#also morally grey or anti heroes as well

[superbellsubways]

you see an evil and fucked up villain and despise them from the beginning. I see an evil and fucked up villain and project onto them (making them queer and autistic). we are not the same.

[forget-me-not-automaton]

You know that the anti-hero is well written when trying to make a mental character analysis of them and their morals/values only confuses you endlessly,,,,

[cardudescrown]

Reasons why Taryn is such a well written Anti-Hero:

SHE'S A TEENAGER. Taryn is at that "Prologue age" of 16-24 that literally means she doesn't know how to be specific in what she wants. She has hormones, She's not well versed in socializing, and has tons of insecurities that any teenager has. Nobody is really happy at the age of 16-24, and she probably hesitated on most of her decisions.

She is idealistic. That's why she felt guilty after she chose locke, because haha, the handsome guy isn't actually gonna solve all of your problems. At that age, who isn't delusional about their first real relationship??? She can't see the red flags because it never slapped her in the face. And jude was also Idealistic. Taryn chose the Class Clown, but Jude also chose the Hypocrite Prince. Glad both of them are dead.

Taryn is used to praise. She was the Extroverted sister. She wasn't that criticised or judged because she fit in. So when she makes a horrible mistake, she spiraled. Taryn betrayed her sister, and Jude helped her still. Madoc accepted Taryn because she was obedient to him. Oriana praised her more, so she felt more important than Jude. All of this further validated the fact that she doesn't really know the gravity of her choices, which she isn't emotionally equipped to shoulder. Everybody babied her decisions and forgave her. I mean, who ignores their twin sister after dating the guy she's been hanging out with??? Jude was so ready to forgive as long she apologized first?? Taryn is still immature.

In contrast to all of this, Jude embodies the characteristics of a Hero. She is NOT a hero because she is power hungry, ruthless, and vicious. BUT she chooses the much more beneficial options, disciplines herself to train, and relies on the strengths of others for help. She is Humble, she doesn't break easily, and she most definitely do not want validation from those people who look down on her. She's a really well-written morally grey villain that has the best heroic Characteristics.

[petrichormore]

also crazy how skewed the morals are on the qsmp in both directions because of the situation. You cannot kill the probably artificial children that the evil organization who kidnapped you all gave you. Placing mines is okay though. Even when they almost kill the fore mentioned children.

q!ElQuackity is a villain for acting mean and suspicious, supporting the evil government who kidnapped all the islanders, and attempting to kill them and the artificial children that the evil government gave them.

q!Bad is also a villain, but for lying, stealing things, for being a vocal anarchist, and for kidnapping and torturing a lower-class, presumably-innocent-but-maybe-not member of the evil organization that has kidnapped and tortured him (because what q!Bad and the other islanders have gone through is certainly some kind of torture - just very drawn out) for months on end.

Think about this for a second. Just think about it. The island itself, the situation has warped people’s frames of thought. What q!Bad is doing, if we step back for a second, would probably land him with an anti-hero title or something similar. Because sure, he’s tortured an innocent worker but they were the Federation’s uniform - which has tortured him worse and for longer, of course he’s attacking the workers. Why isn’t everybody attacking the workers? Well, because the workers seem to be as trapped as the islanders. Well, after q!Bad discovered that for certain (because until Ron told us, we didn’t know that for certain), he’s now treating Ron kindly in a twisted sort of familial bond. Well, but he’s still keeping him captive and that’s wrong. Well, well, well - this is morally grey character stuff.

If you described a character in q!Bad’s situation to me - I would certainly say the character is in the wrong, and committing cruel, violent acts, but I wouldn’t say they were evil nor would I even call them a villain. I would point at the Federation, I would go “that is the evil, that is the villain” and I would point at the character and go “that is a cornered, injured animal that has finally decided to bite”

But it’s the island. so it’s not like that. And on the island, q!Bad is an evil person, and he’s horrible, and he’s a villain. He is the only one who has dared to beat the Federation at their own game. And, most importantly, he is a threat.

I don’t know, just interesting to think about.

[cherllyio]

Is Nüwa good, morally grey, or evil? - A lmk season 5 theory/analysis

Now, since this is such an open question, with the very little we know about, I’m not going to give you only 1 answer, I’m going to give you 4:

Nüwa is a Hero

Nüwa is an Anti-Hero

Nüwa is an Anti-Villian

Nüwa is a Villian

Nüwa is a Hero

Now to understand how Nüwa would work with each of these roles, we are for each role going to look at what her motivation, methods and goal would mean for each of them.

If Nüwa was a hero her motivation, based on my past theories (here), would be that she would want do prevent destiny. More specifically the predetermined destiny’s that were meant to happen like LBD destroying the world. Destinys that would kill the humanity she herself created and still loves to this day.

Her method would then be creating MK, aka. The Harbinger of Chaos, to prevent these predetermined destinies to happen. And her goal would then be fulfilled, aka saving humanity in the best way possible.

Nüwa is an Anti-Hero

For this to be true her methods would have to be bad, but at the end of the day, her goal would end in something good.

So, let’s say instead she created MK in a sort of “bad way?” She made him based on Sun Wukong after all, and even though he is good now, if she was an anti-hero, she would have based it after pre-JTTW Wukong. Aka, the heaven rebelling, “I will push away all the ones closest to me”- Wukong.

This would make the methods bad, since MK would just end up causing a lot of chaos in both heaven, earth, but also to his friends, and himself. Yet in the end, her goal of preventing a very grim destiny to happen, would still be fulfilled.

Nüwa is an Anti-Villian

Now, for Nüwa to be and Anti Villian, there would be two options possible, since their also exist two kinds of anti-villain.

There is the “Noble Anti villain”, which is an evil character but with a sort of “code of ethics”, like they don’t hurt children or something.

If Nüwa was this type of anti-villain, she might not hurt people like MK, creations very close to her. But then her motivation for creating him, might be that wants to use this “chaos” part of him, aka. His power to somehow deny destiny again and again and his just general very strong powers, to take over the universe.

Maybe she would even use MK to gain The Jade Emperor powers herself, since in some stories Nüwa is The Jade Emperors daughter.

The other type is the “well-intentioned anti-villain”.

Here the motivation is good, while the method and the goal are bad. A instance of this could be a character like Azure Lion: someone who wants to help humanity, but does it through killing and terror, with the goal of becoming the emperor himself.

If this is the case for Nüwa she would have a noble motivation (stopping this predetermined destiny from happening) but her method would be to team up with “The Traitor” (guy from The Underworld) to destroy the normal status quo by destroying the celestial realm, killing all the gods, and then fulfilling her goal to become the god of EVERYTHING.

A god who would be able to protect humanity forever and ever, and she might even betray “The Traitor”, and become a king (or queen) of The Underworld herself. Therefore, making sure humanity would never experience death again. And in the center of this goal would be MK, who would help her with this, and hopefully stand by her side at the end.

Along with this, there is this theory that Nüwa didn’t even want to abandon MK alone, and that she wasn’t even done making him yet. You can find RV Sketch’s video about it here, but basically, while Nüwa was making her “Harbinger of Chaos” something went wrong, and MK came into life too early (hence the cracks in his stone mentioned in the picture underneath), and Nüwa never saw him again.

Maybe this was even MK´s weirdly changing destiny powers kicking in early and changing what Nüwa had originally planned (which is honestly very fitting). So now Nüwa and The Traitors goal would instead be to learn how to manipulate MK´s to, yes, change Fate, but in a way that benefits them.

Nüwa is an Villian

Now if Nüwa was a Villian, she would have both an evil motivation, method, and goal. So that would mean Nüwa would either be a very silly villain, like Yin and Jing, or just an INCREDLY evil person.

So, let’s just say that Nüwa is INCREDBLY evil(aka her goal).

She doesn’t care for anyone; she just wants POWER.

And MK… MK would only be a toll in her eyes get to her goal (like Emperor Belos´ relationship to Hunter in the series “The Owl House”) She might even team up with The Traitor to manipulate Azure into killing her own family, The Jade Emperor.  Evil motivation, evil method, evil goal, and holy sh@t she would be terrifying.

Conclusion:

We will first truly know what Nüwa will be like, when she finally shows up in the show, but in the end, we do know one thing: Good or evil, she is going to be on hell of character.

ALSO, This video helped me A LOT, so go watch it, its amazing

[comradekatara]

I'm writing a fanfic rewriting Legend of Korra to make Korra an anti-hero who eventually allies with Kuvira and betrays her friends. It's called "The Tragedy of Korra". Have you ever thought that Korra would have been more interesting if Korra herself was more morally grey? I feel like it would have tied together a bunch of elements that didn't work too well in canon Korra.

i mean korra already is morally grey (liberal). but i do think a narrative wherein korra attempts to undo the (supposed) work of aang & zuko to establish a neocolonial state on earth kingdom land (republic city) by allying with kuvira could be interesting in terms of what would need to change in the plot for her to reach that conclusion. lok pretty uniformly portrays republic city as a good thing that only fascist monsters would attempt to condemn, but kuvira is also just categorically right that republic city is essentially a fire nation colony in a coat of fresh globalist paint, she's just wrong in her conclusion that returning that land to the earth kingdom means returning that land to her specifically. but korra grappling with the ramifications of the darker aspects of her predecessor's legacy is a very "avatar" story (aang w/ roku, kyoshi w/ kuruk, kuruk w/ yangchen, even korra w/ wan in book 2 i guess), and was only really elided by the narrative because we're supposed to agree with the construction of republic city in the first place (ymmv).

we're supposed to buy that aang and zuko established republic city and that rc is an ontologically independent state with no vestiges of fire nation imperialism left in its functioning, but it takes many large leaps in logic to arrive at that conclusion (such as toph establishing a police force; katara being fine with neocolonialism, including in her home; etc.), that this was a largely positive decision and not a geopolitical blunder. but i think taking a more realistic approach, that aang was forced to make compromises and now korra must decide whether/how to rectify those decisions and with whom to ally to do so, was always the kind of dormant subtext of lok that i felt like needed to be teased out more for the show to work in the direction it had been taken (which, again, is not necessarily the only or best direction they could have taken it).

i do think you'd have to change kuvira's character considerably to make her less cartoonishly evil (she is a fascist ethnonationalist who crowns herself emperor, puts minorities in internment camps, and harvests the resources of a sacred swamp to construct a wmd that is launched from a giant robot...) if you want anyone to buy that korra would ally with her, but korra does also ally herself with some pretty questionable figures, so i hardly think her naïveté in that regard is out of character for her either. i think politically speaking, lok kind of already is a tragedy, so you'll probably find yourself with both an easier and harder job than you'd expect attempting to rewrite the narrative from this particular angle.

[angelfirstclass]

Damn, I guess I was a Magneto apologist. Is it me or did the writers make me do it?

Ok, Ok I wrote a rant about how I was disappointed in the X-men and was seemingly Team Magneto, but I have come to realize that it was a step too far if it is leading to planet wide destruction and poles reversing and nuclear fallout and etc etc. If it's THAT extreme, then yes I walk back my blank support of Magneto, but I am still on Magneto's side as to feeling he was right and wondering where the line in the sand is.

Also, me having these feelings is the writers fault- they made Magneto sympathetic and wrote the story line to specifically get people to be on the fence with Magneto and not have him be a cut and dried bad guy. He adopts the X-men, walks Xavier's path at times unwillingly, and was even tempered even during the trial or after Storm lost her powers. He might have been able to be reasoned after Genosha, too, but being kidnapped, tortured, and his fellow mutants threatened by Prime Sentinels was too much.

In the X-men movies, Magneto is less sympathetic because he hurts innocent humans and sometimes neutral and innocent mutants as well in the name of his cause. In the first movie, he almost kills Rogue in the name of Mutant supremacy. It's despicable. That's where the X-men draw the line and are justified in being against him. Even knowing his past and the reasons for the way he is, readers and the audience can not condone him choosing violence. But in this version, it's different- the writers chose to make Magneto an anti-hero and set up his eventual choice as either inevitable or even justified. The previous episode had a character claim "Magneto was right" and made many viewers feel that way, too.

In this version, Magnus is not a monster. He may have doomed the planet, but he offers the X-men sanctuary and a choice. Where I find myself disappointed in the X-men is the way they don't lead a search party to find Magneto before the Sentinel/EMP incident, don't offer any gratitude to being saved by Magneto from the Sentinels, and instantly goes into attack mode. Like I realize what he did was wrong, but as a team member you would think there would be some misgivings or hesitation based on friendship and respect, but no it's immediately Oh, yeah I knew you were awful the entire time and good riddance.

I am waiting to see the next episode and the finale and hope there are things in there to make things make sense, but right now I'm just confused. I realize the world is complex and has grey areas, but I honestly would have been more satisfied if Magneto was a straight up bad guy and met his end or if Bastion was the only bad guy and though they didn't agree on everything worked as a team. This story line currently is one where Magneto is not bad nor good, is meant to be somewhat sympathetic, but in the end if I have it correctly completely extreme and genocidal. It breaks up the X-men and causes a schism when they need to be strong together and is morally confusing for the viewer. Not sure one episode is enough to tie everything together, but I shall wait and see.

[chickenwaffles17]

have you seen the hordes of people thirsting for this man on Tumblr? (myself included)

Here's a list of all the tropes (I think) he falls into

Morally grey or villainous anti-hero ✔️

Young twink in the early series ✔️ (ig father figure in the later ones?) ✔️

Queer-coded ✔️

Dead ✔️

Found some more on Sexypedia so let's see

4th wall blurring (in BTE) ✔️

Angst (are you really a Red Dwarf fan if I need to elaborate here) ✔️

British ✔️

Deadpan Snarker ✔️

Distinctive Voice/Distinctive Speech Patterns ✔️

Divorced (from his parents) ✔️

Egotistical ✔️

Ensemble Darkhorse (?) (the trope where a character gets a lot of recognition among the fandom despite the way this character is presented) ✔️

Glitching ✔️

Fanon Splintering (where the fandom will take a character and make them interact with other versions of themself like they're different people but it's actually canon in this case) ✔️

Hot-headed ✔️

Johnlocked (with Lister) ✔️

Nonhuman (he's a hologram for most of the series and in the first episode he's also a pile of dust) ✔️

Neurodivergent-Coded ✔️

Pathetic ✔️

Parental Issues ✔️

One-Winged-Angel (the trope when a character powers up or goes all out) (The Mighty Light) ✔️

Retro (he's from the 80s) ✔️

Smart-Dumb ✔️

Tall (5'11") ✔️

Technically Antagonist ✔️

Theme Song (I suppose the Rimmer munchkin song?) ✔️

Thin ✔️

Traitor ✔️

Upper-Class (he's the highest ranking technician on the ship) ✔️

Well-Dressed/Uniform ✔️✔️✔️

[underwater0firework]

I think one of the main problems with MHA is that it's not anti-establishment enough. Like, in this era of media and pop culture, we (as viewers) are used to seeing stories of underdogs, of resistance groups fighting against authority. The most famous example of this would be Star Wars, which was commentary on the Vietnam War/Cold War. And then you have examples like the Hunger Games and the YA dystopia boom of the 2010s - all focused on resistance against government systems. (This of course, speaks towards the current sentiments on modern-day governments) I mean, hey, you've probably seen those cringy posts about "how does the government expect us to be complacent when we were raised by characters who resisted fascism." You know the ones.

While this genre of YA media is most prominent in western culture, MHA *has* become a part of mainstream western culture, due to its success. So many of the ppl active in the fandom, making fanworks, etc, are exposed to this trope as (mostly) the norm. And, in comparison to this trope, MHA just doesn't...sit right.

From the start, the world of MHA is flawed. I think everyone can agree with this. Quirkiness kids are bullied, one of the top heroes beats his children, there's an organization creating child soldiers, etc, etc. Hell, in the first episode, there's even a mention that literally every single kid wants to be a hero when they grow up! That can't be good for the economy, can it?

But instead of working to fix this, hori just gives us a worse evil to brand as the enemy. Asking the viewer to choose the best of two evils, hoping we will ignore problems like discrimination to overthrow the people who are literally making human puppets. Hori wants the world of MHA to appear "black and white" but really, it kinda just appears..."black and ehhhh...grey." Which, I mean, is quite realistic given our *current* world but...I guess it doesn't fit the genre? It's not satisfying, really. Or particularly well executed.

On top of this, the problems present in the hero world are ones that Hori's viewers might very easily relate to. Bullying, domestic violence, discrimination, even sexism (though that one is one that is VERY MUCH not deliberate on hori's part...ugh). Which is why, even though, realistically, Bakugou telling Izuku to k*** himself isn't worse than AFO making LITERAL MONSTERS OUT OF CORPSES, it feels that way. Because, y'know, I don't think any of the MHA viewers out there are at risk of being nomu-ified.

So, what happens? No matter how evil Hori tries to make Shiggy, people will still like him. Because he's not violent in a way that is relatable, he's just...edgy. And also hot as hell.

tl;dr? Hori created a morally grey world and refused to fix any of its problems, so we all simp for the murderous hand-man.

[burning-academia-if]

I’m sorry if you’ve already explained this but what does it mean when you say Dawn, Day, Dusk paths? Is it based on how MC will act, if so what are the differences?

Thank you so much and I’m super excited for your if!❤️

You can find this in the FAQ! However, since I changed some things + got a lot more followers since I first talked about it, here's one last explanation!

Basically the story is split into two parts: Act I and Act II. Throughout Act I you'll make choices relating to how you see the world/your morals. Dawn would be considered traditionally good, but your active about making the world be a better place. Day is also traditionally good, but you're more passive because you believe there's already good in the world. Dusk is the morally grey/anti-hero path, and Night is the ""villain"" path. At the end of Act I you'll be locked into one of the four paths. Each one is a completely different story (although certain key events will still happen), and this is Act II. The romances also play out differently each path (hence why if I do add poly options some are locked to certain paths only. This is also why ??? is a tragic romance in Day path, and Rhea a tragic romance on Night). What path you're currently on will always be shown in the character stat page as well!

Hope this helps!

[namorthesubmariner]

“Namor was never white to begin with”: A look into Sub-Mariner comics, the Biracial Coding of Namor, the origins of the Atlanteans, Mutants, and the upcoming Live Action Namor

Many people who have followed me here, on twitter or my personal blog know that I have been very vocal about Namor being played by an Actor of Color for many years. I have written two major posts about this subject but also mention it in countless posts, meta, and discussions. Many of what you read here will be a repeat of that but I thought that I would gather everything into one post as well as talk about the casting of Tenoch Huerta as Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

(Jan 9th, 2019 Meta Post / June 7th, 2021 twitter thread)

“guys Namor was never white to begin with”- Saladin Ahmed, Comic Writer (source)

continued below the cut~

Namor the Sub-Mariner was created in April 1939 by Bill Everett, and for everyone who looks at the surface aka Namor's pale skin, and declares him to be a white character please look closer. Namor has always been coded as a Biracial character of color. I know many people like to apply Modern concepts to older comics but we really need to understand comics within the context and time frame when they were written to fully understand the concept behind them.

Character Design

It’s 1939, there are many characters of color used in racist or stereotypical ways within comics, many older comics have racism and racist depictions. I am not excusing this but also the main focus of this meta is to explain why Namor isn’t white. I will be posting panels that showcase Namor and Atlanteans as being coded as "other" aka non white people or simply as a non white character. I personally believe they are coded as an indigenous/native people. This was written into the character since his first comic. If you want to point out how the colors shift and change, I would like to point out to you that back in the early days of comics, the colors were unreliable, reading this article will help you to better understand how they changed, Atlantis Blues.

The very first time we see Namor, his original character design by Bill Everett depicts Namor with an angular face, arched eyebrows, pointed ears, red hair, and blue toned skin. Nothing about this screams “all american blond haired, square jawed comic book hero” because Namor wasn’t that. From his very first depiction Namor was “Othered” by his red hair and feyish ears, not to mention his character was quickly established as morally grey, making him the oldest and first comic anti-hero, as well as the oldest coded bi-racial character due to his parents being of two different races. To be Othered is defined as: one considered by members of a dominant group as alien, exotic, threatening, or inferior (as because of different racial, sexual, or cultural characteristics). People of Color are often Othered by White people in real life and in fiction.

Why do I mention the red hair? Unlike today’s perception of red hair, history usually paints characters with red hair in a negative light, such things like the “Red Headed Step Child” trope existed within Namor who was treated as an outcast both among humans and ostracized within his own people. The Red Headed Step Child trope is defined as: A child whose coloring is different from the rest of the family, often calling the Mother and Child morals into question, in addition to mistreatment happening towards the child due to the belief it was born a Bastard. Namor’s hair would later be changed to a black color.

For a further look into Namor’s character design by Everett then read: “The Brillance of Bill Everett’s Sub-Mariner, Marvel’s Superman”.

So within the first page that Namor appears it’s clear that Everett has purposefully “Othered” Namor, a character who is born of a royal mother, Princess Fen, (a Submariner later Atlantean) and sea captain Leonard McKenzie (a human). A child born of the union of sea and earth. Duality is an important aspect for Namor’s character and essential to understanding his character. Namor is never one thing, he is always more.

From Submariners to Atlanteans

What is this? Fen is a Submariner? Why yes, all the characters and backstory that you know now and has been canon since the Silver Age were never Atlantean to begin with! Everett’s race for his original characters were all called “Submariners”, no hyphen, and they lived in the ocean near Antarctica. The very first mention of Atlantis and Namor’s claim to an Atlantean heritage comes from Sub-Mariner Comics (1941) #31 claims that Namor's people are descendants of Atlantis so that was in the Golden Age and far before Namor's reentery to comics in the Silver Age. Here is a timeline of events showing how Namor came to be Atlantean and a Mutant. I’m also including Aquaman’s origins since there is often misinformation among fans as to when exactly everything was revealed.

Golden Age

April 1939 - Namor is created by Bill Everett. (It is important to note that while Namor made his first public appearance in Marvel Comics #1, he was actually created in April 1939 for Motion Pictures Funnies Weekly, a comic that was never distributed.)

November 1939 - Namor is published in Marvel Comics (1939) #1, he is shown as the first superhero to fly under his own power due to the wings on his ankles, (source) and is the first aquatic superhero. Namor is the first anti-hero in Marvel Comics. It is established that Namor is the Half Human/Atlantean (Submariner) son of Princess Fen and Sea Captain Leonard McKenzie. Grandson to Emperor Tha-Korr. Namor is born a royal prince with duel heritage of the land and sea.

November 1941 - More Fun Comics #73 - Aquaman is published, and established to be the fully human son of a human scientist who found Atlantis and used it’s secret science to give his son the ability to breath underwater. Aquaman was never created as a half human/half atlantean character like Namor.

January 1949 - Sub-Mariner Comics (1941) #31 - The first time Namor mentions that he and his people are descendants of Atlantis.

May 1954 - Human Torch (1940) #38 - Marvel (Timely/Atlas) makes a sly reference that Namor is the “Original Aquaman”

February 1955 - Sub-Mariner Comics (1941) #38 - The Origin of Namor’s Ankle Wings is revealed, which makes me believe the inspiration for the X-Men’s mutantism comes from Namor. As the prototype mutant Namor’s story is very similar to how the X-Men mutants would later come into their powers. As a teen, Namor’s ankle wings manifested during a traumatic event where his life and his mother’s life was at stake, and using his wings he was able to fly them both to freedom.

Silver Age

May 1959 - Adventure Comics #260 - Retcons Aquaman into being the Half Human/Half Atlantean son of Lighthouse Keeper Tom Curry and Atlanna of Atlantis.

Fantastic Four (1961) #4 - Namor enters the Silver Age.

Fantastic Four (1961) Annual 1 published July 1963 -  Namor is the Human/Atlantean Prince of Atlantis, and also Marvel’s First Mutant. The X-Men are first published September 1963.

“The First Known Mutant”

And that is why Marvel calls Namor their “First Mutant” because he was in real world time the First Published Mutant. Later stories of characters like Apocalypse doesn’t change the fact that Namor is the First Mutant, and Marvel would often use it in their promotion and editorial, “Marvel’s First and Mightiest Mutant” & Namor: The First Mutant, arts by Jae Lee

And there you have it, the origin of Namor, his mutantism, and how Aquaman was created after Namor and later changed to be more like Namor, even casting an Actor of Color to portray the Aquaman who has always been white in the comics. I was never against the casting of Momoa, in fact I liked the Aquaman movie and am looking forward to the next one, but I did want to point out that Aquaman had been taking/borrowing elements of Namor’s character since the beginning.

The reason I bring this up is that many articles going around now are saying that Marvel changing Atlantis to Talocan to avoid it being too similar to Aquaman, but as you have seen it was always the opposite, Aquaman and Atlantis copied Namor. However I think it’s more that Coogler and the cast/crew of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever are bringing Namor back to his original roots, and are creating a world that makes sense for them for the movie so this choice has nothing to do with Aquaman.

Coding in Comics

Taken straight from the comics themselves, here are several examples as to why Namor is coded as a Biracial PoC character:

(As stated above; the color printing in comics in that era was not the best hence why Namor and Fen are blond, this is a remastered comic page keeping to the original colors)

Marvel Comics (1939) #1 / Sub-Mariner Comics 70th Anniversary(reprint/recolor)

Princess Fen explains why Atlanteans (then called Submariners) hate the white surface humans who hurt their home and people. Emperor Tha-Korr calls upon her to spy on the "White Monsters" thus establishing that Atlanteans do not see themselves the same as white humans. Fen is described as most closely resembling the female of the White Race, this has more to do with the fact that she looked more human than the males of her people, who looked more amphibious. (A fantasy/Scifi trope often used: Sexy Dimorphism )

"Go now to the land of the white people!" Fen says to her son, and so Namor goes, to wage war and Avenge his people.

This panel is not always shown in context, but it is also from the first issue. Namor & Dorma make trouble on the surface then Namor tells Dorma to return home as he continues his way to the city and continue his mission.

“And so Namor dives into the ocean again - on his way to further adventures in his crusade against white men!”

Marvel Mystery Comics #2 opens with Everett directly saying that Namor is in a war against the white man. Not every subtle way to once again point out that Namor doesn't consider himself a white man, his father may have been white and passed on his skin color to his son, but Namor was raised among his mother's people and his mother's side isn't white. Yes, they are a fantasy race but they are certainly coded as a non-white people.

Marvel Mystery Comics #3 - Namor rages about the harm Betty Dean's people, "white devils", have done to his people.

“Hate you? Yes. I hate you - and with good reason! You White Devils have persecuted and tormented my people for years - just as you are killing each other off now, in this war!”

Namor speaks of his Tribe - Marvel Mystery Comics #4. By the way at this point in the comics, Namor and his people live in the south pole/waters. Namor also had an ice palace, or ice house. I won't say Namor is Inuit but I do believe inspiration was used for the submariners.

In golden age war era comics, which I know has lots of slurs and caricatures, but in this issue Namor is not a caricature but instead is mistaken for a Japanese soldier Sub-Mariner Comics #5

Namor being called ‘squinty’ by Hank Pym in reference to his eyes in Avengers (1963) #71. This term is derogatory towards Asian people who have monolids and is a known insult.

Namor is also described with "slanted eyes" - The Defenders (1972) #1

Nita (Namor's cousin) speaks about how similar Atlantean culture is to Asian culture. New Warriors (1990) #2 

Also, not all Atlanteans are white, they are shown in a range of different surface human looks when they come on land/take serum or potions to breath on land. So there is no excuse for this whole "Atlanteans are white" nonsense. Wolverine (2003) #44 

Namor is said to look Japanese in The Marvels Project (2009) #3

A twitter thread I found interesting and wanted to share talks of the the subject of Namor's backstory/being biracial/othering in fantasy media as discussed by Naomi Clark (source)

We have now established without a doubt that Namor’s original origins and moments over the comics through the years showcase that Namor is Not White, he was always written as as an ambiguously biracial native character. The Atlanteans are a fantasy race. Atlanteans are not a real, they cannot be White because they are not real, and as I’ve shown you they were never even White to begin with. The outcry by a number of “fans” that occurred when the casting for Namor was announced was made by people who do not understand the source material, their whining of “black or brown washing” is a tactic that often happens and all they want is to silence fans and fans of color, relying only on the surface looks of Namor’s white passing skin to hate on the new direction of the Atlanteans in the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, so I implore fans to simply ignore those “fans” and remember that representation is important in comics and movies.

Live Action Namor as played by Tenoch Huerta

Was the coding in the comics something that we could call good representation of a Biracial Character by today’s standards? No, not really, but the fact that it IS THERE, and it’s been there since the beginning is worth attention.

What’s more there have been people who have seen Namor in various incarnations, in comics, in cartoons and were immediately drawn to his “Otherness” which is why it being represented in the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever makes it more important than ever before. Simply put, a white actor would have never been able to grasp the essence of Namor.

Kurly Tlapoyawa:

“It was on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends,” Tlapoyawa tells Inverse, recalling the 1981 animated series. I was like, ‘That guy looks different,’” Tlapoyawa remembers. “He didn’t look like a white guy.” Namor’s otherness resonated through the screen to Tlapoyawa, who describes himself back then as “a young, angry Chicano” trying to figure out his place in the world. “If you look at the older comic books, it always talked about Namor and his war against the white man. That appealed to me as a Chicano kid — a non-white hero as one of the original Marvel heroes.”  (source)

Benedict Wong:

When I was watching all these Marvel films, I was always looking and feeling crestfallen. Where were all the Asian superheroes? I was pretending in my mind that the Sub-Mariner was actually East Asian, because he looked East Asian. Somehow I was trying to look for a hero.  (source)

Namor being played by a Native Mexican actor is more comic accurate than casting any white actor. Before the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released, back when the RUMOR of the Tenoch casting there was a rush of people trying to “cancel” Tenoch on Twitter and other sites, many insults, and bad faith arguments, even taking his words written in Spanish out of context to translate and try to paint him as a bad person. Once again racism in Fandom was trying to wage a war on Representation but luckily the majority of people have embraced Tenoch as Namor.

Namor will be played here by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta, previously seen in The Forever Purge and Tigers Are Not Afraid – with this incarnation of the character inspired by the culture and history of Mesoamerica. “You can take Atlantis from Greek myth, or you can adapt from a real culture,” argues Huerta. Rather than the ruler of Atlantis, on the screen he’s the ruler of Talocan (source)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be the first Live Action debut of Namor the Sub-Mariner but unlike his comic counterpart, MCU Namor will not be from the Fictional Atlantis, but rather from a newly created mix of Mesoamerican Cultures/Countries, like how Black Panther’s Wakanda was the Afro-Futurism representation of several different African Nations/People so will the new Talocan represent a different take, one that will have a wide reach across the world. While I am not a Mesoamerican Historian, I do encourage people to learn/read more about the history and to understand that this is a fantasy take rooted in real history. This article talks a bit about that subject and how racism is often rooted in the Eurocentric take on Atlantis.

I could not believe it when I first learned that Tenoch Huerta was to play Namor, because it felt like I was talking to the wind for years trying to get fans and people to understand that we shouldn’t have a white actor for Namor, and there have been many fans who argued with me even after I would show them the proof within the comics. So to find out that not only was I getting a Native Non-White actor but one who is outspoken about the racism and stereotyping he faces for having dark skin it felt like Coogler had picked the perfect person to bring to life my favorite character because Tenoch would be able to understand Namor’s character. Namor’s struggle against American/White Imperialism, his Anti-Capitalist stance, his Eco-Warrior efforts to save his people and oceans from the pollution and corruption of the surface world and his struggles as a character whose home is constantly being destroyed. Namor is a proud flawed character, a prince, a king, but most importantly he cares for his people. So Tenoch reaffirming that we would not be getting a villain in the movie but a more complex take on this anti-hero is wonderful. Tenoch’s many interviews talk about how inclusion and representation is important and he felt the movie brought that with Wakanda, Namor and Talocan in the movie.

I am greatly looking forward to this new era of Namor and what it brings.

[mysticmyths]

. 🧚‍♀️

Hey beloveds!

I’m searching for all those fantasy loving people out there. At the moment, I’ve barely gotten past the plotting stage and I’m far too enthused to start some fantasy threads, specifically medieval / historical fantasy threads. I’m overly keen on modern fantasy, I apologise if that is what you were looking for. Now, if that got your attention — a little about me.

My name is Jade, I’m a twenty one year older woman — pronouns are she / her. I’ve been writing for an exceptional ten years, thus leaving me quite experienced. My writing style varies between advantaged literate and novella. I ask my writing partners to be the same, considering I live longer replies. I typically send at least two full discord messages, so I’m on the hunt for somebody who can keep up with that. The more the better, honestly. I’m big on things like Pinterest boards, playlists, art, out of character communication, world building, plotting together, matching energy / being enthusiastic. That is to name just a few. I’m hoping to find a writing partner who’s the same about those things because I truly need it to keep the inspiration flowing. If I don’t have the same energy returned to me, I unfortunately lose muse because I hate one sided enthusiasm. I only write with those eighteen and above. Not under, even if we choose not to include smut. I love smut, but it isn’t required. I’m willing to fade to black too. As for pairings, I am mostly looking for mxf at the moment. I can play both female or male muses, I ask though, please don’t use me for my male muses. As much as I love playing them, it’s gone to a point where it’s just purely expected. I currently have no female muses at this time. I’m happy to play either gender, just don’t be specifically using me for them. Speaking of muses, I use realistic face claims or AI art. I don’t use anime or drawn, they make me uncomfortable for some reason. I require the same for my writing partners. Overall, I’m looking for a friend as well as a writing partner. I’m really hoping to bond and create a really beautiful friendship, it makes writing together all the more fun. If for any reason you are no longer interested then please tell me! I won’t take offence. I’d just rather know! I am fine with darker topics and tropes. Moving on to tropes —

I love the following tropes, but as much as I try to include all of them, there will be some I miss so please bring them all to me if you have one you love that isn’t included because chances are, I adore it too. •. — Enemies to lovers, childhood friends to enemies to lovers, fated mates, villain gets the girl, anti hero’s, morally grey characters, found family, forbidden lovers, star crossed lovers, human x fantasy creature, human turned fantasy creature, traumatic pasts, grumpy x sunshine, rivals to lovers, kingdoms at war, any war themed plots, one bed, teaching one to fight, strong female characters, dark male muses, dark powers, hates everyone but them trope, stabby women, intense sexual tension, men who simp over their women, touch her / him and die, height differences, sun x moon, spicy female muses. There are so many more but I feel like I’ll be listing forever, please note I’m completely okay with darker themes too!! Onto fantasy creatures I enjoy but not limited too •. — Elves, Fae, Dragons, Vampires, Gods, Deities, Witches, Demons. Those are the only ones I can think of, my brain is going blank. Honestly, I like them all. Except, I don’t enjoy playing werewolf muses myself but that isn’t to say you can’t!!

We can double up or leave it as a 1x1 and I’ll be happy either way! I enjoy creating rich lore for our world and I love kingdoms and courts and realms and all those good things. You can either message me yourself or you can interact and I will reach out! I write on discord only, with that; I hope to hear from you soon.

Also a quick PSA, if we plotted before and have yet to actually further it, please reach out. My notifications and messages are all jumbled and messy because of my lack of internet and full use of data! Promise I’m not ignoring <3

[cxldtyrant]

@synthetixflora asked: Y'know, speaking of MasakoX, how do you feel about the concept of Cooler being "good"?

I won't outright dismiss the idea, because I would enjoy Cooler going through character development and becoming a more morally grey character who could potentially ally with the heroes down the line. But to have him outright be "good" is boring and has little depth. Now, don't get me wrong, because characters like Tien and Piccolo pulled it off pretty well, but when you keep using the same formula over and over again, it eventually starts to get very, very dull. Like with Vegeta.

I personally found Vegeta more enjoyable as a character during the Freeza and Cell Saga when he was still a complete bastard who did horrible things and reveled in it, but needed to align with the heroes for a common goal, and we got to see this complex character who could be a sadistic asshole with little regard towards life, but also someone who cares deeply about certain things but has a completely fucked up way of showing it. The scene where he dies on Namek by Freeza's hands, crying and pleading with Goku to avenge the Saiyan race after initially being so cold towards their genocide was easily the best moment of his character to me, and while he had plenty of good moments in the Cell Saga, they never quite peaked to that moment.

He was still pretty interesting in the Buu Saga too, but I find I can hardly enjoy him there with how the fandom waters him down, and especially with how Super follows up on his character after that. He lost a lot of his charm for me when he became more traditionally heroic (if grumpy, because isn't that what every g-rated anti-hero is?).

Cooler is someone who I can't ever see becoming completely "good", or at least good in the traditional sense because I love the idea of Arcosians having a different concept of right or wrong (let aliens have alien concepts, Dragon Ball writers!). But I could develop him towards an "enemy mine" situation and lessening his xenophobic tendencies. It would take a long while for him to get over his particularly hatred towards Saiyans, but he could do it someday. Maybe.

[pebblysand]

[on writing] the corruption of alicia florrick (or: 'show, don't tell' pushed to the brink)

i've touched on this really briefly already but i've recently engaged in a partial re-watch part of TGW (s1 to s5e2 - if you've also seen the show, you know why i stopped there) and i've been having a lot of thoughts about it, lately. this will probably be of interest to no one (apart from @tessiete, maybe, hello 👋 tess) but i still reckon it felt like something i wanted to write about, so here, this is my tumblr, and i can ramble on about whatever i want.

rewatching this show has led me to a lot of reflections about the portrayal of anti-heros in media. particularly: how to introduce one, and how to write one. and that's what i wanted to talk about here.

BACKGROUND:

for anyone who hasn't seen it, the good wife is a political and legal drama that ran on CBS between 2009 and 2015. it follows alicia florrick, wife of peter florrick, former US state's attorney for Chicago's Cook County. at the start of the show, she is presented as a housewife and a mother of two who, due to her husband's unconscionable behaviour (cheating on her with a sex worker and being accused of corruption in his office), is thrown into a sex scandal and turmoil that basically upends her life. she loses her house, her husband goes to prison, she has to go back to work as a lawyer - a profession she gave up to care for her family ten years ago - in an incredibly cutthroat and competitive environment, worsened by the 08 financial crisis.

now, as you may already know, a few years before the show aired, the early/mid-00s saw a resurgence of the anti-hero trope in american television. characters like gregory house or walter white became incredibly popular, as well as other main protagonists whose behaviour was portrayed to viewers as objectively immoral and objectionable, but for whom they were still encouraged to cheer (a more recent example of this would also be tommy shelby in peaky blinders). generally (though not always), these characters existed in a world of crime and/or drug trafficking, killed hundreds of people on a good day, but - deep down - kind of tried. had a good heart. or, at least, a moral code you could understand and relate to, or valid reasons for doing the things they do - even though the overall behaviour itself was criminal. even in the case of gregory house (who is not a criminal but still very much an anti-hero), he is someone whose impact on the world is at least partly positive because, well, he is a macho arsehole who treats people like absolute scum but, you know, he saves lives.

for a lot of viewers (and people who enjoy this trope - myself definitely included) the main appeal of these stories is this obvious tension between good and evil. no one is pretending these characters are good people - often, not even themselves. the interesting part is actually in whether you can (and should) root for a good person. and: this question as to whether good and/or evil exists, and this grey space in between. god knows i love reading (and writing) about that grey space. in the case of house or tommy shelby, there is something deeply fascinating about the knowledge that this person whose struggles you're coming to understand, and who you do empathise with, is objectively very problematic and questionable. these shows work because the viewer is constantly driven to question their own takes on the world, their own morals, the main protagonist's behaviour, and to try and understand their point of view. as a person, i'm generally pretty fond of this trope, because when done well, i find it very engaging.

MY POINT:

now, when it comes to the good wife, on the surface, alicia florrick is the complete opposite of the above. from the very beginning of the show, she is purported to be a Good Person™. she is dedicated to her marriage and to her children. she is intelligent and kind. she is a good lawyer and someone who exhibits a lot of empathy for her clients (in fact, the firm often assign her to "hand-hold" them). she is a bit of a relief. someone you can always root for, without having to check yourself and be like "omg, didn't she just kill three people in cold blood?"

and, of course, that is not to say she has no flaws. alicia is a fully-fledged person, and a very good character at that. she is a Good Person™ but also someone who is chronically incapable of making decisions. she can sometimes be cold and quite calculating. but, generally speaking, she is a Good Person™. she is trying to get her life back on track, to prove herself in her work, to raise her two teenage children as a single mother, and you end up rooting for her very easily. because her life is hard and even if you wouldn't necessarily react the way she does, or carry yourself the way she does (i - personally - probably wouldn't have tolerated peter's behaviour, etc.) you understand where she's coming from. the show tells you she is a good person, who is struggling and she is trying. it is mostly told from her perspective and really helps you see that she is always doing her best, and always having the best intentions (even though they don't always materialise). she's not some mass murderer, or sociopathic doctor who hates her patients, where you're constantly thinking: "omg, why am i rooting for this arsehole?" she is someone who tries so hard to be kind, and who tries so hard to always treat everyone with respect. because - again - she is flawed, but a Good Person™.

except, well, if you've seen the show, you know: she isn't.

and, if you have watched TGW, i'd be interested to know: think back. when exactly did you realise that? i don't mean: when did you start having doubts? i mean: when did you sit there and think "omg this woman is unbearable". for me, on first watch, it was probably somewhere between s5 and s6. on re-watch? probably as early as s2/3. i think everyone who was in the TGW fandom (and, to a larger extent, everyone who watched the show) had this thought once: when did this start? and where did Dark!Alicia (a characterisation i am stealing from @tessiete) come from?

and, honestly? looking back, i'm sorry to tell you this but: she was always there, you just didn't see it.

i only really realised this on rewatch but alicia is pretty much unbearable from the very start of the show. because, i mean, sure, she's a bit traumatised, but she's also: arrogant, self-centred, and incredibly hypocritical. she is (unlike peter, actually) a terrible parent. she is unforgiving of kalinda for Literally No Reason (other than archie and juliana not getting on, but that's a different conversation). she treats will appallingly, exploiting and toying with the fact that he's been in love with her for twenty years (which she very clearly knows), and after the event that must not be mentioned i am not over it romanticises their relationship like she ever gave a fuck about him. objectively speaking, and this throughout the show, alicia florrick isn't a Good Person™. she is a Fucking Bitch™.

and, as a writer myself, what i find very interesting about this show is that until the very end, you're never actually told alicia is a terrible person. you're shown it, and in hindsight, given Many Many opportunities to make that determination yourself, and yet, didn't it take us all So Long to stop excusing her behaviour? to stop being like "oh, but peter cheated on her," and "oh, but she loves them both." as an example, in s5, the show even almost succeeds in making you think will's reaction to her leaving the firm is an overreaction when omg if you look at the facts, it Really Isn't. think about it this way: if you were one of will's mates and he was telling you this story, you would be Out For Blood, wouldn't you?

rewatching this show has really made me realise that the "education of alicia florrick" (which the writers pitched was the overall arc of the show - or, also as you might see it, the "corruption of alicia florrick") is actually an example of how 'show, don't tell' can be pushed to the brink. because, this isn't even 'show, don't tell', it's 'show one thing, and tell another' and let the viewer come to their own conclusions. and, whilst i think that most people started out going with what the show was telling the viewers, there is a point where they stopped empathising with alicia and constantly excusing her behaviour, even though the show kept telling us she really was a Good Person™ and was #trying. there is a point where #trying becomes #pretending, and #pretending becomes fake and unforgivable.

and, this revelation arrived earlier for some than others but generally speaking, i think took a really long time to dawn on most of us. to realise that actually, alicia florrick is an anti-hero with very few redeeming qualities who is constantly and inexcusably toying with people's feelings and then excusing her repeated fuck-ups by the fact that she's #wounded and #trying, while still being presented like a hero. she is a Fucking Bitch™ because on top of this, unlike people like house or tommy shelby who are, in no way, shape or form, pretending to be good people[1], alicia and the show keep insisting that she is good, (really, trust her), and there comes a point where as a viewer, you have to look at it critically and say: nah, you're full of shit. and, i think that is what is most disconcerting about the show.

and, don't get me wrong, in hindsight, i believe this was one thousand per cent intentional. i don't believe this is an emily in paris type case where the writers wrote a character as a hero when she was in fact an awful person, and it took thousands of outraged comments for them to realise it. i think with TGW, it was definitely done by design. you see examples of alicia's terrible behaviour very early on in the way she parents her children (zach "watching" porn, for instance) but she always finds excuses for herself, and you initially lean into that as a viewer. like: oh, well, she's just a bit conservative. or: oh, well, it's hard being a single parent. the fact that this escalated into her appalling behaviour of going no contact with her own son because, oh my god, he got his girlfriend pregnant and dared hide it from his mother, shouldn't have come as a surprise. it's there from the get-go. and, it's not that the writers didn't know this, it's that they gradually made it more and more heavy-handed until it became unavoidable.

and, i think as writer, what's also interesting is: when alicia's true nature was revealed, it actually alienated a shit tonne of people. they truly lost a whole chunk of their audience because of it. i even stopped watching the show, and that's someone who wrote thousands of words of fanfiction for it. i remember telling a friend "ugh, she's just become too unbearable." and, i wasn't the only one. i know so many other people in fandom who dropped off around s6/7. whereas, there is a case to be made for the fact, as someone who actually loves rooting for Bad People™ and loves the anti-hero trope, i probably would have been able to stand her, had the show itself portrayed her as a problematic person to begin with.

but the fact that we had genuinely rooted for, and excused the behaviour of, someone who was objectively unconscionable for so long was so disconcerting and disgusting and disappointing that we... stopped caring? and so, whilst in hindsight, i do think the general idea of this was brilliant, objectively, the execution... wasn't much of a success, was it? it cost them a lot of their dedicated viewership. or: was it such a success that it rightfully alienated people? was this the objective all along?

because: is the main goal of a piece of art to cater to its audience or is it to make a point?

---

[1] small caveat with tommy who does sometimes seem to think he's a good person, but it never lasts very long.

[dalekofchaos]

Anyone else not a fan of Insomniac's or the MCU's depiction of J. Jonah Jameson?

As entertaining as it was when I first played the game, I detest that Insomniac made JJJ a Alex Jones type character when he's shown to be anti-racist and while flawed, has motives on why he hates superheroes.

Then No Way Home happened and JJJ was completely unlikable. AT least the game made JJJ somewhat grey and gave reasons why he is the way he is. But the Alex Jones-ification of J Jonah Jameson feels like a gross misrepresentation of his character

JJ's a complex person. He only hates heroes who wear masks and have secret identities, too. He actually idolizes Captain America, and he's real staunch on advocating mutant rights. Also he's not a bootlicker, he wouldn't constantly side with Osborn and Roxon.

There's these moments in adaptations that get the man.

This 4chan post

Then in the comics.

When Peter unmasks to JJJ

Then there's the Ultimate comics and Ultimatum

I just think this whole take on Jameson just didn't work, especially after Miles Morales' game and No Way Home.

I don't even mind the idea of JJ having a podcast; the writers just needed to not go as far as they did with it. He could still be hilarious to listen to while remaining in-character.

I can't speak for NWH, but for the Insomniac universe, this is how I'd handle JJJ.

If it were up to me, this is how I'd handle Jameson in the game. Peter working at the Bugle while also working for Otto CAN work. Peter down on his luck would need two jobs. Also we can keep JJJ as head of the Bugle while dropping the Alex Jones schtick. he orders us around, but means well. We have photo minigames which can be implemented by photo mode. Have Scorpion attack the Bugle and Spider-Man has to save Jonah. Maybe have Silver Sable and her mercs invade the Bugle and orders Jameson give up Spider-Man's photographer and they pull a Spider-Man 1 and refuses to give him up and we see newspaper prints of the Bugle battling against Osborn and Sable's occupation because that's the shit JJJ would do and not the crap we were given.

[eff-plays]

On my first ever playthrough, where I played my main Hawke (f!warrior), I had barely finished Origins and still knew and understood relatively little of the world of Dragon Age, I hadn't played Awakening, and I romanced Anders despite him looking so fucking Scrungly simply because he's written to be like ... genuinely a pretty nice person? (Also I love the voice acting as well, probs one of my favorites in all the games so far, rly sells the character.)

Like he's a doctor working out of a sewer to help poor people who are forgotten by the system, he's possessed by a cool powerful ghost, he's passionate and snarky, and because I'm fucked up in the head the drowning us in blood line got me going full kombucha girl.

So when he blew up the Chantry and it was supposed to be this big epic "betrayal" I was like "...huh. Ok cool. Wait you think that's stabbing-worthy? You think I would kill you for this? lolwut"

Like at this point I didn't even know Fenris was a party memeber cuz I had skipped the quest where you meet him, assuming it was a minor fetch quest or something. Like at this point I still thought Cullen creeping on Amell/Surana in Origins was tee-hee cute. And yet, I wasn't very bothered by the Chantrypalooza even though, probably as intended, it should've beeen shocking and scary and it did come out of nowhere (to me, back then, when I wasn't aware of where things were going).

I dunno what it says about me, but romancing Anders and doing all his side quests and keeping him in the party was just a positive experience for me? Like yes he's a fucking weirdo when it comes to Merrill and Fenris and I'm not saying he's perfect or anything, I think he's very flawed and codependent and very mentally ill and my man clearly needs the help he's freely giving others ... but generally, when my Hawke would help people, that little blue +5 would pop up to the side and I would go "aw, he likes it when I help people!" And why wouldn't he? He's a healer and he's possessed by the spirit of Justice. Having him in the party just made things in Kirkwall feel less shit because here's a guy who's genuinely eager to help.

So like ... yeah he blew up the Chantry but like ... he probably had a reason? That was basically my head-empty vibe-only thought process when I first played the game.

He's so disliked and hated in many parts of fandom because he's a fucked-up little creacher (and because the mainstream male gamers are like "uwu the grey morality in BioWare games is legit and deep actually" and "oh no this weird rat-looking man flirted with my manly Hawke, I'd better stab his terrorist ass the moment I can"), but to me that's what makes him so special.

Like I genuinely think that if he'd been sold as more of a sexy brooding anti-hero (or they retconned him into a hero, as it were) people would stan and defend him the way they do Cullen and Solas. (And yeah some people do of course, but he's not nearly as beloved as those two are.) But because he's a weirdo and looks like that and he's a little pathetic and sad and a wet rat and clearly mentally unwell, people were eager to have a "real" reason to hate him and kill him, even though there are beloved characters who are arguably (and definitely) much worse people.

He's a lil guy who got tired of being abused and ignored, he's the rat that bit back and gave everyone the plague and I respect that <3