#she better get a redemption arc

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

a redemption arc is not a sacrifice.

a redemption arc is not some grand act of selflessness.

a redemption arc is not meaningless pain and suffering.

a redemption arc is simply facing the consequences of your actions, fixing your mistakes and doing better, regardless of whether you will be forgiven or accepted. that's it.

[bonefall]

Maybe I'll make a post on this at some point but like, something deeply fucked up about TNP and Po3 that people have totally forgotten about is how badly they try to whine that "Tigerstar Had Good Traits :("

Firestar does it, Brambleclaw does it, and they keep doing this after it becomes this GRAND irony that Firestar almost gets Tiger'd to death in a fox trap because he was too trusting. Bramble gets his pity award of keeping deputyship and then cries to his son about how No One Saw The Good In Tigerstar :(

And it's wiiiiild that no one else in this fandom has done anything with the fact that Leopardstar broke the Warrior Code to appoint Hawkfrost, who had no apprentice, an extremely aggressive and warmongering Tigerclone who says things like "Tigerstar wasn't the worst cat to look up to." ONLY qualifying trait was being kinda like Tigerstar.

And she practically did that the SECOND Mistyfoot went missing. And then Leopardstar continued to be one of the most violent and xenophobic leaders through Po3, joining with WindClan to attack ThunderClan.

What I'm getting at is that like, a few years ago, with books like "Blackfoot's Reckoning" and "Shadow in RiverClan" it's like they suddenly decided to retcon in a bunch of "redemption arcs" in hindsight. They just pretended like there was this grand high reckoning with TigerClan, when there literally wasn't, and if anything that caused SERIOUS problems for the cast that the authors didn't fully acknowledge as such.

And now ppl haven't actually read the main series and are just working with their recent memory of all these retcon books.

But TNP and PO3 are still there, and you can go and see the ACTUAL timeline where Leopardstar is really not apologetic at all, and Blackstar is a useful stooge for the very next wannabe dictator that strolls in, in spite of the new side content that COMPLETELY mischaracterized them for their plots to work.

[chronicsyd]

And before Act 2 arrives, let's talk about Caitlyn's redemption and what needs to happen For it to happen. Because I'm Pretty sure it's gonna happen, she doesn't stay like this forever.

On her own, she needs to realize that continuously going after Jinx Isn't going to solve her problems, listening to Ambessa Isn't going to solve her problems, in fact she probably is going to learn one way or another that Ambessa is simply using her for her own means. Back in S1 she mentions to Ekko, "The cycle of violence will never stop" and "This city needs healing, more than I ever realized." and while it was naive thinking back in S1 because Caitlyn's pretty powerless compared to the Council's decisions, it's actually one of the things that has Vi start to fall for her (keep this in mind, I'm actually making a point with it). And that's inevitably what has to happen for both cities. Caitlyn herself needs to relearn that, "What am I shooting for?" lesson that Grayson taught her back from episode 5. Because in her vengeance for Jinx, she's lost the true purpose of what she's fighting for, and needs to get her head screwed back on and start thinking about it again. That violence isn't getting them anywhere, whether that be Zaun attacking Piltover, or vice versa. (now how exactly would they be able to come to those terms of ending violence? I have NO idea... that's for the show to explain.)

BUT the difference between S1 and NOW is that Caitlyn can actually DO something about it herself, unlike trying to go about shit "diplomatically" back in S1 (as in trying to rationalize with corrupt politicians that doesn't go anywhere). In order for shit to get better, Caitlyn has to be able to find a way to Work with Zaun in order to try and find a way to bring the two cities together because it seems like Ambessa is going to be the bigger threat once Act 3 arrives. Actually Showing she's Working on getting better, and one HUGE apology to Vi, is what's most likely going to get them back on better terms (and Act 2 most likely showing that they could never really let each other go in the first place, Vi's just missing the girl she used to know and Caitlyn's probably missing Vi all together)

There's most likely more things that she does that I'm missing, but this is the gist of what has to happen.

Now, will it be enough to satiate people? well... hard to say. that's up to the viewer, not me. I can't dictate if that's enough for you to forgive her or not.

But for me, if she's willing to work for it, it's enough.

[miniagula]

they make me ILL and SICK IN THE HEAD

[selunesfavouriteprincess]

I can’t even lie over time this pathetic little elf has grown on me and now I really like her as a character. she’s SUCH a loser. and someone said that she should’ve been recruitable instead of Halsin after uncovering the Shadow Druid plot and she could’ve had a redemption arc and now I can’t stop thinking about that alternate reality

[malwarechips]

we havent been into bug fables for probably like a year now but we still go euuyhh . whenever we see people shipping zasp and mothiva

[queenie-ofthe-void]

S4 Steve Harrington: swinging an axe and tossing moltovs

Fanfic and fanart: ...

yeah so anyways Steve's nail bat

[gh-0-stcup]

Gonna be honest, I don't think any Sam ship will ever hit as hard as Sam/Ruby.

[imminent-danger-came]

IVE ONLY SEEN ONE PERSON POINT THIS OUT BUT MK TRIES TO PUNCH MACAQUE DISGUISED AS WUKONG BEFORE HE EVEN REALIZES ITS WUKONG. I CAN FEEL THE MK AND SWK FIGHT IN MY BONES. Also can you imagine with like that one art post Mei asks MK who HE wants to be, not a reflection of somebody, not the Monkie Kid, not the Harbringer of Chaos and HE REPLIES WITH HIS REAL NAME I WOULD GO INSANE

I'm like. 85% sure that person was me afasdfafsd. I know I've mentioned it before somewhere!

Because it's like, MK feels extremely abandoned and hurt by Wukong during s2. MK's line of "Fine! Then just leave! At least my friends will never abandon me!" in 2x01 Sleep Bug is VERY telling, and it also makes me sob when put together with 3x10 The Samadhi Fire:

MK: "NO! Mei is my best friend—I'd never abandon her when she needs me! We're heroes! It's what we do!"

And 4x02 New Adventures:

MK: “You don’t know! We’d risk it for sure! I won’t abandon them when they need us.”

MK's own low self-worth combined with Wukong's tendency to leave in the worst way possible, which was only further exacerbated by the Lady Bone Demon's manipulation.

And I think MK's experiences and feelings throughout s2 made him resolve to never make his friends feel abandoned.

But of course, since this is Lego Monkie Kid, it's more interesting than just that—because MK leaves at the end of s4. It was out of fear, sure, but so was Wukong leaving in s2 and at the end of s3. MK does exactly what he set out not to do, making the same mistakes his mentor has, literally going to isolate himself on Flower Fruit Mountain for an undetermined amount of time.

It's things like this that make the question of "Who is MK" so intriguing, because that's who MK want's to be. He want's to be himself. But who is that person?

Is MK just like Wukong? Is he a harbinger of chaos? Is he just a noodle delivery boy? Is he Monkie Kid? What if you remove all those labels? What's left? What is he?

(Plus the whole "I just want to be me—to be MK!" "Yeah well...we all know where that leads." interaction between MK and the curse in 4x07)

And now that we've thrown MK's mysterious past and ominous future into the mix, we are in for a FULL on identity crisis spiral next season.

And well, when it comes down to it, MK was willing and ready to fight Wukong in s2. The lmk writers are fantastic at paying off several arcs all at the same time (see all of 3x10, which literally had the culmination of Mei's, MK's, Wukong's, and Macaque's arcs all in one. It's fucking phenomenal), and this is partly due to the time constraints of the show as a whole, but it's also just damn good writing. MK's past, his identity, the hurt he's experienced across every season—that's all going to come to a head. I also imagine it's going to happen right along side Mei, Wukong, and Macaque's arcs once again, because that's just how this show do. It do insane shit.

I also happen to be a believer in "Samadhi Fire Part 3", in which we get another 3x10 and 4x08 parallel to round it all up, and I am waiting, WAITING, for Mei to repeat MK's words back at him:

“Mei! You have to stop. I know you’re upset, and that’s okay! I know what it’s like to have a power you don’t know how to control—to feel like the fate of the world is in your hands and you have no idea what to do! But you always have my back, and help me through it. We, will figure this out! Together!” (3x10 The Samadhi Fire)

((Which, MK himself is repeating Mei's words back at her, with "But we're going to figure this out." I NEED A POSITIVE FEEDBACK FRIEND LOOP BABY))

But yeah. I'M WAITING MAN. WE HAVE THE SAME BONE FEELINGS.

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Still haven't messaged my mom back. And I don't think I'm going to.

[mendokayalways]

This season of Bridgerton was a standout for me in truly the amount of beautifully diverse and complex female friendships that were portrayed - obvious ones to mention are the older ladies like Lady Danbury, Queen Charlotte, Violet Bridgerton and of course Eloise and Penelope's relationship. But also Danbury taking Alice under her wing, Eloise and Cressida Cowper even though it was doomed from the start it was genuine for some time, and a HUGE one for me that I've seen kind of not really acknowledged by a lot of people but Genevieve Delacroix and Penelope. The concern and camaraderie they have for each other as truly the only working women (esp now that the Mondritch's have fully joined the ton) in the series and the conversation they had before Penelope's wedding was so fucking amazing.

[five-of-cr]

here's the thing about matthias: he isn't the honorable, reformed hero some of the fandom seems to see him as.

yes, he was raised by a tight-knit family of comrade soldiers and decides to betray them in the end. of course that took incredible strength. i don't deny that. but we also need to recognize that the drüskelle are not just some rogue cult. they are a core part of the fjerdan government, who is trying to wipe out the grisha because they are seen as dangerous. that's literally just genocide. however indoctrinated someone is, this is something that is evil from every angle, even if the character can't or won't see it.

and look, i love a good redemption arc, but matthias is such a passive actor in his. he falls in love with nina against his will. she changes his attitudes toward grisha because she's beautiful and kind so all grisha can't be bad, right? this a classic example of the trope of separating the "good ones" from the rest, where you cherry-pick specific individuals to point to as exceptions to a group's nature, which is still implied to be evil. you have to do a lot more than fall in love to truly unearth and address the roots of bigotry.

tbh, this is my biggest critique of the books as a whole. i loathe the "love conquers all" trope that pairs together a character from the oppressed group and one from the oppressors, letting the one show the other through the power of love that being bigoted is not nice. it puts all the responsibility on the former to prove their humanity, and gives all the credit to the latter's ability to be persuaded to recognize it. and then it inevitably leads to forgiveness, because the character has "earned" it by changing their views, once again making the victim seem like the villain if they don't absolve the oppressor of their past "mistakes". also, it's incredibly unrealistic for someone to fall in love with a person who actively hates them and considers them sub-human. in real life, people have to work on their bigotry before that happens, not use the relationship as a plot device for character development.

i think the idea of writing a character like matthias is neat. i think portraying someone's struggle to throw off the suffocating, hateful dogma they've been fed all their life is a story we need more of. i think personal growth of this variety should be celebrated, because otherwise people would never change. but i don't think the people, fictional or real, get to do this without facing profound consequences. it is not enough to feel sorry. it is not enough to apologize. it is definitely not enough to fall in love. and i think writing that lets people off the hook like this grossly oversimplifies power and oppression, and ends up being a feel-good way to romanticize people who cause a lot of harm.

a last note: my opinion is 100% influenced by my being bipoc. matthias is a classic aryan supremacist, even if being aryan isn't the thing he's being supremacist about. my gut reaction to that type of character is always going to be mistrust, both because people in real life have given me reason to be mistrustful and because characters like these are often written in a way that makes you sympathize with oppressors. i don't think matthias earns that trust, and i don't see why i owe him my affection as a reader.

[cambrioleur]

unofficially declaring myself CEO of Claire enjoyers

she looks so radiant here 😍😍

[fantasykiri5]

I love kipperlilly in that she’s a rancid little bastard asshole and I like seeing her do weird fucked up shit because it’s INTERESTING

[edettethegreat]

YOU KNOW TALENTLESS NANA?! OMG, I READ IT UP TO HER SECOND KILL BUT LIKE I WAS SO WORRIED SHE'S GONNA GET CAUGHT BECAUSE SHE KEPT GETTING CLOSE TO THEM AND EVERYBODY ELSE KNOWS!!

*deep breath*

Anyway, is the manga finished now? Is the plot still fun after the second kill? (If i remember correctly she's gonna have a problem with the immortal guy right? I kinda like that guy though).... Huh, just realized this is kinda spoilery.

Agh, remembering talentless nana makes me feel weirdly nostalgic, well, I'm done gushing, thank you for reading my chaos

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE GOING ON AND YOU ARE BARELY AT THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

listen. Listen ok. Everything that you think you know about the story and the world building. There’s a whole lot more to it than that. There’s so much more. It’s up to chapter ~90 I think and the classmate assassinations have not been relevant for the past ~30 chapters now. Please I beg of you continue reading it, the beginning kills are absolutely nothing compared to everything else that happens later.

And yes I love my guy Kyoya dearly. You learn his backround in later chapters so if you want more Kyoya content, there’s certainly more Kyoya content.

[blujayonthewing]

juniper: [delicately and VERY slowly working through the whole complicated situation with shadowheart in a ginger slowburn]

karlach to june, three(3) days after meeting her: GODS I wanna ride you til you see stars