#I mean it has flaws but still works a lot more than it doesnt

[sepostscreencaps]

Only-one-I-actually-fully-like-ish Coverart from Soul Eater post chapter 25

[mickedy]

do you have strong feelings about minnie? the way disney writes her bothers me severely, i'm trying to find out how to write her better and i'd like help!

she's always written as nothing more than a mickey genderswap, they have the exact same character strengths and flaws, i want to write her like how ortensia is written to oswald or daisy is written to donald (in. ducktales 2017 at least when they dont feel like being . so toxic.), theyre character foils and they work better together

for example daisy is more practical and sassy and headstrong?? while donald isn't very practical he is very emotional and in the moment and isnt as ambitious as her he's just a guy

but minnie doesnt compliment mickey in any way their relationship is just Same Braincell Teehee

and its like every time disney TRIES to have friction between the two its usually making minnie less interesting than mickey in the sense he's going off the walls insane and she has to fold her arms and make him stop, w donald and daisy donald has to ground daisy sometimes but minnie can usually do no wrong ever??

i want to write minnie as mickey's foil in a similar way because she's always a copy and paste mickey and she deserves so so so much more, but im also worried that making a foil for mickey would stray too far from minnie's personality range?? which is why i keep referencing donald and daisy specifically because they have similar personalities but still manage to be foils, and i ALSO dont want to make her copy and paste ortensia, WHILE ALSO NOT MAKING HER JUST LESS INTERESTING MICKEY AS THEY DO SOMETIMES by just writing her as feminine mickey without the character flaws he has, so its a really weird balancing act here

You hit the nail on the head with a lot of points here. I've always found Minnie to be the MOST sidelined out of the 5 in terms of characterization. She's almost always written as "girl mickey", very interchangeable with him, not really developed with her own personality in mind independent of her relationship with Mickey.

I guess on a lot of levels I consider Minnie and Mickey to be like... really sturdy nuts. They have these extremely tough shells surrounding them, they are two of the most private people you will ever meet. Outwardly friendly, outwardly pretty boring and unemotional, a pretty vanilla flavored couple at any way you look at them.

But, we don't really get to see what goes on under that shell. What they're like in private. My favorite stories with Mickey are the ones where they crack open the shell, even just a smidge-- and we get to look on the inside. What we see is almost always the same. Above all else, Mickey cares about his friends. Mickey cares about his friends so much that he would take a bullet for each of them. He would give up everything. Friendship means more than anything else to Mickey Mouse.

On the flipside, we don't really get that same introspection with Minnie. I can't think of a time where they let her be emotional, like that. She's sweet and patient and polite and filled to the brim with goodness and kindness, but that's just what her shell looks like. She's very, very reserved. Like Mickey, maybe even moreso.

A lot of this is definitely because the writers don't really care about Minnie on that level, because she's Woman and she's Girlboss and whatnot. When they show her being emotional, it's pretty much always played up for laughs because Women Are Emotional amiright wink wink nudge nudge 😁🔫 <- (he does not know he is playing into misogynistic tropes)

But I like to think she just has these incredibly sturdy walls around her character. You will most likely never get to see what her private self is like in the entire time that you know her. I seriously doubt Minnie's actual friends know that much about her.

Mickey cares about his friends, but what does Minnie care about...? Where Mickey is an optimist, I consider Minnie to be a pessimist. That is a very strange claim to make, I know. But I think the reason we never see her walls break down is because... there'd just be more walls. She's such an incredibly reserved individual, she'd rather stick her hand in a paper shredder than admit that she's got feelings.

She's pretty no-nonsense in that regard, too. Mickey is a compassionate guy, but Minnie is more quick to lash out and start kicking and yelling when someone pisses her off. Tying back to the whole "friendship is Mickey's emotional core" thing... friendship is definitely not Minnie's.

I'm not saying she's not friendly. She's incredibly friendly! She's such a sweet and affectionate individual. But it's all very much an outward thing. I think, if you're looking for a "foil", that's definitely where they clash in that regard. Mickey is a plain, unassuming guy who-- at his core-- is sweet and silly and compassionate, and motivated by his love for his friends. Minnie is outwardly sweet and silly and compassionate, but doesn't have that same motivating factor, the deeper you look.

In the end, this is all really my interpretation of Minnie's character. Because she is definitely a victim of misogynistic writing, which sucks 🤷‍♀️ But I do think there is a lot of potential to make her and Mickey clash a lot more often than they're shown to... because, they don't really show themselves to anybody! That sort of intimate exploration of their character is something that really only comes out with each other. Which leaves a lot of room to mold their inner personalities into something much more interesting...

[bunnieshoneys]

WRITING TIPS🗣️

by bunny

hello and welcome to my soup. my letter soup. someone asked a very long time ago if i had any writing advice, and i said no, because writing is very in my head for me, but having thought about it there are some tips over the years that have changed the way i write! so

no. 1

youve probably seen this before. its what i call in my head the 70% rule -

- characters should never communicate more than 70% of what they feel to those around them.

70% is an absolute max, too. most of the time, characters interacting with each other should only articulate 50-60% of what they mean. think of your own life and how much you can struggle to say what you want, or say what you need. you can’t say it perfectly, right? it might be due to the strength of what theyre feeling, difficulty being honest, where they are. the likelihood of ever being to perfectly articulate yourself is low. utilise that, it makes conversations so much more fun to read!

no2

adding onto this, unreliable narrator should always, always (imo) play somewhat of a role in a narrative voice, unless omniscient third person is being used. i used to write a lot of first person pov, and now i prefer third person (growing up🤝🏻) but in third person a narrative voice can and still should be just as strong as in first person - tall ask, but its possible.

we are seeing the world through this character’s eyes: act like it. even if another character is a mess, if your pov character wouldnt notice it, the pov is going to be affected by that. they dont know what others are thinking or feeling. theyre guessing. and those guesses are going to be informed by their own experiences or perceptions of those around them, along with the world in general.

no3

show not tell. this kiiind of links back to no2 bc its sort of related to narrative voice. trust your readers to pick up on implications and read between the lines. every single interaction / scene has purpose - and it doesnt have to be clear!! i promise that even if readers dont get the purpose, they’ll pick up on the vibes🫵🏻

no4

you do not have to solve every plot hole or character flaw to show development. in fact id encourage you NOT to, especially if ur work is <30k.

i <3 toxicity and rancid vibes, so im a bit biased on this one. its definitely sort of an acquired taste. 😕✌🏻 but in short one shots (anything under 40/50k, id consider short, lol) fixing everything is unnecessary!! you can leave things unfinished! it makes everyone feel incredibly human and raw!!

no5

relating to no4 slightly, tension.

never never never show your full hand. theres always something left to be revealed! whether its about the world itself, another character, or someone’s motivations, it needs to be kept secret. riiiight until the end

(this is more for longform writing)

finally

world - your characters have to be casual about where they are, with little exception. the BEST aus ive read are where the characters feel casual about the crazy things happening bc this is THEIR normal, and its taken for granted so much but it really makes or breaks a work.

slang or language, reactions to stuff that we as readers might be alarmed by but they arent - think a burn in a hospitality au or injuries in sports aus - they might not be as big a deal to the characters since this is their normal.

exceptions include charas thrown into ur world brand new / really big events - essentially you pick and choose where the biggest reactions are to events for plot🫶🏻

i feel silly typing this. anyways enjoy

[utilitycaster]

Your blog feels like somewhat of a safe haven because you seem like a very reasonable person, which is why I feel safe saying this here only. Some of the responses to L*udna calling Im*gen sister make me very uncomfortable. People literally saying that m*risha is wrong about her character or that it doesn't mean anything, or that laudna doesnt know how she feels. It reminds me of my least favorite aspect of the Fandom, where people will decide how they think the characters feel or think about something or how they would act in a given circumstance, and then in their minds it becomes Canon and they get frustrated when the actors (who in dnd are the storytellers) don't act upon their Canon. This is different than just being disappointed that a ship you like didn't become Cano, IMO. I really like Imogen but I LOVE laudna, and I feel like a lot of the times she is reduced to just be Imogen's other half, and now that people denying what marisha says her character thinks, saying she's wrong, being mad at the choice, it makes it hard to interact with the fandom on this site because I feel like I can't talk about Laudna or Imogen without it circling back to their relationship. My favorite pairings in C1 were Vex and Percy and Vex and Keyleth and I feel like I didn't have this problem as much with them but also I wasn't as deep on the internet or in fandom back then. :(

Hey anon,

Thank you so much for this - it’s really nice of you!

I don’t have a ton to add or say about this, honestly; the post I reblogged about it said it better than I could. This has always been what put me off the ship as it exists in the fandom: I’m not opposed to Imogen and Laudna becoming a couple, but the fanon is deeply boring while also being all consuming and crystalized before the end of the first episode. It’s frustrating, as someone who enjoys both Imogen and Laudna, to try to talk about them without getting obnoxious responses to anything that even hints there might be misunderstandings or conflict between them. It lessens their characters and the work both Marisha and Laura have put in. It makes it impossible to explore their flaws, and it makes everything about them uncompelling, when they are both very interesting characters. I’ve found Laudna especially to be coming into her own in this Team Issylra arc.

The fact is, Laudna said what she said. It doesn’t mean a romance is impossible, but I think it’s genuinely indicative of how Laudna feels at this time. Which to be honest matches how I’ve felt regarding Laudna’s feelings about Imogen from early on! I think Imogen is romantically interested in Laudna, but I think Laudna has always seen Imogen in a more familial way, and I don't know if it's fair to her to try to explain that as just Laudna's insecurities. I also think it's possible Imogen has exacerbated those insecurities - if I were Laudna, I’d be feeling a certain way about Imogen’s exploration of the validity of the Vanguard, and I might even still be feeling the unresolved pull of the gnarlrock fight.

I can’t speak to Campaign 1 ships specifically since I watched that campaign after it had already finished, but at the very least Imodna has felt notably different to me in that usually people talk about at least one of the parties of a popular ship as an individual, even if they reduce the other to nothing. Here it feels like they both get folded into ship fodder. I’ve also seen a really strong trend of people tagging fanart of one of the characters alone, without the other, with the ship name, and that feels new compared to past campaigns and popular ships though the obvious cynical answer is just that the ship is more popular than the characters on their own and so artists are just trying to get eyes on their work in the most effective way. And as I’ve said a few times, the fact that Laudna’s death was more than once referred to as throwing the ship away has stuck with me as an illustrative moment. I think the fandom response to this ship is different than some past ones, and not in a good way.

With that said, I am trying, despite myself, to practice good faith here. I’ll admit that I’ve had enough bad faith interactions with fans of the ship such that it’s no longer an option when I get reblogs on my posts or anons in my inbox. But in terms of what might transpire in the hypothetical situation where Imogen and Laudna end the campaign without becoming romantically involved, I would like to give those who ship it the chance to respond with grace rather than assuming they will not.

[spot-splatter-splash]

We all know I love the Storm E. era content for this franchise (Lalaloopsy Girls & We're Lalaloopsy). But! I'm willing to admit that it is flawed. As much as I put it on a pedestal for it's humor, It's only fair that I acknowledge the strong point of the Webisodes and Nick Jr. Series. The animation.

Where I (personally) feel that the later pair adds more in terms of personality for the cast with the dynamic between Storm E. and Jewel being my favorite to watch and explore. The animation in those series does feel stiff when held next to the earliest set of media.

A lot of the time Its because of how sharp the joints are when they bend as opposed to the earlier series rounding them out. That created the ragdoll feel that the later series lack which breaks immersion.

This could have been a budgeting issue due to the declining popularity of the franchise. The puppet style animation bends at odd and sometimes sharp angles. Which breaks the illusion of them being rag dolls.

Mind you there is a way to make that style look good, if im not wrong the earlier series were rigs too. Just designed with more attention to the ragdoll feel. The bendiness of the limbs and squashing and stretching for emphasis when interacting with certain objects. Good examples that come to mind are Mouse and Pix E. In the episode Flight Plan And Peanut. In general Peanut has some of the cleanest animation.

While I hail the later series for the personality they give the characters that is not to say I think the eariler media is boring or does it poorly. I find the Webisodes and Nick Jr. Series really cute and pleasant to watch. But they also had more characters to work with and had to split that attention between them.

I have seen comments about the cast being boring in We're Lalaloopsy. A criticism which is subjective of course. But one I struggle to see. (I also see a lot of people shoot Storm E. down as being too mean. A rant for another post surely).

And while I acknowledge the subjectivness of it. I think Jewel, Storm E. and Spot are really well done in that series.

Spots is still an energetic artist who doesnt mind a mess. But added onto that she doesn't like conflict, struggles to voice her thoughts when frustrated, get attached easily, is eccentric and pleasantly weird, sensitive and forgiving almost to a fault. And yet still stands as her own person capable of putting her foot down when she reaches her breaking point. Shes lovable and I adore a weird girl whos just so comfortable being weird.

Jewel is clearly rising the ranks of favoritism. Shes still 'perfectly perfect' Jewel having a checklist for everything she deems important enough too. But now shes someone who can be easily frustrated, doesn't enjoy her schedule or plans being disrupted or altered, kinda of ditzy yet not entirely stupid. She focuses on herself to the point she talks over others and cant see that shes being an issue and has to be reined in. Perfectly perfect Jewel is actually wildly flawed. Shes not malicious but can come off as hostile or petty. Shes dramatic, a primadonna, self richeous and sometimes holier-than-thou and needs to have others correct her or to fail to learn and better herself. I am wildly enamored by this. She sucks shes my favorite. Her flaws are what makes her so fun to watch.

Finally Storm E. Shes polarizing and due to her being the most recent doll to make it into the animated series theres not much to compare her to. By design shes suppose to be the odd one out. A black sheep. I see a lot of critique about her being too different which is the point. Shes often yeilded as this unlikable asshole by some of the really critical fans but I feel that doesnt do Storm E. justice.

Shes different by design in both media shes in. Shes has a dry sense of humor, isn't as comfortable with affection as the other girls, isn't as open about her feelings as others, tends to fall to the back of the pack and a bit of a loner. But she's not a bad person. She does care about others she just has a hard time showing it. It does bother her when she hurts other people with her behavior.

We're Lalaloopsy handles this with her dynamic with Spot and Jewel. Spot is someone she has a soft spot for. Shes more open to Spot being in her space and feels like Spot kind of gets her as another artist. Spot likes Storm E. as she is. Her personality isn't the problem to Spot, it's certain actions that are. And that soft spot for Spot doesnt stop Spot from getting hurt. Storm E. (like Jewel) doesn't necessarily intend to harm others with her behavior. Intent doesn't negate hurting someone and Storm E. learns that. She does feel remorse and is apologetic. I like that shes never urged to be more like the others just corrected when her actions hurt someone.

Which is why her and Jewel work so well. They parallel eachother. Both of them have a tendancy to focus on and put themselves above others without any real malice behind it. Jewel needs to feel important and Storm E. feels she had to be independent. Storm E. is misunderstood and Jewel is melodramatic. Theyre polar opposites on the serface yet are so similar when cross examined. They clash but also relate to eachother.

The others get unique little peronality quirks too. Crumbs is very particular to an obsessive degree, Rosy will put herself last at the expense of her own well being and is anxious, Dot frequently fails, yet is excited by any chance to invent something.

Tangent oops, this post is getting long. The point is every bit of media for this series has merit and def worth watching for whatever it offers. Could be a good laugh, clean animation, fun dynamics, or a unique take on an old favorite.

Feel free to ask me about characters I can write essays about some of them. I know I haven't talked much about proper reboot stuff and thats because I'm in the process of watching everything I can to get a feel for the extended cast.

[transgenderdoctorwhomst]

In Mr clever absorbing 11s mannerisms and emotions, which I just love the irony of that, I do wonder if it makes Clever & the doctor blended in a way where you can sorta tell who's who but the lines pretty blurred at this point. I wonder if it's blurred enough that a regeneration wouldn't even fully fix it.

I wonder if his mannerisms would be a little off, maybe to show to a point that at first Mr clever isn't used to a more humanoid body vs hydraulic or whatever the cybermen use, but as time goes on he learns to blend and gets used to movements and how to 'act' human.

I have a lot of thoughts but like not very in depth so I'ma be jumping around a bit.

But I am enjoying imagining just what would be the 'who is that' moment for different companions rn and how weird it would be for previous companions to see how the doctor is acting now. The yeah he acts about 80% like the doctor but there's a lot of little tipping points like you said that sort of point to something else.

Do you think we'd see a sort of return of timelord victorious with the planner? Maybe thinking he can bring the cyber empire into power using the tardis, either by changing history directly or a domino effect.

Idk, but I'd love to hear your thoughts <3

if the cyberplanner gets in the tardis, he is ABSOLUTELY pulling a time lord victorious. even if the cyberman amusement park planet is blown up, he'd definitely get to work on setting up a new army and figuring out what events he could change without accidentally deleting himself from existence. and he'd have to be keeping an eye on not changing his own timeline or the doctor's timeline, which is probably the only thing stopping him from going back and immediately changing every single loss the cybermen have ever faced. cant very well bring back the cyberiad empire if you blow up yourself and half a galaxy because of a paradox!

everyone will be very lucky the cyberplanner has the major flaw for a cyberman, of having an ego and feelings and potential for doubt. and also a flesh body that needs rest. and is constantly fighting with the doctor for control. and a tardis that doesn't always like to cooperate. because it would be an absolute nightmare for everyone else otherwise. any kind of evil doctor is an absolute force to be reckoned with.

for body movements, he seems to mirror 11, using his preexisting muscle memory, but i think over time he would make efforts to try and rewire it into more, you know, still and calm. less of 11's spinning around and waving his hands around and large gesturing. which is very odd to see on 11, because he's very active and needs to be constantly stimming. just some real uncanny valley shit.

we see they act similar enough that clara does feel the need to ask and can't tell just by looking, so long as the cyberplanner doesnt majorly fuck up an assumption about 11's behaviour. i think he would try to learn how to mimic the doctor, because it's useful if he can run around calling in any favors owed to the doctor. he just cant resist the urge to be a mean little shit to people, much more than the doctor usually is. (and 11 can be a mean little shit).

he does have the tell that he talks in a lower, more gravelly voice than the doctor, though. like he's trying to replicate the modulated cyberman voices. which is fun and definitely not something the cyberplanner is doing on purpose, i think it just sounds more correct to him.

i have no idea how a regeneration would affect, but considering 11 doesn't actually have any regenerations left until gallifrey gives him a new cycle, who knows when 11 might get the chance to try. the cybermen need physical parts installed though, so there's probably still some physical component wired inside his brain that could be burned out. the problem is not killing the doctor in the process.

[not-souleaterpost]

Least favorite part about soul eater's 3 introductionary episodes?

Guess the cop out easy answer would be saying the excesisive fanservice, especially when it involves minors, but that is too obvious and boring as an answer.

But if I had to think for anything else...

I could say things like that one can feel that the world wasn't fleshed out yet and there is a kind of disconect between them and the "real" plot that starts after, with that I mean the whole Kishin madness thing - but eh, I dont think that plot consistency is the highest virtue, especially when they started as stand alone things and dumping anlot of lore before it was clear it would be a whole show would be execsive, especially when it would derail the charecterization and other things inside the one shots.

But speaking of charachterization, maybe that could be a flaw - I've seen the argument that Souls and Makas charachters are kinda flipped - with Maka being the one that doesnt rush into things, while in the show proper it was she who actually did a lot of dangerous things without a plan - but even then I never was bothered by that and one can interpret it as showing another side, especially of a Maka that is still kinda paralyzed with uncertanty after the divorce. Hell even Spirit saying things like "oh I care for Blair more than Maka", even if a bit too extreme and tonedeaf, could be seen as the start of his charachterization and arc and reason why Maka really dislikes him (but yeah maybe that part was a bit too extreme if I'm not misremembering some bad fantranslation lol)

So yeah, one other thing that may be kinda clunky for me is the whole contrivance of everybody ending up with zero souls - like I get it, its so everybody starts the series on even footing, or if it doesnt get picked up one still has that "the adventure continues feeling", but still, especially with Kid it felt kinda forced - but again on the other hand its not like a big deal and the comedic note of all the efforts being revoked do to incompetence kinda works too - especially with Soul and Maka once it later gets established that they were kinda still rookies (but again thats all prolly just cause all the shit wasnt planned, so I wont be a stickler)

So yeah, in the end I'm kinda sorry that this meandering answer doesnt have a satisfying conclusion. I think in the end the chapters all had self contained storys that established charachterizations and set up how the personalities could develope in the future while showing the wacky world of it all. I'm not even saying that I found them super engading, but at the same time its hard to find something obviously wrong - I guess one could say that BlackStars is the one with the most emotional resonance, cause its ironically the one least played for laughs and the one with the serious "choice", while the DtK one is mostly wacky and a cartoon - but that has its own appeal.

But maybe even that is kinda a blessing and a curse - the way Ohkubo tried to one up himself - so ok we first start with an actuall scythe, hence the theme, but then how do we one up that, oh a weapon that transforms into like 5 or how many others on demand, and then... Guesss two weapons and they are glocks!

Like one could arguee that maybe it leads to Maka and Soul being overshadowed - but even that isnt really true, because the scythe stayed iconic so yeah, in the end if you thought I had some brillian insight behind all this rambling:

yeah...sorry

(but thanks for the ask, feel free to write another one, maybe I'll have something actually profound to say then lol)

[shadowfiredemonwolf]

makorra were compatible with each other (korrasami has no real compatibility without korra being ooc

the notion that makorra breaking up in b2 means they could never work is idiotic ( neither of them would have worked with anyone they broke up due to mutual flaws  that led to them breaking up flaws which they overcame by book 4 ( its korra and asami who couldnt work out without korra bieng ooc in the last 2 minutes

makorra is more comparable to kataang ( and mako showed that he could support korra the way she needed it asami didnt

 I have seen people try to go well mako told raiko he did the right thing the notion that he should have just went along with korras plans when the only issue was that he didnt speak up sooner ( which is his problem he holds things in too much till they get to the breaking point  he should have confronted korra much sooner) you can be sympathetic to korras issue and acknowledge that korra was in the wrong trying to take another countrys military away

(mako sees korra the person asami only sees the avatar)

makorra is far more comparable to kataang then zutara ( mako has the same position in krew  he supports korra like katara supported aang , etc and is the talented bender) katara and mako both had some jerk moments and their flaws acknowledged and treated as such  i feel korrasami was only popular because of desire for lgbt rep and the irrational hate for mako so they shipped it to spite and punish mako for daring to have flaws which had led to asami getting hurt when mako didnt do anything that required punishment

 his flaws and mistakes were acknowledged as such bryke already handling his flaws and issues the way they needed to be people over reacted due to asami getting hurt

 sorry but korrasami is more comparable to zutara the popular same sex ship  that was popular despite not having a basis in canon

they had to twist the most minor moments to claim evidence along with piling up headcanons to try and claim a moment its evidence

the claim that korra chose asami to help her  in b3 finale when that has no basis 

and korra only smiled with her father and air babies and bolin when she was in that state

or claiming korra and asami sent each other letters  for years  when there was only one letter  sent

and it doesnt mean korra is closer to asami ( korra sent one letter to vent and put a sense of closeness ( saying that korra sent the letter  to someone she isnt concerned about  makes way more sense)

while mako talked about korra the person asami in remembrances went youre the avatar we need you which was a failure tenzin needed to comein and bring up korra the person and how she grew as a person

while mako supported korra the way she needed to be supported in the episode where they went to confront zaheer ( while asami did nothing ) which adds to the list of many reasons korrasami was a last minute retcon. censors wouldnt have prevented them from interacting or bonding  or showing a close relationship in anyway

ikkinthekitsune .  tumblr . com/post/111124581145/you-said-that-korras-dialogue-implied-she-sent

Anonymous asked: you said that korra’s dialogue implied she sent asami only 1 letter could you make a post that shows the dialogue/script for it so I can see that

It’s not directly stated, but I think reading between the lines of the letter itself and Korra’s explanation of it makes it seem unlikely that she sent more than one:

“Dear Asami, I’m sorry I haven’t written to you sooner, but every time I’ve tried, I never know what to say.  The past two years have been the hardest of my life. Even though I can get around fine now, I still can’t go into the Avatar State. I keep having visions of Zaheer and what happened that day.  Katara thinks a lot of this is in my head, so I’ve been meditating a lot, but sometimes I worry I’ll never fully recover.  Please don’t tell Mako and Bolin I wrote to you and not them. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, but it’s easier to tell you about this stuff. I don’t think they’d understand.”

The thing to note here is that Korra feels guilty about not writing to Mako and Bolin and says she doesn’t want to hurt their feelings, but seems to feel the need to tell someone about her fears.  Considering the circumstances, continuing to write to Asami in spite of that guilt doesn’t make much sense.

She doesn’t really offer any room for a back-and-forth discussion in her letter, in any case — she’s treating it as a confessional rather than as an opportunity to talk.  It seems more like she’s trying to explain why she hasn’t been able to respond than opening a conversation.

The other part of it is this:

“I wrote to Asami while I was away. I asked her not to tell you. I’m sorry.”

I feel like, if Korra wanted to keep up a continuous conversation with Asami, the request not to tell Mako and Bolin about it would have been phrased differently (“Please don’t tell Mako and Bolin I’m writing to you and not them” rather than “I wrote”) as would the explanation (“I sent letters to Asami while I was away”).

Instead, “wrote” is in the past tense in both cases, instead of something less ambiguously repetitive, and the second one mirrors the first, which is clearly only talking about the present letter.

It’s also important to remember that there isn’t much time for her to keep up a conversation even if she wanted to do so — she went off the grid within a few months of the letter, and international mail isn’t exactly instant.

“What irks me is that it’s obvious makorra was the planned ending. there is too much build up to deny it. it’s like bryke paved a road for that ending and swerved at the last second to end with korrasami. I don’t see representation. I see sloppy writing and pandering.fantastic-nonsense answered:Honestly, based on the way the narrative seemed to be heading, I was fully expecing Korra to remain single with the possibility of rekindling the Makorra relationship (as mature adults who have retained their love for each other but have grown, are more levelheaded, and are able to deal with conflicting responsibilites) in the future. But I will agree: a grand total of six interactions post-“Long Live the Queen,” only one of which is truly non-ambiguously romantic (the finale scene), does not proper relationship build-up make. “

shippers try to claim they couldnt show more because of censors but censorship  but  as fantastic-nonsense put it

“Censorship explains why we couldn’t get a kiss and an “I love you” in the finale or blatant romantic scenes, not the utter lack of Korra-Asami interaction as a whole. They had six (to six and a half) minutes of interaction in the last season, spread out over six interactions/conversations. They’ve had nearly no on-screen interaction since “Long Live the Queen,” actually. They had the 5 second “I can come to the South Pole” convo in “Korra Alone” (which Korra refused), the single letter, their interactions in “Reunions,” and then the tea scene in “Remembrances.” After that, they don’t speak again until the last two minutes of the finale. The episode after “Remembrances” is the Korra-Mako field trip to the Spirit Wilds and Zaheer’s prison and the culmination of Korra’s recovery arc. Where was Asami? She had two lines in the whole episode, and they were both to Varrick.”

 the difference is that bryke broke the narrative to force korrasami in at the last minute 

and zutara got actual moments and interactions which would say that they are close to one another

( to be frank toph x katara makes more sense then korrasami

korrasami being the only same sex ship in lok doesnt mean you are homophobic or dont care about the lgbt community  if  you dont ship it or say it shouldnt have happened good writing is more important then representation

good writing and not having a forced ship where you throw away narrative and two characters make no sense to be with each other is more important then filling a quota or publicity stunt. its more important then the genders involved ina ship  

if they wanted to have a show with a same sex ship then make another show with a same sex ship canon with actual buildup etc

like say given that they are making another avatar series they could have not done korrasami and waited for the next avatar series to have a avatar in a same sex ship which would have actual buildup

anyone who trys to go there are tons of shows with a het ship being canon are the people who ship something based on the genders involved not the people criticizing korrasami if they try to go but there are tons of shows with het ships being canon as if its relevant to legend of korra they have no place to complain about queerbaiting or say a het ship is forced.  

people arent mad that a het ship didnt become canon they are mad because korrasami was a forced last minute retcon there not being canon  it being a same sex ship is irrelevant

people would have shipped makorra even if asami was a guy ( or if korra was a guy  korrasami where korra was a guy would be generi pairing mc with a bland love interest with no screentime)

 the idea that because there are tons of shows with the het ship becoming canon instead of the same sex ship becoming canon means we should okay korrasami since there arent any canon same sex ships  in lok besides that or its the first etc is idiotic whats the most important is the characters themselves the writing ofthe story whether or not there is buildup whether the characters makes sense etc

a character or ship whose gay deserves criticism or love or support based on its own merits 

there are plenty of lgbt people who say korrasami is forced 

a same sex ship is just as viable to criticsim as a het ship thats equality

labelling anyone a homophobe/het lenses for saying otherwise makes a joke of the term

ikkinthekitsune . tumblr  . com/post/108144330446/why-do-you-think-bryke-chose-mako-as-the-one-to#notes

Anonymous asked: Why do you think Bryke chose Mako as the one to accompany Korra to Zaheer's prison - which was arguably the most climatic scene in tying up her Book 4 character arc - instead of somebody else? For such an emotion heavy point in the story I feel that they had to have made some conscious thought on who would accompany her. It could have been Asami, or even Bolin. Do you believe that they saw something that Mako offered more to her arc than the others did? I'd love to hear your opinion!

Because Korra’s relationship with Mako is the only one she had that offered her the sort of support that she needed in that situation.

None of Korra’s other friends or mentors has as much trust and faith in Korra as Mako does.  Asami’s support is a bit too insistent and she worries a bit too much for her to have done what Mako did and stepped back when Korra asked.  Bolin is… Bolin.  He’s good at cheering people up, but he’s not the one to rely on when humor isn’t called for.  Even Tenzin couldn’t have taken Mako’s role, because he’d let Korra’s long recovery get to him.

Mako, in contrast, was able to let go when Korra needed him to do so.  Korra needed to confront Zaheer on her own, and she needed to do so without having to talk her moral support down from coming in with her.  Mako was the only one who could fill that role.

Anonymous asked: About Korra's letter to Asami and whether or not it's about Asami meaning more to Korra than anyone else: when I lost someone I cared about years ago, one of the first people I told about it was somebody who was a good friend but not one of my closest ones. This person had also lost someone and dealt with it strongly, especially for someone her age, and I knew she would understand without getting too gushy about it. It wasn't about who I "cared about more" and it definitely wasn't romantic!

Thank you for sharing your own experiences.

It makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?  If you’re dealing with something difficult and uncomfortable, talking to someone who understands (or seems likely to understand) the specific situation does a lot more good than talking to whoever you feel closest to and hoping they’ll respond in a way that actually helps.

Just because you’re closer to/romantically interested in someone doesn’t mean they’re going to be the one with all the answers.  As such, the idea that going to one particular friend for answers about something very difficult implies closeness or romantic interest just… doesn’t really comport with reality.  =/

ikkinthekitsune . tumblr . com/post/117466809661/about-korras-letter-to-asami-and-whether-or-not#notes

[blazingphantasm]

unpopular opinion of mine

very controversial indeed

as much as i love vriska i hate it when people say that she was the most developed character or smth

like no. she got a lot of spotlight, yes. and shes written like an actual three dimensional person, yes. that does not equate to development or an arc.

bitch’s main flaw (at least imo) of trying to be the hero is never resolved?? like arguably it kinda does 3 times, but if only those moments werent like completely irrelevant to her.

she does all that shit to team charge to make them stronger, she gets egbert to god tier without giving them the actual struggle that people like aradia, dave, rose, and jade go through. she is the embodiment of just power leveling through and that doesnt change.

she dies to terezi because her “heroics” end up doing more harm than good, but she doesnt learn anything from that. when the prospect of taking lord english down from the afterlife comes up again she just chases it down, no matter the thousands of ghosts she has to mind control into a suicide mission. but hey, then she gives up to work on herself right? just enjoy the shitty afterlife with meenah. hey wait that sounds like character development?

no because the retcon!! retconned vriska has the exact same issues. sure she fixes roses drinking problem and ends up saving the world but like- thats not the point?? her fault of playing the role of hero too hard is just validated by the retcon. she gets to unleash the ultimate weapon on lord english! she gets to prove that the vriska who just moved on was wrong! are people like her needed to take down english? yes! is she an interesting character i adore? YES!!!!!!!!! but she doesnt grow or learn from her experience. she just continues doing things for HER perspective of whats best. playing the hero of her own moral standards. thats absolutely what i lvoe about her character. i just think saying shes the most developed homestuck character is wrong

tl;dr vriska is one of my favorite homestuck characters. but i just do not like it when people say shes the most developed character. LIKE ARANEA GOES THROUGH A MORE DEFINITE ARC WHAT ARE YOU ON 0_0

LIKE ARANEA GOES FROM IDOLIZING MINDFANG AND VRISKA, GAINS CONFIDENCE THAT SHE CAN ALSO DO COOL THINGS, TAKES IT TOO FAR AND TRIES TO FIX THE TIMELINE AT THE DISREGARD FOR OTHERS. LIKE ITS THE SAME FAULT OF TRYING TO BE TOO MUCH OF A HERO EXCEPT THERES SOMETHING THAT IS DEVELOPED FOR HER. YES IT COMES IN THE FORM OF DEATH BUT STILL. NOW IF YOU WANTED TO CALL VRISKA DEVELOPED, THEN LETS SEE THAT REGRET FOR HER ACTIONS REFLECT HER NEW ONES!!

LIKE YES YOU CAN POINT TO THAT ONE. ONE PESTERLOG IN ACT 5 WHERE SHE ALLUDES TO FEELING GUILT OVER TAVROS. BUT LIKE DOES SHE STOP TREATING HIM LIKE SHIT?? DOES SHE APOLOGIZE?? NO. NOT THAT SHE SHOULD OR HAS TO, BECAUSE CLEARLY THATS NOT WHAT HUSSIE INTENDED WITH HER CHARACTER. I JUST THINK THAT CALLING THAT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS A HUUUUUUUUGE STRETCH

i mean unless youre really gonna try to make the distinction between (vriska) and vriska. i could see then some argument for (vriska), but vriska?? like what????????

ALSO DO NOT TAKE THIS POST AS “WHY VRISKA SUCKS” THIS IS “WHY VRISKA IS AMAZING”. HER “FLAWS” ARE WHAT MAKES HER BEAUTIFUL AND SHE BRINGS OUT THE BEST AND WORST IN SO MANY CHARACTERS. I AM NOT OPPOSED TO THE WAY I SEE THE FANDOM PORTRAY HER, RATHER JUST THE OPINION THAT SHES THE MOST COMPLEX HOMESTUCK CHARACTER IN CANON. MESSY THOUGH? YES.

[sidesteppostinghours]

4 + 5 + 8 + 40 + 34 and I) G) F) for Cyrus Becker my beloved 🧡

afternoon idle!! oh my god questions galore *cracks knuckles* cyrus get your ass over here youre up

4. How easy is it to earn their trust?

Very difficult, and at the same time easier than youd think. he definitely doesnt entertain everybody, but hes not unreasonable. hell hear you out if you give him enough reason to (or if he thinks its beneficial to get to know you. do you see why he gets attached to people hes supposed to be manipulating so often). ortega and mortum required him to establish a relationship, which is how they got so close to eachother so quickly. herald got by because cyrus thought hed be a useful contact in the rangers. chen couldve earned his trust a long time ago, they had to work with eachother a lot back when he still ran with the rangers, but chen squandered it on his suspicions and its been too long for cyrus to have any interest in patching up their relationship. argent has largely flown under his radar, she hasnt piqued his interest more than the passing curiosity of why she wanted the regenerator.

5. How easy is it to earn their mistrust?

the default is mistrust. sorry yall, hes not taking any more chances than necessary. hes a telepath, he knows all too well what secrets other people hide, and hes not interested in giving people a chance to prove his suspicions wrong. but after hes grown to trust somebody? its... embarrassing how difficult it is to lose it. even though his trust is much shakier nowadays, you still need to have fucked up Majorly to get him back to mistrusting you. if you somehow manage to do that,,, uhhhh. what do you want on your tombstone? (ig its technically its possible to not die and even earn that trust back??? ortega managed, but thats ortega and hes statistically more likely to kill you or ruin your life. depends on how badly you fucked up. id say theres a good 5% chance youll survive the experience without the need for intense psychotherapy)

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a child

listen. follow orders. be exactly who we need you to be. cyrus was a deeply rebellious regene, but he wasnt stupid about it. hed go against the mission in secret, and just enough that nobody wouldve been able to trace any problems back to him. that doesnt mean he was never caught, but he was too competent of a regene to be scrapped, which saved him multiple times before. those few times did cause handlers to keep a closer eye on him though, just in case. handlers would usually keep a harder grip on cyrus, hold him to stricter standards. it contributed a lot to his own self talk. SPEAKING OF WHICH:

40. How sensitive are they to their own flaws?

you must imagine me holding him and looking lovingly into his eyes while i dump a gallon of insecurity and perfectionism on him. hes a proud man, he thinks hes better than what other people are capable of, but that arguably makes things worse when he does make a mistake. he of all people shouldnt be like this. add the puppetmaster scar on him and its a hefty load of 'i need to make sure every single step of my plan goes exactly right Or Else." the worst thing about him is that a lot of the petty flaws he thinks apply to him arent correct. AND HE CANT EVEN NAME HIS ACTUAL FLAWS. cyrus you are so smart and walking around with zero self awareness, its the best. please consider stepping into acid.

34. How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? 

hohohohoho. well. the first step is to get him to feel guilty in the first place. traditionally immoral actions arent going to get to him, obviously. the thing that springs up guilt for him most often is themmys death. he has. a Lot of survivors guilt about that. especially because hes convinced himself he couldve done something and *gestures to the ask above*. guilt will haunt him for life if it doesnt get resolved in a healthy way, but hes gotten good at burying his emotions a long time ago. even when he feels like that, he reserves a specific time to think about it, otherwise itll impede on his plans in the long run. that designated time is. usually when hes supposed to be sleeping. his sleep schedule is just a little bit messed.

I) Do you prefer to keep them in their canon universe?

oh dude i Love putting cyrus in aus. its so fun to poke him with a stick and see what happens. the first one i put him in was a band au, it helped me figure out how he would interact with herald. basically cyrus was a masked guitarist (for backstory reasons) for a band daniel happened to be a fan of, except the two of them managed to meet at just regular old work, with cyrus not realizing daniel was a fan and daniel not realizing cyrus was from one of his favourite bands. it led to fun, mlb-esque shenanigans between the two lmfao. the second one i put him in was the becker siblings au, which i still have thoughts and emotionsTM about. that au let me indulge in the 'cyrus is an older sibling' headcanon and i will forever be in debt to it for the amount of protective cyrus i got. third and current au im obsessing over is a 'cyrus survives hb' scenario, where ortega managed to stop him before he jumped out the window. i am getting! so much ortega x cyrus content out of that au! and so much survivors guilt cyrus. cyrus 'using' ortega to forget about heartbreak my beloveddddd. he also says 'i love you' to ortega in this au and canon ortega is SO jealous. also x2, hes an alcohol vice step in this au. heartbreak hit hard and the tequila hits different.

aaaand i still like his canon version better. its just so very much him. out of every step ive got, hes the one i get to stay closest to how i envision based on the choices the game offers. plus he caught me completely by surprise suckerpunching me with an obsession over him and i cant Not respect that.

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

not sure whether this means on a character creation level or as a person, but ill answer for 'as a person' because im overall pretty satisfied with how he turned out! but like. god what is there to not be bothered about. my manipulative little shit of a son. ig the trait that frustrates me the most is his self destructive tendencies. like. Sir. are you at all aware of the fact that people care for you and want you safe? and that you can respond to that concern with something other than "i can use this", "sucks to be them", or, "no theyre not"? sir. sir answer the question. hes so empathetic and also literally a telepath but somehow cant compute genuine concern at him. as frustrating as it is though, i cannot deny that it is deeply funny to watch him fumble so badly.

F) What do you feel when you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

normal. the ones where people look at me and think "wow, that is a person who is having (a) regular thought(s) about their character! very cool!" you will never see a person who is more normal about their guy than i am (i am grabbing him by the teeth and shaking him like a dog with a very strong kill instinct).

truly though, thinking of him gets me buzzing. hes like a puzzle, i keep breaking him apart and putting him back together again to see how everything works. i have this thing where ill often think about showing character analysis to the characters themeselves, just to see how they would react, and i undeniably do this the most with cyrus. i want to explain step by step (hah) why he is the way that he is now, like the whole timeline is plotted inside my head and its so!!!!! i am!!!!! chewing on him!!!!!

questions from here!

[juniaships]

As much as I want to ignore Shrek the Turd I think it's a lot rewarding to address its flaws than take the easy way out. So here us a list of what I would've changed had I wrote the movie.

Harold's death

- the choice of song is rather out of place

- only serves to push a dramatic moment/shove Artie into the plot

- I actually like Harold :/

How to fix it:

- Harold doesn't die. Instead he gets an old man crisis & Lillian decides to take him on vacation to recuperate; naturally leaving Fiona and Shrek in charge

- Harold does die but the moment is treated with actual respect.

- Harold doesn't die BUT there is a death: Artie's father. The Royal Family go to Camelot for the funeral and meets Uther's estranged son Artie. That way Artie's daddy issues has more purpose in the story bc he truly can't reconcile with his dad, and Shrek a more sympathetic reason to steps up as a father figure.

- Alternatively, Artie's mom dies and he is sent to live in FFW bc his father doesn't want custody. So Shrek AND Fiona has to deal with a teenager and both have fear of parenthood byt still wants to give Artie the best. This also allows Fiona and Artie to interact with each other

Artie

Problem: suffers what I call Chicken Little Syndrome, he's kinda bland and we don't know much about him. Also his bullied nerd background Only serves to make him sympathetic cuz everyone is so mean to him! Beyond being kind and kinda dramatic Artie doesn't have much else

How to fix it:

- Everyone has beef with Artie because of his father's reputation. Perhaps Uther had a bad spending habit which left Camelot in financial ruin or his habit of flirting with women left a lot of illegitimate children now they're all fighting over rightful inheritance and puts down Artie bc he's the youngest/weakest

- Camelot has a very warrior like society but Artie is more diplomatic/soft, which makes him look weak in the eyes of everyone else. Eventually his softness saves Camelot

- Artie has a legitimate flaw (his trust issues) which makes him unable to properly communicate with others.

- Artie has a few true friends who are outcasts like him. But their support drives him to pursue a career in politics so he can help them and ppl like them (giving his speech more credibility)

The Princesses

Problem: most of them were boring at best, unlikable at worst.

How to fix it:

- Give the princesses more likable personalities: say they WERE strong and capable but got so caught up in glamor bc they don't want to remember the painful past

Problem: Charming and Rapunzel

- Comes right out of nowhere

- doesnt make since given Charming's arc is all abput becoming villain why would he date ANOTHER princess?

How to fix it

- Rapunzel's new motivation is she doesn't want an ogre on the throne, or she got tired of the princesses bullying her for her baldness. Or that she's jealous the princesses still have their princes yet Rapunzel lost hers. Or maybe Charming DID save her and she's working with him as a favor.

- However she discovers Charming is not as cool as she thought bc he still treats her (and any princess) like objects and not their own person

- Keep Rapunzel in the princess group and create a new character from scratch

- this new OC is a part of the villains not because she is one herself but because they're the only ones who accepted her for one reason or another. This makes her a foil for Charming and Godmother's relationship. She's wants to help them & save the Poison Apple from closing.

- however Charming is very bad at being evil so she teaches him how to be more assertive and this sets up a romance.

Issue: Arthurian myth

Problem: Aside from being retooled as a school campus, the Arthurian mythos doesn't have much prominence in the story

How to fix it:

-change the main goal to finding Excalibur or the Holy Grail (kiddie Monty Python)

- or have it where Camelot is in a crisis of succession so an election or tournament is held to decide the new king. Noblemen from all over participate (introducing us to the Princesses). Shrek and Fiona helps Artie while Charming joins so he can finally get his own kingdom

- Artie turns out to have magic instead of Merlin (who is just a wacky alchemist/scientist) but he lacks confidence

- At the end have it where Artie forms the knights of the round table (with some of the characters and villains as members)

- Maybe make Charming "Lancelot"

Girl Power Message

Problems: They were sidelined most of the movie, preventing Fiona from truly delving into her responsibilities as Queen. Also most of the girl characters like the Princesses & Guinevere were portrayed as shallow b*tches or not having much relevance

How to fix:

- Make Fiona the focus character this time and her story is juggling queenly duties and her trauma in the tower

- Have the princesses be an underground guerilla force they help her take out Charming during the movie

- or have it where the tower was actually a school to train princesses-to-be and Fiona's Kiss was part of a sceret test of character to see if she really is fit to be Queen; accepting her ogress form means she accepts EVERYONE, so she passed the test

- Fiona demonstrates her leadership skills by planning and carrying out targeted attacks, & taking care of civilians

- MAKE ARTIE A GIRL it makes a cool twist fitting for a franchise like Shrek. Or give Artie a female companion/love interest who accompanies him on his quest (perhaps Guinevere or a new character)

- instead of Merlin they meet Nimue/Lady of the Lake who takes the role of the kooky mentor

- Like I mentioned, explore why Rapunzel betrayed the team; perhaps make her have a change of heart and help her ex friends escape.

- Or like giving Charming a new love interest one who is a caricature of the Evil Sexy Villainess or YA Novel Girlboss Protagonist (have her learn it's okay to be vulnerable)

- have Shrek puss and Donkey be the ones in danger and fiona and her princesses are the ones to go on a journey to save them

Puss and Donkey's subplot

Problem: it doesn't do much to serve the story but for cheap comic relief. Donkey is a father himself but doesn't seem to do much to help Shrek and Artie

How to fix it:

- make Puss absent of stay with the princesses to help them

- Donkey talks with Shrek about his experiences as a father

- Remove the body switch entirely

- or have a subplot where Donkey and Puss still aren't getting along and Merlin switches them so they can learn to see from a new perspective.

- Maybe have Puss admit he doesn't have a good relationship with his own dad or something, or is actually great with kids (stunning Shrek and Donkey)

Shrek's arc

- Issue: we don't delve much into his backstory, he only wants to shirk his royal duties instead of doing the smart thing and actually confronting them

How to fix:

- introduce more Ogres or Shrek's dad. Have it be a family reunion or Shrek's dad finds out he married into royalty and that sets up the overall conflict

- Have the babies born before the movie and the plot is spent with him being a stay at home dad or caring for them while in Camelot while Fiona is tbe working parent

- also sets up an arc where Fiona struggles to balance mother hood and her job

- artie gets more used to ogre (children) leading to a realisation he has to step up to make a better future for their sake (again a more sympathetic reasoning)

The Villains

Issue: Charming is just Farquad 2.0, the rest seem to be props in their own story, Rapunzel

How to fix

- Make a new character who represents the villain side we get an intimate look at how society treats outcasts

- Give the villains more screentime like say we follow a group of them during theur trip to capture Shrek. They eventually have a confrontation and in the fray Artie ends up helping a villain much to their shock. They realise Artie isn't a threat. Or have it set at the play

- give Hook or Doris a prominent role

- or a new major villain; make it Charming's dad who takes him under his wing under the guise of wanting to help his son but is just manipulating him for the throne

- Make Charming struggle how ti adapt to being a villain due to his upbringing

- make some of the villains less open to wanting him in his group or have it where they try to help him be more evil (setting up potential jokes)

- Have Charming and Fiona have an actual moment with Fiona pointing out she did dream of a prince but is happy with Shrek and warns Charming that he still wouldn't be happy even if he did get everything

- Give Charming an actual villain love interest as a foil to Shrek and Fiona

- Don't include Charming at all (marry him off to Doris even lol) and create a new villain inspired by Arthurian lore. Maybe the Black Knight? Mordred? Morgan le Fay?

- Or even Artie himself! he wants to use his new position to enact revenge on his bullies

- Instead of the villains taking over it's the other fairytale heroes led by a jilted Charming and Shrek teams up with the villains to save FFW

- Make Uther the main villain

[flightfoot]

You know, it just hit me that a good chunk of the salt going around is just salters reading the show as author's objective intent instead of a biased deep Marinette POV.

Like Marinette seeming to be blamed for a lot of things unfairly? It could just be Marinette blaming herself as it is canon that she catastrophises things out of proportions. Complaints about the narrative seeing Adrien as a perfect do-no-wrong Gary Stu and its refusal to acknowledge his flaws? Marinette has a rose tinted view of him thanks to her huge crush. No one criticizing Chat Noir's less than heroic acts and not being as useful as Ladybug? Marinette is forgiving and understanding and doesn't hold most of it against Chat Noir. Heck, maybe Marinette herself subconsciously underestimates him (there are a few dialogues, especially in early seasons, that indicate so), hence, his downplayed role. Alya being an enabler of her worst traits not being called out on? Marinette appreciates her constant support amd encouragement and both teens aren't aware of the more negative conotations of some of their actions (and its not like Alya doesn't draw the line at anything, but salters are just gonna salt on her whenever she does). Chloe's wasted redemption arc and Zoe subsequently getting shilled into her place when she doesnt deserve it? Marinette is not obligated to forgive Chloe nor does she have to keep working with her if she doesn't want to, especially when there's this shiny new person she would prefer to have on her team. Master Fu still being depicted as a good mentor while Master Su Han being nothing more than a straightman not allowed to be right? Between the two, at least Fu was kind and tried to help Marinette while Su Han did nothing but scold her. Despite having good points, Su Han didn't really help her at all while Fu did the bare minimum... Before foisting his responsibilities on her, but Marinette doesn't see it that way.

The actual writing has a lot of flaws in general and does rely on a lot of suspension of disbelief, which has been pushed too far for some, I am not defending that. There are narrative choices that I myself don't like. But thinking of the show as a heavily biased deep Marinette POV with a few breaks here and there makes sense to me as she is their intended protagonist. It helps me accept a lot of things about the show.

I mean, it kind of depends on the specifics of what's being talked about. Like, we see things from a third-person view, so we can see objectively the facts of what's happening.

But you're right about a lot of the framing being from Marinette's point of view, which isn't exactly unbiased. Like, Marinette thinking that no one listens to her, as Marinette, in Risk. It's true that people didn't really believe her in that case, since she was making a major claim about Adrien that didn't align with what other people saw, and was advocating for action that could potentially be harmful if she was wrong. But it's not a case of people never listening to Marinette, and just listening to Ladybug. People would listen to Ladybug because when it comes to things that are Miraculous-related, she IS an authority figure on that, more than anyone else they might interact with is. While with Marinette... well, her classmates do listen to her about most things, just not everything. Marinette's not an authority figure on other people's relationships or feelings the way that Ladybug is an authority on the Miraculous. So that was less of an objective statement by the narrative, and more something that was framed from Marinette's POV.

[redheadlesbianfreak]

i love the 2012 series, and i found myself saying the same things when rise came out. the fans make them out to be a healthier family dynamic with much more flashy animation. the 2012 boys have their problems, but who doesnt? they love each other, theyre always hugging or touching each other in some way, or just hanging out together. i think it comes from the 2012 series being a lot more serious than rise and so fans of rise take that seriousness to mean abusive

The thing that has always confused me about this argument is that the Rise family isn't completely wholesome. They do some really fucked up things to each other. It's all played for laughs, but so are a lot of the gags in the 2012 series as well. And I'm not saying this to demonize Rise either, I don't think that I would call their dynamics "abusive" at all. They act like close buddies, which is accurate for a brother relationship. In the 2012 series, they have a different dynamic, but they still act like siblings.

I have two younger siblings. I grew up with them, watched TV with them, played games with them, hell, I grew up watching TMNT 2012 with them. And boy, they irritated the shit out of me. There were moments when they made me furious, made me upset. And then there were moments where I made them upset on purpose. There are still moments when they make me want to tear my hair out even as an adult. And you know what? I love both of them more than life itself. I care so deeply about both of them and I think about them all the time. I want them to be happy and safe.

Now, I don't want to say every sibling relationship is like the one I have. But I think a lot of people would describe their sibling relationship like this. It can be messy, and you don't always get along, but at the end of the day, you still love them. I think that TMNT 2012 absolutely nails this dynamic, including the nuances and complexities of sibling relationships. I absolutely adore this about the show, and it always broke my heart that people disregarded the way the brothers are written in this show.

I want to give a special shoutout to the dynamic between my two favorite characters: Raph and Mikey. Ironically, this is the dynamic people claim is the most abusive. Raph can be a bitch. He can be cruel to his brothers and go way too far. But that's the point of his character. He's a moody teen with insecurities, and he also gets plenty of character development by the end of the show. Mikey can be an annoying little shit. He antagonizes his brothers on purpose and can mess things up. However, he's misunderstood by his brothers and his mind works in a way that's unique to him.

I have never believed that you are supposed to agree with Raph when he mistreats his brothers, particularly Mikey. And he can be way too hard on Mikey. However, he also loves Mikey so much. He becomes enraged if Mikey gets hurt, and is willing to put himself in danger to save him. Likewise, Mikey comforts Raph in tough situations and goes to him for comfort. We see them hang out and mess around with each other. Their relationship is exactly what you would expect from an overprotective, moody older brother and a well-meaning, but annoying, little brother. It's meaningful, interesting, and above all, feels like a sibling relationship.

And I would argue that each member of the TMNT has their own complicated and fun dynamics with each other, that are super intriguing to watch. I love TMNT 2012 for a number of reasons. It's a whacky cartoon where four turtles fight a cheese grater. Most of all, I love the way it depicts family, and it's super fun watching the brothers interact. It does have flaws, of course, but I personally believe it has far more strengths. I think the constant 2012 hate that has piled up over the years has made people ignore all the good this show has accomplished--and that's a damn shame.

[lokilysolbitch]

My new fixation is bad poetry

and its making me think about how to define art and poetry and what makes poetry good etc but I can't go back and find my sophomore english teacher and rant about it so I'm making it yalls problem. but mr c if ur in here pls read also what do you mean thats one way to skin a hamster. thats not how it goes what are you talking abou

first of all, ive finally figured out my current definition of art: records of the human experience or just experience in general. so yes paintings and poetry but ALSO tiktoks or a decorated room. idc if you think its stupid there are remnants and references to human experiences ALL OVER those. so basically if it left a mark at any point, its art. maybe not always "good" or skilled, deep, etc but it is art (to me)

secondly, what is poetry? the same sophomore english teacher asked this at the beginning of a unit and the class was struggling. every time we listed a requirement for poetry he went "is that necessary though?". "it has to rhyme" "does it?" "it has to be deep" "does it" "it needs to have words!" ".....does it?" man idk i was 15 and sleep deprived

but now im less sleep deprived and i have an answer. I would consider poetry a spectrum (but not necessarily flexible. i wouldn't say you have to bend it's meaning to make something fit) but also playing with language, to be playful with it and have fun with it, to use it as a toy in a way. using language in a way different from its intended use. so writing a personal narrative about a deep topic? not poetry. maybe you had fun with it but thats still its main use. to make words rhyme, to alliterate, to use words just plain wrong? probably poetry. its still a spectrum. and im aware this means that saying something like "yew nork/glass fork" would count as a shitpost and poetry while "Ill love you and ill never stop loving you" doesnt and um i dont care i said what i said--

this would also mean most books and speeches would have little bits of poetry in there and i stand by that too. maybe the entire thing isnt poetry but bits of it could count. i came to this conclusion on the meaning of poetry because i saw too many "aesthetic" free verse poems that were just. tweets. you coulda just made it a sentence and posted it for free. there was no attempt to play with language. you just used it the way you were supposed to. its just a quote.

im definitely going to add more onto this about what i think poetry critics miss sometimes and why formal teaching of poetry is flawed but not all in one post bc its a lot. However i have one last concept to attempt to define. this one has always made me the angriest

GOOD VS BAD POETRY/ART

where do i even start. maybe we should just get rid of these terms completely and make people say what they mean. is it good or did he just use literary devices correctly. is it good or is it genuine. is it good or is it deep. is it good or is it entertaining. is it good or do you like it. is it good or is it popular. is it good or is it complex. is it good or is it creative.

ive been saying since i was i was maybe 12-13 that even though good does not have a solid stable meaning, there is still a sense of what good is. We know what its supposed to be. classical music, Edgar Allen Poe, Da Vinci are good. sure most people barely know or understand or care about these things other than one piece of work they can recall because they had to look at it in highschool that time and the teacher seemed to appreciate it. and we know that reality tv, messily hand drawn animals, and half assed near unintelligible tiktok skits are bad.

but....wait we like those though

ive come to the conclusion that while still shifting, "good"'s meaning in scholarly settings tends to come down to whatever those somethingth century european dudes and what the modern smart looking guys deemed intelligent. and in colloquial settings, what everyone likes.

many pretentious types will say rap is bad and the subject matter is crude and the same way im sure some old european guy would have said or has said traditional african music is too weird and primitive to be respectable.

now. i dont really listen to rap intentionally. if its in there its in there. I used to be pretentious and after changing i just never got too deep into it BUT. i listened to a Nicki Minaj song one time just to see and yeah it was not family friendly but dear god was it clever. the way she'd drop the most genius alliteration-personification-allegory-englishvocabword and then just keep it moving like im not gonna have to stop and ponder the seven layer reference to bedtime hanky panky. its smart. its creative. its complex. and so many rappers can write about the same topics over and over and still come back with a new way of phrasing it. its genuinely impressive

but so many still wouldn't consider it good.

the term good when it comes to art, while having somewhat of a meaning is still useless. make your own personal standards for what is important for you to see in art. its kind of silly for us to collectively decide "okay this art? we like it. this is good" and then go to a different community (age group, culture, race) and go "were going to show you the new gold standard for good! its what we liked! you dont do it like this?? then yours is bad!". historically thats never been a good move

what i find important with poetry (and by poetry i mostly mean song writing bc i dont even read poetry like that) tends to be "is it a poem? or a sentence/paragraph". everything other than that just has to do with my taste and what I prefer in the moment. and it goes the same for everyone else. there's no universal good or bad with art. its just what a dominant or culturally respected group of people said was important.

limericks are bad tho jesus told me/j

TL;DR: i think anything that records an experience is art. i think toying with language mostly makes it poetry, and i think its weird people create little boxes for good and bad and make everyone else adhere to it

[strangertheories]

I feel like there's too much discourse surrounding Mike's character nowadays that you cannot really talk about his character without it being turned into a ship war situation or slander. It also feels weird because many people seem to think that his character can be 'good or bad' based on Byler/Mlvn happens or not and it's just...? Do you even like him as a character or just perceive him from ship POVs then? It's like saying you wouldn't like Lucas or Max if they broke up or you wouldnt like Hopper, Joyce, Nancy etc if they just entered a relationship that you personally dont like. Because a character cannot be primarily defined or perceived based on shipping reasons, because they also have to stand on their own characterwise.... Max is my fav character and I wouldn't dislike or love her based on her romance choices. Yet whenever I see takes about Mike's character it just seems like both sides only ever focus on his romantic endgame. Or oftentimes just misinterpret his character by inventing made-up things about him that do not exist in canon. So is he that weak of a character then idk, because it seems like Mlvns will just hate him if he ends up with Will and many Bylers will call him a badly written character if he continues to be in a relationship with El or if the narrative doesnt turn out the way they expect or *exactly* want it to be. And it's especially kind of annoying when these both sides just want to insert Mike into a category that they like but when you just look at it, it sounds like they don't even like the canon!Mike but the fanon!version of it.

OH MY GOD, YES. I do get why people will like him less if Byler is not endgame, less because of Byler but more because they interpret Mike within the frame of being queer which means their justification for his behaviour or the reason they relate to him is now gone. However, I also think it's important to remember that he's 14 and traumatized and him getting angry at Will doesn't have to be projection or secretly be him being the best guy ever. He is flawed, canonically, and he has been a bad friend to Will since S2.

But people tend to act like he's an evil asshole or a perfectly innocent guy because their analyses are working backwards from each of those conclusions. I used to actually not like Mike very much, and I'm still not a huge fan, but I think understanding why he has his flaws without explaining them away helped me to understand him more. Also someone edited him to First Love, Late Spring by Mitski and I'm not even joking when I say it was the first time his characterisation clicked for me. And the show has been making this explicit, both in his need to be needed and his depression in S2, but they've not been as effective as writing him in years.

Even within the show, Mike is always defined in relation to other characters ever since S3 when he was less of a central character. In S2, they introduced all of his struggles with depression and emotional issues because of his loss of Eleven which was solved when El returned but it never really addressed the actual root issues that he had. I think fans analysing this behaviour from that perspective is completely valid because I do it too.

He could have a lot of depth but I feel fans give him much more than the show has awarded him in a way that Byler endgame can't exclusively solve. Because whilst they can write him falling in love with Will, they've given themselves eight episodes to break up his 4 season relationship, have him accept his queerness, come out and get with Will. And whilst I'd enjoy that, I also think they've just not written Mike as well in the later seasons. This may sound silly, but there's a point when I blame a character's actions on the writers and not the characters. Think of Nancy and Steve being weird in S4.

Overall, I think the route of this issue is that they didn't know what to do with him after S2. His primary goal in S1 was to find Will. His primary goals in S2 were to "get over" El and to help Will. In S3, his goal was having a good relationship with El and in S4 it was to confess his love (which he already did?). The issue with the last two seasons is that it felt like they were working backwards from a conclusion. They wanted conflict but didn't know how to and so he became a bad friend and bad boyfriend so he could have a character arc.

And I know we can explain his behaviour from a Byler POV which is why I do think it impacts my perception of the character, but Mike's "it's not my fault you don't like girls" line, Mike not contacting Will, Mike not noticing Will was crying, Mike saying the best day of his life was the one where Will went missing (I think the Duffers forgot that context too), and Mike being unable to effectively communicate with El feel out of character to me. In S1, we saw how even when angry with Eleven, he was highly emotionally intelligent and was able to communicate effectively. And we saw his special bond with Will in S2 where he was highly aware of Will's emotions, much more so than the other people in his life. And then by the next Summer, that was all gone. Even his whole "need to be needed" thing fell flat for me because it felt a bit random, it would've been way better for me if they had instead looked at his fear of loss or emotional repression or parental issues.

Jesus, this post grew arms and legs. TL;DR: Mike isn't an evil asshole and he has depth but he's also been failed by the writers in a way people justify with fanon but not the canon text. Byler helps to improve his character, but he's not been written outside of his relationships, romantically or platonically, and his struggles with mental health get solved by the power of love or whatever. Don't get me wrong, people hating Mike is bad but acting like they just don't understand the show or are stupid is also bad in my opinion. Everyone is just trying to fill in the gaps left by his under-writing in the later seasons.

[maschotch]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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