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plasticfangtastic · 8 months

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American Royalty. Ch. 7

A Homelander X F! Reader/dadlander fanfic

A/N: if ya like to be included in the taglist plz leave a request comment, prev. chapters can be found in my pin post and the link below... i'll be updating my pin post after chapter 8 or 9 so they're not so scattered-- thanks to all readers hope y'all like it. I have officially finished writing this story so I should be posting them more regularly.

tags: mild gore, angst, slow burn, fluff, OC characther, child neglect, dadlander, romance, toxic relationship... a bit of spicy in this chapter.

Chapter Seven

Sharp.

One of the men who looked to be a scientist– and who seemed completely detached from the situation, caught your attention.

“The V. Homelander.” he said, hiding his irritation poorly.

“The kid returned them to me. I left them at the gymnasium. Dropped some. The matter is sorted.” He spat, not giving him a second look, his gaze solely focused on you.

The man swallowed heavily slowly turning towards you, as you stared blankly back at him you noticed the chubby man had been carrying your daughter's sparkly backpack.

“Your daughter. I need to speak to her.” He said hastily.

“You don’t need to” Homelander blocked his vision, standing between you two enraged that he wouldn’t leave you alone.

“Is… Is okay…” Your hands were shaking as you pushed him out the way– my daughter did something really wrong…” You turned to Nigel, your voice wavering as you tried to muster the courage to speak– I am so sorry… I… I’m sorry” You choked.

You had no choice but to take her out of Vought, you knew you could never dream of paying off whatever damages your daughter had incurred on your name, V had to cost a couple hundred-thousands to millions if you had to take a guess, and whatever strange feelings you had a second ago were buried deep with the violent onslaught of anxiety assaulting you– you knew you would be back on the streets if not in jail by the end of the week.

You clutched at your hands feeling your whole body trembling, a sudden jolt traversing across your body as Homelander wrapped an arm across your shoulders trying to contain your relentless shivering, his far away voice told you to take a deep breath, whispering to you words that your ears didn’t quite catch, patiently instructing you to tranquilize to no avail.

“Your daughter, she wrote this.”

The man mustered all his bravery to take a notepad out of her backpack and approach you with it not caring that Homelander was holding you posessively, you looked up towards the item, taking it in your hand– lots of formulas and calculations, her handwriting blocky and messy, but every page was filled with more and more things that you could frankly not decipher– it might as well been hieroglyphics.

“Sorry I don’t understand this.” You were hesitant to hand it back.

“Your daughter managed to do this!.” He went to a particular page of the pad, flicking it in your hands– this… this is a revised version of a new product we had been developing… a new version of V… Your daughter is not in trouble… quite the opposite we would like to extend an olive branch– am so sorry security handled this so poorly.”

Both you and Homelander had matching expressions, both confused as to these sudden changes.

Nigel gasped in relief as Elmo came running towards his father dragging Helena behind him. The man could have hit the child if you weren’t there, he took his son in one swift sweep, holding him tight trying not to sound upset as he kissed him, looking down to find Helena panting behind, the kid hugged his father but didn’t cry– simply turning to see if Helena was still there.

“Don’t look at me like that.” She replied before the kid rolled his eyes– those guns were loaded y’know.”

“Won’t hurt me” The kid muttered– hurt you lots tho.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, before finally acknowledging your existence. Peeking at the mess around her and the decapitated head on the other end of the hallway that Elmo completely ignored, she bit her cheek letting a loud ‘Tch’ spit out.

“Before you scream at me– The chump had nothing to do with it, I simply asked for his services in exchange for candy. Second…” A bubble pop above her hand dropping a half-used vial of Compound V– here” She threw at the scientist.

“Is almost empty!”

“I used it, duh” She wasn’t apologetic in the least– now you can scream at me.” she gestures to you to procceed.

You dropped on your knees pulling her into your arms in a vicious and desperate embrace, your heart beating so hard she could feel it thumping against her white sweater, you tried not looking at the empty stare of the decapitated head on the other side of the hall… it was your fault that man had died, you thought. Yet you were glad Homelander had killed him. Glad he had done one right thing for her.

“You have a lot of explaining to do.” Homelander said without actually caring, he was glad to see her unharmed, seeking for any scuff marks or bruises with his X-Ray vision.

Your daughter looked at the scientist then at her belongings.

“I fixed it… your C.V24… in theory of course. Technically you were on the right track with V25 but my formula should reduce the side effects by 76% percent not 67%… would be down to 85% if I had more time.” She strokes your back in circular motions to fake reassurance– sorry for acting like a kid… I did a stupid.”

The man clenched his jaw then looked back at the notes, the formula in theory could be the pathway to finding a solution to all their troubles, Homelander mouth dropping in disbelief.

“What do you mean you fixed it?” He asked.

“Your original formula is a death trap… a shit dilution of V– all bark no bite… your stabilizing was the issue… V is a beast with a mind of its own… even your current serum is a mess… you could even program it to dictate a power if your men used their brains for once– so I decided to do that… now Elmo can fly.”

Nigel's eyes widened.

“You… You experimented on your friend?” You asked, your voice scratchy and hoarse.

Your daughter's eyes blip blue as she gives you a discomforting smile, you didn’t know if you should hold her or take a step away.

“I was thinking of administering the new serum as a pill or like an LSD sticker.” She wriggled away from you and towards Elmo as his father took a step away from those shimmering blue eyes– show him Elmo.”

Elmo nodded obediently with a light push he wiggled upwards and floated close to the ceiling.

“I was aiming for laser or pyrokinesis but again I only had a couple weeks to come out with the formulas… had I had more time.” she grumbled.

“You gave him V25?” Homelander asked, plucking the kid by the leg down to eye level– how…?”

“Nah I gave him my new V serum… I gave it to him like two hours ago… I was working on the V.C 26 on paper but I was messing with V… altho if the mices I worked with are any indication– he might still explode in three hours give or take”

Her nonchalant tone was matched by a small kid who seemed far too exhausted with her, Elmo dropped to the ground. Homelander was mostly in awe that the kid could fly after only two hours and based on her heartbeat she wasn’t telling the truth entirely, but he kept it to himself for the moment.

“He could explode! You could’ve killed him already!” The scientist spoke on your behalf looking at the child horrified.

“Maybe you should’ve kept him in the labs instead of dragging us here… bit rich for you to care considering you experiment on people all the time without their consent…. Sage Grove, Elmira… Godolkin… should I keep going? Great timing to grow a conscience, clown.”

She took her bag off his hands, and her pad.

“Left you a sample if you'd like to test it out… hope you copied it because I ain’t giving it to you for free”

“That’s Vought property!” He tried taking the notepad from her hand, she jumped back lifting her chin for a thick invisible wall to divide the space– you little–

An invisible force maneuvers him flat against the wall, his cheeks pressed comically against the translucent sheet.

“Am I in trouble?” She looked at her father.

“Can you squeeze him flat?” He asked, looking curiously at the scene.

“Can hold back a thousand gallons… what do you think?”

“Let him go. Get the kid under observation and let’s see what this nerd wants.” He said with a jovial tone.

It was like a scene of a bad movie, you were simply forced to watch as they both bonded over their mutual awfulness– the rest of the evening became a blur, your body had moved but you weren’t piloting it, sounds measly echoes as you followed them around, occasionally catching Nigel and now presumably his husband Sven talking as he had joined the party by the time you noticed you had arrived in the labs… unsure when/how you got here.

Your body observed as Helena dragged the scientist and now a small posse of coated men to discuss her work, you left to sit alone in one of the rooms.

The lights were low, and at some stage Homelander had come in– it was painfully silent until he arrived, but you were just there, half-alive.

“What are you looking at?” Homelander said in a hushed voice as he touched you with a naked hand– can you tell me?”

“There’s a scratch on that metal panel” your voice is so quiet it scares him slightly.

His hand was so light on your shoulder, as if it was hovering instead of being there, he took a chair and pushed it to your side, you both sat together as you scrunched up his cape once he offered you the tip, your hands unconsciously picking up the fabric– the texture like thick culderog.

“We took the kid to Disneyland then the kid acted like they were at Disneyland and we got upset about it.” He said, Homelander’s hand atop of yours as you fidgeted– is okay, daddy has taken care of it, you are not in trouble, baby.” his voice was slightly mocking but it was trying to crack a bad joke– not to insult you.

He leaned against you, feeling the sharp metal edges of his eagles against your shoulders. You started to blink harshly trying to push away the fog with this discomfort, his arm on your hip as he rested his chin atop of your head– he was pulling you into a side-hug, meeting no resistance to his surprise.

“You don’t have to worry 'bout anything.” His voice is warm– am a hero, remember?”

“That kid is going to die…” you whimpered.

“Elmo Cripple is perfectly fine.”

“She didn’t care.” Your voice, starting to crack once again.

“She’s a very confident young lady.” he grimaces– a tad too confident if I say so myself… but you should hear her talking to those guys right now, is incre— I have no idea what she’s saying.”

“Welcome to my life” You nuzzled yourself against him, he was so warm, you could remember the heat– I… I don’t know what I am going to do with her?” You sobbed lightly.

“Let her pursue her dreams while supervised so we don’t have to deal with potential murder charges.”

He tried to make you laugh with his tone but all you could muster was staring back at him with a furrowed brow, your tears staining your cheeks already.

“‘Phantasma and Poltergeist’ I don’t how I feel about our kid being in a team-up… even if the competition isn’t steep– It’ll get difficult as she gets older but then again I don’t want Ryan to compete directly with her for the spotlight, its two different markets with completely different appeals.”

“I don’t want to talk about her being a superhero when we haven’t even handled this…” you said, holding back a sob, trying to clean your face against him.

“... ‘we’?” His hands gave your side a squeeze as his other took your hands more gently making sure to rub your dried knuckles– I think we can handle this, Y/N… we can keep a short leash on her… from now on– rely on me… you deserve that."

Staring back at her happily explaining her process, enjoying seeing the group of Phds feelings of inferiority coloring their faces, it was obvious that she shouldn’t even be in the 10th grade, simply staying behind for your well-being, but just how big was her IQ– how much more smarter was she?

Homelander wanted to see his bouquet of peonies set as the centerpiece she was meant to be, to let her shine as she deserved.

You pulled on his wrist wanting to be held more, it didn’t matter if it was your shitty ex-boyfriend or not, you wanted affectioness, longing for empathy and gentleness.

You already had been kissing– in public no less! He had plans of holding you hostage until you agreed to play house with him, Homelander already testing the waters by making your children play together. Maybe it was your survival mechanism ill-timing but your mind desperately demanded a distraction, your lips were still able to taste peppermint, so your mind wandered south– possibly because that golden belt buckle was perfectly in your sight.

Frankly the last time you had a date was when Helena was five, they were cute, visited Lucci a couple times before asking for your number, the dates were great and the last time you had sex was with this guy before he dumped you, you thought they’ve potential and your wrist had taken enough abuse over the years– if anything you had given up your womanhood, too tired and focused with rearing lil’ Einstein to notice your needs, sleeping with this cutie wasn’t terrible but the moment the word “Freak” was uttered in reference to your kid– you were throwing their shit out the window.

For the first time since she was born you found yourself not alone and supported, your friends had seen you like you carrier of pestilence affecting their jobs by virtue of association, your inability to find employment quickly burdened your friends and relatives, your family and yourself had not seen eye-to-eye for years, your relationship cracking deep enough to touch the abyss once you came home pregnant with no man behind you, then it was out the door after a couple weeks, even the kid didn’t appease them later down the track.

Could he really be relied on? Money was but a gesture of good will– covering for your kid for stealing maybe millions of dollars of god’s own spunk, and potentially getting your daughter acquitted for murder. Now that might be worth a blowie.

And he hurt your jaw quite graciously.

You looked up straight into his face, he had been talking for god knows how long without you noticing, and took his face.

Tasting like spearmint and iron, he was hesitant at first unsure if the timing was good but quickly relented as your tongue got more demanding, his hands now had no clue where to sit or what to touch but he let you take the lead.

You tousled and pulled on his hair, wanting to get him close to you, to feel something good from him for once.

He pushed you lightly as he heard your daughter's steps encroaching, he stood up with a light blush on his ears as he pointed at the door, you looked up wanting to say something but there she was with a big grin on her face and her chest bouncing with excitement.

“You proud of yourself?” Did you ask her or yourself, there?-- If your friend dies…”

“Elmo won’t die… not on a microdose of V. for fuck sakes this company sold diluted V for a G-Fuel collab!”

“You say that but you had never actually worked with V until now! Do you have any idea what you were doing!?”

She looked at the desk nearby, the little GP office setting in this room sort of amusing.

“No. Got a little too eager when I found the playground, it’s sort of a cruel joke for me to be able to make myself invisible, and be in the same building as all of this” She gestured to her surroundings– just because I'm smart doesn’t mean I have the emotional intelligence of an adult to match… So?”

“Do whatever you want Helena… I can’t… I can’t with you… just–

Homelander turned to you, concerned at your tone, it was harsh. Where you giving up on her? He though.

You buried your face beneath your hands, trying to calm down.

“I won’t kill anybody, I'm not interested in that.”

“So what are you interested in?” You argue smacking your back flat on the back of the seat– please enlighten me!?”

“Vought.” Homelander interjects– oh you’re clever…”

He picks her up, poking her nose, there’s an air of comfort in his gesture, as if he always had done so.

“You're a scheming little munchkin.” he squeezes her cheeks jokingly– this isn’t Game of Thrones, darling. Daddy will take care of you”

“You mean the shareholders will take care of me once they realize you can re-open Stan Edgar’s plan to get into the US military… then the police force. Thanks to me.” She gives him a peck on the cheek– but don’t forget I’m not an only child.”

Homelander was blindsided by such a gesture, between you two he was in a tight spot.

Still he was entering heaven as his heart skipped a beat or two, feeling his daughter clung to him, feeling how dangerously light she was, how cute she was, how perfect she was.

Your daughter and yourself stayed silent during that drive home, the radio louder than usual, only when you reached your home did you act, stopping her belt-buckle from coming undone.

“You asked me to play a role in your game without a script– had to improvise.”

“Don’t give me that. You did something horrific Helena! I can't even believe you!” you snapped, your daughter frowned in return as you smacked your palms on the steering wheel– just admit you wanted to do it!”

“I did. I wanted to explore those labs. I like looking at things at Vought– it's stimulating! you want me to get “dad” to love me, no? He loves Vought! I'm just his bastard competing againts the son he’s loved for longer! so I show interest in the one thing he loves other than himself to have an advantage!”

“You went too far!!” you snapped.

“I am not sleeping in a car ever again, Y/N!!” She turned to you with rage in her sight– we are not going back! So you do your thing and I do my thing.”

You let go of her belt buckle.

“You hurt people.” you whispered, pain palpable in your lips, trying to not scream, to not slap her, to stay calm as your daughter heaved angrily, as her eyes glowed intensely.

“I haven’t– Elmo Cripple is alive… so far the only one that’s been hurt is me!!”

She gritted her teeth, the air growing thin inside your old station wagon.

“What is ‘Poltergeist’ getting out of this? He’s not like you.” You didn’t want to argue with her, afraid you would forget she was a child and not a woman– What have you done to him?”

“He’s a dog… don’t worry… he understands I have a vision– I need you to get Homelander to publicly acknowledge me as his daughter.”

Helena hopped off the car slamming the door on her way out.

Your daughter and yourself didn’t speak for the rest of the day, she silently did her thing with only the sounds of the television filling the gap, until bedtime– you sat outside with a cup of hot chocolate in your hands, you glanced at the potted trees and the smooth gray walls of your homely prison, large windows framing your reflection allowing you to catch the blue and red coming down in the glass unsurprisingly.

“You want some hot chocolate?” You asked, lifting your cup.

He looked disgusted at the idea.

“She’s sleeping… I am calling in sick tomorrow… I need a day off…” you muttered as he landed before you, he pushed the metal chair scraping the grass, to take a seat by your side.

“How are you feeling? They will be trying her formula, so she will be there under Dr. Park vigilance… talk about cool after-school activities-- beats being a girl-scout!.” Homelander was clearly not that interested in you tonight– I kept an eye on Poltergeist. All his vital signs are fine.”

You seemed a little relieved.

Gawking at him, his bleached blonde locks, those sharp features and beautiful thin lips, you felt a tingle in your chest.

You wanted to forget about today, to not think of Helena’s actions.

Your smile was sad but he hadn’t noticed.

“Wanna fuck?” You put the cup down with a huff.

Homelander gave you a double take, this was the easiest way to wash away today’s events-- Helena's words creeping back at you... you had to to bind him to you... like this you could rid of these strange sensations simmering within, as you stared at his pretty blue eyes, and his belt, you threw away rationale.

“My battery ran out.”

His nervous smile was cute, you stood up… him still in the chair– turning around once again as you opened the door, inviting him to enter your domain.

Homelander was still so handsome it was infuriating to acknowledge that. Compared to your dull exhausted skin– he was still so fine. It wouldn’t be the worst you’ve done, you missed the attention, and he wanted yours so why not? You scratched your head as he simply stood frozen on the spot, shrugging your shoulders as you closed the door behind– only for his hand to keep it open, his breath ragged and the blush in his cheek matching the faint light of his eyes.

“Are… Are you sure?” he asked nervously.

“John” You tap his chest with your knuckles– take it off.”

Bells rang inside his brain, a shimmering perturbed gaze burning directly at you– a dog awaiting orders.

He followed you into the living room ditching his boots and tights on the way to that terrible couch, he watched you closely as you took a blanket and threw it on the ground alongside the cushions, licking his lip as you took your shirt off revealing your bare breasts.

He was quick to take you into his arms, kissing you intensely, your hands reaching after his neck, fingers harshly caressing his undercut, as he slid down your bottoms.

“You miss me?” His hands were so needy as he bit into your neck leaving trails of hickeys, his tongue savoring that spot where he had marked you as his own, the dents in your skin and the sunken discolored flesh left by his bite mark– it tickles…”

In the heat of the moment he had bitten you, feasting on your blood as pleasure and pain intertwined, your mind blank as he made love to you, fostering a hatred for mirrors after it all ended, feeling him kiss his signature made you anxious, not wanting to relieve the bitter memories in this moment.

“Mommy…” He whispered as he returned to kiss and lick your neck– "It's been so long, mommy.” he said breathlessly.

“Is been long for me too, my sweet boy.” He moaned into your skin, his maws needy, eager to taste you, his breathless soughs turning you light as he brought you down onto the floor, holding your head as he kissed your neck and ears– you promise to make mommy feel good just like I taught you, baby?” Your voice is sickly sweet making his eyes flare up.

“Can… Can mommy show me again?” His voice gravelly and low as he cupped your chest.

You wedged your legs from under him with a cheeky smile.

“I’ll be extra-thorough then, so pay attention, sweetie.”

He liked that tone in your voice, he liked it even more when you commanded him, how long had it been since you lead him? Too long... too long to bare another moment without it.

Unsurprisingly he had no need for a refresher.

Taglist-- @fromforeigntofamiliarity (hope you had a nice snack for this chapter :), @demodemo909 @immyowndefender

#personal #homelander #homelander fanfic #the boys fanfic #the boys oc #my fic tag #american royalty #homelander x reader #homelander x you #dadlander #sorry for spellign errors

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mysteriouslybluepirate · 7 months

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Can't send asks from my sideblog, but this is @chewing-the-drywall

I feel like much of s2 fell into Frenchie's "we put it in the box and then lock it and don't open it again" in the sense that it set up A LOT that I was intrigued about how they would address it, but it either never was mentioned again or was handled poorly.

Examples range from light, like how I wish we saw more of the crew interacting with each other in ways that built on their characters from S1, where in S2 they didn't feel any more developed, or even regressed. (Example, Fang used the word Fingies 2-3 times through S2, and it felt like they were using it almost as a shorthand for his character, rather than making him feel more real and multidimensional as a character.)

100% @chewing-the-drywall. When I first heard that line I had I was so excited for the story to prove Frenchie wrong. Or show how important it can be to put aside problems to stay alive in the moment. But in the end, this one line summarized how the season handled everyone, besides Stede and Ed. Below, is an in depth discussion on where this season decided to spend it's limited amount of time. Instead of focusing on the characters and plotlines they'd already established.

This season had so MANY ideas it wanted to touch on.

Izzy trying to deal with his unrequited love and opening up to a new way of living. The traumatized 'Revenge' crew trying to adapt to a softer way of life again. The abandoned crew learning how to help their traumatized friends. Introducing new characters like Zheng, Auntie, and Archie into our main group. Setting up a conflict to resolve in season three. Along the way, referencing Pirates of history like Ned Low, Mary Reed, and Anne Bonny.

Notice, I've said all this and we're not even at our romantic leads.

Which is fine. Stories are fluid things. As long as the story knows how to flow from our leads to our side characters. Which leads us to how I feel this show took a lot of time away from establishing our central crew-

[Warning- this will be a controversial opinion- I want to know what y'all think about this] Zheng/Oluwande. This seasons habit of retreading old plotlines and referencing scenes from S1.

What S1 did so well was paralleling the side stories with what was going on with Ed/Stede. Usually, highlighting how well Stede/Ed worked by showing how much Ed/Izzy DIDN'T work. Or general hijinks that tied into the plot (Oluwande and Frenchie on the French ship).

Season 2 chose to parallel our main story with what was going on between Zheng/Oluwande as a budding romance and Izzy's slow recovery. The reason Zheng/Oluwande scenes felt like a waste for me in that the story was JUST a retelling the story we watched from S1.

A frustrated first mate(Auntie), and a legendary captain(Zheng) fighting over the captain falling in love with an idiot(Olu). In season 2, much like every callback for me, it felt like it slowed down the plot by pulling us out of the story. Like...yeah, you did the thing again, do you want me to applaud you for it?

I LIKE Zheng and Oluwande as a couple! I like that Oluwande was debating leaving Stede and taking Jim and Archie with him. But at the same time, I didn't care about Zheng until episode 7 when she beat up Stede, showing that yes. She's not just some all powerful woman taken down by a mix of love(the crew in ep3) and thinking that she was above it all (ep 7). She's fast on her feet, smart, and willing to stab someone who gets in her way. She's her own person. But.

Every other scene that established her was about her romance, felt like we could have put Rhys and Taika in there. It didn't feel...unique. It's as if the show only knows 1 way to write a romance between a badass and a bumbling idiot. Again. Oluwande in season 1 wasn't dumb in the same way everyone else was. He was protective of Jim, a bit nervous overall, but he was the person the crew chose to lead them. The season just dumbed everyone down a bit and called it a day.

This comes to the larger issue. When we only have eight episodes I don't want to rewatch the exact same plot beats with different characters. Time spent here ends up taking away from other stories we could have told about trauma and growing as a family and other forms of growing as a family. We didn't need another romance plot line. Imagine taking this time instead to show Lucius reaching out to Pete AND the crew for help. Or Frenchie finally feeling safe enough to play his lute. Or Roach helping Fang get over his thing with cakes-you get my point.

The fact we took all the found family stuff from season one, and pushed it onto only Izzy in S2 means when he dies, all the found family shit falls away. His death makes us realize we've been ignoring the central family we were supposed to care about. Because in so many words, their trauma was ignored.

[I even theorize if Izzy was alive and sailed away with them. Showing how he was taken in and loved by his crew, the ending wouldn't feel so hollow. This crew doesn't feel like a caring family. The person who protected them for months died, wasn't mourned, and then they threw a wedding the same day. Not even a full day to mourn. The 'New Revenge' feels like a heartless crew of characters we barely recognize because they aren't a family like they were at the end of S1. More like coworkers who sometimes fall in love with eachother.]

Trauma, Timelines, and Tonal issues when jumping from Episodes 1-3 to Episodes 4-5.

When the crews meet up, the story chooses to focus on the fun plot. Ed and Stede recovering their relationship, only dipping back into that serious tone when Izzy or Lucius come on screen to 'make things sad' again. I don't think the transition from 'serious' to 'comedy' was handled well.

I don't have an official timeline of the events of season two. But from what I remember, everything happens within 2 weeks.

In episode 4, Stede ignored the vote of his crew- to let the man who was torturing half his 'FAMILY' for at least 80 days- back aboard. This rubbed me the wrong way, as it showed Stede being a selfish prick in a way that could seriously harm his crew. That's when I started to see how not adding a *single* time-skip mid-season would hurt S2.

Imagine if we had a one-week off-screen time skip between episodes 4 and 5.

Maybe it's implied that they stay in that town for a bit. Izzy would a bit more time to learn to move on his new leg and start to open up to those he already trusts. Include a scene of Izzy WITH the crew, maybe laughing about something with the old traumatized crew, even if it's just a 30-second opener. Imply that the traumatized crew would have more time to settle in with the family they miss. Show that yeah, the traumatized crew needs more time to heal. Imply at the start of the 'Ed apology' that Ed and Stede have had more time to talk their issues out.

THEN have Ed apologize. You can even keep the bullshit corporate to show that Ed still has to work for this.

Healing takes time. Setting a series over the span of two weeks after half your cast was tortured by your lead love interest? After five of your main crew thought they would sail off into a storm and die after months of stress and life threatening battles? Why did that shit get shoved to the side so quickly?

Framing episode 5 as the START of Ed making amends with the crew, only to drop the plot by episode 7? Not a smart move. Because let's be honest, 'poison into positivity' in episode 6, referring to the fact that they sold all of Ed's loot to pay for the party, ignores the sacrifices the crew made to live that long. (The death of Ivan, and intense trauma they all need to work through). In a way, Ed throwing this party was him asking the crew to start putting everything away in that imaginary box.

It's Ed retroactively letting himself say 'hey, that time I spent torturing my captives was worth it because we got something good out of it' while still ignoring his own guilt. Ed needed to take accountability for his actions. No more 'I took 'a' mans leg' bullshit. The reason his arc feels so unsatisfying is that the plot easily forgives him. Fuck. I hate what they did for Ed's arc, but that's not the point.

Overall.

My issue with this season is not that it chose to do these topics, it's that it didn't think about the implications of what they were bringing up. It didn't dare to think 'maybe it's fucked if we quickly brush off a trauma like this'. Again. I know we have to blame MAX for cutting off two episodes. But I don't think 2 additional episodes would fix a tone problem seen going from episodes 3-4.

Fucking hell. Each member of the revenge had the potential for their own arc, so it's baffling to see them all reduced to 'well meaning idiot' when they all felt so fleshed out in S1.

When izzy gives his speech about belonging, there's a reason the only image in the show of the crew all together was from S1.

At the end of the day, Season 2 didn't let our surviving side characters grow. This is a mean spirited bit on how I feel the writers see the their own characters.

Stede and Ed are our leads. They won't die, not in this genera. Their shitty actions will be forgiven because it's a comedy, and as long as it's joked about, it holds no weight. They won't die. They won't get fatally hurt. Their trauma will be taken seriously, but it's a 50/50 on if they'll talk about it before breaking up again. They will eventually get a happy ending, their trauma looked at head on, because duh.

Jim, Olu, Lucius, Pete? Characters who used to have defined personalities in S1, but haven't been defined much beyond their relationships with their partners? Whose trauma might be mentioned, but will quickly be 'resolved' in one scene? Shame. Seems like they're only useful as set dressing, But we might make you useful as interchangeable side characters to riff against. Oh, and you're in love! Isn't that cool!

Izzy? I'll just quote Jenkins here. "To have him become a father figure to Blackbeard, and on some level to the rest of the crew, and to see him become the heart of why we’re giving pirates the chance to stand for being able to live how you choose. In reality, they’re thieves and criminals, but what our pirates stand for is a life of belonging to something larger than they are in the face of a crushing, slightly fascist normalcy." So...Is Izzy a pirate and accepted into the Revenge family? Or is he still an outsider? Jenkins gave us a romcom but still defines Izzy's character as that of one stuck in a drama/tragedy. Point and laugh, because tonally these two things clash HARD and will make an audience lose trust in it's writers unless well established. Leading us to the entire issue we've pointed out of not letting your characters actions hold in dramatic weight in your story.

Frenchie, Wee John, Roach, and Fang- Ah. No love interests again...shit. Well. Background actors it is... for now. We'll see. But we need 2 more scenes of the couple breaking up, so MAYBE you'll get some backstory hinted at in dialogue. You all have 1 thing your good at, so that's easy enough to put you where you belong.

Buttons and Swede? Well. They're still alive!! Don't be sad, fans :) The actors just couldn't show up anymore. We don't want our silly happy queer pirate rom com to not end on a happy ending! (Closes the lid of the trash can where they're keep Con O'Neill a bit tighter, thanking God Con was silenced by a strike this entire season from social media)

Do you agree, or disagree? Leave any lingering thoughts down below!

I'd love to chat down below.

#I am absolutely screwing myself over spelling-wise by adding a poll but fuck it. That's what we do #Overall: Just because you can fit something into your story doesn't mean it needs to be shown on screen.#I wanted to add a section of all the scenes I'd cut/tighten to make my added scenes work but I don't think we're there yet as a fandom #I theorize that the reason they couldn't change the script and had to hack it up was due to them already having 10 episodes fully written #also I SWEAR I LIKE ZHENG- but the part of me that sees her as a hollow Ed 'narrative mirror' finds her a bit boring until episode 7 #I LOVED her ship and how she hated Stede. But that's just because I generally don't enjoy Stede when he's unquestioned #Stede on her ship was a pacified lamb slowly getting fattened for the slaughter. She would have turned on him SO EASILY. She almost did too #I semi-tolerated Ed/Stede's love story of not communicating and puppy love. Seeing it again but sped up didn't make me like it more #ofmd s2 #ofmd season 2 #ofmd s2 spoilers #ofmd critical #?#yeah I'll tag that just to be safe #izzy hands #edward teach #ofmd s2 finale #ofmd season 2 spoilers #ofmd s2 meta #ofmd s2 analysis #trauma

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jeza-jezaro · 1 year

Text

Ada & Leon - Leaks

I'm just gonna put a read more cut here, because I have a lot of thoughts.

I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but I think Capcom are going to make me actively dislike one of my fav characters in RE4r. With all the reviews coming out and being negative about Ada I had to go find the rest of the leaks and see for myself.

But I think Capcom are going to do it. They're going to make me dislike RE4r Ada. Like yes, the VA isn't good and I don't like her outfit, but that's just surface level. Beyond that it really looks like they've cut down her involvement in the main story. She doesn't show up during that first fight against Krauser, and there hasn't been a mention of her other scenes such as the one where Leon tries to strangle her. And I mean that alone would have been disappointing, but fine. It's a remake, stuff is not going to be the same.

But I gotta admit I don't like the way they've written her. First that scene with Luis where he is crawling up to her, I really don't like the framing of it and her bitch face. Now the reunion scene with Leon. She tells him:

'You leave now and who knows? Maybe you'll live to meet me again. And I might give you that 'greeting' you were looking for."

Umm, excuse me Capcom? Why would you write her treating Leon with such contempt? Especially after you've gone out of your way to make him an ever more tragic character. This would have felt out of place in the original, but it feels especially bad here. Here we have Leon obviously hallowed out by the past 6 years. His characterisation is especially jarring, because we got to see him be so vibrant and full of hope in Re2r.

To that she says:

"You, Leon S Kennedy? You haven't changed. You just think you have."

I mean, yes, the core aspect of him wanting to save people hasn't. But so much about him has been crushed that it's unacceptable for Ada to just say that to his face with that tone. This isn't a positive encouraging kind of statement. It is an 'I know you better than you know yourself, even though we've only met briefly 6 years ago' kind of statement. There is superiority and slight mockery in her tone.

Maybe this wouldn't sound so bad if it wasn't for the VA, but from what I've seen the VA has nailed the characterisation perfectly. And we doubted her.

Like I understand that there was no love confession the way there was in RE2, but I honestly liked the more mature take on their relationship in Re2r. It wasn't an instant 'you are the love of my life' thing, it was more realistic. There was a connection, chemistry and the hurt of betrayal. I wanted to see how Capcom would develop a more realistic relationship between them in RE4r. Instead the writing team has decided to completely drop the ball on this one and ignore decades of established canon. I would love to see an interview where they explain their thought process behind this decision.

This honestly feels like Ada's been written by someone who has the worst interpretation possible of her character. I don't think Separate Ways can fix this. We are going to see all of her scenes with Leon in the main game. SW is going to have a hell of an explaining to do if it wants to fix this.

Also, can we talk about the way she so casually offers herself to Leon in that reunion scene? She does it so coldly and Leon doesn't react, so I can't tell if it's a poorly written or a poorly delivered line. Either way, I dislike the idea of her viewing intimacy with Leon in such a transactional way. Especially after what we've seen in Re2r, Damnation and Re6.

And for some weird reason they've written Leon trying to reach out to her? They haven't just decided 'no more romance'. In that boat scene he asks "Have you changed, Ada? Or are you just trying to use me again?" And I can't tell if it's the poor video quality of the leak or if that's how the scene is, but he looks so anguished. It breaks my heart. She replies with "What do you think? Don't think too hard, handsome." It's so patronising. I hate it here.

Like no wonder Leon doesn't mention her in the final scene. She doesn't deserve it the way they've written her. And I just don't understand why Capcom would do that.

I will be writing a fix it fic once I'm done with the game. I will need it.

#re4r #re4r spoilers #re4r leaks #aeon #leon s kennedy #ada wong

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maya-matlin · 5 months

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Hi Ashton! I saw in your tags that Barchie is a notp for you and would love to hear why. I shipped Bughead but gave up in the show before Barchie ever got together :)

Oh god. Where to begin? I acknowledge that based on the pilot and the first couple of episodes of season 1, the idea of Betty and Archie together was fine. It wasn't particularly interesting, but at first they seemed to have a solid friendship that could have realistically developed into more if Archie only reciprocated Betty's feelings. Unfortunately, Riverdale basically handled every fucking aspect of their relationship poorly. For one thing, the friendship between Betty and Archie was rarely ever on display unless they were interacting during group scenes or their possible romance was being teased to create drama for the Bughead and Varchie pairings. So in spite of the fact nothing concrete happened between Betty and Archie until the end of season 4, there was nothing to lean on once the writers finally started to head in the BA direction. While the lack of on screen friendship should be blamed on both, Archie in particular showed little interest in Betty's life.

This relationship destroys Betty. The crux of Betty's feelings for Archie, as inconsistent as they are, is that Betty views Archie as this beacon of light that can never be extinguished due to him being pure of heart or some other thing that I disagree with. She romanticizes the idea of how things were before life got so complicated. In her eyes, these childhood memories that we never saw were untainted and good. As a child, Betty always imagined she'd end up with Archie, marrying him at eighteen years old. Teen Betty held on to this dream for a very long time, but was forced to face the truth that Archie didn't feel the same way. If I'm being generous, I'd say Archie considered Betty as a backup plan, but not much more beyond that. But by the end of season 1, Betty realized she wanted so much more for her life than being a power couple with Archie. Betty found real love with Jughead, someone who saw all of her, embracing both the lightness and darkness. Betty discovered a love for investigating mysteries and going down the rabbit hole in the name of justice. Betty likes making murder boards and searching the woods in the middle of the night. Part of the reason for this is that Betty is inherently attracted to darker aspects of life. Betty struggles a lot to accept these sides of herself as her awful, abusive family tells her over and over that she's the problem and the one bringing misery to everyone's lives as she strives to help and improve things for her family. Based on the way she was written during seasons 1-4 prior to the cheating, it came across like Betty was beginning to accept these sides of herself, proud of the person she was with Jughead by her side.

But the moment things with Jughead seemed as though they were uncertain, as flimsy as the issue was (Jughead not doing his homework), Betty turned to Archie to escape from the reality of life. That basically sums up what Archie is to Betty during the adult years as well. When Betty finally confesses to Jughead what happened with Archie, it breaks them. The communication seems to die then and there with both remaining together passively until Betty leaves for college. We later see that Betty and Jughead reconnected to some degree during their freshmen year of college, talking and texting while in relationships with others, essentially engaging in an emotional affair. The timeline from there is confusing because the show could never decide when exactly Jughead left Betty the voicemail, but it seems clear that Betty's life kind of fell apart after that? She ends up having an affair with a married man (who might have turned out to be a serial killer? Seasons 5-7 are kind of a blur for me) and is eventually held captive by the Trash Bag Killer. From there, we see that Betty has trauma over this. She refuses to deal or properly feel her emotions. Jughead is off limits. They still aren't talking and the divide between them has only grown bigger after the voicemail where Betty was led to believe Jughead hated her and thought she was a terrible person, not realizing he'd spiraled into alcoholism and drug use. Archie could never be alone and teenage Betty wanted to fuck Archie once upon a time, so why not? So they enter a friends with benefits relationship that ends up being much more about the benefits and filling a void than it is being actual friends to one another. Betty doesn't want Archie to be this person for her. He makes her feel good and comforted in the moment, but ultimately she's aware the two of them don't work. Not only that, but Archie verbalizes to his army friend that he does NOT want to be there emotionally for Betty. Much like in season 2 after their kiss, Archie went back to Veronica because that's where his heart led him.

Betty continues to emotionally spiral and doesn't seem to improve much over the course of the season. Archie doesn't seem to notice or care. Jughead does. Their interaction is limited, but there's a semblance of a rebuilding phase where the two renew their friendship and go back to investigating together. While Betty's feelings for Jughead are kept ambiguous because again, her emotions are being kept close to her chest and there's a lot she isn't saying or dealing with. Jughead, on the other hand, makes it clear multiple times throughout the season that he hasn't moved past his breakup with Betty and had already forgiven Betty by the time he returned to Riverdale even if he wasn't saying it. Then, completely out of nowhere, Jughead is singing about how he's "perfect" for Tabitha, a song that Bughead fans have frequently said fits Bughead far better. Due to Veronica breaking things off with Archie because she wanted to return to New York, something also totally random that never came to pass, a day drinking Archie decided that he wanted to sleep with his old pal Betty again so they basically get back together at the end of season 5 with zero build up. We don't know why Betty defaults back to Archie. Cheryl did some sort of spell that blatantly had an effect on the plot, though that's never addressed. Then, the characters are in Rivervale, and Betty murders Archie twice and shares a big moment with Jughead where they almost fuck to save the world. Back in regular Riverdale once the universes have been separated, Betty and Archie enter an official relationship. Everything is always about Archie. If there's ever any sort of conflict, Betty will be the one to sacrifice and to change her stance to make things easier for Archie. There's at least one scene where Betty is ranting about something bothering her and Archie is just sitting there like it doesn't matter to him. 99% of their conversations revolved around Archie wanting to fuck or save the town and get rid of Percival Pickens for good. Midway through the season, Betty had another crisis about fearing she was evil, but Archie (basically ripping off something Jughead said at the end of season 2; this also happened to be a flashback the audience had just seen during the episode where Betty and Jughead were going over Betty's past memories together, including multiple iconic Bughead moments) reassured Betty she was a good person, citing a childhood memory the audience had never seen to prove his point. And that's another thing! Rather than showing us much of anything between Betty and Archie in the present to convince us they were meant to be together or were compatible in any way, we just hear about random childhood memories. Everything Betty and Archie ever did revolved around looking back fondly on their so-called idyllic childhoods or having sex. Season 6 Betty came across as such a lesser version of herself. She was still herself, but it was as if she was holding back. It's like, maybe Betty doesn't want to get married? Can't have that! Archie has to settle down in Riverdale and recreate his father's life, meaning Betty needs to get over herself and shove her round self into a square peg so that all of Archie's dreams come true. I mean, multiple times during season 6, Archie was treated as akin to the savior of Riverdale while Betty was legitimately referred to as the "harlot of Babylon". Archie was perfect and indestructible while Betty was dark and dirty and needed to be cleansed before she could be accepted into Heaven. Basically, Archie is perfect as is and doesn't need to adjust himself in the slightest to become a better partner for Betty. But, Betty needs to change nearly everything about herself, reverting back to wanting things that only made sense to kid Betty, all to fulfill some old dream about settling down with Archie that the real Betty hadn't wanted in years. Not to mention the fact that as early as season 1, Betty resented being the perfect girl next door. Well, with Archie, that's basically all she was.

Betty and Archie were never going to work together, but the fact that Betty tried so hard to mold herself into some perfect, cookie cutter housewife, maternal figure all so Archie could have the white picket fence and the 2.5 kids makes me FURIOUS. It was incredibly misogynistic, and honestly led to me despising Archie. Betty deserved so much better. As fucked up and as gross as the "horny Betty" writing for the majority of season 7 was, I'm just relieved that Betty once again reiterated that she and Archie wanted different things and definitively didn't end up together.

#Anti Barchie #Anonymous #Long post #I cut out so much because it was just me ranting about how badly set up the story line was and recapping the first five seasons #Also you made the right call when you stopped watching because it wasn’t worth it #Especially as a Bughead fan

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nocturnal-impala · 1 year

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I recently found out that FakirxAhiru is supposedly not "canon" because they didn't end with a confession of love or a kiss, and many consider their relationship just friendship or even brother and sister, which surprised me a lot… Since to me it was so OBVIOUSLY canon, every action and interaction between them was sweet and romantic <3, that just because it's not "specified" isn't considered "canon" anymore, it looks silly. I mean, do fans really think that Ahiru admitting that she wasn't in love with Mitho while she kept having moments with Fakir was it a fluke by the creators? And the "I'll always be with you no matter what happens"?? THAT'S A MARRIAGE PROPOSAL NO WAY YOU SEE IT

(Sorry if I sound aggressive, it's just that they frustrate me)

((And yes, I am aware that romance between human and duck is bestiality, I simply imagine their relationship as a asexual relationship, simply enjoying what they have as human and duck…))

(((WHICH IS VERY LITTLE, for which I am so grateful to Zwei<3<3<3<3)))

I mean, I'm super in favor of giving importance to platonic relationships of just friendship, but I didn't get that impression with Fakir and Ahiru<3 (And least siblings lol). I also saw a video of a girl who ship Rue with Ahiru, which is not bad, but ironically I did see those two only as friends (Or just rivals from the few interactions they had in the anime), as LGBT person I love LGBT relationships, but I like that they make more sense and that they don't just ship characters because they look cute together (But yes, my headcanon is that Ahiru is bisexual XD (And maybe Fakir too, all those scenes between him and Mitho they are very queerbaiting LOL))

Ironically, I like Mitho, but it is true that it is very poorly written or could have been developed better, over the years I have seen a huge number of "unemotional" characters that manage to show individual characteristics or make you understand why others characters would give so much for them, but Mitho is simple and purely flat lol, although I have grown fond of how easily he gets into fights when everything is avoided if he listened to Fakir to stay in his room LMAO

P.S: By the way, if you want to make the conversation public, I don't mind

Technically fakiru is not canon as their love is not confirmed. But it's heavily implied so you could call it semi-canon. If the supposed 3rd season happened, I'm positive they would had ended up together. People see things differently. I think Ahiru and Mytho have sibling-vibes more than romance-vibes.

Most ships are fan made and not canon. Fans want something to happen, so they see ”evidence” of that in everywhere (even when it's not there).

I don't concider Fakir's words as a marriage proposal. Like neko-sensei, he could had just said will you marry me if he wanted to propose. Given their age and friend zone status, it sounds out of place too. I see it more as a promise to not leave Ahirur alone even if she's a duck: she doesn't need to stay as a human for him to care for her. Ahiru is afraid of abandoment because ”she's just a duck” no one would pay attention to.

In anime, bestiality is highly controversial. We see all kinds of romantic matches in media, including vampires, werevolves, demons, youkai, mazoku, devils, angels, zombies, spirits, deities, dead people, witches, wizards, people who turn into animals or other forms, monsters, aliens and so on. That's just the way it is. If someone wants to complain about the ”unrealistics” don't pay attention to them. There's no point in arguing with someone whose mind is set to reasoning fiction with the laws of nature.

I'm not into LGBT stuff and sometimes I'm confused why people go back to old series and start giving sexual orientations to the characters. I don't see sexuality as a topic you need to bring up so much. Everyone can love each other, but most of the time gay ships are just fantasies made up by the fans and queerbaites are exactly that; baites to lure you think there's something when there really isn't. It's part of the fanservice, and if people find joy in it then why not.

Mytho can be sweet or annoying. He's the gary-stu and everything is resolved around him. But he's so plain and neutral you can't really hate him. When anyone of the cast starts to take distance to Mytho they actually become more interesting and individual. As the fullfledges prince he's much more interesting.

#ask #answer #stuff

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trekwiz · 7 months

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14: Worst game you’ve ever played? 25: Favourite environment in a game? 38: An unpopular gaming opinion you have.

Worst game I've ever played: honestly, that's tough to say. I've played a lot of bad games!

I think I'm going to narrow down to 2 instead of 1, because I would define two distinct categories that bad games can fall into.

Poorly executed, good concept: Lords and Villeins. I mainly chose this one since I played it recently and it's top of mind. Multiple tutorial levels are broken, and allow you to develop in a way that prevents completion of the tutorial even if you follow along correctly.

The tutorial missions also leave out critical information about how to accomplish certain tasks, with a particular key task that just doesn't function in it at all. According to Steam, only 2.5% of players have the achievement for completing the tutorial. It's that bad.

Well executed, terrible concept: Resonance of Fate. You don't get to play the plot. At all. Effectively, you grind for nothing: the story that unfolds around you doesn't really intersect your actions more than twice, and your role is passive. You're basically playing a completely different game than the plot. I hated that so much.

Favorite environment: oh that's an interesting one. I'm not sure the dev is ever going to complete it, but I find the environment of Circadian City to be really compelling. The contrast between the waking world and sleeping world, and the way they complement each other is really interesting for a Stardew-like game.

Unpopular gaming opinion: There's no way I'm narrowing this to 1! There are too many, and I'm right about every single one of them.

1. MMOs are a waste of money. You're renting an RPG to only partake in the most grindy, unfun portions of it. And there's just something that bothers me about having to spend significant sums of money renting a game that you will never be able to play again in a few years when support ends.

2. "Games should be really hard so achievements mean something" assholes aren't real gamers. They're not fun to play with because they ruin the games. It's a competition to them, not leisure. That's not what games are for.

By the same token, "learn to play (this multiplayer-only game) before you try playing online!" is just a completely trashy concept. When you hear someone say that, you know they're clueless and awful to play with.

3. LGBT players deserve to have a 100% equal experience to our hetero peers. If the game includes a marriage or relationship functions (this includes colony management games), then we should be able to play with 100% gay characters/colonists/et al. Why should other players be able to erase our existence, but we can't enjoy the same fantasy on the same terms?

Yes, that also means I think RPGs should always have to use the player-sexual model for romances. If my hetero peers can romance their preferred character because it's already tailored to them, then I deserve the same experience.

Romanceable NPCs reflect the totality of characters who are attracted to the player's character: if looks, personality, and morality don't destroy their attraction, then it's not believable that PC gender is the one and only thing that matters. It feels exclusionary in a way that damages my immersion.

4. There should be regulations that require a minimum level of diversity in games. There is no reason that developers should be allowed to make games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, where they openly stated they wanted to build a story in a place they could "prove" (they couldn't. Their history research was wrong) only had white people. A place where gay players would be punished for being gay because it's historically accurate, and gay NPCs were villains and ridiculed as such.

If they tried to do this at a Renaissance Fair, they'd be shutdown for discrimination. Just because it's (debatably) historically accurate, doesn't mean modern audiences should be subjected to the same discrimination as our predecessors. I have the same right to partake in the same fantasy as anyone else. Consumer protection laws should really prevent this from happening.

5. Final Fantasy 8 is significantly better than Final Fantasy 7. The blocky graphics were even awful in their day; and the camera angles were very awkward, with some maps where you couldn't actually see what you're doing.

But both of them are too hetero anyway.

Thanks for asking!

#asks #ask trekwiz

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tearsofperseides · 1 year

Text

Another stranger things writing criticism post,

So much stuff in Stranger Things is so lazily executed.

I'll start with Nancy, she's supposed to be a "feminist"/"women can be strong" character of the show and they didn't fail completely with that one, but still failed. I'm glad they kept her in touch with her femininity, usually when there's supposed to be a "baddass female lead" they make her more masculine, so I'll give them that, but she's written in a very "women can be badasses too!" way, which isn't a problem, however the problem comes in when you give her a gun and constantly point out that "she's a girl who has a gun wow look feminism!". I love badass women, I genuinely do and I love Nancy, she's great, but the, let's call it, feminist writing of her character is written very lazily. Female characters shouldn't be written as female characters, but as simply characters. Another argument I have against Nancy's character writing is there was absolutely no need to give her a love triangle (even though it's not a triangle, but I digress) romance plot, what was the point? I get putting romance plots in media and I love a lot of them, but this was executed poorly and was just not needed. I'm genuinely trying to see in what way it was needed other than adding a little bit of teenage drama, which, in this show is absolutely not needed. Adding onto that, the love triangle trope was once again taken very lazily, that trope is great to explore the characters' depth, but again ST that wasn't... done? When have we seen Nancy or Steve or Jonathan struggle with this love triangle? Never, again, it was added for the teen drama aspect of the show.

Second thing is that they literally forget about half the characters they have, the show, as we all know, has an ensemble cast, but since the ensemble consists of 12 main characters (give or take) PLUS some recurring characters, the show got messy and uneven with character development really quickly. Like for example, the California plot line in s4, as much as I like it, it's obviously VERY MUCH neglected by the writers in favour of the Hawkins plot line. They also very much do something for the sake of pure shock factor, like Hopper's death, just to have him brought back in s4... never mind the logistics or lack there of of him surviving the portal closing or how genuinely unnecessary the Russia plot line was in s4. Eddie's death frustrates me and falls under the same "for the shock value" umbrella, but this is getting long and I still have some other stuff I want to focus on.

And now we get onto Billy, yes, back here again. Hi. Going back to his death once again, since I didn't express myself well enough for my liking. His death would've been fine, IF they didn't pace it the way they did. My main problem with his death is once again, is the way it's edited and El's speech intersects with the flashbacks we've already seen when El connected to them in one of the previous episodes. If they would've just cut out those flashbacks and let her describe the scene is "tell don't show" in a well executed manner. We already saw those scenes and hearing El describe the scene while seeing Billy's emotional response from her words is both telling instead of showing (Because El's literally describing the scene to him) and showing instead of telling (because of Billy's emotional response). It feels much more personal for both of the characters because, once again, you get to see their emotional responses, rather than just be bombarded with scenes of Billy's mother and being made to remember he was a happy kid once. Viewers aren't dumb, they will remember Billy's past and still feel sympathy for him. The scene of his death is just the laziest way to do so.

I still have some some things to say about the writing and everything, however this is getting long so I will leave it at what it is now. If you want me to elaborate on anything or hear any of the OTHER stuff I have problems with please send me an ask, anon or not, it's ok either way!

#stranger things #nancy wheeler #nancy wheeler critical #jim hopper #jim hopper critical #eddie munson #eddie munson critical #billy hargrove #billy hargrove critical #stranger things discourse #fandom discourse #I just don't like the writing in this show #it can be so much more than what it is #robin rambles

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mannatea · 1 year

Note

fe asks: 11, 12, 28, 30, 35, 37, 38 [leans mic closer] go off, my dear

11. A character that deserved better? My girl Rinkah (FE14) was probably one of the characters done most dirty by the entire fucking franchise. So many weird creepy "taming the savage" vibes around this character by the writers of the game and it's all so vile and disrespectful.

12. A game that deserved better? Oooohhh this is tough. My first instinct is to say FE9/10 (a cheating combo answer) because they were released on the Gamecube/Wii and that limited the audience to an extreme that we as a fandom hadn't really experienced before. But then I think about the clumsy race metaphors in the game and I'm like ehhh maybe it's better the audience was limited lol.

I also think FE14 deserved better in general. There were some really great ideas in there but a lot of it was just so clumsily done and cobbled together in a way that let them sell more shit.

28. Because this fandom doesn't see enough discourse [citation needed], post a spicy hot take here🔥🔥 I don't think it's a spicy take but I really fucking hate DLC and think the introduction of DLC to Fire Emblem had a hand in turning me off of the franchise for a good number of years and away from the fandom. I don't think 3H was as bad in this area as FE13/14 but it was very frustrating to me to have to look up maps and dialogues for things just to get little character bits. This was especially bad in FE14 because I really didn't have the funds to even buy the game. If my sister hadn't gifted it to me I would not have played it at all. But to then find out interesting maps and character bits were behind a paywall? Rage.

30. Since horse abuse is currently popular on Tumblr, beat up a dead horse with your take on an oversaturated topic🐴 I am sure this is a dead topic by now, so I just wanna say I don't like avatar characters. I'm not sorry. They're generally poorly designed, bland, or too Special Snowflake to be interesting to me within the main story. Also, I'm fucking old. I don't want to self-insert into a teenager. It makes every romance option weird and gross to me. Mark is the ideal avatar character because he didn't do anything and you could pretty much leave him out of fanfic entirely and nobody batted an eye. Love that for him. I think Byleth had potential but they just didn't reach it.

35. What's something you wish IntSys would just stop doing? Five billion supports. I never thought I'd say it, but I think having fewer supports in general, and even fewer that end in a meaningful relationship, would be a lot more fun. This would end with a lot more truly quality, interesting supports that were satisfying to read...and romances we could actually be invested in.

37. What's a weird theory or headcanon you have? I generally don't develop many headcanons for FE these days and I'm actively ashamed of old fanon I fell into and/or helped create (FE7 friends, I'm deeply sorry for the shy Kent fanon I let everyone down). That said, a few of us oldster KentLyn simps saw their paired ending and we were determined to make Rutger from FE6 work as their son.

38. Freebie! Talk about whatever you want 🐉⚔ I'm pretty sure my active Fire Emblem fandom days are over. It's not necessarily just Fire Emblem, though: I've largely given up writing in my free time due to lack of energy and the fact that writing anything takes literally entire days away from me and I simply don't feel rewarded for bothering anymore (especially now that I can get more comments just recording WoW gameplay and posting it to YouTube—and I'm not even a good player).

It's still really weird to think that I've been around as long as I have, but I don't really have the energy to engage in fandom the way I did when it was 2003. You'd never guess I was so involved in the earlier FE days, writing literally HUNDREDS of fics and running a fic contest and participating in LJ discussions. There's a disconnect there that I can't quite explain. I've been in other fandoms for a long time, but Fire Emblem and many of its fans got me through the roughest years of my life from start to finish, so it's a hard pill to swallow that I'm not sure I can really consider myself a fan in the same capacity I once was.

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thegreaterlink · 2 years

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Reviewing Star Trek TNG - S3E16 "The Offspring"

Sorry, I would've posted this yesterday, but I felt like absolute shit and couldn't finish it in time.

THE PREMISE

Data surprises the Enterprise's crew by revealing that he has created a humanoid android named Lal based on recent advances in Federation cybernetics technology and his own design. He describes the android as his child, and encourages them to choose their own identity. Lal chooses a female form (Hallie Todd) and begins to learn about humanity from her interactions with the crew.

Picard is less than pleased that Data conducted Lal's creation without informing him, and is forced by general orders to report Lal's existence to Starfleet. The news prompts Admiral Haftel to travel to the Enterprise to personally evaluate Lal.

MY REVIEW

This episode feels like an attempt to ape the brilliance of "The Measure of a Man" with a similar theme but without the necessary talent. Though that's not to say it's completely without merit.

For example, Picard summons Data to his ready room, understandably concerned over Data casually creating a fully functional artificial life form without even letting him know, to which Data counters that Picard wouldn't be bringing it up if he wasn't an android, and Picard has no answer. Picard also objects to having Lal deactivated, since she's still a life form. The argument boils down to all of Picard's arguments against Lal - creating life, taking on the responsibility of raising said life - only being relevant because he's an android, leading to a rare Picard double facepalm.

So right away we can understand both points of view. Good scene.

Meanwhile, Data continues to tutor Lal on the various aspects of human existence such as senses and means of self-expression like art. While it's interesting to see Data help another being through his own experiences, Lal quickly begins to ask more advanced questions:

"Father? What is my purpose?"

"Purpose?"

"My function. My reason for being."

"...our function is to contribute in a positive way to the world in which we live."

Sure. Works for me. It's a much better answer than 42, anyway.

But when Data is overwhelmed by her questions, he just shuts her off. Y'know, it's like if your five-year-old wouldn't stop asking questions and you punched them out.

Lal's first day at school goes poorly as well. Lieutenant Ballard (yes, this random side character who never appears outside of this scene in this episode has a canonical name) says the other children are intimidated by her, but the way it's staged makes it look more like she's unwilling to interact with them.

Data explains to Lal that people are often intimidated by things that are new and different, and Lal shows maybe a hint of frustration at the circumstances of her existence beyond her control, an interesting idea which sadly doesn't get much development aside from this scene.

Clearly out of his depth, Data turns to Dr Crusher for advice on being a successful parent. Though some might say he's going to the wrong place, he doesn't have a lot of other options, unless you count Troi. Long scene short, she suggests that Data lets his daughter know that he isn't alone and that he understands her confusion.

"I can give her attention, Doctor. But I am incapable of giving her love."

Yet another interesting idea thrown into the ring.

Data realises that he's not the best person for the job, and leaves Lal in the care of Guinan, who begins to teach her the fundamentals of human interaction and behaviour. Lal even uses the contraction "I've," much to the others' surprise.

Sure, when Data uses a contraction, he's an impostor, but when Lal uses one she's congratulated. That doesn't seem fair.

Speaking of which, this episode makes several references to Data being one of a kind, seemingly forgetting that Lore is probably still floating around in space somewhere.

Guinan is probably the best influence for Lal, teaching her about more advanced human dynamics such as flirting and romance. When Riker comes in and starts flirting with her (I should clarify that at this point he doesn't know he's chatting up the offspring of the last crewmember he'd ever expect), she decides to... test this knowledge.

Honestly, I can only assume that's just the regular effect Jonathan Frakes has on women. Though he did direct this episode, so that may have been biased.

Lal expresses frustration to her father about being unable to feel love, wondering why they keep trying to emulate something they can never achieve. Data explains that the effort itself has its own rewards. Lal tests her knowledge of affection again (thankfully in a different way) by holding her father's hand in a show of affection. I think Data would've shed a tear if he could.

Then Admiral Haftel shows up.

Haftel is essentially our Bruce Maddox for this episode. And while I'm not going to pretend Maddox was a particularly likable character, he was far from the obvious strawman Haftel is depicted as. Because we can't have a debate about androids counting as real people without someone arguing against it.

He of course sugarcoats his intentions with Lal when he meets with her, saying that the Federation would be delighted to meet her. And to be fair, he's understandably concerned that the equivalent of a giant newborn child with the strength of ten men has been allowed relatively free reign of a Galaxy-class starship, but we can gather that it's the same "keep her in a lab like a test subject" plans that you'd expect.

Data is obviously unwilling to hand his child over to the same people who once tried to disassemble him and Picard being similarly resistant to the idea. Lal is also reluctant to leave the Enterprise, and confides in Counsellor Troi. During the meeting she's clearly distraught, even stuttering in her speech, and Troi can even sense her fear.

I want to reiterate this: the empath can sense emotions from an android.

How exactly Lal is developing so quickly and more than her father ever has is a bit unclear, but it can probably be handwaved by whatever technology Data used to build her. In any case, an android feeling tangible emotions and being unable to properly understand them is terrifying, especially when said emotion is primal fear of her likely imminent death.

While Data and Haftel continue to argue, Troi interrupts to tell them that Lal has returned to Data's lab - something she was programmed to do in the event of a malfunction. Data identifies a cascade failure in Lal's positronic brain, and quickly gets to work.

Hours pass. Haftel emerges from the lab with bad news:

"She… she won't survive much longer. There was nothing anyone could have done. We'd repolarize one pathway and another would collapse. And then another. His… hands were moving faster than I could see, trying to stay ahead of each breakdown. He refused to give up. He was remarkable. Just… wasn't meant to be."

Wow, that sounds like it would've been way more interesting to actually see instead of it just being described.

Back in the lab, with Data unable to correct Lal's system failure, he's forced to shut her down, and the two say their goodbyes.

"I feel."

"What do you feel, Lal?"

"I love you, father."

"I wish I could feel it with you."

"I will feel it for both of us… thank you for my life."

Cut to Data returning to the bridge, explaining that Lal suffered complete neural failure, but that he's transferred her memories to him. As he takes his station, he stares into space, obviously affected by the experience.

6.5/10 - Perhaps the most tragic case of missed potential in the series so far.

#star trek #star trek the next generation #star trek tng #star trek review #star trek tng review #jean luc picard #captain picard #will riker #geordi la forge #wesley crusher #deanna troi #star trek worf #uss enterprise #star trek data #beverly crusher

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themovieblogonline · 1 year

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One True Loves Review

One True Loves features Simu Liu (Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings), Phillipa Soo (Hamilton), and Luke Bracey (Point Break) star in this modern twist on a classic love story from NY Times bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid. Emma and Jesse are living the perfect life together until Jesse disappears in a tragic helicopter crash on their first wedding anniversary. Four years later, Emma has found happiness again and is about to marry her best friend when Jesse resurfaces, turning her world upside down and leaving her torn between two great loves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87EeZG2n2po Can I take a moment to just acknowledge everyone who's ever been trapped in the friend zone? This movie is for you. The Good The premise itself is just downright mesmerizing. I instantly relate to a situation I've never been in just on the concept. What would you do if you were married, that person died, and you met someone else just to find out your dead spouse isn't dead and wants you back??? That's an instant problem I think that everyone can empathize with even if we can't directly relate. I love this story concept a lot. I had a good time seeing how Emma handles this situation and the emotional conflict within her heart. There's so much to consider especially with time. Her husband is missing for years so what is the correct way to react to his sudden re-appearance? One True Loves starts off really strong. I tip my hat to the production team for some strong direction and great performances here. The movie starts off very strong giving us a good view of the lives of Emma and Jesse's perfect life. Now, this is the type of life people dream of when young of an endless vacation with a loved one. I had a lot of fun watching Emma's love triangle develop with Jesse and Sam. One True Loves quickly brings us up to speed on Emma and Jesse's high school romance. It grows organically and continues into adulthood and results in marriage. I really feel great about their romance and I understand their attraction in a relatable way. One True Loves excels at being a romantic comedy with extra emphasis on comedy. This is no surprise as director Andy Fickman has a history of directing comedic films and the cast in this movie is very adaptable. Sam (Simu Liu) is incredibly funny in this movie and delivers some of the best jokes and visual gags in the entire movie. You could carve out his moments in the movie and have a believably funny sitcom but we get a sitcom in a movie. Michaela Conlin plays Emma's sister Marie and makes for a great one-two combo of comedy with Sam. She brings some well-timed dry humor and injects them into some otherwise emotionally heavy moments. There's a scene in the movie where she apologizes to Emma for convincing her to give up on her dead husband that had me in tears. The Bad The editing was rough. There are moments in the movie where scenes only last for a few seconds before transitioning to another scene. Unfortunately, the actors are giving some really good performances that are cut short. A few moments are really touching on some deep emotions that could be explored further but aren't. What undercuts this transition is that these scenes of deeply sad emotion get cut away to scenes that tell a quick gag and then switch back to the heavy emotion. the movie could have used some more time to let Phillipa do her thing. Some of the jokes don't land as well as intended. It's a combination of bad editing and some poorly delivered humor. There's a moment where we see Sam walk into the teachers' lounge at his job in a predictable joke. The main issue is that the scene undercuts one of the more emotional moments in the movie with Emma and her husband. Overall One True Loves is an adorably funny movie that had me laughing throughout the movie. Phillipa Soo is outstanding in this movie and flexes a lot of emotional range in her performance. I would have loved to see more of her scenes extended a bit longer. There are too many moments where Phillipa is acting her ass off but these scenes get cut short. Simu Liu is a highlight and delivers some of the funniest moments in the movie. I would have liked to understand this music teacher could just hijack his students for any given reason! One moment he's using them to impress Emma on a date and another moment he's unloading his emotional dilemma's on them during the school day. I also can't help but wonder why didn't Sam have any adult friends he could talk to? Read the full article

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pale-silver-comb · 4 years

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So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just “asdfghkjl” at you and answer coherently.

In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into man’s life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals.

I’ve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:

1. Found family. And I’m not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but we’ll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greed’s ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dad’s big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.

2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, “confirmed by the creator” infuriates me because most of the time it’s a way for a creator to be seen as “progressive” without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isn’t the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didn’t originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There aren’t any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: “for better or worse” and “’til death do us part”. I’m not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesn’t need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong.

Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.

Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: it’s approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote “love is patient, love is kind”. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)

Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually he’s basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day.

Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise it’s okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters don’t need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because he’s soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.)

I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.

3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesn’t use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. He’s nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Media’s usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. It’s not written as some kind of singular personality trait. It’s part of what makes up Parker but it’s only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people don’t understand why she does and says the things she does but it’s met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, it’s not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows she’s amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. She’s not treated like she’s past her prime. Ever. She’s sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and there’s never even a conversation of “I may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*”. Sophie is possibly the first female character I’ve ever seen who isn’t just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. It’s a non-issue and that’s that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and it’s beyond refreshing.

4.) It’s just fun. The show has a “monster of the week” type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon you’d never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after they’ve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied they’ve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this year’s Criminal Calendar.

5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn.

Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments you’d get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. It’s the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But it’s also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but it’s made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. It’s everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show I’ve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary “shock value” arc. Leverage doesn’t do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isn’t something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon.

#leverage #leverage ot3 #parker #alec hardison #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #nate ford #talk leverage to me

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relaxxattack · 3 years

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wait omg what are the canon endgame wof pairings you DON'T like? 👀 no pressure of course, im just not a fan of several of them either and im interested to hear what you think :]

honestly most of them?? like idk 😭

ripnami for one is just odd to me. like i don’t dislike riptide but there’s an age difference and a like, immediate love type thing, and the romance is just sorta Boring and Annoying imo?? maybe that’s just cuz im gay though

starflights whole debacle was ATROCIOUS. like i understand why he mightve had a crush on sunny— she was like one of the only other people he knew growing up— but they were all essentially adopted siblings and she obviously felt platonically towards him? and then fatespeaker was brought in, and one part of fans hated her for replacing sunny cuz they shipped sunnyflight, another group of fans hated her for obviously being practically written AS a sunny replacement, and then the last third just fiercely loved her out of spite. so like. starspeaker is Cute, sure, but it just feels like a weird work around to the supreme awkwardness of sunnyflight.

clay and peril? ehhh. clay seems like, SO aromantic to me, so that’s one reason i dont like it, and the other is just. peril as a character always felt like she was handled weirdly. like im not sure if she was a good concept poorly executed, or a bad concept that sort of followed itself through well, but either way my feelings on her constantly go back and forth. i get that she’s probably just like, genuinely mentally ill, but i don’t think the author really represented it too well? but at the same time, i don’t think i’m one to talk on the rep of people like that. (is sociopath the right word??? i literally don’t even know). basically it bothers me how she swings from like. yandere to hilarious older sister character. i love her, but i also feel weird about her. she’s like a girboss in a bad way.

glorybringer… okay theyre really cute, it’s just their development feels a little silly to me. then again, it’s a children’s book. also there’s an age difference, although idk how much that counts for dragons??

moonbli: i hate moonbli okay. they dumped qinter— one of the Only Well Developed Ships— for moonbli. ive ranted before about how much i hate the winter-qibli-moon love triangle, but GOD it’s so bad. like— in book six, moon is fascinated by both the boys. winter treats her like shit, but she can hear that in his thoughts he actually thinks she’s incredible. qibli is nice to her, but he’s like, super sus for some reason. moon actually TELLS DS that she doesn’t like either of them, but she Must pick one because her futures say so? like UM??? (she’s aromantic but denying herself or something) meanwhile in the winter pov book he’s absolutely tortured by guilt and his abusive family, so eventually he breaks off to find moon because he feels bad for treating her bad cuz he’s in love with her. also they have some Moments together. then in qiblis book, he’s also in love with moon, but spends the entire book bonding and flirting with his roommate winter! who is no longer an asshole now that he’s broken off from his family. moon is busy hanging out with some 2000 year old guy who attempted literal genocide, but it’s okay because he’s sad. anyway after like 200 pages of flirting, winter and qibli meet up with moon again and they’re happy because they’re both in love with her or something. except winter is upset because moon is defending the guy who tried to genocide his race and is going to do it again. moon and qibli decide this makes winter the biggest asshole in the entire world, abandon him, and then defeat DS together without him. then moon decides she “chooses” qibli and moonbli becomes canon and they leave winter in some random ass town. like? WHAT THE FUCK??? and we’re supposed to enjoy the moonbli ship :|

like no fuck off and PLEASE give us aromantic moon and mlm qinter please. THERE ARE NO CANON MLM RELATIONSHIPS. and im not just saying this cuz im a gay guy, like qinter legitimately had so much good development throughout arc two and then they get dropped like a hot potato

and then finally we have… whats left, turtlejou? i could take it or leave it ig. too much weird magic stuff there. i would actually maybe prefer turtle and peril just because they’re Actually Friends and their dynamic in book 8 was cool and way less creepy then cleril.

sundew and willow? they're cute but ive seen the mean lesbian and nice lesbian trope many times and they just didn’t pull it off too well. still better then 90% of the ships here though.

SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG I HAD A LOT MORE TO SAY THEN I REALIZED…. IF THIS SOUNDS AGGRESSIVE ITS AIMED AT THE AUTHOR NOT AT YOU ANON

#wings of fire #wof #mildly negative #i ended up ranting about winter again #he was a shitbag but he didn’t deserve that

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exitpursuedbyasloth · 2 years

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@atroupeofpigeons said “@exitpursuedbyasloth you seem so Knowledgeable please can you explain to me what on Earth is going on with the whole djinn wish thing and Yennefer and Geralt??? I only watched the show and in s1 in Rare Species I think (?) they sort of vaguely explained how it binds them but frankly it came off to me horrifyingly rape-y :/ did I miss something? Or is their romantic relationship separate from the whole ‘their lives are bound by Destiny’ deal? It just puzzles me to no end”

Answering this in a new post cause my answer was too damn long.

Well, you’re not wrong. Nor are you the only one who feels this way, nor did you miss anything. The exact nature of Geralt’s last wish was intentionally never clarified by the book’s author Andrzej Sapkowski. The showrunner for the Netflix adaptation SAYS they will eventually reveal the wording. But their version and Sapkowski’s are very different, so I don’t know if this is their own invention, or something Sapkowski told them, or if they’re just bullshitting because they have said things about the show that ended up WILDLY different (like Eskel). All we do know is that the wish created a unbreakable bond between them. Destiny in the show isn’t just poetic hyperbole, it’s apparently an actual force of nature, a Magical Whatevermabob. The wish created a bond, the bond creates an influence, it’s something that can be felt, which we see in other Destiny bound folks, Geralt and Ciri, Pavetta and Hedgehog Knight. It’s not a love spell, but it does create something internal which can be felt. Which means Yenn/Geralt were engaging in a sexual relationship with an outside influence effecting them, an outside influence that was not freely chosen. Which, yes, brings consent into question. That is the bare fact of the matter. It’s an already questionable situation made far worse by the show’s lazy writing and story gaps, by the show not explaining the situation at all.

I think they want you to see the romance separate from the bond, but the problem is they never showed the romance. They just told us they had a romance, trust us it was like really awesome and they’re meant for each other, but it happened almost entirely offscreen. Why is the audience supposed to be invested in something you never showed? There’s a couple of softer moments, but most of their interactions are sex, Yenn being duplicitous, or Geralt being a dumbass. We see a lot of betrayal and hurt. Toxicity. All while a djinn wish created a bond between them. You meet someone, and you feel this bond, this connection with them. That bond could influence you, make you think it’s love. Then you find out the bond was created by a djinn who bound you two together. How could you NOT question if anything is real between you two? How could you separate the djinn bond pulling at you, and your own emotions pulling at you? How can you be sure the bond does not effect emotions? Yenn on the mountain was right. And I don’t know how the show can fix this, cause I don’t think the show particularly cares. Therein lies the problem.

[And to be clear, I like both characters on their own, I think they’re strong and complex and interesting. I empathize with both of them. I am simply criticizing the weaknesses in the writing and how the show treats their relationship.]

The writing for the show is clearly relying on the audience to fill in all the gaps of the show-verse with all the lore and backstory of the games/books. BUT the show-verse deviates so dramatically from the gameverse and bookverse that their lore/backstory is no longer applicable. I can’t take Geralt and Yenn from the books, and implant their romance into the show because it’s all too different. Which just leaves huge gaps in the show, sudden dramatic character shifts. It’s lazy, bad writing. Your character development shouldn’t happen in a completely different medium. There’s a lot I like about the show, but there’s a lot the show does poorly. It can do individual moments well enough, but the show is BAD at telling it’s overall story. Pacing, plotting, organic character development. It’s weak story development when looked at in isolation, from a show-only perspective. Stuff just...happens.

Super-long analysis of the Geralt/Yenn dynamic and the show’s writing flaws under the cut...

The set-up in the books is similar to that of the show, with a couple of key differences; Geralt’s not looking for a djinn he just finds it while fishing, Geralt’s first wish doesn’t accidentally harm Jaskier/Dandelion (the djinn just starts strangling Jaskier because it’s annoyed by him; Geralt’s first wish actually saves Jaskier because he wishes for the djinn to ‘fuck off’ and off it fucks), there’s no creepy dubiously consensual orgy at Yennefer’s (when Geralt arrives, she’s sleeping), and when Yenn is trying to trap the djinn, it actually starts destroying a town full of people not just her house, meaning the whole town was in danger. But the biggest difference in the book version is that Yennefer hears the wish from the start. She’s shocked by it, doesn’t think there’s any force in the universe that can grant it, but if there is, she tells Geralt that it means “You have condemned yourself to me”. The nature of the wish also causes them to doubt if their feelings/bond is organic, because the wish bound their destinies. Which causes them to be insecure and uncertain with each other, constantly coming together and breaking up. It’s never really resolved, they just kind of live with it. The most likely theory of what the wish was, is that since a djinn cannot kill his master, Geralt wished to bind his and Yenn’s lives/fates/destinies/deaths together. So it can’t kill Yenn without killing Geralt, which it is bound by its own magic not to do. Now, I don’t think Geralt was malicious or anything in that wish, and it may have been the only way out of the situation that saved himself, Yennefer, and the town. These stories are VERY influenced by Slavic folk tales, where using clever wordplay and methods of trickery to get out of magical shenanigans is a common theme (one thing I mourn about the Netflix adaptation is how very un-Slavic it is, and no, I’m not referencing the PoC they cast; I mean the whole feel, the aesthetic, is very ‘vague Anglo-Saxon artfully grungey pseudo-medieval’ which has been done to death). Yenn knowing the nature of the wish in the books is a large departure from Show! Yenn having no idea. Book!Yenn would at least know that there was a wish created bond, and wouldn’t have felt so betrayed by Geralt not telling her. Show!Yenn had no idea, and was shocked and angered when learning about it, because it IS an influence on them and she had no idea she was under the influence. It’s not a direct mind/heart control like a love spell or anything, but Destiny does create bonds you can feel. This was shown with Pavetta and Hedgehog Knight (Calanthe was right to be pissed and object on that ground), and Geralt and Ciri (but being a parent/child relationship, and Ciri being orphaned and in need of family, it’s much less problematic). This is made worse by the show using Destiny Bonds as a short cut, instead of actually taking the time to show bonds forming naturally. Pavetta and Hedgehog Knight said they fell in love almost immediately. Geralt is almost immediately in Dad-mode with Ciri; I feel it came on too suddenly, I would have liked to see more of an awkward struggle for him to learn how to be a Dad, but that’s just me. We do see Geralt actively trying to connect with Ciri, be emotionally available, help her with her problems, we SEE their relationship). However, we see almost nothing of Geralt and Yenn together, yet they are apparently hugely influential on each other, have an incredible bond...built on what? We never see. Which is a problem for the reasons you stated. If you don’t show any reason for them to be so in love other than a djinn wish, what are we, the audience, to assume?

By leaving it vague, combined with how the show uses Destiny, and it’s unfortunate habit of lazy writing and short cuts, it DOES have the effect of making the basis Yenn/Geralt relationship questionable. By the way the show works, the ‘bond’ that Destiny creates is something that is emotionally tangible (as in, you can feel it like an emotion). So it would be easy to confuse that feeling for one of genuine connection, it could influence your choices even if you know its there. So, are they enamored with each other because of love, or because of the bond of Destiny? We, the audience, cannot know because the majority of their relationship is off-screen, we never see it. We have no basis for judgement, we don’t see them forming an organic bond, a connection, loving one another. What we see is they meet in episode 5 during a dubiously-consensual orgy, she promises to help Jaskier, makes Geralt remove his armor and take a bath, then uses a mind-control spell on him to make him go nuts so he’s locked away just so she can get Jaskier alone so she can take the djinn. Geralt returns, they fight, he makes a wish, they bang, he gets the hell out of there. BY THE NEXT EPISODE, they’ve been having a years-long off-and-on torrid affair that is supposedly so life-altering and formative for them (we never see this), they have sex, have some soft pillow talk, fight, Geralt acts like an ass about her desire to have kids, they save a dragon baby, whoopsie the wish-created bond is revealed, Yenn fucks off like she absolutely should. And the next season Geralt says Yenn is the reason for him being a changed man, they eventually meet back up BUT WHAT’S THIS? Oh, Yenn tries to sacrifice his daughter so she can get her power back (she did not know Ciri was his at first, but kept on the plan even after knowing, her plan simply didn’t work). Geralt is pissed, as he should be, but their final conversation at the end of 2x08 doesn’t make a lot of sense, he says he doesn’t forgive her but that they’re destined for each other but there needs to be more and ciri is the more...which, Geralt, honey, a baby is not going to save a failing relationship. And then he says “Us three will help each other. What is destined cannot be avoided.” which...is okay for a partnership, but that is REALLY not the basis for a romantic relationship. Like he seems resigned, he has no choice in the matter. And he might not, if he bound their fates together; but that doesn’t mean they need to be in a romantic relationship. Because if Destiny forces you, it’s not your choice. And a sexual/romantic relationship that is not your choice is, well, non-consensual.

Now, Geralt should have said something to Yenn early on, it would have at least ameliorated the issues of informed consent somewhat, put both of them on equal footing. I don’t know if the Netlfix writers didn’t do this because they didn’t care/didn’t see it as an issue or just never noticed (given their track record, either is likely), or just wanted to create drama/strife and didn’t care about the implications. I don’t think Show!Geralt was trying to take advantage of Yenn. He may not have known or believed the wish could create such a bond. His emotions would also be influenced, which he may not have recognized. Show!Geralt is also kind of a himbo, it just may not have occurred to him. We don’t know because they’ve clarified nothing. Both because of their own ineptitude and their desire to create drama cheaply. And because they have a track record of not really understanding consent (the dubiously consensual orgy at Yenn’s where everyone was under her spell, the “These women are too drunk to remember where they are” bullshit with the prostitute invasion of Kaer Morhen). It could be that in never occurred to them that the way they wrote the wish/bond could have an influence over Geralt and Yenn, or that Geralt not telling Yenn about the nature of the wish is really, really fucked up. Or did they notice, and simply didn’t care. Which I sadly think is more likely, because the wrote Yenn being furious about not being told about the wish, so they saw that it was wrong. But do they think her concerns were silly? Unfounded? Of course they’re not. The concerns would be valid for anyone, but ESPECIALLY someone like her, who was constantly thrown into situations against her will, who fought to control her fate/life, who was failed by people/institutions she tried to trust. Her desire for power, control, didn’t come from nowhere.

The situation was already bad. But the the writers made it worse with their inexplicable decision to have Yenn attempt to sacrifice Ciri for her own power. Geralt would be perfectly in his rights to not forgive or trust her after that. Yes he has his own mistakes against Yenn, he should have told her about the wording of the wish, he’s absolutely wrong in not doing so (the show has given us no reason why he didn’t); but this is not about Geralt and Yenn, Yenn didn’t do something to Geralt she did it to Ciri. I like Yenn as a character, I want Ciri to be safe with her, for her to have a mother-figure and magic instructor without having to deal with Aretuza’s bullshit; I just don’t know if I can realistically see this happening now, so soon and with her facing so little consequences for her betrayal of Ciri. And yet, Geralt seems resigned to the fact that they’re all stuck together by Destiny. That’s one thing in a parent/child relationship, it’s a whole other can of beans when it comes to romantic relationships.

I generally don’t think the show is intentionally creating a questionably consensual romance. But every once in awhile, something will throw me off, makes me wonder if they are (and keeping it on the backburner for shock!). Some of the lyrics in “Her Sweet Kiss” for example (but they also see Jaskier as comic relief, don’t really take what he says seriously, so...). Yenn’s reaction on the mountain, or Geralt’s resignation that they can’t be rid of each other, so might as well be a family. Like...waht? What am I supposed to do with that?

In the show, Geralt/Yenn a really poorly written dynamic all around. The audience probably wouldn’t be questioning why they’re together if the show ever bothered to actually SHOW (show, not tell) us why. They’re strong characters on their own, it should not have been difficult to show them falling in love. But the show just...didn’t bother. I can’t even fully tell if they are deliberately trying to make the audience wonder about the consensual nature of their romance or not, if they truly think they did enough by just telling the audience they, like, super into each other. For some reason. Trust us. We’d show you that reason, but that would get in the way all these tits and CGI.

#atroupeofpigeons #the witcher #The Witcher S2 spoilers #Geralt of Rivea #Yennefer #Witcher salt #This is a Witcher Salt blog #The Witcher meta #I am just uncomfortable with the nature of their relationship #I really don't want to be I want to be for it #but I can't ignore what's in front of me #Show Don't Tell #Geralt x Yennefer #criticism #I don't like Destined relationships to begin with #but this is especially bad

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multimetaverse · 3 years

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HSMTMTS 2x09 Review

Spring Break was a bit of an odd ep but helped move some key plots forward. Let’s dig in!

Well people can no longer claim that Portwell is one sided. We finally got Gina’s pov and she starts off the ep uncertain whether the shift in their relationship means that EJ likes her but by the end of the ep she seems sure of herself and that EJ likes her back. I liked that she didn’t try to pretend that nothing had changed or that she hadn’t noticed potential signs that EJ might like her; it always sucks when tv characters act like idiots.

Perhaps the most important reveal of this ep was that Gina has a much older estranged brother who left her and her mom many years ago. That certainly makes her backstory more tragic and is definite set up for her brother to eventually return.

The writers continue to give Portwell great tropes, capping this ep off with an airport rom-com trope that also calls back to EJ getting Gina the place ticket so she could come back in S1. Not only did Gina keep EJ’s Duke sweatshirt but she altered it to fit her better which is both sweet and bold in the assumption that it was hers to keep. Gina got her sign when not only did EJ show up to drive Gina home and take her luggage but he brought her the granola bar that she had wanted but forgot to pack. I wonder if her posting on her story that she was ubering home after her flight was cancelled was intended to see if EJ would show up since the camera focused on her posting it. Also sweet that she’s taken to calling EJ, ‘ Eej’.

EJ’s opening was good, shows a lot of his character growth from the selfish guy he was in S1 and how he’s learned to value other people which of course leads into his feelings for Gina. We got another great use of the camera as character tonight when Gina was laughing after her facetime call with EJ until she realized that the camera was on her.

Jack was a lot of fun. Though he didn’t really change Gina’s mind over anything like the ep description said he would. Seemed like Gina was largely over Ricky and wondering about EJ at the beginning and the end solidified her feelings for EJ but Jack didn’t really play a role in that, it’s not like he encouraged Gina to reach out to EJ or anything. There’s a vague sense in which Jack being nomadic linked him to Ricky’s unreliability in Gina’s eyes with her craving stability but that’s a stretch. Jack mentioned that the second most dangerous part of a plane ride is when the plane takes off, a hint to the blossoming Portwell relationship where in order to take off one or both of them has to risk a confession even though they could be turned down.

This ep might seem a bit weird in hindsight. The zoom parts probably won’t age well and five years from now people might be wondering why they had Gina hang out with a manic pixie dream boy of sorts for an ep.

The path is clear for canon Portwell in the finale with EJ being Gina’s second chance at romance and her first kiss since they clearly telegraphed it out of nowhere. I’ve been impressed with the great work the writers have been doing since 2x05 to build up Portwell as a ship but also work on Gina and EJ as individual characters; they’ve been the highlight of the season so far.

There was discourse this past week over how well or poorly Portwell has been set up. Objectively very few ships on this show get much in the way of set up or consistent writing. Redlyn and Kowie had barely any set up before getting together. Seblos had none (though in fairness that was due to Disney restrictions) and Miss Jenn and Mike Bowen didn’t have much set up either. Rini did get lots of development in S1 but that’s because they had already dated and were the main ship of the show. The show’s not really about slow burns, if Jenzzara canons in the finale they’ll count and if Rina ever got together they’d also count but neither of those ships have gotten consistent development with Mazzara not being in several eps and Gina and Ricky not even interacting for the past 3 eps.

Is Portwell a slowburn? In a sense since they did feature quite a bit in each other’s S1 plot lines and even had a fake dating plot but it is true that they were platonic and not that close in S1 so it’s a wash. There was clear set up for romantic Portwell in 1x10 with team wonderstudies and Gina staring at EJ (which interestingly enough looked more like set up for Gina to pine over EJ). I think the main problem is that even though we saw Gina and EJ hanging out in the background we didn’t get any scenes of substance between them until 2x05. It was a mistake and there should have been some scene, like EJ and Gina commiserating in 2x03 over being single on Valentine’s Day or something like that. Hell there was even that still from 2x01 of EJ and Gina looking at each other at the piano while they were in the frame between Ricky and Nini singing and having a moment which would have been good foreshadowing but that shot wasn’t in the ep.

Whether Tim just really wanted Portwell to be a surprise in 2x05 as a mid-season twist to throw the audience off of what looked like a Rini/Rina triangle or he was unsure as to whether he wanted to go with Portwell or if he just planned it out poorly we may never know. Regardless they’ve had great writing for 4 eps in a row now which puts them slightly ahead of the 3 eps in a row of development Rina got in S1. I’m sure if someone added up their screen time they’d find that Portwell has more screen time this season than Kowie and more screen time than Redlyn or Seblos got in S1.

Caswell cousins was fun and Ashlyn did in fact paint EJ’s nails.

Set up for Seblos drama next week, it’s refreshing to see Seb being jealous over Carlos flirting with other boys that’s definitely not something you see on Disney shows.

Ricky got some healing done with his mom. Enough to cover their issues? No but this is probably the best this show is capable of. There was a brief mention of therapy sandwiched between other options which sounds more like checking off a box then setting up Ricky actually going to therapy. I noticed Lynne was smiling at odd times like when she told Ricky she knew about his breakup with Nini; whether that was poor directing or acting I don’t know. Who knows if we’ll see Lynne again. As an aside still so wild that Tim named Lynne who’s been a kinda shitty mom after his own mom who he seems to be fairly close with.

Really liked You ain’t seen nothin as a song but not a fan of the Tiktok style vid. I’ll level with you wildcats, I’m too old to really get Tiktok, it just seems like a crappy version of Vine to me. Let you go was good, seemed better fitted for Joshua Bassett’s voice than some of his previous songs. A big sign that they’re not circling back to Rini for a long time for sure. Though on that note we got a bit of a hint that Ricky was Nini’s muse which may one day come back as a way to help bring them back together.

Looking Ahead:

If there’s only 3 weeks left till the Menkies, with only 2 weeks left for rehearsal due to spring break, it’s hard to see East High winning unless North High is disqualified or has to withdraw.

Lily is in a promo photo so she’s likely the unexpected facetime Ricky gets which is what I had theorized. Also makes it much more likely that she’s the party crasher Ricky re-evaluates in the finale though what Tim actually wants to do with those two I do not know.

There’s little point in bringing back the Valentine’s chocolate since there’s no real stakes. Rini are already broken up, Gina hasn’t spoken to Ricky since 2x06, and it’s not like Nini and Gina were ever close so even if they stopped talking to each other it wouldn’t really affect the show in any way.

Seems pretty likely that Second Chances refers to Gina realizing that her first try with Ricky failed but her second chance with EJ won’t and that leads to her sharing her truth and cue the Portwell confession and kiss, perhaps with an assist on EJ’s end from Mazzara. We’ve gone well past the point where Portwell can be brushed off as just a plot device to help Rina but Tim is playing with fire by getting the audience so on board with Portwell if he’s once again going to have EJ lose a girl he likes to Ricky in S3.

Gina certainly needs to talk with Ricky and I do think that happens in ep 11 or 12 and leaves them on better terms. As I mentioned last week, if Tim was smart he’d slam the door on Rina if he’s going with canon Portwell or vice versa. If he wants Rina to be a slow burn he’s really botched the writing this season, it’s been too one sided and too angsty to sustain any kind of momentum or audience interest. They haven’t even interacted for 3 eps now and not only has it not affected the show but it’s inarguably made Gina’s story line much better. Again I don’t think he’s smart enough to not try and do Portwell and then later Rina but he’s accidentally set up the Rina story line to quite easily slam the door permanently on them by having their conversation be closure for Gina who’s moved on and an apology from Ricky who never liked her back as much as Gina liked him.

Not looking forward to seeing Nini basically live out Olivia Rodrigo’s life in future seasons

Curious to see Carlos’ apology song to Seb. Ricky helping him with it is a great way to help start redeeming Ricky’s character in the audiences eye’s. According to Matt there is a bit of a Ricky/EJ rivalry this season and if it’s really happening the sleepover would be a good place to do it though I hope it’s not about Gina.

Until next week wildcats.

#HSMTMTS #Portwell #Gina Porter #EJ Caswell #Ricky Bowen #Nini Salazar-Roberts #Seblos #seb matthew-smith #HSMTMTS Reviews

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tg-headcanons · 3 years

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Touka Was Done So Dirty So I Must Analyze It

I have a lot to say about how poorly Tokyo Ghoul turned out. There was so much wasted potential, so much meaningless angst, so many straight relationships crammed where they didn’t need to be, and so many sudden, anticlimactic plot points. But of all of the mishandling and poor choices, I think that Touka’s treatment is the worst.

Touka was a complex and interesting character. She was raised by loving parents, one of whom died early, the other lived a little longer while doing everything he could to impart lessons to keep her and her brother alive. When he died she was suddenly forced to become her brother’s guardian and rush out into a world that is so much less forgiving than her father was. They got taken in by her uncle and his friends, housed and fed, and she even got the opportunity to pursue an education which is a monumental luxury to ghouls. Despite resenting humans for the way her family was massacred and she is forced to live, she became close to a human, looking past her trauma for a friendship she cherishes. Her brother reacted badly to the idea of her being around such a dangerous person who could have them killed like their parents were, and ran off to join Aogiri, leaving her and her uncle as the last remnants of their family.

Touka is angry, and id say rightfully so. Her parents murder, being forced to grow up far too fast, being forced to live in this war she was drafted into at birth, any one thing would be enough to fuck someone up. She has all that going on, so understandable, she’s going to be pissed at the world. If it ended there it would be perfect, a great starting point for a character to delve deep into the concepts of society shaping identity, but then the worst happened

Touka is an archetype I like to call ”Angry Teen Girl”

Before we talk about the archetype, let’s talk about teen girls in real life, specifically how they’re treated by society. The teen girl in the public eye is simultaneously the epitome of beauty who is seductive and manipulative and lustful, as well as airheaded and shallow and naive and pure. The way that changes has to do with the convenience of the adult male onlooker. She’s A tactical mastermind when she doesn’t want to fuck you and she’s an airhead when she has opinions. She’s a prude when she doesn’t respond to advances and a whore when she wears a t-shirt. Most importantly, she’s a silly stupid baby when she demands independence and respect, and a grown woman who should know better when she acts her age

Teen girls don’t have the same understanding that boys their age do. When a teen boy messes up its “oh he’s 15 he’s still learning.” When a teen girl messes up its “shes 15 shes practically an adult she should know better by now.” Because adult men have decided the teen girl is desirable, she’s forced to grow up faster to save them the shame of acknowledging that she is a literal child. And after being treated like stupid children and sexy mature adults, teen girls are rightfully angry. This is so universal, so all encompassing, that almost every teen girl has this undercurrent of anger and grief at how they’d been socialized. Because of that, it too is brushed off as “stupid teen girls and their silly little feelings.”

This is where the Angry Teen Girl trope comes in. There is so much history behind women’s treatment, so many valid reasons for a teenage girl to be pissed, but this character is almost always played off as a joke. Either a joke or something to fix.

Back to Touka, let’s run through this again, this time through her eyes. Her family was perfect until it was taken violently away, she had to become violent against her dead fathers wishes to protect her little brother, that little brother who she was forced to sacrifice her bloodless life for left her for having a single friend, she lived her whole life knowing that no matter who she is or what she does the world hates her and she’s going to be murdered by the state. She has to deal with all of this, and then she meets Kaneki, who tells her to her face that he’s better than her because he was human, not realizing that not eating people is a privilege from birth that she never had. Touka is angry, and Touka is a child. A traumatized child who isn’t in the right for her violent reaction, but isn’t an adult with a peaceful world who knows better

Now if people just hated her for that then fine, but there is a huge overlap of the people who hate Touka for her aggressive personality, and people who love ayato. For every “she’s a bitch who’s so mean and super violent and shouldn’t be killing investigators when she doesn’t need to and deserves getting hurt” there’s a “he’s a sweet boy who’s trying his best and he killed all those people because he’s traumatized.” More and more, it’s clear that the same sympathy given to ayato, the much more violent and aggressive sibling, is not given to his sister. Right off the bat, she’s easy for many to dismiss because the misogynistic tropes that made her are fully reinforced

She is established as a complex person who simultaneously resents humanity for how ghouls are treated and doesn’t want them dead. She’s aggressive to her loved ones as a way to protect them and kills investigators so they don’t have the chance to threaten them. She’s angry because of how she spent her whole life just barely avoiding death at the hands of a genocidal government, she’s angry that she has to live this way, she’s even angry that she had to become violent at all and couldn’t live the peaceful life she could have had

But because she is an Angry Teen Girl, nothing matters except “But She’s such a bitch”

Now Touka at this point is still a great character, but things go south fast. The focus shifts from the world and complex relationships to Kaneki. Out of nowhere, Touka is pining after him. Out of nowhere, she has feelings for him. It was more convenient to just Insert Romance instead of developing them. Even if it stopped here Touka would still be a great character, but it didn’t.

After she fled anteiku, her character died. Not only was she completely cast aside during Ken’s Plot Convenience And Honestly Lazy Amnesia arc, but everything behind her character was stripped to its bare bones

You see, the Angry Teen Girl is only a teen for so long, and she can become one of two things: Hysterical sad evil woman or Calm Momwife. It’s a problem a lot of male authors have of only seeing a woman’s anger as a character flaw. In order to keep her as a hero, her anger needs to be “fixed,” and even that isn’t done well.

Suddenly, her drive is gone. Her love of Yoriko is completely abandoned, as is her reason to care for average humans. Her ambitions of collage and success are cast aside. Her complicated feeling towards her brother become “oh I get it it’s all cool I love him and just want him safe no hard feelings haha.” By the time we see her in Re:, she is no longer Touka. She is just the Momwife personality she got crammed into because Ishida just couldn’t think of a use for this previously complex character than “Wife And Mom.”

I’m not saying that she should have stayed angry and aggressive, but she should have stayed consistent, she should have changed over time and for coherent reasons. Such pivotal parts of her character are unceremoniously thrown out, we don’t even get a good explanation for why she turned out that way. Yes, she could rebuild her family with her brother, but it should have been built up to. Yes, she could leave Yoriko behind, but it should have any reason for it at all. Hell, I’m a die hard Hidekane fan, but I’d say she could have had a great romance with Kaneki if it didn’t come out of nowhere

She was “calmed” by having her dreams stripped from her after losing anteiku. She was given her “happy ending” by getting knocked up from desperate and uncomfortable pity sex. She was a girl who wanted to go to collage and protect her loved ones, she had queer undertones of being in love with her human fried, she had reasonable aggression as a self defense mechanism. Any one of these things could spring into an arc of their own.

But all that was thrown out in favor of being the most convenient straight love interest for Kaneki, though her personality was so incompatible with him that it had to be stripped bare to even pretend it works

If she had been given the same treatment as her brother and had her anger treated as a byproduct of the way she’s forced to survive rather than a self caused character flaw, she could have been perfect. If she’d been kept in the focus and not shoved aside for so much of Re:, she would have been good. If any part of her character at all stayed in tact, she would have been fine. But instead she’s reduced to either a Bitchy Child or Momwife. She was so interesting, and I wish her character didn’t get gutted for the sake of her male family and rushed love interest

#tokyo ghoul #rant #touka kirishima #ayato kirishima #tokyo ghoul meta #tokyo ghoul criticism

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