#this is a joke she has her flaws but im so used to the fandom of old babyifying her to high ends

[amatres]

the only thing i'd criticize merrill for is her comment on feynriel, otherwise she is flawless to me ❤

[myfairkatiecat]

NOT TRYING TO BE RUDE, BUT i HATE KEEFE SO SO MUCH AND IM WONDERING (GENUINELY) WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT HIM BECAUSE I CAN'T SEE THE APPEAL

ALSO YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THIS IF IT MAKES YOU UNCOMFORTABLE OR BUGS YOU SORRY IF IT DOES EITHER/BOTH

Hey anon! Those are some strong feelings you've got there!

This is a tricky question to answer since a lot of the things that make me like Keefe's character make some people dislike his character, so you might be about to get a list of all the things you despise about him by asking me what I like about him. I like him because I think he's a good character, and way better written than people give him (or Shannon) credit for. I don't always love Wattpad Fanon Keefe (perfect boyfriend, super sweet, always says the right thing) because it erases so much of his character. I like canon Keefe. He's a raw character with a lot going on and a whole slew of well-developed character traits.

Before I jump into this post, however, I want to say one thing: I think a lot of people who dislike Keefe are mostly frustrated with Shannon's portrayal of his character flaws, and I don't think they give Shannon enough credit for the way she's intentionally written Sophie as an unreliable narrator. It's rather clear during different parts of the series that Sophie isn't the most reliable narrator, and Shannon also explicitly writes in the margins of her annotated KOTLC book that she used a certain scene as an example of when Keefe takes his jokes too far. Sophie forgives him without even an outright apology in that scene, but Shannon makes it clear in her annotations that she, the author, isn't writing it off. I don't own the annotated so I can't remember the exact quote, but it's my biggest case for why I think Shannon has intentionally written Keefe with these character flaws, as character flaws, and yes, Shannon sees them as character flaws and has said so, so for the purposes of this ask response here, let's assume Shannon Messenger is aware she's writing a flawed character, because I do think it's rather unfair to her how often the people of the fandom accuse her of brushing by Keefe's actions when in reality she's just writing Sophie Foster as true to her character as she can.

With that, let's jump into this little essay about Why Keefe Is An Awesome Character And I Love Him that I've writtten for you!

My AP English teacher always used to say, "characters are more human than humans." I believe the purpose of this quote was that well-written characters exemplify what makes us human—our love, our experiences, our regret, our strengths and flaws—in ways that connect strongly to the audience. Part of the reason so many people like Keefe's character, I believe, is because they are able to connect strongly to him. This is because he is written as "more human than humans," as my AP English teacher would say—even though technically, he's not a human, but an elf.

One major strong point of Keefe Sencen's character is that his strengths and weaknesses are often wrapped up in the same character traits. This is something that is true for many people. For example, my politeness in real life social situations makes me a lot of friends, but too often can turn to people-pleasing. A good character, in my opinion, should have both strengths and flaws stemming from all of their major character traits. Here are a few of Keefe's:

His humor

One major aspect of Keefe's character is his humor. Whether you personally find it funny or not (I think I found it a little funnier when I was eleven... I'm sorta growing out of some of it, though his wittier comments in the latest books are more my style, which might be a sign of both me and the character maturing) it's an enormous part of his character. As a major character trait, it presents both strengths and flaws.

Often, he brings levity to heavy situations that the other characters appreciate. One instance I remember is in Flashback. They were preparing for a confrontation, and I don't remember what it was that Keefe said, but Sophie narrates that she appreciated the moment of comedic relief, because it eased some of her anxiety. Keefe is able to take intense moments and settle them with quick-witted (or hilariously not funny) comments. This is likely a skill he adopted in order to handle the crushing pressure of being in his own home as a kid. (Fitz, contrastingly, adapted the skill of just holding lots and lots of weight, bending and bending and bending until he finally breaks. Not to make my Keefe essay about Fitz, of course, but I know someone is going to point out that Fitz also dealt with a lot of pressure at home, and wanted to point out that he developed somewhat unhealthy coping mechanisms as well, they're just different from Keefe's.)

However, sometimes his jokes are unwanted or go too far. Shannon comments on this specifically at the end of the first book, where Keefe makes a joke about how he helped save her when she almost died, and then sorta trailed of when he realized he was talking about her almost-death. Shannon commented in the margins that this was a moment of Keefe experiencing awareness that his joking has gone a little too far. She hasn't released annotated editions of any later books, but I'm confident that at least a few other scenes are examples of this as well. Sometimes I run across them during a read through and I'm like "huh, it's interesting to have a good idea as to what Shannon was thinking writing this." Sometimes, his constant making light of serious situations really isn't funny to anyone, and it keeps him from accepting the gravity of what they're doing, likely contributing to his reckless behavior.

2. His intuitive communication

Something to notice about Keefe is that even though he's often socially unaware, either in ways that indicate his childhood trauma or just his emotionally immaturity as a teenager, he's very good at knowing exactly what to say for his intended goal. That intended goal isn't always necessarily something he should want, mind you—we just talked about how his need to lighten the mood sometimes causes problems, and he knows enough about some of his friends (cough Fitz cough) to know exactly what words will hurt them the most in an argument as well.

This can be a strength for him, especially when he's comforting Sophie. Since he can feel her emotions instinctively, he often knows exactly what she needs to hear. He's actually incredibly sweet at times, especially in Legacy (I mean... there are other issues there, which I'll get into another time). For example, when he's telling her the reasons Bronte isn't the worst possible father for her to have. There's nothing inherently great about the specific way he comforted her, but it did ease some of Sophie's queasiness, because he knew what she needed to hear. Also, there are the scenes in Legacy where he's telling her that Sophie Foster is all she needs to be, or the scene in Everblaze where he reminds her that no matter who her parents are, she's still going to be exactly the same person she is, and they can't change her. Keefe is really good at knowing the right thing to say. (This might have stemmed from walking on eggshells his entire life aroud his parents!)

However, this also makes it really easy for Keefe to be manipulative, or lie, or say the completely wrong thing on purpose. The best example of the first two was when he somehow convinced everyone in just a few sentences that he totally wasn't going to go to Loamnore with them. Somehow, the guy famous for not doing what he's told convinced everyone he was going to do what he was told, and the thing is, it wasn't even unrealistic. He gave really good reasons that it made sense for him to stay back, and even made jokes about it, about how he and the others not going were "too cool for Loamnore." He had everyone convinced he really wasn't going to be reckless this time, when he totally knew his plan the whole time. The famous Unlocked healing center scene is a great example of the last one, because Keefe got upset with Fitz and knew exactly what to say to make him the most upset and embarassed in that situation. He only even took back the words when Sophie became upset as well. He and Fitz are in... not an awesome place in the latest books, and his POV reflects that.

3. His courage

Let's be honest. Is Keefe a runner? Yes. But when he runs, is he running from a fight? Nope. Never. One of the major instances of this guy running away actually put himself in a ton of danger. He doesn't run for cover, or safety. He runs usually out of fear of himself, his relationships, or that he isn't able to help in any other way. If we really look at his character, Keefe is incredibly brave. All of the KOTLC main cast is. They've got guts. But a lot of the others have a more guarded sort of courage, while Keefe's is... well. Not guarded.

Keefe doesn't think things through, and sometimes, there isn't time for that. Sometimes, immediate action is necessary, and Keefe is great with that. Quick, in-the-moment plans are his specialty. He's not afraid to stand up to people who want to hurt him (*cough* Dimitar scene *cough*).

But he's also extremely reckless (*cough* Dimitar scene *cough*). Because his courage is less guarded than his friends (such as Sophie's or Biana's) he may be more inclined to carry out his plans quickly, but he's also more likely to not think things through fully and end up putting his own life at risk, and sometimes even his friends' lives, even when he's trying to help.

4. His caution and fight or flight instinct

To everyone who ever said Keefe's character is flat and his strengths and flaws never develop or change, what version of KOTLC are you even reading?! Like I mentioned above, Keefe's recklessness is a huge part of his character since book one, but now I'm here about to talk about his caution/obsessive worrying/the famous running away, specifically the second time. This is a relatively new character trait for him. It develops slightly after Lodestar/the first half of Nightfall. Keefe truly did learn a lot from leaving for the Neverseen and lying to Sophie before going to Ravagog. We're given an extremely limited window into this process, since Sophie had other things going on and Keefe's short story focused a lot on his crush on her, but Keefe noticeably steps back and stops trying to turn things into a "Keefe show" (as Sophie puts it in Nightfall) and attempts to work more as a team, which is definitely character development again. However, where he really learned his lesson was Loamnore. He showed up, again going behind Sophie's back and coming up with a plan of his own, and it ended with Sophie tied up on the ground and him being forced to undergo a transformation that gave him powers he's terrified of. While his recklessness didn't entirely vanish after this (his response in the end was to run away to the literal Forbidden Cities) but is definitely flavored with siginificantly more caution and an attempt to be genuinely responsible.

In Unlocked, Keefe noticeably asks for people to be kept away from him, including Sophie, so that he can keep from accidentally controlling anybody. He also stops using his voice entirely. These are actually incredibly selfless things for him to do. He loves to be with his friends (particularly Sophie for reasons) and he loves to talk! And neither of those things are bad! But he isn't willing to put them in danger. In fact, he actually sort of overdoes it in Unlocked, even asking for Dex to make him an ability restrictor. (While he's well-intentioned here, I think Keefe brushes past the idea that making one of those again might be something of a traumatic experience for Dex.) In the end, he's so worried about it that he runs away, but he does it with considerably more of a plan than he did when he joined the Neverseen. He knew he'd know the languages, he arranged a way to get his hands on human currency, and while Unraveled isn't out yet, the state in which they found Keefe along with some of the things Keefe described about his experience make it clear that Keefe purposefully learned a lot about human cultures and successfully blended in and made his life work.

His newfound carefulness paired with his classic instinct to run really encapsulate a lot of his character strengths and flaws. In the later books, it's actually a sign that he's developing as a character and moving away from some of his past character flaws, but like all well-written major character traits, it comes with its own drawbacks.

Another important aspect of Keefe's character is the way he is noticeably shaped by his own experiences. I mentioned the whole "being more human than human" thing earlier, and while yes, he's still not human, I think this is part of what makes so many people connect to his character. He's realistic. He has even more strengths and flaws than the ones I've mentioned above, and all of them obviously come from somewhere specific in his past.

Why is he so chronically unserious? Because he couldn't be serious enough for his family. Before he met Fitz and started spending time with the Vackers, he didn't even really have friends. He had a suffocated home and impossible expectations, and when he tried to live up to them, he just wasn't good enough. So he adapted to break the tension. He adapted to just... not try ("those who don't try never look foolish" -Fiyero in "Dancing Through Life," from Wicked. I think Fiyero is... very Keefe coded) and started skipping classes, breaking the rules, playing pranks and doing anything to cut through the tension. He dealt with pressure by tossing it off his shoulders and just deciding to not deal with it. Obviously, deciding to Just Not Deal With Things eventually began to hurt him, and he slowly and painfully begins to learn to have difficult conversations (but hey, at least he's getting there? I think Neverseen is where his development in that particular area becomes apparent, with the way he opens up more and even admits where he's really beginning to feel guilty).

Why is he such a master of knowing what to say? Because he grew up walking on eggshells around his parents. And when he decided to stop caring about his parents, he weaseled his way out of trouble whenever possible, and learned to use other people's emotions to learn things from them and get his way. "But Katie," you say, "reading other people's emotions without permission and using them to get his way is a very not good thing to do!" You're very correct! And it's an enormous indication of how skewed his view of normal is. What's the one Empath he grew up observing? His father. Look, he knows his parents suck, but because his parents suck, he has no way of knowing what is and isn't normal. Is his father doing this particular thing because he's a horrible person or because that's a normal thing to do? How on Earth is Keefe supposed to know?! Well, there are rules about telepathy, and there aren't any rules about empathy, so the external indications seem to tell him that this particular thing is normal. This is yet another example of Keefe's life experiences having a huge impact on his character.

Why is he so reckless? Because he doesn't care. Even his his most noble moments of bravery stem from the same place of not caring what happens to his life. It's the same reason his deep care for his friends' lives turns to quickly into self-sacrificial tendencies (which show themselves in canon on numerous occasions and usually don't even help). He has this "better me than any of them" mindset that's deeply rooted in his childhood trauma. Even though he's fought tooth and nail against everything his parents have ever said about him, he still has this ingrained sense of worthlessness. The way he says he "doesn't care about permanent damage" and tells Sophie that he's going to make sure he's always the one who ends up wrapped up in bandages and also has that moment in Unlocked where he wants to retreat into the darkness and never wake up? Look, we all know he needs therapy, but maybe reread that last sentence. ...Keep reading it until you get it.

And finally, what makes him finally learn to be cautious? Because he sees firsthand how his reckless plans are impacting the lives of other people around him, and if there's any negative trait that Keefe is NOT, it's selfish. Keefe may be occasionally selfish—you know, case by case basis, like most people—but it isn't a character trait of his by any means. He struggles significantly more with not caring about himself than he struggles with not caring about others. So when he realizes it isn't only his own life he's putting on the line, and sees the way it's hurting his friends, he takes an enormous step back, and even runs away for a time. Now, it would be great if he would start caring about himself too, because this poor guy needs therapy and his level of self-deprecation at this point is way out of control. But it is the case that he cares about his friends a lot (if someone quotes this part and brings up Fitz, I'm going to point out that their friendship has fallen way out due to actions and reactions on both sides of that relationship) and ultimately it ends up adjusting the balance in his character traits and their related strengths and flaws.

In short, Keefe is a lot of things. He's good things, he's bad things, he's consistent things. He reads like a real person—someone who frequently makes the same style of mistakes but does learn and grow over the course of his life. Every character trait of him stems from some aspect of his past. Shannon didn't write him with a slew of random personality traits—each and every one of them ties down to who he is and how he's shaped by his experiences. He can be a truly amazing friend. He can be a really horrible friend. He can be sweet and amazing and say the perfect thing. He can say the wrong-est possible thing with the intention of cutting the other person deep. He's a slow learner, but he learns nonetheless. His character development isn't a smooth arc in which he has trait A, event B happens and at the end he has trait C. That's common in storytelling, but not real life. Keefe learns, grows, then makes the same mistake again, then learns stronger. His character development sees both growth and setbacks, and the changes are subtle. He's still the same person even when he changes.

He's good things, he's bad things, he's consistent things, and I think it is out of an awareness of our own humanity that so many people relate to him and therefore enjoy his character.

I hope you enjoyed this essay, anon. Believe it or not, I actually have plenty more to say about any of these topics, and some other topics that I didn't even bring up, so if you want to see even more, just direct me towards what you want to hear and I assure you I'll have thoughts. Have a wonderful day!

[thousandyearphantombunker]

(vent)

TOH fandom feels this need to 'stick it' to other kids shows and show them how TOH 'did it correctly' but they don't understand what shows like Amphibia's SVTFOE and SU etc etc were going for. And the whole 'the show was cancelled excuse' drives me freaking insane! I grew up watching Spectacular spider man, x men evolution and GLtas and those shows got screwed over so badly- but they used their time efficiently to establish stories and characters etc so no you can absolutely can give everyone in your cast good character and relationship development establish important plot points and elements and villains within a short amount of time.

SVTFOE went through awful seasonal rot yes but it knew how to balance highschool drama with adventures amazingly (also it's mix of random xd humor and dark comedy was done a lot better imo) Amphibia despite its flaws is a very well done fantasy story (and has some great diversity in it and more subtle allegorical stuff surrounding being a foreigner and oppression- it's not the most deep show ever but it absolutely has depth) and im gonna say it Steven Universe while not a masterpiece by any means (it does share most of TOH's flaws) is just objectively better than TOH. Especially when it comes to diversity! More diverse body types, more diverse personalities (not everyone is lovably dorky- steven is a crybaby soft boy who matures into a charismatic leader, amethyst is a rambunctious tough bruiser, pearl is an intellectual insecure knight whose lost her cause and garnet is a stoic cool leader etc) and has jewish and south east asian rep and while no one talks about it Amethyst is good disabled rep (she's got the alien equivalent of dwarfism, the alien equivalent of a developmental disability and she has an arc surrounding how she views these aspects of herself) it handles mental illness very well and yet it has this horrible reputation as being super racist and inappropriate to show to kids- which is an opinion people are allowed to have about this show especially if they are black or poc or whatever- I'm not gonna call their opinions BS there are some good points they make about the whole 'angry black woman' stereotype but as a Puerto Rican girl with autism wasn't allowed to make any mildly negative comments about TOH and how it handled neurodivergence or how I didn't even register Luz as afro latina without fans saying I was full of shit and just completely media illiterate- the human zoo in su was depicted as bad but made one or two off color jokes and therefore the show is irredeemably evil- okay then but now you can't fucking harass me over saying TOH had some instances where the disabled rep fell apart a bit (i wouldn't even say that the show is over all ableist or godawful it just had moments that could've been handled better) but um no I'm not allowed to say that apparently- if you get to call my complaints bullshit because your a 'queer poc' then i as another queer poc gets to complain about the show you think is untouchable (i won't cause that's really mean and you have legitimate points) the logic this fandom uses to justify being an asshole to others drives me up a wall. SVTFOE handled revisionist history and colonialism better. Steven Universe had actual fucking diversity. Amphibia had actual layers and complexity that gets totally ignored. But no all shows have to have super blunt representation, and pretty art styles with flashy animation and we must shame all people who have even the most tame criticisms of TOH. The owl house isn't a horrible show but it has its flaws and people who complain about them bring up valid points and since some of you seem so up in arms needing bringing up race guess what? White people also get to call out TOH's flaws. So many kids shows get disregarded as having no depth or being stupid and I hate that TOH fandom also gets in on that nonsense.

Your show is cool we get it now stop fucking putting other kids media down. I'm not gonna say you should be thanking Steven universe or adventure time or gravity falls for laying down the groundwork so TOH can exist you get to criticize these shows but maybe don't get shocked and call everyone who says something you dislike media illiterate and say our complaints are BS? Cause we can easily say the same to you-by your logic I can say all your complaints are full of shit and harass you over liking the collector because of how he treated king, by your logic I get to call you racist and homophobic etc - which we can agree is a bullshit thing to say right? And also it's just mean. You can complain that Steven Universe getting cancelled isn't an excuse for its shit writing in some episodes (I agree with that) just also be aware that Im holding toh to that same standard. You can complain that SVTFOE had an ending you hate because of how ooc and pointless so much of it was- agreed but I get to say the same shit about toh

TOH is not immune to the criticisms you lob at other shows and screaming media iliteracy at the top of your lungs doesn't shut down arguments as well as you think it does

[doctorweebmd]

Hiii i saw some other asks but they all had like 4 emojis so now idk if this is too much im so sorry if it is, hopefully you can answer all if you want to! Hope you have a great day! 💞🤩🧠(katsuki)🤗🍦🎶

lol anon are you kidding?! I LOVE talking about myself and my writing you are doing ME the favor hahaha

💞- Who's your comfort character?

Hmmm you know I actually never really thought about the 'definition' of what a comfort character is. Like, what's the difference between that and a favorite character? I looked it up and read a thinkpiece or two... (this is not supposed to be that deep I knoowwwwww i'm sorrryyy) but if we go by what I read, like a pseudo-parasocial-relationship, about who I think about when I'm upset or who motivates me in real life or who I just vibe with in general I'd say...

Izuku Midoriya. I can't even explain it. Like, if it doesn't have Deku in it, I ain't interested (BNHA fandom-wise.) He's flawed and overly sensitive and works SO SO HARD and is so sincere and GOOD and also INSANE SOMETIMES and he's just. My favorite. Literally no other MC can do it like him.

🤩- Who is your favorite character to write?

Hahhaha oh jeez I think my favorite to write might be Katsuki. I also really love writing Akutagawa. They both have a very particular manner of speech that I think brings a LOT of character to narration. I also write writing them both because getting a read into their inner minds is super fun, because we, as the audience, don't really get to hear their internal monologues. What do they think about? How do they think about it? Their heads are SO fucked, I just love picking them apart piece by piece lmao

🧠- Pick a character, and I'll tell you my favorite headcanon for them. (Katsuki)

That he's hopelessly, painfully in love with Izuku and he thinks its unrequited.

Just joking....

...Unless?

No but this is kinda hard. My thoughts about Katsuki are actively changing with canon. He's changed so much in canon. I guess this isn't a fun one, but I truly do believe Katsuki has a... difficult... relationship with his mother. They're too similar and the kind of shit she's said about him seems really cruel and backhanded. I also wouldn't be surprised if he instilled some of Katsuki's dislike of 'quirkless' Izuku. Mitsuki doesn't strike me as the kind of woman that ever really hugged Katsuki or told him that she loved him, she expected perfection from him and he GAVE her that. I also think, at least in part, his 'bad boy act' (because we know, WE KNOW its an act) is a way to rebel against her. No hate towards Mitsuki but I think across every universe she's shaped Katsuki's self-hatred and extreme pride and belief that he's not worthy of gentleness or affection. Erhem.

Wow I made myself sad with that. Oh moms. You sure are... something.

🤗 - What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Haha I'm not sure I'm qualified to give advice! I'll definitely do my best.

I echo what lots of other people say. Just write. Whatever it is. With whatever skill you have. Get whatever story you have in your head down. It doesn't have to be perfect. Or even complete. The act of putting it into words is insanely valuable. You won't even notice yourself becoming a better writer, but it happens almost naturally.

One saying I kinda live by is 'if you build it, they will come.' None of your ideas are too 'niche' or too 'weird.' Different people connect to different concepts. Some of my most rewarding writing experiences have been from writing shit that I legitimately thought no one would read. Keep at it. Recognition is not an indicator of quality. The right people will find you.

Write your thoughts down. Even if you think its stupid. You'd be surprised how much you revisit things. I often use text-to-speech for ideas or dialogue when I'm driving. This I've started doing more recently, but when you cut things out of your writing, save them in another document or at the bottom.

Obviously, read. The more you read, the better you'll write. We're all Frankenstein amalgamations of our favorite authors. Again, you won't know what will flip a switch in your brain until you give it a shot, right? I hate to say it, but sometimes 'classics' can be that inspiration. They're survived this long for a reason. 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' and 'East of Eden' both changed my brain chemistry and they were high school reading assignments....

Gosh. I mean, not to be cheesy, but just have fun with it. Its a hobby and its supposed to bring you joy. Don't worry about updating schedules or word counts or stats. Write whats in you and let it blossom, ya know?

🍦- What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

Oh jeez this is also hard because I write like... a ton of porn.

BUT. I think my sweetest fic is Battle of the Bands.

In particular I really REALLY love the epilogue chapter. That Katsuki and Izuku go on tour together.... that they have matching tattoos instead of wedding bands... THAT THEY GET MARRIED AND LIVE THEIR DREAM TOGETHER.... plus. like. the SLOW SLOW SLOW burn of it all. the love songs. the yearning. making music of feelings you cannot say aloud. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

🎶- Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

oh definitely! its kind of become an unintentional tradition. i generally start a new playlist for every fic and add things 'vibe-wise' that i already know, then randomize and add songs on that way. It sets the stage, in a weird way. And when I'm stuck, I often look for new songs for the playlist (obviously looking up lyrics and the like) so its inspiration on inspiration!

Lately I've been.... listening to some music from my emo-esque high school and early college years. I've listened to 'Death for My Birthday' by Say Anything a lot. Their self-titled album is actually pretty decent. Hate Everyone, Do Better, Less Cute, Eloise, Crush'd, Cemetery, Narcissus, I Hate You More Than I Hate My Period are all great.

But I'm also writing The Path To Paradise, so I'm listening to my 'To Hell and Back' playlist while writing it (I'm roadtripwithlucifer on Spotify.) I really like Carve Me Open by Silences but all the playlists are solid tbh. in MY honest opinion.

AHHHh THANK yOU FOR THE QUESTIONS ANON i hope the responses are okay!!! as always i ranted and overthought everything apologies forever and ever

[thebearme]

it’s mostly ur Chie stuff that I get the vibe from where you’re 10000% willing to excuse all of Yosuke’s homophobia and rampant dehumanization and sexualizing of the female cast for the excuse of “he’s an insecure little gay boy with repressed homosexuality and internalized homophobia that excuses all of it!!” and “Chie is such a bitch that’s so unfair of her she’s a bully” rather than be like “they’re both flawed teenagers in a small town”

Thank you for being more precise this time around. I'll try to make this a quick response because no one wants to read a thesis. (post review me: i lied- it got to long and also srry in advance for the caps, it was meant for emphasis not yelling at you)

Chie can kill Yosuke for calling Kanji the f slur or perverting on the girls and I'll be okay, I'm not protecting him. I AINT DEFENDING THAT MAN YOSUKE! Like I said in an older Chie post: reasoning and justification are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS. I UNDERSTAND theirs reason BUT I DONT THINK JUSTIFIABLE period. Yosuke should get beat up- BUT NOT FOR A FUCKING CD, Chie should had gotten his ass after the Kanji dungeon but she DIDNT.

I've have mentioned this once before in posts but here it is again: I DONT HATE CHIE! Interesting enough in middle school I loved her, she was my best girl and I'd shipped her with Yosuke. But as I grew up I realized that she has flaws like anyone would. Like hitting, going from 0 to 100, and you know... COMMITTING A LITERAL CRIME by using Yosuke debit card without asking. All things that should be thought about more in the fandom but it's not.

Again, Im not saying all this things in a way to villainize her or make people hate her. If us as a community can accept Yosuke's flaws so should we do should with Chie. But it's hard for people to accept something when they don't see what's the problem. Just like how people make memes about Yosuke's homophobia, I make jokes about how rude she could be.

Like I said in the second response to you, I'll admit that I can be biased and I could tell people her flaws in a nicer manner than joking. but sometimes I get all-or-nothing my self.

TLDR: Sometimes I can be a little mean with jokes about Chie but I do like her as a character and just think she's flawed like everyone else but I get mad that no one notices it like Yosuke's flaws.

Part1

Part2

[nickiemoot]

doesnt susies japanese bio say she's eliminating savages.

okay. first of all, before i start rambling, if this is referring to the "susie has never done anything wrong" post, that was clearly a joke. obviously she's done bad shit. she's a flawed character. she falls under the "redeemed villain" category like many kirby characters. don't get me started on the importance of a nuanced approach with flawed characters and the overall unfair treatment of female characters. if this isn't what you were going for, i apologize. you happened to stumble on a thing i have Opinions about lmao.

anyway. i don't speak japanese and i have to solely rely on other people's translations. so this is a lot of speculation on my part.

i think you're referring to the quote from star allies. i had to go to the wiki to find it, here's a copy and paste:

Her Dream Friend description states that she intends to bring back the company her father built. In the Japanese version, direct quotes from her are given: 「科学の力で 家族だんらん、幸せな くらしを ごていきょう…」("Through the power of science, I offer family harmony and a happy life...") and 「そんな理念の もと、ヤバンなヤツは くじょ、いたしますわ！」 ("I will exterminate the uncivilized!")

now i have no idea what the subtle connotations of the word that was translated to "uncivilized" is. i don't know japanese. i know that the word you used, "savages", has really serious connotations in english because of actual real life history. the haltmann company is definitely meant to be more or less "destructive western capitalism" in theme. but does this word in japanese mean the same thing as the highly specific and deeply racist english word? i don't know. the wiki translated it as "uncivilized". does that make a difference? i don't know.

here's my take: she is a person who was raised to believe she was superior to everyone. her father is rich and powerful and her people are very technologically advanced. she was probably spoiled as a child. her time in AD was no doubt very shocking and traumatizing, and when she came back there was no happy reunion because her father didn't recognize her. her response was... not healthy! she focused on revenge and didn't question shit! not until the star dream incident did she actually start questioning what she believed, how she viewed the world, the consequences of her actions, etc. obviously she wasn't immediately fixed and is now flawless! she has so much baggage to unpack! unlearning things is really hard, and unlearning whole worldviews taught to you since childhood is extremely difficult. this is a real thing, it's possible to unlearn prejudice irl but it's a long process that takes constant conscious effort. but i think she is trying.

plus, i highly suspect that the way that quote is written is meant to convey her way of speaking. "exterminate the uncivilized" is susie-speak for "defeat the enemies". the word "exterminate" is just scifi talk meant to make her sound robotic. and sure, the way she considers anyone not on her side as uncivilized is. problematic. but again, she's unlearning a lifetime of bias. if anything, it would bother me immensely if she was suddenly redeemed and perfect with no lasting effects! that doesn't happen!

anyway, im not gonna get into it because that's a whole 'nother goddamn essay i could write, but consider: kirby is full of redeemed villain characters including ones who are not really good guys at all (marx, dark meta knight, hell even taranza and magolor are questionable) AND YET the only one who gets judged like this is susie, the female ex-villain. female characters are always scrutinized more than male characters in the same fandom. why is that? think about it.

[oathofkaslana]

Kiana Kaslana for the ask game

YAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAY ty <3

ask game here

My first impression: oh a lot of people seem to like her? she seems very silly.

My impression now: the things i would do just to see her again oh my god i miss her so so so much my everythinggirl..... every part of her story is so poignant to me and i feel like it only wouldve been elevated if they lingered a bit on points theyve already brought up (ex: her complicated feelings w siegfried)

Favorite thing about that character: aourghourghourgh.. her being sooooo stubborn. its super endearing and gets her into trouble all the time i loveeee when a quality is also a flaw <3. in terms of writing i really like hi3 changing her to be a clone since it provides suuuch a fun deviation of the chosen one trope and makes her resonating w the cocoon of finality so much more satisfying

Least favorite thing: early hoyo writing where kiana was written as a pervert sucks a lot esp since the jokes often relied on her not obliging by boundaries :/ it doubly sucks bc like. they were young teens then thats so fucking weird.

Favorite line/scene: EVERLASTING FLAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kind of a cheat answer but i love it so so so so so much. chapter 25 in general god. i loeveee kiana being put on trial by the herrscher of dominion and the layers of this herrscher defined by a collection of puppets and a belief in humanitys inherent worthelssness challenges k423's beliefs about herself as a clone and has her stubbornly refusing to believe in the worst in people :'''')

Favorite interaction that character has with another: ough there are so many i dont think i can choose dear god. im just gonna list various ones w different characters. this ones really small but w siegfried theres this one page where he falls asleep on the floor and kiana puts a blanket over him and curls up next to him and he wakes up, putting the blanket on her insteda (she is still on the floor.) its so so sad to me he's a pretty shitty dad to her at that moment especially but :(((( another strong contender is when he meets theresa again and starts asking abt donghua and theresas lambasting him about not even asking about kiana and he admits that he cant or he'll get distracted im going to fucking cry...... lament of the fallen is such an easy one for mei so ill say them in chapter 32 :''') kiana opening up abt her talk with himeko and audibly choking up when she talks about it i feel sick dear god. both telling each other how important they are to each other and the hope they give each other :' kiana grabbing her hand and telling her they'll go home togteher OUGHHH w bronya its definitely their goodbyes to each other. the fact that bronya is so sad that she makes an excuse to leave early because she doesnt want kiana to see her cry and schedules them for video game nights so kiana isnt lonely dear fucking god. another contender is ofc in everlasting flames where she defends kiana and uses the HoR powers to tie her hair up i feel sick theyre soooo sisters to me himekos also really really really hard bc both final lesson and chapter 25 exist but i think final lesson takes it for me. ive said it over and over again but himeko actively not wanting to die but choosing to anyways because she doesnt want kiana to die (even though this goes against the protocol shes been living and teaching by) and that ultimately being the thing that keeps kiana going OUGHHHHHHH. also fuck. the lyrics to nightglow. w sirin its of course that part of graduation trip who would i be if that line wasnt there. fuckkkk. her putting her hand back to align with kianas too :(

A character that I wish that character would interact with more: CHEWING ON MY WALLS. SO MANY PEOPLE. primarily i wish we got to see more of her with like. bronya, theresa, sirin, bianka. i know we got a lot of bronya and sirin alread ybut. consider there couldve been more..

Another character from another fandom that reminds me of that character: this is so fucking humiliating. bruce wayne. he doesnt struggle w his humanity the exact same way as kiana does but they both struggle with/are motivated by feelings of guilt and love of humanity. also. arc city kiana. i rest my case.

A headcanon about that character: aurgh ok sm i havent posted about before. man. i just think she has such complex feelings during her st freya days. i think she'd stay up late and think about her dad or think about days where she was didn't have the domesticity she has now and feel so thankful for it. i think st freya dorms was both hard and easy for her to settle into. i think she and bronya have spent some nights staying up together playing video games because they both feel that.

A song that reminds of that character: i'm still here by the john rzeznik o7 its soooo himeko and kiana to me.

An unpopular opinion about that character: i don't think i have any unpopular opinions about her actually skjhbdfbhd

Favorite picture:

these two :''

[trollocs-ooc]

2, 7, and 9?

since its unspecified im doing all of em

2. If they were to die, how would they die? (If they aren't already)

Mod Eleven and Mod Second canonically get executed in adulthood for secretly going against the empire.

Slashr i dont know the exact method but i think they would either be shot or like get their neck caught in a bear trap or something fitting for a dog. Who would do it i have no clue, maybe the empire as well or an ex member of their cult

Balkantroll is already on a predestined path of death nothing will be able to save them from

TA canonically gets murdered by Slashr via him ripping her throat out with his teeth after stabbing her in the stomach

YFIC i have no clue since she's new and has no story

7.How would they react to someone having an actual crush on them? Pale? Pitch? Flush? Ashen?

Eleven as you have already seen is open to pretty much anything. He is desperate to be liked and if there's nothing majorly wrong with the other person will encourage the crush and flirt because he's flattered. Even of he doesn't particularly like the person like can be completely neutral he will still encourage flirting just to hear them say it as fucked up as that sounds

Second is harder to please in that regard he rarely respects anybody so someone has to really be trying for him to be ok with it. If someone just said they had a crush on him out of nowhere he'd think they were making fun of him and be pissed off

TA is desperate, incredibly so, and will not believe that anybody likes her enough to have a crush. Will flirt. Will overlook major flaws but NOT stuff like Ribbons being stalkerish to them

Balkantroll has no care for love since she's killed her last. Will tell the other its a bad idea and to find someone else

Kullie would be soooo happy she'd flirt immediately. Let's get together immediately type beat love at first sight even if it's not she wants a relationship to not be killed by the empire. And also to have another person to annoy and use their resources

9.If they got fanonized/fandomized, how would they change?

Already said this once i think

(I THINK) Eleven would be boiled down to Highblood sugar daddy with a lowblood fetish, think other half in every gay vivziepop relationship.

Second is trans so i think ppl would either find some way to woobify him. Or go in the complete opposite direction completely ignore that and just make him an asshole with no redeeming qualities or actual points

Slashr would either be made into uwu doft baby boy cinnamon roll that needs to be protected or like. A commie or anarchist stereotype where it's their whole character and nothing else

Balkantroll would either be a stereotype about spiritual ppl (think Angie from Danganronpa) or complete sadstuck with none of the goofy parts of their personality

TA would just be a yandere.

Kullie would be an owo pounces on you!! girl who's entire famdom thing would just be sexual harassment jokes. You know the ones.

[gabrielapazlima]

Alright lets goo,i have very complex opinions about each ship:

Daynap:

it depends on how the fandom portrays it to be honest, I HATE tall sadomasochist chad catnap x twink small fragille n uwu baby dogday with ALL my strength- but i really like how my moots poytrait!Good ass ship when is done right.

Bubba x Bobby:

cute!i think that have some potencial! '' brain x heart'' ''blue n red'' and etc...i rather platonically but i can SEE why ppl like romantically!it got all there!

Cuddlejump:

man who are them?i don't know,its not like i make this ship my entire personality or something-

ok jokes aside,everyobe who follows me know that they are my otp- why?i have so many reasons but i just think that they compriment each other very well!Hoppy is energetic n positive,she is the ''pusher'' of the group,but she is very impatient n don't have that much of regulation in her lifestyle,she tends to overdoing things,Bobby is the mom friends,she is understading,she is passionate and she is lovely n affetionate but she is too emotional and have some dependency issues,i can see they getting used with each other flaws but also helping each other with their issues- theya re very alike but also very different,they both are passionate and want to help everyone with everything when they are feeling down but they tend to overdo/overthinking too much- i kinda kin them for that,anyway i love them i think that i already make this clear lol...NEXT

Powernap:

ehhh i don't like it,i don't like hoppy x men as whole but i especially don't like this one,they would be an GREAT sinbling duo tho- i want to see more of it,but romantically?i just don't see it,i think that they would be an hard time with each other lol

Hoppykick:

another ship that i just don't see it,i LOVE their dynamic as an duo,they are very fun to write but besides that sorry i don't feel like shipping two characters with the almost same character traits,its not interessing to me,their dynamic feels lacking,my fav ships have some things in common while also being differents in an lot of ways i don't see it here.

Starstudent:

I LOVE THEM,they are my second favorite ship besides hoppyhug,their dynamic is just SO FUN,it makes me so happy,they have an realy funny potencial with '' smartass x dumbass'' but also is realy sweet,i love how we all agree that they have some beef while also caring with each other deeply,anyway starstudent they never gonna make me hate you-

Naphug

ehhh its cute i gress?i like the artworks n the ship names but them itself is just cute?i don't have any other strong feelings towards them,i LOVE them platonically but im kinda neutral with them romantically

midnight snack:

at first i was never that much into but looking deeper i actually find myself enjoing?it has an fun dynamic that can lead to so angst,they are pretty freak x freak,i enjoy it lol- also beautiful color pallete!

school lunch:

great in concept '' city boy x farme girl'' but i barely see execution,it can be cute but theres something missing for some reason,anyway kina indiferent as whole.

annn thats it,thanks for reading!

Doesn't it happen to them that they want to give their opinion about a ship but they don't do it because no one asked them?

and since I want to waste my time..

here I ask you

WHAT IS YOUR OPINION (NEGATIVE OR GOOD)

OF THESE SHIPS:

1) DOGDAY X CATNAP

2) BUBBA X BOBBY

3) BOBBY X HOPPY

4) CATNAP X HOPPY

5) HOPPY X KICKENCHIKEN

6) BUBBA X KICKENCHIKEN

7) BOBBY X CATNAP

8) PICKYPIGGY X CATNAP

9) PICKYPIGGY X BUBBA

It doesn't matter if it's negative or positive.

shout how much you love a ship or how much you hate a ship!!

[maschotch]

unpopular opinion- rossi gets more hate than jj and jj deserves it way more than rossi

hmm i tentatively agree with this. rossi has a lot of problems of his own: he’s played by a horrible actor, his mob/military background is boring as shit, he’s a misogynist (he’s gotten better but im p sure thats just him getting milder in his old age) and oh yeah he’s fucking racist aljdlajd so its hard for me to straight up say he doesnt deserve the hate he gets

that being said i feel like people arent necessarily mad at him for the right reasons? like i barely hear anyone talk ab any of the above, mostly its that he’s just mean to reid. which… i mean he’s not not mean to reid. but if we’re comparing apples to apples, i think he’s not nearly as bad as jj in that sense. it may just be a matter of personal opinion: i happen to think his jokes land better and overall his humor seems to come from a better place. it feels like he jokes around for the sake of the joke bc he sees an opportunity to be funny, as opposed to jj who seems to be making fun of reid as a way to seek validation from others that she’s better than him

this may just be me finding a snarky old man less threatening than a blonde haired blue eyed mean girl, but idk there just seems to be a difference between “we found him on the steps of the fbi” and the annoyed faces jj makes every time reid speaks. one is clearly a joke, obviously an exaggeration, and spoken with a bemused fondness. the other plays into reid’s insecurities, is only meant to be funny to others, and comes from genuine annoyance. this is just the energy i get from them, but idk how my many years of anti jj bias plays into the interpretation of their actions

i guess its bc, as much as rossi makes fun of reid, they’re backhanded compliments more than anything and unlike jj he’ll actually give reid credit (showing him off to his friend w the crossword puzzles). he acknowledges reid’s strengths even as he puts him down, while jj seems to tolerate him. i think rossi plays the grumpy grandpa role well, and it works bc he doesnt take himself to seriously either. he can take a joke when jj would just get defensive

but that confidence is also part of whats frustrating about him. he’s frequently wrong and stuck in the old ways, but still feels justified and a sense of pride. jj rejects her roots (she doesnt do it well, but at least she’s vocal ab her disappointment w her childhood) but rossi frequently reminisces ab “the good ol days” whether its back in his early bau days w gideon, back in his days w the military, back in his days w his mob buddies, or back when he was growing up in general. jj doesnt like to admit she’s wrong bc she’s defensive and has an inferiority complex. rossi doesnt like to admit he’s wrong bc, more often than not, he still thinks he’s right

personally i agree w u bc i find jj way more annoying. ive also grown weary of the fandom pretending she’s an angel when i have yet to hear anyone point out any redeeming qualities she may have (spoiler alert: there are none). meanwhile i dont really hear anyone talk positively ab rossi… not that he deserves it at all aldhakhd its just makes it more obvious that people like jj for no reason. ultimately it is just a matter of opinion, i just dont think many people bother defending rossi so its less irritating when he clearly does something wrong. pointing out jj’s flaws feels like an uphill battle against people plugging their ears, digging their heels, and pretending she’s perfect.

ultimately rossi is just a goofy old man set in his ways, and its hard to blame him for that. hate to use such an overused word, but he’s just a boomer aldhskhc and on the boomer scale he’s not that bad akdhkshd. but jj is young. part of being young is learning to grow from your mistakes. she’s not even willing to admit she makes any. i think thats why its harder for me to forgive her akdhskh which may not be fair: rossi gets the “he doesnt know any better” excuse from the “cant teach an old dog new tricks” cliche (as problematic as it is). jj is far more stubborn and abrasive, which is less forgivable when she’s still supposed to be growing as a person. she’s stunting her own growth and idk if she could ever admit it

[lover-of-trash-and-people]

shadow and bone rewatch s1e6 while drinking mid-range scotch

I wish I have a face that is as unlined and pretty as Ben Barnes' when I'm 39

Arken you dirty dirty liar

the face Alek is making at his lies that he knows are lies firstly because he knows the art of lying so well and also because he can read people very well

okay Ivan is kind of a bad bitch with his smirk at Arken's lies

alek's eyes narrowing and his little smile when Arken says 'im an entertainer' bitch I love this show

*grabs hand, pulls up sleeve, and discovers Arken's hand is full of marks indicating successful passages through the fold* 'well, that is certainly entertaining' I love this man with all my heart

him screaming is so fucking hot, is that weird for me to say

Nina being the Darkling's spy is quite interesting

Ben giving the Darkling crazy eyes when Arken owns up to his guilt is so cool

also wtf is Arken a fool trying to negotiate with possibly the strongest man in the world

kind of loved the darkness literally eating him

also love Alina learning to use her powers better when she is alone than when she is with anyone else, wish we got to see the cut in this season as per the books, ah can't have everything I guess

the camera pan to Jesper's gun at his side, amazing

god Jessie is literally so beautiful I need to see her bring Alina to the peak of her power so bad

netflix you better renew this series to let the plot run to its completion

HOW THE FUCK DID THEY CAST THE CROWS SO PERFECTLY

INEJ FUCKING TREMBLING JUST THE TINIEST BIT AS SHE BOWS SLIGHTLY TO ALINA SGSHSBSJJSJSSJ MY TWO QUEENS

'And where is my Summoner?' my little Darklina heart ouchie I really wish you hadn't used and manipulated her like this Alek it was incredibly fucked up especially considering you actually caught feelings

'Ivan and I won't fail you' oh Fedyor my baby, my angel, you don't deserve what is coming

Helnik literally recreating Titanic lmao stop this is a joke

I too would jump off the raft if I came to consciousness to see a gorgeous woman with magical powers with her hand on my back

omg but why is ryevost so pretty though

'I know exactly how she felt. The King's soldiers treated me the same way... I'm not myself today.' why must you do this to me, why must you fuel my darklina soulmates agenda idiocy

I don't quite think I have a problem with the Zoya Darkling relationship as much as I have a problem with the line they chose to reveal it to use with.

my drink's over and I don't know if I should have another, considering that it's 7 am

the tenderness with which he looks at Zoya and takes her hand and then when he says 'I shall relax when I have Alina' makes me believe more that the man that is reduced to tears time and again in front of Alina could in fact be the master manipulator I know him to be

god I can't wait for Zoya's character arc

'I speak six languages, it's part of my job' why is Nina literally the fucking coolest

Alina blinding the oprichniki was so hot, I can't wait to see more of her power and her ruthlessness

I know I've said it before but good god is Jessie Mei Li gorgeous

HER LITTLE SMILE AMONGST ALL THE PANIC AS SOON AS SHE SEES MAL, THE AUDACITY OF THIS SHOW TO MAKE ME FEEL THIS WAY

THE SCORE COMING IN AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, THEIR HANDS MEETING, HER SMILE AGAIN DHDHSBSNSNSNSNAN IM IN PAIN

REALLY?! YOU'RE GONNA GO DIRECTLY FROM MALINA TO HELNIK WITH NO CONCERN FOR MY HEART?

I simply cannot get over Calahan's accent lmao it's really funny

'im not afraid of you' he says to the insanely gorgeous girl with magic

HIM HANGING HIS HEAD IN DEFEAT TO INDICATE NINA HAS MADE VALID POINTS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I CAN'T BREATHE

'You're just a man. Like all the others.' she says and then forgets her train of thought looking at him as he strips. god I love this

not sleeping all night and then scotch is not a good idea, I think

'I promise not to ravish you' 'I hate the way you talk' her hand on his chest, his hand gripping hers, my fucking heart feels like it's about to explode

good god these shooting locations and sets are so beautiful

Alina throwing the flask at Mal and Mal going 'OI!' I fucking can't, I guess I am a

simp for childhood friends to lovers, give me more of that banter and childhood friend energy, I am thriving

wow it literally seems like they took book! Mal sl*tshaming book! Alina and made show! Alina sl*tshame show! Mal, hmm, interesting

'They would have split us up!' MAL'S LITTLE SMILE AT THIS, and the 'You wrote me letters?' Mal's nod, the Malina yearning stare, the Malina hug, 'thank you for finding me' 'always. I'll always find you.' NO MALINA YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE MADE ME ABSOLUTELY FUCKING FERAL

I understand they had to split time between my ravkan babies and the crows and that is why there were several aspects that were sort of not reflected on enough but Alina's training at the Little Palace, Alina's cut, Mal's personality, a teensy bit of backstory for the crows, maybe one lockpicking scene from my boy Kaz

random note: we have far too many idols and paintings and pictures and whatnot of Hindu deities in our house apart from the specially designed temple (we are Hindus, so maybe it's not that weird but it's a little weird)

Kaz's cane is a literal star, it's so beautiful my heart wants to explode

'Why would Heleen get the Crow Club?' *literally fucking gets up and walks aways instead of answering the fucking question* I LITERALLY CAN'T BREATHE I'M LOSING MY MIND

'I know that voice' WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE ME FIGHT FOR PLATONIC SHIPS IN FANDOMS

'We won't starve' omg get you someone who packs food for you when you go on the run together hiding from your ex who wants to capture you and use your powers as a weapon against your consent

Mal looking surprised at her summoning sunlight, Alina looking cautiously at him waiting for him to disapprove or run for the hills in fear or smth like that, 'I'm sorry it took me this long to see you... But I see you now' my dumb little shipper trash heart ouch

they really said we're gonna feed you this part asian couple as the protagonists in this show in 2021 and guess what I'm eating it's really tasty I'm very satisfied as a south asian

NINA'S LITTLE SMILE WHEN MATTHIAS WAKES UP WITH HIS ARM AROUND HER

'I can feel how much you hate sleeping next to me' 👀👀👀 BITCH SAID IMMA SPILL THE TEA AND THEN SHE DID

it's 8 am and guess what I'm getting another drink my parents have c*vid and are in govt qu*r*ntine centres there is nobody to supervise or stop me

I too say 'Why do you have to say things like that?' to my pretty crush when she flirts with me

Nina smiling at Matthias bragging about his conservative ways is my aesthetic

'No, it's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall and yet, oh, there you stand.' MY FUCKING QUEEN

Matthias laughing uncontrollably at Nina saying something which isn't even that funny is a whole ass vibe

Kaz Brekker saying 'The Black General' ooh fuck yeah

YESSSS STEP OUT OF THAT CARRIAGE ALL SEXY BLACK GENERAL

isn't alcohol supposed to like kill germs? well, the amount in my system definitely will

I love my crows so much (always but this time particularly for setting that alarm in the stolen carriage)

ooh Polina recognising Inej by the knife yesss let's go writers

this Ivan Jesper showdown is all I needed from life and yet did not know about

Ivan taking off his cloak was, um, sexier than I wanted it to be

I just realised how thirsty I am going to sound in this post

'Has no one told you that keftas are Fabrikator-made and resistant to bullets, hmm?' 'Oh, I do love a challenge' LITERALLY EVERYTHING

im sorry to be pointing out flaws in a perfect show and adaptation but the line delivery on 'You robbed me of my brother, now I'll rob you of your life' from Polina was kind of weak

'You're a-' *gets knocked out with the back of a gun* LMAO we love the hints

got excited at the prospect of kaz v. zoya until I realised they will not be letting the opportunity of kaz v. darkling pass up

my goodness is Amita Suman a splendid actress

I AM NOT KIDDING WHEN I TELL YOU I SQUEALED WHEN I SAW DARKLES EMERGE OUT OF THE SHADOWS IN FRONT OF MY BABY BOY KAZ

THERE BEING ACTUAL FEAR OR ATLEAST DOUBT ON KAZ'S FACE, THE LITTLE BACK STEPS AS

THE DARKLING WALKS TOWARDS HIM, AAAAH I CAN'T

THE DARKLING STOPPING AT KAZ SAYING 'SHE FLED ON HER OWN' AND THE HINT OF TEARS THAT WE SEE IN HIS EYES

'IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR SHE WASN'T INTERESTED IN BEING A CAPTIVE ANYMORE' YOU TELL HIM, KING

*ACTUAL FUCKING TEARS IN THE DARKLING'S EYES AS THE SHADOWS APPROACH*

NOT ME YOWLING LIKE A HYENA THAT THIS CHILD OUTSMARTED THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN EXISTENCE WITH A FAKE MAGIC TRICK

'Are you sure you added enough cloves?' literally warranting a wide ass smile from my queen Alina making my entire fucking day

for some reason, no matter how much I push it from my mind, Ben Barnes dressed up as the Darkling, dancing to 'push it' keeps coming to mind, it's absolutely ridiculous

I got somehow distracted with interviews but good things came out of that as it gave my body the time for the booze to kick in

and I would just like to say that I love Leigh for all she has given me

Alina is so fucking compassionate, I have no much love for her. I can feel her guilt and her sorrow as Mal talks of Mikhail and Dubrov

don't particularly like how the stag plotline is woven in, could have been executed better

'You're afraid you might start to like me?' *flaps furs like a bird's wings in frustration*

'I DO like you' my fucking heart you idiots

the sexual tension is so palpable and the moment is so intimate I simply cannot

OMG SHE FUCKING FELL

that moment where you think he might let her fall despite having read the books and he doesn't and he tells her his name I- <3

YOU DARE TRANSITION FROM A HELNIK SCENE TO A KANEJ SCENE YOU REALLY HAVE NO MERCY FOR MY HEART HUH

people have talked about this endlessly but Freddie's little jaw tic after he says Inej because Inej is wounded and he can't physically bring himself to help her I fucking cannot

THE MUSIC PICKING UP AS KAZ LOOKS TO THE DARKLING'S CARRIAGE I CAN'T WITH THIS SHOW ANYMORE

and now for one of my favorite scenes in television and cinematic history, David Kostyk throwing a book at Jesper Fahey without even knowing who he is merely because he opens the door of his carriage and says hello to him before getting knocked out by Kaz Brekker while trying to run away

Immediately followed by another, the scene with David Kostyk raising his finger to put forward his point in front of the Darkling and the Darkling trying to let him know he doesn't have to before obliging is one of my favourite scenes in the world

also sir please stop being devastatingly attractive in your glorious appearance with your face and your black kefta and cloak because all that comes to mind is Ayesha Erotica's Emo Boy and I'm afraid that is terribly inappropriate.

'No, you look great.' *literally looks down from embarrassment or blushing* MALINA RIGHTS?

THE LOOK ON THE DARKLING'S FACE BEFORE HE SAYS 'NO ORDINARY TRACKER, NO ORDINARY GIRL' BITCH IM OUT OF BREATH

'ORPHANS OF KERAMZIN, REUNITED.' 'ADORABLE.' HE FUCKING SNEERED IRL I FUCKING CANNOT

GOD IT'S SO GOOD

[s4ijoh]

every time i see someone mischaracterize tooru it instantly triggers my fight or flight response.

it is BEYOND ME!! how yall are always so ready to demonize this man. you will pick on his every flaw and blow it out of proportion.

i mean im not the oikawa police: you are entitled to your own opinion but... fuck you mean he has tons of fangirls therefore he is “disloyal” & has “commitment issues?” how does that add up, am i missing something? did you watch the same shit i did? to go down that road i will also take the opportunity to say: i can’t even understand the whole situation surrounding the fandom and portraying oikawa as a womanizer like, where did that come from? once again, is it because of the fangirls? im about to pull the drama queen card and ask: lets put it this way and say we are talking about a girl… would you feel comfortable calling her a slut because she is surrounded by men? yeah, thought so. how does having a bunch of girls after him instantly turn him into a fuckboy or whatever. is it because he doesnt avoid them and is actually kind enough to engage in conversation with them? i mean as far as im concerned, it only shows he has other people’s feelings into considerantion and he is not that much of a douche. after all, he didn’t have to go out of his way to talk to them, he doesn’t owe these girls anything… he could just walk past them and go.

and im not about to dismiss the whole kageyama situation because im not fogetting about how it seems to always be an arguement as to why people hate him: what is it with your hyperfixation with it? i mean, you can even argue that oikawa was going to slap the ball out of kageyama’s hands, right? its not like he actually hit him for you to know he was aiming at his face… im not even about to get started with the whole discourse on how he was just a child back then and eventually he grew to understand his mistake and apologize to kageyama. plus lets not forget how oikawa wasn’t in the best headspace back then, im not saying it justifies his actions but people don’t act like themselves under stress, they let it get to their heads especially when theyre already fragile. oikawa was bound to collapse, kageyama just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong moment. ya’ll keep acting all high and mighty as if you’ve never snapped under pressure too or as if you never let your emotions get the best of you (+ as if you were never an immature child who has never done any wrong but i wont even go down that road) can't you at least feel the slightest bit of sympathy for him? i mean, i think we can all understand and relate to the feeling of hopelessness and anger upon seeing your hard work go to waste. are you really that cold or dense that you can't understand the build up that lead to his outburst? can't you feel sorry for how tragic his story is?

also, i wont sit here and watch you reduce oikawa to a whiny little bitch. if you don’t like his character, i respect that, but we have grown past the need to say you hate oikawa because he is “whiny” at least come up with a good argument lmao. before you come in my inbox, yes he whines quite a bit, whenever he is with his friends - as a reaction to when his friends make fun of him, he does it as a joke if you will, i dont even consider it to be a character trait, let alone the most outstanding trait. ya’ll dont seem to make a fuss out of iwaizumi calling oikawa names why are you making a fuss out of oikawa complaining? (you all dont seem to take it seriously and go as far as to say iwaizumi is mean why would you say oikawas whiny - yes im aware iwa does it as a joke and im sure oikawa does too) on a different note, lets not forget how, besides all his struggles and insecurities, he never played the victim, never complained but worked harder instead. lets not forget how he owns up to his bad decisions and never tried to justify the mistakes he made (yes, this includes the situation with kageyama, he reckons he made a mistake, regrets it yet you don't see him giving excuses for himself to neither iwa or kageyama), and he never once used his injury as an excuse to slack off. on his last match, against karasuno, when he fell on his bad knee you didnt even see him wince before he got back on his feet and ran back on court to continue to deliver his best performance, lets especially not forget how he handled that.

this is my opinion, yall keep doing your thing and portraying him as you wish i just needed to get this off my chest. yes, he is a flawed character i can’t argue with that: yes, maybe his ego is huge and he acts overly confident (although being confident is not something that should be considered a negative trait, call him cocky if you will or whatever) despite it being a defense mechanism it doesnt dismiss that he acts that way but i dont understand what is it about his character that makes you all so hyper focused on his negative traits alone. as soon as someone shows their flaws is that all you care about and completely disregard his remaining qualities. he has more depth to him, there is more to his character than his imperfections and mistakes.

+ again, you’re entitled to your own opinion and have every right to come up with your own hcs but… i wont just let you sit there and defame him + ruin his character. just say you don’t like him and go instead of completely distorting his image to justify your opinion. because yes, the fandoms perception of oikawa is ruining his character.

[oswald-privileges]

Okay so this is a special little bitching session just for me bc im mad about personal attacks masquarading as intellectual criticism for a video essay that's no better or worse than your standard youtube fare. press j to skip

Sarah Zed hasn't "decided this thing I don't like is cringe and have to justify my dislikes on spurious social justice grounds". She's describing how opinions/discussions on them have changed from 'broadly uncritical delight' to 'A strong element of mixed disappointment, personal betrayal, and/or jumping on the cringe bandwagon', and examining why that shift might have occurred- the problems of "inclusivity" as a brand, individual behaviours, conflicting demands both intra-fandom and between community and making a living, a change in quality of the material that brought them their original success, and reactions to the prevailing community trends.

The first hour and a half of the video isn't just "a history of their podcasts, the various shows that have split off, and a plot summary of The Adventure Zone". It's providing context for those who aren't familar with the family/franchise, as well as running commentary on how opinions on them have shifted, presented in chronological order for the sake of clarity. It is both a history and a lens through which to view it. Is it the ur-example of perfectly excecuted academic format without flaw? No! The format she chooses to use brings with it an obligation to entertain as well as make an argument. This can undermine the ability of the content to stand up to purely academic scrutiny. She's also doing this for a living- she probably does deliberately pick "a topic about a thing that is popular" to discuss, in order to get more views! She's operating within a framework that incentivises those things, as well as longer videos (which points to a larger issue impacting content creators across the board). This certainly impacts the brevity of her arguments- she's no What's So Great About That. What it doesn't do is totally remove all credibility of her argument at all.

She doesn't claim that Travis is "an attention-seeking, performative ally". She examines the evidence that could be used to support that claim, and decides that there's some validity to it. You do not have to agree with her assessment. She also brings up arguments as to why that claim might get so much attention- a contingent of people taking anything they find obnoxious about a person they already dislike and using it to support their feelings, ablism directed at somebody who is very open about their struggles with mental health and how it can negatively affect their behaviour, and the fact that someone being more present online makes them more accessible, and therefore has a higher potential of being attacked.

She isn't someone who "constantly brags about how she was on the debate team in high school". She did one (1) video on it, and brings it up occasionally in other videos as a joke and/or to give context to how she engages with a topic.

(I'm not going to engage with the claims of harassment bc for all I know, those claims might be perfectly justified and accurate. I don't track Sarah Zed or either of the "two friends" on their social media, and I'm not about to start.)

[nerdybookworm25]

Rambling about Katara and Zutara

Ok so I’m going to kind of just put my two cents out there on this stuff. I joined the ATLA fandom this past summer and just started watching TLOK (my brother and I just finished Book 2 yesterday). This is a hot debate and I just want to ramble on about my opinions on this stuff. A lot of this will focus on Katara’s perspective because I can understand her better than Zuko or Aang due to personal experience. Im just... gonna... get into it now...

I’ll give you some background on me so you guys can understand where I’m coming from. I’m a 15 year old girl with abandonment issues caused by multiple deaths of close friends and family at a young age (my uncle when I was 4, a grandmother like figure when I was 7, my dad’s mum when I was 9 or 10, my great grandma when I was 11, a close friend of my dad’s when I was 13 and many others). I also am the Mum Friend (my friends literally call me “Mum”). I’m the caregiver of the group- the glue, the harmonizer, the therapist, the teacher, the good advice giver etc. (This stuff actually hot me in trouble as a kid and it kind of messed me up). My friends who have seen Avatar have compared me to Katara on multiple occasions and say I’ve got the temperament of a waterbender. You can kind of see where I’d relate, you know?

I do ship Zutara. My brother turned to me during the Book 1: Water- Episode 9~ The Waterbending Scroll and asked, “What if Zuko becomes a good guy and ends up with Katara?” From then on I was on the Zutara hill and I’ll probably die there. It limited ships that I loved from childhood and I thought it would hav been really cool- it would have fit the themes of the show, it would have been a cool thing to see grow and blossom, etc. It had nothing to do with Katara and Zuko being attractive at all- not in the slightest. It also wasn’t me projecting onto Katara. I didn’t really care to notice any major similarities between us until Book Three: Fire- Episode 7~ The Runaway. It was this exchange that changed Katara from my favorite character to someone I could heavily relate to.

Toph: [Sarcasically.] Oh really, Mom? Or what are you gonna do? Send me to my room?

Katara: I wish I could!

Toph: well you can’t! Because you’re not my mom, and you’re not their mom! [Extends her arm at Aang and Sokka, who are sitting on a ledge.]

Katara: I never said I was!

Toph: No, but you act like it! You think it’s your job to boss everyone around, but it’s not! You’re just a regular kid like the rest of us! Stop acting like you can tell me what to do! I can do whatever I want!

I remember bursting out laughing when I heard this. My brother asked me what was up and I paused it and explained that that was a lecture I revived so regularly when I was younger. It really really ended up messing me up. It’s not like I tried to mother anyone- it just happened. I wasn’t controlling it. I didn’t notice I was doing it and I got in trouble. Now things are different and I’ve embraced the fact that I am the designated Mum Freind. Still working on getting over being told off about it in therapy though. Anyway, I think you now can understand where I’m coming from with this “analysis.” Now I’m going to get into it (for real this time lol).

I think I’m going to start with the caregiver stuff. Katara’s mother died when she was very young. It was a very traumatic death. We can infer that Katara blamed herself for this death because the Southern Raiders were looking for the last waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe- her. That’s a lot for an 8 year old to try to process. Here’s the kicker: I don’t think she ever fully processed it until after Book 3: Fire- Episode 16~ The Southern Raiders. She almost immediately helped her grandmother take up the roll as the woman of the house. She probably didn’t feel like she had anyone to talk to about what she was feeling however true or false that’s what she most likely perceived this to be. When Hakoda leaves for war with all of the men of the tribe, Kanna might be the matriarch and help raise Sokka and Katara but even Sokka admits that Katara became a pseudo-mother for him. Taking care of others doesn’t leave a lot of time to deal with your own issues. Sometimes it feels easier to help others face their demons than face your own.

We continue to see Katara become the glue of the Gaang as the series progresses. She keeps them together in the Si Wong desert after Aang leaves her, Sokka, Toph, and Momo. She’s always the one cooking, cleaning, and mending not because she wants to, but because she knows no one else will do it and it needs to be done. We see her try to coax Toph into helping out around camp when she firsts joins the Gaang. It doesn’t work and this conflict continues for most of Book 2 and the beginning of Book 3. All of this time, she’s making it a point to take care of everyone. When the adults show up after the Boiling Rock, she’s still the one making the dinner and probably does a lot of the other chores as well (except for tea making- this will come into play later).

There’s a running joke about Katara being “Momtara” within the ATLA fandom (more the Zutaraians in the fandom than anything else but it’s a pretty well known concept). We continue to see this when the Gaang is on Ember Island. She brings them all drink during training sessions, watches said training sessions in case someone gets hurt and they need her, wrangles Sokka to the best of her ability, and just generally looks out for everyone regardless of age gap. It’s her natural instinct to be motherly. She retains this quality even after she finds Yon Rha. (Getting closure on her mother’s death doesn’t mean losing what had become a major personality trait).

Let’s unpack that now, shall we? Kya dies and Katara thinks it’s her fault. She doesn’t really talk to anyone about it. A few years later, Hakoda leaves to fight in the war. The Southern Water Tribe recives no letters or news about what happened to their warriors at all. Katara felt like she lost another parent. She nearly says as much during Book 3: Fire- Episode 1~ The Awakening.

Hakoda: You’re taking about me too, aren’t you?

Katara: How could you leave us, Dad? [She attempts to wipe away the tears.] I mean, I know we had Gran-Gran, and she loved us, but we were just so lost without you.

Hakoda moves to comfort her as she turns away.

Hakoda: I’m so sorry, Katara.

Katara: [Embraces Hakoda.] I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I’m so sad and angry and hurt!

The thing that sets off this exchange is Aang running away for the third time since Katara has known him (the fourth time in Aang’s lifetime). The other times he ran were when confronted by the rude fisherman in Book 1: Water- Episode 12~ The Storm, then again during Book 2: Earth- Episode 11~ The Desert. Aang has a, for lack of a better word, chronic running away problem. I’m not mad at him for it. It makes him an interesting character and shows that he too has flaws (even if they aren’t always addressed but that’s an issue with Bryke). When Aang flys away after waking up during 3.1, Katara is distraught.

Katara: He left.

Hakoda: What?

Katara: Aang. He just took his glider and disappeared. He has this ridiculous notion that he has to save the world alone, that it’s all his responsibility.

Hakoda: Maybe that’s his way of being brave.

Katara: Its not brave, it’s selfish and stupid! We could be helping him and I know the world needs him, but doesn’t he know how much we need him, too? How can he just leave us behind?

Katara feels abandoned by Aang. This is completely understandable. She has every right to be angry at him and feel sad that he flew away. He comes back every time but I feel like if I were in her position, as much as I’d hope my friend would come back and I’d tell everyone that I knew he would, I’d still be afraid that there was an off chance that he doesn’t. This is a natural human reaction to this situation. People were seemingly constantly fading in and out of Katara’s life and that just wasn’t good for her mental health. It couldn’t have been. This also raises the question of if someone has a very serious fear of abandonment, would it be healthy to be in a romantic relationship with someone who consistently leaves? Personally I don’t think so. Be friends? Sure. Date? I don’t know. It doesn’t quite sit right with me.

Katara probably feels abandoned by Zuko too. During the Book 2 Finale: Crossroads of Destiny, Katara and Zuko bond in the crystal catacombs under Ba Sing Se. They relate over their shared fear of being abandoned by those they love (yes I think Zuko has abandonment issues too- among other issues/fears). When he turns his back on her, she doesn’t live him (obviously). She has cared about him enough up to that point to offer to use what is arguably her most powerful possession to heal his scar. She cares. Because she cares about him then, she is downright livid when he betrays her. (Of course the difference between Zuko and Aang with this is Zuko leaves once and comes back and he doesn’t leave again. Aang leaves and comes back over and over and over again).

Katara: I thought you had changed!

Zuko: I have changed!

Katara carries the weight of his betrayal on her mind until she and Zuko go on their life changing field trip to confront the man who killed Katara’s mother. This was her time to finally get closure. She had probably had these feelings bottled up for 6 years and didn’t act on them. When she finally had the chance, her best friend and brother tried to stop her. She lashed out.

Katara: We’re going to find the man who took my mother from me.

Sokka pauses and stands up, surprised.

Zuko: Sokka told me the story of what happened. I know who did it and I know how to find him.

Aang: Um ... and what exactly do you think this will accomplish?

Katara: [Shakes her head in dismay.] Ugh, I knew you wouldn’t understand. [Begins to walk away.]

Aang: Wait! Stop! I do understand. You’re feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Appa? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?

Zuko: She needs this, Aang. This is about getting closure and justice.

Aang: I don’t think so. I think this is about getting revenge.

Katara: [Angrily.] Fine, maybe it is! Maybe it’s what he deserves!

Aang: Katara, you sound like Jet.

Katara: Its not the same! Jet attacked the innocent. This man, he’s a monster.

Sokka: Katara, she was my mother, too, but I think Aang might be right.

Katara: Then you didn’t love her the way I did!

Sokka: [Hurt.] Katara!

Katara gets a lot of flack for this interaction. She says Sokka didn’t love their mother like she did and Sokka I’d understandably hurt. It doesn’t excuse what she said, but people do lash out when they are feeling a lot of emotions and they get defensive when they feel like they’re being ganged up on or attacked (I myself am guilty of this sort of thing). What Katara said was wrong but I have no doubt in my mind that she didn’t apologize to Sokka when he and the rest of the Gaang arrive on Ember Island later in the episode. She is seen walking over to him after she hugs Zuko.

Zuko and Katara go after Yon Rha anyway. For once in her life, Katara is feeling emotions and no one is trying to get her to stop or to push them aside. She doesn’t have to be constantly taking care of someone so she can focus on herself. Katara trusts Zuko more than I think she realizes. I mean she trusts him with a lot and he follows through on a lot of unspoken/subconscious agreements and promises.

Zuko is looking out for her. Zuko has her back. Zuko is allowing her to feel all of these emotions and work them out of her own accord. Zuko isn’t telling her to feel one way or another. Zuko isn’t going to judge her for whatever she decides to do when they find Yon Rha or what she does in order for them to get to that point. Zuko ensures she gets the closure she feels she needs.

When he sees her bloodbend, he’s surprised, but he isn’t appalled. When he thinks she’s going to run Yon Rha through with a giant shard of ice, he doesn’t try to stop her. He lets her be her. He sees a dark side of her in a way that no one else in the Gaang has seen. It’s strangely intimate. Clearly it has enough of an impact to make her forgive him. She knows he isn’t going to abandon betray her and her friend again.

Once they become friends, and even before that, Zuko starts to help out with small things here and there. We see him making tea for all of the kids at dinner. He tells jokes to make them laugh. He teaches Aang firebending. He goes with Sokka to the Boiling Rock to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed or in a prison cell for the rest of his life. With all of this, “Dadko” is born.

If you strip away Zuko’s anger, he just becomes the awkward-turtleduck-first-time-father that we all know and love. There’s more balance in the Gaang with him there to help and become an “authority” figure with Katara. They become the parents of the other members of the Gaang. It’s an interesting shift in their relationship- enemies to unsteady acquaintances to enemies to frenemies to friends. They’re close enough that they show small signs of physical intimacy and they tease each other.

Also if you look close enough when the Gaang walks into the “seedy Earth Kingdom tavern,” Zuko and Katara appear to be holding hands and are near each other from then until the finale episodes. They are clearly just great friends by the end of the show. I mean Zuko also takes a bolt of lightning to the chest for her...

Zuko doesn’t leave when his life gets difficult- not after he joins the Gaang. He made that mistake once and he won’t make it again. Aang was always part of the Gaang but continued to leave (again, I’m not mad at him for it but he never seems to realize the effect it has on the people around him- especially Katara). Zuko also doesn’t all but forget Katara and continue to run around the world. When Zuko fully decides to stick around, you best believe he is sticking around.

This works really well for Zutara. They’re both each other’s rock. They support each other and help each other in times of trouble. Do they argue? Yes. Is that a normal part of a healthy relationship- romantic or otherwise? Yes. Do they take care of and look out for each other while also not smothering or suffocating each other? Yes. I don’t know about you but this sounds stable and healthy to me. They balance each other out so well (I’m not going to get too into that because if you’re reading this you probably already know with the whole Tui and La, Yin and Yang, Oma and Shu thing).

Now, this is a big deal for me and it makes me furious, but Katara is forgotten by history. She has no statue. She is reduced to a housewife and healer- things our wonderful water feminist was afraid of becoming as an adult. I mean this girl

This girl

THIS GIRL

She becomes nothing but a housewife stuck in a healing hut who gets forgotten by the world and left behind by her family just... let’s all of that happen? Yeah that’s pretty unrealistic. I think about this frequently and with starting TLOK I have formed even more opinions and have a little thingy (I don’t know what to call it) for what happened to her.

Kya II is everything Teenage Katara wanted to do and be before settling down. Old Katara is everything Teenage Katara was so afraid of become reduced to/becoming.

It’s an interesting way to think about it and I thought I’d share. Now if Katara was Fire Lady, she wouldn’t end up like that. She’d have the power to change the world and continue to fight for what she believed in. She could have helped with the trail with Yakone. Katara has so much potential to not be forgotten or brushed aside and somehow it happened. It makes me so sad. The potential Zutara had to make sure Katara had a genuine legacy was right there at their finger tips and they didn’t use it. What a shame. What a shame.

With all of the things I’ve talked about, I just feel like Zutara would have been better for Katara than Kataang was. I think that’s more Bryke not developing the relationship well enough and instead choosing to be sloppy and selfish in the way they structured the relationship. Yeah this is my rambling on about the issue. Hope it was mildly entertaining! If you want me to write something about how Zuko would have benefited from Zutara, let me know!

[theregoesthemaddestwoman]

that tweet from Alana you posted made me giggle. I’m not going to roast the second season to shit yet (it’s not even over, and the ending can certainly influence how I feel) but I think regardless of the context or if she was mostly joking, that tweet is very telling? I haven’t seen a single person rip Dickinson season 2 to shreds, but have seen a LOT of rightfully so angry people who wish the second season stayed truer to season one with countless things. humor, the poems, a sense of female agency, the heavily publicized Emily/Sue relationship, etc. again, I know she probably wasn’t serious but come on!! the complaints are valid and if she really doesn’t take constructive criticism into account then season three is just going to be a repeat of all the things missing from season 1 which people so desperately want back.

oops i didn’t mean to leave this in my inbox for so long. my b anon! but i very much agree that the tweet alana posted is quite telling. season two has begun to redeem itself with the poems being on the screen again and emily acknowledging that she wants her confidence/writing ability back but the first five-ish episode still were not good (in my eyes at least). and posting a tweet like that is very damaging to a writer-fandom relationship. which i believe is an important part of every show and can make or break viewership depending on how it’s handle. (im thinking of the writer of the amazon show the wilds who has a great relationship with fans and continues to keep us exciting and thinking about season 2!) bottomline: if you can’t accept criticism or just general negative feedback from the people who watch your show, you’re gonna lose those people - and it’s usually thoae who care deepest about a show who point out it’s flaws.

[iridescentides]

🔥 + any hot takes/thoughts/unpopular opinions about Glee, A:tLA, and Umbrella Academy bc you reblog a lot of them and I love those shows

AH thank you so so much for sending this! i will try to limit myself bc i have a lot of opinions okay

Glee

i could go on and on about glee bc there are 12 billion things to say (and the show is super long). but i think my most controversial opinions are:

i dont ship finchel or klaine. at all.

i can explain. i have a love/hate (but mostly hate) relationship with rachel as a character. sometimes i feel bad for her bc its clear shes struggling and insecure and shes a flawed female character which we need to appreciate. BUT she is just so unbearably annoying, selfish, and awful to everyone around her, and season 5 was the point where i finally made a decision. i dont like her. similarly, i hate finn bc he is overglorified by the other characters on the show, without any actions supporting it. they all say that finn is their leader, that hes the nicest guy ever, and praise him like a hero when in reality, he calls people slurs, outs them in the hallway, cheats on his girlfriends, and just overall acts like a douche towards anyone he doesnt immediately understand or relate to or wanna fuck. they all SAY hes amazing, but his actions just do not support that at all, and thats bad writing imo. i think because those characters are awful, their relationship is a colossal mess, and i think if i had to choose a definitive least favorite point for them, it would be when finn beat brody up for dating rachel. like what did the show want us to appreciate about that??? thats not romantic at all!!! thats disgusting and a sign that finn needs help. physically threatening people who date your exes? who does that??? and we’re supposed to think its cute bc he says “my future wife.” mhm. sure.

i hate klaine bc while i love kurt, i think blaine is awful to him. blaine relies heavily on having a sense of power over kurt, and this is even openly explored in one of the later episodes, but not resolved well imo. from the moment they met and got together, blaine was using his power and standing as head of the warblers to subtly make kurt feel lesser. he liked feeling like he held some sort of power in the relationship. then, when he goes to new york and gains weight and thinks of himself as less attractive, he gets angry and jealous of kurt bc he wants to be the “hot” one in the relationship, and always considered himself as such. if you are comparing yourself to your partner in that way, please break up with them and learn how to feel complete by yourself. blaines insecurities repeatedly fucked up their relationship, and i never have and never will ship them. the fact that they last minute decided to get married, ignoring their glaring issues with living together and teamwork in general, due to social pressure to crash brittanas wedding was absolutely ridiculous and a bullshit wrap up to their story.

A:TLA

okay so i know everyone is having fun rn joking about how “zukka nation has risen” but i honestly dont see it and never will. i dont get where the fandom has just decided this year to prioritize a ship that gets no real exposure, no buildup, and basically a two episode arc in terms of trust and teamwork. i recently saw a post talking about how theres not much fan content for mai/ty lee, who have an actual solid friendship (and ty lee literally risked her life to save mai), but theres tons of fans pushing zukka and acting like its THE ship we should all be shipping, showing the general bias fandoms have for mlm over wlw. something to think about. ive been zutara trash since i was 11 years old, so needless to say, i would pick them over zukka any day.

piggybacking off of the weird superiority complex people have for shipping zukka, i have always been annoyed by sokka stans in general? just to be clear, i love sokka, and i dont think there is anything wrong with loving him! but i HATE how people who consider sokka their favorite character act like theyre special for that? people are always crying that hes “underappreciated” and that hes so much smarter and more capable than anyone else. and i personally have not seen a single person criticize sokka, when ive seen at least small bits of hate thrown at each character. my point here is, loving sokka is a super popular opinion to have, and literally everyone loves sokka! so when people act like theyre the only one who truly appreciates sokka it really bugs me bc like. it truly doesnt make you special. everyone has a different favorite atla character but i pretty much only see sokka stans with this odd superiority complex, acting like theyre so rare for loving a super loveable character.

TUA

idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not, but the show would be unwatchable without klaus. hes pretty much everyones favorite character, we all see ourselves in him and we root for him and we laugh at him, and while i agree with the sentiment that he gets a disproportionate amount of attention for how ultimately irrelevant he is to the plot, i literally would not care about tua at all without him.

on the flipside of that, i want to love allison so badly, but she gets no time or attention or development at all. her main traits are inc*st and missing her child. she gets nothing beyond that, and we dont know as much about her as the rest of the siblings. it hurts my heart to see the only woman of color in the family being treated so obviously like a side character in an ensemble cast. im really hoping we see more of her in s2.

thank you so much for sending these!!! i obviously love these shows a lot, im just picky about these things.

Send Me a 🔥+ a Topic, and I’ll Tell You My Honest Opinion About It!