#they should really fix this tbh

[bisaster-energy]

me waiting for the chair im sitting on the collapse on itself

[bluesheepbluefriend]

[mephoj]

nickel and balloon would be so much more interesting if people explored the way nickel became everything awful that balloon used to be but so much worse ironically all in the name of "protecting" everyone from that history repeating. and not softboy tsundere yaoi or whatever is going on in those tags rn

[nachosncheezies]

In defense of late-canon x files (including the revivals)

I was thinking about this poll after I commented on it, and I kinda want to be brave and say more.

Short answer to the poll's question before I go any further: If you're a new fan and a sensitive sort who thinks you'll struggle with your blorbos Really Going Through It and you really need a happy ending, I suggest you stop at the end of season 8. Do not pass go, do not look at spoilers. Disregard this post entirely, close the internet, and go look at something that makes you happy. (Also fuck every part of society that characterizes sensitivity as inherently weak and bad and some kind of personal failing, you are valid.)

That said, "quality" as a concept is entirely subjective, and the question of whether or not there's a decline in quality for any story is wholly subjective, too. In the case of x files? I'm not convinced there is a decline. I am going to be upfront that I haven't yet watched past season 8, though I am almost completely spoiled on events after that - and the reason I haven't watched yet is not because of how I know events are going to unfold, but simply because I don't want it to end!!! Ohh, the tension between "I CAN'T WAIT!!!" and "Nooo don't be over D:"

When I first came to txf fandom on tumblr and gradually became spoiled about what happens in late canon though, I was often left uncomfortable and tbh kinda queasy about it. As I said in my comment on the poll, the hate for especially the revival and IWTB, or to a lesser extent even seasons 8 & 9, is very well documented. But! There are other takes to be found here on tumblr if you figure out where to look, and my feelings have changed!

The thing is, I have yet to find myself in any fandom where there isn't a vocal subset of fans who dislike the story after a certain point. I am not joking when I say that no one hates the things they love as passionately as sci-fi and fantasy fans. In my experience, it often hinges on the extent to which a viewer has strong notions on where they would like the characters to end up. In particular with series where shipping is a dominant component for the bulk of a fandom, I have almost universally found that there comes some turning point in the story where "let them be happy you cowards" is the dominant view, and things that compromise the attainment of a degree of romantic stability and/or domesticity are, to many fans, annoying at best and despicable at worst. But! As one tagset on the linked poll said:

and I think for any fandom, that last tag especially is so so so important. (I think that's harder for people watching a weekly series live, bc you have so much time to analyze and speculate and dream before the next breadcrumb drops, but I digress.)

So why am I saying this and how do I apply it to x files? Well, I eventually found that there are also a subset of fans who find redeeming things right up to the very end and actually quite like the whole thing! The things that I had seen people rage and ventpost so much about honestly never quite sounded to me as "out of character" or "untrue to the story" etc as those same ventposts made them sound. And I've discovered I'm not the only one who felt that way. Do I love that the spooky squad had to go through all of those things? No, those poor guys D: Life is hard and they have been through so much trauma. But do those events and their choices make sense to me in light of everything that came before? Yes! And I honestly can't wait to see them fight to overcome those things, breaking, healing, always learning, always growing, always getting better.

So if you're wondering "where does it go wrong"... well, I'm a completionist, as many people who've answered that post are, but also my personal opinion is that I don't think it does go wrong. If you're new and interested in exploring why I've gone from "vaguely queasy" to "excited" about the whole thing, or want to maybe balance out the impressions you're getting about the later seasons before deciding whether or not you want to see the whole thing, I'll put a few blog names in the comments.

Final admission: even once I started feeling a little more confident in the possibility that "actually ok maybe I'm not crazy, maybe this all kind of is in character and does make sense", there was one big plot point that I was NOT looking forward to and I thought I would never be comfortable about. In hindsight, I think my discomfort came from the negative responses being SO seemingly universal that I hadn't stopped to let myself truly consider other possible interpretations on that point. (I mean my initial instinct when I first read about it was, why are we mad about this?? CSM is literally the most unreliable narrator in history???? it's obviously fake news?????? this must be either a fever dream someone's having or it's a misdirection ploy against whatever shadowy forces might still be lurking?????????????? but for whatever reason I guess I had halfway written that off.) Happily, just last month there's a new post-s11 novel out, and although reviews for the book as a whole are mixed, it seems to have laid the groundwork for resolving that plot issue in a way I think most fans would be broadly happy with. If you're interested in being spoiled about that and seeing how, I recommend searching #perihelion on @agent-troi who liveblogged reading it with receipts, scroll back chronological-style to the first post on the subject and see how it unfolded. (And never forget that Dana Katherine Scully is the queen of denial as a coping mechanism lol)

Everyone's mileage will vary. Each person can feel however they want! But for anyone new, I wanted you to know that the very many ventposts you might be seeing are not all there is to this show or its fandom. Some of us love it despite - or even because of - all the things that went "wrong". I think we just don't talk about it as much.

[cheezritsu]

I don’t particularly care to stand on polarizing fandom opinion, but this one gets under my fucking skin.

I don’t consider myself a hero or villain stan when it comes to My Hero Academia because I just look at the individual person. I find myself siding a hell of a lot more with the villains because in general, I think it’s true that society failed them, and it’s so sad and infuriating that it failed them at such a young age.

And then there’s Hawks.

And what baffles me about the perception of Hawks is that people will never admit that he’s far more like the villains than the heroes.

Indoctrination goes both ways. Just like Shigaraki was indoctrined by AFO to bring about destruction, Hawks was indoctrined by hero society and the JPHC specifically that Heroes were the ultimate good. Just as Shigaraki was “saved” from his family, Hawks was saved from his. Shigaraki was a tool for AFO to bring about his plan. Hawks is a tool for the JPHC to keep control.

Hawks and Shigaraki are at most two years apart. Hell, we barely ever use Hawks’ birthnames just like Shigaraki and Dabi!

It just doesn’t make sense that people will call the hero society corrupt, but then not call Hawks a victim for being made to carry out its will. Like yes, Hawks chose to be a hero, but he was like, fucking 8 years old and saved from abject poverty and parental neglect. And then you call him a monster for doing the job he’s been brainwashed to do.

If you’re going to have sympathy for villains, and if you’re going to erase some culpability from Shigaraki, Dabi, Toga and Twice because of what they endured, then you have to do the same for Hawks. Because they’re literally all the same. Society failed ALL of them.

[ellies-enrichment]

[oh-meow-swirls]

was looking through old posts and i'm surprised to see that i seemingly didn't have any commentary on anything in 3 in chapter 7, 8 or 9, the posts related to 3's story go from "my first reaction when i saw yopple-bot was 'i love you. but also you are definitely the boss for this chapter-'" to "i have been in hell all day. hell being bada-bing tower." funny to me cuz those chapters are like, the best ones sdfkljsdfjfsdkjlfsdjkl-

[reliquaryofflesh]

Seriously though I think a good fight before fucking might fix me. Been slapped before, definitely liked that. Love wrestling anyway because it’s fun (not that I’m good at it lmao). Would like to see what being kicked in the ribs is like, that’s a longtime fantasy. These cvts on my leg hurt real nice sometimes…I dunno. And I know I like to hvrt partners who enjoy the pa!n. I just think it would be fun to have some mutual (consensual, obviously!) sadomasochism is all.

[last-flight-of-fancy]

hey, hey, quick internet fandom ettiquete lesson; X has two hands jokes only vibe if you are talking to someone who is ALSO already talking about how X has two hands. Okay? Okay. It is in fact very rude to go onto other people’s posts where only one set of hands is involved to evangalise about two hands. When seeing ship art/fic of only half your ot3, it is proper ettiquete to simply enjoy the art/fic as it is, and if so inspired create/commission/seek out the ot3 content of your choice. This has been your quick internet fandom lesson, thank you for your time.

[mazojo]

Okay Mr. Ricky and Jet shipper truther

[michameinmicha]

tried to buy a sports bra today and unlocked a whole new level of dysphoria somehow

[a9saga]

tbt - versaemerge - redesign me // i would like to apologize to versaemerge personally for not assuming that their debut album would hold up nearly as well as it did

[agerefandom]

Oof slogging through fandoms that had most of their fics written in 2013 really makes me appreciate how good we have it now

[wraithsoutlaws]

sun haven disney-fying their in-game character portraits why don't you just hit me with a car instead

[hershey-the-confused]

do i wanna be u or do i wanna see u

[isekyaaa]

Reading the spoilers of otome light novels always be like, "Wow, people really hate men."