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fellthemarvelous · 4 months

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Holy forking shirtballs

I'm choosing violence today. I started this on Twitter, but I'm going to finish my thoughts here like I always do.

But what really blows my mind the most is the way that people look at Aziraphale's "choice" at the end, as if he had one to fucking begin with.

I'm sorry, but Aziraphale knows how messed up Heaven is. He told The Metatron, more than once, that he did not want to go back to Heaven! We can debate what each of us means by "choice" all night because my "choice" and your "choice" might be two different concepts. He could have been strong armed by The Metatron or he could have looked at where things were headed and realized he had no choice but to intervene himself.

You need to ask yourself what Aziraphale has a moral imperative to do.

What do we owe to each other?

Seriously, if you have not watched The Good Place, I recommend you go and watch it, because it absolutely shaped how I've viewed Good Omens 2 since its release.

My levels of frustration with the bad faith mischaracterizations of Aziraphale are off the charts. If you are blaming him for everything, implying that he should have to grovel and that Crowley has a right to hurt him back, you have missed the point of Good Omens entirely.

I defend Aziraphale, but I don't think one of them is more right or wrong than the other. They're equals. They're a group of the two of them, acting and reacting to each other throughout history. They're Alpha Centauri.

I cannot even begin to explain how fucking devastated I felt when Crowley said these words, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. What he said took a lot of courage because he's finally admitting something they've both been too scared to publicly define for 6,000 years. Crowley has had to spend so long with a rough outer shell because he fell and had to hide all of his softness.

The look on his face was one of pure joy when he created that nebula, but I think the fact that he got to share that moment with Aziraphale is what has always stuck with him.

So yeah, seeing Crowley with a broken heart at the end of "Every Day" was sad for me as well.

My brain still lives here!!

But Neil has said that Good Omens 3 is not quiet, gentle, or romantic. I imagine it's going to be more like the the first season in which they are not central to the plot. GO2 will help us make sense of how they ended up where they are when we see the bigger picture with all the other major players involved with GO3.

Aziraphale was still a soldier and accidentally got himself discorporated in his own magic circle in season one. He had a platoon waiting on him to start Armageddon, and he deserted them to go save the world with Crowley instead. Aziraphale is a deserter. I need everyone to remember that. He yeeted himself out of Heaven and sought out Crowley before even locating a body just to warn him about what was happening so they could try to save the world together.

I can't help but think of 1941 and that magician who had been arrested for being a deserter.

Aziraphale disobeyed orders. That took courage but it branded him as a traitor against Heaven. They tried to destroy him for it the same way Hell tried to destroy Crowley for his part in stopping the war.

Aziraphale and Job are the only characters we have seen interacting with God directly. Aziraphale has spoken to God before and he is determined to do so again.

Aziraphale knows Heaven is flawed, but he also knows it's supposed to be good. He wants it to be good. He does not like the way the system works and he wants to make a difference. (And I'm pretty sure he's also determined to talk to God without being intercepted by The Metatron.)

Since when is that a bad thing? I don't get it. And I've had this discussion before.

If you need to change the system by burning the old one to the ground, it's still change, and we don't know what Aziraphale has planned.

It seems to me that people just want to see Aziraphale fail because it would punish him for returning to Heaven instead of running off with Crowley.

Some of y'all take everything Aziraphale says or does and twist those things into malicious anti-Crowley actions because you think the only reason Aziraphale exists is to make Crowley happy, and if he isn't thinking only about Crowley then he's doing something wrong.

Aziraphale does not exist as a plot device to further Crowley's character. They come as a pair. They've been learning from each other for 6,000 years. Crowley challenges Aziraphale just as much as Aziraphale challenges him.

You can be mad at Aziraphale all you want, but villainizing him is gross. Defending Crowley does not mean you have to tear down and mischaracterize Aziraphale anymore than defending Aziraphale means you have to tear down Crowley (but I don't see that happen on nearly the same level it happens to Aziraphale). Stop painting Aziraphale as an abusive partner, for fuck sake.

Aziraphale knows there are flaws in the system. He wants to make a difference, and since he has seen that Gabriel can change, then maybe the whole system can. He has to at least try, and if he can succeed then maybe he and Crowley can stop hiding and finally be together without having to look over their shoulders all the time.

Why is that a bad thing? He's just as protective of Crowley as Crowley is of him!

But don't forget that Aziraphale's wing was covering Adam and Eve too. As much as a wants to protect Crowley, he has a moral imperative to keep humanity safe as well.

He sent Adam and Eve into the unknown with a flaming sword so they could protect themselves.

As much as he wants to be with Crowley, there are 8 billion people on Earth heading toward the Second Coming and Judgment Day. They'll work together to fight alongside humanity in the end. Aziraphale should not have to humiliate himself just to earn Crowley's forgiveness. That's a rancid notion.

The Resurrectionist was a whole ass moral dilemma for Aziraphale, which is why I brought up The Good Place earlier, but that's a post for a different time.

Aziraphale has his own motivations and they're just as important as Crowley's, and they don't have to be chalked up to Aziraphale being the bad guy. Weird, I know, but shades of grey.

"To the world."

#good omens #good omens 2 #aziraphale #crowley #aziraphale defense squad #yeah i'm being bitchy #no i don't care if you're offended #no i'm not interested in your aziraphale hate #i'm not interested in hearing takes about aziraphale being toxic from people who can't even be objective #some of y'all need to watch the good place because you need a lesson in moral philosophy #we should be able to have discussions about the characters without gross takes calling aziraphale abusive #az and crowley approach everything from wildly different perspectives because of where they are #just admit y'all shit on az because he doesn't look or act like crowley #I'm so done with the shitty aziraphale takes #they aren't even interesting enough to debate #they're just annoying

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dwobbitfromtheshire · 1 year

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A/N: I wrote this because there are some people who can't accept the fact that Eddie is bisexual or can't seem to accept the fact that Eddie has had a past relationships with a woman and that invalidates bisexuals. I think if Steve were to discover that he was bisexual it would be nice to know there is someone else out there like him, his own age, and Eddie would feel the same. Robin knows what it's like to be queer but she doesn't understand what it's like to like both genders and to be judged harshly by her own community. I hate the fact that people can't possibly accept the possibility of Eddie being bisexual, of him being with a woman. Just because you don't like it or can't understand it doesn't mean it can't happen. After this, I'm back to taking a break. This is for all the bisexuals out there.

Here's a hand to hold. . .

Warning: Mentions of Eddie Munson having had a past relationship with a woman.

Eddie Munson whistled a jaunty tune as he strolled into Steve Harrington's house, unlocking it with the key Steve had given him. Yeah, Steve Harrington's house. It's been a year, and he still couldn't believe how close they were. They were best friends, and while Eddie wanted more, having Steve in his life in any way was more than enough for him. Seeing him almost every day and seeing him smile because of something Eddie said or did made Eddie's cynical heart all gooey inside like melted chocolate. He still remembered the smile on his face when he gave Eddie his house key.

"These are for people who are important to me," Steve said. "Especially those who are welcome here any time."

Eddie had to ruin the moment by squeezing Steve’s face cheeks together, giving him duck lips. Steve had just laughed, though. Currently, Eddie was calling for Steve’s name but was receiving no response. He frowned. Steve’s car was in the driveway, so he had to be home. Eddie started climbing up the stairs when he heard it. Someone was crying. He followed the sound and found Steve. He was sitting on the floor of his bathroom, weeping. The sight nearly tore his heart in two when Steve looked up at him, and his eyes were full of tears. He knelt his knees immediately, clutching Steve’s knees.

"Steve, what's wrong? Did someone do this to you? Was it your parents? Okay, that's it. I'm murdering them. I don't fucking care if I go to jail. You're worth it," Eddie rambled on.

What he said seemed to make Steve cry harder, and then Eddie began sprouting out apologies for that.

"Is it really okay, Eddie?" Steve asked.

"Is what okay?" Eddie asked.

"To like both?" Steve asked softly.

"Why would ask th - oh, okay, um, yeah. Of course, it is," Eddie said. "Who told you that it wasn't? I'll -,"

"Kill them?" Steve snorted. "Not unless you want to kill me. It's just me, you know. . ."

"Being your own worst enemy?" Eddie asked.

"I was going to say stupid, but yeah, that works too," he replied, sniffling.

"Steven Ronnie Harrington," Eddie began.

"It's Ronald," he said.

"Steven RONNIE Harrington," Eddie continued. "You are not stupid, and I will keep telling you that every single day until you believe me."

"Did you deal with these thoughts when you realized that you're -" Steve paused.

Eddie sighed and collapsed behind him, wrapping an arm around him.

"Come on, Stevie, say it with me. It's okay," Eddie said.

"Bisexual," Steve said softly.

"There it is," Eddie grinned. "And yeah, I dealt with these thoughts. I freaked out when I started realizing it. It was 'I like girls' but no, 'I like boys.' It went back and forth. 'I like girls.' 'I like boys.' 'I like girls.' It was like the worst game of ping pong ever. I kept thinking I was the worst sort of freak. Then I realized: 'wait, why the fuck can't I like both?' I finally let it start to sink over me that I did, in fact, like both. It wasn't until I heard about David Bowie and I knew the word for it. Bisexual. I, Edward Metallica Munson, am bisexual," Eddie said.

"Okay, your middle name is Lawrence," Steve said.

"It's so boring, though, Stevie! Let me have this! It sounds so much cooler!" Eddie whined. "Anyway, what was I saying?"

"You were saying that you're bisexual," he said.

"After that, I kind of had to figure out dating. My first girlfriend. . .man, I loved her, and I thought for sure I could trust her. When I told her, she had this look on her face. . .well, her words said differently. She wasn't quite so okay with it, despite what she said. She found it hard to kiss me and man. Did that hurt? I ended it. I went to this club I was told about in Indie where I met a man a couple years older than me. I was legal by then, don't worry. He was in college. I fell head over heels. He hid it well, how uncomfortable he was with my sexuality. He couldn't understand how I also liked women. He thought I was just confused. He started telling me about how he tried to like girls at first, too. We started arguing about it eventually until I was crying all the time and felt awful about myself. I loved him so much that I started to think that maybe he was right, but then I shook my head. I knew what I liked, I knew who I was. I knew he was too and told him that it was okay. It was okay to like both or to like one gender. What was not okay was to tell someone what you think they are when they aren't," Eddie said. "It's okay to like both, Stevie. It's more than okay. Don't let anyone tell you that it's not. Whether you're straight, gay, or bisexual. . .it's all okay. Don't let anyone tell you that you aren't something because they don't fucking know. Only you do."

"Uh, Eddie, you're squeezing my arm rather tightly there," Steve said.

"Oops, sorry, it gets me angry sometimes, especially when thinking about Lucas, you know. I inadvertently did the same thing. He just wanted to know that it was okay to be a nerd and a jock. I couldn't fucking tell him that. I couldn't put off D&D for one night to let him know that his game was just as important as ours? Plus, the fact that it might have been what gave the jocks the idea that we don't necessarily have to be enemies, you know. I was an asshole," Eddie rambled on.

"Well, you apologized, and Lucas forgave you. As a former asshole, I forgive you too," Steve said, and Eddid laughed.

"So, what made you realize that you're bisexual?" Eddie asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"You."

"Huh?"

"My feelings for you is what made me realize that I was bisexual because I realized I had feelings like these for boys in the past. I was like, 'Holy shit, I liked those guys.'," Steve said.

"Wait, what?!" Eddie exclaimed.

"I like you, Eddie," Steve said.

"Say that again," Eddie said, getting on his knees.

"Am I speaking another language?" Steve said, getting on his knees and cupping his face, squeezing his cheeks. "Edward Lawrence -"

"Metallica," Eddie corrected.

"Edward LAWRENCE Munson, I fucking like you," Steve said.

Eddie surged forward and kissed him, gripping his waist. Steve sighed happily against his lips and pulled Eddie closer. He pushed Eddie forward until he had his back pressed against the cold tile of the bathroom and straddled his waist as he deepened the kiss. Eddie slipped his tongue in Steve's mouth and moaned as he moved his hand down to cup Steve’s ass.

"Just as fantastic as I thought it would be," Eddie said.

"Well, it's yours now, so you can touch it as much as you want to," Steve giggled.

"You have no idea how hard I am going to hold you to that," he told him. "We should probably cool it because otherwise I'm going to end up fucking you on this bathroom floor and baby, you deserved to be wooed first."

"You're so good to me," he grinned and climbed off of him, collapsing next to him.

"Ugh, I'm still feeling a little hot," he said.

"Take your shirt off," Steve replied. "The cool tile feels good against your skin."

"You just want to see my tits. You should know, though, that I only have one nipple now," Eddie told him.

"And I bet it's a damn fine nipple. Eddie, If I swear not to try and get to second base with you, will you please take your shirt off?" Steve asked.

"Only if you do," Eddie said, and Steve affectionately rolled his eyes before pulling off his shirt, causing Eddie to whistle.

Steve threw his shirt at him and laughed when Eddie did the same. Eventually, they were just throwing their shirts back and forth while they laughed. Steve grabbed them both and threw them in the corner. Eddie sighed as his back made contact with the floor. It did feel good. He felt Steve slip his hand into his, entertwining their fingers, and Eddie gazed at Steve fondly. Sometimes, it's nice to know that there was someone there to understand what you went through, to have shared life experiences with someone who means so much to you. It's also nice to know that no matter what you are in life, there is someone there in your life to tell you it's okay. . .unless you're like a murderer or something or you want to split open a town and bring hell to Earth. That is NOT okay. Eddie's just glad he has a hand to hold.

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cassierobinsons · 7 months

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if sam not womancoded then why:

[middle class signifier]

[bad thing that happened to many of the male characters on the show]

[bad thing that happened to dean too]

longer hair

eats salads

checkmate hellers 😏

#scroll for context #yeah im being bitchy but in my defence the nsaids haven't kicked in yet #and i'm baffled that people won't let go of this #i'm sorry but having a fuck ass bob does not make sam winchester the anthy himemiya of the midwest #spn blogging

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redrobin-detective · 2 years

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a bird in the hand

“Hey uh, can I speak to Commissioner Gordon?” Officer Patricia Nolan looked up from what she’d been doing and stared. “It’s important,” the teen leaned forward conspiratorially, “Bat business, y’know?” The bullpen was always loud but right now it was silent, everyone stopping to watch their visitor. Just her luck Pat’s desk was the first one when you entered.

“Yes, I can see if he’s available,” she said faintly, glancing quickly over at what the boy was carrying in his arm but not sure how to broach the subject. She wasn’t as familiar with the capes as some of the others. “I’ll see if he’s available,” she continued as she picked up the phone on her desk. Her hands did not shake, her voice did not quiver. She was a Gotham City girl through and through, not much rattled her these days. But that’s not to say that the situation in itself wasn’t strange. Matt from from Vice speed walked by and was staring so hard he walked straight into the wall.

“Gordon,” the Commissioner answered with a sigh.

“Hey, It’s Pat Nolan,” Pat began. “You’re needed down in the bullpen, there’s a uh hero who wants to talk to you.” She glanced at the teen who was looking around the bullpen curiously. “It’s not a Bat.”

“Christ,” Gordon groaned. “Well who is it? Nevermind, I’m on my way. Too damn late for this; I thought Batman told all the other capes to stay out of the city?”

“He did, sir but I don’t exactly take orders from Batman,” the boy grinned. Pat gripped the phone a little tighter realizing he could hear Gordon through the phone. “And you probably guessed from the symbol that I’m Superboy,” he lowered his colored sunglasses with one hand. “The Suberboy.”

“Superboy will be waiting for you,” She said dutifully before replacing the phone. “The Commissioner will be down in a moment, do you want to sit?” Pat wasn’t entirely sure how to handle the situation so she just automatically defaulted to polite. It’s the reason her desk was so close to the front.

“Nah, I’m good plus I gotta hold onto my precious cargo,” Superboy said, giving ‘his cargo’ a light bounce in his arm. Being able to hold that kind of weight singlehandedly without any sort of strain, that kind of alien power you only saw once you crossed the river to Metropolis.

“Alright, I’m here, what do you- Christ on a Bike is that Robin?” Gordon jolted as he rounded the corner in his rumpled trench coat. “Is he alright?” He said but his tone was calm. Because while it was worrisome that the Boy Wonder was in the station at all, much less being held at Superboy’s hip like a toddler, the kid looked okay. His tights were a bit scuffed and he smelled vaguely of smoke but he looked entirely at ease in the other’s arm. His cheek was resting comfortably in the crook of Superboy’s neck looking, for all intents and purposes, deeply asleep.

“Oh yeah, he’s fine,” Superboy shrugged. “Rob’s just been working this arms dealing case for like, a week straight. No one is exactly sure when’s the last time he slept so once he got everything sorted, he just crashed. So anyway,” he reached into his jacket and didn’t seem phased by half of the bullpen reaching for their weapons.

He pulled out a USB and dangled it in front of Gordon. “Before he was forcibly put on the Dreamland Express, Robin wanted you to have this. It’s all his notes on the guns, who’s supplying them and evidence leading back to the guys in charge. We got some of the small fish tonight but you need a badge to get the the bigger ones.”

“Thanks,” Gordon mumbled, grabbing the USB hesitantly, like it was going to explode. “If I may ask, how did you get involved with this? Did the arms dealing originate in Metropolis?” Detective Mac groaned quietly in the back. They hated intercity especially investigations but it was worst with Metropolis, all ‘Superman this’ or ‘Superman that’. Pat kind of gets it now, the Supers have such a strong presence to them.

“Oh no, I think Robbie said these guys came from the south like Florida or something,” Superboy frowned. “I’m here because this one-” another light shake of Robin who still did not stir. “Got so wrapped up in this case he forgot our date night,” he rubbed at his eyes. “Found him making one of those string evidence charts on the fridge because he ran out of room on the counter.”

“And Batman?” Gordon questioned, like he didn’t want to know the answer.

“I think he’s in Japan on League business,” Superboy tilted his head in thought, “or was it Norway? Anyway not here. Rob always goes a little overboard when Bats isn’t around to spray bottle him into taking a break like hello, you’ve got nothing to prove, we already know you’re super sexy and way smarter than Batman.”

No one quite knew what to say to that so they just stayed quiet. Superboy glanced at the clock and groaned.

“Shit, I didn’t realize it was so late. I’m gonna be in so much trouble when I get home once I drop this idiot off,” he ended his sentence with a soft kiss to the top of Robin’s hair. “Hey, did anyone catch the end to the Knights/Meteors baseball game? I caught some of the eighth inning when Rob and I raided the warehouse where they were storing some of the guns, I think the Meteors were up.”

“They were,” Detective Driver said with a smug grin. “it was 8-9 Meteors but Matheson hit a triple at the bottom of the ninth and it ended 9-12 for the Knights.”

“Hell, we keep crumping at the last minute,” Superboy huffed. “I’m telling you that new pitcher they brought in from St. Louis ain’t cutting it; hope they trade him back at the end of the season.”

“Might as well trade the whole team while you’re at it,” Driver goaded. “Metropolis hasn’t put up a good showing since the miracle season of ‘93. If I were you, kid, I’d fly to a city with a better team.”

“Man, get off my back,” Superboy grinned. A couple people gasped quietly when he lifted himself up off the floor. “And be careful what you say; I doubt Robin will move to me if we decide to move in together which means y’all,” he clicked his tongue and did a one armed finger gun, “will have to deal with me on a more long term basis. Anyway, thanks for the help and uh the service you do. See ya.”

He turned and flew out the way he’d came, down the stairs to the main lobby and presumably out the front doors. And the whole time, Robin hadn’t moved from his slumber as if there were nowhere safer than his friend’s -boyfriend’s?- arms.

“Well that sure was something,” Montoya grumbled from the back.

“Bad enough we got Batman and his little kid freaks running around but now he have Supers too?” Chandler groaned, resting her forehead on the desk.

“Did you guys see-,” Stacy, the secretary and unofficial Batsignal operator said, poking her head in. She winced, “I guess you did.” She smiled and held her hands over her heart. “Well I think they’re cute, SuperWonder is so two years ago, SuperRobin is the only true ship.”

“I have no idea what you’re saying and I don’t want to know,” Gordon sighed, shoving the USB into his coat pocket and shuffling out of the bullpen. “If you need me, I’ll be going over this evidence and wondering why I’m still in the game if lovesick teenagers are doing my job for me.”

#literally could not get the image of Kon just like casually talking to the GCPD while holding Tim on his hip whos just zonked #Kon: I'm helping :DDD #Tim 10.5 hours later when he wakes up: I can never show my face in that building ever again #I'm very proud of remembering the officer's names from Gotham Central #idk about personalities I did my best haha #Stacy ships it as she should #the GCPD finds they like Superboy #esp as he stops by more and more with Robin #yeah he's terrifying powerful but he can talk the talk while having that sarcastic bitchy attitude you need to survive in gotham #Robin shows up with evidence #GCPD: hey where's ur man???#anyway Kon is a good boyfriend while also being so stupid but he's very punk rock and I love him so fucking much

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mommyashtoreth · 3 months

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I am Not someone who thinks that like, character traits change significantly with different gender presentations for Any character, but I think fundamentally Aziraphale and Crowley are both switches, but Crowley is more dommy when she's in girlmode and more subby when he's in guymode, and vice versa for Az, more dommy when he's in guymode and more subby when she's in girlmode. I won't even pretend this is a legitimate intellectual character analysis I literally just think this is the hottest way to do it. Really just says a lot about me and my tastes I think

#yeah i'm posting sex in the goomen tag again you people can fucking handle it. i need this you have no idea what i go through #'my tastes' being i like upfront evil dom girlmilfs and sympathetic 'oh poor thing oh what a good boy' dom guymilfs #and i like goth bitchy brat-type sub guys and niceys nerdy but secretly a total super turbo freak-type sub girls #in case anyone wants to freudian psychoanalyze THAT #open mick night #good omens #gomens #aziraphale #crowley #do you guys have a dedicated sex tag. you SHOULD #okay now my clout tags #aziracrow #ineffable spouses #ineffable wives #<- how i attract women with lesbicious tendencies to me

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thehallstara · 2 years

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listen. i simply think people really need to educate themselves on the hallmarks of antisemitism and not just leave it to jews to get all the backlash for pointing it out because it’s incredibly insidious and even more dangerous when left to fester

#s.txt #is this bitchy??? yeah a little #antisemitism #i'm fucking exhausted i'm sorry i'm so fucking tired #idk what about me just screams be a freak to this person for being loudly jewish #but it's getting to me this week and i'm fucking over it i'm exhausted jsndhbsk #ok to rb ig #actually please do bc again. i'm fucking tired sdjhfgsj

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lord-squiggletits · 9 months

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Something I keep seeing when I speak to others about MTMTE Megatron is basically the idea that he's going on a personal journey to become a better person, that the point isn't for him to be "redeemed" but for him to get a chance to do good and die as a person he can live with again. That MTMTE presents a unique take on this because being away from Cybertron gives Megatron a chance to be a person rather than a political figure and this is how it gives him more depth as a character. Or just generally pointing out in a narrative sense that Megatron being in MTMTE limits his story options so of course his story is going to be more focused on a personal journey than on politics of him dealing with the Decepticons/Earth/etc and that just because JRO made a choice to take that path with Megatron doesn't mean that it's inherently bad.

And I'm just, mmm like I understand all of those points and acknowledge that they all contributed to the MTMTE Megatron we got. I even think that without JRO writing Megatron we wouldn't have had his lore be as fleshed out and 3D as it ended up becoming.

(Post starts out as a sort of meta analysis or at least me giving a reasoned explanation for my interpretation of the story, ends up being petty bitching in the last 1-2 paragraphs)

I just..... I just personally don't agree with the "he's becoming a better person by getting a chance to relax and experience happiness and trust after a life of trauma" as being the best choice for his character? Because the problem is that maybe if he were a random Decepticon foot soldier that would be appropriate, but he was literally the leader of the Decepticons that made them Like That and has political/cultural/societal responsibility for why things are the way they are? To be completely frank, I don't care about him going on a personal journey for self-peace, I think that he should become a better person by helping to un-fuck all the things he actually screwed up???

Like idc about the debate of whether he can be "redeemed" or if he should've been killed/imprisoned/etc at the ending. It just comes down to the fact that for me personally, I feel that since Megatron's wrongdoings were at a social level, him "being a better person" would've been better shown by him engaging with those people who he wronged instead of just going on a frigging personal journey for his legacy and self-peace???

Especially since in other series (exRID, possibly Windblade) we literally got plots like "the neutrals hate Autobots but they hate Decepticons even more" and "the Decepticons have been taken over by Galvatron and are now invading earth 2 electric boogaloo" and "yeah the Decepticons are literally living in slums because people hate them so much and won't give them any work." It just leaves me wondering why in the hell people are like, "oh Megatron got to be happy and have a chance to be a normal person." I don't want him to be normal! I want him to repay his debts to the people he actually wronged! Like if you want to cast Megatron as a hero of the people so badly (which so many of his stans do as if he actually cared about the Cons) then how do you reconcile the fact that Megatron just fucked off and left the Decepticons to suffer on Cybertron? Including some of them attacking during his trial and getting killed and Megatron is basically like "sorry, I'm not coming with you and this isn't going to work." And then Megatron complains about "toxic Decepticon loyalty" as if he didn't literally make them that way? Like I get that MTMTE Megatron is still an asshole but if you've read something besides MTMTE and know what the Decepticons are going through, it just ends up being really grating.

I just don't see Megatron as being a particularly good hero or having a particularly fulfilling story if he's completely isolated from all the bad things he did on Cybertron/the way the Decepticons are suffering until LL#25 where it's like "ah damn I'm going to trial now, well this is what I deserve so it's fine." Why could we not have seen something like Megatron trying to deradicalize the Decepticons or change their public image so they could integrate into normal Cybertron again? They were living in SLUMS and getting gunned down by Starscream's badgeless enforcers!

The best we got was the Functionist Universe but like.... I'm sorry, but JRO inventing a whole alternate universe for Megatron to save doesn't do jack shit to save or fix the people he left behind in this one. It was especially grating to read because JRO literally wrote in someone saying "you saved billions of lives from the Functionists" as if he was trying really hard to show how good Megatron is because he saved people (and also if not for Megatron existing Cybertron would be even worse and half of your faves would be enslaved or dead, also the Functionist Council was going to genocide organics too so technically they're WORSE than Megatron since they hate organics AND want to enslave their own race).

I read Barber's, JRO's, and MScott's series concurrently using the omnibus + a release order list for phase 3, and after all that I'm kind of puzzled why the fandom seems to ardently love MTMTE Megatron and think he's so well written but then also shit on Optimus for things that he did during the same points in the story? Because, and I know this is a blazing hot take, I honestly think that Optimus makes a better hero of his story than Megatron does for his, and Optimus' personal journey combines his personal and political identities into a narrative that's a lot more gruelling and questioning of his goodness than we got for Megatron in MTMTE. Which is fucking saying something considering Megatron committed crimes against sapient species and Optimus is the guy who tried to stop him from doing that and has always been pro-equal rights for all beings. But people pretty much just cherrypick things like Optimus annexing Earth or beating up Prowl and go "he's bad" and I'm like no??? IDW OP isn't a bad person or a bad character??? It's just that unlike MTMTE Megatron he's placed in a narrative that actually suits the nature of his actions and has themes that match. To the point that IMO sometimes Barber's narrative shits on Optimus excessively or paints him mainly in the most unflattering ways.

But like. It's just funny to me because Optimus spent his entire part of the story doing things like trying to stop Earth from being invaded/colonized yet again. Grappling with his identity as Prime and dealing with the fact that people literally worship him vs. the fact that his upbringing made him see the Primacy as nothing more than a facade of authority/leadership. Having people get mad at him for prioritizing politics over friendship/relationships with other people. Even getting shit on for being a cop a decent amount so people can STFU about IDW OP being "copaganda" or "not held responsible for his actions". The problems that Optimus dealt with were personal because they had to do with his self-doubt, culpability for the war as a leader of one of the armies, distance from his soldiers, etc. But all of these are also POLITICAL struggles. Because Optimus gave up on the chance to just be a normal person having personal struggles when he chose to become a LEADER, which also means that he's held to extremely high standards that he regularly fails at in the eyes of others.

That's why, to me, MTMTE Megatron falls flat in comparison and really as a "hero" or heel-face character in general? Because he also made a decision to be a leader, and IMO once you do things like become the commander of an army and start your own galactic empire, you lose the right to prioritize your personal problems and instead are obligated by the power you've chosen to wield to focus on your POLITICAL problems. If Megatron's power, influence, and crimes are of a social-political nature, then his heel-face turn arc and ways of showing that he's a better person/helping to heal what little damage he possibly can should have been shown with actions that help on a social-political LEVEL. That's why I'm not particularly impressed with his character arc and feel as if it was overhyped by other people in this fandom: sure, the extra character depth and emotion is nice, but I'm not really going to see him as extraordinary or even particularly good when the extent of him "becoming a better person" happens entirely on a random road trip to fuck-off nowhere. Especially not when the ending of LL tried to sell me a "they lived happily ever after" ending while basically leaving the freaking MUTINY as just Rodimus going "oh it's okay you're forgiven, we're all together again" and I guess everyone was fine with Megatron and wanted to spend an eternity on a ship with him just because Getaway died.

This is why I like (the concept/themes of) exRID/OP and the way Optimus' character arc was handled a lot more. Because for Optimus, the personal and the political were as one. He was held accountable for his actions towards others and the disruptive effects they had on a social level, sometimes to a ridiculous extent (the fucking "oh Megatron is an Autobot so now that makes the Autobots colonizers" plot and that stupid colonist screaming about how Optimus is "literally fascist" my beloathed). Even his very personal issues like his relationship with Zeta were still cast in a wider lens of, yeah this is a personal struggle that Orion faced, but he was still part of a Society TM and his actions were sometimes ill-informed or harmful to others. Even if I had a lot of problems with the way Optimus' story was written by Barber (plot holes, little meaningful character interaction, forced conflicts), at least the BASELINE of it was way better than Megatron's in MTMTE. Especially since Optimus' struggle was explictly about things like struggling with responsibility and how he feels he HAS to intervene in political affairs because has to save people/make up for his past mistakes. That's something that a good leader/good person actually does, so I found Optimus to be a better hero (even if his actions weren't all "good") because he was trying to be a good person by actually getting involved with Cybertron/Earth and subjecting himself to something he hates (leadership, war) and dealing with a shitload of criticism instead of just going on a fuckin "personal journey" lksdlkfsd.

Which just makes me extra salty that people hold up MTMTE Megatron as the pinnacle of Megatrons and literally the best Transformers writing evar! while turning up their nose and ignoring or outright despising IDW Optimus. Like okay. I guess since Megatron got handled with silk gloves on while Optimus got put through the wringer of being shit on by every other person in the story, it's easier for you to pretend that Megatron is a poor uwu boy who just needs friendship and love while Optimus is literally the worst bastard to ever exist. Or maybe it's just that since Optimus' story involves him sometimes fucking up, being criticized, or making things worse, that makes him morally bad. As opposed to Megatron who disrupted a lot of other characters' stories in MTMTE, had to have an entire alternate universe invented so that he could "save lives," and got to sail off on a quantum Lost Light happily ever after, so since he's happy and the story says he saved people that means he's a good hero.

#squiggposting #it started out sort of analytical but ended up bitchy #i also feel like for some reason my understanding of what a redemption arc is is different from others?#when i talk to people about it they keep saying 'well M can't make up for what he did'#and i'm like. no that's not what i mean by redemption arc #to me redemption arc literally just means 'a character goes from bad to good over the course of a story'#whether they're forgiven or if they can 'make up for it' objectively is irrelevant like #redemption arc is literally a common label used for the general trope so idk where this confusion is coming from?#also hot take when i say a character should be redeemed i'm literally not talking about wether they're forgiven or pardoned in universe #i just mean. as a reader. do i read their story arc and see them go from bad to good and progress in meaningful ways #do they do something. anything. to address or apologize or fix what they did #is there some sort of symbolic or literal sacrifice or act of service or any Good Thing even if it's only one single moment #then to me they've been redeemed in a narrative sense. it has nothing to do with whether they can literally compensate for hteir crimes #anyways. the tldr of this is that i don't hate mt/mte at all and i also don't hate idw M. i love them in fact #it's just i feel like i was severely let down by how much this fandom hyped and continues to hype mt/mte meg #(peg/gy the pirate spongebob meme voice) that's it? that's the M redemption arc?#that's just a guy going on a space road trip and being emo #mfs tried to tell me it was one of the best tf stories ever written and i'm like. yeah thanks but no #worse still ppl came out of m/tmte going 'actually M was right about everything'#and i'm like. shit take and you are spreading this nonsense everywhere including shitting on my faves w your bad takes #mfs wanna call M a hero of the ppl who at least cared about the cons when he literally left them for broke on cybertron #i don't think idw M had a good heel-face turn arc bc he didn't really like do anything meaningful in the wider scope of things #what if idw M achieved inner peace by protecting the cons and making sure they had rights post war. how about that #i mean for various reasons the story would've been more complicated than that due to editorial and company mandate bullshit #i just feel as if talking about the story narrative itself IDW M's redemption arc is far from remarkable #except for the fact that JRO dared to do it at all perhaps #(vine voice) that's my OPINION!!!!!

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