#tl;dr redemption is messy!

[kitkatopinions]

If neo gets a redemption arc it will be way worst than emeralds as there was practically no build up beforehand for it at least emerald had some hints she doesn't want to be evil

So to be honest, Neo was one of the characters I singled out in the first few seasons of rwby as the most likely to be able to be redeemed along with Torchwick, Emerald, and Mercury (and Adam, but I'm not touching that conversation atm.)

Because villain redemption arcs don't always look like "I no longer want to be evil anymore" to "I no longer am evil." They often look like "The thing I'm doing no longer benefits me" to "Now I have friends I want to look out for" to "Now I no longer want to be evil."

The "We're making a new world" people are Watts, Hazel, Cinder. The "We want to destroy the world" people are Salem and Tyrian. Meanwhile, Roman is a vicious thief, but one who is out to survive and has a 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em' mentality. That's easily turned towards a 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing where if he'd realized that Salem was the true threat to him and Neo, he could've aligned himself with the heroes for the sake of convenience, and then eventually developed relationships and eventually wound up starting to naturally change for the better (in my own fanfics, I add onto this possibility by giving him a tragic backstory that includes an ex-friendship with some of the adults and a passive semblance that fucked with his head.) Neo would go with Roman in a redemption arc, but prior to this 'gets possessed by the Cat' thing, post-Roman's-death, Neo has been entirely hellbent on revenge against the wrong person, meaning that if people had managed to talk sense into her (made more possible by Cinder's betrayal) she could've shifted into 'still bad but now a wildcard that the group might feel like they have to work together with,' and for my part with how Ruby sometimes seems a little Torchwick-ish, I always felt like Neo could develop a messed up devotion based on seeing Torchwick in her and therefore projecting Torchwick onto her, and then eventually that could lead to an actual slow burning redemption.

Meanwhile, Mercury is explicitly going wherever the wind takes him more or less and I also think that since he was raised to be an assassin by an abusive horrible father and then immediately got brought into Cinder's team and therefore Salem's (when we know both Cinder and Salem are abusive to their underlings) I always figured that Mercury didn't know much outside of violence, and if he was given a chance, he'd be able to slowly come around. And Emerald is obvious, she's the one who actually almost felt sad about Beacon and then doubted their actions later in Volume six. Her motivations were tied to Cinder, so imo the obstacle for her starting in on her redemption was just removing Cinder either by death or by having Emerald realize Cinder didn't care about her. This is actually one reason why I think her redemption was badly handled, Emerald's devotion to Cinder was really built up and even included in the very volume Em switched sides in, but didn't play any real part in her choice to leave and instead Emerald pretty much just left entirely out of self-preservation. But, her redemption was really likely from jump.

But yeah, I think that as far as redemption goes, I don't just look at 'who seems like they might not actually want to be evil,' I tend to look at things like 'who has a lot to lose,' 'who has motivations that might be easily swayed,' 'who seems like they might not be happy with their life as is,' 'is this person committed to a nefarious goal or is their involvement more by chance?' That kind of thing.

It's like, some redemptions are Zuko in ATLA, by the time he left his father for the last time to join the heroes group, he had completely seen the error of his ways and wanted nothing more than to help others and save the world. Then there are other redemptions that are like Michael in the Good Place, when he joined the group he was still a massive jerk doing bad things for fun, he just also wanted to fry a bigger fish and allied himself with the humans to do it, and it took time to get him from there to 'these guys are my friends and I want them to be safe' to him talking ethics and giving speeches about how humans can always get better while he tried to save the world.

In the longest running (non-published) AU rwby fic I have that my sis and I did after being disappointed in volume 6, Torchwick, Emerald, Mercury, and Neo all more or less got redeemed together - Roman survived the Beacon attack and was trying to seek out Cinder to find out what happened to Neo, who had been captured by Salem, and he ran into Mercury and Emerald who had just run away after the Haven attack (where Cinder actually did die and Emerald became the Fall Maiden) and they joined up with Roman in his quest to join up with Ruby's group because Emerald wanted revenge on Salem for Cinder's sake. And then while they had joined the good side, they consistently got into hateful arguments and Mercury kept talking about ditching, and eventually they managed to free Neo, who stayed 'on the good side' for Roman's sake while continuously trying to convince him to ditch but at this point the semblance I'd given Roman (which is survival) had made it so he felt like he had to stay with Ruby's group because it was the best way to survive. And only after a grueling year-long adventure filled with turmoil, trauma, spending tons of time with the good guys, some of them getting captured by Salem again, temporarily losing their semblances, encountering a Grimm similar to Apathy only it made everyone angry rather than apathetic so they all got into a huge fight where stuff got addressed... Only after all of that did they actually fully really change, and even then, Neo specifically took longer than the others to really change because she took awhile to stop being jealous that Torchwick cared about people other than her and was prioritizing saving the world over just taking care of her. It was a lot of fun! But yeah, I think this post was way way way too long just to say 'actually I think Neo could've been redeemed before getting possessed by the Cat.' XD

[mxmorel]

on messy redemption arcs (specifically todd brotzman's) and why i think they're a good thing

sharing the following thing i wrote in the dghda server re: todd's character growth in s2 upon the request of another server member!

for context, this is regarding a conversation that sprung up in the dghda server about some people viewing Todd as manipulative/uncaring towards Dirk, vs other people who saw his arc in s2 through a different lens. to be clear, despite various disagreements, the conversation was positive and everyone was respectful which was really nice, considering how bad discourse can get sometimes. but anyway i came in late to the conversation and this was my contribution - clearly, i fall in camp 2:

[About Todd's ups and downs in S2:] growth isn't linear and people can take steps forward and then fall back, but what matters ultimately to me is that they keep trying to take those steps forward even when they make mistakes and I think Todd does do that.

He's spent so much of his life in a prison of his own making, lying to everyone and digging a hole so deep he didn't think he could ever get out of it. And I think he did always care about Amanda at the very least but he did this HUGE fuckup and covering that up led to this avalanche of horrible decisions and now he has to own up to his shit and learn how to care about people again without hiding from his actions.

He definitely gets tunnel vision about Amanda, and I think that makes sense. He’s so desperate to “fix” things and a big part of his story in season 2 is learning that, like Amanda said, some things you can’t just FIX. Sometimes you just have to pick up the pieces you have left and do your best to make something good with them.

Additionally [in regards to previous comments made about Todd ignoring/not caring about the trauma Dirk suffered in his second bout in Blackwing], he doesn’t know the extent of what happened in Blacking, not yet. And he’s taken several steps back by centering all his focus on finding Dirk - Dirk who has always seemed so optimistic and enthusiastic - to “fix” things (because he hasn’t learned his lesson about fixing things yet). And he doesn’t know how to reconcile the Dirk he knew before with the things that this new stint in Blackwing has changed about Dirk.

I don’t think Todd is malicious or not caring about Dirk - I think he has done so much self isolation over the years that he is unused to knowing how to identify what’s going on with other people/doesn’t know how to handle things. He does try to uplift Dirk, even if he doesn’t always do it in the right way, but that doesn’t make him cruel or manipulative. It makes him a human person who is also struggling to learn how to exist in community with others.

I think there’s also something to be said for the black and white ways we can view fictional characters who react to situations in ways that create defensiveness in us based on our own experiences/our own traumas. I think processing that through fiction is such a powerful tool but it can also put blinders on us and view some characters as wholly good “perfect cinnamon rolls” and other characters as “horrible manipulators”, when really, both types of characters have strengths and flaws, and neither exists purely on one end of the spectrum or the other.

tl;dr redemption arcs can and should be messy sometimes because people are messy. none of these characters are inherently good or inherently bad and i think that's what makes them all such compelling characters.

[diescm]

one page some messy explorations for The Reaper pillar in Moral Discrepancy (fan session im redeveloping w my boyfriend <3) that i made half awake fresh off food poisoning and fresh on melatonin gummies on a 5 hour train ride out of madrid.

yapping about the reaper fanclass under cut

>Classepect serving and Furton character blurb

So far every fanclass has something they 'serve': like the Dogma serves the Session (seeing it to completion), the saviour serves the players (idk the specifics of this one yet my bf is deving it), the Kaiser serves themselves (making sure THEY win at any cost), and the Reaper serves

absolutely no one. the servitude is tied to classpect and the reaper has neither. no aspect to lean to because of an early death and no class to be assigned because of an early death. you could argue the reaper serves the players because they lead the players to god tier, but the servitude relates to classpect because classpect relates to your character (in sgrub v.4.13.alpha). a reaper could absolutely forgo their responsibilities or just not become a reaper AT ALL depending on how their trial goes. a player leaned to a classpect HAS to god tier or their consciousness will literally disconnect from the game (think being booted for being afk) and furton makes it VERY apparent to certain players, tanata (the dogma) and even THE ASPECTS that while he fully believes in this timeline's success (theres a virus timeline jumping from one game to another rotting them from the inside out) he is ONLY helping because he wants to see his family safe and he could not give a rats ass about anyone else's agenda or plans. if his family isnt safe and happy by the end of this nonsense hes keeping everybody in a death cycle (spawn camping) regardless of whether or not they succeed.

so hes got his OWN thing going on. "well but roman wouldnt that mean he serves himself like the kaiser?" it COULD. let me elaborate

>Godtiering classpect redemption and service alignment ramble

these are PEOPLE playing these games who are complex and have their own intertwined relationships with each other, and people are capable of change, always. this is accounted for in the god tiering process. if you die and become X classpect but at some point die again and you as a COMPLEX PERSON have changed significantly you will change class and even ASPECT to reflect that.

HOWEVER,

thats much easier said than done, and is inherently nearly impossible for most classes. the kaiser for example is self sufficient, independent, self reliant, self providing, self self self self etc etc etc. YOU try to convince someone whos been constantly let down, disappointed, failed, responsible for, and otherwise uninterested in other people to suddenly become dependent on others. its a tough ask, especially when that player is proud of their independence, significantly more incompetent in group settings, paranoid, vindictive, hurt, or anything else that would reinforce an individualistic attitude and mindset. Once a player has god tiered to their classpect they are practically cemented in it until the end of time. However a reaper is never tied to a classpect. and they have a unique outsider perspective for the MAJORITY of the session allowing them to CONSCIOUSLY choose if they're going to serve the session, the players, themselves or NONE at any given moment.

>TL;DR

Reaper cool

[cup-of-hot-worm-milk]

HEARTBREAK HIGH SEASON 2 REVIEW

Likes, dislikes, and some general thoughts.

TL;DR spoiler free review: I give this season a 6.5/10. It’s not bad but compared to the previous season, it certainly felt like a downgrade. Some of the editing choices felt poor, a few characters that had felt layered and realistic had lost their substance,  a couple of interesting plot beats and character arcs were either rushed or solved with very little satisfaction and pay off, and I can’t help but feel a lot of the drama had become far too unrealistic by the end of the season. I had some fun watching the teenage hijinks, and there are stand out scenes/storylines that had me invested from start to finish, but overall I can’t say that this season lived up to its predecessor or my expectations.

Longer rant under the cut! SPOILERS AHEAD!

I’ll start with what I liked and enjoyed (in no particular order):

Cash owns my heart now and forever. Season one had already solidified him as my favourite character, and watching him go through his asexual journey, trying to navigate his relationship with Darren while setting boundaries was… Ugh, so fucking good. I’ve had my own share of relationship anxiety, fearing that because I had no interest in sexual activities that I would be hurting my future partner. Dusty’s whole talk with Cash felt so reminiscent of things people would say to me when I tried to talk to them about my own sexuality. I was so ecstatic when Cash told him to fuck off, because no, asexuals are not robbing their partners of anything. Our sexuality and boundaries in relationships are not problematic or abusive; no person should ever feel like their worth in a relationship is based on whether or not they have sex with their partner. Anyone who says otherwise can fuck right off. I was crying during Cash’s talk with his Nan. 10/10 best storyline.

Quinni not masking was so cathartic. Neurotypicals really don’t understand the stress and mental gymnastics we have to go through every fucking day just so we fit in. It’s so fucking hard and watching her be herself fully was just amazing. Slay honestly.

BI MALAKAI BI MALAKAI BI MALAKAI

All of the Australian pop culture references. So good. Chinese succulent meal. The reference to Scomo shitting himself at the McDonalds. Cash not registering to vote and his friends getting mad at him even though our voting is so shit and never taken seriously (I along with several people I know have written shit on our ballots and have never gotten in trouble ever). THE NUTBUSH. Woodsy’s little jab at Pavlova being from Aotearoa (New Zealand) and not Australia. Ugh, so good. Finally, references I understand /hj.

Amerie and Harper being best friends… Their protectiveness for each other… My heart.

The class camp made me so nostalgic. Can’t speak for every Aussie, but my camp did have the boys sneaking in beer. Although, we all got too scared so we all just had a sip before pouring it all out before we could get caught. We didn’t even get buzzed, lol. Also, the class getting high on shrooms together, oml. 

Malakai and Amerie… Ugh, those two… So messy and complicated and I love them.

Props to HBH finally making an authentic (albeit toxic) love triangle. Only took a while but we got one.

Woodsy helping Harper with driving lessons… My heart.

Quinni being so hyperfixated that she survived her snakebite. She’s just like me fr. I also loved the editing changing when it was her perspective. This is her world and we’re just living in it.

Idk his name but whoever played Chook was genuinely terrifying. 10/10, I wanted to smash his face in every time he came on screen. Truly phenomenal acting.

Actually, I’ll give a round of applause to the entire cast. All of them did stella jobs.

And now… the dislikes (again, no particular order):

Spider’s arc. I know some people like him, but as someone who went to school with, and got bullied by dickheads like him, I could not get behind his whole redemption storyline. I really didn’t like how they blamed his misogyny and arrogance on his toxic mother - it felt like they were saying that men are only sexist assholes because feminists obsess over profiling them all as rapists and abusers which is so fucked on so many levels. It just felt like they were given excuses for his behaviour and how it isn’t really his fault, it’s because of his mothers abuse and I am so fucking over that theme. Abuse does not justify shitty behaviours from ANYONE. It can apply context, sure, but I am not going to excuse someone for being a fuckwit just because they have a shitty homelife. I was abused! I had hurt people around me to cope! That doesn’t make it okay! 

Also… People like Spider are more likely to be misogynistic because of a sexist environment - not because of crazed misandrists believing all men are rapists. I think it would've been much more believable if instead, Spider hadn’t had a father or a close male role model to grow up with and became very insecure about his perception of masculinity and manliness, so he used society and social media as learning tools to form his personality and unfortunately internalised a lot of misogyny.

The conclusion of Spider’s redemption also felt way too rushed. He only stops joining Voss because the man slipped up while ranting and because he got slapped in the face. In season one, it really looked like they were going to explore how Spider’s insecurities around vulnerability and masculinity made him put up a front to shield himself. During his relationship with Missy, some points almost felt like they were going to full dive into exploring it but then they backed out, or they wouldn’t let the scenes room to breathe before rushing into the solution. I would’ve liked it more if Spider had time to really grapple with his worldviews and how hurtful he was being, and working on distancing himself from sexist ideals. It would’ve felt a lot more authentic imo.

And I really was not on board with Missy x Spider. I don’t know, it didn’t feel like an authentic attraction, just more like the writers somehow needed someone to jumpstart Spider’s redemption journey while also providing a convenient romantic love interest. Maybe it could have worked if they two were given more time to develop an understanding companionship and Missy wasn’t into him while he was still a fucking dickhead? Maybe they could’ve had the whole rival's sexual tension thing work if it was given way more focus instead of just “Boy see Girl doing something sexy and fall in love”? I don’t know, romance and sexual interest isn’t really my expertise, so maybe it’s just a me thing.

Rowan’s whole character was a huge miss for me, holy shit. It’s 2024, STOP MAKING MENTAL ILLNESS A FUCKING VILLAINOUS TRAIT. I don’t even know what the fuck his mental illness was supposed to be. I work in youth counseling and psychology, and none of his symptoms feel authentic. Was it psychosis?? Was he supposed to have borderline personality disorder??? Untreated PTSD with severe hallucination and dissociation symptoms??? Type 1 bipolar going through a severe mania episode?? FUCKING WHAT DID HE EVEN HAVE??? For a show that handled autism so beautifully in these seasons, they dropped the ball so horribly with Rowan. Bad character, bad execution, bad storyline, bad everything. Do your fucking research on mental disorders instead of just writing “obsessive and crazy” hbh writers, fucking hell.

Also, why did he need to have this whole dumb past connection with Amerie? Why did Amerie suddenly have a backstory of being a major cunt and bully? Why was none of her shitty behaviour talked about in season one? You’d think when her classmates were ostracizing her for the sex wall and getting everyone involuntarily sent to SLT’s, they would’ve brought up this shit. Spider and Harper had their personal reasons to dislike her but no one else brought up anything. Why not just have it that in the earlier episodes, Bird Psycho was spreading baseless rumours and misinformation? Then have people divided on whether or not they would believe Amerie when she went to disprove them? You can even have others making shit up to add to the situation for more drama.

Sasha and Zoe… Oof, bad execution all around for those two.

Sasha… Oof. Thought her storyline was going to deal with her hypocrisy around activism and being a sjw invested in identity politics. Maybe some exploration on how applying moralism to activism is never a good thing EVER and that you shouldn’t care about oppression just because it makes you look like a better person - you should care about it because oppression is fucking disgusting and needs to be eradicated. Should’ve known they would’ve just made her into a bad joke. Pouring one out for the missed opportunity.

I really thought that Zoe’s character was going to explore sexual insecurities and how everyone has a different approach to sex. Examining the difference between sexual pleasure and sexual intimacy. Maybe even some discussion on how it’s okay to have sex simply just to explore your own preferences and likes, and how no one - especially women  - should ever be slut-shamed for liking sex. But nope, she was a really bad celibacy joke and a plot point for Darren. Yikes.

Speaking of Darren, my fashionable child, look how they massacred you. What was their whole deal with Quinni this season? Did they suddenly forget about her autism? Did they suddenly stop caring about her difficulties with masking? Season 1 Darren “You’re my too much” would NEVER have fucking told Quinni that the world couldn’t play be her rules. Season 1 Quinni panicking in the bathroom at a party? Oh, no, Amerie don’t touch her, that’s not how we help Quinni. We help Quinni by providing a quiet and safe space and reminding her that she is in charge of what we do next. Season 1 Quinni becoming non-verbal due to a meltdown because Sasha was being bigoted? Nope, Sasha you don’t get to talk to Quinni, no one forces Quinni to talk, she will do it when she is ready. Wtf happened Darren? It really just felt like the writers were trying to make drama between them both and decided to butcher Darren’s character to do so. Just… oof. Very bad.

Harper’s trauma being forgotten about or developed after two episodes… What. Nothing about her relationship with her dad, nothing about her relationship with using sex as a coping mechanic, nothing about her PTSD, absolutely fucking NOTHING. Why? She just felt like she was there for other characters to develop off of.

Also, Ant and Harper felt really rushed. I would’ve liked it way more if Ant actually went and befriended some girls before he got into a relationship with Harper, or even if the both of them became friends before they developed a romantic relationship but they really weren’t given room to breathe.

Also also, Ant accomplished nothing?? I don’t remember one significant thing he did this season that gave more insight into his character or that wasn’t just to uplift other character’s developments. It sucks because last season alluded to some religious trauma that I thought we were going to get to explore more. He needs so much more substance than just “haha, funny guy” imo.

Missy and Malakai deserved more to their stories than just relationship drama. Where was their Indigenous culture? Where was Malakai’s ‘gone my country’ story element that helped him last season? We rarely ever get Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander actors able to show their culture even in Australian media, so last season when they brought it up I was so happy but now… No mention of it? Nothing? I loved their friendship and their scenes together but God, I wish they happened more outside of their romantic relationships.

Amerie’s pregnancy storyline felt super rushed. Really wish it had more time to breathe, and to stress the importance of contraception and abortion rights. It all began and ended within one episode… Really felt like it deserved just a little bit more time, y’know? Especially in this day and age. It kind of just felt like last minute drama. Maybe more will come out of it because Amerie told Quinni? I hope the fuck not though because I really do not want Quinni’s character slaughtered.

Cash… Showing Chook… Where he lived… Cash is not fucking stupid. What the fuck was that. Making drama for the sake of elevating the story I guess.

Harper’s and Amerie’s dumb fight in the last episode that was really there so Rowan could have a mental breakdown. Yikes.

Wasn’t a big fan of some of the music choices. Few great songs, few iconic songs (Untouched by the Veronicas my beloved), but overall some pretty dodgy choices. I like BLACKPINK, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not that popular in Australia? And The Cranberries are amazing but again, not really an Australian favourite? Idk, just felt like they were picking from the Top 500 Charts.

Okay, the whole fire thing was really fucking stupid. In 2019-2020, NSW had massive out-of-control bushfires that ravaged the country. We have incredibly intense fire-safety because out country is so fucking flammable. Our sprinklers don’t run on electricity - the heat melts the protective plug on the sprinkler, and then water is released from where it’s stored in the pipes. We have fire blankets and extinguishers. The school would’ve been doused. And by the way, there is no such thing as only two teachers chaperoning formal. Not for 25< kids. And the cohort teachers would’ve been invited to go anyways?? And if a crazed man with fire did appear out on the oval, the students would’ve legally had to evacuate to another safe place. Cops and the firefighters would’ve been called immediately. All of the last episode was just such unbelievable bullshit, oml.

“Oh but the school is really sketchy” Idgaf, that whole fire thing was so stupid.

The afl over nrl holy shit. Like, as a queenslander, that shit really fucking hurt to see, I am so sorry sydney goers.

Alright some general thoughts:

Much of the drama in this season just didn’t feel authentic. Most characters were forced to make stupid or unrealistic choices so that drama could happen rather than just allowing the plot to naturally allow for intriguing stories to unfold. I felt like this season was forcing everyone to be involved in something tremendous at every single point, only then to become overwhelmed with how to finish or solve the issues so it was quickly given a bandaid or ignored in favour of moving onto something else.

The first season had the main issues of separating Amerie from her classmates, of people trying to navigate relationships with all the messiness of being a teenager, and of dealing with things that you don’t know how to solve. Characters were given time to be emotional, to make mistakes but not be villainized for them. Scenes and problems were given room to breathe, there was time for all of the story beats to develop and come together.

This season felt more akin to something I’d see in Riverdale or Pretty Little Liars. Over dramatised problems and a mystery that involved pretty shitty characterisation to pull off.

I still like Heartbreak High, and if there is a third season, I’ll definitely give it a watch, but overall, I’m not very enthusiastic about season 2.

One other thing is more related to the backlash I’ve seen from two of the main characters, Malakai and Missy. Some people are infuriated that these two bisexuals have ended the season in a straight-passing relationship and… Okay. I’m not going to sugarcoat any of this; stop being biphobic cunts. You complaining about these two characters ending up with an opposite-sex partner is biphobic. Bisexuals aren’t limited to only ever being in same-sex relationships, fuck off.

Okay, now I’m done.

[brujahinaskirt]

essay time! rdr2 spoilers under the cut

in order to understand why rdr2's unconventional storyline works as tragedy, we must first deeply understand that arthur morgan wanted to live. arthur didn't want poetic justice punishment wrested upon him. arthur didn't want to rest. arthur didn't want to die.

this seems like a small detail brought up just to drive in the sadness knife, but I have a point here about realism in tragedy, and how rdr2 carefully incorporates the messy randomness of life into satisfying fiction, something that is rarely done well.

look: no matter how realistic and often downright pessimistic he was about the likely fate of outlaws, and as much as he truly believed he did not deserve happiness, it's vital the audience understands that arthur fucking wanted to be happy. he did not eagerly embrace his death, romanticize it, or go quietly to his demise. arthur had hopes and wishes for his future, attainable ones! more than; he had plans for his life after the van der Linde gang, goddammit. and though he often writes/says that he knows he cannot escape the haunting memories of his past evildoing, and that he believes seeking forgiveness is a selfish exercise, his ultimate plan for himself was not to live in perpetual remorse and performative christian self-flagellation, to hell with what he deserved.

and then all of that is upended. death was not a satisfying final relief to him or a welcome release from a cruel world; it was the world's cruelest act of violence against him, the interruption of his hopes to one day become a better man living a better life. his diagnosis terrified and devastated him. he wanted to be there to help john and abigail build their family. he wanted to see jack grow up. he wanted to go to mary as he promised her he would. he wanted to see charles finally find a sense of place with the wapiti, a life that a truly good man like charles deserved. he wanted to help the girls save karen from her alcoholism. he wanted to see sadie start to rebuild a new life for herself.

in the end, arthur is able to face his fate with clear eyes, but he did not do so with ease and gratitude and peace. he did not get his slow denouement to heal and enjoy the time to naturally transform in disposition and nature into a "good man." he died with fear and sadness in his heart, for himself as well as others, and (if high-honor arthur) he died with contentment that he used his last days to make sure john's family had real hopes for their own happier future.

Sure, yes, definitely, this is a caring and brave choice to make. But arthur didn't choose to die -- he chose how to die -- and that's part of why I insist that arthur's "sacrifice" wasn't so much an act of great symbolism-loaded lofty-themed literary sacrifice as it was a simpler act of personal love. the world was cruel to arthur, and he was often cruel right back, until he made a deliberate choice to be kind -- at a moment where, to him, the world was at its very cruelest.

that distinction is to me what makes rdr2 an interesting tragedy rather than a maudlin exercise in grimdarkiness. arthur didn't, in fact, throw himself into the gears with the deliberate intention to seek redemption in death; redemption in death was forced upon him. he did not lay down his life for the sake of a self-congratulatory nobility in his martyrdom; he did not go gently, like a symbolic character does, selecting the poetic fate his narrative deserved.

and that's all bullshit anyway! life does not give a shit about what you deserve. and so it is in this story. Arthur Morgan was a deeply flawed man who did the best he could with the tragedy that his circumstances, his past choices, and the harsh randomness of the universe forced upon him. that's what life inevitably asks people, all of us, to do.

tl;dr: arthur's death was not a sacrifice and it was not his redemption. it was just his ending, as all our deaths will one day be. his redemption, his finally becoming a mythical "good man" (in his words), his (in sister calderón's words) "loving act" was not about his feelings or the intangible nature of his heart. arthur's redemption was the rushed but painfully earnest work he did to make the world into a fairer, kinder, less cruel place in whatever small ways he could before he went.

[lazlolullaby]

Terry's place in the "modern" Batfam, or rather, his incompatibility, an essay

TL;DR: some JLU episode "Epilogue" discourse is missing some at the time context.

Also, if anyone tries to redo the same story: "Amanda Waller, why do you think the ideal of Batman is going to die? Have you seen his imitators? Have you seen his actual proteges? The dining room full of his kids???"

It was technically one of Terry's Birthdays this year. (either June 27th or August 18th of 2023/2024, yes i love you DC and you're inability to commit) and I've been thinking. His canonical DCAU origin.

Amanda Waller and her Cadmus Project "Batman Beyond" and her big fandom-enraging decision of making a "Son of Batman" to carry out the Batman name.

Maybe it was because "the only assistant that can deal with his job and his intense boss" relationship was actually kind of nice and different from the sidekick thing. and the JLU episode "Epilogue" took that concept and tainted it by saying "he had to be Batman, it's in his blood".

But the text of the episode genuinely refutes that and it just makes it...tonally messy and bittersweet? idk i ain't mad which is why I've picked at this tangled ball of yarn to get at this story.

Maybe it's not the making an heir to the Bat was enraging, as you realize, Cassandra Cain was introduced in 1999, the literal incarnation of Scary Fighter with Soft Side. Damian Wayne was retooled in 2006 and we all love a little Murder Child getting Growth, and Duke Thomas from 2013 is shaping up to be a great all rounder for the title of both Scary and Great Detective.

Even skipping Dick being Batman for a year and it sticking, the other Robins could wear the cowl as well. Maybe it was something else?

Currently, in the Modern!or Comics!DC, Terry is redundant because of all of the Batfam that have been introduced before and after him. And because of Fandom Telephone Fanon, it's hard to interpret older canon as fairly.

With how the Batman Beyond story is structured, Bruce has to be isolated, old and alone in order to trust Terry with the cowl. It's an escapist fantasy and it's a redemption for both of them. It's implied that the Justice League is not as strong as it used to be. The Age of Heroes is over. there was a "near apocalypse of '09"

Especially looking at Wayne Family Adventures, it's hard to imagine all of the Batfam just goes their own ways and doesn't check in.

Terry's origin and start as Batman is fundamentally incompatible with modern canon. It does not work with the concept of the "Batfamily" and even the "extended Batfamily".

Because of that we have to step back in time to 1999 where Terry was created and we also have to completely disregard the comics. Because he was created specifically for the streamlined DCAU.

At this point in the DCAU, the New Adventures of Batman wrapped up. There's Nightwing, Barbara Gordon (only Batgirl, not Oracle, even though the incident that put her in a wheelchair was written in 1988, the DCAU didn't adapt it), Tim Drake (who was combined with Jason Todd, taking over his outfit and backstory). that have been in the BatFamily. Three people who could try to take the cowl.

And then we get into the incident from the Return of the Joker, which was alluded to in series but never actually described. Where the Batfam Blows Up. and Bruce just carries on and isolates himself from Everyone.

Yeah, making a new incarnation of Batman sounds like a pretty good option at this point.

What I'm trying to say. the "Batman Beyond" project, at the time both in universe and out of it, made sense. but like all "future worlds", time catches up and eventually surpasses it.

[gwendaria]

I legitimately don’t know how to react when an Anidala icon account is being a Reylo anti. 😭 I enjoy both but… Anakin Skywalker slaughtered innocent women and children in 2/3 of his prequel films (the only he didn’t in was the one where he is 10 years old) and was the right hand guy for the Empire for like two decades… Ben Solo was groomed pre-birth by Snoke and sure, killed some people, but remained completely conflicted. Kylo/Ben never reached the level that Vader/Anakin did in terms of almost being beyond redemption. That’s like IN the text. Not subtext.

Basically: If Reylo is “bad” then Anidala, the ship that ended with Anakin choking out his pregnant wife, is surely worse? Again, I love Anakin and Padme as well as Anidala… But why be an anti for a pairing that’s objectively less messy and linked to violence than your own? To argue against any of this is to reject the material and media itself. It’s choosing to be ignorant because you’ve let fandom discourse make you bitter and dumb.

TL;DR: I want to bully Anidalas who are Reylo antis but it feels offensive to be that mean to people who can’t clearly cannot read. I do not think they could handle it.

[apaintedmaypole]

The future for Vegas and Pete

WARNING. I'm having a lot of VegasPete thoughts and I need a place to put them.

TL;DR Version: Let VegasPete be messy! Let VegasPete be kinky! Only fic can save us! (Probably.)

ONE: I really dig @lutawolf's take on VegasPete in the book vs. VegasPete in the drama. Luta argues that book!Vegas is "basically a criminal sociopath" and that this is one of the key differences between book vs. drama Vegas. (Read the link for the full take.) I definitely buy this take on book!Vegas in the first half-ish of the book's story. I'm not sure the canon continues to support this interpretation towards the end of the book though? I'm also not sure the authors see Vegas this way. It's hard to say, but I suspect the authors' inclination is towards some sort of redemption arc. The question is, what kind of redemption arc? There are some really annoying ways this could go. It'll be interesting to see where the new VegasPete story (supposedly coming from the authors soon) will take the characters.

TWO: Overall, I find the drama version of the story more interesting. It feels like we're getting more developed and nuanced versions of the characters overall. (Although, obvs, it's hard to give the book a fair shake when you're relying on online translations.) The drama version of VegasPete gives us more of a history and context for the characters, which is important. We understand where they come from, what's shaped them, how they might be uniquely suited to one another.

THREE: BUT... here's the piece I think is crucial. The history and context the drama provides should not be over-utilized to "explain" or pathologize their kinks. Instead, I see this history as a) context for their individual weaknesses, struggles, and needs. And, b) context for their current inability to safely/sanely acknowledge and act upon their kinks. They each have so much fucked up baggage dragging them down. It is a huge obstacle to their ability to understand themselves, communicate with others, act in healthier ways, or form safer kinky relationships.

FOUR: This is also why I'm so drawn to this couple and so interested in where they go next. An important question to me is: What does it mean to try and "fix" Vegas and Pete as characters? Or, to try and "fix" their relationship? Or to give them a happy ending? What does that look like? I think the authors, the drama team, and fans are all going to have very different and competing takes on this. My take?Within this storyworld, no one's going to run out to get therapy. This is still a very violent and dysfunctional environment. Within that context, how do Pete and Vegas muddle through? I don't think their version of a happy ending is any kind of domestic fluff. I think it's something a lot more complicated. I'm not saying they can't have happiness. I'm saying that I don't think falling on stereotypical happy ending tropes (babies and domesticity) is the answer. Babies and domesticity can be interesting story elements to include, but they aren't a magical balm which should be used to erase kinks, erase the characters' histories, etc. This couple has to work on a lot of stuff within and between themselves if they're going to stay together and not self-destruct.

AN ASIDE: Does anyone else remember fic from the show Oz? (YES I AM OLD.) I feel like Tobias Beecher and Chris Keller may offer some interesting parallels and contrasts here.

FIVE: The final VegasPete scene in the drama makes me nervous. It's just so fluffy and domestic. Yes, it's very cute, but how did these characters get here? Is one month in a hospital enough for this kind of domesticity and affection? What happened to make this possible? Honestly, I don't buy it. There might be a fic out there which could convince me, but I haven't read it yet. Instead, I'm nervous that the drama's solution is to skirt all the issues and just throw family and a dead dad at the problem. As if that alone just magically "fixes" everything. And somehow Vegas is just soft and cuddly now? No! That dude is fucked up. Yes, he's had a big scare and he's learned some important things, but that's step one in a complicated journey. Also, Pete is not a martyr or a gentle fawn. He has his own forms of masking and survival. He has his own coping mechanisms. He's also very skilled at his job. I don't think the Pete's future is one where he just becomes domestic and plays house mom for Macau and Venice. If he's a metaphorical hedgehog, then he's got his own shit to work through too!

SIX: Ultimately, I think the drama version of VegasPete is easier for me to work with and to see a future for than the novel's version. However, I really don't think that future should be one where they leave their kinks or their baggage behind. I think the pairing works best when Pete and Vegas have a lot of baggage, are also kinky, and are trying to figure out what all of that means. I think their future involves them trying to disentangle their issues from their kinks. I'm not sure they'll be 100% successful at that, but the more interesting part is the attempt and the ongoing work. This is also why I think the more satisfying versions of VegasPete's future might be found in fic, rather than in a season two or a new piece of the novel. I'm not sure I trust the drama or the novel to fully follow through on the story they've started. The ending of the VegasPete story in the drama and the books give us hints that both book and drama canon may opt to go for a more superficial ending. Fic, however, has more freedom to be messy, sexy, and kinky in the ways that VegasPete seem destined to be messy, sexy, and kinky. But who knows, maybe we'll get a new installment of the book or the drama and they'll surprise me!

--- YES, this is overly long. YES, I am epically overthinking this. I don't care. I have a lot of feels and I need to process them somewhere.

Also please, for the love of god, PLEASE feel invited to send me fic recs. I'm reading any VegasPete I can get my hands on right now.

[dirtyoldmanhole]

fic workshop talk!

it's interesting, now that the first third of the fic is set and i'm like 99% set on where the initial romantic plot points are

i def notice that the elephant in the room is how fandom handles the whole 'okay but gunter really did raise corrin and if you're reading those two romantically, when uhhhh. when did Things Change'

'how does gunter not come off as a predator' basically lol

a lot of times fics are just straight up set after fates start and/or age corrin up which i totally get. (this one does not!).

sometimes u just want the age gap romance without having to stare straight at the implications. god knows a good half of my favorite fics is entirely just that.

and here in my slowburn between the two of them, it was really tricky nailing the 'corrin crushes on him' > 'he kinda notices she isn't a kid anymore and slaps those feelings RIGHT the fuck down' > she continues to crush on him > fates starts > mutual weird pining > falls down the bottomless canyon stuff > more pining but with a sexual tint > and then finally stuff happens

feels like setting 'sex stuff after he falls into the bottomless canyon' was 100% a cutoff that was useful and needed. especially when the first solid third of this fic is like, literally him raising corrin from 8-18, it's not just a 'here's a paragraph and a big time skip' for easier tone change.

in revelation it's actually not a giant time skip from when gunter falls down the canyon to when you recruit him (a handful of weeks, tops), but it does allow for like .... near death experiences / reflections / a mini reset of sorts, especially with how much corrin matures emotionally in hoshido and the aftermath.

(and the other thing is, i do think i'm capable of writing badtouchcreepy!nothernfortress!gunter. and i probably will at some point, there's a oneshot dead dove-y spanking fic i know exactly how i want to go down, and that one i want to lean into the creep factor.) (i also happen to really love the creep!gunter fics by the few brave souls who write them lol. but for entirely different reasons.)

but this slowburn is, hmmmm

i don't want to say it's positive/totally a happy ending/etc......... because there's (anankos related)noncon, dubcon, possession sex, all kinds of wiggy stuff. this is one of those where i don't give a shit about what's healthy, i'm just writing what feels the most honest for these two, and it's very Murky Messy in other ways (trauma>kink stuff mostly).

but ultimately it is. redemptive, of sorts?

i do intend it arcing towards the 'best ending (that revelation should have been) for their paired ending'

and tl;dr tone is important ig. :v

[toestalucia]

ok so what it takes for gran to feel that 'yep i hate this person' ? ?

mmMM IT WOULD TAKE…….a whole lot.

i feel like pommern should be there, but gran’s more scared of him than anything due to how he’s the reason they died when they were young. but gran can’t forgive pommern for all the times he called lyria a monster either, so that makes it all messy too.

true king could probably fit in partly due to how he’s partly involved in why gran grew up like they did, and gran will have an intense dislike towards the gods at times since they are very much responsible too (and it’s easier to hate something gran has never met compared to hating their own dad, especially since the times when they hate their dad it’s a lot more being upset with him than actually hating him?).

not to mention how true king wants to unite the skies & does so in ways that gran really can’t get behind (the whole gilbert thing, great wall, etcetc), so even if the hate softens to ‘we can’t agree on things’, he kinda constantly ticks off boxes of behavior that gran dislikes.

I THINK THE BASIS IS….gran doesnt hate a lot of ppl due to how hating ppl makes them feel bad about themself, so they just,,,,try to avoid it? and often there’s more to the story so gran feels like they should hold ppl accountable for their actions, but not hate them. there’s still gonna be burst of hate, there’s no changing those emotions. but to have gran genuinely hate you, you kinda have to be someone who throws away ppl w no remorse (so ‘the end justifies the means’ is incredibly iffy for them since gran’s still very idealistic). or you have to constantly be a threat to lyria, vyrn or the rest of the the crew, or just ppl they care for in general? the more personal it gets the more likely gran will dislike you more or less.

[bridgyrose]

At the risk of making a very controversial statement, as well written as Zuko's redemption was in ATLA, I do believe its a horrible example to uphold as the only way to do a character arc.

"Now Bridgy, why are you suggesting this?" you may ask. Well, here's why: lately throughout many fandoms, I'm starting to see more and more talk about certain characters that do or dont deserve redemptions and oftentimes, I see Zuko's redemption always being brought up on how to do it right. And it was right... for Zuko. But redemptions, like clothes, arent one size fits all no matter how well it's marketed. There are characters, like Zuko, that end up in a position where their greatest foe is themselves, which makes his redemption arc fantastic because he had help in the form of his uncle to keep him on track on mostly on the right side.

And then we have redemptions like Catra from She-ra. Her's... was a mess. She was self destructive, manipulative, abusive to those around her... all because of the cycle of abuse that she was trapped in after the one person she cared about left. It took all the way til she hit rock bottom to realize that pushing everyone away, abusing others, manipulating everyone around her... it wasnt doing anything to help her. And then she was finally given the choice to do better. And she took it. And regardless of how messy her redemption was, it was still well written for her.

"But Bridgy, these characters have shown they had good in them deep down. They deserved those arcs," you might say. And this is where another controversial statement is going to come up. I do not believe that any character deserves a redemption. A redemption is a choice, not an award. And when writing a well written redemption, one has to ask themselves "would this character take the opportunity if it presented itself?" In some cases, such as Zuko and Catra, that becomes a yes, resounding or hesitant. In others, such as Adam from RWBY, it becomes a no. Now, you can drag a character kicking and screaming through a redemption, and sometimes that can work really well, while other times it can flop. Either way, redemptions arent deserved.

"But what about those characters that murder? Or the ones who actively try to kill the heroes?" you may ask. And I raise you with the answer of those are villains. They're supposed to kill/cheat/steal/hurt those around themselves/ect. They're exactly the people who need to make that choice of going through a redemption. Even comics have some villains that manage to pull themselves out, like Harley Quinn or Poison Ivy, and even though they tend to stay villains in most comic runs, often times they do end up partnering up with heroes to do the right thing.

TL;DR: Redemptions arent deserved, or earned as a reward, they're a choice. An active choice that a character has to make, hence why it's called an redemption arc and there is not one single way to write one. A well written arc has to be tailored to the character, be it a choice they make, a choice they are given, or dragged through kicking and screaming and eventually realizing that they're better off trying to make things right. Any character can be redeemed as long as they make that first step of choosing to be better.

[nonbinarychaoticstupid]

Hello I’m an actual 24 year old adult with a degree in social work with focus on psychosocial treatment and relationships — I personally love Catradora. Why? Because it’s a very real take on how people, especially young people fight (mind you, in a heightened metaphorical way like most fiction because that’s what fiction is). I can see all the drama and friendships lost and recovered in my adolescence in their friendship break up. No, it wasn’t fun to go through and def not “healthy” but human relationships and especially relationships in your teens are messy because all your emotions are heightened (especially for abuse victims/survivors) and you’re experiencing everything for the first time.

I can also see my very healthy adult relationship in Catradora. I’m very much an Adora type and my live-in girlfriend is a Catra. She has big emotions that she feels acutely and while I def feel my emotions I tend to focus on helping others and dealing with my stuff later. I’m in the helping profession, after all!

Catradora is a literary exploration of abuse dynamics and human relationships and redemption through acceptance and love rather than punishment and suffering. It’s a rehabilitative view of people. A humanistic view. A view that sadly is uncommon in most western societies as we have been brought up in the punitive morale of Christian values. These values are something Noelle has explicitly stated they were taking a stand against. And I believe the people who protest Catradora and claim it’s “bad writing” or toxic are people who are uncomfortable with this. They believe in punitive justice/redemption through suffering, rather than redemption through actively choosing to be better and then working your dang hardest to keep at it. And in both academic literature, and therapeutic practice, can you guess which one is actually effective?

Shame, rejection, punishment — they all stunt our growth as people. But many aren’t ready for that yet, it hurts their world view so they lash out against the notion with vague justifications like “it’s toxic you’re just to young to understand”. Very similar to the “it’s just how the world works” excuse when faced with injustice.

Tl;dr: I have a degree and I care so deeply about my young traumatized lesbians that I will use it to analyze their situation.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS /G

[gingerteaonthetardis]

What’s the appeal of shipping fremione?

you know, i'm not really sure how to answer this question.

(actually, the tl;dr of this is just "because it's narratively interesting and also fun!")

do you like tall one/small one dynamics? fremione!

what about jock/nerd dynamics? fremione!

head versus heart? fremione!

what about enemies to lovers? hermione's canonical antagonism with the twins, at your service!

what about a messy "i fell in love with my boyfriend's brother" sibling love triangle? hilarious, and also could totally be fremione!

from a simple storytelling perspective, they're just interesting.

i have more ideas for fremione on a given day than i've ever had for almost any other ship, ever, because they're suited to stories of all sorts.

and, okay, admittedly part of the appeal comes from getting to save one of my favorite, most underrated characters in the series from an untimely death and giving him a long, ludicrously happy life while also shattering j.k.'s ridiculous pair the spares r*mione ending and coming up with something more interesting and unexpected.

because the reality is, we don't all fall in love with our childhood best friends or our mortal enemies who have undergone extensive redemption arcs (blows kiss to my first ship, dr*mione). things just aren't that neat and tidy, and that's okay!

fremione, for me, is fun because it is messy and slightly illogical. i mean, what do a business-minded, (allegedly) womanizing prankster and a bookworm war hero even have in common? what do they talk about? how do they get together? all of that is up to you!!

so, beyond the above—sorry for rambling on about the sheer fun of writing them—my friend said something to me about the twins once and it just stuck with me:

when we were kids, we were all about the main gang and a few other choice characters, and that was all fine and good. harry, draco, whoever. they took up all this energy and screentime, we couldn't be blamed! but as we got a little older, we realized... fuck that noise, that's so much drama!! what we actually want for our girl—for the character we've cared about for so long—is a nice, stable guy who will make her laugh, show her his wand (wink), and generally be cool to hang out with.

(but who could also theoretically take over the world with her in a second flat. because, oh my god, the twins are so weirdly powerful!! in the books, especially?? that shit is wild. voldemort is truly lucky they didn't put their minds to kicking his ass in, like, their third year. but i digress...)

idk, i don't have some concise, persuasive canon reason why i ship it. mostly, the idea got put into my head and i couldn't seem to remove it, because it was just so damn nice and soft and pleasant to think about! and now it's one of my all time favorite ships, because it adapts well to so many types of stories.

so... thanks for coming to my ted talk? more like my unfocused ramble. i really need to go get some breakfast...

[onewomancitadel]

If Knightfall were to happen in canon, how do you think they would logically do it? Like not how you want it but how do you think team CRWBY would navigate that?

Good morning!

That's a great question. I like the caveat, 'not how I want it'. I think this is interesting, mostly because I think the way they would do it is probably how I would want it (see point number one below). I mean, the way bridal carries are used in the show very freely does make me bemoan the fact I'll never get Jaune bridal carrying Cinder romantically-coded, but like, you know. A girl can dream.

I haven't really made one collected poast about how it might happen in canon, mostly because I've had this ongoing Knightfall manifesto sitting in a Word Document since last year, and it's like, sort of embarrassing and sort of messy mostly because it involves the following:

1. I think the ship is justified by the main thrust of the show's themes (which takes time to establish)

2. I think the ship is mirrored by other relationships in the series (and this is an ongoing thing it pretty clearly does with character foiling)

3. I think Knightfall is significant because the Four Protagonists (Ruby, Cinder, Jaune, Oscar) pair up neatly and also answer number one in the sense of Reverse Salem/Ozma. Cinder/Jaune and Ruby/Oscar are also acquired vs. inherent type of protagonists (Cinder becomes the Fall Maiden/works up from nothing/must acquire goodness; Jaune cheats into Beacon/must acquire and affirm skill/goodness; Ruby's magical power is matrilineal related to the very essence of herself; Oscar has a resonant soul with Ozma and they simply coalign and mesh). This is actually a separate post I'm working on at the moment as well.

4. I think that the structural clues of the story are actually embedded in the Remnant-world fairy tales. The romances seem to follow allusions more than other points of the story (and in the case of a post I'm working on about BB and Knightfall, they potentially refer more to the 'source text'/older, extant iterations than more pop-culture versions - think Rhodopis (literally 'rose-faced' in the Greek) here marrying Sappho's brother, in BB's case the romance has more themes resonant with Beaumont's than Disney), but Salem/Ozma is a big deal, the Maidens story is a big deal (I think the order of Maidens being on the side of Good follows the order they meet the Old Man), the Indecisive King is also significant, much more pronouncedly because both Ruby/Oscar and Cinder/Jaune play out their Remnant fairy tales in the same volume (V5, Warrior in the Woods and the Indecisive King), anyway, you sort of see my point: narrative structure -> Remnant fairy tales, flavour -> allusions.

It's hard to predict exactly how I think the show is going to go, because they like doing interesting things (the Hound is not Summer, but it does give you the breadcrumb) and I hate being wrong, but if I had to scattershot you some predictions in a bet:

Cinder's turncoat is late (Maiden order) and one of the most bombastic of the redemption arcs seeded in the show.

The Indecisive King reprisal with the Relic of Choice seems oddly fitting. Jaune is the widow(er), so they could meet relatively late in the show (if what they do with the gods happens, there'll still be time after this for romance). I don't think Relic of Choice and Vale will be the last volume. Additionally, Reverse Salem/Ozma (intergenerational wound healing of the story) would play out most literally with them than any of the romances, and I think it's fitting where Salem and Ozma meet (he frees her from the tower) is also where Jaune and Cinder meet at the Tower, too.

I think that the question of Cinder's character is more 'who could she be' than 'what she has done'. That's why I don't think her backstory has a lot of characterisation beyond stubborn and clever and innocent. Of all the characters I think Jaune is set up to see her for who she is/who she could be; he already worked past his anger back in V5.

Rhodopis being freed by Sappho's brother (Cinder/Rhodopis - Jaune's sister is Sapphron, based on Sappho) makes me extremely suspicious her freedom from Salem probably involves a romance between the two of them. I don't think it will be as literal as Strabo, but Cinder as a character needs an unconditional offer.

It's a more interesting answer, and the show is interested in unconventional solutions. I remember observations very early in the show back on Reddit speculating Cinder would kill Jaune - since, after all, Joan of Arc was tragically burnt for heresy. It... is deeply suspicious to me she has failed to kill him multiple times. She let him run away in Beacon's Vault. She stepped on him at Haven and got into an argument with him and then knocked his head on straight about trying to kill himself to stop her. V8′s confrontation left him prone beneath her and she didn’t hurt him. They seem to be flagging he won't die because of her. Then you get into the duality of fire-meaning - fire is life and death, rebirth, and passionate, and I mean, what else is consumed by flame but love? Cinder also fits into his Joan of Arc allusion; St. Margaret, one of the voices of the saints Joan heard, broke out from the belly of a dragon (Satan). The other two saints she heard from fit Ruby and Pyrrha.

TL;DR

If I had to answer you in a sentence: it will be one of the last great major romances in the show (BB is the first, RN is vying for second place, RG will likely be next), it is a salvific balm to the wound of the series (Salem and Ozma), and it's an unconventional, totally wonderful, incredible pairing and thematic answer to everything I think the show is trying to be.

So you can see why that manifesto is taking a while.

Cheers for reading if you got this far.

[reki-of-the-valley]

Thinking of Renga angst. Like only angst. No happy ending. No redemption. Just hurt.

I'm gonna write down my ideas to get it out of my system but I want to preface this with I love Langa. I genuinely believe that he is a good kid with a kind heart and that he is not twisted or horrible or manipulative. My spiralling ideas for angst don't represent how I think of him so if someone dares come to me with some fucking Langa hate, I won't hesitate to snap.

TL;DR I don't believe in anything I'm going to write here, I will never elaborate on it, but I'm going through something rn and I have to let it out somehow

Now I'm putting this under a cut because it will hurt and I don't want to trigger anyone

(unintentionally) emotionally abusive Langa. Langa who takes out his emotions on those he cares about. Langa who goes distant as soon as something doesn't go his way. Langa who snaps easily

But Langa who won't hesitate to say he's in love. Langa who does genuinely love Reki. Langa who, despite all his problems, wants to be the best he can for Reki. Langa who is trying but also causing so much harm

Emotionally dependant Reki. Reki who just wants someone to love him. Reki who just wants someone to be interested in him, in what he does. Reki who just wants someone who will listen to him

Reki who will jump head first into any relationship because "someone actually loves me"

Reki with self esteem issues. Reki with his inferiority complex. Reki who knows that he isn't all that strong, that he clings onto what he can, onto people who show the minimum amount of interest. Reki who thinks he's the problem.

So when Langa tells him that he loves him, Reki jumps on the opportunity. Because Langa is his best friend. Because he loves Langa. And Langa loves him. Someone finally loves him.

But it doesn't get better. They don't argue any less than before. Langa doesn't stop breaking his promises. Langa still isn't careful. If anything, he's even more reckless. Langa is always more reckless. He promises to be careful, but he isn't. Reki worries, terrified for Langa. Langa who loves him. Langa who says "I love you" every day to him before pressing kisses to his face

And every time Reki says something, Langa is snapping. He's not being reckless, Reki is just overreacting. Reki with his paranoia of everyone getting hurt when he's the only one ever getting hurt. Reki who is the one who's always wrapped up in bandages

Someone tries telling Reki that it isn't right, that Langa shouldn't be snapping like that at him, that Langa shouldn't be shaking him off as soon as Reki tries to make things better, but Reki doesn't listen. Because Langa loves him. And people in love don't hurt each other. Because Langa always comes back, saying sorry, pressing kisses to his face, saying "I love you"

Reki can deal with Langa's moods. "Langa's just going through stuff, y'know? Don't worry about me." Reki forcing a smile whenever someone asks what's wrong. Reki forcing himself to be happy around others when all he wants to do is cry. But he can't be sad. He can't be hurt. Langa loves him. Isn't that what he wanted all along? Someone who would love him, love him despite his problems? Love him wholly, fully, truly? Langa loves him. Langa loves all of him.

And it gets out of hand. Langa is more distant, more snappy. All those little things, every time Reki makes a mistake, Langa is looking down on him. But he isn't, is he? It's all in Reki's head. It has to be. Because Langa loves him. Langa loves him. Langa, who is amazing at everything he does, he can't be putting Reki down. It's all in Reki's head. And if Langa does say something, if he does tell him to quit trying, that he won't achieve anything, that he won't ever get it, if Langa pushes Reki to tears, then he's always there, he's there saying sorry, pressing kisses all over Reki's face, "I love you." It's always I love you.

It takes awhile for Reki to truly see how bad things have gotten. It takes tears almost daily, hidden in his bedroom, refusing to talk to his mother, refusing to look at his sisters, unable to look at anyone who cares about him without having this wave of tears threaten to pour out

He can deal with Langa's moods, except he can't. People in love don't hurt each other, except they do. Love doesn't magically make things better. Love doesn't make the pain go away

Reki almost doesn't do it. Reki almost can't do it. He can't leave Langa, but he knows he has to. He loves Langa, he really does, and he wants to believe that Langa loves him. Because despite it all, Langa is nice to him. He just... Has his moments. He has these moments where he isn't nice. Moments where he is so mean, so hurtful, so terribly awful that Reki just wants to cry. But he can't cry because then he'd be showing Langa that he is weak

It's messy, the breakup. It's a horrible mess. Langa is pleading, promising to be good, to be better, that he loves Reki. He always loves Reki. And Reki almost gives in. He almost gives in to the kisses pressed to his face. He almost gives in to another promise he knows will be broken. But he doesn't. He doesn't give in. If he can be strong just once in his life, it has to be now. It has to be saying goodbye.

And he manages it. He manages to leave. Not without an overflow of tears, but he manages to leave. To leave his only chance at love. Because no one but Langa has ever loved him.

Reki moves. With university, he manages to get out, far from every street corner that hurts so bad. He manages to get out of his hometown so filled with pain

But the hurt is still there. He can't commit to any kind of relationship anymore. That pretty girl that's clearly flirting with him, a pretty girl he would have loved to meet a year ago, a pretty girl that was showing interest in him, a pretty girl he could have shared everything with, he brushes her off. That boy who's slinging his arm around his shoulder, talking to him about their common interests, Reki walks away from him. He walks away from everyone. He doesn't talk to him mom much anymore. He barely texts Koyomi. His other friends from high school or from S are basically strangers to him now. There's still Langa, Langa with a little snowflake and a heart next to his name, but Reki knows he isn't supposed to talk to him. He knows that he'll only spiral and break down if he does. He wants, because the last thing Langa sent him was an I love you, but he doesn't do anything. He just stares at the message as he cries

Little by little, Reki isolates himself from everyone. He sees pieces of Langa in everyone he meets, painful shards of how their friendship first started with each greeting. He can't do it. He can't get attached anymore. He can't love anyone else. He can't hurt anymore.

Langa, Langa who loved him, genuinely loved him, he fucked Reki up so bad that he's just the shell of who he used to be. Reki knows that Langa did love him, but both their problems got in the way of what could have been happiness. Langa with his isolation out of fear of being left by someone he loves, Langa with his need to always go faster, father, bigger, Langa with his broken promises. And Reki with his paranoia of people getting hurt, Reki with his inferiority complex borderline martyr complex, Reki who never felt good enough to be loved but felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. In different circumstances, maybe they could have been happy. But they couldn't because neither one was ready to address their problems.

And that haunting knowledge that maybe they could have been happy, it keeps Reki up. Because that's all he wants: happiness.

[warblingmagpies]

Dream SMP spoilers - Wilbur’s stream [06/01/2021] & Eret’s stream [not sure of the date, only saw a clip but I think it was the same date as Wilbur’s]

(This is a bit messy and disorganised but I really wanted to express this thought whilst it was still in my head)

Okay so, with Eret’s involvement in this new (seemingly major) plot point of Ghostbur being resurrected into alivebur and stuff. I genuinely believe that he’s going to be involved with the plot more, or at least the plot involving Wilbur, for a few reasons. Most of which are not really valid arguments and more of me really hoping he gets a big part like he deserves, however there are two I can think of off the top of my head.

First, in Eret’s stream I believe that with the things he said (which I can’t recite off the top of my head but I know were big and important sounding), I belive firmly that it is foreshadowing larger involvement- which would also line up with other relatively under appreciated members of the SMP (addmitedly mostly from the old L’manburg) going through large character arcs and being set up for larger events.

But another one (which I think might be more obscure reasoning) is that in Niki’s Hardcore stream with Wilbur, I definitely remember hearing him say something about how he regretted either not letting Eret have a redemption arc or not letting Eret have a larger role when he was writing for the SMP (I don’t remember which, but I think it was likely the second as I also remember him saying that part of the reason why he didn’t let it happen was because he’s already plotted out the gist of what was going to happen and couldn’t fit it in or something like that) I may be misremembering certain details, however I do find it convenient that this is a major plot point with Wilbur that’s about to happen and it kinda looked like he sought out Eret for it, and kind of made sure he’d be involved. I think Ghostbur was the one who invited Eret to come to his resurrection, but even if it wasn’t, Ghostbur still said he was going to change the lyric in the L’manburg National Anthem from “Fuck Eret” to “Plus Eret”, which would probably contribute significantly to his redemption (at least in c!Wilbur’s eyes.)

I could be completely wrong, and have gotten my hopes up for no reason, but I desperately hope I’m right as I think Eret deserves to be more involved with the plot (if he wants to be) as a lot of people remember him from the First L’manburg War for the betrayal (or possibly the failed adoption thing with Fundy - though that also puts him in a bit of a bad light from Wilbur viewers POV as it upset Ghostbur), which was a while ago and he has had a lot of character development since then and deserves to be recognised by the larger fanbase.

TL;DR: I just really want Eret to be a part of a big plot event as a major character, and I hope the DSMP Gods (writers) will deliver. (I also hope I haven’t accidentally spread misinformation because that would be bad)(for both my self esteem and those who read it)(which is why I should probably invest in ✨being quiet✨ or ✨not reciting info I don’t fully remember/know off the top of my head✨)