#but people hate it for extremely petty reasons imo

[khytal]

I forgot people on tumblr hate toarise with a passion (it is a game I also have many issues with but it's still my favorite tales game)

[theblogwithoutfear]

karen page is so annoying in the show...is she better in the comics somehow or is she just like that

So I've actually wanted to talk about this forever, but I kept forgetting to make a post about it. Your ask is a perfect opportunity to write down all my thoughts. Brace yourself, because I have a lot to say. Sorry in advance lmao

I actually prefer Karen in the show. To be fair, I have not finished all the comics, but so far I think her TV counterpart is a lot better (I still like her a lot in the comics tho, don't get me wrong). The NMCU version of Karen Page also has a lot of Kirsten McDuffie (another comic book girlfriend) in her, which is great in my opinion.

A lot of people find her annoying, but to me it's her flaws that make her such a fantastic character. She isn't a caricature, stock-girlfriend character pulled from a box of tropes; she's a well-rounded individual, extremely realistic, a mirror of Matt Murdock, and a woman with real agency. Her actions have major consequences on the plot. In my opinion, a lot of superhero girlfriends (in comics, movies, TV, whatever) are written more like props than characters, and they don't have any agency or actual plot relevance. Which is why, when a lot of them die, their deaths feel so cheap and inconsequential. That's where fridging comes from. It's been a problem with superheroes since their very inception; and a problem in storytelling at large. So often in fiction, women are flat and unrealistic.

So to me, Karen's heavily-flawed character is refreshing. She is extremely impulsive; she's deeply intelligent, but makes such stupid decisions; she can be hypocritical, self-destructive, and petty. Sometimes she manipulates people, even unintentionally. She's very well-meaning, but constantly makes mistakes. And it's these mistakes that move the plot forward, and reveal important things about both her and Matt. Her actions have real consequences for the story, and she undertakes her own journey throughout the narrative. She is almost as much a protagonist as Matt is, in terms of her character development and growth.

For that matter, every one of the flaws that I listed are things that Matt does too. They are almost perfect mirrors of each other; people who are immensely concerned with justice and compassion, people who care for the truth, and people who want to make their city a better place. However, as they go about it, they stumble and make mistakes and endanger other people. They're hypocritical and contradictory and impulsive. They constantly have to call their own moralities into question, because they almost never live up to their high ideals.

(Also, as a side note, I think many of Karen's flaws—as with Matt's—come as a direct result of all the trauma she's been through: her mother's death, her brother's death, her alcoholism and drug addiction, her dad cutting her off, being framed for murder, almost getting murdered in prison, etc. So I think it's fair to give her some grace.)

But what makes both Karen and Matt so lovable, imo, is that they keep trying. No matter what mistakes they make, they get back up and try again. They do everything they can to atone for the blood on their hands.

I think also (and I'm not accusing you of this, just a certain subset of people in the fandom) that people are more willing to accept Matt's flaws than Karen's—because there's a lot of misogyny built into our society, and there's this ingrained idea that women have to be paragons of virtue. Women, both in fiction and in reality, tend to be put under a microscope and dissected, while men can get away with a lot more. So Matt and Karen have identical flaws, but only Karen gets hate for it, which makes me very sad.

It may be the writer in me, but imo flaws are what make a character—and a story—meaningful. A well-flawed character can take a ridiculous, implausible story and make it feel grounded and real and impactful. A well-flawed woman even more so. I love Karen for the same reason I love Jessica Jones and Wanda Maximoff; or, to go beyond Marvel, for the same reason I love Jo March and Katniss Everdeen and Miss Haversham and Katherina Molina. They all elevate their respective stories beyond the initial premise and plot. Flawed female characters are realistic and impactful, and therefore empowering.

Obviously, to each their own. Some people just find her annoying and don't like her personality, and that's fine. But for me, that's what makes her feel real, and that's why I love her.

[itsabardknocklife]

By no means trying to start an argument but I don't think it's fair at all to say people hate Mystra because she's a woman. Even if Gale wasn't a minor- she was his teacher, his goddess, she took advantage of the power she had over him, tossed him aside when the orb situation happened, and only comes back into his life to tell him to off himself- this has nothing to do with her being a woman. Am i not allowed to hate Zariel for abusing Karlach? Cazador for torturing Astarion? Shar for manipulating Shadowheart? Vlaiikith for lying to Lae'zel and the entire githyanki race? Mizora for trapping Wyll in his contract? - they are the abusers of characters I love. And equating that to petty fandom misogyny for the sake of ships isn't really fair imo

Nowhere did I say that you couldn't hate Mystra for what she DID do. I agree that she abused her power and manipulated Gale. I also think saying she tossed him aside is Unfair; the Orb in Gale's chest would LITERALLY EAT HER and she tells you as much in a Gale Origin run. She just got back from the dead and now the man she TRUSTED as her CHOSEN has run off in search of the very thing that killed the first Mystra without any sort of foresight or research into what he might find.

If you were in that position, what would you do? It doesn't matter that his intention was "good;" how could you trust someone who went chasing after consume you whole? Especially when the last person who used it intended to do just that? Especially when the moment Gale learns about the Crown of Karsus, he immediately begins to talk of replacing her?

I'm sorry, but I don't think what Mystra's done is on the same level as Cazador, Mizora, Zariel, or Vlaakith. I think there's a whole lot of Unreliable Narrator happening when it comes to the whole "tossing aside" thing. Gale ASSUMES that she stripped him of his power; she did not - the Orb consumed them and he's lucky it didn't consume more. He ASSUMES she's casting him aside when she tells him to go martyr himself; she is not - she's afraid of what he'll do if he gets his hands on the Crown of Karsus, and not without good reason.

I personally think the worst thing Mystra did was fail to communicate and trusted that Gale was smart enough to know what he was doing. He was not. This is not as one sided of a situation as the fandom makes it out to be. Gale dug himself a series of holes and when he hit rock bottom, he looked around and focused on the fact that he'd hit rock bottom without considering WHY he was there.

I understand that people want to see Gale as a Good Person - he wants to see himself that way too! But he's not. He's REALLY not. He's complicated, ambitious, power hungry, and most importantly, human. He has blind spots and biases and quite frankly, it doesn't take much to influence him. He's so close to becoming Karsus 2.0 and he refuses to see it because He Knows Better. He's a Good Person.

So yeah, I think it's extremely fair to chalk this up to fandom misogyny, actually. The fandom acts like the sun shines out of Gale's ass and that he is a perfect good boy who did nothing wrong, and that is, objectively, not true. Gale did many things wrong, and with your encouragement, he can do even more wrong things! Both people in this equation fucked up!! Stop putting the blame solely on Mystra's shoulders!

[bobbydagen24]

"" This is the Thanks I get "" is Technically a Bad Villain song but imo its not for the Reasons people often say it is.

first off I actually love this song lol I know a couple of lines of Dialogue are wonky but Regardless I love it I think its a fun song

it shows a Narcissistic Villain being so enjoyably full of himself and slowly losing his mind Towards the end before eventually just completely giving in to his full on meltdown

and I've listened to it loads of times I think it is just a pretty fun Villain song however I do admit that Technically it is a Bad Villain song.

but the Reasons that people often state why aren't why I think it doesn't work when Hearing criticism of this song most people just state the clunky Dialogue such as "" I let you live here for free and I don't even charge you rent ""

and they say that they think the song sounds too cheery and not very sinister for the most part and like it doesn't really sound like a villain song

especially not when compared to past Disney villain songs such as Hellfire or Be Prepared or Friends on the other side

but the Reasons I feel it Technically isn't a good villain song is because it simply does not fit with the character Magnifico was established to be at the start

he was a slightly full of himself but mostly Humble powerful leader who did the things that he did out of fear of losing his home due to a great Trauma of having lost his old home and his entire family when he was younger

he was a more understandable sympathetic ends justify the means kind of villain who's side the audience could understand to an extent even if we know he's still wrong in what he does

so a song like this doesn't fit his established character as like I said its fun and upbeat as it shows a very narcissistic petty person slowly losing his mind over not getting what he believes he deserves

from people and thus in an act of extreme pettiness resorts to using a dangerous dark magic book to gain back control of the situation

this song seems like it should be for an entirely different character

its like if the lion king established in the first half that Scar is Bitter and Resentful towards his Brother

and doesn't care about him or his nephew at all and only cares about the power and respect he believes he Deserves

only for his villain song later on to be The Plagues from Prince of Egypt where suddenly Scar is portrayed as a stoic and conflicted villain

who loves his Brother and Nephew so much and Hates that he has to be on opposing sides to them but he feels he has no choice.

my point is it just ignores the kind of villain he was set up as earlier in the movie the version of Magnifico they set up in the first Half

feels like he should have a more somber slow and quiet villain song imo where he maybe calmly sings to himself about how much he loves his home and his people and of course his wife

and as he slowly starts Remembering the Tragedy that befell his old Home the song turns more Desperate with Magnifico clearly trying to Block the idea out of his mind

that this new threat to the kingdom could cause the same outcome and maybe he actively tries to talk himself out of using the dark magic book

trying to convince himself History won't Repeat itself but the song turns straight up Horror with us seeing big flashes of Magnifico's old Home

being Burned to the Ground and his loved ones Ripped away from him that he loses the calm cool composure he had at the start of the song

and becomes more and more terrified and thus Desperate that he resorts to using the book corrupting himself further but its portrayed as much more scary and also tragic.

just an idea.

so yeah like I said that's why I feel the song Technically isn't a good villain song in the story of the film even tho I do love it and I listen to it all the time

it can be pretty fun to sing along and act a little full of yourself lol.

[moonlightdancer26]

Hello There.

this is kinda weird and meta and i cannot tell if it’s written coherently so plz just hear me out

so yk how J*R admitted that, when she was writing OOTP at the same time as the first movie was being made, she made a lot of the changes/revelations we see for severus’ character bc she liked alan rickman’s portrayal so much? her only valid opinion

prior to that it is much easier to see the relationship between james/the marauders and severus as ‘slytherin vs gryffindor antagonistic’

(the prank (PoA) is imo played off more as ‘sirius was in the wrong by organising it, james did better by following severus and getting him out of there’ without input from OOTP)

anyway, this is all to say that pre-OOTP james and post-OOTP james feel like very different characters, bc one is very much good-guy-in-the-making and the other is the worst of the worst, and i think it can be brought back to J*R’s inability to write interesting slyth vs gryff rivalries without resorting to bullying and harassment from one party (the way she writes slytherins makes me want to smash my head against walls)

what do you think? bc this is coming from a kinda biased marauders stan, pro-james perspective, even though i dont hate young!sev in the slightest

i feel like a lot of my issues with this whole thing can be summed up by The TERF Bitch Can’t Write, And Now We Suffer Because Of It

I’ve heard of that claim before, and iirc I’ve seen a source of her saying that a long time ago, but could you tell where cause I’d love to confirm this? 😭 She had already had Snape’s arc planned out because during the earlier films Alan wanted to quit his role because playing Evil Greasy Potions Master might get him type-casted (since he’s played villains before) and he didn’t want that, so Rowling decided to tell him about the grandiose reveal in DH, which is what made him stay.

what do you think? bc this is coming from a kinda biased marauders stan, pro-james perspective, even though i dont hate young!sev in the slightest

I actually think that was the point. In the earlier books we’re led to believe that Snape had no good reason for hating Harry’s dad and only resented James (and Harry) because he was a popular, loved Gryffindor and a talented Quidditch player. It was a bit of a red herring, and in PoA when Sirius and Remus are introduced we’re told about the prank and since Harry already hates Snape, obviously loves his father, and wants to know more info about his parents because he now knows two people who were the closest of friends with them, he assumes Sirius is right and evil Sneep Snoop is wrong and was just being petty as per usual. So for the first five books the readers are like “yo James is the perfect awesome guy and Snape is the jealous bad one,” which is increased when we remember James is a Gryffindor and Severus was a Slytherin, we sort of get the same image as Harry and Draco. It’s an extremely black-and-white image, the dawning realisation that it might not be just a simple rivalry/jealously-issue is what makes SWM in the 5th book so jaw-dropping to all of us, because we actually realise that it wasn’t the whole story. “Snape was right all along” is a super scary realisation for Harry, especially since it makes him completely rethink the image of his father that’s been painted for him by basically everyone around him, everyone except the one character Harry despises most of all.

This isn’t to say JKR doesn’t make shit decisions in writing, I 100000% get what you’re saying, but I think this was deliberately written that way so it can to be a big build-up to the plot twist. (Doesn’t make it very well-written, but it was still her intention ig.) and tbh the fact that we have so many unanswered questions/concerns about the plot holes/arcs/writing/etc and have to fill it in with the most plausible assumptions really goes to show how overrated JKR’s writing is and how her series has been enriched mostly by its fandom.

Also dw you’ve gotten your point across very well, I always get concerned with my writing because I’m worried it just sounds like a pile of unorganised bullshit 💀

[tetrakys]

It was the year 2012. I was young and innocent when I clicked on this random ad and started playing the first otome game of my life. 10+ years ago I found myself in front of a difficult decision: do I try to steal my classmate’s boyfriend or not?

It was a tricky situation. On one side, Leigh was older and hot, on the other this went against my morals. I quickly realised though that I didn’t need to follow my real life morality in a video game if I didn’t want to. 

So I did it, I lied to Rosa and flirted with the hot goth guy.

A little later, I had the chance to ditch the boy I was spending time at the beach with, to kiss a pretty tattooed stranger. Tbh I didn’t really like the Dake, but the illu was cool so I went for it. Would I kiss a stranger I don’t even like in real life? Not really, especially in covid times ew, but that’s a game so who cares.

And so again and again I’ve picked “problematic” and “immoral” choices in my game, I’ve accepted Castiel’s one-night-stand offer while dating someone else, I’ve cheated on my LI with the cop, etc. Not all of these choices stayed in my history, sometimes I replayed and saved the other, safest option, and let my Candy be a good girl.

Because at the end of the day, that’s what all these things were, choices. Catering to people with different tastes and views.

And in my opinion this is one of the greatest strengths of My Candy Love. I’ve played dozens and dozens of Japanese and Chinese games where the MC never really has a choice. Sure, you can choose what to ask the LI, or to express your preference on certain things, you can even be slightly bolder or very timid. But I’ve never played another game of this calibre which makes you actually experiment the imperfection and the grey area. There are some indie games which do something close to that (although imo, more extreme), and this aspect is exactly the reason why they are so praised. As a fantasy heroine you can decide to make a bloodshed and kill all your enemies, or be compassionate and spare them.

So, at the end of the day, on a scale of 1 to 10, how much do I care about having to flirt a bit with Hyun to get Armin’s nsfw scene? Not only it’s zero but I actually enjoyed it immensely. It’s petty and childish and it entertained me most than anything I’ve played/watched in a long time. I also found it well written in a comedic way and perfectly in character with what Candy and Armin are on this route.

And this is my personal taste. Some people hate having to fake-flirt with another guy, and it’s fair! More than fair! Super fair! Hence why we have a choice. Sure, they are going to end up skipping on the sex this one time, but the alternative kiss is so romantic and well done, it’s not like the other choice is trash. I wanted Lysander’s nsfw illu while also meeting Castiel and the other friends in the same episode. I didn’t want to have to forgive Marina to get Chani’s illustration. It’s a visual novel, choices lead to different outcomes. And I’m glad that most people get that. 

Because this isn’t school, we’re not in a classroom, the presence alone of a choice you deem immoral doesn’t invalidate the whole game and says nothing about the people who like it. When someone asks for these kind of choices to be removed because “there are kids playing these games” (they shouldn’t) or it’s not “politically correct” or “this isn’t what I would do so no one should do it”, they are automatically invalidating a bunch of other players’ feelings. Live and let live.

I hope I’m gonna be able to be even pettier and bitchier in the future. I hope to see more drama and be able to pick even more cancellation-worthy choices, because that’s how I have fun and I will never care about feeling judged because of it.

[whiskeyswifty]

giving diane warren her 14th nomination over giving taylor her first 😭 the academy really don’t like her

I’m telling you!! The academy is very fickle and petty with what they like and don’t like. They don’t like actors-turned-directors, they don’t like horror/thriller movies, they don’t like random industry people for seemingly unknown reasons like Aranofsky, they don’t like being told they can’t separate the art from the artist, they don’t like black people for obvious (racist) reasons (and anyone not white in general) and so why not tack on Taylor Swift to the list!

All jokes aside I do think it’s a bit more complicated than just they hate her. She’s had some 8-9 attempts now sure but most of them were not very good attempts, imo. Like…. Not good songs lol. And they’re usually attached to movies that are not seriously considered in the Oscar’s conversation writ large anyway. 50 shades, Crawdads, Cats, etc. So it’s no surprise she’s been unsuccessful so far. The song category is a weird one, both the fact that it exists and the way it usually goes down. If you’ve been following the Oscar’s for a while, it’s extremely predictable down to the annual Diane Warren nomination which is something of an in-joke at this point. But if you’re a casual viewer then I can see why you had misplaced hope for taylor and why you’re baffled. From an entertainment standpoint, it’s quite funny to watch someone who usually sweeps competitions in every other arena, deservedly as she’s extremely talented, have the biggest losing streak of her career because the category is cuckoo bananas. You have to laugh!

[destinyc1020]

Oh girl, your blog is an oasis for those of us Austin appreciators that are in other fandoms. I just read some tomdaya blogs claiming that Austin is a social climber 🙃. A guy that has been working in Hollywood since he was a preteen. I see many similarities with him and Z: their middle class parents encouraged them to act to deal with their severe childhood shyness and were grinding for many years in child entertainment. Then they really had to dig deep to be able to be taken seriously in the industry

Yeah, a lot of people would have liked if Vanessa and him had stayed together or at least stayed friends, but their relationship was not brief or springboards for fame. Vanessa's career has not been easy after HSM. She has had some nice projects but not huge success. And Austin stayed with her through it all. At the end it seems that he got so obsessed to get Elvis absolutely right that he neglected his relationships (even with his own family). But everybody that meets him remarks how nice and endearing he is

Anyway, thanks for keeping this space

First of all, thanks so much for the kind words Anon. 🥰

It's nice to be known as an "oasis" lol. 😄

Yea, I try to keep my blog pretty much fun, positive, and lighthearted for the most part. I like discussing a wide-range of things on my blog, but I don't enjoy ppl being negative about others for practically NO good reason. 🥴

Personally, I think some ppl are unnecessarily hard on Aus (or his voice) for some reason. I just hope it doesn't end up making him self-conscious about his voice or whatever. I don't know him personally, but he seems incredibly sweet and grounded, and everyone who meets him says he's very kind and genuine. I just don't get the hate for him honestly. 😔 Thank goodness he's not very big on social media.

Even Tom has hinted at the fact that he's had to take a break from social media for his own mental and emotional health, and worrying about his looks, etc. Even so-called "fans" can make you self-conscious sad to say. 😔 I just think ppl these days can be unnecessarily cruel online and don't realize that celebrities are REAL ppl, with REAL feelings that they're talking about.

You don't have to like everyone, but to "just not care for someone" "just because", or for petty reasons, when you don't even know them personally, and they haven't done or said anything horrific in the public eye is just weird imo, and not my style at all. 🤷🏾‍♀️

There are soooo many more horrible ppl out here to hate or dislike who really have said or done some crazy hurtful things. 🥴

Re: The Zendaya Similarities....

You know what Anon, I never really thought about it, but you're right. 🤔 Both Z and Austin came from humble beginnings, and their parents probably encouraged them to get out of their comfort zones to try some acting because they were both extremely shy growing up. 😊 I know Z was so shy that ppl were worried when she was in school. I can definitely relate because I was really shy growing up too, and I had a hard time speaking up or raising my hand in class. I was so quiet! Rofl 🤣 Austin is still pretty shy... you can tell... but I think acting and being someone different onscreen has really helped him to get out of his shell, just like with Z.

As much as I complain about Sam's writing and the length of time it takes to film that show lol, I think the Euphoria role especially really helped Z to get out of her comfort zone and to be seen as a "serious actress".

Re: Vanessa...

Look, I loved her and Austin together, but the fact is, they're no longer together, and that's that. 🤷🏾‍♀️ And it's not like she was Meryl Streep, and he was some penniless, out-of-work actor lol. Dude was working.... and even was on several popular shows. True, it was mainly fluff stuff, but let's not re-write history here. Vanessa was more popular and well-known obviously due to HSM, but it's not like she was in the stratosphere and he was in the depths waaaaaay down below lol. 😂

Anyway, I'm not gonna pretend to know exactly why they broke up.... That's btwn them. 🤷🏾‍♀️Fans can speculate all they want, but I try to remember that only THEY know the reason. It could be smthg simple as they were already having difficulties and were just trying to stay together just because they had been together for so long. Who knows? Either way, it's not really my business. As long as they're both happy with their new significant others (and it seems like they are! 😃) that's all that really matters at the end of the day imo. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Nobody tells me what to do, what to be interested in, or what to post on my OWN freakin' blog.

ANYWAY.....

With all of that said... No, I am NOT going to "shut up about Austin Butler" like that one Anon suggested. 🙄 Who are they, my mother???

Sorry! LOL 😁😅

[cyra-ooc]

I’ll try my best. Thank you for engaging in a meaningful way as well— I truly think petty insults won’t solve anything lol.

I’m just a bit worried about how there seemed to be a connection of instragram to tumblr posts and it almost seems like a lite way of doxxing people on the basis of shipping? also, with lumping everyone together as some sort of inc*st apologists is extremely damaging when that is far from the truth (though I won’t pretend there’s a few blogs that do ship it that way; but the majority like myself do *not* and prefer the older storyline, but I digress)

It seems very antagonistic in the way Max and other blogs have been handling it and it makes me want to scroll my blog to ensure I don’t have any selfies up either. It’s created an incredibly unsafe environment imo and I sincerely hope a lot can be learned from it.

Simply putting a little “don’t harass people” on the end of the list was never going to ensure it and seemed to have created a lot of division within the fandom :(

I wish the fandom could relax and just enjoy the music and Tobias’ message together. And I hope that you can continue to remain free of any rude anon hate or messages too!!

No just petty insults won't help anyone really. And neither will any of the hate anons. Literally if you act in a mature way and go about it like that you're gonna get the right solution or a resolution faster!! Again I'm sorry about the list and I realise that just adding that to the end wouldn't guarantee anything. If you have any problems or you want me to try speak to anyone about it my DM's are open!

I'm not the type that would just lump everyone together, though and I'm going to be treating people like people unless they come in here all guns blazing- Like I'm sure anyone else would react to be honest! And I'm not going to act as if I've been completely calm through this (before the anon asks) because I was pissed off with some content I seen untagged.. That's different to what I can filter out for myself so I think that's reasonable to be irritated by(?)

Hopefully things will calm down soon because I really don't like this either, it's almost 3am now? And ive been up thinking on it 😅

[chamerionwrites]

Most of the time I am probably too accommodating and hate conflict to a fault but occasionally the Zero Fucks Left version of me emerges, and I'm fairly sure 99% of people who have witnessed it find it Jekyll-and-Hyde unsettling.

Which is almost certainly a character flaw on my part! But I don't entirely know what to do about it, because I'm pretty sure it's the "too accommodating" part that's the character flaw and while I've been working on that half my life, and honestly gotten much better at it, that isn't the half of the equation that people are freaked out by.

[lee-scribbles-and-doodles]

I decided to give I Am Not Starfire a chance and... frankly I personally didn't like it that much. I don't hate it, but I'm also probably never going to reread it. I'm going to make this semi-review/reaction as fair as I can. Also these are just my opinions, so if you disagree with them just take them with a grain of salt and move on.

So one red flag that DID get obliterated was Mandy's last name being Koriand'r. It's, thankfully, just Anders. Not sure if this was changed mid production due to backlash or if the ad makers just screwed it up, but whatever.

Just 11 pages in (4 of which are the cover and credits) Mandy is already slutshaming her own mother for the way she dresses. /sarcasm/ Great way to get you to like the character. /sarcasm/

Starfire has an absolutely hideously drawn thigh gap in her introduction page.

Just about the only thing the comic does right in depicting teenagers is Mandy and her friend Lincoln, who both seem dedicated to being edgelords, incorrectly labeling themselves anarchists despite being the typical anti-establishment type teen. I knew and do know a lot of teens who act like this. Any other attempts to write teens here are, frankly, cringe worthy.

This Starfire is clearly based on her 2003 counterpart, which seems odd because this book is marketed towards teens, and that show aired and ended in 2006. For context, I'm 24 now, and that show would have ended when I was about 9. I'm just barely a Gen z. Most people who are actually teens right now would primarily associate this Starfire's characterization with the TT Go! spinoff... which I believe has the target audience of 4-7 year olds. It just seems like a weird decision to not go with her comic personality in this context.

The narrative very directly tries to compare the conflict between Star and Mandy as being similar to that of immigrant parents and their children... which I guess is there, but the story itself doesn't do much with that premise. Unfortunate, as I feel more focus on that could have actually made the story interesting.

Mandy is an extremely toxic person, as she's one of those "I'm not like other girls" characters, and that makes her very hard for me to sympathize with.

I've seen defenders go "Of course she's toxic she's a teenager" but like... the narrative clearly wants us to sympathize with her, but her behaviour at certain points makes that extremely difficult. She's mean to literally everyone other than Lincoln, often for no reason whatsoever.

Just about the only thing that I'm able to sympathize with her is some of her classmates harassing her about the Titans, and the fat phobic comments she gets. However, that can only justify her behaviour to a certain extent.

The sad thing is I WANT to like Mandy, as it's rare to get fat lesbians (or fat wlw in general) in media but she's just so... ugh, at points. She's also fairly generic in terms of female YA protagonists. I feel like I've seen her a million times, with the only difference being she's not straight.

Her completely blowing up over a selfie that Claire took is stupid. She doesn't even bother to explain why it upsets her, she just yells at this poor girl and storms off. Claire is then the one to be made to apologize, despite Mandy's blatant over reaction and unwillingness to communicate.

The way the story uses Gen z stereotypes to try to relate to its audience is the kind of thing I found extremely cringy when I was teenager. Judging from some reviews I've read written by actual teens, the feeling seems to be present here for the target audience to at least some extent.

(Think how 90s cartoons and teen sitcoms had an overabundance of skateboarding and rap to try and be "cool with the kids." Yeah, it's like that but with social media and boba tea).

"It's not fun, it's hamlet" is an actually legitimately funny line imo.

Also her bird is cute.

I like Claire's fruit backpack.

Honestly, one of the only genuinly positive things I can say about this is that I like the overall art style.

For some reason Blackfire decides to attempt to kill Kori and Mandy at her school instead of taking them to Tamaran? Petty queen, ig.

Blackfire is extremely underutilized. She spends the majority of the comic spying on Mandy before the big fight.

Mandy, at the very least acknowledges she was a shitty daughter towards the end, and seems to be making attempts to be less so in the epilogue.

Her new superhero costume is lame tbh. It's just typical goth clothes with bracelets and a tiara.

Still kind of annoyed that Claire had to apologize over a selfie and that Mandy's over reaction wasn't really called out.

Other than the selfie thing, Mandy's crush on Claire is cute.

So basically, not nearly as terrible as I was worried it was going to be, but it's otherwise pretty standard YA that doesn't do much new aside from being connected with DC Comics. If you're into that kind of thing, it'll be a pretty standard read but otherwise not super remarkable imo.

Side Note: Raven is pretty in this.

Also, she and Gar snuggling is cute.

ALSO, absolutely obsessed with this image of Gar.

What the dog doing?

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

Okay, saw Arcadia. Very interesting—we all know that Mulder is a very physical touchy kind of guy (not in a creepy way though), and I’m we’ve hardly ever seen Scully shy away from him being close to her. They’ve fallen asleep on each other’s shoulders, fixed each other’s clothes/hair/faces—

And then there’s this episode. Where she practically elbows his arm away. Where she can’t stand to be in the same close physical proximity she has been for six whole seasons. The MarriedTM vibe they constantly give off is sputtering here in this episode where they’re actually undercover as a married couple. And I think Scully’s the one most visibly out of joint.

And I can’t help but wonder why. Is Mulder overplaying it? (He is, but that’s not unusual.) Is it touching too close to actual Feelings? Was it not her idea in the first place and she’s grumpy about it?

Just—stuff to think about.

(Also the green face mask reaction 😂)

oh yeah Mulder is very very physically affectionate, and usually so is Scully and she doesn't tend to mind his touching. I think the issue in Arcadia is that it comes so soon after Two Fathers/One Son and they're still uncomfortably in the middle of the Diana drama — Scully uhhh... well tbh at this point in s6 she's extremely insecure, and it's directly because of Diana. i don't tend to see it quite the same way as a lot of people bc I don't think she's necessarily *romantically* jealous, but the fact of it is that Scully DOES get jealous of any other woman who takes an interest in Mulder, largely because he's her best friend. and at the point of s4/5, she's secure in the sense that she's also his best friend (which is in part due to TFWID, oddly enough. their conversations there really solidified that no matter what else they may be to each other, they're each other's best friend no matter what).

but once Diana shows up and Mulder gets distracted by her — which is... to some degree fairly reasonable, bc as bad as she may have always been for him, she's one of the few people he's been really close to in his life and I can't even really blame him for holding onto a little of his former loyalty to her — Scully starts to question. she always undersells herself, you know? she doesn't realize how much Mulder appreciates her bc he doesn't flat-out say it very often. and tbh, he also kinda underappreciates her in s6.

bc as much as yeah, imo there is some kind of justification for his wanting to believe and trust Diana, Mulder is also really out of line and rude to Scully sometimes (mainly in the mytharc, which like... yeah that's really how it is tbh 🙄) — the "you're making this personal" line in One Son is just like shut UP you absolutely jerk hypocrite — like honestly he really just needs a good smack upside the head. he's so rude sometimes and it SUCKS and tbh I hate mid-s6 because of this tension and frustration.

also the whole ~Diana issue~ could in fact be easily solved if they would just SIT DOWN and TALK ABOUT IT instead of dancing around each other and their own feelings (EVEN AFTER FIGHT THE FUTURE) and being passive aggressive and petty bc of how uncertain they both are.

(that's another thing: they both do this, but I've especially noticed Mulder doing it. they tend to get REALLY testy and act like jerks when something has changed/is changing, be it in their relationship or circumstances or whatever, and it seems like it's based in *uncertainty*. roll film on Never Again. which, again: if they would sit down and talk things out like functional adults, they could avoid all the uncertainty!!)

as for Arcadia: Mulder's been being a jerk, now he's being kinda passive aggressive by playing up this little charade WAYYY too much (and it's very obviously conveyed that he's doing it to push her buttons), and then right off the bat first day he hits on something very, VERY close to home, in multiple ways:

"Admit it, you just wanna play house."

literally THE worst thing he could have said under the circumstances bc not only yes, he KNOWS she has the desire to "get out of the car" and have a normal-ish home life, bc she's TOLD HIM, and he intentionally pushes that button bc they're both perpetually annoyed at each other at this point (a la Quagmire tbh, the vibes and frustration are similar), but also. he says that, so stupidly and flippantly and trying to get under her skin — in the city where her daughter died barely more than a year prior.

like. ok I will say right now that I do NOT think he realized when he said it how close to home it was, like I don't think he would ever poke at that wound intentionally, no matter how upset they may be at each other. but still, it's a really jerk thing to say and BECAUSE of how hard it hits, it only drives the wedge between them further.

and yeah I think what you touched on a bit is right, the whole situation does edge a little close to actual Feelings, because at this point there's a lot of those going on, especially after FTF and the hallway and all that. so like... not only is that hard enough for Scully to deal with on its own, it's also combined with the Diana tension, and then on TOP of that this is the first time she's been "home" to where she largely grew up, back to where Emily died, since that all happened. aaaaand Mulder is being a petty jerk. it's really all just a recipe for disaster and stress. they need to Have A Conversation so badly shsjsbsjsns

however the great thing is that even amidst all this tension and frustration, Scully is like "do you even want my opinion" when he's digging in the yard and he's very sweet when he says "always". they are nonetheless soft for each other 😌

[morsking]

imo i actually ended up liking parvati’s interlude no i’m not saying that because she was nice to arjuna but because it gave us a proper insight as to how parvati and kama think of each other and themselves when they’re in a space where they’re not enemies. 

kama pulls a prank on parvati by letting her indulge in her overblown and petty enmity towards them and the reason why is that even if parvati is the person they blame the most for their suffering as the god of love they feel as though they can’t deny her love either and so they’ll go about it as they’re wont to do: in extremely double-sided ways that end up giving them the short end of the stick while wholly benefitting the receiver of that love even if it doesn’t look that way at second (because you’d need a third) glance. 

kama helps parvati be more honest about the way she feels and actually take a moment to look at her flaws and realize just how overbearing she can be and make her consider that while her efforts to care for others are earnest she won’t necessarily help them the best way she possibly could. meanwhile kama will deceive people into accepting the help they didn’t know they needed to strive for self-improvement and find people to bond with, a total 180 from their attitude towards love in ooku because even while it seems like kama has stayed the same wrt their self-loathing the way they think of their role as a god of love is a step forward in their beliefs about themself. they’re still hesitant to be open about their feelings and they still avoid being thanked and appreciated directly for their efforts but they are nonetheless benevolent. they’re aware of that but their emotional pain still causes them to act in ways that involve subterfuge. they’re a god of love good at bringing people together in ways that don’t have to be romantic but still very scared of bringing themself close to them in turn. 

so when it comes to the subject of helping parvati their idea is to pull a prank to bring her closer to others who normally would not work up the courage to approach her and she would be too afraid to drive away with her personality. so at the end while parvati suspects kama and fights them and they argue that she hates them parvati denies that this is the case. parvati, in a moment of self-awareness and patience she was bafflingly deprived of in ooku, asserts that she does not hate them, and what shiva did to them was wrong and she at this moment has a responsibility to answer for that and accepts if she is begrudged for trying to cover up a mess that was her fault instead of dealing with it compassionately. 

it’s an unexpected and refreshing moment of honesty where kama acknowledges they overstepped in the help they were trying to provide and parvati acknowledges they only went that far because she caused kama to believe they were hated and thus still believe that part of their job is taking blame to make someone else look better. overall the interlude is definitely providing the nuance the end of ooku just couldn’t thanks to minase’s short-sightedness and tone-deafness. if there’s future content centered around kama and parvati i hope it can follow up with what this interlude did for them. 

[icecreamkink]

watched all of the untamed / cql in two weeks after my friend 1 told me abt mdzs a hundred years ago and my friends 2 and 3 tried to get me into cql for like two whole years and there are.

feelings.

very first scene is a very dramatic death in the middle of nightmare battle on sith planet land . i will forget abt it in the next tenish episodes and then will be very surprised when it becomes Extremely Painful

anyway magic flying gays and possession and human sacrifice! we are off to a great start

in retrospect, chaos goblin wei wuxian must have had a blast pretending to be so cRaZy and be as disruptive as he could as mo xuanyu lbr

listen. why is fire always evil coded. cant a magic clan wear red, black and orange and have flame motif while being wholesome?

For Legal Reasons These Are Not Zombies

i wish the politics of the sect were a bit clearer, especially at the beggining when the wen clan had sm power, was wen ruohan the chief cultivator? is that why they were so slow in responding to the attacks? im v confused by the pre yiling patriarch politics

fighting in the roof by the moonlight as way of flirtiiiiiiing. as i understand this is a wuxia/xianxia trope and honestly...... thank u for ur service

slight bullying and being a nuisance in general, as a way of flirting we love to see it

wwx: if i drink on the rooftop, thats not inside the cloud recesses! hmmm check and mate :D lwj: i will fuck u up so help me god   wwx: :0

i lov them

through hell or high water (quite literally) wei wuxian rem ains a trashfire gremlin till the end and i love him with my whole heart

in the pt subs wei wuxian calls jiang cheng a stubborn duck and i dearly wish that had come back

my opinions on almost every character goes from love to hate u - Hmm Me Like U - BABY. ILY. and i am Very Pleased w that. its been a while since i loved such a complete cast so much i think

no really. i WONT go into a detailed rant abt what i love about each of these characters and each of their relationships to each other. but i COULD. 

some lan disciples in the loudest whisper ever: YEAH THATS THE JIN BASTARD MENG YAO HEARD THE GOT SUPER HUMILIATED BY HIS DAD LOL SURE HOPE HE DOESNT TAKE SLIGHTS TO HIS CHARACTER TO HEART

lan xichen, immediately: i must Love him 

being into problematic ppl is in the Lan genetics, we come to realize

wen qing deserves so many awards for so many things but not snapping and just stabbing wen chao is at the top 

that scene at lan qirens class where wwx talks about using resentful energy to fight a violent spirit. exquisite.

 It establishes Good Student lan wangji, wei wuxian as curious and questioning and not afraid of taboo,  lwj sees that wwx is not, in fact, a dumb ass hes just a Dumbass,  shows us the audience (esp. a western audience) how shocking the idea of disrupting the dead/dying and controlling resentful energy actually is,  the theoretical foreshadow arguing, everyone else like ‘shUT UP’,  “and how could you ensure that the resentful energy would obey you and not hurt other?” “well i havent thought that far” and of course, lan qiren just straight up lobbing a hard object at wwx head,. chefs kiss

fellas is it gay to bother the hot rule obessessed nerd from ur school and make drawings of him with flowers in his hair and then hide gay porn in his book to antagonize him and ask him to hold ur hand and be ur friend and talk to him all the time and get him drunk and give him bunnies bc you know he likes them and give him a lantern and always want his attention and dedicate yourself to getting him to smile-

and after all of that wwx rly said oh i Admire him, aksd like yeah we all were there in high school buddy

i have Learned. caves = gay.

 accidental marriage +beint physically tied together with the sacred married ribbon+ gay panic+foreshadowing+bunnies! in the cave (1)

the story abt lan yi and baoshan sanren tho. i would like to see it

early days wen bros pull my heart strings like a guqin 

EVERYTHING about the lantern scene; disaster hets jiang yanli and jin zixuan; how wwx made lwj a bunny lantern. how soft and touched lwj was. wwx gleefully pointing out he was smiling and lwj IMMEDIATELY PULLING HIW SWORD ON HIM LMAO. tragically foreshadowy promises to do right by pepople, living without regrets. lwjs 'oh no do i love him??' face. just. all of it. 

i have it on good acc that in the novel lwj is explicitly Repressed Gay Panicked Big Horny which is delightful and rly Adds to the performance

 baby lwj is really just conceal dont feel dont let them know u have EMOTIONS (derogatory)

jiang cheng rly went "why dont.u go play with HIM if u like him so much"

jc and wwx have big BIG annoying sibling energy dont think too hard abt it or youll cry

lotus pier is soo pretty :((((((((((((((((

up until episode 13 you could think this could be a magical ancient chinese gays pride n prejudice w swords and shenanigans ................youre just not prepared for the game of thrones of it all

seriously ha ha ha i cried so much w this show my eyes genuinely swelled up . like. physically. fun timez fun timez

that being said, its hilarious that wen xu goes to cloud recesses like 'come out or ill kill all these hostages' and then DOESNT WAIT FOR AN ASWER AND KILLS THEM ALL IMMEDIATELY. do u know how blackmail works sir

 would like to make it recorded that from day one i was like 'CALL A GODDAMN CULTIVATION G20 THIS ASSHOLE SECT IS LITERALLY MASSACRING YALL!!' and it took them like 3 or 4 massacres to do anything and they STILL sent their heirs into their territory  LIKE

when wwx cites the gusu lan rules to wen chao tho. that rebel/attention whore/cutie pie 'look lan zhan i DID memorize the rules after all' ‘also a big fuck you to the wen sect :D :D’ sweet spot that scene achieves . delicious

all the cultivator young masters being petty af even though they are practically prisoners at the cave is hilarious and i love them

hurt and comfort + gay mistunderstandings + watsonian gay declaration music + accidental evil acquisition! at the cave (2)

its like where do i start? the fact theyre both trapped and kind of heavily injured inside an isolated cave with a murder turtle? wwx gay panicking lwj into coughing up bad blood? lwj being jealous as wwx babbles abt mianmian? telling him he shouldnt play with people and wwx saying he never played him? wwx going Oh. I See what is happening. YOU like mianmian, and lwj absolute done face ??? (iconic) wwx touching the sacred married ribbon Again? the telepathic communication? the sword? WEI WUXIAN ASKING LAN WANGJI TO SING TO HIM AS HE IS PASSING OUT AND LWJ SINGING HIM. THE SONG. HE WROTE. FOR WWX. AND THAT HE CALLED. THEIR SHIP NAME????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

they are SO insufferable pleeeeease

in the words of my friend 1 : “CQL is so gay we were all amazed how it got past the censors Ofc unfortunately it can't be novel level gay But they did their best And we love them for it”

in the theme of songs THIS OST. WUJI HAS BEEN LIVING IN MY MIND RENT FREE SINCE I FIRST HEARD IT the whole ost is so so sO beautiful.

 the costuming in this is also soooo exquisite. the embroidery? the fabrics? the details? how every sect and clan has a distinct style and architecture? (also ik they based each off of dif periods in chinese history which is REALLY fucking cool) just chefs kiss

the direction too!. i enjoy the unusual camera movements and i think they give it that Vibe, also their composition is PARTICULARLY good when it comes to telling the subtext through position of camera/position of character (like nhs off to the side in scenes he at first glance doesnt need to be/ how lwj is often centered when hes Jealous Yearning at wwx being affectionate w other ppl, wwx return from burial mounds etc)

ik madam yu is like Badass Milf Check and shes not getting any mom of the year awards but im delighted at how messy she is. IMAGINE that woman on tiktok

you better have enjoyed gay cave (2) bc its Just Pain from here on out! 

jiang fengmian and madame yu win the Most Dramatic Way to show they do care about each other, actually ..... ever :)

i thought jiang yanli jiang cheng and wei wuxian forcing themselves to escape yunmeng barely holding on after their parents are killed was going to be the height of pain in this show. ha. 

the family dynamics in general on this showwwww, both blood/ adopted/ found families, brotherly bonds and lifelong friendships just. rly. truly. fucked me up. theyre all so important and complicated and well rounded and beautiful and tragic

and beyond being a Win For the Gays im so glad the relationships w wwx and jiang yanli/ wen qing were NOT changed from platonic bc they are so much better like that imo. like maybe if we didnt Live In A Society it wouldnt be so, but the fact wwx and others can love and value them so much and theres nothing romantic or sexual abt it is like. so refreshing. especially @ jyl, with the way he and jc are overprotective of her and shes such a nurturing/care taker figure for them, it would just not vibe as well if they made it romantic

i love that this is a story abt Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Patriarch aka Actual Satan/Boogey Man/Village With/Public Enemy Number One , my dude is literally a necromancer who only dresses in black and has evil smokey black tendrils wafting out of him, but the really edgy one is still jiang cheng, pastel purple fashion icon

and speaking of best/worst siblings wei wuxian and jiang cheng *immediately starts crying* 

The Golden Core Transfer i just. no thots only tears 

wen qing and wen ning putting themselves in so much danger just.... to help them. wn saving jc from wen chao. wq finding a way to get wwx to transfer his core. like thinking about the monumental work these two did to help wwx and jyl and jc... jyl trying so fucking hard to be strong and keep on moving and giver her little brothers comfort after losing everything... jiang cheng. losing his parents and his home and his ability to do anything abt it and his complete desperation and lack of self worth and turning on them with agression  when he didnt realize all that they did for him ... hhhhhhhhhhhhh

me, pointing at the whole cast “i just LOVE them mom!!!”

its sad tho, that BARELY ANY of the women have like.... actual important conversations let alone relationships with each other at all in the story. and like wq and jyl have stayed at the same place for extended periods of time, where wq actively took care of her TWICE,  and still! not one measly convo, nothing! ................ .𝓌ₕᵧ

everyone in this show need a good sip of Self Worth and Stop Sacrificing Yourself juice 

ngl the sword flying looks very dumb 

“a-cheng, please bring a-xian back.” “i will, i promise.” ;-;

the whole calling each other by the More Intimate Version of the name, first as teasing and later as true intimacy. mmmhmmm yes

untamed where everythings the same but wwx evil flute song is eoeo

related that scene when wwx comes back from the burial mounds for the first time w demonic cultivation and he acts all formal and calls lwj hanguang-jun and keeps being evasive and distant and mean and soooooo................. facetious 

and how hes kind of desperately trying to keep intense lwj at bay (A FIRST) and avoiding actually talking to either of them and its all tension ughhh and then he MOCKS his and lwjs relationship, he jokes w him in this like... mean echo of their usual ~banter~ oof 

 and like!!! uncertain but so relieved jc who just HUGS him w no reservations for once and its not like he isnt just as worried as lwj abt wwx and what hes doing, but he chooses in that moment to enjoy getting him back first and mmhmMMMmMm yes (maybe my favorite scene in the whole show? MAYBE SO. ) 

highkey hurt me but also. i might be into mean wwx. i will take no criticism.

lan zhans sad eyes tho :((((((((( 

on one hand i wish we could have seen what happened at the burial mounds but on the other the timeskip adds so much flair to his return so im hnnn

also i love that hes been missing for 3 months reappears kinda melancholic and bloodthirsty and knowing malign tricks and jc is like 'so. are u sad bc of lan wangji'

when ur bae survived the war but he thinks ur evil/ might be evil so you cant kiss :///

hmmm talking at the rooftop under the moonlight not mentioning everything that stands between usssss

they are the two jades of lan and we’ll be the two heroes of yunmeng is the type of line u dont even need to know whats gonna happen to know thats gonna be sad

when they fight wen ruoshan at the nightless city i thought that was the battle we see at the first ep and its not and its so easy and theyre all like ‘yayy we won go wwx!’ i was just. SCREAMS WHAT is gonna HAPPEN

so like. post burial mounds/sunshot campaign pre yiling patriarch wwx is like. ultra arrogant, ultra mocking, peak lil shit and it gave me e v e r y t h i n g i wanted

even tho having the wen prisoners at the targets at phoenix mountain and still having wwx and jzx shooting the arrows was???? so.... tone deaf 

wwx: fucking w demonic energy   jyl: he has never done anything wrong in his life, ever <3 <3 (mood)

the parallels between meng yao/wei wuxian (and even xue yang a bit?) are Seen and they are Valid

wwx post burial mounds: can yall SHUT UP abt the goddamn sword (suibian left the chat)

LIKE truly, we talk abt the angst and yearning with wangxian. but what abt wwx and suibian. xianbian / xianqing angst and comfort 100k

take a shot everytime someone coughs up blood

zidian is simply the coolest spiritual weapon rip to suibian and chenqing and bichen and sendou and baixa........ but tis the truth 

cons: everyones families died in a nightmare war! everyones homes burned to the ground! everyone is traumatized! pros: everyone gets cooler clothes and weapons!!

wen ning and a-yuan and yanli bestest babes squad dont touch me rn

everyone: brooding and fighting                                                                wq and jyl: why dont you try some acupunture/drinking some soup and calm down huh? how abt that bitch?? 

showing the battle/massacre at the nightless city first was genius actually bc then everytime we have a cute scene w yunmeng bros and theyre like 'we'll be together forever! uwu' youre like oh. oh no. oh no no no. 

justice vs lawfulness vs means and ends 👁

jc: stay in the right path and practice the art of the sword                        wx: yeah thats not gonna happen chief

my reaction to wwx renouncing to the sect politics to help the wens was just that elmo burning gif in succession

the dramatic rain. wen qing desperately calling out to wen ning. the ghosts/puppets killing the guards. how terrifying wn actually was while wwx was controlling him :( lwj goeing after him to try and stop him and then he just; he Sees him and understands him even if he cant actually do anything about it other than let them go. 

“there must be somewhere in this earth we can go to :(((((((((”

"IF I HAVE TO FIGHT THEM, I'D RATHER IT BE YOU. DYING BY YOUR HANDS WOULD AT LEAST BE WORTH IT." oh my god oh my god oh my goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooddddddd

also lwjs umbrella is white w black smoke.. .  . nice

yiling patriarch / demonic farming burial mounds settlement is like one of my favorite concepts. they an "EVIL" FARMING COMMUNITY LED BY THE VILLAGE WITCH COME ON

they planted TURNIPS and LOTUS FLOWERS and ONE (1) baby and made lanterns and a common hall :(((((((

wen qing and wei wuxian, baddest bitches and genius science best friends i absolutely LOVED to see it. they rly went ‘is anyone gonna sibling/project partner that’ and didnt wait for an answer

both wwx and jyl getting lotus ponds at the burial mounds and in lanling bc they miss lotus pier ;;;;;;;w

;;;;; wish jyl had actually gone into the burial mounds. we were robbed of jyl and wq meeting again and jyl meeting a-yuan and seeing the settlement and the homes and all ;w; at least jc did go, stab wounds and broken arms and all

wwx like... having thrown his whole life away to help the wens (yeah the sect leaders and jin guangshan in particular wanting his stygian tiger amulet was an Element but still) and not.... necessarily regretting it, but grappling with all of the consequences of it... becoming moody and drepressed at times, missing his family and lotus pier and his friends and probably simply missing being around people and causing trouble, extrovert that he is, lashing out at the wens and at a-yuan, just in general the whole messiness of that experience

the way the resentful energy does affect his temperament is rly nice bc its not too in your face,(i mean outside of the Shaky Hands of Rage) but like he clearly has a much lesser control on his anger and impulsivity (tall order) than both before bm and after hes ressurected

on that note A-YUAN BABIEST BABY BOY BEST BOY

lan zhan being like oh hey there wei ying fancy meeting u and our son here. just passing by u know how it is hmmmmMm and then PLOT TWIST having defied orders to go see him and being punished for it. oof;;

 they habent seen each other in like? a year? and now theyre tgt 10 seconds and are already parenting a child together

also lwj rly kneels down in the snow way too much to be healthy

wwx: calm down guyssss i wont lose control of demonic cultivation omgggg  .   spoiler alert: he loses control of demonic cultivation

did u enjoy cute children? good bc now the Real Pain Begins

jiang yanli and jin zixuan rly out there APROPRIATING both disaster gays AND bury ur gays huh ;w;

i KNEW jin lings birthday was gonna fuck something up but the GASP that left my body when wwx lost control of wn and killed jin zixuan .. . . 

im sorry and thank you aaaaAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAaAAAAA 

when wen ning and wen qing were telling wwx their plan i was saying NO NO NO NO NO NO out loud in despair 

also can we talk abt how wq is definetely talking about only the both of them surrending themselves but then? everyone else just surrenders w them? IT MAKES NO SENSE LIKE WHY WOULD THEY what would be the Point

 sometimes there are some pretty gaping jumps in logic and continuity that are just like                     ?          ?

wwx: oh so when you try to murder me its justified but when i survive through dark magic and murder all of you its a "war crime"

unsurprisingly, his most feral, most spiraling moment talking to the sect leaders on the roof and attacking them and even fighting lan zhan is among my favorite scenes... its like, so painful to watch but also   so       thrilling   (and maybe my wen bbs dying arose some resentful energy in me what can i say) 

and its JUST, all they ever wanted was to do good but then... war. and trauma. and hubris. 

jiang cheng on the ground clearly thorn between what to do and feel is a Mood, lets just say

i was already crying when jyl showed up, but if i wasnt-

 i suffered SO MUCH through this series trying to figure out WHY jc would kill wwx. and when i understood. its somehow not as bad as i thought and also MUCH MUCH WORSE

a look into my group chat during the last flashback episodes:

SO ANYWAY. after the BLOOD BATH and RIPPING YOUR HEART OUT and FEEDING IT TO YOU  the untamed goes ‘ayy back to the present!! tu du dud ud du’ 

literally it ends a quarter into an episode and then KEEPS GOING i had to pause and stare blankly at the ceiling for an hour

babie cultivators and detective soulmates . i do need some cute after All of That 

(not that the pain is over LOL)

lwj is significantly less emotionally repressed in the present and its delightful. hes just ALL IN with wwx. and not just in the ‘i would and have killed various men and risked my reputation for you’ but also ‘ur tired here have a drink i brought it up cause i know u like it and it want you to be happy, always’

“when everyone praised me and wanted my power, you were the only one that challenged me. now that everyone hates me and wants me dead, youre the only one that stands by my side.” hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnn 

and just filling in the blanks how lan zhan searched for him. for all of those 16 years he searched for him and was punished for it and raised a-yuan, the only survivor of the burial mounds settlement, as his own in gusu......

and jiang cheng.  being the tough love uncle . having raised the yunmeng jiang clan from the rubble all alone, his whole family dead, some of it on the blame of his own brother, his siblings, his closest friends gone.......and only jin ling there needing his guidance. 

THE PARALLEL BETWEEN JIN LING BEING A LIFELINE FOR JIANG CHENG AND A-YUAN FOR LAN WANGJI AFTER THE BATTLE AT THE NIGHTLESS CITY  

great now i made myself sad

and like . the fact! that lwj and jc dislike each other!!. jc projects blame onto him for wwx both “leaving” him and indirectly causing their families deaths and when hes so consumed by it he makes wwx an enemy, lwj is there now? trying to protect him?? and lwj, who can never understand the pain that wwx , indirectly or not put jc through, but who was right there when jc tried to kill him and will never allow him to hurt wwx again. and how they like. in a way project blame of their tragedies onto each other while dealing with some type of survivor guilt and in their own way still loving wwx through it all???  amd in way its kind of fundamentally selfish but also tragically understandable? and like when u put it against the fact that after he disappears during the sunshot campaign they were looking for him together and fought together??

JUST. THE CHARACTERS. AND THE RELATIONSHIPS IN THIS. MAN. UGH. GOD. 

and like i think thats what makes it so good? its such a sad and painful and violent story, edgy even, but its compelling bc at the center of it there are all of these relationships and different types of love and hope and. :( i love it

enough crying lets talk abt wwx sleeping at the jingshi with lwj and wearing his under garment for a minute 🙏

 jin ling just has that Was Raised by JC energy tho lmao i love him

babie cultivator squad is the perfect ammount of cute and comedic relief while still bearing the weight? of the narrative in a way, both from sizhui and jin lings existences, and also. like. how do i put this. they feel hopeful? they were born after a war, they came of age at a time of relative peace, they dont hold on so closely to the resentments of their parents/father figures, they are specifically shown as more accepting and open minded. and its like.... Hope for the future  

one of the ?? things  i love the most is the fact that the main cast are often in situations where theyre hunted/running but they like. never wear disguises... just going around in their gorgeous expensive clan clothes and hair ornaments and distinctive spiritual weapons.... maybe w a straw hat on, just for kicks

wwx teacher 🥺🥺🥺

so this is why its called Yi City Misery huh

a-qing is such. an icon. im so sad. my girl even knew to leave xys dumb self rotting by the road but no one listens to her thats why theyre all dead or sad 

her and xue yang measuring each other up was so entertaining lmao

 its the funniest thing when hes like. HERES MY SAD STORY. FOR WHY IM A SADISTIC MURDERER. I BROKE MY HAND ONCE. 

like ok someone broke his hand in a horrible way, and like Poverty, i get it but also like.......... that lost the brunt of a proper sob story like, 50 sadistic murders ago bby

and i love that xingchen does not entertain that for a second hes like ‘not ?????? good enough???’ and the best thing is he wasnt even like 'u hadto be the bigger person' or sth but ' well then break that dudes hand back, rip his arm off for i care, what do the rest of us have to do w anything???” 

anjo sensato :(

xue yang is like..... the sexy sadistic evil version of a himbo..... a meanbo...

the fucked upness of xy’s feelings for xxc/ xxc and sl feelings for each other... like my dude literally gave his bf HIS EYES. and xy getting so attached to xxc .... the fucked up fake domesticity.... having him hurt sl..... then desperately trying to bring him back ...................... oof

song lan........... literally had his eyes AND tongue removed, his bfs eyes put in place, was almost killed, turned into a puppet by his bf unknowingly, manipulated by xy, sees his bf killing himself in despair.... and STILL finds the strenght to get up from there, and keep on traveling and helping people and attempting to fix xxcs soul.......... like, my man. damn. 

wangxian looking at songxiao and seeing an Actually more painful parallel for themselves. ft. that Color Coding. 

THE A-YUAN/SIZHUI REVEAL PUNCHED ME IN THE HEART but in a good way for a change

should have know that he would be the Best Boy the cute one w all the braincells

the butterfly AND the bunny lantern. i see how it is

u know is very convenient that no one can see the stark black veins on wen nings neck, ever 

BAT WEN NING 

wns face when lwj comes into wwx room like ‘:0 omg did u two finally get your shit together? good for you master wei good for u’ 

(they didnt) (yet)

DISASTER DRUNK LWJ. JUST. THRUST SOME CHICKENS TO SHOW UR RESSURECTED BAE THAT U LOVE THEM.

i have absolutely no idea WHY they gave lwj the same punishment for fighting his own sect/allies to protect the burial mounds as when they got drunk on cloud recess class days.... like? its such a ... emotional continuity error again

also is lwj gonna get an actual friend besides wwx , ever

mianmian marrying and having a family and a cute life after saying FUCK U AND UR SYSTEM TOO in a much less unhinged and dramatic way than wwx......... fills me w joy

also lol the idea that like. her husband not knowing that shes friends w satan/the boogey man/the village witch is hilarious

i love nie mingjue bc hes the resident Though Guy but also the most dramatic bitch in this show and thats Saying Something

jin ling cant have one uneventful relative can he

the fact that everyone present already knew “mo xuanyu” was wwx at the stairs is so funny, their faces are like ‘oh............ wow. that. sure is a development. shock” 

in the tradition of extremely loud whispers wwx tells lwj with twelve guards standing like one meter away from them: HEY PSH LAN ZHAN PRETEND IM FORCING YOU TO STAY W ME DO IT

oh my god oh my god

the absolute Yearning on his face when he leaves wwx and a-yuan at the burial mounds and refuses to stay for dinner was already Enough but the fact?? they brought it back?? to this declaration of love?? their expressions??????? strike me dead right now just go ahead

lFor Legal Reasons We Cant Kiss but we will have a very sappy declaration of love and trust and look at each other in way that is the actualization of 💞💘💗💖💓💘💞💗💖💘💗💖💕💞

also icb all the sect leaders and guards are standing there watching them say they like like each other with a dozen swords pointing at their neck

i enjoyed the depiction of the fickle public perception and how easily it can be used to scapegoat people. when the sect leaders turn on jgy and wwx knows thats its more for convenience than anything else...

poor lxc is literally like 'oh so when YOUR problematic boyfriend gets called evil its a misunderstanding but when its MY problematic bf-'

ok like i cant get over nmj let jgy play a song that messed with his temperament at all, like maN u KNEW he might be shady wth

wwx: “hey dont say anything bad abt lan zhan hes not an arrogant dick, thats just his face. 

ME ON THE OTHER HAND"

the cultivators as wwx is poking holes in their narrative is literally *nazaré meme*

"wei wuxian-!" "what did i break your leg, too?" not to be problematic but i laughed so hard

not as hard as "you dont have the rank to talk to me " tho

i Enjoy that, over the course of story, wwx sees that... theres nothing truly to Do, but move on. he saw how his arrogance and his mistakes hurt others, and hes trying to fix what he can, but he already did die for his mistakes and there are things he cant fix and that's. just how it is. even towards jgy, the narrative doesn't go gleefully and completely with "lets make THEM pay bc theyre the big bad" bc its not that simple, and it wouldn't lead anywhere but more pain...

re him and jiang cheng and the wens and kinda. isnt that what nhs did? scheming to displace jgy out of revenge more than any justice and doing so in the most painful way?

idk if that actually makes sense im truly just babbling

i thought the scene at the lotus pond would be CUTE but the context was PAIN again

jiang cheng finding out about his golden core and his conflict with wwx at the guanyin temple .... destroyed me but in a nice way kinda.... same way it destroys him look at his face oh god

and. the fact??? he sacrificed himself for wwx?? first?? and he'll probably never tell anyone much less wwx???? keeps me up at night

i havent decided if the neckbreak transition between jgy does sth super Evil or does he he does OR Does He yes he does O R does heeeee is sth i dislike or not

jin guangyao and wei wuxians most interesting parallel is that... theyve both seen 'hmm hey this system is fucked up' and wwx went 'so fuck it all i will renounce it and challenge it' and jgy went 'so fuck it i will use all of it to my advantage and manipulate it to my goals and whims'

the fact jgys mom was actually great and he loved her and his whole issue w it was more than simply being ashamed of being a bastard kinda got me ngl

never trust a dude with a fan.

nhs and jgy: the first rule to a convoluted and decades spanning violent revenge plot is to have fun and be yourself! 

when a-yuan finally FINALLY remembers ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;-;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; wen ning has someone in his family back and a-yuan has someone to talk abt his wen family and wwx has him back bc he survived and lwj raised him anD HES THEIR SON. THEYRE MARRIED AND HAVE A SON. UGH.

and theyre allowed to heal. everyone is allowed to try and recover and be happy

netflix put all of the 3 endings on top of each other and it looks kinda weird actually BUT I DONT EVEN MIND :’’’’’’’’’)

the gasp that left me when lwj says ‘wei ying’ and wwx turns.........

there was also a screen with ‘thank you mxtx for creating these characters, we hope their wishes come true’ and i might. have cried then too. maybe. 

that was . a ride. as is proven by this behemot of a ramble clearly i just really needed and Outlet. i am currently trying to convince dumb monkey brain to not consume the other medias of mdzs immediately bc i REALLY need to like. live. a life. and take care of real responsibilities.  *longest oh boi ever*

[ouyangzizhensdad]

Hey, feel free to ignore this, but I'd love to hear your grievances against Bridgerton? I saw some of the fashion posts you rbed, but I'm especially intrigued by the "fails on all aspects" parts? Thanks!

Hi there,

There is honestly so much that could be said and analysed in finer points but the short version of it is just that it is a bad story wrapped in the glitz of high production value but surprisingly little good technical execution despite all the money shoveled at it. Bridgerton is the type of show where the petty, mean side of me would delight in a detailed and cutthroat list of all of its flaws but for which I do not care enough to be actually invested in hating it. It’s just a thing to be puzzled and petty about: people think Bridgerton is good. Wild.

Now let me first say that I have no inherent problems with anachronistic creative choices, or the idea of a contemporary take on period dramas. After all, all period dramas are inevitably told through a contemporary lens, to different degrees. It’s also not like they were the first big production to do it either: has everyone just forgot about The Great Gatsby? or tumblr’s favourite Hamilton? I honestly think this kind of mixing already has so many cool outcomes when it comes to music (like this, this or this and this), I do believe we could get something really interesting out of creative anachronism in mainstream visual media. I’m also more forgiving with newer forms of experimentation, because sometimes new ideas need to be worked out before they reach their full potential. But the way Bridgerton does it.... so clearly lacks a clear creative vision and dedication to the concept imo that it makes it harder to excuse the ways it fails since the failures seem to originate from that lack of vision and dedication to storytelling. For instance, there is seemingly no logic as to when the diegetic music will be an instrumental cover of a contemporary song or not--which does not even broach the topic of how bad those ‘classical music’ arrangements for modern songs were? Honestly embarrassing how lazy those arrangements were: hire a good composer (or any at all), you cowards. And then the costumes... once again, a lack of internal logic seems to permeate the choices presented in addition to a lack of care in its execution: so many of the dresses are ill-fitted, the characterisation through the outfits were all over the place (like the mom who wore a silhouette that no one else wore and had no basis in any fashion of the era) and so many of the fabrics/jewellery looked the opposite of expensive (kind of looked like a lot of it was polyester and plastic tbh), which is sort of a problem when you are trying to sell the fantasy of "The lives of the rich and famous but make it regency” imo although I suppose a portion of the audience just doesn’t notice lmao. Honestly I find that a lot of ‘costume historians’ who made video essays on Bridgerton were too nice with the show, perhaps in order not to come off as seeming to hate the costumes on the basis of them not being historically accurate, and as a result were way too forgiving imo. And this lack of real creative vision is also something we see in the cinematography and direction which.... seems often confused about the way it wants to make things feel fantastical and ends up dropping the ball on the execution of these meant-to-be extravagant or over-the-top shots.

But, again, the cinematography is just... middling at best, made only worse by the editing which is just plain bad. I guess you’ll have to just take me on my word on this because I am not willing to do an autopsy of all I find off about it, but lord jesus mary and joseph it was painful to watch at certain moments.

Bridgerton is not the first show to do colourblind casting, although I’d say it deserves recognition for fucking it up for no reason at all. Like, sure there are criticisms to be had about how it remains still a very white story that falls into certain tropes wrt darker skin characters or the glaring lack of south asian representation considering what the contemporary UK looks like, etc. but what I’m gesturing at is the totally unnecessary but mind-boggling “royal love solved racism” twist we get in the, what, fourth episode? (Broey Deschannel covered the topic quite well imo) The audience would have accepted that there were no in-world explanation for the colourblind version of the already-made fantastical regency that had them dancing to Ariana Grande songs. The colourblindness, racism-free society would have just been another aspirational aspect. They literally did not need to do this.

Honestly I don’t feel like I need to get into why the story itself is not very good or well-executed since it feels very obvious. I won’t begrudge on principle the show for using well-worn tropes and common-to-the-point-of-farce character archetypes, but I have to object to the way it uses them and in the service of what story. And not to make myself in a plot-hole-ding kind of person-who-has-thoughts-about-media, but this is not a story that holds up well to scrutiny or logic, let’s say. And any type of social or political commentary it tried to include was dumb to the point of farce: the Feminist Character Who Wants to Read not Go Dance was just.... a masterclass in bad, embarrassing writing. I am surprised at how unlikeable and boring the vast majority of the characters were, but perhaps less surprised at how a series that planned on having multiple seasons already sold the twist of Lady Whistleblow’s identity at the end of the first season, for what seemed to be no narrative reason at all. That being said, I have to give credit where it’s due and acknowledge that there is a skill in being able to produce stories that get extremely popular and well-loved.

(Do I need to mention the performances? So many underwhelming or embarrassing performances. It’s hard to tell sometimes whether it’s the actors themselves or the directing that’s the issue, or a mixture of both, but.... oof).

I guess in the end Bridgerton’s biggest transgression is it sits for me in the uncomfortable middle where it is neither trashy or campy fun nor is it an interesting work of fiction. Differently put, it is simply neither good nor fun.

[autisticcassandracain]

I don't follow you yet but I saw you reblogged the ask me anything post. Top 5 first Batfam members, then DC chars?

Asdghjk don't worry you don't have to follow me, I appreciate the ask either way!

Top 5 Batfam Members:

Cassandra Cain: I adore Cass with my whole heart. I think her introduction is one of the strongest character introductions I have ever read, and her Batgirl solo was by and large amazing. In particular, I love how it developed her perfectionist complex and low self worth, and how it showcased her sense of humor. Her character is complex and compelling and I love her.

Damian Wayne: Little shit (affectionate). It's a shame he almost never gets written well, because he might've had a serious chance at dethroning Cass. As it stands, I love him when he's written well, and can often enjoy him even when he isn't. His character arc of coming to question his upbringing and actively working to redeem himself and learn compassion is extremely compelling, and I adore the fact that he's a loudmouth arrogant little brat. Half of R:SOB lives in my head rent free. Actually tied with Duke but for the sake of this list he's two and Duke's three.

Duke Thomas: he has SO MUCH potential!! Bc he's a newer character his characterization has been pretty consistent with no major duds imo, which is nice for a change, but more importantly than that, he feels unique and compelling. I DESPERATELY hope DC starts actually exploring the concept of a daytime vigilante in Gotham and Duke's light powers, because both have SO MUCH potential. I really love his daredevil tendencies, natural smarts, and connection to the concepts of Gotham vigilantes and villains (long explenation necessary and im on mobile) as well!

Stephanie Brown: every day I kick myself for not getting off my ass and reading through the reading lists I have saved for her. I've liked her in everything I've read, from her more cynical Spoiler to her hopeful Batgirl, and I enjoy her backstory and personality a lot. She deserved better than to get fucked over by everything and everyone including the writers.

Dick Grayson: I tend to like Dick when I read him, though I admit to enjoying him the most when he's written as a flawed character with a tendency to push people away and lash out in times of stress than the emotional support batfam member. I like his style of heroing (when written as both flippity and sociable but calculating and hypercompetent), and think his sense of humor is fun. that said it's hard for me to get truly invested in him because, like most characters who've been around for very long, his characterization is highly dependent on the writer, and his history so vast it's nearly impossible to get through.

Top 5 DC Characters in general:

Koriand'r: Listen. She's the actual love of my lide. I ADORE her. The simple concept of 'alien from a planet that doesn't censor emotions' done beautifully, resulting in a truly unique character whose love and hate are deep and intrinsically intertwined. I love her stubborn love of life even in the face of all the horrible things she's experienced just as much as I love the hatred born out of them. Queen of my heart.

Cassandra Cain/Damian Wayne/Duke Thomas: tying them to cheat this list a little, but Cass is #2 and Damuan/Duke a shared #3, for reasons listed above.

Bette Kane: I just think she's Neat! I have a soft spot for both minor character and female characters fucked over by writers, and Bette hits both. I think the fact that she's an attention-seeking B-list hero mostly in it for the fun is a fantastic breath of fresh air, and I really appreciate it especially when she's also written as confident, competent, snarky, smart, kinda manipulative, and loyal to her friends.

Jaime Reyes: His 06 solo and particularly the Reach arc is a masterpiece. Admittedly, I haven't read terribly much of him outside that, but I adore the way it develops him and sets his character. He's such a staunchely heroic and kind individual, but is still vety much a teenager who gets angry, petty, and frustrated. His powers are cool as hell and his relationship to Khaji-Da stellar. I love how they had him learn strategy and rely on smarts, not because he's underpowered, but BECAUSE not all problems can be solved with power, especially not non-lethal power. Also the fact that his family knows his identity makes for brilliant and unique interactions and I hate all versions of him that remove it.

Diana of Themyscira: she has all the problems with popular characters that have been around for forever, and it does make it hard for me to feel like I truly know her or get invested with her, but I just ADORE her character as a concept, so I actually enjoy seeing different takes on her! I'm a greek mythology nerd and adore the world of Themyscira and Diana in general, her lasso of truth is a fantastically interesting weapon, and I think her base personality traits of very compassionate, truthful, yet a true warrior are very compelling.