#i hate the... forgiving abusers arc...

[neo-zone]

You haven't find out that your son, in his reckless attempt of slaying the very threat of the world right now (which is also happened to be one responsible for your wife's and his mother's death), ended up being the heir of that threat, sharing that threat's very blood, letter of power level, omniscient eyes (temporarily), and we haven't count its horrifying future consequences on him

I hope you do find out soon because you are partly responsible for that and experience every tiny bit of agony from the realization that THAT happened to the son you're supposed to protect as his father. I hope it reminded you how you've become exactly like your father, Souken, that you resented the most. I hope Kanae is disappointed at you

[kanna-kizuchi-enjoyer]

I hate when a fictional man does heinous things and the fandom goes "aw hes babygirl" but as soon as its a woman, they call her irredeemable and evil

[motherfuckerunleashed]

ppl occasionally find my drizzt posts, and all my opinions lack nuance

given that entreri seems to be widely loved i'm so conscious that my entreri hate is wildly reductive

i just hope that the fact i'm this deep in the series is evidence enough that i do have more than one brain cell

[glasskey]

Season 6 - Critical Mass

Fuck me. Season 6. Some loved it, most hated it. Episode 9 in particular really brought the whole house of cards down for this season, and left the writers and show runners with nothing but angry fans and a thousand questions to answer. I started making my own list sometime ago and episode 9 just tipped me over into critical mass. Because it involved the death of not one but two beloved characters, fans were let’s say, a little miffed. The choice to off Nick Blaine in particular has drawn considerable heat and there’s plenty of reasons why. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest reasons that Season 6 broke abso-fucking-loutely everything.

Firstly, I don’t think that it’s an exaggeration to say that at times season 6 just felt surreal and not in a good way. Previous seasons had set up the rules and guidelines for this world and season 6 simply didn’t care about any of them. For instance; how were people just waltzing in and out of Gilead now? That place used to be fucking locked down. Spot lights, dogs, guard towers, drones, Eyes….anyone remember how Emily had to swim over that freezing river with Holly to get to freedom and it was scary AF? Baby Holly nearly drowned. Now June Osborne, Gilead public enemy number one is just jumping in the car to go shuttle Lawrence across the border to a completely abandoned aircraft hangar. But season 6 didn’t stop there, it also didn’t respect the laws of gravity when it dangled Osborne from a crane 30 feet in the air and then hurled her to the ground without a scratch. In addition to disregarding the very laws of physics, Season 6 also gave characters amnesia on multiple occasions, cited off screen occurrences as lore as some sort of “fail safe”, sought to rewrite characters very natures, violated original texts, assumed knowledge, disregarded plot holes and selectively altered the basic moral compass by which characters would be judged. In fact, there really isn’t much that season 6 didn’t do in terms of just breaking all the guidelines that keep a world intact. I can only hope that it will be used as an example of what NOT to do by future writers, because quite honestly the disbelief and anger by audiences has been visceral, and personally I’ve never wanted to smash my television more.

This season was meant to be about people showing their true faces and I am STUNNED that somewhere, somehow these writers have justified that a woman who participated in multiple rapes, stole a baby, and had her hand in the conception of Gilead, has a benevolent “true face”. On Serena’s wedding night she was astonished to learn that her new husband, King of all the High Commanders was a die hard loyalist who liked to keep a handmaid on staff. She had a bit of a whimper but next morning she was ready to kiss and make up, and then her new hubby left for a morning appointment to execute her bestie. Despite this, Serena the baby snatching rapist, was afforded a redemption arc. I was and am, horrified.

Show runners have seen fit to state that Serena and June were actually the love story all along and I cannot tell you how much it disgusts me to hear that they would actually think that a victim / abuser relationship should ever be described as such. I am deeply disturbed that the creators of this show believe it is appropriate to describe the relationship between a kidnapper, rapist, physical and psychological abuser and their victim, as a love story. To say that June is able to forgive her abuser is one thing, to say that she loves her is quite another. If Serena had been a man, a father, she would have pushed her aboard that doomed plane. As it was she was a mother and therefore untouchable so she ultimately walked away virtually unscathed. So the writers message was we could be forgiven anything, even the vilest acts against our own gender, as long as we reproduced. If they intended me to feel all supported and warm and fuzzy as a woman, they well and truly missed the mark. Women like Serena Joy are fucking traitors, because they know full well what it’s like to be a woman, to fight for every single tiny square inch of freedom, and yet they seek to seize power by crushing their fellow women beneath their heel in order to get it.

Next in line is Aunt Lydia, who sanctioned and carried out torture, rape and murder. She arranged for Janine’s eye to be ripped out and farmed women into slavery. Suddenly she was pleading ignorance over what actually happens to the handmaids in their retirement? Are you fucking kidding me? This woman was so far up Gilead’s arse there was literally nothing that demon didn’t know about what was happening to those Handmaids. Atwood’s text reveals the aunts kept secret detailed files on all of them, and having Aunt Lydia now whining about her “poor girls” after tasing them for 5 seasons is laughable. She’d chained a pregnant handmaid in the basement and informed June she’d be shot after giving birth, so all of her sudden crocodile tears about the ex handmaids being sent to Jezebels was the weakest bunch of bullshit I’d ever seen for her entire character arc. But she’s needed for The Testaments, so she had a benevolent face slapped on her at the last moment and was given a redemption arc of sorts as well. Writers also failed to explain how Aunt Lydia was going to be embedded back into Gilead society now that she’s blown her cover.

Next victim is Lawrence. Last season Lawrence shot down the rescue planes for Hannah and told Blaine that it was a free for all to use June Osborne as target practice. He’s responsible for inventing a world of slavery and death, and he kept his wife imprisoned for years, but Lawrence has a strong papa bear vibe with some punchy one liners, so he gets a redemption arc and a heroes death. It’s worth mentioning that Joseph was actually the one responsible for dragging Serena back to Gilead and NOT Blaine as the Show runners would have you believe. Blaine actually spoke up for her, asking if “it was really necessary to drag her back into this”, however this was painted as Blaine’s decision to bring Serena back……despite the fact it was Lawrence who suggested it…..and physically went and got her…..and virtually strong armed her into the car. It’s also worth noting that Lawrence was all aboard the Gilead train, chowing down on that delicious power as a newly appointed High commander, until he learned that all the other commanders (except Blaine) were gunning for him. So it’s really not like he gave a shit about Mayday out of some sense of righteous justice, he just thought it might save his own neck. The martyr’s death / self sacrificial death are the highest value character deaths and quite frankly I’m not sure he deserved that quality of death but he’s cuddly and Whitford didn’t want him to die a villain, so there you go.

Finally we come to Nick Blaine. Out of the Gilead four this season, he was definitely the one most deserving of a redemption arc, but you know clever plot twist, scapegoat required….and guess who gets fucked after 5 seasons. Nick Blaine had spent 5 seasons risking his life on almost a bi seasonal basis for the protagonist, was deeply in love with her and had connections in Mayday. But in season 6 the writers decided to transform him into nothing but a greedy, power hungry, little fascist over the course of 3 episodes, and then unceremoniously had the protagonist kill him off as some sort of true measure of her strength. The writers not only made him the villain and had him killed, but gave him a death befitting a coward. I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to serve up this pile of revenge to a fan favourite who’d been a benevolent companion to the protagonist for the last 5 seasons….but it hideously back fired. I foresaw this when I viewed the original trailers and I prayed that they hadn’t been so stupid as to destroy both a character and a couple that over 80% of the audience were deeply invested in with a spin off waiting in the wings….unfortunately they were and the backlash has been brutal. It was around the time that they decided to bring it all home, that I couldn’t help but notice that out of all of the Gilead four, they’d actually taken the lowest socioeconomic character and seen fit to make him the sole villain and then grind him into a fine powder. It was one thing in season 1 when they illustrated how the poor and uneducated masses could be easily targeted and recruited, it was quite another to make the statement that because he came from “nothing” he was more likely to turn to villainy. Reality is, the well spring of most of the worlds evil fuckery lies deep in the hearts of those born to wealth and power. They’re used to it, they don’t like to share it, they’re terrified of losing it and they’ll do anything to get more of it. My nomination for most likely villain out of the Gilead Four was actually Serena. She's used to wealth and power and desperate to send her little spawn of Satan to a decent private school.

Meanwhile in Mayday central the folks there could do no wrong; Tuello fed civilians into the meat grinder that was Gilead’s highly trained military against Blaine’s advice, and yet remained untouched by any moral judgement from the writers. While everyone cheered as Tuello strode purposefully into the room to find Serena breathless at the sight of her little thirst trap, I ground my teeth and felt my fingernails digging into my palms. I just couldn’t help but wonder why on earth would Tuello trust Lawrence after that little incident with Hannah last season either. He’d just been burnt by Nick and his first response is to go pal up with the Architect of Gilead himself? I also didn’t understand why Tuello was skulking around in No Man’s Land in the first place. All the other diplomats were welcome in New Bethlehem, so why wasn’t he running recon or checking in with why Blaine suddenly wasn’t answering his calls? Why not set up a diplomatic embassy in New Bethlehem? Perhaps because IT WOULD HAVE MADE SENSE. This season saw Blaine give up Mayday’s plan. He’d chosen his side apparently and it wasn’t Osborne….after 5 seasons of choosing Osborne (sigh). So I couldn’t help but wonder why this hideous traitor didn’t just tell the other commanders where Mayday central was? He knew approximately where it was and yet there they were all hopping on a plane to DC to work out some intricate plan to curb the rebel operations. I mean the guy could virtually draw a map with a sign that says “bomb here” pointing to the Mayday camp and yet…..Urgh.

The character transformations have gone from zero to a hundred with nothing in between this season. Luke went from wanting to join Mayday, to planting bombs, to running around screaming with a machine gun and hand grenades. Rita went from not wanting to get involved with Mayday, to poisoning the cake with sedatives, to running screaming down the street shooting wildly. Serena got engaged and married in like a week and went from “I didn’t really think about what happened to the handmaids”, to teary eyed demanding to know the “real name” of her new one. Nick proclaimed his undying love for June, 10 seconds later they had a brutal break up, next episode he virtually skipped down the aisle with his wife singing about his new baby and renouncing the parentage of Holly, then he completely ignored the fact that the love of his life was about to be hung (can we just pause and consider how absolutely unbelievable THAT is please), said some BIZARRE shit about commanders being the winners and promptly exploded. Fuuuuuuuck. I mean it would have been hilariously ridiculous if it wasn’t just so fucking tragic to watch all that potential come to such a pointless end. Like so many things this season, this plot line doesn’t make any sense at all. I mean how were these commanders the “winners”? The rebels had just bombed their city and killed most of them, they were practically an endangered species. Somehow the audience was convinced into believing that if the Boston commanders ever made it to DC, Gilead would win and rule over the earth forever and ever. I guess that must have been where they had been keeping their secret special map room and chanting circle. I mean where is the plot? Is the plot in the room with us now? The trajectory on Blaine’s character arc comparative to other seasons, felt like the pilot had suddenly decided to fly the plane into the mountain (excuse the pun). He’d been building to something huge and both of Atwood’s texts indicated that Mayday was in his future, however it was at this point that the writers took incredible licence and deviated from the source material completely. It seemed a huge violation that Blaine’s character was altered from the version in both texts and while all the other characters were carefully manoeuvred into place, he was killed off. Granted Miller and co. had, had the freedom to fill in the blanks between season 2 - 6, various elements of the texts still acted as a guide for these characters natures, journeys and ultimate destinations and there was just no way around the fact that they’d chosen to completely ignore it. Insultingly I was asked to ignore Blaine’s death on the basis that he “had it coming”. Not only was that NOT an answer as to why such liberties were taken with the source material about his nature, depicted allegiances, and you know the fact that he was fucking ALIVE in the book, but that reasoning was also completely riddled with holes.

Throughout the seasons Blaine had been firmly established as an ally to the protagonist via a multitude of mechanisms which were now being blatantly discounted. For example; ALL of the acts of violence that the audience had been shown that were directly and voluntarily committed by Blaine were all performed AGAINST a member of Gilead to either protect the protagonist, at her request or as a form of righteous justice for her cause. Now I was being told that off screen he’d been sneaking around the protagonists back committing horrendous acts on behalf of Gilead….but we just hadn’t seen it….and didn’t know about it…..and SOMEHOW the writers couldn’t understand how that would be confusing..…or even believable. Urgh. The more I looked, the more holes appeared and the more it all just reeked of rewriting history for the sake of a plot twist and a quickly constructed political narrative. For whatever reason it was done, it was sloppy and completely contradictory to the characters original nature, both on screen and in the texts. Even if I did give these writers the benefit of the doubt and BELIEVED their spiel about this character, I’m not sure it worked in their favour to be constantly pointing out that they had neglected to fill in the audience properly on vital character elements during previous seasons.

For some reason the writers and show runners were now under the illusion that their audience had not actually been paying attention while watching the previous 5 seasons, that they had developed some sort of selective amnesia. They also deemed to give the protagonist amnesia, thus making her seem unempathetic, heartless and deeply unlikeable. Blaine had turned up for her countless times and yet was given no quarter. She had simply developed amnesia about what it was like to try and survive in Gilead after a brief stay in Canada. The writers may have intended to make her look strong and assertive, but her failure to extend any measure of compassion or even seek to dig further, made it seem as though the entire relationship had been transactional. It was as if now that Blaine had ceased to serve a purpose, he was being abandoned. This effectively destroyed any integrity to their former bond, it simply made him look like a liar and her an opportunist. I became a bit suspicious that it was not entirely unintentional that these creators were now seeking to change the very nature of this relationship in retrospect, when June attributed Serena responsibility for their relationship in the first place. It sought to completely discount the fact that these two had been circling one another prior to Serena's interference, or even that they continued their relationship despite her objections and efforts to seperate them later.

It was simply more evidence of an almost desperate attempt by the writers to erase this loving connection and replace it with something convenient and superficial. They’d forgotten that Nick and June’s love was actually an act of rebellion, forbidden, a place where both Blaine and Osborne sought freedom and autonomy. Had they remembered this, they might have understood that for a true depiction of a successful rebellion, Nick Blaine should have joined the underground and the two lovers destinies remained intimately intertwined. His true character narrative was as an Eye with connections to Mayday. June / Offred was unsure if she could trust him, but he remained a source of hope, love and quiet rebellion within Gilead. The Handmaids Tale afterword revealed that he’d risked his life to help June escape and gone on to join the resistance. Gilead had tried and failed to kill him at least once and he was later reunited with June and his daughter. The successful depiction of a rebellion that used their relationship as the intended metaphor, was one that had Blaine subvert Gilead as an Eye turned agent for Mayday. Instead his death indicated the success of Gilead to eradicate collective rebellion….by somehow encouraging rebel forces to self sabotage. It simply made no sense, particularly given the rebellions success in the area where Blaine had been stationed. It was like someone had either failed to understand the metaphor completely OR had simply been so desperate to destroy the character and the relationship, that they didn’t care if it meant tearing apart a central theme. Which was absolutely fucking insane.

Fans had followed the writers cues and had understood the underlying message of rebellion in their bond. They’d waited years for the rebellion to succeed and the symbolic narrative to reach it’s natural conclusion, by having Blaine cross the border to join June and Mayday. So when instead the writers chose to start labelling Blaine as a loyalist and gut this relationship, slaughtering this manifestation of collective rebellion, the audience was understandably angry and confused. His role as an embedded Mayday agent in The Testaments stand as evidence that this was precisely who Blaine was and not some dubious fascist all along. Atwood consulted during season 2, but it was only during season 3 that show runners decided to whack a commander suit on Blaine and start using him for statements about patriarchal power that had nothing to do with his original character construct. He was never a commander, not in The Handmaid’s Tale and not in The Testaments either…..but these writers thought they knew better than the author, so here we are. I think about the potential for this story line had it been completed correctly and I could just weep. I could write a book on why the destruction of this character and relationship was one of the dumbest fucking things I’ve ever seen a writer do to their own creation, and how this is one of the biggest violations of an authors symbolic narrative I’ve ever witnessed, but honestly I’ve got a lot to get through today.

The writers and staff scrambled to provide clarity about who Nick Blaine was all along, but what they failed to understand was that it was utterly irrelevant. If they had to tell audiences after the fact who their character actually was and what their true motivations were, then they’d failed their mission. Writers cited story elements that supposedly occurred off screen, as lore when they either should have been clearer from the beginning or just followed the established on screen character arc through without trying to get clever. Now for clarity I believe the rot started in season 5 but only truly set in in season 6.

Come season 6 Minghella would be lucky to get a few minutes of screen time in 6 episodes, and in that time they had to convince the audience that he’d been a totally different person than the one they’d been shown all along. Consider the characters nature, established relationship with the protagonist and everyone around him….over 5 seasons….now with ALL of that think about how impossible it actually is to flip that character in the space of approximately 10-15 minutes, and how insane you’d have to be to green light that shit. And yet SOMEHOW it was my fault for not believing them. Probably because I’d read the books.

Writers asked audiences to reassess characters 4 episodes from the end of a final season. That’s neither realistic or wise and they shouldn’t be surprised if people feel like they’ve been duped and cheated. The fact is that they told audiences that a character had a particular motivation for the last 5 seasons, etched it into to him like it was the very essence of his being, and suddenly they wanted audiences to believe that he was forsaking it in the last moment. That he would simply give it up at the first sign of adversity. That he’d be just kosher with not only giving it up but destroying the object of his obsession within 2 brief episodes. It’s utterly ridiculous, I don’t believe any of it and these writers shouldn’t be surprised by that. You can’t tell me that someone is deep and sensitive in one breath and then tell me they’re angling for an upper management position in a society that enslaves the vulnerable in the next….particularly if the bottom of barrel is exactly where they come from. It makes no fucking sense.

Because of his core nature as a sensitive, loving and loyal individual, the ONLY parts of Nick Blaine’s character that actually EVER made any sense were the ones attached to Mayday, those that loved June, that “would do anything for me and for Nicole”, that were trapped and tricked into signing onto Gilead, anything else just seemed in direct conflict with his personality overall. Blaine cried over a dead handmaid and refused to call June by her slave name, he had contacts in Mayday that he referred to as “friendlies”. What made the writers think I would believe an individual this sensitive and obviously invested in rebel operations, would seek a higher position in this society for ANY other reason than to subvert it? Ambitious greedy ghouls do not smuggle out letters of imprisoned handmaids and they don’t baulk over sleeping with their child brides. They just don’t give a fuck.

Right now show runners are working overtime to create a narrative in which they write off Nicks damning choices in episode 6 as the result of both full autonomy AND coercive control. If he acted with full autonomy, Blaine was a monster who knew what he was doing, sought power and subscribed to Gilead’s rhetoric of slavery. If he was acting as a result of coercive control he was frightened, abused and controlled with little to no recourse. The reason that the writers couldn’t decide which one it was, was because they wanted it to be the first, but they knew full well it was the second. Season 1 and 2 had already shown that Blaine was indeed stripped of his autonomy and yet in 5 10 Tuello claimed that he could have run away with her while he lived at the Waterfords. They were trying to alter the narrative around how much power he had possessed, but it was too late, we’d already seen the dogs, the drones, the spotlights, the checkpoints and all those guardians. We’d already seen all that old school Gilead terror and we weren’t about to forget it.

Show runners claimed that Blaine had full autonomy on the basis that he had many chances to defect, but again there was plenty of evidence to discredit this theory. In season 2 when Blaine took Osborne to the Boston Globe he said "I'm risking my life to save you", indicating he was monitored, restricted and had just about as much autonomy as she did. Had Blaine exercised full autonomy, there was no question he would have been captured and executed. When June boarded the plane to leave, a driver also attempted to sneak on board. He was hauled off the plane and shot by Gilead guards, this heavily implied that Blaine would have died if he’d tried to accompany her. In season 3 Eleanor told June that Lawrence could never leave because he’d be imprisoned for life. In season 4 Fred was arrested at the border and jailed, when he tried to negotiate immunity he was traded back to Gilead and ended up dead. In season 5 Blaine WAS offered a deal from Tuello which he took, but it did require that he remain in Gilead indefinitely. Throughout season 6 the presence of Wharton was inserted specifically to create an environment of coercive control that restricted and monitored his movements. So no I don’t believe he had full autonomy. It also seems incredibly odd for the writers to say that Blaine has full autonomy and THEN have Serena tell June “If he ever thought he had a choice, he would have chosen you”. I mean in what alternative dimension should an audience NOT be confused by this constant mixed messaging?

I was informed through various forms of PR, that the second Blaine knew his relationship was over with Osborne he’d simply sought to lose himself in power, but this was utterly ridiculous. Blaine had been confronted with the reality of losing her many times before and he still hadn’t stuck his face in a bucket of Kool Aid. The idea that Blaine had failed to show up and do anything about June being executed because he considered their relationship over, was laughable. In season 4 he’d strong armed Lawrence into keeping her alive even though he knew she “was never coming back to him”. In season 5 he dashed across the border and signed a contract with Tuello just to ensure her safety even though “she already has people who care for her, I’m nothing”. It didn’t wash. NONE of it washed. Now I MIGHT have been able to swallow that he’d taken solace in Gilead after his relationship with Osborne completely dissolved but there was no period of mourning for the loss of a deep abiding love he’d carried with him for 5 and half seasons. No tears, no despair, nothing….Instead Blaine immediately started rambling on about Gilead like it was Sale of the fucking Century and he couldn’t get enough of those Nazi war spoils. It was utterly baffling. Mid season we all travelled deep into the Twilight Zone when Blaine made some sort of schizophrenic switch from prioritising June to an unquenchable thirst for power. It was impossible to reconcile with his previous manifestation, but somehow this all remained my fault for failing to grasp it, rather than the writers for either not communicating it in earlier seasons or an ill advised quick change.

We were also told that Blaine was a villain because of his role in the original attacks and that well, because you had to be a bad guy to be promoted to a commander. Firstly; scenes of Blaine actually participating in the original attacks were cut and are now being cited as part of the character history, and I’m not sure that works in their favour, as the original ones show him being sick and stunned at the violence anyway. It read more like someone who’d been roped into something that had quickly turned nightmarish and of which he now couldn’t escape. In season 3 Blaine said about the government “they don’t give a shit about us” and “once you get in bed with the government, it’s not so easy to get out”, not REALLY the words of an enamoured loyalist. Secondly; Blaine was promoted from a Eye to a Commander as a form of punishment from Fred for his insubordination, to have him sent to the front to die. These two singular moments should have been definitively painted to follow the writers intention from the beginning, but they weren’t and as a result his characters role in Gilead's conception and growth remained hazy at best. Again, not the audiences fault, the writers. Creators can't keep claiming they had an active loyalist on their hands all along when everything they ever showed their audience said otherwise. They can't keep claiming it in the face of the source material which completely contradicts them.

It’s pretty telling that audiences aren’t so much sad as angry about it. Writers are doubling down because well, they don’t have much choice. What’s done is done and they’re never going to take any of it back or admit any shortcomings. They’re never going to admit they sidelined and significantly altered a character from the source material. They’re never going to admit they out right IGNORED their audience and then proudly claimed to be listening to them. After analysing all of the diatribe and reasoning that the cast, writers and show runners have put forth I’ve come to a few simple conclusions about why Blaine was killed off. Firstly: Certain individuals could not tolerate the idea of a woman leaving her husband for another man, I believe this stems from a deep seated theological indoctrination that is ingrained into American society and consequently into ALL of their writing. It’s most evident in their attitudes to sex and love and these moralistic shackles severely restrict all of their plot and character development. My advice, go and learn from some of our British friends, they know how to write and their final seasons don’t look like a dogs breakfast. Secondly: He was used as a scapegoat for the rest of the Gilead four. Put simply, they had to have at least one bad guy. They needed Aunt Lydia for The Testaments, Serena was a mommy and Whitford baggsied "Not It" apparently. The death of Fred in season 4 created the lack of a necessary antagonist for the protagonist, and these writers simply couldn't use Serena, Lydia or Lawrence. One was a mommy, one was performing a redemption arc and the other was too cuddly. Nick, as the "other man" made the perfect candidate, he was mysterious, inconvenient and could be twisted into a loyalist with some sneaky back tracking. Unfortunately the source material and previous seasons said otherwise, ultimately they should have gone with Lawrence or even Serena as the fall out has been horrendous. Thirdly: they wanted to make a political statement about young males being recruited into neo fascism in America today. They were not concerned about breaking with literary integrity, character construct or even narrative symbolism in order to achieve it. As someone who has taught analysis of media and literature, I can honestly say, they should have been concerned, because it definitely looks fucking broken and it will cost these creators.

I’m still reeling from the fact that so many gossamer threads in this vast story line which could have been pulled together beautifully, were instead clumsily tangled or just abandoned. Replaced instead with plot lines delivered with a clumsy ignorance of how the audience would actually feel. Which sick fuck thought that plane trip into the abyss should be the Casablanca ending they were referring to all along? I’d prefer to leave The Handmaid’s Tale behind me at the end of season 4. Even though some of the constructs of Blaine’s character were already incorrectly portrayed by this point, it was during season 5 that show runners decided to truly begin Blaine's slide from ambiguous ally to Gilead loyalist. One of the biggest appeals of Nick Blaine was his mystery but it seems that during these last 2 seasons show creators were intent on stripping him of it and reducing him to nothing but a 2 dimensional family man who just turned to water at the mere sight of a strong father figure.

Miller’s Wilderness was possibly one of the most amazing television season finales I’ve ever seen, and it just never got any better than that. It set the story line up beautifully to lead into The Testaments, and he could have simply walked straight into his spin off with a few cameos to smoothen the transition. I don’t know why those writers were so afraid of the character dynamic between Nick and June, it was extraordinary and we’ll be lucky to see one like it ever again. From the beginning there was something about these two that the audience emotionally engaged with and if the writers had been smarter they would have truly acknowledged and embraced it. Instead their relationships sudden end, and the death of Nick Blaine, will become the one thing that follows this series around, and sticks in the craw of many viewers for years to come.

[disgruntleddemon]

part of what i hate about billford (among many other things) is the way it assassinates everyone else's characters in the process. It's especially teue for post cannon, but it annoys me in general

A good chunk of Ford's arc is overcoming the abuse Bill put him through, regardless if you view their original relationship as romantic or not. Tbob only further cemented that arc For Ford.

The shame he feels at the idea of his family knowing the full extent of what happened, the relief he feels when they dont judge him, the guilt he feels at pretty much anything bill related, the "i found my happiness and it looks like this" page, the j3 page where he bonds with his family by burning all the old bill relics, having to overcome his trust issues, bill almost killing Ford's whole family and destroying the world, the torture he goes through in j3 and weirdmaggedon, etc

To throw all that away for "silly toxic yaoi. They just need couples therapy teehee" just cheapens everything! So many damn scenarios where Ford's forced to play nice and babysit his literal abuser played as romantic tension is gross! I get it's ppl just having fun or whatever, but it's such a reductive take on his character

And then of course you have the way everyone else gets rewritten to some make billford work. It's so ooc it might as wll be ocs.

Like, Mabel, for instance. She watched Bill posses her brother, try to kill him, hurt him, found the note Bill left saying he'd fake Dipper's suicide (ending the note with "wanna join him, shooting star?), was trapped in the bubble, etc. You think she of all people is gonna be making friendship bracelets with him and shipping him with her grunkle?????

Yes, she's a pretty forgiving person, but she's just as willing to hold a grudge. ESPECIALLY if you hurt her family!

The same applies to all the other characters. Why do they bend over backwards to be nice to bill? Why would they ever approve of Bill and Ford getting together??? It goes against everything they stand for and believe. Why do they suddenly stop caring about their family as soon as bill is involved??? When the show is aggressively about the importance of family????

It's like a worse version of gravity falls where everything is written around billford, and i just don't get the appeal.

[rose-reveries]

I think it’s fine if you don’t like Akito for all the shit she did (I personally don’t like her), but if I see one more brain dead person online say she, “didn’t *deserve* her redemption arc,” personally, I will be crashing out.

The story of Fruits Basket is about change. The mangaka basically TELLS you that you don’t have to forgive Akito, showcased that Rin herself says she could never forgive her for what she’s done to her.

Genuinely I do think the people who say she’s evil and didn’t deserve redemption and deserved to rot in the cat’s cell,

1.) hate any type of mental illness/trauma response that isn’t uwu cutesy

2.) lack critical thinking skills, and also empathy

3.) would probably call you disgusting for being so depressed that you haven’t showered in 2 weeks

A person’s trauma is never an excuse for their behavior, so I don’t think you can excuse her abusive behavior at all. She defenestrated and also stabbed someone, plus the loads of abusive she put on everyone from a young age.

That doesn’t mean that she can’t decide to change for herself. She didn’t change for you to like her. Bad people are allowed to change for the better, and you don’t have to forgive them for their past if you so choose.

Besides the fact that saying she deserved to rot goes against everything Fruits Basket is about, I think it also really feeds into this stale way of thinking. That “once you’re bad you’re always bad”, and when you push that narrative it actually will cause bad people to just never change because society is telling them they can’t, so why would they even put in the effort?

Anyway, never thought I’d defend Akito. I just need people to like experience empathy, critical thinking, and media literacy for 5 minutes because y’all piss me off.

[rutaba9a]

thebthing about billford to me is that. Yes I do love the ship, i will read the hell out of a good fanfic for them.

But bro these MFS hurt me. Like I just saw a post going over the facts of the matter that Bill very much did abuse Ford physically. And it's right and the particular thing that stuck with me was that I then understood why people ship them after weirdmageddon- after the abuse

I think part of it is the fact that in many people's eyes, being in love completely is a reasonable thing to forgive someone over. Like "oh if they've done bad things u can forgive them if you love them". And i think that leads into people thinking it's worth it. This is something I do a lot because of how often I read fics like that. Never let it be said that I'm not a hypocrite.

Then there is the actual reason that I think makes more sense for the characters- they are so ingrained in each other's life and character that it's almost wrong feeling to remove them. Because so much of Bill & Ford's character arcs in the show/the books are built around each other, there is a bit of a black space in the character when removed. This also works with the Canon facts that Bill never stopped trying to get Ford to join him, and in Ford's eyes, Bill is still hauntig the narrative and under his skin

All this makes for a ship based on manipulation, misplaced trust, deep understanding, codependency, genuine affection, genuine hate, flat out abuse, PTSD, and years of very intense emotion. It's the cocktail for a fucked up and intriguing and depressing story, especially after the abuse and weirdmageddon.

I need to get morw hobbies.

[burst-of-iridescent]

i really hate it when people act as though zuko is being selfish or self-serving in some way when he tells aang in the finale that the only choice he has is to kill ozai because a) at this point, zuko is right and b) zuko's brutal honesty here is coming from a place of fear for both aang and the world.

are we all forgetting that unlearning his own idealization of his father and realizing that ozai never had been, and was never going to be, the person zuko thought he was, was a significant part of zuko's own arc? it took him sixteen years to understand that giving ozai any grace or understanding or forgiveness was a mistake, because it would be just another tool for ozai to manipulate him with. and that's not zuko's fault, because he was an abused child growing up in an incredibly damaging environment, but it does make sense that he doesn't want anyone else, especially aang, doing the same thing.

zuko is harsh on aang here because he sees in aang the person that he used to be - the innocent, naive kid who wanted so desperately to believe that ozai wasn't a monster, that there was any shred of humanity within him at all to be appealed to. it's not a coincidence in this show so rife with parallels that aang goes to face ozai at around the same age that zuko has his agni kai. and what did it get zuko, when he threw himself at his father's mercy and counted on ozai's non-existent humanity and compassion to save him?

zuko isn't coming down hard on aang because he's angry that "aang won't do his dirty work for him" or whatever other bullshit version of this argument i've seen zuko antis make - he HAS to impress upon aang how dire this situation is because he knows better than anyone that believing for even a second that ozai can be redeemed is incredibly dangerous. aang cannot give ozai an inch because it will only be used against him (and indeed, this does happen in the final battle when aang turns down the opportunity to redirect lightning at ozai and in return ozai presses his advantage to the point where aang would almost certainly have been killed if not for rock ex-machina).

furthermore, this idea that zuko wanted ozai dead for self-serving reasons doesn't really have much basis either, because if that was the case zuko could have just killed ozai himself during the solstice. he doesn't because at that point, he still had an alternative: aang (and you'll notice his word choices never explicitly refer to what ozai's fate will be; it's only "i'm going to help him defeat you" or "taking you down is the avatar's destiny"). as with many abused children, it's likely that zuko himself didn't really know if he wanted his father dead, but when it came down to the final battle without any other viable options presenting themselves, it was something he had to resign himself - and aang - to.

zuko himself does not lack faith in others (in fact, his whole journey is about understanding that his love for and belief in humanity is a strength, not a weakness) but he's learned the hard way that having this faith in the wrong people can result in devastating consequences, especially when the stakes are so high.

i imagine it terrified zuko to see the echoes of his younger self in aang, knowing he's sending him to face his father at the height of his power. at this point, with no knowledge of energybending or any alternative way to defeat ozai, well aware that a fight with his father can only end in bloodshed, zuko has no choice but to give aang the reality of the situation: kill, or be killed and doom the world alongside you.

[absolutebl]

When it comes to problematic content in QL, everyone has different tolerance levels, and different definitions for it. For you personally, how much is too much? And given that some of your faves/constant rewatches may not have aged well, do you adjust your tolerance as you go, do you just ignore it/tune it out, or do you watch, cringe, and carry on? Does problematic content make you lose love for something with time?

Hum, complex question.

I guess it's usually context and origin for me. Like I forgive Japan stuff I won't take from Thailand because it's... Japan, kinky and boundary pushing is what they do. I don't always like it, but I will usually watch it. I understand their POV and style. And more importantly, so do they.

Certainly that has to do with how well established Japan is both in BL and as a film industry. But there's something more going on. They usually have something to say when they trigger, something thoughtful and provoking about culture, or queerness, or the BL genre.

Where as Thailand doing something similar will come off as clumsy and puerile, like they are teens who don't know any better and are just poking at their audience to see what kind of reaction they get. Or worse, don't even realize when they make a misstep - they just needed it for plot or are executing a tired trope.

I want finesse with my abuse!

I don't mind being manipulated, but I can't catch it in the act. I need to notice it after, and then I make tiny clapping noises.

For me too much is often when it's too predictable in the wrong way, or when it's poorly executed. Like rape just for a plot point. Or lack of consent when it makes no sense for either character or story arc.

I don't like it when poor writing hits me up side the head. Like (and I will harp on this forever) did he have to steal that key and break into his hotel room? Did we all have to overlook it and think, for some reason, that was okay? It wasn't necessary for the plot. It was lazy writing.

I hate lazy writing.

I'd rather bad writing.

How do I put this?

If Japan had done that, it would have been some weird creepy edgy stalker aspect to the seme's character and it would have been purposeful. The dirtiness of it would have been part of characterization. Undies would have been stolen. The lens would have told us to find it off-putting. It would have been done with intent.

Thailand's lens often makes bad/stalker/creep behavior seem normal or acceptable.

If Japan reads your private journal we, the audience, will all know how gross that feels. The grossness will be part of the creepy kinky plot. If Thailand does it... it's just passed over as fine. Or worse, romantic.

Japan does its violations with intent. Because they like the edge. They want to make us a little bit uncomfortable... at all times.

Thailand does it with a blunt butter knife and expects us to overlook a character flaw.

Back to your question...

So given it's a BL producing country that I know is clumsy about this (like Thailand) sometimes I notice and get annoyed, and sometimes I sigh and it doesn't bother me. Often that has to do with my mood. Sometimes it's the chaos of the show. Like with say Pit Babe, or The Sign, eventually I'm just overwhelmed by the absurd crazy of it all. Probably because they clearly aren't taking themselves seriously, the whole darn show: cast, crew, production, everybody.

Sometimes the violation in question is simply not a trigger for me so I don't mind.

Sometimes it reads as a kink and then I kinda like it (Taiwan will do this a lot).

Sometimes I don't even notice.

Yes, certainly I have dropped show or moved on from rewatching older stuff because now it bothered me, where once it did not (cough cough TharnType).

But others I still understand (if not love) because they say something about the time they were made and what the genre was then, like Takumi-kun.

Some stuff I loved so much when it first aired and still love with such nostalgia that I don't really see its flaws. UWMA is likely one of those. It's always great to me, even on rewatch, even after 810 other shows.

But I think UWMA might not be great to someone who started watching BL in 2022 or comes to the genre out of Korean BL, for example.

Does problematic content make you lose love for something with time?

Sometimes but not always.

It's all in the nuance, I guess. Mine, what I bring to the show, my willingness to understand its origin and forgive it its sins, but also the show's nuance and its execution of story.

(source)

[evermorx89]

thoughts about obx4

⚠️ obx4 spoiler alert!!!!!⚠️

hi guys! this is just my personal opinion, don’t hate me pls 😭, english is not my first language btw so if anything is wrong, i’m sorry

first of all, what the fuck they’re thinking??? killing jj? this is so unserious, i mean, he was probably everyone favorites character, he passed his WHOLE LIFE suffering and that was his end? i can’t believed that, it’s a terrible ended for the character that i’m preferred think that this is a joke for the next season.

and then, that ridiculous plot of jj not being luke’s son, he passed the last 20 years getting abused by a guy who even wasn’t he’s real father, this is so inhuman, so fucked up, and after we find out that he’s a genrett, he gets an worse father, who’s worse than luke, a father who abandoned him, and knew it that he was alive and didn’t even care about it, come on pate’s brothers you all are better than this, or maybe not.

now, sarah is pregnant and i really think is cute, BUT have you all seen the life that they all live??? how they will be able to raise a child in the middle of all this? i don’t understand why making her getting pregnant now? they really can’t wait the final season to do that?

thank god that sarah and rafe are finally making peace, that’s what i’m talking about guys! one of the only good thing that i can found in obx4 was them getting their brother and sister relationship again, i’m so happy about this, when they hug we realize that after all happened what rafe really need was his sister love, he almost crying and she forgive him OMG that kill me, i almost cry with him too, because all he need right now is a family love, after all ward did to him, he just needs their sisters, sarah and wheezie, love, and i will never get tired of saying this! he doesn’t need a relationship now, HE NEEDS FAMILY LOVE BECAUSE WARD WAS A TERRIBLE FATHER FIGURE FOR HIM, SARAH AND WHEEZIE!

and my last thought about season four is about rafe and sofia relationship… i’m really sorry guys, i think that they’re very cute, fiona and drew have an amazing chemistry between them and fiona is an AMAZING actress, but i just felt that this relationship wasn’t a real needed right now? come on, on season 2 rafe as an coke addicted, an abuse brother, and did so bad stuff with the pogues and his own sister, that the real thing that he needed was a therapist, help and a redemption arc with his sisters, sarah and wheezie, because i can’t see a better option of making rafe more human that do this and i just feel that his relationship with sofia is so undeveloped, she’s just appear from nowhere in obx3 and was put in the middle of this, just to make rafe more human? and don’t get me wrong, i love them, i don’t them to break up or something, i just don’t like what they’re doing with them, if they have a development relationship maybe i liked them more? but i just can’t had along with them, when we have a jiara development, and jarah development and a cleopope development, because i know that the pate’s brother can do it better with rafe and sofia, they just don’t know what to do with rafe’s character anymore and then they start making mess like this.

[bighominiglo]

Episode 9 of handmaid's tale season 6 could not have been crazier and more hateful. The characters have become completely Flanderized.

Nick supposedly got all those Jezebel women killed and June can't forgive him. But behold Lawrence. A man who hated women so much he created women only concentration camps where they die slowly of radiation. You seriously have to be a next level misogynist to even think of such a system let alone implement it. This is actual Nazi behavior. AND YET. This man gets redeemed. I'm supposed to believe he's some wholesome chungus after this episode since he now randomly gives a shit about his psuedo daughter of 1 month and June? This man has more or less fucked June over at many turns due to his own callousness and disregard for her. What kind of message does that send to the fans?

Aunt Lydia and Serena are both abusers and haters of women. Serena literally raped June and tortured her and Aunt Lydia made a career of treating women like cattle, breaking their spirits, and mutilating them, just to send them off to get raped and have their children stolen. Serena tried to steal June's child many times and happily would have had her husband not gotten her pregnant. Yet both of these characters got redeemed, and again, what kind of message does that send to the fans?

June is more willing to stick her neck out to redeem even WHARTON than Nick, you know, the actual murderer of the Jezebel women. Her entire conversation with him reads like a scrapped Nick redemption arc. "Choose love" except you didn't, June! But ignoring that, she didn't try to kill him or escape when he lets her out, which she totally would have had he been any other Gilead man. She killed many people for far less in this series and yet she tries to redeem this guy??? And they don't even MENTION Nick? Wharton was such a stupid villain, the most convenient plot device that they pulled out of their asses just for season 6. Lawrence should've been the big bad, at least it would have some narrative backing.

Neither Serena nor Lawrence think of Nick or to contact him when June is in danger. Wharton doesn't mention Nick. Lawrence confirmed he hated Nick all along by just letting him die even though he could have said "June is outside, it's not too late".

And June confirmed his life meant nothing to her by saying nothing and letting him die after she did nothing but use him for personal gain since season 3. Unbelievable. This is not a love letter to fans, this is a hate letter!

Nick was so out of character, with absolutely insane lines that even season 5 Nick would never say. And he only had like 10 lines the whole episode. How in the actual fuck is that Max's "best work". His character traits have now been redistributed to all the evil characters and the character left by episode 9 formerly known as Nick Blaine is nothing more than a convenient NPC.

I honestly could tell something was off the second Nick smashed the Tuello communicator and was even remotely influenced by what Wharton said. The Nick we know would've dismissed Wharton as easily as Fred and never given up his best chance of being with June. In fact, he was a good guy who was against Gilead. AND NOT ONCE, writers, did June EVER ASK HIM TO LEAVE. That line was just pure gaslighting. June would have happily sent him to the gallows if it meant using him for her own gains or getting closer to Hannah. God I'm so upset, I don't think a show has done me this dirty since Lost and even that was somehow better.

For any Osblaine fans who haven't watched, just save yourself and move on as fast as you can!

[nqueso-lies]

People have very rightly pointed out Bobby and Chimney and Buck for being dismissive and aggressive with each other in the past as well. Maybe because it is so recent, but the difference, imo, is that this is certainly not the first time Eddie has minimized and ridiculed Buck in this way. I’m sorry, but this is starting to look like a repeated behavior for Eddie which comes off as manipulative and as gaslighting.

I don’t care who the character is or what the show is, I’m not a fan of when people say they were triggered by something and then others posting “well let’s not say the actions are abusive” — people can bring whatever interpretation they have to a scene. You (general you) might not agree with it but dismissing people’s experiences bc they don’t have “nuance” feels bad to me.

And I think the real issue is with the writing. This repeated behavior from Eddie is not being fully addressed as hurtful to Buck in the show which has presented these two AS BEST FRIENDS. This isn’t a story about a toxic/complicated relationship, this is a story about friends. Eddie is not learning from these situations. He’s not listening to Buck. And yes, that can also be said of other past incidents with Bobby and Chimney and Buck but the fact that it keeps happening with Eddie is an issue that can’t be said about the other incidents.

Anyway sorry for rambling in your inbox! Feel free to ignore! ❤️

I agree. And I hate that when people say this, like you have, others are quick to say we're racist or we're excusing the others.

But, we're not. Those incidents with Chim and Bobby were bad. I hate that they happened.

The difference, as you pointed out Annie, is the PATTERN and the CYCLE of abuse (not technically physical) towards Buck.

This always happens with Buck and Eddie. There's an issue, followed by tension, followed by an outburst, followed by gaslighting.

One scene between Eddie and Buck that I hardly ever see discussed is in season 3 after the lawsuit arc when they make up after Buck returns to the 118.

"Did you ever stop for a minute and think what that would do to us?"

Uhm... Buck was losing his found family.

"Lot of 'I's' in there."

I'm sorry, did you get a firetruck crushing your leg to smithereens while innocenly riding in a firetruck, thus potentially ruining your career?

"I forgive you. That's also what it means to be part of a team."

Thanks for letting him know you're obligated to forgive him.

The really crazy thing imo is that this whole exchange comes AFTER the fucking tsunami arc. Once again, no one is thinking about what Buck went through.

He went toe to toe with a fucking Natural Disaster, saved a handful of people, saved Chris, lost Chris, searched for Chris for HOURS. The entire time he was on blood thinners. And yes, I understand that he had a pulmonary embolism before that and quit his job, but I understand the frustration from Buck. He just did some Superman hero shit and they still won't let him come back to work??

Sorry... went off on a rant there.

Anyway, the Bobby and Chim incidents were isolated to show that either something was very wrong (Bobby) or that the character is cracking (Chim).

These events with Eddie have never been used to show that something is up or about to happen to the GA. In fact, at this point, if you asked the GA about Eddie, don't be shocked if they tell you that he needs therapy or even anger management.

Personally the reason I'm so irked at this continuation of behavior is not only because of fandom reactions but also because I really thought we were passed this with Eddie. The Texas arc made it seem, to me, that Eddie was more relaxed and happy. Something the character 100% deserves... but then something traumatic happens and suddenly we're back to square one.

It's tiresome, boring, and a huge concern if not addressed.

Also, thank you for this:

I don’t care who the character is or what the show is, I’m not a fan of when people say they were triggered by something and then others posting “well let’s not say the actions are abusive” — people can bring whatever interpretation they have to a scene. You (general you) might not agree with it but dismissing people’s experiences bc they don’t have “nuance” feels bad to me.

This this this this thisssss

This is the main problem with this fandom. People are so quick to dismiss other people's, REAL PEOPLE'S, feelings.

Your trauma is valid and you shouldn't have to log on to a platform that once brought you joy only to be told that your experience doesn't matter because xyz.

It's shocking to me that they act this way ESPECIALLY when they are quick to jump into inboxes (mine specifically) and be pissed about a phrase I use because it's allegedly 'racist' and 'if we tell you it's not okay, you should respect that!'

Exactly. Take your own advice, BoBs, and realize that just because you think everything spells closeted love for Eddie Diaz, that may not be the same for others.

I apologize. This went really off the rails lol

[the-ellia-west]

WIP Intro - Jest of Royalty [JoR]

Genre: High Fantasy Action Adventure

Media: (Future) Webcomic

POV: First Person Side-narration

Themes: Redemption, Forgiveness, Found Family, The good in the world and what may result from it

Tropes: Macguffin, True King, Fallen god, Revenge, Found Family, Redemption Arcs, Feel-good Fluff, Lots of Filler

CWs: Child abuse, Trauma, Grief, Alcohol abuse, Murder, Attempted SA

Summary:

Ever since his sister was born, Ronan has been the provider for his family, a hunter and a fighter. Seventeen and in charge of funds and food since his father is unable to find work with a paralyzed leg, and his mother must stay home to take care of his sick sister, Ronan is the only one who's had to deal with the whispers and rumors of 'curses' on the Terrys family. He shuts the rumors up quick with his fists, and has gained a reputation for himself in town. When you hear the long strides of the forest elf, hold your tongue or he might tear it out. And in this, Ronan has found himself face-to-face with a unique foe, his long-time nemesis, the young god of chaos, Mangrove. However, as tensions grow thin, the town begins to quiet under the watchful eye of the new Trifold-Coast Alliance and King Kyrin's thickening forces through the streets.

But when Mangrove ambushes Ronan on a hunting trip, taunting him and threatening the safety of his home, Ronan decides he's had enough and takes measures to make sure this is the last time he has to deal with him. He takes Mangrove's staff, his godly artifact and only claim to power and home in the realm of the heavens, and shatters it against a rock, letting the pieces fall into a small hole between the four realms, the power of a god gone in an instant. Horrified, Mangrove flees, and under the light of a meteor shower, the Starfall, Ronan returns home to find it torn to the ground, a poster in the remains detailing the deliberate and swift execution of his family for 'Traitorous Crimes against the Alliance'. Ronan buries his family, taking up his father's old bow and swears vengeance right then and there.

Along his journey for power and revenge, Ronan decides the power of a god, the very staff he broke would be his goal. In his quest for power, he crosses paths with two Harpies of good heart with an uncertain love story between them, a powerful faerie mage fascinated by any magic and her brother, a broken and angry Satyr, each other all they have left, a merchant with dreams of love and joy, an emotionless phantom with a sadness buried beneath a stone heart, and the very same old enemy he slighted to start the whole ordeal. With the loss of old families haunting their steps, together, they make a new one.

Characters:

╚══════ ≪❈≫ ══════╝

Ronan

Elf- 17 years old - Male

Likes to Punch first ask Questions later, always high energy, ANGRY

Finn

Harpy - 39 years old - Male

Wants to help and work, Father figure, The only responsible one here

Morena

Harpy - 38 years old - Female

Loves everyone, wants to help as much as she can, High Anxiety

Rose

Fae - 37 years old - Female

Loves magic, wants to research and Protect her new family

Jakkon

Satyr - 38 years old - Male

Hates life, hates people, hates you, will tell you to fuck off

Mangrove

God - 19 years old - Male

Thinks he's better than everybody, will not hesitate to say so, kind of a prick

Wildrun (Wild)

Phantom - 13 years old - Male

Doesn't feel emotions but wants to, A domestic abuse victim

Phenik

Naga - 16 years old - Male

Always tries his hardest, sees the silver lining in every cloud, a Cinnamon roll

╚══════ ≪❈≫ ══════╝

PLEASE ASK ME ABOUT MY WIP PLEASEEEEEEE

Taglist: @an-indecisive-nerd @sunflowerrosy @urnumber1star @homelessnerd @vesanal @darkandstormydolls @supercimi @corinneglass @sm-writes-chaos @thebookishkiwi @blargh-500 @lunaeuphternal @write-with-will @yolbert @thewritingautisticat @carb0n-m0n0xide @theweirdbox123 @inspirationallybored @daringcrafter @elronthemage @i-do-anything-but-write

[dramioneshipperz]

The Handmaid’s Tale—Season 6, Episode 9

Spoilers + Full Rant: Nick Blaine deserved better.

It's been hours. I’m not over it, and honestly? I don’t think I ever will be. These are my thoughts on the second-to-last episode of The Handmaid's Tale. Just my opinion.

CW: mentions of character death, abuse, and assault (including references to rape). Please read gently. Take care of yourself.

Nick’s downfall, if we can even call it that, wasn’t earned. It wasn’t thoughtful. It wasn’t the slow moral descent of a man corrupted by power. It was maybe three episodes of rushed choices, forced betrayals, and a character assassination that feels like it was written for shock value, not truth.

After six seasons of restrained love, quiet sacrifices, and impossible choices, they (writers and cast) threw him away with no warning and expected us to accept it.

But I can’t. I won’t.

Nick Blaine was not “just like the other Commanders.” No matter how badly the writers wanted to draw those false parallels in the final episodes, we know who he was. Having June and Serena both say, "You're just like the rest of them," was not only inaccurate, it was completely unjustifiable.

He wasn’t Fred. He wasn't Wharton.

Nick wasn’t a man who reveled in power or used Gilead to abuse women. He was a man caught in a system he never asked to be part of. He tried to survive, yes, but more than that, he was one who loved. One who tried to do good inside a world built to crush it.

Let’s talk about Serena Joy. If Serena can be "redeemed" after being an architect of women’s suffering—after holding June down to be raped—if she can cry over a baby and suddenly be positioned as a symbol of complex womanhood, then Nick Blaine deserved the chance to live.

And Aunt Lydia? Who mutilated girls and said it was what they deserved? She’s being reimagined as morally gray, too.

But Nick? Nick, who gave everything to help the woman he loved escape—he gets a bomb. No closure. No voice. No grace.

Let’s not forget why Nick did what he did.

He killed Guardians because June, Luke, and Moira needed help.

He shared Mayday plans because June put him in a situation where he had to choose between death on the wall or betrayal. And from what we’re shown, Nick didn’t know or even think that those women would die. Just like June didn’t think that asking for his help over and over wouldn’t come with consequences eventually.

Then June just let him get on that plane. She didn’t warn him. She didn’t stop him. After everything. After all the quiet love, all the protection, all the things he never asked for in return. She let him die believing she hated him.

And I’m supposed to believe that’s justice?

This is June’s story. I’ve always supported her rage. Her choices. Her trauma. And I always will.

But what they did to Nick. What the writers did to that love story. That wasn’t just cruel. It was narratively dishonest.

It twisted years of slow-burn connection into a last-minute complicate-by-association arc that Nick never deserved.

And for what? Shock value is all I can think of.

One more corpse to stack under June’s story?

I’m not mad because Nick was perfect. I’m mad because he wasn’t, and that’s what made him real. He was scared, restrained, and loyal. He loved June so deeply, he disappeared into it.

And they killed him off like he was a plot device.

Nick deserved redemption. At the very least, he deserved the truth. And I will never forgive them for denying him both.

I am heartbroken about Lawrence. But it made sense. Nick didn't.

That’s my rant. I will be watching the last episode next week.

[yannaryartside]

Carmy’s guilt arc in s3 is incredibly unearned.

I am not against a guilt arc, but the way the show presented Carmys, the length they brought to it, and the analogy of it all...its extremely out of place/theme.

Many people have mentioned this..

Carmy didn’t do anything to Claire.

He had the bad luck of her hearing a mental breakdown/suicidal ideation episode. The whole of him feeling bad for it throughout the whole season and saying he cannot apologize is like saying it is your fault that your significant other read your diary and was troubled by its content. Like saying a person should feel bad for what they confided in a friend or therapist. Even if he were to break up with Claire later, we can all agree he would not have used those words; that's not Carmy.

It is awful to hear that a relationship was a waste of time for your significant other. Still, Carmy could only be guilty for hurting her if he said that to her, like, on purpose, more, even if he ever had the intention to hurt her.

Also, that scene when he is in the anon meeting and hears an abuse victim being (rightfully) guarded around their abuser and Carmy comparing himself to that, feeling he was a bad person not worthy of forgiveness….He is comparing himself to Donna and how Donna hurt him so much and for so long.

That’s is so fucking unearned. Incredibly out of place. Like giving 80 years of prison for an unarmed robbery.

He is missing a relationship that was shallow but made him feel less defective, and now that he is spiraling and hallucinating his previous abuser, he doesn’t have any option but to think back on Claire as the only one who could fix him/love him. He is mistaking the comfort and absence of mind Claire gave him as peace.

But he is ultimately just using the loss of this relationship to hate himself even more because how could he let go of this good thing? He thinks he is inherently a bad person, an unworthy partner, and a bad son. It's funny how is Donna who planted the idea that once you make a mistake, you should be (unjustifiably) punished to no end; that is the point of gaslighting.

For a show that seems to care and understand the subject of abuse, how all redemption has to respond to the gravity of your acts, making Carmy go on such a self-destroying/self-deprecating cicle for just basically thinking out loud while he was also dealing with a triggering event and thought he has in a safe space just venting to an old friend...It’s honestly horrifying.

The analogy just doesn't hit. He is comparing himself to an abuser (Donna) who actually used her struggles to manipulate people around her to make them feel guilty so they would do things to please her.

People can go on periods of reflection on the people that they hurt and what they meant to them, but it doesn't help to this supposed analogy of ‘earning love’ when every clairexcarmy scene is just shallow as fuck. It doesn't help that he hasn't earned her resentment, acting out of ignorance, his flaws or malice, just bad luck.

He hasn't even gotten to reflect on the things he is actually doing wrong, like pushing away his loved ones, isolating himself, and betting the whole house and their futures on a trip to defend himself from his abuser, former chef (Chef David) standards. An even when he gets to do that, reflection has to be more on the "you can do better, we are here for you" because he is not acting out of malice. Carmy has never, ever been an abuser. The way the script constantly shows him being kind to people who were inferior in the culinary industry, even when he wanted to be the best, speaks volumes on how he is incapable of becoming Donna precisely because he is not a bad person. He is not manipulative, selfish, or dismissive.

I think this is all on purpose, for the sleight of hand that would come later.

I think this is a trauma bonding "love" that carries an unearned punishment because codependent and toxic relationships are precisely that. We may get to that later. I have to find more time for reading.

[quirkwizard]

Burn Out

Enji Todoroki's story is the most controversial part of MHA. I don't think that there is much debate for that. In spite of being introduced as a man who both abused and neglected his family for his petty desires, the story goes on to try and explore him more as a person. Needless to say, this had very contentious reactions from the fan base. Though the loudest part of it seems to decry this choice. That trying to get us to understand and even forgive a confirmed abuser is rather questionable. Once again, I disagree with this.

I think a lot of the issues with Enji come down to a fundamental misunderstanding of him as a character, specifically what the story says and shows, and what his arc is about. For starters, there are a lot more beats and character work that goes into it. It puts in a lot of work and new context to who Enji is as a person. At least, who he was before all of this. It's not a retcon. It's a recontextualization. It's an expansion from Shoto's and the reader's limited perspective on who Enji is. And at no point does it expect you to see Endeavor in a favorable light. That includes anyone outside the family. Any praise given to him isn't about him as a person. The most that he is given is that "Hey, he's trying to better himself and that is admirable." Because, yeah, you can be a good pro hero and not be a good person.

Then there is the actual work done with Enji's family. It treats him as the core problem with everything that happens, including the actions of Dabi. That line about everyone being to blame is more about everything that lead to Dabi than everyone being equally blamed. Though the most important part of this is that none of them welcome Endeavor back. No one is forgiving Enji for what he did. The most anyone talks about forgiveness, such as Shoto during the dinner scene, is in the context of self-fulfillment. Not forgiving him for Enji's sake, but their own, so they can move on with their lives. None of his family members are running back into his arms and calling him dad. Which I do think would be a massive botching for this plot line, but that isn't the case.

And the reason I bring up the lack of forgiveness is because Enji's story is not a redemption arc. It's not even about redemption. It's about atonement. Redemption is about trying to seek and earn forgiveness. Atonement is about trying to make up for what you did in the past. Enji does change and he works hard to see that change through. Sometimes, it does improve things and shows that he has changed, like trying to remove himself from his family so they can meet on his terms. Yet none of what Enji does fixes anything. It still doesn't absolve Enji or bring him meaningfully closer to the people he hurt. Even Enji himself says that he doesn't want to be redeemed. He doesn't see any kind of future for himself with his family.

And part of that atonement is how much he is punished. Which I've seen fans get upset about. That wasn't punished or condemned by the rest of the cast. Because Japan was in the middle of an apocalypse and there were way more pressing concerns. Yet Enji gets punished in other ways. Enji gets his dream on a technicality, fails to live up to the standard set up by his rival, has his legacy tarnished by all the terrible things he's done, nearly gets murdered by the son that hates him, and gets mangled by several different people throughout the war. In the end, all he's remembered as a great pro hero, but not a good person. It's an empty prize for what is an ultimately wasted life. And he ended up where he would always be: alone. He just did what good he could do before he got there.

Enji's story is a man who is trying to repair the damage he's done. His will burned everyone around him and left him nothing but ashes. A man who wants to do right by the family he destroyed. Who realized what he had done far too late and now needs to suffer with that. He knows that. Yet no matter what, he is going to try to make himself a better person. That is his Endeavor. And I wish people would at least try and understand that about him. I can understand not liking Enji as a character for whatever reason. I just ask that people to at least try and see what the story is saying and doing with him. Rather than just act like he's the same character he was back in the Sports Festival. Some bad man who is there to be evil, lacking any real depth to his character beyond that perspective.