#most good villains do

[hailing-stars]

what I find most wild about sm:homecoming is that people will watch it and decide Toomes is a hero of the working class because he made a few valid points while basically shrugging his shoulders and saying “well if you can’t beat them, join them.” he got wealthy by putting dangerous and unpredictable weapons in the hands of whoever would pay him the most.

#mcu #i mean toomes does have a point #but you know #most good villains do #sm:hc

[woman-respecter]

people in real life: hey man, how’s it going?

#the best thing about taylor is the villain breakdowns she causes in the world’s most annoying people #‘INDICITAVE OF THE DECLINE OF THE HUMAN RACE’ be fucking for real #even if she was as bad as you think she is i don’t think that a popstar having fans is that serious #also like. who do u think is right about if taylor makes good music: paul mccartney and stevie nicks and the grammy awards or this guy

[turtleblogatlast]

No but like every time I think about Splinter and what he had to go through just to keep the boys alive, my heart hurts for him so badly. Is he perfect? No not at all, but none of them are and by god does he love his sons.

The fact that all of them are alive, and grew to thrive despite the circumstances surrounding them is a testament of how much Splinter loves his boys. He raised four babies following the most traumatic time of his life, all alone with nothing but the sewers to house them (to hide them.) I feel like he’s not given the credit he deserves for all he’s done.

And I get that it’s easy to hold up his flaws and faults when it comes to parenting, I myself like looking into them because flawed characters are super interesting and said flaws make them more realistic and engaging, but he tries, and again, so many others would have given up on the boys or failed along the way but Splinter didn’t.

He’s their father, for all his faults he did his damndest to make sure they survived.

#rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt splinter #rise splinter #he’s not perfect as I’ve said #and he’s got a whole slew of flaws and faults #but he’s a person - we are all flawed #he loves his sons dearly dearly dearly even if he struggles along the way to show that #parenting is not easy! especially as a traumatized mutant who is forced to do it alone #side note but I think this is one of the reasons why it kiiiiiinda ruffles my feathers to see so many people assign parentification to Raph #and in turn make Splinter out to be way worse and way more distant than he is in canon? #like idk I just don’t see what so many others see ig but maybe that’s just me #i guess my thoughts are like- let parents have flaws without villainizing them? #they’re still parents even if they mess up? #we can discuss the repercussions of a parents actions on a child while not casting that parent as an awful person #parents are peopleeee #I could go on but yeahhh #idk it bothers me seeing splinter’s efforts undermined when he’s been through so much #idk if ppl realized this by now but I love me some flawed characters #tho I do think in this fandom the ones whose faults are discussed the most are like #Splinter mostly then Draxum then Leo #of the main cast #and in Splinters case in particular his faults are made to cover his good qualities which makes me sad #because he is SO INTERESTING #they’re all flawed characters and tbh so interesting because their flaws are ALSO their strengths in many aspects

[hussyknee]

I'm really not a villain enjoyer. I love anti-heroes and anti-villains. But I can't see fictional evil separate from real evil. As in not that enjoying dark fiction means you condone it, but that all fiction holds up some kind of mirror to the world as it is. Killing innocent people doesn't make you an iconic lesbian girlboss it just makes you part of the mundane and stultifying black rot of the universe.

"But characters struggling with honour and goodness and the egoism of being good are so boring." Cool well some of us actually struggle with that stuff on the daily because being a good person is complicated and harder than being an edgelord.

Sure you can use fiction to explore the darkness of human nature and learn empathy, but the world doesn't actually suffer from a deficit of empathy for powerful and privileged people who do heinous stuff. You could literally kill a thousand babies in broad daylight and they'll find a way to blame your childhood trauma for it as long as you're white, cisgender, abled and attractive, and you'll be their poor little meow meow by the end of the week. Don't act like you're advocating for Quasimodo when you're just making Elon Musk hot, smart and gay.

#this is one of the reasons why #although i would kill antis in real life if i could #i also don't trust anyone who identifies as 'pro-ship' #it's just an excuse to shut down legitimate ethical questions and engaging in honest self-reflective media consumption and critique #art doesn't exist in a vacuum #it's a flat impossibility for it not to inform nor be informed by real world politics and attitudes #because that's what it means to be created by human hands #we can't even make machine learning thats not just human bias fed into an algorithm #if the way we interact with art truly didn't influence anything then there would be no value in it #just because antis have weaponized those points in the most bad faith ways possible #doesn't mean you can ignore them in good faith #anyway fandom stans villains because society loves to defend and protect abusers #it's not because you get the chance to be free and empathetic and indulge in your darkness and what not #it's just people's normal levels of attachment to shitty people with an added layer of justification for it #this blog is for boring do-gooder enjoyers only #lol #knee of huss #fandom wank #media critique #pop culture #fandom discourse

[idk-bruh-20]

Something I love about Spider-Man as a character: even if there's no big villain to fight, he's still a hero.

On days when there's no crime at all, he's out helping someone carry their groceries or giving directions to someone who's lost. He doesn't need anything negative to fight; he's just actively trying to make the world a safer, kinder, better place. That's what makes him a hero.

#friendly neighborhood spider-man you know #where most other heroes are kind of the 'rise to the occasion' types #like 'the world is in danger I must battle the forces of evil' #spidey's just over here like: imma go do the best that I can to improve the world #no baddies necessary #peter parker #spider-man #thoughts #also not to be an irondad freak on main but #tony does a lot of good things in the world separate from fighting villains too #like holding orphaned babies and giving $ to college kids #and I love that about the two of them. I think they're brilliantly matched in the mcu as mentor and mentee #cough father and son cough #anyone who disagrees may die by my sword #queueueueue

[anonymouspuzzler]

ghosts

#anonymous puzzler art #anonymous puzzler originals #villain coded comic #trying to learn from the Ryoko Kui Approach to designing People and it's very fun and good highly recommend it #anyway i will NOT be elaborating on this at this time sit with the Themes and Ideas okaayyyyyy? <3 #(the most i will say is the title is not literal there is only one person in this entire lineup who is actually literally dead in-story) #(everyone else is alive and well out there somewhere. or at least Alive. i haven't asked them all how they're doing.)

[prosebushpatch]

Okay so I recently, finally, watched Wish and I have some thoughts. Overall, not as bad as everyone makes it out to be, but still has a lot of fundamental story problems and I've got to get them off of my chest. I'll mostly be focused on Magnifico because I think his motivations and arc largely represent the problem with the overall theme.

Okay so my biggest problem with Magnifico is his motivation. His tragic backstory. How on earth does he go from losing his whole family to thinking, the only way he can prevent that from happening again is to grant wishes? The logic doesn't track. It almost makes sense in his creating a kingdom where he protects everyone and "doesn't even charge rent," but it does not make sense with his wish granting. Having a great need to be control to make sure he doesn't lose anyone ever again can be a compelling motivation for a villain, where we see lines crossed that don't justify the intent, but in the movie, he's too self-absorbed to seem to have any actual care for the people of Rosas.

I think if the motivation was changed to something like Magnifico had once been a bright-eyed, enthusiastic wish granter who blindly believed all wishes were good but learned the hard way that that wasn't true could have been a better fit for the overall goal of the movie. Imagine that he granted a wish for a wicked person who used that wish to hurt others, or if Magnifico granted a wish but that wish ended up ruining the person's life because what they wanted wasn't what they needed (i.e. Remember The Princess and the Frog? Dig a little deeper) and that person could have went after Magnifico and blamed him for their troubles (harkening back to We Don't Talk about Bruno). This would be an understandable tragic backstory for Magnifico, and better explain why he's so careful about the wishes he grants. And, perhaps the reason he keeps the wishes he doesn't want to grant is to keep the people in his kingdom docile. No one will be angry with him for not granting their wishes if he makes them forget them and lose that drive and motivation, which makes more sense than the unexplained hording them like he does in the movie? Why does he keep them in the movie other than admiring the wishes? It doesn't make sense to me.

This would give Asha more of a reason to oppose him, if it's shown how his desire to not get hurt or to inadvertently cause hurt turned into a paranoia where he drains people of wishes to fly or play music that inspires others. And, as a side note, we need to see more of how Rosas is a kingdom of people who lack drive and motivation, where only those younger than 18 have that special part of them that inspires them to chase after a dream (something that Astor Rhymemaster touched on). Because that's the point of wishes, right? That's the point of the entire Disney canon. A dream is a wish your heart makes. That star can only get you so far, it takes hard work and determination. It's wanting something better in life, it's dreaming of leaving behind all you know to chase after a tangible light. It's finding a new dream, it's finding a new wish as you grow and learn about yourself and the world.

I don't think the movie Wish understood what makes wishes so important in Disney stories. You know what wishes do? They ignite change. It's not about getting what you want, it's about finding the courage to chase after something better. Ariel wants to be where the people are, but really she wants to be somewhere where others are willing to understand her and in the end, she finds that and makes amends with her father, who finally is willing to see her for who she is. Rapunzel wants to see the lights, and that desire pushes her to leave a tower she's been trapped in her whole life, learning that the world is not as cruel and cold as her abusive mother told her. Cinderella wants to go to the ball, to dance with people who treat her as a person and not a servant of cinders and ash. That wish is granted by a fairy godmother and gives her a hope that is worth fighting for, a hope that helps her reclaim what is rightfully hers; a glass slipper that fits only her and the love that comes with it.

Wishes inspire change. The movie should have been about that. Magnifico could have been right, that some wishes inspire negative change that can drag down multiple people. The kingdom of Rosas could have been so placid because change is scary. Maybe Magnifico could have convinced people, after taking their wish, that it wasn't worth it. Maybe the wish ceremonies could have changed so it wasn't portrayed as some sort of lottery everyone looks forward to, but Magnifico would grant wishes on the spot if he decided they were good and worthwhile, and he would lock away the wishes that would cause trouble and tribulations. 18 year olds could be enthusiastic to give him their wishes, thinking they were surely good and worth granting, only to forget their wish and be told that their wish would have only brought about their unhappiness, this would have justified a more solemn tone in the kingdom, setting up a world where people are mostly downtrodden, thinking their wishes are bad and pointless and they're better off without them. Imagine Cinderella or Rapunzel being told their wishes weren't good, reinforcing all the things their abusive families tell them, taking away that hope and courage to find something better for themselves.

Here's where the true conflict could come in. Asha could be onto this from the beginning, and her opening song could have been about this concern that the people who didn't get their wishes granted aren't willing to try at all. (Because, after all, why doesn't Sabino play music at all? Having that taken from him would take so much joy and creative expression from his life!) But why does Asha know something is amiss?

Simon.

Imagine that Magnifico has a strict rule not to ever share your wish with another person because then it wouldn't come true. It makes sense with our own superstitions, and then makes it so that no one knows anyone else's wishes. Maybe your best friend changes so drastically after giving up their wish, but you believe, like everyone else, that their wish would have only caused suffering. What can you do about it? Well what if Simon told Asha about his wish? What if Asha knew his wish wasn't dangerous and couldn't imagine a way that it could go wrong? That would give her a reason to doubt Magnifico and put more emphasis on how Simon has lost his drive like all the other adults in the kingdom. And it can also emphasize in the end that sharing your wishes and dreams with others can be a powerful thing. Just the act of sharing your dreams can inspire others to go after their own, and they can give you the encouragement to chase your wish too. Wishes inspire change, love gives you the courage to make it happen.

Imagine if the star boy used to be a human, who wished to help others and lost his humanity to do it. Imagine his wish confirms Magnifico's belief, that wishes cause suffering because star boy lost his tether to earth and is separated from the people he loves. Imagine how he foils Asha who also wants to grant everyone's wishes. Imagine him ensuring she doesn't make the same mistake he did while she gives him a reason to change again, to anchor himself to humanity again because he loves her enough not to leave for forever.

Imagine the movie confirming that, yes, change is scary. Chasing your dreams won't always make things better. You might fail more than you succeed and some wishes cannot coincide with each other, leading to grief and strife. But some wishes are worth it. Sometimes, chasing after something better and failing is worth leaving a worse situation. Sometimes taking that chance is worth it, and, like in all fairy tales, if you are kind and generous and act with love, that will make all the difference in the end.

Also, I know everyone wished for a Magnifico and Amaya evil power couple, but imagine if Magnifico was truly in love with Amaya, as he is in the movie, but that love is eventually his undoing. Like Amaya leaps in front of Asha, and Magnifico stops or redirects his attack because she's the one thing he loves more than himself and that is the weakness that Asha and co can take advantage of. Imagine Amaya keeping Magnifico in the mirror and he gets to dote on her from his imprisonment for forever. I'm just saying. At least 30 sickos like me would be into that. Imagine the depth it would give to the themes of love and change and wishing and how acts of love make all the difference.

Alright, I'll get off my soap box. I just really wish Wish could have been stronger because these fairy tales Disney is famous for matter. They really do. But the movie feels too stale and shallow and too much of a cash grab that knows the outline of a disney musical, but is unable to understand the heart of why they work.

#rose and rambles #wish 2023 #disney #disney wish #if you read anything i post let it be this im shaking the bars of my cage #I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT FAIRY TALES AND DREAMS LET ME AT THE PEOPLE WHO MADE WISH SO SHALLOW #ILL MAKE THEM TEA AND GIVE THEM A GOOD SCOLDING #WHILE STEALING THEIR CLOTHES AND PUTTING ON A FAKE MUSTACHE TO TAKE OVER WHILE THEY'RE NIBBLING ON NICE COOKIES #THAT'S A TOTALLY NORMAL THING TO DO RIGHT #if you want to tell a good story you gotta tell it yourself <- my villain origin story #or at least my Sebastian kiss the girl moment. i can't believe they took out star boy. God forbid independent women have romantic interests #anyway im obsessed with how Magnifico always called Amaya “my love” and i think we can do beautiful and twisted things with that #Also i kind of hate the whole 'oh there's no saving him from this evil magic corruption' like le please that's the most stupid thing to eve #be in a fairy tale #just proves these people didn't actually read the snow queen #also also go watch Astor Rhymemaster she's a genius and explains songs IN SUCH AN IN DEPTH WAY #i haven't interacted with much other wish stuff so idk how others are rewriting it but this my ideal

[commsroom]

the "big picture" - whether that refers to some detached, calculated greater good; ruthless ambition and progress for the sake of progress; or even the dear listeners' cosmic indifference - as an antagonistic force in wolf 359 is so fascinating to me because of the way eiffel as a protagonist is set up to oppose it, just by nature of who he is. eiffel retains his humanity even under the most inhumane circumstances. his strength is in connection, and with that he's able to reach others who share his core values, but he's operating under a fundamentally different framework from the show's antagonists. he can never understand where they're coming from or be swayed by their points of view because, for better or worse, he can only see the world through a close personal lens.

it's an ideological conflict he has with all of them, but notably with hilbert: "you talk about helping people, but what about the real, live people around you? [...] that's your problem. you're so zoomed out." eiffel will never, ever see that "big picture" because he is so zoomed in. at his best, he puts things into perspective and grounds the people around him. at his worst, his perspective narrows so drastically inwards that he becomes blind to everyone and everything else. his failings are deeply, tragically human - they're personal, they're impulsive, they're self-destructive. they're selfish. no matter how much he might try to narrativize or escape from himself, he's still left with doug eiffel: "it's taken me this long to realize that running from everyone else means that you're alone with yourself." eiffel could never be convinced to harm others on purpose, but he has hurt people, and it's never been because he didn't care. the very fact that he cares so much, that he's incapable of reconciling the hurt he's caused with the things he values, is what keeps him from real growth for so long. where many of the other characters in wolf 359 will justify their cruelty in service of something they consider more important, eiffel is so caught up in vilifying himself and the fear that he's always going to harm the people he cares for without meaning to that he shuts himself off from the people who care about him and perpetuates his own self-fulfilling prophecy.

#wolf 359 #w359 #doug eiffel #someday i'll finish my essay about the big picture as an antagonistic force. it's only been on my list of things to do for uh. ever #eiffel really cannot be convinced by Big Picture ideology in any form because he's so. unambitious and inwardly focused #he's not self-reflective at ALL but he is self-centered #and in some ways that's genuinely a good thing #but it's interesting. that he vilifies himself and tries so hard to. externalize his redemption and see some humanity in others #as proof he might be able to be better. when if those people consider themselves villains at all then they consider it necessary #i'm not sure if i'm phrasing this the way i want to but his worldview is just. fundamentally incompatible. #when i think about eiffel i think a lot about. how self-loathing is also a kind of exceptionalism. considering yourself uniquely bad #is its own way of avoiding accountability. #idk. it's complicated. it's a lot. it's interesting that lovelace talks about the 'big picture' when she's briefly a sort-of antagonist #but her 'big picture' is personal and emotionally driven in a way no other use of the phrase is #and then of course you have hera in am i alone now. such a big big universe etc. #when she betrays that perspective immediately and directly by talking about it through such a narrow personal framework #one of the most direct examples of 'big picture' thinking vs. personal connection in that contradiction. but that's another post maybe.

[enlichened]

The thing thats consistently bothered me the most in the fallout show is the racism. I would hesitate to recommend it because of that alone. And there was obvious love that the set and prop designers, actors, costume department, and even maybe the writers put into the show! There are themes and characters in fallout that i'm certain would resonate with fans of color!

It KILLS me that so many of the fallout entries are damn well unplayable/watchable in this regard because the writers simply Don't Care how the people in their work are presented. That this like hugely popular world with a lot of worldbuilding and thought behind it does such wrong to so many people, fans and otherwise, that you cannot find any game in the series that does it right or well. It alienates a lot of people who might've been fans just because the majority white creators and fanbase don't give a shit, and I'm sick of it.

it's not enough to say "in the fallout in my head that racism doesn't happen," you actually have to put some things into PRACTICE. Allow space in your head, your games/show, your fan spaces for people of color! notice and say something when you see racism coming from media, yourself, and others!

#like its not AS bad as other fallout media but isnt that the fucking kicker. that its not AS bad #and in fact the games im thinking of that are most egregious in their racism ARE interplay/obsidians games. #bethesda is NOT free from criticism or racism. just look at the elder scrolls. #all of the fallout games have been terrible to different extents to their black characters #the games are TERRIBLY sinophobic. the great war being pinned on china allows for SO much racism in the writing and in fan spaces #but fallout 2 and new vegas specifically have awful and degrading representations of indigenous people. to the point where i wont play 2. #and now this show treating maximus nearly one to one with how star wars writers AND fans treated finn? its not okay #personal / #fallout show #fallout blogging #racism #antiblackness #colonialism #fallout #if not for this i would have thought that the show was GOOD. surprisingly compelling. anti capitalist messaging. but its just. all the time #and this is coming from a white person! i can only listen and imagine how painful it is to play these games or watch the show #and be the butt of the joke every time!!! or the villain or the fool or the one who dies or the nameless entry. #maximus gets to have Some time in the light as a protagonist but for the beginning half of it he's treated SO awfully by the writers #and the latter half does not do enough to make up for it #EDIT: I JUST FINISHED THE SHOW AND THEY FUCKING MADE IT WORSE.... #taking max out and having lucy leave him. for what exactly. why did they have to undermine him and make him look stupid at every opportunit #AND. two of the more major black women being evil capitalists juxtaposed by some white guy who opposes? ......................... #like im glad moldaver was there. i guess. but even she is posed as the villain for the good majority of it and kills innocent people #for no reason and. UGH

[pinkd3mon]

I can respect the hater mentality

#kirby #kots #kirby of the stars #hoshi no kirby #kirby meme #it's honestly hilarious that half the cast of star allies are just people that tried to kill us and most of them aren't even sorry #Taranza at the time was the only redeemed villain in the cast #like yeah magolor went through redemption but we didn't know that he just built a theme park and hoped everything was fine #marx is just not hungry and his text just hints at him still being up to no good #susie is still racist and im not even sure she learn something from her experience #apart from trauma #daroach is here to steal stuff #im still not sure what dark meta knight wanted but nothing good I'm sure #i may be giving Taranza too much credit because he's my favorite he did have ulterior motives #but at most he just wanted to pray for Sectonia's revival he wasn't gonna do anything bad #he is going through stuff of course he's vulnerable to be converted by a cult #he's even like 'probably won't work and it working would honestly be a bad thing but im going to try anyway' #do you think Taranza gets lonely up there #Galacta dying the second we receive the first bit of solid lore about them was straight up evil #and then kumazaki confirmed they killed them because it was funny i was enraged /pos #i know people were tired of Galacta Knight at that point #i mean i wasn't bur i kind of understand why some people may have been #even they were tired they kiled themselves before having to fight us again #do you ever think about how none of the Galacta Knight encounters are canon to the kirby cast but are canon to Galacta #and then their death isn't canon so oops here they come in Kirby clash #retire that is old guy #but actually don't i like them and i want them to appear until they drop dead (again) #the post was meant to be about Galacta never forgiving the ancients but honestly they're probably angry just in general

[dragonflavoredcake]

I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of the idea of Alastor getting redeemed (because it would require SO much narrative legwork that I can't see working well within the limits already set by/for the show) but if it gets played with at all I really hope they have Alastor take the tone of "how dare you infect me with morals"

#disclaimer I do not hate alastor #he's an excellent villain who I love to hate and I like him most in his solo/one-on-one scenes #honestly my main issue is that I like everyone else and alastor causes problems on purpose #it's a very good dynamic for adding conflict and keeping tension #hazbin hotel #alastor #hazbin hotel alastor

[lucy-ghoul]

why are you, as an adult in 2024, still hung up on reylo. why are you still mocking the shippers. why do you believe yourself to be superior only because you dislike a stupid ship from a fucking space fairytale. girl (gnc) get a grip

#it's ridiculous. this ship is... stupidly cliché. like if you know fandoms at all #you could easily guess why people would be into it. hello?? have you tried to watch tfa without your hate-on-kyle-ron goggles? #did you watch their scenes together? you don't have to like something to recognize the hints #hell. at the time i didn't really like jonerys but i realized they were going to be a thing when i read agot in 2011 #like folks. it's been nearly TEN LONG YEARS. let it go. LET IT FUCKING GOOOO #and for the lucy/cooper shippers out there who think reylos are (again) delusional when they compare the two ships: #no. *you* are being delusional only because you think reylo is unsexy and uncool (which is your right to think btw. obv) #if you can't see why someone would like both of these pairings for similar reasons... idk what to say honestly #people compared it to hannigram... honestly. again i see why they would appeal to anyone who's into both ships #i really do. but... unpopular opinion (since i'm more of a clannibal fan than i could ever be of reylo): #they are more similar to reylo than will/hannibal. there i said it #i'm not talking about the writing (admittedly the quality of it was questionable). i'm talking about tropes #never mind that imo the ghoul is more akin to vader than kylo but whatever #hannibal is an unapologetic kind of villain. he's not gonna have a redemption arc and that's okay #cooper is an antivillain who used to be a good man and became a disfigured cruel bastard. a parody of himself #lucy is him. him before the bombs dropped before he discovered the person he trusted the most wanted to commit genocide #nice. moral. polite. infused with the Good Old American Values™. he's basically her dark side #all of this is very hannigram/clannibal. i'm not denying it at all #but what'll likely happen is that lucy's actions will have a positive influence on the ghoul and remind him of what it means to be a man #and that's way more reylo-like. sorry. #beauty&thebeast/villain with some hidden good in him+morally righteous heroine/enemies to lovers etc. #i mean. hello??..... having said that. i'm not so much of a reylo shipper anymore and tbh never was. i really liked it at the time #but i was never fond of the st era. my fav characters are vader and leia and revan from the old eu. just saying #*and* it's also not impossible lucy gets darker with the ghoul as her traveling companion. in fact i wouldn't dislike it at all #if done well i mean #but i would still like for people to be intellectually honest and less puerile. god knows i have my notps #but i really don't give a fuck about the shippers. good for them i guess? i have better taste lmao but that's heavily subjective #val rambles in the tags #val speaks #txt

[mariocki]

Patrick Troughton guests as ruthless racketeer George, out to silence the man who can identify his brother as a murderer, in Dial 999: Key Witness (1.26, ABC, 1959)

#fave spotting #patrick troughton #dial 999 #doctor who #classic doctor who #two #abc #key witness #1959 #as with other Dial 999 posts‚ the episode number and year of transmission are more in the way of educated guesses #tho two separate sources identify this as ep 26 so that's good enough for me #yes it's been a while‚ i got very distracted and wandered away from Dial 999 but I'm mopping it up now #this was a very pleasant surprise‚ not least because Pat had already made two appearances in the series: a minor role as a heavy in 1.5 and #an uncredited appearance as a tramp in 1.16 (both can be found if you follow the fave spotting tag) so i wasn't really expecting him to #turn up again. but he does! and he finally gets a real meaty part! he's the villain of the week‚ a criminal of vague occupation (he has #something to do with gambling? race tracks maybe? idk it kind of gets glossed over) but when his kid brother kills a rival and is easily #apprehended‚ Pat decides it's time to silence the witness... cue a tense cat and mouse as Pat and goon tail their mark as the police tail #them. genuinely one of the most enjoyable episodes of this funny little series i think‚ and a lot of that is down to Pat giving it his #all as a dangerous gangster. he lounges around in a dressing gown‚ he slaps his bro around‚ he jeers at the cops and he #threatens his lawyer with a watery sack grave. he's gone full villain! and it's delightful!

[kareenvorbarra]

doomed to always be the only nahuseresh fan in the chat

#on one hand I get it bc he’s awful and he’s also the only major on-page villain we get? #the other antagonists either never actually appear (naheelid or the emperor) #or they are antagonistic but also sympathetic in some ways (sejanus or melheret) #or they become protagonists (irene in the thief) #even someone like hanaktos who is behind most of the plot of acok barely appears in it #erondites is the only individual villain who comes close to nahuseresh in terms of screen time #and he still feels slightly more distant from the main characters in general #it makes sense for people to fixate on nahuseresh a little when talking about bad guys in qt #but sometimes I think it leads to distortion of his character? I find him very interesting idk #and the whole story is less interesting if he isn’t fairly intelligent? he has these massive glaring flaws but he’s also good at some stuff #and just because he’s the most straightforward and present villain doesn’t mean he can be used as an all-purpose villain imo #there are things it doesn’t make sense for him to do #idk what the point of this post is….im embarrassed of how strongly I feel about this lol #fandom musings

[phoenixkaptain]

Okay but all the little changes and everything in Scum Villain add up to the ultimate, biggest difference in the story, which is this:

Shen Qingqiu, who was an early villain in the novel who gets defeated relatively early in the story (relative to the fact that there are about a billion more pages after he becomes a human stick) and Luo Binghe, who was the main character, both completely reverse their roles.

Shen Qingqiu becomes the protagonist who is generally very well liked. The Shen Qingqiu of PIDW was a liar and a schemer and just about the most suspicious person in any given room at any given time. The Shen Qingqiu of SVSSS is a liar (by necessity) and a schemer (of ways to off himself but live through it) and just about the most suspicious person in any given room at any given time (if someone who I had a rivalry with suddenly called me a “beauty fading,” I think I would react in a similar way to Liu Qingge honestly). All the traits that made the character disliked are things that the others actively choose to ignore in the person, because they like him.

Luo Binghe becomes not just a villain, but the ultimate villain. The unbeatable villain. Luo Binghe in PIDW was generally very well-liked because he could manipulate people into thinking he wasn’t that bad and he was morally grey and he could defeat any monster with relative ease. Luo Binghe in SVSSS is generally disliked, particularly because whenever he pulls out his very convincing polite person cosplay, everyone knows that he is definitely manipulating them and is a bit wary of why. He’s morally grey but his morals are even more screwed up than his predecessor. He can defeat any monster with relative ease, but he can’t defeat any person he wants to, he can’t kill anybody he wants to, because he knows that Shen Qingqiu would hate him if he did and he doesn’t want that. The traits that the original used to his own advantage only makes this version more and more unhappy.

Shen Qingqiu goes from a villain, the villain the readers all most wanted for Luo Binghe to take out because of how terrible he was to Luo Binghe, to the protagonist.

Luo Binghe goes from the protagonist, the protagonist with hundreds of wives and the world under his control, to the villain.

I can never get over this role reversal, this swapping of spots, this absolute 180 of the characters from the base novel. It’s one of the clearest indicators of the story being permanently altered. It’s part of why they fit so well and work and it’s really good, it’s really really good I like it a lot.

#scum villain self saving system #svsss #luo binghe #shen qingqiu #bingqiu #the inane ramblings of a madman #it’s so good man #the build up to lbh being the villain the big bad is my fave #because the only person who doesn’t see him as the big bad #is sqq who has been scared of binghe since the beginning #he’s always been scared the lbh would kill him #and he totally saw it coming but at the same time was blindsided by it #bingmei is over there being unsuspicious #and sqq is like oh no when will he kill me #bingmei is over there being the most suspicious #and sqq is like this is the goodest boy who would never do anything wrong #i can’t articulate how well this worked #it’s like poetry it’s beautiful it’s amazing i love it #long post

[brittie-frog]

As someone who grew up barely protestant, the only consistent church service I went to was Christmas and the nativity play at my junior school until I went to a secular high school and also as someone that unironically likes the glee version of some songs and had like a 5 month long high school musical kick recently, just generally likes musicals:

Journey to Bethlehem is actually so entertaining and they did not have to go so hard with the songs. I could immediately tell it was a modern retelling not intending on being accurate (biblically or historically) and that's fine. It's a movie with Milo Manheim and a donkey named Fig as a repccuring character, it's meant to be campy and for shits and giggles.

#also those getting mad that the songs are studio recorded and lipsynced #i dont understand #to my knowledge thats how most tv and film musicals are made #because it would he hard to do it live and sound constistent through the varied shots and dance takes #everyone talking about good to be king and yes its an amazing villain song #but in my blood is so good as well i dont know it just scratches my brain right #tho the ultimate deception is my favourite #journey to bethlehem #milo manheim #fiona palomo #antonio banderas #is fantastic as king herod #its genuinly just a fun time #break from qsmp stuff to enjoy a good old fashioned movie