#redeemed antagonist !!

[lord-squiggletits]

I think the key component to my personal reading of post-Delphi Pharma is that he's trying to be a horrible person on purpose. Not "on purpose" in the way that people have free will to exercise their own choices, but in that Pharma's "mad doctor" persona is a performance he puts on to deliberately embrace how much everyone else hates him. Basically, if people already think you're a "bad Autobot" and a horrible doctor who just kills his patients for fun, why try to prove otherwise to people who have already made up their minds about you? Just fully embrace the fact that people see you as an asshole. Don't try to change their minds. Don't plead for their forgiveness or understanding. Just stop caring. If you're going to be remembered as a monster, you might as well be a memorable monster, and eke as much pleasure and hedonism as you can out of it before karma catches up to you and you inevitably crash and burn.

I mean, I guess you could just go the route of "Oh, Pharma was always a fucked up creepy guy and Delphi was just him taking the mask off," but I really don't like that interpretation because, for one, it feels really wrong to take a character like Pharma becoming evil under duress and going, "Oh well clearly he did the things he did because he was evil all along," as if somehow Pharma breaking under blackmail/torture/threat of horrible death was a sign of him having poor moral character. As opposed to, you know, suffering under the very real threat of horrible death for himself and everyone he cares about while being manipulated by a guy who specializes in psychological torture.

The second reason is that it just doesn't make sense to write Pharma as having been evil all along. I mean...

Occam's Razor says that the best argument is the one with the simplest explanation. Doesn't it make way more sense to take Pharma's appearances in flashbacks, his friendship with Ratchet, his stunning medical accomplishments, and the few we see of him speaking kindly/sympathetically (or in the least charitable interpretation, at least professionally) towards his patients and conclude "This guy was just a normal person, if exceptionally talented." Taking all of these flashback appearances at face value and assuming Pharma was being genuine/honest is a way simpler and more logical explanation than trying to argue that Pharma for the past 4 million years was just faking being a good doctor/person. I mean, it's possible within the realm of headcanon, but the fact is Pharma's appearances in the story are so brief that there simply wasn't room in the story for there to be some sort of secret conspiracy/hidden manipulation behind why Pharma acted the way he did in the past.

I just can't help but look at things like Pharma's friendship with Ratchet (himself a good person and usually a fine judge of character) and the fact that even post-Delphi, pretty much every single mention of Pharma comes with some mention of "He was a good doctor for most of his life" or "He was making major headways in research [before he started killing patients]" which implies that even the Autobots themselves see Pharma's villainy as a recent turn in his life compared to how for "most of his life" he "used to be" a good doctor.

And although Pharma doesn't know this, we as the readers (and even other characters like Rung) know about Aequitas technology and the fact that it actually works, so... if Pharma really was an unrepentant murderer, why couldn't he get through the forcefield too? The Aequitas forcefield doesn't require that a person be completely morally pure and free of wrongdoing or else how could Tyrest get through, just that they feel a sense of inner peace and lack feelings of guilt. Pharma has murdered and tortured people by this point, and put on quite a campy and theatrical show of how much he sees it as a fun game, so why then can he not get through?

It circles back to my headcanon at the start of this post that the "mad doctor" persona is just that-- a persona. Delphi/post-Delphi Pharma's laughing madman personality is just so far removed from every flashback we saw of him and everything we can infer based on how other people see/saw him before that, to me, the mad doctor act is (at least in large part, if not fully) a persona that Pharma puts on to put his villainy in the forefront.

To avoid an overly simplistic/ableist take, I don't think Tarn tortured Pharma into turning crazy. To me, it's more like the constant pressure of death by horrific torture, the feeling of martyrdom as Pharma kept secret that he was the only one standing between Delphi and annihilation, the physical isolation of Messatine as well as the emotional separation from Ratchet, being forced to violate his medical oaths (pretty much the only thing Pharma's entire life has been about), etc. All of that combined traumatized Pharma to the point that the only way he could avoid cracking was to just stop caring about all of it. Because at least then, even if he's still murdering patients to save Delphi from a group of sadistic freaks, Pharma doesn't have to feel guilty and sick about doing it. As opposed to the alternatives, which were probably either going off the deep end and killing himself to escape, or confessing to what he did and getting jailed for it.

In that light, Pharma becoming a mad doctor makes sense. It avoids the bad writing tropes of "oh this character who was good his entire life was actually just evil and really good at hiding it" as well as "oh he got tortured and went crazy that's why he's so random and silly and killing people, he's crazy" and instead frames Pharma's evil as something he was forced into, to the point where in order to avoid a full psychological breakdown and keep defending Delphi, he just had to stop caring about the sanctity of life or about what other people might think of him.

Then, of course, the actual Delphi episode happens, and Pharma's own lifelong best friend Ratchet basically spits in his face and sees him as nothing more than a crazy murderer who went rogue from being a good Autobot. Then Pharma gets his hands cut off and left to die on Messatine. At that point, Pharma has not only been mentally/emotionally broken into losing his feelings of compassion, he's received the message loud and clear: He is alone. Everyone hates him. Not even his own best friend likes him any more. No one even cared enough about him to check if he actually died or not. He will only ever be remembered as a doctor who went insane and killed his patients.

So in the light of 1. Having all of your redeeming qualities be squeezed out of you one by one for the sake of survival and 2. Having your reputation and all of your positive relationships be destroyed and 3. People only know/care about you as "that doctor who became evil and killed his patients" rather than the millions of years of good service that came before.

What else is there to do but internalize the fact that you'll forever be seen as a monster and a freak, and embrace it? People already see you as a murderer for that blackmail deal you did, so why not become an actual murderer and just start killing people on a whim? People already see you as an irredeemable monster who puts a stain on the Autobot name, so why beg for their forgiveness when you could just shun them back? You've already become a murderer, a traitor, and a horrible doctor, so what's a few more evil acts added to the pile? It's not like anyone will ever forgive you or love you ever again.

Why care? Why try to hold on to your principles of compassion, kindness, medical ethics, when an entire lifetime of being a good person did nothing to save you from blackmail and then abandonment? Why put yourself through the emotional agony of feeling lonely, guilty, miserable, when you could just... stop caring, and not hurt any more?

[braisedhoney]

we’re supposed to be the good guys.

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

WAIIIIIT WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT HOW DID I JUST NOW LEARN AFTER ALL THIS TIME--

Like, I've known about the religious aspect of Javert's death! Catholic theology taught that suicide was a mortal sin, meaning a sin that would send you to hell--Javert, who is described as exactingly religious (viewing religion as another authoritative structure, in contrast to Valjean's personal faith), was so distraught over the error and failure of his worldview, that he broke what he'd regarded as a sacred rule to punish himself and condemn himself to hell. I've known this! And it's agonizing!!

But then I read a YouTube comment of all things, and maybe this is an old take but it just eviscerated me:

At the time of Javert's death, suicide was a crime in France.

His last act was to break the law.

Mr. Hugo, I'd like to retire now, you're giving me too many emotions to process.

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

had to make this meme because these fandoms are too similar.

adora asked catra to go with her multiple times while vi was captured and imprisoned before she could go back to powder, and spent years in the prison blaming herself.

not to mention, no one ever addresses adora's and vi's trauma but woobifies and coddles catra and jinx instead. they act like adora/vi didn't care about their sisters even though catra/jinx are the ones who literally tries to murder them.

[certifiedl0serloll]

anthony larusso they could never make me hate you

[saintberceuse]

"Omg Alastor, Vox, and Adam all getting redeemed would be the best thing ever! I mean it would really go to show how anyone can become good no matter what they've been through!"

Okay, but ... Lilith, Sera, and Lute all being 100% evil is fine.

[spyres]

god i just realized that king isat is like pmd darkrai if darkrai was actually well written and interesting

[silverskye13]

RnS turned me to a Welsknight hater. i cant help it why is he like that lord give me patience.....

RIP the Real Wesknight who can sense the karmic shift in the universe and had no idea what the hell is going on---

[lets-go-hurt-someone]

I have this “Orin oopsie brainstabs Gortash instead of Durge so Gort is the amnesiac who wakes up on the nautiloid” fic in my head and I genuinely have about 75% of it mapped out and I’m kind of obsessed with the idea but I’d still have to y’know… write it all.

Why can’t it just blink into existence from my daydreams? This is so annoying

[kiragecko]

Conceptually Jason coul have made a really good villain for Robin Tim.

I got into the fandom about 6 months before Damian showed up. And there WAS quite a bit of villain!Jason fanfic at the point, most of it centred around him and Tim. I really enjoyed it.

I like the current fanon Jason better, now. I like him as a grouchy and somewhat unstable brother. I like him as a book nerd and chef. I like him firmly believing everyone hates him while they desperately try to convince him to come home. I even like a lot of the stuff where the Pit is almost another personality which he is fighting!

But there's something REALLY intriguing about a Jason who's actually cruel. Who's completely in control of himself, and just likes hurting people. It's not really fair to the character, but I still enjoy it!

(I feel similarly about evil Talia. It isn't fair to the character, but the fanfic is fun!)

[inkblackorchid]

Hi! How do you feel about the Crashtown mini-arc?

Ahhh, Crashtown. Honestly, I’m extremely in two minds about the arc. See, here’s the thing. When I watch it, it’s a great deal of fun. It’s a very self-contained little story that has all the necessary setup and payoff built into itself, and the cowboy aesthetics in Crashtown’s unique setting, while technically still being part of 5Ds’ largely futuristic canon, are absolutely hilarious. Not to speak of the excellent dramatics, what with Kiryu being in his depressed bitch era and needing the Power of Friendship to remember why it’s nice to be alive. So, in isolation, I find Crashtown very funny and its self-contained story compelling.

However, sometimes, I get a little frustrated knowing how many episodes this arc takes up, because where the larger narrative is concerned, Crashtown accomplishes… Well, nothing, unfortunately. It doesn’t interact with the main plot in any way, doesn’t develop Yusei’s character in a particular way (because we already knew he’s a special kind of loyal-as-a-dog-devoted when it comes to Kiryu; if anything, Crashtown only shows us that he’s also a little more gullible than usual when Kiryu gets brought up), and while it does give Kiryu meaningful character progression, he’s sadly never relevant again after this point in the show (literally the only two times he shows up after this point is during the flashback of everyone cheering Yusei on during his duel with Z-ONE and in the epilogue as he loses to Jack). Worse yet, the whole arc begs the question of why only Kiryu and no other dark signer got this kind of tying-up-loose-ends treatment. (The answer, I believe, is that he’s specifically the dark signer who has the strongest ties to Yusei in particular, which awards him special treatment. That does nothing to justify why Carly, who I’d go as far as saying is at least equally important to Jack as Kiryu is to Yusei, doesn’t get anything like this, though, and is instead sidelined because she has amnesia. You know. Amnesia. Everyone’s favourite trope. Which Kiryu, curiously, also doesn’t have.) And considering how often I lament about the things I wish 5Ds canon had spent more time on, I don’t think it comes as a surprise that it leaves a slight, bitter aftertaste in my mouth that an arc like Crashtown that adds nothing to the larger plot or any character other than Kiryu gets so many episodes while many things I wish the show had addressed don’t get a single one.

So, Crashtown’s kind of a mixed bag for me. I think the best way to sum it up would be this: If you handed me the reins for a full 5Ds rewrite, one of two things would happen. Either the show would gain another twenty or so episodes where I’d try to give all the other dark signers similar treatment as Kiryu in Crashtown, developing both them and the main cast members they interact with more (and also try to make them at least show up one more time before the Ark Cradle arc, even if only to cheer Team 5Ds on during the WRGP), or Crashtown would be left on the cutting room floor entirely, because if the only way to improve the main cast and plot were to find time for all the necessary adjustments within the exact same episode count we already have, Crashtown (and all of the pre-WRGP arc’s pure filler episodes) would be the first thing to go.

Don’t get me wrong, the yeehaw arc has excellent aesthetics, excellent dramatics, and is great fun every time I rewatch it, so I don’t fault anyone for loving it to bits, I absolutely get it. My inner overanalyst/canon rewriter just can’t unsee how many episodes it took up that were desperately needed for other stuff sometimes.

[acposter16]

A Troubled Time Chapter 10

A day of celebration.

[trophyposting]

this is an extremely unpopular opinion in the osc and like everywhere actually but i hate it when people excessively hate on "mean" characters. like especially when the characters are otherwise well-written and they just hate them because they did some bad shit. its legitimately so annoying

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

the two ends of the bad redemption spectrum are “character changes way too much and basically has a whole new personality now” and “character doesn't change at all but somehow they're considered a hero now”. guess which one catra is.

[respectthepetty]

To win a battle, you must defeat your enemy, not kill him. The best way to do this is not to attack your enemy directly. He will see it coming. He will brace for the hit. He will anticipate your next move.

The only way to defeat your enemy is to attack him where he is not. You must hit him indirectly. Look for his weaknesses. Cut off his supplies. Isolate him from others.

Because your enemy can only be defeated when he has lost hope. That's when he will surrender.

Remember, you do not want to kill your enemy.

You want to kill his hope.

[cepheusgalaxy]

I don't see the appeal of villain whumpees

They're like, little girls and guys who are waaay to cocky about their positions and don't expect it when they are put in their place. They are all high and mighty, misterious, cruel foils to their hero counterparts, and then a higher, mightier entity steps in and crushes them, leaving them helpless.

I mean, it's kinda nice when they are all expecting of their inevitable being hurt. Hopeless little pals who are maybe a little too careful with their every step or else they know they are going to be hurt oh so badly if they screw up, just while doing their evil schemes.

I guess it's also a bit nice when they are at the lowest point, and the so noble heroes save them after they were screwed up, but their proud asses can't handle it. When the suffering doesn't humble them, when they only get crueler because of it, leaving the heroes wondering if they shouldn't have let them to rot in whatever shit they were deep into.

Like, maybe I could enjoy a story where the villain is a morally grey character who would like, never do something good no matter what. It's no good for them. They would never. But then they care for someone, and give their things up for this person--or maybe it's a thing--and now they can't--

Oh, oh, or maybe they were so hungry for power and they didn't care about anything they had to do to get it, but now it consumes them, and they are slaves of a more powerful entity, trapped in a prision of their own making...

...ok, I get it now