#obvious disclaimer that these are my own personal opinions and i can agree to disagree with a good chunk of the fandom

[inkykeiji]

not sure if this helps but i just read this a few days ago..

https://www.tumblr.com/moodyvoid/746788409535791104/tomura-promising-to-protect-his-leagues-ideals

i totally agree with you tho!! this is so fucking annoying i hate the way they are moving forward with his character!!!! :c

bnha manga spoilers + clari going on a huge rant that is very much tainted by extremely intense and deeply personal emotions

it does not help, but i appreciate you sharing it with me anyway anon <33 thank you for trying to help me feel a little better, genuinely, i really do appreciate it so much!

ugh. ‘his league’s ideals’ aren’t even his own ideals. his entire life has been a lie—was he really a victim of hero society, ever? would he have been a victim of hero society, and especially in the way dabi and toga and twice and spinner were, had he not been given decay? had he been able to completely live out his life normally, without any interference from afo (completely ignoring the fact that, apparently, he wouldn’t even exist without afo and his meddling)?

he’s a fraud. he shouldn’t be the leader of the league. he IS a victim, yes. a victim of a villain, a victim of his abusive father who hated heroes, who is probably more of a victim of hero society than tenko ever would’ve been—so at least there’s that indirect link. but to me, and this is purely my own personal opinion, having decay not be his natural quirk takes so much away from him as a character. i interpreted quirks as a metaphor for undesirable qualities that normal society shuns. as such, having decay be his original, natural quirk, to me, made him a much more fascinating and complex and MESSY character. now he feels one dimensional and boring. all of his ‘decisions’ were tainted by what he thought was true—but none of it actually came from within him, at all, ever. not even a sliver of it. can we even say ‘that was all him’ when we know that the basis for all of those decisions is entirely built on lies and deceit? when literally everything tomura knows, and stands for, and believes, has been built on a lie? when it was all done BECAUSE of the ideals and opinions implanted within him, that don’t have a single hint of truth to them and don’t actually pertain to him or who he would’ve been and what he would’ve suffered at all? i think he genuinely cares for the league, yes. i think he genuinely likes video games, yes. but the reasons and motivating factors behind those decisions are ???????????

i just feel like it would’ve been so much more impactful and sinister for afo to intentionally seek out a child who he KNEW had a quirk that would be shunned and would alienate him from society regardless and then use that trait as a tool to manipulate the child and mold tomura into exactly what he wanted, than to just completely engineer the entire thing from the very start. this single change in detail suddenly alleviates tomura of all responsibility, which makes him feel really flat from a character standpoint. sure, tenko has a great heart or whatever, but i personally am not interested in that. i liked the moral greyness of the league. i liked what they stood for. tomura/tenko having this pure heart within him, or this capacity for a pure heart (ie making these choices to care for and save his little jigsaw of a found family), while also struggling against the shackles society would’ve imposed on him for being born with such a quirk, and the real anger and hatred he would’ve felt because of that, is soooo much more interesting (and relatable!) than tenko just being, what, a decent person? idk.

in other words, none of tomura’s ‘decisions’ hold any weight. obviously, tomura has been groomed and manipulated by afo since he was very young—most of his ideals and opinions were shaped by and influenced by afo. but at least if decay had been his own quirk, there would’ve been a kernel of truth there. that’s all i wanted. just that one kernel of truth.

anyway, sorry i just used your ask to vent and cry about it HAHAHA. i hope i’m explaining myself sufficiently and that my ideas are being expressed adequately and clearly. honestly, i’m having trouble fully articulating myself and why i am so insanely upset over all of this, but in a nutshell these are my thoughts. i feel like i could write an entire essay on why this decision sucks so bad LMAO. sure, his story is tragic. but it also feels really meaningless.

who knows, maybe the manga will make me eat my words, and something great will happen, and i truly hope it does!!! i hope it renders everything i’ve said here completely untrue! but we will see what happens,,,

[kanmom51]

JM JK timeline.- my observations how they grew over the years

Disclaimer: these are my own opinions and conclusions.  Feel free to disagree, but hate or aggression will be unacceptable.

2017 - Part 3

Ooh, we have reached a major event here.  Serendipity. 4 September 2017, or is it 1 September 2017 (??), as I will explain bellow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEMaH9Sm3lQ&t=16s .  

Or what I like to call:  JM’s love ode to JK.

Now tell me this: If Jimin’s song Serendipity was released 4th September 2017, and uploaded to BangtanTv on 5th September 2017, why is the date stamped on the MV 1 Sep 2017? 

 Does that date mean something? Let me think for a second….oh, it does, doesn’t it?  It’s someone’s birthday !!!

JM tells us himself: “All of this isn’t just a coincidence”.

Serendipity is a beautiful love song, and I honestly believe it is JM’s love ode to JK, a birthday present to his love.  

I am aware that Jimin is not the one who wrote the lyrics for the song.  RM did though.  RM, that at this point was very much aware of the relationship and JM’s great love for JK. RM that had written JK’s Begin, a song that everyone agrees is a very personal song of JK’s.  

The “I am you, you are me” line actually originated from a song released by Zico in early 2016.  There are theories that Jikook used a reference from that songs MV (the band aids on their fingers) during a Puma fan sign on April 2nd 2016.  So, if this is true and the line had special meaning for them to start with, and it found it’s way into the song lyrics... feel free to make your conclusions...

And although we have no way of knowing just how involved JM was in the process of writing this song (did he ask for a love song? Did he give ideas to insert into the song, like destiny, not being a coincidence, the cat?), but at the end of the day, JM ‘owns’ the song, believes in what he is singing.  When he talks about the song you can feel the emotional personal connection he has with the song.  This is his song,  and he sings it for JK.  And JK knows this is Jimin’s gift to him.  

Serendipity related, check out the 18th September Dance with DNA Vlive -  https://www.vlive.tv/video/42069 .

JK’s reaction when JM says Serendipity is his favourite song.  So cute. The thing with this one is that you could easily overlook it or not read too much into it. Only Suga’s reaction here is the tell all.  

At the point that JK is acting all shy and smiley to himself, Suga moves closer to him, whispering “Jungkookah”, something that brings on a change to JK’s entire facial expression.  There’s even a slight head nod from Suga when JK wipes the smile off his face.  

Suga hinting to JK not to be so obvious, only made it more obvious.  I also noticed that just before JM starts singing Serendipity, just after he was asked what his favourite song from the album is, JK looks sideways to Suga, as if he knows he isn’t supposed to react too obviously – looks a bit like little JK might have been scolded or reigned in prior to the live broadcast.    Remember that this is really quite a short time after the song’s release, so JK’s excitement, happiness, is still really fresh.  The song is for him, and it’s JM’s favourite...

I am not going to analyse the MV, but there are many who have done so before me.  Was JM involved in the planning and did he have any input to the choices made?  Idk.  There is a similarity to the motif of the DNA MV. Is it a coincidence that the dominant colour used is JK’s favourite colour? Who knows. But doesn’t the song say “all of this is not a coincidence”?

Add to that JM starting to use the paw print emoji by JK’s name on Twitter?  A coincidence? Mmm… interesting.

From this point on it is clear that “you are me, I am you” is a JM and JK thing. 

21 September 2017 BTS comeback show.  JK was in charge of putting together each of the members DNA.  Very enjoyable.  But why did JM have to mention again that JK comes to their room to sleep?  Also, how does JK know that JM doesn’t wake up Hobi when he is playing games late at night?  JM telling us how he now learnt how to play games – then what games was JM good last year (re: Vlive 22 April 2017)?

22 September 2017 Love Yourself fan sign– JM singing Serendipity, JK joining in.  How happy JM looks when JK sings “just let me love you” with him all while making eye contact with each other at that point. The way JM looks at JK while singing the song.  Singing to him.  

Still think Serendipity is not JK and JM’s song?

They have a way of looking at one another that sometimes make me feel like I’m intruding on a very intimate moment.

24 September 2017 SBS Inkigayo Super concert – found it!!!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fb-_jkdxgh4 start watching at 3.36min.

This is the one I remembered, where JM, saw the need to grab JK’s butt, run his hand up and down his back side, right through the crack, repeatedly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7fv0CaQT9M start watching 11:30min , JM walks to his place past JK, lightly brushing his hand against JK.  

When I mention the brushes or light touches – this is what I mean (see attached photos).   Obviously, there will be those who say it wasn’t intentional, that he was walking by him and didn’t mean to touch him.  I say bollox to that (excuse the language).  

First, there was plenty of room not to walk so close to JK.  Second, if you notice, he circles JK only to make it back to the same actual side he was on to begin with.  All he had to do was back up, just like JK did, and not circle JK to make it to his place on stage.  Third, to me it looks as if he was aiming to touch JK’s hand, only it was too high up.

26 September SBS MTV The Show.  Happy happy boys.  

30 September 2017  Love Yourself fan sign Sinchon –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMIdoK9rfAI .  

Another one I was looking for.  I have seen this moment and wasn’t sure where or when it was from.  This is one of those clips Jikook’s use to show Jimin being jealous, and to be honest, first time I saw it it made me wonder too.  But watching it again and again, I have come to the conclusion that that wasn’t the issue.  

To me this is more JM being protective than JM being Jealous.  Setting the boundaries for V when it comes to JK, and it is something we see with JM more than once.  

JM wasn’t happy.  V wasn’t happy.  Boundaries were set.  

I actually wrote a separate post about this moment.  

1 October 2017 BTS live – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwU-NOMLvqQ 

Tipsy JK must be a Jikooker. His guard is down, inhibitions are gone and he becomes really chatty and tends to say and do things that he most likely regrets later on.  We didn’t see the members drink what seemed to be alcohol, but the vibe I got from JK’s talkativeness and behaviour during the live was that he was tipsy.  Not outright drunk, but tipsy.

To the fan’s request to show his abs, JK starts checking himself out, looking under his T-shirt, only to be scolded by JM to keep it to himself.  This is also the first time we hear him Jikooking, talking about eating with Jin and JM, referring to them as Jin-jikook, and then turning to JM, while the others try to call them by another name (I wonder why…).  Did I not say tipsy JK is a Jikooker???

3 October 2017 Run BTS episode 22.  https://www.vlive.tv/video/43438 start 7.00min.

JM turns to JK asking him to vote for him.  The softness in JM’s voice when he asks him acting all coquettish.  The way JM approached JK and the way he spoke to him, that’s not the way someone talks to his mate, or to his ‘brother’.

There was a softness in the approach to JK.  coquettish is the only way I can describe it.

 Love hearts were added by the show’s editors, not me !!!! 

12 October 2017 BTS countdown. Can be found on Dailymotion. 

All JM had to say was one word – Jungkookah and JK, surprisingly (not) chose him.  The look of joy on their faces at that point.  And again the editors with the heart emoji effects.  Uhm… 

JM and JK’s team was the team chosen by the fans, and guess what song they both choose to sing, as JM piggy backed JK? Their song obviously… Serendipity.  

And yet again, JM gets to tell us JK comes to his room to sleep.  We hear you JM.  We hear you.

Jimin birthday surprise (BangtanTV 1 November 2017) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aAhNAl53ZY.

JM gets flowers sent from his father.  J-Hope and Suga pretend JM’s dad has arrived to surprise JM, Suga pointing and saying he saw him.  JK slowly backs up, shocked and alarmed smile on his face, trying to move behind RM.  Then the boys start laughing.  

Now, why do I think this is a moment worthy of my timeline?  Well, when the boys start laughing, revealing it was a joke, the one Suga points at, laughingly, is JK.  

The whole thing feels like a joke on JK, not JM.  JK is the one being teased.   Why would JK be so stressed out from JM’s dad being there?  And why would the boys be teasing him like that? Hm…

The funny thing is that the camera is on JK and Suga, not on JM, who was supposedly just told his father was there. That feels slightly strange to me. Wouldn’t they want to catch JM’s reaction? Not JK’s?

28-30 October 2017 JK and JM Tokyo trip together.  This trip was long anticipated by JM.  He had been looking forward for his trip with JK for a long time.  It was a private trip planned and paid for by JK as a gift for JM.  What we know about the trip is mostly what they tell us in retrospect.  

Saying that, this was truly a memorable trip for them both, and they both can’t seem to shut up about it, talking about it at any possible moment.  JK telling us how JM stayed up (only JM?) until 5 am, so they both woke up at 12pm and missed out on plans they had for the morning, JM tells how they went shopping in Harajuku, how during their trip was the longest walk they took, referring to their trip during interviews.  As I mentioned – a memorable trip.  

31 October 2017 - When returning from the trip JM posts a selca/selfie.  I know I said I won’t be doing this, but rules are sometimes meant to be broken, and this specific selca is gorgeous, so…

BTS Wings tour Japan documentary - filmed October 2017, published 12 November 2017 - https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7sz5rq .  

Both acting cute together. For some reason, they are the only ones that are paired for the one on one interviews, when Suga, Jin and Hobi were all interviewed by themselves. 

 Felt like JM and inhibitions were strangers during the group interview.  

Not really sure what JM was searching for in JK’s thigh during the group interview (when V was talking) – tupping, fingering and squeezing JK’s thigh.  And yet again RM and J-Hope’s reactions to die for.  Hobi eyes on the action throughout the whole episode, and RM when he notices, I would pay a lot of money to know what was going through his head at that point.  My educated guess is: “God, please get me out of here, why did I agree to be the leader????” LOL.

Then when asked what their impressions were when coming to the dome, JM tells how JK was crying, all while caressing JK’s ear.  JK tells how he was emotional, and they look at each other.  All the while, RM’s face when JM touches JK’s ear, only to continue to place his hands on their shoulders respectively.

JM continues to surprise, telling viewers to anticipate for JK’s sweat.  The minute he says that, RM turns to look towards Suga, the vibe I get is: “god, please help me here…”.  

Then JM goes on to tell us how in his opinion JK’s sweat is beautiful, Holy water.  What???? J-hope repeats JM’s Holy water, then glances for just a second towards RM and looks down nervously – great save Hobi.

The group interview was shot on JM’s birthday.  Maybe that had something to do with his good un-inhibited mood.

8 November 2017 – GCF in Tokyo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrTNLkqGrlc  .

While the Tokyo trip was JK’s birthday gift or JM.  GCF Tokyo is JK’s love ode to JM.  

One of JK’s grand gestures.  Up there with RB, as far as I am concerned.

This is not an analysis of GCFT, but I do have a few words to say on the matter. Explain why in my eyes this is a JK’s love ode to JM.  

This video was filmed and edited by JK, and JK alone.  It supposedly documents their trip together.  It was his choice and his alone to edit and publish this video and did so to JM’s surprise.  

In the video to start with, he lets us know that it’s the two of them, but from there on, other than seeing JK through the mirrors in the elevator while he is filming JM, the one we mostly see is JM.  JM smiling, JM goofing around, JM eating, JM enjoying himself on the Tea Cup ride at Disneyland, JM walking, JM dancing, and as a whole just JM having the time of his life. For a video that is documenting a trip to Tokyo, there is not too much of Tokyo we get to see.  

The end credits name JK as the photographer, director and editor, while naming JM as the actor.  

There is a strong romantic vibe to the video.  

JK’s editing choices, including his music choice for the video are well thought out.  His choice to edit to the beat of the song.  All cleverly thought out to accentuate both the footage and the lyrics of the song he chose:  ‘There for you’ by Troye Sivan and Martin Garrix.  

JM told us already: “this is not a coincidence”.  

The level of preparation from JK, acquiring the rights to use the song, the amount of time it took to go over the footage and edit the video, all while managing to do that will a full working schedule (working throughout the night). This was clearly something big for him.  His joy and pride when it was uploaded to Youtube, clearly showed, him smiley and dancing.

2 days prior to GCFT, on 6 November 2017, JM published his short clip of the trip.  JM too took the time to edit a cute footage of the trip, documenting both of them having fun. Putting them both side by side only emphasizes the difference and showcases just how much GCFT was all about JM, being JK’s love ode to JM.

To be continued...

[anarmorofwords]

Why Cordelia going to Matthew's and leaving for Paris made perfect sense

I've been thinking about this a lot, and I know it's a hot topic in the fandom. When I initially read ChoI, I was very on board with this - yes, it wouldn't help them and was reckless and selfish and all that, but story-wise and character arc wise, it was a decision I enjoyed.

After some time in the fandom I sort of changed my mind, focusing strongly on the negative consequences and Sona/Alastair.

Not so long ago, I was whining with Lela @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 about the "If he hurts you, come back home" quote and the lost potential there. You know I live for Carstairs siblings content.

And to be fair, I'm still mad about that.

But just as making all the good decisions wouldn't make for very compelling storytelling, judging these poor dumbasses' choices too harshly makes little sense to me, especially when we're dissecting their actions while forgetting the circumstances, the emotions, and the fact that these characters aren't aware of all the things readers are aware of.

And thinking about Cordelia's pov, it's actually pretty clear to me why she would go to Matthew of all people, and why she did leave for Paris.

We're talking about how selfish it was to leave her heavily pregnant mother and brother who's been through so much and would really use her support, and when you put it this way, it sure sucks.

But it's not at all the way Cordelia sees this.

At the end of ChoI it's clear just how heavily she's crushed by being Lilith's paladin. That's her main focus, something that occupies - haunts - her thoughts all the time. She's not only ashamed, she's scared. She's scared she will hurt people (she already got dangerously close to that once), and she wants to save her family from possible negative repercussions. So she's not abandoning her family - she's removing herself from their vicinity, to make sure they won't become casualties of her mistake.

Obviously that's not her one and only motivation. She's a 17 year old girl whose heart has just been broken, which, frankly, would have been reason enough. But then there's also things she's been through before that - from the complicated marriage (that she's awfully young for), the constant threat of a serial killer, and her father's tragic death.

Then there's her seeking comfort from Matthew instead of Alastair, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense, too. I used to think "home" should be her first instinct, where she heads immediately, because that's the most natural thing. And her home is obviously her family, her brother.

Except... her relationship with Alastair is still a little shaky and unsure, and regardless of their efforts, they still aren't particularly close when it comes to sharing their feelings with each other.

Moreover, when it comes to the marriage/James... Cordelia doesn't want to dissapoint her mother - being a good daughter, upholding/saving family's reputation and overall living up to the "golden child" title is basically one of her main drivers throughout the series. And in her eyes, the truth behind her marriage to James is a big failure in all those areas. Add cheating to that? She thinks admitting that to Sona would break her mother's heart and also cause her shame, which she wants to avoid. I think she's partly ashamed of admitting all that to Alastair, too. We know she likes making her brother proud, and he warned her against being with James, which she didn't listen to. And if her pride wouldn't be wounded enough by that, there's also the fact that she still loves James. I think she fears Alastair would judge her for that. And if there's anything that might keep you from seeking comfort from the people you love, it's the fear of facing their dissaproval and causing them pain.

Matthew, however, is someone whose presence allows her to feel free and comfortable, and be herself, with no expectations attached. Most importantly though, he's the only person who already knows everything - not only about the nature of the marriage, but about Cordelia's true feelings for James, too. And he feels for her, understands her, and offers support with no judgement or pity. Like him or not, Matthew's been a steady friend - perhaps the closest one - to her for the past four months.

Now, to get back to the Paladin point once again, Matthew is someone who's also made a terrible mistake, which consequences still haunt him. Someone who considers himself a monster - and although Cordelia doesn't agree with that, that means he will understand her own guilt and terror. I don't know about you, but I personally sometimes forget just how horrifying the whole Lilith ordeal must have been to Cordelia - while she almost killed her best friend. That's awful, traumatising, and absolutely a valid reason for her to be slightly out of it.

Lastly, a small but not insignificant thing that might have also played into her decision, in my opinion - this girl deserves a break, goddamit. Through lonely, uneventful childhood, to the stressful time she spent trying to salvage family's reputation, constantly keeping herself in check and plotting, and finally to an emotionally draining marriage she's never had a chance to let go and have fun and feel free. We see the longing for that clearly during her car journey with Matthew - the longing to escape the weigh she herself - and others - have put on her shoulders. She wants to just breathe for a moment, instead of being a golden child, a respectable heiress of a famous family, a perfect wife.

So in a way, she is running away from her mistakes, responsibilities, and consequences, but doesn't she have every right to do that?

disclaimer: this is mostly my attempt at organizing my own thoughts on the matter, and, in case it's not obvious, everyone's totally allowed to disagree and have their own opinions; as long as you keep it civil, we can discuss that, or just agree to disagree and keep on scrolling

[itsclydebitches]

Hey there! Admittedly I'm a little bit nervous since this is my first ask, but I'll try to not be too rambly.

So, recently the main subreddit, r/RWBY, made a ban on active users of the r/RWBYcritics subreddit. As a result there's been discussion around bad-faith criticism in the latter subreddit. What are your takes on bad-faith criticism?

For me personally, I think a bunch of people are misusing the term "bad-faith" and using it as a way to shut down criticism, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

Hey there, everyone! We woke up to some drama this morning, huh? And hello to you too, Tortoise! I'm so glad you decided to send in an ask, even if it's following some pretty tumultuous events...

Right, I'd like to start with a story. The story of how I personally don't spend time on Reddit, but I have plenty of friends who will occasionally cross-post something for me to see. Yesterday (or the day before? Idk time is meaningless) a friend told me about a post — which, significantly, I'm now having trouble finding — that covers RWBY's inconsistent writing and the fandom's tendency to try and explain away those missteps. They'd thought I'd be interested because I'd just had a conversation here on tumblr where I made that exact point to someone who, also significantly, vehemently disagreed with me, but in a very civil fashion. Given everything going on, I feel like this side point needs emphasis: we debated, we did so in a sometimes heated, but nevertheless respectful manner, it was clear neither of us was going to sway the other, and the conversation ended. The two "sides" of the community interacted without Armageddon coming about.

But back to the purpose of this tale. I went to take a look at this point and found that it no longer exists. There's just some vague message about it not obeying the subreddit's rules. "What happened?" I asked. "Why'd they take the post down?" "People were getting too heated in the comments," my friend replies. So, given that the comments were still visible, I proceeded to read through them, expecting personal attacks, slurs, harassment, etc. Any number of things that would justify deleting the post itself to put an end to such behavior. Instead, I found a thread of people having a conversation. Was the conversation heated at times? Sure. Did one or two individual posters edge into the realm of petulant, "No. You're wrong and stupid" responses? Yes. Was any of this remotely what I was expecting given the post's removal? NOPE.

"This isn't allowed?" I said. "Well then what is? People were being civil! Or at least as civil as hundreds of strangers ever get when discussing a series they're passionate about online."

Then, this morning, I hear that the entire critic subreddit has been banned.

So to answer your question, Tortoise, I don't actually think that "good faith" criticism exists. Meaning, it's not just that fans are misusing the term "bad faith criticism," but rather that there is no unified, agreed up method of writing criticism that will meet their standards. It's not possible and we know it's not possible because fans have been trying to meet those elusive standards for years:

A fan posts nothing but praise for RWBY until changes make them criticize the show as it is now. Their entire body of work is dismissed as the product of a "hater," despite the overwhelming gap between positive and negative reviews.

A fan posts a review that's a pretty balanced mix between praise and criticism. They're dismissed because it's still too much criticism.

A fan posts a review that's 99% praise with 1% criticism. That's still too much, with fans focusing on the single problem they had with the work and using it as an excuse to dismiss the entire review out of hand.

(As an aside, the argument that critics are "obsessed" with only saying negative things and that the only problem here is that they're "too" negative ignores the argument that... RWBY has a lot of flaws nowadays. Few are willing to acknowledge the possibility that it's not fans insisting on making things up to be mad about/ignoring the good parts of the show, it's the that show is, as of now, legitimately more of a mess than it is a praise-worthy product. If I'd been writing recaps in the Volumes 1-4 days, my work would have been skewed far more towards the positive. The critics' stance is that RWBY has gotten worse, which yes, results a higher volume of critical posts. To say nothing of how criticism takes far longer to explain, likewise resulting in posts focused primarily on that side of the divide. I really enjoyed the image of a crying Jaune reflected in his sword. I did not enjoy that moment's context. Saying that you liked an animation choice is a one sentence thing. Explaining the complexities of Jaune securing emotional moments, the problems with Penny's second death, the hurt many fans experienced watching an assisted suicide, etc. takes a whooole lot longer. Hence, you get massive, multiple posts about these nuanced topics and fewer, smaller posts about the details that are working well.)

A fan talks about a topic that has been metaphorically banned by the fandom as a whole. They have something good to say about Ironwood. They dislike something about Blake/Yang. They enjoyed Adam as a character. They have a problem with Ruby's leadership, etc. There's a whole list of topics nowadays that will result in an automatic dismissal, regardless of the point the fan is trying to make or how well they make it.

A fan talks about the minority representation of RWBY — its black characters, its queer characters, its disabled characters, etc. — and as a result has something to say about the biases and missteps of those writing these characters. This is considered an attack on the writers and, therefore, automatically bad.

A fan talks about how they enjoyed RWBY as it was years ago and is having trouble reconciling the dark, complicated story with the simple, hopeful one we started out with. This is seen as an attack on Monty's vision and an unwillingness to accept that "everything is planned."

A fan does as asked and ensures that their post is meeting all the requirements of "real" criticism. They have an argument to make. They have a point. They provide evidence. They recommend a solution. They keep their tone respectful. They don't attack the creators. They provide disclaimers in every single paragraph about how they do not hate RWBY. It doesn't matter. They're considered too negative.

I have, quite literally, seen every one of the above examples on multiple occasions. I have had many of the above accusations leveled at my own work. When fans say that they're fine with criticism provided it's not "bad faith" criticism, they don't actually have a specific post-type in mind; a checklist of behaviors another fan can emulate and, provided they do that, no hate will come their way. Or, if an individual fan does actually go, "Yeah. That criticism I'm fine with" that response is in no way universal. One person's "They make a good, civil point" is another person's, "Omg stop bashing the show!" Because "bashing" has come to mean everything from curse-laden insults towards everything RWBY has ever done, to posts that just happen to say something other fans don't agree with.

It's a rigged game. There is no way to post criticism about RWBY in an agreed-upon, appropriate manner. This recent ban is proof of that. I think it's incredibly telling that almost immediately after I was going, "Wow. A pretty calm debate about the flaws of RWBY in the main sub. That's great to see," all posters from the criticism subreddit were banned. The main sub literally just had the sort of criticism that they claim to accept — people respectfully posting analysis-based arguments resulting in calm debate — and yet they implemented the ban anyway. I'm not going to pretend that I've never gotten too heated on my own posts, never made snarky comments when I'm frustrated, never used exaggerated reaction GIFs that can come across as insulting... but I'd say on the whole my RWBY work is precisely the sort of "good faith" criticism that other fans are supposedly looking for. I never make an argument I don't think I can back up with evidence. I try to allow for the nuance and differing opinions of complicated topics. I try — even if I don't always succeed — to write in a clear, respectful manner. Yet none of that work has stopped people from telling me I'm a "bitter... raging asshole," a "deranged, delusional psychopath," telling me to set myself on fire, threatening to smash my head in, or just messages to straight up kill myself. If someone like me who legitimately works hard to create fair, defendable criticism and who only ever posts on a personal blog that people can easily block, who never engages in debate until someone else starts it first, never seeks out other fans I disagree with to harass them about what they like... if someone like me is still a "bad faith" critic who "deserves" that kind of hate mail... then what kind of criticism do people want?

Nothing. That's the answer. No criticism whatsoever, of any kind, no matter if it's delivered respectfully, is making a good point, whatever. That's why "RWDE" was created. That's why the critic subreddit was created. The community at large has demanded a complete separation between Praise and Anything That's Not 100% Praise, which has now resulted in this ban. Any other explanations we see are excuses, which becomes glaringly obvious when you look at the mods' supposed reasons for implementing the ban:

"Constant arguments with r/RWBY users" - As opposed to the arguments surrounding things like shipping that never, ever happen?

"Vote manipulation and comment brigades" - The subreddit with 3,000 participants, with around 200 on at a time, is manipulating the votes of a subreddit with 155,000 participants, with over 1,000 on at a time? Those numbers just do not check out. If a positive post is downvoted, or a critical post upvoted, maybe that's because large swaths of the community actually agree/disagree with that assessment, not because the incredibly smaller group is somehow manipulating things.

"Attacking and harassing those they disagree with" — Again, as opposed to those non-critics that never, ever harass people? This is an individual problem, not a community problem. Both critics and non-critics have their sub-groups acting in ways they shouldn't. If anything, the main sub will have more individuals harassing other fans, simply by virtue of being so much larger. As the above examples attest, it's not other critics who have told me to light myself on fire and, just to be clear, the asks I've responded to are a miniscule number compared to the amount I've received. I delete the lion's share for my own sanity and to save my followers from reading the really graphic threats.

"Months-long NSFL spam brigades" — I am, admittedly, not sure what this is referring to. Spamming of NSFW content? If so, that's also an individual problem.

"Homophobic, transphobic, and racist attacks towards our users" — See the above points. Again. If someone is being homophobic, transphobic, or racist, then yes please, ban them. Don't ban an entire community for the actions of a few. It's like walking into a store and banning a customer for causing a scene... but then also banning everyone else who happened to be shopping at the same time. It's guilt by association.

The silver lining to all this? The community as a whole isn't pleased. At least according to the main subreddit comments and a few individual voices like MurderofBirds. Despite the increase (from my perspective anyway) of critical voices post-Volume 8, criticism of RWBY is still very much seen as taboo. As this ban showcases. But it's really reassuring to see so many fans, critics and non-critics alike, going, "This was a mistake." A community is meant to include all aspects of engagement: praise, criticism, and the gray area between. If anything, fans like the mods of the main subreddit should be creating a separate subreddit that is specifically for praise. In the same way that there should have been a tag for RWBY praise, rather than trying to eliminate any and all criticism from the main "RWBY" tag. The majority of fans, even those who claim to hate critics and all they (presumably) stand for, recognize that a blanket ban of all criticism is not the way to go, especially when "criticism" has come to have such a staggeringly broad definition. If you want your RWBY experience to be nothing but sunshine and roses (ha), then cultivate your own internet experience to reflect that. Create your own pockets with rules about how this is the space for praise and if you're not up for praising RWBY right now, don't interact with us in this particular space. Don't try to make the entire community — the main tools used to discuss the show online — conform to your preferences. As established, there is no "good" criticism that everyone in the fandom will accept, which just leaves a fandom with no criticism at all. I'm glad to see I'm far from the only one who, when presented with that extreme, is going, "Nope. No thank you."

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

So, this may sound weird, since I don't ship ZK, but I think the reason some dislike EIP is because they realize it was the first part of a busted enemies-to-lovers arc. EIP was part one, where Zuko and Katara see how others see them, and it weirds them out. Yet, Zuko insisted on sitting next to Katara and Katara pushes Aang away, suggesting there might be something there that they don't want to acknowledge. (1/3)

The first part of the finale was Part 2, where June reiterates the "Hey you're with your gf again!" Zuko and Katara deny it, but there likely should have been an undercurrent of 'Why do people think we're together? Do we act like it? Should we be? S/he is kind of cute.' During this time, Zuko defers to Katara and despite Toph likely being more helpful, asks Katara to be the one to take down Azula with him. (2/3)

Last part of the finale should have been the money shot, Zuko taking lightning for Katara, and in a parallel to CoD, Katara healing him. Dante Basco is right in that there probably should have been a kiss at that moment and the end scene of the gang at the Jasmine Dragon with Zuko and Katara shyly proclaiming their interest in each other. (3/4, sorry I have one more)

Again, ZK is not my ship, but EIP seemed to set up a ZK endgame that jumped the tracks at the end. By all the "rules" of a good narrative, Zuko and Katara should have ended up together, otherwise EIP should never have been countenanced or storyboarded. Full disclosure that I'm not a huge Kataang fan either, but Kataang was done a disservice by having EIP exist. It either should not have ever gotten written, or the ZK enemies-to-lovers arc should have been concluded. (end)

Disclaimer: I don’t care if someone ships Zvtara. Never have, never will. If the takeaway you (the general you, not anon specifically lol) get from this post is that Zvtara is “bad,” then I’m going to assume you didn’t actually read anything I wrote, because that is the farthest thing from my point here. Also, this post is strictly my personal response to these asks. I don’t expect everyone to read this and be like “YEAH” lmao. I am sure some people have different opinions, and that is a-okay!

In short, I think we will have to agree to disagree, anon.

Do some people consider EIP the beginning of a busted enemies-to-lovers arc? Of course they do, they’re “rabid zkers” who wear Zvtara shipping goggles 24/7 lmao. EIP couldn’t have been the beginning of an E-L arc because such an arc was never in the cards for them in the first place! Katara forgave Zuko in the previous episode. Trying to cram a romantic relationship into five episodes after months of hatred between Zuko and Katara would have been awful writing (and thus probably would have been a decision mercilessly criticized until the end of time, lmao). So it’s honestly better that Zvtara gets to spread its wings in fanon instead (much less pressure)! Also, realistically speaking, Katara and Zuko probably still had so many issues to work through in their friendship. Like yes, she forgave him and recognized he was trying to do better, but that doesn’t erase what Zuko has done to her and her friends. There is still plenty of forward progress they need to make before romance can even be considered between them. If that makes sense?

Also, let’s be real: EIP and bit with June afterwards were 100% ship bait. Just an attempt to add to the “drama” of who Katara would end up. A technique only effective while it was airing, for the record, because if you watch the show straight through, it becomes glaringly obvious that Zuko and Katara’s relationship - while gorgeous - was always meant to stay strictly platonic within the canon timeline.

Anyways. I’ll try to break down your ask one piece at a time!

“Zuko and Katara see how others see them, and it weirds them out”

Yes, they are definitely weirded out! The transcript says, “Zuko and Katara inch away from each other, slightly uncomfortable.” Which is just a longer way of describing that they were weirded out by the depiction of their relationship in EIP, lol. However, the play is not how others see them. The play is the Fire Nation’s imperialist propaganda, meant to demean the entire Gaang. I talk about in specifics how the entire Gaang is belittled here, but this is the key stuff I noted about Zuko and Katara:

it’s important to situate that and more importantly situate eip zuko and katara’s relationship within the context of the show. the fire nation is an imperialist country. the southern water tribe has suffered heavily beneath them. we know from “the headband” that fire nation individuals are fed pro-imperialistic propaganda from birth; that combined with zuko and azula’s degrading comment of “peasant” towards katara demonstrate very clearly how the fire nation views every other nation - put simply, they are superior and everyone else is inferior. that attitude is therefore reflected in the eip play:

- katara, an indigenous woman, is highly sexualized and portrayed as overly dramatic and tearful, because the fire nation objectifies women not of their own people and views them as less intelligent and less emotionally stable

- she is thus paired as having a “romance” with zuko in eip because naturally, via fire nation logic, zuko would be able to “score” an “easy” woman of one of the water tribes

- furthermore, the eip “romance” between zuko and katara emphasizes zuko’s position as a traitor to the fire nation; the implication is that as a traitor, he’d only be able to achieve a relationship with a “lesser” woman, e.g. a woman not of the fire nation

That is not how other people truly view Zuko and Katara’s relationship. That is how the Fire Nation depicts their relationship in order to degrade and dehumanize Zuko and Katara. To misinterpret that as “evidence” that Zuko and Katara should have been together romantically is… disturbing, in my opinion. (I really try to stay far away from zkers who use EIP as “proof” of supposed Zvtara interest in each other like honey that is imperialist propaganda please don’t 😭).

If you want to talk about how other people actually view Zuko and Katara’s relationship, look at the Gaang, who were around them most of all! They never tease the possibility of romance between their friends. Why? Because within canon, there wasn’t one. Simple!

“Zuko insisted on sitting next to Katara”

Nope! This is all the transcript says: “Zuko [Removing his hood.] Just sit next to me. What’s the big deal?” He doesn’t even mention Katara! Zuko is literally just like I’m already sitting. Why do I need to move? lmfao. It’s no thoughts head empty for our favorite firebender 😂

“Katara pushes Aang away”

I’m assuming this about the kiss, which I’m going to make a post about in the future because I am TIRED of the tomfoolery. Anyways, I’ll keep this brief - yes, she does push him away. She does not deny that she likes him. For Katara, the issue is the timing: “This isn’t the right time.” Both Katara and Aang know they like each other, plain and simple (which is why Aang doesn’t ask if he returns her feelings - he asks if they’d be together, because he knows their feelings are mutual). Katara pushes Aang away because, as she says, they’re in the middle of a war. She’s already seen Aang die once. He might die again. She doesn’t want that, of course, but it’s a reality Katara is forced to consider.

Anyways, her decision has nothing to do with Zuko. Lol.

“June reiterates the ‘Hey you’re with your gf again!’ Zuko and Katara deny it, but there likely should have been an undercurrent of ‘Why do people think we're together? Do we act like it? Should we be? S/he is kind of cute.’”

June’s assumption - especially because it is a repeat of a gag from earlier in the series, when it is incredibly concerning to assume a Fire Nation citizen would be with someone of the Water Tribes because of the war and its consequences - is comic relief. Not even good comic relief, lmao, because of the horrific implications I just mentioned that come with it, but it’s supposed to be comedy. There was no need of any “Zvtara” undercurrents there because a) Katara and Zuko had never expressed romantic interest in each other in the past, b) it wouldn’t track with the show’s narrative of Katara as Zuko’s surrogate sibling because of her position as Azula’s primary foil, and c) it just doesn’t make sense in general. Katara likes Aang. Zuko likes Mai. There was never a love triangle there, plain and simple. Fandom invented it.

And again, if you want to talk about how people actually see Zuko and Katara, don’t look at June, who has never had a proper conversation with either of them. As I said, the Gaang is a much better example, since they’re with the two 24/7. If they never tease Zuko and Katara about romance, why should we trust this random lady who doesn’t even know them?

“During this time, Zuko defers to Katara and despite Toph likely being more helpful, asks Katara to be the one to take down Azula with him.”

As I mentioned, Katara is Azula’s primary foil, so from a literary perspective she absolutely needed to be the one to take her down. Zuko needed to face Azula, but taking her down - again, from a literary pov - was always meant to be the end of Katara’s journey (she was the only person besides Aang who was ever a match for Azula, after all, as we see in CoD). Also, how would Toph be more helpful?? Not saying you’re wrong, btw, I just don’t understand what you mean. If I was Zuko, I also would have brought the waterbender that I’d already witnessed almost take down my sister already 😂. But even if Toph would have been more helpful, sometimes practicality must be sacrificed for a fulfilling narrative arc, lol!

“Last part of the finale should have been the money shot, Zuko taking lightning for Katara, and in a parallel to CoD, Katara healing him.”

Honestly, anon, this part of your ask baffles me 😂 I totally understand why rabid zkers might make this argument, but taking into account the rest of the show… It just doesn’t make sense? It’s been talked about a hundred times, but Zuko taking lightning out of romantic interest would ruin his redemption arc, regardless of if it was Katara or Aang or Sokka or anyone in the Gaang that he was taking it for, so that should be the end of discussion, full stop. I’ve talked about this issue here and here before, and someone else does a great job breaking it down in this post, too. But seriously. Zuko having romantic interest for anyone in the Gaang would ruin!! His!! Entire!! Arc!! I hate when people don’t understand that 😭 Zuko had to learn selflessness, to learn how to put others before himself, and to unlearn the imperialist rhetoric he’d been indoctrinated with from birth. Romantic interest during canon for Katara, Sokka, Aang, whomever, I don’t care, completely disregards all of his growth of breaking away from the Fire Nation. Plain and simple.

“Dante Basco is right in that there probably should have been a kiss at that moment and the end scene of the gang at the Jasmine Dragon with Zuko and Katara shyly proclaiming their interest in each other.”

I learned in a discord I’m in that Dante Basco apparently hadn’t seen the whole show until this year lmao. He didn’t know what energybending was nor did he know A:TLA ended with a Kataang kiss. Take that with a grain of salt, of course (you can watch the livestream this is revealed in here, and it was also mentioned in the recent StageIt A:TLA reunion), but I think it’s safe to conclude Dante Basco can be treated like any other Zvtara shipper. He likes the ship, which is totally cool, but he is not one of the writers, so his opinion meant naught in constructing the canon narrative.

ANYWAYS. My point is why would Zuko and Katara proclaim interest in each other if such interest would have to be crammed into five measly episodes?? Especially when four of those episodes were the finale?? That is awful writing, of course the A:TLA writers wouldn’t do that, lmao! They’d built up Kataang and Maiko already. Why scrap it and needlessly rush a romance from an excellent - and, important to note, a newly established - platonic bond? Nah.

“EIP seemed to set up a ZK endgame that jumped the tracks at the end. By all the ‘rules’ of a good narrative, Zuko and Katara should have ended up together”

Nope. Idk what rules people have been teaching you, anon, but they were lying!! You deserve better than people who would lie to you like that 😤. But yeah, narratively speaking, Katara and Zuko getting together would have made no sense. It would have undermined Zuko’s and Katara’s arcs, it would have completely disregarded Katara’s established feelings for Aang and Zuko’s for Mai, and again, it would have been totally rushed. Who wants that?? Normal people don’t, lmao. This might be hard to believe considering I occasionally rag about BNF zkers, but I actually have several friends who are Zvtara shippers! They agree that canon Zvtara would have made no sense, and that it’s better to play out a potential Zvtara dynamic in post-A:TLA fanon. I swear, it is only the rabid shippers who think Zvtara should have been canon, and trust me when I say no one should want to associate with them, lmao.

(And again, as I touched upon earlier, Zuko and Katara’s canon narrative relationship was surrogate siblings because of Katara’s position as Azula’s primary foil. The show wrapped their arc up perfectly! With a lovely bow and all. So no complaints from me!)

“otherwise EIP should never have been countenanced or storyboarded. Full disclosure that I’m not a huge Kataang fan either, but Kataang was done a disservice by having EIP exist”

What EIP did right:

- accurate (and horrifying) depiction of pro-imperialist propaganda

- recap of previous seasons

- a lesson on consent (Aang kisses Katara, it is depicted as wrong, and Aang reacts appropriately by admonishing himself and by giving Katara space afterwards. like, people call Aang an incel/entitled/whatever, BUT HE HAD THE PERFECT REACTION?? he literally backed off and never pressured her again. i would have killed for the guy who kept getting in my personal space during my junior year to have backed off when i told him to. spoiler alert: he didn’t)

- hit some good humor beats

What EIP did poorly:

- honestly it’s not very interesting just based on watching it (deconstructing it as propaganda gives it better depth), but that’s to be expected from filler

- stupid shipping drama

- not having an additional conversation/explicit apology between Aang and Katara

HOWEVER. This final point is actually very subjective. For one, A:TLA has a clear trend of not showing apologies on screen. Ex.: Katara doesn’t apologize to Sokka for what she said about their mother, Zuko doesn’t apologize for anything he did to the Gaang, Song, or really anyone (closest we get is “Hello, Zuko here” lmao), Ty Lee and Mai don’t apologize for putting the Kyoshi warriors in jail, etc. etc. So while an explicit apology would have been great, the lack of one admittedly tracks with the show’s pre-established standards. And two, while I of course would love a conversation between Aang and Katara (that’s literally MORE KATAANG. why would I refuse 😂), it isn’t… necessary, to be frank. Aang’s mistake is treated as such - kissing Katara was wrong and he should never have done that. Like I said, Aang acknowledges this error and gives Katara space afterwards. Thus, it is Katara who chooses to be with him when the war is over. She respects the time he gave her to come to a conclusion, and the choice she makes is that she loves him despite his poorly-timed kiss (I mean, she forgave Zuko for being complicit in Aang’s death. Katara is clearly a very forgiving person!). So like,, it gets to a point where if someone doesn’t recognize that, they’re probably the kind of weirdo who labels anything they don’t understand in a story as a plothole, lmao.

All of this is to say that EIP wasn’t a disservice to Kataang. It certainly could have been better, of course, and the kiss was obviously only put in to hype up drama (“will they, won’t they” blah blah blah), but overall it handled consent well for a kid’s show.

“It either should not have ever gotten written, or the ZK enemies-to-lovers arc should have been concluded.”

On the whole, EIP is absolutely an unnecessary episode, yeah. It was just a recap before the finale. The only important thing is its accurate depiction of pro-imperialist propaganda, but most people’s minds don’t immediately go to that, I’ll admit lmao 😂. And as I’ve already said, there was no Zvtara E-L arc - fandom completely made that up. Which is totally fine! That’s the point of transformative works. But they are still fanon. Plain and simple.

TL;DR - Zvtara was never in the cards for A:TLA. I wish rabid zkers would stop pretending it was and have fun in the sandbox like the rest of us 😭

And for the record, anon, you absolutely, 100% do not have to be convinced by any of this! It’s just my own, personal thoughts on the whole dealio. No worries either way!! 💛

[xplrvibes]

If you guys make it to explorer TikTok, theres collectives that are now hitting up a lot of the old places snc did, not because of them but because they’re popular places. I miss the exploring days they had but i sadly feel like that ship has sailed, and now they have way more competition in that field. Not sure what happened to the treasure hunting, i think they went about it in a bad way but that path looks like fun. As for paranormal, theres only so much you can do until you’re over it or something bad happens to you.

To be completely honest, i don’t like the girls, they bring nothing to the videos, none of their own info, no adventure, they’re just scared and jumpy, you can argue that anyone would be but this is actually not their field of interest from what they post online and if a place really scared you to where you cant sleep then why keep going to react the same way in the next place and the next and the next. I like Seth and i like Nate and Josh because you can tell they do research and even live for this stuff or are willing to learn. There are girls that do this and I’ve seen some join Seth and josh, they will add their own facts, know how to operate the equipment and will be ballsy enough to go anywhere. They just need to stop bringing close friends and actually network.

I will also add that i too was not a fan of Amanda and hope i don’t see her in future videos.

Disclaimer: any opinions expressed in this ask and my answer are just that: OPINIONS. I am old and tired and wholly uninterested in drama of any kind.

I miss the xplr days too, anon. That was when I first discovered snc and that was always something I was a little more into than youtube paranormal content (tbh, they are still the only paranormal content I watch on youtube- as much as I enjoy the paranormal in general, youtubers doing it really isn't my cup of tea).

That being said, I completely understand that they can't go back to it. The ship has indeed sailed as you said. Those days are over. They are different people now: older, (somewhat) wiser, more scared of being arrested lol...and it just would not be the same, and they know it, as do we all.

The treasure hunting....I actually enjoyed Cerro Gordo, and I didn't mind the Montana series- but I think they were a) discouraged by the lack of enthusiasm from the fans (which considering they were doing all that at the height of 2020, when nobody wanted to see anything that involved going outdoors, is kind of understandable) and b) I think they themselves weren't even sold on that idea. They wanted to get away from paranormal and try new things, and that seemed exciting and different and new- but they didn't know what they were doing or what they were going for there, and by Montana, you could already tell their hearts weren't in it anymore. They just wanted to try new things, that's all. Like experimenting with hair colors, I suppose.

And, to be fair (again): snc are not rock solid, stoic monoliths in the face of the paranormal, either. We just watched them run out of a house and leave a fiery birthday cake burning away on a table for like half an hour because of a ball rolling down the steps, lol. The most professional and even tempered person out of that whole group is probably Stas, at this point. 🤣 (Disclaimer: opinion. I will not post any asks with hate or shit stirring because I said something nice about Stas. We can all agree to disagree here and respectfully keep it moving.)

That being said, I get where you are coming from. One of the things that caused me to lose interest in the 2019 iteration of snc was Jake's obvious and glaring disinterest in everything going on around him. Seeing someone not enjoying themselves kind of takes the fun out of it, a bit.

I personally think they should just start doing some videos by themselves before they even think of trying to network, lol. But that's just me.

[lightblueterracota]

hey, about your hermitshipping post, i wanted to weigh in: im of the opinion that people shouldn't do it (it's complicated though)

i actually agree with viewing hermitcraft through a roleplaying lens. there's a lot of character work involved, much like the stuff that doc and ren are doing, helsknight/evil x, plus the fact that anything we see onscreen is something they've chosen to share (so their persona isn't 100% indicative of their irl self). i think it's a gray area for shipping here (all within boundaries of course) and from what i've seen, the hermits have been neutral-positive about the topic for the most part.

the issue is that the people who vehemently defend hermitshipping are usually self described "anti antis" or "proshippers". there are other posts out there that explain why these labels and mentality are so harmful better than i can. bottom line is, a lot of my discomfort comes from the culture surrounding shipping, and the people terminally online trying to justify gross or triggering behavior (in general, not just within this fandom). i try my best to steer clear of it, just block and move on, yknow?

in general though.. shipping real people is just weird to me? in vintagebeef's latest episode he mentioned his wife and like. stuff like that just cements the fact that these are real people and it's strange seeing people take this stuff super seriously.

so that's my take, i hope it made sense. i'll acknowledge the gray area but it still makes me uncomfy, so i filter block and move on

hi there! thanks for taking the time to send in your thoughts, i’m very open and friendly to discussion!!!! i understand and agree with what you say too about fandom culture tbh. i feel like with way social interactions and content consuming works in our current age with the internet, the way we consume media nowadays has become extremely warped. i’ve seen a lot of really well articulated posts describing why those certain fandom “titles” of anti-anti and proship and all that are really harmful and i completely agree that there really is some irredeemable behavior, a lot of justification of some very bizarre and not okay things under the guise of “fandom culture” in general, not even just for mcyters.

i think it all comes down to how one is able to draw the line between a content creator and well… their content! and how to separate them and then when to acknowledge it’s one of the same and not. for me in particular when i look at hermitcraft, i always thought it was very roleplay esque, similar to how actors take on roles in movies as they act out their really fun lore and stories, and as such i look at their minecraft activities as completely separate from what they actually do as people! of any fun pairings i do see in hermitcraft, i absolutely do not see it beyond the realm of minecraft and their characters of them being fun creatures and supernatural beings and things like that. ( personally i love doc’s lore of him being part creeper. that’s so cool )

(also i didn’t know vintagebeef had a wife and kids that’s really cool! i learned recently that impulse has also a wife and kids and some nephews & nieces too, which was really cool and surprising to hear because imo he sounds so young! but anyway.)

it makes me think about for example ren and doc! both of those have joked about rendoc and encouraged it, all within the realm of their storyline lores and stuff. but irl ren has his own girlfriend and doc is also in a relationship & has a baby, and that’s super fun to hear & is completely separated from whatever minecraft activities. especially in a fantasy type of world that i think minecraft is, esp this season will all the lore, it can be really fun to imagine with! but also just really cementing that i don’t see these youtubers in hermitcraft roleplayer servers really any different from an actor taking on a role in a movie ! of course i think these youtubers are also completely entitled to say “hey, i make this content, so please treat my content as such” when they ask for fandoms Not to be shipping and stuff, which i think is completely understandable since youtube content creation IS a bit more personal!

of course that’s my interpretation tho. some people disagree and think that these hermit characters are one and the same with the people making the content (which i can understand, but also it is obvious they tailor their content to BE presented a certain way!). i think the fact that a lot of people have a lot of difficulty finding that line of interpretation and acting on it peacefully is really lost within fandom spaces due to… internet? new age? a variety of reasons probably. so that’s why i’m curious to hear how other people think of it! the thing is, i don’t really think there IS a universal answer for where that line is between content creation and its creator, because literally everyone is different.

thanks for sharing your two cents, i completely agree with you :) i find irl shipping to be pretty invasive and disrespectful of said irl relationships you and i both mentioned, so as such i avoid it. but for me, i don’t see hermitcraft server as irl, but rather it’s roleplaying a lore storyline as these youtubers create their own characters. so while yeah it is a persona made by them, it’s still a fictional and fabricated persona so i don’t really see it as the same as Shipping Them as Content Creators. unfortunately, that causes a lot of rifts between people, & i do wish people could have normal discussions about these kind of things without needing a million disclaimers asking for peace and civility.

[taekooktimeline]

1) I admire a lot the hard work you put into your timeline, please don't take it the wrong way, but how do you make sense of taekook happily dating but not seeing eo during their long break in 2019 ? Ppl keep saying it's not healthy for couples to be always together and it's normal to take alone time since they're workmates but it's not like they can actually "be" a couple during work

Kayla: Sara and I have a goal to go back through 2019 and firm it up even more, but we will have to agree to disagree, and that’s ok! ☺️We both don’t see any breakup in 2019. Tae commented 2019 was an okay year, which I doubt he’d say if they had broken up. Not only that, but through 2019, into 2020, both Tae and Jk were loud in their own ways to one another, which I just don’t see happening if there is a breakup.

We delve into 2019 a little more here: https://taekooktimeline.tumblr.com/post/639391942900350976/december-31st-2019-january-1st-2020

But will expand further as we can.

Keep in mind, they’re closeted so they can’t be fully forthright. Perhaps they did see each other during the break, but they omitted sharing that which is their right to do. Being closeted, not out, it wouldn’t surprise me if Jk decided to not mention this when he spoke about who he saw. And maybe he did only see Hobi and Jimin. I’m going to Japan for 3 weeks without my partner this year (if the pandemic lets up). It doesn’t mean we have issues. I am a person outside my relationship and I like to go do things separate from that. Maybe it’s as simple as that. But I’m not a fan of how people (I’m not saying you necessarily, just Tkers in general) seem to actively look for negativity when I find this quite straight forward - a closeted couple who can’t be fully open, not disclosing all of what they did on their break (which is their right), and people analyzing it so deeply. We only see a fraction of their lives. They aren’t obligated to share, and also keep in mind, as upsetting as people weirdly get hearing this, BTS do lie and avoid being fully forthright and that’s fine. They don’t owe us a thing. So the way I see it, maybe Jk omitted he spent time with Tae, or maybe they did take time to see other people, since they are busy 10-18 hours a day with BTS. There is such a thing as FaceTime when you’re seperate from your person. And I just am a firm believer being closeted means we’re not privy to everything. I wouldn’t necessarily take that comment at face value when factoring in other variables.

Going with the point we only see a fraction - remember how out of pure luck we caught Tae leaving the boathouse Jk slept in during IST? We would’ve never known Tae had even been in there before the sunrise if we didn’t see that one specific frame. They didn’t mention it. They gave no indication of it. What about the drama with hot 100 and the contradictions in stories that got everyone confused? Those examples show they omit. We only see so much. They only share so much.

Leading up to that break Jk gestured very obviously to Tae that he is his life partner. They were spotted going to the movies together. Only Jk knew Tae got nail care one day in a run episode filmed that summer. Jk sat on Tae’s lap. Jk is at Tae’s army zip photo shoot. They’re filmed listening to “winter bear” and are rumored to have shared a 1 bedroom space separate from the members during summer package. Jk gives Tae the “way beyond my imagination” award. In BV4.. which needs to be addressed since people find drama here too for some reason I can’t understand ... he buys Tae a coat, happily announces (mistakingly) he is Tae’s roommate, helps him with Uno, they take photos together and Jk recognizes his playlist in the RV .. plus he protectively offered to cut the thorns when Tae comments on them. Fast forward after the break and Tae holds Jk’s hand, the first public appearance after the tattoo girl scandal. To me that’s a statement on its own. And then from there you have “the closer you are the shorter the letter”, among many other cute moments in winter package, Jk flirtingly asking Tae to car share, and you jump into 2020 with GDA, back hugging in black swan, being loud in general in America (dancing together, being affectionate), Tae being loud about Jk or 🐯🐰on Weverse .. I mean.. I just don’t see how that all happens if there’s an issue. All before the month break, and after the month break, they don’t show any tension or issue. So because a closeted, private couple doesn’t give a full break down of what they did every single day of their vacation, which were not entitled to know, we just ignore all the positive actions and words they made about or towards each other before and after break, or the fact Tae said 2019 wasn’t a bad year overall? I don’t get that.

I mean .. if someone sees an issue so be it but my mind is really firm there was no issue in 2019.

And as far as the living situation goes, we all know Tae has his own space but I actually don’t have any insight into the living situation further. It’s too complex. But I highly doubt Taekook are not seeing each other outside of work commitments. No matter what the living situation is, I’m sure they’re spending time together, or else the relationship would collapse. We get comments, pictures and videos from people seeing them out and about (movies, shopping, food, Namsan, etc..) so that’s pretty obvious they spend time together outside of work.

And as far as Jk’s birthday goes, I’ve heard rumors but I’m not going to share because I’m not comfortable and it’ll just start arguing. Plus I have an opinion on some of the drama of that but again I’m not going there because I just know where that will go. So all I’m going to say is again, we are only privy to so much going on in their lives. But as far as I’m concerned, Tk were fine before, during and after BV4, tattoo girl and jk’s birthday.

Again, totally cool we disagree but this is my stance. Thank you for the well wishes. That’s very sweet 💜

Sara’s General Disclaimer: I may select some asks, think about them and answer in the future through either Tumblr, Twitter or YouTube. Kayla will take over the discussion section as she enjoys active debates and will make the time for it, but I still read them all. Be nice to each other 💜 As it’s natural, I may or may not differ with Kayla’s take/ words.

[1-800-i-ship-it]

do you think bam or khun would be a better bf to their SO

Well well well anon you really making me compare this perfect ship with each other huh

Jk haha it’s just a tough q for me

(Also I apologize for taking so long to reply ahh)

As always, disclaimer: this is based on my own opinion so you are free to disagree or agree :)

I don’t think either bam or khun would be a better bf to their SO, I think they both have their strengths and weaknesses, like most couples will have.

Think I already mentioned what I think their love languages are already in another post but in case u forgot, I think Bam is quality time (main), words of affirmation and acts of service and khun as acts of service (main), combined with quality time and words of affirmation (yup i thought they’d both have similar things...i’ll explain myself)

Let’s go over them, shall we? (you can skip the love language part and jump to the line for the answer if you’ve already read it in my prev ask post/not interested)

Bam: Quality time because he really values the moments he spent with the friends he made in the tower and he appreciates each and every one of them (well, fuck rachel) but anyway, in my head bam just seems like the kind of person who would love quality time with the people he cares about <3 he’s said countless times how he would rather die than lose those that he cares about, and always rushes to protect everyone, so i think quality time would be his top one, and so as bam’s partner (ahem khun) just spending time with bam would make him happy :) and as for words of affirmation, I feel like bam would appreciate them a lot coming from those he loves (like khun!) if khun was like “I appreciate you” I bet bam would feel all warm and fuzzy inside and then say smth super cheesy back which would get khun to blush lmao; and finally acts of service cause bam kinda shows how he cares through saving everyone (like all the time) and yea Ifeel like he’d appreciate small things his partner does for him

Khun: I would guess that it would be acts of service, combined with quality time and words of affirmation, though I'm a bit iffy on words of affirmation because he does come from a family where he was forced to fight against other kids from his family where manipulation and deceit was probably very present. but I think he would really treasure real, genuine words of affirmation and would secretly like pet names even though he pretends to hate them (ahem only bam can call him those hehe). I think acts of service would still be the most prevalent, because that’s the main way that khun has shown his love/loyalty to bam, through actions that benefit bam etc… so I believe he would appreciate acts of service as well. I also think he would be the type of person to value actions more than words. For quality time, I think he’d enjoy having the attention of his SO and would just appreciate being able to spend time with them, small things like that.

______________________________________________

I wrote this with modern-day implications

Bam:

Strengths: 

always has good intentions

super sweet

learns very quickly what his partner likes/dislikes

loyal to the end

extremely good at cooking

thoughtful but often forgets mundane things sometimes

always makes time for his partner and really values being able to spend time with them

very empathetic

somehow always knows what to do to make his partner happy

has an irresistible radiant smile

often showers his partner with a multitude of compliments

will not hesitate to remind his partner he loves them

appreciates his partner a lot and makes sure they know it

is a very good cuddler

will do anything for his partner

Weaknesses: 

kinda oblivious abt like the most obvious things ngl

loyal to a fault sometimes

can seem clingy but he’s just afraid to lose his partner (one of his biggest  fears is being alone)

might accidentally get his partner jealous bc he’s super nice to everyone

might overburden himself with everyone’s expectations and seem withdrawn and might have some trouble communicating with his partner

cares too much about others and too less about himself, so may frustrate partner by agreeing readily to things instead of expressing his own opinion

has trouble saying no to things he doesn’t want to do when people ask him for favors–leading to decreased quality time with his partner

has a lot of internal conflicts that may hinder his ability to be present with his partner

Khun:

Strengths: 

very thoughtful, super thoughtful, did I mention thoughtful

pretty mature for the most part

has very good life skills and knows how to survive, aka always knows what’s going on and is typically “the responsible” one

does taxes well, manages finances very well

shows his love through actions, whether its getting his partner a little something on the way home, or making sure his partner has the lights turned on when working, or creating an elaborate plan to allow his partner to succeed without burdening his partner

extremely loyal to the right partner

makes excellent coffee

very organized and tidy

knows what he wants and has a lot of ambitions and thus plans for the future well ahead of time with his partner

is always prepared for the worst scenario, has a lot of savings for him and his partner

takes no BS and will not be afraid to provide his partner with honest advice even if it hurts

will do anything for his partner

Weaknesses: 

won’t admit he’s thoughtful/a tsundere (could go in both categories)

kind of uptight sometimes

does not have much patience

always wanting to be in control of a situation may not let him fully be present with his partner at times

not very good at articulating his thoughts/feelings

overthinks a lot and worries too much which may lead to him acting cold to his partner

a workaholic that is not very good at taking care of his health

often pushes his feelings deep down instead of dealing with them properly

doesn’t think he deserves his partner and is really insecure but hides it very well

sometimes too caught up in his own head worrying about the future to be present and there for his partner

puts aside his well being for his partner too much

They both have their own strengths  and weaknesses, but they work through it together with their respective partners who are obviously each other and are a power couple :D (ahem light bearer and wave controller power couple amirite)

Hope that answered your q anon!

Also @cannottranslate here’s the thing I was working on I hope it met ur expectations :’)

[whalohs]

i’m back with meta. 

( and then immediately i hecked up the tags, so deleting and reposting. sorry for the spam! )

let’s look at caleb and jester’s relationship, as mainly a retrospective of where it started. i’m also going to talk about where it has gone since, and how the heck we got here. not particularly shippy unless you ship it already (in which case i hope you enjoy the ship meta), and ready to discuss anything as long as you’re respectful about it.

as always, general disclaimer: for me, it’s more interesting for me to think “[character] would do this because [actions]”, rather than “[character] would do this because [player preferences]”. i can’t claim to know the critical role cast, and i think it does a disservice to their characters if i try to bring them in like that. a weird distinction, i know, but i always think it’s important to mention! i try to distance my meta from the cast, and take the character’s actions by their own merit. 

anyway.

for all we joke about how ridiculous jester is or how much caleb was ready to run from the mighty nein, it’s hard to deny these two had a really, really rough start. jester was everything caleb didn’t want in a person, and caleb was someone jester never... really had experience with. 

lemme explain, first with caleb’s perspective: caleb is running from trent & the cerberus assembly. the last thing he wanted was to be noticed or seen, let alone get his name out there in any way shape or form - and yet here comes the most silly, obnoxious, ready-to-turn-the-world-upside-down tiefling he has ever met, and he met molly at the same time. 

naturally, he hates it. but it runs a deeper than having to travel with someone who doesn’t give a shit about discretion when caleb is discretion personified. i think when we dislike someone, it’s because we see parts of ourselves reflected in them; not necessarily all bad, but parts we have lost, never had, or don’t want to acknowledge. 

it’s important to note that while caleb and jester are very different, there are parts that are shockingly similar; caleb started as a very hopeful, bright, and confident young man at the time he entered the assembly, not unlike where jester started in their adventures ( now is a different story, and i’ll get to that later ). they are both stubborn in their ideals and put a lot of faith in the people they care about ( caleb with nott, jester with the traveler, marion, and fjord ). 

i would not be surprised if caleb sees a little bit of his younger self in jester. but the conflict occurs where he sees his younger self as a very flawed, terrible individual, while jester is not... that. he simultaneously wants to protect her from becoming jaded (as anyone with experience tends to want to), while also knowing she could make very awful mistakes (like he did) if left alone. 

that said! jester is the way she is because she was able to foster her positivity, her hopes, and her ideals in a way that didn’t come and bite her in the ass. so it’s not “jester is caleb pre-development”, and more “jester and caleb are two different results due to different experiences from similar individuals”. unfortunately, caleb can’t think like that with the experiences he’s had, hence all of this.  

i think that it’ll make more sense from jester’s perspective: jester’s living conditions weren’t perfect by any means, but they weren’t exactly trauma central, either. she had loving, kind people in her life that allowed her to develop by encouraging what she enjoyed, as opposed to molding her a specific way. again! she was able to grow the strong parts of her personality - her hopes, her positivity, her confidence - in a way that didn’t come and bite her in the ass. she doesn’t regret anything that she did, because she has never had a reason to.

you could say that she doesn’t have enough experience to see the negative consequences of her actions, and i both agree and disagree. experience doesn’t always equate to hardships; while failure is an important part of learning, it is not the only way you learn. caleb is not necessarily more experienced because he suffered negative consequences, but because he experienced more types of consequences.

that said, she is sorely lacking in some experiences! primarily in dealing with people with different wants and opinions than her. having a loving, encouraging, but ultimately sheltered environment likely means she got to have a lot of things her way. and we see a lot of that at the start of the campaign. 

so the simplest way to say is: jester has never really had someone who dislikes her for who she is. she has never sat through a level of conflict resolution her and caleb needed, and so in an attempt to do things in the way that made the most sense for her, basically got off on the worst foot. 

and so, you know, this goes on for a while. start of campaign two is hilariously turbulent for the both of them. caleb makes nice because he sees the benefit of someone like jester in a party (and not much else), and jester isn’t going to treat caleb any differently than she does anyone else. hence, friction. 

then the money conversation / argument / caleb-smears-mud-on-his-face-out-of-spite happens. which i think really was a bigger turning point than we originally thought it would be (because the nature of the fight wasn’t too serious), mostly because caleb took forever to warm up to the party (disclaimer: i love caleb). 

it’s interesting because it’s the one of the first times we actually see... any actual conflict involving jester. most people brush jester off as the quirky weirdo at first, and doesn’t take her opinions as seriously as others. that makes sense, and jester is fine with that! but that’s what makes caleb’s reaction to jester basically saying she grew up spoiled really fascinating. 

he’s furious, and rightfully so. and caleb back then was keen on making sure he didn’t attract any attention, that unless she really struck a nerve he was just gonna nod and not think about it. but as we saw -- that’s not how it happened. i think he especially felt stung because he tried to help, because she had been distressed, but all of it backfired terribly. 

so they fight. they’re upset at each other. caleb smears mud on his face then walks away and i think it hits jester on the head that oh, what she said without thinking really did upset someone, when she hadn’t meant to necessarily make them uncomfortable. 

jester, for the limited social experiences she has, is a very empathetic person. it doesn’t take a lot from her to understand why he would have been upset by what she said, once she cares enough to consider it.

the remainder is a gradual, but noticeable change to where we are now; while it’s outdated and my opinions on details have changed, i did write a shorter meta on caleb and jester on an earlier episode point. i think the bulk of it stands true, though, so feel free to read that and then come back!

spoilers: they’re destroying me now.

a few things i did want to add: i think a lot about how out of all of the nein, the main people who notice jester’s slowly dwindling confidence are caleb and caduceus (beau, nott, and fjord notice it too, just in a slightly different way; and yasha is.... bring ashley back 2k19). caduceus pretty much has 3 million in insight so i’ll touch on that later, but fitting caleb in here is interesting!

mostly because he likely, again, experienced that dwindling confidence in finding his place in life, just in a more drastic way than jester; he pretty much hit rock bottom at the start of the campaign! he’s definitely projecting a little, but a lot of relationships are built on people projecting parts of themselves to others; it’s the easiest way to relate to another person. 

as an aside: it really is cool, and speaks to his development a ton, that caleb’s motives for helping the party have become a lot more altruistic than when i wrote the post above. he cares about them now, very, very deeply, and i have a lot of thoughts on why! this just isn’t the post for ‘em; maybe next time.

how he comforts her has changed too. before it was a lot of [ throw frumpkin at her and hope it fixes the problem ]; his attempts at bringing the party together were definitely more material in nature, compared to now.

it’s also really, really good to see jester slowly starting to see the “imperfections” in caleb ( the ones that caleb sees, anyway ), and accept them wholeheartedly. again! she is an extremely empathetic person, and once they understood each other it became a lot easier for her to actually provide the support he needed. 

it’s the subtle things; less jokes at his expense, and more ridiculous things in general. sharing porn with him because she thinks he’ll like it. and, a surplus of optimism about her outlook on life that seems to affect the top row a ton. 

they’re all in love with her. i can tell. that’s okay, jester has two hands and a tail ( i had to ). 

so, where are we now? it’s obvious enough to say that they’re friends, good friends at that! they care about each other a lot! caleb makes the softest faces at jester and jester grins so happily at him and they really do have a good thing going. 

i think the biggest change in caleb is that he trusts her enough to rely on her for things outside of her abilities. i think a lot about the conversation they had recently after talking to the scourger, and how caleb let himself be comforted by jester instead of denying her attempts completely. it speaks to the level of emotional vulnerability he is comfortable showing to the group now. 

that said: i definitely consider jester to be the group baseline for caleb. liam has mentioned multiple times that out of all of the nein, jester is the one person who he doesn’t want to share his past with. which, again, given the juxtaposition in their upbringing, makes a lot of sense! 

but the fact that he’s willing to be vulnerable with someone he didn’t want to be vulnerable is huge. the fact that he doesn’t see her optimism and ridiculousness as a weakness for the group, and instead looks to use them as strengths (how they use polymorph is a huge example) is very different than beginning-of-campaign caleb.

the biggest change in jester is that her worldview has expanded to understand what caleb needs, and how that might be different than what she needs. it wasn’t as huge strides for jester as it was for caleb, but i think that makes sense! a lot of jester’s development is internal, and reflects a lot about what she thinks of herself, whereas caleb’s development has been very external, and how he is beginning to view the people around him ( and allowing himself to be viewed ). 

but still! it’s huge! jester has two decades of solving problems a certain way, and being told that that way was all that she needed; but her ability to listen, comfort, and provide insight in ways that others in the group can’t thanks to her unique world view really helped shaped the types of conversations she had with him. 

a really, really simple way to say this is that jester started taking caleb a lot more seriously. which i think is hilarious, because you’d think that’d be more fitting for caleb’s thoughts on jester. but once she started reaching out to him to understand, the tone of their relationship changed. it seems less caleb-indulges-jester-on-nonsense and two equals who indulge each other on ridiculous nonsense, if that makes sense? 

oh that said: i do attribute a lot of caleb’s relationship changes with the party to the fact that he went through a lot of external development. definitely not the place for that here, maybe i’ll come back to it some day.

well i’m back and surprising no one i wrote like 2k words on critical role so welcome back, me. i’m rusty and rambly and i may have written things here that aren’t as poignant as i wish it was, so please forgive me if anything seems off!

[illegiblewords]

Emet-Selch: Illness and Accountability

I’ve seen some posts where people are trying to argue that no compassion/sympathy/remembrance should be paid to Emet-Selch because of the total annihilation of multiple worlds he participated in.

People gonna feel how they’re gonna feel lol, but my opinion has a bit more gray I think. Buttloads of analysis and some psychobabble under the cut, spoilers up the wazoo.

- Obviously causing apocalypses and encouraging the worst qualities in people to that end is evil, unacceptable, and had to be stopped. Imo even if that ends in his death. That level of tragedy is horrific.

- Amaurot’s tragedy is still immense, and the nature of Amaurotine society and the stunted nature of its inhabitants (being unequipped to deal with loss, their own/humanity’s evils, or other forms of suffering) only further ensured that the unsundered would not be mentally or emotionally capable of dealing with the aftermath of that loss. A regular person would have been devastated. Amaurotines were left with zero ability to cope.

- Tempering makes it SIGNIFICANTLY worse. Emet-Selch is pretty blasé about it yeah, but he is not a reliable source on this subject. Consider that when lesser primals like Ifrit, Leviathan, or Titan temper people they need to be killed without question. They often aren’t even considered themselves anymore. Zodiark is to them what the sun is to idk Mars. Wouldn’t go so far as Mercury but it’s still an insane difference in power, intensity, etc. Lahabrea shows indications of being more heavily effected than Emet-Selch and Elidibus but honestly the only reason they’re not going “your words are my bread” 24/7 as per Ifrit thralls is probably specifically because they’re unsundered Amaurotines. That doesn’t mean that they aren’t hugely warped.

- Imo Emet-Selch has absolutely been driven insane. Not hallucinations necessarily, but honestly he’s right at the brink of that level. He has the ability to more or less take things from his head and materialize them externally, and he’s gone full throttle with that for Amaurot. He has a fake place where he can make believe things are still okay and his friends are still alive and he still has a home to go to. He also vomited out his PTSD nightmares and sometimes subjects himself to that experience again. It would not surprise me even SLIGHTLY if pre-Scions showing up he’d used that dungeon to try and figure out from his memories if there was anything he could have done differently, anyone he could have saved. The whole area existing basically indicates he’s developed a level of masochism. He’s been doing this for at least several hundred years if not more, if the Ondo are to be believed. EDIT: I may have misremembered and have timeline questions about this now. Need to investigate further to determine how long fake-Amaurot existed and in what degree of completion. Emet-Selch might be good about covering this up in conversation for the most part, but that doesn’t make it any less real. My opinion on very specific kinds of insanity, this one included, is that responsibility is somewhat alleviated and it becomes more the product of the illness/situation rather than a person being horrible. None of that means that the results are less terrible or that the person shouldn’t be stopped by whatever means necessary. It just means that the personal judgment on the perpetrator is different from what it would be if they were in total control of their faculties.

- All of the above said, the posts circulating where fans call him a little bitch and fantasize about saying they won’t remember read a bit like kicking someone when they’re down to me. Fictional situations yeah, but honestly there is not a single person in the scenario who isn’t suffering in horrific ways and doing that helps none of them. To me it reads kind of like an extension of revenge fantasies that seem to be popular these days, and honestly the revenge mentality is something I’m pretty exhausted with. This probably comes a lot from me having seen more angry people around in-general (not mainly FFXIV), and it just kind of makes me sad. Seeing how many fans were able to find compassion and mercy in them for Emet-Selch was a huge relief for me in light of that. It’s probably in part because of how obvious it is that he’s depressed out of his mind and dealing with several millenias worth of PTSD. The sleeping thing screams it pretty loud in a way I suspect a lot of people recognized.

- I seriously, seriously think that part of what was going on with Emet-Selch was on some level being aware that he’d become a monster and what he was doing counted as murder. The reason his reaction at the Ladder was shown and important is because it exposes his process of recognizing the reality of sundered people still counting and needing to actively remind/convince himself otherwise. It is way too neat and convenient for him to know that the way to get his world and people back is to sacrifice countless sundered through rejoinings, but none of those people are real anyway so it’s not a difficult choice.

The reality is way more ugly and horrifying, and my theory is he’s unable to deal with the weight of it. Knowing that not only were all the lives he ended real, often innocent people--they were pieces of his own beloved people would 100% destroy him past functioning. If he doesn’t have that denial mechanism in place he isn’t going to be able to survive, much less save anyone.

Another fan explained it really brilliantly imo with:

He probably has a mantra he repeats to himself, every time he feels himself starting to form an attachment to one or more of these pitiful, ephemeral beings: "They aren't truly alive, they aren't real. Things will be better when they are whole - better for THEM, even. This is for the good of us all..." Especially NOW; the sunk cost fallacy is STRONG. To stop now would be unthinkable. Even if they were willing to acknowledge the murders they've committed, if they were to cut things off all those murders would have been in vain, cruel sacrifices for no purpose. Eight worlds full of life extinguished, and that doesn't even include the horrendous loss of life on the Source with each Rejoining. They may feel they OWE it to those lost to see things through - and each new murder is another obligation on the pile...

- Sometimes situations can just be fucking tragic and sad for all involved. Anger is usually easier because it feels powerful, directed, and simpler while sadness tends to come from a more helpless, hopeless, and uncertain place.

- Even if on the off chance that Emet-Selch was totally sane, not compromised, and just plain evil with zero gray involved that would warrant sympathy... the people of Amaurot were innocent. Why be like “I’m not gonna remember shit :)” on those people? Imo heroes should remember ALL of the innocents lost... and the villains who couldn’t be saved too. It’s tragic when it comes to loss like that. Necessary sometimes, but still tragic.

- Separate but slightly related, I am side-eyeing the people who try to go “X is a stand in for Y real world genocide group and if you have sympathy for X you support Y you monster” SO HARD YOU HAVE NO IDEA. Not every evil empire, even the totalitarian and fascist ones, are stand ins for specific real world regimes. Understanding doesn’t equal agreeing with or endorsing. Having sympathy for individual suffering, especially in fiction, also doesn’t mean that you support the person’s ideology and goals. As a society we desperately need to remember the difference between understandable versus justifiable. :/ And for what it’s worth, Garlemald specifically has bits and pieces of MAAAAANY different real world authoritarian governments using a range of strategies and positions.

Disclaimer I got no ill will toward people who been jumping on the “IDGAF” train but I disagree and needed to get my thoughts out haha. Didn’t want to go into full-debate with people who might not be looking for that in the post itself and don’t want to discourage others from exploring their own interpretations! Just figured airing my opinions this way might be aight. Like I alluded to I’m also coming from a place where I’ve dealt with really intense moral policing by fans in the past (not within FFXIV), so that definitely shapes my perspective some.

[kendrixtermina]

(Fe3h discourse incoming) So I'm not sure if this is still around but I remember some people calling characters "racist" due to how they initially view the Almyrans and it just annoys me? If you lived in basically medieval times and all you knew about a group of people was that they invaded your homeland and are good fighters it makes sense you'd be wary about them. The fact that we see them easily discard any initial opinions to work with them in VW shows the opposite and how accepting they are

Part of this does probably come from this purity culture sentiment that there is one obvious right answer that should be apparent to anyone not evil when we’re really all to an extent limited by the knowledge we can access. 

This is something I feel strongly about precisely because I know how much I don’t know and how much ppl have been wrong in the past - so much BS is still widely believed these days like Diet culture or counter-evidential beliefs about economy. So that makes me be careful to claim we have the truth now. As my grandfather used to say, “the middle ages will step on us”, that is as long as our time isn’t barbarism free it will come to be considered barbaric times eventually. 

In the middle ages people used to give their children mercury and bankrupt themselves as someone might for real medicine. Emotionally to the mammal brain it’s the same. That’s why knowledge is power cause it helps you know the real consequences of your action. Otherwise you get what seems like caring parents wondering if they're harming their children by not doing barbaric stuff like physical beating or fgm. One can notice by oneself that it’s wrong and causes suffering but someone who only believes their own ideas and never takes outside data into account would be either mad or an arrogant jerk. At some point you need to consider outside data unless you can discover all of science and psychology by yourself. 

So to put it short no one is immune to propaganda and the closest thing to a cure is self-awareness and self-questioning, no one is born with all the answers; instrict, thinking, emotion and intuition can all lead you astray. 

Though the correct word here would be xenophobia. (generic distrust/prejudice about foreigners)

‘Racism’ is a very specific early modernity variant of it with pseudoscience mixed in, or maybe it could be thought of as an ideology meant to keep xenophobic-like distrust going in a mixed society. Normally that sort of prejudice desintegrates as people interact more (a big plot point here actually) - or rather, communication & interaction changes how people define in group and out group, which is ultimately arbitrary. A lot of what is thought of today as countries or races used to be considered wildly different peoples when the reach of communication reached further. 

But if you spread some ideology that leads people to be artificially segregated, or indirectly causes that through economic disadvantages, bam, you can keep prejudice alive & well for centuries and whatever institutions you built on it, like colonial resource extraction gigs or political hegemony. 

That said tho, certain lines there are definitely written to evoke rl xenophobic comments as people commonly experience them, and to tell people who recognize this & might have charged responses because of their own backstories that their lying eyes deceive them because you like those characters is not good.  “Oh but they’re a good person with a bright future” is exactly how this behavior fails to get recognized in real life. So to that extent I’d disagree with you.

At least their past incarnations at the point that they said those lines they were “xenophobes”, that is, fulfilled all criteria of the definition & engaged in typical behavior as people affected by xenophobia experience it. 

Hilda, for all her good qualities (and don’t get me wrong I love her to bits) is still sort of a frivolous rich girl. Sylvain for example did take the time to inform himself ‘bout the neighbors (See that lost item that’s info about sreng) though his family also holds a border territory & much depends on its defense. The system isn’t an universal brainwash, the truth is that both system and individual responses matter and dynamically influence each other.

But note that that’s all I’m talking about: Recognition, sober reasonable acknowledgement of bad behavior. You can’t talk about bad behavior if you don’t show anyone doing it and if it was only irredeemable monsters that did it, it wouldn’t make ppl question themselves. 

To acknowledge that they acted xenophobically (adverb) isn’t to say that they’re an embodiment of all xenophobia ever (noun) and that you’ve got to hate them now. But as long as they don’t hate at you for liking them ppl affected by xenophobia are allowed to vent & use a story as a projection space for it because that’s how everyone uses stories - the same story can in fact mean different things to people without either being “wrong”

Also, scale. Hilda making one or two not even especially malicious comments is on a whole different level than Ingrid actually cheering for destruction. Neither of them compares to the various unrepentant antagonists who never change their views when confronted with evidence cause it benefits them. 

Some of that distinction is lost if you just slap the same label on all and demand they be reacted to the same way, or that ppl add a disclaimer each time they want to talk about a character they like. We don’t make everyone who likes Jeritza say “mass murder is bad” first. 

But also context: After all a big plot here is that the system these characters live in encourages and cultivates such attitudes  - that’s why the various leader figures you can choose to back all want to change it it different ways.

That’s why Winston in 1984 starts the story very paranoid, repressed & full of violent fantasies, to show the effect the dystopia has on people. 

  (important point imho, a lot of ppl look at atrocities and judge that human nature is just bad but actually human nature is programmable. Evil can be engineered as much as civilization and education can foster good)

It’s generally the problem with Purity culture (wether it wears a right or left wing hat) that it’s more focussed on applying loaded, out of context labels (which are then treated as static) than constructive solutions focussed on promoting the desired end goals. 

The labeling tactic is probably appropriate sometimes (active, unrepentant nazis, that you thereby deprive of big dollar platforms or ad revenue) but no tool/tactic is ever a silver bullet. 

tl;Dr I agree with you that labeling/purity culture doesn’t have the right approach to it,  but ppl should be able to call a spade a spade and say & respond to depictions of xenophobia because to say otherwise would be tantamount to saying that victims of xenophobia or racism aren’t allowed to have feelings or engage with media. 

Obsly the characters can’t be reduced to that & you’re right about that & the importance of context, but if just stating/acknowledging that they at one point fulfilled the criteria for xenophobia feels like bashing to you I’d work on decoupling those emotions to see clearer. 

People can have done something wrong at some point & still be interesting people - especially in a media context where they’re as imaginary as their victims, it’s not like you’re giving money to real unrepentant perps. 

I’d ease up on real ppl too if they repent simply because then they stop being a problem and solving it so it stops harming RL ppl takes precedent over cathartic punishment that makes you feel good, the goal should be always to stop the harm (at the root, if possible) because it’s intolerable for ppl to be harmed

Or that’s my 2cents anyways. 

[moonestaly]

AVENGERS: ENDGAME SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

PLEASE IF YOU DID NOT SEE AVENGERS: ENDGAME, DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND GO SEE IT! ESPECIALLY BEFORE READING THIS BC IT CONTAINS MANY MANY MANY SPOILERS!!!

THANK YOU!

Now let’s start:

Considering the fact that I basically just returned from the cinema, I want to write this as quickly as possible, just to throw my feelings and thoughts on the paper so I can live in peace (although that may be impossible as of now). I don’t really have any kind of interduction so I’m just gonna start writing.

First of all, I want to mention one of fellow bloggers out there @kayytx that basically summed it up perfectly and I agree with everything they wrote. So I’m not going to repeat their words directly, but I want to mention a few things they did too.

A few disclaimers: 1) I’m not someone who’s taught on how to review movies, so this is just my opinion based on my expectations 2) I don’t want any hate in the comments if anyone disagrees with my opinion. As I said, it’s just opinion, you don’t have to share the same one. And I’m definitely not shitting on this movie – the movie is a masterpiece!!! 3) Sorry if there were some grammatical mistakes… English isn’t my first language.

By all means, this is not a bad movie review. The movie was fantastic – I loved it. The cinematography, actors, storytelling, special effects and idea of time travel itself… everything about that is amazing. The Russo brothers really went all out, and the movie contains everything I could ever hope for. I could not expect any less from a Marvel movie.

So here are a few things I loved from the movie…

By that I mean the first like 30 minutes of the movie. Tony’s return to Earth and his overall relationship with Nebula was everything. I like Nebula and think that her character was so well developed in the previous movies. Her friendship with Tony was amazing – the way she helped him heal his wound and the way Tony played games with her to help pass time. It was exactly what I hoped their relationship would be like.

 Steve visiting support group and there being a LGBTQ+ member was so amazing. The way he talked was amazing. The way he encouraged others to move on, because he knew he didn’t really have ideas on how to make things right, and him still grieving the loss of his own friends was so damn sad.

Captain Marvel’s rescue was perfect. That’s all.

Tony’s anger and outburst on Steve after he expected him to help even though Tony lost. someone too

And while we’re talking about that, Tony’s ‘’I lost the kid’’ killed me. I started to tear up at that part.

Scott Lang was perfect in every scene. The way he panicked, explained things, greeted Cassie, and was a comic relief in such a serious movie was such a refreshment. Bruce Banner as Doctor Hulk, too!

At the end in final battle when all the women attach and protest the Stones was pure perfection. As my Mom said: ‘’That’s what you get when women take things in their hands’’. I couldn’t agree more.

The scenes between Thor and his mother were so emotional and yet such a great addition to the story

MORGAN STARK, her and cheeseburgers and her relationship with (Uncle) Happy and her little ‘’Mommy said to come save you’’ when the Avengers came to his house was so sweet

Valkyrie as a leader is such a great idea (but it could have been better written… like… rule with Thor (not as his wife, though) or something… Thor here ended up like an idiot who didn’t care about his people. And yes, he isn’t the same Thor from his own first movie, but it’s still bad decision)

Now we unfortunately come to the parts that, even though I hate to say, I didn’t like as much. Not really that I didn’t like, more like wasn’t the biggest fan of and just thought could be written a little better…

One of the biggest fault I had was that Nebula didn’t get to kill Thanos. I really wanted her to be the one to do it. I don’t have the problem with Tony being the one who had done it, it was incredibly brave of him to do it. But I think Nebula was the one who deserved it more than Thor, more than Carol, more than Tony…

Thor’s whole character development… I hated it. It was nothing like Thor to suddenly become this alcoholic hippie who played videogames and didn’t care about anything. I thought Tony would be the one to turn to alcohol and drink until he didn’t pass out and be locked in his lab for days until Rhodey or Pepper come and make him do anything productive. But noooooo… it was Thor. And I get that alongside with Scott and Doctor Hulk he was supposed to be the comic relief but seriously? It could have been done differently. They ruined everything his character became since Ragnarok and Infinity War.

Tony and Howard’s scene. I will never ever forgive Russo’s for making Howard look like a good human being after everything he’s done to Tony. Ever. That was such a shit scene. I liked the conversation Tony had with him and the way he bragged to his dad that he had a daughter that was perfect, but… they can’t just turn Howard into a good father, especially after everything he’s done in comics and in MCU films. It’s a no.

And how on Earth does Tony get a long scene with his fucked up father and doesn’t get such scenes with Rhodey and Bruce. How??? Who thought of that?????? WHY?????

 Now… Nat’s death. It’s a touchy subject. I don’t think she deserved it. For her, it was obvious that Clint had a family, a blood connected family. And she said she didn’t even know her father’s name. In her mind, she was a sacrifice that would be worth it. And she knew Clint’s family, and I’m guessing she would never make Laura an only parent to such wonderful children. I think that her death was the only reasonable death. She did it to save others. It was worth it – they won. But I don’t think she deserved it in any way.

I want to make this short: lack of Captain Marvel scenes. I was just prepared for so much more action from her. That was kind of disappointing.

Now – Steve and his worthiness of Thor’s hammer. The second that hammer landed in his hand I was like no. He is not worth it. And don’t get me wrong, I like Steve. He is a man who stands over his words and is proud. I like that. But the whole spiel of him wielding the hammer and at the end living the life with Peggy was just not something he deserved. Tony was one who deserved it. I was so disappointed when he got to live that domestic life just like that and on the other hand Tony had to lose more than he had to just be married, have a kid and live a peaceful life. It was selfish of him. (But I liked the scene of him giving Sam his shield so he can be the new Captain America)

Also the whole lack of Tony’s wedding scene with Stan Lee being the priest was so… I don’t even know the word.

Now I, as an Irondad and Spiderson Tumblr blogger, would like to talk about relationship between Tony and Peter. So, the scenes we got were amazing, perfect, incredible, emotional, and happy and many more things. BUT – for a 3 hour movie – I expected more??? At first, when Tony went to lie down and sleep, I expected some kind of flashbacks from Titan. I was convinced that we would at least hear Peter’s voice. That they would show us that he’s thinking about him and missing him. But no. Then I hoped for some scene where he would say ‘my kid’. Nada. When he was tucking Morgan in bed and she wanted Tony to tell her a story I was hoping she would say something along the lines of ‘’can you tell me about my brother?’’. Nope, didn’t get that. And when Tony died, at the funeral, I hoped Peter would come to Morgan and she would be like ‘’are you the person my Dad always talked about? My brave big brother?’’ None of that either.

 And during Tony’s death scene, the way Pepper just pushed Peter away. Like? What? Was I the only one annoyed by that? Like, I love Pepper and Pepperony and everything and I get that he’s her husband… But like, they had great five years with their kid. Peter didn’t. He wasn’t there to be with Tony and see Morgan grow up into a little ball of fluff she is and be her brother. Peter was ‘dead’ for five years and all he got from Tony was a hug and a chance to call him Tony. Like I know Tony meant a lot to Pepper, but let the kid have his moment with his father-figure from whom he was separated for 5 damn years! She could’ve just stood there and tell him everything she did while Peter was in his arms, too! I’m just saying she didn’t have to drag him away while he was sobbing and crying for fourth parental figure he lost in his seventeen years of life. Like??? Dude…

Also, Russo’s made such a big deal of Irondad and Spiderson and basically gave it a pass as cannon and talked about how Tony was grieving Peter’s death and how quiet he would be and how it would be a great punch in the face and then just not give us the reunion we deserved where Peter would call him ‘dad’ or Tony would call him ‘my kid’. I think after Peter’s death he would at least have a minute with Tony to be his son figure just as Tony is his father-figure. I just think we deserved more than what we got…

And at the end, I don’t even wanna mention Tony’s death itself, because I think it could have been avoided on so many levels. He didn’t deserve it in any way, shape, or form.

Based on this, and looking at this movie as someone who wasn’t really deep in Marvel fandom, the movie is a solid five star, 10/10 movie. But when I look at it from a perspective of someone who was deep in fandom for years, especially after they said it was a 3 hour movie, I would give it like a 5/10… and I’m sad it ended up being that way. But I just expected more content that, as an Irondad&Spiderson fan, was actually wanted. Not just by me, but by many more fans.

[scripttorture]

So I’ve seen a few organized crime asks and wanted to ask something for a book I’ve been working on. How do I show characters living with things like chronic pain and depression and anxiety after being exposed to violence, without adding to stigma that mentally ill people are violent? I don’t want readers to think committing violence will not affect people in any way, but I also don’t want readers with mental illness to think their own disorder is a punishment for something they haven’t done.

That’sa good question.

Anda bloody difficult one.

I’vebeen pretty open about having mental health problems, intrusivethoughts about violence and how these stereotypes have effected me.

Butthat experience only really allows me to speak for myself. I can’treally speak for the  millions, of other people in the same position.Some of them are likely to feel differently. I’ve seen peoplerespond to @scriptshrink’s blog by saying they don’t thinknon-mentally ill people should write about mental health at all.Personally- I don’t agree, but we’re not a monolithic group.There are huge differences of opinion here.

So-other people may disagree. This is a subjective issue rather thansomething I can fall back on research papers and statistics for. Keepthat, and my biases, in mind.

Whenit comes to writing my philosophy is ‘balance’. Which in thisparticular case means that I’d try to add in more mentally illcharacters who are not violent criminals.

Oneof the easiest ways to do that in this scenario is to include thefamilies of these criminals.

Let’spause for a moment for a tangent into a real life case. Take a lookat the appendices of thisbook (freely available online here),we’re looking at Case Group B, Case No 3, page 168 out of 196.

Theyoung woman of ‘Case No 3’ was the daughter of a torturer and thecases are Fanon’s notes taken as a mental health professionalduring and after the Franco-Algerian war.

WhatI’m trying to highlight here is the way violence can impact themental health of witnesses and people who are only peripherallyinvolved as well as attackers and victims. I think including peoplefrom these groups could help because it gets to the root of whatyou’re driving at: that violence causes mental health problemsrather than the other way round.

I'dalways encourage people to include victims in their stories, if itcan be done in a way that allows them to be fully rounded individualsrather than objects.

Howeverthat’s not always possible if the story focuses on the ‘badguys’.

Otherwitnesses and public officials can also be used to show the effectsof violence. I suppose police officers are the obvious group to leapto but in places where the levels of violence are high there oftenseems to be a huge pressure on health care professionals. They’reexposed to much of the violence of organised crime and they’resometimes deliberately targetted (as in Mexico and Pakistan).

Ifyour story involves any of the criminal characters being injured andin need of emergency treatment- well @scriptmedic always used tosuggest trying to give medics more personality even if they’re onlyin the story for a short amount of time. A connection with thepatient over shared mental health problems could be a good way to dothat. Especially since a doctor could plausibly voice the obviousconnection: they feel this way because they’re exposed to violenceevery day.

Ithink if you can it’s also important to take the time to show thesemental health problems developing in your abusive characters.Establish that they were violent long before they were mentally ill.

Youmight not have space in the story to show that development from thebeginning of the character’s time in a gang. But if you don’tthere are other ways to work that in.

Havinga character reflect on their past is a possibility, or having someonewho knows them well point it out to them.

‘Youknow you never had to take those pain pills until you started doingx’

‘Youdidn’t have these days before you joined the gang-’

‘Youwere so much calmer when-’

Andso forth.

Youcould also approach this by looking at the way older more establishedmembers see younger members. If your older mentally ill character whohas seen a lot of violence now has this ‘kid’ trying to tagalong, wanting to learn the ropes, wanting to be ‘tougher’ and‘stronger’- It would probably be naturally for the character tolook back and think ‘I thought like that too, before the painstarted, before I needed the pills, before I spent weeks at a time inbed. This dumb kid has no idea what they’re asking.’

Bothof these tactics are… attacking the idea at the joints. The firstone is establishing that mental illness exists outside of violentaction and the second is establishing that the character was violentbefore being mentally ill.

Thereare probably other ways to approach doing this. These are just theways that stood out to me and that I thought would fit the scenariobest.

Ithink you’d probably also benefit from finding a beta reader orjoining a writing group.

Becausethis sounds like the sort of scenario where the execution is going tobe incredibly important to how this comes across. It’s not justabout picking a few strategies it’s about making sure they acrosseffectively on the page. And the best way to find out is to getpeople to read it. Ask them about the story. Ask them how theportrayal of mental health problems comes across. Ask for theirsuggestions for more elements or improvements.

Honestlythis helps so much. I can’t count the number of times my writinggroup have picked up on inconsistencies, unclear passages or justplaces where re-writing things a little could improve the emotionalimpact of the scene. Clarity, consistency and good use of atmospherewill go a long way to achieving what you want in this story.

AndI’ve found that it’s very easy to assume we’ve got all thosethings the way we want them as we write. Because we know what wemean. Showing other people our work and getting their feedbackreassures us when we havegot it right and helps us figure out what to do when we haven’t.

Ihope that helps. :)

Availableon Wordpress.

Disclaimer

[thelegendofjessifanart]

Status on Art Requests, Art Trades & Commissions

((Please be sure to read this post BEFORE sending me an ask/message regarding my art status. Thank you :3 ))

*Take Note:* This pinned post will be updated regularly as the statuses of requests, etc. can change. This post applies to this blog in particular.

In case you aren’t familiar with each category:

Request-A freebie. Or in other words, a ‘free commission.’

Art Trade-When two artists collaborate and draw something for one another. For instance, Artist A wants a picture of Young Link, and Artist B wants a picture of Tetra. So they ‘switch/trade’ so to speak and each draw what the other artist would like. Usually art trades are done between friends and/or good acquaintances.

Commissions-When someone pays an artist currency to draw them a particular picture. 

_________

Now this is how I feel about each category on this fan art blog:

*Disclaimer:* I am a Christian artist (specifically being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), so I may not be as open to drawing other content other artists are. All I ask is that you respect my choice, and I respect and acknowledge that not everyone will agree and that most artists may be okay with drawing things I am not. If we could all just agree to disagree, and not be forceful to one another, it would create less drama and more positivity. For goodness sakes the last thing anyone needs is more drama! If you have any questions about what I will or will not draw, please read my art pledge here, and feel free to message me if you’d like :)

Request-I actually don’t mind doing requests because it helps me branch out and practice drawing a variety of characters in a variety of styles. Because this is a fan art blog, requests made on this blog have to be fan art. (Note: There are fandoms I may refuse to draw for any reason, so keep that in mind.)

Art Trade-I LOVE doing art trades! Why? Well if it isn’t obvious already, I am a huge fan of Young Link from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. It is eye candy to see him drawn in so many styles, I just can’t get enough of him! What I said about requests also applies to here with the added satisfaction of seeing something amazing that I love drawn by another artist :)

Commissions-Personally I have been wishy washy with doing fan art commissions. After doing research and pondering, I have decided that I will NOT do commissions for fan art. Why, you may ask? I don’t own franchises like The Legend of Zelda, Undertale, Omori, etc. each fandom belongs to their rightful owners and/or organizations. It feels morally wrong to be profiting off of characters that someone else created and brought to life. It also affects how well official merchandise sells, so in a way (at least in my opinion) it is stealing. I have nothing against other artists who feel and do otherwise, this is just how it is for me.

Thank you for reading :D

Sincerely, thelegendofjessifanart

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

Supernatural Season 14 Episode 1 -- Stranger In A Strange Land Review

I’m true to my word. I said I would do week-to-week reviews of Supernatural Season 14 and so I am. We had the premiere of Season 14, Episode 1, Stranger In A Strange Land. I really enjoyed this episode. Some might say this was a boring episode but I disagree about that. It has less plot than what we normally see in a Supernatural season premiere but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. This episode wasn’t super plot heavy because it didn’t really need to be plot heavy. We know how season 13 ended. We have a pretty good idea about what Michael is all about (because we spent not a small amount of time with him) so this episode leaned more on setting up character dynamics than plot. And since I’m a character kind of girl, I’m totally cool with that.

As a disclaimer, this will be a review on my thoughts and feelings about this episode. I’m not telling you how to think and feel, I’m telling you what I think and feel. So please, don’t take it personally if you don’t agree with some of the things I say. This review could have potentially positive and negative things. It’s okay to like something from time-to-time and it’s also okay to be critical of something from time-to-time. I love Supernatural so with any criticisms I might have, I bear no ill will towards the show. I love the show and despite its rocky moments, I’m still a fan and I’ll probably stick with this show to the very end. It’s okay to have different opinions than I do, the only thing I ask is that you respect me opinions as I will respect yours. Respect makes the dream work, ‘kay peeps? Also, spoilers if you haven’t seen the episode.

Plot Synopsis as written by Risa the Roommate

As it says in the title of this section, Risa is my roommate and she’s going to be giving us a plot synopsis for this episode. Risa is an EXTREMELY casual observer of Supernatural, she doesn’t follow it like I do (I wouldn’t even classify her as a casual watcher either; she maybe watches a couple of episodes a season if even that much) but she’s decided to watch an entire season with me. So yay! Let’s see if I can indoctrinate her to the dark side. She also thinks she’s funny so let’s see how a casual observer interprets an episode of Supernatural.

Risa The Roommate Synopsis: For the first minute or so of this episode, I was reminded of a time in college when I was road-tripping with a couple of friends. We were quite high at the time and one of my friends decided to try to explain to me the plot of Dune in this state. Watching the “Previously on” Supernatural opening sequence was a lot like my high friend trying to explain Dune to someone who was also very high. As you can imagine, very little sense was made much like the opening sequence of this episode. I came out of that opening sequence somehow even more confused than I was going into it. But because I love Tanya, I shall prevail and get through the rest of this episode. Mr. Chiseled Jawline peeps in on a dude prayin’ (which, you know, rude) and has this big existential conversation or whatever. I guess Mr. Chiseled Jawline is both the main character Dean and Michael The Archangel right now (but I’m still going to call him Mr. Chiseled Jawline because I could look at that jawline for days). And then Mr. Chiseled Jawline comes out with this whole “create a better world” line. I’m getting some serious religious fanatacism vibes here. There’s a title card that honestly looks more cartoonish than actually scary but whatever. We change places to what Tanya tells me is the “bunker” where the heroes of this story reside. We got some hunting lingo going on here I guess, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Mr. Loreal-because-I’m-worth-it arrives. There’s some talk about locating Mr. Chiseled Jawline. We find out that Tanya’s fav, Angel Blue Eyes has gone to meet up with a demon for information but is double-crossed and subsequently captured alarmingly quickly. I’m assuming the ease of his capture makes more sense if you’ve been watching the entire series. This demon will be known as Bootleg Mark Sheppard Demon Guy as it’s obvious he’s mimicking Mark Sheppard’s character. I don’t remember much from this show but I do remember Mark Sheppard. Bootleg Mark Sheppard Demon Guy uses Angel Blue Eyes to get Mr. Loreal to come over to exchange study notes. Bootleg Mark Sheppard Demon Guy apparently wants to become the next King of Hell but Mr. Loreal tells him to go walk into traffic. A big, very confusing fight ensues and Bootleg Mark Sheppard Demon Guy dies and Mr. Loreal claims hell shall remain dictator-less. The episode ends with Mr. Chiseled Jawline deciding a blood-thirsty creature is reminiscent of his idea of purity and will help him create a better world (which, okay, I guess). There’s also a bit where we see more of Mr. Chiseled Jawline existential crisis-ing the wife of Jensen Ackles, Bishop from Being Human is apparently still on this show, and a couple of teenagers are trying to learn how to fight and really suck at it.

Hopefully, you guys enjoyed that. I didn’t edit this at all. This is legitimately how Risa described what happened in this episode. And Risa, not to worry, even without the influence of alcohol and drugs, Dune still doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, rest assured. And I agree, that season premiere opening sequence was definitely not one of their better ones. It was very choppy and I can definitely see how people who aren’t aware of what happened last season to be really confused. It didn’t really do that great of a job explaining what happened last season.

The Review

As I said, this episode was much more character driven then plot driven which I felt worked for the episode. We already know what Michael’s goals are going out of Season 13 so there’s no real reason for the premiere episode to be going crazy with plot. Instead, this episode serves more of a purpose for setting up character arcs and I really enjoyed the episode for that.

I was loving Sam in his leadership role at the bunker and I absolutely adored his declaration of how there will be no new king of hell. I love how by stating he wouldn’t allow anyone to rise to that throne, he was essentially indirectly putting himself on that throne which I found very interesting. Honestly, the character development Sam has gone through in order to get him to this point is just amazing and I do love Sam so so much that I’m really excited to see how this all plays out. I always knew Sam was going to get there.

We also got the hunters keeping it real up in the bunker which was really interesting to see. It was interesting to see how they’re building up this community and essentially creating a supernatural-fighting team. And just as a passing observation, Maggie really reminds me of Ava from Season 2. She kind of has that same bubbly, quirky but hesitant personality Ava had and I actually really liked Ava so I’m hoping things are going to work out better for Maggie than it did for Ava. And I’m also really seeing the potential for a friendship between Maggie and Jack. Right now, they’re kind of equals with their inexperience in fighting so it could be fun to see them kind of teach each other and grow with each other. But, I’m also not advocating that Jack needs to have a romantic relationship with Maggie, so don’t misconstrue what I’m saying. Jack is definitely not at a point where he can really comprehend something like romance. But it would be fun to see Jack and Maggie have some sort of friendship. Just like Jack has his three dads (Sam, Dean, and Cas) plus Uncle Bobby and Auntie Mary, he also could really use a friend – someone who doesn’t have a parenting-type of relationship with him and a friendship between Jack and Maggie could be fun.

The arc Jack is currently going through trying to find his own worth and his own strength now that his grace is gone is a theme I really enjoy. Because up until this point, he probably hasn’t realized just how much he relied on his Nephilim grace and he’s having to figure out how to live and be who he is without it. It’s good stuff and I love the Cas fatherly dynamic that could come out of this. This is something that Cas, in particular, can help Jack with a lot. Cas knows what it’s like to lose his grace. He knows what it’s like to have all of this innate power at his fingertips and then when it’s taken away, having to figure out how to live without it. And honestly, Season 9 Cas is probably one of my favorite Cas arcs. I loved his time spent as a human trying to figure out who he really is. I wish it had gone on for slightly longer but you know, the plot needed to happen too. But Cas and Jack having more of a father-son bond with this character arc is something I definitely want to see more of.

Also, seeing more of Cas and Sam interacting would be great as well. Their interactions were really great in this episode and I wish we had more of them. I loved how Sam was instantly all about making sure Cas was alright when he got to that bar. And when they were talking at the end of the episode despite Cas saying it was a dumb idea and he shouldn’t have done it, Sam is playing the supportive friend and telling Cas it wasn’t dumb and he can’t believe he didn’t think of trying that first. More scenes between these two like that, please. It reminds me of their dynamic in season 9.

I am worried about the use of the AU characters though. I’ve said it before in other posts but I was not a big fan of the AU characters crossing over into the main SPN universe. Basically, I’m worried this show is going to treat the AU counterparts as if they were the originals. I want these AU characters to be their own characters. Have their own hopes and desires and personalities. I don’t want them to be carbon copies of the originals. And from what I’ve seen with Bobby, his character is pretty much playing the same role within the story he always has. Granted, we’re only one episode in so hopefully this’ll change as we get further into the season but so far, I’m not really a fan of the AU counterparts return.

I don’t really have much of an opinion on Michael right now. Jensen is killing it as Michael, though. Michael is still being quite vague on what he really wants and I can definitely understand why he would choose vampires. However, I’m wondering if this is going to come back to bite him in the ass because we have seen vampires who are conflicted about their own natures. From what I’m gathering from Michael, he’s not only looking for beings who have a sense of purity, he also needs them to be unconflicted with themselves. He needs beings who he can control. And those conflicted with themselves such as humans, demons, werewolves, angels, etc would be difficult to control because of their internalized conflicts, because of their sense of self. If the fancy struck them, they could betray Michael. However, beings who just want to eat are easier to control. But vampires have previously made the decision to fight against their monstrous nature so I think this could potentially blow up in Michael’s face. Vampires aren’t necessarily mindless monsters who only think about their next meal, they are capable of thinking about other things, about wanting other things and so they could just as easily turn on Michael as well. Regardless of what happens, it should be interesting to see how it all plays out. We also got to see kind of sort of what Michael looks like but I don’t think that’s an accurate depiction of what he really looks like. That’s just his form being compressed into a human vessel. It also explains why only certain humans can withstand being vessels. Their bodies probably have to be designed a certain way to handle all that power being compressed into their bodies. I am curious to know what makes certain humans vessels and why there are humans that can’t be vessels. Is it just a random thing that happens with random bloodlines? Or is there a reason these bloodlines are vessels? Maybe way back at the beginning of these humans’ ancestral lines, the children were a product of soulmates coming together and the children of those soulmates is what caused those bloodlines to be strong enough to withstand angelic possession?

I am so happy that Kip was only pretending to try and be a Crowley because it was a really poor imitation of Crowley. I’m glad it was written intentionally to be that way. And I’m glad that Sam calls him out on it. He’s just like, “you’re no Crowley, so just stop.” And indeed, Kip is definitely not a Crowley. He lacks the self-discipline, the charisma, the vision Crowley had that made him such a dynamic King of Hell. It’ll be interesting to see how hell is going to turn out without a leader, though. And I’m sure everyone else has talked about this, but I did find it strange that Cas didn’t even recognize the demons at first for what they were but I guess ultimately, I can just chalk it down to heaven losing power. And my own head canon is that ever since the Metatron thing, his grace has been slowly getting weaker anyway. So it would make sense that he’s just losing more and more power as he goes along. And since he no longer really allies himself with heaven anymore, the power that heaven would normally have given him is just a really small minute amount waning even smaller as heaven continues to lose power from the lack of angels.

We also had Mark Pellegrino show up in this episode as Nick. I kind of figured that’s how he would show up. Mark was really great. I do think he’s a fantastic actor. How he plays Nick is very different from how he plays Lucifer and I really enjoy that. And watching that scene where Nick is relaying what he does and doesn’t remember, I remember thinking, “Someone please give this poor guy a hug.” It’s bad enough he had to go through all of the trauma that came from his wife and child being murdered. But to be stuck with Lucifer all this time? Trapped inside of your own body and unable to pass on? Now granted, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for why Nick is still alive as we’ve never seen a human vessel survive a stab from any kind of angel blade; they normally just die along with the angel. I guess, if it wasn’t a fatal stab and the stabber missed the important organs, then theoretically the vessel could survive. But I’m also thinking back in Season 1 when they were trying to kill Azazel. I remember them going for a non-fatal wound as to not kill their father but they quickly realized a fatal wound was the only way to kill Azazel. So I don’t know. But I guess, at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter. Nick is here and I’m glad he’s here. I’m excited to see where this Nick storyline is going to be headed. I’m hoping he’s going to be a good guy. I’m really pulling for Nick. The poor guy’s dealt with enough trauma.

This episode was a lot of fun for me. It was all about character arc setups and I really enjoyed that. This show in the past has tried to do an ensemble type of cast but this is the first episode I’ve seen where I genuinely believed this could truly be an ensemble cast kind of show. I really hope the show continues with this. I think it’s headed in really interesting directions. I’d probably give this an B+. It was fun although it did drag in certain places and there were some things that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. But really, a great start to a new season.

Well, those are my thoughts on the show. Let me know what you think. Just remember that while you don’t have to agree with what I say, I do ask that you at least respect what I think and feel.