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proudproship · 7 months

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Not so friendly reminder that creating "dark" or "taboo" fiction can be a sign of childhood trauma!

More below the cut. Warning: long post.

TW: Mentions of trauma, child abuse, and paraphilias

Hi. I'm someone who studies psychology and sociology, and someone who also happens to have an interest in this shipping discourse stuff.

So, back to what I said a few paragraphs ago: Creating "dark" or "taboo" fictional content can be a sign of childhood trauma.

How?

When a child goes through something they consider traumatic, their brain will play the situation on repeat subconsciously, which can cause hypervigilance and symptoms of PTSD.

A common sign of PTSD in young children is that they will reenact their trauma with things like dolls, drawings, figures, and basically any other thing they can use to express their thoughts.

For example, a child who has gone through physical abuse may reenact similar things with their toys, such as making their dolls hit or yell at each other.

This symptom isn't limited to children, though. It is a symptom closely related to the presence of flashbacks and nightmares.

Many artists will create a "self-insert" character, "sona," or a character who is otherwise much like it's creator; when an artist creates a character like this and also has past trauma, their symptoms may reflect onto their character.

Projecting yourself onto characters can happen with other characters as well, even if you didn't make the character.

This is a healthy symptom. It shows that the brain is willing to become stronger from their trauma.

Reenacting trauma in ways that aren't harmful can help the brain process what happened to them, and can even help them deal with their trauma directly.

In order to heal trauma, you must know what your trauma is; you can't heal a wound you don't know you have.

While dark fiction creators are indulging in positive healing mechanisms, certain people will shun them for doing so.

"Antishippers" claim to be the "heroes" and to support healing, even though the thing that makes someone be considered and antishipper is if they're "anti healing through fiction."

Antishippers will throw the same ableist rhetorics around by claiming "if you ship adult x child you're a pedophile!" or "if you have age gap ships (even if both are consenting adults) you're a pedophile!"

This, not only is it hurting trauma survivors (especially those who have been harmed by those with paraphilic disorders), it is hurting EVERY disabled person.

Armchair diagnosis is not something anyone should do.

It is when there is little to no evidence that the condition exists within a person, though people still throw labels onto them to make them seem like they're a "bad guy." (Usually.)

This is also hurting people with actual paraphilias. Paraphilic disorder is real condition characterized by intrusive thoughts of a (usually abnormal or harmful-if-acted-on) sexual nature.

Even if someone claims to not be ableist but still demonizes and villainizes paraphilias, they're ableist.

Ableism is ableism.

And before an anti decides to call me a "pedo-apologist," go right ahead! You don't know what you're saying anyways.

There is a difference between a criminal and a disabled person.

Proship people do not support abuse. Anyone who claims to be proship but still supports abuse is NOT proship.

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Of course anyone who makes dark content doesn't have to have past trauma.

There are many people who make dark content that don't have what they'd consider trauma, or think their trauma is unrelated to the content they create.

What if they did experience something traumatic in the future?

They'd be able to cope with it better, because they'd seen it in fiction before, so they'd know the impact of it, and how they could handle it.

Of course, not everyone who indulges in fiction will be able to handle it, though.

However, no matter if they have past trauma or not, assume the best when it comes to content creators.

They're creative and strong, and we should be thankful that they're adding onto fandom culture by just existing and doing what they love.

All people, no matter what fictional content they create, are beautiful in their own way and should be met with kindness and compassion.

Do not go out of your way to harass/abuse innocent people.

Do not go out of your way to be ableist towards content creators and content consumers.

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Thank you for reading my long post, I hope it helped at least a bit.

Have a great day/night and stay safe, no matter your taste in fiction.

Feedback is appreciated, and reblogs are encouraged.

#tw trauma #tw abuse #tw paraphilia #proship #proship please interact #profic #anti anti #comship #proship safe #childhood trauma #para safe #reblog please

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inconspicious-random-thoughts · 2 months

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Your idea of all soul contracts being voided is very interesting and something I've also played around with/considered. It's a major systemic issue that makes life in Hell extremely difficult for those without power (which is most). If Charlie truly wanted to improve life for all sinners, including those who don't want to be redeemed, targeting that system of ownership would be key and I think it'd be a great progression for her character/mission. If Heaven won't play by their own rules, then give Hell the overhaul it needs that improves life for everyone and remove the possibility of soul ownership completely.

I do want to say, with regards to Valentino's behavior, I personally see him showing restraint in some circumstances. Yes, he SAID he wanted to go and shoot up the hotel but after his initial tantrum with the model, he just sat in his room patiently waiting for Vox. I think there is potential to reason with him, but it'd have to be through someone he trusted (Vox and/or maybe Velvette) AND he'd have to be calmed down first to help him move past the pull to impulsivity. He was also able to rein it in pretty well with Charlie even when she was bafooning it up in his studio, on his turf... I just think it would be fascinating to explore the Vees as potential forces/influences of change and how Charlie could incorporate them into her plan. You'd likely have to get them battered down enough to even be willing to negotiate, but end of the day they are business people and I think they can be reasoned with. Even just within exploration of the adult content industry... turnover is extremely high. Maybe Vox/Velvette could be shown the numbers dipping on Angel Dust's popularity and it would then be their job to convince Valentino to drop him. For them, it's money but maybe for Valentino it's power and then that can be explored in their respective character arcs (ie. WHY does Valentino want that power/what is he gaining from it)? There are so many interesting ways you can play with these themes/characters that isn't a boring "Valentino gets stabbed to death" plot point.

So, I really hope the show chooses the more complex exploration of these characters (and gives consideration to their respective backgrounds that may be influencing their decision-making) rather than reducing them to boring cartoon villains (I also hope to GOD they don't betray each other, I love that they have their own little family among the three of them).

Let us see Charlie trying to win them over to her cause. Let us see Charlie challenged with the idea that some people like the life they've made in Hell/don't want Heaven as endgame BUT that doesn't mean they can't improve their practices or help make life in Hell better for all. There's a lot of potential. I think it also really reinforces the main theme that everyone is capable of change.

This is all personal preference/morality, but for me I truly believe that everyone has the capacity to grow. Yes this includes Valentino. If there is "no hope" for some people and no one bothers to reach out because they're deemed irredeemable, then what incentive is there for them to ever get better? Why shouldn't they just become a worse and worse version of themself then, potentially victimizing and harming more people along the way? Approaching Charlie's school of thought where everyone can be redeemed with a plan that focuses on rehabilitating individuals (and breaking down what that means/how that varies person-to-person) is a natural next step. Understanding why someone like Valentino is the way he is, how the system of Hell has contributed to the problem on a societal level, and what tools he should be given to cope/make better decisions in the future WHILE also protecting his victims from additional harm are all critical steps that I think Charlie (and the show) need to start taking more seriously... if their plan is to really explore this idea of redemption, anyway. This would also apply to characters like Sir Pentious and Angel Dust. Everyone is in Hell for a reason, everyone has a past and a laundry list of wrong that needs to be addressed and given care. How many lives did Angel Dust ruin as a mobster? What had Sir Pentious even done prior to his stay in the hotel that landed him in Hell in the first place?

So much potential in all these characters. I really hope the writers really flesh them out. Sorry for going on too long at the end there, your comments just got me thinking.

Exactly. It is a huge systemic issue and if the show been greenlighted multiple season ahead of time, I'm sure there be an a subplot about it. As it something Charlie see how the contracts affect her people greatly and it would be a project she take on to change it. It's a huge undertaking as is basically restructuring the government that been running on the principle for multiple thousands of years. It's just how things are and she wants to change that.

The contracts originally was about a weaker demon seeking out the protection of a stronger demon to keep them safe from the rest of Hell in exchange of servitude. After several thousand years it evolves and got a bit more corrupted but the bases of it still exist. But the protection became more the overlord defending their territory/property.

Obviously the overlords are the ones that will suffer for it, despite it making things harder to the owned souls to exist in Hell and possibly unfair how they obtain it, (But also keep in mind, the deal was consented by both parties, both agreed.) it is unfair to the overlords when it just the the way things are and no warning of a sudden structural change. They are being punished/losing for playing the long game well while playing by the rules of Hell at the time. They were winning at a game and then the host decided it time to change the rules.

The overlords will:

1) lose their compensation after they held up their end of the deal.

2) lose a large if not all chuck of their power and status.

3) most importantly they will become targets after they were forced to give up their power and their numbers that would have defended them. Lets face it, once contracts get voided and overlords losing their power and status, a bulk of sinner will want to retaliate. Attack the overlord that held them or attack another overlord that they felt wrong them and now have the opportunity to do so when they are not overpowered.

This doesn't only effect the big honcho overlords we seen, there be smaller ones...mobs and gangs and what not. But considering the majority of characters we meet are overlords it would be interesting to see how they deal with this as an audience. Probably an overlord meeting about it if they got intel what was being plan and trying to derail it from happening, or a civil war among the overlords on the approach how to deal with it.

If there is a civil war about it, the overlords who still be upset but willing to work with Charlie/Lucifer would be Carmilla, Zestial, Rosie. They just generally to care about Hell and probably treat their souls fairly well. Rosie probably be least affected by it all. She owns souls, but I think her souls will still follow and look upon as a leader even after they been freed, and cannibal town will more or less run the same as it was before. Carmilla and Zestial would probably have a similar situation.

Unname overlord may be included in this.

The Vees will obvious be against it, and Zeezi might be on the undecided side but more on keeping things the way things are. She doesn't seem like she be an overlord to give up her wants and needs in favor for a better society if it can be avoided it.

Alastor will play double agent im sure. He always have like 3 hidden agendas he working at the same time that are his own her other peoples he force to follow. He be annoyed he lose his souls but then again, he would have his own freedom again.

The best possible solution I can think to fixing the infractractor to what Charlie wants, is to wean out the contracts. Creating a clean slate immediately would be problematic. Have the contracts expired in a decade. AND/OR if new contracts can still be made, have there be term limits. A soul can only be bind to a contract for X amount of years then it can be renegotiated or let it null and void. It be a hassle for the overlords for sure as the constantly, and make extra effort on treating souls better for the soul to want to remain under contract/protected while the other try to earn that spot. Possibly a guideline has to be drawn up to have a basic math for length of servitude. If the overlord provide x to the demon, the demon would serve x amount of years.

One thing I wonder is do overlords provide housing and such as part of their protection? Most sinners don't really seem to have jobs to afford housing and food. Most of the sinners we see are working in the guidelines of their contract. So how are they getting money for things? Is being provided with the necessities part of the protection?

But we have to keep in mind, we see how much the people regret their decision on selling their souls. It seem, like most if not all the people who sold their soul regret it. Its nearly common knowledge that its a bad deal to do it...yet...people still do it. They choose to go along and do it regardless thinking they were the special exception. So yes, they are a victim...but at the same time...are they?

I don't think the regret would not be an all time if its limited to a certain amount of years. That if it something they did regret, at least it there's a light at the end of the tunnel and not just a bleak all of eternity experience. Terms limits would at least have both parties put effort into the relationship if they are satisfied with the deal. Both parties have to put effort to want the other to stay in.

Not saying this can be the endgame solution but it can be a start down that path.

You have a point there. Valentino is a violently impulsive but your right, there was some points he did not act out immediately the way he wanted. He had his hissy fit and tore up a model before he sulked waiting for Vox advice. But I did forgot about Val calming down slightly and waiting for Vox. I also forgot about episode 4 completely. Honestly, it makes his character better that he able to reign in some of that impulsive violent nature. It would make the lost of Angel dust contract better. Im sure Val would trash the room the moment he lost is but after thrashing about to calm down he just be seething without acting out on it. Which...I sort of want to see now. I'm sure there still need to put precautions about Val retaliating. Val would want revenge even if he lost the contract fairly. Val would want to send a message hes not someone to fuck with but perhaps he won't actually act upon it like he would want to. At least wouldn't be a blind tantrum rampaging retaliation if he did act out a little.

I just think it would be fascinating to explore the Vees as potential forces/influences of change and how Charlie could incorporate them into her plan. You'd likely have to get them battered down enough to even be willing to negotiate, but end of the day they are business people and I think they can be reasoned with.

True, very true. Vox and Velvette are fairly level headed people. Well, except about Vox isn't when it comes to Alastor.

Which makes me wonder...

If Vox losing his shit about Alastor

Val losing it about Angel

Who makes Velvette lose her shit about? Can't wait for that character to be introduced.

Even just within exploration of the adult content industry... turnover is extremely high. Maybe Vox/Velvette could be shown the numbers dipping on Angel Dust's popularity and it would then be their job to convince Valentino to drop him. For them, it's money but maybe for Valentino it's power and then that can be explored in their respective character arcs (ie. WHY does Valentino want that power/what is he gaining from it)? There are so many interesting ways you can play with these themes/characters that isn't a boring "Valentino gets stabbed to death" plot point.

That would be actually pretty interesting to see. Angel losing popularity. Probably caused by his stay at the hotel. Having the other Vees try to talk Val on not using Angel so much with them going by the numbers and trending.

Actually, Angel being in the hotel might making him almost an embarrassing cringe meme at some point and Velvette and Vox trying to talk Val not using Angel so tarnish their brand. Because they want to be trending in a good way. I don't think Val wouldn't give up the contract because I think Val really likes having Angel around for himself even if Angel not a big income anymore. Maybe Angel becoming a joke and not a money maker Val would hesitantly accept an offer for Angel soul if the payout was big enough.

Even if it not dramatic, I kind of want this play out now. It like the safest and agreeable way to end the terms without much fear of retaliation.

I think it be really sweet way to play out. The hotel residence, and Cherri if she hasn't joined, chip in with everything they have to buy Angel freedom. Lucifer, Charlie and Alastor able to contribute more and possible offer something with more weight like a restricted favor at a given time. Angel would be so grateful and feel so love that everyone did it, that if they felt like a family to him before it only furthered it. It also open up to some Angel angst if favors were offered and the Val request wasn't agreeable to the one giving the favor but has to serve out anyways. Angel would feel so much guilt over it.

I am a huuuuuge sucker for backstory and character growth. I love character growth. Even if they don't grow, I like how we eventually learn of their back stories to understand why they are the way they are. Make you sympathise with them even if you don't agree with their methods.

I hate black and white/ right and wrong anything..I love how everything grey and having that explored. I mean, the vast majority of people are not evil or good for the sheer sake of it. It usually stems from something that propels people in that direction.

My favorite trope is a villian is sort of in the right in their own way but they went about it wrong. Basically the ends justify the means.

(I also hope to GOD they don't betray each other, I love that they have their own little family among the three of them).

That....never crossed my mind. I would feel so betrayed myself if that would happen. I love their little family. But if one would betray, its Velvette. But it better not happen. They need to stick together! Even if I suspect Velvette be the one out of the three to betray, I doubt she will. Phone Case as evidence. Vox and Val phone case is their own personal brand symbols while Valvette is about all three of them. She probably the biggest heart of all of them and makes them stick together.

I been thinking about this exact thing SO MUCH lately. I wanted to make a post about it but didn't end up doing it.

Like, Alastor is a prime example of this. He doesn't want redemption. Giving the life he had, he probably never felt so freeing until he landed in Hell. In life people scampered away or looked away in disgust and hatred because of his heritage, he was taken advantage because of heritage and social standing. He had to hide his identity behind radio to be able to converse freely without judgement and treated equal. The activities he enjoy he had to keep secret. But in Hell? people scamper away out of fear of his power, he can indulge in all his deplorable actives he enjoy. He can force people to listen to him. Hell was freeing for him. It's everything he needs and wants aside not being with his mother. He doesn't want redemption. He doesn't want to give up his fun and entertainment. He doesn't want to give up his power and status. It's Hell, hes going to have his bad days especially with his shackles but overall how he going to enjoy heaven for eternity if he bloodthirsty and enjoys annoying people without receive retaliation?

Even if he makes it to heaven...it be similar to his life on Earth. His power would be equal or lower of the residence of Heaven. They will learn how heinous he once was. They will be disgusted by him and move to the other side of the street to avoid him. He be happy to see his mother...but can he really bring himself to her after...everything? Her having the knowledge of everything because word would get around. She may work past it, but Alastor would feel that her eyes won't look at him the same way as it once before. It pains him greatly. It pains his mother having that knowledge. Heaven not suppose to hurt. He can't have the both of them suffer like that. It's best that she remains in the dark of his deeds because whatever worst case scenario she can dream up about her sweet little boy it wrist slap compared what he actually committed.

He doesn't want redemption...

...but it doesn't mean he can be rehabilitated which I think has already starting to happen. He curb his activities for the image of for the hotel. He hides his particular diet from their eyes to not disgust them. He still gets to indulge and commit murders but now its more reserved for the defence of the hotel and its residents. He always had his own moral code when it came to his murders. But it seem like he hasn't "hunted" since he been at the hotel because he didn't want it getting back to Charlie and disappoint her or ruin the hotel image IMO. So, I think we already seeing Alastor being slowly rehabilitated without him or anyone realizing it. The longer he there the more he going to feel fond with the other residence and continue to change some of his habits for their benefit.

I agree. For Charlie to really move forward with her redemption she needs to start trying to get to the root of the problems. Trust falls isn't going to be the answer. I think she been hesitate because she doesn't want to push boundaries which is a good thing and to extent is working. They feel safe and relatively there's trust and strong bonds....but at the same time...its not solving much either. But progress is progress I suppose no matter what speed.

What had Sir Pentious even done prior to his stay in the hotel that landed him in Hell in the first place?\

Seriously, What did he do?! He such a cinnamon roll.

So much potential in all these characters. I really hope the writers really flesh them out.

There is a lot of potential and I think that what make this show fun! We only know so much about them so it really fun trying to fill in the blanks and figure out their motives. I don't think any of them are meant to be 2 dimensional or plot devices but have several layers. That even the seemingly simplistic character will have complexity. I just hope the show keeps getting renewed so we can be offered everything the creator wanted to give.

Sorry for going on too long at the end there, your comments just got me thinking.

It's okay. It's a delight to know that my rambling can do that. That they might inspire or help someone get creative about the fandom. I only made this blog to just get ideas out of my head of what I'm hyper fixated on which is currently, Hazbin. I didn't really expected anyone would actually read it much less, like or interact with it. I just find it surprising when it happens but brings me joy that my words and thoughts seem to have some meaning to someone.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel headcanon #hazbin hotel theory #alastor the radio demon #hazbin thoughts #hazbin theory #hazbin valentino #hazbin hotel valentino #valentino #hazbin angel dust #angel dust hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel angel dust #angel dust #the vees #hazbin vees #hazbin hotel vees

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rontra · 3 months

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I have never played persona so I wasn't sure if I would understand your failteacher comics but I just looked up the characters for a little bit of context and I'm 👀👀👀👀 at it now xD

Without being too spoiler-y, why would you say they'd have a messy relationship? (Besides the fact of Becky taking advantage of her client's loneliness)

HAHAHA yea i think the like dramatic irony enjoyment of knowing (even just roughly) what's going on with becky is very strong so good on you there (obviously toriumi has no idea what's going on with her and becky is doing her best to Handle It, but it contextualizes her behavior for Us...<3)

it's yummy isnt it... its yummy

anyway, the rest of this very long post is just me analyzing a fictional situation i myself engineered, so if that sounds boring please dont click the Read More LMFAO <- cursed to put a lot of thought into Character Stuff

basically they have great potential for mess, which they're Currently keeping a lid on, but would exponentially increase with time. teehee.

as for what WILL happen, im not spoiling anything concrete of course… (winks at the Knowers who already know my Vision….

well, this AU isn't ever going to devolve into a "super destructive toxic nightmare" mess or anything, just to get our working definitions of 'mess' sorted out at the top of the post. not this time. atm (as of comic #3) it's shaping up more like a "this seems . inadvisable and absolutely Don't Try This At Home, but i guess it won't…kill you" mess (LMAO)

to assess their situation at present… there is one half who wants money (and can't ever make enough of it to satisfy her extortionists), and one half who wants intimacy (and is scared and unable to get it on her own). on its exterior face, it's simply a lonely person hiring a professional to keep them company, which is a fairly common thing n not rly super noteworthy; the parentheticals are what make things a bit uh thorny for these characters

the "problem" here is not the transaction itself; they're both willing to supply their half of the trade just fine, and neither party is doing anything wrong by engaging in it. but for these two specifically, there is also a mutual willingness to bend the rules of their transaction—because they're both cornered in some way, and desperate for what the other one is offering to trade

to elaborate on "rules", i mean, first and foremost, that their relationship is not "real"—these people Don't know each other personally and intimately, and they're Not Supposed To. their relationship should never be "real"; they're not friends! (or lovers, for that matter!) they're in a conditional exchange of money for services. right now, these characters are participating in and maintaining a kayfabe; they should operate under a tacit understanding that A) this is not real, B) they both fully know it's not real, and C) following the script is the comfortable way to get what they both want without causing undue risk to either party. creating and then maintaining a fake "reality" together is regulated by a contract between them, and it ends when their booked time ends (and not a minute over time!)

but to return to the earlier point, they're also both cornered and desperate, which drives them both to go beyond what might be considered appropriate. i think this is compelling; it's probably unnecessary of me to add this paragraph but i want to underline (just in case) that i don't think either of them is like "at fault" or w/e (there is no "villain" between them). they're showing Signs Of Mess that could snowball into something much more messy, but it's not something they're doing to hurt each other; they're making decisions based on skewed risk/reward estimations that might not be healthy, and could realistically have harmful consequences for both parties, but they're not, like, Evil (lol). two women getting wrapped up in each other's personal graveyard spirals…it's yuri, isn't it?

with that squared away, and putting it plainly;

toriumi should not be asking her to "break character" when the character itself is what she's paying for; this nudging of their little kayfabe, if indulged, could easily snowball and erode the professional boundaries between them (what she calls "distance" in #3). she is paying 'becky' to 'be here' (paying kawakami to conjure 'becky' into existence by pretending to be her), but she isn't really being mindful of the type of role that this necessarily demands of her in turn. the built-in emotional walls between them are there to protect both of them, but she doesn't fully respect them (despite instinctively sensing their protection in how "safe" becky feels to her). in the end, toriumi is bad at "staying in character" herself, and she can't help but try to root out the actual person behind the mask—despite the fact that no one wants this erosion to happen! possible dire consequences for her wallet aside, losing sight of the line between "transaction" and "investment" (pardon the pun) is a one-way ticket to a very messy place where one or both of them is likely to get hurt...

on the other end, and not helping the situation at all, kawakami identified toriumi as a soft target pretty much immediately, and is actively trying to elicit sympathy and endear herself to her (she is being quite choosy about what vulnerabilities she "lets slip" in #2) in order to make her keep booking and paying. of course some amount of "salesmanship" is part of the job—#grindset always be plugging smash that like button comment n subscribe—but the major difference here is that she's overtly attempting to foster in her client the exact kind of dependency/personal attachment she should be discouraging (for, frankly, both of their safety). like not only is she out fishing to get toriumi hook line and sinker on purpose, but it's also alarmingly reckless behavior on kawakami's part; there's a lack of regard for her own wellbeing involved here on top of it all. again, a messy place where someone, maybe everyone, gets hurt in the end

crucially though, as comic #3 finishes setting up, they're both willing to endure these shenanigans from the other half. at this stage, toriumi does realize that kawakami has her unilaterally wrapped around her finger, and nonetheless agrees that she'll call her again; while kawakami knows very well how this kayfabe is supposed to work, but is indulgent (even rewarding) towards toriumi for her clumsiness. that mutual willingness to keep playing this game would—if the AU continued on these tracks uninterrupted—probably compound until the situation they've made becomes super confusing and unclear for them emotionally...

of course "taking advantage" is sort of a loaded phrase colloquially… but i would say in many ways they are "taking advantage" of each other, yea. the "we both benefit, so it's okay" logic was already vaguely raised as justification in #3; if elaborated a bit with the above in mind, their situation is one where "even if they're both overstepping what is considered appropriate for their arrangement, they've also both decided the benefits outweigh the costs by a wide enough margin to make it worthwhile"

it's got the marks of a sort of symbiotic relationship... their individual motivations for being involved w each other are totally unrelated (cue the "hold on, does. kawakami even like women???" question), but they both feel they benefit enough towards their priority goals to be OK with the other one taking something "less valuable" from them (toriumi even calls out the “sales pitch” becky is doing in #2, but ultimately decides that’s fine because she’s willing to buy). i think each and every moving part here has great capacity to go "too far" and ruin things (perhaps even causing Severe damage in the collapse), but if the situation were to continue in this same rhythm, without that kind of dramatic change, i would say "they're both evaluating the scenario with their own personal goals in mind, and are extracting what they want from one another relatively(?) peacefully(??)". like it might ultimately be a selfish game but they're adults they'll figure it out probably idk its none of my business what they choose to get up to. wouldn't get into that type of shit myself though LOL

women are playing kind of dangerous games with each other but i forgive them because it's interesting to rotate in my mind...<3

another thorn to consider for their future bonding endeavors from here on ofc is that without being "cornered" the way they are, they would not be running this type of "risk math" in the first place. it's hard for either of them to fully back away at this point because they're already cornered in their personal lives; toriumi is incredibly isolated and lonely with a pretty insecure lifestyle even when she's NOT actively sawing through the branch she's sitting on, and kawakami famously MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, NEEDS A LOT OF MONEY RIGHT NOW because she's being extorted by an unrelated third party. looking ahead it does kind of start to look like an ouroboros of "taking advantage of each other" bc it's hard for both of them to leave their individual situations; it's kind of like, if they weren't here with each other they'd be ... well, they'd be here—just with someone else...

they didn't put each other in this jam—it was unrelated personal circumstances and sheer coincidence that pushed them together—but now that they've committed to each other, it's hard to reverse back out, if that makes sense. i think that kind of thing is interesting too, because it makes me want to see them recognize this, connect, and help each other pull out of their Greater individual personal messes. you know? we can make it if we try... just the two of us... 😔

(unfortunately step 1 of that is ofc to make a genuine personal bond that isn't wrapped up in all this for-pay roleplay stuff. drat!)

tl;dr they're both simmering under high pressure and don't try this at home, but they do already have a sort of tacit agreement forming that this level of messy play is OK between them—as long as the rewards continue to outweigh the risks. at the end of the day, it's a delicate balance ultimately hinging on a money-for-services transaction, so if either of them stopped feeling like paying their half was worth it, it would rapidly come apart. i guess it's kinda like the ways you can tell if animals are genuinely beefing or just playing rough—are they willingly coming back? 💀 ...

no lmao where's that post thats like "this would be terrible if it was anyone else, but considering the people involved this is actually the best option" HRBHJDJG that's kind of how it feels. like if they're gonna be stuck with Somebody (and they would be), its probably good luck that they got Each Other. at least the narrative can sustain the balance of this one and maybe even solve it down the line. heart

to round this post off i would say if i had to nominate one of them, kawakami is probably the most "in control" atm—since she figured out very quickly that she was dealing with an easy mark and moved in to make her a regular customer (quite successfully i might add per the end of #3 lmaoo). i think that's been kinda fun, since in her SLink she's immediately on the back foot due to being unmasked by the inciting incident. we know she will lie and attempt to play to the listener's sympathy, so unleashing her with her Mask Still On has been fun 😭 for her part, toriumi is not only taken with the funny maid (& emotionally invested in her IRL situation to boot), but also very clumsily trying to obtain something she's scared to have, which makes her very impulsive/erratic in her rulebreaking compared to kawakami's much more intentional plays...

play of the game 🧹 (<- there's no maid emoji idk its housekeeping)

of course, my future plans will immediately jostle this entire dynamic into something else and make this whole post obsolete, but i don't wanna lay that out ahead of time. smiles.

anyway, otome dissection on the playlist or whatever

#file under: posts that are only interesting to a NICHE AUDIENCE. but here r my thoughts on the thing that i made up.#if you're curious about the Failteacher Meta.#tl;dr never involve anyone else in whatever it is you two have going on but i hope you ... enjoy all that

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andreal831 · 3 months

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Where does Lucien rank among your favorite TVDU villains? Personally, outside of the Mikaelsons, he’s my favorite.

It's complicated. Mostly cause I don't really have a rank in my head for villains. I love/hate them for different reasons.

Lucien is a really good villain and I like that they just let him be a villain. Yes, he has a sort of sad backstory, but so does everyone. I hate how people say characters "aren't evil, they're just broken." 99% of villains in media have tragic backstories. It doesn't make what they do ok. And Lucien's story was not more tragic than a lot of what we saw. He was essentially a "lower class" person who got rejected by a girl... and then, yes tortured and killed by the nobility... But who hasn't?

I like that they never really tried to play up his backstory. We see him in flashbacks and can feel a little bad for him, but then Lucien is still just Lucien in present time. He never feels sorry for what he does. He never questions his choices. In his mind, he deserves to do what he is doing and doesn't hesitate. Even when he has bonded with characters, he's still willing to harm them to achieve his end goal. Like I said, I like him as a villain because he is unapologetically a villain.

He came to New Orleans with an elaborate plan to take down the people who he felt wronged him. I really liked the storyline where he was going after wealthy men, but the show kind of dropped it. I love vampire serial killer storylines because they all are serial killers but most of them are just sloppy with it. Lucien was methodical. It makes him even scarier as a villain. He had this hatred towards elites, yet he was one. He complains about how he grew up, yet he spent the vast majority of his life at the top of the food chain.

I will always hate him for what he did to Cami, but it makes him a better villain. He had a fondness for Cami or was at the very least amused by her bravery and spirit. But it didn't matter. His revenge was above everything. So this may put him at the top just for the fact that he was such a good villain all the way through.

I also really love Dahlia, Celeste, and Aurora. Yet, they spend so much time trying to make us understand Dahlia and Aurora that they lose some of their edge. Don't get me wrong, I love that they got their redemption, but it felt like it took away some of their "evil." It was supposed to. We were supposed to root for them and their redemption at the end. So it just makes me not want to list them as my favorite villain.

Celeste, not surprisingly doesn't get this ending (since she is a woc, I am not surprised by how quickly her arc was finished). If Celeste had a main story, she would probably be my favorite villain. She doesn't get enough credit for how she manipulated and launched TO. People love to credit Katherine for sending Katherine to NOLA, but Celeste was the one that manipulated the prophecies and was there at the beginning, destabilizing the factions in order to make the witches desperate to call the Mikaelsons back. She was incredibly powerful and actually had the Mikaelsons running scared because she knew how to emotionally manipulate them.

Speaking of Katherine, I know people love her as a villain, and she is fun. But if we are talking about the top villains, she doesn't rank very high for me. She was too caught up in the teen drama of it all and revolved around Stefan. It was just never a good enough reason to me to like her as a villain. But I don't want to turn this into me just going through each villain and analyzing them, because that's not what you asked for.

All of this to say, Lucien ranks pretty high for favorite villains for me. To me, the TO villains were all a lot scarier than TVD since they all had to be so much more powerful because the main characters were. While I liked TVD, the villains just don't rank as high for me. But I really liked all of the TO villains. I can't think of one that I was bored with actually, I can, Greta, but all of season 5 was a mess so that's not surprising. Even the Hollow, which was a bit of a messy storyline, still had a really neat backstory and was scary.

Season 3 is one of my favorite seasons because the story was so interesting. You can see where the villains are coming from, but they are never redeemed. They are villains and choose to be villains. It also plays on the idea that one mans villain is another man's hero. Like I don't consider Aya a villain at all because she was just fighting for her freedom, whereas some of the other's were motivated by power. I definitely prefer Lucien over Tristan, but Aurora is my favorite of the trio. Yet again, I never felt she was as good of a villain as Lucien because Aurora's actions were more understandable and even justified at times. She did things that weren't, but so did everyone. It really just depends on how you rank your favorite villains.

Sorry for answering this in a stream of consciousness. Let me know if you want any clarifications!

Thanks for the ask!

#lucien castle #tbh everyone in tvdu is a villain #it just depends on the perspective #tvdu #the originals #the vampire diaries #tvd #the mikaelsons #anon ask #fandom asks #tvd anon ask #tvd ask #fandom answers #tvdu metas #metas

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misc-obeyme · 5 months

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hihi I'm back, i was rambling about solomon and immortality the other time

BUT i just got a tiktok, and apparently there's a trend with the song that goes "nothing's new" and the first slide is a tweet saying "who had every right to become a villain?" And the second slide is a character

anyway my first thought was MC because they literally get dumped into a new world, whole life turned upside down and expected to adapt, in both OG and NB. Nightbringer i'd say is different since they have a goal they're working towards and at least they have Solomon

But in OG it's like "try to survive :)", you're looked down upon as a human, you're kept in the dark about the attic, there's so many little things that add up-

But in the end MC chooses kindness, chooses to keep going and make it work, and yes there's the chaotic options but no harm is done without cause I guess you could say?? They're not afraid to stand up for themselves and they're stubborn, but they won't sink down to the lowest of the lows after everything they've gone through

I dunno if i made any sense, I just needed to ramble and share with someone 🤣 thank you for being a welcoming blog

- ✨

Welcome back to my ask box! I will add ✨ to the anon list!

And of course I love all the ramblings, so know you're always welcome to come here to share your thoughts!

Now I gotta say the generic OM MC is one unhinged mf and I don't understand how they stay so chill and happy all the time. Like I would argue their ability to put up with so much crazy is what makes them unhinged rather than the chaotic options that are sometimes given for them. That stuff feels like a normal reaction considering everything they go through. Like the time they threatened to explode Mammon's door? Yeah, that feels like something someone who has been pushed beyond their limits might do.

And yet so often, the choices are nice. So often the choices are MC giving and giving and giving. They care so much and are willing to go through so much and do so much in order to keep their demons safe. And MC is the human in this scenario. I know, MC is OP with their pacts and their sorcerer stuff and their Ring of Light, but you would still expect the demons to take better care of them. And I mean more their mental state than anything. But the game kinda just takes for granted the fact that MC can take all the crazy in stride. I'm pretty sure I would have had a mental breakdown after the first week lol.

All that being said, I love the idea of MC turning into a villain. This is where you really can get into different story lines and outcomes based on your personal MC. Because I think it would be very easy for an MC to turn villainous in this situation. It depends on how conniving your MC is as to how this goes down.

Like do they deliberately wait to betray everybody until they've secured all seven pacts and the Ring of Light and so on?

Or is it more like one day they just snap and they never meant to turn?

In the first scenario, the question is what is their goal? Why would they do that to begin with? Maybe they want to rule the Devildom themselves and the goal is to have all the bros under their spell for the sole purpose of like dethroning Diavolo or something. I mean, good luck with that lol but it'd sure be interesting.

In the second scenario, it's definitely more chaotic and just MC loses their mind. Maybe starts destroying things Satan-style because they can't control it anymore.

I think it's a fascinating idea. And you could go with MC succeeds or you could go with someone (whoever MC is closest to perhaps) is able to talk them down from destruction.

But yes, in the end our OM MC always chooses kindness. Even when they're not going to take any nonsense, they're always solution oriented. They're always about helping the characters and I would say they're almost stubborn in their kindness too? Like they're determined not to be anything other than kind because to them, that's the right thing to do. It's precious.

#I don't get a lot of asks about MC in a general sense #but this is definitely how I think about it personally #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me mc #✨ anon #misc answers

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thyandrawrites · 2 years

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Love how the ant liberation guy gives a legit point to shoji about how he’s not giving any alternatives and he’s just yelling platitudes, and then KODA comes in and silences him with his freaking pigeons and is like “don’t criticize shoji he’s above critique 🥺🥺🥺🥺” and were supposed to cheer I guess

See, things like this are why I wish the kids had some character growth before entering this second war arc. Because with their current mindset, the points that the villains raise about the unfairness of their society that should prompt a conversation end up being insurmountable differences.

Like. It is a fact that their current society harms people on both sides. it doesn't matter that Shouji is a hero and Spinner a villain, cause both suffered from quirk prejudice. Just like how it doesn't matter that Shouto is a hero and Dabi a villain, because they both suffered child abuse. They have common ground. But Horikoshi never does anything with that, and instead keeps reducing it to a conflict between good and bad victims. Shouji and Shouto are "good" because they Plus Ultra'd out of their bad circumstances, found help, grew as people and started looking at the future with hope. Meanwhile, Spinner and Touya are "bad" because they persist in their path of violent rebellion and demands for justice.

All of them should have justice, but the way it's framed, the villains are the problem because they can't let things go like their hero counterparts, and somehow ignoring the issue is a good thing that makes everything better.

And what's frustrating about this is that it's not a flaw, per se, if the kids decide to cope with their trauma by forgiving and becoming part of a system that hurt them. That's their choice. The actual flaw is framing them like paragons of morality for what should be a personal choice. Like. They're free to deal with their abusers they way they most see fit, but they don't get to tell other victims that they cannot want justice. Yet that's what keeps happening. Over and over.

And what's so frustrating about this is that through all of this there are actual good points that should be discussed. Touya exposed how the blind faith in heroes as pillars of justice created a monster like Endvr, and what did heroes do? They blindly put faith in him again, hoping he would fix society for them. In much the same way, the problem of discrimination in the countryside needs addressing. People can't keep getting beaten and killed as we wait for the social climate to change. It's true enough that things can't shift overnight, and Shouji's right that they likely won't see the end of anti-mutant discrimination during their lifetimes, but that's also not an excuse to do nothing about it. There should be a middle ground somewhere.

But instead of reaching it, the argument gets shut off from the start with this tiresome "well you hurt my friends and I can't forgive you for that" attitude.

Guess what. The heroes killed Twice too. They literally hurt Toga's friend. And yet what did she do? She seeked out a hero kid for empathy and tried to have a dialogue with her. She tried to make Ochako understand that villains have people they care about too.

And what was the response? "Well you hurt people and I can't forgive you"

It's just. Ughhh. A pointless eye for an eye with no end in sight, and it's fairly telling that the people who are most willing to sit down and just talk here are the fucking villains because the heroes can't think with their own heads for five minutes

#Ali replies #Negativity #Bnha spoilers #It's getting really frustrating to watch ngl #I might put the manga on break for a while

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ask-team-galactic · 9 months

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Unpopular opinion: I think Cyrus is more interesting as a character when he isn't redeemed. I understand why the appeal of him seeing the error of his ways is there, especially given how much his traumatic upbringing shaped his philosophies, but I think that many of his incarnations, such as those in the original Gen 4 games, the remakes, the Diamond and Pearl Adventure manga, and the anime (though I dislike his portrayal in the anime) are more interesting as villains. In those incarnations, he shows no sign of doubting or reconsidering his plans- in the anime, he basically opts to kill himself rather than live in the world he despised, while in the games, even during the final confrontation at Spear Pillar/the Distortion World, he insists that he will achieve his ambition, and that the player's intervention is just a minor setback. With that level of belief in his ideals, I don't think redemption would be in character, nor would it be a satisfying outcome to his character arc.

I also find that, in the portrayals where Cyrus is redeemed, it's not done in a way that provides any sort of closure to his character arc. Masters is especially guilty of this- 90% of his "redemption" is Cynthia and the protagonist(s) telling him "you're wrong" with minimal clarification, and he seemingly just decides "okay, I'm wrong" out of the blue. The part with Sophocles was handled very well, and while I could see what the writers were going for with the Commanders talking him out of it, given that he called the entire rest of Team Galactic "uniformly useless and incomplete" in Platinum, I don't exactly buy that he'd be convinced by them, of all people. My big problem with this, and with his portrayal in the Pokespe manga, is that Cyrus was never proven wrong. He was never shown that his vision for the world was going to cause more harm than good. And it would have been easy to do- have any relevant legendary (Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Arceus, the Lake Guardians- even Darkrai or Hoopa in Masters could work) show the world he would have created, and let him realize that it was a fundamentally flawed concept. If they really wanted to redeem him, that's how I think they should have gone about doing it.

Thank you for the very thoughtful ask and the opportunity to talk about my favourite character! I agree with some parts of this and disagree with other parts of it and I think you make some very good points.

Firstly, to give back a milder version of your controversial opinion, I would totally be down for more iterations where Cyrus isn't redeemed! For one thing, I would love an iteration where the commanders realize he's wrong, try to redeem him, and have to find the strength to turn against him. I think that would be interesting, and I say that as someone who LOVES iterations where Cyrus and the commanders act like friends or found family and where they're a big part of his redemption (the great thing about multiple iterations is that we can have our cake and eat it, too!). And for another thing, I think that Cyrus' absolute conviction is part of what makes him great. I actually first wrote him because I wanted to feel as confident in my own convictions as he does. I love that he's relentless and is willing to do anything- any evil, any personal sacrifice, any effort- to accomplish his goals. I love moments where he shows that, like when he decided to go further into the Distortion World in hopes that it would allow him to fulfill his plans, or when he's bleeding and wielding the red chain in Spe. I like seeing him willing to fight to the last breath.

HOWEVER, I also like iterations where Cyrus is redeemed. I'll explain why further down, but first I'm going to address the part of your analysis that I disagree most with.

I disagree with you that Cyrus needs to be shown that his vision is bad in order to properly redeem him. My reason for that is that I think that at least a part of Cyrus' ironclad determination comes from the fact that he would rather do anything than live out an unaltered lifespan in our universe. In Platinum and the anime short, he'd rather exile himself to the Distortion World. In Spe, he'd rather keep going even as he's battered and bleeding from his eyes. In Masters, he'd rather escape to a dream of utter nothingness and apathy. And as you said, in the anime, he'd rather die.

For that reason, I think you could show him a vision of people and Pokemon languishing in meaningless, empty lives in the world he's planned, and depending on where he's at he might still think that's better because he is suffering to the point where he'd prefer that. In some iterations he thinks that everyone else is also suffering and would be better off that way, too, and in others he just doesn't care about anything but his own relief. And even if such an experience did get him to realize he's wrong and quit, he'd be left utterly hopeless, with no hope for this world or the one he planned to create. That isn't a satisfying conclusion to a character arc, and realistically might still lead him to be destructive- either through senseless lashing out or finding a new villainous plan that gives him hope.

That doesn't mean that I think Cyrus should be portrayed as completely set in his ways, however. Through every iteration, they're actually very consistent with there being one thing that melts Cyrus' conviction like butter: hope for something better.

This isn't always a good thing. In the anime short, Cyrus abandons his goal to live in the Distortion World, convinced that he'll be happier there. In Masters, he abandons his plans to take a permanent nap in the woods so he won't have to feel anymore.

However, sometimes "something better" is of this world, and that's when redemption happens. I like that, because Cyrus isn't scary and dangerous just because his vision sucks. It wouldn't matter at all if he could just have his empty, meaningless world harmlessly in parallel to ours. Cyrus is the antagonist ultimately because the world and our ability to experience it is worth having and would be tragic to lose. I think that him realizing that he could actually be happy is 100% what would get him to choose a better path in life, so I'm glad that's the path we've seen in Spe and Masters. It's nice to see broken things heal, and for Cyrus, healing and redemption are and should be synonymous.

That being said, I do agree with some of your specific complaints on the redemption arcs we've seen. In both Spe and DPA, Cyrus softens on his ideas or outright changes his mind just because he had some time to think. Because it happened twice, I don't think it can be called "out of character," but it's really not my favourite part of his character and I do have a hard time squaring it with him being willing to fight for his beliefs for the 5+ years that Team Galactic existed. So, yeah, I agree with you. I think that Cyrus should have at least taken note of the trio's friendship before his cool-down period in Spe.

As for Masters... well, I only know about Masters through second-hand accounts so I might have some things wrong, but I honestly don't have an issue with the commanders being a big part of why Cyrus changed his mind. There are some iterations (and Platinum is one of them) where there is nothing to suggest that Cyrus has a bond with his commanders, and in others, like Spe and DPA, there's plenty. It seems like in the Masters iteration, Cyrus does care a lot about the commanders and they know that, even though he's far from open about it ("You're tools to me." "Sure, buddy. Let's go be attached at the hip for the rest of Masters"). Given that relationship, I think it's absolutely heartwarming that part of what caused Cyrus to turn around was to see that his commanders still wanted to be there for him even though they saw him at his weakest. I also like that Cyrus is still very dumb when it comes to emotional matters and hasn't solidly changed his mind about anything. He's just put his goal on hold and is looking at his options now that he's feeling a little more hopeful.

I'll end this off by saying that if you want a villain who 100% will never change their mind and will always go down fighting, Lysandre might fit the bill. He's also suffering because of what he's trying to do, and unlike Cyrus, it's unambiguous that he's doing what he's doing for the supposed greater good.

Thanks again for the opportunity to discuss! I hope you got something out my ramble, haha.

#asks #galactic boss cyrus

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darknixx · 1 month

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Engulf it with the flames that destroyed us...

The hero and villain's once-used-to-be tormenters now appear before them. The same tormenters who caused their separation and led these two souls on a different path from each other. The hero with their forgiving heart is willing to move on from the incident of their past, finding vengeance to be completely unnecessary. But what will go down when the villain tilts the hero's head just a tad bit to the side to see their view...

Villain:

Ah, my dear, doesn't the sight before us just stir the soul?

The tremors of fear, the shivering pleas for mercy—they're truly intoxicating. It's almost… pitiful, isn't it? How these mighty figures, who once stood towering over us, now cower like frightened children.

It’s almost poetic, the way they now grovel at our feet, unknowing that with a single nod, we could extinguish the very light from their eyes.

It brings a certain… amusement, doesn't it? To see how the tables have turned.

But let me ask you. Why should we stop at mere amusement? Why not savor this moment a bit more… intimately?

You see, they've wronged us— deeply, irrevocably. They lit the fire that sought to consume us, to reduce our legacy to ashes. But oh, how fate loves her ironic twists.

For now, it is we who stand with the power to engulf. Not just with flames, my friend, but with a fire far more potent— the fire of vengeance.

Hero:

I… This is all so overwhelming. It's not that I don't feel the pull, the… allure of what you're proposing.

There's a part of me, perhaps a darker part, that finds a bitter sort of satisfaction in their fear, the promise of turning our suffering into their torment. But I… I don't know. This isn't us, or at least, it shouldn't be.

We've suffered, yes. But, doing such things, isn't that just becoming what we despised? How does it make us any different from them? If we give in to this… this instinct for vengeance, aren't we just perpetuating the cycle of harm?

But then again, the thought of letting them off, of letting them think they've won, it… it gnaws at me.

Villain:

Oh.

You hesitate, I see it. And oh, how admirable your restraint is, how… humane.

But remember, humanity didn't save us from their wrath, did it? Picture it: the fear that now dances in their eyes, not just a temporary flicker, but a blaze—a blaze that mirrors the very inferno they ignited in our lives.

Imagine the power, the absolute control. It's not just retribution; it's a statement —a declaration that we are no longer the victims, but the architects of their fate. We have the opportunity, here and now, to right the cosmic scale, to ensure that justice, true justice, is served.

Hero:

You're right. It's hard to admit, but you're right.

The line between right and wrong blurs when you're the one in pain. They never hesitated, not once, to inflict such terror upon us. Never spared us a second thought when they had us under their heel. Why should our conscience restrain us when theirs did not? Why should we grant them mercy now?

Perhaps… it's time they understood and felt every piece of the pain they caused. Yes, let's… Let's do it.

Let's ensure they never forget the pain they caused, that they live with the fear they instilled in us.

And perhaps— In the end… Justice sometimes requires us to embrace the darkness to protect what little light we have left.

Villain:

You finally see it, don't you? So, darling… Engulf it with the flames that destroyed us.

#⚘◡ฅ Caelestis Writes 🩵#writers on tumblr #monologue #hero x villain #hero #villain #hero and villain #writeblr #writing #heroes and villains #mind corruption #manipulation

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moonslinger130 · 2 years

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About your tags on MK's threats!!! I totally agree that he let's his reputation do half the work!! When people know you've done some truly terrible things, they're much more likely to believe you'll do something like that To Them! And while on the one hand Marc definitely believes he deserves other people's negative beliefs and opinions because he hates himself, he's also willing to take advantage of what his reputation means on a practical level its really interesting!! Like hell, he cut off One dude's face One time in a very heated personal encounter but now everyone knows him as the guy that did that!! Under basically any other circumstances, he Wouldn't, but no one gets that and rather than try to explain or justify himself, MK let's them draw whatever conclusions they want

yup yup yup yup

i think especially about the scene when he walked right into a villain bar and sat down and started talking about his actions in age of khonshu as a threat to them. i think we all would have loved to see mr. knight go ham on 50 bad guys at once, but i think we also know he would not have won that fight realistically, and i think he knew that, but he also has this reputation of sudden bursts of violent capability that he uses to bluff his way through situations like that instead of actually causing more physical harm.

now, here’s another thing that i also think about— i think some of this is linked to ableism on some levels, both from writers or from the other fictional characters. it’s like as soon as they caught on that marc is mentally ill, suddenly every bad thing he does is seen as 1000x worse than if someone else did it, and i will stand by that. yes he cut off bushman’s face; doylistically it was the decision of a writer who wanted to take his Edginess to another level, watsonianly it’s an event that remains forever in the minds of literally every other character, good guys as well as bad, that He’s The Crazy Face Guy, Stay Out Of His Way. i think a lot of characters (and writers/readers as well) whether they want to admit it or not think he’s more capable of violence than others based on this one fucked up thing he did combined with their biases against mental illness/DID specifically

and i think that marc, who we as fans all know is capable of goodness and regret and more than just Some Crazy Guy, feels that his reputation will probably never recover in the public eye because of his mistakes combined with society’s view on his condition, and probably thinks it’s easier to try to play into it to his advantage instead of trying to change their minds. and honestly, overcoming bigotry is really fucking hard, and he’s really fucking tired. so i think he does his best to make up for his mistakes for himself, and lets the world think what they want to think. which is why it’s a little bit badass, but also a bit sad.

#my post #moon knight #mk 2021 #marc spector

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zombie-boys · 2 years

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hey guys so uhhh folks keep going back and forth between will being a baby or will being a bad*ss and i'm just so tired of it.......

like he is so much more nuanced than either one... (if you're going to read, please read the whole thing! thank you!!)

there are the baseline observations that will is quiet, sensitive, maybe a little shy; he's sweet and loyal and incredibly selfless; in addition, he's frequently a victim of terrible circumstances, with unfortunately little agency to fight for himself. none of these observations are objectively incorrect, even if they're just a fraction of the observations that can be made.

some fans flanderize how shy and sweet will is, framing him as a cute crybaby in need of protection (which is ironic, as will canonically hates when people treat him like that). to them he's a sad gay boy, a soft little angel with teary doe eyes; they attribute a stereotypical femininity to him, a helplessness, making him a fragile damsel in distress. these fans take the canon aspects of will's personality and warp them, not only making them larger than life but also romanticizing them.

an opposing interpretation of will seemingly came about in opposition to "baby will" - many fans were reasonably unhappy with this belittling take on him, and so highlighted other aspects of his personality.

great, right? it'd be nice for people to perceive will as a whole person as opposed to a list of stock traits... it'd be nice for people not to ignore character traits of his that don't align with their perception of his character...

but alas, these fans traded in "baby will" for "bad*ss will" - a take i don't like either.

"bad*ss will" comes in two varieties: bad*ss villain will and bad*ss hero will. the latter is better than the former, but not by much. both involve will being uncharacteristically violent and confident, standing up for himself in a way that often involves firearms.

before delving into either of these varieties i should point out that yes, will isn't just a sweet shy little boy. he's incredibly brave and incredibly resilient, able to survive the upside down for a week and stand up to the mind flayer - and yes, he canonically knows how to operate a gun. will is also shown to be stubborn at times; he's an annoying little brother, perfectly willing to point out how his siblings have no friends; he also does curse, even if that cursing is nothing compared to the constant swearing of his friends. will's a strong kid. i can't accept "baby will" because he simply isn't a baby.

...but does that make him a bad*ss?

some people really want will to stand up for himself in st5, to finally have agency, to fight back against everything that's harmed him; i completely understand that.

some people think that will should become the villain in st5, getting revenge on the people in his life who have demeaned him, neglected him, and bullied him. they think that will has been through so much that he'll snap, his kindness being broken down by pain. they want will to be a villain, a tortured soul with a traumatic backstory who deserves to give everyone the hell he got condemned to - they want him to be a bad*ss villain.

others think that will should become the hero in st5, getting revenge on the upside down for ruining hours life and the lives of his loved ones. they want to see him confidently wielding a gun against vecna, unfazed by the circumstances that would've caused him to run and hide in his younger years. they want will to rise up from adversity and stop being the victim - they want him to be a bad*ss hero.

what really bugs me about these interpretations is that they completely gloss over the aforementioned observations of will being gentle and cautious - even though they're true. saying that will is timid, that will is kind, or that will is scared is not the same as saying he's a baby - because being timid, kind, or scared doesn't make you weak. after all, there is no bravery without fear.

all of these bad*ss whatever wills are conjured up only after scouring off any trait picked up be "baby will" truthers, instead favoring vague notions of will's "sass" or the fact that he can operate a gun. they make will completely out-of-character all for the sake of a fantasy in which the victim miraculously becomes confident and powerful. yes, i want will to gain confidence, but nothing i've seen contributes any ideas about how that would happen - especially considering how in st4 will's self-esteem was as low as ever, tearing up when his best friend and brother say they care about him. if he's that surprised that they love him you can't seriously expect him to suddenly love himself.

not to mention how a lot of this "bad*ss will" stuff revolves around will using a gosh darn shotgun. the only thing being addressed is the fact that there is an association between will and the accursed weapon, and the fact that he has aimed it at an upside down monster before - while completely sidestepping the trauma the gun carries with it. will only learned how to use it because of lonnie's homophobic coercion, and only actually dared to use it when scared half out of his mind by an interdimensional stalker in his garden shed. in no world could will ever be slinging a gun casually, confidently, suavely - if he's going to be aiming the gun at vecna (which he would only do if completely necessary) he's going to be anything but calm while doing so. if you wanted that, you already have nancy gosh darn wheeler. (will does not need to be your girlboss.)

my point in saying this is that will is kind. he's stubborn. he's brave. he's hesitant. he's sarcastic. he's sweet. he's shy. and none of that is contradictory. will is a character, sure, but he's complex; if you dislike will's corners being rounded off so he can be called a baby, you have to understand why i dislike will's curves being sharpened so he can be called a bad*ss. i want will to triumph, of course i do, but i want it to be him triumphing. his whole self.

will was the victim. and he can be a hero. but he shouldn't need to be a different person too.

#stranger things #will byers #st5 #wise words from will #just for the record i'm not angry at anyone for drawing will with a gun #the potential of him reclaiming that symbol of stereotypical masculinity is something that can certainly be explored #and i'm not against him shooting vecna to be completely honest #i just think that because of the 'bad*ss will' idea forming in opposition to 'baby will' it's often done without much tact #without acknowledging how much he'd need to recover before he could gain even a fraction of the confidence people are ascribing to him #i don't really think will could ever be that confident. he could in no way be cool as a cucumber in this type of situation #even if he isn't actively afraid he could never be... posing hotly with a shotgun so mike can admire him?? idk it's not my fanart hhghhghh #y'know i'm just glad most 'bad*ss will' people want him to be a hero and not a villain #because people who think will would genuinely be a villain and would genuinely want to harm people drive me insane. i hate that so so much #if you think 'will should be the hero and he should shoot vecna' then i don't actually mind that much #it's when you start turning him into nancy 2.0 that it goes south for me #he can be a hero and he can have a gun but he will never be hot or a bad*ss or a girlboss while doing so #he will be shaking trembling crying saying to vecna 'i won't let you ruin anyone else's lives like your ruined mine! etc' before shooting #i want him to stand up for himself. but standing up for yourself does not mean you have to be fearless #shaking my head did we all just forget that el's strength comes from her emotion. from her love #why should will's strength come from anywhere else #he is sensitive!!! stop treating that like an antithesis to strength!!!!!! good grief #will byers shaky with the gun. i rest my case #also i hope you appreciate the dustin meme. i find it unreasonably funny

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akawestruck · 1 year

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I watched The Labyrinth again. It is now 2am 3am and I have more Thoughts on the nature of the Labyrinth. So this is part 1, a reflection on what the characters' roles in the story and in Sarah's coming of age journey are, and how those are related to the nature of the Labyrinth.

I feel like this should be an 'In this essay I will...' but I don't really have a thesis statement, so... more under the cut

There are many ways to interpret the Labyrinth and the residents therein, but I'm going to start with the interpretation that the whole thing is a manifestation of Sarah's coming of age and all residents are parts of her. Specifically, the 'childish' parts. In which case it would go:

Hoggle: Her selfishness. The most prominent part of Sarah we're shown in the outside world. Causes problems and easily controlled by her fantasies (Jareth) but ultimately wants what's best for her

Ludo: Her naivety and magical thinking. Introduced as being besieged on all sides, simple but powerful, and gets attached to people easily. Sarah immediately has a strong affinity for him, and defends him

Sir Didymous: Her sense of fairness/duty. Reckless and overzealous, can't be convinced to change his mind or himself but willing to go with loopholes (accompanied by Ambrosius, her cowardice)

Jareth: Her fantasies. An escape from her responsibilities, seemingly seductive and controlling her life, but actually subject to her own desires. A standout line from his introduction is 'this isn't for an ordinary girl', because what girl like Sarah doesn't dream of being extraordinary?

I could go into a full analysis with evidence on each of them but I think if you are willing to go along with this interpretation it's not a stretch. Honestly, the more I think about it the more elements of the story I can fit, even aspects that I first dismissed as extra trappings to round out the characters, like Jareth telling Toby that he 'has my eyes'. Either because Toby is literally related to Sarah and Jareth is part of her, or because Sarah loves Toby and is working on internalizing that he is family despite him being new and not having the same mother.

The obstacles of the Labyrinth can somewhat be fitted into this as well, so honourable mention to the Fire Gang: Peer pressure. Doing harmful things like they're normal, trying to get her to join in. Plus the Bog of Eternal Stench: Toby's diapers (and the exaggeratedly inescapable influence of his existence on all aspects of her life the moment her entered it, the ultimate fear of her selfishness, traversable only by a healthy dose of magical thinking, and guarded by her sense of duty).

On a Doyalist level this is sufficient in itself. The characters in a coming of age story reflect aspects of the protagonist as they come of age, duh. But on a Watsonian level it's interesting because the characters are parts of Sarah's psyche, and they look like toys from her room or, in Jareth's case, play the role of the villain from her favourite novel but look like her mother's new partner (though the Vibes between Sarah and Jareth personally make me prefer to think of that as an Easter Egg rather than a real resemblance).

I keep knawing at the question of the nature of the Labyrinth. To be clear, on a story level I'm fully satisfied without an explanation. I love the blurred lines of fantasy and reality. However, I want to play in this world myself, so for myself I want to establish an explanation that follows canon but also expands the world. The Labyrinth is too much dictated by Sarah and what she needs to grow up, I can't interpret it's existence as fully independent of her, much though I enjoy various fae!Jareth fics. At the same time, I personally don't enjoy playing in the 'it's all in her head' explanation. I don't want the moments of magic in the real world to be purely her imagination, I want Jareth to have really burst into her house and her friends to have had a dance party in her room. So I prefer the hybrids like that the Labyrinth exists independently but shapes itself to the Runner (or it's her fanfic come to life, my previous post from immediately after watching for the first time).

Anyway, maybe more parts of this essay will manifest. I also want to ramble about Jareth's lines at the end and how they're related to Sarah's relationship with her stepmother. And the nature of Jareth more generally.

#the labyrinth #an essay #a ramble #idk ramble is more accurate i guess #i want to search out interviews/articles about the labryrinth from when it first came out #but idk if i want to feed the hyperfixation

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skeleton-in-a-hoodie · 8 months

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So how do you do a make a villan like I have this idea of a gang of brother as villains but I don't know how der coing to cotracst whit the heros

Been thinking this over for the past few days. I've put it under a readmore cause it gets a bit long.

Personally when I make a villain, I think about what the plot and themes of the story will be and how the villain would fit into it, and then ask myself what do I need this character to do and why they'd do that. If they're an au version of a character, it also helps to look at their canon counterpart and ask what they'd do if put in the same situation - that way you can use the original version of them as a blueprint.

Going to use some examples from fics I've written to explain this fully.

Victor Falco/ Rat King in DDMG: The Pied Piper of New York

Themes: Love vs possession, abuse

What the character does: Threatens the main cast, forces Splinter and Mikey's brothers to work together, highlights that 'dead doesn't mean gone' doesn't just apply to good people/ not all spirits in the au will be good people

Canon version: Starts out a manipulative prick who mutated his own friend, turns into someone who is obsessed with control and controlling Splinter in particular

So in DDMG, he becomes a ghost that is built around control and the literal desire to possess others. He doesn't care about consent or harming others, and enjoys violating people's boundaries left right and centre.

Oroku Saki in ageswap: no particular fic yet

Themes: Nature vs nuture, how our parents' mistakes impact us, the desire to be better whilst not knowing how, growing up and becoming your own person

What the character does: Needles ageswap Yoshi's worst insecurities; until Shredder is introduced Saki is the main enemy that the ageswap kids deal with so also acts as their level 1 boss; Later realises he doesn't like the person he's becoming and decides to change, making missteps along the way.

Canon version: basically an incel who, in trying to get revenge on the Hamato clan for what the did to him, ends up doing the exact thing Yuuta did to him to Karai/Miwa. Physically incapable of admitting that he's wrong, and I'm willing to bet that there was an element of sunk-cost falacy in play there.

So ageswap Saki ends up being a bit of an asshole who takes his issues out on other people. But, because he's a lot younger than 2012 Shredder and has better role models + has incentive to become better, he's able to avoid the same fate as his original counterpart. Also his motivation of "I want to rescue my brother" isn't on the same level of "I want to kill my brother and his kids because my ex married him", which immediately makes him more sympathetic than 12 Shredder. Like agswap Saki is a dick but he's also 14 - he's got time to grow out of that.

Having an idea of where I want my other characters to end up helps too. Like with DDMG Falco, he partly exists to give Mikey's brothers a reason to want to work with Splinter and begin to trust him and see him as one of them, so he's a threat to all of them, not just Splinter or just the kids. I also try to ask myself if the main characters will make the villain develop e.g. will the villain become increasingly aggressive towards them, does the villain end up being really fond of the heroes and doesn't know how to react to that, or do they enjoy their battles and start targeting the heroes because it's just fun for them.

I've also found that giving characters the space to develop on their own is important. Sometimes they end up doing something you didn't expect, and it makes the overall story stronger. Other times you figure something out about them that isn't really story relevant, but makes them feel more like a person e.g ageswap Saki constantly dresses to impress because he wants people to respect him and gets angry when Yoshi turns up to fights in his pjs.

For groups, I usually do all of the above for both the group as a whole and the individual members.

So I guess the tldr is: I question what my themes are, what I need the character to do and why they'd do it, and then I give them breathing room to develop into their own person.

Hope this helps!

#ask

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saltydumplings · 2 years

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9.1 has me both wanting more and weary. Cause like, yeah of course Villain is pissed at Assasin. But they're an Assasin! A lot could go wrong especially if Villain isn't careful.

Snippet #9.2

Part 1 Part 2

Ehehehehehe...Assassin is indeed an assassin for a reason, but fear not! They're not making another appearance just yet. Also, to answer @epiclamer's query: in AVPM I swear Draco spends 70% of the time rolling around on the floor and being dramatic as hell. That's just how they be, lol.

"You should stay," the villain said.

The hero had spent the day letting the other take care of them, but now they were better they thought it would be best if they went home. The villain disagreed.

"Just for the rest of the week." Their thumb brushed over the hero's cheek, eyes laced with concern as they stared down at the other - both of them sat on the villain's couch, the tv playing quietly in the background. "I don't think it would be safe for you to leave so soon."

The hero understood where they were coming from but they had things to do. They couldn't let a single threat get in the way of that.

"I know, but my job...I can't just take the week off, Villain - it doesn't work like that."

The villain frowned. "Your work puts you in even more danger: they expect too much from you."

All the hero did was sigh, averting their gaze back to the television. "We're not having this argument again..."

A pause.

It was true - they'd talked about it before. Multiple times in fact: in the five years since the hero had met the villain, it always seemed to come down to this. The hero loved their work, and wasn't willing to give it up - not even when it meant letting go of something else they might just love more... Their work was their life - it gave them a purpose - and they weren't ready to give it up just yet.

Beside them the villain huffed, shifting over to sit closer to the hero as their hand fell down to their chin - turning the hero's gaze back to them. "This is different," the villain insisted. "When Assassin takes an interest in something they don't simply forget."

"I know that."

"Then you should also know why you should stay."

The hero chuckled a little. "Are you really suggesting it's any less dangerous for me here than out there?"

The assassin was one problem, but the villain was certainly another: they were dangerous in a way that was far more personal and risky than anything the assassin could possibly threaten them with. When it came to the villain, the hero always got burnt, and honestly they'd rather take their chances against a knife-wielding maniac then go through that same pain again.

For a second the villain didn't say anything. Their gaze was still locked onto the hero's even as the other removed their hand from their chin, stroking the back of their palm in an almost apologetic way before placing it down by their side.

"I can protect you," the villain said quietly.

"I know."

"I can keep you safe."

"I know."

"Then why? Why won't you let me?" the villain asked, trying to move closer again only for the hero to move back.

"You know why, Villain," the hero said.

In truth, they weren't happy with it either. A part of them almost wanted to accept the other's offer but they knew they'd fall in too deep if they did. Refusing the villain's offer was like tearing off a bandaid - if they didn't do it fast it'd only cause more pain. The hero moved to stand, knowing if they didn't leave now they never would.

The villain watched them carefully, hands twitching at their sides. "If Assassin is out there waiting for you..."

"It's a risk I'm willing to ta--"

Suddenly the hero found themself being pulled back down, the villain quickly straddling their waist and using their weight to pin them - the hero's eyes going wide and flushing when the villain brought a hand to their neck, not harming them in any way but simply holding them in place.

"And what if I'm not?" the villain said. "I said I wouldn't let them touch you again and I meant it - as long as you're by my side I know you'll be safe."

The hero tried to regain some of their composure, staring up warningly at the other as they spoke. "Let. Me. Go."

They'd wanted to say it with force but their voice shook a little - something in their tone coming across almost like a plea and it was clear the villain didn't miss it for a second.

"Maybe I just keep you here, hm? You couldn't stop me if you tried - in fact, I don't think you'd want me too..."

The hero's breath was starting to quicken, heartbeat rocketing through the roof and they knew that the villain's hold on them allowed them to feel it too - to feel the hero's pulse racing beneath their touch. The hero tried to fight back then, desperately pushing at the villain's chest only to have their wrists caught easily and pinned above their head. They watched as the villain smirked a little, knowing the hero hadn't truly tried, and whilst the hero wanted to argue against that they knew it was true.

"Please."

It was the hero's final attempt, there was nothing else they could do. But when the villain leaned in close and the hero's eyes glanced down at the other's lips they knew any chance they'd had was lost. The villain caught the movement within an instant, shifting their grip on the hero's wrists up until their hands were entwined, the space between them only seeming to become smaller with every second that passed.

"I will keep you safe," the villain promised, lips brushing softly against the hero's jaw as they spoke. "No one will touch you but me..."

And then the villain kissed them.

The hero shut their eyes in defeat, a low moan escaping them as the villain's tongue entered their mouth. In reality, they'd already lost a long, long time ago - and as much as the hero had denied it, they could never escape the temptation that would keep pulling them back.

Indeed, the villain's touch against their skin was fire, and the hero was always far too willing to get burnt.

Part 4

#writing snippet #heroxvillain snippet #heroxvillain #hero x villain #hero #villain

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