#tyler durden fan fiction

[pangborns]

WOULD’VE, COULD’VE, SHOULD’VE…

God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be

tyler durden x fem!reader x the narrator (jack)

in which tyler entered your life just long enough to fuck it all up.

swearing, mentions of death, violence, panic attacks, manipulation, mean!tyler, kidnapping tbh, possible spoilers. (This may be the darkest thing I’ve written yet, so proceed with caution.)

Your shaky hand was quick to cover your mouth as the sobs poured out of you. You sat criss-crossed on the filthy mattress decorating the floor of the deteriorating home.

Admittedly, just two weeks ago you were a completely different person. You had a stable job, healthy friendships, and most importantly, no Tyler.

The night you met him, he had stopped you from calling the police on him and his friend for fighting in the parking lot outside of Lou’s Tavern. You remember his hand being so cold as it gently wrapped around your wrist. You remember the fear you felt in the pit of your stomach as you looked between the two bloodied men, the flush of your cheeks as they both gauged your actions, and the way you ultimately stopped your movement toward the pay phone. That was your first mistake.

“What’s your name?” Tyler questioned, he tilted his head a bit. You looked around him, watching as the man he was fighting spit out a wad of blood, he was still on the ground. Tyler stepped in front of your line of view. “Your name?”

“Oh- I’m, um, I’m (Y/N),” Your voice shook as you spoke to him. “I wasn’t looking to get involved with anything. I just don’t want anybody getting hurt…”

Tyler chuckled, pivoting on his foot to face his friend, “Y’hear that? She doesn’t want anybody to get hurt,” He was mocking you. The man behind him still didn’t say anything, he seemed lost in thought as he stared at you.

Wait a minute, you knew this man…“Jack?” You spoke incredulously, you did know this man! He worked a few cubicles down from you.

Tyler’s eyes widened, he whistled and fell back a few steps. “Jack’s got a friend,” Tyler continued his trek toward Jack, kneeling beside him. “Now, how do we know this woman, Jack?”

Jack seemed to try to stutter out an answer, his eyes were blown wide. His whole life could fall apart due to this very encounter, you could run off and tell everybody what you had stumbled upon. You could get him fired. His breathing calmed as he became lost in thought, you wouldn’t do that. You were only the woman who worked down the aisle from him, the one that asked him for paperclips as an excuse to interact, the one who emailed him the work he missed out on while he was sick, the one who so obviously had a work crush on him.

Your face was white at the realization, Tyler lowered his voice as he spoke into Jack’s ear, the two still watching you. Your work heels clicked as you started to back away, not failing to recognize how Tyler seemed to let you.

“C’mon man, she’s leaving you. She doesn’t care. She’ll probably run off and tell everybody about how much of a loser you are. What kind of guy stages fights in a run down parking lot-?” Tyler continued to egg Jack on, watching as his buddy’s face contorted.

“Wait!” Jack called out, stopping you in your tracks. “This is- he’s my friend, Tyler.” You released a small breath you were holding as he admitted that he really did know the man.

You nodded, muttering assurances to both yourself and Jack. Feigning a laugh, you started to turn around to leave for good.

“Don’t leave,” Jack pleaded, shakily standing up. “Let me- do you want to come over? To our place?”

You furrowed your brow. Our place. Was Tyler his roommate? “Why?” Your words came out shaky as you fiddled with your coat.

Jack grew quiet, he didn’t know why he extended the invitation. He poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue in thought.

“- we just moved in! Jack’s been eager to show it off to everybody we meet!” Tyler jumped in, patting Jack on the back extra hard as he stood up beside him.

You looked down at your dainty watch and read the time: 11:28. You stayed at work extra late today to pick up on Jack’s slack, so you weren’t too fond of any idea that didn’t include going home and sleeping.

“I don’t know, Jack. I’ve been working all day-“ Jack closed his eyes and hurriedly nodded, murmuring to himself. You opened your mouth to speak again, but Tyler was quick to cut you off.

“You heard her, Jack. She doesn’t care,” he smirked, throwing a wink your way. “She probably only puts up with you for her own personal work gain.”

The way he so openly spoke lies was incredulous. It didn’t even sound convincing! But from the look on Jack’s face, he so clearly believed those words. You furrowed your eyebrows, anger starting to settle in the pit of your stomach.

“That’s not true! Jack, don’t listen to him.” You demanded, stepping closer to the pair.

“Prove it.” Tyler stated curtly, tilting his head as he challenged you.

And that was how you ended up here, two weeks later, sitting in a decaying house surrounded by rats and roaches. The light pooling in from under the door was slightly blocked as a pair of shoes stood in front of the door. With a click and a creak, the door opened.

“Jack.” You addressed the man, watching as his hands shook while holding the tray of food. He refused to make eye contact with you, simply setting the tray by his feet and turning to leave. 

A sob escaped your chapped lips. “Jack, he’s a criminal. We need to get out of here.” You continued to plead. The man finally looked at you through his lashes. He gulped.

You could hear the countless men downstairs talking about their newest of plans to wreak havoc. Jack cringed.

“It doesn’t work like that, (Y/N).”

Another cry came from your mouth as you deflated a bit.

“Just give up. He isn’t going to let you leave until you join the cause.”

You sputtered, throwing your arms up in frustration. “Never! These are bad people, Jack.”

Jack pursed his lips, nodding a bit as he made his exit. The door shook as he stepped down the hall towards the stairs.

You screamed, pounding your fists against the floor. “Dammit, Tyler! Let me out!”

Your voice eventually grew hoarse and you had to give up. About fifteen minutes after your tantrum, you could hear the precise approaching footsteps of Tyler Durden.

The door cracked open and Tyler slipped in. “Heard you were giving Jack a hard time.” He tsked, not wasting a moment on a greeting.

You kept your mouth shut, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.

“Huh.” He nodded, tongue poking the inside of his cheek. A chuckle escaped from his amused smile. “I got all day, sweetheart.”

Your lip quivered as you fought back the tears. “I’m not joining your shit club.” You spit, eyebrows furrowing.

Tyler merely hummed. “C’mon hun, do it for Jack.” He teased. “Poor guy is in love with you or something! This is killing him, Princess.”

You reeled back at the nickname, cringing at his smirk. “I am going to get out of here one day. On my own accord. This shit hole will be crawling with cops in no time, Tyler. Mark my words.”

Tyler simply laughed at your threat. The thought seemed to amuse him, he lightly tapped your cheek before making his way for the door.

“Trust me, that won’t be happening.”

[narutodivorcearcreal]

👊💣💥🧼👯‍♀️

[seraserababy]

so i wrote the fanfic… here’s the link

basically it’s tyler telling our narrator how he grew up and how he got to where he is and stuff, and also it’s vulnerable and also tyler is real and also uhm they’re kind of homoerotic and they make me emotional so huh uh uh

and also i have other works if you wanna read those too :)

@xx-adam-xx you said tag u

[wildcardrenegade]

Fight Club at Freddys.

Hear me out okay. FNAF Au where it's fight club.

If we make The Narrator into The Night Guard, we can make Vanessa into Marla Singer. Fight Club Basement begins as the Basement to the Pizzeria, and Narrator/Jack stumbles into it when Tyler, portrayed by William Afton, introduces him to an underground anamatronic fight ring. Slowly he builds up a fight club based on betting on, or even fighting against, anamatronics.

Welcome to the new level of Coffee Shop AU

This also lets you build up the full cast, given there's like 90 fnaf animatronics, Angel Boy could be Roxanne Wolf or Glamrock Chica, for example. Introduce Meatloaf's character as Glamrock Freddie, and when he dies they chant "We are Five Nights at Freddys" The ending is about how capitalism is unstable and explodes based on exploitation as the Animatronics do the same thing as in regular Fight Club.

It also has the exact same tone, same narrative, all of it. Not once is it ever portrayed as silly or dumb, but is about the horror of mascots that've become the face of captialism and when Night Guard shoots himself at the end, only for Vanessa to come running in, it's symbolic of how he is no longer controlled by his capitalist overlords. There's no reason this wouldn't work.

[thealexandriaarchives]

I cannot state how much I adore the introduction to the 2007 edition of Dune Messiah. It feels like an essay Brian Herbert had in a box somewhere ready to go since his freshman undergrad English class and he just barely polished it up. Just look at this opening:

He flips flops back and forth in a disjointed manner between talking about 'My Father' and 'The Author' based entirely on what seems to be the barely disguised level of scathing vitriol he wants to throw at the sheer lack of reading comprehension.

He spends Several Pages on his glorious thesis:

And cites his sources marvelously in the case of 'Annoying 1960s Science Fiction Fans vs Reading Comprehension'

Anyway Dune Messiah is good, he's right it was always meant to be a bridge text, for a trilogy, Paul Atredies is Tyler Durden, and he capitulated enough to the fans by pulling an Arthur Conan Doyle and bringing back Duncan Idaho, (something Brian throws in in a c*nty little footnote).

I don't want to post the whole thing here but it's just such a bitchy, angry, weirdly written little essay and exactly the kind of passive aggressive intro I would write if given a chance and too much creative and intellectual property rights control over something I loved that wasn't appreciated correctly. I feel seen.

[sideburndanny]

So, with the end of the current hiatus nowhere in sight, the creators of Epic Rap Battles of History have been releasing short videos in which they respond to people's matchup ideas and talk about whether or not they'd do them. What follows are my thoughts on each suggestion.

Dog the Bounty Hunter vs Chris Hansen: Terrible; Dog stopped being relevant years ago and Hansen has no real valid matchups

Jack Sparrow vs Bilbo Baggins: They might be able to pull it off, but the connection is tenuous at best

Malcolm X vs Nelson Mandela: Perfect. Do it immediately

Dexter vs Punisher: Could work, though I prefer Punisher vs Peacemaker

The Wiggles v-NO

Marco Polo vs Zheng Yi Sao: Awesome; the show's always great at spotlighting obscure historical figures, so this would be fun

Sheldon Cooper vs Rick Sanchez: I don't really get their reasoning for passing this one up. "I don't wanna use Rick because his creator is problematic," they say seconds before suggesting Roseanne instead and three years after using Harry Potter

HP Lovecraft vs Mary Shelley: Could work, but Lovecraft might be better suited for a more prolific author

Captain America vs Mussolini: Could work, but I prefer Cap vs Batman

Black Panther vs Catwoman: Unique idea; would be cool to see which versions of the characters they use

Ethan Hunt vs Angus MacGyver: Meh

John Wilkes Booth vs Lee Harvey Oswald: I'm glad they turned this one down; it just sounds very insubstantial. The fact that they each killed Presidents is the only thing either of them are known for

Robin Hood vs Ned Kelly: Sounds awesome; I can’t fathom what Lloyd was talking about when he said Robin Hood can't be made "cool." Has he never heard of any of the non-Disney movies he was in?

Steve Harvey vs Dr. Phil: Meh

The Three Stooges vs The Three Musketeers: IT'S ALL I WANT AND I'VE WAITED FOR SO LONG

Patrick Bateman vs Andrew Tate: Bateman is worthy of a rap battle, but there is no fucking way a disgusting sack of shit like Andrew Fucking Tate deserves to be immortalized in this or any series. Not only is he a monstrous asshole, but since I'd never heard of him before he got arrested, he just comes off as too second-string and his image too fleeting to be remembered after the battle's release anyway. It's like how Sarah Palin and Napoleon Dynamite appeared in season 1; what's the point? Bateman would be better off facing another fictional character like Tyler Durden or Tommy Shelby or Rorschach or Homelander or any other member of the "you're missing the point by idolizing them" club

Miles Morales vs Dick Grayson: A great idea for a battle, but it irks me how they seem to only think of Dick Grayson as Robin, and even then only how he was portrayed in the 60s TV show. Since Dick Grayson's graduation to the solo hero Nightwing and his leadership of the Titans have been the status quo in the comics for decades, and even his TV and movie appearances as Robin clearly show him to be more than the hyperactive goofball that Lloyd portrayed him as in season 2, their lack of research here is jarring — especially considering how diligent they are with their other characters (remember, Peter read every issue of the Dragon Ball manga and watched every episode of Breaking Bad in preparation for the later half of season 3).

Garfield and Jon vs Calvin and Hobbes: Eh, I don't see it. No disrespect to their creators or fans, but they just ain't rap battle material

Metallica and AC/DC vs Slayer and Guns n Roses: I agree with them that a team battle between unrelated heavy metal acts would be unwieldy, but any combination of those four could totally be awesome in a straight 1v1 battle

Richard Nixon vs King John: Could work, but I'd rather have Nixon in a Presidential royale

Barbie vs He-Man: Another "meh" idea, but I'm not fond of Peter's assertion that He-Man is only known for the bad '90s movie when he's appeared in multiple media before and since that have all gained a far more positive reception and a strong fanbase

[zaziecurie]

Death Note: Making The American Edgelord (ANIME ABANDON)

TW: Violence, blood, abuse

This is really a fascinating episode, because I get to confront my own nostalgia and thoughts about the series:

- While I did (and still do) find the plot fascinating, I never considered Light a good guy or a person with good intentions but does it in the wrong way. I mean, the kid has a “taste” of this supernatural notebook and a week or so later is already declaring himself as the righteous god of this sinful world. Also, the anime really screws up the manga’s narrative by changing here and there -including the infamous foot wash scene ...which, like most BL fans at the time, I fangirled too. (nowadays, I just roll my eyes at the attempt of SYMBOLISM!1!)- and having a VERY different reading of Light’s fate at the end.

- After years later, I realize that there’s a LOT of plot conveniences disguised as Light being this really smart teen: best examples is the fact that everyone who isn’t L thinks that Light can’t possibly be a criminal because he’s the son of someone from the police force and a very good and smart looking student (probably the most realistic detail in the story); Naomi conveniently becomes a dumbass due to her grief and reveals her name to a teen she doesn’t even know who CLAIMS that he works directly with the Task Force and L, and when Light regains his memories while shrieking like a banshee, his whole demeanour changes and L doesn’t bat an eye (why the fuck would you even take the prime suspect with you to this situation is beyond me).

- The final segments are chilling to me in hindsight. The fact that in these current times, there’s still young males who look up to fictional characters like Light, Tyler Durden from Fight Club or fucking Patrick Bateman from American Psycho without a hint of irony astounds me. It annoys me when people claim that anyone without exception who read violent or “problematic” books or any other type of media are scumbags of the highest order; but it does disgusts me more when I find the actual scumbags spewing the most dangerous ideas ever imagined, because they don’t realize that their “heroes” are pathetic, violent, bigoted and whiny villains.

[brownfantasyblog]

my favorite fanon Daenerys’

(All of these I have seen in fan art or fan fiction)

white savior Dany

reverse harem protagonist Dany

Tyler Durden from the movie fight club Dany

girlboss oil fracking Dany

transbian cat girl Dany

weird lizard owner grocery cashier Dany

gay wh*re Dany

[smokeybrandreviews]

End of the Joke

I don’t care for Punchline. DC is giving her this massive, undeserved, push toward something bigger, I think, and it’s frustrating to watch. Her debut is right before Joker War so I imagine she'll be a force in Gotham going forward, maybe on her own, maybe as Joker's partner, maybe as his replacement. I don't know, I don't care. What immediately strikes me is the fact that Joker’s new girl is kind of... corny. I believe that the most effective Joker is a lone Joker. A Joker allowed to be revel in his violence and depravity, free of a colorful supporting staff. That's his allure. Every other Gotham villain has henchmen or mob connections. Mr. Napier does not. Joker is a boogie man who only solicits expendable manpower in accordance with the scheme. He is an island of pure, malevolent, chaos. For me, Joker is Tyler Durden. He is the anarchist. The mass murderer. The dog chasing cars. He's an enigma that is more than the physical. Joker is Batman's opposite in every way. He is the king of Gotham's underworld, even if he chooses not to wear that broken crown and leaves the throne vacant. Joker doesn't need a second. Harley worked because she was a very different character, first introduced into a very different medium. Harls had years to develop in Batman: The Animated Series before she made the jump to the comics. Even her Ivy romance has roots in BTAS, no pun intended. Harley Quinn organically grew into a great character. Punchline, however, feels forced. She feels really try-hard. She feels disposable. I don’t know if it’s because she only has a handful of appearances but, so far, most of them have been written by her creators, which does not bode well. If they can’t get the character right, then the character will never be right and is, effectively, a wasted opportunity.

I think i dislike this chick so much because she’s a goddamn Mary Sue. Harley earned her agency after years upon years of trauma. She was manipulated, abused, and violated, by Joker. Overcoming that violence on her way to becoming a principal character of the entire DC universe, is a true story of growth with some incredibly compelling themes that have been explored at length. The Harleen we see in Mad Love is a completely different character to the Harleen we see in Birds of Prey. Hell, her first appearance way back in Joker’s Favor was perfect. She was lively, energetic, visibly traumatized, and humanized the abject horror Joker embodies. Harley feels like she’s been with the Joker for years. She fits that dynamic. Punchline does none of that. Her first appearance reads like edgelord fan fiction. Harley was more than her Harley Quinn persona. Punchline is not. Its funny to me that she references not being one of Joker’s fangirls because that’s exactly how this story portrays her.

The goth outfit. The super-crazy facial expressions. All of that big “I’m not like other girls” energy. The fact that she found the formula for Joker Venom online is just the worst. Even more egregious, the fact that she was able to modify it into a liquid form which not only inflicts more acute symptoms upon the victim, but leaves them alive for interrogation, and Joker, himself, never tried that, is borderline unbelievable. Rey Palpatine is the poster child for Mary Sues but Punchline is really giving the impostor Skywalker a run for her money. The first time i saw this chick in a comic, she fought Mercy Graves to a stalemate. Mercy f*cking Graves. Lex Luthor’s bodyguard. Harley was able to do that in the World’s Finest crossover special but she has a background in gymnastics and martial arts. Punchline is a child compared to her. She can’t be more than twenty-two years old, considering she’s still in college and that’s IF she’s a Senior. You’re telling me that this kid, who has shown no special abilities, genius level intellect, or enhanced skills, can best one of the strongest martial artists in the DC universe? More than that, she beats Harley, herself, in a fight. How??

There is no conceivable way Punchline defeats Harley in a scrap. None. Harleen’s gone toe-to-toe with Batman and even bested him a few rounds. She’s been a Suicide Squad survivor countless times. She pulled through i don’t know how many attempts on her life at the hands of the Joker and you’re telling me that Punchline, this glorified emo kid, bested her in fisticuffs, nearly killing her in the process? There’s no way. There’s no way Harley jobs that hard to anyone but, here we are. Because the writers and creators of this character are creatively bankrupt. They wanted their OC to be better so they made Harley worse. They wanted their OC to be anti-Harley, but as popular as Harley, so she had to beat Harley. That’s bad writing, man, and considering these stories are our first experiences with this character, that might be her death knell. It’s a shame because i actually think there is merit in the idea of Punchline as a character.

Punchline could have been something special, a Batgirl to Joker, so to speak. Literally just crib Batgirl’s entire origin and apply it to Joker. Disillusioned college student who derived her own persona independent of, but based upon, Joker. She’d be able to start small, committing base murders because, apparently, she has a thing for knives. Slowly gaining experience and reputation over time as a killer, as a villain, outside of Joker, eventually making her proper debut as a new force in Gotham villainy; Punchline. Show us how clever she could have been removed from Joker. Give us evidence of her ingenuity. Show us what she could do with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Make her the anarchist and domestic terrorist she seems to want to be, outside of that Clown Prince choker. Imagine if she Tyler Durden���d her way through Gotham in a massive, bloody, spectacle, similar to how Joker did in The Man Who Laughs, as an homage to her inspiration. You’d have sold her lethality to the audience, put her on the level of a major Gotham threat, and made it believable that Joker would want her on his team. Instead, she poisoned a guy with a Joker Venom recipe she got of Reddit, because he was uncomfortable with her anarchist manifesto that probably bordered on hate speech, while Joker hid in her dorm room closet watching. This is the lamest origin to an antagonist, ever, especially one we're supposed to believe is an actual threat. How did editorial let this sh*t get published? I do have to give it to Tyrion and Jimenez, though. Naming her Punchline was a stroke of genius because, so far, she’s definitely been the butt of a bad joke.

[breakingbadfics]

Death of the author

CW: Light discussion of politics, mentions of the Alt-Right, and White Supremacists. 

Consider this a “Change of Pace” entry. I’m trying to figure out what the next essay is to be about as well as the eventual long term for this blog. 

I wrote this essay back in mid 2019, long before the idea of this blog would come to mind, it’s been lightly edited prior to posting and added to. and I think this essay shows some of my influences much more heavily than my other writings.

What does My Little Pony and The Matrix have in common?  Death of the Author. 

Death of the Author is not to be confused with “Separating the Artist from the Art,” a self explanatory concept to distance a work from a creator who’s beliefs are more than a little unpleasant, easiest example is acknowledging that, yes,  H.P. Lovecraft was a Mega-racist, however, his contributions to the horror genre have created a base that is nearly ubiquitous with the genre to this day, like wise with Orson Scott Card. this concept in itself is an especially controversial subject, but is not the focus of this piece.

Death of the Author is what allowed The Matrix, a movie with a collection of metaphors about being an lgbt person, and an activist for the rights of yourself and your allies to be grossly misinterpreted as a way to justify being a bigot, the most egregious misinterpretation being that of “The Red Pill Scene.”

In the context of the film, The Red Pill Scene is the part of the traditional heroes story where the hero “accepts the call”, Neo is quite literally making the choice to leave the safe world he’s been living in behind and embark on his adventure that will result in a death and rebirth into being The One who will save humanity. In the now very much understood to be the direct metaphor, it’s a scene in which Neo, the stand-in for a lgbt person, specifically a trans person, is being told by a much older lgbt person “You are trans, you have the choice to embrace it, but regardless of what choice you make from here on out the road ahead is going to be bumpy and rough on you, because the system around you is designed to make sure people like us aren’t able to prosper, and if you join us, you won’t be able to opt out.” 

That is the very understood metaphor that most people accept with the modern understanding after The Wachowski’s came out as Lily and Lana in the “post-matrix trilogy” reality of the real world.

However due to the Moral Neutrality of Death of the Author in other circles the Red Pill(and all the other metaphors in the film) takes on an alternative meaning. And I can be “polite” in my explaing the bad take on how this scene plays out, but just to hammer the point home we’ll get dirty so you can know where the take is coming from, The Red Pill Scene for White supremeacists, and The alt-right (but I repeat myself) is such.  Neo, a disgruntled white person is being told that the world is controlled by soulless machines. Jews, people of color, etx. Everyone around him is mind controlled and can and will attempt to stop him from saving the people smart enough to also realise they’re being held captive by non-whites and save them all. This of course, all being told to him by Morpheus, a black man. So have fun working your head around that. 

This of course the most extreme example being the most ubiquitous, poke around on chan sites and sooner or later you’ll see the phrase “red pill” having been memetically adjusted to mean “hey tell me about this thing” or even more specifically “I already had an opinion about this but either way I want you to confirm my choice.” But I digress. 

These two interpretations are so wildly on the opposite ends of the spectrum that the only commonalities between them is “You will likely need to be violent at some point” 

I’m naturally only covering the two interpretations, the matrix itself has been picked apart by an untold number of people and people interpret it in as many ways as possible in terms of philosophical meaning. That is the nature of Death of The Author. 

Death of the Author also covers in a round-a-bout fashion, selective canon, a subjective acknowledgement of canon elements throughout a long lived franchise- see; Star Wars, Star Trek, the belief that there was never any sequels to The Matrix. This variant of the philosophy allows one to be able to continue interactions with a text, specifically a text that consists of multiple volumes (or contributions, each one made by an individual author) but also deny interactions with parts that they personally dislike. 

More often than not, you can attribute the death of the author to a bad take in a case of fiction, another primary example being Fight Club, often missed for the scathing critique of unhealthy male behaviour and propped up as some sort of moral guideline for how to live your life. Which is again, not to say this is the fault of Death of The Author as a philosophy, it is morally neutral, these bad takes can more often be attribued to the simple fact that unless directly stating it most attempts at satire or parody will have a contingent of people who agree with what is said, not what is meant, and death of the author unfortunately does make that..very easy, for good, or ill. 

Where does My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fit in with all this?  Well there are certainly alt-right members of the brony fandom who are painfully missing the point, but we’ve already dwelled on the negative enough, so let’s get happy. 

In Episode 1 of Season 1, the first part of a two part pilot, in the background of a shot during a party scene; a pony with a grey coat and blonde mane and tail is seen in the background. This particular pony stood out the most amongst other background characters due to a mistake caused by the animation staff. According to the supervising director at the time, this particular error was spotted after hasbro greenlit the episode for air, and because it amused him he chose not to order a correction so it was left in as a nice little easter egg. 

The nameless background pony would eventually be caught by 4chan among other places and very rapidly developed a following of fans and given a nickname, Derpy Hooves. This particular following and new nickname would echo back to shows staff becoming the name internally referred to by the show’s staff. 

Friendship is magic creator Lauren Faust, who also enjoyed the popularity of the character when asked in an interview would state that a character named Ditzy Doo existed in an unaired episode, that would be implied to be this particular background pony, So naturally now depending on the fan this particular character would be reffered to as either Derpy Hooves, or Ditzy Doo.  

Ditzy Doo would go on to become a recurring easter egg with in the show, something similar to that of “where’s waldo” but with horses. This practice would continue until episode 14 of season 2  where the character would have a set of spoken lines and would be addressed by name. This however resulted in a degree of controversy in which some people expressed concern that the presentation of the character was an offensive attempt at portraying people with mental or physical disabilities. This event resulted in the episode being altered in future airings and the character disappearing from the show for the vast majority of Season 3. Beyond Season 3 the character would continue to appear until season 5 where they would finally have a voiced role in the 100th episode of the show, and then eventually having another speaking role in the christmas special “The best gift ever.”  It is also worth noting that Hasbro never gave her an “official name” with almost all of Ditzy’s merchandise either having no name present, or more often than not a singular image of a muffin in place of a name, even going so far as to have “Muffins” be the credited name she was given in all voiced instances of the show. 

Muffins, Ditzy Doo, or Derpy Hooves isn’t the only case of background characters growing a large following of fans with in the show; a variety of characters have been swept up by the fans, given names and personalities built entirely out of bit gags. Lyra, Bon Bon, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia Melody, and who knows how many more have all been seen in background moments which would be built on by fans and then echo back into the staff to be integrated into the show further. One would say this is fanon but at the end of the day, the writers and show staff had very little more intent with the characters beyond “does this background character look good?” and “Does this bit part character stand out enough to automatically be recognizable for the bit they need to be doing” it is still what I believe to be an example of Death of The Author, an act of choosing to ignore the intended meaning,and giving what amounts to window dressings a full life as fleshed out characters in fan content and in small instances of the show; an interpretation separate from the writers original intent. 

Now the question is does someone need to actively defy the author to participate in The Death There-of? No. I don’t believe so.  In much the same fashion no one need actually be a clan member to inadvertently say or do something that's passive aggressively racist(yes a bit of an extreme, I know) one need not actively defy the author, merely ascribe to an alternate interpretation of a work of fiction. Refer to Fight Club, the film does everything it can with out directly stating “most of the people in Fight Club and later Project Mayhem are bad people, because they were already doing the things Tyler Durden was ascribing to” and almost unilaterally all the bad takes are built around this idea that they’ve achieved the perfect ideal masculine because they’re the “living in the moment, violent psychopath” nihilist the movie is actively condemning. 

The simple fact is that death of the author ultimately, in a grand scale amounts to this; did a writers intent show through hard enough for their intent to be heard? And Subjectively, how much does a person believe in the meaning that they, or the writer themself have imparted into the story? 

[pangborns]

SKIN DEEP.

tyler durden x fem!reader

in which Tyler shows you the feel of a lye-burned kiss.

maybe a few fight club spoilers, very in-character tyler which is def a warning, so- dark!tyler technically, chemical burns, talks of religion, mentions of fighting/wounds/blood lmk if I missed anything else!

this is self indulgent, I need more fight club fics. we’re gonna pretend the last 20 mins of the movie aren’t canon for this fic lollll.

“Thanks,” You spoke softly as Tyler held the decaying door open for you. Stepping into the deteriorating house, your breath hitched. The walls were peeling, rust stains were evident on the ceiling, and the wood floors splintered with each step you took forward. “I didn’t realize you lived here..”

“Home sweet home,” He chuckled with a side smirk, letting the door fall closed. Tyler stepped around you, walking confidently through the halls of the house. You followed, shyly peaking into the rooms you passed. “What happened to your lip?”

Tyler didn’t look back as he asked the question, only continuing to lead you through the house. “Uh,” You paused to touch the split with your tongue. “Some asshole was looking for some spare cash, I guess.”

“Did you hit him?” The man inquired, he turned toward you as you entered the kitchen, leaning his back against the island.

You furrowed your eyebrows and pursed your lips, “No,” you stated simply. You didn’t know Tyler well, sure, he bought you a drink at Lou’s Tavern a few nights back and you two just got to talking. You considered him a friend, though he easily made you nervous with the way he talked about violence so nonchalantly. “Was- am I supposed to?”

He chuckled, puffing air out of his mouth as his head lolled back. “You gotta learn how to hold your own. Now you’re twenty dollars out and sporting a busted lip.” Tyler rolled his eyes and tongued the inside of his cheek. “I’ll kill him, you know I’d kill him for you.”

Your eyes widened at the confession, “No, I’m not asking you to do that.” You stuttered, holding your hands out to wave him off. “I’ll survive, it’s just some blood, I’ll make the money back anyway.”

You watched as Tyler swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “That’s not the point,” His words were pointed, “look, I can help you.”

You tilted your head in confusion. “Help me how?”

Tyler quirked his eyebrows, turning his body toward the items splayed across the island. “I’ve got some work to do, but just humor me, sit with me and I’ll give you some tips.” He shed his red leather jacket and pulled up two stools, putting them on opposite sides of the counter.

When you didn’t move, he nodded his head in the direction of your seat. You played with your fingers, glancing around the room nervously before taking a seat.

“‘Atta girl.”

“What are you- are those chemicals?” You cut yourself off with the hurried question, worrying about both his safety and your own. He took a seat on his stool and cracked his knuckles.

Tyler’s shoulders shook as he silently laughed at your question, “Why of course, this is quality soap. Can’t make it any other way.”

You knew your newfound friend had an interest in soap making of all things, but you never could’ve imagined the work that went into it. You opened your mouth to ask another question, but were cut off by the blonde across from you.

“Can you throw a punch?”

Again, you furrowed your eyebrows at the man. “I think? I’ve never really done it before..” you looked down at your hands. Your skin was soft, no dry blood, no bruising, no scars or anything that would prove that you could hold your own.

He snorted, “Curl your fingers in tight, thumb on the outside. Let me see.” You did what you were told, showing him your fist. “Good, you twist with your hips, plant your feet and follow through with your dominant arm.”

You nodded as you took in the information, trying to picture what he was telling you. Inside, you knew you’d still be too afraid to even consider starting a fight, but you wanted to make Tyler happy. “And what happens when I get hit? I don’t think I’d be able to get back up.”

Tyler bit his lip, chewing it in thought. “Pain tolerance…” he chuckled. “Give me your hand.”

You hesitantly gave the man your hand, shuffling in your seat. Tyler’s calloused palm nearly grounded you as he gently held yours. You watched as Tyler’s gaze left your hand and traveled to the doorway. He slowly dropped it as he looked at the figure.

A man, lanky and tall, silently watched the interaction between the two of you. He squeezed his mouth shut and let out an audible sigh as he held Tyler’s eye. You looked between the two, watching as a silent conversation was taking place. The man’s bottom jaw jutted out as he seemed to hold his tongue and looked to you. You held his stare, one that seemed to both convey so much emotion and hide it all just the same. In his eyes, you could make out a foreign pain. Was he worried? For you? He pivoted on his foot and started his trek toward the stairs before you could dwell too much on it.

When you looked back toward Tyler, he was already staring right at you. “Who was that?” He put some protective goggles and gloves on before grabbing your hand again.

“Roommate,” was all he said, hoping to get on with his science experiment as he pursed his lips, bringing your hand to his face. He held a long kiss to the skin on top of your hand, keeping eye contact throughout the entire ordeal.

Your breath hitched at the action, eyebrows drawing in as you quickly became confused. Your cheeks flushed a bit at the strange behavior, opening your mouth to speak as he withdrew his lips. “Why- what is this?”

“This is a chemical burn,” He smirked, grabbing the container of flaked lye and pouring a good amount on the shiny saliva spot on your hand.

It all happened so fast, you had no time to react as your body jolted in pain. Tears immediately jumped onto your waterline as Tyler’s grip on your hand tightened. Your face grew white as the pain registered in your head. Standing up quickly, the stool you were sitting on fell over backwards as you struggled to hold your weight on your shaky legs.

You screamed, a wet shriek leaving your mouth as you tried to tug your arm out of his tough grip. Your face was now soaked, veins popping out of your forehead as you watched the flesh on your hand start to bubble.

“Oh my god, oh my god!”

Tyler laughed at the word, quickly containing it after you continued to scream. He held his tongue, trying not to speak ill of the father.

“It will hurt more than you’ve ever been burned and you will have a scar.” He spoke softly, trying to calm your hysterics.

It was getting hard to breath with the ever noticeable pain. The skin started to smoke as the chemical ate away at it. Closing your eyes, you tried desperately to think of a happier place.

An image of nature, animals, and peaceful lullabies popped in your head as you tried to block out the unbearable pain.

“— stay with the pain, don’t block this out.” Tyler’s rough voice shook you out of your daydream as he ran his thumb over your index finger, trying to keep you from passing out.

“No, I can’t. It hurts.” You sobbed, hoping that the man upstairs can hear the distress and come stop this. You looked toward the ceiling.

“Look at your hand. The first soap was made from the ashes of heroes. Like the first monkeys shot into space. Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing!” Tyler became more passionate as he spoke, excitement invading his tone.

You screamed again as the pain grew deeper, “make it stop!” At this point you had run out of tears, shaking so hard you thought the floor would give out. You closed your eyes again, hoping Tyler wouldn’t bring you back out of your happy place.

As you were transported back to that rainforest, you felt another jolt as he pulled on your arm. “Stop. This is your pain, this is your burning hand. It’s right here!”

You thought you were going to be sick, your entire body heated up like a candle. “This is premature enlightenment!” Tyler continued to encourage.

“You’re insane!” You screeched, the walls reverberating as your voice echoes throughout the entire house. You couldn’t figure out why the man upstairs didn’t come down to check on the situation.

Tyler grabbed your chin, pulling you in close to his face. “This is the greatest moment of your life and you’re off somewhere missing it! You’re shutting me out!”

Your vision grew blurry as you continued to scream: “oh my god!” Voice now hoarse.

“Shut up. Our fathers were our models for God. And, if our fathers bailed, what does that tell us about God?” His words bounced off your ear drums, starting to distort as black spots danced in your vision. “Listen to me. You have to consider the possibility that God doesn't like you, he never wanted you. In all probability, He hates you. This is not the worst thing that can happen...”

You swallowed, trying to blink. You weren’t sure if you wanted to stay awake at this point, maybe the pain would be more bearable if you were unconscious. “It- it is..?”

“We don’t need him. Fuck damnation. Fuck redemption. We are God's unwanted children? So be it!” His voice grew louder, the pain came back ten times worse as you looked at the wound. You started to tug away from him again, knocking more ingredients off of the counter.

Your eyes landed on the sink, the thought of the cold water washing away the harsh lye was one so soothing. You shuffled your body toward the rusty sink, only making it about a foot before Tyler tugged you back.

“Listen. You can run water over your hand and make it worse, or -- look at me, -- or you can use vinegar and neutralize the burn.” He put a hand on the side of your face, gently rubbing his thumb along your cheekbone. “First you have to give up. First you have to know, not fear, know that some day you’re gonna die.”

You nodded hurriedly, willing to agree to anything in order to get this foreign substance off of your soft skin. “It hurts, you don’t understand!”

Tyler slowly revealed his own hand, watching as your eyes played over a scar that you will soon match. Your shuddering breaths only grew louder at the reveal. “You’re insane! You’re crazy!”

“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.” He simply spoke, reaching for the vinegar. The cold sweat on your skin made your hair stand up on end. What if this only makes it worse? You’ve learned that you can’t trust Tyler with your well being.

He poured the liquid over your wound, successfully washing away the unwelcomed chemical and putting your pain at ease. The sizzling noise of your skin being eaten away died down and so did your shaking. The room felt eerily silent as the pain dissipated.

“Congratulations. You’re one step closer to hitting the bottom.”

[lrthedirectorscut]

Film Research

Shaun of the Dead (2004)

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 horror comedy film directed by Edgar Wright. Bizarrely, rated 15.

The official poster for the film features three protagonists in the centre on a poster for the film containing all of the information, using mostly black, white, and red - the three typical colours associated with horror posters. The “poster within the poster” is surrounded by the zombies featured in the film, symbolising events in the film in which the characters, of course, get surrounded by zombies. I think this aesthetic of the poster works really well of giving a “preview” of the film without showing zombies surrounding the actual characters as it could not give a very presentable view of them, yet it still indirectly previews the film, as a film poster should do. I think it is very well designed, coloured, and thought through.

Cast

The film stars (and theatrically debuts) the duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy and Peter Serafinowicz.

Synopsis

The story of the film entails a zombie apocalypse in London from the perspective of the title character Shaun and his fellow underachiever best friend, Ed. Shaun was recently dumped by his girlfriend Liz and survival, romance and comedy dictate the rest of the film.

When I first watched the film, I did not like it at all because I was overwhelmed by its horror elements and not expecting them at all. Retrospectively, however, knowing what to expect, the film seems much more comedic and clever to me.

Key Scenes/Elements

The scenes and elements that stick out to me as key or otherwise memorable are the scenes revolving round the Winchester, the pub that the two main characters frequent.

On some posters for the film, it has the tagline “A Romantic Comedy. With Zombies”, which I think is amusing.

I genuinely found the alternative posters to be impressive that I could find of the film. I very much liked that they consistently used the film’s logo as well as entirely sticking to the same colour theme.

The Fifth Element (1997)

The Fifth Element is a 1997 French science-fiction film (in English), directed by Luc Besson. Rated PG.

I think the real poster is very inspiring and well-designed. It uses a pleasant combination of darkness, blues, and reds. A cool sci-fi laser effect is stretched across the poster vertically, with a light at the bottom middle of the poster, showing the title under it. Although it uses the “floating heads” trait here, I think it is effective and presents the cast with an aura of mystery. The subtitle “There is no future without it” provides the audience with unanswered questions of mystery too, and I think it is effective.

The film entails a New York taxi driver, Korben, who meets Leeloo falls into his cab in the 23rd century. As the embodiment of the fifth element, Leeloo needs to combine with the other four to keep the approaching Great Evil from destroying the world. Together with Father Vito Cornelius and Ruby Rhod, Dallas must race against time and the wicked industrialist Zorg to save humanity. Pretty standard Sci-Fi stuff.

Key elements of the film seem to be just Leeloo, who has bright orange hair, because that’s all I can see in image results for the film.

As part of the sci-fi theme, fan alternative posters have used blue-hue themes in conjunction with the orange theme presented by Leeloo’s hair, which I think is a very effective choice.

Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club is an American 1999 film directed by David Flincher. It is rated 18.

The poster design is quite iconic and I love the balance of the two characters on the poster, and the film’s title being engraved on a bar of soap, a central element of the movie. I also like the contrast of the green in the background with the bright pink soap, the latter of which is a strong part of the film’s visual identity. It is mentioned in the film’s tagline “Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.”

The film is about an unnamed narrator who suffers from insomnia and is unsatisfied with his job and attends support groups as an imposter where he meets Marla Singer. The narrator meets a soap salesman, Tyler Durden, whom he starts a fight club with, and is actually the same person in the same body.

Key elements include, of course, the fight club itself, and the soap.

My favourite alternative posters were for this film. Much like with Shaun of the Dead, I liked that people really seemed to stick with the colour pink unanimously. I also really like the works that hint towards the two main characters being a split personality of one another. The aesthetic of each one of these is strong in its own way to me, from use of minimal colours, to minimal imagery, to just clever concepts.

After researching all of my films, I assembled spider diagrams for each one with elements that I could use for designs of them.

I then created twelve sketch designs of alternate posters, four for each film. I thought about various elements such as where the title appears, making sure for it to be a different place on each poster, as well as including different elements in every design. I was pleased with several of the designs.

[fozmeadows]

1) I was binge-reading your Wordpress blog a few days back and came upon a post you made where you talked about the ubiquity of really bad/rapey/abusive relationships in SFF and how early exposure to those stories changed how you looked at real-life and fictional romances, and it got me thinking: how can we talk about the real challenges and troubles of Problematic Fiction without, like, giving everything over to the antis? because as somebody who cares about the messages in media but who also

It’s a hugely important issue, I think - and my short answer is, it hinges on context, circulation, criticism and conversation. When you look at a fanfic on AO3, the tagging system means that you, the reader, are either forewarned about the presence of any dark or squicky themes at the outset, or are made aware via the ‘author chooses to use no archive warnings’ tag that you’re venturing into the unknown. I’ve said this before, but to me, knowing the author knows a particular theme or relationship is badwrong, dubcon or otherwise fucked up allows me to enjoy the story in a way I otherwise couldn’t, because it changes how I receive the narrative - letting me know if I’m meant to accept the characters and their narration as correct, or if I’m meant to be reading critically. Some stories achieve this function with narrative framing - as in, something within the story itself lets us know that particular actions or characters are Bad, or at very least morally grey - but when a story is depicting dark themes without internal commentary, authorial intent becomes vital to interpretation. This is, for instance, why so many fuckboys think Tyler Durden is a hero in Fight Club instead of a terrifying asshole: they missed the fact that Chuck Palahniuk was writing ironically, and so took away the exact opposite message to the one intended.

Likewise in the case of Fight Club, the context and the circulation matter hugely to the impact. The film was a mainstream product with widespread distribution, and it came out in 1999, three years after the book was written. The idea of the protagonist lamenting belonging to a disenfranchised generation without a war to define them - aside from being inaccurate in the first place - was obliterated by the political landscape of the early noughties in the wake of 9/11, which in turn changed how the film was perceived in our cultural memory. All that being so, I’d argue that it had a much more toxic effect than was ever intended, in large part because the idea that the characters should be critiqued rather than lauded was missed in the mainstream dialogue around it for a long time. In the same vein, I’ve never held to the idea that fanwriters should be free to write whatever because stories don’t impact readers or reality - manifestly, stories *do* matter, and they can certainly impact their audiences in ways their creators don’t necessarily intended. Rather, I’ve held that fanwriters should be free to write whatever because, firstly, there’s no sensible, foolproof way to censor fanworks anymore than there’s one to censor other forms of art; and secondly, because fanwriting in particular is currently far ahead of the mainstream in its use of tagging and criticism, which are the real tools needed to navigate art and our reactions to it in the first place.

When I read fucked-up romances in mainstream SFF as a teen and absorbed the message that those romances were cool and normal and a little bit thrilling, it wasn’t because those stories should never have existed, or even because I shouldn’t have been allowed to read them; it was because they - and I - existed in a critical vacuum about their contents. I didn’t have an IRL or online community where I could go and talk about my favourite books and read enlightening essays about the character dynamics, and I didn’t have access to any older SFF fans who, just by virtue of having more adult experience in the world, could’ve helped me clue in by saying something like, “I love the magic and worldbuilding, but man, X novel is rapey.” We don’t learn how to be critical of media - how to analyse it, how to love a thing while still acknowledging and understand its flaws - as an automatic process: we have to be taught, or actively undertake the task of teaching ourselves. A lack of critical thinking about the narratives we consume and create - just like the cultural and political narratives we consume and create, for that matter - is the real cause of harm to readers; which is a major reason why fandom, for all its flaws, is so hugely important: it makes us think.

So, to answer your question: the problem I have with antis in this context is the idea that one piece of fiction is all things to all people: that there’s only ever one valid reaction to any one work, and if just one person has a bad reaction, then the work - and other works like it - is therefore inherently Bad. Purity wank deliberately elides the distinction between authorial intent and critical reception, arguing that the only way to prevent Bad Reactions To Fiction is censorship, instead of - as is actually the case - self-curating what we read, analysing the contents and thinking about their impact, while accepting that different people might have wildly different, yet still valid, needs and reactions to us. 

[rudjedet]

As an unabashed fan of female villains like Azula and Phasma, I agree with you. That said, in my personal experience, I've seen antis direct more vitriol at male villains, like Kimblee (as you and your friend have personally seen) and Kylo Ren. I think that comes from pushback against dudebros who idealise villains like the Joker and Tyler Durden, and Star Wars fans who argue that the Empire were the real heroes, and the like.

That's generally true yeah, though I think there's a difference between Tumblr antis and the more widespread/broader criticism that "unlikeable" female characters receive. In the case of antis, it's 99% purity police who can't spot the difference between finding a character interesting or appealing, and a real life desire to engage in or endorse the same acts of villainy or otherwise undesirable behaviour. But when it comes to fictional women who aren't 100% loveable cinnamon roll, the criticism often comes from a place of misogyny, which runs a lot deeper and is also often harder to pinpoint as the cause. To make matters more complicated, the criticism doesn't necessarily only come from men who think the only palatable female characters are those they could possibly fantasise would bow to their own masculine masculinity (cough), but also from other women who have internalised misogyny.

So in essence - yes, I agree, but most anti behaviour is a lot easier to disregard than the misogyny inherent in many "critiques" of "unlikeable" female characters. Antis are quite frankly just divorced from reality, while the criticism of female jerks in fictional media is very much rooted in real life issues.

Anyone who (fairly) criticises dudebros who glorify the joker or tyler durden I would probably just call a person with common sense, hehe.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Scoring System Rework & Mass Correction

Welcome to the second year of Psycho Analysis! The first year was one hell of a learning experience for me as I reviewed and rated all sorts of villains, and as I’ve been on hiatus I’ve come to realize my scoring system is inherently flawed and that I’m not totally satisfied with the rankings I gave everyone before.

Now, here is the original scoring system, as laid out in this post introducing the series:

1 - Absolute garbage; the worst of the worst

2 - Seriously bad

3 - Excessively mediocre

4 - Below average

5 - Average/Standard, nothing special

6 - Above average

7 - Pretty good

8 - Excellent

9 - Outstanding

10 - Amazing, one of the very best

Now, it’s decent, and I’ve mostly stuck to it... but I feel it needs a rework. It’s just too vague and doesn’t really give much meaning to the overall rating. So here is an updated ranking:

1 - A terrible villain, one that fails on nearly every level or at least is so utterly worthless and incompetent as to be unenjoyable, even ironically.

2 -  Mediocre and forgettable. There may be a couple good things... but not enough to make you care all that much.

3 - Almost awful, but with some redeeming quality that holds them back from being worse. These villains can be “So bad it’s good” villains. 

4 - Just below average. They have enough problems keeping them from being called good, but they’re not totally worthless, just underwhelming.

5 - Average villains. These tend to be super basic or generic villains saved by good vocal performances.

6 - Above average; nothing too special, but definitely leaning towards being a really good villain

7 - A really good villain. Nothing majorly outstanding, but enjoyable. Think a really good anime filler episode villain.

8 - The Big tier. These are low-tier greats, villains who are really good but have just a few too many flaws keeping them from going higher.

9 - Nearly perfect icons. These are villains who could very easily stand among the greatest of all time, but just lack the proven staying power or recognition. 

10 - True icons. Reserved only for the villains with a notable impact on culture or who are extremely well-regarded amongst fans of the works they’re in.

11 - This is reserved for special occasions, villains who have had a massive and undeniable impact on popular culture, in some cases changing the course of fiction as we know it.

And now for the corrections... as you can see, the tier list up there is how the old villains were rated, based on their scores from the original Psycho Analysis posts. But I feel like I overrated and underrated some villains, so with the new scorings in mind, let’s go over who belongs where:

11: Orlock, Vader, Wicked Witch, and the Grinch should be the only 11s so far. The Witch should just barely be ahead of the Grinch, though honestly they’re pretty equal in terms of impact. Very little to change here.

10: I feel like I gave out 10s a bit too easily before; I didn’t really have much in mind besides “really great villain.” So, to rectify, here is the new order: Batty, Kira, Senator Armstrong, Joker, Tyler Durden, Gaston, Kefka, Mojo Jojo, Thanos, Skarsgard!Pennywise, Curry!Pennywise, Voldemort, Giovanni, Dahlia Hawthorne, Ghetsis Harmonia, Pyramid Head, Betelgeuse, Tamatoa, Patrick Bateman, Team Rocket (Jessie/James/Meowth).

9: A lot of really great villains are bumped down to 9, but I think they could easily get back up to 10 someday, if they’re staying power increases. The new ranking for the 9s is: Mysterio, Ego, Aro, Candyman, Toomes, Mewtwo, Lucy, Ernesto de la Cruz, Sabretooth, The Sanderson sisters, Imhotep, The Kingpin, Hopper, Cyrus, The Grand High Witch, The Grandmaster, Vanilla Ice, Wammu 

8: More rearranging. Nicholson!Joker, Obadiah Stane, Jafar, Cartman, Hexxus, Oogie Boogie, Joe, Buffalo Bill, Eisidisi, Ultron, Van Pelt, Archie, Nancy Claus, Jimmy Brando, Jack O’Lantern, Pet Shop, Woodland Critters.

7: Most of the enemy Stand users moved down here because in hindisght very few of them rise above just being enjoyable challenges for Jotaro. Princess Ahmanet, N’Doul, Screenslaver, Mariah, Forever, D’Arby Bros (both are about on equal footing, though obviously the Elder gets the edge), Ghost Writer, J. Geil, Anubis, Maxie, Caius, Tod Spengo, Steely Dan, that Halloween Toy Story guy, Robot Santa.

6: Not too much change here. Carrey!Grinch, Kars, Remake!Freddy, The Noid, John Doe, Bun-Bun, Rubber Soul, Douche.

5: Again, much of it is the same. Farquaad, Marcus, Ratcliffe, Faculty Four, Gray Fly, Endgame!Thanos.

4: Benedict Cumbergrinch, Hans, Scrappy, OG!Maxie & Archie. Quite a few cuts here.

3: I came to terms with my enjoyment of a lot of crappy villains, so I decided to switch around 2 and 3 and spruce things up a bit. Terl, Slipknot, Justin Hammer, Snoke, Storm King.

2: Remake!Jafar, Bellwether, Whiplash, Enchantress, Leto!Joker, Fright Knight, Fake Captain Tenille, Killian, Evelyn Deavor, Russell Van Pelt, Edna Jucation, Pumpkinator, Arabia Fats, Kenny G, Incubus. A lot of the 1s I realized were just my personal biases; did they really deserve to be named the absolute worst villains ever when they tended to have problems like “no real screentime or personality” or “bad and stupid plans but otherwise ok performances?” 1s are only for the bottom of the barrel, and so now that is...

1: Rowan North, Dudepeel, and Killian. These are the three worst villains so far. I have nothing nice to say about any of them, and examples like these need to to stand for what is worst in villains.

Going forward, this is how I’m going to be keeping score, and these are the official rankings I will stand by.

[itsclydebitches]

Got another media question for you. Is it wrong to enjoy or even like terrible protagonist? I don't mean poorly written, but actually bad or broken people. Tony Soprano, Walter White, BoJack, Rick, tons of GoT characters, ect. I know your a HxH fan. What about Killua? How people has he murdered who didn't deserve it? Or Vegeta? Villains are supposed to be evil, but if the protagonist is a bad person (by modern moral standards) then should we enjoy them?

No worries! Although I’m pretty sure there were like three other asks that just disappeared in the time between I first saw them and now when I can answer?? I... don’t know what to make of that. My ask box has been throwing a bit of a fit lately. But these two are here! 

And nah, it’s not wrong at all. For me enjoyment is (usually) pretty distinct from agreeing with the character’s actions. If it weren’t none of us would ever enjoy any kind of iffy stories ever. I love a TON of characters---including GoT, Killua, Vegeta, etc.---who have done shit or act in certain ways that, if I knew them in real life, we would never ever be friends. Not without some serious growth at least (which is admittedly what characters like Vegeta get and partly why I enjoy them). That being said, there are definitely extreme cases. We’ve seen jokes around here about how if Kylo Ren or Tyler Durden or someone of that nature is your FAVORITE CHARACTER EVER... that’s potentially not good. Which doesn’t mean there can’t be someone out there who has them as their fave for entirely “good” reasons (there probably is), but rather that people, usually women, have noticed a pattern among those who name violent, misogynistic, white supremacist characters as their faves. Namely that they don’t realize the character is all these horrible things. They read the character as cool. As desirable. As someone who was in the right all along and who they actively want to model. There is no longer an appropriate separation between reading the character as a fascinating/entertaining fictional construct and reading them as a very real role model. 

Bakugo is a recent character of that sort for me. I’ve seen (the majority) of fans who adore him because he’s funny, generates sympathy, they see themselves in him, he has a lot of potential for growth---a hundred other reasons for why we might love a character. However, I’ve also seen fans who defend every horrible thing he’s ever done, think he’s the most badass and awesome dude ever, who legitimately see him as someone to emulate and everyone else who dares criticize him? Fuck you, you’re wrong. Those are the ones who I think, “Okay. You need some perspective .” Which, if we get right down to it, obviously isn’t the character’s fault. The person in question is already harboring some pretty horrible views and now that they’ve found someone who mirrors that in fiction they’re more eager to go “I was right all along!” as opposed to thinking “Huh. I wonder why the way I think and act is the characterization of a villain.” They’re going to twist all aspects of the story so that this villain comes out looking like the victim; someone who is in no way responsible for their actions, just needs more love, is entirely justified in every horrific thing they’ve ever done. That’s a very different situation from a fan going, “Well duh they’re the villain but I love ‘em anyway!”