#anti ben

[edwinas]

brutally honest opinion on devi/paxton

SO MUCH WASTED POTENTIAL

Devi and Paxton were two flawed teenagers who supported, respected, challenged and cheered each other on. They were always there for each other, especially when no one else was. Paxton accepted all parts of Devi.

But the show squandered all their romantic potential because they can't be friends and date?? Even though a healthy romantic relationship is built on friendship? The show butchered Daxton for what??? Devi to end up with a white boy who disrespects her???

In s1, Paxton's biggest quality was accountability. He made amends apologised and did better. He was arguably the most emotionally intelligent character of the show.

In s2 he was a different person. He couldn't speak, was a stereotypical jock, never apologised for anything. Also that "reveal" where Paxton was ashamed of Devi when they were together in ep 1... utter garbage. It made no sense and contradicted Paxton being publicly involved with Devi in ep 1.

Still hate Devi thanking Paxton for being a dream in s3. I know this stupid Paxton-hating fandom thought that everything that happened between Daxton until now was fake and rooted in "fantasy." It undermined Daxton's development since s1. As soon as Devi started talking to Paxton, he was no longer an empty cipher she could project on.

Don't get me started on s4 and Paxton returning to high school. Why not have Paxton return after taking a sabbatical or he's on holidays??? Uni is hard. You have so many more responsibilities and priorities. Students tend to care less about rigid social hierarchies, like the ones in high school. But Paxton went through so much to get there. He lost his swimming scholarship, accepted being tutored by Devi (the girl who ridiculed him and in his mind made him loose his scholarship), went the extra mile etc. Paxton's priority was his grades, never his reputation. So Paxton dropping out after 2 weeks??? Bullshit.

[hydesjackiespuddinpop]

Ugh Ben

[yayimallamaagain]

You tell him Imogen

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Still Salty About the Flanderization of Steven

Many SU fans have had to see these memes and are probably tired of them. I really hate the way people who have never even watched the show and probably just LO’s video flanderize Steven into a bumbling wimp or take scenes like him crying about wanting to be friends with Connie or trying to talk down Spinel out of context. People hate him for not killing his enemies on sight and act as if all he does is talk no jitsu. People act as if he’d die trying to redeem Big Jack Horner from Puss in Boots even though he’s met villains like Jack with Aquamarine and Eyeball and not only did he kick their asses but accepted that they were beyond help. Steven prefers to talk over fighting but isn’t stupid and knows when he has to get serious. Even during his “I can make a change” song that’s twisted out of context, he was still fighting defensively against Spinel. He just wasn’t fighting to kill. As for the meme above, did the creator watch Alien Force? The way Ben handled the Dragon, Reiny and the Highbreed would be pretty similar to how Steven would. The idealistic hero who teaches violence isn’t always the answer has already been done so why does Steven get the most hate for it?

I reblogged a post about this but I really am tired of how TOH is propped up as the anti SU when Dana is friends with Rebecca and praised the groundbreaking work Rupphire did. The Owl House crew doesn’t hate SU and wasn’t doing a “take that” by killing its villain or claiming not everyone can be talked down with a hug. They’re two different shows with different stories and themes. Steven would also know that some like Belos can’t be redeemed and he didn’t actually redeem the diamonds. He didn’t like them and acts uncomfortable around them in Future but he needed them to cure the corrupted gems. The point of the diamonds as well as Andy was not that you have to accept bigoted family members but a wish fulfillment where queer people could get their families to accept them. I saw this on Reddit but I think Steven gets so much hate because he teaches the idea that retributive violence isn’t always the solution and because he got a good life with a loving family, girlfriend and adoration of everyone without being a self centered sexist asshole. Internet Dudebros hate the character who showed healthy emotion, treats Connie as an equal and taught stuff like acceptance, boundaries and kindness, as they hate the idea that they don’t have any of that because of how bigoted, self absorbed or toxic they are.

[fighting-naturalist]

SG-1: a team made up of very serious adults

[troythecatfish]

[ronalddear]

i’m so upset about the erasure of inejs trauma not only in this season but throughout the entire show. there were so many opportunities to include it and they just didn’t??

the first fight with the taxidermist when he pinned her down?

the toxin dream?

the fact that they KILLED tante helene and there was no visible reaction from inej??

instead they give her a lost brother and make her toxin dream about her relationship with kaz when everyone else’s involves their trauma and links to their backstory. the fact that the show gave her a brother makes me feel like they’re lessening her trauma more because it takes the attention off HER.

same thing with the dream, there was no reason for it to be about kaz when we could’ve gotten a perfect flashback to her being kidnapped and working in the menagerie. there weren’t any physical indications of her trauma either. i feel like they could’ve also included her devotion to her faith a lot more as it makes sense to the nature of her character.

as much as i’m upset i can’t possibly get over how PERFECT amita was as inej, (ignoring the fact that she and none of the other crows are the correct age) especially this season, acting was off the charts, with the poor material she was given.

[edwinas]

person about to start drama: brutally honest opinion on ben/devi

Ben shouldn't have been made a love interest because of "chemistry." He was so unapologetic and shameless, Devi deserved better. He's one of the worst things that happened to her.

Haven't seen the later episodes but as far as I know, he never apologised for being a huge bigot in s1. Still can't believe we got a whole episode dedicated to his white boy sob story about him being alone. Be nice and you'll get friends, it's realllly not hard.

Ben can do whatever consequence-free whereas Devi can't. He was never held accountable for being a dick??? He was terrible to and for Devi for years until he liked her romantically (and even then he was a jerk).

He didn't have "redemption arc," he wants to get in Devi's pants so all their hostile history is suddenly... gone? And he does the bare minimum, if that, and Devi's supposed to settle for that??? This is the boy who pressured Devi into altering her body to be forgiven??? And we're meant to root for them??? What kind of white nonsense??

Ben & Devi is one most badly executed "enemies-to-lovers" trope I've seen. The only reason this happened is because of Mindy's obsession with white bullies.

[watchingtheearthrise]

It’s 2023. Let’s drop the idea that “you’re nothing but not to me” is romantic and instead recognize it as what it actually is: gaslighty, harmful, isolating and just plain evil.

[makorragal-312]

Alice taking Charlie's speech to Harry at Tara's party and instead having him say it in his final scene with Ben where he's able to finally tell him off.

CHEF'S KISS

[lurking-latinist]

support glamorous '60s women and their random boyfriends

[awesomechocolatesauce]

It's so wild seeing people call Ben an "abuser" and feeling disgusted that a show would romanticize him.

Like... that's an extreme take. I feel like they've skipped quite a few steps to get to that point.

It's like "GAH! A flawed character! Let's burn them at the stake!"

I know it must suck that the ship you wanted didn't end up together, but damn! Calm down!

[lpa6zn]

Character created to show that society easily forgives physically attractive people: *exists* Society: *proves the point*

[dani-luminae]

I wanna have something clever to say about these pics (mostly the way he's staring in the first one because oh wow,) but that just made me realize this is really genuinely the last moment that he actually has any clarity or agency as a character, allowed to make his own decisions.

After this scene, for the rest of this movie and even D3, he's Never Allowed to Disagree With Mal Ever (but expected to take the blame for her actions, somehow) and like. I just wonder if he knows that's how it's going to turn out. He disagreed with her once, she ran off, and all her friends think he's the bad guy. He's still compassionate and it's framed as a bad thing ("The Isle are my people too" vs. "Ben, Uma captured you".) And he tells Mal, "do what you need to do."

The choice is squarely on her. If she wants to leave, fine. If she wants to stay, fine. She already told him they were done on the Isle of the Lost.

Cotillion comes, and hurray! Mal stayed! But Ben's under a spell and everyone acts like he's to blame, like he betrayed Mal somehow. Carlos even implying he would rather have left Ben for dead on the island.

I just wonder, if maybe Ben took a look at all the circumstances and everything, and Mal's mastery of manipulation, and understood what his future was going to be: Agree With Mal, Always, or he would be hated.

Unless Mal made the choice to leave again, but she doesn't.

[jupitersrising]

Ben not seeing the love potion as malicious is actually so important to me. Because why would he think someone giving a love potion would have ill intentions for him? Sure, he's heard of the heroes horrific pasts but those are just stories of the ye ole' days the adults share. He's the result of the Happily Ever After, things like that don't happen anymore. All the evil-doers are put away. He believes all the Isle Kids have that same kind of experience. Of course he'd just think Mal was actually this shy girl who was too afraid to ask him out. He wants to see the best in her; he sees the best in everyone.

Mal, on the other hand, knows just how wrong it is. She never, ever corrects him on his assumption of her having a crush on him and being too afraid to ask him out. Because why would she want to do that? Making him understand the implications of a love potions just drags him into her world, into the Isle where stuff like that was always malicious.

Obviously I don't condone Mal's actions, and the implications of a potion that makes someone obsessed ("love") with another person is something from a fucking horror novel. I just think it makes sense (in-universe) that he'd never think that she had malicious intentions and that she would never want to tell him.

[raisedbythetv89]

I just started watching White Collar for the first time and a realization about most male written and directed media smacked me DIRECTLY in the face which is that SO MUCH media written by a for men is genuinely just male nerd self insert, non-canon compliant, AU fan fiction??????

Like them writing and creating stories is just “ok so these guys are soooo smooth and well dressed and women just flock to them at every turn and they can get away with anything and everyone believes and supports them when they do mess up and everyone thinks they’re sooooo brilliant”

This media isn’t just portraying women “for the male gaze” it’s EVERYTHING. Everything in these stories is supporting and uplifting mens’ delusions about who they are, how they’re perceived, and how they should expect to be treated. Which is incredibly ironic because anytime media portrays women or the world in the female gaze in a more “in my ideal world things would be like this” instead of portraying us as nothing but weak, broken, unloved, traumatized, victims OR one dimensional sex symbols with no needs or emotions they’re screaming, crying, throwing up about how stupid and unrealistic the story is….

This explains SO MUCH about how male characters are handled in shows like Veronica Mars and Buffy. Even though they’re shows staring women all the “good guys” get the delusional self insert, y/n, AU fan fic treatment (Buffy still wants Angel in season 3 and Riley in season 6 even after everything they did and Xander is CONSTANTLY forgiven for all the atrocious shit he says and does and is wanted by all women besides Buffy. Veronica forgiving Duncan and getting back together with him and even CONSIDERING Piz could truly only be born from men being delusional AS FUCK. Writing how they want men to be treated by women rather than being based in reality and the woman having even an ounce of self respect.)

Which is why the “bad boys”, Logan and Spike are such better characters. They’re so much more realistic, they get held accountable by the women in their lives, have better growth and are just way more appealing and attractive because they’re not the walking embodiment of what MEN want men to be treated and act like.

Oh god this feels like such cursed knowledge to have like it’s important to see this media for what it really is but now watching it feels that much yuckier like finding the porn of someone you DO NOT LIKE but like their emotional porn “this is what life would be like in my fantasies” and they’re the fantasies of the grossest men alive 😭😭😭😭😭

Also it shows their emotional maturity like all of these things are what 13 year old boys fantasize about not actual mature, grown men….

Also just realized this is why the Star Wars sequels were so hated. It wasn’t just Rey being powerful and loved by her found family and Kylo. It was that the movies showed the reality of men like Kylo. They destroyed the male fantasy Darth Vader created. They aren’t super cool, powerful badasses. They’re extremely sad, broken, temper tantrum throwing lost little boys who just want love and acceptance but have lost the ability to accept it because of the dark side (aka the patriarchy) which is the reality and that made me SOOOOO ANGRY lololololololol and this is why Joss Whedon THOUGHT making Spike into a sad pathetic mama’s boy of a poet would make the audience not like him because that DOES work on misogynistic men who enjoy the male gaze but does NOT work and only humanizes and makes Spike even more complex and lovable to the female gaze 💀💀💀💀 oh good lord