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drakaripykiros130ac · 2 months

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TG stans: “It’s so unfair how Daemon is given a free pass by fans, while Alicent is constantly criticized. They are both gray characters. Fans only forgive Daemon because he is played by a hot actor.”

No. No. No. And no.

You can try to spin it however you want but Alicent will never be considered a gray character. Not even the shitty show version of her.

Book Alicent - there is nothing to debate here. She is a greedy, manipulative upstart b*tch who got hers in the end. Evil stepmother and her evil sons perished. Happy ending. Bye bye.

Show Alicent - oh boy. Here we go.

Being a gray character often implies doing some pretty terrible or at least immoral things for the greater good. And a lot of other characters around them have a hard time understanding that what this gray character did was for the best. This character’s actions are often misunderstood and perceived to be done with selfish intent (and most of the time, greater good and selfishness overlap).

In what way does Alicent fit this description? In the show, she was driven by jealousy and resentment and done some pretty unnecessary and cruel things simply because she could:

1. Demanding that Rhaenyra’s newborn be brought to her immediately after birth. A disgusting display of cruelty. As a mother herself of four children, she surely understands the difficulty of labor, the vulnerability of a newborn baby as well as the immediate motherly instinct to protect her young (which is why Rhaenyra took the child herself, refusing to part with him).

2. Turning her children against Rhaenyra. As the Queen, and stepmother of the heir to the throne, it was her responsibility to attempt to forge relationships between her children and her stepdaughter, because this stepdaughter would one day be the reigning Queen and the fate of Alicent’s children would rest with her. But no, she was bitter, jealous and shortsighted and somehow thought that turning her children against Rhaenyra would somehow…what…do her family good?

3. Cheating on her husband by offering sexual services to a deranged clubfooted freak, in exchange for information. Call it whatever you like, but sexual favors in exchange for something is called “whoring”. I am not even going to debate this. No one forced her. This was her choice.

4. Taking a known murderer as her sworn shield for the single reason that he turned against Rhaenyra and that reason would benefit her.

5. Badmouthing children to their grandfather. The vendetta Alicent pursued against Jaecaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey is reprehensible. It was unnecessary, cruel and it certainly hadn’t done any good to anyone.

6. Showing up at Rhaenyra’s wedding in a dramatic manner and wearing the Hightower color for “war” simply because her ex-friend lied to her. Ironic, considering that she herself didn’t tell her friend that she was sneaking into her father’s chambers late at night, seducing him and getting him to marry her (I don’t give a damn that Otto made her).

7. Replacing the Targaryen heraldry with symbols of the Seven. Naturally, she couldn’t put up the Hightower symbols without “Hey look at me! I am committing treason!” written all over her face. Subtle, but it got the point across. And no, she wasn’t trying to “find comfort” or “honor her mother” or whatever bullshit TG stans like to invent. It was a strategic move through which she showed very clearly that she was turning her back on the House who made her everything she is.

These are just a few examples. If you take into account Alicent’s actions, none of them were done for the greater good. They served only her, and her own ambitions.

She married into the most powerful family in Westeros. She was a lady in waiting, a daughter of a second son from a low-ranked House with few prospects who was helping the Crown Princess dress.

When she married into House Targaryen, she was expected to remain loyal to House Targaryen. It was a privilege. One she completely disregarded in order to further the ambitions of House Hightower. It was Otto’s plan at first, but she pretty much took over in the long run. Simply because she was jealous and bitter. Because she didn’t know how to suck it up and accept that her father screwed her over, and her husband figured out their “master plan”.

Nothing about Alicent Hightower spells out “gray”. As much as the showrunners attempt to whitewash her, she remains the antagonist in this story. The war that started was one she had been nourishing for years.

Say what you will about Daemon but he is the very definition of “gray”. Whether or not his actions also benefitted him is irrelevant. His actions, although immoral and sometimes cruel, were for the greater good of the royal family, a House he belonged to, one he never betrayed. And despite the constant attempts of the showrunners to make him out to be the “bad guy” by pilling on him things he never actually did in canon, it still makes him look a whole of a lot complex and gray than Alicent ever will be.

Daemon is forever loyal to his family, and the House who rightfully holds the power in Westeros. Despite his actions, that makes him the anti-hero of the story. Alicent betrayed the House she married into, betrayed her husband, and committed high treason when she attempted to change the line of succession, for the sole reason that it benefitted her side of the family. That makes her the anti-villain (and I am being generous here, acknowledging the very few good qualities she possesses in the show, but her deeds are ultimately done in the name of evil).

And P.S: Let’s not pretend like the main obsession certain fans have with Alicent Hightower isn’t because she is portrayed by Olivia Cooke. If she were portrayed by a perceived-ugly/average actress, no one would be so quick to defend the character.

#Is it really that hard to understand why people love Daemon and hate Alicent?#pro daemon targaryen #daemon targaryen #anti alicent hightower #anti alicent stans #anti team green #team black #pro team black #anti team green stans #rhaenyra targaryen #house of the dragon #hotd #fire and blood #asoiaf #asoiaf meta #queen rhaenyra #anti greens

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vaguely-concerned · 4 months

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Happy Grace/Pan Vibes For The Soul

"How can I, with you in the way?"/"(Laughs) The floor is yours!"

First of all I'm honestly just so charmed by how genuinely delighted Pan seems to be at watching Grace finding her voice and learning to enjoy using her power, I think that's where I started to take a shine to him. (also seems quite central to his character/romance in general because it's a thing that recurs through their relationship -- he tells her "I'm enjoying it if you're enjoying it" straight out at one point and that's definitely always there in the subtext). He buys a music studio for her just in case she ever wants to return to making music again even when she's not the muse anymore just because he loves her singing and has seen it make her happy before, how is that not the sweetest goddamn thing in the world??? Pan and Oracle in shared first place as stans for Grace musically

For real though, 'I Can Teach You' is sooo... even when you don't join forces with him Pan teaches Grace so many things in that song, it's a thematic tutorial as well as a gameplay one in many ways. For me I think the most impactful subtexts are 'This is a tricky situation, change is here and it's difficult, but you have more control and agency here than you think' ("You're in control!" "It's your song!"), and this sense that, y'know... there can be joy and playfulness and discovery in setting out into the unknown, not just fear and uncertainty.

dude... I wanna be in cahoots with & sing playful duets with you for the rest of my life bro (amorous intent)

Pros: Hell yeah look at her go! 🥰

Cons: Uh-oh look at her go! 😬

I love that Grace can bring Pan's motif into 'Challenging A Queen' and be called the fuck out by Persephone btw. why u keepin' your guard up girl uwu

'you gave up the only thing worth having -- for your little mortal friend' he says, giving up everything for his little once-again-mortal friend literally the next day fhsdkjfhsad who are you fooling buddy? not even yourself at this point surely??? (dialogue for if you save Freddie by giving up the eidolon)

my observations on the grace/pan dynamic across the different personality traits (yes I've done a run of each romancing him I am normal about it):

Clever!Grace: Pan seems to set out to be a trickster mentor of sorts, and Clever!Grace flips the uno reverse card on him and goes ‘Not if I trickster mentor you first bitch be honest about your feelings or perish challenge engage’. Probably the most birds of a feather combination (and indeed it’s the Blue version of the soundtrack that shows off his romance — also his tie and glasses are on the cover for that one :) ).

Charming!Grace: Performative puppy dog eyes-off whenever either of them wants to get their way. 🥺4🥺. Pan is provably a soft touch from the Charming option to find Persephone before Challenging A Queen so I feel he probably tends to buckle faster but it’s a close thing. Local trickster god completely disarmed by someone being nice to him.

Kickass!Grace: “Be real with me or Imma kick your ass”/”Promise? ;)”/"...>:)"

I am always thinking about the way he steps up in The Trial when romanced (and the way it's the only one where Athena is genuinely shocked and appalled fhskadj). there is something about him that's like... he keeps protesting against 'innocent' and he's probably right haha, but there is certainly an almost fundamental lack of any active malice there that he doesn't fully admit to himself or to grace until this moment. he is doing this for grace, but it is also a confession about something really deep in himself that seems to be very vulnerable for him in its sincerity -- that he really doesn't mean to or more importantly want to cause harm (I don't wanna dance/with blood on my hands). admitting to his own basically good heart finally seems to be the bigger, scarier thing for him, more than facing the prospect of dying. he's experiencing the mortifying ordeal of being known and I for one am so proud of him

"I'm just here for the dance"

the way he sings that just to her and completely changes the meaning of it from what he said with it before, from using it to keep her out to inviting her in...

also can you imagine how badly the kill bill sirens must be going off in Grace's head in all variations of this scene no matter who steps up, considering what happened to Freddie just days before....... oof!

*incensed whisper* are you fucking kidding me with this what am I supposed to do with myself here

love these too

I really like the visual repeats of crossing the pond to the tree and back as a metaphor for them getting closer (or rather, him letting her closer, it is very much His Space). he retreats back there towards the end of 'Share This Dance', and that's the point where Grace puts her foot down and essentially says 'no. you come meet me honestly in the middle this time or this isn't happening'. and in 'The Trial' he does and then some!

I meant what I sang. I'm not a good man. If Athena had taken me up on my offer, the Idols would have been better off But I can try to be better. You make me want to try.

fun fact: if you break up with him after The Trial (YEAH you can still break off the romances at that point! it's wild honestly fsjadk), Grace tells him he should try to be better ‘for himself’ not for her... and he calls that (i.e. himself) ‘not much of an incentive’. My guy don’t make me break out the ‘Have you tried therapy’ prompt again. He takes it very calmly and gracefully under the circumstances but he's also like. quietly resigned and subdued. I tried it once for Science and never will again but there you go I bring my knowledge to this altar of sadness lol

you see the thing is I would forgive him for just about anything too I understand why so many of the characters in-game can't stay mad at him for any length of time

he starts the game by asking her to take his hand and he ends it on asking her to take his hand (and she does)...

:') let's share this dance

#stray gods #stray gods pan #stray gods grace #grace x pan #better late than never! I said I would make this post and by god I meant it I love these two with all my soul #stray gods meta

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everliving-everblaze · 1 year

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hi! I made an AI (using beta.character.ai) where you can chat with Fitz! Here's the link, and here are some screenshots of us chatting:

(if you try chatting with him, absolutely feel free to reblog with screenshots)

#I'd love to see your conversations with him or if you want to try making your own Fitz I'd love to see that #or if there's anything you'd like me to ask him! or if you'd like me to try making another character!!#seems like a really fun tool. even though their privacy policy says they will track me all over the internet. ublock pls keep me safe xoxo #kotlc #fitz vacker #stan fitz vacker or perish #sophitz #sophitz positivity #fitz character ai

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im-getting-help · 4 months

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You guys remember IT 2019? I just finished watching an alternative ending or directors cut idk, BUT LET ME TELL YOU 💀

First, english is my second language...

So, everything is exactly the same until the last like 30min? They're fighting Pennydumb, and you remember the scene where Richie is caught by the deadlights and Eddie spears Penny and saves Rich but he has to kiss him to wake him up like Ben with Bev in the first movie? Well, in this version Eddie spears Penny and falls with Richie but instead of kissing him he just shakes him a little? And Richie wakes up 😂 but then out of nowhere Pennydumb SKEWERS EDDIE WITH ONE OF THE ARACHNID/CRAB CLAWS RIGHT THROUGH THE CHEST??? Me and Bev literally screamed at the same time. So Eddie is bleeding all over Richie, blood comes out of his mouth as he says his name... and Richie is literally like 🧍🏻‍♂️ and then Pennydumb lifts Eddie with the claw and I'm watching in 4KHD how Eddie flies tf out while everyone is screaming his name. I SWEAR TO GOD I'M NOT KIDDING. At this point I'm laughing and crying at the same time, cause like, wtf is happening?? So the Losers run to wherever Eddie was thrown and THIS MF IS SOMEHOW STILL ALIVE? Then, like in the original ending Eddie tells the Losers how to kill Pennydumb, but is like super depressing, Eddie is coughing blood, so all but Richie and obviously Eds go bully the alien spider. Eddie is dying, and he says "Richie, I gotta to tell you something" and I'm thinking, alright, a little bit too angsty but ok. BUT THEN, HE DOESN'T CONFESS? HE LOOKS RICHIE IN THE EYES AND SAYS "💫I fucked your mother💫" AGAIN, I'M NOT KIDDING. And so Richie is like "heh 🙂🥲" Eventually Richie leaves so they can finish IT, lmao. They kill Pennydumb the same, they say "clown" a bunch and he perish. Then they go back to Eds who is obviously fucking dead at this point, and I'm still laughing a little cause I know that now is when Maturin appears and the Losers ask her to bring back Stan and now Eddie too i guess... WELL In this version Maturin doesn't exist apparently???????? So Eddie dies and Richie is crying over his dead body anD THEN BILL AND BEVERLY TELL HIM THAT THEY HAVE TO GO AND LEAVE HIS BODY DOWN THERE???? AND I'M 😶 SPEECHLESS.

They drag Richie out of Neibolt 😶 he's is screaming and crying and I'm screaming and crying with him. They get out and the house collapses. And the whole scene is fucking tragic, like, I'm sobbing, Richie is still screaming Eddie's name, Mike and Ben are holding him back and Bill and Bev are literally like 👀 Suddenly they're on the quarry, same scene minus Eddie and Stan. BUT IT'S SO SOMBER. They jump and they're washing themselves in silence, and Richie is CLEANING EDDIE'S BLOOD OUT OF HIS GLASSES. And Eddie is not there to be yapping about infections so Ben is like "Eddie would hate this" and they start talking about what Eddie would say if he was there, and I'm thinking 'why tf would you kill him but not write a better scene?' but I'm promptly shut up cause Richie starts crying again and everyone goes hug him, and now I'm really sobbing. But then, then they do something I can only describe as the worst possible thing you can do in front of your mourning gay friend. Richie loses his glasses like in the original but Stan is not there to give them back so the rest of the Losers start looking, and then, and I swear to god I'm not lying, Ben and Bev find the glasses but instead of giving them back they start kissing eachother. RICHIE IS BLIND AND CRYING WHILE THESE TWO KISS UNDERWATER. And I'm like NOw?????? Don't get me wrong, I love the kiss in the original, but this version is so sad and that kiss feels so out of place. After that, there's the scene in the street with them as kids, Richie and Eddie bickering and all that, and I'm ready to go wash my face BUT they added an extra scene. So in this scene Mike calls Bill whose already out of Derry, and Bill asks why they're not forgetting this time, and Mike says "Maybe cause IT is dead... or maybe because we have more we want to remember than we want to forget". AND I'M LIKE WDM?? ALL OF THIS IS FUCKING TRAUMATIC. And then Mike asks Bill if he got the letter, and apparently Stan left a fucking suicide note 💀 and it's SO FUCKING SAD YOU GUYS. They show adult Stan writing the note but you can hear young Stan reading it, and they show the Losers as adults after Derry 2.0, and everyone is happy except Richie?? Like, Bev and Ben are on a fucking boat with a dog but Richie is on the bridge going over the R+E carving while crying. And it ends with Mike smiling driving out of Derry. Is literally the worst ending ever. Like, I don't hate it just because is so depressing is kinda funny, also you guys know It 2019 is goofy af. Anyways, if anyone else saw this please message me so we can make a support group or something idk.

#it 2019 #it chapter 2 #the losers club #it 1990 #it 2017 #reddie #eddie kaspbrak #stanley uris

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sokumotanaka · 8 months

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So I didn't hyjack this poor person's post over [here.]

I thought making my own post would be the most logical conclusion. So it takes alot in my opinion to bury your head in the ground and pretend like you smart when you're so overly stupid.

Here's a discussion I had with a person where alot of alarming and stupid things were said on his part. @/crimsonxe

Well go through small sections, that's a lie, you know I'm long winded.

Here's a section where he states that writing about killing, maiming, and calling minorities bad isn't nearly as bad. I mentioned Miles calling Tifa a prostitute as well and I don't think he's getting it.

Manner of dress:

The problem isn't getting over it or not, the issue with calling remake Tifa a prosisitue is that she dresses more modest than the rwby cast, he has children with short skirts, no pants under and boob windows in frozen tundra. If he thinks THIS is provocative,

then him okaying THESE

designs on children is something he's mentally aware of! also weiss spends most of her time in that outfit in a frozen wasteland and then COMPLAINS about being cold!

Get over it? More like Have enough common sense not to post stuff like that. A wise man once said "just because you think of a tweet doesn't mean you have to hit send." (Also he says it's not fanservicey, need I remind everyone they sell a ruby body pillow, Yang always had her tits out and then as time goes on they start losing more and more clothing. Not fanservice my ass!)

Grown man argument for sexualizing teen girls.

"They don't go overboard." Here's a picture of a woman wearing chainmail on her bare skin in the desert, there's a difference between puritanical and horny silly designs after them saying shit like "we won't do the stupid stuff anime does" and then having the whole cast of female characters with their tits and ass out.

Also not to stun your pee brain, but writing racism as "If we want respect and equality then we have to forgive our bigot overlords and defend them with not even a thank you." Is stupid, that be like me telling you that if you want minorities forgiveness, go fight cops, or me going to england and saying that. Blake tells unrelated faunus to fight armed dudes and the writers are stupid. And the overall issue is HBomberguy was right! In his review he stated that he was afraid that a certain group of people would look at how the faunus act and go "yeah that's how They are" uncharitable takes exist.

And he was right a bunch of RWBY stans who were racist before vanishing literally came around going "boy did miles and kerry get you guys pegged, you're all exactly like this!" During the 98% most peaceful protesting age, well unless your a cop who wants to shoot out someone's eyes.

The LGBT pair (s)?

Yeah like the cardboard cutout guys miles pouted about when he didn't get credit for putting out there after people in the LGBT community asked when were the LGBT characters gonna appear.

The first Gay rep in the show was two unrelated characters we'd never see again after saying "characters" just don't promise things then lie forehead!

Or the second Rep LGBT character Illia! A woman who took her crush and was gonna- *Looks at paper* Send her to her abuser while also blaming her for dating someone and not knowing her romantic feelings.

"I guess you were too busy looking at Adam to notice me."

Yeah great first cardboard then a woman willing to kill off her her crushes family and blames her crush for not knowing she had a crush on her!

Oh how about bumblbee? With Yang literally saying she viewed Blake as an object and wanted her around for her solely? You know fuck what Blake wants! Blaming Blake for running in fear when WF ruin a nation and Adam states he'll kill everyone she loves and he knows exactly where her parents are? Perish the thought, that sounds like something a scared child would exactly do! But Yang goes "No despite us not officially dating yet I'm owed her time and presence.

Yang's shitty, and it takes how long for them to get together? They don't even wait until adam cold before Yang claims her, after abusing her mentally when Blake tells her Adam likes to make you feel small and she brushes her off and is like "stop talking to me." Then they kiss what? THIS year? 2023? In volume 3 sun's winking at her and she's blushing and smiling and calling him a dork and they're hanging out, and I'm sitting here going "Do some of that for yang? All they did was share a dance, have her flirt with her or wink, something." And what she compliments her hair once? Granted I stopped after 7/8 so I bet the best LGBT rep happ- This just in, I'm getting word from my friends in the LGBT community who watched rwby saying that it's dogshit.

Having tons of LBGT characters doesn't matter if you write them like trash I guess, btw the first kiss happened in volume 9 in 2023 and rwby started in 015 and again sun flirts, winks etc and they show alot of chemistry with each other.

Yang gets mad, demands blake be there when EVERYONE else is going back home too! Trauma dumps on her after using a laser pointer on her when Blake admits that she's tired of dealing with racism.

Like instead of talking to her, Yang treats her like an animal an laughs it off then trauma dumps about her mom on her while blake is already highly stressed. Doesn't even solve the problem btw. All the LGBT characters thus far (besides Jaune's sister and her girlfriend, they can stay, sadly they're trapped in a shitty show) are horribly written for no reason.

A second writer should look at these before they hit the screen.

Racism

He talks about a south park reference which I ignored cause it's so random?

racist dog whistling.

"Mika burton spun things a certain way." Nah there's tweets w of people admitting they fucked up and the achievement hunters go online , they bring her on a podcast and pretend to cry so people can feel bad for them. And good for her she doesn't forgive them. So spinning around? How about a source? Source can't be that you made it the fuck up cause that's not a source it's a sentence wasting everyone's time.

Also "Mile's isn't white." Aw man what am I gonna tell mile's white parent? Sorry some dude on the internet said your son can't be half white, sorry me I can't be half black, or Hawaiian, Sorry Miles because you look more black your Hispanic traits don't matter for the sake of the argument. What kinda of Juvenile , stupid statement IS this? He can't be white because you say so? But he calls himself white in many tweets and literally in the statement of writing racism in RWBY.

Also nice try, moving the goalpost means you can't lose. "I'm not defending him, now watch as I waste time defending him instead of finding a source against Mika's claims cause I'm bullshitting." I mean Mika doesn't even have a reason to lie, RT employees all admitted they heard and did nothing, Torian a black animator and editor also stated he had race issues with RT and Pat boivan from Castle super beast and pat stares at made a black joke that Miles and select few members laughed at in terms of them having no black or brown people working there. And they ignore woolie when it comes to sponsored stuff, he literally says this on multiple episodes of his show, and THAT's Worrying!

Point is if Miles himself is racist, weather he's white, Hispanic, black etc he still displayed racist behavior multiple times too many. He had a chance to say something to his employees, he didn't bother, he got nervous and waked off. He had the chance when he put BLM after the lashings he got and do something with that, change the company for the better etc, but he didn't he put it there as a band-aid and took it off when he thought people weren't looking.

I keep beating this dead horse because people like you don't seem to do research at all! Because in the face of it it's easier to lie, play dumb (pffft 'play') and make excuses for them instead of holding them accountable.

I didn't want to see RT burn down for a while, but they keep pulling a blizzard, and all these, tweets, articles, statements that miles or the others say or do that's stupid, harmful, racist, shitty keep popping up! At this point it be better as a lesson not to be shitty humans for RT to quietly burn, no special treatment, I'm holding them to the same standard I do for David cage, for activation Blizzard and many other triple A companies. If you don't wanna go down in flames, maybe don't do reprehensible things that keep burning bridges for you. Simple, don't be stupid forhead!

The real mornic stuff was listening to you try and fail at mental gymnastics and not provide a single source for anything you claimed I should "be in awe" of or switching the goal post. RT.s failing and they stacked the deck against themselves, THAT's why people hate them, statements like they saying that when yang drives down the crossroads to Mistral and people guessing she's going to Ruby only for them to like and say "if you heard the bike go one way." These critics, video's, and articles don't exist for no reason.

youtube

Pathetic, utterly pathetic, you boasted a big game , puffed out your chest and then walked straight into a cold clock and got your ass handed to you for several rounds. For someone who boasted about "getting in the ring" No flatter yourself, you weren't even competiton.

#rwde #rwby criticism #rwby #fandom wank #long post #Youtube

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archangel-lucerys · 3 months

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I absolutely love it when people bring up "aemonds love for his family" as if he didn't abandon them when rhaenyra took over kl to fuck alys 🤣 and even when cole asked him to come with him he refused and even alicent confidence he'll come for them but he never did 🤣

No not tg stans bringing up the daemon vs aemond fight and completely ignoring the maelys part which they all knew only she would come but they still fought her 2 v 1 because alone even with vhagar, meleys would win no problem. So sunfyre would have been a peice of cake alone, like he lost a fight with a war horse sized dragon later 😭

Like bro even in battle over the gods eye aemond only comes confident he would absolutely win, why did he think that? Dameon has not only famously broke his hips but he also has a dragon that is smaller than meleys, which is why that coward came, he even says it himself

Luke going to storms end: "Vhagar sensed his coming first....... a roar that shook the very foundatio..Even arrax quailed before that sound, we are told, and Luke plied his whip freely as he forced him down."

Aemond coming to fight:

" ..... You were a fool to come alone.”

“Were I not alone, you would not have come,” said Daemon

And you know what grrm was trying to do with that dailouge? Make a parallel with lucerys, where lucerys walked in despite the fact there is no way if vhagar decided to attack they would survive, aemond only came to fight thinking he'd win

And he fact in show aemond is completely silent though out the discussion till he absolutely knows lucerys has no allies here, and he even fucking smiles when borros asks then to leave, absolutely knowing he's about to chase them, people who have no way to fight or protect themselves

I get why tg people like the tg characters tbh, they provide surface level badassery but all of them feel so bad about their own actions you still have that detachment that you're not guilty for liking them 🤷🏽‍♀️ situation made them like this. Which btw is not a sentiment they would ever extend for lucerys, a 5 year old who had to protect his brother and 14 year old who had to leave after doing his Duty. Happy knowing all of green faction perishes for lucerys 🔥

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in-need-of-gally-content · 2 months

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|Chapter•Twenty•Nine|

•|Masterlist|•

"It's taking longer than usual..."

Gally blinked while looking at the sky, it had turned grey and the clouds were slowly covering any sign of sunlight. It was another Box day, it was long past the afternoon and it hadn't come up yet, which made them wonder what was going on.

"Yeah... I just hope it arrives before it starts raining, or we'll be unloading it for hours," no one liked it when it rained during Box day, and thankfully, it rarely happened, but it was also coming later than usual, that was more common around in the Glade, but it never eased the worry they felt of the possibility of the Box never coming back up.

That was a fear that clung to only a few, the day when they would no longer be provided with what they needed, and would just... Perish. But of course, no one was allowed to comment about that fear since it would bring nothing but problems.

Mikah looked at Gally, who kept staring up at the sky, and his blue eyes observed around for a while, "Where's (M/n)?"

Gally glanced at the curly blond, "He said he was gonna be in the Deadheads, something about... Finishing a thing," Mikah nodded in response and they turned back to staring at the sky, waiting for the Box to arrive.

They just hoped it wouldn't start raining or it would be near impossible to get everything out of it dry or in good condition.

//////

Sitting on an overgrown root, (M/n) looked around, picking up the scent the air would have before the rain would fall. It was oddly relaxing.

He sighed and went back to writing in his journal, he wanted to write down a few more lyrics, and possibly make another song, but he wasn't sure if he liked how it was turning out, even so, he kept writing it, maybe he'll be able to fix it later on.

But when he ran out of ideas and felt his lower back and legs going numb from sitting down, he stood up and continued to walk around for a while, trying to find another spot where he could be comfortable. While doing so, he heard thunder, and shortly after, rain began to fall down on the Glade.

(M/n) chuckled and held the strap of his journal, hanging it on a branch where it would be protected from the rain, and ran to start playing with the mud, soaking in the feeling of the cold rain, hitting the leaves and dripping down to the ground, falling on him and making him smile.

Nearby, someone was walking very slowly, trying to not be spotted by (M/n), peeking from behind a tree. He didn't do anything nor tried to, he was only there to observe. Zachary would never disobey orders from Stan.

So he stayed put and watched over (M/n), to make sure he wouldn't leave before the plan was ready.

And that plan was truly shucked up, but it was gonna work. It had to. Even Alby who was somehow friends with (M/n) would have to act upon his actions, and face consequences.

Zachary observed (M/n) as he stopped playing in the rain and the mud like a little kid, and went back to grab his journal, climbed on top of the lowest branch, and focused back on his writing, more inspired this time. He briefly glanced back, to where Peter was being prepared by the others.

Peter himself had agreed to it, just to make it look as realistic as possible. He was willing to do anything to get (M/n) banished from the Glade.

//////

Probably an hour later, the rain began to ease, and he was getting a little bored, so he got down from the branch and started making his way to his treehouse, wanting to drop off his journal so it wouldn't get in the way of everything.

The moment he started leaving, Zachary was about to run back to the rest of the Sloppers, when Lucas came up to him, "Everything is ready."

"Good, 'cause she just left." They ran together further into the Deadheads, and Zachary observed with raised eyebrows, impressed at the good job they had done with Peter.

He was badly "beaten up", it looked pretty real in his opinion, now they had to get the act going, so they ran their way toward Gale and Matt, who were standing by the Homestead, keeping an eye out on the Box and everyone else.

They didn't want anyone finding out what they were scheming before it was ready after all.

"Everything is ready, she should be coming soon..." Zachary trailed on, trying to spot (M/n) walking out of the Deadheads.

And there he was.

"Hey, guys, need a hand?" He asked with a smile as he wiped the dirt off his hands. Everyone looked pretty tired after working all day under the rain and he wanted to help, even if it was something small, anything that could ease their exhaustion. Gally looked up at him and handed him the last crate left in the Box.

"They're gardening tools, you can hand them to Zart, bean," he nodded and began to lightly jog his way to Zart, who was putting stuff in their hut.

Silently, he placed the crate down and left with a wave, while making his way back to Gally, he was able to hear a passing conversation between Matt and Gale, and pretty much everyone around heard it too, "Have you seen Peter today?" And those around them frowned, as they realized that they hadn't seen him at all that day. However, he ignored them like he got used to and continued his way back to his Keeper.

And now that he was out of the box hole, (M/n) was able to see how messy he looked, he was practically soaked, and (M/n) couldn't help but snicker.

"Oh, you're having fun?" (M/n) smiled wide and approached Gally, reaching his hands out and poking his sides, successfully making the blond squeal and flinch.

"You look like a hot mess," Gally's eyes opened wide as he blushed and looked away, even though he heard the mocking and teasing tone in (M/n)'s voice at how dirty and messed up he looked, he still took it as a compliment... In a way, "Is there anything else I can help with?"

"Uh, yeah, there's-"

Gally's response was cut off by a scream coming from the Deadheads, "Peter!"

Those who were closest around began to approach the edge of the forest, while (M/n) and Gally stayed put, observing with a confused frown on their faces, they wanted to know what was happening. And soon, they found out.

There was Peter, unconscious. Jason and Stan were holding him up, dragging him out of the Deadheads. He had bleeding wounds seemingly everywhere on his body, and his face was bruised pretty badly too, blood falling out of his mouth.

(M/n) stood there for a second, internally freaking out, what could've hurt Peter that bad?

He took a few steps forward, trying to get to him and help him in any way, "Clint! Jeff!" The distant scream of a Glader echoed.

"What happened?!" Alby yelled as he was followed by both Med-jacks, receiving help from a few Gladers to take Peter inside and to the med room.

The way Jason made eye contact with him made (M/n) stop moving, feeling his breath getting stuck in his throat, "That happened!" He screamed and raised his hand, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

Everyone around them went silent, a sudden quietness that shook him to his bones. Slowly, (M/n) looked at every guy nearby, staring at him. He was frozen in place, he didn't know what to do, he wanted to talk, say something, explain to them that he hadn't done anything to Peter, but he couldn't, and Jason took advantage of that.

"She did this! Y'all heard her yesterday! She said it!" The air turned heavy and many Gladers believed Jason's words, or so it seemed. Even so, (M/n)'s friends knew better than to believe anything coming from the Sloppers.

"It wasn't (M/n), I don't know what the shuck you're trying to pull here," Gally spoke first, taking a protective stance in front of (M/n), "But I assure you, he had nothing to do with that."

"Oh really?" Stan spoke, and something about the sound of his voice made everyone tense, "Ty! Come here!" He took a few steps closer from behind the Keeper, his body was shaking, and his eyes were filled with tears, "Tell them what you saw... Who you saw."

(M/n) took a step to the side, and looked at Ty from behind Gally. The poor guy could barely look him in the eyes, his arms wrapped around himself while Stan kept a tight hold on his shoulder, "I saw..." He took a shaky breath in, and turned to look at Alby, who had approached him to try and bring him his support, "I saw (M/n) h-hurting Peter in the De-deadheads, and... I got s-scared so I hid until... He left..."

"That's not true!" Gally yelled out loud, and soon enough, (M/n) witnessed how all the guys around began arguing.

He was so confused about everything that was happening. He wasn't sure if he couldn't hear anything, or if he could hear it all, he was overwhelmed by his emotions, and all of them were negative ones. He felt like he couldn't breathe, his head was pounding and his body was trembling uncontrollably, he felt his legs wobbling and he knew he was about to lose his stability.

Physical and mental stability.

His friends defended him, arguing that (M/n) didn't do anything to Peter, but they had no way to prove it. While those who were taking Peter's side were convinced that he had done that to him, but couldn't prove anything either.

(M/n) was the only one who knew the truth, and probably the only one who would say it. But... Nothing would change. They wouldn't believe him. And the issues wouldn't be solved.

He watched and listened to how their bond and trust, the one that took them years to accomplish, began crumbling down just like that, as easy as breathing. And it was all because of him. He caused this.

And there was only one way to fix it.

When tears began glossing his sight, (M/n) started taking slow steps back, observing how everyone fought with each other, some verbally and a few physically. Alby and Newt were doing their best to try and break them down, to make them calm down, but nothing was working.

That's when (M/n) realized he really... Could not stay in the Glade any longer, he had done nothing but cause problems and ruin everyone else's life since the moment he arrived. He truly believed he was welcomed and had become one of them, but he was just blinded by the kind gestures of his closest friends. He won't ever fit in with the rest, he wasn't a Glader, he was... Nothing.

And now... It was time to go.

As if aware of his thoughts and intentions, the Maze Doors made their signature sound whenever they opened and closed, and right now they were closing. The breeze coming from out there barely touched (M/n)'s skin as he was quite far away, light enough for him to be able to feel it, even for an instance. It almost seemed too convenient, as if the Maze wanted to get his attention. Calling him. Enticing him.

"It's the only way..." He glanced back at the Maze, watching the Doors closing as he kept taking steps back, now in a different direction. He blinked and the tears in his eyes finally gave in, and dripped down his face. (M/n) took one last look at the Glade, telling himself he would never forget this place and would always miss it.

But it had to be done, and it had to be now.

"Everything will be okay after this, just go..." (M/n) took a deep breath, and turned his body around, taking off running to the Maze Doors, taking advantage that no one was paying attention to him, or so he thought.

Chuck, who had been keeping an eye on (M/n) since this whole thing started, realized what he was doing, and where he wanted to go.

"(M/n)! What are you doing?!" His desperate scream caught the attention of everyone arguing, making them look everywhere until they spotted (M/n), running to the Maze, "Get back here!"

(M/n)'s friends, all of those who worried and cared about him stared with panic-filled eyes at how close he had gotten to Banish himself to the Maze.

Gally felt his heart drop at that, his blood running cold as he stared in disbelief, "Bean..." He mumbled to himself, his feet taking him forward one step at a time, "(M/n)...! (M/n)!" The raw feeling in Gally's voice made him falter in his steps, but he kept running, knowing he was being followed by his friends.

Gally started running after him, calling his name, trying to stop him, or go into the Maze with him. Minho and a few of the Builders ran too while Chuck stayed behind and watched the situation with tears in his eyes.

"(M/n)! Please, don't do this!" Gally felt helpless as he realized that he wasn't getting closer to him, the gap seemed to be growing instead of shortening, and he hated that, "Stay with me..." He whispered between ragged breaths, refusing to give up just yet.

"This is not the way, (M/n)!" Hearing Minho's voice so close to him made him run faster, feeling his legs and lungs burning from the effort of carrying his weight.

They watched with hopeful eyes as (M/n) stopped in front of the Maze Doors, they felt sudden relief, maybe he decided against his choice, but that wasn't the case. He glanced behind for a moment, his eyes immediately landing on Gally, as if drawn to him and only him.

He felt that same sting in his eyes as he tried to hold back more tears from falling, "I'm sorry..." He muttered, not breaking eye contact with him, and Gally's eyes opened wide, feeling his world crashing down as he watched how (M/n) turned around and ran into the Maze.

"No! (M/n)!" His legs did their best to push Gally forward, hearing the muffled sounds of Mikah, Minho, Fry, Winston and Chuck hollering out (M/n)'s name, their voices filled with fear, their hearts heavy with despair.

Minho was the first one to arrive at the Doors, and he stared helplessly at (M/n)'s back, watching how he squeezed himself between the Doors and moved ahead. Gally came soon after and Minho had to hold him back from following him inside, angering the blond as he fought Minho's grip.

"Gally, stop! The walls would crush you before you get to the other side!" With Fry arriving on time, he helped Minho hold Gally back, but he wasn't giving up the fight.

"I don't care-! I can't..." He stayed silent when he and (M/n) made eye contact. He had reached the Maze, and had looked back at the sound of his voice. They stared at each other as if it was the last time they would see each other...

It was. They won't ever see each other again.

(M/n)'s bottom lip trembled, and he took a shaky breath in, "I love you," he mouthed at Gally, hoping he understood what he said, their hearts breaking as the Doors closed, and they disappeared from each other's sight.

There was a heavy silence in the Glade that lasted no longer than five seconds, broken by Gally, falling to his knees as tears freely made their way down his face, his body trembled and he gripped his shirt tightly with his hands, over his heart, where an excruciating pain had taken place. He couldn't think of anything other than (M/n), watching how he banished himself from the Glade just to appease a group of slintheads.

His breath turned ragged and uneven, his mind coming to the realization of what just happened, whom he just lost forever. (M/n) had been the only person Gally ever truly cared about and who cared about him just as much.

Knowing (M/n) won't even come back was painful, too much, and he needed to let it out.

A soul-ripping cry echoed in the silence of the Glade followed by the heartbreaking sobs of Gally as he let out his pain, "Please, please, open the doors again, just for a minute, please..." He babbled to himself as his hands reached out for the wall, the cold walls of the Maze, helplessly trying to pry the Doors open with his bare hands, his head hanging down in between his arms, "I can't lose him, not (M/n), not my bean... Please!"

His scream of pain and agony triggered the tears of everyone around, those who had been trying to stay strong and not let themselves be swayed by their emotions, but they broke down at the sight of Gally so emotionally devastated.

Minho leaned on the Wall, letting the tears fall from his eyes, and he watched how others knelt to the ground too, or simply hugged each other, trying to bring as much comfort as they could to one another. Chuck had found his way to Gally, and had gone down on his knees with him, wrapping his chubby arms around the blond, who hugged him back tight as they cried together.

The air was gloomy and depressive, and they couldn't do anything except stay there for a short while, but their grief was short-lived, like everything was in the Glade.

Nothing can last forever.

"She got what she deserved," they heard Stan laughing as he approached them, a superior look on his face accompanied by a victorious grin. Immediately, Gally's crying stopped, and so did everyone else's.

There was a dark aura around them, but Gally's was screaming bloody murder.

He let go of Chuck and slowly began to stand up, one leg at a time and turning around, his face completely void of all emotion, taking a step closer to Stan, whose confident demeanour didn't waver.

"And this is what you deserve..." With one swift motion, Gally drew his arm back and punched Stan in the middle of his face, hearing the satisfying cracking noise of his nose breaking, "I'm gonna kill you."

No one around tried to help Stan or stop Gally, they just watched how he began to beat Stan within an inch of his life, a void in their eyes and expressions. Stan didn't deserve a quick, painless death.

He deserved the most gruesome one.

"Gally-!" Having witnessed everything that happened since the beginning, Alby had made his way over to the small group by the Maze Doors, and with Derek's help, they managed to pull Gally away from Stan, but not without putting up a fight against him.

Once they had a stable grip on him as he continued to struggle against them, Alby looked up at Sean, who had followed his twin brother on instinct.

"Take him to the med room!" Sean nodded and began to drag Stan's unconscious body across the Glade, quickly after receiving help from the rest of the Sloppers.

They all watched them as they left and Alby finally released Gally as he appeared to have calmed down again. The Leader had half a mind to scold and punish Gally for what he did, but judging by the expression on his face, he decided against it.

He sighed and rubbed the bottom half of his face with his hand, "Just go... And don't punch anyone else, Gally."

Without saying a word, Gally took off running into the Deadheads. Alby sighed and tried to cheer everyone else, telling them dinner should be ready in a while, and they made their way in silence to the Homestead. He stared at the Maze Doors and wondered for a few seconds, he wondered if (M/n) would survive the night... Maybe it was dumb, but he had hope.

After all, hope is the only thing that has kept them alive all this time.

"Alby," he turned around at the call of his name, Newt was there, looking rather stressed and disturbed, "It's about Peter, you might wanna take a look at this."

And they jogged toward the Homestead.

//////

After the Doors had fully closed, he stayed there crying for a few minutes, his legs giving up under his weight and he desperately pulled at the roots of his hair.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to go back. But perhaps, it was too late now. He made his choice, and now... He was going to have to deal with that.

The sound of the gears as the Maze began to change brought him back to reality. That's right, he's in the Maze, the deadliest place in the Glade, he had to run or hide.

He struggled to get himself back on his feet and he wiped his tears away, annoyingly clouding his sight and he began walking in a random direction, but paying attention where he was going... Maybe he could find his way back to the Doors, although that seemed pretty useless in his eyes.

He was already dead anyway.

(M/n) wandered aimlessly, observing the sky getting darker and darker as time went by, and soon, there was nothing but the subtle light of the moon brightening his path, he gripped onto ivies on the walls, and closed his eyes with deep and loud breathing, trying to calm himself down whenever he thought of the fact that he was trapped with creatures that will kill him the moment they see him.

He had to keep moving forward, find a safe place and remain quiet. But the longer it passed, his hopes grew thinner. There was nowhere to hide, it was pointless, he was just delaying the inevitable.

"At night when the stars..." He mumbled in a broken voice, dragging his feet across the pavement floor, maintaining his hand on the wall next to him to keep track of his surroundings, "Light up my room, I sit by myself..."

He leaned his side against the nearest wall and slid down to the ground, staring up at the night sky, he couldn't see any stars, only the moon.

"Talking to the moon... Trying to get to you, in hopes you're on the other side..." His voice kept breaking as the tears found their way down his face again, and he wrapped his arms around his legs as much as he could, "Talking to me too or am I a fool, who sits alone... Talking to the moon-"

The metal sound of clicking made (M/n)'s body freeze in place, shivers running down his spine and his skin getting covered in goosebumps. He knew what that was, there was no other explanation. It was a Griver, what else could it be if not it?

(M/n) closed his eyes and took a shaky breath in through his nose, holding back the urge to cry and scream. He wanted to move, he wanted to run away from it, but he couldn't move.

"(M/... N)...?" Hearing his name being said by it with its broken robotic voice was all he needed to push himself up on his feet and start running, but doing that made the Griever screech behind him as it began to follow him.

His feet were quick on the ground, but it almost felt like he could barely move away from it, his legs trembled with each step he took forward. The sound of its metal legs echoed in the Maze, and the sound only made him grow more and more desperate to get away from it.

Feeling panic and fear fill his body and mind, he screamed as tears continued running down his face at the abrupt realization that this was his end, it definitely was, the spark of hope he wasn't aware he had had completely vanished, leaving a path for terror to settle in his bones. (M/n) knew this was his end, but that wasn't the painful part, it was... Knowing he didn't get to say goodbye to Gally, or tell him his feelings.

And he would never be able to now...

The thought clung to him and hurt his chest, making him release the most guttural and pained scream he could, crying hopelessly and falling to the ground. He hadn't even realized he had run into a dead end.

He turned around and backed away into the wall, covered with ivy, and he gripped onto it. The Griever found its way around the corner, and screeched at him when it saw him. (M/n) watched it approach him slowly, like a predator hunting its prey, he stared at it, refusing to show weakness.

It stopped in front of him, and just stared at him, even though it didn't have eyes it appeared to have a lense located under the slimy flesh below its mouth, pretty well hidden.

"Kill me, do it..." The Griever stayed in place, and (M/n) clenched his jaw, standing up with some effort, "Kill me!" He yelled, charging at it.

The Griever screeched at him and bared its teeth, dripping with its gooey spit, stumbling back at the sudden approach from the male, before sinking its sharp teeth down on (M/n)'s shoulder. He cried in pain and managed to punch the Griever away from him, but he was still trapped on a dead end with no way out.

He had to run around it or crawl his way under it. And he saw an opening when the Griever's metal legs lost their balance after stepping on a rock under him, and (M/n) began to run past it.

However, the Griever wasn't gonna let him go. Its tail wrapped around (M/n)'s ankle, and dragged him back toward it.

He fought, kicked it and tried to hold onto anything to escape, letting out a hiss at the stinging and burning feel he felt running up through his leg. He was putting up a good fight, but the Griever was done with him.

(M/n) felt his body being lifted by his ankle and thrown against a wall.

"T... Er... A!" The robotic voice came out again and (M/n)'s consciousness began to fade away, his arms tried to lift his weight off the cold floor, and he watched through his blurry sight how the Griever walked toward him again.

"Kill... Me..." He whispered with the last bit of his strength, and he saw how the Griever bent over him, its teeth holding onto the fabric of his clothes, before he started dragging him away. He would have fought against it, but he could no longer stay awake, and the strength had fully abandoned his body by now, so he let himself be taken by it.

//////

Gally hugged (M/n)'s pillow tightly, holding it close to his chest.

He had decided to stay in his treehouse, as a way to feel close to him, he felt safe in there, and he tried to remain positive, he trusted (M/n) could find his way back to the Glade or stay alive in the Maze until the Runners find him, Minho had said (M/n) had great potential as a Runner, so he wanted to remain hopeful.

He didn't care if he was hungry or sleepy, he couldn't sleep, not knowing (M/n) was out there, all on his own-

A faint scream was heard well into the night, and Gally gripped the pillow tighter, holding back the urge to break down crying again, but the scream that came right after brought chills down his spine and the tears freely began to fall.

Gally rocked himself back and forth, his body shaking with his sobs and he felt like he couldn't breathe anymore.

A world without (M/n) was a world he didn't want to live in, not now, not ever.

His biggest regret would always be not having reached him in time, not having stayed by his side when it should've been obvious to him how affected he was by the Peter accusation. He should have kept trying to make the Sloppers stop and should've talked to (M/n) to make sure he was doing good mentally and not just pretending he was okay.

He will never forgive himself for this, he doesn't care about Stan, Peter, Lucas or any one of them, he let (M/n) down and now he was gone.

"I love you, bean... I'm sorry," Gally broke down crying again, burying his face in the pillow and curling on himself, his body trembled with each sob and he cried, and cried for hours.

He cried until he ended up falling asleep.

///////

The Griever slowly walked away, looking toward (M/n) one last time, watching his body shaking and twitching, knowing there was nothing to do other than leave, so it did.

(M/n)'s mind was overworking, loading it with new images that didn't last longer than a second, and if.

He wasn't sure what he was seeing, and he wondered if he was seeing his life in his last moments alive, but these images were unknown to him. Not a single image he saw were of his memories in the Glade, they were... From before.

The images were blurry and went by quickly, but he was able to identify a few of them. Like meeting Gally for the first time, when they were kids.

He saw blurry faces and heard muffled voices, he knew who they were but couldn't remember their names or their faces. But a few things he saw seemed to stick to his consciousness, although he didn't see a point in keeping these memories any longer. Remembering now of all times was something completely useless.

But this particular memory was longer than the rest. He could see and hear everything clearly.

"I trust... You will take good care of my son, (M/n)," a rather tall man with brown and grey hair stood in front of him. He was standing behind a chair, holding someone else's shoulder, and wearing an unsettling smile on his face, "Say hi to your new friend, son."

"Hello, doll," the nickname sent shivers down his spine, and he recognized Lucas as the kid sitting on the chair, although a younger version of him.

He sighed and looked up at the man, who hadn't stopped smiling down at him, "I told you I won't be your son's babysitter, Janson."

And the memory faded into darkness.

#gally x reader #gally x y/n #gally x male reader #the maze runner x male reader #the maze runner #the maze runner x reader #tmr gally #gally the maze runner #gally maze runner #ftm reader #trans reader #trans #will poulter #will poulter x reader #will poulter fanfiction

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justsomeoneunordinary · 9 months

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Since I already poked into the hornet’s nest a few times, I might as well get this out once and for all and be done with it: In my opinion, character antis and character stans are both two sides of the same coin. Both go into the extreme and more importantly, both lack nuance.

(I came from the MCU Tony Stark fandom into the Founders Tobirama fandom and it’s crazy how much they parallel each other. All fandoms have some similarities, but in this case, the antis, the stans, the tropes, the mischaracterization are so much the same, it’s freaking mind-blowing.)

The thing about the founders characters is that they’re just a footnote in the whole Naruto story—we don’t know enough and that means we have to interpret a lot of things. And naturally, interpretations vary. If you look at Tobirama and decide that he’s some bigot, then you can do that. (I’m not going into the whole racist debate about him, I have already stated my thoughts on that.) To me, though, this is such an incredibly boring interpretation. The fascinating part about the founders is that none of them are morally good characters due to the times they grew up in. Some might be darker grey than others but, in the end, they all have good sides and bad sides and that’s what makes them interesting to me. That’s what makes them 3-dimensional characters, rather than flat ones.

It’s absolutely wild to me that you would want to imagine any character as bigot at all, instead of trying to put yourself into the character’s shoes and try to see where they might come from. We don’t see any of his thoughts ever, we only have his words and what we do with them is up to us. Maybe he did put the Uchiha all in the police to close them off from the rest of the village in hopes it’ll be their demise, but isn’t that a bit boring? Isn’t that also a bit of a wild theory, considering there’s no assurance the Uchiha will perish once he’s gone? If anything, he would want to get rid of them while he’s still around and holds a leadership position. He says he did it to integrate them more into the village and give them a good purpose, and isn’t that more interesting? If he really, genuinely thought that and failed so massively? Doesn’t that make him a way more interesting character, a character with his own weaknesses? Sure, you can imagine the former but I fail to see how that’s more interesting than the latter. In the end, we don’t know what’s true anyway, we don’t know what’s going on in his head, we don’t know how he went from “grown-ups are stupid and just need to make a truce” to being so ready to kill the Uchiha and not believing in peace at first, so we might as well go with the 3-dimensional interpretation, no?

Similarly, people who put him on a pedestal, who believe he has done no wrong, who see him as the good dutiful brother, while Hashirama, in contrast, is in the wrong—how do you take a character who’s so multifaced, who shows intelligence and leader capabilities, who went from not believing in peace to wanting to protect it at any cost, but who’s also way too prejudiced of the Uchiha to the point he threatens a teen before he even knows what’s up, and make him flat? Tobirama is no saint. A man who can create the Edo Tensei and use it often enough that every other Kage immediately recognize it is not a morally correct person. I will not get into the debate if the Edo Tensei is morally bad or not, since killing people is equally fucked up and the point is thus moot because no shinobi is a saint. But the way he talks about the Uchiha is fucked up. Personally, I think it’s hilarious how he calls Sasuke a little shit and how he loses his temper. From an audience view, I love it. But from a character analysis view, it’s wrong. That’s a whole grown-ass man who was Hokage and before that the Hokage’s right-hand man and he wants to attack an Uchiha teen just like that before he even has all information.

If you think he could somehow have been a better Hokage than Hashirama, then you can do that but I fail to see how. I don’t think he’s some bigoted asshole with no good qualities, but he’s not faultless either. We don’t know what is going on in his mind at any time but we see he has good qualities and bad qualities alike, and you can just latch onto one of these qualities and pretend the other don’t exist but in my opinion, that’s how you create a flat character.

(On a different note: I know so many people are mad about the “curse of hatred” thing and I get it but it’s so weird to me that they hate Tobirama for this instead of Kishimoto. This isn’t presented to us as an opinion but as a fact. Kishi came up with all kinds of new things when it comes to the Uchiha and the curse of hatred just was his newest nonsense. Hate the message; not the messenger.)

And while I’m already on the topic of wanting to interpret characters as bigots: Izuna doesn’t have a character. Izuna isn’t even a character; he’s a plot device. People can imagine him however the fuck they want and there’s zero right or wrong. However, I fail to see why people would want to imagine him as a bigot. They heard him saying not to trust the Senju when Hashirama asked for peace and decided clearly, he must be a warmonger, a spoiled little bitch, an idiot etc. Absolutely wild to me. You literally have free reign, you could try to put yourself into his shoes and try to see why he thinks so, why he’s so mistrusting, how it must look from his point of view, and instead you decide to portray him in the worst way possible. I mean, you can do that and no one can tell you you’re wrong, but wow, this could never be me. Sorry, I prefer to imagine characters in a more multi-faceted way than have such a flat view of them.

Now, Hashirama is far more established as a character than Tobirama is but he is, like the other founders, still just a side character with so many unknown variables and a whole lot of freedom for interpretation. But, I think if you somehow think of him as a master manipulator, as someone who’s a bad leader, as an idiot… you can think that. There isn’t enough canon material to disprove that completely. However, if you think that, I think you missed some crucial parts about him. You missed his strive for peace since he was a child, you missed that the Uchiha willingly deserted over to the Senju when Hashirama was clan head and that the Senju were ready to make peace with the Uchiha under his rule, you missed that Hashirama was voted Hokage by a majority. None of this would make sense if he were a dumb, bad leader, now, would it?

Usually, Hashirama depicted as an idiot also goes hand-in-hand with the Tobirama stans who see him as a bad brother. I already talked about this, so I won’t go into detail, but Hashirama rightfully calling Tobirama out when he’s being a prejudiced shit toward the Uchiha doesn’t make him a bad brother. His threatening Tobirama when Tobirama is about to kill Madara doesn’t make him a bad brother either. It is wrong. He’s overly emotional over this and he’s being unfair in that moment but that alone doesn’t make him a bad brother, it just makes him a well-written character who has his own faults. Sometimes he’s too emotional, sometimes he’s too idealistic, and if you see that and decide it means he’s a shit brother and also an idiot, then you can interpret it that way but I couldn’t disagree with you more if I tried.

To me, he’s a good man, a charismatic man who’s trustworthy, who always strives for peace and the best in general, but also a product of his times, a son of his father, a man who goes his path straight ahead and doesn’t look left and right which then leads to fucked up situations such as almost killing himself in front of Tobirama, or also killing Madara in the end instead of trying to find a different way. It makes him interesting.

At the end of the day, my opinion is always, if you have to push other characters down (Hashirama as an idiot; Izuna as a bigot; Madara as a madman), so you can pull up your fave (Tobirama as the only right one, the better leader, the better brother), then the problem is you. It just shows me that you don’t know how to prop your fave on his own and who he simply is when you can’t do it without making others look bad. Sorry not sorry.

(This really happens in so many fandoms—you have a character who’s shown as the good one but then you get to see his bad sides and people latch so much onto that that they then portray him as the devil incarnate. Vice versa, you’re given an asshole character who’s shown to have his good sides and fandom somehow manages to twist it so much that suddenly this character is the real saint. It’s maddening.)

Lastly, Madara is just like the other characters a complicated character with his good and bad sides. I think it’s crazy how some people only see a madman and a terrorist in him, and how others find he was right with everything. Again, you can interpret is such, but… no. He’s a deeply traumatized and grieving man, who believes in peace and wished it badly but saw that it would never be achieved because humans will always fight each other no matter what, and then makes a decision that is nuts. The Infinite Tsukuyomi is utter bullshit even without Zetsu and Kaguya, but he is right in pointing out that there will be no real peace. The problem is just that there’s no perfect answer for that—the answer is democracy, therapy and transparency of the higher-ups, which is a boring solution for the world Kishimoto created because in a world where cool fights go brrrr and friendship is magic a political answer like that is not going to cut it. Which is why he had to come up with a bigger threat and make Madara look insane, even though the points he made were right, only his methods wrong.

My general opinion is, when you have characters that are so little established, that leave so much room for interpretation, I don’t see why anyone would want to interpret them in such a flat manner. I like my characters 3-dimensional, I like to take the good and the bad in stride, and you can do you, that’s fair enough. But if you come to me to put Tobirama in the good light and Hashirama in the bad one, or in converse, to tell me what a bigot Tobirama is, then you’re at the wrong address here, and that’s on that.

#naruto founders #senju hashirama #senju tobirama #uchiha izuna #uchiha madara

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