related to the previous post (which is a good and useful post, this is not a criticism):
More than just the general antisemitism on tumblr, i've seen some real vicious hatred towards Israelis specifically that is just... beyond repulsive, and I do wish there was a little more focus in some areas on the fact that it's truly terrible to be awful about Israelis just because they are Israeli. While this behavior is certainly antisemitic, it is also a specific kind of hatred based on nationality that deserves particular acknowledgement.
The structure of Jewish community means that an attack on Israel feels like (and can often be) an attack on Jews broadly, but I think the focus people sometimes put on saying people shouldn't be attacking Jews elsewhere because they've got nothing to do with Israel neglects to really address the fact that it's actually also not okay to go after anyone purely because of their nationality, or more specifically because of what you assume about them based on their nationality?
There are people on this website who would not come after me for being Jewish in America in the same way that they would and do go after Israelis, as if it's justified because their government is terrible or what the fuck ever, regardless of what they as individuals think or believe or have done. Americans do not have a direct phoneline to Biden and we did not have one to Trump, so why the fuck would you expect an individual Israeli to have any more immediate power over their government than we have over ours?
The times i've been overwhelmed enough to cry about antisemitic behavior on the internet over the last several weeks have been pretty much exclusively these times, knowing that my friends in Israel are not only running to bomb shelters (as they have, over and over, their entire lives) and mourning horrific loss in their communities, but facing venom and hatred spit forth by people thousand of miles away who will never have to live even a fraction of what they do, who heard on fucking TikTok about the conflict they have always lived in the middle of and decided they know everything about it --
Knowing that no amount of trying to improve things in the only home they've ever known, no amount of commitment to peace, no amount of protesting and screaming for justice will ever, ever make them human in the eyes of so many people because of the country they live in. Knowing that, as conditional as people's acceptance of us as Jews in the US can be, there is no condition under which many of those same people would see my friends in Israel as being anything but one-dimensional villains.
That's what I have struggled with the most.
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i think that the major misinterpretation that people have with taco is that she didn't get attached to mic because of her sad face in the end wanted to show regret because "she hurted her friend". like. no, she wasn't sad because she regretted what she did. she was sad because she's alone again, but she knows very well at the end that she had it coming. the reason as to why taco was so desperate of wanting mic to tell her that she did gain something is because. she SAW pickle in mic, but of course their situation is very different. "Oh but Taco couldn't have done what she did to Mic to Pickle, Mic was fully aware" but she did do that. Mic herself says it. That is pretty much what II is telling you. Taco isn't a good friend, and is not exactly a good person either. Mic was aware that Taco was/is a bad person, but Mic's nature makes her believe in whoever acknowledges her. Taco made Mic feel like she needed her, just the way she made Pickle feel back in s1.
she didn't really change thanks to mic. her faces of "regret" aren't her actually lamenting all of the stuff she did to microphone, but rather just her realizing that she proved what everyone said about her as a result. i will give it to that she might've tried to change, but not because of mic. she wanted to win the prize so she could prove others wrong on her being a loser and a coward, by being a loser and a coward. if anything, mic made her realize that she hasn't changed. she pretty much just ruined everything for everyone who saw her as a friend, and for herself.
taco's whole arc is constantly just downgraded to questionable takes and listen. i do agree that she is heavily flawed as a character. she is morally gray, but ii doesn't portray her as a good person with good intentions, nor she should be really be treated as if she was. neither she had those good intentions with mic at all, i mean, their "friendship" pretty much started because of taco wanting the prize money, taking a part of microphone's prize if she made mic won, you know, an offer. she would get the prize and mic would get recognition. but everyone seems to forget that probably, the main reason as to why she's doing all of this, is because she does regret how she acted on s1. she doesn't exactly regret doing all of that to microphone, and even if she does, it's for the wrong reasons. (that's because she did the exact same thing to you know, pickle, her once best friend, the only person she truly ever cared about)
people do tend to forget that taco keeps sending letters to pickle, and that's often just used for pickle angst and making it his only character trait, but. it's not that. it's the fact that taco keeps on writing those letters, despite fully knowing that she did hurt pickle because of her actions. taco's biggest flaw is that she can't accept that she has ruined everything and wants so desperately to be back on pickle's life because she ended up caring about him deeply as a person. as a friend. but she was never there at all, either.
taco can't seem to understand that she has hurted people badly. sure, she seemed like a "friend" to microphone, and you can argue whatever you want but a fact is that taco IS smart, and she knew that the only way to possibly keep mic by her side is pretending to want to be better, you know, the same way she pretended to be just a odd fella so pickle and her could remain together and have an advance at the game. she played with both of them. because both pickle and mic believed in her but were just used by her for the game.
however, taco does seem to regret the way everything went during-post s1. you can see how she yearns for another chance and is saddened about not getting it, but that's not only for comedic purposes, but that's because the writing is telling you that she won't get a second chance. at least not here.
what i want people to understand is that, yes, taco is a complex character, however trying to sugarcoat what she did is pretty much missing the point of her writing as a whole. she isn't a good person neither was she a good friend. she hasn't grown because she was never able to let go of something that she thinks that she can fix with some words and a prize. she thinks that she can still fix her friendship with pickle, she thinks that she can clear her name (even if she was the one who tainted it), but she only ended up proving knife right. she proved everyone right. she hasn't changed. a morally gray character is that. they're not exactly fully bad or fully good, but it's taco's actions that speak a lot. words are cheap, and taco's title is "The Liar", and that says a lot, because she kept on lying to microphone and to pickle on both of their games. she won't heal unless she lets go.
and i want to be clear here: i do think that taco can go through redemption. i do think that taco can become a better person, but not in the way people portray her to do so. because it just pretty much goes against what her arc has settled in for us, and the other arcs that were involved in hers as well.
taco's arc is meant to be somewhat a parallel with nickel's in a way. hell, even with knife's arc if anything. she treats knife as a simple bully, but when she saw that he became smarter and way more emotionally aware than what she had expected, she felt attacked by that, because he was stable. he became a better person and he was rubbing that on her, and it made her feelings of anger way worse regarding him, but it is true. knife is pretty much everything that taco wants to be, but here's the thing that made them so different:
knife stayed. taco didn't stay.
knife is accepted by everyone in the hotel because meanwhile he hasn't explicitly said that he had a change of heart, he has shown it through actions and a big difference too is that he was there for pickle, even if they weren't close in s1, and taco is on the woods because deep down she is aware that she can't go back. not if she doesn't have something to offer as an direct apology, but here's the problem. whether or not she got the prize, she still wouldn't get forgiven by anyone due to what she said that day.
again. her problem is not being able to let go and to accept when she has messed up badly. she has been lying to everyone but she has also been lying to herself as a whole. she can't keep on doing this because it's just hurting everyone and herself. keeping grudges and holding onto past friendships that were doomed to fall is just hurting her. she is not on the state to keep on trying, she wasn't at all ever.
taco's arc most likely will have closure on a way that fits her character, and i feel like that would be with her letting go of inanimate insanity as a whole and of what she can't fix anymore. her trying to find herself after years of lying to everyone and to herself. she's not a good person. but she can become one. only if she knows what she did was wrong and that her second chance isn't there, and never will be, and if she recognizes that meanwhile she did that damage, she can still become a better person. just not there.
pickle and mic don't owe her anything, especially pickle. taco does owe them an apology, but they won't accept that. the least she could do is to accept their wishes, understand that she needs to leave them and grow to be a better person. maybe, if she does that, she would actually heal.
she doesn't need anyone to fix her. she needs to fix herself.
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winter prompts ☃️
'tis the season to write some slightly fluffier offerings for once! you know the drill! feel free to check with me if you are unsure if i'd write certain characters/pairings! <3
[ 1 ] - “what do you mean you 'don't need a coat'?”
[ 2 ] - “that was more ice than snow!”
[ 3 ] - “please don't fall!”
[ 4 ] - “maybe you could warm me up...?”
[ 5 ] - “look's like you've caught a cold.”
[ 6 ] - “you're so toasty!”
[ 7 ] - “thank you for making it special.”
[ 8 ] - “i'm actually allergic to holiday cheer.”
[ 9 ] - “let's build a snowman!”
[ 10 ] - “it's just a little something.”
[ 11 ] - “winter and i are sworn enemies.”
[ 12 ] - “but if i get out of bed i'll be cold!”
[ 13 ] - “look, a shooting star!”
[ 14 ] - “you did all of this yourself?”
[ 15 ] - “i can't believe you got me this!”
[ 16 ] - “that's the ugliest jumper i've ever seen.”
[ 17 ] - “you've never been ice-skating?”
[ 18 ] - “can i borrow your scarf?”
[ 19 ] - “come on, dance with me!”
[ 20 ] - “looks like we're snowed in.”
[ 21 ] - “office parties suck…”
[ 22 ] - “dinner is served!”
[ 23 ] - “at least pretend to like it!”
[ 24 ] - “here, warm yourself by the fire.”
[ 25 ] - “no one should be alone for the holidays.”
[ 26 ] - “i have something to ask you…”
[ 27 ] - “don't lick that pole!”
[ 28 ] - “i see we've ended up under the mistletoe.”
[ 29 ] - “hey, no peeking!”
[ 30 ] - “you're the best present i could have ever wished for.”
last year's list of wintery prompts is also over here for those who want to nose! happy december! and of course feel free to have a go at these yourself!
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