#also i don't get why people in the fandom are supposedly (as in i've seen people complaining about them) pitying this `god` guy

[anomalouscorvid]

partway through harrow the ninth.... this 'mercymorn' is awful. love her

#add that one to the list of characters to shove in a washing machine and see what happens i guess #but yeah. mercy is definitely a favourite character so far. maybe that'll change idk #also i don't get why people in the fandom are supposedly (as in i've seen people complaining about them) pitying this `god` guy #does he get a clearly very tragic and sad and oh so Very Very Unfortunate backstory at some point. probably #so far i've just been wishing he'd stop talking and die whenever he appears #the chapter subtitles are mentioning the time until the emperor's murder can we get to that point sooner thanks </3

[lord-squiggletits]

Apparently this might be an unpopular opinion, but I actually don’t like shipping content/fanon interpretations of ships that involve one character beating up the other one being played for laughs. Like idk it just fucking rubs me the wrong way that people will just unironically go “oh [character] could beat up [other character] whenever they want” and people think it’s cute and funny for some reason???

#discourse #it has nothing to do with me thinking they support abuse-- i'm not an anti #i guess i just don't understand why so many people seem to unironically love it? #like at this point i've seen more than one ship where the favorite fan dynamic is basically #'one of them beats up the other one or degrades them while the other one simps and begs for more' #and like..... i guess it's okay as a one off joke or a kink or something #but how do you like...enjoy that? how do you see that as cute and romantic i don't get it #it's especially frustrating because when i come to a ship that has my favorite characters in it #i looked for content expecting that people who ship those characters like both of them and enjoy talking about them and being positive #i don't like going into a ship tag only to see characters being degraded and shit on in content that's supposedly in support of them #this is also a big reason why i avoid m/f ship fandoms because some people basically act like radfem lites #and think that women abusing men is funny #i don't get it man

[sarasade]

One of the most generally useful things to come out of Hbomberguy's plagiarism video and Todd in the Shadows' similar video on misinformation is how they bring transparency to the internet phenomenon of "I made up a guy to get mad at".

Seriously, I've seen people make up a lot of stupid shit on the internet over the years and it's often just a manipulative attempt to paint a group of marginalized people in a bad light.

That's the TL;DR version of this post. 

ANYWAY here is the long version

Those videos are mostly about James Somerton's plagiarism of other queer people's work. However I'd like to talk about that 20-30% of Somerton's original writing- and oh boy. It's mostly about complaining about White Straight Women and misgendering well-known trans creators such as Rebecca Sugar and calling Becky Albertalli a straight woman while it's pretty common knowledge that she was forced to out herself as bi because she received so much harassment over "being a cishet woman who appropriates LGBT+ stories".

One thing that irks me especially is how in his Killing Stalking and Gay Shipping videos Somerton brings up how straight women/ teen girl shippers exploit gay men for their personal sexual fantasies. This gets brought up several times in his videos.

Being all up and arms about Somerton being a "White Cis Gay Who Hates Women and Queer People tm" is not that useful because the kind of rhetoric he's using is extremely common in fandom and LGBT+ spaces on Tumblr, TikTok and Twitter. We really don't need to bring Somerton's identity to this since he is in no way an unique example.

It's hypocritical to make this about an individual person when I've seen A TON of posts, tweets and videos where queer people talk about these Sinister Straight Women who are supposedly out there fetishizing and exploiting queer men. It's pretty clear to me that this is just an excuse to shit on women and queer people for having any sexual interests. At worst these comments are spreading misinformation about BL, a form of media that has been excessively studied by both Asian feminists and Asian queer women.

This all sounds really familiar and I think it's good that people are calling it out as what it is: misogyny and transphobia. I'd also point out the potentially racist motives behind being this hypervigilant about Asian media.

People can absolutely be misogynist regardless of gender or orientation. I really don't know why we need to create some kind of made up enemy to get mad at. I actually think it's almost sinister how "anti-fujoshi" people call Slash shippers and fujoshi misogynists or claim that they have internalised misogyny while being dismissive about women's interests and creative pursuits under Japanese obscenity laws, China's censorship, book bans in American schools and various other disadvances that are part of being a queer and/or female creator.

I think we shouldn't be naive about the bad faith actors who want to turn queer people against each other. For example Fujoshi.info mentions anti-gender (TERF, GC etc) movement using this kind of rhetoric as well.

Anyway if you want to read more:

- about the false info around BL fandom fujoshi.info

-There is the scholar Thomas Baudinette who studies gay media in Japan. Here is a podcast with him and the scholar Khursten Santos

-James Welker is a BL scholar as well. Here is a podcast interview about the new international BL article collection he edited.

-I've already talked about this Youtube channel by KrisPNatz and his great Killing Stalking video that actually engages with the themes of the manhwa

- There is also HR Coleman's thesis DO NOT FEED THE FETISHIZERS: BOYS LOVE FANS RESISTANCE AND CHALLENGE OF PERCEIVED REPUTATION where she interviews 36 BL fans and actually breaks down why fetishization has become such a huge talking point in the fandom discourse. Spoilers, it's mostly about young queer people and women being worried that they will get judged and pathologized for their interest in anything sexual.

-Great podcast about Danmei and censorship with Liang Ge

#Also I don't mean that you can always tell if someone is a transphobe or a TERF based on a couple of things they have said. #My point is that sometimes ok people can have very regressive ideas too. #This is not a call out post about how we should go around accusing anti-fujoshi people #todd in the shadows #hbomberguy #sarasade text #even I've got those “Fandom is mostly straight women fetishizing gay men” comments once and it begins to sound kind of passive-aggressive #when you're a bi woman. Lot of fandom stats at AO3 show that fandoms are montly bi women. who are these people calling straight exactly hmm #also straight women are completely ok leave them alone. I know I know Yes I'm so brave for saying this #cw: transphobia

[nikethestatue]

Moriel--A Cautionary Tale

Let me tell you a little story.

Before ACOWAR was released, there was a group of pretty serious shippers, who were violently convinced that Mor and Azriel were going to be endgame. Basing their assumptions on what they found in ACOMAF, they had an unshakable belief in Moriel.

Now, you see, *I* was never a Moriel. What I saw in Moriel was one person deeply disinterested in another, while participating in a strange dynamic between herself and two brothers. What's more, what I always found curious and strange about Moriel in ACOMAF was that everything about it seemed to have come from other people. The 'relationship' such as it was (and it was strange) was told from the POV of others, namely Rhys to Feyre. And yet, at no point, have we ever seen Azriel act upon this intense infatuation that he supposedly had for Mor. There were 'longing looks' that he supposedly sent her way, but they were told through the biased lens of Feyre's observations, who took what Rhys told her at face value. Now, what *I* personally found curious and what made me more and more doubtful about Moriel in ACOMAF was that it was Feyre herself, the protagonist, who through her OWN observations (not through Rhys's) said the words 'and I think that Elain would cling to Azriel, just for some peace and quiet'. They didn't need to be included, those words. Not at all. She could've just said 'Elain would also love Velaris and would adore walking through the gardens and the flower stalls'. Yet, then the still human and engaged Elain would cling to Azriel...If he stopped loving Mor.

Hmmmm. Did that mean that Azriel could and WOULD stop 'loving' Mor because of ....Elain?

That if Elain was there, with him, 'clinging' to him, that would make him drop his 500 year old obsession? But why? I wondered. If Moriel were supposedly endgame, why would Elain be brought up as a possibility at all? Why, in Feyre's mind, did the two of them make sense?

Yet, the Moriels did not let up, though the hints were already there. The fact that it's been 500 years and nothing's happened between 2 people who seemingly had no obstacles to being together didn't seem to bother them. And what's more, none of these so-called 'evidence' came from Azriel himself. Or Mor. But especially Azriel. A man in love, he did not seek to touch this woman, help her, care for her, spend time with her. Once, he agreed to go to Rita's, and that was a big deal, it seemed.

So why am I telling you all this?

Because I've seen it all before. One of the biggest fandom members ever, was an ardent Moriel shipper. Moriel. Moriel. Moriel. The 'breadcrumbs' and the 'foreshadowing' were all there in her mind. Theories were written. Great Moriel fanfics. Art. Moodboards. In A COWARD, Moriel was finally going to happen. The next book was basically Moriel's.

Reminds you of anything?

Good, ol' Gwynriel.

Same shit. Different day. Taking questionable sentences from the books and thinking that they mean something that they don't. Constructing elaborate headcanons. Writing endless theories. Heavily relying on assumptions. And by God, Moriel actually had way more material to go by than Gwynriel. You COULD almost get confused--it would've been much more understandable than Gwynriel.

But what never convinced me about the validity of Moriel is that one sentence.

"Elain would cling to Azriel'.

THAT, my friends, is foreshadowing.

It hinted at the FUTURE. That there was an untold story there.

As she was tending to Rhys and his wounds, Feyre laid out the future for both sisters in her monologue.

Both Moriel and Gwynriel speak of the past--the rescues of both Mor and Gwyn. But never of the future. SJM never paired Gwyn and Azriel and gave them even one sentence of how they might come together in the future. Same with Moriel.

So, when you become worried and begin questioning yourself, when the noise gets too loud and you begin wondering whether Elriel is going to happen remember Moriel. A loud majority was advocating for those too as well at some point. Loud doesn't equal 'right'. Sometimes, it's just loud.

#elriel #azriel and elain #elain x azriel #pro elriel

[genericpuff]

On your post about rather having 100 mature readers than having a large group of immature readers for your comic, in the tags you mentioned the "hanza situation". If you don't mind me asking, what's that?

So there's been talk about Hanza , the creator of The Guy Upstairs on Webtoon, supposedly wanting to drop the comic altogether due to how their fanbase ships the main characters (one of which is a serial killer) and just due to the fact they've fallen out of love with their own comic over the course of publishing it on Webtoons. The comic isn't confirmed cancelled yet, it's just what they apparently want to do and are gonna be running it by WT for approval.

Which like, yeah, I don't blame them if that's true and if they've "fallen out of love" with their work, that shit can and does happen all the time especially when your work winds up exploding to a degree that you become 'detached' from it. And I don't blame them for being ick at the fandom for their comic shipping their main characters, apparently that started when it was being pirated on another site and miscategorized as a romance when it's a horror / thriller comic but that's just what I've heard from others who do read the comic.

The actual vibe on the whole situation is unclear, they posted like last week about how the two characters were siblings which I THOUGHT was an April Fool's joke because it was legit posted on April 1st. But now apparently they actually ARE siblings? So they deadass just spoiled their comic before it was over? Though apparently this was for the purpose of trying to get their fandom to knock it off, but it's just led to people getting even more pissed because they see that as Hanza 'baiting' them into reading a dark romance comic which... it never was.

IDK man I'm getting such mixed signals off the whole thing esp because we haven't seen these DM's/emails/etc. which like... okay obviously Hanza doesn't need to share anything they're not comfortable with but there's tinfoil hat theories about them using it as a cover for just not wanting to do the comic anymore. But I don't really subscribe fully to that theory because... why? I'm just not sure which thread of logic to follow here lmao

I honestly have no fucking clue what's going on with this situation anymore because it seems to get more complicated by the day LOL I don't read The Guy Upstairs so I have zero stake in it but let's just say this - I've been on Webtoons since 2016 and am more than aware of how the WT fandom tends to behave on a regular basis, and that's just an audience that I personally don't want, regardless of how positive or negative other people's experiences are. There are people in the WT fandom who are sane and normal, yes, but I'd like to think those people are also fully capable of finding comics outside of WT if they so choose. The general demographic of WT who don't travel outside of it as I've experienced it over the years is just not one I want to tailor to so I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if Hanza was experiencing this and just wanting it to stop. Someone mentioned to me the other day that Webtoons is like the webcomic version of BookTok and ngl I couldn't agree more 💀😆

But yeah, that's about all of my knowledge on the Hanza situation lol

#ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything

[soratsuart]

Hey, you know something that really bothers me from the Fnaf fandom? The way the general fandom and theorizers ignore the daycare attendant.

Like, it could be just me, but I've never seen anyone outside of the DCA sub fandom talk about them and it's so??? Am I the only one who thinks they're being set up to be kind of important??? Take the ruin dlc trailer for example. They could have chosen anything to be the miniature for the video. Hell, the ruin logo itself would have worked. But no, they chose to spoil the trailer itself by putting Eclipse on it, one of the only two characters the fandom is theorising that might be friendly and the only one that actually does a friendly gesture towards Cassie (I'm sorry, but I really didn't interpret Roxy's head tilting as her being non-agressive until other people started saying it and I still have many doubts about her being friendly in contrast to Eclipse when Sun is there too).

Also, the Daycare has a big presence in the trailer too??? It's where we first see the Vanny mask being used and the virtual reality thingy. They could have chosen anywhere to show us that, but it's specifically the daycare.

And that's not even counting all the strange things surrounding them in the main game, like hello???? Sun is literally the only animatronic in the whole fucking Pizzaplex that doesn't try to kill you and that can't even jumpscare you even though Moon apparently is affected by the Glitchtrap virus. How come Sun isn't aggressive while Moon is even though they share a body??? Shouldn't the both of them be infected????

Also, Moon is weirdly more... Self aware than other enemies in the Pizzaplex??? The others act all deranged and like they're not fully conscious of what they're doing, while Moon always stroke me as being fully aware of his own actions?? That might just be my impression tho.

And what's up with the endo daycare??? Why is that whole area Moon themed???? Not even Daycare Attendant themed, Sun is not present there at all, it's all Moon. Why Moon? Why not Sun or both??? Especially when supposedly the company only wanted Sun for the daycare and they just couldn't get rid of the light trigger. I don't know about you, but if I made a room dedicated to teaching robots how to take care of children, I'd have the iconography of the place to be about the actual animatronic I want to take care of children. It's so interesting and yet I've seen almost no one talk about it. Fnaf fandom you're missing out on a lot.

TL;DR: The general Fnaf fandom isn't paying enough attention to the Daycare Attendant even though I believe they might be setting them to be more important than we realize

#five nights at freddy's #fnaf #five nights at freddy's security breach #fnaf security breach #fnaf sb #daycare attendant #fnaf daycare attendant #fnaf sun #fnaf moon #my boys deserve more attention fr #yet somehow they get so ignored outside their own sub fandom #smh #soratsu speaks

[scoobydoodean]

the thing about emma vs amy is they’re literally not comparable at all really!! one HAS KILLED PEOPLE WITHOUT REMORSE (arguably, it’s been a while since i’ve seen the episode) and the other… HAS NOT! a comparison i have never seen people make that is actually so much better, so much more interesting? emma and that dude in metamorphosis, the rugaru. both are supposedly “monsters” who will inevitably kill somebody and thus deserve to be killed as a preemptive measure (even though they haven’t actually hurt anybody yet), as argued by sam about emma and dean/the other hunter about the rugaru. the difference? DEAN DECIDES TO TRUST SAM AND TRY TO HELP THE DUDE. sam on the other hand disregards dean’s wishes and any possibility of emma making the right choice.

i’m convinced that the only reason people compare emma and amy is because “dean admits he was wrong to kill her” (which isn’t actually what he says but people don’t really care about the exacts). if they were to look at any other episode where the definition of monster is argued, they’d see that sam is usually on the side of “give them a chance” (and ftr dean is too almost all of the time) UNLESS it’s a “monster” associated with dean… why are sam’s morals different for these people? for emma?

sorry i know that’s a long rant, but every time i see the emma vs amy debates it boggles me that metamorphosis dude is never brought up too! also i hope this all makes sense haha

Emma and Amy aren't even remotely comparable. In any way. Emma and Amy's son who Dean didn't kill? Yep. They are directly comparable. But Amy and Emma? Get outta here! Jack Montgomery (Metamorphosis) and Jack Kline (two Jack's!) can both be interesting Emma parallels. Especially when comparing how desperate fans are to coddle Jack Kline from so much as experiencing a negative emotion when he's brainwashing people from the womb, bursting out of his mom's body like something out of Alien, and actively strangling innocent black store clerks to death.

Contrary to the belief of people who don't watch the show but are always making wide-sweeping claims about what happens in it, Sam and Dean have a long history of trying to protect "good" monsters (including from other hunters!) from 2.03 "Bloodlust" and onwards (2.03, 2.17, 4.04, 5.06, 6.02, 8.04, 12.04, 12.16). There's a weird disk horse that's opened up in the last several years that Sam and Dean are always indiscriminately killing monsters who don't deserve it all of the time because "supernatural power bad" and that just isn't true. Like. Actually look at the cases they go on? Sam and Dean kill murderers whose crimes are committed supernaturally which is going to allow them to get away with it and/or continue doing it. They don't kill people just because they're "different"—in fact, the entirety of season 2 is about not killing people just because they're different, or because of some alleged inescapable dark destiny.

I've spoken before about how "Bloodlust" is treated by fandom as an episode where Sam stands on some sort of moral high ground from the beginning about the existence of good monsters, but that isn't what actually happens in the episode. Sam ends the episode with zero remorse about any previous hunts John ever took them on while Dean thinks back and wonders if they hurt people who didn't deserve it at some point (no questionable hunts in season 1 FYI—and the majority of them are ghost-related).

The way that Sam can compartmentalize/let go of his past actions and move on is useful in their field of work, but in contrast with Dean's tendency to feel eaten alive by guilt, it often results in fandom disk horse where fans follow Sam's lead by compartmentalizing and burying and excusing his actions as if they never happened, while putting everything Dean does under a microscope because his visible guilt implicates him in the eyes of fans. Because Dean spends several episodes feeling bad after 7.03, he must have done something super duper bad and horrible and is the worst person alive, and Amy didn't deserve to die. But because Sam doesn't ever show a single shred of remorse after 7.13 and Dean doesn't ever talk about it again, Sam must have been in the right. It's actually bizarre when you think about it—Sam's lack of guilt ought to be chilling to fans, but instead, it's often used to absolve him of wrongdoing... and for all their flaws that everyone is always harping on, I do think Bucklemming intended Sam's actions and his attitude after to be chilling. They don't intend him to be seen as "in the right".

Dean buries what happens with Emma down deep, and it's obvious why. He can't take another hit like this in season 7. Not after Cas and Bobby. He buries it deep down like he buried Lisa and Ben deep down. In addition... if Dean wanted to bring Emma up, who the actual fuck would or could he have talked to about her? Bobby's dead. Cas is dead. The only person left in Dean's life is the person who killed his daughter, and Sam made it very clear that he didn't give a shit how Dean felt about her being dead. In fact, he lectured Dean for hesitating to kill his own biological child, and said she "wasn't really his". Then when Dean disputed that claim, Sam immediately called him crazy and acted like Dean's actions (trying to push a monster kid who hasn't hurt anyone off a terrible path) are out of character when they ARE NOT (2.03, ALL OF SEASON 2, 4.04, 5.06). Even 7.03 itself supports Dean's actions with Emma as in character, because the ACTUAL Emma analogue, Amy's son, is not killed by Dean. So yeah. Who the FUCK was Dean going to talk with this about? Given Sam's long and storied history of behaving as the thought police, if Dean had so much as looked too sad in his presence, Sam would have lit into him all over again, and what fucking good was that going to do?

And yeah teehee Sam doesn't want Dean to have too many friends. More than one often-dead close friend is too many.

#mail #emma #amy #7.13 #7.03 #season 7

[yuri-is-online]

I've read about Jade!Yutu, protective father go brrr. the part with Jade sitting with Yutu's friends like "you're not that slick. who do you think you got it from?☝️" the sass, man

Also! Grandaddy Crewel! his relationship with Yuu seems to be a "parent and child" kind in this au (and I am a SUCKER for this dynamic in the fandom). So to Yutu he's a grandfather figure? A mentor? I imagine the loss of Yuu and unborn child hit Crewel hard, and then apocalypse, and then becoming a leader of survivors, and then meeting some strange kid with magic from supposedly magicless world... Plus what's their relationship and/ or Prof's opinion when Yutu goes back in time?

(I beg you please make the term "granddaddy Crewel" official, please, please, please please!!!🙏)

With love😘, 📻 anon

Jade! Yutu post

Yes the idea for this au is that when Yuu is forced to stay in Twisted Wonderland the school collectively takes on their care, but Crewel really steps up to the plate because of he doesn't trust the other teachers as much as he trusts himself. He sees himself as a father figure to Yuu, even walked them down the aisle (suck it Trein). Losing Yuu and their unborn child was extremely hard on him, and depending on who Yutu's dad is it has the potential to get a lot worse; there is a chance he lost not just his child and first grandkid but his son in law too. But since we are talking about Jade... he's still alive and at the school, but very determined to not talk about his dead spouse and baby with anyone even though Crewel wants to. Maybe before Yutu comes home Crewel goes to Jade's bar and has a drink and a smoke at the end of the day and they have some small talk about the goings on at NRC. Both of them know why they're doing this but they still don't mention Yuu by name. Maybe they talk about stargazing a lot since that's a safe topic for both of them and just close enough for them talk about it without talking about it. It's safe, and completely interrupted by Yutu coming home with a chip on his shoulder and a dedication to acting out. It strains the equilibrium but when Yutu goes back in time...

"You knew didn't you." It's not a question, Crewel has never seen Jade really drink anything other than tea but he's made two cocktails tonight and only one is his usual order.

"Of course, he hasn't managed to outsmart me yet." His eyes crinkle softly, Jade looks old. "He's too much like Yuu for that." Older than he himself is, Crewel takes a long sip of his drink and looks down at the bar in silence.

"So we just wait then?"

"Not like we were doing much more before." Jade has never sounded this exhausted, and it hurts Crewel that things have reached this point. "Do you think they're waiting on us?" How nice of him to not just say "me" even though Crewel knows that's really what's on his mind. "I'm ready for this bad dream to be over."

That's probably the first time Jade has ever willingly told him the truth. If things were better, Crewel would laugh.

When I was putting together the au I was thinking about writing for the staff but knew I did not reeeeally want to do that with Yuu? So I was thinking about letting people make requests for them with similar rules to how I write Yuu (always gn, not like another anime character etc.) with a generic staff member fill in. I was thinking the school music teacher since we don't see one and I thought that would be really cute, but recently I have also really liked the idea of a random person living in Craneport who drops things off at the school on occasion. Maybe they're magicless just like Yuu is and also struggling to make ends meet, but there is just something about them that drives people like Crewel and Sam wild hehe~

Anyway one of the reasons for that was because I wanted to give the staff kids who would be friends with Yutu and go back in time with him. The one I became most attached to was Crewel's son Nero, who sees himself as Yuu's younger brother and Yutu's uncle. Yutu pretty much universally rejects this with one exception, Kalim! Yutu thinks Nero is great and is totally down to call him Uncle even though he's only like. 5 years older than he is. He sees it as a fun nickname more than anything and who really cares, family is family right? While he only has one or two memories of Yuu himself, Nero knows a lot about how badly his father was effected by loosing them and Yutu and has just as much of a motivation to see that never happen again. While Yutu isn't as fond of Nero he does see Crewel as a father/grandfather type figure who he trusts without question. As for calling him "granddaddy Crewel" ( ` ꒳ ´ )✧ that depends on the Yutu. Jade! and Riddle! Yutu absolutely call him that specifically to be a pain while Kalim! Yutu would out of love. Azul! Yutu would just call him Headmage since that's what he is and Floyd! Yutu calls him Professor Crewel since that's also what he is and he doesn't seem to like being Headmage that much.

Going back in time complicates things, Yutu has similar feelings towards Crewel as he does Yuu, and Crewel? Well I feel like he would treat them more or less in the same way he does Yuu but he'd be less patient with his fuck ups since he is a mage and should hypothetically know better than to pull some of the shit he does. Over all thought I think Crewel appreciates how much calmer Yutu is when compared to his other students, the general opinion of the staff about Yuu (and Yutu) is that they can be trusted not to cause trouble whereas the other students can't, which makes them the undeniable favorites to no one's suprise.

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland #radio anon #future kid au #jade leech x reader #i had a kid for sam too that i put in diasomnia #which i felt was very big brained of me idk #i should do a little event for the staff though that's be cute

[olderthannetfic]

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/747778548718321664/an-element-of-the-not-enough-ff-fic#notes

tbf, the "not shipping the canon het relationship is misogyny!" thing has escaped containment enough to the dumbest, most homophobic het-onlys that I've seen those people argue that for F/F pairings where there IS no competing M/M relationship, where people genuinely couldn't give less of a shit about the guy and are only in it to put the woman with someone better. Or when the M/M ship they also like is completely non-overlapping.... somehow it's somehow still misogynistic for them to prefer this completely DIFFERENT woman with her female best friend over whatever crappy guy she's with in canon whom they ship with nobody.

My friend has seen this in Bridgerton fandom, where people throw out the "but misogyny!" shit for people who prefer shipping Eloise with women, over her book-canon male love interest (who is a rapist who sucks and she ends up basically just being nanny to his kids, gee I wonder why a lot of people don't want that as the eventual fate of the character who in the show is the Outspoken Feminist). Their claim for why that's supposedly what's going on is these same people sometimes also like to ship her brother Benedict with men.... but like, the "canon" ship isn't Benedict/Eloise. Nobody ships that. They just like both of them in same-gender relationships. And in Eloise's case, it's clearly motivated by a love of Eloise as a character, a dislike of her book husband, and often also liking her relationships with other women in the show and thinking it would be interesting to ship them. What could possibly be misogyny and "pair the spares" about that....?

(Granted, the people mad about this in Bridgerton seem particularly homophobic and stupid and like, new to fanfic fandom or something. They had meltdowns about someone tagging a het ship with its ship tag when they wrote a fic with one of them Rule 63'd..... pretty sure that's standard AO3 practice to do that? The person tagged it as either M/M or F/F - whichever it was - rather than F/M, and put a tag in there about it being Genderswap/Rule 63, they were adequately warned. So there was literally no reason to complain except that you mad that you were reminded of the existence of non-het in your fandom by scrolling through the tag. The horror! Or maybe it's 2024 and especially if you're using AO3 of all fucking places, you need to get the fuck over the idea that "can gay people exist but like, not where I can see them?" is a preference it's ok and normal and non-bigoted for you to have)

--

[justindurchdenwald]

It's Time For a Bad Batch Theory. Part 1.

This is my first theory on here, so bear with me. I don't know how to do this lmao.

Spoilers ~

Chapters:

Who Is The Assassin, Clone X?

Starting with Tech: Is he Alive?

Reasons for why Clone X could be Tech

Reasons for why Tech might not be Clone X

Full Theory: Tech Returns as Clone X

Conclusion and Thoughts

With Season 3 in mid-swing there has been a lot of talk about Tech.

More specifically: Theories about Clone X possibly being Tech (or Cody).

So, I figured I should give my thoughts on this as a Writer and avid Star Wars fan.

Who Is The Assassin, Clone X?

Well, first we need to consider who it would make the most sense for him to realistically be.

Tech

Cody

Crosshair Clone

A New Clone

An Old Clone (from Clone Wars?)

Now that I've made a list of possible subjects, let's begin.

Starting with Tech:

Is he Alive?

This is a widely debated subject among the Fandom. Some people want him to come back while others wish he would stay dead. But, we still haven't seen a body. And this is Star wars.

But, from a writing standpoint he should stay dead for the emotional impact. Otherwise, what was the point? Unless the show is ending as a tragedy where the whole squad ends up dying. (Excluding Omega.)

As much as I would like them to all get back together and live, I don't think that will happen.

If Tech is Clone X, that means he must surely have survived, was found by Hemlock, and Brainwashed. It was Hemlock who brought Tech's glasses/goggles to Hunter after all.

Which means... Hemlock must have investigated the area Tech fell. So, the possibility of him having survived exists. And Hemlock could have taken him. Or Tech did die and they're using his DNA to alter other clones (but that's a whole other conversation).

Reasons for why Clone X could be Tech

There are similarities in their armor, movements, and possibly their voice. Tech is well known as the only Clone to have a hint of a British accent. And the voice modulation overlay for Clone X is noticeably much stronger than any of the other Assassin Clones.

(Also, I must note: We've seen fakeout deaths in the past. Specifically I am referencing Echo.)

Similarities include -

Armor details

Voice (possible accent?)

Movements

Aparent knowledge of technology

Use of hand-held grenades

Weaker than an average clone, obvious by his fighting style. It seems to be more martial arts based than what a regular clone would use.

There are also a lot of mirrored things from previous seasons. Like Tech having a limp from an injury. And Clone X getting a limp from an injury as well.

Of course we can't forget the mirrored scenes of Tech and Clone X climbing out of the water. Minor things, but still notable.

Now, let's move on to the unfortunate negative parts for this theory.

Reasons for why Tech might not be Clone X

It's simply too good to be true.

Why bother killing him off in the first place if they're just going to bring him back?

We can't ignore the height difference between Tech and this Assassin Clone.

Tech is supposedly taller than the average Reg. Although, like Echo the Empire could have experimented on Tech and made his legs mechanical?

Of course, it doesn't make much sense as to why they would do that.

Another reason why it might not be Tech, is that it doesn't make sense to bring Tech back unless (in my opinion) the rest of the Batchers, including Tech, end up dead in the end.

We also have Echo as part of the squad. So, it's highly unlikely that the writers would include two characters so closely related with both having fakeout deaths. That just feels weird.

Full Theory: Tech Returns as Clone X

After Tech sacrificed himself on Eriadu, Hemlock sent troops down to look for him. He knew that Tech was an essential part of Clone Force 99, so by capturing him the Empire would have access to his modified/Enhanced DNA. (That could be useful)

Dr. Hemlock proceeds to give Hunter 'proof' of Tech's death. When in reality, he's been captured. As to not have his Squad go in search of him or suspect that he may be alive.

Now, because Tech is able to make calculations as quickly as a computer, he already knew the odds of surviving the fall were slim... But not impossible. Therefore, he took the chance to save his squad. (Maybe his backpack had a rocket booster similar to the one Rex had in the Clone Wars.)

He sustained severe injuries to his legs when his jet pack failed to fully break his fall, rendering them useless which made it easy for him to get captured. (He also has a habit of getting easily injured in the show, so this feels very in character for him.)

Once he was taken by the Empire, they replaced his legs with robotic ones similar to Echo. (which decreased his height?)

The Empire then began the process of brainwashing Tech to use him as a special operative. They also took DNA samples from him to experiment with enhancing other clones in case the brainwash didn't work.

Unfortunately however, it did work and Tech became Clone X.

In Episodes 6 and 7 we see the Assassin Clone track down the Bad Batch. When landing his ship he made his landing with a possible 'Tech Turn' which I don't believe we've seen anyone else use besides Omega.

We also saw Clone X display multiple different fighting styles. His use of a Sniper-Riffle and Knife are most notable. In the Season 2 Finale Tech displayed his aiming skill, so it's possible that he could effectively use a Sniper.

Conclusion and Thoughts

Do I think Clone X is actually Tech? No.

Am I delusional and really hope that he does end up being Tech even though it wouldn't make sense and probably be a poor decision on the writers part? Yes.

Anyways, Thank You to anyone who took the time to read through this. I'll do my best to come up with a Part 2 talking about Cody.

I'll see y'all in the next post!

#the bad batch #tbb spoilers #tbb #tbb tech #tbb theory #star wars #tech the bad batch #the bad batch theories #im delusional #writer thoughts #clone wars

[agentrouka-blog]

Hey I have a question that you might find interesting. Don't you find it strange that literally no one in this fandom questions whether the Valyrians (including the Targaryens) really were that beautiful and perfect, or whether this is actually part of some „propaganda” in the asoiaf universe? Because it seems strange to me that centuries of incest have not affected anyone at all, and supposedly it can be explained by the fact that "genetics work differently in this universe", but I don't buy it. The other thing is also that Valyria is described as the most advanced, but is it really? Throughout history we have instances where propaganda was used to make a given country or empire seem as good as possible, while the truth may always seems different. So I'm seriously surprised that I've never meet a person who would question the old valyria or even the Targaryens…

Anyway I hope you have a good day and take care!!

I wouldn't say that it has never been questioned in fandom at all? Plenty of fans are critical of the Valyrian empire, especially those who like Dorne and the Rhoynar, and take a look at asoiaf history from that angle.

This post is particularly concise on the subject of exactly why Valyrian looks seem to be considered beautiful by default. (Hint: it's imperialism.)

GRRM himself absolutely lampoons the idea of this universally adored ethereal Valyrian beauty when he gives us Arianne's reaction to a person with Valyrian looks:

"You look… " She hesitated. "…like a woman?" He laughed. "That I am not." " …like a Targaryen," Arianne insisted. His eyes were a pale lilac, his hair a waterfall of white and gold. All the same, something about him made her skin crawl. Was this what Viserys looked like? she found herself wondering. If so perhaps it is a good thing he is dead. "I am flattered. The women of House Targaryen are said to be without peer in all the world." "And the men of House Targaryen?" "Oh, even prettier. Though if truth be told, I have only seen the one." (TWOW, Arianne II)

It doesn't get much more damning than that.

As for their advanced society, they are still famed for their magical steel, which can't be replicated likely because most societies aren't knee-deep in peninsula-destroying blood magic. Which is also where the dragon bites its tail: if your "advanced" technology is essentially all rooted in blood magic that likely had a role to play in obliterating your entire "freehold", your people, and almost all dragons, is that advanced or is it just living large on borrowed time and stolen lives?

Because:

None can say how many perished, toiling in the Valyrian mines, but the number was so large as to surely defy comprehension. As Valyria grew, its need for ore increased, which led to ever more conquests to keep the mines stocked with slaves. The Valyrians expanded in all directions, stretching out east beyond the Ghiscari cities and west to the very shores of Essos, where even the Ghiscari had not made inroads. (The World of Ice and Fire, Valyria's Children)

Seems like whatever they had going for them was bought with the lives of those they oppressed. Either through enslavement or through literally trading their lives in blood magic rituals.

#anti targaryen #anti valyrian

[raytorosaurus]

pls tell me you don't think disliking lynz is misogynistic lol i must've misinterpreted that

nope! it's totally fine to dislike lynz, i also don't like her myself. she's said some very questionable things and MSI grosses me out, as does her association with jimmy urine. i already know people will want to take this the wrong way so i want to make it clear that i'm not defending any of that. i'm pointing out an irritating mindless pattern of behaviour in this fandom that is immature and reductive at best and misogynistic at worst, which includes:

1. the intensity of the vitriol that is directed at her being disproportionate to most of the men ppl blog about who have done/said similar, if not much worse, things. and honestly in a lot of cases disproportionate to what she's actually done

2. the fact that i see so many people (especially on twitter) blindly jumping on the bandwagon of hating on her often without knowing what exactly it is they're hating her for - and even then, most of the reasons i see parrotted on twitter are either contextless and overexaggerated or not even one of the aforementioned valid reasons for disliking her. i don't know how to tell you this but if you believe everything on lynzuglyliar you need to reevaluate how you engage with information on the internet lol

3. the level of glee with which people hate on her, which truly smacks of old-school fandom misogyny reserved for women who marry your faves or get in the way of your favourite ship. on twitter especially it honestly truly feels like people are delighted to have a wife of the band they're "allowed" to hate on lol. i know a lot of that is coming from teenagers who will grow up and learn more self-awareness but that doesn't make it any less annoying or disappointing to see

4. the ridiculous mental gymnastics required to hate her so much while continuing to be a fan of the person who is married to her and in love with her lmao. sorry but if you truly think she's that irredeemable why are you still here

like. i hate msi and i go out of my way to avoid listening to them. but it's worth keeping in mind that the kind of shock-jock edgy gross music they wrote was not exclusive to msi in the 2000s. i hate it too and think it's stupid and counterproductive to whatever point it's supposedly trying to make but it was like. a thing for a while unfortunately. it was bad at the time and it aged even worse, but gerard and frank at the very least, and probably the others too, vocally enjoyed it. frank voluntarily chose to tour with msi and mcr performed with them multiple times and were always excited about it. if you truly think lynz's involvement with that band is indefensible, you should extend at least part of that criticism to mcr too. the amount of times i've seen people saying "omg frank hates lynz so much" is fucking ridiculous, and it's based entirely on the same kind of conjecture that led people to believe mcr didn't remain close friends after the breakup lol. if you have to make up things like that - or worse, make up and spread infidelity rumours or actual domestic abuse allegations (it's not even rare to see this on twitter) - to excuse their association with lynz/msi, you need to take a look at yourself tbh

this is partly a twitter-specific problem because that platform is literally set up to disallow meaningful or nuanced conversation but it's really exhausting to see hundreds of snippy "she's the devil" tweets and if you say anything vaguely critical of the the way fandom treats her you get immediately shot down with "why are you defending A Racist" with zero context or clarification. i hate to break it to you but if lynz is A Racist of an irredeemable level, so is gerard. hell, so is frank for blindly listening to and promoting black metal bands with nazi associations when he as a metal fan should know better and do his research. lynz's racism in question is the kind that's overwhelmingly common among liberal white women who are into witchcraft-type stuff. again, i am not condoning it, it's still wrong, but you cannot hold her to different standards than you do the guys in mcr. i'm just saying if you're able to acknowledge gerard's questionable statements and attitudes in the past, condemn them, acknowledge that he's changing and learning, but still go on liking him as a person and supporting his art...what is the reason you can't do the same for lynz.

i've seen people on twitter accuse lynz of plagiarism in an impressively tone-deaf misinterpretation of her art genre, sometimes the same people who would call gerard doing something similar a clever reference. i have literally seen people quote male members of MSI making sexually objectifying and openly misogynistic comments about lynz as some kind of gotcha saying "look, even her bandmates don't respect her" and like...if you can't see something deeply wrong with that i don't know what to tell you. i've seen COUNTLESS people bring up vague information "revealed" by her actual estranged family members on twitter after people stalked them to try to get dirt on lynz and if you think parroting back contextless one-sided information from other people's private family drama isn't a) about the least reliable source of information ever and b) deeply disgusting and inappropriate, i really don't know what to tell you

if you despise lynz to the point where you're in mcr's comments telling gerard to divorce her (again. i shouldn't have to say that this is disgusting behaviour) or booing when they perform summertime or accusing her of infidelity or abuse (which i cannot stress enough are rumours originally made up by frerard tinhatters) or anything like that, why are you even here. like what mental gymnastics are you doing to be able to remain a fan of gerard at this point. none of this is activism, if anything it's counterproductive to your point because it's indicative of the lack of critical thinking or maturity that's necessary when you're engaging with topics like casual/unconscious racism and normalised sexual abuse in the music industry

i'm probably not going to say more about this because this isn't really the hill i want to die on considering i don't even particularly like her myself but please i am begging you approach your dislike of lynz with just a little bit of critical thought and self-awareness instead of just blindly despising her for things that most of the men we blog about are also guilty of.

#the 'you' in here is the royal you im not accusing you specifically of all these things anon #i don't know what to tag this lol #answered #okay now back to fun times i habe pixels to stare at

[lansplaining]

Protagonist-centric readers will do anything but admit that their MCs did lie and impact other characters' decisions. It's not the side-characters fault that they did not know the whole truth because *drum roll* they weren't told anything and/or was deliberately lied to.

LQQ being hated bc he impaled XL in a coffin for a long time but like... XL admitted to killing the King of Yong'an and committing the bloody massacre so what was LQQ supposed to do? Sit down and ask his Guoshi for the truth when we know damn well XL will just continue to admit to it? XL didn't want to tell LQQ the truth to protect LQQ and the two groups of people, and that's completely admirable, but what LQQ saw was his Guoshi stabbing a sword through his father's chest and admitting to everything so him reacting the way he did was completely valid. The single act of killing the king was treason 100x already, and as the son of the king, LQQ's reaction was not out of the ordinary. we don't want XL to suffer and be even more traumatized, but XL already knew that the consequences wouldn't be pretty and lied anyway. idk why fans can't grasp that.

Or for JC's case, HE IS LITERALLY THE ONE PERSON ALIVE IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WHO ACTUALLY DESERVES SOME KIND OF EXPLANATION FROM WWX HIMSELF, THE MAN WHO ACCIDENTALLY CAUSED WN TO KILL JXZ AND INDIRECTLY KILLED JYL DESPITE CLAIMING THAT HE HAD EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL. These two aren't strangers to JC at all; they're his sister and his brother-in-law, or more importantly, his sister's beloved husband and father of his nephew. He deserves to be angry and bitter at the one person who did all that, and there is no time limit for how long he should remain bitter and angry about it. The GCT was a whole mess and they both made HUGE sacrifices out of love but the only one whose sacrifice is made invalid is JC because one, it was short-lived and two, they already didn't like JC so no matter what he does for WWX, it will be seen as something negative.

I don't even want to get into the hell-hole regarding LXC but... damn...

the revelations after a character found out the truth should be "oh man, so that's what really happened" not "this character was a dick because they didn't know about the major sacrifice the MC made for them that would only be revealed many years later, and it's not even voluntary because someone else told the truth, not the MC themself"

I'm not the first nor am I the last person to say this but a protagonist is just a character we see, mainly, from their POV or the character that we follow the story through. That's all there is to it. I feel like a lot of danmei readers have yet to read a variety of stories about an MC that's completely shit but serves to tell a story just as important and interesting.

okay, first of all-- people hate LQQ?? The sweetest, most violent himbo of all????????????? even Xie Lian doesn't hate him for what he did??????

i have nothing to say to such people

i'll be honest, it is really only relatively recently that i've fully come to realise how completely Jiang Cheng deserves an explanation or even just acknowledgement of any kind from Wei Wuxian, and how cowardly and selfish it is that Wei Wuxian refuses to give it. and I say this with a heart full of love for WWX-- he is dealing with Some Trauma (tm) but that doesn't mean his refusal to even speak to JC isn't hurtful and unfair, even if it's what he needs... but man everyone in fandom and fanworks is focused on WWX taking what he needs in this situation and not even remotely considering that just maybe he also justifiably owes something to someone he harmed and who he supposedly (formerly?) cared about (i think he still cares)

the lan xichen thing is literally inexplicable to me and i will never understand it

#ask answered

[rulerzreachf4n7]

This has been on my mind recently and I just can't get it off soooo yeah

Just know I am not defending/supporting any of the actions of any characters I mention, I'm just some random ass teenager who's confused as hell so if I get something wrong PLEASE TELL ME!!!

Also trigger warning for sensitive subjects while reading since it's too much to list

So y'all know Valentino from Hazbin? Y'all know that vivzipop sold merch of him (supposedly, I'm not sure what type of merch it was) and basically people got mad cause of course Valentino is a villain and if you're an evil character it makes it automatically bad to make merchandise of you...and since he's done TERRIBLE THINGS, it makes it even worse

On one hand I agree but on the other I don't

You are allowed to like villain characters, no one is stopping you but yourself, I personally don't like Valentino but if you do then shit, who tf is gonna stop you? But it's only problematic if you support their actions, remember, you can like a character without supporting what bad things they've done, you can like a villain character for their design/looks/literally anything but their bad actions (just like me with Belos from TOH!)

And y'all know Belos from The Owl House? Half of the fandom loves him, the rest doesn't, how come when I see merch of him, whether it be plushies, or pins, or A FUCKING BODY PILLOW (yes that actually exists) no one goes "WHY ARE YOU MAKING MERCH OF BELOS DO YOU KNOW WHAT BAD STUFF HE'S DONE???? 🤬"

I know it might be a weird comparison with Val and Belos since I literally know no other fandom I've been that likes (one of the main) villains, and yes, I have seen people like Valentino before (just for his design y'all dw)

And for any of y'all wondering what their crimes are I'm not sure they're all 100℅ accurate I might've left some out for Valentino but for Belos it's just wayy too many for me for list (and I like forgot most of his crimes and I'm making this on a school night💀) but it's just what I've gathered

Valentino: trafficking, rape, sexual assault, abuse

Belos: attempted genocide, committed fratricide, murdered grimwalkers (which where at the tweens-teens ages), child abuse, abuse, and too much more that I remember/can list

It's just lowkey kinda weird to me cause, can't we just like characters and make merch? Honestly it was pretty tasteless that vivzipop made merch of val in the first place cause...who tf is gonna buy that?? And second as of recent literally no one is buying her merch so MAJOR L to viv hehe, and if you're gonna make merch of villains maybe not in the form of a shirt? (I'm not 100℅ sure if it was a shirt but that's just what I've heard) I mean, a plushie or pin would be nice but who tf is gonna be walkin around on the streets with a damn Valentino shirt...? No one 💀

(And I know it's weird I'm using Belos as an example but I've see some Toh/HH fans who just so happen to like Belos and I literally know no other fandom other fandom who likes the main villain or one of the side ones who don't get redeemed so yeah just wanted to clear that up)

(Edit, yeah uhm I might know ONE FANDOM that likes the villain...William Afton...thank you to that person who commented idk how I didn't think of William Afton as a villain people like...)

And of course I'm not saying you can't make merch of villains so sorry if it looks like I was intending that hadn't notice until of course the commenter pointed that out lol

#my posts:3 #the owl house #toh #hazbin critical #hazbin hotel #hazbin criticism #hazbin critique #hazbin valentino #emperor belos #toh belos #belos

[caralara]

I know Louis' your fave so I hope it's okay that I send you this. But recently the blinkers have been coming off for me in regards to Louis. I think I used to have him up on a bit of a pedestal. I just thought he was this really intelligent guy, really aware of social issues and willing to fight for the right thing and be rebellious when necessary. I don't know. I saw things playing out very differently. But unfortunately, lately, I've been seeing a lot of laziness and complacency and a willingness to settle from him. A lot of contradictions as well. Like he gets the anarchist symbol tattooed but doesn't speak out or place his support behind anything substantial. I'm sorry, legalizing weed is his most political stance. And then being seen with the Starbucks cup and actually covering it in the video like lmao. Not knowing what number year your festival is when he supposedly had big dreams for it. I know this is so small but it irks me that he's been going on about playing the guitar for years. And he is yet to bring it on stage for even one song! I know it comes from a place of self-doubt and insecurity no matter how confident he makes himself appear but like he just doesn't help himself. And fans exaggerating and praising every little thing he does as if he isn't just some basic white man does my head in. Sorry I word vomited on you and I know this sounds harsh but I acknowledge it comes from a bitter place where I feel like his potential is just not being met. At the end it's his life and I genuinely hope he doesn't have many regrets later on.

hi babe

I think I am completely in the same situation as you! I might not be triggered by exactly the same things but I’ve been going over and over it for the last couple days asking myself why I’m so annoyed with him right now?? And I think it really is just the disappointment finding out your fave man is after all, just a man.

Like, to me, it feels like he’s been stagnant since early 2023. right now, to me it feels like he’s just on the hunt for the cheap thrill, getting the validation in that he also can pull massive crowds of screaming girls just like he did during 1D (and it isn’t even the actual validation he’s looking for??? Like he still starts yapping every time a man validates him as if it’s so much more important??)

I feel like he lost focus, or energy, or both. You know, you said it!! You know I love Louis to death, he’s my favourite, and genuinely, I don’t blame him. It makes a lot of sense to me. He’s finally proven himself to not be a flop to all the people doubting him. He’s overcome all the obstacles, did LTWT and had massive success with it, way beyond anyone expected, rode that wave, made a second album that proved he’s not a one hit wonder either, an album he actually enjoyed making, and proved his fans liked it, too. And then… it just kind of stagnated. His team made mistakes and miscalculations. Announcing Asia tour so short notice thinking, then cancelling bc it didn’t sell out, handling the announcements horribly, not realising LTWT was massive bc of all the pent up excitement and desire throughout years of a pandemic, the magnetism of it being the first solo world tour. They also didn’t get it when it came to Milano Summer fest vs. AFHF. The 35k sold out bc it was announced many months in advance and it was the last LTWT show - that’s meaningful to fans. It was easily accessible. You can’t translate just the numbers to „it’s bc he’s popular in Italy,“ there’s so many factors at play they ignored, and therefore AFHF Italy only sold 2/3 of tickets, and a lot of these people didn’t even show up (couldn’t, I better say).

For me, FITF felt like he had checked out a little. He’s plateauing. The excitement and irresistible draw he has is largely due to his resilience, his underdog persona he created that allows normal people to identify with him. And there just wasn’t any… growth since early 2023. He‘s also alienated a large part of his fandom with the bbg pushes, and as you know, I still believe it was all part of the bigger plan to end it, but it does feel like he gave up, got comfortable. And it’s not that I blame him for it necessarily?? Like all he’s been through? It makes a lot of sense to me that now he’s achieved all the things people told him he wouldn’t be able to achieve, that now the burn out sets in, that now, the driving energy of spite and wanting to prove himself has run out.

I feel like the jokes of “oh I’m a pothead I can’t remember if it’s the third or fourth edition of my super duper important close to my heart festival project” or “oh yeah sometimes I forget I’m an actual parent and have a kid” are getting old. Like, it doesn’t serve him anymore it feels like? To me it feels like the weed was a coping mechanism that helped him get through hard times, and that’s completely valid, but now it looks like to me it’s holding him back, blurring his genius.

I’m sorry for the rant back to you. I’m deeply upset because Louis is my escape, my happy place, fandom is my comfort, and I feel like it’s slipping through my fingers because it causes me more upset than happiness at this point. The amount of “kill yourself” messages I have gotten over criticising louis for announcing AFHF so short notice is frankly INSANE. Do people not talk to other people in real life?? How do the people around these people that send those messages deal with them in real life?? It’s so upsetting to see how many people feel comfortable typing out these kind of messages and sending them.

I do hope this feeling of mine calms down, and I can go back to just glorifying louis and have him as my comfort place, because I do not like the thoughts I have and the way it makes me feel.

#anon #louis #sorry anon #please be gentle with me #I am just genuinely expressing my feelings #and believe me I am aware that I am judgemental #and have no idea what his life and thoughts etc look like in reality bc I don’t know him at all #but this is my fandom experience #and the way I feel about it atm

[somewhatsentientspellbook]

Personal Take Incoming (Critical Role)

Consider this a diary entry explaining some of my thoughts on a few Critical Role characters. Avoid reading this post if you don't want my takes on Keyleth, Fjord, Ashton, Orym, Imogen, Percy, and Caleb.

So, I've noticed a common trend with my favourite characters across a variety of fandoms. I personally am an individual who gravitates towards characters with integrity, and rules for themselves that they follow. Characters that have lines in the sand that they can draw and then defend. It doesn't necessarily have to be rules put in place by society, it can be ones they made up for themselves. These characters oftentimes end up becoming the moral centre of their party, which adds another fascinating angle as they try to navigate maintaining their morals with a wider group filled with diverse opinions.

I suppose that is why Keyleth was my favourite Vox Machina character from pretty much the get-go! Her integrity was what endeared me to her throughout the entire campaign. She had opinions of what she thought was right and wrong, and she tried her hardest to enforce that view. Were there times when she learned she was wrong, yes. But she kept what she learned in mind and adjusted her internal monologue to see fit. Keyleth's integrity and unwillingness to engage in the overly amoral actions of Vox Machina created a lot of interesting dynamics.

In campaign two, Fjord quickly became my favourite for very similar reasons. He was the one to ask Beau to apologise to Toya and insist that the party help the Schuster kids so that they wouldn't be put in an orphanage. He also maintained a certain level of honesty with the rest of the party about his history and his mysterious dreams. In this case, Fjord wasn't necessarily 'good' (as he was comfortable with doing some pretty shitty stuff), but he still had expectations of himself and rules that he would not break.

I guess that is why Asthon and Orym are currently my favourite members of Bells Hells too. They both have convictions that they will not stray from and a certain level of integrity that the party honestly needs. Now, whether or not they are right is another discussion entirely, but the point is that they have the courage to stick to their guns even when the group is leaning in another direction.

People have been complaining that the takes on Imogen Temult are unfair, and some of those takes are unfair! But I won't shy away from the fact that Imogen is my least favourite member of Bells Hells (I still think they're all fantastic - including Imogen herself). She is my least favourite for exactly the reasons above. Imogen supposedly has internal rules, but we've seen her be more than happy to break them when they don't suit her at a given moment. She's said that she hates to pry into people's minds and that she avoids it wherever possible - but we see her willingly dive into the minds of people like Dorian without their consent. Imogen has stated that Laudna is the most important person in the world to her and that she loves her more than anything - but Imogen cannot look Laudna in the eyes and tell her that she won't side with Laudna's murderer. That doesn't make the character any less interesting, but it definitely makes it harder for me personally to like her.

I've seen a handful people across socials imply that if you like Percy or Caleb, but not Imogen - it's because she's a woman. This is where I wholeheartedly disagree. While the overly negative opinions of Imogen are harsh and unwarranted, Imogen is the first character whose allegiances I am genuinely uncertain about. Percy and Caleb have said and done truly awful things; I think we can all agree on that. And while they have considered leaving the group, it was under very different circumstances. For the longest time, Percy had nothing waiting for him outside Vox Machina, so the only time I feared he would leave the group was when he died (since Tal confirmed he would've been happy to stay dead). Caleb too, had very little beyond the Mighty Nein and he considered leaving them on multiple occasions. But never once did he consider leaving them to join their enemy. Now, had the M9 faced the Cerberus Assembly earlier in the campaign, that might have been different - but I never feared that Caleb would switch sides in the campaign we did get.

The thing is, Imogen does have something waiting for her: Lilliana and Predathos. I'm not sure about her allegiance, and that's where Imogen, Percy, and Caleb are different. While what Imogen has said/done has been tame compared to what Percy and Caleb have said/done - I know that the line Imogen is toeing is one neither of the others had dared to cross. Percy would never have considered joining forces with the Briarwoods, Thordak, or the Whispered One. Caleb would never have dared to join sides with Avantika, Obann, or Trent. But Imogen might.

That is fascinating. And dangerous. The future isn't set in stone, and all I can do now is bite my tongue and wait for episode 50.

#this has been in my drafts for so long #i didn't know how to word it in a way that would make it clear that this is all my personal opinion #these characters are all so fascinating #personal takes #cr meta #critical role #critical role spoilers #keyleth of the air ashari #fjord cr #orym of the air ashari #ashton greymoore #imogen temult #percy de rolo #caleb widogast #btw no one is obligated to agree/disagree - this has just been on my mind for weeks #but this is the first time ever that a character has a reason to change sides