#everyone sympathetic

[lord-squiggletits]

I think the key component to my personal reading of post-Delphi Pharma is that he's trying to be a horrible person on purpose. Not "on purpose" in the way that people have free will to exercise their own choices, but in that Pharma's "mad doctor" persona is a performance he puts on to deliberately embrace how much everyone else hates him. Basically, if people already think you're a "bad Autobot" and a horrible doctor who just kills his patients for fun, why try to prove otherwise to people who have already made up their minds about you? Just fully embrace the fact that people see you as an asshole. Don't try to change their minds. Don't plead for their forgiveness or understanding. Just stop caring. If you're going to be remembered as a monster, you might as well be a memorable monster, and eke as much pleasure and hedonism as you can out of it before karma catches up to you and you inevitably crash and burn.

I mean, I guess you could just go the route of "Oh, Pharma was always a fucked up creepy guy and Delphi was just him taking the mask off," but I really don't like that interpretation because, for one, it feels really wrong to take a character like Pharma becoming evil under duress and going, "Oh well clearly he did the things he did because he was evil all along," as if somehow Pharma breaking under blackmail/torture/threat of horrible death was a sign of him having poor moral character. As opposed to, you know, suffering under the very real threat of horrible death for himself and everyone he cares about while being manipulated by a guy who specializes in psychological torture.

The second reason is that it just doesn't make sense to write Pharma as having been evil all along. I mean...

Occam's Razor says that the best argument is the one with the simplest explanation. Doesn't it make way more sense to take Pharma's appearances in flashbacks, his friendship with Ratchet, his stunning medical accomplishments, and the few we see of him speaking kindly/sympathetically (or in the least charitable interpretation, at least professionally) towards his patients and conclude "This guy was just a normal person, if exceptionally talented." Taking all of these flashback appearances at face value and assuming Pharma was being genuine/honest is a way simpler and more logical explanation than trying to argue that Pharma for the past 4 million years was just faking being a good doctor/person. I mean, it's possible within the realm of headcanon, but the fact is Pharma's appearances in the story are so brief that there simply wasn't room in the story for there to be some sort of secret conspiracy/hidden manipulation behind why Pharma acted the way he did in the past.

I just can't help but look at things like Pharma's friendship with Ratchet (himself a good person and usually a fine judge of character) and the fact that even post-Delphi, pretty much every single mention of Pharma comes with some mention of "He was a good doctor for most of his life" or "He was making major headways in research [before he started killing patients]" which implies that even the Autobots themselves see Pharma's villainy as a recent turn in his life compared to how for "most of his life" he "used to be" a good doctor.

And although Pharma doesn't know this, we as the readers (and even other characters like Rung) know about Aequitas technology and the fact that it actually works, so... if Pharma really was an unrepentant murderer, why couldn't he get through the forcefield too? The Aequitas forcefield doesn't require that a person be completely morally pure and free of wrongdoing or else how could Tyrest get through, just that they feel a sense of inner peace and lack feelings of guilt. Pharma has murdered and tortured people by this point, and put on quite a campy and theatrical show of how much he sees it as a fun game, so why then can he not get through?

It circles back to my headcanon at the start of this post that the "mad doctor" persona is just that-- a persona. Delphi/post-Delphi Pharma's laughing madman personality is just so far removed from every flashback we saw of him and everything we can infer based on how other people see/saw him before that, to me, the mad doctor act is (at least in large part, if not fully) a persona that Pharma puts on to put his villainy in the forefront.

To avoid an overly simplistic/ableist take, I don't think Tarn tortured Pharma into turning crazy. To me, it's more like the constant pressure of death by horrific torture, the feeling of martyrdom as Pharma kept secret that he was the only one standing between Delphi and annihilation, the physical isolation of Messatine as well as the emotional separation from Ratchet, being forced to violate his medical oaths (pretty much the only thing Pharma's entire life has been about), etc. All of that combined traumatized Pharma to the point that the only way he could avoid cracking was to just stop caring about all of it. Because at least then, even if he's still murdering patients to save Delphi from a group of sadistic freaks, Pharma doesn't have to feel guilty and sick about doing it. As opposed to the alternatives, which were probably either going off the deep end and killing himself to escape, or confessing to what he did and getting jailed for it.

In that light, Pharma becoming a mad doctor makes sense. It avoids the bad writing tropes of "oh this character who was good his entire life was actually just evil and really good at hiding it" as well as "oh he got tortured and went crazy that's why he's so random and silly and killing people, he's crazy" and instead frames Pharma's evil as something he was forced into, to the point where in order to avoid a full psychological breakdown and keep defending Delphi, he just had to stop caring about the sanctity of life or about what other people might think of him.

Then, of course, the actual Delphi episode happens, and Pharma's own lifelong best friend Ratchet basically spits in his face and sees him as nothing more than a crazy murderer who went rogue from being a good Autobot. Then Pharma gets his hands cut off and left to die on Messatine. At that point, Pharma has not only been mentally/emotionally broken into losing his feelings of compassion, he's received the message loud and clear: He is alone. Everyone hates him. Not even his own best friend likes him any more. No one even cared enough about him to check if he actually died or not. He will only ever be remembered as a doctor who went insane and killed his patients.

So in the light of 1. Having all of your redeeming qualities be squeezed out of you one by one for the sake of survival and 2. Having your reputation and all of your positive relationships be destroyed and 3. People only know/care about you as "that doctor who became evil and killed his patients" rather than the millions of years of good service that came before.

What else is there to do but internalize the fact that you'll forever be seen as a monster and a freak, and embrace it? People already see you as a murderer for that blackmail deal you did, so why not become an actual murderer and just start killing people on a whim? People already see you as an irredeemable monster who puts a stain on the Autobot name, so why beg for their forgiveness when you could just shun them back? You've already become a murderer, a traitor, and a horrible doctor, so what's a few more evil acts added to the pile? It's not like anyone will ever forgive you or love you ever again.

Why care? Why try to hold on to your principles of compassion, kindness, medical ethics, when an entire lifetime of being a good person did nothing to save you from blackmail and then abandonment? Why put yourself through the emotional agony of feeling lonely, guilty, miserable, when you could just... stop caring, and not hurt any more?

#squiggposting #pharma apologism #i'm sure the doylist reason for the writing is just that pharma was a designated villain #so since he's a villain and 'crazy' it's fine for everyone even the good guys to treat him like complete trash #i just think from a watsonian perspective taking a sympathetic approach is way more interesting and logically consistent #what i mean is like. from a meta perspective one of the best ways to show that a character is super evil and not worth saving #is when even the good guy heroes. the ones who are supposed to be kind and compassionate and wise. see him as dirt #and this is also kind of a necessity in most plots bc TF is the kind of series that just needs action villains and long-term antagonists #so not every villain is written or has a plot to be made redeemable. and pharma is one of these bc he's not important or a legacy character #so from a doylist (meta) perspective you could read the autobots' disregard of pharma as a sign of #'this guy is not meant to have your sympathy as a reader. pay no attention to him' #but from a watsonian (in universe) perspective it paints a miserable picture of pharma being utterly forsaken by the ppl he served alongsid #and like yeah i'm super autistic about pharma so of course i view him with sympathy but like #the idea of being a loyal and good person for years only to be subjected to a Torment Nexus of #being blackmailed into breaking all of the oaths you held sacred. under threat of you and all your comrades dying horrible torturous deaths #then when your comrades find out about it they focus solely on the 'harvesting organs' and not on the 'blackmail' part #and then you get literally left for dead by your comrades and best friend hating your guts #and then you get rescued by a guy who uses you as a test subject for his evil machine #this is a fucking nightmare scenario like pharma could hardly be suffering more if the author TRIED to make him suffer #and for me it's like. the evil pharma did can't be decontextualized to what drove him to that. as well as the question of like #how easily ppl can write someone off as evil and turn a blind eye to (or even find satisfaction in) their suffering bc theyre evil #and either brought it on themselves or it's just karma paying a visit #like. i feel like if pharma WERE a shitty doctor and a terrible person his whole life then the delphi situation would feel like karma #but the way it's written and the lore retroactively put in makes it feel more pharma getting thrown in a torture carousel #and THEN becoming evil. but then being treated as if he was always evil or was some sort of bad apple #bc like i'm not opposed to LOLing when a villain gets a karmic torture/death related to the wrongs they committed #but in pharma's case it feels less like karma and more like endless torture + being abandoned by ppl who should have been more loyal

[scintillyyy]

anyways, i'm not going to say tim is a paragon of sensitivity or anything, because he's not, but i do think the graysons' death is an area where he does actively try to at least be somewhat delicate and sensitive about discussing it.

batman #441

like he very much actively does not want to have to tell dick how he knows, and he's very apologetic that bringing it up is hurtful to dick.

secret origins 80 page giant

like honestly. this is actually a very neutral way of telling the story. very bare bones. "it was the best day of my life. then your parents died." which. is objectively true?? and tim is still very apologetic, especially when he realizes how he might be coming across. like. idk. obviously dick is the center of this tragedy, but it is fundamentally like. a super, super terrible and traumatizing thing for a child of indeterminate age (anywhere from 2-7) to witness a death, not just in general, but at a happy place like a circus. hell. it was fundamentally terrible for the adults at the circus to witness this death, bruce and jack and janet and every single person in that audience included. and while it's a little cringey that tim is narrating the worst day to dick's life to dick, this conversation only even came up because dick brought it up to begin with.

and at this point dick and tim have known each other for almost a decade in real time and have been explicitly written as brothers for probably about 4 years real time, so dick probably genuinely doesn't mind talking about this with tim. i do like the idea of how this probably progresses for dick over time. like, at first, dick is probably super, super annoyed at this thirteen year old kid who wormed his way into dick's personal tragedy but then as dick gets to know him and love him and that's his little brother now-

like how much it must crush dick (now that he knows and loves tim) that tim had to experience the same horrible thing that happened to dick and that dick's parent's death happening is what ended up bringing the two of them back together again eventually.

#dick and tim #realistically haly's circus probably went broke because their liability insurance #had to cover therapy for a full house audience that night #unless they wanted to be sued into oblivion by everyone else in that audience that night #jack and janet were probably the most sympathetic parents there tbh they sent dick the photo and then proceded to never speak of it again #i'm sure like 75% of the rest of the audience were not as sympathetic because their kids were traumatized from this event #anyways we have acquaintances whose children did witness someone accidentally dying in front of them at a young age #and they were very affected by the tragedy and they were very much considered victims of the tragedy merely by witnessing it

[arsenicflame]

i Do Not Trust people who make Mary the bad guy in their stories when the show went out of its way to specifically show us how she was suffering just as much as stede was in their marriage and that shes, yknow, a good person

#mary is specifically framed in a sympathetic light in all of her appearances. the show switches to following her narrative so we can see #how much better her new life is for her too!!! like yes she tries to kill stede but we are shown in the narrative WHY she makes that choice #and that she struggles with it and we see stede understanding this too! he supports her decisions and her new life and is happy for her!!! #at no point are we shown anything that makes mary a bad person or bad mother- honestly i generally like mary far more than stede anyway #but even if you dont you should be able to acknowledge... that if u make her the bad guy??? w. what did you take away from the show?? #idk it has the vibes of. the girl character all the fans hate because she gets in the way of their precious little gay ship #or whatever. you know what i mean #ofmd #our flag means death #mary bonnet #mary allamby bonnet #everyone whos a mary hater is also an izzy hater bc theyre coded the same character type. betrayed wives my beloved #(this is a joke.) #uh. this might be one to add in the tags on again sorry gang i have too many thoughts

[kyouka-supremacy]

Again the sickness speaking but here's something that has been going through my mind since forever:

I feel like a good way to mitigate a lot of discontent with the doa arc ending and in general the whole Dazai-being-flawless issue bsd has going on is by comparing bsd to Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Please bear with me for two minutes.

When Sherlock Holmes was being published, people were intrigued and enamoured by Holmes' brilliant and charming, crimes-solving figure. People read the stories for the pure joy of being left gaping at his superhuman wits again and again; they didn't want to see him fail, they wanted to be shocked and amazed by his genius. When Holmes died and then came back, nobody lamented it being unrealistic, because realism was not what people were reading the books for! They were reading to be impressed, to cheer for the hero and then take satisfaction in seeing him turn out victorious. That's the author-reader deal that was made there: to impress and to enjoy being impressed.

As of recently I feel like we've been asking from bsd something it never promised us in the first place. Maybe it's just not that kind of series! Maybe it's more about surprising the reader with how the hero is going to make it and less about highlighting his flaws and insecurities. And like, that's okay! That's why Dazai getting away with it isn't it him getting away with it “again”, it's just how bsd is; in a way, it's what makes bsd bsd.

I think it really clicked with me like it never did before when I watched the last episode of season 5; because the arc ending felt so shocking and unpredictable, very deus-ex-machina trope, a little underwhelming in its lowering the stakes that were there the whole time, and yet so extremely on brand with bsd, I didn't even have it in me to be disappointed. It was so similar to the Guild's arc ending and even more to the Cannibalism arc ending, and maybe it really is just a pattern, maybe it really is what bsd aspires to be, and that's okay too.

Also, I can't stretch this enough: if it's not your cup of tea, that's fine. I can't say it's mine either. But I feel like criticizing bsd now for how it's always been falls quite short, because it really feels like demanding from it what it never promised to deliver in the first place. That's just as far as my current perception of the series goes, though, so feel free to disagree with me on this.

#Btw this is not me comparing Holmes character with Dazai character. #Holmes character is something Dazai character will never be (respectful of women) #The also real difference between Holmes and Dazai is that one author loathes the character with everything that's in them– #and the other author loves the character with everything that's in them #I've also briefly mentioned before that Atsushi is a very Watson-like figure in the way it uses as someone deeply human‚ #sympathetic to the reader and that the reader can see themselves in‚ #plot device so that Holmes has someone he can explain his deduction to and with his awe further underlines and uplifts Holmes' genius #Also sassy #osamu dazai #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd s5 #Wow and here's me putting my season 5 thoughts down after three months. Took a raging fever for me to do so #To be fair when the episode dropped everyone was a bit crazy over the ending for one reason or the other #So back then I felt like waiting things to chill out first #mine #I often find superfluous to end posts with “feel free to disagree with me on this” because it's so obvious and expected it goes unsaid #But I suppose sometimes it bears repeating...

[perenlop]

looking at wc excerpts is so exhausting bc ill hear secondhand stuff from the fandom about female characters and their situations and go “wow i kinda hope she interacts with this other female character, i think they’d get along really well” and then i do find excerpts where they interact and they hate each other because the erins will scream and die before letting two grown unrelated female characters have a nice interaction post omen of the stars apparently

#like even the ones that DO get along inevitably get boy drama at some point #anyways. wtf dovewing and tawnypelt should be friends not tawnypelt hating her for being an outsider who stole her baby #sparkpelt and twigbranch should be really close given she watched her grow up and saved her life and defended her all the time #not sparkpelt just arbitrarily hating her and being antagonistic towards her for the sake of contrived conflict to make alderheart look good #brackenwing should be sympathetic to and care about palebird when her mate is antagonizing her and their child while she has ppd #not mocking her for naming her dead child #like apparently bristlefrost and spotfur got along but do they even count when they also had petty boy drama #why does everyone in this series have to be so mean to each other even within their own clans like why cant anyone have friends #or even friends that last beyond one or two books #echoed voice

[yourhighness6]

Saw a shitpost about how the steambabies would be airbenders because of the elements mixing and all I could think was that it was the ultimate ex's revenge

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zutara #katara x zuko #zuko x katara #steambabies #no but can you imagine #everyone would loose their fucking minds #by which I mean katara would be in shock #zuko would probably be pissed for a few days but want to support his kids and eventually get over it #sokka would laugh his ass of once he heard #so would toph #suki would do the same a little more sympathetically #aang would try to play it cool and internally be like “oh fuck shit did I accidentally mess with the spirit world again” #not that aang swears internally

[sinfuego]

Tbh, nothing has made me sympathize more with Kipperlilly Copperkettle than her anger issues.

Cause anger is an emotion we feel when we're missing something. When we need something and can't get it. It's a balm to make us feel better when things don't go our way.

When things aren't fair.

#d20 #dimension 20 #d20 fantasy high #fantasy high junior year #d20 spoilers #fhjy #fantasy high spoilers #of course just cause you feel like things are unfair doesnt mean they actually are #and the reason why its an anger issue is cause the anger has befome detrimental #its warped from being somethjng to comfort you when you feel powerless to a tool you use against others when you fedl slighted #part of why anger issues are so hard to overcome is cause of how good it feels in the moment #even if you feel terrible guilt afterwards #the catharsis of releasing anger can be such a relief #that you dont even realise youve started looking for reasons to be angry #youre listing things that are terrible with the world just so you can feel better by getting angry at them #things like capitalism and people who bullied you and how your boss is a terrible racist #things that everyone can get angry over #until they get more personal and warps your judgment #“my boss called a group of immigrant a bunch of racial slurs” “his secretary was there too she can back me up” #“when i brought it up with her she says she wasnt payjng attention or something” “shes peobably racist too and thats why he hired her” #it becomes easier to make jumps like that instead of giving people the benefit of the doubt #easier to justify your anger with the smallest slights #until youre yelling at a pedestrian whe. you almost ran them over #“sure it was a red light but they shouldve paid attention and seen me coming too” #anyways this is all to say kipperlilly probably has some issues to deal with #idk if shes actually behind this plot or if shes being manipulated #doesmt stop her from being a total dick tho #but it does make me a little more sympathetic to her

[jasontoddenthusiastt]

BFTC isn’t really a case of terrible characterization for Jason so much as it was a terrible case of victim blaming. Like yeah, some of the things Jason did were a bit extreme compared to his “better” appearances, but that’s nothing new and pretty much true of many stories that aren’t utrh or lost days. The bad parts are are also definitely exaggerated by fans.

The story isn’t centered on Jason. Of course every other character’s description of Jason would be knee-jerk dismissive and misunderstanding, since (again) the intention was to make Jason out to be the cartoony bad guy villain. But if you look past the layers of grime they added, the bare bones of his characterization are not entirely incorrect. It’s a biased story in which their intended criticisms of Jason’s morals often fell short, so to compensate they deliberately cranked up his motivations to be more extreme and unrealistic (but one which, nonetheless got Jason’s overall thoughts and goals relatively consistent with stories that portrayed him accurately).

Yes, him shooting Damian was out of character, but granted we’re all in agreement that it was a true case of “bad writing decision”, I don’t think it’s hard to look past. The only other bit people probably complain about (which felt iffy at worst) was him being “a bit enthusiastic” at times in trying to convince Dick to become another lethal Batman (you can just as easily say Jason wouldn’t have been personally invested enough to have acted in the way he did). I don’t care though because he was probably doing it for shits and giggles, and it was funny watching him push their buttons on his spare time while being excellent at his job. Same old ‘none of them deny that he’s effective, they just can’t get behind the killing’ conflict.

Looking past the fact that Jason still had a valid point, the “he’s the bad guy” plot falls apart for other obvious reasons, which happen in the 3rd issue. It’s kind of hard to focus on how much of a bitch Jason’s being when the other characters are written in an infinitely more problematic way (which ends up happening in most “hate Jason” stories). Not only did they heavily imply Jason is a victim of SA, but the way Dick/the batfamily treats Jason about this is … horrible. Arguing that this was a case of character assassination for Bruce and Dick would be more realistic than using this story to claim Jason is a Bad Person™.

Even though Bruce does have a bad track record with his perspective on victims of SA.

Hey. Maybe listen to the living person begging you to turn it off.

Geez. I wonder why he never felt safe enough to confide in Bruce or any of the rest of them. Implying that enduring what he did made him “broken beyond repair”, that he needs to be “fixed”, and saying verbatim, “you are my greatest failure”, not “I failed you greatly”. Then deciding on behalf of Jason that a bunch of people who weren’t involved in what happened to him should all know about this so they can decide what should be done. And everyone agrees with this garbage. Unbelievable.

Aka, any sort of healing he may have tried to accomplish was ruined by you lot. When exactly am I supposed to see that Jason was evil all along.

The story collapses in on itself in the third issue because where Dick is supposed to be at his prime within the arc, he just sort of rambles about how Jason was a shitty victim and then awkwardly shifts to talking about personal growth and coming to accept his own heroic destiny.

I do resent this, but not because “Jason sucks here”. Jason’s “bad portrayal” pales in comparison to the problematic mindsets given to the other characters (namely Dick) which were framed as good-natured intentions and “tough love”. As for people who describe this as “vilifying Jason to prop up Dick” … I don’t really know what to make of that.

#my post #the way they constantly go out of their way to praise Jason’s marksmanship and overall combat skills #and how everyone he killed died because he meant for them to #and Tim and Damian weren’t critically injured. he didn’t attack them with the intention to kill and it’s obvious #not only that it’s made clear they were both wearing heavy duty kevlar #and considering Jason’s an expert on this stuff himself he knew it wouldn’t really do long term damage. #he also knows how to attack people to do any specific kind of damage. if you claim that about Bruce smashing a dude’s skull #against a brick wall and not killing him then you can claim the same thing for Jason #but of course people will always dwell on inconsequential bullshit and try to make a grand point out of it if it’s about Jason #even as they point out that it was a dumb decision made by the writers #‘Jason was violent towards children' do you want me to never shut up again about who is consistently violent with his own children? #not only was this pretty tame compared to the things Bruce has done to Jason and the other batkids #in the majority of his appearances Jason has always been deeply sympathetic and caring towards kids #hence why people always point out how this is a shitty outlier

[a-menaceinpink]

read the green bone saga this week and i’m just saying. if you want an in-depth political fantasy mafia thriller (yes all of those words apply) set in a post colonial nation that is navigating an unsure global political position and the potential exploitation of its culturally significant resource that simultaneously explores the bonds between family and how they can take different shapes in the wake of loss and love and life, with brilliantly developed, fleshed out characters and realistic pacing (both in world and in the actual delivery of the story). i HIGHLY recommend.

#truly even the characters who do some hateable things are difficult to hate #everyone makes horrible terrible choices but they are all so sympathetic and understandable #i was STRESSED reading these books i tell you #my only comment is i would’ve actually liked to see the last book spread into two books just bc so much happens and i think some of the #characters could’ve used the additional time to be developed and for us to get to know them a little better but ult i have no real complaint #also i wish it was gayer but that’s that #i was really wowed by these books and i read a LOT of fantasy and i don’t like a lot of it so. trust this is a weighty recommendation #fonda lee the woman that you are <3 #the green bone saga #jade city #jade war #jade legacy

[the-mystical-aquatic-gay]

i’ve seen a couple crossovers of doctor who and the magnus archives, which is an amazing idea in general and i would like more

but what i think is potentially the best combination for that crossover that i have yet to see is nine + whichever iteration of the archives crew

imagine this horribly traumatized little ball of sunshine who just had to destroy his entire planet, meeting jonathan jarchivist sims

obviously what point in the tma canon it happened would massively change how that went but i would like to see it and honestly i’m this close to writing it myself

#i don’t know if nine would like s1 jon at least not at the start #s2 jon is getting picked up by his scruff while 9(the professional hypocrite) tries to help him try out a healthy coping mechanism or two #and also y’know solve the mysteries of the institute and gertrude’s murder and stuff #i think he would immediately (& rightly) be suspicious of s3 jon’s new powers #s4 i think he’d be extremely concerned about everyone’s plans for jon #and also very sympathetic to everyone abandoning him #s5……….. that would be a rough time for nine to meet jon #it’d probably be way to close to his own issues and past #but also i like to think he’d hear how jonah tricked him into doing this and immediately join martin on ‘kill jonah magnus’ train #all of these interactions would obviously change if rose and or jack were there #and if anyone else at the archives know about the doctor #actually speaking of jack i would like him and tim to meet #the magnus archives #tma #tma podcast #tma au #tma headcanons #tma shitpost #tma jon #tma tim #doctor who shitpost #doctor who textpost #doctor who captain jack harkness #doctor who #ninth doctor #captain jack harkness #rose tyler #doctor who rose

[arsenicflame]

since we all appear to be talking about izzy 'calling the police' on stede id like to offer my silly little two cents:

its not like the navy wasn't actively looking for him anyway??????

at most, izzys actions sped up badminton catching up with stede, but its made very clear that badminton wanted Stede dead well before this, and was willing to use whatever he could to find him- whos to say jackie wouldnt have cut a deal on her own? that any other pirate thats seen them being unsubtle in a port wouldn't take the opportunity to make a quick buck over a guy who is Nobody and holds no influence that could lead to any consequences for them?

in reality izzy is probably the only person who would receive negative repercussions to selling out stede, given his personal connection with ed- any other pirate would probably have gotten away unscathed, anonymous. they likely wouldnt have even been present like izzy was. izzy had personal stakes, anyone else would have taken the money and ran

the way i see it, with or without izzy the events of episode 10 probably would have happened in some degree, izzy just expedited the timeline

#like ok. i dont exactly support izzys actions but i honestly dont see it as that big of a deal??? to our characters i mean #idk i just. its a dick move!! but i struggle to see it as any more than that #its the actions of a desperate man who made a stupid decision to get his.... ed. out of what he saw as a bad situation #whether it is or not i cant say! but you cant deny ed drastically changed in the time he was on the revenge #in a way that could be concerning from the outside #(i saw a good post kinda comparing it to your friend ending up in a cult and. yeah. excellent description from an outside perspective) #idk theres a lot of. undertones in the way people say 'calling the police' and also they always say ed too and its like. no! izzy tried to #get ed out of there! he set the navy on everyone BUT ed. and its not like the navy really cared about the crew. only stede #i am not the person to talk about why 'calling the cops' is a bad take but the posts are out there. ive seen them. #izzy did what hundreds of pirates did to save their own hide- including hornigold himself (but honestly that was worse because he actively #turned hunter. not just a guy with a tip) #also side historic note that uhh. the navy was casually in Nassau. what exactly was the situation there??? was shit occurring. w #we know it did in history #idk #nyxtalks #ofmd #izzy hands #israel hands #spanish jackie 🤝 izzy: girlbosses for selling stede out to the British/Spanish for their own gain #idk i think thats the one thing he did 'wrong' but ita still very sympathetic to me #its not like izzy dibbed in a guy nobody cared about #'hey hey ill sell you information about this pirate please let me sell you information' ' i mean i guess we are supposed to be doing that' #badminton had an active vendetta against stede and kinda seemed like. he would stop at nothing to get him??? #given. the whole 'id rather let blackbeard go and kill Stede than take a huge pirate into custody' thing

[infactilovetea]

15 year old me is still waiting for Casting Moonshadows to be updated

#wolfstar #i know everyone reads ATYD but I loved CM sooooo much #anyone sympathetic? #remus lupin #sirius black #remus x sirius #why can’t i tag wolfstar #the marauders #ao3 #fanfiction #i‘m not 15 if that wasn‘t obv #i meant my inner 15 year old

[runawaymarbles]

at this point i am simply uninterested in any opinion on a hot-button political topic that treats human beings as a mass of meaningless hypotheticals

#this goes for all of them!!!!!! #some people may die and that is the cost of the economy going #those are real people! #pro life people who shrug off the number of complexities and ways their laws will ruin lives for a nebulous greater good they can't define #pro choice people who groupthink each other into forgetting that a lot of people do want to be pregnant and the loss of a baby is a tragedy #places that don't think accessibility laws should apply to them #people who unironically advocate for murdering billionaires #people who shrug off mass casualty events because they think one side or the other had it coming/is not sympathetic enough #idk I think everyone should spend some time around babies (most future members of some undesierable class or another) #and have a good long think about the work that goes into making a person and the amount of impact people have on the lives of others #and those who haven't or don't know someone who has gone through the loss of a child should really think.about what that is like. #sorry fam im' editing a stillborn shoot and i'm very tired of the internet actually #op

[archduchessofnowhere]

Youtube algorithm: we have a new Empress Sisi video for you!

Me: is it a nuanced take on her life based in updated historiography with cited sources or is it just the poorly researched cliché of "Sisi was always a miserable victim tortured by her evil mother-in-law"?

Youtube algorithm: it's a good video trust us :)

*I play the video* *it's the cliché of Sisi was always a miserable victim tortured by her evil mother-in-law*

#at this point i have it coming. it's just that i keep half expecting that one day the video will be if not good at least decent #but this one was so vile towards sophie. no she wasn't furious when elisabeth got engaged to fj she was happy!! #no she didn't blame elisabeth for baby sophie's death she was very sympathetic towards her and comforted her!! #no she didn't '“bully'' and ''terrorize'' everyone around her what are you even talking about #like this isn't even in one of the big biographies of Elisabeth they just made that one up. or maybe they used die kaiserin as a source?

[beltsourcookie]

the faerie kingdom episode would have been better if they added worms and moles as their npcs and not a bunch of monotone grayscale silver aesthetic

in fact, the forest/woods aesthetic isnt the problem because compared to actual cottagecore faerie aesthetic, the faerie kingdom is too incredibly 'pristine' and feels like youre in in the utensil section of the cooking aisle

devsis creating the faerie kingdom:

what the faerie kingdom should have taken inspiration from:

cookies that have heavy designs from wild berries and flowers would have been more suitable because it can build a more creative and colourful world instead and there would be endless possibilities for outfits

#cookie run kingdom #yeah we have sugar paradise in ovebreak but thats like wilderness for biscuit animals #like #man devsis really is trying to make us sympathetic for the faerie kingdom but theres really nothing to care for #theyre all perfect elegant cookies in a mysterious land and sing songs #it's boring #when we enter hollyberry kingdom it's full of festivities and cookies who want to invite you to it #dark cacao kingdom is cold and all but theyve got warriors who defend their land from the abyssal licorice sea and care for their families #golden cheese's kingdom was fucking decimated but it's more heartbreaking when golden cheese does everything to recreate it #pure vanilla kingdom was an empty ghost town and everyone literally moved out because of the flour war #but faerie kingdom?? theyre just sealing a eldritch silly fucker in a tree and none of their population have issues?? #theres nothing to feel sympathy for because theyre treated as a mysterious entity thats 'exclusive only' #the rest of the other kingdoms gave us better npcs who we could laugh and cry for and relate to #remember the train station full of dreamy cloud npcs?? theyre always doing mudane domestic things in the background #they were enjoyable and relatable and fun to see

[certifiedlesbianvampire]

my thoughts and theories on ep 5

starting with the things i did like, i think the animation + visuals are overall very consistent for the series so far. the tone of the episode was a bit more serious because, well... akutaro and the gang war and the growing tensions between characters.

we finally got see the full flashback of matakara and arajin's backstory and it was a nice surprise to see how matakara stood up for himself and arajin of course runs away (understandable) but i'm hoping in future episodes we get more on their pasts (with matakara's brother too. maybe the reason his brother is in juvie is because he did something bad to the bullies and he didn't tell/lied to matakara? this could be interesting later on) and how it affects the present and future character growth. I hope we also get to see the reason why arajin moved away as it’ll help us understand his character more (literally running away from circumstances. A lot of his character is running away and how he has to confront it) akutaro is a fun villain! a complete dramatic and horny menace. i'm so glad he got his face punched in. i wonder how he got ichiya (what influence does ichiya have over him/he have over ichiya?) and if he’ll continue to be the series’ big bad later on or if he’ll just be the antag for this arc.

the good thing about arajin being so indecisive about joining anyone is that we get to see how each gang operates. this time, we see the ng boys (and girls?? they have girls too) and how akutaro has everyone under his finger. he uses fear and threats to manipulate them into doing what he wants, forces them to do his dirty work. we also see how he got kicked out of minatokai and a bit of kenichiro and marito's battle in the background. i wonder how the blue majin will merge with matakara because it's foreshadowed heavily. (“no doubt those kicks are ichiya’s” and matakara’s fighting style revolves around them) right now the blue majin is with akutaro) i’m also dying to know senya’s motives and past with ichiya and how it could tie into the conflict between their person.

i feel like the gag of arajin and his *cough* rampant thinking with his dick is starting to wear on my nerves a bit, but i don't HATE him. i get that his character is supposed to be poking fun at that trope. i think what's interesting is that you could point out that male characters who are considered to be strong also happen to have lots of connections + affections (platonic or romantic) toward other men. arajin by contrast, rejects it in favour of chasing after women (maybe it’s what he thinks will prove his masculinity to others? or it's like. a distraction from his issues?)

maybe it’s not that deep, but it's something i wanted to point out anyway.

on the topic of arajin: my biggest worry is that while i DO have hope arajin's character development is on the way soon, i am concerned that they'll start it too late (like ep 10 which is unlikely but) and not give us enough time to fully sympathize or connect with his relationship towards matakara and the others around him. i understand he's supposed to be a selfish and unlikeable character, but i feel with like there's only so long you can stretch out the drama before it wears thin if you don’t expand on it; which is something have hope that they’ll do since there’s a lot of setup there.

i know arajin’s character is why most people are dropping the anime, but i'm hoping most people will at least be patient for the development. we're only at episode 5. (like sk8 for example had the conflict span from ep 7-10. this is a larger scale conflict so ofc it'd take longer) bucchigiri has a lot of potential, and i’m hoping they’ll stick the landing.

(i also need to see the fight between kenichiro and marito next ep ; i know it'll be awesome.) with the title of the next ep's title being "much much friendship! 'nira-reba'-lution 21!" i do hope we get to see much, much more in terms of friendships (a falling out maybe?) , arajin-related or otherwise. i'm excited to see where the anime goes next!

#matakara deserves a hug. maybe get to see and spend time with his brother again #congrats to all the hagure and jabashiri fans who got the heart hand ed card and like 1 sec of screentime #matakara is too good for all this #zabu is a real one for breaking him out #also this episode shows that mahoro cares on SOME level about matakara and arajin #not fully lmao but she can be sympathetic at least #she was crazy this ep tho ☠️ calm down #I wonder how mitsukuni lost his place as 42nd leader and if it relates to the rivalry between gangs or matakara or a secret third thing #akutaro really is the greater of the two evils in comparison to the other gangs #bucchigiri?! #arajin tomoshibi #matakara asamine #also side note idk about the production and if there’s any issues behind this show but i hope the people on it get to take a break at least #or it gets resolved #it's interesting to see everyone's thoughts on the episode so far #certifiedlesbianvampire’s rambles