#and if you like the characterization differences between the two that's absolutely fine and you're valid

[dentos-wife]

Let’s talk about Grima and how the characterization has changed a bit since Awakening, where let’s be honest there’s not much character there. But I feel like the little amount we got only of the Grimas portrays the original character now. I’ve been watching people fight over this back and forth in various places so I did a comparison and brought in some friends who don’t know Fire Emblem for their thoughts.

TLDR version: MGrima is the only one who captures the world ending hateful fell dragon vibe while FGrima has been feminized and softened because she’s the girl version and I hate it when media does this

With their base versions it was more like the Corrins or the Byleths general same message but a squint or you miss it difference

Male:

“I am the wings of despair. I am the breath of ruin. I am the fell dragon, Grima. Pay me the respect I am due, and I promise you a painless death”

Female:

“I am the wings of despair. I am the breath of ruin. I am the fell dragon, Grima. Pay me the respect I am due, and I will consider granting you a quick death when the time comes.“

Super similar, the boy however comes off as more threatening, no when the time comes or considering it. This is where the tiny differences started

Castle lines

Male:

“Ha. You fight for world peace? Stay your tongue. Such pretty little words sicken me.”

“My mind becomes muddy when I try to recall certain things... A side effect of traveling through space and time? Curse this frail body.”

“You fight for the happiness of all the people in this world? Hahaha, tell me... Did you come up with that little motto all by yourself? Go on, you can tell me what your heart truly desires.”

“You show promise, despite being human. If you continue to appease me, I may let you serve me.”

“Rite after rite, and still my memories refuse to return. This is beyond infuriating.. Maybe I'll go start a war to cheer myself up.”

Female:

“Wriggle like a worm trying to escape my boot, or die squished like a worthless maggot. Either way, you are little more than an insect.”

“Ugh... My splitting head... I remember nothing of my time in that other world... Nothing at all.”

“How about you stop pretending to be so selfless and tell me what you really wish for? Maybe I can grant it...”

“You show promise, despite being human. Of course, that's like being the smartest worm in the dirt. But still... I see enough in you that I could entertain the idea of keeping you by my side.”

“Memories or no, I will lay waste to the world all the same. You think me so fickle I'd change my mind?”

Still very similar but the male has slightly more personality by laughing and making little remarks here and there that the female doesn’t, still subtle though not a big deal it’s in what you prefer like most with an avatar preference and it’s still the same base character, however the female for whatever reason does come off as softer

Let’s do their confessions

Male

“You are a curious one... You willingly come to chat with me? The fell dragon? Alone? You know full well how I detest humans. They have no qualms asking for divine assistance when it meets their fickle needs... But how quick they are to shun their benefactors once they get what they desire. They become arrogant and make the same mistakes repeatedly, incapable of learning the folly of their ways. They claim their actions are for the good of others, but that's merely a show of self-indulgence. Humans are selfish. And the ugliness of mankind has turned me repulsive. It's the world that wants me to be evil. And yet you claim to need me here? Enough of your lies, worm. How dare you look at me with such a gaze. Do not dare pity me!”

Female

“Come to butter me up some more? How very irksome. I've nothing to chat about with a human. Humans spout their ideals, but it's nothing but lip service. Let's all join together and hold hands, you'll say. We can overcome our differences despite being different species, despite our differing core ideologies. The truth is what you see daily in this place. Day after day, night after night, all you have is never-ending war. One person's satisfaction means another must suffer. That is the truth of all worlds. But my power of destruction is the one true equalizer. If you think there's someone out there capable of leading the world with such high-minded ideas of love and bonds... I'd love to meet them. Hmph. After all that, you still talk your big talk? Very well. I'll watch over you... Right until your bitter end.“

It’s still extremely slight but the differences become more clear here, They’re the same lines but the male is more angry and the female more bitter. However it’s the same character. Granted if it were up to me the girl would just have the boys lines since Awakening they are the same but I get it, no one wants a copy. This was a good way to do the similar but different vibe of them though it still does have the female can’t be as angry stereotype bleeding through. It’s not perfect I’d make her angrier but it could be a lot worse. And then it gets worse…

Let’s talk about the Halloween alts because that’s when everything completely goes haywire. The outfits for one

Okay so yes this is a silly festival and both are fanservice it’s a fanservice game I get that but which one comes off as a more imposing force? The male’s ears look real his claws look sharp he actually looks like a threat goofy outfit or not. The female on the other hand has costume ears and booty shorts. She looks like a parody of the boys outfit.

She got an outfit like this because she’s a girl. But sadly it doesn’t stop there. The *lines* even sound like a parody

Male:

“If I had my way, this absurd festival would not exist...since there would be nothing but ruin in my wake.”

"Trick or treat?" Pah. Try "the utter destruction of the world, or treat." And I do not have a sweet tooth.

“Giving thanks for the harvest? Hmph. Of course you worms would waste time on something so meaningless. Resources exist to be consumed. It's as simple as that.”

“Before you play a trick on me, think hard of the consequences. Surely even a worm like you can imagine it”.

“You think I'm enjoying all this? Perhaps in your complacency you've forgotten the danger you're in.”

Female:

“I hoped to find the power I seek at this harvest festival... But it seems that was a mistake.”

“Festivals are nothing more than a brief reprieve from despair. The vain struggle of a worm...”

“Submit or suffer!...Must I say "trick or treat"? How dull.”

“If you intend to play a trick on me, it will be your last. Such foolishness is absolutely intolerable.”

“Costumes are a fool's amusement. Who was it who said it would be enjoyable, again? I'll kill them first.”

But hey I liked MGrima since his debut, loved his personality so I could be coming into this with a bias. So! I asked some friends who knew nothing about FE hey what vibe do these characters give off and is it the same vibe? Here’s their lines have fun. Here’s the result of that conversation

“I know this is not a general way to tell quality but . . . Male Grima dialogues are not only richer but also way longer in both cases lol and honestly? They could very well be saying the same here, the dialogue should stay the same or almost the same here they're supposed to treat the same topic with SMALL variations, since they're supposed to be the same person you know? But each convo seems to be about something completely different. He comes out to me as emo (in the most positive way), while she's supposed to be Btchy Daughter of Actual Evil Boss. He's somewhat menacing, and the way he talks makes him look (from my POV) like a depressing person to be around, a party pooper. YET I guess his words are too strong for a girl's mouth so that's why she gotta be cute about this instead. She can't be too deep or serious, that's not interesting in a girl”

Agree? Disagree?

The confessions are honestly the best example of this problem because one is uh not as deep let’s say

Male:

“It seems you possess a grave misunderstanding of the harvest festival, [Summoner]. You may celebrate nature's bounty, but remember that there are winners and losers in every exchange. For you to gain something, someone else must lose it. What brings joy to you casts bitter sorrow upon another. Those without the will or power to resist can only be crushed underfoot. Such is the nature of the harvest. Now you see the world through the Fell Dragon's eyes. Thus, I ask you: Are you the hunter or the hunted? Consider well your path. For my part, I will continue to reap the harvest's bounty through ruin and despair!”

Female:

“Enjoy your short lives while you can, worms. Before long, utter darkness will smother you... Although... These sweets are quite palatable. Subtle sweetness with a delicate mouthfeel, I— Yah! How long have you been there, [Summoner]?! What did you hear?! No, nothing! There was nothing TO hear. Yes. I wish to harvest ruin and despair. Sweets harbor no interest for me. But next time the harvest festival comes around, I expect an invitation. Promise me, lest I am forced to destroy this world. You understand...”

From another friend who also knows nothing about FE

“The male one sounds like he's speaking from experience, like he's witnessed or taken part in many wars or other kinds of conflicts, and has crushed people who believed they were more powerful than him with his own hands The female one's personality is closer to a tsundere“

Look at how you can actually get Grima’s personality from his lines and not so much the girl. Now imagine flipping them. The male is the tsundere candy lover and the girl is the ancient old dragon, does that make you realize how weird it is?

MCorrin and FCorrin have matching halloween alts in comparison and even have the same lines with slight differences, they’re like twins

Which is what you’d expect with the literal same character just in a different body. Alas...

Which now brings us to the next alt of all, based off this cipher card

Boobs! And sexualization to the max, the hehe I’m evil pose? the daintiness it’s so...

Her lines too, she whispers “devote yourself to me entirely” seductively, I bet they will not do that with the male, if they do I’ll eat my words and gladly

So I showed my friend this one’s lines and says hey thoughts?

“the dominatrix fetish is too blatant, but like not in a cool way you know, the classical of a girl that is introduced as this ruthless being of doom but gets nerfed mid-story when she falls in love with the unremarkable plain male prota of this proto harem, and she like . . . Has Been Secretly Soft And Needy All This Time and literally drops everything she's after to become An Ideal Wife for the male prota, picks up feminine interests and hobbies in hopes to be more appealing to him that's the vibes I get from this female Grima or whatever she's supposed to be“

She’s very curious what the matching males lines are going to be

But this brings me to my point why is Grima so different depending on if he has a male or female vessel? It really shouldn’t be this way, in Awakening Grima’s lines were exactly the same no matter if it was MRobin or FRobin because Grima is a murderous humanity hating dragon but since Halloween...man you do not get that vibe from the girl anymore. You do from the boy. I know why it’s like this sex sells yada yada yada. I also know the boy gets some of it like the damage art but that’s damage art, almost everyone has it, FGrima here goes above and beyond that to softening her lines and doing an evil queen vibe and that’s a crime dammit!

Like yeah I know the base does this to both and it’s fine when it’s the fanbase but when CANON does it to only one of them, it’s flat out sexism

MGrima alt based off this cipher card when? If hers was based off the cipher card I doubt he’s sharing her outfit but if he does I demand the same girly pose; it’s equality

And then once they’re matched up again stop with the Grimas and never bring them out again, we didn’t need this many Grimas go back to Robin. I like Grima I’ll take his alts (no longer the girl unless they stop the uh fetishing tbh I’m a little uncomfortable with this recent one...) but this is a crime for both Robin now. FRobin being an GHB unit has no resplendent and no version in the main pool. She unlike MRobin did get a seasonal to herself earlier this year though. In comparison MRobin has a resplendent but if you don’t count the duo and some don’t because Chrom is the lead, hasn’t gotten an alt to himself since 2017. And since we got FGrima sounds like he has to wait longer for that since MGrima would drop first.

Unless we get an MRobin to go with this FGrima but that opens up even *more* sexualization issues; FRobin is only popular when evil and sexy so that’s the alt she gets while the male gets to be himself? Eeeh that’s really gross. So in that regard I hope we get one more MGrima and they’re shoved in the closet for good, allowing the real Robin’s to shine. Halloween was a neat idea the werewolf represented the Robin to Grima connection in a cool way considering werewolf lore and it was a good alt choice well...for the one who actually looked like a werewolf...

I know this is a problem of female sexualization and FE is not the only franchise where this is a problem but man GRIMA?!

And okay you could argue well M and F Robin are probably the most difference in personality avatars we have and you’re right but that makes it even stranger. FRobin is ever so slightly meaner and harsher than MRobin who is a little kinder. So then why would having Grima take over make MRobin the meaner and harsher one shouldn’t it stay on FRobin?

I only like the characterization on MGrima at this point, Girlma (as I call her) now feels like a completely different character, a toned down female parody of the other and it’s a damn shame even the creature that wiped out all of humanity and sent the world into despair got the “girls need to be sexy or cute” treatment.

Anyway that’s just me, FGrima fans you guys are cool if you like her that’s wonderful don’t take this as an attack or anything I just wanted to write out my thoughts that have been bothering me since the Halloween alts which should have been the final Grima alts but...you know money

[gilbirda]

for the ask game: Danny Arkham Security Guard?

I've been curious where you're at with that for a while (I assumed the muse has fled and/or you're too busy with other fics), so had to pick that one when I saw it on the list 👀

From this WIP ask game

Haha! I knew someone would ask about it!

Honestly I have struggled a lot with picking this bad boy up... When I finally did a few months ago, the last edit was July 2022 😭

Long story short, summer 2022 was the time I really went down the spiral with Hardcover ship and literally every idea I had was for those two. I think what happened was that I realized there was an untapped potential and market for romance and all the classic romance tropes in DP fandom (I understood why that was the case, but still I was frustrated because I hadn't seen a single fic that made me crazy about any ship in DP) and it left me wanting.

Then I wrote Arkham Guard Danny and I did the bit where Jazz almost shoots Jason, and then I liked the dynamics between him and the siblings and I literally said in the AN if I ended up shipping him, I was debating between Jazz and Danny. *laughs in irony*

So basically I went "what if I write every romance story trope but Jazz/Jason?" and the rest is history.

And every damn time I went back to Arkham Guard Danny, I re read it and realized.... Is just so bad. I saw flaws everywhere. I saw bad characterization. I saw "angry robin Jason" and a bunch of things I don't stand by anymore and I felt like there was no way I could continue that fic and the difference wouldn't be felt. Was I too harsh with myself? Absolutely, but we are our worst critic.

Also? I felt the project running away from me. I started developing worldbuilding and ideas and I got mad because Arkham Guard is supposed to be simple. It used to be the "simple fic" I did while I focused on my magnum opus for DP fandom (Eldritch Ghost King Danny AU - "You and me and our best friend makes three"). If it got complicated I didn't want to write it anymore. And then it did and I dropped it.

Recently I went through a really bad situation and it kind of killed any want to write for dpxdc. I thought - why not go back to the basics? Revisit what really made me start in the fandom, what made me get a bunch of comments like "i got into dpxdc because of this fic". Took me back to when I started, how simple it felt to just write a fic and drop it to the ether and not worry about the things that made me want to stop forever.

So I did. Feels good to pick this up again!

I could go on forever but I won't continue rambling about this project (✿◡‿◡)

If you read up to this point, here's a little bit of what I have so far!

---

“Children,” Alfred stood from his seat, positioning himself between the brothers and their guest. “Let her breathe.”

“It’s okay, Mr. — uh…” She blushed as she realized she never asked for his name.

“Alfred,” the butler smiled, “Alfred Pennyworth.”

“Mr. Pennyworth,” she nodded politely. “I’m fine. I am aware that after that… theatrical spectacle, explanations are needed.”

“Indeed.” Batman cut in the conversation. “Proper explanations are in order. After I deliver the Joker to Arkham.”

“You can’t be serious!” Did the old man go crazy? Back to that wretched place?

Jazz frowned, seemingly sharing his thoughts. She leaned closer to the microphone and spoke in a controlled voice. “Where are you delivering him? In the hospital.”

Bruce took way too long to answer, so Tim did it for him. “Through the front door?”

Jazz didn’t find it funny. “Wait for me.”

“What?”

“I said, wait for me.” Jazz reached for her discarded jacket, eyeing the door to the elevator back to the manor. “Joker is my patient and I need to be there.”

“What for?”

She turned to look at Jason. “He doesn’t deserve to be left at the mercy of some of the people in the Asylum. They could—”

“He can rot for all I care.”

The vigilante walked up to her, getting in her way and using his height and build to scare her into submission. Jazz held his gaze, defiant, muscles tense and ready to throw down if needed.

“You don’t know that place like I do.”

Jason huffed. “Whatever the inmates want to do to him, he deserves it.”

“I wasn’t talking about the inmates.” Her teal eyes steeled with fury. “Arkham has a history of staff abusing their authority.”

[borkthemork]

Started watching Miraculous after you reblogged a few related posts. Though I haven't gotten past season 2 yet, it looks like there's a pretty stark division between season 1/2 and the later seasons, and apparently season 4 gets real bad? Seems like you're all the way through - is it worth the time sink to reach what looks like some Cool Shit from the movie?

So the thing with Miraculous the series and Miraculous the movie would be that they're both separate entities, and have different canons. You don't have to watch the series to understand the movie, since they basically have different characterizations, interpretations, and overall divergent tones. Which is a good thing, because I would recommend Miraculous the series on the condition that someone recognizes that the writing is absolutely buck wild, and it's based on how much you're willing to cope through its buck wildness to see what's happening. So, when it comes to asking your question, Anon, I would have to go a bit more in-depth to at least showcase which one I would recommend based on your preferences. We can start with the movie, since it's quicker. [Warnings for some spoilers in the series, including the last season.] The Miraculous movie is pretty good. I can say that the composition, songs, fight scenes, and animation are quite beautiful, and a definite recommend for anyone who wants to get some understanding of the series, without being obligated to watch the show, and prefer a more "polished" look. Excellent designs, gorgeous lighting, I cannot stop thinking about the composition toward the piano scene. Stunning. It does lose characterization or mix up the personalities of the characters to make the story fit for a movie run — unfortunately, Plagg has been hit by this the most, alongside a few other characters like Alya. Marinette and Adrien, specifically, have had their personalities tweaked to match the tone of the movie, and overall, make the film complete, yet lose some of the complexity that comes from the series. If you're looking for a more action-focused, shonen-esque experience with a complete end, that would be the media I would recommend. If you're looking for a more magical girl-esque experience, with writing that makes you wonder what type of crack the team was on to give me an existential crisis while having this conveyed through zany shenanigans, the series would be more to your alley. There has been some discourse in the fandom regarding the quality of each season, and to be fair, a lot of this comes down to stuff I'm not really much invested in. Miraculous, at its heart, is a romance action show, so characterization and the romance (which includes the love square outside the two characters) will be that focus. Some characters that fandom want redeemed won't be redeemed, or are annoying, and I'm fine with that. As a casual viewer, I don't find myself seeing them as heavy flaws, unless the writing makes it too overbearing. I will note that, Anon, you're definitely correct that there is a difference between Miraculous's first two seasons compared to the current ones, and I think that's probably the main appeal for me as someone who listened in and then decided to watch again, since the tone transition is entertaining to watch during the course of the show. The seasons begin to go into a downward spiral in the best way possible. Details from past seasons get brought up. More of the monster-of-the-week is shown, and yet it gets more sinister with Hawkmoth's new power-ups and allies. You go from Chloe being your typical rich character in a show, to being manipulated in a massive political game to take over France using robotic infantry by the end of the latest season. You have characters like Plagg and Tikki — tiny creatures with the powers of gods — making multiple jokes of how powerful they are and sometimes how apathetic they can be to human suffering, and then have that be an actual pay-off within the show. This series is wacky, insane, and yet I can't help but enjoy the journey on how it dives into more serious undertones while also keeping its more wacky side to it all. It might not be everyone's tea, but if you're curious on how Season One went from that to (Motions to Season 5) this, then I think the journey is worth it.

[booksandabeer]

Hello, I hope it is fine for me to ask you about this. I would like your opinion on something. I have just gotten into the steve/bucky community and looking through some blogs that seemed a good starting point to get fic recommendations. Yours is one of them but it seems to me, that there is less drama here, if you know what I mean. The question I have is about two series that I have seen discussed really controversial, people only seem to hate them. One is "Not Easily Conquered" and one is "What I'm Looking For". I appreciate that you seem to be more levelheaded about these things, so would you say it is worth it? And do you know more blogs like yours that aren't so hateful? I trust your judgement, thank you in advance.

Hey anon,

What a message! I don’t even know where to start with this one. Well, first of all, welcome to Stuckyhell™—I hope you enjoy crying about two centenarian super soldiers because you’ll be doing that a lot! I have to say that my experience in the community has been overwhelmingly positive so far. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I feel that if you don’t go looking for drama and realize early on that occasionally the best course of action is to privately roll your eyes and simply keep on scrolling, you’ll do just fine and it’s a pretty chill experience overall.

Now as to your fic-related questions. I'm honestly a bit surprised. Where did you see all that hateful talk about these two series? I think I can count on one hand the number of people who have ever dared to utter even so much as a mildly critical opinion on NEC? And I’ve never heard a negative word about WILF at all? Hm.

But you asked my opinion so here we go:

Okay, so. NEC. There's a reason why you won't find any mention of it on my blog. Honestly, I had kind of hoped that I could get away with never having to publicly speak about my, ahem, complicated feelings about this series. Guess not.

Let's just rip off the bandaid: I'm not a fan. Now, it’s not a *bad* fic by any means, not at all. The letters in particular are exquisitely written, and I can see why people go feral over them, but almost everything else about this series leaves me somewhere between cold, uncomfortable, or mildly infuriated. That’s all I’ll say about it outside of DMs because (1) I’m not interested in creating any drama here, (2) trying to understand the excessive popularity of this series just leads to me being frustrated and baffled all over again, and (3) I know that a lot of people—among them some of my most beloved mutuals and fandom friends—really, really love this series and I think it’s mean and frankly bad form to talk negatively about something that they love with all their heart, in a space where they are very likely to see it. I probably already said too much, but you asked, and this is my honest answer.

(And btw, this is also a big part of creating a chill fandom experience for yourself: Just accept that some things simply aren’t for you and you will never understand why everybody is so into it. But publicly & repeatedly railing against it in great detail is very unlikely to change anyone’s mind.  You’re just going to make them feel bad about a thing they love and they won’t thank you for it. Also, people can like different things and still be friends. I know—what a concept!)

So back to your question: should you read NEC? I mean, yeah, go for it. So many people adore it, maybe you'll end up being one of them. Just because I personally don't love it, doesn't mean you won't either. If nothing else, you'll at least know what people are talking about when they praise it or, apparently, hate on it, and you'll be able to form your own opinions.

The other series you mentioned, What I'm Looking For, I absolutely recommend. If you're in the mood for a long, sprawling series that stays very close to canon while also trying to make sense of its often faulty narrative logic and inconsistent characterization, this will certainly do it for you! However, keep in mind that this is a veeeeery slow burn series, so if you want to read something that rather quickly gives you all the fuzzy happy romantic Stucky feels, then perhaps you better pick something else.

As for other blogs that do rec posts. @voylitscope makes fantastic themed rec lists. @burberrycanary occasionally makes rec posts with the added bonus of beautiful "fake" book covers. @sparkagrace and @xoxobuckybarnes put together monthly reading lists, and @hazel-wand and @msilverstar often post individual fic recs. I'm sure there are many more!

And of course, you can always send me an ask if you're looking for fics that feature certain tropes/genres/time periods/etc.

[robins-den]

Reading the Robo -Ky side story again (only the second time. Every other time I considered it I immediately felt too ill to do so). There's a line here that implies that he doesn't have x ray vision which is interesting because he has a line when defeating Bridget (in accent core) that states that he does? One would say "oh, it's a different Robo-Ky, then" but his personality here is very in line with accent core and thus I feel as if it IS the same... IDK lol. He never canonically meets Bridget during accent core so I suppose I'll mark it down as 'extremely minor in-house continuity error that isn't important unless he says he has x ray vision in xrd in which case.... Damn bro idk'.

This is actually very good for characterizing. Accent Core itself is useful, of course, but I must admit that the act of playing through it makes it harder for me to sit and analyze the lines lolll. I'll have to write up a script of it at some point to refer to.

The fact that Robo-Ky has nightmares makes me physically ill. If I was crow the moment I found out that a robot I built had artificial intelligence to the point of DREAMING WHILE IN SYSTEM REPACKAGING MODE I'd quit my job and become a full time roboticist. That's IMPRESSIVE DUDE. holy shit.

WAIT??? ROBO-KY MENTIONS FIGHTING BRIDGET??? and he knows that she's trans which is part of his defeat line in Accent Core (You're a girl? But my X-ray vision can see straight through your— err, forget I said that! (changed slightly to be a tinge more tasteful to modern Bridget)). What's the truth, side story.... What's the truth.... Because if he knows her from base XX story mode, then that canonizes all of the Robo-Ky interactions within that game as having been the original Robo-Ky (the one we see in X plus, Accent Core, and XRD). Which I'm fine with, it's just interesting.

Robo-Ky talks about dreams and makes a significant divide between "visions you see while in rest mode" and "thing that you aspire to have". It's extremely fascinating.

I still absolutely adore RK recording data with pen and paper and then scanning it when he's done. That's... That's great. I love it.

Robo-Ky: THAT’S IT! I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU, IDIOT! TO BE SINCERE… THESE PAST FEW DAYS I HAD STARTED TO THINK OF US AS PARTNERS. BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE ANNOYING, YOU’RE ALSO THE ONLY BEING WHO IS ON MY LEVEL. BUT… I WAS WRONG. I THOUGHT I JUDGED YOU RIGHT, BUT IN THE END YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A MERE ELECTRICAL APPLIANCE. IT IS EVIDENT WE CANNOT SEE EYE TO EYE ON ANYTHING! I’M LEAVING!

Hi. Sorry. That's . I'm emotional. Everything hurts. Yelling. Hhhdhgsgggggshshshhshshshh. It's agony and agonizing and painful 💜.

Ky says that it's impossible for there to be more than two Robo-Kys? Girlie? Do you not remember that one time that like 10 of them attacked you at once? Does she have memory problems from not drinking enough milk? Also, Robo-Ky acknowledges his own slutty waist. [ Blows myself up with a bomb for saying that ]

I know it's for comedic effect, but Robo-Ky has a moment where he ponders what expressive words mean when applied to himself, someone that absolutely fits the emotional intent of the words but not the binary definition. It's extremely interesting. I love seeing the depth of emotion and thought he has before the climax of the story. It helps set up that he DID feel these things and have this depth of thought and reasoning before it became a more visible part of himself. it's great.

Anyway the last page is such an emotional ride (the lightning) that I can't say anything constructive.

Uh. I wonder why Ky didn't continue attacking Robo-Ky? I know he had just displayed painful emotion at his fellow RK dying, but she seems... IDK. I'm not a Ky analyzer. Thanks for not killing him I guess. I'm ill goodbye

[mdhwrites]

Love your wenclair fic! Your meta about Enid's character arc is also really good. It was great reading your thoughts, but I wish you'd go into more detail on the failed allegory of it all.

I just absolutely can not get over the sheer ridiculous failure of an idea that was "lycanthropy conversion camp". What were they thinking????? It doesn't work on any level at all. Apparently being a "late bloomer" is a common enough issue they run multiple camps for it? But if it's that common why is it so stigmatized??? The show never seems to come right out and say there are wolves who never fully shift, and Enid's claws point to her shifting eventually, so it becomes merely a matter of timing before the person "converts". That's a disgusting thing to have associated with the fucking torture of queer youth to force them to conform. And the attempt to cash in on lgbtq+ sympathy through this is just gross.

Ughhhh. I really loved Enid and Wednesday's characterization, some of the dialogue was spot on, but it really felt like whoever wrote the overarching plot had no idea what they were doing.

Thank you! I'm really happy with everything I've been doing in Risk Life, even though I still wish I was getting more done. DAMN YOU MENTAL HEALTH! *sigh* I am curious how much having three different directors for the show caused some of the issues with the arcs honestly. Tim Burton seems to push more for the idea of puberty early on, thus the term late bloomer at all and the idea of never finding a mate. A werewolf that never 'grows up' can never be a part of their society is what it feels like effectively. It also makes the claws kind of make sense because it's such a minor and small thing that it makes Enid feel like she's almost playing at being a big bad wolf when she's got her claws out. Then, when it changes directors on episode 5, that's when we start seeing more of the LGBTQ+ allegory. Unfortunately, the two just... don't mix. As much as I would love the reality to be different, this is the only story I've ever seen where coming out as gay or the like is how you are MORE accepted by your society which feels disingenuous to the experiences I mostly see from LGBTQ+ youth. A lot of people do find comfort in Enid's plotline though so if they do, I say more power to them. Also, the directors theory doesn't really explain everything since I think the writers don't change between episodes? I'm not as certain about that. Oh, and for anyone who doesn't know: Tim Burton directed the first four episodes, then the last four were split between two other directors who did two episodes each. As for the camp stuff, I'm still on the side of it just being... dumb. Especially since yeah, you're right, there's MULTIPLE camps for this? How large is the werewolf population then that you can run multiple of these? That multiple of them are possibly profitable? These are outcasts and rare divergences from 'normies', right? And yeah, as you said, it'd s SUBSET of that race that then needs to go to these camps. It's just... It's impressive how many levels of failure this is, not just on an allegorical level but a world building level. The one saving grace I'll give it is that the show doesn't take its fantasy elements seriously, for better and for worse. It's very much so there more for flavor than substance so it makes a general audience less likely to care about the actual world building. And for some stuff that's fine. For something directly correlating to real life atrocities done to the LGBTQ+... Less okay. That's why from a general writing standpoint I'll give it a sigh and a roll of my eyes but as allegory, I still growl and hiss. I also want to shout out though one theory a friend of mine had for the camps. It's that you get thrown into the wilderness with nothing to survive with so it's wolf out or die. Not literally, as the people running the camp will save you but you're meant to be put in such a do or die situation that you do transform. How does that fit into anything allegorically? It... doesn't so it still doesn't work but at least from a fantasy perspective it explains what they are. It's more of an answer than we'll likely ever get from the show at this point.

And my final note for 'they didn't seem to know their overarching plot' is going to be to Crackstone. Not even how he's a hypocrite who only has power because of his staff. No, it's how we go from a show that has fairly light fantasy elements to "SHE PUT A BLOOD CURSE ON HIM, DOOMING HIS SOUL!" Lady, I think we have skipped about at least a whole season's worth of build up to this level of fantasy, thank you very much! When the fuck was this shit on the table!? But yeah, I could rant more but this is long enough as is and getting off topic. ^^; I'm happy you're enjoying Risk Life, Not Love so much and uh, I might have some original sapphics of mine being free in a few days so keep an eye out for that!

[canadianramen]

30. Power Rangers Samurai (Season 18)

Power Rangers Samurai bottoms this list and it's not even close. Right away something about this season feels really off. The acting is just flat and lethargic and the dialogue is terrible. You can tell it's the writing and direction because Jayden shows up in later seasons (we will get to that later on) and he sounds and acts like a normal human being which makes me question what the hell happened. It makes this season extremely painful to get through and that coupled with poor writing and characterization is what pushes it all the way down here. It's so SO hard to watch and was an absolute slog to get through.

The New Saban era is pretty rough overall and is probably the worst in regards to consistency and quality out of the 4 Ranger eras (of which I will get into more detail in later entries).

Antonio is an absolute delight and Power Rangers deserves props for portraying a homoerotic and queer character in a serious light, he's hands down the best character in this season. There's no actual confirmation of his sexual orientation in the show but there doesn't need to be. This seasons demographic is clearly a younger audience, the nuances of sexual identity is a complicated subject matter and it doesn't need to be explored thoroughly in this show in order to have good representation. He's a very flamboyant and at times androgenous character but he's taken seriously, the other characters aren't laughing at him and the rest of the team accepts him because he's a damn good Power Ranger and good person, even though he's "different". And this is all the way back in 2011, 4 whole years before Caitlyn Jenners influence would change society as a whole to be more accepting of the LGBT+ community, I got to give the writers props. Antonio has some of the best character moments in the show "Unexpected Arrival", "Room for One More", "The Blue and Gold", and "Boxed In" come to mind. This is queer representation done relatively well (in spite of the poor writing of this season).

You'll notice throughout the rest of these posts that I am generally not a fan of comic relief side characters that contribute next to nothing to the plot. There's one or two in every season. Sometimes they're genuinely charming, and other times they make me want to put my forehead through a window. Bulk and Spike are the former. They are both equally hilarious and charming and seeing Bulk again is both nostalgic as hell and a nice reminder that this season exists in the same world and continuity as the other seasons.

(It's already timestamped if you're on pc so you can just click play but if you're on mobile the theme starts at 16:59. For some reason if you're on mobile the embedded link doesn't care that I added a start time.)

The suits and overall aesthetic of this season are absolutely fantastic. I think the production teams absolutely nailed it in regards to the overall presentation of the show. It hits with just the right amount of nostalgia. The opening theme is also fantastic and hits nicely with some good nostalgia sprinkled throughout.

Jayden is a perfectly fine red ranger and over the course of the season gets the most development out of the Samurai rangers aside from Antonio. He goes from a closed off arrogant asshole and over time softens and learns to trust his team but never has any standout moments after the first couple of episodes. He's not the gold standard for Red Rangers by any means but he's just fine.

The team as characters overall are forgettable in this season. Each of them aside from Jayden gets maybe one episode if we're lucky of actual development, other than that they are the exact same person from the start up until, and including the end.

Where this seasons gets complicated is the villains. I don't understand why Cole Ev- I mean Deker, isn't the main baddie. He's a far more interesting villain than Master Xandred. The relationship between Deker and Xandred wasn't explored enough in either Samurai or Super Samurai even though it was very compelling. Props to the concept artists who came up with Dekers design. He is hands down one of the best looking villains in the franchise and I want a Death Battle between him and Yoshimitsu from Tekken so badly. But that's the problem, Deker isn't the bad guy. He's in 21 episodes across 2 seasons (12 in Samurai, 9 in Super Samurai). He's got a compelling look, ironically stands out because he has okay acting in a show where all of them feel like they have AI generated actors and lines. Xandred on the other hand is a one dimensional psychopath who just doesn't do anything. Samurai is a season that suffers from having goons be far more interesting than the main villain, given that this is the first season of the Saban Era, and the 18th season overall, it really should have learned from previous mistakes.

In closing, aside from the production quality, Deker, and Antonio, it wasn't hard picking Samurai as the bottom of the list. No team-up, a confusing and one dimensional main villain and a plot that feels like it's never moving forward, all work together to bog this show down. However it's the acting and writing that truly cement it at the bottom because it genuinely makes it unbearable to watch. If those two things were a lot better, Samurai's other mistakes would be a lot more forgivable and you would probably see this season shoot up a few places.

[doodlebloo]

hi i would really really appreciate a breakdown of c!tubbo's character as i am just now realizing, as i go to write a fic, that my characterization of him is completely based on the fanon version rather than who he actually is. you're the resident c!tubbo expert, so i figured you'd know best. (you absolutely don't need to do this, i just wanted to ask lol)

Hello! (C!Tubbo expert anon you flatter me lol)

Okay so I think when looking at canon vs fanon cTubbo, the same thing that happens with most characters happens here, which is that they lose a lot of depth/get watered down. C!Tubbo really commonly either becomes a gentle yes-man with no backbone or a trigger-happy nuclear scientist (although both of these interpretations are a lot less common now!) Another problem that I see ppl run into is letting c!Tubbo and cc!Tubbo bleed together too much. And that's really easy to do because the distinction between the two is not always super clear, but they ARE different and oftentimes I feel like more chaotic interpretations of c!Tubbo are drawing more from the cc than from the actual character.

Overall, c!Tubbo's most prominent trait (when writing him currently, s1-s2 cTubbo is a whole other deal) is probably his way of thinking logically and taking caution. The basis of his character at this point is that he's been so affected by everything he's lost that he's always on guard, always careful, but never rude. He tries not to start conflict because he's been taught in the past that everyone else is stronger than him, so he's got a tendency to try and people-please even if he doesnt like the person. This arguably stems from his early L'Manberg days, but working under Schlatt really shaped him a lot and caused his aversion to talking about his problems.

He genuinely believes in peace and the greater good, even his nuclear weapons were meant to be a scare tactic and not to actually be used, but c!Tubbo would also sacrifice himself in a heartbeat if he thought he'd be more useful to others as a sacrifice than alive, which we can see by the suicide button he put on his nuke.

Another common c!Tubbo-ism is that he will claim to be optimistic when he actually isn't. For example, before a big event he'll tell people that he has faith it'll go well and that everything will be fine, and then after the event he'll admit that he hadn't really believed it was going to work. C!Tubbo can and will lie to make someone else feel better or to make them like him more, and he does so often.

C!Tubbo is the kind of character to speak in a way that's blunt without being necessarily impolite. He says what he means and moves on, and is oftentimes uncomfortable with emotional convos because he's been taught that showing that you care about something will get you or the thing that you care for killed. His grief has shaped him probably more than anything else, because everything he's ever loved has died at least once (except for Michael_B). C!Tubbo's very first house was burned to declare the very first war on L'Manberg, and he hasn't been able to catch a break since.

He carries a lot of guilt and blames himself for things out of his control, but it isn't prominent unless you look for it. He doesn't like sit and wallow in his guilt, he just accepts as fact that everything is his fault and gets up and moves on. If you're in doubt about what c!Tubbo would do in a situation, the answer is probably that he'd throw himself into a project to avoid thinking about his issues. C!Tubbo is like the character most likely of all of them to casually say something very very worrying about himself and then just move on like nothing happened, that's like his whole deal lol.

At his core, what c!Tubbo has really been searching for is a sense of community. He constantly oscillates between isolating himself so he doesn't get hurt again and seeking out others out of loneliness and boredom. C!Tubbo doesn't want to be alone, he wants to be a useful and productive member of a community. He wants to help people and be helped in return, but he can't do that unless he actually has a community that he can trust to keep his loved ones safe, which leads to him isolating himself. And with every loss, he seems to close himself off more and more and have less things to care about.

But this depth rarely ever comes to he surface with him. C!Tubbo will try and keep himself seeming perfectly fine and casual, out of a mix of emotional repression, inability to be seen as weak and an unwillingness to bring down anyone else's mood. If you didn't know him well, you'd assume he was perfectly fine and not someone who has literally forgotten how to grieve because his dead loved ones keep returning.

C!Tubbo is tragic and he contains multitudes, but he can also easily be inserted into a story as a side character and not lose too much depth. If you're looking to study his character more the easiest suggestion I have is to rewatch Wilbur's "One Year Later" L'Manberg anniversary stream, if you go into that with the knowledge that what you're seeing is an exception to the rule that c!Tubbo doesn't cry it's the most brilliant character study we've gotten of him maybe ever. Also there are a lot of other c!Tubbo enjoyers on here that have really good takes on him, if there's any specific aspects of his character you're curious about I'd be happy to point out some of their analysis/find some clips/etc! :)

[zmediaoutlet]

Hey, Z! It’s always interesting to read your take on headcanons and things like that, and this is something that’s been keeping me up at night lol, so, If the supernatural didn’t exist, like an AU where Mary and John were still alive, do you think the bond between Sam and Dean would be the same? Like, would they still have this fiercely almost-incestual codependency? Aghh. Anyways, I love your writing and please excuse my trashy English

hey bud

(first of all your English seems fine)

Short answer: absolutely, positively, definitely fuckin' not.

Longer answer: but it depends, lol.

I'm not particularly interested in normal AUs, but part of why is because Sam and Dean aren't normal and their lack of normalcy is why they're interesting. However, this depends on whether you're a believer in nature or nurture, and in the specific case of the Winchesters if you believe that they're Fated Soulmates No Matter What, or if you think that their circumstances/upbringing are the biggest factor in who and what they've become. (For the rest of this I'm going to use capital-S Soulmate to refer to the 'this is because of fate and was meant to be' type, and a lowercase-s soulmate will be just using the word casually. ...If I remember to. Let's hope, lol.)

I'm interested in the Soulmate thing, just because I find it interesting that Supernatural seems to hold that as a completely legit concept that affects how humans behave. However, I don’t really... buy it as the answer to why they are they way they are. And the show points to that too, over and over: the Winchesters who were in this circumstance and who had this upbringing are the soulmates we see on screen, regardless of Soulmatism, and if those circumstances are altered then they aren’t necessarily as close (or as crazy).

So, we come to upbringing. I’ve read a few normal AUs that work -- note, by ‘work’ I mean that they reproduce something familiar as the Sam and Dean Winchester who we seen in canon -- but they only work because the writer puts in the effort to make the normal AU still ‘abnormal’. That is, there may not be vampires, but Mary’s still dead and John’s a mean distant drunk and their life isn’t all picket fence and fineness. Part of the reason Sam and Dean are who they are is because their world really is a world of two. Other people pass by it and may be friends, may be ‘family’ even, but the thing that makes Sam and Dean into Sam and Dean is that none of those people... matter. They’ll get affection and even what may be love but they’ll fade, because the Brother is an overriding category that supercedes all others, to the point that brother isn’t even a sufficient word (but they don’t have another one, because English doesn’t). To replicate that feeling in a normal AU they need to be, effectively, emotionally neglected/abused by their life so they still turn inward. They can be well-socialized, they can even act pretty normal, but they need to have circumstances affecting enough that when they reach out there’s only one person they really want. 

Caveat: this is obviously if you are hoping to have a canon-ish feeling S&D, as pointed out above. There’s another fic mode which is “look how I have changed starting elements, and as a result the characterization is different in the following ways” -- I call these ‘domino effect AUs’, and they can be very fun. However, there’s also little point for me if the characters are subsequently so different that they might as well be two random dudes named Sal and Dave; there’s also the fact that, given the initial starting circumstances you have, you have to build out a believable ‘present day’ characterization. If you’ve changed a bunch of starting circumstances and carried that through and then the Sam and Dean you’re giving me are somehow almost exactly the same as in canon, then... I don’t believe you. OR you’re making a point about Soulmates (and Fate and Destiny et al) and that’s fine, but I don’t really believe that either. Or at least I don’t find it satisfying to read.

So: if there are no vampires -- and if John and Mary are alive -- then you’ve got to do a whole shitload of supporting work to end up with Sam and Dean recognizably trapped in a fierce nearly-incestuous codependency. If they’re all in a house and not trapped in poverty and if it’s a ~relatively happy family (maybe John and Mary fight but they don’t get divorced) and Sam and Dean are enrolled in school and they’re around other kids all the time and have a steady and stable upbringing, then... how on earth could they ever be Sam and Dean?

Unless, of course, the author’s trying to make a point, whether about Soulmates or incest or whatever. And I have read some fics where that’s true, and I know that other people enjoy them. I just don’t, really. I don’t really buy Soulmates. For me, it’s interesting to me that they’re attached at the soul, but it's vastly more important that they've got all this bubbling history and love and damage and shared memory between them, in the specific and wild circumstances that make them who they are. They make themselves into soulmates. I just don’t see how that’s possible in a three bedroom/two bath where Mom’s packing their lunches and Dad’s throwing around the baseball with them in the backyard.

[tirsynni]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything negative by that ask. I mean, I wanted it to sound negative but I wanted to draw attention to Capcom's bad writing and mistreatment of Leon's characterization. I should have phrased all of that differently. Thank you for taking the time to answer it and that you gave me the benefit of a doubt.

I enjoy answering asks and try to give the benefit of the doubt on the first one. If you end up like the other anon from a little bit back who was just trying to push a negative point, I absolutely won't tolerate it, but you're fine. I understand the frustration with Capcom.

Honestly, it seems that overall Capcom is mostly consistent with characterization. I mean, the games and movies are spread out over two decades, so the characters are going to change. Capcom remains consistent with the big points: Leon's compassion, his priorities (helping others over all else, justice over revenge, etc.), and usually they're consistent with his habit of using humor to address stress and fear. He maintains the habit of refusing to address issues (either by absolutely avoiding them or by drinking to forget about them in Vendetta).

So with major character points, especially considering the passage of time (Leon moving from a bright-eyed rookie to a government agent to a senior agent), I think Capcom is generally consistent. It's the other things they suck at.

They like to use different character designs based on the actors chosen. This drives me crazy and Leon literally loses height and muscle mass in Vendetta. It's pretty damned obvious.

Sometimes, there is no attempt made at all. Looking at you, Degeneration.

They repeatedly forget character relationships despite making character relationships motivation for multiple characters. Leon was forced to join the government due to a threat to Sherry's life and yet there is no mention of her until RE6, when he mentions that "I heard you became an agent." Wtf. Chris vanishes for six months and is possibly dead and yet there's no reaction to that.

I would be more annoyed if his characterization remained stagnant considering RE6 takes place 15 years after RE2. In every game and movie, Leon also plays a different type of role. In RE2, the rookie. RE4, a more experienced agent who has experienced personal and professional betrayal but is still young and hopeful. Damnation, an agent in the middle of a battleground in enemy territory. (Note that's the only time he actually wears armor.) RE6, thrown into an international mission. Vendetta, exhausted and on vacation before joining a friend and ally on a sudden mission.

Capcom seriously has so many issues with managing details, relationships, etc, but they seem all right with maintaining key character points. I just wish they would give Leon a break, remember that it is damned odd if he didn't maintain certain relationships, and address what actually led to Leon being an agent in the first place, but at least they worked to make sure that he stayed the same guy who was determined to help Claire despite her being a stranger, who sacrificed everything for Sherry, who fought hard to protect Ashley, who gave JB a fistbump, who stood between Sasha and a fucking Tyrant with only a knife, and who saved Helena's life despite her betrayal being what led to Adam's death.

It is seriously funny, though, that one of the big things they're consistent with is that Leon has a great ass. I admire their attention to detail.

[mc-critical]

hey, welcome back! hope your exams and stuff went well, and that you're doing fine now.

i wanted to hear your opinion on nigar hatun. i remember seeing one post of yours in which you said that she wasn't a favourite of yours like you favoured other characters and honestly, same. i didn't really much understand the fascination with her. she was an interesting character, but i can't imagine having her as a favourite when there are so many more characters who are far more interesting. i wish they gave her an alternate arc. idk what it could be, i'd like to hear your opinion on it. one alternative ending i came up for her is that she was extremely angry at ibrahim for toying with her and hatice for keeping her sweet little esmanur from her so she joins hurrem to defeat them? which hurrem did try but it didn't really go anywhere and nigar was against hurrem for killing ibrahim which just was kinda frustrating. they literally give hurrem no ally in the harem [except mihrimah later on but mihri is overall varying in terms of power] so it would be good for her to have some support in the harem from people who actually hated her enemies like her. she had actual political support from iskender celebi, rustem, and ayaz pasha and all, sure, but she didn't have much support in the harem, like all powerful women of the harem were against her. nigar obviously wasn't powerful like a sultan but she was an old member of the harem, was respected and even though she kinda lost her dignity with the scandal, she could've regained it with hurrem's help. sumbul was there later on but he was just a very faithful servant and didn't really have any real motive to harm any of hurrem's enemies except for out of his loyalty whilst nigar could've cultivated a hatred for hatice and ibrahim. this is a basic plot but i would've kinda liked seeing it. there can be many more ways her character could've ended but it would be good seeing a woman who didn't bow to her feelings all the time. the sultanas couldn't really control their feelings when it came to love because they were princesses who were used to getting what they wanted most of the time but nigar was a servant who also suffered the hardships of slavery and it obviously would've made her tougher as a person so she could control her feelings better; idk, i feel like this is an aspect of women they could've explored [or if they did explore it, i don't remember it lol my memory lapses a lot so i don't remember the show 100%] anyway, would like to hear your thoughts on nigar. thank you. welcome back again <3

Thank you! <33 Yup, I'm fine and the exams went well. Happy Pride month to you, too! 🏳️‍🌈

Hehe, I wrote that post years ago and while Nigar still isn't one of my absolute favourite characters, I've warmed up to her quite a bit. And honestly, now with the wider experience in the fandom, I can say that she isn't all that loved as it looks like. I then was under the limited wrong impression that the BG Mamma forum was a metric of all the popular opinions and yes, they loved Nigar a lot and I was sometimes confused as to why, but really, that and the Russian fanbase are the only places I have encountered that appreciate her all that much. There are characters I find more interesting than her, that's for sure, but she has her charm and I'm firmly against people reducing her to "evil" or "manipulative" or "weak after she fell in love with Ibrahim", so forth.

The thing she sets her first impression with is her intelligence caused by her relatively high experience in the harem. The advice she gave to Hürrem opened the path to her whole goal (as she herself acknowledged in E41) and that makes for quite an impact for a more recurring character. Despite of this, I never viewed early Nigar as someone taking an open side, hence I didn't find her supposed betrayal to Hürrem surprising in the slightest: she is also trying to survive in this environment in any way she knows how and she can't really find a fully comfortable position, because she is well aware that everyone is thinking for their own gain in the end. Including her. So the only choice she has left is to direct herself to where the wind is blowing and get advantages for herself once she gets the chance. Because all the experience has taught her to repress her feelings (E10 to Hürrem: "In this castle you can't show weakness."), opt to be the more level-headed person and seek for the more pragmatic solutions.

And yet she is very sensitive and perceptive to people that are different than the others or that are in need and is willing to lend them her hand. She adviced and helped Hürrem because she found potential in her, because she wanted to see her succeed, but not through endangering her own self or other people in the process (she told Hürrem that her game had gone too far again in E41), but through negotiation, compromise and adaption, to know when to start and when to stop and be respectful to those above her, no matter how hard or limiting that may look in Hürrem's eyes. Hürrem had the tendency in viewing every sign of support that came to her as granted, she still had that naive part of innocence in her in S01 and early on was in a desparate need of someone to lean on and unconditionally follow her path, that's why when Nigar diverted from that path, it hurt and took her a while to start trusting her again. But I didn't see Nigar as all that attached to Hürrem as Hürrem herself thought she was, especially with how Nigar became stuck between two sultanas later in S01 and that rendered her lost and more insecure than usual.

That's also why I don't view her as a two-faced or hypocritical double-crosser. Because for the longest time, Nigar was the one character in the series before Rüstem appeared that was clearly thinking about her own benefit and survival first and foremost from the beginning when darting between the powerful people in the harem and was the one well aware that she simply can't cling to a single side in her own position. Positions aren't permanent and can always change in such circumstances, so why can't she take advantage of this? Because who cares as much about the feelings for a Kalfa they can still order around after all? She has faced disregard from Mahidevran, Hürrem, Ibrahim and even Hatice. It is pretty understandable that she's going to seek the best opportunity for herself.

That whole facade breaks when she falls in love with Ibrahim. During rewatch, I found myself to have a soft spot for this character deconstruction, especially in S02. I know that it came to pass because of her falling in love with a man that doesn't share the same feelings and there were moments where it looked like she overdid it, even in S02, but for me, the whole thing nicely added a new layer of depth, while still feeling true to Nigar's character. Her future relationship with Ibrahim had been building up back in S01, when Ibrahim (both inadvertently and not I fully believe) played a part in helping her solve the first internal conflict she had (that is the struggle between the two sultanas). Maybe this didn't mean that much to Ibrahim, maybe he was simply trying to be helpful, but it meant a lot to Nigar - that was probably the first time someone seemed to take her feelings into account and actually listen when she couldn't help, but crack under the pressure. So it is only natural that she would search for this source of comfort once again, being ready to face every risk in the process. When she is appointed to Hatice and Ibrahim's castle, when she's practically left alone with Ibrahim, she decides to take that chance, to taste the forbidden fruit. He gave her something she never received and due to her not allowing herself to show weakness and having to cave to everyone else's demands before that, every ounce of affection Ibrahim shows her, it means the world to her. Thus she begins to idealize what she has with him, to the point of denial and delusion, and centers her loyalty completely on him. But that loyalty never seems to falter.  She began to resent and/or hate everyone who could possibly stand in Ibrahim's way, something she wouldn't have ever done before. She keeps her level-headed self and intelligence (I don't think that this plot line reduced it in any way, not even when she was at her worst.) and she's ready to take any opportunity for herself (case in point: her marriage with Rüstem.), but now her softer sides and her wish for affection are showing all the more.

The problem I have with Nigar's character, writing-wise, and now that I think about it, the main subject of why I didn't get the deal with her back then (along with considering her S01 self bland.. somehow?), is her S03B characterization. While her falling in love with Ibrahim plot-line became an important part of S02 Nigar's storyline, I don't think it overshadowed or dominated over her other characteristics, making for a neat balance of traits and an interesting, nuanced character. In an attempt to keep her for longest time possible in the story, S03B flanderized her in every possible way and overexaggerated her biggest strengths and flaws until they became stale and unbelievable. Her love for Ibrahim read as а near obsession narratively and her opportunism coupled with her will for revenge, which put her into many repetitive intrigues. At one point I even felt she was reduced to a plot-device (the moment Şah Sultan appointed her as a spy) and she felt a little too purposeless and to have totally outstayed her welcome until her last moment in the series.

The root of this problem is again, that they just didn't know when to stop with Nigar. To be brutally honest, she had no long-term role left to play after Ibrahim's death and it was time for the writers to let her go and maintain her generally strong characterization. The ending I would've chosen for her is to simply have Matrakcı give her Esmanur's location and for her to live with her daughter in piece. I know that because of the tonal shift, the show seemed to be already inclined that everyone had to have a tragic ending of sorts, to underline the growing ruthlessness and cruelty of the themes, but I fully believe that Nigar was one of the only characters that were terribly forced through their tragic endings. She didn't need, nor deserve a tragic ending and I doubt it would've been such a problem for the half-season if she didn't get one. I find a happier ending to be perfectly fine for Nigar and I would've loved to see it, if only for a freshness in ideas for character endings. I loved her Esmanur storyline and to witness her finding happiness with her, the only solace she had left, would have been a great wrap up of her S03 plots and an amazing send-off to Nigar's character.

I appreciate the thought you have put into your ending for her and to be fair, your proposal would be much better than anything S03B gave us. It would nearly correspond with the revenge plot of hers they were going for and it would be something more original at the same time. Hürrem's principal lack of allies doesn't bother me as a fact alone, because all her enemies have understandable reasons to be against her, but what bothers me however, is when the writers try using it to dumb her enemies down and make them doom themselves through their own failings or outright use it to put forced (often soapy) conflicts to make the audience sympathize with Hürrem. Or to make everyone "mistitle" her (is that a word? probably not.) or disrespect her on purpose again for sympathy points (that go beyond the part of her motivation that wants to feel respected and does stuff out of fear not to fall under a less favorable position once again.), without changing the status-quo until say, S04.

It is so deliberate it becomes annoying and seeing something else for a change... honestly, gimme! While I personally prefer a happy ending for Nigar, I would live for Nigar and Hürrem to work together again, while keeping what's become her central motivation intact. It may seem a little OOC for Nigar to work for Hürrem by that point, because she's channeled her loss of the most precious people into rage on those that have taken them away, but it would be a decent shifting of gears and a reverence to her opportunism to work to eradicate those she hates for good, even if it means doing so with one of your bigger enemies. After all, after the mission is fulfilled, she could still work against Hürrem in some way, right?

[Tell me if I got what you meant wrongly, but there is an example of a dynasty sultana putting her love feelings behind and by that I mean Şah Sultan. Her love is in the past by the point she arrived in the castle and her love for Ibrahim is only used as a conflict between her and Hatice, which they get over relatively quick. Sisterly love and ambition are a much bigger priority of Şah's: she cared about Hatice past any resentment she may have harbored over the years and agreed to share her life with Lütfi for the advantage this may bring, even though she didn't love him at all. She divorced him only when he offended the pride of a woman and her own personal pride. Other than that, we indeed didn't have a female character in MC that puts her feelings behind in design as far as I recall, only ones that end up clinging to them completely like Nigar here or ones that let go of them eventually like Mahidevran. Characters that have this design by default are more present in MCK like Safiye, or Turhan, or especially Gülbahar, but as I've said many times, MCK is more ruthless, while MC is more about the personal feelings of the characters, hence every motivation they have is somehow tied to them.]

[jedi-order-apologist]

So,about Miller's clone wars books, you mentioned you might have some thoughts on it and i would like to hear them, if you're up to? I read some time ago and don't really remember if had any jedi bashing or not, i just recall having fun while reading.

I wouldn’t say that the books are Jedi-bashing, just that they get the Jedi wrong. There’s a lot of conflation of love and attachment, and the typical “Jedi can’t show emotions” thing going on. It’s just done for whump instead of bashing.

Actually, yeah, I think that’s my main issue with these books. Not really how it portrays the Jedi, but rather that stuff is done for the sake of whump regardless of whether it actually…fits. Which would be fine if this was a fanfiction tagged as whump, but this is official material associated with the TCW TV show. The EU may not have been strictly “canon”, but it was at least intended as the equivalent of fanfiction with a big flashing neon “canon-compliant” tag. And I feel that these books fall very flat in that regard.

And yeah, I guess I’m not really the biggest fan of whump in general. I like angst fine but…I get burned out on this particular brand of it, because it usually just doesn’t feel earned or built up enough for me. I’m not sure if I can exactly put my finger on it but there’s a way that the prequels and TCW justify their tragedy to me that these books just don’t capture. It’s a really careful thing, to handle angst properly, and if you go too far then it gets really tiring.

But that’s obviously a personal preference thing. For those who like whump more than I do, I’m sure these books are a lot more appealing - so don’t let me put you off of them if you enjoy them. These books just didn’t resonate with me for a lot of reasons…

(rambling more specifically about what I liked and didn’t like under the cut)

I think the books (which again, I haven’t read Siege - only Wild Space and Stealth) do have their strengths. I think Miller is really good at writing playful banter - those character interactions are absolutely on point. I couldn’t stop laughing when in Stealth, Obi-Wan pretended he had no idea where Anakin could’ve possibly learned how to be so sarcastic.

But uh…most anything outside of playful banter? Not so much a fan of those interactions. The way it’s written…it’s like they have only two levels of interaction, and the instant there’s any tension between characters, they invariably take that tension to 11, with no stops in between. It makes everyone come off as really bitchy, because they’re the same level of upset regardless of how minor or serious the trigger. I don’t mind characters arguing but this constant level of it wears on my nerves. Everyone’s written as though they’re 30 seconds from having a breakdown, and I’m sorry, but I just can’t see how these people are supposed to survive three more years of war if they’re already so close to their breaking points.

Especially Obi-Wan. I’m sorry but this is the worst offender in regards to “doing things for whump rather than fitting with the character”. The characterization of Obi-Wan is just…really, really fanficy. And I don’t mean to malign fanfic, because I do love transformative works…but characterization is often a mixed bag, and, as in these books, a weird mix of highly on-point moments which exactly hit what you’d think the character would do/say/think, and moments that are the complete antithesis of that, and moments that are just really, really off without being able to exactly pin down why. And I get that a lot of this is subjective, and a lot of people can and do fit this with their interpretation of the character, but I just can’t. I can’t see Obi-Wan being as dysfunctional as he’s portrayed here and making it through the genocide of his people and Anakin’s betrayal and then living 20 years alone in exile. That’s not the kind of thing you get through if you already hate yourself for years before that.

I don’t know…it’s almost like Miller felt like Obi-Wan had to be this dysfunctional, that he needed to be equally as unstable as Anakin, just in a different way…and I just don’t see that from the films or TCW. I know a lot of people really like this interpretation. I don’t. It’s not that I think Obi-Wan is perfect, because he’s absolutely not. He’s fallible as anyone else would be. But the idea that characters need to be dysfunctional in order to be fallible or interesting doesn’t sit well with me.

Maybe I’m reading it wrong, and this is all supposed to be a temporary thing Obi-Wan is struggling with. I don’t remember it being quite as bad in Wild Space, after all, so maybe his characterization in Stealth is all supposed to be an after effect of Zigoola, and he’ll make peace with all of that by the end of Siege, presumably after his terminally ill friend/love-interest inevitably dies tragically in his arms? Somehow it doesn’t seem likely to me that that would make his self-recrimination/self-loathing/refusal-to-take-care-of-himself/etc any better, but I could be wrong. If anyone knows if Siege addresses my issues with Stealth then I’d probably be much more encouraged to read it.

The part that really soured my opinion, though, was when we got to the scientist, and how all that was handled. I get it, Miller was trying to present a situation of “someone’s in trouble, Anakin wants to help, Obi-Wan also wants to help but knows that they must stay focused on their mission, they both have good points”...except that the scientist was at the center of their mission, she was being forced to make the bioweapon they were trying to stop, so Obi-Wan’s “oh no, just like Qui-Gon, Anakin’s picking up strays that we can’t afford to be distracted by” makes NO sense to me. In helping her they’re helping their mission. And the part where he's thinking about how they have to succeed in their mission at all costs, and even considers Shooting the Hostage himself is really...not Obi-Wan, to me? Yeah there are a lot of lives on the line, and maybe this was supposed to be him struggling with the Dark Side (it didn’t really come across as being written that way to me though, but I could at least accept that more), but the way it was all written didn’t really seem to justify itself, and doesn’t seem in character for Obi-Wan (I realize this book was written very early in TCW’s run, so the Citadel arc wasn’t out yet, but...in the Citadel arc Anakin is the one saying that the Jedi don’t go far enough to succeed in the war, and Obi-Wan gives him some raised eyebrows for that). And the way he gets hung up on the scientist having been coerced into making the bioweapon because she was unwilling to sacrifice her family is so odd to me, because 1) they have limited time, and it doesn’t make sense to spend that time dwelling on things that can’t be changed, and they need her cooperation so it’s better to be tactful than openly judgemental, and 2) Jedi don’t expect non-Jedi to follow their beliefs and make their sacrifices, which is how this whole thing comes across.

Anyway, I’m sure people can come up with justifications and explanations for why this all works but it doesn’t work for me and there wasn’t enough going for the story otherwise for me to try and make it work. YMMV.

Oh, and also with both Wild Space and Stealth, I really get the sense that Miller wanted Padmé, Bail, Obi-Wan, and Anakin to end up in a four-way but for obvious reasons wasn’t allowed to write them as such, so settled for making various insinuations whenever possible. It’s actually more amusing than annoying, but it certainly doesn’t help it feeling like a mislabeled fanfic.

Anyway, if you like these books that’s completely fine. But they’re not for me and I don’t agree with their take on Star Wars or its characters. I can go into more specifics if you want, but it was more about the general way it was written and the characters characterized than any specific passages or moments.

[primrose-path-of-dalliance]

what she says: i'm fine.

what she means: lotor, despite much of the fandom's insistence, is far from his father's son. he establishes himself as principled and opposing the galra empire from his very first moment of introduction in s3e1, when he condemns it for subjugating its colonized people and controlling them through fear when it would be more effective (and moral) to accept them as equals and allow self-rule. lotor gives this speech to an entire arena of ruthless galra empire soldiers, who believe that every ideal coming out of his mouth is a sign of weakness; galrans like throk were planning to seize power for themselves and usurp lotor precisely because of these perceived weaknesses.

this speech, while charismatic, does not set up lotor as a genius manipulator hungry for power--in fact, it says something entirely different, that lotor genuinely believes in the ideals he is claiming and will not compromise them for power's sake. otherwise, he ought to have appealed in the most effective way by preaching the strength of galran might and cruelty and striking down throk where he lay.

indeed, lotor opposes and despises the very aspects of an empire that foster tyranny and cruelty. one of the greatest evils of imperialism is the deliberate destruction of a colony's native cultures and people in order to quash rebellion and nationalism. lotor, however, values individuals, their cultures, and their need for self-determination, seen in his advocacy and practice of self-rule even in an arena (and universe) dominated by a people who consider the very concept disgusting; his hatred for haggar, particularly for her methods of exerting absolute control over other people (even accusing zarkon, who before was portrayed as the figure of ultimate evil in the universe, of simply being a puppet for haggar's machinations); his generals that he fights alongside "like a lowly private," all sneered at for being half-galra or less; his confession about the first planet he had ever been assigned to, in which he worked alongside their leaders, learned their customs, and only harvested quintessence sustainably; and his deep conviction that his altean heritage is a strength, despite his father and entire society insisting that it makes him weak, and spending centuries traveling the universe in search of the remnants of the culture his father destroyed.

many also try to argue that lotor should be reviled for being a cold-blooded murderer. however, one should acknowledge that team voltron are more than likely murderers as well after a fashion, killing the same sort of people. the story also makes it clear that lotor experiences guilt after killing someone, does not do so unless he believes it necessary to his survival (or part of haggar's plans), and finds the galra empire's sadism reprehensible. there are multiple situations in which any other galra would've performed cruelty with deliberate glee, but which lotor is far from-- puig, in which his second-in-command acxa explicitly orders them to "kill no one" despite the planet's alliance with voltron; throk, who, although deceived, is not publicly executed to quell threats to lotor's power as throk and everyone in the arena expected (and would certainly have done themselves); his fights with voltron, in which lotor tests whether he can expect them to survive the transreality rift and nothing else; zethrid's aggressive impulses, which lotor frequently and repeatedly check; and the months in between s3 and s4, in which lotor is confirmed by both team voltron and haggar to have essentially vanished and abandoned the emperor's duties.

in fact, there are only three occasions where it's confirmed that lotor killed someone-- raht (the spy haggar sent to observe him in s3e5), narti, and zarkon. on all occasions, lotor believed (correctly for the first two) that haggar was using them, and it's well-established that lotor despises haggar and her puppetry to a high degree. raht, as the average galran officer, and zarkon, for obvious reasons, are people we're meant to have little sympathy for; most of the contention comes with narti's death in s4e3. however, at that moment, lotor's base was under attack by several galran fleets, and his life, the lives of his generals, and the sincline ships were in direct danger. considering his childhood, the circumstances of his exile, his opposition to the empire, and the knowledge that both haggar and zarkon were completely comfortable with and indeed ordered for his death, one can safely judge that lotor is not a healthy character, and that his life has been dominated by survival and the expectation that the galra empire will eventually destroy anything he tries to accomplish if he does not thwart them first with extreme prejudice (his certainty that there's a spy after only 3 detected anomalies in a day in s3e5, and his instant assumption that bugs must have been placed on their ship in s4e3). he concludes that narti betrayed them as the only person to have come with him to galra central command, either by botching the scans for bugs or otherwise; narti is directly threatening his life and plans; he must kill narti immediately.

after all 3 murders, lotor displays signs of guilt despite some insistence that he doesn't experience any. after killing raht, his following confrontation with haggar is comparatively much more impulsive and characterized by an outburst of anger when lotor is more commonly restrained, even when accused of the exact same thing in s5e1 by allura (being like his father). both narti and zarkon's deaths are followed by periods of listlessness and apathy.

when he comes to after being stunned by acxa, he doesn’t respond with outrage or violence. he simply says, “i understand, zethrid--you do what you must. and i’ll do what i must,” ejects zethrid, and flees without further attack. his intent, like his generals, is survival, and is the farthest from lashing out against the betrayal than any other galran officer would be.

indeed, lotor is far from his father's son--and the implications that lotor is somehow reprehensible and deserves the amount of vitriol he commonly receives, simply because he has his own plans/methodology separate from team voltron and the shallow but frequent take of Gray Morality™ from his fairly complex character, betrays tumblr culture's tendency to demand black-and-white morality from content producers.

(this could also be compared to the collective hatred of "kuron/clone shiro/fake shiro/#not my shiro" when it can be concluded since his first appearance that he's more than likely "the real shiro," namely because haggar would otherwise have no reason to believe that shiro was even missing in the first place. team voltron didn't realize until they were in the black lion themselves, and they certainly would've tried to conceal it afterwards. why send a spy to infiltrate a team if you think the person you're trying to imitate is still there? at the very least, he has the exact same memories and desires as "the real shiro," would not be conscious of anything wrong about his behavior if it is at all influenced by something, and is therefore hardly to blame for anything about his current circumstances.)

[margarettudorarchive]

I'm so sorry about having to use anon (I can't log into my account) and you're the only person I know of that doesn't ship rowae/in and I'm like so done with the fangirls for that ship!! I just said, "hey, I'm totally fine if you do ship it, but I can't see why men and women can't be friends for once without it getting romantic and/or sexual" and their responses were basically just (1/2)

(2/2) They’re like “It makes them so special to be soulmates ^-^” and I’m like “But what about platonic soulmates of different genders??” and they’re like “Friendships can turn into something more ^-^” and I told them that seeing absolutely NOTHING that normalized healthy, non-romantic, non-sexual relationships between men and women perpetuated the sense that it was all about sex, shared with them (sorry, I lied, it’s 2/3)(3/3) shared with them the story of how when I was younger, I had been pressured into a relationship by a guy who said it was a logical next step from us being friends. It turned unhealthy, and I felt trapped often. I TOLD THEM THE FUCKING STORY, and all they said was, “Well, maybe these books are too much for you to handle then! Apparently, you cannot read about a relationship without feeling pressured.” like fuck you too (damn I’m sorry ¾)(4/4) the moment you can tell me to stop complaining about this overused soggy napkin of a trope is when you can show me prime, normalized examples of non-related men and women being friends. Nothing more. Good friends. Best friends. Platonic soulmates. And stop mocking trauma, goddammit. Until then please don’t come at me with all the gross hetero bs (fin) 

There’s no need to keep apologizing dear! I understand, and am always happy to listen

Every day of my life I pine for what platonic!Rowan and Aelin could have been….no toxic undertones in their relationship, no character assassination just to fulfill SJM’s boner, the phrase “velvet-wrapped steel” never forcing itself on my unwitting eyeballs….we truly could have had it all :’( It actually could have been a great teacher/student friendship that, like you said, would help to dismantle the toxic idea that “men and women can’t be friends” and all that bs.  Unfortunately, SJM’s characterization of the Fae, particularly fae “males” (ugh), is a pretty clear indication that she has toxic masculinity on a personal little pedestal, and the two most recent TOG books and the ACOTAR series show that she’s keeping it there for the time being >:( (also, Rowan sexually assaulted Aelin in HoF, so SJM would have to do some serious explaining/repair before I would feel comfortable with even a platonic relationship between the two).  

I’m so, so sorry that happened to you; what a piece of shit. As for that condescending bs they fed you about you not being “ready” for a series like TOG: why does that mean your opinion on R*waelin is suddenly invalid?? You spoke about your real-life experiences that parallel the things that make you uncomfortable about R*waelin, and their response is to belittle your pain and dismiss your opinion bc of it; that’s beyond disgusting.  You didn’t try to restrict their freedom to like what they like and ship what they ship!! You literally just stated your gd opinion and they jumped on you. But WE’RE the mean ones ya okay

If it makes you feel better, the anti r*waelin tag (sans asterisk, at least) is full of people who agree with you on this toxic garbage pile of a ship, so taking refuge there is always an option! i know i do when i need a break from the fandom’s shit 

also: can we make “gross hetero bs” the unofficial name for the SJM fandom