#yeah i went on a tangent sorry

[beevean]

While I know Andrew is not perfect, a lot of people are swinging the other pendulum and acting like he's just as evil as Ashley if not more and the real abusive one of the situation or outright downplaying any nice trait he has (or any justified reason for why he acts the way he does)

Like, even if avoiding the consequences of his actions is a primary motivator, he really did feel bad about Killing her as well as Ashley's nonchalant reaction to it and the fact she used Nina's death to blackmail him, most of the venomous words for her are because said death and what she forced him into (which likely carries to how he treats her in high modern day)

Also the fact he knows what guilt w

I've been marinating in TCOAAL analyses, and the takes on both characters are fascinating.

My take is that Ashley is immoral, while Andrew is amoral. There is a difference between the two. The conflict comes from the fact that Andrew is aware of this, he's aware that it's "wrong", and tries very hard to be Ashley's moral compass to compensate. Ashley, ever since she was a kid, was made painfully aware that there was something "wrong" with her, no one except her brother loved her (and even then, who said that he wasn't pretending?), and her reaction was to embrace it.

(I'd really love to talk about their childhood, how Leyley displays behavior that she could have only learned from others, how they seem to have learned the lesson that "bad children don't deserve love" and how they cope with it)

The crux of the matter seems to be... did Andy really feel bad about Nina, or was his primary concern going to jail and being separated from Leyley? Is the trauma that stemmed from the incident from the feeling of guilt and remorse, or because that was the point where he became his sister's plaything and could not escape from her anymore? This seems, from what I've seen, what split the fans.

Rewatching the scene, Andy's first coherent dialogue is all about how the situation looks. "Why would have she clawed the lid if she was there willingly?" "She'll start to rot" "They're gonna know!". This once again hints at how Andy's first concern is "can this be traced back to us?". But to be fair, Leyley was the one who first said "you took off the stick, so it looks like she went there willingly", so he's responding to her.

But then he says "they'll throw me in prison for the rest of my life!" Which is very. Mh :)

Interpretation 1: Andy is being as self-centered as kids are prone to be. Nothing more to look into.

Interpretation 2: Andy only cares about himself and the consequences he's going to suffer. His sister's fate is up in the air. Lowkey implies that Andy didn't care much about her before this mess happened.

Interpretation 3: he genuinely thinks he's the main culprit of this incident. I want to add that this line happens before Leyley starts to hammer into his head that now he's bad and no one will love him anymore :) this would imply that Andy felt actual guilt.

There is probably not a concrete answer as of now. I hope episode 3 has more flashbacks because man they are so fascinating.

Anyway, to get back to the point. Andrew is not "evil". Andrew is a profoundly damaged person who was forced to become the everything of his even more damaged sister. Ashley is the "criminal mind", as it were... but to me, it looks like Andrew is on the same wavelength - remember, Ashley mused to herself that the dead neighbour was "a lot of meat", but Andrew, after the initial shock, immediately started to consider the implicit proposal of eating him. While Ashley wears her heart on her sleeve, is painfully honest, and couldn't care less about what anyone (except her bro) thinks of her anymore, Andrew is profoundly in denial about his own "abnormal" thoughts, and the difference between Decay and Burial is how he decides to accept himself.

Does that make him a better person? Well, he seems to be able to fit in more, at least. He's charming and can seemingly attract girls very easily, much to Ashley's chagrin. Maybe, without Ashley, he'd be able to live a normal life without crimes and all. But again, to me it looks like he lacks a moral compass in general, even though he has a strong sense of guilt and responsibility (which to me stems from being Leyley's sole caretaker since a tender age).

As to him being an abuser... well, he does threaten to slap and backhand Ashley a few times. She even calls him "wifebeater" at one point. Not enough to call him an abuser, but the threat of him becoming physical is always there. He's more than capable of subduing Ashley, when he wants to. Ashley's abuse is much more overt and constant, with her manipulation and guilttrips (and she got physical at least once too), but Andrew calmly choking Ashley and making her make a case for her life... has some implications.

I don't think I'm making sense lol. TCOAAL is a fascinating game that hides all sorts of moral questions underneath its over-the-top tone, and I love it.

[sciderman]

Sometimes i remember a comics moment i randomly came across somewhere, where Sam Wilson mentiones a musical and Steve Rodgers says he doesn't like musicals, to whitch Sam goes "Guess that means you really are straight" and even tho i don't care about Cap America or the Avengers, the moment stuck in me for that quote by Sam. And like....Sci, any ideas if straight men actually don't like musicals or is that bullshit?

actually i think i know more gay men who hate musicals than i know straight men who hate musicals. i've had a drag queen stop me point blank when i was about to sing a barbra streisand song, and i know so many gays who pointedly hate abba. so based on my experience i think the inverse is true. most of the straight men i know are kind of impartial about musicals, but gay men? hate.

my theory is that a lot of gay men don't want to fall into stereotypes, maybe. but thaaaaat's just a theory! a gay theory.

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

Anakin truly set out the goal to marry Padmé as soon as he first laid his eyes on her. He didn't even interact with her that much to come to the conclusion that he wanted to wed her. As soon as they met again 10 years later, he wasted no time and put a ring on that finger. They didn't even take at least a month; they went straight to marriage. Their romance is essentially a Disney fairytale 😅❤️

[alpinelogy]

help your ib post 😭

everytime i see something mention ib in the wild it’s always shocking bc i forget it wasn’t just a personal fever dream

help ib sure does feel like that from start to finish 😭

[cathode-crew]

"'Who watches Hazbin Hotel?' Ummm people who want complex and traumatized antagonists that get redeemed and get a better life :/"

Dragon Ball is right there, guys.

[pynkhues]

Just looked up Edwards and idk, his face looks too KIND for any of those evil Ma men??? But you're right that he does resemble Sam Reid in the jaw so could be our Marquis. Whoever gets cast as Magnus should get tons of makeup to look completely horrifying and unrecognisable.

I don't know why but I think they'll cast an actor in their early 40s for Marius. Looking older but not that much older than AMC Armand (27).

(x)

I actually think that him having a kinder face could potentially work with the Marquis / Lestat's father?

Sam actually talked about it a bit in his interview with Autumn, but they do have a little narrative conundrum to address in that they've aged Lestat up. He's only 21 when he's turned in the books, whereas they've made him 34 in the series and there is the question of where they put those years. As Sam says, there's kind of two options, first is that they have him in Paris for longer, or second is that they have him stuck in the Auvergne with his family for longer, and he thinks the second option makes more sense, and I totally agree.

Lestat is so subjugated and abused by his father and his brothers, but the reason they keep bringing him back every time he tries to leave is because he's the only one who's any good at hunting, and as a result the only one who can keep them afloat. They're aristocrats in title, but they're totally broke and his father as he ages goes completely blind which makes him, in this era, extremely dependent on his children. I think it makes a lot of sense to draw that period out into Lestat's adulthood and to really explore the complexity of the relationship between abuse, responsibility, servitude and perceived shifts in power versus the actual feelings of that. Especially given the context it can offer potentially for Lestat's role in Rue Royale.

It's important too that Lestat hasn't really had a chance to figure out who he is or live for himself yet, because that's not just a vital part of the tragedy of his turning, but also the key catalyst that has Lestat going to the US specifically to create a family for himself. So yeah, I don't know! I think casting someone as the Marquis who has a kind face isn't necessarily a bad thing, because I think it could play really well into the Marquis becoming dependent on Lestat (and Lestat still searching for any sort of acknowledgement from him) as he grows up.

But yes, haha, the description of Magnus in the book is basically body horror between his face being like a white mask set in a jester's grin and his black eyes and only having the two fang teeth, and I'm curious to see how literally they approach that? I wonder if there's a chance they could make him border on a revenant given he stole the dark gift and wasn't actually willingly turned by anyone. It could be an interesting way to explore how different types of turnings create different types of vampires, which is a factor in the books, and obviously something the show's already introduced given 2.01.

I could see them casting someone in their early 40s for Marius, for sure, especially given that's how old he is in the books. I do kiiind of personally see them going a little older though, just because I think they'll want him to look visibly older than both Armand and Lestat. They might get around that though with casting an actor who just has that sort of authoritative presence, or as I've mentioned before, just casting someone tall. Lee Pace has been a fan cast I've been intrigued by and he'd definitely fit the bill with the latter, haha.

[haleigh-sloth]

I feel kinda weird when people are like "Shigaraki is a grown adult and needs to be held accountable even if you feel bad for his child self". Not in a poor little meow meow way. People need to take accountability for causing harm even when it's a result of mental illness. But the manga has always been clear that he didn't develop right? Like it's weird to expect him to shake off years of grooming when he hit 18. This is difficult to put into words without sounding like I am making excuses lol

I mean, you really don't even have to make excuses for him. The story is working toward forgiving him pretty blatantly without the excuses.

It's a story. A story exists to explore ideas. A story like BNHA explores ideas that are based off of our reality, but because of the sheer fact that it is a fantasy story, the exploration of those ideas will be quite exaggerated, and in turn, unrealistic.

That's why when people say shit like "He should be held accountable for his actions", I just eye roll. They're wanting a realistic telling of how criminals we are familiar with are treated. And to that I say--find something else to read, because you don't deserve the story for what it is.

In our reality, there is no real way to "redeem" oneself after ending other peoples' lives. I mean, no there just isn't. But in fiction ideas are exaggerated.

In FMA Scar murdered like...close to 40, if not 40+ people in a fucking military state country that committed genocide against his race. Scar helped save the country from demise, and then was offered a position to help the military that massacred his people. And then that same military started working to rebuild his country, just like that. Would Scar face the same fate in our reality? Fucking no. But it's a story that explores the idea of what certain situations DO to a person, what it can lead a person to do.

Now let's apply that to Shigaraki.

Gonna repeat myself--they're wanting a realistic telling of how criminals we are familiar with are treated.

Shigaraki has killed many many maaaanyyyyy people. Oof, so many. Pretty bad, yeah?

But Shigaraki's position in BNHA is a challenge to the main character to deliver a certain theme that the story has centered itself around. And with that, what has Shigaraki personally done to the main character? Not really much. Bakugo doesn't count, because for one: Bakugo isn't even gonna stay dead, but for two: it's not even Shigaraki specifically who is responsible right now. And no I don't mean fighting. That's circumstantial with them being a hero and a villain.

What I'm getting at is that Shigaraki's character, his arc, and his actions were all constructed a very specific way so that a different character could deliver the themes of the story hand in hand with Shigaraki at a certain level of ease. I say that because it doesn't have to be realistic. It needs to be convincing.

Realistically, Shigaraki would have been killed, detained, what the fuck ever. There'd be no happy ending in sight. He's done.

But this is BNHA, where the notion of a true hero exists, and such an idea is based around saving someone's existence in every way. It's an exaggerated idea that you won't ever see in your lifetime, in our reality. But in a story that wants to explore the idea of saving someone no matter what, because that someone is in pain and they as a human being matter, these ideas are convincing.

Yeah mental illness is not an excuse for harming someone. God fucking bless, I have been living this statement every day at my job currently. But that's not what the story is asking you to consider.

It's asking you to consider if Shigaraki is worth saving behind the monstrous cover he is wearing right now, because deep down he isn't a monster. He's just a person who is feeling anything and everything in the worst way.

The realistic aspects that you're talking about --I would say Horikoshi utilized very realistic trauma reactions to make the character convincing.

But imo the whole "he didn't develop right" argument is kinda moot, cuz that's not the question the story is asking. That's just the realistic part of the character that makes the resolution the story is building up toward (saving regardless of actions) convincing.

Realistic things can be used to make a character and a story convincing. But a story does not have to portray realism to be convincing. It just needs to follow up on the ideas it put in place.

For BNHA, if Izuku saves Shigaraki with the same mindset that he used to save Bakugo, Shouto, Iida, Kota, and Eri---then it's convincing. Because that's an idea about Izuku's character that has been implanted since chapter one.

Izuku saving Shigaraki after all the mass murder and destruction is not realistic by any means.

But because of the way Shigaraki's character has been constructed (a mess of emotions that makes it impossible for him to say what he really wants--which is for a hero to save him) and the way Izuku's character has been constructed (a hero who decides to save someone without them asking for it), it will be convincing.

You can make excuses but tbh, you don't need to. It's not necessary imo.

[padfootastic]

Its tragic that Regulus died but it's more tragic that he didn't have to. Kreacher could Apparate him from the cave. And if Regulus wanted to protect his family, his secret death achieves this how? He just disappears and Vold isn't looking for him or punishing deserter' family? Isn't worried that the boy whose house-elf he borrowed to test horcrux protection vanished? But the again, Vold wasn't shook when Kreacher showed up at Bella's in 5th book though elf supposedly died in that damn cave. XD

everything about regulus feels like an exercise in didn’t have to tbh

like yeah i know heroic teenager sacrificing himself blah blah but,,,,after reading a lot of fics that actually focus on worldbuilding/plot/side characters--im not entirely convinced that'sd what it was. like. if harry & co hadn't found the locket by sheer luck, then there's a v good chance things wouldnt have ended the way they had. reg ended up making things harder in his quest to vanquish the dark lord or wtv.

and like, im not even trying to bash here, but when i look at regulus the top character traits i see are arrogance, ambition, inflated sense of self worth, recklessness, and single mindedness (if thats valid). i mean,,,our boy could've easily asked sirius for help, he knew for a fact that his brother was on the other side, but he didnt. why? i cant see anything but ego there. he didnt even try. he was nowhere close to putting the cause above his own self.

but also,,,the fact that he actually went in the cave, presumably knowing he would die,,,that kinda indicates something much sadder for me. like, why else would he be so ok w the fact if he wasnt, say, unbearably suffocated and hopelessly over his head? if there wasnt latent suicidal ideation or, at the very least, a desire to get out, get away, not be here.

like, idk. i cant think of why he wouldnt ask kreacher to apparate him back/help him escape when he knew house elves could bypass the magic until he'd just fully accepted (perhaps even wished for) his death ykno?

[infernal-feminae]

🫥 Have you ever felt invisible? What was a way that the RP community made you feel better?

Oh, I've felt invisible more than a few times during my rp career. But that's also kind of the story of my life 😅 I'm a very low-maintenance person so I always feel bad for asking for attention because I don't want to seem needy. But there are times that I worry I unintentionally put out a vibe that I'm unapproachable...? Which is not the case at all. I'm just very socially awkward lol

However, I remember there was one time on my old multi where I wanted to add Vaggie to my muse list but I was also following people at the time who were basically saying that if you shipped her with men you were a bad person actually and I was torn. My anxiety about it got so bad that I was on the verge of having a panic attack but several of my friends and mutuals reached out to me asking if I was okay and just encouraging me to add her and portray her the way I wanted to. I don't think I ever felt more seen than in that moment and I decided to just say fuck it. It's my blog, I can portray my muses how I want. If someone doesn't like it, the unfollow button's right there.

[variousqueerthings]

Hawkeye ending his No-Jokes-Allowed time literally Just Past Midnight and projecting them across the whole camp via loudspeaker and BJ reacting like this:

Not for Hawkeye’s benefit (as he can’t see him), just unfiltered fondness for his favourite funny-man

[spideyhexx]

I feel like anyone who thinks Coryo is just a deranged monster who does bad things for funsies forgets that Suzanne hasnt ever written an entirely evil character in thg. Katniss herself has so many fucked up moments as wthe. Like when she literally tried to drown and kill Buttercup, Prim's cat, all while Prim was begging and pleading with her not to. Like the whole point is people are products of their environment and are trying to survive. EVERYONE is fucked up and has fucked up thoughts cause they are in a fucked up world where noone is really happy. I love how the book expands on the guilt alot of capital kids feel and the things they try to do to rebel, like one of his classmates starving herself cause her father cut food supply to the districts.

I feel like alot of people went into Tbosas expecting President Snow and so they had an inherit block to see him as anything but purely evil instead of taking a moment to understand where his desperation for his own survival comes from.

Having a reason behind an action does not equal to providing an excuse, and a lot of the people in the Fandom don't realize that. You can acknowledge why something was done and still understand that that something is bad.

-🐭

you said this so much better thank you🫶and I think Suzanne plays around a lot with the whole nature/nurture argument in all of the hg books as well as like what makes a human, human.

I think Tom also mentioned it in interviews but he was like talking about the heartbreak of seeing Coryo become who he becomes and im like !!! Thats it!!! It’s heartbreaking because you can root for him and see the opportunities of goodness in him but then it just takes that all away the more actions he takes.

Like smth else I saw that was weird to me was that it was harder to sympathize with him in the book? Which I think the opposite I think it’s much easier to do so in the book compared to the movie because we’re given so much more context on him. And idk, I feel like as someone with anxiety, it’s very easy to relate to that part of Coryo.

Also I think this might change as the book goes on, but like im also over the Coryo never loved Lucy Gray stuff and only wanted to own her. I think in the beginning at least, he does make comments that suggest he has an ownership but that’s also contradicting SO many of his other thoughts about her that are not about ownership AT all. And again maybe this (probably) changes as the book goes on but I hate this being used as a reason he didn’t love her in some capacity, at least in the beginning.

[primumincaelo]

anonymous asked: For the mun: Do you think Adam should come back in S2?

hot take apparently! yeah, i think he should come back. they don't call it "man's immortal soul" for nothing lmao nah nah but i digress. i wanna see him wake up in hell as a demon, as punishment for everything he's done in show canon. i wanna see him being a little fucking pissbaby about it. i wanna see him grovel at the front doors to charlie's hotel, begging for a room, "please please please i just wanna go back home". and yeah. i wanna see him grow as a person and learn to be better. that's like the entire point of the show. hell, that's the entire point charlie's been trying to make, like it's the main character's biggest goal. everyone should have the chance to grow and change and do better, living or dead. frankly i don't understand why anything changes just because adam's in that position? like... yes, people like him are awful and disgusting and more often than not don't change (and that's most often due to some sort of societal privilege). but it's not like they CAN'T... like. god forbid a shitty person genuinely works on themselves and stops being shitty??? cmon now.

[cosmik-homo]

It seems people are getting hype about Magical Girl As Horror Lately? and idk the main concept ive been revolving around- for an au I prommy ill write something for soon ok- is, like. Not exactly magical girl as horror but magical girl as. It is so so unfair. Imagine you had a falliable, human, imperfect body- imagine, even, it was unsatisfying, not fitting to you, or misfunctioning in ways that impair your life. and imagine being granted the ability to loan a perfect body made out of light and flowing with power and perfection, a poised, radiant body- only to turn back .only to have that other form only validated to help others. only to have a real actual mystical voice which claims important in the universe claim that to be or do good your own body really isnt enough?

Just. Having a good body you can turn into as if thats ok to do to someone, give them that and take it away

[quatregats]

Having a real "*freeze frame**record scratch* oh hey it's me you might be wondering how I ended up here" kind of moment rn

[pcktknife]

I hope u have fun w/ scarlet !! also sad h.zoroarks aren't found ingame I was hoping to use one :( esp since it's implied they aren't only native to hisui

I'm having fun! it's a little confusing and I'm running all over the place but I'm having fun! 👍 h.zoros are supposed to be available via transfer when scarvi gets hooked up to pokehome next year I heard so I'm v much waiting for that ^^

[fluffypotatey]

I think Nimueh is my fave underrated Merlin villain just because she could've been So Much More than what they did with her. Tbh she should've been a multi-season villain, or, just as a thought, gotten a redemption arc to mirror Morgana's descension. Because she has SO MUCH POTENTIAL to be a very complex character in terms of her relationship with magic, her loyalty to the Old Religion, but also her history with Uther (and whoa, kudos to the actors for making their 30 seconds of shared screen time so obviously charged with Backstory) and her relationship with Ygraine and how that would translate into her relationship with Arthur as well. Like, she helped create him in a way, and this is the only son of a woman she clearly felt deeply for, so why could she not have some very conflicting maternal feelings about him? Does she care about Arthur and want him to be safe? Yes. Does she want to fry Uther like an overgrown skeeter on a bug-zapper? Also yes. These two things can and should coexist, and I am salty.

you ever wonder if Nimueh was the writer's 1st trial for Morgana? just because i feel her character fits with the Morgan Le Fay in the mythos (to me at least). because our first introduction to her is "evil witch lady out to harm Arthur" and then you learn she's super powerful and is Merlin's arch-nemesis in s1.

THEN she has beef with Uther and said beef could be used for like a complicated relationship with Arthur because she definitely cared for Ygraine and Arthur has that issue of clinging to anything that's related to his mother.

because you know Morgan Le Fay in the mythos had like a complicated relationship with Arthur. she, too, represented the pagan religion in britain versus the christian religion that Arthur sort of represented (because these legends were written around that point; i think the earliest account we have of Arthurian legends is 900s??? could be wrong) so you got that Old vs New Religion thing going on.

i think in one version with Morgan Le Fay, she's the one who helps take Arthur to Avalon and by this point she's "mellowed" out and isn't as inclined to kill Arthur but rather she will sometimes help him.

anyway, my thing here is that I believe (to an extent) that Nimueh was the writer's Morgana 1.0 but then they later decided to create a Morgan before she was hardened and evil so we got Morgana.

and maybe (speculation) that is why Nimueh is only a one season villain because she's was supposed to represent who Morgana would become later down the line and possibly a little cameo for the behind the scenes people.

but yeah, she definitely had more potential for more seasons in this show.