If wille is king there is no Wilmon that’s why there aren’t many. I love Simon so much that I don’t want him near wille if he is king

i think this is one of those times where we will have to agree to disagree on certain things! i believe that there is definitely still a way forward for Wilmon even if Wilhelm doesn't abdicate, but that's my own personal opinion and thoughts <3

besides, being royal isn't what is causing Wilhelm to act the way he does; the issues with his behavior would still need to be addressed even if he DID abdicate. it's not like abdication would magically fix every issue he has, every problem between him and Simon, between him and his family, or between him and himself. there is a lot of work that he needs to put in to become better.

and further, I truly doubt Wilhelm will be king any time soon anyway, which gives him the time to figure all of this out and to become a better person. which is what he really needs.

There's a fundamental disconnect between my view of Star Wars and that of, well.... the majority of the SW fandom these days. Whether this is due to lingering disdain for the Prequels (despite fandom claims of acceptance, there's still plenty of prequels-hate going around, it's just taken on a different guise) or the constant onslaught of Disney’s big-budget fanfic muddying the waters, or a combination of both, I don’t know.

But ultimately, it's quite simple. I view 'Star Wars' as the Skywalker saga...aka the six-film Lucas saga, which tells the story of Anakin Skywalker's rise, fall, and redemption. I don't personally see 'Star Wars' as some ongoing, open-ended franchise that can or even should have indefinite *canonical* additions to it. (An optional expanded universe is one thing, but additions that we, as fans, are just supposed to accept as canon without question because Disney says so is another thing entirely.) Because 'Star Wars' is not just some cinematic universe that exists for its own sake. The fact is, almost the entirety of the world-building from the Lucas-era was done in service of the story and characters of the Original Trilogy and the Prequels. The galaxy far, far away was created specifically to be the backdrop for the Skywalker saga.

So when people debate topics like ‘pro-Jedi’ vs. ‘Jedi critical’, I’m often unable to relate to the angle that these discussions take because I feel like they are largely missing the point. Story-wise, the Jedi don’t exist for their own sake, they (along with the Jedi vs. Sith struggle) are simply part of the mythic backstory of the saga. As a concept, the Jedi exist primarily to serve Anakin and Luke’s respective journeys. So, the Jedi Order of the Prequels-era is written as having become rigid and flawed because that is the necessary context for Anakin’s fall to the Dark Side. And likewise, Luke bringing Anakin back to the Light through the power of love and familial bonds is what rectifies the Old Order’s failings and thus restores the Jedi to the galaxy.

That's just... the story. As in, how it was told. So when I write meta about the Prequels and Original Trilogy, and how they work together as one story, my descriptions and interpretations of both the Jedi Order and the Jedi religion (these are related but not exactly the same thing) are simply neutral in my mind. I'm just talking about what the story is trying to convey. I can't relate to this idea that we must leap to the Jedi Order's defense, nor the converse, that we must condemn the Jedi eternally for having lost their way by the time of the Twilight of the Republic. Rather, I step outside of the story for a moment, and look from the outside in to try to see what is happening from that perspective.

I'm not sure that everyone in the fandom is willing or even able to do that.

Whether that is because very few people actually appreciate the Skywalker saga as Lucas told it to begin with (many people still loudly proclaim that 'Star Wars sucks!', which leads me to believe they must not value the core story at its heart), or they have been so confused by the Disney nonsense that they think the 'new canon' has automatically overridden any meaning that once existed in the PT x OT saga...again, I don't know. I have purposefully tried very hard to stay away from any Disney-related SW discussions for years now, so this is just all what I've gleaned from glimpses here and there.

But it seems to me that many SW fans have trouble accepting that the concept of the Jedi (and the Sith) are inextricably linked to the Skywalker saga and the Skywalker saga alone. These things would never have been created in the way they were without that story. But to acknowledge this would means fans have to accept how central Anakin is to the entire thing. All of it exists for Anakin's story. There are fans who don't like this for a slew of reasons, whether it be that they became attached to a certain idea of the Jedi based on how they were portrayed in Expanded Universe stories that came out during the interim between RotJ and the release of the Prequels (stories that were largely jossed by Lucas' canon), or because they hate Anakin for in-story reasons and have never been able to accept that Star Wars is about him whether they like it or not.

It certainly doesn't help that Disney has played into this discomfort by largely ignoring Anakin (at least, until fan-demand forced their hand) or even outright denying his importance to the story as Lucas told it. (Anakin is the Chosen One whether Disney or fans want him to be or not. Being the Chosen One is not about whether he 'deserves' it, it's literally just his role in the story. And Lucas' saga simply doesn't work without Anakin in the central role.) If fans are confused and disoriented these days, I can't entirely blame them. Disney's version of SW doesn't 'match' the Lucas saga and in many places outright contradicts it. But everything can easily be made clear if people step back (and put aside the Disney stuff for a moment) and just look at the actual story being told in the PT and OT. Likewise, any debates about the Jedi can easily be resolved in the same way. It's really not about how much fans like the Jedi as a group or as individual characters, or how much fans might wish they could be a Jedi themselves. It's about the role the Jedi play in the story, and it's about acknowledging whose story it really is.

No amount of hate will ever be able to stop me from loving RWBY with my whole heart and soul.

Because as much as I love it, RWBY IS a flawed show. Even more flawed than most shows, I’ll admit, but that’s part of the reason I love it. I can confidently admit that I have some criticism for ever single volume, side series, movie, etc, but having the good ALWAYS eclipse the bad is what always draws me back to the series after a hiatus.

Not to mention the obstacles and journey RWBY and CRWBY have had to face and seeing them always overcome it only add to its charm for me. Hell, I’m sure that no show has ever dealt with as much strife as them. The budget and limitations from it, losing Monty, having the people that I can’t even consider human beings harass them over their friend’s death, toxic criticism, adapting to a new engine, labor issues, another budget crisis, more toxic criticism, toxic dude-bro environment, COVID, WB acquiring the series, even MORE toxic criticism, and now RT shutting down leaving RWBY in a limbo till someone picks it up. They’ve pushed through all (except that last one yet) of it, and still managed to craft an incredible world with wonderful characters that hold a special place in people’s hearts the world over.

Sorry for the rant, I really did mean for this to be shortish, but I just love this show so much!

Bottom line: I will NEVER admit that RWBY is a perfect show and I can 1000% understand it if people don’t enjoy and drop it as a result (hell, neither one of my siblings did), but I will also NEVER say that RWBY is a bad series. Anyone who can accept the flaws, but still focus on all the good of the series is a true fan in my eyes.

No show is without flaws but honestly I also don't feel the need to acknowledge those flaws when I talk about something I love.

(no shade to you, anon. It's just a pet peeve)

RWBY is a great show, with writing that I would give my soul to be able to emulate. It has a great cast of characters especially the main four and there will never, ever be another show like it nor one that will fill the hole in my heart when it finally ends.

i love YR and i love wille and simon so much but i will be a simon defender till the day i die. i can see both wille’s and simon’s POVs for how they acted but idk as poor POC simon’s actions resonate more with me. regardless, the reason why i say this is because i always see so much more wille support/simon hate online than i do vice versa. im not asking for wille hate but im asking for prepubescent girls to stop supporting wille simply because he’s an attractive white boy. i dont know—maybe im oversimplifying things but what do you think about the split between simom defenders and wille defenders?

I get it. It's not fair but I get it.

Why?

Because Simon is all of us.

I might be able to identify more with Wilhelm when it comes to many things, his personality, his anxiety, his temper... but in essence every single one of us will always have more in common with Simon than with Wilhelm.

It doesn't matter how different our lives, upbringings and the small everyday things which shaped and defined us are from Simon's. It doesn't matter how much I see my younger self reflected in Wilhelm, how much I can relate to his struggles (I mean it does, but for this specific argument it doesn't). My life will still always be closer to Simon's than to Wilhelm's.

We are Simon. Simon fucks up. Simon makes mistakes. Far reaching mistakes, and it's always easier to be self-critical and insecure than not to.

I'm Simon. But I wouldn't have done xyz! (I wouldn't, I'd either have done something worse or nothing at all, which might just be worse still.)

Simon is a teen and he makes teen mistakes. Sometimes understandable ones, sometimes stupid ones, sometimes crazy ones.

It's normal. It's relatable, it's every one of us but different. Of course it's easier to be critical of Simon. To 'hate on' Simon. He is us, but he doesn't always act like we would, nor does he act like the idealized version of the beloved character we want him to be.

He's a teenager and he's flawed and he's human. We love him and we want him to be perfect but he isn't. Of course there's Simon 'hate'. It's not okay, but I get it.

Simon is us, but he makes mistakes we, however unconsciously, think we wouldn't. We think we would do better, or at least we hope so, and so we criticize him.

It's not right, but I also get the urge to do so even if I don't approve.

Wilhelm however? Wilhelm is different.

Wilhelm is a prince. Worse, he's a crown prince and future king. He's His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Sweden, Duke of Some Historical Province or Another.

His entire existence causes a knee-jerk reaction of defensiveness. At least it does in me.

Him being a minor who didn't choose who he was born as helps, but it's not enough. Yes, his life isn't easy. Yes he's living with pressure none of us can understand. Not the irl crown princess and not rwrb's Henry.

But he also has power and privilege and wealth the likes of which we'll never truly be able to comprehend. No matter what he chooses to do once he's an adult, he'll always have that.

Wilhelm's entire existence is a reflection of most of what's wrong with this world. I cannot in good conscience root for him and I shouldn't like him. We shouldn't romanticize and glorify royalty, not even fictional one, because all their wealth, power and privilege is built on our backs and sustained by our backs.

I should hate him, not feel sorry for him. I shouldn't empathize with him.

And yet Wille is my bb and my fav and I love him and he never did anything wrong in his life. Not ever. Wille is perfect. He deserves the world and I'll defend him and his wrongs to the very end of it and damn everything and everyone else.

Why?

Because if I start to acknowledge, in all seriousness, that any of his mistakes or wrongs are in fact mistakes and deserve (more) consequences, no matter if it's the fact that he's an objectively bad friend to Felice (I'm already getting super defensive typing these words because Wilhelm, my poor bb, had reasons and deserves to be selfish!) or that you never, ever point any gun at anyone, not ever, or any of his other numerous mistakes, then I'm opening up a Pandora's box I cannot close again.

Yes, he's a teenager and he's flawed and he's human. Yes, he makes stupid, far reaching mistakes. Yes, it's everyone else who hands him his power and privilege. Yes, it's all inherited, as is his wealth, but that doesn't make it alright.

You cannot, in good conscience, root for Wilhelm without also acknowledging or at least being aware of the inherent power dynamics at play, and I'm not only talking about Wilhelm and Simon's relationship, but Wilhelm and everyone, including his mother and the royal court and the entire government.

All three need Wilhelm more than he needs them, and once he fully realizes that he's going to be (even more of) a menace.

Wilhelm doesn't have any political power on paper, but that doesn't mean that his actions can't influence and control the entire Swedish legislature for years. That can be good, sure, at least in the long term, but it'll also take away from much needed other laws etc being discussed and passed, ones which would better the lives of many Swedes directly and immediately. That is scary, because it's real, or it could be.

Wilhelm is a minor and Young Royals is captivating, fictional escapism. But my ardent republican heart (of the non US kind) still struggles with not getting immediately defensive when talking about my love for Wilhelm, because Young Royals is also so real and realistic and a reflection of so many things which are still extremely problematic in our oh so progressive, look at how much worse all the other countries are, can't you be happy with what you've got? part of the world in ways many other shows aren't, and Wilhelm and his rank and title and entire existence are at the heart of it.

The biggest 'problem' Young Royals has is that despite the premise, it is so realistic and relatable and well done. It's almost impossible to escape into the fiction of it to a degree where you can solely focus on the cute boys falling in love and the romantic tragedy of their struggles, without also being at the very least peripherally aware of our reality being reflected in every scene.

Young Royals is romantic and hot and heart-wrenching, but it also criticizes the system and society and shows us exactly how little people like Simon, people like us, matter to the upper class, and it does so from the very first episode in which Simon tries his best to stay strong and tells everyone exactly who the country's biggest welfare receivers are. And he's right.

Simon deserves our defense, our support. But I don't feel the need to. I should, because Simon is not as strong as he wants to be, but he's also a normal teen and nothing is easier than looking down on teenagers and people we can identify with or have things in common with. We all do it all the time, willingly or not, consciously or not, thinking we're better, that we'd do better, no matter how much we love them, because not doing so would mean acknowledging our own faults and flaws, would mean we'd have to admit that Simon is doing the best he can in a way most of us probably wouldn't be able to.

Wilhelm however? I can identify with parts of him despite of everything he stands for and not because, and that is scary, because I don't want to have anything in common with a future hereditary head of state.

I don't want to sympathize with royalty, with people who can control others around them with nothing but words, worse their mere existence. People who, were I to address them in anything other than the third person and with a title, would consider me to be the rude one, as would everyone around us.

And yet I do. I do identify with Wilhelm. I sympathize with him. I think I understand him, but scratching the surface of that is dangerous, because no matter how much we need escapism in these hard times romanticizing royalty, sympathizing with them and thinking they're just like us is not only tricky but dangerous.

It's what the elites want, all of them, while they laugh at our plight and profit off of our hard work. It's what gets horrible people elected president and billionaires turned into cool, dudebro heroes. It's a slippery slope and none of them are the exception, no matter how much they try to convince us otherwise.

Of course we get defensive, of course we're so passionate to highlight that Wilhelm's mistakes are okay and are overly critical of Simon's.

Defending Wilhelm is not rational, it's not logical, and yet it is, which is why I will burn down the world in Wille's defense and serve it to him on a silver platter, because my bb deserves everything and his feelings and struggles are valid and who am I to judge. Wille never did anything wrong.

Finally, I get where you're coming from, but please don't make this about prepubescent girls. Or teenage girls. Being a girl that age is hard. Your body and feelings are changing in ways you don't understand, people suddenly treat you differently. Adults, kids, other teens no matter their gender. You are sexualized, and your intelligence and skills are suddenly only of secondary importance at best. It's scary, and even when it's good it's not safe. You always need to be wary and careful lest you have to pay a price for your joyful inattentiveness, a potentially traumatic, life changing price. Being a prepubescent and teenage girl is also wonderful and freeing and eye opening in the best way, but anything you do or say will always be reduced to silly teenage girl, even by other teenage girls, someone to be made fun of and not taken seriously, when in truth nothing requires more strength and tenacity than surviving as a prepubescent and teenage girl. So if fixating on attractive, unattainable white boys helps? Let them and don't judge, no matter your age or gender. It's not perfect, but it's safe. More, it's a safe way to explore your budding sexuality and bond with others along the way, something which is so important when nothing about being a girl that age ever feels safe, not even when you think you can do anything and know everything. That attractive, unattainable (white) boy? Be it Wilhelm or the current boygroup heartthrob of choice? He is going to reveal private things about himself (most likely made up, but that doesn't invalidate how finding out those facts makes you feel) without demanding a price, you can develop an intense parasocial relationship with him and learn and grow from it, it can help you in many ways which aren't obvious at first (I still keep up with my teenage boygroup and listen to every one of their new albums even though it's been twenty years and I've had musical anhedonia for almost as long), and he will never, ever grope you or insult you or make you feel awkward and insecure, nor will he ever pressure you to do something you're not ready for (unless it's to spend money you don't have on useless stuff you desperately need). Please don't be condescending or judgmental of prepubescent girls, especially ones having to grow up in the age of social media and smartphones everywhere. Fixating on the attractive white boy is a matter of self-defense. It doesn't mean they aren't aware of what they're doing or that doing so isn't ideal. They know. Everyone is constantly telling them and making them feel guilty about it. Please don't be one of them.

I know that I've talked about this before but this really is something that's been bothering me for so long now. Since the beginning of the show almost. I'm really sick of the hate TK has gotten from the start but even more than that, I'm sick of the hurt that this hate has caused people being ignored/invalidated. Since 1x02, there has been a common refrain of "Carlos deserves better than TK" and literally everything TK does (or doesn't do) is used as evidence against him. I'm also really over the people projecting their dissatisfaction over Carlos's arc this season onto TK. Just admit that you don't like the Iris storyline or the kids storyline without projecting onto the characters. Then again, I guess admitting that would mean having to admit that they actually never really even liked Carlos to begin with either and only acted like they did for as long as they could just blame his flaws and mistakes on others rather than acknowledge that he is a complex character in his own right and is allowed to mess up. It's honestly just plain annoying how so many of the people who've spent years ripping TK apart for every little thing suddenly started acting like they were only upset on his behalf this season with the Iris arc or 4x12 only to then revert back to the usual "TK doesn't love Carlos as much as Carlos loves him" refrain after 4x16. If they weren't mocking him for being "overdramatic" for being scared about the possibility of having Huntingtons, they were criticizing his wedding vows for not being good enough. Or they constantly act like any case of compassion towards TK's mistakes or talking about how he deserves love means we're ignoring Carlos. This has been going on since the start.

Now I'm not saying that there weren't people who weren't genuinely upset on TK's behalf this season nor am I saying that the people who were upset in general aren't valid. In my experience the people in the former groups aren't the ones continuously going on about how Carlos has been ruined for a start. What I am saying is that it's actually very easy to tell who was upset on TK's behalf/who had valid reasons for not liking these storylines and who was just upset that Carlos had fallen off the pedestal they'd put him on. Having watched the show since it first started airing, I actually didn't want to engage with the fandom at first because it felt like all I ever saw were people talking about how much TK sucked. And as someone who identifies with him, that really sucked. Obviously I realized that this attitude is not held by the majority but it still doesn't make it any easier to see this attitude floating around constantly. But what makes it even harder is how often I've had people reach out to me because they feel that their hurt over how TK is treated being ignored or even outright mocked. The fact that even Ronen has picked up on this and made comments about how he feels that people need to remember TK's struggles and how it affects his actions speaks volumes. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just really exhausted and hurt over how much hate I've seen towards TK over the years and how often it feels like that has gotten swept under the rug. There are people in this fandom that actually deal with things like addiction and mental illness and it's been extremely disheartening to me to see how many have had to step back or leave the fandom altogether over the years because they just couldn't deal with seeing a character they see themselves in be torn apart constantly only for people to act like it's not even happening. The truth is that there is a lot of ableism wrapped up in how TK is often talked about in this fandom and honestly that's why I wasn't surprised at how Iris had been treated because if people can act like this towards a main character, what hope could a side character like Iris have? After all, there are people who seriously think that TK should just be able to make his mental health issues go away so that Carlos would never have to worry. And what these people conveniently don't think about is that Carlos loves TK as he is and would never want him to dismiss his struggles.

Again, I know that this isn't the majority and I know that most people do care but I also feel like this is something that doesn't get talked about as much as it should because real people have been and continue to be hurt by it

What do u think about those that extremely venerates Sasuke but hates Naruto the character for being a Konoha bootlicker? Is Naruto really a bootlicker like Itachi or Kakashi? Why can't they learn to understand Naruto like they do with Sasuke? They can like both at the same time

hmmm i think you’re new to my blog, i’ve talked about this so much already, but it’s fair that you can’t find it that easily since the posts aren’t that specifically tagged. i don’t think those people can even understand sasuke’s character when they come with those claims, like how “sasuke would be much better without naruto” or stuff like it, and they surely can’t understand naruto either, or aren’t willing to for their own personal bias. sasuke is someone that challenges the status quo, true, but it comes to a point that those people only care about their own political projections onto his character. sure, they can talk about how much he loved his family, but they don’t get that sasuke is a character defined by love, and not only the love he feels for his family, but also for naruto, something they can’t accept, they will say that’s retconned, even though it’s obviously not, or that naruto is bad for sasuke, even though we clearly see that sasuke is happier. with naruto, is happier when he accepts naruto’s love for him. they don’t take the many facets of his character into consideration, making his character less complex than what he actually is. they think love and justice are mutually exclusive, which it’s not. they also can’t be unbiased towards naruto, but since naruto genuinely cares about sasuke in the manga, they have to twist that and claim that “naruto never cared about sasuke and only wanted to control him” or some other bullshit. and no, i don’t think naruto always understood sasuke, always got him and his reasons, but i don’t see how that’s a flaw either, it’s called character development. and, unlike those people, i also don’t feel the need to go through a checklist of whatever naruto did or didn’t do, because those don’t ruin or outshine the bigger picture that is a story about love and devotion and being there for someone and feeling pain when they are in pain, a story that, despite all its flaws, shows that naruto is the only person that sympathises with sasuke, the only one that says what he does is understandable, and clearly the only one who stood against the village to protect his precious bond and even gave up on his own dream for sasuke. nor i eat the narrative up as if it’s 100% right, or pick a side as completely right or completely wrong, since i have critical thinking and am able to understand that there’s nuance in life and that a lot of kishimoto’s ideas weren’t adequate to the magazine he worked for. but, above all, i am able to understand that both characters are happier when they are together and that they balance each other out, like yin and yang.

i myself am very critical of the naruto ending, but i can acknowledge that it’s harmful for both naruto’s and sasuke’s characters, not only one or the other. it does both dirty because it prioritised easy plot conclusions over satisfying character arcs, since the editors pushed for boruto as an easy cash grab, be it because of their behaviour or their beliefs/politics. naruto has been someone that rejected a lot of aspects of the shinobi system, he promised to change it in multiple occasions, because of multiple reasons, so why that’s not the case in boruto? because you can’t have haha ninja kids, in which the main character is the son of the village leader, if the village leader is against being a ninja, knows the problems of being a ninja kid, so everything is swept under the rug for the sake of a sequel no one asked for. the same way sasuke can’t keep his need for justice and revolution, otherwise it contradicts the idea of the sequel. but i’m thankfully aware that the naruto ending we’ve got isn’t a consequence of naruto and sasuke’s reconciliation, isn’t because sasuke accepted naruto’s love for him, isn’t because sasuke didn’t go for his own self destruction in a plan that honestly wasn’t going to work. and i’m not someone who thinks that kishimoto handled everything perfectly, but i see that a lot has to do with the narrative of the story, other than the character itself, a narrative that also forces itachi down people’s throats and, honestly, that was something that made both naruto’s and sasuke’s characters worse, as well as their views and resolutions.

i understand that people that love sasuke notice that a lot of times he gets the short end of the stick in the fandom, including the sns fandom (and especially the sasunaru one), he truly does and i hate that as well. but my response to it is fortunately not hating on naruto, because the character has nothing to do with bad fan interpretations. naruto pretty much acts the opposite of what a lot of people would like him to act actually. when they want sasuke to “redeem himself” and show that he’s worthy of naruto’s love, naruto has accepted sasuke already, he has never held anything against sasuke and never stopped believing he is a good person. when they want sasuke to act out of guilt and regret, the moment sasuke starts doubting himself at vote2, naruto tells him to “stop sulking” in his very unrefined naruto way, but sasuke likes him just like that. i would rather criticise the fandom’s attitudes and interpretations other than responding with nonsensical character hate, which i do already.

and there’s also the fact that a lot of them are homophobic and in denial. but a lot of people will only “understand” what they want to, really.

sorry if i extended myself on this one, but, like i said, i’ve talked about this so much already, and believe me, there’s much more besides this.

Sometimes I wonder if the rabid Eddie fans who get mad about Jonathan being stoned onscreen twice but handwave Eddie selling hard drugs think "Special K" is just like weed-infused cereal or something. (Idgaf if characters do/sell drugs, but the hypocrisy is odd.)

Wait—Eddie fans are dragging Jonathan for being stoned in two scenes??? Oof yeah the hypocrisy. It also totally misses Jonathan’s character—not caring that he was self medicating due to his own issues, and even later apologized about it to Will, when Jonathan has always been going thru so much.

A hot take: People say Eddie is the ultimate outcast (even going so far to say he’s the biggest outcast on the show lol), but for as much as he talks about “forced conformity,” he also enforces conformity within his own group. He’s King of a subset of Nerds in that school—he has power in his group of outcasts and uses it. If Lucas can’t play in the DnD campaign (Lucas is completely in the right and is owed an apology), Eddie can dominate and intimidate Mike and Dustin into finding another player. They’re literally afraid to tell him bc as King of the “freaks,” they know they’ll get in trouble. One of the reasons the ‘King of x subculture’ thing gets kind of sus is the Kings often replicate the exact kind of behavior they supposedly hate and criticize, but love to use in their own little group. I wonder if it’s one of the reasons Steddie is so popular—the fandom gets drawn to guys on the show with “alpha” traits, even if here with Eddie they’re pretty complicated. Maybe people are drawn to Eddie bc he’s proud of his freak status, gets on the cafeteria table and flaunts it in the school’s face, not taking their bs. However, in a less interesting way, he also doesn’t take any bs from the group he is a leader of—they will all do anything he says. Of course, what happens to him then is much more complex and sad—he’s ostracized by the whole town, his freak status is weaponized agst him by Jason and the police, he is ashamed at himself for running away and hiding, and he ultimately dies trying to protect others and the show doesn’t do a great job acknowledging it.

Meanwhile, we have Jonathan as the most hated in the fandom—an outcast outcasted by the fandom—in part bc he’s very different than any of the other male teens on the show. He’s never been King of anything, nor acts like it or wants it. He’s introverted and keeps to himself (until he got his first friend this year). He doesn’t bully or have power in a certain way he exerts over any group in school, he generally doesn’t fight, and rejects the toxic masculinity his father taught him (“real men” kill things). However, he fought through years of abuse, and turned it into immense sensitivity and love for his family—from helping to raise his brother and assuming a parental role, to worrying about his Mom’s anxiety, to working jobs to help pay the bills, to growing up in a town where his family is ostracized. He has a lot of inner fight and strength and trust issues and flaws—but the fandom ostracizes him either bc they don’t find him “attractive” enough or they think of him as useless and boring bc so many of his traits are interior and subtle, which is very different than the guys the fandom has been drawn to. Anyway, interesting.

How much of the Edel backlash/discourse is rooted in fandom misogyny and how much of it is rooted in having opinions soured due to people justifying her actions and doubling down via harassment/stalking and spewing out hateful rhetoric? Cause I've seen people saying the dislike towards Edel proves that the fandom can't handle "female characters who are evil or flawed and make mistakes " when I think it's moreso "people are justifying her bad/villainous actions and saying it good actually and doubling down on it."

This is going to be two things.

First:

Was/is there probably misogyny ingrained in some parts of the fandom that don't like Edelgard? Sure.

Would they have been dicks about Edelgard and women in general regardless of anything Edelgard fans said or did? Probably, yeah, that's how shitty people work.

Was it the majority of people who didn't like/criticized Edelgard? Probably not.

Did it help anything to just blanket accuse everyone who didn't like her of being misogynists? Absolutely not.

There are absolutely valid criticisms of her writing and how some of her fans treat her, but lumping every criticism together as "misogyny" fundamentally lacks nuance and exists to shut all criticism down, valid or not. And it does so in a way that is not only designed to say "I don't agree with you", it's also meant to say "therefore you are a bad person." You're attaching a moral dimension to media critique that was not necessarily present, nor did it need to be. Most of us can recognize the coded insult there.

That's obviously going to make things more heated right off the bat. Cuz, you know, most people don't like it when you come out the gate saying "I think you're a horrible person". So the people getting shit on by Edelgard fans get annoyed and push back, which causes the fans to push back harder, on and on and on.

The second point here is where I maybe risk being controversial.

I'm going to preface this by saying this isn't necessarily something I think is good/agree it's an okay thing to do, it's just my observation from my time in the fandom and knowing how internet culture works.

Second:

You have to acknowledge to some extent that Edelgard diehards are primo troll targets.

Like okay okay, hear me out.

You know why Edelgard discourse continues to fascinate and amuse despite everything? Cuz most people don't take this shit that seriously, but they think it's hilarious to make fun of people who do. Edelgard diehards just do not know when to quit, and they've been identified by 99% of the fandom as people who are easy (and occasionally entertaining) to poke at and incite a reaction from.

Their obsession with co-opting the language of social justice just enhances that further by making them come off as incredibly oversensitive about something that actually doesn't matter that much.

It's the heady cocktail of misplaced self-righteousness, the way they're so sensitive and easily hurt/offended, the obsessive need to argue every point, and categorical refusal to stop until they are 100% agreed with. It basically makes them PRIME troll targets. It's like. God it's not even fair. Edelgard fans are like those tech support scammers and arguing with them is like being one of those youtubers that gives the scammers the run around for hours on end just to fuck with them.

And like? It perpetuates itself because where an individual might come to the realization that they're arguing with a troll and they look fucking ridiculous, the Edelgard fandom is a community that consistently reinforces reacting to every single situation about Edelgard in the most terminally online manner. I mean go on their server they pat each other on the back constantly and congratulate themselves for "sticking it to the haterz" for stalking and harassing people, not realizing that at BEST 95% of the wider community is laughing their asses off at how ridiculous they look, and at worst 95% of the wider community growing increasingly hostile toward them every passing minute because of their behavior.

I mean. I didn't exactly advertise this but last year I got some amusement out of posting Dimitri-positive meta to my main blog. Because I noticed every time I posted anything positive about Dimitri in the tag it would get a responding anti-Dimitri screed from Raxy within 2-5 business days. And I was posting those because I genuinely like Dimitri and wanted to spread positivity, but I will not lie. It was fucking hilarious. I laughed my ass off watching him get so mad over just the concept of someone saying something nice about Dimitri. It's ridiculously easy to set these people off. Every time someone they don't like breathes they feel the need to write a screed and flip out.

Which like, it's not fun to be on the receiving end of getting stalked and harassed and having screeds written about your every opinion... but yeah if I were detached from the situation I can see why it would be amusing. I mean even typing this out I find it kind of darkly amusing.

And I'm not saying everyone that dislikes Edelgard is a troll (I'm certainly not in it to poke bears and get reactions) but like? I wouldn't be surprised if there were trolls who just jumped on the discourse as soon as they realized how damn easy it is to get Edelgard diehards riled up. Think of how many 3H discourse posts have some variation on the "don't mind me, just getting some popcorn" comments.

So the discourse gets perpetuated, by some actors, purely for amusement. It doesn't just happen to Edelgard fans either, but I'd say in general they're significantly easier to bait and rattle. I mean there's literally a dozen blogs on Tumblr no one gave a shit about that managed to do it without even trying. Just by like. Existing and having opinions they didn't like.

Like, genuinely, the more I think on it the more absurd it gets. There's so little you're actually required to do in order to piss them off. It's kind of amazing.

I'd say you can see a microcosm of this every time Edelgard loses a voting gauntlet in FEH. There are dozens of characters who have lost numerous voting gauntlets, but Edelgard is usually the one that gets the most energy put toward making fun of her for losing. And you know why? Because her diehard fans extremely consistently go into a tailspin whenever it happens and people find that funny as fuck.

Chrom loses his 15th voting gauntlet, there's a meme, and everyone laughs and moves on. Edelgard loses her 5th voting gauntlet, there's a meme, and then there's a full blown meltdown in the comment section and screaming about how everyone is evil and misogynistic and queerphobic for days on end. Now not only can you make jokes about her losing, you can make jokes about the terminally online fans losing their goddamn minds over her losing.

And again I'm not saying that's a good thing or that it should happen... but I feel like emotionally mature adults should also be able to recognize when maybe they're being a little too over-invested in the internet waifu war and acknowledge when it's time to write off certain people/opinions as not worth your time to care about.

And you know, some of it is that there's actual things to talk about and controversial conversations can get heated. But there's been things to talk about in every game ever released and it only seems to hit critical mass when you combine the co-opting of social justice language to "prove" the haters wrong with the need to argue your point aggressively and endlessly despite all evidence indicating that it's probably time to give it a rest.

(if you dont want to answer this then def dont) I am really curious about your thoughts on the latest scorsese. I've mostly been avoiding all the responses because I'm Inuk and I just don't have the fucking energy for another article churned out by a white person who doesn't give a shit. But I guess my current view is that if this is a story Scorsese really wanted to see told, he should have just supported a Native director to make it from their perspective. Hasn't he directed enough movies lmao

i'm not really going to wade too much into the "scorsese should have just supported a native director" debate since i'm not native and that's not my lane, but i think it's a reasonable desire albeit a little devoid of the unfortunate realities of this industry, which is that even a guy like martin, who is one of the most well-known and well-regarded filmmakers ever, struggled for years to get this made and that films that are from a native filmmaker's perspective are getting a tenth of the budget and buried in release (lily gives a better performance in a film called fancy dance, which i saw at sundance and is a wonderful film, and as far as i can tell, it literally does not even have US distribution yet). so i get it, i don't disagree per se, but i also get why he wanted to use his name and his clout to get this particular project off the ground.

staying in my own lane, my criticisms are mostly with the ways the film looks and how it's adapted from the source material. i think the story is compelling and it's a point in history that needed telling, but the script really takes a lot of the wind out of its own sails by giving the answer to its key question away almost immediately. i haven't read the source material but from what i do know, i think this is kinda the inevitable conclusion of wanting to have your cake and eat it too (having the dicaprio and deniro characters as the primary relationship featured in the film). the structure and pacing of the film are very messy, and i'll be honest.... i expect more visually from a "master" like martin. i expect better from the man everyone compares to a god. his last two movies look flat and boring visually. i also think dicaprio is in a different movie from everyone else, performance wise. he gives way too much at all times, it's distracting and feels tonally off with what everyone else (aside from the recent oscar winner in the cast, who i'm not even gonna dignify with a name lol) is trying to do.

the positives for me are that lily and all the other indigenous actors are insanely good in their roles, but comparatively their roles are just not as weighty compared to dicaprio and de niro. but i'll be honest..... mostly i'm just annoyed in the ways that like we seem to put our head in the sand where martin's work is concerned. like we can't acknowledge that he's not a god, he is merely a man and a flawed one at that. he can stumble and make movies that are flawed, that are (gasps) not that good. but it's the way that the critics and community are just putting their hands over their ears and going this is a masterpiece i don't wanna hear otherwise it's marty, that's pee paw, argue with the wall...... like ok. i hate the way we talk about him, it has grinded my gears for a really long time, and to be honest i'm not shocked that mollie's presence in this film is minimal compared to her male counterparts because marty's track record for women in his movies is..... no one wants to say this but i'm not afraid of the losers on film twitter who prop up two (!!!!!) movies with women who are exceptions to the rule, PISS FUCKING POOR.

so to summarize.... i don't hate the movie at all. it's definitely worth a watch, it has a lot of good things in there, but it's not a masterpiece, it's not his masterpiece, and if you really love scorsese you have to grapple with his failings and his shortcomings. i think they're very apparent in this movie, and it's neither good nor bad. it simply is.

The tfa fanbase has an ableism problem so let's start there

First it was Calling Sentinel a sociopath for being an imperfect trauma victim. Now I see a certain user calling Optimus deranged for having understandable fears about letting a human child fight grown ppl matters bc he didn't want to lose her like he lost his previous friend. I have had it with these takes.

The way some folks talk about certain characters here is abysmal. Everyone in the show has trauma but i always see it used as fuel for shipping, or stans throwing words they don't understand all because they don't like a character.

Yes Optimus has flaws as a fangirl I do acknowledge them but I hate hate HATE how he's being called deranged by someone just for expressing a behavior clearly rooting from trauma. Or try to make him out to be as toxic as Blackarachnia and Sentinel even though they're the ones actively hurting people and not really giving a shit. On the flip side I see people rag on Blackarachnia more harsher than they do male villains and ignore her trauma responses; and straight up demonize Sentinel for his.

I see people fight over who had it worse in Autobot boot camp, when Bee and Wasp and Bulkhead didn't deserve to go through that shit. Cuz I tell you right not Bee and Bulk didn't do anything to deserve Sentinel's wrath. Wasp didn't either. I see people downplay Prowl and Ratchet's backgrounds, how they're traumatized. Or the decepticons and how they're nothing but pure evil ignoring how they also may have had traumatic experiences as well. Or mock Perceptor for his funny voice, and Arcee for her amnesia. And what about the Sumdacs? Sari's existential crisis? Isaac's fears? Barely brought up except for tired angst.

By all means criticize a character. Point out their flaws I don't care. But don't go around playing psychiatrist and diagnosing terms you clearly do not understand as a form of critique. It's not funny nor cute.

People You'd Like to Get to Know Better

i was tagged by @druidberries. Thank you!!

Tag under the cut because I went on a whole spiel about a popular novel that catches a lot of flak online and I don't know how to shut up (spoiler: it features 20-something-year-olds who open up brick-and-mortar businesses in downtown Boston like it's nothing, and trash in the form of a man named Kyle with an R).

Last Song: From the Start - Laufey

Favorite Color: Sage Tint by Benjamin Moore

Currently Watching: Only Murders in the Building and Modern Family (I watched the first couple seasons but never finished it. It's such a good background show).

Last Movie: Last one I watched in the theatres was Oppenheimer, but the last one I watched on streaming was Disenchanted (lol). I need more James Marsden in my life, especially after his performance in Jury Duty.

Currently Reading: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. Before you get the pitchforks, I'm only reading it because of the ~discourse~. Besides, I had it downloaded in my Kobo long before it really blew up on tiktok and my curiosity was reignited after I saw the uproar about the casting. I have a lot of problems with this book: (1) it's not well-written and I should've put the book down the moment she started writing letters to Ellen Degeneres and thought she was a good celebrity for being charitable, (2) it doesn't delve into the systemic issues that play a role in why women stay with their ab*ser, (3) the marketing for this book ain't shit for categorizing it a romance novel. BUT, all my problems aside, I don't think the story itself romanticizes domestic ab*se and I think most readers recognize this (see this Slate article that talks about it better than I could). Here's an excerpt:

It seems like this part of the novel’s plot could be read in two very different ways: one, which the Mary Sue seems to pursue, is that Lily doesn’t react to ab*se in the appropriate way, and the book endorses all of her choices, and therefore both deserve condemnation. The other is an exercise in empathy: Hoover wrote an imperfect book on domestic violence, but if we require all of these narratives to be morally unimpeachable, there’s no room to acknowledge that there is no such thing as a perfect victim.

I haven't finished the book, but I read Kyle with an R doesn't get a satisfying comeuppance proportional to his actions. And while it would be nice to see the trash taken out, isn't this ending plausible and representative of a common experience among families with a history of ab*se?

I think my big criticism with the backlash surrounding this book and others like it is the assumption that their readers are "impressionable young girls". Not every work of fiction needs to portray the protagonist as a hero in every sense of the word. Not every positive quality assigned to a villain is "making the character redeemable". Not every work of fiction is meant to be didactic and scrutinized as if it were instructions on how to live a perfect life. Maybe I'm giving more credit where it's due, but I really think most readers are able to think critically. People love reading about complicated characters in messy situations. And while I think the characters in Hoover's book could be written better and fleshed out a lot more, that is neither here nor there. My point is: stop assuming women are stupid and incapable of forming their own opinion. Enjoyment of fiction is not endorsement of the actions exhibited by deeply flawed characters.

Sweet/Spicy/Savory: Savory. But after writing all that and posting it here on tumblr, maybe SPICY.

Last Thing I Googled: That Slate article so I could link it and before that I googled Blake Lively and learned that she has 4! children.

Current Obsession: Rowing! But only if I have an episode of Modern Family playing.

Currently Working On: TJOLC posts, Lightflower is kind of on the back burner right now on account of I-hate-posing-sims and the next few scenes require a lot of it. I just wish there was AI that would pose my sims for me based on dialogue I've written. I would betray my principles, climb up the paywall if I have to.

I'm tagging anyone who sees this and

(ETA: look at me getting cut off by my own self. Sorry I was distracted and heating up some food while typing this, but yeah, I tag anyone who sees this.)

Picard s3e10 "The Last Generation"

I laughed, I cried, I cheered, but I'm not free of conflicts.

The artificial constraints of a 10 episode season are something I really feel acutely. So I'll start off with an acknowledgment: if OG Picard fans are furious, I get it. I don't share your anger, but I do understand it.

Spoilers ahead.

I broadly agree with the creaky older fan sentiment that in many ways Season Three is what Season One should have been. Primarily in that the absence of the rest of the main characters and centering Picard and Picard only and, to some extent, Data, was a disservice to the rest of the TNG ensemble.

A flaw that was rectified in Season Three. However, by rectifying it in Season Three and then committing to the story they were going to tell in the amount of minutes they were going to tell it in, a grim sort of triage inevitably was going to take place. The victims overwhelmingly were the characters and storylines of Seasons One and Two.

That was neither kind nor fair.

I won't pretend I didn't love this season. But I also was aware of and frustrated by what was missing because I am committed to the ideals I started this blog on: these are my self conscious reactions, reflections, and introspections rather than objective truths I live and die by and demand others validate, lest they be deemed "not real fans."

Now I myself will not be buying a ticket for the Matalas hate train. I think there was an awareness that a lot was being left on the cutting room floor to cater to fans like...well, me, and an attempt was made to offer an overture to a possible sequel series not unlike a "sorry for your loss" bouquet.

Should you view that as a fair consolation prize for only addressing Seven and Raffi's relationship with a couple of quips and an action movie one liner? Or literally forgetting Elnor?

Were I in your place, I probably wouldn't. But I sincerely hope we get that sequel show so that proper amends can be made.

Hopefully it will also include Worf so that the DS9ers can get justice for Jadzia.

Although, I am a bit pessimistic that its going to happen even with the overwhelmingly positive reception. Two overlapping ship focused shows seems unlikely unless Enterprise-G is a metaplot driven narrative show while Strange New Worlds is episodic with light sprinkles of meta. A prospect that I am kind of meh on. Season Three proves that you can do a season long narrative and it not get too bloated or convoluted and deliver a satisfying finish, but I don't know that its enough for me to trust the concept of the 10 episode version of a classic Trek two parter going forward. Five times burned, twice shy.

For those keeping score, that's seven seasons of serialized Trek with five that I think were not well executed overall, not unforgivably so, but they definitely had a clumsy adolescence as their shows matured. I liked Discovery season 4 quite a bit. I'm not on the "Discovery sucks" anti-hype train either, but I think the show has rather clearly been showing its work as it has struggled season after season to figure out its own unique identity and to balance that identity with the expectations of the broader Star Trek franchise, navigating the hellscape of the fandom and trying to figure out which parts have valid criticisms and which are misanthropes who are allergic to other people experiencing joy: and its been a messy process.

What also steals some of my euphoria from the ending of Picard is the announcement of the Section 31 movie.

I love Michelle Yeoh, I even like the character of Georgiou, but I don't trust anyone who has been involved in Trek to date, not even Ron Moore or Robert Hewitt Wolfe, to not resuscitate vile late 90s to mid-oughts nihilism and uncritical worship of "hard men making hard choices because the good are too effete and squeamish to do what must be done."

I know, I know, its negative for a Star Trek apologia blog but I hate Section 31. That's the only thing I'll ever gatekeep. Its a violent refutation of the core premises of Star Trek: that reason and decency win in the end and the endless fascination with constructing scenarios where characters have no other choice but to do near genocides, assassination, and other grimderp shenanigans really infuriates me. There are multiple franchises where I would accept that with zero qualms: Babylon 5, Star Wars, Farscape, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica*, the Expanse etc. but they don't have that same core premise that good wins because good is actually how you win.

*Although it got REAL tedious REAL quick because of how excessively Moore's Galactica leaned into this. Which is incidentally kind of why even though I admire the man, I kind of want to see him and Star Trek keep 500 feet from each other at all times. The guy is way too into torturing series leads. Save that for O'Brien, he lives on pain.

So, to recap.

Dear S1/S2 fans. I adored this ending: it was everything I love about TNG right down to Picard saving the day through warmth and decency. But I'm sorry you got screwed. This is not a zero sum game to me. I think there was a way we could have all been happy and it sucks that wasn't a priority.

I keep seeing increasingly bizarre claims by Azula stans about how she’s being discriminated against by the fandom, the other characters, and the narrative, and then these same Azula stans will be like “oh, but why can’t we love all the characters equally?”

I mean, because we don’t have to, nor are the characters meant to be interpreted this way, and this kind of media analysis, while it is something I have seen throughout my years in fandom, always comes across as utterly deaf to the context of whatever media this person is arguing about.

Characters in stories aren’t meant to be loved equally. We aren’t meant to have positive discussions about how this racist imperialist abusive villain really had a point, after all, and doing so is not only ridiculous, it runs the risk of being seriously harmful and propagating harmful rhetoric.

No, we should NOT be treating Zuko and Azula equally, because one atoned for their bad actions and the other one didn’t. One stopped being angry and hurting others and the other one didn’t.

I actually do love both characters but that does NOT mean I am going to talk about them in the same way and pretend they both equally deserve to be talked about positively, because they don’t. This weird performative positivity thing which seems to be unique to fandom is how you get posts arguing that a scene where Azula is belittling Zuko for not believing fascist propaganda in “The Avatar and the Firelord” is a scene of them bonding together. It’s how you get people saying that acknowledging that Katara beat Azula in Sozin’s Comet is antifeminist because it’s “pitting two women against each other” when what actually happened is that Azula was beaten by a woman she thought she was superior to. We should be talking about that. We should be pitting them against each other and acknowledging that Azula lost because this is a story about love triumphing over hate.

I mean, look, I’m all for stanning the villain. What I’m not here for is toxic positivity that makes room for abuse apologism for fear that we might say something negative about a character who hurt others without remorse, or in many cases, blaming other characters for reacting negatively to being victimized. It’s just fiction, which means that stanning villains isn’t a reflection of your moral character, but the fact that it is just fiction also means that it isn’t a moral flaw to be critical of a character, especially when that character should rightfully be criticized.

“But isn’t pitting Zuko and Azula against each other what Ozai wanted?”

No, I’m pretty sure Ozai wanted Azula to be his perfect princess and for Zuko to believe he was worthless. He was perfectly happy when he had both Zuko and Azula under the same roof as long as he could control them, and Zuko believing blatant lies and accepting his sister being cruel to him makes Zuko all the more easy for Ozai to control. I’m pretty sure Ozai would agree with the people saying that Zuko is just so ungrateful to Azula and wasn’t Azula just being nice? Isn’t that more than Zuko deserves, after all? To be fair, Ozai also doesn’t want Azula to realize self-actualization, but as long as Zuko stayed in his place at the bottom, I think he was fine with Zuko and Azula “bonding,” aka Azula insulting Zuko for daring to question the status quo, because that meant Zuko stayed in his place as the family scapegoat, Azula continued to believe Fire Nation propaganda unquestioned, and Ozai got exactly what he wanted.

Ok so here we go with part 4 of my series. Just a quick disclaimer bc I am only going to say this once. As this series focuses on characters through the lens of their relationship with Robby and we all know that Robby has been done dirty in one way or another by just about every single character on the show, there will be a fair bit of criticism. Fair criticism being the operative phrase here. I have no intention nor desire to shit on characters for no reason. This is true of all characters. While I may be harsher on some characters than I am on others, it isn't due to me hating them but rather with the magnitude of how much wrong they've done. Also, while the main focus is the characters' relationships with Robby, I will be exploring the characters themselves as it their own characteristics that impact the relationship they have with Robby. I will also add that loving and defending characters is fine but I think that being able to call out flaws and acknowledging valid criticism is actually a healthy way to interact with characters. Let’s just remember that criticism does not automatically equal hatred and part of an analysis means making warranted criticisms.

So for this post I want to talk about Robby and his relationship with Kreese and by extension Silver.

What I find really interesting about Kreese is that he really does believe in what he’s doing. He truly doesn’t think of what he did to Johnny as abuse. Instead, he actually seems to view Johnny as some kind of surrogate son and extends that to Robby. He talks about “three generations of Cobra Kai” as though it’s some kind of family legacy. He continuously refers to Robby as “son.” 

From the moment Kreese is reintroduced, we can see the effect he still has on Johnny. For Johnny as a child, Cobra Kai was an escape from his horrible stepfather and Kreese did play the role of a father figure for him. It’s hard to admit that the person you view as a parent is actually the reason for your pain. Hell, we see this repeated with Robby and Johnny. Even when Robby can admit that his father has hurt him, he still craves his attention. With Johnny, he internalized the abuse Kreese inflicted on him to such an extent that it took decades for him to even acknowledge that Kreese had done something wrong. 

When Kreese returns at the end of s1, Johnny is shocked and definitely not as happy as Kreese hoped Johnny would be. They fight and Kreese once again hurts Johnny badly. However, despite this Kreese is able get under Johnny’s skin once again and convince him that Kreese has changed. Johnny believes him which is understandable and lets Kreese back into his life. It’s only after the school fight when Johnny begins to question everything around him that he starts to escape Kreese’s grip. 

One thing that is obvious almost from the moment Kreese returns is his desire to get Robby into Cobra Kai. He constantly tells Johnny that it’s not right for Robby to be with Daniel and that he should be with them instead. He keeps referring to Robby as “our boy.” It’s almost impressive the lengths Kreese goes to to get Robby into Cobra Kai. 

It’s hardly surprising that Robby would trust Kreese despite everything because when Robby was completely alone and scared, Kreese was the only one who even bothered to show up for him. Kreese was the only one who visited him in juvie. Sure, he had ulterior motives and Robby certainly wasn’t interested in what he had to say in the beginning. However, Kreese taught Robby how to fight back in a way that actually stopped him from getting beaten up in juvie. I find it interesting that before Robby even gave Kreese a chance, he actually looked him up. He looked Kreese up and learned about him without any biases clouding his judgement. Of course, none of the articles that he looked at would have told him the truth about how messed up Kreese actually is. So for Robby, it really did come down to who was there when he needed someone and that was Kreese. Of course, Kreese was the only person to acknowledge what really happened in the school fight. That Miguel was the one who escalated the whole thing and Robby was the one who was trying to stop it. 

In 3x10, Robby watched as Johnny and Kreese fought. Bearing in mind that the only reason Johnny was even at the dojo was to get back at Kreese for what he did to Miguel. He didn’t even know that Robby was there because he just let Robby go off on his own but he was willing to storm the dojo and fight Kreese for Miguel. So Johnny sees Robby and Kreese goes into his spiel about “three generations of Cobra Kai.” Kreese may be messed up but everything he said in that scene and in previous scenes since s2 all show that he truly does view Johnny as a son and by extension Robby as a grandson in an extremely warped way. So Kreese and Johnny fight and Robby sees it all. He sees Johnny on top of Kreese actually about to kill hi. Johnny only stops when Robby tells him not to do it. So now on top of everything else, Robby has also had to see his father almost kill someone. Then he outright tells Johnny how much he has hurt him and Johnny just stands there. Then when Robby snaps and starts fighting him, yeah Johnny says he doesn’t want to fight Robby but then proceeds to throw him into a set of lockers and knocking him unconscious. Yeah, it was an accident but there were so many things Johnny could have done in that moment to stop Robby that didn’t involve pushing him into those lockers. Then when Robby regained consciousness and went outside where Kreese and the others were having their standoff, Robby tells them to go. Johnny could have insisted he stay, he could have asked Robby if he was alright, he could have done lots of things but instead he chose to walk away thus making it clear to Robby that his only option was Kreese. Daniel said “keep your Cobra Kai away from our kids” yet had no problem leaving Robby in Kreese’s clutches.

Despite everything, Robby still wasn’t completely sold on joining Kreese. He told Kreese that he wasn’t interested in being a pawn in his games. It was really only after his conversation with Tory and then with Sam at the skatepark when he saw that there was no place for him at Miyagi-Do that wouldn’t require him to debase himself, he went to Kreese. Mind you, even then he makes it a point to tell Johnny that he doesn’t really trust Kreese. For Robby, going to Kreese really was more about survival than anything about Cobra Kai.

Robby’s relationship with Silver is interesting because he is the only person with the exception of Kreese who isn’t scared of Silver. Sure, he was bit intimidated by him at first but even after being beaten up by Silver, Robby never feared him. Robby clearly knew from the start that Silver was dangerous yet he had no problem openly challenging him at the avt. Then in s5, he took it a step further and challenged him in front of all his students. Silver by that point was already clearly unhinged and made it very clear that he would not hesitate to hurt Robby but Robby still looked him in the eye without a hint of fear. 

It’s interesting that there are similarities between Robby and Daniel when it comes to Silver. Both have been his students. Both understand just how dangerous he is better than anyone. Silver for his part seems to have a personal interest in both Robby and Daniel. With Daniel it’s obvious and goes a lot deeper but he became obsessed with Robby as soon as he found out who he was. He watched as Robby was teaching Kenny Miyagi-Do and tells Robby he knows enough to kick all their asses and then challenges him to a fight. There was no reason for him to do that other than to show Robby how much power he could exert over him and Robby understood that message. He taunts Johnny in the prom episode by saying that he would take care of Robby. He also looks directly at Robby at the avt and tells him that it’s his chance to prove to Johnny and Daniel that they don’t need him. He makes it a point to address Robby when even Kreese didn’t say anything. Even in s5, during the beatdown with Johnny, Silver is actually the only person to point out how Johnny has screwed up with Robby. 

As far as Kreese in s5 goes, now that he feels that he has been well and truly betrayed by Johnny and Martin Kove has even said will likely target him in some way for revenge, it’s highly possible he might try something with Robby. Robby obviously will not go back to Kreese but Kreese may target Robby. With Silver, I doubt we have seen the end of him. Given the murky legal situation regarding his arrest, I certainly don’t see Silver just accepting defeat. I’m actually interested in seeing what happens to these two in s6.

You can also see my other posts on Robby and his relationships here

As always, thank you so much to anyone who took the time to read this post and leave a reaction. I truly appreciate it. I hope to have the next post in my series up as soon as I can.

hey, i just read your jay fic and just had a few things i wanted to say about it. this isn’t meant to offend you but i hope you keep them in mind the next time you write a fic

first of all, i know you said in your author’s note that it wasn’t meant to be misogynistic but it really feels that way due to the lack of character development. initially it seemed as though y/n hated both the girls and guys, but at one point y/n described jay as a greek god and described yujin as an “ugly jealous slut.” the way the girls were described as (this is verbatim by the way) “objects that do nothing but lurk around the school grounds, waiting to be inserted with a schlong and become teenage mothers” felt very demonizing. i gave y/n the benefit of the doubt because i thought her way of thinking would change, but she never acknowledged her flawed way of thinking or internalized misogyny once.

i also found the bodyshaming to be extremely unnecessary. there’s one point where yujin calls y/n and liz fat and then liz retaliates by saying “she had more fat rolls than fat amy.” it’s one thing to call it out as bad behavior, but y/n was cheering liz on for retaliating in that way. and liz gets fatshamed a lot irl so i found this whole scene to be a little weird.

another thing that bothered me was the first almost sex scene between y/n and jay. jay was drunk and clearly not in the right state of mind while y/n was completely sober. since she had been pushing him away for a majority of the fic, the fact that she made a move on him while he was drunk made the scene very uncomfortable.

i’m saying this just so that you know for the future and i do hope you listen to these points.

heyoo, sorry I got to this so late. 1) it's bcs I think u sent the ask at like 5am for me or smth? or when i was abt to sleep and 2) I had to find the time to be in a place where I can write a response without getting interrupted or distracted as well as be in the right state of mind to receive criticism and retaliate with my own defence in order to not please all of you by just saying that I'm sorry and I'll change.

yeah this isn't meant to be misogynistic bcs misogyny means to discriminate only towards women (search it up) yn hates both genders and I don't know if I made it clear in the character description but the only person she likes is Liz (now Jay as well), bcs they're the ones that yn don't have a grudge against. she has a grudge against the rugby players bcs they messed with her last year with the games. oh and also the thing abt the school funds, and the attention they receive while nothing went to her artclub. and she hates girls bcs most of the people/girls she has encountered basically threw themselves at the boys without a single thought and she hates them for being stupid.

yn isn't some sort of perfect, compassionate character. she treats people how she sees fit. if you call her fat, she'll call u the same. if u call her ugly, she'll retaliate. if you punch her, she punches back. if you piss her off, she'll beat you up. she isn't this sweet and thoughtful character you want her to be or one who's morally right in the head.

also, abt the liz being fat thingy, idrk anything abt that nor do i care abt it. I think liz is hot. she's literally the only kpop girl I like she's my bias and I'd gladly actually turn gay for her, I like her that much. I don't see liz as fat and if u do, that's your problem, not mine. the comments abt the girls being practical whores are just yn generalising them bcs like I said, yn is not a perfect character. she's vengeful. and ig it's my mistake for not putting dark humour in the warnings, I'll admit that.

this story isn't some fairytale romance where everything's right and just. you should've known that the moment it was stated that they literally fuck girls for fun and then leave them when they get what they want and how jake is so disloyal towards his s/o. though I don't condone all the wrong things that's done here (the fuck games, the cheating, the almost drunk sex, the violence, the discrimination), as an adult myself, I know how to differentiate right from wrong. everyone that read this is this is adult— unless you're like that bitch suna who lied abt her age. if you're able to read a 28k long ass smut, you should know what's fiction and whats not bcs as an adult, you should be wiser. that's why you're allowed to have sex, drink, amongst a lot of other things.

I have a fic where they literally do human trafficking but no one said a thing bcs sunghoon came out all right in the end. if sunghoon was beaten by the reader, then would u bat an eye? no, bcs sunghoon came out all right (thankfully).

I have a boyfriend and we've been together for 3 years. despite the distance, despite the hardships in life, were both together. and you know why? bcs we both know how to treat eachother right. none of this drunk maybe unconsensual sex happens, there's no cheating. that's bcs I'm an adult who lives in the real world and knows how to differentiate fantasy from the actual (we both are). I'm mentioning him bcs in this fic, they're lovers. and I just want to prove that I'm not a person who thinks like this (like the characters) and can actually make decisions thatre right and that I know what to do and not to do.

sorry for the little rant. I'm not even sure if I'll regret this later bcs of the way I worded things. I'm a blunt and vengeful person. if u came to me with a review that's basically only filled with constructive criticism and stated nothing positive, obv I'll turn sour. also doesn't help how its 2pm (I usually wake up at 6pm so this is early for me lol).

i did willingly listen to all your points. I could've ignored this and deleted it and yet, I didn't. but I also hope u listen mine. yes, I know these are all immoral or not something a person with a sane mind would do, but you have to admit that life isn't always right. you can be a good person and end up doing something opposite irl bcs of the moment or bcs u didn't think, and that's fine. that doesn't necessarily mean that everything will come out for the worse. and to me, they(the fuck boys and the whores) deserve to be judged like that either way bcs like I said, I (and yn) am not a nice person.

buuuut, either way, I'll take these in mind.

just saw your post about boyfriends and honestly you’re so right, as someone whose casually read the comic it’s not worse than any other popular romance comic out there, this one just has the misfortune of involving a poly couple and people can’t think about poly couples (or any kind of queer couples really) without jumping the gun to nsfw, and whenever people have modern culture acknowledged in media people get really self conscious for some reason and call it cringe!!! And then they’ll reblog the 5th version of the “-pilled -maxxer” joke, the only good criticism that was made was a character being whitewashed in art/merch by the creator, but all the other stuff ppl said was complete bs, I’ve even seen a yter retract their criticism of boyfriends which is so funny to me

THANK YOU I COULDNT HAVE SAID OT BETTER MYSELF. a lot of th3 critique came from those damn ads and guess what came out? THE CREATOR DIDNT LIKE NOR APPROVE OF THE ADS OR THEIR STYLE. people need to stfu. cishet media is allowed to be an absolute trainwreck and still somehow get praised to the skies but a queer media has 1 flaw of any kind and suddenly its the worst thing from the depths of hell? and it be your own people too, i swear only other queers were this disgusting about it. that kept me away for years then i sat and read it and i was like THATS the spwan of satan, the antichrist of webcomics?? i tbh hate heartstopper just because of the creator's racist garbage but even that one is Fine. ppl will see easy conflict resolution in media and cry like its god knows what. its not even unrealistic, thats how me and my fiancè TALK IRL TO EACH OTHER AND RESOLVE ISSUES.