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aeirithgainsborough · 1 year

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I haven't played the game but I've read spoilers for tlou2. Will the next season of tlou HBO even be worth it? I know Joel dies but are there any other characters that become lovable or is this Abby person at least a little likable? Asking you because I agree with all your takes on the show. Ty!

abby is a tumblr darling even tho she is a fascist and her section of the game is 12 hours of fetching things in a way that’s completely pointless to the plot, she barely shows remorse ever for her actions, she thinks ellie should b grateful to her she let her live after destroying her life, she’s the top soldier for her militia and is sad when she doesn’t have time to torture more ppl after she’s done with joel, she sleeps with her pregnant friends bf, doesn’t blink after slaughtering so many of the people in her militia she was loyal to the day before bcus of a kid who is meant to provide some sort of parallel to ellie/joel for her but is actually just rushed and can’t hit the same emotional beats whatsoever cus it’s been like… a day lmao… the narrative falls foul of telling us instead of showing us having abby say ‘you’re my people now’ which is hard 2 believe when a day previous she was making plans 2 destroy their home and loved 2 kill them. but she has muscles so a lot of ppl love her lol even tho she’s extremely bland, her gameplay is boring in the context of the plot and adds nothing to it (might have been more fun as its own game rather than coming after we’ve already played 12 hours and built up to a massive climax before suddenly being dropped back down to find ppl we know are dead and collect things… it’s a serious structural failure), and she’s barely remorseful and doesn’t really earn the redemption arc she’s given, especially not when the narrative tells us joel was too doomed to be redeemed when he’s been minding his business making guitars and wood whittling for five years in jackson and she at the end of 3 days with her when she’s meant to have evolved and realised violence is bad and her revenge didn’t achieve anything (except it does for her lol just not villain ellie!) and is meant 2 teach us all these lessons still just straight up murders ppl with glee, bonus points if they’re pregnant, beats the shit out of ellie without a slither of sympathy that she had ellie held down and heard her screaming and screaming for abby to stop hurting joel but carried on anyway even tho just finding her dad’s body is traumatising for her. ‘we let you live and you wasted it’ god i wanted to fucking shoot her myself cus she destroyed ellie’s life, took the person she loves the most brutally away in front of her, and it wasn’t a waste of abby’s life when she travelled 14 believable days across a dangerous post apocalyptic country for her revenge, and we are supposed to find empathy for her whilst she can’t find any of it for ellie lmao. the narrative props her up any chance it can whilst demonising joel and ellie, the characters we already love, trying to force you to like her in the most heavy handed and ham fisted way possible. oh she plays with dogs whilst ellie kills them!! good she’s still a torture loving fascist. but apparently she can be redeemed in 3 utterly unremorseful days and joel can go through the journey he does but is completely Hopeless and ellie is now the terrible villain of the tale. there’s a whole section that parallels the diner fight with david, this time positing ellie as the david villain to abby which is gross enough cus he was her tormenter and assaulter when she was 14, but also abby can kill who she likes and act like she likes and do torturing and murdering and the narrative never gives her this treatment or condemns her actions at all. anyway that’s a long way to say no she’s not likeable. yeah yeah the muscles, but again, she’s a fucking fascist.

honestly the other characters are fine, but they suffer in a plot in which the plot drives the characters rather than the characters driving the plot. they aren’t there for any other purpose than to move the plot and they can be a little bland for it. yeah dina is fine but she’s lumbered with this pregnancy plot so there can be some weird parallel to mel and largely doesn’t do much once you get to seattle and thus is very underdeveloped. jessie is also fine but underdeveloped too for the same reasons and he falls victim to neil ‘watch be me so diverse but poc are gonna die more than anyone else’ druckmann. all of them, new characters and old ones, continually make decisions that make you scratch your head and want to throw the controller away, again bcus plot > characters. it’s a poor way to tell a story. the characters should always drive the plot, never the other way around. it gets to the point when none of it justifies itself at all. but neil was so determined to tell his grimdark violent murderous hatred is as universal as love story that he was going to make it all fit no matter what and his characters and their motivations and characterisations fall to the wayside for it. it’s hard to find the ellie we fell in love with in part 1, let alone muster up enough energy to care about the side characters.

(as an aside neil is wrong about hatred being that universal and he thinks he’s right bcus he is a west bank settler and that alone should make you wary about season 2… the conflict in seattle is a mirror of the palestinian/israeli one and the narrative pushes on you this idea neil has that there are no wrong sides… but there is (half get to go home after a fight to a wealth of resources and land which they are trying to get more of and the other half has much less and can’t travel around the city unless they use secret bridges… idk if that sounds familiar to you) and you should all question why neil is pushing that. makes it even more hideous that he spent 25 hours propping up his wlf top soldier fascist and so many ppl lapped it up…)

maybe craig can fix some of these issues but im not holding out for it lol. some of the ways he’s talked about joel and ellie and the changes he made to the show are incredibly iffy. some of the ideas he has show he shouldn’t be allowed to talk about girls and their trauma ever again and he also thinks love can be as bad as it can be good which is such an ugly and stupid idea, especially when the whole point of part 1 is that love is what we have to hold onto when everything else is terrible. and no one come at me abt them being neil’s characters and his story cus BRUCE was there he co-created it and was the lead for the game lol.

anyway this got long im sorry no i don’t think it will be worth it.

#play the game and the dlc if u can and rewatch s1 #ask #tlou2 #anti tlou2 #the last of us spoilers

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darkfireumbreon · 6 months

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Can we talk about Magma’s (Dr. Stone anime) redemption? Cause I recently rewatched those season 1 episodes and I realized how well done it is. Like, it’s not huge, rather subtle in it’s entirety which comes off as out of nowhere to some but is perfect for him in my opinion. Yes he was an ass, power hungry and pretty ruthless, however, that was during a time where all he knew was get girls and power. He’s a big buff guy in a small village where physical power is authority. So it’s no surprise that he gets taken down by team science, which changes everything. Very suddenly the goal, their world, is bigger than they ever could have imagined, which I think massively humbled Magma. There are bigger threats out there (Hyoga, Tsukasa). We can see with Hyoga’s attack that Magma does care about the safety of the village. He willingly fights alongside Senku and the others to defend the village, even if he was reckless and charged in himself. He never put up a fuss after losing the tournament and just integrates into the kingdom of science rather silently, which is where the subtle part of his redemption comes into play. We as viewers don’t see anything from Magma other than snippets of him enjoying some of the new inventions or helping out labor wise, leading up to the cave exploration where he is selected as the 3rd party member alongside Senku and Chrome. And yet still he doesn’t put up much of a fuss. Of course he’s a little pouty as he’s now on a team with the guy who stole the position of chief from him and the guy who beat him in a fight by setting him on fire and pushing him into the river, but it’s little more than an annoyed huff. Of course the trip itself is where most of the redemption comes forth, as we learn of Magma’s assumption that the “smart twigs” control the big brawny people. Senku of course proves otherwise, that the two types work together to cover weaknesses, emphasizing why they need him on this journey. But the part I particularly want to highlight is when Magma saves Senku by pushing him out of the way only for Senku to try to save him. Chrome assumes Magma was trying to attack Senku and really, just about everyone had been saying similar before they had even left, assuming that Magma would take the opportunity to kill Senku. And it’s the look that they highlight on Magma, while he’s hanging in Senku’s grasp just before he starts spouting the act that fits all those assumptions. He knows what people think of him, he knows how he acted, and I think he genuinely wanted to change all of it. He puts on the act that everyone expects from him, “admitting” that he was going to attack them in hopes that Senku would just let him go and save himself, which I’m sure Senku saw right through.

Looking back on it all, it is blatantly apparent just how much Magma had changed in such short time, mostly due to his worldview completely changing, probably a little bit due to humility from losing the tournament, but also, as is said, because he has seen the great things science can make and he wants to see more. He wants to be a part of it, and that is huge for a guy who had such extremely selfish goals when we first met him. This is highlighted when Kohaku’s father mentions that he had never seen Magma help out before, and now he’s willingly offering his strength to help out wherever he can. Of course let’s not also forget that Magma keeps the promise to Gen to get them all back safe and on time in order to celebrate Senku’s birthday, something he never would have cared about had he not changed.

I’m sure there’s some out there who think Magma shouldn’t have been redeemed or that his redemption came out of nowhere (he was planning on letting Ruri die so he could have the seat of chief to himself). But I would argue that it was perfectly done. Nothing over the top, he didn’t need a whole arc, it was just enough. And I think he became a very successful character who values his strength in a way that helps others rather than just for his own gain. At his core he is still someone who likes to show off his strength, but to go from someone who thought the only way to do that was by taking over the whole village and becoming chief to someone who shows off his strength by helping improve the village is massive character growth.

And now he’s a big competitive himbo with a willingness to learn, which I find very enjoyable.

#dr stone #dr stone magma #dr stone anime #character redemption #dr stone season 1 spoilers

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howcouldtheyletmebeanadult · 1 year

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Sonic Prime article analysis

Hey guys guess what! there's an article on gizmodo with a new synopsis for sonic prime AND new screenshots! these screenshot's are apparently from episode 6 and 7 (and as you may know we are only getting 8 this year), and while i don't think they show too much, if you don't want any kind of spoilers i'd suggest to just block the tag.

Anyway personally i am SUPER excited about this SO i'm gonna go over this whole article if you don't mind

Alright so FIRST i want to go over the synopsis

While reading the first thing that caught my attention was this

Attitudes and abilities huh? First of about the attitudes, It's not really surprising per se, since we have seen sonic's friends acting kind of ...agressive in previous trailers (plus i'm sure we have all seen the grumpy/feral tails posts), but i do wonder how it will vary between the shatterverses. I feel it could get kind of repetitive if all of them acted more or less the same way. And now about the abilities, do they mean about how in the Rebel!verse people use guns and in the pirate one swords? or is there more to that? aside from cyborg amy having some crazy stuff idk if and how they would give anyone else some impressive new ability.

Something else caught my attention about this article though...

So it seems the core of the show will really be about Sonic learning to appreciate his friends, honestly I am both surprised and not. On one hand, many people, including me, thought this might be the case since the first time we saw that one synopsis that described this show as a journey of "self-discovery and redemption". But on the other hand, one of the first things Sonic says on the trailer is a compliment to his "crew" not really something that i feel someone that needs to learn the power of friendship would say.

Personally, i do not mind this, i know that there are people who hated this idea, but i do think it's a fun idea for the show. I know that this is supposed to be game sonic, but personally i always treat each iteration of sonic as his own little guy. You guys are welcome to disagree and voice your opinions about it (in your own post pls this is a Sonic Prime hype blog now). But i for one am curious (and as they say "cautiously optimistic") about what MoA's take on my favorite hedgehog may look like.

BUT ANYWAY BACK TO THE SYNOPSIS

ijcfoijfiojijdiajdieajSIJFAIODJIAJDIJDIJDIJEI

So, it seems that shadow really IS going to be helping sonic on his journey, I wonder about how much screetime he is gonna get.

Also i almost forgot lmao

It reads to me as saying that Sonic shattering the crystal CREATED this new worlds from Sonic's original one, instead of those been already pre-existing worlds that Sonic is just visiting. Which explain the name Shatterverses.

So anyway that is most of what i have to say on the synopsis, now the screenshots AND their descriptions.

First,

So it seems that things are getting kind of tense with these two, and i do wonder what it is about, but what makes this image the more interesting for me though is the fact that the article claims that this images are from episode 6 and 7. I've had the theory for a while that Sonic would come back at least to this dimension in particular, (based on this:

I don't know about you, but between the gloves and the way he is falling (in the trailer he looks like he is going to faceplant, meanwhile normal gloves!sonic fell on his knees), i feel like this are two different scenes) And it seems i was right. It makes me wonder, how many shatterverses is Sonic going to visit? will it be common for him to go back to world he left? are there going to be mini arcs for each dimention? I am genually so excited for this.

The second screenshot by itself isn't much, I'm pretty sure it's from a scene from a previous trailer (it shows big, rouge and knuckles from the Rebelverse, along with two background characters, staring with surprise at something we aren't shown, but am 100% sure it's Sonic. they also have weapons) But the description under DID caught my attention:

Hello?? Rebel Rouge? Also for some reason she's the only one with a nickname (unless Knucks is on purpose and not a typo, but if so why does rouge gets a whole additional word and then knuckles name is shortened)

And now in the third image, THIS:

Here we have another look at our pirate crew (minus Knuckles) and they...don't look very friendly, i mean they ARE pirates but damn i wouldn't wanna mess with this people (well at least not with Rouge, Amy and Tails kind of look like they are trying too hard to look tough). But anyway that's not important, THIS is:

LMAO SAILS TAILS SADASKJD PLEASE TELL ME THEY CALL HIM THAT IN THE EPISODE. I had to google what Batten meant, apparently there is a saying "batten down the hatches" that means either to "secure a ship's hatch-tarpaulins, especially when rough weather is expected." or to "prepare for a difficulty or crisis".Also now that i think about it, it's probably also a pun on "Bat". At least Amy got a cool, easy to understand name.

NOW FOR THE BEST IMAGE,

SONIC WITH A SWORD MY BELOVED!!!! He doesn't seem very happy about it tho, in fact he looks really unsure? It looks like he managed to convince the pirate crew to work with him (also this is the third time we see a scene with these 3 together without Knuckles), and they look like they are teaching him how to use a sword? maybe? they look either excited or encouraging, something like that. (Also amy you aren't fooling anyone with those heart eyes girl come on you just met the guy). Not sure how i feel about this shoes tbh, they don't look bad but it's definetly his weakest assemble so far.

BUT ANYWAY WHO CARES SONIC WITH A SWORD <3<3<3<3

So anyway now the last picture:

Here we have another shot of the pirate crew! Now with Big included! Still not Knuckles though, which is weird because we know from the trailers this ship is his. I'm starting to wonder if they stole it from him lmao. I wonder who that lank is for, it looks to me as if someone else was about to use it to go to Knuckles ship, Big and Sails (lmao) are waving and everything, and Sails (lol) looks kind of nervous, so I'm guessing that it's not someone friendly.

Anyway i think that is all, until i have more time to think about it, or we get that footage from the game awards

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ericmicael · 8 months

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Two idiotic theories that I had reading "Dangerous Secrets" and that I shared little

Before anyone says anything, I myself call these theories idiotic.

Iduna was pregnant during the journey trying to reach Ahtohallan

This theory comes from the fact that Northuldra scarfs are baby blankets and made for newborns (I still hope that Elsa will knit a scarf to give as a gift to Anna's firstborn), and Iduna was just knitting during the trip. Iduna knitting during the trip was just the way Mancusi found to introduce the subject (and make a reference to ElsaMaren's "campfire scene" 😉). The trolls themselves only said that the Agduna couple would only have two daughters, and this subject of a third pregnancy is never mentioned.

As I said, this is a stupid theory, but it's not a bad idea for a "What If" where Iduna and Agnarr return to Arendelle and the queen has a third pregnancy... The son's name won't be Tarzan, okay lol

Hans is related to Queen Rita, Anna and Elsa's paternal grandmother

This is a theory that is also not very difficult to understand: there is no confirmation of Queen Rita's kingdom of origin, where she apparently returned after asking the trolls to erase her memory. I said apparently because we don't have confirmation yet.

Perhaps the confirmation of the kingdom itself will create a problem in canon, Runeard's situation is already a somewhat complicated case that I won't talk about here.

And remembering that in the Disney park it was shown that Arendelle made peace with the Southern Islands with the right to a visit from the royal family, obviously excluding the dumb prince, saying that they would be related in some way would not be so exaggerated.

Obviously this doesn't make sense and would be a retcon, but my theory isn't exactly that. In reality, my theory is that only Hans would be linked to Queen Rita and not the Southern Islands. As far as I know there is no explanation for why Hans is bullied by his family, but I thought of one: he is a bastard son as well as a certain character who also has an abusive relationship with a red-haired princess who becomes queen.

And he would precisely be the son of an extramarital relationship between the King of the Southern Islands and a descendant of Rita.

Is it a stupid theory? Yeah, but maybe it's less stupid than the first one and for me it would justify the redemption/revenge arc that some want it to have. The biggest problem for me regarding Hans' return is the lack of justification other than fanservice, but making this connection would be a more acceptable justification than: "I want to take revenge on Arendelle because I was humiliated", "I want to redeem myself for my mistakes in Atendelle because I grew a beard", etc.

And it would also be a justification for his lack of interest in the sisters and the ease with which he treats the two women like trash in "Frozen 1/Frozen Heart" and "Conceal, Don't Feel". There's the justification that he's a sociopath or/and dumb, although I've also seen people arguing that he's just gay (maybe this second one would be canon if "Frozen" was released before the 2000s).

But like I said: stupid theories, don't take this post too seriously.

#frozen #frozen 2 #dangerous secrets #agduna #prince hans

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ladyeglantine · 1 year

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So I finished playing through A Plague Tale - Requiem this afternoon and I am still emotionally drained from it.

Spoilers under the cut

First off, I could not get over how beautiful the game is. The colors, the environments. Even the moments when it was at its darkest and in the darkest of places. It was absolutely a stunning game to play through. The tension in this game was well-done. Between the rats, and sneaking around, and that sequence with the Count, I felt all of it. Which with dealing with rising anxiety atm, probably not the best game to play for that, but I regret nothing.

I love Amicia so much. And I felt her pain while playing this game. Her fear, her anger, all the hits and wounds she took. It was all the more devastating for me when it became clear that Hugo could not be saved, that the only way to free him was for him to die. I so wish she could have had that peaceful life with Hugo in the mountains, but it wasn’t meant to be. Least she still had Lucas and Sophia (who can I say is such a badass, ride or die woman).

The moments where everything was good, and Hugo could be a real child and Amicia and him could just be siblings were so adorable and precious. It gutted me whenever things would go bad, and he would be so upset about it. That final conversation he and Amicia have...right in the feels.

I’m so glad Arnaud got a redemption arc in the end. It was such a rollercoaster to go from, “You tried to kill Amicia, go to Hell!” to “Alright, you’re growing on me” to “You can be de-facto dad” to “WTF, you were going to use Hugo to kill the Count for your revenge as term for saving Amicia’s life, NO GO TO HELL AGAIN!” to “I’m sorry I didn’t let you kill the Count when I had the chance, but I’m still mad at you for trying to use Hugo” to “You’ve become de-facto dad again.” I really wished he could have lived, but it made sense for his story to end with him sacrificing himself to defeat the Count so Amicia and the others could get to Hugo.

I knew something was up with that Countess, she was creepy nice. And she killed Beatrice, never been happier to use rat power for that (which I did get a bit of a kick out of Amicia previously trying to stop Hugo from using that power to mindlessly kill, but once Emilie killed Beatrice, she was like, summon all the rats, Hugo!). And that Count, holy shit that guy was creepy. Vaudin was a jerk and I didn’t shed a tear when he died. Joseph, though :(

Sophia, again, badass ride or die. And I love how she’s still in contact with Amicia, and wanting to take her on her next journey. Lucas is just so sweet and supportive, also ride or die. Apparently if Amicia is unable to kill Hugo, Lucas does it for her. It was a little disappointing he wasn’t with Amicia at the end of the game, but it also makes sense he’d want to continue his studies.

The only complaint I have is the tension with Beatrice. Amicia and Hugo just reunited with Beatrice after they thought she was dead a couple of months ago. And because Beatrice is so gung-ho on the Order and them probably locking Hugo away and “experimenting” on him, Amicia takes the first opportunity and ditches her and Lucas to go find Hugo’s island? And Beatrice mentions not being her enemy, what the what? The confrontation and tension between them feels a bit forced. Especially when all is quickly and easily forgiven when they reunite on La Cuna. I understand Amicia’s growing desperation and distrust towards the Order, but the animosity towards her mother feels too intense too quickly.

Ok, rambling over. All in all, a beautiful, tear-jerking, emotionally gutting journey from start to finish.

#Lady Eglantine Ramblings #Lady Eglantine plays video games #A Plague Tale - Requiem #spoilers

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onewomancitadel · 1 year

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Cinder and Anakin

That Anakin-Paul post I wrote the other day made me remember the common parallel drawn with Cinder to Anakin, which makes sense because enslaved afflicted ambitious terrified scarred evil is a common category of villain to compare, but also the point I made in that original post - which is that theme and tone matter - is still yet relevant. To go even further the circumstances of their villainy is not really sufficient parameters to say hers will look exactly like his, as might be the angle I want to look at it from.

Because I guess there's that fact that the tragic cycle of the Prequel Trilogy is not the final answer to Anakin's arc, that when Lucas made the Prequels it was not to bask in Anakin's villainy but to show how to get back to him being that little boy again. Execution of the Prequels themselves and Lucas' theory of redemption which conflicts a little with mine aside, I am going to say what I think is the key differences between Anakin and Cinder: Anakin is a father of twins and was married, and fell to the Dark Side as an adult. Cinder is no mother, but is in fact a Maiden, and fell to the ostensible 'Dark Side' as only a child. She has never been loved, not unconditionally, nor has she ever been free.

There really wasn't pride before the fall. There really wasn't that journey of the adult tortured by prophecy and magical forces beyond his control and the war of forbidden love that ran converse to his monkhood values versus the lure of being given the opportunity to 'protect' Padmé (which yes, the draw of the Dark Side came with a sense of possession as opposed to compassionate, unconditional love). Lucas feels that children redeem their parents. The sum of Anakin and Padmé's union is eventually what saves Anakin and is meant to be the satisfying answer to this tragedy (which honestly I think is interesting from a structural perspective. To me, prequels of this nature before the 'main canon' tend to be inherently tragic - that he explicitly wanted to explore that is really interesting... on the other hand, the fact that the Sequel Trilogy couldn't answer in a really triumphant way makes it taste quite sour).

So, the answer I'm interested in is whether the resolution of Anakin (Darth Vader passing away peacefully after not being able to fully die along with Padmé) is meant to really be the same for Cinder, although I'll admit historic comparisons I've seen of Cinder to Anakin tend to leave the question of redemption out. In my opinion I think that the comparison to Vader in the question of villain redemption is almost inevitable, and it can be a tiresome one, because his death is not really an indictment on 'redemption' - it's not that it's impossible, it's that it's paternal sacrifice, death that feeds new life.

You absolutely cannot replicate the same dynamic with Cinder because she is young and beautiful and under a magical Dark Curse, and very explicitly portrayed as a Maiden (that is apparently a corrupting force but really has the potential to be a redeeming one). So her redemption arc is not, or shouldn't, look the same as Anakin's, because it of the tonal and thematic differences, and the simple difference of their character. Cinder simply has more to do in the story.

I do think that tension between enslavement, imprisonment, denial, want, etc. is interesting (and worthwhile) to compare, but my interest is very rarely in only comparing characteristics or similar character backgrounds. It is almost always in what is this saying about the thematic aims/what emotion is it trying to inspire/what does this say about the endgame etc. etc., which is why character comparisons can really bore me; my focus with Anakin and Cinder is going to be primarily centred in answering the structural question of what should an appropriately tailored redemption arc look like?

It should not be lost on you that the 'young and beautiful, cursed from birth' characterisation equally applies to Kylo Ren, which is why he ends up being my shorthand comparison with Cinder. Cinder was conceived as a character before the Sequel Trilogy was fully formed and even released, and I wouldn't even say he's a conscious influence on her - but, and this is the critical point, but, their divergence in inspiration that they both take from Anakin is about the same, which is why they're interesting to think about.

Of course, once you get into the meat of the division of narrative stakes across the ensemble cast, you've also got to be asking structural questions like 'what character can be linked to Cinder's character arc?' which is all the stuff which interests me, because there is no son or daughter whose self-actualisation is realised in response to Cinder's redemption - who also happens to be the main character. Nevermind that the patriarch and matriarch, the maternal and paternal figures in the story themselves, Ozma and Salem, are already the parents to be redeemed by the children main characters. Lol.

So superficial comparison doesn't interest me, but what does interest me is looking at these similar structural ideas explored in different ways, especially the question of redemption and themes it realises... and how it can be a bad move to universalise Anakin's redemption arc for all villains (death by redemption) because it doesn't understand what it's actually achieving etc. etc. I have gone more into this topic under my redemption arcs tag, but I don't think I've explicitly done the Cinder-Anakin comparison so boldly.

#cindemption #cinder fall sadsack tag #redemption arcs #reposted because I made a not insignificant wording change to get my point across better

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rileyshahar · 1 year

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Writeblr Introduction

Hello hello! I'm Riley Shahar (they/them or ze/zir), old to tumblr but new to writeblr and looking to make some writer friends :) Especially to help get through NaNo, lol. Feel free to come chat with me anytime you'd like!

I'm a mid-20s genderqueer lesbian who mostly writes (dark) fantasy, horror, and sci-fi, with a focus on queer, disabled, and/or Jewish characters. Also, characters with Issues. Feral freaks (affectionate). "Poor little meow meows," as the kids say. Always a lover of a good redemption arc.

I'm forever the victim of shiny new idea syndrome, currently wrangling multiple novels and short stories and begging my brain to finish one. In addition to writing, I also enjoy folk ballads, Dungeons & Dragons, tea, goth music, cats, bdsm, kpop, and getting lost in the woods by my house.

My blog is 18+ as I write sexual content and dark themes!

Current Novels in Progress:

#PiratesWIP: Dark Fantasy. Luca, a navy sailor, has turned twenty years old, meaning it's time to visit the oracle and see which of seven deities has chosen him as a devotee. He assumes he'll be picked by the God of Death, as his well-respected parents and brother were before him. Instead, he earns the mark of a disgraced Goddess who has supposedly been dead for a thousand years -- executed by Her husband, the God of Death Himself. While fleeing, Luca is kidnapped by pirates, led by a captain still devoted to the fallen Goddess despite the futility and illegality of worshiping Her. The captain intends to kill Luca, but when he sees the fresh mark of his Goddess on the sailor's skin, he instead brings Luca along on a harrowing journey to resurrect Her.

#MorticianWIP: Supernatural Horror. A Jewish trans man goes back to his late mother's Appalachian hometown with a grant to research a disturbing anomaly in the local wildlife. Doing so brings back his unwelcome childhood ability to see ghosts, and has him crossing paths with the shy mortician of the local funeral home. The researcher falls hard and fast for this mortician, despite the growing evidence that he may be dangerous, and something more than a mortal man, and could even be playing a part in the wildlife corrupting around them.

#TheaterWIP: Dark Fantasy. When they were thirteen, Elec's identical twin sister Zuli was scouted by the world's most prestigious theater and left home to train with them. A decade later, Elec lives a blissfully simple life in their home village, while Zuli is a successful actress abroad, famous for her role as the main villain in an ongoing story told through weekly performances. When Zuli goes missing, Elec is asked to come to the theater and take her place in performances until she's found. They agree for the sole purpose of discovering what happened to their sister. As they learn to live and breathe the arts the same way Zuli did, Elec comes to find the playhouse apparently haunted; and not by the spirit of Zuli, but by the spirit of the fictional villain she played.

(Those are just the ones I'm actively writing, you might see more tags pop up for my dozen other ideas lmao)

If you think we have a thing or two in common, please like or reblog this post! I'm looking for cool folks and blogs to follow. :)

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #nano 2022 #writeblr intro #queer writers #fantasy writers #PiratesWIP #MorticianWIP #TheaterWIP

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spotsupstuff · 2 years

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Did Wukong can reconcile with Six and Ma? After neglect and tension in years they relationship can't be the same...

Wukong have their own problem, same with Six and Ma...

But i want them all to get along T_T

SWK's relationship with Ma is pretty alright! Unlike Six, Ma never blamed SWK for leaving huaguo shan after SWK came back cuz of the WBS arc in the Journey. She was angry at first but SWK explained why he has to go to all four Stalwart Generals- Beng n Ba were sad about it but accepted it quite easily (adults have more of emotional braincells), Ma was pissy but understood the importance of the Journey n just needed to make peace with it which she did and Six was silently enraged just beyond himself and never changed (Ma is kinda like. what Six could've been had he accepted SWK's autonomy in decision making)

Neither Ma or Six blame SWK for the war against Heaven too hard. After all, they were both sitting there at the table when they were discussing the possibility of a fight. They both nodded their agreement, blinded a bit too much with the power Sun Wukong held and their own double (or triple) immortality

The most damage done between SWK n Ma is actually how many times Ma just up and left Beng n Ba's residence for long periods of time (more bout that in ur other ask) which by extension was also leavin SWK when he needed his whole family there to fall back upon the most. The Journey ends very differently in FT compared to the novel- SWK ends up... Very emotionally scarred Ma might actually be one of the bigger reasons SWK ends up going "missing" for those 500 years before LMK happens. This is still a work in progress, but Im leanin towards this being true

They have stuff to talk out, but ultimately these two never stopped loving each other

Sun Wukong and Six are...

Complicated

During s3, a 7 month period, they go from completely hating each other n refusing to even work together in a healthy proper way, to having to communicate because the circumstances are forcing them to (n so SWK ends up easing up a little, while Six is only manipulating the whole situation n everyone in his favor), to SWK fucking hating Six's guts again while Six becomes completely lost on every possible level possible to him (this is where his redemption starts) to ending up in a kind of uncertain place

Six starts attendin therapy basically from the very start of his redemption arc- by the end of s3 he hasn't gotten Very far so he's still a prick n disgusting to people n stuff but he is slowly moving foward. So he's in the sorta limbo-like feeling of moral change in progress and Sun Wukong still harbors strong dislikin towards him but he's mature enough to recognize that Six is changing

"I want you to be alright, Liù." he says, meaning every word of it, without any love in his voice. It's only a fact, because everyone should have the chance to be alright. Cuz logical thinking and emotional thinking are two very different things and while logically one can accept something, the emotional part is going to take a while. It can be factually nice that an abuser is becoming better, their victim can think that, and still hate them These two end up somewhat getting along, but yah it's not gon be a clear slide into an immediate sibling-like relationship. And SWK's stuff actually ends up going unresolved until the "season 4" thing I mention here and there, so their relationship also doesn't really start re-developing cleanly until that

AND SIX AND MA........ WELL

Those two are one of the main focuses of s3 (fuckin apparently -looks over the hard canon s3 ideas-) so they get a shit ton of relationship development. It goes from them being abusive towards each other, to being forced to listen to each other by the circumstance, to a necessary truce, to a difficult ass fuckin arc where Ma quite seriously threatens Six's life (more info on that in ur other ask again) n ends up venting a metric ton, to them having a talk about each other's perceptions of the other

(Six can't even remember what it was like to have an older sister- he only factually knows that Ma should be one to him so the entire trip he kinda tries to Force her into that position and Ma fears him, is disgusted by him and feels helpless when faced with him and what he stands for. she can't see him as her brother [disowned him anyway] n so he is more or less to her just this.. strange fuckin man tryin stuff at her- shits Uncomfy)

n after that talk they just sorta agree on "Hey. We both ain't exactly fine when it comes to each other so lets just let everythin be and when/if there will be a time when we will be able to possibly start over, lets just try to be some normal regular friends.". The time ends up being the s3 finale cuz Dat thing ends up bein intense so they kinda tryin dat afterwards. Shit's rocky but hey Ma isn't that afraid to get completely blasted around him so that's gotta mean sumthin

The three end up gettin along but there's always the 😬 emotion lurkin behind everythin n das just a thing they gotta learn to live with now 😔

#Spot says stuff #lmk #mk sun wukong #mk macaque #mk marshal ma #fruit twins au

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valkyriegoddesses · 3 years

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Thoughts on ACOSF

⚠️ SPOILERY, SO DON’T READ IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK ⚠️

⚔️ the good and the bad, I’ll try to get rid of the bad thoughts first and keep the positive ones for the end but idk where my line of thought would go as I recall and type so here we go

• Nesta’s journey of healing is hers and hers alone. She owes no one in the inner circle anything, they didn’t do her any favors. (Now before I delve into this, I just want to say that I see they (Feyre and Elain only) had good intentions, but I’m going to point out everywhere it went wrong, probably against what they planned, but still it went horribly wrong) She was still suffering all the same after she got her free will stripped from her, the decision made for her by packing her things without informing her or listening to her opinion or trying to have a more lenient approach to the matter, being threatened that her second option is being thrown to the human lands where she could die, being lied to about the consequences of her actions in law, being told she “belongs in the Hewn City”, being told she’s “a pathetic waste of life”, and choosing the place everyone admits they hate going to aka the House of Wind, as her destination to heal. Knowing full well she can’t make the descent down these stairs and would be imprisoned without the power to winnow. And instead of being given her space and time, they push her to talk and interact when all she’s trying to do is have some distance from everyone. Some time to herself, to not feel anything, to control the storm of thoughts raging on the inside. And she’s pushed time and time again to face her trauma and heal RIGHT NOW because apparently, they’re timing her. And she shouldn’t have her emotions on display, when she tells them she doesn’t feel like talking yet she’s forced to interact and socialize. Anyone who’s been forced to interact against their will knows how draining it is. Now imagine this coupled with being triggered by water, and being triggered by fire, which are a daily necessity. And imagine everyone got a decade or more to deal with their trauma and are still not entirely healed, yet your time is up after little over a year. It sucks. And I hate how what triggered them to action wasn’t that she was wasting away to nothing, but the bill. When the bill was high, they drew the line. And I hate how in the narrative, the “conversation” -even though I wouldn’t call it that because only one side was allowed to talk and the other side wasn’t allowed to object- was written in a way that made it about THEIR image, when she’s frequenting taverns. THEIR image, when she doesn’t show up to their parties. THEIR image when the bill for her drinking is high. (They say it’s too much money, as if they don’t have all the riches and they all spend money on things that are absolutely not necessary, and THEY drowned her with gifts, LOADS of gifts, after she sacrificed her power to save her sister, which she didn’t do for payment, but anyway the thought is, they had the money and just like they thought Amren deserves payment for what she did in the war, they should’ve kept the same energy for Nesta because she had no small role in that either). I just think they handled it badly. Not exactly how you’d talk to someone suffering from PTSD, depression and survivor’s guilt. For one, threatening a worse alternative isn’t helpful. Secondly, There were way too many people in that room. More than necessary. Feyre and Elain would’ve been enough AS HER FAMILY (and I’ll get to details on this in a moment). And Feyre was the only decent one handling it as someone who actually was looking for a better outcome and really had the intention to help, someone who wasn’t there just to humiliate. Amren and Rhys were only there to land jabs and poke at her insecurities and bad coping mechanisms. Rhys used his power on her to force her to obey him and we all know how it’s a big NO among them. Many of those in the IC had worse coping mechanisms. But what she was doing was too much for them to handle? She was self-destructing. And she kept her distance. If I told someone I needed my space and they kept poking their head in my business, I sure as hell would lash out. When someone needs space, their privacy should be respected. No matter how long it takes them.

And I don’t see where the problem with her drinking was. She never showed up to events drunk. We never saw her hungover the day after. She was spending some money on drinking yes, but it did not get out of hand. She was also spending money on food and gambling. All in all, not the worst coping mechanism among those who were criticizing her. Not to mention that everyone who criticized her were drinkers as well, and they all slept around during some part of their lives.

Now the problem with the presence of other people in that room, other than Feyre (if Elain didn’t wish to attend and preferred to have some space between her and and Nesta, it’s her choice) anyway, only Feyre’s presence was required. Everyone else there was just an accessory, only adding stress to the atmosphere, forcing Nesta to get on the defensive with the way they slut shamed her, shamed her for drinking, shamed her for not being able to take a bath even though she told Feyre how the water still scares her, etc. I can see Sarah wanted it to look like a “family” intervening. Like some tough love sort of thing. But she failed. Simply because, the IC might be Feyre’s found family and she might take such a talk from them because it would really be tough love. As for Nesta, she doesn’t view them as family. She barely knows them. So for a group of strangers, or let’s say newly acquainted people, to sit around her and point out her every flaw and shame her for every misstep, who wouldn’t lash out at that? It’s enough she’s forced to spend time among them, on holidays she doesn’t really believe in, where they force her to attend but actively ignore her presence and treat her like a ghost. Why make her come if they don’t enjoy her company? It’s just ridiculous. Then when she gets angry from all the pushing and lashes out and it’s entirely her fault. they’re all like “come to our gatherings where we will insult you, nitpick all your unhealthy coping mechanisms, but don’t be offended and seclude yourself, we all took decades to deal with our trauma and killed people while doing it but your coping mechanisms are unhealthy. And your actions are unforgivable because you lash out at us when we shove ourselves down your throat. How can you not like us? Everyone has to like us.” Then she gets thrown away to a war camp, a FUCKING WAR CAMP, while a big part of her trauma is because of war. And instead of dealing with her face-to-face, while being gentle and showing her they’re on her side WITHOUT JUDGEMENT, WITHOUT WINCING AND GLANCES AT EACH OTHER AND INNER CONVERSATIONS ABOUT HER WHERE SHE’S EXCLUDED, they’re like “we’re tired of your shit so here’s a house you can stay in while you sort this out away from our merry little circle, which has its nose up your business anyway. But still, sort it out away from us.” And in that house she became more and more closed off and her healing - and I will die on this hill - her healing DID NOT start until the house came into play which was her own doing. And it kicked off because of Emerie and Gwyn, who both didn’t judge her, didn’t demonize her, didn’t only see the bad in her, but accepted her as she was and loved every part of her. Showed her that she was not a waste of life and there are things to live for. As for the beloved inner circle? Beyond insulting her and her coping mechanisms, They don’t tell her about the weapons SHE made, because pro-colonization Amren doesn’t think it’s wise, that Nesta would use it against the world. (Amren do you hear how stupid you sound?) they always villianize her, assuming she’d be out to take the world and take revenge on everyone who ever glanced her way. They assumed she was bad, they assumed because she was angry, that she would use her power for killing and terrorizing and building an Empire like they all do. When all she wanted to do was listen to music and be around good company who passed her no judgement.

Anyway, getting into some details with each character:

Feyre: I hated Feyre’s “crying over scrambled eggs because my image is destroyed my sister spent so much money on drinking”. And the fact that when telling Nesta she was doing this for her own good, she told her she was embarrassed for her own image in the same breath. But beyond that I was fine with her. I loved her reconcilation with Nesta. I loved that she was one who wanted to give Nesta more time, recognized that she needed her own time. I love them together. I think without everyone’s interference, their reconcilation would’ve happened much faster. They were already making progress before ~some people~ ruined everything and caused Nesta to be closed off again. I don’t hate that Nesta sacrificed her power to save Feyre in the end. She’s her sister and she loves her and this is not the first time she proved this. She would do anything to protect her sisters and she hates herself for the times she misstepped. Even though it wasn’t her fault and there was a full grown man sitting there who conveniently got a redemption arc. What angers me though, is that it was only after this, that the inner circle viewed her as someone who is worth their respect. And made the sacrifice materialistic by drowning Nesta with gifts. She didn’t do it for their acceptance or for their love, or for payment. She did it because her sister needed help. Period. (Sidenote: I’m writing a post where I delve deep into their relationship, which I will eventually post, because I think I reached an understanding about their relationship)

Elain: let me get something out of the way, she has power. She has free will, she’s not a baby. She’s a grown woman who doesn’t need coddling. I hate how the fandom views her as a baby. And she’s constantly infantilized, preventing her from reaching her full potential. Now that that’s out of the way, here are my 2 cents on her, since she wasn’t in this book much: Nesta’s wording was very clear, yet I’ve seen this scene misread all over the timeline. Nesta said “I sat by your side for weeks. Weeks, while you wasted away, refusing food and drink. While you appeared to hope you’d just wither and die. No one suggested you either shape up or be shipped back to the human lands.” Nesta’s problem is NOT that Elain wasn’t “there” as in “by her side”. She explicitly stated she needed space. Nesta’s problem was that she stood between Elain and anyone who might tell her to snap out of it and lock her trauma in some dark room in the back of her head. She made sure Elain had her time. While Elain agreed to pack her bags and didn’t prevent them from shipping her away, deciding her time was up. All she wants is time, and Elain didn’t have her back on this. Then we have the fact that Elain slut-shamed Nesta. And then when Nesta comes to the party this time, Elain meets her at the door and her reaction instead of saying hi and leaving it at that or simply ignoring her, is “did Feyre pay you this time?” I’m torn on where to stand on the Elain-Nesta situation, a part of me is disappointed in Elain. I think she should’ve handled this better than anyone else because she was there, she witnessed the trauma happen, Nesta was there for her, they grew up being inseparable the entire time. If anyone should understand her better than anyone else, it’s Elain. So why did she abandon her to everyone’s judgement? And a part of me is like maybe she knew whatever she voted wouldn’t matter because the IC were taking the step anyway, and didn’t want to be there when it happened. Or maybe she’s still dealing with her own trauma in her own way and doesn’t want a confrontation. But I always circle back to the sl*t-shaming and the shaming about the drinking, and then I think about the Solstice scene where as soon as she saw her she was like “did Feyre pay you this time?” And a part of me is angry about the shaming undertone of that too, while some part of me thinks that maybe Elain felt unwanted along with everyone else and that in order for Nesta to meet them, she has to be paid, but we will never know unless we hear it from her.

Rhysand: that piece of shit, misogynist, who used his powers to compel Nesta to obey his orders, pulled rank on her, taunted and threatened her every step of the way and utilized her for his own agenda, and was *surprised* to learn the woman has trauma. Took him being inside her head and unable to wake her up from the nightmare, because the behavior she was exhibiting wasn’t enough. [insert shocked pickatchu meme]. I also would like to add that him playing the protective love interest from his mate’s own sister, WHO COULD’VE HARMED HER IF SHE WANTED TO, but never wanted to because she’s not a bad person, is so cheap. Like- you, the guy who drugged her and made her give you lap dances, are afraid for her sake… from her sister? Who only ever used words as jabs and is generally rude? Or do you feel like you’re overpowered and are trying to fill the void in your toxic masculinity and reassert dominance ?

Cassian: He was patient with her, and probably the healthiest person in the inner circle who dealt with her until she was okay, but he still silently agreed with all the shit that was said about her. Shit she didn’t deserve to be said about her as someone going through trauma. He mocked whatever progress she made on the stairs calling it pathetic in the beginning. He stayed silent when Nesta was stripped of her will, when she was told she belongs in the Court of Nightmares, when her fate was decided for her, when she was being lied to, when she was threatened to be thrown to the humans who would kill her. He made some progress and understood her better with time, but it doesn’t excuse how he stayed silent when she was being mistreated. Specially since he claims her loves her. He also stayed silent as the Inner Circle despised her presence but still used her to reach what they’re plotting for. He progressed, and he got better, I’ll give him that. But still, as someone who claims he loves her the way he does, he shouldn’t have allowed his friends to manipulate and use her in their schemes but then exclude her from everything else, even knowledge about her own power. But I love that he was patient, that he worked to understand her, that he grew to stand up for her. I would argue that they are the healthiest ship written by SJM this far.

Mor: fucking Mor, who experienced trauma, told Nesta she belongs in the court of Nightmares. Where she was abused herself. Knowing women are viewed as objects there, knowing Nesta would recieve abuse there. She said that, wishing abuse on someone who she simply didn’t like and had some quarrels with. They never saw eye to eye and that’s fine. They always had sharp tongues when talking to each other and that’s fine. What’s not fine though, is that THIS of all things, seemed so out of character for Mor. Now, she never knew Nesta was a survivor of SA. But as someone who helps SA victims, she’s the last person I expected such a comment from. It felt very out of character. I hate that this is the Bi character in all of this mess. Of all people, a hypocrite is the Bi person. The LGBTQ community deserves better. I thought about it, and maybe Mor, being like a stranger to Nesta, and seeing her ignore Cassian in front of the Illyrians who already look down on him, made her angry to the point where she just wanted to land a jab and didn’t think her words would mean anything. Maybe all she wanted to do was stand up for Cassian, but what she said was definitely not true and not okay. I wanted her and Nesta to have a talk about it, but also she grew to have decent conversations with her and she helped her when she and Cassian had that fight. So I don’t know, maybe it’s a silent progress between them.

Amren: this one told her she was a waste of life. What a great way to deal with someone who’s suffering from PTSD and depression and having suicidal thoughts, Amren. Tell them they’re a waste of life, enforce every thought they are having as fact, push them to the point where they doubt they should be breathing, and when they’re told they could tumble down a mountain and break their bones while hiking, their first thought would be “good”. Amren deserves a medal, a badge of honor for being the 500+ old woman who has healthy ways of dealing with traumatized people telling them they don’t deserve to live because the thoughts of their power and dealing with controlling that power right now is so overwhelming. Amren, who decided that because Nesta was always angry, she had no right to know that she used her power unknowingly and forged powerful weapons. Amren, who was pushing for colonization throughout this book, was afraid of Nesta misusing her power. Villainizing Nesta’s every thought, as if Nesta wasn’t overwhelmed from the thought of possessing so much power, as if Nesta doesn’t refuse to use her powers and train. As if Nesta is out there hiding as she masters her power to reemerge and turn the world upside down. You’re the one who’s pushing Rhys to colonize other territories and become high king, Amren. Maybe *you* should be locked up in the house of wind for therapy. What hurts most in this is Amren was her friend. She trusted Amren. Amren said that shitty line to her and then lied to her and manipulated her and used her to further Rhys’s agenda. She flopped from telling Feyre that Nesta is immortal and a few years are nothing, and she should be given time. She would not betray her trust, to whatever she turned into in ACOSF. And everyone give SJM a round of pats on the back and an applause for making Amren the wise one here and making Nesta, the traumatized one who was wronged, get on her knees and apologize. I mean- if you thought this apology scene was necessary, then clarification about the fight between them was just as necessary. Or you include neither scene. But deeming the apology important and not the incident? This is some victim blaming on a whole other level.

The House of Wind: The house of wind was honestly one of the best parts of this book. It was Nesta, “Lady Death” as they call her, breathing life into something, and it was gentle, and it was patient, and it was understanding, and it pushed her to be healthier without judging, without throwing insults or slut-shaming. It hated that she didn’t eat? It kept waiting for her until her body gave out and she had to eat. It didn’t like her drinking? It gave her water when she asked for wine. It showed her its darkest part where she found the greatest warmth as well, as if saying don’t be ashamed of your darkness because in it you’ll find light, and it didn’t abandon her or stop responding to her when she was angry. It was actively by her side, without any judgement, only support and pushing her to fix the behaviours without dissing her. and it was everything those people around her weren’t. It was family.

Gwyn: their first meeting wasn’t at all what you would call “friendly”, to a fault by Nesta. Gwyn didn’t even know anything about Nesta, yet she didn’t react with even more anger as ~others~ did, she didn’t fear Nesta, or give a retort, or get angry and lash out at her. She took the blow and was, with all the calm in the world, like fine, you want to tell on me, go tell. And Nesta did go tell on her, then realized by herself how she acted rashly. And later helped Gwyn without being asked to, by swapping the book so Merrill doesn’t scold her. And their friendship grew to the point where Gwyn, a traumatized person who couldn’t dare leave the library, started training with her, was her friend and had conversations with her that didn’t center her trauma or her coping mechanisms being analyzed. She went out of the library for the first time in 2 years when she knew Nesta needed her by her side. She occupied her mind with stories of Valkyries, women being strong and unyielding in a society which didn’t allow it. She took her hand and gave her a purpose in life to work for. Gave her a friend who didn’t judge, a kind face in the maelstorm of judgemental faces. Until she felt like a safe space to Nesta to the point where she spilled all her thoughts, the ones she could only admit to herself, to Gwyn, letting her inside those walls. And when she braced for judgement, she didn’t receive it. Gwyn dealing with someone’s trauma, as someone who’s been through trauma herself, is one of the beautiful corners of this book

Emerie: Another woman with trauma. She sees Nesta enter her store, of course she knows who she is, yet she doesn’t judge her. Nesta asks about making the fatigues warmer, Emerie says she’ll ask, but it’s costly. Nesta says then she can’t afford it, admits that she was cut off, Emerie, as a stranger, doesn’t judge her. She says she could make them anyway and she can pay her as she can. Because no one should feel cold. It’s simple, irrelevant. Nesta wouldn’t freeze to death, she as a stranger has no obligation to help, it’s a simple reasoning. “You shouldn’t feel cold”. It’s enough for her to help Nesta. Something as mundane as feeling cold. She asks her to join her for a meal. And Nesta asks her if she would join the training, which Emerie refuses. and Nesta blurts out that she didn’t take her for a coward. And later, Nesta sends her the herbs she wishes to get which she can’t get often because of her location, and it’s a message of “you too deserve to see what’s best in the world, to go out and experience the beautiful parts and live, not just exist”. So Emerie goes to training with her as well, and they bond over romance novels. Emerie also reaches a point where she opens up about her own trauma, and tells the truth about what she faced and her survival. This girl who is 50-something at least, who has never had friends, living a lonely secluded life, finally found someone who was trustworthy enough to be around and form a bond with. As for the fact that she is a PoC, and the illyrians are portrayed as this group of savages who abuse their women and their women have no say in their lives and futures and how they clip their women’s wings, when wings, wingspan and wingplay heavily imply that wings are erogenous parts of the body and wing clipping seems to be the equivalent of Circumcision, which again so happens to be done by the “PoC savages who abuse their women”, hits a whole lot as fucking racist and xenophobic. PoC deserve a storyline where they’re not viewed as the villains.

Azriel: I loved his relationship with Nesta. He was the best chaperon™️, he never spoke in judgement toward her. There was a silent understanding between them. However, I’m not against him showing his feelings toward Elain or her toward him. It’s fine, if that’s what they both want. I don’t think Lucien is the type to call for a blood duel. He simply brings her presents and attends when invited, he doesn’t force himself on her and keeps his distance. However I did hate that Azriel took the necklace and gave it to Gwyn, as a secondhand. I know his only intention was to make her smile but the necklace wasn’t meant for her. It’s not a trial by error, he can’t just keep trying out with different women every time he fails with one. And I’ll just leave this here.

The elephant in the room: the entire IC is involved in this, them all blaming Nesta, framing her as the wrong person, when she told Feyre about the dangers of her pregnancy? I don’t care if she did it while she was angry, her heart was in the right place. She got hurt from them deciding her fate without her involvement, voting on her, not once, but twice, about her fate because she wasn’t fast enough to deal with her trauma, then again when deciding if she should know about what she did with her own power and the weapons. and she showed Feyre what was really at play. Protecting her from what she faced with the Inner Circle. Just because she was angry while doing it does not mean she did it out of spite. She did it to expose them, specially Amren at that point. But I don’t get how it was twisted to “because she wanted to hurt Feyre”. She wasn’t even angry at Feyre. But you all would rather suck up to the Inner Circle than confront the fact that they’re hypocrites and liars with a propaganda. They’re evil. They fear Nesta using her power to seize control of everyone because it’s how THEY are. With all this High King crap. Basically colonization dreams. With how they press rank whenever it suits them, and lie about the law to win arguments. It’s because those who are inherently bad think everyone is bad just like them.

Other Elephants in the room which have been here a long time: the thing with blaming Nesta for not being the breadwinner… I could never get it. Some have money-earning skills, others don’t. She, at the point of her life when she was human, was only trained in dancing and appealing to men socially so she could uplift the family’s social status. She couldn’t hunt. Feyre could. And NEITHER, should’ve been the breadwinner. Nesta was willing to starve to death if it would push her father to do something. Feyre wasn’t willing to wait and starve or watch anyone starve. But it doesn’t mean Nesta was at fault. She was only 3 years older than Feyre. Let’s leave the “the oldest child has to step in for the parents when the parents fail” mentality in the past. It’s ridiculous. Nesta was under no obligation to be the breadwinner. And she suffered self-flagellation regularly for letting Feyre walk out there and hunt. But she literally had no skills that when she thought of something to do, she could only think of selling herself on the streets. The parents were abusive, both of them. Favoring one child over the other and planting rivalry between the siblings. “i love you” means nothing. NOTHING, when there is no action to prove it. And if anything, this book made me realize that Nesta was never okay. She was never in a good place mentally. I mean, I knew, but this book just proved it. Her mother favored her alright, but it was not in a loving way. She simply exploited her to climb the social ladder. She didn’t give her love, she gave her instructions. She enabled the grandmother to beat her, and instill some “harsher punishments” one of which Nesta still holds the scars for. She was called worthless, as a child. Why? Because she made a wrong step in a dance. She was physically and verbally abused, and her mother let it happen. Yet she was the only one who would give Nesta the time of day so Nesta still loved her. As a child, her mother was the only person who showed interest in her and she clung to. However twisted it was, it’s the only love she ever got. The only love she knew. Then she lost her. and later the family also lost their wealth. So all she was taught to do her entire life suddenly became meaningless because she can’t achieve what her mother “trained” her to do. And we know the rest of the story. She never felt at home, not even when her mother lived and she still had that wealth. She admitted as much. She was never fine. She might’ve appeared the part, but it was never true. And since she was so good at masking her emotions, nobody was the wiser.

side note: As for her power being the “bare minimum” now, there better not be a plothole, since Rhysand couldn’t contain merely the “surface of her power” because it was too much. and if that’s all she retained, then it’s good enough for me.

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anne-with-an-evangelion · 3 years

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When it comes to talking about DBH characters who get character growth/a redemption arc, Hank is the obvious person to bring up, and there’s the obvious fandom fixation on Gavin, but what about Adam Chapman? He has an arc in the game that sort of disappears in the fray when compared to other characters but he has the literal journey that everyone wants Gavin to have. But even in comparison to others I feel like Adam completely stands on his own as a good character with so much potential as far as his past, future and motivations.

When Kara, Luther and Alice first show up at Rose’s house, Adam is outside chopping wood and literally turns them away, saying his mom isn’t just too busy to talk to them - she doesn’t WANT to. Of course this isn’t the case and Rose invites everyone inside. And Adam is PISSED.

Also he’s wearing a shirt that says Average Casual Guy which is so funny

Adam is young, probably around twenty, he doesn’t seem to be away at college or anything, rather Rose says they just farm their own food to sell at the market and that’s how they scrape by. Sounds stressful, especially with a bunch of Androids living in their house. It’s obvious Adam doesn’t want them around and definitely doesn’t want any new deviants showing up, after the call for revolution that occurred with Markus’s Stratford Tower speech.

As the scene goes on, you get more information about the Chapman’s and the things they’ve been through. Rose is obviously an incredibly strong and compassionate person to be helping the Androids to this extent, but there’s no denying it’s putting her and Adam in danger. When Kara walks in on their right in the kitchen, Adam is telling Rose they need to stop getting involved, that it’s not safe, and he’s not going to back down about this issue anymore.

His outburst over this is pretty understandable, in the context of the game - even when Kara first shows up asking for Rose, Adam’s first question is, “What do you want with her?” Which I feel like isn’t just about whether Kara is an Android or not, but whether she’s someone there to bust them for having Androids in the house. And of course he’s right, because the cops come by like five minutes later to search the house. They are putting themselves in danger, and even though they’re doing the right thing, it must still be a strain on their family... and it’s clear they’ve fought about this many, many times.

So, yeah, his rejection of his mother’s desire to help the Androids comes from a place of fear for their safety, which is understandable to an extent. But he isn’t just afraid of deviants and doesn’t want to help them - he really seems to hate them, which shouldn’t be an understandable view to hold within the context of the game and the allegory of the Civil Rights Movement, and then the language he uses is like, yikes...

It’s not, I understand they’re in trouble but I’m upset you’re putting us in danger, it’s something else - and of course Adam is really mad, and maybe saying something he doesn’t necessarily mean, but this does seem to reflect his view of the Androids as a whole. At this time, Adam honestly doesn’t see them as being people, which probably makes it even harder for him to understand why Rose goes so far out of her way to help them.

I mean, she sets up trips across the river which have been obviously successful, she drives them to Jericho, she has some kind of contact with or understanding of the revolution leaders because she’s able to direct Kara on where to go, and though not much is explained, her brother (and Adam’s uncle) is obviously totally cool with Androids because he’s willing to help them too. She’s clearly been doing this for a while, or at least is proactive enough to take action and do whatever she has to. She’s even willing to take care of Alice once they get across the border. Literally the hero of DBH but I digress. Adam doesn’t think Androids are worthy of the rights they’re asking for, especially when compared to humans.

What follows this is one of the most intriguing lines in the scene (to me)

What does this mean?? We know his father passed away, and Rose says that ever since then, Adam just boils over sometimes. Maybe it happened suddenly, an accident possibly - or did he get sick? Were Androids involved somehow, like what happened with Cole? What was Rose’s husband’s opinion on Androids? Things have changed since he passed, for sure, but still. Did he hold that same “Androids aren’t alive” opinion that Adam is now expressing? Or is it just that Adam thinks if his dad were still here, he’d be able to solve this issue somehow? Maybe his dad was a politician who ran on pro-Android laws and after he died Adam has become disillusioned with his parents’ worldview ??? Maybe his father died helping Androids too and that’s why Adam rejects them so much. Or maybe his dad hated Androids so much he would have never allowed Rose to help them, and so they wouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place, in Adam’s mind. (Edited to say that apparently it’s canon that Adam’s father died of cancer though I can’t recall it specifically being said in the game, so that is definitely a sad addition to things☹️)

I’m literally just making shit up lol but I really do personally hesitate to give Adam some kind of super traumatic backstory or make him bigoted against Androids because the Black characters are already treated poorly enough in the game when it comes to those things. I’m inclined to think this is just a general outburst of missing his dad and wanting him to be there to ‘fix’ things or at least, maybe, mediate the conversation between Adam and Rose. Idk, it’s cool to speculate on, especially when other characters are given super deep dives into their literally nonexistent canon backstory, it definitely feels like there’s so much that’s unsaid here.

Obviously there’s a couple of different ways the gameplay can go after this - but one other thing I wanted to bring up was what happens if you end up with Kara at the border crossing and run into Rose and Adam there. After talking to Rose in the bathroom and making a plan to all go to her brother’s house, Kara talks to Adam outside-

He says he doesn’t agree with Markus’s methods (which is like.. ok.. a whole other conversation in itself)(EDIT: so apparently the answer is different if you choose the ‘pacifist’ route for Markus- Adam says that ‘seeing what Markus is doing made me realize you’re alive’ !!! Which is cool that it changes and def reflects something different about his character than if his response is always the same!) So anyway he now believes in Androids’ right to freedom and happiness. What made this come about?? Was it after interacting with Alice and Kara and Luther?? I have a theory that Rose knew Alice was an Android as soon as they showed up but just played along - maybe when Adam realized there were Android children mixed up in this too, he began to change his view on things, maybe see himself in them, or see things through his father’s eyes, wanting to protect his family and child. Maybe that’s the lens through which Adam begins to see it. It could be the peaceful pacifist revolution Markus is leading, if he is- but even if not, Adam still changes his mind.

Or, maybe after everything that’s happened, he just realizes he was being kind of an asshole about the whole thing and when it came down to it, a government that was literally going door to door searching for Androids and the people who might help them? That’s probably not the type of place Adam wants to live in. It’s definitely interesting to think about his motivations and what brought him to this point.

And even though it’s sad for Kara and Luther, I find the ending where Alice ends up with the Chapman’s really.. bittersweet-ly satisfying in a narrative way. Found family .... though of course it sounds like they were all planning on meeting at Rose’s brother’s house so they would have all been together anyway☹️

🥲I feel like I had so much more to say but yeah!! I think he’s such a cool interesting character and I love that he ends up on the side of the Androids in the end. And what happens after they escape safely??? Does he start helping deviants too like Rose does? Are they going to settle down and form a commune of sorts with the other Androids who escaped? I love the idea of that loss in Adam’s life being filled up with the addition of new people who care about him, and a little sister in Alice, since he seems to be an only child. The possibilities of it all...

Adam has a sad sort of story to his past, he dislikes Androids and then comes around, he has so much potential for what happens after the revolution - and he’s not the only one!!! There are so many characters in the game that deserve a closer look but I just love Adam..

#dbh #adam chapman #he’s just really compelling guys #like. he actually has an Android friendly redemption arc. in canon !!!#Gavin whomst????

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violetfaust · 3 years

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I'm interested in hearing more about why you think Margot should've been Rumbelle's daughter. Sounds interesting, but what would that mean for her enchanted forest life? I think her being Robin Hood's daughter would've been fine if not for Zelena

Okay, Nonny, since you sent this a few days before Mother's Day, I'm gonna finally take the opportunity to try to sum up and speed-run the Belle's Daughter Margot feelings that have haunted me for THREE YEARS. Buckle in; this will be more than you or anyone asked for.

Disclaimer 1: It's been, well, three years, so my memory of Curious Archer and their story is not perfect; could be off on some details here. And Disclaimer 2: I really loved Tiera Skovbye as Robin/Margot; she did a lot with not much screen time, and she and Rose had fabulous chemistry. So although she was well cast as Robin Sr.'s kid, Tiera would be perfectly believable as a Rumbelle daughter, too--maybe give her some low-lights and call it a day. We keep Tiera as Margot in this rewrite. Okay: onward.

(Since one of the few things that would have to change about Robin if she were Rumbelle’s daughter is her name, I’ll just mostly use her Hyperion Heights name “Margot” throughout this post for simplicity.)

First and foremost, the foundation of everything: Margot is so like Belle! She is so like her. They have the same love of adventure, a similar sense of humor. She took Alice on a date to a bookstore. Most of all, she has Belle’s ability to see past “the mask of the monster” to a person’s heart. There was a great scene where Tilly explained that she didn’t want Margot to see her “bad days” because she thought it would be “too much,” and Margot said words to the effect that she was there for the bad as well as the good.

Obviously, people don't have to grow up to be exactly like their parents (Belle and Rumple sure didn't)...BUT. In fiction, one of the fun parts of next-gen stories is for the audience to see how their favorites' personalities are passed down. It's just more fun to see a Henry who has parts of Regina/Emma/Neal than one who doesn't; it's fun to see Lucy resemble little Henry. And it would be fun to see Margot be like her parents (she is very like Robin Sr; not so much Zee). Seeing a character who has so many of Belle's traits becomes just more...fun...when she learned them FROM Belle.

The family feud Rumple/Hook angle turns Alice and Margot’s relationship up another roman tic notch. A classic trope! It’s about reconciliation and love remaking and erasing those old grudges. Which is even more important when we’re supposed to believe that the evidence of Rumple’s final redemption is his saving Rook.

On a more macro level: the entire claim that OUAT is "a show about hope" COLLAPSES because it ends with the annihilation of the Stiltskin family. Rumple, Belle, and Neal are all dead; Henry doesn’t acknowledge them as his family; and Gideon is a friendless and forgotten orphan in another world. I did my rants about this three years ago, but long story short: the show’s not about hope unless it’s hopeful for EVERYONE. And having at least one of Rumbelle’s children alive and happy at the end (with her True Love and friends and acknowledged as part of the family) would fix that. My objection has never been that Rumple (and even Belle) die, but the way it happened.

And of course, Rumbelle needed to have at least one other child because Kitsowitz managed to deny them even one single shared happy moment surrounding Belle’s pregnancy with Gideon and his birth. Even if the audience didn’t get to see it (and we could have gotten a glimpse in Beauty), we deserved to know it happened.

Finally: Zelena did not belong in S7, period. I know it was fun for her fans! (Although apparently there weren't enough of them to positively affect the ratings, meow.) I do know! But it was bad storytelling. She served no point in the larger season arc, and the serial witch killer plot that was invented to serve her was one of the worst and most stupid things Kitsowitz came up with in seven years, and ate up time that could/should have gone to develop other characters. (Driz and Ana come immediately to mind, instead of having them shunted off to another universe, but also Henry/Cinda/Lucy and of course Rumple since his plot was coming to a close.) Zelena didn’t even get any significant growth herself, or develop her relationships with Regina or Robin. She still didn’t express regret for the horrible things she did to characters we love (Rumple, Neal, and Robin Sr.); the only result of all that screentime was to give an unrepentant rapist a love story with a person--we barely see and have zero investment in. And even that was ultimately negated at the end of the season, because in the finale Zee’s back in Storybrooke sans Boo Bear.

So, all that said: what would have to change about Margot’s, and Curious Archer’s, FTL storyline to give us Margot Gold?

Her name—but actually very little else. (And frankly it would have been more respectful to have Belle name her daughter after Robin Sr., who was actually her friend, than for Zee to name her kid after the man she raped, manipulated, and ultimately got killed—but that ship had sailed.)

Belle and Rumple could have given their daughter any number of fairytale names after people they know, aka fresh take on a Disney character. My favorite possibilities are Aurora (and then Curious Archer could have been Curious Beauty, and done a riff on the Sleeping Beauty story as part of their FTL backstory, with a built-in TLK) and Merlin (very pretty for a girl, I’ve always thought).

But the character herself would have been very much the same: she could be Rumbelle’s jock daughter, trained in archery and swordsmanship by family friends (Merida/Mulan/Charming), but always feeling out of place in her family of scholars/sorcerers/nerds.

I am SO sorry for the length of this--there's even more under this cut!

Robin/Margot felt insecure about trying to live up to her father’s name; Rory/Merlin/Margot could have similar anxieties trying to live down her father’s Dark One rep. There could even be a similar story where she was born with magic (like Robin was) but loses it or chooses to give it up—something that would estrange her further from her family. Or, if she was Merlin, she could keep her magic but be reluctant to use it, and part of Curious Archer’s Hyperion Heights arc would be both Margot and Tilly discovering and accepting their magic. (Sapphic sorceresses for the win.)

Now, one of the cutest things about Alice/Robin’s FTL dynamic was Robin being a girl from the Land Without Magic finding her feet in an enchanted forest, with Alice’s help. But it would only take a little finessing of S7 Rumbelle’s story to get that for Rory as well. (Of course, any decent story would have a LOT of finessing of Rumbelle’s plot so that Belle didn’t die and put Rumple on a suicide mission, but again—assuming the ship has sailed…)

Say that Rory is five to six years younger than Gideon. The Rumbelle family spend a dozen years or so traveling the realms, but then Rumbelle decide that they want Gideon and Rory to be comfortable in the LWoM with their extended Charming family, so they settle back into the Pink Palace so the kids can get a LWoM education. They still take occasional journeys, often Rumbelle going to save some hapless souls, but Rory grows up primarily in SB with very few, vague memories of all the fascinating places they visited when she was a small child. This feeds her hunger for adventure along with some envy of Gideon for having so many more fairytale experiences—another thing that makes her feel like a misfit in her family. So, presto, when she moves to FTL she and Alice have pretty much the same meeting/adventures.

One of the key notes of Rumple and Alice/Tilly's relationship, showing his growth and making it so special, was how he chose to set her free of being the Guardian or whatever, allowing her to be free and get what he never had, the chance to grow old with the woman she loves. And that would be weakened if Rumple knew that by choosing Alice's happiness over his own, he was also choosing his own daughter's happiness (because we know Rumple picks his kids over himself ever time). But--he doesn't have to know WHO Alice's True Love is when he makes that choice. He could just know that there is someone, or simply realize that Alice deserves her freedom for her own sake. (Rumple's daughter also getting happiness would be a side benefit that he didn't learn about till later, and have the added perk of Rumple actually getting a narrative reward for doing something good. Which almost NEVER happened! Bonus.)

Finally: I do understand that Robin's presence on the canvas was important to fans of Robin Sr.--getting to know he's remembered and having someone carry on his legacy. Of course I get it--Rumbelle and their family not having that is my biggest complaint (of so so many).

But we don't need a grown-up Robin Jr. to be Robin's legacy. Let her stay a cute background kid with perennially baby Prince Neal. There's already a character, one we're invested in, to carry on for the Hoods: Roland. And again, it would be satisfying for the audience to learn that a five-year-old orphan wasn't shunted off from what family he had left (Regina and Henry) into another universe and never heard from again. If Kitsowitz didn't waste time with Zelena, they wouldn't have needed the idiotic Jack-is-Hansel-the-serial-killer twist, and we could have have had Roland filling the role of Henry's best friend/little brother (and therefore Lucy's fake HH dad--God, that plot was bad all the way back in season 1; why Kitsowitz why?). We'd see Roland onscreen, part of the family, at the end of the show, perhaps with his own True Love (Drizella, maybe, or better yet Gideon) and happy future.

So, that's it: the combination of Margot Stiltskin-Gold and Roland Hood tightens and heightens the storytelling throughout S7, closes some plot holes, and actually fulfills some of the show's stated themes. Who knew!

Anyone else want three years of OUAT theory vomit? 😋 Shoot me an ask!

(I actually have another one, god help us all, but I might save it till Father's Day...)

#rumbelle #ouat of all things #curious archer sort of #rumbelle family #belle french #deserved a daughter damnit #roland hood #anti-kitsowitz as all things should be #long post guys sorry #op #UN!proofread!

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discoscoob · 3 years

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"What Loki got wrong – and Doctor Who got right Redeeming a villainous character isn’t easy but the Disney Plus series could pick up a few tips from the BBC’s flagship series.

We all love Loki – the God of Mischief, Lord of Chaos, a wannabe tyrant and murderer with a twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step. So where on Earth (or rather, in the multiverse) did he go during his eponymous Disney Plus series? When Loki was first proposed, I was intrigued to see a Marvel spin-off that focused on an amoral, self-serving character. But over the course of its six episodes, we saw Tom Hiddleston abruptly deliver a reverse heel-turn, transforming a character that had always skirted in grey areas of villainy into a fairly bland, heroic type who just wanted to save the universe.In the final episode, Loki was offered the chance at universal war and chaos, a throne or a quiet home life in the background. The mind boggles that someone who tried to rule the planet just a few weeks before and apparently revelled in disorder would so quickly plump for the third option, no matter how nice his new friends were. .Maybe Loki needs more ‘good’ characters to bounce off for him to play the fun bad boy, as he had in the Thor movies. Maybe creating a Marvel series with a morally ambiguous lead, à la Rick and Morty, was never on the cards. But there was a way that Loki could have redeemed its central character without completely compromising what made him interesting in the first place. In fact, it’s been done before in a different series.A few times over the course of Loki, viewers had compared it to Doctor Who, mainly because of its general time-travel premise (what are the officious TVA except Time Lords with a dental plan?) and especially after episode three saw Loki and Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) trapped on a dying world. In fact, many commented that Loki did ‘Doctor Who’ better than Doctor Who itself, thanks to a higher budget and bigger stars. (Though did Loki have a sonic screwdriver? I think not. Case closed.)And I actually think Loki could learn something from Doctor Who, more specifically, from a storyline that saw an iconic villain try to change their ways with Cast your mind back to 2017 and Peter Capaldi’s final series as the Twelfth Doctor. A major throughline of those episodes was the Doctor’s attempt to redeem his old nemesis The Master, then played by Michelle Gomez as Missy. Initially reluctant (and not before a few final backstabs), Missy did end up playing the hero, only to be cut down by an alternate version of herself (AKA her predecessor in the regenerating role, John Simm) before she could reveal to the Doctor that she’d finally come over to his side.Crucially, during this process Missy was often as unpleasant, irascible and darkly funny as she’d ever been at her most villainous, regularly still insulting and belittling the Doctor and his friends even as she did gain more empathy and something of a moral code. She didn’t just completely gain a new personality, in other words, and the story was more moving and believable as a result.Of course, Loki is changed by what happens to him over the course of his series – the “journey” he goes on, as Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains puts it, is needed to put him in the position where he’s willing to take over the TVA himself. But what we see him go through on screen doesn’t feel like enough to justify such a change in the character – or why the show would choose to make him so much less entertaining.If Loki had always been how he appeared in the finale, he wouldn’t have lasted as long as he has in the MCU, let alone get his own spin-off. Make Loki fun again! It probably doesn’t help that we’ve seen an onscreen version of Loki’s journey already which did a better job, with the ‘older’/original Loki’s arc in 2017 Marvel movie Thor: Ragnarok making a much better case for his gradual turn from self-interest to semi-heroism, though still with a trademark blend of arrogance and style (including bellowing “Your saviour is here!” as he rescued the people of Asgard).Maybe it helps that, in that film, he plays second fiddle to Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. Maybe Missy’s story only worked in Doctor Who because she wasn’t the main character, and similarly had the good

Doctor to bounce off (though if someone does want to make a Missy TV show, I’m in).Whatever the reasoning, something still feels a little off about this newly heroic Loki variant. Time for, if not a pruning, then at least a bit of a redirection if season two is going to find its glorious purpose"

reading this article rolling my eyes first off Missy went by a different name, also was not really a redemption of the master but that version of the master e.g missy which still don't know where this version is suppose to happen cause imo missy was the master but unlike the master had more redemptive qualities, wanting to be the doctors friend again/wanting to change but never getting the chance/past version didn't want to change, while this version feels like always on a path of redemption to the be killed off and the master comes back still evil, most likely missy version of the master will never be mentioned again/ never see this version again. also have they watched the Loki show, he literally learns he dies in the future, his stuck in a unfamiliar place by a very powerful organisation, also his self serving persona has always been a façade mostly, people can suddenly want to change which imo Loki hasn't really wanted to as Thor as pointed out about him going round in circles and him never seem to want to change in Ragnarok he was still not really change even though he shown he can be a better person, he also betrayed thor show still self serving. but Loki in the series makes sense his perception would change, his lost him home, his free will, Thor, learns he died/dies, and can't back to his timeline, but find it unbelieveable that Loki whole attitude would change... i think people need to pay more attention/don't really understand Loki, also he is still fun 3 episodes in just because his not acting like a clown and shown to be vulnerable and shown be more genuine and wanting be a hero doesn't mean they completely stripped his personality, hopefully we see his fun personality back next series. the reason he lasted in MCU so long is not just because his fun etc but because his a complex character, if i remember correct his fun personality didn't really come out until the dark world and then ragonorak in Thor he was angry and bitter and avengers was angry and bitter and wanting to rule earth. also we saw his fun personality up until episode 3 as slowly began to stop clowning around and become more genuine through Sylvie, also good friends didn't just change Loki, it was already in there it was a journey he always destined to go down as saw in the films which now some what reset in the series for another journey but thing is Mobius and Sylvie not just better Loki but his also bettered Mobius and Sylvie, also makes sense he change his self serving behaviour as learns even gets the throne or what he thought was his glory purpose he still not be truly happy, just like Sylvie and just like Mobius at The TVA. i feel some just don't really go into who Loki character is or just like his boring now if his not there being smug or clown or him finally actually being genuine = bad telling of redemption ok *rolls eyes*

I 100% agree! Reading that made me roll my eyes too, until I got to your part of the anon, that was a relief to read.

#loki #loki series

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xiverni · 4 years

Text

Redemption and “Consequences”

A lot of talk has been had recently as of chapter 284 of both Endeavor and Bakugo’s “redemptions”, and how they seem to be leading up to some grand consequences for their actions, a final karmic retribution of sorts. People often talk about how these two characters have never had to “pay” for their actions, and that they have never had to face any real consequences.

Of course, this notion is flawed from the surface all the way to the foundation. Not only have these two characters suffered quite a lot throughout their stay in the story, but the very notion that characters have to “face retribution” in order to become redeemed is an odd, troubling, and frankly reactionary idea that should be discarded as childish nonsense.

To begin with the idea that Bakugo and Endeavor have not suffered due to the consequences of their actions, even a cursory glance at the story can immediately dispel these arguments. Bakugo, due to his abrasive nature and inferiority complex, spent much of the series losing over and over again. From the initial school training arc to the school festival, Bakugo’s flaws have resulted in him failing at his goals, whether they are beating Deku or fighting Todoroki at his full strength. His anger issues and “villainous” outward appearance even led to a terrorist organization kidnapping him, leading to a situation in which Bakugo spent a good length of time wracked in guilt and trauma over his actions, which he believed contributed to All Might’s fall. This all culminates in his failure in the Provisional License Exams, in which Bakugo’s failings again prevent him from reaching his ambitions.

It is after his second confrontation with Deku that Bakugo’s development starts picking up real speed, with the next arc that centers around him showing that Bakugo is learning that looking down on those weaker than you will only lead to worse outcomes for yourself. Additionally, it is from here that we begin seeing Bakugo both act more cooperatively with his teammates and (occasionally) prioritize saving people over winning. This is shown when he acts as a cooperative unit with his teammates in the Joint Training Arc, and he is seen saving civilians in the Meta Liberation Arc and the Endeavor Internship Arc.

When it comes to Endeavor, he is a character that is definitely a lot more contentious than Bakugo, for a number of reasons. For one, Bakugo is an “attractive” character to many of those who read this story, thus he is able to get a lot of leeway as compared to other characters. Additionally, he is a literal child, thus he is treated with a lighter moral weight by the “fandom”. The idea that being under the age of 18 somehow makes you less morally responsible for your actions than anyone arbitrary older than that age has always rubbed me the wrong way. Yes, younger people have a less complete and mature perception of the world, thus it is generally fairer to treat them lighter. However, there are countless adults who suffer from the same immaturity problems and developmental issues as young people do. That said, this is a bit of a tangent already.

From the moment All Might retires, Endeavor has already begun suffering for his actions. He has finally reached the position of number one hero... In the worst way possible : by default. The public is at best ambivalent about his position, and his tenure as the head hero has overseen a sharp rise in crime and disorder in society. What’s worse, as soon as Endeavor finally realizes the horrible things he’s done to his family, it becomes apparent that it’s far too little too late, as Natsuo literally can’t bear being in the same room as Endeavor and Shoto is consistently coldly professional to him. Fuyumi and Rei, the two that are more receptive to Endeavor, are a) doing it out a sense of longing for a “true family” and not particularly out of a sentimental attachment for Endeavor as a person or father, and b) in the case of Rei, not even wanting to see Endeavor. Can you imagine the impact of finally growing and learning from your horrific past mistakes, only to find out that these mistakes will never be able to be moved on from? Can you imagine resolving your pride and selfish desires, choosing to leave behind the family you want to rebuild, all so that they can live comfortably and in peace? Endeavor has almost constantly been suffering since the day All Might retired, and even though it absolutely cannot be said that he doesn’t deserve his suffering, it is in fact still suffering that is being dealt to him.

There is also another argument that centers around legal repercussions for actions committed by these characters, which is something that I both concede has not occurred and simultaneously state is literally of no narrative significance. If these were in fact real people in the real world, there would be a compelling argument that Endeavor deserves to serve time in prison for his abusive behavior. However, appropriate legal punishments are not equivalent to self improvement by the method of narrative punishments. How the fuck would a jail sentence improve Endeavor’s moral character any more than it already has improved? For those who are actually making the claim that these characters should have in universe been given legal repercussions for their actions (as well as those who, hilariously, use Endeavor’s lack of legal consequences as proof that the heroes are bad), Endeavor’s actions are literally unknown to the general public. Additionally, bullying among students is pretty standard in Japan, while it is certainly not a good thing. Furthermore, I really don’t see the point in arguing about “physical violence” in terms of characters in a superhero story throwing around explosions like nothing (I am talking about Bakugo’s more abrasive nature, not Endeavor’s actual physical violence against his children, the latter of which is meant narratively to hold actual weight). People in this universe are obviously a lot more durable than people in our universe. Accept that this is a fictional story with unrealistic aspects, and that in order to critically examine it, you need to accept its basic premises at face value without assuming things using the outside world.

Now to move to my actual argument, I see so many people obsessed with the idea of “bad” characters having to go through some sort of “trial” or “punishment” in order to become redeemed - as if that’s the way people work. While this may come as a surprise to some, bad people are in fact capable of becoming better human beings without experiencing any sort of karmic retribution. In fact, I would say that the resolve to become better, even without some outside force pushing upon you, is a far harder and meaningful journey than one in which you’re simply pummeled and punished into waving a white flag. It reminds me of the trope “defeat means friendship”, in which the protagonists defeat (typically physically) an enemy, thus converting that enemy into an ally or friend of sorts.

Think about it like this: would you be more willing to forgive someone who committed a terrible crime, served no time in prison for it, but nonetheless learned from their mistakes and genuinely became a better person.... or someone who committed a terrible crime, served decades in prison, and then came out none the wiser to their own actions?

What makes this situation even funnier is that many of the people demanding karmic retribution for these characters’ actions would, in real life, be advocating for justice reforms that lean towards “rehabilitation” rather than “retribution”. In fact, it has pretty much been proven that rehabilitation is almost universally more effective at actually changing the mindsets of people as opposed to retribution.

In conclusion, the characters people say haven’t been given consequences have been given consequences, and the prison system should be reformed. Tune in next time for more wacky and unexpected topics like societal collapse and the technological decline of human civilization in BNHA.

#bnha #bnha spoilers #enji todoroki #endeavor #bakugo katsuki #narrative exploration #meta #mha #mha spoilers #bnha 284

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