#her narrative voice is so annoying. i need more of it

[insufferableprotagonistpoll]

Propaganda why Aang is insufferable:

He has some very bad ideas that the narrative never explores and gets rewarded by the narrative for bad behavior.

Mostly just the way he deals with his crush on Katara and kind of forces it on her. It’s honestly really shitty because she never truly reciprocated his feelings and had plenty of moments where she shows she’s just trying not to hurt his feelings with a straight up rejection, but ends up with him in the end just because that’s what he wanted.

Like we know what it looks like when Katara actually has a crush on someone, she wouldn’t let the situation like the war affect how she feels about demonstrating those feelings when she’s so in touch with them. Like how she was with Jet and Haru. I just wish the writing team did a better job of showing Katara developing feelings for Aang way better than they did lol.

Made a series that was otherwise reasonably tolerable impossible to watch. I hate that all the jokes written for his character target 8-year-olds exclusively. Also his little TV show keeps appearing on my dash no matter how many words I block and I hate it

Propaganda why Gregory is insufferable:

This boy is so poorly written, it hurts. In the gameplay, he just acts annoyed and pissed off the whole time. Then, in the endings, he becomes a whole other character who acts scared and sad, which does not match the previous hours of gameplay AT ALL

But that just annoyed me

What really made me hate him was the GGY and Robot Gregory stuff, because OH NO, Gregory could not just be a normal kid who got into this situation by chance, he has to be a robotic recreation of the Crying Child, despite not acting one bit like CC, or, according to the GGY story in the books, he's responsible for multiple murders and is Afton's/the Mimic's apprentice.

Just let this kid be fucking normal!

(Also, unlike a lot of people, I really enjoy what the Ruin DLC did to his character. And don't try to say that's still the mimic, the mimic recycles dialog from the main game. This Gregory uses completely unique dialog, and unless the mimic was able to form new words in his voice all of a sudden, that's still him. He had to make a tough decision, one life or over hundreds and I can respect that)

Suffers from being made into another one of Matpat's ""is actually a robot theory"". It is annoying as hell, especially if its canon. We do not need robot children theories in a game about possession, child murder and serial killers. Especially not dumb theories about him being a 'recreation' of someone with a completely different personality. It has completely ruined any enjoyment I had in that character because we're just going back to the Afton family again

Someone made a good point about how his personality seems to be reminiscent of a certain trend where a video game protagonist has to be snarky even though it would’ve worked better for the horror atmosphere if he was more scared because it would’ve made the player feel his fear. I recall people being surprised about his personality and expecting him to be more scared, and I assume the developers were just afraid of ppl calling Gregory “whiny”, but it still feels like a missed opportunity

#aang #avatar the last airbender #atla #fnaf gregory #fnaf security breach #five nights at freddy's #insufferable protagonist poll #insufferable protagonist tournament #tournament poll

[sukimas]

i want to read the higan of computers so badly. it would probably be half formal logic and half philosophy. it would be in the smuggest voice possible. i need to read it

#i hate that we've never gotten to read any of yukari's writing #unless you count the music cds #her narrative voice is so annoying. i need more of it

[jeongharine]

syntax ERROR

⚝ wonwoo x reader

⚝ comedy, light smut

⚝ notes: the one where jeon wonwoo is your nerdy math tutor. but he’s unexpectedly hot. and you’re his friend’s sister. obviously.

“a pc bang?” “yes she’s always there,” says hoshi, while munching down his sandwich.

“but i can’t teach her there-” “of course you can’t, but you’ll find her there. it’s the one on the left around the corner,”

“now, remind me why i am doing this,” “because you’re my friend and i’m fantastic at being one,”

wonwoo just gulps down his apple juice, looking at the time on his phone.

“you should change this narrative, it’s getting boring,” “wonu, i just need you to do me this favour because if she doesn’t pass this class it’ll be a problem, okay?”

a sigh. “yes, that’s fine. but only for this class okay?” hoshi grins, all teeth “you’re the best,”

“yeah.. i better be going then, i hope she’s a well-mannered student otherw-” wonwoo says, setting off.

“oh.. about that..” “what?” he stops.

“nothing, she listens well,” hoshi says, scratching the back of his head.

x

she listens well when she wants to, he should have said.

not that this a surprise for wonwoo, knowing her brother. but damn, this girl is getting on his nerves.

“okay y/n, let me be clear. your brother begged me to give you lessons, so now please can we go to the library?”

“nu-uh, i have a tournament here this afternoon. we can do another day,” you crack your fingers and re-position your chair.

“see, maybe this is why you’re not getting through this class. you can do the tournament another day, it’s more important to study matrix systems to pass the exam than gaming,”

“boooooring, i will do that tonight if i feel like it okay? i don’t need your-” you turn your chair around to face him. “...help...”

since when your brother’s friends were this handsome. holy fuck, with that cap on before you couldn’t see anything and maybe he should have kept it on for your sanity. fuck. fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck. fuckity fuck.

you can see that he is deeply annoyed by your behaviour, probably he’s used to people who take academic life very seriously. nah, he’s friend with hoshi so. you scoff a laugh.

and he’s just there, looking at you, waiting for an answer.

or maybe to beg you.

“but on second thoughts...” you begin to say, “we can come to an agreement..” “that is?” he shifts in his position.

“we game for about an hour, because you game and i can see that just by looking at your face. and then, we can look at the first two chapters of maths analysis. i think this we’ll do, yes.” you grin widely.

and he hates to admit that the grinning suits you best.

wonwoo promised hoshi that he would have at least gotten through the matrix systems today with you, but here he is. without a fucking clue of what to do.

and you are just looking at him smiling prettily, as if you absolutely don’t know how charming and good-looking you are.

so wonwoo just sighs, and turns his head to glance at the pc screen near him.

even his side profile is pretty, you think to yourself.

“fine. but at least let’s play some battlegrounds.”

“can’t promise you anything,” you say pleasantly, eyes creasing in a glittering smile that suddenly makes wonwoo skittish.

x

“do you want to fuck my brains out?”

the air in his little dorm becomes unbearably stuffy all of a sudden but you refuse to let it show, after finally voicing the thoughts that were possessing your head for the past few weeks.

wonwoo turns to face you, looking far more collected. you never would have thought it would all come to a head like this in his room on a monday afternoon. but here you are, feeling a little light headed but inexplicably brave.

“i mean,” you say. “doesn’t every girl on campus you know want you to fuck their brains out?” “that you have to tell me, i don’t think i can give you an answer,” he says, piling up the books on his desk.

he starts to drum his long fingers on the cover of the statistics textbook for a good minute, eyes focused on the dusty windowsill while he is chewing on the inside of his cheek.

and it takes you a second to really make that sink in: wonwoo is restless. he is hanging on your next words.

“so, are you going to say something or you will make me wait here all afternoon?”

you smile. and he hates how his palpitations go up by a notch.

“neither. just knowing that you rubbed one out to the thought of me is closure enough to me.” he clearly tenses up. “who says i have?”

you close your textbook with a thud. “oh, don’t be embarrassed wonu. we’ve all been there at one point or another.”

he’s at the brink of being disgusted with himself for getting a hard on when you just used his nickname like that, but despite it all his heart still leaps up into his throat when you sit up from his bed and collect your bag.

“you touched yourself thinking of me?”

you look at him with one hand on the door handle and wonwoo swears his vision blurs slightly as you grin at him like that.

“you say it like you’re surprised.”

there is no build up, no easing you into the uncharted waters. he kisses open the seam of your mouth without any hesitation, the heat of your tongue against his. it feels so harsh and erotic, so completely unlike the wonwoo you just got to know.

so polite and so pleasant.

but now his hands are on you. and you haven’t had the time to realize your eyes were closed until his hands come up to palm around your waist, searching for skin while you whine against him.

your brain is foggy with the taste of him. he pulls back just as you starts to sway in his arms.

“you don’t even know...” he traces up your back. “..what you do to me, uhm?” you gulp, lips all wet.

the muskiness of him makes your head spin fast, especially when he leaves soft kisses on the skin behind your ear. his mouth is so hypnotic, every move perfectly placed.

“wonwoo,” you stammer, not knowing what else to say. your voice has gone croaky and his hand is venturing up your sweater now, not looking like it would stop any time soon.

your breath catches in your throat when wonwoo trails his fingertips over your clothed breast, dancing across it before brushing the underside. you expected his touches to be harsh, sharp. but they are slow, feather-light. practiced.

his chest heaving like he’s just run a mile, the skin of his stomach hard and hot under your fingers from where you shoved his t-shirt up. his lips are smooth when you inch up to kiss him, gently by his cupid’s bow just to make him grunt. wonwoo’s hands curl around your wrists gently, pampering you with kisses for a couple of minutes before pulling away.

“fuck me,” you whisper. and then, because he has to double take like he didn’t quite hear you right. “fuck me wonwoo, please.”

“please. please, wonu. i’m begging.”

“y/n…” wonwoo growls, because he is really close to pop a blood vessel when you sound all whiny and shameless like that.

“i don’t care if someone will hear us,” you murmur against his mouth before pressing it there for a short kiss. you proceed to trail wet pecks all over his jaw and neck, so that he has to close his eyes with a soft sigh. 

“fuck,” he whispers, “you’re really begging me to fuck you here when your brother could come back any minute,” wonwoo says, kissing you.

it’s getting difficult for you to respond when his hand ventures down to undo your jeans though, mouth hanging open in pleasure while he nips at your bottom lip before pushing you back down on his bed. 

“you have to be extra quiet, okay?” he huffs. and there is something wonderfully satisfying for wonwoo to see you like this, underneath him and all putty in his hands.

“wonu,” you whine again, accepting the soft kiss he presses on your lips before he turns you over and positions you how he wants: on your knees, ass up, face pushed into a pillow to muffle your moans.

“you’re so impatient,” he chuckles behind you, but it sounds so soft. fond, even. he pecks your ear swiftly while you listen to him sliding down your jeans and undies and prepare himself, your heart thudding in anticipation. you’re so thrilled you barely register the embarrassment and awkwardness of being left to wait like this, propped up and ready for him to fuck you stupid. and you gasp when you finally feel his erection against your weeping slit, hot and everything you want.

he keeps grinding against your slick folds. “wonwoo,” you whimper, because his tip keeps slipping in and that alone is making you gush. you push your hips back, tears blurring your sight with how desperately you want him inside you. “please.”

he chuckles softly, leaning over to kiss your shoulder before finally pushing into you.

x

“so, i assume the lessons are going well since you two see each other three times a week now,” hoshi says, voice muffled by the noodles he’s slurping.

his eyes are set on wonwoo’s face, lost in the gimbap in front of him.

because if wonwoo has to be real honest, the lessons are going really well, yes. but also his dating life.

and how can he say that to hoshi... ‘oh yeah, she’s really smart hosh and also a fucking star at giving head!’

in his defence, wonwoo would probably never get over the fact that he has succeded in pulling someone like you. he suddenly turns pink thinking about your pretty smile and your prettier laugh. the glint in your eyes when gaming together and the concentrated face you make when trying to understand math concepts that even he has difficulties in teaching. you clinging onto his arm, the late night ramen runs at the convenience store and your honeyed sighs and moans when you’re in the private of your own.

so yeah, he doesn’t really know where to start with this.

“wonu-yah?” hoshi hisses, and suddenly wonwoo gulps when his friend is holding his stare in a vice grip.

“we’re fucking hosh,” he admits timidly, and hoshi starts swearing.

#wonwoo x reader #jeon wonwoo x reader #seventeen x reader #wonwoo smut #seventeen fic #wonwoo fic #svt fic #wonwoo x y/n #seventeen smut #wonwoo scenarios #seventeen scenarios #seventeen imagines

[showtoonzfan]

Now that the episode is out officially, here’s my rant review of Oops!

PROS:

- Fizz and Ozzie were adorable and I honestly love them. Despite the sex jokes, you can tell they love each other for who they are OUTSIDE of sex. While I did wish we would have seen more, (like how Ozzie took him in and fell in love) they’re still adorable to watch. They’re the better version of Stolitz, can the show be about them instead?

- Brandon’s voice acting holy shit, he really knows how to sound like he’s in tears or is broken. As much as I hate the character and feel no sympathy, he displayed genuine and broken emotion very well.

- Alex Brightman Alex Brightman

Okay that’s it. Moving on to the Cons. Bear with me, it’s a lot and I go back and forth a bit. 😭

CONS:

So for a quick short summary, this episode:

- Once again puts more focus on the filler plot rather than actually focusing on the relationships between the characters, so all we're left with is a 10 second clip of Fizz being burned while the rest of the episode is surrounded on sex jokes/petty bickering and Stolas and Ozzie sitting around.

- Completely erases what made Blitz and Fizz's dynamic interesting in the first place because it retcons it with a dumb miscommunication trope about how Fizz actually wanted to see Blitz and Blitz tried reaching out to him. Not only does this feel like a cheap attempt to make Blitz out to be sweet/sympathetic and NOT the one in the wrong so Fizz can suck up to him, but this also makes no sense within the narrative.

- Has Fizz forgive Blitz despite him being the last person anyone would think would forgive him. (So honestly ruins Fizz himself because it turned him into a soft boy who's forgiving compared to the asshole he was in Ozzie's) All because Viv would sell her whole soul before she even remotely considers painting characters like Blitz and Stolas out to be the one's in the wrong.

- Takes Stolas out of the hospital completely, erasing all the drama/tension Western Energy had and proves that that episode was utterly pointless.

- Turns Striker from an interesting complex villain to a Saturday morning cartoon goon.

- Proves to us that Crimson is just a flat tool and gives us more prove that the world building rules Viv set up in season 1 legit don't matter.

-Ruins Blitz/Barbie's feud now because now you're making Barbie look like the one in the wrong since the fire was an accident. God forbid a female characters emotions in this show are justified.

But if you want my more in depth rants, it’s under the cut! (There’s a lot so bear with me lol)

- As usual WAAY too many sex jokes and swearing. It gets annoying and repetitive at times and some of them distract from the main plot. There’s a long and I mean LONNG dragged out joke of Fizz talking about Ozzie’s dick, then later saying he’s hard when Striker has a gun to his head, as well as Blitz making a joke about him and Fizz making out once they hug. Again, Viv can’t be serious for 2 seconds without an unfunny shitty gag. I genuinely wonder if Hazbin is ganna be like this, where a character is in a life threatening situation or a deep dark serious scene happens only for the next scene to be sex related.

- This is one of those “shit happens because the plot demands it” and it shows. Crimson and Striker COINCIDENTLY meet up with each other, and Fizz and Blitz just so HAPPEN to be in the same exact area they are. Viv wonders why we call her shit a fanfic and this is what we mean, when she creates wild wacky plots and focuses more on THAT rather than the actual character writing. This entire episode hinges on a useless poorly last minute planned kidnapping plot that didn’t need to happen. Also way to once again make the characters idiots so the plot can happen, cause Fizz KNOWS Ozzie worries for him and that the Greed Ring is dangerous, yet purposefully puts the spotlight on him.

- Stolas did NOT need to be in this episode. The plot completely ignores the fact that he was in the hospital the last time we saw him, and he’s only here for Stolitz banter. You’d think that a character admitting they have feelings for someone would be a big deal but he just flat out says it and it’s so underwhelming and feels half assed with no weight to it. Fan comics have made more dedication to this than Viv has. We're supposed to believe him too despite the show failing to actually SHOW us this. Same for Blitz ranting about how “nice” Stolas has been to him, laughing at his jokes and liking his posts…hey Viv, can we actually SEE that on screen so it’s more believable? Or are you only determined to show them sexually flirting? 😑

- Once again Viv felt the need to shove a B plot into this episode and this one sucks because it’s just two characters sitting and doing fucking nothing. It felt like Viv had no idea what to do with Stolas and Ozzie, and I refuse to believe that Ozzie just sat there knowing Fizz was in danger. If anything he would have said “fuck the paperwork” and went to save Fizz himself. Way to show that gif of Ozzie getting mad as a sneak peak to get fans excited, only to see that Ozzie spends the rest of the episode sitting in a dark room LMAO what a let down.

- Ozzie is weirdly chill and cool with Stolas and it’s something I don’t get. While he did say that Stolas had the real “spirit of Lust” in S1E7, it still gave you the impression that he was also more poking fun at Stolas rather than respecting him. The whole point of House of Asmodeous was that Ozzie outs him and publicly embarrassed him. Stolas literally was intimidated just by Asmodeous’s mere name, and hid his face around him. It seemed like Stolas certainly didn’t want someone like Ozzie to know about his private life especially since they’re both part of the Ars Goetia. Now here Ozzie is just cool with him and it feels like a missed opportunity for their dynamic.

- Stolas confessing his feelings about Blitz also makes…no sense narrative wise. I thought the whole point of The Circus and the ending to Western Energy was that he was realizing that Blitz didn’t like him that way and was finally waking up. I thought that’s why he was doing this whole crystal deal in the first place, so he can let Blitz go, yet the show keeps flip flopping and insisting that these two love each other and are good for each other. It’s really making you realize how this season and the previous stuff set up is becoming nonsense because the writers retcon EVERY damn episode. Also….why the hell is Stolas telling Ozzie his feelings for Blitz? Out of all people, why is it Ozzie, the person who outed Stolas and embarrassed him. Why is Stolas even respectful of Ozzie? He has no reason to, and he’s not under the impression that he’s dating Fizz either. I get that he needs the crystal but mentioning his love for Blitz makes no sense.

- Striker and Crimson teaming up to kidnap Blitz and Fizz was such an ass puller last minute decision. It feels overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time, more because it feels like Viv has no idea what to do with these two villain characters other than give them something evil to do to start the plot. Also…why…are they working together? It feels so random.

- Striker’s character especially is all over the place. First he’s working for Stella, then he’s painted as the best assassin in hell, and now he’s…looking for more work I guess and working for Crimson? Why? Does this guy even have a motive anymore? It feels like his character is just dangling around until Viv wants to use him for another wattpad kidnap plot and it ESPECIALLY shows when Striker escapes for the THIRD fucking time. Can this character/storyline actually GO somewhere or are you just going to keep introducing him and have him run away. 🤦🏽‍♀️

— How did Crimson not know who Striker is despite him being labeled as “the most popular assassin in hell”, and how the hell does Crimson know Ozzie and know all the information about him being in a relationship with Fizz?? Oh right because we needed the plot to happen somehow. Still, even if Crimson did know that Ozzie was the "weakest" and loved Fizz, (which….what about Beezlebub?)) he still should have known he was playing with fire. I get that he's supposed to be evil and intimidating but how could he have predicted that Ozzie would actually stand down and fill out the paperwork? He could have immediately came there and killed Crimson for all he knew. It's just distracting how..not planned this shit was.

- Fuck this episode for calling Striker a supremacist. It makes no sense?? Viv is trying SO hard to villainize him despite him being the one in the right and it pisses me off. He has every right to be mad at the upper class, he’s part of the lower class that we’re said Hell takes advantage of, but god forbid we call out Rich and powerful Stolas because that would mean he’s a b-bad person and we can’t have that complex morality! This is so not a “eat the rich” story and it shows bc Vivzie is rich as hell. Striker as a character deserves so much better man. Congrats writers, you had an interesting character and motive set up for him, now he’s nothing but a silly goon that you might as well kill off already cause you clearly don’t care about him. Crimson meanwhile is just a piece of paper, a boring plot device I could give less of a shit about. I thought his motive was to go after Moxxie, now he’s just doing fuck whatever because this show desperately wants a bad guy for their filler fanfic plots.

- We get more world building issues, Ozzie and Fizz are so determined to hide their relationship for obvious reasons, but then at the end of the episode just say “fuck it, no one would dare tell anyway”. So now they’re being open about their relationship and lmao I told y’all the newspaper scene of Ozzie being called out for being a hypocrite wouldn’t go anywhere. Even if Ozzie did threaten his workers to not tell, they can’t be so sure that someone wouldn’t see or snitch, it’s kinda a retcon too cause they were pretty lovey dovey in Ozzie’s. Still, it makes the characters look dumb and it makes the rules Viv set up for Hell once again not mean anything.

- We finally get to see Fizz’s backstory in action and it’s executed in the most underwhelming way possible. It’s literally a fucking 10 second clip of what went down, and rather than experiencing the event for ourselves, it’s in flashback mode but with Fizz’s voice talking over it. That’s it. I’ve seen fan comics/fanart that built this shit up better than Viv did, that actually took the slow time and dedication it needed, and here it feels like such an afterthought, like Viv could care less. Maybe if this actually was a character driven show like Viv claims, Stolas, Striker, and Crimson would be taken out of the picture and then that would leave us with PLENTY time to actually explore and develop Blitz/Fizz, bc most of this episode is just them pettily bickering and Stolas and Ozzie sitting around. But nah, we gatta have our fanfic kidnapping plot. Same goes for the reveal of Blitzo’s mom dying in the same fire. Glad to know that she got the same treatment Moxxie’s mom did, where we don’t even know her and yet we’re supposed to feel moved and care about her death. You nailed that one Viv. 👍

- I predicted that this episode would victimize Blitz and have the fire incident be an accident, (because Viv is a pussy writer and can’t make her characters actually do bad things like god forbid) but I never thought they’d actually have the balls to have Fizz forgive Blitz immediately in the same episode and pull the “actually turns out that horrible thing you did to me helped me in a way”- trope. Biggest flaw of the episode, fuck you Viv. I was actually going to applaud Blitz for taking accountability, but then the dialogue reminds you that an abuser wrote this, and he shifts his apology to “okay but I lost something too see so it’s not all about you” as if he’s fucking dismissing Fizz’s trauma and making it about himself. “I love flawed characters” my fucking ass. I would have smacked a bitch if I was Fizz because Blitzo loosing his mother in the fire too isn’t an excuse?? Fizz lost his fucking ARMS AND LEGS, and at the end of the day Blitzo STILL KNEW HE WAS HELPLESS IN THE FIRE BUT LEFT HIM BEHIND. He could have gotten help and came back, but didn’t. If this were a good show Fizz would have threw that apology back in Blitzo’s face and said “I don’t care if it was an accident or not, you still left me there and then proceeded to loathe me for years”. This is why Helluva will never be Bojack cause at least characters in that show who got treated horribly by him knew when to say “no, fuck you.”

- The episode retcons again, this time they make it out to be that Blitz TRIED contacting Fizz the years they were apart but no one would let him see him. Then they say that Fizz actually WANTED to see Blitz but assumed he didn’t want to, so their entire feud was solely because of miscommunication?? Number one, show don’t fucking tell omg. And number two, that makes ZERO sense. Blitz talked badly about Fizz in Loo Loo Land, and when they finally reunited in Ozzie’s, it was clear they fucking loathed each other. You got the impression that Blitz was petty and jealous just because Fizz was more popular, and Fizz not only loathed him for the accident, but liked to rub in his face about how much of a big shot he was. They literally do that in this episode too, so the episode is literally contradicting itself. Blitz and Fizz had multiple chances to meet up with each other, you can’t just say “oh they couldn’t because no one would let them”- So which is it? Did they hate each other because of bad blood, petty drama, or that they thought the other didn’t want to see them? Pick ONE Viv and stick to it, but she never does. Their feud was interesting and now you ruined it just to have some sweet happy ending. “Adult mature show” my ass lol.

-Bottom line is Fizz shouldn’t have forgave Blitz so easily, or forgave him period. I find it funny how he says “it’s hard to just forgive you” and then he literally does lol. I feel so bad for Fizz fans, him and Blitz’s feud was honestly interesting, so to see all of this go down in a half-assed piss poor way as if this was Care Bears is….wow. The fan interpretations had more thought and care put into this storyline but what else is new lol.

- I’m really tired of these shitty annoying songs. If you’re going to get Broadway actors, please put effort into your songwriting and actually have them sing something good, not something that’s literally nonsense. This Fizz song sounds like it took less than a minute to write and Sam Haft was just thinking of anything he could think of at the top of his head. Also Why the fuck are Striker and Crimson just STANDING there while Fizz sings. They look like idiots, just SHOOT them omg. If this were a funny show, Fizz would have started his first note and Crimson just rolls his eyes and pulls his gun out.

- Fizz and Ozzie kill the lawyer but not…Crimson? Despite Fizz knowing what ring he’s in and even Ozzie knowing what he looks like? Same for Blitz, he doesn’t try to make sure Striker is dead. I get that the plot demands for these two to still be around, but there’s a way to keep them alive without making the main characters look like fucking idiots. Also Stolas just leaves without doing or contributing anything to the plot yay.

- Fizz: “Let him have it, you could say he’s earned it”— Uhm….Nope. Blitz did NOT earn shit. He didn’t even earn Fizz’s forgiveness. Last time I checked, the moment Blitz cried and said it was an accident, Fizz forgave him, knowing he didn’t mean it. What effort did Blitz do to “earn” that as well as the crystal? Because he saved Fizz and didn’t leave him behind for the SECOND time near the end?? Cause if so than the bar is extremely low. That’s the bare minimum, just because Blitz cried and felt bad about it doesn’t mean he should be let off the hook Viv. I hate this so much, what a shitty conclusion, it feels forced just so Blitz can have the crystal and just so the writers can once again paint him as the one in the right. It’s almost insulting that they make it seem like Fizz was in the wrong for assuming Blitz starting the fire too, same for Barbie.

God what a shitty day it is to be a Fizz fan, I’m sorry. The episode did NOT do him justice. Fizzarolli deserved better than that half assed gaslighting apology for someone who lost their arms and legs man, and I’m tired of the show letting every character suck up to Blitz and Stolas for their horrible treatment just because they feel bad. Not only that but the episode (as most recent HB episodes) was a huge time waster. Everyone was really hoping for an in depth walkthrough of his character/backstory but again, when he’s not with Ozzie, the rest/most of his screen time is dedicated to him being helpless and pointlessly arguing with Blitz, plus a long dragged out nonsense song that didn’t need to happen. It felt like SO much time was wasted when we could have used the runtime we have to dive deeper and see more, like….again it would have been nice to see Fizz’s life AFTER the accident and how he became well known as well as how he fell in love with Ozzie, but his backstory is briefly scratched upon in a single scene and that’s it, all because Viv wanted this filler plot and wanted to dedicate more time to THAT rather than actual character expansion/development, something we could have got had you took out Stolas and Ozzie’s B plot and Striker and Crimson.

Viv is so on her way to murder/ruin every character that isn’t Blitz and Stolas and I won’t be here to watch further. I’ll check out the Mammon music video thing but that’s it man, this show is going off the rails, Adding Fizz to the character adoption list!

#vivziepop critical #spindlehorse critical #helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva critical #anti vivziepop #helluva boss #fizzaroiii #fizzaroli helluva boss #helluva boss oops #helluva boss review #vivziepop criticism

[crooked-wasteland]

Stolen from @pinkandpurple360 anonymous ask.

"Blitz still has a long way to go with character development”

That's great. I can't wait to never see it.

This was an issue I tried working into my Fizzarolli Dissection but it kept feeling less about the character and more an overarching writing issue, so let's just take it here.

Every bit of character development in the series is inconsistent or entirely spontaneous. Stolas being in love with Blitz seemed like a slow burn until out of nowhere in Ozzie's he is so head over heels for Blitz in specific. Asking why Blitz only now is asking him out "after all this time", like he has been waiting on and expecting it despite that never being a thought towards their dynamic before. Going from being entirely obsessed with their sexual contract and seeing Blitz as a sex object to suddenly wanting cuddles on the couch with no strings attached?

That change was never shown in the series. It was never developed. There is no character growth, they merely are different to suit the new direction to the plot.

So again, I'm so glad Blitz has more character development to go through, can't wait for it all to be implied off screen like every other ounce of character we've been gaslight into believing has "grown".

If you never show it on screen, the dynamic, the relationship, the change, it never happened. Loona at the end of Queen Bee seems to get closer to Blitz but the next time we see her she's trying to assault him. We never saw any moment of change following the end of Queen Bee where we felt her character actually develop. Even after calling Blitz dad in the episode, she ignores him in favor of strangers at the party. She expressed clear disgust with Blitz before leaving with him, and her mild softening towards him at the end could just as easily be seen as nothing at all as it could be a character growth.

However growth requires reinforcement. If you never reinforce that moment meant something, it isn't growth, it's a cheap emotional scene to get a reaction from an audience. A short scene of Loona simply telling Blitz good morning to show some kind of change was all that was needed, but it was not as important to establish change in the characters as it was to have the most cringe scene in existence. Priorities.

One of the biggest issues with the series is how blatant the meta agenda of the writing is. They never allow the space to establish characters or change, instead citing these one off moments as “proof” of story when they do not amount to anything at all. There is unfortunately a distinct difference between a story and a scene, and it is painfully obvious by how Medrano and Nylan utilize these scenes that it is entirely for a superficial effect.

The relationship between Fizzarolli and Blitz similarly is extremely vapid and has no foundation to establish what their dynamic actually was growing up. Additionally, the two scenes of them being younger are fundamentally contradictory. Younger Fizz from The Circus is assertive and confrontational. He threatens to punch Blitz for being annoying and not playing the way he wants to play. He's bossy without necessarily being mean and not only knows he's popular, but also how to utilize it as manipulation, seen in how he draws attention to himself to spare Blitz the embarrassment of his failed joke. This Fizzarolli actually lines up also with the Fizz from Ozzie's. It's hard to claim that Ozzie's Fizz was "just an act" when as a literal child he has all the same traits

Then in the Special he is insecure, timid, has very little self esteem and is an anxious people pleaser with a mousy voice. There is nothing to establish this as the same person at all, and all the narrative context clues around his popularity does not support the direction of change this character has experienced. Fizzarolli has only gotten bigger between being what appears to be six years old and what I can only assume to be thirteen based on his cracking pubescent voice and gangly limbs. All we can go on is context clues and extrapolation, but arguing of a non-existent event that humbled Fizzarolli to this extent, while maintaining his stardom prior to ever meeting Mammon, is founded on nothing, when there is a much simpler answer.

His whole personality has taken a 180 turn for the sole purpose of the episode’s narrative. Fizzarolli being the pathetic whump he is in the episode is not founded anywhere else in the show, but we need that so people feel bad for him. There is no confidence in this writing. It shows that instead of believing the character is likeable as a whole for a complex personality, the only way anyone will like him is if he is just the softest jellybean in the bunch.

It is only this way because it suits the episode right here and now. And when his character changes, it isn't founded on any concrete narrative of growth and actions having consequences, but on what the writers need to get the audience to feel a certain way. So I say it again:

That's nice, I can't wait to never see it.

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #vivziepop critical #vivziepop #vivienne medrano #spindlehorse critical #spindlehorse criticism #helluva boss #vivziepop criticism #writing criticism

[nova-streyart]

The Thing about Belos Nobody Mentions

There's an aspect of Belos I haven't seen anyone talk about yet: him potentially being on the schizophrenia spectrum, or schizospec for short, and everything that means. Before you say anything, I am a schizoaffective person. This is my interpretation. This is based off my own experiences with this disorder, and my own research.

Analysis and rant under the cut:

=ANALYSIS=

So this all started when I learned that one of the color design pieces had Caleb and the grimwalkers labelled "Golden Guard Illusion". Artists credited in the image itself.

It's weird to me that they're labeled as illusions and not hallucinations, because the latter is what the ghosts actually are. Illusions are images your brain distorts based off something that's there, while hallucinations are images your brain creates from nothing. The fact that these ghosts are actually hallucinations of Belos and not real ghosts doesn't say a whole lot about Belos on its own, because anyone can hallucinate if they experience intense enough negative emotions. But you'll see why I think there's something more to this.

Following this lead, I rewatched the scene where Papa Titan talks to Luz in the In-Between realm in the series finale. After Luz asks him whether her motivation to save her friends and family makes her just as bad as Belos, she tells her:

"Well, you assume Belos' goal comes from a genuine place. But that man doesn't care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion."

Let me give you a short lesson about delusions in the context of schizospec disorders: Delusions are firmly held beliefs that the person experiencing can't be convinced aren't true. This can be extremely serious and life-threatening, such as as believing all your food's been poisoned. But it can also be harmless; it really depends on the delusion. The type of delusion referenced here would be a delusion of grandeur, which is a real thing in schizospec disorders. Such delusions can be serious, like believing you're the second coming of god, or more harmless, like believing you're better than others.

Taking both the hallucinations and the delusion into mind, it's very possible that Belos has some kind of schizospec disorder.

=RANT=

Let's talk about that scene where Belos goes to the grimwalker cave. Notice how the hallucinations are played for laughs? That's problematic. Hallucinations are not something you can just tell to "shut up" and they'll go away. Hallucinations are not things you can interact with. There's already other media with this problem, such as A Beautiful Mind, but the fact that it's in a show that's supposed to be celebrating neurodivergence is hypocritical.

Let's briefly go back to that Papa Titan quote. See how he used the word "delusion" to describe Belos' motivation?Yeah, that's really problematic in the schizospec community. As mentioned before, delusions can be life threatening, so tossing that word around like it's nothing is really frustrating and insulting. The show should have used a word like "fantasy" to get its point across more effectively if it was implying that Belos has a hero complex.

Continuing this train of thought, it gets worse when you consider how Papa Titan- and in essence the narrative- is essentially ridiculing Belos for experiencing a very intense delusion. Delusions are not something a schizospec person can control. I've already seen the fandom mocking Belos for this quality. It was one of those awful memes with the caption "schizophrenia," and had audio of markiplier doing a bit where he was bantering with an "inner voice". Such memes are awful because they're not real experiences schizospec people go through. They're assumptions about our experiences non-schizospec people make about us.

That would be the worst of it, but no, it gets far worse when you consider a few things:

Belos is the main antagonist. That would be annoying enough, considering the plethora of mentally ill villains in media, but nope. The narrative also treats him as this purely evil being who is incapable of any good whatsoever. Which, OK. It's possible for a schizospec person to be a monster. But the fact that the only schizospec representation we have is either of us as helpless victims, or as irredeemable monsters, is infuriating.

Belos is clearly meant to be a foil to Luz. Which, congrats to the show for having a neurodivergent lead, but let me tell you about some of the hardships schizospec people face: In real life, schizospec people are cast out of mental health advocacy groups. Schizospec people are treated as subhuman by doctors and psychiatrists. Schizospec people are demonized and vilified by society. Schizospec people are denied jobs and housing. With all this in mind the fact the narrative chooses to glorify a character with the "right," the "acceptable," kind of neurodivergence while berating a character with the "scary," the "monstrous," kind of neurodivergence is absolutely disgusting.

=CONCLUSION=

I feel like it has to be said that I am not condoning Belos' actions, or trying to woobify him. Belos, as a person, was terrible. No amount of mental illness tacked onto him will excuse any of his actions.

I'm also not trying to imply that schizospec characters can't be evil. I'm just saying that it's extremely tiresome that the only representation we get is either us as victims or as villains.

To conclude all of this, please, do your research before adding something like this into your story.

#long post #rant post #toh critical #toh criticism #belos #toh belos #emperor belos #philip wittebane #toh philip wittebane

[sky-kiss]

I’m prompting you for ascended fiend Raphael. The scenario is your oyster but I vote for deliciously sinful and nasty. 😈

But if not that one, I do have a prompt idea of Tav saving Raphael (and Haarlep) from an assassination attempt in his boudoir and whatever shenanigans/reactions you’d want to explore. 😂

A/N: I have a few other nasty prompts for the Ascended Lad, so let’s (attempt to) ASSASSINATE THE BOYS. I made it silly. The lads were having a good time. I’m sorry.

_______

R/T/H: 18+: Assassins are so five minutes ago, darling.

_______

"Heroism" is the last thing on Tav's mind as she storms through the House of Hope. "Annoyed" is high on her emotional list, falling just shy of "murderous" and "sexually frustrated." And while these states of emotional flux were often confusing, she has the rare and dubious pleasure of knowing the exact source of her woes. 

Raphael, by way of Haarlep. The Hero of Baldur's Gate chews the inside of her cheek hard enough that it might draw blood. It's still early morning back in Faerun, too early for breakfast, which has not dissuaded Raphael a lick. He's been eating for hours, the little shit. He is never so overtly generous, not without a contract on the table, and so Tav knows it's a deliberate play. He wants her attention; he's too proud to ask so…

…Haarlep. She didn't need to see them or ask for confirmation to know it had been their idea. The incubus had pitched it with a smile on their face and a song in their heart. 

Unsurprisingly, the boudoir's barrier does not stop her. The magic washes over her like an old friend, a touch oily, intimate like a caress. The second she crosses the threshold, the pleasure shifts. Raphael presses his tongue flat against her clit, warm, static pressure. The fingers in her cunt still, an agonizing stretch promising such pleasure if she can ride the wave a little higher. 

"Master, oh, Master, please…" Haarlep cries. It's Tav's voice- wrecked, breathy, and close to sobbing. It's an obvious exaggeration. These situations always inspire Haarlep. A voice in her head, eternally practical and sounding like Jaheira, says she should feel offended by this indignity. 

The problem is she can feel how it affects Raphael. The way his hand tightens on her hip. He shifts against the mattress, grinding his hips down, suckles at her clit. All the strength threatens to leave her knees as Haarlep comes apart, gushing over the cambion's face. 

Well, good for them. 

But back to the "heroism" section of our narrative. 

The fact of the matter is it all comes down to luck. Haarlep's orgasm is intense enough to stop her cold. Those few minutes are why she's lingering in the foyer instead of standing by the foot of the bed. It's the reason she sees the shimmering figure slip in through the window, little more than a few flickering dust motes. Tav frowns, summoning enough presence of mind to focus on the intruder and not the sensation of her doppelganger sinking on a perfectly lovely cock.  

The stranger makes a critical mistake: they hesitate, knife raised above their head. Cold iron or not, she can't think of a less effective assassination attempt. That points to an irritated debtor rather than a competitor in the Infernal Courts. Tav crashes into the would-be assassin. The impact sends them sprawling. 

Fucking Haarlep never even stutters, riding the Archduke with a practiced, effortless grace Tav would admire under less pressing circumstances. She clears her throat. 

"Oh, we heard you, little thief." Haarlep opens their eyes long enough to wink, palming their breasts. Tav glares. The incubus pinches their nipple in response, hard enough to leave Tav shifting. "Nearly finished with that?" 

"With the assassin?"

Raphael chuckles. The low rumbling sound makes her shiver. It's gratifying to know the feeling is mutual; Haarlep's cunt clenches, pace stuttering briefly. The incubus grumbles something in Infernal before resuming a more leisurely pace. "We appear to be in danger, Haarlep. Were you aware?" 

"Such danger. Whatever would we have done without our stalwart protector?" 

The cambion smiles. Handsome, so fucking gorgeous. The assassin twitches under Tav, still clearly present. No matter what the devils would like to pretend. "How should we repay her for this kindness?" 

"The assassin, Raphael!" 

He frowns. The devil pats Haarlep's hip, stilling them. He snaps his fingers, and the assassin vanishes in a shimmering veil of hellfire. Off to languish in his dungeon, no doubt. "There, pet. Are you content now? Can you be civil?" The absurdity of the statement leaves her sputtering. Raphael looks at her, brow furrowing, confused and irritated. "Well, what are you doing down there? Or will I have to make it an invitation?" 

"Someone tried to kill you." 

Haarlep laughs. "Old news. Why linger? We'd far prefer guiding you to a little death, sweetling." 

"Come, mouse." 

And she hates it. She hates the abuse of power, hates their dismissiveness…

…hates that she's rolling her eyes and crawling into bed to join them. 

#bg3 raphael #haarlep #raphael x tav #smuttyish #asks #my writing #LOOK IM SORRY #IM SURE YOU MEANT AN ACTUAL ATTEMPT BUT #...they got carried away

[ragnarokhound]

puts this on your list of things to do

Skcnwksks *adds another stone atop the mountain, and the world sinks another inch closer to hell

But okay fr. I actually read Knight Terrors: Robin today, and with the enormous grain of salt that I am working mostly with fandom osmosis, esp re: their established relationship, I think they alllllmost wrote something that worked. Almost. Long rambling nitpicks under the cut:

I think if they had about three more pages they could have established Tim and Jason's relationship and their problems with working together a little better; and either cut Babs out as the middle man who introduced their individual issues to the audience, or used her more effectively as a mediator.

They very clearly wanted to showcase two problems: Tim is working himself to death trying to save everyone, and Jason is suffering by insisting on working alone. Good! I like this concept. It's annoying to me that Babs is the one who tries to reach out to both of them about these issues, gets rebuffed, and then is never heard from again. I'd much prefer it if they tried to talk to each other on their own and it went poorly at first, only to be forced to open up in the nightmare realm. It would tighten up their combined arc if they'd had one single conversation before the Inciting Incident occurs.

Like, don't get me wrong. I am waffling about this because Babs is a good entry voice to help introduce our primary actors. She is the person they have in common, and by having her be the voice in their ear, we see that other people in their support networks are worried about them.

But man, why not just have Tim monologue to himself about being ready to wrap up his third bust of the night and consider hitting up Jason to see if he needs help on the intergang drug bust he's in the middle of. It could be on Tim's way to the next place he's going, demonstrating that he's stretching himself thin and looking for even more to do; even with people like Jason who he isn't all that close with. And then Tim and Jason have their own snarky conversation (with some veiled flirting) about not needing each other's help or each other's nagging, and that's when the nightmare mist hits.

Because the story is only tangentially about people other than Jason and Tim. They're both too wrapped up in their own problems to notice other people reaching out to them about their fucked behavior. So Babs could have been used as a yardstick for each of them - Tim dismissed her fears at first, Jason hung up on her outright - but only if she comes back.

If Babs had also been there at the end to check in with them, yeah, it might have lessened the impact of Jason's plea for help and getting only Tim in response, but it would have been the indicator that they were now ready to hear the worries expressed by their loved ones. A very *clear* indicator of what has changed in the narrative that justifies Babs' involvement in the first place. You could have her come in right as Tim and Jason are catching up after the initial plea, having just escaped her own nightmare (*editors note: see Babs' knight terrors issue, lmao). She could groggily direct them to someone who needs help. All three of them are working together now, Tim and Jason are on their way to opening up to more people; huzzah

And hell. If you want to justify why Tim knows stuff about Jason he shouldn't - or why Jason might know something about Tim that he shouldn't for that matter - a little extra time spent together in the nightmare zone is great for that. Make them see each other's worst memories. Make them see each other's defining moments. Make it the twisted, terrible, self-directed-blame version of events that exists in their heads, and then they can separately call bullshit.

You literally put them into a shared mind palace!! Why did Tim know that about Sheila? Because he just saw it in Jason's head. How does Jason know Tim has a savior complex too big to shoulder? Same deal. IMO, this would have made their insistence that the other person is better than they think much more natural. It's not an empty sentiment because 'I've literally seen what you think of yourself and I am telling you that it isn't true'. (They're in a shared mindscape. Why not imply that they are seeing what the other is seeing too. That they're having a shared experience and are privy to each other's thoughts, emotions, and memories? Easy to do. "I feel like I'm walking to class in the 10th grade...but when I was that age, I was 6 feet under." "And I'm positive I'm picking up ammo for a gun I don't own. I think it's safe to say we're sharing a dream.")

I'm also ??? about why the nightmare zone let them talk at all?? Maybe that's something that we don't have time to explain/ it doesn't need explaining, but if I were a terrible nightmare creature and I was menacing two people at once, I simply wouldn't let them exist in the same space. Isolation is key to breaking someone's will. If you let them talk to each other they could help each other. Fool. Buffoon. Literally the only reason to let them talk to each other is if you think they'll make each other worse lmao.

There was a clever visual trick in which Jason hits the void barrier and Tim sees the ripples he makes - but iirc that is the closest we get to an explanation of how they might be breaking through to each other. And it happened after they were almost done with their second conversation. Too little, too late, IMO.

Arguments could be made that they were able to break through because they were approaching a hard limit. Jason hears Tim again when he yells at his double to shut up, when Jason himself is just about ready to throw in the towel. The moment of deepest despair, the realization for both of them that they're not cut out to solve the problem with their current method. Something something, breaking the pattern - but why let them, unless the nightmare can't do anything about it? I do like a monster with a secret weakness, so I'm willing to let it slide now that I've talked it out lol but still. It feels like an unearned conversation when the only convo they had before was mostly exposition.

Anyway. Tldr; if the writers had a few more pages and shown us Tim and Jason's conflict with each other rather than water it down via Babs (OR BROUGHT HER BACK TO TIE IT ALL UP WITH A BOW) it would have been a tighter & more interesting story.

#wow that rant got a little long skxndbdjsj #anyway i think i want to own a copy of knight terrors robin now #i want it on my shelf so i can shake it around every now and then and remind myself of what we could have had #cause its honestly not the worst #it just suffers from being a spin off storyline without enough time to sufficiently set up its payoff #jaytim #also im still enamored by how that convo would go #jason: drake? is that you? #tim: jason? where are you? are you okay? #jason: not remotely. but first things first *coughs blood* what are you wearing

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

Alright, looks like my dearest blorbo lost, so here's my long anticipated post mortem propaganda post for her and the 15 dollar game bundle that blew me away. For decency's sake, i'm sealing the meat of this post behind a read more, so as to not accidentally colour of the skies everyone who follows this tourney. (Or at least i'm going to try to. Tumblr is weird, and apologies if it does not work.)

One fateful day, I purchased the Bundle For Ukraine from itch.io. While I was initially put off by the seemingly bargain bin quality of most of the games, I ultimately decided it was worth it. I donated, got the games, and perused through them for anything eye catching. I found Celeste, Zeroranger, a couple of cute tools…

And a little game called Crosscode.

I was… intrigued. I'd saw this game once or twice before, and I was curious. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to try it, I downloaded the game and started it up.

Crosscode turned out to be a very good game.

And most of that was because of the main character:

Lea.

In summary, Crosscode is an action rpg game made by Radical Fish and released fully on pc in 2018, with console ports later. It follows the story of Lea, a woman who wakes up inside a futuristic MMO set on a moon in a distant galaxy, where players physically control avatars made out of a high tech substance known as Instant Matter (think hard light holograms, and that's pretty much it.), as she's guided by a programmer in order to recover her lost memories. I can go on and on about just how amazing the game is: how the plot takes a turn from "generic mmo isekai esque" to if someone decided to adapt one of the better black mirror episodes into an action rpg, how polished the combat and puzzles are, and how incredible the music is, but that's not what the main purpose of this tourney is. It's to tell you just how good of a character Lea is.

Lea is the main protagonist/player character, a rather shy woman with a real competitive spirit and a cheeky attitude, once she warms up to someone. A major part of her character is due to a major glitch in her avatar's voice module, she's mute (aside from a couple of hardcoded words her programmer friend could put in). "A silent protagonist?" you may ask me. "Like, a player avatar that is deliberately left without any strong characterisation as to allow nearly anyone to insert themselves into?" Nope! Instead of being a blank slate for projection, Lea expresses an incredible amount of character through simply inflection and facial expression.

This is only a PART of her spritesheet! Only a smidge, and i'm not even getting into the special sprites she has for certain story events.

Throughout the story, Lea has to tackle difficulties with not being able to communicate as well with players and NPCs, along with typical mmo difficulties, all while she unravels the dark mysteries of what's really going on behind the scenes of Crossworlds...

Despite her difficulties, she's always treated with respect by the game's narrative, which can be seen with the many interactions between her and the surrounding cast (all mainly expressed through her many sprites).

A few of my favourite moments of hers include:

Annoying her programmer friend:

Her reaction to her horns:

Her absolute freak out at being held by a five year old:

Her absolutely intending to get into more antics after a certain sidequest:

And if you need any more motivation to play this amazing game, here's the special reactions she gets when you turn on the New Game Plus cheat that gives you insane damage with every hit:

Yes, the devs made specific sprites just for when you play new game plus with a certain cheat.

Please, do yourself a favour and play Crosscode. It's like twenty bucks on steam without a sale. It's what Sword Art Online would be if it didn't completely suck. It's disability culture. It's the world's best single player MMO. It's a Black Mirror's White Christmas episode adapted into a video game.

And most of all... it has Lea.

Wow. Well unfortunately it seems that read more does not work in asks.

#asks #not blorbo poll #propaganda? #long post #really long post

[awesomefringey]

I know fans and especially old-day larries are sick of him and his tweet was the last straw but what if his larry denial wasn’t meant to be denial more like him telling us to stop making everything he does as a larry sign and make theories about literally anything? It isn’t that long when you, tumblr larries, were calling out twitter larries for this, for spreading literally every rumour and making theories of it because those twarries literally take everything as a larry sign. ‘Oh, Louis was staring at one vip box yesterday, there must’ve been Harry!’

‘There was some mysterious shadow in one of the vip boxes watching the show, that must’ve been Harry.’

‘Louis is talking to someone in the van, it must’ve been Harry.’

‘Lottie posted video from zoo and this voice sounds just like Harry so it’s definitely him behind the camera!’

Oooor did some called out Gemma when she named larries mental after some of them were constatly harrasing her in comment section in literally every post with “💚💙” and expecting her to out them?

I don’t want to excuse him for how he behave especially when it comes to dragging that kid lately and pretending to be the father of the year but as long as I’ve seen him being in a great mood lately, his smirk after Umbro 2.0 or playing 7, what if he didn’t to deny larry more like to tell some of fans (twarries) in very unfortunate way to chill because not everything is a sign.

Oh, I totally get your point. It was my instant reaction. Louis must have mocked the “constant conspiring” which is super annoying and exhausting for so many of us in the fandom.

The thing is, it is one of the reasons many have left before.

I’ve seen wonderful people access the fandom with big eyes and amazement until they fell for big Twitter accounts who continuously posted about how Louis and Harry are communicating to us and how they’re warning us, screaming for help, how an end is on the horizon… and then, nothing happened.

I’ve seen these fans being emotionally drained by the victim narrative because they wanted to help but didn’t know how. I’ve seen some needing a break for it, others eventually realizing that all the “communication” was bullshit and how that must mean everything else must’ve been too.

If I could change something about our fandom, it would be the idea that Louis and Harry will be forever victims, okay AND if people could stop babying them, that’d be great. But both creates an environment in which we can’t criticize them ever, even when it is very necessary. (Thinking of the very short notice Asian Leg cancellation and zero personal words from Louis.)

#ask #fandom experience

[illuminatedquill]

Sabine Wren

Short Cuts

Story Summary: A short series of scenes featuring Sabine Wren occurring throughout the first season of Ahsoka that help fill in the narrative gaps left by the hat man (Sabezra focused, of course).

Author's Note: I was super bored at work today and came up with some more headcanons for stuff that should have happened during Ahsoka. Enjoy.

One Last Thing Before I Go

Sabine Wren x Ryder Azadi

(Takes place near the end of Ahsoka 1x02, Toil and Trouble. Sabine visits Governor Azadi to ask for some last favors before she leaves.)

The intercom on Governor Azadi's desk chirped, signaling an incoming message from his secretary. He clicked the channel open.

"Azadi here. Go ahead," he said, scribbling away on some forms.

"There is a Sabine Wren here for you, Governor."

Ah, he thought. Decision time.

"Send her up, please," he replied.

His secretary, sounding flustered, said, "She, uh - never mind, she's already on her way to see you, sir."

Azadi sighed. "Of course she is." Formal decorum never was Sabine's style.

The doors to his office hissed open - and a Mandalorian walked in.

Azadi's eyebrows climbed up his forehead in surprise until he recognized the familiar color scheme. Few Mandalorians painted their armor in such a vivid array of colors.

In fact, he knew only one.

A slow smile spread across his face. "Well, well," he drawled. "Don't you look spiffy."

The Mandalorian took off her helmet, revealing Sabine Wren - with a freshly shorn haircut. She had on a cocky grin and her eyes glinted with fierce determination.

Azadi felt his heart soar. Now that's the Sabine I remember, he thought.

"Still fits," she replied, showing off her armor.

"That it does," Azadi agreed. "I take it this means you're partnering up with Ahsoka again?"

"Yeah. We'll be on our way, shortly."

"Good, good." Azadi was in disbelief of Sabine's involvement when Ahsoka showed up and told him of her plans to ask for her help - until she revealed what was at stake.

Or rather, who was at stake.

"And your wound? It's not bothering you?" he asked.

Sabine reached down to her abdomen almost instinctively. "What, this? Nah, it's fine. All good to go," she said, dismissively.

Azadi snorted. "You were stabbed by a lightsaber, Sabine. Not very many people just walk that injury off."

She shrugged. "It's fine, Ryder." Her eyes flashed, dangerously. "I plan to pay it back, don't worry."

"Glad to hear it," Azadi said, firmly. "Anything else I can do for you before leaving?"

Sabine reached up and rubbed the back of her neck - a nervous gesture that sent a mysterious sharp pang of nostalgia through Azadi.

So familiar . . .

"Yeah, if that's alright with you."

"Of course. Name it."

Sabine looked at him. "First - I need someone to feed my loth-cat, Murley."

Azadi blinked. "You want - what?"

"Someone needs to feed my loth-cat. Twice a day. And probably play with him, too."

Azadi blinked again. "And . . . who do you have in mind for that?"

Sabine tapped a finger on her chin and smirked. "You could send one of those hotshot pilots you had chasing me down the speed-way the other day."

Azadi rolled his eyes. "You want me to use military resources to feed your cat."

"Yeah. If that isn't too hard for them."

"Sabine," replied Azadi, steadily, "if you're going to be annoyed, do it at me. I gave the order."

Her eyes flashed again. Azadi braced himself.

"You knew I wasn't going to show up at that ceremony. Haven't done so for years."

Azadi leaned forward, irritation creeping into his voice. "You're not the only one who misses Ezra. That ceremony is meant as a token of respect and gratitude towards everyone else who sacrificed and lost that day!"

He jabbed a finger at her. "What about them, Sabine? You forget about everyone else just because their name isn't Ezra Bridger?"

The smirk vanished in an instant. Sabine took a step backwards, rubbing at the back of her neck again in embarrassment.

Why is that so familiar to me?

Azadi took the moment to calm himself down. Way to go, old man, he thought. What a role model you are.

"I'm sorry," he said, quietly. "I know Ezra meant a lot to you."

"No - no, you're right," she admitted. "I was being selfish."

Azadi hesitated for a moment, thinking - and decided to push forward anyway. "You were also being scared. Which isn't like you."

Sabine looked up at him. "You think I was running away."

"Yes," he confessed. "I was tired of seeing you run away from . . . everything. Life."

She was quiet for long moment, processing this. "I've been running my whole life, Ryder," Sabine said, sadly.

He studied her. "This trip with Ahsoka - are you still running?"

Sabine considered her answer for a few seconds and then spoke, confidently, "Yes. But the difference is I'm running to something now. Not away."

Running to someone, you mean, Azadi thought. I know your price. But the answer was sufficient for him.

He drummed his fingers on the desk, thinking. "I'll send one of my assistants to check on your loth-cat while you're away, Sabine. You have my word."

Her shoulders sagged with relief. "Thanks, Ryder."

Azadi nodded. "Anything else?"

Sabine dug in her pockets and pulled out a hastily folded form. "Your secretary insisted I fill one of these out. It's an official request."

Azadi took and scanned the document. Smiling, he said, "Consider it done."

Sabine, in a surprisingly formal move, bowed her head. "I appreciate the help, Governor Azadi."

He blinked and bowed his head in return. "Of course, Commander Wren."

She turned to go - and paused. Rubbing the back of her neck again, he saw the embarrassed look -

And it clicked. The pang of nostalgia ran through him again, and he knew why the gesture looked so familiar to him.

Ezra used to do that. Whenever the boy was feeling flustered or unsure.

His heart ached - and not just for the lost Jedi. Oh, Sabine.

"Something else, Sabine?"

"I just - I just wanted to say thank you. For letting me stay on Lothal all these years."

For a moment, Azadi saw the young girl again, still in her teens, with the weight of a galaxy on her shoulders.

"Lothal will always be a home for you, Sabine. Wherever you go," he replied, a tear running down his face.

Sabine turned to him and smiled - a true smile, not her trademark smirk or mischievous grin; something he hadn't seen her do in years.

"I'll bring him home, Ryder," she promised. And she turned, departing with a wave.

Azadi wiped the tear from his face and looked down at the request she had given him once more:

COMMANDER WREN

REQUEST TO GOVERNOR AZADI

REGARDING THE MEMORIAL FOR THOSE FALLEN AT THE BATTLE OF LOTHAL

PLEASE REMOVE ONE NAME FROM THE MEMORIAL DUE TO ERRONEOUS SUBMISSION

NAME IS: EZRA BRIDGER

Azadi looked at the closed doorway where Sabine had left.

Softly, he said to the empty room, "Make sure you come back home, too, Sabine."

Down Time

Sabine Wren x Ezra Bridger

(Takes place during Ahsoka 1x07, Dreams and Madness. An extended version of Sabine and Ezra's conversation.)

Ezra was babbling again. Something about the Noti, their culture and their language.

Normally, Sabine would be listening with feigned interest but she just laid her head back on the weird dome that served as the nomadic crab people's domiciles/vehicles.

Her boots were propped in front of her and she just let Ezra talk.

The same thoughts kept cycling in her head, unceasingly.

Ezra's here.

He's alive. He's safe.

A small, dark voice in the corner of her mind interjected: he doesn't know what you did.

She locked down that train of thought, viciously. She would deal with that later.

For now, she just wanted to hear Ezra's voice; real, warm, and alive. Not being filtered through a holo-recording.

That alone made it all worth it. Just hearing him talk, in real time.

Sabine felt a sharp poke on her cheek. "Hellooo. Is this thing on?"

She grinned and said, "Just taking in the view, Ezra."

"Ah, yes," replied Ezra, dryly. "Peridea is famous for it's barren wastelands."

Sabine waved at the caravan surrounding them. "The locals are nice, though."

"True," Ezra admitted. "The Noti are nice. Saved my life a couple times."

Sabine stared at the open, grey sky. "Does it ever lighten up around here?"

Ezra shook his head. "Not really. Not much in the way of sun, around here." He cocked his head, thinking. "The nights are beautiful, though."

He considered it for a long moment, then admitted, "More beautiful than Lothal's nights. Hard for me to say that."

Sabine's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Wow. That's saying a lot." She knew from many late nights just how beautiful the starry skies over Lothal looked.

Ezra shrugged. "At least, from what I remember. It's been a while."

Sabine winced. That last part had come out a little too casually.

"You can see a lot, at night?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah." Ezra's eyes lit up, as he said, excitedly, "You can see whole galaxies and nebulas - everything, Sabine. It's totally wizard."

She smiled at his wonder. "I'll take your word for it."

"I used to look up at the night and wonder which galaxy was home, you know," he said, his smile fading a little.

Sabine felt her own fading in response. "Did you ever figure it out?"

He shook his head. "No. I'd just choose a random one and . . . talk, I guess. Tried reaching out with the Force, to see if someone could get a message."

Ezra said, ruefully, "Didn't work, as you can see. But I still talked. Pretended it was Hera, Zeb, Kanan . . . you."

Sabine felt her heart ache. "What did you talk about?" she asked, softly.

"Just how things were going. What I experienced that day, good or bad." He paused.

"How much I missed everyone back at home," he finished. "Silly, really. But it helped."

Sabine reached over and gripped his hand. "You were missed, Ezra. You were missed so badly."

He blinked at her, tears welling up. "Really?"

"Of course," she said, firmly. Sabine could feel her own eyes begin to glaze over with unshed tears. "The whole crew split apart after you disappeared. We couldn't keep it together without you and Kanan."

His face turned sad. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault," she replied, quickly. "Don't even think of blaming yourself, do you hear me? It was just how it happened. We didn't hate each other or anything . . . it was just the war with the Empire and all of us had separate paths to take."

She tried to blink away the tears, remembering the aftermath of Ezra's disappearance; how quietly the Ghost crew, her family, had just . . . drifted apart.

Sabine wiped her face and looked up at the bleak sky of Peridea. "We held funerals for everyone who died during the battle, you know," she said, quietly.

"Kanan?"

Her throat became thick with emotion. "Yes."

She couldn't look at him, as she added, "And you."

Ezra was quiet for a long few moments, before saying, jokingly, "Hope mine wasn't too boring."

"I wouldn't know," Sabine replied. "I didn't go."

"Oh," was all Ezra said.

"They all believed you were dead," said Sabine. "I never believed it. I didn't want to believe it . . ."

Ezra interrupted her talk with a hug. Sabine froze, in shock, and then melted into him. She felt the strength, the love, the dedication, the surety of his care and affection for her -

All real.

All for her. What she had missed, craved so much in the past decade. It flooded into her, filling a dark hole that she had been ignoring inside of her, and the pain and relief of it made her weep.

And she sobbed into his shoulder. For Ezra, for herself, for all the years they had been apart and the damage that had been done.

"Why did you leave, you stupid idiot? Why did you leave me all alone? To fight all alone? We were supposed to finish this war together! Live and see Mandalore and Lothal revive during peace, together!"

She pounded a fist into Ezra's shoulder with each question, the tears and hurt and anger just pouring out of her, uncontrolled.

Ezra didn't say anything. He just accepted her fury, her despair, and responded the only way he knew how.

He just held her tighter. Keeping her from flying apart; keeping her whole.

When she finished, Ezra just continued talking about inconsequential things, like nothing happened.

Sabine loved him so much for that. For just accepting her and letting her be what she needed to be at that moment.

She took a moment to wipe away the snot and tears.

The dreaded voice, like a gremlin, spoke from the dark corner of her mind once more: he doesn't know what you did.

Maybe so, she retorted back at the voice. But I still have him for now.

She prayed to the Force - or whatever power ruled in this unfamiliar galaxy.

Please, just let me keep him for a while longer. Just a little while longer.

(Author's Note: I cried like a bitch writing this part.)

Someone Special

Sabine Wren x Ezra Bridger

(An extended epilogue to the Ahsoka finale 1x08, The Jedi, The Witch, and The Warlord. Sabine returns to the Noti camp after the 'Shadows in the Starlight' scene to find Huyang waiting for her with a surprise.)

"Lady Wren," called Huyang as she approached. "I have something here that might interest you."

Sabine frowned at the droid. "What is it?"

He held out a metallic box, crudely put together. Sabine peered at it closely: it looked like someone had done a rush job with welded together Imperial salvage. And all of it was built to -

Sabine's eyes widened. "It's a holo-recording."

Huyang nodded. "Indeed. I believe Master Bridger left a message for you."

Another recording. Sabine's heart raced at the thought.

Ahsoka, her master, caught up to her. "A message?" asked the older Jedi.

Sabine took the recording from Huyang's outstretched hand. "From Ezra. Do you mind if I take a listen?"

Ahsoka nodded. "Go ahead. I'll take first watch."

Huyang led the way inside one of the domes, where they could be alone. "The recording is in bad shape. If you don't mind, I'll observe to make sure it doesn't explode on you."

Sabine snorted. "Thanks, Huyang. Whatever would I do without you?"

"Explode, probably," replied Huyang, dryly.

Gingerly, Sabine set the recording down on a crate and cranked the power on. The machine sputtered and sparked - and then the lenses flared to a shimmering image.

Sabine gasped.

"Oh, dear," Huyang observed, sadly.

It was Ezra, alright. His hair wasn't quite as long; the beard not as scruffy. Younger than the current Ezra now.

But he looked hurt. A bandage, hastily applied, was wrapped around his mid-section; a dark stain was staining it, visible despite the thick gauze. His left arm was in a crude sling, made from some unknown cloth.

But it was his eyes. His eyes were the worst part. Haunted, bruised with a sadness and wariness that she didn't know he was capable of.

Ezra was hurting. Someone had hurt him.

Sabine's heart cracked at the image, but she forced herself to stay still. Her hands clenched into tight fists. "Thrawn," she hissed.

Ezra was peering at something and muttering; the audio didn't catch it until he took a few steps closer: " . . . think it's finally working. Yes!"

Despite his battered appearance, Ezra smiled and waved awkwardly with his one good hand. "Hey, Sabine. I mean - I'm assuming it's you watching this."

He took a deep breath and seemed to gather his courage for a moment, before speaking again.

"If you're watching this, Sabine, I'm probably dead."

Sabine's stomach dropped out of her. She could feel Huyang watching her, waiting.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," Ezra continued. He gestured at his injuries. "As you can see, today was a bit rough."

"It's been . . . I think three years since I came here? Wherever here is. Thought Thrawn had given up on finding me. I got sloppy."

He chuckled. "My mistake, obviously."

"I managed to scrape together enough salvage from the Chimaera; the purrgils took big chomps out of it when we came out of hyperspace. Took a while to get this holo-recorder built without the proper tools but I managed it. And today got me thinking that I should probably prepare a farewell."

"I don't know how it will happen. Most likely Thrawn. Or it could be something else. But I think it's coming. Don't know when or where. And I don't want you to come all this way without . . . without knowing."

Ezra reached up and rubbed the back of his head. She had to remind herself that Ezra was safe, he was heading back home.

He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead.

"In my last message, I told you I was counting on you. I don't know when you'll find this; I've given the Noti instructions to give this recording to anyone with the starbird symbol. They know what it looks like since I've been painting on all of them since I got here. I hope you like it. Not as good as yours, but I had to make do."

"If you're here now, then that means my faith in you wasn't misplaced. I hope the Empire was beaten and that Lothal was saved. You're probably home with your family in Mandalore now."

Sabine's stomach twisted; her parents, her brother. Her home. Ezra never knew.

Ezra's faced turned sad. "Please don't beat yourself up for getting here late. I don't regret a single thing - a single moment of my life. Any of it. I would do it all over again, given the chance."

With uncanny accuracy, the holographic Ezra seemed to look directly at Sabine.

"I'm doing this message now to say that I want you to lay down your burdens, Sabine. Live your life now. Be happy. Maybe . . . maybe find someone special to have in your life. You deserve it."

He paused and then said, emphatically, "Someone special like you were to me."

Her heart skipped several beats, a blush threatening to come.

Ezra turned away for a second, composing himself - and then laughed. "I think I said last time that you were like a sister to me."

Sabine snorted. As did Huyang, surprisingly.

Sheepishly, Ezra said, "You probably figured out that was a lie." Taking a deep breath he continued, "It wasn't the right word - but none of them seem to be right, when it comes to you. I just didn't want to burden you with . . . with how I felt before leaving."

He gestured in a frustrated manner. "And now I'm leaving again. But this time I don't want to leave with regrets."

Turning to look at her again, Ezra Bridger said, softly, "I love you, Sabine Wren. Always have. Always will."

"While we were on Mandalore a while back, I asked your brother for some Mandalorian phrases - and, well, here we go."

He raised his one good arm and pounded it to his chest in a formal Mandalore salute. Sabine choked back a laugh at the sight.

"My Lady Wren. It pains me that I cannot continue to stay by your side and see your song be sung. I hope that whoever you choose as your partner will do so, in my stead, and see that day when all of Mandalore acknowledge your courage, your passion, your honor, and your prowess as a true Mandalorian warrior."

Ezra's eyes were shining with tears.

"I hope, my Lady Wren, that you know that I will always cherish the time we had together, fighting side by side. That there was no other person who was your equal. And - " He stopped short, fully crying now.

Sabine was crying, too.

" - And I hope you know that I will always be grateful for the verses in your song that I could share. And that, one day, if you are ever on Lothal and the sun is shining and you feel a breeze and hear the tall fields of grass rustle, you will think of that as my song, to compliment yours."

Ezra was absolutely butchering the Mandalorian phrases, but it mattered little to Sabine. She cried at the sincerity, the love he was giving her; a final, parting gift.

He smiled, lop-sidedly, as he finally finished. Sabine felt a smile tug at her cheeks, too, despite the message's tone.

"Wow, that was easier than I thought," mused Ezra. "Should have done that much sooner."

He peered at the something - the holo-recorder, in his point of view. A beeping noise could be heard. "Ah, karrabast. I think the power's draining. Need to make this quick."

Huyang tsked. "Goodness, the language. Where did he learn that word from?"

Sabine chuckled weakly at the thought of Huyang meeting Zeb one day. His circuits would explode.

Ezra smiled and said, quietly, "Live and be happy, Sabine. I'll always be with you. I really do hope you find someone special in your life to share in all the laughter and joys and sorrows."

"I hope they know how lucky they are." He grinned and added, "I'm sure you'll be reminding them plenty."

The hologram began to fizzle. Quietly, Huyang said, "The power reserves are almost out."

Ezra raised a hand in good-bye, a sad, but loving smile playing on his face. "Good-bye, Specter-5. This is Specter-6, signing off."

The recording sputtered and died, leaving Sabine and Huyang in the dark.

After a moment, Huyang said, "I'll leave you be for the night, Lady Wren."

The droid walked out.

Sabine picked up the holo-recording gently and cradled it to her chest, feeling the tears track silently, warmly down her cheeks.

Someone special in your life.

"Yeah, I did find someone special," she choked out through the sobs. "And I'll be reminding him plenty when I get back.”

#sabezra #sabine wren #ezra bridger #ezrabine #sabezra fanfiction #sabezra fanfic #star wars #star wars rebels #star wars fanfiction #ahsoka show #natasha liu bordizzo #ahsoka #I blame the hat man #he made me do this #DO YOUR JOB FILONI

[luna-rainbow]

(I've seen a couple of Peggy posts turn up today and please note I'm not trying to be contrary, just want to discuss things from a different perspective)

I've talked about this in another post before, but the MCU movies need to be examined in the context of the genre convention of superhero movies. From a writing perspective, CATFA (and all the Cap movies) needed to center on Steve Rogers (which is why CACW and TFATWS were failures in their primary story). All the other characters are meant to be support -- Bucky was the main foil, but so were Sam and Nat - Nat as the deceptive spy to Steve's blunt soldier, Sam as the modern parallel of Steve's traumas. By and large, CA1 and CA2 managed this balance well. Bucky Stans may not like me saying this, but as much as it would be nice to see more of Bucky's inner voice about his horrific experiences, that was not the point of those movies. The point of the movies was to focus on Steve, and Bucky's part - as lean as it was - fulfilled his narrative purpose. Of course it could've been gayer better, but it was good enough (** CA3 should have dealt with Bucky's recovery because that would have been important to Steve's recovery).

So now we come to the awkward subject of the Carters. We can argue about "better" female representation until our voices dry (that representation was given to Nat, by the way), but the two Carters were written as pure love interests in the movies. That was the first part of how the writing failed them. There was no narrative acknowledgement of how the Carter's experiences might mirror or contrast Steve's - and there were many! The first conversation between Steve and Peggy in the army - instead of drawing parallel between a man struggling against ableism and a woman struggling against misogyny, it simply plays up Steve as an incel and Peggy as the disinterested trophy. Instead of comparing how difficult it was for Steve and Peggy to get into the army, instead of discussing their respective reasons for wanting to join, the only parallel it draws between them is both are waiting "for the right partner" (i.e. a romantic connection only)....which it then reneges in CATWS when Steve talks about "someone with shared experiences" and does not include Peggy in that mix.

As the movies continue, more and more contrast is shown in Peggy's and Steve's experiences -- Steve, who laments of feeling lost and uncertain, and Peggy, laughingly dismissing him as "always so dramatic"; Peggy, who has lived a full life without him, and Steve, who still struggles to extract himself from the past; Peggy, who has used Steve's fame to set up SHIELD and thanks Steve for "finding" her husband, and Steve, who has to contend with the legacy of what Peggy has created and what her role might have been for "finding" Bucky; Peggy, who was willing to compromise with Nazis for whatever war she intended to win, and Steve, who stared Fury in the eye and said "SHIELD, Hydra, it all goes."

But the stories never have the self-awareness for these contrasts, as they do - and they do, the CATWS writers knew exactly what they were doing - with Bucky and Nat and Sam. The poignancy of Bucky's narrative/moral connections (and Nat's and Sam's) with Steve are intentional, but for Peggy, accidental.

She was written as a sexy lamp - which, while annoying, is part of the genre convention that I can ignore - with multiple moral failings, who continually demonstrates an inability to connect with Steve on an ethical or emotional level.

But since Endgame, Disney keeps insisting that she's the female equivalent of Steve. And that's where my dislike of the character comes from.

#like i don't dislike characters just because they're bad people #cos they're fictional and it's okay to play with concepts #but when someone take a morally bad person and insist they're morally good #that's when you gotta start asking questions #anti peggy carter

[arabriddler]

thinking about Gotham!Ed and how toxic masculinity had been present throughout his character arc. note : I don’t think masculinity is evil, it’s just the masculinity I’m referring to here is the one advertised by toxic masculinity

First of all, his personality as a whole being nerdy and soft challenged the common idea of a Man. It’s a reason why some of his colleagues look down on him or cringe in his presence. I’m thinking about Jim insisting that he and Ed were friends eventhough he would visibly cringe in his presence. Toxic masculinity is a big problem that Jim has that Lee points out a lot. Moreover, when he was talking to Essen about Ed, he seemed to regard him highly and admit his importance. It’s just that he wouldn’t show that visibly. He needs to act that Ed’s attempts at friendship annoy or disgust him. When they first met, Jim wasn’t as annoyed as he was later on. Jim did regard Ed as a friend, but had a poor way of showing it.

another important thing is Ed’s relationship with Kristen. Kristen was a woman, she was, in the world of toxic masculinity, inferior. Ed treated her differently than other people. He tried to be dominant and strong. Sort of make up for his ‘weakness’ with the other cops by being strong around her. Blocking her way and, well, *gestures at all of season 1*. When it comes to Kristen herself, her past lovers and Ed’s tormentors were all big brash men that perfectly work into the toxic masculinity ideology. Ed couldn’t become Kristen’s boyfriend until he listened to his inner voice asking him to be more dominant to claim her since he saved her life and she should be his. it’s important to note that, the episode Kristen said” he’s sweet… maybe too sweet?” Is the same day he killed her in. Again, a big part of his character arc and submitting to the idea that he should be more loudly masculine ( in the worst way possible ).

Enter Oswald, whenever he’s with Oswald, Ed played ‘traditionally feminine’ roles like cooking, cleaning, being number two and all. He basically acts like Oswald’s ‘wife’ for most of their relationship, and, the thing is, he was happy in the arrangement. The most healthy we’ve seen him. Until Isabella. Isabella is submissive, sweet, cute and beautiful. She’s the perfect wife in the toxic masculinity ideology. I’m not even bringing into the equation her resemblance to Kristen. In his need to fit in, be a man, Ed needed to be with her. I don’t think he was actually in love with her, she just perfectly fits into the traditional wife narrative and she loves him and she’s submissive for him. That doesn’t happen often with him.

Now, Lee. Lee is a woman, but she’s dominant. She’s strong and she overpowers him so easily. He tried to make her his, but failed, she had him wrapped up around her finger. I’m their relationship, Ed was number two, and, the same way he with Oswald, it was a good arrangement for him. He was alright enough that he wanted to change and be better ( except that Lee was using him, good for her btw ). It was still confusing because while Ed was content with the arrangement, Riddler wasn’t. Lee shouldn’t overpower him. It was distressing.

After Lee, and after getting on good terms with Oswald, Ed is at a balance, he has equal partnership with his friend, and he can be whatever he wants. Even while building the submarine he can just sit and work on what he wants and Oswald provides for him what he needs. It goes against everything he believed in, but it’s alright. He can just be.

#Gotham #i know this is mess but had to get it out of my system #Eddie

[theweeklydiscourse]

Have read all the ACOTAR books? Who is your favorite character and least favorite character? Would love to know what do you think overall of that book considering it's so huge in the book community.

I have! I read them one after the other back in 2021-2022 and I definitely came away with many thoughts about the series and the implications it had for the book community.

My favourite character among the cast is Nesta. Although she is certainly influenced by Maas’s incongruous and shoddy writing style, I find that she presents a compelling point of contention for the rest of the characters. To me, Nesta seems to be one of the only characters in the series who is able to point out and articulate the madness of what is happening within the Inner Circle’s dynamics. She’s tenacious and unafraid of voicing her opposition even when doing so leads to ostracism and mistreatment from those around her. She’s far from perfect, but at least the text acknowledges her flaws and had her grow from her mistakes instead of sweeping them under the rug. I’ll always feel inclined to defend her because I don’t like the way she’s bullied by the narrative and on some level, I think her nasty qualities make her more interesting.

My least favourite character is Rhysand on the basis that his existence in the narrative makes reading ACOTAR a frustrating experience. It’s clear to me that Maas harbours some immense authorial favouritism towards Rhysand and it SHOWS. This means that Rhysand must always be morally justified, the most powerful, the most righteous, the most beautiful, and so on. The story can’t just sit with his actions, it feels the need to profusely explain them away so his image never has to change or develop into something else. Rhysand has a reputation of being morally gray, but it’s abundantly clear that Maas is averse to taking any risks that would actually cement him as a character with that level of complexity. As such, if you’re able to recognize his faults and contradictions, reading ACOTAR is akin to swimming upstream in a raging current. You have to fight the narrative in a way that is both unrewarding and needlessly frustrating.

As for my opinions on the series, I’ve always thought it had potential, but that it was also undeniably bad. It’s popularity in the Bookish community is expected because it’s very easy to read and get absorbed into the world. The very “teenage” dialogue and character dynamics could appeal to a wide variety of people and a number of people have stated that the series pulled them out of a reading slump. That being said, the series is bogged down by a long list of Maas’s flaws that make me resent ACOTAR’s popularity. Not to mention that some fans will hound you if you point out the flaws in the writing.

Here’s some of the things that stick out to me: Gender essentialism is rife in her stories and it’s very “males will be males” coupled with a rigidly heterosexual model for all relationships in her stories. Also, Maas’s use of feminist rhetoric butchers the values of that ideology and uses it as a flimsy tool for her male characters self-actualization and pseudo-redemption. Furthermore, the books are way longer than they have any right to be and would benefit from being cut down by 100-200 pages. Her plot lines are full of contradictions and are not harmonious, she retcons so many things that people convince themselves that many characters are “unreliable narrators” even when that term doesn’t apply in the slightest. *sigh* it’s just bad writing.

All in all, I get really annoyed whenever problems with ACOTAR are dismissed with “it’s not that deep” or “just don’t read it!” Because I think that engaging critically with these stories is important and that they should be subject to review.

#a court of thorns and roses #feyre archeron #nesta archeron #sjm critical #rhysand critical #booktok #bookish #fandom discourse #anti sjm #acomaf #ACOSF #acowar

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer chapter 54 analyze // spoilers

how nice is to have a summer vacation with all your friends, your inner demons and your self doubt!! on this chapter, we're once more diving inside shima's mind, exploring the climax of his self discovering arc.

as I've said before, one of the ideas I had for this chapter was a little more of shima's arc, but I'm quite surprised with shima's reaction with everything. not that I was waiting for a big change, because that's not realistic, nor that I was waiting for him to realize things in the blink of an eye (again, impossible). but to see him swim in an ocean of self pity is very surprising to me. and it is because before, when he got something wrong or when he felt like he was being a nuisance, shima would normally shut down all his emotions and ignore everything he might have to deal with.

now, with this new big wave of emotions, it's hard for him not to see himself as a villain or as someone who's ungrateful. this because mitsumi is someone he admires to the core and someone that made him question his own feelings and his idea of love, even tho it's still hard for him to *really* understand what it all means.

I can see a lot of people getting annoyed with him or seeing him as weak, but in my opinion, this just shows how much he grew and how much he's changing. don't get me wrong, he's still stuck with the same demons of his past. but now, he's facing it differently and with a more "I need to change" attitude. this guilt of not understanding himself is corrupting him little by little, something he never felt or faced before.

it's sad to see, specially because seeing him hurt makes me very sad (he got a tummy ache!!! he's a giant baby!!!), but I do feel that it's needed for him to start question his own actions to find a way to change it. and, surprise, surprise, mutsimi is the one to make him not only question his own feelings, but question his own questions of said feelings. he's still facing her back, which is nothing new, since even on chapter 46 he's walking slightly behind her, even holing hands, because he feels he isn't worth it.

shima still have a lot to understand about himself and a lot on his plate to digest. he doesn't understand his love nor understand his annoyance towards himself and other people (the last panel is funny and cute, but I can see him thinking "I'm not deserving of feeling this way").

well, besides shima, I'm happy with everything that is happening around them. this vacation feels amazing and so fun, it feels like a privilege to be able to experience with them as well!! love to see nao comfortable with her own skin in a place that hurt her so much.

love to see mukai and shima playing with kippei, who's so excited and eager to have new people around him (and, who knows, maybe this will inspire shima to play with his own brother!). I'm also happy to see the girls so comfortable around each other, so full of love for each other. they are so happy to be together, so happy to be able to experience the life mitsumi had when she grew up. they are amazing friends. also, to finish it off, I'm happy that mitsumi feels safe enough to introduce her childhood friends to everyone. it's not easy, since you never know what's going to happen, but she's so loved and appreciated that I can't see anything else besides everyone becoming friends.

well, waiting for 2 month for a chapter was worth it. I'm so excited to see what's shima is going to do with all this voices inside his head and excited to see how sensei is going to write them from this point forward. I also hope that we'll be able to see a little more of mitsumi's pov, specially since this is her hometown.

a lot can happen still and this makes me extremely happy. takamatsu-sensei is reminding us again how wonderful and well written her story is. I admire her narrative more and more with each chapter.

thank you for reading 💛 see you in chapter 55!

#skip to loafer #skip and loafer #shima sousuke #iwakura mitsumi #misaki takamatsu #I just love them sm #specially shima #my son #I love him sm #can't ever stop studying him #duckmetas

[nicolascageisagoth]

I have been thinking how to explain what i want to explain but time goes, memories fade, and I got the flu, so there is no chance that I will write a good story in a pleasant narrative style in the near future. Just let me leave a few facts and thoughts here.

It was my first DM concert, my first stadium show and it happend to be diametrically opposed to my expectations. First of all, if you stand under the stage it is the same as small club performances for me. I didn't feel the scale of the stadium and that there were about 60-70 000 people around me (The capacity of the stadium is 58 580 seats and together with the field it is 72 900 people. It wasn’t sold out but ~90-95% of seats were taken plus almost the whole field). I didn't feel how big the show was. Just DM, me and some dudes around.

About people around. I understand how difficult and scared for some it can be to stay alone on the show BUT I saw the pain of fans who brought their partners or friends who didn’t care at first, they were annoyed being here for hours (understandable) and the second: fans couldn’t relax with them, couldn’t enjoy the show. Their bodies couldn’t allow their owners to dance, to jump or scream like they are ashamed by their own wishes. I danced alone in that area. People around me supportably smiled, but one guy was almost in tears bc of his partner. He glanced at me from time to time, I waved and sang to him like hey let’s do it together, we all! At least he smiled in the end. My advice to think twice when you do any activities and be honest with yourself, your friends, families and partners. It’s not worthy «to share» your patient with someone who doesn’t care. It can end painfully.

Audience. You can read everywhere it was before, it is now that the Polish audience is one of the best. Well. People were nice around, kind and helpful. That’s not typical, yes. I was surprised by the reaction for some tracks. Like for Stripped I expected at least their souls would go out from their chests or smth 🌚 but no, the audience was quit calm. Meanwhile It’s no good ripped off everyone's pants. In general it looked like people are calm to 2/3 of the set list.

Martin. Today several posts on different platforms popped up that we should appreciate Martin more. One girl even described her feelings similarly to mine after the show. Yes, we should! He is the author, he has a uniq style from writing to dressing, and damn! He sings so emotionally! His voice is alive. It was breathtaking. He really enjoyed the music and gave himself to us, not just worked off the money. I don’t care about his old voice, I don’t care about his low notes which are not his register, it doesn’t matter in his case! If he started a solo project I would visit every show

About the venue. PGE Narodowy is a stadium in Warsaw. It is a famous place for its awful sound. Actually it was good from the field. The same like in Atłas Arena in Łódź. PGE NARODOWY DOESNT HAVE A ROOF. It is the same like in Bucharest. The stadium sold beer straight on the field from the beginning to the end and during the show 🗿 19 zł (€4.26) for 500 ml

If someone needs this information.

I was in a hospital that morning. In a really bad condition driving to the show that evening I thought I was going to get the worst spot with a terrible sound plus rain as the cherry on the top. Instead of this I freely walked around the whole place till DM talking with people sharing some drinks and snacks. I got the best spot I could get in the golden circle under the stage and stars were shining in the sky – no one cloud that night.

We got Strangelove 🤍👠⚫️📢 Frankfurt got Shake the Disease 🦩🕴🏻📹 I’m so happy for us.

Memento Mori Tour 2023

#that’s all what I have bc I started to sing like a crazy ill nightingale #depeche mode #martin gore #dave gahan #memento mori tour 2023 #memento mori dm #memento mori 2023 #my experience