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maxphilippa · 5 months

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A lot of the neg claims about II are really just making a problem really big/treating it as , or taking things out of context, so let's talk about some of them, ESPECIALLY because of a certain someone(s) lately. Let me clarify that I know that II's writing ISN'T perfect, but nothing is perfect really, and most of these issues are misinterpretation, the choices of the fandom and/or even AE TRYING to fix the writing of a character because a certain SOMEONE was fired on early stages of the writing of said character.

So.

Let's talk about Inanimate Insanity Invitational, and the usual claims that come with it.

1. Cabby's Writing, Interpretations of Her Relationships, and ableism.

Cabby is one of the most... "controversial" characters when it comes to talk about III's writing, which it really shouldn't be like that at all, although I get where people are coming from expressing their concerns when it comes to the writing of her. Let me clarify something. Yes, I am aware that Cabby's writing changes A LOT and that it isn't perfect by any means, but I think that what people fail to understand most of the time is that Taylor was the one that started the Cabby-Test Tube storyline as a whole, and at some point as early s3 was being made, Taylor was fired from the team due to. Well, you guys know it. Pretty bad stuff. So of course, they had to figure out what direction they could go with Cabby as a whole, and to giving her character more depth than her just using her files for the game.

Now, it is obvious that they didn't plan from the start to have Cabby as a disabled character, but again, writing isn't always perfect. They had to somehow make things work. And even IF it wasn't planned, you guys have to remember the other factors that came with the writing on general. So of course her writing isn't as consistent as the writing of the other character on s3, but on later episodes it does get more better. I can see why people don't really like her arc, but those factors really matter when criticizing a form of media.

Cabby's writting and her disability isn't bad. Yes, it could've had better ways of execution, but it's not bad.

When it comes to relationships, I have seen someone seeing Cabby's relationship with Test Tube as a canonically sapphic thing because apparently Cabby's VA had that sort of intent, and therefore even claiming that Cabby suffers from lesbophobia(via claiming that she had a crush on Test Tube) and misogyny.

And that's not true. First of all, Cabby's and Test Tube's relationship is pretty much an example of friendships that don't work, and Test Tube pretty much exposed Cabby to the world and made her feel bad about herself for the rest of the episodes. A headcanon doesn't mean that the whole thing changes on canon, it's just that, a headcanon/interpretation, and claiming that what they did to her was lesbophobic is. Pretty weird. Since it is shown that Test Tube hurted Cabby a lot. As well, just because the Voice Actor had an intention, IT DOESN'T mean that the writers had said intention.

When it comes to the claims of misogyny, I still don't quite get why people try to see what isn't there.

The thing is that there isn't a lot of femenine characters on II and such, but Cabby isn't treated like that because "she doesn't do anything for men", she helps everyone on general, she cares about people. But she isn't put as a bad woman because of this. What you guys tend to forget is that. Cabby WAS kind of a prick on early s3. She DID commit mistakes and wasn't a great person, but that doesn't mean that misogyny is there just because for that. Just because people treat a fem character badly/not great BECAUSE OF HER PAST ACTIONS, doesn't mean that there's misogyny. The cast on general didn't like Cabby at all until she "redeemed" herself/changed/was true to herself. So that claim is. Pretty out of nowhere.

Now... with the ableism. I do get where you guys are coming from, but if you look into it deeply, they genuinely did have other intentions. The thing that people usually tend to forget is that the II characters aren't all white and black, they're gray. They do messed up stuff when they don't understand things. What the characters do to Cabby before she becomes more open about her disability is NEVER glorified and they always end up learning about it one way or another. Is it reasonable? Yes, was it ever justified on canon terms? Nope! People can be assholes without knowing that they're assholes and THEN learn! Things like that happen all of the time. Writers don't condone the actions of the characters.

Let's take an example at the scene with Bot and Cabby on episode 14. The main problem here was Bot giving fake information to Cabby, which yes, I agree that was a very bad move to do and you should NEVER do that to a disabled person (especially taking in count that Cabby suffers from a sort of memory disorder), but they didn't have an malicious intent whole doing so at all. Bot was still figuring out themselves and didn't want to be written down by somebody (because. THAT'S WHAT TEST TUBE AND FAN DID.), and Cabby doing the file thing was also easy to take on a bad light, but after Justin's explanation, it makes sense.

Could've it been treated on a better way? Yes. And YET, Bot apologizes for what they did to Cabby and DOES the disability aid themselves for her, and apologizes on EPISODE 15, just a few hours later probably or some days later. And on the same episode, Lifering tells Cabby that she shouldn't be ashamed of using her aids and that she shouldn't feel bad about those. Test Tube RESPECTS Cabby's space once she gets that she was wrong about her too. She knows she messed up too badly.

Later on, on episodes 16 and 17, everyone finally gets Cabby's files and respects them, because they finally saw that she actually needs those and that hey, she changed a lot. They treated her good. Characters can be human and can make mistakes, but they can also get better and learn. Although Cabby's arc is not flawless, it is still good. And all of the issues are easily explained just like that.

2. Bot's creation, and how it's never justified by them.

One of the main points that some people tend to bring on "III's poor writing" is the fact that Bot was pretty much built based on a parasocial relationship of sorts. However said people dare to say that AE portrays it as something good/thought that it was okay, and never did anything else to show Bot being uncomfortable by it, but this is NOT TRUE.

Ever since Bot found out that they were a replica of someone, they knew it was pretty fucked up coming from Test Tube and Fan. Meanwhile it is not explained the loss these two went through (The Shimmer egg probably does not count, since traces of "Bowbot" have been seen on early-mid s2), we know for a fact that what happened was pretty bad for the two of them. But, Bot never really forgave Test Tube. "What about the chat they have where Test Tube apologizes to them?", Bot is willing to give her another chance for the fact that Test Tube offered to help them to be themselves.

Even then Bot explains on their interview that the main reason they acted poorly towards Cabby, was because they got attached to Test Tube, the "only" person that could've helped them to change at the moment. However, again, III doesn't justify what Test Tube and Fan did. Sure, Bot considers them their parents, but they just created them and even when Bot was discovering themselves, Test Tube was. Still pushing the fem terms on them.

So, Bot is fully aware about their existence being fucked up, but they're just trying to live their life as well. These claims do not make any sense despite it being the easiest part to look into.

3. Invitational's writing. (And how The Bright Lights not being themselves is part of the fandoms fault, but also what happens when you try to expand an character who's arc is over).

Ah... one of the most... complicated points here. People tend to absolutely want to kill AE over the writing feeling weird or unprofessional on S3, but I think that all of you just kind of forget many factors at hand that came with it.

The reason as to why the most of the main Bright Lights were there IS because of viewer voting. The Bright Lights had their arcs finished on s2, and trying to have an story where something is going on with characters that are pretty much done in their stories is VERY difficult, and should not even happen at all. The only characters that did have something going on were Nickel, Balloon and Yinyang on s2 terms. Even OJ was just not having it.

So of course the viewer voting getting those 3 Bright Lights there kind of made things so much more mid on a building up relationships term. Other characters had a lot going on that needed to be solved, not them. I do think that AE should NEVER let the viewers do anything anymore because that's one of the weakest points of s3: most of the s2 characters. When you try to develop characters who's arc is closed, you kinda pretty much go nowhere with it. But you can't just have them sitting doing nothing till their elimination.

However... it's not bad when you forget those 3 characters (Fan, Paintbrush and Test Tube) and have the remaining s2 guys and the new characters. It isn't bad at all. In fact, their arcs are pretty consistent for the most part (except for Cabby's if we count the start of it), and the arcs of Nickel & Balloon AND Yinyang show some real growth and ARE proof that AE does know how to write characters. As long as they ACTUALLY HAVE something going on for them.

As well, something that people forget a lot when it comes to III's writing, is that it is more lighthearted on comparison to S2. Which I can get to an extent, but then, let's remember this: AE made S3 because they were burnt out from S2's writing.

They wanted to make something more fun, something that was more S1 like, and meanwhile I do get people not liking S3 at all because of this, please do remember that S3 is meant to be more silly. More funny. Less serious stuff. Until the last episodes dropped that is, but it is still it's main intention.

4. ...Transphobic? Allegations/accusations.

This point makes me feel so SO tired at this point and it's how people say "AE gets the trans characters out just when they came out" and get so SO tired of people missing the point with Bot's design, but also missing the whole Paintbrush thing.

The reason as to why they get eliminated is because they get closure to their arc, and they have to get growth off-screen. On both of Paintbrush's eliminations, they were gone as a way to have closure, because the competition wasn't a healthy place for them, and Paintbrush's growth off screen is subtle, but it is still there. Back on s2 they were scared of saying their identity, but after they got eliminated, they got comfortable enough to the point of having the non binary flag on their shared room with Fan, and are pretty respected by the whole cast afterwards.

On s3, their elimination is pretty much the same, but it's them knowing that they don't have it on themselves to keep competing in the show. They get closure with Mephone4 instead.

When it comes to Bot, I have genuinely seen people complain about AE getting rid of the "fem traits" because Bot is... nonbinary. But. That's. That's fucking dumb at this point. The pink and the EYELASHES are FROM BOW. Bot's whole arc is about finding themselves and showing their true self to the world, and Justin has confirmed that Bot still DOES like those things, but that they're trying to find themselves! Trying to be their own person! And them getting out was also them getting closure because they finally know who they are, and they know that no matter what, no one can change that for them.

And for the last part of this... it is pretty obvious that s1 and early-mid s2 had quite some poor humor regarding Painty's gender, but this can be explained by two things: 1- They were still quite young when these seasons were made, 2- Taylor was still on the team (and he was the main reason as to why there were slurs on II, please do correct me if I'm wrong), but they ended up getting treated with respect and decency despite all things. Again. It wasn't perfect. But they managed to fix it and make it work.

Now, are those factors worth pointing out? Yes, they are, but are they arguments to try and say that AE is transphobic on actual times? No. They showed growth and tried to fix their mistakes. And meanwhile it isn't flawless, it's still pretty good.

5. Nickel's Writing Is Actually Good, You Guys Are Just Too Convinced In Your Own Headcanons

Oh boy, now, if you are quite familiar with the plots I usually analyze here, you must know already how strongly I feel about Nickel as a character and his arc with Balloon as a whole. Because everyone gets them so so wrong and misses the whole point of it. You may know this but people complain a lot about Nickel's arc taking "too long" or "being way too rushed", and both of those takes are pretty much wrong. Some also say that Nickel was worthy of a big villain just because, oh, what was his crime? Sucking at communication and trying to protect his alliance from someone he saw as dangerous at the time? That's called being a complicated character. That's literally it. Some even complain about him "not getting what he deserves" but he pretty much does get called out on the series, but also yelling at him and telling him to die won't help.

That's now how it works. Nickel's arc makes sense and it was long because he had to solve a lot about himself and about learning how to be a good, genuine friend. He became soft because he ended up having people (ex: Box) that told him to get his shit together and to stop putting his petty feelings first to focus on the team. Nickel's whole arc is about knowing what you did was wrong, and wanting to become a better person despite all odds. Even if those who you care about might never forgive you. It was necessary for The Grand Slams arc to make sense and to keep on growing.

You guys want a character to get better, but then complain when one character does become a better person, a more genuine version of themselves. And no, Nickel's actions were never justified by the show or by himself, although he did excuse his actions with fear at some point, but even then, he fully recognizes that his actions were terrible and understands if Balloon won't forgive him.

Just because you hate a character it doesn't mean you can just mischaracterize them and or forget the whole point of their arc. Nickel's arc alongside Balloon's MAKES sense and it's pretty much the best arc on s3 all factors considered.

6. Is Invitational a bad season overall?

It isn't a bad season. Yes, I keep repeating myself, it is not perfect, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad season. It doesn't stand up to the point where s2 is, but that's the goal, it's meant to be a season made for fun and to chill, and meanwhile I can agree that there are things that can be better or could've been executed on different ways, and it got way better on later episodes due to better structure.

I can get people not liking s3 because of it's flaws but it's not the WORST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED AND A MOCKERY, it's genuinely just something made for fun. And people tend to forget that.

There is not a media that is perfect. Inanimate Insanity isn't by any means.

But man. Isn't it a good show anyway? Isn't it a show that made you feel for the stories and it's characters? Isn't it imperfectly perfect on it's own way? Isn't it made with care and love? Isn't the fact that it has flaws makes it feel more genuine?

I personally think it is. But that's just me.

Thank you for reading.

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bemusedlybespectacled · 5 months

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Question: I enjoyed s1 OF OFMD, but for various reasons I never actually got around to watching s2 (pick up most of the plot from tumblr tho). What exactly went wrong in s2 that got so many people upset?

Oh, boy. Very long rant incoming.

So, for context, S2 had a significantly smaller budget, which necessitated moving the filming location to union-unfriendly New Zealand, reducing the number of actors/number of appearances of established actors, and cutting down the number of episodes from 10 to 8. In a show where each episode is only about half an hour long, that last one alone was enough to seriously hamper any character development or plot. I am very comfortable putting the vast majority of the blame on HBO because of these financial decisions.

The short version is that Jenkins et. al. needed to address and build on the problems left hanging in S1 while also getting the characters to the end of their character trajectories in case there was no S3 while also leaving room for additional episodes in case there was a S3, in a grand total of four hours, and failed.

The long version is that there were a bunch of what I'd consider small problems in isolation that came together and exploded in the S2 finale.

The reduced cast necessitated breaking up the crew (ex: having Swede marry Jackie and stay on land with her, so they don't need to pay Nat Faxon for all eight episodes) and not spending as much time on their relationships as S1 did.

The reduced time meant that the entire season was rushed (in contrast to S1, which takes place over at least several weeks if not months, most of S2 takes place in roughly five days), leading both to a lot of telling rather than showing (because they don't have time to show you), including vital character and relationship development.

This includes:

Having the Kraken half of the crew beat Ed to death after months of being abused by him – abuse that is clearly shown to have given them PTSD and a well-justified fear and hatred of him – only for them to be okay with him two in-universe days later;

On that note, having Stede dismiss the crew's concerns about Ed because he loves him and also we only have three more episodes left to fit in everything so we need to get over it really fast, even though Stede is supposed to be well-meaning and caring (even if he's not good at it all the time);

Resolving the issue of Stede abandoning Ed in one day, then having them "go slowly" in their relationship for two days and then have some spur-of-the-moment sex, and then the next afternoon have them break up over their diverging career aspirations, and then the day after that resolve that problem and retire on land while the rest of the crew sails off into the sunset;

Stede becoming a fantastic pirate captain over the course of one day, becoming wildly popular in the piracy world two days later, and then deciding the day after that to never be a captain again because he is retiring with Ed;

Having Ed and Stede decide to retire together as what is implied to be the end point of their relationship arc, when none of Stede's issues from S1, like his poor self-esteem, have been so much as mentioned by anyone, implying that he's either magically gotten over them or they don't matter all that much, actually, even though they were the catalyst for basically everything he did in S1;

Ed having two separate character crises – "I am an unlovable person" and "I want to do something with my life other than piracy" – not spending a lot of time on either one, having moments that clearly indicate he is still working on both problems and they have not been resolved, and then apparently having them both be resolved in the final episode despite nothing occurring to actually make that happen, and in regards to the latter, despite the story actively undermining it by repeatedly showing he can't do anything other than piracy;

Related to the above, Ed ending the series as allegedly being loved by the crew as a family (thus solving Crisis #1) despite this never actually being shown, demonstrated, or even fucking alluded to onscreen. If anything, it shows the exact opposite.

This last point is especially galling to me because of what is probably the most divisive issue in the fandom right now: killing off Izzy Hands after giving him seven episodes of character development.

The show begins with the Kraken crew clearly trying to use the skills they learned as part of Stede's crew to cope with their incredibly shitty situation and care for each other, which includes Izzy. Izzy, on his end, tries to protect the crew and speak up for them, which results in him being repeatedly hurt (both implicitly, as Ed at one point says "that's another toe" in response to Izzy advocating for the crew and we later see he's missing more than one toe already, and explicitly, as Ed shoots him in the fucking leg in front of the crew when he stands up for them).

This camaraderie is shown again and again and again. Frenchie, Jim, and Archie take care of Izzy while his leg is infected, at risk to their own lives. Izzy's misery over losing his leg is what unites the PTSD-ridden Kraken crew and the well-meaning-but-ignorant-of-PTSD marooned crew, who are initially at odds, to make him a new prosthetic leg. Izzy gives Lucius advice about forgiving Ed. Izzy is introduced to drag and opens up enough to sing at a crew party, and the whole crew is having fun together while Ed and Stede are in their cabin having sex for the first time. Izzy gives Stede pirate captain lessons and bonds with him when Ed leaves him. Izzy provokes the season's villain into focusing on him and then gives a big speech about how piracy is about belonging to something, giving the rest of the crew time to try to escape.

Recall that Season 1 had some pretty well-established universe rules, one of which was that it runs on Muppet physics/magical realism. People can jump off yardarms, hit the side on the way down, and be perfectly fine. People can get stabbed in the liver and it's totally okay because it's probably not that important, and even can stay pinned to a mast all night that way with only mild discomfort. Buttons can talk to birds and see long distances without a spyglass and put hexes on people. Good people can be hurt (Stede is stabbed repeatedly), bad people can die (the Badmintons, Geraldo), but no one we care about is ever killed.

This is repeated in Season 2: Ed is beaten into a coma with a cannonball and wakes up like Sleeping Beauty after a spirit journey, with no injuries to his face or body. Buttons turns into a seagull after spending an episode doing a magic ritual and is never seen again (because they couldn't keep paying Ewen Bremner due to the budget cuts). Jackie microdoses her husbands with poison to build up their immunity, so that she can later pull a Dread Pirate Westley and poison the British with shared drinks.

So: in the finale, the villain of the season is taken hostage by the pirates (for reasons? unclear how that fits in the plan), happens to have a gun on him (no one checked??), shoots Izzy on the right side and then leaves with no repercussions. The entire crew stands around silently doing nothing while Ed cries over Izzy and tells him that he's his only family.

And Izzy fucking Hands, the guy who just spent eight episodes bonding with and protecting everyone, uses his last words to reassure Ed that him becoming Blackbeard/the Kraken was Izzy's fault and that the crew is Ed's family and they all love him. No one else says anything to Izzy or tries to comfort him or help him in any way.

I repeat: in a show predicated on the idea that bullies and bigots die stupid deaths while queer people and POC are basically magic, a show that was praised for being kind to queer people by not making them worry about their faves suffering or dying, a show founded on the strength of the relationships between the characters, the guy who went through a season-long arc of learning to embrace his pirate found family and his own queerness is shot for stupid reasons on the side we're told isn't important and dies while everyone just stands there. His last words are about the whole crew loving Ed when the only person that the whole crew has loved all season is him.

Anyway, never mind all that, let's cut to Lucius and Pete getting married and Stede and Ed retiring!

Complicating all this is that people who liked Izzy (or even said anything insufficiently mean about Izzy) were harassed for months in between seasons with insults, slurs, and actual fucking death threats. Izzy's growth was kind of a vindication for liking him: it meant that, despite all the harassment, we were right to like him and care about him as a character. Even people who didn't like him initially started to like him during Season 2.

And then he dies, and now there's a bunch of people saying that Izzy fans are big whiny babies who can't handle fictional death, and actually his death was so meaningful and beautiful and the only logical end to his arc, and it can't be bad writing because people die in real life all the time, and also he admitted he fed Ed's darkness so actually he was a terrible person all along anyway and they were right to hate him (and his fans)!

So, yeah, there are a lot of reasons why it's so hated, and I'm probably only addressing the problems of the pro-Izzy people (from what I can tell, BlackBonnet shippers who don't like Izzy think Ed and Stede's relationship is fine and dandy, but I'm sure that there are other criticisms they have that I have not addressed). I'm not even addressing the issues with Jim and Oluwande's relationship this season (and whooo boy are there issues).

It wasn't a universally bad season. There were episodes I really loved and still do. But the finale was a train wreck, and because it was a train wreck, a lot of people are looking back at what happened before the wreck and realizing that, oh, the train lost its brakes and steering because of the budget cuts and the engineers kept throwing fuel in the engine to make it go faster, and huh, now that I think of it, that part earlier in the trip was really wobbly but I didn't pay much attention to it at the time because I was sure the engineers had everything covered.

#ofmd critical #our flag means death #writing #izzy hands #ofmd meta #askbox #personal

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heyitspersephone · 7 months

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Thinking about stranger things again now that the strikes are over and how, narratively, it would be way, WAY cooler to have Mike get Vecna’d instead of Will in s5

It’s just something about the way Mike’s trauma is never addressed or handled in any way?? Like, he hugs his mom twice and then when he was depressed in season 2 and 4 nobody did anything (his parents scolded him for his behavior in s2 ig but that’s not support). His best friend went missing leaving from his house, he watched his body get pulled from the quarry, watched El (in his eyes) kill herself stopping the demogorgon, watched Will be possessed, saw Bob die, was in Star Court when everything went down, saw Billy die, had his best friend move away, was SHOT AT (and really too few people talk about the shooting in Cali bc omg??), buried a body, and watched the apocalypse start. And that’s just off the top of my head.

(And yes I’m aware that the other characters (especially Will) are traumatized too but I will get to my point in a second just hold on)

The plot is geared towards this idea that Will and Henry have to have some big face off (and they should, in my opinion, but I don’t think it should be in a possession, or at least not the the Vecna kind of possession, yk?) but that makes it all the better, writing wise, to have mike be the one in danger. Will was helpless and hiding in s1, I think Will should get his big strong moments in s5 where he gets to be the hero of the story.

It would just be a lot more fun to work with Mike being Vecna’d than Will, because what are we going to bring up with Will’s visions? His dad? His sexuality? The events of s1 from his perspective? It would be cool to see, for sure, but we already know most of that. Mike, on the other hand, has a number of untapped things, like jumping off the quarry, why he’s so hesitant to tell El he loves her, how someone who was smart and kind enough to take El in in s1 and come up with the spy and sauna plans in s2 and s3 could turn into the oblivious asshole that he was in s3 and s4 (he needs therapy, ik, I still love his character but I want to explore the reasons he went from his s2 characterization to his s3 one)

It would be a very interesting parallel, I think, to explore Mike’s thought processes in this way, especially with all of Mike’s repression business (bc whether you ship byler or milkvan he is repressing his feelings HARD. Like, beyond his inability to say I love you there’s the fact that he doesn’t bring up the apparent many times he called pre-s4 during the Rink O Mania fight?? That literally would’ve absolved him of guilt in that argument since he WAS reaching out to Will the whole time? Hellooooo????).

Anyways, this all brings me to my main point: Vecna targets isolation as much as he targets trauma and guilt. The whole party was traumatized by the events in s1, s2, and s3, but Max was the one targeted. Plus, Henry went for Fred, Chrissy, and Patrick (I think his name was Patrick) instead of going for the perceivably easy targets that the mcs would make (ik narratively that would’ve made it more boring but shhh), so why Max and those three specifically? They were isolated. Lucas and Erica have each other, Dustin goes to Steve and Robin, Will and El have each other and Jonathan and Joyce, Nancy probably goes to Jonathan, and who does Mike go to?

No one. And don’t say Nancy because if those two have heart to hearts then I’m the next coming of Christ. Max separated herself from the Party in the aftermath of her grief and guilt over Billy, and it feels quite obvious that Mike was doing the same (like I said, he has repression issues). So Mike is traumatized, alone, and guilty (be it Will getting taken from Mike’s house, losing El in front of him multiple times, the many deaths he has witnessed, or the internalized homophobia angle), which makes him more of a target than Will, in my opinion (or at least an easier one, especially given his tendency to put himself on the line during fights (quarry, most of s2, s3 mindflayer fight), which would set him up on the suicidal ideation path)

Furthermore, as I’ve seen a few other people point out (and I can’t find the posts but one of them had eight screenshots of the various moments), Mike is always the one getting in the way, so it would be a strategic move for Henry to target him to get him out of the picture. Mike was the one that found El and got her involved in saving Will s1, he was the one who came up with the spy plan and called out the ambush in s2, he was the one to monologue Will out of his possession s2, he was the one with the sauna plan for Billy in s3, he was the one trying to help El get the strength to fight s4 (even if the monologue sucked ass it’s the intention that counts). As much as people like to hate on Mike, he is in the leader position most of the time when the party is grouped up (barring his mental health struggles slowing that down beginning of s3 and throughout s4, but he’s still capable of it). He’s the idea man, and he’s the one whose character’s foundations were built on the desire to keep his friends safe, so it would be a very fun plot line to watch him be the one targeted in s5. Like Will said, as lovestruck and cheesy as he was, Mike is the heart of the party when he’s on his A-game, so Henry should 100% be trying to keep him in the issues he’s been struggling with.

Obviously, Will and El are the Targets with a capital T for Henry since they’re the ones that got away or whatever, but I think Mike is a weakness of Will’s (and El’s tbh but also I think they need to have separate character arcs and I don’t exactly ship milkvan) that should be exploited.

TL;DR: Mike should get Vecna’d instead of Will in s5 because it would make sense in lore and be a very cool way to resolve his character arc

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nalyra-dreaming · 3 days

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i sent this to Virginia but it doesn't seem like she is going to answer it so I hoped you would. I’m not saying this to start problems and I hope I’m wrong, but I’m nervous how the show is going to handle Nicki.

After the letter in episode 2, I fear they are trying to establish that Louis was more important to Lestat than any other lovers were, including Nicki. If they do that, I’m going to be sorely disappointed. I know Lestat did love Louis a lot, however, they don’t have to discredit his love for Nicki in the process. Nicki is of more importance because he was Lestat’s first love and it was genuine and unadulterated because it wasn’t influenced by the vampire bond or Lestat’s compulsive need for a companion like his love for Louis was. Lestat carried Nicki with him all the way to the end of the books so I hope the show isn’t trying to make Nicki just some fling or less important to Lestat just to try to convince us that Louis is what Nicki was. I don't think Lestat would have left a letter like that for Louis in book canon, but he likely would have for Nicki. Again, I do want to start ship wars or trouble, but I agree with your anon that it will come out the letter was likely for Nicki. Why else would they do that in the episode right before Nicki is introduced. And why would Lestat leave a letter for Louis in Paris, when he never wanted them to step foot there? If it was truly for Louis, why wouldn't Lestat leave it in New Orleans? The “My Louis” on the letter is likely another example of Louis’ lying, unreliable memory, or a hallucination because he has Lestat reading it. i’m just worried about them portraying Nicki as less important than he really was and I don’t understand why the show would want to risk misinterpreting Nickistat and misguiding people on the depth of their relationship just to give Loustat more credence.

"After the letter in episode 2, I fear they are trying to establish that Louis was more important to Lestat than any other lovers were, including Nicki."

Because that's text. Literal text.

Nicki won't be a fling, but the true importance of him will only become apparent in s3 I bet.

And Louis got the letter in Paris, because Lestat sent it there as a precaution, because he knew they would end up there at some point if he was incapacitated. It's PARIS.

And for the rest - I have talked about Nickistat and all this before.

#Anonymous #ask nalyra #amc iwtv #iwtv #amc interview with the vampire #interview with the vampire amc #iwtv amc #interview with the vampire #iwtv s2 #interview with the vampire s2 #nicolas de lenfent #iwtv nicki #lestat de lioncourt #iwtv lestat #nickistat

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findafight · 1 year

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This is kinda jumping off the Nancy needing to acknowledge when she's fucked up

I think Steve is the only one of the main older teens that have hurt another character and gone on to feel genuine remorse for his actions.

After the fight with Jonathan in season 1, he drops Carol and Tommy, goes back and cleans the theater sign, and goes to apologise. You can tell by his actions, his words, and his tone of voice that he knows he did wrong and wants to try to make it right.

This doesn't happen with any of the others, I'm thinking the other main older teens that have caused hurt are Jonathan, Nancy, Billy, and Eddie.

Jonathan caused hurt with the photos he took. I feel that, especially after the photo with Barb and the Demogorgon was realised, he didn't feel bad because he took the photos, he felt bad because he got caught. And with the photo of Barb, it's almost like the Dufferes were trying to justify him taking the photos, as if it made it ok. He never seems to show any remorse or any intention of apologising for invading Steve's (and Tommy and Carol's) privacy by taking the photos of a private gathering at Steve's house.

Nancy causes a lot of hurt. In season 1, it's her jumping between Steve and Jonathan. This is implied heavier when she's talking to Jonathan in season 2, "I waited" "Yeah, a month." She wanted Jonathan but defaulted to Steve because he wasn't ready, which wasn't fair to either of them. Actually in season 2, it's mostly her hurting Steve. The bathroom scene, and then in the alley the next day. She doesn't apologise for her words, she doesn't feel bad for hurting Steve, she just goes on the defensive when he tells her what had happened. And then sleeping with Jonathan before her and Seve had really broken up, one minute she's insisting to Murray that she loves Steve, and the next she's got Jonathan coming into the room and hooking up with him. She never seems to care about her relationship with Steve, or how her actions might hurt him, especially because he's already shown to be insecure about infidelity (I really think it would have been more interesting for them to show the fallout of Steve finding out about Nancy cheating in s2, and have him deal with his insecurities when Nancy had previously insisted there was nothing between her and Jonathan, alongside his issues stemming from his father's infidelity. And this could have been used into s3 and 4 for why he struggled to get dates, or can't keep a relationship, because he has trust issues and wants to try to prevent it from happening again). In season 3, she hurts Jonathan with her calling his financial worries "the Oliver Twist routine", she never apologises, never shows remorse and acts smug about it when Jonathan says that he was wrong. In season 4, she hurts Robin and Steve and Jonathan. She is bitchy to Robin in the library for no apparent reason other than jealousy over Steve, and never apologises. And again, she's stringing both Steve and Jonathan along. She's showing interest in Steve again because he's the one that is there. Then runs straight back into Jonathan's arms as if nothing had happened.

Billy is pretty self-explanatory. He scares and threatens Max. He attempts to run over Mike, Dustin and Lucas. He threatens Lucas. In season 3, he bullies a kid by calling him lard-ass in front of a crowded public pool. Even with the scene where he fights back and defends El from the Mindflayer, he's not showing remorse, he's not taking ownership of his actions and how they have impacted other people. He never shows any intent to make up for the harm he's done.

Eddie hurts Lucas. He has his biases and is so ingrained in the nerd vs jock high school clique mentality that its just fine to push out a kid that has another important event conflicting with the club. And he never apologises to Lucas for not postponing and for his attitude, I don't think we ever really see Eddie and Lucas directly interact with each other. If anything, his attitude and opinions are justified by Jason's actions, which further pushes the nerd vs jock thing.

So yeah, Steve is the only older teen to take responsibility for his actions that have caused hurt and then go on to try to make amends for the harm he caused.

(Sorry, I wasn't expecting this to be as long as it was, I just started typing it and the thoughts wouldn't stop coming)

You with this ask 🤝 Steve Harrington 🤝 me always: Robin has never done anything wrong in her life, ever. I know this and I love her.

Yaaaaa. These are the reasons that it's frustrating when someone tries to compare what Steve's done to another character when!!! Steve's apologized for that! He's changed! He was an asshole, and he realized he was an asshole and actively engaged in not being an asshole. Few else even acknowledged they were wrong. Sometimes the show doesn't even treat it as wrong! That's why I have issues with them, not that they did bad thing but that they never apologized or changed their actions to be better. And the show and narrative won't let them or address it.

I looked it up for another ask I haven't answered yet but Indiana's anti peeping law was put on the books in 1983. It basically states you can't take pictures of someone's private property or of them if they have reasonable assumption of privacy (like locker rooms) and some other stuff. Jonathan took those pictures, and then chose to develop them all at school. Where anyone could (and did!) See them! What the heck. Tommy, Carol, and Steve were all also in those pics, and even though Jon says to Nancy he never should have taken them, he never bothers apologizing to the others. (Probably because he thinks they're assholes but man if you want moral high ground actually take it?) I think it'd be one thing if he took the pictures and then never developed them, it wouldn't be right but it's be better than what he did. It's a bummer his camera got broken but uh. Tbh if I found out some weird guy took my and my friends pictures while we were goofing off in my back yard, some of which contained a topless photo of an intimate moment, and then developed them at school and I was sixteen I ALSO might break the guy's camera. (Which Steve then replaced!!) I'd at least want to watch him destroy the negatives and developed photos. Comments have been made about Steve closing the blinds but his house literally back onto the woods? Why would he when he didn't think anyone would be taking pictures of his bedroom window? Idk I don't think they should have had this inconsequential but deeply weird plot point. Have Jon taking pictures of the woods, accidentally get Barb and the demogorgon in Steve's backyard, and then another of the forest. Like. There ya go.

Nancy is sooooo messy. Let her be messy!!!!! But the show tries so hard for her to be out together badass always when he relationships are just. The messiest. She's waiting for Jonathan. She's getting with Steve. She's cheating on Steve. She's with Jonathan but she doesnt understand his financial stress. She's with Jonathan and they aren't tslking. She's flirting with Steve. That's interesting. That's messy. Show us how she deals with that. How she apologizes and grows from them! Nancy often just. Gets annoyed by people not listening to her lmao. She thinks she knows best and it bugs her when people disagree with her. She snaps at them. Doesn't apologize. Could be interesting to see the fallout of that but we won't ever! For her and Jonathan fighting in S3, from what I recall it was more of a break up than stancy in S2 fnrjkjfnd also!! They were both wrong there and both needed to apologize. Nancy was right to be angry at the misogynistic journalists. Jonathan was right to be worried about losing his job! How Jonathan apologized bugs me and how Nancy reacted to it also bugs me. Not great.

Also also. I don't think I've seen anyone actually mention this. But Nancy's shown consistently ignoring how opening up the darkroom door bugs/is actually really bad for Jonathan. He asks her to stop at least twice in S3 but she does it all the time! If he was developing film negatives, then all those photos would be blown out! They'd be ruined forever! It's not a haha quirky thing, it's something that's an active detriment to his job, and his passion! There's a reason darkrooms have their little 'in use' light, and it's so you don't barge in and wreck an entire roll of film!! It's super disrespectful of her to just. Not even care that she could be completely ruining something of his/his employer's by always shoving her way in. (I think the darkroom at the school had a little idk airlock which is a tiny darkroom before the real dark room to avoid contamination like that which is why the girl that told Steve about the pics was able to go in) And nobody ever talks about it? Idk if I had a hobby/passion/work that was very light sensitive and my partner didn't respect that and barged in when she knew I was working I'd be pissed and consider having a long talk about it.

Yeah. Billy is an unrepentant racist. Like. He didn't say sorry and he didn't learn to not be racist. Sorry for the traumatic childhood but. Maybe dont try to kill a thriteen year old when you're seventeen next time. but he did sacrifice himself. That wasn't redemption that was not letting some kids die. The absolute bare minimum when he knew he was already dead anyways. Also Billy should have been fired for calling that kid lardass actually. Literally what the hell. I'm a lifeguard and legitimately sometimes almost yell at kids on the sidewalk for running, but that instinct is to loudly and clearly call out WAAALK IINGG and giving them disappointed looks. Because everyone knows not to run on the pool deck but kids forget. You don't verbally berate a patron? Who is a child?? Why wasn't billy fired.

I've already talked about the Eddie thing but yes! Exactly! Lucas deserves an apology for getting dumped by his friends and hellfire. So much for freak solidarity I guess ┐⁠(⁠￣⁠ヘ⁠￣⁠)⁠┌

When Steve said something mean to Dustin that went too far when he was frustrated he immediately owned up to it and apologized. He's not perfect but he does apologize. King shit.

#Jonathan byers #nancy wheeler #idk if i should tag with anti this isnt an anti post its just one that wants the narrative satisfaction of acknowledge fuckups #stranger things #stranger things meta #steve harrington #a little #anti billy hargrove #findaanswers #anonasaurus #also idk if i should put a readmore or notttt

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markantonys · 8 months

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You know, considering the show only fans' reaction to the Seanchean, if they do put Mat and Tuon together, they're gonna have to give her and them a LOT and I mean A LOT of character development. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Tuon shows up already with thoughts and doubts about slavery. Cause there's simply no way people are gonna be okay with it.

yeah i really do not envy them having to figure out what to do here, because EVERYTHING about mat/tuon and about tuon as a character is a giant landmine. (even just with casting, because the Head Slaver being a black woman is 🥴 especially if we then get scenes of her having to be told by a white man that slavery is bad. but if you DON'T cast a black actor as tuon then you've whitewashed a book-canonically black character. tuon's character design is the kinda thing where rj was trying to go for a ~boundary-breaking role reversal~ but it just really isn't a good look, and i don't envy the show having to deal with his choices there.)

anyway, i'm really hoping for tuon to be introduced at least a season or two before she meets mat so that she can have some development before they even cross paths, let alone begin having romance. (similar to how elayne, aviendha, and min were all developed through non-rand characters this season, which was a great choice.) one idea i'm quite fond of* is tuon showing up in nynaeve and elayne's storyline in s3 in an egeanin-esque role (tho not exactly equivalent ofc given tuon's and egeanin's differences in status/life situation/etc), so then she unknowingly befriends and comes to respect 2 ~marath'damane~, thus she has to start rethinking some things about seanchan culture when she finds out her new buddies can channel. and in s4 maybe she can have some kind of invented plotline to keep her development moving along, and s5 might be the time for her to first meet mat, and they can spend seasons 6 AND 7 together with the romance being a very slow burn. if the show just has tuon show up in ebou dar straightaway with the initial invasion rather than in a second wave after mat's storyline's been left out of an entire book, then she can meet mat sooner and they can leave sooner and have more time to spend together.

rj could have pulled off mat/tuon if he'd introduced her way sooner and had left enough time for their relationship to develop naturally and for HER to develop naturally, rather than breaking mat's characterization to cram him into a rushed relationship it makes no sense for him to want to be part of at this point in time. in WH it really does feel like rj was planning a whole meaty character development arc for tuon, but then realized between books that he wasn't gonna have enough time for it in the main series and came up with the idea of the outriggers spinoff, and in COT suddenly we have tuon being a completely static character and mat replaced by a pod person who's obsessed with her and has completely changed his views on slavery.

but the show has the benefit of knowing the endpoint already, so hopefully they're already planning for how to make the mat/tuon romance feel more believable. i think the only 2 options are a) introduce tuon way earlier and give her a proper redemption arc, or b) make it a political marriage which mat is putting up with for the greater good but has 0 romantic interest in tuon. because yeah, mat falling in love with an unrepentant slaver would make him absolutely vile in the eyes of all viewers, especially after how hard the show went on showing the vileness of the seanchan in s2. show viewers will not have forgotten the torture egwene suffered by the time mat meets tuon as easily as so many book readers apparently did.

*i'm also very fond of the idea of tuon being introduced in seanchan proper because i spent the whole series expecting us to see seanchan proper and the court of the 9 moons etc and felt SO robbed that we never did, so i'd loooooove if the show took us there and had tuon leading a plotline there before she leaves for the westlands. but purely in terms of getting her to start rethinking the damane system early on, this scenario wouldn't be as useful as the one of her meeting nynaeve and elayne in the westlands.

and finally, it's very interesting that they killed off every single notable seanchan character from s2. this could mean that they didn't want to leave any loose ends because the seanchan will be entirely absent for the next season or two, ooooooooooooor it could mean that they wanted to clear the stage for tuon to step up as our major seanchan character in the next season or two.

#anonymous #answered #wot book spoilers #wot show spoilers

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tethered-heartstrings · 11 months

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I’m rewatching the show for the 473858393929th time and I don’t have anyone to soundboard off of so I pose you this question: When do you think was the first time in the show that Hannibal understands that he has real feelings for Will? I’m at the end of season 1 and I feel like it hasn’t quite hit him yet but there are inklings.

On the other end of the question, when do you think is the first time Will understands his feelings for Hannibal? It’s very obvious that it’s always there but like….when in between seasons one and the last episode of season two does it really happen in your eyes?

I think Hannibal seeing Will in "Aperitif" is the closest to love at first sight that I have seen. As far as him realizing/accepting his love for Will, I would say that happens in "Fromage". Hannibal is very much a "fuck around and find out" at someone else's expense. He sent Will to a known serial killer. He probably assumed a GJH 2.0 would happen, and that Will would come back needing more therapy/comfort from another fatal encounter.

But when Budge showed up at his office alive, there is a noticeable panic on Hannibal's face. He had no way of knowing that Will was accompanied by two officers, so when Tobias says he killed two officers, Hannibal's first thought is that Will is dead. And that hurts. More than he anticipated. He has killed plenty of people, but hasn't felt this level of loss and sadness in a long time.

When the ordeal is over, his expression and heart nearly shatters when seeing Jack come in, eyes begging that Will would follow. For a few seconds, his fear that Will was actually gone encompassed him. He visibly relaxes upon seeing Will actually alive. Hannibal saying "I was worried you were dead" was genuine; he really thought Will was killed and he was hurt.

That love continues to develop, making Will's betrayal that much more painful in Mizumono. Hannibal loved Will, and opened himself up to him, something he had never truly done with someone else. Yes, Hannibal framed Will for his crimes and sent him to prison in his stead, but that doesn't mean Hannibal didn't love Will. But Hannibal is very "preserve self at all costs". I think it is something he regretted, but also something he believed had to be done. Going to prison was not an option for him, and he knew Will would survive. Even the way Hannibal commits violence against Will is distinctly different than how he commits it against others, because he does truly loves Will.

Will's situation is a lot more complicated. I think in the back of his mind, deep down, he loves Hannibal somewhere in season 2. He cares for Hannibal, which is why he told Hannibal to run, why he still went to Hannibal's house, why he leaned into the knife and let himself be hurt and held. But I don't think he really acknowledged that love, not until s3. He called Hannibal his "friend" to Jack, which is true. He did consider Hannibal his friend, but it was so much more than that, too much for words, and not something he would want to admit to Jack. (hi, sorry boss, i love the cannibal teehee <3)

He forgives Hannibal in the catacombs, and I do believe that to be a genuine forgiveness. He even tells Hannibal they are blurred, and he isn't sure they could survive separation. That is a pretty roundabout way of saying "I love you". However, I think Will may not want to love Hannibal in that moment. Will makes an attempt on Hannibal's life, and I think Will associates love with violence. If he killed Hannibal, it wouldn't be out of malice, but a desperate attempt to free himself from Hannibal. Perhaps even to fulfill the promise of intimately killing him with his hands (knife is cheating, but shh). And the violence+love connection is perpetuated when Hannibal saws his head open to eat him, because to cannibalize is to love. Hannibal was planning to kill and eat Will even before he knew Will was planning to kill him, because that is how he knew how to love (apparently talking about your feelings isn't a possibility lol).

But still.... I don't think Will really acknowledges his love for Hannibal until near the end of the show. Because I think part of accepting his love for Hannibal is realizing Hannibal loves him, too. And once Will understood Hannibal loved him, his own love for Hannibal burst forth, unable to be contained.

And once Will realizes this, he gives Hannibal the best thing he can, given the circumstance. He pulls them both off the cliff, to be together, unified, into death or into the next life. Truly blurred and beautiful.

#i have written uh. a lot about their love so sorry for plugging other posts but I didn't want to make the post 5000 words #i hope i answered your question <33 #ty for this ask i love talking about those little freaks #anonymous #the curious clown #hannibal #hannibal nbc #nbc hannibal #will graham #hannibal lecter

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dreamsandscenes · 6 months

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My Thoughts On

FINN SHELBY

* Spoilers ahead for S1 - S6 of Peaky Blinders *

The way that Finn as a character was pushed aside and rendered useless 99% of the time is a shame. I wish Steven Knight had had different plans for him (or just any good plans at all would’ve been nice).

I do find the age gap between Finn and all the other siblings a bit too much. If we’re going by the wiki ages, which make sense within the show, Finn was born in 1908. This also must be his birth year, since in season 1 of the show, he says he’s about to be 11, and S1 starts in 1919. His oldest sibling, Arthur, was already 21, Tommy was 18, John was 13, and Ada was 11 when he was born. I can only imagine that the Shelby parents started having kids in their teens, because the age gap is massive. It would’ve made more sense for Finn to be Arthur or Tommy’s son, rather than their brother with that age gap.

It also drives a bit of a wedge between the older siblings and Finn, because Arthur, Tommy, John and Ada all grew up together. They experienced their difficult childhood together. Finn didn’t. Maybe this is part of the reason why I don’t see the same bond between Finn and his siblings as they all have with each other. Don’t get me wrong, they all loved him. I never doubted that. But as Finn grew into a man, I did wonder if all of them actually liked him.

We also know that Mrs Shelby died when Finn was a baby, and Mr Shelby left the family shortly after. Finn never had parents, but he had substitutes for those roles.

Polly was the only mother he ever knew. She raised him. That being said though, it did seem like when Michael came back into her life, Polly put Finn on the back burner. We didn’t really see much of them together at all, apart from in season 1. I don’t even know who Finn lived with in S3/S4, because he was still so young, he had to live with someone. I think Polly cared for him very well when he was a little boy, but once he got into his teens, and Michael was back in the picture, she didn’t seem to care as much. Maybe because he didn’t rely on her to take care of him so much because he was getting older, she took a step back, but I honestly don’t know why she didn’t seem to have more of an active role in his life from S2 onwards. Maybe we should just say it was a poor writing decision.

Both Arthur and Tommy seemed to fill the fatherly role in Finn’s life. They both looked out for him when they could. They, along with John when he got old enough, made sure to financially support Finn, and give him more than they had growing up. That being said, they weren’t the best role models. I mean, Finn was already doing cocaine at 13/14, something at least Tommy was apparently aware of. Granted, they didn’t necessarily understand the issues with cocaine at the time, but people knew it was a drug, and kids obviously shouldn’t be doing drugs, so I don’t know if Tommy should get a pass for that less than fantastic big brother behaviour.

After John’s death, Finn is clearly brought more into the Peaky Blinders fold, to fill the hole that John left behind. Unfortunately though, Finn lacked the ruthlessness that John had. He could never quite measure up. Perhaps because he never had to fight to get by, like his big brothers did, he didn’t have that drive to succeed. He just kind of skated by the whole time. He didn’t have the aptitude for violence that John had, so he disappointed Tommy/Arthur when it came to Peaky business because he couldn’t handle it, but that’s not really something I would blame Finn for. That’s more on his brothers for expecting & hoping that he’d be like John. Tbh, I don’t know why they didn’t just make him handle legitimate business, rather than the criminal stuff, because he clearly wasn’t suited to it.

I can’t really say a lot about his relationship with Ada, because I don’t remember any significant scenes between them, apart from the scene in 5x01 where Finn gets shot and talks to Ada for minute after the bullet is removed. It’s pretty brief though. You’d think he’d have more scenes with his only sister, and I think it could’ve been interesting to see the difference between his relationship with her versus his relationship with his older brothers, who he always felt like he had something to prove to.

In S6, we see that he gets married to a woman named Mary. We know nothing about Mary. She’s in maybe 2 scenes. We know nothing about their relationship. There’s no development or love story for them. I truly don’t know why this was included in the show because it added absolutely nothing. I can only assume that the marriage might have some sort of relevance in the movie. If it doesn’t, I just don’t see the point in including it all. It was a meaningless moment.

His friendship with Billy Grade is ultimately the thing that ruins him. He quickly becomes close friends with Billy when they work together. He trusted Billy, because he was always more trusting than his brothers, so he told him things he shouldn’t have.

By the time we get to the end of S6, where he has to choose between shooting Billy, or saving him by shooting Duke or Isiah, he has been friends with Billy for years. It doesn’t really feel like that as a viewer because of the time jumps between seasons, but Billy was presumably his best friend by that point. With that in mind, was I supposed to be surprised that he tried to shoot Duke to save Billy? He didn’t know Duke. Duke meant nothing to him. Isiah used to be his friend, but they seem to have drifted apart as they got older. Obviously he wasn’t going to choose Duke, or Isiah, over his friend.

If Tommy and Arthur were in that room, instead of Duke and Isiah, I think things would’ve happened differently. When faced with a choice between his brothers and his friend, I think he would’ve chosen his brothers. I definitely don’t think he would’ve ever pointed a gun at either of them or tried to shoot them. But when faced with a guy he barely knew and a friend he wasn’t that close to anymore, he chose Billy. Yes, Billy was an informant, albeit a reluctant one, but he wasn’t only that to Finn.

Do I think he deserved to be disowned by the family at the end of S6 for this decision? No. I think he should’ve been punished in some way, and moved to the legitimate side of the business, because he simply wasn’t smart enough to handle the criminal side of things. I just find it hard to imagine the Shelby’s disowning one of their own, even one that does stupid stuff like Finn. That’s still their baby brother. I don’t like that as Finn’s ending in the show. It was bad enough when SK turned Michael into an antagonist; I don’t want to see Finn meet the same fate in the movie.

I’m really hoping Finn isn’t an antagonist in the PB movie. I really don’t want to see that. I don’t think that one situation with Billy would fully turn Finn against his family anyway. Against Duke maybe, but not his brothers. If he is one of the villains in the movie, I’m going to be disappointed. I’d rather see his final ending in the movie be him coming back into the family, and in some way finally earning the approval of his brothers. Perhaps he could do the whole double agent thing, where the audience thinks he’s a villain, but he’s actually helping his family. I don’t know, I just want more from him as a character than an antagonist storyline.

That’s kind of the way I felt about Finn the entire series; I just wanted more from him. He was always falling a bit short as a character for me. Never quite hitting the mark. I hope that he can finally reach his potential in the movie.

#this may seem like I hate Finn but I don’t #I don’t hate any of the Shelby’s #I have a lot of issues with how sloppily he was written though #peaky blinders #Finn Shelby #tommy shelby #Arthur Shelby #John Shelby #Ada Shelby #Polly gray #my thoughts on #my post

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maxphilippa · 11 months

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Nickel's sense of guilt and fear of change. [Character/II S3 Episode 14 Analysis, part 1/?]

Today, the longest episode of Invitational has dropped, and I have many thoughts of it as well. Might do more posts analyzing the events that ocurred as of now in canon, but I would like to talk about the heaviest part in the lore and how most people are not getting it completely (in my opinion), and that being: Nickel's current point of view of Balloon and his relationship with Suitcase and BB.

We all know that Nickel's actions hurted the Grand alliance, but what happened in the episode is that they showed how apparently, Nickel doesn't get exactly that things were completely fucked up.

In the episode, he mainly focuses on the good memories he had with BB and Suitcase, and doesn't even seem to hate Suitcase either, unlike what most people thought (me included to an extent, though I did see him being hurt mostly with their relationship and what happened in s2), but.

Nickel doesn't realize that he actually fucked up with them a lot, and that's the main issue.

Like, sure. He knows that stuff were messy at points but that's all he says. He mainly focuses on the good moments he had with them, maybe that's a product of him growing once he got eliminated and came to terms with himself that "well yeah there was a bit complicated shit but we still had fun together", but deep down he feels a sort of... guilt? Regarding Suitcase.

But even then, Balloon scolds him for trying to erase the times where Nickel made all of them feel bad. Hell! Even then Balloon recognizes that Nickel hurted Baseball deeply! And he says how Suitcase was the only one who had enough courage to stand up for her! Because hey! Nickel did use the same treatment that he used with Suitcase on Baseball! But the difference is that BaseBall kept making excuses for him!

The person who Nickel has been, alongside Baseball, "ignoring" of some sorts, has been Suitcase.

But here's the thing as well: Nickel doesn't know how to make things better again.

Nickel doesn't understand... feelings and complex emotions to put it shortly. He's afraid of change, and the way he just ignores the bad stuff that happened and tries to say that it's the only way that things can work, is... somewhat sad. Nickel doesn't understand a lot of stuff. He probably thinks that, at the end of the day, those were just little conflicts and that there was more good than bad.

But... that would mean he would also be running away from his consciousness over what Suitcase told him.

About how none of what they had was real.

He doesn't realize the damage he has done because hey. As much as you all like to think that Nickel didn't have his reasons to be a dick towards Balloon, he did. He actually did. He even mentions it in this episode, that if Balloon didn't try to manipulate everyone just as S1 started, maybe things would be different.

Nickel SAW and KNOWS Balloon's by his awful actions, and he wanted to protect BaseBall and Suitcase from him, since he thinks that Balloon CAN'T be trust-worthy after everything he did in S1.

That's why he was so aggressive as well towards Balloon. Yes, he cared for BaseBall, but he also cared for Suitcase deeply. The thing is that Suitcase was Balloon's friend, and Nickel can't bring himself to think that someone who he saw being such an awful person, could possibly be targetting someone who he cares about as well. So that's why he tried to push Balloon away for so long. He tried to keep his relationship with Suitcase and BB, he even says it in S2 when Suitcase confesses that she voted for him.

But of course, this is even more complicated. Both Nickel and Balloon fucked up, but Nickel fucked up for a longer time. Balloon was actually changing, and Nickel did only take the protective stance when this was happening. Which like, Nickel was right on that. He had his reasons to NOT trust Balloon. The problem is that he couldn't accept that Balloon was changing, and that he wasn't realizing that his actions were hurting both BB and Suitcase.

What I think that people don't get, or what hurts me the most, is the fact that Nickel is in denial. But it's merely the fact that when he hears Suitcase's voice, he doesn't get angry or mad, or even panics, no.

He's just... shocked.

What are you supposed to tell someone who went through hell, thanks to you, even if you tried to protect her from whom you thought was bad? What are you supposed to tell the friend who you tried to protect and instead hurted them in awful ways?

What are you even supposed to do in that situation?

It's not only that, but the fact that he didn't even think twice when walking towards her, didn't even question if she was truly Suitcase. Like, he immediately went on and tried to explain himself to her-

He completely forgot about everything because he wanted to talk to her and, I do think that he feels guilty for what he did, but he can't put it to words/can't understand it completely after all- but his first instict after seeing Suitcase is to talk to her about it.

He wants to explain himself to her- maybe even apologize, but he doesn't know how.

The thing is that Nickel is smart. With logical stuff, not feelings, according to Adam himself. And that fucks it all up for him.

Nickel can't handle change.

Suitcase can understand change.

Balloon is always changing.

And BaseBall can't keep up with it.

And that shows it here.

Nickel is a complicated character. Guilt is eating him constantly but he lacks emotional intelligence. He can accept that stuff went wrong, but seem doesn't understand what or why they did go wrong.

He regrets what he did to Suitcase most likely judging from his behaviour the mere second he saw her, but he can't tell why exactly. Same thing as Nickel probably realizing that he keeps on messing up the more he clings into that mentality. He tries to move on from the past, but he can't. He even says it. There's no way to make things feel better as of now, so that's why he pretends.

But there is a way.

He just... needs to talk it out with Suitcase and Balloon.

That being said, thank you for reading this.

#inanimate insanity #ii #inanimate insanity invitational #iii spoilers #invitational spoilers #ii spoilers #ii 2 #ii 3 #inanimate insanity nickel #inanimate insanity balloon #inanimate insanity suitcase #inanimate insanity baseball #ii nickel #ii baseball #ii suitcase #ii balloon #max overanalyzes lore

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mdhwrites · 4 months

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you've said the collector isn't a kid bc he's been alive for thousands of years, but isn't he still mentally (and physically for that matter) a kid though? or at least that's how i think the show wanted us to perceive him as

(though the show never makes it clear if the collector's species just age much more slowly than others, or if being trapped for so long caused this specific collector to never age during that time)

for the record i do 100% agree abt the collector being a monster, so i'm not trying to argue with you on that/excuse the collector's actions just bc """""he's a kid"""""

So... This is one of those things that can't really be proven or disproven. On the one hand, you have the fact that you do not need to be mentally a child to be childish. Also, you can also be a child physically but have had to grow up quickly so you have the worldview of an adult. Not only that but we don't know how his people age. He was apparently old enough to work with his brothers (he knew their guidebook on genocide) but... Apparently a couple thousand years hasn't changed him whatsoever.

The thing that stops me most from claiming he is a child... Is the Draining Spell. In fact, even more than his lines about playing in bones, how Belos likes to torture the Grimmwalkers, destroy them, etc. like that that proves he knows what death is and is kind of extremely evil with how much glee he takes of all of this, just the fact that he KNOWS the draining spell at all is not a good sign.

That is not a spell a kid learns. That is not a spell a kid is taught. MAYBE some very evil or naive kids might accidentally read it but to be able to regurgitate after having been away from such books for literally thousands of years? Let alone to be able to even theorize with someone else on how to do it on a race of people that didn't exist before you were imprisoned. That means you mastered that fucker. You are the draining king! You sapped the magic out of people for FUN. That is how much you like this spell.

Also, if we want to claim he's just a dumb kid who doesn't like death or hurting people, doesn't like mass genocide like his brothers did... What the fuck was the conversation with Belos? What was ANY of them?

"I wish for a spell that can kill all witches upon this land. To make them extinct."

"Oh, you just mean make them sleepy, right?"

"...What?"

Belos is not exactly a subtle person at the height of his ability, let alone as Philip who BARELY is even okay at his job. He used mercenaries and two people who obviously were ready to believe anything he said. MASTER MANIPULATOR! So how is it that the Collector's childish views made him okay with this? It's not like the witches imprisoned him? Hell, he was willing to work with the Titan Trappers who VERY explicitly wanted to murder Titans for him but he just calls them weird. Like... Collector, you had literally NOTHING else to do than talk to these two people. Did you literally never listen to ANYTHING they said?

It doesn't make the Collector come off as a child. It just makes it so S2 Collector is literally a different character. The two are entirely incompatible. Even if they acted the same, the knowledge base and morality of the two Collectors is too severe for them to co-exist.

BUT. Like I said: I can't firmly prove that the Collector does not have a child's mind because while S2 Collector absolutely is just childish and gullible, he is not naive nor is he a child, except in physical appearance. S3 Collector though? That's a lot harder of a sell. He literally just wants to have fun and friends and is too self centered to care about if other people are having fun too. His fun prioritizes everything. That... Honestly still isn't actually a kid's point of view. Kids aren't inherently monsters. They do feel bad for their actions, even if they want to be justified in having fun. Admittedly, the Collector does EVENTUALLY do this as well so it's still kind of there but really awkwardly when put beside even everything else in S3.

After all, he presents King with the same book that has his brother's instructions to kill everything. A kid would not pull that out. They wouldn't risk for a SECOND that being seen. At least... Not a ten year old like this. Not unless we want to say that the Collector is a literal toddler, which is not the vibe TOH is going for. No, he's old enough to know what he's doing is wrong, just not old enough to actually do something about it I GUESS.

You're not supposed to think about it, like most elements in the show. Just like how you aren't supposed to think about how Amity bullied Willow for YEARS. Or how Hunter has probably killed wild witches in the past. There are inherent, core parts of these characters that you're just supposed to ignore so that they can be redeemed and given hugs because they never actually did anything wrong. So the show can tell you they're good people, rather than addressing and showing how they've stopped being bad people.

So yeah, we can argue about if The Collector is or isn't meant to be a child. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day, especially when good luck being actually able to say one way or another. I still won't claim it. I will just claim that he is a monster before he is ANYTHING else.

And I think that's way more important.

======+++++======

It is fun how TOH takes a shot at redeeming the gems in SU and how the fandom rallies around killing the villain being TOH's final subversion when the Collector is RIGHT THERE. You know what also redeemed one character who then went into personally decided exile while also killing the big bad but did it way better? Amphibia with Andrias and the Core. *sigh* Just a side tangent from my Discord recently I wanted to share.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #The Collector

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knightotoc · 1 year

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Who fumbled the trope better: The Rise of Skywalker or Picard Season 3? (long post by a hater)

1. Everyone's Related

- TRoS: retcons the story to make the protag someone's kid; it's a big reveal with little time to process; odd things are apparently genetic (like shooting lightning and being evil and goth); she rejects her heritage and chooses a different family, who are all dead; the emotional peak is a father ('s ghost) redeeming his wayward son; nepo kids get together, sorta; a claustrophobic sense of being trapped in the past and made intentionally inferior to the famous

- PIC S3: protag has had a secret kid this whole time; it's a big reveal with little time to process; odd things are apparently genetic (like bravery and accent); inconsistent with other legacy character's parental experiences (Geordi's daughters are second-tier characters who parallel Jack's rejection-acceptance-nepotism arc; Riker and Troi's kids are briefly but emotionally discussed; one emotional line about Wesley; one unemotional line about Lal; utter absence of Alexander); the emotional peak is a father redeeming his wayward son; as Picard's unqualified son and Geordi's qualified daughter get jobs on the bridge of Starfleet's flagship, Picard says, "Names mean almost nothing," and his son responds, "Names mean almost everything;" nepo kids get together, sorta; a mind-numbing sense of conservative family values and reassuring some very insecure people

2. Lesbian Queerbaiting

- TRoS: in the final celebration homage to RotJ, two minor characters kiss in the background; this spawned the "live slug reaction" meme that has now manifested as a homophobic inside joke in Jedi: Survivor

- PIC S3: Seven and Raffi got together in S2 and became Trek's first lesbian couple between two major characters (DISCO already gave us Trek's first major gay couple), but they broke up before the events of S3; they are coworkers in the end of S3, but are not back together because of...

3. Fear of Shippers

- TRoS: Finn is clearly into Rey, but it's unclear if she likes him back; Rey and Kylo kiss sans romantic music, but then he dies and she does not see his ghost; two more women are introduced to pair with Finn and Poe, but none of them get together either; it's unconfirmed, but the vibe is that they didn't want to commit to anything to try to please everyone

- PIC S3: the vibe is the same and it is confirmed:

(by "that scene," he means Picard returning to Laris)

Both franchises also had a focus on an interracial relationship (Finnrey and Saffi), then have the Black person hang out mostly with another Black character (Jannah and Worf) while the white person hangs out with mostly white characters.

4. Bad Boy Braincontrol

- TRoS: somehow Palpatine returned, and he's been in Kylo's mind this whole time; that's why he's evil, not anything of his own free will, just the old story impressing itself upon him (he still has to die though); you know this villain, just defeat him with the power of love like you did last time

- PIC S3: somehow the Borg Queen returned, and she's been in Jack's mind this whole time; that's why he has intrusive thoughts, not because that's a thing that happens to people, just the old story impressing itself upon him; you know this villain, just defeat her with the power of love like you did last time

The visual similarities of Zombie Palpatine and Zombie Borg Queen are remarkable -- physically trapped in dusty corners by creepy machines -- and would be even more interesting if I could actually see them in these dark rooms. This design, which suggests an elderly person immobile in a hospital, actually makes me feel a lot of pity and affection for them. It certainly would have felt far more heroic to help these poor creatures than to rather easily defeat them.

5. We Love Objects

- TRoS: Kylo's private room is literally a museum with curated displays of old props; fetch quest video game-y plot; lots of attention paid to whose lightsaber does what and goes where

- PIC S3: let's break into the museum of old props; kitschy oil paintings of the Enterprise and Picard on the walls; the most unearned and half-hearted "long shots of beloved ship leaving space dock" sequence in a franchise full of such sequences

#star wars #star trek #the rise of skywalker #picard season 3

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noemitenshi · 6 months

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@marrecarandgi

ok so, the mommy issues: he does have them though i don't think they are sexual in nature (which is also why i don't like to call them 'mommy issues'--- theres always a certain… connotation attached (and on top of that it sounds, to me, like blaming the victim. not saying you're doing it! not at all! Just describing my aversion to that particular phrase as best as i can)).

So what that whole thing boils down to is that he never experienced the love of his parents, that's where it stems from. That's part of why he fixates on Madison so hard. BC already in the first ep of s3, moments after he greets madison, he watches her declare her love for her kids and for travis. "do you love him more than your life?" he asks her and the way he looks at her… like that's such a strange thing to him and at the same time he'd wished someone would love him that much. or like even half as much. hell, he'd take a quarter! It's kinda heartbreaking. He's drawn to such a love and jealous too. Of course he is, he never got it. And then he finds out who her son is she got in such danger for and… is angry at him. Angry that he has such love in his life and just--- treats it with such disrespect (=bc he's a junkie and also bc he clearly ran away from his mom). I think it reminds him of the relationship with his own mom, how HE had such love for her and how she had only disdain for him and for his love. And while he can't hate his mom - i mean i think he does. but he also loves her. feelings for his mom are complicated… but with NICK it's not complicated. He can just hate him. So yeah there's a lot of projecting going on. None of it sexual though, I don't believe so. Explains part of his fixation though. AND THEN on top of her apparent love, she immediately turns around and tries to manipulate him. "My, my son, he's out there, somewhere. Alone. I'm sure if you were lost in the wasteland, your mother would do anything to find you" Definitely he loves the way Madison could play his games (the way she did even as she was disadvantaged, even as she was scared), the way she tried to manipulate him AND also the way she loved, those two things drew him to her. Personally I think he was most taken in by the 'she keeps at it even while she's afraid what he'll do' thing she had going on. Pushing onwards despite. Does it remind him of himself? Most certainly. He loves to draw that out of her, that bravery, that opposition. After all, he likes people pushing back it's attention, it's caring enough to engage with him, not just dismissing him… And I think a third aspect in their relationship is that he also wants her to.. teach him, in a way. Because they're pretty similar - both manipulative and clever, wanting to control all others around them and not afraid to do what needs to be done (in their eyes) - but then! She's got a family that loves her. If she could just teach him how she did that… he could have a shot at that too. At long last he could have that, too! If only she could teach him her secret.

So yes, his family did fuck with his head badly, he's certainly got issues. And it comes out as desperate to make connections, as soaking up attention and affection wherever he gets it, no matter how dangerous it is. He knows full well Madison is playing him but he just can't NOT engage, at least in s3. I'm so fucking happy for him he got over that in s8. How heartbreaking would that have been otherwise… And I think the reason he got over it is because he finally got what he was craving - someone that loves him. Not wanting to use him or someone who merely tolerates him, but honestly, truly loves him. First Serena (I assume) and then definitely Tracy.

Now about the 180 he did wrt killing Madison - honestly that's just bad writing in my opinion and having everything rushed because they wanted to do too much for 12 eps. That's how it felt while watching haha. (Same btw for Tracy suddenly saving Madison what the fuck come on get out of here with this shit omg). Anyway, what I could imagine is going on here: he knows he's fucked (chances of surviving this and actually getting tracy to safety pretty low) so he does what he thinks will most likely ensure Tracy's safety. Getting on the good side of these people (by saving Madison).

It's still a stretch, I know, but makes more sense than 'he saw into her eyes and realized bla bla bla' come on! Orrrr maybe he realized her dying now, without anything she believes in is no punishment for her. She *needs* to believe in the same shit Serena did so it really hurts her when she dies. She'll feel like she's losing out on something, or whatever. Now it seems like she welcomes death. She even said it to him didnt she. Something along the lines that padre will be safe without ppl like them around. She wants to die. So. He saves her. (Just like she didn't kill him when he begged her back in s3. she just sent him into exile). I kinda see this one as the most likely explanation. Also makes sense he wasn't paying attention to Madison, just worried about Tracy. Because that's his number 1 prioority.

---

Now naming Tracy Tracy still has me scratching my head and calling bullshit. Sorry, no in-universe explanation for it, writers were being stupid. Probably thought 'oh this will show he really really cares about family bc he named her after his mom' or whatever.

#troy otto #madison clark #tracy otto #ftwd #ramblings #fear the walking dead

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mary-fantg · 3 months

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благодарность

First of all, I want to thank @tommyxgrace-always, @lady-of-the-english, @nat111love, @peak color, @thesoldiersminute, @peakysgrace, @tommygrace, @korinthya, @peakyv for the huge number of posts and GIFs filled with love, respect and admiration for my favorite characters Tommy and Grace.

I just recently watched PB and fell under the spell of this couple in s1. I was looking forward to their meeting in s2 and was just shocked by Grace's death in e2s3. I even stopped watching the series for a while because it seemed pointless to me without her (I think we girls watch it more with romantic overtones). But after a while I decided to finish watching it anyway in order to understand what was being filmed there for another 3 seasons. What I saw in the sequel s3 (especially e3 and e4 with Tatiana) hurt me, it was very insulting for Grace and her memory, and in general for their love, which seemed so pure to me, despite all the circumstances. I'm not talking about the strange idea of sex in front of icons, but apparently it's something symbolic again. But then after s4,5,6, where Tommy's grief, sadness and longing for her are the red thread, I somehow tried to understand him and forgive him for these terrible episodes in s3.

I had a lot of questions about certain points in the show and all your articles helped me find most of the answers, and even more than I expected, for example, about symbols and parallels that I initially did not notice in the series.

I also want to note that it was here that I found solace and like-minded people, because when I started reading reviews on other resources on the Internet, I saw such a stream of hatred for Grace that I was in a big stupor, it began to seem to me that I was watching a completely different series and did not understand anything at all about the story of this couple and the heroine. To be honest, without the intrigue between these two, I would not have watched the second season and would hardly have watched the first season at all. For me, the priority is still the love storyline.

in general, thanks to all of you, I really hope that in the future film SK will show at least a little of the life of their couple in New York, in the form of memories.

#томми икс Грейс #Острые козырьки #грейс Шелби #томми и Грейс #фэндом Томми и Грейс

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cloud-somersault · 18 days

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Your fic "The constellations within us" was so perfect, and exactly what I wanted and needed for since I joined the fandom. I wish I had eloquent words but english is not my native language, and I'm struggling with the translator now, but this fic is probably one of the most high quality ones I’ve ever read so i've finally worked up the energy to leave a solid comment.

I love your prose, the descriptions and internal monologues are so immersive and emotional that I need to reread over and over again. The worldbuilding scratches my brain real nice, all contribute to make a really cohesive image that canon still doesn't quite achieve in my opinion. And you did a good job capturing the mood and humor of the show with every little detail but at the same time you’ve added a whole new dimension to the plot and characters. Keep cooking, I beg you but also have mercy on me. I imagine you saying something like: I am going to create an situation that is so emotionally fucked up before writing any chapter.

I really love the way shadowpeach interact in this story. From trying to kill each other to sharing the food. It's kinda crazy that people genuinely thought shadowpeach was a one sided crush until s4.

To be honest, I'm not a fan how the fandom treats shadowpeach but you have successfully kept the characterization of mystical monkeys to perfection while setting up a realistic shadowpeach plotline. I read this quote in another fic but it applies very well to them: "They really embody the pain/comfort thing, except that comfort is understanding and trust."

Sun Wukong is canonically a latent danger that not even the most powerful entities in celestial realm or underworld could subdue him, but he has no self preservation skills whatsoever. He's a bleeding heart. He's the one who sacrifices everything possible to protect the few he loves because, god, he has lost so much. The immortality he achieved with peaches, wine, pills, among many other things, may have made him indestructible on the outside, but inside they made him emotionally vulnerable, lonely and afraid of attachment. This monkey can fit so much trauma and he's holding a lot close to his chest even from the audience. The fandom villainizes him unfairly, but sometimes they also put him on some kind of pedestal, which is also incorrect.

The same happens with Macaque. He's the walking mystery who may or may not realize how much of a prickly capricious hypocrite he is in some things. For example, he feels an apparent resentment at being relegated to being a mere shadow of someone much brighter, but at the same time he seems unwilling to step out of that role. In s1 and s3, he clings so much to the past that he pushes Wukong, the only constant of him in a modern world after his resurrection, to be the version he remembered. Where Wukong advanced, Macaque retreated.

Nonetheless, the motives behind every action of his are more nuanced than him just being evil. He did once he was free from LBD's control was immediately start helping everyone even until s4, as if it were a tacit way of apologizing because he was just trapped under incredibly shitty circumstances, let's remember the part where LBD said she'd kill him if he didn't do what she wanted. Although I don't think he didn’t have fun knocking everyone around a bit (to his ex-husband especially).

It's little funny because I consider that before the perigranation trip, Wukong is a self-proclaimed hero with destructive or villainous tendencies (depending on which side you look at, celestial Realm definitely sees it that way still) while in the current timeline, Macaque is a self-proclaimed villain with heroic tendencies.

I wont keep rambling, but thank you again for pouring your time and talent into this beautifully painful read. I can't wait to chew on the next chapter like a hungry dog with a good steak and also I'll be keeping an eye out for your future works, in case you continue writing about queer monkeys with emotional constipation, but if not, it's such a treat to read what you've already gifted us. Have a good week! and sorry for any translation errors again.

AAAAAH i'm sorry i've taken so long to respond to this. this ask is SO SWEET and i loved just rereading it over and over to suck all the serotonin out of it. Filled me with gleee!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to translate and write out this message! There weren't any errors, it's okay! I'm so glad you liked my story sm and read it and ENJOYED IT YAAAAAY!!!

honestly, I only cackle evilly before posting chapters sometimes. Only sometimes, when I remember. I usually cackle while writing, but then, by the time I've posted it, I've read it so much, it doesn't have that emotional impact on me anymore LOL

I think that's a great way to sum up shadowpeach! It's about understanding and trust. No matter what, that trust has to be rebuilt, and that process is so painful and hard and time-consuming that...it takes such a great amount of effort on both their parts. It's the choice to persevere in spite of that amount of hardship that makes them beautiful, even if what they create together isn't inherently beautiful. What's beautiful is that, in spite of tragedy, these two monkeys want to be together in whatever way they can.

I think with any fandom, people are going to misinterpret characters. I've kind of gotten used to it, but there's definitely a lot of missed nuance and character depth that the fandom chooses to not see or doesn't except. Maybe they like to keep it surface level, but i think critically thinking about the plot and characters is where you can find depth or make depth of your own that's not present in the show.

Wukong is either a trickster villain or a precious soul who has done no wrong and needs to be protected. Macaque is usually a mustache-twirling villain or a sweet, bashful monkey who was just pretending all that time! and has never done anything bad.

A lot of the fandom sees things in a clear black and white way, which is dangerous for several reasons, but it means that their interpretations lack that depth or understanding that people crave. Because no one is black and white. The world doesn't work that way, so it's kind of worrying that they think that's...normal. It's not normal. I see it as a lack of life experience and maturity, but I also don't know these people. Maybe they like their fictional worlds to be black and white, I dunno.

Aaaanyway, you're not the first person to speak about this topic with shadowpeach and how, through constellations, they found some understanding or were pleased with how shadowpeach interacted. and to that I say, thanks! I just like some realism and three dimensional...ness to my characters, please and thanks. Don't even get me started on MK.

But wow! Yes! I'm so honored you'll keep reading whatever I write next. I have no fucking clue what I'm doing, and I'm just smashing my dolls together, but I'm happy to have you here in Constellations AU land! Welcome! Enjoy your stay 💕

#ask #anon #fave #constellations fic #long post

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disventurecamptakes · 1 month

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mod jake what r ur thoughts on tomjake? both like canon and what they could be

Question for me yippee!! Thank you anon!! /gen

Personally I liked tomjake in season one quite a bit, I was more invested in them as separate characters than as a couple but they were mostly cute in the beginning and they had a lot of good angst moments later, like the zombie episode was oddly sweet to me and got me invested in their relationship. And Tom’s elimination genuinely made me cry, it was a great twist, and him still wanting to save Jake after everything that he did made it even more tragic that he got booted that episode. I think that’s why Tom’s like seeming acceptance of what happened in the finale kind of felt cheap to me, I really would’ve liked him to hold onto that sense of caring for Jake while still resenting him a bit— and I felt like his semi-forgiveness came out of no where, which became more apparent in season three when we found out that Tom had straight up been ignoring him and Miriam, so like what was even the point beyond giving Jake a reason to clearly restrain himself.

I think it’s obvious that Jake’s my favorite DC character, and I miss pre-S1 finale tomjake tbh— but that being said, I feel like season three is focusing on their relationship way too much while still not doing anything with it. I don’t like how Tom’s just randomly ignoring Jake and always mildly annoyed at him. To be honest, S3 Tom and S1 Tom feel like completely different characters to me; and I know they’re building up to explaining why that is, but I feel like the suspense is kind of empty, because we’re eight episodes in and haven’t even gotten a hint beyond him (possibly lying about) having a boyfriend. And while Jake’s my poor meow-meow and I want him to get better, I think he should’ve gotten worse first. The shit Jake endured in season one just felt (to me) like it was laying the ground for an antagonist arc. I think it’s just because I enjoy angst and antagonists, but I really think S3 would’ve been better if we saw Jake get a bit underhanded beyond voting out James; like I think it would’ve made sense after the manipulation and mental distress he’s been dealing with. Also I believe an anon on the blog said before that the Tomaiden baiting would be more interesting if Tom had a one-sided crush on Aiden, and I fully agree, I think it would add more depth to the drama and give us more stakes as the audience and make Jake seem more sympathetic instead of just like…trying and failing to overcome his trust issues for the one millionth time, which I know some people find annoying.

I’m not sure if this made sense, I’m just spitballing here, I’m hoping this build-up pays off soon, and I don’t hate the focus on Tom or Jake this season nor do I necessarily think the writing is bad; I just would prefer for the build-up to be more substantive, I think Tom’s being a tad unreasonable without much critique from the narrative yet, and I think both of their characters and their relationship could be made more interesting by having Jake be resentful still (allowing for more character growth later and making him more entertaining) and including notions about Tom’s lingering feelings for Jake.

So overall, I think S1 Tomjake was pretty good and S3 is…realistic, but I’d honestly prefer dramatic morally-gray yaoi spectacle over realism. But also S3 isn’t done yet and this boils down more to my personal preferences than a genuine critique of the writing. 👍

#disventure camp #mod speaks #disventure camp tomjake #disventure camp jake #disventure camp tom

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