#she's not bad nor good just extremely morally questionable

[arkiwii]

number 13!!! 😈

I will assume it's the first 13!! so about the fandom

13. "Which canon or popular fanon ship I can't stand or feel "meh" about"

mmmmhh the first one is Tequila x La Pluma. and it's self explanatory of why. they are SIBLINGS. even if Rafaela is adopted, and they're not blood related, it still makes me uncomfortable and I really don't like seeing it around, it's gross to me. I mean, I can't say it's wrong? I guess?? it's just uncomfortable to me. and contrary to some other "adopted siblings" ships (like Schwarz and Ceylon that can be arguably considered as sisters), they are explicitly siblings here. they call each other as such and have the same dad. anyway it makes me 😬

and the secooonndd... more controversial, is Exusiai x Mostima. well, in a general way, I just can't imagine Exusiai in a relationship at all, so any ship with her I see them as platonic (headcanons and such, I think affection doesn't necessarily mean romance!!). but i can be like ok, with most ship with her, but with Mostima it grosses me out for a particular reason and most of it comes from Mostima's operator records;

she does say that now that Lemuen can't watch over El, she's now implicitely responsible of her. which, Mostima is AWFUL at doing, taking care of someone, and she proves it;

she wants El to move on and forget about her. El is completely obsessed with Mostima, and Mostima doesn't want it. she wants and wishes for El to find another life, which she kinda did with Penguin Logistics! of course, Mostima can't ignore her responsibility and will watch over her, but she doesn't want to be part of this new life.

making it romance is... very weird to me. it gives the vibes that Mostima is in control and is an abuser. this is not what she is, she just sucks a whole lot with relationships of all kind, but she wouldn't want to hurt someone purposefully, unless this pain in necessary for this someone to recover or forget about her.

so yeah that's it!! i mostly named these two because popular fanon ships, otherwise apparently some people ship Silence x Parvis 💥💥💥

[saintmagx]

Chamber of Horrors 😈

Grayson Waller x reader

an: just came across Grayson Waller on Chamber of Horrors with Scarlett and Shotzi and it gave me some inspo 👻 IF YOU HAVENT WATCHED IT, YOU SHOULD! He is literally polite, respectful, funny and hella scared. This story doesn’t follow the video exactly because my memory is bad and I started writing this so long ago I forgot so much stuff, plus trying to rewrite a video is kinda hard 🫣

‼️ Warning: swearing, bad story telling, cringe writing, not proof read, just rambles no actual good storyline‼️

“Our final guest of the night is the current WWE Woman’s Champion y/n!” Kayla says excitedly.

Walking out into the cozy studio my nerves settle slightly, I’ve never been on the bump before, nor had any kind of chat show interview before, so I’m a little overwhelmed. I make my way over to the other guests Scarlett and Shotzi and sit down next to them.

“So welcome to your first ever bump appearance, how has it taken us this long to get you here?” Kayla asks.

“Honestl-”

Cut off before I could even answer, a strong accent fills the studio, Grayson who was also a guest - who was joining us via video chat - had to pipe up - it’s what he does best.

“Let me answer that.”

“You see, yn wouldn’t come on the show unless yours truly was also a guest. I mean can you blame her, who wouldn’t want to be on the same show as the Aussie icon.”

“Ah yes Grayson of course, every time they asked me to come on the show I would say unless you have thee Grayson Waller on your show, I ain’t interested.”

He smiles and slightly chuckles, unable to retaliate.

We continue to hype up the next PLE. Shotzi and Scarlett then go onto speak about the release of more episodes of Chamber of Horrors.

“Yn we would love to have you as a guest on the next season! It would be so fun.” Scarlett suggests.

“Absolutely not.” I say - little too quickly.

“I might come across as someone who is tough but deep down I’m scared of most things. And being in an area that is high on the paranormal activity is a definite no for me.”

“We would be there, nothing would happen to you. It’s completely safe.” Shotzi tries her best to convince me to appear in the show, but her words fill me with little confidence.

“I’ll go on if you do yn.” Grayson declares.

“What?”

“If you do the show, I’ll do it with you. Moral support and all that. Plus if you get too scared you can always hold my hand.” His signature smirk creeping onto his face.

Feeling like my back was against the wall I agree to appear and anyway they might not ask me to be on it for a long time and we might not even go to somewhere that is extremely haunted. I was unfortunately wrong on both fronts.

The call to appear on an episode of Chamber of Horrors came all too quickly. It was decided that we would go and see Bloody Mary in New Orleans, which involved a seance and an independent ghost hunt around the haunted house.

Sitting around the table in a circle, Bloody Mary describes how the evening will go and says a few incantations to start of the seance.

“First we will go around the table and introduce ourselves to the spirits. Squeezing from left to right on our hands.” She tells the table.

She introduces herself then squeezes my left hand. My turn I guess

“My name is yn.” I then squeeze Grayson hand for him to start

“My name is Grayson Waller, Maddison square garden main eventer.”

“I’m Shotzi”

“I’m Scarlett”

We continue to hold hands until Bloody Mary continues. She introduces us to a doll named Henry. Scarlett picks him up and places him onto a clearly uncomfortable Graysons lap.

“He likes the ladies, he’s a bit of a flirt.” Bloody Mary explains to us.

“Aw yes lad! We could be brothers.” Grayson says, “however I have to move you closer to Shotzi and Scarlett, can’t have you making moves on people you shouldn’t be.”

I look at Grayson confused, why would he say that?

“So is it true someone at this table hasn’t seen a horror film.” Bloody Mary questions. Looking around the table I find it hard to believe. Shotzi and Scarlett are literally horror queens and I’ve dabbled in horror movies myself, like who hasn’t. That only leaves Grayson…

“You haven’t seen a single horror movie? Like ever?” I quiz Grayson.

“Nope, I just like laughing. Why would I watch something that would make me scared?”

Stunned.

“The fact you haven’t seen the all time classics, I’m shocked. We have to change that.”

With a playful glint in his eyes he reply’s “are you asking me on a date? I mean I suppose if you were there to hold my hand I wouldn’t mind watching a scary film.”

And that right there is the famous Grayson Waller charm. I roll my eyes and laugh off his flirtation.

“I’ll ask theory to show you some of the classics. It’s gonna change your life.”

“I’d rather you show me them. I think I’d appreciate them more with you.”

He smiles slightly and shifts his attention back to Bloody Mary. Not noticing how his response had affected me.

The part I had been least looking forward to, the ghost hunt. We had been given free rein around the house to look and interact with any spirits we may encounter.

There had been a few words here and there but nothing that was concrete evidence that the spirts were among us. It could all be explained or passed off as a coincidence until I heard Scarlett and Grayson in the bathroom.

“Shotzi, yn come here quick.”

We entered the bathroom and were met with both Scarlett and Graysom standing in the bathtub. We join them without question and wait.

“Can you tell us your name” Scarlett asks the spirits

“Zach”

“Zach is there anyone else here with you?” She continues

“No”

“Killed her.”

“Sorry”

Scared, I find myself gravitating towards Grayson who instinctively grabs my hand. I’m not sure if he sensed my fear or if he too was scared however in that moment we were a comfort for each other.

“Killed who?” Shotzi asks this time. However there is no reply.

“Hey Zach can you say hello to Grayson?” She continues

In a mimicking tone

“Hi Grayson”

The mood is slightly lifted and I can’t help but chuckle this spirit has went from confessing to horrific crimes to making fun of Grayson and I’m here for it.

Unamused Grayson replies “oh, you think you’re funny do you?” The spirit did indeed think it was funny.

We move to a different room due to the activity in the bathroom dying down. The room we enter is a playroom, legend says that the small cupboard is where a small child still plays. We decide to have a game of rock paper scissors to see who will go in the cupboard. Shotzi is our first, then Scarlett.

“Can’t you just go in the cupboard? I think I would die of fear if I had to go in.” I say pleading with Grayson.

“Sorry love, fairs fair. Ready?” He replies.

Rock, paper, scissors shoot. I went with paper and Grayson well he went with rock. With a smug look I go stand next to Scarlett and Shotzi awaiting for Grayson to climb into the small cupboard.

“I’m literally in skinny jeans, I can’t do this.” He complains while backing into the small enclosed space. Not even a minute later he is screaming and scrambling to get out of the cupboard.

“Something touched me. Something touched my leg.”

“What?” We all ask.

“When I was in there I felt something grab and pull my leg.” He reiterates.

Finding his way next to me, he slides his hand into mine, again to find comfort. I squeeze his hand as a reassurance that everything was going to be okay. Looking down at me I can see the appreciation in his eyes.

Scarlett sits on the floor and asks the spirits some final questions - much to our dislike.

“Do you like Grayson?”

“No”

Grayson on hearing this throws a little tantrum

“I’m here, I’m trying to learn, I’m being respectful” before he can continue the spirt cuts him off

“Nerd”

The mood once again has been lifted at the expense of Grayson.

Shotzi continues to question the spirit.

“What about yn? Do you like her?”

“Yes”

“Pretty”

“You’re damn right she’s pretty. But ima have you ask you to back off mr ghost, she’s off limits.” Grayson replies

Shotzi and Scarlett share a knowing glance while i remain calm and composed- on the outside that is. On the inside im screaming.

That has got to be the most frightening experience of my life. The cameras have stopped rolling and we are standing in front of the Bloody Mary’s ready to part ways.

“Okay, I’ll admit it was kinda fun, however under no circumstances will I ever come back on your show.” I tell them.

They both laugh and tell me I’m a baby.

“I don’t know how I’m going to sleep tonight.”

Grayson jumps in “oh I don’t mind helping you out there. I can think of a few ways to help you sleep.”

Scarlett and Shotzi dismiss themselves sensing we need some time alone.

“What’s with the heavy flirting? You’ve been at it all night?” I question.

“Well what normally happens when a guy flirts with a girl?.”

“You’re not just any guy though, you’re Grayson Waller. Serial romancer.”

Slight offended he replies “I thought my actions would have been louder than my words? I like you yn, I like you a whole fucking lot. My mind, body and soul is captivated only by you.”

Silenced by his confession in struggle to think of the right words to say. I want to tell him I feel the same. I want to tell him how my every fibre and being yearns for him. Slowly I see the hope in his eyes fade as I’m taking too long to reply.

“Listen if you don’t feel the same way just say it I need to”

Before he could finish his sentence my lips meet his. He returns my kiss with a need and passion I’d only ever read in books. This is what he needed, this is what we both needed. Each other. Pulling away our foreheads rest on each other while catching our breath.

“How about a nightmare on elm street? A classic franchise to break that horror movie virginity of yours.”

He chuckles “as long as you’ll be there, I’ll watch anything.”

I honestly dunno what this turned into but here we are…….if you would like tagged in any of my stories let me know and I’ll add you to the list.

Tagged:

@jeysbae

@blueflowermentality

@co-sharkie

[icyrambles]

hi friendly reminder that everything said in this post is my personal opinion. i actually really enjoyed earthspark season 1 and i was really really excited for season 2. i do not expect a piece of children’s media to be a perfectly written masterpiece but good lord was the bar low. anyways extreme spoilers below the cut. proceed with caution :3

i do not think it an untrue statement to say that the writing quality went down significantly between seasons. the plot, while not perfect in season 1, was far more fleshed out and actually took a whole season's worth to complete. meanwhile we had a plotline with much higher stakes get finished within the span of about a third of what the first season got. additionally while many of the episodes had some sort of connection to the wider goal of this batch of episodes, that being reclaiming the emberstone shards, many of the episodes did not focus specifically on the emberstone itself, instead sidelining it to a background plot or merely having characters randomly finding bits and pieces of it just lying about.

i would not think this a bad thing had the episodes not felt so rushed. starscream's plotline of obtaining all the emberstone shards should've taken the whole season, not just 9 episodes. the rushed writing reeks of corporate interference and slashed budgets and i have nothing but praise for the writers who scrambled to try and salvage a story that should've gotten 1, if not 2 seasons for a well rounded plot. however this does not stop me from wishing that they had tried to focus on creating a plotline that felt at least marginally more connected and tonally sound

it's an issue that i noticed throughout the first season where the dialogue and general morals of the show seem to be marketed towards a much younger audience and then the actual content of the show is not at all suited for children. obviously rampant child endangerment is a common theme in a lot of children's media (steven universe, she-ra, literally every tf show to ever feature a child character, etc...) but it's very strange to me that so few of the adult characters seem to care or understand how much danger mo and robby are in whenever they are part of an active combat scene.

neither dot nor alex seem all that concerned that their literal children are fighting alien robots who are more than twice their size and could easily maim or kill them without much trouble. obviously they have plot armour because they are the main characters but even then that's not a very good excuse when it's been established within the show that the characters are in highly dangerous situations that could get them killed and yet mo and robby's parents simply stand by and let their very young, elementary/middle school aged kids throw themselves into the line of danger.

and it's specifically the tone issue when it comes to the violence. if the combat in earthspark was treated as though no one could get hurt seriously and everyone would be okay, like it is in many prior transformers shows (like G1, TFA, and cyberverse) then i wouldn't have any issues with this. but it's not. fighting the decepticons is treated like it's a majour risk and that mo and robby could die every single time they leave the house to go on patrol. but their parents, beyond a few verbal warnings, do not do anything to keep their kids out of the way. they do not question why their children must be the ones to fight the decepticons, instead of leaving it up to the much more capable autobots.

it was bad in the last season but at the very least most of the fights then were simply due to the maltos being caught up in combat they weren't actively seeking out. but now, they are actively hunting down and searching for pieces of the emberstone that frequently lead them into situations that could risk their lives.

another issue i have with the tones of the show is how it treats injuries. hashtag seemingly gets very badly injured in the first episode because of aftermath and we, as the audience, are supposed to be very worried for her. however this lasts for all of about 10 minutes before she's back on her pedes and rolling around just fine, which once again leads to the confusing question of whether we're supposed to care if characters get injured. 

in transformers animated as an example, i was never particularly worried when characters got injured because of the allspark key. it was functionally a fix all tool used to repair any cybertronian character who got injured. therefore, whenever there was a majour battle, i never was in disbelief when a character would get seriously injured because it was previously established that the characters have a tool that can fix them should they require such drastic medical care. and it even tied into ratchet’s character arc and him learning to trust newer forms of technology.

wheeljack is another example of tonal dissonance when it comes to injuries. he gets stabbed in the face by a weapon called the cyberslayer. he then passes out and his optics turn completely black. we see dot grabbing him and looking very worried and then we don't get to see him again until the very last episode (which takes place two episodes after when he first gets injured) where he only appears for a split second fighting nova storm. no one mentions the fact that he got grievously injured, not even characters who saw him get hurt, like twitch, who has a strong emotional attachment to him and should likely care about him getting injured. 

mind you beyond a cybertronian’s frame going completely grey, their optics are how their physical and emotional state are often portrayed to most animated audiences. it’s not like in the comics where they can be covered in gore and lose limbs without consequence of scaring a young child. so seeing wheeljack’s optics go completely black and having people be worried about him and then never mentioning him again for two fucking episodes is really poor writing. 

and speaking of characters getting grievously injured. let me talk about spitfire and aftermath.

i do not enjoy the fact that they were killed. in fact i am appalled that they took two characters who were maybe less than a month old and then had them killed in what is to be implied to be an extremely painful manner. i’m unsure as to why the terrans are treated as though they are fully grown cybertronians when they are clearly not. they may have fully developed frames but they have the minds and personalities of children. additionally the way the chaos terrans are treated makes me deeply uncomfortable considering their age and the way they were brought into the world.

it is implied that the emberstone brings terrans into existence depending on the situation and in both cases of a chaos terran being created, that situation is combat. aftermath was created when breakdown fumbled an emberstone shard and it landed in a puddle of water. he was then immediately hit by a truck and began attacking the rest of the terrans. spitfire is much the same, being created when a shard of the emberstone was tossed into a thunderstorm while twitch was being chased by laserbeak. 

the way that the maltos talk about the chaos terrans, addressing them as evil and corrupted versions of the other terrans is deeply unsettling to me considering season 1’s themes of acceptance and understanding for those around you. it’s very weird to have jawbreaker go from being buddy-buddy with aftermath in one episode and then upon meeting spitfire in the next episode, distrusting her. obviously aftermath did betray jawbreaker’s trust by stealing the supply of cave water, but it feels incredibly out of character to see jawbreaker, who is friendly, kind, and unrelentingly positive, suddenly stick his nose up at spitfire, an individual he has never met before in his life. 

i’m aware that the terrans are proven right about aftermath and spitfire but it’s so gross to see characters who are less than a year old get thrown under the same bus as the decepticons who have committed literal war crimes. 

and then there’s the fact that they were killed by starscream. now to be clear, i did not expect starscream to be a good person in this season. i was tentatively hopeful that he would get a redemption arc of some kind considering megatron’s whole deal, but i was fully expecting him to be the main antagonist of season 2. however… it feels bizarrely out of place to see starscream quite literally murder two newborn babies and then not have said babies get revived at the end of the season. 

aftermath and spitfire are dead. just straight up gone. and it’s a waste of potential in my opinion. 

these are two characters who could have gone from side antagonists to genuine fan favourites given enough time and proper development. that’s what i though their plotline would be to be honest; i assumed that we were going to see them grow and develop over the course of the season (not just the first nine episodes) with the two of them eventually leaving the decepticons to join the autobot side. 

instead they are murdered in front of four main characters and banished the realm of never having had existed once again. there is the possibility of them being revived but i am highly unsure of that being the case considering how their existence sort of depends on the emberstone being shattered into several pieces. 

additionally, going back to starscream, i honestly do not want him to get a redemption arc now. there is no way in my mind that the writers can make him a good guy after he murdered two children. like, zero chance. unless they just bumped it under the rug, it’s fucking impossible to go “yeah starscream, the guy who killed two babies and then tried to destroy an entire town full of people, yeah he’s a good guy now!” 

that just would be tone deaf.

okay i’m moving on to the various plotholes and open ended questions that have been left on the floor now because if i keep thinking about how the chaos terrans were treated it’ll make me sadder

so first big question. why are the cons bad now? no genuinely, i would like to know why exactly the decepticons suddenly turned evil. the excuse of “oh that’s just how cons are” is not an excuse, it’s a fucking shame explanation that goes entirely against the themes of the first season. like even a fucking line of just “oh we tried peace but like many of our past ceasefires our ideologies just clashed too much” or something along those lines. 

and it’s been a whole year since season 1. something must have happened for the decepticons to have suddenly flipped sides on a dime. it’s so weird to me seeing a character like breakdown finally have the opportunity for something tangentially related to peace and then become a con once again despite having zero reason to actually stay with them. 

like ghost is gone (which is another thing i’ll bring up later) so why wouldn’t he chill with the autobots where he’s not in active combat and being starved for resources. like i can understand soundwave, shockwave, and starscream leaving considering their ties to megatron, and novastorm and skywarp leaving because of starscream seems about right. 

but swindle? hardtop? the insecticons? why the fuck do they care about the decepticons? surely those individuals don’t have the same loyalty to the cons as the others? and it doesn’t help that the insecticons get no lines this season and swindle and hardtop get like 6 collectively. we don’t learn anything about them or their motives. we can’t deduce anything because the narrative doesn’t care enough about them to actually explain or show why they’d choose to stick with the decepticons over the autobots. 

and starscream’s motives are another really weird thing. we’re told it’s because he wants to build a new cybertron but that feels so wildly out of character when he’s shown to generally just dislike megatron and his rule. why would he want anything to do with earth? 

“oh well shockwave hasn’t found anything that says cybertron is still around” 

well he hasn’t found anything that says cybertron is gone either. like one blown up spacebridge would not fucking explode an entire planet. and it would make far more sense for starscream to be building a new spacebridge powered by the emberstone instead. and the decepticons being the antagonists instead because of them wanting to go home quicker and not wanting to be patient and resorting to violence. 

like you’re telling me that shockwave couldn’t build a fucking space bridge when agent croft and mandroid could. pathetic. he would probably do it faster and with better materials because he knows what he’s doing. 

additionally if we got a space bridge up and working that would mean getting to see cybertron which would provide a lot of really good character building for the terrans! like it would be very fun to see them getting to explore and grapple with their cybertronian side!

ignoring the whole mess that is decepticons are the bad guys again because of “reasons”, i wanna talk about the carnival episode

now overall i actually enjoyed this episode. like beyond the whole crush plot not really being my thing (which is more a result of me not enjoying romantic subplots within kids media to begin with which is in it of itself just a result of me being aroace and disliking unnecessary romance in media) i actually really liked this episode! i enjoyed seeing the terrans interacting in an environment that isn’t a fight scene. and the use of their bond in regards to robby’s crush is actually a really cute concept that i felt was well executed. 

absolutely zero thoughts on robby’s crush. other than they both deserve jail for that food crime abomination of a funnel cake. but to each their own i suppose. 

but now comes the questions… what the fuck was up with cosmos man?!

from his dialogue about not knowing that megatron was an autobot we can assume that he’s been trapped there for minimum of like… 40 years give or take. and that’s a fucking horrifying thing to think about. he’s trapped in his altmode for decades without any way to communicate with his allies all while this random human uses him as a method of making money. 

i don’t particularly know how those altmode devices work, but surely his spark signature would still be recognisable correct? did the other autobots just assume that he was dead? did they not care? were ghost preventing the autobots from rescuing him? 

so many questions that will probably not get answered because having weird al voice him probably increased his budget several times over. 

oh and also are we going to learn where fairemestro got his tech from? did he just get it all from swindle over the years, that would seem the most logical, but also maybe he was working with ghost, that could be an interesting plot threat if the writers decide to bring him back. 

the quintessons are another group that leaves me with a lot of questions. like clearly they’re being set up as the main villains of the rest of the season but it’s so weird to me that they’re not set up earlier than that. 

why on earth make starscream the villain if you’re going to just get rid of him nine episodes in. surely it would’ve been easier to simply dedicate the time and energy into building up the quintessons in the first batch of episodes, with the decepticons as minour supporting characters along with the autobots and then have the rest of the season be about fighting the quints. 

it feels so oddly structured and rushed. 

i understand that time constraints and budget cuts most likely caused them to cram everything into season 2 because season 3 might not be a guarantee but considering how big of a threat the quintessons are likely going to be, having them get their own season to fully realise their goals and/or plans is a better writing decision than a singular episode of setup that immediately got forgotten for the rest of the episode batch. 

and okay, personal bias here. the quintesson executioner model was ugly. it was weird and it was gross and it’s fucking limbs made of jelly energon was just not it man. like give that thing some tentacles with blades on the end. not whatever the fuck that creature was. 

and also small tangent, i don’t like quintus prime. i do not like the fact that he enlisted two literal children to do his bidding and then having the writing team puppet said children around saying “yes quintus prime is our friend :)” while he has done nothing to earn their respect or trust. he’s a fucking dick who is leaving his mess for two kids to clean up. 

mo saying to the executioner “but quintus is my friend” pisses me off so much because he’s really not. he appeared in one vision for about 3 minutes and in that time he got angry at mo for being scared about her brother being in mortal danger. that’s not friend behaviour. 

additionally alex’s nonchalance about the quintesson executioner is so strange to me. he literally saw his probably 9-10 year old daughter getting hunted down and just doesn’t do anything afterwards to ensure that it won’t happen again. no sitting down with dot and saying “honey maybe we shouldn’t let our children do this anymore. it’s clearly dangerous.” nothing of that sort??? really??? do neither of these parents care about their children now???

season one dorothy malto would never do this. she would be furious that her children are regularly throwing themselves into life or death situations. 

not to mention the fact that these kids are still in school, actively!!! mo finding the quintus temple is literally only because she has to do a history project on witwicky, meaning she’s actively in school during the season. so that means that not only are these kids in school during the day, but they’re also training, going on patrol, and fighting beings roughly 2-3x their size on the daily????

how are they not exhausted physically and mentally? how have their teachers not noticed something is off? do they just not have any connections with their classmates? do they merely just go to school, go home, work, and then repeat?

this problem could be easily fixed by just saying they’re homeschooled or that it’s the summer. but nope, they’re in public school. 

okay end tangent. moving onto characters. 

i’ve already talked about the assassination of characters like dot, who is suddenly a background mom who seemingly doesn’t give a shit about her seven kids throwing themselves into life and death situations and the same goes for alex, but there was a noticeable lack of character time from pretty much every majour character from season 1. 

like bumblebee, someone who lives with the malto family and was their teacher and mentor in season 1. he’s just fucking gone for 90% of the season. he has like three total scenes and most of those are dedicated to him being comic relief. it baffles me that he’s just missing. everything from season one, his silly moments with alex, his awkward dynamic with optimus and megatron, his love and dedication with the kids is just gone. 

it breaks my heart because bumblebee was one of the highlights of season 1. he was silly, kind, caring, strong, and the perfect mix between the bumblebee’s of tfa, g1, and cyberverse. 

megatron, arcee, and grimlock also got almost no screentime. arcee and grimlock i can sort of understand because even in season 1 they were relatively minour background characters who featured in only one or two episodes… but megatron, fucking megatron, mr. i’m an autobot now. mr. i’ve changed for the better???? why is he not more prominently featured as a potential mentor for the chaos terrans. 

he of all bots would understand what they’re going through? why does he just brush off spitfire? why is he not more concerned when the chaos terrans are merely left to the side and dehumanised like the rest of the decepticons?

it’s so strange to see him become this random guy who says almost nothing and is mostly in the background when he played such a prominent role in season 1. and it’s especially weird that he’s also just okay with the terrans and malto kids collecting the emberstones by themselves. like he was very clearly protective and caring towards them in season 1 so why the sudden shift in character in season 2?

starscream is also such 180 from season 1. like did i expect him to be a perfect little angel who can do no wrong? fuck no. i was fully expecting him to be mean, ornery, and snippish when he interacted with megatron and the autobots. but to have him go from “look out for yourself” to hashtag and then straight up murder two children for a plot point that barely makes any sense is just so fucking out of line. 

i’m a firm hater of most starscream’s that are just evil guy for the sake of evil. i fucking hate what skybound did to him good lord. so to see him suddenly flip from being relatively sympathetic (i say relatively because he’s not like a good person. i fully understand that he was actively part of the group that invaded earth and probably killed a lot of humans) but having him just straight up kill two children… no man. i will not accept a redemption arc after that. 

he had so much potential to be a good character, who actively struggled with becoming a good person and dealing with his trauma in a healthy way and to see that potential get tossing into the trash just makes my blood boil. 

zero thoughts on soundwave and his team. he got like three lines and was mostly just a cardboard cutout of his season 1 self. weird that we never got to see frenzy considering laserbeak and ravage got scenes. is she just dead now? 

shockwave betraying (or at least not listening to starscream’s orders) was pretty interesting. i’m ready to see what he’s going to do in the rest of the season. then again there’s a good chance that he’ll just be cardboard cutout later on. 

skywarp and novastorm. nothing much. they’re fine. i like the few interactions they got. i enjoy the fact that skywarp is allowed to be a little stupid like her g1 counterpart and her fight scene with elita-1 was pretty nice. i’ve seen people complain that they didn’t change enough about her to justify the pronouns change but i subscribe to the notion that cybertronians do not use pronouns in the same way that humans do, so like, i don’t really give a fuck about the she/her usage. it’s a silly thing to get hung up over in my opinion. 

insecticons are nothing burger characters. swindle and hardtop are boring as hell. also someone get hardtop a new arm for fucks sake. it’s been a year. surely they could manage that. 

another dropped plot was the combining concept. like it gets put into an episode and then it gets dropped only one episode later. i honestly did not like how jawbreaker was portrayed in the episode that he features more prominently in. he’s upbeat and happy sure, but even he isn’t that emotionally dense. you’re telling me that while combined with aftermath he really couldn’t figure out why aftermath was so pissy. or that he was going to end up stealing all the cave water? really man?

additionally i’m not a massive fan of combination as a concept in tf to begin with. it feels very much like a toy marketing scheme and after idw1 i just cannot bring myself to give enough of a fuck about such things considering how massive combination was in the comics. it especially feels out of place in earthspark. i did like the scene where mo and robby devour like three plates of food after combining, that was really cute!

quite literally zero thoughts on hashtag picking out a new altmode. it was cute but it felt highly unnecessary to be perfectly honest. also i genuinely hope that her ai doesn’t turn evil like i’ve seen some people saying that it will. i prefer the interpretation that hashtag is now plural and the ai is simply her headmate. hashtag’s new model is just fine. i don’t like her helm though, it feels too naked for me. but the colours and everything else. fine. no notes. 

in terms of animation i honestly don’t have too much to say. most of the models felt oddly stiff. like the people in charge of animation didn’t get paid enough to properly emote them during scenes beyond moving their mouths and maybe stretching their eyes. (this is a gross exaggeration. there is a lot of time and effort that goes into rigging and creating 3d models and i understand that on a tight budget it’s probably very hard to try and make every character as expressive as possible.)

the fight scenes felt so weirdly rushed and/or oddly choreographed. like it might just be a me thing but most of the scenes felt either too slow or too fast with the rare exception (i like spitfire and twitch’s scenes. they were good)

aftermath’s model is overall pretty good. besides his helm. it feels a bit too small. 

already stated my opinions on the quintesson executioner model above. it’s shit. i don’t like it. 

terratronus is honestly pretty good. the detailing is nice. don’t like her glorification of quintus prime though. like it’s in character but that doesn’t mean i have to like it. she wasn’t around long enough to make a big enough impression on me. she feels like a lore exposition dump and that’s about it. 

alright this thing is getting too long. like 4k words long. before i go, let me say something. 

i did actually enjoy watching season 2. despite my paragraphs and paragraphs of criticism and questions and annoyances with so much of the season, i think it’s perfectly fine by itself. but in comparison to season 1, it’s a poor fucking sequel. it fails on almost every level and i think more people should be more comfortable with admitting that it’s just very bad. that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it, that doesn’t mean you can’t like what it did. i just think that people shouldn’t sweep the massive issues these episodes have with pacing, dialogue, and animation simply because some parts of it were decent. 

i’m probably going to watch the rest of the season when the episodes drop (purely because prowl is there tbh. if he’s there at all.)

[raleighrador]

Why does Padme support the Republic?

I love Padme as a character. She is brave and brilliant and kind and kicks ass. I think her lack of "non-Anakin/pregnancy" screen time in ROTS is a missed opportunity, but I don't actually take issue with her characterisation. A brilliant, ambitious woman can decide that motherhood and marriage is what she wants.

What I have always found a more unsatisfying or poorly explained facet of her character is her staunch belief in the Republic. To me that character trait is far more clearly "because the plot says so" than many others.

Her formative exposure to the Republic Senate was being told the occupation of her planet was a matter of debate in committee. The resolution to the Naboo crisis was something between local armed revolution and unilateral intervention (Padme + Jedi effectively radicalising and mobilising the Gungans).

Even the most charitable interpretation of the Senate's actions - they didn't have evidence, there were competing claims from multiple Senators with good standing, this was the procedurally responsible course of action - should be uncompelling because Padme KNOWS the senate is wrong, KNOWS the Trade Federation is lying, and KNOWS the Senate has no ability to effectively manage these sorts of abuses.

The Naboo crisis is a great illustration of how the Republic is just not fit to deal with either acute crises (it doesn't move fast enough), nor planet specific concerns.

I also think Padme's commitment to demilitarisation is slightly odd when portrayed simplistically. She is clearly not a pacifist. Naboo was saved by direct military action, and she herself frequently undertakes armed missions etc. She lives and breathes the idea that sometimes someone needs to shoot someone/something.

Is she just a massive hypocrite?

I don't think so. The only way I can reconcile it in my head canon is that she is deeply wary of the Republic having a centralised army, and creating a monopoly of legitimate violence. She clearly is ok with Naboo (and presumably other planets) having some level of local military capability. That's why she - for example - is so opposed to the Military Creation Act but is still willing to negotiate with the (militarised) CIS.

The issue with this head canon is that it doesn't resolve or explain Padme's broader belief in the Republic. Although I guess by ROTS she is in fact questioning "if the democracy we thought we were serving no longer exists". However, she doesn't seem to question what the Republic was.

It is common in fandom and fan fics to portray Anakin as deeply naive and Padme and politically sophisticated. I just don't think that is really justified by any of what we see on screen. She instead seems committed to this idealised version of the Republic that hasn't existed at any point in her life time.

That seems naive or at least extremely idealistic.

Anakin's life experiences can be summed up as: slavery because no one cares to enforce the laws/treats slavery as a purely legal issue rather than a moral one; his first exposure to the Senate is them failing Naboo until a group of wise and benevolent leaders took direct action; raised in a temple of super powered monks who spend all their time talking about how the Senate is corrupt in between missions where they get dropped in to just sort things out directly.

His belief in direct rule by a PlatonicPhilosopher King is actually totally explicable and unsurprising.

It remains a bad idea and an unworkable political system. It just isn't at all clear to me that the Republic is better, or that belief in the Republic is less naive.

[marta-bee]

I've been fixating a bit on Good Omens, specifically on Neil Gaiman being accused of sexual assault and the petition to get Amazon to fire Neil as writer of Good Omens S3.

What I've read about Neil Gaiman assaulting those women seems credible to me. I mean, I try to believe women who say they're assaulted generally and give wide berth for the sometimes odd ways trauma can keep them from coming forward as soon as I'd like, or giving clean accounts of their assault. But I was busy, I hadn't read the reporting, and I also liked Gaiman's writing and felt like I knew him (of a sort) because of years of following his Tumblr feed. Now I've done the reading, and at least based on the evidence available... I believe them.

Which raises a very uncomfortable question. I like the Good Omens novel, and the show, and I do want to see what happens. I enjoy the fanworks even more, but the originals also has a special place in my heart.

A lot of discussion around the petition starts with the (strange to me) idea that no one owns art once it's shared publicly. I do think we all own our experience of the story, and if the creator meant us to experience it a certain way, it's their responsibility to lead us down that road. Probably it's impossible to create that experience in the same way for all readers or viewers, because humans are messy and we bring all sorts of glasses, rose-tinted or otherwise, to everything we read. (I'm thinking of that line from the Lord of the Rings introduction: "It is perhaps not possible in a long tale to please everybody at all points, nor to displease everybody at the same points; for I find from the letters that I have received that the passages or chapters that are to some a blemish are all by others specially approved.") So yes, people are going to experience fiction from their own vantage-point, and our own experience of a story is our own. I'm really not very interested in interviews or other secondary statements about what an author meant. I mean, if JKR wanted Dumbledore to be gay she should have written him that way, etc., etc.

Even so! The story as it is (not as it's experienced, which can be quite different) really is the work of the people doing the telling. We all have the right to our own perception, the story that lives rent-free in our head.

But to say the person who fashioned the story doesn't in some sense own it -- legally or ethically -- just feels odd to me. I suppose Amazon would be within their rights to fire Gaiman. Maybe they'd even legally be allowed to not film the third season. But to say he's just one writer among many, and that we're entitled to the show without the brain that (co-)birthed it? That doesn't feel accurate and I don't think I can get on board with it. It actually seems extremely presumptuous and entitled to me. I'm imagining if someone objected to something they found out about me and decided to just rewrite one of my fanfics. That would feel invasive af, and I can't imagine anything I could do that would give them that right.

What are the other options? Well, the obvious one is the JK Rowlings approach: she created the story, it's hers, and it's precisely because she's so hateful now we shouldn't engage with it. Applying this to Gaiman, maybe we say we can't watch or reread it, maybe we push Amazon not to release it or other companies not to develop his stories into shows. Morally that makes more sense, though it feels like a shame because Good Omens pokes fun at religion's foibles in a way I know a lot of people found very helpful. It also seems like good queer representation, and it's also just plain fun. I'd hate for us all to lose that.

Personally, I've gotten quite good over the years at enjoying good stories told by bad people. I still watch my DVD's of Oliver Twist and The Pianist, even knowing what Roman Polanski did. The Cosby Show still makes me laugh. Etc. It helps those are things I already own so I'm not giving those people I object to more money. Not sure what I'd do about Good Omens S3; probably I'd pirate it or wait for DVD's I could get through my library, because there's not another season we need to get greenlit and I'd rather avoid giving him more money if I can help it. But I don't feel some moral imperative to shun meaningful, enjoyable art because someone involved with it did something wrong. Certainly not the other art people have made around it, including fanworks.

I can respect people who come down on the other side and say, nope, Good Omens = Neil Gaiman so I'm no longer going to touch it. This idea that we can somehow cut Gaiman out of this story and somehow enjoy it without worry just doesn't sit right with me.

(I can 100% understand people who can't read the book or watch the show without thinking of him, to the point it's no longer enjoyable. I tend to get engrossed in what I watch to the point I'm not thinking of the RL people behind it, so that's less of a problem for me personally; but that's my personal quirk. And thank goodness for that- I studied philosophy, and there are lots of "interesting" biographies going on there...)

[mllelaurel]

I’m a little over 50% through Glacier’s Edge. I’m noticing that the newer books are less likely to get liveblogging out of me. Which is neither a good thing nor a bad thing, honestly. I don’t 100% know why that is the way it is?

At any rate, my opinions so far:

I don’t know how much of an unpopular opinion this is, but I’m actually really digging the Menzoberranzan civil war intrigue. I don’t know (or even know of, in most cases) most of these characters, but what’s going on with them is interesting. I like Big World Consequences and changes to status quo, and hope this pays off. 

Dinin is adorkable. And the Actual Worst at coming up with a fake name. What a dumbass (affectionate.)

Nnnot sure how and what I feel about Yvonnel’s age. (Hell, I’m not even sure if it counts as ‘very, very old lady,’ or ‘actual kid.’ Mostly, I think, it’s coming off as ‘supernatural entity who, if you asked her the age question, would sigh and give up.’) But if I don’t think about the age too hard? Congrats, Jarlaxle. Finally, a Baenre you can relate to. ‘Help, I think I’m into Drizzt. And also his wife. Would love a threesome. Please send help. Also I wish my mom loved me.’ ...Actually, no, I completely sincerely want her and Jarlaxle to interact. I think it would be good for both of them, weird affection-seeking Baenre black sheep that they are. 

Still unimpressed with Azzudonna’s extremely underbaked feelings for Zak. They’ve had enough interaction for her to go, ‘oh no he’s hot,’ or even ‘I like him and want to get to know him better.’ Love? Not buying it. 

Also, while Azzudonna’s desire to protect her city makes all the sense, it ALSO makes all the scenes of everybody trying to get her to tell them what happened to their friends repetitive and roadblocky. Her reasons are valid and sympathetic, but she has murdered the pacing in a back alley, and that murder was premeditated. She’s fine on the Watsonian, but I am starting to deeply resent her on the Doylist. 

We don’t even get much Dab’nay on the page, but I still love her and want more of her. 

Jarlaxle alone, on the back foot, and kind of desperate is pretty gripping. I’m here for it.

....Yeah, okay, now I’m seeing where y’all are getting Kimmuriel being kinda madly in love with Jarlaxle. You’re getting it right around here. Because holy shit, Kimmuriel is kinda madly in love with Jarlaxle. 

I do wish, given how attached Kimmuriel is at this point, and how much he now acknowledges that psychic intrusion can be a horrible violation, that the book would actually address on-page the fact that that’s exactly what he did to Jarlaxle in the past. And there really does seem to be a throughline between Kimmuriel’s moral growth and his attachment to Jarlaxle. I 100% buy the progression from ‘oh shit, I like this guy’ to ‘why do I feel bad?’ to ‘Oh, maybe I feel bad because I hurt him.’ to ‘Oh. That thing I do hurts people and I actually care.’ But I still want it on the page. And also feel like there’s a beat of Jarlaxle being angry about it instead of instantly forgiving, which would be the character arc clincher here. (Also also I don’t know that Kimmuriel would just Get It and grow on his own, without a catalyst like say Jarlaxle being angry at him right as he’s starting to realize how much he cares about Jarlaxle.) 

Wow, Kane (and the monks working with him) are the actual worst. Actual fucking worst. You know a guy trusts you and finds peace and safety at your monastery. You also know that he has major trauma about losing his friends and is a young parent understandably worried about the safety of his daughter. So, what do you do? You make him think that a friend of his has been violently killed and his kid is in danger. And you claim it’s for his own good. To control his berserker tendencies. Which you fuckers deliberately set off, by hitting at least 60% of the triggers he’s got. Amazing. About all I can say for them is they didn’t actually endanger Drizzt’s kid. If they had, Drizzt would be well within his rights to start stabbing. No jury would convict him.

PS: No. You cannot ‘cure’ someone’s anger issues/uncontrolled fighting style, which seems to be rooted in some amount of trauma, given that trauma sets it off, by deliberately re-traumatizing that person. Yikes. 

Also:

“Let me go with you.” 

“I have been begging you to—” 

“No, within you. Let me in. I will help you find the balance.” 

“Just come beside me! My daughter—” He stopped when he felt Kane let go of his hand and grab at his mind instead...

You know what’s missing here? Oh yeah. Consent. 

When Kimmuriel has officially outstripped you in his understanding of meaningful psychic consent? You should be very, very ashamed of yourself. (And Kimmuriel should be very proud of himself, to be fair.)

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

How do you feel about owned self insert main characters? Like, the author just owns it, 'cringe culture is dead' style

Bc I personally love them, like yes, do you babe!

My gut reaction would be "I have no desire nor authority to dictate what people write or how they relate to their art" and "It's not something I would personally read but whatever floats your boat."

But then I realized that would be partially lying, because the latest thing I read that had a blatant self-insert was inexcusably bad (Breaking Time by Sasha Alsberg, if you're curious), partially because of the self-insert aspect of it, which I bashed it for. (Incidentally, the self-insert was so bland and uninteresting that she made the story more boring by just being in it.)

So I think it depends? Like I'm not gonna say to never do it or that doing it is bad and makes you a bad writer, because I think 1) it can be fun for the author and making art should be joyous 2) a lot of people have had experiences and knowledge that are valuable and unique and sharing them with the world via self-insert is pretty good I think.

But I think it's extremely easy for it to become bad fiction, or poorly written, because we can't be objective about ourselves, we can't analyze ourselves to the same extent we can a character we've created. So while I don't really care what people write or don't write into their stories, I think it's no surprise that self-inserts don't generally make for good fiction.

Basically, I don't think writing self-inserts is good or bad morally, and don't pass any sort of judgment on that aspect of it, but I do think it's important to be aware of how and why you do it if you're gonna do it, because doing it improperly will hurt your creation. A self-insert will be pretty obvious compared to other characters who aren't self-inserts, whether it be because the SI is so bland and has no interiority (the author is not aware of their own internal thought processes), or because they're clearly the most interesting/powerful character compared to the rest (the author has authority and is extending that authority into the fictional universe through the self-insert), or any other variety of issues self-inserts can introduce into the work.

So as with everything in art, IMO: Do it, but be aware of how and why you're doing it.

Sorry for the essay. Hope it answered your question!

[kittymanya]

Who's your favourite OC of yours and why? =]

Killing me with the hardest question possible i see...... dgfhdgdjhdf

Really though that is super hard, i have wayyy too many ocs and my favorite sort of swaps around every few months or so. sometimes it just cycles between the same few for a year or two though.

I would sayyyy right now? Probably anybody from Mary's whole squad. Which would be her (Mary-Anne Cassia), Samiel, Roberto Yun-Capo, Hale-Bopp, Puss in Boots (aka Danyel Mewette), and Winter Adams. All of them are here in this photo! (Hale in the star, Winter in the heart, Roberto in the triangle, Puss in the square, Mary in the circle, and Samiel in the..whatever you call that shape. He has the gun)

To narrow it down even further, specifically my top 4 are hale, mary, puss, and roberto. And then out of that Mary and Puss are probably the two im currently most focused on (but again the whole cycling thing applies here ahjgdjhfg for all i know next week ill be back into being obsessed with roberto)

I like them mostly because they're my first ocs that are actually in a sort of sci-fi setting, which is something i always wanted to do but struggled to! But then i watched Wander Over Yonder again and i was like damn....i could do this but with insane people.

All of them except for Hale-Bopp started off as either Lobotomy Corp OCs or just straight up LC characters that i just..yoinked and changed up a bit, because me and my girlfriend have a Lobotoym Corp rp and their personalities had developed enough to basically not be themselves as they were at the beggining anymore. Samiel was Der Freischutz, and Puss in Boots is.....Puss in Boots. Although he was never actually in the game, he was cut content that we decided to bring in for the rp, so everything about him is still, essentially, about 90% my own creation, since the only thing he had in his cut content was art and some flavor text.

I really like Mary in particular because i think she is just, a horrible human being, but in an interesting and somewhat sympathetic way. Which is something done a lot I know, but i mean hey there's a reason those sorts of characters get so popular ajhgdhj. She does awful things and doesn't let herself open up genuinely to anybody, but she's masks all of it under multiple layers of joking around and being weird in general. She's extremely emotionally stunted, refuses to allow herself to experience genuine connection despite desperately wanting it, and she makes this into everyone's problem. But she's very good at what she does, and extremely competent in other aspects, which is what manages to keep the whole group together.

Puss in Boots on the other hand, is also an emotionally stunted character but in a different form. It's not quite as bad as Mary, who can't handle emotions in herself nor with others very well. Instead Puss mostly struggles with handling his own thoughts and feelings while being excellent with other people. Sort of. He's great at reading people, and he isn't dumb, he often has great advice, but what he is, is PUSHY. He doesn't know how to let things happen naturally, and so often makes things worse instead before theres any progress. I think that the dynamic between him and his (unwillingly, on Puss's end) estranged brother is fun to explore. He has a very strong sense of justice and has lots of conflict with Mary, because she's one of the few people who he can't read very well (Samiel being another one, but he's still easier than Mary) He can't tell if he despises Mary or if he's just concerned for her, and it keeps him around on the ship out of fascination, like a pet project. He hates everything about most of the crew (except winter, and somewhat okay with Roberto) he hates their behavior, their jobs (3/6 of the crew being hitmen/assassins) and most of all he can't stand their morals, or lack thereof.

It'd be a LOT to go into further detail ajhgdhjdf so i think this will do fine as a start bc its. um. 7AM where i am and i have not slept. Oops! But if you want to ask any further questions about them i have most of their info on my website!! (except samiel, who's page i have not finished yet. it's mostly finished, just that his backstory page only has the TLDR section filled in and not in full) https://kittymanya.neocities.org/art/ocs/oclanding

I can't link directly to their pages bc i set up my site weird and im not sure how to fix it really without recoding the whole page, but if you go to the 'sintane' tab theyre all in the first section! They're the first 6 characters that show up in the list. So theres a lot more info there and if you have any more specific questions about them i would LOVE to rant about them :D

[obiternihili]

there's something about the "work is necessary and also good actually" argument levi is trying to make but goddamn does she suck at it, like, so incredibly so, it's embarrassing

like the thing is those premises can be true while it also being true that much of labor is actually bullshit and not part of the labor that is good or the labor that is necessary. and that usually work fetishism spirals into protestant work ethic/soviet forced labor/ayn rand shit, and more importantly anti disability bullshit

there's more shit fetishists in the world than i wish i knew about but they still aren't enough to run a sewer system and that's a job that's not going away under socialism or communism or anarchist libertarian whatever the fuck. And that's not the only job like that - there's a reason we pay doctors, lawyers, and the like so much. Yes CEOs and shit are grossly overpaid but so much real work is tedious, stressful, uncreative, complicated shit just barely functioning as is. And like yes we're overproducing food thanks to a few miracles in agriculture technology (that actually have some really deleterous effects on the environment but that's here nor there) but also that every world economy is ***really focused on making that happen right now.***

And like have you ever really compared the things you do as a job versus the things you do for hobbies? Or tried to turn a hobby into a side hustle? It's just... night and day the rate at which things get done when you have deadlines vs when you can just blow it off to play a game. And I still can't actually wish "turn your hobby into a career" on anyone because of how soul killing that is.

People aren't going to do the necessary things just because they want to. That doesn't make "don't work? then starve" moral or even per se necessary. But like, it's the Maoists and Polpotists and iirc Suharto's regime also? and such who took the attitude that being a doctor was just a function of how people spent their time and shit. It's not an inherently insano tankie position to be like "maybe we should incentivize labor"

But even more psychologically, there is a kind of a fundamental... something, Dasein, idk - to being able to contribute to society according to your ability. It's several orders of downriver polluting from that that you arrive at work is good. But it's not work, per se, it's not the capitalist material conditions or the communist material conditions or whatever that makes it good. The blood on you hands in fact makes it bad. The necessity of it makes it bad.

But like altruism at its core is one of those things that make us human. Not that rats don't try to untangle each other, but humans take it to an extreme not seen in the paleological record or whatever. It's the expression of that, even if it's somewhat symbolic and abstract that is Being Human; that is, living according to our nature, in the way Diogenes wouldn't have appreciated but would have recognized as following his logic to eudaimonia.

Like take this

there's a charge that gays don't contribute to the next generation, therefore they're parasites. But that isn't true even under that reasoning; we work, we pay taxes, we take care of family by babysitting or being their for our siblings or parents, we create demand and therefore jobs for food, housing, entertainment, all the needs. Even the non-humans like the penguins can adopt orphaned eggs, or perform actions benefitting the group and their genes indirectly. Like, I mean, most ants you meet are infertile, let alone questions of gay or straight or whatever.

Disabled folks run the gamut of abilities. Like as cringe as the euphemism might be for some, differently abled is meaningful in its own ways. And from that the logic that makes gays something nature has repeatedly 'evolved' applies as well. Disabled people create demand, and from their own abilities the physically but non-mentally impaired frequently contribute especially to the arts and hobbies - entertainment, stuff we need to lessen the impacts of stress, etc.

If nothing else they create someone to love. In a capitalist framework that means little, sure. But like

that whole altruism is human thing? the most human thing about it is when bones started showing up in the fossil record of people who survived injuries that left them completely disabled or bones old enough that their abilities to contribute to society through menial labor or what not fell away long before their death.

sabes que, "actualization is important" o cualquiera

going all "work is a virtue in and of itself" is cosmically missing the point; it's what that work is an expression of. Altruism.

like maybe it's a me thing? I had a cat not too long ago. I was taking developmental psychology stuff in conjunction to linguistics and a lack of siblings or cousins being the right age at the time led me to thinking of her during exercises and shit. So not only was I attached to her, I let some part of my brain get *really way far too* attached to her. Then she died at the age of 2 from cancer. And now my brain is pretty broken. And like, I kept trying to think of the things that made her special to me and such. Like it's true she was an easy cat who'd let you move her when necessary and she was good. But at the end of the day I have to face that she was just a cat. She didn't really have time to really show a special personality. She didn't "do" anything except be there for me to feed treats to or give toys. She didn't "mean" anything in this goddamn world except what she meant to me. So like maybe there's a fucking existentialism argument based in all of this

like the material conditions blah blah blah. the value of food is very low when you're on hospice. the value of food is how much you want it. maybe the fucking basics of supply and demand under scarcity follow from that! maybe it doesn't and the value of labor is nothing. Maybe "someone needs to work" is dependent on the subject of that predicate! idk

it's certainly an empirical problem that other people are rating people's abilities to do things. Like, you don't feel what they feel! You don't know their thoughts or life histories or prejudices or empirical limitations of their doctors! fuck anyone legislating you into position!

maybe there's a real fucking systemic injustice that people are even allowed to, let alone how they're required to, do something they're empirically incapable of doing!

Maybe that's a sign that the system needs to be destroyed? But then who would dole out welfare at all? Maybe that's a sign that system needs reform? Only to be legislated right back into place by the deluded people who Do Not Understand What It Fundamentally Means To Be Human

Maybe it's a complicated, complicated problem that needs to rank and value many "competing access needs" or whatever you call this kind of payoff matrix where lots of people lose no matter what gets normalized.

Here's my go: Disability Protections > right to food, shelter, and the minimum needs required to Work On Your Mental Shit > necessary work > work people do to thrive or whatever > etc

i guess the best society i can imagine that would be sustainable as I understand world needs at the moment would guarantee everyone at least a living wage with people like farmers, doctors, sewer workers, etc earning enough to afford reasonable luxuries others can't afford, and empower people who like working or what to turn their hobbies (whether that's underwater basket weaving, fashion for poodles, making videogames, or like architecture or linguistics or teaching or whatever) into something serious, living somewhere in the middle.

at the very least if you read this rambling, disorganized rant i hope at least you take away that This Is Actually A Complicated Problem And Not Just Some Commie Being A Dumb Asshole Again

[madwickedawesome]

OH MY GOOODDDDDD YEAH (i was going to put this in the tags but it was too much . so it's here now)(i am SO sorry this will not be eloquent in the slightest im just going to dump my thoughts in order of me thinking them) ACTUALLY IM PUTTING THIS UNDER A CUT BECAUSE IT IS SO LONG.

(the allegory of religious trauma hit a little too hard for my own wellbeing)

aziraphale is trapped in his reverence for heaven. heavens 'good' is JUST as intrinsic to aziraphales being as his love for crowley. they're just facts of life for him . he's based upon them. at a point they're the only things he knows!! and it is difficult!! quite frankly!!! to break free from something you've let guide you for ages no matter how terrible!!!! and he's not ready to face the idea that heaven is not good, has never been good, has certainly never been good for him. heaven is his home, where Deep Down he knows he's unloved but who can just face that? its his home!!

no matter how much crowley tries to ease him out of his ways, to make him realize heaven is terrible, aziraphale cant !! stop fighting for "good" because its Hard for him to question whether there was really any "good" to begin with!!!! and its because its such a major change for him. aziraphale is so infamous for Not Getting With The Times, for despising change, and heaven being Bad for him is a LOT to take in. he finds comfort in keeping heaven as a moral compass and keeping crowley at an arm's length; those are facts of life, after all. the metatron is Using his status as the Perfect Obedient Soldier of Heaven!!!! he is but a lamb of god!!!!! aziraphale has only ever wanted to be Good. that's also part of why its SUCH a big step that he's willing to be even closer with crowley post season 1.

not to further mention that aziraphale has been conditioned to . heaven and back. he must be virtuous he must be obedient he must have reverence for all creatures he must be ethereal he must be honest he must be courageous he must be all of these Good things!! and he's so blinded with the thought of Good that he's TERRIFIED of questioning his loyalty or acting out (i.e. his extreme fear of becoming a demon upon lying to gabriel back in 2500 b.c.). its not as simple as denying the metatron all in the name of crowley (as much as his microexpressions say he wants to), heaven's Goodness is undeniable, thank you very much, how could you possibly suggest otherwise? he cant just question things, that's how crowley fell. why would he want that? the metatron is Good and heaven should be Good and his ways must be Good so why should he defy the certainty of these??? that would make him bad, that would make him fall. (ALLEGORY FOR RELIGIOUS TRAUMA!!!)

FURTHERMORE. the theme of toxic relationships aka lindsay and nina this season????? the way nina, after gaining distance from lindsay, acknowledges in retrospect that lindsay probably hadn't loved her, at least not as of recent, but she felt inclined to stay nonetheless. THAT PARALLELS AZIRAPHALE AND HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(going insane) he cant truly acknowledge that heaven is awful for him until he's away from its influence, but he will continuously justify heaven's behavior, although he knows, somewhere rooted deep, that heaven doesn't love him. and he justifies heaven because its his terrible, awful, wonderful "home." plus, heaven is Everywhere; it's difficult to distance oneself from something Everywhere.

he's holding onto his love and reverence for heaven because what is life without it? is he even himself without heaven???

+ i don't have a paragraph for this. but it's important to acknowledge that aziraphale didn't even want the position until crowley was involved!! that's just a sidebar i find IMPORTANT but i dont have Loads to say as of right now nor do i know where i can even fit it here. sobs

the season relies so heavily on parallelism, between relationships and time and actions and objects and beings and the like!! and most importantly!! almost all of these parallels pertain to aziraphale and crowley's Complicated Relationship!!! they will never be Straightforward, and i think the ending illustrated that so very well :)

again i am SO terribly sorry for how long this is . one final thought is that aziraphale being a shostakovich fan was the best part of season 2 (guy who LOVES shostakovich watching good omens season 2: this is just like shostakovichs 5th symphonOH MY GOD.)(i absolutely cannot rant on this any longer this isn't even My post. but. shostakovichs 5th? is very. good omens heaven core.)(hands hovering above your shoulders.)

if i see ANYONE hating on aziraphale it’s on SIGHT!! aziraphale didn’t chose heaven over crowley!!! his first thought was to bring crowley with him! aziraphale loves crowley just as much as crowley loves him and you can SEE how painful it is for him to leave crowley behind. did aziraphale make a massive mistake? absolutely. do i want to smack some sense into him and tell him to go running back to his husband? yes. but more than anything i want to wrap him in a HUG and tell him that he is so much more than heaven. some of you guys don’t understand religious trauma. how deeply it warps your perception of the world and the decisions you make. how when it shatters a person, and putting the pieces back together isn’t simple, straightforward, or completely linear!! no healing is! i was raised in the church, haven’t believed for five years, and still sometimes worry if they’re right, if i am going to hell for leaving, if there is something deeply, fundamentally wrong with me that returning to god can fix.

does crowley owe it to aziraphale to forgive him? no. but will he? absolutely, 100%. he will be there when aziraphale is ready, because he loves aziraphale more than anything. and aziraphale isn’t ready today, which is heartbreaking for both of them, but he will be. they WILL get their happy ending.

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

Hi! It's an au twilight question.

What if Edward and Bella did the nasty in early New moon. Then the party happens and the Cullens leave. Bella discovers she's pregnant with Renesmee. What do you think what would happen?

A very interesting question, anon. One that will go very interesting places, I'm sure.

That said, as usual, because I'm a completionist, we have to go through the "why no canon?" routine. Bear with me, I simply must.

Why Didn't Edward and Bella Do the Nasty Pre-Breaking Dawn?

For all that Edward is, for all his... questionable morals and sexual fixations, he does have a moral code he strictly holds himself to.

Edward is adamantly against having sex with Bella in terror of the very real possibility that he will murder her in the act. He's very clear about this, he didn't think he could do it, at all, and only his sheer desperation that Bella never be turned, his desire to marry Bella, as well as Alice's thumbs up convinced him to do it.

If Bella was a reasonable person then she would have agreed as well. Sex with Edward, while she's human, is a bad idea. However, Bella never really seems to clue in on what vampires even are so I think the Man of Steel on Woman of Kleenex aspect is lost on her.

Had Alice not given the green light, I imagine Edward would have gone back to the drawing board and ended up either here or here. Bella turning is the worst possible outcome and Edward will risk almost anything, even Bella's death, to see it avoided.

But that doesn't mean it's an action he takes lightly.

He suggests pimping Bella out to Jake before he suggests sleeping with her himself. For Edward, this is a last resort.

More, Edward is a man of his time.

Edward was from an upper class family and, more to the point, still holds himself to the standards of the society he knew when human (much to Bella's amusement).

Edward wistfully talks about courting Bella, how he would have courted her had he been a true man in the time period he was familiar with, and why marriage to him is so very important.

That Edward doesn't seek out the approval of Charlie, Bella's father, is a hilarious aside to me. Edward's all about chivalry until all those old society standards get in his way.

What do you mean a gentleman doesn't sneak into a lady's apartments in the middle of the night to watch her slumber unawares?!

Regardless, marriage is extremely important to Edward, especially in the context of sex.

Edward will absolutely not have sex with a woman who is not first his wife. He also will not marry a girl that society defines as underage, he will wait until Bella's legal and probably until she finishes her primary schooling.

This means Edward was never likely to have sex with her before graduation and certainly not before her eighteenth birthday.

Which, at the earliest, puts her past the New Moon birthday bash.

Edward and Bella Do the Do Anyway

But let's pretend they do it anyway.

I'd say the most likely scenario is after the birthday disaster. This is it, Edward knows he is leaving Bella forever, if he is truly noble then he will never see her again.

Certainly, he will never interact with her nor hold her in his arms. To Edward, this is essentially his last true night on Earth.

So rather than pull a partial D.E.N.N.I.S. system, Edward pulls the full D.E.N.N.I.S. system, he initiates the "I" he was previously missing, "Inspire Hope". Or, in this case, get laid for the first and only time in his life.

He sneaks in through her window. They make beautiful, passionate, tepid love so Edward does not crush her in the act, and as she sleeps blissfully in the aftermath he sneaks back out the window to never be seen again.

(It takes Bella a week to admit that Edward just hit and run. The Cullens aren't coming back.)

However, because Edward didn't actually point blank tell her what was happening, rather than hit her New Moon stage of depression, Bella's instead in denial.

The Cullens are coming back. What, Carlisle has a new job? No, that can't be right, they're coming back. Alice would never leave her without a word. Edward would never leave her without a word.

Jessica pats Bella on the back consolingly and is secretly glad that it's not her. She might have been dumped by Edward Cullen, but at least he didn't humiliate her the way he did Bella Swan.

Leaving without a single word, yikes.

Two weeks go by then Bella gets the flu.

In a single day, she's unable to keep down anything. Huh, that's weird. Very quickly, Bella has her tampon epiphany. Bella is not a virgin, she had sex with Edward, she's late, and she appears to have a baby bump.

Bella is carrying Edward's child.

There is no question of aborting the child. This is Edward's child, the only piece she has left of him, even without Renesmee's gift it's ride or die. Bella is delivering this child even if it kills her.

However, she has some immediate issues.

First, she's visibly pregnant, it's been only two weeks. That's not supposed to happen. More, Charlie is bound to notice sooner rather than later, Bella would like to avoid that, the stigma of teen pregnancy, as well as the inhuman complications that are sure to come along.

Second, there's inhuman complications. Bella can't just go to an OBGYN, not even a town over. She's carrying something half human, a doctor will poke around and find that out, and then Bella's blowing the secret.

Bella knows vaguely of the Volturi at this point, but not the severity of the law, it's more that she promised Edward she would never tell a soul.

Plus, a human doctor wouldn't be able to help anyway.

That leaves vampires.

Bella tries to call/email the Cullens. However, thanks to Edward, all their numbers are disconnected and all their emails no longer exist. Her "Alice, help, I'm pregannant" messages are sent to a void.

(Alice, meanwhile, thinks she's finally successful in blocking visions of Bella. At least Edward will be off her back. Without the cliff diving and Jake, Alice does not assume Bella has died/committed suicide.)

A brief internet survey also yields Bella no results, but it does get her a lot of vampire porn. Thanks internet.

Bella... starts to get worried.

She's getting more and more pregnant in a matter of days, Charlie is starting to notice that she can't keep anything down, and the Cullens aren't taking her phone calls.

Then, Bella has it, she remembers that weird baroque painting Carlisle had of him and those Italian vampire dudes: the Volturi. Conveniently named after the city they live in, Volterra, Italy.

Bella debates her options.

Edward told her that these are the guys who make sure that humans who know the secret disappear. Well, Bella is a human who knows the secret, that's bad. Also bad is that they eat people, Bella is a person.

On the other hand, Edward implied these guys are civilized and friends of Carlisle. That's... good? Bella isn't sure she's on good terms with the Cullens, given the whole abrupt leaving thing, but maybe they don't have to know that.

Bella debates with herself, tries to look up the Denali, and only finds the National Park. She has no idea where these guys even live, or what they even look like besides "blonde hot vampire", and she's short on time. Plus, they are close with the Cullens, so the Cullens probably did tell them "Ew, Bella, No Gross, Do Not Want".

Because the Cullens all hate her now.

Bella has some money saved up, and this is probably a one way trip, and if she doesn't go then... well, it's not looking good. Bella musters up her courage, tells Charlie some outrageous fib to explain why she's disappearing off the face of the planet, and books a flight to Rome, then Pisa, then a bus ride to Volterra.

Bella subsists completely on blue gateorade, this doesn't go well, and she vomits blue in the parking lot.

Regardless, she makes it, huzzah she is in Volterra. It's sunny out and there are no vampires. Bella wanders around the city and looks for the most vampire building she can find.

Luckily, she happens to be right, and it's the very central castle. Well done, Bella.

Bella walks in and spots a vampire. She also spots a receptionist, Bella is very confused. Never the less, Bella says the magic words, "I'm a... friend of Carlisle Cullen?"

Even though Bella doesn't have Aro's name (or any of the other Volturi for that matter), Carlisle's name does the trick. Anyone who works for Aro knows that name.

Color Aro intrigued, he will meet this pregnant woman! (Caius, meanwhile, votes that they eat her immediately out of spite.)

Well, Aro touches her hand and lo and behold she's scarily gifted. And she knows Carlisle, what a great day to be Aro.

Aro explains that everything's totally fine with her knowing the secret, it just means they have to turn her eventually, after she gives birth of course.

Bella stares at him numbly and wonders why Edward made this such a big deal if it was that easy.

Aro insists Bella start from the beginning, as in the very beginning of her life. This is weird, but Bella complies.

An hour later they get to the interesting part: Bella meets Carlisle (and Edward Cullen, Aro guesses). Aro gets to hear the whole, sordid, ridiculous tale of Bella and Edward's romance including the part where he fucked her and ran off into the night.

Aro is stunned.

He first apologizes for the Cullens behavior, they should absolutely not have abandoned her, and not turning her was completely irresponsible (what the hell was Carlisle thinking?)

He then gives the bad news, he... has never heard of anything like this.

You see, normal vampires don't have sex with humans. It isn't done.

Also, there's this thing called Immortal Children (Edward tell you about that, no? Well, he probably thought it wasn't relevant). That thing your carrying might not be a child capable of growth but an insatiable monster.

Or it could be the alien from Aliens.

There's no way to tell, really.

BUT NO NEED TO WORRY, BELLA, THEY WILL FIGURE THIS OUT.

Aro promises Bella his protection and a period of observation for the child. Bella's not sure she likes that observation part, but this seems like a pretty sweet deal otherwise.

As for what to do, well, Aro has to call in the foremost vampire medical expert. Sorry, Bella, but there's only one man for the job.

Aro sends out Demetri to find Carlisle.

Demetri shows up on Carlisle's doorstep, "Carlisle, old friend, Aro has need of you. Your son knocked up a human girl."

Carlisle blinks, blinks again, then does a thousand yard stare. My God.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Edward is already on Victoria's tail. Carlisle tries to call him, to no avail, Edward isn't taking his phone calls.

Alice and Jasper are already on their trip to hunt down Alice's past. Plus, given the Volturi, they'd be unlikely to come anyway. Carlisle sends them a message.

Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett travel to Volterra to clean up Edward's mess.

And sure enough, there's Bella, very pregnant with a child that is very much not human. Carlisle dies inside, Rosalie's on a warpath that Edward would abandon his pregnant girlfriend to the point where the only place she could turn was human drinking vampires.

Rosalie takes it upon herself to leave Edward the world's angriest voice messages until he returns her phone calls.

Aro's delighted to see Carlisle again. Even if he does have a wife now. Also, Aro claims finders keepers for Bella, Carlisle's not happy about this and less happy that Aro points out that if Edward cared so much he wouldn't be absent right now, would he?

They figure out the blood drinking thing, Carlisle desperately raids a hospital to prevent Bella from being fed the leftovers of the Volturi victims. This likely doesn't work out for him.

At the last possible moment, Edward finally picks up his phone. He learns that all he's tried to accomplish failed spectacularly. Bella is pregnant with his demon child, is literally drinking blood, and is in Vampire HQ with the leader insisting she will be turned immediately after the C-section.

Edward races to Volterra and strides into the room demanding Bella be aborted and remain human.

Aro stares.

Carlisle awkwardly explains that Bella's too far along, it's too late now even if they wanted to, more she adamantly doesn't want to abort and never did.

As for Bella being human... Bella pipes in that she's cool on becoming the vampire part. Aro's a great guy. She then races to embrace Edward, he's come back, after all this time. And he's going to be a father, isn't that wonderful?

Edward loses his mind.

And because this is Edward, I have no idea what he'll do, only it'll be utter madness. This is my best guess.

To be a little more serious, he probably tries to abort the child anyway, he mercy kills Bella and the child, or Renesmee manages to get through to him.

Given canon, it's likely the latter. Bella is convinced that her and Edward's relationship is perfect.

Aro has no idea what to think of any of this.

[manikas-whims]

Unpopular Opinion: 60% of Kanej stans are very anti Kanej

Ohhh Anon, you are so right about this! They'll say they ship Kanej but in the same breath spew out so many anti Kanej things 🥴

Lemme categorise a few of these "Kanej Anti-Fans" here:

1: Anti Intimacy- loves kanej but constantly shames the idea of them ever touching or healing or any sort of physical intimacy. The famous "I wiLL wHaCK yOu fOr wANtiNG KaNej tO KisS" 🥴

2: Anti Inej- loves the idea and dynamics of the ship that is Kanej but dislike Inej. Lack basic understanding and reading comprehension and end up calling her rude and questioning her feelings. The "kAz LoVEs HeR mOrE"

3: Anti Kaz- loves the idea and ship dynamics of Kanej but think Kaz is undeserving of Inej. Call Inej too good for him. Lack reading comprehension and character understanding, end up comparing Kaz to the likes of straight up toxic characters like D*rkl*ng, when there's zero comparison aside from the black aesthetic.

4: Basic Bitches- surface level readers who don't see the layers and depth and end up reducing Kanej to basic "good girl, bad boy" , "girl boss, male wife", etc. tropes when Kaz isn't a conventional bad boy and most definitely not a male wife and NEVER WILL BE. And neither is Inej an entirely good person (she's morally grey) nor is she just a girl boss.

5: Anti Characterization- these have read the books just like us but for some reason, don't grasp the characters at all. These are the ones who make Kaz extremely rude in their fanfics, HCs and even memes. These are also the people who write Inej as this self-centered, stoic woman who priortises her faith and purpose more than Kaz. (NONE ARE TRUE)

..there's more but you get the point. We have so many Kanej stans who claim to love Kanej but are actually very anti.

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

The most frustrating thing about RWBY is that it never seems to know what it wants to be. There is no middle ground. If they wanted to make James wrong and RWBY right, then MAKE THEM RIGHT RIGHT OFF THE BAT. They spend so much time questioning Ruby’s decision only to double down and I’m left wondering if they’re aware this is MORE frustrating then just making things clear cut. Making James evil was a bad decision. Period. This made a bad decision worse.

RWBY is....very confused on what story exactly it is trying to tell I have to agree their. The issue is CRWBY tries to do extremely contradictory things in their story over and over again and act surprised when people are frustrated by that.

For example, somehow Ozpin is evil for training teenagers who willingly go to huntsman academies to fight but James is also evil for trying to make a robotic army to take people off the battlefield. When their is a seemingly endless army of soulless man eating monsters that go out of their way to try and kill people and destroy towns that are drawn to negative emotions, you can't also be trying to preach "War is bad" it just does not work because in this case, the fighting isn't happening because anyone wants it, but because they literally have no choice but to fight if they want to survive. The fate of humanity depends on someone knowing how to and being able to fight.

Or back to the whole decisions thing, at first I thought maybe Yang would question Ruby more and push her to tell James the truth but....they have one conversation that lasts less then a minute and that's the end of it. It is so beyond frustrating. We set up really well a potential split in the group and then....nothing happens and everyone is back in the hive mind again no problem. But it is a problem. Real people don't agree on every single thing. It's just not a thing. We're all different and unique and have out own life experience's that shape us into who we are. That causes us to not agree on things and that's fine, healthy even.

The show setting up everyone doubting Ruby's decisions and leadership skills but eventually coming around and coming back together again is not a bad plot at all. I would say under these stressful situations its realistic and could work well. However, its only the people who dare to question the perfect Ruby who have to apologize. Ruby doesn't have to admit she was wrong, she doesn't really have to doubt herself or her choices at all and that is the problem.

Let Ruby make mistakes, let her screw up and learn and grow and still be a hero. No one is perfect, not even heroes. We screw up and make bad calls or lose our tempers. But that doesn't make us a bad person suddenly. It makes us human. But when characters are not allowed to make mistakes and screw up and still be considered a good person, it makes it hard to connect with them because their is nothing to relate to with them because we are not perfect.

Uh sorry went off on a tangent their but yes, if they wanted to introduce an arc where people started questioning Ruby, they needed to have proper follow through and not have them be yelled into submission. Let them all really talk and work through their issues and come back stronger. But this weird sort of argument and then re assimilate suddenly just does not work, especially in a morally complex issue like the one introduced at the end of volume 7. Neither James nor Ruby where wrong for the choices they wanted to make in how to deal with the Salem issue. It's Ruby's choice to commit treason and openly attack the leader of a country to get her damn way that's the issue but the show again treats it as right and no one is allowed to question the choice no matter what because James has to be evil and Ruby has to be right no questions asked.

[kindredsuffering]

personally I think this sounds more like just... a fundamental difference in how people who like villains/"bad people" vs people who like protagonists/"good people" view characters (to be clear--i'm making a broad statement here, I don't think everyone in either group feels the same about it or has a particular viewpoint)

the biggest thing, to me, is like... Neo is not a bad person. Neo is not a person. she has not hurt people, she has not caused real harm. she is a character, that has hurt other characters, and caused harm in a fictionalized setting.

I, and as far as I am aware also many other people that like villains, find nothing repugnant about a character that's done fucked up things in a story. I personally have found a lot of people I see that tend to only like protagonists and not villains, and have a really close attachment to those protagonists, can get genuinely upset, angry at, and hate characters that have harmed the protagonists or done something morally abhorrent. my assumption has always been that people like this carry such a close emotional tie to stories and media that they engage with that while obviously they know none of it is "real", they have an emotional reaction to things they find appealing or unappealing in a similar way to if these things were affecting someone they knew even tangentially.

not that people who do this are engaging in media in a childish way or anything, I just think it's a difference with how you can emotionally engage with media? like, personally, I just don't really feel empathy for characters and really struggle to emotionally connect to characters in general--the only time I'm going to get upset about something that happens in media is when it's something I think from a narrative or real-world standpoint doesn't make sense to include or is questionable, which makes me upset because that was a choice made by a real person that, to me, makes a narrative or story make less sense/less fun. when I engage with media I generally am constantly thinking of it as a story that someone is shaping, and think a lot about what their motivations or reasons for doing various things are. to me it seems like the way some other people engage is that they get more immersed in the story and think of it more as a whole world, and less of, like, words on a page that a person chose to slap down.

ALL OF THAT to say: I think some people get really emotionally engaged with stories and have a lot of empathy for characters, which makes them uncomfortable with the idea of liking or projecting onto a character that's done something morally abhorrent, and other people don't always emotionally engage as closely with a story and therefore don't find anything uncomfortable or upsetting to enjoy and engage with a character that has done something morally abhorrent.

I know there are people who really don't like villains that aren't emotionally engaged with stories, and people who really like villains that are, but I've never had a chance to pick the brain of either type of people so I don't know what that's about exactly LOL

but regarding liking villains, I personally think it's really fun to explore and engage with extremely fucked up and immoral actions + scenarios in fictionalized settings because I find those kind of themes really thematically compelling and they are often things that you either would not find in the same way in the real world, or are not safe nor humane to engage with in the real world and thus wouldn't be appealling in a real world sense.

and regarding liking NEO specifically. I personally liked Neo actually back in the Poser era days. I thought she had an interesting fighting style, she was involved with a lot of the big main villains, but she was really mysterious. we didn't know much about her personality, backstory, or dynamic with other characters. I liked that openness in her character because I personally really like the world of RWBY but don't like the story or most of the characters that much, so Neo was an easy opportunity to engage with parts of the world + characters I do like and explore more of the world + ideas I'd come up with since I could do whatever I wanted with her. I haven't liked Neo since she came back because obviously what she ended up being written was never going to be the same as what I'd come up with for her backstory and personality, and I just don't find what they did choose to do with her a compelling characterization at all. If I hadn't liked Neo pre-Fall I certainly would not have ended up liking her after she came back into the story. (post-fall I personally think she seems to lack clear character motivation in canon especially in V9 and serve more as something to conveniently activate pieces of the plot. I don't like that in RH she was written as coming from an upper class family and I think her personality feels both wishywashy and too soft.)

Ive heard of Problematic Faves, but i kinda think RWBY has given me a Problematic Un-Faves issue: everyone seems to be going gaga over characters like Neo, who is actually a Very Bad Person who did Very Bad Things to people.

Could you please help me understand the attraction, please? Is it the story arc? The appeal of a cute character design? Is there a reason everyone seems to love the toxic little murder illusionist beyond "smol and sad" ?

Sorry, im not trying to be sarcastic or rude, i just genuinely dont understand and i want to see where everyone is coming from and why im missing it.

I cannot explain because honestly I’m really sure myself. She’s sort of a meh character for me. I can direct you to @rwby-sk and @dicknouget who can probably shed some light on the whole situation

[kaizokuou-ni-naru]

who's your favourite one piece villain? and what do you think about how one piece handles villains in general? i think its cool that a lot of them are just plain evil and even if they have tragic backstories, it doesn't really redeem them? although there are also loads of characters who could be considered villains but are more in the grey area, and ARE redeemable (like a lot of the navy). but i think most of the "main" villains are just proper bad

awhile back, i had a conversation with a friend who hasn’t watched/read it about morality in one piece, because she’s, in her words, a basic bitch who likes her redemption arcs. and what i told her is that there isn’t redemption in one piece, really, but only because characters exist across a largely grey spectrum of morality from the start. 

basically, because one piece doesn’t concern itself terribly much with morality and instead orients itself around the dreams and goals of our main characters, i think trying to apply the idea of redemption/redeemability to one piece is kind of flawed from the start. almost all the characters are some degree of grey, and i’m very much including the strawhats in that. 

for example, crocodile doesn’t get redeemed. he’s not any better after working with luffy, nor does he want to be. he’s the exact same person after marineford as he is before it. what’s changed is that 1. their goals aligned and 2. he’s gained respect for luffy. or, take smoker. he’s an antagonist in the story because he opposes the strawhats, but he’s sure as hell not a bad person. you could even argue he’s probably a better person than luffy, given the selflessness of his goals and motivations in comparison. the same could be said for a lot of the marines. sengoku’s an antagonist and takes extreme actions, but is he a bad person? 

this isn’t to say there aren’t people who are unequivocally bad in one piece, of course. doflamingo is a terrible, terrible person. but the reason the crew comes into conflict with him isn’t because he’s an evil dictator, it’s because luffy is allies/friends with law, who has a grudge match against him. one piece operates very much on the relationships between its characters in order to bring them together or into conflict, rather than any ideological similarities or differences. 

one piece does very well at making everyone the hero of their own story. no matter how good or bad someone is, you can usually trust that their actions are reasonable from their point of view. even for those who are just horrible- big mom, orochi, doflamingo- we can understand how they got there and exactly why they’re doing what they’re doing. 

and i love that. 

(also, i just realized i totally didn’t answer your original question. but it’s crocodile. he’s a bastard and i love him.)

[rosiehufflepuff]

☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑

𝓦𝓮𝓫 𝓸𝓯 𝓮𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼

🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️🍑☁️

Summary : Draco emotions is getting the best of him , as you and Harry are paired for astronomy project , causing a big hit in your friendship not only that but also causing you to ask why he was jealous when you are only friends and how he is trying to control who you can have as friends and who you can’t have as you call out his toxic behaviour and Draco discovers his emotions .

Draco X Fem Reader

Warning : jealousy . Possessive Draco , Insecure Draco , Harry and Draco rivalry , Angst , and too much FLUFF

House : Hufflepuff

Year : fifth

Link of the casual outfit : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eMCrdnjLtSN-6Xjysfvffq4HzeX-rJk_/view?usp=drivesdk

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Draco watched as his anger was getting too big that he felt that his body couldn’t contain it anymore , usually Draco could keep a straight face whatever any emotion he felt but at this moment he couldn’t , you were smiling at Potter being all friendly and such , leading his blood to boil , you were extremely friendly with the annoying Gryffindor!! Yes , he get it , Hufflepuff and all , being nice is the nature , that what made him attached to you in first place , but you were talking and being kind To HIS ENEMY ! You shouldn’t even be talking to him !! In first place !! You were his friend ! HIS !!! You should only talk to him not his enemies !!

“ hoho wow ... we are finally seeing emotions on malfoy face “ Theo couldn’t help but comment with a smug smirk as he earns a harsh scowl from the icy blonde boy “ shut it Nott or I swear the next thing that you will see is my shoes squishing your eyes “ “ he is right though Malfoy , your face is literally changing colours , expression , and literally your eyes are stuck on them ! “ Blaise commented more like stating fact ” that is true also !! , draco do you know what we are doing for this project ? ” pansy gave a questionable look to the pale boy, resulting in draco to run his hand in his hair as he breaths heavily , getting up from his chair “ since you all being Nosy Fucking Twats and it seems like you have plenty of time to blab why don’t you all continue on the project , yeah ? “ with that draco left with glare as he walked out of the library to cool off “ he got it so bad ......” Theo commented with a smirk “ yes completely ” earning an agreement from both Slytherins .

Draco went out , breathing deeply the fresh air , you were his friend and his hate for Harry was no secret for you and you were a Hufflepuff and that was no secret for Draco , he knows ‘ the moral code of the Hufflepuffs’ and how strong did you hold into them .

However what irritated and concerned Draco was you and Potter were friends. Before..... You and him even talked , he is fully aware of Potter ideas about slytherin and him....which leaded to a fear of losing you to him......

Does he trust your judgement? ...........of course he does , does he trust Potter ? Dear Salazar NO .... and that what worries him ... also the idea of you and Harry leaves a sour taste in his mouth , a strong one .

you were quite attractive and you had a decent personality And of course what will make the Gryffindor happier than making the slytherin ‘s life miserable!......... by taking you away from him and as much as he despised it, you and Potter are quite fitted for each other ......but no way in the name of Merlin ’s Bread he would give you to him!!

The slytherin prince now knew for sure that universe actually hated his guts cause just in this moment you and Potter walked out , you , smiling as harry is pointing out the stars while you are carrying a sketch book with your quil as you both admired the dark night sky .

Draco didn’t know what is the assignment was nor he cared about it in this moment , all he cared about was to hear what you and Potter talked about , as the way to do that was neither of you can see him . Causing him to blend with the darkness of the trees shadows

“ and you see here , two days from now we will see Jupiter's movement ! “ Harry explained excitingly causing you to smile “ yes i know !! However ........ I feel it would be hard to see from the astronomy tower as all fifth year students would be there for it ...... do you think we would able to glance it , write the essay and fill the star chart ......? “ you couldn’t help but voice your concerned leading Harry to think for a moment

“ Gryffindor tower !!” “ excuse me ........I meant ......say again..........? “ “ we can see it from the Gryffindor tower !!” “ wait really ??” “ yes , most of students won’t think of this “ “ well I’m sure Hermione did think of that “ you said while giggling a little , making Harry himself chuckle “ of course she would “ he said it , rolling his eyes jokingly as he continued “ we can of course go there .......if you have n-no problem I mean ........” “ of course ! Why would I have a problem in Helga ‘s name ? “ you said giving the chosen boy a big smile , making him grin himself “ excellent ! Meet me in front of the fat lady portrait !” ” you got yourself a deal potter ” you said seriously, resulting in him to chuckle ” beautiful deal I would say ” ” well that was smooth ” you said as you gave the boy in glasses a playful look ” really? I thought it was little sap ” yes kinda but still smooth ” ” ouch well I better go before I say more sappy stuff yeah? See ya tomorrow ” ” see ya!!” you both parted ways, not noticing the hidden boiling fire in the very dark.

Draco was furious and angry, he flirted with you AND YOU FLIRTED BACK !! HE ASKED YOU ON A DATE AND YOU ACCPET IT !! that is a project NOT A CHANCE FOR POTTER TO SNOG YOU !!!

He didn’t like what he saw , in fact, it resulted in leaving a huge fury to swallow his body , to him , it was you choosing Potter over him and it left a wound in the pale boy ‘s heart , like everyone else they would .... he didn’t know why it was hurting , .... it felt like you are leaving him behind .....and replacing him with what people always say, is better than him ........ Draco couldn’t control his emotions anymore resulting in him to run to the slytherin dungeon to be alone with his thoughts , he is not gonna give Potter what he always wanted .... which is a breakdown .

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After two days passed , it was the weekend and Merlin , you didn’t wanna to wake up after a whole week the last day always seemed to be so hard but you needed to get up , no matter what , cause no one would Attend it for you .

An annoyed groan slips from your mouth as you jump out of the bed stretching and getting yourself into your yellow and black uniform , last day but one of the busiest , you have heavy school day not forgetting of course the meeting with Harry. However you were quite excited , you are gonna see the Jupiter movement clearly also you never saw the Gryffindor tower from inside so yes , maybe it will be a good day after all.

Walking out to your first class which was herbology a subject you completely adored , being with professor sprout cheerful personality and voice , some people fainting causing a giggle here and there , the whispers of the plants and finally , A current slytherin shared this class with you and being with him made the hardest things bearable , one of these is Snape class of course , with his help and quiet jokes he made you like it a little ,

Giggling at some old jokes Draco did through the classes you shared , you notice that you arrived to the green house .

You stood inside of the green house with Fanged Geranium sitting on the table showing her teeth in front Of you , as you hear the head of your house talking about the quality of it and how to deal with it , your eyes wondered to check on Draco .

You didn’t see him since you entered , you knew draco likes the green house , even though he would never admit it to the world , you saw the twinkle in his eyes when he is looking to the plants however he was no where in the sight ,

it is like the sky heard you or something and wanted to prove you wrong cause suddenly the door of green house opened quietly , revealing the white haired boy , walking as he bows to the older hufflepuff “oh good dear Helga ..... you are so late Mr.Malfoy !!!” “Im very knowledgeable about that Mrs sprout and I give you my apologies....” the older teacher couldn’t help but sigh “ fine , go take your plant next to Miss L/N .....please miss L/N ....update Mr. Malfoy about the topic ....For the rest , please work on your plants carefully ! I don’t wanna accidents !!! Not again !!!!! “

Even thought he looked perfectly put together , the slytherin ‘s face was looking yellowish , was he sick ? , thinking again - you never saw him yesterday at all ... was something going on ....? However you knew he didn’t like to be pressed for stuff so you just watch him as he took his place next to you ...

you give him the warmest comforting smile “ Draco good morning dear .......did you sleep well “ a nod , you get only a nod from the boy so you try to keep the conversation going “ well ... today we are assigned the plant of Fanged Geranium and we need - “ I actually know about it....... I read about it in a book before , you don’t need to waste your energy yeah? “ like that he cuts you off sharply and for some reason he seemed distance , you were weirded out by that kind of behavior but you thought maybe that is his morning attitude which eventually would disappear ...so you both continued to work in silence .

Soon the class ended , you hear Draco sigh as he walks away to his Slytherin friends , ignoring you completely which weirded you out , he never did that he would at least wave or something or make sure his hand brushed yours giving you a smirk ...his new behavior was weird ....you decided to let it to be , till it is lunch time for you both, -to give him a breath of time- , you will make sure to catch him and ask him about his act .

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Moving from class to class to class you were half done with the day ......finally Merlin ..........you were getting tired from all these classes as now you have the chance to eat for first time in the day as you skipped the frost meal in exchange of sleeping more , cause Dear Helga....... you were almost dead tired from the whole week and you needed these extra hours .

As you were running from the class , ready for the feast that will be served to your groaning stomach , you got faced by the crowded halls .

Trying to make your way through , you pumped into the slytherin prince, however before you open your mouth , he looked to you in the eyes then just walked away without of course forgetting to pump his shoulder into yours .........saying you were surprised would be underestimating .....what was this all about ...why he is being like that ....you were best friends ......well .....he was your best friend at least.......you were confused and somehow getting an anxious feelings in you Body . That you forget that you froze in mid of hallway till someone told you to move ,resulting into you falling back to the reality , shoving all bad feelings into the back of your head , you start to move to the grand hall .

You sat in the grand hall , Eating your food .......well..........trying , you don’t know what happened but somehow the food didn’t taste as amazing as you imagined or maybe you just lost your appetite, either how, you just ate the food cause your body was in desperate need of energy recharge and the least you need is to faint and let Harry do the work , he was your close friend and that wasn’t fair to anyone in first place .

While eating you glanced The Malfoy Boy , Getting up after finishing his food and going outside , you jump on your feet as fast as you can walking in hurry to catch up to him , as soon as you did , you both were in the halls . “ draco “ you called , no answer “ draco , it is rude to not answer me ! Stop being a child and talk to me “ these words made the pale boy stop in his heels and turn to face you with cold gaze “ wanna talk ? Sure let s talk then ! ”

You took a deep breath to calm your soaring Anger ...someone needed to be the grown up now “ why are you behaving like that !!! What is this all about !!!” “Oh you recall fully what is this all about ....!” You were stunned......... what did you do you? “ what do you mean?” “ well you know what ....forget it !!” “ you know you are not communicating right now !!! I wanna comprehend what is it !” “ oh if I’m not communicating well then why don’t you go to Potter, I’m sure he will fulfill this for you better !”

So this what all of this about ......... with this foolish rivalry!!!...“ draco you totally realize that he is a friend !! Yes, you both are not in best terms but he is still my friend !!” “ yes, but witch !!! being in good terms with him doesn’t mean , being flirtatiousness and snogging him in the gryfindor tower !!! “ “ you were spying on me !!!!” You were sick....you are feeling sick from how the Slytherin boy felt so entitled to spy on you , and question you !!!who does he think Himself is! “ I wasn’t spying , you were the ones who were in public“ “ but you chose to hear it!You were spying !!!” ”Well even if I did !! I was protecting you !! I DONT TRUST HIM “ “ well right now It is you who I don’t trust !!! ....this is not protection THIS YOU TRYING TO CONTROL MY LIFE !! IN WHAT ENTITLEMENT DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN TO FEEL LIKE THAT IS YOUR RIGHT !! IM NOT SOMETHING TO BE OWNED !! I DESERVE RESPECT ! “ you quieted for a moment to take a breath from the pervious outburst before continuing “ And from this sorry .....but I don’t see that you have that for me and I don’t think I would like to be friends anymore “ Draco eyes widened at this for a second almost missing it out before his straight cold look came back “ fine as you wish “ with that he walked away , leaving you behind with tears dripping out of your eyes .

Draco rushed through the halls to reach his perfect room fast , he felt chocked by all crowds that started to fill the halls , he felt the tears already were about to come out and the last thing he needed was the whole school to witness Draco Malfoy crying about a girl that he doesn’t comprehend what he feel about her and hurt him , barely reaching the slytherin common room without breaking down . The slytherin boy shuttered the password out of his lips ,hurrying to his perfect bedroom ignoring the glances that he was getting from his house mates , locking the door as he finally let all his emotions out in the loneliness of his room not attending the rest of the day .

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You were getting ready to meet Harry for astronomy project , trying to hold all the emotions inside, like you did for the rest of the day after the dilemma with Draco , you didn’t see him after and that was better for you , you didn’t know how will you react , you trusted him but he has no respect for you , he was acting like you are his doll not his equal .....he didn’t trust you , you felt so small and disrespected , you wanted to cry not cause of him no but cause you feel you trusted someone one who didn’t see you for who you are but saw your as object but you won’t let someone who thought like that stop your life , you looked at yourself noticing your outfit : a lacy off white blouse with lantern sleeves with Peter Pan collar . blue straight ankle length jeans and beige ankle boots ,

breathing a deep breath , you look put together and that is what you wanted , you didn't want anyone to notice your mood and the tears that slipped here and there , the last thing you need to hear ‘are you okay ‘ , cause you knew for sure these words will make you cry , and you don’t wanna to explain to Harry The Who stupidity of situation and causing more drama .

Rushing out of the warm dorm of the Hufflepuff common room to the halls as you walked fast to read the fat lady portrait praying to helga in her grave to not make you face to face with the slytherin boy , as you reach the painting you took a deep breath, Causing a look from the lady in painting , you felt for a second like you almost forgot to breath from how anxious you were till you feel a hand on your shoulder , causing you to turn , you see the brown haired boy with his famous smile as if it is contiguous you smiled without feeling “ did I make you wait for long?” “ oh no no no not at all !! I just came here ! “ “ so ummm shall we ?” You nod with a smile , the gryffindor muttered the password of the week , showing a grand hole as entrance, you both crawl inside of the Gryffindor room , taking the whole inside of you, the room was warm and cozy just missing some plants and It would be a copy of your own house room somehow that was calming .

The chosen boy was correct, not many people was there and of course Hermione was there with some Ravenclaw and Ron causing you to giggle a bit without feeling it , knowing what this was about Harry himself let an airy laugh “ yes yes you were correct ....now stop , she is giving us looks!! “ the boy whispered trying to hold his laughter , indeed the girl was giving you look like you both are crazy or something , as you both failed to hold your laughter , but it was quite humorous for some reason , some gryfindors were there with their groups but it was so few That you can count them on your fingers .

Both of you and Harry settled down close to the window , talking as you admired the stars, trying to fill the chart and waiting to see Jupiter movement “ god when the bloody hell will it show “ you couldn’t help but giggle as you hear Ron hearing him resulting to get a hit from Hermione “ he is right though Harry we have been waiting for long “ you said as you stretched your legs that almost were falling off from having them in same position for long “ “I think it will show soon ....” “ SHH it is happening !!” Hermione screamed on top of her lungs causing Ron to roll his eyes .

you watched......... memorised by the whole thing , it was marvellous thing ... all this beauty happening by nature ...nature amazed you with everything it provided and how beautifully it is done , you for sure won’t forget that ....

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After long time of writing the essay , giggling at Ron foolishness , joking around , and helping each other in that pain in the arse assignment.... Yet it was somehow fun, painful work but fun .

later it was done ,Harry walked you to the painting and after huge back and forth, you convinced him that you would be fine going back to your room and nothing to be worried about.

you are now enjoying your walk to the hufflepuff common room , feeling the cold air and the soundlessness, cooling you, ......finally the weekend , done with the deadly assignment , sighing deeply , you realised you reached the entry , you play the rhythm to enter , ready to be welcomed by the talking plants and the warm room ,

This positivity get demolished by seeing a curtain blonde head youth sitting in front of the entry like a dog scolded by his owner , as soon as he sees you , he is quick on his feet , fixing his hair by running a hand in it

“ you are here .....y/n .....” “ ..........Malfoy ......” “ please don’t call me that ......” “ why it is your name , eh ? “ “y/n .........please......... don’t ........” you raise an eyebrow to him questionably , knowing your slient question, you see his face going from emotion to emotion to emotion as he tried to open his mouth to speak “I-I-I apologize for my foolishness and you are fully ........correct .....the way I behaved ...............childish was the way I acted ......I apologize again ......” draco sharp grey eyes was staring hard into your soul trying to read your face , try to see if you hated him or does he has any chance with your forgiveness .

You close your eyes breathing heavily for a second , you didn’t want to look into his eyes , you saw how swollen his bloody shot eyes were and he looked miserable however though some parts of you wanted to forgive the boy, you weren’t satisfied “draco .......the reason of your -“ “ I respect you ........way more than the words can tell .....and you totally deserve to know why this behavior..............it is not cause .....I don’t respect you no ..................it is cause some stupid silly emotions that let......me act like that -“ “ jealousy “

Gulping hard at the name of the emotion , Draco never felt jealous ever !! He is a Malfoy people felt jealous from him not the opposite what he wanted he got it , so this was a hard pill to swallow to him “ ...yes and had some fears.......... about potter.........and his thought about me ....resulting you .............to ........stop being with me ................. “ you held draco hands , finally realizing his feelings And for first time you see a rosiness tint on his cheeks , draco wasn’t very touching persona ....as he was so tense about it but he was used to it from you, later two years from knowing you nevertheless, he never flushed , he was accepting, awkwardly though , but no blushing , yet in his state you won’t point it out , it was already hard for him opening up and you appreciated and you wanna be comforting as you can as you try to calm his creeping anxiety . “ Draco I would never replace or leave cause someone opinion ever !! You mean so much to me !! I can’t imagine you out of my life ....you are very important and unreplaceable to me and thank you for apologising “ you say as you hug him , causing his body to go tense before warping his shaking arms around before squeezing you tightly as he bury his face in your shoulder , your run your hand in his soft messy hair as you hear him speak softly “ I discovered a new emotion also ....” “hmm ?” ..........Love..............”

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I don't know if there is going to be part two!! But I hope you all like this