#that's not to say her character isn't written badly. because it very much is

[cacw]

a lot of people just take things at face value and can't comprehend the fact that even if curlfeather did bad things and is kind of a shitty person she did do it to serve and protect the people she cares about especially her daughter and it's not that that makes her right but you can't pretend she didn't care about anything but herself

[eponastory]

If they are so in love then...

Why do they break up so much?!!!!

Because they aren't in love, and the writers did this so Zutara fans would shut up. There was ZERO setup for this pairing. ZERO! And you expect me to just jump on board with this very badly written bad relationship?

HELL NO!

I'll say it again for the people in the back...

This is the most unhealthy relationship I've ever seen on TV!!!

You know, besides Daemon and Rhaenyra, and several others that I can tell you straight up how they are bad/toxic.

Mai is a perfect supporting character for Azula. That's where she works. She's a foil for Ty-Lee, and she doesn't give a damn about Azula's toxic behavior. It works in that way. Mai is that one friend that's going to go with the flow, and you might need her to help you bury a body.

As for her relationship with Zuko...

Mai is apathetic. She doesn't communicate at all about what she wants, and Zuko just wants her to open up. She won't, because that's her character. She is also written with the worst backstory for this character archetype because at the same time Avatar was airing, Teen Titans was wrapping up on its final season, and kids loved the character of Raven.

Mai from what I can tell, was written to be like Raven.

Raven is an insanely popular character within the DC Comics and Media, so it makes sense that Bryke wrote Mai in to bring in some support from Raven fans. Except for the fact that Mai's story isn't compelling enough to fill in those Raven parameters.

Fans call Mai and Zuko the perfect Goth couple when Zuko isn't even Goth. Trust me, he isn't. I was Goth/Punk back in the day... Zuko was far from it. He isn't even Emo. He's actually going to take the role of the Loner.

Now, just because a couple looks cute together doesn't mean the work. Like I said, Mai doesn't like opening up because she's supposed to be Brykes' version of Raven (genuinely surprised people have not caught on to this) and be mysterious, Goth, and apathetic. Zuko is none of these things. He's frustrated and lonely, and none of his friends are actually his friends. They're Azula's. Zuko is also willing to communicate while Mai isn't. That is usually not a good thing in a relationship, fiction or real.

So their breakups make a lot of sense. And as of current comics, they are still not together, Mai having moved on to be with some other guy.

And no, I'm not going to go by speculation that they are going to get back together. Unless that comes out in comic form, they are not together.

Sorry... wait, not I'm not.

[ihopesocomic]

You said that I Hope So is not a "My Pride but better", it's an original story of yours. Fair. I don't disagree. But do you really think you're SUCH a better writer than tribble? 😭 Because every time someone PMs you in a way that isn't negative, you start to completely shit on it, and compare it to how you decided to do it differently in your own story and how it's so much better. Hold on there. I just think artists/writers should be careful when they worship and praise their own works too much while shitting on others works that often were born from a similar idea. But I'm not hating, it's just funny tho.

It's not about us "thinking we're SUCH better writers than Tribble", it's more that's your interpretation of what we're saying. I'm willing to bet that if we didn't have this comic, the argument would be more along the lines of 'well, I'd like to see you do better!' instead. This is just the flip side of the coin, I feel.

I say this because you seem to have this idea that she and her writing are untouchable to criticism vs. something like Warrior Cats, (which is where a lot of MP's narrative structure is inspired from), which even the self-admitted fans can find fault in. Still doesn't mean they can't find the potential in those books and make their own AUs or w/e without also suggesting they're better writers than the Erins. (Either way, certain expectations come with being a professional writer.)

Even without the badly-handled topics, her show just isn't written well. Dialogue is clunky and non-conversational, things get mentioned but never get followed through on, character motivations are all over the place. We have a whole three hour video talking about this if you'd care to watch it. But there are other things that I feel make Tribble an objectively bad writer. This isn't us "shitting on her". These are just fundamental factors that go against How to be a Good Writer 101:

Tribble never listened to criticism and she used serious issues as entertainment value. No one can argue that even highly-rated writers can produce incredibly sloppy work when 1) they feel they don't have to listen to criticism and 2) they feel they don't have to do proper research with a topic they want to cover in their work while knowing next to nothing about it.

As well as being a professional in her field, Tribble also had resources at her disposal that most indie creators cannot access. She had an editor and beta script readers helping her. In short, she had plenty of opportunities and guidance to stop and look back on what she had produced and make improvements. She did not and, what's more: she put on a show of doing so via asking for criticism but not taking it on board.

We know this because I tried to give her advice on several occasions, only to be shot down. For example, Tribble was very much aware of some of the underlying issues within the show (i.e. how bad it looked that Hover allowed Nothing to be assaulted by Quickmane in Episode 5 with zero reaction) because we brought it to her attention, she proceeded to not take our suggestions on how to improve things on board for one reason or another.

And I don't think I need to go into how it feels very backhanded that an able-bodied creator is producing a "pro-disability" show and yet refused to take on criticism by disabled viewers. (I would say that thinking so highly of oneself to the point where advice goes ignored even when asked for does not a good writer make.)

I also don't know if you're under the impression that we're tearing into some hobbyist's passion project but that's not what this is. My Pride was a professional production, made by a team and it had a budget of around 140-150k CAD, which was funded by Canadian taxpayers. We've had to repeatedly point this out because Tribble has failed to gone out of her way to make this clear. Presumably so people like you feel bad for her.

So, I'm sorry but it's perfectly fair game to criticise MP and how Tribble went about producing it. She had plenty of opportunities to improve what many deemed to be shortcomings. She did not. She thought she knew better, even better than those who have experienced the actual oppression she sought to depict in an edgy, disrespectful manner.

And that's why we feel she's bad writer. Her fans are free to disagree with us, but I've yet to come across any real argument outside of 'y'all r just mean!', even though we've been courteous enough to not get personal when criticizing her as a writer/director.

Our writing isn't perfect. We've always consistently made that clear. We have had several instances throughout the process of making this comic where readers have made good points that we have brought on to improve the writing. Hell, I've discovered things I didn't even know about my own conditions via some of the readers of this comic. The overreaching lesson is that you should listen to your readers, because they just want you to produce a better narrative. Unfortunately, I feel Tribble did not feel the same way about her audience, and I'm also getting the same vibes from you, anon. Purely by your notion that criticism of a show or not scolding our fans when they say they have a preference like the MP fans do = "shitting on MP". Which is fine but I'm going to have to say I disagree. It's not mean or problematic for me or any of my disabled readers to have strong opinions about a show that misappropriates our oppression.

Or that I think my writing is amazing when it's more that I'm improving what I personally feel needs to be improved. Such as how the disabled are always depicted in mainstream media. And I'll continue to do so. You can come at me with the reductive gatekeeping that is that I - as a disabled person - do not have the right to have an opinion on an able-bodied creator writing ableism badly and how it can be improved all you want, but I think that's ultimately more of a commentary on you than me. c: - RJ

[mochiajclayne]

Hi there,

I hope you're doing well.

i read your post regarding SasuSaku and Sarada as a family and you stole the words right off my mouth.

I'd like to know your thoughts and opinions on Sasuke Retsiden because from what I can see, its only Jun Esaka (a mere light novel writer that writes non canon stuff) all over the internet being equally all over about her Sasuke Retsuden. I haven't seen any other light novel writer being more active about something non canon. Even kishimoto himself doesnt behave like this regarding his own work.

I'd like to also know about your opinions regarding Jun Esaka ATTEMPTING to remove or metaphorically kill Karin Uzumaki by making the main villain a Karin look alike and giving her sensory abilities to Sakura, which again, makes no sense. Does that woman hate Karin and SK so much? Is that woman so threatened by the very thought of SK as a couple that she had to incorporate a villain that looks like Karin Uzumaki down to a tee?

These are just my thoughts and speculations but I'm also really interested in knowing your side of the story.

Thanks for reading my long comment and i wish you a wonder day/afternoon/evening/night

Hi, @theuntamedangel! I appreciate the long comment! I hope you have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening/night, too!

Before I share my thoughts about Sasuke Retsuden, let me share that I did, unfortunately, have a sasusaku phase. I know. Shocker. The entire lore is here in case you're interested (promise it's relevant to my explanation).

I did hear about Sasuke Retsuden when I was still in college. Bits of information, specifically, about the chakra ring and from a perspective of someone who used to ship sasusaku casually, my initial reaction was okay good for them and I went on with my day. Note that I wasn't as heavily engaged in the Naruto fandom like I do now so for me to isn't active back then, hearing about Sasuke Retsuden, speaks volume on how it is over the internet that it even reached me.

I hate Sasuke Retsuden. It's badly written, it's OOC especially for OG Naruto characters, and the canon inaccuracies are more than enough to drive me into aneurysm.

Below this cut is my detailed thoughts about Sasuke Retsuden.

The villain looking like the male version of Karin caught me off guard. I don't know what the intentions behind the character design but I think they aimed for association as Jiji, one of the characters from this godforsaken novel, reminded me of Juugo.

I am not a sasukarin shipper but I do understand where the shippers are speaking from. I think they'll make a cool couple because Karin actually freaking cares about Sasuke when shit gets serious and outside of her "gag", she respects Sasuke's boundaries. Might be speaking out of the box but this novel in its existence was meant to be sasusaku-centric so the possibility of being threatened by all Sasuke-related ships, especially those making far more sense than SS, is high. I don't think Jun Esaka hates Karin. I would dare say that she picked a random character that could work as a direct contender to Sakura and unfortunately, she decided to scapegoat Karin. Moreover, the entire sensory ability shtick added to Sakura was uncalled for. I would go even further and say that Esaka's version of Sakura is what her stans hailed her to be--a superior version of [insert any Naruto's female character]. Even their pink haired kunoichi is incredibly OOC here and you expect me to take her seriously?

The funniest thing about Sasuke Retsuden is the way that they had to use SNS at first, specifically, Sasuke's mission is to find a cure for that chakra illness that Naruto alone suffers. Sure, this is SS centric but it all comes down to Sasuke and Sakura working together to find a cure for Naruto. Now, she could just write a novel about SS without using Naruto's "sickness" as some kind of a plot device, right? But no, she had to convince us somehow and an effective way to do that is literally Naruto and Sasuke.

The dinosaur. Don't even get me started. Even tailed beasts cannot fight against Sharingan to the point that canon graciously provided us evidence of both Madara and Obito controlling the Nine Tailed Beast. The very same Sharingan that made the higher ups of Konoha suspect the Uchiha clan as mastermind for that same incident. We're talking about the same dojutsu that manipulated the Fourth Mizukage. The canon inaccuracy throws me off the loop.

More inaccuracies. Suddenly Sasuke is an Earth and Ice Style user. Wow. Conveniently forgetting about Kakashi mentioning in Part 1 how Ice Style is a Kekkei Genkai that even Sharingan can't copy. As far as Naruto canon goes, Sasuke is a Fire and Lightning Style user. I don't consider Boruto as canon but even that animanga doesn't show any moment of Sasuke using Earth Style. It's insane that people claimed this as canon.

THIS DISTURBING INTERACTION. I did say that the OG Naruto characters are OOC in this shitshow novel and yes, unfortunately that includes Sakura. We've seen the way she react around Naruto's sexy ninjutsu antics. Unless objectification of women or the mere implication of it doesn't perturb her, then it says more about how Esaka portrayed her. I'd personally file a restraining order when a guy says he'd settle for my old, half smoked cigarette butts. I'm surprised that she didn't throw any snide remarks here.

WHO IS THIS SASUKE AND WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM. This panel made me laugh so hard because I feel like Esaka straight up ignored that Sasuke canonically spent years with his family before the Uchiha downfall happened. I don't think he'd be this clueless about how a married couple acts. Even in flashbacks, Sasuke was shown around his parents or Itachi, literally with his family. I think he knows well enough about married couples.

The ring part as well makes me cackle because Kurenai literally wears a ring in Shippuden. Trust me, Juugo-look-a-like, rings are used in Konoha by couples.

The Uchiha clan symbol takes me out because AREN'T YOU GOING UNDERCOVER IN THIS PRISON? WHY ARE YOU SHOWING THAT OFF?

The Chakra ring in question. Finding out the lore behind this further upset me and I am thankful that I no longer ship sasusaku. Show these panels out of context to someone with little to no exposure to canon and it would be romantic but if you know Narutoverse like the back of your hand, this novel served nothing. Seriously, the fact that Sasuke is incredibly OOC on this novel speak volumes. Imagine annihilating Sasuke's character to make SS work? Insanity.

Writing Edo Tensei with rose tinted glasses disgust me. That jutsu is straight up manipulating a dead body at your bidding. Tobirama shouldn't have invented that jutsu. Hinting that jutsu to be used to revive a loved one that passed away is vile and disgusting. The lack of attention to canon isn't a new thing for Esaka at this point.

Even this novel can't cover up the fact that Sakura doesn't know Sasuke well. If there's one thing that's consistent in the prequel, it was Naruto that gets into trouble. Sasuke doesn't use honorifics and he got away with it. His bluntness doesn't get him and everyone around him in trouble. Sasuke only began resorted to extremes when he was batshit blind and sinking into the unhinged depths of his hatred. Probably the only things that Sakura got correctly was Sasuke's kindness and his nonchalance about his looks but that's it. So the claim of knowing Sasuke inside and out is preposterous. The one who can say that is, guess who? Naruto.

Ending this long analysis with this panel because honestly, Ino is asking the questions for me. Unfortunately, despite being "married", their dynamic stayed the same. Sakura is still that same girl that has a crush on Sasuke, except she's in her 30s and Sasuke is still the same boy that rejected her date offers and the idea of being together with her, even reaching the point that he's away from her a lot.

I do apologize for going off to the point that I decided to pull a meta post about this. I do hope you're doing well and I appreciate the ask!

[ongicloud]

I wanted to go on a bit of a ramble about Misa so like

I've been seeing this sentiment recently about people expressing frustration over people ignoring Misa's wrongdoings and painting her as an innocent angel who never did any wrong. And you are all correct to point out the fact that yes, she very much DID do things wrong. The sentiment that she is pure and innocent is very much factually incorrect. She DID stalk Light and coerce her into dating him. She killed people. I just wanted to throw in my two cents on her real quick.

BUT I also want to point out that I kind of see people's love for her as almost a rebellion against the early days of the fandom. As a shonen series, a lot of the content and discussions around it were being had by anime dudebros. To add on, we KNOW how bad Ohba is about writing women. How many sexist undertones there are in all of his work. He himself has admitted with no shame that he cannot write women. (Which as a professional author should make you feel shame tbh but I digress)

When I was first getting into the fandom, Misa was pretty widely disliked as a character. The people that did like her were very much sexualizing her. The sentiment was that she was a dumb blonde bimbo unworthy amongst the genius of Light and L. There was SO much bashing of her. That came from fans that weren't the typical dudebro as well. This was peak shaming girly "shallow" girls era. The not like other girls era. I think this definitely played a role in at least some fans, now that the fandom is more chill, latching onto her as she was definitely treated pretty badly and people wanted to avenge her. Or people wised up more and thought more critically about her as a character. I think over time, that protectiveness over her, along with the somewhat humorous nature of it, morphed into the "uwu she did nothing wrong" narrative.

Additionally, I kinda have some thoughts on her as a character. I am not excusing her bad actions, maybe moreso rambling about my understanding of them.

She witnessed her family being murdered. This is stated to have happened a year before the series starts, so she was like? 16? 17? Understandably a very traumatic experience. She had to see the killer being allowed to walk free, her word, her testimony, not mattering. The man who took everything from her was allowed to walk with no repercussion while she had to live with that trauma. When Kira (aka Light) killed that man, avenged her family, it is understandable that she would form this odd parasocial relationship with him. She was mentally unstable enough to start with, griefstruck and seeing Kira as the one who helped her gain some faith in the world again.

To add onto that, she was also stalked by an obsessed fan, who after being rejected, was going to kill her. She was only saved by the sacrifice of Gelus, thus gaining the death note herself.

I see her as not an innocent angel who did nothing wrong, but as a deeply damaged young woman who had no agency in the world before this. Being hurt by multiple men, living in Japanese society which we know isn't very supportive of women in general. She finally gained some power, a way to protect herself in this world. And she saw the person, who helped her at her darkest, unbeknownst to himself, as her saviour.

Yes, she was absolutely not in the right for starting to kill people, yes she was absolutely wrong for stalking Light and forcing him to date her. I just wanted to ramble about her a little bit and give my silly little thoughts on her. I love her as a character, I can see WHY she is why she is. And it is absolutely okay to dislike her for those things! It is absolutely okay to criticize her actions because they are not okay. And yes I also believe her character missed a lot of the depth some of the other characters had simply because she was written by a misogynistic author. When I say she deserves better, I mean that she deserved MUCH better writing. But also Light is NOT innocent in their relationship either. I hope we can all still agree on that.

[chaifootsteps]

honestly even Stolas' song about how he's gonna fix things and everything is going to be better is very focused on himself

I swore I wouldn't dwell on the divorce So for my own health, I'll remind myself -> why would he think about the divorce anyway? he never loved Stella or felt bad about cheating on her, at least not anymore

I'll believe him and not the voice that says I'm not enough -> I just want someone to love me and fix my self esteem

Stolas' interlude section -> his life has been hard, brief acknowledgement that how he treated Blitzo was monstrous (which Stolas will forget by the end of the episode because his brain is apparently a sieve)

He's worthy of your love and trust -> these are the lyrics according to a transcript, so I'm choosing to read this as 'I can trust Blitzo enough to be vulnerable with him' and not 'he's worthy' as in Stolas is positioning himself like his love and trust is some great gift

on its own this isn't terrible - like it's fine for characters to have some introspection about their own feelings in a number like this. Problem is Stolas doesn't mention Blitzo's feelings at all until the last line

Will it please him or will I just be fucking it all up?

Like just a tweak would've gone so far here. Have him try to empathize with Blitzo's perspective or loneliness. Have him say more than just 'is he freely with me or no?' but have him reflect on how Blitzo must have felt if the answer is no and how he's gonna try and make it up to him. He doesn't consider giving Blitzo any space at all between ending the arrangement and springing a confession on him

The problem with Stolas in a relationship is that he's not a giver, he's a taker. In the arrangement he was concerned with making Blitzo do all the work of pleasing him and in the relationship he wants to have all he really wants is Blitzo to love and want him. He doesn't show much care for who Blitzo is as a person outside of thinking he's funny and liking how good he is in bed. He says it right there in the trailer 'I want someone to care, I want someone to want me'

And that's understandable but it's not enough to sustain a relationship. We've barely seen Stolas care about Blitzo's life at all outside him wishing Blitzo the best with the business. Meanwhile Blitzo has been very enmeshed with Stolas' life, given he's met Via more than once and helped bail Stolas out of a mess he created when she ran off

Yeah, I noticed this too, and it's all painfully true. Stolas's half of the duet contains a few token mentions of Blitzo's well-being and how Stolas will respect his choice whatever it is (that don't mean anything because he abandons them the second Blitzo rejects him) and beyond that, it's all just about Stolas's feelings, Stolas's fears, and how badly Stolas needs this to happen because he anticipates it will fix everything wrong in his life.

A character like that written in full awareness can be masterful (see Frollo, Hal from Megamind.) In Vivzie's hands, with all her sympathies resting squarely with Stolas, it's flat out dangerous.

[randomthefox]

Amy's always been a rude bitch. In Sonic Heroes she calls Eggman a mustached monkey. Yeah Amy smother someone with kindness when they need it but she isn't a saint. I don't know why everyone is suddenly deciding that she's supposed to be a perfect role model.

It's definitely overcompensating due to the utterly abysmal way that Amy is being written in the IDW comics. And due to the misconceptions that people have about the way she was written in Frontiers, because the people who act like the characters are written badly in Frontiers obviously have never actually played it and are just going off of second hand recounts that are incorrect. And also completely ignoring Dream Team and Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog and Superstars and all the other games Amy has been in recently (seriously I am so fucking sick of these threads from Amy fans who say some variation of "the way modern Amy is written" like bitch it's literally JUST the spin offs she's still the same hoe she ever was in the video games.)

They feel like they have to cheerlead because there IS a concerted movement of people who don't like Amy (including Ian Flynn) and they want to change everything about her character and turn her into a completely different character. To "fix" her. So folks feel the need to champion the qualities of Amy as she currently is (or, in their incorrect assumption that she's written badly in Frontiers, how she "used to be" but we're going to ignore everybody who thinks Frontiers is bad for the rest of this post because we all know they're objectively wrong because they haven't played it.) They want to say "NO, AMY DOESN'T NEED TO BE CHANGED TO BE A BETTER CHARACTER, SHE'S ALREADY A GREAT CHARACTER LOOK AT ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE GREAT ABOUT HER!"

The problem is they're acting like they're on the political campaign trail and Amy is running for fucking president or something lol. They're treating Amy like she's a real person who we need to glaze up. They think if they acknowledge that Amy has flaws and shortcomings, it'll undermine the "Amy is fine just the way she is and doesn't need to be 'fixed'" argument, because if they say "Amy is kind of stupid and more than a little crazy" then the Amy haters aka Ian Flynn will jump on that and say "See? Amy needs to be improved!" As if taking a fictional character and sandpapering away all of their flaws to turn them into a boring fucking mary sue has ever been an "improvement."

It's insecurity. Amy fans are insecure. Because they feel the character they love is under attack and at risk of being turned into something else, turned into a different character instead of the character that they currently love very much. They see the way Amy is being BUTCHERED in the IDW comics, and see the way people who like the IDW comics are celebrating that and how the guy writing the IDW comics is stroking himself off like he's so great for "fixing" Sonic Teams dumb pink problem, and they get scared. Then they see that that same comic book writer is credited as writing the latest AAA Sonic game, and they get told by LIARS that he's writing Amy in that game the way he writes her in the comic, and they think their worst fears have come to pass and now they need to champion the values and qualities of Amy even harder to try and preserve her in the face of this perceived wave of ruination spearheaded by people who look down on Amy as a broken character who needs to be completely changed into something else to be fixed.

And it results in overcompensating Twitter threads that get really fucking annoying because Amy is not at risk of going anywhere. Sonic Team still knows THEIR character perfectly well. The shit ass IDW comics are NOT canon and NEVER will be and they sure as fuck aren't the defining or guiding north star of how the franchise is going to be handled or how the characters are going to be written in the actual official products. Sonic Team HAVE NOT and AREN'T GOING TO change Amy to make her more like she is in IDW or was in Sonic Boom or shit like that. They still know how to write their own character and have been seeing to her being written appropriately as she always has been, and as long as these people are still alive and at Sonic Team that isn't going to change.

Amy fans need to chill the fuck out and have faith in Sonic Team and stop worrying about them suddenly changing directions just because retards on Twitter and Ian Flynn think Amy is a bad character who needs to be changed. Just throw the IDW comics in the same trash can of irrelevance that we've collectively put Sonic Prime into and calm down. Also play Sonic Frontiers. And while we're at it stop acting like the 2010s Sonic games were bad.

[coraniaid]

I guess I'm running the risk of sounding like a broken record at this point, but I don't think I'll ever not be deeply depressed by the way so many people on here talk about Joyce Summers.

I mean, I'm just thinking out loud here, but.  Maybe the reason that Giles was much more immediately accepting of Buffy's identity as the Slayer than Joyce was might have something to do with the fact that Giles has been training to be a Watcher for over three decades when he first meets Buffy? That his family sat him down and explained to him that vampires were real when he was a child, and that he's had over thirty years to get used to that fact? And that he is in fact literally paid to train Buffy and mentor her and prepare her for being killed in the Cruciamentum after she turns eighteen and he helps rob her of her powers her destiny? 

Whereas Joyce learns about the reality of vampires and Slayers and the supernatural for the very first time while in a state of extreme emotional distress, only hours after discovering that her daughter is wanted by the police for murder, and in circumstances such that Buffy simply has no time to sit her down and explain things in more detail in the manner they would both want?  Which is a turn of events that can be attributed in large part to the fact that Giles himself repeatedly told Buffy that she couldn't possibly tell her mother about vampires, even after (1) a vampire attacked her in her own home (in Season 1's Angel) and even after (2) the vampire Buffy had been dating, who had a standing invitation into her house, lost his soul and started going after the people closest to her, people explicitly including Joyce. (And note that Giles never offers a better argument for not sharing this potentially life-saving information than Xander's "the more people who know the secret the more it cheapens it for the rest of us".)

I mean, I know you're all pretty wedded to the popular competing theory that it's because *checks notes* Giles is a perfect dad who Buffy should have been much more grateful and sympathetic towards while Joyce is an evil bitch who never once did a good thing for her daughter (and Buffy must be stupid for ever thinking or saying otherwise), but the problem is that that theory is … uh, bad, actually.  Really incredibly cartoonishly bad. And dressing it up in pseudo-progressive language doesn't make it any better.

Wringing your hands over how poorly you think the show writes middle-aged women as if there's simply nothing to be done about it except conclude that they are indeed horrible people (and maybe give them some completely new flaws the show never did), while at the same time you write endless hagiographies and apologia for the show's canonically terrible (and often just as badly under-written) men is definitely a choice though.

And yes, it is definitely true that Giles matters more to the story of Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Joyce does. It is clear that the writers care about him more as a character than they care about Joyce, and that he is consistently used in a metaphorical way that Joyce normally isn't. At best you can perhaps argue that Joyce exists to vocalize and reify Buffy's own lingering desires to be seen as respectable and 'normal', but I don't think this is a reading the show ever commits to in the systematic way it does the Mind/Heart/Spirit reading of Giles/Xander/Willow. But on a less metaphorical level, thinking about the different characters of the show purely as distinct people in their own right, nothing Buffy says or does ever suggests she cares about her relationship with Giles more than her relationship with Joyce. Quite the opposite, in fact.

[enixamyram]

I have tried really hard to ignore anti nonsense. I just wanna focus on the good and positive side of this fandom and just enjoy the series in general. But it's also hard bottling up thoughts when I'm used to ranting for the sake of getting my thoughts and feelings out and moving then on.

So I'm gonna put a couple reactions to Anti-Related Hazbin things under the read more just to get them out! Because my god, some of these are bullshit!

Chaggie - I've seen so much bullshit citicizm for this ship. People claiming they're boring or bland or badly written and I have yet to see a legit reason why other than that they don't have any typical relationship drama (which, for the record, I personally am so relieved about) or because they're not being overly affectionate every five minutes of screen time. And you know, this especially drives me crazy because they have some of the sweetest little gestures, whether it be holding hands, hugging, swinging each other round or even just the constant damn heart eyes they have when looking at each other in the background! They're so damn precious and if you can't see that, you don't know what a legit established relationship is supposed to be past the honeymoon phase.

Charlie - People once again have claimed she's badly written. I don't know why people seem to hate happy kind hearted females so much but I have seen this exact complaint about many characters who are similar to her. None of which are actually badly written. They're just not the new stereotype "bad asses" that seems to be the only acceptable way to write a female character lately. Which is ironic since a lot of the so called "bad ass" female characters I have seen are often so one dimensional. Yet we have Charlie, a kind hearted but also sometimes naive girl who is doing her best while also learning with the rest of her friends and ya'll are gonna try and claim she's not amazing? The more I rewatch the show, the more I wanna reschedule my favorite character list because there's not a second I don't adore having her on my screen.

Niffty - This one really makes me want to slam my head against the wall. I have seen so many people complain and claim she acts like a child. Bare in mind, I've just watched episode 3 - you know, the one where Niffty is fully ready to throw herself into the BDSM that Angel takes them to. The only thing close to evidence that I have seen for her acting like a child is the episode where she gets drunk except she's still not acting like a child there, she's acting like a drunk! When some people are drunk they're silly and dumb and very "child-like". Otherwise, the only reason I think people call her a child is because she's is literally small like one. Yet, if you actually look at anything past her basic physical appearance, she's a crazy murder machine and I don't know many children I can also give that title to.

Angel - This is so old and everyone else has said this all so much better than me but I just really want to repeat: Just because it's not YOUR representation doesn't mean it's BAD representation. Just because you dealt with your sexual assault in a certain way does not mean everyone deals with it that way and it sure as hell doesn't give you a right to dismiss others. I have seen so many people say they identify with Angel's character and his hypersexuality, so it is so annoyingly arrogant to see people trying to shut them down entirely because Angel's character isn't portraying their personal reactions. It's just so amazingly self-centered to be saying that if you can't personally relate to it exactly, then it shouldn't exist at all. Seriously, grow the fuck up.

Loser Baby/Poison - Again, this has been said so many times before by other people but I'm gonna add/repeat. Some people take these songs and videos so damn literally. I saw someone claim Angel was happy during his dance with Valentino in Poison which apparently made the whole character a contradiction? Completely ignoring the parts where he's clearly miserable or the part where he's clearly putting on a fake smile or even the part where he all out says he dissociates to get through. And then you have Loser Baby where people are outraged that Husk call Angel a loser and is apparently trying to compare their situations? I mean, he's obviously not saying they're situations are the same if you think about it for more than two seconds. Like, are you seriously this literal? If I said the message went over your head, would ya'll look up?

[el-moscorrofio-y-el-mercachifle]

Besides my obvious annoyance with the new season because of the horrible character understanding from the writers and their ADMITTED goal to change Gaitán's ending, there are other aggravating issues with it:

1. The pacing:

This new novela knows it's in a rush, but we can tell, too. The first episode seems to attack the viewer with so many different new facts and characters and issues. It straight up starts with: Roberto's funeral, Armando and Betty separated and having been so for years now, Armando's presidency in the gutter again, lots of economic issues within the company again, Mila gone for years and her distance with Betty, a new guy that Marcela is suspiciously protective of and planning together to get revenge, Daniel being dead for going to jail from illegal business practices, etc. And all of this in the span of 1 episode. It just hits you with so much that it doesn't even give you the chance to get to know the characters. We haven't seen most of them in over twenty years, and some of them never, so we basically don't know them anymore! It's going so direclty and straight to the point that it feels more like a badly written fanfiction.

2. Lack of builup for tension

Jesus, there is very, very little tension here for the big things that matter. [SPOILER] In one episode we find out that Ecomoda is in bad shape, and just a few ones later, Armando is turning himself in. We don't see him slowly driving himself insane with his moral dilemma, we don't see him desperately trying everything to fix it, we don't even see him turning himself in! Just one episode ends with him saying he was turning himself in, and the next one starts with Armando's mugshot. That's it. No tension at all

3. Bad editing

One of the things that I loved about the old novela were their transitions. The first episodes were amazing with this: while Betty was looking at the magazine of the collection launch and giving her opinions and commentary, we were seeing the pictures of it and then we're taken to the moment the picture was taken. While Gutierrez, Armando and Roberto are talking about Betty and why Gutierrez discarded her, Roberto asks "why would a candidate so well prepared and qualified only want to be a secretary?" And then we see Betty going "because I'm tired of looking for a job!"

Those kind of transitions were incredible, I loved them so much. Now in this new series it just cuts abruptly to something totally different.

4. Inappropriate setting

They really, really tried to make everything seem so modern, and in their effort, they ended up making it so plastic and fake. The office doesn't look like an office at all, but rather a gallery or the lobby of an exotic hotel. The desks almost seem out of place. Sure, it's a fashion business, but it's just so fake looking. Most offices, even modern ones, still look like offices. This one just doesn't feel like it, and that really takes me out of the story.

Finally, and just as a little pet peeve that, objectively, idek if it should count but I'll include nonetheless because I'll forget to make a separete post about it: the robot and the hacking. It's just so cringy and cheap. Are robots like that even in the market fr? AI robots that follow you around and are in the shape of a sewing mannequin? And the whole hacking thing... ugh. As I said it's a personal pet peeve but I always find it cringy when they make these super high-tech knowing characters that can hack on everything and we see on the screen the codes and all of that. I found both of these elements so tacky and unnecessary lmao why not just hide cameras?? Nooo, let's make Daniel wannabe a finance and hacking genius lmao ((this part isn't part of the list I just wanted to vent because my hubby and I died of cringe watching one episode last night where Mila's AI Moving Robot Sewing Mannequin told her someone was hacking into the cameras and Ignacio is cyber-fighting to hide and we see a split screen of him and another of what he's seeing through the cameras and eventually he just closes the lid lmao)) ((anyway little rant over sorry))

[jellijellybean]

nsfw takes on some [JJK] characters mdni

don't laugh at me alright. im soft and mushy most days so there's no hardcore kinks in this one gang. ngl sometimes i get really nervous about posting my writing but then i remember i used to write on quotev when i was fourteen and feel arguably worse. as always put your ages in bios please and thank you. [word count: 2.1k]

warnings: nsfw. slight choking (gojo), overstimulation (receiving w/geto), alcohol mention (shoko), uhh none for (nanami) i believe, nails/scratching (utahime), oral (tojo)

a/n: this was written to be gender neutral. i might do the curses next because i am but a humble sukuna enjoyer (its such a shame he's always on my mind and never on me.)

Gojo:

I feel like he's the type to set the pace real gentle and slow. He doesn't get the opportunity to shower you with his affection as much as he'd like, but when he does it leaves you breathless.

He drags his palm up towards your neck so he can cup your face in one of those big hands of his. His lips don't stop ghosting over your neck as he trails kiss after kiss until he's brushing against your lips while the hand cupping your face suddenly trails down to carefully wrap his long fingers around your throat.

The squeeze is almost too faint to feel, but your head spins regardless and the chuckle that rumbles through his chest at your reaction makes your stomach explode with butterflies.

His favorite thing though?

Loves it so much when you wrap your legs around his waist, he loves the feeling of your arms wounding tight around his shoulders, how he's practically engulfed by you.

Seriously. He just loves the way you feel when you're here clinging to him down to the right amount of pressure, always leaving him dizzy from the rush he gets. When you whisper his name over and over again he feels invincible.

All the responsibilities, the pain, and sorrow can wait, everything, all his worries, all his hurt can fade into the background when your fingers brush through his hair, repeating soft, "I love you's,” into his mouth until your voice fades and his breath hitches.

Geto:

A tease through and through.

The type to whisper that he wants to hear what you want, all the filthy things that enter your mind, he wants to hear it all. Purposely, leaves you begging for more just so he can repeat the words of, "..say it for me one more time," before he thinks of continuing.  He's a bit more calculated with how well he sets the pace too.

Geto’s the type to observe your reactions, see how well you react to the way he slides in, how much pressure he'll need to use to have your legs shaking, and how sensitive you are to his touch. He takes his time to explore and learn just how to make your body sing.

You'd almost be startled by how often he focuses entirely on the way you feel when you're with him. The way you squeeze your eyes shut or when you try to pull him closer has his heart about to burst with the adoration he feels for you at that moment.

Be warned though, because of the pause he takes to admire you, to spend a few moments worshipping your very being — he'll absolutely overstimulate you afterwards, badly.

He might whisper that he's sorry, but he's almost there.. you can take a bit more, can't you? He got so distracted by you, he can't help it! The twitchy feeling below your stomach soon boils into burning pleasure when he continues the pace of his thrusts. He's kissing you, smothering your lips with kiss after kiss until your hands shake and your back arches once again.

Geto chuckles at the way your body tightens just right around him and he can't stop himself from cupping your face and holding it steady enough to keep your lips locked tight together.

Sigh. Isn't he so romantic?

Shoko:

You'd have to be the one to suggest anything, she's a busy woman with a packed schedule that leaves her exhausted.

Maybe, you decide to surprise her with a home-cooked dinner when she walks through the door and you finally get to see her tired smile as she tells you, you didn't have to.

You say it's the least you can do with the same bright grin you always wear and as you pull out the wine bottle kept safe for nights like this she caves and takes her seat right across from your own. Shoko's very thankful for your presence when you begin to talk about your day while she sits there and listens. A few drinks later and a quick movie leaves you guys on the couch, Shoko hovering above you as your hands rest against her hips.

The movie is long forgotten when you leave little nips and soft kisses against the sorceress' neck. Her shirt, slowly being pushed up and over her head just so you can continue to worship her delicate skin and watch the bites, scratches, and hickeys on her body slowly gain color.

Shoko’s more relaxed if anything, not really in a rush to get to where she needs to go. She is the type to really savor the moment as she tends to get lost in the way it feels the closer she gets to being pushed over that edge.

Something tells me she's also big on using her hands — mainly to touch your skin. Cup your face and trace the scars that you received from the time before you knew her. She even enjoys/savors the heat from your body as it slowly warms up her icy hands, and to Shoko, it's a constant reminder that you're here.

With her.

It keeps her grounded, especially after a long day of seeing sorcerers in different states of agony. You're her rock and she couldn't feel happier with anyone else, after all, you're all she needs in this world.

Nanami:

Nanami is a bit harder for me to calculate, but he gives very solid and strong vibes, give me a second to explain. Feels like his pace would be as steady as can be.. in the sense that he doesn't necessarily change it much. You might feel him get a bit rougher the closer he gets, really wanting to press deep, but he mostly keeps himself stable and has pretty good stamina overall.

Not the type to really get lost in the moment, but he tends to bask in the way his muscles tense and then how his body relaxes after he climaxes. He's a bit more on the quiet side too, not into talking too much but more into soft sighs and heavy breathing.

Don't expect his pace to be erratic unless you purposely tease him throughout the day — you'll know what's about to happen when he suddenly clasps a hand on your shoulder, pinky close enough to your neck he'd be able to caress the skin if he wanted to. He's ruthless, but still.. restrained in a sense until you goad him a bit more — keep babbling about whatever, tease him until you see the cracks in his self-control.

Man's will be talking then, whispering how exactly you affect him. How you invade his mind on days he needs to focus, how you're always there regardless of what he's doing.

When he's at work he wonders if you're awake. In the car he questions whether you've eaten or not and even when he's dealing with curses he thinks back to you.. at home waiting for him and he finds himself being a bit more careful.

Calculated and calm.

He needs to get home to you after all. Nanami tends to be a little more looser, letting out moans and groans more freely, his deep voice leaves you shivering. He normally falls asleep after nights like these though, arm wrapped taut around your body, making sure to keep you close to his chest. Just hold him tight and whisper that everything will be okay — he'll fully believe you.

Utahime:

Alright, something about this lady just gives me.. brat vibes (if you can say that.)

She won’t be downright mean to you but will do anything to get a reaction out of you so to speak. I’m talking when you guys are training and she manages to knock you down to the ground with a bright grin on her face all while exclaiming that she beat you!

Utahime can laugh and giggle all she wants about her victory and she might even say that you let your guard down, that you didn’t give it your all, and that you lost — to her.

It might make your blood boil a bit when she says those words to you, a slight tremble in your fingers as you reach for her arm to tug her down.

Now it’s your turn to laugh at the shock on her face, the way she whispers that your tactics are dirty, and the fact her face flushed at the realization of just how close you two were. You’re practically on top of her! She says it with a slight glare but your hands slip under her shirt before she even has a second to open her mouth again. It's funny watching, almost entranced, as her eyes widen before she tries to squirm away.

She stares, jaw slack, as the grin grows on your face when you throw a teasing remark back to her that gets her blood boiling all while teasing her chest. Utahime begins to take this as a challenge — to see who’s the real loser and before you realize it, girl has you flipped over with her hands underneath your shirt. Her strength surprises you as she slowly clambers on top of your body, feeling the way her nails ghost across your skin before digging into your shoulders.

Oof yeah, the nails are something she uses — often. Talking deep scratches along your back and shoulders that burn with an almost addicting pain, might even leave imprints when she cums with how hard she digs them into your skin. Sometimes it has you worried she’s drawing blood lol.

I also get talkative vibes from her, like she whispers soft curses and small threats like, “If you stop.. I’m going to kill you.” (LMAO) but the majority of the time, when you guys aren’t at each other’s throats, she’s a real softy with her words.

Very open about how good you make her feel and will gladly tell you so, but be warned because she expects the same energy back.

Honestly, just tell her how much you love her, how badly she affects you, and just how often she’s on your mind and I promise she’ll be eating out of your palm in no time because.. really.

All she wants is someone to love and appreciate the way she is without the need to hide any part of herself and look who's perfect for that.

Toji:

You guys probably met at some bar that served cheap booze and different types of filling foods. The screens on the tv’s playing random sports or the news or even some random cartoon — it’s overstimulating and you don’t even realize it until the sound of someone shuffling beside you is enough to drag your attention away.

The man doesn’t seem to acknowledge you but yawns very openly, you swear you’d be able to hear it if the people chatting weren’t so loud. Toji on the other hand, noticed you from across the room. His first thoughts were that you were cute looking, not really meant to be on this side of town without a reason, so he decided to sit next to you and see if you'd be interested in conversation.

(I can’t describe it but Toji to me doesn’t really give romantic vibes, but he’d still be at least somewhat considerate of your comfort and pleasure.)

Don't expect kisses to the lips and soft pillow talk, expect a bite to your ear and him forcing you to wrap your legs around his waist. Just ti keep himself hunched over your body until he's practically engulfing you and everything you are. Has a mix of having such a ruthless pace that leaves you gasping for air each time he bullies his way inside and then having the slow and lazy one with how gentle he rocks his hips into you when he feels like switching it up.

He won't admit it but he loves the fact you can never seem to hide the noises he drags out of you — it's a song only he's able to hear and that leaves him on cloud nine.

Might catch him lying on his back afterwards, staring at the ceiling with a somewhat blank look on his face. You might think that's it. That he's got what he wanted and is about to leave and never speak to you again, but the truth is, he's not sure how to ask if you'd be interested in meeting up like this again and again and again.

It's been a while since he's actually slept with someone he feels like he has good compatibility with and that's hard to find in this day and age. Won't say anything about it but you'll find it kind of weird when you slowly begin to see him around a bit more. Maybe he's walking down the street or standing in line at the grocery store and you see him again.

Call it fate or whatever but he draws you closer, like a moth to a flame. You'll learn about his thing with oral as time goes on. Loves the way you sound with his fingers in your mouth or when it's been such a rough day all he needs is you, on your back, trying to shove his head away while you beg and plead for some mercy.

It's honestly his favorite pastime. Let's just hope you two don't get into anything too frisky because my man is shameless and all I can say is godspeed soldier.

[rius-cave]

I just saw you mention Adam having PTSD from the exterminations and honestly it's so valid. He did enjoy doing them, he did have fun, yes, but I firmly believe he started it because of his unprocessed trauma that he wasn't even aware of. I mean, I see the way he's masking himself (literally and figuratively) as a way of protecting himself from people. Back when he was "born" he was literally rejected and betrayed by the very people he supposedly loved and who were supposed to love him, then he was practically abandoned and thrown out of Eden by the same people who mentally harmed him in the first place. This guy is badly damaged and no one can convince me otherwise. And he was damaged from the start so he couldn't possibly realize that something was very not okay because these were the very first people he knew. And we all know pushing down our feelings and ignoring them comes with concequences. In his case, the frustration manifested in violence, on top of that violence against his own descendants who chose the wrong path, who had tainted humanity with their acts. He also probably connects them with Lilith and Lucifer who caused it in the first place, bringing evil to the earth. I also love to consider the extermination as a form of personal revenge on Adam's side, since he isn't able to carry out a direct revenge it serves as one for him.

But he knows it's wrong. He knows either way that what he's doing is bad and cruel, and even if he actively avoids admitting that to himself, he subconsciously knows.

Then he gets to Hell. He most likely only used to visit Hell during exterminations, which means his brain most likely strongly connects the place with that. Hence, being in Hell is a constant reminder for him. On top of that, he actually sees what life is like in Hell. That all those "bad bad sinners who can't change and tainted humanity" aren't all bad actually. And perhaps he doesn't care about them, but I don't think he could just ignore that. He has to live among them, he sees the way they live and he's forced to realize that they're still human souls and not pure evil and rotten. It will add to the guilt which he probably also doesn't admit that he feels, because he didn't do anything wrong, right..? Everything was reasonable... But then why does it feel so bad?

Okay this turned our very very long but it just hit me and I could still go on about it lol, I'll spare you from that

First of all, thank you anon for putting into words this thing that I'm not smart enough to do myself.

I really wouldn't dare to say that "canon" Adam is this deep and has oh such big trauma and is only misunderstood by everyone and bla bla, because if I'm honest, the way he's written in the show doesn't lead me to believe that Vivzie really cares about fleshing him out to be a super complex character. And hey, fair enough, I'm taking him from her anyway lol.

But if if we stopped for a second to think about it, Adam definitely has the potential to be a much deeper and complex character that would be able to touch upon themes like this. I desperately need to know when did everything go wrong, was it really Eden? Was it during his time on Earth? Was it after he died???

I honestly think it's kind of a mix of all of them, but the biggest shift was after he died. He was the first human soul in Heaven, hey, it's not so bad in here!! Maybe his suffering on Earth was worth it after all if he was able to spend the rest of Eternity in a place like this! Now he just needs to wait for his family to get there as well so it can all be complete!

Except they don't, not all of them in fact. A couple of his sons, maybe or maybe not his wife, but it's definitely not ALL of them, where is everybody!? He's pretty sure his grandchildren would start aging by now too, where did everybody go!?

Of course, that asshole has them. It wasn't enough for him to steal his first wife and lie to them so they'd get kicked out of Eden, he also took a bunch of his children, his grandchildren, his great grandchildren and so on and so on.

Look at everything they do on Earth, it's disgusting, and it's all that fucker's fault. None of this would've happened if it wasn't for him, if it wasn't for the other sinners who kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

And he starts the exterminations after centuries of wallowing in that hatred. But of course, they're only the result of years of watching how everyone just eventually leaves him. And he doesn't realize when that violence starts becoming just a way to cope with his intense hurt.

I feel like I went a little off track there, forgive me I am a little scatterbrained right now. But in any case, I absolutely concur with you!

[iamnmbr3]

harry potter #15 :] very interested in hearing your thoughts on this

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Excellent question. I'm going to give two answers - because one is a scene I hate and usually ignore. If we go strictly by canon, then in my opinion hands down for me Harry's darkest moment is the bit in book 7 when he uses the Cruciatus Curse on Amycus Carrow to great effect and without any remorse. I actually loathe this scene and find it to be very poorly written resulting in it feeling jarring and ooc to the point that I usually pretend it didn't happen (though I think it had potential if it had been handled better).

Let me explain. A really notable moment in the series comes in book 5 when Harry is unable to effectively use the Cruciatus Curse on Bellatrix even though he's just seen her murder Sirius because even though he's angry, he isn't able to truly enjoy seeing another human being suffer and thus struggles with the spell. And if ever there was a moment when even a very kind and compassionate person might be tempted to enjoy seeing someone else suffer, you'd think facing someone like Bellatrix, who has committed innumerable heinous crimes, right after watching her murder a loved one might push them over the edge. But even such extreme circumstances don't do it for Harry. And then in book 7 it all changes because he witnesses Amycus Carrow...being rude...to Professor McGonagall. Listen. I love Minerva McGonagall. But if Bellatrix murdering Sirius in cold blood wasn't enough to enrage Harry then having THIS be the thing that sets him off feels like too much of a stretch.

The thing that really kills the scene for me though is everyone's reactions...or rather, non-reactions. Remember that this spell is absolutely agonizing when done correctly - equivalent to the agonies produced by the worst and most painful conventional Muggle torture. It's so bad even using it once carries a life sentence in Azkaban. It's so bad repeatedly using it on someone is enough to drive them insane. And Harry knows just how awful a spell it is since he himself has been a victim of it.

And when he uses this horrible, heinous cruel spell on another human being what's the reaction? Nothing. He doesn't feel guilt. He doesn't question himself at all. He doesn't think about it. Well ok. This could be an interesting, dark moment for his character. It could be a chance to explore how the war has changed him or how angry and frustrated he's feeling in that moment or to suggest that perhaps the Horcrux fragment is corrupting him and lots could be done with the fallout as he deals with what he's done and as other characters react to it.

But no. Because no other characters react as though he's done anything wrong either. McGonagall isn't disturbed or horrified or concerned. She actually compliments him and says it was "gallant" of him to defend her honor in that way. Uh. What?! No it wasn't. He could've just used a Stunner to defend her. Instead he did something that no one should do to anyone - something that is considered deeply taboo and awful even in the rather dystopian wizarding world. And no one cares. The narrative doesn't even remark on it. We're just supposed to all go "yayyy hero!" and move on. So at that point, why even include it? If he'd stunned or disarmed Amycus it would have had the same narrative impact. I know why the scene is really there. It's to try to tease the possibility that he will use the Killing Curse since he's used the other 2 Unforgivables by that point. But that's cheap and stupid.

The moment is dumb and ooc and none of the potential that could make it work and be actually in-character is explored. Consequently it feels like a very badly written ooc plot hole. So normally I just ignore it. Book 7 has a lot of lazy writing and while I can fix some of it, this moment and the retcon where suddenly people can be their own Secret Keepers are two moments that are just too bad for me to even bother with so I straight up ignore them.

But if we consider this part canon then it's definitely Harry's darkest and worst action, even if it's not given the narrative weight that it should be.

If we ignore that scene then his worst act is forcing Lockhart to go first into the Chamber of Secrets, knowingly putting him at risk of being killed and eaten.

In my opinion not putting more effort into working towards freeing Kreacher is also horrible but that's more of a bigger issue with the narrative where JKR retcons Harry's original horror at discovering Dobby's predicament and tries to convince the readers that most house elves are happy and benefited by being enslaved (no; they are not. Slavery is disgusting and inherently violent and harmful). Presumably Harry does free Kreacher after the war. But yeah. I find the whole way the story handles house elves to be quite repellent. And I hate that Harry originally had the right attitude and then JKR retconned it.

Send me a character and a number.

[eosofspades]

Something always confused me about the messages Cayde left to his 'killers'. Like, while he could be annoying at times, I just don't see, say, Ikora or the Guardian killing him. Could you clear it up for me?

not sure what prompted this ask, but i would LOVE to talk about Cayde let's go

to me, the thing about Cayde that a shockingly small amount of people seem to understand is that this guy is deeply self-loathing. the best way i've ever seen it summed up is "he was a terrified man who was mostly terrified of himself." (you can read that post here btw.)

Cayde blames and guilts himself for so much. Andal becoming the Vanguard, Andal dying, Taniks not staying dead, making up Ace and his Queen, not remembering Ace and his Queen, probably the Red Legion attack on the Last City (i think it might have been written somewhere that satellites/security was his job, but don't quote me on that) - he's constantly running away from his problems and responsibilities, and when he isn't, he's doing everything he can to try and fix them himself (e.g., one-man suicide mission plan to kill Ghaul.)

moreover, his entire jokester persona is so deeply ingrained into his identity that he genuinely doesn't know if anyone even knows him. in his message to Ikora he says he wasn't even sure if she ever liked him, and Ikora confides to the Guardian that she considered him one of her closest friends.

as such, i think it's completely reasonable within his character for him to assume, somehow, that there could be a reason for Ikora or the Guardian to kill him. he doesn't consider himself integral to the Vanguard "team," and, by extension, to the City. he would like them to like him, of course, but even if they like the lax, aloof, jokester persona he puts on - he doesn't know if they like him. he doesn't even seem confident that anyone would like the real him.

so, if they had to kill him for whatever reason - "the good of the City," because he messed something up, because he did something terrible, some kind of Darkness-corruption (him or them), maybe even if he was just that insufferable and they'd finally had enough - he thinks of himself so lowly that he wouldn't really be able to blame them. (in most of his audios he even sort of has a reason planned - he pissed off Eris badly enough, Zavala had to kill him for the good of the City, the Guardian saved him on Nessus so he "owed it to them anyway" - i think that he carries so much guilt and exhaustion, especially with regards to everything that happened to Andal, that, on some level, he feels like he deserves it.)

so, in regards to your question, sure, WE can't imagine Ikora or the Guardian killing him, but we are the audience, and Cayde doesn't have any idea as to how anyone else might feel about him when the chips are down.

(in fact, life on the line, if someone had to die, i doubt Cayde would even let it be anyone in the City but him. i have a whole post planned about Forsaken + themes of sacrifice, but his whole "Not if I get there first," followed by personally sailing down into a deadly explosion (even with a Ghost) is very indicative of this and a much broader sort of self-sacrificial-ness, but that's... a much longer post.)

[ultra-creepy-fucker-things]

So, kinda want to ramble about trends in Star vs. fanworks that I don't really like very much because I think that they either end up leaning into flaws the series had, or they just... Miss the point really badly. I want to start out by saying that if you enjoy stories that do either or these or have used them yourself, I'm not mad at you, and I don't think you're, like, a bad person. I am simply expressing my subjective opinion on some common tropes within the fandom I don't like very much.

First off: Redeeming Toffee.... By pushing all of the responsibility onto Seth and blaming him in turn. I don't have any issue with redeeming Toffee, of course, if anything, I encourage it; Toffee is a character who almost certainly has a very sympathetic reason for fighting the Butterfly family, and yet gets written off as irredeemably evil and is treated with more brutality than any other villain, even though he is by no measure the most evil character in the series. Giving him a redemption is a great idea. My problem here lies with how Seth is treated in these narratives, as I feel that putting all the blame on yet another demonized monster character with every reason to fight against the Butterfly family isn't so much fixing the issue with how Toffee was handled as it is... Kicking that problem onto another character, especially since it seems like stories like these often have Toffee siding with the Butterfly family, as though they don't go against everything he stands for.

Second off: Undoing "Cleaved" and returning the Star Vs. universe to the status que. Star is back to being a magical princess, or possibly even a magical queen with a little princess of her own- This is very much the fault of the series, but I feel that doing this kind of... Misses the point. Magic, and the Butterfly family, are both bad, with magic being a weapon used by the Butterfly family to oppress people, something the series isn't great at communicating and doesn't seem to fully understand, but that it does, on some level, get. This is why Cleaved is supposed to be a happy ending- Butterfly oppression, facilitated through magic, is a driving force of all the horrible things that have happened on Mewni. This is why the destruction of magic (and likely loss of political power for the Butterflies) is a happy ending. Because... They were kinda the bad guys. I agree that it wasn't well written, but just resetting things to the status que does nothing to fix the real issue here.

[stevesnightmares]

I have to be honest and say that I personally very dislike the way Nora handles addiction in her books just because, to me, it always just feels a little too flimsy and not researched at all.

The most difficult part of being an addict isn't simply being able to go through the detox process, that's hard in itself of course and can be very painful and mentally straining, but the hardest part of being an addict is that you'll always be an addict. Being clean doesn't mean that you are not an addict anymore.

Aaron is an addict, one that got clean very recently at that, and yet they bring him to bars, the make him drink alchol, they make him thake cracker dust. Not only is Aaron not clean and sober but he's also in an extremely tempting environment that would make it so easy for him to start using other drugs again.

To me, it just looks like it was written by someone that has no idea of what being an addict is, of how much being an addict takes from you, how much being an addict is who you are. You could be 50 with 3 children and a wife, 35 years clean with a perfect job and still you might one morning wake up and run a to an NA or AA meeting because the sink broke, your child wouldn't stop crying and your wife is upset with you and you need to take a hit or your veins will explode. And yet Aaron, olny sober for around 3 years, gets drunk and even gets high every weekend. That's a sure recipe for relapse.

I know everyone deals with their sobriety differently, I know there are people, for example, who are California sober (no alcohol, no drugs, yes marijuan or some other drugs). We could debate about our thoughts on the topic if you see it differently but to me it seems like being californiana sober is just a first step towards the right direction, it's a way to reduce the dangers and the most prominent side effect of being an addict without actually having to abstain from drugs. We all take different paths in a life, there is not just one way to do something and everyone must do what it's right for them and what works for them, so if cali sober works for u that'sgreat. But being californiano sober (which is not even what Aaron is doing cause he does consume alchol very regularly) could easly lead him to becoming an alcoholic or make him addicted to craker dust because when you substitute one substantial for another is very very easy to just get addicted to the new one.

Again, I know everyone deals with sobriety differently, but I just feel like Aaron sobriety is just very badly handled and most importantly not very well thought out, probably because he's just a side character so maybe there wasn't really much thought put into it.