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fuumiku · 30 days

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Chilcille huh... ngl I was a little suspicious. like why would you do that, huh... hope youre not mischaracterizing anyone in your weird and wacky ship. a little weird. but then you said they both had flat asses and you know what? I salute you and your perfect characterization

The fact you seem to think you managed to not make this ask insulting is baffling. What the hell. Fuck off.

If you actually care to be open minded about the ship, I talk about marchil on my sideblog 24/7. Funnily enough I’m currently 4k words deep into an analysis of their character arc together in canon, but that’ll take some more days to get done. Some notable posts:

Of course without counting the analyses of Chilchuck on his own I’ve made, like my masterpost on his family situation. Or better yet you could also read my fics for them, see how weird and wacky they are here.

Wanna talk about mischaracterisation? They’re literally a comedic duo who interacts 24/7. Marchil is crazy bc ppl are like "did those shipper read with their eyes CLOSED?? They have no chemistry!" Meanwhile canon is like: "She’s obsessed with knowing everything she can about him and she reads him like a book." In her eyes he’s like that extra rare and hard and shiny unlockable dating sim character, that brooding mysterious character trope that’s thrilling to crack open and typically is at the center of the plot. The wife roleplay???? "Hey, did you know his type is blondes. Hey did you know he likes his women pretty and blonde. Hey did you know he likes her hair. Hey did you know that he teases her 24/7 and it’s one of the few things that consistently gets him grinning because he finds her reactions cute." Like a schoolyard bully pulling on the pigtails of the girl he likes.

It’s not like they have any thematic narratives or relevance. It’s not like she’ll live to 1000 and has existential dread about it while he’s logically gonna be her next friend to die at 50 and wether it’s romantic or platonic it’ll terrify her to lose him. It’s not like it’s fear of death x fear of rejection so they’re both obsessed with the thought of loss looming, past and ongoing. It’s not like it’s half-elf x half-foot and there’s an inherent journey that was and still is to dispel prejudices and truly come to see each other. It’s not like he’s painfully real and raw and flawed but still a good man, that he’s not the figure of prince charming that she’s always dreamed of while still being virtuous and worth fighting for. Or you know, her hair being golden and it being the epitome of beauty to him, and his hair turning silver and it being Marcille’s worst nightmare.

Just a weird wacky ship who means nothing but shallow things to people who have weirdo reasons for liking it. Like can you not. If you’re not imaginative enough to think of reasons why this ship may have an appealing dynamic that’s not my issue. But yes, yes, they’re both flat asses to me, thanks.

#Dungeon meshi #Ask #Spoilers #dungeon meshi manga spoilers #Marcille donato #chilchuck tims #Marchil #You me the parking lot after i finish and post my arc analysis #Sobbing……… we’re 20 over here in the rarepair pit come on. Like do u not see how obsessed i am. Do u think they like. Mean nothing to me #Do u think it’s all incidental and i slipped and the 10 thousands of words I write for them had no thought or feelings behind them or #Their arc is so beautifuuuuul they come to see each other and her standards become more real while he allows hope and openness #Into his heart again 😭😭 not the way two of their scenes lowkey read as a proposal…#Anyways I hope this makes it clear I’ll fight to my dying breath for them.#I don’t want trouble and i imagine you don’t either so just don’t come shitting on my doorstep #In positive news my fic Grind Me Down Sweetly recently reached 100 likes and 1k hits <3 it can also be read as just platonic so if you like #Them as a duo even as friends give it a shot #Every time I see someone shitting on marchil I start making marchil content faster btw #Not art

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autumnmobile12 · 8 months

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Feminism in Castlevania

One of the things I liked about this series was how it represented both positive feminism and toxic feminism.

The positive elements are small and carry their weight through the tone they set, as they should. If displays of feminism are over-the-top, then they become pandering and discredit the message they are trying to send.

Despite this series's flaws, I will forever appreciate the hell out of the fact they didn't go with the 'reformed chauvinist' character arc for Trevor. When he's first made aware of Sypha, she's just the Elder Speaker's 'grandchild.' Gender neutral term. And when he finally meets her and realizes she's a woman, his only reactions is, "Granddaughter, then." There's no overt reaction, there's no patronizing comment of how 'it's too dangerous for a woman down here.' "Granddaughter, then," is the only comment he ever makes that she's female, and that's all the series needed to set the tone for that part of his character.

It shows he's not against women fighting.

It shows he doesn't view women as weaker or inferior.

It shows he's aware women are capable of fighting and sees nothing wrong with that and sets the building blocks for the fact that Belmont women were fighters and this is nothing new to him.

It shows he's doesn't blame Sypha for putting herself in this predicament with the Cyclops by going down there in the first place. (Actually, considering he went into the catacombs under the assumption she was dead, he was probably relieved he didn't have to haul a corpse back to the surface.)

Show. Not tell.

The only thing he really questions is why she was sent down there alone, but he ultimately decided it wasn't his business. And he figures it out later when it's revealed she's her caravan's only mage.

The other part worth considering is while he's perfectly willing to insult Alucard, he never insults Sypha the same way.

He also doesn't make a habit of protecting her. They are both equally balanced in watching out for each other during their fights in Season 3 and Season 4. The only time Trevor says he'll protect her is in the Hold and that's only because he knows she's busy setting up a complicated spell and carrying out the bigger part of their master plan. In this context, he's not even her protector; he's just back-up.

Alucard's treatment of Sypha is similar, but they sadly don't have too many moments where they talk one on one. He's polite to her and I honestly feel this is his parents' influence of raising him to be a gentleman. (I mean, Lisa doesn't hesitate to call out Dracula for his lack of manners during their first meeting.)

Greta introduces herself as the headwoman of Danesti. Nobody questions that. Hell, St. Germain even comments it's a shame someone with her talents was wasted in such a provincial area like Danesti. Rude, but this is more of a dig at Wallachia being a backwater, uncivilized sty and nothing at all about her being a woman in charge.

We can also see this to a lesser extent with Zamfir being the unquestioned leader of Targoviste's resistance, but again, we don't get a lot of info.

I've already done an earlier post on Carmilla, so I'm going to reiterate a few of those points here: A huge part of Carmilla's character and motivation is her disdain for men. Hector is a just a tool to her. Dracula’s Generals are made up of men. The vampires are ruled over by a ‘stupid, old man.’

There's also the fact she just doesn't care about her sisters. She refuses to give credit to Morana for her part in handling the logistics of their invading army, which Striga calls her out on. So she's still putting herself above the others. But the really telling part is her reaction to seeing Isaac in her final episode. If she cared about Lenore in any way, she would have demanded to know if she was still alive, did he kill her, what had he done? Instead, she's still shouting about how the world is full of idiots and she's better than everyone else.

This isn't feminism. This is pure arrogance, bitter vindictiveness, and plain narcissism.

Unlike Morana, Striga, and Lenore, Carmilla never talks about their plan of conquest in the terms of safety or security. It's always to the tune of vengeance or even just to prove she can do it. It's always about her fury of being treated as 'less than' because she and her sisters were just women. And it all culminates in a cowardly suicide because she couldn't stand the thought of losing to a lowly human like Isaac.

I don't want to be too harsh with Carmilla. I do like her as a character and I think she's a brilliantly written foil to Sypha as far as the feminism angle goes. This is also the medieval period where the conventions of society more often than not benefited men. I get it, I really do. But a tragic backstory still doesn't excuse toxic behavior.

#castlevania #sypha belnades #carmilla #feminism #character analysis #character development #castlevania netflix #trevor belmont #alucard tepes #isaac #forgemaster #lenore #greta #st germain #vampire sisters

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glassprism · 10 days

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Opinion on chumisa? She’s gorgeous but haven’t heard much of her

So, keeping in mind that I tend to just skim over reviews and I don't really get hyped over actors a lot...

I really liked her. Like, she was very, very good.

And it's pretty incredible considering the video I have of her that she's only barely started the role, but there we are: Chumisa Dornford-May feels like she came into the production already having a good idea of exactly how she wanted to play Christine and how she wanted to act certain scenes and string it all together to show her character's arc, and she went and did it. Now all that's left is for her to refine it.

Some highlights: from the get-go I loved how she played 'Think of Me'; I think it's very tempting to go the happy, joyful route a la Gina Beck, and I like that interpretation! But she acted the song in a way that was more appropriate to the lyrics she was singing, sometimes nostalgic, sometimes wistful, sometimes distant and grieving. It gave me a great sense of Christine as not only a good singer but a good performer too.

In terms of whether she was a Phantom or Raoul girlie, I'd honestly say neither, though if pushed I'd say she maybe leans a little more towards Raoul. Her Christine in the lair scenes was not necessarily afraid or angry at the Phantom, but she did feel rather resistant to him, especially compared to some of the other Christines in the role right now (e.g. Lily Kerhoas and Colleen Rose Curran). There were moment where she would melt a little, seemingly going, "Oh, this is kind of nice", but much of the time, she appeared more wary than anything else, unsure of what the Phantom was up to.

I also say she's not quite a Raoul girlie because she acts similarly in the rooftop scenes. In particular, her 'Why Have You Brought Me Here' was played like she was trying very hard to convince Raoul of what she saw and was angered that he kept trying to calm her down rather than actually attempting to understand her. Her Christine doesn't just want to tell Raoul what's going on, she wants him to believe her. She was also noticeably less giggly than other Christines during 'All I Ask of You', at least in this performance, and I liked how it kind of flips the dynamic between them: whereas earlier it was Christine trying to convince Raoul, now he has to be the one to convince her that all is goodness and light, and I'm not fully sure she bought into it.

What else? Oh, in 'Twisted Every Way', she did something that I first saw Yang Chen Xiuyi do in the Chinese production, which was to turn very hopefully towards Raoul when he says, "Christine, Christine, don't think that I don't care..." It's like she thinks, or wants to think, that Raoul is going to back down and call off his plan, which makes it all the more devastating when he doesn't.

And finally, by 'Point of No Return' and 'Final Lair', her Christine had definitely reached her limit with the Phantom. I really enjoyed how you can see Christine working out that it's the Phantom onstage with her during 'Point of No Return', slowly drawing out her phrases as the wheels in her head spin and then committing to continuing the show to catch him. (Never mind about the stuff after.) She delivered a truly contemptuous, "Please, Raoul, it's useless" in the 'Final Lair', and I think she gave a truly angry kiss to the Phantom. It felt very similar, interestingly, to her dynamic with Raoul on the rooftop; she seemed to be using the kiss to desperately try to convince the Phantom away from his current path (using the power of making out to stop the cycle of abuse and trauma!). Such was the quality of the video that I'm pretty sure I saw tears on her face during the kiss, and Chumisa Dornford-May played it, I feel, like it was due to the overwhelming catharsis of emotions she was experiencing: anger, grief, betrayal, terror, all of it being released into this one grand moment.

The only flaws I really noticed had to do with her singing. Most reviews have pointed out she belts some of the score; I didn't notice it too much, but I definitely heard it during 'Wishing'. It wasn't the worst place to belt - she did it during the last stanza, where Christine is usually singing pretty loudly anyway, likely to add volume to her singing - and I didn't mind it too much, but it was jarring. There were also a few parts where her voice was a little quiet, and small scenes where Christine was not the focal point but she could done a little more in her acting, or just paused and let the scene "breathe" a little (which, in fairness, is something most actors new to a role will do, rush through the show).

But honestly, those were minor nitpicks in what was otherwise a really great performance. And this is her early in her run? I can only imagine what she'll be like with a few more months under her belt!

#GP gets asks #anonymous #GP reviews

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obsidianstrawberrymilk · 3 months

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Hello how are you doing? What is your opinion about Tomura, Toga and Dabi?

Hello, I'm going good! Sorry this took me a second to respond to.

Dabi: I actually like Dabi as he is in the manga but I really don't like how the story around him has formed. I think a lot of people lost sympathy for Dabi when it was revealed that he wasn't the perfectly sad victim with torture porn people envisioned, which is disappointing. Horikoshi did this weird thing where he tried to make the LoV sympathetic by doing things such as have them kill a bunch of bigots and show them having genuine bonds and reasons for their actions, but then abruptly changed his tune and did something like depicting them as unhinged mass murderers, mainly to reestablish the whole black and white morality of the series when he was getting a bit too lose to implying there were serious flaws in hero society and the villains gasp had a point?! Anyway, I like him, but now that Endeavour is basically heading the Todoroki family plot, he's been kinda cast aside and made to take the blame for a lot of the issues they're facing rn when it's... literally all Endeavour lmao. Like I don't think he really had to be portrayed as particularly caring or nice for the narrative to acknowledge that he did have a point, and that similar patterns in the Todoroki family are being repeated again, with condemning him for being obvious about and exposing their dysfunction, instead of Endeavour for causing it. Also literally why did he need an ice Quirk as well the whole fucking point was he was an 'imperfect creation' why did he need that what was the point-

Toga: She's cool, kind of boring. Her character is pretty clearly based on some of Horikoshi's weird fetishes, but she's far from the only one, so whatever. I'm really not a fan of hers and Ochako's arc honestly - it feels like they're trying to queerbait without putting in any of the narrative work as to why Toga and Ochako would connect beyond girl and sure, Ochako might feel sympathetic towards Toga, but like her specifically? Villain hero relationships are cool because usually, the villain reveals a new side to the hero, maybe a foil that causes them to question their morality or the person they could have been (ex: Shigaraki for Izuku and Dabi for Shouto). Toga is... not this for Ochako, and Ochako is not this for Toga. Her implied backstory is interesting but I all in all think she's one of the least interesting League members and it's a pity, because we're not really given enough about her.

Shigaraki: I fucking loved his arc for a while there, then they ruined it. Seeing a villain who actually grows from an immature, whiny kid to a legitimate leader who even seems to care about his subordinates was fantastic, and his backstory builds up very well to who he is as a person now. Though, then they regressed him, bought in the inner child that's crying or whatever, and I lost interest. Shigaraki has a compelling character design, was a main villain who grew into the position which is rare, and his Quirk is awesome, and his motivation? Has merit! He had the potential to be a great main villain had they just let him actually grow past AFOs influence, like a mirror to Izuku growing past All Might. But well. They didn't do that. Imo they wasted Shigaraki - for a while there his writing was great and he was one of the best parts of the manga for me.

#sorry this took me forever #mha #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha criticism #tomura shigaraki #tenko shimura #shigaraki tenko #shigaraki tomura #dabi #mha dabi #touya todoroki #todoroki touya #dabi todoroki #toga himiko #himiko toga #thanks for the ask!

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skysiren41 · 5 months

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My thoughts on Kung Fu Panda 4 trailer

So kung fu panda 4 finally released its first trailer and too say that people have been split on it would be an understatement. All and all I'm still keeping my expectations modest I thought this trailer was actually pretty ok, I've have seen a few people say that it looks awful and while I do think it's a bit overblown, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't still worried about this film, so I wanna share my thoughts in the most neutral way possible while also being fair with both its positives and negatives as a Kung Fu Panda fan

●I've seen a few people say that the animation is a downgrade from the others I have to disagree. From what I've seen it mostly looks similar to the third film, the colours especially are quite nice, though I did notice some on the movement be a bit janky. I've also seen some say that the models look bad but I don't see it, there are some changes like they seem to be a lot more expressive but I wouldn't go far as to say that it's a bad change

●One criticism I do agree with is that the furious five seem to be absent in this film, not even Tigress. I do hope they do appear or at least explain their absent because it is weird not to include or even mention them but there apparently gonna have both of Po's dad's appear (don't get me wrong I love Mr Ping and Li Shan, it just I don't think they have a point to be in the story from what I've seen)

●The Chameleon honestly has a lot of potential, not only is it nice to have a female villian in the film, but also the whole concept of her being able to bring people back to life but also even transform into her enemies is such a brilliant idea and really plays into her species

●Tai Lung fans are eating good tonight with him finally being on screen again since the first film. I'm curious if he's only gonna appear in that one scene we see only to be sent back to the spirit realm after the Chameleon takes his powers. If that's not the case I'm curious if there gonna go with the route of giving him a redemption arc. I've always been split on the idea, on one hand I think the tragedy of Tai Lung and how he could've changed is what made him a fantastic villain as well as show the flaws of Shifu as a character, but on the other hand GIVE THIS BOY A HUG! HE DIDN'T DESERVE WHAT HE WENT THOUGH!

●In general the movie seems to be keeping the lighthearted tone from the first film which I'm kinda mixed on, don't get me wrong I like the third film but I do wish they went with a similar tone with the second film, where it was able to be both funny but also wasn't afraid to get dark. I understand that Kung Fu Panda is for the most part lighthearted but its shown multiple times to be able to be lighthearted while also handling mature themes

To close this off I think there are some people are overreacting when they say that the trailer is awful but I also see why a lot of people are unsure about this forth film myself included

#kung fu panda #kung fu panda 4 #kfp #Kfp4 #kung fu panda po #tai lung #Kung fu panda discussion #trailer #Trailer discussion

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la-pheacienne · 1 year

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Alicent's stans say she never shown any ambition for the throne or power herself, only to keep her children from being executed. But what's wrong if a woman want to lead, rule, or administrating solely because she's ambitious ? Why EVERYTHING is about motherhood ?

I feel you anon. We wanted a ruthless antagonist that we can obsess with and we got Ninicent instead. And the funny part is, she's still the antagonist, just an extremely unlikeable one 😂

The Turkish TV show Magnificent Century actually has a storyline where the protagonist is genuinely afraid for the life of her kids and does evil stuff because of that, and it tells the story in a way that it's believable and does not reduce the heroine's agency and accountability. So if I remember correctly, there was a fratricide law in Ottoman empire, like if a man became Sultan he had to kill all his brothers, something like that. So that was an actual certainty. Hurrem's sons had an elder brother from another mother, Mustapha, and he was supposed to succeed his father, not Hurrem's sons, and he was a genuine good dude and he loved his brothers. Hurrem knew however that if he became Sultan, his mother and advisors would convince him to kill her children in order to secure his claim. So she influenced the Sultan to execute Mustapha, his own kid, because she was afraid for her kids. She was very sad afterwards because she genuinely didn't want him to die and she knew he was a good man. But oh well, politics.

So Hurrem acts because she's afraid for her kids, and genuinely cares for the very person she conspired against and was sad after his execution. She did what she had to do for her kids. Also, her kids were younger than Mustapha because she came second, she climbed up the hierarchy, she outranked Mustapha's mother who was there before her and should have become Queen consort, and then she conspired against the heir, which lead to his execution. And then she put her child on the throne.

The show is kind of a soap-opera take of the real story, so it has it's flaws, but overall the real story of Hurrem Sultan is the same in it's basic elements. It is contested if she actually played a role in Mustapha's execution but let's face it, she probably did, given the insane influence she had on the Sultan and the fact that she had a clear motive.

There are naturally a lot of similarities with show!Alicent's arc. She too had clear ambition since the beginning, she too wanted to outrank the heir and usurp her and put her child on the Throne. She too was afraid of her children because her children had a rival that could kill them. She too got caught up in the game and did things that she would have probably preferred to avoid. So, why do I support Hurrem in all of this, and not Alicent? Had they dealt with it correctly in the show, Alicent could have been a very compelling, intriguing antagonist. What makes her different than Hurrem?

Well Hurrem won, and Alicent lost. Hurrem won and it makes sense because of her wit, her political intelligence, her absolute and honest devotion to her family and her absolute loyalty to the Sultan. She also has a very special personality, she was very cheerful, brave, she loved art and poetry, she had a charismatic nature that outshined every single other person in the story and her relationship with the Sultan was so special in real life because of that and it makes sense why she won. We want her to win. She is meant to win. She is the hero of the story, both in real life and in fiction. She had what we call, the momentum. She is the driving force of the story. So I support her, not because she onLY FeAReD for hEr KidS and did nothing wrong evah, but because she's the boss, she's charismatic and exceptional.

What does Alicent have? Honestly? What does she give? Ok cool in the book she was cunning and ambitious and conservative and a religious freak and good looking, slut shaming Rhaenyra left and right. Ok? In the show, where she is supposedly better, what heroine qualities does she have that could make me support her? Honestly. Apart from the fact that she serves as a self interest for lesbians and Targ antis, she has nothing exceptional apart from her good looking appearance. The fact that she is a good mother? The hero of the story is also a good mother. We already have a hero in that story and the hero is Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra, the first woman named heir, Rhaenyra who tried to claim freedom and independence, who actively tried to make her own way and was punished because of it in the most horrible way. Alicent is (should be, anyway) Rhaenyra's foil. Rhaenyra's the protagonist, like Hurrem was the protagonist, and Rhaenyra was killed but her line survived, just like Hurrem's line survived.

So I got carried away from your initial question anon. Basically, we have multiple alternatives

1) show!Alicent, no ambition, only fear and lack of agency. I have explained multiple times why Alicent's powerless doll arc is boring as fuck and non-sensical given the immense power that she had as Queen. Alicent's stans using her non-agency as an argument to stan her is ridiculous. She ONly FeAReD for hEr KidS, just shut up. First of all, she feared for her kids because she was committing high treason using her kids, so she brought this upon herself. I literally see no reason to support a doormat that fucks everyone over just because she's "afraid" as a direct consequence of the shit she did. I doesn't make any sense.

2) book!Alicent could have been adapted in a TV show as a Hurrem type of character, they could have included the fear for her children (as a motivating factor in her scheming) and kept her ambition intact, as was the case with Hurrem. Hurrem was ambitious and also feared for her children and did things she didn't like, for them. It could work as a storyline for Alicent. But Alicent could have never been a Hurrem because she is simply not the heroine of the story, she is a foil, she is an antagonist, and she has the fate of an antagonist, period. They could have incorporated some elements of Hurrem's arc though, it would have been much better.

TL;DR a mother being afraid for her children is a valid tragic storyline and no, it doesn't necessarily erase her agency. But 1) it doesn't excuse everything she does especially when she is the one who started it all and 2) it's not enough to make me support her as a tragic héroïne.

#I had found this one amongst my 58 drafts #I had completely forgotten about it sorry anon #hotd #house of the dragon #anonymous #insane rambling sorry #rhaenyra targaryen #anti alicent Hightower #hurrem sultan #magnificent century

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mdhwrites · 1 year

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I still like TOH, but your comments have made me notice something about reviews praising it: namely, a lot of the elements praised are specifically described- Belos’s character, Luz’s depression, the dark themes, the serialization, etc- as being amazing for a kid’s show, and I think that’s a factor in why critical reviews tend to match fandom opinion. Namely, kid shows having understandable limitations leads to attempt at darker themes/big stories being praised as standouts as long as the execution is competent enough to not be noticeable. So while some people do acknowledge TOH’s flaws, they point out it’s still admirable the show made the attempts it did, especially with Disney’s public stance on what it pushes for in its cartoons.

So... I want to be kind first before I somewhat lose it because I am so SO TIRED of it being stated that TOH is different from other kid's shows. The Owl House is perfectly competent and entertaining in just its base elements. The animation is good, the voice acting is amazing, the feeling of teenagers is well captured, it's a lot of fun when it's interested in being fun and S1 has a lot of great ideas that earn a lot of good will with an audience and the plot line with Eda in S1 is genuinely amazing. After all, usually you don't have a character who is actively dying.

A theme they never actually address in detail. Eda doesn't feel like she's being held back by the curse very often and there's even one episode where it's used to re-enact a family guy episode of King trying to murder a toddler who won't let him be ruler of the playground. That... Isn't serious. In anyway. It's only serious when it's first revealed and the big sacrifice moment. After S1, it's barely a thing outside of Keeping Affearances.

This is the fundamental problem with The Owl House... And why it's so easy to praise. Yesterday I talked about how it screams its themes at the top of its lungs. How it is very blunt about how it wants to be perceived. Whether this is perception is earned or not is secondary to what it can easily state.

Which makes making an online article about how it's so different from other kid's shows, how it's the kid's show for those who don't like kid's shows, very easy. If you don't actually know much about kid's shows and how shit like Static Shock way back when was already addressing racism, having serialized content, etc. like that.

I mean, if we look at recent kid's cartoons, we have Steven Universe and Steven Universe Future. Gravity Falls. Amphibia does a lot of the same themes as TOH, with honestly about as much meaningful serialization, but also while being good, consistent and enjoyable. It earns its themes... But you have to dig for them.

So why have to scrape the barrel when the soapbox preacher is right there? This is part of the character arc problem too. Do you know how EXHAUSTING posts about "Look where they were and are now" by the end of S2? Where Amity would be a distinct, interesting, unique character in S1 but all they care about is that now she SMILES!

If you don't actually have to talk about the substance of her arc, if the show actually tackled any of its potential, complications, etc like that, it looks impressive. Then you talk to them about Winging it Like Witches or Understanding Willow, both frankly very much so kid's show episodes that something like Danny Phantom, My Little Pony, or Kim Possible would have and could have done, and suddenly it sounds less impressive, doesn't it? Not when you're describing episodes where Amity's past doesn't match her introduction at all and are obviously wiping away what makes a character arc interesting for "SHE'S ALWAYS BEEN GOOD! It's not her fault."

Sure. That's why she was willing to kill someone who didn't even lower her grade but instead just got someone else to be praised. And that's still S1.

Luz's depression is similar. You can have her make big statements that sound like they may imply she wants to die but they're still not willing to use the actual terms. Have Luz only suffer the absolutely loudest but worst stereotypes of depressed people like being constantly suicidal, pushing others away and not caring about them. 'But it's depressi-" No. As someone literally crippled by it, I don't want it being used as the excuse for literally the worst thing Luz does in the whole series, which is to just abandon an entire world to whatever fate she claims to believe she inflicted on it. I myself and a lot of other depressed people will tell you that it is FAR easier to help others, especially if you've hurt them, than any sort for yourself. But Luz's depression is used as an excuse for her to claim to keep caring about others when she is actually only serving herself and lying constantly to everyone around her while doing it. If that's great, depression representation, something most kids are still going to miss what it is, then fuck that noise.

But depression is a big topic right now so going "DISNEY'S FIRST MAIN CHARACTER WITH DEPRESSION!" sure is a headline, isn't it?

And let's quickly talk about the fact that TOH is very morally weird. It's not willing to do many big lesson episodes, hence why Episode 2 stands out so much to me, and a lot of its main cast has dubious morality. And... Then it doesn't really touch on morality either. It has no interest in it, even to the point of bad actions maybe getting a line or two said about them but then moving on.

As an example: Amity just wants to invade Luz's privacy. Period. She has Luz's phone and wants to be given an excuse to look into it. Talking to Willow, they could have a very real, very human conversation about how Amity's parents have taught her that such measures are okay because trust doesn't matter as much as control and how that's not okay. It could be a genuinely very adult moment for the series and maybe even have Willow talk about how Luz finding out so much about her past during Understanding Willow makes her uncomfortable sometimes because even if nothing bad surfaces, that was information given. By making all that a real conversation, which yes would have taken more time but let's face it, TOH honestly doesn't spend enough time setting its characters morals and letting them have conversations where there's real conflict between the two. And none of this is explicit or so dark or so boring that there's no reason a kid's show couldn't have it.

And do you want to know what you gain by making it a conversation like that? A real lesson to kids. A lesson that will prepare them for not only their own loves but for just how to handle others in general. TOH is still a kid's show after all. It should in theory be considering its audience and while not talking down to them, remembering they do need to still bring them into the conversation.

OR, YOU KNOW, HAVE WILLOW SHRUG AT THE QUESTION! And I could do a full breakdown as to why that's a real, human reaction to that question, even for someone like Willow. But I have to bring the real world, my life experiences, my sister's life experiences (and she's 30 while I'm almost 27) in order to explain why Willow is not blatantly being a TERRIBLE person by not calling Amity out.

And yes, that's when TOH is at its worst. It commonly just brushes off immoral behavior that isn't the end point of the plot as just a thing happening, like how Edric and Emira don't actually suffer consequences for their plan against their sister or how Luz is made to feel bad for stealing Amity's wand but then isn't attacked by Amity but put into a protective circle by her. A time out, sure, but one that leads to the ice glyph and her getting to save everyone.

A kid can learn the wrong lessons by the lack of consequences in the show and they're not going to learn a lot of good lessons from what is there. There's a reason why kid's shows are blunter than other media and they have morals. They're remembering that, especially in our modern age where one income households just DON'T EXIST that they have to pick up the slack and modern cartoons are doing that better than old 90s cartoons.

But do you know how much TOH reminds me of older cartoons like the 80s or 90s? With their villains who are evil for the sake of evil? With characters that can change on a dime, or the blatantly comic relief ones who don't have much character outside of that? The plotlines that are more about spectacle or statement which led to all those terrible PSA cartoon moments? Or hell, with how Amity ended up: The character who is blatantly only there to be the pretty girl that gets with the main character?

That's the thing: You want to say TOH is better than Teen Titans Go? Fine. That is obviously true. Who actually cares about and is praising Teen Titans Go though? When you compare it to the shows that people do praise, like Amphibia, Gravity Falls, etc., shows that not only teach and make kids better but also tell an engaging, full story with real themes, characters, developments, etc... What does TOH actually have? How much more serialized is TOH than say, the first season of My Little Pony? There were two episodes of build up for the Grand Galloping Gala before the finale and in TOH S1, you technically only need to see The Intruder and Covention, besides the pilot obviously, before you will understand almost everything going on in Young Blood, Old Souls and Agony of a Witch. There's more in S2 but most people agree that it's done competently at best, which is why people keep screaming about the shortening and I made an entire blog pointing out that S2 is bad because... The show is bad about serialization effectively.

And as a final note: I lived with a Star Wars and Star Trek fan for two years at the peak of Discovery being out and as wind up for Rise of Skywalker was going on. I lived on their couch and when they put on an almost 24/7 reel of 'reviewers' for these franchises, I heard a LOT of shit takes. A lot of the same shit being repeated with no real thought behind it, it being what was popular said (which goes into what makes people popular online versus being a mouthpiece for the popular opinion) and showing no thought or care about the actual system of production for things or the people behind it. A lot of people just blaming issues on one creator, or praising a single creator for all the good in something without talking about why they were attributing the problem to them. And yes, I know how hypocritical all of this is coming from some white dude on the internet no degrees, experience, etc like that. I just hope that my blogs show a little bit more real thought to storytelling to make it not as bad.

So a show where the popular, fandom consensus is that it's amazing, it states its themes making 'deeper' analysis easier and is very loud about its statements like they're original is going to be very popular to this type of review. Does this mean it's all disingenuous? Of course not. I started this blog by saying a lot of the reasons why the show is easy to like. Does it mean it has none of the depth people give it? No because a show trying this hard is going to manage successes sometimes though a lot of the times it then shoots those successes because it doesn't realize it's doing them.

But this statement that it is somehow better than things that have come before, is somehow truly groundbreaking while shows clearly paved the way for it so that it's just at the front of a wave it didn't have to make, and ignoring its flaws for all of these reasons, especially with "It's special because it's on Disney" or "It's only bad because of the shortening" is... REALLY tiring. To put it mildly.

A thing should be good because it's good. Not because it says it is or because you have to put modifiers on it to make it special. Shrek was groundbreaking not because it was made by someone other than Disney. It was groundbreaking because it genuinely looked at how it could parody the landscape around itself while making a genuinely good adventure and love story. Did it help that the creators wanted to give a middle finger to Disney? Maybe but I don't have to bring that up with what makes Shrek amazing. I can just say it's very good. In or out of its time.

The Owl House will only become increasingly less special and interesting as time moves forward and its big statements have to be yelled louder and louder to be properly heard. =======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead, If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

And finally a Twitter you can follow too!

#The Owl House Criticism #TOH Critical

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irvingcoded · 8 months

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I hate book irving and silna but I feel robbed we never see show silna and irving interact

man right?? especially given how the show still maintains irving's narrative connection and relative sympathies toward the surrounding netsilik people it's honestly such a waste! I would have loved to see them interact even just one scene, since it'd be decidedly Not Like The Book! like, even if irving wasn't deep repressed gay denial he's still just Big Repressed in general he isn't going to suddenly start acting inappropriate and horny just because there's a woman in proximity...... anyway, while I do mostly very much like how (and why) they adapted that arc for goodsir in the show instead of irving, it would have still been nice to hold onto a couple more things with irving I think. not the horny fuckboy shit obviously but the more meaningful moments of connection I guess.

irving in the show kind of suffers in general from a lack of introspection I think, in that we do get deeper and more internal insights to a lot of the main / supporting cast, quiet and intentionally revealing moments for us the viewers, but with him we're kind of denied a similar glimpse behind the curtain, aside from how the character is portrayed and interpreted by ronan raftery and the literal context of his scenes. which isnt to say there's not TONS of subtext because there definitely is, it's almost entirely nothing that was actually written into the scripts so I imagine it came later, maybe mainly via ronan's portrayal and how the actor chemistry unfolded which led to dave k's validation of that subtext that (unlike with most other characters!) was again very absent / lacking any significant detail in the transcripts.

and honestly I do think this actually mostly works for his character in particular, because even he is denying himself further insight into who he really is, BUT it definitely also backfires in the sense that so many ppl get blindsided by his actions in ep7, despite there definitely being scenes before that which do inform them, because we never get much access to his logic and process, whereas others you can almost see beat by beat as their opinions/feelings are evolving or changing. ALL THIS TO SAY even just one actual interaction with silna could have maybe helped somewhat bridge the narrative gap for all the people who are not obsessed with microanalysing every tiny crumb of irving content and details, perhaps... 🤪

and honestly irving aside, there is a lot a LOT of book silna content that imo would have been nice to keep or adapt at least. the book undoubtedly has its flaws and weaknesses and given the era of perspectives its being told through its hard to avoid that huge lens of bigotry but, the show could have still incorporated more of her scenes and character insight and even the deeper background of inuit lore but just ofc handled it more appropriately and accurately.

(that's also another thing for me how goodsir and irving never interact [onscreen] EITHER except ofc after irvings dead yet the character /narrative parallels are all over the place between both book AND show & not even limited to just the storyline transference!!!! arrrrrggghh... not that they interact much in the book either, I mean, but SINCE the show goes through so much trouble to have adapted and paralled the characters this way we could have gotten more from the show there too... all I'm sayin...)

#🍓#john irving #the terror #jirv posting #the terror textposts #replies #goodsir #silna #i will say... the goodsir/irving parallels btwn the book the show and the unexplored symmetry that exists btwn both has made me deeplyunwel #im only adding this tag because apparently i already had it?? ok

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shummthechumm · 10 months

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since seeing a few posts about TPB and how it treats firestar’s kittypet origins as a flaw he needs to overcome, wouldnt it be amazing if the “fire alone” prophecy was failed in some way? yes, short term, he DID save the clan, but in all the arcs following this?

(looong post under cut)

yeah he’s a decent guy, but his clan immediately turns back to the status quo. sure, lionclan united to defeat tigerclan, but the relationship between wind and thunder deteriorates as soon as windclan rebellion starts. cats within his own clan, who witnessed the impact his very not-in-accordance-to-the-code actions had on defeating tigerstar. aka ONE OF THE BIGGEST TYRANTS IN RECENT CLAN MEMORY. but oh actually everyone dislikes kittypets still in tnp. dustpelt/mousefur especially love to bring up their distaste with the state of thunderclan (”too mixed”). even brambleclaw, his own apprentice, judges cats like daisy based on the fact that she isnt clanborn. it reads as thunderclan respecting firestar in spite of where he came from, instead of them appreciating a major part of his identity that they wouldnt let him forget just a few books ago? you know? getting over their biases and learning to respect others outside the clan?

were these xenophobic ideas not utilized by tigerstar to climb maim and torture not just cats outside the code, but those who dedicated their lives to it? is that...not a sign for introspection??

and on a similar note: the books really want us to know that the only reason scourge was defeated was because he didnt believe in god, which is a really weird conclusion to end this arc on. we see fireheart constantly questioning the code and using his better judgement (most of the time anyway) to do what is the morally righteous thing to do. his unique outlook on clan culture saved a lot of lives. he wanted desperately to find belonging in thunderclan, but often sacrified his safety + position to save lives. but no actually the moral we’re supposed to take is “firestar became leader and proved that his soft kittypet roots couldn’t hold him down!!!” i dont know if him being born in thunderclan wouldve changed his very justice-driven personality, but maybe not being brainwashed from infancy played a factor in many of his choices in TPB.

so with these moments where firestar starts to show some of his conditioning crack through (ex: feeling horrified at the idea of cloudpaw not believing in starclan--and wanting to SHOCK him into being a believer; etc etc), is genuinely an engaging character flaw...that should be treated as a flaw. all of these standards of what a “true warrior” should be--constantly being crammed into his head from a pretty young age; against his own sense of personal identity and moral compass. does he WANT to be seen as a true warrior? does he want away with all of these redundant rules? does he want to redefine what that even means?

even in FQ he is pretty pissed to hear bluestar trying to justify an ENTIRE BRANCH OF THEIR CULTURE being axed off because no one was willing to spare territory. while that book has other issues, its still nice to see glimpses of that characterization i like slipping through. if it was an intentional internal conflict, you can take it even further.

this is why i like to imagine that firestar’s prophecy came from whatever ancient beings sent down the po3 prophecy (i believe in oots they downright confirmed that the ancients likely sent starclan/the tribe of endless hunting the po3 prophecy decades before even mapleshade’s time). firestar may have served as the short term solution, maybe as a way to get set up the three in thunderclan. im 90% their prophecy outdates his, anyway. what was the intent of this prophecy, truly?

was he meant to save the clan(s) from a few one and done baddies, or was something more long-term intended. if so...did he fail???

how does firestar cope with this? does he reflect? he knows about the po3 prophecy--what if he were to learn of the manipulation his kids went through by the forces he was taught to worship? ik canon firestar doesnt rlly react to the secret reveal post po3, but...in a better series...would he stand for it? how could he react, knowing that starclan targeted his very bloodline for a prophecy far older than the clans themselves?

in a different world, would bluestar had even accepted him had it not been for the prophecy?? where would he be then? how would he fare with the knowledge that many cats he idolized when he was younger--cats he grieved for, were roped into perpetuating the unhealthy cycle of reliance both starclan and the living clans have for each other?

......is starclan even the source of the fire alone prophecy??? if not them, then who was??>?? how far did this go?? how far is starclan willing to go to get their desired outcome?

give me existential firestar, PLEASE

#rewrite tag #wc #shummy screaming into the void #longpost #longasspost #again fire shouldve partnered with scourge again #but also firestar living and realizing that his position in tc #at least in arc one #was VERY conditional...on a much deeper way than he previously couldve ever imagined #my thoughts are very scrambled i have a lot #i apologize if anything is unclear feel free to reply or rb with ur thoughts #know i mostly focused on tiger here but also brokenstar is also a monster produced directly by the clan and the codes most toxic traits #thanks raggedstar #uh oh starclan its actually not good to meddle in the lives #of living cats its not like u directly spawned chars like broken and tiger while doing so #maybe i will edit/elabortate more later i am very tired

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evertidings · 8 months

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"hehe no i’d actually say they know themself almost too well." okay good just confirming to see if it fits, (is big brain anon here again) but id like to believe that k psychoanalyses others because they feel like psychoanalysing others means they always know what to expect, andf so that they wont get hurt by them, and they can brace themselves. K's angst is rlly obvious considering everything. they dont want pity (remember when they told mc their fam was dead? 'how could i ever feel pity for someone as heartless as you' yeah.) K's a complex character, but it's no doubt that their immortality (duh big brain, its been said 100 million times) is a burden to them. they also want to psychoanalyse people to know their positive traits as to why they keep them around, and negative traits for how they plan to bury their grief after a friend is long gone. also, they probably feel comfort in the ocean, because the ocean id big, deep unexplored and full of mysteries, but the one trait it has is that it's always there, whether you know of it or not (ooh, much like K themselves). K's very lonely (ike I believe N is, N, K, Rylan and Blane are all similar in tears of lonliness, it just depends why they are, and i think even a is lonely to some extent, like they're all lonely which is why found family works so well for them, but lets not do that rn this is too long <3) they also psychoanalyse behaviour's, so they notice when it changes. like if person is getting too close to K, or if K is noticing person is diff than usual, they want to know. i also think that when they try to psychoanalyse MC and realise they they have no idea as to why they're there, it probably starts to freak them out a bit. MC is an enigma, they're unpredictable, and that means that K is at risk of getting hurt again, but their isn't anything they can do to protect themselves except push people away, except now that they've lived so long and still cant figure MC out they're now more intrigued, even if they wont show it. (fatal flaw, K. curiosity killed the cat / jk because satisfaction bought it back). also wrote this all on a whim so lmk if it sounds like im somewhere near their arc.

i actually think it's a lot simpler than this haha. i love this theory but in my eyes, i think it's more that K likes to know what they're dealing with. they don't like surprises, don't like the unknown—they've dealt with people long enough that they can read them quite well and because they lowkey have no filter, they tend to say it to people's faces.

they find the hunter interesting for more reasons than one and are definitely pulled in by that, but they're able to pull away when they feel like they're getting too close. even if they're extremely intrigued by someone/something, they're well-practiced at shutting down their emotions. they are extremely lonely and recognize this, but like Rylan, they think it's for the better.

also K liking the ocean has nothing to do with anything haha. they simply find the sound of the waves soothing, though i guess i agree they like how it's always the same.

#ask #k de vries

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garrothromeave · 10 months

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Hi! I just wanted to say I randomly stumbled upon your post about people’s reactions to the aphtwt confession about Laurance as a love interest and the reaction he had during the pregnancy arc and I have a lot to say but have a lot of nerves, so I’m doing it like this. So I hope you don’t mind! This is probably super long, and I really apologize for that.

I think one of the reasons people brought up Garroth so much is that people see a lot of the romance drama as ridiculous (at least I do), and Garroth and Laurance are incredibly similar in some regards when it comes to Laurance. So even if it was unintentional, people wanted to pull them onto the same level.

Laurance has a charming character, it grabs viewer’s attention and keeps it. But I bet one of the reasons people probably like him so much is probably because they like the version of him that they made up in their head. That's why there's people who say stuff like "no one understands this character like I do.” people pretty much accidentally create their own version of their favorites the deeper they are into a fandom. Yes, everyone uses the same canon, but it doesn’t mean everyone sees those events the same. This fandom, especially here on aphblr is FILLED with rewrites.

Laurance is an odd character. He does questionable things for questionable reasons, but seems to get away with it more than other character. Especially if you scope into end of season two. I think one of the reasons for this is because we never truly see the fallout of what his actions after the pregnancy announcement caused.

There's this thing l've noticed in media that two characters can to the exact same bad thing but one will be brushed off and the other will be more focused on. The character whose bad action has the fallout more focused on ends up becoming more disliked for that action than any other character who did the same thing. It's hard for people to criticize certain aspects of a character's decision if the after effects of that decision are never truly explained or focused on, and what their intention for doing said thing was. It doesn't mean they're exempt from criticism, but people tend to focus less on those things because there's simply less to look at. But we'lI never get those answers about Laurance, and people know that. So it’s easier for us to turn a blind eye and focus on other things or characters.

I’ll end this similar to how you did: Laurance fans (like myself), it’s okay to criticize one of your favorite characters. Even if you’re like me and create a justifiable reason for why one might do what he did in some of his situations, it doesn’t mean it’s a good decision. It just means it’s explained. Thank you for your time :)

very well said :) thanks for getting out your thoughts homedawg.

i genuinely don’t have AS much of a problem with the end of season two and him leaving. he had shadow knight shit to deal with, he left to protect aphmau, i really do get that. that’s not actually what i think laurance fans try to unnecessarily defend—i’d honestly defend that too. i think you’re very right to say that fans will criticize characters for the same things that others do—i’ve fallen victim to this too, with the whole aaron vs gene in pdh. double standards, yk?

but when it gets to the point that laurance criticisms are ridiculed and it’s an excuse of “um, idc what he did he was hot while he did it” it gets SO fucking annoying so fucking fast. like you can like a character with flaws. like that is perfectly ok.

laurance is a charmer, he’s flirty, he’s loyal. but yeah, let’s not talk about how he’s also obsessive and creepy, making advances on aphmau after she shows no interest. let’s not talk about his “i’ll wait for you” mentality. because no! as you pointed out, fans love to keep this very specific interpretation of him in their heads, so that none of that is acknowledged—because it’s seen as romantic. that is so infuriating. behavior like this in real life is gross.

and then there’s like “okay, laurance did all of that, but garroth LITERALLY BETRAYED PHEONIX DROP OVER A KISS” no! he didn’t, that’s literally a scapegoat i see ALL the time—but in reality, with some general paying attention to his character, that misinterpretation could genuinely be worked out. does that excuse his actions? no. does it make them more clearly understood? yes. but i can still acknowledge, as a garroth fan, that he did betray them and does need consequences for his actions. he’s not free from doing bad things just because he’s my favorite character. but people also won’t look at his character like that because they just don’t give a shit, so?? don’t know what to tell you there, buddy! i’d just say it’s not fair to criticize a character without fully understanding the situation lmfao. like, i’ve been a diehard laurance fan. i know that he does not have bad intentions. there’s just things that should be talked about

we can do stuff like this with laurance. someone mentioned this under my last post, that every single character is honestly quite shit. the best thing we can do is acknowledge those flaws, and then portray our interpretations and explanations as to why this character did this. but it’s not an excuse. it’s an explanation. i saw under that aphtwt thing A LOT the saying “idc, im still a laurance dickrider” LIKE IM NOT SAYING YOU CANT BE. JUST PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT HE’S DONE BAD THINGS. it’s INFURIATING watching people continue to brush off what he did without at least trying to work out explanations?? and doing a, “okay but he did worse” is NOT a good excuse im sorry its fuckin not

you made a really good point with the fact that we just don’t get explanations for laurance, hence why it’s ignored. and the hard truth is the fact that he was just genuinely like that. jess wrote him. of COURSE he’s going to suck.

but yeah anyways ill eventually drop the laurance doc i have going over him as a character but lord almighty folks, pleaseee take an unbiased look at him. he’s not the knight in shining armour that you thought he was when you were twelve. thanks

#aphmau #minecraft diaries #garroth ro'meave #laurance zvhal #mcd

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dr-lizortecho · 2 months

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I'm a delena lover too and wanted to know any delena UOs you have? A few of mine if you promise not to make fun of me - 1. I honestly don't think delena is nearly as "toxic" as it's made out to be? I mean, context matters, and this is a show about screwed up monstrous vampires, so no ship is going to be the epitome of 'healthy' lol. But I actually find delena a lot more honest and real than stelena was and a lot less toxic than klaroline. They communicate and adapt much more than antis give them credit for and are genuinely loving and supportive. I'm dying on that unpopular hill :) 2. I actually think s5 is my favorite delena season? It leaned in to the "but they're not healthy!" stuff too much, but it also showed them at their best, most loyal and passionate and adoring, without the icky shadow of the 'sire bond' crap that ruined s4 for me. And Elena is so...free that season? I don't know, I just love it. S6 has great domestic moments but yet another unpopular opinion is that something about the 'falling in love all over again with no memories' storyline felt really inauthentic and rushed to me. I like it in theory, just not the execution. 3. Delena is NOT just about physical attraction. At all. Like I truly believe that even if they could never have sex again they'd be very happy together. They connect on a much deeper level imo, seeing each other for who they truly are. 4. I do not in any way buy Elena as a doctor or even a science person---in my mind she became a teacher or a counselor :) 5. Elena is thought to be similar to Stefan but imo in actuality she's more like Damon imo---super passionate, follows her heart and instincts to a degree that some see as selfish, reacts in the moment rather than focusing on the past or future etc. 6. I actually think Damon has a better, softer heart than Stefan. He's crazy and impulsive and self-destructive and a whole bunch of other things, but he's also a lot softer and more willing to acknowledge his flaws and try to change than Stefan is. Again, these are all just my very UOs! Can't wait to read yours too!!

Hi anon! I adore them- like there’s three ships that I really feel encapsulate romantic love for me, that taught me what it is and how it works, and Delena was the second of those ships so it means a lot to me personally

So I am so far removed from fandom I barely know what counts as popular opinions and unpopular opinions, but feel free to ask me specific questions at any time! Though my two fav characters are Tyler and Bonnie if that counts <3 I’ll start by kinda saying my thoughts on the things you mentioned as your unpopular opinions- which I fully understand even when we slightly disagree! Below the cut so it’s easier for my non-tvd followers

On Delena being called toxic- I talked about it in part before (but alas I can’t find the post) and contrary to popular belief I think they’re not toxic (granted after they get together) outside of the regular amount you should expect in all teen dramas regardless of supernatural elements or not. Unlike a lot of the other relationships they have a lot of communication and consent involved from the start, because they have to with the precarious Stefan ties and the sire bond. On top of that they both acknowledge the parts of their relationship that aren’t the best and actively work towards making them better, however, with the flaws and missteps afforded for drama ✨

I can’t be impartial about s5- definitely not enough to be able to decide about Delena in it. I wasn’t a fan of that brand of angst tbh (sorry anon I do get the appeal) and the racism throughout just hurt my heart too much- but they definitely had some top tier sexy moments. Personally, I loved season six because of the approach of them sharing a best friend and all the little moments and musical beats. Like- watching Damon want to live became something so important to me and really felt like the conclusion for his character arc.

As for the sexual aspect- I do think it plays a part (as with every relationship that involves sex) but it definitely isn’t the peak of it or the draw, it’s a perk. Because if it was the sex they’d have been done with each other after that long hot summer. But there is a tendency in fandom to try and remove all romance and depth to relationships they don’t like- because if it’s shallow they can be rude and dismissive to shippers.

In regards to Elena- I don’t think she’s too similar to either Salvatore, I think she shares common traits with both. But at the end of the day it wa she’d similarities to Stefan that drew them together and her differences to Damon that drew them together. Which is why Stefan was a relationship that let her heal and come back to herself and Damon was the relationship that pushed her out of her comfort zone and helped her grow.

As for Stefan and Damon I don’t think there’s anything to be gained from claiming any one character is “softer” or more “moral” than another. It’s all about action and reaction and growth. However, I think you might be catching onto the sensitivity of their triggers, which Damon’s trauma responses are way more easily triggered throughout the series because unlike Stefan he hasn’t sat with them and worked through near as much of his traumatic experiences. Which is why his healing process through Elena learning of and reminding him to be kind to himself you watch him heal and grow. Which isn’t to be confused with him being “defanged” for a romance- because it was happening regardless of if he and Elena stayed friends or not.

#tvd #tvd asks #asks #anon asks #delena

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onyx-archer · 1 year

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Some Thoughts on Luz Noceda, and How Some Critics Don’t Get Her Arc.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing some sort of post about The Owl House for a while, and now that it’s over, I have a lot of thoughts on it. Specifically, I have a lot of thoughts on the series’ protagonist, Luz Noceda. Obviously, I’m going to be talking about spoilers for the series, so if you haven’t watched it, or are just not finished with the series yet, don’t read this. I just have a collection of thoughts and opinions about aspects of the show I want to put out there. More under the cut.

To start, I wanted to actually talk about Luz as a character, because I think there are certain critics *coughcoughLilyOrchardcoughcough* that don’t really get the issue with Luz’s arc, and how it likely was intended to come across. In particular, the small crowd of people who think that Luz feels like a different character starting in Season 2B, but I don’t think that’s really the case. Well, I sort of do, but I see it as a development based change that was affected by the cancellation, rather than a flaw in the writing.

Luz’s character, throughout the first Season, is somewhat static. Sure, she does experience some development, all characters do to some extent after all, but she isn’t on a specific path of development. As many characters in the series would likely point out, just as the critics of Luz’s depressive spiral do constantly, Luz in the first season is the character that largely facilitates change in others, rather than being the one who experiences a ton of growth herself. Early-series Luz is functionally the match to light the fuse that is the character development for characters like Eda, Amity, and to a small extent in the beginning, King. The show outright says in Season 2′s first episode that Luz made Eda’s life better, and Amity’s affection for her is rooted in how Luz inspired her to be a better person. I’d go as far as to say that King wouldn’t be able to deal with his lack of living biological family if not for Luz’s influence on him, with his older sister figure truly helping him come to value Eda and Luz as his family being a cornerstone of King’s growth as a character.

Season 1′s conclusion works because it’s really the first time where Luz’s more reckless behavior bites her in the ass. Luz feels she is at least partially responsible for Eda losing her magic, and it’s obvious that it weighs heavy on her heart, even with Eda’s assurance it’s not her fault, because it’s the kind of person she is. We don’t see her really have to come to grips with her actions having consequences for a long while because most of those consequences get undone or aren’t really worth worrying about. Then her mentor and second maternal figure loses her magic, and Luz had to sacrifice her only way home to help her. Luz has an emotionally tangible reminder of her actions, and this obviously has a negative impact on her.

Remember, Luz is a bundle of creative energy, and is misunderstood because of how she expresses herself. It’s the only other instance where her behavior has a form of consequence, as she was being sent to a camp to “correct” the issue... but then a magic door happened and she didn’t have to face that responsibility. She could shrug off the consequences, and if things got too bad, she could always just go back to the Human Realm for a bit. She was never placed in a situation where she’d have longstanding consequences for her actions until “Young Blood, Old Souls.” Her actions made her an easy target for Lilith to draw in Eda, who would lose her magic trying to save Luz, which while not entirely her fault, she still feels responsible because Eda was only in that situation because of her existence on the Boiling Isles to begin with. Sure, Eda would have to eventually be put in a similar spot, but with the added context of Luz’s Dad being dead, and still being a sore spot for her due in part to being so young, yeah, of course she’s going to feel responsible.

Luz paid the price of her desire to become a witch when she had to give up her only way home to save someone she cares about. Even if it meant never seeing her mother again. Her actions expedited Eda’s curse reaching it’s final stages, and while Eda’s no longer in immediate danger because of her being able to save her from petrification, it’s still something she feels she has to take responsibility for. Why? Because she gave up her ability to go back to the Human Realm, potentially forever. In that moment, she had to make a choice, and that choice had consequences that ripple through her and the events of the story until the end of the series. I know I’m repeating myself to a degree, but I want to make it clear that Luz’s “trauma” was never really a thing that factored into the story until she had to actually face the fallout of a choice she made that could negatively affect her life forever.

With the added context of Luz’s lingering grief of her dead father, and Eda becoming something of a maternal figure for her, Luz made the choice she did because while she could potentially never see her mother again, she was alive and well... but Eda, another parental figure in her life, could die. She was able to prevent it, and she did, and if you have a positive relationship with your loved ones that could potentially die, you’d likely do the same.

Luz is able to move on, relatively normally, after this point, because she has something to work towards: a new portal. She’s given hope because she learns of another human being in the Demon Realm before, and that gives her something to hold on to. When combined with the budding romance with Amity, Luz is able to deal with the consequences of her decision to stay in the Demon Realm, and her choice to save Eda over going home. It’s a dam, holding back a torrent of negative thoughts that she’s likely been burying for a while.

Then she sees her mother again. Then, the dam begins to buckle.

I think “Yesterday’s Lie” is something of an under-rated episode, because it’s this moment where you can see Luz’s wall of positivity start to break down. She’s reminded of her selfish wish to be a witch is something that can, and did, hurt her mother. Yes, her mother didn’t know that she was gone because Vee took advantage of Luz going to the Demon Realm to be able to (more or less) safely live in the Human Realm... but upon Camila learning the truth, and learning that her daughter effectively ran away to another world, it became harder to ignore the consequences of her choice to stay on the Boiling Isles. Camila blaming herself for Luz’s situation only makes things worse by compounding consequences with guilt... and Luz is only a 14 year old girl.

It’s this that has Luz begin to truly slip into the more depressed mindset she develops over the course of Season 2B. This is really the first real time Luz has shown to be truly traumatized, and this is where I think a lot of people misunderstand how trauma works.

Trauma is something that lingers, and affects you in ways that are more often than not negative. It’s something that is triggered by a distressing situation that rattles you, not just distress in general. I myself have PTSD that genuinely keeps me up at night, and while I’ve been better at managing it as time goes by, it still has me panic enough that life is made harder by it being there. Luz’s “trauma response” was never proactive, because Luz wasn’t dealing with trauma, she was dealing with issues in the moment. This is fundamentally why it bugs me to no end when people like Lily Orchard blatantly shit on Luz being depressed in Season 2B; Luz didn’t really have long lasting consequences to her actions begin to pile up until she destroyed the portal door. That’s not something a proactive and positive attitude can just fix, nor is it something that can be dealt with in the same way that Luz deals with other problems that have cropped up during the course of the series. Luz’s choice to stay in the Boiling Isles was born out of her seeing it as a way to escape... until it wasn’t an escape anymore. She could have left at any time and went back home. But she didn’t, and that is why Luz ended up in the mental state she did. It’s the ripple effects of an act of selfishness catching up to her, and leaving her emotionally damaged as a result.

Luz’s decision to stay and the guilt associated with not being able to properly tell her mother that she isn’t at fault for Luz staying in the Demon Realm is further compounded on by Luz unknowingly helping Belos by teaching his younger self the Light Glyph, and then learning the truth of this in Hollow Mind. While I don’t think the episode is that great, Hollow Mind is critical for Luz’s decent down the emotional spiral she’s on because it only serves to build on top of the foundation of consequences and guilt by adding a wrinkle that, while we figured out pretty quickly as the audience, Luz didn’t know about because, realistically, why would she?

Luz learning that she helped a tyrant rise to power because of the choice of staying on the Isles is where her dam breaks, and the negative thoughts become so loud they’re practically screaming in her head, and it’s perfectly justifiable that she, in that state, would believe she is at fault for everything. Remember, this all started because, and say it with me, Luz decided to stay on the Boiling Isles until leaving was no longer and option. Her decision to stay would lead to Belos learning of her existence, which would lead to the Door being destroyed, which lead to Luz looking into Philip, which lead to her meeting him in the past and teaching him the Light Glyph, which lead to Belos being able to rise to power via the lie of the Coven System, which lead to Belos being a factor to begin with. It’s a self sustaining feedback loop, and it naturally leads to Luz downing a big old cup of depresso espresso. This is why Luz feels so responsible for Belos. This is why she ends up so depressed. This is why Luz’s ability to deal with things in a healthy way falls into her depressive downward spiral, and why she needed to hear her mother basically say she’s sorry for ever thinking that Luz being different was a problem to pull her out of it (and ultimately cause Stringbean to hatch). It’s why I think that the way Luz is in “Thanks To Them” works. I do think it being dragged into “For The Future” was a bit much though.

Luz is an example of a character that goes through a negative character arc, but still walks out on the other side a better person where others might not. It’s not done the most gracefully, but it’s something that, given the circumstances, worked for what they were able to do within the time constraints.

I think it’s blatantly obvious that Dana likely had this sort of things planned to be more gradual than it was, but had to cram a whole bunch of story stuff into Season 2 (especially Season 2B) to make up for the fact that she wouldn’t have three full seasons to do this kind of thing more gradually. It’s sort of like if you lost a season’s worth of context for Walter White in Breaking Bad: you’d get that dark spiral, but it’d be a bumpier ride because of the lack of time. It’s pretty safe to assume that early Season 2 was written and approved by the people in charge before Dana even knew cancellation was a thing, as you typically write treatments for this kind of thing WAAAAAY in advance of full blown production from what I understand. And now, to pivot to something related, but less important than Luz’s handling of her growing depression.

There are things about Luz’s arc that I find to be somewhat disappointing though. Specifically, how they handled Stringbean. Stringbean feels like one of those things that was a victim of the mass amounts of cuts that had to be made because Disney execs were going too hard on the Apple Blood and decided a 3rd Season would have been too much for something that didn’t fit the Disney Channel “Brand.” If I had to speculate on the intended direction of Season 2B, it seems likely going to be the climax of the season where Luz got Stringbean, rather than what we got. Like, I firmly believe that most of Season 2A was written and approved for production before Season 1 even ended, because it feels like a more logical extension of Season 1 than the later half of the season does. Stringbean was basically set up as far back as “Hunting Palisman” at bare minimum, and you could argue it’s an even older concept because of Eda’s mention of young witches needing to earn their staffs/Palismans in earlier episodes (I can’t recall the exact episodes). The seeds had been sewn earlier than even Hunter, so Stringbean was likely a victim of the cuts.

The other reason I think this is because of when Stringbean first appears. She debuted in the second-to-last episode, and then is truly relevant for all of 5 minutes of that episode before Luz dies, and comes back with Titan Powers. Sure, Stringbean is used in the final battle after Luz gets said powers, but it could have just as easily been Owlbert and not much would be different. It’s clear to me that Stringbean was meant to fulfill an emotional climax of the story, but due to time constraints, barely managed to get squeezed into the series by the end, and that’s a damn shame.

If I were to write elements of Luz’s arc, as far as getting Stringbean is concerned, I’d have it serve as a connection to Luz’s father. While I love what we got of Camila in the specials, I think it would have made more sense from a writing standpoint for Camila to lack the understanding of Luz’s more eccentric traits because that’s something Manny was better at understanding. I’d even make the idea of a Snakeshifter something Luz and Manny came up with together when Luz was little, and that Stringbean’s form is born from Luz finally feeling like her mother understands her, and from Camila finally being able to truly begin understanding Luz like her husband did before he died. I think that would have at the very least made Luz’s dead dad thing be a bit more relevant to the story, make Camila have a bit of an arc that has a bit more punch to it, and it’d give Stringbean a better debut as a more emotionally potent moment. Even if this had to be saved for like, a Season 3 mid-season finale, it’d still have done more for the story to handle it in a way like this in my opinion.

Anyway, those are some thoughts of mine. Feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with anything I’ve said. Just be respectful and stuff.

#The Owl House #Luz Noceda #Analysis #toh analysis #Owl House Spoilers #TOH Spoilers

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comradekatara · 2 years

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i was watching an interview with alex and ariel hirsch, and besides just being really sweet and delightful, it got me thinking about how these kinds of sibling dynamics are typically positioned in media, contrasting the relationship of dipper & mabel with that of katara & sokka, a connection that is not unfamiliar to me. i really enjoy the fact that these sibling dynamics are incredibly similar on paper, and yet are framed by their respective narratives in complete opposite ways.

both dipper and sokka represent the cynical, paranoid, analytical, mathematically-minded, neurotic, suspicious, strategic puzzle solvers who are deeply loyal to their sisters, would do and/or give up anything for them, who are extremely brave and heroic when the moment calls for it despite their constant cynicism and paranoia, who want to act and be considered adults by those around them, and who struggle with their perception of their own masculinity, intelligence, and heroism.

both katara and mabel represent the idealistic, adventurous, fearless, naive, sometimes selfish, sometimes selfless, optimistic, fun-loving, nurturing, compassionate beacons of light and hope who want to enjoy their childhoods for as long as possible, who develop a crush on every new cute boy they meet but would never demean themselves or their own autonomy (too much) for the sake of a man, who actively want to be a force for good in the world and are willing to fight to make that happen.

but the key difference in these dynamics is that dipper is the protagonist of gravity falls, whereas katara is the protagonist of avatar.

there are plenty of episodes of gf wherein mabel's flaws, insecurities, mistakes, and general moments for positive character growth are explored, but gravity falls is fundamentally about dipper's journey of self-actualization, even if mabel's anxieties about approaching adulthood do help to catalyze the climax of the narrative. as alex hirsch has stated himself, he identifies with dipper (and the fact that he intentionally imbued a lot of his sister into mabel makes this fact even more overt), so dipper is the one who learns the lessons in most episodes; he is the one with the flawed point of view that needs to be adjusted, whereas mabel's positivity and general loveliness is just there to complement dipper's insecurities. of course, this positioning isn't always the case – mabel is an extremely dynamic character in her own right, who has plenty of opportunities for growth, but she is often presented as an active force for good (albeit chaotic good). mabel and dipper are twins, and they do share an equal narrative weight, but it's also clear that mabel plays second fiddle to dipper thematically, even if her role as co-protagonist is integral. dipper is the one who does the opening and closing narration in the pilot and finale. dipper is literally based on the creator of the show himself.

conversely, katara is indisputably the protagonist of atla, and despite having a similar amount of screentime, sokka plays a supporting role. aang, katara, and zuko represent the narrative scaffolding of the show, with their arcs all complementing one another and coming together to construct the narrative itself. sokka's role is typically to support these characters, to the play the straight man or the everyman to their romantic heroes (episodes in the final season, such as "sokka's master" in katara's case, "the day of black sun" in aang's case, or "the boiling rock" in zuko's case, do reverse this dynamic by having the protagonists become supporters of sokka's heroic journey, but the typical dynamic nonetheless largely sees sokka in the supporting role, both in terms of narrative structure and in terms of his personal identity and relationships with other characters). while sokka is given episodes in which his internal growth is an A or B plot in the narrative, the majority of the series focuses on katara's growth primarily, showing her making similar mistakes and/or facing similar obstacles over and over again and reacting to and learning from them in new ways.

as one would expect from a protagonist, katara gets more screentime dedicated to her growth, getting three seasons to react to and explore her own internal struggles, as opposed to sokka, who grows and adapts to new information and challenges remarkably quickly, and only ever externalizes his feelings for the sake of helping someone else (often katara) heal. this isn't to say that sokka is underwritten, but rather that their respective roles in the narrative inform their characters: sokka's baggage perfectly explains why he internalizes his feelings (but now's not the time to go in-depth on that), and his adaptability, creativity, and intelligence allow for him to synthesize new information at a uniquely impressive speed. meanwhile, katara's arc is central to the show, so her internal struggles are necessarily woven more explicitly throughout the narrative. like dipper, she is the narrator, she is the thematic heart of the show. she learns from her mistakes, and then she repeats them anyway. she doesn't listen to sokka, even (especially) when he's right, because if she did, there would be no show!

mabel and dipper do argue about who's the sidekick (they are both each other's sidekick), and have a far more equal relationship than sokka and katara, which makes sense considering that they are twins, whereas katara is not only younger than sokka, but also inherently Special in a way that sokka is not. meanwhile, sokka knows and would willingly admit that he is the sidekick; in fact it is his entire identity. but what makes dipper & katara the protagonists of their respective shows is not their inherent specialness, but the fact that their characters are central to conveying the themes of their shows, which could not be more different from each other in content. even if these central dynamics feel similar, they are represented entirely differently due to the nature of the universes in which they exist and the messages the writers intend to convey, and well. i just find that fascinating.

ultimately, if mabel & sokka seem less flawed and yet far less appreciated than dipper & katara by the narrative (i would also say by fans, but audiences hate teenage girls who act like human beings as a rule, so...) it's because they are, intentionally so. sokka & dipper and katara & mabel may be far more similar in terms of personality, but sokka & mabel ultimately occupy a similar narrative role in relation to the narrators katara & dipper, as the ever-present siblings our heroes would be nowhere without.

#idk man im just watching gravity falls interviews on youtube #and i was gonna write like one little paragraph about this #and then i ended up..... uh #writing more.#synthesis #analysis #katara #sokka #katara&sokka #sokka and mabel have always felt like the narrative underdogs to me iykwim #like i love katara and dipper so much #but i feel like sokka and mabel both deserve a single shining spotlight on an empty stage so they can sing 'my way'#but maybe thats because i will always identify more with the sidekick no matter what #i am just a sidekick coded person! and i embrace my truth <3 amen

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namig42 · 1 month

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random OC ask: if your OC inexplicably had access to real-world media, what character would be their favorite? what character would they unreasoningly despise? why?

Alright, I'm gonna speed round their favorites, then I'll come back in another post with the ones they loathe.

Also hello, sorry I took forever to respond, I have been on vacation and also got a pretty ring from my new fiancee (I have been saying that word too much lol)

My OCs Favorite Fictional Characters!

Wyndolyn

Wyn would adore Zarya from Overwatch. She would see the badass buff babe who talks about hugging like Siberian bear and want to be just like her. (This is absolutely not based on real life experience.)

Helena

Mizu from Blue Eye Samurai. Helena would think that she's sooo cool and complex, finding comfort in someone who isolates themselves still managing to find connections in the world. She would also buy a sword and cosplay as her.

Dahlia

Aang from ATLA. She'd love Aang's goofy, playful nature and his whole character arc, from a kid running from his duties to a powerful bender that finds a way to maintain his beliefs, no matter the obstacle.

Dahlia would love the Avatar series, and since she grew up so sheltered, she'd have no idea that it's actually a super popular show that there's a huge community for. She'd definitely bring it up in conversation thinking that she's introducing something cool and new to people, then quickly learn how many people have loved the show for years and be pleasantly surprised that she can just gush with people.

Vero

Vero would be a big fan of musicals and classic films. She strikes me as someone that would resonate and admire Veronica from Heathers a lot, and when she learns about the musical version of Heathers? Forget about it. She's learning all of Veronica's parts in a day.

Sahed

Sahed is definitely a DnD and LotR nerd that has the lore memorized from both franchises. He has all the books and a bunch of art, posters, and figurines of his favorite character Smaug that would clutter up his room. Smaug would also inspire him to become a scaley, just sayin.

Sahed would also love the Fire Emblem series, and his favorite character would probably be someone like Tharja (practices curses on her own daughter) or Arvis (the main antagonist in FE4 who wipes out a whole army with one meteor shower).

Velora

Velora is a cozy gamer for sure. She'd love building her island to perfection in Animal Crossing and marrying every townie in Stardew Valley. Though she'd optimize her gameplay and romance everyone in town, her favorite character in Stardew that she would always come back to would be Shane. She likes being able to help him and earning his affection, since it always seems really genuine during his supports.

Gardon

Gardon would love a conflicted father archetype like Joel from The Last of Us. He would gravitate towards flawed characters who find some redemption in the world, and Joel is the epitome of that.

Lin'rai

Lin would love Marceline from Adventure Time and ship Bubbline so hard. Her dream girl is very similar to PB, and she sees a lot of herself in Marcy. She'd also be a Steven Universe fan who relates a lot to Pearl and simps over Rose Quartz, even though she knows how problematic Rose is. Mystery Girl from the episode "Last One Out of Beach City" would also be high on her crush list.

---

Okay, this took way more thought than I anticipated, but this all tracks pretty well.

My partner saw Vero being into Heathers and went, "really??" He didn't think Vero would be a Veronica/Heathers person, but when I asked what he thought she'd like, he was like, "I don't know, I just didn't get Veronica vibes."

Useless. I can't wait to marry this dingus.

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