#but I do like him. I think I like most characters with disproportionate amount of haters ^^;;

[varian-and-the-crystal-empire]

I'm going to say my piece now, and really it's going to be my pieces but in two parts.

No, it's not because of misogyny that Varian appears to have more fans then any female characters and why people don't like Cass and sometimes Rapunzel. I've seen these things crop up more (Again, for what I know is the second time at least I haven't been THIS active in this fandom in ever but I was a lurker)

Firstly because, I'm gonna be honest, I'm sure if we made a pie chart of the demographic of most people active in any fandom space here, it would usually skew female. Not that men don't interact in fandom, but that they tend to do it differently. My dad spoke elvish and had big fancy maps of middle earth but you would not find that man on a03.

Secondly, if we are meant to be assuming internalized misogyny, because that would skew us against Rapunzel not Cass, because Rapunzel is a more traditionally feminine character.

Varian is wildly popular for a variety of reason, his steampunk clothing design and his voice actor being a popular Broadway actor being surface layer reasons. He's goofy and kind, and had a pretty reasonable crash out that lead to understandable actions.

And realistically, the fact that certain writers and producers hated him and really put him through scenarios we'd usually see in hurt/no comfort or hurt and comfort tags on A03 definitely had something to do with it.

I remember how absolutely astonished I was that Varian was being put through the ringer like he was, and when I found out why I was annoyed because that's a stupid reason for a character people liked to only appear in a short amounts of the show. And to be rude to fans who mention him during questionnaires.

Fans picked up on the fact he was put into the same cell as a full grown man and were rightfully horrified. Intentionally or not, they implied that kid was groomed by that man to join his terrorist organization.

And really, Varian is more relatable to more people. He is outcasted for being different, has a rocky relationship with his father, has signs of being LGBTQ+ before we even take any Vat7k into account. I relate to a lot of those, and add that to the kid being curb stomped when he was down, well it makes him popular.

Now I won't disagree that any random person you meet who saw TTS and hated Cass could be a misogynist, but I will say, as a woman, I disliked her for a long time. She reads as a 'strong woman' written by a man who thinks being mean is being strong to me a lot in s1 especially.

She wasn't properly introduced to the audience, ESPECIALLY those like me who missed Before Ever After and were dropped into What The Hair until catching Before Ever After later. That's also a pretty big deal in a show with characters already introduced in a movie.

I mostly grew to like her during s2 because I too, was frustrated by some of Rapunzel's shenanigans by that point. And that let me go back and see some more of what I think they wanted me to see. There were bones of a good character there, heck in my own writing Cass plays a pivotal role because I do like the idea of her character, but because of the same annoying writers and producers she didn't reach her full potential.

Using 'its misogyny' as a shield when fans disproportionally like a male character is also just kind of sad. Using a buzzword like that to make people reconsider if they're wrong for liking a character. Sometimes it really just is a perfect storm to make a character The Fan Favorite

(and complaining that there's more fan content for Vat7k then the also never existent Cass spin off is wild, go be the change you want to see in the world! Put that girl on a road trip! Don't stop to whine people are putting Varian on a road trip )

[1000sunnygo]

hello sunny

I’ve always liked your analysis and I’d like your opinion on this’s matter.

Im a firm believer that Kidd isn’t actually died, Oda barely kills anyone actually. But I’ve read some folks say Kidd coming back would considered a “bad writing”?

He doesn’t seem to have any relevance to the plot at the moment other than wanting to be the next PK, but again he cant be in the final race because lost his Poneglyph to shanks. (Only if Oda decides he is a D/ witch is a meh to me, i don’t imagine him hiding it and him having one is kind of out character(?) ).

there are many theories and speculations about the three captains forming an alliance again in Elbaf witch I dread haha, mainly because I feel like him forming an alliance again is unfair to his presence& development in the story and feels repetitive, that goes to Law too.

If this isn’t something you don’t want to discuss by all means ignore this message. Thank you.

I was contemplating about watching the last episode but decided to give it a go after receiving the ask...

God was it bone-chilling. Really felt like a farewell.

Have to admit that it was a great episode. Namikawa san (Kidd VA) posted a tweet on Sunday: "One Piece's sakuga is absurdly incredible. I remember wringing out my soul and pouring everything into my voice while recording. Shanks is too strong. Kidd deserves all the love." (x)

But, no, I don't think Kidd is dead. All three Captains were hyped until only few chapters prior to this. The Elbaf incident might've been in Oda's drafts when this came out.

Yet, we're supposed to believe that Luffy and Law will have plot relevance, while Kidd just dies? I wouldn't call it good writing, it's a cop-out. The series is reaching the final arc with packed developments, IMO it makes no sense to equip a character with advanced combative power like conqueror's haki just to kill him off in his next appearance.

The chance of Kidd being a D is very slim because the theme of inherited will isn't in his character thus far. And two major arcs with similar alliances is unlikely (Personally, I don't want Law anywhere near Elbaf). Kidd's character arc doesn't seem to have a strong motif in relation to the overarching plot progression.

If that's the case, I wonder what "importance" Oda had in mind for Kidd when he created him.

I've seen some theories floating online, my personal speculations pretty much reach a similar conclusion.

For some reason, Oda has been continuously shoving Kidd towards Shanks' direction since the timeskip. Shanks is a core character, his concept and conclusion has to be decided from the start. It's possible that Oda wanted (and still wants) to involve Kidd in Shanks's (very likely) demise.

Returning to the episode, this was the scene that felt like a farewell.

Unlike Heart pirates, Kidd pirates received an ominous end note implying that they're completely decimated. If Kidd's crews, particularly Killer - die from this, it would push Kidd to focus solely on avenging them. He may ally himself with Blackbeard. IIRC, Blackbeard pirates don't have an engineer onboard. Kidd's power and skills may come in handy in the handling of an ancient weapon or a similar power source if Blackbeard manages to nab one; there's been some convincing theories about Kidd and Vegapunk sharing some connection too. Oda has been writing Kidd as a sympathetic character, so if he's involved in Shanks's death in such scenario, his action will be somewhat understandable.

Even if it doesn't take a dark turn, Kidd can still aid in the final battle, there are many enemies to defeat. We haven't been disappointed by Luffy's choice of friends so it's possible that Kidd would eventually back track from the revenge plan and reflect on his own actions.

Many readers have a mindset that Kidd deserves a bad end because he's not a "fundamentally good person" as Luffy, or even Law. Arrogance sure, but I don't think Oda would punish Kidd for his violent track record. Oda's initial concept distinguished adventure loving pirates from regular ones, but he corrected it and blurred the boundaries. Luffy is a pirate and pirates aren't supposed to be nice people. He finds his allies from within.

[tryingahandinholdingapen]

this is absolutely just my obsession with misunderstandings in fiction coming through, but whilst I greatly enjoy fics where characters from TCF and/or TBOAH react to KRS!Cale's life, what I really want is a reaction fic that does NOT tell them everything. I want a fic that, instead of letting absolutely everybody know about everything KRS!Cale has done so that they more or less know the truth of things, creates new and exciting misunderstandings, and have THAT be the focus

Like most of the reaction fics I've read have an ending (or presumed ending in the case of WIPs) where all misunderstandings have been pretty much dispelled. There might still be some secrets in some cases, but all the misunderstandings are pretty much cleared up and a shit ton of secrets have been revealed

Fuck that. Give me a reaction fic where what they do/don't react to has been selectively chosen to cause MORE misunderstandings. TCF canon+fandom are both rife with misunderstandings it's kind of inherently part of it all at this point but look at me. Look at me. I PROMISE we can make it worse

(edit: I'll limit myself to one example of how that could be played per bulletpoint but trust me I have like 3+ examples for every bulletpoint)

Here's a few options I can think of just now, there's probably loads more, assuming we're starting with the premise of some form of reaction fic:

- knock out or don't include KRS!Cale in the reacting side of things, therefore all other reacting characters have to rely on what they see/hear and discussions with each other, with nobody there to clarify things. this would probably rapidly snowball into bizarre assumptions + interpretations that nobody corrects (or only corrects with weirder versions of what might be going on) very quickly

- you could easily create a billion misunderstandings about Kim Rok Soo and/or Cale!KRS. for example: simply not explaining the transmigration + regression

- what if you simply didn't let the characters know that TCF/TBOAH was another world. leave them thinking both things have happened/will happen in the same world they all live in. what then. for example: no duplicates of the characters you choose to react, take them from earlier in their respective timelines and/or people who have otherwise had no reason to meet, be extremely selective about what scenes you show, result: allow both worlds to think "woah. all this has been happening without me knowing about it? what the fuck"

- disproportionately show scenes in which a character has or acts on an inaccurate belief. do not show said belief being cleared up. let's have a montage of people assuming KRS!Cale is not human and scenes that inadvertently support that assumption and then clear none of that up, for example. let characters go home after this shit side-eyeing KRS!Cale and/or TBOAH Cale like no one's business

- show less scenes than most reaction fics choose to. for example, I know it's interesting to think about how characters react to Raon's rescue, but consider: how would they react to NOT seeing Raon's rescue? what if they just saw several scenes where KRS!Cale has no dragon and then suddenly scenes start showing up where there IS a baby dragon, and everyone in said scenes acts like that's normal, no explanation. I want to see the resulting conspiracy theories for that

- show roughly the same scenes/same amount of scenes as reaction fics tend to....but show less of KRS!Cale's thought process for such. for example: generally people either don't know abt it at all or they know he did it to get an Ancient Power, but please imagine a huge room of people trying to figure out why they've spent the last ten minutes watching scenes of KRS!Cale buying truly obscene amounts of bread only to dump it into a hole beneath some tree

- instead show MORE scenes than most reaction fics tend to include. for example, throw in a scene of baby!og!Cale listening to his mom tell him his time is warped, maybe alongside a scene of White Star's wild theorising about KRS!Cale, to maximise confusion. Now I'm gonna be honest and say that I've seen several fics with Jour telling og!Cale about his time but I legitimately do not know whether that's a canon scene I haven't read up to yet or a fanon idea that several people liked, so in case of the latter I'll add a second, alternate example of how the extra scenes thing could fall it. So, second example: let's include scenes of KRS!Cale talking to gods through whatever methods, and scenes of him talking to Cale!KRS and Jung Soo and Sui Khan. For added misunderstandings let's make whatever controls the scenes use the same method to clarify "this being is not a mortal originally native to this world" for all of those beings, because then if that's never explicitly stated then we could have the characters reacting assume that that mechanic actually indicate "divinity" and therefore assume that Cale!KRS, Jung Soo, etc, are gods. For even more added misunderstandings, keep that assumption but add "hey, KRS!Cale isn't a mortal /originally native to this world/ either, he transmigrated, ditto for Choi Han" and have the reacting characters wonder if they've made a mistake somewhere or if they have two gods (Choi Han and KRS!Cale) just....around. Maybe have them try to connect nonexistent dots with how in TCF Choi Han follows KRS!Cale and in TBOAH Choi Han and Cale met and immediately hate each other

- have them see a few scenes that just, are nor relevant to anything. not often but occasionally thrown in there there'll be a brief clip of Random Citizen 251 walking through town and then buying some fruit from the market or something. then let the reacting characters scramble to try and figure out the relevance of this because surely if they're being shown this scene it must be important somehow, right? right???

- whoever said these scenes had to be in clear chronological order, or let the characters have any idea of what happens when? no one. we don't have to do that. fuck, you could even show a few scenes from when KRS!Cale's Ancient Powers were alive, let them try to decipher THAT. you could for example show them Henituse County being attacked by wyverns and then show bits of the Plaza incident, which would probably result in the extremely unfortunate assumption that the celebration that will get attacked is a different later one than the one that actually gets attacked (...nobody said reaction fics had to have 100% easy-ish happy endings either-)

- most reaction fics I've read either have the characters reading something (TCF, Wikipedia, etc) or they have the characters watching TCF like it's a movie. Either way they figure out very quickly that KRS!Cale is at the heart of everything going on. New plan! They don't get to know who the 'main character' is for a long time. For example, have them watch TCF as though it's a movie BUT it's in first person perspective (from KRS!Cale's point of view) and minimise the number of scenes in which people actually use his name. Let's see the reacting characters be like "uhhhh well we're looking v slightly UP at the crown Prince of Roan so whoever this is is shorter than him by a tiny bit", "does anyone recognise this fancy place we keep waking up in? no? fuck [talking abt Super Rock Villa]", "do we even know what country this person' from? I was assuming he was at least from the Western Continent but then the last several scenes have all had him casually in the Eastern Continent..", it'd be really funny. Hell have them assume for a brief period of time, until another scene dispels that belief, that with KRS!Cale's nonchalance around Alberu, Witiria, Litania, etc, maybe the person whose perspective they're seeing these events through is a ruler from an unknown region, or something

- have all scenes be about/memories from past or future of Cale BUT interpret "Cale" really generously. What I'm saying is there should be scenes from Kim Rok Soo, TBOAH Cale, og!Cale, KRS!Cale, and Cale!KRS's memories/future events and it should be real fucking unclear what's what. Ideally in a way that maximises confusion

- reaction fics often include bits of KRS!Cale's thoughts, at least, the bits we see in the narrative of TCF. Why don't we also include random snippets of record? But without context. KRS!Cale knows that that snippet he suddenly remembered is from a novel he read three years ago, because he remembers yk reading the whole novel etc, but do the characters reacting to these scenes know how to distinguish between "random snippet remembered from (fictional) source" and "random snippet remembered from (nonfictional) source" and "KRS!Cale's actual, often random or seemingly off-topic thoughts"? No, no they don't, because they don't have the necessary context to do so

Okay now onto reasons the above bulletpoints could be included:

- whoever is in charge of showing the scenes genuinely just didn't realise it would be an issue; this could for example be how that last bulletpoint happens it just didn't occur to them that someone who doesn't have Record might struggle to discern what was that ability and what was usual thoughts/memories

- whoever is in charge of the scenes is trying to create misunderstandings on purpose. often people writing reaction fics elect a god to be in charge of that, so we could for example have a god of mischief trying to cause maximum chaos (I think I've actually seen that before, though they were trying to chase chaos by revealing secrets not by causing more misunderstandings) or maybe it is SOMEHOW One Final Hurrah from the god of despair who thought maybe causing enough confusion would make KRS!Cale feel misunderstood and isolated and miserable

- technical difficulties/someone fucked up the process of letting them read/see scenes. oops

- Neither Cale (KRS or og) can be here to clear up any possible misunderstandings because there's some inherent incompatibility with having them present and showing scenes/memories of theirs at the same time. Just can't do it. They can be here or you can have smth to react to but not both

- whoever is in charge of the scenes just doesn't have enough power/energy to present things in a clearer way (chronological, more scenes, etc)

- they could have done it in a way that was less confusing way (third person POV instead of seeing through KRS!Cale's eyes, for example) but they thought this was better for emotional impact, which they deemed more important. Maybe they thought the characters would figure out who it was eventually anyway and the emotional impact would make them more likely to understand+sympathise with KRS!Cale which was the ultimate goal orrr thought it would make TBOAH characters more likely to take this shit seriously and stop fighting each other to instead take notes and plan which was the ultimate goal

I'd also really like to not only see reaction fics that increase confusion/misunderstandings/etc but to then have the fic continue PAST when they've reacted to stuff. I want to the characters dumped back where they came from and I want to read at least another 10 chapters from there about the fallout

I feel like there was something more I wanted to add to this post but I forgot so I'll leave it here

more reaction fics that tell you stuff but clarify nothing! maximise confusion rather than minimise it! cause all the problems in the world! yeah!

[humzbird]

Has anyone else noticed how unique of a character Vasily is? Not in terms of his personality and behaviors, but with the role he plays inside and outside the story?

Okay, let me explain.

His character occupies a very particular niche in the fandom, and I think it's a large part of why he's so disproportionately popular despite how minor of a role he plays in the story. Now, what even is this thing that makes him unique?

Let's go over some of his key characteristics, shall we?

He's an outsider to the main plot

He's a dork

He's an artist

He's obsessed with Ogata

In other words, Vasily is a fanboy. But not just any fanboy, oh no.

Vasily. Is. Us!

Think about it! Isn't it remarkably easy for us Ogata lovers and creators to project ourselves onto him? Haven't you noticed that there's a whole subgenre of Golden Kamuy fan content that's just people depicting Vasily as a cringe fanartist who's obsessed with his blorbo?

Lowkey, I think we all collectively just find it cathartic that there's a character in canon who's equally, if not more deranged about Ogata than most of us will ever be. Not only do we recognize his behavior in ourselves, but in a weird way, it's kind of healing as well. Especially for those of us who have ever had any shame tied to our fandom experiences throughout our lives. I know I used to be way more embarrassing about this kind of stuff when I was younger. But thanks to Vasily (aka: Noda), now I have the unique opportunity to confront that shame in a fun, socially acceptable way.

Because of all this, Vasily within the story is functionally a stand-in for the fans. Specifically, all the fans out there who simultaneously like Ogata, but who also want to throttle him with their bare hands (there's a hilarious amount of overlap in that venn diagram). I've been in many other fandoms before, and I've never seen anything quite like Vasily. On the rare occasions that other media does have fan stand-in characters, they're usually one-offs that are treated with mockery or disdain. I have no idea if Noda ever intended to have Vasily be a fan stand-in, but he's insane for pulling it off really well regardless.

Tl;dr: Vasily is the embodiment of our worst, most cringey and deranged fan impulses, and we love him for it.

[shirajellyfish]

Character flaws

Just gonna go on a tangent about this for a second, because like

Part 1: Why they don't work and never have

The number one piece of advice people get about writing is to give their characters flaws. Your characters can't be too perfect. Flaws will make them interesting, dynamic, compelling, more real! Flawed characters make for a perfect story! But then someone will ask how to give their characters flaws, and the response is almost invariably something along the lines of

"Just don't make them perfect. Give them a scar or a disability or something."

This is some of the worst writing advice I've ever heard, right up there with "NEVER use adjectives ever" and "Nahh, you don't need to make backups of your work, it'll totally be fine and nothing bad will happen." It's also the single most common piece of writing advice I've come across. This is bad advice.

Because like… Scars aren't a personality flaw. Disabilities especially are not a personality flaw. Both these things have their uses in writing characters, but they aren't flaws. Honestly it's a little shocking that people think it's okay to outright say they think a disability is a character flaw to begin with, because like. Excuse me?

The next problem with this is that, even if these were somehow character flaws, most people don't want to make literally all their characters scarred and disabled. That's like saying that good characters are required to have blonde hair and bushy eyebrows. A character or two with those traits isn't an issue, but telling someone all their characters need one or both of these two traits? That's incredibly limiting.

Lastly, it encourages people to think up a character and then tack on the 'flaws' after. It's why we ended up with an era of perfectly smart perfectly beautiful perfectly skilled characters that had a disproportionate amount of angst about some tiny barely noticeable scar on their back. It's how we get characters that are 'clumsy' (in no way that actually matters to the story), or who have the sole flaw of being too perfect.

People made characters they liked, and they liked them exactly that way. Then afterwards, they had to tack on some 'flaw' they didn't actually want to be part of the character. So they of course make that 'flaw' as small and unimportant as possible. To go back to the "all characters must be blonde with bushy eyebrows" comparison, it's the writer trying to work around this unwanted restriction by giving everyone rainbow hair dye and eyebrow trimmers.

So, how do we fix that?

Part 2: How to fix that

… Or one way, anyway. There are infinite ways to solve this problem, most of which start by completely throwing out the standard scar/disability advice. Everyone has their own way to write characters. But just saying "idk, everyone is different, there are lots of ways" is ridiculously unhelpful. So, here's one way to do it that I really like to use personally. You can use it too, if you want.

instead of a flaw, I like to give my characters an Unshakeable Trait.

What is an unshakeable trait? It's the term I like to use for something that will always be true about a character. Something core to them, something that will never leave them for as long as they live. It is, most importantly, not a flaw.

Let's come up with a quick character as an example. Meet Alaric, who always keeps his word. Anything Alaric says he will do, he will do it.

This is Alaric's greatest strength.

Alaric says he will save all the orphans from the burning orphanage. People doubt him, but he does it. He said he was going to do it, so there was nothing that could stop him from doing it.

Alaric says he will catch the thieves hiding in the mountains. Many have tried and failed to do this, but Alaric says he can do it. And thus, Alaric does it.

Alaric says he will move a mountain? He wouldn't say it unless he could and would make it true. We've seen him do amazing things before. We don't know how yet, but we know that mountain is about to move.

One day, Alaric says he will slay the dragon. We know, for certain, that nothing will stop him from slaying that dragon.

… Not even if it turns out the dragon wasn't really bothering anyone.

… Not even if something goes wrong and Alaric ends up without the important tools he'd prepared for this task.

… Not even if the battle is likely to kill his entire party. Not even if killing the dragon will only make way for more dangerous monsters to move in. Not even if his friends beg and plead with him, Alaric you must stop, this is a death sentence to us all!

Alaric said he would do this, and he will.

Because this isn't just Alaric's greatest strength. It's also his greatest weakness.

The hearts of the readers are heavy as they realize what is about to unfold, but they are not surprised. By now they know Alaric and they know who he is. They know the dragon will die, no matter the consequences.

In the battle, the entire town and all the people who once lived in it is burned to the ground. Every last one of Alaric's friends die in battle. When the dragon falls, only Alaric is left alive.

… And that makes for a really interesting story! Gosh darn! That's way more fun than a story where some cool guy just always solves everyone's problems all the time! And now that we've seen the terrible consequences of Alaric's actions, we can take it even further! How exactly does Alaric react to what he's done?

Is he unable to cope with his terrible mistake, and twists himself into something awful trying to justify his actions?

Does he plead with the ashes, begging the charred town for forgiveness he cannot have?

Does he vow to take back what he's done? Drive himself to madness in pursuit of an unobtainable goal, every action an even greater mistake than the last?

Does he grow, and change his ways? Because he absolutely can do that. An unshakeable trait is always there deep down inside a character, but it is possible for them to learn to overcome it. It will be a battle they'll fight every day for the rest of their lives, and it is a battle they will not always win, but it is possible. Filled with regret, there may be a day where Alaric says he will do something… and then consciously makes an incredible effort to avoid doing it, because he realized it would be a mistake. Today, he was able to overcome his weakness. That trait isn't going anywhere though, and tomorrow is still unsure.

That is my favorite way to write a flawed character.

The most fun part is, this unshakeable trait can be anything. It can be that they always finish things very quickly. It can be that they love their friends more than anything else in the universe. It can be that they're always multitasking. It can be their child-like wonder, or their scientific mind, or even something as silly as their love of sweet potatoes. When made central to their character and taken to extremes, absolutely anything can function as this dual greatest strength and greatest weakness.

That being said, this is again just one way to do it. To say this is the only way to write a flawed character brings us back to "but they must all be blonde and have bushy eyebrows." And sometimes? Sometimes you don't even want to write a flawed character. Sometimes you want an invincible Superman, and if that's what you want then go for it!

This is one place you could start if you're feeling lost or unsure, but at the end of the day it's just a tool in your pocket. It's up to you to choose your favorite tools for the job.

Writing should be fun! Write what you love. Write what interests you, most of all.

[bl-inded]

Faifa deserved to have better friends in the show! Because they didn't give him that, I think Yotha is just bearing the brunt of the show deciding Faifa only needed (romantic) "love" to be "seen". And Yotha is sadly the only one who talks about Faifa constantly enough to have to deal with it.

Listen, I love this show, especially the faifawine arc (honestly, because of the faifawine arc!). But this arc uses a storyline that I hate so much- "you just haven't met the right person" and somehow handles it so beautifully! Because the concept isn't that Wine was enough to change Faifa, it is that they loved each other enough to be a positive influence on each other. And that I 100% believe in and will always eat up!

But Faifa had virtually no friends in figuring anything out!! He is a very private person, obviously, he bottles everything up! And this arc was supposed to be about him not doing that anymore.

(ep22)

They made it a point to show us how often Faifa shows up for other people (which is constantly) and that is the reason most of us fell in love with him.

And when his arc started I was really excited about him finding love, but I was soooo excited to see Phuri, who was apparently his only real friend!

Louis is a delight in this show! Steals every scene he is in. What Phuri unfortunately isn't, is a good friend to Fa (at least he doesn't have enough screentime to prove otherwise). I love their playful banter, but he doesn't even do as much as Ben and Jay!

No one shows up for Faifa except Wine.

(ep21)

And Yotha- he shows up for Faifa when there is an external conflict. He's never been good with emotions.

(ep20)

I mean, he was so bad with Gun, Arm and Fa had to play mediator. So it's not a shock that he doesn't see Faifa is in soo much pain because of what their mom did. Yotha understands anger; he doesn't understand sadness over something that should make Fa angry.

(ep16)

But he still understands Faifa! (He's probably the only one at the table to make this connection and continues to do nothing about it :) )

(ep18)

And I think that's why he's getting so much flak. I think he's getting a disproportionate amount of hate (and defence) for what is happening to Faifa. But I'm still mad at Yotha, and this is why I feel justified about it.

I'm mad at Yotha because I want Faifa to be mad at Yotha. Because Yotha might be the safest person for Faifa to show his anger to, and he's too scared to do that, too! They are brothers, and it doesn't matter if it wasn't Yotha's responsibility to inform Fai of anything about his mother's flight being delayed- Yotha knew, and that alone should let Faifa be whiny and angry- but he wasn't.

(ep21)

I am angry because having a fight, showing you're upset, and knowing that your relationship is stronger than that is a privilege - one that Faifa doesn't seem to allow himself to have. If he has it with anyone, it should be with Yotha (or Phuri, if the show gave him anything to do at all, but I digress).

We, as the audience, have seen Yotha, we know him, and we know he loves Faifa. And knowing he loved Fa makes it so much worse that he still doesn't feel loved or wanted. I don't think Yotha is a bad brother or a bad character. In fact, I'm angry because he's a well-written character!

(ep13) (Like, where did this Yotha go after he got a boyfriend??!)

It just seems like the show decided that he is going to be a Gun simp and nothing else. And that falls back into another trope I hate. Being in a romantic relationship is not an excuse to ignore everyone in your life. Priorities can change, but not to the extent that you only have one priority! Yotha is a better brother than that, and I think we deserve to see that side of him as well!

[eva-of-the-sea]

Y'all ever notice that Fujiko receives a disproportionate amount of hate in the fandom? I'm sure it's something we've all seen, especially if you're a fan of her, but I don't really see it discussed.

I'm bringing it up now because for the past couple of months, I keep running into new fans that are very vocal about disliking her. And while I understand that everyone has their preferences, the reasons they give for why they hate her bother me the most:

"She's a bitch, she's so awful to the poor guys and especially to Lupin."

"She's a slut. She's constantly using her body to get what she wants."

"She betrays the gang so much it's annoying how she always does the same thing."

"It's the writers' fault for making her so unlikable."

While I partially understand one of these points, some of these other ones confuse me.

Fujiko is a character that looks out for herself. She goes into every heist with the thought of "what can I get out of this?" And despite this, she's been shown many times to care about all of the gang. Yes, even in part 2 where folks usually base their hatred of her off of. This is because she is a multifaceted character that isn't just driven by a single motivation.

"But Jigen and Goemon hate her!"

Do they? Because while they do get mad at her shenanigans, we also see them going out of their way to protect her and comfort her. Hell, Fujigoe is a common canon occurrence! Do you really think Goemon would be dating her if he didn't like her? Or that Jigen would be pushing her out of the way of bullets or shielding her with his body if he didn't care about her? Being mad or annoyed with someone's actions aren't the same as hatred. No one ever points out how they get mad at Lupin, and I'd argue that happens more often!

And on the point of her being a slut...where? I'm genuinely confused with this one. Fujiko does use her beauty and charms both to manipulate rich men into giving her treasure and to get out of dangerous situations. That's kind of the point of her being a femme fatale. But how often does she sleep with the people she manipulates? Most instances I can think of, she knocks them out when she gets that far. In fact, I would argue she doesn't seem to be that interested in having sex at all. Do they count her flirting as being slutty? If so, c'mon. And even if she did sleep with her targets, why would this be a bad thing? Are women characters not allowed to have sex? And again, how come Lupin doesn't get the third degree for HIS sluttiness. In fact, I see people joke about it and celebrate it if anything.

On the point of her betraying gang, yeah it is very one-note and does get old. You know what else is very one-note? Literally the actions of every other character in the show. I don't see people complaining about Zenigata chasing the gang getting old. Or about Lupin flirting with every woman he sees. Or about Jigen and Goemon using the same weapons in the same way to get out of every situation. Y'know, maybe this is just a repetitive show! And tbh, the writing lately has been shaken up. The modern series doesn't really have Fujiko betray the gang much anymore. She's either off doing her own thing or she's working with the gang as a member of the team. A lot of people complain about parts 4-6, but I think this is one of the elements it does right.

And finally, on the note of "poor Lupin", I think this one pisses me off the most lol. The fuck y'all mean "poor Lupin"?? I think fans either forget or don't realize that Lupin is a pretty smart guy. He knows Fujiko is most likely going to betray him if he does something for her, the bastard LIKES IT. This is foreplay for both of them. In case you haven't noticed yet, both of them are kind of freaks lol. There's a reason that most of the time, Jigen and Goemon are mad at HIM. Lupin is not a poor sweet baby that needs protection from Fujiko. He specifically loves the chase, the constant push and pull of their relationship. She's an exciting challenge for him, he's a stable home for her.

While I agree that Fujiko has not always been written great in the past, and I'm sure a lot of that was due to misogyny, I think fans need to reevaluate why they criticize her more harshly than the rest of the gang. There's a lot of things she's done that the fandom deems unforgivable, yet the boys have done some of the same stuff without so much as a slap on the wrist. Lupin constantly puts them all in unnecessary danger. Jigen has made some really unsavory comments about women. Goemon has betrayed the gang more than once. And I don't see nearly enough discussion about how Lupin really used to push himself on Fujiko, to the point of it being uncomfortable sometimes. Like damn I'd sell his ass out too😬.

I think it all boils down to Fujiko being a woman. And as a woman, she has to work harder to please the fans. If she's too nice, then she doesn't really have a personality or a reason for anyone to like her. If she's too selfish, she's a mean bitch and everyone should hate her. What if people saw her as a character first? Because no she's not a good person, but neither are the rest of the gang. Their morals are all on a sliding scale of what works best for the plot. But damn she's a great character. She stands out on her own and really makes you remember her. She's so much more than "the girl" character, and I'm so grateful for that. I hope more fans come to this conclusion too.

[soft-pine]

do you think dean has a tendency to point to a person's past mistakes more than other characters? im not saying this is "wrong" behavior from him im just curious if you agree. i think other characters point out his past mistakes quite a bit as well, but i dont really see a problem with dean pointing out past mistakes as a guide for why something is making him uncomfortable/scared/worried (such as pointing to season 6 castiel behavior and being worried [to the point of anger] that cas is repeating his mistakes in 9x22 and lying to him and sam again, or getting mad repeatedly at sam for leaving kevin with crowley for a year).

like i think sam (justifiably) points to the situation with gadreel as an example for why he's mad at dean for several episodes, and i dont think i'd consider this "weaponizing" dean's mistakes against him and totally understand why he struggles with trusting/engaging with dean socially during the period after gadreel is expelled.

im coming to you because you tend to catalogue stuff very thoroughly and figured you'd know best.

hi anon! i am honored you thought of me but i certainly wouldn't claim to know best! especially as this isn't a specific thing i've been keeping track of.

but i tend to agree with you in that i don't think dean disproportionately brings up other people's actions as a gotcha. in fact, i tend to see him as one of the most flexible and forgiving people on the show. in fact it's to the point where in 5.02 and 15.03, him not being immediately conciliatory and forgiving enough is grounds for a break which dean is often criticized for.

i also agree with your characterization of how dean often points these things out as a way to articulate why he's feeling what he's feeling. and with the kevin stuff, he's not harping on a past situation, he is actively trying to resolve an ongoing crisis.

i'm not sure what conversation you've seen about dean being overly critical or whatever.

but i also want to point out that sam spends a significant amount of s1 berating dean for the way dean follows john's orders. like that comes up in multiple, multiple episodes (1.02, 1.08, 1.10, 1.11, 1.18, 1.20 to name a few). we know from 1.11, 14.12, and 15.20 that dean wishes he had behaved differently around john and regrets the ways he never pushed back, etc. (i want to be clear here i am not criticizing a child for how he chose to navigate a course to survive an abusive childhood.)

cas is also specifically critical of dean's "failures" in 5.02 and 5.19. the oft omitted lines which come after "i'm hunted. i rebelled and i did it, all of it, for you" are:

CASTIEL: and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world—and I lost everything, for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself.

in 5.18 he says, among other things:

CASTIEL: Maybe they're desperate. Maybe they wrongly assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them.

and later:

CASTIEL: Maybe it is. But then I won’t have to watch you fail. I’m sorry, Dean. I don’t have the same faith in you that Sam does.

this is in the context of Cas being angry that Dean was going to agree to possession from michael.

i'm not trying to bash on cas or sam here. just saying that, i don't know, in over 15 years of world-ending events and sacrifices and disagreements about how to handle them, they have all done things which didn't sit right with each other and which they fought about at the time and sometimes still bring up later either in anger or for context. i don't really think any of them particularly stand out as doing that disproportionately or more than the others. (though i do feel dean receives a disproportionate amount of criticism from characters in the show but i guess that's kind of another convo).

hope this made some sense! sorry it took me hot min to reply to!

[agent-calivide]

I'm tired. Call this a rant or a vent post, but I'm so tired.

I'm not going to call anyone in specific out, but please for the love of god if you hate a character, STOP putting hate in their character tag. More specifically, if you hate people for how they choose to like a character, please, block and move on.

Yes there is a disproportionate amount of fan content for John Juniper, no it's not just basic white boy syndrome, he was the only one with a character model that showed up for more than five seconds and had an actual appearance for literally years. Positive association is a thing. Yes, you can hate him, that's normal and to be expected, dare I say most John Juniper fans do. No, most of the fandom doesn't actually think he's coming back, it's a running joke/issue based on how Schell handled their own lore that was founded before IEYTD 3 when Schell was acting coy about his status only to rip the rug out from under us with an obituary out of nowhere. No, you don't have to like the fanfics or fanart of Phoenix or Handler with Juniper romantically, but if you don't like it please block, scroll, or- I don't know- take a screenshot and talk shit with your buddies in private or something. Complaining about how a small section of the fandom posts frequently rather than putting in the energy to post more of what you like wastes your time and hurts people who are, god forbid, having fun.

And, frankly, it's not even about Juniper at this point. It's so disheartening to CONSTANTLY see "hot take, I actually HATE the way you engage with this fandom. You should make more things that are closer to MY interests." You know how much it sucks to see people say you're liking your media the wrong way when you aren't doing anything harmful?

First, it was that I wasn't making Phoenix "right" because I made them more effeminate and had them use she/her pronouns in my personal fanfics and fanart. Then, it was that Juniper was so gay he'd NEVER like a woman, and that women were just innately revolting, so shipping him and my Phoenix was gross and wrong. Then, it was why are fem!phoenix's so popular, they're nonbinary, stop assigning them a gender when there were like five fem!phoenixes total. Then, FINALLY, people chilled out and were tolerant of the fem!phoenix and mellowed out a little, but now it's I don't like the way you write/present John Juniper. If I had a shot every time I saw "hot take, I HATE Juniper, I don't get why the fandom likes him." I'd be dead. It's not really a hot take, it's the one I see all the time, but rather than investing that energy into making something new this fandom would rather just take pot shots at the consistent creatives rather than make something themselves.

I feel like a lightning rod of hate, but I don't remember asking for it. And I know a good handful of other IEYTD creators feel similar. If you hate Juniper so much, block his tag. Block the creators. Something.

But it's not fair to the people who are passionate about this game to be used as the resident dunk-tank because you don't like their favorite character, or you don't like their writing, or whatever argument of the week you have. We're here to have fun at the end of the day, and I don't see how an ooc self indulgent fic is harmful enough to warrant the way some of the people in this fandom are treated.

[learnthebreakdown]

I made this post about how moved I am yr addressed racism with Felice/Simon. It prompted me ponder issues about this fandom (starting how the nonwhite characters are treated in this fandom, and if people would sympathize with Wille as much if he was black instead of white, for example. But then it spiraled into other things as well) I've never had the courage to post about before, but yr gave me courage lmao (putting a disclaimer that I don't hate any of the characters as people...actually I adore most of them...except August). This season showed how ingrained racism is, it exists in so many "invisible" ways, where people can act as if it's not real since it makes them uncomfortable to deal with their own hidden biases, or worse, because they think their biases are actually justified. I've seen some mentions about how the audience of this show reflects the exact prejudices the show claims to criticize.

There's a notable pattern where even minor rich kid characters receive disproportionate sympathy/recognition and others face unwarranted criticism, reflecting societal biases and how we are conditioned. While tumblr has been better this season especially with time, tumblr (and esp other social media) sites often have much more sympathy for Wille over Simon, for example. Simon across sites gets a lot of undue downright vile comments from the fandom, or is just disregarded more. Part of this could be because Wille is the main character, and Simon's perspective was not shown super well in season 2, but Simon/Omar often get a lot of comments that aren't unsimilar to the racist and vile comments we saw Simon get in the show. It made me wonder- if Wille had not been white, if he had been black, would people still have found as much sympathy for him during his angry outbursts? How strange that many people seem to find sympathy for Wille and even August, but not for Simon, even though if we are being realistic...Simon is an equally complex character that has not done many bad things? How interesting that people barely discuss Felice's storyline, but there are people that gag over the rich white kids, stederika and henry/walter (especially after Felice's storyline this season, and when we have Rosh as a canon sapphic lower class girl). How wild that the girls' storylines- Felice and Sara's- are disregarded? People often act like Wille and Simon have gotten the same amount of hate, but if you've been in this fandom long enough and seen the overall situation, I think people know that Wille is favored over Simon overall, and the hate/disregard they get is not equivalent, especially considering Simon is the second lead.

I'm not saying all of this is due to prejudice, or that everyone who has ever done these things is an awful person, it's more just an observation that if we are honest with ourselves, hidden biases certainly play a role in ALL of our thoughts/behaviors. Even for those who may not actively engage in it, do we enable it? And with a show like Young Royals that is attempting to (not always succeeding, but an attempt was made this season) to critique these social structures of racism and classism, wouldn't it be nice if, as we go into this final episode, we look inwards and see what biases we may carry that affect our perception of this show, and more importantly, real life? Life imitates art, after all.

[captainclickycat]

The annoying thing about the whole culture of woobifying antagonists in fandoms is that sometimes you do find the bad guy interesting yourself, like maybe you don't think they're a poor misunderstood diddums or anything but you can concede that some of their motivations are sympathetic, they have a meaty backstory that it's interesting to dig into, they're just overall academically interesting to consider.

But you feel very reluctant to direct any attention to that because there's already this annoying culture around them and you don't want to feel like you're contributing to that, you don't want the hardcore poor-diddums fans to think you agree with them, and there's the particular baggage when they're a white guy amidst a more diverse cast and that's likely a significant factor in why they get all this disproportionate attention and you don't really want to contribute to that.

Nick Goode is a prime example of that for me, at least in the 1978 era. I'm under no illusions about him being a good guy or a misunderstood babykins, I just occasionally find it interesting to toy with the question of whether he was always That Bad, about what kind of familial pressure he was under and what exactly was going through his head during Baby's First Blood Sacrifice. For me, there's just a small amount of room for nuance in his character that could be interesting to explore. But I'm concerned about any vocal curiosity being mistaken for woobification, or some admission that he's actually the best or most interesting and compelling character in the series, and yeah no.

But that does mean there is at least one character for whom the woobification culture hasn't completely quashed any intellectual curiosity I might hold about them or their motivations. He hasn't gone the way of Izzy Hands or Damien from The Bright Sessions, where having to navigate all the baffling swooning over them has in a large part destroyed any interest I had in them.

In both cases - especially in ofmd S1 - I just ended up completely at sea thinking "why are people so obsessed with this prick? Was there perhaps a scene where he did something really great and I wasn't paying attention, perhaps because I caught sight of a bird outside or my cat wanted something or I suddenly really wanted a plate of biryani, or perhaps my finger slipped or I thought I'd paused the episode when I hadn't and just straight-up missed a scene? What happened here?"

And I still don't know the answer.

[calliecopper]

Unpopular Shameless (U.S) opinions because I can't get them out of my head

Karen is one of the most overhated characters in the show. Hating Karen for Daddyzgirl but not hating Sheila for her sexual assult of Frank in s1e2 is hypocritical. Especially since that's likely where Karen learned that type of behavior from. Also, many of the other reasons people hate Karen can be pretty easily explained or understood, just like most flaws or bad decisions made by every other character in the show can be explained; for some reason people do not want to extend the same grace to Karen as they do other characters. I think a large part of this is due to the fact that characters used for comedic relief seem to generally be better liked by the fandom, and Karen is not often used as such.

On that note, Sheila had no right to take Hymie at the end of s2. Karen decided to give Hymie up for adoption specifically after the event wherein Sheila got drunk and crashed her babyshower, which ended in literal gunshots being fired. In s3 it's established that Karen called the Wong family because she believes Sheila to be unfit to care for him. While her motivations were likely also selfish, I have no doubt that Karen's personal experiences dealing with Sheila and her lackluster parenting led to her trying to keep Hymie away from Sheila. It's no coincidence in my mind that Karen's personality and her approach to motherhood changed drastically after the babyshower. So, Sheila's decision to take Hymie for herself was not only disrespectful to Karen, but it also pushed Karen to leave home underage and get herself into dangerous situations (which is kinda similar to Ian from s4, huh?)

Debbie is also severely overhated by fandom. I won't argue much for later seasons because I think all the characters suffered a large decline in their writing quality, but regardless, people hate Debbie in seasons 4-6 for reasons that I, again, don't really think are completely valid. I actually think Debbie's most interesting storylines occur in seasons 4-8/9, and I think that her poor decisions earn her a disproportionate amount of hate. I've seen some calling her the worst character on Shameless, and while she can be kinda annoying, I think her storyline honestly makes sense, and her journey into motherhood with Franny is really interesting to look at when you look at her own relationship with Monica.

Speaking of Monica; this is less of an opinion and more of an idea I've had before, but I think it would've been really interesting if we had seen a lot more of Monica. Specifically, I think it would've been cool to see Frank actually die in s4, and then spend s5-7 with Monica instead. Maybe see her popping in and leaving at more frequent intervals and explore more of her relationships with each of the individual kids, as well as seeing more of her antics and schemes instead of Frank's. I wanna know what she gets up to when she's away from home, just like we get to see what Frank gets up to. I think it would've been cool to primarily explore Frank's relationship and impact on the kids in the first part of the series, then Monica's, then after her death really explore the kids on their own without the active influences of their parents. Like Fiona said at the end of s4, the whole idea of "It's not Frank, not Monica, it's me."

Really really unpopular opinion here. Kev and V should've gotten a divorce. I really love them in the early seasons, but seeing them in s5 kinda made me think they weren't good together. I think having an arc of martial struggles and showing them working through it would've been really cool, but I don't really feel like they ever worked through their issues? It feels like the conversations V should've been having with Kev about how she's having trouble connecting with the kids were conversations she was actually having with Svetlana. I think they were shown to always have communication issues, and s5 could've shown growth there in their relationship, but all that happened was that they included a third into their relationship, whom they both eventually started treating very badly, and they fucked their feelings out. I don't feel like they ever reached a good space together. I honestly think an arc of divorce and learning to co-parent would've been best for them. Especially since showing the love in a relationship before and even during a divorce, and how much it really does hurt, would've been very realistic. Sometimes you really do love somebody and sometimes it just doesn't work.

Frank was a worse parent than Monica. People get this idea that Monica ruined Frank, and that he could've been a good father had he not met Monica. I'll say that the logic there isn't logic-ing when Sammy and Queenie are right there. Frank was fucked up before Monica. Even so, Frank was an infinitely worse parent than Monica. There's the mentality of "well at least he was here" but he really wasn't there. When he was he was actively mooching off of his children and bringing danger back into the home. He canonically goes on months long benders. He only returns home when his alternative living situations end up crashing and burning. He uses physical force against his children. Monica ran out on them. She took the squirrel fund money (which Frank did too) and spent it all. In her attempt to be a fun mother she made life actively harder for the kids. She was by no means a perfect mother, but never do I believe that she had malicious intent or a desire to actively harm her children. She's not a good parent, but the idea that she was the worse one pisses me off so bad. This idea that "Frank could've been a good parent" actually applies more to Monica. If she hadn't met Frank and had gotten the help she needed, she could've been a good mother.

I like Sammi in s4 and think she's is a good and interesting character. I don't really like what they did with her in s5, but I do think her calling the MPs on Ian was an interesting plot point. If they'd made an effort to make Sammi likeable in s5 instead of painting her as a psychotic bitch, I think it would've provided more nuance to the end of s5. Especially since, similar to the "Mandy hitting Karen with a car" incident is praised, Mickey almost killing Sammi is seen as a "deserved" moment simply because Sammi was an annoying character. The punishment absolutely does not fit the crime, and while it was accidental, Mickey did fully intend on torturing Sammi and he deserved to go to prison for it. The women of this show really are hated more than they deserve to be, but I blame the decline in writing quality for some of that. Not all of it though.

Ian and Mickey breaking up in s5 was the healthiest thing for them at that point in time. There's mixed opinions on why Ian broke up with Mickey, but I've always been under the impression that Ian didn't want to burden Mickey. Based off his s10 hesitancy to get married, the whole idea of "how do you know you want to be with me, I'm bipolar" suggests to me that Ian was struggling with those feelings immediately post diagnosis, and thus went about a slightly self-destructive route of leaving Mickey before he either got left or ruined them both. I don't think Ian was really correct in that thinking, but I do think that he needed to do some growing outside of a relationship for awhile. I think Mickey also needed to grow a bit. I don't really like how their relationship is handled s7-11, but I think them breaking up and coming back together in a healthier way was the best move for them to avoid ruining each other.

That's all for now maybe I'll add more later but yeah. I love pretty much every character on this show; the whole point is that they're morally gray.

[lemonhemlock]

THANK YOU I AGREE WITH YOUR AEMOND POST 1 MILLION %. Some of the replies are so frustrating, all you were doing is discussing the writers' decisions this season regarding Aemond, and how simplistic it would be for Aemond's motivations to betray Aegon to be based on the brothel scene. You put into words everything wrong with Aemond's arc this season and I tremendously agree! I feel that the writers are flip-flopping with Aemond and Aegon's relationship, first they were enemies as children, then Aemond lost his eye and they seemed to be on the same page, then AEGON'S SON WAS VICIOUSLY BRUTALLY MURDERED AND AEMOND IS (besides showing no character evolution driven remorse to speak of) BACK TO HATING AEGON AGAIN?! THAT'S HIS BROTHER. HIS NEPHEW. HIS SISTER'S KID. Aemond had zero fucks to give!

The fandom's reaction to Aemond has been so embarrassing! Why is he not held accountable for ANYTHING. EVER. I defended Aemond all through S1 and will always defend him from TB but HE'S A GROWN MAN NOW. He just doesn't show empathy for Aegon after Jahaerys' death, your brother is grieving and he swears Aegon is his King and he's his hitman and he will always serve his ass. IF THEY HAVE AEMOND MURDER AEGON BECAUSE HE TEASED HIM IN A BROTHEL WHAT EVEN IS THIS. Really bad writing. Really cringe too.

So don't worry there are some of us who whole heartedly agree with you and don't coddle Aemond a grown man, with the same standards season after season and hold him accountable for the sin of hoping he grows as a character even if he is heading for a darker turn.

thank you so much, anon, for this unexpected reply, as i'm hanging out at the airport with not much to do 😅

yeah, i think that, ON PAPER, aemond turning on his brother as a result of years of bullying is believable, sure, BUT. the bullying truly needs to be horrific to explain away the urge to commit basically three of the most grievous crimes in westeros: kingslaying, kinslaying and usurpation. like. no one takes those things lightly. and, i'm sorry, but teasing just doesn't cut it. i think that a lot of people may be kind of projecting their own personal grievances with school bullies onto aemond, which is natural to an extent, but they have to step back a little and realise that being rude or hurtful to someone just doesn't, in any way, merit a reaction so disproportionate that it amounts to soul-drenching crimes

in that regard, last season i was 100% on aemond's side as well, because, well, MUTILATION might warrant such an escalation in violence. compared to all that pent-up anger aemond felt for luke, the aegond rivalry is just not really well done. it COULD have been, but, without having seen ep 4, it feels very milquetoast and, most of all, unearned.

honestly, i think gwen emphasized really well the fact that we're in a fandom obsessed with their headcanons and brainrot, to the extent that it becomes difficult to separate the backstory one has created for some character with what has actually appeared on screen. what we've seen so far has only been mockery, and i get that, when you're a kid, it's very difficult to go through, but we are talking about murdering your sibling here. i mean, no, i don't think "it makes perfect sense". ALSO. pointing that out doesn't mean you're invalidating the trauma of bullying victims, let us please separate people's real experiences from fictional experiences, which 1. are fake and 2. can be improperly presented in media, which is what we are critiquing in the first place

on a final note, i have had people on my post clinging to this idea that, just because the writers had aemond say (in the most bored tone in existence) that he regrets "the business with luke" (or however the hell he phrases it) means that the writers want to communicate to us that he feels sorry over jaehaerys. please. they must either be aliens that are just now learning about human emotion OR they want to relay that aemond isn't really all that bothered fundamentally. his reaction is basically the stoned out version of this gif!

but, anyway, as dumb as aemond's reasons are or aren't, what ultimately brings the whole rivalry down is that they really didn't invest in creating any dramatic tension between these two. think of the scene at storm's end, it's the literal version of "you could have cut the tension in the room with a knife" and it's only a few minutes long. so it can be done. they just don't care OR, because of this stupid trend of reducing the number of episodes in a season, aegond was just one of those things that hit the cutting room floor. so we can all blame capitalism for rook's rest. 😅

[lord-squiggletits]

Your Tarn posts make me think about him more

He's a victim but he has so many victims himself, but the person that he is, that cause those victims, was delibrately cultivated. Tarn of the DJD was intentional, and that worse somehow

I have to ask, what do you think it would look like if Tarn, somehow & for whatever reason, decided to take the road of healing, to put whatever pieces of himself back together

YEAH I THINK SO FUCKING MUCH ABOUT THAT, even from my first MTMTE read when I didn't care much about him as a blorbo, I thought it was crazily compelling how Tarn was at once an absolute terrifying monster but also the most pathetic, sad little bully boy in an oversized body at the same time akldjlfksd. Like, you look at Tarn and the horrible shit he did to Pharma, all the victims of the DJD, Skids, the alt. Lost Light, etc and he seems like a completely unstoppable force. Then you actually look behind the mask and Tarn's just so... incredibly short-sighted, blindly worships, really volatile and thoughtless, and ultimately gets his shit rocked by Megatron in what's basically a no-contest loss. It feels really bad like... how can it be that someone so pathetic was able to cause so much destruction before he was put down? In the ideal world, you want to believe that shitty, weak people are powerless, but it turns out that sometimes shitty, weak people can actually be in positions of power (in terms of hierarchy, physical might, politics, etc) and when they do they can hurt an incredibly disproportionate amount of people compared to their actual strength of character as a person. As an example, pre-insanity/mania Pharma was so obviously a better person than Tarn, but look how that ended up: this absolute prodigy of a doctor, next in line to be CMO, a normal good Autobot in all accounts. Gets completely wrecked and turned into a mentally ill, insane asshole that loses everything and everyone he ever valued, and Tarn literally never even thinks about him again. God.

As to how I'd handle Tarn healing arc...

The short answer: I actually want to write about Tarn taking a road of healing, heel-face turn arc in the Pen Pals Tarnma AU I've talked about occasionally on this blog/in asks! So... when I post that fic, literally just (gestures at the whole thing)

The long answer:

If canon-divergent, it'd be Dying of the Light but Tarn and co. stop fighting Megatron bc of how pathetic he is. The DJD basically merge forces with Deathsaurus' Decepticons, and they make a sort of neo-Decepticon movement fighting the Galactic Council/Black Rock Consortia. Tarn isn't really a better person morally speaking (yknow the hating organics and wanting conquest thing), but he'd definitely be put on a path where he divorces his sense of self from Megatron and focuses more on his group of comrades: he finds meaning from a collective rather than from worshiping an individual as a god, and Tarn experiences healing from that fact bc instead of a fucked up grooming/parasocial relationship with a distant, uncaring leader, he's actually having real, tangible bonds with people who are equal to him and love and respect him. So, probably still really fanatical to his ideals, but he's a fanatic who loves his comrades as much as he loves his cause.

In a nonspecified AU, let's say during the war with Decepticon Megatron, I think the only way Tarn could get better would be if Megatron got better and then took the time/care to make Tarn better along with him. Unfortunately, Tarn has been manipulated in such a way that Megatron is literally his entire axis of morality/purpose/etc, and I think he doesn't have enough agency and independence to start healing except unless Megatron says "shittiest of my sons, why don't you deradicalize and maybe you'll calm down." It'd basically take Megatron un-grooming Tarn first, and then for Tarn to get some kind of purpose/relationship outside of him for Tarn to regain the independence he had as Damus, which would then allow him to pull the rest of the way from Megatron and go his own way. (Incidentally, this is what happens in the Pen Pals AU)

In a scenario that I don't even know how it'd happen but I desperately want it to happen: Optimus "I can fix him" Prime and Tarn are forced to work together in some capacity which leads to a slowburn mending of their relationship. Not like Tarn becomes an Autobot, or goes back to being Damus, but like... idk, Optimus is the one to deradicalize Tarn and make him realize that Megatron manipulated the shit out of him. Somehow. I would really like these two to interact so badly, and for Tarn to also have a mentor/paternal-esque relationship with someone besides Megatron. (This also happens in Pen Pals AU ldskfjlsd I told you that fic was the true Tarn Redemption Story dlksfjlsdsf)

[kitthenameless]

Ok, I'm finally gonna do it, I'm gonna defend Aradin 😅 (kind of)

I'm not going to say he's good, I just feel like he gets a disproportionate amount of hate compared to other characters who do equally bad or worse things but get sympathy. Especially considering he and Rolan are surprisingly similar, in a way that really illustrates the difference good influences can have. (Well, Aradin is more fantasy racist. But even some of our companions have that problem, so we're just gonna put that aside for now.)

Neither one actually wants to help protect the grove, it's just that Rolan has people to convince him. But they both care about the ones they consider their people. And Rolan also doesn't care that Nightsong is a person and will side with Lorroakan to capture her if you don't properly help him and complete his growth arc. But again, he changes because the game lets you help him grow through various situations and because he has siblings who are there for him and good influences on him.

When we first meet Aradin, at the point where we have the option to punch him, all we've actually seen him do is run to a safe place for help while terrified. Maybe it was a mistake to lead goblins there, but he was, well, running for his life, and you'd probably do the same. (I've seen another player say they literally did this exact thing when they were down to one party member and going to die, thinking the tieflings at the gate would help.) He also made a mistake by going to the goblin camp so unprepared, but who among us hasn't had characters, or our whole party, die in combat because we underestimated a fight or weren't prepared? Halsin also went with them and didn't properly consider preparations either. You might also argue that he made a mistake by leaving crewmates behind, but he might've figured at that point they would ALL die if they stayed, and at least he could save a couple if they ran. All of Aradin's mistakes in Act 1 are pretty understandable things.

If you actually talk to Aradin (which you can do at the grove, a bridge in Act 1, and outside Sorcerous Sundries), he seems more downtrodden than anything. He's grieving the people he lost. He even accepts your offer of a prayer for his dead friends, if you're a cleric. He tells you you'll probably die but still willingly gives you all his info about the Nightsong if you want it, because he no longer cares about the money at that point. And I'm guessing he probably wouldn't have started doing jobs like this at all if he didn't need the money. His armor and weapons are not high quality. And though we don't know much about Aradin's situation (other than, presumably, his father is dead), we know Barth didn't grow up with much money.

As for the fantasy racism... Ok. I get it, if you want to punch him for that. But so many characters in this world are like that. Shadowheart is anti-gith, Minthara insults you if you're an elf, and Astarion can make comments about gnomes at least a couple times throughout the game. So it seems weird to hold that against Aradin and no one else.

And come on, be real for a moment. He is NOT worse than Gortash or Raphael or Ketheric or even Minthara---characters people love and/or sympathize with. But he gets so much more hate, and people who like him get so much more shit for it. I support you, Aradin lovers 🤝

Anyway, one really interesting thing about this game is how differently characters can turn out, depending on the influences in their life. Just look at most of the companions, with their good and bad paths. Aradin is not a good person as he is, but I think he could've had the potential to change just as much as other characters in this game. Unlike some, he doesn't seem set in stone on a specific path and unwilling to change, he's sort of just struggling to get by and making bad decisions because of it. It's fine that the writers didn't give him an arc, it's ok for some characters to stay assholes. It's just odd to me that other characters get sympathy and analyses and even just love for them being the terrible person they are, while Aradin mostly just gets excessive hate.

[marinsawakening]

Actually since they orphaned their work like a coward I now feel justified complaining about the fic directly. Not like anyone but me knows who wrote it at this point.

Look at this shit.

Like. Holy shit. Where do I start.

'Impa has a right to be upset but what she said to Link was cruel' wow good thing Ghirahim has never said anything cruel to Link. Certainly not something like, "I'd take pleasure in punishing you, but I have no time for recreation. But next time, I'll do more than just beat you senseless. I'll make the affair so excruciating you'll deafen yourself with the shrill sound of your own screams." That'd be crazy haha. It'd make the author's anger at Impa's 'cruelty' look wildly hypocritical and nonsensical, perhaps fueled by some kind of bigoted bias even. Good thing Ghirahim is a famously kind guy who is never cruel!

Dropping the sarcasm. The mere idea that GHIRAHIM of all people would get angry at Impa for hurting Link's feelings is ridiculous. He literally has an animation of him licking Link's blood of his sword.

Impa told Link a harsh truth, plainly laying out the consequences his failure would have, and did so in an angry way. Ghirahim has threatened to kill and torture Link on multiple occassions, clearly relishing it. And between the two of them, IMPA is the one that gets a whole fic dedicated to insulting her for being 'cruel'? And GHIRAHIM is the valiant protector? GHIRAHIM gets a sympathetic fanon backstory of abuse to expand on his character and his reasons for acting the way he did in canon, but Impa needs to be yelled at, put in her place?

I'm singling out this fic bc there's no author connected to it anymore and it's particularly egregious, but it is far from unique. Damn near every fic with Skyward Sword Impa exists to talk about how she hurt Link's feelings that one time. Even when they try to be evenhanded about it, show Impa in a sympathetic light, these fics exist to make her admit she was wrong, to 'deal with her'.

Link's hurt feelings are a problem to be addressed, but Impa's emotions during this scene are, at absolute best, secondary. Her anger only matters insofar as it hurt Link's feelings, anything that caused this anger only matters insofar as it can be used to explain why she hurt Link's feelings, if it matters at all. As far as large chucks of the fandom are concerned, Impa's whole entire character revolves around that time she hurt Link's feelings, and most of the time, they don't even try to be sympathetic towards her. A brown woman hurt a white guy's feelings and needs to apologize for it, be punished for it.

It's so blatantly, disgustingly racist and sexist, especially when you consider how she is treated in comparison to the other characters in the game who have hurt Link. Ghirahim has a large contingent of fans who give him elaborate abuse backstories to make his character more layered and sympathetic. Groose is a widely beloved character and fics dealing with his bullying of Link are as likely to revolve around his feelings as Link's. Zelda has plenty of fic that are not about that time she manipulated Link. All three of these characters can and do get bashed for hurting Link's feelings, but most of the time, in fics where they have a big role, they aren't reduced to it. Groose's treatment is the closest to Impa's, but finding fics featuring Groose that aren't about him apologizing/being punished for being mean to Link is really not that hard. I have spent enough time digging in the Impa tag to know that's not true for her.

Impa's character is hated, ignored or dismissed a disproportionate amount compared to other characters, even when those characters have done far worse than her. Why are people only interested in thinking about her, writing about her when they can make it about Link? She's a badass ninja who is implied to be the last of her people and have survived the apocalypse. The vast majority of her screentime shows her as kind, gentle even.

So why, why are the vast majority of people only interested in exploring that one time she was mean to Link? How is that more interesting than her relationship to Hylia and Zelda, how she felt during the millenia she spent alone protecting the Triforce, her experiences as being (very probably) the last human on the Surface?

These are rhetorical questions. It's because she's a brown woman. Her actions receive less grace than others' and her character receives less thought than others' because she is a brown woman. If Ghirahim had been a brown woman we'd have a million fics calling him an abusive pedophile rapist, complete with long 'trauma recovery' fics for Link (just look at how Cia gets treated). If Impa had been a white man, she'd have a widespread established tragic fanon backstory by now and would probably be one of the top characters shipped with Link in sksw. And you fucking know it.

I was gonna end it here but I'm still mad so ONE MORE THING:

Congrats, you managed to miss the entire point of the scene you wrote a whole damn fic about! Of COURSE Impa knew Ghirahim was targeting Link! Of COURSE Impa knew that Link was facing obstacles designed to slow him down! Her brain is not, in fact 'dementia-ridden'. She got through the damned dungeon too, didn't she? Her issue is that Link wasn't good enough to get to Zelda in time in spite of these obstacles. Because the whole entire goddamn world is on the line and the Goddess' Chosen is seemingly not up to the job. The truth is Link WAS late, he DID need to get better, or his friend and world would be doomed. If the hero is successfully foiled by evil's obstacles, that's a damn problem!! THAT'S what she was upset about! You wrote a whole goddamn fic insulting her while she's not allowed to even offer a single word of defense and you didn't even understand what she was saying!

God fucking forbid a woman do anything.