#and that she's subservient to him. which is the one thing she absolutely will never do
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there’s a question to be asked i think about to what extent “getting out” can be conflated with “being saved” in this show, and what freedom actually means to any of these characters.
like you can argue that shiv saved ken by voting against him on gojo, but what if your intent behind saving someone is to inflict a worse punishment than if you’d just left them trapped? can a child weaned on poison survive on milk, or are you just sentencing them to a death by inches, starved of the only thing they know? and if you save someone specifically because you know that being saved is the worst thing that can happen to them, is that kindness or cruelty? at what point does a good thing become a malicious act?
and you can say that roman is finally free, but what exactly is he free from? the company? his father? does unlocking a cage mean saving a dog, or are you allowing him out on the street knowing there’s a kill shelter nearby? if the driving anxiety behind roman is that he’s an idiot and a failure—that he’ll never amount to anything, and trying will only lead to pain—and he’s finally cut loose once all of those anxieties have crystallized into cold hard fact in his mind, what has he actually escaped from? if the cage is in your mind, is it even possible for somebody else to unlock it?
the fundamental truth of a tragedy is that even being saved can be a death sentence, if the characters are incapable of escaping the thing doing them the most harm (themselves and their childhoods)
#'what about shiv' if i think about shiv i'm going to kill myself. she needs her own post. there's too much there to get into.#anyways seeing a tremendous amount of At Least Roman Is Free <3 tags that have me going. right. for sure. free from what?#because it's certainly not the intense amount of self disgust that has driven him in circles this entire time.#i fear he may feel the weight of alienation on his soul for the rest of his life. and he won't even try to alleviate it anymore.#and ALSO the idea that shiv went out of her way to save kendall as an act of like. altruism. like it was a sacrifice on her part#which i feel is a very toothless perspective on shiv and the psychological torment that's been weighing on her essentially since birth#like her choice in regards to gojo is one of the meatiest most harrowing bits of character work i've ever seen#and while of course there was love inside that action (because nothing these characters do is entirely divorced from love)#i don't think it was necessarily a kind or forgiving or sacrificial love#like this was an intense vitriolic snapping from a dog that has been kicked by her dad all her life.#and who absolutely refuses to accept that from her brother (because that would mean acknowledging that kendall takes the mantle of Dad-#and that she's subservient to him. which is the one thing she absolutely will never do#because it's a level of degradation that's finally a step too far)#anyways. um. insane season that i still can't look at directly or i'll perish on the spot.#succession
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I've seen people responding to it being pointed out that Daemon is so obviously a worse person than Alicent or Criston by saying that "at least he isn't a hypocrite" or "at least he doesn't pretend he's better than he is." Which is perhaps accurate, but is really just saying "at least Daemon doesn't make any attempt to be a good person or voice any desire to be better."
This leads me to something I've been noticing: none of the team black characters voice or show any regret for their misdeeds while team green characters do so constantly. Daemon never apologizes or show any regret for any of the brutally evil things he does. Alicent on the other hand is constantly looking apologetic and regretful, even when she didn't do anything like in the case of Larys killing his family.
After the eye incident Alicent is extremely regretful and apologetic for her actions while Rhaenyra isn't at all. In fact Rhaenyra's response is to seek out more power through marrying Daemon so that she can more effectively hurt anyone who states an obvious truth. Her children similarly show no regret for escalating that fight, nor seem at all apologetic for having permanently disfigured Aemond.
The comparison is most striking between Criston and Daemon who have semi similar misbehavior that only Criston acknowledges in any way as bad. First in episode 5 they both smash someone's face in. Daemon's is clearly premeditated and his entire reason for being in the vale, while Criston's was planned at most ten minutes before it was carried out and was a response to an assumed attempt to blackmail him. Daemon has absolutely no shame about the murder, even going so far as to try to claim his victim's inheritance. Criston on the other hand is so ashamed that he tries to kill himself. They both also have incidents of misogynistic language. Criston calls Rhaenyra a cunt once and promptly apologizes. Daemon refers to his first wife as a 'bronze bitch' more than he uses her name and calls Alicent a whore. He does not apologize for any of those instances or show any indication that he doesn't think those are appropriate things to call a woman. Finally in episodes 8 and 9 Criston and Daemon each attack a man from behind after he insults their wife. Neither is their best moment, but again Criston is pretty clearly regretful of it, and it seems like he didn't mean to kill Beesbury and that he just forgot how fragile old people are. Daemon on the other hand clearly intended to murder Vaemond and was happy to quip about it and then chuckle when he's mentioned again.
The one sort of exception to this is Rhaenyra's toast to Alicent in episode 8. She does apologize in that scene. However, she isn't apologizing for mistreating Alicent. All she is apologizing for is not helping to take care of Viserys and not acknowledging her care taking previously, which like it definitely means something that she said that, but implicit in what she says is the idea that it's Alicent's role and duty to be taking care of him. There's kind of an implication that Rhaenyra views Alicent as having redeemed herself through serving Viserys when in reality her care taking is just another facet of Viserys's abuse, abuse that is never acknowledged or apologized for. Still I do love that scene and the way it is beautifully, pathetically, sad that Rhaenyra can only connect and forgive Alicent when she's in her subservient role and that Alicent is so desperate for connection with Rhaenyra that she will accept that barest hint of an apology even in the face of all the evidence that it's meaningless.
Now one would think that some characters regretting their misdeeds would be viewed as a sign of them being better people, but I think it actually has the opposite effect. Because the green characters are shown being regretful, their misdeeds are focused on and emphasized. In episode 5 it's possible to forget that Daemon killed his wife at the start of the episode, because it seems like he's forgotten as well. However it's impossible to forget what Criston does because his actions for the rest of the episode are all a reaction to his shame and horror about having just murdered someone. Then in the next episode when Criston has his one instance of misogyny, the entire show pauses to take note of it and wait for him to apologize (which he does!), but on the numerous occasions when Daemon is misogynistic the show breezes right past it, treating it as just a bad boy Daemon moment. Daemon's misdeeds can be enjoyed without an imediate reminder of how evil he is, letting him be a cool fun badass, while Criston's can't. You can't look at him awkwerdly and regretfully standing over Beesbury's body and say 'oh wow, such a badass male wife he really told Beesbury to keep his Wife's name out of his fucking mouth.' Though to be clear I also very much judge anyone who says that about Daemon killing Vaemond.
This is seen again in the eye incident. For most of the audience that goes into the incident not thinking that Rhaenyra is a significantly worse person than Alicent (a reasonable assumption), Alicent being extremely regretful afterwards while Rhaenyra isn't at all, is an indication that Alicent acted far worse than Rhaenyra did. A misreading that is helped by Rhaenyra's call for violence being couched in the 'sharply questioned' euphemism while Alicent's is stated outright. That is perhaps Alicent's most badass scene where she does her best to stand up to her abuser and those who allow that abuse in defense of their children, going so far as to physically fight back (though Rhaenyra perhaps wasn't the best choice of target), but the audience doesn't have any encouragement to see her badassery, instead we're to wallow in her shame at having fought back and watch her shrink back into herself with the implication that that's what she should be doing.
This pattern shows a fascinating tension between the events portrayed in the show and their framing. The show gives us two groups of people who range from very flawed to evil, but they are framed as a group of heroes and a group of villains. The greens are villains and their actions can only confirm that, while the blacks are heroes and their actions no matter how violent can only provide more evidence of heroism. I don't know how much actual meaning can be made from that tension, I wouldn't even be surprised if it was entirely accidental, but it is at the very least interesting enough to note.
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i dont really know how to word it, but ganondorfs speech after his rehydration about reshaping the world, crushing opposition, as a king does. i just went "oh so like rauru but hes being more honest and less nice about it."
Yeah, like...the story's mostly uncritical nationalism, but there are certain lines that stand out that I interpret as Ganondorf's existence being a natural consequence of Rauru taking power. Not just as plain, mundane secular politics, but as the universe trying to rebalance itself after Rauru's attempt to build a perfect world by suppressing things like monsters and the blood moon that were a natural part of the world but he nevertheless saw as undesirable.
Take Jerrin's line about the Horned Statue, for instance:
"As there is the Goddess of light, then it follows that she would have an opposite—the horned god. Like light and dark, one cannot exist without the other—their power manifests through the other's existence."
The Horned God wasn't originally the opposite of Hylia. That role would be better suited by an entity like Demise. However, there's a certain implication that, in the absence of a competing counterforce, certain entities eventually emerged in response to Hylia's existence or were shaped by the consequences of her actions to occupy that niche. Jerrin's tone makes this process of opposition sound inevitable.
And then there's the Depths being a mirror image of the surface, a little like ALTTP's Dark World or ALBW's Lorule. The terrain of the Depths is an inverted version of the surface's terrain. The Lightroot names are even the names of the Shrines spelled backwards, and are in the exact same locations as their aboveground counterparts. As above, so below. And although the Depths were Ganondorf's prison, they eventually became his home and the metaphorical womb-of-the-earth where he could be nurtured back to health and reborn. As their ruler, he, too, is a mirror image of someone above: first Rauru, and later his descendants, culminating in the current Zelda.
As Rauru was the self-proclaimed King of Light, it would stand to reason that there would eventually be a King of Shadow who took charge over the things the King of Light refused to touch. Both the monsters and the blood moon, which IIRC existed well before Ganondorf took on the crown if Rauru and Mineru built the shrines to suppress them before the events of Zelda's memories, fall under the Demon King's dominion. And then there's that one theory that Ganondorf might be the Sage of Shadow, which made me literally say "oh shit" to myself because that was the one element that was missing from Rauru's stable of pals compared to the seven sages of Ocarina of Time. Of course Mr. Light-Must-Dominate-At-All-Times wouldn't want a Shadow guy around, even if they were an absolutely loyal secret-keeper and professional warcrimes-mess-cleaner-upper like Ocarina of Time's Impa.
But also...Rauru wasn't just "a king." The narrative presented him as the absolute monarch over the nation, literally sent by the gods to rule. He's elevated so far above "the common people" that even the leaders who aren't part of his Important Royal Bloodline are presented as faceless and subservient, always wearing masks in his and Zelda's presence and never giving their own names, as who they are isn't as important as their oath to serve the king. However, there cannot be absolute power without the capacity to abuse said power. No matter how "nice" the guy currently in charge is, systems of absolute divine-right monarchy are problematic by nature and inevitably create conflict. Ganondorf was the other side of the coin of absolute kingship, the uncomfortable truth lurking in the background, never outright said but always felt. It's kind of why a lot of our ancestors got together and agreed the whole "divine-right monarchy" thing wasn't a great idea.
#legend of zelda#loz thoughts#totk thoughts#totk spoilers#tears of the kingdom spoilers#rauru#ganondorf#maybe i'm too into elden ring's backstory to the point where i compare every open world game to it#but those are my personal thoughts on the matter
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i’m new to arthuriana but love your posts nonetheless
i am just curious about the many references to gawain sleeping with so many people when, to my understanding, in sir gawain and the green knight he specifically breaks this promiscuous behaviour and makes sure he doesn’t sleep with the wife of the duke
(i apologize if this is a stupid question!)
hello anon!
welcome to arthuriana and thank you so much for the kind words. this is not a stupid question at all! the truth is gawain is nothing if not inconsistent between texts haha. he's different from other knights such as lancelot who pines solely for guinevere across text after text, in that it seems every author wanted to create their own special gal for gawain. he therefore has numerous women attached to him, and when readers try to reconcile those many texts into a single story thread, it gives the impression our mans gawain gets around! (and he does!) i have several examples here to illustrate this so i'll put it below a cut.
for all the textual variance, sir gawain and the green knight is the exception that proves the rule—meaning that it's perhaps the only text in which gawain is abstinent. we know this because one of the five virtues attributed to the five points of his pentacle crest on his shield is chastity.
furthermore, on the wife's second seduction attempt, gawain pleas his own inexperience with "love" (ie: women).
whether or not that's true is up for debate, but it's worth mentioning, as it's a departure from other texts where his virile prowess is well-known, and in the knight of the two swords, he openly boasts about his own attractiveness and popularity. (humble guy, that gawain!)
there are several examples of gawain's reputation with the ladies preceding him and actually benefitting his odds of getting laid. one of my favorites is from lancelot part II in the vulgate. gawain had just cured his brother agravaine of an illness and agravaine's amie basically wingwoman's her sister.
goated of her. so gawain pencils it in on his calendar. later, he locates the castle, sneaks in, and succeeds in bedding the maiden. she's not named here, although malory later refers to her as "the lady of lys," and accredits her as the mother of gawain's three sons, (although the couple never formally wed).
among the strangest of examples is the middle english text the carle of carlisle, in which the carle brings gawain to the bedchamber and orders him to make out with his wife. but things quickly heat up...
so the carle stops gawain from outright cuckholding him, then leads gawain to his daughter's chambers, gives them his blessing, and locks them inside. at the end of the text, gawain marries her.
now i would be remiss not to mention my beloved the wedding of sir gawain and dame ragnelle. i think it's notable that ragnelle specifically asks for gawain by name, much like the lady of lys did (according to her sister and her warm reception of him).
now the conclusion of this poem brings us to another theme of gawain's which ties into his many partners, and that is his consistent subservience to ladies. he breaks the curse on ragnelle by granting her "sovereignty" in the relationship. this seems to be another aspect of character which sets gawain apart from other knights, as this is not a chaste expression of courtly love, but a precursor to fornication, and draws the attention of strong-willed ladies, such as ragnelle, with whom he is "a coward," or according to the translation notes, "submissive."
then again in roman van walewein, he's already famous by the time he meets his ladylove, ysabele, and whilst tied up in her father's prison, he leaves the decision of his own life in her hands.
which then results in their coming together because this is a gawain story and he always gets the girl.
even in the post vulgate, which we can all agree portrays every single character at their absolute worst (and is therefore invalid<3), gawain's choice of words consistently upholds the lady's desires above his own. at first, gawain intended wingman for pelleas by pretending he, pelleas, was dead to begrieve arcade. he discovers instead that she's elated by pelleas's supposed passing, so she and gawain fall in love. but even after admitting his feelings, he still takes great pains to frame the final crossing of that line as her choice, and only relents when she makes her intentions plain.
he might also just like it when women boss him around if his treatment from orgeluse in parzival by wolfram von eschenbach is any indication.
similarly to the knight of two swords, in parzival, gawain is aware of his fame, fosters it, and then employs his orgeluse brain worms as a motivation for sparing lives instead of like...morality.
i think what's particularly interesting about gawain's relationship history is that many of his partners are named, whereas it's pretty common for damsels and maidens in medieval texts to exist without identities of their own. there are so, so many named, interesting, fully developed women linked to gawain, it's actually pretty awesome! here are a few more:
lunette in yvain: knight of the lion by chrétien de troyes...
amurfina in the crown by heinrich von dem türlin...
bloiesine in the 4th perceval continuation by gerbert de montreuil...
marjorie in gawain and marjorie by oscar fay adams (if we extend our search through the 20th century!)...
and on and on forever! so in conclusion, gawain has been pulling bitches for many hundreds of slutty, slutty years, and from what modern retellings i've read, authors have no intention of interrupting this trend. i hope that helps clear things up somewhat. thanks for the ask!
#arthurian legend#arthurian legends#arthuriana#sir gawain#gawain#sir gawain and the green knight#sgatgk#the vulgate cycle#the prose lancelot#the lancelot graal cycle#the carle of carlisle#the wedding of the sir gawain and dame ragnelle#roman van walewein#parzival#knight of the lion#the crown#perceval continuations#4th perceval continuation#gawain and marjorie#oscar fay adams#quotes#resource#ask#favorite ask to date thank you<3333#my post
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Bumblebee, in addition to being a major LGBT couple, is also thematically relevant to RWBY primarily because they are one of the many romantic pairings that directly parallel the main story between Ozpin and Salem's failed relationship.
A big reason why Ozpin and Salem's relationship fell apart was because of their failure to communicate with each other. Ozpin was too dogmatically stuck in the idea that he needed to redeem humanity to the gods, and that they needed to grovel before them for forgiveness. He ended up leading Salem around without telling her about this, despite the fact that Salem absolutely DESPISES the gods for harming her and her husband for extremely petty reasons, and she is not unjustified to despise them. And once that lack of trust and communication was revealed, their inability to properly deal with it led to the relationship collapsing, and all of the misery that followed. This doesn't absolve Salem of her own terrible mistakes and her acts of villainy since then, but it's plainly evident just how damaging the secrecy and half-truths ultimately turned out to be.
It's also relevant when you draw additional parallels to other pairings in the story, like Renora, Arkos, Black Sun, and Adam/Blake.
Arkos fell apart before it could truly begin because Jaune didn't understand Pyrrha's emotional turmoil, and held her on a pedestal subconsciously when she needed understanding the most. As such, his story ended up closely paralleling Salem and Ozpin's tragedy the first time they were separated; a powerful but martyr-complexed warrior saving a helpless person, only for tragedy to tear them apart, and the helpless person making rash grief-stricken decisions in the aftermath that caused immense pain for themselves and others.
Renora was an outwardly good relationship, but it steadily became clear how codependent they really were, how much Ren and Nora had not really dealt with their personal issues and in the former's case, was just outright repressing his darker feelings until his trauma was pressed. Once they hit an ideological impasse, with Ren favoring security and safety due to his own insecurities and his own strongly implied feelings about what happened to his family and village, vs Nora favoring aiding the helpless and marginalized in the face of tyranny due to her abandonment, it only further highlighted how they weren't communicating enough. They had gotten too comfortable with not really challenging each other's beliefs and figuring out their identities outside of just being Renora, something that they've only begun to do after properly talking things over.
Blake and Sun suffered from communication problems, as it was evident that the latter didn't really understand the former and just didn't get her very well with her outside of a shallow crush, but it was more driven by well-meaning ignorance rather than any genuine malice. And once the air was cleared, Sun also ended up showing a relationship that might not have worked out, but at the least was still amicable because they communicated on what the problem was.
Blake and Adam's relationship by contrast was purely toxic, with the latter being all take and no give. Everyone else's desires were subservient to his own, and for all of his outward acts of appearing benevolent, became cruel and selfish the minute anyone challenged him. A purely lopsided relationship that was never going to end well because he had no interest in communication, only subjugation and the expectation of absolute obedience to him. Which also frankly puts him in direct parallel to the God of Light and Darkness' relationship; the latter being stuck in unfair and arbitrary rules made by the former to the point of angrily lashing out when Dark finally had enough (and unfortunately also causing immense harm from the fallout), and said GoL revealing his (albeit more subtle) cruelty when someone challenged him, ala Salem.
Heck, even Team STRQ have this with Tai, Summer, and Raven. The latter two disappearing without any communication as to why (or perhaps in the latter's case, her possibly trying to in regards to her suspicions of Ozpin but being dismissed or ignored) absolutely broke Tai, and the fallout of that hurt Yang and Ruby's ability to value themselves and communicate their own pain, leading to this tension in their familial ties.
Bumblebee in many ways directly parallels each of the above, but the key difference was that when push came to shove, Yang and Blake were willing to try to communicate, to TRY to fix what had happened and actually come to a mutual understanding. And in doing so, they were able to find love with each other and truly begin to heal the wounds that those mistakes made.
I don't have a great deal to add here. Excellent analysis and further proof that Blake & Yang have the healthiest romantic relationship in the show.
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The Story of Minglan
So, she's still alive, smh.
The ONE thing I was asking for from this rebellion and they couldn't even give me that 😠
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Didn't your actual WIFE die yesterday? Aren't you supposed to be in mourning, for appearance's sake at least?
I thought we were done with him and his nonsense but apparently not.
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She was only PRETENDING?
Why won't this drama let me have good things 😭😭
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LMAOOOO
Baby is here to take back his home! He is now best buddies with the new Emperor, evil stepmom can seethe 🤣🤣
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Are you kidding me?
I thought she would have more dignity and be openly hostile, not fawn over him so blatantly.
As if he would fall for her act twice.
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Their faces, LMAO 🤣🤣
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LMAO
Adult!Gu Tingye never really made it onto my list of favourite characters but I absolutely love how Feng Shaofeng plays him 🤣🤣 He's so smooth and charming, an absolute rascal! He smiles and I smile, no matter whether it's genuine or not!
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Well, in my view, with all their money and lack of boundaries, these wastrel young masters could be doing much worse, such as raping and murdering (like the gentlemen from the Fourth and Fifth Gu house did in their time).
Third Brother is at least only out supporting the economy by frequenting brothels and hopefully paying the sex workers well. The Song Empire should send him an Imperial decree expressing its gratitude.
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This is the full irony of her evildoing.
And even if he did not yield the title, what could she have possibly wanted that he would not have given?? She and her incompetent son had it made! But no. Nothing is enough when you're born too greedy for your own good.
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Eh... not quite, but almost.
I am fascinated by these people. "We have spent your whole life hating you and ruining your life for no good reason, but how dare you not love us in return?"
LOLOLOLOL
Even Lin Qinshuang had more shame.
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I live for beautiful scenery in c-dramas 💚
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU ARE NOT TAKING THE EXAM?
I'm more invested in him passing this exam than I am in me passing any of mine, which is obvious from the amount of time I spent watching his shenanigans instead of studying 😕
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Cackling 🤣🤣
He's always so outraged by the lack of propriety 🤣🤣
I love the two of them, they are such a good pair! One is so proper and the other so improper!
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LMAO, yes, panic 🤣🤣
It's episode 36, you loser! How long do you expect the girl to wait for you? You had better hurry!
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God, this is nice 😭😭
I wish I had the skill to turn this into art! 💚
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Oh, yes, it is the Old Madam you are eager to visit 🙄
IDK why, but he gives me the ick.
He hasn't really done anything wrong but he's always so nice and kind and sweet and subservient, plus he's not the OTP. All the alarm bells in my head are RINING!!
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WHO THE FUCK?
I knew there was something shady about him, smh.
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Where do all these cockroaches come from?? Are there no single men in China to marry and you must go after someone who already has a wife??
I AM MAD.
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LMAO, he at least has the decency to be shocked.
So, he is not on board this nonsense. Good. But is that what happens to screw up his marriage to Minglan? His family insists on him marrying this woman?
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The fact that they really had a fatherhood arc for the ninja ahsgjahdhd. and also. a childhood arc???? which isn't a thing bc childhood is just a state of being it's not really a journey unless you count coming of age??? oh my god Sensei Wu had a fucking coming of age arc I can't 😭 LLOYD HAVING TO FIGHT HIS DAD AGAIN??? THIS MAN CANT CATCH A BREAK FR also I love how one of the big things that gave him hope and kept him going was the possibility of the ninja coming back home. Lloyd being sooo insanely dependent on his family despite being the all powerful chosen one gets me bro he loves them so much he. he kind of needs them??? bshshs as he grows more independent. but like what would he have done if they never came back. the whole thing was "survive until the ninja get here" (I LOVE HOW THE SHOW STILL EMPHASISES THE THEME OF THE NINJA BEING HIS PROPHESIED PROTECTORS!! THEY ARE IMPORTANT TO THE PROPHECY AND NARRATIVE EVEN AFTER THE CROWNING OF THE CHOSEN ONE WHICH ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS) but what if they never did. like what would he do. also AUAUAUA HIM USING THE ART OF THE SILENT FIST IM!! IM!!!!!!! God. him and his dad are so. they literally did a straight up Came Back Wrong plot!! THE FACT GARMADON HAD TO BE TOLD BY HARUMI THAT HE HAD A SON AT THE BEGINNING!!!! her weird manipulation makes me insane she's. subservient to him but she also is responsible for all of his current goals and his worldview. ALSO THE THING WITH LLOYD WAS SO. SHE DIDNT HAVE TO DO THATTTT 😭😭. wait if garmadon pseudo-adopts her does that make her and Lloyd stepsiblings. or was Garmadon saying "I have no son" a pseudo-disownment. WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS GODDAMN FAMILY!!! I hate how Lloyd nuzzled into her a little bit during the "getting the mask of hatred" scene WHY. AUGH. HOW OLD ARE THEY WHY DONT THE NINJA HAVE A CANON AGE WHAT THE FUCK DOES "GROWN UP TEENAGERS" MEAN??¿????? but seriously the fatherhood arc was so funny. like I absolutely ADORED it (their different parenting styles and the way they meld together and clash and also their unique concern for him as a charge to take care of but also respect as their Sensei but he's also just a kid!!! AUAUAUA. AND THEM TEACHING HIM LESSONS IM SJISHSJS I loved how. bitchy Wu got here??? Like when he went "but you... taught me a lesson as well. You taught me how to lie. Did you really think the dragon armor would control Firstborne? She accepted my father because she sensed good in his heart. what does she sense in yours?" that was badass as hell!!) but if you think Abt it for 2 seconds it's hysterical. Sorry there's too much going on in this season I'm. my brain. I loved the return of the elemental masters they are so💖💖 Karlof Neuro Shade Skylor Griffin my beloveds... ALSO THE BOUNTY HUNTER DESIGNS ARE SO COOL FOR NO REASON??? I LOVE ALL OF THEM LIKE???
#ninjago#ninjago sons of garmadon#ninjago hunted#grace gvoices gthings (nothing starts with g and i wanted alliteration)#ninjago liveblog
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I wonder if those who outrage against "masculinized" female characters ever stop to consider that the more our society is progressing, we are moving further away from the concept of gender roles. And that what you are into and what you do is actually a personal quirk and not something that classifies you.
I mean the manliest heterosexual cis man to have ever manned can find embroidery soothing. Like his love language can be gifting his friends pretty embroidered things. It is not a question of his capacity to be "feminine"...it is a question of talent and passion.
I think when fandom characterizes Arya as this masculine coded violent girl- they just can't fathom that a young girl can ever have any other interests than those who came before her. But if it is all about aesthetics, how come Arya cooing over babies, her collecting flowers, her scrubbing floors, prepping meals etc are not considered part of it?
Here is the thing though, gushing over babies is not something that's limited to the female. Samwell ( I know I use him as an example a lot) sang lullabies to his baby brother. He loved this particular nightly ritual till his father thought it "soft" and put an end to it. Soothing babies is not being soft, it's providing them with the emotional care they need. And the only reason it seemed freakish to Randyll Tarly is because this care was being provided by his son. And that's bullshit.
I also think the matter of this supposed criticism resides in part with stereotypes of sexuality. I mean the most tradfem of the characters is headcanoned to have one hundred and one children. While a mother who lost her son in womb is deemed to forever remain infertile. Like I know Dany was cursed by Mirri Maz Duur but this is a fantasy series! Anything can happen. And even if one claims this to be a personal view on the text, linking infertility to her supposed madness is not it.
I feel like there was this checklist going on where they have stuff like: do male characters lust after these women, do these characters dress up prettily, are they attracted to men- if so then they are the definition of feminine. When unfortunately Dany passed all of these ( even the one with many gross male characters almost wanting to prey on her)- they went with the infertility- madness thing.
They can't do this with Brienne because I think Grrm has made it impossible to do so with her. She actively tried to participate in the role subscribed to her but was made fun of by those around her. So she took to knighthood. It has been abundantly made clear that she loved Renly and there is this weird push and pull between her and Jaime. And it's weird how much the scale of femininity lies not with the characters, but in the kind of association this character has with a man. And Jaime is one of the most "desireable" man of Asoiaf. Brienne not being in the way of the one who they think is embodiment of the feminine helps too I guess.
I think this is what stumps them about Arya. It doesn't matter how much she says: the woman is important too. How much she whines when people call her a boy. To them it is all about aesthetics. They go: is she wearing pretty dresses? And they answer is: her dresses are muddy because she runs around in it just as a child would do. They go: okay does she like wearing them- the answer is she never complained before. Only perhaps during her whole riverland arc because she thinks it is impractical. And to them these immediately translate into- but! But!! Sansa was said to be a lady at three. She never thought to go against that which was prescribed to her!! Demureness and subservience is what is feminine!! And also dresses, songs, dancing, embroidery are absolutely hated by Arya because these represent traditional femininity and she has internalized misogyny so she would rather fence and horse ride and wear pants as they symbolize her affinity to the masculine.
They are so so obsessed with a particular kind of beauty and if it is all soft and demure. And of course how it appeals to the male gaze ( all those edits about how beautifully sansa suffers) . Arya is targeted because she in the text is set up against someone who can be whitewashed into their idea of the feminine. Which is why there is this repeated conjecture and criticism of fancasts because how can Arya look like that ? She is afterall called horsefaced (doesn't matter if it's done by bullies) and there is nothing feminine about her ( she is too rebellious)!
This again brings in the case of Lyanna. Right now the fandom is fawning over Elia but there was a time when the most common theory was Arya inherited Lyanna's willfulness while Sansa has her aunt's beauty and femininity. Even now in bits and pieces I get to see this take because how can someone fight over one who looks like Arya.
And what does Arya look like? A pre-pubescent child. Because she is one. And with all the trying to stay alive while disguised as a boy: yeah I think personal grooming wasn't the first thing that was on her mind back then. But all these somehow reinforces her masculinity. Her having no option and turning up to the HoBaW and having to play by their rules somehow does the same. And I think last of all this is what forms the crux of it.
Arya's storyline is her own. She hasn't yet been to a place where her themes can get intertwined with a male character. Up until now her story provides a commentary that is purely her own, independent of any man. And I say this because I know how GoT was written, I see what is happening with Rhaenyra and Alicent in HoTD. I feel like in asoiaf fandom the trend is that themes discussed about women characters often end up being more about their male ship partners. Or they are completely removed from any significant action- and moved as passive pieces across the storyboard in a way that would best glorify or vilify a man.
So here is a female character who is on a journey that is solely her own. It cannot be twisted into anything relating to any man. And I think this at a subconscious level feels peculiar to them. Which is why show!Arya got butchered because to D&d Arya's rebellion got translated into " I want to be one of the boys".
And I think this is why there is also this urge to headcanon her as someone who won't be interested in romance. They don't see her admiring Gendry when he is working, the sensuality of her interaction with Jaqen in the bath house ( i know it's creepy. Grrm at times makes me want to side eye him), that Jon literally compares Ygritte to Arya. Romance to them looks unnatural on anyone who is not playing by "norms".
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so when my intro post (this one, about hpmor and power fantasies and weird porn) was going around somebody reblogged it w/ commentary about mother of learning & how it did actually have a story framework that depended on like, character growth, themes, etc, and didn't necessarily deserve to be thrown into the progression fantasy bin & i've been thinking about why i disagree with that
part of it is just... the pacing is still pure progression fantasy? like the character wakes up one day in a puzzle box and the entire world is structured so that he has no choice but to investigate & that necessarily involves getting better at things. the world is a perfect training chamber for Leveling Up. it's the same framework as living in the sexy porn universe where the natural resolution to anything happening is to have sex. sure sure there's an in-world justification for everything that happens, but the true why for why things are happening is that the author wanted some sex scenes. oh no the narrative is bending around the gravitational pull of leveling up
(i have read, uh, 'to the stars' which is another one of those extremely long serial fanfics that i guess could be placed somewhere adjacent to the progression fantasy genre (the main character does get 'more powerful' and iirc also has a 'cheat ability' in some sense, for some very broad genre trope identifications) but it never really felt like that while reading it b/c there's never really any point in the entire story where there's a problem that the obvious solution that's immediately presented is "oh just get stronger". so "character gets more competent at using their skills" can fit in more naturally with the other narrative beats instead of being the primary narrative beat repeated over and over and over again)
or for more reputable fiction comparisons, like, a wizard of earthsea has ged getting more powerful, but that's... like the entire book is about the responsibility of having power, & the big antagonist is not defeated by ged outcasting him. it's about, like, accepting the duality of the self. the book is deeply interested in talking about power and what it means.
meanwhile, basically every one of zorian's problems is resolved by him personally deducing a solution. like, sure, this is kinda commented on in a meta sense a few times -- the whole memory packet thing where he spends months/years trying to learn the abilities needed to unpack it and totally fails & the only reason why he gets anything out of it is that the arache queen thought of him and put a failsafe message in specifically for that case -- but... it's still a huge training montage! it's still chapter after chapter of him getting tutors and training his skills and the old progression fantasy chestnut of "[x thing] had been so difficult and a huge blocker (several chapters ago) and now it's a trivial obstruction that's effortless to bypass" repeating itself over and over again. like, sure, there are absolutely some character beats (him realizing that the reason why uhhh whatshername, his friend who he had a crush on, shows up once in the loop and then never again was because she ends up dying via monster attack & he never actually bothered to follow up on that is what springs to mind for me) but... they're deeply subservient to whatever the latest power advancement beat is in the overall story structure. i think in the entire story he has like, two conversations with people about how actually the part where he's like 24 now and has maybe grown distant and alienated from his former friends while they live out, unchanging, in their month-long cycle over and over is going to have some long-term repercussions for him. there's that, and then there's a million scenes about training his mana bolt.
like sometimes i have story ideas for "this could be a progression fantasy" and sometimes i have story ideas for "this is a story idea i have" and there's absolutely this kind of wrenching distortion when i try to line up story beats from the latter with the former. plenty of stories don't spend like half their wordcount on training montages and showing the characters overcoming struggles through cunning or power. and when they do have those, they're in service to a larger story beat! the hobbit is not about bilbo getting more powerful even though an important part of the character's arc is that he comes home changed.
idk i'd say the defining characteristic that makes something a progression fantasy is that they're about the simple joy of hearing a character becoming more and more and more powerful over and over, to the point where the entire arc of the story bends to accommodate that. 'mother of learning' isn't structured like a mystery, even though it absolutely could be, and i don't really think it's structured like a coming-of-age story either, even if it absolutely has some parts of that there. the bulk of it is just a series of problems, revealed to the reader, that you then get to see zorian overcome. there are other bits there, for sure. but the biggest and clearest through line is about problem-solving via gaining power.
more generally, i think that person's definition of rational fic mostly overlaps with what i'd call a progression fantasy? the arc of the story is about presenting problems that get resolved through a character's ingenuity, at least in part so the readers can vicariously enjoy the problem-solving. it's kind of similar to a detective novel; i wouldn't say the sherlock holmes stories are progression fantasies but maybe if holmes was less condescending and more emphasis was put on how ~awesome~ he was they would be. numbers going up just makes it closer to a litrpg, which is a distinct other thing. so long as the primary arc of the work is about reveling in hearing about a character get more powerful, that's a progression fantasy.
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With my hands I fight for Lord Zuko and our forefathers before him
One of the most popular routes for an Azula redemption arc is for her to be an ally of Zuko. Whether to be an advisor or some kind of high-ranking official that handles the dirty business of running the Fire Nation while Zuko handles the more public stuff like handling reformations and rebuilding the Earth Kingdom that was devastated during the war. I can certainly understand how this can work since Azula is given a say in the future of the Fire Nation and is allowed to serve its best interests in a post-war setting.
There's just one problem: often Azula is made to be subservient to Zuko. That now that she's serving him, she's a good guy now that Zuko acts as a sort of morality leash that keeps her from going too far.
This...doesn't actually solve her problems.
Part of her issues in canon stems from her blind loyalty and faith to the only person who ever showed her some form of kindness: Ozai. Something that meant she didn't dare question any of his actions and poisoned her relationship with Zuko. And inevitably (and tragically), that something that led to her downfall since her loyalty meant she couldn't be swayed by series end.
Having her swear fealty to Zuko, the new Fire Lord, is not solving the problem. She's just exchanging one master for another. None of the issues which caused her breakdown are not addressed. It's that blind loyalty aspect except for another leader. Considering that part of the reason for the Fire Nation's indoctrination is swearing absolute loyalty to the Fire Lord as seen in their anthem:
"My life I give to my country. With my hands I fight for Lord Ozai and our forefathers before him. With my mind I seek ways to better my country. And with my feet may our March of Civilization continue."
...could you imagine how it would look when one of the Fire Nation's old guard falls into this mindset with Zuko? That's not reformation. That's just placing a new and better ruler in charge without fixing anything.
Not to mention how...pretty damn sexist this whole thing is that Azula being good equals submitting to the authority of her brother on the basis that she should've known better than to defy him being the eldest song. Forgive for asking, but doesn't that seem problematic to the umpteenth degree. Especially since in canon Zuko was a pretty crappy brother? I'm sorry, but Azula redeeming herself by putting her brother's needs before hers is incredibly offensive for those that actually do sympathize and see her plight.
Can Azula being an ally of Zuko work? Absolutely. But these potholes are something that a lot of writers (including Bryke and Yang) keep falling into without realizing the implications behind them. If Azula is to be properly redeemed and for this storyline to work, she needs to come to this position of her own volition. No strings attached. No conditions. It needs to be her decision and her decision alone.
Azula's ultimate tragedy is that she never had much free will. Taking that away from her to serve someone else's will is not the way. Give her choice though, the choice to forge her own path, and now she's in a position to truly heal herself.
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To me, specifically for the way they are portrayed on MC and I Claudius (not speaking about their real life historical counterparts), Livia and Hurrem are kinda opposites.
• Livia works with the system. She puts on the facade of the dutiful, obedient, subservient, and supportive Roman matron but she’s actually really ambitious and ruthless. For better or worse, she leads with her head not her heart (even when it results in those closest to her struggling to feel any real affection for her). She wants what she wants and she won’t stop no matter who gets in her way, even her family. She’s the threat no one sees coming until it’s too late.
• Hurrem actively fights against the system. She’s ambitious and ruthless but she’s also kind and empathetic. She does what good she can (via charity and public works and by rewarding those loyal to her) when she can. For better or worse, she leads with her heart (even when it causes her to make a huge mistake or to lash out in anger in a way that she’ll later regret). She only wants 2 things: 1) for her family and loved ones to be safe and 2) to never be powerless or at the mercy of other’s again. She’s the one who gets blamed for everything even when (sometimes especially) when she’s not the one at fault.
I think the biggest difference they have is their empathy. Hurrem always remembers where she came from and what she’s been through (she remembers her homeland and her native language and keeps it alive by singing lullabies to her children, she cries for her mother and father and sister, she frees Sumbul after he “unintentionally” betrays her and chides her daughter for her privilege when she doesn’t understand, etc.). She is able to be kind and understanding and respectful to the people who have caused her the most harm even when they wouldn’t do the same to her. She asks Mahidevran, the woman who once beat her to a bloody pulp, for forgiveness. She tells Valide Sultan, who tried for years to make her fall out of favor with the Sultan and to remove her from the harem, on her deathbed how much she respects and looks up to her. She prays over Ibrahim’s grave, the man who forced her to poison her childhood sweetheart. Following this cruelty, she remains a true and genuine friend to his wife Hatice for many years. She tells Mustafa to his face the unfair truth and explains to him that it is their circumstances and situations that make them enemies and she genuinely mourns his and his son’s death despite orchestrating his downfall for years. In stark contrast, there’s Livia. She pretends to nurse a man on his deathbed while spoon feeding him poison. She drives her husband nearly mad with paranoia to the point that he’ll only eat figs which she poisons. She tricks a priestess in order to manipulate the contents of a will to her own favor. She gets a loving son to rat out his mother’s scandalous affairs. She constantly berates and humiliates her grandson for his disability. She arranges for her son to divorce a woman he genuinely loves. She gets her granddaughter to accuse her lover of rape and much, much worse.
However, I think the biggest thing they have in common though is their almost unreal capacity to be able to play the long game. They knew what they wanted and they schemed and plotted to get it even though it took years or even decades. The commitment they had to their goals and their willingness to follow through is almost unparalleled in other characters. They also both have a good understanding of other people’s motives and characters and use it to their own advantage. Whether others are aware of it or not, they puppet master a lot of things behind the scenes.
Both are amazing characters that are absolutely captivating on screen. There’s a quote about Anne Boleyn that I think applies to both characters: “perhaps a figure to be more admired than liked”
All of this yes!
I will say that Hürrem's form of rebellion against the system is very interesting and I think is the key as to what makes her different from Livia.
She doesn't foment revolution. She doesn't oppose Süleyman (at least overtly). She uses her loyalty as a shield. It's more subtle than that. She asserts her humanity and refuses to give up that side of herself. She always remembers where she came from and what her motivations and goals are (love and family). And for someone who was enslaved and brought into this system, the fact that she fights for humanity against those dehumanising circumstances to me is the key. One of her first lines after arriving in Topkapi is 'We aren't animals' after all. She always sees herself and everyone else regardless of status as a person in spite of how cruel and ruthless she eventually becomes.
They are absolutely both brilliant at playing the long game. It's just that Livia is cold where Hürrem is hot.
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Re: Piers feeling rejected by Meg: I'm glad you brought this up bc I've been dying to make this point: harassing women isn't always just catcalling and it isn't always sexual, but a lot of men don't seem to understand that. Male entitlement goes far beyond sex, misogynistic men feel that women owe them respect, favors, kindness, friendship, career opportunities, etc. especially if they consider that women 'beneath them' (read: non white) and especially if they feel they did said woman a favor (read: be vaguely nice to them once.) Like that one scene in Mad Men where Joan reprimands a guy for messing up a business deal and he says 'i thought you were going to be fun.' Meaning-- I obvi don't know Piers or William, but I think Piers' anger is that he assumed since he knew Meg he would always have a scoop. Like he would be her go-to for announcements and press statements and leaks, and when that didn't happen he lashed out. The press punishes you for not speaking to them. With William, who knows. Maybe he felt entitled to undying loyalty and silence and obedience as the heir and future head of the family. Judging by how people were mad at her 'woke agenda' I'm guessing a lot of these dudes felt entitled to Meghan being subservient and quiet and look at them all starry-eyed for allowing her to marry in, and she had self worth and dared to disagree w them and people couldn't handle that.
Hmm. While I think this is a very fair and balanced take, I also think there are several layers of context and discussion not really taken into account here.
Will’s behavior is absolutely up for discussion, because it can read as many things at once. But removing the elements of sexual entitlement in Piers’ behavior doesn’t make sense, respectfully. Nothing about his rage and hatred of her reads as professional anger in any way. It has been both alluded to and explicitly stated by several journalists and individuals that Piers’ hatred reads more as sexual/romantic entitlement and jealousy and not pure journalistic disrespect. He was called on it on social media and promptly deactivated for a couple of weeks back in 2021.
He did feel entitled to her because he asked her out on a “date”, and she appeared to have a good time. He had ulterior motives. If it was about being the “scoop” he would never have fixated on the “date” they had years before.
A smart journalist who felt disrespected would have used the fact that the two of them had a cordial relationship, and aimed to remain in her good graces to eventually get other scoops, like Omid and others did. Piers did not.
Harassment is entirely about power, but sex and power are inextricably linked under the patriarchy. Especially for women of color. Entitlement to women encapsulates all of those spheres, including sexual entitlement. We are hypersexualized and desexualized all at once. By her accepting that dinner with him, he immediately felt as though she was accepting him romantically/sexually, and that she should accept him because she is nonwhite and he is a white man. Her engagement filled him with rage, so much so that he has continued to hate her for years afterward, and actively sought to destroy her and possibly have her take her own life. That’s sexual entitlement taken up to 100.
Not to mention his disdain for her choice of partner. He would have been pissed no matter who she married, but the fact that she married Prince Harry set him off even more. She chose a man significantly better than him in every way. Harry is younger, titled, in the line of succession, and has a better reputation than Piers does. He is disgusted that Meghan not only “rejected” him, but managed to find a better partner. His hatred extends to Harry, which makes him even more dangerous. This is not journalistic envy, this is retaliation for wounded romantic pride. The press has absolutely punished her for not playing the game, but Piers has not led this charge out of professional grievance. The press doesn’t hate her, they like the clicks and revenue. Piers hates her.
The example you’re looking for for a man who was upset she wasn’t meek and quiet is Charles. He was happy to walk her down the aisle and constantly be seen with her until she decided to actually work and not just say yes and only speak when spoken to. Will’s anger is not nearly as controlled as Charles’ is, largely because I don’t think it’s coming from the same place. Charles is the one who demands undying loyalty by virtue of now leading the house. It’s why he cut Harry off the minute he no longer complied.
Will, who we now know (we didn’t know this when you sent this message) was a fan of hers and watched her show religiously with his wife, and was, by 99% of accounts, welcoming when they were first introduced and right up until Harry decided to marry her, suddenly feeling an anger so powerful he was willing to nearly beat up his brother does not read as anger over her not being subservient enough or not following the family blindly.
I promise, men like that, who are so deeply entrenched in their racism can, and often do, get pissed at the fact that they’re attracted to nonwhite women. I saw it at my university, and I see it now in certain circles. To be honest, Meg didn’t even need to actively reject an advance from Will. He might have expected her to be a hypersexual title chaser who would be more impressed by him and was shocked when she was only focused on his brother. Her not playing the part that he, a racist, had put her in in his mind, was also a rejection.
We obviously don’t know the motivations for these two men. But when comparing Charles’ anger, which we know to be motivated by his annoyance at her not sitting silently and looking pretty (and at her being biracial) to the anger of these two men...
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Not Gaara related but I remember you making a Sakura anti-hate post on your old blog and I was all for it
Honestly Anon, I am pretty impartial to all the main characters in Naruto, leaning more towards feeling favourable toward them (except for Sasuke who has earned my contempt again and again), but I will be damned if I won't bust into the Sakura fandom, guns-a-blazin', and go to war to defend their favourite character.
Really, I just have no time to post character hate of any kind, as I'm much more inclined to talk about the characters I do like (thus my various blogs dedicated to Gaara) because it just feels better to me as a fan??? Plus it's much more fun to conjure up some silly speculation about your faves.
For example, did you know Gaara's favourite food is actually a pun in Japanese? What is the likelihood that Gaara tried to make a joke when asked what his favourite food was, but because he's so deadpan, the other person just didn't realize?
Makes you wonder right?
I joke, but it is much more fun to talk about stuff like that than to constantly beat down an unliked character.
Plus I just believe that if I were to criticize a character, it would be none other than Gaara himself, as at least it would be a fair analysis. And believe me, anon, I would absolutely dunk on Gaara so mercilessly and so thoroughly that it would be akin to Yashamaru's betrayal. Like I am all for reppin' Gaara till the day I die, but I'm here to love him for BOTH his flaws and his virtues.
Now specifically with the Sakura hate...I think what disgusts me the absolute most about it is that I feel it's so firmly rooted in misogany.
I think this way because people do not extend the same courtesy to her as they do with literally every single other character. They complain that all she does is pine after Sasuke...but Obito literally started a war over a girl who wasn't his girlfriend and didn't want to be. Also Naruto spent the entire series chasing Sasuke, and we can't forget about Gaara dedication for Naruto! Or even Hinata for Naruto, or Ino and Sasuke/Sai.
I just never understood why people took Sakura's love for Sasuke as this horrendous thing, as if acting on the behalf of your love for someone is not a noble goal, but something that should be admonished.
Hinata, you could argue, is the exact same as Sakura except she was quieter and much more subserviently to Naruto, never rippling the water. You never saw Hinata growing out of her love for Naruto, which is the same criticism people use for Sakura as to why she never evolved passed her "crush." The only difference is that Hinata rooted for the underdog (Naruto). Two, she had natural powers that already made her OP in comparison to the other genin, while Sakura had to rely on her natural intelligence and hard work once she matured and found her path in life. Third, after the time skip, Hinata became more pleasing to look at according to the male gaze.
(BTW I don't mean to dogpile Hinata. I am waving my truce flag here. It's just a comparison between her and Sakura, not a criticism.)
Back to Sakura: Her fangirling was annoying in the beginning. I never identified with her because...Sasuke -shudder-, but y'know why i looked passed it?
Cause she was a 12 year old girl in the beginning of the series.
I was once a 12 year old girl. And I can confirm, I was pretty much like that (it may have been for Kyo from Fruits Basket but the point stands).
Plus, as a 12 year old girl, she was more mature than Sasuke and Naruto in the beginning because she was wise and had risk assessment. Most of the fights where people claimed she was useless, she was actually just respectfully listening to what her sensei told her to do, as in...Not get in the way and be a liability (Land of Waves). Or she was one-shot because...um...Well, she jumped in front of Gaara who was half transformed into Shukaku. Oh, and prior to that, she cut her hair during a fight! Would you be able to cut your hair on a whim? Just like that? Just let a piece of what you loved most about yourself go because you needed to in order to win? Could you??? I definitely couldn't.
This leads into another thing that people still complain about, and that's that she's useless, which just goes to show that women and female characters have to work so much harder to earn the same respect as their male peers. The characters somehow will only ever default to the way they were first introduced, and in Sakura's case, they feel she is useless, weak and boy-crazy over Sasuke, even though she did the most growth out of her whole squad.
It's not Sakura's fault that she wasn't born with the strongest tailed beast or magic eyes that could rip apart worlds and also be one of the children of prophecy. It's not her fault that she had to learn a variety of skills to get on the same level as the men in her life, and that she had to do much more than only learned two Jutsus to carry her through the whole series (looking at you, Naruto).
People only seem to accept the women from the start in Naruto if they showed up looking hot, overpowered or naturally talented right out the gate. It's like there's almost no room for women to develop and grow in the series, which is so sad.
Now, maybe the Sakura hate is actually just a loud minority. Afterall, she did get A LOT of votes on the character poll, so maybe the misogyny isn't as rampant as I fear. Plus, I have noticed there's a significant decrease in the amount of hate I see for Sakura, so maybe the community has grown up and their opinions have changed as they matured, which is good.
I just don't see what else the hatred for Sakura could possibly be...unless we talk about her Anime personality. The Anime Sakura is actually way worse than her canon self, which could make a person who never read the source material think she is a bad character.
Also, if you just don't like her cause she doesn't float your boat, I think that's fine. I hate Sasuke nearly with a passion...I can't pin point why, he just isn't my thing and I wouldn't even be able to elaborate on it (though I do like him better as an adult).
I just personally feel that at this point in the fandom we are passed the low hanging fruit of Sakura hate such as "she's weak" "she's useless" "she is too interested in Sasuke".
Actually, I feel that I personally have reached a point in this fandom where I don't want any low hanging fruits of character hate. I guess I just don't have time to hate on characters at all, unless we are talking about flaws for analysis.
I come and engaged with this series to have fun and escape the hardship of life for awhile. Smashing characters in a series I love is just not worth it to me.
So yeah, I will absolutely support Sakura fans.
And um...I would absolutely support Sasuke fans, too (begrudgingly). Just like I would fans of anyone else's fave.
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╰┈➤ VI TALKS ABOUT THOR/MCU / @requiend / no longer accepting !
🔥 allow me to enable, with any topic of your choosing !
||. "Thor: The Dark World" (Thor 2) was a financial success, well-received by everyone who isn't part of the toxic Loki!Fandom and is absolute peak Thor content and I can prove it.
I've done extensive research on the critical and box office success of the Thor franchise and in this research I discovered the following:
Financial Success:
On average, each film of the THOR franchise grossed about 3.75x the production budget of each film, altogether.
Thor: Love and Thunder and Thor (2011) both made ~3.0x their production budget
Thor: The Dark World did 4.3x better
Thor: Ragnarok only did 4.7
This actually means that, adjusting this scale for inflation between 2011-2017, AND for Thor's popularity after his first debut, Thor actually makes consistent money. Thor: Ragnarok is actually on average with the rest of Thor's films, INCLUDING Thor (2011), so despite all of the YouTube critics lording it as the best thing ever because Tai.ka Wa.i.ti.ti wrote it, the fact of the matter is Gagnarok is just... 'a good Thor Movie' just the same as ALL the rest of them. (Which is actually, technically, bad, because it threw away everything about him and we saw how well that turned out in Endgame's cinematography/framing and L+T. Nobody appreciates it.)
Critically Well-Received:
If you chronologically search for reviews of Thor: The Dark World and actually read most reviews, while Dark World wasn't a box office smashing success, it was generally well received by the public (until the loki fans ruined it.), and any critiques that were given were valid ones, or directed towards the film editors since the THOR films usually have a lot of ground to cover, and not a lot of time.
you can read some reviews here:
SlashFilms / Oct 22nd, 2013
Never Been Better / Nov 8th, 2013
RoboHeartBeat / Nov 8th, 2013
Slice of SciFi / Nov 8th, 2013
AIPT Comics / Nov 8th, 2013
Ajaydsouza / Nov 12th, 2013
AustinChronicle / Nov 8th, 2013
The Providence Journal / Nov 7th, 2013
People saying that it's "the worst Thor Film of all time" or that it was 'boring' are generally people who, I kid you not, wanted Tom Hiddleston to write the next Thor Movie, only went to watch the film for Loki/because Loki was in it, and otherwise complained about him "not having a lot of screen time" despite being a secondary character on par with Jane Foster. (Which, I understand that Loki is popular, and I think he's lovely and that Tom is a wonderful actor and we're absolutely blessed to have him and Chris Hemsworth in their respective roles, especially together – but Loki isn't the main character and he isn't supposed to be.)
Peak Thor Content
In this singular movie alone we get:
Absolutely the best character design for Thor out of all his appearances even up til now.
A sleek armor design
Chris' REAL HAIR being used instead of a wig (it's so pretty!)
even a better, more flowing cape design that was a real cape!! Not CGI like in Thor: Gagnarok!
The Entire Poncho Look
EXTREMELY complex and interesting dynamics with his entire family (Jane is included as part of the family.)
With Odin, he's subservient to a worrying degree, but still willing to rebel against him, even if that could mean banishment or being public enemy no.1 whilst his father is deranged.
Frigga as always is generally complicated, but they get along well enough, and she accepts Jane into the family immediately, and Thor thinks highly of her, even if he doesn't know her so well.
Loki's primarily in the Asgardian dungeons, but despite this, because he is in the back of Thor's mind even when Loki is away, the audience is CONSTANTLY thinking about Loki too. His presence is felt everywhere, and when the two brothers finally reunite on screen, it's after a year of separation and festering betrayal of their bond. Loki's redemption moment is in this film. ("Trust my rage") and it's probably one of the BEST brodinson moments of the entire series by far. Loki also spends most of his time outside of prison just trying to get Thor to break out of his apathy, which is nice.
And Jane and Thor are positively sweet! Their chemistry together is off the charts and so utterly wholesome. He perks up almost instantly when she finds her way back into his life, and I love that she actually helps him defeat the main villain, Malekith, with her science inventions. (2011-2015 jane foster is peak jane foster). I also think it's worth noting that the tone for their relationship is pretty clearly set in this film. He's a protector, she follows his lead, but he relies on her to keep him in check and assist him whenever she is able. They're great rulers together!
He has a subtle, sassy humour that oozes out of him in every scene where it's applicable for him to be a bit funny. Some of my favorites include:
Sif: I had this under control!
Thor: (smiling) Is that why everything is on fire?
Thor: (GETS BOMB-RUSHED BY A BRUTE IMMEDIATELY)
Thor: Hello.
Brute: (ROARS IN HIS FACE)
Thor: I accept your surrender.
Maurader Crowd: (CHEERS AND JEERS)
Thor: (laughs silently. DESTROYS THE BRUTE IN ONE SWING.)
Thor:
Thor:
Thor: Anyone else?
Loki: At least furnish me with a weapon. My daggers. Something!
Thor: (begrudgingly looks at him.)
Loki: (smiles)
Thor: (acquiesces)
Loki: At last! Common sense—....
literally this entire face
Thor: And I thought you liked tricks. (wiggles his whole body happily as he walks away laughing)
and also the ENTIRE space ship scene between him and loki. Not gonna cap that one past this but:
L: No don't hit the buttons press them. Gently.
T: I AM ""presSING THem gENtLy"" it's nOT WORKING >:T
L: I think you missed a column.
T: Shut up.
L: Congratulations! You just decapitated your grandfather.
L: Maybe I should try flying. :T I'm clearly the better pilot.
T: Really? Well, between the two of us, which one can actually fly?
I COULD GO ON but i'll leave it here...for now..
#( ooc . ) — stories that leap from the page .#( answered . ) — black feathers fall to a raven's call .#( meta . ) — son of cosmos . lightning flows through thy veins .#requiend#(thor 2 is the best thor film don't @ me i could talk abt this film all day i've watched it 5 times in the past 2 months)
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Annoying Yet Endearing
Fandom: Wednesday (2022)
Summary: Xavier isn't acting like himself. His partners can all see it, but they choose not to say anything for a while. It drags on and on to the point where they can't turn a blind eye anymore.
Warnings: Depression, mentions of bad parenting, mentions of suicide
Word Count: 6,934
Ship(s): Wednesday Addams/Tyler Galpin/Xavier Thorpe/Ajax Petropolus/Enid Sinclair
Archive link!
A/N: So I'm back on my bullshit with this poly ship. Make sure to head the tags as you continue on, this fic is pretty dark even if there's some good fluff at the end to make up for it. Thank you all for reading! Stay sissy and bitchy everyone <3
The Summer break had felt like it went on forever for each of the members of the polycule. Tyler had been the only one, other than a few of the vampires, that had to stay behind at Nevermore; it wasn’t like he could return to town after it was revealed that he had caused the murders because of the subservient monster that lived inside of him. Enid loathed her entire family because she didn’t like the rough-and-tumble of her brothers and her mother was trying to pick her apart every chance she got. Xavier was left wandering the seemingly endless halls of his father’s mansion, alone with the small exception of the maids from noon to two every day. Ajax despised being home because neither of his parents were great about making sure that they controlled their snakes and he often spent weeks at a time stoned. Wednesday was miserable despite the fact that she liked her family because she was subjected to watching her parents be overly affectionate with each other.
Wednesday’s parents had offered to have all of her partners come and stay with her for the duration of the Summer and she had originally told them, flat out, that she wouldn’t let her parents anywhere near her partners until long after they were married. It was about halfway through July when she decided that she was going to die unless she saw one of them and she was rather keen on living long enough to find a publisher that would accept her manuscript after the last one.
Tyler was able to leave the school grounds and come and stay with her under the express instruction that he not go gallivanting around in the town near where Wednesday lived. It was part of the ruling of the Outcast Law System, which dealt with all things supernatural and different from the things that usual judges were used to handling, that Tyler not be around Normies any more than absolutely necessary until they did some more research on his specific hyde to keep him from killing more innocents.
The whole polycule thought that part of the ruling was rather annoying since they wanted to bring him into town and show how much better he fit in with them than how he fit in with all of the Normie kids.
The summer was long gone, now. They had all been brought back to Nevermore so that they could continue their education for another year. The classes and the rest of the student body was something that Wednesday could take or leave as she pleased, but she had to admit that she was glad she was finally back around all of her partners. She didn’t like them being out of her sight for too long lest someone try to kill them before she had the opportunity to.
“Where’s Xavier?” Enid asked. She tucked a strand of her quickly growing bleached blond hair behind her ear as she swiveled around while looking for their missing boyfriend.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard from him in quite some time,” Wednesday glanced down at the cellphone that he had gotten her during their impromptu winter break the year that they had discovered Tyler was a hyde. It was something that she had only kept in the beginning because she enjoyed the idea of having a stalker and that stalker having a way to contact her, but she found that it was pretty convenient for keeping in contact with other people. Never before then had she ever had someone that she wanted to keep in contact with as she lived with her parents and brother, and then when she went to Nevermore they could just scry her on her crystal ball. Being able to call and text was useful to keep tabs on Eugene and her partners now that she knew people she cared for all over the country.
Ajax’s brows furrowed together as he dug into his pocket and removed his phone. His screen had a single long crack down the middle of it and the edges of the case were chipping off from being dropped too many times that summer when his father inevitable stoned him every time he looked up from the device. “I thought that he just stopped messaging me and the group chat because I could never respond back. I didn’t really have a lot of time to think about it, though.”
The peppier of his two girlfriends reached out and squeezed his arm to give him some reassurance. “I’m sure everything is fine. I think that his dad might have come home, he mentioned something about that during one of our calls.” She then turned to Tyler, “Aren’t you rooming with him this year?”
“Yeah, I am. I can go check our room and see if he’s there. Meet you back in Ophelia Hall by four at the latest?” he offered.
Wednesday and Enid glanced at each other and then nodded. Enid was always a little bit worried that Tyler was going to have flashbacks when he came to their dormitory since it had been one of the places where Laurel Gates, posing as a herbology teacher at Nevermore, abused and manipulated him into doing things he had no choice in. Tyler never showed any signs of disliking it or being uncomfortable, though, so they tried to let it go.
Wednesday dragged both of her other partners away from the prying eyes of the people around them. She didn’t like being affectionate in public because she didn’t care for constantly being compared to her overly close parents. She knew that eventually they would stop doing that, when she was old enough to be distanced from her family and become her own person, but for now she was stuck in their shadow.
Tyler carried through the hall while ignoring the way that the other students turned and stared at him. He had gotten used to that since he transferred over the asylum so that he could attend school and adjust back to being a person, even if he was a person with a monster inside of him. A lot of the students at Nevermore still knew him from reputation alone since his partners were so aggressively protective of him and didn’t want to let anyone get close to him. The only people that knew him well enough to understand the difference between him and his monster were the vampires that he had spent the summer with.
He paused when he got to the outside of his dorm room. He raised his hand up and knocked twice to let the other man know that he was coming in before he fully entered. “Hey Xav? You in here?”
The other teenager was, in fact, not there.
His things were spread out over his half of the room but they looked a lot different than they had the year before. His desk had a neat stack of books along the wall, held up by two matching figurine in the shape of mange-ridden cats. Tyler knew that they had been Xavier’s godmother’s last gift to him before she died. The wall was still devoid of art from where it had all been taken down for the summer break. The wardrobe was just open enough to reveal the line of pressed clothing and hoodies that made up Xavier’s choice of clothing. It would no doubt all be rumpled and disorderly by the end of the week, but it was always clean and pristine when he moved in. The little half bath that they shared had Xavier’s toothbrush in his holder, the one on the left, and a couple of other items that signified he had finished moving in.
Tyler could specifically point out all of the items that Xavier had brought with him to make their room more hospitable but at the same time it felt like the space was still devoid of the other boy. His boyfriend wasn’t there physically, as he hadn’t called back to Tyler, but it also felt like he wasn’t there in the metaphorical sense.
The hyde pursed his lips and then turned on his heel and quickly left his dorm room. He walked back through the crowded halls, dodging around the families that were all dropping their children off for the school year and having a rather hard time letting go. Days like today were hard for him overall, so he was glad that he had a mission to keep himself busy. Oftentimes, when he was surrounded by this much love and parental affection, he wished that hydes had been better understood sooner so that his mother could be the one bringing him to school. He was glad that his father no longer had a single interest in if he was alive and what he was doing.
He walked across the grounds until he got to the semi-secluded shed in the corner of the property where his boyfriend usually sequestered himself when he was in a mood. At first, when he had begun to attend Nevermore and had gotten the run down of all the social cliques from Enid, he had thought that the whole ‘tortured artist’ schtick had been just that. After all, he had talked with Xavier several times before and had seen a very different image to that.
The Xavier that he had originally met, outside of the time that he had been crying and begging them not to hurt him anymore after they finished destroying his mural, was mean and snappish. He was quick to anger and eager to say something biting to Tyler every time the two of them were remotely close proximity to each other.
After a while, though, Tyler had come to know the person that Xavier actually was. He had taken time to talk with him and get to know what was going through the other boy’s mind. While the mean spirited person that Tyler had the joy of interacting with during the year that they weren’t going to the same high school was still there, he was a very shallow version of Xavier. The aforementioned seer had a lot of trauma from being left alone often as a child and losing someone very close to him very young. He suffered from nightmares that made it difficult to sleep and was plagued by visions that would possess him until he had finished an entire painting without even realizing that he had picked up the brush.
Xavier also suffered a fair bit from barely-treated newly diagnosed depression and hid it away from his partners as much as he could. None of his friends nor his ex-girlfriend Bianca were aware that he suffered with it, often finding it too hard to do anything other than sleep after he finished with his schoolwork for the day. Art was one of the only things that brought him joy, which is why he spent so much time drawing and painting instead of dealing with his feelings.
The art shed was a place where he could create as he wished without being disturbed by anyone other than his partners. Every other member of the school either thought that the building was used to store equipment or knew that it wasn’t somewhere they were welcome to go exploring. Tyler knew that he and their girlfriends were exempt from that though, as Xavier often welcomed their presence as long as they didn’t bother him too much once he finally got in the zone.
The thought of getting to spend some of that type of time with his boyfriend made his heart flutter in his chest. Tyler was a sucker for quality time, so parallel play was one of his favorite ways to be close to his partners and show them that he loved them.
He pressed open the door with one hand and felt all of the joy drain out of him at once. He knew that Xavier had packed up some of his larger projects to take back with him over the summer so that he could actually finish them, but he also distinctly remembered the shed still being full of finished paintings and other miscellaneous art supplies.
Now, the walls were completely bare save for the hooks where paintings and drying canvases should be. The shelves were coated in a thin layer of dust but there weren’t even rings for where the bottles of paint should be. The floor was swept clean of any shavings from charcoal or pencils, spick and span like the inside of the dorm rooms. The only sign that this shed had been used for something other than storage or sat empty for years was the singular easel propped up against the wall in the corner.
“What the fuck?” Tyler whispered to himself. He took a step in to make sure that what he was seeing wasn’t an elaborate illusion. The shed was just as empty inside as it had been when he was standing outside, which was confusing and worrying.
Tyler was well aware that the principal they had gotten after Weems’ untimely death at the hands of his late Master allowed Xavier to continue to use the shed, so the only reason that the shed was empty was a worrying one. It could have been because Xavier had gotten somewhere else to do his art, somewhere they was warmer and more protected, but the more likely solution was that it had been cleared out by someone. Tyler was desperately hoping that it was another student and not one of the teachers so Xavier wouldn’t be in trouble.
He didn’t have much time to dwell on it or wait around to see if the perpetrator of the crime were to come back as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and flicked it open to see that it was a text from Enid, saying that Xavier had come to their dorm room. Apparently there had been a series of miscommunications and the other boy had been wandering around the quad and the Nightshade’s secret library while trying to look for them.
The Hyde quickly turned around and jogged back across they grounds so that he was back at the buildings. He slipped into the quad and then started down the long hallways that led to the dormroom portion of the school. As soon as he was up in Ophelia Hall, all of the worries he had about the lack of art supplies in both the shed and their shared dorm room had slipped from his mind. Those thoughts were instead replaced with eager daydreams about what kind of things the five of them would get up to now that they were all back together.
---
Ajax was spread over Tyler’s bed so wide that for a moment, he was worried that the frame was going to collapse. Then he remembered that he had been issued the steel frame just in case something happened and the Hyde tried to destroy the room, which wasn’t totally out of the question even if it got less likely by the day.
The gorgon was wearing one of Xavier’s huge Nevermore sweaters. On Xavier it hugged his tall, lithe frame in the best way possible, bringing attention to the way that his back muscles rippled when he reached down to do something. On Ajax it hung over his hands at least three inches past the cuff and fell to at least his mid thigh. Tyler enjoyed the fact that even a few inches could make such a huge difference in how Ajax looked in their clothes.
He was going on and on about something that had happened over the summer with a childhood friend of his, apparently someone that had been visiting his family in the States from Greece, but Tyler could barely understand him since he kept slipping back into Greek.
The door popped open and Xavier walked through, which made Tyler’s heart drop. He adored his boyfriend with every fiber of his being, with his entire soul, but something had been off for a while now and the Hyde had been yet to figure out what that was. He had just noticed enough of a change in the other teenager’s body language and their day-to-day interactions to know that he should be concerned.
He was trying to give it time and not bring it up because he knew that Xavier struggled with his depression the most after he had see his father, but it was getting hard. He was so worried and he just wanted to be able to check in and do what he could to try and make his boyfriend any bit happier that he could. Tyler knew that was limited, but there was always the chance that he could do something and he desperately wanted to know what that was this time around.
“Hey Xav,” Tyler greeted with his excited puppy-dog smile. Apparently Enid loved it when he looked like that, she said that if he could physically have cartoon hearts for eyes then he would.
“Hey,” the seer whispered. He leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the corner of Tyler’s mouth.
Ajax reached his hand out towards the other teenager and let out a little whiny noise. “Xavier! I’ve been waiting for you for forever, what gives, man?”
That was something that they were working on, trying to get Ajax to stop calling their boyfriend by terms that dude-bro macho men called each other on the regular. It was something that Ajax did to everyone though, so they didn’t feel the need to bring it up in a formal setting and instead were just encouraging the other nicknames he used while ignoring those specific ones.
Xavier dumped his books down onto his bed and then leaned over. He brushed his hand over the said of Ajax’s face, the other teenager’s stubble scraping a bit painfully against his palm. He leaned in and gave him a swift kiss before he said, “You need to shave.”
“I know,” Ajax whined. He didn’t seem to notice that the question had gone unanswered because he was too pleased to have gotten at least a little bit of what he wanted.
Tyler, on the other hand, had noticed and logged it into the ever-growing list of weird symptoms that Xavier was exhibiting in his mind. He turned and watched as their boyfriend bent over and collected some clothes out of his chest of drawers, right next to the slim wardrobe where he kept his hoodies and the pressed parts of his uniforms. He then grabbed his towel and bathroom supplies, saying, “I’m going to go take a quick shower. Feel free to hang out with the girls without me. I’ve got a lot of homework tonight.”
Ajax let out a whine. Tyler knew that his boyfriend wasn’t able to pick up on a lot of social cues because of the way that being turned to stone effected his brain’s ability to fire neurons down pathways (it had taken him quite a lot of time to figure out that’s what Enid meant as opposed to smoking pot, though their gorgon partner was rather partial to that as well) but this felt a bit egregious. “You’ve never had this homework before and I’ve gone to school with you for two years!”
“I just wanted to try and get as many of my credits out of the way possible. Spent too much time focusing on electives last year,” Xavier explained with a half-shrug.
Every bit of what was happening was upsetting and distressing, which made the monster inside of him let out discontent noises in his mind. Tyler felt his mouth dip down into a frown before he realized what it was doing. “Right,” he nodded. “Well if you get done early then feel free to come and hang with us too. We enjoy your company.”
Instead of saying something about how mushy Tyler was or even making that sarcastic little ‘awe’ noise that he only shared with the Hyde, Xavier just gave his roommate a nod and then slipped from the room.
That wasn’t the response that Tyler thought he was going to get from saying that and he was beginning to get increasingly worried. Xavier’s behavior wasn’t normal and it was getting to the point that he was worried the other teenager had been possessed or body-swapped. He remembered all of the times in the past couple of days that he had tried to ask to see Xavier’s current project, something the other teenager was usually happy to show and talk about, only to be redirected to something else. The times that he tried to bring up the art shed, which was falling into disrepair again and also completely lacking in art supplies, he had been ignored entirely. When he tried to engage in romantic activities without the rest of their polycule being present he was told that Xavier had homework.
Tyler decided then and there that he had had enough. He turned towards Ajax after slamming his textbook so hard that the gorgon jumped. He felt a little bad for that but he had other things to worry about at the moment so he held off on apologizing for the time being. He asked, “Have you noticed Xav acting weird or off?”
“I mean, yeah,” Ajax nodded. “That was why I asked him what was wrong.”
The Hyde pursed his lips. He got up and tugged on a pair of shoes before he grabbed Ajax’s hand and dragged him from the dormroom. It took one pair of stairs and a hallway containing two identical, creepy statues before they were standing in front of their girlfriends’ dorm room. The new supervisor for Ophelia Hall understood how futile it was to try and keep teenagers of the opposite sex out of the dorm rooms and so just gave a stern warning that she didn’t want any pregnancy or STIs that she had to deal with helping them treat. They also had a pretty stern sound limit past ten at night.
Tyler knocked on the door. The monster inside of him was still growling in the back of his mind, pacing uncomfortably close to the surface like at any point he was going to get discontent and jump out. Tyler didn't want to shift right now because he had to explain with his words what was going on and he was wearing his favorite sweater.
“Hey!” Enid beamed when she opened the door and saw that it was two of her partners. “Come on in,” she moved to the side and allowed them to enter the dorm.
“I wasn’t expecting the two of you over today. You should know that you’re eating into my writing time,” Wednesday said as she turned around, straight-backed and stiff, so that she was facing them. They had convinced her that she only needed to have two or three hours of dedicated writing time four out of the seven days of the week so that they could all see her and spend time with her without her being preoccupied by the latest installment in her novel.
“I don’t know why we’re here either,” Ajax held his hands up defensively.
Tyler opened his mouth to speak but the only thing that came out was a feral growl. Enid winced and moved so that she was sitting on her bed. She knew that this was one thing she wasn’t good at, since the actual Hyde itself inside of Tyler still associated her and her wolf form with the night that it lost their master. She was also working through the trauma from that night with the new therapist that Jericho got.
Wednesday rose from her chair and crossed over to him. Once she was finally there, she placed her hands on either side of his face and looked directly into his eyes. “You need to use your words. As appealing as it is to hear you growling like an animal, I don’t have the patience to try and decipher it at the moment.”
He took a couple of deep breaths to try and stifle down the feral feeling that had been building in his chest. Hydes were inherently traumatized and fragile creatures, which had the added bonus of them getting increasingly protective over who or what they viewed as theirs. Once Tyler had finished reassuring the monster inside of him that he was handling the situation, he explained, “I think something is wrong with Xavier. His art shed is completely empty, I haven’t seen any doodles in the margins of his notes. I’m not even sure that he’s drawing anymore, which is really weird for him. And outside of cuddling so that we can go to sleep, he hasn’t wanted to do anything romantic with me like he did last year.”
Wednesday pursed her lips as she pulled away from the other man. He half expected her to return to her typewriter and continue to ignore them for the duration of the evening until her writing time was over. Instead, she pulled away from him and turned to look at her partners once more. “I’ve noticed a change in his behavior as well. He spends a lot more time actually shooting when we’re at archery club and he also appears to get more upset when he can’t hit the target every time. It got to the point where I stopped shooting because I didn’t like the way that he was behaving, it worried me.”
“Wednesday being worried means that this is a big deal,” Enid sighed as she rubbed her hand over her cheek to try and calm herself down.
Tyler walked over so that he was standing beside his peppier girlfriend. He wrapped his long arms around her so that she turned and buried her face into his chest. They were both very touchy people, which had been a difficulty in the beginning of their relationship when they were still trying to get over the fight that they had during Laurel Gates’ time as Tyler’s master. It had been almost a year since then, though, so they were a lot more comfortable touching each other and comforting one another.
The room fell quiet for a moment as they all thought about the information that they had been given. “What do you think we should do?” Ajax asked, looking between all of his partners.
“We’re going to have to confront him,” Wednesday said pragmatically.
“I also think that’s a good idea, but we also need to be very delicate about the way that we handle that. We can’t kidnap him and torture any information out of him,” Enid shot a pointed look to their girlfriend.
The aforementioned dark-haired teenager just folded her arms over her chest and leaned against the post to her bed. “I don’t understand why not.”
“He’s been removing all the things that bring him joy, you don’t see why that’s kind of a red flag?” Enid asked, raising a brow at the other girl.
Wednesday let out a huff but conceded to the point, allowing the conversation to continue. Tyler moved them around so that they were sitting on the huge half-black half-pink rug that covered more than half of the floor in the girls’ dorms. He was the first one to speak once they had made themselves comfortable as well, “Something I’ve noticed him doing is avoiding the conversation whenever it shows up. I’ll ask him about his art and then he just ignores the question entirely. I think we need to tell him that we have to have a serious talk and then make him tell us what’s wrong. It’s going to get hard and he’s probably going to get really mad but this is the only way that we can get through to him to make sure that he’s really okay.”
“Xavier is always upset when we push him into things that will help him in the long run. He snaps out of it and thanks us eventually,” Wednesday said with a little sniff. She was the one that enjoyed pushing their boyfriend’s buttons the most out of all of them, so she had the most experience to talk from.
They continued to talk about the kinds of concerns that they had for their boyfriend before they had finally finished devising their plan. They were taking a risk when it came to the situation that they were in, no matter how they came at it. If they left it alone, then there was always the possibility that they would lose their boyfriend to whatever it was that was eating him. If they did what they were planning to do then there was always the chance that Xavier would break up with them. It felt like the only way that they could really riddle out what was happening, which put them in an uncomfortable tight spot.
---
Three days after their meeting with each other, they finally found the perfect time to execute their plan. Xavier and Wednesday had archery together every monday and friday, and they were the only ones that participated in that particular club. Since they would already be partially secluded from the rest of the school so that stray arrows couldn’t hurt anyone, it was the perfect time for them to go and question their partner in a way that he couldn't avoid like he had done with all of the others.
Tyler and Ajax were waiting outside of Ophelia Hall for Enid to finish up whatever it was that she was doing inside of her dorm. As soon as she had departed, the trio quickly headed across the campus until they were standing just off of the archery range.
Wednesday had been telling the truth when she said that she had stopped shooting because of how upset Xavier had gotten when she hit the mark and he was unable to. She was sitting on one of the big haybales that they used for targets and marking where the archers were supposed to stand. She looked as mysterious and graceful as ever, a shadowy figure just to the left of where their lanky yet handsome boyfriend was trying his best to hit the center of the target every time.
It took about ten minutes for him to get frustrated and throw his bow down to the haybale next to him, the one that Wednesday wasn’t sitting on. He sat heavily on it and ran one of his skilled hands down the side of his face. Tyler hated to see him look so distressed and upset. He wanted nothing more than to be able to figure out what was wrong and help him with it.
“I think it’s time to go,” Enid informed both of her boys from where she was standing between them. She had a serious, concerned look dotted over her features. It didn’t look right on her, Tyler realized. That was another reason that the whole situation upset him as much as it did. He didn’t like it when any of his partners were upset and Xavier’s behavior changing so much made the rest of them antsy and sad as well.
She walked away from them after forcing her normal chipper smile onto her face. If one looked closely, they would have been able to see the dullness in the gray and the way that the crows’ feet in the corner of her eyes pulled with worry.
Once she was over by the haybales, she leaned down and kissed Wednesday chastely before she plopped herself down directly onto Xavier’s lap. She threw her arms around his neck and then planted a kiss onto his cheek. “There’s my big, strong archer,” she praised.
“Mm,” he grunted as he tilted his head slightly away from her attacking force. That in and of itself wasn’t abnormal since Enid purposefully wore too much lipstick or gloss whenever she was going to do something like that with them, which resulted in them walking around with a stain on their cheek for the next day or so. It was odd when looked through the lens of everything else that had happened in the last couple of weeks since getting back from their break.
Ajax and Tyler walked over as well, sitting down in between the haybales so that they completed the little line of partners. “So Xavier, we actually have something that we need to talk to you about,” Tyler said after a beat of silence when he realized that no one else was going to do it.
“I have some work that I should be getting to,” he cleared his throat as he awkwardly tried to dislodge Enid.
The werewolf used her superior strength to keep him exactly where he was, refusing to let him leave. It was something that she usually didn’t do when she was awake, but that was part of the plan that they had discussed. Xavier let out a little whimper but then didn’t try to fight her anymore. “Good boy,” she praised as she pressed a kiss to his temple.
“What did you guys need to talk to me about?” he asked, swallowing so hard that his Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat.
The four other partners shared a look and then Wednesday spoke, “You haven’t been acting like yourself. I originally befriended you because I admired the way that you held true to your principles and didn’t let what others wanted from you sway you. It’s one of the first things that I noticed about you, so of course I noticed when you started acting differently. You have yet to tell us that something is wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong,” Xavier tried to protest.
A flare of protectiveness from the monster that was sleeping inside of Tyler’s chest erupted out of him. “Bullshit! You haven’t been doing any of the things that you actually like to do, you have been closer to losing your temper, and you’re constantly making excuses not to be around us. Don’t try to tell us that something isn’t wrong, we’re your partners and we know you.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them. He didn’t want to blow up at his boyfriend, which had been his entire reason for bringing around all of his other partners. The Hyde was so feral and unhinged, even after all he had done to assure the monster that they were safe. Oftentimes, even when the situation was as unserious as this one, sometimes he wasn’t able to control himself and all of his feelings exploded out of him all at once.
Xavier hung his head and was silent for a really long time.
Enid was the first to notice that something was wrong. Not only did she had enhanced senses because of the wolf part of her genetics, but she was quite literally sitting on his lap. She noticed the growing wet patch on her shoulder from his tears and the minute shaking of his shoulders. “Xav?” she asked as she ran her hand through his long hair. “Baby, are you okay?”
“I’m so sorry that I was being so shitty to you guys,” he sobbed. His voice sounded hoarse, like he had been muffling sobs the entire time since Tyler had finished his miniature rant.
“No, no, babe, we just wanted to know what was wrong,” Ajax quickly said. “The whole point of us having this polycule is so that when one person is upset or can’t be around for whatever reason the other isn’t super alone. We just don’t want you to be alone or hurt when there’s something that we could do to help.”
“Are you going to tell us what’s wrong?” Wednesday asked as she raised a brow at her boyfriend. She really did care about him, but it was also clear that she was the only one unaffected by emotion enough to stay on task.
Xavier leaned back from Enid just enough to wipe at the undersides of his eyes with the bottom of his hoodie sleeve. “Before we left for break, do you remember how I was complaining about having to spend the entire summer alone?” Once he got nods and affirmations from his partners, he continued, “Well I wasn’t. My dad apparently decided that this was the year he was actually going to come home and pretend to be the doting father. I barely got to spend any time at the house because of how much he was dragging me around to show me off to the paparazzi. He also found out what I had been doing in school and about you guys because of the group chat. That made him really angry because he was worried it was going to make him look bad. He wanted me to delete your contacts from my phone but I just deleted the text history and every text I got so he didn’t know I still had them.”
He was crying again, huge drops of saltwater rushing down his face in too-well traced paths. His cheeks and nose had turned a splotchy red and his eyes were swollen. Every so often he had to stop talking so that he could take in an unsteady breath and resist the urge to sob.
“He was mad about a lot of the things that I was doing. Apparently he was expecting me to do something like he did, or for us to become a kind of father-son duo so we could continue to make stupid TV appearances and have faked visions. People almost never want to hear their actual futures, they want to hear good things that are going to happen to them,” Xavier explained with a small shake of his head. “I want to be an art teacher or something like that. I don’t want to have to follow in his footsteps. But he wasn’t having it, so I have actually been really busy. I’ve been trying to take all of the classes that he wants me to.”
“Why?” Wednesday asked, blinking owlishly at him. It was something that the entire group had struggled with when it came to her. Wednesday’s parents were very supportive of her and never told her no when it came to the newest hobby or career path that she wanted to pursue. Their parents had all tried to force them into a box that wasn’t quite right for them, so they related to what Xavier was going through.
“I’m scared that he’s going to get mad at me and do something. He could pull me out of school or he could beat me or he could leave me with nothing but the clothes on my back,” Xavier shrugged. “I… I’ve always been trying to get him to pay attention to me since he’s been busy my entire life. I guess that his reaction to finding out things he didn’t like about me was so bad that my brain decided I had to get positive affection from him somehow.”
“It doesn’t matter what the reason is, baby. You don’t have to please him,” Enid shook her head. “My mom has my whole life planned out for me and it certainly does not include the four of you. I don’t want to follow it and I’m not going to, even if that means that one day she may decide she wants nothing to do with me.”
“My dad had plans for me too, but then I turned out to be a monster like my mother so now he won’t even look at me when he gets called up here to help out the principal. Parents are shitty and they have shitty expectations that no one is ever going to be able to reach,” Tyler explained.
Enid brushed her thumb over Xavier’s cheek to get rid of the newest tear. She kissed that spot immediately afterwards and then pressed their foreheads together sweetly. “It’s one of the hardest things in the world to accept that our parents don’t want what we want and that we’re going to have to let them go. But you’re not alone. You’ve got us.”
“Yeah!” Ajax nodded. “And you shouldn’t stop doing art just because your dad doesn’t like it. He’s never been around you enough to see how happy it makes you and how good you are at it. So you should keep doing it so that you can keep being happy.”
Xavier let out a little wet laugh. He moved just enough so that he could kiss Ajax. “You’re right.”
Wednesday got up from the haybale that she had been planted on. She motioned for Enid to remove herself from their boyfriend’s lap and then replaced the other girl. She yanked Xavier down the couple of inches that he had over her so that their lips could meet in a passionate kiss. “No more trying to be someone that you’re not for someone that doesn’t care about you, understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he smirked as he caught her lips again.
Tyler had recently gone through similar parental trauma, so he knew that it was going to be a long walk that they had to go on with their boyfriend, but the other three were just as dedicated to doing it as he was. They were going to make sure that Xavier was kind to himself and took up the hobbies that he enjoyed no matter what it took.
#wednesday 2022#wednesday addams#fanfiction#fanfic#writing#ao3#archive of our own#tyler galpin#xavier thorpe#enid sinclair#oneshot#ajax petropolus#weyler#wenclair#wavier#wajax#xajax#tyler x wednesday#wednesday x tyler#tyler x xavier#xavier x tyler#tyler x enid#enid x tyler#ajax x tyler#tyler x ajax#ajax x enid#enid x ajax#wednesday x ajax#ajax x wednesday#wednesday x enid
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This is a genuine question as I haven't watched Ex-Aid or 01, but in what way is Yuya Takahashi writing women that they're somehow notably badly written in his shows despite him giving us a decent chunk of our female riders? Geats is my first brush with his work and I feel like they're alright here. I really can't stand certain brands of misogyny and I want to know what I'd be getting into if I watched his other work.
Hmmm thinking about it it has been a LOT less present in Geats than his other works. Perhaps he's been put through the Inoue Re-educator...
I feel his brand of misogyny is similar to what you'll usually see in Rider but like to an even further extent. Major female characters frequently find themselves without any of their own agency without the aid and guidance - or, often, the command - of a man and are very often turned away from very obvious plot beats that would capstone their story (which would have been special one-episode things so it's not even like Bandai's need to sell toys to boys would likely get in the way of it).
He also tends to just never let them transform (I think you can like count on one hand how many times Poppy actually used her belt after her evil arc), or flesh them out in the same way as male characters (it took until the post-series V-Cins for Valkyrie to get even the slightest hint of a backstory), or even just write them in a way that's natural? Like, just, he seems to have this thing of not recognising women as people who have just as much autonomy and complexities as men, and constantly they get shoehorned into having no personality or very one-note tropes? Not like Kamen Rider has a track record of perfectly-written women or anything, but even looking at adjacent examples like Ghost's Akari, or Saber's Mei, or Build's Sawa and Misora; there's absolutely criticisms you can have of their treatment and how they don't get to transform but they're all very well-realised characters with their own personalities and ambitions and have their own journeys and interesting character dynamics in the show and their place in the themes and... and I just look at someone like Izu or Yaiba and I despair? Or maybe that's just a Takahashi problem in general actually, I don't think he ever figured out a second character trait for guys like Tycoon or Snipe
I'm trying to describe things in more general terms here but I think taking basically any of his female characters under a microscope is much more telling because they all have their own specific issues. For me and a fair few others Izu's treatment in 01 (from being a subservient robot secretary who wants for nothing more than to be Aruto's subservient robot secretary, has no more character development or even really character interactions beyond that, gets fridged for easy character drama, and then in the finale Aruto just builds a new Humagear from scratch with the intent of molding it into Izu) was the breaking point that made us realise he has a pattern of how he treats women in these shows. Na-Go scared me at first because, wow, he sure is characterising a woman purely by how she wants to fall in love with a man... and actually some of that is starting to come back now with how Weird her supporter feels. But she has certainly been a marked improvement over her predecessors so maybe the guy's learned something
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