#canon critical

[longing-for-rain]

Anyone else notice how Katara says “I have healing abilities” instead of “I am a healer” because she didn’t want to be defined as a healer but as a Master and warrior first?

[nobodymitskigabriel]

Mary's deal with Azazel being unacknowledged in the later seasons when rly I think there should've been at least twelve screaming matches about it.

[lordsecondsenju]

I want to put my thoughts into words, but I cannot. Not eloquently. But… Tobirama still would have been a fantastic villain if he weren’t both the brother to the first hokage, and the second hokage himself. The human experiments alone push him over to the dark side. He had to do experiments to figure out edo tensei, and figure out that edo tensei needed live bodies. You can’t just put that out in the Naruto history and not expect it to be brought back up. How many people did he kill before he locked away the edo tensei as forbidden?

[dyed-red]

Cain should have stuck around longer in the show?

Not only because he and Sam could compete for most glorious hair but also because he was interesting! And it would be narratively interesting!

They wasted him as a mid-season boss battle and tbh I would have killed to see him get the Crowley treatment and turn into a tense frenemy. This show could always use another dilf who has weird and fun sexual tension with Dean, and Sam didn't even get to interact with the guy!

Imagine them calling Cain for lore reasons because he's been alive since forever? Imagine Cas double checking and confirming what Cain has said and Cain being kinda smug about it. Crowley being jealous about Cain (and his connection with Dean and the fact he's the brothers' ancestor because Crowley knows they are weird about blood and that's an in that he simply does not have).

Imagine Lucifer's interactions with Cain

👁️👄👁️

Imagine Cain still being around to meet Amara

👁️👄👁️

Imagine Cain seeing Chuck. And hating him on sight. And the reminder to the audience -- they've fucking met before. When God did nothing to save his brother from Lucifer's influence and Cain ended up cursed for eternity for taking matters into his own hands. How that take got spun, how Cain feels about God-as-writer and the narrative.

Cain had too much narrative potential and that's why they had to kill him off quickly 😔

[sweetpapercroissant]

i’m sorry but the bmol simply should not have had stupid angel depowering knuckles or any kind of knowledge let alone weapons that could be used against angels.

so much of what makes the angels on spn so terrible and terrifying is that they absolutely do not interact with humanity more than they have to and that includes taking human vessels. most of them probably see that as an insult, to trap some aspect of your being in the inadequate body of something so much lower than yourself. and what makes them so formidable is that there is no way to know of their weaknesses unless they specifically reveal them. the angel banishing sigil, the angel blades, the wards against angels, holy oil they all come from angels themselves (anna, castiel, castiel, and again castiel).

sure a few high ranking demons had some defenses against them (alastair in s04e15 death takes a holiday) but even lilith didn’t know how to kill an angel (and so probably didn’t know about the existence of angel blades). apart from these few chosen beings no one even knew of their existence and you’re telling me a bunch of nerds who liked role playing as military somehow have a number of weapons and spells that can kill/banish/overpower them? i know nobody was taking anything seriously in later seasons but c’mon.

[miss-sweetea-pie]

I just go an Ao3 account and I wanted to share my recent work. The story is about “Canon” Katara meeting with her alternate universe selves and have conversations.  Basically, I was kind of inspired by into the spider verse and alternate realities stuff. also I’ve been reading a lot of really good Zutara fanfic and sometimes it feels like I’m watching the show from a different universe so yeah!💕

[soloragoldsun]

Uuuuggghghhh. I just watched the Naoto romance to get more of an idea of how they're like when in a relationship. On one hand, he's sweet as hell and all of her dialogue where she talks about their feelings is just awesome!

On the other, I hate, Hate, HATE that you basically have to pick the dialogue options that involve changing Naoto in order to romance him!

Everything from the "I'm glad you're a girl" bit, to telling them to speak in a higher pitch, to saying that you want to "change" her in the Valentine's scene... BLEH!

Yu in my fics would never! Also, Kanji would never! No one would ever!!! Naoto is awesome just the way they are, dangit, and that applies to everyone of every gender identity, regardless of how they present!!!!

Atlus, once again, you are incorrect.

[fandom-hoarder]

AND ANOTHER THING casifer should've had lucifer burns all over. It shouldn't matter that he was possessing a permanent angel vessel -- it still wasn't an archangel vessel

[thebi-acenerd]

I REFUSE to believe seteth’s true name is pronounced like “keyhole”. It’s shee-kol till i die

[soleminisanction]

I’ve wanted to talk more about Steph’s run as Batgirl because I’m genuinely fascinated by it, but I keep starting and then abandoning posts because they inevitably spiral out of my control. In an attempt to illustrate my problem, allow me to wax poetic for a bit about a single line that has bugged me for years:

Context:

This page comes in the first issue. Steph is running around in Cass’s Batgirl costume and it keeps getting damaged, so she says…this.

And if you’re a more casual reader, you’re probably saying right now, “So what? It’s just a joke, a quip. It doesn’t mean anything. Why the hell is this post so long for something as small as that?”

In answer, I give you this:

Yeah. 

Stephanie Brown knows how to sew. Stephanie Brown specifically knows how to sew, fix and maintain superhero costumes. Because she makes her own. And it’s not like that’s some kind of deep cut; those panels are from a Secret Files and Origins story that Chuck Dixon (Steph’s creator) wrote, but all you really have to do is know Steph’s story and use some basic logic: she is literally a self-made superhero. Of course she makes her own costumes. Where else would she get them?

And I want to be clear here – this is a skill. One that Stephanie would have to cultivate and that she should be proud of. Costuming is hard enough when you’re trying to make something that’s just intended to be worn for a few hours at a convention a couple of times a year. Steph’s Spoiler gear is literally full-body, covering head-to-toe twice over, and built to stand up to regular rooftop parkour, motorcycling, fisticuffs, gunfights, knife fights, dips into Gotham Bay and the occasional fire. It’s almost certainly made out of thick, quality cloth and leather, both of which are hard to work with but vital if you’re creating something that’s designed to protect you.

She built that costume from scratch at least twice and maintained it, by herself, with no Bat support, financial or otherwise, for years. It is absolutely a skill and a credit to her as a character, not to mention foundational to her entire origin story and her whole independent “you can’t tell me what to do” attitude.

And this one line… takes that all away for the sake of a cheap, generic quip. 

What’s extra frustrating about this whole thing is that, in going with this lazy, cliche joke, they missed a golden opportunity to actually show her character.

Imagine if, instead of this page where we’re leering at her in the shower for no reason, we got a short scene in which Steph sits down at her sewing machine to fix the costume… and realizes that she only has purple cloth and thread. That would be a subtle symbolic moment for what's supposedly the central theme of this book, that Steph "just can't help" but be a bright and happy "burst of color" in contrast to the darkness of Gotham and the other Bats. 

She could then hesitate, wonder if maybe this is a sign, maybe she should just stop… and then persist anyway, filling in the gaps with “her” color (as if Babs and Helena didn’t wear it first but that’s another rant). That would establish her as stubborn, resourceful, tenacious, and someone who doesn’t let superficial appearances get in her way.

Plus, remember, this is Cass’s Batgirl costume, it already has a stitched-together aesthetic; she could make it work. And as a bonus, you’d get the interesting symbolism of it looking like her old Spoiler gear is trying to burst out from inside this costume that doesn’t quite fit her (because Cass is smaller than she is in a couple of different places) and, due to the placement of the cuts we see later on, it’d even be a neat visual transition between this temporary look and the one she wears as her permanent Batgirl gear.

But, no. All we got was a cliche quip and the implication that Stephanie cares more about Being Batgirl than she does her own safety, comfort or modesty.

But you know what really, really drives me nuts about this line? 

There is no way for us as readers to know whether it was an intentional change to Steph’s characterization or just a careless, thoughtless joke. 

The latter would be bad enough, as it implies that the people in charge of this character’s big spotlight starring role neither know nor care about the fundamental basics of who she is as a person and think that Batman handed her everything. But if it’s a deliberate change? That would imply a lot worse.

Because sewing, you see, is women’s work. In our dominant culture, it’s viewed as a feminine skill and a girly hobby. And our very special heroine simply can’t be shown to have girly interests or hobbies. That would make her… like other girls.

Even if that’s not a conscious mindset, I can see that being why the (entirely cisgender male) creativity team valued the skill so little they didn’t even think before tossing it aside for a joke. Frankly, given how the series goes on to treat both Steph and literally all of the women around her, I would not be surprised in the slightest.

But that’s a topic for another day. 

For now, I hope I've made my point. People are going to think I'm exaggerating when I say this but I really believe it’s true: the entire series is like this. If you read it in a vacuum and don't think about it, it seems perfectly functional, but the second you bring in outside context or start questioning things even a little, it all falls apart. And instead of drawing on Steph's established history and personality to make her a compelling and unique protagonist, it strips her down to nothing but shallow cliches to render her out as little more than a blank, generically quirky cipher for insecure people to project themselves onto.

It’s honestly depressing. 

[longing-for-rain]

Look I know people love to act like Zuko is the most dangerous, toxic, and temperamental character… but there is exactly one (1) male character Katara was canonically responsible for calming down from violent, destructive tantrums at risk to herself and it wasn’t Zuko… 🐸☕️

[panther-os]

I've decided that in the MW universe, Ghosts is a book written and self-published by autistic American teenagers Hesh and Logan who have a special interest in the military. They included real people they knew but made them all American (TM) if they weren't already - like their dad and his British work son from his military days, Ajax, and Ajax' Irish husband, Keegan, who is coincidentally a first cousin once removed to one Simon Riley. Hesh also still doesn't realize Ajax and Keegan are married despite him and Logan being ringbearers at the wedding bc whatever the exact opposite of a gaydar is that's what he has, and Logan has decided not to tell him.

Simon gets a copy of the book bc he met the boys when they were Babies and Rudy gets a copy as well bc Simon refuses to let him read it and he's just like "so are your cousin's husband's work dad's kids racist or...?" and Simon's just like "unfortunately most likely yes but they don't even realize it"

[mah-o-daryaa]

You have no understanding of Avatar and lack even basic media literacy. First you claim that Aang is never seen practicing (untrue), then you claim that practicing at all (in preparation for the literal active war???) somehow implies he hasn't mastered any of the elements, and then you claim Aang hasn't displayed mastery over airbending??? He's literally airbending constantly, to the point where he's animated slightly differently when he's earthbending than a typical earthbender would be animated, because he still unconsciously moves like an Airbender. Aang is floating and flying all the time, to the point where he will sometimes float to the ground even when jumping would've worked just as well. Almost every fight he takes he moves evasively, and even in the final fight with Ozai he chooses not to take his life because he fully grasps and adores airbending culture and values. Just straight up yapping with no understanding of the source material.

I understand where you are coming from anon, but it seems like you are coming from a more defensive POV, with a lot of aggression. It's just the fact that you chose to be anonymous so that I wouldn't be able to find you on Tumblr. But anyways, I'll go through most of your points one-by-one.

First you claim that Aang is never seen practicing (untrue), then you claim that practicing at all (in preparation for the literal active war???) somehow implies he hasn't mastered any of the elements...

Yeah, I can kind of understand why you might think I'm backtracking from my position. What I meant was that the finale acknowledged that Aang hadn't completely mastered earthbending and firebending yet. I can excuse this, simply because Sozin's Comet was coming around, so the fact that Aang was even able to get a decent grasp on these two elements in particular is impressive. But because Aang only had a year (or if you want to be more accurate, six months) to do so, you can't say Aang has mastered them all, because he's only twelve years old.

However, the first season was slow-placed, while the Northern Water Tribe arc was rushed, since there was only one episode before the season finale. Even then, Aang was goofing off during Master Pakku's lessons while Katara was steadily improving, and you wonder why Katara is the master waterbender, but not Aang.

... and then you claim Aang hasn't displayed mastery over airbending???

OK, so maybe Aang did master airbending, but I answered a previous ask where I pointed out that because Aang is a twelve-year-old kid with zero knowledge of nuance beyond accepting Zuko as his firebending teacher (like how he told Kyoshi that she didn't really kill Chin the Conqueror, he just fell to his death because he wouldn't get out of the way), we shouldn't automatically accept Aang's sayings about Air Nomad lifestyle as 100% true. I'm not saying that Aang is wrong in any way, it's just that we're hearing Aang's interpretation of said culture and would obviously be slightly biased.

Almost every fight he takes he moves evasively, and even in the final fight with Ozai he chooses not to take his life because he fully grasps and adores airbending culture and values.

I just want to point out that I don't hate Aang because he's an Air Nomad. I'm perfectly fine with him practicing airbending, eating Air Nomad food, wearing Air Nomad robes, etc. I don't have a problem with any of that. I really liked the concept of Aang struggling with choosing between defeating Ozai or upholding his principles. What I do have a problem with is his writing. He's never allowed to make mistakes, and thus, is never allowed to grow as a person and as the Avatar.

I just want to point out that Aang starts the show running away from an idyllic home (the Southern Air Temple) because of an inevitable confict (he was going to be separated from Gyatso), hides in an elemental sphere (the iceberg), and the conflict is resolved in a plot device (it doesn't). Aang ends the series running away from an idyllic home (Ember Island) because of an inevitable confict (he had to kill Ozai), hides in an elemental sphere (the rock sphere), and the conflict is resolved in a plot device (the lionturtle and the Pointy Rock). He hasn't changed at all! What happened to "facing the conflict head-on" Twinkle-toes?

Like the Northern Water Tribe arc, this conflict was rushed, was introduced at the Grand Finale, and resolved with not one, but two deus-ex-machinas. Had this dilemma been brought up much sooner and given more breathing room (like, say, at the beginning of Book 2), Aang's development would have rivaled Zuko's.

[dyed-red]

okay very short mini rant time but -

not having emotions isn’t a thing. or at the very very least, it’s not a thing for soulless!sam. the writers hand-waved “soulless doesn’t feel” but that makes no sense and they’re wrong and it falls apart if we so much as poke it with a twig, let alone a proper stick.

emotions are information that act as input into decision-making. the very limited cases of human beings lacking the ability to feel fear or any other particular emotion, or lacking emotional input into their decisions? yeah, it’s not good. either wander into danger they can’t handle because there is no input into the decision-making process that says No, Don’t Do That, or at the extreme end, they can’t make decisions because they have no insight into what they might prefer or want or desire, or even not prefer or not want or not desire, so each minor choice is paralyzing because the part of the brain dedicated to do the choosing doesn’t exist.

if soulless really didn’t have emotions, he wouldn’t be doing much at all.

you can say “he’s making choices based on physiological stimulus” and that desire (like a desire for sex, or a desire to get a hunt completed and kill the monster) isn’t a feeling, but i promise you that it is, and that we can’t fully or truly disentangle physiology from emotion either.

in fact soulless!sam seems to have no issue whatsoever experiencing positive emotions like desire, enjoyment, contentment, satisfaction, pride, etc. He seems capable of vexation and irritation too. We don’t really see him angry in the same way sam would be, but he does sort of go into a violent rage and beat someone with his bare fists in a flashback, right? i promise that without emotion, exerting that kind of energy on a task just... wouldn’t happen. because you’re incapable of caring about the outcome of the task, no matter how ‘rational’ or ‘logical’ that outcome may seem (because what’s rational and logical depend on what we care about and what goals we have selected, which again, occurs in the context of having emotions to guide us toward what those desired end states might look like).

soulless!sam seems, as far as i can tell, to lack two things: 1) the ability to experience bonds with others, and 2) the ability to intuit or experience conscious insight into his own emotions.

on the first, his lack of connection to dean despite understanding he prefers to have him around, his willingness to kill bobby, his complete and utter lack of care for lisa and ben despite knowing on some level that he should care about them, or would if he were his usual self, even if only as an extension of who and what dean cares about. soulless just... doesn’t experience that deeply human need for social connection nor the automatic way it manifests nor any bonding toward others. some failure of oxytocin going on there (the soul is stored in the oxytocin receptor site?).

on the second, sam doesn’t know what he’s feeling when he hasn’t got a soul. he equates that with not really feeling anything, or at least that what we’re told as shorthand pretty quickly, because what he actually says when asked what he’s feeling is “i don’t know”. because - he doesn’t. but that doesn’t mean he’s not actually feeling anything, it means he has no conscious insight into it.

his feelings are just feelings to him, just information. they are understood in terms of how they impact his end state aims (i want to finish this hunt, i want to have sex with this hippie chick, i don’t want to put up with this fairy lady, i don’t want to suffer by having my soul put back in) but are not understood in and of themselves (i don’t know if i feel angry or sad or happy in response to setbacks or steps forward toward these desired ends. at most i know i experience a sense of satisfaction when my aims are accomplished, but this is understood mostly through checking that aim off the list and being able to direct my attention and resources toward new goals. i don’t know why i do this, i just do).

the lack of bonding means he doesn’t feel interpersonal guilt or remorse for hurt and harm he has caused, nor a sense of loss or grief based on his connections (or lack thereof) with others, nor an anticipatory sense of guilt, remorse, grief, or regret at pursuing interpersonal harm, so long as the harm is deemed as needed or even just helpful in furthering one of his desired end goals. this increases our perception that he doesn’t have feelings at all, when what he’s really missing are mostly a subset of social emotions, and that’s not even unique to soulless people! (and look, i don’t want to go down the rabbit hole of how fucked up i think it is that the writers, intentionally or not (but i suspect intentionally) more or less equated sam’s soullessness with some clinical features of psychopathy.)

anyway that’s more or less my rant. the concept of soullessness and how it manifests bothers the shit out of me, the explanations for it in-universe are misleading (though understandable in-universe even if i’d expect cas to provide a clearer explanation tbh), soulless!sam feels a lot, and i still haven’t managed to do a proper/full s6 rewatch as a result of my vexation.

[ethuilgreen]

I shipped rin and sesshomaru when I was like 9 and didn’t understand the concept of problematic and tbh I still like it but I don’t like that it’s canon if anyone understands pls share your thoughts??? Cause I’ve been dying to talk about it for a fucking hot minute!!

[soloragoldsun]

I’ll be honest: I’m very, very, VERY worried about how Dreadwolf will play out. It will either make or break the franchise.

I’m already pissed that the Creators were apparently all evil slavers except for Fen’Harel and Mythal. Like, way to go, Bioware! You just fucked up your primary pagan-coded pantheon! Great job! What makes it worse is that we all KNOW that the Chantry will just use this as further justification for the way elves have been treated. “Oh, you see? They were worshiping evil slavers this whole time! The Exalted March was obviously us trying to save them from themselves!” Hell, even the fucking vallaslin that is so vital to Dalish culture is actually descended from fucking slave markings! The tribal-coded facial tattoos are slave markings. GREAT!

But this whole Agents of Fen’Harel business is even worse! Bioware really said “Hey, let’s take the subjugated people of this world and make them part of a cult that plans to literally destroy the world!”

This whole plotline is hanging by a thread. I desperately hope that this will somehow end with the Dalish finding their own identity outside of the Creators (because they DO have their own culture that has been built up over the years that can exist outside religion). I don’t think I could stomach it if this is leading to the destruction of an entire culture, especially in the face of another highly-flawed Catholic-coded religion. As a pagan, that hits a little too close to home...