#the problem is people’s refusal to call them headcanons or AUs or anything that acknowledges they’ve transformed the source material | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bigskydreaming · 3 years

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What kills me in fics is when you have tags going like "Good brother Jason", which, cool, but in the same story there's " Dick TRIES to be a Good Brother" LOL way to switch the dynamics. I also tend to stay clear of the ones where the centric character seems to have a platonic relationship tag with everyone (including the ones where they're antagonists in canon like Jason & Tim) except Dick. You can feel the hate/dislike/prejudice a MILE away.

Yeeeeeeah. You are definitely not alone. Like pretty much every Dick Grayson stan I’ve ever talked to on the subject stays the hell away from any fic tagged “Dick Grayson tries to be a good brother.”

LOL like....it’s basically what I was talking about in that older post I just reblogged a few minutes ago. That thing where Dick’s actions or choices in a canon story or fic aren’t judged on their own merits but are rather inherently weighed against some hypothetical perfect choice that he DIDNT make and so he’s basically evaluated based on how much he falls short of that mark each time instead of anything he actually did.

Sorry not sorry, but I’m just not interested in stories that TRANSFORM the character most commonly referred to as the emotional glue of the family and the only one who consistently even CARES about them all being a family....into the fumbling incompetent relationship disaster man who at best gets credit for at least putting in an attempt at being there for his family.

Especially not when Bruce and Jason and Tim are praised for doing the bare minimum in canon when it comes to family interactions while everything Dick ACTUALLY did is just completely ignored and overwritten in order to make his Failure to People Good the narrative obstacle to be overcome.

Now, the “Dick Grayson Tries To Be A Good Brother” tag applied to Tim-centric fics in particular tho....hoo boy I am out of there so fast there’s a Kool-Aid Man shaped hole in the wall and not a sign of me as far as the horizon.

Like, currently my Pet Peeve Thermostat is set to Battle for the Cowl-referencing fics that don’t use this tag but very much are in that spirit. You probably know the ones, like their summaries suggest they’re open to considering Dick’s side of the situation but turns out the author at most is throwing him a “well at least you tried not to suck” bone while still reading him the riot act for very much still sucking.

Because what drives me up a flipping WALL here in particular, when I naively click on a link that seems different from the usual and ignore the voice of experience because I’m just desperate enough for Tim and Dick food that doesn’t just go on and on about how Dick ruined their brotherhood and it will never be truly repaired....

What makes the fruit bats in my belfry go absolutely B-A-N-A-N-A-S is not just the super fun realization that Psych! You thought this fic might be different but it’s actually the same!

Nah.

It’s how much people, both writers AND commenters, just absolutely LOVE to reference Tim’s shitbag parents and how emotionally abusive and neglectful they were (all true and valid, btw, let’s be totally clear about that)....but bringing them up here specifically to emphasize just how great Dick’s ‘betrayal’ was and how what he did makes him no better than them.

It’s like. Oh. I see.

So because after twenty years worth of stories about Dick dropping everything the second Tim needs him, whether it’s for help or just advice or even just reassurance or comfort or ANYTHING ....because after two decades worth of content showing Dick absolutely doting on Tim in their EVERY SINGLE interaction and buttressing his self confidence at every opportunity, never passing up a chance to call him his brother and emphasize that they’re family and he loves Tim and is so proud of him...

Because after all that there’s a story whose very premise forced Dick to choose between two kids, both still very much his brothers and their shared father’s sons even if one was new to him and didn’t have the same history the other two had....

Because by the very nature of the story Dick had no choice but to prioritize one over the other due to them both hating each other and Dick already being stretched to his absolute limits trying to live his dead father’s life and take on everything Bruce used to do at the cost of giving up everything Dick had chosen for his own life and wants and priorities, all while dealing with his own grief....

And with it being inevitable that the boy he DIDNT choose to prioritize was going to be hurt....

Because after twenty years of never failing to put Tim first the second Tim needed him, never even putting HIMSELF first OVER Tim....because for the first time Dick felt that someone else he felt obligated to, felt a responsibility towards, actually needed him MORE than Tim....

And for that reason and that reason ONLY, Dick picked that other boy, all while trying his best to tell Tim that he still needed him, still valued him, all the things that Bruce DIDNT tell him when he took Robin not even because he thought someone else needed it at the time but simply to take away, with absolutely nothing Dick said in any way negating or contradicting any of his many, MANY assurances to Tim over the years that they were brothers and always would be and with them still very much legally brothers and with concrete ties to each other that declared them family even WITHOUT the connection of Robin....

Because after and despite ALL OF THAT, Dick picked the brother that he didn’t know and frankly didn’t even LIKE, because he knew no one else was going to pick this kid and he also knew he’d already picked Tim a hundred times before and hoped that at least all that HISTORY of past focus and attention he’d given Tim to help build him up, give him foundations to build further upon, that hopefully at least that history that was still there, still relevant, still something Tim had actively benefited and grown from in ways Dick now hoped to help Damian....like surely this would be of at least SOME significance to Tim, SOME kind of proof of how much Dick loved and valued Tim....

Because one time and one time ONLY, Dick DIDNT put Tim’s needs first, not because he didn’t want to or because he was being selfish or short sighted or simply didn’t care, but rather solely because this one time Tim’s needs were in direct opposition with the needs of another young boy Dick saw as his responsibility and in even greater need and with even less of a foundation than the one Dick had helped Tim build....

This puts Dick on the same level as Tim’s shitbag parents, the ones who are infamous for (and practically synonymous with) emotional abuse and neglect. Dick’s basically interchangeable with them now. Certainly no better than them. Tim’s entire emotional well-being rested on Dick and Dick alone and nothing he’d provided Tim with in the past counts, just this one moment in time right here right now, that’s the entirety of their relationship see, it all comes down to this and nothing else, and because Dick didn’t put Tim first, no matter WHAT his reasons or how much he wanted to, he has officially failed Tim as hard as the neglectful parents who did nothing BUT neglect, ignore and just not give a shit at all, simply because they couldn’t be bothered to.

Yeah.

That’s neat.

#and please before certain people get all up in their righteous umbrage and declare a blood feud against me for this #take note of how nowhere did I say Tim doesn’t have the right and reason to be hurt #because of course he does #you will never see me claiming otherwise #but just because someone was hurt that doesn’t mean that someone did it to hurt them #and that is the distinction so many fans don’t seem to care to make #I’ve literally seen people call Dick emotionally abusive and neglectful for this era of canon and holy shit people #in terms of abuse specifically you absolutely can be abusive without meaning to #hell this is basically the nature of neglect. they’re not TRYING to hurt a child because the entire problem is the child #doesn’t even rate as much of a presence in their awareness as they should #but people can yell it’s just their interpretation all they want about this era of canon #but it’s flat out not true. it’s their transformation of the material not an interpretation of it #because you literally have to CHANGE what Dick ACTUALLY says to Tim to paint him as neglectful or not caring about his emotional well-being #you have to CUT OUT all mention of the times Dick tried reaching out to Tim or checking up on him in order to paint Dick as simply moving #on with his shiny newer little brother #that’s not a difference of interpretation. that’s an act of transformation. changing details of a story that isn’t reading the way you want #it to....until it DOES say what you want it to #and the problem has NEVER been some of us just being unwilling to let people have their headcanons #the problem is people’s refusal to call them headcanons or AUs or anything that acknowledges they’ve transformed the source material #in order to CREATE the interpretation they’re going with #AND OTHER FANS HAVE EVERY RIGHT IN THE WORLD TO SAY YEAH WE’RE NOT TRYING TO TALK ABOUT YOUR TRANSFORMATION OF CANON THO #we’re literally trying to talk about what you transformed it FROM....and the fact that despite all your complaints about canon character #choices....some of you repeatedly make the CHOICE to change canon not just to fix or address the poor character choices you don’t like for #your faves.....but also at the same time making this other character do the very stuff you claim to hate canon having your faves do #and that is your CHOICE. AND YOU GET TO MAKE IT. BUT IT IS STILL A CHOICE TO MAKE CHANGES #NOT simply a different interpretation of the foundational material #like you guys keep trying to pass it off as #and that MATTERS #it matters quite a lot in fact

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tundrainafrica · 3 years

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I just find it so unfortunate that some aggressive shippers ruin a ship and a character for so many people. A popular Erwin x Levi artist got hate comments by some Levihan shippers and so many people are bashing it now on twitter because of that. Its just so sad considering LH was one of the most beautiful and fun dynamics in such a depressing story. Even Hange is getting hated because LH is pretty much the default ship involving them and it just breaks my heart :(

Twitter has some great content and I actually hang around AOT twt for some quick content. It’s like every time I’m feeling fast food I just hang there, like a few tweets, read a few soc med AUs etc etc.

But god. It’s a mess man. Last year I was constantly on twitter to be honest and it left me in a bad mood everyday because people are just being assholes for little to no reason really but just to put themselves in what they believe is a morally higher ground from their peers. And people just like fighting and the funny part is no opinions are actually heard, no views are actually exchanged. It’s just “you dont agree with me so you’re a bad person.”

Ad hominem attacks are just everywhere.

So I like staying in my small little hole and just talking to myself there and just liking the content of the Levihan people I actually follow. I see stuff I don’t agree with but I’ve kinda accepted that a lot of people there are just there to push an agenda because really if people were that open minded, I don’t think lynching and call out culture would have gotten this far.

I’ve used this same analogy so many times but I feel like in Twitter, people are just scrambling for some sort of moral high ground. Because of that, it is completely useless to engage in discourse there because one thing I noticed is most people who are vocal there already have a set stance on something and the fact that they’re ready to just bully anyone who stands in the way of their agenda, just makes convincing them out of the agenda impossible and a complete waste of time. And there are two issues in particular among the LH community which are really unsettling for me: the ship wars and within the LH community, the gender war.

Ship wars

I find the ship wars unnecessary because really what makes a superior ship?

Probability of being canon? How much fuel they were given in canon? Healthiness of the relationship?

The truth is people ship for many reasons. But really, who are we to judge how a person goes about the way they decide to participate in the fandom and ship? As long as it is something they keep within personal spaces and do it responsibly, I don’t think it’s our business to judge someone or lynch them. The important thing is people are able to not be an asshole about it. People can ship the most questionable shit, create the most dubious content, as long as that person is respecting boundaries and putting the right tags and trigger warnings, who are we to call them out right?

Of course I prefer LH over other Levi ships personally but is there really a need to attack other people’s ships about it? I probably do poke fun at Ereri because until now I still do not get why people enjoy Ereri in the first place but why destroy the fandom experience for people just because we don’t agree with them.

My general intention behind shipping Levihan is because above anything I value the healthiness in the relationship and the things people can learn about love and relationships by analyzing Levihan’s dynamics and headcanoning them. I love Levi and Hange’s dynamics to death and I like digging deeper into them and pulling out lessons from it about love, life and relationships and just sharing them with people which is my whole point for participating in this fandom in the first place.

But in the end, ships are just preferences. Some people like getting a kick out of dubious pairings and toxic relationships. As long as they consume these responsibly and don’t emulate them in real life, I see no problem in it.

The toxic ones are the ones who actively crucify people for preferences.

The Gender War

One really disturbing thing I found about twitter is that deciding to use ‘she’ to refer to Hange can get you lynched. I found a few accounts that would reblog tweets where someone says something like “Yes, Hange, Queen” which gets retweeted by some NB Hange folk who say stuff like “Unfollow this transphobe now.”

Because apparently deciding to headcanon Hange as a woman or just preferring to use ‘she’ makes people a transphobe. Which is personally just... really disturbing. I don’t believe words like homophobic, transphobic, racist should be so easily thrown around unless there is hard evidence to believe that someone is really one of the epithets above like for example:

There are things I find completely assholish like of course, refusing to use someone’s preferred pronouns if they ask you.

But Hange is fictional and Hange is a gift to the fandom.And I don’t even think the issue about Hange’s gender should have ever reached this far. The only thing Yams ever said was that Hange is just not the type to be tied down to a single gender.

And policing Hange’s gender and saying NOPE SHE’S NON BINARY USE THEY Is just counterintuitive to the whole idea that she’s a free spirit. In the end, Hange as a character wouldn’t have given a fuck whether people called her a they, she or even a he.

And yeah, it’s frustrating really that these two issues I just discussed above are ruining Hange as a character for a lot of people and consequently, ruining Levi x Hange as a ship.

Apparently, a lot of people are closet LxH shippers or closet Hange stans because the moment they tweet something about Hange, there are people who will attack them. If people refer to Hange as they, they get attacked. If people refer to Hange as she, they get attacked. There are so many antis apparently to the LxH ship, some apparently are jealous because ‘it’s the closest to canon’ while others just apparently deem it a toxic ship because of our own internal gender war.

There’s no winning really. And to be honest, there’s nothing I can do either and I don’t want to engage in any arguments in twitter if at the end of it, I’m just gonna end up wasting my time listening to ad hominem attacks directed at me just for not agreeing with someone in a fandom related matter. .

I’ve said my piece about the Hange gender issue so many times. There are NBs who use she. There are those who use they. Being female and being NB aren’t mutually exclusive. You can be both at the same time.

But yeah, we still have people being assholes about this and pushing factually wrong agendas. I love research and I have been writing research papers and metas for a lot of things even before I started this blog in the first place. And I eventually learned that the world is so complex that no opinion is completely and absolutely correct.

And ideally, opinions shouldn’t be made so easily.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe everyone is entitled to a preference and when I say preference I mean the type of food they like, the type of wallpaper they like.

But no one is entitled to a moral judgement or opinion just for existing and when I say opinion I mean questions on morals, on what’s right or what isn’t, what is or what should be. Every single person has the responsibility to research, hear both sides of a discourse and understanding them before deciding for themselves what’s right. And this is why hearing accusations that someone is ‘transphobic,’ ‘homophobic’ blah blah over how we hc a character just really does not sit well with me.

Passing moral judgement on someone requires discernment, deep thought and lots and lots of evidence. But yeah this is a philosophical question and a political question so I ain’t going to delve into it here.

Because, in the end, fandoms are preferences. The way we choose to participate in a fandom and create content are preferences more than anything.

So what? (Btw, if you reached all the way here, thank you for listening to me ramble lol and sorry if you weren’t expecting this type of ramble)

I know I’ve just been rambling a lot up there for a lot of reasons but really what message do I wanna give?

Fandoms are preferences more than anything so I don’t even believe that there should be a discussion on moral judgement here. People can have the weirdest kinks, the most questionable preferences but as long as they aren’t going around romanticizing abuse, beating up people in real life, killing them and lying in real life, who are we to judge?

Even if someone says they have a rape kink and abuse kink when it comes to fics, as long as they acknowledge it’s something they shouldn’t emulate in real life, as long as they can keep an adult conversation about it, I think these people are generally kinder and more pleasant overall than people who force their healthy canon ship and lynch everyone for having more questionable preferences.

Ship and let ship. Live and let live. Headcanon and let headcanon. If a person has a differing opinion, listen. (Or really, if you just don’t want to deal with listening to differing opinions coz you’re just gonna get stressed, don’t lynch? Don’t send hate? And just ignore it?)

Ask yourself. Does the person acknowledge that it isn’t right in real life? Do they acknowledge if they emulate it in real life it has the potential to be harmful?

Honestly, all I wanna do is just let people stan Levi and Hange however they want to. There are obviously hcs I dont agree with. But in the LH community we just all love Levihan, let’s not ruin the fandom experience for anyone. In the AOT community, we all just love AOT, let’s not ruin it for anyone. Let’s not hurt anyone, attack them etc.

If someone doesn’t agree and they can hold an adult conversation about it and they don’t emulate these toxic opinions in real life and they recognize that there is the option to just agree to disagree, why don’t we just listen and engage in this discourse to learn more about other people and to build more perspectives?

Because really it isn’t the questionable hcs or the multiple genders which leaves such a bad taste in my mouth. It’s the people who just go straight to attacking instead of actually considering that there’s potential for discourse and there’s potential to ‘agree to disagree’ because in the end, fandom discourse is a question of preference more than moral judgement.

It’s easier said than done really. But personally for me, I just try to keep my fandom experience as non toxic as possible while at the same time as mentally fulfilling as possible. I enjoy discourse, I like hearing differing opinions and I really believe with something as light and as inconsequential as fandoms as our common ground, we can learn to peacefully co-exist despite differing opinions on what the best ship is or what Hange’s gender is.

Note: I won’t delve too much on the Hange gender issue here because I have pending asks about those which I’ll answer in one go, but I really believe that both they and she are valid pronouns for Hange.

I have a general preference for ‘she’ because it’s just easier to read. But personally I don’t think too much about the gender identity issue because it’s really just too complex for me and i like spending my time thinking of other headcanons about Hange than gender and people who push the Hange is nb agenda and people who push the Hange is a female agenda and just insult each other and lynch each other are both equally unsettling.

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3wisellamas · 3 years

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OK AU headcanons?

(Once again, there's a fic, and here's the headcanons I'm working off of. See if you can guess which ones I use...)

-Hero!Darrell's the only bodega employee besides Gar himself who puts a ton of effort into his work -- he's got both Hero!KO's drive to become a great hero someday, as well as Villain!Darrell's drive to make his boss (and bonus father-figure) proud of him.

-He's especially desperate to finally be recognized as Employee of the Month at Gar's. However, the universe just isn't on his side, his abysmal luck sabotaging him whenever the boss is looking or keeping Gar's attention elsewhere whenever Darrell actually manages to trash a Boxbot.

-He literally hasn't taken a single day off since he was first hired! Of course, this means he frequently comes in to work sick, which is never fun for his coworkers, or the customers.

-In contrast though? Shannon will do ANYTHING not to work. She uses sick/vacation days as fast as she receives them, and even has a nasty habit of skipping out on her shifts with Raymond, leaving all their work to Darrell (since he just can't say no!) It's debatable whether she even IS a hero sometimes.

-That said, though, she's arguably the friendliest of the three to any customers that dare to approach her counter (though not by much), and knows almost all of the plaza regulars by name. She even makes sure to catch up on all the latest gossip with them while she rings them up; the fact that it's a distraction from work is just a bonus!

-She's INCREDIBLY talented at roller skating, to the point where people wonder why she works at a convenience store instead of going pro. (Because then she'd have to put in effort, that's why.)

-Raymond legitimately plays every single sport offered at Lakewood High School, and even a few outside of it, but rarely ever shows up to practice, only using it as an excuse to get off work and go to the mall with Shannon. His coaches would all kick him off the team if he wasn't naturally talented, and one of the top players even without practice.

-Raymond is EXTREMELY squeamish when it comes to blood, his own or otherwise, and will straight-up pass out at the sight of it, which is a problem when Boxbot battles get more intense. (Note: this also applies to Villain!Raymond as well!)

-He has also been following Drupe's fashion blog for years, and is desperately trying to impress/befriend her, though she keeps mistaking his advances for romantic ones and rejects them. (They're not, though, his heart secretly belongs to R.A.D.I.C.L.E.S.)

-Shannon and Darrell both have robot feet. Shannon is okay with occasionally showing hers off. Darrell, though? NEVER.

-Shannon and Darrell are still siblings (you just can't separate them), and are Wilhamena's and Bernard's kids. Darrell often comes very close to spilling that their whole family are monsters (especially since it's much more obvious with him) and that Shannon's actually a witch, but she always shuts him up.

-Raymond is the adopted son of Ofrang and Theodosia, and is a new hire at the bodega, still kind of learning the ropes from the other two. His levitation beams are not natural, but Ofrang invented some way to artificially generate them, in order to bring his son more in tune with his parents' heritage!

-The heroes do have their secret wereanimal forms, which match that one scene from Thank You For Watching the Show -- Darrell = Hamster, Shannon = Cat, Ray = Lizard. Darrell is especially self-conscious about his, being much smaller than the others and needing to use extra means to appear human/cyclops, and refuses to go to any human meetups or acknowledge his condition in any way because of this.

-The others end up bribing him with sunflower seeds to go with them.

-K-0, EN1D, and R.A.D.I.C.L.E.S. are NOT Lord Boxman's children -- he decided to use slightly different control tactics for them instead, with a bigger emphasis on forced reprogramming rather than emotional manipulation. However, K-0 will often slip up and call him "Daddy" anyway, to both parties' extreme embarrassment.

-Also, ironically, K-0 is the OLDEST of the three this time, literally built right after the Mr Logic Incident, with EN1D and R.A.D. being newer, more advanced models.

-EN1D is obsessed with ninjas in exactly the same way that Villain!Darrell is obsessed with cowboys, and dresses up as one whenever she gets the chance. She's the robot who will most often wear disguises and use stealth to try and achieve her goals, and tends to give the Bodegamen the most trouble out of the three.

-Also, EN1D glitched in the past to have a HUGE crush on some random plaza customer who happened to be nearby (Red Action), but denies still having feelings for any heroes whatsoever (she's lying).

-There are B.I.G. R.A.D.s, piloted by regular R.A.D.s.

-Not even Lord Boxman knows what the acronym stands for. He originally scribbled R.A.D.I.C.L.E.S.' name out onto a napkin while dead tired (and also a little drunk) at 3AM, and accidentally spilled coffee all over it the next morning before he could reread it.

-Fink sees K-0 as her rival, and specifically targets and torments him whenever her Boss decides to visit Boxmore, and he retaliates by pranking her back and trying to get PV's attention instead, all of which gets cranked up to maximum once the Voxmore merger happens. Even sharing a room doesn't fully convince them on each other.

-K-0 sometimes glitches into a separate, angrier personality, with a LOT more firepower...

#ok ko #ok ko let's be heroes #emheadcanons

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sansloii-a · 5 years

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coughs so am I allowed to request all of the “salty af munday meme” answers or—

oh my fucking god || @imbruedinfear

strap in y’all ‘cause someone wants to hear me complain

What does someone have to do for an instant unfollow from you?

if you post excessive ooc in quick sucession, i will unfollow you faster than the speed of light. i’ve done it in the past. i will not hesitate to do it in the future. i don’t care if it’s tagged. if i’m on and i see it, you’re gone, my friend.

What’s the WORST thing that has happened to you rp wise?

uuuuuuuuuuhhhhh there was this one dude that legit tried to monopolize one of my old muses on another blog, got upset when i set a main ship for said muse, complained to me nonstop, was trying to use me to get back into rping with my friend group ( which he called “the popular group” for a reason I don’t understand to this day ), only wanted to ship, got pissy over a fucking pokemon au ( if you ever wanna hear about this, lemme know ), tried to insert a ship into every au we made automatically, tried to tell me how to write smut for no reason ( said he would read it and give me tips and everything ffs ), was an asshole to my sister ( who rped way back when but doesn’t anymore ), made several friends of mine uncomfortable to the point of leaving the rp scene for a bit, blamed other people for issues that he honestly had a part in causing, and a bunch of other things that i’m forgetting right now.

i figure that’s the worst because nothing has topped that. nothing. that happened years ago, though, so i’m good now. no one fucks with me like that anymore.

What was a mildly annoying thing that has happened to you rp wise?

i got about 10 asks from someone when i wanted to do other shit ( my asks that are in the double digits ) ‘cause they wanted me to send them an ask. annoyed me to hell and back and i promptly deleted those asks

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ tough shit. i was not in the mood for games and i’m still not.

Has anyone ever tried to steal your blog? Your headcanons? Icons? All that jazz?

not that i know of??? i hope not ‘cause i worked real hard on all this and if you steal anything from me, i’m gonna throw a huge-ass heaping of karma your way.

How many people don’t like you?

i dunno. i’d say none but i know not everyone is going to like me so if you’re out there and you don’t like me, you’re entitled to that. don’t tell me, though, ‘cause i don’t wanna know if you don’t like me.

How many people do you not like?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i don’t really care enough to actively not like anyone. you can annoy me but unless you piss me off and continue to piss me off, you get stuck on the “do not care” list.

Have you managed to stay away from drama?

i give advice when needed on how to avoid whoever my convo partner is talking about and i avoid getting involved. unless it’s like… a close friend or involves a close friend, i refuse to get in the middle of whatever issue people have. i’m not about to have my ass dragged into problems that do not concern me.

i don’t cause drama either so that’s also how i stay away from it. 100% guaranteed to keep you out of drama.

Have you ever been in the middle of drama?

personal/friend drama? yes. rp drama? see above.

none of that was fun btw. it was a lot of me getting angry, being frustrated with certain behaviors, having to cut people out for doing shit/saying shit that they knew they shouldn’t have and refusing to recognize that they have fucked up and use that to change their behavior, etc. it’s draining and not fun and i’m pretty sure it shaved years off my life but y’know, it is what it is. the most i can do about it is look out for myself and keep out of relationships that will put me in those situations again.

Have you ever tried to bring peace to a situation?

no because i used to be friends with people that weren’t straightforward with shit and made excuses instead of changing their behavior. i don’t wanna go into it ‘cause and i can’t remember all the details but boy, peace was hard to come by and it didn’t last long. i wasn’t going to try to bring peace if people didn’t really seem to want it and level with each other.

How long do you stay mad?

depends on what you do, tbh, but it’s a couple hours at least. a couple days at most.

What’s your rp pet peeve? ( i have a lot of these )

playing “find the links” on someone’s blog. if i can’t find your links, i’ll try “/rules”, “/r.”, “/g.” and whatever else i can think of to get your rules and a couple more things to get your muse’s about. however, i shouldn’t have to and it takes little effort to make it so that your links are easily distinguishable from the background. if i don’t find them, i don’t find them. and i don’t follow/follow back

Have you ever forgiven a partner when you shouldn’t have?

nope. not now, not ever.

Have you ever been forgiven when you knew you shouldn’t have been?

i’ve never been in a situation where i’ve had to be forgiven for stuff i’ve done so no.

What fads/trends are you so over?

the first thing i thought of was the fucking double ampersands thing that was everywhere at some point. those annoyed me so much and i’m so glad they’re gone. super small text needs to die too. i may not wear glasses but i sure as shit ain’t straining my eyes to see what you’ve written in 3px font.

honestly, a lot of the excessive aesthetic shit that sacrifices accessibility for #aesthetic

Have you ever rp’d with someone you knew for a fact was abusive but tried to give them a chance/to make up your own opinion on the roleplayer? Did they change or did you understand what people were talking about?

nope, nope. nu-uh. if i knew for a fact that this person was abusive in that moment, i wouldn’t touch them with a ten foot pole. absolutely fucking not.

Have you ever made a public call out post?

-loud snort- hell no.

What has made you completely lose your chill?

honestly? look at my worst experience and that about sums up shit that has made me lose my chill. you really gotta push my fucking buttons to make me mad ‘cause i’m usually pretty laid back.

What do you think about public call out posts?

answered here

A fandom that you feel isn't open and accepting?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i dunno. i’ve only been in one before and that was f.ire e.mblem

A fandom that you feel is open and accepting?

imma be real honest with y’all--the only fandom i’ve been in that i will acknowledge is f.ire e.mblem and i had a pretty sweet time there. i had some ups and downs but it was an overall good experience for me. it was pretty open and inviting in my opinion but i tended to stay away from the douchebags in the fandom ‘cause i just wanted to have a good time there.

Thoughts on duplicates following you?

if i have duplicates of my oc following me, i’ll have a whole fucking cow

Do you agree with reblog karma or is it forced interaction?

i don’t think it’s forced interaction most of the time ( with sentence starters, symbol memes, memes that take literally zero fucking effort to send in ) ‘cause... everyone likes getting stuff, y’know. if you wanna reblog it from someone, just take a moment to send something in if the interaction is feasible. that’s the key thing here. if it’s feasible, then i don’t see the issue with sending something in before you reblog it from someone ( especially if you’re mutuals ). if it isn’t and you just wanna reblog it, reblog it from the source. it’s not that serious.

if someone nitpicks you for rebloging the same meme they did but you reblogged it from the source, i wouldn’t feel too bad. you know what’s best for your muses and if you don’t feel like the meme is cohesive for interactions, then that’s your prerogative and the

Has someone ever ruined an FC or character for you?

answered here

Has someone been jealous of you?

i’ve only been told that someone was jealous of me once and it was a long time ago. i have never heard that from anyone again ( not that i remember, at least )

Have you ever been jealous of anyone?

mhm! but it usually comes when i’m feeling super down about my blog and doubting my ocs ( which isn’t often ). when i do get jealous, it’s over interactions and the like and my big dumb galactic brain is like “wow, don’t you wish you had those interactions? don’t you wish you were rping with those people?” and makes me feel bad about the interactions i have, the speed at which i reply, my ocs, how many people are interesting in my ocs, etc. however, this shit doesn’t last long ‘cause i have a bunch of wonderful people that motivate me to get out of that funk and just... focus on what i have instead of what i’m seeing on my dash. i remind myself that i’m here to have fun and i shouldn’t try to match my experience to others’

How has Tumblr RP changed since you started?

more formatting, smaller icons, more focus on having a fancy ass theme, more formatting, more callout posts, less communication in some regard, more reminders for communication.more psa posts, more formatting--

honestly, i’ve been on tumblr since 2012 and most of it is a blur lmao. i probably don’t remember everything ‘cause i was.... 15 when i started rping on here. i’m 22 now. i’m sure a lot has changed in seven years but i definitely haven’t seen it all.

Thoughts on the fandom you're currently rping in?

i’m currently a fandomless blog and boy, is it a lot more fun XD i have a lot more creative liberty and i can shape the world my muses live in to my liking, as opposed to following or just adding onto what the fandom universe already is. it’s a lot of work and it takes a ton of time but it’s fun and i’m enjoying every second of it!

How salty are you feeling right now?

answered here but i’ll just say it again: not salty. just tired and rambly because holy shit this took a while

#imbruedinfear #🗪 ┊ ⧼ yᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʀᴇ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴛᴛy ᴄᴀᴛʜyꜱ! ⧽ ⇹ ( asks. )#ツ ┊ ⧼ ᴄᴀᴛᴡᴀʟᴋ ᴛᴀʟᴋ ⧽ ⇹ ( ooc. )#.i answered ALL those questions #.i hope my salt was enough for you

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biserker-kadan · 4 years

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About the Character;

I was tagged by @goblin-deity @red-wardens and @occorner 💕 so I'm gonna do 3! (This might be pretty long)

This really is years late, whoops.

― your muse’s name:

Myrinah Alwyn Lavellan

Myrinah is actually just an edited version of Myrina which refers to Queen of the Amazons which I love! I wanted my first Elven warrior to have a strong name and it just really fit. Her middle name is Alwyn, which is her fathers first name and is Welsh in origin.

― one favourite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

Long after Inquisition is over and Corypheus and Solas have been delt with, Myrinah kind of drops off the grid. Only a handful of people know what she's doing and have a vague idea of where she is. Cause she's wandering! She goes off, a grown ass dragon with her and a few essential items and just walks. She catches rides of boats, works as best she can, where she can - climbs the highest mountains and hikes through lush forests with Pup flying high above. She writes letters to her loves and her family but in her 'retirement', she goes and explores on her own.

In my 'Modern AU' Myrinah is always a detective, like always. I can't really see her doing anything else. She could also be a DA, mostly cause I really love the idea of Myrinah straight up wearing a boss ass pant-suit with like a lacy bralette thingy underneath a suit jacket and a pair of killer heels in court, just destroying the other lawyer and playing up to the jury.

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Gardening! Myrinah, my little bitter baby absolutely loves gardening and planting little flowers and especially making daisy chains. It takes her back to her childhood, stopping for a quick lunch; Elders doing their own things and a handful of children running around, little babies and mothers laying in the grass, soaking up the sun and Myrinah, sitting calmly just making daisy chains.

Hunting, or specifically Dragon Hunting. She loves it, the thrill of a fight. A challenge that pushes her to her very own limits. Something that takes effort, both of which come from tracking and the actual fighting. She enjoys all of it. Plus it's a great way for her to work on her anger.

Sleeping. Let's be honest, everyone knows that the Inquisitior probably sleeps like shit. That's not a lie, it's a goddamn fact and Myrinah is no different. Which is why, when she has the time? She likes to settle beneath her covers (usually in Cullen's bed), light a few subtlety scented candles and close her eyes with the gentle breeze and fading sunlight on her face and pass. the fuck. out.

― seven people your muse loves / likes:

Iron Bull, Cullen, Vivienne, Riddick (OC), Dorian, Cole, Varric

Myrinah is close with her companions and appreciates them all, but she does have her favourites. She loves Iron Bull and Cullen, romantically, and Vivienne is her absolutely favourite person in the entire world. Riddick is her best friend (another OC of mine) and she treats Dorian like a kid brother, which annoys the shit out of him of course. Cole she treats as family, because he is in a way. He's someone Myrinah knows understands her and she does everything and all she can to make sure he's all good and Varric is probably the only normal person in the group who doesn't treat her like the be all or end all. She likes having a friend who simply wants to be a friend.

― a phobia your muse has:

Myrinah is afraid of nugs. She hates them, they terrify her and she would be happy if they weren't a real thing.

― your muse’s name:

Aliyah Hissera Adaar

Aliyah's first name means 'exalted or heavens' and was a gift from her Ma - a name outside the Qun, a representation that they really were free and able to own themselves. Of course, her middle name 'Hissera' is the Qunlat word for Hope and her Ma thought it was fitting considering little Aliyah was her hope.

― one favourite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

She's actually the baby of one of my old Inquisitiors and her mother was Adaar. Her Father is more of an OC at this point, whereas her Mother died when she was very young. In an AU I have she was taken in by a Mercenary Captain and trained up from her teens until the Inquisition. She's probably a little younger in canon compared to that AU.

She's wicked strong, and not in the 'oh I can lift this much' but in the 'I can hold this bow and arrow, pulled back, for as long as I need without breaking a sweat or getting tired'. She's also got wicked aim and constantly pulls incredible moves out of her ass in battle. She and Sera like to have little arrow competitions in Skyhold when they're bored.

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Waking up early to watch the sunrise. This one sounds stupid, but it was a tradition she had with her Ma. Whenever they could, they'd get up a little earlier, put some tea on and rug up before walking as far as they wanted before settling in to watch the sunrise. Whenever she doesn't have a pressing, urgent matter to attend to - that's what she likes to do now (except now she also writes letters to her Dad).

Baking. Aliyah has a massive sweet tooth, like it's a problem? So much so that the cook refuses to make her anything sweet so now she does it herself! Aliyah finds it oddly calming too, there's something really methodical and calming about baking that makes the payoff even more sweeter.

Archery? I feel like this one should be obvious cause she an Archer Rogue, but for reference, archery in general is something Aliyah absolutely loves. Especially when she's in her own zone, in the training yard at Skyhold just constantly hitting dead centre. It's beautiful.

― seven people your muse loves / likes:

Iron Bull, Josephine, Sera, Dorian, Leliana, Cole, Vivienne

Aliyah is like, basically married to Iron Bull so she likes him well enough, Josephine is like family - Aliyah adores her, and Sera is a good friend (they seem like unlikely friends but they're pretty well at balancing each other out). Dorian is her best friend, someone she trusts unconditionally, which is a little scary but he's smart and caring and her closest friend and she loves him. Leliana terrifies her and Aliyah thinks the world of her, she's scary smart and calculated but having one conversation was enough to convince her that Leliana is the sweetest. Aliyah thinks Cole is sweet, if a little confused and misguided. She likes talking with him. Vivienne reminds her of her first Merc Captain - Strong, firm but fair and always the smartest person in the room. They have wonderful talks.

― a phobia your muse has:

Aliyah isn't so much afraid as grossed out by purple foods? It's an odd 'phobia' but she will literally not eat anything purple or anything that's touched a purple food and will not sit at a table with purple food on it. She thinks it's just gross and unnatural.

― your muse’s name:

Frey - -

Frey technically does have a middle name and a last name but she doesn't really use it or mention it or acknowledge it even. If we're getting technical, Frey chose her own name as her Mama always calls her Kasaanda and her Pa calls her his little Elgara.

(Kasaanda = 'Sundew' - a carnivorous plant, and Elgara = 'Sun')

― one favourite picture / faceclaim of your muse:

― two headcanons you have for your muse:

Frey speaks nearly 6 languages, is fluent in 3, can write in 2 and read in 4. She's fluent in the Common Tongue, Antivan and Orlesian but can also speak Qunlat, Rivaini and Tevene extremely well. Qunlat especially. She also knows a little Elvish, but growing up outside of a Clan or without an Elder (not including her father), it's mostly limited to phrases and specific words.

Frey is an expert Storm Mage, extremely dangerous when it comes to lightning and 'purple fire'. She trains in all the schools of magic, especially with Vivienne, Dorian and her Mama. Her Mama is especially hard on her when it comes to more primal based magic whereas Dorian handles the Inferno aspects and Vivienne helps her with Winter, Spirit and becoming a Knight Enchanter.

― three things that your muse likes doing in their free time:

Climbing. Frey loves to climb and explore Skyhold and old ruins and castles. She loves to push herself to climb rocky mountain sides and faces, caves and the likes. She'll leave Skyhold in the morning with a few essential items and return at night with bruises and scrapes but feeling a lot less tense and antsy.

Painting/drawing. Frey loves to paint and draw, she really does. Even if it's just doodling on some paper with some ink whilst are the war table or if she's actually set up a canvas on her balcony and going ham at it. Painting is something she does to calm her mind and express whatever she's feeling.

Arguing. Ok, so maybe it's less of a hobby then the others but Frey will actively seek out people to 'argue' with when she's bored and it is 100% one of her favourite things to do. It's mostly just banter and petty quarrels and such but it's a lot of fun to argue with someone and Frey enjoys having arguments and debated shit.

― seven people your muse loves / likes:

Solas (debatable), Iron Bull, Vivienne, Leliana, Cole, Josephine, Dorian

Frey has odd relationships with both Solas and Iron Bull (doubled depending on whom she's romancing per Canon) but they also mean a lot to her regardless. Iron Bull kind of takes her under his wing, teaching her a bit more about her Qunari Heritage as well as making sure she can defend herself without magic whereas Solas speaks with her about Elves and has lengthy discussions about everything and anything. Vivienne is like a very sweet, very tough Aunt? Frey isn't quite sure where to place Vivienne to be quite frank, but she loves the older mage without a doubt. Leliana is the funniest and alongside Josephine they talk shit like it's nobodies business. Frey loves them like sisters. Cole is a mystery, but his brain is fascinating and when she gets over that - he's a very sweet, often misguided individual whom she appreciates dearly and Dorian? An absolute shit. Sometimes she likes to hide behind the bookshelves and throw books at him to make him jump. Other times they bounce magical theory off each other until the suns up for the next day. He's definitely family at this point.

― a phobia your muse has:

Frey is afraid of failure, that's the bottom line. She's constantly stressing herself out because she's terrified of slipping up and causing irrefutable damage and failing. She doesn't ever want to put people in horrible situations that could be avoided and she hates that she thinks like that.

#this took me yeARS #ts dragon age ocs #dragon age inquisition #ts frey #myrinah lavellan #aliyah adaar #my babies #this was in my drafts for ages and i finally finished it #thanks for this btw #i enjoyed finally fleshing out some babies #dragon age #dragon age ocs #ts oc asks

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citrusandbergamot · 5 years

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you know, for such an amazing and fun-loving and quirky show, the RWBY fandom seems anything but.

people’s reaction to stuff is so extreme. it’s not even discussions on headcanons, it’s outright righteousness. and...a lack of appreciation of characters having very flawed (re: human) reactions to stuff.

I am really flabbergasted at the hatred directed towards team RWBY and JNR for how they’ve handled the big lore reveal. To be honest, it would have felt extremely false if everyone had been hunky-dory with Oz’s secrets. His hair is legit full of big and important secrets and like, everything, absolutely everything has changed. Both teams have gone through hell and they have to reconcile their core beliefs and their understanding of the world to this new information. That’s not going to be easy. It hasn’t been easy. It’s been pretty ugly so far.

That’s not a bad thing? It’s probably actually a good thing because it makes everything about the world more complex. It makes the characters more complex. It’s makes them more human.

In some post, somewhere, about this subject, said ‘realism is bad storytelling’. And just like....what? What?

No like, seriously, what the actual. You think that conflict and angst and doubt is only generated by the bad guys? That...it should only come from the bad guys? How...how boring is that. Oh my god, people. You know, this is why I hate most normal AUs, like coffee shop AUs, because no one ever misunderstands each other. No one ever says less than they mean. No one accidentally hurts someone. No one purposefully hurts someone. Everything’s fucking perfect all the time.

It all feels so goddamn false. Like using big spoonfuls of splenda instead of sugar, it just sticks in the back of my mouth and makes my teeth sore. I want characters who have to make up for something. I want characters who have to change. I want characters who refuse to change and how it changes the way people interact with them. I don’t care for stories about people never having doubt, never saying the wrong thing in anger, never lashing out first in order to protect themselves. It’s not pretty and it’s not easy, but it’s distinctly human. Like, I read a fic yesterday and there was self-hatred and tons of angst but everyone just...said what they meant, all the time. Everyone on the side of the angels was just like, oh yeah, this is what the plot needs to do, I have no other motivation other than helping it along. I’m going to say the right thing at the right time, always. The secondary characters had no drive or thoughts of their own. No doubts, no mistrust. No challenge. No growth. No life.

The RWBY characters have gone through a lot. They’re not children any more. They’re not students. This season, and this reveal especially and everything that’s happened afterwards, has really propelled them into positions of authority within the world itself. They’re always been the main characters to the viewer, but now they are major players to people like Oz, Salem, Ironwood, Qrow. It is extremely important, in terms of the story, that team RWBY JNR have made the decision to keep going, to keep fighting with this knowledge. They no longer trust the adults to fix their problems. And they will hold the adults accountable for their actions. And that includes Oz.

I mean, I love a broken character more than anything in life and Oz is as broken as they come. What Oz has been doing all these years/lifetimes is not enough. It’s not working. Clearly, it’s not working. Him keeping all that shit and trauma and whatnot inside is not working and people keep dying. The information/backstory had to come out, and they had to trust that they got the whole truth.

Plus, there’s the fact that they don’t really interact with Oz on a personal level? They never have? I’m not surprised they didn’t offer comfort in the direct aftermath or since. This is ‘please ignore the man behind the curtain’ tipping point. This is the ‘whole damn saviour ideal is a lie’. There is no wizard, there never was. The great and powerful Oz is just a conman. This was always going to happen. This reveal was integral to Oz’s character and the plot, not just for backstory and lore but in how the main characters interact with him and with the world (re: Salem and the Grimm). Oz was their teacher and leader and saviour - literally more of a concept. He has never been on equal footing with any of them. How do you bridge that gap while still acknowledging how betrayed everyone feels?

You don’t. You wait til the next volume. Cause you know who’s going to be in the next volume? General Ironwood!! Oz’s equal ...ish. But more importantly, a man who knew Oz’s secret. He and Glynda knew and they both knew that Qrow didn’t (rewatch season 2 if you don’t believe me). There’s going to be some comeuppance there. On a narrative level, it makes sense to push that emotional fallout until the story has someone on equal footing to Oz. Someone who clearly disagrees with Oz but still respects him, someone who can challenge both Oz and RWBY JNR and get them dealing with each other.

Oz has retreated at the moment because it makes sense, character-wise and narrative-wise. What’s more, Oz has been retreating for a long goddamn time. I think that Oz has been going through the motions. I think it’s been too long. I think too many people have died. I think he’s stopped believing that there will be an end to this horrific cycle. Ruby is the catalyst that will change his opinion on that. But it’s going to take a long time for Oz to listen to her and to confront himself. And not just because of the ...what are people calling it, abuse? of RWBY asking that question of Jinn. Oz does not trust people. The Jinn thing didn’t help but Oz was never going to trust them anyway. He was keeping his secrets to protect them, yes, but mostly to protect himself.

But that’s going to change. Ruby is going to be the catalyst for that change. Oz is going to learn to trust them. But the story had to get through this first. Oz was never going to tell them. In another kind of story, RWBY would have gotten the truth from Salem. The bad guy taunts the good guys with the truth, blah blah blah, that story is so overdone, I’m really glad they’ve skipped it here. They don’t trust Oz at the moment, but they trust that they know what he’s been hiding from them AND the manner of the reveal and the horrific nature of what they saw is going to engender sympathy and compassion, once RWBY and JNR and Qrow actually step back from their hurt and betrayal. But that takes time. You may not like it, cause apparently people want stories to be super simple and full of characters who always do the right thing?

Lol, yeah, okay

Realism is not a dirty word. Anger and hurt and bitterness are human emotions and certain characters have them in spades (Yang, Qrow, Jaune, Raven). It makes them more interesting. It gives them growth, something to overcome. Remember what Yang was like pre-season 3? She’s a different person now because of what she went through. Her zeal and optimism have been altered, permanently. She’s super depressed. Of course she’s going to be angry. She’s gotta learn to deal with that anger because she’s been angry since the Vytal festival. I would have been shocked if Yang had learned Oz’s secrets and been like, oh man, I’m no longer angry at you and the world because clearly you’re traumatized and you need a hug. Yang’s....not really that kind of person. But she’s not done yet working through her shit. She takes a while to process stuff remember. And there has been a fuckton of shit and her family is tied up in half of it.

We’re going to get STRQ backstory or I’m going to start taking hostages. There’s some hell to pay there. Summer dead, Taiyang clearly not interacting with Oz at all if he can help it. Qrow left in the dark and drowning in alcohol, and Raven. Raven, who turned her back on Oz. Gee, I wonder why?

Oz has very good reasons for keeping his mouth shut but people are still getting hurt. And trust is a two-way street.

As for RWBY JNR reactions being extremely or ...mean? Abusive? Whatever it’s being called? People are going to argue and feel hurt when they find out they’ve been lied to. The person doing the lying might have really good reasons to do so but that still doesn’t mean everyone will be okay with it right away. Characters are supposed to be complex. They’re supposed to struggle and make mistakes and react with emotions first and logic second. The way the emotional arc feels to us is not the same as it feels to the characters in the show. You know when you find out something and it shakes the very foundation of your trust in that person? Was it super easy to immediately go, oh no, it’s okay that you lied and manipulated me because you had your reasons? Can you shut off the hurt and the anger like flipping a switch? Haven’t you ever gotten pissed at somebody you love because you misunderstood something and still felt pissed later, even after the misunderstanding was cleared up?

Emotions aren’t always rational. We don’t always react the way that we should have, the way that we would have, if we had been a little calmer. And there was nothing in that reveal that was calm inducing. All the information about Oz’s traumatic history probably paled in comparison to the reveal about the nature of the fight with Salem. As a viewer, and one who likes angst at that, the whole thing made Oz into my new favourite because aaaaaaangst and trauma are my bread and butter. But to the characters, in-universe?

Yeah. Pretty sure the biggest takeaway was ‘okay, everything you do or have ever done is futile, so you’ve all suffered for nothing, kthanks.’

Of course they’re pissed.

If they had just been super okay with everything from the get go, it would have been false. These characters have gone through some shit and they’ve had their whole understanding of the world turned upside down. Of course that’s going to affect them.

The fallout with Oz since the reveal makes sense, on an emotional narrative and pacing level and on a character level. They’re all going to grow from this and become stronger. Oz is going to find some peace, I just know he is.

this is going to be what breaks the cycle. They’re going to have to confront Oz eventually. I think the reason why they haven’t rehashed any part of the fallout yet is because they want to tackle that in a completely different volume. It’s taken them 3 volumes to finally work through JNR’s issues post volume 3. The impact of that JNR scene with the statue in volume 6 would have been cheapened if the characters hadn’t been struggling with the thought of giving up, post-reveal. And that scene is probably one of the best in the whole series. Emotionally, it’s the most mature thing they’ve ever done. Would it have had the same resonance if they’d all been super okay with Oz? And been like, we’re here for you buddy, our hopes and dreams were based on lies this whole time and our friends died for nothing and we’re all probably going to die too but that’s super okay because your ex is an abusive psycho and you’re incredibly broken inside. Let’s all cuddle.

Like, fuck that. Give me characters who are going to stand on their own two feet, who are afraid and powerless but unwilling to back down, who know they have no hope of winning but continue to fight nonetheless. Who’ll stare into the abyss with eyes unflinching, strength built upon truth, not falsehood. Because they must. Because it’s right. Because they are the only ones who can.

I can’t be the only one who sees it, right? That this was necessary? For the characters to grow into real hunters? For them to truly be the change in the world? For RWBY to enter endgame?

They’re going to break the cycle wide open. They had to have this knowledge and they have to come to terms with it. They have to find it in themselves to keep going. They’re going to prove Oz wrong, that people can learn the truth and still keep fighting. It’s not fate or destiny. It’s choice.

I’ve been thinking about Pyrrha’s ‘do you believe in destiny’ line a lot while writing this. Because I didn’t get it for a super long time. Did she feel like she had to agree, because her life had been leading to the destiny of being the Fall Maiden? All that fighting ability, all that heart. It’s always bothered me that it implied it was her destiny to die like that, that the whole thing was inevitable. And with the reveal, futile.

(What’s in a name, right? Oh Pyrrha, Pyrrha, I’ll never be over you.)

But it wasn’t destiny. It was choice. That’s what makes that scene so goddamn beautiful. It was Pyrrha’s choice and finally acknowledging that has resolved 3 seasons worth of emotional tension. JNR has been so grief-stricken it’s been painful to watch. But necessary. So goddamn necessary. Otherwise, what’s the point of killing characters off? What’s the point of trauma if it can just be swept under a rug and forgotten about and the characters all reset to their base personalities? If reactions are all the same and characters interchangeable? I suuuuuuper don’t care for stories where characters stay exactly the same. I want it to mean something. I want them to struggle. I want them to have to make the choice between what is right and what is easy.

That’s what the characters are doing. They’re making a choice. Oz is super good at taking choices away from people. It’s not necessarily his fault but intentions are not the same as end result. That’s because it’s destiny but the cycle will never break that way.

RWBY JNR and Qrow have to take their own actions separate from Oz’s machinations. It’s the only way they can win. This is what the narrative had to do. It’s not pretty at the moment but it’s going to be so much more satisfying in the end. They’re wounded, they all are. We have to feel how deep those wounds are to appreciate how they can heal.

It’s choice. If was easy, what would be the point?

(My god I love Oz so very, very much. His trauma reminds me a lot of Sam Winchester. And like Sam, the people around him are pretty judgmental of his past mistakes. It may be uncomfortable or aggravating to watch as a viewer because the punishment is widely disproportionate to the crime but. Like, of course Dean is going to act that way? He’s his own character, who is never going to be objective about Sam and Sam’s actions. It also generates a fuckton of self-hatred and angst for BOTH characters AND makes the moments where working together outweighs any interpersonal strife (eg: Dean stabbing Zachariah in season 5). That moment is sweet as fuck. Where the hell would the conflict have been that whole season if Dean had just been super okay with Sam opening the Cage? We knew he didn’t mean to. We knew Cas was the one who let him out. We knew the angels fucked over the voicemail. We knew Dean was being unfairly, disproportionately angry. We knew Dean had been the one to open the first seal.

We knew Dean was being unreasonable and cruel. It made for a frustrating season. A whole season! Of characters being mean and sure, abusive.

So what.

No, seriously, so fucking what? It’s a great season. It’s the season that keeps on giving, in terms of Sam Winchester angst. I mean, post-Cage is where all the fun horror is, but Sam being isolated and filled with self-loathing and guilt, visited in his dreams by the biggest bad of all? They’re Made For Each Other. Egads, that’s some good shit right there.

Can you imagine if Dean had just been....well, not-Dean about it? If he’d been some smol, soft, uwu boy who’d forgiven Sam immediately? Sam is so frigging heartfelt, he tries so hard. How could anyone not forgive him? (aaaah, the endless meta about Sam and forgiveness, Chuck in heaven, that’s som good shit). Not-Dean would have been the perfect, understanding brother. Not-Dean possibly would have comforted Sam during his various, horrifying withdrawals (goddammit Dean) but . That’s...not who the character is. That’s not how Dean was going to react. And what about all the angst? Where would that have come from? Where would those fantastic eps be of Dean losing faith? Sam trying to hold himself together because he is literally the one who never gives up and being scrapped down to nothing, over and over again because of it? And the resolution of all that? That their love for each other is beyond any hurt or betrayal or doubt they’ve caused each other. That’s...that’s good story telling. It’s fucked up and imperfect and there is some goddamn meat on it to sink into.)

Stop sanitizing stories. Especially when the imperfect reactions are literally the driving force of the emotional narrative.

Ugh.

(Sam Winchester/Ozpin is now my favourite crack ship and I literally have half story mapped out in the time it’s taken me to write this rant, don’t @ me

traumatized playthings of immortal bad guys with a side order of identity/possession issues? caught between destiny and a hard place, with nothing but more trauma and pain to look forward to? two beings in the wasteland, suffering beyond endurance, without end, because giving up isn’t an option?

yeah baby. oh freaking yeah.

ship song: apres moi le deluge by Regina Spektor: I must go on standing, you can’t break that which isn’t yours, I must go on standing, it’s not my own, it’s not my choice

yaaaaaaaas)

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