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#from not knowing about their story at all (thinking they're just a quirky fandom thing)
good-soupmens · 9 months
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Ik the good omens fandom has different takes on God as a character, but I like the idea that she DOES have an ineffable plan, and Heaven is doing their absolute worst job carrying it out.
Most angels never talk to God, and they're usually selfish, they don't do the right thing (only what they're told), and it's even possible they're working under a corrupt power (like the Metatron). I like that theory because Metatron IS the barrier between God and the angels. He could easily lie to them and change plans, and we the audience know that "friendly old man metatron" swindling Aziraphale is not what he seems.
But from the beginning, we see inconsistency. Crowley falls from heaven after asking questions/hanging out with the wrong group while Aziraphale is allowed to lie about the flaming sword and change Heaven's plans. God can see how much he cares about humans and the earth by his actions (Crowley being the same), which makes me think that him getting away with it is intentional, not inconsistent or neglectful. ESPECIALLY if Aziraphale and Crowley run heaven and hell respectively in season 3. They have the power to change things, just like they stopped the world from ending the first time. I think Crowley and Aziraphale ARE the ineffable plan.
Their love could bridge the gap between opposing forces in a way that it couldn't if they were both angels. After all, both heaven and hell think they're doing the better thing while they're both not. Crowley and Aziraphale are the best of both sides.
If bringing them together was God's plan, it'd be a powerful story for queer Christians!! A lot of us have been hurt by the church, but we hold on to God's love, which doesn't fail us. We stay in a religion with a history of fighting queerness not because we're all brainwashed, but because we wholeheartedly believe in a God that loves us. Sometimes I see good omens' heaven as an analogy for toxic churches, and I'd love nothing more than for Aziraphale to realize heaven is working against God. Not to mention God using a gay couple to save the world/save heaven from corruption?? I'd kill for that storyline
Secondly, Aziraphale's devotion wouldn't have been for nothing. If God was awful the whole time, it defeats the times he and Crowley reached out, and the moment in the GOs1 finale where Crowley says, "what if you're going AGAINST God's ineffable plan?" to Gabriel and Beelzebub. (It'd almost defeat the purpose of her being the quirky narrator following their story, too.)
Even Crowley, never fooled by "heaven is all good" calls for God in his time of need ("God listening? Show me an ineffable plan.") (Possibly when he reaches to the sky in order to stop time) (Calling for God before Satan in the burning bookshop) (Looking up and muttering "God" after realizing Aziraphale is going to leave him in s2)
Lastly, after the trauma that both Crowley and Aziraphale went through, with Crowley falling and Aziraphale coming to terms with heaven's corruption (and both being mistreated by their side) it'd be nice to have been for a reason. They have every right to grieve and be angry for all that they went through, and the centuries that they weren't supposed to love each other, but I believe the series will end on a positive, sweet note, like the rainbow after a storm.
Like Job, they're losing almost everything (their relationship as it was, the bookshop, and the life they carved out), but they have each other. I think they'll lose everything to save EVERYONE, and in the end, the reward will top the pain. No holding back, no forces hunting them down, just them together after a PAINFULLY long time with everything they'd wanted.
We know that God doesn't get around to answering many questions, but her speech to Job was in part to say "trust me"
She laid the foundations of the earth. She made every living thing. Job couldn't see past the destruction of his life, but she has a plan. Job is a valuable human being, but he doesn't have the power and knowledge of God. God will share her plan when he can make a whale. Otherwise, he can trust that "Most things are fine in the end"
*Aziraphale voice* That's ineffable!
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raayllum · 1 year
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it’s high key really annoying the attention toh gets on this website while no one acknowledges tdp exists
Yeah, sometimes I wish TDP got more recognition and appreciation in a fandom space for its storytelling (the parallels, the worldbuilding, the mature theme explorations) simply because we haven't had a western kids' show go this hard since TLOK (even if I think Korra stumbles in a lot of ways) and arguably ATLA in its explorations of war and morality, two things that TDP is obsessed with, as well as a sometimes overwhelming discussion of Grief.
However, to be frank, while many teen and adult fans of kids cartoons say that they want darker themes and storylines, what that usually means, I think, is more akin to something like TOH or She Ra, in which you know 1) your favourite characters will always typically survive with maybe one or two minor parental or villainous exceptions, and 2) one or two characters in an otherwise fairly cookie cutter 'good guy' cast will have a redemption arc or be quirky morally dubious in a way that's played for comedy, and there will be a handful of significantly "Oh Shit!" darker or creepier moments. The characters are mostly teenagers, the heavier plot stuff is regulated to a few standout episodes, with most of the other conflicts being things like figuring out how to make friends or struggling with not fitting in or deciding what you want to do with your life. And those are all good explorations, and it's not as though TDP doesn't touch on some of that (Callum is finding his place in the world, Rayla is 'changing careers', Ez struggles with his new responsibilities and not fitting in, Soren - like Hunter - leaves an emotionally abusive relationship with a parental figure).
But I think it's TDP's attachment of all of those things to morality that makes the emotional stakes higher and less comforting and/or comfortable for people who are, likely, going to fiction for escapism rather than exploration. (To be clear: one is not better than the other, I just know what my personal preferences are.) Rayla's 'career/schooling' change is whether she's going to kill people for a living; Callum deciding what sort of mage he's going to be is rooted in deciding how much he's willing to either slowly destroy himself or take on the impossible, both with some dire consequences; Ezran not fitting is is also tied to having mysterious, unknown magical powers the story still hasn't fully explained the root cause of. Yes, the three main kids are typically good people who want to do the right thing, but that's much easier said than done (Ezran burning the monster soldiers, Callum's ruthlessness, Rayla's self sacrificial tendencies manifesting in destructive ways). TDP is never going to have an episode of "I lied to my friends because I wanted them to think I was cool or not a nerd" or "I'm scared of them preferring someone else over me" or "I need to learn how to be a good friend" (hi TOH with like 5 episodes and She Ra).
Like Rayla lies to the boys, but that's because she isn't sure how to tell them that her father murdered theirs and made them orphans, and she's worried it will accordingly be a wedge between them.
Like, there's hardly any episodes of TDP that don't talk about grief or death or both in some manner. The show consistently explores unreliable narrators across all sides of its ethical spectrum(s). S4 has a subplot regarding religious traditions and the ethics of the death penalty. Most of Arc 1 and now into Arc 2 sees good people with good intentions or understandable motivations doing pretty terrible things to either themselves, the people around them, or both. The death and body horror imagery aren't one offs, but consistent series defining elements that are always treated seriously. Villains aren't people who don't love their families (or anyone) and good guys aren't good because they're good friends to one another. It's more complicated than that, from the body swap and discussions of the soul in S1, to the cycle of violence laid out explicitly in S2, to explorations of punishment and exile in S3.
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Overall, I'm fine with the success and appreciation that TDP gets; some of my students watch it, actually, which makes it useful in some of our lesson discussions. Because TDP is a good show for kids, yes, but it certainly never pulls its punches in forcing all of its ensemble cast through the wringer.
TLDR; due to age demographics and tonal differences, particularly in character conflicts, themes, and amount of Lore, I'm not surprised at all that TDP is pretty underrated on tumblr. Again, doesn't mean these elements of 'maturity' make it Better (although I do think it's written more cohesively than She Ra and more consistently than TOH in its set up and payoff), I just know where my (and many other's) preferences lay accordingly, and am not surprised at the split.
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kayetra-spade-queen · 2 months
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Danny Phantom
There's not much change in name, but I intend to use what the fandom come up for his middle name (at least I think that's what the fandom agreed on? I might be wrong).
Daniel James Fenton.
Daniel, his actual full first name.
James, is what I remembered the name the fandom agreed upon, or at least some of it.
Fenton, his family name. There's nothing for me to explain about.
Also, a friend pointed out that I have a habit of giving things dramatic names (I'd say the influence of Genshin is strong af-). I do have a habit of making something to be more extreme than it was when it was originally made, so please don't mind it.
Relationships:
Maddie and Jack:
They're still the goofy and quirky parents Danny and Jazz had, but was smarter, more understanding and compassionate compared to the original. Knew Danny turned into ghost and the portal incident, more like they were also witnesses of that said incident. The sound of his scream of agony and pain manage to pull out nightmares for the both of them on several nights. However, that doesn't waver their love for their son. Sure, he may become half of the being they're hunting down for the sake of studies or something, but that doesn't erase the fact that this ghost child is their child, their little baby who unfortunately fell into the abyss of their own mistakes and neglect. They assists Team Phantom many times when it comes to the supply and whatever knowledge they have currently and are still expanding beyond their current understanding for the sake of learning to find a solution that wouldn't harm either side of the plane.
Jazz:
Nothing much different compared to the canon, except she was also a witness to the incident. Her overprotectiveness tenfold, much to Danny's dismay, and it took a lot of time for them to find a common ground and for her to tone down. There's nothing much different in this version compared to the original.
Sam, Tucker:
Danny's friends since elementary. Their relationship is pretty much the same as they are in canon, but what's different is that Danny and Sam doesn't harbor feelings for one another (I apologize for those who ship Amethyst Ocean), and therefore they aren't in any other relationship other than best friends.
Valerie:
Danny's relationship with Valerie is very contradictive compared to their relationship in canon. First and foremost; Valerie listens to people more than just act out and shutting her ears out, yes she sometimes act out first questions later, but she had made pretty good judgements and know that nothing good happens when jumping to conclusions too quickly and taking everything at face value without knowing the full story. She and Danny became friends during freshman year of middle school, and although Valerie still somewhat in the 'popular' clique in their school, she'd prefer to spend time with the Team Phantom any time. She could be considered the hub of all gossips at school with how much information she gets from the most loud and chatty clique of the whole school.
Dani/Elly, Dan/Ozzy:
Dani: The first ever semi-success clone of Danny made by Vlad. Nothing really is different in their relationship, until Dani was in the most critical condition that had something to do with her unstable ectoplasm, which required her to have to be revert to a some sort of fetus and undergo a process similar to normal human pregnancy, but instead of putting the halfa fetus into Danny, it was put inside of a bottle first before a birthing pod when the halfa child became more mature and resembles a newborn. In turn, she'll be reborn back as purely Danny's child (think about Ben who asexually reproduced, but went through a completely different process) without any of her past memories in place. The art and technology of doing this process remains undisclosed. Her new identity became Eleanor Maria Fenton with the nickname "Elly", and she became the ghost princess by right of birth after her "rebirth".
Dan: Their relationship remains the same until Danny decided to properly take care of Dan (before the de-aging). Think of it like a Nahida-Scaramouche/Wanderer relationship. Although it was a painfully grueling process, Danny was patient and really think about Dan and his freedom and his disoriented characteristics at heart and tried to the best of his abilities to help Dan out through it all. However, it turns out the ectoplasm from Vlad's half in Dan was found out to have a corruption, making Dan going through an excruciating pain and suffering. In order to cleanse the corruption entirely, Dan have to go through the same process as Dani, reverting him back to that of a fetus, born now as a halfa, and restart everything from scratch. His new identity became Kalos Marcus Fenton with the nickname "Ozzy", becoming the ghost prince by right of birth after his "rebirth". He and Elly had became twins in this current life.
Cujo:
The ghost dog that Danny found outside the building of Axion Labs (no, he didn't went in and wreck the place, because I'm twisting some things in Shades of Gray because Valerie is part of Team Phantom from the start). The dog looked lost, confused, as if it doesn't know what to do, so Danny decided to take the dog in and brought him home. After a while, he realized the tag on the dog's collar, and figured that this dog at some point was a staff at Axion Labs or maybe someone related to someone who works at the lab, and decided to check what's the deal with the dog and the lab. Danny later found out that the ghost dog, along with other dogs before (he didn't know if the other staff dogs are also dead, but he'll have to check it up later) are used to be guards dogs decades ago, but they were let down when technology became more efficient. The dog canals, food bowls, and other stuff are being put in an abandoned storage space that was completely sealed off. But a single toy stood out to him, a squeaky toy. Since this is the only toy in the whole room, Danny assumed this might've belonged to the ghost dog he found, so he decided to go back home and hoping this is the item that the dog was looking for to the point of waiting outside the walls of the lab for, which thankfully it was. However, instead of going back to the Ghost Zone, the dog decided to stay, and Danny became his owner after asking Maddie and Jack (to which both agreed). Cujo became his name.
Vlad:
Good god, where do I even begin... Ok, I guess I should start that their relationship is a lot worse than in canon. Yes, he still had that hatred towards Jack, but he also hated Maddie as the miniature portal was also her creation as it is to Jack's. By extent, he hated both of their kids too (unreasonable? Yes, but anything goes for me-), but particularly Danny due to his status as a halfa and the many connection he had between the living plane and the Ghost Zone. Dani's creation wasn't because he wanted a perfect son, it was an attempt to use the clones as an army to attack Danny. Dan's creation was literally a succeeded version of Vlad's plan. Vlad figured that the only way to really hurt Maddie and Jack, was to hurt their beloved youngest, the more pain the better he said. Vlad was so deep into his hatred towards the Fentons, morality was completely out the window and down the drain for him. Every attempt was another way for him to destroy the Fentons of what they did to him, he wasn't willing to talk whatsoever, even an attempt would've been futile instead. Due to me completely erasing Phantom Planet from existence, Vlad was still roaming free under the facade of a good natured mayor while scheming to get rid of the Fentons by any means necessary. His ectoplasm became corrupted due to many times it was used to experiment dangerous creations and many mysterious methods. However, Vlad could withstand it due to his overflowing amount of sheer hatred, while Dan couldn't handle the corruption due to having Danny's DNA.
Manny:
A fellow member of the Nicktoons Team. Manny (alongside Jenny) joined much later. They started out as acquaintances then friends, then after a while, they both started a relationship. Manny's life became even more interesting by the time the twins came to the picture, and Manny wouldn't want it any other way. He's a great babysitter (and maybe even parent, someday).
Jimmy, Timmy:
Danny considered both of them as his troublesome younger brothers, particularly Timmy. It all happened because the Turners asked the Fentons if it's ok for them to leave Timmy under the Fentons for a while, and that's how Danny's babysitting career started (do not ask for details. If you know what the Turners are like, that should speak volumes enough). Danny met Jimmy a little later afterwards after seeing a lonely kid on the bench of the courtyard of Timmy's school, so he decided to approach him, and that's how they get to know each other. Danny was a bit protective towards Jimmy due to how many times he's been bullied and being treated as an outcast because of his high IQ, so Jimmy found a safe haven in Danny. Although Danny said he's more of their babysitter than anything, Danny turned out to be that of a parental figure of the team; slightly strict but responsible and gave out reasonable rules so no one gets into unwanted troubles even outside missions. Both Jimmy and Timmy viewed Danny is that of the 3rd parental figure who kept them grounded and the voice of reason and motivation for them. Although he is still capable of grounding them, like confiscating Timmy's video games and locking Jimmy's lab while taking the key with him. Jenny said it was a given considering many times those two caused trouble.
SpongeBob:
Danny's best buddy in the team. SB had always been the motivational one of the whole team and kept everyone in spirits. Literally the closet person he had in the team way before Manny and Jenny. Supports Danny through thick and thin, and was the first person Danny ever confided with whenever he had problems and vice versa.
Jenny:
Was the only person (robot?) Danny recognized in Center Shades, and the only one Danny talked with for a while until he got to know the other members (particularly Randy and Jake). Danny was Jenny's backup fixer whenever Jimmy is not available and/or wasn't with them altogether, hence the only person Jenny trust in the other team with her mechanisms.
Info Dumps:
I will be dumping a hella load of info in this column, so be warned if you don't want to read everything. I'm not really willing to make a separate blog about this topic itself, so consider it like a Danny speciality that you can't find anywhere except asking Danny himself;
The term 'ghosts' is an umbrella term used for all types of spirits that originates from all the realms of the Infinite Realms (commonly known as the Ghost Zone). Just because they're called ghosts, doesn't necessarily mean they are whatever that's left of a human spirit.
Ghosts aren't inherently bad natured; they're more driven by their obsessions more than anything, and doesn't really meant to cause harm, but their obsessions could clouded their better judgement, making them getting mischaracterized as 'bad natured' and 'pure evil'. They're not bad, they just need something to feed off of their obsessions to find a few specks of peace.
The Ghost Zone is actually named as Infinite Realms, but another name was also proposed when the realm was first discovered; Gap of The Sun. The reason for this naming is that it was once believed that this realm had been created from a sun that once exploded, and instead of turning into a black hole, it turned into a neverending realm filled with doors leading to many other realms. However, the naming and this theory was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence to support the claim of the exploded sun that created this primal realm.
The nature of ectoplasm is currently unknown, but it is theorized to be remnants of a spirit's will and their former drive when they were still alive. But due to the lack of evidence, there is no concrete info that the ectoplasm were remnants of the ghosts leftover living will. It was only left that ectoplasm are just what give these ghosts their shape after their soul no longer resides using a human vessel in the living plane.
There's a phenomenon between the ghosts called a "Death Day", where the ghost will have to relive the memories of their death, the feeling of pain they felt all over again. They would go completely paralyzed and won't be able to move at all as they relive the memories and pain of their death with nowhere to go as they couldn't move. The aftereffects when the day of their Death Day had passed are; extreme numbness, lacking color vision in their sights (everything is in black and white for them), complete blockage of their powers, and whatever that's left in their mood swings of their Death Day. The only way to minimize the pain during Death Day was when the spirit's living loved ones visit their graves or commemorate the death anniversary. Even then, that won't erase the pain entirely, as it won't affect anything in the aftereffects (although this is unclear for those who are born as a halfa).
Danny's ghost king title:
Ok, so I did said that Danny became ghost king in this version, right? Well, in version, Danny became ghost king a little later after the defeat of Pariah Dark. Technically, he was already crowned shortly after, but due to the fact he's biologically and chronologically too young to rule yet, it was decided that Danny have to wait until he was 20 to finally take on the big roles of being the king of ghosts. Until then, he was made to do smaller tasks that seemed a bit big to him at first, but once he became king, the weight was even more immense than what he had initially thought it would.
The Ghost Law:
A law that is absolutely mandatory to follow by all ghosts of every realm and every kind. Here are some examples;
Ghosts are absolutely forbidden to harm those who still resides the living plane by any means.
In terms of handling one's obsessions, it is absolutely advised to ask the Ghost King for any solution that wouldn't involved the living beings.
Killing a living soul or the environment of the living realm will be heavily punished.
In terms of living amongst the alive in the living plane, a barrier must be made around the property to prevent ghost hunters or unwanted guests from lingering the property.
When a soul from the living plane had lost its human vessel and could no longer resides amongst the alive (basically: someone died), it is an absolute must to inform the ghost king in order to conduct the 'White Farewell' ceremony for the now-departed spirit.
Personality:
Not much different, except he radiates mom energy all over. Well, no wonder. Along with Ben, Danny has plenty experience when it comes to hyperactive and/or rowdy kids, and had a huge sense of parental responsibility towards everyone. Both Danny and Ben would be fussing over those who would dive head first into trouble without a clear plan and getting injured in the process, or when someone did something incredibly stupid it ended as a huge problem (they're in the Overview department for a reason).
Danny is more... Elegant compared to the original. There's always an aura of grace coming from him, and sometimes his voice comes off a sort of a mystical vibes, even if he didn't intend to it. Although despite being king, his overall personality didn't change; humble, friendly, and approachable.
Battle attire:
Something like a royal outfit, but nothing extravagant. Ok, maybe adding a bit of claws on his gloves could be a bit extra, but you can't blame me, blame Ningguang-
The hair tho, I have been thinking like a Zhongli-style ponytail in battle form. But in normal form, like human form will varies depending on what Danny wanted. Majority of his hair would already be white even in his human form.
The design I came up with.
(Base: TheCherryMonsterLu (DeviantArt));
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Weapons:
Polearm
Fenton Thermos
Flashdisk
Abilities:
Ghost powers
Ice powers (from his Ice Core)
Ectoplasm generating
Mind reading
Dream-jumping
Other Info:
Obtained the title or nickname as "Siren Voice", due to his mystical and beautiful voice. Think of it as those myths where sailors would disappear when they heard the voice of a mermaid/siren. This'll be hella useful for Danny in so many ways.
Ftm transgender, though he liked being called 'mom' by the twins.
Although he is a Fenton, he does not have the Fenton luck when it comes to driving (neither does Jazz). But he was usually being driven to by his ghostly staff/guards than driving himself. He still have a driver's license though.
Still can't get close to Blood Blossoms, otherwise he'll experience pain as horrible as the time of his 'death'.
Danny's body is sturdy but also hella flexible. He used to do gymnastics when he was younger, but his flexibility was greatly enhanced when he became a halfa.
Danny's eyes changed after the incident, not just when he's a ghost; originally icy blue, now blue on top half, and ecto green on bottom half. His eyes is still fully green when he went ghost.
The 2nd tallest in both at Nicktoons and the other team. Sorta thriving and suffering at the same time (the whole 'shorter people live longer' joke became a bit too literal than it was intended to due to Jake's longevity).
Danny would, quite literally, became a dictionary when someone would ask about ghosts, its nature and laws, etc.
Danny and June are actually pretty close friends due to their shared dreams to be an astronaut (even with their current circumstances).
Danny used to love eating sweets and desserts, but as Sam and Valerie monitored him and limit his consumption of sweet food ever since he had the twins.
Given everyone his protection seal, so ghosts couldn't really harm them, and it'll be much easier dealing with the ghosts like that because they're under the 'territory' of the ghost king himself.
At some point, Danny will start an orphanage for lost young souls who met their fate far too early. Randy might also do the same, but just with living children, and there will also be rescue shelters and such.
He, along with Jake are currently searching to find ways so that lighter energy-beings like Jake and June could enter the Infinite Realms due to having absolutely chaotic and mixed energies.
Danny's signature flower is Star Lit Orchid.
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beanghostprincess · 5 months
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Why is shanks/buggy so underrated in this side of fandom? It’s much more loved in Japanese one, one of the most popular for shanks. I feel like this one prefers other mlm options for him and I don’t get it. It got better after OPLA I think but still. Sorry for my English!
Oh! This is actually such an interesting question. I was talking about this the other day and I came to a conclusion with my friend about this. Basically, there are a lot of things to take into consideration here. The screentime, the age of the characters, the chemistry, how they're perceived by the fandom and canonically, etc etc etc.
The first thing I thought about was the screentime, honestly. Shanks and Buggy grew up together and they have a deep bond, however, we've only seen that through flashbacks (one in quite literally episode 8 of the anime, another one in Wano that isn't even about them and they're just side characters in this flashback, and in chapter 1082 of the manga. But it's not even a proper flashback because we already saw that when Shanks talks to Whitebeard about Buggy, it's just Buggy's interpretation of it) and we only have like one scene of them together that isn't even two minutes long. So, quite obviously you'd think "well, the ship isn't as popular as other ships because they barely have any screentime" and I think it's correct but also not quite. And also, this would also have to apply to the Japanese fandom at the end of the day. Fandoms don't give a single fuck about screen time if the chemistry is right, really, but there's always this factor, y'know. Lawlu has less screentime than Zolu and yet it's more popular somehow because people absolutely love their dynamic. Then, if you stop to think about it, both Satosugu (Jjk) and Soukoku (Bsd) have the same dynamic and concept as Shuggy, but they're by far the most popular ships in their fandoms. They're basically the same ships but Jjk and Bsd give them proper development and story because they're shorter series. One Piece is a long show and we still have many things to see, even if we know it's gonna end soon, so I guess that we'll still have to wait to see more of Shuggy. Once we do, I'm sure it'll become more popular. Also, Shanks' personality is very diverse because he's all mysterious and all, so I kind of understand why people don't want to make content because they still don't have him figured out.
But then again, screen time isn't really the problem. It's just one of the factors. If they had more screen time, they'd be more popular for sure, yes, but it's not exactly what makes them less popular in this side of the fandom. Otherwise, it'd be equally as popular on the other sides too. The Japanese side of fandoms is different from this one and tbh they often don't take into consideration things like cancel culture and proship discourse or the standard beauty regarding age because they just post whatever they want and scroll past what they don't like (god I fucking wish we were like that because I am so done with these things). Besides, isn't Buggy like a very beloved character over there, aside from Oda's favorite? At least from what I've seen, they take his character way more seriously than this side of the fandom does, honestly. And it bothers me because he's such a complex and great character, and people never see it because they use him either for memes or to keep saying "omggg turns out the clown is hot!! Can you believe I want to fuck a clow-" yes, Samantha, we know you want to fuck the clown. It's not weird. It's not new. Do you even like the character, at least, or you're just using him to say how kinky and quirky you are? (And I don't even care about the sexualization of characters because, again, fictional characters are fictional characters and you don't have to take everything so seriously. I have tons of characters I don't like that much but only stan because I find them hot and that's alright. But damn, it bothers me sometimes).
Anyway, with this, I wanna say that there are other things to have in mind when talking about this.
Recently (I know it's not exactly new but in fandom years? Recently) there has been a huge thing surrounding the term "old men yaoi". People are so down bad for middle-aged men and they see two of them together and they instantly go "omg they're soo married" but that's- That's it? That's just it. They don't even ship them, they just find the concept of older men hot because "omg he's such a dilf" and they want to fuck both of them. But they never end up doing anything with it. They try to be so groundbreaking like "ohh I am SO woke by shipping these two old men! See? Breaking stereotypes!" because both irl and online, age has always been a very stigmatized thing. Apparently you can't be in a fandom if you're older than 25 because then you're weird, and if there's an actress older than 50 she's instantly useless for the industry.
What I want to say with this is that most people in the fandom are young. They're young and they like attractive, young, hot people and they don't want old, unconventionally attractive men. They don't want them unless it's to give a "hot take" and to be super progressive and woke. Do you know what they like? They like Dilfs. They like Shanks because he's conventionally attractive and good with kids and he's the standard for a Dilf. Because he's hot and mysterious but also silly and quirky and "he's almost forty that is so hot something something daddy kink". And they don't want to see him fucking someone his age because God forbid this man has a personality outside being a Dilf. Younger people in the fandom constantly read y/n fics regarding Shanks because they want him to fuck them and not Buggy. And they can't project in these old men, so they publicly say "oh, Shanks and Buggy are so married" because it's just a fact the fandom made clear, but they don't really like the content. Because liking Buggy sexually, apparently, is just so weird. Or as a character. Nobody wants to say their favorite character is the failguy clown. It's a hot take when you say that Buggy is hot because people keep being all weird about it when... Uh... He's- He's just a clown. Guys. It's not weird. Or bad. Who raised you to think that? God, I find Monet extremely hot and she's half-bird. Could we please normalize these things? They're fictional characters. And also, stop reducing Buggy to his jokes or the fact that he's a clown because his character is GREAT and complex and it just bothers me so much.
This makes me think about this whole "background couple" thing. Which are basically couples that are canon or that are so popular and obvious that people, instead of making content for them (because why would you make content for a canon couple?) just place them in the background instead. There are so many fanfics in which Shuggy is a background couple. Or studies in which, instead of analyzing them, they're used only for parallelisms. This happens with, idk, Saboala? Frobin? Yamace? People don't like couples that everybody agrees on. They don't like m/f ships because they can't be woke!!!!! And queer!!!! (when they easily could but whatever). They don't like ships that everybody likes because!!!!!! They're canon already and why would you write about them???? And so, Shuggy stays a bit more as a side couple instead. For being old and unconventionally unattractive and not having much screentime, but being extremely popular. Not in a "content" way, but in a "knowledge" way. Even the general audience thinks their bond is crucial to the story, c'mon.
One of the differences that this side of the fandom has with the Japanese one, as I mentioned before, is the cancel culture and proship discourse thing. They just don't have that concept. And that's perfect, honestly, I wish we could just scroll past what we don't like too and live peacefully because the discourse is getting tiring. And also you have to admit that, because of the anti propaganda going around, now fandoms have turned into the most puritan thing in the world. Beware! Sex! Age difference between fictional characters that have a consensual and healthy and mature relationship! Oh! God forbid teenagers have sex with people their age! Ohmygodjustshutup. And so, Shuggy isn't a problematic ship. Not even close. But inside the OP world, people do say they are brothers. They keep talking about each other like that, too. And I don't even think it's the typical "we say they're like brothers so you don't think they're gay because they're both guys and guys can't kiss" (I am having flashbacks from the IT fandom). They do have the same parents. Like- We all agree Shanks and Buggy were both raised by Roger and Rayleigh and they consider them, if not their dads, parental figures at least. Right? And you're aware that doesn't make it incest, right? Both things can coexist. Foster families are a thing. Lots of people who grew up together and consider the same people their parental figures end up dating because they don't see each other as siblings. Well, most people don't see it this way and hear the word "brother" and run from it like it's a fucking virus. The Japanese side of the fandom doesn't give a fuck because they're fictional and because they're y'know, not brothers? And even if they were, cancel culture and proship discourse is so fucking stupid to them because they follow the "don't like don't look" thing. But on this side of the fandom, a lot of people see them as brothers and the other half sees them as a divorced couple and apparently nobody knows how to fucking read this manga and have a proper fandom experience without jumping to each other's throats at the minimum disagreement.
So, to summarize: People on this side of the fandom don't like Shuggy THAT much and it isn't such a popular ship in comparison to the Japanese side, because young people don't like older men together, they don't focus on unconventionally attractive characters, are afraid of any little possibility of cancelation, and also, well, Shuggy doesn't have much screentime anyway so there's not much we can do with that.
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burinazar · 2 months
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I'm sure you've mentioned it before, but I was wondering who your favorite Made in Abyss character is and why they're your favorite? :3
I love all the main kids as well as many other characters so it's hard to choose but I think I'd have to say mine is Faputa. Not only is she a super interesting and cool character, but she's also A Creature. A little ball of fluff that can kill
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Thank you very much for the ask, anon! haha, "little ball of fluff that can kill"...yes, Faputa is great, and I think the main cast of Abyss is very endearing and very well fleshed-out. I was having a nice exchange on AO3 the other day regarding how GOOD the characterization of Abyss is and how it's often overlooked in favor of the also-extremely-good worldbuilding and plot, and why that might be, and was considering how it links together with some of my other Thoughts about ways this fandom is different from my other ones as far as what people are into (I need to finish the self-reblog I was gonna do about that on a recent related post actually). Anyway, pretty much the whole cast is endearing and/or enjoyable to watch in some capacity. But there is a definite answer as to favorite(s).
I put these up on my wall this evening, which may help to answer your question.
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(Please note the scrolls. I missed the Amiami preorder period for those two because they closed earlier than the rest for some reason, but was able to get them from Suruga-ya eventually. They'll be on the wall at some point too.)
The story and cast prior to s2 I enjoyed in a, like, normal way, and then the Ganja squad arc hit me like a damn asteroid. These people...I've thought and felt and said so much about them, and after a year and a half I'm still brimming with something that feels like it has to be poured out, onto blank canvases and into the written word, and there's no end in sight. I have never had characters that were such good muses to me except perhaps for a couple I made up myself. Belaf has to be called my favorite at this point, but for a long time it was Vueko, and I really, really like Waz too; the manner in which these three characterize one another makes it a little painful to try to separate and rank them, but yes, that's the order. I dote on B and V in particular.
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(Self portrait circa August 2023.)
At this point I have so much to say about them that being asked why I like them is hard to answer succinctly. Belaf is so, so sweet, but in an unusual weird, intense nerd way that I find incredibly endearing .....and then that kindness and strength of character fucking destroys him and it's tragic and beautiful and there is so much to pick apart in the manner and meaning of his transformation and his absolution, and it's also a great deal of fun to depict him as he was before. "Before" Belaf is such a fun sort of quirky nerd and his relationships wth Waz and Vue and Iru offer, like, SO much to turn over and look upon fondly, humor and friendship and loyalty and love.
And yet, when I write about his years of friendship with and loyalty and closeness to Wazukyan and Vueko and his parenthood and tutelage of Irumyuui and (note: hallucinatory) camaraderie with the other Ganja, hanging over my shoulder always is his downfall and it makes all of those things so much more beautiful, the tinny note of tragedy that is always playing at the edge of our hearing once we see it all and know how it must end.
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(Another crispy fried self portrait from last year. I don't really draw myself these days at all EXCEPT in the context of making fun of my sages obsession.)
As for Vueko, since she's fairly popular maybe explaining her appeal isn't needed...or maybe it is, because it's so much more than the shy and gentle and somewhat silly person she is on the surface, it is so, so much more. Under the Layer of Fuheh she's made of steel --it's just that she's very, very softspoken, which people mistake for passivity and spinelessness. Even fans who purport to like her sometimes reduce her to victimhood and weakness. Perhaps because it's a misconception she clearly holds about herself, and a viewer can be forgiven for not putting together that Vueko might literally be the sage that acts with the most agency. There's so much more I can say that I love about her and her story, especially in the context of the other characters and the way she subtly skews some narrative and trope-related expectations, but I think that's the heart of it -- yes, she was endearing as soon as I met her, but when I saw the subtle yet unmistakeable strength under it all (and parsed that she never saw it herself, I think that little pop of tragedy really makes it hit for me lol), I think that's what made me adore her.
This next little bit might be kind of fucked up but what really makes that strength into something that haunts and compels me is that Vueko has so much determination and strength of character that she will unhesitatingly act to destroy the people she cares about very very much if she has decided at that moment that it is the best thing for them (Irumyuui, Belaf, Irumyuui again.) I can trace the real beginning of my obsession with these characters to when s2e8 aired and this is pretty much why.
So...yeah. Belaf and Vueko! Aaaand there's no way I can write about Waz here without making this post way too fucking long but.
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One more shitty self portrait from earlier in the obsession should do it.
Yep!
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caparrucia · 4 months
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12, 13, and 17 for the fic writer asks, please?
12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?
I still don't read it widely, because most of it hits my "but what's the point then?" pickiness for AUs, but a friend recently explained her time travel fix-it AU as a version of an isekai and that sort of made the appeal of it click in my head in a way it'd never had before. I still think the trope itself is not something I'd go as my first choice, because my vibe is more either miscommunication or mystery, and having a POV character that knows everything - and very often has no reason to not share/use that knowledge - makes it very conflict-free for me. The thing that clicked for me is the same way that my favorite isekai stories are ones that either the OP protagonist doesn't know they're OP or their OPness is gated behind world knowledge that they have to acquire first before making use of said OPness. So I think I like time travel fic in theory now, I just haven't read one that hits the spot because it's not a trope I seek out often. But I kinda get it now! I think!
13. Are there any tropes you used to like but don’t anymore?
Modern renditions of enemies-to-lovers are so fucking exhausting in how hard people are trying to sand down any bit of objectionable, problematic aspect of that kind of relationship. I love me a good, brutal actual!enemies to actual!lovers story that wrestles with the history and baggage of that kind of thing. But post!Reylo fandom is more worried about "not romanticizing abuse" than telling a good, compelling story. E2L are supposed to be messy, problematic, dark romance stories full of questionable tropes. That's what makes it fun! But the way any whiff of conflict is constantly smothered away because "We Do Not Condone That Here" messaging is more important than a coherent, IC story is just. Blah. One day, my favorite toxic love trope will come home from the war. One day.
17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?
Witcher 3 fusion AUs are my personal catnip. I specify Witcher 3 because I understand the Netflix trainwreck was the entry point for a lot of the fandom and that's great, but the writing of the Netflix show is infinitely subpar to the actual books and even the Witcher 3 version of the characters. The Witcher 3 softens a lot of the harsher edges of characters in the books (hi Emhyr, my forever problematique baby girl, how are you today, your imperial colonialist dipshit incestuous majesty?) but it still maintains the tone in a way that makes it so the harsher, more shocking aspects of it don't read like "for shock value" and have actual consequences. It's a rough world with rough edges and it's a setting rife for stories of all sorts, to scratch that nice medieval pseudo-realistic fantasy setting itch, while still allowing space for some hilarious comedy and nuanced politics.
However, somehow, people who played the game somehow come out with the urge to write unironic, mindless colonialism apologia - we all know why - or quirky funny romance because Netflix!Jaskier is so memeable.
Look, I have almost 3K hours in the Witcher 3, I understand I am not the target audience for Witcher fandom which is why I don't really wade into it often, but I want people to write more Witcher 3 fusion stories because it's a fantastic setting to grab your favorite characters and plop them into and see what they do. It's great.
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itchyeye · 4 months
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Okay, on the discussion of characters, I was LITERALLY thinking earlier today of how Sasha is one of my favorite characters in TMA. (Sorry I went on a tangent but hear me out-)
Sasha. A character who we BARELY hear from in the one season she's alive in, has had such a MASSIVE impact on the entire fandom that to this DAY people still make AU's where she lives, of her relationship to multiple other characters, to what could have been or WHO she was based on a few one liners, a statement, and her final moments. After that it's the impact she had on other characters that helped us see her for who she was. We were fed some information on her (Ex. Jon thinking SASHA would have pranked him with a statement and not Tim, Gertrude wanting to make Sasha the next Archivist because she knew she would've been smart enough to see what was happening, Sasha choosing to follow Micheal who was clearly a Not Human Thing,-), but we weren't spoon fed information on who she was if that makes sense? We, through context clues and just idk, good writing on Jonny's part, were able to put together this character in our minds of who Sasha was in and out of the office and her relationship with the other characters, even though she only existed for BARELY ONE SEASON.
Cut to TMAGP, and, like you said, we're being force fed these characters and archetypes. LOOK THIS IS GWEN SHE'S SUPER SERIOUS , THIS IS ALICE SHE'S ~QUIRKY~ AND HAS A BROTHER SHE'S TAKING CARE OF (WHICH SIDE NOTE: WE DIDN'T EVEN KNOW TIM HAD A BROTHER UNTIL LATER and it's revealed to us in such a great, tragic way and shows some things about his character we hadn't noticed before, or let us explore ideas about him!) THIS IS LENA SHE'S DARK AND MYSTERIOUS MAY BE A BAD GUY WHO KNOWS WHAT'S HAPPENING OOOOH SPOOKY- And I feel nothing towards any of them. I think it's funny that so far a lot of people who don't like the series all admit that we like Gwen the most because she's the most down to earth and idk, realistically written character? But it just makes me so... Idk, it makes me laugh angrily that this new show that is so focused on these new characters so far doesn't have me liking any of them (Gwen's on thin ice-). They're being shoved in our faces way too quickly and are just thrown their entire wikipedia articles to listen to.
Like, that one comment about how Sam and Alice are exes makes me think of how when Melanie mentioned to Jon that Georgie knew him, he didn't go "OH YES MY EX GIRLFRIEND GEORGIE." He was just like, "Oh! You know Georgie huh? Hm..." and it's later we find out they dated.
SORRY THIS IS SO MUCH I JUST AHSIDOAHS dude. Like. I only like Colin and sort of Gwen and that's it. Everyone else is so annoying, and seeing that the show is BARELY focused on the statements, it's a SLOG to get through.
So sorry for such a long message ; -Z
i will say as politely as i can that the amount of attention this fandom gives a particular character is not generally indicative of their story impact BUT i fo agree that i really like the part sasha plays in the story and the way her death + replacement send huge ripples of drastic effect across all characters
and i 100% agree with the rest of this. even gwen is wearing on me because when a character is just. rude? and the only thing you know about them is that they are someone's coworker? why would i like them? why would i be sympathetic to them? i've started plenty of jobs where people are huge assholes for now reason other than already being super burnt out on the position. but it's awful to take that out on a brand new employee? so gwen is on thin ice for me as well.
but yeah i think you've contrasted very wel the way tma created its characters vs the like bullet point lists of Traits™️that tmp characters have instead
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apopcornkernel · 7 months
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trick or treat!! 🎃🦇 (btw i loved hearing about the backstory/historical aspects of your fav wip, i’m not even in the hsr fandom but it’s so interesting)
THANK YOU <33333
(i know it's literally november 3 but shhhhh, all soul's was just yesterday it still counts—)
anyways!! the next fic i wanna talk about is... also jingfu 😭😭😭 this is embarrassing
presenting: ✨ jingfu vegas wedding ✨
there was a time i got back into asoiaf and jaime/brienne, and there's this subgenre of jb fics where they get quickly married on the quiet isle for one reason or another! and i just got obsessed with this type of wedding, and then i got to thinking about vegas weddings, and then i imagined jingfu drunk and giggly and happy and my gdocs stood NO chance
what's great about jingfu is, as i hope to never stop reminding my readers, is that they're chinese living in a chinese setting wifh chinese culture. so you can't just throw them into an actual vegas wedding situation—china has its own wedding ceremonies and the luofu must have its own technological advancements in that area too! so long story short i had a lot of fun brainstorming the wedding rituals and how it would mesh with the luofu, how people would even discover a wedding has taken place considering chinese weddings CAN technically be done without witnesses if you're feeling quirky enough (like maybe legally it's not allowed but ive seen cdramas where they do the same thing so like. me 🤝 cdramas; ignoring things for dramatic flair), and generally just trying to write their world vividly enough that it doesn't feel like Vague American Fantasy Spaceship #2432
i do think i kinda succeeded!! and even if i didn't, well, in my head i can clearly visualize it and in the end this is a fic for ME and not for yall, sorry but i come first when it comes to my fanfic :P
also i wrote my thoughts on the au while we were out with paternal relatives eating hotpot, so of course their drunken wedding feast is hotpot. i couldn't resist
It was strange to see the General and Master Diviner drinking, and even stranger to see them drinking like they were racing to their graves.
At least it would be. Extenuating circumstances, Dan Heng art thy name.
i also really like these lines i giggle everytime! because i ship jingfu but i also ship jingheng in the pathetic unrequited pining old man jing yuan kinda way.... its hilarious how down bad jing yuan still is for dan heng/dan feng and so since i needed a catalyst for the drinking i used dan heng hehe
also i researched chinese constellations for this because i needed more drunk activities and i figured i could do one of those "laying on the grass and pointing at the stars" except ofc it's the luofu so that's synthetic grass and false stars and their stars are also different and it would be very weird to mention ursa major or something! so i had to do research </3 i swear the things i do for my craft
i don't know how to end this.... i guess here's another excerpt HAHAHA
Jing Yuan, thanks be to Lan, had left behind some of his formal clothes at her residence, which meant the two of them did not have to sneak all the way back to Exalting Sanctum just to nab the appropriate garments. If they had not been drunk, the journey from the gardens to her quarters would not have taken so long. Unfortunately: they were. Unfortunately: Jing Yuan was enamored with every flower that passed him by, and Fu Xuan was busy counting the number of off-color stones in the cobbled path.
They did still make it there. Eventually.
In one of Fu Xuan’s many closets were the robes they’d worn to Qixi-jie—his a simple but elegant grey trimmed with white, and hers a dainty pink, complete with a round embroidered fan. Fu Xuan took Jing Yuan’s out, shoved it into his arms, and then shoved him out. He staggered out into the hallway, and then turned to blink at her, lost.
Fu Xuan rolled her eyes. “Well? What are you waiting for?”
“Oh,” Jing Yuan said. The light came back into his eyes. “Oh! Yes.”
Stupid, she thought, and closed the door. But apparently she’d said it out loud, because he yelled, muffled, “You’re the one marrying me!”
“I won’t if you don’t shut up!” Fu Xuan yelled back.
Immediate silence.
thank you for the ask again hehehe <3
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soleminisanction · 2 years
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I don't have much experience with comics, but one thing that keeps popping up in fic and shocking me is how MEAN people write Stephanie. In a way where it's like they almost don't realize she's being mean, if that makes sense? For example I was reading this fic where Tim and Steph were having this emotional reunion after he thought she was dead, and she called him "boy blunder." And continued to call him that throughout the fic. Am I crazy or is that an awful thing to call someone? I guess they were going for an inside joke, but to me it just seems so cruel, like every time she talks to Tim she's implying he's made a mistake. Of all the plays on "boy wonder" I've seen, that sounds the meanest. Is this something she calls him when they're together in the comics, do you know?
Oh she's absolutely called him Boy Blunder in the comics, along with things like Boy Wonderbread and Boy Virgin once when she was poking fun at him freaking out over her pregnancy. It's true in fics and it's true in canon: a lot of what people try to pass off as Steph being "snarky" or "quirky" is just her being flat-out mean, but never getting called out on it.
It's everywhere. And you're right that people don't realize it -- in fandom or the comics. She turned up in Damian's Robin book recently for exactly one line of dialogue and that line was a judgemental insult -- "Your weird, gross pizza is over there, Damian." She only has a grand total of three lines in the action portion of "The Elephant in the Room" and two out of those are just her insulting Tim (while the third one might as well be "Ooooo, what does THIS button do?"). Hell. half of the so-called "jokes" in Batgirls are just Steph being a catty, judgemental brat while the narrator goes "lol isn't she funny?"
And it's not even a recent thing. I haven't been able to make a post about this because I'm on a freelancing deadline IRL but someday I'm going to go on a massive rant about Jordanna Spence, the poor civilian girl inserted into Steph's supporting cast as Batgirl whose only narrative purpose is to provide one of The Other Girls for Steph to insult and bully constantly for the crime of wearing pink and being in a sorority. (And sometimes she's accidentally racist about it, which is...""fun"")
Steph will spend storyarcs hanging out with like, Damian or Kara or Klarion, and they're all treated like these Big Meaningful Bonding Experiences, but all Steph does the entire time is insult them and make judgemental comments about everything they say or do. And yet every single one ends the story thinking she's the greatest person who ever lived and lining up to suck her dick with everyone else in the comic.
It's honestly messed up, but here's the thing: it's absolutely not a Steph-exclusive issue. You know who else I've heard these exact criticisms leveled at? Bella Swan. And Hermione Granger, to a lesser extent only because she's the author self-insert but not the point-of-view character. That's part of why She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's adult novels are so much worse, because they are told from the PoV of the self-insert character and thus we're constantly barraged with her judgemental opinions about men, trans women, poor people, people with heavy accents, any woman who doesn't perform femininity to the author's exacting standards and, of course, fat people.
It's a symptom of the self-insert character, is I guess what I'm saying. Which of course means that it also gets applied to literally everyone else in the Batfamily on occasion too -- the boys and Bruce especially but also like, I'm sorry, I don't think Cass suddenly learning to curse and be casually mean is funny, I think it's a sign of lazy writing.
The difference being of course that the guys get written by a lot of different people, many of whom are interested in them as characters instead of just as vehicles to project themselves onto. Several others (especially in fandom) do just use them as vehicles (Damian hasn't been given to a good writer in over a decade and god knows Jason got more than his fair share of Very Special Boy treatment during the New 52), but it's not the only part in their canon.
Steph, though? Since the end of War Games forward, she's been nothing but a self-insert character designed for straight white women to project themselves onto. Which is sexist and sucks and obviously can't be called "the character's fault" or anything, but knowing all of that doesn't make her mean-spirited bullying any easier to put up with if you're not one of the people getting off on the power fantasy of being the bully.
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i understand being mad at other fans for discounting fanfic, but for niall (and by extensions, his team) i think it's fully within his rights as human to have and express feelings about fiction being written about his life, using his likeness. whatever those feels are he should be allowed to have and share them! it's a part of the reality you have to deal with being a fic writer, i think. detach yourself from expectations that the subject will give you their approval. you might feel that it's him stepping into your space, but it started when you stepped into his (by creating a story about him and his family and friends). his rights do come first in this, not the fic writer.
i'm gonna treat this as in good faith even tho i'm not totally sure it is AND it's been nearly 24 hours since i reblogged that post. anyways.
what i don't think that you understand about this whole situation is that no fic writer, no person that engages in RPF, etc, wants validation or approval or whatever from the person they're writing about. the basis of RPF is literally fictionalized versions of real people in fictionalized universes for entertainment purposes. nothing about it is real. sure it's his name, his face, and elements of his public persona can be weaved in, but at the end of the day, it's more of a character than anything because we don't fucking know him. we don't know how he is in private, we don't know how he would react in certain (most) circumstances, we don't know anything more about him than what he chooses to share as part of his public persona. anything beyond that is a complete work of fiction. niall himself, his identity as a human person, is not a factor.
and i agree with you, niall is more than welcome to have his feelings about it. no one (at least not me or anyone i've spoken with) is saying he's not. but the fact of the matter is that it never should have been put in front of him in the first place. it never should have been positioned as some cute, quirky little thing to have a laugh about, because regardless of whether or not the fic in that video is real, the message it sends to people that write fic is that the time, the effort, the vulnerability, etc, they put into their work is silly and something worth mocking.
so many RPF fic writers go out of their way to keep the fourth wall intact, to hide their work in corners of the internet where niall or anyone that knows him won't come across it. it's the courteous—and even mutually beneficial—thing to do in a world where we fucking know that if he were to come across it, it would probably be really fucking weird for him because it's not FOR him and he doesn't understand the culture behind it. in response, the courteous thing for him, for his team, and ESPECIALLY for media outlets (because they hold the majority of the blame for putting it in front of celebs' faces most of the fucking time) to do is to leave it the fuck alone. to not go digging for it just for some stupid fucking fodder in a silly video on the internet.
i know that not all fans are going to agree with or understand this position because fandom has changed so much with having more and more access to the actual person, but that's ok!! not every space in fandom needs to be for every single person!! but the least that you could do at that point is not judge and dismiss and lecture for something you don't even understand to begin with yk
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kimium · 10 months
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For the Choose Violence Ask: 1, 7, 8 and 25!
(From this ask HERE)
Thanks, friend! I'm so ready to answer these! Let's get started but before I do I want to remind everyone that just because this is a "choose violence" ask that these are just my opinions. This is all for fun and if you disagree, that's fine. Don't take this too seriously.
Warning: Spoilers for My Hero Academia, mentions of abuse, obsession, and mild Fire Emblem Awakening, Fates, and Engage spoilers.
The character everyone gets wrong.
Endeavour from BNHA. I'm starting off strong, aren't I?
I am not here to defend any of Endeavour's actions. I understand that many elements within Endeavour are very triggering for many people who have experienced abusive relationships. Yes, as a character he is an unforgivable monster. If it's therapeutic for fans to see his family tell him, "We don't forgive you, we will never forgive you, and we won't forget what you've done" I'm 100% on board. Fuck Endeavour and his shitty actions!
Yet, on the flip side I think Endeavour is a character foil to All Might as the series asks the question: "What does it mean to be a hero?"
All Might represents the most "ideal" answer: You help people because it's the right thing to do. You aren't seeking power, fame, glory, or prestige. Being a hero is born out of a pure desire.
However, Endeavour is clearly fuelled by his jealousy, hatred, pride, and his desire to surpass All Might. This desire funnels into his home life and the broken family Endeavour creates with his own hands. One of the most important relationships in Endeavour's life is ruined and destroyed by his own hands. We see this with his treatment of his children (Touya and Shouto in particular) and his wife.
To me it so cathartic to watch all of Endeavour's development centred around him realizing how shitty of a person he truly was. It's about him having to face his dirty past and be unable to run away from it. Literally, poetic justice to have this abusive, selfish, prideful asshole forced to face his mistakes, not able to make excuses, and have to own up.
Now, the series offers a lot of grey areas regarding Endeavour that many don't like. That's fine. He can be the irredeemable character in your eyes and I think it's 100% justified.
So TL;DR: I think Endeavour, while having some of the most shitty character traits and backstory, has many grey areas and is meant to be a tool in the plot/overall story that asks the question "What does it mean to be a hero?" However, if it helps you to just go "fuck this character, all my homies hate him", go for it.
7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how the fandom acts about them?
-Inhale, exhale-
I've begun to see this trend with some Fire Emblem ladies, so I'm going to talk about all of them here. I cannot stand when people take complex characters like Tharja (Awakening), Camilla (Fates), and Ivy (Engage) and boil them down to "They're in love/obsessed with the Avatar character and it's sooooo quirky!"
Look, I know Tharja's supports with both Robin's has obsession in there. I know Camilla loves all their siblings, but Corrin especially and several supports/plot lines revolves around this. I know Ivy tells Alear to their face "I love you" and it's awkward-cute-kinda cringe. Which by the way, I am so into Ivy and how her appearance/first introduction VS reality is off.
HOWEVER, there is more to these three ladies than just their relationship with the Avatar Character!
Tharja has hilarious supports with the other cast! I love her awkward, weird, creepy vibe. Or what about the can of worms when we look at her relationship with Noire?
Camilla has her sense of love for her family to the point she becomes petty. Look at her supports with Xander! Or what about her fear of others leaving her. Look at her supports with Selena! Or what about her supports with Niles?
Ivy's supports with Alycrst, Diamant, and Alfred are so interesting! Or her supports with her retainers! Or Hortensia! She's such a complex character with so many regrets, hopes, and fears!
Also, if we can stop reducing them to their breast sizes, I'd be grateful, thanks.
8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about.
Coffee Shop AUs are a low B tier/ high C tier trope. Look, I get that people are into the tone/vibes of coffee shops. I know that the AU can create many awesome fluff stories and are a break from heavier stories. However, I find them to be (for the most part) kind of boring.
25. Common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing.
I've rewritten this at least three times, but I think being concise is best:
-Shipping for the most part is all for fun and isn't meant to be taken seriously or an indication of the person's "morals". Blocking and blacklisting tags exists for a reason. Use it liberally if you must and move on.
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I haven't caught up with TPA since like late December, but I've been rereading your post about 10 Rights and Wrongs with TPA and I wanna add my thoughts on it. I'll mainly only comment on stuff that I have something to say about. These may be subject to change when I complete the book.
Soundtrack
Agreed with you, it's absolutely brilliant. It has a James Bond vibe that I like, and even ignoring that it's just really well-composed. I love the adventurous intro theme especially, as well as the steamy scene track– I will happily listen to those on repeat and never get tired.
Outfits
Agreed on that too, I didn't vibe with majority of the f!MC outfits besides the default ones but they still did do a good job making them look good for the most part.
I definitely hate the fem MC having a crop top as the cold outfit. I wouldn't mind it as much if they did the same with m!MC; it'd still be impractical, but like, either give both of them crop tops or neither of them crop tops. Enough with the "must be sexy because woman" outfits, goddammit.
Speaking of shitty outfit gendering, I also hate that m!MC's "sexy underwear" equivalent to fem MC's lingerie is a goddamn robe and boxers. The robe is admittedly nice and has a "luxurious evening" vibe that I like, but come the fuck on, stop playing it safe and basic with the m!MC and m!LI outfits all the damn time.
Vivian
I'm very mixed on her. On her own, I quite enjoy her as a character. She's fun, she's got some good lines, and she doesn't really come off as obnoxious.
But in the story, she just feels weirdly out-of-place in it? Perhaps because I've associated TPA as being the Choices' edition of a James Bond adventure, so it does feel unusual to have one of the main characters be a quirky nerd type. But hey, that does make TPA a little more unique.
But while I haven't caught up, I know others said that missions and tasks are way too easy with her being present, hence the lack of stakes.
Hookups
I didn't play any actual dirty-30 hookup scenes, but I did enjoy the buildup scenes to them and I'm sad we haven't gotten other hookup opportunities. Especially since I played as wlm, where the dynamics were very different from how PB usually writes their average wlm romance. I am forever here for male Lou swooning over f!MC being heroic and male Alexis's femme-fatale-esque persona. I found them way more interesting than the majority of MC and Agent Grey's dynamic. Speaking of which...
LI
One thing that is nice about the romance is that MC is the one who is more experienced in GAIA while Agent Grey is the new member. Honestly it's very refreshing (especially as wlm) considering how often PB's romance involves MC being the newbie and LI being the boss/teacher/celebrity/etc.
But character wise? Agent Grey doesn't work as an LI. Or at least not a main/single LI. It's It feels like they're only the LI by virtue of being MC's work partner. I'd rather Agent Grey have just been... still our work partner, but also as a casual hookup option like Alexis and Lou rather than our romance interest.
Possibly controversial opinion, I think a book that is just "no romance, only casual hookups" would be something unique for PB to write (granted the hookups don't take over the entire story). PB needs a break from writing romance and it shows.
GOC/Pronouns
A lot of people said this one "actually feels like it was written with male MC in mind for once". I have a lot of issues with that statement due to the fact a lot of the fandom's takes on what counts as "female coding" can be very dubious.
Regardless, even if this was written with mlw in mind, I've still been finding it very enjoyable and made sense (dare I say better and more unique) in a wlm route.
Any actual gender coding errors I've seen or heard about are very minimal. Though I will say that it made me want to sob to see male Agent Grey's swimsuit described as a "swimsuit that hugs his hips" despite his swimsuit in question being boring swimtrunks and a basic-AF open beach shirt rather than, yknow, a swimsuit that actually hugs his hips.
And that's about all I've got for now.
Thanks for your insights anon!
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sk3tch404 · 2 years
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Oh no Nana, what should I do? I am this close 👌 to start writing fanfics (lowkey also wanna draw but I suck at it lol)
Also, how are you :D?
-🪞/Mirror Anon
DO IT!!! You should start out by doing the scenarios and characters you love/feel like doing most!
As embarrassing as it is, I actually started writing on Wattpad like many other creators. They were your average x readers and had the really stupid unfunny quirky humor. Once I found out Tumblr was basically oneshots galore, I quickly migrated here and started reading.
You should set up rules, fandoms, and characters post if you really wanna start.
If there were anything I'd highly suggest for you to do, I'd say to make sure your writing is actually good or at least decent.
Now I'm not saying that to demotivate you or devalue you as a future creator and writer. No no that's not it at all! All on saying is that people like to read good sensible stories.
Grammar, wording, phrasing, separation of paragraphs, vocabulary, etc all come into play when you write. Personally, I enjoy it when a writer can understand common grammar and things as such.
I've made a random post saying this before, but I'll say it again. Personally, I am not a fan when writers have a typing style when it comes to fics.
Things like, " Walking down the hall , I looked to my left . "
"Is that so? Well then,I must have to accept your offer. There shouldn't be any complications on the way,no?"
My brain just can't handle the fact that it's so squished together and incorrect. I'm no stickler for grammar rules, bc trust me, I've had my fair share of bad writing. But this? Nah it's gotta go-
Vocabulary is important! Things like HCs dont really need a large range of words due to the fact they're just short ideas compacted into one post. But with general writing, it's much different. Many people don't mind stories with common language, but expanding your palette makes your story far more expressive and emotional.
Whatever you do, always make sure that your world building makes sense. Everything ties into each other! Making these connections may clear up questions the reader may have after and during the story. They also can have a role with the characters and events later on.
Though that doesn't mean to just lay out the rules in front of the reader. When the time comes to mention it, do it in the most efficient way possible.
Pacing!!! Slow burn is fun, but scanning through the exposition and getting to the good part is such a waste. Though, going too slow is gonna bore the reader.
RIIIIDEEEE OUT THE RISING ACTION AND CONFLICT. People love it when the juiciest part gets the attention it deserves! Though, know that the drama always has to die down sooner or later (The aftermath of the conflict can also be just as exciting)
You can spend your time with your story if it's long, just don't spend too much time on sub plots and irrelevant things when writing! Unless its vital to the plot, then I wouldn't suggest it.
Most importantly, don't exert yourself! Being a creator is difficult. This will feel much more like a chore or a long hour job the more requests you get.
But don't let that stop you from doing it! I'm glad I have my platform and love the people who like it! If I hadn't started, I think I'd be very bored and even lonelier.
I love being able to draw and write and have people to enjoy it with!
All this info basically goes into drawing but more artsy.
Don't be afraid to develop your artstyle and ask for criticism if you want.. :)
And thank you for being my anon! It's so fun to have a nice polite anon of my own to talk to about just anything other than what I make!
I've been really good after I finished my commission a week or two ago! Been grinding on Genshin just for that sweet sweet Archon and Fatui lore (Btw why does Baizhu sound kind of stereotypicalcally anime rich now? You sounded so good when you called ur snake a good girl c'mon now-)
Just having a break from Idv and hopping into something else that doesn't lag 24/7.
Last thing! Don't restrict yourself to my advice! Do what you please. It's your work, do what you want! No like I can stop you from doing what you love. Everyone starts somewhere yk? Anddddd I'm no publisher hehe
Aaaaaahhh I went on a tangent. Sorry if you didn't want my advice or nothin haha.
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ihopesocomic · 2 years
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What's your opinion on people giving media the 'Encanto treatment?' Like, people focusing more on what they perceive as LGBTQ+ and/or mental illness representation rather than what's actually being portrayed (culture, story themes, historical events, etc.)? Or people slapping super white/western ideas onto media which features diverse characters and cultures?
TL;DR It's bad enough giving Disney and Pixar credit for queer representation that isn't actually there without you whitewashing and taking representation from others.
I didn't know it was called the "Encanto treatment" because it's definitely not the first time people have done this. Because while I’m mostly talking about Encanto here, you’re right about people slapping super white ideas onto media featuring diverse characters and cultures. And what I say could be said about alot of things.
Yeah sure its inconsequential to headcanon characters as queer. Under regular every day circumstances that doesn't include taking away representation from people who already don't get it lol
It does NO ONE. ANY favors. To take representation away from people. I said a while ago that taking any canonical queer characters and changing their sexuality or identity is harmful because it's erasure. This is the exact same thing. (And I say this as a white person who has seen pretty much exclusively white people doing this) Because what you're doing is you're deliberately ignoring culture/story/themes/history, things that are important to people and integral to the media in question, while you're playing a little headcanon game. The themes of Encanto specifically are QUITE clear. So I can only assume people ignore it, which is all kinds of disrespect. And I won’t get into the queer stereotypes applied to some of these characters headcanons because then I’ll be here all day.
Nothing in Encanto is a queer allegory. I know the knee-jerk reaction to such statements is to believe someone’s being a homophobe. But you need to think about who’s saying it and why. It's not a "homophobic" thing to say because here I am, a grade A all-beef homo, telling this to whoever needs to hear it. This is not a queer movie. And if something needs to be queer for you to enjoy it, then you seriously need to work on yourself.
Look, I want more queer representation too. We barely get crumbs as it is. And its even better if queer characters are anything but cisgender skinny white people, we all win. But guess what, we're not the only one who want/deserve more representation. You'd think that would be something people would be quick to think about, but too many people focus on the fact that they're marginalized while queer they somehow forget at the end of the day, they're white.
As for the mental illness aspect of it, it grosses me out in particular because people take one look at Bruno, who is in his 50's y'all, and want to baby him specifically because they headcanon him with mental illness. Which too many people loooove to do when they headcanon a character with mental illness and this kind of thinking within fandoms is a plague on its own. They like see a character do something funny or quirky and are like “mental illness” and its like, can you not.
Sure he has trauma, probably everyone in this family has trauma. But people take his actions and go so far as to diagnose him with OCD and its like. Shut the fuck up. You’re stereotyping. You see someone who's superstitious, which, that's what it is, and you're like "Oh I read this on a google once, that means this" like how are you this far into the decade and you still think like this.
And don’t get me started on how people “hate Abuela” or “hate Mirabel” or “hate Bruno” or “hate Isabela” or whatever because like I really don’t wanna hear it? 
I just-- ugh. I need people to pull their head out of their ass. Just like this once, please. Lol
That's my opinion on it. - Cat
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the-storming-sea · 2 years
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this is the third(?) intro post ive made to my own blog
Hi im Sea. this is the fandom blog where i reblog funny things and occasionally make opinions. sometimes with math
Talk to me about:
Sandman (Netflix)
BNHA (if you haven’t realized that I’m an all might fan) (edit: YES I still am an All Might fan I just subconsciously turn off the bnha switch in my brain whenever hes not in the story)
Ace Attorney (edit: or specifically my personal version of AA that I rotate in my head on a daily basis)
Pirates of the Caribbean.
How fucking cool the ocean is
The Owl House
Kingdom Hearts, tho ask me those questions on my kh blog (@iloveluxu). I don’t do much on it, but if you send me KH asks on there I will talk about it for hours and you will be forced to listen
Batman (2022). No I don't know anything else abt the DC universe other than what's been given to me via mutuals
Welcome To Nightvale
I also really like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Knives Out but I'm not in the fandom or anything I just think they're some of the best movies to ever exist and I rotate them and their hole shaped pastries in my brain constantly
Or if you’re feeling quirky and want to start ~controversy~ (please seriously for real don’t start controversy) ask me my opinions on asian media and representation. This is /gen. I may not be right sometimes, but I am insufferable, and I have opinions
and now. the special™ and sort of long posts.
Why the All Might Quirkless Reveal scene characterizes Yagi and his thinking process the best
All Might and Aizawa AO3 statistics – aka proof that Dadzawa and All Might Bashing go hand in unlovable hand
The Aizawa Critical post where I hand in unlovable hand his actions in-series – but respectfully
Edit: I had an idea abt a quirkless au once, I'm not too into BNHA anymore but I still have thoughts. If u wanna ask
Edit: If ur here from the recent sexyman polls and saw my WTNV post, that was made long before polls were a thing and was made for me myself and I lmao. I like WTNV, not really in the 'fandom' anymore though.
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aros001 · 3 years
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Going in blind: Watching season 1 for the first time. Random thoughts.
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This show is kind of nice because I have no memories of the original She-Ra show, or even any of He-Man, honestly. I'm not sure if I ever watched the original, so I have no frame of reference for how the series is "supposed" to be. I can just take it and judge it as is.
Of the bat, all I know is that supposedly She-Ra and Catra get together as a romantic couple later, but I'm also a huge My Hero Academia fan and the fandom around me ships every character with every other character, so for all I know that might just be shipper wishful thinking I've been seeing and hearing. Given fandoms for Gravity Falls, Thor, and Supernatural ship even siblings together, I've learned not to trust anything except for what I see in the series for myself.
By the way, this isn't a review, just random thoughts and comments I'm having as I'm going through season 1 for the first time.
Episodes 1 and 2: Right off, I really like Catra's "No duh" response to Adora about the truth of the horde. She knows they've been lying to them and have been doing terrible things, she just doesn't care. If she and Adora play their cards right they could end up being the ones in charge and then they'd have all that power. Not necessarily to make things better but enough to where they could do whatever and live however they want. That's a good build for an antagonist. Not ignorant to the fact what they're doing is wrong, just simply so selfish that they don't care.
Episode 3: It really feels like there was no good reason why Glimmer didn't just outright introduce Adora to her mother and every reason she should have known it was a bad idea to try and hide her for a surprise. Being a former horde soldier she'd probably get treated with hostility if Glimmer brought her to the front gate but you'd almost guarantee Adora would get arrested or outright killed if she got caught while no one else knew she was there.
On the other side, we have Hordak being pretty intelligent in promoting Catra. He probably knows Shadow Weaver already doesn't like him, so it's not like he's losing anything making her upset with him, and it's clear she favors Adora way more than Catra, so that little bit of advancement towards Catra probably goes a long way in earning her loyalty to him and a person on the inside with Shadow Weaver.
Also, I'm not the only one who saw Madam Razz and immediately thought Adora had found her Yoda, right?
Episode 4: I don't know how it was in the original She-Ra and He-Man series but I kind of like She-Ra being this title from legend. Adora is not the first She-Ra, given what Razz was talking about with a Mara, so instead of being something new, impressing everyone with abilities they've never seen before, and creating the legend, Adora is placed in a position WAY over her head where she's having to live up to what came before her.
Episode 5: Calling it now, as long as her personality is genuine I think Scorpia is going to be one of my favorite characters in this show. She's...endearing, I think is the best word. She's like a mix of Kronk and a nicer Shego.
For a little bit I thought Mermista was voiced by the same actress who played Poison Ivy in the Harley Quinn animated series. She's not but they do have the same kind of Daria-ish inflections, thus by confusion. Given the prom episode, Sea Hawk feels kind of like her Kite Man.
Episode 6: Okay, now it's between Scorpia and Entrapta who are likely to be my favorites by the end of this. She's fun and quirky.
Episode 7: Quite the lore drop. Shadow Weaver was once a Mystacor sorceress known as Light Spinner. I like to imagine we'll get more on that later. Her haunting Adora reminded me of the Teen Titans' episode where Robin was similarly haunted by Slade. This didn't go as far as that but that's probably for the best, since TT had two and a half seasons to build that dynamic up with Robin and Slade while we're only now halfway through the first season.
Episode 8: Well dang. Again, I don't know for sure if Adora and Catra do end up together but boy do I buy why they're shipped together after that dance. Also, good on Bow for standing up for himself. It's clear that he'll always be Glimmer's friend and this won't change that but that doesn't mean he has to just accommodate her. I understand where her issues stem from but I am still glad he gave her a reality check. It helps him feel a little more like his own character.
Also, another nice little bit of lore and worldbuilding. Scorpia's a princess, the horde landed where her people lived, and they seemed to join them willingly.
Episode 9: Surprisingly don't have a lot to say about this other than I don't buy for a second that Entrapta is dead (EDIT: She's not). This was mostly action.
Episode 10: Not going to lie, this one kind of annoyed me a little, at least the first half. The conversation between Glimmer and her mother saved it a bit. It was a bit of a trifecta. You have the alliance breaking apart, saying that the loss of Entrapta only happened because they were all together...even though Entrapta only "died" because of her own machine obsession that caused her to deliberately walk back into the purging chamber. You have Entrapta who might be turning to the horde's side because she feels abandoned by the other princesses...even though they thought she was dead, and again it was her fault they got separated. And you have Glimmer refusing to tell her mother that Shadow Weaver's dark magic has caused her powers to go on the fritz and is causing her great pain. It just feels like none of this would be an issue if most of these people would stop being self-absorbed for three seconds and talk like any normal person would. It feels very CW drama, like something I'd see in a bad season of Arrow or The Flash. The only person whose issues I buy is Adora, who is basically a soldier who was never properly raised to deal with emotion or loss and is already struggling with the burden of being She-Ra, the legendary savior. I get why she's beating down on herself for not being able to do more even if nothing that happened was her fault.
Episode 11: JEEEEEEEEEZZZZ, that was such a good episode! Focused entirely on Adora and Catra and their past together. Like, just showing someone this episode alone could probably get them to want to watch the series. That was everything you needed to know about their dynamic and history together.
Also, that moment when Catra and her past self are looking at each other, while obviously Catra takes the opposite lesson, it reminded me of this fanart I'd once seen of Jason Todd, the Red Hood, looking at his past self as Robin. The past says to the future "You ruined everything". Catra could be happy but, ironically for someone who hates Shadow Weaver, she's probably going to be a lot like her, sacrificing everything for power and ambition.
Given the way she looked, I'm guessing Shadow Weaver is either addicted to the power of the Black Garnet or she suffered some kind of past injury and its power is the only thing keeping her going. Or both.
Episode 12: I'll be honest, Swiftwind being able to talk kind of gobsmacked and I needed a moment to recover. What a great voice they chose for that character.
So She-Ra is kind of like the legendary heroes from Rising of the Shield Hero, coming from a long line of people chosen to wield the sword. I tend to dislike chosen one types of stories because I think prophecy takes a lot of weight out of the character's actions, so this and Avatar are more what I like. The MC is special but not the only one who's ever been special and they can still easily fail. Their destiny was only to be able to use the weapon, not that they would succeed in any specific purpose.
And dang, Catra's turn against Shadow Weaver happened faster than I thought it would but I'm not complaining. That great "This is what you've really been preparing me for" speech and Hordak, again, being an intelligent villain. "Oh, this experiment could net me a MASSIVE gain and all it could potentially cost me is this rock I already gave away to someone who lately hasn't been producing any results and has been consistently disobeying me. Yeah, I'm going to let this play out."
Episode 13: That was kind of a brutal fight between Adora and Catra. Not the worst I've ever seen even in other shows for this age range (Samurai Jack, for example) but those punches are connecting and those claws are leaving marks.
Also, maybe I'm just misunderstanding the exact situation but shouldn't the good guys' side be called the Resistance instead of the Rebellion? Being a rebellion would imply they are rebelling against an established power or rule over them, but the actual conflict we are shown is the established power and rule that is the kingdoms of Eternia resisting an outside force that wishes to establish a new order over them.
Season 1 verdict: I'm into it. I'm definitely more invested in the villains' side of things but that's not a fault of the series, that stuff is just way more geared towards me than the current princess stuff. I actively am at attention whenever the horde main characters are on screen. For the good guys it's mostly Adora and the She-Ra stuff I'm invested it. That isn't to say I have any real dislikes for that side. Bow especially I'm liking much more than I thought I might. He has kind of this gravitational pull around him. You will be his friend regardless of how much you might want to resist. He's definitely the rock for everyone else to hold onto.
Minor side note, kind of like Korra in Legend of Korra, I love how even when her powers aren't active Adora is shown to still be pretty strong physically with how easily she was lifting people up at the prom.
And I was right, Scorpia is my favorite side character.
On to season 2!
Original Reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/PrincessesOfPower/comments/nyll2e/going_in_blind_watching_season_1_for_the_first/
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