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groenendaelfic · 2 months

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you know I wasn't going to comment on anything s3 in detail or write a super long divisive post because that's draining and tiring and I just want everyone to have fun and find joy in fandom in whatever way is best for them. And yet here we are. Who'd have thought?

All I wanted from season 3 was for Wilmon to talk to and with each other, to get to know each other (better) and to try to understand and support each other and grow together. To be a couple in love and working on their relationship, learning from each other. Them against the world, facing problems together as a team. I wanted romance and hugs and honesty, and all I got was them being horny. I mean don't get me wrong I love them being horny, but I don't want that to be their entire (positive) relationship and the only thing they have going for them as a couple. Please just have an actual, proper conversation with each other?

This post however is not about that. This post is about Kristina.

I hate what they did with her. I hate her entire character arc (if you can call it that) in s3. I hate what triggered her breakdown. I hate that instead of breaking the circle of abuse and emotional and physical neglect she no doubt suffered, she perpetuated it.

She left her son alone when he needed her most. When all he needed was a hug and a good long cry and the assurance that he's not alone, that she's there for him. That she understands. For someone (his family) to be there and listen and assure him that for them, Wille comes first. (I mean not all, he also needed proper therapy for one, but that'd have been a great and important start)

Wille is a child. Her child. Wille needed her and she failed him. She pushed him away and she sent him away and she left him alone.

(the same is true for Ludvig of course, it'd be extremely sexist etc to not put the exact same expectations and blame on him as well, but alas this post is only indirectly about him as everything always is at best)

However.

Her son is dead.

She's been groomed to believe her entire purpose in life is to be a mascot (which comes with very specific expectations and restrictions she herself said she struggled to adapt to) and to give birth to the next mascot.

I don't pity her for that, but that's still her entire identity and purpose in life. It's always been, and now the next mascot is dead and she has to burden the son she thought would be spared with it all, pun very much intended.

But let's return to my first point first. Her son is dead. Not just the next mascot. Her son.

Yes, Wille's brother died as well and I'll never make light of that. It's horrible and a grief and pain impossible to put into words. Especially as a kid or young teen. Wille needs all the support. Still.

It's not the same.

I know it's not the same because I know exactly what it's like. Both of it.

Granted I'm not a queen, but I did have a cousin who died aged sixteen. We lived in the same house their entire life and shared a bedroom for years. We were like siblings. It was my first time experiencing the death of a close loved one and it was horrible. We all struggled for a long time. Their siblings and I and the entire family, and they will never be forgotten, but it broke my aunt and uncle. Fifteen years later and they're still broken.

I also have two sons and a spouse who are dead (no I didn't lose them, I know exactly where they are) and I promise you it's not the same. A dead sibling is nothing like a dead child. (not that it's a competition)

I'm not going to talk about what it does to you internally, but I will tell you what you'll experience from the outside world when your family dies excitingly enough to make it to the local newspaper. Then feel free to multiply it by a large number of your own choosing when you're royalty and the entire country is looking at you and you've been groomed to never lose composure.

Everyone will call and show up and want to show their support and their condolences (that lasts until about a week or so after the funeral). And they will get two words in and break down and cry, each and every one of them, and then it's your job to console them and be strong and deal with all the arrangements and lawyers and bureaucracy. And it'll have to be you for most things no matter how supportive your family might be, because it's you who needs to sign shit and show the school a death certificate. Everyone will mean well, but it'll be everyone else who'll require reassurance and you who'll have no choice but to function because at first there's so much to do. So much. You won't have time to breathe until after the funeral, and after that there're still so much more to do and take care of you'd never have considered before. For weeks. You can ask someone else to drive you but it'll still be you who's required to show up and do the thing. Some things will drag out for months and more. You don't have time to break down and be weak. You can't afford to, because you also have a job and other responsibilities and a duty to your dead loved ones.

But then the day comes when it's 'over' and there's nothing more to do. Sure people still look at you with pity and whisper behind your back wherever you go and fall quiet, unsure how to react or what to say, because you're now the lady who lost her family in a freak accident, but everything and everyone else moves on. That's normal. It can't not. But it's that quiet after which is the most dangerous.

I hate that they made Kristina's breaking point her son publicly coming out as queer, renouncing following traditions without thought and admitting to having been in the video. I hate it so much, because that was a choice made with an entirely different motive behind the one I'll expound on now and I hate that. Don't instrumentalize grief and the loss of a child and sibling to further prove and underline your political agenda (which I agree with). It cheapens it and was very much unnecessary. We all would've gotten the point without it as well.

But you know what? I can't fault Kristina for that.

You don't know your breaking point until you reach it. It can be anything. There's a reason the saying goes 'the straw that broke the camel's back'. Everyone has a different one and they often feel very ridiculous to oneself (which is a very helpful feeling in that situation, believe me /s). I've talked to numerous people who've gone through something similar. In my support group and in grief counseling and group therapy. No one I've met had a 'logical' breaking point.

Mine came late last fall when I saw a robin outside my window. Yes a bird. We'd have one come every winter to eat the oats and raisins etc we put out for it, and my youngest would spend endless hours every day before dusk looking out that window waiting for the robin to come and eat for a few moments at a time, less if he started clapping out of excitement.

That was it. Boom. I was useless for the next seven weeks.

You don't let your grief overcome you. That isn't a choice. You don't choose not to function when a loved one dies. You don't choose to be depressed or to have the most ridiculous thing be your breaking point. You don't choose to be too strong to not let the grooming break you or to be too weak to be unable to break out of it. And you don't choose to be unable to sit at a birthday party and enjoy cake with a son you know you'll have to force into a role he never wanted, the one your dead son was supposed to fill.

Does that make Kristina any less of a shitty mom? No, of course not. Nor does it change anything for Wille. Kristina's grief shouldn't be Wille's concern. But you don't choose any of that, and the stronger you have to appear the farther you'll fall once you just can't hold it together anymore.

I grew up with a very large, multicultural extended family. There wasn't an hour I was awake at home as a kid when I wasn't hugged or kissed by a younger cousin or aunt or my mom (it was super annoying). We talked and still talk about everything. I married into a family which was a bit less physical and more Swedish in showing their affection, but they are still very open and loving and genuine. I had all the support I could ask for. They're the best and I couldn't have asked for more.

It's not enough. Your child is dead. And Kristina had none of that.

Is Kristina (and Ludvig) super annoying for going on and on and on about Erik and how perfect he was? About always bringing him up when they have a son right there who needs them desperately?

Yes. It annoyed me too. I kept catching myself being furious on Wille's behalf and Simon's with how Wille reacted to the not-comparison between Erik and Sara. But I understand Wille's reaction to Simon and I understand Kristina and Ludvig.

Because once your child / sibling / spouse / dog dies?

They become perfect. My oldest once poured syrup where he shouldn't (it was a Nordic winter night and the car was thirsty) resulting in us being out of our only car, our insurance laughing at us, and us unable to afford a new one. It cost a lot of money, my spouse almost their job and made our life a lot harder for well over a year. He was old enough to know better (and leave the house by himself to go outside and play). He never did anything wrong in his life. He was perfect. They were all perfect.

Erik? What we learn about him is horrifying, and it being normalized and dare I say institutionalized, with him probably not having second guessed his actions, makes it worse instead of better. I do believe Erik was the kind of guy who just didn't (care to) think and merely did what was expected without further thought. That doesn't make it better either, because those kinds of people are the ones who keep corrupt systems running. I might be wrong about his character entirely, but it doesn't matter, because as soon as he died he became perfect.

It's weird what death does to our perception of a loved one. Or maybe not. It's also weird what death does to our perception of everything, because suddenly everything will remind us of that person.

A cloud? A scent? A sound? Toilet paper? Kristina is at the stage where everything she sees and feels and smells and hears will remind her of Erik and his death. Of how he's dead and now Wille has to become him and that is the worst.

Also her son is dead.

No she can't just pull herself together and eat the damn cake. Everything she talks about is Erik because everything she currently is is Erik. Her son who is dead.

There is a reason this is such an often used trope in fiction.

Kristina spent all her life being told that her duty to the throne is her only purpose in life. Be queen. Represent Sweden. Produce an heir. Part of why she's as old as she is is no doubt because Pernilla August is awesome and you can't not hire her when that's an option, but nothing else in this show is a coincidence and done without thought, so I refuse to believe that Kristina hasn't always been meant to be an older mom.

Maybe she had fertility issues. Maybe she for whatever reason didn't want kids and put it off for as long as she could. She's certainly not maternal. Unlike every other woman her generation, no one ever expected her to be maternal. That's not her job.

Quite the opposite. Kristina is old enough to have been raised at a time when royal mothers weren't expected to have any hand in raising their children except for approving (or rather disapproving chosen) nannies and playmates and tutors and the like. She was very likely the first female heir apparent, or maybe she was simply the heir because she had no (male) siblings. Either way her job was always to be a monarch, not a woman or a mother. That's what staff is for. That's not an excuse, but it does explain her as a character.

She was groomed and forced herself to adjust (I do believe forced is the right word, because unlike Erik she seems to (have) be(en) a lot more like Wille than she'd like to admit). She had to be strong and queen and represent Sweden. And then her son and heir died and she failed at both.

I do believe Erik was always the 'easier' child, doing what he was told and taking only the freedoms he knew he'd be granted, while Wille is willful, argues, has a temper and his own head. (that doesn't mean Erik was happier or better adjusted)

And now Erik is dead and Wille has to fit the mold. Wille who got to go to a normal school and clubbing and was let to run wild with little preparation for the role he'd someday have to support his brother with. Arguments can be made that Kristina and everyone else never cared about Wille until they needed him, but I'd like to think she meant well and gave him the freedom she could, and because she is a bad parent she thought she was being kind, and because she is queen no one told her otherwise until it became a problem.

Kristina has never been a good parent, and I honestly believe saying someone meant well is an insult and not an excuse, but I do believe she tried the best with what she knew, the best she could.

It wasn't enough, it was the opposite of enough, but she tried and her breakdown is not a weakness but something which was a long time in coming.

She's not maternal. Her job wasn't to be maternal. Her job is to be a mascot and have other people make sure the next mascot is fed and watered and able to perform. Her being too brainwashed to see how horrifying that is does not make her innocent or any less of a bad mother, but why would she think of acting any other way?

She's ashamed of her breakdown. She can't be weak. Not in front of the nation and not in front of her son and heir. Wille can learn and grow and change. Everyone can and it's never too late, but Kristina here is meant to be what Wille risks becoming if he doesn't, if he gives up and becomes a thoughtless mascot.

Kristina is not a victim and I can't forgive her for being a shit mom, but she's also not the devil. She's a mother who lost her child, and she's spent her whole life being told that the worst thing she can do is to appear weak.

Well guess what? At one point that simply doesn't work anymore.

This post by the lovely @voldiebeth is what motivated me to write a similar one. I originally planned on reblogging and merely adding my own thoughts, and I did talk to her before posting, but then it became something even more personal than originally planned, and considering the difficulty of the subject I found myself more comfortable making this a standalone post. I know that's not proper tumblr etiquette, but please bear with me. Many thanks to @voldiebeth for motivating me to put my convoluted thoughts and feelings in writing and order them a bit. It was very cathartic.

#On an entirely different point #I'll never be able to wrap my head around how Farima of all people turned out to be the best kindest and most functioning adult around #despite representing a dysfunctional system #Followed by Micke of all people?#Every other adult was crap!#Ramirez might get a tiny #hypocritical bonus point #but Boris you too!#what was that?#Your job did not end with Wille giving his speech!#oh and I'm not asking for condolences #that is not the point of this post #yr s3 spoilers #queen kristina #young royals meta #young royals analysis #young royals #random ramblings

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snitchesnsneeds · 3 months

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First Half of Miraculous Season 2 Done. Here's my thoughts:

The Collector: A pretty good start! They made the teens smart while still being dumb teens!

Despair Bear: Chloe needs a therapist, arguably moreso than a redemption arc and especially a downward villainous spiral. Also Dangit Grandpa

Prime Queen: Wow, this was a lot more chill than expected. Even Cat Noir was left aghast at what Nadja was doing, Nadja seemed to be pressuring Ladybug and Cat Noir more for views than anything else, and I'm not entirely sure Akuma personalities can be trusted.

Befana: Fun fact: This was the episode that got me into Miraculous in the first place because of how shocking it was. And then I discovered even more. In hindsight from watching the other episodes, it was relatively darker, but mostly because it's Marinette's friends and family that are getting G-rated killed instead of random civilians like every other episode.

Riposte: Kagami is here! I don't see too much chemistry with her and Adrien yet, but she's cool and I like her and feel like I could be friends in real life. Also this feels like a relatively uncommon trope, but I wish "X is blatantly a woman but no one notices" was spedran through by someone with brains.

Robustus: Pretty good, all things considered. From what I've heard about Miraculous lore, creating sapient or at the very least semi-sapient AI isn't that uncommon for weirdness hotspots, and I'm putting Max in the list of characters I think should have figured out Ladybug and Cat Noir's identity. (There's four now!)

Gigantitan: It turns out my favorite parts of Miraculous are the slice-of-life bits instead of the superhero bits the show is about! We got to see more of Marinette's friends! Alix! Mylene! Julie! The Eeby Deeby herself! Also it was really sweet to see Adrien's bodyguard calm down just by looking at the kid. Adrien's true daddy.

Dark Owl: No wonder these two aren't allowed to know eachothers' identities, considering how much of a loose tongue Marinette has!

Glaciator: Alright, it's finally time to talk about the sins of Marinette and Cat Noir, considering the fan content I osmosed before watching the series was heavy salt stuff, and I wanna see how much it holds up. So far Cat Noir has acted as if he's already dating Ladybug previously, and in this episode he got mad at Ladybug for not showing up at a date when she herself said she might not come due to having other plans. Isn't he supposed to be used to not-showing-up disappointment as Adrien due to his dad? Is it different because he's Cat Noir? Is this a breaking point? No matter, he eventually calms down and is ultimately the less bad member of the relationship. Marinette, meanwhile, doesn't have as many misdemeanors to her name but they're a lot worse. She stole Adrien's phone to get rid of an embarrassing message and got away with it too, what the hell, and also owns the schedule. Although I don't believe she stalked Adrien and made it herself due to how busy she is as both Marinette and Ladybug, that's just weird and wrong. I'm reluctant to call her a stalker, but her actions are still wrong. Ultimately, this relationship is going to need a lot of therapy and counseling to not crash and burn. What were we talking about again? Oh yeah. The ice cream episode. I think the ice cream guy can be wrong and he doesn't understand that.

Sapotis: Silly little fun episode, also it introduces the first new Miraculous holder! I'm honestly fine with it so far if it means more screentime for side characters. I honestly really like seeing Marinette's classmates. They're neat. Also I was this close to putting Alya on the list but she proves time and time again that she doesn't actually know Ladybug's identity.

Gorizilla: In this episode we are introduced to Adrien's deranged parasocial fanbase. I'm starting to understand some of his father's decisions at this point. This is what I was talking about with the schedule, by the way. These obsessive stalker creeps make Marinette look reasonable, and I wouldn't be surprised if the one guy who I'm pretty sure becomes Party Crasher discreetly stalked Adrien to get his schedule. Restraining orders need to be filed.

Captain Hardrock: One of the funniest episodes, up there with Dark Cupid. Also Luka is here! And he already has great chemistry with Marinette! And more Rosie and Julie content even if it's crumbs!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ml salt #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #gabriel agreste #nadja chamack #kagami tsurugi #max kante #alix kubdel #mylene haprele #juleka couffaine #rose lavillant #alya cesaire #luka couffaine #lukanette

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princessamericachavez · 1 year

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I think a lot about every time 911 shows us Eddie understanding a little more about Buck in real time...

(after cut because this got long but bare with me)

Like, the first season should be the most obvious, with the earthquake eps and the next one showing Eddie’s surprise/reaction to Buck’s immediate unconditional support when it comes to Christopher. You can literally see something click for him in Stuck, first when Buck clears Chris spending the day with them with Bobby, then when he introduces Carla to them.

But then you have new and interesting glimpses at moments when Eddie found another piece of Buck’s puzzle. In Kids Today, for example, we see that Eddie’s approach to Buck’s “sulking” is rather closed off, almost cold, and it’s one of the very first time we hear him mention his father’s toxic masculinity preachings... but when Hen points out that Buck doesn’t have much outside of work, you can literally SEE the second it clicks in for Eddie. Not that Buck doesn’t have anyone, but that he doesn’t know he does. That he doesn’t understand. Which is why he brings Christopher over. Not to teach a lesson, but to show him he’s wrong and he has people who love him regardless.

While the whole lawsuit arc was probably illuminating, for me the real highlight when it comes to Eddie understanding Buck a little bit better is in the famous kitchen scene. Before they get all flirty with the sexual tension... we see Buck ask if maybe Eddie is still angry at him, if maybe Eddie wanted to fight/hurt him, and while Eddie pokes fun of Buck making this about himself, I think it’s a very big moment when he realizes how deep the self-loathing runs, that Buck cannot just accept the fact that he was forgiven, that he still things that Eddie wanted to/would under any circumstances hurt him. So he makes a point to say “I wouldn’t do that”, matter of factly (even if he later has to sidestep it with a joke because this is pre-therapy Eddie after all).

Which of course later leads to The One That Got Away and Buck’s traumas shining through his relationship with Red and you can see how adamant Eddie is that no, Buck is not being left behind and no he isn’t losing the 118 family, and he’s annoyed when the others aren’t as quick to reassure him. But this is all part of Eddie-understanding-Buck-arc in s3 (remember the post-embolism thing i mentioned above). Which, of course, later becomes a punch in What’s Next? when Abby is back and Eddie sees real time one of the people who’ve filled Buck with abandonment and scars. Buck who, at this point, fyi, Eddie has already chosen as the person he trusts most to look after his son in case he dies.

Anyway, s4 is short but there’s treasures like What’s Your Grievance and Buck Begins, in which Eddie very clearly sees the roots of Buck’s pain and is already quick to validate his feelings and offer him a shoulder and space to vent. This Eddie is far more prepared than his counterpart at the beginning of s3 to see and understand Buck and offer his support openly. Which is what leads to the shooting and, more importantly, Buck once again acting like he’s expendable. And, because Eddie’s had this whole journey so far, he’s at a place where he can see better than the other characters that Buck doesn’t think himself invincible, he thinks himself disposable. But you can see the confusion in his face when Buck says it the first time, the moment —again— when he processes this new and painful information about his best friend. And he, once again, takes action with words of affirmation to show Buck that, again, he’s wrong.

Now, by s5 Buck and Eddie know each other pretty well so there’s fewer surprises on Eddie’s side (s5, after all, it’s Buck’s turn to go through the journey of truly seeing Eddie’s scars and pain and being there for him) but I think about Home And Away, and how Eddie needs to do a double-take after he jokes that Chimney will not forgive Buck. Because it’s a joke, it’s meant to be, but the hurt in Buck’s eyes is so clear —because, again, he thinks himself easily discarded as soon as he screws up once— that he looks genuinely shocked that he has to clarify the joke in the first place. S5 keeps telling us Eddie already sees Buck, in little things like recognizing how Buck wants to fix things and how he might struggle with lack of control when he can’t help.

Then s6 doubles down on the idea that Eddie already knows Buck so deeply, “it’s clearly bothering you”, knowing the happiness convention call was hard on him and teaming up with Chim to cheer Buck and Hen, picking up on his changes in habits and the fact that he might be hiding something, not joining the schedule to check on him after the lightning, being the one who offers the right space for Buck to open up... and then there’s the cemetery scene and there’s another DING moment when a new piece falls and Eddie realizes that Buck has changed, how could he not, and he’s now trying to catch up with whatever is wrong or new. And even then, he knows Buck enough to reassure him that he doesn’t need to pretend for anyone else’s sake.

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going with this, except for the fact that I love the journey these two have gone through and how we’ve gotten to see on screen (rather than just assume or be told) the moments that have slowly morphed Eddie’s perception of Buck from the cocky kid from day 1 to the rather hurt and vulnerable and open hearted man he truly is.

#buddie #eddie diaz #evan buck buckley #911 fox #911 abc #i'll eventually #make a similar one for buck's pov about eddie because i'm obsessed with analyzing them

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rhube · 8 months

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The Problem with Gentle Critiques

This deserves a longer, more interesting post than I have the spoons to write, but:

I have been reflecting a lot lately on the fact that Pretty Woman offers huge and insightful critiques of capitalism that I Did Not Get as a child, and have completely missed until very recently.

It's a problem a lot of 80s movies have, where capitalists legitimately do bad things and are critiqued about it, but so much of the movie is spent wallowing in the luxuries rich people have that audiences do not absorb the critique.

One of the crucial plot arcs in Pretty Woman is about how the Richard Gere character is deeply unhappy until he meets Vivian (Julia Roberts) because he is *angry* at his father, and has been taking out that anger on others by buying up their businesses, breaking them up, and selling the 'valuable' remains for profit.

Vivian makes the insightful point that his company doesn't make anything, it only destroys, and that this is partly why Edward (Gere) remains deeply unhappy, and all the therapy in the world hasn't solved that. Just recognising that you're angry at your father changes nothing. You have to change the behaviours that perpetuate that damage as well.

Vivian is a force of socialist disruption wherever she goes.

Perhaps the most memorable moment of the movie is not the romance or the business plot or the sex work, but Vivian returning to the snooty shop where the women dismissed her because she looked 'cheap' (and probably they recognised her as a sex worker). These are women who work (unfairly) on commission. They're dismissive because they don't want to waste their time helping someone they've been trained to judge won't buy anything. So these are women who won't help another woman. They're women who want to keep as far away from sex workers as they can lest they be damaged by association. But if they had co-operated, they would have all raised each other up.

But I didn't get that.

I didn't get the point about big business and the fact that extracting capital actually destroys productivity because shareholders only care about their price going up, not about funding enterprises that benefit us all. Because the business plot is boring. Even though the business men in the movie are the most grotesque and easy to hate, because of how they treat Vivian, the critique of them as business men doesn't register, because what Edward's money buys is a lot more fun: the beautiful red dress, the fabulous hotel, 'rescuing' Vivian from her life of poverty and sex work.

I also didn't get the socialist undertones of the shopping interaction. What I felt - and what I think most of us feel when we watch that moment, where Vivian comes back in with her many bags and says 'Big mistake! Big! Huge!' isn't 'Workers should unite to protect each other' or 'Women must unite in solidarity with sex workers', instead, what we feel is visceral triumph over bullies and snobs. And what enables Vivian to triumph in that way is Edward's money, and how good and expensive she looks in the clothes his money enabled her to buy.

Because she does look good (in a very 80s way). So even though the film is really well made (it's a classic for a reason) and is doing all this subtle shit with how much more free and comfortable Vivian looks in her street clothes than either she or the shop workers look in their expensive, 'smart' clothes - even though there's this beautiful thematic work going on with how Vivian's character's sex work and free spirit embody actually living life and enjoying it sensuously, and how often the rich-people environments feel sterile and unwelcoming to us as well as her - it all gets lost, because she's also Cinderella.

And don't make the mistake of thinking I'm critiquing Cinderella, because I'm not. I *get* that we all need stories about being rescued sometimes. We shouldn't have to do it all ourselves. We can't. We need stories where the people with resources make the time to see us in our struggles and lift us up out of poverty and pain. I GET IT.

The point I'm making is that a film can do all this good work - it can work hard and skilfully to critique capitalism and say your feminism must include sex workers or it will be bullshit - and it can ALL GET LOST. Because subtle points don't register when the escapism is too inviting.

People will defend Lord of the Flies and Fight Club until the cows come home for having 'real' messages that are important and get missed under the emotional impact of how the story makes you feel, but they won't make the time to do the same for Pretty Woman or The Little Mermaid (another post I should make some time) because they're 'fairytales' and 'for women' and 'feel good'. So I definitely don't want to drag the film down.

It's more that I am, 30 years too late, having an 'OH, THAT'S what you were doing!' about a movie that was making some pretty great points, and I didn't get them until I experienced a company being destroyed to extract capital from the inside.

I didn't get it because, I think, we don't see the perspectives of the workers. The only suffering we see is Vivian's, and she's wrapped up in a fairytale where she's going to be rescued and live a life of luxury at the end. We don't see what made those sales assistants behave like dicks, even though the movie shows how working on commission in a luxury store *sucks*.

We don't get the perspective of the ordinary workers in the companies Edward destroys - only their CEO, who at the end of the day would actually be fine. The idea of losing a 'family' business that 'makes something' is abstract. The CEO never made anything with his own hands, even if he 'cares' about his workers.

And yeah, a single film can only do so much, but the issue is that it's a paradigmatic example of a wider problem - also seen in Lord of the Flies and Fight Club. Which is that if your message is overtaken by revelling in the thing you want to critique, all the audience will take away is that they enjoyed the revels.

We want to be Edward and Vivian, not the shop workers. We want to burn it all down, not critique toxic masculinity.

In a world where most people know the way capitalism operates is bad, Pretty Woman makes a powerful critique. In a world where we're constantly urged to worship money... it makes it look like having money is really nice. Like you get beautiful dresses and jewellery and to get back at your bullies.

I think too often, as writers (and I am speaking of myself here) we allow ourselves to be persuaded to hold back, because we don't think people will accept what we have to say if we say it too bluntly. But actually, there are people out there who need you to scream.

And I'm not saying that Fury Road is a better movie than Pretty Woman because it confronts the issues head on and screams them in your face. We do need both. We just get a lot more of one than the other; which sadly makes the more dominant kind of film less effective.

I guess I'm saying that if you want to make a point, subtlety doesn't cut it. If you want to change minds, to go against the grain, you have to be careful not to enjoy too much that which you critique.

If you want to critique billionaires, you can't make their lives look fun.

People remember Iron Man's gadgets and fabulous home, not the critique of arms dealing.

People remember Vivian's red dress and the defeat of bullies with money, not the importance of worker solidarity.

If you want people to remember your critique, you can't be subtle.

(OK, maybe I failed at writing the short version of this post.)

#pretty woman #fury road #iron man #fight club #anti-capitalism #capitalism #venture capitalists #gifs #film theory #writing

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jar-of-maise · 6 months

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fontaine archon quest, furina story quest spoilers + brainrot

so after doing the 4.2 quest, i have to say that i really dislike the characterisation of the Traveller and Paimon. Obviously, there's a emotional appeal for the audience to see Furina's suffering but I don't like how we basically manipulate her, decieve her and then harass her straight after the main plot? Like girly says she doesn't want to return to acting and what do our beloved MC's do? Harass her until she agrees.

coming from a story writer's perspective, i can see how the story was done to further...idk character development but to be completely honest, i would have loved it if Furina died in the end, or even disliked the Traveller. Eitherway, I think that the reconciliation arc was so abrupt and quick for my liking. Of course, the question could always become, "if not now then when?" And my answer to that is, realistic forgiveness and closure is rarely present in real life. Yes, the game is fantasy and does not have to conform to reality but I can't help thinking that some depth has been missed/could've been added.

Furina doesn't get enough credit for her work - and maybe the tragedy and point of the quest was to highlight that. But like, I have to say the way everyone treated her during her trial (okay, I know, no one knew anything about shit at the time just let me rant), and worse, after the conclusion of the archon quest had me raging ngl.

Can you imagine playing this tortuous role for basically 500 years, staking your every hope upon a plan plotted by a "mirror you" you've only met once and never again? Not to mention that it might be all for naught?

And then the people you are trying to save isolateand ostracize you? You're tricked and fooled until the very "hope" you wish to maintain (the act) is basically destroyed? And when you've begun to finally find respite, you're forced back onto the stage and made fun of, called poor and mocked for ... not having a personality because you've been playing as someone else? Like, Traveller has their therapy, "makes character's better" moments but this was not one of them.

At the same time though, it makes the Traveller more realistic, which I can appreciate. They want answers, and the continuous theme of, "Archons not knowing jackshit or running away" is tiring. But like, you would have also thought that it could be a point of sympathy not just, making someone suffer????

Hello???

But Traveller and Paimon's extremely irritating actions aside, I can see it from everyone else's POV - that is, Fontaine is literally about to go under, and that for 500+ years the "god" they worship has been saying, "trust me," but hasn't done (in the eyes of the people) anything.

so idk, the archon quest makes me feel very conflicted, and honestly good for hoyoverse. but man, furina was quite literally dealt one of the worst cards to date.

TLDR; i rant about furina and how she deserved better but that tbf i would also be very confused if all i knew was a bratty archon doing nothing (seemingly) for the nation but....also, the injustice and unfair treatment furina got AFTER the archon quest - i could write a full essay about her character deadass x_x

#genshin impact #focalors #furina #fontaine #angst #brainrot #hydro archon

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 1 month

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DAMN CAP YOU COOKED THIS IS MASSIVE!! SPOILERS FOR CHAPTER 72 OF PN BELOW BEWEAR!!

OHH SHE TOOK THE EARINGS WITH HER STEALING THEM ok i’m a fool right this makes sense.

Girl. girl please. “You gotta trust me marinette I’m the only one you can trust” YOU WERE TRYING TO SCAM HER

Love Fei, the dichotomy of man is so real with her

Damn brother what an intro, and then we snap back to Juleka pretending she is Batman. I hope she is at least enjoying running around on the rooftops she wanted to chapters ago

I genuinely can’t tell if girly has a concussion or not. I am one to be tricked by the narrator so since she’s saying she doesn’t i’m like “Oh ok, i trust you”

Aww cute Alya and Juleka friending it up real style, I like how Alya was begging panthera to find marinette, so real of her.

Juleka: dont worry i actually do this super often

Alya: be concussed on a rooftop?

HA-

Yooo super soulmate tracking activated??

I still find the fact that Marinette said that they “speedran dating” to be hilarious

Fei panicking like this is her first sleepover is so silly style

AUGH NO MARINETTE IS NOT THE PERSON TO ADMIT YOU WANT TO KILL SOMEONE TO

Like i love girly but damn Fei you did not choose the right person to admit murderous intent to

Like maybe this is good for Fei to be told “hey girl that’s a bit far” but like let the girl get her emotions off her chest before invalidating them LB damn

Cash, my brother, fuck off. Fei, kick him in the balls, I command thee.

She was being emotionally vulnerable! Let her have her moment!

Damn brother, Cash really just hit Marinette with the fact that good people can do bad things for reasons they see as good, this will literally break her good people meter.

Panthera where be you

Ricky, ricky when I catch you ricky (me about Cash)

YES GIRL (marinette said screw you, i’m hype)

Oop- Marinette is fighting back, and now she pointed out the obvious (to us, not to Fei)

Damn brother plot twist (which I forgor)

Oh dear oh dear oh dear, poor Fei. Girly it’s ok he took advantage of you in a vulnerable state that’s not your fault augh I feel awful for her

NOOO HAWKCOCK RETURNS BAD TIMING FUCK OFF

Help “what’d her glove do?” his hysterical

She pointed at the little akuma resting on her finger, “Are you gonna eat that?”

“Obviously not! Are you- oh you are. Okay.” ok so. Can marinette eat akumas to purify them?

Hey did Fei just get a real concussion?? Exciting

Who are these random lesbians in my father’s ancient duty cave? I ACTUALLY LOST IT

Oh damn the prodigious have shown up this chapter! Nice.

NAH NOT HAWKMOTH HAVING PTSD FROM PANTHERA HAAA

Sorry not many comments on this bit i’m too into it to write

Realest reaction to gaining super powers

Wha da hell the renlings are mad. I do not remember them from the shanghai special i just remembered big lion guy

Damn motherfucker this shit bangs

Fei having the time of her life is very fun, it’s also been rather novel to have so much not-Juleka POV lately! Though that tracks with how much you like Fei!

I do wonder if you’re going to have her show up outside of this arc or naw, I guess i shall wait and see >:3

Could these lesbians please focus? HELP FEI STOP BEING SILLY

Damn nobody wants her to kill Cash. except me, Kill him Fei. I demand thee.

I mean i think it would permanently scar her, but yknow, character building gotta come from somewhere buddy

Goddamn!! That rocked. Fei kicked his ass, hell yeah. Glad she didn’t kill him though (shush i have layers)

Help the awkward after battle chat with Hawkmoth what is this

FEI HAS A POINT THIS IS WEIRD AS SHIT

Backstory?? For Cash?? Ohhhh its that fucker. Cash is the guy who- oh ok it’s all coming together

HELP THE CHAOS

YOOO LION AKUMA HELLLL YEAH

I’ve always thought his akuma was sick as fuck

HAWKMOTH DIED/??

HELP SO MUCH IS HAPPENING ROSE CALLED AND- GTVNBUREFI

Ok so my suspicion that Adrien will find out has dimmed, but the embers are still there. Maybe he’ll be vaporized.

Yeah maybe now isn’t the time for impromptu therapy ladies

Hell yeah, Panthera for the emotional intelligence win you go girl

Oh no it went wrong, Fei running away from your problems doesn’t work this is an awful time to do that!

No because Fei literally challenges Marinnettes ideals of a good person, her black and white way of thinking about things has been a (interesting!) source of conflict throughout this but i don’t believe she has ever disagreed with someone in this way that she actually likes. Idk if this makes sense, basically what I’m saying is this could be an interesting way to develop her black and white view on good and evil

I have feelings about it all ok??

“I can’t think about this” YES YOU CAN LB

I’m curious when Juleka will use that power again, also what is it called?

HELP NO i am actually out of breath from how much i laughed at Juleka picking up the phone for Rose WHILE CLIMBING WHATS HIM NAME SHADOW OF THE COLLOSUS STYLE

GIRL. HAVE SOME PRIORITIES.

WAIT IWIAIT WIH3W

WHAY

WITA

JULEKA CALLED HER SUNBEAM? ISN’T THAT WHAT SHE CALLED ROSE AS PANTHERA OR AM I GOING INSANE

WAIT. ROSE HAS A CLUE NOW? I’M GOING INSANE CAP

CAP PLEASE

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THE ROSE-JULEKA REVEAL FOR YEARS

WHEN.

Sorry i went mad

In my head when LB was flung off the big guy she pinwheeled through the air silly style

Is. is fei just flying about crying? “A mournful cry” and “red and gold streaked above them” like. As a bird i think that counts as flying about for the fuck of it and sobbing it up real style

It has been. A week maybe more. Sorry got distracted read 1.4 mill for another work got way too invested, we are so back though

And back to Fei’s POV epic crying girl montage qued

“And it was all her fault” girl please, there is a dickhead called HM and I think it’s more his fualt than yours, get over yourself

The renlings are so cool, the dialogue you had them do was mega cool cap

Dragon renling is bad ass, personally i would name them. He is now dubbed; Daniel.

Damn move over Juleka, there’s a new therapist in down, his name is Daniel the Dragon

Oh thank fuck, when Daniel said forgive i was like bitch Cash doesn’t deserve that, but forgiving herself makes so much sense.

Not Panthera offering to fix her makeup- Juleka is so sweet girl

“We’ve got your back, Fei.” Ladybug exclaimed, “L-Like; If you need a plan, I’ve got one. I’ve got a great plan. I just need a GIANT jug- this made me lose it. What the fuck LB what would a giant jug do pray tell

YEAH DRAGON TIME

Sorry, that piece about her dad was lovely and it was awesome to read, it swept me up so i just ended up saying dragon time

Hm how does the dragon speak if it doesn’t have lips (in my head)

No because ack what is this plan that involves a giant vase. Panthera you go girl don’t let her get eaten by another akuma, the dinosaur was enough. What will they do for Feast if not be eaten though that is the real question

Ya girly Fei just kicked kaiju ass in under 5 minutes because their timers were going off so, current MVP of the series; Fei, followed by Juleka for her metallica moment

Aww Mei Shi is adorable

He's so nice help

WHERE DID HE GO

Also wonderful break POV, that was a good line

Get his ass gang, cash is a dick

MEI SHI IS ADORABLE YAYAY AND SMALL

Fei has like 13 friends now. Is there 12 renlings or no i can’t remember

“Ooh sounds yummy.”

“You sounded a lot more professional as a robot guardian guy.”

“I was. Now I’m small and terrible.”

“Joy.” I LOVES HIM SO MUCH HE IS SO BABY!!! If only they returned to Paris with LB and Panthera, he could be friends with plagg.

Juleka now has a favor…

Oh yeah plagg realised he could leave the ring while Juleka is transformed. That feels like an important detail.

“OH MY GOD I HAVE PARENTS.” i love marinette. I loved this whole interaction actually, “water under the bridge, forced under the bridge” and all that was really funny

Also the fact that Adrien didn’t know your not allowed to sleep with a concussion has me concerned.

Oh yay!! Juleka and Fei ‘therapy’ session

“That’s our everyday Ladybug!”

“AHA. YEAH. THAT SAYING. LANKS ADRIEN. I MEAN THANKS LADRIEN. THANKS. ADRIEN. AHAH.” realest reaction to that

The ending was very cosy, lots of fun :3

Finito!!!!!!! Amazing chapter Cap, ten out of ten, no a hundred out of ten is more fitting. I look forward to what comes next >:3

DANIEL I’m wheezing

I’m so glad you enjoyed bud! I’m gonna try and keep Fei in her lane for the rest of the fic or else my favoritism will show.

as for Panthera’s “special mode”, that’s called Mass Obliteration!

Plagg leaving the ring while Panthera is transformed is a marker on how much experience she’s had being Panthera.

When characters are transformed, they absorb that Kwami’s power to wear the suit. Then they expend a lots of that magic to use their powers and if they’re young and haven’t used that miraculous much- or don’t have lots of magic in general- then that magic is pretty much depleted to nothing once that power is used and their battery runs out after five minutes.

The Kwami is like the power source to the holder’s battery/charge, with the miraculous being the chord between them. Usually you need them “plugged in” aka in the miraculous at all time when the holder is transformed. However! Panthera’s gotten so used to Plagg’s essence that even if he leaves the ring for a bit, she can stay transformed as she has a bit of his magic to naturally spare. I hope that makes sense I’m babbling. Thank you to my buddy @ghostatjoes for that lore.

The base was in the original Shanghai episode. Ladybug’s plan was to get vored and break the akuma from the inside. It had organs. Mei Shi had organs. I was so disturbed, I didn’t wanna write that— and also I felt like Ladybug overhauling Fei’s fight was wrong. That was HER villain yknow. Wanted Fei to finish it all by herself.

I’m glad you enjoyed! This was def one of my favorite chapters ever to write. I think the size is an obvious indicator. I hope you guys enjoy Season 3! It’s coming I swear. I’m just writing a fun chapter before I drag you all into my hole of hell that I’ve been stewing over for years.

#panthera noire au #writing #Sneak a cat

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theclearblue · 1 month

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sorry if it’s redundant getting asked so consistently, but how’s the blue lock reading going? (i’m almost fully caught up now :P) <3

Haha this definitely hasn't been sitting in my inbox for weeks as I read at a snail's pace (I'm sorry 💀) but I've passed Chapter 200 and have read the England v. Germany match now! I'll kinda go character by character for what I wanna talk about.

Kaiser and Isagi are fun to watch together, this panel was a particular favorite of mine it made me laugh:

They're sooooo weird about each other lmao someone get them into therapy. Certainly intrigued by Kaiser, but still waiting for a bit more information on him to get really invested (same goes for Ness). Isagi's development throughout the match was really great, I like the way that he out maneuvered Kaiser a lot and it was very funny seeing him put a stop to Nagireo and Prince lmao.

Speaking of Nagireo, good arc for them! I like Nagi but really who I cheer for and want to see is Reo, I think his dynamics with everyone is a lot of fun to watch and him working through his complex feelings towards Nagi felt very realistic, I would be upset at him too (but I also get where Nagi was coming from)! But them coming together again, wow love is alive huh. I'm also very excited at what Ego brought up where he knows Nagi can never recreate that goal, and how that will impact him as a player. I do love seeing Nagi get to do cool plays but U also love seeing him get humbled lmao.

Still waiting for more Chigiri character development 😔 Don't get me wrong he was very cool in this match and had a lot of great moments, but I really feel like he deserves a lil more spotlight on him and his struggles instead of being like "Oh I'm upgraded now to world class." I feel like we see a lot more struggle to improve from everyone else so it's a little strange that it's kinda just handed to him? I onow it isn't really he works very hard but I just want more from him cause I like Chigiri a lot :/

Big star of this arc and a surprise to me was Yukimiya! Felt like he had such good development and so many great moments, obviously his goal being the highlight:

(Look at how proud Isagi is of his bf. This is my new rarepair)

I really liked his conflict with Isagi because yeah, Isagi was being kind of a jerk! But also Isagi didn't have the context of how important this match and football really was to Yukimiya with his eye disease, so them coming together in the end was very satisfying, and I liked how they made up to each other :')

Overall I liked this match a lot! Excited to see Barou again for the next match, and also Kunigami took more a backseat in this match which I think was the right call, but hoping to see more of him in this upcoming match.

#blue lock #bllk #asks

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orange-locust · 2 years

Text

thinking about screen time for oluwande in s2. i'd love it if the pre-reunion arc of s2 had a focus on the dynamic between olu and stede as they try to get back to the revenge. i think it would present really good opportunities for developing both characters

like: oluwande was elected captain by the crew not long ago. now stede rolls up, broke, with no actual skills, and does - what?

my guess is: greets them as their captain. which creates a very interesting moment of tension in which i suspect everyone on that sandbar stares at oluwande.

it's loaded because, on one hand, i still do not think the crew of the revenge find stede especially capable; i think they just learned by the end of s1 to like and appreciate him as a person. this does not mean they necessarily trust him with their lives! on the other hand: stede has a rowboat.

there's still a power dynamic here but suddenly it is much closer to being balanced. oluwande is experienced, a competent leader, trusted by the crew - what does stede have on him anymore? not a salary, not a ship, not even a legal identity. stede has white privilege, a certain amount of upper-class cultural capital (though who knows how far that will get him without the clothes to go with it or how many spaces he still has access to where it will do him any good), and a rowboat.

but it's this show! and so i think it will be treated as an opportunity to unpack all that stuff with a great deal of heart. im curious about, like...

oluwande's development as a leader. what is he a natural at, and where do we get to see him grow? why does he avoid leadership? has he had much opportunity to try?

if we're going by actors' ages, olu is the youngest among the remaining crew by about 10 years. yet everyone, including stede, seems to look up to him. how does he feel about that? (it can be very complicated, when you're a younger person who perhaps has some insecurities and is not going out of your way to Be Important, to be treated like a leader figure.)

the reshuffling of power dynamics among the crew now that inherited wealth is out of the picture, but race and class aren't

stede being forced to actually talk it through, as a crew. what is "it"? dunno. a lot. maybe they decide to do music therapy after all

oluwande and the crew getting to demonstrate some object lessons in what power can be in the absence of wealth. violence, sure, but also collective power, charm, skill, trickery - i suspect they'll all make a name for themselves and i'd love for it not to just be the stede bonnet captain thomas show but a fierce irrepressible gory theatrical weirdness that emerges from all of them.

who is explicitly, and implicitly, the captain at any given point in time? does stede have trouble handing off leadership? oluwande seems sympathetic to stede in s1, but how does he navigate his loyalties to stede and to the crew when they're placed at odds with each other?

obviously, i would also like backstory - i'm very curious how someone with oluwande's temperament ends up a pirate. we've all seen the text post that says oluwande has veteran mcdonald's manager energy. this being the show that it is, i don't think the answer is just going to be Upsetting Colonial Violence, either, although i doubt they would ellide the role of empire completely either. so what happened? did oluwande run away as a young man and have a rude awakening, only to realize you can't really come back from being an outlaw, and maybe that's why we saw him being so sympathetic to stede? did he work on a ship that gradually slid into piracy?

to get sentimental for a second: does oluwande love the sea? or is he dreaming of a home on the shore? has jim changed that? how?

oluwande was a really great supporting character in s1, but i'd really love to see him driving the story in s2. i think it would take the show to some really interesting, fun, heartfelt places

#oluwande boodhari #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd s2

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nagirambles · 7 months

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Hi welcome back ! Hope your doing ok 🥰 would it be alright if I request what if hcs for healer Happy please 🙏 ( he has so much potential and I wish we saw him do more things , maybe him even getting his own arc where he’s a healer and how he feels that Wendy is also a healer to , could be happy to have another pair of hands to help heal the team or angst that the team might not need him anymore👀)

Ohhhh healer happy. I remember mentioning it all the way in Phantom or TOH on this blog, okay, here I go,

Healer Happy would, to preface, separate himself from Wendy in the sense that he's a resourceful healer, while Wendy is a magic healer. This means he's the one to run to when you need bandages, medicine, herbs, heat packs, needles, etc. Wendy doesn't need those items because she can heal any of those (including sores, motion sickness, so she doesn't need any tools or home remedies) but since troia works less the more you stack, Happy continues to come through with warm ginger teas and massages. Or a wrench, or a hammer, or a fish! Or frozen peas. He also has scissors and hair clips and staples and anything you can think of that fits inside a very well-furnished first aid kit. He throws them at enemies when he's fighting, they all come out of his bag.

Whether his bag is an endless doraemon sack, or if he uses requip to seem like he's pulling ridiculous things out of his bag-- up to you. I think it's funny to see him pull a huge bag of ice out of his tiny bag and flip them over someone's head, goodbye

This gives me a fun idea, honestly-- he'd definitely hang around Porlyusica's place a lot. She hates humans, and I think that canonically extends to cats as well, but let's say it doesn't. (thinking about the jade dragon from GMG graveyard and maybe all dragons are silly tolerant with cats. Maybe that can be a trend. She is an Edo version of a dragon after all--) but anyways! Maybe he's her pseudo-apprentice of sorts, since she does the classic witchy potionmaking. ('Apprentice' as in he stares at her while she works, from some corner of the building or thorugh the window. And she gave up trying to chase him out.)

I'd imagine a sort of Dr Kureha and Chopper type dynamic. Maybe she's where Happy gets the knowledge from (Happy-sensei exposition duty,) she doesn't directly teach him anything, but he does learn a lot just from hanging around her house.

Which would mean the two people Happy are closest with both have pink hair hahaaa I kinda wanna see Meredy and Sherry learning this, thinking it's adorable, and trying to get into the club. I would think he loves sakura season because of the pink. There is... so much chopper similarity what the hell. Even Dr Kureha's catchphrase is 'ya happy?' and I'm obsessed with that actually. Reincarnation fic I need

I would imagine just like in battle, Wendy has less actual field knowledge. Which means we could have situations like setting bones properly before healing them (because healing them right away would fuse wrong and cause permanent damage). Or situations where Wendy can heal a contagious epidemic, but they have no idea where it comes from-- Happy would be able to realize it's a magic problem, or a virus, or a curse, and where it'd come from (animals, trees, sewage, etc.) We could also have Happy the therapy cat, where people go to him to talk feelings. We could address the PTSD or depression that's displayed in some characters. Maybe he's already helping them through some of it! Maybe he displays some of this when Edolas happens and it's the breakthrough that pulls Carla out of her darkness? And so on, and so forth.

I can imagine FT would take a more genuine direction with their injuries if there was a healer happy. The anime erases most of them, but I'd like to see Happy actually scolding people who are too reckless when injured (most of our boys,) needlessly causing injuries around in barfights (splinters are hard to get out! Hey!) or even refusing medical advice to go be stupid. (I'd like to see a situation where someone's stubborn for a mild injury, it gets worse, and becomes permanent damage. Eg Thunder Legion not bothering with persistent eye discomfort, only to figure out too late there's an infection and end up with blind/astig/photokeratitis/migraines. It could serve as a lesson for the rest and a character building moment for happy. Maybe something like that could even be in the BoFT, where Happy points this out to Lucy and that helps them win the fight.) I'd like to think we could include Loke in this group of people that Happy mother-hens the hell out of, because something's always been weird about him, Happy just doesn't know what.

All that doesn't stop him from maybe feeling a little obsolete or distressed about his role in the team once Wendy arrives, though. I feel he'll overlap with Wendy a lot, and if there was an arc about him, I'd expand on this. How-- well, by having Wendy and Natsu switch cats for a mission! (It'd be set right after Wendy joins.) It seems like Carla and Natsu are both headstrong, straightforward types, while in this AU Wendy and Happy are a little more humble, behind-the-scenes, and resourceful healers. This duality will make a fun shenanigans arc where they work together to find their flaws and differences and learn to appreciate both their original partners and their new addition to the guild. Wendy is still learning the ropes, so Happy gets to be 1. a big brother for once (he's usually baby of the family always) and 2. learn about finding individuality, confidence, and strength at your own pace. (Something Wendy is also working her way through, but from a different perspective from Happy.)

That's all for now. Thanks for the ask! <3

#it's an ask #fairy tail #i'm reaching #fic related rambles #just a ramble #it's a headcanon #fairy tail happy #healer happy rambles

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jamiesfootball · 1 month

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Some random fic questions for you!

1) in the Leverage AU you definitely aren't writing, which episode(s) are you most excited to (definitely not) adapt?

2) how did you come up with the ideas for the subplots in OGYGGI(YHNBGL), and how did you go about weaving them all together? (also typing that acronym requires. concentration)

3) free space! answer whichever question you wish people would ask about your fics

Aaaaaah, I love random fic questions! Thank you!

1) in the Leverage AU you definitely aren't writing, which episode(s) are you most excited to (definitely not) adapt?

While I have a massive prompt table (that I shared somewhere in my leverage au tag forever ago), I'm fairly sure I won't end up using all of them. That said, there are a few episodes in particular that have been added to the Web Of Character Arcs and are for sure getting used:

The Juror #6 Job (with Roy as the juror)

The First David Job / The Second David Job

The Broken Wing Job

The Grave Danger Job

The Three Card Monte Job

The Rashomon Job

Of the ones I'm most looking forward to adapting, I think The Three Card Monte Job is at the top of my list. It's going to be the Jamie's dad turns up episode.

Now. For job titles I currently have on the chapter list:

The First Second Job

The Little Sister Job

The Equity Trust Job

The Juror #6 Job*

The Just Married Job

The Faberge Dilemma

The Hammer Job

The Broken Wing Job*

The Son's Gambit

Special Note: The Broken Wing Job, while it shares a title, is very much not a fun little one-off romp and is not a 1:1 retelling of the episode it's named after. The Juror #6 Job, on the other hand, is very much like it's namesake, only with Roy in the place of Parker trying to learn how to get along with people without cracking skulls. Growth, baby <3

2) how did you come up with the ideas for the subplots in OGYGGI(YHNBGL), and how did you go about weaving them all together? (also typing that acronym requires. concentration)

(I rely on my phone for the acronym now)

The subplots were very much a listing of 'here's everything I wish they'd handled differently in the finale, now what can I do to fix this?'

Jamie - I think we know this one. His dad. That scene of him visiting his dad in rehab. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. This is what took it from 'hey I wrote a thing about Roy and Jamie discussing him reaching out to his dad' and turned it into a multi-chaptered behemoth

Roy - very much did not care for the fight in the last episode, and what (to me) felt like a lack of resolution. Did very much like that he decided to go to therapy. Decided to spin it so that the fight was why he ended up in therapy. Now I get to talk about both of those things as much as I want- yaaaaaaaay

Sam - Why. Why would you definitively have Akufo say Sam would never get to play for the Nigerian team. And then have the next thing be a shot of him on the Nigerian team. WHY. So the basic outline of Sam's subplot in this fic is him vs. Akufo, who has built a Nigerian restaurant right around the corner from Sam's restaurant.

Colin - I'm so sorry, buddy, but that kiss definitely outed you. There were cameras, bud. There were so many cameras....... HOWEVER. That is not the totality of Colin's arc! Colin's arc is very much a 'what now?' sort of thing that I shall continue to be vague about.

Keeley - Look, the show may have been lazy in her plot lines, but they left a lot of solid, strong storybeats to play around with. Her subplot really focuses on the rebuilding aspect of everything: rebuilding her relationships with Roy and Jamie, rebuilding her company under the weight of crushing guilt and debt that she now feels to her best friend for bailing her out, rebuilding her image after the leak, the breakup, and Shandy (jesus). She has a lot going on, and due to the messiness of her interpersonal relationships, there's no one area that doesn't affect the others.

Beard - Beard and Jane happy ending my beloathed. You weren't even in the first draft, but boy if I didn't find a way to sow the seeds of your inevitable destruction by lowkey giving Beard a new foundation for his support system

Nate - I just feel like they got him like. 90% of the way there. There's just a little more fine-tuning on his character arc I'd like to spiff up.

Higgins - just kidding nothing to fix here, I love him for who he is. Someone's got to keep a level head around here and keep the boat moving forward

Isaac - oh I'm sorry did you think I forgot about my boy the way my show forgot about my boy? Nuh uh. Subplot for Isaac.

As for how I weaved them all together? I've got no idea. Really, I don't. When I started to outline everything, they all just- slotted in together. I think a part of what made that easy is I have this (usually unmet) want for characters to interact with people outside their immediate plot lines in meaningful ways, which ultimately makes them part of the plot line. For example, if Sam is struggling with Akufo, then it makes sense that Jamie, someone who likes Sam, would already have sought Sam out for his own reasons. It's not like I'm doing backflips to get everybody in the same room. By wanting to be in each other's lives, they naturally become part of each other's plots, whether they realize it or not.

3) free space! answer whichever question you wish people would ask about your fics

Okay, this one stumped me, so instead I've found a question from one of those ask games:

What fic are you most excited about publishing/updating next?

The next chapter of OGYGGIYHNBGL! It is written! It is obscenely long! Longer than the first chapter! 22k words and 66 pages! But it is badly in need of edits and still has the odd [bracket fix this later] and I've just been so burnt out lately that every time I look at it I want to cry.

But that is my goal for this weekend! I want to get a decent chunk of this thing edited. I'm quite excited for it to finally see the light of day.

#ask box is always open #thank you again for your lovely questions!#muah!#writing progress #fic: oh god you're gonna get it (you have not been given love)#leverage au

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sereneabyyss · 7 months

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Blind Watch BSD Season Five

I Feel Spiritually Unwell After That. Unfortunately @wafflesarecool and @animusmelodiam and I have completed season five of BSD. fortunately this means I can come back to Tumblr to not avoid spoilers Animus kept reblogging. However, as was pointed out by Animus before we started, this was very stroke inducing.

First off, as always, Animus Numbers:

Waffle disconnect count: 15

"what the fuck" count: 31 (thanks Amenogozen, Bram, and Fyodor!)

Animus numbers keep us pogging through the pain

We started off strong, immediately hating the Russians.

"he's fucking insane. but I'm rooting for him because I hate Fyodor more"

"'I hate both of them, but I hate this one slightly less so I'm rooting for him' is the entire mood"

Kyouka Lucy and Atsushi trio are top tier. We love them dearly.

"I believe Poe is a trained sniper over them not seeing a car in a flat area anyday."

"Waffle Ranpo is being the greatest detective to ever live. Stop dying."

Many, many, many "what the fuck that is a horrible idea" were said

WHY ARE VAMPIRES CANON???

"The most unprofessional UN meeting... why is waffle still dead"

"cuz he doesn't want to see the horrible UN meeting"

"true"

waffle becomes alive

"All you missed was a terrible UN meeting"

Oh look, we finally remember Atsushi has regenerative powers. How nice and convenient.

"where the fuck is emo at"

"How funny of you to ask"

"EMO!"

All of these characters need to fucking consider getting some therapy

THE FUCKING LIGHTSABER??? IS A CHEAT SWORD!! FUCK THAT FUCKING SWORD I FUCKING HATE IT IT'S HORRIBLE FUCK THAT SWORD!!!

See Akutagawa cares too much about Dazai's approval, therefore, trying to make him betray that trust is tantamount to geeting tiger claws slashing you in the face.

Tachihara become Toph arc! You can learn from Jouno!

Speaking of Jouno what ever happened to that guy. Find out more next time I Guess!

bram pack

Aya and Bram have adopted each other. Kunikida and Bram get to have custody battle over Aya a la fist fighting her father.

"poor aya. I have a baked potato tho."

Never Fucking Piss Off The Happy Person.

Speaking of angered Kenji, how has the one power that was literally compared to Mother Nature itself not been played upon as Kenji being a vessel for a godly power similar to Chuuya and Atsushi? Like it's right there.

Yeet The Kenji.

"dazai don't try to drown Chuuya. Learn some humanity"

Chuuya deserves to kill Dazai As A Treat.

"Bram lives in an eternal state of going through it"

"Well he lives in an eternal state of being impaled, of course he's going through it."

The Fucking Shoujo Springtime Filer?????

"why is he being crucified? Why is bram jesu?"

The comparison of Bram to Jesus was found to be extra funny after Fyodor's last words.

"I love Sigma dearly, but he brought a gun to a knife fight and Lost."

SHOOT EM SHOOT EM DEAD

AYA NO BAD AYA- oh well ok fine sure.

"Atsushi your boyfriend is a vampire"

Bram has officially adopted Aya can't change my mind

"hey look, it's the cockroach" "dammit i was hoping Chuuya killed his ass"

THE END GOAL WAS SO FUCKING STUPID. THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS. THAT'S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS. HUMANS CAN'T BE UNIFIED UNDER ONE LEADER AND FUCK THE PAGE IF THAT EVER WORKS LIKE THAT WITH IT'S STUPID LITTLE GOD ABILITIES. FUCKING DUMB AS HELL.

ALSO WHO THE FUCK IS THE UN TO DECIDE THQAT? THE UN ISN'T MADE UP OF EVERY SINGLE COUNTRY TO EXIST AND IT'S JUST LIKE 100 PEOPLE AT MAX DECIDINMG THE FATE OF THE WORLD SHOULD BE IN THE HANDS OF ONE ALL POWERFUL PERSON? NO FUCK YOU. LIKE CAT DAD SAID ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY. THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS AND IT SHOULD NEVER WORK LIKE THAT FUCLK THE TRANSMITTER FUCK THAT END GOAL.

THE ARGUMENT OF WHAT A STATE IS IS LIKE A MIDDLE SCHOOL ANARCHISTS IDEOLOGY OF WHY GOVERNMENT IS BAD. THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS AND THAT'S NEVER HOW IT EVER COULD WORK.

Also Ranpo had way too much fun being a terrorist. But like, he deserved to commit crime. As a treat.

Anyway, I gotta go work. This was hell.

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #bsd dazai #bsd chuuya #bsd atsushi #bsd ranpo #so glad that's done and over with #not looking forward to season six #at all #god we need an anime that won't turn us bat shit

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canmom · 1 year

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Worth the Candle, end of 228.

so. I understand it now. this is Baru Cormorant: When They Cry.

i thought this story was going to be stupid fun, in a kind of well-above-average litrpg way - I was (kinda still am) very depressed and the other books I was reading were too heavy. instead, it surprised me be being good, like actually good: a genuinely thoughtful, well structured and even insightful story. this is not something that I ever expected to write about a litrpg isekai webserial, and certainly not a 'ratfic'.

it does, admittedly, take a while to come into its own. what 'its own' turns out to be is, as one commentator deemed it, 'competence porn for therapy'.

at first i thought it was about grief, then i recalibrated to a really scathing self-crit, as the story worked to absolutely dismantle self insert protagonist Juniper interpersonally and ideologically. now, 25 chapters from the end (which is still like an entire novel lol) it seems to be... complex metafiction about learning to work through shit and understand yourself and other people? woven of course in between exploring a variety of off-the-wall magic systems and settings, with an analytic eye to how and why they're made.

it's safe to say it blows Yudkowsky out of the fucking water. if more ratfic is like this, i might have to get into the genre.

it can be quite... dry isn't the right word, but there's a lot of chapters of people having penetrating conversations about their motivations and feelings, or coming up with plans, or the nature of the story they're inhabiting. which isn't to say it can't hit the feelings or evoke a mood... especially if that mood is an oppressive one, but there's plenty of genuine humour. it's often kind of horny but in a really analytic way, where it's about breaking down hangups around sex that largely happens off camera, and sexuality is just part of what comes under the scope. in some ways it feels... anthropological, in the sense of autoethnography - which I suppose is what it is, given how much Wales seems to be putting his own experiences into it, though of course I'm not sure exactly the line between what is directly roman à clef for his own life and what is there for a rhetorical point. some of the constructions and parallels feel too neat to be exactly real, but that doesn't say a lot, bc if you're fictionalising something you'd neaten it up.

it steers determinedly towards just about all the thorniest topics you can think of: grief, depression, suicide, rape (of its protagonist), genocide, eugenics. astonishingly, given its peers, it handles them with - for the most part, I'm not really sure about where they're going with the Tuung - a lot of grace.

it can be a bit cheeky with the metafiction occasionally but generally uses it purposefully, in the same way that a When They Cry VN teaches you how to read it. (promise I'll get back to that). in general it commits to the bit, hard. a brief arc riffs on the one page rpg Actual Cannibal Shia LaBeouf, in a way that sounds like it would be way too stupid, and yet it somehow makes it work by playing it serious.

it's a curious story to read because you have to take everything on at least four levels: what it means on the base level, how it fits in to the story that is being constructed with the diegetic DM character (the 'narrative' that the characters are aware of), how it reflects back on the inciting incidents on Joon's D&D games and grief spiral on Earth, and the purpose it's being put towards by Wales in the webnovel. (we can go further and take after Eco in distinguishing the author suggested by the text from the actual person Alexander Wales, but that's more @baeddel 's department.)

and now I've finally reached the Fel Seed Incident. cw rape. also spoilers.

the Fel Seed Incident is foreshadowed from early in the story, as the most heinous thing that Joon did while misanthropically turning on everyone after the death of his best friend Arthur. it's pretty much exactly what I thought, given the foreshadowing: Joon created a cheap grimdark body horror scenario to vent his feelings, that scenario centred on a sadistic rapist villain, a new player who Joon held in contempt joined the group, who was a rape survivor, and Joon steamrolled through several attempts to get him to back down, drove her away, flipped his lid and drove her boyfriend away, and made the session miserable for everyone by making Fel Seed invincible. most of this was pretty much spelled out already, but not the rape part.

this is the keystone of the whole story, and the reason it's delivered so late is because basically everything leading up to this point is telling us how to interpret this scene. particularly the arc where Joon gets raped by his sentient house, who then goes away for a long time to be taught a sense of ethics by the girl who eats demons to get therapy insight (I say, very matter of factly). Joon was pathetic and shitty, but it wasn't some grand act of sadism, just a tawdry story of lashing out at someone in the wrong place who he considered an annoyance beneath his notice - a recurring theme we've come to see throughout the rest of the story. it's presented very levelly. we've seen Bethel's efforts to change, we've seen Joon understandably not wanting to have anything to do with her, studiously examined that situation from each side. it all makes depressing sense, just as the scenes of abuse in Umineko do: this is how people act in these circumstances. 'well observed' you say.

yet it's not just going there to rub our faces in how much our protagonist sucks. because the whole point is to take it seriously, not wallow in self loathing. Grak doesn't kill himself and commits to living, Bethel and Valencia take the time to work at learning from their enormous mistakes. beating up on yourself is a sort of perverse defence mechanism. if you suck irredeemably you don't have to try.

the Fel Seed Incident is thus essentially a synecdoche (drink) of Joon's spiral and of the themes it's driving at, and thus a fitting capstone battle. it's almost annoyingly well put together.

but it's also rather self aware about this. Joon has by this point figured out that he's supposed to learn things from his adventures. the protagonists try to figure out what sort of narrative they're in and talk about postmodernism. so it's probably going to be about more than that.

self-improvement is the whole selling point of the rationalist ideology: the idea that if you follow Yudkowsky's teachings you can learn to put things in a mathematical perspective that will helpfully set you straight on matters from epistemology (Bayesianism solves everything) to ethics (utilitarianism is the answer, but you need to take into account a bunch of weird edge cases) to niche causes like cryonics and AI research. in fact, it's simply a cult. with all the shit that comes with, which means yes, rape and dead bodies.

many ideas in the story draw from the rationalist milieu. Joon's plan to 'win forever', usurp the DM and create a heaven that solves suffering, is of course an oblique spin the friendly AI singularity that Yudkowsky hopes to build. the soul magic arc, with its ideas of fiddling with motivations, is also about this. it seeps in in other ways, e.g. the idea raised now and then about keeping promises so other agents will trust you to keep promises is one of the founding elements of Roko's Basilisk. other elements, like the Second Empire, seem like an extrapolation of a society run by rat ideals.

I do not like the 'd' word. reading Eva and Madoka as 'genre deconstructions' obscures much more than it reveals (and also has very little to do with whatever Derrida was getting at). but it is honestly surprising to me that this is a celebrated ratfic reads like a splendid dismantling of rationalism.

the rape angle is relevant here. Yudkowsky's story Three Worlds Collide, a story about metaethics, rather infamously presents a future human society where rape is ubiquitous and considered a mild annoyance. it's like defamiliarising or whatever - don't you see, it's just our cultural assumptions! - and if you think it is going to do anything interesting, of course not, it's just Richard Stallman levels of pigheaded edgy obliviousness.

by contrast, the arc where Bethel rapes Joon... well, it feels almost like it's running down a checklist of how to write a realistic rape. Joon is raped by someone he knows well, he clearly says no, but when this is ignored, goes along with it in part because he's hyperconscious of the possibility of sudden violence; he knows something is up but blames himself because he was physically aroused and thinks it's just arbitrary cultural hangups and because he's a guy; he is reluctant to talk about it with his friends because he doesn't want his rapist to just be killed and she's important to their organisation. his attacker is a rape survivor herself in a complicated way, and she has spun a story where she was in the right that has to be very carefully unpicked by someone close to her and then she must take time to work through and change the whole way she relates to people, and there's some uncertainty in the others whether she's actually changed or just putting up a show of it. you could basically say it's cribbed from a "transformative justice" case study, but without the buzzwords.

and like, in a metafictional story like this one, situated in a milieu founded by Yudkowsky, that seems kind of like a statement. 'pay attention class, here's how to write a rape'. that might be uncharitable - i haven't seen how other rationalist writers handle it. (you can write a web novel without rape? ha, as if.)

Amaryllis in particular is the epitome of an idealised rationalist, effective altruist model. she's not emotionless, but manages her emotions clinically, according to scientific principles. she obsessively prioritises utilitarianism over her own feelings about a situation ('purchase fuzzies and utilons separately' is how it went i think?) and relentlessly builds power in order to remake the world according to her vision. she's hypercompetent as an administrator and has bizarrely mechanical ways of dealing with her own feelings. and it generally pays off and doesn't blow up in her face! (analogy: she's kind of who Baru Cormorant thinks she is, especially at the outset when she's most indoctrinated by Farrier.)

all of this seems to be very deliberate, given how Joon and the other characters react to her, but I'm scratching my head about the endgame here. I suppose, if each companion reflects some quality of Joon, we read Amaryllis and the slow burn romance as some kind of spin on gradually being enticed by the ideal of lesswrongism itself? but this story puts such an emphasis on self-understanding that there is no way it would uncritically present Amaryllis as an ideal. and with the Tuung essentially being put through what is painted as a hyperaccelerated residential school system that's been flagged up as an impending conflict a few times, and this story consistently choosing to steer into conflict rather than take an easy out to the point that the characters notice, it has to be going somewhere with this.

I'm honestly not sure how it's going to end, at this point. obviously Joon will find Arthur and confront the Dungeon Master, maybe he'll get to immanentise his personal eschaton. it would be too cheap for him to just go back to Earth with a bunch of lessons learned, especially with the IC meta discussions signaling hard against that. but it's the kind of excited expectant wait where I think I'll be surprised.

obviously I'm hooked. it's a kind of story it's very hard to share with anyone because it's 1.65 million words long, drawing from two milieus (D&D and LessWrong) that are very familiar to me but not necessarily anyone else I know, the premise on the face of it is kind of a hard sell, and as we've just discussed it kinda goes relentlessly for the hard stuff. all in all it's a Brynbait story. if you're tempted by what's above, I'd give it a shot.

aaand damn I guess I prematurely reviewed. I wasn't going to write until I'd finished the book, but I guess I'm writing now! I'll probably see the end after sleeping so expect a followup then.

also. he really did fuck the goddamn deer (tf was involved). and it wasn't a joke but meant something. fascinating thing, this book.

#worth the candle #novels #fiction

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thinkingfandoms · 1 year

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"Photograph" is Buck's song

Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes, but it's the only thing that I know. | This is literally how Buck perceives "love", at least in the first seasons. He hurt himself when he was younger to be noticed and "loved" by his shitty parents. And don't get me started with his "girlfriends".

When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes, it is the only thing makes us feel alive. | Remind me of SOMEONE who was holding Buck's hand during the whole truck-crash-and-save-buck thing.

We keep this love in a photograph, we made these memories for ourselves. | We know, thanks to our queen Marjan, that Eddie's insta has Buck's photo in it. Now, you can't tell me that Buck's insta isn't the same. And you can't tell me these two don't have photos of each other at their house, especially Diaz's house.

Where our eyes are never closing, hearts are never broken, and time's forever frozen, still. | Yeah I know he's talking about photos but "time's forever frozen" doesn't remember how time froze and then restart after Eddie saw Buck's body hang up on the ladder?

So you can keep me inside the pocket of your ripped jeans, holding me closer 'til our eyes meet. | These two eyes f*ck each other most of the time come on.

You won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home. | This sentence especially reminds me of when Buck broke into Eddie's house after Chris called him in panic. Buck was there for Eddie, always not leaving him alone, and always coming home.

Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul, and it's the only thing that I know (know). | Do I need to explain this? We all know how these two love each other and help to heal the other.

I swear it will get easier, remember that with every piece of ya. | GOD. I know this is Buck's pov but Eddie saying this to Buck? That scene is engraved in my heart. Also it always comes back to "Buck helping Eddie with his therapy."

And it's the only thing we take with us when we die. | Buck's first thought after entering coma? Eddie. Probably the very last memory of Eddie after he got shot? Buck.

(chorus)

And if you hurt me, that's okay, baby, only words bleed. Inside these pages, you just hold me and I won't ever let you go. | Lawsuit arc: Buck was hurt because Eddie didn't understand him and they got into an only-words-fight. Eventually, they reapacified and hugged.

(Wait for me to come home x4)

Oh, you can fit me inside the necklace you got when you were sixteen, next to your heartbeat where I should be keep it deep within your soul. | I think Eddie was a little older when he got his necklace but we all know this IS Buck asking Eddie to let him stay inside his heart (yeah all the heart theory).

(chorus)

When I'm away, I will remember how you kissed me under the lamppost back on Sixth Street. | Future happenings? IF Buck really goes to Italy (I don't believe that Oliver posted this story just to make fun of us) is going to happen after they got together? And went on a date or something were they kissed in a street?

Hearing you whisper through the phone "Wait for me to come home." | In the end, Buck goes to live with the Diazs and this is Eddie's line he says every day to Buck before going home.

#i wrote this in like an hour #i will not be sorry #this is just my rumbling about the song #english is ugly here #911 on fox #911 #buck #911 s6 #911 spoilers #buddie #eddie #911 fox #photograph #ed sheeren #911 s3 #leo talks

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sunlitmcgee · 2 years

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Okay. I slept on it. And I think I’ve fully figured out why exactly it is that aside from obvious “comfort relationship turned sour and 2/3 comfort characters are nasty little two-faced brats) reasons, there’s a very simple explanation for why c!Beeduo’s mistreatment of c!Tommy post revival has hit so damn hard in the worse way possible. This is half analysis half ramble so heads up ahead of time

So, chommy, yes? Baby? Baby boy? Baby boy child son? Little scrunky doodle child whom we here at dsmplr adore with many notable but unimportant exceptions? He’s great, yes? Good kid? Real good kid whose been through some real bad shit and deserves to be supported and loved and cared for so he can slowly heal from it and recover in full in order to live a full happy life?

Here’s the things about c!Tommy: In all of his relationships across the server’s plotlines, c!Tommy has almost always, as a rule of thumb, been either a follower, a wingman, a second in command, or a straight up tool/toy to further another, usually older, person’s goals. He’s always the second in command. He’s always the one who does what the other person says and doesn’t get much of a say in anything without having it used against him. With Wilbur he was a follower turned victim then little brother figure. With Philza he’s the troubled kid who needs to be taught manners and lessons. With Sam he’s a kid he wants to help but so rarely does so in a way that Tommy can appreciate without suffering negative consequences(Ranboo’s murder comes to mind). And with Dream it’s obvious, because toys don’t get a say in anything they get to do :)

He’s always an afterthought in someone else’s story. And part of what made me love c!Benchtrio so much was that...they were just friends. They were all friends and all kids and all traumatized and all just hanging out and having fun. There was no power imbalance. No one bigger than c!Tommy or older than him. No one who could take advantage of him being so young and so helpless and so vulnerable as a way to use him or hurt him in some way, intentionally or not, doesn’t matter. There wasn’t anything like that with c!Benchtrio post revival pre outpost. It was clear that they were all on equal footing with each other, that they loved, cared, respected and were willing to take turns calling the shots to help each other heal.

It was nice.

It was so damn nice to see ctommy just...get to play with his friends. Get to have fun and be a kid. To see him be allowed to take charge when it came to all his little projects, to lead them around for exposure therapy, to see cbeeduo let him do what he needed to while offering support and space and anything he needed. it was so nice! It was so fucking nice!

But then the outpost arc happened.

And then c!Beeduo, for reasons we still don’t know, somehow decided to go behind ctommy’s back and decided he wasn’t worth it. That he wasn’t good enough. That he wasn’t worth the time or effort it took to be friends, and that he should just learn to deal with a cold shoulder that he’s not allowed to lean on and not be told why exactly he’s being left behind again. C!Beeduo took the one bit of power they had over ctommy, that being his unending loyalty to those he loves and refusal to give up on them no matter how many times they hurt him, and saw fit to use it as a way to disregard his feelings, his emotions, his needs for company and support, and even his humanity so that they could get away guilt-free with leaving him behind and dumping him into the dirt.

And we have no reason as to why.

I have theories.

All of them revolve around the same idea of c!Tubbo being so spoiled by the marriage that he’s forgotten how to view people as people and treats everything as a part of the perfect dollhouse of a life illusion he’s cast up around himself in order to stay sane. Most involve him deeming c tommy as too “messy” to fit into his perfect life. Most involve c ranboo being too dumb and too whipped to argue and just enabling his hubby because he doesn’t have a spine.

It’d explain them leaving c !Tommy to die.

It’d explain them abandoning him to deal with c!Wilbur.

It’d explain c!Tubbo cackling at c!Tommy’s grave while he got in good and cushy with the pig that ruined their lives a hundred times over. It’d explain him not caring about cdream being free. it’d explain him never visiting in exile or all the other ways he failed and failed and left and let tommy be tortured just to spare himself the trouble.

It sickens me, just how easily people in ctommy’s life get away with abandoning him or using him. I thought c!Beeduo were different. I thought they’d be the 1 relationship he’d have where he wasn’t the toy or the tool or the child to be led down whatever path an adult had to choose. I thought they’d all play and hang out and heal and love each other, but apparently that was a lie, and apparently there’s truly no such thing as a relationship in which c!Tommy is fully equal. Apparently he is doomed to be in service to others. And apparently I was so damn stupid for daring to think otherwise.

It’s just sad.

It’s just sick.

#dream smp #dream smp analysis #meta #c!beeduo critical #c!tubbo critical #c!ranboo critical #c!tommy #c!tommy apologist #tw abuse mention #tw abandonment

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foxwell · 2 years

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Let's just continue this fun game, A8E8! This time: I am unspoiled. Completely unspoiled. The episode dropped today while I was in an oral exam and I have not listened to the VC, I have not looked at anything in the Discord. I might cry. Who knows. Let's go.

Finally! Assassinate the Pinn! (I'm just a little bit sad that John won't be part of this I think that would have been fun)

Terrible thunderstorm? Quinn joins the angry commoners and goes to save Sybilla confirmed?

I want to draw a Penny Lovejoy tracksuit now, shit

Is Sir Up trying to switch his patron because it sure sounds like that

Hang on Sybilla! Hang on Sybilla!!! Queen of my heart!!!

Hang on Nephila!!!

Everything is so far away from everything in this castle, oh noooo

There comes the thunderstorm from my darling Isadora!!

Annie has murder in her heart and I am here for it

Pinn is going to take control, 100%

SYBILLA MY LOVE YOU CAN DO IT PLEASEEEEE

Yes Penny you are saying he's doing a great job but all your compliments are backhanded

Annie has other priorities than murdering a Lovejoy for the moment

"Yes Miss Wintersummer" I am so here for everyone respecting the shit out of Annie it's what she deserves!!! My darling girl!!

"She is two-armed. Also, quite small."

"I just want to ask a question. Sir Up Ton, do you have more than 150 hitpoints?" The shocked silence after that, SAME. SAME.

She appears right there and Annie has... no healing, does she? That's horrible. That's honestly horrifying.

IN THIS HOUSE WE LOVE AND SUPPORT ANNIE FUCKING WINTERSUMMER

Nephila!!! Nephila my love!!! You got this hell yeah!!!

Gus saying "Helga Hatebad" the same way Sam always does, adorable

HEAL HER!! HELGA MY LOVE YOU CAN HEAL HER!!!

SHE IS SAVED!!!

SYBILLA IS SAVED!!!!

HOLY SHIT!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

SYBILLA I HAD ALL THE HOPE AND SO LITTLE BELIEF AND HERE YOU ARE!!!!

MY LOVE MY QUEEN MY DEAREST!!! YOU ARE ALIVE AND BREATHING AND CONSCIOUS!!!

Helga you had the best turn ever I love you

I still cannot believe that Sybilla is breathing

I mean there is still so much pod left to cast for this episode but oh my god

"It's my duty as a dungeon master to let you know that's possible" translates to "please kick Penny fucking Lovejoy" to me

Nephila you gay sweetheart

Yondo runs! You are running so good!

It may be stupid but honestly I respect Isadora for wanting to do the honourable thing. And I respect her even more for knowing that it's stupid and trying to find a balance.

I don't know why but the fact that Penny turned away feels like an important character moment, just like it felt important that Isadora did not, in Arc 3. Very different scenes, but still, both feel important in a similar way.

Sybilla do not touch that sword. Do not get within six inches of that sword I beg you.

NO DO NOT TOUCH THAT SWORD AHHH

I am not sure if it's better or worse that Annie has the sword. I guess her saves are better. But oh my god I have seen the Evil!Annie fanart and I am so scared

RUN BOY RUN!!

Annie my life my love my light my dearest (how many characters am I allowed to adore per arc)

KILL THE GUARD! SAVE OUR QUEEN! HELL YES!

It makes me very scared that there is still an hour left. How is there still an hour left. Please let it be just therapy or something.

Isa just knocked her father figure unconscious 🙂 this is fine

YONDO YOU CAN DO THIS I AM ROOTING FOR YOU!

Penny is helping Helga???? A Hatebad and a Lovejoy working together???? "I hope my mother forgives me for this" is this the point where I mark the Bingo field for Hatebad and Lovejoy at least friends at the end??

How do these Nat 20s come at such convenient moments I cannot. Fucking. Believe it.

There he is, the man of the hour!

PENNY FUCKING LOVEJOY

DID YOU JUST

PENNY

DID YOU JUST AGREE TO THIS MAN'S PROPOSAL WHILE HE IS OUT OF BREATH, BATHED IN SWEAT, STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCENE™

Penny I adore you. I want to study you.

Yondo is adorable oh dear, I am pretty sure he deserves better but I'm glad he got what he wanted

Amazing sibling energy, as always

A better tomorrow 😭😭 I am not sure if this is meant as a reference to what Helga said but it sure feels like it and I love it

Laz and Nephila 😭😭 they are adorable. Also. Great way to not just ignore what happened between them before. I am very glad.

WHAT IS HE DOING THERE

LEAVE, EVIL WIZARD

YOU ARE NOT WANTED HERE

The coronation while bodies are still lying around the castle. What a glorious metaphor for the mess Sybilla inherits from her father.

This kingdom needs to take some time to heal from a great many things I feel like

Yes my love, un-ban charity!

Mixed reaction is probably the best that could happen after that

Roadtrip with Penny, I am sure Isa could not think of anything more fun

AHAHAHAHAHA OH SHIT

Hnghhh three new recurring villains established in a single arc? Pinn, Loroy, Up Ton?

LOROY GO AWAY

GO AWAY

Where is Annie, someone get Annie, please

Sybillaaaaaa please do not let yourself be pushed into a corner by the evil wizard

NO NO NO

JESUS FUCK

OH MY GOD

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

NO NO NO NO NO NO

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

YOU CAN'T JUST FUCKING DO THIS

INCLUDING THE SOUL

I AM: IN FUCKING SHOCK

I FEEL LIKE I HAVE BEEN STABBED

IN THE CHEST

I AM GOING TO SCREAM

What the fuck is happening

I am going to cry

How dare he

How fucking dare he

Prime Lich Wizard I am going to personally hunt you down

If there is one thing I cannot imagine then it's Gem Lovejoy in a standard prison uniform

Where are the Hatebads

Is this the summon Hatebad dice roll?

This feels like the summon Hatebad dice roll

WHELP THERE IT IS

BERYL HATEBAD HER-FUCKING-SELF

I am so happy for Beryl, and at the same point I am honestly sorry for Penny and her siblings

Jesus fucking Christ

I am feeling so many emotions

Maevir darling you did your best, but oh dear

We were right, a fucking lich

Sybilla. My love. My darling.

THE CONTRACT COUNTS? IT'S FAIR AND TRUE???

THE NATION OF GLACERIA?

EXCUSE ME???

Oh my god

This arc

My heart

I am a changed woman

I am a broken and changed woman

Phil and Helga are very much not fine I think

Gus. Gus. I forgive you for Arc 8 just as I forgave you for Arc 6. But oh my fucking god.

I knew things were going far too well far too early into the episode.

Wiki will get updated end of next week when my last exam is finally over, promise.

Also, I am excited for a guest DM, and so much love to Gus! Take your well-deserved break!

#unprepared casters spoilers #unprepared casters #uc arc 8

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