#personally i blame the john mulaney bit he did about it for a lot of this thinking bc he either intentionally was like this would be funny

[liinos]

so crazy how many people will be like "back to the future is weird bc marty tries to get with his mom" when, if you actually watch the movie, he SUPER clearly does not want to get with her and gets weirded out bc she's into him but i guess this unsubtle plotline went over people's heads 😭

[hopeymchope]

Unpopular opinion: I really don’t like Kokichi I get that he’s complex and he did so much in the endgame and objectively, he’s a great well written character, but he rubbed me all the wrong ways for way to long that it was kinda too late to redeem him for me.

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree | ah shit, here we go again

I had to save this one a bit so I could really go into it, because I strongly agree with your distaste for Kokichi. He rubbed me the wrong way too - so many times and in so many ways, he’s there acting wantonly cruel and hateful to everyone. He’s introduced with a scene where he’s treating Kiibo as a sub-human, upsetting Kiibo greatly on the exact topic he already can tell Kiibo is most senstivie about - that’s literally his INTRO SCENE, and that says a LOT about the kind of shitheel Kokichi enjoys being.

However, as for whether he’s a great and well-written character... I dunno. I both agree and disagree.

I’ve written before about how I hate him (check me out - directly linking to a post that has gotten me hate messages, death threats and active trolls before! Gosh I’m such a rebel but seriously please don’t send me death threats I’m unstable enough as it is). Honestly, I feel very vindicated by the fact that last week saw someone else on Tumblr saying “Man, I fell in love with fandom Kokichi, but now that I’m playing the game myself, canon Kokichi is murdering that love.” That is funny as hell and it says SO MUCH

But my disagreement is that... well, is he a well-written character? I mean... he’s... inconsistent, that’s for sure. There are elements of his writing that I just don’t find very believable.

Sometimes he is. Sometimes he’s great. He’s incredibly good at pushing the buttons of the characters to make them disgusted with him. His manipulations are well-handled. He make a very powerful antagonist - I’d argue he’s a greater “enemy” to the cast than the main “mastermind” of V3. (The real mastermind of V3 isn’t really an individual, I’d argue.) He instills real rage in me with how he knows exactly how to find what our sympathetic cast members are sensitive about and then use it to tear them down and make them feel like shit.

Hell, I guess that means he’s exactly what John Mulaney says about teenage boys. (“Check out that high-waisted man; he got feminine hips!”)

However, his ability to always, ALWAYS know exactly what happened in any case from the moment a trial begins, and (even moreso) his ability to always be a 100% foolproof lie detector no matter how straight-faced the lie is delivered? Those are basically bullshit. They make him seem like magic. Even when a case is absurdly convoluted or someone says a lie in a completely believable way, Magical Ouma can see through all, proving a better detective than anyone in the cast (and then use the fact that he sees through all to... dick with everybody for no reason). These powers of his are just annoying plot device that aren’t justified for me in any believable way.

But I guess that’s limited to trial-writing. Because outside of the trials, I’m not sure if those same things still apply? For example: When Kaede suggests that maybe Monokuma ISN’T dead in the first chapter, he is immediately suspicious and accuses her of wanting the killing game to happen.

There are two possibilities at that moment:

He legitimately is unable to see that Kaede is sincere in her concern and thinks she’s lying, making his “flawless lie detection” skill not function properly outside of trials for some unknown reason.

He knows she’s sincere but just wants to hurt her and discredit her and make her feel shitty because he’s an asshole.

Both are equally plausible for the character, sadly. (It’s also worth noting that this is one of many moments where no one has died so there’s no way he’s already formulated his elaborate ‘end the killing game’ plan, but he’s still acting like a Grade-A dick in spite of that.)

He is, ultimately, a super-effective troll who reaps exactly what he sews. His entire gambit to end the killing game by taking on the blame and hiding his true intentions doesn’t work in the end, but it DOES result in multiple deaths because so many people hate him and want him dead as a result of his own actions. So when you consider that the game (and the series) celebrates cooperation and trust as the only true route to success, he’s thematically screwed and going to never be more than a thorn in the side of the cast; I’d argue he’s more effectively damaging than either Komaeda or Togami were in their games. Someone so accepting and embracing of distrust that he’d try to hurt as many people as possible so he can put up a front and end the game all on his own? He was kinda doomed from the get-go.

I think you’re completely justified in finding his distasteful. Canon Kokichi is a deeply toxic person to be around, unfortunately. Fanon Kokichi, on the other hand, is just kind of a fun-loving goof who lies in the silliest of ways?

Maaaaybe this is an attempt to imagine what he’d be like outside of the stress of being trapped with his students like in V3. On the other hand, I’d also ssume a huge chunk of the fandom never experienced the game firsthand without a filter, opting instead to experience it through someone else’s playthrough that contained an amateur translation as that person went along. And as I’ve seen time and time again, watching a DR playthrough that’s still in japanese wildly affects how people see the characters and events of these games, because that person doing the amateur on-the-fly translation is absolutely going to serve as a warping lens that distorts the events and characters through their own interpretation and because of unfiltered cultural divides.

[quinintheclouds]

Heyyyyyyyy quin, im gonna rant at you for a bit, because im fucking done with this bullshit!!! So, as of right now, my father's plan is to force me to redo freshman year, wether i want to or not(surprise surprise! i don't) He concluded this after taking one look at my grades from this year(four ds, one two as, two bs. not what i would consider good but thats not the poINT HERE) His exact words were "you are redoing your 9th grade year. its just a question of when." 1/idontfuckingknow

(Gonna paste the rest of your asks here. Tw: suicide mention)

Now, i, having already had a slightly toned-down version of this bloody conversation with my mother, did not have the patience for this shit. The following argument goes aproxxamately as follows,(this is a paraphrased version) beginning with me: "No. No, i already had this fucking conversation, im not redoing a year." "What POSSIBLE ARGUMENT COULD YOU HAVE for me to think so??" silence. "Do you ASPIRE to be a waitress?? Maybe a hairdresser" nothing. It only gets worse frome here. 2/??

"How much EFFORT DID YOU PUT INTO FUCKING THIS UP??" Now, lets stop here for a moment. What the fuck is my father, the man who's jizz became me, trying to pull? Anyway, my response was bewildered at best and full on APPALLED AND ENRAGED at worst: "you think i fucking- what makes you- I PUT EFFOR- THATS THESTUPIDESTSHITVIE EVERFUCKINGHEARD!??!!!! WHAT makes you think i DID IT ON PURPOSE??????" "THIS- *waves my report card in my face, wildly* MAKES ME THINK YOU DID IT ON PURPOSE." 3/4maybe5or6idk

Now, ive been trying, oh have i been trying, to get it through this man's head FOR YEARS, that i would never get bad grades on purpose. That should be a given right??? Anyway, he waves the paper in my face, and i (justly) had tears in my eyes. This is the angriest ive seen my father, which is saying a fucking lot, and hes about 8 inches from me, looking me DEAD IN THE FACE. And I have tears in my eyes. I was terrified, and im pretty sure i looked terrified. But did he care? mmmnotreally! 4/???

Ok, im not sure what else exactly he said(other than, sprinkled in there, that I manipulated my mother[no,] and that i 'couldve not shown up to class and still wouldntve done this bad') but either way, he walked away, saying "You WILL NOt be a sophomore at [my school] next year. we arent doing this again." *john mulaney voice* now, we don't have time to unpack all of that, If my father didn't give a shit about me before, he definitely doesn't now. This just fucking confirms it for me. 5/6

Actually, let me rephrase. He, no, BOTH of my parents don't give a shit about my mental health. They care about my grades because, if they turn out good, this tells them theyve done something right. They only give a shit about me if it benefits them, in that way or otherwise. This is what I've figured out. Honestly, i think im gonna have to tell him that ill fucking kill myself if im forced to redo freshman year. At this point, its the only way to get it through his head. 6/fuckigottadoonemore

And, at this point, im not even sure that if i said that, I'd be lying. In fuCKING conclusion, my parents do not give a shit. They don't give A SHIT, about how much BEING HELD BACK, is gonna FUCKING AFFECT ME, THEY JUST WANT MY GRADES TO BE BETTER SO THEY CAN FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEM-FUCKING-SELVES. I'm done now.

_________________________________________________________

Wow, that sounds stressful as all hell... also your parents sound like mine. I can’t stand parents who put blame on their kid for their mental health or struggles. They don’t need the burden of thinking it’s their fault ON TOP OF the burden of actually dealing with that shit! Is it possible to talk to a counselor at school about not wanting to repeat the year? Those grades qualify you to move on, don’t they? I’d be as pissed as you if my dad tried to do that. It’s your education. My parents have screamed at me about grades many a time, and I FEEL your pain. The way they’re acting is unhealthy for you, and I’m so so sorry you have to go through it. Telling you your future has no potential unless you do what they say is manipulative bullshit.

"How much EFFORT DID YOU PUT INTO FUCKING THIS UP??" OH MY GOD if I had an ant for every time my parents said this to me I could make an ant colony strong enough to take over the world. It is NOT okay. Suggesting that your work is a failure in the first place is awful, but adding in that you did it on purpose is a terrible parenting excuse because they think it reflects on them. That shit will mess you up. I still struggle to remember that me having trouble with something doesn’t make it my fault. I used to believe them and blame myself for every break I took. Playing a video game? Could’ve been studying. Reading a book? Should have asked for extra credit. All of that is ridiculous and harmful to any kid or adult. Let’s get one thing clear: it is NOT. YOUR. FAULT. And another: grades are not a measurement of effort, intelligence, or worth. They’re structured poorly and the entire school system desperately needs revamping. Your future is not doomed regardless of your grades.

Your dad saying you “'couldve not shown up to class and still wouldntve done this bad'” is ABHORRENT. Telling you that you not trying at all is better than any efforts you make is just so profoundly fucked up, pardon my French. Also, completely wrong. 

“BOTH of my parents don't give a shit about my mental health. They care about my grades because, if they turn out good, this tells them theyve done something right. They only give a shit about me if it benefits them, in that way or otherwise.“ My parents are the same way. They only care about whether something makes them look good or bad. You are NOT their trophy to show off as though your achievements are their own, and you are NOT some shameful thing for them to treat poorly. You are, always have been, and always will be, your own person. 

I’m gonna use a quote from a show that hits me really hard and I feel that every child of awful parents needs to hear. “I’m... sorry. I’m sorry your parents don’t care enough. You have every right to be angry. But you deserve to be happy.” You have been through so much, and your anger is absolutely justified. And yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t or won’t be happy. You deserve better than anger. You deserve to be happy. “And I hope you can find that... even if it’s not today.”

“Honestly, i think im gonna have to tell him that ill fucking kill myself if im forced to redo freshman year. At this point, its the only way to get it through his head. And, at this point, im not even sure that if i said that, I'd be lying.” I have been there, so I’ll be 100% honest with you. If your parents are anything like mine -- and it sounds like they are -- telling them you’ll kill yourself still won’t get through to them. In fact, it might make them take you even less seriously if they see you using it as leverage. Kids of parents that don’t take mental health seriously often drive themselves further into depression as a cry for help (not by their own fault) that’s perpetuated by never being heard. I got worse and worse (tw suicide ment) and I told my parents I was having suicidal thoughts. They just saw it as lazy and selfish and overreacting. I spiraled deeper. Then, when I made an attempt, my mom was furious, screaming at me and threatening me because I could’ve messed up her gun. “If you really want to be dead, ask me and I’ll gladly do it for you. At least I know how to use a fucking gun right.”

I could go on with the rest of that story, but I’ll sum it up by saying: I got help. I got better. I realized that if they wouldn’t care about me, I would. I knew what I was feeling was real. I knew I needed help if I wanted to survive. And now, I’ve found real happiness and more stability. Mental health issues don’t go away easily, and I know it’s not the same for everyone, but working on them is so worth it. I promise it can get better. People like to think of happiness as a long-term thing, but life will always have its ups and downs... I still have down days. I won’t pretend I don’t still have a lot to work through. But I am, finally, okay. I never knew “okay” could be the default, or how okay life could be. And it’s amazing. Happy happens a lot more now, and depression is smaller and manageable. I know you’re stuck where you are for now, and may not have access to professional help. But please... Please care about yourself, even if your parents don’t. I care about you. You deserve to, too. 

I’ve had so many moments that I felt were the last straw, that I couldn’t handle any more, that I was broken or ruined or doomed, but even then I somehow managed to survive. And I can honestly say I am so, so glad that I did. Please don’t let your parents ruin that for you. It’s not your fault for where you are. And it’s not where you’ll be forever. No matter what happens in this situation, whether it’s repeating the grade or moving on to the next, I believe that you can make it through. You are so fucking strong for making it this far. I know you might not believe me, but try to trust me. You. Deserve. Better. And even if it sucks right now, you absolutely can get there.

[bixbythemartian]

if you’re wondering what the everloving fuck is going on right now, what happened is that when the Monica Lewinsky affair broke out, Misha wrote a column defending her behavior (under his birth name).

Not in the affair sense, but I guess some commentators were talking about how Monica was being a weird and creepy fangirl.

Misha wrote an article pointing out that *all* the interns were like that about Bill Clinton. It’s worth reading.

For some reason, it has turned up recently. Over 20 years later, and a lot of fans took away ‘Misha Fucked Bill Clinton’ which is... very clearly not the point of the article. Nor is it my personal take away. (A lot of the tone is still pretty jocular and I suspect nobody is particularly serious about this, but still it’s kind of icky in light of... everything.)

The revelation of the atmosphere of the white house at the time is not shocking. Everybody thought he (Clinton) was the hottest shit. He was the young hot president who played the sax.

I remember urging my parents to vote him in for a second term in the mid nineties, and I was like... 12. Like, this was before I had much political awareness. (If any of you have seen the John Mulaney bit about Clinton, it very much strikes a chord with me. John’s only a couple years older than me. I didn’t really become very politically aware until Bush v Gore, and then even more so after the 9/11 attacks, but that’s not really the point of this.)

It seems an odd point to defend Monica on, to stand up and say ‘no, she wasn’t behaving at odds with norms in the White House’. It’s a very minor thing, right? Especially in light of the fact that they very much had an intimate physical relationship over quite a long period of time.

Well, the first important thing to look at is the date the article was written. It was published on January 29, 1998.

This was little over a week after the scandal initially broke, before anything was really certain.

There were tapes, sure, but the tapes were of Monica talking to Linda Tripp (her friend, at the time, who had secretly recorded these exchanges) about the affair. It was still very much a ‘he said, she said’ kind of situation, is my point. The physical evidence wouldn’t be confirmed until, like, August of the same year. The Clintons were denying everything and i don’t know what Monica was doing, though I think she just didn’t talk to anybody for a while. (Who can fucking blame her?)

It should be pointed out that immediately- and I mean immediately- Monica was dragged through the fucking mud. Including people talking about how she was obsessive and stalked the president, threw herself at him, et cetera. People talked about her weight, her fashion sense. Like, she immediately became ‘fair game’ in the eyes of a lot of people.

So, here’s my take away from the article. News of the scandal broke, and young Misha saw what people were saying about Monica, and went ‘no, wait, this is wrong’ and wrote an article defending her behavior. Making it clear that the things people were pointing to as some evidence of her bad character were, in fact, normal in the White House, at the time. (I suspect they are somewhat baseline normal in the White House at any time, but given Clinton’s popularity and magnetism, probably more so when he was president than, say, either of the Bush presidents.)

The title of the damned article is “Lewinsky wasn't the only infatuated intern” which is I suspect why people are talking about how he fucked Clinton (which made me roll my eyes so hard I’m a bit worried I sprained something), but his point is very much ‘this behavior was the base atmosphere of the White House, and is not surprising or unique, and she should not be singled out for this’.

It was a good thing to do, and makes me like Misha more for having read it. Monica had damned few people standing up for her, at the time, the fact that Misha did so almost immediately is, in fact, pretty cool.

I’d be actually pretty interested in hearing Misha’s perspective on it now, given the time that’s elapsed and his own White House experience, as well as Monica’s openness about the topic and the way the discussion has changed in light of the metoo movement.

misha collins (political drama)

[itsclydebitches]

She's the kind to be like "i'll kill for you", it's all fun and games until she actually means and/or does it. I'm assuming it's the same if not similar in the books? it's just so annoying to see a character treat everyone, including the man she is supposed to be in love with like shit and have it just be "well that just makes her a good mum" like idk this kind of devotion isn't healthy for her or Ciri either.

I read a lot of posts all over talking about yen and why people do and don't like her and it's all "you have to get past the cold rude arrogant outside to learn deep down she does care", or there was this one said people take what she says as who she is over what she does, as if she isn't saying AND doing terrible things, but there was this other one that was "actions don't define you as a person" that was a fucking ride to read through.

Anyway I'm just kinda miffed cause I went in to this trying really hard and wanting to like yen but she's so unlikable it's crazy. Maybe if her first few scenes weren't her being rude to Geralt for no real reason (and that snark about him and amnesia like BRO??) there wouldve been something to build off? Idkkkk

tysm for letting me talk about this! there's still so much within the series to look at and I adore it. apart from some things lmao BUT as with everything, there'll be bits you really just hate I guess.

You kidding? I love chatting about all this! XD

From what I've read myself and encountered elsewhere (I've gotten a lot of snippets from the later books as fans post excerpts for various arguments) Yen is a bit more complex in the novels than she's presented in TW3, especially depending on which dialogue options you choose. I mean, it's eight books. There are absolutely moments where I've gone, "Oh yeah, that's cute/sensible/romantic/heroic/etc." of her. She'd have to be a pretty static character to have that much content and not produce those reactions at least some of the time. That being said... she's definitely too similar in the books for my taste. Really, Yen was going to be an issue for me from the start, just given how her and Geralt's meeting goes in "The Last Wish." Her cruelty, brainwashing, and nearly getting him killed aside - because let's be real, an enemies to lovers-esque dynamic can be great - the wish itself always tainted their interactions for me. Yeah, yeah, I understand the theme of Geralt choosing his family regardless of what destiny or magic might say about it... but that doesn't erase that they are ambiguously bound by some kind of magic. We can read Yen's "You've condemned yourself to me" as just a lack of self-confidence, Geralt's love remaining a true thing no matter what any genies might have to say about it, but I personally can't ignore the very real, in-world, magical influence here. Every time the books discuss how often they've split, cheated on each other, fought, betrayed... but deep down they were still meant for one another, I'm thinking, "Are they? Or is that just the magical wish keeping two incompatible people tethered?" We can read them finding joy in one another despite the magic as something beautiful, or something tragic because what other choice did they have? Given how central that rocky relationship is to our protagonist's characterization and how awful Yen can be in general, yeah, she's still an acquired taste lol. She does get better later on, but how better I think depends on how you perceive her attitude at the start. Idk if you're into My Hero Academia or not, but I often compare her to Bakugo. Those who were already inclined to excuse his behavior hail the amazing growth he undergoes; those who couldn't stand him from the start (me) find the comparative improvement to still equal a pretty unlikable person. They're both undoubtedly better... but if you're starting that low, "better" won't necessarily be enough.

Oof yeah, I've seen those threads lol. One of my favorites was a discussion about whether Yen was a "bitch" or not (it also doesn't help when conversations about her character devolve into generic accusations of misogyny) and there was a response to the effect of, "Just because she's cold, judgmental, makes cruel remarks, and doesn't listen to Geralt doesn't mean..." and it's like okay, so we're just supposed to ignore all those traits - bypass them - to reach a "Yen is actually a kind person" reading? I have trouble with that lol. Honestly, the majority of my respect goes to those who are just in their fandom corners with their John Mulaney voice going, "Yen is a bitch and I love her SO MUCH." Like yeah!! I love lots of mean, awful, bitchy characters too!! There's no need to bend over backwards trying to prove they're actually a uwu poor baby whose every action was justified (outside of, you know, fandom joking like the "I've done nothing wrong ever in my life" meme). But yeah, I WANT to like her too! I don't enjoy being a part of a franchise where such a core, prominent character is someone I don't like spending time with. Who would want that?? So I've given her so many tries since getting into Witcher... and it just never sticks for me. I tried in the comics too only to come across a panel where Geralt dreams of Yen, but isn't sure if it was an actual dream, or a magical vision where they literally met. Vesemir asks if Yen was kind to him and when he responds that she was, he's like, "It was a dream lol." And yeah, that's the characterization! Geralt knows he didn't actually meet with Yen because the real Yen wouldn't have been that nice to him. And it's not in a funny "My real lover ALWAYS teasingly insults me as an act of kindness!" way but a much more literal, "Yeeeaaah. Yen just isn't that nice a person most of the time" and the examples we can point to when she is kind don't outweigh/erase everything else for me. In TW3 at least, she's very much the kind of person who will, completely seriously, blame you for getting amnesia. And you know the best part? She had it too! Not only that, but she actually recovers her memories earlier than Geralt and never looked for him and you also learn in the second game that she had a relationship with another guy while trying to remember who she was... so the fact that she's pissed at Geralt for going through the exact same thing (not seeking her out/relationship with Triss - only Triss was actively seducing him, so) is just wild to me.

But yeah, TW3 is a MASSIVE game that deliberately plays with different choices and perspectives. To say nothing of its "Life is hard and people need to be harder" worldbuilding. It would be a miracle if we liked every single thing in it lol. Like, Blood and Wine is probably my favorite bit of gaming ever and yet I just fundamentally disagree with CDPR's idea of a happy ending there. For both the main questline and a particular side quest the game goes, "This one is the correct choice ;)" and I'm like, "Lol not to my mind I'll take one of the 'bad' endings thanks!" Yen is just another example of that. The game clearly wants us to like her - she and Geralt are canon in the source material - but giving us the ability to decide who Geralt is means that we might just go, "Nope. Sorry. This 'correct' choice is one I'm passing by."