#dude listen. seeing other peoples’ interpretation of a character is so cool and i love it

[arliedraws]

Rewatching the PoA movie as I do chores, and I gotta pause while I’m thinking about this.

People who know me even slightly understand that this is my least favorite HP movie. In my opinion, it totally misses the point of the book and tries to simply hit plot points without understand what ties them all together.

If this is YOUR movie and you LOVE IT, this post is NOT for you! Save yourself some grief and don’t click the ‘read more’ below.

Here’s what the film does right:

- Wise/playful Sirius. We get a wink and nice touchy moment with Harry, and I see a glimpse of the Sirius I love here. This is good! The quiet moments with Gary Oldman is Sirius are VERY good. As time goes on, I am much more confident that Oldman would’ve made a very good Sirius given the opportunity. That intimate scene with Harry and Sirius at the end is a good cinematic interpretation of the internal longing Harry expresses to the reader.

Okay, that’s it. That’s all I like.

Nitpicky bits:

- The editing is just. Weird. We see ONE dinner scene with Marge and it seems like Harry just blows up one night (or blows her up lol) as if he’s just got a short fuse. Harry is a quiet person. He watches, he listens, he puts up with shit until he breaks. This scene needed to be longer, it needed to have more tension. We needed to understand the deal between Uncle Vernon and Harry + signing the permission form for Hogsmeade. One way this could have been shot with Harry at the table with everyone and slooooooow down the conversation. Build the tension. Close-ups, shots of Harry trying to pretend he doesn’t hear her. The book scene is very tense because Harry is quiet as they are talking about him as if he’s not there. THEN, he quietly speaks, drawing their attention.

- Don’t get me started on the Firebolt scene.

- Sirius saying when Remus is transforming “OH NO HE DIDN’T TAKE HIS POTION” as if Remus regularly took Wolfsbane back in the day? And then Sirius pleading with Remus not to transform??? Like Sirius, I think you know werewolves don’t work like that.

- I hate the werewolf design. It doesn’t HAVE to look like the wolf in canon (which is nearly indistinguishable from a regular wolf), but damn, it just didn’t do it for me.

- When Harry sees Peter on the Map??? Dude that was so dumb.

- The scene with the animal noises? Why? I don’t care about the other boys in Gryffindor. Show me why the trio are close other than out of loyalty (something that the books honestly miss out on)

- Remus being so upfront with Harry that he knew his parents and then focussing on LILY??? And also, part of what we learn over time in the book is that Remus knew James but refuses to indulge Harry. He keeps all of that secret—the mystery of Remus is completely wasted in this movie. I would have personally played this up in the film. Build him up as the “cool” professor who holds back emotionally. The payoff when he shows up at the end at the Shrieking Shack would be like, “Oh shit! I knew there was something off about him!” when it seems like he’s helping Sirius. Then, he would have to earn back the audience’s trust just like he does with the trio.

- The Aesthetic: this movie relies on aesthetic so much more than “what makes sense narratively.” There is so much winking at the audience by the filmmakers it drives me bonkers. Anytime something weird happens, they’re like, “Haha this weird thing is NORMAL in the wizarding world! Look at how weird it is! But for them! It’s normal!” Like jfc we get it. I know the first two movies are like, “look at how beautiful magic and cool is” but GOD. This is the film where we need magic to be “normalized.” We get it. We’re three films in. This is a magical world. These cheesy, winking-at-the-camera moments aren’t even like…cute or fun. They’re boring and uncreative. “Oh, how about a maid opens a door and a monster screams at her and she’s bland about it.” Like. Is it supposed to be funny? Because…it’s boring.

When you’re focused on Vibes rather than Character, everyone turns into a cheap, bland caricature. The filmmakers do NOT understand who the characters are. Even in Sorcerer’s Stone, Ron is the comic relief but we understand that he is fiercely loyal. In PoA, he is pure comic relief. They don’t even understand Harry. Both his and Ron’s lines are given to Hermione in the Shack scene which is like…why????

But this is the problem. At the heart of every scene, it was as if the filmmakers didn’t understand why the scene was there. In the film, Harry is an angsty teenager and things happen TO him. Oh sure, they want to show that Harry feels something but…we don’t really, as an audience, FEEL it. They TRY to force that emotional tension by rushing events along and then showing Harry crying sometimes and yelling his feelings. yawn, honestly.

- There is SO MUCH SHOUTING in this film. Harry screams about killing Sirius when he hears the Minister/McGonagall/Rosmerta talking about the betrayal. This was so…poorly done. This boy needs to close himself off from his friends and stew in his hatred, not scream about it. We need to be angry with him, not feel sad for him. We need to want to kill Sirius too.

HOW THEY SHOULD’VE DONE THE BETRAYAL EXPLANATION SCENE:

Look, it would’ve been a boring movie scene if they’d done it like the book. This is not an adaptation-friendly book, and I’ll be the first to admit it. BUT. What they could have done was this: use flashbacks and montages. They do it in Sorcerer’s Stone when Hagrid explains how the Potters died and it’s effective—you see Lily panicking, dying, and then you see cute little Harry with a wand in his face. That’s emotional!

This scene in The Three Broomsticks should have been a flashback with voiceover from Fudge/McGonagall/Rosmerta/Hagrid. It should have shown us Sirius and James being best friends at Hogwarts. With them, we could see Peter and Remus (who we wouldn’t know was Lupin). Then, we should have seen Hagrid arguing with Sirius about who gets Harry (the little devil in me wants to hear Sirius’s voice break, but also, we should feel like Sirius is going to harm the baby Harry). Thennnnnnn we should have seen what the Muggle witnesses saw — Peter crying that Sirius betrayed Lily and James, a misleading explosion, and then Sirius laughing. Thennnnn a close-up of Peter’s finger. Back to present.

Why is this effective and why would it build tension? As the audience, we need to be presented with proof that Sirius is a bad guy. We need to understand why this guy’s gotta be caught!

Also, show us how scary Sirius is by reeeaaaallly playing it up with a scene with the Minister in Azkaban—quiet, sinister Sirius please. Again, give us the tension! (Sirius acting all crazy in the wanted posters instead of the book’s slow blinking, empty-eyed prisoner totally misses the mark for me.) Then, show us him sleeping and talking in his sleep.

This would have been effective becaaaaaaause you could have brought back this flashback in the Shrieking Shack scene.

Which brings me to: The Shrieking Shack scene.

The most disappointing part of the film, in my opinion.

This is supposed to be it—the built-up tension (which never actually happens) finally explodes here. But the movie holds no tension so this scene is reduced to a lot of yelling in the movie. And of course Hermione taking everyone’s lines for some reason.

As as audience, we can’t just be scared. We should be angry. Sirius needs to be quiet, softer. He’s lured Harry away from safety by kidnapping his friend. He needs to be grinning, taunting Harry (I mean, he’s not, but it sounds like it). We need to feel like Sirius is just fucking AWFUL. Sirius MUST compare Harry and Ron to James and himself. Stretch this out like a rubber band until it snaps—until Harry snaps. GOD THIS COULD HAVE BEEN SUCH A JUICY SCENE.

The explanation should have been all voiceover—Remus explaining what happened over shots of the Marauders’ time at Hogwarts. Otherwise, it’s weird that we don’t have an explanation of the Marauders…at all??

When Sirius explains what really happened November 1st, we would see shots that the original flashback didn’t show (Peter looking miffed/jealous/“suspicious” behind everyone’s backs, Peter becoming Secret Keeper, a shady glimpse Peter kneeling before a faceless Voldemort or some shit, and then finally—the missing shots from the explosion in the flashback from earlier in the film.) Then, let’s see Sirius wasting away in Azkaban, growing older and older. Give us the EMOTIONAL WEIGHT. Then, Sirius’s voice breaks and we cut back to the present. We see the trio fighting with their own interpretations with close-ups.

(I also wanna see Sirius seeing the photograph of Pettigrew when he’s explaining how he knew Peter was alive.)

Also, also. Peter needs to be the Gollum of this film. Gives us watery eyes, precious. There has to be a reason he isn’t dead, and it’s because he’s so pathetic, no one can kill him. As an audience, we need to be like, “GOD, he is SO PATHETIC and defenseless!” The idea of killing Peter should be like killing a really ugly puppy. Like…ughhhh, I just can’t do it! Show us why Harry saves him. We need to see gross begging, manipulative sobbing, and completely emotionless Sirius and Remus, watching and getting ready to kill him.

Why does the film miss the mark? Because it’s about friendship, and the filmmakers had no idea.

The subplot of the book is seemingly Hermione and Ron being on the outs because of Crookshanks and Scabbers, but like Peter does with the Marauders during the war, Scabbers drives a wedge between the trio. He seems so innocent and we think CROOKSHANKS is the problem, but it’s the quiet spy. (Sure, Hermione was a dick about her cat and if Scabbers hadn’t been Peter, it would’ve been different—I get that. Not excusing Hermione. But stick with me). Up until now, the trio’s friendship hasn’t been tested by personal problems, and now, we see how Harry and Ron respond to a challenging situation with a friend.

Which. I don’t think that’s the subplot. I think this is the crux of this book.

Harry and Ron fail very hard at friendship in this story. They fail Hermione who, while extremely flawed and misguided, has good intentions. Harry treats her with indifference and then ignores her; Ron treats her with outright antagonism. They fail Hagrid miserably when it comes to Buckbeak, and we find out that Hermione has been doing her best to help Hagrid despite being rejected by Harry and Ron. And this is important to the overall situation with Sirius Black because before we find out the truth, we think Sirius was a bad friend.

Okay, let me talk about the Firebolt now because the Firebolt was never really about Sirius.

The Firebolt plot was so crucial to the story that it’s outrageous they cut this out of the movie. (But the filmmakers had no idea PoA was about friendship so I guess whatever.) When Harry loses his Nimbus to the Whomping Willow, he expresses that it “felt like he had lost a friend” so when he gets a new broom that he really wants, he’s willing to sacrifice his true, human friend for it. He rejects Hermione because she told on him to McGonagall to keep him safe—not her best move but honestly, if Sirius had really wanted to kill Harry, it would have been very easy for him.

When you are making an adaptation of a book, you must ask essential questions. What is the POINT of this film? What is the lesson we are showing? Every part of that film should be building up to demonstrate that point. Trying to hit every plot point without knowing why is so lazy. “I want to make a Harry Potter film—but the tone has changed. It’s DARK now. You gotta know—he’s an ANGSTY TEEN!” Yeah, that does nothing for me, dude.

Harry’s willingness to sacrifice himself for his friends in the Shack is supposed to show that he is capable of growth and that friendship/love should come before all else. You need to be able to forgive (Snape subplot/Hermione subplot), and you should be willing to set aside petty quarrels/greed for your friends (Firebolt subplot/Peter subplot). Sure, the plot is that “a murderer breaks out of prison and wants to kill Harry Potter” but it’s not what the film is ABOUT.

If Sorcerer’s Stone is about making friends and building a friendship, Prisoner of Azkaban asks the question, “What happens when the honeymoon is over? What happens when my friends reveal glaring flaws? What happens when those flaws affect ME?”

Anyway, I really tried to give this movie another chance (I’ve seen it about 6-7 times since it came out), and it STILL does not do it for me. I’ve come around to Gary Oldman as Sirius (but not when he’s yelling or hysterical—does he EVER yell in the books?), but that’s it.

#this was unnecessary #but I had to figure out why I can’t stand this movie #and through this poorly written analysis i think i’ve figured it out #finally #they should NOT remake the movies into a show because rowling does not need more $$ #but please hbo if you’re gonna do it could you talk to me before you do season 3

[aracaranelentari]

Fingolfin is my fave character so thank you for all the posts on him!! Can you tell me why you love him so much?

Happily I will try, but Anon you have asked a hard question! If there's anything I struggle to understand, it's the patterns and reasonings behind my own interests, which are often irrational and very inconsistent!

Well a few simpler reasons are: He's dauntless but also wise, ambitious but kind and cautious - he thinks before he acts (most of the time). He has ice symbolism to parallel Fëanor's fire, which I think is super cool. I think he's a very good king! His people love him, and he seems to listen to his people and often takes council with others, not relying on his own wisdom only. An underrated reason to love Fingolfin is that he's half Vanyar, which is potential for interesting interpretations for his character, such as my personal theories that he's a dancer and is Ingwë's favorite nephew.

I also love characters who have a lot of inner turmoil and battle with themselves constantly, and both Maedhros and Fingolfin I think fit this bill pretty well, though in Maedhros it's more obvious. Fingolfin is quite similar to his brother Fëanor in quite a few ways, and to me it seems like throughout the narrative he tries hard to suppress the more explosive aspects of himself, and put his people's needs before himself. He's jealous of Fëanor but tries to make peace with him anyways, he holds the Fëanorians accomplices of their father but accepts Maedhros' repentance and makes peace with them, he's proud of his people's strength and wants to attack Angband, but won't force his people to do what they don't want to. He's really quite the respectful guy and good diplomat, despite his own pride!

Obviously he goes apeshit at the end of the Dagor Bragollach, and his duel is incredibly fascinating to talk about by itself, another reason I love him. Fëanor once said "Such hurt at the least will I do to the Foe of the Valar that even the mighty in the Ring of Doom shall wonder to hear it", and there's only one among the Ñoldor who accomplished this. If Fëanor's main two reasons for the Flight were 1) get the Silmarils back, and 2) get revenge on Morgoth, didn't Maedhros technically fulfill part of the first reason, and Fingolfin fulfill the second?

There are also more meta reasons why I'm such a Fingolfin stan. I think Fingolfin is overlooked and/or oversimplified by a lot of the fandom, and grossly mischaracterized by much of the rest of it. I might be exaggerating a bit, especially when characterizing Silmarillion characters is so difficult, and will be inconsistent by the nature of the source material not going in-depth with their personalities. My interpretation of Fingolfin will not be the same as someone else who has read the same material, and because he's my favorite character, my interpretation may be biased in favor of him being a compelling individual. Still, a lot of the Fingolfin takes I see, especially from annoying dude-bros and people who villainize him to try to justify Fëanor, are very frustrating to me. All this to say that I love my Fingolfin, but dislike some of the other Fingolfins I see (not all of them! There are plenty of other wonderful Fingolfins), and I think quite a bit of my intense love for him comes from a place of defying the interpretations I dislike. I don't know if that made sense, or was a satisfactory answer to your ask, but I tried my best!

#tolkien #the silmarillion #fingolfin #tolkien meta #sorry if this post is a mess #i'm bad at explaining myself #basically i have made him my babygirl and that's why i love him

[mapsofnonexistentplaces]

mr. bepop or faye valentine for the character asks 😸

putting it under the cut ^_^

MR BEEPO FIRST

favorite thing about them

ahh i genuinely just think hes like. a very stylish character like perhaps derivative of the whole show's aesthetic but yeah. hes just a cool jazz cowboy who can do tricks and shotcha. i think the way his like. carefree nature is challenged by the end of the show is really good also.... like yeah this dude is reckless and youre kind of meant to suspend your disbelief at first just to see him pull cool stunts and shit but by the end its very much commented on as a specific flaw of his and its like. yeah! clever way to show off a characters problems being enabled and made worse to the point of them being visible to others.... its cool its cool

least favorite thing about them

i think his hair looks STUPID in official art often i like it when its drawn as just like. visibly curled or messy i guess

favorite line

guess i shotcha....

but also "whatever happens happens". :+)

brOTP + OTP

compounding these because my answers the same. i think its funny to interpret him faye and jet as just like. awkward situational polycule LOL mostly just because when i was watching the show i kept making jokes like. Yuup. these guys are all divorced to each other without ever having been married

nOTP

him and vicious im just not big on "enemies who want to fuck each other secretly" type dynamics

random headcanon

schizoid guy swag....! and also i just like. randomly headcanon him as latino because i was listening to a lot of volta when i was watching the show and i very quickly associated frances the mute with his storyline hah. so hes very much tied up with that in my mind

unpopular opinion

uhhhh i think hes cool but not in the way weird old anime fans think hes cool. i think his self destructive habits make him very interesting....

song i associate with them

CYGNUS VISMUND CYGNUS !!!!!!! i also do have a playlist for him hehe

favorite picture of them

first ones that came to mind :+)

faye time now.....

favorite thing about them

I LIKE THAT SHES JUST LIKE. very openly bratty and annoying and that she does anything she wants. like i think the flippant way she treats the rest of the bebop crew rules i like that shes very selfish and just puts herself first. makes the few moments when she actually gets worried about the others really poignant....

least favorite thing about them

wouldnt say i completely dislike it because i do think it was handled tastefully but i think the subplot of like. oooh yeah guy who revived her from her cryosleep or whatever being someone shes very romantically into made me roll my eyes a bit. i do think it makes her like. presence during the timeframe of the show way stronger but from a story writing standpoint im just like Bah a bit lame that shes The Woman and shes constantly Romancing men

favorite line

none that come to mind i just like it when shes mean 👍 oh uh not a line but it was cool when she just ate dog food that one time

brOTP + OTP

see above answer for spike hah

nOTP

most relationships honestly....... i think she deserves to have some genuine connections with people and aside from spike and jet she really doesnt have any hah.

random headcanon

she would love shitty 90s era pop songs.........

unpopular opinion

unpopular opinion uhhhh i think she is a cool character who is not just a sex object

song i associate with them

hmmmm ^_^

favorite picture of them

love pics of her and ein HEHE

#ask

[thephantomcasebook]

I completely agree with you saying we shouldn't listen to most of what actors say because from the stuff i've seen..... they're either completely missing the point, writing a fanfic or just making a joke out of the material — no other explanation for the stuff they say. I do like Ewan's interpretation of Aemond and Vhagar's relationship but saying that he's not close to his family is a bit strange... Anyway, what i wanted to say is that from what I've heard them say so far I only like the way Aegon'a actor (forgot his name now, i apologize) sees his character and i feel like the things he says make sense and that he actually cares about staying true to the source material as much as possible

I agree whole heartedly with you on that account.

It annoys me to no end, in any show, when the actors don't show proper respect to the source material or the fandom. It is one of the reasons I have such a problem with Olivia Cooke and Emma D'arcy. They rather enjoy being careless and ignorant of established canon and things that other people care about. They've shown no respect to anyone nor anything and are basically in it for themselves. They make shit up, they don't hide their contempt for the material, and they take pride in all of the things listed like it makes them cool or badass that they don't care. I fucking can't stand the smug arrogance of Emma D'arcy has in all of the press tour, like she couldn't be bothered to try to hide her contempt and lack of caring for the whole thing. She oozes of "I don't give a shit, now where's my award?"

Like I've said, I don't ever expect anyone to love my niche nerdy thing as much as I do. But I fully expect someone to take pride in their work and craft. And both Cooke and - especially - D'arcy come off as smug, arrogant, narcissistic, London hacks, who only care about the exposure of the project and can't be bothered for anything else. Cooke's interviews are pure fucking torture ... that girl is so dumb she couldn't spell "Cat" if I spotted her the "C" and the "A".

What I adore about Tom Glynn-Carney is that he's clearly read the source material, did a deep dive into that character, and sees the value of him. Not only that but he actually watched and dissected "Game of Thrones" to add depth to the world that Aegon lives in. That dude has gone above and beyond to bring Aegon to life - and you can tell by his panel as the GOT Con that he actually cares. I've become a big fan of how much he commits to a role. I really loved him in "Tolkien" as Christopher.

Such a great nuanced character actor.

#House of the Dragon #tom glynn carney #Aegon II Targaryen

[alwida10]

Ok, I know i shouldn’t let myself be baited into arguments. Hrrnng.

After cooling down for two years searching for exchange and considering alternative points of views, I see how Sylvie can be a compelling character. And even from the beginning I agreed that she would have probably been much more compelling to me if she had gotten more screen time, highlighting her past.

All good.

But sometimes I come across posts that say basically Loki would be better seen as a jealous, petty, dude who just don’t consider anyone but himself, gives a shit for victims of his actions etc. One time someone even gave me a list of his crimes, including genocide, slavery, human trafficking, espionage, torture, betrayal of everyone he ever knew (the guy’s time management skills must be amazing) and some other points I don’t remember anymore, partly because of redundancy.

And I mean, I get how villains can be compelling characters, I do. And yeah, knowing their past can sometimes put things into context, yet it will never justify their actions. (I just watched the dungeons and dragons movie and the red magician is such a cool character! She is beyond redemption and doesn’t have a good hair on her, but yeah, good character design!)

So, if you like Sylvie or Mobius, why (WHY!!) would you want them to be together with such a dick? And a clown, talking from Sylvie’s perspective (and she’s right). Like, don’t you want your fav to be with someone who is nice? Who’s redeemable at the very least? Because someone who attempted to murder their own family without caring the tiniest bit and succeeded killing his mother doesn’t really seem to be a good match for a partner?Such an abusive man who cared only for himself for 1.5 millennia might show a bit of care in the beginning of a relationship, as long the victim isn’t attached properly. But when the victim is emotionally attached? The abuser will simply go back to torturing them. (I recommend the book “why does he do that?” It’s educational and will help you to realize how an healthy relationship looks like. Which seems like an easy thing, but trust me - it isn’t when emotional manipulation takes part). Like, if you really think interpreting Loki like that, I cannot imagine how you think your fav could be happy around them. People can change, but especially narcissism is so hard to overcome it certainly won’t disappear within days. Not after 1.5 millennia of using everyone and everything to their own benefit. That guy is a monster and even if (and that’s a big IF) he should change his behavior his past crimes are unforgivable and the best he could achieve is a heroic sacrifice for the real heroes.

Man, i really prefer giving him the benefit of the doubt, keeping in mind he was abducted as a child, raised by a racist and imperialist and made decisions in emotional turmoil without considering or seeing all the consequences. Do I consider him jealous? Sure. I’m jealous of people who are rich without having done anything for it. Do I consider him petty? No. Because I keep in mind how Goffrey (GoT) would have acted in a similar situation. Do I consider his pain being justified? Yes. Do I think he loved his family? Yeah, because why else would he have spared odin’s life twice and rescued Jane? Do I think he supported Thanos willingly? Just as willingly as gamora and nebula did. Do I think he never did anything wrong? No, attempted genocide is horrible, murdering a ruler of a nation at war is -while not criminal- not a good thing when you want piece without people dying. But sabotaging the coronation (if he really tried to voice his concerns before and wasn’t listened to) was a desperate act of loyalty. And that’s what matters.

#fandom discourse #will probably delete tomorrow #Loki series negativity #Loki series criticism

[particlegentleman]

Wait… ppl got confused? I thought you explained it pretty well! I really like the fact that he’s trying to overcome the disrespect and disregard of his intelligence by proving to others that his mental illness doesn’t affect his intelligence, and he tries so hard too! AND HE HAS MADE SOME COOL SHIT THAT WORKS BEAUTIFULLY! Wilson is without a doubt a great scientist that’s trying to be heard despite society not wanting to

Also maxwill being a alter is really weird, I see that in AO3 a lot too. I see it more like he “became” maxwill to start a new life. It’s not an alter but him putting his old life behind him and starting everything fresh, which ppl still do to this day. AND he doesn’t mention his old life, because he would rather burying it deep in his mind and heart than let anyone find out. Bro got some huge issues and is a mess and we love him, even if he got a lil crazy with power and fame- WE STILL LOVE HIM

And I like WX78 as he is. I see him like he’s trying to “perfect” his body, his vessel. To separate himself from his “fleshy” self, or at least that’s what I got from the short. To be a literal working machine so that his projects and inventions can be as perfect as him. Robo dude got a lot to unpack tbh, and I love him!

But idk maybe I’m wrong, I haven’t really seen or heard anyone talk about it much about the characters other than, as mentioned before, in AO3. Which isn’t really a good source since well… AUs and trying to make them more uuuhhh “likable”??? Or “heartfelt”? Like bro no, their good as they are and I either get the whole package or nothing. I love these characters, they have so much depth to them and- AAAAAH I just love them 😭 and wanna hear more of what ppl think of them 🥺

Yeah!!! Like, the whole point of my psychotic Wilson post is about how psychotics aren't taken seriously, or listened to, how Wilson has to try twice as hard, and how that interacts with him being a scientist! So people calling him stupid on that post just made me very sad. I'm glad you understood :)

Also, I don't have anything against headcanoning Maxwell as a system, I just think it's weird to treat it as Maxwell being some inherently evil part of William that William needs to be "saved" from. That's just a weird way to frame it, and perpetuates the weird "evil alter" stereotype. Personally I think Maxwell as a system is fine! The whole splitting his mind thing when it comes to the shadow clones could definitely be interpreted that way, I just think you have to be sensitive about how you portray that since systems are heavily demonized. (There Can be alters who are assholes but the answer isn't to DESTROY them because they're EVIL, so you can go on your merry way.. It's usually just Communication.)

Also I like your interpretation of WX-78! You should know though that they canonically use they/them and are nonbinary! :]

AO3 definitely has a big problem with simplifying characters down in a disappointing way. (It's also in a lot of fandoms on Tumblr I've seen.) Like the whole inherently evil Maxwell thing that robs his character of all of its really interesting and complicated depth.. A lot of the time it seems like it's for the sake of shipping or angst? People want something bad to happen to X so they end up making Y absolutely godawful terrible. People want X to like Y so they make X a love-struck idiot despite being cold and calculating in canon. The annoying part is that there are ways to make those things happen without changing the characters most of the time, and oftentimes that would make a way more interesting story!!!! Me and my friends call it "Fandom brain" lol.

Like, I enjoy angst, and shipping, but its disappointing when they simplify the characters too much. It feels like I'm reading angst/shipping of completely different characters than the ones I actually care about.

#.txt #ask #thank you for your ask :)

[verminviscount]

ive been made aware that i have strong opinions on my personal ranking of percy jackson characters so im making a post about it. bc thats what we do here on tungle.hell. experiencing brain worms? spread the word. @garecc i invite you to include your own brain worms here

for those who may not know, which i expect is most of my followers here, Travis (garecc) and i go way back to the days of a trials of apollo discord server that has since crumbled under the weight of various discourse and does not exist at this time. so if anyone understands pjo brain rot, its him.

ONTO THE RANKING. ill be focusing on main characters bc if i include side characters we'll be here all day and Sally Jackson would be every character in this top 5.

1. Hazel Levesque. Deserves better in the eyes of fandom. Gained pretty good control over the mist within one book. Has a cool magic horse. Similar tragic backstory to Nico, but not sulking about it. No shame in sulking, but its cool to see someone go through bad shit and come out still feeling mostly okay.

2. Will Solace. Unfortunately for me, I haven't finished the trials of apollo series yet, so i dont know THAT much about Will as he's primarily a background character. But Apollo kids and medics both get my utmost respect and appreciation, always. and he's a little bit of a sarcastic little shit, but the kind where people dont get annoyed with you bc its almost always funny and lighthearted. i know from hearing people talk about tsats that he's also a Sad Boy (which is to be expected as a demigod, tragedy physically cannot leave you alone.), and im excited to read about someone with my personality go through a mental breakdown :D!

3. Frank Zhang. Listen to me. How can he not be this high up. I don't even know where to begin with this guy, he's so gods damned cool. He's just such a good character and a good dude too! I'd love to be his friend. What a sweetheart, iirc he was the only person at camp jupiter who wasnt freaked out by Nico? he's so nice. children of Ares/Mars are usually mean, and he's so nice. i love him so much. also his life force is connected to a chunk of wood, which is kinda neat. he's a legacy of poseidon. he's canadian. im pretty sure his first name is Westernized bc his grandma calls him Fai, my last name was westernized when my great grandparents came over so i sort of get it though not nearly to the same degree. I ALMOST FORGOT HE CAN SHAPESHIFT!!! DUDE what a cool guy. we gotta move on, i gotta cut myself off. give him more attention in your fan works

4. Nico di Angelo. obviously a fan favorite, but im talking canon Nico here. im not talking about an uwu soft emo boi. im talkin about a sarcastic, pessimistic, deeply insecure little dude. listen, im not gonna talk about the things i love about nico because its been said a million times. its nothing new. im just gonna say that i love reading about characters that go through awful awful trauma and still overcome and find joy on the other side.

5. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. so my impulse is to put Leo here bc i adored him when i first read HoO. and if i didnt really think about it, i wouldve put him. but... Rachel!! how can you not love her! a mortal lady who can see through the mist, she fought with a hairbrush, she's the liveliest and loveliest oracle of delphi camp halfblood has ever and will ever know, she’s from money and hates it, she's an activist, an artist, way more helpful than the last oracle for sure. the mummy in the attic just left you to fend for yourself, Rachel will at least try to help you interpret what a prophecy means. she's blunt and talks a mile a minute, i love seeing my "flaws" represented positively in media.

honorable mentions: Leo Valdez of course, easily my number 6 spot. Apollo/Lester, we love seeing immense character development. Grover Underwood, probably the first time i ever had a definitive favorite character. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, romance would be dead and we wouldnt have a series without them.

#percy jackson #pjo hoo toa #character ranking

[miiracleboys]

oikawa and/or ushijima for the ask game?

character bingo!!!

oikawa

checked off:

they are soooooo cool looking/why do they look like that: pretty boy fucker with the idol hair and the stupid turn-up-the-charm smile. i love him so much (anger).

if they were real i’d be afraid of them: oikawa canonically puts kyoutani on edge and all i’m saying is that it makes sense

they’re like a blorbo to me: if i think about him too hard i start having a Totally Regular emotional reaction and i do not go on a reblogging spree and smash out half-incoherent analyses about worthless pride and letting talent bloom and instinct be polished and Plant Metaphors and argentina. i’m soooo normal about him all the time i swear.

they got done DIRTY by fans: hate fanon oikawa with a burning passion. he’s complex! he’s an antagonist! he’s sympathetic! he’s an ally! he’s a rival! he’s flawed and has development and deep and interesting relationships with the people around him! and if i see one more person flattening him into either Some Dude With An Inferiority Complex or a whiny twink i’m going to commit a prosecutable felony!

i want to carry them in a handbag like a tiny dog

i’m mentally ill about them: EARN YOUR HAPPY ENDING. FINDING HIMSELF IN ARGENTINA. FOLLOWING HIS DREAMS ACROSS THS WORLD. he makes me SICK.

also this is going to get kind of long so ushijima under the cut!

ushijima

checked off:

everyone but me is wrong about them <3: is this hypocritical to say? probably yes but i carry the burden of having every correct opinion in the world. also he’s not a himbo because he’s not nice enough.

they’re like a blorbo to me: being able to watch him grow and have fun and branch out is just. it’s so. TTATT. his dad and his friends cheer for him. he’s popular with children. he’s cool! he’s kind of a loser but people think he’s cool! he’s found a path for himself and he allows exactly Nothing to stop him!! he’s fully aware of his own talents and GOD is he awkward and it can Cause Problems but it’s also funny. i also love that he’s just. super weird. a little bit of a freak, a little too into volleyball, but that’s just how he is!! and that does not detract from his skills or how the people around him value him!!!

they’re deeper than they seem: he’s absolutely a formidable antagonist but he’s not just a cannon or another rival. one of the nice things about this series is that almost no character is introduced as a rival and isn’t given anything more—he’s a rival, he’s a foil, he’s a parallel, he’s a what-could-be to other characters, but he’s also a character in his own right! he has his own arc and seeing him steady himself and find challenges and not be a lone figure at the top is so nice. haikyuu’s about connection and he is not exempt from this!!

i like them enough to project my own issues onto them: my own social ineptitude and personal experiences with autism be upon ye!

they got done DIRTY by fans: for some reason people tend to think he’s like. obsessed with oikawa for some reason even though that’s straight-up not true? the whole “you should have come to shiratorizawa” thing shows the differences in their characters, in their outlooks, and in their playing styles—ushijima knows he’s good because he’s not blind and he genuinely respects oikawa as a rival and this is his (horribly phrased) way of saying that and how he thinks oikawa isn’t reaching his potential but could have if they’d been on the same team. that’s how shiratorizawa works! it’s structured to make the strong even stronger but it’s built off of support rather than actual equal-ground teamwork like aoba johsai is, and that’s one of the biggest discrepancies in their outlooks. also he’s heavily autistic-coded and a lot of jokes and interpretations i see can come off as uh. very ableist.

i want to carry them in a handbag like a tiny dog: for comfort. emotional support Guy.

they work better as a part of a dynamic (forgot to check off): listen this ties in HUGE to shiratorizawa as a whole. i’ve talked about it before—including in this post— but ushijima’s set up to be the ace because of his strength, but he wouldn’t have gotten this far without the others, both in volleyball and in life. yes he’s strong enough to stand on his own but i doubt he would’ve been this attached to volleyball in the first place if not for his dad or been this successful without his teammates! i love his relationship with both the adlers and shiratorizawa, especially because it helps humanize him. he’s put on a bit of a pedestal by some people, sure, but he’s not untouchable. he has friends that bring him down to earth. he’s just a guy! a very talented guy but a guy nonetheless. and i love him dearly.

wow…they are LITERALLY me: i see a character who has a hard time socializing and expressing themselves and is as a result often misunderstood and has been a little bit of a misfit for their whole lives and i go Wow Same Hat and latch onto them like a leech. also bonus points for both of us being left-handed.

#oikawa tooru #ushijima wakatoshi #asks #ask game #riko.txt #thanks for the ask!! i have Thoughts literally All The Time

[dekaydk]

Step By Step Ep 10

I really want to like this show but I keep getting plot, pace, dialog and character icewater dumps on my head.

Spent the entire episode thinking that Jeng is incapable of thinking even tactically about his love life, much less strategically. Especially not about how this intersects with work. This dude should not run a (whatever the Thai equivalent) of a chaebol even if daddy does hand him the reins in the future.

Pat is repeatedly smarter about all this than Jeng is. Jeng sees Pat's reasonable caution as naive lack of confidence and rolls right over it.

What is this color inversion between Chot and Pat’s outfits?

Sound weirdness in the screening room scene - did they loop the dialog?

Again with the open mouth pose!

GOD I HATE IT WHEN THE CHARACTERS GET SELF ABSORBED AND DON”T HEAR EACH OTHER IN AN EXAGGERATED WAY okay this was less exaggerated than usual

“I know that Mr. Jeng thinks of you beyond work” Oh you do know that for certain? gonna let this one slide

This bit about "the relationship will be awkward at first" YA THINK

“Krit doesn’t think about hard launching you at all” what pray tell is hard launching

God the stupid sound effects totally take the emotional weight out of this scene

Okay, Chot crying awwwwww. So happy for him.

Pat crying is probably a little tough for Jeng to interpret at first

SPEAK ENGLISH TO ME BABY (insert scene from A Fish Called Wanda)

Wait, in the kitchen in front of the windows?

Phone screen protector as a metaphor AND product placement?

Confirm/Delete is even a question?

The music makes it seem like following on social media is a bigger deal than the other stuff?

Okay, enough with the screen protector

Pat’s presenting

Assistant dude has a suspicious thought or two

Okay, cubicle handsies cute but debatably smart

Office parking garage messing around HONK giggle start over

Badminton again and assistant dude is SUSPICIOUS

Theory: assistant dude has a crush on Jeng

I think people are cruel. SO RIGHT JENG

Office meeting: assistant is taking notes on what he sees

Pat's Dad is still around?! Oh okay everything’s cool “take care of my son” with a side order of “when did we become buddies”

“Phi Jeng/Nong Pat”

Okay, Pat has the seduction thing down

I wasn’t feeling the chemistry before but I’m sold on this scene

Aww fantasy wedding

But…isn't it a smidge early to be talking about geting married?

Jen and Jaab moment

Wait Jaab is with someone WTF PLEASE why are we learning this now (once again we have a time gap that is tough to follow)

(Got a bit of a Bible vibe just now; this is a compliment to both men)

Vasectomy WELL IF YOU NEED ANOTHER ONE LEMME KNOW thought bubble

OH WAIT CONFESSION

This is nicely mature and resolves this hanging thread

Wait Pat as the head of the department? This is not going to go well. His business smarts aside he’s never even been a manager, much less a senior manager/director level. Jeng, don’t promote people too fast; it’s not fair to them or the team. “What are you playing at?” indeed!

Office gossip scene. Wait, queen office bitch is in their corner?

Jaab is seeing someone called Paint. And pining over Jen, the two-timer.

Whoa nasty office sticky notes!

Marcom jerkface strikes again

What does he have to do with the board and why is he telling Jeng about the board? (Update: forgot he was Jeng’s uncle)

JESUS THIS WAS FORESEEABLE JENG YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER

Condo. Pat wants to talk in bed. Jeng: grabs Pat. Not gonna sex it away dude SEE

And don’t close your eyes, Pat is trying to TELL YOU SOMETHING Pat is being smarter about this than you are.

Next morning: WHOOPS SHITTY PEOPLE CLIP SHARING

Pat is fed up with Jeng not listening/treating his concerns seriously and he's outta here and gonna do what he's gotta do. That resignation letter is gonna get delivered.

Wait. Pat scrammed from the condo without saying anything and wecut to Jeng having coffee like nothing happened?

Pat resigned. Okay again probably the right move. He has less to lose and he knows it. (Back to “What are you playing at?”)

The president approved it? This will be interesting. Why is the president involved? Pat is twenty layers down the org chart. That would be like Tim Cook approving the resignation of some junior manager at Apple.

Okay, time to read everyone else's takes.

#step by step the series

[wander-wren]

lets get controversial! For the character bingo flamey beard man, Endeavor himself!

whoops

so i don’t like him. i think his redemption arc could’ve worked in another world, and i haven’t caught up on s6 yet so i don’t know exactly what he’s like at the moment, but…yeah no.

i don’t think i have to rehash all the todoroki kids’ childhoods and why that’s baaaad. we all know. i absolutely hate him for what he did to rei—talking about the mental hospital, specifically. the stuff that led to it, sure, but mostly the fact that he put her there not because she needed help (she did), but because she hurt his Precious Creation. and just leaves her there. for over a decade. no.

also, he says he wants to be a better dad and then never really does it. and look, if he was trying, he would be allowed to make mistakes. i would love to see that kind of messy complicated relationship. but i don’t, really? it feels very tell-y. everyone Says he’s trying and Says they’re starting to forgive him, but all i see is him texting shouto repeatedly and getting no response and being very angry about it (after he had to get his number from fuyumi, btw. nice boundary crossing and harassment, dude, very making amends of you. i wonder WHY your fifteen year old kid went no-contact).

i also don’t like how he acts with other people just like, in general. i’m not sure if i actually think he has a god complex but he definitely does not give off “listens to others” vibes. but he is a Good Hero, which is a very interesting. thing. to me. is duality the word?

so yeah tldr i’m not a fan but i do think dabi traumatizing his dad back is VERY funny. one time in a fic i had shouto murder him bc i thought it would be fun. i know there’s probably fics out there that give him an actually good redemption arc and that’s awesome but i do not want to read them.

god i do love shouto’s reaction to his making amends, though, even though i feel like it’s unearned. the scene where he fights the nomu and after it’s done shouto just…crouches down on the floor? idk what emotion he’s portraying but i Feel It. and the whole mess of “i hate him but he is the best person to teach me what i need to know.” and the growth of “you can train me but it’s on MY terms now.” hell yeah. while i’m on the subject i actually love all the todoroki kids’ reactions bc they’re all so different and they all make sense. i’m p sure i’m interpreting the “holds their family together” square wrong but i am. i am hugging all of the siblings + rei. and kicking endeavor into the street.

OH ONE MORE THING: i do think he’s a very interesting parallel to bakugou especially since he’s a top hero. he’s a much better hero than bakugou is, at least in the beginning, but he’s a far worse person with a worse redemption arc. i think he serves as a good warning for him. very cool

#a little birdie asked me #ask game #blorbo bingo #wren wrambles #bnha #endeavor #fuck endeavor #that tag came up before his name tag lmaooo #i didn’t expect that to get that long actually #i do Wish i could be more complex about him but nah. i just. dont like him. 2-dimensional villain in my brain forever #i like to make fun of him #i think its HILARIOUS that the one thing he always wanted (surpassing all might) gets handed to him on a silver platter #no thanks to his own work/abilities/breeding program #i would also say more about him and bkg but i’m sure other people have done a better job a hundred times #my brain wont make thoughts about it rn

[heeyjuuuude]

tagged by @iwantlotsoftacos (thank you love!! this was fun!!) and then i put explanations/thoughts on each in order in the tags because i have so many thoughts on books lmao

hardcover or paperback

rent or buy

reads in silence or reads with music

standalone or series

annotations or pristine pages

ebook or physical copies

dog ears or bookmarks

mismatched series or complete sets

cover matters or you don’t judge

lend books or keep them to yourself

enjoys classic lit or despises them

browses shops or orders online

reads reviews or goes in blind

unreturned books or clean library record

rereads or once was enough

fanfic enthusiast or stickler for canon

deep reader or easily distracted

must read the book before seeing the movie or order doesn’t matter

has neat bookshelves or messy bookshelves

skips ahead or resists temptation

reads aloud or in your head

guesses plot twists or never sees them coming

i’m tagging @shardsoflesbianism, @wlw-omgcp, @miserybiscuits, and @onemusecalliope (if you’d like to!) and anyone else who wants to. thanks mabel!! this was fun and you know i never need an excuse to just like talk about books.

#i love paperbacks!! cannot explain but they are perfect #i love owning books so i can tear them up oops #i cannot focus on a book without background noise #the build up of a character arc is usually better!! #i mark up soo many of my books. i just like rereading later and being like whoa those were my thoughts the first time how neat #there’s just something special about a physical copy idk but again i love making them worn in #okay shut up i know i just love the look of a book that’s clearly been read a lot. like it’s well loved and that’s great #if i own part of a series i Need to own the whole thing #unfortunately i am one of those people that gets drawn in primarily by cover art (and summary next) #i love lending!! i have a friend who has very similar lit taste and we swap books and write in the margins. it’s the best and so cool #i’m very very picky about classic lit but when i find a good one i love it. my fav book is little women. i’ve read it 31 times #bookstores bookstores bookstores!!! #unless it’s a friend with a similar taste in lit i don’t like reviews bc my tastes aren’t like. standard. so i generally avoid reviews #i would NEVER!! not turn in a book!! partially because!! my elementary school librarian!! was my friend!! no shame #i reread EVERYTHING lmao again it’s cool to see how my thoughts on it change #dude listen. seeing other peoples’ interpretation of a character is so cool and i love it #soooo easily distracted. i used to be impossible to tear away but then my Mom Senses grew in and now i’m constantly alert for like anything #there are very few cases where i don’t care but you usually get so much more info and background from the book #my bookshelves are my pride and joy. they are organized into genre and then alphabetized #(except during pride month. then they’re organized by color) #i hate that i do it but i do unfortunately. sue me #lmao i read ALL the time as a kid. like at lunch or the playground or after a quiz or in five minute car rides. i would’ve gotten into #(cont) trouble if i read aloud. plus i’m a pretty fast reader but not a very fast speaker so it would be annoying and slow me down #i never get plot twists ever. it’s pretty nice #wowza this was long #do people still say wowza #alright time to find my two (2) mutuals besides mabel and agonize about whether or not i should tag them #personal #i feel like everyone’s gonna real what a dork i am and i’m okay with it

[ihavenocarinsurance]

Akatsuki Headcanons:

Holding hands for the first time

When I say I am sick n tired of rereading the same old akatsuki smut shit I mean it. Don't get me wrong, shit is well written. I am simply not horny. At least not as much as sumn of us. So, here we have a cute, fluffy headcanon made by me at 5:08am randomly bc I said so

CHARACTERS: Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu

GENRE: fluff

READER: genderneutral

CONTEXT: established romantic relationship, however it is still very fresh

EXTRA INFO: Since I am doing this with no preparation other than angr my interpretation of the characters might not allign with your ideas which is fine but criticism is always welcome

Deidara

If there was a gif showing this mf red as a tomato I'd use that one because this fella strikes me as someone who would be shOCKED

Not because he didn't necessarily expect it. He is a smart bboi in his own way but yk how some people do not go easy with emotions like some others do? yh he doesn't-That's what is happening

he is overjoyed but also anxious but so relieved yet so shook

is he holding your hand too tight? is we sweating? should he stfu or maybe talk abt something? if that mf tongue slips-

You'll probably notice how he has gone from the deidara who never shuts up to something else. You don't know what it is, but it has two functional legs for sure so that's cool

lean on him, get closer, kiss him- idc just love this man. it WILL break him but pls just go ahead-

Sasori

I love this man omg

pls give this dude some affection he gets no bitches

but now fr, I do think that he is very good at keeping himself calm when thinking of fights throughout the entire series. However, the difference is that while he is used to calming himself when in serious trouble this situation is different. he isn't in danger nor does he have a problem but it is uncalm for sure

amused yet clueless because oi yes holding hands but hdjsjd what now- maybe a little more awkward

if you were to hold his hand while leaning against him when tired that would make the situation easier for him because of the purpose

but let's say you guys are walking and you grab his hand while walking next to him. yh i can guarantee you it will be awkward

might even just straight up ask wtf you're doing

maybe this is just me being so in love with him that I just crave him softly smiling and kissing his s/o's head but jdjzjdjsjs mf is short as hell my 5"7 ass can go home

Itachi

so prettyuyyays

he expected some sort of physical affection at some point bc well that is normal (ig?) and welcomes it happily

i just know that he has been craving love and connection and canon-canon Itachi would probably not even engage with anyone on that level but we are in the middle of a pandemic and dont need that, we need smth that makes us feel loved

while holding hands might not be his favourite type of physical affection i can see him even engaging with you in that way when you walk or sit next to one another, maybe also when you cuddle in bed

in comparison to sasori, this wouldn't really ever become awkward. He doesn't lack the talking skills and even works towards avoiding such awkward silences for your comfort

Kisame

Big hands, you're not holding those you're holding his two fingers in your hands bc how tf-

But we love us some big hands and Kisame

surprised at first but plays it cool. he'll prob won't even attempt to hide his surprise and just smile while he flirts or attempts to make you blush too

no matter when you'd attempt to hold his hand for the first time, you could be in the middle of a normal conversation and he would stop talking/listening and direct all attention to your hands

its kinda funny with how fast he switches from surprised n blushing, to looking and then flirting

the flirting/attempt to make you blush too is his way of making himself less anxious abt the situation. he shares his misery with you and you both just laugh it off

I can easily imagine him offering you his hand to hold in the future bc why the hell not

Hidan

"Hm? What is that about?"

genuinely clueless

its not because he doesn't enjoy physical affection but more like he just goes ???

does he prefer stuff like cuddling, hugging and kissing over holding hands? sure

but he acknowledges your courage and holds your hand more often in order to make you happy and not feel rejected or anything. besides y'all can take it slow

he'd def be the type to give you a kiss on the back of your hand every. single. damn. time.

tho unless holding hands is the only way of being affetionate he prefers doing something else while also holding your hand like cuddling, caressing your hair/back, kissing you, hugging etc

therefore you should expect some kisses after answering his stupid questions

Kakuzu

Man loves you but pls dont interrupt him

so let's say he is free and is simply existing. go ahead. hold his hand. he will probably just sigh but definitely hold your hand

depending on the situation this either leads to cuddling, hugging or another conversation (topic)

he prefers cuddling once both of you lay down to sleep after everything else is done however holding hands rarely rly stands in the way like you can walk perfectly while holding hands so why complain

holding hands is not really his favourite type of affection neither smth he really initiates like ever but he wouldn't reject you either

#naruto #naruto shippuden #writing #akatsuki x reader #deidara x reader #sasori x reader #itachi x reader #kisame x reader #kakuzu x reader #hidan x reader #headcanon #akatsuki headcanons #the good shit

[lemonlurkrr]

@aureateart​ ok. My favourite parts of twilight princess  (and some other random thoughts about TP sprinkled in there) taken from my monster TP word vomit google doc :

Link lmao

Ok but for real, I like this incarnation of Link :)

I love Ordon (it just seems like such a chill and cozy village)

ALSO love how easy it is to interpret Link as being a sort of older brother figure to the Ordon kiddos. It’s just,, super cute? AND GHHH nice nice good thanks nintendo for giving me characters to care about/characters that I can imagine Link caring about

He didn’t sign up for any of this (tbh, none of the Links really signed up for this jshdjsd). But I mean like, dude was just going to take a trip to castle town, drop a gift off for the royal family, and come back. But haHA oopsies he did get to castle town eventually but definitely not the way he expected hsjdhsd

He’s just a little dude?

AND FUCK. HE REALLY HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ORDON UNTIL ALL OF THAT

everything is new for the player AND Link

Midna

She’s cool :)

she really just

*teleports into your jail cell* hello whore.

I am no master at writing but AYYYY she do got a character arc!!!

She was actually pretty helpful sometimes, I ALWAYS checked in with her before turning to a game guide

Other NPCs

NICE

Love all of the TP character designs (ASHEI’S ARMOUR??? AOWOAOAOOAO)

Saving Zelda and all of Hyrule was important yea but thinking back maybe it was more like, the Ordonians and the kids were what was pushing Link to keep on going

I like the Resistance members :) Very video gamey of them to have one NPC assigned to each dungeon but hey!!! Kinda cool getting to see a little glimpse of each of em

Idk, it’s just fun to imagine Link popping into Telma’s bar after each dungeon and taking a little rest :) (or to celebrate? maybe just chat, idk, give this man some downtime!!)

Honestly it was just kind of nice that Link wasn’t entirely alone. I mean, I know Midna was there the whole time, but I am always for giving Link a big group of friends (see my love for hyrule warriors, age of calamity, and LU LMAO)

Hero’s shade, very very cool, kinda sad he died with regrets but HEY. He got to pass on his knowledge eventually

AND the connection to OoT?? AND assumed to be related by blood too????? GOOD SHIT

Ilia, I REALLY really wanted to like her (er, it’s not like I dislike her, she’s just,,, kinda there for me).

It definitely seems like Nintendo was pushing to make her the romantic interest, but GHHHHH they really threw that out of the window for me by having her lose her memories

I saw a text post a while ago that said it would have been interesting if Ilia was Link’s sister instead and YES!! That would have been cool too :0

Wish we got to know Zelda a little more

I feel like we barely know anything about her

Idk man, like I said earlier, I never really had any sort of drive to save Zelda during my playthroughs

She obviously knows Midna, so maybe if they gave us just a little bit more of that relationship I’d be more interested in her?

TP WORLD BUILDINGGGG

Botw has good world building too, but each race felt kinda,,, isolated? I absolutely love the different architecture and vibe each town has (and all the the weapons too) but ghhh yea everyone felt so separated. As far as I can remember, we don’t see tooo much of the races interacting with each other? Now that I’m typing that out maybe that’s to be expected because of the calamity but KLSJDKJFD ANYWAYS THIS IS ABOUT TP

The world feels nice and alive, love how populated everything is

Castle town I like castle town a lot, it feels dense and busy and I really like how you can’t talk to every NPC you see

Very cool very fun that we got to see the Gorons hanging out in multiple spots

kinda wish we got to see the Zoras a little more (I guess they are a bit limited since they need water but GHHHH the tp zoras are so prebby,,)

BUT HEY, I do remember seeing a zora or two hanging out in the hot springs around death mountain after beating the lakebed temple (I think, might have been a different dungeon) 

but aaaa would have been nice to see them in at least a couple of other places. I think it would have really added to the “congrats Link!! You’re restoring peace to Hyrule” feeling you get from seeing the Gorons hanging out in Kakariko and Castle Town

ORDON

Love how chill it is and how it’s kind of separate from Hyrule proper

They really do seem to be doing their own thing apart from the rest of Hyrule

Just kinda adds onto the “he’s just a regular dude minding his own business” kind of vibes I get from TP Link

Also I like Ordona :)

THE LIGHT SPIRITS,,

Love their design

And love how they’re not exactly like a pure white?

Different spirit representing each aspect of the triforce my beloved

But yes hi I think Ordona is very cool

Who are you, how did you get here, which goddess do you represent? Do you even represent one of the three golden goddesses? Do the Ordonians know about you? Have any of them ever SEEN you??? Do they worship you? Does anybody even know about the existence of the light spirits?? FUCK so many questions but ghhh I like how they broke the status quo a bit by throwing in a fourth spirit :)

I feel like this one is kinda weird but I like that voice sample they used in the light spirit music. It’s spooky and pretty at the same time :)  

cutscenes mmmmm

Ok ok, the spooky lanayru cutscene is very good

BUT THE “Link, Chosen Hero! Lend us the last of your power!” CUTSCENE MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM LOVE IT SO MUCH

IT just

Idk man

It just hit different

I like the music

And seeing the light spirits swimming around in the light juice water whatever it is

Summoning the light arrows?

AND HHHHH “Lend us the last of your power!” THIS IS IT. This is the final battle.

Seeing Zelda bow down, and then Link putting his hand out 👌👌👌

Link: ok bud, let’s do this together :)

Connection to OoT (did I already mention this? Maybe., Whatever)

Very cool nintendo :)

I love seeing connections between all the diff zelda games.

Because like, on one hand, they’re all separate from each other because of yknow, individual hero stuff. BUT ALSO, they’re all connected because of the reincarnation stuff

Grrrr walking through the sacred grove and going “The Hero of Time walked around here a long time ago” FUCK THATS SO COOL

Is the Hero’s Shade watching me? What does he think of me? DIsappointed? Proud? The Hero of Time went through HELL so this timeline didn’t have to deal with any of the shit Ganon was gonna pull with the triforce, better not fuck this UP Link!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Midlink is cute

Kinda hurts that she smashed the mirror but that was probably so Nintendo didn’t have to worry about people going “but what about the twili??????” for any of the other games LMAO

BUT ALSO LIKE SKJDKLJFJ There are some pretty massive plot holes in TP anyway so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ whatever it’s fine we’ll just use this for angst because GOD do y’all like angst

So is Shadlink

Honestly don’t know where this ship came from but it’s cute so whatever

THE MUSIC??

Love Midna’s theme and how they referenced the dark world theme from ALttP (I remember trying to learn the dark world theme on the piano and doing the Leonardo DiCaprio point meme at the little jingle I recognized from Midna’s theme)

Hyrule field theme SLAPS.

Apparently references a couple of the other over-world themes from the previous zelda games (I got this from 8-bit Music theory’s video on the over-world zelda themes, he talks about TP at around 11:40 but def recommend watching the whole video if you’re into music analysis stuff)

So there’s this bit of the Hyrule Field theme, I don’t know the official name for it but I remember seeing somewhere it being called the “at an advantage theme” since yeah, you hear it during the boss music whenever you expose their weak points. FUCKINGGG LOVE THAT. Didn’t notice it during my first playthrough, but hearing it during my second was like a little easter egg for my ears every time :)

Midna’s lament is very pretty (and fun to play on the piano)

COURAGE THEME.

I didn’t care for it too much when I started playing the game but hearing it in ZREO’s arrangement of the Hyrule Field theme literally makes me turn into a puddle of emotions. Also hearing it around and of the Ordon kids (I think it plays after Link saves Colin) AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Orchestra piece #1 and #2 HOLY SHIT???????????????? 

Literally, the first time I listened to those I just,,,, plugged in my headphones, volume 100, layed on the floor/against my desk and silently vibed. I don’t know what the hell it is, but those two just fit so well with TP?? I still avoid listening to them nowadays cause if I DO I definitely will get overwhelmed with the “god I love this game so FUCKING MUCH” kind of feels.

Wolf link sucks at singing

the first time I heard him howling Zelda’s Lullaby I lost my shit because LKSJLDKSGLKJFSKG god that was.,, Bad. Anyways, hearing him howl some of the songs from OoT was cute :)

TP STAFF ROLL??? 

VERY GOOD. IT’s like 10 minutes long and GOD do I love every single second of it. It doesn’t have the same energy as the skyward sword staff roll or the orchestra pieces but GOD does it hit good??

Nice and calm after that big exciting adventure. Maybe it would have been more fun or emotional to have a higher energy piece but it was really nice getting to sit back and watch the camera fly around Hyrule. Seeing like, the Gorons and the Zoras having a good time, the kids returning to Ordon? GOOD SHIT.

and AAAAA that end, when you hear the main Zelda theme and see Link riding off out of Faron woods on Epona… good shit. It gets you thinking, where the hell is he going? What is he doing? Off ot do more adventuring? Going to help out the resistance or something? Going to help Zelda? Or maybe he’s trying to figure out a way to restore the mirror of twilight? Whoooo knows.

hhHHHHhhh it’s just that final reminder that YES!!! YOU JUST PLAYED A ZELDA GAME. JUST ANOTHER STORY APART OF THE WHOLE EPIC OF THE ZELDA SERIES AS A WHOLE

I also want to acknowledge the instrument/samples they used for all the twili stuff.

They’re all just so unique and contrast SO well with the rest of the TP OST. LIKE FUCK!! Anytime I hear the screech from the Twilit Kargarok? Sends a shiver down my spine. I associate those sounds SO strongly with the twili realm. (Like, the same way you associate the BSHEWW VVWWMMM sounds with light sabers)

I love it so god damn much

literally any time there’s a certain sound or motif associated with something I lose my shit

Sacred grove sacred grove sacred gro-

lovely lovely lovely so much fun playing that on the piano. AND again, I did the Leonardo DiCaprio pointing meme when I heard the theme from the lost woods come in GHHHHHHHH

shoutout to TP Faron Woods for helping me study and get through all of my schoolwork

BLEGUUHHH can you tell that I really love music?

and also yea I guess TP is kinda cool too :\

IF YOU READ ALL OF THAT THANKS I GUESS

#lemonspeakrr #LEMON SPEAKS 2K WORDS ABOUT TWILIGHT PRINCESS BECAUSE THEY ARE INSANE.

[palidoozy-art]

i love all your curse of strand stuff!! as someone whos playing and running it rn, did you make any changes to Strahd himself? I’ve reworked him quite a lot, but only because I think he was a lot of undeveloped potential in the RAW module

Ahh, thank you! :D I'm glad you do!

I did make some changes to him! Not as much as several of the other characters, because I honestly felt like he was fleshed out quite a bit compared to people like Rahadin, the Abbot, etc.

But changes I did make to him include (under cut)

- In the base game, Strahd is described as "more monster than man, with barely a hint of emotion left." But there's NUMEROUS segments in the book which suggest the dude absolutely feels shit, just in an unhealthy way (see: crying on Sergei's tomb, slaughtering all of his guards in rage, breaking the gazebo, getting really pissy if the party finds his diary). Honestly, the way Strahd is described in the base book sounds more like how he'd describe himself -- a cool unfeeling badass who was TOTALLY friendzoned by Tatyana amirite???

So I said fuck all that. The way I played Strahd was that he was an abuser that viewed himself as a perpetual victim. He would describe himself as logical and rational, and unfeeling -- when the reality is, no, he feels quite a bit. Just most of that is anger or self-pity. I played him as a guy that would tell someone (probably a woman) that they're "too emotional" and then three minutes later punch a hole in his wall because he's flown into a rage. He thought if Tatyana's incarnations would just give him a chance, they'd see how much he really loved them. And if they didn't? Well, it must be someone else's fault. Not his. How could it be his? He did everything right.

A key element of Strahd's character, to me, was that while he had sympathetic elements in his backstory the man was an abuser through-and-through. Both physically and emotionally.

- I changed the timeline of Patrina's death to happen before he even met Tatyana. Patrina and Strahd dated while he was still human, and he ordered all the dusk elf women killed prior to becoming a darklord. I made these changes to smooth out that story arc, and also to emphasize to my players that Strahd was a monster well before becoming a vampire.

- The Tome of Strahd was actually changed entirely. Rather than being a huge exposition dump, it served as a sort of living journal for my players. Basically they could travel to any location in Barovia, open it up, and they'd get a diary entry from Strahd detailing his personal thoughts as to any major events that happened there. It also meant Sergei's role was kept hidden from my players for longer, and one of the mysteries they had to solve was figuring out who Sergei was.

- Vasili von Holtz is usually Strahd's alter ego. I would up changing this last minute into his simulacrum (one of my players got thirsty and looked up spoilers literally at like, almost the start of the campaign). Vasili was part of one of Strahd's plans to woo Tatyana -- he'd command the simulacrum to act like Sergei, get it to court Tatyana, then kill it and take its place once it had succeeded. What he didn't count on was that it would act like his own interpretation of Sergei, who he felt never listened to him. This resulted in the simulacrum eventually rebelling against him (until Strahd killed him).

- I used this monster block (dndbeyond link) instead of his RAW one. I also ran the campaign to level 13 in general, though.

Those are the major things I changed! Honestly I actually feel like out of all the characters, he was probably changed the least. Rahadin, the Abbot, Kasimir, van Richten, Ireena/Tatyana and even Ezmerelda were all changed a lot more than him (really: their backstories were just fleshed out/incorporated more).

#palidoozy rambles #curse of strahd #d&d #curse of strahd spoilers #cos #cos spoilers

[cross-d-a]

11, 24, 40 👀

!!! OHMYGOSH HELLO!!!!! 

11) Which planet would you want to call home?

If I liked heat at all, I’d say Tatooine since it’s my absolute favourite planet ever!! It’s just?? So fascinating??? I adore all the legends/canon lore and I have a bunch of headcanons, too :) 

However I, unfortunately, do not handle hot climates very well. So Imma have to go with Alderaan! They’re very environmentally conscious and have an interesting (if not very canonically developed) culture! They also seem to be a very morally good people? Just- everything about the people and the planet is so incredibly idyllic. I wouldn’t mind living there as long as it doesn’t involve any Death Stars. :)

24) Would you want to be human, or from another species?

I’d definitely want to be a Zabrak!! They’re my favourite humanoid species (besides Tusken Raiders, but like....i don’t actually want to BE a Tusken Raider..). It’d SUPER SUCK if I came from Dathomir but alsooo those sweet tattoos??? 👀👀👀 (But for SOME stupid reason female Dathomirian Zabraks DON’T have horns so I’d have to have to just..not have be cis female which is A-OK with me! ✨) I just love their horns and they’ve got super cool lore! Plus two planets which is even cooler!

40) If you could make your own Star Wars trilogy/series, what would it be about?

Oh GOD I would 10000% go straight for Nomi Sunrider!!! One of my all time fav SW characters!!!! You can find her in the Tales of the Jedi comics (specifically: The Saga of Nomi Sunrider, The Freedon Nadd Uprising, Dark Lords of the Sith, The Sith War, and Redemption). Of course, I own all of these, bc I Needed all the Nomi Sunrider Content in my life. Here I’m gonna spam you with pics:

She lived around ~4000 BBY, during the time of the Great Sith War (which she was HEAVILY involved in!!) I STAN Nomi Sunrider (née Da-Boda) not only bc of her cool name but because:

1) Look at that GORGEOUS receding hairline!! Love a powerful woman who OWNS her looks and doesn’t give into traditional beauty standards!

2) She was married to a Jedi before she became one. Her husband constantly told her she was powerful and would make an AMAZING Jedi (yay for marrying a man who LOVES and SUPPORTS his wife!!) but she was too humble to become one.

3) She is a MOTHER!!!!!!!

3) Her husband DIES. Objectively terrible for her, but 1000% amazing for US!!! Because then she takes up his lightsaber and absolutely DESTROYS his murderers.

4) She immediately feels guilty and vows never to take a life again (which.....she might go back on at some point, I honestly don’t remember, but I ADORE her for all of this)

4) She is now a SINGLE mother and we STAN single mothers in this house!!!

5) SHE IS A SINGLE MOTHER AND SHE STILL BECOMES A JEDI!! REPEAT!!! SHE IS A SINGLE MOTHER AND BECOMES A JEDI!!!!!!!!!! SHE RAISES HER DAUGHTER WHILE SHE IS A JEDI!!!!!!!!!!! How can I NOT fucking adore her??

6) She mistakes her new Master for a fuckin HORSE basically. A giant, bulky horse. Also, she rides him around all the time. It’s great. Nothing like letting your Master carry you around like he’s a beast of burden. Like Yoda in reverse.  

7) She’s got her own funky droid called A-D3O (ThreeDee) and they consider each other FAMILY!!! FAMILY!!! They worry about each other all the time and ThreeDee plays instruments! Three Dee also has a weirdly humanoid face and I LOVE him. I think he also uses a blaster at some point I don’t remember. Anyway, I Fully Support droids using blasters to kill the villains.

8) Also, okay, wiki says she’s human, but I 10000% do NOT believe that. maybe near-human but not fully human. I need more non-human female main characters in my life, please and thank.

8.b) This is turning into Nomi Sunrider Loving Hours but I will take ANY opportunity to scream about her and how much I want to marry her or just- be her friend. Or let her step on me. I’ll take anything at this point, really. I’m Begging.

9) She ends up becoming part of a TRIO with two brothers. They are 1000% her sidekicks and no I am not taking any other opinions on this matter.

10) She shacks up with the objectively Worse brother, but I support her coming to terms with the loss of her husband and finding new love and happiness in her life. At least she’s got a bro to complain about her stupid bf with.

10.b) Unfortunately, her stupid bf is ACTUALLY Stupid Beyond Belief and Nomi Sunrider is in for a lot of heartache.

10.c) There are some SUPER COOL parallels between the brothers and Anakin&Obi-Wan so I’m always here for that. 

11) Nomi Sunrider KNEW it was a Stupid Idea for her bf to infiltrate the Sith to “take them down from the inside.” She KNEW and she TOLD HIM. She is a fucking SMART WOMAN. But does he LISTEN?? NO. HE DOESN’T.

12) Nomi Sunrider is actually??? One of the most powerful Jedi EVER???? Like, she completely SEVERS her bf’s connection to the Force (bc he is a Stupid and Kills his brother and she is DISTRAUGHT) and also is able to create a giant Force-shield she uses to defeat Exar Kun. She is HUMBLE and INTELLIGENT and POWERFUL BEYOND BELIEF.

13) May I gently remind you that she STILL is a single mother and successfully raising her child during all of this??? Through training and adventures and a fucking WAR, Nomi Sunrider is KILLING IT with the parenting and her daughter LOVES her.

14) Nomi Sunrider BECOMES GRAND MASTER OF THE JEDI ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

15) Gonna say it again: NOMI SUNRIDER BECOMES GRAND MASTER OF THE JEDI ORDER!!!!!!!!

16) Need I say more??

So like, not only would we get an INCREDIBLE female lead who I think would actually be a fucking AMAZING influence culturally (that representation babaaay~), it would also take place during a SUPER interesting time in GFFA history?? It’s a relatively new but still well-established Jedi Order that ISN’T based on Coruscant quite yet (OSSUS OSSUS OSSUS). We’d get TOOONS of alien species, a shit ton of culture/history and lots of new planets!! We still get some ~spicy~ Sith conflict, and we get to see how it plays out in an intriguing way that sort of parallels Anakin?? OH AND!! We get to see a very different Jedi Order!! The dude who interpreted the Jedi Code as we know it lived during this time, so it’d be really really really cool to see different philosophies and cultures within this time period! (things like marriage not being frowned upon or even encouraged, etc. etc.)

I dunno, I just love this time period and I would die for Nomi Sunrider, so. GIMME A NOMI SUNRIDER TRILOGY PLS

--

AAHHH this was super fun!!!! Thanks for letting me blather :’D I just love Star Wars SO MUCH???

(❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

#ask game #cross talks #THIS IS NOMI SUNRIDER LOVING HOURS #AHH adrawrable thank you for the ask!!!!!!!! 💖 #Star Wars #nomi sunrider #yES I am tagging nomi bc I LOVE her and I want EVERYONE to love her too

[ralfstrashcan]

Malec in late 2B

It's been *checks watch* three years and I've finally calmed down enough to try and untangle my feelings about the end of 2B in a coherent way.

1) Alec's decision not to tell Magnus about the Soul Sword. I've worked through my thoughts regarding that in this fic already where I go into Alec's reasoning for it. The tldr of which is that a) Alec consciously made the decision not to tell Magnus instead of running out of time to decide, b) he actually had good reasons for that and made that decision with Magnus's and the Downworld's best interests at heart and c) ultimately his love for Magnus was the very reason he didn't tell him because if he had cared about sparing Magnus's feelings a little less he would have told Magnus about the Soul Sword on condition that Magnus can't tell his people, damn the guilt Magnus will feel when warlocks die because they weren't forewarned.

2) Magnus's reaction to finding out. Magnus flips his shit, basically, lashes out, is deliberately hurtful and doesn't really listen to Alec's reasons for his decision. This is both an understandable and an ic reaction because Magnus is a very emotion-driven character and what he just learned is drastic. Could there have been a more graceful way to handle this revelation? Certainly. But it's nothing I would just expect from any given character. You'd have to be exceptionally level-headed to keep your cool in such a situation and I don't fault Magnus for not being that. His reaction was very human.

Alec gets points deduction for his line “Let's not make this personal” because dude, do you know your boyfriend at all? Have you realized that emotional compartmentalization isn't his strong forte? This line just angers Magnus more. (Alec also gets points deduction, with extreme prejudice, for trying to shush Magnus because what is wrong with you, man. I mean, this might just be a personal hang-up of mine but isn't that gesture patronizing as hell? Anyway.) On the other hand Alec gets some points for not going after Magnus. When I first watched that I thought it was very strange and kinda weird but in hindsight it is obviously the right choice. Magnus needed time and space to deal and Alec realized that trying to go after him and talk it out then was pointless and would have only angered Magnus more.

3) Magnus's reaction to Alec seeking him out because of Max. Admirable. Magnus puts all his (very understandable) anger aside to rush to the Lighwood family's aid. It doesn't matter that he can't help in the end, he is there as emotional support despite the frosty atmosphere between him and Alec. It is the decent thing to do but not everybody would have shown such kindness in his shoes. 10/10.

4) Magnus contemplating if he should take the Seelie Queen's offer aka sappy Malec flashbacks. I'm gonna place half the blame on show writers and half the blame on Magnus himself because, bro, this is not how you make a strategical decision for your people. Not even once is Magnus shown contemplating the repercussions of his decision for the warlocks or Valentine or the future of the Downworld. He only mopes about his boyfriend betraying his trust, basically. And I mean! I understand he's hurting a lot! And I understand people can't just turn off their emotions! But a good leader should be able to put his own emotions aside at least for a short time when an integral decision about his people has to be made, and quickly! And in that regard Magnus, uh, fails, apparently.

Again, I think half the blame lies with the show writers who wanted cute Malec flashbacks and generally fail at portraying inner Downworlder affairs if they don't serve the shadowhunter-centric plot. But I can't just yell “ooc behavior!!” and shrug it off because this isn't exactly ooc behavior for Magnus. Magnus is a very emotion-driven character who fails at separating personal and political matters. That's a theme. I point no further than the whole Camille-thing where he turned a blind eye to her bleeder dens because he felt personally indebted to her, and only stopped her when Raphael's life was at stake. So yeah... 0/10.

Full disclosure, I think there is a different way to read these scenes. Maybe Magnus wasn't just nursing his broken heart and missing the point. Maybe what he was actually contemplating was what he'd been fighting about with Luke before, namely if Alec can even be trusted as a person or if he's too much a shadowhunter to ever deserve their faith and cooperation because he will always treat Downworlders as lesser, because he's as racist as the Clave. In that case it would make sense for him to remember their private 1:1 interactions, to reassess Alec's character as a whole. But it would also mean that the conclusion he reached is that Alec is as corrupt as the rest of the Clave, and that would make them getting back together without ever talking about this... even more messed up than it already is! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyway, needless to say that I don't interpret it this way.

5) Magnus breaking up with Alec. To me personally (and to Alec) the breakup makes no sense. Magnus and Alec have different stances on, like, the implications of their relationship (and I'm emotionally wired like Alec is, at least in that regard). What I mean is this: Why does Magnus feel the need to break up with Alec? He's not an idiot, he knows that just because he breaks up with Alec his feelings for Alec will not miraculously evaporate as well. He'll be as emotionally compromised as he was before. And yet he says, “The only thing holding me back from [making difficult decisions to ensure the survival of my people] is you.”

Here's the thing. When Alec decides not to tell Magnus about the Soul Sword he does so in his capacity as the Head of the Institute, taking (almost) no account of his role as Magnus's lover. He is able to do that because he can compartmentalize between these two roles in an extreme way and therefor his relationship status has no influence on his decision. (Sure, not being with Magnus wouldn't have provided extra incentive to tell him, but work with me here. What I mean is that if Alec had rationally decided to tell Magnus about the Soul Sword, he would have made that same decision whether he was with Magnus at that point or not.) What did influence his decision making process were his feelings for Magnus, and these remain unchanged regardless of their relationship status.

Magnus has an entirely different stance. To him being in a relationship implies a certain kind of loyalty that must be maintained at all times. If their roles had been reversed I don't doubt that Magnus would have told Alec about the Soul Sword immediately because of said loyalty, and he would have thought it through for exactly zero seconds beforehand. He expected the same thing from Alec and that's why he feels so betrayed when he realizes that Alec kept it from him. This is why Magnus feels the need to break up with Alec: to disengage from this loyalty that keeps him from making decisions with only the warlocks in mind. Magnus's decision making hinges on their relationship status and the loyalty it demands, not his feelings for Alec.

Alec doesn't understand this. That's why he tells Magnus that he can have both: Alec, and the freedom to make the best choices for the warlocks, to act like the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Alec wouldn't hold it against him if he made the best decisions for his people while they are together because Alec, too, did have Magnus and made decisions as the Head of the Institute. But Magnus works differently. He'd feel like he's betraying Alec if he makes High Warlock of Brooklyn decisions while still being with Alec. And that's why he breaks up with Alec, and that's why it makes sense for Magnus to break up with him.

6) Magnus's behavior afterwards. Oh my god where do I even start.

--- Magnus being a petty bitch? Hell yeah.

--- Magnus hiding behind the Seelie Queen and running after her like he's her lap dog? Hell no. Wtf did I just watch!! Even better, he leaves Raphael behind? And Raphael then tells Izzy that Magnus was his ride and he's effectively trapped at the Institute because the sun is shining brightly outside?? I'm sorry, what. The Downworld just divorced the shadowhunters with a side of “hmm maybe we'll stop caring about the Accords as well in the near future” and Magnus leaves his Raphael behind? This is unacceptable!! I don't even know what to say to that!!

--- This has surely been discussed before but it needs to be said. Magnus implementing an anti-portal ward around New York that incinerates any angel-blooded creature that tries to pass it and not telling Alec about it. They hear about it from Luke instead and since Jace's reaction is immediately telling the shadowhunter extra next to him to stop shadowhunter movement in and out of the city immediately it is heavily implied that some shadowhunters already died thanks to this ward – since there are apparently troop movements in and out of the city that need to be stopped. (Which was to be expected! Sure, they know Valentine won't leave the city before he's got his hands on what he believes to be the mortal mirror locked away at the Institute, but he could surely be regrouping outside the city. Sending patrols into the near vicinity is the sensible thing to do.) Shadowhunter casualties due to the ward are further implied by Jace then leaning heavily on the desk and half-whispering to himself “No more shadowhunters die today.” Which makes sense. The patrols in question would have just vanished with no chance to report back what happened to them so they were probably assumed dead by Valentine's hand.

The point: Wtf Magnus. He must have been aware this could and would happen. The way I see it there are only two possible explanations: Magnus deliberately did not tell the NY Institute shadowhunters a) because he thought word might get around to Valentine or b) out of pettiness. And considering that knowing about the ward doesn't magically un-trap you and only means you will not cross it and therefore remain alive but contained, a) doesn't really make sense. The ward wasn't designed to lure Valentine to his death. It was designed to keep Valentine in the city so the other Downworld factions could hunt him down, and the ward will continue to do so even after Valentine learns of its existence. There s no harm in him knowing about it while there is a lot of harm in the NY shadowhunters not knowing about it because they will just die, for nothing, while trying to find Valentine. Magnus willingly risking that on the off-chance that Valentine walks into the ward at random is not his style at all. This leaves pettiness as motivation and sure, Magnus is petty, but not at the cost of so many casualties. This is so painfully ooc that I just can't!!

7) Their “reconciliation.” As you might have already guessed from those quotation marks: Thanks, I hate it. That adequately sums up my feelings on the matter. Don't get me wrong, the scene itself is lovely, I guess. But, content! They have this huge issue and they just don't talk about it! Magnus never learns of Alec's (legit) reasons for not telling him about the Soul Sword. Alec apologizes for.. what exactly? Doing something he was convinced was the right thing? And they never realize their differences in decision making which is even worse! This whole drama stemmed from the fact that they view the obligations that come with being in a relationship differently where their responsibilities as leaders are concerned. This is bound to become a problem again in the future!! And they just! dont! talk about it! aaaahhhhhhhh!!!! how!!!!!! are you adults or what!!!!!!! *sigh* just... –ꝏ /10

8) Aftermath. Oh right, this will of course not become a problem again in the future because Magnus loses his job. How neat.

Leaving the salt aside though I have to admit that I.. actually think the warlocks weren't entirely in the wrong in sacking Magnus. And before you kill me, hear me out. The first thing to note is that neither Raphael nor Luke get sacked for their decision to side with the Seelie Queen. Why is that? Because vampires and werewolves are fundamentally differently organized than warlocks. Warlocks have an international infrastructure. There's the Council, the Spiral Labyrinth, and stuff. Vampires and werewolves have their local clans and packs, and nothing more. Magnus has superiors. Raphael and Luke do not. After the Seelie Queen makes that deal with Valentine she condemns every Downworlder, except those located in New York, to death. Raziel's wish will kill every Downworlder on earth and only those in the Seelie Realm are safe. And as Magnus says in early 2x19

If Valentine had succeeded then literally all the other warlocks in the world would have died! Yes, the fact that the Seelie Queen threw them all under the bus isn't Magnus's fault, but

it was to be expected. Luke and Raphael both warn Magnus not to trust the Seelie Queen, that she has her own agenda and it's to rule over the Downworld, and that's why both Luke and Raphael were hesitant to accept her deal.

So I think it's pretty understandable why the other warlocks kicked Magnus out on his ass. In their eyes he would have been semi-complicit in their collective demise if Valentine had succeeded, having sided with the one who betrayed the Downworld. It doesn't matter that Magnus's choice means the warlocks at least wouldn't have gone entirely extinct if Valentine had won. It doesn't matter that the Seelie Queen would have made that deal with Valentine whether the other Downworlder factions had sided with her or not. (She had Simon in her Realm who could create new vampires, she probably would have kept Maia for new werewolves, and warlocks can be made by uuhh unethical means. What better Downworld than one that's never known anything but the Seelie Queen's uncontested reign? Yes, she absolutely would have let them all die.) None of that matters to the warlocks. They feel like Magnus betrayed them as a community and that's why they sack him.

Okay, so now we know why it made (in-universe) sense for the warlocks to fire Magnus. Make no mistake though – I don't approve of this reasoning. It's short-sighted and not very practical, and also unfair. Better save some of your species than none, right? Fine, Magnus should have informed the Council and stuff about what was going on so they could make their own deals with the Seelie Queen if they want to.. but then, do we even know if he did or didn't inform them? No. Any further discussion on this point is just poking in the dark so let's move on.

I did say that I think the warlocks weren't entirely in the wrong in dismissing Magnus from his job, though. Let me explain.

a) Magnus's decision to side with the Seelie Queen or remain sided with the Institute would have not made a difference regarding the whole Valentine-thing, right? Things would have played out exactly the same: Warlocks create anti-portal ward, Val makes a deal with the Seelie Queen and gets to Alicante anyway. The survival of the Downworld depended on Clary stabbing Valentine to death before he made the wish, and that remains unchanged no matter Magnus's decision. What Magnus's decision would have influenced (if this goddamn show knew what continuity is, lol) is what came after. Where does siding with the trigger-happy Seelie Queen, who made no secret of gunning for war with the Clave, leave the warlocks? On the Clave's bad side, that's for sure. Especially if things had escalated between the seelies and the shadowhunters (which they do in the books!!). In the show.. things just go back to how they were before the Downworld's little fail-rebellion. Either because the Downworld and the Clave mutually decide to just pretend none of it ever happened (since the Consul was exposed as a Circle Member, which, awkward) or, which I believe is more likely, because 3A focuses on The Owl Mystery and not on foreign policy and this show just sucks when it comes to including anything not strictly-plot-relevant. In any case!! Magnus's decision to side with the Seelie Queen should have had severe repercussions for the warlocks and their standing with the Clave aka dramatically worsened it, and for nothing (since nothing came of the “rebellion” and it's honestly doubtful how many warlocks would have wanted a full-on war with the shadowhunters anyway. They seem pretty good at laying low and doing their own thing). So in the long term siding with the Seelie Queen wasn't / wouldn't have been a strategically good decision (if it wasn’t followed up by a war of independence, which it wasn’t) and a legit reason to get fired.

b) More importantly, in 3x09 Lorenzo says to Magnus, “I took this position because you couldn't handle it. You let your heart dictate your actions and that will be your downfall,” which I always took to mean – since Lorenzo was god knows where when all of 2B happened – that the gossip in the warlock community is strong, and has it that Magnus only sided with the Seelie Queen as revenge for Alec not telling him about the Soul Sword / something relating to their breakup. No matter how this opinion formed in the community... *glances at 4)* they're not wrong? And this is definitely a legit reason to get fired.

So where does this leave us? I don't approve of the Council firing Magnus for the reason they did because it was a dumb reason. When I look at Lorenzo – lazy, self-centered, unwilling to actually do anything when push comes to shove – I don't think Magnus should be fired because he's obviously the much better choice as High Warlock. And I don't even think that siding with the Seelie Queen was, per se, a wrong choice. But the way Magnus made that choice left much to be desired and was a clear lapse in leadership, one where a dismissal would have been justified. And this should have been addressed in a constructive way so he can learn from his mistake.

#shadowhunters #alec lightwood #magnus bane #valentine morgenstern #the seelie queen #malec #i rewatched the 2b season finale and this happened #is this a controversial opinion? lol