#another angry Asian rant from me

[clydetheshamelessdiva]

I witnessed a (non-Asian) 12 year old boy go up to an Asian 12 year old boy holding a toy and sneer and point at the toy and say, “is that what you use to eat dog?” Right in front of me, an Asian American adult, with no fear at all

So don’t tell me that it’s 2023 and racism doesn’t exist and Asian Americans are a “model minority” that never face racism

When I was in first grade my classmates would pull their eyes at me and say “Ching Chang Chong” and sing “my mom is Japanese my dad is Chinese so now I look like this” and pull their eyes in different weird directions and laugh at my anger

Now I’m an adult and I witnessed kids continue the cycle of racism

Yes a lot of things are getting better in our country but this is just a reminder that the fight is not over stay angry out there #stopasianhate and for gods sake if you have kids raise them better

#another angry Asian rant from me #Asian #Asian American #angry Asian #social justice #racism #activism #equality #education #aapi #stop Asian hate #representation #representation matters #ignore my random crap

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: I may have activated my own trap card

Spoilers for a movie that's two months old and also out on home release.

So, Miles, Gwen, Pavitr (Spider-India), and Hobie (Spider-Punk) all seem to have modern left-wing politics, though Gwen's got edited out. Hobie's introduction specifically says he hates "fascists", which carries over from the original comics.

By the time Hobie came around, I assumed he was just another poser, cooler than the hero rival character, expressing generic leftie politics, and his punk ethos wasn't sincere.

Which is exactly what the writers wanted me to think.

Not only is Hobie perfectly sincere about being anti-authoritarian, but he's been helping Miles since before they even met. He's been blatantly stealing junk from the Spider Society to build his own universe-jumping watch, and disguising it as petty vandalism.

He even tries to talk Miles out of trying to join the Spider-Society before the reveal that Miles himself is an anomaly, and the SS (geddit?) tries to detain Miles.

When Hobie says he's against authoritarianism, he really means it.

Speaking of the left-wing politics, Miles has a "#BLM" pin on his bag. It's very visible while he sits next to his dad.

Who's a cop.

(TANGENT: A few years ago, someone drew a stupid, very bad comic where Spider-Man (Peter Parker) was a) black, b) hated cops, and c) assaulted and subdued riot cops when they asked him for help.

That the comic didn't even show the riot cops were wrong. We were just supposed to assume they deserve to be left to the mercy of an angry mob.

Also, in this comic, Uncle Ben was killed by a cop, not a random thug who Spidey could've stopped but chose not to. Which makes me wonder how that would shake out.

It's kind of weird for someone to look at a character who's about personal responsibility to an unhealthy degree, and use him to express their collectivist anti-cop terrorism fantasies. That, or they didn't think through their fantasies.)

During Spider-India's opening, Miles says "I love Chai Tea!" And Pavitr goes on a rant about how "Chai" means "tea". Later on, The Spot says he's been on a "journey of self-discovery", and Pavitr basically says he's racist.

Which is a tad ironic, because Spot is literally white. And also because Pavitr is the one making the racist assumptions.

And I personally go to a church - in England - that has a lot of non-white non-British people. Mostly Africans. And me, of course. I wonder if any Asians ever went on a journey of self discovery to South London.

And I don't just mean as a cab driver.

"Wait, SYABM, didn't you move to the UK for self-discovery?"

W-well, yes, partially.

Aside: I made the mistake of watching a Youtube video with the Chai Tea joke, and then I looked at the comments.

One guy said "tfw when Twitter users write a movie". An idiot (with much more upvotes) said "bro out here wanting blatant racism in movies".

...When the whole point of the joke is that the racism is not blatant.

It's only "blatant" if you're insufferably Twitterized. There are loads of redundant phrasings in English, like "ATM machine", and words often shift when they're adopted from other languages.

Also, "I dislike this joke" is not the same as "I want racism in this movie", when the "racism" in the movie is only there so it could be mocked.

One of the issues with putting real world movements in worlds that are drastically different - it's one of the main selling points of the franchise - is that it may seem odd that those movements exist in very similar form to the IRL version.

For example, Miles supports BLM in both his video game, and this. Which makes me think "did Trayvon Martin get shot in Florida? How about Mike Brown? Wouldn't the existence of supervillains throw things into a new perspective?"

Did I mention the giant George Floyd-style "REST IN POWER" mural to Miles' dead uncle? I cringed at that in the Wakanda Forever trailer, and I rolled my eyes at it here.

Floyd wasn't a saintly martyr, he was an unlucky violent thug.

Also, Aaron was a supervillain killed by another bad guy who nearly destroyed the city, not a cop.

Also, this is at a party to celebrate how Miles' dad is about to be promoted. Assuming Floyd died and the 2020 protests/riots also happened in Miles' universe, then it seems a tad tasteless to have a mural inspired by an anti-cop movement overlooking it, even if the party is not full of cops.

Spider-India lives in "Mumbattan".

The people who settled the Manhattan area were originally Indian. But the other type of Indian. The Indians we're not supposed to call Indians anymore.

The name "Manhattan" is even Native American.

The first permanent settlement was Dutch. Then the English got it. I guess the English could've shipped Indians to the other side of the world and eventually ceded the area to them, or maybe in this world India was a world-conquering superpower and Mumbattan is the result of...importing Native Americans?

Which would make Pavitr's complaint that "the British stole all of our stuff and put it in their museums" seem a tad hypocritical.

Of course, since I wrote all that, someone reminded me that Pavitr explicitly says the joint is in India.

"SYABM," you say, "you're overthinking this."

Yes, I am. Because the filmmakers didn't think it through. If you want to use ha-ha-funny to make a serious point, you invite examination of that point.

Miles (as Spidey) now works with his dad, though he disguises his voice. At one point, Miles tells his father that men bottle up mental health issues.

This is true (and ironic, considering Miles is hiding who he is from Jeff), but it's not the first time I've seen some progressive work try to address men's issues in an very awkward way. At least here, it's played for comedy.

Also, seems a tad hypocritical coming from a guy who wears a "#BLM" pin in the presence of his cop father.

Also, if you work the timeline, that would mean Miles was about 7 or 6 when BLM started. Which means he's gone most of his life knowing nothing else.

There was a controversy over a "protect trans kids" trans flag in Gwen's room, which was apparently edited out.

IMO, it seems a tad strange for a girl who feels estranged from everyone in her world to join a social movement, but what do I know? Maybe it was there before then.

Some people came to the extremely logical conclusion that Gwen herself is trans. Even though she's distinctly physically feminine and possibly too young for puberty blockers depending on Earth 65′s laws.

Like the "oh great, it's Liv" shippers, people are reaching really hard to see what they want to see.

Some people have said that Gwen's issues with her dad and herself seem awfully similar to the issues LGBTQIA2S+ kids go through.

Gee, it's not like, y'know, feeling estranged from one's family is a common theme in fiction about teenagers and superhero, and the whole "superpowers = minority" thing has been done to death for most of the past century.

Perhaps most notably - and clumsily - in X-Men.

I'm not saying this wasn't the intended subtext. I'm saying if it was, it would just be really, really cliche.

There's this recurring theme of people telling miles "how [his] story is supposed to go".

When he's at a meeting with his parents and his guidance counselor, the lady says his story of being a black-Latino son of an immigrant would sound great in the college application letters. His mom is a tad miffed, given that they're a) solidly middle class, and b) as a Puerto Rican, she considers herself American.

Miguel (Spider-Man 2099) doesn't want Miles in the multiversal council of Spiders, because Miles was bitten by the radioactive spider from a different universe. Which is why his local Spider-Man died, and the spider's home dimension has no Spider-Man.

Also, Miguel is fixated on "canon events". The idea that there are certain things, especially tragedies, that have to happen to Spiders, or their entire universe falls apart.

And he knows this, because he tried to take over for a version of him that got shot dead by a thug. Tried to raise his daughter.

And he watched as the universe collapsed in front of him.

So he's projecting his own guilt onto Miles, a tad.

According to TVtropes and other sources, this was actually about the people who didn't accept Miles as a replacement Spidey, possibly out of racism.

Yeah, that's real hard-hitting topical meta-commentary about a character who debuted 12 years ago. 8 years when the first movie came out.

I'd also like to point out that despite stereotypes of comic book fans, certain minority successors to banner superheros have been fairly well-received. Like Jaime Reyes, or Cassandra Cain.

(Note: I wrote that before the Blue Beetle movie came out. And flopped.)

And, of course, loads of people like Miles specifically because he's a minority Spidey, which is also racist, just from the other direction. In fact, a lot of his fans seem to forget the "Latino" part of "Afro-Latino". From what little I've seen of Miles early comics, they did actually put strong emphasis on his race.

I also suspect the filmmakers may be misinterpreting the usual successor knee-jerk reactions

as racism. If you're using an established brand name for your new hero, you're creating some expectations.

Also, you know the most popular meme about regular Spidey that I see? That Marvel's writers just keep making him suffer and don't want him to actually develop. Which would kinda make Marvel closer to Team Miguel than Team Miles.

Miles also gripes that Miguel is letting "some algorithm" tell him what to do. While I agree with the sentiment, I'd like to point out that, again, Miles supports BLM.

A movement popularized by an algorithm.

A movement made up of narratives and assumptions.

A movement which has never proven a single incident was because of racism.

During the big chase scene, we see a Spider girl in a wheelchair, aka Sun-Spider. She's from the comics. Same initiative that gave us "Web-Weaver".

Who is, of course, an extremely effete gay fashion designer Spidey. I kinda like his outfit, though the Spider-eyes with eyelashes is a little too far.

And Sun-Spider seems exactly like a character a stereotypical 90s executive and focus group would come up with. Down to the backward baseball cap.

(Turns out she's Dayn Broder's actual Spider-Sona.)

Also, while I was looking up that one black and white Spider who said "nowhere to run" (Metro-Spider, played by record producer Metro Boomin [/sic]), I found out that Aunt May's full name is "Maybelle", not just "May". TIL.

There's a bit of a double standard with this version of Spider-Woman, who's black and pregnant. -People in the movie - including Peter B - regularly point out how Peter B endangering his infant daughter Mayday by taking her along with him. But for some reason, nobody says a word about Jessica, who's an active-duty stunt-biking superhero.

Even regular motorbiking can be dangerous for pregnant women.

In fact, the movie portrays this as heroic and impressive. When Gwen sees  Jess is preggos, she asks if Jess can adopt her.

Not to mention the whole "afro and hoop earrings" thing, which seem like a bad idea for a type of hero who often gets into melee combat, even with Spider-Sense.

Yes, I'm aware that female heroes, including the Spider-Ladies, often have exposed hair. It's a genre convention. Incidentally, it was nice to see Batwoman wore a detachable decoy wig in the comics. Some bad guy tries to grab it in a fight? It comes right off.

Also, Jess doesn't have much actual character.

Being pregnant is not a character trait. In fact, her only real traits are basically "cool but stern sassy mentor", to contrast with Peter B. -Incidentally, someone on TVtropes pointed out the double standard. And when I saw the page again, a page-camper had deleted it, with no explanation.

Guess they couldn't stand someone pointing out the flaws of their waifu.

(One) Spider-UK in this movie is Muslim. I know she's Muslim because she wears a Spider-themed headdress. Note that regular Marvel 616 has a muslim lady Spider-UK, but her name is Zarina Zahari and she doesn't wear a hijabi.

(Also, she could be mistaken for Ms. Marvel.)

ms marvel.jpg

You might be thinking "wait, isn't a headdress impractical in a melee fight? Doesn't it give your enemy something to grab?" Yes, it is.

But so are Jess's earrings, afro, and being pregnant, so clearly there's a lot of artistic license going on.

Maybe it's partially tearaway, like Batman's cape.

I gotta wonder about the religious rules of wearing a head covering over a mask that *already* covers your entire head. Did she go see her imam and go "Okay, I have a really weird question..."

Come to think, Spidey is usually slim, but a lot of lady Spideys in this movie seemed to have wide hips. Including muscular ladies. Kris Anka's concept art goes really hard on wide hips. I don't know why. Stronger, faster character reads during the big chase?

I guess Spiders could be expected to have strong legs.

BOTTOM LINE:

I liked the movie overall, though the progressive bits made me roll my eyes a little. I...want to see the third one, with reservations.

#tvtropes #spiderman #character design #movies

[goodbyeapathy8]

And one more thing...

I truly meant to let sleeping dogs lie after my post yesterday about leaving Kindergarten Mafia, the now infamous, racist Discord server because it had everything I wanted to say at the time.

BUT.

Here I am, sliding back in, with more things.

And I warn you ahead of time that this post will probably make you feel uncomfortable. That's fine.

Because I remembered the new thing I was going to do : if someone has made me feel uncomfortable, that takes away their right to comfort as well. Respect goes both ways and so does comfort.

I believe both posts are equally valuable. And I want you to sit with your discomfort if this anger seems "off" or you feel that it's petty. So I hope you stay until the end of this long rant because there's a greater point I want to make about POC anger and discomfort from witnessing that.

It's meant to be petty and I mean it with every fiber of my being.

Yesterday, I was made aware of the server owner, in their new server, specifically wrote that they're "trying to get the joy back from fandom".

And that singular phrase not only triggered disgust but various other thoughts I had held back, out of misplaced respect, in my last post. The gloves are coming off and the claws are coming out.

So this is for the people who were complicit in downplaying, gaslighting, and otherwise making it a miserable fandom experience for us (marginalized folks + POC) : go fuck yourselves. You do not deserve fandom joy when it has been sucked out, by people like you.

I'm calling out AO3 authors like Ahdriking. Ahdriking was a popular author I used to respect in the fandom. But after being inactive for most of my stay in the server, Ahdriking suddenly emerged from the shadows to take the side of the perpetrators. They came in at the 11th hour, not having interacted with or actually know any of us that were speaking out, just to defend the people who hurt us.

You do not get to quietly fade into the background of anonymity, enjoying accolades from unknowing readers, when behind closed doors, you've acted like this.

I do have to thank you, Ahdri, for making me finally understand how well-written authors can be terrible outside of their writing, like JK Rowling.

Another AO3 author like Frog_of_Fandom, who joined the new server and is gleefully poking fun at those of us who left.

To be clear, this is not for those who were nonconfrontational. This is specifically for those who were complicit - whether it was directly within server messages or staying silent and then moving to the new "safe" space. (Credit to Snake and Mouse for this distinction.)

The worst part of it is, I myself wasn't treated nearly as badly as some of my Black and indigenous counterparts.

There's a reason for that.

I frequently mentioned my identity as a Korean-American. Server members were very aware of that and my profile picture is a real life one, not a fandom reference.

I, as an Asian, got received with relative politeness while Black and brown members were booted out.

This is a familiar racist tactic.

You don't need to go any further than a TikTok comment section to see evidence of this. Black and brown creators have some of the worst comments I've seen on that app. (I posted a TikTok recently on the topic if you'd like to hear the specifics.) The SAME message can be said by a white creator vs Black, brown, indigenous etc with very different results.

Backlash against Black anger is well documented by various scholars.

As a rather pale faced Asian - the polite reception to my anger is part of my privilege. It struck me how different the server owner and problematic mods treated my messages and that of Black or brown server members.

And it makes me incredibly angry, not relieved.

Because on top of the sympathetic anger I felt for my POC counterparts, I wondered if they had fetishized me this whole time.

Note that the fandom for the server is KinnPorsche, a Thai BL, for those who don't know - a queer Thai drama.

That somehow, my anger was palatable because I, as a queer Asian, was adjacent to their beloved drama characters.

But before I write a novel-length fic again as a post, I'll stop here, despite having so much more to say.

This is truly the last I want to reference those energy vampires.

For me, I will try to leave behind the feelings of disgust I have with my first foray into a fandom and take with me the true friendships with folks that care about joy for everyone and not just a few.

Many many lessons have been learned and re-enforced from past experiences. I'm not happy that any of us had to experience this but sometimes, shit happens.

Wipe it up and flush it down the toilet, where it belongs.

#ao3 writer #decolonize fandom spaces #kinnporsche fandom #kindergarten mafia #Is it petty yes #do i have regrets no #I said what I said #Unlike some people I stand by my words #I'd say this to anyone in real life #kinnporsche ao3

[book-girl4eva]

Ok, sorry but I kinda need to rant

Tw: racism, bad language

So there is this girl at my school and she is just horrible! One of my friends is Arabic and she started doing a very racist Asian accent and made fun of Arabic food (she's also been rude about another girls hijab and called it stupid) so my friend told her to stop because it was racist and this girl said she couldn't be racist because her dad is from South Africa! Oh my goodness it made me so angry. Like racism isn't a white only thing. And there was this boy who called me the n-word but said it was ok because he was a quarter Asian. It's just - ugh. It makes me so mad.

#all abt bea #racism

[mrs-lockley]

it really annoys me whenever makeup companies release new products and when the models are light-skinned east-asians, everyone in the comments are saying "can you please put poc in your marketing campaign?/stop ignoring poc"

there are a couple reasons why this upsets me, and i just need to get this off my chest

rant under the cut. tw/cw anti-asian racism, colorism

colorism - i understand the frustration because as a medium, tan-skinned southeast asian woc, more than half the time, makeup companies use models who are on the pale to light-medium spectrum. i'm smack in the middle on medium and their swatches aren't accurate to me, and if i'm having a hard time finding swatches for someone who is medium-skinned (and i'm not even that dark to begin with), then i can only imagine how much harder it is for someone who is tan, dark, and deep-skinned. there's a reason why i don't wear foundation anymore. aside from it being a personal preference, it's hard to find the right undertones and shade for southeast asian skintones (even when the company is found by a woc, and don't get me started on the colorism in the asian beauty market). they're either too cool, neutral, or too yellow/orange if it's warm. there's a severe lack of brown asians and other tan/dark-skinned poc. poc come in all colors- there are dark-skinned asians, light-skinned asians, white passing poc, but no matter their phenotype, they are still poc. which leads me to my next point

anti-asian racism - for some odd reason (which is not odd at all!), in my personal experience, both white people and non-asian poc are quick to dismiss asians when talking about racism. when people complain (and i've seen non-asian poc and white people say this) in marketing campaigns with light-skinned poc (typically east asians) featured, they're quick to say "it would be nice if you included a poc." i'm getting so angry and frustrated writing this because this triggers me to think of the 20 years of casual racism i experienced in my life. when an east-asian or light-skinned asian poc is used as a model, you're essentially saying asians are not poc. ASIANS ARE POC, EVEN IF THEY ARE LIGHT-SKINNED. yes, there are light-skinned asians and yes, the asian/asian-american experience is different from latino and black experiences, and yes, i am aware that asian/asian-americans have privilege. and this is a topic for another time about the model minority myth and how it's used to pit asians against latinos and black people, but when you dismiss asians as poc, you're erasing their experience with systemic racism. not all of us are doctors, lawyers, and engineers. as a southeast asian, i never benefited from the model minority because i am not the "right" asian. a lot of south and southeast asian countries have painful histories of imperialism, colonialism, and in some cases, genocide. to blanket all asians as "model minorities" and implying that asians are not poc or "poc enough" is downright disrespectful, hurtful, and painful. when you are complaining about light-skinned asians as models in makeup marketing campaigns, do not dismiss us and say "oh i wish they used a poc as their model." ASIANS ARE POC! i understand the frustration as a tan southeast asian woman, but you're being dismissive about the asian experience. it triggers me because i think of all the casual racism i experienced throughout my childhood and when talking about it to my poc friends, 95% of the time, my non-asian poc friends have told me, and i quote, "you don't experience racism. asians are doing better than white people too, you have nothing complain about. you're the good stereotype!" is downright hurtful when my teachers have looked down on me for not being as academically smart as my east asian classmates and ignore all the hard work, blood, sweat, and tears i put into my assignments, when my classmates have casually asked me if i eat dog, when in college my white professor and white classmate were talking about the winter olympics and said it was weird that asians eat dog and i told them that it's not your domestic dog, but a dog farm similar to how there are chicken and pig farms, to which my professor looked me dead in the eye in front of the whole class, said "well how are you gonna know the difference when you see the dog down the street?" and have the ENTIRE CLASS laugh at you when you are the only asian in that class. when covid started, a non-asian poc looked at me and the asian girl i sat next to and said "I guess you can't eat dog anymore huh with covid." when in my online class, a classmate of mine posted a drawing of a bat that wrote in very loud letters, "WHO ATE THE BAT?" when an older non-asian poc that i considered a friend said they'd recognize my sister by how she looks and pulled their eyes at me, when my classmates said i didn't look "asian enough" and proceeded to pull their eyes at me. when attending research conferences in higher education talking about students of color in their retention rates, representation, and academics, being told explicitly and when i asked why asians aren't included when they talked about poc, they said "there is no data included or provided on asians, we didn't find it necessary to include them" despite showing data that they had a good amount of asians in their student demographic when other research shows that southeast asians tend to have high rates of dropping out of college.

when complaining about the lack of darker skinned models when a light-skinned asian is used, then say "please use a darker skinned model" instead of "please use a poc." BECAUSE ASIANS ARE POC!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough! i understand that people mean well and don't mean any harm by it, but again, it's downright hurtful to ignore and dismiss asians as poc. just say "use a darker skinned model/poc." at best, this is a colorism issue.

i apologize if my post comes off as rude, but i'm frustrated at being dismissed and having my experiences ignored or erased. i am not making this a competition on which group experiences the most amount of racism.

i understand people mean well, but i am so tired of being dismissed and not included in activism, and when i do speak up, i'm ignored. i am a poc, i deserve to take up space and talk about my experience. i deserve to exist

[ebugsbones]

big rant from my bottled-up feelings:)

I FUCKING HATE YOU

!!this is targeted and is just everything I’ve been thinking for a moment I can guarantee this is not about anyone seeing this:) but TW for basically everything!! also this is not proofread

Why take homecoming pictures with someone and then not post any of them??? Like we went to the place you wanted them and then you didn’t even post them! And basically telling me I look bad and I was dressed inappropriately? In the dress my Christian grandmother picked out for me?? This isn’t even meant to be shaming but was it because your jealous? Did you think I looked better or something? Because honestly there should be no other reason unless you where embarrassed about how you yourself looked. You literally posted every other picture and even ones from the Photo Booth but I wasn’t in any of them. It can’t be coincidence. I’m not even going to ask about it if you tell me tmr that something’s wrong then so be it. The only other thing would be that you where mad I sat out most of the face bc I was overwhelmed and forgot myy headphones. (That I could understand a bit better but even so tell me)

No but honestly how can you be such a self-centered ass hole to do something like that to someone. Fuck you #### I hope you have to re take your ducking senior year you cunt<3 you’re a dumb bitch anyways and I honestly don’t care what I say anymore I’m sick of your drama and your constant mood swings. The only reason I went to homecoming with you was because you got turned down by another sophomore boy who was your neighbor?? With a girlfriend, who’s mom told him to say yes so you wouldn’t be alone your senior year. All you do is talk shit about other people and put them down when you have no room to talk. Also don’t even get me started on you making fun of a girl with POTS and putting her down for having an illness/disorder she can’t control. I may not like the girl much either but At least I’m not being a bully.

<3 I’m done walking on egg shells have a great senior year with no one who will put up with you because you lost the last person who gave a single fuck about you. You need to grow up and start treating people with respect and you also need to stop touching people inappropriately. You’re an adult now stop groping my boobs. It’s honestly sad that all your friends are freshmen and sophomores, and using your seniority to manipulate them into sticking around is disgusting. You also need to stop being so 2 faced. This isn’t just about pictures at this point it’s about how last year when I was being harassed by ~~~~~ and her group of friends you took her side once people started to realize how bad of a person she was before she started getting clean. And this isn’t about her bc I’m very proud of her for getting clean and making the changed needed to do better for herself. Bc let’s be honest if your asthma is that bad you don’t 3 monsters a day. Also learn how to stay if fucking step you suck at marching and keeping time plus you never play your trumpet and it’s honestly pathetic bc only 1 person plays in your section. Moral of this rant is don’t be a suck up and don’t let people who still act like little 8-year-olds control you and make you upset.

Also, another thing how the fuck are you going to try and tell me that calling a Native American a red skin isn’t offensive and they liked it? Because Ik your white ass knows nothing about my culture and I know I’m very white washed but I’ve experienced racism and if I’m telling you personally that I don’t like the message then there is definitely something wrong with you. And then getting angry at me because I told you your wrong. It’s not okay and continuing to make jokes with one of your friends about how I look adopted and I look Asian because I don’t tan like the rest of my family is fucked up and I’ve told both of you to stop multiple times and that it makes me uncomfortable. It’s not just a joke. And it’s also funny how you continue after you talked so much shit about the girl who started it.

And the reason I’m posting this here is because I needed to get these emotions out in a way that doesn’t hurt anyone including the person the post it about:) also like the person this post is about don’t let other people invalidate your emotions it’s okay to be angry and if the person your upset with isn’t open to letting you express your feelings, then they aren’t a person to keep in your life. Stay safe.

also sorry I know that's a lot most people wont read but then again I'm using this as a diary and its better out then in:)

#spilled thoughts #rant post #rant tw #vent post #hate it #my writing #mental illness #mental health #thoughts

[is-blogging-still-a-thing]

Another Monday Rant

It's Monday and I am filled with uncontrollable rage. From what I read/watch/hear from human behaviour experts on IG and YT, this is apparently "normal" because human beings are not designed by God to stare at electronic screens and absorb blue light all day long. All I can think about is food and what I should be ordering for lunch when I should be working.

I am sitting outside on my terrace overlooking our small garden, looking out at the blue sky and enjoying the breeze. I tried grounding on the grass earlier and yes it felt nice but now that I am back on my laptop, the rage has returned. I can see the reflection of my face on my laptop and I look so angry and miserable, even I wouldn't speak to me if I met me.

I tried to distract myself by looking for co-working spaces with a view. There is one near me but of course, they have a minimal order policy to deter locals from coming in for longer than an hour. I am not in my own country so I am not going to say where I am but honestly since I moved away, I have realised how protected we are and how well we've been looked after in our own country.

I also cannot stand my neighbour, who have contracted out her unit to airbnb or whoever for daily use and moved up to the smaller rooms near the parking lot. I feel uncomfortable and trapped, I don't feel free to walk around my garden and the carpark in front because now that annoying neighbour is there, and I wish I could get my own cute little cottage with a beautiful garden but again, this is one of the most expensive locations in South East Asia and it caters to foreigners with foreign currency, not poor Asians like me.

So there you have it, my thoughts for the day. I am miserable, I am unhappy, and I feel trapped.

[mrstsung]

The problem with mk anymore is they keep writing themselves into a corner and writing it as if it was the last game ever.

And sometimes thats not a good thing.

I doubt mk12 is gonna be good because you cant really move forward well without another retcon. And people are genuinely tired of that.

And they are appeasing to the crowd that doesn't even play the games or know the lore and knows how much nrs and to an extent boon as fucked up the whole thing.

And it saddens me that we had the greatest talents working with them in mk11. So its a waste to not have them come back. Which as crappy as mk12 i predict will be. At least we'd have them reprise the roles.

But i doubt that because they are legit getting rid of everything. And that makes me both angry and sad.

Because im sick of them retconning everything. And im sick of wb sticking its dc comic dick in everything.

MORTAL KOMBAT IS NOT INJUSTICE GAMES WITH VIOLENCE. ITS ITS OWN FUCKING GAME AND LORE AND HAS BEEN AROUND LONG BEFORE YOU FUCKERS EVEN WE'RE A THOUGHT! AND IM SICK OF NRS TREATING IT WITH DISRESPECT AND WB BEING THE JACKASS COMPANY WHO DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN MONEY.

And im tired of people pretending its ok. When its not.

Mortal kombats story is so fucked up anymore the only thing good about it now is to beat up your friends over local or online and thats fucking sad.

The story is so bad. You can put it on mute and it would be more entertaining. The only thing good about mk11 was shang tsung. And tagawa coming back. But i doubt they are ballsy enough to do that again. Especially since well....you know. In the story. They kinda fucked shang over. At least on lius ending. And the only way to fix that is say both endings (shang and lius) are both canon. But i doubt that since they still wanna suck protag dick. (Sorry i love liu but yeah.)

Not to mention these crappy new movies. The only good ones are the animated ones. But even then they have their problems.

The live action one (2021) is god awful. And the sequel is more likely just as awful if not worse. Because again they are appeasing dc comicbook fans not mortal kombat fans. Which is fucking stupid. Because nobody wants to see those. So what makes you think sticking it in where it doesn't belong will work? WE DONT WANT SUPERHERO MOVIES ANYMORE YOU DUMBASSES! god wb is just as bad as marvel studios.

But thats for another rant.

This is not how a game especially a legend like mortal kombat should be.

Especially us fans who have been here. Played all the games. And now we are being treated like jokes. Especially from what was built up in 9. Which isn't a great game but they had and idea. I was cool with it. Then they threw it in the toilet.

Which isn't surprising since legit i feel like they dont wanna do half the shit they did in mk11. And not to mention the amount of hours put into the game. And even then its not complete.

Again mk12 im just gonna watch streaming of. Until im 100000000000% sure that i wanna buy it. Because mk11 is gonna be my last mortal kombat game if its shitty.

Which not to be a downer but again realistically i doubt mk12 is gonna be good. Because what more can you do to actually fix the shithole you wrote yourselves into?! Like the only way is to make both endings canon. Because otherwise you're not gonna have many fans be happy you legit killed off a huge roster. Icons. And are now left with no offense. Mediocre characters with no good antagonists. One dimensional shitty dcu/mcu writing relying on "funny quips" instead of actual personality development. Tropes(bad ones) instead of something worth getting invested in.

Like mk hasn't been the most kosher. Lemme be honest. But this could have been a chance to expand and explore already established lore and add i dunno ACTUAL FUCKING EASTERN CULTURES! and asian cinema references and not stupid American centralized/eurocentric bullshit. No offense but yeah. Im tired of fucking greek mythos being shoehorned into everything. Greek mythos aint that fucking special or great sorry to those that love it.

We have many other fucking mythos n cultures and if anything. Mortal kombat should be asian and eastern culturally centered. Period.

Im just sick and tired of the bullshit.

Im just disappointed more than anything. Mk11 could have been so much more. But nope. Corporate greed. Its a helluva drug for these dudes in NRS.

#mortal kombat #mk discourse #im sorry im just sad that mk12 is more likely gonna be a complete reboot and it makes me worry for the future of the game and its integrity #admin is sad #im calling it mk11 will be the last decent mk game #and even then mk11 isn't the greatest #its a better game than 9 but not as good as 10 but only better as in certain features thats it #in fact its a polished down version of what it could be #shang tsung and tagawa saved it broke his back and honestly i feel his talent is even then as much as i love him in the game is wasted #still love mk11 but its not above heavy fucking criticism as a fan

[aulel-process]

( 1 )

What I am passionate about doesn’t easily intersect with what I can be paid for (yet)... I’ve never in my life felt proud of anything except the creation of beautiful art... I only feel happy when I make art I’m proud of... I don’t know why... I just super love visual stimulation... I’ve never ever in my life felt proud or fulfilled by completing my responsibilities... but bills aren’t optional... I wish they were... I’m tired of spending the majority of my time towards not my passion... the process of making art is exhausting (root of passion means to suffer lol... no pain no gain)... concurrently doing art + responsibilities wipes me out... but I can’t just opt out of responsibilities... and then art-ing falls to the wayside and I mope... mope mope mope... then I blame my job because why I need to spend my time bringing to life someone else’s vision? I want to spend my time bringing to life my vision (I also get super angry when people don’t share my perspective because I’m such an intolerant fuck-tard like that even though art is supposed to be about challenging inherent bias and being open minded yada yada... why would anyone be proud of bringing to life another person’s vision?? Get your own damn vision and focus on that... no one owns 2+2=4, you can’t patent labor, you can only patent an idea. Labor is the modern day equivalent of slavery, why hasn’t society evolved to the point of its dissolution? Technology should have developed to the point where a life of leisure is attainable for everyone... I’m not opposed to the average life because I think I deserve more, I’m opposed to anyone being subjected to a life that is not one of total freedom... anyone being proud of playing a subordinate slave role just, my brain does not compute.. “I aspire to not only be a slave but to be the very best slave” false consciousness... academia didn’t brainwash me, Marxist theory isn’t where the foundation of my anti-labor sentiments come from.. I only needed to receive homework for the first time at the age of 4 to be like, why I need do this stuff I don’t want to do? Oh because it’s training me for a life of slavery, no thank you, flush that homework down the toilet please) Fuck my bills... I would like a world where the intersection of all 4 rings is readily attainable for everyone... you want to be an artist? You shouldn’t have to prepare yourself to starve... or squeeze it into the corners of your responsibility filled day... or have rich parents or marry a rich dude...

also I oft liketh talk like a child because I hope if I do it enough then reality will just bring forth a life free of the doing of things I don’t want to do! 

I need to stop ranting and take more action!

Oh! I also realized more than one person read my previous post on fetishization of Asian women as my opposition to traditional relationships (woman playing the role of stay at home wife).. I am not at all opposed to tradition in any forms (I might be more in support of being a stay at home wife than I am of women doing labor since I’m opposed to the entire existence of labor)  (I am only opposed to prescribing a limited range of correctness on human behavior... I only oppose restrictions to freedom)... I would not characterize Memoirs of a Geisha as promoting a traditional relationship... it promotes a harem situation for a man (a man with a wife and multiple mistresses) which was perhaps traditional for the time period the novel describes... if a harem situation is what all parties agree to (all the women and the man are ok with it) then that is fine... but I think this situation is more often a lopsided male fantasy that doesn’t give voice to the desires of women and instead portrays through the protagonist that what a woman should want is to reify the male fantasy... that is a pervasive narrative as well, that instead of women defining their own fantasy, women should find fulfillment in playing flawlessly the role men want them to play... I am not opposed to women embracing their sexuality nor their beauty nor being pleasing to men (I think beauty is possibly the greatest form of power that there is, hence my obsession with art to begin with)... I only think women should just as strongly assert what they want in a man (or to at least have their desires take as much mental precedence as what a man wants from her)... being willing to be critical of any work of art and the perspective it promotes no matter, or especially when, its aesthetics are seductively on point.

Ok I needs to get back to art-ing. Thank you internet friends for your support!

#ikigai #passion #fulfillment

[dragonbugsuperior]

Thomas is a Racist, Misogynistic, Sexist predator, stop defending him.

Long rant.

Below, are NSFW pictures that Winny, a director from the show drew of Marinette, Ladybug and a gender bent Chat Noir. With huge breasts, in sexual positions.

The Miraculous Fandom needs to stop acting like the show isn't incredibly racist, predatory, pedophilic, sexist, misogynistic, ableist, and so is it's fan-base. People need to stop defending the writers and Thomas as if he's a good person when he's actually a predator sending kid's the message that sexual harassment is romantic, cute, okay, and funny. While his racist, misogynistic, white, straight, cis, billionaire, male deuteragonist sexually harasses the mixed asian female protagonist.

The double standard is absolutely ridiculous to me.

In Syren, Adrien blackmailed Plagg with letting over two million people drown unless Plagg revealed someone else’s secret identity to him. Also guilt-tripped Marinette for not telling him someone else’s secret identity, despite him even saying out loud that he knows she’s not at liberty to tell him.

Constantly takes Chloe’s side and defends her, despite seeing firsthand the horrible things she does to his so-called friends.

Constantly sexually harasses Marinette by flirting with her when she’s told him to stop, calling them a couple when they aren’t dating, calling her an infantilizing pet name despite her telling him to stop every single time he’s called her it, constantly trying to kiss her, either by physically invading her space, or trying to convince her to kiss him, constantly lying to other people about their relationship, punishes her when she turns him down, and even after she’s explicitly told him she’s in love with someone else and wants him to stop, continues to demand she date him, and demands to know “if he weren’t here, would things be different between us?”

In Oblivio, his combined harassment of her and refusal to take being a superhero seriously resulted in him lounging on the ground while shIn Oblivio, hise was forced to single-handedly shield him AND herself from the Akuma, which ultimately got both of their memories erased. And while he was lounging on the ground? He was once more sexually harassing her by calling them a couple, which we know, because she had to yell at him, “Stop calling us a couple” in the middle of battle.

And then, after they got their memories back, the very first thing he did was call them a couple again, then literally laugh in her face and said it again when she got upset and told him to stop. He knew she would be upset by the picture of them kissing when their memories were gone, and instead of being compassionate and respectful, took vicious glee in showing it to her, and then gloated that “we’re meant to be together, you’re the only one who doesn’t see it”, literally just to upset her even more.

He constantly goes out of his way to upset her, because he thinks her being angry and upset is funny.

In the begining of Reflektdoll, he almost messed up her Lucky Charms and made it fail, and instead of apologizing, told her straight to her face that he’s only there to make jokes, not to do any actual work, so it’s her fault for expecting him to be responsible.

He then calls her Buggaboo again, literally just to upset her. And then he laughs in her face, because he thinks her being genuinely upset and angry is funny.

Adrien pretends to be a good person when he’s in his civilian life, because as a civlian he has to face consequences for his actions. The second he has a mask to hide his identity? He shows his true colors. He does whatever he wants. And what Adrien Agreste wants to do? Is sexually harass women and torment them for fun.

I also find if ironic how a lot mlb fans seem to have a mob mentality

All these running their mouth about Marinette being a stalker when she's actually not.

A stalker a person who harasses or persecutes someone with unwanted and obsessive attention. Stalking can be defined as the willful and repeated following, watching or harassing of another person.

Marinette is not a stalker she is obsessive but isn't a "stalker"

I see alot of people complaining about how bad of a character Marinette based off of her mistakes she has made. The ones she's been punished for and even after that gets punished for things that literally have nothing to do with her. Even when she does the right thing she gets punished by the narrative. There is a very big double standard between Adrien and Marinette and there are so many miraculous fans that have no idea about it. It's pretty fucked up how she's the only one in the entire show that takes the blame for things that aren't even her fault and are actually other characters actions.

Alot of people have a double standard when it comes to Adrien and Marinette.

They really love fucking humiliating Marinette for humor's sake, making her suffer, being sexually harassed by her superhero "partner" being tormented by the school bully for years just to be guilted by her crush who is also her sexual harasser.

In Oblivio she literally tells him at least three times in that single episode, “stop calling us a couple”, and literally every single time she says that, he once again calls them a couple, and then he fucking escalates the situation further by saying, “we’re meant to be together Milady you’re the only one who doesn’t see it.”

That is sexual harassment. That is him purposefully going out of his way to violate the very clear and easy to understand boundaries that she has set. Just because she doesn’t literally punch him in the face does it mean that he is respecting her wishes, it doesn’t mean she consents, shit like that is victim-blaming, and honestly because it really needs to be said, it’s rape apologism

I have had Adrian Stan’s literally tell me, “it doesn’t matter how many times she says no, she’s still giving consent!”

That is rape culture in a nutshell. That is misogyny in a nutshell. That is sexual harassment in a nutshell.

Adrian Stan’s say they have ‘debunked’ claims of him sexually harassing her, but literally all they are doing is ignoring every single fucking thing he’s done, and claiming that despite her yelling at him, despite her looking completely fucking distraught, despite her telling him “no” over and over again, they are still claiming that she’s “comfortable with it, she’s fine with it, she enjoys it she’s having fun!”

Marinette: No, I don’t want you to flirt with me. No! Stop flirting with me! No, I don’t want to kiss you and you need to stop asking! I already told you I don’t return your feelings, I already told you I’m in love with someone else! Stop calling me Bugaboo! Stop saying we’re a couple! Stop lying to people about our relationship! Stop asking me out! Stop touching me without permission! Stop trying to kiss me! STOP ASKING ME OUT! I SAID NO!

Also Marinette: *visibly and clearly distressed, saddened, and pissed off by his behavior*

The Fandom:  She actually enjoys what he’s doing because she hasn’t done anything to stop him :) if he were really harassing her, she’d just punch him in the face! but since she hasn’t done that, that means she doesn’t actually mind and enjoys what he’s doing! :) :) she isn’t doing anything to get him to stop so that means she’s consenting to it! :)

I guess I have to keep making these.

Adrien is perfectly fucking aware that what he is doing to Marinette is wrong.

Stop fucking acting like she hasn’t made her feelings clear time and time again. stop acting like he hasn’t laughed in her fucking face for asking him to stop.

LET me put it simply, in a short post you can’t not understand.

Every single time she tells him, “stop flirting with me,” “stop trying to kiss me,” “we are not dating,” “we do not have a relationship,” every single time she turns him down again because he refuses to listen, we are expected to sympathize with him.

We’re supposed to feel sorry for him even as he continues to harass her.

And it is just…Inexcusable.

And the fandom seriously needs to own up and stop downplaying it.

They need to call it what it is.

Adrien is sexually harassing Marinette. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He’s not just “being pushy”. He’s not just “being obtuse”. He knows that what he’s doing is wrong. He has acknowledged, multiple times, out loud, that she has asked him to stop.

He has laughed in her face when she asks him to stop.

It is sexual harassment and it is being glorified on a children’s show.

It needs to be called out and dealt with.

And guess what type of shit Thomas tells the fans?

The person who has poor control over her emotions happens to also be the person who's never gotten akumatized. Can someone tell me how that works?

Thomas said this on Twitter.

"Adrien is prefect. But his flaws comes from the fact that he's not accustomed to the " outside world. His innocence makes him vulnerable. To sum it up: he's not flawed. The world is."

Yup, those are Thomas Astruc's direct words

He also quotes

"Rule #1 of Miraculous: Adrien is prefect."

Like.

He actually said this shit. You can look it up for yourself. I can't make this shit up.

When confronted about things in the show he either ends up blocking someone or growing defensive.

That's how he avoids confrontation and criticism by simply blocking people or switching the story

Racist New York Comic - Ghetto Blaster

In the comic marinette apparently loses her clothes and is naked and vulnerable lost in New York City. A literal 14 y/o teenage girl.

Marinette says

"So, I see you're looting...I mean moving out! You're right, it's safer, considering the situation...Please Don't Kill Me.

You cannot look at/or read this comic and tell me it's not depicting black stereotypes. Black people are intimidating, threatening, violent, and wild. The black characters in the comic have tattoos, pants sagging below the waist.

Please don't tell me that this isn't racist

When people pointed the comic's racist suggestions out here's what Thomas had to say after a fan pointed out the racism.

Then read it fully before going all SJW with me. Thanks.

It's his way of shutting down fans and avoiding criticism about things that happen in the show.

Links

https://archive.ph/2015.10.09-064405/https://twitter.com/WinnyGZ/status/588723059298828288

https://archive.ph/2015.10.09-063735/https://twitter.com/WinnyGZ/status/593827010964774912

https://archive.ph/2015.10.09-063348/https://twitter.com/WinnyGZ/status/595938277867298816

Please repost and share

#ml writer salt #miraculous fandom #adrien salt #ml fandom salt #thomas astruc #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug

[the-ferocious-kittyrose]

My complicated opinion on Keith Kogane

Keith Kogane is definitely one of the more popular characters in the VLD fandom. People love brooding emo bad boys.

My feelings on Keith are... complicated. I definitely don’t hate him. I have a lot of problems with the character but I don’t think I could ever bring myself to actually hate him. Mainly because I kinda relate to him. We both have problems controlling our emotions, interacting with people, and making friends.

And we both have trouble believing there are people who truly have our best interests at heart and won’t abandon us because we’re a burden.

What I do hate is the way his character was written and the way it negatively impacted the characters around him.

There are definitely a lot of factors that contributed to VLD ending up the way it did. But to me, Keith and the writers insistence on pushing him to the forefront was the poison that killed the show.

Ok, before we get into this whole rant I feel like I should talk about the things I do like about Keith.

I like the premise of Keith’s character. He’s half Galra and never really fit in on Earth. He didn’t act like the other “normal” kids so kids made fun of him and adults didn’t want to deal with him. So in order to protect himself from the pain of rejection he would put up a tough angry facade and push people away and reject them before they could reject him.

This is something that really resonates with me personally having grown up neurodivergent. It’s awful growing up in a world that isn’t made for people like you and not knowing how to interact with or connect with your peers. Especially when you don’t know why you’re like that.

You learn to avoid social interaction because it always ends up negative. You put up walls because you don’t feel like anybody understands you or what you’re going through.

I know the writers probably didn’t intend to code Keith as neurodivergent. They just wanted Keith to be a hothead with abandonment issues, but nonetheless, this interpretation means a lot to me.

I also really like his relationship with Shiro. Keith is so used to being left behind and abandoned that when he meets someone like Shiro who’s patient and genuinely cares it’s new and strange. He’s so ready for Shiro to abandon him, even telling Shiro to send him back to the home, but Shiro refuses to leave him and tells Keith ethat he’s never going to give up on him.

It’s also interesting to see how their relationship develops over time. It’s clear Keith trusts Shiro, but you can tell that that fear of abandonment is still there deep down. In S2, Keith tells Shiro that he’s like a brother to him, and then in season 6, he takes the extra step and tells Shiro that he IS his brother and that he loves him. And for someone like Keith, telling their friend they love them is a big scary thing.

And also it’s just great to see a platonic “I love you,” especially between two guys. Don’t be afraid to tell your bros you love them!!!

Now let’s talk about the stuff I didn’t like.

Keith doesn’t have much going for him in terms of personality. He’s just sorta brooding and serious all the time. He does make jokes occasionally but it’s rare. The writers were more focused on making him cool and badass rather than fun.

I always loved the idea of Keith as a cocky carefree asshole who doesn’t give a shit about rules/laws and is kinda rude/aggressive but has a heart of gold deep down and would do anything for the people he cares about. (Just like a cat.)

I would also make him more alien esc. In terms of design I like the idea of Keith having red eyes with narrow pupils and fangs. And also just small things like the way he walks and holds himself. He growls and bears his teeth when he’s angry, his hair puffs up when scared, he’s fast and agile, disappearing and reappearing without making much noise, small things.

Then you have his race and sexuality. I have no doubt in my mind that Keith was intended to be a straight white dude. A lot of people see him as gay and Asian but there’s no evidence for this in canon. Acxa was originally intended to be his love interest and his race was never mentioned in canon. His name isn’t even Kogane in canon. (And the race of the voice actor doesn’t equal the race of the character. If that was the case Shiro, Hunk, and Lance would be white.)

They should’ve totally made Keith Japanese like he was in the original. It would’ve been so easy! Just canonize Kogane as his last name and have the book say he’s half Japanese half Galra. They could’ve also done what they did with Shiro and keep his og GoLion name. Just have him be Akira Kogane. Definitely cooler than “Keith.”

And as for his sexuality, I definitely think they should’ve had Keith be gay. But well get to that Later...

I also don’t like how they handled the whole Krolia thing. Not only was it crazy rushed, but it completely goes against the shows theme of found family.

Keith’s arc should’ve been about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to accept the paladins as family. But instead they just get rid of the abandonment issues by just giving him his mom back.

I know a lot of people love Krolia but I don’t feel like she should’ve been introduced in anything other than flashbacks. Because Keith’s mom isn’t really that important. The show is about found family and friendship, not blood relation.

You can definitely have Keith learn about his mom and his family, but I feel like giving him his mom back was too much.

Personally, I always headcanoned that Kolivan was Keith’s grandfather or just a close friend of Krolia’s, and when Keith showed up at the Blade’s base Kolivan recognized the blade as his Krolia’s. Keith could learn about his mom through Kolivan telling him about her, how she was a great person and warrior who died fighting to make the universe a safer place for her son.

Another thing I didn’t like was the whole Keith leaving the team for the Blades thing. I know why he did it, he felt like the team was gonna reject him, he wanted to be more useful, and wanted to learn about his family, but I feel like you could’ve touched on all that without having him abandon his team.

One of the biggest problems with the show is that they did a bad job at establishing the paladins as friends, they feel like coworkers more than anything, and I feel like Keith being absent for two seasons contributed to that.

And his absence is hardly addressed. The team forms Voltron perfectly without him and no one ever says they miss him. Keith doesn’t even seem like he missed them after being gone for two years.

And a lot of the weight was taken out of that Keith v Kuron fight by the fact that Keith and Kuron hardly interacted.

That whole thing amounted to four things, Keith meeting Krolia (which I don’t think should’ve happened), them finding the colony (which was a dumb plot I don’t think should’ve happened), Keith aging up two years (which was weird and unnecessary), and Keith meeting Kosmo (which is... complicated).

I don’t think this plot was necessary. Keith should’ve stayed with his team.

Then you have his relationship with Lance. I know people are very sensitive about this topic. People have very strong opinions about whether or not Keith and Lance were intended to be romantically coded.

Personally, I do like Klance but I don’t believe they were romantically coded. I think if you want them to get together some things would have to go differently.

For example, the bonding moment. In canon, Lance tells Keith, “we make a good team.” I don’t see this as referring to him and Keith. I think he was talking about the whole team. If you want it to be about the two of them, I feel like it should be Lance telling Keith something like, “ya know, you’re not so bad after all,” and then Keith smiles and responds, “you’re not so bad yourself.”

Another example could be the scene where Lance comes to Keith with his insecurities. (Whether it’s as a leader or a friend.) This scene was weird in canon, Lance comes to Keith for advice and Keith basically tells him to just stop thinking about it.

I would prefer if Lance brought up to Keith how he doesn’t feel like he’s good enough or that he doesn’t have, “a thing,” and Keith is completely dumbfounded like, “what are you even talking about?” He goes on about all the good shit about Lance. Talks about how Blue chose him, how he’s a great shot, how he’s good at dealing with people, meanwhile Lance is standing there in shock as Keith says all these nice things about him.

Over all you would just have to develop their relationship more. More meaningful interactions. And if you want the relationship to be romantic you would have to establish that early on. Establish that one or both has romantic feelings for the other in like S1/S2 because if you wait too long it’s gonna feel forced/out of no where.

And then... you have the Black Paladin arc... I’m gonna be real with y’all, this is the arc that killed the show for me, for a few reasons.

One, even ignoring the whole quintessence bond thing, it makes no sense for Keith to be the bp. He doesn’t fit the role. I adore Shiro but choosing Keith as his successor was a dumb move. I get that he saw potential in Keith but they’re are fighting a war, there’s no room for favoritism.

Shiro should’ve chosen Allura as his successor. Not only does she have actual leadership experience, but you would only have one paladin in a new Lion instead of three.

If a lifeguard breaks his leg and can’t work, he should choose an experienced swimmers to take his place, not his little bro that’s still in water wings in the hopes that it’ll teach him to swim.

Two, Keith being the bp doesn’t help his arc. Keith’s arc is about overcoming his abandonment issues and learning to be a team player, he doesn’t need to be the leader for that.

VLD should’ve been about the paladins growing into the best versions of themselves they could be. Their development shown by unlocking new abilities in their respective lions, new forms for their bayards, and new Voltron bayard power ups. They shouldn’t have to change lions and themselves.

Keith and Red have a strong bond and work great together. Keith and Red are both temperamental, unpredictable, and have issues with trust. Keith having to fight to get Red to trust and open up to him mirrors how others have to fight to earn Keith’s trust and get him to let down his walls.

It would’ve been interesting to see them grow together. Keith has no emotional connection with Black.

We never even get to see them bond. Keith just suddenly becomes the “perfect” bp/leader because he got over his mommy issues

Three, it’s a MASSIVE disservice to Shiro’s character. Shiro put all the work in earning his position as the bp, he literally fits fought Zarkon on the astral plane to earn her trust, yet Keith is the true bp? What?

It sucks. Sendak told Shiro that a monster like him could never be a paladin and the writers went and proved him right. Hell Shiro didn’t even get to kill Sendak, Keith got that too.

And don’t tell me, “but he got the Atlas!” REALLY!? A massive Deus ex machina that required absolutely no effort from him to acquire!? Filled with a bunch of rando background characters no one gives a shit about!? You’re totally right, that 100% makes up for it.

I could go on and on about how the treatment of Shiro in this show (and fandom) is blatantly ableist but that’s a rant for another time.

It sucks. I want to like Keith! He had the potential to be an amazing character but the writers just kept on trying to turn him into something he wasn’t and it ruined him for me.

They kept trying to turn Keith into the main character and ignored that ALL the paladins are the main characters. It’s an ensemble cast! You don’t have to have everything come back to one guy.

#voltron #voltron legendary defender #voltron legendary discourse #vld #vld critical #keith kogane #keith vld #red paladin keith #klance #krolia #black paladin shiro #takashi shirogane #vld shiro #black lion #red lion #galra #galra keith #blade of marmora

[marimopeace]

there's a limit on how much you can be an isekai intellectual...

a bunch of analyses have been popping up before me all day so i wanted to throw my hat into the ring. all love to ppl who are exercising their creative minds + ppl like geoff here who just talk about these things because of fan interest but i feel like there reaches a point where exploring the "types" of isekai is pointless? i've seen ppl list out the different types of villainess revenge isekai or fantasy mmorpg isekai but eh why fit them all into separate boxes like that?

i think it's easier to think of isekai as a "type" (genre) of itself with only two categories: 1) a focus on isekai (lit. another world) 2) tensei (lit. to be reborn). this allows for a variety of applications and thus tropes that ppl see so many trends of!

with isekai - in another world

you see everything from:

pure fantasy (inuyasha, digimon wait maybe not the best example but in my childhood mind i count digimon as pure fantasy, fushigi yugi)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (.hack//legend of twilight, sao ugh, log horizon, overlord (LOVE OVERLORD!)

otome game-esque worlds >>> this is where it gets complicated with "villainess routes" since i admit there are multiple villainess tropes but this is why it's nice to not think of this as a "sub-type/genre" bc it frees you from those complications! (the saint's magic power is omnipotent, the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap soso cute!, the savior's book cafe in another world, i'm a villainous daughter so i'm going to keep the last boss wait i can't remember if she's reborn in this one lmaooo see this is why rules make everything hard)

with tensei storylines - being reincarnated/reborn in another world as *insert character/role*

you see...

the same tropes!!

pure fantasy (a returner's magic should be special, reminiscence adonis, the lady and the beast, light and shadow, i can't think of a manga off the top of my head for this ah)

mmorpg inspired fantasy/adventure (so i'm a spider so what i stan kumoko so hard, her majesty's swarm, can't name another off the top of my head ah i hate lists shorter than two things...)

self-insert based games/novels (fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess, who made me a princess, death is the only ending for the villainess, the villainess wants to marry a commoner, honestly games vs novels are different applications but i'm not in the headspace to try to remember a bunch of both lol)

*insert line break to give random ppl a break from scrolling but tl; dr just enjoy things for what they are no need to micro analyze*

similar variations occur in both genres (if ppl want to be super technical i guess i'm arguing that isekai itself is a massive genre that has the "another world" subgenre and "reincarnation" subgenre tl; dr) so i think it's honestly a huge pain to try to separate all these trends into so many different types of stories. for me personally it's easier to not get overwhelmed by this gigantic umbrella of "isekai" that spans light novels, manhwa, manga, and mobile games by just stripping each story down into its trademark tropes (aka character archetypes, story structures) and slapping "oh this is a person going to a world that's not ours" and "this person gets reborn as blank in another world". none of this "omg this power fantasy is such a this kind of isekai moment" or "there are 14 different types of villainess revenge stories and this series fits into this" bc AH labels! limitations! circle-jerks via ppl trying to compartmentalize everything and sound smart for leaving a comment on story analysis instead of ooh-ahhing over a character's face! dividing things into light novel manga vs manga vs korean manhwa ft. female characters!

the last bit is mainly why i feel frustrated by ppl's insistence to group everything?

the video linked at the beginning of the post (honestly good video essay, i enjoyed it, i just kept thinking in my head the whole time "marimo these are tropes do not take the genre talk literally") has a baby comment thread talking about "korean isekai manhwas" as a genre featuring nothing but reincarnated villainess' and i can't.

like i cannot acknowledge that as a genre of any sort. the energy i felt reading through some of those insights takes me back to 2012 when all yt americans discovered k-pop and deemed all korean music k-pop from then on! (ppl still do this now, yes you are seen and don't talk to me pls i don't like you. k-pop is korean pop music and nothing less and nothing more. take a few seconds and try to parse apart aspects of korean culture instead of slamming everything into a monolithic label that has the letter k and a hyphen.) it feels so odd to see a bunch of young ppl on ig and tiktok acknowledge korean media that happens to be in the form of a webtoon as "oh stories all about young girls becoming villains in stories they made/played" bc it feels so reductive u.u

(positionality disclaimer that i'm praying isn't actually necessary: i am a 3rd-generation korean of japanese descent do not fite me i am exhausted irl of ppl asking for validation/verification bc massive shove off.)

breaking news! korean manhwa...is just as multifaceted as japanese manga...bc how can comics as an art-form not have multiple genres...huh such a shocker?!?! same likely applies to media in other parts of the world like chinese manhwa and french comics--not my place to explain either of those i just know those industries exist bc of wakfu and donghua shows by Tencent.

at the end of the day it's not like analyzing any kind of isekai is wrong--absolutely not!! i think it can be super fun to think about how isekai elements complicate a story (MCs trying to go back home, ppl from the og world, reincarnation plot-twists) or maybe even bash a series for including some kind of other world element when they could have just written a super fun fantasy.

insert marimo's brief ramble that hey you can get sick of truck-kun's hitting disillusioned guys who happen to be super duper smart or girls who happen to be master chefs/craftsmen but transporting a fully-grown being into a fantasy setting is the ultimate cheat code for making mundane modern technology seem cool and overpowered, and being reincarnated as a fully grown person in a world with a pre-made story/game set-up completely bypasses the need for an author to slowly flesh out world-building in a natural progression so isekai is actually a really smart writing tool it's just that there are some series where the author didn't use it well at all and it's cheesy or clearly isekai was misused as a vehicle for character/story development and it was pointless *DEEP BREATH OUT*

in this essay i will argue...lol i am such a culture studies major!! if i were an english major i would be talking all about writing but here i am having a side-tangent about world-building via someone being reborn wow i love this for me (don't get me started on when an author has someone reincarnate as a baby and the story is mostly them having warm fluffy moments with their family--typically father figures--and getting lots of powers i could and would and probably will rant about east asian toxicity)

but anyway am i crazy????? like yes for being passionate about the technical use of a word like genre (i am a scorpio rising let me be fussy pls) but i don't think it's a lot to ask for ppl to not unironically see "villainess revenge isekai" as the definition of korean manhwa.

idk as someone who resonates with why japanese isekai is so popular domestically + why a lot of korean manhwa feat. the same tropes (it's not for great reasons lads it's actually depressing tbh) i'm just starting to feel kind of pained by the generalization and need to separate "cute japanese girl in an otome game"/"japanese boy finds a harem in another world" from "korean girl dies and comes back as a villainess" bc they are just! applications to the same story device!!

recommendations for any who makes it this far down below <3

// also gladly recommend any of the examples i've listed in the above rant as i've read/watched all of them and adore them v much! //

save me princess

super refreshing fantasy manhwa ft. a princess and her ex-boyfriend having to save the world!

the beginning after the end

an AMERICAN web novel turned into a comic (but see it being not korean/japanese doesn't really matter when you just consider isekai as a genre...isn't it nice to not overthink it?) ft. a super-powerful wizard king reincarnated into another world and starting from scratch--gives mushoku tensei vibes but huge twists!

the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion

love love LOVE this story--read the title and you'll learn how this girl reincarnated as the character raeliana in a book gets married to a duke!

trash of the count's family

such a good novel!! a guy gets reborn as a lazy oaf and he takes the hero of the story under his wing...plot twists come up later on!

this time i will definitely be happy!

v good and refreshing for a shorter series! she's been reborn 3 times and remembers every time the hero's stabbed her in the back, and now she just wants to break up with him!

silver diamond

older manga but v good adventure w intrigue! a boy who loves plants get sucked into a desert world with demonic lizards and a mysterious bodyguard by his side. shonen-ai not BL but wonderful vibes nonetheless + great side characters!

the princess imprints a traitor

adore everything in this from the world (not in that way this society makes me so angry) to the machinations at play and the dynamic between the fl and ml

#isekai #mother's basement #inuyasha #digimon #fushigi yugi #.hack//legend of the twilight #log horizon #overlord #the saint's magic power is omnipotent #the white cat's revenge as plotted from the dragon king's lap #a returner's magic should be special #adonis #the lady and the beast #light and shadow #kumo desu ga nani ka #her majesty's swarm #fiance's observation log of a self-proclaimed villainess #death is the only ending for a villainess #the villainess wants to marry a commoner #save me princess #the beginning after the end #the reason why raeliana ended up at the duke's mansion #trash of the count's family #this time i will definitely be happy! #silver diamond #see i normally put the raw titles for everything but the tiny korean/japanese part of my brain is so tired bc my english brain went off #the princess imprints a traitor #manga #manhwa #donghua

[moonlayl]

Thoughts on ScarletVision?

You mean WendySiri? Just kidding, just kidding. (sorry for the late reply). I assume you’re talking about the show ‘WandaVision’ but since I’m not sure I’ll also share my thoughts on the actual ship. 

 (long and negative rant)

Okay so throughout the entire show, I was kind of conflicted. Marvel did a really good job with all the clues and the suspense, and also the whole sitcom-through -the-decades kind of thing, and I applaud them for that. it honestly was really good and interesting and I really loved it. The show had so much potential, but that’s where things went wrong. 

A part of it is on me for assuming, or more accurately, wanting, but I was waiting for the reveal that Wanda was being controlled or manipulated. Obviously that didn’t happen, and it just ruined the character for me. This show literally took everything that I liked about Wanda, and everything that made me sympathize with her or even defend her, and then changed it for the worst. I was a fan but not anymore. Wanda’s character through the other movies was someone who tried to do better. Like she joined the avengers to fix her mistakes and to help people. She hurt people in civil war and was guilty over it. She killed Vision to try and save the world and stop Thanos. WandaVision took a big dump on all of that. 

I know many will use the “she’s grieving” card, and while it’s important to note, does it really excuse torturing and mindcontrolling a whole town? “But it was an accident. She didn’t mean to.” Yeah, at first. She discovered what she’d done way back in episodes 2/3 and decided to keep it. “She didn’t know she was hurting them.” But she knew she was violating them and keeping them captive. She knew they were actual people. And she still went with it. She didn’t care.

Fake Pietro says he admires what she’s done and she goes “you don’t think it’s wrong” Like she is literally self-aware. Vision, the man she loves is literally scared and confused and she goes “can’t I?” when he says she can’t control him. Broooooo. Wtf was that? Like she literally admitted to wanting to control him, or at least doing it, and wasn’t even ashamed? And in one of the episodes, despite literally dying and being in pain, he still tries to escape Westview so that he could fix her problems. So that he cold get away from her. So she brought him back, and had children, and just decided that she gets to control them along with the whole town??? I’m sorry but the show literally made her a terrible partner, mom, and avenger. And here’s the thing. I don’t think she’s evil, and I sympathized a lot with her. But she just got worse. 

So not only did she willingly keep a whole town hostage (where everyone was suffering and separated from their families and children literally stayed asleep which means they were in a constant state of seeing her nightmares) but this woman got scared and angry when Agatha freed them. She’s like “I kept you safe.” Wanda literally would’ve kept them in that prison if Aatha had never arrived. She wouldn’t have cared about them. Like Agnes said, heroes don’t do that. 

And then there’s her treatment of Monica. Wanda literally tried to kill her multiple times, and Monica only tried to help. Then she doesn’t even apologize in the end. I hated how this show wrote Monica or how they included her. From the Wanda only starts to use her powers when she sees Monica (when literally everyone else is pointing a gun) to how she automatically grabs her and tries to kill her, and then later has the audacity to say “don’t make me hurt you.” And Monica basically being ignored and used just to defend Wanda and prop her up. Like it was just bullshit. The way they treated their only black character. They even had her say she’d do the same. wtf? Even Jimmy Woo, their asian character, was more of a sidekick to Darcy in those episodes and ended up not contributing much. It sucks. 

And as a person who criticizes Tony Stark, it’s really weird how a lot of his haters use the same arguments as his stans when they try to defend Wanda. ‘She has mental illness” “she paid for her mistakes.” No, giving up her family that only existed because of the torture of innocent people doesn’t win you any points. It’s the least she SHOULD’VE done.  

And the thing that bothered me the most is that she never even learned her lesson? Like she took the darkhold and is trying to find a way to bring her kids back. mf, didn’t the entire show and mess start because she accidentally brought back vision? She literally didn’t learn a thing. What grief did she process if she’s just going to go and try to use dark magic to bring them again? 

And then there’s all of Sword. First Maria was killed off, and then Sword was introduced as this thing that’s always existed, yet we’ve never heard of it??

And there’s also Agatha. “Agatha All Along” umm. What exactly did Agatha do all along? The show set her up to be this big bad and then Wanda took her down it was not satisfying at all. Wanda, who doesn’t know how to cast spells, managed to learn a spell and use it without Agatha knowing in 5 seconds? As Agatha was taking her powers? BS. And then I hated Wanda’s plan. She decided to take her back to the past for what? Agatha’s own family to kill her? And then  later she traps Agatha into her nosy neighbor counterpart? And I’m supposed to go, “what a hero’? 

Obviously Agatha isn’t a good person, but the entire mess happened because of Wanda. It felt wrong for her to use the same prison on innocent people on another person and it be celebrated. And then there’s the whole “They’ll never know what you sacrificed for them line” i literally lost all sympathy for that character after that. 

And I still don’t understand the romance between Wanda and Vision. I can’t get over the fact that he’s a robot. All in all, there are many aspects of the show that I didn’t like, but the number one reason is that it completely ruined her character. There was so much potential. But no. First they changed her age. “it was never said that she was a teenager.” Hawkeye literally said “if you want to go to high school.” no one says that to a 27 year old. Maybe he meant it as something else but in aou, he was the one to form the closest bonds with her and Pietro and it was the same movie that showed us that he had kids. it would make sense if it was supposed to be like a “he wants to help them because they’re young and he’s a dad so he knows how to deal with young people. And everyone referred to her as kid, so it just all fit. (also the actress looked  a lot younger in aou than in her other works before that movie so the make up department probably tried to make her seem young.) And the way she dressed and acted. 

second, apparently even though aou had us believe that they thought they were signing up to save their country, wandavision literally just went “yeah Wanda knew it was a terrorist organization’ and she didn’t even seem to regret it? 

The show went about the entire situation the wrong way, and really ruined her character. 

#messages #anon #anti wandavision #anti wanda maximoff

[bookwyrminspiration]

is it still council-hating hours? even if not, this is something that's been bothering me for....so long. and i am going to explode if i don't say it right now. (In fact i actually have a doc titled "council incompetence rant" that is. getting a little long.)

One of the things that annoys me the most in Keeper is how utterly incompetent the Council is. They are shit at their jobs! They don't make sense! And that would be fine if that was something that was explored and talked about in the story, but it's not?

Like, sure, it's brushed on a little, but Keeper never goes in-depth in order to explain just how flawed and corrupt the system is! We have no idea how far the rot goes because we haven't been given a chance to see how far it goes, and despite the earlier books being really great setup for all kinds of plots and discussions surrounding the Council, it feels like Messenger is completely dropping that in favor of..."Neverseen Bad, Council + Black Swan Good". Which I call fucking bullshit on, by the way, because this series has gone to pretty decent lengths before to show that it's not the case! So WHY are we getting to that now?

Well, I think all of this is the symptom of a bigger problem.

Note: I don't want to be mean, and please tell me if I'm being too critical here, but this series has some serious problems actually delivering on what it's saying.

Like, it's trying to tell us that Sophie shouldn't be doing all this because she's a kid, but then it treats her very own existence as a project as background information when that should absolutely be at the forefront (like it was in earlier books)!

It's trying to tell us that discrimination against the Talentless is bad, but then every single member of it's cast has an ability, has a strong ability, and regularly uses their ability! Even Dex, who could have easily been talentless and good with tech, gets to be a Super Good Gadget Person thanks to his ability as opposed to his own creativity and ingenuity.

It's trying to tell us that maybe banishing children is bad, but also tells us that Exillium is now """fixed""" because Oralie gave them...better tents? Food? And never touches on the fact that children are still. getting. banished. It doesn't explore Tam's anger in detail, Linh is only there to be the token asian girl, it does nothing to fully dispel any thought of the Council being alright.

And it's trying to tell us that the Council fucks up, it's showing us that Councillors have no problem being incredibly selfish and violent and so many other terrible things, but that never changes. Nothing in Keeper is changing. It is only maintaining the status quo!

I'm confused as to what Messenger is trying to tell her readers! Are the Council good or bad? Is working with the Council good or bad? Are the Black Swan and Neverseen actually morally grey? Should I be angry at what's happening in these books? Am I meant to look at all the rot and shrug because "that's just how it is"?

And like...I wouldn't be mad if Keeper was just...bad! I mean, I would, but I wouldn't be as distraught! What really grinds my gears is that Keeper has the chance to be good. It has the chance to do great things - and at times it absolutely does! - but it keeps reinforcing belief in a deeply flawed and broken system that is regularly hurting people. And those examples were just off the top of my head!

And again, if this was explored within the series, that would be amazing, but the problem is that it's...not. And that's just...a real fuckin' shame, honestly.

- pyro

(sorry if this was like...too angry? i started and then kinda just...couldn't stop. i should probably get a hobby that's not tearing a middle grade series apart. oops.)

it may have been over a week since you sent this (thank you for being patient with me!!), but fuck yes it is still council hating hours. it is always council hating hours in this household that is not actually a house. (also that incompetence rant sounds intriguing)

yes! you are right! they are so bad at what they're supposed to be doing it's like they're just figures for people to look to and say "yea they'll take care of it" to keep everyone else from acting out! but it's really interesting to see a government so awful and incompetent be such an integral and influential part of the story...without acknowledging that they're actually really bad? I know in Unlocked there's a line where Shannon says something like "Sophie had to figure out who the bad guys were: the black swan? the council? someone else entirely?" but then it's never touched on again that I can remember. Thinking through the series, I honestly can't think of a situation that the council, of their own volition, saw was an issue and corrected in a way that was beneficial to those who needed it. Like yea, Oralie gave money to Exillium, but that was after Sophie chewed her out about it. I think i've said it before but in case not: it feels like they've taken the "for the good of the many over the good of the few" ideology too far in a society that doesn't work for. If someone threatens the majority (and often that's just in appearance only) they get rid of them to preserve the image of the rest. It doesn't care about their people, it cares about the majority of people feeling undisturbed.

considering Sophie is part of a huge organization created literally because their society, led by that system, isn't working for a lot of people, they (the Black Swan) sure do go along with the council a whole lot. I think one of the linked posts in one of my masterposts is specifically about how making the Black Swan work so closely with the council screwed them over and completely undermined everything they were working towards. I'm going to make a very vague comparison here, but the Black Swan feel like "we need to fix the system" while the Neverseen are "the system is broken lets start over" (except the Neverseen added a lot more violence into the mix). It's absolutely infuriating to have them working side by side: one, because the Black Swan aren't accomplishing any of their goals and should cut their losses and go back to being mysterious underground groups with more freedom to move (in my opinion), but two, because it makes the council seem like it's trying to fix things when really it feels like a publicity thing to make the public think they're addressing the rebel issue while they're really just showing up in places and causing problems. And!! that's another thing! it feels like their collaboration with the Black Swan is to address the problem of having rebels, not the problems these rebels have identified and are trying to fix. Unfortunately, it seems the council is getting their way more than the Black Swan, getting them to act more legally and work closer with less room for working outside the system. if that makes sense.

considering it's literally stated in unlocked that there is no "good" and "bad," there does seem to be a lot of focus on associating the Black Swan with being Right, and the Neverseen with being Wrong. I can hope that it's the outward reactions to the Black Swan realizing they've done some fucked up stuff (Sophie) and are now overcompensating and trying to make sure their every move is the correct one. But I do think it will be interesting to see if Sophie makes the connection in canon (as she's already started to) that there isn't always a right option, there's just the best you can do with a situation and the Black Swan's insistence that she was "in the wrong" (a summary) helps her realize her own values and think through their decisions with her own perspective instead of just trusting them

response to your note: you're fine! you bring up a good point that this book sounds like it wanted to be a unique perspective (by having the "good guys" also be questionable and give the "bad guys" reasonable motives) but the execution misses the mark for a lot of us. so you're qualms and observations are entirely valid and I don't think you're being mean at all! I think you're expressing a frustration you have with something, which I support and encourage.

at times it feels like Shannon bit off more than she could chew in terms of all the complicated things she could get into when it comes to this series. not saying she's doing a bad job or a horrible author or anything, just that there are some things she introduced that kind of get left behind or unexplored because there's so much else going on. I think we can see that in the whole being experiment part of Sophie life. we saw sophie was uncomfortable with it in the first few books and would sometimes bring it up, but I personally would've been more satisfied if she'd either taken the time to process it (opposed to her think about that later strategy) or come to the realization that no, she isn't okay with it and she deserves to have her thoughts on the matter heard. she was literally created to serve someone elses purpose, and brought into the fight too early at that. and yet it's treated like an "oopsie, guess we just gotta go with it" thing, like this minor part of her story when I bet her thinking about it for more than a minute at a time would absolutely wreck her. but I'm getting caught up in this, so moving on!

I think we can see it in the talentless too, as it's treated like a "that doesn't affect me" thing for Sophie. because she doesn't have any friends that are talentless right now--the closest she's got is Marella, who I think is still legally considered talentless with her pyrokinesis. it's been acknowledged that she doesn't think the way talentless are treated is right, but it doesn't impact her right now so she's not really doing anything about it. maybe if this was brought back later with someone like Jensi, then that would be a satisfying conclusion to this issue (not a conclusion, but it wouldn't be left hanging, if that makes sense). And I can understand the benefit of leaving things open to go back and explore later from a writers perspective, but at a certain point it becomes more of a hindrance to the story than anything else.

and exillium! I have so many thoughts on Exillium that I actually started talking about it earlier in this post. They're not doing anything unless prompted and what they do is the bare minimum. With the tents and the food, they aren't fixing Exillium, they're making it into what it should've been at the very least were they going to actually go down that route. So I can't praise them for it when it's just basic decency to provide literal children with food and shelter when you force them to be somewhere they don't want to. But all this doesn't fix Exillium, because the problem is that it exists in the first place. The problem is that the council saw children who were struggling, and decided the best thing to do with them was to just get them out of the way for everyone else. Three coaches total for leadership? yeah, there's no way that place was ever supposed to be "alternate learning" or however Oralie phrased it, that was just so you could say you hadn't completely abandoned them in the middle of nowhere.

you're so right about the council fucks up bit--I think the most obvious example of this is with Sophie's ability restrictor. Yea, she's not wearing it anymore, but that's not because the council changed their minds. It's because she broke the law and the didn't punish her for it. this is a great example of how things keep trying to move forward, but the council isn't doing anything to stay up with it. "they are selfish and violent[...] but that never changes." yes!! this!! you put it so well! the council is still the same old council that we saw in book one, concerned with their own interests and their own views, just trying to mitigate the damage Sophie and her friends are capable of doing to their system. Note: the fact that a handful of teenagers who haven't even graduated can do this much damage might be telling of the structural integrity of their system. Bronte and Terik did a little flip, and Alina replaced the Now Crispy Kenric, but aside from that nothing has changed.

I will say, I personally don't want it to be clear who the good guys and bad guys are. (not saying that's what you're asking for! just piggybacking off your comment on the confusion). I'm glad that the characters make me think and I'm grateful there isn't just the "we're good and they're bad" element you see in other stories. not that that's bad, i just think realistically they'd be more complex and their simplicity grows repetitive after a while. But like I said, at times it feels like there's too much going on for there to be a clear message, which in and of itself could be the message. i could be seeing something where there's nothing, though. I think part of it might be Shannon trying to take on all these complex narratives and perspectives with a limited perspective (as in she only has Sophie to tell the story through), while also needing to make it enjoyable and palletable to a young audience.

and I agree with you! I think it's a lot of the potential we see not being used that makes us so infuriated (or me at least). Because there are some stories yo uread where you're like "ah. it's just one of those stories. cool." and you move past it. Because you know it's going to have a set perspective and you know it's going to accomplish what it wants, but Keeper seems to have so many possibilities and Shannon's getting stuck in this rut of good and bad after so long. maybe we'll get out of it in the next book with sophie thinking the Black Swan was in the wrong, but I also wouldn't be surprised if that Didn't Happen.

it's just like what i was saying about Ro! There's all these opportunities for these characters and this world to be really explored and fleshed out and complex, but we've gotten stuck in this romance drama and loosing fights again and again with little progress. All their actions are undoing the Neverseen's actions and counting it a victory because no one is dead. I just think there could be so much more that we're not getting because the story tried to go too broad when it wasn't ready for it.

this response got very long but in essence: I agree with your assessment of the story. is frustrating to see so many of the details and paths we'd like to see explored that often aren't in fiction just pass us by.

there is a special place for keeper in my heart and I will always appreciate it for that, but I also mourn what it could've been.

(also: you are not too angry! you have genuine thoughts about this series and they deserve to be heard! we are allowed to have complaints, even about the things we like. we don't have to appreciate every single aspect and we're allowed to be mad at the things we don't like.)

#we are a week into october and I have several asks from september still #how many can i answer in one day is the question #but back to what you were saying pyro #I don't want to just completely rewrite the entire series myself #but I do think there are things that could've been approached better and the council is one of them #If the Black Swan and Sophie both acknowledge their faults #i don't fully understand why they work so closely together #but that's a whole other thing so I should probably stop #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #kotlc character analysis #kotlc council #the black swan #quil's queries #pyrokinetic-loser #long post

[light-miracles]

AoS season 5 reactions

Or how to ruin a show that until then was being flawlessly written.

Going by chronological order with @shieldagent93 having to stand my rants...

~In 5x01, two of the three sentences said by Jemma had the word "Fitz". It's too much. It's like if she's always thinking about him.

~I... What's happening?? When do they explain what's going on?

~I don't like this Deke guy.

~5x05 was great. It explained a lot of the doubts I had. Also seeing Hunter again was amazing.

~What the fuck are they doing shooting at a fuckin quinjet wtf.

~5x08 has me like "how does time travel works in Marvel?". Like... They're in the future but they also raised Robin. Guess it's a Marvel thing. Also i would really like Fitz a little more if he had a better control of his outburst. I know, he's frustrated, but I guess screaming angry men just trigger me... And he has an ugly as fuck beard now. Anyway, May looks younger every season. The woman grows old in reverse.

~Done with 5x10. My Elena feelings are hurting. Also someone in the writing room as an amputation kink... Honestly this season is being the least cool (which is still better than what I'm used but, still). The dystopan society and everything related feels clumsy.

~You gotta be freakin kidding me her arms actually got chopped off?? Also, bad Susan Vásquez, bad. Alex Danvers would be disappointed

~"Losing a life is better than two" "This is not Hydra, Leopold!" Like, fuckin literally, Leopold!

~... There was an Hydra high school??? How did they remain undercover for 70 years, again?... I mean, they literally have an Hydra high school uniform... The person who washes their clothes might, idk, GUESS it's an Hydra high school.

~5x14... What the fuck did i just watch. Yeah, fuck FitzSimmons. Fuck Fitz. The fuck with Simmons. And I guess you won't catch me talking about Skimmons for a while. Wtf.

~Note to myself: Dessica never exaggerates. When she says something is bad, it's bad.

~Also, funny how Fitz apparently was talking to his evil self for weeks and no one noticed anything different about him. Jemma didn't notice anything different about him. So either that was bad writing or the dude is truly a psycho and not worse than Ward.

~5x15 has me like 'why no one is angry at Fitz?' He didn't steal someone's cookie he fuckin cut into Daisy??? Why don't they let Jemma be angry at him?? Since when all Jemma cares is only him??... I miss the Jemma of the past seasons.

~Deke: 'I respect you for what you did'

Is this... Is this for real???

~Deke: Daisy is a pain in the ass

FitzSimmons: I noticed.

Me: ENOUGH OF THIS BULL-

~ Jemma: "Fitz is paying for thinking differently"

*internally screaming *

~You know, this is worse than Supergirl's s5. Because the bullshit was said mostly by the fans, not the actual characters.

~"Maybe that they chopped your arms off wasn't so bad"... Are they trying to make me hate him?... Who wrote this?

~

Pffffffffffffffff LMAO!!!! He's fuckin cosplaying Khan from Star Trek...

~Plz let this season end.

~... Did i just hear the phrase 'Fitz is an incredible person' coming out of Daisy's mouth-i can't believe it

~Andddd Talbot just killed Brainiac 5.

~Jemma "torturing Daisy is okay but I draw the line at using an old corpse to create a cure to save Coulson's life" Simmons... Daisy literally hijacked her mother's corpse and it's not even the weirder thing about this season.

~Poor Jiaying. Like, yeah, she tried to kill Daisy but she was bananas at the moment and everything was Hydra's fault so...(Just like ANOTHER scientist restrained ANOTHER defenseless asian girl because he thought FUCKIN CUTTING INTO HER was for the GREATER GOOD) (I WONDER WHO MIGHT THAT BE)

~Okay but this evil alien villian is literally just a black man. No pointy ears. No weird eyes. No sharp teeth. Not even ants. Just a black man. Black men must look alien enough to whoever created this character

~Fitz: We can't break the time loop

Jemma: Okay Fitz ❤️

Fitz: I changed my mind I think we must make sure we break it

Jemma: Okay Fitz ❤️

This woman hasn't had a single personal thought in 15 episodes

~ Philindaisy's shoulders must hurt from carrying the weight of the season. Mack is honestly the only survivor of this team. I don't know any person called Finn or Simona or whoever. Neither their grandson Dick the Dick. And Elena is on thin, thin ice. I can still understand her pov and see why she does what she does. That's why she's on thin ice instead of on the bottom of the ocean like Fido and Simpsons.

~"I'm the savior of the world" said he, as he crashed his ship against a fuckin city. Homeboy at least be a coherent villian ffs-He's making the jesuchrist pose. Talbot, honey I'm so sorry.

~... So is Fitz dead?? I don't get it. Is he dead?? Why is everyone talking like if he were sleeping? What happened? I can't believe this show broke the curse of the 4th season just to invent the curse of the 5th.

You know the worst thing of this season?? That Daisy did everything in her power to protect Jemma from Papa Smurf and some episodes after it Jemma fuckin says it was right to hurt Daisy. Homegirl, that's a shit friend. Someone introduce her to Lena Luthor.

#Agents of shield #aos s5 #anti fitzsimmons #anti leo fitz #Anti jemma Simmons #Anti fitz #Daisy Johnson deserves better

[mywitchcultblr]

IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO BE NICE TO YOUR OPPRESSOR

Hey i'm back with another critical post and rant guys, it’s incredibly hilarious that some people thought your  freedom  from your  slavers and oppressor can ONLY/ALWAYS HAVE to be won by peaceful and nice way, the fucking truth is you can’t be nice towards people who enslaved your people, you can’t just ask nicely and beg people who brutalized your people and taking advantages of your people  to stop treating you less than how they treated their dog.Yes peaceful protest and peaceful method will always be an important  part and one of the most idealistic way  for the marginalized group /the oppressed to win their rights and freedom, WHEN PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO LISTEN. It seems like some people in the fandom tried to judge the struggle of minority and oppressed group in thedas with modern values and perspective, some people are so angry  when a  former slave like Fenris and Anders or even people like Briala (she’s actually more privileged than Fenris and Anders or many other elves out there, but, she is still an elven woman in Orlais court) tried to win the freedom and rights of their people through violence.  HOW THE HELL YOU CAN BE PEACEFUL WHEN PEOPLE ARE JUST DISREGARDED YOUR SUFFERING AND YOUR PEOPLE SUFFERING AS IF IT’S JUST NOTHING (because let's admit it those people reap benefit  from oppression and slavery)   Oppressed people in Thedas only have very few allies outside their own people, no one ever cared about them or listened to them because powerful people reaped benefits from their suffering, and the peasant are too uneducated and  brainwashed  by their nation and the chantry anyway.  THE MARGINALIZED GROUPS IN THEDAS DOESN'T HAVE UN TO PROTECTED THEM FROM WAR CRIMINAL  THERE’S NO AGENCY OR FORMAL ORGANIZATION THAT CAN PROTECT MINORITY IN THEDAS FROM SLAVERY AND OPPRESSION  THEDAS DOES NOT HAVE NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION  TO HELP SLAVES AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE FOR FUCK SAKE THEDAS DOES NOT EVEN HAVE THERAPIST TO HELP TRAUMATIZED PEOPLE (especially for slaves in tevinter, elves, southern mages, and ex-qun members)  You can’t just expected them to be polite and nice when their position is precarious and no one are willing to listen to them. FREEDOM IS NEVER GIVEN, BUT YOU HAVE TO WIN IT YOURSELF. As a southeast asian woman, i can confirm that Dutch and Europe never cared or humane enough to free my people from their slavery system. My great great great  great grandparents had to  waged war against them so my people wouldn’t be  treated less than a dog, fucking murdered, brutalized and raped again.  OKAY, i get it now, some people will lose their shit if/when they see the oppressed fight back, retailed in a non-peaceful way against their Oppressor and Slaver because they don’t like to see violence, BUT those kind of people are fine with keeping the same old system that murdered and brutalized other people because: 1. Maybe they are conservative and conservatism is obsessed with keeping old awful system because they are used to it. 2. Same kind of people who said that marriage equality and protection for LGBTQA+  people rights is ‘too progressive for our time’ or ‘it happen too fast’  3. People who are so concerned with the ruling class even though the  current ruling class  brutalized and hurt so many people  for their own agenda and profit, because they will also make money/have privilege if that same ruling class system and power is still unshakable.  4.  Same kind of bullshit people who always scream that ‘the changes happen too fast! You can’t do that! What about the majority/privileged people feelings? Sure the marginalized group will continue to suffer if the same old system is still being used, but what about the ruling class feeling and our feelings? wahhhhhh”  Then these kind of people channelled and expressed their perspective and believes as i write above in Thedas/ when they are talking about stuff  that happened in Thedas. 

It’s understable if you prefer to see changes throughout peaceful way IF there are instrument and agency that can help the oppressed to win their fucking rights, and helping to make changes to happen peacefully. But if the privileged and powerful choose to eliminate any kind of way for the oppressed to win their rights peacefully and for peaceful changes? What the fuck did you expected then? Hell yeah of course the brutalized people will rebelled ! 

You know the chantry, nations in Thedas, seeker and templar never allowed for people they enslaved  and oppressed to win their rights and freedom peacefully, because those  asshole piece of shit people reaped benefits  from SLAVERY.  Some people cannot accept the fact that sometimes change and your freedom and rights cannot be achieved with peaceful way, because  the ruling class/majority tried to make it impossible for the oppressed to let’s say have access to information, have access to education, vote or even saying their opinion at all (or access to many place that other people can access  or even going outside of  their  prison tower like what happened to the mages and elves before their successful rebellion!)   There are people who can’t just accept the fact and confront the reality that the world and life is cruel especially towards oppressed people and minority, a lot of times the only way for them to make people listened to them and respecting their freedom and rights is throughout  rebellion /war and bloody violence.

COME ON DON’T TELL ME THAT THERE WILL BE PEOPLE WHO WILL SAY THAT ‘THE MAGES AND SLAVES UNDER THE QUN SHOULD TRY TO BE PEACEFUL! THEY WHINE TOO MUCH!” AND SOMETHING LIKE “THE ELVES ARE BAD BECAUSE THEY RESORTED TO VIOLENCE! ELVES ARE TERRORIST!”  When we finally see what will happen in the next dragon age 

#anti templar #anti chantry #mage rights #elven rights #equality #justice #social justice #dragon age 4 #dai #dragon age #true #i hate oppressor #fuck oppressors #anders was right #briala #fenris