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meanderingstar · 9 months

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the way Daenerys treats Irri in the books is incredibly disturbing and I hate how it's overlooked by both the narrative and the majority of the fandom.

Daenerys uses Irri for sex at least twice over the course of the story, once in Storm and once in Dance. I really, truly cannot overstate how horrific the power imbalance between them is: Daenerys is her khaleesi, her queen and her employer; Irri was formerly a slave in her service and is now her maid with absolutely nowhere else to go. She has evidently been conditioned to believe that displaying absolute obedience to her higher-ups, including sexual services, is her "duty", which Daenerys recognizes and still actively exploits for her own pleasure. This is also why consent between them is utterly impossible – contrary to some asoiaf blogs who claim that consent was not a major issue in this situation (lol) or that Irri freely consented, Irri’s conditioning means that she will never be able to freely consent to someone like Daenerys, who is her employer and holds absolute power over her. Daenerys herself acknowledges this and feels guilty (damning in itself), but ends up using her in such a manner anyway, despite explicitly recognizing that Irri's kisses "tasted of duty" and nothing more.

What makes this even worse is that despite using her in this way in Storm, Daenerys has no issue saying that Irri and Jhiqui (who are her age and have had the same, if not worse, experiences than she has) are "only girls" in comparison to her. She also dismisses their (pretty sensible, imo?) concern about her touching sick and dead people by calling them "utter fools" and saying the Dothraki were only wise when it came to horses. She says all this AFTER sleeping with Irri, which makes it twice as bad - Daenerys considers her a little girl and a fool when it comes to advising her, but still finds it perfectly fine to use her for sex? This condescension extends to their sexual relationship as well, where Daenerys refers to Irri as "the maid", "her handmaid" and "the Dothraki girl" as she has sex with her. It's patronizing, disrespectful and exploitative at best, outright dehumanizing at worst.

While I highly doubt this was Grrm's intention, Daenerys's dynamic with Irri is clearly reminiscent of the horrific way Cersei uses Taena Merryweather. Dany is obviously not as vicious with Irri as Cersei was with Taena but that really doesn't change the fact that she was still a queen exploiting her employee's obedience and conditioned sense of "duty" for her own pleasure, made even worse by the fact that Irri, as a servant and former slave with no family, no connections and nowhere else to go, was 10x more vulnerable than Taena was and certainly more dependent on Dany. It's bizarre how Cersei's treatment of Taena is recognized as fucked up by most of the fandom but Daenerys's treatment of Irri is not, even though the power imbalance between them is infinitely worse. (also: Grrm writing about TWO white queens using their brown maids/ladies-in-waiting for sex is flat-out racist. I'm also extremely uncomfortable with how both wlw interactions are dubiously consensual at best and arguably revolve around Cersei/Dany's relationships with men to some extent: Cersei uses Taena to reenact her trauma by Robert, and Dany not only "pretended it was Drogo holding her...only somehow his face kept turning into Daario's" when she was having sex with Irri, but also explicitly states that "it was Daario she wanted, or perhaps Drogo, not Irri").

Certainly, Daenerys and Irri's dynamic is part and parcel of Grrm's fucked notion of consent and piss-poor writing of wlw relationships (both of which he should be called out for far more than he is, btw), but it doesn't change the fact that in-universe, these are Daenerys's textual actions. Grrm seems to believe that Drogo didn't rape Daenerys (a 13 year old who was forced into marriage) on their wedding night because she said "yes", just like he seems to believe that Jaime didn't coerce Cersei to have sex with him over their own son's dead body because she eventually responded to Jaime's advances, but I clearly recognize them as rape and coercion. The same logic and same standards apply to Daenerys and the way she uses and exploits Irri and she should be judged accordingly.

#asoiaf #anti daenerys #anti daenerys targaryen #irri #grrm criticism #anti grrm #asoiaf criticism #grrm critical #queue

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altschmerzes · 5 months

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THE 13 BOOKS I READ IN 2023 IN ORDER FROM BEST TO WORST + THE PROTAGONIST'S SUPERLATIVE. PART 2.

6. A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engel. a timeless classic that i love love love. meg is such a fun protagonist and i really enjoyed experiencing this as an adult again. the whole like… helpless devastated rage she feels when she realizes that adults can't just. fix everything? that sequence will always rattle me around like a mason jar fulla beans. she's such a like… man. the way the narrative was like. this isn't fair. it isn't right. it's happening anyway. i'm so sorry, but it's happening anyway. that really got me.

Protagonist: Meg Murry. Most Likely To Have A Profound And Life Altering Impact On Adolescent Weird Girls Who Read Her Book.

7. Whiskeyjack by Victoria Goddard. third book in the series, slightly less fun than the others but only very slightly. i cannot emphasize enough how difficult it was to rank like, 2-8. had some VERY fun stuff with like…. things you learn that then go back and recontextualize everything else. ended on a scene that made me fucking sob which is always a plus in my book. themes of FAMILY and LOYALTY and SACRIFICE. my fucking beloved. yes please. the pov character continues to have a horrible little time. also love that.

Protagonist: (again, series has dual protagonists, so switching back) Peregrine Dart. Most Likely To Be The Unwitting Conduit Of The Deus Ex Machina. Deus Ex Dart.

8. One By One by Ruth Ware. just a really good classic mystery thriller. i love a mystery thriller, and ruth ware seems to always hit for me. managed to pull off a pov switch between two pov characters one of whom had a massive, MASSIVE secret without it seeming completely nonsensical once revealed or relying on the pov character talking in deliberately obtuse or evasive ways that would be really tiresome and insulting if carried through. there was a set of tech bro startup characters that were obnoxious and infuriating in exactly the way that those people are in real life, so points for that for SURE even though i did wanna throttle them.

Protagonist: Erin (Lastname). Most Deserving Of A Tropical Vacation.

9. The Ritual by Adam Nevill. this is the most brutal book i have read in recent memory. possibly at all. this guy gets put all the way through the wringer physically and emotionally and it is visceral in the way it is described. the protagonist was a profoundly unpleasant person a lot of the time but this was deliberate and really engaging, honestly. there were some moments of stark self-reflection from him about the ways in which he did not like who he was and the things he did, and when he recognized how like. unfair and cruel he was being to the others in his head. wasn't as good as the movie, imo, but the changes that they made between the book and film made total sense given the sheer level of interiority in the book. and boy howdy how much interiority. whoof.

Protagonist: Luke. Most Surprising Survival.

10. I Am Not Who You Think I Am by Eric Rickstad. i think the most damning thing that can be said about this book is that i literally can't remember almost anything about it. it was compelling in some ways and there were a few very specific moments that i was really gripped by but most of it was like. a really flat letdown. it was interesting enough as a mystery that i finished it but i don't even really remember why, now.

Protagonist: Wayland Maynard. Most Forgettable Guy.

11. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken. just. ugh. dystopia ya in a bad way. too complicated and not well established. dumbass colour coding system. it could've been so fun, i love traumatized teenagers with powers and an evil government in all sincerity but this just did not do anything good with it. it looked like it COULD have but it DIDN'T. the love interest character was a DICK. there was some weird gender takes that popped out of nowhere. jump-scared by gender. did enjoy watching the movie though because it was fucking insane and gave me a scene where the protagonist and the love interest shared a passionate embrace over what fully appeared to be the dead body of the love interest's theoretical best friend. amazing. no notes.

Protagonist: Ruby Daly. Most Likely To One Day Decide She's Tired Of Being Nice And She Does Want To Go Apeshit Actually.

12. Reputation by Sarah Vaughan. [VIDEODROME PRESCREEN AUDIENCE REVIEW WHERE THEY JSUT WROTE 'SUCKED' AND GOT SO UPSET ABOUT HOW BAD IT WAS THEY MARKED THE WRONG GENDER] this book was BAD. the writing was bad. the characters were bad and not on purpose. the politics of the book were uh. whoof. what if white girlboss feminism was a novel. points for some of the hardest i've laughed tho at Nice Dick Mike the journalist that the protagonist cannot respect after she sleeps with him and Lady Cop With Bangs, the traitor to womanhood.

Protagonist: Emma Webster. Most Likely To Submit An Extremely Long Post To Reddit Dot Com Slash Am I The Asshole That Leaves Out A Lot Of Like, Extremely Critical Information That When Uncovered All Makes Her Look Really Fucking Bad While She Seems To Still Think It Was Entirely Irrelevant And Honestly Unfair To Even Consider. Gd Forbid Women Do Anything.

UNCATEGORIZED: 21st Century Jocks: Sporting Men And Contemporary Heterosexuality by Eric Anderson. there was simply no way to rank this among the others, it was too completely different. they were all very different books but this was just. entirely different. had a wonderful time with it though!! gave me a lot to think about as someone who thinks a lot

thank you for joining me on this journey. i loved reading books again this year and would wholeheartedly recommend anything ranked 1-9 on this list, provided you like the genre/vibe.

#gav gab #book club with gav #long post

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cto10121 · 4 months

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Finally bought a copy of Midnight Sun!!! Or as I like to call it, Twilight’s subtext as actual text because people suck at reading comprehension. Honestly, with every reread the book gets better and better. And of course, I have des notes (Part 1, since this tome is long):

I love how Edward is so obviously interested in her even before he smells her scent. That ~strange urge to step between her and Jessica’s vicious thoughts…buddy

Also love me some Arrogant!Edward, especially at the beginning—the Mr. Darcy vibes truly are impeccable, and it makes total sense for this narrative. The stupid clowns and anti fans hate it, but it is absolutely essential to his character arc towards humility/self-acceptance. It’s called character development, bitch

Edward: “She is an ordinary human girl, nothing special, she isn’t even pretty” Also Edward literally the second time he sees her: “She has oddly deep brown eyes, the color of milk chocolate, but with the clarity of strong tea, with flecks of caramel and agate green and now she is tossing her luscious mahogany hair at me and now her delicious scent is wafting like delicate perfume—” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Clowns: “Edward doesn’t like Bella for herself, he just likes her scent!!!1!” Edward: *absolutely REFUSES to go into detail about her scent, just its effect on him* Yeah. Strange, but revealing. In Twilight he does say it’s like freesia, and Laurent says it’s “floral, somehow.” The metaphor for sexual desire and even predation is there, suggested by Edward’s obvious romantic interest, but narrative-wise Meyer firmly separates the two and even has Edward conquer his own selfish instincts in order to be together with Bella. In that framing, Bella’s scent becomes another obstacle to overcome to reach true romance, and that fact alone makes Twilight better than 90% of romances lol

I don’t think I mentioned this before, but Meyer’s Spanish is surprisingly legit so far. I’ve literally read worse Spanish by Chicano and Latino writers, without accent marks and everything. Although I must say, they always have these Spanish high school teachers insist on having the whole class speak Spanish. It’s such a cliché, but a charming one, I guess

Edward hearing about Emmett’s cantante encounter and thinking, “Yeah, no, this is worse” is such an unintended flex, imo. Homeboy really was dealing with the worst vampire thirst ever and he actually succeeded in overcoming that enough to dick her down. Kudos

Edward thinking about Bella on her wedding day to some stranger and feeling pained—boy, it’s been three days!!!!! Birds of a feather flocking together

“A word I’d never said before in the presence of a lady—” This is the line that made the antis go crazy????? That a vampire from 1901 and frozen in that state would speak and act like he was from 1901????? Antis are so damn stupid

“I liked that I’d finally guessed right. That I was beginning to understand her.” Honestly? So far Edward has been very good at reading her body language and her feelings, almost from the get-go. Some specifics and quirks elude him, and he almost completely misses her attraction to him, but almost everything Bella is feeling from Twilight he also picks up on. So the Team Jacob fans that insist that Jacob is better because he is a better reader of Bella may not have that much of an argument after all

“Like a stalker. An obsessed stalker. Like an obsessed vampire stalker.” And like Bella, Edward is iconically hilarious in the best way possible. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Aaaaaand Alice has her Vampire!Bella vision and everyone is 😮 at Edward falling for Bella. Still wish that Edward would be in denial of his obvious feelings for a while longer, since it’s so much fun

Not antis complaining about how Midnight Sun’s added scenes on Bella’s selflessness and her friends being awful were ~retcons by Meyer…bitch, in Twilight it was clear as day her friends were fake. Normal, but fake. Angela excepted. And Bella’s kindness/self-abnegation was more than established, although there it was focused mostly on Bella’s shielding Angela from Jessica’s prying and setting up Mike/Jessica.

“Obviously the meteorite was just a metaphor for all the unlikely things that could go wrong.” Obviously, but your antis have never been the sharpest tools in the shed in terms of reading comprehension, Edward, so don’t even bother—oh, you meant yourself. Meyer definitely is doing some meta here.

“Edward…Stay.” God, I do want to see this scene dramatized in the TV show in an Edward POV flashback episode. Imagine Edward wrestling silently with his self-loathing, about to leave her room and possibly Bella for good, and then Bella speaks his name. He whirls around, shocked, and the way it’s framed the viewer almost believes she has woken up, but Bella is obviously sleeping. And telling him to stay. And Edward being all 😮 🥺 💗Beautiful…except the TV show would absolutely ruin it somehow

Edward not realizing that Bella is (obviously) turned on by him is just perfection. He is as oblivious to his own beauty as Bella is to hers and it makes for a great parallel. Only difference is he does contemplate whether Bella is attracted to him a little

“Staring at her mouth made me feel strange.” I swear, Edward is so much more naïve than Bella about anything romance. Homegirl owned her crush and acquitted herself very well all things considered. Meanwhile Edward is emotionally flailing like an angsty Kermit every single page, doing a “I wonder why?” every few seconds

“Sometimes, when he stares at me, I’d swear he’s thinking of killing me. Freak. Mike wasn’t entirely unperceptive.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

“She wore a deep blue blouse today” It has begun

“Bella winked?” Yes, Edward, and so did you, you fucking V tease. Both of you wink at people because you two are birds of a feather, flocking together. Two dorks, both alike in love clownery

Edward 🤝 Juliet —> “Soft perfection” & “Dear perfection” Don’t think I didn’t notice, Meyer!!!

The flirtatious waitress!!! Am enjoying her so much more this time around. Usually I like Bella’s Port Angeles chapter than Edward’s, but this shit reads great in both POVs

“Aside from my worries about her sanity, I began to feel a swelling of hope” 10/10 sentence, no notes

“She dreamed of me. I wanted to dream of her.”🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 “I could not dream of her. She should not dream of me.” 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

Edward empathizing with Angela and wanting to pair her up with Ben (and succeeding!) warms the cockles of my cold, dead heart. It’s so great that his 100-year-old cold haughty shell is finally melting and giving way to the 17-year-old simp he is

“Running a house is time-consuming, and I usually had a part-time job, too, not to mention school—” Fuck anyone who hates Bella because she is ~boring, fuck them to hell and back. Homegirl was run so ragged she didn’t have time for herself, much less date. It’s a wonder she had hobbies to begin with (Edit: Aaaaaand the reason Bella hates birthdays is because her mother was shitty at giving her what she wanted and she had to pretend to like them. The fuck)

But on that note, I’m really loving all of Bella’s answers to Edward’s questions, almost easily the best part of the book, and canon-compliant with Twilight. Bella herself comes out as much more winsome, bright, and quirky through Edward’s perspective, traits that were less emphasized in her POV for obvious reasons. Even the stupid antis acknowledge that

Clown Antis: “Edward ~forced her to leave everything she wanted!1!1!!1” Literally Edward: “I realized how important it was for me to know her plans for the future. So I didn’t derail them. So I could shape this unlikely future into the best version to suit her.”

Bella being initially alarmed at Edward in the sun is possibly a retcon. In Twilight she did say the sight was “shocking,” but I thought it was mostly in a romantic way. But it does make sense lore-wise that she would think of him on fire at first. This is Edward’s POV, so he could just be assuming that is Bella’s alarm. Still, I wonder why Bella would skip over the extended “You aren’t repulsed by my flagrant lack of humanity?” exchange. I guess she took it for granted she wasn’t afraid????

Edward counting insects in the meadow etc. is just so…not really hilarious in context. The parodies made it seem like he was some neurodivergent nerd. In actual context he was just trying to distract himself from Bella’s scent.

“Better to see myself as the whole, bad and good, and work with the reality of it.” So mature and much better than anything else in this genre. Edward is growing and learning

“Regardless, I have better reflexes.” You’re (still) a whore, Edward. Nice to know that hasn’t changed.

#twilight #twilight renaissance #cristina reads #midnight sun #edward is so juliet capulet-coded #when you know you know #play a drinking game every time edward mentions her blue blouse #the antis trying desperately to say this book was bad is laughable #otoh the people who say it is better than twilight are also clowns too #i think both are necessary and have their own power #both have similar arcs of finding and accepting love for themselves as well as each other #overcoming their self-esteem issues #bella finds the love and acceptance she needed and edward learns humility

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shcmook · 1 year

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Neverafter has been one of the craziest seasons of Dimension 20 on a lore level but there’s still a lot we don’t know about the true goals of the many villains or how they connect to each other. so I made this

LIST OF FORCES AND FACTIONS IN THE NEVERAFTER RANKED ON HOW LIKELY THEY ARE TO BE THE TRUE BIG BAD OF THE SEASON

(Updated through episode 8)

Mother Goose’s Book

While sucking people into the book at first appeared to be a thing that Timothy was unwittingly doing TO these people, I think it’s become clear that Tim is genuinely helping these people. Same with Scheherazade. I think the two of them are, pardon the pun, on the same page. And the rest of their two groups of adventurers are on the right trail to fixing the problems in their worlds. More or less.

The Big Bad Wolf

Listen I understand ranking him this early on the list may be controversial but like? If any of the villains of the original stories is as much a victim of the times of shadow as anyone else, it’s the Wolf. I do not think that a being representing Death and The End would be a true villain in this kind of world. That doesn’t make sense from what I understand of Brennan nor this world he seems to be building here. Plus like. We KEEP getting more and more hints of something bad happening to the wolf? And it’s not framed as a good thing? PLUS Ylfa’s storyline ending in her still rejecting, rather than accepting the part of herself that is the wolf doesn’t make much sense imo. All signs point to the Wolf being a positive, albeit hungry, force in this world.

The Spiders

Obviously they took up a combat episode but. Anything evil about Muffet has I think been dealt with at this point. Her and itsy bitsy are good guy creepy crawlies. No true evil here.

The Princesses

I’m pretty sure the princesses are also good guys. Cinderella definitely is. But they also seem to have their own goals and agenda that we don’t know much about? I’ll be MAD if they are all ultimately villains though.

Aesop

A little mean but he seems harmless. Mostly. Like the Fairies he seems to have a very specific way he thinks things SHOULD be, but his worldview seems very descriptive rather than prescriptive. He believes in morals very strongly because his world has informed that, not because he’s made it that way. But… enough of the similarities to some of the other villains are there that I felt I should rank him separate from the other storytellers. Like. Remember when his Lion just had blood dripping from his mouth as he said he didn’t know what he ate? Something’s fucked up with the realm of birds and beasts dude it’s not just me being wary of Lawful Good characters. Or maybe it is idk.

The Staff of Between the Lines

Its possible they may have unwittingly overseen some kind of revision to the narrative or held to some rules that have allowed corruption to take root. However I do believe that Key and Legend are good people doing their best to help, and the library itself seems to be a good thing in this world. (Or… outside of it?) At worst they’ve been somehow manipulated by darker forces to do evil in a way we do not yet understand.

Lord Bandlebridge

Member him? Imagine if plot twist he was the big bad the whole time lol. Shoeberg was always kind of a scummy place from what we’ve been told but seems ultimately unimportant to the big picture. Not a good guy. Probably not a villain we’ll see again.

The Fox and the Hare

Pib, while a little bastard, ultimately seems interested in upsetting established order in a way that benefits the small, poor, and kind people of the world. The other tricksters don’t seem to… get that? I think they play tricks for selfish reasons, and simply to cause chaos respectively. I think that’s why The Cat seems to be keeping the other two in check during the times of shadow. Because pure selfishness and chaos actually uplift the established order instead of subvert it now. They’re def not secretly the big bads or anything but I don’t think they’ll totally get what Pib is doing with Mother Goose. If they show up again there will be conflict I think.

Ogres, Witches, and Giants

We have yet to see any of these kinds of creatures but all three have been talked about and play roles in various characters’ backstories. I think, like Fairies and Princesses, they have their own goals for the world. But ultimately they’re probably also mostly victims of the narrative casting them as villains. Currently there’s no reason to think they’re anything more than symptoms of the Times of Shadow though. They’re not a real faction vying for control of the multiverse.

The Seven “good” Fairies and the one Wicked Fairy

We’ve only actually seen 3 fairies total. The Wicked one, the Godmother, and Turquina. We know there were 8 fairies at Rosamund’s birth (in the second timeline). Maybe there’s more fairies but if so, why are so many playing different roles in so many different stories? I don’t think this is a race of beings but rather a small group of incredibly powerful individuals who came together to bend the worlds of the Neverafter to their desires. And well. that’s bad, mmkay? They’re definitely not the good guys that most of them appear to be. But here’s the thing. They’re losing. They like the Happy Ever Afters. They like the smiles and the songs. They like the family friendly morals. And the times of shadow are fucking with all that. The fairies are definitely bad but I think they’re secondary antagonists to the rest of this list.

The Authors

I have three theories for the Authors.

they were meant to be implied lore, like The Bulb in ACOC. A thing that hangs over the story but ultimately exists outside of it. The implication that ACOC is inside a refrigerator is never directly acknowledged nor important to the plot. But in Neverafter, Ally rolled a nat 20 the one time that would result in us learning a fragment of this greater reality and Brennan went cosmic horror with it. If true, this theory means I’ve ranked these beings too far in this list, as they aren’t actually directly affecting the plot themselves. They write all stories and this is simply one of them.

The Authors are the true villains. Bad things happen to good people because that makes a good story and for good times to return, we must kill the Gods that wrought all suffering and create a new world on our own image, free of torment and pain. Or. Something. Idk killing beings that are essentially gods in this world seems a bit… JRPG? But maybe that’s where we’re going? If so I’ve not ranked these beings far enough in the list.

There is a near infinite number of these beings. But only seven have their eyes on this particular version of the Neverafter. Six have given their powers to our heroes. One has empowered all of their enemies. The fairies, tricksters, ganders and stepmothers alike. This one devil will never show his true face to the heroes, but instead, through these various factions, seeks to tear asunder the world of Stories the others have sewn together, and that the heroes seek to protect. The heroes won’t be able to fight a cosmic being, whose very words are gospel within this world. But empowered by these other Authors, they can defeat the parts of the narrative under his control. In this way these beings are not themselves the true villains, but rather like a force, without which no character has any agency. If this theory holds, then as a group they are ranked just right.

The Gander

The Gander and the Times of Shadow are one and the same thing. We’ve known this for a few episodes now. The bad times. The destruction of the narrative structure that dictates the rules of this very reality are coming undone. That is itself The Gander as I understand it. That said. I refuse to accept that the final boss will be a mean goose guy that grants wishes but at a price. That can’t be… it. Not in the Horror season. So as much as the Gander is cosmologically at the root of what’s going on, I think it is just a part of a more sinister whole.

The Stepmother

I wasn’t originally going to put her at the highest spot bc this seems too obvious but. she is currently the only person that really makes sense as an actual villain that can be fought AND is cosmically large and scary enough that she seems above everything else. There’s a lot of mean and scary things in the Neverafter but nothing so far is as mean and scary as the stepmother and the more we learn about her the harder it gets to really imagine that there’s something meaner or scarier than her waiting.

Prove me wrong, Brennan.

#neverafter spoilers #dimension 20 #neverafter #dropout #d20 #d20 neverafter #SHcMOOK

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alovelyburn · 1 year

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It’s an old ask and can’t find it rn but just imo grifflotte is miserable. Griffith, even with all of his power, is again in a way “forced” to use his body and charms to achieve his goal, something we see quite a lot happening in his youth and being his big issue. He has everything that should allow him to actually make his dream come true, but he still needs to pay a prize for it. I’m not saying it’s the same as Gennon, but the theme is always there. Charlotte being happy is also not the best? Like, I think it’s mostly narrative fault and the way women are presented in the story, but it is so sad. She is happy because she is manipulated into that happiness and lives through fantasy of some kind. And I hate how it can be interpreted as positive. And I do think theres a big chance we gonna see a child too, but I hate the idea of that kid inheriting Griffith kingdom and being destined to rule it, without the baggage (quite popular theory in normal side of the fandom) instead of an actual princess with good ideas who should already have much more growth tbh. It’s like her character ultimately gets turned into just incubator for the next cycle. Not the worst fate in berserk but I hate it so much. Women in berserk are better-ish than most characters we used to but that don’t make them good. But hey, that’s just me wanting more

All right, I think I get where you're coming from now. It's just not how my head works, so I had to kind of adjust my perspective a little. When someone says a relationship is miserable my assumption is that they mean the characters are miserable, but it seems more like commentary on the type of relationship it is. Sort of similar to the child/heir thing - less about the story supporting it than that you perhaps find the turn unsatisfying or undesirable from the perspective of what you'd rather see. I might still be off base, feel free to correct me. But yeah, I mean I'm not here to argue with people's preferences, it is what it is.

From my own perspective...

I do think Griffith pre-eclipse seemed to perceive his relationship with Charlotte as being in the same vein (not to the same degree) as his encounter with Gennon in the sense that he was once again "paying" for something he needed by trading his... body (and the performance of affection in Charlotte's case) for that thing. I think this is part of the reason for his post-coital breakdown with her - this sense that he had lost someone he loved and wanted and is now left with this person that he will always feel he is "selling" himself to on some level.

Honestly, even allowing the Godhand to destroy the remnants of his human flesh and carve his heart out in exchange for his ascension is in some ways just the extreme end of what he's always done: giving away pieces of himself in exchange for things he needs in order to accomplish his goals. Even the external sacrifice is described as needing to be something that is essentially so loved as to become a part of the person making the sacrifice.

"Take hold of the world in exchange for their own flesh and blood," as they say.

And I do think that is incredibly tragic - he's a tragic character. Absolutely. I'm just not sure whether that's something Griffith cares about at all post-eclipse due to the destruction and reconstruction of his emotional world.

Anyway, I'm of two minds about the whole thing because... I've written at some length about my frustration with Casca, the way her character is constructed and the motivations she's given. Yet, at the same time, if I think about what could/should happen with her character, I can only do that from the reality of what she is in the story rather than a hypothetical about what I would have made her or would have preferred her to be.

Plus my writer brain is stronger than my fan brain, so when I think about things like this I always think about them as being one of many moving parts within a narrative. So I think things like, if Charlotte were the sort of character to take over like a boss after her father passed away then the whole story about Griffith courting her so he can run a country makes no sense. That being the case, she's designed to be a person who doesn't do that because... that's just the role she has in the story.

All that said, and now I'm just continuing to talk about this grifflote child concept as though I'm invested in it and I just akjnakjnsd like I'm REALLY NOT I'm just thinking from a narrative perspective since it keeps coming up...

Let's say she has a kid, and then Griffith dies.

The kid would be like... an infant. So wouldn't she need to step up anyway?

ETA: And I have no idea what the mainstream western fandom is doing aside from performatively spitting fire every time Griffith's name is mentioned. Still, they can't be wrong all the time. Stopped clocks and all that.

#ask #anonymous #ariel talks about berserk #fandom has taught me that my approach to fiction is strange #but eh

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count-doodoo · 4 months

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hello there! for the star wars ask: 3, 21 and 24 (i'm sorry)

thanks for playing! sorry these answers are kinda bad LOL

3. What’s the worst part of canon?

...oh, there's so many potential things to bitch about... and it's all so complicated, because there's also so many things that suck but that had potential...

going to go with ben solo's last words being "ow". lacks emotional power ("there's more of us" made NO SENSE but it was pretty moving ngl, everything about han in the sequels is just ??? but i cried anyways), comedic value (double agent hux????? i don't like sand?? you want to go home and rethink your life?????????), or really any sort of narrative potential (the prequels, pour exemple, but also, like, the whole dyad thing). it's just dumb. plus, after everything, we're just killing him off by making him yeet his life energy into rey? i love me a good redemption-for-love, but what the fuck?????????????????? plus as he dies he doesn't do any final words, just... kiss????????????? boo.

(canon also has plenty of social/political problems, which are more important, but honestly i don't feel like picking a single incident there.)

21. Best canon example of a healthy relationship in Star Wars?

and conversely, there are so few examples to pick from here...

...lbr i don't even know what's canon and what's fanon wrt healthy relationships.

uhh. bail and leia seem to have a healthy relationship. leia and her droid in the kenobi show? OH! han solo and his gun? wait han and chewie??

nahh i think i'm just gonna go with bail and leia because of the cute gifsets from the kenobi series :D

24. Fuck marry kill: Tarkin, Pre Viszla, Max Rebo

OK WOW YOU SHOULD BE SORRY (jk <3)

fuck: pre viszla. wouldn't marry him, because i don't agree with his morals/ethics/politics and i don't think i could change him, but also don't think killing or turning him would have a significant impact, given the sith lord machinations behind the scenes.

marry: max rebo. i'm not the hugest fan of jizz (or irl jazz), but i am a[n amateur] musician. the red jett organ is SO COOL imo and i'd love to try playing it lol. plus, i can live surrounded by the sounds of dissonant practice, and i'm not particularly aghast by his playing for criminals. so marrying him might be annoying and not exactly my top choice, but i wouldn't feel that guilty about supporting him and i think i could live with him.

kill: tarkin. i know he's not the mastermind behind the empire, and he's not irreplaceable, but one can hope that crossing him off would at least slow down some atrocities, like the death star, depending on when exactly he's killed. i don't think i could temper him at all with marriage, either, so.

choosing violence ask game: star wars edition [x]

#star wars #ask game #bosquedemel #choosing violence ask game: star wars edition

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narastories · 6 months

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So, I kind of finished my random Hellraiser movie-watching madness, and here is my personal list of ordering the Hellraiser films from best to worst:

1. Hellraiser (1987)

2. Hellbound: Hellraiser ||

3. Hellraiser (2022)

4. Hellraiser: Hellseeker (VI)

5. Hellraiser |||: Hell on Earth

6. Hellraiser: Bloodline (IV)

7. Hellraiser: Deader (VII)

8. Hellraiser: Judgement (X)

9. Hellraiser: Hellworld (VIII)

10. Hellraiser: Inferno (V)

11. Hellraiser: Revelations (IX)

I know everyone has REALLY different opinions on these lol This is just mine. Ramblings below.

1. Hellraiser (1987)

If you're not rating this at the top, what even are you doing? OG. Classic. Great. Yes, they have visibly worked with different tech regarding the make-up, fake blood, etc. It just adds to the charm. Also: Kirsty <3

2. Hellbound: Hellraiser ||

This goes hand-in-hand with the first one. It also has that part with Kirsty getting the Cenobites to protect them, which is great. 10/10 no notes.

3. Hellraiser (2022)

Sorry, not sorry for putting it this high. It's just so pretty. And the cast is great. Overall eye-candy. I mean, I have a soft spot for Goran Višnjić in this (liar) in general. And Jamie Clayton just really made the role of the Priestess her own. I think with some of the Pinhead re-casts the issue was that they just put another guy in there, but with her, she really owned the role. The references back to the OG are subtle, and overall I think it did the original film justice.

4. Hellraiser: Hellseeker (VI)

I would be lying if I said the Pinhead & Kirsty scene didn't influence me to rate it this high. But also, I feel like this is the film that Inferno was trying (and failing) to be. You have the plotline with the police, and the cheating husband, but you actually care about what happens to the characters because it's Kirsty and his husband not just random people with no backstory. I'm going to say it again: I personally enjoyed Trevor's suffering and Kirsty getting blood on her hands. There is also something to be said about the early-2000's anxiety about surveillance.

5. Hellraiser |||: Hell on Earth

This still has a very similar vibe to I & II, which is a plus. I get that people think Pinhead is OOC here. Personally, I think his behavior could be explained by what happened to him. To me, it was hilarious that he basically let the human part of him die to save someone else, got stuck in a statue and his brain-to-mouth filter just disappeared. And then the human part kept haunting people. You also have Terri and Joey whom I love dearly.

6. Hellraiser: Bloodline (IV)

I appreciated the backstory, and I appreciated Angelique. Also, as I've said before the space-station setting didn't feel overly gratuitous. Imo it served a purpose and added to the narrative saying "we are so far in the future and these angels/demons are still here". At this point in the movies, it felt really good to get a little history lesson too about where the box was coming from.

7. Hellraiser: Deader (VII)

I would not call this (or the rest on this list for that matter) a good film. There was something personally relatable and therefore terrifying to me about this movie. It leans strongly on the idea that the ones you should be afraid of the most are human and I like that. The subway car scenes are also fun, but I'm taking minus points for the Hungarian name in the address that the guy pronounced like it was an Italian city. Oh yeah, and if you are claustrophobic... good luck?

8. Hellraiser: Judgement (X)

Very bizarre, but not half that bad? The scenes followed a plot that made sense and were enjoyably done. Pinhead wasn't OOC despite it not being Doug Bradley, of course. The guy with the glasses was also fun. Bonus points, because Kirsty can make deals, but Carter can't :P At the same time, this film is nowhere near as good as some of the older ones.

9. Hellraiser: Hellworld (VIII)

Just. No? I mean, part of me appreciates the geeky "fandom" setting and the 2005 technology. But. No. It's like Teen Wolf meets Hellraiser, and that is not a compliment (although I like both but... no) I just have an incoherent "this tasted bad" feeling about this movie lol If I had to articulate it, I would say that the plot felt very unfinished.

10. Hellraiser: Inferno (V)

So boring. I wasn't opposed to the concept because I think the question: "What does the police have to say about all of this?" is a good and valid one. But man, the execution sucked. I had zero sympathy for the main guy, but I also didn't feel gleefully malicious as I did with Trevor. Yeah, I can't recommend this one.

11. Hellraiser: Revelations (IX)

Ugh. First of all, the protagonists are two spoiled brats, whose troubles offer nothing interesting. Like, okay, you had a temper-tantrum and opened the box, congratulations I guess? Kirsty was more mature than this in the first movie. Second, and I'm sorry to say but this is the worst Pinhead recast out of them. He looked like a boy in his father's shoes. Tbh the cenobites all look worse. The plot also moves too fast and the references back to the old stuff are really clumsy. I'm sorry but I hated it.

#hellraiser #hot takes #maybe #anyway that was my hellraiser marathon lol

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catoscloves · 2 years

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whenever i see an SE shipper or an anti SC person in general (nothing towards my SE mutuals ily all <3) claim a power imbalance between stefan and caroline i'm always kinda struggling to understand....

"stefan was not as invested in the relationship than caroline" uhm no that was m*roline, where matt was constantly putting caroline down and inadvertently pitting her against elena. people think that that was the situation when it came to stefan's elena versus caroline narrative (as in which one he wanted as a romantic partner) when ultimately it wasn't true? when stefan was with elena he didn't express romantic attraction to caroline - in fact he politely and gently rejected caroline's advances because of his interest in elena WITHOUT leading caroline on or comparing her to elena or pitting the two women together. stefan never insults caroline as a person (that was matt - 'deep's not really your thing') - other than that idiotic calculator comment which obvs wasn't great but is not the worst thing a white man said about a woman on this show - and he even respects and values caroline/admires her growth from insecure and 'shallow' and petty to levelheaded and assertive and in control WHILE he's still committed to elena. the fact that he was attracted to elena first doesn't necessarily make caroline a runner up/second best to elena either, and that seems to be a common opinion shared between stelena shippers (which is an opinion y'all are entitled to have, i just think it's wrong lol).

and people like to bring out caroline's claim that stefan "only had eyes for elena during their first meeting" which was essentially true i guess, in their anti steroline gifsets. but they forget that when stefan was an amnesiac, he trusted caroline, a girl whom he'd basically "just met," over a man who introduced himself as his brother and a woman who must have informed stefan at some point that she was his "(former) epic love." stefan also called caroline his attractive "best friend" at their first meeting ('you're hotter in person'). stefan made plenty of advances toward caroline (he initiated!!!!!!), romantically and otherwise, and even chose to dance because it made her happy, without her having to plead (which was always the case when he and elena were together). stefan respected her space and the fact that she needed to work through and resolve her issues after liz's death, their relationship was decided on HER terms ('when you are ready for me i'll be ready for you'), and stefan and caroline were equals in their platonic and romantic relationship (one of the healthiest relationships on tvd lbr).

also if any stefan relationship had a power imbalance it was st*lena imo, not steroline. stefan was a 100+ year old man who harrassed and stalked a seventeen year old that looked like his ex, consistently lied to her and ommitted important details throughout s1, basically forced an already traumatized girl to do his emotional labor/help him pull through his addiction, then almost killed her for the sake of his vendetta against klaus (forcing her to relive her bridge related trauma and the death of her parents), and planned to hunt her down/force feed her the cure she repeatedly and clearly communicated that she DIDN'T want. while caroline was the same age as elena and also an insecure teenage girl, which is why it makes sense that steroline could have easily become that kind of dynamic, none of these problems ever came up for steroline. stefan politely rejected caroline (not even as a person like d*mon and m*tt did, insulting and belittling her personality and values, but simply because he was pursuing another love interest), caroline moved on, they built a mutually respectful and fond friendship dynamic, and caroline had an equal amount of power because she wasn't a vulnerable human but a vampire with control (vampirism also clearly gave her a self esteem boost and helped her work through her insecurities), which meant stefan never had an opportunity to take advantage of her vulnerability.

#anti stelena #anna speaks #steroline #the vampire diaries #caroline x stefan #anti stefan salvatore for ts #otp: better than true love

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arvadthecursed · 4 months

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Alright, I just finished the Trooper story, so here are my thoughts under the cut!

I think a lot of people went into Trooper having played Imperial Agent (the Imperial mirror class) and expecting it to be the exact same, when that just isn't the case. I was thinking about it, and the Agent is supposed to make you feel like Bond; I think the Trooper is meant to evoke feelings of being Arnold Schwarzenegger, a big, tough commando going in guns blazing.

That being said, while I did enjoy the story (mostly for the companions, except for Tanno), it definitely felt... a little half-baked. I've played Consular, Warrior, Inquisitor, and Agent all the way through, and out of those, Trooper has been the weakest, narratively speaking. (Though to be honest, I could argue that Inquisitor is also narratively weak, but it was more interesting to play.)

The first chapter is the best and most frustrating. Going after Havoc Squad was fun! But it was immensely frustrating that you couldn't save any of them, except Fuse if you choose to let Gorik escape -- which I'm guessing most people didn't choose. That gets no follow up on either end, from my understanding. I was annoyed you couldn't even talk to Wraith; you just had to kill her. Everyone else chooses the "oooh I'd rather die" route and you can't stop them.

The second chapter was alright; I liked the super weapon idea, because I think it really fits the Trooper's theme of a badass who runs right into danger. Yeah, you're doing the more secretive operations for the Republic; but you're also running in with a big gun and shooting everyone (I played a Commando).

The third chapter was where I took a long break from Petra, right after Voss. I did enjoy the story on Belsavis, despite it being one of the worst planets in the game, but Voss bored me to tears, and I had to take a break and go play something else. Corellia was actually pretty fun IMO. I enjoyed getting to break the Imperial lines and help the rest of the military get through, and the final fight leading up to Rakton was fun. Rakton himself was a yawn of a boss fight, and I disliked how he was handled in the end. Kill him? Dark side, and Petra isn't that jaded yet. Let him live but keep him as a prisoner? I chose this, because I figured Petra would see him as an asset, someone to get info out of. But when I did that... Saresh wants to just hand him right back over to the Empire??? And it's a dark side choice if you disagree with her?? What the hell??? I would've thought Saresh was gonna just have him killed. That would have been annoying, having spared him, but made more sense for her character.

The companions are really what had me coming back to Trooper. I absolutely love Aric, Elara, and Yuun. I polyship Petra with Aric and Elara. Aric is such a lovely slowburn romance; and Elara is a genuinely kind, loving person. Yuun is a fascinating addition and foil to the rest of the crew. I really liked how much personality he had. The same goes for Forex. While being a one-note character, I could forgive that, because he was written so entertainingly. It was hilarious going up to him, learning he was gonna go kill some Sith Lord, and just being like "cool, have fun, buddy." Tanno was the only one I actively disliked. He's just an edgy asshole, and not even in a fun way.

But! I think that out of all the stories I've played so far, the Trooper companions really feel like they're YOUR companions as a group rather than on a very individual basis. I love that you get a squad that feels like a real squad.

As for LS/DS, I did like how there were shades of nuance. DS actions could be wildly going off course and being a crazy muderman, sure. BUT it could also be blindly following your orders and killing innocent people. LS actions could be taking in prisoners of war, or they could be refusing Garza's orders and trying to mitigate the human cost. Some of them were pretty cookie cutter, but I really liked the little moments like that.

anyway, it was overall fun mostly for the companions and their stories. The story itself was kinda meh. But I put a lot of effort into Petra's character and history and I am proud of that. <3

the squad!

#swtor #swtor trooper #millie says

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iphido · 2 years

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no i will never be over how making jasico canon wouldve made both of their character arcs so much more satisfying .

jason was obvs intended to be percy's foil (and apparently the main protag of hoo?). whether or not rick pulled it off is subjective but NARRATIVELY i think jason is a much better foil to nico bc percy is on another level lbr. jason isn't a good foil for percy because jason doesnt have anything percy WANTS. percy has everything he could possibly want. he has annabeth and his mom and their growing family. the only thing percy wants at this point — what he’s always wanted —is to be a normal teenager, free from the gods and their schemes. percy only does what he does in HOO because hera put him there. hes there bc he HAS to be. jason on the other hand would probably do everything even without hera's brainwashing bc he's chained by his sense of duty and justice. as a soldier, as a roman, as the son of Jupiter. percy comes off as static in HOO because he doesnt have a real purpose there ? neither does annabeth imo. they dont have real arcs.

nico and jason on the other hand... THEIR ARCS ARE PERFECT PARALLELS OF EACH OTHER. ‘Nico had talked about not belonging anywhere. At least Nico was free of attachments. He could go wherever he chose.’, putting my entire fist in my mouth rn cuz this is a canon quote (hoh, jason LVIII). the epitome of roman masculinity, the Golden Boy, vs the outcast that is literally cloaked in darkness. the top of the demigod ladder vs the bottom. jason was groomed to be this perfect model leader but throughout heroes of olympus he's incapacitated and knocked out and rendered useless, numerous times. meanwhile nico is underestimated and scorned yet he's vital to not one but TWO wars, and he's also capable as hell. like he survives TARTARUS on his own. he survives captivity. he's outed by a love god to someone he barely considers an acquaintance. he leads a group of STRANGERS to the house of hades. he brings a huge fucking statue across the globe and earns the respect of a roman praetor.

ITS JUST SO INTERESTING HOW EACH OF THEM HAS WHAT THE OTHER COVETS SO DESPERATELY. jason has physical perfection and acceptance by his peers, but he lacks direction and purpose. nico lacks the former, but he knows who he is, though he dislikes—even reviles—who that person is. nico knows his place and when/where he’s needed. nico has a family but jason doesnt. nico has hades’ love and, for a time, the love of his mother. jason has neither. zeus never gave two shits about jason. he pledged jason to hera before he was even born to placate her. the only 'mothers' jason had were an alcoholic starlet fallen from grace, a harsh wolf goddess who trained him to be a child soldier before he could even read, and his patron goddess who manipulates him to her own end. both of their older sisters joined the hunters — and while bianca did it to be rid of nico, i bet a million dollars that if thalia knew jason was alive during TTC, she wouldve become the prophecy kid if it meant she could be with him. nico has hazel who cares for and defends him. he can see her whenever he wants. jason sees thalia like once a year. nico has the strength to scorn those who scorn him right back, but jason bears the weight of everyone’s expectations like atlas, and he just cant let go.

nico and jason complete each other. they just do. two boys who are on opposite extremes of the demigod world, looking to each other for answers. for love and acceptance. they see the worst and the best in each other. it’s about someone shattering your expectations and revealing something even more precious inside. IT’S ABOUT THE VAST, PROFOUND EMPTINESS INSIDE YOU. A DEEP SENSE OF LACKING THAT’S BECOME JUST A PART OF YOUR STATE OF BEING AT THIS POINT. AND SOMEONE COMES ALONG — NOT WITH THE INTENTION TO MEND OR FILL THAT HOLE — BUT TO STARE RIGHT INTO THAT CHASM AND NOT CARE. TO TELL YOU THAT THE HOLE DOESN’T MATTER. THE HOLE MEANS NOTHING, BECAUSE I LOVE YOU.

#jasico #pjo #meta #jason grace #nico di angelo #the last paragraph got cut off in my tags but LSDKFJSLKD as requested #ughdomenico

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antiloreolympus · 3 years

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12 Anti LO Asks

1. its victim blaming of hades to tell minthe its HER fault she "couldnt get over him". like? you lied to her! youre the one who blurred the lines to date her! you were just as toxic to her if not more so by controlling where she lives and her job, all while never defending her to your cruel family! you had all the power over her while she had nothing! you dumped her for a 19 year old and dont care she crippled minthe! i wont excuse minthe's actions, but hades is ultimately the worse of the two IMO

2. you know why fans claimed "Minthe should've reacted better"? since the first episode Rachel has been drilling into their heads Minthe is an irredeemable monster, and her not bending over backwards to H/P means she deserves the absolute worst. Minthe reacting how anyone logically would doesn't matter when LO is designed to coddle H/P, and anyone against them must suffer for it, even if the victim to H/P's actions. they never wanted her to be "redeemed", they want her head on a silver platter.

3. i know this is not what she intended bc the only characterization rachel has of hxp is "the best over everything" but uh, does she know having hades control all the petroleum and gasses and whatever else is actively destroying the planet, right? like hes helping the very thing persephone draws her power from and what she's connected to be destroyed to appease hes need for wealth and power. its kinda gross hes being romanticized while he commits horrible acts like this for his bank account.

4. its not impossible to go opposite in their original myth personalities and still have it work. like in hades game, sisyphus is one of the most likable characters, achilles is gentle and kind, ares is calm and rational, etc, but it makes sense within the context of the story. LO in comparison goes "all these loving mothers are evil because i said so! this beloved god is now evil because i said so! minthe is evil because i said so!" and that's about it in terms of logic to these wild changes.

5. I can kinda get behind anon's theory about the flower nymphs looking like P to help her be undetected, the problem is there are also unrelated women in comic who are bright pink and look just like her, with hades even confusing them for her! if i had to bet the only reason they look like that is because rachel just wanted daphne to look like her to hammer home apollo is "obsessed" with P and to fake them as her "real family" over demeter. also just laziness in designing characters in general.

6. its weird hades and persephone are well aware what they're doing is bad even openly admitting it and yet the narrative is so hellbent on excusing their bad actions?? like hades being the major toxic factor in his relationship to minthe, persephone killing people, or hades wanting to bone an eternal 19 year old? like rachel you know thats not how character growth works, right? you cant show they have horrible flaws and leave them to never grow and learn from it, that's not good writing at all.

7. what i also dont get is the hierarchy makes no sense? like zeus is framed as the top god, but that would mean hades cant be the most important man ever so rachel also made him equal rank with zeus (and i guess poseidon too) so?? how does zeus have all that power over them then if theyre all equal? is it because zeus swallowed metis? also how are the fertility goddess so powerful and rare yet so easily taken down? how are they overpowered and super weak at the same time? i just dont get it.

8. Re reading chapter 144 and other anon is right we do see the pomegranate pin on Hades outfit (so Hades gifts it to her)

But also some things to note

During the makeout session persy begins to disappear in butterfly form and hades is like "no don't leave!" And he grabs her, preventing her from leaving. Which is..kinda Ick considering they were on their way to having (public) sex and he doesn't want her to leave which seems like he's not really respecting her boundaries? (because if she does he'll "be lonely")

The pomegranate pin is Hades' to begin with so technically one of Persephones symbols is not hers (yes I know in the original myth she ate it in the underworld / was forced to eat it but still its supposed to be her symbol)

Hades notes that he "doesn't want to overstep his boundaries as host" because Persephone is a guest (too late for that)

Persephones main concern (after what a week or 2?) after being raped is when Hades wants to stop her reaction is "dont you want me anymore?"

Girl you aren't even dating ...??

Persy's literal one and only concern is that she thinks if she doesnt sleep with Hades right then or when/if he wants to that "she wont be able to give him what hes used to" ... Which is reinforcing that she went to therapy to get "over being blocked" in regards to having sex

Although Hades does mention that she shouldn't feel like she needs to please him and that a kiss can just be a kiss which would be nice

(And yet his thinking of marrying her amd he's known her for 2, 3 weeks? ... And he says "the beginning of a new relationship is exciting and scary" so hes basically indicating thay their dating at this point, I think?)

And later the nymphs in the store are like "do you wanna be the dominatrix of the bedroom?? Buy this lingerie!" And persy does. So??

Meanwhile Demeter is very worried for her daughter who is busy sitting in Hades lap in a pool.

9. Can we talk about how anons are making fucking flow charts for the LO Timeline cause it's so ridiculously jumbled?

10. im not even against rushed relationships, ive known actual couples who met and were married all within the same year and it worked out great, the difference though is these were people who had their own lives and previous relationships. the issue with LO is RS designed it so Persephone can NEVER have relationships or a life outside of Hades, and if they did get married offscreen, it's framing their marriage in a toxic and unbalanced light. That's not a romance, it's a disaster waiting to happen.

11. i feel like there's a difference between drawing an interesting hooked/aquiline nose versus whatever the hell RS puts on Hades' face. It honestly looks like he's in between morphing into a bird half the time since it just looks like a beak over an actual facial feature.

12. are there shareholders or a board of advisors or something at underworld corp? because if there is id say they have more than enough reason to kick hades out and strip him of his titles/shares because of all the shit he's caused by being guided by his broken pp over thinking with his head. liking dating TWO employees? and getting one of them phsyically crippled by the other bc he can't be honest with either of them and she's a walking time bomb? he's a walking HR nightmare.

#anti lo #anti lore olympus #lore olympus critical #lo critical

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idreamofthemeparks · 2 years

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Thoughts on Convergence Station

Okay, obviously this place is incredible, beautiful, very well done. I don't have a huge amount to add on that front. I did the whole Qpass story experience and found it really enjoyable. That's what makes Convergence the best Meow Wolf installation IMO-- the story is very much involved but you can still have a great time, and get a sense of what the world is like and what's going on, even without a card.

I have just 1 (one) complaint: the main Qpass story was really obviously idiot-proof. The extent of my involvement in the main storyline was just scanning my card in various places. There were some moments that would pop up in my memory bank that could've been good quests that made me feel more involved, but then they would just... Get done for me. At one point I saw a clue about a robot, so I headed to scan my card at the robot, but by the time I got there, the robot's clue was already in my inbox. That was a really straightforward clue, too! At another point, I was actually told to go to a specific location, but I got a message less than 2 min later saying "never mind, just go to any ATM". I'm not saying that there needs to be complex puzzles at every step, but I kinda wish they'd trust us to do something like finding a major landmark to scan. I only complain because the lack of participation made the ending feel a bit less impactful.

That said, I can definitely see why involving puzzles and specific stops would create serious crowd control issues. In the long run, they probably did the right thing by making the puzzles largely optional and varying in difficulty. Those were fun to discover, and the employees were super helpful with the harder ones. I only got one optional "fetch quest" that involved scanning my card, and that was really fun. I wish I could've found (or they could've added) more of those.

Just as I've heard from visitors to all the locations, talking to the employees was a real highlight. Here's some of the fun interactions I had:

A lady in Numina told me how all is Numina, and Numina is all. She's one with Numina and all its creatures, and Numina may take over the universe one day. She said that the Convergence event felt like "the worst migraine you've ever had times ten", followed by 12 seconds of non-existence. I met a guide later who told me a lot about the cool 6th dimensional animals, and how the ones that weren't moving were just outside of what we can perceive.

A sketchy hooded guy in Ossuary took my memory of bungee jumping and made a profit off it on the black market. Thanks dude.

An Eemian priest told me about how, contrary to the popular narrative, she didn't want to go back to the home world because it was cold and miserable. When she told me about how Navigators form bonds with people and let them travel through space, I felt pretty special piloting it. Also, sick Dune reference.

A guy on C Street solved a Rubik's cube in 30 seconds and when I was done watching he gave me a pin!

Some of the QDot employees were big fans of Oleander, but one guy wasnt so sure. He would yell "yeah, the Final Stop is a great idea! Whatever Oleander wants is awesome!" and then pull it aside to whisper how it would be a disaster and would pull the Convergence apart by the molecule.

I got a psychic reading and learned that I need my aura cleansed, and I have an affiliation with whales. Why yes, I do.

A security guy did what I wanted to do, which was absolutely breaking it down in the middle of the music room.

A couple of tips if you're going to visit:

I went early on a weekday and was blessed with very small crowds. I didn't even have to buy advance tickets. I recommend doing the same.

Buy the pass even if you're not planning on doing the story! It'll help you activate effects and do puzzles. You can also watch your collected memories at home if you keep your card, so theoretically you can just boop your card a ton of times and then just watch all the videos later.

Bring 3 or 4 quarters, if only to give to the C Street people in exchange for info.

I saw pretty much every detail of pretty much everything in 5.5 hours, but then again I was very fast and energized.

I knew that this and the Meow Wolf ride at Elitch Gardens were in the same city, but I didn't know how close they were. They're one train stop apart. You could make a day of it.

I might add more to this later, but in general, wow!! This place surpasses the hype. I'm so happy I went!

#meow wolf #convergence station

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clarste · 3 years

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Since it's been a few weeks, what's your opinion on Chapter 8 of Arknights? Reading about your opinion on other pieces of Arknights has been very nice so far.

I find this enemy description inordinately amusing so I will start with this before going to spoilers below the break.

1) First of all I am a sucker for flashbacks following the villain, so the basic structure of Chapter 8 was right up my alley. Even if Talulah's arc was more or less predictable—who among us did not expect Alina to die? I think some people might feel that it was a little too long, but honestly I think it said everything it needed to say and frankly there is nothing more important the chapter could have said. If anything, the parts that weren't about Talulah would be first on my chopping list if I were editing this story down. In particular, the whole bit with Kal'tsit and the sarcophagus and all that had almost nothing to do with the themes of this chapter or the Reunion arc, so they seemed especially superfluous. Even if that story might have been interesting told on its own.

2) Talulah. The main character of this chapter, obviously. I think there are two different angles to approach her from that seem almost mutually exclusive, which are that A) she is a tragic figure who started with noble ideals but was pushed to her limits until she became a ruthless shell of her former self and B) she is literally possessed by Kaschey, ie: the Deathless Black Snake, who is the immortal spirit of Imperialism manipulating the country of Ursus into a constant state of war. From what I've seen of people’s reactions, I think most people focus more on angle B, which makes sense because that is literally true in the story, but what I took from it is that it's a lot more ambiguous than that.

What I mean is that the story is constantly emphasizing that the Deathless Black Snake can only take action as long as Talulah agrees with it. It's more insidious than just an external ghost taking control of her (and thereby freeing her of responsibility for her actions), it's a philosophy that was planted in her by her mentor, a way of thinking, an idea. A living meme. So when I say that it's the immortal spirit of imperialism, I don't mean that as a joke, it is the embodiment of imperialism itself, of imperialist ideals and goals, manifested in this particular person the moment she starts seeing her enemies as obstacles to be eliminated instead of people with their own motivations. I certainly don't think that the trigger for the transformation was set arbitrarily, that's just Who She Needed To Be in order to buy into the ideas that Kaschey and the Snake had taught her from a young age. It’s also an ancient god taking physical control over her, but hey, it's fantasy.

Ultimately, we didn't defeat the Deathless Black Snake in battle, we just gave Talulah second thoughts. And she will live with what she's done for the rest of her life.

3) Amiya. In this chapter, more than anywhere else, it's clear that Amiya is the main character of Arknights. Sure, we have whatever Kal'tsit is plotting, and whatever the hell the Doctor is, but that doesn't actually matter. In fact, they spent this entire chapter walking around in the basement and never once interacting with Talulah. The Doctor shows up at the end with no idea what's going on or what happened, which is quite comical when you think about it.

By contrast, Amiya sees the big picture. Of the three people on top of the tower during the climax, only Amiya knows what both Talulah and Chen have been through, or indeed what she’s been though. What brought them all to that point. She is watching all these flashbacks right alongside us through her empathy powers. Which, as I've mentioned before, is really the best superpower in this setting: the power to see the world through someone else's eyes, and to feel the pain that drives them. And we, the players, feel what she feels. In a certain sense, she's even more of a player avatar here than even the Doctor, which I mean in the best possible way.

And of course her empathy gives her cool shounen superpowers that are suspiciously similar to Emiya Shirou, but I will allow it.

4) Chen. Chen is honestly kind of the weak link here, imo. While of course we've been following her character arc since chapter 3 and I don't mind where they've taken her, it ironically kind of felt to me like she had no personal stakes in the final battle. Which is odd since the story seemed to be hammering that it's all personal for her, what with Talulah being her long-lost sister and all that. The problem (imo) is that her close relationship with Talulah is all Told-Not-Shown, and also that Talulah is being possessed by the Deathless Black Snake, so it kind of feels like she's being left out of the loop, both in terms of knowing the facts and also emotionally.

I'm not saying she doesn't get any good lines, or that her banter with Amiya isn't cool or funny, I'm just saying that what should have been a big emotional moment at the climax of the story just sort of fell flat for me, and I was left wondering "wait, why is Chen here again?"

That said, I did enjoy her bit afterward where she's like "you need to stand fair trial for your crimes, Talulah, but in this world that discriminates against the Infected, there’s nowhere worthy of giving you one." I feel that sums up the game's stance on these things quite succinctly.

5) Rosmontis. Rosmontis had sort of an interesting arc here because it separated her from Amiya and I almost want to say that was a good thing? While I thought her relationship to Amiya was one of the most interesting things about her in the previous chapter, it almost feels like it was preventing her from forming bonds with other people and becoming a more well-rounded person? I guess what I want to say that is that Rosmontis was being coddled, sheltered, treated as a child. While some would call her a monster, Amiya was always around to say "no no no, don't listen to them, you're cute!" And while that was certainly nice of Amiya, it feels like what truly made her accept herself was almost the opposite: being accepted as a monster (or rather, a person with monstrous powers) by people used to fighting alongside monsters. Being told that she's allowed to hate the people who hurt her, and to be ruthless to her enemies. That her own emotions, both good or bad, are valid. For the first time, she felt human.

What you'll note, of course, is that these aren't exactly heroic virtues, and in fact they're kind of similar to what Amiya rejects and what got Talulah into so much trouble? Honestly I don't know if I would say Rosmontis is a good person right now, but what she is doing is thinking on her own for the first time, and deciding what's right and wrong for herself. It sounds almost malicious to put it this way, but it's like Amiya and Rhodes Island were trying to mold her into someone she's not. In some ways the opposite of what Kaschey did to Talulah.

I don't think her story is over yet, of course, but I found it an interesting direction to take. Rosmontis is on the path to find her own justice, which may or may not align with Rhodes Island's.

Also, kitty:

6) W. Back when I was doing a write-up for chapter 7, I said that maybe she would have been better off being recruitable in chapter 8 instead of 7, because it seemed a little early in her arc for that. I was wrong. She wouldn't fit in for chapter 8 either. Honestly she probably shouldn't be recruitable at all right now, not that I'm complaining as someone who uses her. Just, you know, narratively she is not at a place where she would consider joining RI, and in fact she ends the chapter pretty much going "later losers, I hope we never meet again." Which implies that the W in my squad right now is like a totally different person who is either from an alternate dimension or the future, after a lot of character development. That's not like the worst thing ever, it just seems a little weird to have her right now. W's story isn't about Reunion and never was. It's about Theresa and Babel, which as of now we are still only getting little hints of. I'd be glad to see that story when it happens, but until then W's just kind of there.

7) Themes. For some reason, this one line in this chapter really hit me. While it's not literally true, especially if you count all the former child slaves or feral children and whatnot, it does feel broadly true that most of the characters come from middle-class backgrounds. Like, your Krooses and Orchids of the world. Kal'tsit goes on to explain that this is because RI can only really recruit in cities, and that rural Infected tend to get thrown into the wilderness on their own and have no idea that RI exists.

Interestingly, this idea also sort of comes up in Talalah's side, when it's revealed that Talulah is the daughter of a duke, making her followers hesitate for a moment. While I don't recall it being explicitly spelled out, the implication was obviously that she's not "one of them" and this might be a cause for distrust. But what are "they' exactly? Clearly she is in fact Infected, she made sure of that herself. But she wasn't abandoned in the same way her followers were. She had a choice, and chose to side with the Infected. Which is honorable of her and all, but it also indicates a fundamental disconnect between them because they never had a choice. She could've used her influence to hide her oripathy and be treated like a normal person (as we saw happened with both Chen and Patriot), or used her wealth to get sent to a fancy private hospital like Rhodes Island, with the latest medical technology and treatments.

So while the story focuses on the discrimination of the Infected, it's clear here that that's not really the only thing going on. Being Infected means little to those in power, while for those without power it's just an an excuse to intrude on their lives and make sure they aren't "harboring any Infected" or whatever. Basically the story starts discussing intersectionality, which I found interesting.

8) This is a good line:

#not touhou #arknights #chapter 8 #roaring flare #if we don't pick a name for ourselves we will only ever be called the names others give us

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hamliet · 3 years

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The Girl Who Gets to Have It All: Buffy Summers

So with @linkspooky‘s encouragement, I have binged Buffy the Vampire Slayer and relived my childhood culture. And, it's a 10/10 for me. Not that it doesn't have flaws, but it's genuinely one of the best stories I've seen, with consistent character arcs, powerful themes, and a beautiful message. It's also like... purportedly about vampires and demons and superpowered chosen ones, but it's actually all about humanity.

Buffy was able to be a teenage girl, allowed to like the things teen girls are scorned for (boys, shopping, etc), to be insecure about the thing teenage girls are insecure about (future careers, dating, school, parents), and to be a superhero with its good and its bad aspects. The story wasn’t afraid to call Buffy on her flaws (sometimes she got in a very ‘I am the righteous chosen one’ mode) and to respect and honor each of her desires (to be a good person, to be loved, and more). The story listened to what she wanted and respected her desires, giving her the challenges needed to overcome her flaws while also never teaching her a lesson about wanting bad boys or romance is silly or any manner of dark warnings stories like to throw at teenage girls.

It respected teenage girls--nerdy girls like Willow, jocks like Buffy, lonely wallflowers with trauma like Dawn, and popular/snobby ones like Cordelia, girls gone wild like Faith. It never once reduced them to the stereotypes that were lurking right there: each character was fully rounded, human, flawed and yet with respected interests and goals. This is so rare for a story that I’m still in awe.

The story as a whole follows Buffy from 15 to 21, of her as she grows from teenager to adult. She acts like a teenager and grows to act like a young adult, wrestling with loneliness and duty. The adults, like Giles, Joyce, and Jenny, are not perfect either, but neither are they “bad parents” or “bad mentors” necessarily. Joyce in particular says something terrible to Buffy, but she tries to do better, and it’s rare to see a parent in YA stories shown with such nuance. Basically, it wrote the long-lasting adult characters as human beings, too.

Speaking of growing up, I appreciated how Buffy’s love interests mirrored this. Angel was someone Buffy loved and admired, wanted to be like, but who was always either extreme good or extreme bad, and combined with Buffy’s own tendencies towards black-white thinking, made for a beautiful relationship to help her grow, but didn’t necessarily form a foundation for a long-term partner. Spike, on the other hand... they both saw each other at their worst and were drawn to each other even then, and were inspired to become better because they couldn’t bear to be a person who treated the other person so wrongly. They pushed each other to become the best them they could be, and believed in each other. Also, Spuffy is an enemies to lovers ship for the ages.

(Also, most of the other ships were well-done or at least can be understood. Riley was very obviously wrong for Buffy which paralleled Harmony and Spike in being 100% wrong for each other. Cordelia and Xander were a fun ship even if we all knew it would never last, and Willow and Oz were beautiful and cute. But Xander and Anya and Willow and Tara? OTPs. As were Giles and Jenny, the librarian and the computer teacher.)

That said, it’s not a perfect series. No story is. All of the characters and ships had problematic aspects to them worthy of critique, and the writing is very 90s in a lot of ways. It’s a product of its time, and in many ways it’s good society has progressed beyond some of the tropes/metaphors used in the show. In other way, though, the show was ahead of its time, and in a good way it wasn’t bound by the fear of purity policing with its takes on redemption (many characters would never fly today).

So, in order of seasons ranked from my very favorite to my “still enjoyed it very much” (no season was actually bad, imo), here’s my review. I’ll also review my top 10 villains in the show, because Buffy does villains very well in terms of the redeemable and irredeemable.

Season 7: Yep, the final season was my favorite.

Overall Opinion: Buffy's finale is literally "f*ck them men, our power is ours" and while it seems cheesy it actually works (also, f*ck in both a literal and figurative sense). The series strongly hit all the themes: love as strength, and redemption. Buffy consistently shows love as her strength--*all* kinds of love. Friendship w Willow/Xander, familial with Joyce/Dawn, romantic with Spike/Angel. These types of love are also never pitted against each other as is so often the case in current-day media. It's beautiful. Also, Spike’s confrontation with Wood was so powerful in terms of exploring forgiveness, redemption, and reconciliation: where they overlap and where they don't, and what it means to move forward.

Unpopular Opinion: I have seen a lot didn’t like the inclusion of Potential Slayers, and while I agree they could have been better incorporated/characterized, it was a great way to show Buffy’s final stage of growing up to be ending her chosen one status and projecting/multiplying her powers over the world.

Biggest Critique: Kennedy was female Riley--the anti-Tara to Riley’s anti-Angel (by ‘anti’ I mean opposite in every way). Kennedy was annoying and immature. Her role, like Riley’s, was less about exploring her as a character and more about her just being stamped as “love interest: lesbian.”

Favorite Episodes: Beneath You, Lies My Parents Told Me, Touched, Chosen

Season 6:

Overall Opinion: I said this on Twitter, but I felt like this was Buffy’s The Last Jedi or Empire Strikes Back moment. It is polarizing and dark, deconstructing the tropes it stands on--but by digging to the core of these tropes, it actually makes what’s good about them shine brighter. Everyone’s enemy was the worst versions of themselves. Giles left Buffy, Willow's struggle to relate to the world led to her trying to destroy it, Buffy hurt everyone through her anger, Xander abandoned Anya at the altar, Spike... yeah. It ages well as an integral part of the story, and the Trio were eerily prophetic.

Unpopular Opinion: Dawn is a great character with a good arc. A traumatized teen acting out and struggling to come to terms with loss and identity? She wasn’t whiny; she was realistic.

Biggest Critique: Willow’s addiction coding (I’ll discuss this below) and Seeing Red as an episode. I see the argument for both of its controversial scenes from a narrative perspective: Willow starts the season not grieving Buffy but instead being determined to fix it with magic and needs to learn to grieve, but. Still. Bury your gays is not a good look. For the Spike scene... he conflates sex/passion and violence (”love is blood, children” is something he said way back in season 3), but like Tara’s death, it had more to do with Spike (as Tara’s death did for Willow) than with Buffy’s arc, and as for the actual execution... they really botched that. Did it like... have to go on that long or go that far? No. Also, the framing was good, but inconsistent with the rest of the series (Xander to Buffy in the hyena episode, Faith to Xander and to Riley, etc.)

Favorite Episodes: Once More With Feeling, Smashed, Grave

Season 3 (tied with Season 5):

Overall Opinion: The opening continuity of Buffy meeting Lily/Anne after saving her life in Season 2 was sweet. The Witchhunt episode had really powerful subtext: stories of deaths that aren’t even true are actually demons that possess the town and convince them to turn against their children in the name of protecting the children. It’s a good commentary on, oh, everything in society. Faith’s character arc was fantastic, and her chemistry with Buffy was off the charts (look, I may be Spuffy all the way, but Fuffy has rights). The finale was satisfying in so many ways, seeing the entire graduating class unite to destroy the Mayor and the school with it, symbolizing Buffy et al’s readiness to move on to college. Oz's relationship with Willow was very sweet and meaningful for a first romance for Willow.

Unpopular Opinion: I actually don’t really have one. Maybe that the miracle in Amends was earned? I think you can make a decent case that Season 3 is the best written of the seasons, but can only truly be thematically appreciated to its full potential in the light of subsequent seasons (which finish Faith’s arc and deconstruct Buffy’s).

Biggest Critique: It forgot Buffy killed the hyena guy in Season 1, making her continual insistence that she can’t kill people very ?????

Favorite Episodes: Lovers Walk, Amends, Graduation Day Part 2

Season 5, which ties with Season 3:

Overall Opinion: The entire season is about family and what it means, from Tara’s to Buffy’s to the Scoobies. I loved Glory aka Enoshima Junko as the Big Bad, I loved Dawn’s interesting meta commentary on retconning (like, the fact that she’s retconned in matters), and most of my ships are still alive. Joyce’s relationship with Spike is one of the most heartwarming aspects, and Spike’s arc’s desire is clearly highlighted: he wants to be seen as a person. The episodes after Joyce’s death are the most honest portrayals of grief I’ve ever seen, and absolutely brutal to watch.

Unpopular Opinion: Buffy’s choice at the end seems a deliberate inversion of her choice at the end of Season 2 (sacrifice a loved one to save the world), but it actually isn’t: much like at the end of Season 2 where Buffy skips town because she’s devastated after killing Angel and doesn’t want to sort out being expelled, her mom knowing she’s the slayer, and her own trauma, Buffy’s sacrifice here was as much about her wanting the easy way out of relationships, family, college, etc. as it was about saving Dawn. Buffy’s death is coded as a suicide, which Season 6 emphasizes as well.

Biggest Critique: Like Season 3, I don’t have a lot to critique here. I wish the suicidal coding had been a little more obvious in Season 5 itself, but also I’m not sure it could have been more obvious; it’s pretty apparent if you pay attention. Maybe also that Buffy and Riley’s relationship failing should have been more squarely blamed on Riley, you know, being insecure and cheating.

Favorite Episodes: Family, Fool for Love, Intervention.

Season 2:

Overall Opinion: Heartbreakingly tragic but exciting and revealing at the same time. It asked the viewer interesting questions about redemption and forgiveness and atonement through Angel being honest about his past, and then decided to show us his past now reenacted, challenging us. And still, we saw them save him in a parallel to saving Willow in Season 6 (but Season 2 was tragic because it wasn’t enough, while Season 6 was not). Jenny’s death was agonizing, and the scene were Angel watches Buffy, Willow, and Joyce get the news through the window was powerful. We didn’t have to hear them to get the grief.

Unpopular Opinion: Jenny’s death isn’t a fridging; it works for her arc too when you consider her history. She worked to save the person whose life she was tasked to ruin, and it cost her her own--yet she still succeeded, because Jenny brought joy and wisdom to the show. Kendra’s death, on the other hand... was because they needed the stakes to be high--but we already knew that before she died. So, her death was useless.

Biggest Critique: The subtext was Not It. It was essentially “do not have sex. Your older boyfriend will lose his soul, kill your friends, you’ll lose your family, your school, your home, and have to kill your true love or else hell will literally swallow earth.”

Favorite Episodes: School Hard, Passion, Becoming Part 2.

Season 1:

Overall Opinion: I really liked it; it’s just lower on this list because the others are just better. It’s a great introduction to the series and to its characters, from Giles to Buffy to Willow to Jenny to Cordelia. It has great subtext a lot of the time (for example, Natalie French as She-Mantis is a literal predatory bug who engages in predatory behavior with students). Additionally, it subverts the typical YA trope of two guys and a girl, in which the girl is usually the least interesting character. Buffy and Willow were both fully fledged characters from the beginning with distinct strengths (even before Willow became a witch, as she wasn’t one in season 1 yet), while Xander was the more ordinary of the group.

Unpopular Opinion/Biggest Critique: Xander’s arc showed its first flaws that unfortunately continued throughout the series: his writing was either very good or very indulgent in ways it never was for other characters. (cough, the hyena episode, cough, in which he gets to skirt responsibility--and acknowledges that he is skirting it--for something the show will later hold others to account for). Xander’s just kind of inconsistent, which weakened his character over all. (Which is why both his love interests--Cordelia and then ultimately Anya--were good for him: they did not indulge him.)

Favorite Episode: Witch, Nightmares.

Season 4:

Overall Opinion: it’s still a good season. It’s a good portrayal of college and the growing pains of branching out, the strains of college growth on relationships (romantic and platonic). It shows us the first hints of Spuffy, giving us some serious Jungian symbolism between Spike and Buffy early on, and does well in establishing Xander/Anya and Willow/Tara as beautiful OTPs. Faith and Buffy’s foiling is fantastic. The Halloween episode was very fun as well. However, it suffers because its Big Bad, Adam, is not all that compelling thematically--yet, he could have been. See, the final battle pulls off the Power of Friendship in a really strong way but notably the season does not end there. Instead, it ends on dreams of each character’s worst fears, continuing what we saw in Nightmares in Season 1. Why? Because it shows us that the characters’ wars aren’t against monsters, but monsters of their own making: their flaws. Adam, as a literal Frankenstein, exemplifies this, but it wasn’t capitalized on as well as it could have been.

Unpopular Opinion: Beer Bad isn’t a bad episode, at the very least because Buffy gets to punch Parker. It’s not one of the series’ best, obviously, but it does give Buffy an arc in that she gets her daydream of Parker begging her to come back, but she has overcome that desire and her desire for revenge. If we wanna talk about bad subtext in Season 4, Season 2′s Not It sex subtext continues in the Where the Wild Things Are episode in this season; it’s a powerful callout of abusive purity-culture churches, until the fact that the shame creates a literal curse undermines the progressive message it’s supposed to send. Also, the Thanksgiving episode (Pangs) is a nightmare of white guilt and Oh God Shut Up White People.

Biggest Critique: Riley is awful. Like Kennedy, he had “love interest:normal” stamped on him and that was it. The thing is, he could have worked as an Angel foil, representative of the normal-life aspect of Buffy to Angel’s vampire/supernatural aspect, but the writers never explore this and seemed to even try to back away from that later on. They threw all the romantic cliches at the wall to see what sticks, from klutzy “I dropped my schoolbooks, that’s how we met” to cliché lines that had me rolling my eyes. Do you know how bad a romance has to be to make me dislike romantic tropes?

Favorite Episodes: Fear Itself, Hush, Restless

Villain rankings:

Dark Willow, the only villain to be truly sympathetic. While the addiction coding was insensitive and, while unsurprising for its time, aged extremely poorly. That said, Willow’s turn to the dark side after Tara’s death worked well for her character and the story: it was believable and paid off what had been building since Season 1's “Nightmares” episode (Willow’s inferiority complex).

Glory managed to be genuinely terrifying, and humorous/enjoyable too. Her minions and their numerous nicknames for Glorificus were hilarious, as was her intense vanity. Her merging with Ben--a human being who genuinely wanted to be kind and good--added complexity and tragedy to her role.

The First. A really good take on Satan. The seventh season as well as the First’s first appearance in season 3′s “Amends” had kind of blatant Christian symbolism, and so the First being essentially Satan works. Their disguising themselves as dead loved ones and the subtle manipulation they used to alienate people was really disturbing and well done.

The Mayor, who was a terrible person but a truly good father. He provided an interesting contrast to the normal ‘bad dad’ bad guy character, in that he provided Faith exactly what the other characters refused to: he saw the best in her and offered her parental support, while the heroes didn’t and wound up pushing her away.

The Trio, who were villains ahead of their time: whiny fanboy reddit dudebros, basically. The stakes seemed so much lower than fighting Glory, a literal god, the previous season. But that’s why they worked so well for Season 6′s human themes, and were especially disturbing because we all know people like them. I also appreciated the surprisingly sensitive takes on Jonathan and Andrew, who got to redeem themselves, but Warren did not, and I don’t think he should have either.

Angelus + Drusilla. I’m ranking them below the Trio because Angelus was just sooooo different from Angel that it was difficult for me to feel the same way for him. He was still Angel, so it wasn’t possible to enjoy his villainy, but he also wasn’t nearly as sympathetic as Dark Willow, had no redeeming qualities like the Mayor, and wasn’t as disturbingly realistic as the Trio. However, the emotional stakes were excellently executed with him as the Big Bad, in that you were never quite sure how to feel and it just plain hurt. Also, Drusilla was a favorite recurring character. She was sympathetic and yet batsh*t enough to be enjoyable as a villain at the same time.

The Master, who was just completely camp and really worked as an introductory villain. He was scary enough to believe he was a threat, and was funny enough to introduce the series’ humor as well. He was, like Glory, an enjoyable Big Bad.

The Gentlemen, the one-off villains of Season 4′s Hush who were genuinely terrifying. It’s not as if they got a lot of explanation or any backstory, but they didn’t need it.

Caleb, the misogynist priest. Fitting with the First’s Christian symbolism, Caleb serving as a spokesperson of all bad religious beliefs felt appropriate. He was also a good foil to Warren--being actually supernaturally powered instead of a wannabe--and to Tara’s family in being full-out evil. I despised him.

Snyder. Okay Snyder is not a Big Bad like Adam is, but let’s face it: Adam is lame compared to the other villains. But Snyder as a principal? He was so irritating and yet really well used in the series to critique overly strict, hypocritical teachers. Like, we all know teachers like him. I loved to hate him, and his ending was so satisfying.

#buffy the vampire slayer #btvs #spuffy #buffy summers #dawn summers #spike #angel #cordelia chase #btvs giles #willow rosenberg #tillow #tara maclay #anya jenkins #xanya #xander harris #jenny calendar #kendra young #faith lehane #hamliet reviews

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carbootsoul · 3 years

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omg please talk about saionji and utena and i want to know ur thoughts

ack anon i am. kissing u on the mouth rn thank u so much for asking !!! a fair warning before i write anything else: i have a stupid and inexplicable amount of affection for saionji kyouichi and this response will probably be kinda biased toward being understanding of him. don't get me wrong he is still very much a bad person throughout a lot of the series BUT he's also 17. anyway this got long bc i have many thoughts so its under the cut

my big thought about the two of them is that they're foils for each other! both to illustrate utena's good qualities and to point out what went wrong with saionji.

the main place we see similarities between them is their feelings toward both anthy and touga. saionji and utena are the only duelists to duel FOR anthy as a person rather than the power she wields. they're also the only two people that touga ever expresses unguarded affection toward, the only people with him in the church scene, the only people who reject him (other than nanami, whose rejection is more complex imo), and the two targets of his manipulation in season one. wakaba refers to them both as her prince and they both express at least the potential to be friends with her, they're both dragged into some kind of relation with akio through someone they're close with (saionji only for a few short scenes but the camera one does make me a little queasy), they're the only duelists to lose a duel and then rechallenge the winner. they're also the only characters to be "expelled" (not quite textually in utena's case, but the girls at the end of the last episode speculate that she was expelled for "getting in trouble with the chairman"). finally there are some vague thoughts i have about saionji's rose being a very pale green, which is a complimentary color to pink (while his hair is a deeper green, mirroring touga's red hair).

in terms of their personalities being similar it's mostly just the fact that they're both jocks and they both do the baffled face a lot which i think is fun from them both :) same 'interacting with nanami ever' expression. the two BIG things they have in common personality wise is their tendency to insist that their view of the world (especially!! their view of what is good for anthy) is correct, and obliviousness (especially to their privilege and the way it acts on other people, especially anthy). utena grows out of both those things, though, and they're two of her main points of character development throughout the series.

obviously, the differences between them are quite a bit more obvious. saionji is mostly used (especially at the beginning of the series) to contrast utena and to provoke her into protecting anthy. he's abusive, controlling, and cocky where she is... just cocky, and only sometimes. saionji is less aware of 'adult things' than utena (in some ways he's more childish than nanami- the scene that comes to mind is the one with the exchange diary, where utena worries that saionji is making sexual advances and saionji obviously has no idea what she's thinking. tbh i hold that saionji didn't really know what sex was before his car scene which is both funny and v upsetting to me). saionji is unwilling or unable to change the parts of himself that harm other people (or unaware of the effects of his actions) whereas utena, throughout the series, constantly does her best to be a better person and i love her so. so much. not-prince of my heart. also he has green hair and she has pink hair :) also he sucks so bad

anyway now that i've established their similarities and differences, here's the heart of my argument!! at their core, utena and saionji are very similar people (the church flashback rly illustrates this imo but maybe thats just bc children r all similar) but, because saionji grew up with power that utena didn't, he's. uh. who he is. (his eyes are purple, a color associated with akio's control. akio.. uh. patriarchy man.)

saionji's role in the show isn't just as the personification of rape culture, but as a statement on what the patriarchy DOES to teenage boys who don't notice their privilege. he is quite obviously less aware of his power than touga or akio are (they both use sex as a power tool, and both take advantage of the fact that they, as men, have power in most situations. saionji also takes advantage of this but it seems much less conscious on his part- again the scene with the exchange diary comes to mind. he is looming over utena-as-anthy but not in an attempt to scare her, but just bc he's found that when he is big and tall, people do what he want). this is shown especially in what we see of saionji when he's staying with wakaba! he's a much better person when he doesn't have this institutional power as close to his fingertips, even when he's unaware of this lacking. he goes back to being a douche the second he leaves, to, which is where his personal problems come into play.

saying that saionji is how he is just because he was born into privilege is way more forgiving of him than the narrative is or i would be, because the other bit that contrasts him with utena is his unwillingness to see or acknowledge his privilege. the fact that he's unaware of the bits and pieces of society that come together to give him that power over anthy doesn't absolve him, because he still takes advantage of the fact that he can do whatever he wants to her and he never tries to understand why. he sees that if he's engaged to anthy she will love him unconditionally (what he's looking for throughout the series) but he never tries to connect the dots between the power he has over her and the fact that she says she loves him. a scene that i think is rly interesting is the one in touga's last few episodes where touga and utena are talking and saionji comes and lies down in anthy's lap- it's such a small thing but i think it does a really interesting job summarizing his character! he actively seeks out affection/the love he wants from anthy and, because of the power he wields, she gives it to him. he's content with this, because he refuses to see the power dynamics that make her let him nap with his head in her lap. he allows himself to keep the safe blanket of his privilege, even when it hurts everyone else. utena sees that she has power as the rose bride's fiance and she (eventually) works against the powers that be to change that.

anywayyy that was a lot lol and im not sure it makes a ton of sense??? but those r what i've been thinking about! really it boils down to like. saionji would be a much better person if he took a feminist theory class with a completely open mind. and then he and utena could be friends :) the other thing it boils down to is that both utena and saionji's best and worst characteristics are being stupid as fuck BUT utena tries to learn and saionji refuses to. thanks again for sending this ask!! i hope my response made some sense haha

#leo.ask #i was thinking saionji for like half my shift today bc i was bored so u asked at the perfect time lol :)#rgu

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