#bashfic

[gritsandbrits]

The Reason You Suck Speech ~ Sentinel Prime Edition.

After being fed up with the way Optimus Prime gets treated by his so-called friend, GritsandBrits finally reads Sentinel the riot act. Sentinel Prime Bashing, Optimus Defense Club. Warning for any Sentinel stans this is very negative towards him and tbh he needed that.

Tv Tropes: Someone delivers a speech to another character on all the reasons why that other character sucks or is a horrible person. There are several contexts in which this can happen.

In this context, it's giving 10yo me the chance to finally say what she wanted to say about Sentinel. He may have gotten off easy in canon but we aren't in canon are we? 

Okay. I have had enough of you badmouthing Optimus! Now I'm not saying he's perfect - who gives a damn! Perfection is boring and the way I see it trying to achieve it only leads to more problems! And I have never seen a more clear example than you Sentinel Prime! You like to rub everyone else's failures in their faces yet do nothing to help them grow. You strut around like Primus's given gift to the universe expecting people to like you yet barely have a good word to say about anyone. Even the few bots who do give a damn about you you treat with contempt.

The show may have let you off the hook then but it's been over for twelve years now and nothing is holding me back from calling you out. Even years later I'm still mad no one actually called out you for being an asshole, save for that one time Optimus told you to take your attitude and stuff it. That part made me laugh. And deserved.

You went around making everyone feel bad about themselves. You nearly put your own team in danger when you bribed Decepticons, said an ageist statement towards your boss In the Almanac, and would've endangered both planets has that fourth season been made! All the hurt you caused you got away with it... Not this time! Nobody ever talked to you like that? Good. Perk up those antennae I got more. 

You are part of one of the most powerful defenders in the universe. You are a candidate for what is the most powerful position on your planet. You're like almost royalty to your people yet here you are acting like you part of a school clique talking shit about people behind their backs. Ever since you came to earth you been carping and sniping at Optimus more than usual. For what? Because he's a college dropout? Or is it because he made something of himself with being a dropout and without you! Him being happy ticks you off, so you gotta cling on to what little control you have left by undermining his work. Bad enough he had to drop his things to bail you out and having to waste precious time and energy foolin' up with you!

His job was to maintain the space bridges not be your personal lapdog! Just because he's a janitor doesn't give you the right to make messes for him on purpose. It's basic courtesy. Then again, you wouldn't understand courtesy if it hit you in the chin!

It's not just the way you treat Optimus it's also how you treat everyone else. You make fun of Bee and Bulkhead, they told me about how you were at boot camp by the way. You pick on Jazz and the Twins for expressing interest in our planet. You even had the gall to insult Prowl's memory when he was the one who gave his life to save Earth AND your world! If not for him you wouldn't be here now bullying the way you do. 

Yeah I said it! You're a bully! A prime bully who throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way. Who likes to make everyone else miserable! Who bullied his way into positions of power! We're all happy and content with our lives with all its faults and follies and fun and freakiness. Even you with your lack of courtesy, we still accept you, so why can't you accept us? Do you have to destroy everyone to make your life worthwhile? The worse part is you don't own up or express remorse. Rather, you blame other people for suffering the consequences of YOUR actions!

You complained about Optimus lying to you about Miss Spider, well what about the other times he told you the truth? When he warned you about the Decepticons' presence on Earth, or Wasp's innocence, or organics not being a threat, all you said was: you're lying, I don't believe you, you're just a dropout, arrest them all! Not a 'let's settle down and figure this out together', nope! Just straight up threatened them with prison! He tries to be honest with you but you refuse to hear him out! 

You complain about a lack of communication but how can we when you go around insulting everyone! The rare times you do speak positively it always come out so backhanded, like you have to point out something negative no matter how inconsequential it is. Everyone's forced to walk on eggshells around you. Why? Because we know you got a negative remark loaded on your tongue. That and you like to brag. Loose lips sink ships as they say.

And back on lying, honey he never lied to you. If anything he was protecting you! He didn't want to hurt the both of you so he had to make a hard decision at the cost of his own wellbeing. When you did learn the truth, instead showing the poor thing a bit of compassion, you tell her that she was better off dead! What is that to say about someone? Especially someone who was your girlfriend? 

She probably didn't have much of a choice, and you know good and well how slick Megatron is! But besides that, you were hurt yes, but you have the time to seek closure. Instead you denied your ex a chance to heal from her traumas. You continue using Optimus's own trauma against him.

You plot and scheme to further your ambitions not caring who gets hurt. You try to inflict trauma on every organic on this Earth. Tell me, are we really a threat? Or are you just venting your anger over not being told about Blackarachnia? Given your past behavior I would not be surprised if it ends up being the latter. 

That's another thing every time you faced with a difficult situation you immediately lash out. Optimus has been your biggest victim. When it's not dumping your the responsibility on him, it's sneering or picking on him. You ever stopped to think how Optimus might've felt? The guilt he feels over not saving her? The fear that someone could hurt her, or that she might hurt innocent beings. How he has to shoulder not just his own grief but yours as well. How he has to deal with your hatred. 

You say you don't haye him yet that doesn't stop you from treating him like a tool. Do you ask him how he feels? Did you offer him comfort in his time of need? Or are you the only one ever allowed to feel sad? Maybe you can learn his side of the story if you bothered to give him a chance! You claim it's too late for apologies but the thing is, that's not a reason for you treating everyone like junk. When others make mistakes they at least try to fix them, or move on and take steps to do better in the future. Even if it's not verbal, there's other ways to apologize and grow. 

You could've worked with Detroit. You could stop calling Optimus that awful name. You could've open you heart - excuse me - your SPARK to others and learn about our planet. Sure you can't change the past but that don't mean you can work on yourself now. Everyone even in the fandom been nothing but patient and kind to you, and you returned it with spite. You can't fathom being happy with yourself so you hafta drag everyone down with you. 

But yet Despite all the garbage you hurl at Optimus you know he never spoke badly about you? Sure an exasperated sigh here and there but never slander. He never went out of his way to hurt your career, hell he gave up his future for you! Yet you still treat him like a threat to the point of attacking his teammates to get at him. All the harm you've inflicted on him, he still helps you out! He could've left you at the mercy of Headmaster but helped you get your body back. He could've let you get killed or hurt but he comes to your aid like a real friend should. He saw something worth salvaging.

Are you willing to toss all that away for temporary catharsis? 

You let one tragic mistake sour your worldview so you project that onto others. They make a mistake you don't give them grace. You don't give it yourself. You expect everyone else to think and act exactly like you, selfish and mean, yet you see the opposite. Bee and Bulkhead try new things and has hobbies. Jazz plays our music, Ratchet studies our medicine, Prowl loved our wildlife, and Optimus loves everyone. Even you, you hateful self-centered jerk. He cares so much about you though I can't see what it is that makes you worth saving. 

Every day they go out to help the city not expecting to be rewarded or even thanked, but because it's the right thing to do. Meanwhile you're just standing around huffing and puffing, refusing to lend a hand. Stubbornly clinging on to that cynical mindset that being flawed is inherently evil and that nobody can be good. We fought things bigger than you, yet you treat us like a bunch of idiots who don't know anything no it's you who don't know anything! But even those aren't a good enough reason to carry on acting like that.

Your whole life has been challenged, and now that everyone seen you for the sad, scared soul you truly are, they stopped entertaining you. You lied to yourself, you're stuck with that lie and nobody is around for you to dump your frustrations on.  You can't keep living off lies you know. You can't force everyone else to live in them either.

Now I know what I just said won't get you to change your mind and honestly, I've stopped waiting for you to have an epiphany a long time ago. It's clear you're content with the path you're going down but you will have to walk it alone. The rest of us will continue to enjoy ourselves. We'll love our flaws and freaky grossness. You? You be all alone with only your crown for company. It's sad it has to be that way. But I hope you take it as the time to reflect on the choices you've made and will make. That when you do eventually become the Primer Prime, those choices had better be worth it. 

[maideninorange]

92, tsubakura?

92. Trying Not to Cry/Holding Back Tears

(TW: Human Experimentation, Needles, Dark and Hopeless Themes. This is one of my bad end fics, so it gets put under a lovely cut no doubt full of puppies and flowers.)

Koharu had expected the so-called "greatest prodigy ever born", once stripped bare of everything they could use to deny their guilt, to cry. To tell them they were right, to take actual responsibility and that they had only themself to blame for everything.

They had not expected to end up strapped down to an operating table, Enraku Tsubakura towering over them with a mad look in their eyes.

"Looks like your mouth couldn't cash that check you wrote there, hm?"

Koharu tried to scream, to pull themself free of the cuffs locking them down. But their mouth was gagged with leather and the leather cuffs tying them down were so tight they made their limbs ache from the pressure.

The pressure was going to be the least of their problems, going by the sick grin that split their face, "Been a while since I had an actual subject there, ya know? You can only experiment on a dimensional weirdo and yourself so many times before you get bored. And since you decided to offer yourself up...Well, beggars can't be choosers."

Don't cry don't cry don't cry-

They heard shuffling. Koharu craned their neck to look over. They watched, eyes widening, as Tsubakura put on clear plastic gloves and filled up a syringe.

"I'm gonna see if I can loosen all your molecules there. There's a good chance you'll melt from the inside out, as the last person who volunteered themself found out the hard way. But...meh, you're younger than most. I'm sure you'll be juuust fine."

They turned around, their eyes twitching with what they could only describe as pure fury. It was enough to make even someone as spiteful as Koharu start to shake.

Don't cry don't cry don't cry-

"Oh quit the bravado there. You wanted a tragic backstory to endlessly whine over, didn't you?" Tsubakura huffed, grabbing their thrashing arm, "I bet your family back home is going to find whatever I do to you real hilarious. Just like how my mother being dead is so cliche, as you put it?"

Koharu wished oh so desperately to take those cathartic words back as Tsubakura lined the needle up with one of their veins. They smirked down at them.

"You deserve whatever this does to you. Hope being 'special' is worth it."

Don't cry don't cry don't cry-

And then, the needle pushed in. And at the white-hot agony that followed, Koharu's tears gushed forth.

[incomingalbatross]

So Your Fave is OOC: A Brief Guide to the Condition

(Note: this list is intended for cases of OOC Protagonists specifically. Please contact the publishers at Faves Diagnosis Ltd. for information on other character types.)

Infantilization Also known as woobification in the classic manuals, this variety has plagued faves for decades, and is particularly insidious among intellectuals, younger protagonists (relative to the rest of the cast), and those perceived as having repressed inner lives. Do you know your fave as a stubborn, determined character with a temper and a brain and some personality flaws? Have all of those traits disappeared in favor of endless tears, martyr syndrome, and a general air of helpless pureness and fragility? We may be looking at infantilization.

Villains are Cool A condition particularly widespread in faves native to moral, plot-heavy, or thematically-complex stories. If your fave is a person deeply dedicated to the heroic side in their canon, but you suddenly find them rejecting that side outright as inherently corrupt and instead celebrating the antiheroes or even villains as misunderstood victims, this may be the diagnosis you've been looking for. May coexist with Author's Mouthpiece (see below), but this is a difficult and risky diagnosis.

Author's Mouthpiece There is ongoing debate in the diagnostic community as to whether this should be defined as a single condition, though tending to be comorbid with other varieties, or whether it should be established as an umbrella category which encompasses several more specific conditions. In this pamphlet, we define it by itself first, before describing related conditions. This condition directly replaces your fave's opinions and beliefs with those of their current writer's, with varying but often severe results.

Secretly Judging You This afflicts faves with the secret power, unrevealed in canon, of having been right about everything all along—and bitter about it. Likely to appear in bashfic and fics labeled "fix-its." Is your fave suddenly condemning people, concepts, or ideals to which they are canonically loyal? Are they taking pains to explain why every flawed or questionable action they took in canon was actually correct, while revealing their scorn and contempt for the flaws of their friends (or even claiming they never really were friends)? They may have been afflicted with this unpleasant condition, often considered a variant of, or comorbid with, Author's Mouthpiece.

Has Read the Canon A variety particularly widespread in fix-its and AUs, which gifts the protagonist with a magical ability to know exactly what the right decisions are at any point in their canon, even when they have no in-universe basis for their choices. Another symptom includes mentioning canon plot points as hypotheticals and then sneering at them as being absurd. It cannot be proved that these protagonists were given a summary of their original canon before beginning to live out their AU, but evidence strongly suggests that. Also considered an offshoot of Author's Mouthpiece, although there is some debate as to just how far the overlap goes.

Snarky McQuip An attitude change, sometimes manifesting as general scorn for the other characters and/or story (see also: Secretly Judging You), and sometimes as an air of flippancy and emotional distance from the events of their own canon. Has been identified as a symptom of Has Read the Canon, with which it often coincides, but the argument that it is a tonal manifestation of Author's Mouthpiece (reflecting the author's emotional distance) has been found more convincing in recent years. May also be an outside contagion from the MCU and related environments, mutated bathos from Whedon canons, or the proliferation of dissatisfied fan cultures.

They Would not Have the Emotional Intelligence to Say That A more superficial change than many listed here. In which a characters' feelings and beliefs may remain unchanged, but they suddenly acquire the ability to state them in direct and impersonal language. If their mental blocks have disappeared, they suddenly have the vocabulary of a therapy book, and all personal idiosyncrasies have been flattened out of their approach to communication, you may be looking at this condition. Again, it is less deep-seated than most! However, we understand it can still be deeply disconcerting to encounter in your fave unexpectedly.

[raxistaicho]

Is it true that Reyna put the Edeleth tag on her bashfic for a time just to bait shippers into reading it? I can't confirm it, but i honestly wouldn't put it past her to do that.

Someone said they did do that, but I can't confirm it now. It wouldn't surprise me, Reyna thinks she "deconstructed" Edeleth by having Edelgard act like Byleth belongs with her.

[olderthannetfic]

To the anon asking what I think of ventfics and bashfics... I don't. I don't think anything of them. I'm not deeply morally opposed to them the way some people are, I'm not against them because how dare you be mean to my favorite blorbo, etc., but I also don't get anything out of reading them or find them satisfying to read, even when they're targeted at a character or concept I hate or the vent is about things that have bothered me, too.

I think, much like how reader insert fics do nothing for me and don't enrage me, this is a taste thing. Either you're into it or not. And I think it's exactly that deep and we don't need to mull this over too hard. It's like creamy vs. crunchy peanut butter - you like or dislike what you like, no real reason why.

--

To be honest, I've rarely seen anything that presented itself as a character-bashing fic that wasn't borderline illiterate boringness of the type I remember from creative writing class when I was 12.

I don't tend to read them because they don't tend to be worth reading. I'll happily read a fic that's negative about my blorbo if it appears to be written competently with some nuance—but that's not generally what most people label this way.

[gaycey-sketchit]

For the character ask game; 5, 12, 21, 22 and 25 for Tracey!

Thank you!!! (Also nice URL!! Makes me think of heart shaped snickerdoodles, which sound lovely.)

What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

First thought is the first song on my playlist for him--Home by Cavetown. It's a song about being neurodivergent and transgender, which he is, and also the song's final lines being "time is / slowly / tracing his face / but strangely he feels at home in this place" is just so perfect.

What's a headcanon you have for this character?

He loves to dabble in a lot of art forms besides drawing!! Some he takes to easily--his nimble fingers make him a natural at the piano--but others take... considerably more practice. Gary teaching him how to dance (<- link to my fic about this) is a little rockier at first, and I think they both sustain a few injuries in the process of him getting the hang of it.

If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

Answered here!

If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Tracey is mostly a very mild-mannered and gentle person but those sporadic moments where he forgets tact or gets really angry and goes off are so great, and I love when fic writers capture that side of his character too!!

What I don't love is mostly the homophobic, fatphobic, and ableist bashfic of the early 2000s, but thankfully people aren't usually like that in the open now (at least not as much). I am very accepting of differences in character interpretations if you're not just being mean, so the main problem I have with how Tracey is handled in recent fic is just. Please don't tag him if he's only mentioned in a single line, because I will get excited to see a new fic in his tag and then I will be sad.

What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I wish I could remember! I was very small when I first saw Orange Islands, and then I went a long time without seeing it. He was sort of There in my mind but my memories were pretty hazy, I remembered him mostly as just being a nice chill guy. I adored him instantly on my 2020 Orange Islands rewatch though, and by the end he had a hold on my heart. And now here we are!! And I love and appreciate him even more because he got me a boyfriend. Thanks Tracey for my life, love, and happiness.

[unsavedfile]

i do think it's interesting to see like. psuedo bashing. where an author doesnt directly bash a character, but makes them less competent, less intimidating, less kind, etc etc- so that they are worse than in canon, but not to the point you'd typically associate with fanfic bashfic (where it's all overtly over the top)

generally in the second case it'll be tagged, the author might even be promoting the bashing. it's the point of it all. they dislike the character and want to rag on them overtly.

in the first case though, it's often as if the author can't realize it's bashing. the character they wrote is how they perceive the character, even if in the canon there's proof otherwise. they'll argue against any accusations, even if it's objectively obvious they've tweaked the character. they dislike the character but write them from like...an extremely uncharitable grudgey reading.

[nerianasims]

I've never written a bashfic or read one on purpose, but it just occurred to me that, even though I have only seen one episode of Buffy, a fic in which Spike murders Xander is mightily appealing to me. Or anyone murders Xander. Cordelia? Cordelia murdering Xander would be fun.

[dizzying-faust]

Someone making a blog dedicated to bashing a character they don't like has got to be the most pathetic thing ever.

[mirrorfalls]

Hi Mirror! I hope your week is starting off on a good note. I have a question for you: what's your favourite thing about Ran and/or Ran's interactions with the other characters? ~ Santa

Short long answer: This.

Long short answer: Beneath the cut.

So here's something I once dropped the esteemed - and infinitely-more talented - @scratchface in a DM, which is probably the closest anyone's ever come to making her respect Ran.

"Ran has enough parts in her for a good character. She probably has enough parts for three or four good characters. When a series, however banal, runs for a thousand installments, it can come up with those purely by accident."

This may sound backhanded to you and a lot of others, but it's genuinely, unironically why Ran appeals to me so much. Having grown up on AmeComi and Batman specifically, I'm used to stitching all my favorite characterizations out of dozens of different stories that at-best pay only lip service to each other's continuity and at-worst go out of their way to contradict and overwrite each other. What's really fun (and/or "fun") about Conan is that it somehow manages the same despite having only one author, one publication format, and one almost painfully-faithful adaptation.*

And Ran - especially early manga Ran - is the absolute pinnacle of this. Where Shinichi/Conan and Kogoro had their roles pounded out in cast-iron from the getgo, Ran's a Jack (Jill?) of All Trades who can play almost any other part the ensemble needs. Sympathizing civilian? She can "How awful!" with the best of 'em. Butt-kicking cavalry? Watch those fists fly. Distressed Damsel? She can give even that creaky old trope a level of agency I'd never thought possible - just witness Golden Apple, or the wharf showdown, or:

Better still, the fact that she has to be the plot-hook for roughly one-third of the filler cases gives her a correspondingly wide range of interests and hobbies, for those willing to squint at the margins. You know she's a black-belt; you probably know she goes "Rhosts, Rhaggy?!" at the slightest mention of the supernatural; but did you know her for a Three Kingdoms reader?

A gambling prodigy?

A Yoko Okino fan, just like her pop?

Scraps these may be - but it's usually from scraps that you get the richest fruit in any Transformative work. And so it goes with her presence on AO3: a shadow of Shinichi's or Kaito's in raw numbers, nevertheless capable of unparalleled tear-jerking and side-splitting from any author that puts in the work. Hell, I don't even mind the straight-up bashfics that turn her flighty or abusive; canon's planted enough seeds to make that sort of characterization juuust this side of plausible, and plenty entertaining besides.**

(Predictable self-plug: I've spent years working on a longfic to stitch all the above (and a dozen other traits!) into a single, coherent narrative tentatively titled Hey, What If We Didn't Lie To And Manipulate Our Female Lead For 1050+ Chapters?. There are authors who've pulled off similar projects for Shinichi, Kaito, and Shiho, but I think as far as Ran goes it's still fairly uncharted territory - and will probably remain so even if I finish it in 2030 or thereabouts.)

Of course, if I told you that my Purely Story-Minded Doylist Eye was the only thing at work, you'd call me a liar, and you'd be right. Ran's no less flexible in terms of lowdown wish-fulfillment, whether you want a straightforward action-girlfriend, an overbearing Onee-chan, a too-pure Ingenue/explanation magnet, or - my personal favorite - an old childhood buddy who can needle you in ways nobody else would ever have the nerve and the right to. She's got the range. She's got the style. One day, she might even get a story - a canon story - that deserves her again...

(Detractors, consciously or otherwise, usually point to the fact that Ran's irrelevant to most of the Big Organization Cases, and indeed is meant to remain irrelevant to them for as long as they keep happening. Just three or four years ago I might've shuffled my feet and mumbled an objection along the lines of "She has relevance, and she can get more!", but at this point I've long given up on any impression that the Big Organization Cases are meant to hold any weight at all. Far as I'm concerned they're just an extra-dull flavor of filler; the series' real heart is in the slice-of-life romcom fluff, and very possibly always has been.)

* "But what about the live-act-" What about the live-action?

** In controlled doses, anyway.

[christinesficrecs]

Hey there! <3 Do you know that one fic (maybe part of a series?) where Stiles is roasting Allison for whatever reason, congratulating her on being exactly like Kate, explains why. And I think part of it was that Allison knew Derek was being tortured for a whole week and went shopping instead of telling someone after Kate's show-and-tell.

Later at home, Allison stands in front of her mirror examining herself and the final, chilling verdict is, "I could see it." I remember the narrative made it clear she was embracing being Kate's legacy, but it wasn't a bashfic.

Any chance you or your followers can find this? Or maybe similar fics where Stiles or someone else doesn't consider Allison a Disney princess, mainly because of this week-long silence of hers?

Please and thank you! 🙏❤️

Can anyone help with this fic?

Thank you pickosita5stwin & felinitive!! Is this a Stiles/Allison confrontation or a Lydia/Allison confrontation??

The Basement by My_Write_Life | 65.4K | Explicit | WIP

Stiles doubles back to the Argent’s house to free Erica and Boyd before making it back home. In which Stiles, not forgetting all about Erica and Boyd very much remaining in the basement saves them, Derek and Peter killing Jackson does make him go through the process of rebirth but he is brought back human and not a werewolf. Allison and her family go through the very legal repercussions of abducting three teenagers and Scott and Stiles friendship is put on hold because of that. Derek’s still the alpha.

[antipeegirlarchive]

https://trans-gliter-girl-sparky.tumblr.com/post/683615396039999488/i-would-just-like-to-let-everyone-how-happy-i-am

Thoughts on this?

None, really. Like it's just a load of bullshit, especially when you consider that it was posted the same day that pissy's kink & bashfic ao3 account was found

[whetstonefires]

for the grade AO3 tropes ask:

what are your thoughts on “this character is actually a bamf let me show you why”? if you do, is there a fic you like with a well thought out premise you want to see more of? (as in you adore the way they written that trope)

Hm. I wouldn't have conceptualized this as its own single trope on my own, so it took a bit of thought, but I'll give this a C: it's good if it's good. If it's bad, it's horrid.

Because like, inherently in the premise of this concept it's presenting an argument and pushing an agenda. So on top of needing to be coherently executed and the quality of the prose and so on, it has all kinds of extra failure states because if the evidence marshaled is poorly sourced in some way, or the argumentation is engaged in in poor faith or with a vicious attitude, and the absolute control over the world of the story seems to me to be being misused, I'm not going to be able to enjoy the work at all.

So 'is a bamf' is an argument a story can make, lovingly, about basically anyone; you can take them and polish them and use your story to create the perfect conditions to bring out this character's best qualities like a jewel in a proper setting, so that it's believable they have this strength hidden in them.

But also you can just be lazy or a dick about it and then your work will rapidly become unreadable. The line there is going to be different for different readers, and depending on the character being addressed and all those things.

Broadly speaking in my experience, this is one of those tropes that doesn't necessarily require much technical skill to execute--in its most basic form it's just This Is A Hero Narrative--and yet is really easy to screw up and make unpalateable. (I.e. by becoming bashfic, or occasionally fascist propaganda. If I had a nickel for every time a longfic I was following about giving a specific character a chance to really shine mutated into outright fascist apologia I'd have...like, 15 cents i think. Which is too many.)

Like I said I wouldn't have filed this as its own category on my own, it's a subset of 'character apologia' and I'd naturally have grouped the canon-sensitive and canon-oppositional versions as totally separate kinds of fic, because tbh 'tonal relationship to canon' is a more reliable indicator of my liking something than any particular story element.

Well done?

Um, oh, actually one does come to mind. That's a surprise tbh I'm not usually good at summoning examples. There's a fic out there based on the premise of Percy Weasley running a Scarlet-Pimpernel-themed people-smuggling inside-man rescue operation during the last Harry Potter book which is, per the principle of 'things not relevant to Harry's story,' technically compatible with canon iirc. He's having several nervous breakdowns at once at all times and is very in-character, overall, in ways that ground the parts where he is in fact badass.

I really liked how it was done! It strayed in a few small moments over the line of really pushing the 'Percy deserves better' agenda, but never really tackily and generally only after earning them.

[vivithefolle]

I loved your ranking of character arcs (for the main seven)! Would you mind going into more detail about Ron's character arc, and how he developed from the first to the last book? I apologise if you've already answered a similar request! :)

[Ranking of character arcs]

Well, during the first three books Ron is rather static - he’s awesome, but he doesn’t has much in the terms of “character growth” moments. He does epic stuff like the chess match, following the spiders et all we know, but that isn’t character growth as much as it is freaking badass.

The first three books serve to sow the basics for Ron’s character: he’s a devoted friend, he can face death with a laugh, and in spite of his bouts of rudeness or temper he’s fundamentally kind and doesn’t take himself too seriously - something two people like “boy-who-lived” Harry and “child prodigy” Hermione desperately need.

But what the first book does is introduce Ron’s emotional baggage.

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left -- Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

This introduces us to Ron’s inferiority complex and its origins.

And later on, The Mirror Of Erised helps elaborate:

Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn't see his family anymore, just Ron in his paisley pajamas.

Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" he said.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

"No -- I'm alone -- but I'm different -- I look older -- and I'm head boy!"

"What?"

"I am -- I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to -- and I'm holding the house cup and the Quidditch cup -- I'm Quidditch captain, too."

Dumbledore will then add his grain of salt -

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, "It shows us what we want... whatever we want..."

"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. "It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible.”

Something to know about Dumbledore - he’s JK Rowling’s mouthpiece. When she wants to tell us something, she puts it in him.

And... well, this looks like a rather... selfish interpretation of Ron’s desire. Especially the “standing alone” part. It somewhat implies that Ron is selfish - especially compared to Harry’s desire which is oh so pure and oh so sad because boo hoo orphan family stuff. (I may be letting all the times Harry fans have pulled the “butt herry iz an orhpan!! :’((” card colour my perception.)

“The best of all of them”. When Ron sees himself being both Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. He’s combining his brothers’ successes into himself. His belief is that this is how he could stand out and be loved - by combining his brothers’ accomplishments.

Anyway.

Goblet of Fire then makes us see Ron’s main problems - his insecurity can lead him astray. First he believes that Harry left him behind during the Triwizard, because why not? After all Ron has already seen that betrayal can come from the craziest places (Lockhart, aka adults/authority figures, Ginny being the Heir Of Slytherin aka family even against their will, and last but not least, freaking Scabbers, aka SEEMINGLY INNOCENT THINGS YOU FEED AND PROTECT). Add to it his budding feeling that he is overlooked in favour of Harry (the twins giving Harry the Marauders’ Map...) and Ron’s emotions get the best of him, which isn’t helped by Harry’s entitled attitude and his acting as though Ron is stupid for questioning him. And then Viktor Krum appears as a prop show us what a catch Hermione is and to be all that makes Ron insecure. The Yule Brawl serves to foreshadow Romione but also to show the negative aspects of Ron’s insecurity, namely jealousy and how he lashes out when he feels betrayed. However, at the end of Goblet of Fire, Ron symbolically outgrows his jealousy by asking Viktor Krum for his autograph.

Order of the Phoenix will then go on to show Ron being jealous of Krum, although being a bit less vocal about it... and it also gives Ron half of the things he’s dreamed of in first year: he’s made a prefect, and joins the Quidditch team. But those are immediately made hollow by the... lackluster reaction of his loved ones and by Malfoy being a vile piece of pond scum. The fact that he’s prefect could have been used to make Ron take on more responsibilities and showcase his motherly side more, but Rowling only used it to again pit him against Hermione by making Ron look like “the immature one” and making Hermione “the responsible one”. And then, to REALLY drive home the point that Ron isn’t allowed to have anything for himself, she has Dumbledore say “oh yeah Harry, you were supposed to be prefect, even though you’re basically allergic to rules and authority and also are emotionally stunted”, and so in a symbolic way VALIDATING Hermione’s reaction to Ron being prefect. Yeah fuck you too Rowling. And the Quidditch debacle could have been used to give Ron confidence in himself. Actually, it does somewhat give him confidence once he trounces Slytherin in the last match of the year. But the fact that Harry and Hermione weren’t present means that Ron’s victory is an afterthought, a background event, a minor thing. Yet, Ron still proves his maturity and patience by just accepting that his friends weren’t here to see him play. They don’t deserve him, seriously. This year also marks a drama-free year for Ron and Hermione, which could have then been built up to make them grow even closer in the next book... but oh, the faults of TERFs...

Half-Blood Prince basically takes all of Ron’s progression through the last two books and says “see that? All that? Well let’s pretend it never happened and do it again, but shittier!” The thing is, Rowling wants Ron to “make himself worthy of Hermione” like the very progressive person she is. But she is also aware that Ron is kind of a naïve romantic who wouldn’t date around while he’s in love with someone else. Unless... Unless she resurrects plotlines that have already been finished, thus bringing Ron back to square one. Now he’s back to not being able to play Quidditch properly and Hermione acts the saviour because girl power. Now he’s back to being enraged by Viktor Krum’s name. Now he’s even less mature than he was in Philosopher’s Stone because Plot Be Like That. JKR did do a pretty good job at setting up the whole argument, not gonna lie. Since Ron is so sensitive to betrayal, finding out that Hermione had lied to him about Krum would indeed make him furious, especially when he finds out that Ginny knew about it and (apparently) so did Harry. Basically, the entire sixth year is built to undermine Ron’s growth and character, both because Harry must be in love with Ginny and in order to properly appreciate Ginny he has to appreciate Ron’s qualities less, since Ginny and Ron basically have the same qualities Harry appreciates but he can only be in love with Ginny; and also because Ron “needed to make himself worthy of Hermione” courtesy of double-standards, sexism and general immaturity from our author.

Finally DH closes the horrible loop. Rather than letting Ron grow secure and confident, Rowling instead insists on pulling him down, and down, and down, then gives us Harry saying “she’s like my sister, I thought you knew” as if that somehow would fix the self-esteem issues and the self-hatred and the sheer abuse Ron is subjected to by his friends - and for someone as obsessed with "love redeems” as Rowling is, it probably is, but those of us suffering from depression know better. Even though the Epilogue shows us Ron being happy and confident enough to joke about fame, it still leaves a bitter taste in the mouth when you realize that Ron-bashers take the “Confunded the instructor” lines to absurd levels and use it as “proof” that Ron is a bad husband / lazy / a cheater / etc... when it’s immediately followed by -

"I only forgot to look in the wing mirror, and let's face it, I can use a Supersensory Charm for that."

This is basically Ron doing the wizard equivalent of the rear-view camera. But of course, bashfics have been written to make it so Ron causes a horrible crash accident and Hermione calls for divorce and blah blah blah sigh.

[breakingbadfics]

Thought Experiment. Part 1.

or “How would I have done it” 

So The Sith Resurgence is a petty bashfic driven purely by a desire to spit in the face of canon, but specifically ReyLo Shippers, specifically the Kylo Ren/Ben Solo lovers of the ship. The plot is hollow, the only characters given any consideration of depth are the romantic leads making the supporting characters even more bereft of substance. and in trying to fix certain things with in the canon it somehow has even less than canon

What does a good version of this look like? 

“Course Correction”

So lets start with an easy version of this question. The story is sitting at 35 chapters as of my writing this section of the essay. 

Lets say Hypothetically Lily Orchard reached out to me to outline the final arc for the story. How would I do that? 

So as of the end of chapter 35 these things happen 

Kylo Ren is intending to fake the return of Emperor Palpatine. 

Aliana and Rey have just gotten married

Rey’s growth in power has been climbing and causing concern among her friends for her safety. 

The First Order know the location of the Resistance’s new base after they survived the events of episode 8

There is still some sort of conflict between Aliana, Rey, and Leia.

Kylo Ren is Angling towards setting up the fall of the republic. 

Rey and Aliana are sent to Nathema  reinforce the extraction of child recruits from The First Order. 

I’m missing something I’m sure, but we’re moving forward from these points. 

Chapter 36 begins with Aliana and Rey arriving on Nathema, They do the fighting, clear out the base, begin the evacuations and save a bunch of children. During this The Message is sent out to all First Order bases. The Emperor has returned from the dead. 

On Nathema The Message arriving causes a shift in the morale of the fighting and while Rey and Aliana make it out in time along with any resistance back up they had, but everyone is ratttled. 

in spite of that Aliana is basically no-selling the threat of The Emperor’s return. and while Rey is also nervous about it Aliana assuages those fears by explaining that, that wasn’t Palpatine at all. Because there was no shock in the force. If Darth Sidious had cheated death, it would have been something everyone force sensitive could have felt, and would have been felt long before the emperor even composed the message. 

And so Chapter 36 ends

Chapter 37 

With the force bond having been unblocked Kylo Ren was able to detect Rey had left the Resistance base. And in an impulse chose to personally lead an attack on the base. During this he made sure to have The Message from The Emperor sent out 

During the attack a lot of casualties occur, but The Core Cast srvives but the big casualty is that Kylo Ren slashed a path through and took out his mother. 

the rest of the story is trying to recuperate and then convey that Palpatine’s message was fabricated as propaganda. 

during all this it’s decided amongst the remaining resistance that when they make the retaliatory strike it has to be the final blow that sets off the collapse of the first order. 

Chapter 38

Aliana and Rey train more, Rey start learning various Sith Techniques. 

Captain Phasma leading the last remnants of The Knights of Ren reveal themselves to have been waiting in hiding, they’re further accompanied by a collection of bounty hunters aiming to overwhelm the jedi and the sith through sheer numbers and power. 

It is not an easy fight but Phasma’s attack force is defeated and the captain is forced to retreat as one of the sole survivors of this attack. The victory is owed in both to Rey and Aliana’s capabilities as a unit as well as Finn and the remaining Resistance assisting where it counts. 

--

Kylo Ren is continuing his own private solo training and has found a collection of sith holocrons in Snokes original private quarters that have aided in honing his skills.. 

The First Order itself has made an order for all forces across the galaxy to return to the original coordinates of Star Killer Base.

once the full force of The First Order arrives in one place the plan is revealed that they intend to pull a full final assault on The Republic, intent to basically glass the surface of Corruscant. 

Chapter 39

The First Order again. 

They are preparted to set out only to find themselves faced with The Resistance and The Sith Fleet having arrived to make their own final attack. 

The fight begins

During all this Rey, Aliana, and friends infiltrate the lead ship with intent to find and eliminate the leaders of the first order. 

The eventual final confrontation between Kylo Ren, Aliana, and Rey happens. 

And Then everythings for a moment as hundred of thousands of Imperial Star Destroyers warp in from nowhere. And start attacking both sides. 

A mesage relayed across all channels. 

Emperor Palpatine is actually somehow alive, and has arrived to reclaim control of his fleet. 

Chapter 40 

Emperor Palpatine’s message is simple; he’s returned to take his throne as ruler of the galaxy. To the Resistance he demands surrender so that their deaths may be quick and merciful. To The First Order a message to stand down, declare fealty to him or die. 

The entirety of the battle as far as the fleets go dissolves into chaos and immediately Rose and Holdo declare a fall back and as many people in the resistance get out, leaving the first order and imperial forces to engage in a massive civil war. 

While this is happening Aliana and Rey are trying to gauge what to do while also fighting Kylo Ren, only for Kylo Ren to get shot in the back of the head by General Hux, who retreats to take his side with the empire. 

Aliana and Rey spend the rest of the chapter escaping and being very very angry they were denied the catharsis of killing Kylo Ren 

Chapter 41 

everyone is panicking. 

The resistance is down to their last legs and the entire galaxy is with little hope 

meanwhile Hux and Phasma are called forth to see The Emperor personally. where it is explained that even in spite of the unifying desire to re-establish the empire the first order was not the entirety of the remaining imperial forced and some chose to quietly seek out planets known to be inhabited by the dark side of the force. during this a ritual was carried out to allow a suitable individual to become the vessel for the emperor. The Emperor is basically wearing full fitting body armor at all times. but basically he’s inhabiting the body of a Galen Marek clone. 

Oh also Hux is executed, because the emperor saw what he did to Kylo Ren who was the acting supreme leader of the First Order, and so determined Hux to be not trustworthy. 

The resistance are still having doubts to their abilities now that they’re low on forces. further faith in Aliana is wavering due to the whole “I’d know if the emperor was back” blowing up in her face. 

However because Palpatines Message was delivered across the galaxy, and on all channels they get a message from The Senate that basically declares that they’re going all in on the resistance and fully endorsing them. planets from across all systems as well as former rebel alliance members are en route to bolster their forces. it is now a full scale war to snuff out The Imperial Remnant. 

Chapter 42.  

Aliana and Rey are declared high generals with only Holdo and Rose Tico holding equal authority to them 

The Resistance manage to find the current whereabouts of the emperor. 

They set out to finally put an end to his reign of terror once and for all. 

Chapter 43 

Rey, Aliana, and crew launch a strike on Emperor Palpatines personal cruiser. 

It’s revealed that Palpatine has “resurrected” Kylo Ren. though no more than a puppet to act as an extention of Palpatines will. 

The final fight for the fate of the galaxy and the right to be The one true sith lord begins. 

Chapter 44 

The fight happens.

 Rey fights the husk of Kylo Ren, The final step in Rey Beniko’s empowerment, destroying and ending the life of her abuser, lamenting only in that the soul of kylo ren never occupied the husk so she couldn’t revel in the end of his pathetic existance. 

Aliana and Palpatine fight, The right to call themselves the True and Rightful Sith Lord. Palpatine almost wins, even with the act of the fight becoming a one on two drag out brawl between the two lovers and the emperor.

However Galen Marek proper, and Finn arrive, and proceed to even the odds in a 4 on 1 fight.

As one last attempt at a moral blow is Palpatine reveals that somewhere along in the past he set up an arranged marriage with the Beniko line of sith lords something that had been set up several hundred of years back somewhere between lana and aliana’s grandmother. The suitor was a member of his bloodline which he says to be rey. And that in falling for one another they’ve played into his plans to the letter 

Aliana, does not care. Murders palpatine, and as to whether or not he was telling the truth. No one cares about that either. taking it as an attempt to fuck with the both of them 

Chapter 45

The story ends with the usual “where are they now” 

Finn and Poe get married, Rey and Aliana adopt. under the leadership of Holdo and Rose The Resistance slides back into being the officially backed “Rebel Alliance” hunting down the last remnants of the first order and the empire with the full scope of the republic military 

The future for Force users is made a little more weird because the sith and the jedi are effectively the same thing trying with what ever opposes them being recognized as extremists of both sides

Somewhere the sole remnants of the first order and empire gather quietly to lick their wounds, lead by “Supreme Leaderl Phasma”  as a potential sequel bait

The story ends with Rey and Aliana drinking wine. and a toast to the future. 

[gale-gentlepenguin]

I went ahead and checked the "Marinette Protection Squad" tag on AO3 (since the anon specifically specified that the majority of that tag were the toxic Marinette stans, not that a majority of all Marinette stans were the toxic ones). It redirects to "Protect Marinette Dupain-Cheng", and looking at it, yeah, a lot of them are bashfics, especially at Alya. Not nearly as many or to the extent of the "Marinette Deserves Better" tag though.

Sigh,

Of course it does.

Welp, this is what I get for having some faith in humanity.