#legit no one is going to read this and i'm not saying that to judge anyone

[genericpuff]

it's legit been a hot minute since i've read an LO episode from start to finish so I decided to read the new free episode

wow i'm really not missing a dang thing am i, jfc

I've talked about it before how the dialogue in these comics really feels... non-human, but now I'm at a point where I wouldn't even be surprised if I find out the comic was being written by one of those script bots or some AI Chat GPT tool. It's just so stupidly clunky with very little context or build-up to what's being said, the characters feel like they're just talking at each other rather than with each other, if you know what I mean. It's giving Shenmue 3.

But let's have some extra fun with this and go through it panel by panel.

I'm not gonna talk about the Apollo scene, not yet at least. But I DO want to talk about the dialogue exchange between Persephone and the demigods she's chosen to be judges.

First off, we get this cut to Persephone saying "Thank you so much for coming today." But the stuff that follows really feels like these guys have no idea where they are or why. Like, the first thing the guy on the left has to say is "you're a woman", why is he making this observation now if they intentionally made the decision to join her? If he's supposedly sexist on that line alone (which is what a lot of people in the discussion circles assume) why would he even join her on the boat in the first place if he wasn't willing to listen to a woman?

Oh, okay, so they HAVE had this conversation already, great exposition, Rachel! But again, it still makes no sense why he's making this observation out of nowhere if he already knows he's going to be working with her and chose to come along with her on the boat ride. Why is he repeating what he's already said? Why not just have this conversation happen organically instead of doing the whole sitcom "cut to the middle of what's happening and explain it matter-of-factly for the audience to catch up so we don't have to actually show the entire conversation???" bit?

It's such a cliche overused tactic to try and skip informing NPC's of what the audience already knows but that only works if we, the audience, know what's going on. Such a tactic is meant to benefit the AUDIENCE, not the characters. It's a pointless waste of time for everyone involved if they're doing it the other way around where the NPC's know but the audience doesn't and the characters have to re-explain everything they already know for the audience. It's clunky exposition.

And then of course, we get Persephone acting all high and mighty with people who, again, don't even seem to know what the fuck is going on, they don't even seem to be functioning at full brain capacity with how repetitive and pointless their dialogue is (especially the "I'm a son of Zeus" guy but we'll get to him later). If Persephone's thankful for them joining her, why is she being such a bitch? This isn't a power move, she's not being a "boss babe", she's being that bitchy manager that complains about high turnover rates completely oblivious or uncaring to the fact that she's the reason people quit the job in the first place.

"It's listening to the Queen of the Underworld time", bitch you have done NOTHING to earn that title or demand for respect. NO ONE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE. Anyone who DOES know her only knows her as a consort of Hades from that one tabloid pic from ten years ago. So... yeah, literally no one knows her. Even if they saw her in that weird broadcast during the Kronos fight (which, why would they, everyone was asleep as we were told and that news chopper was from OLYMPUS), she has done nothing to organically earn the respect and admiration of the people. As far as anyone's concerned, she's just this weird pink thing rolling into town and the only reason she has power at all is because the King has a flower nymph fetish and wanted a replacement for the girl that "got away" and married his brother.

IDK if this was an attempt at a joke but I feel bad for this guy because he clearly has no idea where he is, why he's here, or why he's going to work for the Underworld when he's a son of Zeus and would maybe prefer a job in Olympus somewhere. Look at him, those aren't the eyes of a man who knows what's going on.

"RAWR, I'm edgy and in control, shut your whore mouth while I'm speaking, peasant!"

She doesn't even look intimidating here, she looks severely constipated.

This is also legit just a copy paste of the Hera/Apollo/Echo scene from S2 which just further drives home how Persephone is an emotional replacement for Hera and a physical replacement for Rhea (while also satisfying that aforementioned flower nymph fetish).

Again, Persephone has done nothing to earn the admiration or respect of her people (unlike, y'know, Hera) and it's bullshit that she pretended to be all thankful at the beginning of this only to then treat them like shit as soon as she was able. Like, again, she seems to have just kidnapped these guys and they undoubtedly have questions and instead she's steamrolling all over them for zero reason beyond stroking her ego. If she's so bothered by the first guy being a sexist, why is she hiring him in the first place???

girl he's literally trying to escape from your bullshit, why are you treating him like a toddler or a hamster who can't control himself

it's painfully clear now these guys absolutely did not sign up for ANY of this and even if they DID sign up to be judges for Hades, they clearly were NOT aware it would include being berated and snipped at by his moody toddler of a wife, she's the ONLY one here who has zero self control or qualifications. push her in the river, please. put her in the hamster cage.

so yeah, it's not "thank you for coming with me today", it's "thank you for shutting up and being good little hostages so mommy can play pretend ruler, if you even THINK of ignoring me i'll have my daddy Mads Mikkelson- I mean, Hades chop your balls off, teehee!" seriously can SOMEONE please push her in the river, she's got like 50 pounds of hair, she has zero chance /hj

"i found a way for my husband to do even less work than he already does, like a good little billionaire!"

ms. brian griffin, no one knows what elysium is

we, the audience, haven't even seen elysium

no one knows what you're talking about and no one has anything to thank you for because so far you've spent the majority of your time in the underworld since the time skip dicking around and acting like a Karen

literally sit down and eat your oatmeal

we don't even know what 'nu-tartarus' is, who wants to bet rachel watched sci-fi the week she made this with the 'nu' spelling, jfc

what did she do to warrant the 'nu'

in fact, is tartarus even accessible right now??? what happened to Kronos locking himself up in there and refusing to let anyone in??? Did they seriously dig a hole in the ground and call it "Nu-Tartarus"? Fuck off.

Hermes, pal, you're seeing this shit, right? How can you sit there and watch her act like this??? This ain't the girl you used to make out with in the mountains.

"My husband serves in the military, you know! You'll regret not giving me that 2% discount!"

for those of you in the audience who don't know this, this is what we call panel filler. i.e. pointless repetitive panels that RS uses to fill her panel quota each week. LO always has at least 2-3 of these per episode. Go ahead, fact check it yourself, I'll wait.

Diva Plavalaguna wore it better, honey.

(also why do her ARMS look the same as her hair, they look like sausage casings 😭)

Such a weird cut though, from her making that "lol can you believe the things I put up with ????" face to her just WALKING AWAY FROM THE MEN WHO HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY'RE EVEN HERE.

what- um, why are we cutting to this? I get that it's RS still trying to exposit instead of write organically but Hermes literally didn't ask and he should probably already be aware of what's going on if he's ON THE BOAT WITH HER. Also why are you explaining to him what a demi-god is? Again, it's Rachel trying to do the "and that's my plan" shtick not understanding that only works for OTHER CHARACTERS who aren't "in on it", NOT THE AUDIENCE. When you try to have your characters explain things JUST for the sake of the audience, it makes them all look stupid and it wastes the audience's time.

Like, never mind the fact that Hermes himself is technically a demi-god in LO as his mother is a non-god.

This would have worked better if she was explaining who these men were specifically, like the fact that they were Kings when they were alive, or why she chose them, but no, she just starts it and leaves it at "well they're related to Zeus, so they're demi-gods" with zero lead-up or context as to why she's explaining this to Hermes of all people in the first place.

WAIT OKAY. SO I WAS RIGHT, THEY LITERALLY AREN'T FUNCTIONING AT FULL AUTONOMY. THAT'S WHY THEY'RE REPEATING THINGS OR NOT SAYING THINGS THAT ARE RELEVANT OR ASKING QUESTIONS.

PERSEPHONE LITERALLY TOOK THESE SHADES WHO HAVE NO ABILITY TO CONSENT OR UNDERSTAND WHAT'S GOING ON

AND IS FORCING THEM TO WORK FOR HER HUSBAND, THE SLAVE DRIVER.

PERSEPHONE HAS BECOME A SLAVE DRIVER.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING WITH ME TODAY" ????

"THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING GOOD LITTLE SLAVES. YOU WORK FOR ME AND MY HUSBAND NOW. WE'LL GIVE YOU BACK ENOUGH OF YOUR AUTONOMY TO MAKE YOU GOOD FOR WORKING BUT YOU WILL NEVER HAVE FREE WILL."

THIS IS LITERALLY THE PLOT OF HADESTOWN BUT IT WANTS US TO CHEER FOR HADES' POINT OF VIEW IN THE END.

Also, "Hades is going to restore some of their humanity"??? Guys, do you realize the implications of this?

If this is something he's always been able to do, that means he's always had the ability to grant the shades working for him autonomy and will, but chose not to.

Give them enough sentience and autonomy to work, but not enough to question why they're working for the system in the first place.

Great job Persephone, this is soooo much better than what Hades was doing before. You've made life so much better for the dead.

Fucking hell. I started this essay with the intent of talking about the weird clunky dialogue exchanges and as I sat on it and wrote on it longer and longer it just got so much WORSE and turned into discussing Persephone's lack of morals and how she's become the very thing she always claimed she stood against.

I say "great job Persephone" but we also have to give credit where credit is due - great job Rachel, this is soooo much better than just ending the series in the first two seasons or actually resolving the plot threads you started in Season 1. You've made your comic so much better to please the stans and spite the haters.

Christ. I'm not even done talking about everything I wanted to talk about regarding this episode but I figured I should cut it off here to at least keep it all on theme. I do wanna talk about that Apollo scene and the Hermes/Persephone conversation but I'll probably do that in separate posts.

Despite how fired up I got, I am glad about one thing - I really am not missing anything. I have lost nothing from unsubscribing from LO and uninstalling the WT app. And frankly, neither will you if you've been contemplating on promoting yourself to a non-reader. There is zero FOMO here. I get just as much if not more entertainment from just following along with the hilarious conversations in the Discord and subreddit each week, because at LEAST those are fun and don't make me feel dead inside like LO does. LO isn't entertaining, it's hardly even so-bad-that-it's-entertaining at this point, maybe it still is for you, but I'm assuring you right now for those of you "hanging on", it's not going to magically "get better", even the episodes that some people CLAIM are better really aren't because of how low the bar is nowadays. I am giving you full permission to free yourself of these shackles if you've been looking for a way out. Take this as your metaphorical key.

The LO we all fell in love with is long, long gone.

#and yes i do hope rachel and webtoons reads this #because a lot of people do have the WT app at this point just for LO so people dropping off LO means people dropping off the app #this comic absolutely is affecting your bottom line WT #why is this comic still being carried on WT's shoulders #even when it's not being outright controversial or offensive it's still just a poorly made comic #the dialogue is janky and there's NOTHING GOING ON #it's just further proof that so many romance webtoons aren't built to last 3 seasons #they always lose their steam by then #just put it out of its misery for the love of god #lore olympus critical #lo critical #antiloreolympus #anti lore olympus #Youtube

[pensat-i-fet]

Selfie partner (Rúben Dias x Reader)

**I got a request recently to do an imagine where Rúben and the protagonist meet, rather than the couple dynamics I’m usually requested. And I don’t even know if I’ve ever done this in imagine format before, how crazy is that? Then I realized I had this little idea outlined and it worked well for the request so hopefully you enjoy reading something cute this Sunday! ❤️**

Word count: 2033

Masterlist

Wattpad

“Alright. Like this…no, the shirt looks bad. Maybe this way…”, Rúben’s attempts at modelling while on the lift were interrupted by the doors opening on the 8th floor.

“Good morning”, you said, holding a laugh after finding one of your neighbours doing a photoshoot there at 8 am. Not what you expected.

“Morning”, he said, slightly embarrassed by being caught.

When you reached the ground floor, you said goodbye and left. He stayed on the lift to go one floor lower to find his car, but you were taking the bus. And all the way to work, you kept thinking about that funny moment. And about how cute the guy from the lift was. No wonder he was taking photos of himself everywhere. All guys who looked like him probably did the same.

“Sorry”, you said when you couldn’t help but laugh.

The next day, you thought about leaving in the morning ten minutes earlier than usual so you could grab a cup of coffee on the way to work. Tea wasn’t enough after staying up late to grade exams. And Rúben…well, he wanted to avoid being embarrassed again so he also left ten minutes earlier so he could get the stupid selfies done. He actually liked the shirt he was wearing that day better so it all worked out perfectly…until the doors opened on the 8th floor again and you caught him taking more photos.

“It’s ok. I just…I have to do this because of my management. I don’t just take photos all the time”.

“Management? Are you a model?”, you could believe that. But also couldn’t believe your luck of living in the same building as a model. Were there more? You were just wondering.

“No, I’m a footballer”.

You cocked your head to the side, confused. “I didn’t know that was part of the job”.

“Yeah…”.

"You don't have to make up jobs, really. It's ok to feel cute and want to take a photo of yourself. I'm not judging".

And now you didn't believe him…

"Look", he said, showing you his Instagram profile and then laughing seeing your shocked face. "You really didn't believe me then".

"Well, men lie all the time to impress girls", you said, shrugging and making him chuckle. "I imagine many pretend to be footballers often".

"Probably, yeah".

When you reached your floor, you left again after wishing him a good day and once you were gone, Rúben realised he didn't even ask your name. Too busy trying to justify his lift antics.

But it turned out he didn't need to ask it because you couldn't help going back to his profile while bored on the bus. He was a legit footballer but also…yes, there were all the photos he had to take because of his management. Or so he said.

He had more than 2 million followers so he wouldn't notice one new follower, right? But he did, of course. Rúben was just checking his notifications when he saw a face that looked familiar. And after clicking on the profile, he saw that it belonged to his neighbour that kept interrupting his photoshoots in the morning. It was a private account, should he request to follow you? Sure, he had nothing to lose, did he? Worst case scenario, he'd have to start walking down the stairs. He could always use the exercise.

After accepting his request, you hoped to find him in the lift the following day but…he wasn't there. Of course, three days in a row would be too much of a coincidence but you couldn't lie and say you weren't at least a bit disappointed.

And so was Rúben. He almost thought about talking to you on Instagram but that would have been too much, right? You barely knew each other. He did check your account to see if you had posted something about that day. Maybe it was your day off? It said on your profile that you were a professor but he wasn’t sure what your work schedule would look like.

When you got back home, you were so exhausted. But when the doors to the lift opened, you saw Rúben there and couldn't help but smile.

"Hi, mister footballer".

"Hello, professor. We see each other on the way back from work today then".

"Gotta spice it up a bit, I guess".

"8th floor, right?”, he asked, ready to press the button and you nodded. "I'm on the 12th".

Why was he telling you that?

There was silence after that. You didn't know each other after all but you both wanted to talk and didn't know what to say.

When you reached your floor, the doors opened and you stepped out after saying goodbye to Rúben. But instead of hearing the doors closing, you heard them open again and saw him leave the lift.

"What…".

"Do you wanna do something together? Like…go for a drink or food or I don't know…".

"I would love that", you said, happy he took the initiative. "I was planning on going for a picnic tomorrow by myself. I wouldn't mind the company".

"That's a great idea. I have training in the morning but then I'm free all day".

"Well, you know where to find me", you said, pointing at your door and making him chuckle. "Pick me up at noon?"

"I'll be there".

                                      **

Saturdays were the days you took off completely unless something came up. And you loved going out to have some food somewhere, either by yourself or with some friends. Since the weather was good for once, you knew you wanted to take that chance to go to the park and enjoy the sun. And now you had a companion for your little picnic.

Staring at your reflection in the mirror, you liked what you saw. Your outfit was cute but nothing that screamed “I’m going on a date”. Even if you guessed, and hoped, this was a date.

You were putting your hair up in a loose ponytail when the doorbell rang and you walked to open the door and found Rúben there. Well…he really put a lot of effort into his outfit, making you feel insecure all of a sudden.

“I need to get changed”, you said, making him frown.

“Why? You look good”.

“But you look better. I didn’t know we had to dress up so much for a picnic”.

He laughed and shook his head. “Remember I’m the one who takes selfies on the lift, so obviously I’ll try harder. But really, you look great so let’s go”.

This time you both were going to the same floor and soon you were out of the building on your way to the park you had chosen for the picnic.

“I hope you like the food. It’s healthy…for the most part”.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine but tell me what you have on that basket. I’m curious”.

“Oh, you know. The typical things…I got some sandwiches, summer rolls, some pasta salad, lots of fruit and some chocolate snacks. And juice and water”.

“Perfect!”

The park was obviously very busy on such a sunny day, but you found a nice little spot without too many people around. Placing the blanket on the grass, you got comfortable and started to take out the food so you could start eating.

“I’m starving. I didn’t eat after training”.

“Help yourself, then”, you laughed.

“Why don’t you tell me more about you? I only know you’re a professor and that you’re my neighbour”, he paused after trying some of the pasta salad. “And you’re pretty good at cooking too. Good qualities to have”.

“Thank you. I do know a bit about you…I googled you. Don’t judge”.

He smiled at you, trying not to laugh since his mouth was full of food.

And so you told him more about you. Where you were from, what you taught in University, why you had moved to Manchester, …

“And I’m guessing you're single”.

“You’re guessing right, mister Dias. I hope you’re single too. I don’t want to be fighting angry girlfriends”.

“Didn’t you find your answer to that on your Google search?”, he asked, raising an eyebrow playfully.

“Oh, I found a lot about your love life on my Google search. Hard to know how much I should believe, though”.

“Only believe the good. Always”, he laughed. And his laugh was so nice to hear that it always made you smile. “But yes, I’m single”.

“So the selfies weren’t for the posts your management wants you to do then. They were for Tinder. It all makes sense now”.

He snorted. “Will you help me choose the one that’ll attract all the pretty ladies? If you like them, then we know they’ll work”.

“I could help you take them too. Maybe we can add some shirtless photos too. You seem to like posting those and…well, I guess they are alright to look at”.

“Already asking me to take my clothes off. Wow! You move fast”.

“Sometimes”.

Anyone who saw you there would have known you two were flirting. The looks on your faces said it all. The smiles, the cheeky looks or the slight blush on both of your faces, but mostly on yours.

“Should we take a little walk around the park now we’re done eating?”

“Sure”, you agreed and with his help, you quickly tidied up and got up to go for that walk.

Rúben took the basket from your hands so he could hold it.

“Not as gentleman-like as you think because it weighs a lot less now, you know?”, you teased.

“Did I just lose points because of that?”

“One or two, yes. You should do something to get them back”.

“Like what?”

“Well, there are a few options. You could buy me an ice cream, you could carry me home later if my shoes hurt my feet or…you could give me a kiss? Your choice, really. Just offering some options”.

“Hmmm”, he pretended to think while turning to face you. “Ice cream sounds like the best option but I don’t see any places where we could buy it and those shoes actually look very comfy so I guess I’ll have to kiss you”.

“Poor you, it’s a big sacrifice but the points…”.

He interrupted you by placing a kiss on the tip of your nose, which made you laugh.

“That’s only half a point”.

“I have to do better then”.

He leaned down to kiss your lips and soon your arms were around his neck to help you kiss him better. One of his hands went to your waist while the other kept holding the basket until he got tired of not being able to hold you properly and dropped it, breaking your kiss for a second so you could laugh. And then you kissed again. Who cared about an old basket anyway?

“How many points was that?”

“Maybe…four? I don’t want you to get too comfortable by giving you too many”.

“Good…I love a challenge”.

                                     **

After that picnic date, there had been a few more. And now you texted each other every morning to know when to go to the lift and spend some minutes together before you both headed to work.

“You know”, you said one morning in between kisses. “We could take some selfies together. Not for your Instagram but for fun. It’s what made us talk to each other in the first place. It’d be cute”.

“Let’s do it”.

And when you were in the middle of taking another photo, the door opened on the 3rd floor and a neighbour looked at you with his eyebrows raised seeing the scene in front of him.

“I could wait if you’re busy…”.

“It’s ok”, you said, trying not to laugh. “We’re done. It’s for his Instagram. Not a model, just a footballer. This is part of the job apparently. Weird, I know”.

The neighbour kept looking at you two funny while Rúben pinched your arm and made you want to laugh even harder.

Minutes later, you were on the bus scrolling on social media when you got a notification for your Instagram that made you smile.

Rubendias

Finally found a selfie partner 📷

#ruben dias #ruben dias one shot #ruben dias imagine #ruben dias fluff #footballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer fluff

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

Hello ! I'm fairly new to the fandom: a friend of mine advised me to watch the original series before watching the live action (I'm not American and I had never heard about ATLA before that).

So I wasn't there when the fandom seemed to be torn by the ship wars, like two decades ago. I keep seeing Zutara's fans claiming that their ship was the original endgame except that there's no evidence in the show (at least with my "virgin Atla eyes") and all I can see are interviews of the creators/showrunners saying that Kataang was the endgame all along.

I guess my question is this : is there an actual interview of them entertaining the idea of Zutara at the time (even just to shipbait) ? Because I've been in several fandoms where creators/writers would do that just to keep the audience interested (*cough* Riverdale - yeah you can judge me...).

You say that Nickelodeon promoted the ship wars. In what form ?

That was a long ask. Thanks for reading me!

Okay, so here's what you need to know to fully understand that mess: back when the show was first airing, lots of zutara fans had fully convinced themselves that either the story was going to be changed to make their ship canon (because "it's more popular than Kataang") or that Zutara was TOTALLY planned to be the endgame from day one and that's why some many people liked in the first place (because "there's no way this is all in our heads" - spoiler, it was).

And this wasn't a case of fans simply disagreeing on theories about how the show was going to end - lots of people were being AWFUL to each other on fandom spaces, and the behavior was not exclusive to zutara or even just the other non-canon ships. Everyone was calling anyone who disagreed with their takes stupid and bragging ahead of time of how THEIR ship was going to be canon instead. And because the internet was not at all as inescapable as it is today and information was much harder to verify, some people were making "100% legit claims" that their parents or uncle or cousin or whoever worked on Nickelodeon and had fully confirmed Zutara would indeed be a thing.

Nickelodeon, being the shameless corporation that it is, realized that ship wars could mean A LOT of money because people would keep watching if they thought there was any chance of their ship becoming endgame. So, whenever there was an episode in which Zuko and Katara would interact, they made sure to not only include it in the promo for the episode, they'd describe it as "sharing a special moment" or "growing closer" even when that was not what was going to happen in the episode itself. They didn't do that just with Avatar either, and would spend years pulling simmilar things with the hit shows ICarly and Victorious, both of which had ship wars too. In hindsight (and even back then if we simply compare the promos to the episodes) it's obvious that Nick's promos should not have been taken seriously, but Zutara fans latched onto them as "proof" anyway (and some Nick exec laughed all the way to the bank).

But then the finale happened, Kataang and Maiko were endgame, and Zuko and Katara were never even stated to be interested in each other like that. The ship just wasn't a factor in the story - much like Kataang and Maiko fans had said it wouldn't be, because it was obvious what the writers were actually going for.

So, instead of admiting they let their enjoyment of a fanon ship get a little out of hand and that, even though they had every right to like it, it simply never had any chance of being canon and they shouldn't have insisted otherwise when the truth was so clear, they went for a different approach: just double-down on the lie that they had inside knowledge about the show's writting and production, and make up a whole conspiracy about how the lead writer and "true creator" Aaron Ehasz and everybody else had been building up to Zutara from day one, but then Bryan and Michael or "Bryke", the evil showrunners, meddled at the last second and forced them to change everything.

They also claimed there were things like a "deleted" scene in the finale, with Iroh saying Katara would be perfect for Zuko, or with a kiss between the characters, or Katara telling Aang she loved someone else, ya know, all kinds of copes. Nickelodeon made it worse by airing some "fun production facts" during re-runs, plenty of which were obviously fake - but one mentioned "Zuko was going to be Katara's original love interest" so plenty of people were willing to pretend it was all 100% legitimate. And the icing on the cake was an "interview" in which Ehasz supposedly confirmed all of the conspiracies, "proving" zutara fans had always been right about everything and it's the Kataang and Maiko fans that were lying to themselves.

Unfortunatelly for these people, pretty much EVERYONE has a social media presence nowadays, and it's really easy to not only get in contact with writers and producers of the shows we like, but to also PROVE that what you're telling everyone is indeed what that person said.

And there's tons of videos and screenshots of everyone involved in writting and producing the show saying, including the ones that like Zutara, saying KATAANG was the planned endgame from the start, and Aaron Ehasz has repeatedly said that the supposed "interview" in which he validates the zutara endgame conspiracy and "calls out" Bryke is completely fake, and he's happy MAI got to live happily ever after with Zuko.

Finally, we got access to "the series bible", aka the original plans for the show, and we got to see everything that was cut or changed: Uncle Iroh was originally going to be a twist villain that would betray Zuko, Azula was still going to be a prodigy and Ozai's favorite child but she'd be Zuko's older brother instead of his younger sister, and there was a cut love triangle between Aang, Katara... and TOPH, who was going to be a super buff dude, much like we see in Ember Island Players and in the opening sequence of every episode because yes, they had already designed that character AND started book 1 when decided "Wouldn't a blind girl that looks delicate but can wreck people's shit be more interesting than this generic guy?"

But even now that disproving this Zutara endgame conspiracy is easier than ever because we can just ask the people who made the show, some people continue insisting that all these writers and producers, again some of which DO like Zutara, are lying for no reason - or because "Bryke is forcing them to hide it all."

They're just desperately trying to save face and pretend that they didn't spend over a decade lying to themselves and their buddies, and sometimes using this conspiracy to justify bullying, threatening and doxxing people.

It's VERY sad.

#anti zutara

[sharonisthebettercarter]

billy butcher and addiction--

felt there's a need for a good and proper analysis for this fucker (as well as i can manage, maybe throw in a bit of a rant on poor fandom etiquette, 'three laws of fandom' are an oldie but a goodie lol) so here we go i guess--

i wanna start by saying this is a full scope character deep dive (sortaish?? best i can do take it or leave it--lol i might go further in depth on specific scenes or whatnot later, i'm longwinded but i'm tryin' to condense as best i can for this, aaaaaaaaaaand long long post ahead--) that def includes elements solidly confirmed in dear becky and probably leans more on comics billy overall, but def does intertwine and interlock with show billy (as they are essentially the same, garth ennis' own words went something like 'he's a perfect billy butcher' lol)

i'll try to avoid spoilers (??) for the most part like dear becky, but there are some things that may need more context (there is quite a bit of in the show that works well enough to represent anyway but i guess we'll see how this goes, i may end up talking more about the show elements and how they parallel with comics billy anyway)

i also think it's worth mentioning that there's a lot to billy (especially in the comic) i feel fandom either ignores, dismisses or doesn't want to acknowledge, or just doesn't notice.

whether from personal bias/prejudice, desire (fitting billy into that 'alpha's alpha' toxic masculinity 'dom top' fever dream 'mold' so to speak, probably--no, definitely the *worst* way to interpret and easiest way bungle up his character, it completely misses the fact that billy has built *that* 'daddy approved' version of himself as a *facade* to *hide* his own shame and insecurity, and he is *so* much more complex than that nonsense (and genuinely uncomfortable and unhappy being that way-beyond the subtle guilt of a constant high). can we talk about the ways in which fandoms promote and perpetuate toxic masculinity--what, no time we'll be here all week?? oh, okay. jesus fucking christ that is exactly as bad if not worse than the maga chud interpretation and unironic worship of homelander--), lack of personal experience/familiarity, understanding--fuck it, even lack of education in media analysis or reading comprehension (if not both), and *especially* being pro-censorship/americentric/*stuck* with purity culture blinders (or even some part of them lingering)

all of those can def make media (and characters like billy) that isn't 'cookie cutter america-approved' fairly difficult to understand or accept (i guess??)

i've seen so much listed to hell and back in attempts to describe comics billy. 'he's a piece of shit' *YES*. 'he's just wish fulfillment for the author's hatred of superheroes' *no*??? let me not get into the complete hypocrisy of someone who writes or enjoys fanfic--the epitome of *wish fulfilment*--unironically complaining about other authors doing this and thinking it's a legit complaint. how does *anyone* read the entire story and come to *that* conclusion???

did you even bother reading the comic? no, i don't mean glossing over it with a completely closed mind while actively ignoring and dismissing everything important put in front of you and designed to make you think because the blood and guts or other is too distracting apparently, i mean *actually* reading it thoroughly and making an effort to think about what's being presented and why, waiting for the drop *instead* of jumping to judge (as is the american way)

and to some degree, i get it. i wouldn't say this comic is the easiest to digest (especially if completely unfamiliar with many of the themes presented, even the show has sparked some ass takes and interpretations) there's also plenty of common misconceptions, one in particular about garth ennis 'hating' superheroes. this is actually not true, what he hates is how the superhero *genre* has bottlenecked the comics industry and what is more likely to see success in it (and as a fellow creative, i completely understand how frustrating that would be, his main interest is actually war stories)

it's def one thing to say, 'nah, i don't vibe with the style' or 'it's not really for me/my taste but it's fine if others like it', i get that, satire and horror aren't for everyone. honest critique is fair even.

but it is a whole 'nother thing entirely to pretend your own personal tastes are *the only 'correct' creative law* and then *vehemently* oppose or hate something an artist created and denounce, harass, or fuck--dehumanize the people who enjoy it, if not the artists who work(ed) on it.

i'm sorry, this is a tangent cause it's def not limited to the hate the boys comics or ennis gets *at all*, it's especially prevalent in *literal* kids media like teen titans go where the thing in question is simply put--*NOT MADE FOR THE SHITHEADS NONSTOP COMPLAINING ABOUT IT* when they can literally, *LITERALLY* just *accept* that they weren't the *target audience* and move the fuck on with their day, happy as can be. *instead* of shitting on something *or the people who like it* to make literal *children* or other people feel bad about liking it.

it's one thing to try and educate people or have discourse and discussion, it is another entirely to *bully* them over something so *stupid* as *fiction*.

i especially have a problem with this shit when i have *several* artists tell me that they don't feel *safe* or *welcome* being themselves, liking or creating what *they* want to make in a fandom *because* of the fandom attitude and normalization of *hate* within that fandom.

i *thought* fandoms were supposed to be about *love* so what the fuck is this human tribalist false dichotomy bullshit??

and of course, that's not always the case. there is also an unbelievable level of respect that is given to fanartists and fanfiction writers, and that is *beautiful*. 'don't like, don't read'. *PERFECT*. curate your own content, complain or rant in your own spaces--you're entitled to an opinion, but *accept* that it still has a right to exist and other people still have a right to love it (and aren't wrong for that, opinions cannot be objective), *even if you don't like it*. just don't engage then, it's that simple.

now extend that level of courtesy to the people, artists and writers in the industry.

no, i'm not trying to shut down criticism of media, proper critique is how we learn and grow and understand better and in turn *create* better. yes, they can fumble the fucking bag too, especially when adapting something from a source material and--like *some* fanfic writers out there--think they can do it 'way better'.

but the people in the industry? who bend over backwards, going on strike in some cases, breaking their necks to work on and create the things that we *love* and latch onto?

they're people too. and whether the thing they make goes *exactly* how we want or not, however you feel about the money in the entertainment industry (which they see barely a dime of if those fucking strikes and constant mistreatment are any indication), they don't deserve to be treated like scabs.

that mentality of 'not my personal taste = universally bad' and 'anyone who disagrees with my opinion is wrong' is fucking gross and *extremely elitist*, just straight up announcing how pretentious, obtuse, willfully arrogant and ignorant, and *lacking in self awareness*--the number one easiest way to be the *shittiest* kind of artist/writer/critic--you are. it is *exactly* like cishet white men complaining about something being 'bad' because it's 'woke' or has anything *besides* a cishet white man for the protagonist.

*god forbid something isn't tailor made specifically for them.*

swear to gawd, i got a list of different bullshit and circle jerking i've seen all across different fandoms for different reasons. no i'm not mad at any one person in particular, just a little salty from recurring problems and gatekeeping (ghoulfucking-GHOULFUCKING OF ALL THINGS I--I CANNOT) if not straight up bullying (does it really make a bitch feel *so* much better to try and hurt other people for liking what they, and let's be honest, are not willing to give the time of day?) in fandoms. (the complete audacity of people to complain about a media being 'childish' or 'bad' because 'insert nonsensical trivial bullshit here that holds no weight because it's personal taste if not flat out wrong and not actual critique' and then turn around and throw the biggest fucking tantrums about it--let me not get into the whole sharon carter debacle jesus christ--)

same shit. different pile.

also, fuck me. i keep *forgetting* that genuinely valid critique (*not* personal taste/opinion, proper critique pertains to things like techniques used, composition, narrative consistency and plot holes, goals of the artist/writer, accomplishments of those goals, etc.) is something that needs proper education and understanding all on its own which not a whole ton of people get or even know, which just goes to show--i'm a dumbass too. (but i won't deny that plenty of 'critics' are full of shit and *know* this but use their 'personal taste' as 'critique' *anyway* because... they enjoy being complete assholes and discouraging other artists i guess.)

y'all, take a class or two in art critique and literature analysis. you'll learn all the cool lingo (to later forget if you're like me~), and maybe (hopefully) walk out with a bit more of an open mind wanting to encourage more art in the world, even if you don't personally like it. take a moment to *listen* to differing opinions in their *entirety* and you might even gain a new perspective.

*no one* should be ashamed to ask questions or admit they don't know or understand something and fuck the people that would make you feel that way. *we can and should help each other.*

but stagnant or hostile fandoms with no self awareness and perpetuated elitism circle jerks? *really* fucking shameful, regardless of the form or where they are.

ANYWHO--

ugh, fuck. okay. i think i'm done with that tangent, back on topic--

BILLY BEAN~<3

and i want to reiterate that *again*, dear becky *does* confirm pretty much everything i'm going to discuss here tho technically speaking, nothing is spoiled here as it's just reiterating what is implicit (if not stated outright) throughout the series.

as far as dear becky goes, it's a good final gut-wrenching piece to the series and i loved it, but it definitely leaned on more of 'tell' instead of 'show, don't tell' (no duh in context, but probably because the rest of the comic did the 'show'--very well imo but it still flew over peoples' heads and made them misplace their brains--i'm sorry, i've just lost so much patience for the lack of reading comprehension and media literacy, but honestly? ennis is genuinely too good at knowing how to spark a strong emotional reaction in readers. and can we talk about the dense mofos that *make* authors have to 'tell' just to confirm something that is heavily implied--what, no time? oh, fuck, fine.)

OKAY--

addiction.

what about it, and why am i mentioning it. well. because if it's not clear by now, william butcher is an addict.

and it is one of, if not the core element that drives him to do what he does.

not becky or becca. not justice.

addiction.

and i don't mean traditional substance abuse (though he admits there has been as much in his life, especially with alcohol, his drug of choice is a bit more complex and maybe not so easy to spot on the surface for those unfamiliar with addiction).

in the show, we even see him mention that he's 'done 'em all' and there's *nothing* like temp v--and it's because temp v *amplifies* his *addiction* to the highest level it could exist on.

something else to note, there's a ton of stigma and widespread (ableist) misconception surrounding addiction still (which may be part of why people may not want to recognize it in billy), but it is absolutely a clinical mental disorder and people who suffer from it should be treated as *medical patients*, not reduced to violent criminals and scumbags. (fuck you drug war and prohibition, you are the root of organized crime and you're racist as shit.) it's also possible to become addicted to *anything*. and i mean *anything*.

if you can repeat a behavior and your brain no longer cares whether or not that behavior is causing you harm because there is a *compulsive* urge for that *repetition* or a specific result from it? that is addiction. money, anger, pain, violence, self harm, attention, love...

you'd think the last one might be okay, but it's not. it's an easy way to get caught in the infinite loop of an abusive relationship, just with promise of it. no delivery necessary.

but it doesn't have to be drugs that cause addiction. hell, gambling addiction is a thing all it's own that can get *incredibly* severe.

and listen, too much of *anything* can be horrible for you. fucking coconut will give you the runs if you eat too much that shit is *not* fun pun intended--

i digress.

in billy's case? he's actually addicted to two i just listed.

violence. and self harm.

i mentioned before that what drives billy has next to nothing to do with what happened to becky or becca.

there's a common misconception that, at the end of the day, billy does have some level of good intent behind his actions, and to a degree this is true in the *complete reverse* of what people often assume, and this is proven repeatedly in both the show (with just what we have seen) and comic (where its laid out too heavily to ignore).

setting aside the fact that there's *never* a good 'rEaSoN' to commit or even attempt *genocide* (EVER. i have ZERO patience for the constant apologism of this bullshit, SWEAR TO GAWD FANDUMB--) and billy's genocidal tendencies on their own, the idea that 'he goes after homelander for becca' or 'justice' has been completely debunked.

'justice is not vengeance'

something to always keep in mind.

but... in the first season? hughie called him out on this.

butcher calls him a 'disgrace to robin's memory', and hughie--bless his little heart, responds with 'i think i'm doing this *for* her.'

it's an interesting response, because hughie is essentially saying--

'you'll *die* for this woman, but that's not what she would have wanted. i'm going to *live* for robin, and for *annie*, because *that's* what she would have wanted.'

and he's absolutely right. billy loved becca, would have died for her. but he refuses to listen and *live* for her.

the group therapist too even before hughie. she literally laid it all out, front and center in the clearest way possible, 'it's a defense mechanism', and then butcher had his little meltdown just before telling hughie about becca, everything he can, including *using* other peoples tragedies and his own *specifically* to manipulate hughie and try and make sure *starlight* can't *save* him from what butcher is trying to turn him into.

*so that hughie stays stuck on his reason to die, instead of finding one to live.*

in the second season, *becca* herself calls him out on this, multiple times.

'you put me on this pedestal but i never knew how to save you'.

'--i didn't come to you, i went to vought--.'

and that's just it, becca (and becky in the comic) is *intimately* familiar with billy's *addiction* and the underlying mental health issues he *wouldn't address*. she didn't tell him what happened even after the shock of it because she *knew* that it would just become a reason for billy to *give in* and be his worst self to a degree where she would *lose him* regardless of what she felt or asked for from him.

she felt she had to *suffer in silence* to *protect him* from *himself*, something that ends up *destroying* her.

becca wanted to *save* billy, but more importantly, she wanted *him* to *save himself* because she *believed in him*, *so much*.

'i never wanted that for you.'

she doesn't want billy to drown and suffer or cause harm in his own hatred and addictions. she *loved* him so much so, that she was willing to *drown herself* if it meant she could save *him*. she loved him *too much*.

billy's mum too, even tries to help in her own way. (she is much less aware of billy's activity in the comic, but we'll come back to her. for the show, this was likely in response to seeing the news about *stillwell*, something his dad fucking *praised* him for)

'--that he wouldn't have this hold on you--'

billy's actions are almost entirely driven by the *addiction* his father forced on him. on doing the things that would make his 'daddy' *proud*. and the thing is, he's *fully aware* of this.

he constantly *says* that *becca* is his 'reason', that she was his *cure*, but she's the *excuse*. his *new addiction* and *self medication* (also billy, you fucking cunt you *know* what you do and have no leg to stand on when it comes to self medicating--)

both in the worst of what he does and his rejection of addressing his own traumas, and she is *unwilling* in this endeavor. she never wanted this hate to consume him, she never wanted all of this death with her name as the signature, *she never wanted billy to be his father*, much less be something much worse.

he even admits as much in the third season when he hallucinates lenny who tells him his actions would 'break becca's heart'

billy responds something along the lines of 'becca's dead, it doesn't matter what she thinks'. (a line presented in the comic even more harshly, but it drives the point home perfectly.)

when he sees lenny again in his nightmare--

'i'm not that bastard--.'

'come off it billy, you always have been. cause anyone who's ever loved you, you end up gettin' 'em killed, don't ya--.'

'--the last person on god's green earth tryin' to stop you from bein' a monster, and what do you do? drag him down to your level... when he dies... and he will... then no can stop you.'

OOF OUCH OWIE--. the lenny stuff hits so damn hard but it represents *perfectly* what butcher's own *internalized beliefs* are.

mallory calls him out on it literally every season.

'--but billy! not the others!'

'it's like asking a cockroach to not be a cockroach--'

'--because it wouldn't stop with just homelander--'

'this was never about ryan or becca, it was always selfish. the hate inside that you want to let loose on the world.'

'--i was wrong... you are your father, always have been...'

and then there's billy's subsequent impulsive reaction to push ryan away, and *be his father*.

but hell, even in gen v when mallory is speaking to shetty.

and truthfully, billy was even showing *withdrawal* symptoms at the beginning of the third season.

billy himself, even *self punishes*, picking fights he knows he *won't* win as a way to counterbalance *and* satisfy his own addiction, infinite loop. vicious cycle.. (ooh i will def be coming back to the big one here--), and we see this in one *HUGE* way, and in many many smaller ways, but even in the more literal sense of going to bars, starting trouble, and laughing or smiling when he's getting beat the fuck up or *losing*.

it's even highlighted in the show, billy *seeking out violence* and conflict whether he should or not, *especially* when unnecessary. getting his own face busted up and smiling because of it is something that happens multiple times in the comic (even on accident in one instance), and is def given a place in the show. it's easy to pass off as billy simply being a masochist (which is def true lmao he does admit as much), but there's also more to it than that and it goes hand in hand with his *addiction* and--

what he thinks he deserves.

billy *hates himself* so *severely* that he actually *does not believe* that he is capable of the *good* that others, such as lenny, becca, his mum, and hughie are willing to *see* in him. he *completely* believes it when others say that 'he is his father' (internalizes it, struggles with it, and frequently acts on it).

he puts on a show. bravado, posture, and 'confidence'. and he's so good at putting on that front, that he can fool himself, even for a moment. and those that believe it will even *enable* him. and the people he feels *nothing* for? again, he maintains the front. he lives his life *masking*, *faking it*--so fucking hard. homelander could never--

and it's not even necessarily the result of toxic masculinity. don't get me wrong, he def has some issues with that lingering (y'all, if you have *say* you're an 'alpha' and posture out your sweet little ass off 24/7, you're def *not* an 'alpha' lmfao), but it's more so his own *trauma* that forces him to *cling* to that.

but when he *loves*, and he loves *deeply*, he completely rolls over and shows his belly like a kitten<3... when he was with becky, he was happy and comfortable, and all of that *ridiculousness* just melted away completely... he didn't feel any need for it because he felt *safe*, because this constant *insecurity* and feeling of being *threatened* all the damn time looming overhead had suddenly cleared up with becky there.

it's not even so much that billy doesn't feel fear. he might not traditionally (at all if his amygdala is damaged), but considering the fight or flight response, billy's *default* setting literally *is* that *fight* response. he's the way he is because he is *always* afraid and he's been conditioned for it to manifest itself as *rage*.

we see bits of his love come through in a few moments he has with people he has genuine care for. (the way he loves his mum and she instantly calms him down is genuinely so sweet.)

but it's always gonna come back down to 'daddy dearest'.

because of him, *billy is afraid of living*.

and--

his father. *is proud of him*.

billy is *just like him* or *everything he wanted to be* as a *man*, or at least is compelled to *project* this on the surface. and everything in *billy* that *is* his father, *just like him*, is *everything* that billy *hates*. so it manifests into an *intense* self loathing and spiraled addiction that magnifies the worst of what his father *forced* on him.

he *doesn't want* to be *his father*, but he feels, and fully believes that *he already is*. his self hatred is another form of *hating his father*, because *he is that man's legacy*.

so *billy* doesn't *believe* that he deserves love or goodness or care from other people (a parallel we see in homelander, presented a bit differently.) so he 'doesn't care'. makes excuses to not care (about people in general, if not just the very *prominent* antisocial tendencies), or leave, or push them away, lashing out to give *them* the excuse to leave him, because he is *afraid* and in his own mind, *unworthy*.

he's *afraid* of being loved, of *losing* that love, of *hurting* those he loves. he is *afraid* of being his own father.

but it's all he's ever known, all he's ever been *conditioned* to be. intoxicated, ever present, it's this terrible thing that destroys him but he *can't* stop. *addiction*.

and what better way to protect those he loves than to keep himself as *far* away from them as possible? than to *make* them hate him. than to do the *wrong* thing, to *disappoint* them. self sabotage. self punishment.

he can't stop himself. he deserves it.

lather, rinse, repeat.

so what does that mean for homelander, or even the reason he goes after homelander? the *real* reason.

'there must be *some* good in him because homelander 'must be' this 'ultimate evil that *must* be stopped', right?

not really. he's a symptom of a much greater evil, but he was never the root of it. if billy really wanted to solve the problems at hand and get *justice*, he'd go after *vought*, NOT homelander.

homelander is not even the real villain in *billy's* mind, in all actuality.

what homelander *is*?

temptation.

he is... the *ultimate* final high for billy. in terms of addiction to both *violence* and *self punishment*.

he doesn't actually go after homelander because he wants to 'stop him' or even kill him. not really. there are times billy starts a fight *expecting* to *lose*, *wanting* it. homelander *is* one of those times to the most intense degree that billy could find. and he even senses this when they first meet--unnecessarily, privately insulting the man because why?

because he feels *threatened*. because he feels *insecure*. because if homelander is *truly good*, even with *all that power*--

then billy has no fucking excuse--

it is, in essence, the same exact reaction that lex luthor has to superman. forcing himself to *challenge* him because of a *constant* sense of *fear*. (except lex *is* afraid of dying, so 1000% a huge coward lmao--)

but~, when he finds out homelander is *bad*?

homelander is billy's *failsafe*

to stop the person he feels is the most terrible evil of all *and* to set the world on fire in the process. a way for billy to kill two birds with one stone. compelled by his addiction to *chase* this ideation relentlessly.

homelander is to billy--his ultimate end, self punishment, a death wish, a *suicide attempt*.

and a way to *unleash his hatred onto the rest of the world*, *to make it burn*, even after his death. (this would be why despite many many MANY warnings to *not* push homelander *because of the catastrophe this will ultimately instigate and the loss of life this is bound to result in*--billy does not give a shit about the potential consequences. he welcomes them--)

if homelander were a *nuke*, billy would want to *launch* him. right now, homie is more like the *demon core*, incredibly dangerous and in some instances lethal, but not *yet* explosive.

billy *wants* the *warhead*.

it was why he got *so excited* at the *chance* of homelander offering him 'scorched earth'.

the man read billy like an open fucking book, and set the bait--

y'all, in other words, homie straight up went to billy's house and offered *crack* to the *crack addict*--fuck yeah he's gonna take that offer!

homelander never actually perceives billy as a real threat *at all* (safe to say, this is the main reason he doesn't kill him. there's a bit of personal complex combined with the deals/blackmail/request involved, but this would also be why he doesn't *hesitate* to 'kill' billy at herogasm. he genuinely gives no fucks about this poor man or his many anal complexes and daddy issues beyond the mild entertainment he gets from him and just how *easy* it is to read billy or rile him up. maybe a *dash* of novelty being found in billy's obsession with him. i'll go into the homie side of things in depth maybe someday soon lol but for now--)

and here's the thing, homelander isn't the *only* failsafe. he is simply the *ultimate failsafe*

included in all the possible bad habits billy has is pawning off his *responsibility* and personal accountability, even his *will to do good* onto others.

i mentioned before that becca (becky) was like a new addiction for him. and she was. in a sense, billy was using her to self medicate. she loved him, gave him love and made him feel good, no pain, no shame--but also no pause to think about that pain, self hatred and self doubt and actively address it. she was a way to not worry about his own *goodness* because she was an *easy* reason for him to *want* to be good.

and something important to note?

billy feels that he has *cheated* on becca/becky *since* the day she left/died. (there's a whole ass deliciously intricate story there but i'm trying to avoid the spoilers lmao. kind of a freebie hint i guess.)

lenny and hughie similarly make an effort to *hold butcher back* and reach out to him. (everyone does honestly, but not everyone is so successful with it). and butcher lets them, but *also* removes the agency of his own choice in the matter.

he doesn't just *let them* make him *good*, he doesn't believe he's capable of stopping himself on his own--but he believes in *them* because they *are* good, *truly good*.

hughie all on his own is *another kind of failsafe* and lo and behold, even calls butcher out on this by the end of the third season (theme is prevalent in the comic a lil different but again spoilers lol):

'i don't think you want to do this. i think you want me to stop you.'

*ding*ding*ding*!

nail on the head, hughie... butcher does not believe he can stop himself. so he sets up *failsafes* to do as much.

and let me just say, it is *unbelievably* shitty of him to do that, to pawn off the responsibility of his own behavior, whether good or pure evil onto other people. but i get it. and it fucking breaks my heart for him.

because *that* is addiction. it feels like mind control. aggressive compulsion. you feel ashamed, and hate yourself, and don't care if you hurt yourself or even others. but you keep *hoping*, *wishing*, *leaving a breadcrumb trail* so that *someone*, *anyone*, will come along and--

*save you. from you.*

and when you stop believing in yourself, in your own willpower to fight against this *thing* that just completely *destroys* you from the inside out... without *anyone* on your side, what else is left to do but to numb the pain?

i was able to recognize billy's addiction right off the bat because i've *been* to a lot of the places he has been. including the addiction. and he makes me so *fucking* mad because it's like seeing a version of myself *still stuck*, *still lost*, *still trapped* by my own issues and self loathing, and all of the abuse i've gone through--

and the biggest fuck up, the biggest *abuser* is me.

i can't *escape* me. *no one* can escape *themself*.

that fucker breaks my heart to pieces because *i have been there*, and i know just how fucking hard it is to *be* there, just how much harder it is to *get out* and start to *learn*--*who is it you really wanna be? who are you without this drug?*

and something he even says in the comics on a few occasions is--

'i'm not really here, i'm somewhere else watching this happen'

asserting that he *truly* believes that he has *no control* over *what* he is. (in contrast with homelander, who feels the weight of something similar but more literally in some regard, and in relation to so many other aspects in his life with the world around him.)

billy butcher *is* the *true villain* of *his own story*

of his own making.

he's not after homelander or even vought. he doesn't blame society or even his father at this point. he blames himself. and he's *given up* entirely on fighting himself. he's looking for his *overdose*.

*that's homelander*

ain't that a kick in the head...

it's part of what makes their relationship and dynamic so incredibly electric and titillating. it's got nothing to do with becca or becky.

butcher sees homelander as an easy way out. as a way to control the narrative, *maintain his own*, and *stop the bad guy* without bringing someone *good*, like *hughie*, down to his level.

he *sees* the parallels, a kindred spirit. he *knows* the potential. and he wants to be the *spark* to light all that *gasoline*.

because then it won't be his fault anymore. his *guilt*. he'll have passed on his *curse*.

likewise, he actually goes after supes in general for a similar enough reason, and it ties in with why he *doesn't* go after vought directly.

billy actually *likes* the status quo. to a degree, *needs* it, *needs vought*

because *vought* is the *creator* of his *supply*, feeding this addiction. and we hear billy say this in both the comic and show--

'with great power comes the absolute certainty that you'll turn into a right cunt.'

and billy actually believes this--about himself.

when he says it about other supes and even his intense hatred of them, it is a *projection* of his own issues and what he believes to be true for himself (that he would do the absolute worst thing imaginable given the opportunity). and in a way, going after them is in some ways a metaphor for stopping and destroying himself, hating himself, as much as it is a way to maintain his addiction.

and--

maintain the narrative he has built--that he is the true villain.

and if that's the case, well... it takes a *hero* to stop a *villain*, right?

but also--y'all remember that scene in the suicide squad where polkadot man imagines everyone as his mum? how he imagines starro as his mum?

yeah, that.

that's basically billy. every fucking supe, including starlight, and kimiko, and let's *really* not talk about what this means about him sleeping with maeve in context with his 'supe=daddy' issues, but even the person he sees in the mirror. *all of them* are *his father*.

listen, i'm not kidding. billy's daddy issues are seriously severe, so fucking bad, i--

his actions aren't for becca or becky or ryan or justice. even he *knows* that's bullshit and admits as much (which just makes fandom denying it that much more fucked). but they're not even *just because* or because he's genocidal, antisocial, or anything else. he *does* want someone to stop him. he's sane enough to recognize his actions for what they truly are *behind* the mask.

billy's actions are a volatile and violent *cry for help*, because he never learned how to *ask*, or even how to *believe in himself*.

he never truly learned that *he never had to be his father*, and he didn't *need* becky or becca, lenny or hughie to *be good*.

i actually think billy's greatest magic trick is convincing even the audience and readers that he is a *total*, complete piece of shit. and don't get me wrong, he is *def* a huge, massive, incredibly rank and ripe piece of shit--.

and y'all, i'm sorry if you believed him and got played like a damn fiddle, him and homie def throwin' in some hard balls--

but he's also still human. he also still needs just as much if, honestly? maybe even more, fucking *help* than homelander. which kind of draws back into their parallels. the tomfoolery of fandom might have you believe that billy is less complex or more put together than homelander, but their situations go hand in hand and the evidence suggests (if not confirms) something quite different.

billy's plight and even goal in some sense is *convincing the rest of his world that he is a monster*. driven by the addiction his father gave him. enabled by the world around him.

homelander's? it's actually the complete opposite. his struggle is with *his world convincing him that he is a monster*, and in turn, against his own instincts, *growing* into that role. when in reality, he never got the chance to decide for himself, it was decided *for* him a long long time ago.

'i think, therefore i am.'

'i can, therefore i must.'

however, *our actions cannot define who we are, because we can choose our actions*. good or bad are not something you inherently *are*, they are something you *choose to do*.

it paints what in turn becomes quite the brutal and tragic picture when these two forces meet. homelander and billy are both of the mindset that they *don't have a choice*.

and this bit is a bit more of a personal thought, but regarding billy's mum, she was *becky*. she was sweet, and kind, and cared for her family more than anything. *it didn't matter what she suffered, she was willing to drown if it meant saving the people she loved*.

as much as i adore how cute becca and billy were, i don't think she would have saved him.

i think the implication is that she would have either 'drowned' trying and become his mum, history repeating itself in a vicious cycle as billy spread his disease to any child they could have.

or that she would have lost her mind. and in turn *become* the person billy spread his disease to, if not another enabler for him. if not billy's choice of drug, maybe she would have taken up something else and eventually overdosed. i would even say the show implies this outcome with both becca and hughie, as the more butcher pushes--the more worn down they get.

if you put enough pressure on someone--they break.

becca was *good* for him. but billy was so, so fucking *bad* for her.

it begs the question of whether or not billy *is* right, if he really is this monster, *fated* to become his father in the worse of ways. of whether or not it's too late for him.

he's certainly not 'normal' or 'right' or 'good' or even an 'anti-hero'. at best, you could maybe call him an 'anti-villain', he is meant to be the deuterantagonist.

it def doesn't help that every time he has the *chance* to do the right thing, *someone* goes and enables him, gives him a reason to do the *wrong* thing.

fucking maeve in that last episode of the third season. but she's def not the only one, and def not the only time. (and yes, if it wasn't clear enough, being completely fucking indifferent to killing *thousands* of people to go after *one* fucking guy is in fact, the *wrong* thing to do.)

butt.

rewatching the scenes with lenny and billy's reaction, and even the final fight, showed something of a *possible* silver lining.

billy *enjoys* rejecting his father. actually pretty fucking greatly if we're being honest. generally speaking, it's when he *rejects* his father and everything that man represents that billy is at his *happiest* (lmao the epitome of an unfulfilled submissive sweetheart and bratty bossy bottom~<3<3<3)

there's a moment, where soldier boy says something along the lines of--

'--fuck you. you're weaker than he is.'

in regards to homelander. it's sort of glossed over, but this is billy's reaction to essentially being called a 'disgrace' so to speak by a toxic 'alpha male'.

y'all see that? it's a smile. lmao a smirk.

this is a moment where billy is protecting *ryan* and keeping his promise to becca. it's a moment where billy is *doing the right thing*, all on *his own* (mostly lol i'm sure there's a roundabout way to justify it in his head). and i think that's key.

it's not just a moment he's proud of himself and has a legitimate fucking reason to be proud of himself, (oh btw, we shoulda *all* been proud of billy in this moment), it's a moment he's *breaking through what his father made him* and his own *addiction*.

and he's doing it *selflessly* and--*without setting that responsibility on another person*.

so we *know* he has it in him, he always has. even becky *in the comic* kept trying to convince billy that *he is capable of good without her*. and again, we actually saw this in the second season when becca and ryan were reunited and billy *changed* his plans, *for becca*, instead of doing the selfish thing and selling ryan back to vought.

but if billy doesn't believe it himself...

i don't think billy is right about himself. but it is very *very* difficult for someone to *correct course* so to speak, once they have their *core beliefs*, lay out their own destiny and start along a *self fulfilling prophecy*, something him and homelander *both* do.

enter ryan.

and suddenly (lol probably in part due to reading dear becky lol), there was a bit of... not so much new, as *confirmed* perspective in play after that rewatch, something to *look* for and ponder in regards to *why* ryan may have been added for this story, a question in mind--

'would it be wrong of *ryan* to want to save his father?'

was it wrong of becca or becky, hughie or lenny, even his mum, to want to save billy?

how would *billy* even begin to answer such questions?

a different answer for the two would be a clear hypocritical bias (which lol i would not put past billy, but i also wouldn't be surprised if he maintained consistent thinking by answering *yes* to both)

. . .

y'all...

i still can't say i'm particularly optimistic about things turning out alright for either gent or ryan, butt~<3

garth ennis literally made the saddest, most pathetic, deliciously sweet, perfectly precious, extra emo tsun tsun baby boi ever, and put him right under our noses.

some a y'all fucking sneezing all over him, straight up sleepin' on all his *best* bits. how are we not utilizing billy butcher *properly~<3<3<3*????

;)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

#billy butcher #billy butcher meta #the boys #the boys comics #the boys tv #the boys amazon #butchlander #homelander #ryan butcher #the boys meta #media literacy #reading comprehension #fandom wank #fandom entitlement #garth ennis #tw addiction #tw abuse #psa #long post #fiction is not reality #fiction is fiction #please #never harass or bully people over your own personal preferences in fiction #sad precious emo baby boi

[welcometololaland]

Fandom Holiday Gifts

Day 9 - Read a Fic From Tumblr

why are you googling vampires? by @daisymae-12 (RWRB, E)

OKAY SO y'all know I am in my vampire era and I simply cannot be stopped and THIS. FIC. You guys. This fic is SO. DAMN. FUNNY. I legit could not stop giggling the entire time I was reading it.

The characterisation is perfect, the plot is spot on, the smut is sexy and the dialogue...well, I'll just leave you with my favourite part:

“Should we google it?” Alex asks, already craning his neck around in search of his phone. “Edward got Bella pregnant, you know.” Henry gives him a bewildered look. “Alex. I’m not going to get you pregnant.” “That’s exactly what Edward thought too, and look how that turned out!” Alex says, indignant. If there’s one thing he learnt from Twilight, it’s that you can never be too careful. “Christ, Alex. I’m begging you, no more talk about Twilight. Especially now.” Henry says, sounding pained. “Also I don’t know how to tell you this, but people don’t get pregnant from blowjobs.”

PLEASE READ IT I BEG YOU!

HERE'S THE ORIGINAL POST IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN FANDOM HOLIDAY GIFT GIVING!

(you definitely don't have to do it, or every day. it's totally at your discretion!).

Progress under the cut (yes I know I'm super behind but also I've had a VERY BAD WEEK. DON'T JUDGE ME)

#fandom holiday gifts #fandom holiday advent calendar #fandom advent calendar #rwrb #red white and royal blue #rwrb fic rec #red white and royal blue fic rec #firstprince

[knowlesian]

Hey! I really enjoy your meta and was wondering if you could share your thoughts on why Ed says "never left" in episode 8. Because that infuriated me! He did leave and wasn't planning on coming back before the English reveal. But I also am aware that I relate deeply to Stede in episode 8 (the way they had him wear the same outfit as when he was bullied as a child killed me) so I'm sure my view is skewed. But it read to me like let's just pretend that didn't happen which I understand could be a call back to the bathtub scene but it just rubs me wrong.

So can I have your thoughts about why Ed/the writers went with the iconic "never left" + wink reply?

i CAN, and buckle up because this one is something i have so many thoughts about but somehow have only briefly tackled.

so: ed is a really socially aware guy. he's good with reading people, he can do sarcasm just fine, but he doesn't know the rules of the social road in stede's world which means when stede does the 'my body language and whole vibe SCREAMS i don't like this, my words say yeah cool do it more, even! i'm fine with this' thing because he's used to that as a way to make life "easier" for everybody by just entirely avoiding open confrontation ever, ed is like ...okay, i am either supposed to call you a liar here or carry on? because in my world, when you want something to fuckin stop you say FUCKIN STOP and when you're being a real jerk on purpose, you want people to know it's because you hope they have a shitty day.

(i know ed the adult man not knowing the terms retirement and passive aggressive exist or what they mean has led to some real world logic application all, ed is dumb/doesn't know basic words and the like, but those are Theme Moments because this is a big gay play running on rule of cool. the text is saying: ed wants to stop but doesn't even know it's an option unless you die, and ed says what he means/expects everyone else to do the same.)

so in ed's world, what stede does as a mode of politeness/defense is just called lying. ed's not grounded in the world of books and social games; he's not looking for hidden purposeful meanings in the corners of everybody's words, which contributes to how he misses jack. (sidenote: i think stede is extra snippy because his spidey-sense for passive aggressive fuckery is going off endlessly and telling him something is not RIGHT here, and he needs to be on alert by the same token, but that's not super related. just wanted to say it!!! etc)

also, ed’s been introduced to the idea of passive aggression as a weapon; he hasn't been introduced to the niceties side. so when he leaves, it's with this funky vibe in the air where he feels like jack just came out to have a good time, stede's giving off the kind of mixed signals that are potentially scary, and it culminates in stede unfortunately framing his (very legit) annoyances as an issue with ed/his behavior vs issues with jack, and that only drives the wedge in deeper.

so when ed leaves, it's not because he wants to: it's this rolling avalanche of shitty things that all culminate in ed being like, if jack who represents my past and is just here to have a good time pisses stede off this much and makes him say he doesn't like me around jack, what happens when he decides i'm too much like jack to be borne a second longer and kicks me out, too?

theeeeen he finds out jack was there to fuck shit up on PURPOSE, and what stede had an issue with gets internally reframed. suddenly, stede is not judging ed by proxy, he's judging jack who is a lying dick and trying to cause trouble and drive them apart on purpose. this means even if stede's own issues were a large part of his reaction, stede actually read the room far better than ed. (just like he did at the party.)

the spin now emotionally is: stede tried to protect me. if i had listened and not trusted jack over stede's instincts, maybe none of this is happening. i have to go back and protect him.

which leads me into the actual line!!! stede's face is super key here, to set the stage. he's so, so fucking happy. like: incandescent. when he says 'you came back', he's so fucking relieved. they're about to get boarded by the fucking royal navy and stede looks happier than ever.

which tells ed: you never actually wanted me to leave. you are unconditionally glad to see me back, even though i fucked up and i should have listened to you. you're just glad i'm here, no matter what's going on.

and ed... ed so much wants anybody at all to see him for who he actually is, as he wants to be seen, and then be happy he's in the room.

so 'never left' is the moment he speaks stede's language for the first time, i think. the language of: what i am saying here is a cover for the deeper truth of what i mean. ed says never left, but he doesn't mean it like literally i was never gone or never intended to stay that way.

he means: i didn't want to go. and maybe, even better— emotionally, i was always still with you. my body left, the legend of blackbeard left, but ed was always right here. right where he wants to be.

and they're so thrilled to be together again, yes, but i think that's the crux of this scene and why their gazes stay tender and locked even as everything goes shit around them. why ed needs to reach out, and stede needs to lean back into that touch.

ed knows stede is just glad he's around; stede knows ed didn't ever want to leave him.

(and, after an episode of talking past each other, they are finally starting to work out the language to meet each other on even ground, where ed will give some and stede will give some and they will meet in the middle, neither of them having to exist entirely in the other's world or use the other's words to communicate.)

#ugh i love these two i do. #EMOTIONAL WORD VOMIT AS ANSWERS TO ASKS my peak brand #my ofmd meta #i guess??? it got long

[sassymajesty]

may I ask what made you pick judaism, if it's not too personal & you're willing to share? i legit dont know enough about religions so i'm genuinely curious. like why not islam or something else? or why not transfer to protestant or orthodox church? you said you did some wandering, so i'm just curious what made you pick judaism over everything else. like i said i'm not judging or anything, just pure curiosity due to my lack of knowledge! but i'm glad you found something that resonates with you :)

short answer, jewish beliefs resonated the most with me and the more i learn about it, the more at home i feel

long answer, oh boy, i really did do some wandering. i'm putting it under a cut because i wrote a whole essay

i stopped going to the catholic church when i was 15, and the next... ten years? were spent trying to find myself. because i've always known that i believe in something more, but the idea of an old guy in the sky ruling over us with an iron fist felt very odd too me. and that's how i came out of the catholic church

my dad used to say that religion is supposed to bring you comfort and give you the support you need in tough times. that's something that has always stuck with me but then, which religion?

i tried the agnostic route for a while, but that didn't bring me any comfort. then i went to a buddhist temple a couple times, because the logic was sound to me, and i was at a time in my life where acceptance and kindness was what i needed. but still, i felt like there was something lacking

i googled a lot

being gay, i didn't quite vibe with most christian denominations in my town. but my cousin invited me to the presbyterian church and i went there for a few months. it kinda worked for a bit, because i was sure i didn't believe in saints and they talked about jesus with so much love, and tried to spread the love he taught the world. i used to leave the church service feeling very loved, and it was better to read from the bible than it was to just listen to the priest read it and being told that i'd never understand it myself

i just... didn't feel the same love as everyone else. i felt like a fraud even when i was annotating my bible as everyone else. theirs were full of devotion and mine felt flat, i didn't know how to pray without, you know, scripted prayers, i felt like an impostor. then, well. then it got to a point where i couldn't simply ignore being gay for the sake of being accepted there, and i stopped going

at the time, i was working at a health clinic and i worked with pious people from other christian denominations and they were so judgemental of everyone that came in, forgetting their own past and still claiming to be a good christian. which only pushed me away from any other christian denominations, the fanon interpretation of jesus bothered me too. it all felt too restrictive

that's around the time i started wondering whether or not i believed in jesus. it's always been complicated for me to make sense that god, jesus and the holy spirit are separate but still one. i could kinda figure out the holy spirit and god working together, but for me, jesus was a man, a human man who had been kind and drastically radical for his time, but still a man

honestly, at this time i was pretty lost and finding comfort in bits and pieces here and there. christian music actually helped me a lot during this time, go figure

it took me actually meeting a jewish person (that's how small judaism is in here, i had no contact of anyone jewish for 26 years of my life) for me to learn that you could even convert to judaism

i had the catholic thinking of "oh, judaism is an old religion that doesn't really exist anymore" and "the old testament god was barbaric", but getting to learn more about it with fresh eyes was a really breathtaking experience

i like that the rules make sense. there's no "because the church says so" or "because god will be sad if you do it". whatever argument you can think of, someone has gone over it at least a thousand years ago and have had people arguing for or against it ever since. i love it that you get to ask questions!!! you're encouraged to!! oh that's my favorite part, i can have doubts about whatever and no one will talk behind my back that i'm not a good catholic girl. and i get to learn about this practice that goes back thousands of years, and not to be a nerd, but i love how much incentive there is to read and learn and discuss and talk through things and question everything and think critically about every passage, every tradition, every book ever written on judaism

i'm reading "here all along" by sarah hurwitz and there's a chapter called "freeing god from "his" human-shaped cage in the sky" and in it, she talks about different conceptions about god that jewish people believe in. and that is when i realized oh yes, this is home. because god stopped being an old guy in the sky and became this force that no human being could ever describe or understand. god can be all knowing and all powerful, but they can also be all knowing and not all powerful. they can be everything — a shadow the tree casts, the good in humanity, resting on shabbat. god can be the "process of being" or the force that pushes you to be the best you can be. i haven't explored a fraction of those but i love it that i don't have to choose just one, and i don't have to believe in one version that's dictated to me

all my experiences with judaism have been incredible so far. i used to slog through an hour long mass, now two hours every friday feel like not enough. the community i found (both in the synagogue i go to and online) is very welcoming and there's so much strength in them. the more i learn about the practices, the why behind them, the more at home i feel

we had an event for people who want to convert and we talked about being gay and judaism and everyone was pretty much you just gotta find a rabbi that you're comfortable with but even the most conservative ones are mostly chill with it, and the conversation moved on to another question. and that? being accepted fully by who i am, that's incredible for me. i don't have to change, i don't have to force myself to believe in anything

i'm gonna end this here, otherwise i'll be talking about judaism until next week

#anon #💌 #jumblr #jewish conversion #judaism

[adambja]

Did your aff free tape still work even if there is negativity around me and due to that negativity I overthink sometimes. sometimes when i listen to your tape all those bad things and experiences came in my mind automatically , even though i don't want them but I get lost in it and after some time i suddenly remember that I'm listening your tape . I know , I am involved in something that is illusion and fake ... Due to this fakeness I sometimes imagine things that would feed up my ego for example - if someone says I'm not good in studies and insults me or tries to make fun of me then I think i should manifest that I'm master in that subjects and show it off in front of them or sometimes want to give them the taste of their own medicine.......but my dream life is completely different 😭😭😭 , I catch myself with all those nonsense thoughts so many times. A few days ago all things were well but now again suddenly all bad things increase around me and it's effecting me to be very honest and i also know i should not get effective to them , i feel like I'm being watched ( but i know no one is watching me ) / I have no privacy , like these bad people gonna interfere in my life and judge me ,make fun of me and I could not do anything ......... So did these negative thoughts enter my subconscious and manifest as you tell that ( your aff tapes )it works directly with our subconscious mind................ And Here I think / feel all this bullshit some times in the day ( but i affirm as in my way hand to hand) and as I told you before it pops up before my eyes and tries to influence me while listening to your aff tape or trying to relax.....

I know it's long but it's okk if you don't answer but please mad for this confusion / negative question .

Please take a good rest.... Waiting for new tapes ... If you don't mind can you tell when you're gonna release them...

First of all your question is legit!! Even if it's negative sometimes we have to go there so we can know where did we go wrong!!

I love it

And I know it's long but everyone has to read it

THE ANSWER IS YES IT STILL WORKS NO MATTER WHAT in fact

That negativity is because of your assumptions the tape makes it very visible to you so you can change your assumptions and just move on with your life and change it!!

Also the whole other things are self-concept issues so wait for the free general self-concept tape it will help you a lot!!

#law of assumption #loassumption #loa #neville goddard #self concept #loa success #success stories loa #self development #self esteem #void success

[hils79]

Hils Watches Taxi Driver - Ep 12

Okay, I'm going to go straight under the read more tag for this one because I don't want to spoil what happened at the end of the last episode for anyone who is planning on watching this drama at some point.

Sure, tell the woman whose partner just got murdered to calm down.

I'm not sure why she's still involved in this case though. Surely it's too personal at this point. Like I was surprised they let arrest the dude in the first place but now they're letting her interrogate him too?

And now she's smacked him in the face with a laptop. Totally don't blame her, but that's not going to go well for her. She shouldn't have been alone in a room with him in the first place.

I mean it makes a change for a male character to be fridged but that's still what this is. This is exactly the conversation she had with Kim Dogi only she was on the side of the law then. Now she wants revenge and the law isn't on her side so she's going to go to him, and learn why he does what he does.

You should have done that as soon as her partner was killed, my dude! Also, I've been meaning to ask. I've watched a lot of k-dramas featuring prosecutors but I still don't really understand what they do. She's kind of like a cop? But not a cop. Maybe like an FBI agent? But the word prosecutor makes me think of someone in court

Oh, I know her. She was also in The Devil Judge

Ah, there we go. It didn't take her long to go to him.

Yikes that's nasty

I thought she was off the case! Apparently you can just investigate your own partner's murder, brutally assault the key suspect, and then just carry on.

Of course he's got a secret tracker dashboard hidden in his taxi

This is legit the most horrible case they have avenged so far. And, shit, cut up corpses also trigger his ptsd

He's crying too. I want to hug him.

I'm not sure you can take the moral high ground here, my dude. Given that you took all of those people off the street and gave them to her to be kept in cages like dogs because the law hadn't punished them enough to your liking

I really like her. I'm not saying I entirely agree with her but she's morally ambiguous badass which is always fascinating to watch

He's going to wish Kim Dogi got to him first

OH SHIT IT WAS A TRICK! She fooled me too!

GASP

Okay so now it's less morally ambiguous and more evil cackling. Well, it was fun while it lasted. I guess she's going full comic book villain now

#hils watches #hils watches taxi driver #hils watches kdramas #taxi driver #kdrama

[itsclydebitches]

The opposition to rewrites in the FNDM is just so goddamn weird to me, given that one of the cornerstones of another fandom I'm in is a rewrite of a canon storyline that had some really cool ideas but dogshit execution. I see people saying that the rewriters are arrogant for thinking that they can do RWBY better than the official team, but no, in my experience even if they are arrogant it's equally possible that they're right. Official doesn't mean "The Best" or even "Good", just official.

Exactly. Ultimately it shouldn't even matter whether rewrites are "good" or not because

a) That's a highly subjective interpretation no one will ever agree on

b) They're written by amateurs for free as a hobby - with "amateur" meaning someone who does not produce RWBY writing in a professional capacity, not someone who is automatically "bad" at the art - and thus rewrites would be at huge disadvantage even if we did want to judge their quality

and c) That's just what fanfiction is?? Transformation??? The writer's motivation is inconsequential. Whether they're producing this because they think they can craft a better story than canon, or whether they simply want a creative means of celebrating it, the end result is still the same: a new, unofficial RWBY product that readers will inevitably compare to the original, favorably or otherwise

So yeah, it's wild to me. I've literally never seen another fandom so anti-rewrite. It's usually the opposite - as you say, a cornerstone of fan engagement - where fans, both jokingly and not, talk about how sometimes fic is a love letter and sometimes it's a "FUCK YOU STRONGLY WORDED TELEGRAM TO FOLLOW." Despite RWBY appearing unique at first glance (from my perspective, anyway) I wonder if part of this is due to larger fandom trends? Meaning, RWBY is comparatively young as fandoms go and I've noticed in recent years a prioritization of canon that hasn't been around before, particularly when it comes to shipping. Some of that is good imo (like the push for queer canonization) and some of it is just downright odd (what do you mean I'm not "allowed" to ship them just because they haven't spoken to each on screen? Since when is THAT a requirement?). Though RWBY is definitely an extreme case, there seems to be this generalized move from, "This is our canon and it's great, or maybe it sucks, but either way it's a spring board for all of THESE cool things" to "This is our canon and it is scared. It is perfect, flaws and all. If you're going to add to it I need a detailed proposal for how this fits into the established world, encapsulates the original author's vision, and maintains characterization even though I'm too young to know what OOC stands for." Certainly in RWBY's case, I wonder if part of it stems from the rise in social media and, as a result, fans "personal" relationships with the actors and writers. When you're seeing a creator's tweets all day and feeling like they're your online friend, you might be less inclined to "mess with" their work; as opposed to seeing an actor/writer at a con once a year, going home, recognizing that they're a complete stranger outside of any fantasies, and then getting on with playing in their sandbox because why wouldn't you? They're never going to know. This is the age of fans sending their fic to actors to read aloud and tweeting at writers that such-and-such had this to say about the show. Though this was done in a cool and positive light, I have legit had a meta of mine tweeted at a OFMD actor and, if the like he gave is any indication, he read it... which is a weird thing to think about considering he was not the audience I had in mind while crafting it. Those kinds of interactions has got to have some kind of impact on fans' perception of what they can and cannot do with the material...

Anyway, today's PSA is that if you want to do a rewrite of any story - yes, even RWBY! - you are absolutely allowed to do that regardless of how "good" it supposedly is. Go forth and get creative. Get messy. Do whatever the hell you want and if someone in the fandom tries to make you feel bad about that, tell me and I'll manifest a Lego in their shoe.

After all, it's not like the entirety of RWBY is built on transforming others' stories or anything :)

#rwde #rwby #fic things #mymetas

[midnight-light]

More Pokemon Violet and Scarlet Chars!

I'm back with more character talk for Pokemon Violet! This time I have now offically finished all the main storylines so I have all the context now. Rika

Alright~! I'll be doing Rika first since she was specifically requested. She was another character whom I wont lie, I mistook her gender at first until I read the pronouns, I legit thought she was either a dude or perhaps nonbinary? But tbh I love Rika and her personality. She gives me like; "Cool older sister" vibes, particularly due to her interactions with a certain steel-type user. (I would ALSO like to know where she got those earrings cause I'd love a pair of those, this is coming from someone who doesn't wear jewelry, like, ever.) I would honestly love to have her as an older sister, or a girlfriend, cause she also gave me a BI panic. Just not as extreme as the one Grusha gave me. Turo

I literally just finished the main storyline not even five minutes ago as I'm writing this, so I HAVE to do this man cause I have THOUGHTS on his ass! (BIG SPOILERS FOR THE MAIN STORYLINE ENDING AHEAD. DO NOT READ PAST HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS) I'm going to talk about the AI Professor Tur and the real Professor Turo as separate entities. Starting with the real Professor Turo, this man from what we are told about him... he's well...interesting. I personally have mixed feelings towards him, on one hand, I get the impression he was a little too invested in his little time machine project and didn't spend enough time with this son Arven, but on another hand he was definitely a clever man and the AI's last message to Arven about his dad is enough to soften my impression, but not enough to exonerate him, at least in my eyes. the AI Turo is quite interesting, to me it seems that he's choosing to, with the help of the other four, shut down the time machine of it's own volition, judging by the security protocols that you as the main character have to fight through, I don't think the real Turo would have shut the machine down. It wanted to explore the world but could not due to needing to stay near the time machine to stay functioning. I find the thought of the AI Turo having it's own adventure in the future quite interesting to think about too. Penny

Penny, my GIRL! I absolutely love Penny to BITS! I relate to penny quite a bit as a character, I myself used to be a victim of bullying and know what it's like. Her conversations with Arven in specific as you travel through area Zero are extremely amusing, as well as her reactions in general to Nemona's energy. (Her entire team of eeveelutions definitely didn't make me like her more at ALL~) Honestly I want that backpack of hers SO bad. It's so cute and I love eevee! She somewhat reminds me of Pidge Gunderson from Voltron Legendary Defender. However I think Penny is a litttle bit more socially awkward than Pidge is.

Brassius

Oh my dear god where do I start with this man??? He is lil bit extra and I love him! His entrance actually scared the shite out of me ngl, did not expect him to pop up on the fucking windmill. Also I'm saying it now, I saw his lovely vine whip that's secured around his waist and the first word out of my mouth was, "Kinky!" no lie. I definitely see him as a bit of a theatre kid mixed in with his artist kid. I also reallllly wanna poke the pointy bits in his hair, even if it might cut me. (I wont lie though he was super easy for me as a gym leader cause by the time I got to his gym I was extremely over leveled.) Alright! Another four down! I can do more if anyone wants em~! Specific requests are also welcome!

#pokemon #pokemon rika #pokemon violet #pokemon scarlett #pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon brassius #brassius #pokemon turo #turo #professor turo #pokemon penny #opinion #pokemon characters

[fierrochase-falafel]

Guanyin temple thoughts (AKA nothing can stop a dramatic bisexual)- spoilers!

I'm reading the Guanyin temple scene in MDZS at the moment and LORD none of the media censoring Wangxian's gay relationship will ever be able to convey just how much Jin Guangyao got upstaged by them here-!!!

Especially comparing this whole fiasco with the one that went down in CQL, every few lines these 2 are doing SOMETHING really gay, usually also really funny because of the timing, while everyone else is paying attention to the plot. In CQL, this whole arc felt like a culmination to Jin Guangyao's and Lan Xichen's subliminally gay plotline more than anything, but the great thing about the novel is that Wei Wuxian especially just keeps stealing Jin Guangyao's thunder. First they have to deal with Wei Wuxian's obliviousness, then Wei Wuxian confesses, then Wangxian have their really sweet moment and spend every moment hereafter making their gayness known to all in a 5 mile radius (case in point: Wei Wuxian taunting Su She and making Lan Wangji laugh, Wangxian hugging and being super loud about it because of Wei Wuxian's trauma-induced cynophobia and then Wei Wuxian covering Lan Wangji's ears from the wrongly-played guqin)...and THEN Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian have THEIR moment while Jin Guangyao is discovering his mother's body is missing. Jin Guangyao's antagonism almost means nothing anymore.

Not to mention, Jin Guangyao is barely an antagonist for over half of this entire scenario. Even though he's keeping them all hostage, it's not like some of them have better things to be doing really (read: Wangxian and Nie Huaisang). All the catharsis they'd desperately needed for years, they're getting that here anyways. Jin Guangyao literally joins in on getting Wei Wuxian to realise his feelings, almost like it's a casual gossip sesh giving life advice to your (gay) sworn brother's son-in-law-to-be:

Wei WuXian glanced at him before turning to Lan XiChen, “It’s like this. I couldn’t sleep tonight and took a stroll outside the inn. I only came here accidentally. HanGuang-Jun’s in another room. He doesn’t know I went out.”

Jin GuangYao found this strange, “You two got two rooms?”

Wei WuXian, “Who told you we’d definitely get one room?

Jin GuangYao smiled, but said nothing. Wei WuXian, “Oh, I know.” Lan XiChen told him. Wei WuXian, “You two really do talk about anything and everything.”

This does NOT feel like a hostage situation- this just feels like a gathering of people who would be happier with extensive therapy. And...I have nothing useful to say really. I just think this is really funny. Especially when you consider how Wangxian's presence in the farce that was the Second Seige of the Burial Mounds (that legit just happened) derailed how THAT was supposed to go too, with Wei Wuxian solving the mystery of the gravedigger guy in live-time while Lan Wangji silenced anyone trying to argue with his bf.

Jin Guangyao and Su She are being sidelined hard in their own plot, and not just by the oriole to their mantis AKA mastermind Nie Huiasang. Even though they are supposed to be the main antagonists facing a climax, the real climax is the resolution of emotional conflict between the hostages they've taken. As for their fate, that was decided years ago when Jin Guangyao accelerated Nie Mingjue's death. The actual plot, interesting as it is, was barely ever in question because of the constant background presence of this mastermind, who's trapped Jin Guangyao exactly where he wanted to. There is no real defeating of the villain, because Jin Guangyao is made to be at his weakest in the temple, and his strongest before Wei Wuxian was even summoned back yet. It's so strange...it really sets in stone that in the novel MDZS, there is no real villain. There are people who learn from their mistakes, people who don't, and people who judge them as if they're any better. Nie Huiasang is Jin Guangyao's retribution for his continued crimes and Wei Wuxian is the person Jin Guangyao could've been if he stopped blaming others for said crimes...both of them, subtly or unsubtly, dominate his hostage attempt completely. Maybe that's what I'm really trying to say here. I do feel quite bad for Jin Guangyao though, having put his entire life into building up a reputation knocked over in 1 fell swoop, and having to watch his only true remaining friend lose trust in him in real time. All this additional conflict just further emphasises how Jin Guangyao's fall from grace has really already occurred.

Sidenote: Everyone becoming homophobic effective immediately after Wei Wuxian's ill-timed confession is also just really funny, they were so mad at his obliviousness like 2 seconds ago and now they're edging away from him (maybe to give them space, sure, but still)...Wei Wuxian, in all matters, is the epitome of "damned if you do, damned if you don't". Except for Jiang Cheng, in which case he's just straight-up damned (/lh).

Also the way they're yelling (it doesn't say they were yelling but I picture them yelling this) about hugging when Jiang Cheng shows up and while everyone else is like, "What's Sect Leader Jiang going to do? Will he beat Jin Guangyao? Will the plot advance?"

Wei WuXian, “Hug me!”

Lan WangJi, “I am hugging you!”

Wei WuXian, again, “Hug me tight!”

Lan WangJi, also, “I am hugging you tight!”

Managed to upstage not just Jin Guangyao but Jiang Cheng too, effortlessly, as Wei Wuxian always seems to :,) Take that, Jiang Cheng's pride! /lh

These guys have been separated for 13 years, ok? They deserve to have this.

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #jin guangyao #lan xichen #su she #jiang cheng #guanyin temple #reading the book #mdzs meta #if this qualifies as meta #analysis time by me so I can track them in my tags #posts originating from my brain

[undercoverpena]

Sorry to ask but you always give really good advice to people. When you post your writing, do you have a margin of what is a flop or not? I’m really struggling with likes and reblogs but I am new so I guess it’s normal? I just feel so discouraged. Sorry if this is a lot.

you're not a lot, promise! i'm not overly sure if i'm the best person to answer this, but as always, I'll give it a go.

i would be completely lying if i said to you i didn't notice notes, because i do and it's okay that i do. however, i don't have a metric for what i deem good or bad—because for a multitude of reasons i cannot control how it performs. such as:

the fandom

the popularity of the tropes

i can write one trope for one pairing and on the outside it looks like it hasn't done well. i can then redo that trope, with the same pairing, and it do so much "better" in terms of notes. but, the thing with both of those isn't the notes that i judge them on, but my enjoyment of writing them.

equally, sometimes it's a slow burner. like i POURED my heart into one non, and legit no one saw it. for like a week. and then it just trickled up, and now it's done "well"! (i keep putting things in " because everyone has different levels, and like yeah).

but all of this to say, writing, drawing, gif'ing should be fun. all of this SHOULD feel fun.

for me, i enjoy writing. i enjoy sharing. and i am hyper aware that i am not everyone's cup of tea, that i may not be what someone fancies one day to the next. so, the metrics i would use to measure myself sorta become moot, you know? but the one thing i can judge myself on is whether i'm proud of what i wrote, whether it brought me joy, whether i felt happy when i wrote it.

some pieces, i won't lie, i've written and despised writing and even if to others the notes are 'amazing', i hate it. the thing that has barely any notes, could be my favourite.

all of this to say, you said you're new and lovely one, you need to find your people, because really that's what all of this is for.

the community, the connections, the shrieking to someone at 1am in the morning about an idea (you may never write) but them being equally as excited because WRITE THIS IDEA BITCH. and you spend another hour (when you should be sleeping) going back and forth to flesh it out.

find those people. because honestly, hand on heart, it's those people who i talk to daily, the ones i want to read my work. you know?

but also if you're struggling, don't give up. i know how it feels (and it feels so tough, i know) but keep at it - because if not, how will your people find you? i'm so sorry i can't give you a magic spell or potion to rid this part, but if you're enjoying doing what you do, don't stop, lovely.

#jo: writing advice #asked and answered #anon #jo gives advice - and she isn't sure if this is any good #but like pls send another if i'm wildly off or unhelpful

[lost-girl-2021]

The Walking Dead

Okay, so I have (yet another) new obsession and I can't deal with it. Guys, I am so scared of zombies and scary stuff, but I love this show. And you want to know why I started watching it? I saw an edit of a fanfic. Is it over 200,000 words? Yes. Have I read all of it? Yes. I quite literally refresh my Ao3 page to check for updates every day (said fanfic is Future Ghosts by dieasthedevil on Ao3).

(Now, I promise I will finish Days Into Decades, I just also need to rnat about this new fic idea)

So, I usually don't do OC fics anymore, because I feel like they aren't as popular on Ao3 as they are on Wattpad and I prefer Ao3 (and feel like more people 14+ use Ao3 instead of Wattpad). And I legit skip half the zombie scenes because I only care about the plot (I'm being 100% rn). I also started at season 9, because I wanted to see Daryl and Negan on the same(ish) side and see the kids grown up (ish). (I promise I'm gonna watch it from 1-11 next, but I was too hyped to watch what I've already read in fanfic lol).

Anyways, despite my best efforts not to, I've started writing a new fic for TWD with an original character. And, I personally think it's not half bad. Idk where I'm going with it, but I do know it'd be set in season 9ish (also, nothing romantic between the oc and any of the characters, but maybe something between the oc and another oc, though I'd honestly prob kill him off eventually). So, for anyone still with me, here's some of what I've written so far.

— (snippet 1) —

“Are you tanning during the apocalypse?” A curious voice called out, startling her from her daydream. Jerking herself up, she had one hand on her knife and she turned to face the intruder.

He was kind of cute. If it wasn’t for the sweaty, blood-stained clothes and the eyebags. He could probably do with a shower too, judging by the state of his hair. She smiled over at him anyways, relaxing her grip on the blade.

“Might as well have some fun, right?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbows. “Can’t all be doom and gloom.”

“It’s— it’s dangerous to be out here.” He insisted, taking a step closer.

“Do you see any freaks?” She glanced around, nothing and nobody in sight.

“Not yet. But— but, it’s still dangerous. You shouldn’t let your guard down.”

“Who says I have?”

The man (barely, he was probably only a little older than her) looked lost, opening and closing his mouth like he couldn’t quite figure out what to say.

— (Snippet 2) —

“I should’ve locked you out.” She snapped. “Or, I should’ve let you in and then set the place on fire. I never should’ve trusted you, never should've helped you.”

“When have you ever trusted anyone, Skipper?” Carol asked, voice soft despite the accusation.

Her eyes darted to Daryl, thinking about quiet mornings spent hunting and the shared thread of orphaned siblings. She shook her head anyways, pushing back good memories of the cabin and the short time when she was actually happy in the end of the world. Who was she to think about any of these people as hers?

“I’m leaving at dawn.” She said in lieu of an answer, looking away from the both of them. “Will you keep an eye on P.J. for me?”

“You don’t need to leave— “

“I should, though.”

#twd #daryl dixon #fanfic #twd oc #carol and daryl

[ruumirmir]

Gojo Satoru, the man that you are, had me researching Buddhism and shit

///Jjk chap 236 leaks and spoilers pls begone thankuverymuch

I have never been more deranged in my life of living. And when I say deranged,, I hope everyone involved will enjoy my copium induced girl dinner rant that I cooked up 💥🔥

going through five stages of grief,, about to invent the 6th and 7th one. over Lines on Paper this is my life

Anyways,, so I came across a tweet which started my spiral after I read through these:

jujutsu kaisen

has the potential to create THE arc of all Time ever if,, BY GOING OFF OF SYMBOLISM,,, the plot NAILS this

bc the buddha imagery and symbolism of gojo is already the coldest shit ever when gege cooked with the "throughout heaven and earth, i alone am the honored one"

if this actually happens to some degree

we could have the biggest "WE'RE SO FUCKING BACK" moment in all of manga history

《Gautama Buddha died at the age of 80 in 483 BCE at a place called Kushinagara a town in UP》

thank god we still have 8 more decades left until gojo is FEASIBLY ALLOWED TO DIE AT A SUITABLE AGE AND AFTER A LONG HAPPY LIFE.

ok wait technically 5 more decades since hes close to pushing 30

Raggedy old man. Bros aging 💀

death of an anime man got me actually researching about Gautama Buddha with sincere interest now

《"Mara" is one of the earliest non-human beings to appear in Buddhist scriptures. He is a demon, sometimes called the Lord of Death, who plays a role in many stories of the Buddha and his monks.》

apparently this is the demon equivalent to reflect sukuna's character. hes mostly present in esoteric buddhism

the hand sign,, is same as sukuna's domain expansion here

《In East Asian and Buddhist mythology, Yama,, also known as King Yan/Yan Wang is the King of Hell and a dharmapala (wrathful god) said to judge the dead and preside over the Narakas and the cycle of afterlife saṃsāra.》

In Hinduism,, that's Lord Yama, god of the dead, similarly shown with a Bull as his familiar.

from chinese mythology:

《Yan is portrayed as a large man with a scowling red face, bulging eyes, and a long beard. He wears traditional robes and a judge's cap or a crown which bears the character for "king".》

This cant translate to sukuna's "true form"

Yknow,, the big fucking body with 4 arms and a wooden mask thing on the left side of his face. He definetely IS shown to wear traditional robes.

Now bear with me here, I'm derailing my sanity rn.

yes now THIS is interestinger:

《The spirits of the dead, on being judged by Yan, are supposed to either pass through a term of enjoyment in a region midway between the earth and the heaven of the gods.》

We LITERALLY. have a whole segment of gojo enjoying his time seeing suguru and his other friends who died in an afterlife-kinda setting. We also specifically get a panel of sukuna praising satoru,, passing his judgement,, that we've seen him do to other characters as well [jogo, although that's kinda debatable 💀 since Sukuna kind of. Trashed him]

《-or to undergo their measure of punishment in the nether world. Neither location is permanent and after a time, they return to Earth in new bodies.》

JUMPING UP AND FUCKING DOWN RN. Isnt Kusakabe on standby,, who cultivated an ability to act as a medium and swap/ conduct other people's souls with his own. As i said before,,, SURELYYYYYYY gege wouldnt do this shit without REASON

(it is the funniest shit in the world to type up "Indra god hand gesture" and for gojo fucking satoru's face to pop up in the image and ACTUALLY be linked to a legit discussion on his domain expansion hand sign being referenced from Indra)

ok so, in hinduism,, its "Indra", but in buddhism the same god is translated unto "Sakra"

yknow how it be. Different religions and practices share the same god and the beliefs overlap here and there.

so theres this

《When one Śakra dies, his place is taken by another deity who becomes the new Śakra.》

which is basically the jujutsu kaisen equivalent of people in the gojo clan being born. With the liberty taken of SixEyes + Limitless users taking hundreds of years to be born after deaths of the previous one.

Okay so

"then with his face to the north took seven strides while a white canopy was held over him" is the text referencing buddha's enlightening birth.

the white canopy held over his head is a symbol that he'll achieve nirvana.

《In Buddhism, "Nirvana" is the highest state that someone can attain, a state of enlightenment, meaning a person's individual desires and suffering go away. The origin of the word nirvana relates to religious enlightenment; it comes from the Sanskrit meaning "extinction, disappearance" of the individual to the universal.》

Since we've Already seen that gojo's achieved his state of enlightenment at his first death (by toji)

This can be the second stage where he achieves Nirvana at his second death,,

in the storyline,, gojo is Heavily only recognized and labeled by his powers and strength with the Limitless and the Six eyes that he possesses.

(Literally, it means “blowing out” or “becoming extinguished,” as when a flame is blown out or a fire burns out. nirvana.)

So if somehow,, we've all been theorizing,, if gojo erases that aspect of him. Destroys the aspect that defines him as Gojo Satoru, he'll technically be achieving Nirvana and being born (revived) anew.

which is also sweetening the conclusion of the age old question

"Are you the strongest because youre gojo satoru? Or are you gojo satoru because you're the strongest", that geto had ask him years ago.

Which ig, Also raises the question:

IF, gojo were to sacrifice his SixEyes and Limitless in his pact of revival (details to be pondered upon later), would this count as a Legitmate "death" with relevance to the world's balance being re-altered, and Also resetting the cycle for another user to be born?

Or idk maybe I'm just tripping balls <3

Goodnight everynyan. Let's awaken to a day where Satoru Gojo comes to live amongst us once again. 🕊

#gojo satoru #jjk #jjk236 #jjk spoilers #satoru #jujutsu kaisen #sukuna #jjk leaks #gege akutami #➳❥ Rumoured rants

[haldenlith]

Some people are probably tired of me shouting into the void about this, but my mind is buzzing angrily about it.

Quick context: I am going back to school, so I can have a nice shiny piece of paper that says I'm a "Super Legit Know What I'm Talking About, I Paid Thousands For This Stupid Piece of Paper" Graphic Designer. (To be fair I've actually learned a lot so far.)

I'm in this one "distance learning" (ie online) class, "Typography II". We were given a big project that was very obviously our Final at the beginning of the year, in January. It was to write/research and design an entire book, 40-page minimum (including covers and table of contents). It came due last week. (I was very much done and submitted before then, because I was very In The Zone with this project. Unsure about sharing it here because it has my name on it, but I might share the link in a DM if you ask. I think I wrote a pretty compelling typography book.)

We're then assigned people to do critiques on (to ensure everyone gets critiqued by two people). I check so that I can do my critiques.

Let me tell you what. I just about hit the ceiling. Five-ish people, including myself, turned the assignment in. (Or at least turned it in on time.) Hell, of what was turned in, I think, aside from myself, only two other people put any amount of research into their book topic (WHICH WE CHOSE, they weren't even assigned! We got to pick whatever we wanted as long as we could relate it to typography!). And honestly, only one other student, from reading their book, felt like they put any actual effort into it at all. (Her book was simple, but very nice.) The other... read like he got bored half-way through his own research, because he had like a handful of sources and a whole bunch of paragraphs that were just him repeating himself, just paraphrased, in a very obvious "I need to hit the 40-page minimum" attempt.

Another person had a nice looking book, but it was filled with Lorem Ipsum filler text. Another was maybe two pages of research, and then the entire rest of the book was just a picture book.

I just... what.

We had three months -- THREE MONTHS -- to do this. Three. Tres. Ninety whole ass days. We had FOUR check-ins during the course of those three months, to show our progress and how we're doing, and a FIFTH optional check-in that wasn't graded. It was there so that we could ask for help if we needed it. The professor even asked the class if the due dates were too tight (we also had other exercises and projects to do in the meantime while we did this in the background), if the class was going too fast, and they needed more time... Short of doing it in interpretive dance in front of a neon flashing sign, I don't know how more obviously she could've asked, "Hey, this is your sign to speak up if you're having issues."

This is technically an upper level course. This is also a class you can't take without taking Typography I, which was set up THE EXACT SAME WAY. This is also an elective class specifically for Graphic Design Degrees at my uni. You're not here unless you intend to be a designer.

It's just insulting to see, en masse, everyone just go "nah". They're wasting my time because I have to struggle to critique whatever is going on with those that DID submit. They're wasting the professor's time by sitting in her class and not doing the work. They're wasting another student's time by taking up a seat that could've been filled by someone else. They're wasting their own time being there and going through the motions (some of them had some really interesting progress shots to show of their book during the check-ins), but not following through.

They're also wasting money, because the class is like... $400-ish, so, you know.

It's also insulting considering the sheer amount of work I put into my own submission. It feels like researching and making a gourmet three-course meal to the best of my ability to impress a cooking show judge with, but then looking over and seeing half the competition hasn't even bothered to make anything, and the other half has a stale, cold burger off the McDonald's dollar menu.

I know I shouldn't care, because it doesn't entirely affect me at the end of the day (though I do have to suffer through trying to critique it or get marked off). But still, it's just... mind blowing to me.

#haldie vents #I'd get it if this were a first year class #but it's not