#or ability to see past their own struggles. with this fandom especially compared to a lot of others I’ve been in and I think I know why

[edge-oftheworld]

one thing I love about following celebrities/artists who are honest and proactive about their mental health struggles etc is I can’t count the number of times someone I know is going through something and I’m like ‘I’ve got a song for u’ and how much of my life involves telling myself ‘if [redacted] can do something/get better/etc then so can i’ (and having actual real evidence of it in front of me) and I can’t understate how much I appreciate these things.

but at the same time it involves a whole lot of watching people I care about suffer and you learn to read the signs and infer between the lines in songs and interviews, and yes we can never fully know what they don’t share with us, but when they do share things it’s not a big stretch to be like ‘this seems like it’s what life is like for you and I have taken encouragement from it but you deserve so much better’. and it’s easy to find ways to get angry at a predatory industry and realise things that could be hurtful if you’re already fragile.

and we can advocate for some things and help ourselves and the people around us feel better but it’s hard to meaningfully reach your faves as an individual. and there are things we can’t say on the internet in too much detail, speculation becomes the harmful kind of gossip, and so sometimes it’s a whole lot of internally saying ‘you’re doing incredibly well to have gotten to where you are but I wish for your sake things would get better faster’

[marvelandimagine]

I think some people mad about the arm is not necessarily about the fact that Ayo disabling the arm itself, it's more of the fact that it was not necessary and the fact that Bucky had no idea they can do that. If I were to be honest, I think it was not that necessary because Ayo is well capable of taking him down without having to disarm him and she is definitely not threatened by him. I think what some people find upsetting about that scene is the fact that it kinda comes off as Ayo putting Bucky in a position where it would make him feel like he doesn't have full control of his own body after all. The Wakandans, especially Ayo, T'Challa and Shuri had every right to feel betrayed and upset but the point is they should have told Bucky about how the arm can easily be disabled like that, they didn't know Bucky was going to set Zemo free when they gave him the arm and regardless of the things they have done for him and if they were ones who gave him the arm, they should have at least told him about it, because it's connected to him, it's a part of HIS body. It doesn't matter if it was necessary to disarm him or not, the point is they should have told him about it because apart from the fact that it's his body and that it was a bit insensitive given his history, it's also a point of vulnerability, and the fact that she did it in front of Walker (and possibly Zemo) --- people who can easily turn on Bucky, could easily that to their advantage and attempt to disable it themselves. Just my thoughts on it.

Thank you for sharing your perspective, anon!

I’m going to use this long-ass reply to address this stuff with Ayo and also voice some thoughts I’ve had over the past few weeks seeing people paint Bucky into being this complete soft and harmless human that needs 25-7 protection which I don’t jive with — and this is me, a complete Bucky stan.

Many moons ago, I saw a post that compared 1940s Bucky moving with stealth and a loaded gun on the train to the Winter Soldier doing the same thing, essentially discussing the similarities and debating how much of non-brainwashed Bucky was in the Soldier. And I think the fandom forgets or chooses to neglect the following when painting him as this fragile, peace-loving guy:

Bucky was an incredibly skilled sniper in the United States Army. His job is to eliminate threats in the most efficient way possible, and he’s good at it. HYDRA gets their hands on him and + the serum, this gets magnified. It wasn’t like HYDRA turned him into someone with the ability and mental capacity to kill — that was already there. The brainwashing and torture just carved out the rest of him to leave those honed skills and an amplified ruthlessness with no moral issues, no sense of self to contend with. That ruthlessness is part of Bucky, whether people like it or not.

When Bucky is outside of HYDRA for the first time and hiding in Civil War and gets attacked, he’s so brutal in his actions that Steve Rogers, the man who literally was ready to die to save Bucky and free him when no one else believed in the good in him, intervenes because “Buck, you’re going to kill someone.” Bucky responds that he’s not going to kill anyone, but the fact remains: with or without HYDRA control, Bucky has a strong capacity for violence that hovers on brutality — again, what’s the most efficient way to eliminate or neutralize a threat? Like, I don’t want to kill you, but I’ll knock your ass out with cinder blocks to the chest.

Bucky has a good heart, he’s loyal, he’s smart, he’s caring, he’s the longest-standing POW in history and was turned into a slave for decades, put through unimaginable trauma and torture and horror with no escape. Bucky is also a strong and incredibly skilled super soldier who has a bionic arm, is a trained sniper, is unnervingly precise with knives, and self-describes himself as “semi-stable.” Zemo notes in the bar that “it didn’t take Bucky long to get back into form,” and he’s right because the ruthlessness and skill of the Winter Soldier is a part of him and always has been. We see it when he has his hand around Zemo’s neck and tells him he will kill him, when he rips the glass from his hand and throws it across the room.

And I’m sure the Wakandans know all this about Bucky, this light and his ability for hard-to-stop violence, whether from talking to Steve and Bucky or doing their own homework. And they still choose to help him out of the goodness of their hearts because he’s been put through hell and they believe they have the capacity to help him and it’s the right thing to do — they’re betting more on those positive attributes. And they put a failsafe on his arm, a literal weapon, and chose not to tell him. You know why I think that shows how much they did care about him? Because they could’ve blatantly come out and said “Hey, we don���t trust you,” and hurt him outright, but they didn’t because they’re betting on the light in Bucky to outweigh the dark or any future manipulation. That it’s a worst-case scenario function they hope to never have to use — so they’re prepared if shit hits the fan, and if it doesn’t, Bucky doesn’t have to be hurt feeling like he can’t be trusted. I see no issues here, they’re just being cautious.

Now coming to Ayo, my QUEEN Ayo. From that beautiful, beautiful opening scene, we get to see her support, her reassurance, her belief that Bucky will be able to work through this, even when he doesn’t believe it himself. She watches him fight and struggle and cry, and you can feel the hope in her and how moved she is when she gets to tell him it worked, he did it — he’s free. And she says it not once, but twice. And you can hear not just the comfort, but the PRIDE and warmth in her voice directed to him, who I’m sure she’s watched throughout the whole deprogramming process and gotten to know and is happy to see him work through the pain and come out on the other side.

And then she sees that same individual make a decision in freeing Zemo that she perceives as a “fuck you” not just to her country, but to her, someone who was charged with protecting her king. She could’ve just disarmed Bucky the second they met up, but she doesn’t. She takes the time to explain her side and her feelings, her guilt and her shame, and basically implies that she feels betrayed by Bucky because Wakanda helped him and now he’s doing something that’s hurting her country. And still, she doesn’t attack or just go get Zemo. She gives Bucky the benefit of the doubt and a whole 8-hour American workday to do what he has to do because again, she believes in the best of him. And then that time limit runs up, and he chooses to get in her way.

And that’s the final straw. She’s angry, she’s guilty, she’s frustrated, and she feels betrayed hurt by someone I think she did respect and care about, someone whom she worked with and helped and supported when he was his most vulnerable. Did she “need” to disarm the arm to fight Bucky? Probably not. But is she doing it in the heat of battle and adrenaline and a whole bucket ton of emotions, including what she sees as the White Wolf blatantly disrespecting her country and her as a person and even friend and she just says fuck it, I’m done? You hurt us and me, and I’m going to hurt you back? Oh yeah. And Bucky looks shocked, not because he’s a poor fragile baby and “oh no, my arm, how could you?? my TrAumA”, but in the dual realization of “oh shit, how’d you do that?!” and “oh shit, I think I crossed a line here.” And also, I don’t think a single person in that room would be able to recreate the disabling sequence other than Ayo — it’s way too targeted and specific for someone like Walker to pick it up in the whole three seconds it took.

People need to stop reducing characters to these black and white extremes of soft and hard, of good and bad. Doing so completely devalues and ignores the REALITY of the complexity of being human, and Bucky and Ayo are both great examples of that played by stellar actors who portray that range and depth extremely well. End of the day, my thought is that the failsafe in the arm was justified and people need to stop coming for Ayo based on this ridiculous narrative that Bucky is too traumatized and sensitive and too much of a fave to ever be challenged or he’ll explode into dust. Boy deserves a life of freedom and healing and mental health support, but he’s also still a formidable opponent with the capacity for violence and skillset to kill. People are more than one thing.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!!

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Not attacking your points whatsoever, but I just wanted to say I was actually floored when you said Vil doesn't garner as much sympathy from the fandom as say Azul or Riddle, especially considering the actions he took to attempt at redeeming himself - maybe when episode 6 comes out he'll be able to garner more considering he becomes the Meg of Idia's story.

Also your points on Vil not being relatable shocked me just as much because the idea of being put down by others and trying hard for something and still not reaching that end goal despite the struggle kinda seems like a running theme in western media rn. Nonetheless, love your analyses as per usually do keep it up👏

[Referencing this post and this post!]

Hey, no offense taken! ^^ I love hearing from other people; it encourages having a discussion!

Perception on this might vary depending on which pockets of the fandom one frequents, but I’ve always been under the impression that Vil was not well-liked by the international fans, especially prior to episode 6. A lot of this, I believe, had to do with how strict he is, especially towards Epel (as well as a commonly held belief that Vil was shallow and vain before we got more elaboration on his past). There were little uproars here and there about how “abusive” Vil is to Epel (smacking his hand for using the wrong eating utensil, telling him to not speak in his hometown accent, etc.), and it’s clear that people feel very strongly about this matter, as it is still something that is debated to this day. I think this makes it harder for people to sympathize with Vil; they don’t see him as someone “sympathetic” because Vil is stern and always has a strong suit on, even as a child (compared to Azul and Riddle, who are revealed to have softer sides, which will naturally draw pity).

On the subject of Azul and Vil, I’ve always thought it was extremely unfair that they’re treated so differently in the fandom 😔 If you think about it, their backstories have similar elements: they came from good homes, but were labelled and bullied by their peers, then formed their goals around defying those labels placed on them, just in different ways. Azul pursued revenge (seeking to take from people via deceptive means), and Vil worked himself to the bone in hopes of landing a heroic role that would prove his bullies wrong. So why is it that Azul, the one who actively does bad things with full knowledge and awareness of it, earns more sympathy than Vil, who makes an honest effort to win VDC through his own abilities (and only takes drastic measures when driven to the brink), gets cast to the wayside? Again, I supposed this difference in treatment could come down to other factors like character popularity, relatability, vulnerability (Azul is prominently shown to be vulnerable in episode 3, but Vil doesn’t really show a moment of weakness until the end of episode 6), and how the main story itself treats them, but it’s still been a sore spot for me when I think of the dynamics of the dorm leaders and the fans. (And to be clear, I personally don’t like Vil or Azul; This is not a case me defending Vil over Azul because of an inherent character bias.)

Anyway 😩 even though I don’t like Vil that much myself, I’m hoping that he gets more people on his side when EN releases episode 6… Cuz man, I feel bad for the guy 💦 he tries so hard, yet he still basically gets treated like a “villain” by the international fandom (which is, ironically, what episode 5 was trying to tell us Vil DIDN’T want). The whole situation with him is just riddled with irony.

I don’t think I can comment much on the popular themes of western media; I don’t watch enough of what would be classified as “western media” to talk about the trends I’ve noticed. However, when I said “I don’t think Vil is relatable”, I don’t mean that he’s entirely unreliable. Every dorm leader has parts of their backstory that people can relate to, it’s just that Vil’s specific circumstances are rare. I can’t think of many kids (or even adults) with the same drive and maturity as child Vil, nor can many relate to being a bullied child star. It’s a lot easier to just relate to the “being bullied” segment that is in Azul’s much humbler beginnings. People can relate to Vil trying hard but still failing, but that’s someone that results from his circumstances; most will see the circumstances first and not focus on the finer details.

Actually, I would argue that the “trying hard but failing anyway” part of Vil’s character plays into why some (particularly young people) dislike him or think he was “done dirty”. When you’re younger, you think you’re invincible and can do anything. You generally have more hope. You expect good things in return for trying hard. Not so when you’re forced to face the realities of the world. It was probably jarring for younger players, especially those who associate Disney with “happily ever afters” to see Vil NOT get his. (Again, there was a lot of outrage in the community when episode 5 first came out and NRC lost to RSA.) Meanwhile, adult fans who are generally more jaded, can appreciate that Vil stays strong and works hard in spite of not being rewarded for it. It’s a sad but bitter truth, and maybe some people just.. didn’t vibe with that reminder 🤔 I’ve heard others describe the revelation (and, subsequently, the end of episode 5) as “a slap to the face”, and I can understand why it doesn’t feel good.

[ruby-whistler]

Why c!Dream should (and probably will be) redeemed

Hi! I’m bad with intros. You’ve read the title, so, let’s start with the definitions.

In this essay, we are considering the popularized definition of “redemption” instead of the classical one, which is, as per the Oxford Dictionary, “the act of saving or state of being saved from the power of evil; the act of redeeming.” That’s not however the way the word is used in fandom and media.

/dsmp /rp

The definition of redemption I’ll be working with in this essay is not forgiveness by the people who c!Dream has hurt, nor is it removing himself entirely from his past actions, but moreso the decision to change for the better and abandon destructive mindsets for himself and others.

A “redemption” in a narrative sense would be circumstances and a character arc that would allow that kind of healing and betterment.

I’d like to start this off by the fact that being “irredeemable”, in this sense, also doesn’t exist; redemption is a thing of conditions and choice, not of being allowed by someone else. You can’t gatekeep healing from people who seek it, just to be clear, and that even goes for people who have done terrible things.

Since I understand there is a lot of concern for c!Dream’s past actions, here is a post from people who are much more fit than me to speak on the matter, about the way in which they see a possible c!Dream redemption arc.

Another disclaimer, I am not going to be considering c!Dream only from the perspective of c!Tommy in this essay. c!Dream appears in other people’s perspectives and he himself has his own, unseen perspective. As a character, he is an individual person in his own right rather than just the antagonist of c!Tommy’s story, and so I do not have much concern for their narratives intertwining too much should this writing choice occur.

I’d also like to note that redemption is, in this sense, always a positive thing for everyone involved - someone who’s been prone to doing bad things in the past deciding not to do them anymore and try to change, or just simply heal enough to consider it, isn’t going to have a long-term negative effect in any of the characters, but rather the other way around. Healing is an unlimited resource, and the victims do not have to heal first for the person who hurt them to consider being better.

Here’s a well-written thread on Twitter that elaborates a bit to finish off this point, and let’s move on to actually talking about redemption in the context of the Dream SMP, and c!Dream specifically.

Why a c!Dream redemption arc is not only a good writing choice, but in this case the only good writing choice;

c!Dream, as we all know, has been subject to mental and physical abuse to the point of straight up torture by both c!Sam and c!Quackity (to different extents). He has been in indescribable amounts of suffering for the past 74 days at the time this essay will be published. That is six and something times the duration of the entire exile arc in canon.

Whatever the interpretation of his words in prison is, what is undeniable is first of all the fact his mental stability is absolutely crushed at this point, second that no human being could possibly ever deserve to undergo this, and third, his stay in the prison is showing off his humanity and making him out to be sympathetic.

Now, consider this; how would it feel if c!Tommy died at the end of the exile arc? Empty, there would be no catharsis to such an end, especially because of all of the hurt he’d gone through. Objectively, a bad writing choice.

Let’s compare, narratively of course, this situation to the prison arc. Even though I would never say one of them is “better” or “worse” than the other, since both are terrible and undeserved, c!Dream’s current state checks off all of the boxes that would make his death unsatisfying in the storyline; even if people want him gone, there would still be the dissatisfaction at the current build-up and why they even did it in the first place (it really wasn’t necessary to anyone else’s story to make him out as a victim, and yet they did) if they were planning to kill him off anyways. And since the prison arc is naturally meant to induce sympathy, even from an angst perspective it would simply not make sense within the themes and writing of the plot.

So, c!Dream can’t die, and he also can’t stay in the prison forever - the build-up must lead to something, which is logically a breakout. Great… what now?

Well, the Dream SMP prides itself in accurate representation of trauma and mental instability, specifically cc!Tommy and cc!Dream who have pulled it off incredibly during the exile arc.

Now, undoubtedly, after the prison, c!Dream is going to be just terribly traumatized- considering the writers’ past creative decisions, would it make sense for him to play the role of a dangerous, heartless villain in other people’s stories, while completely ignoring the logical fallout of what he’s been through?

In my mind, no. The most possible result is that cc!Dream is going to rightfully portray someone who’s been hurt so much he is broken, scared and tortured into submissions over months of agony and slowly stripping away of his agency, his dignity, his humanity. And that is… not going to be pretty, nor is he going to be in any way the same as before.

After everything, I’d be surprised if he can properly look at shears without shaking. That’s not villain behaviour, that’s the behaviour of someone who needs help.

Which leads me to another point, which is relatability. Believe me or not, there are people out there who heavily relate to c!Dream because they have been through things that allow them to see themselves in the character - abandonment, mental illness, etc. - or who have had destructive mindsets they have struggled to let go of in the past.

To them, as well as to the viewer, redeeming c!Dream could actually be a very good example, showcasing that anyone who has done bad things or has been hurt in the past can learn that it is possible to be better, to move on, to not be stuck in a loop but to actively seek help and then use that support to find the path to healing.

Making c!Dream a better person, who in a way, wins over his past, over his trauma, over the hurt he’s caused, and manages to actually get better… is inspiring, in a sense. It shows that you can abandon unhealthy mindsets, you can find a support group of people who care about you, you can make your life better simply by deciding to be better and then sticking to that, no matter how difficult the process.

This is why I believe that redeeming c!Dream would not be bad writing, but quite the opposite, and that the prison arc is an obvious set-up. Alright, but how does that work with the character? How could someone so widely hated mentally improve in such a seemingly violent and terrible environment? Would it even make sense within the context of c!Dream’s character so far? Well,

Why c!Dream has the capacity for healing and the Dream SMP the ability to provide it;

First of all, let’s remind ourselves that through c!Dream’s entire spiral he wasn’t ever directly given a chance to change. He was regarded as someone to defeat in order to accomplish a happy ending, or as someone who needed to be removed in order to achieve power on the SMP. Ever since the 16th, which is when the corruption of the character is the most obvious, there have been no attempts to reach out or to help him. I do not blame the characters for this - I am simply pointing out that since it has never happened before, we do not know how he would respond, and that, after everything he’s been through, any bit of kindness or compassion towards him will be a new concept he will have to learn to deal with somehow.

This point is especially driven home by the fact that both c!Quackity and c!Sam would often tell him he is a monster who deserves nothing but to suffer, and that what he’s going through is never going to amount to all the hurt he’s caused - basically removing any possibility for ever getting better (because by this logic, he doesn’t deserve support, and he doesn’t deserve to get better) from his line of sight.

He also hasn’t had a support system since shortly after the 16th, when his friends left him over c!George’s dethronement and made no effort to mend their relationship afterwards. c!Dream isn’t used to having allies and people on his side, but to being hated; again, wouldn’t that mean positive reinforcement could very well be all he needs to make the choice?

His bad mindsets - attachments are weakness, ends always justify the means, people will consider you a bad person no matter what you do - have been continuously proven right by his environment, even in prison. Any kind of subversion, plus an explanation as to why they are wrong, could be of great help to c!Dream.

Just another disclaimer; I do not believe c!Dream would change thanks to the treatment in prison, but rather despite it. His mental stability is non-existent at that point, and in order to get better he needs genuine emotional support from the people around him as well as to heal before he can redeem himself.

Alright, but… c!Dream has hurt a lot of people. Who would be fit to help him?

Let’s start off with the worst option and why it’s impossible the writers would even attempt this; c!Tommy.

c!Tommy has no responsibility to help or ever forgive c!Dream - not to say he could. The two, as it is, would drag each other down instead of helping in any capacity, and only make matters worse. The two of them shouldn’t even interact in the best case scenario - the best thing for both of them would be if they got enough healing and support individually that they could live around each other and not get their trauma or toxic habits triggered when interacting for whatever purpose of the plot.

So, if not c!Tommy (and c!Tubbo neither by extension), who could redeem c!Dream?

Well, he can’t do it on his own for sure. Being in nature with animals is nice, but further isolation from other people would merely help with the prison trauma, not with the state of his tendencies when interacting with others. He, once again, needs positive reinforcement from other people for him to heal properly.

There are two main options for this in my mind, and then there’s a few individuals he could also find comfort in, including people from both groups or those unaligned.

1) Kinoko Kingdom

From the people of this new country, c!Dream has never negatively interacted with c!Karl before, he has never hurt c!George and he hasn’t directly harmed c!Sapnap. Although the relationship with his old friend group could be difficult to rekindle, none of them have grudges against him that are too personal, and they have been canonically close friends since the beginning of the SMP, so it would be very much possible to rebuild burnt bridges. They’d be familiar, and with the addition of c!Karl they could be a good source of comfort for c!Dream after he either breaks out or is released from prison - just gotta convince c!Sapnap not to kill him first.

2) The Syndicate

From the Syndicate, c!Dream has never directly interacted with c!Nikki, and from what I know of her character she never seemed to be very affected by his actions - even doing his work for him when he was planning to burn down the L’Mantree. c!Techno is an ally who doesn’t have anything against him, and as for c!Ranboo, here is why I believe c!Dream being in the Syndicate could be positively influential on his character arc as well;

c!Ranboo and c!Philza have had a conversation about change, during which c!Ranboo made it clear he thinks everyone can change except for c!Dream; who, in his mind, is “too deep down the rabbit hole”. c!Philza replied that he thinks anyone can change if given enough time.

… you see what I’m getting at?

c!Dream has been implied to be an ally to c!Ranboo’s enderwalk state (or the state when he has access to his full memory), and hence would most likely not behave negatively towards him at all. While it might make it more difficult for c!Ranboo to deal with his own issues, it might also give him more motivation to get to the bottom of it as well, especially since he now has access to the person who, presumably, started this all. While this is going on, c!Dream would show himself in a much different light than c!Ranboo sees himin, which could lead to confusion, realization of the flaws in his own logic, and hence, positive character development.

Here’s a great post about why c!Techno as a character could be a great asset in c!Dream’s healing process & redemption, and why there is not much need to worry about him not knowing or finding out about c!Dream’s actions.

Of Kinoko Kingdom and the Syndicate, as far as I know, neither c!Tommy nor c!Tubbo have ever been directly involved with these groups, nor are they planning to.

Another important point to make is that, while c!Tommy needs to be kept away from c!Dream in order to heal properly, the same goes for c!Quackity and c!Sam in c!Dream’s case. While c!Quackity has high chances to interact with either Kinoko Kingdom or the Syndicate in the future, there’s an even higher chance, in that situation, that c!Dream would be offered protection, which is also important; there is no healing from trauma without the knowledge of safety, to some degree.

So, this was an essay as to why I think c!Dream’s recovery and redemption (one needs to come before the other, naturally) is not only extremely possible but also could be pulled off well and have a positive impact on both the characters, and the audience.

[dannyphantom-justiceleauge]

This may be a minor gripe but something that has kind of bothered me about discussions and depictions of Dan is how often people seem to forget that Dan isn't just an older evil Danny, he's a combination of Danny and Vlad's ghost sides. Like people always talk about him like Danny threw away his humanity and turned evil but that's not even true. Sure, we can say that Dan is the result of Danny's action but that's a little unfair. (1/2)

(2/2) Him cheating on a test, coincidentally putting his loved one's in a position where they could be killed, is absolutely not his fault. Letting Vlad take away his ghost powers with a strange contraption might not have been the smartest move, but we are talking about a grieving CHILD here, of course he isn't going to make the best decisions. If anything Vlad's the one to blame here, and even then, it's not like he could predict what happened

---

you aren't wrong, my friend. it really isn't entirely danny's fault and the whole 'if you cheat on a test, you'll loose everything you love' moral is confused at best. i think as fandom we find it more interesting to look at danny's potential evil and moral struggle with himself. so simplifying it to be dan is a worse case scenario of danny makes the conflict less abstract.

particularly because when it comes to self blame danny isn't going to go easy on himself just because it was excusable mistakes.

i think another talking point should be how danny is the target of the time assassination more than vlad is, even though vlad is part of the evil whole. you could argue that danny is the catalyst of his friends death and vlad inventing the claw things. but vlad invented the claw things. maybe because his human side survived and acted relatively harmless from then on? or maybe it's because the observants based on the available evidence recognized danny as more of a threat. i think that fits actually, for all vlad tried to be an evil mastermind, his achievements outside of terrorizing a teenager and theft isn't particularly impressive. danny was the one who got shit done. all his fights he finished one way or another and i could see how that would bleed into dan defeating everyone.

the real question is how to we fix this. ideally we could shape this idea so it's less confused, though i do honestly find the dynamic of half danny, half vlad interesting. if for not other reason. than two half ghosts make a whole. actually that's something else to be said about dan. his self-loathing is what led him to killing his human half, another negative aspect coming from danny.

i wonder if we could frame it like fusion, from su. obviously dan isn't stable or healthy, or based on love. he's most comparable to malichite. but with less internal debate. dan took the best and worst of both of them. danny's determination, danny's fighting ability, danny's anger, danny's sarcasm, vlad's anger, vlads lack of morals, vlads schemes, vlad's control. heck, vlads desire to rule the world. i don't think we ever got that from danny.

maybe if vlad was more involved in the fight with dan it could have been used as an opportunity to compare and contrast their characters. to go we're not so different you and i. danny gets to recognize that he has that dark potential. vlad gets to be humbled by the fact that what he wants isn't good for anyone, especially himself. and to be fair, we do see some of that humbling with future vlad, but none of that character growth is given to present vlad, so, really it's just another vehicle for danny angst. it also depends on what you want to do with vlad though. he's a fascinating character and could be given redemption under the right circumstances or be a character who has the opportunity for redemption but chooses not to be redeemed every time.

that fits him and makes him both a more pathetic and despicable villain. it's hard to pity someone who ignores the opportunities to heal and grow.

as for danny, he becomes far more aware of the consequences his actions, especially his selfish and cruel ones can have. because that potential was always there. he has a history of abusing his powers. perhaps for this specific incident him abusing his powers can be something less understandable than almost cheating on a test that he couldn't study for through no fault of his own. (maybe i just have flexible morals?). maybe it could be something more character relevant, like he did something particularly vlad like, maybe he set up a prank at the nasty burger to get dash but it set off the explosion that killed his family. or maybe he did something particularly cruel and manipulative. there are better catalysts than a test. either way he recognized that he should never go that far again and strive to avoid being actively cruel.

he also has the opportunity to recognize that vlad does have a human half, even the one he's fighting everyday. he can face some conflict in it's not entirely clear what trait belongs to vlad and what trait belongs to him. he can empathize with vlad and he can recognize that situations aren't always in black in white. those who fly the highest, fall the hardest, after all.

it can be a growing experience. and while making it solely a danny goes bad and learns not to do evil kind of story. maybe we could cut vlad from the equation and just have danny face himself, full evil refection. i think exploring both vlad and danny through this fusion is far more interesting. especially because we can build on what's revealed about vlad in these episodes, in later ones. danny sees a future where vlad chills and that maybe his vlad could get their. later he see vlads past and what he lost to become who he is.

and then there's vlads turning point episodes. i don't know when motherly instinct took place but maddie fully recognizing he's a bastard and rejection him, was a turning point for his sanity, and danny helped it along. then we have danny rejecting him repeatedly, then we the clone episode, which we can all agree was a desperate move on his part, that danny once again thwarted. and we can all agree that this was the cannon turning point for his character where he stopped fighting for a family and started trying to be danny's villain. in that episode, i think danny could potentially pity vlad enough to try and reach out. he's not going to justify what vlad did and he's not going to apologize for stopping him. he went too far. he hurt danny and dani, he crossed a moral line that can't be justified even with his desperation. but if he changes...

he lost this time but if he changes, maybe they'll reach the point where they're ready to accept him.

i think the same thing could be said about his relationship with jack and maddie. if he changes, if he reaches out. if acts like less of a crazy fruitloop, his friends would be there for him. jack is still trying to be there for him, even if he's being oblivious about vlad's faults. vlads the one driving wedges into his relationships and pushing everyone away.

and that's so freaking human and understandable.it would be such a cool thing to explore with his character.

i could also see a potential arc where after valerie finds out vlad and masters are the same person she tries to get close to him, both to sus out how evil he is and to understand him as a halfa. afterall danny got her to acknowledge dani as human enough, the same would apply to vlad/plasmius, right? only he's a bad person and the more she uncovers about vlad masters the man, the more she realizes it's not the ghost half that's evil. but this is a double edged sword because, vlad is getting attached to her and encouraging her to be more evil. he's encouraging her to go darker and darker in her fight against ghosts and her fight specifically against phantom. to the point where she finally draws the line and says, i'm not doing that! boom exploring the moral ambiguity of her character and getting her to take a hard stance on her morals, because there's a line too far for her.

and boom a further breakdown of vlads character because he finally had someone outside the fentons to redeem him. she could have helped pull him out of the hole he'd been digging himself into. she wanted to help him. he got attached to her, but he and his bad decisions decided to dig himself deeper instead. so once again he's 'abandoned and betrayed'.

from that point, i think it'd be time for him to finally face jack head on. not through manipulative schemes. not through veiled threats and insults. but the full confrontation of 'i always hated you. you ruined my life. you're the reason i lost everything'. which is really just his own self loathing speaking. and jack... empathetic jack can see that vlad desperately wants help. and jack would offer it to him. jack would try to hug it out and apologize and give vlad the love and friendship vlad's been fighting to steal this whole time.

and vlad would reject it.

he'd probably lash out a jack and go into a full breakdown/world destroying attack. could finally put the stolen crown to use and try declaring himself king and embracing his megalomaniac thing and actually be a threat this time. and THAT would be our series finally. everyone teaming up to fight 'king vlad'. danny probably finding out that he's technically king because he beat pariah dark but the matter being a bit confused because he had help. val and danny trying to find the ring of rage or at least find someone who can make one. secrets are out. i imagine vlad, upon revealing himself to jack would out danny to make danny as sad and alone as him. except nope, his family still loves him and val has had the character development to come around to him. (she's still gonna punch danny for lying for so long.) the ghosts will come and help because no one wants another tyrannical kind and vlads obviously off his rocker.

ah, the could have beens

anyway, i didn't mean for this to become a full vlad character analysis and rewrite when we were supposed to be talking about dan, but hey, i'm a simple creature. i like good writing, and i have to rewrite things myself, so be it. - Hestia

[blooeyedtroll]

Home on the Range

Rated PG-13ish Lolz. For occasional cussing and maybe innuendos(?). Lolz. This can also be read on Ao3. Feel free to read it there if you prefer.

More art scattered though out this fic, hope you like it!

Hello friend! Welcome!  

This is a One shot fic that takes place in mine & @messybitch802 ​‘s : 

Efflorescence AU. 

This is the beginning of our tale, I hope you enjoy.

This is in Hickory’s POV. I thought this would be a fun way to introduce Bloo and Messy. It also seemed fitting since Hickory will play a larger part as our tale unfolds.

However, I’d like to think this could be enjoyed as a fun one-shot Hickory & Dickory fic as well. This fandom needs more Yodel Brothers content!

Big thanks to @jade-green-butterfly ​ and her random ask that kicked my butt in gear, giving me the inspiration to finally start writing:

Anyway, let’s get to it. Enjoy!:

HOME ON THE RANGE

"Rock Trolls... no doubt about that.”

The rugged, orange haired Troll put down his hammer and stepped away from the task at hand. Fence work could wait. This needed his immediate attention.  Around this time of day he'd expect to see, at most, a tumbleweed passing by the entrance to the Ranch. Maybe. Nobody ever came out this way. Not since he'd been here anyway. At a good clip, it was about an hour trek away from Lonesome Flats. Which suited his needs perfectly.

The perfect place to lay low and still blend in.

"Bist du sicher?" whispered a muffled voice behind him.

"Of course I am. Now hush, I'm gonna check it out. Stay in character. An’ be ready, just in case."

The orange haired Troll patted the front of his jeans, freeing them of a satisfying amount of dust from the day’s hard work and checked his reflection in a nearby trough. Grinning as he placed a straw of wheat that was kept in the brim of his hat; between his teeth.

Perfection.

Who would guess otherwise, that the reflection in that water, was anything but a genuine Country Troll?

It took a lot of work shopping, trial and error, but he did it.

Well, they did it. The four legged, rugged, handsome, Country Troll was in actuality...two Trolls.

Two brothers to be precise.

Yodel Trolls by the names of Hickory and Dickory. 

The last Yodel Trolls by their accounts, and they happened to be the best damn team of Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries in all of Trolldom.

For good reason.

The best tool to their disposal was their ability to blend in. So much so, it was only until it was “too late” for their marks, by the time their true colors were revealed. And this disguise has been their best yet.

Hickory, though the youngest brother, was the much taller of the two. So he was the face to this particular get-up. Making Dickory to be left with the tail end. Literally. Understandably, this was not ideal for him. 

And he definitely made it well known on many occasions how he felt about having to play a literal “horse’s ass”.

But by gum, was he the best ass you could ask for.

At this point, Dickory had mastered the art of synchronizing with Hickory's movements, in such a way, it was now practically impossible to spot anything amiss. It was as if they shared one mind while under the guise of this centaur-esk being.

And while Dickory was fairly sour about the whole situation, Hickory found himself more and more, fond of living day to day as a Country Troll. Very much so to his brother’s shagrin. The look, the music, the lifestyle...everything.

It had been two months now since the brothers found themselves here, in Country Music territory. However, last anyone on the outside had heard about them, was that they had "yodelled so hard, an avalanche fell on them"...or something? Which was just what they wanted. For the time being anyway.

The brothers had struck a deal with their last mark. 

For his freedom, he was to spread said rumor, so the Yodelers could lay low for a while.

Queen Barb, of the Hard Rock Trolls, was no stranger to the two brothers. As a matter of fact, she was one of their most frequent clients for the past few years. Which suited them just fine. Well, almost. The last few jobs they did for the young Queen, left a bitter taste in Hickory's mouth. Not so much for the tasks she asked of them, but because of something she said and what he saw on their last few visits to Volcano Rock City. Maps. Marked up. Plans of some sort. Hanging everywhere. The young ruler, looking the most tired he'd ever seen her, yet looking as if ready to burst from being too tightly wound, at any moment.

"Hopefully next time I see you dudes, one way or another, we'll all be singing to a different tune. It's gonna be so Rad."

Whatever was going on, both Yodelers agreed that it was definitely not worth getting caught up in. They could just feel it. Deep down. They were hired to track Trolls down and do what needed to do, to get by.

Both of them could be shady characters at times, but they had decent moral compasses to live by. So they told themselves.

That's why the presence of Rock Trolls at this moment made Hickory's blood run cold. Could it be possible somehow, some way, they had been found out? That whatever Queen Barb was up to, she was looking for them? What is it that she’d need them for anyway?

No. Their plan worked perfectly. Blend in as a Country Troll, lay low for a while, only do the occasional "job" when the opportunity presented itself, just until the Queen of Rock cooled her head or went through with... whatever she is planning.

Not a soul knew about Hickory and Dickory being here.

Well.

Unless you counted, July.

Miss July, the owner of the Ranch. A rather interesting Troll.

A Pop-Country Troll. The only mixed genre Troll around these parts. Unlike her four legged, centaur, Country loving neighbors; she walked on two legs... well, hooves. Her appearance could be compared to a more "Satyr" like build, with a perfect blend of both genres in her appearance. The bright colors of a Pop Troll, but the sturdy build of that of a Country Troll.

A Tough, stern older lady-Troll, with a heart of gold.

Running this place all on her own, while tending to her extremely elderly parents.

That's one of the reasons he never expected any visitors here. Nobody in town wanted anything to do with Miss July or her family. Didn't much like associating with “their kind” if they could help it. Though you'd never hear them say it in polite conversation. But that suited Miss July just fine. That's how she liked it. Ever since Miss July and her folks suffered a terrible loss to their family, decades ago, she rarely went into town if she could help it.

Which on one such occasion, is when she stumbled upon the Yodelers, in their first attempts at putting together their  “Country Persona”.

They had been camping not too far from her Ranch and the Town, when she found them both, struggling to even walk in time together, in a pair of poorly made four legged pants.

July took their word as Gospel. That they were just fulfilling a lifelong dream of wanting to, in some way, be a Country Troll. So she offered them a place to stay and to show them the ropes on what it meant to be a Country Troll. If they agreed to work for her at her family’s Ranch.

"Until you feel you can stand on yer own four hooves!' She teased.

It could be easily wagered that July being an outcast in her own community, could be a factor of sympathy she felt towards them, making her wanting to help any way she could, and possibly what made her not judgmental in the least. That, and as tough as she put herself on as, she was sweet as apple pie, through and through.

Which did make Hickory especially, feel guilty about not being more upfront with her. As much as he could be anyhow.

Especially so, when the occasional “job opportunity" presented itself around Lonesome Flats during the Yodelers free time. Turns out, there were plenty of Trolls who had a bone to pick with others, or needed matters settled around these parts. Not to mention, crooks-a-plenty to turn in.

But both brothers always repented.  By being very diligent working for Miss July on the Ranch. Anything she needed done, got done. It was the least they could do for what she had done for them for these last two months. So the last thing needed was for anything to get ugly around here.

As Hickory approached closer and closer, he could feel his brother tensing up.

"Easy.” He whispered under his breath, smirking, patting behind him in attempts to calm his hotheaded companion. While still maintaining a nonchalant and calm demeanor.

Having spent a fair amount of time in Volcano Rock City for past jobs, and even on several occasions for other clients; needing to spend time incognito as Rock Trolls, it was fairly easy to recognize them from afar.

Upon closer inspection, it did come across as rather curious to see them wearing Country attire. They couldn't be trying to blend in, could they?

No. Not by the way these two held themselves.  

One Troll in various shades of blue in appearance, the other in peculiar shades of green from toe to tip. Both faces, still covered by wide brimmed hats. The blue Troll's demeanor was nervous right from the jump. Their green companion, holding them by the hand, grounding them. As if to keep them from sprinting away at a moment's notice. Both looking tired from the trek they must have taken from town to get to the Ranch property and from the sun's unforgiving afternoon rays.

Nothing but what seemed to be electric guitars and simple backpacks on their backs. However, these were definitely the most impressive guitars Hickory had seen in all his life.

The blue Troll’s, from what he could make out, was sage in color and looked as if it was made of some large critter's battered wing. Almost bat or reptilian in nature. The green Troll’s guitar, an imposing, venomous violet, crafted by what could only could be guessed as being once the claw and stinger of some scorpion-type critter. One he certainly wouldn't want to tango with. 

Lackeys of Queen Barb’s? No... couldn't be.

"Nobody knows we're here"

"We've been so careful."

He repeated over and over to himself. Almost mantra-like. He really had no reason to be this paranoid he kept reminding himself.

“Who are the most feared Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries in all Trolldom?”

“The Yodel brothers. That's who.” He smirked at that last thought. Puffing his broad chest a bit more, in response to his inner pep-talk.

And no Troll, no matter now--

"H--Howdy!" The blue Troll, clearing their voice, shakily called out.

"Right fine day, isn't it?"

The traveler seemed to ease into the drawl like putting on an old pair of comfy shoes, and with each word, their confidence seemed to boost. Stepping forward from their green companion, they removed their wide brim hat and gandered up at Hickory, with a small smile that damn near made his heart leap through his throat. In a good way?

That was...unexpected.

His usual quick witted mind and tongue, on the spot turned into a train that just left the station.

Those eyes. Absolutely pierced him right through. Large, inquisitive, pale, cerulean eyes. Staring right at him under dark lashes, and surrounded by a cascade of cobalt freckles.

The closest shade of color he could compare those eyes to were a color he hadn't thought of in ages. Snow. Snow that as a Trolling he played in. Usually when you found yourself making forts or laying in heeps that came up so high, you would look, and you'd catch the glimmering sunlight, shining through it. A shade of blue that just melted you to the core and drew out a smile, without you being the wiser.

"Right fine.”  he responded. Recovering from his wandering mind.

No time to be side tracked by an adorable, freckled, blue-eyed Troll. With sweet, curvy features, who has solid looking muscles that look they could easily crush--

"How can I help you? You folks seem a bit far away from home. Don't get a lot of Rock Trolls around these parts.”

Thank goodness his voice seemed to be the one on track; at the task at hand.

“Oi! What’s that supposed to mean?”

The green Troll stepped forward, hotly, removing their own hat, as to glare directly at him. Sizing him up. Only a tad taller, but much more lithe in figure to their companion. Definitely much more fierce. Not just in attitude, but in appearance. Their eyes, deep as sapphires. Teeth, the bottom row protruding two large tusk-like lower canines. Ears, pointed back and just as sharp as their claws, which he found himself one the other end of, being pointed at. Just as he felt his hair prickle, preparing himself for what was bound to happen next, the tension was immediately neutralized.

"It's okay Mess” The blue Troll cooed, calming the green one.

"Sorry to just come on over uninvited, but uh, does a Troll named July still live here?"

"You mean Miss July? Sure does. Why, if You don't mind my askin’?"

"Well you see, she's my... can--can I please talk to her? If she's around here today?”

A good long pause washed over the three.

Hickory could feel the trepidation radiating from Dickory behind him as he swished "their tail' in annoyance. Normally, if this was any other situation, it'd be too bad for these two. He'd send them right on their way, or worse if it came to it. They seemed capable. They had guitars, they were Rock Trolls. Random Rock Trolls, showing up, asking for not himself or his brother, but Miss July. Out of all the Country Trolls in Lonesome Flats.

But the waves of anxiety radiating from this freckled Troll were massive; and when their friend wasn't staring daggers at his direction, they were gazing so tenderly and sympathetically at them. These weren't agents of Queen Barbs. These seemed like folks on a sad mission of delivering news, or something of the like. They looked as though this was the last place they would ever want to be.

Dickory always insisted that Hickory was too quick to let his heart think first before his head when it came to their line of work. He didn't see it that way though. Hickory thought himself a good judge of character. Hell, that's why they found themselves in this situation now. Tipping his hat in a friendly manner, he smiled at the two.

"Well, why dontcha follow me then. I'm sure Miss July is making lunch right about now. You folks are just in time. Name's Hickory"

"Messy." replied the green.

The blue Troll remained silent.

"Adorabull got yer tongue cutie?" he teased

Those freckled cheeks lit up in seconds, a flushed lavender. Too cute.

"Somethin' like that' They smiled sheepishly.

All the while, as Hickory walked with the two up to the main building on the property, they stuck to idle chit-chat. About the weather or the nearby town. They passed by many of the fences that housed just some of Miss July's critters. As well as a few stables, paddocks, a decent sized workshed, and the small house the Yodelers had been staying in since they arrived here. It was once they passed that particular building, the blue Rocker stopped in their tracks momentarily. Just staring. Almost trance-like. They only moved again once Messy had firmly grabbed their hand and they followed.

Finally, they reached the main building's porch. The family home. Without any prompting, the two travelers waited at the bottom steps of the porch. Hickory nodded, thinking that might be best. He walked up to the open door. The wafting aroma of today's lunch filling his nostrils. Chili with sweet rolls? If he wasn't mistaken, he could smell fresh squeezed lemonade too. Knowing better to barge in while she was in the Kitchen...

"Pardon me, Miss July?" he called out.

"Dammit Hic, I told ya once, I'll tell ya again. Lunch is on when I ring the damn bell, that's when it’s good and ready!"

Hickory couldn't help but chuckle. That July was a firecracker.

"It's got nothin' to do with that Miss. You see, You've got yourself some visitors."

"For the last time Hic, just call me Jul--"

July emerged from the doorway, holding in each hand a glass of lemonade with mint garnish. No doubt as something to appease the Yodelers until lunch was done. As soon as her eyes met the two travelers, she stopped dead in her tracks. Glaring at them something fierce.

"These two are the visitors I was talkin' about."

"Rock Trolls, huh? Here? Whaddya want?"

The blue traveler, clearing their throat, voice cracking; they smiled, eyes glazed and sparkling with unshed tears. Staring at July as if a secret wish had been granted.

"Aunty Ju-Ju? It's m-me. It's Bloo. I'm home."

Bloo? That Bloo? Could it really be? Hickory didn't need to dwell on that too long though. July suddenly yelped out loud, in such a way that it startled absolutely everyone. Including herself apparently because those glasses in her hands dropped and shattered to bits.

"You couldn't be-- w-what kind of game are ya playin’ at?!"

July at a loss for words. This was serious. There she stood, knees buckling, lip quivering, tail thrashing. Unable to look away from the Troll in front of them at the end of her porch. A look of torment across their face.

Slowly, the freckled Troll smiled sadly, and reached behind their back for their instrument. Hickory acted quickly, putting himself between the two. Staring intently at the Rocker. They stared back, as they slowly brought the instrument forward.

"Please. Let me play?"

Hickory's nostrils flared, biting down hard on the straw in his mouth. How was he so stupid? Well, he wouldn't be fooled this time.

*~strum~*

Though the guitar was imposing and electric, with a stroke of their hand, it played a long, twangy, unmistakable, Country cord.

Silence.

Laying a hand on Hickory's shower, July gently moved him aside, her attention almost trance-like on the player. Waiting.

As if they understood, they shifted and picked up their guitar in earnest. Strumming again, but to a much more upbeat melody. Much more upbeat than most Country music Hickory had heard around town that he grew to enjoy. This sounded more... Pop? Much more like something he'd hear July singing on a day she was in a particularly good mood. Or something July’s elderly mother, the Pop Troll of the family might hum.

That's when they began to sing along, starting off slowly and gaining strength with each note. A large smile on their face as tears cascaded down their round cheeks. As if putting on the show of their lives. It was raw, and beautiful.

"She loves rock ‘n’ roll,

they said it's demons’ tongue,

She thinks they're too old.

They think she's too young,

And the battle lines are clearly drawn.”

“She's a wild one,

with an angel's face,

She's a lovely Troll in a state of grace,

When she was three years old on her daddy's knee,

He said you can be anythin’ you wanna be.

She's a wild one.

Runnin' free."

“She has future plans,

and dreams at night,

they tell her life is hard,

she smiles, sayin’ “that’s alright”, yeah!”

“She’s a wild one,

With an angel’s face,

She’s a lovely Troll in a state of grace,

When she was three years old on her daddy’s knee,

He said you can be anythin’ you wanna be.

She’s a wild one.

Runnin’ free.”

"She's a wild one”~~

"~~Runnin' free.”  July finished and sobbed the last line.

"That was the song I wrote for your Mama... all them years ago..My Bloo. My little ‘Bloo-Jay’ came home!"

Hickory stood fully aside now, allowing the two to embrace, for what he now had realized had been the first time in more than two decades. An embrace that both warmed and broke your heart, all at the same time. This was July's pride and joy. Her niece. Bloo, the only child of July's older sister June.

June and July were extremely close sisters. Best friends even.

June was a very free spirited Troll who fancied herself a part-time singer at one of the local bars in town. On one of these trips to town, she met a traveling Rock Troll by the name of Ziggy. Busking for food and drink. Let's just say, it didn't take long at all until wedding bells were ringing and Ziggy was part of the happy family here on the Ranch. The couple waited a while before having a Trolling. The two were busy enjoying married life, Ziggy took June traveling, fulfilling her dreams of seeing life outside Lonesome Flats. And wherever they went, they were singing up a storm. When they returned home to settle down, at any bar or club, or bingo hall that would have them, they continued singing their hearts out. Occasionally even dragging July along. The three of them became inseparable. Especially after Bloo was born. The townsfolk even seemed to warm up to the entire, oddball family. It was all turning up roses for the family finally, after what felt like ages of trying to live in harmony. But it all came to a crushing end. 

Shortly after Bloo turned five years old, a serious, contagious illness spread throughout Lonesome Flats. Most folks who caught it, eventually recovered, but there were eight fatalities in the end. June was one of them. The family was torn to pieces by June’s passing. Ziggy just wasn't the same Troll after. A year passed and just as they thought things might slowly start looking up, Ziggy and Bloo were gone.

Apparently he had packed himself and Bloo up one night, and just left without a word. July knew he had family back home in Volcano Rock City, and figured that is where he would take Bloo to raise them. But July dared not go there. For good reason. A Pop-Country Troll, travel to Volcano Rock City?  Demand her niece back from a heartbroken father? While leaving her extremely elderly parents to fend for themselves? No. July would be turned away or torn to pieces. King Thrash at the time was feared for good reason in those days and most Trolls feared Rock Trolls the most out of all the other Tribes.

July and her folks basically moved on by learning to mourn the loss of June, Bloo, and Ziggy. They never expected to ever see Bloo or Ziggy again. Yet here Bloo was. Embracing their aunt, while Hickory and Messy looked on fondly. His smile grew wider as he realized how overjoyed July's folks: Clay and May, would be to see their grand-baby again. Something they thought they'd never live to see.

He could see it now that he got a better look at Bloo, as they were bombarded with kisses and hugs, that they did share a little resemblance to their Pop-Country Aunt. Though without a doubt, they took after their father Ziggy the most. No wonder Bloo wasn't easily recognizable at first glance, they looked so different in comparison to how they looked back then as a Trolling.

Who would have thought that he'd meet the Troll who's childhood pictures adorned the home he and his brother were staying in? Which happened to be Bloo's Old family home on the Ranch. The same house they had stopped to stare at on their way to the main house.

"Small world we live in!” He barked with laughter.

"Welcome home Miss Bloo, glad to meetcha." And he meant it, whole heartedly.

"Glad to be home again.”

END.

(Song used was Faith Hill’s ‘Wild One’. Tweaked for this story)

[tendousprettyfingers]

Furudate’s dream team vs the readers’ dream team: An analysis on the haikyuu teams and players

This is so interesting to me. There’s a clear disconnect between what the fandom thinks is a really good team vs what the animators think is a really good team. To be fair both teams are absolutely insane. With an incredible amount of talent on both sides. But I have to agree with furudate’s team. They have the more powerful offense AND defense.

Nothing is getting past Aone, Tendou, and Yaku. Aone blocks with brute force and tendou is intuitive. They balance eachother out—-making it possible for them to block a variety of different spikes. Yaku is a talented libero that plays for a team that specializes in defense and ends up being japan’s Olympic libero on the 2021 team.

The wing spikers on furudate’s team are canonically some of the strongest—-combined with oikawa’s sets, makes for insane spikes that are difficult to block. Ushijima is left handed and also puts a nasty spin on his spikes. So nasty that it concerns even sakusa, who is known for putting a spin on his spikes. Asahi is very underrated as a wing spiker. I feel like we as a fandom forget that he’s the ace of karasuno. I think Hyakuzawa is in the green jersey (correct me if I’m wrong). He needs work as a player but it’s obvious he has so much potential for growth given his height and strength. He’s a player on japan’s 2021 Olympic volleyball team in timeskip so he must end up being a really good player. He can absolutely grow on a team like this.

Now O i k a w a. Ushijima once said that Oikawa brings out the best in every team that he plays in. And he’s right. Though ushijima was wrong about seijoh not having any other worthy players, he was right about oikawa being able to make a good team everywhere he goes. Oikawa’s ability to draw out talent will go a long way—-especially with players that are already talented. Tendou will thrive on a team that lets him play in his individual style and oikawa will let him do that.

But who’s to say that the fandom’s team isn’t good too. Each team in Haikyuu has a specific playing style. Let’s say that furudate’s team has a shiratorizawa/Inarizaki playing style & the fandom’s team has a Karasuno/Aoba Johsai playing style.

I would assume that furudate’s team would rely on their aces to win sets much like shiratorizawa. They’re also a well rounded team that would be able to adapt to different plays like inarizaki.

The fandom’s team would likely revolve around kageyama’s skill and ability to make the team cohesive like how oikawa brought together his aoba johsai team. Though their individual skill levels are much lower than the other team’s skill levels, as a group they’re still well rounded. The players on that team learn quickly so they would be able to adapt to different plays like karasuno does. Also hinata is very creative with his spikes.

It would be easy to say that the fandom’s team would lose against furudate’s team but they stand a chance. Hinata and Kageyama have continually shown their ability to bypass the defense of the opposing teams they’ve played against.

Unfortunately, hinata and Kageyama are the only two players skilled enough to compete against the furudate team. Daichi is an average wing spiker and isn’t even the ace for his own school. He is a very good captain, and would probably be the captain for this team, but the only players on that team that need emotional support during games are iwaizumi and bokuto. Speaking of bokuto, he’s an extremely strong wing spiker, but gets discouraged easily. On his Fukurodani team he has akaashi, who is able to take bokuto out of his “emo mode.” Even though bokuto would have hinata and kuroo on this team, I don’t see them being able to read bokuto well enough to bring him into a better mood. Also, this team isn’t going to coddle bokuto as much as his fukurodani team bc I don’t see him being the star player of this team, which would probably make him even more emo. Also kageyama would likely be the glue of this team, and he would be tough on bokuto. Iwaizumi is a powerful ace but we’ve never seen him play in nationals (bc aoba johsai never made it to nationals). Hehe oikawa should’ve gone to shiratorizawa. Anyways. Iwa is strong but lacks intelligence in his playing. And this is on a regional level of playing.

Nishinoya is a talented libero but he struggled with Ushijima’s spikes during the shiratorizawa game. He would also have to adapt his rolling thunder style to match the speed and strength of the spikes coming from the other team. But it would take at least a few points and the fandom dream team can’t afford that. Kuroo, while talented as well, simply is average in terms of skill level compared with the other middle blockers of haikyuu. Kuroo’s read blocking and its quality comes from the amount of experience he has. He’s an intelligent player but lacks some physical ability. He wasn’t quick enough to block hinata’s freak quick before. He coukd probablu block ushiwaka a couple times, but it won’t be enough. Hinata, even though his jumping abilities take him far, will probably not be enough to block hyakuzawa. Hinata was only able to block ushiwaka once during the shiratorizawa game.

That’s my hot take— feel free to add or argue with me

[wolfcrunch]

These are from the same person btw

There are a lot of shitty takes in the tags rn but this one has to be one of the wackest

—–

this has been sitting for a few days bc these takes sure are something.

do these stans think the villains are not doing what they are doing of their own free will? shigaraki, the lov, all the villains are consciously making the decision to be bad. they are bad people. they like being bad people. you cannot compare the villains and heroes and say “oh, well actually you need to treat them the same-” thats not how it works. sure, society was shitty and didn’t help people like shigaraki or toga or twice but why do they get off killing people?

why is it SO HARD to understand that mass murder is bad??? that while they are right in saying society has hurt them, it gives them no right to act the way they are? that it doesn’t make them great people? they are actively hurting people who have done nothing to do. the heroes are seeking to protect those people.

you can sympathize and even relate to the villains! people do it to characters like bakugou and endeavor - but guess what? you dont have to support their actions. just because they have a sob story, doesn’t mean they should get off freely. it doesnt mean they shouldn’t be held accountable. it doesn’t make the villains better people to stand up in the manner they are - it doesnt make them stronger, or smarter, or the good guys, it makes them look selfish because they dont care about making society good. they dont care about changing anything. they only seek to destroy whats hurt them so they can continue to hurt more innocent people. there is no “they want a peaceful society!” because im pretty sure its been stated several times they’re just in it for themselves. heroes are in it for the protection of others, for civilians. for children and the elderly.

and yes, heroes over the years have obviously been warped (you’ve got heroes who may appear more greedy and in it for the money) - but the series has shown us so many heroes who are in it for genuinely good reasons. we’ve seen more ‘greedy’ heroes change, for example, mt lady. they cant help the villains because the villains dont want help. they could never do anything before because - shocker - most of the current heroes we see weren’t heroes at the time the villains were hurt. the villains being hurt never excuses mass murder, especially when people in this fandom read into it to such an extent it doesnt make sense. 

heroes, at their core, are not bad.

we’ve also seen with deku, he will possibly reach out to help shigaraki. he’s already tried. but we know, shigaraki wont take it. we know all might also wanted to help when he found out. some stans need to sit down, shut up and stop warping their biased views of these characters.

also that deku take is so STUPID have we been keeping up with the same series? making him out to be privileged when yeah, he was lucky…but its not as if everything was fucking fine and dandy. the series, CONTINUOUSLY, shows us his struggles. we are constantly reminded that he was extremely lucky. we’re constantly reminded that he doesn’t find himself worthy. we’re constantly reminded of his past and how everyone has helped deku to where he is now, and how he never takes that for granted. this series is deku’s story, and if you’re so blind as to of somehow skipped that, you really need to refresh your memory.

deku being “accepted” by the society - did you forget that hardly anyone knows of deku’s past itself? he doesn’t go around proclaiming he was quirkless, only to be struck by luck of his actions and receive a quirk. no one knows of deku’s origins. the only people of importance who know are bakugou and all might. no one else in his class knows, shinsou doesn’t know, aizawa and the teachers don’t know, people and heroes who watched the sports festival, don’t know. 

so what exactly are they supposed to ‘ridicule’ him about when they think its his natural quirk? to them, he manifested that quirk naturally. they’ve had no reason to question him. they’ve had no reason to not trust him or accuse him of getting his quirk through other means. to them, a quirk like ofa - the ability to pass one’s power - isn’t a possibility they’ve considered or been wary of. deku has had to continuously prove to himself that he is worthy of that quirk, always remembering where he started. his issues didn’t just get left in the past.

also heroes only protecting “good, obedient soldiers” and bringing up best jeanist and twice…im honestly not even going to bother. the situations of those two characters were extremely different, and had nothing to do with their status. the hero commission likely could not risk losing another high-ranking hero so soon after all might. they have time to plan an alternative, so hawks can get dabi to trust him. twice’s situation was in the moment.

there was no back-up plan. there was no plan at all. hawks did what he thought was the best choice, in that moment, because he felt he had no other option. he did not have the time best jeanist’s situation gave him. he didn’t have the resources. he didn’t have the power to do much else. it was either end twice where he was, or let him leave and re-group with the lov, which is the last thing hawks wants. hawks is fighting to save people, and ultimately he chose saving many lives over saving one. 

hawks did not aim to kill twice initially as it was never his plan - he wanted to help twice and give him a new start. he saw a genuinely nice person which the manga itself states. but funnily enough, some stans will just skip over that information because it inconveniences their view on the story.

the kids themselves are questioning if this whole war fiasco was the right decision. this is a story of what exactly is heroism, and what better cast to show that to us then those very same kids, who are going to grow and learn?

anyways some of yall be wilding bc you cant read, and it shows

[ireadyabooks]

Books to Read After Watching Julie and the Phantoms

By Mackenzie Cutruzzula

First things first...

If you’re anything like me you haven’t been able to get the songs from Julie and the Phantoms out of your head. Whether you love music, a good ghost story, or a little bit of both, these books are on the edge of great.

Julie and the Phantoms: The Edge of Great by Micol Ostow (On Sale December 29)

After the passing of her mom, Julie has lost her passion for music and is on the verge of being kicked out of her performing arts high school. That is, until she makes the ultimate comeback with her new band, Julie and the Phantoms. There’s only one catch: all of her bandmates are ghosts. 

Back in the 1990s, Luke, Reggie, and Alex were on the cusp of rock stardom with their band, Sunset Curve, before an unfortunate encounter with Los Angeles street food brought their rock band dreams—and lives—to an end. Now, with Julie as their lead singer, the guys have a second chance to make it big and to help Julie discover the real power of music. 

This novel based on Season 1 of the hit Netflix series is told in alternating points of view and include a full-color photo insert and exclusive story content not seen on the show!

If you love the music of Julie and the Phantoms try these reads:

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

While spacing out in Chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk, and added a message to her. Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters -- sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she's kind of falling for this letter writer. Only who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery, and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can't always be spelled out...Kasie West brings irresistible wit, warmth, and sparkle to this swoon-worthy story of love showing up when you least expect it.

Turn It Up by Jen Calonita

The Nightingales are in a serious funk. Bradley Academy's all-girl a cappella group used to be the pride of the sunshine state, but the Nightingales have recently fallen out of harmony. Best friends and co-captains Lidia Sato and Sydney Marino haven't been speaking ever since a boy came between them. And not just any boy-none other than Griffin Mancini, the lead singer of Bradley Academy's smug all-boy a capella group, the Kingfishers.The Nightingales have no chance of making it to the big state final if their captains are at each other's throats. Their only hope is new girl Julianna Ramirez. But in addition to her serious pipes, she has some serious stage fright.The Nightingales will have to come together if they want to shine at the upcoming competition and restore the group to its former glory.

K-Pop Confidential by Stephen Lee

When Candace Park secretly enters a global audition held by the same music label that made the K-pop boy band SLK famous, the last thing she expects is to actually get a coveted spot in their trainee program. And convincing her strict parents to let her to go is all but impossible ... although it's nothing compared to what comes next. Under the strict supervision of her instructors at the label's headquarters in Seoul, Candace must perfect her performance skills to within an inch of her life, learn to speak Korean fluently, and navigate the complex hierarchies of her fellow trainees, all while following the strict rules of the industry. Rule number one? NO DATING, which becomes impossible to follow when she meets a dreamy boy trainee. And in the all-out battle to debut, Candace is in danger of planting herself in the middle of a scandal lighting up the K-pop fandom around the world.

Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky

Just know from the start that it wasn't supposed to go like this. All we wanted was to get near them. That's why we got a room in the hotel where they were staying. We were not planning to kidnap one of them. Especially not the most useless one. But we had him-his room key, his cell phone, and his secrets. We were not planning on what happened next. We swear.

Muted by Tami Charles (On Sale February 2, 2021)

For seventeen-year-old Denver, music is everything. Writing, performing, and her ultimate goal: escaping her very small, very white hometown. So Denver is more than ready on the day she and her best friends Dali and Shak sing their way into the orbit of the biggest R&B star in the world, Sean "Mercury" Ellis. Merc gives them everything: parties, perks, wild nights -- plus hours and hours in the recording studio. Even the painful sacrifices and the lies the girls have to tell are all worth it. Until they're not. Denver begins to realize that she's trapped in Merc's world, struggling to hold on to her own voice. As the dream turns into a nightmare, she must make a choice: lose her big break, or get broken. Inspired by true events, Muted is a fearless exploration of the dark side of the music industry, the business of exploitation, how a girl's dreams can be used against her -- and what it takes to fight back.

Spin by Lamar Giles

When rising star Paris Secord (aka DJ ParSec) is found dead on her turntables, it sends the local music scene reeling. No one is feeling that grief more than her shunned pre-fame best friend, Kya, and ParSec's chief groupie, Fuse -- two sworn enemies who happened to be the ones who discovered her body. The police have few leads, and when the trail quickly turns cold, the authorities don't seem to be pushing too hard to investigate further. But nobody counted on Paris's deeply loyal fans, ParSec Nation, or the outrage that would drive Fuse and Kya to work together. As ParSec Nation takes to social media and the streets in their crusade for justice, Fuse and Kya start digging into Paris's past, stumbling across a deadly secret. With new info comes new motives. New suspects. And a fandom that will stop at nothing in their obsessive quest for answers, not even murder...

If you love the ghosts in Julie and the Phantoms and are looking for something a little spooky, try these reads:

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn't like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead . . . and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost. So things are already pretty strange. But they're about to get much stranger. When Cass's parents start hosting a TV show about the world's most haunted places, the family heads off to Edinburgh, Scotland. Here, graveyards, castles, and secret passageways teem with restless phantoms. And when Cass meets a girl who shares her "gift," she realizes how much she still has to learn about the Veil -- and herself. And she'll have to learn fast. The city of ghosts is more dangerous than she ever imagined.

All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado, is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars. At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo. They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Bestowed by the ancient goddess of death, Yadriel and the gifted members of his Latinx community can see spirits: women have the power to heal bodies and souls, while men can release lost spirits to the afterlife. But Yadriel, a trans boy, has never been able to perform the tasks of the brujas - because he is a brujo. When his cousin suddenly dies, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is not his cousin. It's Julian Diaz, the resident bad boy of his high school, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

The Ghost and the Goth by Stacey Kade

After a close encounter with a bus, Alona Dare goes from homecoming queen to Queen of the Dead. She’s stuck as a ghost in the land of the living with no sign of the big, bright light to take her to a better place. To make matters worse, the only person who might be able to help her is Will Killian, a total loser outcast. More than anything, Will wishes he didn’t have the rare ability to communicate with the dead, especially the former mean girl of Groundsboro High. He’s not filling out any volunteer forms to help her cross to the other side, though it would bring him some welcome peace and quiet. Can they get over their mutual distrust -- and quasi-attraction -- to work together? Readers of this spirited paranormal comedy won't want this odd couple to ever part.

[forensicsisabelle]

Not Too Bad

SRating: General Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Category: F/F Fandom: Shadowhunters (TV) Relationships: Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow, Alec Lightwood & Aline Penhallow, Max Lightwood-Bane & Aline Penhallow, Helen Blackthorn & Max Lightwood-Bane Characters: Aline Penhallow, Alec Lightwood, Helen Blackthorn, Max Lightwood-Bane, Magnus Bane Additional Tags: Background Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Married Helen Blackthorn/Aline Penhallow, Married Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Babysitting, Shadowhunter Bingo Summary: Aline and Helen have begun discussing having kids, but Aline is worried that she doesn't have what it takes to be a good parent. After a heart-to-heart with Alec, Aline finds herself babysitting baby Max in what Alec and Helen hope will be a self-esteem boost. But things don't go as planned.

Written for @shadowhunterbingo Square filled: babysitting

Read on AO3.

“Aline?”

Alec’s questioning finally caught her attention, and Aline sat up straight, dropping her hand that she’d been resting her chin on as she stared at the fire on the other side of her office. Her cheeks warmed as she tilted her head up to look at Alec standing opposite where she sat at the desk, just to the side of the same fire. She prided herself on her abilities as a Shadowhunter, yet she hadn’t heard him approach or the knock on the door that she assumed he’d given her before walking in.

“Sorry,” she said with a self-conscious smile. “I’m a little distracted today.”

“I can see that,” Alec said, lowering himself into one of the chairs in front of her desk. He watched her for a moment before he continued. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, no,” Aline said, waving her hand dismissively through the air. “It’s nothing that anyone should be worried about. I’d much rather discuss why you’re here. I assume there’s something you need to tell me?”

Alec’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t press her any further.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. “I was talking to Lindquist. A vampire clan in their jurisdiction wants to speak to the Clave, so I was hoping to talk to your mom about scheduling a meeting. Only she wasn’t in her office, so I came to see if you could pass the message on.”

Aline gave him a smile, much more at ease with the topic safely on work instead of anything personal. Alec may have been her friend, but she’d been having trouble discussing her feelings with Helen recently, let alone anyone else. Still, she felt dangerously close to blurting out her feelings to anyone who asked.

“Of course,” she said. “Last I heard, Mom had a meeting with Tessa Gray from the Spiral Labyrinth this morning, but I think she’ll be finished soon. We had plans to meet for lunch. I can pass on your message then.”

“Sounds good,” Alec said. “I was just about to head out to lunch myself, so I was hoping to let her know before I left. Better we don’t leave the Lindquists waiting too long. They’re not a big fan of your mother. Don’t want to give them more reasons to dislike her.”

Aline cringed. Now that Alec mentioned it, she remembered the spat her mother and the Lindquists had gotten into several years earlier. She couldn’t even remember what the fight had been about, but dealing with them had been touchy with her mother ever since.

“I’ll definitely let her know,” she said with a decisive nod.

With their business complete, she’d expected Alec to excuse himself, but he remained sitting in the chair across from her desk, watching Aline as if he were trying to sort something out. She stiffened, already sure of what was coming and dreading it.

“You sure you don’t want to talk about whatever had you lost in your own head when I came in?” he asked hesitantly.

They’d known each other for years, but Alec had always been more closed off with Aline than Isabelle or Jace. It was only in the past few years that she felt she’d really gotten to know the real him and not a closed off version that he’d carefully crafted to hide himself. She was pretty sure that he could say the same about her, even if she liked to think her facade had appeared more genine than his.

She sighed, feeling her resistance crumbling from no other power than his gaze.

“Helen and I have been talking about adoption,” she admitted. “It’s not new. We both said we wanted to have kids when we first got together, but now we’re really talking about it.”

“Like the ‘it may happen soon’ kind of talking about it?” Alec asked, leaning forward in his chair.

His eyes sparkled with excitement at the idea, and Aline couldn’t hold back a snort of laughter at his eagerness for someone else to have kids. She never would have pegged Alec as a kid person before baby Max had come along, yet his son had made him more baby crazy than anyone she knew. Not even her wife with her million siblings who she’d practically raised could compare.

“I think so,” Aline said quietly, her gaze on the fire. “It would make sense. We’re married now. We’re settled, and we’ve always said that we would. Now’s the time.”

Alec’s excited smile dropped into something threatening to become a frown.

“Are you sure about it?” he asked. “Because if you don’t actually want kids, you shouldn’t—”

“I do,” Aline rushed to assure him.

With anyone else, she would have been offended that they’d offered unsolicited advice as if she hadn’t carefully considered everything for herself, but she didn’t feel that way towards Alec. She just felt tired after the long morning she’d had obsessing over the same nagging thoughts that had been coming and going for months.

“I want kids,” she added even more forcefully. “That’s something I’m sure of, and I wouldn’t have promised Helen otherwise if I wasn’t. It’s just that…” She fiddled with her pen the click clack of her opening and closing it echoing through the room. “I’m an only child,” she continued. “Helen has lots of younger brothers and sisters. She’s been around kids her whole life, and she’s so good at taking care of them. Any time that something happens, she knows exactly what to do. It’s like she doesn’t need to think about it.”

Aline clicked the pen closed and threw it down on the desk before sinking back into her chair. Alec was silent as he watched her, a thoughtful frown creasing his brow.

“I don’t have instincts like that,” Aline admitted, staring into the fire. “I’m an only child. The closest I’ve come to taking care of kids is helping out with Helen’s siblings sometimes, but there’s always someone else around too. And they were all older when I met them anyway. It was nothing like taking care of an actual baby, you know? I don’t know how to do that.”

She fell quiet, her cheeks were warm, but she couldn’t tell if it was from embarrassment or the heat from the fire. She tapped her fingers against the armrest of her chair, waiting for Alec to say something to end the judgement she felt.

“Lots of people don’t know much about kids when they have their own,” he said slowly, turning over each word carefully before he said them. I was eleven when my youngest brother was born, and I had to help out some, but that was nothing compared to having my own kid. And lots of only children have kids. Either way, you have to figure out everything as you go. It’s difficult sometimes, but I know you and Helen would be up for it. You’d care too much to do a bad job.”

Aline offered him as genuine of a smile as she could muster.

“Thank you. I wish I could believe that as much as you claim to.”

Alec shook his head in amusement.

“Well, if practice would make you feel better, Magnus and I are always up for a date night. You and Helen can watch Max any time. Just let us now.”

The idea sent adrenaline through Aline’s veins. She’d never watched a kid as young as Max before. She wasn’t even sure if she’d held a kid as young as Max except for the times she’d held Max himself. As a result, she’d always been more nervous around the baby than she wanted to admit.

“Do you mean that?” she asked. “You’d trust us with him?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Alec asked with a laugh. “Like you said, Helen has a ton of experience. Between the two of you, I can’t imagine anything bad would happen.”

It wasn’t a bad idea. Aline knew Max better than she’d ever known a baby, and she knew he was fairly well behaved. A bit mischievous at times as was probably required by the son of Magnus Bane, but it was nothing too bad. If she couldn’t handle him, then it would be a real sign that she needed more experience under her belt before she and Helen took the next step.

“I should talk to Helen first,” she said. “But thanks for the offer. It’s not a bad idea.”

“Of course,” Alec said, standing from his chair. “Like I said, just let us know if you want us to bring him around. We can make plans.”

She gave him one last smile as they said goodbye. Already, nerves were building in Aline’s stomach. Asking Helen about this meant admitting that she needed practice, and that on top of actually taking care of Max made her more nervous than it should have.

Aline plastered her best smile on her face as she tugged open the door to reveal the Lightwood-Bane family on the other side.

“Look who it is!” Alec crowed to the baby warlock in his arms.

Max babbled with excitement, smiling widely at Helen and Aline. He flapped his arms happily, one of them waking Alec against the chest repeatedly, not that he seemed to mind at all. Looking at him, you would have thought that he didn’t even feel a thing. Maybe he didn’t. Max’s fists were so small that Aline couldn’t imagine they made much of an impact, especially when you were used to much worse injuries. She swallowed, suddenly even more aware of the fact that this tiny person was going to be her and Helen’s responsibility.

“Hello,” Helen said, taking over the greetings as Aline struggled just to keep the smile on her face. “Look at you,” she said to Max in her best baby voice, which Aline would have found adorable if she weren’t petrified.

Her eyes grew wide as Alec slid Max into Helen’s arms. It was actually happening. They really would be left alone with him for the evening. Aline’s heart began to race faster than when she was face-to-face with a Shax demon.

Magnus handed Max’s bag out to her with a smile, and she took it without fully processing what was happening. It was black with blueberries embroidered into the fabric. She stared down at it as if she didn’t know what it was. It was heavy as she slugged it over her shoulder. She could only begin to imagine what was inside: diapers, bottles, toys. She wondered if she’d even recognize everything inside when she looked.

“Everything you need should be in there,” Magnus said, still smiling as if he didn’t notice Aline’s unease. But she knew he must have. “We packed twice the amount of diapers that we think he’ll need, so I really doubt you’ll run out of anything.”

“But if you do, just call us,” Alec finished. “Even if it’s just a question about something.”

“Of course,” Helen answered for the both of us. “I really don’t think there will be a problem, but if there is, we’ll let you know right away.”

A few more assurances were exchanged before Magnus and Alec were back out the door, Helen waving Max’s little hand at them as they left. The baby was still babbling in her arms, not concerned that his fathers had left him behind. He was a mild mannered baby all things considered. Aline tried to let that comfort her as she remained rooted in the same spot with Max’s diaper bag over her shoulder. It had been a struggle to even get a ‘goodbye’ out to Magnus and Alec when they left.

Helen gripped her shoulder.

“Aline, calm down. He’s not even remotely upset yet.”

“Yet,” Aline repeated dryly.

Helen rolled her eyes, but she was smiling as she carried Max down the hall and into the living room. Aline followed her with the bag and sat it on the coffee table. She unzipped it to find a plethora of baby supplies, and she breathed easier with the knowledge that she recognized just about everything in the bag. She pulled out a toy and held it out to Max, who took it with a cheerful cry and stuffed it into his mouth.

“Get that blanket and spread it on the floor,” Helen said. “We can set him down and let him play for now.”

Aline did as instructed, even placing down the other toys his dads had brought along, and watched as Helen sat the baby down. She half-expected Max to start crying the second he was out of someone’s arms, but he didn’t seem to mind. Helen knelt beside him, and he played with his toys happily, almost as if he’d entered his own little world with them.

Tension left Aline’s body, and she sunk onto the couch.

“Don’t relax too much,” Helen said, throwing a smirk over her shoulder. “We’re only five minutes into the evening. He will cry, Aline. The goal is to keep a level head when he does.”

Aline sighed. “I know that, but I already told you that I can’t promise anything.”

Helen laughed. “And I told you that, if you can fight demons, then you can handle a baby for a few hours. Remember, it’s okay if you don’t know why he’s crying the second he starts crying. We’ll figure out what’s up together, okay?”

Aline nodded. She sure hoped she could manage that.

Max babbled excitedly as Aline zoomed the spoon towards his mouth like one of those mundane airplanes. Helen had warned her that he may not accept the food easily. Apparently, Tavvy had refused to eat mashed carrots when he was Max’s age, but Max accepted them with no problem, smiling happily as he chowed down and smeared the bright orange mush all over his face.

For the first five or so spoonfuls, Aline had felt proud. Max was hardly even making a mess, and she was confident they’d make it through the whole meal without any major mishaps.

The feeling of success was premature. A few minutes in, Max started trying to grab the spoon from her hand. Aline’s reflexes were quick. She swiped the spoon away before he could get hold of it, but the whine he let out at the rebuff set off alarm bells in Aline’s mind. She knew it was a bad sign.

Sure enough, the next time she raised the spoon to Max’s lips, he tried to get the spoon again, but this time, he knew better than to just reach with his hands. Blue spars erupted from his hands, and Aline felt a supernatural tug on the spoon. She tightened her grip, determined not to let go, but Max kept tugging. Alec had to have a method for dealing with moments like these, but Aline had no idea what that method was. In the magical tug-of-war, the mashed carrots went flying and landed on the other side of the kitchen floor with a splat. Max laughed in delight and clapped his hands, no longer trying to grab the spoon that was still in Aline’s hand.

Helen chose that moment to enter from the other room, where she’d been picking up the toys Max had been playing with earlier.

“Oh,” she said, looking down at the splatter of carrot with a smirk. “Is someone having too much fun with his dinner?”

Aline rolled her eyes and grumbled. She knew that babies made messes, yet she couldn’t help but be a little annoyed to have her perceived success yanked away from her. Still, when the babbling Max looked at her happily, she managed a smile. She pushed the spoon back towards his mouth, and he accepted it easily, apparently content to eat this particular spoonful instead of making a mess.

Sensing Aline’s annoyance, Helen came up behind her and squeezed her shoulders.

“If that’s the only mess he’s made so far, then you’re doing a good job,” she said encouragingly.

Aline nodded but didn’t verbally respond as she tried to get Max to take another bite. Once again, he was more interested in grabbing the spoon than eating. Feeling self-conscious in Helen’s presence, Aline didn’t react quickly enough, and another splatter of carrot went flying in the opposite direction of the last one. Aline sighed as Max laughed. Helen gave her shoulders another squeeze, massaging them for a moment.

“I’ll clean it up,” she said, doing just that as Aline continued feeding Max.

It was silent as they both completed their jobs, Helen humming to herself while Aline did her best to stay calm. She wasn’t mad at Max; she was frustrated with herself. Surely, there was a secret to getting more food in his mouth than on the floor that she wasn’t aware of. Perhaps Magnus was able to deter Max from his mischief with magic, but Alec must have had a different strategy. Helen probably knew it too. Whatever it was, Aline couldn’t figure it out.

By the end of the meal, Aline wasn’t sure how much of the food Max had eaten instead of played with, but Helen swore it was enough. She took the baby, who was still babbling happily, to wash the slowly trying food off his face and hands. Aline leaned back in the chair, searching for the energy needed to clean up the high chair.

She couldn’t believe how much energy one dinner had taken out of her when she hunted demons every night. It shouldn’t have been possible. She ran a hand over her brow, more sure than ever that she wasn’t cut out for kids no matter how much she wanted them.

Helen found her in that position a few minutes later with a much cleaner Max in her arms. She sat down in the chair next to Aline and reached out to take her hand. Aline continued to stare at the mess on the high chair.

“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Helen said. “It was your first dinner. You didn’t do a bad job, Aline.”

“How do I feel so tired?” Aline asked instead of responding to what Helen had actually said. “It shouldn’t be possible.”

Helen shrugged. “Like I said, it was your first time. Babies are a lot of work. That doesn’t mean you were bad, Aline. It just means you’re new at it. Even parents need a break sometimes.”

Aline didn’t respond. She wanted to believe Helen. She was even sure that Helen was convinced of what she was saying, but she just couldn’t believe it herself. Surely some kind of maternal instincts should have kicked in, but they hadn’t. There was something about taking care of kids that just didn’t click with her; she was sure of it.

She rose to grab a dish rag and wet it in the sink, setting to work cleaning the high chair without looking at Helen. Max was being much quieter than he had been during the meal, watching Aline work from Helen’s arms. Aline tried not to look at him too much as she worked.

Aline let Helen take the lead when it came to putting Max to bed. She hovered, prepared to step in and assist whenever needed, but she didn’t trust herself nearly well enough to do any of the most important tasks.

Max had sniffled a little once he realized he was being put down in the bassinet that had once been Tavvy’s, but Helen had quieted him with an ease that had left Aline in awe. By the time they were back in the living room, snuggling on the couch, Aline felt as if she were in a daze. The struggle she’d been expecting to happen before bedtime hadn’t come, but that didn’t make her feel at ease.

“You’re amazing,” she told Helen, letting her head fall to her wife’s shoulder. “I wish I could have helped more. I feel so useless.”

“Stop that,” Helen scolded, moving her shoulder to jostle Aline. “You fed him dinner, did you not? And you were a help putting him to bed even if you think you weren’t. Trust me. If that’s you being useless, then I know some actual parents who could learn a thing or two.”

Aline sighed, not believing Helen in the slightest. Anyone would have seen that Helen had done far more work than she had.

Just as she was about to respond, a high pitched squeal echoed through the house. It wasn’t one of terror, but it was loud enough that Helen and Aline both shot to their feet. Aline took off for the bedroom that they’d tucked Max away in before she could think about what she was doing. She reached the room before Helen, and her heart lurched into her throat when she saw that the bassinet was empty.

She whipped her head back and forth but didn’t spot him until Helen gasped, “Look up!”

Max’s back was pressed to the ceiling as if he’d been plastered to it. He laughed happily when they spotted him, clapping his hands together without a care in the world. If he realized he was hovering above the room, it didn’t bother him. Aline’s stomach dropped as she rushed forward to stand beneath him. At that moment, she may not have known how to get him down, but she wasn’t going to let him plummet to the floor.

“What do we do!?” Helen shouted, panicked for the first time since Max had arrived. “Neither of us can use magic, and he probably doesn’t know how to get himself down. Even if he did, he can’t understand what we tell him to do, and he could accidentally send himself in a freefall.”

Aline looked away from the baby long enough to zero in on the dresser that sat against the wall. It was a little far from the bassinet that Max was still floating over. If she stood on top, she wouldn’t be able to reach the baby.

“Come here and stand underneath him,” Aline said, using the same voice that she used when leading a team. “If he falls, you’ll have to catch him.”

Helen did as she asked, her arms out with a purpose despite no sign that Max was budging.

“What are you doing?” she asked Aline as she the other woman approached the dresser.

“Getting Max,” Aline said shortly as she took hold of one end of the dresser and tugged.

It wasn’t as easy as it would have been with someone at the other end helping her, but she could at least maneuver half the dresser closer to the bassinet. She climbed on top of it and found that the tips of her fingers could just about brush the ceiling. Max babbled happily when he saw that she was closer to him. His back was still pressed against the ceiling, and he didn’t show any signs of moving, but she knew better than to rely on that.

Helen still hovered beneath him, not moving an inch. The dresser was still a bit too far away for Aline to snatch Max out of the air easily. She moved carefully to the edge, her feet partially dangling off the side. It would be hard to reach for Max and also keep her balance. There was a chance that Helen would be catching her instead of the baby, but she’d have to risk it.

She reached for Max, and in what could only be a twist of fate, Max reached eagerly for her in response. He moved, and for a second, her heart dropped with the fear that he was about to fall. Instead, he reached his tiny blue fist out, and it was enough for Aline to grab onto him.

She tugged. It was rougher than she would have dared be with him in any other circumstance, but she didn’t know what other choice she had. As soon as he was close enough, she clutched him to her chest with one arm and used the other to stay balanced as she wobbled from side-to-side. Helen latched onto her legs, doing what she could to keep Aline standing. After a tense second, they both realized that Aline and the baby were stable, and Helen laughed, hitting Aline’s foot in her excitement.

Aline allowed herself a smile as she crouched down and handed the baby to Helen before climbing off the dresser herself. The rush of adrenaline that had pushed her to act fled, and she collapsed back against the dresser for support as her head spun. She watched in bafflement as Max stared between the two of them with wide eyes, not showing much of a reaction to what he’d just put them through.

Helen surged forward and captured Aline’s lips in a kiss. Aline gasped, her mind struggling to process what had happened, let alone a kiss.

“That was incredible!” Helen exclaimed loudly. “I was so worried that we wouldn’t be able to get him down, but you climbed onto that dresser like you’d already prepared for him to fly into the air like that. Amazing!”

Aline shrugged. It didn’t feel as impressive to her as it was to Helen. She’d only done the first thing she could think of when she’d seen Max hovering above them. It easily could have been Helen who’d thought of it first.

“You could’ve done it,” she said in a weak voice.

Helen raised an eyebrow. Max let out a squeal in her arms, and Helen rocked him back and forth, starting the process of getting him back to sleep.

“But I didn’t,” she said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. “All I did was panic at the door. I might still be there if you hadn’t acted.”

Aline knew that wasn’t true. Helen would have gotten herself together eventually, and if Max had fallen, there was no way Helen would have stood there and done nothing. But she was right in a sense. Aline had been the first to think of a way to get him down, and she’d followed through on that plan without thinking. She bit her lip to hold back her smile, but it was useless. Helen smiled at her, and Aline couldn’t disguise it any longer.

“See,” Helen said, tilting her head to the side. “You wouldn’t be as bad at parenting as you think.”

Max may have been one of the most adorable babies she’d ever met, but Aline breathed a sigh of relief when Alec and Magnus knocked on the front door not even an hour after the ceiling incident.

Helen led Magnus straight to the room where Max was sleeping. There hadn’t been any more magical incidents since the first. Aline hovered in the hallway with Alec, internally debating how many of the night’s events she should share with him. She didn’t want to keep anything a secret, but she also wasn’t sure how to broach the most dramatic of the night’s events.

“Did everything go well?” Alec asked with a slightly nervous smile as if he was expecting to hear the worse.

Aline wanted to ask him where those nerves had been when he was assuring her that everything would be fine, but she didn’t.

“He’s healthy, I think,” she said slowly. “But there was an...incident after we put him to bed.”

Alec groaned, his whole body crumpling.

“Please tell me he didn’t levitate himself again.”

“Again!?” Aline snapped, crossing her arms against her chest. “You’re telling me that he’s done that before, and you didn’t warn us?”

Alec scrunched his shoulders up towards his ears and gave her a sheepish smile.

“It must have slipped our minds. It’s not like he does it every night. It’s only been a few times, and last time it happened was a few months ago. I genuinely didn’t think about it.”

Aline sighed, the tension she’d felt over revealing the truth leaving her.

“Yeah, well, he’s fine, so I guess it’s all in the past now,” she said.

Alec narrowed his gaze.

“How did you get him down? The other times it’s happened, Magnus has had to use magic.”

So, Aline quickly told him the story of the dresser, earning a laugh and a pat on the back.

“For whatever it’s worth,” he said just as Helen and Magnus appeared at the other end of the hall, “I agree with Helen.”

[bee-n-boo-brainrot]

Will Tommyinnit be the Villain of Dream SMP Season 2?

(Written December 1, 2020 so before the December 2nd stream)

~~The Past~~

Before we hop into the current situation, we need to know how we got to the point where Tommy has the ability to turn to the dark side, so to speak. So let’s do a minor recap. NOTE: I will only be going over major points I find are important to my case. If you have other ideas that connect with other scenarios, lmk! I want to read what you guys think!)

On the 4th of July, 2020, 16 year-old Tommyinnit, a minecraft youtuber with about 11,000 subscribers at the time, joined the Dream SMP. I’m assuming you know what the Dream SMP is since you're reading this on tumblr, but if you don't know, check it out!!

Tommyinnit has played a key role throughout the plot of season one in the Dream SMP. Most people regard him as the protagonist, whether he’s considered the main character or not due to his outgoing and unique personality that his viewers adore. He’s fought on what many Dream SMP fans think of as “the right side of history” for most of his time there and even when he was in the wrong, most would still end up rooting for him because of his good nature and mostly pure intentions of just wanting to make people laugh.

One of the main, and longest lasting, conflicts that Tommy has been involved in is the Disc Saga. Even before L’manberg was being built, Tommy had conflict with others on the server, specifically Dream himself, because of these discs. However, for as important as these discs are to Tommy, he would prioritize the happiness of his friends over them (as seen when he gave all his discs to Dream in exchange for L’manberg’s independence). Though, as you will see, the strong sentiments and morality behind these decisions later began to sway and shift, but we’ll talk more about that later.

So we know that when Tommy chooses to care about something, he REALLY cares about it. This is even more evident with his involvement in the pet wars. On August 25th, conflict broke out on the server over pets. Sapnap shot and killed Niki’s fox, as well as Tommy’s cow named Harold. Tommyinnit cared about Harold and cared about justice being served. So he broke the only two server rules and griefed Sapnap’s house and stole his pet Beckerson. This may not seem like an entirely too important event in the long term of the SMP, however I feel it’s important to highlight the difference between how Niki reacted to the killings versus how Tommy reacted.

Niki was sad, of course, but all she really wanted or needed was an apology from Sapnap. She may or may not have been ready to forgive him, but she wanted to hear him say that he was sorry at least.

Tommy on the other hand, was not so merciful. He reacted strongly, passionately, and with a strong sense of justice. His moral compass told him Sapnap deserved to pay more for what he did, and only settled because he wanted what was best for Niki. I feel this is an accurate model of Tommyinnit’s morals and intentions throughout season one. If you compared all the conflicts he’s been in with his friends involved you would notice a similar pattern: he wants justice, but will put the needs of his friends before that. That is why he has always been seen as the main character of this series. The viewers can relate to this, and he does what most people would want to do in a situation, most of the time.

However, with the beginning of season two, this has started to change.

~~The Present~~

So, why are we going over the past? Well, I feel it’s important to know who Tommy was and how his mind worked in season one to properly discuss why the changes of season two have people asking whether or not he will turn into the antagonist. In fact, when you point out how his character was driven in season one, you really do start to notice the huge shift in season two. Especially regarding the stance on his discs and his friends.

Tommy in season two says that he finally feels L’manberg is in good hands so he feels he can focus on getting his discs back. Through reckless actions without fear of consequences, Tommy is putting L’manberg at risk. When dealing with the aftermath of burning down george’s house, Tommy confesses that he feels he put L’manberg first for too long and now he wants to get his discs back. He doesn’t seem too bothered by how his actions affect other people, even if one of those people is Tubbo (Tommy’s best friend).

It is important to note that Tubbo also seems to be prioritizing something over Tommy, in this case L’manberg, and while I think this affected his mindset, we haven’t been able to see many of the consequences this will have in the future.

Tommy’s morals seem to have flipped, and he’s engaging in more reckless behaviour with more serious consequences than he would have before. This sudden shift is drastic and seems to have no signs of slowing down which is worrying considering the Dream SMP doesn’t have a set conflict quite yet (though I’m sure with the december 2nd stream it certainly will be taking this plotline further. I know I, and many others, are curious to see how this goes.

~~The Future~~

So. Will Tommyinnit be the main antagonist of season two in the dream smp? Short answer? Yes. But it’s more complicated than it seems.

The conflict that has been sparked is interestingly different to the final conflict of season one. Throughout the Manberg vs Pogtopia war, almost everyone had the same values of disliking Schlatt. This is because Schlatt’s character was made to be disliked. I mean seriously, a ruthless dictator who acts like a stereotypical villain? His character was meant to be hated to make the protagonists look good and have someone to fight against. It was a simple situation: Schlatt bad, Pogtopia good.

However, that’s where this conflict differs from season one. In season two, both characters in the conflict were on the same side and fought the same fight until now. You know these characters and how they work, you know their motivations and their strengths and their weaknesses and their story. You know why they’re doing what they’re doing because they’re fleshed out characters and both parties have valid reasonings behind their actions where it may be a genuine struggle for the viewer to decide who they’ll side with.

It’s true, Tommy has set aside his own wants for so long that it’s fair for him to feel the need to focus on getting what he wants for once. However, the way he’s doing it is reckless and without consideration of how it will affect others. And of course Tubbo has a right to be upset with him, everything they worked for is being jeopardized by Tommy’s recklessness, however tommy has trusted tubbo with so much that it’s unfair to tommy to do things such as giving away his disc or exiling him.

In the end, I believe that some will see Tommy as the antagonist in season 2, while others will see him as the protagonist. Half the fandom will see him as the villain and the other half will see him as the hero, and it’s up to you, the viewer, to decide which side you’ll lay upon.

[overthinkingkdrama]

Can you explain to me what makes IU a good actress in your eyes? I like her but I’m also really trying to understand why everyone’s praising her to the skies after My Mister. My favorite performance from her is actually in Producers, where I thought she stole the show from the other leads. But Ji Eun in My Mister always just has this one same steely look, and in gifs of the show I feel this one-dimensionality becomes very obvious: I couldn’t tell if she was feeling angry, or sad, or numb, etc.

(Continuing from my last ask about IU’s acting): the same with Man Wol in HDL. She does all the right expressions, and they’re all quite convincing, but I never feel like they go beyond the surface. Maybe she’s just not good at micro-expressions and that’s what I’m having trouble with? I hope you don’t mind this ask. I’m not ratting on her because I genuinely enjoy her shows and especially loved her in Producers, but I am struggling to understand the sudden love for her acting post HDL.

(More on IU): compare her with someone like, say, Han Ye-ri, or Esom, or PMY, who all have these really expressive embodiments of their respective characters, and the difference becomes quite stark, I feel.

***

Let me start off by saying that I don’t pretend to have any expertise in the subject of acting. I both praise and criticize it as an amateur and a layman. I just know what works for me and what doesn’t work for me. So when you ask me this question, understand that for me the measure of what makes someone a good actor or a bad actor will always, by necessity, have an huge element of subjectivity to it. What is good or bad is going to be largely in the eye of the beholder. And so when I answer you it’s going to be on the basis of my subjective opinion and my experience following Lee Ji Eun’s acting consistently through 5 different projects since 2015.

That being said, there has been a dramatic turn around in the general fandom response to IU’s acting in the past two years, and that’s not by accident. She’s been involved in some high profile projects (My Mister, Persona, and most recently HDL) that have allowed her to showcase different aspects of her talent and demonstrate a distinct progression in her technical abilities and people are sitting up to take notice.

Three years ago I was interacting with posts on tumblr about her lead role in Scarlet Heart Ryeo, where both Knetz and English speaking drama fans were claiming that she was single-handedly ruining the show for them. That she only had one, saucer-eyed expression and that she wasn’t able to keep up with her more seasoned male costars.  Now that she’s in the fandom’s good graces they like to forget, but the vitriol (which female idols in general still frequently face, btw) was nearly constant at that time. I wholehearted disagreed with her critics then, and I disagree with them now.

I had first become aware of IU while watching Producers, which was also the first drama I ever watched as it was airing in the days of Dramafever. I was completely enamored with her portrayal of Cindy and I, like you, thought she completely stole the show, despite coming into the drama as a fan of her costars. From then on, I’ve been a fan of her as an actor and I’ve enjoyed all of her subsequent projects to greater or lesser degrees.

My Mister was the turning point in her career.  I’m on the record on tumblr as saying that My Mister is my favorite Kdrama. Ji An is my tumblr icon. I’ve made my partiality no secret. And for me, the reason should be obvious. The drama was controversial but it was also a huge critical success, with a beloved, veteran director at the helm, and I think it made people change their preconceptions about her. If she is being praised for HDL, then I would credit My Mister as the reason. People went from dismissing her out of hand as another singer who made a mediocre actress, to hailing her as one of the best idol actors out there.

If you can’t see why, or you think her performance in that drama is “one-dimensional” then a reply from me is probably not going to convince you otherwise. However, I have to ask due to the way you’ve phrased the question about My Mister in particular: Have you actually watched the drama, or are you only familiar with it from social media and gifs? Because if it’s the later, I can see why you might have formed this opinion. My Mister is an incredibly restrained drama, and the characters in general but Ji An specifically, carry a lot of trauma and emotion beneath the surface and are very reluctant to give anything away lest they be viewed as weak by others. If it’s the former, and you have seen the drama, then I don’t know how you can say, in all sincerity, the performance is one-dimensional or that Ji An only has one expression.

Certainly, Ji An is a very “steely” character.  But that’s because she lives her life on a knife’s edge. When we meet her it’s like she’s already dead, living in despair, trapped in a situation that she can’t see a way out of and perhaps on some level she doesn’t thinks she deserves to escape from. She slowly, very slowly, comes back to life over the course of the drama. That’s is how she is written. I would go further and say that is probably how IU was directed to play her (an actor isn’t an island, the director has a lot of say too in what they show and what they don’t.) I think there are many shades of subtlety in the performance, which cannot be captured by facial expressions alone. They come down to the timbre of her voice, the way she moves and holds herself, etc. Many of which can’t be captured in a gif sets or in stills. However to say that those expressions are the only things IU gets to show in the drama is simply disingenuous.

She gets to show the hard edges of disgust, fear, self-loathing, and cruelty. She also gets to show vulnerability, heartbreak, softness and remorse. She has explosive scenes, she has wrenching scenes, she has quiet scenes of grief and of gratitude.

(Couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for on tumblr so I grabbed these gifs off google images, credit to the gifmakers.)

I think she showcases them all. Maybe these emotions and they’re expression aren’t what you’re looking for in “good acting”. Perhaps there is another deficiency you are seeing that I’m not. Or maybe the way she shows these things isn’t loud enough, big enough or varied enough for your tastes. If that’s the case, then I don’t know what to tell you. Something about it isn’t striking a chord with you. It did for me. There’s really nothing I can do to change your mind.

However, I would venture to ask...did you have the same criticism for Lee Sun Kyun? His character is hardly so expressive that what you’ve said about Ji An couldn’t just as easily apply to Dong Hoon. I’ll go so far as to posit what you might be having a problem with in My Mister is the direction and not the acting.

As far as your critique on HDL that she “does all the right expressions, and they’re all quite convincing, but I never feel like they go beyond the surface” I’m not sure what to tell you. If she does all the right expressions AND they are convincing then how can you say they don’t beyond the surface? If they don’t go beyond the surface, then aren’t what you really saying is they aren’t convincing? At least to you? It could just be that you’re not connecting with her character for one reason or another, or maybe some of the idiosyncrasies of IU’s acting style just don’t connect with you. Maybe this is just a “different strokes for different folks” issue.

I, for one, do not enjoy Suzy’s acting. I think she’s perfectly serviceable as an actor, and she’s improved in recent projects. Even so, she never works for me especially in crying scenes. And kind of like with what you’ve said above, I think she makes the right expressions at the right times, but something about it rings false for me. And I’ve watched enough of her stuff at this point to be certain it wasn’t a one off.

But when it comes down to comparing one actor to another, or IU specifically to some of the actors you’ve mentioned, again I can only plead subjectivity. Different actors bring different strengths to their projects, and some projects require different things of their actors. I could sit here and dither with you about Han Ye Ri (who I think is the best out of the three you’ve mentioned above, and the most similar to IU in the characters she picks and how she plays them) and her different characters, but it would only be a wheel spinning exercise since we’re never going to have an exact one-to-one comparison between people.

To summarize, I believe you when you say you sent this ask in good faith. And I did my best to answer you, though I’m afraid you may not find my analysis very satisfying. This isn’t a subject I can approach with a lot of objectivity, because IU is one of my favorites and like I said, I’m just an amateur critic. If you’re noticing a lot of love and praise post HDL, I think it’s probably a result of the boost she got from My Mister and not as much because of her current drama on its own. Although I think she’s continuing to demonstrate that she knows what she’s doing and her turns in My Mister or Producers or Persona weren’t just a fluke.

Don’t feel like you have to like something just because other people are telling you it’s good. And don’t feel like you have to criticize something because it’s suddenly grown in popularity in a way you didn’t expect. Don’t take all of this too seriously, and try to enjoy yourself out there. That’s all any of us are trying to do, and I think it’s easy to lose sight of that.

Sorry for the long reply. Thank you for the ask.

Jona

[shinneth]

subject to future deletion

Normally I wouldn’t resort to that and I might end up being too lazy to do it anyway, but between getting sick again, dealing with some very intense verbal abuse every day irl, and the monthly burdens of the gender, I’m really not in a good place right now and I need to vent something. 

It’s officially gotten bad enough to interfere with my ability to write, even though I’m at a point in my current story that I’ve been very eager to reach... and every step of the way I’m struggling to write it and I hate what I currently have and it’s taking everything in my current power to not just scrap it entirely. 

Basically, I think I’m failing as a writer.

The irl stuff is actually not what I’m gonna get into because it’s really nothing new and it’ll probably resolve itself, but the side-effect of suffering that kind of negativity is that it enhances lingering negative feelings you’ve had about other things.

Namely, things you do to get away from the pains of the real world. The things you do to have fun and get some enjoyment out of life, no matter how challenging it is to be in this thing because it’s so wrongfully derided and demonized by the majority of your peers.

I try to keep telling myself it’s just because I’m still relatively very new to the fandom compared to my contemporaries, but as I’m typing this right now and listening to my favorite wrestler Shelton Benjamin in an interview, immediately I see the pit I’m starting to fall into. 

Like, it’s uncanny. This is what he said as I started on the above paragraph:

“If I sit and constantly compare myself to other people’s successes, you would drive yourself crazy. Because no matter what, there’s always someone who’s gonna be more successful.”

“I need to remember where I come from; how far I’ve came.”

Basically, in the very small world of Stevidot (and to a lesser extent, SU’s fandom as a whole), despite my efforts, I feel very much like the Shelton Benjamin in a small, dedicated group of talented Stevidot content creators.

Which is to say, I’m basically a midcarder in the mix with a bunch of top-tier legends. Shelton graduated from the same group as some modern very well-known mainstream stars that I can easily associate with a very well-known and accomplished Stevidot contributor.

Shelton graduated with the likes of John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Dave Batista, and Randy Orton. At least half of those names should be at least vaguely familiar for my followers as most of them have had such great success that they’re known in avenues beyond wrestling (save for Randy Orton, but he’s well past outshined his father as a legendary wrestler who’ll never be forgotten). 

I could easily say Watcher is the John Cena of Stevidot, while Platon’s probably the Brock Lesnar... sinderella0069′s the Batista. But I honestly don’t feel like I’ve done enough (or stood out enough) to even be a Randy Orton for this pairing. I’d at least give that honor to Ig just for being so active with it on Tumblr despite the wave of hatred thrown her way (even though she’s shifted focus onto Stevinel now). 

Again, I keep trying to tell myself that it’s because I’m not even remotely as tenured in the fandom as any of them are. 

Then I see this said in a review on a very recently-made Stevidot story...

And said reviewer has not once ever left a review on any Stevidot story of mine. Not even a follow or a favorite or a goddamned kudos. Considering I currently have an actively-updated Stevidot story going on (and a two-shot that I just did last month), I highly doubt my stuff was just overlooked.

Now, is it true that Stevidot is hard to come by? Of course it is. But this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a fellow Stevidot fan lament about the lack of Stevidot content while completely disregarding anything I contribute.

I know there’s one that outright doesn’t like my content based on personal taste (nothing to do with Stevidot itself, just how I execute it). There’s another big-name who shows no interest whatsoever in reading what I have to offer - and at this point I feel that’s for the best, because I have a feeling they’d hate my execution as well. 

While I’ve always primarily written for myself, I also felt a great fulfillment for providing content for a niche crowd that really deserves more than what they have. I think Stevidot’s a fantastic pairing with tons of unexplored potential and should be much more readily available than it actually is. Even if I tend to not get many reviews, I keep track of the site traffic every day on my stories and I know for sure that there are people reading my stuff. Since I’m really bad at leaving reviews myself, I go out of my way not to whine about not having very many overall for my series since I’d be a huge-ass hypocrite to do so. 

However.

Statements like the the aforementioned review and statements I’ve seen elsewhere by those who I know are at least aware of me are like stakes through the heart.

Because it can only mean one thing: my content doesn’t count.

I’m honestly not sure which is worse for me; being critically panned for the stuff I’ve put my all into over the past year, or being treated like my stuff doesn’t even exist. 

I prided myself on contributing as much as I did for Stevidot over this past year. Quantity doesn’t = automatic quality, but I’ve got 20+ years of writing experience in, so even someone with a shit self-esteem like myself can’t just say I’m an objectively bad writer, because I’m not. 

But apparently it doesn’t matter that I put in over half a million worlds in the name of Stevidot to a good chunk of the very tiny Stevidot fanbase; according to them, my contributions are irrelevant.

Is it my fault?

One thing I will admit is a detriment to my particular brand of Stevidot is that, save for one story (which happens to be by far my most successful Stevidot story in terms of recognition numbers), the rest of my series follows a continuous narrative that greatly deviates from canon as of Change Your Mind. I’m also notoriously a very verbose kind of writer - I have the tl;dr curse something fierce. 

So all stories I’ve written since my main 3-act series (which ended up being nearly 200k in length on its own) have been direct sequels to that. Because of the heavy deviation from CYM, the environment of the following stories is very different and easy to get lost in if you skipped GA entirely. 

Because there are so many dangling threads and new opportunities to be had after GA ended, I basically committed myself to my AU.

It’s not like anyone else is going to explore these possibilities.

Beyond that, honestly, I just don’t want to rewire my brain back to the canon status quo - not after the shitloads of character development I’ve not only given Steven and Peridot, but nearly everyone at this point has had a moment or two of really intense character growth. 

I like having Peridot co-star with Steven. I like having her become a more competent and active teammate than she’s portrayed in canon (while still giving her comic relief moments). I like that I didn’t redeem the Diamonds and instead had them killed off to force our protagonists to deal with the fallout of the collapse of a mighty empire on a much grander scale than what’s going on in the actual show.

In a way, this AU of mine has helped me cope with the shortcomings of the show itself. I already went on a stupid tirade once about how the sadistic nature of my writing has basically made me no-sell whatever trauma Rebecca Sugar’s throwing on Steven and upsetting everyone else. I’m still fairly certain I’m still outdoing her in that department. 

And because 100% of my passion for creating Stevidot is through this narrative I weaved, I have no desire to leave it. 

So I’ll admit my stories aren’t exactly the most accessible to the average reader who hasn’t been following my work since Day 1. 

Then again... I first got into Sinderella’s series completely ass-backwards at first. I eventually read it in the proper order, and like many of the great Stevidot epics, it’s canon divergent from a much earlier point in the series, so it was very easy to get confused about why certain things happened differently at first... but ultimately, I wasn’t that bothered by it because I just wanted some good Stevidot. I’d figure out the finer details later. 

I really do owe this author more props than I’ve actually given - she’s one out of two readers I know for a fact have been following my series since the beginning without missing a beat. I’ll probably review her newest story sooner or later now that it’s complete. 

Not gonna lie, though... when I saw our numbers side-by-side like this:

Considering they’re very similar stories (Stevidot smuts that were originally meant to be one-shots), mine is over a month old and hers is only a few days old and there’s already that big of a gap in our numbers? 

It’s hard not to feel like a failure; like I did something horribly wrong to suck this bad by comparison. 

I really should stress that I bear no ill will against Sinderella or any Stevidot author; this isn’t a competition, so this isn’t a matter of popularity. I knew coming into this that I wouldn’t get popular overnight; especially not with such an unpopular ship being the focus of my story. 

But when other Stevidot stories get frequent reviewers that I’ve never seen once acknowledge my stories even passively, I can’t help but feel like I’ve massively fucked up somewhere. That despite all my efforts, I might as well be invisible. When they say “Oh, good thing your story is here! It’s been such a Stevidot drought around here until you came along!” to other authors after I’ve written half a million fucking words in under a year for this ship...

You know, is it unreasonable to feel that I utterly fucking failed in several ways? 

I guess it’s no wonder why I’m struggling to keep writing. I still want to - like I said, I’m at a part I’ve been eager to write for a while now - but ever since I started it, I’ve just hated almost all of what I have so far (almost 8k words). And I’m really having trouble trying to salvage it.

I’m honestly not the type who’d scrap all my progress and start from scratch once I’ve gotten this far in. But maybe I’ll have to make an exception this time, because I think I finally made the mistake of trying to write while being mentally and emotionally distraught.

I thought I’d calm down once I wrote all this out, but honestly, I’m not really feeling it. Now I’m wondering if I should have just reached out to someone instead of making this, because now I’ll come off as a whiner with my pansy-ass first-world problems. 

But then again, I’d be an asshole to subject anyone to my idiotic woes. 

Maybe this’ll pass. I’m hoping it’ll pass. I really, really really really don’t want to lose my drive to write again. I was used to it coming and going in short and random spurts for almost all my life - then it finally came to me and stayed with me just a little under a year ago, and I’ve been desperate not to let it go because I’ve been more productive now than I’ve ever been in my 20+ tenure as a writer. 

I don’t want this to go away. There’s still so much more I want to tell. 

But then my logic goes... if you tell the story and no one’s there to hear it, is it ever really told?

[1nkera]

Rating: T Fandom: Steven Universe Characters: Pearl, Rose Quartz, & Garnet Chapter: 1 of ?

Summary: Takes place towards the beginning of the Gem War. Pearl is a high-ranking strategist for the rebellion, but she struggles to make the other gems respect her. Meanwhile, things take a turn for the worst when one of her plans ends with rebellion gems shattered.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24125077/chapters/58081609

Chapter 1: The Rebellion

Within the secluded section of forest where they set up camp, thick verdant foliage provided the rebellion some much needed secrecy, especially from the ever-watching eyes of Homeworld ships in orbit around the Earth.

Occasionally, a group of Homeworld scouts travelled close enough to cause concern but were quickly turned around by Azurite’s newfound ability. Their resident lookout had recently discovered that she could create small visual illusions, which she spent a good portion of a week gushing about to whomever would listen. Those who wouldn’t would find themselves stepping into deep puddles where ground should have been, much to their incredulousness and Azurite’s enjoyment.

Although Rose had stressed the importance of integration between different types of gems, most of the new recruits preferred to stick with others of their kind, and they wasted no time claiming separate corners of the camp to set up in. A group of rubies were conversing way past the edge of the clearing, further from the camp than Pearl would have liked - but as long as they didn’t wander further into the forest, they shouldn’t be spotted.

Two yellow topazes had claimed a giant hollow log as their own, amazed at the insect life and moss growing inside. Garnet had originally found the gems during an ambush on an enemy platoon. The two of them had pleaded with the fusion to spare them, saying that they only accepted the assignment for a chance to join the rebellion.

Garnet found it hard not to believe their story after noticing their awe at the surrounding scenery during the walk back to camp. They asked detailed questions about the changing weather and strange plant life - most of which Garnet didn’t even have the answer to. Their innocent, dumbstruck admiration of Rose Quartz upon meeting the rebel leader had sealed the deal, however.

Another new group of quartzes they picked up the other day wearily sectioned off their part of the camp, shooting glares at anyone who dared to wander close enough. A couple of them shot disgusted glances over at Pearl sitting alone under a rocky overhang, who wasted no time glaring back, straightening her posture with a huff and only relaxing when they finally looked away.

This wasn’t a new occurrence - the newer rebel gems always found it hard to adjust to a pearl being in a position of power. As much as Pearl trusted Rose and her policy for everyone in the rebellion to be “equal,” the atmosphere didn’t feel equal a lot of the time, and it was starting to get on her nerves.

“I could punch some sense into them for you.”

Pearl glanced up from her spot to find Garnet next to her, leaning against the adjacent tall rock face with crossed arms, an unreadable expression behind her reflective visor. She hadn’t heard the fusion approach, which was a testament to how bothered she was by the quartzs’ antics. “No need. They will just think I need an ‘actual gem’ to protect me.” Pearl lifted two fingers to act as quotations. Then, raising an eyebrow, she said, “Though, it would be an amusing sight.”

Garnet’s lips twitched into a smile. “I could use a warm up before the mission tonight.”

“Ah right, the mission,” Pearl mused. One of their aquamarine spies sent back intel about a potential base being constructed by order of Blue Diamond in a nearby mountain pass. The nature of such a base was likely to aid in the construction of a new Kindergarten, making use of the rich soil in the area to grow a disposable quartz army against the rebellion. Homeworld was aware the rebellion refused to shatter other gems and used this to their advantage; most of their strategy involved overwhelming the rebellion with numbers rather than involving any actual plan.

This also meant they couldn’t allow Homeworld’s forces to grow any more than they have. Pearl, being one of the rebellion’s lead strategic advisors, had approved the mission to infiltrate and shut down construction, and Garnet had volunteered to lead it. It would be a quick and easy one - in and out before Blue Diamond was any the wiser.

Pearl tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully. “Speaking of which, I’m sure that one topaz is excited to go along with you leading it.”

“Who?”

“You know the one,” Pearl quipped with a small smile, gesturing with her head to the large hollowed log, where the two topazes settled in. One of them was sneaking wide-eyed glances toward the fusion - although not as sneaky as she intended, Pearl was sure. “She couldn’t stop staring at you throughout the entire briefing.”

Garnet hummed, lips pursing. “That could be problematic.”

“You could take an amethyst instead. As mission lead, it’s your call.”

The fusion seemed to consider this for a second, before shaking her head. “It’ll be a good experience for a newbie. She’ll have to learn sometime.” Garnet pushed herself off the wall before heading toward a cave that Rose personally had settled in, likely to let her know that the team was leaving shortly. “Well, I’m off. See you in a day or two.”

“Stay safe,” Pearl called after Garnet, who waved back over her shoulder before disappearing through the trees.

Not too long after the fusion departed, one of the larger quartzes who had been giving Pearl dirty looks the whole time broke off from her crew and headed over to where the alabaster gem was sitting.

Pearl breathed a deep sighed and braced herself. Here we go .

Citrine appeared larger this time compared to when they first met, looming over Pearl with an aura that could only be described as menacing - even with a completely neutral expression plastered on her face. The way the larger gem spoke was of a leader who demanded attention and complete obedience from the soldiers under her command, but her current place in the rebellion provided her with anything but the thing she so largely craved: gems to order around. Rose considered giving her a leadership role once the gem had proven her loyalty. However, citrines weren’t exactly known for their patience. “So you’re the renegade pearl.”

“Yes, we’ve met before.”

“Rose’s right hand,” continued Citrine, not acknowledging that Pearl had spoken up at all. She crossed her arms, glaring down at the smaller gem through narrow eyes. “How’d a gem like you become a head strategist? You only know how to take orders, not give them.”

“I’ve earned my place here.”

Citrine scoffed. “Doubt it. I’ve only been here a week, and I can already tell the rebellion will go down in flames with you making the calls.”

Pearl’s face heated, mouth opening to shoot back a retort.

The citrine cut her off with a wave of her hand. “Soon, Rose will recognize that with my combat experience, we’d actually have a chance of winning this thing. Until then…” The larger gem leaned down until their noses were almost touching, and Pearl had to fight back the urge to slam her fist into the other gem’s smug face. “Best watch your back.”

Citrine turned on her heel and headed back to the other quartzes, leaving Pearl to stew in her own heated frustration. She really had to learn to speak up more, but fighting against her own programming - to naturally submit to stronger gems - had been an ongoing battle ever since Rose had released her from service. If Pearl was to be giving the orders, she couldn’t allow herself to show such weakness again.

A few days passed by without incident, but time hadn’t dampened the blow of the citrine’s words.

Rose lightly stroked Pearl’s hair, running her fingers through soft pink strands as the two of them watched the sun disappear beneath the horizon. Pearl had her head in the other gem’s lap, and she sighed, letting her eyes slip shut from the tender touches.

The two of them frequented this secluded area near the cliff to watch the sunset together, trying to bring a sense of calm to their turbulent lives and enjoy each other’s company before having to go back into the fray. Pearl had been looking forward to seeing Rose this evening but found herself unable to let go of her worries.

The hand on Pearl’s hair stopped its gentle caresses. A thumb drifted down to Pearl’s brow to smooth the creases that had appeared. The smaller gem opened her eyes to find Rose staring down at her in concern. “Something’s troubling you,” Rose murmured.

“It’s been two days and still no word from Garnet,” replied Pearl, catching the larger gem’s hand between two of her own and intertwining their fingers. “Something’s wrong.”

“It’s too early to know for sure, but I agree that it’s unusual for Garnet to take so long.”

“What if…” Pearl trailed off. She passively stroked the back of Rose’s hand with her thumb, a faraway look in her eyes. “What if I overlooked something?”

“That’s unlike you.”

“What if the worst happened? You never should have entrusted me with your army’s strategies.”

“Hey,” Rose stated, lifting her other hand to caress the smaller gem’s cheek. “Where is this coming from?”

Pearl couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m just a pearl - a made-to-order servant. You should have put someone else in charge. Someone with more experience.”

“You earned this position because you’re intelligent and capable,” soothed Rose, “and I trust you. I can’t say that for most other gems.”

Pearl tried to ignore the twist in her stomach at the use of the word “most.”

“Just in case,” Rose continued when she saw Pearl’s frown deepen, squeezing the smaller gem’s hand in reassurance, “we’ll send a small squad to check in on them. How does that sound?”

Before Pearl could utter a reply, a panicked shout sounded from the direction of the camp. The two of them shot up from the ground with a worried look toward each other before darting through the trees, Pearl following closely after the rebel leader.

As they approached the campsite, the sound of weeping reached them before anything else, and they quickened their pace - Pearl nearly face-planting over a tree root in her haste. The scene that greeted them caused Pearl’s heart to drop into her stomach and Rose to stare in muted disbelief.

Garnet stood surrounded by other rebel gems - some from the camp and some from the away team - physically unhurt but with tears running down from her uncovered eyes. Within her cupped, outstretched hands were numerous gem shards of different colors. When Pearl recognized the golden coloring of a topaz mixed in with the pile, she slapped a hand over her mouth to muffle a strained sob.

Rose started forward, her movements robotic. “Garnet, what happened?” she breathed.

The fusion clenched her three eyes shut in shame. “We were ambushed.”

“But how..?”

“They came from the cliffs. I… I couldn’t see it. They must have had another sapphire. We managed to poof them all, but not before...” Garnet’s hands were trembling now, causing the shards to clink against each other with sickening dissonance. “I’m so sorry. I failed you all.”

Rose was silent as she took the fusion’s hands in her own, reaching to delicately scoop the shards out and into her own hands. Garnet finally collapsed to her knees, hugging herself in a way indicative of how she usually kept herself from unfusing, which was confirmed when her body started glowing and flickering from the fusion magic threatening to come undone.

“Let me through!” A lumbering topaz pushed her way through the stunned crowd, stumbling to a stop to openly gape in horror at the shards in Rose’s palms. Pearl’s gut twisted in despair when she realized it was the shattered topaz’s friend. The two of them had joined the rebellion to fight for their freedom, and not even a month had passed before they were befallen with tragedy. “No, this can’t be real.”

“Topaz,” whispered Rose, voice cracking, “I’m so sorry.”

Topaz shook her head in disbelief. “No, no. She just wanted to be free, and now… she’s gone.”

Rose could do nothing but bear witness to the yellow gem’s sorrow as she collapsed to the ground. An amethyst and ruby crouched down on either side to run soothing hands along her back.

Topaz gasped, wet eyes darting back up to the rebel leader. “Wait, you have healing powers! You can fix her!”

Rose looked broken at this, and Pearl knew that the rebel leader had to force the words out of her mouth, much like the many other times Rose had to notify the loved ones of those who were lost. “I can’t fix gems that are shattered.”

“You’re Rose Quartz. You can do anything!” Topaz wailed, unwilling to accept her new reality, struggling against the ruby and amethyst holding her arms back to keep her from jumping at Rose. When she realized the two gems at her side wouldn’t let up, Topaz sobbed, dropping her head in defeat. Her next words echoed in excruciating silence over the heads of the gathered rebel gems. “If not, what's the point of you?”

Rose was quiet as she knelt to the ground in front of the grieving gem. She separated the golden shards from the other colors and placed them into the topaz’s trembling hand. Without saying a word, Rose pulled the other gem into a hug and held her while she weeped.

When Pearl saw her best friend on her knees literally trying to keep herself together, as well as the grief-stricken look in the rebel leader’s eyes as she tried to comfort a weeping Topaz, all the guilt that had been accumulating throughout the entire scene caught up to her all at once. She bolted back through the trees but headed in a completely different direction, going deeper into the forest instead of back toward the cliff.

Pearl was gone before she could hear her name being called after her.

[astoria00]

A Cinder character analysis, because I felt like it

The Rwby fandom has become even more toxic over the course of this volume. Normally I tend to stay away from the source of discord there, because you just can't reason with the haters and the people who harass others to force their opinion on them. So because a friend asked me to, I will present you my own analysis of Rwby's most hated character and my personal favorite:

Cinder Fall

So the most popular question regarding her is simply: Why?

Why do you have faith in Cinder? She's done nothing but be completely cruel and abusive.

Actually that is exactly the right question to ask.

Why?

Why does Cinder do these things?

There is no such thing as pure evil, so why does a 22/23 year old do something like that?

Because she's broken.

Because she's hurt.

Her whole bravado was nothing more to me than playing over her own fears with power and arrogance.

“I want to be strong“

So nothing can ever hurt me again.

“I want to be feared“

Because if they fear me I won't have to fear them.

“I want to be powerful“

Because I want to be above this pain and fear. I don't want to feel them anymore.

Is Cinder cruel and abusive, sure, but does that mean that's how she started out?

No!

Does it mean she hasn't done some good?

Again, no!

I know a lot of people believe Raven when she said Cinder tricked Emerald and Mercury, but ultimately, she didn't.

They're broken people, just like her and she offered them a better life, a chance of survival.

Emerald believes Cinder to care about her because Cinder was the first one to actually do.

Was it selfless?

No, but for Emerald it was everything, and in no way did Cinder ever try to play a samaritan. Emerald knew that Cinder wanted her help, that's why she took her from the streets and Emerald accepted this.

The same for Mercury.

He knew exactly what he was getting into and not only that, he got new legs out of that.

These two were practically Cinder's shadow. It is normal to grow fond of each other, but for broken people it works different. They might not acknowledge their feelings, so how about we take a look at Cinder's honest raw feelings that we have seen in the series.

Her whole vol 1-3 persona was her immitating Salem. We can safely say she enjoys having power, but she's also easily rattled when something surprising happens and doesn't know how to act. Her trouble to adapt to these situations shows she is not as sure of herself as she wants to make us believe. She is still the girl who hates being afraid and surprise is certainly pretty near that particular emotion.

In vol 4 we see her more honest, more open. We see her frustrated and hurt and she probably also lashed out against her teammates. Does that mean she hit them?

No.

Just because we heard it happening once doesn't mean she did that frequently. Especially against her subordinates. She might have tried to shove them away, seeing as she wasn‘t able to speak for quite some time, but that probably was very hard. She was hurt pretty bad. And who else do we know to lash out against others right now?

Yang.

So granted, Yang is not being mean about it, but she as well struggles with ptsd, has trust issues with Blake, and lashes out against her dad when he tries to help her. Is she abusive in these moments?

No, because she is hurt and reeling from the aftermath of Beacon, just like Cinder. She is scared and she hates being scared!

Who would be able to understand that the best? Mercury. Seeing as he is the one who had his legs amputated and gone through serious shit as well, I'm sure he helped a lot. Does that mean he will proclaim his undieing devotion to Cinder?

No!

Because of his own issues. His own father literally stole his semblance and was a drunk who beat him regularly. So admitting he is fond of Cinder? Absolutely not.

Why did he pick at Emerald?

Because she is still able to express her emotions so openly. She's the only one of the three of them who can still do this. Who allows herself to show weakness and vulnerability in their midst.

Emerald opening up to Mercury is our best example. Especially if you compare it to how guarded she becomes once Tyrian enters the room as well. She trusts Mercury and Cinder. Would she ever admit to caring for Mercury?

No.

Does it mean she doesn't care?

Also no.

Those three were probably very dependant on each other throughout Cinder's recovery. And it even looks like Cinder tends to keep them fully filled in, unlike Salem, because she trusts them.

And this trust also implies a certain amount of fondness between them.

They have this little evil dynamic going on and they probably felt very content posing as students in Haven and Beacon.

So back to volume 4, Cinder is afraid and being almost pushed into vengeance to overcome her trauma, unlike Yang who gets to deal with it in a more healthy way. Cinder doesn't get this treatment, because she is surrounded by people just as lost and broken as her.

And she doesn't get her confidence back either in vol 5. She tries, but she is easily spooked and rattled. All signs signaling that her own trauma and ptsd will most likely resurface again. She wants to hurt others so she will stop hurting, or before they can even lay a finger on her, because her trust in the world and humanity as a whole is broken.

And still, she manages to show true remorse and sadness for Neo's plight, even if just for a short moment.

I don't condone what Cinder has done and I won't excuse it either, but she is human and that shows so clearly with how she wants to rid herself of her ability to feel fear.

Even if Cinder's past is not revealed yet, we know she is broken inside, we know something horrible must have happened to her to make her this way.

Then we have this whole Salem angle and in a sense, she is as trapped as Salem once was in her tower.

Her own theme song she shares with Raven shows it. It is so rare to have a characters theme in the refrain, because that is the part that will play over and over again, but it fits Cinder well. Like a mantra or a lullaby, telling herself the same thing over and over again.

If people are able to sympathize with Salem, or Emerald, or Mercury, they can't turn around and exclude Cinder from this list, because she is just as broken as them…and if you can't grasp or understand that, then all I can do is feeling sorry for you and sorry for the Rwby characters. There is no such thing as pure evil and Rwby made a point to show that to us. Cinder doesn't just want power, she wants security, she wants safety, she wants to feel free of her past. It is not Crwby's fault if people can't pick up on foreshadowing and subtle hints.

Everyone who wants to blame Cinder, needs to blame Salem as well. There is a reason we haven't gotten her backstory yet, but it is so clear that she is a victim too.

Cinder is trapped and I think a part of her knows this as well, but she won't acknowledge it. Seeing her and Pyrrha's last words exchange, she must have gotten it too.

The girl is broken, surrounded by broken people and shakled by her own hatred and/of her fear. It actually doesn't get more tragic than that.

This is how I view Cinder, and you can't change my mind!

[sol1056]

stop and un-remember this

Step away from the echo chambers of twitter and tumblr, and set aside the pockets of the internet where reviews live. Most of a show’s viewing audience -- hell, the vast majority of the US -- doesn’t reside in those places. 

For the casual viewers who make up the silent majority of almost every viewing audience, there’s minimal interest in any convention circuit, or interview, or much of anything outside Netflix’s selections. (This is one reason for having reviews and interviews showing up in a half-dozen venues, to try and grab as many low-engagement viewers as possible.) 

What that means is that, for the majority of viewers who are not as plugged-in as the core fandom, the story exists only as it’s shown on their screens. So let’s step back from JDS’ and LM’s ex-canonical explanations, and look at how the story appears when taken solely on its own merits. 

Behind the cut: five things the story doesn’t explain, and how the actual narrative might appear to a casual viewer. 

1. Shiro has a degenerative disease; while perhaps not terminal, it does sound inevitably debilitating. 

This is quite a bombshell, and it’s never mentioned again. Nothing in the story offsets or contradicts what Shiro -- or anyone else -- says in S7E1 about how much longer he’s got. 

SHIRO: I’ll only be able to maintain my peak condition for a couple more years.

This is underscored by the series’ use of timeframes (to a greater degree than any previous season). We know Shiro spent a year as a prisoner, and from Pidge’s later comment about ‘four years’, we can deduce it��s been another year since then, plus a magical three-year timeskip in the return to Earth. 

That means that for casual viewers, the season is shadowed by this assumption that Shiro has an expiration date -- and it’s not that far off in the future.

2.  Keith inexplicably stops pressuring Shiro to take position as Black Paladin.

Nothing is said anywhere as to why Shiro is no longer tied to Black nor the Black Paladin. The closest we get to even a nod in that direction is when all but the five current paladins are frozen, in S7E6.

ALLURA: Coran is frozen as well. Our paladin armor must have protected us from the shock.

The problem is Shiro’s wearing armor, too, and he’s also frozen. That single line (and his exclusion from the bulk of that episode) seems to stand in for the message that Shiro is no longer a paladin. 

At the same time, S7 had a complete absence of any protest from Keith. We’ve had 50+ episodes of Keith insisting -- even when all evidence pointed to Shiro’s death -- that Shiro remained the Black Paladin.

KEITH: Shiro is gone. He was the Black Lion.

A casual viewer might decide Keith’s silence in S7 meant Keith realized he’d been wrong all along. That in fact, the mantle of Black Paladin passed to Keith upon Shiro’s “death,” and the clone taking Black was another indication of the clone’s wrongness. That is, the clone stole Shiro’s memories and appearance, and Keith’s position as Black Paladin. 

3.  Shiro’s physical abilities are downgraded significantly.

Most of the fight scenes across S7, Shiro does little, if he’s even present at all. Krolia lampshades this by saying Shiro’s still recovering.

KROLIA: No, you’re still recovering. I’ll do it.

And in the last stretch of S7, Shiro’s contribution amounts to telling other people what to do; his previous physicality is reduced to acting as a conduit for Sam to hack his brain. And finally, Sendak defeats Shiro easily, compared to S1 where Shiro fought him to a draw. 

A casual viewer might thus assume Shiro himself chose (offscreen) to refuse Black’s position, between adjusting to a new body and the last stages of a genetic disease (since a clone with identical memories would reasonably also have identical physical aspects). 

4. Shiro has the clone’s body, but not the clone’s memories.

In S7E1, the high-drama element is whether his awareness can fix itself to an unfamiliar body. Shiro calls out the clone-situation only once. 

SHIRO: Well, I'm sorry, Lance, but I guess having my consciousness transplanted from the infinity of Voltron's inner quintessence into the dead body of an evil clone of myself has left me a little out of sorts for the past few weeks. 

Later, Shiro mentions his “disappearance,” and says dealing with the long dark passage alone required adopting routines. He never references any events that happened during his absence. The narrative is pretty clear, so it’d be reasonable to conclude the two had completely separate experiences, and Shiro has none of the clone’s memories. 

In short: Kuron was evil, is now dead, and has no further influence on events.  

5. While we’re at it, a casual viewer might be unaware of the intended subtext of Shiro’s relationship with Adam. 

Yes, yes, I’ve seen all the arguments that say it’s supposed to be coded as romantic, but it’s full of contradictions that create a certain ambiguity. For one, they’re in the officer’s club, with other people present. Second, although Adam asks what he means to Shiro, his next line could imply a long-term partnership of a military kind. 

ADAM: Every mission, every drill, I’ve been right there with you.

Although the EPs/writers seem to put family together to a frightening degree that a modern military would never condone --- Matt and Sam on the mission to Kerberos, Veronica going with Lance to the battlefield --- that’s just not the assumption the average person is going to make. 

In writing, you always put last what you want to stick in the reader’s mind. The order here leaves room for viewers to skip over any implications in the first line to linger on the second, which could be ambiguously platonic. A viewer not actively looking for queer representation could interpret this as Adam being afraid for his best friend, and possibly a bit jealous at being left behind. 

At no point -- in that first episode, or later, when Shiro learns of Adam’s death -- does anyone speak of their relationship. Nowhere does Shiro even put a word to it. If casual viewers had already coded them as best friends or near-brothers, Shiro’s grief is still comprehensible and relatable. In some ways, the platonic aspect of other pop-culture bromances (ie Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers) are just as strong, with mourning just as severe. 

Honestly, there was more in a few lines’ exchange between Ezor and Zethrid to indicate a romantic relationship than there was in all of the Shiro/Adam interactions or references. “I’ll always take care of you” and “that’s my girl” are pretty unambiguous, especially given the character designs (and previous interactions) make it pretty clear these two are not siblings. 

And --- unlike with Adam and Shiro --- they’re storyboarded with a certain intimacy. They’re alone, and Zethrid gets in close in Ezor’s personal space, with Ezor neither pushing her away nor recoiling. 

ZETHRID: Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.

If casual viewers had heard anything in passing about LGBT+ rep in VLD, it’s entirely possible they could’ve assumed this was the rep intended. Of course, both die in a fiery explosion not long after, but who’s counting. 

in the absence of in-story explanation

It seems to me that a casual viewer --- lacking the EPs’ explanations --- might have found S7 somewhat confounding. Is Shiro now unable (or not allowed) to pilot Black because he occupies someone else’s body? Is Keith’s tacit appropriation of the Black Paladin mantle meant to signal the S4 handoff was a mistake? By virtue of his disease or his victimhood in Haggar’s schemes, is Shiro no longer qualified to be a paladin? 

The season’s also full of characters framed as though we should care as deeply about them as we do about the core protagonists. Adam, Colleen, Iverson, Sam, and a dozen or more Garrison cadets and officers, all better trained, better disciplined, and better equipped than Voltron itself. They not only get two episodes of backstory (twice what Voltron itself got), they dominate most of the second half of the season.

Meanwhile, the protagonists struggle, needing Shiro to tell them what to do; they’re almost their own worst enemies more than Sendak is. Compared to the Earth forces who rally repeatedly, the Voltron team barely hangs in there. They need Shiro’s ultra-ugly oversized insta-mecha to intervene, before Voltron can get its act together long enough to strike the killing blow.   

Honestly, it’s no surprise the first flush of audience reaction is so unhappy, if the majority were unaware of the EPs’ explanations. Almost all contradict point-blank what we see in the story itself: 

Shiro’s disease was cured during his imprisonment or cured in the cloning process, but either way he’s fine, now

The clone was neither evil nor brainwashed, just basically Shiro doing his best until Haggar struck in late S6

Shiro and the clone are now merged consciousness, with Shiro retaining his memories plus that of the clone’s

Shiro’s link to Black has been permanently broken by Allura’s transfer; he’s no longer a paladin, full stop

Shiro and Adam were in a long-term relationship, either currently engaged or heading that direction, at the time of their breakup

None of that shows up in the narrative. None of it. 

Lacking that ex-canonical information, it had to have felt as though the story’s expected trajectory was just thrown out the nearest window. Coupled with the extreme emphasis on an entirely new set of characters, I wouldn’t be surprised if casual viewers got the impression that S7 existed solely as setup for Voltron to gain a new and better set of paladins.