sex drive (see his username), which probably helps with his conviction of straightness, I'm not sure that there's any mention of Shen Yuan even masturbating at all in the entire main story of SVSSS? He never tried to hook up with anyone. Sex is apparently not a priority for him.

(EDIT: He does seem to enjoy sex with Binghe in the "Bing-mei vs. Bing-ge" Extra. He loves Binghe and likes the closeness and the physical pleasure. I appreciate the indication that they're working on moving on from the AWFUL intercourse pushed by Xin Mo's possession and possibly also the System's Scenario Pusher.)

And Shen Yuan seems to view women as being and behaving Fundamentally Differently from men and gay men as behaving Fundamentally Differently from straight men (as soon as he learns Binghe is into him, he thinks about how Binghe isn't behaving like the characters in his sister's gay, non-con, BDSM erotica novels), seeing everything through the lens of novel tropes, such that he seems to view sex and sexuality and gender as being deeply mixed with a person's personality. So he can't be a gay man, because he's too "Normal", in his mind at first, because he doesn't behave like his own mental image of "How Gay Men Behave" (or "How Women Behave / A PIDW Wife Behaves"), while also demonstrably not being anything like "the average reader" of PIDW and also apparently not caring too much about his own masculinity? Like, I do think he likes being the gentleman scholar of Qing Jing Peak, he does like appearing dignified and strong and cool, he doesn't like losing, he doesn't really like playing "damsel in distress" roles, and I do think he likes being gallant towards women, but he's not too concerned about seriously competing with figures like Luo Binghe or Liu Qingge? He's happy enough to back down and let someone else take the lead if necessary. He puts up with being put into the roles of female leads even if it embarrasses him and he rolls with the punches to his pride easily enough. He seems to have decided his Sexuality By Default, so it does make me have a lot of thoughts about whether or not he's potentially going with Gender By Default / Convenience as well.

Someone get this man some amateur and academic literature on gender and sexuality (and a lot of other stuff), stat, so he can ignore it, probably.

[blindbeta]

I've noticed that you are interested in stories with multiple blind characters and often propose adding more blind characters to a story as a solution. I really struggle with this because it's not as simple as that -- stories don't have infinite narrative space. The idea that every story has a large cast is influenced by the prevalence of long serialized media in fandom: webcomics, TV shows, etc. But many writers (myself included) write a lot of novellas and short stories which often only have a few characters -- maybe even only 1 or 2! Even novels don't usually have huge expansive casts -- maybe 5 main characters with some additional side characters.

Considering this, I don't understand how it's realistic for every story (or even, say, 50% of stories) to have multiple blind characters (without it feeling forced). This is compounded by the fact that most blogs that talk about other forms of representation say the same! So if I write a 2-character short story and the protagonist is a blind Latino man, does the second character also have to be a blind Latino man? It just doesn't make sense! This is just a general problem I've noticed in discussions around representation -- there's an assumption that every cast will have 10+ characters and narrative space to develop those characters, even though that's not realistic for most narrative forms.

Do you have any thoughts on this?

Writing Multiple Blind Characters in Short Stories

Hi Anon! Surprise. I write short stories as well. I have experience with this. I have never felt like my blind characters were forced or unrealistic, even with having several of them in the same story. I’ll try to explain what might help you.

First, the idea that multiple blind characters is forced or unrealistic comes from ableism. Think about why you feel there is a limit on disabled characters. If you can create stories, I would hope you are creative enough to consider the possibility that multiple blind characters could exist in the same place and time. Challenging this barrier opens up more possibilities, allowing you to explore different types of blindness, different reactions to it, different upbringings, and multiple ways of living, adapting, and navigating being blind.

Second, blind characters need access to their own community. This is where they learn how to be blind. This where they get support. This is where they might find understanding and belonging. You can find more information about community here in an excellent reblog. Also, here.

As you mentioned, I often suggest adding more blind characters when writers insist upon using stereotyped portrayals. Having multiple characters with different experiences helps to make your story more realistic and nuanced, contrary to what people might implicitly believe. Having more than one blind character is something I highly recommend because it helps with not having all your representation rest on the shoulders of one character.

For example, if you are worried a main character who has cloudy eyes might reinforce the idea that all blind people have cloudy eyes, having another blind character with a different experience may help. If one of your blind characters is naive and innocent, you might have another blind character who is brash, displays a lack of trust in others, and has a lot of shocking stories. Maybe they’re in a rock band together. They met while playing blind football (aka soccer) on a middle school team. They bonded over their pet cats and sour patch kids.

Or something.

Another important thing to remember when writing is that you have control over the story. Too many writers come to me feeling stuck because they feel they cannot change their story while also wanting to incorporate my suggestions. This makes it challenging to address implicit bias or stereotypes, much less guide writers in going in different directions.

Additionally, I feel uncomfortable with the complaints about other blogs in this ask. I feel like this isn’t really about me, nor is it something I can comment on. I will say that it sounds as if a bunch of blogs dedicated to helping people write marginalized characters are mentioning some of the same things. They are probably doing so for a reason.

However, while it helps, writing multiple blind characters won’t improve every story, which I explained in my review of the book Blind. I was not impressed with this book. I did not feel that the four blind characters were very good, nor did having them help with offsetting the portrayal of blindness as a miserable experience.

Conversely, one of my favorite blind characters is Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Despite being the only blind character in the show, the writers did a good job with her. Would I have liked her to meet more of her community as she travels with the Gang? Absolutely. Even though I like her, she still never had access to her community after being isolated by her parents for so long.

So, no, you don’t need to have multiple blind characters if the suggestion bothers you this much. I even provided good examples of what to do, what not to do, and times where my typical advice was not as helpful for the resulting story.

However, please consider where these feelings stem from. Consider the origins of the idea that having multiple blind characters is unrealistic. Using the example you provided in your question, I wonder, would you say the same if both your characters were white and abled? Is there any way you can challenge the fear of seeming unrealistic? What about being considered unrealistic bothers you so much?

You don’t necessarily need to have characters in the story for them to exist. Even background characters can help. I will try to give some ideas for this:

Does your blind character have family they can talk about or remember? Are any of their family members blind?

Do they have any friends? Just because the friends aren’t in the story doesn’t mean they don’t exist at all.

Does the blind character have any formative memories or flashbacks?

Does the character who isn’t blind know any blind folks?

Your characters should have lives outside of the story. They should have memories and experiences that made them who they are. This is where you can have other blind characters. Perhaps this is how your blind character can have a community.

However, I would still like to see more blind characters interacting with each other. This is what I want as a blind person. If you don’t want to go that direction, that’s fine.

I hope this helps.

[mitchfynde]

Tumblr conservatives have invented a creative new way to win debates. They simply don't debate you.

I've had shitloads of debates on this website over the years. Almost every single one was frustrating, due to multiple factors. The one factor that usually stayed consistent is that my opponent would at least argue something. Doesn't matter if they were right or wrong; Even if their argument was complete and utter nonsense, they at least attempted to make one.

Since the insurrection on January 6th, 2021 and the aftermath revealing Donald Trump's fake electors plot, I've noticed a shift in conservatives on tumblr. They often don't make an argument anymore.

What conservatives do now is circulate narratives. You can try to debate them on these narratives, but it ultimately does nothing. The facts don't matter at all. They have headlines that confirm what they want to be told and they have years of experience with evil leftists online that completely cement their bias forever.

What you will find is that now you're evil. Now you're bad faith. You're not worth being debated, because you're a liberal or you're a leftist and you're not to be trusted. If you include even the smallest insult, it's somehow seen as duplicitous.

Nevermind the endless bigotry at the heart of their belief system which leads them to endlessly mock people based on circumstances outside of their control. Never mind the fact that even if you are a cishet white man that is on the same footing as them in life, you'll still be insulted just based on your beliefs. They have no standards but double-standards. Remember the old saying?

"If feminists didn't have double-standards, they'd have no standards at all."

But let's look back at multiple of those.

"Feminists can't interact with any kind of media without bringing their politics into it."

"Feminists want everything to be censored."

"Feminists make politics their whole personality."

"Feminists are constantly triggered by mundane things and basic facts."

Maybe most damning:

"Feminists refuse to debate me."

It's time to face facts. The right became exactly what they hated the most. They hold liberals to normal standards, but conservatives to none. Every single movie, show, or game is now woke if it includes anything outside of a straight white man as the focus of the game. They want all LGBT messages censored from media and branding. Everything is about being MAGA, even outside of the USA. They will lose their shit over any talk of climate change, psychology, vaccines, etc.

They no longer actually debate you, because they can't. They've been proven wrong long ago. It's over. They haven't had facts on their side for years. They've had to leave reality and form an internet bubble of alternative facts. Although, let's face it, they didn't actually form that bubble. Russia did. And they did it to destroy the USA and the west as a whole, but that's a different discussion.

If you have conservative friends, be kind. They're brainwashed. They most likely feel strongly that they are serving a higher purpose by doing what they're doing. They can't actually perceive that they're wrong because they've lost the ability to discern fact from fiction. They may snap out of it eventually if they learn to hold any actual standard long enough. That should be our goal. Make them hold pretty much ANY standard whatsoever.

Rant over.

[imthepunchlord]

Just a random question, but do you like adrien and marinette being the main duo, or do you think two other people would've been better?

Yes and no.

It's kinda complicated.

So, with my long break from Miraculous, clearing out my salt mines, and doing a gradual rewatch of the show with fresh eyes and enjoying the nostalgia of what used to be, I can say I am reminded on why, we as a fandom, enjoyed them as leads and as a pair.

There was some yin-yang potential in their dynamic, specifically playing off Lady Wifi introducing the Head vs Heart idea.

Marinette's an Empathetic Head. She's observant and perceptive, the planner and quick thinker, typically, she responds logically to what's presented to her. But she does feel deeply for others, and that empathy and kindness drives her to step up and help others.

Adrien in turn is a Reasonable Heart, at least, meant to be. He works off his feelings, goes with his gut, his wants; but he's also meant to be the emotional reason, knowing what to say to ground those that are getting caught up in themselves, offer support and direction, one they didn't consider or see before.

It nicely places off that theme that there's a little bit of the other in the counterparts, which is why the two halves have those dots, a little bit of yang resides in yin and vice versa.

And between the fluff and the snark and the support/loyalty they do offer each other, that potential for them as partners and users for the Cat and Ladybug is there.

Unfortunately, the writers' bias and stubbornness ruined that dynamic. What's meant to be a partnership of equals never becomes equals. Adrien never steps up as a leader and shares the weight of responsibility, and Marinette never feels like she can ease back and trust others to handle things, making her feel like she has to solve everything and be THE solution.

There's also the factor that they decided to prioritize the romance over the friendship, which did not really help Adrien as a hero as he focused more on his romantic pursuits than being a hero, flirting at the wrong time, not taking anything seriously... it was a bad look. And then Adrien and Marinette as civilians, despite being stated to be friends, I kinda question if they truly are. Adrien never actively goes to hang out with Marinette on his own, most of the time, there's a social expectation for them to hang out as civilians, or a favor is involved.

One of the aspects that has a romance work is having a good friendship to be that foundation. But the writers don't value friendship, not between actual friends and not between the love interests.

And the third issue is their means of growth.

Thomas, unfortunately, echoed the idea that girls grow through suffering. So Marinette's growth is just having the narrative against and giving her a hard time and she just can't win no matter what she does. Damned if she do, and damned if she don't. And I got to see that she developed anxiety and has an Atlas Complex and is very stress and just...

And with Adrien, he's just stagnant. He doesn't get involved in his own plot. He doesn't step up to the responsibility of being a hero, nor does he seek to share the weight of leadership. He's handed things on a silver platter, is allowed to be upset and petty and recklessly use his power.

And all of these factors just throws a big wrench into the potential of their partnership and them as leads and as the Cat and Ladybug heroes.

Better writers can make them work. And I bet there are a lot of good fanfics out there that have made them work.

I can see that potential and promise there. It's just really poor execution that ruined it.

I also will say, personally, I do think narrative wise things would flow better if they had a kwami swap at the start. Though, this is largely working the direction canon did go and I can see how a kwami swap could've combated that.

Plagg is set up to be the ideal foil to Marinette and have her grow, as she's too much of a giver, overthinks, piles too much on her plate, and struggles to put herself first. Extra bonus that they could've been a hilarious duo to see.

Tikki's big appeal with Adrien is that she would've gotten him involved in his own plot. Would've pushed for him to figure out who he is, what he wants to do, to be more involved if not be the leader, and to think more before he acts. And there could've been some good fluff as Tikki fills the void his mom left, as she can be very affectionate and supportive.

There's also the factor that Adrien needs someone to straight up tell him when he did something wrong or uncool. Anything that's a vague hint that Plagg occasionally gives just goes over Adrien's head or is ignored.

And there is that big appeal of shifting up the dynamics. Canon's issue is that Marinette and Tikki are initiators, while Adrien and Plagg are reactors. Mixing up these dynamics would've done wonders for their characters and interactions.

So, yeah over all, they can and could've worked as leads and holders of the Ladybug and Cat. The writing just really screwed them over. Though, I will say, doing different leads for Ladybug and Cat isn't an impossibility either.

[fanfic-lover-girl]

How James Potter's character discourse could have been easily solved by JKR

Now, I love redemption arcs. While I would probably never get with a guy in real life who hurt me in the past, I love seeing how a guy can atone and build a loving relationship with a girl who was hurt by him in the past and how the girl came to forgive him. I love seeing male characters become better men. Bonus if the men had to grovel to prove themselves hah.

So in theory, I should like James Potter and Jily. However, I don't. I used to like James when I first got into HP but the fan discourse really soured me on him, especially the victim blaming and glorification of bullying. I also did not like how James' bad side was usually swept under the rug in the fics I read.

The main problem with James Potter is the show vs tell with his redemption. On screen/on page, we see his awful moments first-hand or see his problematic behaviour justified or downplayed by the narrative. However, we only hear about his good moments second-hand. That's why James discourse is circular and tiring.

To make it worse, we hear about his good moments in arguably not objective contexts. Of course, Remus and Sirius will big up their mate to his son when he expresses doubt. Of course, Minerva and Dumbledore will speak highly of someone from their own house who was a good athlete and headboy. Of course, people usually don't speak ill of the dead - especially loving parents who died as martyrs protecting their son. Of course Snape can't be trusted because he is a mean, nasty teacher. So when we hear these things about James, there's always that lingering doubt about whether the claims are completely true.

Moreover, Sirius and Remus never tell us how James redeemed himself. Just that he deflated his head...what the hell does that mean?? Did James apologize or express regret about hurting people? I need more details.

Another problem is that James died young so we never got to really see him as a mature adult. So to estimate his behaviour, we have to look at his friends (birds of a feather flock together) but Sirius and Remus are...questionable. Still love you Sirius! Best marauder hands down buddy! I love your family :)

So! How could JKR fix this if she wanted to? Simple. Have Sirius or Remus show Harry a pensive memory of James post SWM.

It always bothered me how little Harry seemed to care about his parents. Remus and Sirius were right there - why not ask about all the marauder adventures? Hagrid composed that album for him in book 1 from people who were supposedly friends with the Potters - why not reach out to them? Harry comes to you accusing James of tricking Lily into being with him...why not help him out by showing James as a good boyfriend and person? Why not show him a pensieve memory of how he proved himself to Lily? Or a memory of James being a just headboy? I would have loved to see some heartwarming James moments. It would not erase what he did to Snape but at least James would be better portrayed as a good person who just hated that nobody Slytherin out of immaturity.

Anyway, I think how James was written makes for a richer narrative but a lot could have been solved in fandom if JKR showed us some good James moments free of bias. James Potter is a character I am partially primed to like! I just needed to see how he changed. Being a good parent and husband is not enough. Evil characters can be good family men too so that means nothing. Jily is not good enough evidence that James was a changed man.

[divorcedfiddleford]

Random but - if you were given an opportunity to rewrite Ford's character and his arc in the show (and later J3), how would it be like?

canon gay and trans

so the thing is that i think most of how ford himself is written is really really good! i just think that the writers (particularly alex) have a bias against him, and so a lot of the narrative ends up feeling like he's either being punished or being forced to atone for his past. so i'm gonna ramble and daydream for a bit but i want to be clear i actually really like how he's written in general (yes, even in the book that i have so much beef with!!)

there's very few moments of catharsis for him, and those that he gets are either short (reunion with fiddleford) or undermined by the writers' bias (the ending of journal 3 where he burns all his bill stuff but has to keep reminding us that he was stupid for trusting bill in the first place). so i think a lot of the problems i have would be resolved with tonal shifts and a few cuts, like that fucking scene in the stanchurian candidate with the mind control tie. the implication of reaganite ford is bad enough but then to have a guy who has very specific trauma relating to being mind controlled/not being in control of his own body just hand that over is really fucking stupid. then again i think that whole episode is stupid so i'd end up rewriting all of it lmao

i've said before but if i really had my way i'd cut roadside attraction entirely and replace it with another ford episode. i loved how goofy and fun dd&md was and i think if more of that lighthearted side of him was shown it would endear him to the audience more. a long time ago i had an idea for an episode where they go back to the bunker and ford basically does puppy talk to the shapeshifter who is actively trying to kill them. i never followed this idea through to its conclusion but i think it still sounds entertaining, plus it would also give more time for him to reunite with fiddleford so it wouldn't have to be squeezed in the finale.

speaking of the finale... my personal fantasy is that i'd love to have a scene stuck in there where stan apologizes to ford. it REALLY stood out to me that despite all their fighting, ford still at least says the words "i'm sorry" to stan. stan never apologizes for anything he did to ford - neither for breaking his project, nor for banishing him to the hell dimension for 30 years. i get that they were mistakes, but you still have to apologize for mistakes (and if i allow myself to get very self-indulgent for a second, i've often thought the whole story would be a lot more resonant if stan broke ford's machine on purpose). i had a whole section in here where i talked about what a scene like this would look like but it was so long... if people want to hear more about it i'll say more but it's the kind of thing that warrants its own post.

anyway. moving on from the show itself. so possibly my hottest take is that i think journal 3 should not have been published KJSHDFLGKHSDFGUIWEHRGJSDF. basically i think instead of trying to write the actual journal 3 they should have picked a handful of stories from his research era that they wanted to tell and made a graphic novel about that. i got WAAAAAAAYYYY off topic and wrote PARAGRAPHS about this but it's not related to the question you asked so i'll just summarize by saying i think it would play more to their strengths as writers, leave more to the imagination, and they could leave out all those fucking retcons that i hate

as it is, though, again, i think that ford is written pretty well in the journal. there are a few off-handed comments and lines that give me "he would not fucking say that" vibes but overall it very realistically portrays what it's like for someone to be manipulated, isolated, drawn away from his loved ones, etc. it's a very poignant story which resonated with a lot of people, myself included. again my main problem is that it's undercut with the writers being like "BROOOOO HE'S JUST LIKE ICARUS!! FLEW TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN!!!!!!!!" as though it's all his fault, and that it ends on a very moralizing "i learned my lesson" note. so really the biggest characterization problems i have with journal 3 have to do with fiddleford, but that's a whole other can of worms

anyway i hope this was... interesting? informative?? i hope i answered your question to your satisfaction. have a nice day :)

[donkeys-waffles]

Okay, listen I'm not all that convinced AFO is completely gone. And let's put DFO aside for a moment. His and Yoichi's story feels uncomplete, there are certain elements that were given the time to be graced on but never really elaborated on. Like for example, that possibility that certain elements of AFO's backstory were fabricated to accomplish a certain message.

It's very easy to read over his backstory and gather the idea that he was born evil. But after a deeper look, it's very clear that was the purpose. We are meant to believe AFO is evil because that's what he wants us to believe, that's what he sees in himself. I feel bittersweet towards his supposed 'end'. Because I hate how Bakugou delivered that end, for one. But on one hand I enjoy how he mentioned needing Yoichi, it starts with denial and ends with recognition. And even if this a hot take, I think it's a beautiful, emotional end to such a messed-up individual.

However, I have a weird feeling about two things. First, I'd like to say, one thing I've noticed in writing is if something is brought up randomly, it'll generally come back to bite you later. Nothing is left unsaid, otherwise you have plot holes.

I found it interesting how it's mentioned AFO wasn't able to use his last trick up his sleeve, without any elaboration as to what that would have been. And I would say this was done on purpose, maybe just used as another example of every dream he wasn't able to accomplish before he died. But bringing light to this does nothing to strengthen the impact of his death on the narrative. Another interesting detail was Yoichi's wish. His dream of AFO being the kindest quirk in the world, which I can see being used to cause a reaction in the reader, as if trying to make them feel some heartache for such a bastard. But even with that reasoning, that sentence in the end feels so empty. unfulfilling, and almost lack-luster. It seems odd to be brought up and this could be bias, but I feel like that sentence had more importance than just literary cannon fodder.

We know AFO's main goal, make everyone love him like Yoichi, and his midterm goal was to steal his brother back through OFA. Makes sense.

But I still have questions. I understand why he took Tomura, to get a strong enough host to steal OFA, makes sense. But how does leaving Gigantomachia in the mountains have anything to do with such a goal? For what? Retirement? What did that achieve, wouldn't it better if he kept him around? If he was planning on moving his consciousness to Tomua later, then keeping him around would be better, right? Afterall, he'd be able to meet the child and possibly have a better understanding of the situation. Gigantomachia is an incredibly strong asset (look how he took down SO many heroes in the first war); he could have possibly even used him as backup during his fight with All Might.

And why keep OFA at a distance when his entire goal is to steal said quirk? I'm referring to that one panel in Vigilantes. Thats the entire opposite of his entire 200-year-old goal.

And that whole thing with his copy of rewind... This man is 200 years old, with an extremely strong villain empire, who has earned the respect of a genius scientist... You don't achieve any of those things by being stupid. And now I'm not normally one for completely trusting the MHA Wiki, but I can't blame them for giving him a 6/5 intelligence. He's a genius, and is spectacular with quirk analysis, it's his thing ya feel me. But it does show his lack of self-preservation, which is against what he's supposed to be angry at All Might for.

All Might took his health and his empire; we know he didn't really care about his empire as much from Spinner. (I mean lack of self-preservation because he's using a quirk that will eventually rewind him out of existence, whether he transfers his quirk to Tomura entirely or not. There's a possibility that it won't work, he failed to take complete control the first time remember. Is that what this supposed 'trick up his sleeve' was supposed to remedy? This is the same man that gave himself immortality, the same man that ran away from All Might for years, the same man that has shown to rely on the strength of others instead of dealing wounds himself. And might I add the same man that is supposed to be angry about his health being diminished. Afterall if not his health or his empire what could he possibly be angry at All Might for that's so special, so unique compared to his predecessors?)

This brings me to my last point. Since when the hell did this bitch care about THE CHILDREN! This man literally stole quirks from children, killed thousands, and turned a crap tone into braindead nomu. And he's angry on behalf of the children. Are we ever going to get an explanation for that?

Like I would understand if he killed the children that he apparently gave heroic ideals to. Like Ha! You will pay for passing on your ideals to children by watching me steal their quirks and kill them. But that's not what he means, or he would've stolen Tokoyami's quirk, killed Jiro instead of leaving her with a broken eardrum, and blasted Izuku away with deadly force instead of holding back in the first war. We have no answers for such behavior from a man known for exhibiting zero humanity (and making that behavior his ENTIRE personality.) Need I remind you this man stole Tomura (possibly gave him the quirk that killed his entire family,) and groomed him just to possess him later alright. He also turned Tsubasa into a nomu for shits and giggles, which we have never talked about once! Tsubasa, need I remind, was a small child and was the Doctor's grandson (which you'd think give him immunity to this kind of sick shit but apparently not.)

There are so many questions left unanswered, many of which Yoichi himself can't even answer. Like with all their human experimentation they do on a daily basis, the clone theory wouldn't really surprise me. It would make a lot of sense for his character as well. And even if that theory doesn't pan out, the vestige behind the locked door (which is entirely separate rant honestly,) or even Tomura's AFO vestige maybe. Though I feel if Izuku really saves Tomura in this war, then we might never hear much of anything from that vestige. Especially since their first priority would be to cancel it out as soon as possible. A lot of people bring up how the story is almost over, and they are probably right. But the end date was supposed to be 2022 originally, right? Then it was moved to 2023, now it's 2024-2025. Like yeah it is almost over, but there's still story that needs wrapping up clearly because that deadline has been pushed back multiple times. Too many times to make it a valid counterclaim anymore. Either way, I don't think we are in the clear of the Demon King's superiority complex anytime soon.

[p-redux]

You know, I am stunned at the lack of logic and critical thinking in this fandom. It’s like those with extreme opinions have such strong confirmation bias that they can’t get out of their own way. When I read some of these posts on lots of different blogs, I am struck at the logical questions that are never truly answered- well except by ad hominem attacks and logical fallacies and extensive conspiracy theories.

1. Wouldn’t a TV show that’s not on a well-known and popular streaming service love the PR they’d get if their costars were actually in love and in a real life relationship? What value does the production company gain by keeping them hidden for almost 10 years? I can’t logically see that it would bring more profits. So we’re supposed to love a loyal, brave, committed, and family-oriented Jamie, but we need a single, sexy Sam to sell the show?? Cognitive dissonance anyone?

2. Now that it’s well established that Sam and Caitriona essentially ARE Outlander and are EPs, wouldn’t they have the power to say no more if this “ narrative” was true? If they quit, there’s no OL. Couldn’t they refuse to film anything else if they aren’t allowed to tell the truth (if it’s hidden)? It’s interesting that Ron and Terri are married, Maril and Matt have twins together, but S and C were forbidden to be together? I would think that could be a legitimate lawsuit. Didn’t they renegotiate new contracts since the first season?

3. Do people actually believe that Sam and Caitriona are good people, philanthropic people, hard working entrepreneurial people, wonderful human beings but at the same time think that either of them would actually lie about their own children? With Sam’s childhood, people honestly think he would deny his kids AND be away from them for months? That they both would lie and deceive us about her father’s funeral?

4. So it’s been 10 years and NOT ONE person associated with either of them has publicly and clearly stated, with no doubts or other possible connotations, that they are really together? No costars? No personal friends? No teacher of their kids? No hospital personnel where the kids were born? No extras on OL? No crew members- even those that have been gone long enough that any NDA they signed about the production would have expired? No hotel staff where they may have traveled with their kids? No former “fake gfs” who might be pissed? No friends of “ fake gfs” that want to defend their friend and set the record straight? Not one person who has been associated with OL who might just think this is harmful to children? No photos of them with kids in public- clear photos, not reflections or someone in the background that we cannot clearly identify? Not videos where we cannot tell who is actually there? Wouldn’t someone somewhere have gotten a photo of them together as a family? In ten years? Have you P, seen evidence that I haven’t? I have seen nothing but reflections, blurry images, unidentifiable people in the background. Am I missing something?

5. About their chemistry- they aren’t the only actors I have ever seen that have great chemistry but no real romantic relationship. There are lots of them. It’s like people don’t know what actors actually do. So much of chemistry in acting between actors is about trust and respect for the work. Even some of the best chemistry has been between actors who didn’t really like each other in real life, but were able to use their chemistry and their talent to create characters we believed loved each other.

6. Lastly, I can’t wrap my brain around liking and respecting these two actors for their work and for their real lives, while claiming every day they are lying to me.

People see what they want to see or what they need to see to support their position.

Occam’s Razor tells me that the simplest explanation is often the best one.

Hopefully when OL finally ends, these two will get some peace.

Now, watch the “but what about ______? “start.

Bless you Anon for summarizing everything I and countless other SANE fans have been saying in the Outlander fandom for the last 9 years. The thing is...some Extreme Shippers continue to ship for a few reasons. I put them in these categories:

1. OG shippers who have invested SO many YEARS in their SamCait fantasy ship. They want to "save face." It's embarrassing to acknowledge that you were fed and believed a LIE for so long. Their egos can't handle it, so they'd rather double down, and find a way to pretzel their brains around things that are obvious facts to the rest of us. They don't want to feel like they "lost." So, they just keep on denying the TRUTH and the mountains of evidence showing that Sam and Cait are not a couple in real life. The alternative is too painful to them. It's been too much time, too much energy, too much of themselves invested in the ship, and they are missing something in their real lives. The ship fills that void.

2. New fans to Outlander who have recently discovered it. They've gone down the rabbit hole of shipper Tumblr, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter X accounts and they haven't climbed their way out yet to blogs like mine, and other Non-Shippers.

3. The Fake Shippers who pretend to be shippers to MAKE MONEY off those still clinging on to the life boats. There are still bloggers and shipper groups who know they have a captive audience in shippers holding out hope that some of what the original shipper leaders sold them might actually be true. These fake shippers manipulate gifs, pictures, videos, SHOW shippers what they WANT to see. They keep them hanging on with podcasts, magazine, subscriptions. They sell them trips to Scotland, conventions t-shirts, mugs, daily "proof" that Sam and Cait secretly live together with their 5 bairns. And because con artists are experts at conning people, they make everything believable...and some poor souls buy what they're selling. Literally BUY 💵 what they're selling. Sadly, this fandom is filled with a lot of retired women with disposable income, who are lonely or disillusioned with their own lives. And they are easy pickings for the money hungry fake shippers.

So, in summary, the reason there are still some SamCait Shippers is a combination of fake shippers SELLING them the fantasy AND women needing to STILL hold onto the fantasy. With a few actually mentally unwell women thrown in here and there, who have diagnosable mental health issues.

It's actually quite sad. If only they had gotten off the ship with the rest of us years ago, they could have been enjoying celebrating REAL love. Instead, they're on a constantly rocky ship that causes them disappointment more often than not. Here, on terra firma, no one needs Dramamine. It's lovely. Because it's REAL. 💞

[cookinguptales]

Excited to see that you watched vampterview! You always have such fun and interesting commentary on stuff. No pressure of course but I'd look forward to any Sarah takes you might have on it 👀

Who knows? Maybe! I'm about to go on a three-week road trip, but we'll see how much time I have!

I'm still digesting a bit, I'll admit, and I really don't know what's already been discussed to death in the fandom. Personally, my academic interests were always really focused on stories, how we tell them, how we internalize them, and how we can't help but put ourselves, our experiences, and our biases into our retellings of them. To be loved is to be changed when memories of us live in the hearts of others, y'know?

So... I'd say that I was really interested in the ways they played with unreliable narrators in the series. How the concept of the sanctity of primary sources was really dismantled. Because they were all primary sources and they were all telling completely different stories! Whether it was due to misremembering, bias, or literal mind control, even the written sources simply could not be trusted.

I remember there was this really formative experience for me was when I was 16 years old and taking summer classes at UChicago. I was studying Egyptology there, which meant I was spending a lot of time at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (formerly the OI) studying and translating the artifacts there.

I don't remember all the details (though I guess I could probably pin down the particulars if I combed through their collections) but I remember seeing two ancient accounts of the same war written by both sides -- and both accounts claimed victory. And, y'know, whether each side had a different definition of victory or whether someone was just straight-up lying... I mean. It brings up the idea of an unreliable narrator on a massive historical scale.

Sometimes, particularly with older historical events, we're only going to have scattered archaeological fragments that we can piece together. Sometimes we have to do a lot of guessing and detective work to come to any conclusion at all. And historically, we have prioritized written accounts over all other forms of evidence. But, y'know... people lie. Or they misremember. Or they misconstrue. Reconstructing history not just through first-person accounts but by looking at other evidence and questioning those accounts is crucial. And even then, we'll probably never find any objective "truth," if objective truth even exists in a situation like that.

So... like, an unreliable narrator is nothing new in media. But framing it through Daniel, who is a nonfiction writer trying to make sense of all of these different testimonies to construct an actual historical narrative... That made it really interesting to me. It wasn't just all of these different vampires stating their truths. It was Daniel trying to sort through all of the misdirection to find out what actually happened. And the show makes it clear that, while he gets close, he'll probably never know all the details for sure. It simply isn't possible.

So IWTV, to me, was a really interesting look at the impossibility of constructing an objective historical narrative, especially when speaking about very old events with few sources. You have mentally ill vampires who are several decades removed from the events in question, you have contemporaneous (but very biased) journal entries, you have newspaper clippings written by journalists who had very little information, you have artifacts that may (or may not!) confirm certain testimonies...

idk. I guess while I do have thoughts about the characters and their motivations, I was more interested in the way that things were framed and presented in the show. I thought that was really neat.

[lilisouless]

Do u like darklina? If yes, why? If no, why?

i definitely don't

the reasons are many but i only need one: she doesn't want to be with him and she didn't even liked him that much as she liked the attention. She only went with him when she thought Mal has ignoring him, on the book version she never iniciates a kiss (like, their lack of chemistry as lovers on the books its quite amazing, they only have enemies chemistry at the very best) Alina just lies there like a puppet and makes it happen. He is like her self steem fueller and he was not only perfectly aware of that but makes sure she sees him as such by sabotaging her comunication with Mal, her only friend and having Genya spying on her as well (okay, that the other grisha soldiers her age besides David is ulterly obnoxious certainly helped but still)

Its a little better on the show because at least she shows some interest and book!Alina clearly saw herself as inferior to him while on the show she tries to stand up as an equal which is a nice change and a fix of something that i never liked on the books.

Anyway , neither version work because in both the darkling at the end of the day his attachment to her its awfullly self centered. he is a serious first class narcisist. For him, Alina´s value is always thetered to him, never her, its always what she does for him and thinks Alina having her own mind and morals as a betrayal.

Book darkling supposedly cares about her, but his level of writing is a thanos level of mess. Show darkling is a little better at showing afection towards Alina, but its definitely not enought, he still does horrible things and only sees her as an extention of herself. In short: he doesn't love her at all

And Alina doesn't even need Mal to not love him. In both versions she turns against him when she learns what he did, she needed almost nothing to stop trusting him. Even if you erase Mal´s existence this still would happen, in fact

-book version, Alina had a big fight with Mal and against her heart , choose to be done with him (only reconcilied when Mal´s virtues proven to be bigger than his flaws) so could as well be out of the picture. Mal didn't play a part, she turned against the darkling because she deemed him as untrustworthy despite his better attemps to make himself Alina´s most important person

-Show version, Alina by this point doesn't even know she will find Mal so he doesn't play a part either

To make an emphasis, i honestly think Alina suffers from tons of inconsistent writting on the first two books BUT i will pretend she doesn't: compare how she instantly choose to believe Genya had a good reason for lying to her, this is someone she actually loves (and yes, i have complained about this issue, i still do, but its canon so the point has to stick)

All of this to say: she is so not in love with him, the attraction is undeniably there but there is no love that isn't born of the false affection the darkling tried to build and failed (also, Alina´s natural compasion probably played a part) this girl choose death before being with him.

thats the conclusion to me: they are not in love

And sure i am probably biassed but i will still defend my case: other grishaverse ships that are on my notp territory along with darklina would be nikolai/alina and kaz/jesper.

I really wish i could say nikolai was not in love with alina (alina IS not in love with him, thats canon) or that Jesper was not in love with Kaz so the narrative works on my favor, but i can't, they were , thats canon regardless if i like it or not.So you can say i am at least trying to get bias away and at leas on my mind the statement that they (alina and the darkling) weren't in love makes sense

[suenitos]

Yeah while i can get behind her point and i do support what hes trying to say im just so sick of people talking about a subject while (accidentally) showing that they didn't do research. Be it not enough of it or just straight up none at all.

It kind of directly goes against the point shes making about other 'bad' commentary yters because one of the staples of those channels is spreading either harmful misinformation on accident or on purpose.

Im ofc not saying that her uninformed inclusion of yters who act exactly like the '''bad ones''' shes talking about is the same as content farming channels lying on purpose but i cant help but see a slight resemblance.

Especially if it now makes everyone watching associate these yters with being part of the 'good ones' while they actually VERY MUCH are not that

Stuff like really makes me question how much research they do in general and if ALL their videos have the same sloppy attempt at it. Which in turn makes me stop watching them which is sad but also its their own fault 🤷

i suppose and you're well within your rights to feel that way! i understand. i think i kinda felt the same in that i again question his inclusion and how it will be received by the audience-- i feel like this could be more of an audience problem in that something something confirmation bias even if theyre missing the actual context in WHY he was in the section the creator put him in regardless of what she actually thinks of him as a person or cc, if shes a former fan or anti dream (unfortunately in a lot of cases one and the same) i dont know. we cant really assume intent there like many in the comments did in praising her for including him (even if again i have suspicions). at the same time the video was mostly about commentary youtube so of course his inclusion feels jarring even if its meant to be a supplement to the actual point of how youtube controls you and the algorithm/data dictates what you should do in your genre.

sorry for being devils advocate but also somewhat in her defense i never see anyone talking about the fact that doing research is hard because unlike dream its not lucrative or profitable to talk about tommys mishaps or mistakes, shitty things hes done and people hes fucked over. in the sense that none of that is well documented and as accessible if you dont know what to look for, or you dont have context. and if the only criticism comes from dream stans who dont have as much reach or platform (and who get shit on if they get attention because well who are you to talk) or those neutral normal people who think hes just an annoying kid (based) theres no incentive to actually internalize any of that because his "scandals" are never big enough to break containment or interesting enough to call attention to the exact channels shes talking about and we fucking hate. and thats WHY hes seen as "one of the good ones" too, even if WE know hes still a bit immature and a bit of a snake. but who is going to listen to toxic dream fans, or this rando 32 year old? they cant be trusted anyway.

while i do think people could make more of an effort with vetting people they include in their videos and i do agree even INCLUSION is unfortunately reinforcement for a lot of peoples belief in the tommy made it out narrative, we honestly do have to acknowledge theres an information gap with people not being aware of stuff because we dont consume the same information online all the time and there is inherent and at times progressively extreme bias in what spaces we do involve ourselves in. just as a rule, you know. parallel realities, rabbit holes and all that. people cannot let go of their parasociality! its a really really awful feedback loop unfortunately in talking about narratives that have a death grip the internet but if it is something like this in that you have no idea if this person is genuinely informed (or even CARES enough to gain multiple perspectives on things that have largely been kept IN the "niche" community, not everyone is chronically online) i personally try not to assume people have the same access to that information as i would as someone that understands parts of the space deeply and feels comfortable enough to be against those popular narratives. obviously the lack of attention to detail can be a symptom of a larger problem of not doing enough research, but in relatively unserious cases like this where i likely will never watch a video of this person's again im willing to hear them out on stuff i actually DO care about within the discussion, because there is enough nuance i can grasp something valuable out of it.

thats just me though, you dont need to agree, but theres a lot of things here that i feel were worth putting my thoughts out on !!!

[lanaluthorlang]

Now, I don’t necessarily think that Lexana are that out of character in season six. On the surface at least. With everything the two of them had been through, together and separately, you wouldn’t have to suspend your belief to accept that cracks would begin to show. Those trials could have strengthened their bond, or,they could have brought to the surface any anxieties that might have been lurking in their minds. 

For Lana, this is a new relationship. There’s bound to be doubts or fear that she’s rushing into things. Especially when you take into account everything that happened with Zod possessing Lex. She had to make a choice on the spot to follow him into the unknown. And she did. And once the dust settled she had time to sit and think about what she just got herself into. All her past relationships have either been built on lies, or staying with someone she had fallen out of love with for the sake of the other person’s feelings. 

Nothing new would have ever been easy for someone who’s used to being put on a pedestal until it’s time to discard her and move on. Clana might have had many ups and downs but at the same time, Clark represents a safe place for her to run to when her current situation starts to feel too real or she starts to have second thoughts. Lex might have been her confidant, but Clark had always been her constant, no matter how fragile that base might be.

And there is a version of Lex where his paranoia leads him to do all these awful things. Here is a man that has had every bad thing said about him proven to be true in the eyes of the people he cared for most, and as a result been rejected and abandoned. Who’d been lied to and deceived countless times over. There is a world were his fear of losing Lana, the one person he has left, leads him to going to extremes to keep her in his life. And with this being a sci-fi show, a fake pregnancy or a little cloning wouldn’t be out of the question. I think that’s what this season was going for, but the writing was so cold and detached that we couldn't connect with Lex’s reasoning. 

Also, obviously manipulating situations to keep your partner is wrong in any circumstance, but the point is that they could have given Lex a very human motivation and they didn’t. They wrote a mentally ill character and never followed through in a way that mattered. 

The biggest change in their dynamic this season is the absence of their communication. Y’know, the very foundation their relationship was built upon. I could buy Lex lying to Lana about his secret projects. I could buy Lana hiding her resurfacing feelings for Clark from Lex. I could even buy the clones and the fake pregnancy. But Lana wouldn’t have been afraid to push Lex until he told her the truth. She wouldn’t have been afraid to vent to him about her fears, her feelings, or her insecurities. Lex has had a habit from day one from hiding the truth until it blows up in his face (secret Clark room anyone?) but he wouldn’t have so coldly brushed aside those massive breaches of trust. 

You could make the argument that every single thing Lex did to and for Lana in the previous seasons was leading to him trapping her in this abusive marriage, but quite frankly, I don’t think the Smallville writers were smart enough to plan long term like that. I still respect that reading, but, as with a lot of things, our perception of these characters changes how we perceive their interactions with others and how we read their overall narrative. This entire breakdown is soaked in my bias, but it’s still how I see the show at the end of the day. 

Because I don’t see the Lex from the first half of the show as a scheming mastermind. You can have Lex be the big scary villain all you want, but you can’t go from one season where he’s clearly shown to have empathy and understanding to having him be a volatile gaslighter in the next with no signs leading to that point. As for Lana, I could buy this relationship being an act of rebellion on her part. After all, Clana was the dying star that this show revolved around for eight seasons. Still, it’s a disservice to her character to tie her to a ship we all know is sinking.  

Tldr: the foundations of the Lexana divide is in character for both of Lex and Lana’s traumas, but the execution of how they deal with it, and the framing of Lex as the shallow villain and Lana as the silent victim makes the entire storyline feel cheap and poorly written.

[mistlestripe]

read wings of fire book #10 (spoilers)

so mad. idk how controversial that this is but this book was terrible and probably the worst of the SERIES so far lmao. everyone was so bad but especially the moon/qibli/winter trio. they were all terrible in this book and i feel so bad for winter. I loved moon in the first book and she was like one of my top 2 second arc protag faves but she's dropped down to the bottom of the group because of how obnoxious she acts in this book...qibli too kind of sucks but like he doesnt do anything annoying (or when he does it makes sense cause he values moon over winter.) he just never gets to obtain a win that isnt weak and overall lacks much weight behind it. everything he does moves on very quickly and it feels like the book just "waits a few seconds before showing what he does to artificially cause suspense". like I would have appreciated him denying animus magic more if he didnt react to the offer the same way he reacted to cobra tricking him (acting hopeful to the prospect only to reveal hes gonna say no at the last second as though that WASNT the obviously correct answer)

and like i probably do have some bias because winter is definitely higher than qibli for me in terms of characters but like I dont even have an issue with the fact that moon chose qibli over him, but its just the fact that the narrative needs to go out of its way to characterize winter as extremely unreliable and untrustworthy JUST to make qibli seem better. Winter is rash and irrational so I get it to a CERTAIN extent but the book acts like he is incappable of making correct decisions to the point his own friends don't trust him enough to tell him what happened to darkstalker (which i know they were like "we trust you to be there for us. not to do the right thing." WHICH IS BS AND RUDE ASF BRAH HIS BOOK WAS LITERALLY ABOUT HIM BECOMING OPEN MINDED LMFAO i feel like he'd be pissed but like with how much he hates magic he'd probably eventually comprehend it as deserved. Maybe if they said something like "its for the best you dont know" then THAT would make sense because they want peacemaker to have his own chance at life but like their reasoning is so dumb and it just makes me feel bad for winter and think that he deserves better friends who actually value him and the things he cares about. I wouldnt mind if moon chose qibli of her own volition because i DO like the subversion of winter seeming more like a love interest in the beginning (only for qibli to become the "true" love interest for her by the end) BUT i cant even trust moons agency and it feels entirely circumstansial because of how much the book went out of its way to make winter unlikable and the obvious "worse option" than qibli who acts perfect to her the entire book comparatively. it just feels like they did not give winter a chance at ALL and it even goes on to act like he NEVER had a chance with moon being like "i want someone nice to me who make me laugh." Their relationship in general is so bland and neither of their personalities are utilized to make a fun dynamic so it just feels like theyre both sanitized when theyre togehter. I think moon x qibli has a lot of potential to be interesting and cool and in concept/without context i dont mind the ship but they just dont utilize any of it at all in the book and it feels extremely unearned and obvious by the end.

[tiodolma]

what made me jump from m/erth/ur to merg/ana?

@kessilover

Arthur had both of them almost massacred together with the druids when he raided that camp while looking for morgana. This is important to me because thinking about this event for that one desperate night was what made me start to shift towards MerGana. That was the one time Merlin was in true and real solidarity with a magic friend/s. That was the one time that he wasn't alone in his fear of execution/genocide.

Morgana treated merlin with genuine admiration, equality and respect since season 1. (arthur could never even until his fckn deathbed). Even as enemies, Morgana treated him as a legitimate threat.

Merlin shows the full range of human experience and emotions when he's dealing with her, even the ones which he denounced: rage, bitterness, hate. Morgana has unlocked every aspect of him without meaning to.

it was a bonus that they were narratively made to mirror and parallel each other in so many ways.

With Morgana, Merlin is human.

With Morgana, Merlin is free.

Therefore they are more fun to watch :D

..........

also unfortunately, m/erthur fell under the ship dynamic that i hate and avoid the most. M/erTh/ur was the third time i met this kind of trope in media. I realized it too late and it pissed me off.

The trope goes like this:

blondie is a naive, sheltered and idealistic sort of person. They are also skilled leader and fighter, with daddy/mentor issues, with a traumatic past with daddy/mentor. Blondie also has loads of underlings. Most importantly blondie has an ongoing prejudice/bias against a group of people or idealogy.

MC is a distinguished member of the group/kind of people that blondie hates/distrusts.

MC basically has the task of being the bridge to the world and blondie. They act as guide/mentor. They act as the one who can show the other world to Blondie. MC is the one teach them to love and trust others (especially the kind of ppl blondie has prejudice on). This is why the dynamic has a lot of heartfelt speeches and etc.

MC is usually in a more disadvantaged situation coz they are the type that have to work alone. This means MC has to show their best face to blondie at all times because blondie has power over them/ or has more privileged position/ has more allies than them.

Blondie usually becomes very loyal to MC despite still hating on MC's people. Their rapport is intense.

MC has a Mirror-Anti counterpart that have the same end goals as them but is operating on the opposite side.

MC and their Mirror-Anti counterpart have almost telepathic and equal trust and respect in each other. Because of this they don't talk about true feelings coz they both can predict each other at some level. This also made them prone to miscommunication, misunderstanding and angst.

MC and Mirror-Anti counterpart can rightfully call each other's bullsht out more than anyone else can. This means they experience the best and worst from each other, grow and influence each other's life more than any other dynamic in a show.

Mirror-Anti counterpart have also the same privileges as Blondie. Blondie and the mirror-anti counterpart are also good friends.

Usually the MC and the Mirror-Anti character are each other's closest friend/kindred spirit or bitterest enemy (coz they're the same but on opposite side).

and fans alwayssss latch on to the MC-blondie dynamic because it's like a master-dog loyalty kind of thing.

to each their own... but it's not for me. I prefer the MC x Mirror-Anti dynamic coz it's usually more colorful, more charged and more flawed.

also like... u can check the merthur-critical or anti-merthur arthur-critical tumblr tags... i'm there

[escapismqueen]

Honestly I didn't feel great when it was renewed I was fine with season 2 being the end because I don't trust Jenny sure she made some changes that I loved but also made changed with Conrad that I didn't she also made some comments during their aftershow they do that had her in her little Conrad bias It was great to see the actors go against her and fight for their characters. Yeah I get people want the show to follow the books but I don't in this case the source material sucks I do say the first two books is all I consider canon but even then they're not as great as the show. I don't know how people stan Conrad so hard when he was barely in all three books I always felt like Jelly was the main relationship of the show their friendship/relationship was the best not like we got to see a lot of it. Jenny did Belly so wrong for treating Jere like she did in book 3 Jenny please give redemption to Belly in season 3 let her fight for Jeremiah. Oh you want to talk about Conrad in the show and how he doesn't reat Belly right? Well in the books he's worse he fits the whole toxic masculinity somehow the narrative always makes him look good though even after he basically shakes her Conrad is an abusive pos to both Belly and Jeremiah he doesn't reat either of them well. In the show he manipulated Belly to get with her saying Jere is going on dates and moved on like wtf? I don't really consider Belly being in love with Conrad first it felt like the parents kept pushing this idea in her head and she went along with it and became Helga from Hey Arnold except at least the guy in that show is actually a nice guy. Right I keep seeing people say but in book 3 like that does anything to convince me they straight up lie about that book he didn't even cheat they were broken up if anything Belly cheated on him while they were still together she didn't tell Jere they she saw him at the house during Christmas and she sushed him when waking up because she wanted to remember her dream about Conrad it was horrible to read. This brings me back to talking to you like this ranting about the series when season 2 was still airing I'll never get over Jelly I think the Bonrad fans have zero media literacy if you want to ship a toxic ship go ahead if that's what you're into but why ship them when they have no chemistry? They literally have negative chemistry it's actually painful to watch adding Taylor's songs doesn't help at all while when she's with Jeremiah then chemistry is insane how can Jenny not tell they're soulmmates only meant for each other?

Okay so you absolutely slayed with all of this ! And I’m so glad you said something about the parents pushing the idea of Conrad onto belly because that is SO true ! Especially Susannah, to a pint where it was weird. Like it’s kind of weird in the first place to be like ‘I know you’re going to end up with one of my sons’ girl what ?

And omg so I heard the Conrad dream part in the audio books when I was skimming through for an edit and I was like OMG. Genuinely it made me feel sick. One page she was with Jeremiah and I think they’d just got engaged or something ? And then next page she’s like ‘I dreamt about Conrad last night’ I audibly groaned. Like no.

[jacky-rubou]

I totally agree with you on the fan episode, the way they portrayed Ford made me feel uncomfy. Like they did good on mostly everything else but Ford was not in character.

Anyway just thought to say it cus I thought I was the only one! Have a lovely day :)

He was so off. It felt like they just did not have a good grasp on who he is as a character and just used their apparent bias against him when writing him. Everything was a gotcha against him. Everything he did and said was shoved in as 'proof' he's horrible. Even though Ford would never do or say what they made him do and say. It felt forced. The literal victim of the memory gun, who had an incredibly difficult time even erasing Stan's memory when he needed to, would not even dare think of erasing the memories of the niblings he loves dearly. Not even if they found out about the Rift. Not even then.

it screws up the reunion between him and Fiddleford, which is about the worst thing they could've done. It's like they weren't paying attention when Ford showed signs of deep regret when it came to Fiddleford (I'm sorry Fiddleford on the mind reader, his whole, self deprecating 'you must hate me' schtick at their real reunion) and pretended that he would somehow still be a bitch to him after all the years of guilt weighing on him or something.

The creator replied to a comment asking when it took place and they said it was 'probably just before DaMtF' and all I wanna say is the fact that Ford was so outwardly distrustful of Mabel to an incredibly abrasive degree was just... so wrong. Ford literally trusted her with the unicorn hair mission like, a couple days ago if that's when this took place, you'd think he'd remember trusting her then. But now he's suddenly not trusting her at all?? But now he's acting as if she's not the good person he literally told to her face that she was?? Ford's using Dipper for his loyalty and being a manipulative ass now??? wtf dude.

Not to mention, the fact the episode is basically ragging on him for having trust issues after a literal demon damaged his ability to trust easily and he had to trust only himself for years in the portal to survive because trusting the wrong person could literally have gotten him killed out there, ignoring how much trauma this man has faced in regards to trust and pretending that Ford should trust practical strangers (Soos and Wendy mainly) with the fate of the world right away or he's horrible for trying to protect his family from being Bill's targets. And then not letting any character show any sympathy for his trust issues and the narrative rewards them for guilt tripping Ford for something he needs time and patience to recover from by forcing him to apologize for not trusting them (I'd kinda agree with apologizing for being the bitch he was in this episode, but not the trust issues, though the fact he was bitchier here than in canon doesn't paint any favors either). You don't just 'get over' trust issues like that.

anyway, I could probably rant all day about how awful this version of Ford really was, but I do not care to think about this time waster of an episode any longer. and I don't wanna have to watch it again to clear up my points. thanks for the solidarity in this trying time of being a Ford fan.